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Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2007 DOI: 10.1163/157007207X186042

Vigiliae Christianae 61 (2007) 445-469 www.brill.nl/vc

VigiliaeChristianae

From the Prayer of the Apostle Paulto theTree Steles of Seth: Codices I, XI and VII from

Nag Hammadi Viewed as a Collection

Louis Painchaud and Michael Kaler7 Burnfield St., oronto, Ontario, Canada M6G1Y4

AbstractWhile the individual texts in the various codices found near Nag Hammadi have beenstudied and discussed, relatively little attention has been paid to the motives underly-ing their original selection and organisation. Codices I, XI and VII in particular havebeen shown on palaeographical and codicological grounds to make up a sub-collectionwithin the larger Nag Hammadi collection. Despite their doctrinal diversity, the textsfound in these three codices were intended by their compilers to be read in sequence.Te purpose of this article is to examine the logic behind this choice and arrangementof texts, and to advance the hypothesis that this three volume collection is intended toprogressively introduce the reader to a heterodox and esoteric doctrine of religiousconflict and polemic, in which the reader is invited to identify him- or herself with anembattled minority group within the larger Christian community, a group who none-theless see themselves as enlightened and as being of the lineage of the Father.

KeywordsValentinians, Sethians, ripartite ractate, Allogenes, Silvanus, Hypsiphrone, Apocry-phon of James

Because of the material characteristics of the codices and the presence ofmultiple attestations of individual texts,1 it is generally recognized that theNag Hammadi collection, comprising 13 codices or remnants of codices,

1) Within the Nag Hammadi collection there are three versions of theApocryphon of John(in codices II, III, and IV), two versions of the Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit, alsoknown as the Gospel of the Egyptians(in codices III and IV), two versions ofEugnostos(incodices III and V), two versions of the Gospel of ruth (codices I and XII), and two versionsof the Writing without itle on the Origin of the World, also known as On the Origin of theWorld(in codices II and XIII). It is presumed that sub-collections, that is, collections of

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446 L. Painchaud, M. Kaler / Vigiliae Christianae 61 (2007) 445-469

was formed by bringing together at least four smaller collections.2 In thehopes of contributing to the understanding of the last phase of the life andtransmission of these texts,3 and also in the hopes of elucidating the con-cerns of some of their collectors, in this paper we will examine one of thesesub-collections, the one made up of codices I, XI, and VII, and present ahypothesis as to the motives behind its arrangement.

We will first show that there are solid material reasons for arguing thatthese three codices form a sub-collection, despite the extreme disparity oftheir content. Having established this, we will examine the characteristicsof this sub-collection by analyzing the selection and arrangement of the

material, first with regard to each individual codex, and afterwards withregard to the entire sub-collection, establishing that the three codices can

several codices intended for the same destination, would not contain duplicate copies oftexts, and this is borne out through the analyses of handwriting and codex construction. Itmust be observed however that one of these sub-collections, codices II and XIII, whichwere presumably written by the same scribe, contained at least one duplicate, i.e. the Writ-ing without itle on the Origin of the World(NH II, 5 and XIII, 2) and that they might havecontained two copies of the long recension of theApocryphon of John, as has been suggestedby Yvonne Janssens (Le codex XIII de Nag Hammadi, Le Muson 87 [1974] 342, and LaPrtennoia rimorphe[Bibliothque copte de Nag Hammadi, section extes, 4, Qubec:Les Presses de lUniversit Laval, 1978], p. 2). Since it is unlikely that the same text was

copied twice for the same patron, this duplication suggests that codices II and XIII sharethe same origin, i.e. they were copied by the same scribe, but that they had two differentdestinations. We can therefore summarize by saying that shared material characteristicssuch as similarity of the covers or the handwriting point towards the same origin, while thepresence of doublets does not point towards different origins, but rather toward differentdestinations.2) Tese collections are composed, respectively, of codices IV and VIII, and possibly V(see on this Michael Williams, Te Scribes of Nag Hammadi Codices IV, V, VI, VIII andIX, pages 334-342 in M. Rassart and J. Ries [ed.], Actes du IVeCongrs Copte, Louvain-la-Neuve, 5-10 Septembre 1988, vol II: De la linguistique au gnosticisme [Publications delInstitut Orientaliste de Louvain 41, Louvain-la-Neuve: Institut Orientaliste, 1992]);codices VI, IX and X, and possibly also codices II and XIII; codex III; and the sub-collectionwith which this article will be concerned, namely that made up of codices I, XI and VII.See James M. Robinson, Te Facsimile Edition of the Nag Hammadi Codices, Introduction,

(Leiden: Brill, 1984), pp. 71-86, particularly note 63. It is entirely possible that these sub-collections might only have been brought together at the time that they were put in a jarand hidden: see Stephen Emmel, Religious radition, extual ransmission, and theNag Hammadi Codices, in John D. urner and Anne McGuire (ed.), Te Nag HammadiLibrary after Fifty Years. Proceedings of the 1995 Society of Biblical Literature Commemoration(Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 44, Leiden: Brill, 1997), p. 36.3) For a discussion of the different phases of the life of these texts, see Emmel, Religiousradition, extual ransmission, and the Nag Hammadi Codices.

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be read as an ensemble, forming a sort of meta-text with a distinct message,structured in a developmental and almost narrative way. As this analysiswill show, not only have the texts within each codex been carefully selectedand organized, as Michael Williams has convincingly demonstrated,4 butthe same care has also been taken with the sub-collection as a whole.

1. Codices I, XI, and VII as a Sub-collection

We are led to consider these three codices as a sub-collection by the simi-

larities in their binding,5

but also and especially by the links between thescribes who copied them. Te first three texts in codex I, namely the Prayerof the Apostle Paul, theApocryphon of James, and the Gospel of ruth, werecopied and paginated by one scribe (A). Tis scribe then left blank the lastthird of page 43 and the next seven pages, and resumed work, includingthe numbering of pages,6 with the ripartite ractateon page 50. A secondscribe (B) then copied the reatise on the Resurrection on the blank pagesthat were left by the first scribe,7 but for whatever reason this scribe did notadd in page numbers.

4) Michael Williams, Interpreting the Nag Hammadi Collection(s) in the History of

Gnosticism(s), in L. Painchaud and A. Pasquier (ed.), Les textes de Nag Hammadi et leproblme de leur classification. Actes du colloque tenu Qubec du 15 au 19 septembre 1993(Bibliothque copte de Nag Hammadi, section tudes, 3, Qubec/Louvain-Paris: LesPresses de lUniversit Laval/ditions Peeters, 1995), pp. 3-50, and also taken up, inless detail, in chapter 11 of his Rethinking Gnosticism: An Argument for Dismantling aDubious Category (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996). See below for moredetailed discussion.5) For a discussion of the codicological divisions of the Nag Hammadi codices (divisionswhich accord well with palaeographic distinctions), see Robinson, Te Facsimile Edition . . .,Introduction (esp. pp. 77-86).6) Eric urner notes that page numbers were often not written by the scribe that copied thetext: It would seem, therefore, that it was not running pagination utilized by the scribe tokeep his sheets in order, but was added subsequently (e.g., by a librarian) (ypology of theEarly Codex[Haney Foundation Series 18, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press,

1977], p. 75). In the present case, however, it seems likely that the page numbers of codexI were written in by the same scribe that copied the text (noting in particular the distinctiveway that the supralinear stroke is formed). Now, it is clear that scribe A knew what textscribe B was to add to the codex, and scribe A also left a calculated amount of space for it,but for whatever reason Scribe A did not choose to number the blank pages, and neither didscribe B.7) See Williams, Interpreting the Nag Hammadi Collection(s) in the History of Gnos-ticism(s), p. 12.

