Tervahauta A Story of the Soul’s Journey in the Nag Hammadi Library

A Study of Authentikos Logos (NHC VI,3)
1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-3-647-54036-8
Verlag: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 276 Seiten

Reihe: Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus / Studien zur Umwelt des Neuen Testaments

Authentikos Logos (NHC VI,3), also known as Authoritative Teaching,is a little studied story of a soul’s descent and ascent in the Nag Hammadi library. With her book Ulla Tervahauta fills a gap in the scholarship and provide the first monograph-length study that has this writingas its primary focus.The aim is to find a place and context for Authentikos Logos within early Christianity, but Tervahauta also adds new insight into the scholarship of the Nag Hammadi Library and study of early Christianity. Contrary to the usual discussion of the Nag Hammadi writings from the viewpoint of Gnostic studies, she argues that Authentikos Logos is best approached from the context of Christian traditions of late ancient Egypt between the third and the fifth centuries.Tervahauta discusses the story of the soul’s journey in light of various Christian and Platonic writings. Also, she analyses the relationship of Authentikos Logos with the Valentinian Wisdom myth and suggests that no firm evidence connects the writing closely with Valentinian traditions. And although a Platonic mind-set can be assumed, the writing combines motifs in a unique manner. For example, the four epithets used in the writing – the “invisible soul”, the “pneumatic soul”, the “material soul”, and the “rational soul” – are not found thus combined elsewhere. Discussion of matter (hyle) is connected with Christian scriptural allusions and the focus is on ethics and the evilness of matter. The body, on the other hand, is the soul’s place of contest and progress. The Pauline term “pneumatic body” (1 Cor 15:44) is used allusively and from a Platonic perspective.With this book Ulla Tervahauta makes an important contribution to the study of early Christianity in late ancient Egypt by discussing a writing thatshows knowledge and creative combination of literary traditions that circulated in late ancient Egypt.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Tervahauta, Ulla

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Bibelwissenschaften Apokryphen, Pseudepigraphen
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Kirchengeschichte Frühes Christentum, Patristik, Christliche Archäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte
• Interdisziplinäres Bibliothekswesen, Informationswissenschaften Buchgeschichte, Bibliotheksgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Cover;1
2;Title Page;4
3;Copyright;5
4;Table of Contents;6
5;Body;8
6;Acknowledgements;8
7;I. Introduction;10
7.1;1. The Approach of This Study;13
7.1.1;1.1 An Overview of the Contents of Authentikos Logos;15
7.2;2. Previous Studies of Authentikos Logos;18
7.2.1;2.1 Editions and Translations;18
7.2.2;2.2 From a Gnostic to a Christian Approach: Studies from the 1970s to the Present;20
7.3;3. The Contents of This Work;31
8;II. The Background of the Writing;34
8.1;1. On the Manuscript, Language, and Genre;34
8.1.1;1.1 Manuscript;34
8.1.2;1.2 Language;37
8.1.3;1.3 Genre;42
8.2;2. Date and Historical Background;47
8.2.1;2.1 The Question of the Date;47
8.2.2;2.2 Christianity in Late Ancient Egypt;49
8.3;3. The Scriptures in Authentikos Logos;59
8.3.1;3.1 “The soul is fleeing upwards to her treasure, where her mind is”;61
8.3.2;3.2 “The light that does not set”;64
8.4;4. Summary;69
9;III. The Journey of the Fallen Soul in Authentikos Logos;72
9.1;1. Two Nag Hammadi Stories of the Soul;75
9.1.1;1.1 The Exegesis on the Soul: Storyline;75
9.1.2;1.2 Authentikos Logos and the Exegesis on the Soul Compared.;79
9.2;2. Authentikos Logos, Wisdom Myth and other Valentinian Themes;89
9.3;3. Fallen Souls: Platonic background, Origen and Plotinus;95
9.3.1;3.1 Plato on the Immortality of the Soul;95
9.3.2;3.2 Origen on the Minds Cooling into Souls;98
9.3.3;3.3 Plotinus: the Soul as God’s daughter;99
9.4;4. Summary;105
10;IV. The Attributes of the Soul in Authentikos Logos;107
10.1;1. The Invisible Soul ;109
10.2;2. The Pneumatic Soul;113
10.3;3. The Material Soul;116
10.4;4. The Rational Soul;120
10.5;5. Summary;128
11;V. Matter in Authentikos Logos;131
11.1;1. Background: vkg in Ancient Philosophical Discourse;132
11.2;2. References to Matter in Authentikos Logos;139
11.2.1;2.1 Matter and Material Substance in Authentikos Logos 22 and 23;139
11.2.2;2.2 Matter Attacks the Soul and Makes it Material;153
11.2.3;2.3 The Soul Gives Birth to the Offspring of Matter;154
11.2.4;2.4 The Wheat and the Chaff;156
11.3;3. Summary;161
12;VI. The Body and the Soul’s Contest;162
12.1;1. The Descent, Life in Body, and the Contest of the Soul;163
12.1.1;1.1 The Soul’s Descent to a Life in a Body;164
12.1.2;1.2 Asceticism in Authentikos Logos;169
12.2;2. The Soul’s Ascent;178
12.2.1;2.1 The Slave Traders in Authentikos Logos;179
12.2.2;2.2 The Spiritual Body: A Resurrection Body or the Soul’s Pneumatic Vehicle?;187
12.2.3;2.3 The Soul’s Ascent in Authentikos Logos Compared with the Apocalypse of Paul, the First Apocalypse of James and the Gospel of Mary;192
12.2.4;2.4 Asclepius and Antony’s Vision;201
12.3;3. Summary;206
13;VII. Conclusions;209
14;Bibliography;215
14.1;1. Primary Sources;215
14.1.1;1.1 Nag Hammadi and Related Writings: Editions, Translations, Commentaries;215
14.1.2;1.2 Ancient Authors and Writings: Editions, Translations, Commentaries;216
14.2;2. Secondary Sources;222
15;Appendix: Translation of Authentikos Logos from Coptic into English;235
16;Index of Ancient Sources;254
17;Index of Modern Authors ;274

Über Autor(innen)

Tervahauta, Ulla
Dr Ulla Tervahauta is employed at the Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki.

Dr Ulla Tervahauta is employed at the Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki.