Possible Historical Allusions in the Nag Hammadi Library

[mlinssen]

(6) "The All" as a technical term in the NHL appears to follow Plotinus' use in the Enneads

The term "the All" is used more than 200 times in the Enneads of Plotinus (MacKenna translation). The term is also plastered throughout many texts of the Nag Hammadi Library. To what extent might this indicate that the authors of the texts in the NHL which use the term "The All" were familiar with the Enneads of Plotinus? For instance the term occurs 22 times in the The Gospel of Truth.

Does anyone have an opinion on this?


For example some translators refer to "the All" as a "technical term".
Gospel of Thomas - BLATZ (67)
Jesus said: He who knows the all, (but) fails (to know) himself, misses everything.

• Funk and Hoover write: "This saying is as difficult to translate as it is to understand. The first clause may refer simply to one who is very knowledgeable - a know-it-all. In this case, the saying recalls the famous dictum of Socrates, 'Know thyself.' However, the word for 'all' is also a technical term in gnostic circles and refers to the whole of cosmic reality; it is usually translated as 'All,' with a capital A. Elsewhere in Thomas this term seems to carry this technical sense (note 2:4 and 77:1). The Fellows took the term here to be technical gnostic language also. They gave it a black designation as the result. Thomas 70 is a related saying." (The Five Gospels, p. 512)
  
  Gerd Ludemann gives the translation, "Jesus said, 'Whoever knows the All (but) is deficient in himself is deficient in everything.'" Ludemann writes: "The 'All' is a technical term which relates to the universe, embracing the earth and the cosmos (cf. 2.4; 77.1). 'Know' takes up the same expression from 65.4, 7. According to Thomas, knowledge of the All and self-knowledge condition each other. The reason lies in the consubstantiality of the All with the Gnostic self. Thus according to Logion 77 Jesus is the light and at the same time the All. Whoever knows himself is Christ and himself becoems a person of light." (Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 624)
  
  http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/t ... mas67.html

The All is also a primary technical term used by Plotinus.

As mentioned above, the term "the All" is used more than 200 times in the Enneads of Plotinus.

“Strive to bring back
the god in yourselves
to the God in the All”

(Life of Plotinus 2).


The All in the NHL

There appears to be a significant number of texts in the NHL that employ this term in a systematic manner. I'm not a translator but I'd say Thomas' idea about "The All" are not unique in Thomas. My question would be to ask how many of these texts were written after Porphyry published the Enneads of Plotinus. Plotinus had received imperial patronage in the later 3rd century. It follows that his literature would have been circulated by the time of the Nicene Council. By that time the Academy of Plato at Alexandria was well represented by the neo Platonists.

https://cse.google.com/cse?cof=LW%3A467 ... 2998157j11

"THE ALL"

About 78 results (0.48 seconds)


22 times in
The Gospel of Truth (Attridge & MacRae Translation) - The Nag ...
gnosis.org › naghamm › gostruth
But it is in it that I shall come to be, and (it is fitting) to be concerned at all times with the Father of the all, and the true brothers, those upon whom ...

The Apocryphon of John - Frederik Wisse - The Nag Hammadi Library
gnosis.org › naghamm › apocjn
This is the first power which was before all of them (and) which came forth from his mind, She is the forethought of the All - her light shines like his ...

Trimorphic Protennoia - John D. Turner, Annotated Edition - The ...
gnosis.org › naghamm › trimorph-JDT
I am the one who gradually put forth the All by my Thought. It is I who am laden with the Voice. It is through me that Gnosis comes forth. dwell in the ...

The Book of Thomas - The Nag Hammadi Library - John D. Turner ...
gnosis.org › naghamm › bookt-jdt
For he who has not known himself has known nothing, but he who has known himself has at the same time already achieved knowledge about the depth of the all.

On the Origin of the World - Bethge and Layton - The Nag Hammadi ...
gnosis.org › naghamm › origin
The holy water, since it vivifies the all, purifies it. Out of that first blood Eros appeared, being androgynous. His masculinity is Himireris, ...

