The people we’ve come to call gnostics were passionate advocates of the view that salvation comes through knowledge and personal experience, and their passion shines through in the remarkable body of writings they produced over a period of more than a millennium and a half. Willis Barnstone and Marvin Meyer have created a translation that brings the gnostic voices to us from across the centuries with remarkable power and beauty—beginning with texts from the earliest years of Christianity—including material from the Nag Hammadi library—and continuing all the way up to expressions of gnostic wisdom found within Islam and in the Cathar movement of the Middle Ages. The twenty-one texts included here serve as a compact introduction to Gnosticism and its principal ideas—and they also provide an entrée to the pleasures of gnostic literature in general, representing, as they do, the greatest masterpieces of that tradition.
"Clear and luminous translations that capture the essence and poetic beauty of these iridescent texts. Essential Gnostic Scriptures provides further stepping-stones for seekers of wisdom and knowledge beyond the canonical testaments, or for those who are simply moved by great sacred poetry."—Jeffrey Henderson, Editor, Loeb Classical Library
"Fresh and remarkable readable translations of some of the most important gnostic books discovered in modern times, including the newly released Gospel of Judas. With its clear and up-to-date introduction to gnostics and their religion, Essential Gnostic Scriptures will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in one of the most important religious movements of the ancient world."—Bart D. Ehrman, author of Jesus, Interrupted and Lost Christianities
The people we’ve come to call gnostics were passionate advocates of the view that salvation comes through knowledge and personal experience, and their passion shines through in the remarkable body of writings they produced over a period of more than a millennium and a half. Willis Barnstone and Marvin Meyer have created a translation that brings the gnostic voices to us from across the centuries with remarkable power and beauty—beginning with texts from the earliest years of Christianity—including material from the Nag Hammadi library—and continuing all the way up to expressions of gnostic wisdom found within Islam and in the Cathar movement of the Middle Ages. The twenty-one texts included here serve as a compact introduction to Gnosticism and its principal ideas—and they also provide an entrée to the pleasures of gnostic literature in general, representing, as they do, the greatest masterpieces of that tradition.
Praise
"Clear and luminous translations that capture the essence and poetic beauty of these iridescent texts. Essential Gnostic Scriptures provides further stepping-stones for seekers of wisdom and knowledge beyond the canonical testaments, or for those who are simply moved by great sacred poetry."—Jeffrey Henderson, Editor, Loeb Classical Library
"Fresh and remarkable readable translations of some of the most important gnostic books discovered in modern times, including the newly released Gospel of Judas. With its clear and up-to-date introduction to gnostics and their religion, Essential Gnostic Scriptures will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in one of the most important religious movements of the ancient world."—Bart D. Ehrman, author of Jesus, Interrupted and Lost Christianities
