Guide to Gnostic Texts

Gnostic texts and teachings are united by certain themes, issues, and attitudes that are best understood by taking a look at a variety of Gnostic texts. Without some sort of guidance, it can be a bit bewildering.

The following texts, available free online (via the hyperlinks), convey a sense of the variety in style or teaching. They also convey a sense of what is common to Gnostic teaching, attitude, and viewpoint.

Symbol, Style, and Basic Spiritual Themes

A basic underlying motif of Spiritual writing concerns the soul that wanders, becomes lost, and then is reclaimed and arrives back home. Allegory and symbolic meaning, is very important to Gnostics.

The following three texts are very striking and beautiful. Each has quite a different style, and each highlights different themes.

• The Hymn of the Pearl, describes how a pearl guarded by a dragon, is sought out by the son of a King and Queen. The son becomes lost and enchanted, and a messenger/message is sent to awaken him so he knows who he is, so he can return home. Particularly noteworthy is the typically Gnostic concern for knowing where you came from, knowing what you are inside, and how such knowledge liberates. The style is that of a fairy tale, it is very allegorical and symbolic.

• The Gospel of Truth is a beautiful and poetic work that describes the sweetness of the Divine. The sweetness of Jesus, and of the Father, is mentioned several times. Reference is made to a divine Mother, and to the Father's bosom. The unfortunate quality of material error is highlighted. It is emphasized that material error will dissipate like fog, when the light shines upon it. The text may have been written by Valentinus, a Gnostic of the second century. The style is that of an inspiring and very poetic teacher and fellow traveler. Perhaps it was written for an audience that included Gnostic as well as non-Gnostic Chrsitians.
  

• Thunder, Perfect Mind has been compared to hymns to Isis, and to Hebrew Wisdom literature. The style is of paradox and mystery, and female imagery plays a large role. The text is amazing and my words cannot do it justice.
  

These texts convey something of the power and beauty in Gnosticism. They also raise many questions.

The Overview and Core of Gnosis

If you were to read only two Gnostic texts, hoping to understand the general themes and teachings distinctive of Gnosticism, I would recommend:

• The Apocryphon of John (also called, The Secret Book of John) is the text that most completely addresses, most of the central issues, themes, and tenets characteristic of the classic, ancient Gnostics. If this was all you read, you would understand a lot of what is distinctive about classic Gnostic teachings. Many of Gnostic texts seem to presuppose familiarity with the issues raised and addressed by this text. There are several versions of this text, and several differing texts that tell, in their own way, many of the same basic stories, or that convey many of the same basic teachings, with their own distinctive variations in insight or explanation. The figure Barbelo features prominently in the text, as does Adam's son Seth.

• Trimorphic Protennoia (also called, First Thought in Three Forms) elaborates upon the figure of Barbelo, the First Thought, Forethought of the Divine, who can be seen as Father, Mother, Child. Barbelo/Forethought describes three descents, and how she speaks between the words of various scriptures, how she takes on the forms of various entities in various realms of reality, calling her own back home. In my view, the text stands on its own as a beautiful piece devoted to Barbelo/Forethought, though it alludes to themes, figures, and events that are elaborated in other texts like the Apocryphon of John. I think this text is very important for understanding Forethought/Barbelo.

Those two texts, together, profoundly express important views, concerns, and teachings of ancient Gnostics.

Gnostic Prayer

Examples of Gnostic prayer include:

• The Prayer of the Apostle, Paul, which simply and effectively draws the mind into contemplation, when taken line by line, phrase by phrase, with spiritual receptivity, or when put into one's own words.

• The Prayer of Thanksgiving is so inspiring and beautiful. One can imagine such a prayer uttered reverently in a community of Gnostics, as part of a meeting or sacred ceremony of some sort.

Gnostic Theology

Questions pertaining to how Gnostics understood Hebrew and Christian Scripture, subjects like the nature of the law, or teachings about Resurrection, or about deeper or hidden layers of scripture, are addressed in texts which analyze or argue such issues theologically:

• Ptolemy's Letter to Flora shows how a Valentinian Gnostic handled questions raised by a woman who apparently was a member of the larger Christian community. It seems she must have expressed an interest or aptitude for Gnostic teaching, and Ptolemy introduced her to some problems with common interpretations of scripture. He suggests how some of the problems might be resolved, introduces her to some concepts that will help understand such matters and serve as a basis for further Gnostic teaching, if she wishes to pursue further study and reflection.

