The Apocryphon of John : Synopsis of Nag Hammadi Codices II,1 - III,1 and IV,1 with BG 8502,2 /
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This synopsis of the Apocryphon of John presents the four Coptic text (NHC II,1; III,1 and IV,1; with BG 8502) in parallel columns with English translations in similar arrangement beneath the Coptic text. Important parallel texts are included in an appendix. The volume also contains a research bibliography on the Apocryphon of John and an index of Coptic and Greek words.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004439658
9789004103955
Gnosis und Spätantike Religionsgeschichte : Gesammelte Aufsätze /
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A collection of 40 or so of the author's essays and contributions to the study of Gnosis, the Mandaeans and Manichaeism, published in the course of the past 40 years. Most have been revised for this new edition. Subjects treated include on the one hand source problems (Nag Hammadi, Manichaean finds and texts, Mandaean manuscripts), and on the other hand the situating of the gnostic-cum-Manichaean tradition in the context of late-antique religious history, especially with regard to the early Christian Church and its environment. Contributions on the history of research set out the issues and problems that have arisen from the study of these texts. Particular attention is given to the new finds from Nag Hammadi, which have proved highly significant for a new picture of Gnosis and Manichaeism. The author, who is especially well known for his work of Mandaica, has incorporated this aspect of Gnosis in the overall picture.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004439719
9789004106253
Femme, Gnose et Manichéisme : De l'espace mythique au territoire du réel /
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The present volume offers twelve studies dealing with feminine figures in Gnosticism and Manichaeism. In Part One ("Images et symboles"), the Author unveils the hidden meaning of some feminine figures having played a role on the mythical scene of those trends. Some of these figures, borrowed from other traditions, have been deeply reworked by Gnostics or Manichees assuming thereby a new significance. An intermezzo ("Passages") investigates the presence of women names in titles preserved in the Nag Hammadi Library and the relationship between a female protagonist and a specific literary genre. Part Two ("Histoire et réalité") reconstructs the portraits of some women, especially Manichaean, to whom the historical inquiry gives life again, thanks to a fresh reading of first hand sources, as well of heresiological or archeological testimonies. Some of these studies have been previously published and have now been significantly updated and expanded. Some others are lectures on Feminine in Gnosticism and Manichaeism given by the Author in Sorbonne, Paris, since 1994. *** Les douze études que rassemble ce volume abordent sous différentes facettes le personnage de la femme dans la gnose et dans le manichéisme. Dans la première partie (« Images et symboles »), l'Auteur dévoile la signification cachée de quelques figures féminines qui ont joué un rôle sur la scène du mythe. Si les auteurs gnostiques et manichéens ont emprunté certaines d'entre elles à d'autres traditions, ils ont toutefois remodelé ces figures en profondeur en les chargeant d'une nouvelle signification. La deuxième partie (« Passages ») s'interroge sur la présence de noms féminins dans les titres conservés de la bibliothèque de Nag Hammadi et sur la relation éventuelle entre une protagoniste féminine et le choix d'un genre littéraire. La troisième partie (« Histoire et réalité ») reconstruit les portraits de quelques femmes, surtout manichéennes, dont les traits effacés se précisent grâce à une lecture originale de la documentation directe et des sources hérésiologiques, grâce aussi à l'apport de l'archéologie. Une partie de ces études, publiée auparavant, paraît ici sous une forme largement amplifiée. D'autres reprennent les thèmes de conférences sur la femme dans le manichéisme, données par l'Auteur à la Sorbonne entre 1997 et 2002.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047404019
9789004114524
The Spiritual Seed - The Church of the 'Valentinians' /
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This book is a comprehensive study of "Valentinianism," the most important Gnostic Christian movement in Antiquity. It is the first attempt to make full use of the Valentinian documents from Nag Hammadi as well as the reports of the Church Fathers. The book discusses the difference between the Eastern and the Western branches of Valentinianism, and argues that individual sources must always be understood in the context of the historical development of Valentinian doctrines. It also analyses the ideas about the incarnation, protological theories, and initiation practice, as well as the dynamic relationship between these building-blocks of Valentinian doctrine. A final chapter studies anew the doctrine of Valentinus himself and outlines the history of the movement. The book's usefulness lies in its attempt to bring together for the first time all the sources so as to construct a coherent picture of Valentinian Christianity. This volume is also available as paperback .
