Epistle of Eugnostos
Encyclopedia
The Epistle of Eugnostos is one of many Gnostic tractates from the Nag Hammadi library
, discovered in Egypt
in 1945. The Nag Hammadi codices contain two full copies of this tractate. The epistle
was a familiar literary convention of Antiquity; it is not to be supposed that this essay is an actual letter written by a man named Eugnostos ("right thinking", sometimes Eugnostus).
The text is devoid of any specifically Christian themes or associations, and simply describes the esoteric cosmology of the gnostics. The similarity with the cosmology in Sophia of Jesus Christ
, led Douglas M. Parrott to conclude that that work was an adaption of this Epistle for a Christian audience. Parrott places the two side by side for comparison in his translation for The Nag Hammadi Library in English, edited by Robinson.
Nag Hammadi library
The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. That year, twelve leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local peasant named Mohammed Ali Samman...
, discovered in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in 1945. The Nag Hammadi codices contain two full copies of this tractate. The epistle
Epistle
An epistle is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The letters in the New Testament from Apostles to Christians...
was a familiar literary convention of Antiquity; it is not to be supposed that this essay is an actual letter written by a man named Eugnostos ("right thinking", sometimes Eugnostus).
The text is devoid of any specifically Christian themes or associations, and simply describes the esoteric cosmology of the gnostics. The similarity with the cosmology in Sophia of Jesus Christ
The Sophia of Jesus Christ
The Sophia of Jesus Christ is one of many Gnostic tractates from the Nag Hammadi codices, discovered in Egypt in 1945. The title is somewhat coded, since although Sophia is Greek for wisdom, in a gnostic context, Sophia is the syzygy of Christ....
, led Douglas M. Parrott to conclude that that work was an adaption of this Epistle for a Christian audience. Parrott places the two side by side for comparison in his translation for The Nag Hammadi Library in English, edited by Robinson.