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We know that scribe Bs work was done after scribe A had finishedbecause the reatise on the Resurrection ends halfway through page 50, andthe rest of the page is left blank. If scribe B had copied the reatiseafterscribe A had done the Gospel of ruth, and then scribe A had resumed workwith the ripartite ractate, scribe A would have picked up immediatelyafter the reatise on the Resurrection, rather than leaving half a page blank.

Scribe B also copied the first two texts in codex XI, the Interpretation ofKnowledgeand the Valentinian Exposition, as well as the liturgical supple-ments that follow them. Ten a third scribe (C) copied the last two textsof this codex, as well as the whole of codex VII.

Tese three codices are thus clearly linked both by their binding and bythe interaction of the scribes who copied their contents. In addition, thealternation between scribes A and B in codex I shows that the order of textsin at least this codex was carefully planned.

However, the content of these three codices is far from homogeneous.From the linguistic point of view, we note that the texts copied by scribes

A and B are in the L6 dialect of Coptic, while those copied by scribe C arein the Sahidic dialect. Te different dialects, or more often dialectal ten-dencies, to be found among the Nag Hammadi texts are indications of thedifferent histories lying behind the texts, from their translation into one oranother dialect of Coptic, sometimes followed by retranslations into other

dialects, until their compilation into the Nag Hammadi collection.8

In terms of their doctrine, the two untitled texts copied by A and B atthe end of their respective sections, texts which modern researchers refer toas the ripartite ractateand the Valentinian Exposition, are clearly Valen-tinian, while the texts copied by C towards the end of codex XI, and at theend of codex VII, namelyAllogenesand the Tree Steles of Seth, unquestion-ably belong to the so-called Sethian tradition.9 Unfortunately, the last textcopied by scribe C in codex XI, Hypsiphrone, is in such bad shape that onecannot be sure if it ought to be considered to be Sethian as well.

8) See on this Wolf-Peter Funk, Te Linguistic Aspect of Classifying the Nag HammadiCodices, in Painchaud and Pasquier (ed.), Les textes de Nag Hammadi, pp. 145-146.9) See in particular the work of the late Hans-Martin Schenke, Das sethianische Systemnach Nag-Hammadi-Handschriften, in Peter Nagel (ed.), Studia Coptica(Berliner Byzan-tinische Arbeiten, 45, Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1974), pp. 165-173 and Te Phenomenonand Significance of Gnostic Sethianism, in Bentley Layton (ed.), Te Rediscovery of Gnosticism. Proceedings of the International Conference on Gnosticism at Yale, New Haven,Connecticut, Marc 28-31 1978, vol. 2, Sethian Gnosticism (Studies in the History of Reli-gion, 41, Leiden: Brill, 1981), pp. 588-618. Also John D. urner, Sethian Gnosticism, aLiterary History, in Harold Attridge, Charles W. Hedrick, and Robert Hodgson (ed.), Nag

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Te following table provides a summary of these different doctrinalcharacteristics.

Codices I, VII and XI

Codex I Codex XI Codex VII

Scribe A Scribe B Scribe C

Dialect L6

Dialect SPrimarilyValentinian PrimarilySethian

A. Pr. Paul 1. Interp. 1. Paraph. Shem1. Ap. Jas. Know. 2. reat. Seth2. Gos. ruth 2. Val. Exp. 3. Apoc. Pet.

4. reat. Res. 3. Allogenes 4. each. Silv.3. ri.rac. 4. Hypsiph. 5. Steles Seth

Furthermore, because of the poor quality of scribe As calligraphy, the par-ticipation of two scribes each in the copying of codices I and XI, and the

juxtaposition of two quite different dialectical norms in codex XI, we con-clude that these two codices were intended for use in the same milieuwhere they were produced: they do not seem to have been intendedfor commercial use. Tis conclusion extends the point already made by

E. Tomassen with regard to codex I, who argues that, based on the qualityof the calligraphy and the presence of certain ornamental signs at thebeginning of the codex, out dabord, comme il est improbable quunmanuscrit commercial ait t dcor de cette faon, ces signes dmontrentque le scribe a fait ce manuscrit pour son propre usage (et pour le groupeauquel il appartenait). Dailleurs, la calligraphie mdiocre de lcritureappuie ce point de vue.10

Tis hypothesis can also be extended to codex VII. Despite the markedlysuperior quality of its calligraphy, the scribal note with which it ends sug-gests a close relationship between the scribe and those for whom the codexwas intended: Tis book belongs to the fatherhood. It is the son who

wrote it. Bless me, father. I bless you. Peace. Amen (NH VII 127.28-32).

Hammadi, Gnosticism and Early Christianity, (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1986), pp. 55-86and ypology of the Sethian Gnostic reatises From Nag Hammadi, in Painchaud andPasquier (ed.), Les textes de Nag Hammadi, pp. 149-217.10) Einar Tomassen and Louis Painchaud, Le rait tripartite(Bibliothque copte de NagHammadi, section extes, 19, Qubec: Les Presses de lUniversit Laval, 1989), p. 3.

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In addition, we should take into consideration the scribal notes foundat the start of codex I (B.9-10), following the Lessons of Silvanosin codexVII (118.8-9), and at the very end of that codex. One such note, writtenin Greek and placed at the end of the Prayer of the Apostle Paul, is made upof the formulaeneirhnhoxristosagio=, with the word xristosbeing represented by a superimposed x and r ( ) (B.9-10). Te second note,found in codex VII at the end ofSilvanos, is made up of the acrostic xuysfollowed by the Greek words uaymaamhxanon, and could be translatedJesus Christ, Son of God Saviour, extraordinary marvel, and is accompa-nied by a triple f, a triple h, the letters t and y, and a symbol that might

represent an anchor (118.8-9).11 Tese notes show that the texts that theyaccompany were positively received by the scribes who copied them.

