Through the celebrated discovery of many alternative gospels and scriptures, the word Gnostic has entered popular discourse almost as synonymous with bold or experimental religious thinking. Of course, the term Gnostic has a specific meaning as a movement, and one about which we now have a substantial body of written evidence. I have written recently about some modern debates about this idea. Here, I want to focus on the Greek and Hellenistic roots of the movement. Yes, we know that Gnosticism was a powerful temptation to the early church, but it also tells us a lot about how Jewish and Greek ideas merged and interacted between, say 200 BC and 300 AD. It also matters greatly to understanding how early Christianity framed its appeal within the Greek-speaking world(s). Adolf von Harnack famously described Gnosticism as “the acute Hellenization of Christianity” – a phrase that demands a “Discuss!” after it.
Among the scriptures and texts found at Nag Hammadi were some very clearly rooted in Greek and specifically Platonist thought, with titles such as the Hypostasis of the Archons. Yet these has once shared shelves with obviously Hebrew and biblical-derived manuscripts, focused on Adam, Noah and (especially) Seth. How had the two traditions come into contact? Where, when and how?
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