Gospel of Thomas - Patterson & Robinson Translation -- Nag ...
gnosis.org › naghamm › gth_pat_rob
(4) And he will be king over the All." (3) Jesus says: (1) "If those who lead you say to you: 'Look, the kingdom is in the sky!' then the birds of the sky ...

Gospel of Thomas (Lambdin Translation) -- The Nag Hammadi Library
gnosis.org › naghamm › gthlamb
When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All." (3) Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in ...

A Valentinian Exposition -- The Nag Hammadi Library
gnosis.org › naghamm › valex
Now this is the Root of the All and Monad without any one before him. Now the second spring exists in silence and speaks with him alone. And the Fourth ...

The Gospel of Truth (Grant Translation) - The Nag Hammadi Library
gnosis.org › naghamm › got
You see, the All had been inside of him, that illimitable, inconceivable one, who is better than every thought. This ignorance of the Father brought about ...

Melchizedek -- The Nag Hammadi Library
gnosis.org › naghamm › melchiz
holy disciples. And the Savior will reveal to them the world that gives life to the All. But those in the heavens spoke many words, together with those on ...

The Book of Thomas - The Nag Hammadi Library - John D. Turner ...
gnosis.org › naghamm › allogenes-jdt
Youel: The Barbelo Aeon. And then again, O my son Messos, the all-glorious one, Youel spoke to me; she appeared [to] me and ...

The Dialogue of the Savior -- The Nag Hammadi Library
gnosis.org › naghamm › dialog
The Lord said, "When the Father established the cosmos for himself, he left much over from the Mother of the All. Therefore, he speaks and he acts.".

The Thought of Norea -- The Nag Hammadi Library
gnosis.org › naghamm › nore
... behold the Pleroma, and she will not be in deficiency, for she has the four holy helpers who intercede on her behalf with the Father of the All, Adamas.

Zostrianos -- The Nag Hammadi Library
gnosis.org › naghamm › zostr
(About) the All and the all-perfect race and the one who is higher than perfect and blessed. The self-begotten Kalyptos pre-exists because he is an origin ...

Marsanes - John Turner - Scholar's Translation - The Nag Hammadi ...
gnosis.org › naghamm › marsanes-jdt
8 The one who is 9 [substantial (Autogenes)] examines 10 [the all (the Barbelo Aeon)] and is 11 [the all and] resembles 12 [the all].

The Second Treatise of the Great Seth - Bullard & Gibbons - The ...
gnosis.org › naghamm
And she did not ask anything from the All, nor from the greatness of the Assembly, nor from the Pleroma. Since she was first, she came forth to prepare ...

The Hypostasis of the Archons - trans. Bentley Layton - The Nag ...
gnosis.org › naghamm › hypostas
From that day, the snake came to be under the curse of the authorities; until the all-powerful man was to come, that curse fell upon the snake.

Marsanes -- The Nag Hammadi Library
gnosis.org › naghamm › marsanes
But let none of us be distressed and think in his heart that the great Father [...]. For he looks upon the All and takes care of them all. And he has shown to ...

The Tripartite Tractate -- The Nag Hammadi Library
gnosis.org › naghamm › tripart
... is Father of the All, out of his laboring for those who exist, having sown into their thought that they might seek after him. The abundance of their [.

The Interpretation of Knowledge -- The Nag Hammadi Library
gnosis.org › naghamm › intpr
He has a generous nature, since the Son of God dwells in him. And whenever he acquires the All, whatever he possesses will <be dissolved> in the fire because it ...

The Testimony of Truth -- The Nag Hammadi Library
gnosis.org › naghamm › testruth
This is the perfect life, that man know himself by means of the All. Do not expect, therefore, the carnal resurrection, which is destruction; and they are ...

