Book contents
- The Secret Book of John
- Coptic Gospels and Associated Texts
- The Secret Book of John
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Editors’ Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Part I Introduction and Translation
- Part II The World of the Text
- 3 The Apostolic Eagle
- 4 Recreating Creation
- 5 Myth as Philosophy
- Part III Relationship to Other Early Christian Literature
- Part IV Additional Notes to Text and Translation
- References
- Index
4 - Recreating Creation
from Part II - The World of the Text
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 October 2025
Book contents
- The Secret Book of John
- Coptic Gospels and Associated Texts
- The Secret Book of John
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Editors’ Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Part I Introduction and Translation
- Part II The World of the Text
- 3 The Apostolic Eagle
- 4 Recreating Creation
- 5 Myth as Philosophy
- Part III Relationship to Other Early Christian Literature
- Part IV Additional Notes to Text and Translation
- References
- Index
Summary
Chapter 4 tackles how the Secret Book of John interprets the book of Genesis. It shows how the writer(s) of the Secret Book interpreted Genesis twice: once for the upper world and once for the lower world. It shows how, even with oppositional statements against Moses, the Secret Book continually depends on Genesis for its content and storyline. A brief section on how the Secret Book employs other parts of the Bible (in particular, the Gospel of John) is included.
Information
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- Chapter
- Information
- The Secret Book of John , pp. 70 - 95Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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