The Nag Hammadi Codices as Monastic Books
Collection
Knowledge Unlatched (KU)Language
EnglishAbstract
Since their discovery in 1945, the significance of the texts contained in the thirteen papyrus manuscripts now known as the Nag Hammadi Codices has been fiercely debated. In the history of scholarship, the texts have primarily been analyzed in light of the contexts of their hypothetical Greek originals, which in a majority of cases have been thought to have been authored in the second and third centuries CE in a variety of contexts. The articles in this volume take a different approach. Instead of focusing on hypothetical originals, they ask how the texts may have been used and understood by those who read the Coptic papyrus codices in which the texts have been preserved and take as their point of departure recent research indicating that these manuscripts were produced and used by early Egyptian monastics. It is shown that the reading habits and theological ideas attested historically for Upper Egyptian monasticism in the fourth and fifth centuries resonate well with several of the texts within the Nag Hammadi Codices.
Keywords
Religion; Biblical Studies; New TestamentDOI
10.1628/978-3-16-162233-5ISBN
9783161622328, 9783161622335Publisher
Mohr SiebeckPublisher website
https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/Publication date and place
2023Grantor
Imprint
Mohr Siebeck GmbH & Co. KGClassification
Religion and beliefs
Criticism and exegesis of sacred texts