Zostrianos - John Turner - The Nag Hammadi Library
gnosis.org › naghamm › zostr-jdt
Now as for the Entirety, both the all-perfect 3 kind and that which is higher than perfect 4 and blessed: The 5 self-generated Kalyptos 6 is a pre-existent ...

The Treatise on the Resurrection - Malcolm Peel- The Nag ...
gnosis.org › naghamm › res
But the All is what is encompassed. It has not come into being; it was existing." So, never doubt concerning the resurrection, my son Rheginos!

The Apocryphon of John - Short Version - Translated by Waldstein ...
gnosis.org › naghamm › apocjn-short
That one is the one whom the invisible Spirit appointed as god over the All, the true god. It gave to him all authority and It caused the truth which is in It ...


The Apocryphon of John - Long Version - Translated by Waldstein ...
gnosis.org › naghamm › apocjn-long
For because of the Word, Christ the divine Autogenes created the All. Eternal Life with Will, and Mind with Foreknowledge stood. They glorified the invisible ...


The Gospel of Thomas: Oxyrhynchus Fragments
gnosis.org › naghamm › thomas_poxy
When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All." Saying 3 (pOxy. 654.9-21). J[esus] said, "[If] those pulling you [say to ...

You can waste oceans of time and energy on some stupid theory that you haven't even tried to verify, let alone falsify - or you could just pick up a grammar book and spend one minute in that

LaytonChrestomathy118.jpg (148.53 KiB) Viewed 1433 times

Hey but Pete, have you also noticed that the NHL uses "IS" an awful lot, and even "IHS"?
That must be evidence that they plagiarised Jerome, isn't it?! He uses the exact same!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Leucius Charinus]

You can waste oceans of time and energy on some stupid theory that you haven't even tried to verify, let alone falsify - or you could just pick up a grammar book and spend one minute in that

So have you so much as opened up the Enneads of Plotinus for one minute?

[Leucius Charinus]

Trimorphic Protennoia (NHC 13.1) is described as "Gnostic - Sethian/Neoplatonic" and according to some scholars makes use of fully developed Neoplatonism and thus needs to be dated after Plotinus and his Enneads - the origin of neo-Platonic literature. The text is saturated with the term "the ALL". Many (not all) academics describe this as a "technical term" related to "gnostic cosmology". It is a term found in the Enneads of Plotinus more than 200 times. It occurs in Trimorphic Protennoia 25 times.

Trimorphic Protennoia
Translated by John D. Turner

"I am Protennoia, the Thought that dwells in the Light. I am the movement that dwells in the All, she in whom the All takes its stand, the first-born among those who came to be, she who exists before the All. She (Protennoia) is called by three names, although she dwells alone, since she is perfect. I am invisible within the Thought of the Invisible One. I am revealed in the immeasurable, ineffable (things). I am incomprehensible, dwelling in the incomprehensible. I move in every creature."

///

"I am the Invisible One within the All. It is I who counsel those who are hidden, since I know the All that exists in it. I am numberless beyond everyone. I am immeasurable, ineffable, yet whenever I wish, I shall reveal myself of my own accord. I am the head of the All. I exist before the All, and I am the All, since I exist in everyone."

http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/trimorph.html

[Leucius Charinus]

Here Hugo Lundhaug argues that the Gospel of Philip (NHC 2.3) belongs in the post Nicene epoch. He also likens our picture of early Christianty to a jigsaw puzzle.

Begotten, Not Made, to Arise in This Flesh:
The Post-Nicene Soteriology of the Gospel of Philip

HUGO LUNDHAUG

Our picture of early Christianity can be likened to a jigsaw puzzle, and a very large and complicated puzzle at that. Unfortunately it is a puzzle that lacks most of its original pieces, so we have to assemble it to the best of our abilities using the very few pieces available to us. Inevitably, given the lack of pieces, those we do have are sometimes placed in erroneous locations where they are allowed to distort the overall picture and influence the placement of other pieces. Moreover, the longer they stay in the wrong place, the harder they are to dislodge. It is thus important to identify such erroneously placed pieces and move them as quickly as possible to their proper locations, or at the very least away from obviously false ones. The problem often encountered in trying to do so, however, is that once pieces have been placed, they tend to stick, and moving them becomes ever more difficult as scholars become used to seeing them in certain locations, especially since additional pieces may even have been modified or hammered into place to fit into adjacent positions.