Tus we would argue that these three codices were produced for thepersonal use of their scribes or people in their vicinity. Our conclusion isalso supported by Sheltons analysis of place names found in the carton-nage used to stiffen the covers of these three codices, which concludes thatat least Codices I, V, VII, and XI were bound using material from thegeneral neighbourhood of the place where the codices were bound.12

Tis specific conclusion coheres with Kim Haines-Eitzens general pointthat in early Christianity as a whole, literature tended to be transmittedthrough private scribal networks: Scribes and readers, interested members

of Christian communities, formed networks that enabled the transmissionof early Christian literature. Tat these networks were private and theo-logically (ascetically, socially) driven [is] clear . . . nowhere do we find evi-dence that Christian scriptoria existed during the second or third centuries;rather, transmission of Christian literature . . . appears to have proceededalong the personal channels of friendship and acquaintance.13 ransmissionthrough such networks, of course, would heighten the possibility of idio-syncratic and unique collections such as codices I, XI and VII being made.

Tere are two other important conclusions that we can draw from thisexamination of the arrangement and content of these codices. Te first is that

11) See on this subject Williams, Interpreting the Nag Hammadi Collection(s) in the His-

tory of Gnosticism(s), pp. 18-20, and Clemens Scholten, Die Nag-Hammadi-exte alsBuchbesitz der Pachomianer,Jahrbuch fr Antike und Christentum 31 (1988) 161-162.12) John W. B. Barns, Gerald M. Brown, and John C. Shelton, Nag Hammadi Codices:Greek and Coptic Papyri from the Cartonnage of the Covers (Nag Hammadi Studies XVI,Leiden: Brill, 1981), p. 11.13) Guardians of Letters: Literacy, Power and the ransmitters of Early Christian Literature(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 104.

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codex I was not copied from a single source, but rather that its contentswere drawn from at least two other codices, which presumes that the mate-rial copied into codex I was deliberately chosen.14 Te second conclusionis that the second through fifth texts in codex I were arranged in a particu-lar order (the first text, the Prayer of the Apostle Paul, is written on the fly-leaf of the codex and might serve as an introduction, or a benediction).15

Te deliberate choice of the order of the second through fifth texts isshown by the care taken by scribe A to leave available for scribe B a preciseamount of space in the middle of the codex: the reatise on the Resurrectionwas obviously intended to follow the Gospel of ruth and precede the ri-

partite ractate, and scribe A must have had a good idea of the length of thework, presumably from having seen or read it before. Tis has led Michael

Williams to conclude that the choice and the arrangement of the contentsof codex I, at least for texts 2-5, correspond to a precise design: . . . themost significant thing we learn is that the order of at least tractates 2-5 inCodex I seems to have been carefully planned.16

Although the study of the logic, the selection and arrangement oftexts for inclusion in heterogeneous codices17 is in its infancy, other Nag

14) John D. urner draws on their linguistic similarity to suggest that the first two writingsin Codex XI could both have been translated into Coptic by the same translator (Intro-

duction to Codex XI, in Charles W. Hedrick [ed.], Nag Hammadi Codices XI, XII, XIII[Nag Hammadi Studies 28, Leiden: Brill, 1990], p. 11). Without going quite so far, onecan certainly view this linguistic similarity as indicating that they share a common prove-nance, and an examination of the language of the reatise on the Resurrection, the one textin codex I copied by this scribe, suggests that this conclusion could be extended to thatwriting as well. At least in the case of codex IV, there is evidence that the same scribe copiedtexts with different dialectal traits (Williams, Te Scribes of Nag Hammadi Codicesp. 336), and thus we cannot assume that this linguistic similarity was the work of the scribecopying the texts. Tis scribe, like the scribe of codex IV, could have been concerned tofollow dialectical peculiarities in the exemplar(s), rather than to produce a dialecticallyuniform version (ibid.).15) Te logic behind the use of the Prayer of the Apostle Paulas the introduction to codex Ihas been analysed by Michael Kaler, Te Prayer of the Apostle Paulin the Context of NagHammadi Codex I, paper delivered at the Society for Biblical Literature, Nag Hammadi

and Gnosticism Section, Nov. 2006.16) Williams, Interpreting the Nag Hammadi Collection(s) in the History of Gnos-ticism(s), 13.17) By which we mean codices where originally independent works have been assembled.Te one great exception is of course the New estament, but otherwise, scholarship haspaid relatively little attention to the possible logic lying behind the selection and arrange-ment of disparate material, despite significant papers by Williams (Design in Codex

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Hammadi codices do show clear signs of deliberate organization (andchoice?) of otherwise disparate contentssee for example the work ofF. Morard (Les apocalypses de Codex V de Nag Hammadi) and M. Kaler(L Apocalypse de Paul, pp. 149-153) on codex V.18 Particularly relevant

Composition: Te Case of Bodmer P72, presented at the AAR/SBL meeting in SeattleNovember 1999; for another analysis of the internal logic of this codex see Haines-Eitzen,Guardians of Letters, pp. 96-104) and Franoise Morard (Les apocalypses de Codex Vde Nag Hammadi, in Painchaud and Pasquier (ed.), Les extes de Nag Hammadi). Oncodex V see also Kaler in Jean-Marc Rosenstiehl and Michael Kaler, L Apocalypse de Paul(NH V,2) (Bibliothque copte de Nag Hammadi, section extes, 31, Qubec/Louvain:Les Presses de lUniversit Laval/ ditions Peeters, 2005), pp. 149-153. Ancient referencesto the logic lying behind particular collections are hard to come by. Tere is, of course,

Augustines first letter to Firmus, concerning the de Civitate Dei, in which he gives adviceon how he would like the work divided: Tere are twenty-two books which are too bulkyto bind into one volume. If you want two volumes they must be divided so that one volumehas ten books and the other twelve . . . If, however, you prefer more than two volumes thenyou must have five volumes of which the first will contain the first five books . . . [and thesecond] the second group of five. Te next three volumes which follow must have fourbooks each (translation from Harry Gamble, Books and Readers in the Early Church: A His-tory of Early Christian exts [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995], p. 134). Gamblegoes on to note that it is interesting to see Augustines insistence that the bibliographicformat of the work should correspond to the divisions of the subject matter and the phases

of the argument. Te physical form of the work is to follow its content. And, for our pur-poses, it is quite significant to note that this physical form is clearly and consciouslyspread over several codices. (For further discussion of the first and second letters to Firmusand the significance of Augustines proposed arrangements for the text, see Johannes vanOort,Jerusalem and Babylon: A Study into Augustines City of God and the Sources of his Doc-trine of the wo Cities [Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 14, Leiden: Brill, 1991],pp. 171-175.) Tere is also the mention by Cassiodorus (Inst. 1.2.12) that he collected therelevant writings on I and II Kings into one volume, but left empty places so that writingsyet to be found . . . may be added to the commentaries mentioned above (trans. JamesHalporn, Cassiodorus: Institutions of Divine and Secular Learning and On the Soul[rans-lated exts for Historians 42, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2004], p. 117) a pro-cedure similar to that which scribe A seems to have followed in leaving space in the codexfor the reatise on the Resurrection.18) Tis codex seems to have been assembled by a collector of apocalyptic literature, and in

this regard suggests similarities to Bodmer codex Vis-G (P. Bodmer XXIX-XXXVIII, knownas the Visions Codex, and containing selections from the Shepherdof Hermas, as well as theVision of Dositheos): see on this Rodolphe Kasser and Guglielmo Cavallo, Description etdatation du Codex des Visions, in Andr Hurst, Olivier Reverdin, and Jean Rudhardt, ed.,Papyrus Bodmer XXIX: Vision de Dorothos, dit avec une introduction, une traduction etdesnotes(Cologny-Genve: Fondation Martin Bodmer, 1984), pp. 99-120. More recently,Hurst and Rudhart have argued that the codexs internal logic does not derive from the

