Part of a series on Gnosticism

History of Gnosticism This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Image File history File links Simple_crossed_circle. ... The History of Gnosticism is subject to a great deal of debate and interpretation. ...

Gnosticism History of Gnosticism Mandaeism Manichaeism This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The History of Gnosticism is subject to a great deal of debate and interpretation. ... Mandaeism or Mandaeanism (Mandaic: mandaiuta) is a blanket term for the religion of the Mandaeans (Classical Mandaic mandaiia, Neo-Mandaic Mandeyānā) who are the followers of Mendā d-Heyyi (Mandaic manda Knowledge of Life). Mandaeism is a monotheistic religion practiced primarily in southern Iraq and the Iranian province of... Manichean priests, writing at their desk, with panel inscription in Sogdian. ...

Syrian-Egyptic Gnosticism Sethians Thomasines Valentinians Basilideans Bardaisanites Syrian-Egyptian Gnostic Schools were ancient Gnostic sects from around the middle east, with some Judaic influences. ... Sethian is also a Finnish progressive metal band. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      Thomas, also called St Thomas, Judas... Valentinius, more usually called Valentinus (c. ... The Basilideans were a Gnostic sect founded by Basilides of Alexandria in the 2nd century. ... Bar Daisan (154-222), also latinized as Bardesanes, was a Syrian gnostic and an outstanding scientist, scholar, and poet. ...

Proto-Gnostics Philo Simon Magus Cerinthus Basilides Philo (20 BC - 50 AD), known also as Philo of Alexandria and as Philo Judaeus And as Yedidia, was a Hellenized Jewish philosopher born in Alexandria, Egypt. ... Simon Magus, also known as Simon the Sorcerer and Simon of Gitta, is the name used by the ancient Christian Orthodoxy to refer to someone they identified as a Samaritan (Proto-)Gnostic, and, also according to ancient Christian Orthodoxy, founder of his own religious sect. ... Cerinthus was the leader of a late first-century or early 2nd century sect, an offshoot of the Ebionites yet similar to Gnosticism in some respects, interesting in that it demonstrates the wide range of conclusions that could be drawn from the life and teachings of Jesus. ... Basilides redirects here. ...

Fathers of Christian Gnosticism Theudas Valentinus Marcion of Sinope The death of Simon Magus. ... Theudas was the name of a Christian Gnostic thinker, who was a follower of Paul of Tarsus. ... This article is about the Gnostic Valentinus. ... Marcion of Sinope (ca. ...

Early Gnosticism Ophites Cainites Carpocratians Borborites Marcionism Thomasines Early Gnosticism Ophites Cainites Carpocratians Borborites Thomasines ... The Ophites is a blanket term for numerous gnostic sects in Syria and Egypt about 100 A.D. The common trait was that these sects would give great importance to the serpent of the biblical tale of Adam and Eve, connecting the Tree of Knowledge (of Good and Evil) to... The Cainites, or Cainians, were a Gnostic and Antinomian sect who were known to worship Cain as the first victim of the Demiurge Jehovah, the Old Testament God, who was identified by many groups of gnostics as evil. ... Carpocrates was an early Gnostic from sometime in the second century A.D. who was mentioned by Clement of Alexandria in the Mar Saba letter discovered in 1958 by ancient historian Morton Smith. ... According to Epiphanius of Salamis book Panarion/Adversus Haereses chapter xxv, xxvi and Theodorets Haereticarum Fabularum Compendium the borborites (or barbelos, barbelites, phibionites, stratiotici, coddians etc) were a extraordinarily filthy and evil Gnostic ophite sect. ... In Early Christianity Marcionism is the dualist belief system that originates in the teachings of Marcion of Sinope at Rome around the year 144 (115 years and 6 months from the Crucifixion, according to Tertullians reckoning in Adversus Marcionem, xv). ... ...

Medieval Gnosticism Paulicianism Tondrakians Bogomilism Bosnian Church Catharism Paulicianism was a Gnostic and Manichaean Christian sect that florished between 650 and 872 in Anatolia, outgoing from Armenia and the Eastern Themes of the Byzantine Empire. ... Tondrakians were members of an anti-feudal, heretical Christian sect that flourished in medieval Armenia between the early 9th century and 11th century and centered around the city of Tondrak, north of Lake Van. ... Bogomilism is the Gnostic dualistic sect, the synthesis of Armenian Paulicianism and the local Slavonic Church reform movement in Bulgaria between 950 and 1396 and in the Byzantine Empire between 1018 and 1186. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Cathars being expelled from Carcassonne in 1209. ...