The Gospel of Philip is one such piece in the metaphorical puzzle of early Christianity which I believe has been put in the wrong place and allowed to stay there for too long. It has routinely been regarded as evidence not only for such unfortunate scholarly constructs as “Gnosticism” or “Valentinianism,” but also for second- or third-century Christianity in general. I will argue here, however, that this particular piece is more properly at home in fourth- or even fifth-century Christianity in Egypt, the context of the manuscript in which it has actually been preserved.

https://www.academia.edu/5895809/Begott ... ilip_2013_

[Leucius Charinus]

Does the author of "The Secret Book (Apocryphon) of John" show knowledge of the Arian controversy?

Self-Begotten, Not Equal: The Pre-Existence of Christ '
and the Elect in the Apocryphon of John (NHC, II,1 and par.)

Dylan Burns


p.263

Although it is one of the best-known and certainly best-attested Gnostic texts – surviving in four Coptic manuscripts and two recensions, alongside one heresiographical witness – the Apocryphon of John remains an obscure and difficult work, not least with respect to its theology of the pre-existent Christ. Indeed, some scholars continue to ask if Ap. John is ‘Christian’ at all, rather than a compilation of Gnostic sources slapped together into a “Christianized” revelation-dialogue (i. e., apocalypse without heavenly journey) on the heavens, the creation of the cosmos and humanity, and salvation-history.

///


p.273

Conclusions: Ap. John in its the Fourth‑Century Theological Environment


Much of the Trinitarian thought we have observed in Ap. John – the appearance of a female being in lieu of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, and the pre-existent Son’s subordination to his Father – appears to be at home in the second and third centuries ce. Yet the textual artifacts in which the texts are preserved – the Coptic codices BG, NHC II, III and IV – are considerably later products, almost certainly postdating the Arian Controversy, where the issues of the Son’s pre-existence and its relationship to the Incarnation were so hotly debated.

Indeed, a number of Nag Hammadi texts appear to show signs of concern with post-Nicene Trinitarian debate. [76] Given that recent scholarship seeks to analyze our Coptic Gnostic evidence to learn about the transmission of these texts in late antique Egypt rather than the first centuries ce,[77] it is worth closing by entertaining the more speculative question of how the evidence we have reviewed above may have been interesting to post-Nicene theological readers.

More specifically, Ap. John’s subordinationism, the relative posteriority of the Son to other aeons, and its declaration of the pre-existent, begotten nature of both the Son and the Seed of Seth would have proven relevant and fascinating (and, perhaps, alarming) to fourth–fifth-century readers familiar with the theological debates of their day.


For instance, the subordinationism of Ap. John comes to appear anti-Nicene, once we stop reading it as ante-Nicene. The term αὐτογένης [autogenous] was preferred by the Peratae and the Naasenes, around the turn of the third century ce, precisely to distinguish the First God (who is ἀγέννητος) [unborn] from the Second God (who is αὐτογένης).[autogenous] [78]

Arius, too, declared in his first letter that the Son is not ἀγέννητος [unborn], although he is μονογένης. [monogenic] [79] Thus does Lyman note “a commitment of non-Nicenes (in the mid-fourth century) to a separate and subordinate model of divinity which made them deny the equality of the Father and Son or a unity of ousia. The incomparable sovereign and creative power of the Father was consistently affirmed …” [80]

The subordination of the begotten Son – the image of the οὐσία [substance / essence] of the Father – was emphasized at the Council of Sirmium (357), from which followed Homoianism. [81] Ap. John’s subordination of the Son and denotation of him with a term – αὐτογένης [autogenous] – used by second and third-century authors to distinguish the second deity from the first one, who is ἀγέννητος [unborn], may have been regarded unfavorably by partisans of Nicea.

