Thirteen leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local farmer named Muhammed al-Samman. As we shall see, in several cases the term ‘gospel’ appears to be a later addition to a more original title, which often relates to ‘secret sayings’ or a ‘secret book’ ( apokryphon) or ‘apocalypse’ other texts from Nag Hammadi similarly entitled but without the tag ‘gospel’, for example the Apocryphon of James (NHC I, 2), the Dialogue of the Saviour (NHC III, 5), the Apocalypses of James (NHC V, 3 and 4) and the Book of Thomas (NCH II, 7), must be kept in mind when discussing gnostic ‘gospels’. The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. The latter also contains versions of Nag Hammadi texts significant for defining gnostic ‘gospels’ (the Apocryphon of John: NHC II, 1, III, 1, IV, 1 and BG 8502, 2, and the Sophia of Jesus Christ: NHC III, 4 and BG 8502, 3). This ancient text presents deeper aspects of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and his detailed deciphering of the mysteries of the universe. For an introduction to the Nag Hammadi discovery and the texts in this ancient library, we offer several resources. Indeed the first question, what is a gospel, comes into sharp focus precisely when dealing with ‘gnostic gospels’, particularly those works from the Nag Hammadi Coptic library so entitled (the Gospel of Truth (NHC I, 3 AND XII, 2), the Gospel of Thomas (NHC II, 2), the Gospel of Philip (NHC II, 3), the Gospel of the Egyptians (NHC III, 2 and IV, 2), and the Gospel of Mary from the Berlin Coptic Gnostic papyrus (BG 8502, 1)). Like the Gospel of Thomas and other recently discovered documents of the Nag Hammadi Library, the Pistis Sophia is devoted entirely to the esoteric teachings of Jesus to his disciples. The discovery and translation of the Nag Hammadi library, initially completed in the 1970's, has provided impetus to a major re-evaluation of early Christian history and the nature of Gnosticism. The problem of ‘gnostic gospels’ is twofold it involves both the question what is a gospel and the definition of ‘gnostic’. The publisher and editiorial board of Nag Hammadi Studies at their meeting in Uppsala, Sweden.

Book of sophia nag hammidi library