عنوان

Sethian Crowns, Sethian Martyrs? Jewish Apocalypses and Christian Martyrs in a Gnostic Literary Tradition

شماره

LA122798

زبان متن نوشتاري يا گفتاري و مانند آن

انگلیسی

عنوان اصلي

Sethian Crowns, Sethian Martyrs? Jewish Apocalypses and Christian Martyrs in a Gnostic Literary Tradition

نام عام مواد

[Article]

نام نخستين پديدآور

Dylan M. Burns

محل نشرو پخش و غیره

Leiden

نام ناشر، پخش کننده و غيره

Brill

متن يادداشت

The predominant image of the crown is among the most baffling features of several, difficult Gnostic apocalypses, recensions of which we know to have been controversial in the school of the Neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus (ca. 263 c.e.). In these "Sethian" apocalypses, recovered from Nag Hammadi (Upper Egypt) in 1945, crowns adorn heavenly beings, and are donned by seers during their celestial voyages. It is clear they are significant in this literature, but scholarship has yet to answer how, and why. First, while these crowns are relatively common in the "Sethian Gnostic" literature, they are notably absent from the Hellenic philosophical tradition which also informs the apocalypses in Plotinus' school. The abundance of crown-imagery, however, in contemporary Jewish and Christian apocalypses thus serves as evidence of a Judeo-Christian background for this "Platonizing" Sethian literature, even if it is replete with Neoplatonic jargon instead of references to Jesus of Nazareth. Secondly, the crowns seem to indicate a state of glorification and deification derivative from ancient Jewish tradition concerning the possibility of recovering the primordial glory of humanity, often phrased as becoming an angel. Thirdly, Plotinus' Christian Gnostic opponents may have seen these crowns differently - as indicative of the glory of martyrdom, reminding us that this early confrontation between Hellenic and Christian Gnostic philosophers followed on the heels of the Decian and Valerianic persecutions. The predominant image of the crown is among the most baffling features of several, difficult Gnostic apocalypses, recensions of which we know to have been controversial in the school of the Neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus (ca. 263 c.e.). In these "Sethian" apocalypses, recovered from Nag Hammadi (Upper Egypt) in 1945, crowns adorn heavenly beings, and are donned by seers during their celestial voyages. It is clear they are significant in this literature, but scholarship has yet to answer how, and why. First, while these crowns are relatively common in the "Sethian Gnostic" literature, they are notably absent from the Hellenic philosophical tradition which also informs the apocalypses in Plotinus' school. The abundance of crown-imagery, however, in contemporary Jewish and Christian apocalypses thus serves as evidence of a Judeo-Christian background for this "Platonizing" Sethian literature, even if it is replete with Neoplatonic jargon instead of references to Jesus of Nazareth. Secondly, the crowns seem to indicate a state of glorification and deification derivative from ancient Jewish tradition concerning the possibility of recovering the primordial glory of humanity, often phrased as becoming an angel. Thirdly, Plotinus' Christian Gnostic opponents may have seen these crowns differently - as indicative of the glory of martyrdom, reminding us that this early confrontation between Hellenic and Christian Gnostic philosophers followed on the heels of the Decian and Valerianic persecutions.

تاريخ نشر

2014

توصيف ظاهري

552-568

عنوان

Numen

شماره جلد

61/5-6

شماره استاندارد بين المللي پياييندها

1568-5276

اصطلاح موضوعی

apocalypses

اصطلاح موضوعی

Jewish mysticism

اصطلاح موضوعی

Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism

اصطلاح موضوعی

Neoplatonism

اصطلاح موضوعی

persecution and martyrdom

مستند نام اشخاص تاييد نشده

Dylan M. Burns

شماره بازیابی

10.1163/15685276-12341342

نام الکترونيکي

فرمت انتشار

p

نوع ماده

[Article]

کد کاربرگه

275578

سطح دسترسي

a

تكميل شده

Y