Coptic Texts Research Articles

Coptic Biblical Texts in the Beinecke Library

Coptic Biblical Texts in the Beinecke Library

Making Mary Male: the Categories ‘Male’ and ‘Female’ in the Gospel of Thomas

The CopticGospel of Thomasis one of the most spectacular of the fifty-two tractates filling the thirteen codices of the Nag Hammadi library. Discovered in December 1945 by several Egyptianfellahin, the Nag Hammadi tractates were subjected to a variety of political and scholarly ploys, and were not made available in their entirety until the very end of 1977, when the last of the volumes of manuscript pages in theFacsimile Editionand the one-volume edition ofThe Nag Hammadi Library in Englishfinally appeared.1One of the very first of the documents to be published was theGospel of Thomas, and its appearance has already stimulated the production of numerous articles and monographs by the scholars who have recognized its significance for our knowledge of Christian origins and early church history. Since the time of its initial publication scholars have suggested a variety of interpretations of theGospel, and to date no consensus has been reached. Yet, in my estimation, a reasonably strong case can be made that theGospel of Thomas, in its present form, belongs at least on the periphery of Christian Gnosticism, and to that extent the Coptic text may be termed a gnosticizing gospel.2

Recently Published Coptic, Syriac and Greek Texts From Scholars Press

Recently Published Coptic, Syriac and Greek Texts From Scholars Press

The τλρЄ Pattern in Coptic Non-Biblical Texts

The τλρЄ Pattern in Coptic Non-Biblical Texts

REVIEWS

Journal Article REVIEWS Get access Michigan Coptic Texts. Edited by GERALD M. BROWNE. Pp. xiv+77, 4 plates. (Papyrologica Castroctaviana, 7.) Barcelona, 1979. $12.50. C. C. WALTERS C. C. WALTERS Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Journal of Theological Studies, Volume XXXI, Issue 1, April 1980, Pages 188–189, https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/XXXI.1.188 Published: 01 April 1980

Pre-Christian Gnosticism in the Nag Hammadi Texts?

One of the most important and controversial issues in Gnostic studies is the age of Gnosticism. Was it a post-Christian heresy? Was it roughly contemporaneous with the rise of Christianity? Was it Christianity's twin, as someone has called it? Or was it a fully developed movement preceding Christianity and influencing it? Ingeneral, German New Testament scholars, under the influence of Rudolf Bultmann, have assumed a pre-Christian Gnosticism as the basis for their interpretation of the New Testament. Other scholars such as Charles H. Dodd and Robert M. Grant have questioned their heavy reliance upon late Mandaean texts to support such a conviction. With the recovery of the Coptic Gnostic texts from Nag Hammadi a number of scholars, most notably James Robinson, have hailed these new materials as evidence for Bultmann's hypothesis:

The Book of Thomas the Contender from Codex II of the Cairo Gnostic Library from Nag Hammadi (CG II, 7): The Coptic Text with Translation, Introduction and Commentary

The Book of Thomas the Contender from Codex II of the Cairo Gnostic Library from Nag Hammadi (CG II, 7): The Coptic Text with Translation, Introduction and Commentary

The Hypostasis of the Archons (Conclusion)

Several months after the Coptic text had gone to press I had for the first time the opportunity to examine the papyrus under ultraviolet light. From this final collation resulted a few refinements in the text.

マニの啓示にあらわれた“仲介者”の観念

We shall come across the Manichaean texts of the Middle Persian, Coptic, Greek, and Arabian. In these texts specially we find several words, Nrjmyg, SAIS Συζυγος, Tawm as the Mediator between the Father of Light and the Apostle (Mani). The six translations of these words is (1) Twin or Pair, (2) Familiar, (3) Double, (4) Companion, (5) Consort, (6) Angel. The texts about these words is the Middle Persian fragmentary texts “M49 II”, Coptic texts “Manichaische Homilien”, “Manichaean Psalm-Book” and “Kephalaia” and new Greek texts “Kolner Codex”.From these texts I may conclude that the Twin as the Mediator of Mani was angelic. As to this conception of the Mediator there are some difference between his first and second revelation. Above all, in the period of the second revelation, the conception of the Mediator changed from Angel to Twin or Pair-Companion.When he entered upon his mission, the so-called three books in the canon were already completed. He said to his disciples: “the Pragmateia, the Book of the Secrets and Book of the Giants are gifts bestowed (written) by the Twin of Light. Other books in the canon is the Great Living Gospel given by the Envoy and the Treasure of Life given by the Column of Glory.” Namely the two books was given by Mediators as Iranian “Manvahmed vazurg (the Great Nous)”, and came later.Therefore the revelation in the three books and other both books each reflects the change of the religious thought of Mani. The former represents his early idea, the latter his later idea.I may conclude that the conception of the Mediator in the revelation of Mani changed gradually from the Jewish Christian or Mandaean Gnosis to the Iranian Gnosis (Twin→the Great Nous.)

