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What does it mean to be set apart—and how does Christian teaching connect that calling with the Holy Spirit?
On the Anointing explores a Christian theme through the image of oil poured or rubbed on a person to mark a calling. Drawing on the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, it considers kings, priests and prophets, and the meaning Christians find in naming Jesus the Christ: the anointed one.
The focus moves from oil and sacred roles to questions of daily life. How do Christian writers understand the Spirit’s presence? Is anointing only for leaders? Through themes of service, purpose and spiritual authority, this collection considers how believers understand their calling, whether in teaching, healing or the less visible work of quiet faithfulness.
What you’ll discover
- Oil and a calling Explore how Scripture connects the act of anointing with being set apart for service.
- The meaning of Christ Consider why Christians understand Jesus as the chosen king, prophet and priest.
- A gift beyond leaders Meet the passage in First John that Christian teachers connect with the Spirit’s presence in believers.
- Purpose in daily life Follow the connection Christian writers draw between a calling and a task to do.
- Authority expressed through service Reflect on spiritual authority alongside teaching, healing, service and the demands of quiet faithfulness.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy early Christian worship, the Nag Hammadi books, and the old language of prayer, and anyone curious how the first centuries of the faith spoke of anointing, power and praise.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Prayer Kept in a Coptic Codex
- The Plea to Send the Son
- Power Over Snakes and Scorpions
- Glory Across the Aeons
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On the Anointing
by Various early Christian theologians
A few lines of Coptic prayer ask God to send Christ with oil, so worshippers can trample snakes and scorpions.
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In short
On the Anointing is a very short prayer from the early Christian world. It belongs to a small group of worship texts found in Codex XI of the Nag Hammadi library, a set of Coptic books discovered in Upper Egypt in 1945.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Prayer Kept in a Coptic Codex
On the Anointing survives in Coptic, the language of Christians in Egypt. Scholars generally think it was first written in Greek and later copied into Coptic, though the Greek original has not come down to us. The Coptic copy sits in Codex XI of the Nag Hammadi books, which were found in 1945 near the Nile and copied in the fourth century.
In that codex the prayer comes as one of several short liturgical pieces placed after A Valentinian Exposition. The others are named On Baptism and On the Eucharist, and each deals with a rite of worship. Together they look like notes or sample prayers for a community that practised these rites.
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What is On the Anointing about?
It is a brief prayer asking God to send Jesus Christ to anoint the worshippers so that they can overcome the power of the Devil. It closes with praise to the Father in the Son and the Church.
Where was On the Anointing found?
It comes from Codex XI of the Nag Hammadi library, a set of Coptic books discovered in Upper Egypt in 1945. It appears with other short worship texts attached to A Valentinian Exposition.
What does Valentinian mean?
Valentinian refers to the followers of Valentinus, a Christian teacher of the second century. Scholars link several Nag Hammadi texts, including this prayer and its companion pieces, with his school and its worship.
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