Gnostic Writings and Related Texts

Gnostic Writings and Related Texts

• While the Nag Hammadi Library represents our richest source of classical Gnostic texts, many other primary Gnostic documents were discovered in the century prior to the Nag Hammadi find. These are cataloged in the Classical Gnostic Scriptures and Fragments section -- included here you will now find G.R.S. Mead's complete translation of the Pistis Sophia. Of associated interest is Christian Apocrypha and Early Christian Literature, a section containing other important Christian texts surviving outside canonical tradition, some of which manifest Gnostic influence. We have also recently incorporated an extensive resource specifically on Valentinus and the Valentinian Tradition.

• The G.R.S Mead Collection contains eleven complete volumes written by G. R. S. Mead (1863-1933). These works provide an invaluable review of materials relating to Gnostic tradition available before discovery of the Nag Hammadi collection.

• Until students began uncovering original documents and re-examining Gnosticism, opinion about the tradition was primarily based on the very negatively biased Polemical Works Against the Gnostics by the Church Fathers. In this section we present all the major documents by the patristic heresiologist.

• Beyond the bounds of classical Christian Gnosticism -- represented by the above materials -- there are several other traditions of clearly Gnostic character. The Hermetic tradition represents a non-Christian form of Gnosticism; included in the library are the principal Hermetic writings of The Corpus Hermeticum.

• With an interest in Gnosticism awakened by the Nag Hammadi materials, scholars are now re-examining Manichaeism and beginning a more serious consideration of the many Manichaean writings discovered just in the last century. A large sample of these is presented in the Manichaean Writings collection. Also included in the library is a section devoted to Mandaean Texts and this still living Gnostic tradition.

• The Cathars represented a medieval resurgence of Gnosticism, and we have a small collection of Cathar Texts. Alchemy was recognized by C. G. Jung as another strand of Gnosticism; the library here provides links to a comprehensive collection of Alchemical Writings. And, finally, we have on file a small but growing collection of Texts from Modern Gnosticism

Other Material in the Library

• The Bible
• The Dead Sea Scrolls -- Recent addition
• Old Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha

Related Library Resources

• No resource on the Internet is a substitute for a good library of books. Students of Gnosticism will find our Annotated Bibliography of Books on Gnosticism to be a useful aid for further research.
• A complete collection of patristic writings, all carefully and recently reedited, is available at the CECL Early Church Fathers collection. This site offers the entire Ante-Nicene Fathers and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers collections (about 38 volumes in the print edition), and includes a search function.
• The St. Pachomius Library offers a comprehensive collection of early Christian writings with emphasis on sources of the Orthodox Christian tradition.
• An excellent collection of Apocryphal and other non-canonical texts is found at the Wesley Center - Noncanonical Literature page.
• The Ecole Intiative offers an encyclopedic collection of materials relating to early Church history (but gives little notice to Gnostic materials).
• Another site with a good collection of texts and commentary is the Early Christian Writings site.