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In 367 C.E. the bishop
of Alexandria issued an Easter letter in which he demanded
that the Egyptian monks who had collected what are now called
the Nag Hammadi texts, destroy any writings they had which
were deemed to be unacceptable. Someone gathered the dozens
of books that were to be burned, removing them from the monastery
library and sealing them in a six foot jar – burying
them with the intent of hiding and preserving them in a nearby
hillside near Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt. There they rested
for over a millennium and a half.
Then in December 1945,
two brothers uncovered the jar whilst digging up soil for
their fields. One of them smashed it open in the hope of finding
gold, but instead discovered fragments of the books, which
he then carried home. The various texts became separated as
they were sold, and one part even burnt because it was deemed
to be worthless and perhaps even bad luck. Yet they were eventually
brought together again, and translated from the Coptic the
scribes had written them in, which themselves were translations
from the original Greek. It wasn't until 1978 that the translations
were first published, and not until the last decade that the
public have really begun to take an interest.
Perhaps the most famous
of the works in The Nag Hammadi Library is the Gospel of Thomas,
which contains never seen before sayings of
Jesus, the first of which begins, “Whoever finds
the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death.”
Another saying soon follows, “If those who lead
you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the
birds will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the
sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom
is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come
to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will
realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father.
But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty
and it is you who are that poverty.”
Each of the texts are
separate, yet bound by unifying principles, which is why they
were kept together. That is, they are Gnostic – teaching
in the various treatises and testimonies, how to renounce
the world and the things in it, to seek ultimate liberation
through faith and shaking off 'drunkenness', ignorance and
sleep. The authors, who are still thought to be unknown, though
the actual original writings are thought to have taken place
as early as 50 – 100 A.D., speak about overcoming fears,
jealousies, lusts and desires, and attaining illumination.
Many mysterious things are mentioned like the bridal chamber,
the Aeons, Plemoras, Light Beings and Vestures, and beings
called Archons.
Read The Nag Hammadi Library here
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