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047417163
9789004148024
Studies in Manichaean Literature and Art /
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This volume consists of two sections, written by the two authors. The first section contains a study by Manfred Heuser on The Manichaean Myth According to Coptic Sources . This is the first systematic presentation of the basic myth as reflected in Coptic material. The second part is a collection of essays on Manichaeism by Hans-Joachim Klimkeit. The essays are concerned, inter alia, with Manichaean art and symbolism, including newly found examples of Manichaean art from Central Asia.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004440432
9789004107168
Heralds of That Good Realm : Syro-Mesopotamian Gnosis and Jewish Traditions /
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This volume examines the transmission of biblical pseudepigraphic literature and motifs from their largely Jewish cultural contexts in Palestine to developing gnostic milieux of Syria and Mesopotamia, particularly that one lying behind the birth and growth of Manichaeism. It surveys biblical pseudepigraphic literary activity in the late antique Near East, devoting special attention to revelatory works attributed to the five biblical forefathers who are cited in the Cologne Mani Codex : Adam, Seth, Enosh, Shem, and Enoch. The author provides a philological, literary, and religio-historical analysis of each of the five pseudepigraphic citations contained in the Codex , and offers hypotheses regarding the original provenance of each citation and the means by which these traditions have been adapted to their present context. This study is an important contribution to the scholarly reassessment of the roles played by Second Temple Judaism, Jewish Christian sectarianism, and classical gnosis in the formulation and development of Syro-Mesopotamian religious currents.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004439702
9789004104594
The Nag Hammadi Library after Fifty Years : Proceedings of the 1995 Society of Biblical Literature Commemoration /
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This volume contains 22 papers originally delivered at the Society of Biblical Literature's 1995 commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library. Of these papers, five focus on the theme "Past, Present, and Future Research on the Nag Hammadi Codices" (J.M. Robinson, S. Emmel, B.A. Pearson, H.-M. Schenke, E.M. Yamauchi); thirteen stem from three seminars respectively devoted to the Apocryphon of John (M. Waldstein, F. Wisse, K.L. King, and S. LaPorta), the Gospel of Thomas and the Thomasine tradition (P.-H. Poirier, P.H. Sellew, J.-M. Sevrin, I. Dunderberg, S.R. Johnson, A. DeConick), and the Gospel of Philip ( E. Pagels, E. Thomassen, M. Turner); and two deal with the Valentinian school (C. Markschies, L. Painchaud & T. Janz).
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004439740
9789004108240
Thomasine Traditions in Antiquity : The Social and Cultural World of the Gospel of Thomas /
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This volume is a selection of papers presented to the Society of Biblical Literature Thomasine Traditions Group from 1996 to 2001. The papers focus on the early Christian writings attributed to the apostle Thomas with particular emphasis on the Gospel of Thomas . The collection offers an extensive discussion of the social and cultural world of the gospel, particularly examining its relationship to other contemporary Christian writings and Graeco-Roman literature. The essays give a helpful survey of recent developments and discussions in the field of Thomasine studies. Among many topics dealt with in the volume are the issue of Thomas' "community," the gospel's enigmatic exhortation to become "passers-by," and Thomas' relation to the Hebrew epic, Platonic philosophic traditions, Valentinus, as well as to early gospel harmonies. The volume also proposes a hypothesis of the earliest layer of the Thomasine traditions and presents analyses of Thomas' argumentative rhetology and portrait of Jesus. One essay focuses on the role of the apostle Thomas in the Acts of Thomas . Thomasine Traditions in Antiquity will be a valuable tool for all those interested in Nag Hammadi Studies, Gnosticism, Early Christianity and the history of religion.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047417866
9789004147799
Mental Perception : A Commentary on NHC, VI, 4, The Concept of Our Great Power /
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This book is a new edition and translation of the Nag Hammadi tractate, The Concept of Our Great Power , with introduction and commentary. It suggests that the tractate is composite, and that its basis was a non-Christian Gnostic apocalyptic work whose background may have been Samaritan, and which emanated from a breakaway Simonian group who, unlike other Simonians, believed in celibacy. The tractate later received Christian additions. The last of these may refer to the career of Julian the Apostate. This is a fresh approach to the interpretation of this puzzling tractate.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004439917
9789004116924
Demonstrative Proof in Defence of God : A Study of Titus of Bostra's Contra Manichaeos - The Work's Sources, Aims and Relation to its Contemporary Theology /
