The Gospel According to Thomas is found in the second manuscript of codex II of a set of texts found in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, collectively referred to today as the Coptic Gnostic Library. This gospel was readily identified as Thomas due to fragments of a Greek version of the text having already been discovered and identified in the 1890s at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt. However, the discovery near Nag Hammadi in 1945 C.E. was not of fragments, but it actually contained the entire text of Thomas. Thus, the finding of the entire text in Nag Hammadi brought about a set of questions that had not yet surfaced from the fragments of Thomas previously found at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt. For example, was Thomas actually written by Didymus Jude Thomas? If Thomas did not write it, then by whom was it written, and why did the actual author claim it to be written by Thomas?

Den här uppsatsen handlar om modern gnosticism, tolkat utifrån fyra nygnostiska rörelser jag fann på Internet. Efter att ha läst dessa valda rörelsers texter slog det mig att en fundamental förändring hade skett, med tanke på texter om antik gnosticism. Framför allt hade den mörka synen på materian förändrats, och därmed synen på de feminina och maskulina aspekterna samt ondskan också. Om man går på linjen att de var materia- och kvinnofientliga samt ville undfly reinkarnation. De här aspekterna, materian, människan och ondska, reflekteras dock fortfarande i ljuset av de antika gnostiska myterna. Myter som bär upp denna andliga filosofis ramverk kring människans existentiella villkor. Grundtemat är på så sätt detsamma, men tolkningarna om universum, livet och människans livsvillkor är modifierad från äldre skrifters beskrivning av och om gnostikernas världsbild. Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka några nygnostiska rörelser i det sekulära väst, och hitta likheter och skillnader speglat mot den antika gnosticismen. Sättet att finna dem gick via Internet och synliggörandet av dem, och deras mytiska världsbild, gick via deras myter om materian, människan och ondska.

The Gospel According to Thomas is found in the second manuscript of codex II of a set of texts found in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, collectively referred to today as the Coptic Gnostic Library. This gospel was readily identified as Thomas due to fragments of a Greek version of the text having already been discovered and identified in the 1890s at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt. However, the discovery near Nag Hammadi in 1945 C.E. was not of fragments, but it actually contained the entire text of Thomas. Thus, the finding of the entire text in Nag Hammadi brought about a set of questions that had not yet surfaced from the fragments of Thomas previously found at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt. For example, was Thomas actually written by Didymus Jude Thomas? If Thomas did not write it, then by whom was it written, and why did the actual author claim it to be written by Thomas?

The thesis describes the relationship between the ancient Gnosticism as we know it from the Nag Hammadi library and as it is described in the works of early church fathers and New Testament. It outlines basic topics similar to all versions of a classical cosmogenic Gnostic myth. The subject of the faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and its relationship to the establishing a Church structure is discussed. Another topic is the problem of human free will and that of good and evil and its consequences for human morale. The ways of different understanding to it are presented, based on Old Testament story of Adam and Eve as reffered to in the book of Genesis.

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The common elements which emerge from this study are: Melchizedek was a priest-king, ruling a small city-state and presiding over the cult. He lived among a people far advanced from the primitive. There is no consensus among scholars concerning the meaning of his name but "Sedeq (a name for God) is my King" is a possible translation. Melchizedek's city-state was named Salem and of the four plausible geographical locations postulated, the Salem-Shechem theory leaves fewer problems. Abraham and Melchizedek worshiped the same God who was known by several names, among which were 'El 'elyon, God Most High and Yahweh. All of these names point to a superlative god above all others. Jewish traditions identify Melchizedek with Shem and Salem with Jerusalem. They also subordinate Melchizedek to Abraham and see the priesthood lost by Melchizedek and passing to Abraham. The Christians claimed Melchizedek as the type for Christ and his priesthood, and thus forged their own link to antiquity. Joseph Smith's teachings parallel the early Christian traditions of Melchizedek as a type of Christ and other traditions on priestly kingship and ritual. He also defines orders in the priesthood.

