Book Note: Introduction to "Gnosticism" (Denzey Lewis)

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I was delighted yesterday when Nicola Denzey's new textbook on Gnosticism arrived in my office mailbox.  I had the pleasure of reading the book while it was in preparation, and I am excited to see it finally in print.  The book covers all the main issues of the Nag Hammadi literature and will be a perfect compliment to the Nag Hammadi Library if you are considering teaching a course on this literature, or if you are studying the Nag Hammadi texts independently.  The textbook clearly is designed from Denzey's experience teaching a course on Nag Hammadi literature over many years, so it focuses around the main schools of Gnostics that are represented in the Nag Hammadi library, plus a discussion of the other Nag Hammadi texts like the Gospel of Thomas and the Hermetic literature.  The book contains maps, diagrams, timelines, and photos to illustrate the text.  At the end of each chapter are "Questions to Consider", "Key Terms" and "For Further Reading."

Nag Hammadi "THE GNOSTICS" film clip

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Mark Goodacre put up an old TV clip about the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Codices. It is a documentary called "The Gnostics" (GB Border TV for Channel 4, tx 7/11/1987 - 5/12/1987) according to the link that Mark provided to the BFI. It appears to be associated with the book published in 1987 by the British filmaker Tobias Churton also called The Gnostics. Here is an online interview with Churton about his interest in the ancient (and modern) Gnostics.

It was so wonderful to view this and see and hear again my mentor, Gilles Quispel. I would have just been starting my MA when this was filmed. It was also special to get a glimpse of Muhammad ali al Samman, the man who found the codices. Thank you Mark for sharing this clip.

I am uploading the YouTube video here for posterity's sake as I am sure that you all have had a chance to view it via Mark's blog already. I am sure that I will return to it time and again. I will also try to seek out the full video, perhaps without the Dutch subtitles. I am sure it must be available somewhere.