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Audiobook edition · 43 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 42 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 30 pagesAbout this book
What if the serpent in Eden teaches wisdom, and the path to truth begins beyond the Law?
The Testimony of Truth is an anonymous Gnostic Christian sermon that reads familiar teachings against the grain. Its author addresses those who can listen with the mind, arguing that the Law cannot lead to truth. In its retelling of Genesis, the serpent becomes a teacher of wisdom rather than simply an enemy.
The surviving text also explores Christ’s virgin birth, contrasts Christ with John the Baptist, and presents true baptism as renunciation of the world and bodily desire. Preserved in a damaged Coptic papyrus from Nag Hammadi, it contains many gaps and lacks its ending. What remains offers a sharp encounter with a dissenting voice within early Christianity.
What you’ll discover
- Truth beyond the Law Explore the sermon’s challenge to religious authority and its call to listen with the mind.
- Eden read against the grain Meet the serpent as a teacher of wisdom in a striking reading of Genesis.
- Christ beyond the flesh Consider how the text presents the virgin birth and contrasts Christ with John the Baptist.
- Baptism as renunciation Follow an argument that places turning from the world at the heart of true baptism.
- An early Christian dissent Encounter a forceful Gnostic perspective among the diverse spiritual ideas of early Christianity.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you love early Christian history, the Nag Hammadi books, questions about baptism and scripture, or the sound of an ancient preacher speaking directly to his listeners.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Coptic sermon from the Egyptian desert
- Life under the Law keeps souls bound
- The Son of Man comes down at the Jordan
- Words, martyrdom and resurrection need knowledge
- Rebirth comes through the Word and self-knowledge
- Genesis is read as a story of jealousy
- True baptism is a life of renunciation
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The Testimony of Truth
by Attributed to an anonymous Gnostic thinker · 200
A buried jar yields a sermon that questions baptism, martyrdom and Eden's God, and says truth lies within.
Medium levelUnder 2 hours to readEnglish
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“The great resurrection belongs to the one who has come to know the Son of Man”
In short
What would you do if a teacher told you that the ritual you trust, the death you admire and the God you meet in Genesis all deserve a second look? That is the stance of The Testimony of Truth, an ancient sermon that argues with everyone within earshot.
The Testimony of Truth at a glance
- Reading time
- About 15 min10 min fast, 20 min slow
- Length
- 3,620 words6 chapters
- Pages
- 42 pages
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- about AD 200by Attributed to an anonymous Gnostic thinker
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Listen freeOr hold it in print: paperback, hardcover or large print, at costFrom the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Coptic sermon from the Egyptian desert
The Testimony of Truth is a sermon, not a story. Farmers found it in a sealed jar near Nag Hammadi in December 1945. The introduction places the unknown ancient writer in the second century.
The jar held fifty-two texts written on papyrus and bound in leather, including this sermon. What remains is a voice speaking straight to listeners. It opens with a call to those who know how to hear with the ears of the mind and not the ears of the body.
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Details
- First published
- 200
- Language
- English
- Listening time
- 43 min
- Level
- Medium level
- Paperback
- 42 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 30 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Delivery and returns
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Cite this edition
The Testimony of Truth. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-the-testimony-of-truth.
The testimony of truth. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-the-testimony-of-truth (Original work published ca. 200)
The Testimony of Truth. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-the-testimony-of-truth.
@book{anonymous2026testimony,
title = {The Testimony of Truth},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-the-testimony-of-truth},
note = {First published ca. 200}
}
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What is The Testimony of Truth about?
It is an ancient sermon that argues that salvation comes from knowing oneself and God. It questions life under the Law, water baptism, martyrdom and bodily resurrection, and it rereads Eden and the baptism of Jesus as signs pointing inward.
Who wrote The Testimony of Truth and when?
The author is unknown. The introduction places the unknown writer in the second century, and the work was among the texts discovered near Nag Hammadi in Egypt in December 1945.
Why is The Testimony of Truth not in the Bible?
Church leaders in the fourth century and later chose the books they would read in worship and judged writings like this one to teach ideas at odds with their creeds.
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