BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

The Nag Hammadi Codices and Gnostic Christianity

How the Nag Hammadi texts discovered in Egypt reintroduced the world to Gnostic Christianity

The Nag Hammadi texts were contained in 13 leather-bound volumes discovered by Egyptian farmers in 1945. Dated papyrus scraps used to strengthen the bindings of the books helped date the volumes to the mid-fourth century A.D. Photo: Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont, CA.

Until the discovery of the Nag Hammadi codices in 1945, the Gnostic view of early Christianity had largely been forgotten. The teachings of Gnostic Christianity—vilified especially since they were declared heretic by orthodox Christianity in the fourth century—had been virtually erased from history by the early church fathers, their gospels banned and even burned to make room for the view of Christian theology outlined in the canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

But when two peasants discovered the Nag Hammadi texts, a 13-volume library of Coptic texts hidden beneath a large boulder near the town of Nag Hammadi in upper Egypt, the world was reintroduced to this long-forgotten and much-maligned branch of early Christian thought, Gnostic Christianity, from the Greek word gnosis, “knowledge.” The Nag Hammadi codices are 13 leather-bound volumes dated to the mid-fourth century that contain an unprecedented collection of more than 50 texts, including some that had been composed as early as the second century.


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The Nag Hammadi codices, detail Photo: Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont, CA.

Once the Nag Hammadi codices had been translated and published by a team of scholars led by Claremont Graduate University’s James M. Robinson, the documents showed that Gnostic Christianity was not the depraved cult described by orthodox Christian writers but rather a legitimate religious movement that offered an alternate testament to Jesus’ life and teachings.
The Nag Hammadi texts, which represent a range of attitudes and beliefs in Gnostic Christianity and include everything from competing gospels to apocalyptic revelations, all assert the primacy of spiritual and intellectual knowledge over physical action and material well-being. The Apocryphon of John, for example, is the most important tractate of classic Sethian Gnosticism. In it the risen Jesus reveals to John, son of Zebedee, the truth of creation.

nag-hammadi-thomas

The Nag Hammadi codices contain more than 50 early Christian texts, including the Gospel of Thomas. The forgotten gospel preserves sayings of Jesus that were not included in the canonical Gospels. Photo: Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont, CA.

According to this Gnostic myth, the God of the Hebrew Bible is actually a corrupted lower deity. Only through the intervention of Sophia (Wisdom) can gnosis be revealed and salvation attained. Thus, while adherents of Gnostic Christianity certainly acknowledged the role of Jesus in their faith, their theology placed greater significance on the intellectual revelation of his message than on his crucifixion and resurrection.

Also among the Nag Hammadi texts was the fully preserved Gospel of Thomas, which does not follow the canonical Gospels in telling the story of Jesus’ birth, life, crucifixion and resurrection, but rather presents the reader with an early collection of Jesus’ sayings. Although this mystical text was originally believed to one of the early texts of Gnosticism, it now seems to reveal yet another strand of early Christianity.
From a historical perspective, the Nag Hammadi codices provide a clearer picture of the diverse theological and philosophical currents that found expression through early Christianity. Indeed, Gnosticism and its classically inspired philosophical ideals permeated not just early Christian thought but also the Jewish and pagan traditions from which Christianity arose. The Nag Hammadi codices, widely regarded as one of the most significant finds of the 20th century, revealed this complex religious milieu and offered an unparalleled glimpse into alternative visions of early Christianity.

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Based on “Issue 200: Ten Top Discoveries,” Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August September/October 2009.


The apocryphal Acts of John describe the dance of Jesus and the apostles. How widespread was the ritual of dance in Christian worship? Read “Jesus as Lord of the Dance: From early Christianity to medieval Nubia” in Bible History Daily.


This Bible History Daily feature was originally published in March 2011.


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10 Responses

  1. […] ——How the Nag Hammadi texts discovered in Egypt reintroduced the world to Gnostic Christianity. […]

  2. David Madison says:

    According to this article, the Gnostics were a “legitimate religious movement that offered an alternate testament to Jesus’ life and teachings”. It then mentions that the Gnostics regarded the God of the Hebrew Bible as a “corrupted lower deity”. It is not remotely plausible that Jesus held such a view. The Gnostics invented their own version of Jesus, which was completely at odds with history. But they didn’t do a very good job. The canonical Gospels depict a very real historical setting. They have numerous references to places, historical individuals, groups that existed at the time, issues of the day and so on. In contrast, the Gnostic works have virtually no background detail. For example, the Gospel of Judas has only one place name: Judaea. The only place mentioned in the Sophia of Jesus Christ is the Mount of Olives, which is incorrectly situated in Galilee.

    The only good thing about the Gnostic works is that they show us what fiction looks like and thereby give us greater confidence in the canonical Gospels, which can clearly be distinguished from them.

    1. Tom Hanks says:

      You beat me to this response, and expressed the situation far better than I would have!