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This volume is the first extensive study of a Christian work from the 4th century, Titus of Bostra's Contra Manichaeos , which is the only text from the early Greek Church setting out a comprehensive theodicy. The study illuminates the text's relation to contemporary theology and philosophy and interprets it in the light of the ideological conflicts between pagans, Catholic Christians and Manichaeans in the 4th century. It includes an examination of the possible Manichaean sources used by Titus, and, furthermore, a critical text study and translation of central passages in Contra Manichaeos , based both on the Greek text and the Syriac version of it.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047405450
9789004138834
Studies in Gnosticism and Alexandrian Christianity /
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The discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library (1945) has given an enormous impetus not only to the study of ancient Gnosticism but also to that of early Christianity in general. Most of the studies contained in this volume deal with mythological conceptions and theological ideas found in various Nag Hammadi writings. The gnostic views on the nature of God and on creation and salvation receive particular attention, ranging from Philo to the medieval Cathars. The Nag Hammadi Library also shed new light on the development of early Alexandrian Christianity and its theology. The book contains six studies which explicitly deal with these topics. This volume is of interest to students of Gnosticism, early Christianity and Graeco-Roman religious and philosophical ideas in general.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004439689
9789004106543
The Light and the Darkness : Studies in Manichaeism and its World /
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This is the second volume of scholarly studies in Manichaeism which were originally presented before the Manichaean Studies Group of the Society of Biblical Literature from 1997 through 1999. Like its predecessor, Emerging from Darkness: Studies in the Recovery of Manichaean Sources (Brill, 1997), this volume presents the latest international scholarship from leading researchers in the growing field of Manichaean studies. Here the researchers move from the continuing foundational work of recovering Manichaean sources to the necessary task of understanding the relationship of Manichaeans to the larger world in which they lived. That relationship took several distinct forms, and the contributions in this book analyze those forms, examining the relationship of Manichaeism with diverse cultural, social and religious traditions.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004439900
9789004116733
The Gospel According to Philip : The Sources and Coherence of an Early Christian Collection /
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Study of the Gospel according to Philip, an important gnostic Christian text, has been hampered by unresolved questions about the unity, genre, and sectarian contexts of the work. This book argues that terms of self-designation, use of controversial vocabulary, style, hermeneutic strategies, and theological commitments together present persuasive evidence of derivation from multiple sectarian milieux. The document's organizing principles are found to be in accord with the excerpting and collection practices of Late Antiquity. The coherence of the text lies in its compiler's distinctive interests and choices, not in the uniformity of its materials. The persuasive case made by this book will help to advance research on this significant document of early Christianity.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004439672
9789004104433
Jesu Lehren im Thomasevangelium /
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In this book, Thomas Zöckler treats the Gospel of Thomas as a witness to a distinctive early branch of the tradition of Jesus' teachings which shows a variety of theological notions and ideas. The author first considers Thomas' position within the early sayings tradition, summarizing the main arguments for this gospel's independence from the Synoptic Gospels, and comparing in detail the versions of the four wisdom sayings in Thomas and Q. In a second part, Zöckler identifies three theological motifs that dominate Thomas' sayings collection (Searching and Finding, Life and Death, Twoness and Oneness) and interprets the selected sayings which substantiate the relevance and significance of these motifs. This detailed exegetical investigation contributes to the growing recognition that teachings which the Gospel of Thomas ascribes to Jesus, many of which do not fit the Synoptic Gospel's theology and picture of Jesus, clearly belonged nevertheless to an early stage of the sayings tradition. At the same time, Zöckler's work adds to our growing understanding of the meaning of these teachings.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004439870
9789004114456
Manichaeism in Central Asia and China /
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The discovery of genuine Manichaean texts from sites like Turfan and Tun-huang since the beginning of the century has greatly increased our knowledge of the teaching of Manichaeism and of its amazing geographical spread in pre-Islamic times. This volume brings together the contributions by a leading authority on the subject including a long survey article on the history of the discovery of the texts from Central Asia as well as articles focusing on some of these texts and on the incredible history of adaptation and survival of the sect in China proper. The studies include many Chinese texts on Manichaeism made available for the first time in their original scripts and in translation. The volume also contains the first ever working catalogue of all Manichaean texts (in western as well as oriental languages) published up to 1997.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004439832