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here is M. Williams analysis of the codices IV and VIII, which he seesas forming a collection arranged according to a history of revelationscheme.19 He argues that the collection moves from primordial origins andan overview of existence (Apocryphon of John as a rewritten Genesis, thenthe Gospel of the Egyptiansas the autobiography of Seth, a divine figurefrom the primordial world), then (codex VIII) ancient testimony from

Zostrianos (a human figure from the distant, but not quite primordial,past, dealing with the nature of the transcendent realms), and at lastfinishing with a revelation of Christ to his disciples (Epistle of Peter toPhilip), which gives an explicitly Christian sheen to the whole collection,

fits its chronological survey into Christian sacred history, and also brings itup to date by linking it with the contemporary period. If Williams argu-ment is correct, then we would have evidence of another multi-volumecollection, of which the individual volumes could nonetheless be read sep-arately, as seems to be the case with codices I, XI, and VII. Tis volumewould also have been the product of the collaboration between severaldifferent scribes, increasing its similarity to codices I, XI and VII.

2. Te Selection of the Material

Te table below gives a list of the texts contained in the three codices,

along with a brief summary of their content and an indication of their pos-sible or probable sectarian affiliations.

Content of codices I, XI et VII

Codex I itle20 Content Doctrinal affiliation

1 (A-B) Prayer of the Apostle Paul Short prayer attributed to Paul Probably Valentinian2 (1-16) Dialogue of Jesus and disciples Undetermined3 (16-43) Homily (exoteric ?) Probably Valentinian4 (43-50) reatise on the Resurrection Letter on the resurrection Probably Valentinian5 (51-138) Systematic doctrinal expos Valentinian

visionary nature of some of its contents, but rather that the shorter poems draw on thethemes of repentance and martyrdom that are found in the longer workssee their PapyriBodmer XXX-XXXVII: Codex des Visions, Pomes divers(Munich: Saur, 1999), pp. 4-13.19) Rethinking Gnosticism, p. 249.20) Many of the writings in these codices were untitled, and the titles that modern researchhas given them are put between brackets.

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(cont.)

Codex I itle Content Doctrinal affiliation

Codex XI

1 (1-21) Interpretation of Knowledge Exhortation to reconciliation Possibly Valentinian2 (22-39) Systematic doctrinal expos Valentinian3 (40-44) Baptism and Eucharist Valentinian (?)4 (45-69) Allogenes Revelation discourse Sethian5 (69-72) Hypsiphrone ? Undetermined

Codex VII1 (1-49) Te Paraphrase of Sem Apocalypse, treating first and undetermined

last things2 (49-70) Second reatise of the Fate of the Saviour and those undeterminedGreat Seth who are his

3 (70-84) Apocalypse of Peter Fate of the Saviour and those Basilidian (?)who are his

4 (84-118) eachings of Silvanos Sapiential teachings undetermined5 (118-27) Tree Steles de Seth Revelation discourse Sethian

We have no idea which or how many texts were originally known and avail-able to the scribes, and from which they made their selection. All thatremains to us is the selection itself. Tat being said, there are things that wecan deduce about their procedure. When one considers the three codices

as forming an ensemble, it is clear that their selection was not made on asectarian basis (assuming, of course, that our modern divisions, particularlybetween Sethian and Valentinian writings, correspond to ancient divisions).Nor does the selection have to do with the themes of the various writings,or with their literary genre. In terms of the individual codices, there doesseem to be a certain doctrinal element to the selection, at least insofar ascodex I as a whole appears more or less Valentinian, whereas codex VIIdoes not contain any texts that could be linked to Valentinianism.

Among the writings copied by scribes A and B, we find some of themost clearly Valentinian texts of the Nag Hammadi collection (with theexception of the Gospel of Philip), namely the ripartite ractate andthe Gospel of ruth in codex I, and the Valentinian Exposition in codex XI,21

while among the writings copied by scribe C one finds some of the mostclearly Sethian writings, such asAllogenesin codex XI and the Tree Stelesof Seth in codex VII.

21) See Tomassen, Notes pour la dlimitation dun corpus valentinien Nag Hammadi,Painchaud and Pasquier (ed.), Les extes de Nag Hammadi, pp. 243-259.

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Furthermore, each of these two groups of writings (those copied byscribes A and B, and those copied by scribe C) include works which, whilenot belonging quite as evidently to the Valentinian or Sethian traditions,nonetheless show affinities with these traditions and could easily have beenread as Valentinian or Sethian works, as the case may be. Tus, whilethe reatise on the Resurrection (codex I) and the Interpretation of Knowledge(codex XI) are not so explicitly Valentinian as the ripartite ractate, theycan nonetheless be read as Valentinian texts.22 Te same would apply to theSecond reatise of the Great Seth or the Paraphrase of Shem in codex VII,with regard to the Sethian tradition.

One can therefore say that codex I shows overall a dominant Valentin-ian tendency, while codex VII shows a Sethian one, and the two tendenciescoexist in codex XI. Its first half is doctrinally aligned with codex I, whileits second half is linked to codex VII. Tis doctrinal split coincides with adialectal fracture between S(Sahidic) and L6 (a branch of the Lycopolitandialect), and is the result of the stages of transmission of these texts, theirtrajectories and their translators.23 Te evidence suggests that in this caseworks of similar doctrinal tendencies had circulated together, or in similarmilieus.

In the following section we will show that the selection of texts is coher-ent both in terms of the arrangement of texts within each individual codex,

and within the three codices viewed as an ensemble.

3. Te Arrangement of the Material

Michael Williams analysis of the arrangement of texts in codices I, XI andVII led him to argue that codex I was organized around a scripturalmodel, codex XI around a liturgical model, and codex VII around amodel that, as with codex I, one could call scriptural. Williams himselfdoes not use the term with regard to this codex, although he does suggeststhat the Paraphrase of Shem takes the place of the Old estament.24 Hisreconstruction of the logic behind these arrangements of texts, which we

will examine below, is plausible overall.

22) Ibid.23) See on this Wolf-Peter Funk, Te Linguistic Aspect.24) Williams, Interpreting the Nag Hammadi Collection(s) in the History of Gnos-ticism(s), p. 17.

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In addition, Williams has pointed out another, and very significantaspect of the arrangement of codex XI. He notes that in codex XI there isa gradual crescendo from the more exoteric homiletic material to the mys-tical visions at the end.25 Tis same perception, if slightly modified, isapplicable to codex I as well, with its culmination in the elaborate doctri-nal exposition of the ripartite ractate.

