James M. Robinson – författare

This is the most complete, up-to-date, one-volume, English-language edition of the renowned library of fourth-century Gnostic manuscripts discovered in Egypt in 1945, which rivaled the Dead Sea Scrolls find in significance.

The best text and the best translation are presented in this classic introductory book to the "Gospel of Thomas". In December 1945, at the base of cliffs that run along the Nile River near the modern-day town of Nag Hammadi, an Egyptian farmer discovered a sealed jar containing thirteen ancient Coptic codices. This discovery represented arguably the most significant manuscript discovery of the twentieth century for the study of the New Testament and Christian origins. Of all the texts found none has been more important than the "Gospel of Thomas" for our understanding of early Christianity. This classic book presents the best text and the best translation of Thomas in user-friendly form. Additional chapters provide a general introduction to the "Gospel of Thomas" and tell the fascinating story of that discovery itself by one who was directly involved in bringing this new Gospel to light. An annotated list 'for further reading' completes the volume. This new edition features updated material which takes account of recent research on the "Gospel of Thomas". The translation has been refined at points, and the bibliographical material updated.

First published in 1978, The Nag Hammadi Library was widely acclaimed by critics and scholars alike. Containing many of the writings of the Gnostics since the time of Christ, this was the work that launched modern Gnostic studies and exposed a movement whose teachings are in may ways as relevant today as they were sixteen centuries ago. Although some of the texts had appeared in other translations, the 1978 edition was the first and only translation of these ancient and fascinating manuscripts to appear in one volume.This new edition is the result of ten years of additional research, and editorial and critical work. Every translation has been changed or added to; many have been thoroughly revised.Unearthed in 1945 near the town of Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt, the texts literally begin where the Dead Sea Scrolls end. Their discovery is seen as equally significant, bringing to light a long-hidden well of new information, sources, and insights into early Judaism and the roots of Christianity.Each text is accompanied by a new and expanded introduction. Also included are a revised general introduction and an afterword discussing the modern relevance of Gnosticism, from Voltaire and Blake through Melville and Yeats to Jack Kerouac and science fiction writer Philip K. Dick.The translations and introductions to the Nag Hammadi texts are by members of the Coptic Gnostic Library Project, which includes such scholars as Helmut Koester, George McRae, and Elaine Pagels.

We know Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but what was the gospel of Jesus? "The message is intense and simple . . . a valuable addition to the Jesus canon." —BooklistIs it possible to know what Jesus''s original audience heard as "the good news?" Jesus''s gospel has been lost from sight, hidden behind the version preferred by the church. In The Gospel of Jesus, James M. Robinson, acclaimed expert on early Christian studies, gets to the true historical message of Jesus. The Gospel of Jesus draws on a combination of the most ancient and authentic texts to reveal what Jesus really said and to illuminate what he may still have to say to us today.Robinson not only reconstructs the good news Jesus preached and practiced two thousand years ago, but also shows how relevant that message still is—and how we can apply it to our lives. The Gospel of Jesus offers one of the most authentic and stirring accounts ever written of the message preached by Christ."A dramatic account of the original messages of Jesus of Nazareth, before honorific titles were applied to him and dogmatic statements were formulated about him . . . a book of wisdom, insight, and passion." —Marvin Meyer, author of The Gnostic Gospels of Jesus"The distillation of a distinguished career devoted to the exploration of Christian origins . . . a succinct account of what the historical Jesus taught. Robinson''s reconstruction of ''Q,'' the sayings source underlying Matthew and Luke, provides the script on which he builds his judicious—and moving—portrait of Jesus." —Harold Attridge, Dean, Yale Divinity School

The meticulously researched story of the discovery, acquisition and conservation of the 4th-century Manichaean Codices of Medinet Madi.The seven Manichaean papyrus codices of the fourth or fifth century were discovered in illicit excavation in 1929 in the Egyptian desert. They were acquired in about equal halves by A. Chester Beatty for his library and by Carl Schmidt for the papyrus collection of the Staatliche Museen of Berlin. Having had access to the inventories, correspondence, and files in Berlin, Robinson provides translations of the German and French documents to increase access to information previously unavailable to the scholarly community. He narrates the slow and problem-ridden path of the acquisition, conservation, and editing of these important works, including their movements between dealers, collectors, scholars, and the military in Egypt, London, Dublin, Berlin, Schondorf, Göttingen, Warsaw, Leningrad, Los Angeles, Claremont, and Copenhagen.

