Scripture

The revelation of God can be divided into three categories or phases. First, the Jewish Bible is seen as a distorted but valid revelation of God. Second, the Gnostic Christian Bible is the full revelation of God in Jesus Christ which was passed on to his apostles and close associates. And third, the Apostolic Tradition that was passed on by Gnostic Christians such as Valentinus and his school.

1. Jewish Bible

The Jewish Scriptures are those writings which the Jewish people receive as part of their canon of religious books. We view these writings as imperfect and incomplete, giving a distorted view of God.

The Law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
The Prophets: Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The Twelve: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nachum, Habbakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
The Writings: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra & Nehemiah, Chronicles.

2. The Gnostic Christian Bible

The word “Bible” is used to refer to those inspired writings that originated within the apostolic period, that is, roughly the first century. These writings are considered to be foundational and primary, preserving best the original revelation of God to Jesus and his apostles.

Gospels: Mark, Matthew, Luke, Thomas, John,
Church: Acts, The Didache,
Epistles: 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Romans, Philippians, ColossiansPhilemon, EphesiansHebrews, James, Peter, Epistle of John,
Poetry: The Odes of Solomon

3. Apostolic Tradition

Apostolic Tradition refers to those writings associated with Gnostic Christians such as Valentinus and his school. These writings originated in the second and third century. These writings are considered to be interpretative and secondary, so that if there is contradiction between the Bible and texts containing Apostolic Tradition, the Bible is given preference.*

Gospels: The Gospel of Truth, The Gospel of Philip, The Gospel of Mary,
Acts: The Acts of John, Acts of Thomas,
Treatise: The Treatise on the Resurrection, The Tripartite Tractate, The Interpretation of Knowledge, The Valentinian Exposition, Exegesis on the Soul, The Secret Book of James, The Book of Thomas, The Dialogue of the Savior, The Testimony of Truth,
Epistles: Epistle to Flora, The Letter of Peter to Philip,
Devotional: The Hymn of the Pearl, The Prayer of the Apostle Paul,
Revelations: The First Revelation of James, The Second Revelation of James, The Revelation of Paul, The Revelation of Peter

Supplementary Writings

The Supplementary Writings are informational only, unless they can be shown to contain valid Apostolic Tradition .

Epistle of Barnabas, 1 Clement, Shepherd of Hermas, 2 Clement, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation, The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles, Allogenes, The Apocalypse of Adam, The Apocryphon of John, Asclepius 21-29, Authoritative Teaching, The Concept of Our Great Power, The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth, Eugnostos the Blessed, The Gospel of the Egyptians, The Hypostasis of the Archons, Hypsiphrone, Marsanes, Melchizedek, On the Origin of the World, The Paraphrase of Shem, The Prayer of Thanksgiving, The Second Treatise of the Great Seth, The Sentences of Sextus, The Sophia of Jesus Christ, The Teachings of Silvanus, The Thought of Norea, The Three Steles of Seth, The Thunder, Perfect Mind, Trimorphic Protennoia, Zostrianos, Tobit, Judith, The Additions to the Book of Esther, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, The Letter of Jeremiah, The Additions to the Book of Daniel, The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, Prayer of Manasseh, Psalm 151, 3 Maccabees, 2 Esdras, 4 Maccabees, and the writings of the proto-orthodox church fathers.

————————
* Titles are taken from the book The Nag Hammadi Scriptures


Comments are closed.