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The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The Revised and Updated Translation of Sacred Gnostic Texts Complete in One Volume

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For the title of this review I chose an excerpt from "The Dialogue of the Savior" which belonged to NHC III,5. On my quest to better understanding 'gnosticism' I first read Andrew Phillip Smith's book titled, "The Gnostics". His brief treatise on the overall scope of what gnosticism is really all about provided me with a more concise understanding of this exhaustive, scholarly translation of the Nag Hammadi text.

This book is by far the most complete and in-depth translation to date and will probably never be equaled. Scholars such as Marvin Meyer, Elaine Pagels, Madeleine Scopello, Einar Thomassen and John D. Turner are just a few of the names involved with the translation of the Nag Hammadi scriptures. There is an array of backgrounds involved which ultimately provide very different interpretations of the text, but this diversity only helps the reader to draw his/her own conclusions as to interpretation.

One positive aspect to this book is decision NOT to guess what the translation might have been. Quite frankly, much of the text within certain tractates were severely damaged and/or missing. Instead of guessing or including what the text may have said, Meyer and others, merely let the reader know that much of the text itself is missing. This is, of course refreshing, as many modern translations of either other Gnostic or Essene texts, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, authors will simply insert modern lexicons assuming that it follows suit to what we have today. Meyer and company don't do this, instead they provide a well documented, heavily footnoted, scholarly work. On many occasions, they provide un-biased opinions of certain words and supply the several meanings to what the word could have meant, allowing for the reader themselves to feel as if they are partaking in the translation.

Many of the text can be deciphered as being either Sethian or Valentinian (the names of the two 'truly' gnostic Christian sects). In the beginning of each tractate, an in-depth analysis of the text is provided, supplying interpretation and the dating of the text as well as to the importance of each.

One such text that doesn't perceive to have an origin is the Gospel of Thomas. It has no markers of being either Sethian or Valentinian and as some scholars have suggested, could very well be the 'Q' source that the Synoptic Gospels themselves are based off of. This is by far a minority viewpoint, but nevertheless, an intriguing claim.

This is a must have treatise to any library and it is clear that the Gnostics were well ahead of their time concerning "gnosis," or knowledge, they had achieved with interpretation of the scriptures, something they felt no one else had.

The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The Revised and Updated Translation of Sacred Gnostic Texts - The International Edition. Edited by Marvin Meyer. New York: Harper Collins, 2008. Paperback, 844 pages. ISBN 9780061626005

The present work, as the most complete and up-to-date English-language edition of the Nag Hammadi Scriptures, is probably the finest available edition for the general reader today and should appeal to a wide range of readers with varying interests.

Judging by the reviews, most readers seem to come to these texts with a strong Biblical background and are surprised to see how strikingly different they can be to the Bible.

In my own case I come to them with a background in Asian thought and am amazed at how strikingly similar they can at times be to the sacred texts of the East.

This is understandable since, as Duncan Greenlees pointed out in his excellent anthologyThe Gospel of The Gnostics (page xxvi): "We have not yet worked out the actual influence of India upon the Western ... Gnostics; yet it is clear to the sympathetic, and therefore to the honest, student it must have been very great. At times we can almost recognize a direct quotation from some Indian scripture."

To realize that he is right we need only turn, for example, to logion 24 of the Gospel of Thomas where we find Jesus saying (page 143):

"There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine, it is dark."

Turning next to the Astavakra Samhita II.8, which Dr. Satkari Mookerjee in his Introduction explains "is a very early and pure Advaitic text which gives us the essentials of the Advaita Vedanta position," we find King Janaka announcing to the sage Ashtavakra:

"Light is my very nature; I am no other than light. When the universe manifests itself, verily then it is I that shine."

The translator comments: "The nature of the Self is Effulgence itself. Whatever is manifested is nothing but the Self. The manifestation of the world really implies the manifestation of the Self."

We should note that in Vedanta this Light (Skt. prakasha) is a property, not of a God-man such as Jesus, but of ordinary men such as King Janaka, or you and me.