Codex I

Williams argues that the texts in this codex have been organized in a scrip-

tural pattern. Setting the Prayer of the Apostle Paul to one side (it wouldhave functioned as a brief invocation to open the volume),26 the codexbegins with theApocryphon of James(a sort of gospel), followed byGospelof ruth (which in its focus on exposition and parenesis takes the place ofthe letters in the N), then the reatise on the Resurrection, dealing witheschatology. Finally, the ripartite ractateplays the role of a more com-prehensive systematic theology for which the small collection of scrip-ture in the first part of the codex sets the stage.27

Although this understanding is certainly possible, one could also arguethat within codex I the texts are organized in a progressive manner. If weexclude for the moment the Prayer of the Apostle Paul, whose position inthe codex marks it as separate from the rest of the works,28 the codex starts

with the non-ValentinianApocryphon of Jamesadopting a mild polemicalstance against what could be called mainstream Christianity. Ten cometwo texts whose Valentinian character is only implicit. Ten the codexfinishes with the ripartite ractate, a systematic expos that covers all theaspects of Valentinian doctrine.

Such an arrangement is best explained by the hypothesis that the codexwas intended to give a progressive introduction to the Valentinian doctrinefor non-initiates. Tis would provide a more comprehensive explanationof the arrangement of the material in codex I than Williams hypothesis ofa neo-testamentary model, a model which is inadequate to explain theposition of the ripartite ractate in the codex. Our hypothesis also has

the advantage of taking into account the later addition of the Prayer of the

25) Op. cit. p. 16.26) Rethinking Gnosticism, p. 14.27) Op. cit. p. 15.28) And whose vocabulary and concerns mark it as a general introduction to the codex as awholesee below, and also Kaler, Te Prayer of the Apostle Paul.

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Apostle Paulto the flyleaf of the codex: it would have functioned as a sortofcaptatio benevolentiae, a gesture intended to recommend the contents ofthe codex to the uninitiated readers by putting it under the patronage of thegreat apostle.

We know that Pauls writings were quite popular with esoterically-minded Christians of all sorts, including Valentinian authors, who inter-preted them as being coded expositions of Valentinian ideas. Furthermore,as Griggs has pointed out,29 Paul was known in the early church quite asmuch, if not more, for his apocalyptic visionary experience (Gal 1:13-17;2 Cor 12:1-4; etc.) as for his theology, and thus he would be an ideal guar-

antor for a series of codices designed to lead the reader from theoreticalknowledge to personal enlightenment. Finally, it is to be noted that Paul isthe one major apostolic figure that could not be present at the gathering ofapostles described at the start of the Apocryphon of James. With the addi-tion of the Prayer, the apostolic circle becomes complete.

In addition to legitimizing the collection, the Prayercould also havesubtly commenced the process of initiation. Although it is indebted toPauls letters and also conforms generally to the norms of Hellenistic invo-cations as found for example in the Corpus Hermeticum I.31-32, there is aclear gnostic tinge to it that would have helped ensure the readers receptiv-ity to what follows. Furthermore, despite its short length (less than 50

lines), the Prayercontains a remarkably high number of words with eso-teric or technical gnostic associations that play important roles in the othertexts in codex I. It thus introduces the reader to many themes and ideasthat will be taken up at greater length later in the codex.

Codex VII

Scribe C has taken a completely different approach to the arrangement ofthe contents of codex VII. As was mentioned above, codex VII does nothave the progressive sort of organization that one finds in codices I and

XI. In strong contrast to codex I, codex VII opens with a particularlyobscure and difficult text, the Paraphrase of Sem, which is then followed

by the Second reatise of the Great Seth and the Apocalypse of Peter. Boththese latter texts are strongly docetist and include violent polemics againstadversaries who are identified with rival Christian movements. Te Second

29) C. Wilfred Griggs, Early Egyptian Christianity from its Origins to 451 C.E. (Coptic Stud-ies 2, Leiden: Brill, 1990), p. 6.

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reatise of the Great Seth has Jesus tell his followers that we were hated, notonly by those who are ignorant, but also by those who think that they areadvancing the name of Christ (59.22-26), while the Apocalypse of Peterdirectly attacks those who name themselves bishop and also deacons(79.22-26).

Tese texts are followed by the eachings of Silvanos, a sapiential writingwith no marked heterodox traits, and the codex closes with the Tree Stelesof Seth, a Sethian revelation.

Te absence of a progressive aspect like that found in codex I should notbe taken to mean that the codex lacks order. Rather, Codex VII, to a much

greater degree than Codex I, has been organized according to a scripturalmodel. Tus we see that the Paraphrase of Shem, which takes the place ofthe Old estament, is followed by two texts (the Second reatise of the GreatSeth and theApocalypse of Peter) which emphasize their interpretation ofthe Passion and death of the Saviour and which can therefore be under-stood as standing in for the Gospels.30

After these texts comes the eachings of Silvanos, which could be seen astaking the place of the Pauline letters. Tis is rendered likely by its paran-etic content, the explicit reference to Paul which it contains (108.30)and by its title, as the Silvanos to whom the text is attributed could beidentified with the Silas or Silvanos who is described as a companion of

Paul (Acts 15:22; 1 Tess 1:1; 2 T 1:1). Te Tree Steles of Seth, whosecomplete title is Te revelation (poyvn ebol) by Dositheos of the threesteles of Seth (118.10-12) would then have been the equivalent of the bib-lical book ofRevelation.

Codex XI

As we have seen, codex XIs content is extremely varied. Michael Williamswas the first to have suggested that, despite this disparity, the scribes whocopied this codex could have nonetheless perceived it as forming a unifiedwhole, proposing that the codex could have been read as an order ofworship,31 with a gradual crescendo from the more exoteric homiletic

30) Secondary reasons might also have influenced the arrangement of these texts. It is pos-sible, for example, that the title of the Second reatise of the Great Seth was the reason thatit was put second in the codex.31) Williams, Interpreting the Nag Hammadi Collection(s) in the History of Gnos-ticism(s) , pp. 15-17.

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material to the mystical visions at the end.32 Following his interpretation,it begins with a homily on community (Interpretation of Knowledge), fol-lowed by a catechism for initiates (Valentinian Exposition), then ritually-oriented texts (the Liturgical Supplements), followed finally by the mysticalascent and vision ofAllogenes.

With regard to the Interpretation of Knowledge, it is necessary to reviseand expand Williams analysis. As has been convincingly argued, Inter-

pretation of Knowledgecould not be considered as a homily since it iswritten in the second person singular.33 It would be better described asan exoteric writing about reconciliation.34 Its mild sectarian orientation

(crypto-valentinian?) as well as its strong Pauline coloration might wellplay the same role ofcaptatio benevolentiaeat the beginning of codex XI asthe Prayer of the Apostle Paulat the beginnning of codex I. Tese objectionsaside, however, Williams understanding of the organisation underlyingthe diversity found in the rest of the codex appears fundamentally sound.

