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Despite the surge of interest in Gnostic texts following the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library, the Coptic Books of Jeu and Pistis Sophia remain understudied. Often dismissed as convoluted, confused, and repetitious, Erin Evans convincingly shows that these texts represent the writings of a distinct religious group with a consistent system of theology, cosmology, and ritual practice. This book offers an in-depth examination of these texts, their relationship to other contemporary Gnostic ideas, and their use in the context of a practicing religious group. Three thematic sections demonstrate how the collection of texts functions as a whole, covering baptisms and mystical ascent procedures, guides to moral living, and introductory texts and myths.
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The Books of Jeu and the Pistis Sophia as Handbooks to Eternity Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies Editors Johannes van Oort Einar Thomassen Editorial Board j.d. beduhn – a.d. deconick – w.-p. funk i. gardner – s.n.c. lieu – a. marjanen p. nagel – l. painchaud – b.a. pearson n.a. pedersen – s.g. richter – j.m. robinson m. scopello – j.d. turner – g. wurst volume 89 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/nhms The Books of Jeu and the Pistis Sophia as Handbooks to Eternity Exploring the Gnostic Mysteries of the Ineffable By Erin Evans leiden | boston Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Evans, Erin, author. The Books of Jeu and the Pistis Sophia as handbooks to eternity : exploring the gnostic mysteries of the ineffable / by Erin Evans. pages cm – (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies ; volume 89) ISBN 978-90-04-28446-3 (hardback : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-90-04-30119-1 (e-book) 1. Books of Jeu. 2. Pistis Sophia. 3. Gnosticism. I. Title. II. Series: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies ; v. 89. BT1390.E935 2015 299'.932–dc23 2015021716 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 0929-2470 isbn 978-90-04-28446-3 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-30119-1 (e-book) Copyright 2015 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa. Fees are subject to change. Brill has made all reasonable efforts to trace all rights holders to any copyrighted material used in this work. In cases where these efforts have not been successful the publisher welcomes communications from copyright holders, so that the appropriate acknowledgements can be made in future editions, and to settle other permission matters. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Contents List of Tables and Figures Abbreviations x ix Introduction 1 1 What is “Gnostic?” 1 2 Who are the “Jeuians?” 2 3 What are the Jeuian Texts? 4 About This Book 9 4 part 1 Baptism & Ascent Guides 1 The First Book of Jeu 15 1 Introduction to the Text 15 2 Cosmology 17 3 Interaction with Outside Systems 4 Key Concepts 33 5 Summary 36 2 The Second Book of Jeu 38 1 Introduction to the Text 38 2 Cosmology 39 3 Interaction with Outside Systems 4 Key