The Nag Hammadi Codices - Full Library - (Gnostic Scriptures)




The Nag Hammadi Codices - Full Library - (Gnostic Scriptures)

In Different Translations for Study Purposes

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The Nag Hammadi Codices are a group of papyrus manuscripts discovered near the city of Nag Hammadi in southern Egypt, about 70 miles north of Luxor. The codices (i.e., bound volumes) contain writings that shed light on the diverse religious and philosophical currents of the early Christian period.

Reportedly, the discovery was made in 1945 by Egyptian farmers digging for fertile soil at the base of the Jabal al-Tarif cliff on the east bank of the Nile River across from Nag Hammadi. The codices were allegedly found buried in a ceramic storage jar. Both the precise location and circumstances in this chance discovery story are questionable, with some scholars suspecting that the manuscripts come from an illicitly excavated grave (or graves). They are now in the Coptic Museum in Cairo. Source, biblicalarchaeology.org



The Nag Hammadi Library, a collection of thirteen ancient codices containing over fifty texts, was discovered in upper Egypt in 1945.

This immensely important discovery includes a large number of primary Gnostic scriptures - texts once thought to have been entirely destroyed during the early Christian struggle to define "orthodoxy" - scriptures such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, and the Gospel of Truth. The discovery and translation of the Nag Hammadi library, completed in the 1970's, has provided impetus to a major re-evaluation of early Christian history and the nature of Gnosticism.

Several of the major texts in the Nag Hammadi collection have more than one English translation; where more than one translation is available, we have listed the translators' names in parenthesis below the name of the text.

Texts marked with the {*} had more than one version extant within the Nag Hammadi codices; often these several versions were used conjointly by the translators to provide the single translation presented here.

Also Read:

"The Dead Sea Scrolls".

Alphabetical Index

Codex Index

Codex VII

  1. The Paraphrase of Shem (fragmentary, translation not provided here)

  2. The Second Treatise of the Great Seth

  3. The Apocalypse of Peter

  4. The Teachings of Silvanus

  5. The Three Steles of Seth

Codex VIII

  1. Zostrianos The Letter of Peter to Philip

Codex IX

  1. Melchizedek

  2. The Thought of Norea

  3. The Testimony of Truth

Codex X

  1. Marsanes

Codex XI

  1. The Interpretation of Knowledge

  2. A Valentinian Exposition 2a. On the Anointing 2b. On the Baptism A 2c. On the Baptism B 2d. On the Eucharist A 2e. On the Eucharist B

  3. Allogenes

  4. Hypsiphrone

Codex XII

  1. The Sentences of Sextus

  2. The Gospel of Truth:* (Grant translation) (Attridge & MacRae translation) Fragments (translation not provided here)

Codex XIII

  1. Trimorphic Protennoia

  2. On the Origin of the World*

Codex I (The Jung Codex)

  1. The Prayer of the Apostle Paul

  2. The Apocryphon of James: (Williams translation) (Cameron translation)

  3. The Gospel of Truth:* (Grant translation) (Attridge & MacRae translation)

  4. The Treatise on the Resurrection

  5. The Tripartite Tractate

Codex II

  1. The Apocryphon of John* (long version)

  2. The Gospel of Thomas: (Patterson & Meyer translation) (Lambdin translation) (Patterson & Robinson Translation) (Grondin interlinear translation)

  3. The Gospel of Philip

  4. The Hypostasis of the Archons

  5. On the Origin of the World*

  6. The Exegesis on the Soul

  7. The Book of Thomas the Contender

Codex III

  1. The Apocryphon of John* (short version, used in long version translation above)

  2. The Gospel of the Egyptians*

  3. Eugnostos the Blessed*

  4. The Sophia of Jesus Christ

  5. The Dialogue of the Savior

Codex IV

  1. The Apocryphon of John* (long version)

  2. The Gospel of the Egyptians*

Codex V

  1. Eugnostos the Blessed*

  2. The Apocalypse of Paul

  3. The (First) Apocalypse of James

  4. The (Second) Apocalypse of James

  5. The Apocalypse of Adam

Codex VI

  1. The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles

  2. The Thunder, Perfect Mind

  3. Authoritative Teaching

  4. The Concept of Our Great Power

  5. Plato, Republic 588A-589B

  6. The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth

  7. The Prayer of Thanksgiving

  8. Asclepius 21-29




Additional Information

  1. A Reading Plan for The Nag Hammadi Library

  2. Cuando los Misterios Murieron - Éxtasis e Intolerancia en El Mundo Clásico ¿Gnósticos o Illuminati? - Los Orígenes del Movimiento Gnóstico

  3. Gnostics or Illuminati? - The Origins of the Gnostic Movement

  4. La Hipóstasis de Los Arcontes

  5. The Fallen Goddess Scenario

  6. The Nag Hammadi Codices and the Dead Sea Scrolls - 1947 Nexus Related Reports