Nag Hammadi Codexes
A Review of the Scribal Evidence c.348 CE
Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia

Editorial Comments

Preface

In other papers related to the thesis that Constantine invented christianity in the fourth century, and implemented it in the Roman Empire with effect from his military supremacist council of Nicaea, we have emphasised that the field of this thesis is ancient history.

An alternative theory of the history of antiquity is being explored in which the christian "Biblical History" was inserted into the political history of the Roman Empire no earlier than the rise of Constantine.

Introduction



The Nag Hammadi Codices is a bundle of thirteen old books binding a total of fifty two separate texts which had been out of circulation for over 1600 years. Unearthed in Upper Egypt in 1945 C14 technology has dated the bundle to the mid-fourth century. In the table below I have collated this bundle of literature according to the codex (ie: book) and the text within it. The primary translator, a link to an english translation (at www.gnosis.org), comments, and perhaps a small extract is also listed.

Analaysis of the following tabulated data shows that of the 13 books, there are two books (1 and 4) binding "christianised" literature exclusively and at least two books (8 and 10) binding "non-christianised" literature exclusively. The Book 6, containing a wealth of specific references to the non-christian instruction to various students, including Asklepius, from the master Hermes, would have been exlusively "non-christianised" had not its first text been entitled "The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles". The text is intriguing in its solitary context amidst the tomes of Hermes.

Apart from these 5 books, the other 8 books bind texts that are a mixture of both "christianised" and "non-christianised" literature. The evidence suggests that both Non-Christian writings, and Christian writings, were in the process of being preserved essentially together in the mid-fourth century in Upper Egypt.

The evidence may also be indicative of writings which were actually "in the process of being Christianised", such as the first and second versions of the text Eugnostos the Blessed in the bundle. In this issue, see first Robert Lane Fox's summary of the Nag Hammadi scrolls, and certainly then Arnaldo Momigliano on the "christianisation" of literature in the fourth century.

Constantine and the Egypto-Hellenic Gnostics

Ammianus Marcellinus mentions that Constantine was responsible for the destruction of the giant obelisk, either at Karnack or Heliopolis, dedicated to the Sun, and standing since c.1500 BCE. Our thesis is that Constantine is best described in retrospect as a malevolent despot of the highest order, who used the power of his military supremacy of the eastern empire to suppress it by taxation, outright brigandry, persecution and intolerance of the ancient traditions.

Constantine was the rightful "Pontifex Maximus" from 312 CE and declared his sponsored religious cult openly, as had many emperors before him. However we are here contending that Constantine invented this new religion,and that there were no christians in Rome before the year 312, and none in the eastern empire until 324 CE.

The first christian footprint in the eastern empire was Constantine's. In 324/325 temples and sanctuaries of Asklepius were destroyed and their priests executed in lead-up work towards the military supremacist council of Nicaea. Constantine's agenda was anti-Hellenic, and brutal.

"Trismegistus, what is the character of the iniquity that is there?"
"Now you think, Asclepius, that when one takes something in a temple, he is impious.
For that kind of a person is a thief and a bandit. And this matter concerns gods and men.
...[...]...

"Trismegistus, who are these (daimons)?"
"Asclepius, they are the ones who are called 'stranglers',
and those who roll souls down on the dirt, and those who scourge them,
and those who cast into the water, and those who cast into the fire,
and those who bring about the pains and calamities of men.
For such as these are not from a divine soul, nor from a rational soul of man.
Rather, they are from the terrible evil."

Nag Hammadi Scribe of c.348 CE
Hermes' Discourse - to Asclepius

Our position then here is that the christianisation process evidenced in the literature of the Nag Hammadi bundle had only about 25 years of precedent history. That there were no christians before the rise of Constantine, let alone any Gnostic christians. The Gnostic and the Hellenic neopythagorean traditions were essentially one and the same, and non-christian before the year 325 CE, at which time a brutal and organised despotic dictatorship opposed and destroyed their traditions beliefs. Constantine's prohibition of non-christian sacrifice commences with effect from 324 CE.




What was popular in new testament literature scribal tradition
a decade after its inventor, the Boss, went to the underworld?

In a parallel initiative, he implemented the new testament literature, as his sponsored religion with effect from 325 CE. By c.331 CE he lavishly publishes at least 50 separate codices of the Constantine Bible. All scribes in the empire, at all levels of the Collegia (administrative, religious, military, civilian) would have been put very much on notice. The preservation of ancient literature required scribes. But what was to be preserved, when in 325 CE Constantine edicts for the destruction of the writings of Porphyry, perhaps the greatest author and academic of the east in the literature at that time? Orders from the top found their was eventually into every small collegiate monastery, every shrine and temple --- and they were fractally numerous in my opinion --- and every major city library.