The priority of other aeons to the Son in the scheme of emanation would also have been regarded as problematic at best in the later fourth century ce. The Eunomian church historian Philostorgius, for instance, portrays one of the heroes of his narrative, Aetius, as facing off in his first theological debate with a Borborite, i. e. a Gnostic. [82] Philostorgius relates this story because Eunomians tarred Nicea as espousing a sort of crypto-Gnosticism, by which they meant polytheism in the aeonic realm:

• “Gnosticism is always the silent partner in the debates between Nicene and Eunomian Christians, the real foe against whom Aetius fought … And there is some evidence that this view comes from Eunomius himself.”

[83]

///


[my formatting and notes]

https://www.academia.edu/45558552/Self_ ... load-paper

[Leucius Charinus]

The following data has been extracted from Hugo Lundhaug's
"Textual Fluidity and Post-Nicene Rewriting
in the Nag Hammadi Codices"
in NAG HAMMADI À 70 ANS.QU’AVONS NOUS APPRIS? NAG HAMMADI AT 70:WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? (Colloque international, Québec, Université Laval, 29-31 mai 2015

Lundaug first deals with the phenomenon of textual fluidity:

p.48

[Stephen] Emmel did not just diagnose the problem, however, but also suggested a remedy, namely to read “the texts exactly as we have them in the Nag Hammadi Codices in an effort to reconstruct the reading experience of whoever owned each of the Codices.” [7] Although he did not make reference to the methodological approach known from medieval studies as New Philology, Emmel’s suggestion was clearly in line with it when he suggested that “there is one obvious task that has not yet been carried out
thoroughly and consistently” with regard to the Nag Hammadi Codices, namely to read them “as a part of Coptic literature.” [8]

The so-called New Philology arose as a much needed alternative to the search for origins that characterized traditional philology, and as an answer to the problem of editing and studying highly fluid textual traditions preserved in an abundance of manuscripts. [9] New Philology shifted the focus from hypothetical originals to the texts as they appear in manuscripts, and to manuscript culture. [10] As such it constituted a shift in emphasis from authorship and authorial intention to that of reception and reading, and manuscripts in use. [11]


p.49

=====> The Nag Hammadi Library After Fifty Years.

The fluid nature of the Nag Hammadi texts is readily apparent from those tractates that are attested in multiple manuscripts, and is most prominently seen in, but not limited to, such texts as

the Apocryphon of John,
the Gospel of Truth,
Eugnostos the Blessed,
the Wisdom of Jesus Christ,
the Letter of Peter to Philip, and
(the First Apocalypse of) James.

In these cases, textual fluidity is undeniable and forces us to consider the processes leading to the variance observable in the preserved manuscripts.

The author then moves on to the evidence for Post-Nicene Rewriting:

p.50

In some Nag Hammadi texts, however, scholars have indeed detected evidence of an awareness of theological debates and controversies of a time close to the date of the manuscripts, and as Mark Edwards rightly points out,

• “If it were accepted that some Nag Hammadi treatises were grounded in disputations of the fourth century, there is nothing to preclude the composition of other treatises in the light of a Church consensus of that time.” [16]

With the spotlight pointed in the direction of the fourth century and beyond — for there is little reason to exclude the possibility that some of the Nag Hammadi Codices may have been produced as late as the fifth century [17] — let us take a quick look at what we may find when textual fluidity is taken seriously, and we are open to the possibility that at least some of the Nag Hammadi Codices may have been produced as late as the fifth century.


Post-Nicene Rewriting

p.51

There are two ways of looking at how the post-Nicene contexts of the transmission and copying of the Nag Hammadi texts may be detected in the extant texts.

First, there are those cases where we may identify features that only make sense from a post-Nicene perspective.

Second, however, there are also cases where features that may also plausibly be interpreted from the point of view of an earlier context take on special, different, and often added significance when read from a post-Nicene perspective.

