Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von The Apocryphon of John
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The full book, start to finish.Für wen es gedacht ist
This book will suit readers who love ancient myth, early Christian history, and big questions about where the world comes from.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
What if the world you live in was built by mistake, by a ruler who never knew the higher source of his power? That is the startling claim of The Apocryphon of John, a secret book from the early Christian centuries. It survives in Coptic, and copies came to light in 1945 near Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt.
Its author is unknown, and the original Greek work dates to the second century. It presents itself as a private teaching given by the risen Jesus to John, son of Zebedee. You will hear the vision, the One, the heavenly family, the fall of Wisdom, Adam, Eden retold, and the call to awake.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A troubled disciple receives a vision in the desertFree
- 2The highest God is a silent, boundless Light
- 3A divine family unfolds from the Father's thought
- 4Wisdom acts alone and brings forth a flawed ruler
- 5Adam is shaped by demons and given a hidden light
- 6Eden is read again as a story of awakening
- 7Light descends three times to wake the sleepers
Punkt 1 von 7
A troubled disciple receives a vision in the desert
The book opens with a small, human scene. John, a son of Zebedee, is going up to the Temple. A Pharisee named Arimanios challenges him. Where is the teacher you used to follow, he asks. John answers that Jesus has gone back to the place he came from.
The Pharisee answers with scorn. That Nazarene misled all of you, he says, and turned you from the traditions of your ancestors. John leaves the Temple and goes to a desolate, mountainous place. He keeps asking himself questions. Why did the Father send the Savior into the world? Who is that Father, and what is the imperishable realm that Jesus never described?
Then the heavens open. All of creation blazes with light, and the world shakes. A little child appears in the light. The child becomes an old man, and then a young man. The voice asks why he doubts and why he is afraid. It says that it is the Father, the Mother, and the Son. It has come to teach him what is, what was, and what will be.
This teaching comes to a man who has lost his footing and gone into the wilderness with honest questions.
Deep teaching comes to the person who dares to ask honest questions.
That’s 1 of 7 key points.
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Questions about The Apocryphon of John
What is the Apocryphon of John about?
It presents a secret teaching from the risen Jesus to John. It describes the unknowable highest God, the fall of Wisdom, the making of the world by Yaldabaoth, the creation of Adam, and the call for humanity to awaken.
Who is Yaldabaoth in the Apocryphon of John?
Yaldabaoth is the lesser creator, born when Sophia acts without consent. He shapes the material world and the first man, and he claims to be the only God because he does not know the higher source of his power.
Why is the Apocryphon of John not in the Bible?
Church leaders such as Irenaeus rejected its view that the creator of Genesis is a flawed ruler, not the highest God. When the Christian canon took shape, the book was left out, and Gnostic groups preserved it.
When was the Apocryphon of John written and where was it found?
Scholars place the original Greek text in the second century. It survives in Coptic, with copies found at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945 and another in a separate Coptic codex.
Who are Barbelo, Sophia, and Epinoia in this text?
Barbelo is the first thought of the Father, a Mother-Father figure. Sophia is Wisdom, whose solo act leads to the creator. Epinoia is the light-filled insight hidden in Adam, which works to wake humanity.
Cite this edition
John the Apostle. The Apocryphon of John. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-apocryphon-of-john-secret-book-of-john.
John the Apostle. (2026). The apocryphon of John. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-apocryphon-of-john-secret-book-of-john (Original work published ca. 150)
John the Apostle. The Apocryphon of John. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-apocryphon-of-john-secret-book-of-john.
@book{johntheapostle2026apocryphon,
author = {John the Apostle},
title = {The Apocryphon of John},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-apocryphon-of-john-secret-book-of-john},
note = {First published ca. 150}
}
