The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945.
Mani was an Iranian prophet and the founder of Manichaeism, a religion most prevalent in late antiquity.
Norea is a figure in Gnostic cosmology. She plays a prominent role in two surviving texts from the Nag Hammadi library. In Hypostasis of the Archons, she is the daughter of Adam and Eve and sister of Seth. She sets fire to Noah's Ark and receives a divine revelation from the Luminary Eleleth. In Thought of Norea, she "extends into prehistory" as "she assumes the features here of the fallen Sophia." In Mandean literature, she is instead identified as the wife of either Noah or Shem. She is also sometimes said to be the syzygy of Adam.
Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin pater and Greek πᾰτήρ (father). The period of the Church Fathers, commonly called the Patristic era, is generally considered to run from the end of New Testament times or end of the Apostolic Age to either AD 451 or to the Second Council of Nicaea in 787.
Jason David BeDuhn is an American historian of religion and culture, currently Professor of Religious Studies at Northern Arizona University, and former chair of the Department of Humanities, Arts, and Religion.
Gilles Quispel was a Dutch theologian and historian of Christianity and Gnosticism. He was professor of early Christian history at Utrecht University.
James McConkey Robinson was an American scholar who retired as Professor Emeritus of Religion at Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California, specializing in New Testament Studies and Nag Hammadi Studies. He was a member of the Jesus Seminar and arguably the most prominent Q and Nag Hammadi library scholar of the twentieth century. He was also a major contributor to The International Q Project, acting as an editor for most of their publications. Particularly, he laid the groundwork for John S. Kloppenborg's foundational work into the compositional history of Q, by arguing its genre as an ancient wisdom collection. He also was the permanent secretary of UNESCO's International Committee for the Nag Hammadi codices. He is known for his work on the Medinet Madi library, a collection of Coptic Manichaean manuscripts.
April D. DeConick is the Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Rice University in Houston, Texas. She came to Rice University as a full professor in 2006, after receiving tenure at Illinois Wesleyan University in 2004. DeConick is the author of several books in the field of Early Christian Studies and is best known for her work on the Gospel of Thomas and ancient Gnosticism.
Vigiliae Christianae: A Review of Early Christian Life and Languages is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Brill Publishers in the field of early Christian studies.
Pheme Perkins is a Professor of Theology at Boston College, where she has been teaching since 1972. She is a nationally recognized expert on the Greco-Roman cultural setting of early Christianity, as well as the Pauline Epistles and Gnosticism.
Stephen Emmel is a Coptologist and musician.
The Father of Greatness is the eternal divine manifestation of good in Manichaeism, a four-fold deity, embracing divinity, light, power and goodness. His throne is surrounded by at least 156 peaceful entities: 12 aeons, aeons of the aeons, and angels.
Zsuzsanna Gulácsi is a Hungarian-born American historian, art historian of pan-Asiatic religions. She is a professor of art history, Asian studies, and comparative religious studies at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Her teaching covers Early and Eastern Christian art, Islamic art, with special attention to the medium of the illuminated book; as well as late ancient and mediaeval Buddhist art from South, Central, and East Asia.
Phokion J. Tanos, also known as Phocion Jean Tano, Phoqué J. Tano, Phokion J. Tano, was a Cypriot dealer of antiques in Cairo, who was involved in the sale of papyri belonging to the Nag Hammadi library.
Nicola Denzey Lewis is a Canadian academic of lived religion, early Christians, material culture of late antique Roman Empire, and women studies. She is a professor at Claremont Graduate University as the Margo L. Goldsmith Chair in Women's Studies in Religion.
Manichaeism has a rich tradition of visual art, starting with Mani himself writing the Book of Pictures.
Madeleine Scopello is a French historian of religion. She is director of research at the CNRS and director of studies at the École pratique des hautes études. She also teaches at the Institut catholique de Paris, Faculty of History.
Majella Franzmann is a professor in the Department of Studies in Religion at the University of Sydney and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA).
In Manichaeism, Siddartha Gautama is considered one of the four prophets of the faith, along with Zoroaster, Jesus and Mani. Mani believed that the teachings of Gautama Buddha, Zoroaster, and Jesus were incomplete, and that his revelations were for the entire world, calling his teachings the "Religion of Light".
Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies is an academic book series on Gnosticism, the Nag Hammadi library, Manichaeism, and related subjects. The series was founded as Nag Hammadi Studies in 1971 and is published by Brill. The series includes monographs, conference proceedings, festschrifts, collected papers, and bibliographies published in English, German, and French.
