In 367 AD, Athanasius decreed the 27 New Testament books. The Nag Hammadi Gnostic gospels declared illegal | ReligionForBreakfast

A common theory is that the Nag Hammadi Library, a collection of Gnostic texts, were an illegal stash of books hidden from Orthodox Christian authorities. But recent scholarship has called this theory into question. Were the Gnostic Gospels legal?

Support us on Patreon!: https://www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast
Follow me on Twitter: @andrewmarkhenry

Bibliography:

Mark Goodacre: https://www.academia.edu/26053912/How_reliable_is_the_story_of_the_Nag_Hammadi_discovery

Nicola Denzey Lewis and Justine Ariel Blount: https://www.academia.edu/8105963/_Rethinking_the_Origins_of_the_Nag_Hammadi_Library_

Brent Nongbri, "The Nag Hammadi Discovery Story," https://brentnongbri.com/2018/08/20/the-nag-hammadi-discovery-story/

Tony Burke, "What Do We Talk About When We Talk About the Nag Hammadi Library?" http://www.tonyburke.ca/wp-content/uploads/What-Do-We-Talk-About.pdf

Lundhaug and Jenott, The Monastic Origins of the Nag Hammadi Codices

Photo credits:

Amulet: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jasper_intaglio-_Harpocrates_seated_on_lotus_in_papyrus_boat_MET_DP280467.jpg

Coptic Magical Text: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coptic_magical_text_599v_apis.jpg

Book of the Dead: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Imhotep%27s_Book_of_the_Dead.jpg

Byzantine Amuletic Armband: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Byzantine_-_Amuletic_Armband_with_Holy_Rider,_Saints,_and_Magical_Symbols_-_Walters_542657.jpg

Codex II: http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/nha/id/1381

Codex V Interior: http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/nha/id/1997/rec/1

Gospel of Thomas manuscript: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_Evangelio_de_Tom%C3%A1s-Gospel_of_Thomas-_Codex_II_Manuscritos_de_Nag_Hammadi-The_Nag_Hammadi_manuscripts.png

---

---