Gnostic Truth and Christian Heresy: A Study in the History of Gnosticism (review)

This is not a book about the general history of Gnosticism. Rather, it focuses on the “Sethian” texts—particularly The Apocryphon of John—and offers a fresh look at their relationship to the Christian Church. Logan, Lecturer in Theology at the University of Exeter, turns a traditional view of the Apocryphon of John on its head in his book. The traditional view was that the Apocryphon was a Christianization of a Jewish-Gnostic-Sethian treatise. Logan argues, instead, that the Apocryphon is a “Sethianization” of a Gnostic-Christian work, which itself is based on the myth described by Irenaeus in Adversus Haereses I.29 and 30.

Logan’s presuppositions include:

1. 1. The Gnosticism found in the Sethian texts cannot be understood apart from Christianity.

2. 2. There is a central core of ideas—a myth or myths—based on and expressed in a rite of initiation as a projection of Gnostic experience. This central core of ideas is a valid way of interpreting Christianity.

3. 3. Irenaeus Adversus Haeresus I. 29 is the closest we can come to the original form of the Christian Gnostic myth of Father, Mother, and Son. This myth then underwent progressive development, including Sethianization, until it emerged in the Longer Recension (LR) of the Apocryphon.

In the body of the book, Logan argues that there are strong Valentinian influences on the myth (which strengthen its Christian Gnostic character). The Gnostics of Irenaeus A.H. I.29 have a Platonic world-view (like Valentinus, Basilides, and Saturninus), attempting to explain how the Many are derived from the One. In a fairly extended argument, Logan demonstrates two areas in which the Gnostic myth points to Christian origins. First, there is the Barbeliote triad (Father, Mother, Son). Because the Gnostic system speaks of the unfolding self-revelation of the One as Father, Mother, Son, it is essentially a Christian scheme. More, the whole scheme builds on a foundation of Christian speculation on Christ and Wisdom (the book of Hebrews, for example). Almost as an aside, Logan says that this is the first Christian explication of the Trinity. The second area has to do with salvation. Logan says that salvation in Irenaeus’ Gnostics comes through an initiation ritual based on baptism in the name of the Gnostic triad, and a sealing (chrismation) based on the primal chrismation of the perfect Son. These Gnostics are the first to claim to be Christians because of that chrism! They may, in fact, have been responsible for the introduction of postbaptismal chrismation into the rituals of “orthodox” Christianity.

The bulk of the book traces the development of this Gnostic myth through a variety of documents, but primarily the two major recensions of The Apocryphon of John (SR and LR).

Logan demonstrates the development of the cosmology, anthropology, soteriology, and eschatology in the mythos. This development, he argues, is the “Sethianization” of the earlier Christian Gnostic myth. The argument involves a great deal of technical detail about the two recensions, including references to the secondary literature, arguments about which is closer to the original, and comparisons to other documents from Nag Hammadi.

The book is based on Logan’s doctoral dissertation and displays both the strengths and weaknesses of a dissertation. On the one hand, it is thoroughly researched, closely argued, and packed with references to both secondary literature and the Nag Hammadi texts. On the other, this very detail makes it difficult to keep track of the main lines of the argument (unless one is a specialist). The argument is also technical, and tends to put off the interested non-specialist.

There are extensive notes after each chapter (as many as 17 pages in two cases!) plus a bibliography and indexes.

I found Logan’s argument to be stimulating in several areas not related directly to his tracing of the “Sethianization” of the Gnostic myth. First, his argument that the original Gnostic myth described by Irenaeus is of Christian origin, and comes out of a Platonic worldview, will lead to a rethinking of commonly accepted notions about the origins of Gnosticism. Second, his statement that the Barbeliote triad is the first Christian expression of the Trinity is a fascinating one. It calls...