000			01767 a2200193 4500
010			_a77007853
013			_d1977
020			_a9780060669294 _a0060669292
245			_aThe Nag Hammadi library in English / _b
300			_a493 pages ; _c24 cm
500			_aIncludes index.
520			_aHe Nag Hammadi Library was discovered in 1945 buried in a large stone jar in the desert outside the modern Egyptian city of Nag Hammadi. It is a collection of religious and philosophic texts gathered and translated into Coptic by fourth-century Gnostic Christians and translated into English by dozens of highly reputable experts. First published in 1978, this is the revised 1988 edition supported by illuminating introductions to each document. The library itself is a diverse collection of texts that the Gnostics considered to be related to their heretical philosophy in some way. There are 45 separate titles, including a Coptic translation from the Greek of two well-known works: the Gospel of Thomas, attributed to Jesus' brother Judas, and Plato's Republic. The word gnosis is defined as "the immediate knowledge of spiritual truth." This doomed radical sect believed in being here now--withdrawing from the contamination of society and materiality--and that heaven is an internal state, not some place above the clouds. That this collection has resurfaced at this historical juncture is more than likely no coincidence. --P. Randall Cohan --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
653			_aHoly Bible: General الكتاب المقدس: عموميات
630			_lEnglish
041			_aeng
650			_aApocrypha _aBible _aGnostic literature.
260			_bHarper & Row Publishers _aSan Francisco : _c1977
942			_cBK _h220-Gen _iB721 _iB721
999			_c11505 _d11505