Linguistic Manifestations in the Trimorphic Protennoia and the Thunder: Perfect Mind. Analysed against the Background of Platonic and Stoic Dialectics

202 Pages·2016·0.924 MB·English

by  Tilde Bak Halvgaard

Linguistic Manifestations in the Trimorphic Protennoia and the Thunder:
Perfect Mind
Nag Hammadi and
Manichaean Studies
Editors
Johannes van Oort & Einar Thomassen
Editorial Board
J.D. BeDuhn, A.D. DeConick, W.-P. Funk
I. Gardner, S.N.C. Lieu, A. Marjanen
P. Nagel, L. Painchaud, B.A. Pearson
N.A. Pedersen, S.G. Richter, J.M. Robinson
M. Scopello, J.D. Turner, G. Wurst

VOLUME 91
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/nhms
Linguistic Manifestations in the
Trimorphic Protennoia and
the Thunder: Perfect Mind
Analysed against the Background of Platonic and
Stoic Dialectics
By
Tilde Bak Halvgaard
LEIDEN | BOSTON
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual ‘Brill’ typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering
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issn 0929-2470
isbn 978-90-04-30898-5 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-30949-4 (e-book)
Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Contents
Preface vii
Abbreviations ix
1 When Silence Appears in Sounds 1
The “Sethian” Tradition 5
2 Ancient Philosophy of Language 11
Plato on Language 13
The Cratylus—on Names 14
The Platonic Method of Diairesis 17
Stoic Dialectics 25
The Things Which Signify (σημαίνοντα) 27
What is Signified (σημαινόμενα) 35
Conclusion 38
3 The Trimorphic Protennoia 41
The Manuscript 41
The Content of the Trimorphic Protennoia 45
“I am”-Proclamations and Trim. Prot.’s Literary Parallels 49
Linguistic Manifestation in the Trimorphic Protennoia 54
ϩⲣⲟⲟⲩ, ⲥⲙⲏ and ⲗⲟⲅⲟⲥ—Diversities of Translation 55
First Part: The Discourse of Protennoia 61
Second Part: On Fate 82
Third Part: The Discourse of the Manifestation 89
Conclusion 95
4 The Thunder: Perfect Mind 98
The Manuscript 98
The Content of the Thunder: Perfect Mind 100
“I am”-Proclamations and Thund.’s Literary Parallels 106
The Function of Paradox and Antithesis 110
Linguistic Manifestation in the Thunder: Perfect Mind 112
The First Linguistic Passage 113
The Second Linguistic Passage 139
The Knowledge of My Name 143
vi contents
Judgment and Acquittal 146
The Third Linguistic Passage 148
Conclusion 163
Epilogue 166
Bibliography of Ancient Sources 171
Bibliography 173
Index of Ancient Sources 186
Index of Names and Subjects 190
Preface
This book is a revision of my dissertation which I defended at the University of
Copenhagen in 2012. There are many people who, in one way or the other, have
been part of this long process, and I wish to thank them all sincerely. First, I
thank Prof. Troels Engberg-Pedersen for his hard but always excellent and con-
structive advice, encouragements and timely instructions. Without him this
project had not been as well thought through. I also wish to thank Prof. Antti
Marjanen from the University of Helsinki, who, on my visits to Helsinki, most
patiently spent several days discussing details of my project. I am enormously
grateful for all the effort he has put into this.
I thank the participants at the Helsinki Nag Hammadi Seminars for com-
menting on early drafts of my dissertation, especially Prof. Ismo Dunderberg,
Ulla Tervahauta and Päivi Vähäkangas for their comments and very good com-
pany. At the same time, I send heartfelt thanks to all members of the Nordic
Network of Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism (NNGN). The network was funded
by NordForsk from 2004–2008, and directed by Prof. Einar Thomassen, Antti
Marjanen and Nils Arne Pedersen. The annual seminars have provided an out-
standing foundation for young scholars to grow and make good friends and
colleagues across countries. I especially wish to thank Christian Bull, René
Falkenberg, Lance Jenott, Hugo Lundhaug, and Tuomas Rasimus who have
made our meetings unforgettable in many ways. I also thank Katrine Brix,
Nanna Liv Olsen and Sara Møldrup Thejls for excellent Coptic sisterhood.
Moreover, I would like to thank Prof. Harold Attridge who kindly welcomed
my family and me during our visit to Yale in 2009. Likewise, I thank Prof. Paul-
Hubert Poirier for patiently answering the numerous questions that I had for
him, when I participated in the NHGN seminar at Laval University in 2010.
I am very grateful to Prof. Ingvild Sælid Gilhus and Prof. Karen L. King for
their generous support and encouragements. I admire them deeply not only
because of their excellent work but as role models for women in scholarship.
I wish to thank Prof. John D. Turner sincerely for his seminal work on Sethian
Gnosticism as well as his wife Elizabeth Sterns for their overwhelming hospi-
tality in Lincoln. I also thank David Tibet who, many years ago, got me into Nag
Hammadi Studies through his fantastic music. He remains a constant source
of inspiration. I wish to express a very special thanks to Dylan Burns, who has
spent hours reading and correcting my dissertation to minimize the otherwise
huge amount of flaws of my very best school English. Similarly, I thank Sarah
viii preface
Parkhouse for correcting the mistakes of the revised manuscript. Nevertheless,
the remaining mistakes should still be ascribed to me.
The last and greatest thanks is for my husband Christian Bak Halvgaard who
has patiently supported me in every possible way. I dedicate this book with
gratitude and love to him and our three daughters Esther, Iris and Flora.
Abbreviations
BASP Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists
BCNH.C Bibliothèque copte de Nag Hammadi, section “Concordances”
BCNH.É Bibliothèque copte de Nag Hammadi, section “Études”
BCNH.T Bibliothèque copte de Nag Hammadi, section “Textes”
CNRS Éditions du Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique
CSCO Corpus scriptorum christianorum orientalum. Edited by I.B.
Chabot et al. Paris, 1903–
D.L. Diogenes Laertius
FDS Die Fragmente zur Dialektik der Stoiker
HR History of Religions
HTR Harvard Theological Review
JSNTSup Journal for the Study of the New Testament: Supplement Series
LCL Loeb Classical Library
JAC Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum
JHS Journal of Hellenic Studies
LSJ Liddell, Scott, Jones
Mn Mnemosyne
Mus Muséon: Revue d’études orientales
NHC Nag Hammadi Codices
NHS Nag Hammadi Studies
NHMS Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies
NovT Novum Testamentum
NRSV New Revised Standard Version
NTOA Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus
NTS New Testament Studies
OrChr Oriens christianus
Phron Phronesis
PTS Patristische Texte und Studien
REArm Revue des études arméniennes
REg Revue d’égyptologie
SBLSP Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers
SBT Studies in Biblical Theology
ScEs Science et Esprit
StOR Studies in Oriental Religions
SVF Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta. H. von Arnim. 4. Vols. Leipzig,
1903–1924
Tem Temenos
x abbreviations
Teubner Bibliotheca scriptorum graecorum et romanum teubneriana
TLZ Theologische Literaturzeitung
TRAPA Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological
Association
TSAJ Texte und Studien zum antiken Judentum
VC Vigiliae Christianae