INTRODUCTION.

The documents and general literature of Gnosticism.

The writer begins this work with the feeling of someone attempting a desperate mission. It is a challenge to enter the confusion of syncretism the blending of different beliefs usually categorized under the vague term Gnosticism. Indeed, no subject in religious history is more difficult. This is evident from the small number of general works on Gnosticism written by European scholars. In fact, English readers, apart from a few translations, must rely on Burton’s Bampton Lectures, Mansel’s Gnostic Heresies, Norton’s History of the Gnostics, King’s Gnostics and their Remains, and an article by Salmon.

The persecution of the early Gnostics caused the loss of nearly all their documents. Additionally, some of the most important writings of the Church Fathers, which might have provided more information, have disappeared. Among these lost works are the Syntagma collection of treatises of Justin and the Syntagma of Hippolytus.

Our primary authorities among the Church Fathers are Justin Martyr, Irenæus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, Hippolytus, Philaster, Epiphanius, Jerome, and Theodoret. However, with the single exception of Hippolytus, these authors quote Gnostic documents only very briefly. They devote almost all their writing to arguing against "heretical" opinions. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to determine the actual views of the various Gnostic schools from these hostile writings. This remains true despite the great effort and sharp intelligence scholars have applied to the task.