Gnosticism in modern times Gnosticism in popular culture This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... // Literature Harold Bloom explores Gnosticism in his novel The Flight to Lucifer: A Gnostic Fantasy, and, with William Golding, traces Gnosticism in American beliefs in The American Religion: The Emergence of the Post-Christian Nation. ...

Gnostic texts Nag Hammadi library Codex Tchacos Gnosticism and the New Testament Gnostic Gospels Gnosticism used a number of religious texts that are preserved, in part or whole, in ancient manuscripts or are lost but mentioned critically in Patristic writings. ... The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. ... The Codex Tchacos is an ancient Egyptian Coptic papyrus document containing early Christian Gnostic texts: The Gospel of Judas The First Apocalypse of James The Letter of Peter to Philip A fragment of Allogenes It is important because it contains the first known surviving text of the Gospel of Judas... This article discusses the relationship between Gnosticism and the New Testament. ... The Gnostic Gospels are a class of writings about the life of Jesus which are associated with the early mystical trend of Gnostic Christianity. ...

Related articles Gnosis Pythagoreanism Neoplatonism and Gnosticism Esoteric Christianity Theosophy This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Bust of Pythagoras Pythagoreanism is a term used for the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans, who were much influenced by mathematics and probably a main inspirational source for Plato and platonism. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Esoteric Christianity refers to the occult study and the mystic living of the esoteric knowledge related to what adherents view as the inner teachings of early Christianity, seen as a Mystery religion. ... Theosophy, literally god-wisdom (Greek: θεοσοφία theosophia), designates several bodies of ideas. ... This box: view • talk • edit

The Secret Book of John (Apocryphon of John)^[1] is a second-century Sethian gnostic text of secret teachings. It describes Jesus Christ reappearing after his Ascension and giving secret knowledge (gnosis) to the apostle John. This book is reputed to bear this revelation. Sethian is also a Finnish progressive metal band. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... Christ is the English term for the Greek word (Christós), which literally means The Anointed One. ... This article is about the Ascension of Jesus Christ. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... John the Apostle (Hebrew: Johanan ;Greek Ιωάννης, see names of John) was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. ...

Overview

The opening words of the Secret Book of John are "The teaching of the saviour, and the revelation of the mysteries and the things hidden in silence, even these things which he taught John, his disciple." The author John is immediately specified as "John, the brother of James — who are the sons of Zebedee." One of the two distinct surviving versions is thought to be the original, of which the other was a lengthy embellishment. The later version is also so restructured that, although both versions have the same themes, few words and verses are had in common. Savior refers to a person who helps people achieve Salvation. ... John the Apostle (Hebrew: Johanan ;Greek Ιωάννης, see names of John) was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. ... John the Apostle (Hebrew: Johanan ;Greek Ιωάννης, see names of John) was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. ... Saint James the Great (d. ... Zebedee (zibhdi, the gift of God; Zebedaios) is a name used in several contexts: In the Bible, Zebedee was a Hebrew fisherman, the husband of Salome, and the father of James and John, two of the Apostles of Jesus Zebedee was a character in the popular BBC childrens programme...

Many Christians in the second century hoped to receive a transcendent personal revelation such as Paul was able to report to the church at Corinth (2 Corinthians 12:1-4) or that John experienced on the isle of Patmos, which inspired his Revelation^[2]. As Acts narrates what happened after the time Jesus ascended to heaven, so the Apocryphon of John begins at the same point but relates how Christ reappeared to John. Paul of Tarsus (b. ... Skala viewed from the Monastery of Agios Ioannis Theologos, one of the UN World Heritage Sites. ... The Revelation of St. ...

The remainder of the book is a vision of spiritual realms and of the prior history of spiritual humanity.

