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7 - Eugnostus and the Wisdom of Jesus Christ

from Part II - Early Christian Teachers and Movements in Alexandria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2023

M. David Litwa
Affiliation:
Boston College, Massachusetts
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Summary

This chapter explores the Nag Hammadi treatises Eugnostus and the Wisdom of Jesus Christ. The Alexandrian provenance of Eugnostus is argued for at length. Although we cannot pinpoint exactly where the Wisdom of Jesus Christ was written, it is evident that it incorporated most of the material in Eugnostus. Eugnostus provides the earliest Christian reflections on the God “Human,” a preexistent divine Human, or rather set of Humans. He shows that complex philosophical speculation on the book of Genesis flourished among Christians in the Platonic-Pythagorean tradition. “Eugnostus” was familiar with Christian concepts and terminology. He may have run something like a philosophical school with devoted disciples (“those who are his”). Nevertheless, Eugnostus’s use of ecclesial and ritual language (the angels form the “church of the holy ones”) indicates some sort of communal and ritual life.

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Early Christianity in Alexandria
From its Beginnings to the Late Second Century
, pp. 107 - 120
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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