Dialogue of the Savior
The Savior's Dialogue is a New Testament apocryphal and was found along with the rest of the texts in the Nag Hammadi library . It is listed as NHC III, 5 and comprises pages 120 to 147. There is only one Coptic edition of this text that is badly damaged. The remaining parts show that it is a dialogue with Jesus , similar to the Gospel of Thomas .
The text has a peculiar structure, as it is interrupted by larger sections that appear misplaced and were only superficially incorporated into the dialogue. The text begins with a series of questions aimed at esoteric knowledge and the search for it, then suddenly a description of the origin of the world follows, interrupted briefly by a return to dialogue. After the creation is treated, the text returns to the Gnostic conversation and is about how to achieve salvation through Gnosis and is then interrupted again by a natural history list of the four elements, the powers of heaven and earth, etc.
Then comes an apocalyptic vision in which Didymos Judas Thomas , Mary and Matthew are shown from a cliff in hell and an angel announces that the material world is an accidental evil creation (see Jaldabaoth ). At the end the text returns to the dialogue.
The fact that the text is a combination of disjointed parts and the abrupt change between paragraphs referring to Jesus as "Lord" and then again as "Savior" has led some to suggest that it is actually 4 or 5 different works. However, the poor state of preservation has so far prevented this question from being answered.
Editions and translations
- Stephen Emmel (Ed.): Nag Hammadi Codex III, 5: The Dialogue of the Savior (= Nag Hammadi Studies 26). Brill, Leiden 1984.
- James McConkey Robinson (Ed.): The Coptic Gnostic Library Vol. III. Brill, Leiden 2000.
- Hans-Martin Schenke, Hans-Gebhard Bethge, Ursula Ulrike Kaiser (eds.): Nag Hammadi German. Volume 1: NHC I, 1-V, 1. de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2001, p. 381ff.
literature
- Helmut Koester : Ancient Christian Gospels: Their History and Development. SCM Press Ltd, London 1990, pp. 174-186.