The first tract studied is Concept of Our Great Power NHC 6. in which the mention of "Anomoeans" implies a knowledge of Arian controversy. This is followed by a number of other tracts by other scholars:

Moreover, regardless of the text’s possible redaction we may probably safely presume that the text was approached as a coherent literary composition by those who owned and read the manuscript in which it is found.

p.52

Similar cases where we find echoes of post-Nicene Trinitarian or Christological debates have also been noted with regard to several other Nag Hammadi texts, including the Gospel of Truth [24], the Tripartite Tractate [25], On the Origin of the World [26], the Gospel of Philip [27] and the Teachings of Silvanus [28] /// the Treatise on the Resurrection [29] (pp.54-55) /// Melchizedek (?) p.57-8, Apocalypse of Peter ("consubstantial") ?? (p.60)

All the above by Hugo Lundhaug [HL] may be summarised as follows:


Tracts displaying possible post-Nicene Trinitarian or Christological debates

HL01: Concept of Our Great Power NHC 6.x: "Anomoeans" implies Arian controversy
HL02: the Gospel of Truth
HL03: the Tripartite Tractate
HL04: On the Origin of the World
HL05: the Gospel of Philip
HL06: the Teachings of Silvanus
HL07: the Treatise on the Resurrection
HL08: Melchizedek (?)
HL09: Apocalypse of Peter ? ("consubstantial")

The concluding paragraphs:

p.60

Conclusion

What can we conclude on the basis of these examples? At the very least we may say that from the perspective of fourth- and fifth-century readers the passages we have looked at are likely to have been understood in light of the dogmas and controversies of their day. In addition, it seems likely that in a number of cases the Nag Hammadi texts have also been adapted to fit such a late context. The scribes were not simply imperfect copy machines, but may fruitfully be conceived of as readers — reading and
interpreting the texts — who were actively trying to “improve” them, and thus make them relevant, in light of their own knowledge, situations, and motivations, which may have been completely different from those of the texts’ original authors or intended readers. [63]

Multiple questions present themselves. Were the texts subject to rewriting by “heretics” in order to placate reigning orthodoxy, or simply rewriting by more or less orthodox scribes in order to make the texts more relevant for their prospective readers? What was the attitude of the Nag Hammadi scribes, or the readers of the codices, to textual variation? [64] How, and of what, may the texts and their manuscripts be used as historical evidence? [65]

While the Nag Hammadi texts have most commonly been studied within the assumed context of second- or third-century “Gnosticism,” and analyses of individual texts or groups of texts have generally been made, and evaluated, on that basis, once we take textual fluidity and post-Nicene rewriting seriously into consideration, both the questions we may ask and the basis on which we may evaluate the answers are different. [66] While both questions and answers will always depend on the scholarly perspective applied, if we are interested in the people who wrote down and read the texts that are found in the Nag Hammadi Codices, textual fluidity and postNicene rewriting [67] should at least constitute a significant part of the picture.

I understand that other scholars make other interpretations.
For example Litwa:

Litwa examines the Simonians in their own literature and in the literature used to refute and describe them. He begins with Simonian primary sources, namely The Declaration of Great Power (embedded in the anonymous Refutation of All Heresies) and The Concept of Our Great Power (Nag Hammadi codex VI,4). Litwa argues that both are early second-century products of Simonian authors writing in Alexandria or Egypt.

Simon of Samaria and the Simonians
https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/simon-of- ... 567712950/

[Leucius Charinus]

The name of the Father is the Son
by Raoul Mortley
1992, Neoplatonism and Gnosticism

ABSTRACT

"The name of the Father is the Son" is a discussion of Gospel of Truth, and its background in Neoplatonism and the Eunomian debates around the time of Gregory of Nyssa. There is an addendum by my colleague Michel Tardieu confirming the hypothesis that these words are to be located in the debates of that time."

https://www.academia.edu/117670655/The_ ... is_the_Son

Extracts to follow.