The Nag Hammadi bundle of books is evidence of the turbulent onset of a new and strange Roman religion called Christianity which claimed and published an antiquity of at least three hundred years. Our thesis however is that Christianity (and its pseudo-history) was literally a clever invention of Constantine, and is best described as a fiction of men composed by wickedness [Emperor Julian]. Our claim is that the new testament literature was implemented by a top-down incentive, and that among the scribes who contributed to the Nag Hammadi bundle of books, there may well have been those who personally remembered the spectacle caused by the destruction by Constantine, of many temples and their associated libraries, and the execution of their Hellenic priests. Jesus the gnosis was in. Hermes the gnosis was out.

This brand new political and religious initiative of Constantine, was supported by an Oath of alliegence, given under duress, of those 318 representative attendees, summoned by Constantine from his newly subjugated eastern empire, to Nicaea in the year 325 CE, the disclaimer of Arius preserved in that Oath notwithstanding.

Our contention is that the Nag Hammadi books evidence the top-down process of "christianisation of Hellenic literature" which had commenced no more than a generation earlier and which was enforced for political reasons by Constantine. The books containing only remnants of the writings of the scribes traditional spiritual master, Hermes, and other non-christian gnostic writings, would have been secreted away when it became obvious that non-christian books were being sought out and destroyed under the rule of both Constantine and Constantius II, and in fact, for the next few hundred years.

Someone wisely decided to hide the Nag Hammadi Codices rather than have them being burnt. We also know that c.355 CE the christians Athanasius and Dioscorus are scouring the country-side and conducting a systematic search of monasteries for Prohibited Authors.

Notably Constantine refers to Arius as a Porphyrian.

