Tripartite Tractate I, 51–57 (Gnostic text from the Nag Hammadi Library)

AbstractThis article discusses the definition of Ophite Gnosticism, its relationship to Sethian Gnosticism, and argues that Eugnostos, Soph. Jes. Chr., Orig. World, Hyp. Arch. and Ap. John not only have important links with each other but also draw essentially on the mythology the heresiologists called that of the Ophites. Before the Nag Hammadi findings, Ophite Gnosticism was often seen as an important and early form of Gnosticism, rooted in Jewish soil, and only secondarily Christianized. Today, not only are similar claims made of Sethian Gnosticism, but also some of the above-mentioned texts are classified as Sethian. In many recent studies, the Ophite mythology is connected with Sethian Gnosticism, even though the exact relationship between these two forms of Gnosticism has remained unclear. It is argued here that the Sethian Gnostic authors drew on earlier forms of Gnosticism, especially on the Ophite mythology, in composing some of the central Sethian texts.

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Saintly Sexlessness. Notes on the Apophthegmata Patrum

Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu ◽

10.1515/ress-2016-0028 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 391-400

Author(s):

Silviu Lupaşcu

Keyword(s):

Potential Danger ◽

Sexual Imagery ◽

Peace Of Mind ◽

Nag Hammadi ◽

Apophthegmata Patrum ◽

Desert Fathers ◽

Northern Egypt ◽

Nag Hammadi Library

Abstract The textual proximity of “woman” and “apocryphal literature” in a fragment included in the Apophthegmata Patrum may seem paradoxical. Abba Sopatrus’ apophthegm must be understood against the background of the theological debates of Origenists and non-Origenists during the 4th – 6th centuries, in Northern Egypt, and consequently needs to be exegetically enframed between Emperor Justinian I. (l. 482-565; r. 527-565) Edictum contra Origenem and Archimandrite Shenute of Atripe (348-466)’s Contra Origenistas. In fact, the contemporary Gnostic literature was able to generate heretical sexual imagery. The Apocryphon of John (II, 1; III, 1; IV, 1; BG 8502, 2), included in the Nag Hammadi Library, explains in a sexual manner the origin of evil. Abba Sopatrus’ apophthegm testifies about the proximity of Christianity and Gnosticism in Northern Egypt during the period of the Desert Fathers, and also about the effort of the abbas to establish firm limits against sexual lust and the lust of the erroneous dogmata. Both posed tremendous potential danger of disintegrating the monks’ peace of mind and peace of soul.

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