Contents
*
This is one of the best books about the Gnostics written prior to the Nag Hammadi discoveries.
G.R.S. Mead, who also translated the Pistis Sophia, summarizes what was known about the Gnostics at the turn of the 20th century.
At that time, a better picture of the Gnostics was emerging, based on several papyri which had been recently discovered.
Although there had been a lot of academic research on this subject, most of the key works were in German or French.
Therefore this book and The Gnostics and Their Remains are the only two major books in English on this subject currently in the public domain.
It was becoming increasingly obvious that early Christianity was a wide spectrum of sects, the record of which had been subsequently forgotten or suppressed by the Church.
The Gnostics had deep connections with ancient Mystery religions, Pythagoreanism, Hinduism and other ancient beliefs.
Most of the sacred texts of Gnosticism were long lost or survived only in small quotes.
Mead draws on information provided both by the Early Church Fathers hostile to Gnosticism, and the available corpus of actual Gnostic documents at the time, cryptic and fragmentary as it was.
He includes excerpts from previously untranslated manuscripts, and extensive summaries of the Pistis Sophia and the writings of the critics of Gnosticism.
This book is required reading for anyone who wants to understand Gnosticism and the development of early Christianity.
Title Page
Synopsis of Contents
Illustrations
Index
Introduction
Introduction
Prolegomena
Some Rough Outlines Of The Background Of The Gnosis
Preliminary Considerations
Greece
Egypt
Philo on the Contemplative Life
Jewry
Alexandria
General And Gnostic Christianity
The Evolution of Catholic Christianity
The Ebionites
The Essenes
The Tendencies of Gnosticism
The Literature and Sources of Gnosticism
The Gnosis According To Its Foes
The Gnosis According to its Foes
Some Gnostic Fragments Recovered from the Polemical Writings of the Church Fathers
The 'Simonians'
Dositheus
'Simon Magus.'
Menander
Saturninus
The 'Ophites'
An Anonymous System From Irenus
An Early 'Ophite' System
The Naasseni
The Perat
The Sethians
The Docet
Monomus
The So-Called Cainites
The Carpocratians
'Epiphanes'
Cerinthus
Nicolaus
Cerdo
Marcion
Apelles
The Basilidian Gnosis
The Valentinian Movement
Valentinus
i. From a Letter
ii. From a Letter
iii. From the Letter to Agathpus
iv. From a Homily
v. A few Sentences preserved in the Controversial Matter of Clement...
vi. From the Letter on the Community of Friends
vii. A very doubtful Fragment from Eulogius of Alexandria writing at the end of the Sixth Century
viii. The Myth which Valentinus made
ix. From a Psalm
Some Outlines of onology
Hippolytus' account of One of the Variants of the Sophia-Mythus
The Number-Symbolism of Marcus
Ptolemy
Heraclen
Bardesanes
The Hymn of the Robe of Glory
Some Traces Of The Gnosis In The Uncanonical Acts
Foreword
From The Acts of Thomas
From The Acts of John
From The Acts of Andrew
From The Travels of Peter
The Gnosis According To Its Friends
The Gnosis According to Its Friends
The Askew and Bruce Codices
Summary of the Contents of the So-Called Pistis Sophia Treatise
Summary of the Extracts From the Books of the Saviour
Summary of the Fragments of the Book of the Great Logos According to the Mystery
Selections from the Untitled Apocalypse of the Codex Brucianus
Notes on the Contents of the Bruce and Askew Codices
The Akhmm Codex
Some Forgotten Sayings
Conclusion
Afterword
Bibliographies
This is one of the best books about the Gnostics written prior to the Nag Hammadi discoveries.
G.R.S. Mead, who also translated the Pistis Sophia, summarizes what was known about the Gnostics at the turn of the 20th century.
At that time, a better picture of the Gnostics was emerging, based on several papyri which had been recently discovered.
Although there had been a lot of academic research on this subject, most of the key works were in German or French.
Therefore this book and The Gnostics and Their Remains are the only two major books in English on this subject currently in the public domain.
It was becoming increasingly obvious that early Christianity was a wide spectrum of sects, the record of which had been subsequently forgotten or suppressed by the Church.
The Gnostics had deep connections with ancient Mystery religions, Pythagoreanism, Hinduism and other ancient beliefs.
Most of the sacred texts of Gnosticism were long lost or survived only in small quotes.
Mead draws on information provided both by the Early Church Fathers hostile to Gnosticism, and the available corpus of actual Gnostic documents at the time, cryptic and fragmentary as it was.
He includes excerpts from previously untranslated manuscripts, and extensive summaries of the Pistis Sophia and the writings of the critics of Gnosticism.
This book is required reading for anyone who wants to understand Gnosticism and the development of early Christianity.
Title Page
Synopsis of Contents
Illustrations
Index
Introduction
Introduction
Prolegomena
Some Rough Outlines Of The Background Of The Gnosis
Preliminary Considerations
Greece
Egypt
Philo on the Contemplative Life
Jewry
Alexandria
General And Gnostic Christianity
The Evolution of Catholic Christianity
The Ebionites
The Essenes
The Tendencies of Gnosticism
The Literature and Sources of Gnosticism
The Gnosis According To Its Foes
The Gnosis According to its Foes
Some Gnostic Fragments Recovered from the Polemical Writings of the Church Fathers
The 'Simonians'
Dositheus
'Simon Magus.'
Menander
Saturninus
The 'Ophites'
An Anonymous System From Irenus
An Early 'Ophite' System
The Naasseni
The Perat
The Sethians
The Docet
Monomus
The So-Called Cainites
The Carpocratians
'Epiphanes'
Cerinthus
Nicolaus
Cerdo
Marcion
Apelles
The Basilidian Gnosis
The Valentinian Movement
Valentinus
i. From a Letter
ii. From a Letter
iii. From the Letter to Agathpus
iv. From a Homily
v. A few Sentences preserved in the Controversial Matter of Clement...
vi. From the Letter on the Community of Friends
vii. A very doubtful Fragment from Eulogius of Alexandria writing at the end of the Sixth Century
viii. The Myth which Valentinus made
ix. From a Psalm
Some Outlines of onology
Hippolytus' account of One of the Variants of the Sophia-Mythus
The Number-Symbolism of Marcus
Ptolemy
Heraclen
Bardesanes
The Hymn of the Robe of Glory
Some Traces Of The Gnosis In The Uncanonical Acts
Foreword
From The Acts of Thomas
From The Acts of John
From The Acts of Andrew
From The Travels of Peter
The Gnosis According To Its Friends
The Gnosis According to Its Friends
The Askew and Bruce Codices
Summary of the Contents of the So-Called Pistis Sophia Treatise
Summary of the Extracts From the Books of the Saviour
Summary of the Fragments of the Book of the Great Logos According to the Mystery
Selections from the Untitled Apocalypse of the Codex Brucianus
Notes on the Contents of the Bruce and Askew Codices
The Akhmm Codex
Some Forgotten Sayings
Conclusion
Afterword
Bibliographies