9789004104051
The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Book II and III : Book II and III (Sects 47-80, De Fide) /
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Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis on Cyprus from about 367 until 402, was a witness to and participant in the troubled era after the Council of Nicaea. His Panarion , or "Medicine Chest," is an historical encyclopedia of ideas and movements he considered heretical, and of the replies Christians ought to make to them. Book II and III deal with the Trinity, the Person of Christ, the divinity and personality of the Holy Spirit, Manichaeism, penance, matrimony and celibacy, monastic regulations, the Christian Calendar, all hotly contested topics in the fourth century. Book I, issued by Brill in 1987, concerns Gnosticism and Jewish Christianity. Together, the two volumes are the only complete translation of the Panarion in a modern language.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004439665
9789004098985
Emerging from Darkness : Studies in the Recovery of Manichaean Sources /
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Modern interpretation of the Manichaean religious tradition requires a firm foundation in the sober and meticulous reconstruction of highly fragmentary sources. The studies collected in this volume contribute to such a foundation by bringing new primary texts to the public for the first time, extracting new data from previously known sources, and defining and delimiting important but previously neglected sets of material. The studies are authored by an international group of leading scholars in the fields of ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern studies, comparative religion, early Christianity, patristics, art history, Turkic studies and Coptology. The textual and art historical materials examined possess distinctive histories, character and significance representing the broad geographical range of Manichaeism from Algeria to China. By elucidating these essential remains of the Manichaean religion, the comprehensive treatments contained in Emerging from Darkness provide a provocative picture of Manichaeism as a diverse and productive tradition in a variety of settings and media. The volume will be foundational for future scholarly studies on the sources presented and for studies in Manichaeism and late antique religions in general.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004439726
9789004107601
For the Children, Perfect Instruction : Studies in Honor of Hans-Martin Schenke on the Occasion of the Berliner Arbeitskreis für koptisch-gnostische Schriften's Thirtieth Year /
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Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin Schenke, internationally renowned New Testament scholar and pioneer researcher in Gnosticism as it became brilliantly illuminated by the publication of the Nag Hammadi Codices, organized a small group of students and colleagues in "East Berlin" in the early 1970s to investigate the difficult new primary sources from the "Coptic Gnostic Library" discovered in Upper Egypt in 1945. This group, the "Berliner Arbeitskreis für Koptisch-Gnostische Schriften," published its first results in 1972, and Prof. Schenke and the Arbeitskreis have been at the forefront of Nag Hammadi studies ever since. The present volume is a collection of twenty-seven studies by colleagues, students, and friends of Prof. Schenke in honor of his many contributions to the study of Gnosticism and related religious phenomena in Antiquity, Coptic language and literature, and the New Testament. The book also includes an extensive bibliography of Prof. Schenke's own publications, whose breadth and insightfulness are appropriately mirrored in the variety of contributions to this rich volume.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004439924
9789004126725
Gnostic Revisions of Genesis Stories and Early Jesus Traditions /
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This book argues that the intellectuals behind early Gnostic revisions of Genesis stories were second-century Christians with an ideological background in Greek-Hellenistic philosophy, who adopted and reinterpreted biblical narrative materials with a view to exposing the inferiority of the creator-God of Genesis and the ignorance of those Christians who continued to worship this God. It also discusses controversies between Gnostic and early orthodox Christians about the person and the mission of Jesus Christ. The first part examines the possible polemical function, the philosophical thought structure, and the narrative scheme of the Genesis rewritings, and continues with studies of individual episodes of the Gnostic myth, from the creation of Adam up to the story of Noah and the Flood. The second part focuses on Gnostic reinterpretations of the teaching and the passion of Jesus. The book includes essays about Gnostic theology, ancient and modern readings of Gnostic texts, and an appendix dealing with the ancient baptist community in which Mani was reared.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047417057
9789004145108