History

A book called the Apocryphon of John was referred to by Irenaeus in Adversus Haereses, written about 185 AD, among the writings that teachers in second-century Christian communities were producing, "an indescribable number of secret and illegitimate writings, which they themselves have forged, to bewilder the minds of foolish people, who are ignorant of the true scriptures" ^[3] — scriptures which Irenaeus himself was establishing as no more and no less than four, the "Fourfold gospel" that his authority helped make the canonical four. Among the writings he quotes from in order to expose and refute them, which include a Gospel of Truth and even a Gospel of Judas, is this secret book of John.^[4] Irenaeus (Greek: Εἰρηναῖος), (b. ... On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis, commonly called Against Heresies (Latin: Adversus haereses), is a five volume work written by St. ... A biblical canon is a list of Biblical books which establishes the set of books which are considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular Jewish or Christian community. ... The Gospel of Truth is one of the texts from the New Testament apocrypha found in the Nag Hammadi codices. ... The Gospel of Judas is a Gnostic gospel. ...

Little more was known of this text until 1945, when a cache of thirteen papyrus codices (bound books) that had been hidden away in the fourth century, was fortuitously discovered at Nag Hammadi in Egypt. The Apocryphon of John was among the texts, in three Coptic versions translated from the Greek. Two of the versions are very similar and represent one manuscript tradition; they incorporate a lengthy excerpt from a certain Book of Zoroaster appended to the Apocryphon (as chapters 15:29 – 19:8f) A shorter version of the Apocryphon found at Nag Hammadi does not contain the interpolation and represents another manuscript tradition. Still another version of this short edition of the text was discovered in an ancient Coptic Codex acquired by Dr. Carl Reinhardt in Cairo in 1896. This manuscript (identified as the "Berlin Gnostic Codex" or BG 8502) was used along with the three versions found at Nag Hammadi to produce the translations now available. The fact that four manuscript "editions" of this text survived -- two "long" versions and two "short versions" -- suggests how important this text was in early gnostic Christian circles. It should also be noted that in the three Nag Hammadi codices where the Apocryphon of John appears, the text in each case is the first text of the collection. First page of the Codex Argenteus A codex (Latin for block of wood, book; plural codices) is a handwritten book, in general, one produced from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages. ... The town of Nag Hammadi in Egypt Nag Hammâdi (Arabic نجع حمادي; transliterated: Naj Hammādi) (26°03′N 32°15′E), is a town in the middle of Egypt, called Chenoboskion in classical antiquity, about 80 kilometres north-west of Luxor with some 30,000 citizens. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Influence

The Apocryphon, set in the framing device of a revelation delivered by the resurrected Christ to John the son of Zebedee, contains some of the most extensive detailing of classic dualistic Gnostic mythology that has survived; as one of the principal texts of the Nag Hammadi library, it is an essential text of study for anyone interested in Gnosticism. Frederick Wisse, who translated it, asserts that "The Apocryphon of John was still used in the eighth century by the Audians of Mesopotamia" (Wisse p 104). A frame story (also frame tale, frame narrative, etc. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Gnosticism is a blanket term for various religions and sects most prominent in the first few centuries A.D. General characteristics The word gnosticism comes from the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis (γνῶσις), referring to the idea that there is special, hidden mysticism (esoteric knowledge... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

The Apocryphon of John has become the central text for studying the gnostic tradition of Antiquity. The creation mythology it details has been the object of study of such writers as Carl Jung and Eric Voegelin. Carl Jungs partially autobiographical work Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Fontana edition Carl Gustav Jung (IPA: ) (July 26, 1875, Kesswil – June 6, 1961, Küsnacht) was a Swiss psychiatrist, influential thinker, and founder of analytical psychology. ... Eric Voegelin, born Erich Hermann Wilhelm Vögelin, (January 3, 1901 – January 19, 1985) was a political philosopher. ...

Tori Amos drew on the Gnostic mythology described in the Apocryphon of John in her album, The Beekeeper. This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... The Beekeeper is an album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. ...

Notes

Apocrypha (from the Greek word , meaning those having been hidden away[1]) are texts of uncertain authenticity or writings where the authorship is questioned. ...

External links

• The Apocryphon of John Collection (at the Gnosis Archive): A comprehensive collection of material about the Apocryphon of John, including introductory material and several translations of the text.

• Early Christian Writings: Apocryphon of John
• Dark Mirrors of Heaven: Gnostic Cosmogony

Sources

• Davies, Stevan, . Secret Book of John: The Gnostic Gospel, Annotated and Explained ISBN 1-59473-082-2
• Logan, Alastair H. B. 1996. Gnostic Truth and Christian Heresy. Based on the Apocryphon of John.
• Pagels, Elaine, 2003. Beyond Belief.
• Wisse, Frederick. The Nag Hammadi Library in English.