On Some Occurrences of the Verb to Seal' in Coptic and Egyptian Texts

On Some Occurrences of the Verb to Seal' in Coptic and Egyptian Texts

On Some Occurrences of the Verb 'To Seal' in Coptic and Egyptian Texts

On Some Occurrences of the Verb 'To Seal' in Coptic and Egyptian Texts

The Cult of the Seer in the Ancient Middle East: A Contribution to Current Research on Hallucinations Drawn from Coptic and Other Texts.

The Cult of the Seer in the Ancient Middle East: A Contribution to Current Research on Hallucinations Drawn from Coptic and Other Texts.

The Hypostasis of the Archons: The Coptic Text with a Translation and Commentary. Roger Aubrey Bullard

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook NotesThe Hypostasis of the Archons: The Coptic Text with a Translation and Commentary. Roger Aubrey Bullard J. Z. S.J. Z. S. Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by History of Religions Volume 12, Number 3Feb., 1973 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/462683 Views: 8Total views on this site Copyright 1973 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Egyptian Ascetic TraditionsThe Cult of the Seer in the Ancient Middle East: A Contribution to Current Research on Hallucinations Drawn from Coptic and Other Texts. Violet MacDermot

Egyptian Ascetic Traditions<i>The Cult of the Seer in the Ancient Middle East: A Contribution to Current Research on Hallucinations Drawn from Coptic and Other Texts</i>. Violet MacDermot

The Hypostasis of the Archons: The Coptic Text with Translation and Commentary

The Hypostasis of the Archons: The Coptic Text with Translation and Commentary

‘The Power of Michael Protected Him’: A New Fragment of the Coptic Martyrdom of Apa Nahroou

This article describes item C47704, a fragment of a Coptic parchment codex, which can be identified as White Monastery Codex ET, containing a hitherto unattested part of the Martyrdom of Apa Nahroou. It is argued that the codex was probably manufactured at the Touton scriptorium in the Fayum in the tenth century and used by the monks at the White Monastery in Upper Egypt. The preserved fragment is a part of the narration of the torture of Apa Nahroou at the hands of emperor Diocletian, and seems to fit in as the first of the series of presently identified leaves of Codex ET containing this text. The present fragment attests to a typical Coptic Martyrdom account, and to the prominence of Michael the Archangel in the Coptic literary tradition. The article includes an edition of the Coptic text of the fragment with an English translation.

The Redeemer Figure in the Paraphrase of Shem

The Paraphrase of Shem is the first of the five tractates contained in Codex VII, which is the best preserved of all the codices of the Nag Hammadi Library. It is made up of almost 50 pages of Coptic text (I, 1-49, 9) which, except for a few pages where the bottom line is partly missing, is in an excellent state of preservation. The meaning of the title is not immediately apparent. The reason is that the actual does not begin until page 32, 26, and concludes already at 34, I6. For after a formal ending of the main section of the tractate, the phrase this is the occurs (32, 36), followed by a commentary, which defines in terms of the preceding myth the roles of the some 20 or more personages just listed in a memorial or testimony revealed by Derdekeas to Shem 1) (3I, 4-32, 5), and recited later (46, 4-47, 7) 2) by Shem on leaving the body when his time was completed. The paraphrase thus serves the function, stated rather explicitly at its conclusion (34, 16-32), of permitting the Shemites to understand the mythological implications of memorized lists of names to be recited at one's final ascent.

Book Review: The Gospel of Philip: Translated from the Coptic Text, with an Introduction and Commentary

Book Review: The Gospel of Philip: Translated from the Coptic Text, with an Introduction and Commentary

Some Remarks on the Textual Criticism of IV Ezra

The student of IV Ezra is in the happy position of having a variety of versions at his disposal. The book exists in Latin, Syriac, Ethiopic, a number of complete and some fragmentary Arabic versions, Armenian, Georgian and even a fragmentary Coptic text. Yet, in spite of the number of versions, or perhaps because of it, the text of the book has remained the subject of considerable scholarly discussion. A critical review of the most recent theories has become necessary and in particular of observations made about the Armenian version.

The Apocryphon of John

STUDENTS of Gnosticism will welcome this volume because it gives them access, for the first time in English, to the so-called longer version of the important Gnostic text which had been used, in part, as a source by Irenaeus in his great work against heresies. While the shorter version has been known in part since 1896 when Carl Schmidt announced its discovery, it was not edited until 1954.1 The longer version appears in two codices from Nag Hammadi, with the text in Codex II being better preserved than the text in Codex IV. Pahor Labib made the Coptic text of the Apocryphon available to a limited circle of scholars in his photographic reproduction of part of Codex II,2 but the text needed editing, which Giversen has done. The volume is divided into two parts. In Part I Giversen presents a brief introduction to Gnosticism and the manuscript find, a section dealing with the manuscript and the mechanical make-up of the Codex (which contains a number of other important works, including the Gospels of Thomas and Philip), and the paleography and language of the text, followed by the text edition and translation itself and indexes of Greek and Coptic words and proper names in the text.