„Wyjaśnienie gnozy” z XI kodeksu Nag Hammadi (NHC, XI, 1) w kontekście gnostyckiej sekty Walentynian

Abstract

The Interpretation of Knowledge comes from Nag Hammadi codex XI, discovered in 1945, and it is a description by the Gnostics themselves. This discovery enables us to learn the rules governing those communities from the point of view of relationships between their members. This article attempts to answer the question how strong relationships the Nag Hammadi community had with Christianity and gnosis. The written work is recognised as a group of Gnostic texts of philosophical and religious character. In The Interpretation of Knowledge there appear some key words of the Valentinian sect, such as: pleroma, aeon. The Interpretation of Knowledge appears as Christianity influenced by Gnosticism. However, we are not able to explicitly determine whether it is a homily with predominant reference to Christianity or to Gnosticism, since both elements interweave, creating generally rather a positive picture. Since the whole text did not survive, one cannot be sure about the nature of its theology. Nonetheless, we have attempted to analyze the preserved fragments more accurately. What is, then, the specificity of the picture which emerges after the analysis of The Interpretation of Knowledge? Gnosis appears as something natural to the author himself, as well as to the community he is addressing. At the same time, there is no contempt for Christianity. Quite the contrary, on the basis of the presented relationships it can be seen that the two doctrines coexisted without any hostility. Hence, there appear certain problems with specifying the nature of this work. However, everything indicates that Nag Hammadi was a Christian community, where Gnosticism appeared, thrived and settled so firmly that it became a natural and integral part of Christianity practiced in Egypt. A question also emerges: to what extent is this Christian community influenced by Gnosticism truly Christian; can we call it Christian? German, British and Polish researchers assume (although not unanimously) that The Interpretation of Knowledge is written from a Gnostic perspective.