The Testimony of Truth
Home > Gnostics > The Testimony of Truth The Testimony of Truth At a Glance Treatise Genre: (5/5) ***** Reliability of Dating: (5/5) ***** Length of Text: Greek Original Language: Ancient Translations: Modern Translations: Estimated Range of Dating: 150-200 A.D. Chronological List of Early Christian Writings Discuss this text on the Early Writings forum. Text The Testimony of Truth Offsite Links French Translation Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia: The Testimony of Truth The Nag Hammadi Library in English Jewish Haggadic Traditions in The Testimony of Truth A Reading Plan for the Nag Hammadi Codices Gnosticism and the New Testament Books Bentley Layton, The Gnostic Scriptures: A New Translation With Annotations and Introductions (Doubleday 1987) Marvin Meyer, ed., The Nag Hammadi Scriptures (HarperOne 2009) Birger A.
Pearson, Ancient Gnosticism: Traditions And Literature (Fortress Press 2007) Recommended Books for the Study of Early Christian Writings Information on the Testimony of Truth Birger A. Pearson writes, "The original title of this tractate, if there was one, is unknown. It is possible that a title was supplied at the end of the tractate, but the last two pages of the codex are lost. The title now in regular use has been editorially assigned on the basis of a major theme found in the tractate ('word of truth,' 31,8; 'true testimony,' 45,1), part of its polemical thrust. The author is intent upon presenting his version of the truth - a radically encratic Gnostic Christianity - and contrasting this with the false opinions and practices of his 'heretical' opponents.
His polemics are presented in the form of rhetorical antitheses (light-darkness, knowledge-ignorance, incorruptibility-corruption, etc.). The author's opponents are easily identifiable on the basis of how they are described. They consist for the most part of members of the catholic ('orthodox') church, who clearly constitute a majority of Christians in the author's locale. Interestingly enough, the author's opponents also include fellow Gnostics, such as the Valentinians, Basilidians, Simonians, and others, with whose practices he vehemently disagrees." (The Nag Hammadi Scriptures, p. 613) Birger A. Pearson asks, "Who was this man? He was surely well schooled in the Valentinian tradition, even though he included Valentinians among his opponents, so we might look upon him as an ex-member of the Valentinian school.
As it happens, Clement of Alexandria provides us with information in his Miscellanies (3.85-95) on a teacher of radical encratism, Julius Cassianus, who is said to have 'departed from the school of Valentinus,' presumably because he had come to disagree with Valentinian practices. There is considerable overlap between what Clement tells us about this man and the views expressed by the author of the Testimony of Truth, so it is not unreasonable tentatively to identify Julius Cassianus as the author of our tractate. To be sure, this identification has been criticized on various grounds: the absence of attacks on martyrdom and baptism in what Clement tells us of Julius's teachings, supposed differences between Julius and our tractate's author on the interpretation of Genesis 2-3, and a more favorable view of the Old Testament attributable to Julius than is reflected in the Testimony of Truth.
It must be remembered that Julius's writings are not extant, and Clement's information about him is not extensive, so the question of the authorship of our tractate must remain open. In any case, whoever the author was, he wrote around the same time and in the same place as Julius Cassianus, in the late second- or early third-century Alexandria." (The Nag Hammadi Scriptures, pp. 615-616) Some Contemporary Texts Excerpts of Theodotus (150-180 A.D.) Heracleon (150-180 A.D.) Ascension of Isaiah (150-200 A.D.) Interpretation of Knowledge (150-200 A.D.) Testimony of Truth (150-200 A.D.) Acts of Peter (150-200 A.D.) Acts of John (150-200 A.D.) Acts of Paul (150-200 A.D.) Acts of Andrew (150-200 A.D.) Go to the Chronological List of all Early Christian Writings Please buy the CD to support the site, view it without ads, and get bonus stuff!