Product Description

This revised, expanded, and updated edition of The Nag Hammadi Library is the only complete, one-volume, modern language version of the renowned library of fourth-century manuscripts discovered in Egypt in 1945.

Amazon.com Review

The 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

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Great book        Rating:

Very interesting book.Profesional translation.I am interested in history of christian religon and I am sure it is a milestone in understandig it.worth buying.

Nag Hammadi - the hidden gospels        Rating:

The Nag Hammadi Library: A Translation of the Gnostic ScripturesThe gnostic gospels revealed. Highly recommended.

Agree with R Wood        Rating:

yet once again i side with the minority (ck out all my book and music reviews, *the lone voice crying in the wilderness*)..anyway i gave the book 5 stars due to the content as being a manifestation of man;s spirit yearning to know deeper truths ina very archaic, hightened sense of active imagination..
Yet how can we in the 21st post computer era (computers we know are not our savior from suffering), benifit from a language that does not answer the questions which afflict our souls>
Wood rightly points out, this mysterious hidden, cryptic language, leaves one more estranged from the real world , than does connects us to our spiritual crisis. *but there is little food for the soul*
having made photo copies of most of the important papers from Brill on Gnostic studies (Gilles Quispel being the main authority in gnostic studies), I am left pondering the importance of it all. Its sort of *dry bones*.
Jung might have poured over these texts, and given us all a new symbolical insight into this *gnostic mind* of Valentinus, Basilides, and a host of other great gnostic minds.
However, it is St Paul which unveils the hidden mysteries in the person of Jesus Christ, Jesus gnostic of all gnostics, being God Himself in flesh. As if Christ's life and words were not enough to satisfy the gonstic mind, God gave us Paul to bring a sharper image into Christ's gnostic nature.
Christ was gnostic....I can just imagine the contorted twisted faces on fundamental christian faces reading those words. Christ The Gnostic. .
So as says Wood, *if you area seeker of spiritual truth (gnosis), look elsewhere*.
here's where I turn to Carl Jung ( his psy and religion vol, exception, too religious in context)), and Carl's favorite church mystic, Meister Eckhart , *Condemned, rejected by The Authorities*...I also turn to my ancestor Horace Bushnell, a gostic himself who was as with all gnostics *rejected , condemned by The Authorities*
The Brill series of gnostic studies not once point out that these *gospels* are superior to the 4 NT gospels of the life of Christ. These scholars never speak in favor of these gnostic gospels. These scholars show that there were men in the 1st,2nd century who had yearnings to know, but I surmise not having access to Paul's letters, nor the 4 gospels, were influnced by numerous mystic cults which flowered in Alexandria, Egypt in the 1st century.
Yet Elaine Pagels, and many others are benifiting from these flimsy age torn papyrus, and proclaiming *at last a higher gospel*
Now St Paul's *we battle not with flesh and blood, but principalities and powers*...how gnostic is this!!! Thus Paul goes on to say *only if you were mature enough I could give you meat, but alas after all this time, you remain on the simple milk*...Paul was gnostic, he saw the *deep things of God*..as with today, christians are fixed on the *milk* and never come to the deep *meat* of the Word, which is Christ....and so shall it remain,,yet there area few now who are seeking the deeper....*He who knocks CONTINUALLY, w/o stopping, the door will be opened*
There is much gnosis in Jesus sayings and in Paul, which held against these *gnostic gospels* are seen as *lofty , wild imaginations* and not much more.,.,,Not to say that one can't find a jem or 2, now and then. But the insights are skimpy at best, *I would not miss it if the book disappeared from my library*..Jung gives breathe and color to the yearnings of this gnostic spirit in a form that can be digested.,,Though Jung himself says I believe in his Nietzche seminar *many of my beliefs are reflected in St Paul.*
Our purpose is not to rejoice in the discovery of hidden gnostic-cult papyrus writings, but in the discovery of truth.
Something which has evaded the institutional church for 1800 yrs.
As St John was *the prophet to prepare, announce, make aware the masses of the comming Son Of God, Jesus Christ*...so too will God raise up a few to announce the Return of God's Son, Resurrected in Flesh, will come to rule the nations as witha Rod Of Iron..
Christ 1st comming was as a sheep to the slaughter. Now Christ returns as The King Of all nations.
The end of all gnosis is Christ, as Christ will be the gnostic light that quickens all mankind, None will be blind, all will know Christ as the wisdom of God....yet before this must come the Great Tribulation.

