John C. Reeves

Heralds of That Good Realm: Syro-mesopotamian Gnosis and Jewish Traditions (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies) John C. Reeves

This volume examines the transmission of biblical pseudepigraphic literature and motifs from their largely Jewish cultural contexts in Palestine to developing gnostic milieux of Syria and Mesopotamia, particularly the one lying behind the birth and growth of Manichaeism. The author provides a philological, literary, and religio-historical analysis of each of the five pseudepigraphic citations contained in the Cologne Mani Codex, and offers hypotheses regarding the original provenance of each citation and the means by which these traditions have been adapted to their present context.