Skip to content

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

text

Tripartite Tractate

Also known as NHC I,5

low

This name is already in the atlas. The older page is /texts/tripartite-tractate. The sources below were added with the live expansion.

  • founded or start. 4th centurylow · Wikidata P571

Long Valentinian systematic treatise on the Father, the aeons and salvation.

Wikipedia extract

The Tripartite Tractate is a Valentinian Gnostic work. The date is estimated to the second half of the third century or the fourth century but is "most likely based on an earlier Greek version." It is the second-longest text in the Nag Hammadi library. It is the fifth tractate of the first codex, known as the Jung Codex. It is untitled, and instead it gets its name "from the fact that the ancient copyist divided the text with decorative markings in two places, thus separating the tractate into three parts." The first part describes the relationship between the Father, the Logos, the Church, and the aeons. The second part contains the Gnostic creation narrative, in which man is created by the Demiurge and is a mixture of both spiritual and material substances. The third part explains the Savior's role in salvation.

CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia contributors. Source page

Read a primary text

Links only. The atlas does not host the text. CCEL is not linked.

  • Tripartite Tractate · Early Christian Writings (Peter Kirby)Hub site; each linked translation keeps its own rights. Link only.

Sources

  • Tripartite Tractate · Wikipedia contributorsAccessed 2026-11-12 · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wikidata Q1274065 · Wikidata contributorsAccessed 2026-11-12 · CC0 1.0
  • Tripartite Tractate · Early Christian Writings (Peter Kirby)Accessed 2026-11-12 · Hub site; each linked translation keeps its own rights. Link only.

Authority files

gnostic-texts · nag-hammadi · valentinians

Tripartite Tractate · DeChurched Atlas