Is Gnosticism Egyptian?
The Gnostics were primarily an Egyptian movement, developing traditional religion in new directions and only later syncretized with the Judeo-Christian tradition; Egyptian material was already being incorporated into Judaism prior to the revolution that spawned Gnosticism; or.
What are the gnostic texts?
The Gnostic Gospels: The 52 texts discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt include ‘secret’ gospels poems and myths attributing to Jesus sayings and beliefs which are very different from the New Testament. Scholar Elaine Pagels explores these documents and their implications.
Do Gnostics believe in God?
Gnosticism is the belief that human beings contain a piece of God (the highest good or a divine spark) within themselves, which has fallen from the immaterial world into the bodies of humans. All physical matter is subject to decay, rotting, and death.
What does the Nag Hammadi say?
The gospel of Philip, one of the Nag Hammadi texts, describes Mary Magdalene as a “companion” of Jesus “whom the Savior loved more than all the other disciples and [whom] he kissed often on the mouth.”
Where can I find the Gnostic scriptures?
Other important primary Gnostic texts – ancient writings discovered in the century before the recovery of the Nag Hammadi Library, including texts like the Gospel of Mary – are cataloged in the Classical Gnostic Scriptures section of the The Gnostic Society Library.
What’s in the Gnostic Society Library?
Other important primary Gnostic texts – ancient writings discovered in the century before the recovery of the Nag Hammadi Library, including texts like the Gospel of Mary – are cataloged in the Classical Gnostic Scriptures section of the The Gnostic Society Library. Many scriptures in the Nag Hammadi collection were influence by Valentinus.
What are the best Gnostic books to read?
• The Secret Book of John: Perhaps the quintessential Gnostic text, the Secret Book of John claims to give its readers a front-row seat to what took place in Heaven prior to creation, the tragic creation of the world by a monstrous pseudo-god, and the true God’s attempts to save the sparks of divinity that were trapped on earth.
Is the Nag Hammadi library a gnostic bible?
Although the Nag Hammadi Library contains an assortment of philosophically and mythologically related texts, it wasn’t a “Gnostic Bible” or anything of the sort, because no official canon of Gnostic scriptures existed among any Gnostic group that we know of in antiquity. [2]