When looking at codex XI, as with the other Nag Hammadi codices, weshould keep in mind the general principle that the form that they havebeen given has been produced by the arrangement of pre-existing texts.Tese codices are compilations, and there is no evidence of significantredactional activity at the time that the texts were compiled into codices.

As Williams notes, in at least most of the codices, the way in which

tractates are arranged suggests that scribes perceived complete theologicalconsistency within the volumes. Or to put it another way, the arrangementitself in most instances seems to be the scribal method of demonstrating orestablishing the theological coherence among the works. A revelationreceived by an ancient Shem or Zostrianos or Eugnostos or Melchizedek isshown to be an anticipation of revelation from (or in) Christ. Te ascentof an Allogenes is the mystical visionary communion beyond even baptismand eucharist. estimony to the truth about Christ as [a] great physician isdiscovered hidden in traditions associated with the Greco-Roman god of

32) Op. cit. p. 16.33) Stephen Emmel, Exploring the Pathway Tat Leads from Paul to Gnosticism. What Isthe Genre of Te Interpretation of Knowledge (NHC XI,1), in Martin Fanacht et al.(ed.), Die WeisheitUrsprnge und Rezeption. Festschrift fr Karl Lning (Mnster:

Aschendorff, 2003), pp. 257-276.34) As argued by Ismo Dunderberg in Te School of Valentinus, in Antti Marjanen et al.(ed.),A Companion to Second-Century Christian Heretics(Supplements to Vigiliae Chris-tianae 76, Leiden: Brill, 2005), pp. 64-99.

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healing, Asclepius. And so on.35 Tus we should not expect their contentsto be completely in accord either with each other or with the overall struc-ture of their collection. Tis general principle applies to the sub-collectionmade up of codices I, XI, and VII as a whole, and to the individual codicesthemselves.

If we examine codex XI as a member of the sub-collection formed bycodices I, VII and XI, another aspect of its internal coherence becomesapparent. Te first part of this codex, which as we recall was copied byscribe B, follows the same progression that was observed in codex I, albeitmore limited in extent. Tus we have the Interpretation of Knowledge,

whose probable Valentinian character is not accentuated, followed by theValentinian Exposition, which offers a systematic presentation of the Valen-tinian doctrine which is comparable to that found in the ripartite ractateat the end of codex I. Tis doctrine is then applied to ritual practice, in theLiturgical Supplements.

Allogenes, the next text and the first to have been copied by scribe C, hasa much more developed narrative frame than the prior writings. It presentsthe divine visions granted to a certain Allogenes and his visionary escapefrom the body and the world, as told to his son Messos, and is very remi-niscent of the writings found in codex VII. With its description of thereception of revelation and its narrative focus, Allogenescould be read as

providing a practical application of the theoretical material exposed in thewritings that precede it. While in these texts the reader was told about thetrue, mystical nature of things, in Allogeneswe see the actual process ofthe reception of enlightenment and escape from the body.

Te last text in the codex, Hypsiphrone, is in extremely fragmentary con-dition, and thus one cannot speak with certainty about it. However, it ispossible that in its complete form it told of the descent of a divine being,Hypsiphrone, from the higher realms to the world, and of her rescue byanother heavenly being, Phainops. If reconstruction is accurate, we wouldsee a similar mythical structure to that shown in the Exegesis on the Soul(NHC II,6), but more importantly, we would also see a counterpart to thestory thatAllogenespresents, taking a different point of view and reversing

the genders of the main characters, but nonetheless being complementaryrather than contradictory.

35) Williams, Interpreting the Nag Hammadi Collection(s) in the History of Gnos-ticism(s), p. 40.

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Accordingly, if we look at the material contained in codex XI in thelight of the other codices of its sub-collection, it seems as though codex XIwas designed to summarize the material exposed in codex I in its first half,and to demonstrate its practical application in a way which would simul-taneously prepare the reader for the material presented in codex VII in itssecond half. And so we see that the arrangement of the material withincodex XI suggests that this codex was intended to smoothly conduct thereader from codex I to codex VII.

If this is the case, then the Liturgical Supplementsmight have been cho-sen and placed precisely at the juncture between the two bodies repre-

sented by codices I and XIa on the one hand and XIb and VII on the otherhand as a liturgical application of the content of codices I and XIa. Itsfunction would be to mark by means of a reference to the rituals of anoint-ing, baptism and eucharist, the passage from a first step of initiation to asecond, more advanced one.

TusAllogenes(and possiblyHypsiphrone) ought to be seen as the vision-ary result of this ritual passage and the pivot of the whole three-volumecollection.Allogenesis ideally suited for this role: its ecstatic outbursts andits actualization of the revelatory process would give its readers graphic andexciting evidence of the end to which the preceding theoretical exposswere devoted, and for which the liturgical fragments served as preparation.

At the same time, its markedly different vocabulary and mind-set wouldprepare readers for what is to come.We can say, then, that Williams observation regarding codex XI, namely

that its contents might have been perceived as a unified whole by thescribes who compiled it, could be extended to the entire sub-collectionformed by these three codices. In this case, codex XI would function as thehinge between codex I and codex VII, leading the reader from the progres-sive enlightenment of the former codex to the alternate bible found in thelatter.

It is possible that we have another hint as to the unity of this sub-collection in the presence of almost the same phrase at the beginning of thePrayer of the Apostle Paul, copied by scribe A at the very beginning of the

sub-collection, and also at the beginning of the First Stele of Seth copied byscribe C close to its end. Te relevant sections read as follows:

Prayer of the Apostle Paul: [I] am yours, the [one who] has come forthfrom [you]. You are [my In]tellect (e [anak] petepvk,p[ent]aeiabal, []ito[otk] Ntakp[e pan]oys [NHC I A, 5-6])

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Tree Steles of Seth: I am your son and you are my Intellect (e anokpete pvk Nhre ayv Ntok pe panoys [NH VII 118,30-119,1]).

36

o sum up: It is clear that each of the three codices has its own internallogic that governs the arrangement of the texts that they contain. Further-more, they are linked one to the other by the interaction of their variousscribes and by their binding. And when this is taken into account, and thethree codices are examined together, then it is seen that from the Prayer ofthe Apostle Paulto the Tree Steles of Seth, everything takes place as if thecontent of the three codices has been carefully chosen and arranged in

order to deliver a single, coherent and continuous message. Not only arethe codices coherently arranged in themselves, but they make up a coher-ent, three-volume whole as well.

4. Te Progression Leading up to Codex VII

As we saw, there is a progressive and developmental logic underlying codexI. Te reader is, so to speak, initiated gradually into esoteric (Valentinian)teachings. In the first half of codex XI this gradual initiation is continued,and then, with the sacramental instructions, we are given the means bywhich this theoretical knowledge can be ritually actualized. After this, we

are shown the enlightenment that comes when this knowledge is actual-ized and manifested in visionary experiences.

