Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis on Cyprus from about 367 until 402, was a witness to and participant in the troubled era after the Council of Nicaea. His Panarion, or "Medicine Chest," is an historical encyclopedia of ideas and movements he considered heretical, and of the replies Christians ought to make to them. Book II and III deal with the Trinity, the Person of Christ, the divinity and personality of the Holy Spirit, Manichaeism, penance, matrimony and celibacy, monastic regulations, the Christian Calendar, all hotly contested topics in the fourth century. Book I, issued by Brill in 1987, concerns Gnosticism and Jewish Christianity. Together, the two volumes are the only complete translation of the Panarion in a modern language.

The essays in this volume situate the Nag Hammadi Codices and their texts in the context of late antique Egypt, treating such topics as Coptic readers and readings, the difficulty of dating early Greek and Coptic manuscripts, scribal practices, the importance of heavenly ascent, asceticism, and instruction in Egyptian monastic culture. They also explore the relationship of the texts to the Origenist controversy and Manichaeism, the continuity of mythical traditions in later Coptic literature, and issues relating to the codices' production and burial. The volume thus showcases the new trend in scholarship to treat the Nag Hammadi Codices not as sources for Gnosticism, but instead for Christianity and monasticism in late antique Egypt.

Preliminary Material --Foreword /James M. Robinson --Preface /Alexander Bölig and Frederik Wisse --Table of Tractates /Alexander Bölig , Frederik Wisse , and Pahor Labib --Sigla /Alexander Bölig , Frederik Wisse , and Pahor Labib --Abbreviations /Alexander Bölig , Frederik Wisse , and Pahor Labib --The Manuscripts /Alexander Bölig , Frederik Wisse , and Pahor Labib --The Title /Alexander Bölig , Frederik Wisse , and Pahor Labib --The Content /Alexander Bölig , Frederik Wisse , and Pahor Labib --The Presentations of Praise /Alexander Bölig , Frederik Wisse , and Pahor Labib --The Text and Translation /Alexander Bölig , Frederik Wisse , and Pahor Labib --Commentary /Alexander Bölig , Frederik Wisse , and Pahor Labib --Bibliography /Alexander Bölig , Frederik Wisse , and Pahor Labib --Coptic Words /Alexander Bölig , Frederik Wisse , and Pahor Labib --Greek Words /Alexander Bölig , Frederik Wisse , and Pahor Labib --Proper Names /Alexander Bölig , Frederik Wisse , and Pahor Labib --References /Alexander Bölig , Frederik Wisse , and Pahor Labib.

An die Seite des Corpus der Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller (GCS) stellte Adolf von Harnack die Monographienreihe der Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur (TU), die er bereits 1882 begründet hatte und die nunmehr als »Archiv für die ... Ausgabe der älteren christlichen Schriftsteller« diente. In ihr werden vor allem die alten Übersetzungen der im Corpus erscheinenden Schriften teils im Original, teils in deutscher oder einer anderen modernen Sprache gedruckt. Daneben steht die Reihe auch für Voruntersuchungen zu den Editionen und für begleitende Abhandlungen offen.

This is the third volume of the immensely useful "Nag Hammadi Bibliography," the first volume of which covered 1948a "1969 and was the first publication in the Nag Hammadi Studies series. The second volume covered 1970a "1994. This third volume provides a complete integration of Supplements II/1a "II/8 to the Bibliography as published in "Novum Testamentum" 1998a "2008, with additions and corrections. This latest update contains 3,063 entries, with the set of three volumes containing 11,580 entries. Nag Hammadi and Gnostic studies continue to be of critical importance for the study of ancient religions in the Graeco-Roman world and for the study of the world of early Christianity, and the present bibliography provides an indispensable reference tool for work in these fields.

The enduring wisdom of the human condition as seen through this wonderful collection of ancient parables.