Abbreviations Used:
- NT – New Testament
- NHL – Nag Hammadi Library
- NTA – New Testament Apocryphal literature
- NTC – New Testament Canonical literature
- LXX – Greek Old Testament or Septuagint
OVERVIEW:
In Part 1 all the texts in the NHL are examined. It is proposed that the texts at face value are best explained by post Nicene philosophical literary reactions, some of them satirical, to the appearance and circulation of the NT and LXX Bible codex in the eastern empire by the emperor Constantine c.325 CE. It is further proposed that the authors of these texts were educated pagans who were chiefly Neoplatonist philosophers, and the signature of Neoplatonist philosophy characterises the NHL. The two major and supposedly “Christian” sects represented in the NHL, the Sethians and the Valentinians, are instead very simply explained as Neoplatonist literary reactions to the LXX and the NTC respectively.
In Part 2 a sample of the texts comprising the large set of NTA is examined. It is proposed that most of these texts are best explained as post Nicene satirical literary reactions to the emperor’s new books. It is suggested again that the authors were pagan satirists.
In Part 3 a sketch of the political history of the Christian revolution of the 4th century (325-381 CE) is outlined. The Nicene Creed of 325 CE was revised to become the Nicene Creed of 381 CE. The three major changes to the creed were the addition of “crucified under Pontius Pilate”, the addition of the “holy universal church” and the deletion of the words of Arius which had featured as the anathema clause about what the emperor would not accept.
In Part 4 an examination is conducted into the features and characteristics of “Ecclesiastical History’ and the inventor of that historiographical form, Eusebius. The Ecclesiastical History of the 4th century is discussed with specific focus on a number of key issues including Arius of Alexandria, the Arian controversy and the prohibition of books. It is suggested that the Arian controversy was in reality a controversy over the authorship and circulation of the books of the NHL and NTA. It is deduced that Arius of Alexandria authored at least some of these books and that he (and other authors) – the hidden heretics - were not Christians as claimed by the church. Instead, it is argued that they were highly literate pagans. They represent the last philosophical voices of the Hellenistic civilisation that was being replaced by what Eusebius would call “
a new and strange” Christian culture. Two other aspects of 4th century church history are examined. The first is 4th century heresiological literature such as that of Epiphanius and Eusebius. The second is the emergence of other novel categories of ecclesiastical history such as hagiography, the cult of saints and martyrs and the commissioning of the Holy Relic Trade. These appear to have been invented by the elite saints and bishops of the later 4th century who would, centuries afterwards, be promoted to become highly respected “Doctors of the Greek and Latin Churches”.
In Part 5 the ante Nicene heresiologists are introduced along with their key heresiological literature and manuscripts. Specific references and attestations to the appearance of the books of the NHL and NTA contained therein are noted. A review is made of the extant physical manuscripts (such as the Oxyrhynchus papyri) and archaeological evidence which limits and conditions the chronology of the appearance of the heretical hidden books. This includes questioning the confidence in the assignment of date ranges to manuscript fragments by means of paleography in isolation. A collation of strong cautions from professional paleographers who argue against the confidence of these date ranges is presented. A further review is conducted of the ante Nicene heresiological literature and their earliest extant manuscripts which are exceedingly late. The historical integrity of this literature is called into question.
In Part 6 the specific charge of fraud is narrowed in scope and made explicit. The mainstream theory for the authorship of the NHL and NTA is summarised. The alternative hypothesis and corresponding theory for the authorship of the NHL and NTA is then summarised and contrasted. The means, motive and opportunity in respect of heresiological fraud are outlined. A particular assessment is made with respect to a proposed Latin forgery in whole, or an interpolation in part, of Irenaeus’
Against Heresies. Other large-scale church-related forgeries are recounted including the massive 9th century Latin church forgery mill known as Pseudo-Isidore which mislead European academics for more than 700 years before it was exposed. A special mention is made of the unsolved
historiographic mystery of the 4th century Latin mock history known as the Historia Augusta. This “
mockumentary” is characterised by the invention of fake dates, fake documents, fake sources and even further fake sources which disagree with the earlier fake sources. Provisional conclusions are then drawn along with a summary of the self-referential terminology of the NHL authors – such as “
the immovable, incorruptible race”, "
a living school" and "
a great church" – when they refer to themselves and to their community.
It is proposed these authors were speaking about their own Hellenistic civilisation and its many Greek intellectual traditions. In contrast they depict Constantine as the “
Blind Archon”, to be associated with the names of the Platonic demiurge Samael, Yaldabaoth and Saklas, and who’s mantra is often made explicit as "
It is I who am God; there is none apart from me."