The story of the most enigmatic of disciples—now fully revised and updated—from "America''s leading expert on ancient religious texts from Egypt" (The Associated Press).The discovery of a previously lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot has electrified the Christian community. What Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell us about Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, is inconsistent and biased. Therefore, the revelation of an ancient gospel that portrays this despised man as someone who saw his role in the Passion of Christ as integral to a larger plan—a divine plan—brings new clarity to the old story. If Judas had not betrayed Jesus, Jesus would not have been handed over to the authorities, crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. Could it be that without Judas, the Easter miracle would never have happened?In The Secrets of Judas, James M. Robinson, an expert historian of early Christianity, examines the Bible and other ancient texts and reveals what we can and cannot know about the life of the historical Judas, his role in Jesus''s crucifixion, and whether the Christian church should reevaluate his intentions and possible innocence. Robinson tells the sensational story of the discovery of a gospel attributed to Judas, and shows how this affects Judas''s newfound meaning for history and for the Christian faith."The Secrets of Judas should be read alongside the National Geographic volumes for another perspective." —The New York Times

An exercise in bibliographical history, tracing the provenance of the Bodmer Papyri, one of the key collections of manuscripts relating to the New Testament.The United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) entrusted author James Robinson with tracking down the place where the Nag Hammadi Codices had been discovered. Priests whom the author interviewed in the region told Robinson that the codices had once been in the possession of a priest in the town of Dishna, a bit further upstream than Nag Hammadi itself. Robinson found that this priest had not had the Nag Hammadi Codices but rather the Bodmer Papyri. For Dishna is where the monastery headquarters of the first monastic order was located. The Bodmer Papyri discovery consisted of all that was left of the library of the Pachomian monastic order: Coptic letters of Pachomius and very early Greek copies of Luke and John, perhaps donated when Athanasius was in hiding at the monastery. These treasures were preserved in a jar hidden in the mountain where monks were buried. This book traces the story of the Bodmer Papyri from beginning to end.

Studies in Biblical Theology 21

SCM Studies in Biblical Theology 25

The Future of our Religious Past, The Festschrift produced to celebrate Rudolf Bultmann's eightieth birthday, contained articles by an international team of distinguished scholars relating to all the major areas in which Dr Bultmann has worked, and made a volume of over eight hundred pages. It was clearly impossible to make the whole of this tribute available in English, but the present book contains a selection of articles of particular interest to the English-speaking world. Contributors include, in the section discussing exegetical questions : Nils Dahl on Qumran, Werner Kummel on Jesus and Eschatology, Ernst Kasemann on Atonement, James M. Robinson on Q, Gunther Bornkamm on Matt. 28.16-20 and Hans Conzelmann on the origin of the Johannine Logos. Those writing on theology and philosophy include : Gerhard Ebeling on 'Time and the Word', Ernst Fuchs on Hermeneutics, Friedrich Gogarten on the task of theology and Martin Heidegger on Leibniz.

In December 1945, at the base of cliffs that run along the Nile River near the modern-day town of Nag Hammadi, an Egyptian farmer discovered, in a sealed jar, thirteen ancient Coptic codices containing more than fifty separate tracts. This discovery represented arguably the most significant manuscript discovery of the twentieth century for the study of the New Testament and Christian origins.Of all the texts in this Nag Hammadi Library, none has been more celebrated than the Gospel of Thomas--a Gospel that has played a crucial role in the newly emerging view of early Christianity as a very diverse phenomenon and in the recent revival of historical Jesus studies.Now, after more than fifty years of study, the best text and the best translation of Thomas are presented here in user-friendly form by the Berlin Working Group for Coptic Gnostic Writings, with Stephen J. Patterson and James M. Robinson. In addition, two essays have been included for persons who may be unfamiliar with this new Gospel or with events that led to its discovery and publication. The first, by Patterson, is a general introduction to the Gospel of Thomas as it appears fifty years after its discovery. The second, by Robinson, tells the fascinating story of that discovery itself by one who was directly involved in bringing this new Gospel to light. An annotated list "for further reading" completes the volume.Stephen J. Patterson is Associate Professor of New Testament at Eden Theological Seminary and author of The God of Jesus: The Historical Jesus and the Search for Meaning (Trinity Press).James M. Robinson is the former director of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Professor Emeritus at The Claremont Graduate School, and editor of The Nag Hammadi Library.

