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Research atlas for early Christianity. Claims are tagged attested, traditional, or disputed. Copyrighted full texts, including CCEL editions, are not included.

DeChurched Atlas

text

On the Origin of the World

Also known as NHC II,5

low

  • founded or start. 3th centurylow · Wikidata P571

Nag Hammadi treatise on creation and the archons, related to the Hypostasis of the Archons.

Wikipedia extract

On the Origin of the World is a Gnostic work dealing with creation and the end time. It was found among the texts in the Nag Hammadi library, in Codex II and Codex XIII, immediately following the Reality of the Rulers. There are many parallels between the two texts. The work is untitled; modern scholars call it “On the Origin of the World” based on its contents. It may have been written in Alexandria near the end of the third century, based on its combination of Jewish, Manichaean, Christian, Greek, and Egyptian ideas. The unknown author's audience appears to be outsiders who are unfamiliar with the Gnostic view of how the world came into being. The contents provide an alternate interpretation of Genesis, in which the dark ruler Yaldabaoth created heaven and earth, and a wise instructor opened the minds of Adam and Eve to the truth when they ate from the Tree of Knowledge.

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  • On the Origin of the World · Early Christian Writings (Peter Kirby)Hub site; each linked translation keeps its own rights. Link only.

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gnostic-texts · nag-hammadi

On the Origin of the World · DeChurched Atlas