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Loading... The Nag Hammadi Library: A Translation of the Gnostic Scriptures (edition 1981)559 | 3 | 42,867 |
(4.36) | 17 | He Nag Hammadi Library was discovered in 1945 buried in a large stone jar in the desert outside the modern Egyptian city of Nag Hammadi. It is a collection of religious and philosophic texts gathered and translated into Coptic by fourth-century Gnostic Christians and translated into English by dozens of highly reputable experts. First published in 1978, this is the revised 1988 edition supported by illuminating introductions to each document. The library itself is a diverse collection of texts that the Gnostics considered to be related to their heretical philosophy in some way. There are 45 separate titles, including a Coptic translation from the Greek of two well-known works: the Gospel of Thomas, attributed to Jesus' brother Judas, and Plato's Republic. The word gnosis is defined as "the immediate knowledge of spiritual truth." This doomed radical sect believed in being here now--withdrawing from the contamination of society and materiality--and that heaven is an internal state, not some place above the clouds. That this collection has resurfaced at this historical juncture is more than likely no coincidence. --P. Randall Cohan --This text refers to the Paperback edition.… (more) |
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. ▾Conversations (About links) No current Talk conversations about this book. » See also 17 mentions » Add other authors (46 possible) Author name | Role | Type of author | Work? | Status | James M. Robinson | — | primary author | all editions | calculated | Attridge, Harold W. | Translator | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Böhlig, Alexander | Translator | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Bethge, Hans-Gebhard | Translator | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Brashler, James | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Bullard, Roger Aubrey | Translator | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Dirkse, Peter A. | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Emmel, Stephen | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Gibbons, Joseph A. | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Giverson, Søren | Translator | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Goehring, James E. | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Hendrick, Charles W. | Translator | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Isenberg, Wesley William | Translator | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Jackson, Howard M. | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | King, Karen L. | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Koester, Helmut | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Lambdin, Thomas O. | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Layton, Bentley | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | MacRae, George W. | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Meyer, Marvin W. | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Murdock, William R. | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Pagels, Elaine H. | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Parrott, Douglas M. | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Peel, Malcolm L. | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Roberg, Michel | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Robinson, William C., Jr. | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Schoedel, William R. | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Scopello, Maddalena | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Sieber, John H. | — | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Smith, Richard | Afterword | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Turner, John D. | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Williams, Francis E. | — | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Wilson, Robert McLachlan | Translator | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Wintermute, Orval Stewart | Translator | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Wisse, Frederik | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Zandee, Jan | Contributor | secondary author | all editions | confirmed | Smith, Richard | Afterword | secondary author | some editions | confirmed |
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▾References References to this work on external resources. Wikipedia in English (19)▾Book descriptions He Nag Hammadi Library was discovered in 1945 buried in a large stone jar in the desert outside the modern Egyptian city of Nag Hammadi. It is a collection of religious and philosophic texts gathered and translated into Coptic by fourth-century Gnostic Christians and translated into English by dozens of highly reputable experts. First published in 1978, this is the revised 1988 edition supported by illuminating introductions to each document. The library itself is a diverse collection of texts that the Gnostics considered to be related to their heretical philosophy in some way. There are 45 separate titles, including a Coptic translation from the Greek of two well-known works: the Gospel of Thomas, attributed to Jesus' brother Judas, and Plato's Republic. The word gnosis is defined as "the immediate knowledge of spiritual truth." This doomed radical sect believed in being here now--withdrawing from the contamination of society and materiality--and that heaven is an internal state, not some place above the clouds. That this collection has resurfaced at this historical juncture is more than likely no coincidence. --P. Randall Cohan --This text refers to the Paperback edition. ▾Library descriptions No library descriptions found. ▾LibraryThing members' description
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(These 13 books came from 4 separate ancient libraries, but who put them together and buried them under a large rock is a mystery.)
Not all the works in this collection are Gnostic (there is a portion of Plato, for instance) but the ones that are opened a new era in the study of this ancient religion, allowing specialists to read what the Gnostics had to say for themselves, in depth, rather than relying on the reports, allegations, and sometimes garbled information from their ancient opponents.
This careful translation tracks the line and page numbers of the 13 ancient books and shows where there are gaps in the original text. The introductory and final essay (as well as the short introduction to each work) are very helpful and are worth reading with care.
A perennially useful book for anyone interested in Gnosticism, Roman religion beyond Jupiter and Juno, or Late Antiquity.
(Note that the Gospel of Mary came from another previously discovered ancient book , the Berlin Codex. Its current partial state is due to the vicissitudes of history and specialists lament this fact more than anyone: most of the works translated in _The Nag Hammadi Library_ survive in only one copy ... so any damage to that copy is a loss to history.)
-Kushana ( )