Great Reference Books        Rating:

Due to its superior numerical notational system, popularity, academic acceptance, and comprehensiveness "The Nag Hammadi Library" (NHL) by James M. Robinson is a must for every researcher of these texts. As one of the editors of the cross references for "The Comprehensive New Testament," I greatly appreciated the superior numerical notational system created by Robinson's team.

The NHL consists of complete and fragmentary parts of thirteen codices in Coptic. Originally composed prior to C.E. 400, the Nag Hammadi Library was discovered in 1945 buried in a large jar outside the Egyptian city of Nag Hammadi. The Nag Hammadi Library (NHL) is the single largest source of the writings of those Gnostics who are referred to in 1Timothy 6:20-21 and Irenaeus' "Against Heresies." In addition to such texts as the gospel of Thomas, the NHL also contains texts from other traditions including hermetic texts and portions of Plato's republic.

The works in the Nag Hammadi Library explore topics such as the Word or Logos, the Christ, Jesus, the Incarnation, the Son of God, and the Virgin Birth. A comparison of the portions of the NHL text concerning the Logos and the description of the Logos in the first chapter of the Gospel of John leads to the interesting question - which came first? Did John compose his description of the Logos as counter polemic to heretical Gnostic texts as some traditional sources seem to imply or is the opposite true?

The tracts that I found to be of the most interest for researching alternative opinions on orthodox gnosis were: A Valentinian Exposition, Gospel of Philip, Hypostasis of the Archons, Trimorphic Protennoia, Tripartite Tractate. These tracts gave good indication that while they didn't have the answer they at least knew what was being discussed and debated. Or to put it figuratively, while they didn't have the key they at least knew the location of the lock that they were trying to pick. From that standpoint, these tracts to some degree agree with the Pharisees, the Qumran Sect, and Christians concerning the location of the "lock." However their proposed method of opening the "lock" by using information that has been secretly handed down, rhetorical analysis, and/or without the need for the Holy Spirit is more akin to that advocated by the Pharisees. Whereas the Qumran Sect and Christianity maintain that the "lock" can't be opened by anyone who is not inspired by the Holy Spirit.

The NHL is not a book for the novice. It is helpful if a person first has a thorough understanding of the debate between the Pharisees and their oral Torah and the Qumran Sect and its hidden or nistar torah (see Exodus 34:33-35) and the implications of this debate in Christianity with regard to 1Corinthians 2:7-16, 2Corinthians 3:12-4:6, Hebrews 8:5, Luke 24:44-46, John 5:46.

A Definitive New Translation? The Three Sins of James M.Robinson        Rating:


"As with all the Aeons, the Aeon of Barbelo exists, also endowed with the types and forms of those who truly exist, the image of Kalyptos. And endowed with the intellectual Word of these, he bears the noetic male protophanes like an image, and he acts within the individuals either with craftor with skill or with partial instinct." Allogenes (XI,3)




A New Definitive Translation?
Not arguing that this work was "The Most Important book of many decades," and a significant event for Coptologists and experts in historians of early Christianity, this fascinating collection did not catalyze an additional zeal for understanding of the formative years of early Christianity, in Egypt and across the Mediterranean, with the exception of few including K. Rudolph and B. Pearson.
James M. Robinson, who made a heroic accomplishment used few Coptic academics and novice learners to produce a literal translation of the, probably, most complicated mixture of continuously developing thoughts of Alexandrine Gnostics from the second to the fourth century. Outside Egypt, such dogmas were not understood, that Valentinus was very close to be elected the Bishop of Rome, short of few votes!
The second step in exposing this fine speculative elitist thought, is to have a "Dynamic Equivalence," translation which could enrich newly initiated scholars, and an honest concise popular version, for the general reader that could confirm rather than distract their own beliefs.

