Dialogue of the Saviour

The Dialogue of the Saviour is a Gnostic Christian writing. It is the fifth tractate in Codex III of Nag Hammadi library. The only existing copy, written in Coptic, is fragmentary. Its final form was likely completed c. 150 AD. The textual style resembles other Gnostic dialogues between the Savior and the disciples, such as the Gospel of Thomas, but lacks a literary framework, has dramatic episodes interspersed, and includes eschatology. This style may be the result of a combination of "at least four different written sources.". Unlike many other Gnostic texts, Dialogue attributes the creation of the world to a benevolent Father rather than an evil or flawed Demiurge. The Savior instructs his disciples to abandon their labor and stand at rest to achieve eternal rest. He encourages them to praise the Father and to repent, since the Father is the thinking and entire serenity of the solitary. The Savior also warns his disciples about the power of fear and the time of dissolution, which they should not be afraid of but should pass by with a single mind. He assures them that those who seek and reveal the truth will be received, and their works will not be destroyed. The Savior also emphasizes the importance of setting things in order in the mind to achieve luminosity in the body. Mary, Judas, Matthew, and the Lord are conversing. The Lord speaks about the nature of darkness and light, the origin of the universe, the power of the mind and the spirit, and the importance of seeking the truth. The Lord emphasizes the need to have a place in the heart to receive knowledge and suggests that seeing the place of pure light is not possible while still carrying the physical body. Instead, the Lord suggests that knowing oneself and doing good works can lead to understanding and connection with the place of life. Judas asks the Lord about the force that supports the earth and heavens, and the Lord explains that it is the First Word that established the cosmos.

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Related concepts (5)

List of Gnostic texts

Gnosticism used a number of religious texts that are preserved, in part or whole, in ancient manuscripts, or lost but mentioned critically in Patristic writings. Prior to the discovery at Nag Hammadi, only the following texts were available to students of Gnosticism. Reconstructions were attempted from the records of the heresiologists, but these were necessarily coloured by the motivation behind the source accounts.

Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene, Magdalena or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurrection. She is mentioned by name twelve times in the canonical gospels, more than most of the apostles and more than any other woman in the gospels, other than Jesus's family.

Nag Hammadi library

The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the "Chenoboskion Manuscripts" and the "Gnostic Gospels") is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Thirteen leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local farmer named Muhammed al-Samman. The writings in these codices comprise 52 mostly Gnostic treatises, but they also include three works belonging to the Corpus Hermeticum and a partial translation/alteration of Plato's Republic.