• Ptolemy on the Gospel of John's Prolog interprets the beginning of the Gospel of John according to Valentinian Gnostic teaching. Among the four canonical gospels, the Gospel of John is distinguished from the other three Synoptic Gospels. The prolog to the Gospel of John refers to the Word (Logos), Light, etc.
  

• The Treatise on Resurrection argues for a spiritual interpretation of resurrection, and against teachings of bodily/physical resurrection.

Gnostic Ceremony

• The Gospel of the Egyptians (also called, The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit) contains a Gnostic Baptismal ceremony at the end.

• The Three Steles of Seth may have been used in group services designed to facilitate the ascent of Gnostics, increase receptivity to visions and intuitive insights, etc.

• There are also fragments pertaining to Gnostic Sacraments: On the Anointing, On the Baptism A, On the Baptism B, On the Eucharist A, On the Eucharist B)

Church Fathers' Writings Against Gnostics

Prior to recent discoveries, most information about Gnosticism came from the writings of The Heresy Hunters against ancient Gnostics and others. Late in the 1800's, a few Gnostic writings surfaced, but some of the most important of them were not translated until other copies were found decades later.

Amazing Discoveries

Then the Nag Hammadi Library was found, and more texts written by Gnostics, in their own words, were available than ever before.

The Gospel of Judas was recently published. The codex (book) that it came from includes another very interesting and promising text featuring the figure Allogenes (different from the text at Nag Hammadi which bears that name.)

Recommended Books

I highly recommend the following books, which each provide excellent introductory material, and each also has very good translations/editions of key Gnostic texts, and excellent commentary for each text:

• The Gnostic Scriptures (Subtitle: A New Translation with Annotations and Introductions by The Anchor Bible Reference Library, ed. Bentley Layton) gives an excellent overview, background, and context for the various Gnostic groups, maps indicating the dispersion of different Gnostic groups in different times and places, outlines of the figures mentioned in Gnostic texts. He includes Irenaeus' writings on Valentinus, Gnostics, and Ptolemy, and also some material from other heresy hunters. He includes some material that may have contributed to the development of Gnosticism, or existed alongside Gnosticism bearing some similarities, such as Poimandres (available online here) which is from the Hermetic Corpus (available online here), and some material on Basilides. He includes the key ancient Gnostic texts, the translations are good. All round it is the book I consult most often.
  

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• The Gnostic Bible (Subtitle: Gnostic Texts of Mystical Wisdom from the Ancient and Medieval Worlds, eds. Willis Barnstone, Marvin Meyer, will soon be available in Paperback). It includes excerpts of the extremely important dualist theological work, Cathar Book of Two Principles (the complete text of the Book of Two Principles is available along with a treasure trove of material on the Cathars, Waldensians, etc., in Heresies of the High Middle Ages, ed. Walter Wakefield and Austin Evans.) The Gnostic Bible includes key ancient Gnostic texts, as well as Manichean, Ishmaelite, Mandean, and other materials that make this work also a favorite resource. The translations are beautiful in many places, although in a couple texts the use of Yeshua instead of Jesus, is jarring, particularly because texts such as the Gospel of Thomas are thought to have been originally in Greek, not Aramaic. But that is only an issue with a handful of the texts. It cannot detract from the beauty and comprehensiveness of the selection of texts, and the excellent commentary on each text.

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• The Gospel of Judas (Online version here) was just published by the National Geographic Society. This book contains excellent essays and notes. Marvin Meyer in particular, gives a top-notch introduction to Gnosticism in the essays he contributes. The Gospel of Judas itself is very inspiring and interesting, poignant.

Regarding the science and scholarship involved in restoring and translating an ancient Gnostic text:

• The Lost Gospel (Subtitle: The Quest for the Gospel of Judas Iscariot), also published by National Geographic, tells the story of the codex in which the Gospel of Judas was found, the story of the piecing together of the text, etc. What I have read so far of the book, is fascinating, I highly recommend it.

The Nag Hammadi Library:

The Nag Hammadi Library in English (Revised Edition), is where you can get all the texts from Nag Hammadi. Here you can find some of the texts that weren't included in the above collections, and some of the more fragmentary material.

The Nag Hammadi Library, (Online), listed alphabetically, at the Gnostic Society Website, is an extremely valuable resource. Most of the links on this page are from their website. It is very helpful to be able to search the texts with the browser search, and with the Gnostic Society website search feature.