We are dealing here with something very deep, far too deep to go into here. Readers whose curiosity may have been aroused should check out my Listmania List: The Ashtavakra Gita - A Very Early and Pure Advaita Text. This will set them on the path to understanding what logion 24 is really all about, and possibly much else in The Nag Hammadi Scriptures.

The Gospel of Thomas is likely the best-known of the extra-biblical texts found at the Egyptian village of Nag Hammadi in 1945, as it offers evidence of the early compilation of sayings of Jesus which overlap (in part) and supplement (in other parts) New Testament writings. Numerous editions of the Gospel of Thomas in English translation have been published. Those seeking popular, non-techical translations of Thomas will do well with those by Marvin Meyer, Stevan Davies, Stephen Patterson and others. A more comprehensively annotated version of Thomas is that of April DeConick, who includes numerous ancient parallels to each saying attributed to Jesus (saying number 77 is given as the title to this review).

Those seeking to study Thomas in context with the rest of the Nag Hammadi texts may turn to Bentley Lion (Anchor Bible Reference Library), James Robinson (Nag Hammadi Library), and, now, Meyer's compilation (Nag Hammadi Scripture), the latter expanded to include the Gospels of Mary and Judas as well. Those seeking basic translations with brief introductions to many of these (and other) early Christian texts may turn to Bart Ehrman's "Lost Scriptures." Willis Barnstone's "Gnostic Bible" (now also available in briefer, excerpted form with accompanying CD) offers a more readable if less scholarly format which includes a selection of ancient "gnostic" texts beyond those found at Nag Hammadi. For a look at what "gnostic" means to begin with, and whether it is a useful category to place (confine?) texts in at all, Karen King provides a helpful overview.

The Nag Hammadi Scriptures is fabulous! It certainly gives a new slant on Christianity. It is high time we started scrutinizing the Bible as stories rather than historical fact.

Marvin Meyer's editing is astonishing in its honesty and intelligence. Reviewing the Gnostic viewpoint brings us from the sexual and violent simplicity and contradiction of the Christian Bible to a beautiful striving for intelligent knowledge, truth and peace. This does not mean I have walked away believing it as fact. What it means is that it has opened doors for someone who was raised a Catholic, and delved into various Christian religions throughout my life, much to my dissatisfaction and distate, resulting in constantly being forced to embrace dogma as an absolute. This scripture has affirmed that others have questioned the teachings of the early Christian church and bravely buried their thoughts rather than having them destroyed. Amazing that they were found and preserved!

I love the Scriptures and gave it as a gift to one of my friends, who was thrilled to receive it as well. Cannot wait to discuss some of the books with her.

I saw Dr. Meyer on the History Channel first about two years ago, and was overwhelmed with his teaching. I am so grateful for this book.

Maerick

If you ever had any questions or doubts or are just starting to search for the truth, read this collection of ancient texts. More reliable than the bible. Was hidden from constantine so unaltered. Everyone should read it. Also gnostic bible is good. It has same texts and more. I was exposed to many denominations. This book puts it to rest for me. I left organized religion along time ago searching for the truth. One book lead to another and another. This book ends the search.

A must read for anyone who wants to learn more about Bible studies and missing scriptures. It is very well written and quite thorough.

Very well written, and as far as i can tell, concise translations as well. Clear enough for both the scholar and layman to use.

Under an overhanging cliff not far from the River Nile, two brothers had been stuffing their camels' saddle bags with talus, a rock-like substance containing nitrates, which they would use back home to help fertilize their farmland. Quite by accident in December of 1945, they stumbled upon a jar containing papyrus manuscripts. Afraid at first to break the sealed jar, courageous curiosity compelled them to shatter it. They carried the papyrus manuscripts home wrapped in a tunic slung over one brother's shoulder.

Today, these precious papyrus manuscripts known as the The Nag Hammadi Scriptures are kept in the Coptic Museum in Cairo, Egypt. Although written in Coptic (Egyptian using Greek symbols), the original manuscripts were penned in Greek. By 1978, scholarly translations of the various books along with erudite commentaries were eventually assembled as one volume.

