Product Description

First published in 1978, "The Nag Hammadi Library" was widely acclaimed by critics and scholars alike. Containing many of the writings of the Gnostics since the time of Christ, this was the work that launched modern Gnostic studies and exposed a movement whose teachings are in may ways as relevant today as they were sixteen centuries ago. Although some of the texts had appeared in other translations, the 1978 edition was the first and only translation of these ancient and fascinating manuscripts to appear in one volume. This new edition is the result of ten years of additional research, and editorial and critical work. Every translation has been changed or added to; many have been thoroughly revised. Unearthed in 1945 near the town of Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt, the texts literally begin where the Dead Sea Scrolls end. Their discovery is seen as equally significant, bringing to light a long-hidden well of new information, sources, and insights into early Judaism and the roots of Christianity. Each text is accompanied by a new and expanded introduction. Also included are a revised general introduction and an afterword discussing the modern relevance of Gnosticism, from Voltaire and Blake through Melville and Yeats to Jack Kerouac and science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. The translations and introductions to the Nag Hammadi texts are by members of the Coptic Gnostic Library Project, which includes such scholars as Helmut Koester, George McRae, and Elaine Pagels.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1446108 in Books
• Published on: 1996-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 550 pages

From Amazon.co.uk
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 philosophical texts gathered and translated into Coptic by fourth-century Gnostic Christians. These texts have since been 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 books: The Gospel of Thomas attributed to Jesus's brother Judas, and Plato's Republic. The word "gnosis" is defined as "the immediate knowledge of spiritual truth", thus this doomed radical sect believed in being here now, in 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 come back into the light of day at this historical juncture is more than likely no coincidence. --P. Randall Cohan

Review
'"This definitive translation has become a standard since its first publication in 1977.'
J.K. Elliott, "Novum Testamentum, 1991.
'"Dieses Buch ist ein Meilenstein.'
Wolf-Peter Funk, "Theologische Literaturzeitung, 1981.

About the Author

James M. Robinson, consultant for this collection, is widely known for his groundbreaking contribution as the permanent secretary of UNESCO's International Committee for the Nag Hammadi codices, and his many published works on Gnostic texts and the Sayings Gospel Q.