Ce mémoire aborde les particularités oratoires et littéraires du traité intitulé Le Tonnerre, Intellect Parfait ainsi que le rôle joué par la narratrice par sa révélation dans l'accomplissement du salut de ses membres. Le premier chapitre propose d'abord un bilan des études consacrées à la forme littéraire du traité et une analyse du genre oratoire et littéraire de la Brontè. Le deuxième chapitre examine les divers parallèles qu'il est possible d'établir entre la Brontè et d'autres types de littératures. Le troisième chapitre présente une analyse de quatre passages spécifiques. Outre le titre du traité, sont examinés le prologue et l'épilogue pour terminer avec deux passages portant sur les thématiques des Barbares-Grecs-Égyptiens ainsi que celle des membres, puisque ces dernières sont susceptibles de nous fournir des indices sur la figure de la Brontè.

In this dissertation, I examine the Coptic, gnostic Apocalypse of Paul. Only one copy of this text has survived, a Coptic translation of a Greek original, contained in codex V of the Nag Hammadi collection of ancient heterodox Christian writings found in Upper Egypt near the town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Drawing on the apostle Paul's laconic accounts of his revelation and his rise through the heavens (in 2 Cor 12:2-4 and Gai 1:13- 17), the Apocalypse of Paul expands the brief mentions into a more detailed account of Paul's spiritual "awakening" by a holy Spirit, and his subsequent ascension through the ten heavens. The Apocalypse of Paul has in the past tended to be either neglected, or only cursorily examined, by scholars of gnosticism. This dissertation, in conjunction with a recently released volume in the Bibliothèque copte de Nag Hammadi series (Rosenstiehl/ Kaler 2005), is an attempt to fill this scholarly gap. In it, I argue that the work was composed in the late second or early third century by a Valentinian gnostic author and that it was influenced by the debates of the period over the proper interpretation of the apostle Paul's writings. The Apocalypse of Paul may be understood as the product of mingled apocalyptic, Pauline and Valentinian literary influences. In its form it is clearly indebted to works of apocalyptic ascension such as the Enoch writings or the Ascension of Isaiah, which tell of the ascent of a religious figure through the heavens. In its choice of the apostle Paul as a protagonist, and its presentation of him as a stereotypical ascension apocalypse hero, it can be compared with a wide variety of early Christian writings that take up and transform the figure of Paul. The author of the Apocalypse of Paul, like many other Christians of her period, revered Paul not just as a theologian, but also as a heroic figure of the earliest church, and in presenting this figure, she made it adhere to apocalyptic norms. Finally, I argue that its motivations can best be understood by regarding it as a work that advances a Valentinian (gnostic) view of the church and the cosmos, using its Pauline and apocalyptic features as a means of legitimating these views for its readership. In short, it can be said that the Apocalypse of Paul is an apocalypse, and like other apocalypses it takes a revered religious hero from the past—in this case, Paul—as its protagonist, creating around him a story of divine revelation, a story that reflects or comments upon its author's contemporary context. / Cette thèse de doctorat traite de l’Apocalypse de Paul, une apocalypse gnostique dont seulement une copie existe, et qui est préservée dans le cinquième codex de la fameuse « bibliothèque » copte de Nag Hammadi, une collection d'écrits chrétiens hétérodoxes enterrée à la fin du quatrième ou au début du cinquième siècle découverte par hasard près de la ville de Nag Hammadi en Haute-Egypte en 1945. Inspirée par 2 Co 12,2-4 et Gai 1,13- 17, où Paul fait allusion à la révélation qu'il a reçue et à son ascension céleste, l’Apocalypse de Paul propose un récit plus détaillé de l'éveil spirituel de Paul et de son ascension à travers les dix cieux. On a eu la tendance jusqu'ici à ignorer l’Apocalypse de Paul dans les recherches gnostiques ou apocalyptiques. Cette thèse de doctorat, qui fait suite à un volume récemment publié dans la section « Textes » de la collection Bibliothèque copte de Nag Hammadi (Rosenstiehl/ Kaler 2005), veut partiellement combler cette lacune. Elle présente et défend une hypothèse selon laquelle l’Apocalypse de Paul a été composée à la fin du deuxième ou commencement du troisième siècle de notre ère par un auteur valentinien, et que son récit a été influencé par les débats contemporains sur l'interprétation des écrits pauliniens et de la figure même de Paul. L'Apocalypse de Paul peut être comprise comme le produit de trois traditions paulinienne, apocalyptique et gnostique. Sa forme a été modelée sur les récits apocalyptiques d'ascension céleste, comme par exemple les livres d'Hénoch ou l’Ascension d'Isaïe, qui racontent le voyage d'une figure religieuse à travers les cieux. En choisissant l'apôtre Paul comme protagoniste et en le transformant en héros apocalyptique, elle est comparable à d'autres écrits chrétiens primitifs qui utilisent et transforment l'image de Paul. Pour l'auteur de l’Apocalypse de Paul, comme pour d'autres auteurs chrétiens, Paul n'est pas seulement un théologien, mais plutôt une figure légendaire, et il ou elle construit cette figure selon les normes apocalyptiques. Enfin, cette thèse soutient que le dessein de l'Apocalypse de Paul peut être mieux compris si on le considère comme un texte qui a pour fonction de défendre une interprétation gnostique, plus précisément valentinienne, du cosmos, de l'église et de l'initiation chrétienne, et qui utilise les matériaux pauliniens et apocalyptiques pour légitimer cette interprétation auprès de ses lecteurs. En bref, l’Apocalypse de Paul est une apocalypse, et comme d'autres apocalypses, elle crée autour d'un héros religieux le récit d'une révélation divine, récit qui reflète la situation de communication dans laquelle elle a été produite.

