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Gnostic Texts
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Gnostic Texts gathers Pistis Sophia, The Gospel of Thomas and The Nag Hammadi Library, the modern discovery that recovered most of what survives of early Christian Gnosticism. None of these were ever part of any mainstream Christian canon; the Gospel of Thomas and Pistis Sophia both also appear among the scripturetext type's non canonical Christian texts, catalogued there for their canonical status rather than their esoteric content.
Facts
Origins
Era of Compositionc. 2nd-4th century CE; the Nag Hammadi codices themselves were copied in the mid-fourth century 2 Place of OriginEgypt and the eastern Mediterranean; the codices were found near Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt in 1945 2 LanguageCoptic, translated from Greek originals 2 Overview
What Defines This GroupingWritings of the diverse second- to fourth-century currents that taught salvation through gnosis and, in many cases, a sharp division between the material world and a hidden higher God. Since 1945 they are read from the Nag Hammadi codices themselves rather than through the summaries of their opponents. 2 Status
Standing as a Comparative CategoryUsed, but its validity as a comparative category is disputed 3 Learn More
The Gnostic texts
This group holds texts of Gnosticism, the diverse early religious currents, flourishing in the first centuries CE, that taught salvation through secret knowledge (gnosis) and often a sharp dualism between the material world and a hidden higher God. Many were long known only from their opponents until the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library in 1945.
The browser will find the works the atlas gathers here. The entries describe each text's teaching and history, noting the recovery of Gnostic writings in the twentieth century and their varied relation to early Christianity.
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