Nag Hammadi library

right|thumb|The site of discovery, Nag Hammadi in map of Egypt The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Quotes thumb| Wise men of old gave the soul [Psyche] a feminine name. … As long as she was alone with the father, she was virgin and in form androgynous. Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss (1787–1793) Wise men of old gave the soul [Psyche] a feminine name. Indeed she is female in her nature as well. She even has her womb. As long as she was alone with the father, she was virgin and in form androgynous. But when she fell down into a body and came to this life, then she fell into the hands of many robbers. And the wanton creatures passed her from one to another and [...] her. Some made use of her by force, while others did so by seducing her with a gift. In short, they defiled her, and she [...] her virginity. Exegesis on the Soul, ellipses (lacunae) in manuscript, translated by William C. Robinson Jr., full text, see also: Psyche (mythology) The rulers wanted to fool people, since they saw that people have a kinship with what is truly good. They took the names of the good and assigned them to what is not good, to fool people with names and link the names to what is not good. So, as if they were doing people a favor, they took names from what is not good and transferred them to the good, in their own way of thinking. For they wished to take free people and enslave them forever. The Gospel of Philip, as translated by M. Meyer, in The Nag Hammadi Scriptures (2007), p. 163 But others are caught up in the death of [. . .]. They are [pulled] ‹every> which way, (and) they are gratified by unrighteous Mammon. They lend money [at interest]; they [waste time]; and they do not work. But he who is [father] of [Mammon is (also] (the) father of sexual intercourse. The Testimony of Truth, (ix 3:68), translated by Søren Giversen and Birger A. Pearson, in The Nag Hammadi Library, James Robinson, editor (1977) p.414 For I am the first and the last. I am the honored one and the scorned one. I am the whore and the holy one. I am the wife and the virgin. … For I am knowledge and ignorance.I am shame and boldness.I am shameless; I am ashamed.I am strength and I am fear.I am war and peace. The Thunder, Perfect Mind, as translated by MacRae (1990)http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/thunder.html The Thunder, Perfect Mind MacRae, George W. (tr.) The Nag Hammadi Library Robinson, James M. HarperCollins San Francisco 1990 0060669357 Quotes about Third Quest researchers show a significantly greater interest in extracanonical Christian literature than did First and Second Quest writers. The Gospel of Thomas and the Nag Hammadi literature figure most prominently in current Jesus study, with other New Testament Apocrypha books like the Gospel of Peter not far behind. Only classical sources on Jesus are an exception to this trend; the Third Quest too does not deal with them in depth. Only a few large-scale recent treatments of Jesus deal with evidence from classical sources. In sum, the last twenty years have arguably seen more interest in, and debate about, the historical Jesus outside the New Testament than any comparable period in the last two centuries. Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus Outside the New Testament. An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids/Cambridge 2000. ISBN 978-0-8028-4368-5, pp. 4-5. thumbnail|A page from Codex VII, of the Second Treatise of the Great Seth See also Gnosticism Coptic Apocalypse of Paul Gospel of Philip Gospel of Thomas References External links Category:Christian texts Category:Christianity in Egypt Category:Gnosticism