Eugnostos the Blessed - Overview and Discussion

This month we read Eugnostos the Blessed, one of the most unusual texts found at Nag Hammadi. It's a letter, not a gospel or a revelation. Jesus doesn't appear in it, and it isn't told as a story. Its author says the philosophers of his day were wrong about what governs the world, whether that's chance, providence or fate. He then describes a God so far beyond us that no name fits. From that God comes an immortal Human, and from there a whole heavenly order unfolds: 12 powers, then 72, then 360, echoing the months and days of the year. Some scholars think it may be among the oldest texts in the collection. It certainly came first in one respect: a later writer turned it into a Christian dialogue, the Sophia of Jesus Christ, which some of you will remember from an earlier meetup. Reading the two side by side is a rare chance to watch a text become Christian. New to all this? You're welcome as you are. No background is needed, and we'll give you a short orientation at the start. A link to the full text can be found here: http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/eugn.html