In December 1945, at the base of cliffs that run along the Nile River near the modern-day town of Nag Hammadi, an Egyptian farmer discovered a sealed jar containing thirteen ancient Coptic codices. This discovery represented arguably the most significant manuscript discovery of the twentieth century for the study of the New Testament and Christian origins. Of all the texts found none has been more important than the Gospel of Thomas for our understanding of early Christianity. This classic book presents the best text and the best translation of Thomas in user-friendly form. Additional chapters provide a general introduction to the Gospel of Thomas and tell the fascinating story of that discovery itself by one who was directly involved in bringing this new Gospel to light. An annotated list "for further reading" completes the volume. This new edition features updated material which takes account of recent research on the gospel of Thomas. The translation has been refined at points, and the bibliographical material updated.

In December 1945, at the base of cliffs that run along the Nile River near the modern-day town of Nag Hammadi, an Egyptian farmer discovered a sealed jar containing thirteen ancient Coptic codices. This discovery represented arguably the most significant manuscript discovery of the twentieth century for the study of the New Testament and Christian origins. Of all the texts found none has been more important than the Gospel of Thomas for our understanding of early Christianity. This classic book presents the best text and the best translation of Thomas in user-friendly form. Additional chapters provide a general introduction to the Gospel of Thomas and tell the fascinating story of that discovery itself by one who was directly involved in bringing this new Gospel to light. An annotated list "for further reading" completes the volume. This new edition features updated material which takes account of recent research on the gospel of Thomas. The translation has been refined at points, and the bibliographical material updated.

In the early '70s, James M. Robinson (Claremont) and Helmut Koester (Harvard), both students of Bultmann, broke new ground in their Trajectories through Early Christianity. The eight essays that comprise this volume seek a wholesale redefinition of the task of New Testament studies, as well as illustrating this newly conceived task.Robinson and Koester claim that the New Testament cannot be read apart from other early Christian literature and that the regnant designation of ""canon"" is misleading because it obscures the essential fluidity of early Christianity. Robinson and Koester not only question the artificial limits of the New Testament as a whole, but also the utility of the most commonly accepted forms ( Gattungen) that constitute the New Testament.In the end, even the labels ""orthodoxy"" and ""heresy"" should be abandoned - along with an outmoded belief that orthodoxy preceded heresy and formed the center of Christianity. From its birth, Christianity was pluriform, and what later came to be known as ""orthodoxy"" and ""heresy"" were only two of many equally legitimate trajectories running through Christianity.Robinson and Koester's bold wrestling with the basic question of Christian origins proves as instructive today as it did over forty years ago: was there ever identifiable unity in early Christianity, or has diversity always been the measuring stick?

Contents1 Introduction: The Dismantling and Reassembling of the Categories of New Testament Scholarship2 Kerygma and History in the New Testament3 LOGOI SOPHON: On the Gattung of Q4 GNOMAI DIAPHOROI: The Origin and Nature of Diversification in the History of Early Christianity5 One Jesus and Four Primitive Gospels6 The Structure and Criteria of Early Christian Beliefs7 The Johannine Trajectory8 Conclusion: The Intention and Scope of Trajectories

The seven Manichaean papyrus codices of the fourth or fifth century were discovered in illicit excavation in 1929 in the Egyptian desert. They were acquired in about equal halves by A. Chester Beatty for his library and by Carl Schmidt for the papyrus collection of the Staatliche Museen of Berlin. Having had access to the inventories, correspondence, and files in Berlin, Robinson provides translations of the German and French documents to increase access to information previously unavailable to the scholarly community. He narrates the slow and problem-ridden path of the acquisition, conservation, and editing of these important works, including their movements between dealers, collectors, scholars, and the military in Egypt, London, Dublin, Berlin, Schondorf, Gottingen, Warsaw, Leningrad, Los Angeles, Claremont, and Copenhagen.