Acknowledgements

This book is the result of a three-year research project, generously financed by the Swedish Research Council as part of their International Postdoc Program (ID: 2018–06644). I wish to extend my thanks to Professor Ismo Dunderberg and Helsinki University for supporting my application and inviting me to conduct my research in Helsinki, Finland. Both unfortunate and happy circumstances (the pandemic followed by the birth of my two children) forced me to stay closer to home, in Lund. My thanks to Professor Thomas Hoffmann, head of the Section for Biblical Exegesis, and faculty director Torben Rytter Kristensen at the University of Copenhagen for inviting me to finish my project in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The project was primarily housed at Lund University, at the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies. My deepest gratitude goes out to my wonderful colleagues there, who not only read and commented on various drafts and chapters of the book, but who brightened my day-to-day activities immensely.

I wish to acknowledge the two anonymous reviewers who read and commented upon a draft manuscript of this book. They saved me from many errors, gave important suggestions for improvements and enhanced the legibility greatly. I also wish to recognise Marie-Louise Karttunen, who tackled the gruelling task of fine-tuning the book’s legibility with great professionalism and poise. My gratitude to Claremont Colleges Library, California, for providing the images of the Nag Hammadi manuscripts included in this volume. A particular thanks to Lisa L. Crane for her efforts in securing publishable resolutions and provenance for each photo.

First and foremost, I am indebted to my wonderful partner, Nathalie, for enduring my absent-mindedness after long and arduous writing sessions and for her unwavering love and support. To my children, Otto and Helmi: the joy (χαρά /ⲡⲣⲉϣⲉ) you bless me with every day would not be denied by even the most ardent Stoic.