Venema e.v. Bos, N.G.P.
Conceiving of Children in the Nag Hammadi Library.
Master thesis, Master Concealed Knowledge Gnosticism Mysticism and Esotericism.
Abstract
This study aims to increase our knowledge regarding the daily life of children living in Antiquity by investigating the evidence on children in the Nag Hammadi Library. Studying the Library from the perspective of children may also contribute to our understanding of the interactions between the people behind the Nag Hammadi texts and their sociocultural environment, as well as of their ethical, cosmological, and anthropological views.
I have gathered the evidence that refers to children in translated manuscripts of the Nag Hammadi Library and studied it by means of text-critical and historical methods. The texts often refer to divine and spiritual children and use childhood metaphors, but seldom describe flesh and bone children. My findings confirm what scholars already knew about childhood in the Roman Empire regarding, for example, characteristics of parent-child relations and “patchwork” families. The child-related ideas that are included in the metaphors are mostly in line with ideas current in ancient Roman, Jewish, and Christian circles, such as the distinction between “real” and “unreal” families and the control of sexual desire. These shared daily life aspects of and opinions about children suggest diverse interactions between the Nag Hammadi texts and Roman society, Judaism, and Christianity.
In conclusion, studying the Nag Hammadi sections that refer to children provides insight into their daily lives and to that of children in Antiquity. Detailed interpretation and explanation of all bits of evidence is needed.
| Type: |
Thesis
(Master)
|
| Supervisors (RUG): |
| Supervisor | E-mail | Tutor organization | Tutor email |
|---|
| Roig Lanzillotta, F.L. | f.l.roig.lanzillotta@rug.nl | | | | Dijk, van, M. | mathilde.van.dijk@rug.nl | | |
|
| Degree programme: |
Master Concealed Knowledge Gnosticism Mysticism and Esotericism |
| Academic year: |
2016-2017 |
| Date of delivery: |
23 Jun 2017 08:08 |
| Last modified: |
30 Jun 2017 09:57 |
| URI: |
https://rcs.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/266 |
Actions (requires login)
 |
View Item |