Tese two codices can also be understood from the point of view of thereader and his/her relationship to the larger Christian community. In the

Apocryphon of James, the reader is introduced to a new way of viewingthe universe, one that comes from Jesus and is guaranteed by its historicalframework. Te Apocryphon of Jamesis by far the most down to earthand historically-minded text, in codex I. It situates both its revelations,and those to come in other texts, in a salvation-historical context (post-resurrection, pre-ascension) that is very traditional for such revelations, itfeatures Jesus in a prominent role, its use of the letter format gives it a

historical veneer, its frame story aims at verisimilitude, and it provides ahistorical rationalization for the novelty of its teachings by presenting them

36) Te observation was made by Dieter Mueller, Prayer of the Apostle Paul, in HaroldW. Attridge (ed.), Nag Hammadi Codex I (Te Jung Codex). Introductions, exts, ransla-tions, Indices(Nag Hammadi Studies 22, Leiden: Brill, 1985), p. 7, who suggested a com-mon source.

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as secret wisdom revealed only to James and Peter (2.33-39). It is thus ide-ally suited to begin the reader on his or her journey into progressiveenlightenment.

Following this, more instruction comes by way of an awe-inspiring andinspirational speech from an enlightened teacher who has achieved gnosis(the Gospel of ruth). Ten the reatise on the Resurrection signals a returnto the nitty gritty, the mechanics of salvation. Finally, the ripartite rac-tateprovides the background for the context within which this salvation iseffected.

Codex I has been focused on the individual, on his or her progressive

journey into the realms that its texts open up to him or her. With codex XI,the focus then turns to the integration of the individual into his/her com-munity. Te Interpretation of Knowledgediscusses the problems that canarise between the enlightened individual and his or her (not necessarilyequally enlightened) community, emphasizing the need to overcome thesepotential problems through having the proper, Christian attitude and lackof jealousy. Ten the Valentinian Exposition gives the theoretical underpin-nings of how one is to understand exoteric church teachingsthat is, howone is to integrate ones new knowledge into Christian life. And it issignificant to note that Interpretation of Knowledgeends with an invocationof the Father, and Valentinian Exposition begins with one, making the tran-

sition from one to the other very easy. Te theme of the integration ofesoteric knowledge into exoteric rituals is carried on in the Liturgical Sup-plements, which explain the true nature of the various rites.

Having been intellectually enlightened, and then having learned how tointegrate that enlightenment with his or her community and havinglearned as well how to perceive it within church teachings and rituals,the reader is prepared for the illumination that Allogenesprovides. Teintegration of the personal/intellectual and the social permits the ascen-sion into mystical enlightenment, the utter change of ones self and onesworldview, and consequently of ones understanding of reality. Te readeris thus prepared to dive into a new myth, having reinterpreted and tran-scended the old.

5. Te Message of Codex VII

Te end result, the goal, of all this enlightenment is to be found in Codex VII.Once one has learned about these esoteric mysteries, and then has actual-ized them through properly-understood ritual, one becomes enlightened.

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It is at this point that the reader turns to codex VII, which has in effectbecome a new bible for him or her. And this codex, taken in its totality,can be read as an exposition of the history of a spiritual group or race con-tinually opposed by hostile forces. Significantly, these opponents are notpagans: rather, as the texts of codex VII show the reader, they are rivalChristians.

Te origin both of the spiritual group and of the forces that oppress it isexposed in the Paraphrase of Sem. Tis same group of spirituals are theintended recipients of the Second reatise of the Great Seth, who are hatedand persecuted not only by those who are ignorant, but also those who

think themselves rich in the name of Christ, although they are empty ofknowledge, not knowing who they are, like dumb animals (59.22-30). Teseignorant ones mislead their followers and make them into slaves (60.20-29).But the eventual victory of the spirituals is certain, due to their celestialorigin (60.3-12), because they belong to the nobility of the Fatherhood(61.28-30)if, that is, they live in harmony and friendship of brotherlylove (62.19-21). Teir adversaries, on the other hand, who are violentlyopposed in this text, are described as being blind, senseless, and murderousslaves of the Law (65.14-18), while the recipients of the treatise areexhorted, through the knowledge and words of the Saviour, to join togetherin a holy community (67.19-68.5).

TeApocalypse of Petertakes a similar position. From the start, it assertsthe existence of two groups. Te first of these, with which the readers ofthe text are intended to identify, is made up of those who belong to theFather and who are from above (70.20-22). Te second group, the sonsof this age (73.18), which includes bishops and deacons (79.22-26),opposes the first group. Uncleanness, error, hairesis, blasphemy, calumny,corruption, and slavery characterise these adversaries. Tey are deaf andblind and mislead others with their evil words and misleading mysteries(76.20-27). Teir doctrine is a counterfeit, created in order that the littleones might not believe in the true light (78.15-22). Tey rule over theselittle ones (80.11), whom they have made their prisoners (79.19-21;cf. 73.32-74,2). Among the adversaries can be found bishops and deacons,

who behave as though they had received their authority from God, althoughin truth they are only motivated by their desire for elevated positions.37

37) It is interesting to note that this calumny is found on both sides of the heterodox/ortho-dox divide: a common heresiological ploy was to ascribe the creation of heretical move-ments to the frustrated ecclesiastical ambition of the heresiarchs.

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L. Painchaud, M. Kaler / Vigiliae Christianae 61 (2007) 445-469 465Tey are described as dry canals (79.22-31, and see 2 Peter 2.17). Butwhen error will have reached its completion, the little ones shall rule overthose who are now their rulers (80.14-16).

At first sight, the sapiential content of the eachings of Silvanos is farremoved from this ferocious polemic. However, when read with regard tothe texts that precede it in codex VII, its presentation of the passions asenemies who must be fought takes on an entirely different connotation. Infact, Silvanostreats the passions of the soul in the same way that the twoprior texts treated the opponents of the spiritual race. Te author declares,My son, does anyone want to be a slave? Why, then, do you trouble your-

self wrongly? My son, do not fear anyone except God alone, the exaltedone. Cast the deceitfulness of the Devil from you (88.6-11).

In the context of the preceding writings, one can easily understand theopponents denounced in them as the living incarnations of vices such aswickedness, love of glory, quarrelsomeness, jealousy, anger, etc.viceswhich the Silvanosurges its readers to oppose (84.20-25), exhorting themnot to swim in just any water, and do not allow yourselves to be defiled bystrange sorts of knowledge (92.29-34). o allow oneself to be dominatedby passion is to condemn oneself to slavery, to ignorance, and to blindness(88.6-34); it is to obey ones animal nature (89.2-3)and it is noteworthythat the adversaries in the Second reatise of the Great Seth are also described

as being animalistic in nature (59.29). Silvanosis an invitation to return tothe true father and to fight against the adversaries (91.1-16).Nor should one allow oneself to be misled by those who cast spurious

knowledge in your heart in the guise of mysterious words (96.3-6). Rather,one must free oneself from every bond so as to acquire liberty (105.19-21),separating oneself from animality and keeping clear of barbarians (108.7)and brigands (113.31). In sum, it is necessary to fight the great fightagainst all the powers of the Adversary (114.1-6). Reading the eachingsof Silvanosimmediately after having read the Second reatise of the GreatSeth and theApocalypse of Peter, it would be impossible not to understandsuch passages as applying to the same opponents that the prior texts haddenounced.