Best wishes to the students of life,

PRF Brown
Editor
Southern Spring 2007

Nag Hammadi - A Review of the Scribal Evidence c.348 CE
Codex	Work	Title of Work	Translator	Comments
1	1	The Prayer of the Apostle Paul	Mueller	Christian
1	2	The Apocryphon of James	Williams	Christian
1	3	The Gospel of Truth	Grant	Christian ... He was nailed to a cross. He affixed the edict of the Father to the cross
1	4	The Treatise on the Resurrection	Peel	Christian
1	5	The Tripartite Tractate	Attridge & Mueller	Christian
2	1	The Prayer of the Apostle Paul	Mueller	Christian
2	2	The Gospel of Thomas	Patterson & Meyer	Christian = J-S (Abbreviated) said ....
2	3	The Gospel of Philip	Isenberg	Christian
2	4	The Hypostasis of the Archons	Layton	Non-Christian: (The Reality of the Rulers) Pistis Sophia, Adam and Eve
2	5	On the Origin of the World	Bethge & Layton	Non-Christian? - (See 13.2) Pistis Sophia;one ref to Jesus - "another being, called Jesus Christ, who resembles the savior above in the eighth heaven, and who sits at his right upon a revered throne"
2	6	The Exegesis on the Soul	Robinson	Christian
2	7	The Book of Thomas the Contender	Turner	Christian
3	1	The Apocryphon of John	Waldstein & Wisse	Christian ... aka The Secret Book of John and The Secret Revelation of John, each depending upon how the word "Apocryphon" is translated. The two surviving Coptic manuscripts of the shorter version of The Apocryphon of John -- found in the Berlin Codex and Nag Hammadi Library Codex III -- are very similar, but they are not identical.
3	2	The Gospel of the Egyptians	Bohlig & Wisse	Christian...The holy book of the Egyptians about the great invisible Spirit, the Father whose name cannot be uttered
3	3	Eugnostos the Blessed	Parrott	Non-Christian: EVIDENCE OF "CHRISTIANISATION OF LITERATURE" (See Momigliano) - Two versions: 1) 3.3 "The first aeon, then, is that of Immortal Man. The second aeon is that of Son of Man, who is called 'First Begetter' (and in Codex 5.1; "who is called 'Savior'" is added - See R.L.Fox)
3	4	The Sophia of Jesus Christ	Parrott	Christian
3	5	The Dialogue of the Savior	Emmel	Christian... The Savior said, "The lamp of the body is the mind.
4	1	The Apocryphon of John	Wisse	Christian ... See 3.1
4	2	The Gospel of the Egyptians	Bohlig & Wisse	Christian ... See 3.2
5	1	Eugnostos the Blessed	Parrott	See 3.3: "who is called 'Savior'" is added.
5	2	The Apocalypse of Paul	MacRae & Murdock	Christian
5	3	The (First) Apocalypse of James	Schoedel	Christian? The Lord speaking to James, James said, "Rabbi
5	4	The (Second) Apocalypse of James	Hedrick	James the Just: "Pleroma of Imperishability" and "Holy Spirit"
5	5	The Apocalypse of Adam	MacRae	Non-Christian: "the revelations which Adam made known to Seth, his son."
6	1	The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles	Parrott & Wilson	This text appears to be a Neopythagorean Parody of Christian traditions, and could have been written perhaps by Arius of Alexandria, in opposition to the implementation of the Christian religion as a state religion by Constantine c.325 CE.
6	2	The Thunder, Perfect Mind	MacRae	Non-Christian: "I, I am godless, and I am the one whose God is great."
6	3	Authoritative Teaching	MacRae	Non-Christian: "This her true shepherd taught her in knowledge." Mentions pagans.
6	4	The Concept of Our Great Power	Wisse	Non-Christian: The Perception of Understanding - The Concept of the Great Power: "He who will know our great Power will become invisible, and fire will not be able to consume him. But it will purge and destroy all of your possessions."
6	5	Plato, Republic 588A-589B	Brashler	Non-Christian: Mistranslated from the original Plato (See RL Fox).
6	6	The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth	Brashler, Dirkse, Parrott	Non-Christian: HERMES - ""I understand Mind, Hermes, who cannot be interpreted, because he keeps within himself. And I rejoice, my father, because I see you smiling. And the universe rejoices."
6	7	The Prayer of Thanksgiving	Brashler, Dirkse, Parrott	Non-Christian: "holy food - has no blood in it." Scribal Note: "I have copied this one discourse of his (Hermes). Indeed, very many have come to me. I have not copied them because I thought that they had come to you (pl.). Also, I hesitate to copy these for you because, perhaps they have (already) come to you, and the matter may burden you. Since the discourses of that one, which have come to me, are numerous ...
6	8	Asclepius 21-29	Brashler, Dirkse, Parrott	Non-Christian: HERMES to Asclepius "Trismegistus, who are these (daimons)?" "Asclepius, they are the ones who are called 'stranglers', and those who roll souls down on the dirt, and those who scourge them, and those who cast into the water, and those who cast into the fire, and those who bring about the pains and calamities of men.
7	1	The Paraphrase of Shem	Wisse	Non-Christian: "O Shem"...
7	2	The Second Treatise of the Great Seth	Bullard & Gibbons	Non-Christian: 'we were hated and persecuted, not only by those who are ignorant, but also by those who think that they are advancing the name of Christ, since they were unknowingly empty, not knowing who they are, like dumb animals. They persecuted those who have been liberated by me, since they hate them...
7	3	The Apocalypse of Peter	Brashler & Bullard	Christian: "And there shall be others of those who are outside our number who name themselves bishop and also deacons, as if they have received their authority from God. They bend themselves under the judgment of the leaders. Those people are dry canals."
7	4	The Teachings of Silvanus	Peel & Zandee	Christian
7	5	The Three Steles of Seth	Robinson	Non-Christian: Seth - "Know therefore, as those who live, that you have attained. And you taught yourselves the infinite things. Marvel at the truth which is within them, and (at) the revelation."
8	1	Zostrianos	Sieber	Non-Christian: "The [Invisible] Spirit [is] a psychic and intellectual power, a knower and a fore-knower."
8	2	The Letter of Peter to Philip	Wisse	Non-Christian: 'we were hated and persecuted, not only by those who are ignorant, but also by those who think that they are advancing the name of Christ, since they were unknowingly empty, not knowing who they are, like dumb animals. They persecuted those who have been liberated by me, since they hate them...
9	1	Melchizedek	Wisse	Christian: "O Shem"...
9	2	The Thought of Norea	Giversen & Pearson	Non-Christian: "He it is who is within all of the Adams, possessing the thought of Norea, who speaks concerning the two names which create a single name."
9	3	The Testimony of Truth	Giversen & Pearson	Christian
10	1	Marsanes	Pearson	Non-Christian: "Control yourselves, receive the imperishable seed, bear fruit, and do not become attached to your possessions."
11	1	The Interpretation of Knowledge	Turner	Christian:
11	2	A Valentinian Exposition	Turner	Christian
11	3	Allogenes	Turner & Wintermute	Non-Christian: "The Triple-Powered-One"... "When the completion of the one hundred years drew nigh, it brought me a blessedness of the eternal hope full of auspiciousness. I saw the good divine Autogenes; and the Savior, who is the youthful, perfect Triple-Male Child; and his goodness, the noetic perfect Protophanes-Harmedon; and the blessedness of the Kalyptos; and the primary origin of the blessedness, the Aeon of Barbelo, full of divinity; and the primary origin of the one without origin, the spiritual, invisible Triple-Powered One, the Universal One that is higher than perfect."
11	4	Hypsiphrone	Turner	Christian
12	1	The Sentences of Sextus	Wisse	Non-Christian: List of sayings ... (160) May the right time precede your words; (164b) While it is a skill to speak, it is also a skill to be silent; (167) Wisdom leads the soul to the place of God; (177) May your life confirm your words before those who hear.
12	2	The Gospel of Truth	Grant	Christian
12	3	Unknown	Unknown	Status unknown - Fragments (translation not provided)
13	1	Trimorphic Protennoia	Turner	Christian: As for me, I put on Jesus. I bore him from the cursed wood, and established him in the dwelling places of his Father. And those who watch over their dwelling places did not recognize me. For I, I am unrestrainable, together with my seed; and my seed, which is mine, I shall place into the holy Light within an incomprehensible Silence. Amen.
13	2	On the Origin of the World	Bethge & Layton	Non-Christian? - (See 2.5) Pistis Sophia; "another being, called Jesus Christ"

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