Pachomius and the Nag Hammadi Codices

Date of Award

2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Marks, Susan

Keywords

Nag Hammadi, Pachomius

Area of Concentration

Religion

Abstract

In this work, I have attempted to outline an alternate way of interpreting the Nag Hammadi texts, so that scholars no longer have to go into the texts looking for signs of �gnostic� influence. The gnostic assumptions of the past, in light of recent developments spearhead by Micheal Williams, no longer work as the primary principle by which we interpret the Nag Hammadi texts. Instead, I have taken the Pachomian monasteries as the grounding principle through which I place my interpretations into the reality of late antique Egypt, thanks in large part to the works of Rousseau and Goehring. From their analysis of Pachomius and his followers I was able to see threads of community within the two Nag Hammadi texts of Teaching of Silvanus and Authoritative Teaching. The way the writers of the two works talked about their community, while not identical, had many striking similarities that I would never have noticed had I not shifted my approach to the Nag Hammadi library.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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