Finally, Dositheus revelation in the Tree Steles of Seth, which concludesthe codex in a triple benediction, confirms the final, inevitable triumph ofthis spiritual race whose origins were revealed in the Paraphrase of Shem(24.1-15). Tere are no polemics in this text, but despite this it affirms theexistence and the eventual eschatological triumph of a living and unshak-able race (118.12-13), one made up of the elect (118.17), the perfect

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(121.5; 124.7) and the saved (121.10-14; 125.15-16; 126.24-25) whobelong to the One (122.16) and on whom the light of the Spirit shines(125.6-11), a race made up of those who are truly alive (127.22).

By way of summary, we can say that the order of the contents of thiscodex shows a vast tableau of salvation history. In reading the codex we seethe origin of the spiritual race; its lot here below and that of the Saviour orRevealer sent to it by the Father; its never-ending battle against constantlyrenewed enemies (identified with the church hierarchy in theApocalypse ofPeter); the extension of the nature of these enemies so that they are seen tobe not merely external forces but also evil tendencies and desires that try to

seduce the members of the spiritual race from within; and, finally, theglorious eschatological triumph of the spiritual race.

By means of this history a sense of the lineage and identity of the codexsaudience is constructed, establishing their true identity as members of anembattled group defining itself in the face of its opponents perhaps as thelineage of the true Father. Tis self-understanding might explain the scribalcolophon at the end of codex VII: Tis book belongs to the lineage of theFather (pe vvme pa

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and destined to oblivion (21.33-35). Read immediately following theApocryphon of James, the Gospel of ruth could quite easily be understoodas a confirmation of theApocryphons ecclesiological message.

Another denunciation follows, that of the false teachings on the resur-rection in the reatise on the Resurrection. Tis text begins with the opposi-tion of two groups. Te one to which the narrator belongs knows thetruth, while the other group desire to learn, but they have not stoodwithin the Word of truth (43.25-44.3). Te group of the elect have beenpredestined since the beginning to gain access to wisdom and truth, andnot to fall into ignorance and folly (46.25-32).

Finally, we come to the salvation-history presented by the ripartiteractate, which presupposes an antagonism between two groups of Chris-tians. After establishing the existence of three races of humans, definingthe role of the spirituals in salvation history, and describing their final des-tiny in contrast to that of the materials or hylics, the eschatological finaleof this text (108.13-138.17) can be read as the summit of the codex as awhole, and also as an expos of the ultimate fate of those who hold thedifferent conceptions of the church that we find exposed in theApocryphonof Jamesat the start of the codex.

Overall, then, we can say that codex I presents an excellent introductionto the themes which will become so prominent in codex VII.

Te same could be said for the first two texts in codex XI, both of whichassume the existence of two antagonistic groups, and which prepare thereader for the revelation of the attainment of individual perfection that isshown inAllogenes(45.6-8).

In the first text in codex XI, the Interpretation of Knowledge, one notesthe same game of oppositions that is found in the writings of codex I, asfor example in the opposition of faith to worldly incredulity (1.30-38).Furthermore, the Interpretation assimilates the material slavery to whichthe principalities and authorities have reduced the inner man to a divisionfound within the church itself (6.25-38), and it explicitly sets up a contrastbetween two teachers, the teacher of immortality and an arrogant teacherwhose teaching leads to death (9.17-26). In his warning not to call anyone

father in the world (9.28-29), and by his use of egalitarian terms such asbrothers and companions (9.27-37), this teachers instruction resem-bles that of the Saviour in theApocryphon of Jamesin codex I, while alsoanticipating the polemic to be found in the Second reatise of the Great Sethand theApocalypse of Peterin codex VII. Tis teacher of immortality hasawakened in the hearts of the texts readers the memory of the goodness of

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the Father and their own nature (10.16-17), reminding them that they arethe light of the world (9.29-30).

Finally, the Interpretation ends with a long paranetic section, exhortingits readers to be thankful for charismatic gifts, no matter who receivesthem, and not to be jealous of one another (15.20-19.??). Te writingpresupposes a group that is identified with the members of God the Father,and who are known by him since the beginning (2.31-34), a groupundoubtedly including the readers of the Interpretation, and it opposes tothem another group, who do not belong to them (20.3). o the formergroup, the athletes of the Word, the Interpretation promises the crown of

victory, just as their head, Christ, has been glorified by the Father (21.31-34).Te second text in codex XI, the Valentinian Exposition, presents a sys-

tematic expos of Valentinian theology, dealing with protology, anthropol-ogy, soteriology and eschatology. Like the ripartite ractate, this writingpresents a division of humanity, although here only into two groups,namely those of the right and those of the left, those whose nature is spir-itual, and those whose nature is material (38.27-33), and it urges its read-ers to take part in an eschatological battle against the powers of the devil(40.11-17).

In this regard, the allusion to Lk 10:19 in the first part of the LiturgicalSupplements(so that we might be able to trample [upon] the [snakes] and

[the heads] of the scorpions and [all] the power of the devil, XI 40.18-20)could be seen as an anticipation of the polemical content of codex VII andan invitation to fight against the opponents identified therein.

After this comesAllogenes. With its focus on perfect individuals whodwell together (45.6-8, but note that the text is extremely lacunous atthis point: the reconstruction is probable but not certain), this text echoesthe exhortation to group unity that dominates the paranetic section of theInterpretation of Knowledge.

Tus we can see that the same theme is heard throughout the three-volume collection, but that it is more muted in codices I and XI, onlybeing brought to full expression in codex VII. In other words, codices Iand XI can be seen as leading up to and preparing the reader for the revela-

tions to be found in codex VII. What had been only hinted at is theregraphically expressed.

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Conclusion

From the Prayer of the Apostle Paulto the Tree Steles of Seth, in the contentof the texts as in the alternation of their scribes, everything takes place as ifthe content of these three codices had been chosen and arranged accordingto a precise design in order to progressively introduce the non-initiatedreader to a heterodox doctrine of conflict and polemic, in which the readeris invited to identify him- or herself with the embattled minority groupwho nonetheless are of the lineage of the Father. And in fact, one couldquite well see the unique linguistic, scribal and doctrinal heterogeneity of

this sub-collection as being in itself a clue to the importance of this designfor the person or people who ordered the copy of this material.Tis papers goals are modest, and we will refrain from speculating here

as to the nature and identity of the group or the individuals responsible forthis collection in the area of Chenoboskeion in the mid-fourth century.Nevertheless, we hope that this paper will stimulate our collective his-torical imagination39 and provoke thought and discussion not just on thenature of this sub-collection, but more generally on the much debatedquestions of the nature and function of the Nag Hammadi library in itsCoptic phase and of its Sitz im Leben in the context of fourth centuryEgyptian Christianity.

39) Wolf-Peter Funk, Te Linguistic Aspect, p. 145.

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