    2. Dana says:

      “The only good thing about the Gnostic works is that they show us what fiction looks like”

      Ah yes, thankfully we have the non-fiction tale of a talking snake in a garden though, right? Neither the Gnostic texts nor the canonical Biblical texts are historical documents. Even lay persons with very little formal education know this.

      1. David Madison says:

        Thanks for passing on the views of those with very little formal education. The experts see things differently. Even sceptical scholars like Bart Ehrman accept that the canonical Gospels are historical sources.

  3. […] Date: December 15, 2022Author: ᎢᎠᎺBᎡᎠr ᏍᏔrCᎯld 0 Comments The Nag Hammadi Codices and Gnostic Christianity […]

  4. […] they would say a prayer of Thanksgiving. The following prayer was found amongst the documents at Nag Hammadi that helped to shed light on the lifestyle and literature that was written by early Christians […]

  5. Johnny A. Gorman says:

    The Flat Earth Society has a wide following of sincere believers who feel that their views need to be given more respect. The fact that they exist, and have published their views, requires that they should be accorded as much esteem, as the Gnostic Christians.

    1. Tim Buck says:

      What does the Flat Earth Society have to do with Gnostic Christianity?

      1. Chris V. says:

        He’s trying to say the reverse of what he explicitly stated – that Gnostics should be given as much respect as flat-Earthers.

        Or to put it more clearly – He thinks that a select few people get to decide what was divinely inspired by God, and that anyone who disagrees, or worse actually sees the hand of the divine in something outside the canon established by the authority of those select few, deserves to be ridiculed for it.

        I think the opposite – that it’s far more foolish to let a select group of people claim authority over the divine word of God, and declare a canon outside which no other text or other work may be considered. (Not that I oppose those texts which made it into the canon – I just think ever treating the Bible as “finalized” like God will never speak again or like we couldn’t possibly discover a text that belongs in canon is beyond silly, almost as silly as accepting anyone else’s canon list as more authoritative than your own, as discerned by the light of the spirit inside as you study.)

Write a Reply or Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


10 Responses

  1. […] ——How the Nag Hammadi texts discovered in Egypt reintroduced the world to Gnostic Christianity. […]

  2. David Madison says:

    According to this article, the Gnostics were a “legitimate religious movement that offered an alternate testament to Jesus’ life and teachings”. It then mentions that the Gnostics regarded the God of the Hebrew Bible as a “corrupted lower deity”. It is not remotely plausible that Jesus held such a view. The Gnostics invented their own version of Jesus, which was completely at odds with history. But they didn’t do a very good job. The canonical Gospels depict a very real historical setting. They have numerous references to places, historical individuals, groups that existed at the time, issues of the day and so on. In contrast, the Gnostic works have virtually no background detail. For example, the Gospel of Judas has only one place name: Judaea. The only place mentioned in the Sophia of Jesus Christ is the Mount of Olives, which is incorrectly situated in Galilee.

    The only good thing about the Gnostic works is that they show us what fiction looks like and thereby give us greater confidence in the canonical Gospels, which can clearly be distinguished from them.

    1. Tom Hanks says:

      You beat me to this response, and expressed the situation far better than I would have!

    2. Dana says:

      “The only good thing about the Gnostic works is that they show us what fiction looks like”

      Ah yes, thankfully we have the non-fiction tale of a talking snake in a garden though, right? Neither the Gnostic texts nor the canonical Biblical texts are historical documents. Even lay persons with very little formal education know this.

      1. David Madison says:

        Thanks for passing on the views of those with very little formal education. The experts see things differently. Even sceptical scholars like Bart Ehrman accept that the canonical Gospels are historical sources.

  3. […] Date: December 15, 2022Author: ᎢᎠᎺBᎡᎠr ᏍᏔrCᎯld 0 Comments The Nag Hammadi Codices and Gnostic Christianity […]

  4. […] they would say a prayer of Thanksgiving. The following prayer was found amongst the documents at Nag Hammadi that helped to shed light on the lifestyle and literature that was written by early Christians […]

  5. Johnny A. Gorman says:

    The Flat Earth Society has a wide following of sincere believers who feel that their views need to be given more respect. The fact that they exist, and have published their views, requires that they should be accorded as much esteem, as the Gnostic Christians.

    1. Tim Buck says:

      What does the Flat Earth Society have to do with Gnostic Christianity?

      1. Chris V. says:

        He’s trying to say the reverse of what he explicitly stated – that Gnostics should be given as much respect as flat-Earthers.

        Or to put it more clearly – He thinks that a select few people get to decide what was divinely inspired by God, and that anyone who disagrees, or worse actually sees the hand of the divine in something outside the canon established by the authority of those select few, deserves to be ridiculed for it.

        I think the opposite – that it’s far more foolish to let a select group of people claim authority over the divine word of God, and declare a canon outside which no other text or other work may be considered. (Not that I oppose those texts which made it into the canon – I just think ever treating the Bible as “finalized” like God will never speak again or like we couldn’t possibly discover a text that belongs in canon is beyond silly, almost as silly as accepting anyone else’s canon list as more authoritative than your own, as discerned by the light of the spirit inside as you study.)

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