The Secret Book of John

In this volume, David Litwa offers a fresh introduction to the 'gnostic Bible,' arguably the most significant and widely read of all gnostic Christian texts ever written. Providing a fresh introduction to a particular version of the Secret Book of John, namely the shorter version that is found in Nag Hammadi Codex III, his study includes a new translation of this text and an extensive commentary in which he introduces the notable features of this codex and interrogates whether the Secret Book emerged from an actual gnostic community. Litwa also posits solutions to many questions related to this text, notably: its date and find spot, its relationship to the treatise known and summarized by Irenaeus in the late second century, its interpretation and re-creation of the book of Genesis for Christian readers, its novel interpretation of Greco-Roman philosophy, its foundations in apostolic authority, and the reception of the Secret Book of John in late antiquity, well into the fifth century CE.

• Offers a new translation of the Secret Book of a John in a version that is often neglected or ignored
• Provides a historical introduction to the Christian roots and reception of the Secret Book of John
• Demonstrates how the Secret Book of John uses and develops Greco-Roman philosophical ideas