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Spirit, Soul and Body in Nag Hammadi Literature: Distinguishing Anthropological Schemes in Valentinian, Sethian, Hermetic and Thomasine Texts
Open accessAbstract
A close analysis of the views on man in the Nag Hammadi texts reflects that the tripartite pattern distinguishing three elements in the human being (intellect or spirit, soul and body), even if majoritarian, is not the only one at work in the corpus: there is also a group of texts reflecting rather a bipartite scheme discriminating between soul and body only. Irrelevant though it may seem, this difference is seminal, since it not only implies a different psychology, or theory of the soul, but also a different cosmology, which in its turn also involves a dissimilar soteriology or theory concerning man’s salvation. The present study, the first in a series of five, provides a first and general approach that intends to establish the existence of these two differentiated anthropological patterns in the Nag Hammadi corpus. Following studies will offer a more detailed and separate analysis of the textual evidence, assessing the anthropological frameworks behind the different textual groups allegedly found in the corpus, namely the Valentinian, Sethian, Hermetic and Thomasine texts.
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“In the same way that late Stoics such as Seneca and Marcus Aurelius gave up the monistic anthropology of the Stoa in adopting the bipartite and tripartite schemes, respectively, Christian Gnostics departed from the monism we find, for example, in the Synoptic Gospels and their Jewish antecedents in order to embrace either or both anthropological patterns of Hellenism.”
From The Discourse on the Eighth and the Ninth (NHC VI,6), the Prayer of Thanksgiving (NHC VI,7), and the Asclepius (NHC VI,8): Hermetic Texts in Nag Hammadi and Their Bipartite View of Man (2021) · cites this paper as Roig Lanzillotta 2017
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In the citing paper
“Both positions can also be found in most Nag Hammadi texts: while a group of texts includes the classical Platonic view of the human being, simply opposing spiritual and material aspects, a larger group appears to distinguish three elements.”
From The Discourse on the Eighth and the Ninth (NHC VI,6), the Prayer of Thanksgiving (NHC VI,7), and the Asclepius (NHC VI,8): Hermetic Texts in Nag Hammadi and Their Bipartite View of Man (2021) · cites this paper as Roig Lanzillotta 2017
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe check wasn’t confident either way, so it gives no verdict — never disputed.
In the citing paper
“However, in addition to this, Gnostic texts also reflect the interschool polemics regarding human nature, as attested to in contemporaneous philosophical texts.”
From The Discourse on the Eighth and the Ninth (NHC VI,6), the Prayer of Thanksgiving (NHC VI,7), and the Asclepius (NHC VI,8): Hermetic Texts in Nag Hammadi and Their Bipartite View of Man (2021) · cites this paper as Roig Lanzillotta 2017
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Research works printed but not linked: 39
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Cited by
Roig Lanzillotta, L. (2021) · Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies · doi:10.1163/2451859x-12340102 · Cited by 1
Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Roig Lanzillotta, L.
- Affiliations
- University of Groningen F.L.Roig.Lanzillotta@rug.nl
- Venue
- Gnosis
- Publisher
- Walter de Gruyter GmbH
- Published
- 2017-03-22
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 15-39
- ISSN
- 2451-8581 (ISSN-L)
- 2451-859X
- OpenAlex
- W2602162734
- Cited by
- 4
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 1.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- research.rug.nl
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- Gnosis Journal of Gnostic Studies (publishedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Biblical Studies and Interpretation
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
- Keywords
- Nag Hammadi texts, Gnosticism, anthropology of the human, soul, body, cosmology, soteriology, salvation, Hermetic texts
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