Antiquitopia

“For when they saw and heard him, he let them taste him and smell him and touch   the beloved Son” (30,23-31,35; trans. Marvin Meyer in Nag Hammadi Scriptures: International Edition ).   I have been reading a lot of the Nag Hammadi Codices lately, since many of my current research projects seem to intersect there.  While re-reading the Gospel of Truth, I found that it was full of multi-sensory language.  The Gospel of Truth, a profoundly original Valentinian homily (some even think it derives from Valentinus himself), effectively engages all five senses.   Indeed, in some ways, this one line encapsulates one’s relationship with the divine in this text: once you see and hear (initial steps), one then came come closer and taste, smell, and touch the divine, all indicating intimacy if not union. Throughout the entire sermon, the speaker/author invokes sensory language.   There is, of course, a lot of visionary and auditory language, bu...

I want to proceed with some preliminary notes.  They are basic, foundational, but lead to a working hypothesis of this fragment that, I hope, will help lead to a particular social context.   First, here is a reiteration of my translation from my previous post : Line 1:  ...my mother gave me li[fe]... Line 2:  ...the disciples said to Jesus... Line 3:  ...deny.  Mary is worthy of it.... Line 4:  ..........Jesus said to them, "My wife.... Line 5:  ....... she will be my disciple and.... Line 6:  ...Let wicked people.... Line 7:  ...I dwell with her because... Line 8:  .....................an image................ The first note is literary genre (or at least micro-genre).  This is a dialogue form.  In line 2, we have the introductory formula for speech--here, the disciples' speech to Jesus.  The fourth line, then, shows Jesus' response.  This fragment, therefore, presents us with a glimpse of a dialogue ...