The books in this library are considered Gnostic Scriptures because scholars think they were deliberately assembled by persons espousing a Gnostic interpretation of Jesus and Christianity as a whole. The papyrus sheets were jarred and hidden so future generations would have knowledge of Gnostic doctrine (Gnostic = gnosis = knowledge).

The Gnostics responsible for The Nag Hammadi Scripturesconsidered themselves Christians, but because many of their beliefs differed from those of the earliest Christian sect, Gnostics were deemed heretics. Gnostics did believe that Jesus came forth from God the Father.

_____"Now the name of the Father is the Son. It is he who first gave a name to the one who came forth from him, who was himself, and he begot him as a Son." (The Gospel of Truth)_____

But the origin of the material universe was a complex, mythical Gnostic belief. From the all-perfect unknowable One, The Father, there emanated a series of lesser divinities. One of these was Jesus Christ, and the last was Sophia (Wisdom), sometimes called Logos (The Word), who retained a wish to know the unknowable one. This desire brought forth an evil god or demiurge that created the universe.

Gnostics believed that from an all-perfect deity, divine light particles fell over the earth--a vile, deceptive, evil place. Through the demiurge, these sparks became entrapped in human body form. Only by discovering this divine light in the body can any human return to its heavenly spiritual realm.

_____"Moreover the Demiurge began to create a man according to his image on the one hand and on the other according to the likeness of those who exist from the first. It was this sort of dwelling place that she used for the seeds ..."_____

In contrast to the above, sometimes Gnostics referred to Christ as both Wisdom and the Word or the incomprehensible All.

_____"Christ is All ... For the Tree of Life is Christ. He is Wisdom ... he is also the Word. He is the Life, the Power, and the Door. He is the Light ..." (The Teachings of Silvanus)_____

To substantiate their beliefs from those of the earliest Christians, Gnostics created apocryphal scripture to bolster their claims. Some maintained the divine Christ took a human form as Jesus, and after his time on earth teaching a more spiritural way of life, the man-god ascended back to the heavenly realm. Some more radical Gnostics espoused that Christ did not undergo either crucifixion or the resurrection of his body.

The The Nag Hammadi Scriptures are translated from Coptic into English. Each of the writings have suffered some form of decay and damage. All the writers of these treatises claim that Jesus revealed the true interpretation of his teachings to them, personally; or that they have been inspired to write down the correct interpretation.

_____"These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down." (The Gospel of Thomas II)_____

In many cases, words, sentences, paragraphs and entire pages are missing. Some of the books in The Nag Hammadi Scriptures include: The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Mary, The Gospel of Philip, The Apocalypse of Peter, The Apocalypse of Adam, The Apocalypse of Paul, The Book of Thomas. Other treatises include: The Exegesis on the Soul, The Treatise on the Resurrection, The Thunder--Perfect Mind, The Dialogue of the Savior. By no means does this exhaust the entire list.

The The Nag Hammadi Scriptures is not an easy book to read. Although it is a scholarly attempt to translate the apocryphal scriptures of the Gnostics, often the translations are extremely difficult to understand without a firm knowledge of what the ancients meant by archons, aeons, pleroma, the logos, and a host of other unfamiliar words. In addition, there are the myriad places in the ancient texts where words are missing because of damage to the original papyrus sheets.

What is most helpful is to read the summary and expositions written by scholars, who have studied the ancient past and its philosophy, before reading the actual translated doctrines. Their words are extremely helpful in trying to understand the obliqueness of the original apocryphal writings.

I must admit, however, that I enjoyed the challenge of reading The Nag Hammadi Scriptures and interpolating its scriptural passages with what I've known as scripture most of my life. I would recommend the book to any reader interested in uncovering other interpretations for Jesus Christ and his message.

In the end, the book forced me to ask myself three questions. Is all of The Nag Hammadi Library truly heretical? Just who was "The Christ" if he deliberately left behind such a confusing message? Why would he do so, knowing it could only lead to centuries of confusion?

