The Use of Scripture in Gnostic Literature
- The Use of Scripture in Gnostic Literature
The Gnostics made use of Scripture.1 This fact is acknowledged by Irenaeus in his prologue to the Adversus Haereses,2 and it is fully attested in the Gnostic literature as well. The analysis of this phenomenon is of fundamental importance, not only for the understanding of the texts in which it occurs, but also for our understanding of Gnosticism as a whole, since it can shed considerable light on such debated issues as the origins of Gnosticism and its links with Judaism and Christianity. As a result, since the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library, many scholars have devoted their attention to the use of Scripture, either Old or New Testament, in Gnostic texts. But although everybody agrees on the importance of this use of Scripture, there are divergent views as to what can be considered a [End Page 129] "use of Scripture" in Gnostic texts, especially when one is dealing with allusions.
In his essay on "The Gnostics and the Old Testament," Professor Wilson raises the basic question of "what is or is not a quotation or allusion," providing some examples of divergent appraisals of the use of Scripture in given texts by different scholars.3 And he concludes: "Finally it may be noted, for use in further and more detailed research, that we need to examine the manner in which the Old Testament is used . . . ."4 Eighteen years later, the call issued by Professor Wilson for more detailed research is still on the agenda, particularly concerning allusions, although many studies have been devoted to the question. This is all the more true since these studies usually put aside allusions.5
In the present paper, I will focus on some allusions to Scripture in the Apocryphon of John and the writing without title On the Origin of the World of Nag Hammadi codex II.6 Adopting a literary approach inspired [End Page 130] by the theory of intertextuality, on the one hand, and a formal and functional definition of quotations and allusions, on the other hand, it will be argued that allusions, although they are difficult to recognize, are no less relevant for the understanding of the use of Scripture than are explicit quotations. On the contrary, their identification as allusions is absolutely necessary for the understanding of a given text.
1. Quotations and Allusions as Literary Devices
The use of Scripture in texts can be considered from different points of view and for different purposes. As for the Nag Hammadi corpus, the bulk of the studies devoted to this question aims to describe texts in terms of the attitudes toward the Old or New Testament which are revealed by their hermeneutical stance, and thus to discover a means of classifying them.7 In the background of this approach lie the questions of the origin of Gnosticism and of the nature of its affiliation with Judaism or Christianity. As such, this approach is typical of comparative religion or of history in a broad sense.8
It is not my intention here to challenge the legitimacy and relevance of this approach. However, its first interest being elements of content, such an approach tends to concentrate on explicit, or at least easily recognizable [End Page 131] quotations of Scripture (e.g. the biblical quotations used as proof texts in the Exegesis on the Soul [129.5–130.20] or the interpretation of biblical figures like Adam, Seth, Cain, and Melchisedek found in various texts) to the detriment of allusions or less easily recognizable implicit quotations. Since by their very nature allusions are oblique, and often doubtful, they usually escape the indices of scriptural passages and the studies based on the content of these indices as well. Moreover, one is easily tempted to assume that any scientific survey of the use of Scripture should cast aside "allusions" for the sake of objectivity, as has been suggested by R. McL. Wilson.9 It is my opinion, however, that allusions as literary devices are as relevant as explicit quotations for the study of the use of Scripture in any given text; furthermore, because of the very fact that they raise more difficulties, they deserve...
