Gnosticism used a number of religious texts that are preserved, in part or whole, in ancient manuscripts, or lost but mentioned critically in Patristic writings.

There is significant scholarly debate around what Gnosticism is, and therefore what qualifies as a "Gnostic text."[1]

Gnostic texts

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Gnostic texts preserved before 1945

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Prior to the discovery at Nag Hammadi, only the following texts were available to students of Gnosticism. Reconstructions were attempted from the records of the heresiologists, but these were necessarily coloured by the motivation behind the source accounts.

Complete list of codices found in Nag Hammadi

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The final section of the Second Treatise of the Great Seth

The so-called "Codex XIII" is not a codex, but rather the text of Trimorphic Protennoia, written on "eight leaves removed from a thirteenth book in late antiquity and tucked inside the front cover of the sixth." (Robinson, NHLE, p. 10) Only a few lines from the beginning of Origin of the World are discernible on the bottom of the eighth leaf.

Mandaean texts

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Other

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Quoted or alluded

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These texts are mentioned or partially quoted in the writings of the Church Fathers.

Manuscripts

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Dillon, Matthew J. (2016), "Gnosticism Theorized: Major Trends and Approaches to the Study of Gnosticism", in DeConick, April D. (ed.), Religion: Secret Religion, MacMillan Reference US, pp. 23–38
  2. ^ Adversus haereses, I, viii, 5.
  3. ^ Hær. XXXIII, 3–7.
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