Other interesting reads:
The Gnostic Gospels
Forbidden Faith: The Secret History of GnosticismWho Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ
The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

Nag Hammadi scriptures is a must for all spiritual seekers. Marvin Meyers does an excellent job in educating and explaining each translation along with the location and history of its finding. I will leave it up to the individual to question the why mainstream Christian Church especially the Roman Catholic Church decided to omit most of these books from the Bible.

I have mixed feelings about this. I love that it is ancient writings of the deepest thoughts and beliefs of middle eastern followers of Jesus. It doesn't get any more mysterious, strange and mystical than this so I love it for that. Also as an archeology fanatic this is incredibly telling about how people two thousand years ago thought, as much as the hieroglyphics on the walls of the pyramids tell of life thousands of years ago.
What struck me the most about the writings is the incredibly frustrating time I had trying to figure out what they were talking about. You will see what I mean when you read them.
At one point it tells of the disciples of Jesus sitting around sharing what he told them.
And I got the feeling that the conversations of Jesus were incredibly verbose, confusing,
impossible to decipher sermons about the soul, spirit, and mind, and the roles of each of these, and how to get to heaven, how to get close to God, etc. I do get the sense that the disciples were also very frustrated, by the way they would question Jesus repeatedly, hoping for clarification, only to become more and more confused by his answers.
I see that some of the disciples, in particular John, were outraged that Jesus shared some of his deepest thoughts with a woman, Mary of Magdela. What a shame then as today women are often pushed aside as religious leaders. At one point the other disciples basically said to John, "Who do you think you are to question the fact that Jesus loves Mary more than the rest of us?"
But one has to wonder how much the ego of each disciple, and desire to present him/herself as the most favored one, influenced these books and caused them to be distorted or fabricated to show each one in the best light. At least it seems to me that way as I read them. I picture many heated arguments and jealousies among them.
I can't give this five stars, since I found myself becoming frustrated by the impossible to understand talking in riddles that is the standard language in all these books, especially the words of Jesus.
It sounds like doubletalk. Each sentence requires several minutes of puzzling over, and in the end you give up, shrug and try to accept that whatever they were trying to say, communicating clearly, precisely, and succintly was not something they were familiar with.
It is also obvious to me in places that there was heavy influence from Buddhist philosophy.
Jesus repeatedly tells that the kingdom of heaven is found within yourself.
He repeatedly tells that to enter the "realm of light", material concerns must be rejected.
There is also an interesting paragraph on fornication, and how it opens the door to other evils, so it should be completely rejected for more important matters, namely being pure enough to enter heaven and be with God and the angels. It goes into some fairly florid language actually describing how fornicating can cause your insides to metaphorically rot, and opens the door to evil beings having free reign with your body, mind and soul.
I wonder if these books were not included in the standard books of the Bible due to no one having any idea what they are really talking about. (Of course in this case this was not discovered until after the official Bible was assembled.) I don't mean to say that it is so holy and religious that a mere mortal can't comprehend it. I mean that it is almost gibberish. I don't know if the real meanings of these books have been lost in translation or that is the way they really talked back then. Probably a bit of both is the answer.
If you read them be prepared for some major frustration.
The two parts I mentioned, the arguments of Jesus loving Mary best, and warnings to beware of fornicating, are some of the only parts I could understand what they were talking about. You won't find any new religious revelations in these.
There are also various arguments put forth concerning the role of Judas. Judas claims that Jesus actually asked him to turn him in to be put to death so that he could fulfill his heavenly mission on Earth. He goes on to claim that he, Judas, was the most favored disciple, hence the request from Jesus to take on this important role. As others have pointed out, why would Jesus need help to turn himself in?
I find the most important thing philosophically in these is this: Jesus states at one point that "Many trees will be planted in my name. They will wither and die without bearing fruit". (Now THAT is definitely a very good thing to leave out of the "official" Bible if you are trying to win over large masses to your church.)
He goes on to say in essence that he is not to be worshiped as God, or prayed to, or asked for help, or have churches created in his name. Others will disagree with me on this point. But I do think that Jesus is saying what I have felt all along.
He was indeed a "being of light" and a great teacher. Just as Buddha was a great being of light and a teacher.
But he was pointing the way. And that way is found nowhere but inside each of us.