Scriptures of the Gnostic Sect

 

One of the main reasons I wanted to start this blog was to document and "stack" newspaper articles regarding the Nag Hammadi Library that I've found on Newspapers.com.  The Nag Hammadi Library, or NHL, is the source material for most things 20th century and on Gnosticism.  So what it is?  Let's let an article from The Guardian, June 18, 1949, help us define such a thing.

The article wastes no time in introducing us to a young French scholar, M.J. Doresse, and his presentation at The Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres in Paris, June 17, 1949.  The presentation focused on the preliminary findings and translations regarding a 1000-page set of scriptures found in Egypt.  The article mentions that the documents were found by a group of fellahin some thirty miles north of Luxor, along the east bank of the Nile.  The find was mentioned to have been made in early 1946.

So, in case you might not know, what is so special about this set of papers knowns as the NHL?

The papers were identified as belonging to the Gnostic set. The Guardian states that Gnostics were something of a heresy from Christianity and a new religion.  The idea presented at this point is that any insight into the NHL will highlight the ideas of a booming pagan philosophy (the Gnostics) of the time...which was also in the same time period that Christianity was beginning to crystalize.  

What a curious time in history.

Not much is really mentioned about Doresse's presentation at this point.  Some titles found within the collection are mentioned:

• The Ascension of Paul the First
• The Gospels According to Thomas and Philip
• The Secret Book of John
• The Gospel and the Egyptians
• The Five Revelations According to Seth

One final note in the article is that a number of mystical works carry "striking literary and religious beauty."  The papyri researched include references to Seth, Noah, and Thrice-Great Hermes.  Those are some very large names in the context of things mystical and obscure in history.  One could even say "occult", if so inclined.