Gnostic revisions of Genesis stories and early Jesus traditions / / Gerard P. Luttikhuizen.

• Superior document: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies ; Volume 58
• VerfasserIn: Luttikhuizen, Gerard P.,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, [2006]; ©2006
• Year of Publication: 2006
• Language: English
• Series: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies ; Volume 58.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource.

This book argues that the intellectuals behind early Gnostic revisions of Genesis stories were second-century Christians with an ideological background in Greek-Hellenistic philosophy, who adopted and reinterpreted biblical narrative materials with a view to exposing the inferiority of the creator-God of Genesis and the ignorance of those Christians who continued to worship this God. It also discusses controversies between Gnostic and early orthodox Christians about the person and the mission of Jesus Christ. The first part examines the possible polemical function, the philosophical thought structure, and the narrative scheme of the Genesis rewritings, and continues with studies of individual episodes of the Gnostic myth, from the creation of Adam up to the story of Noah and the Flood. The second part focuses on Gnostic reinterpretations of the teaching and the passion of Jesus. The book includes essays about Gnostic theology, ancient and modern readings of Gnostic texts, and an appendix dealing with the ancient baptist community in which Mani was reared.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- Gnostic Interpreters -- Polemical Context and Function (ApJohn) -- Philosophical Thought Pattern (ApJohn) -- Narrative Scheme (ApJohn) -- The Creation of Adam and Eve (ApJohn) -- Paradise (ApJohn, TestTruth) -- Eve's Children and the Salvation of Humanity (ApJohn, HypArch) -- Noah and the Flood (ApJohn, HypArch, ApocAdam) -- The Ineffable God (ApJohn, TrimProt) -- The Teaching of Jesus -- The Passion of Jesus: The Suffering Jesus and the Impassible Christ (ApocPet) -- The Passion of Jesus: The Wooden Cross and the Cosmic Cross of Light (ActsJohn) -- Johannine Vocabulary and Gnostic thought (LetPetPhil, TrimProt) -- Readers of Gnostic Texts -- The Baptists of Mani's Youth and the Elchasaites -- Bibliography -- Index of Ancient Texts -- Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies.