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In this volume, David Litwa offers a fresh introduction to the 'gnostic Bible,' arguably the most significant and widely read of all gnostic Christian texts ever written. Providing a fresh introduction to a particular version of the Secret Book of John, namely the shorter version that is found in Nag Hammadi Codex III, his study includes a new translation of this text and an extensive commentary in which he introduces the notable features of this codex and interrogates whether the Secret Book emerged from an actual gnostic community. Litwa also posits solutions to many questions related to this text, notably: its date and find spot, its relationship to the treatise known and summarized by Irenaeus in the late second century, its interpretation and re-creation of the book of Genesis for Christian readers, its novel interpretation of Greco-Roman philosophy, its foundations in apostolic authority, and the reception of the Secret Book of John in late antiquity, well into the fifth century CE.
List of contents
Part I. Introduction and Translation: 1. Introduction; 2. Translation; Part II. The World of the Text: 3. The apostolic eagle; 4. Recreating creation; 5. Myth as philosophy; Part III. Relationship to Other Early Christian Literature; 6. Irenaeus's report; 7. The myth received; Part IV. Additional notes to text and translation.
About the author
David Litwa is the author of more than fifteen scholarly books in the fields of Early Christianity, Gnostic and Nag Hammadi Studies, and the Greco-Roman world. He runs a YouTube channel and an online database, the Gnostic Archive.
