April D. DeConick Ordre des livres (chronologique)

This volume brings together a rich & varied collection of essays by Gilles Quispel (1916-2006), Professor of the History of the Early Church at Utrecht University from 1951 until retirement in 1983. During his illustrious career, Quispel was also visiting Professor at Harvard University in 1964/5, & visiting Professor at the Catholic University of Leuven from 1969 until 1974. The 50 essays collected in this volume testify to most of the prominent themes from Professor Quispel's scholarly career: the writings of the Nag Hammadi library in general & the Gospel of Thomas in particular; Tatian's Diatessaron & its influences; the Hermetica; Mani & Manichaeism; the Jewish origins of Gnosticism; & Gnosis & the future of Christianity. This volume also makes a number of his less known earlier publications (mainly presented under the heading 'Catholica') available to the international community. Until shortly before he died, Quispel remained active in his study of the Gospel of Thomas. He had been one of the 1st to acquire the Coptic text of the Gospel of Thomas, of which he published the 1st translation in 1959 & his final translation in 2005. He was also active in researching the Diatessaron, & Valentinus the Gnostic. One of his most recent essays--published here for the 1st time--is on 'the Muslim Jesus.'

This volume is a selection of papers presented to the Society of Biblical Literature "Thomasine Traditions Group" from 1996 to 2001. The papers focus on the early Christian writings attributed to the apostle Thomas with particular emphasis on the "Gospel of Thomas," The collection offers an extensive discussion of the social and cultural world of the gospel, particularly examining its relationship to other contemporary Christian writings and Graeco-Roman literature. The essays give a helpful survey of recent developments and discussions in the field of Thomasine studies. Among many topics dealt with in the volume are the issue of Thomas' "community," the gospel's enigmatic exhortation to become "passers-by," and Thomas' relation to the Hebrew epic, Platonic philosophic traditions, Valentinus, as well as to early gospel harmonies. The volume also proposes a hypothesis of the earliest layer of the Thomasine traditions and presents analyses of Thomas' argumentative rhetology and portrait of Jesus. One essay focuses on the role of the apostle Thomas in the "Acts of Thomas," "Thomasine Traditions in Antiquity" will be a valuable tool for all those interested in Nag Hammadi Studies, Gnosticism, Early Christianity and the history of religion.