Ce mémoire porte sur les rapports qu’entretenait le milieu dont est issu le Marsanès, un traité gnostique du corpus de Nag Hammadi, avec la philosophie néoplatonicienne, notamment à travers les figures de Plotin, Jamblique et Théodore d’Asinè. L’influence de ce dernier sur le Marsanès serait surestimée,. alors que Jamblique offrirait une compatibilité sans précédent avec le séthianisme platonisant, un mouvement gnostique auquel appartient le Marsanès. Un même processus expliquerait les évolutions du platonisme vers le hiératisme du De Mysteriîs d’une part, et du séthianisme vers le rationalisme du Marsanès d’autre p art Ce processus de sécularisation, amorcé dès le médioplatonisme, aurait, du moins en apparence, rapproché les philosophes des rédacteurs du Marsanès. Bien que cette apparence ne résiste pas à un examen plus soutenu, il est fort possible qu’elle suffît aux yeux des gnostiques.

Clementine scholarship acknowledges Clement's doctrine of the Incarnation and generally maintains that for Clement the divine Logos assumed human flesh. However, because of Clement's complex logology and three passages suggesting a docetic interpretation of Christ's flesh, scholars tend to move away from addressing the Incarnation and treat either the metaphysics of the multiple logoi theory or the question of Clement's Docetism, or both. Because of this diversion in research, there remains a gap in the literature around Clement's teachings about the Incarnation. This thesis begins to fill the gap by explaining Clement's view of the Incarnation, which he connects to the emergent ‘exchange' doctrine, envisaged as a divine mission. It situates Clement as an heir of the apostolic tradition while he engages with Greek philosophy and Gnostic belief. The research delineates Clement's gnostic tradition, which he considered faithful to the Old Testament and to the teachings of the apostles. The investigation collates Clement's usage of John 1:14 and the term ginomai linked with Logos, anthropos, and sarx. It examines Clement's discussion in Stromateis VII.2, where he claims the Logos assumed flesh susceptible to suffering, emotions, and physical sensibilities. In Clement's teachings, the Logos became both anthropos and sarx so that anthropos might become theos. This thesis outlines Clement's usage of the terms parousia and epiphaneia (appearing), showing they are consequential to the Incarnation. Clement presents the Logos as Saviour, who conquers malevolent powers and death to release humankind from corruption through his sufferings from birth to the cross. Clement also presents the Logos as a Teacher, who during his parousia, interprets precisely the Old Testament, and in his appearing, discloses true gnosis, which guides anthropos to godliness. The evidence demonstrates that Clement bases his path for assimilation to God upon the Incarnation of the Logos.