Jesus in the Nag Hammadi Writings
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Many of the Nag Hammadi writings are considered 'heretical' and therefore not valid sources for traditions about the founder, Jesus. Majella Franzmann, however, shows that it is a mistake to believe that Christianity was a homogeneous entity from the first and that the only valid traditions about the founder are preserved by those early Christians who became the dominant, mainstream group. The whole range of early Christian movements, including the Gnostic Christian movements, cannot be separated and identified simply as orthodox or heretical from the beginning. The Nag Hammadi texts were discovered in 1945 near Luxor in Egypt. From these writings Majella Franzmann presents a fascinating and radically different portrait or series of portraits of Jesus and of the world into which he came. Majella Franzmann's work advances our whole understanding of the origins, development and present identity of Christians and Christianity. Society of Biblical Literature - Charles W. Hedrick ...[T]he book is not really designed to be read through at one time from beginning to end. It is really more of a "handbook," or resource text, as Franzmann herself seems to recognize....While one might well question the value of an ahistorical synthetic approach to such a complex collection, the book makes a contribution to the current discussion of those NH issues Franzmann addresses.
PrefaceIntroductionTechnical PrefaceAbbreviationsINag Hammadi and Jesus Research1IIOrigin and Entrance of Jesus into the Earthly Context25IIIThe World to which Jesus Comes57IVBeing and Nature of Jesus71VReasons for the Coming of the Saviour: Jesus as Revealer and Liberator99VIActivity of Jesus and Its Selling113VIIPositive and Negative Relationships of Jesus125VIIIThe Close of the Earthly Context for Jesus135IXThe Community of the Nag Hammadi Writings and Its Jesus: Liminal Community, Liminal Jesus163Epilogue207Appendix: Titles209Bibliography215Indexes247