The Coptic Gnostic Library:
The discovery of the Coptic Gnostic Library in ancient Chenoboskion, was a very sensational archeological discovery, embarked upon by mere accident, by roaming young shepherds in mid upper Egypt, raising scholars speculations on the Origins and development of early Christian thought, in Egypt and elsewhere. The codices, were hidden in an earthen jar buried in Hamra damm (blood red), in the Tarif hill side of the Western Egyptian desert. The big catch, a collection of 13 ancient codices (leather-bound books), were found in a remarkably preserved condition and constituted in total 45 texts, representing previously lost, or unknown apocryphal Christian writings, often described as 'Gnostic' in character, that were determined later to date probably since around 390 CE. The young men who found these priceless codices did not have the slightest idea of their value, that they burnt some to brew their black tea! The precious manuscripts came close to disappearing again, just vanishing on the international black market, through a Cypriot dealer.

Role of Coptic Scholarship:
Two distinguished Coptic scholars, Drs. Togo Mina and Pahor Labib, the consecutive devoted directors of the Coptic Museum, Old Cairo, Egypt, retrieved, bought, and protected this Coptic treasure against theft, political turmoil and lawsuits. Togo Mina, who according to Jean Doresse, 'knew his Christian Egypt well,' started in 1947 the identification of these Gnostic codices written in Sahidic Coptic, when the eminent Coptic scholar, Dr. G. Sobhy directed the dealer to the Coptic Museum. Mina granted Jean Doresse, of the French Archaeological in stitute, the permission to consult with two experts Drition and Puech, and invited them to Cairo. He also sought the competent aid of professor W. Till, of the German Academy, who was commissioned to publish two parallel texts of the Berlin Codex, but Togo Mina died unexpectedly, in 1949, at the young age of 43.
After a time of chaos in the Egyptian domestic scene in the early 1950's, Pahor Labib, as soon as he was assigned director of the Coptic Museum, set a new committee of Coptic and international experts, for the codices translation and publication, but only two of five European experts could participate, due to the outbreak of the Anglo-French hostilities over the nationalization of the Suez canal, in late October 1956.

American Coptic Scholarship:
Liberating American scholarship from the shadow of European thought giants, was to a great extent an outcome of J. Robinson's independent Scholarly enterprise. In his biography, S. Patterson qualifies the genius of James Robinson, thus "In 1965 Robinson visited Cairo to inquire about the apocalypse of Adam, a tractate from the as yet little known collection of texts from the referred to now as the Nag Hammadi library. When he found that access to the manuscripts was restricted to a small group of Europeans (very few American scholars hardly knew any Coptic), whose work to date had placed only a small fraction of the texts in the public domain, Robinson responded with a combination of espionage and diplomacy. With transcriptions based on photographs of a small number of texts supplied by the German Archaelogical Institute in Cairo, Robinson assembled a group of young American and European scholars willing to learn Coptic, and started The Coptic Gnostic Library Project."

The Sins of Robinson:
In spite of the great regard that elite Copts hold for James M. Robinson, and the Institute of antiquity and Christianity, they feel sour about his choice of 'Nag Hammadi,' a non related city of an Arabic, non Egyptian settlement, for a title to such fascinating speculating perspective on Jesus and his teachings. Although they were Coptic translations from Greek, they were most probably composed by Alexandrine Gnostics, in Alexandria's lingua Franca. Copts feel robbed of a part of their heritage by eliminating the Coptic name Chenoboskion, which Mina and Labib selected, and Doresse used for his classic book. Those writings provide, in Robinson's words, "an initial orientation into this newly emerging dimension of early Christianity for the open minded reader."
The second sin of American pseudo-scholarship, which Robinson criticized in the introduction to his book, "The Secrets of Judas". In his conclusion he wrote, "What of the national Geographic Society's 'calculated sensationalism' and the 'assorted scholars' involved in the 'scholarly complicity in it' ?"
The third common sin is spearheaded by Dr. Bart Ehrman of UNC, Chapel Hill who after founding his career on the writings of Didymus, the great blind dean of Alexandria's Catechetical Didaskalia, started to spread unbased or documented lies about 'How the Orthodox corrupted the scripture'. Many of the American scholars still follow outdated theories like Bauer's Early Egyptian Gnostic Christianity. Few including Birger Pearson and Norman Russell, could tell the true story.

The Emergence of the Christian Religion: Essays on Early Christianity
GNOSTICISM, JUDAISM, AND EGYPTIAN CHRISTIANITY

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