List of Gnostic texts
ancient Christian manuscript or text featuring gnostic themes
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.
There is significant scholarly debate around what Gnosticism is, and therefore what qualifies as a "Gnostic text."
Gnostic texts
Gnostic texts preserved before 1945
Prior to the 1945 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.
Works preserved by the Church:
Acts of Thomas (Especially Hymn of the Pearl or The Hymn of the Robe of Glory)
The Acts of John (Especially The Hymn of Jesus)
The Bruce Codex (purchased in 1769 by James Bruce):
Books of Jeu, also known as The Gnosis of the Invisible God
The Untitled Text
The Askew Codex (British Museum, bought in 1784):
Pistis Sophia: Books of the Savior
The Berlin Codex or The Akhmim Codex (found in Akhmim, Egypt; bought in 1896 by Carl Reinhardt):
Gospel of Mary
Apocryphon of John
an epitome of the Acts of Peter
The Wisdom of Jesus Christ
Unknown origin:
The Secret Gospel of Mark
The Hermetica
Complete list of codices found in Nag Hammadi
Codex I (also known as The Jung Codex):
The Prayer of the Apostle Paul
The Apocryphon of James (also known as the Secret Book of James)
The Gospel of Truth
The Treatise on the Resurrection
The Tripartite Tractate
Codex II:
The Apocryphon of John
The Gospel of Thomas a sayings gospel
The Gospel of Philip
The Hypostasis of the Archons
On the Origin of the World
The Exegesis on the Soul
The Book of Thomas the Contender
Codex III:
The Apocryphon of John
The Gospel of the Egyptians
Eugnostos the Blessed
The Sophia of Jesus Christ
The Dialogue of the Savior
Codex IV:
The Apocryphon of John
The Gospel of the Egyptians
Codex V:
Eugnostos the Blessed
The Apocalypse of Paul
The First Apocalypse of James
The Second Apocalypse of James
The Apocalypse of Adam
Codex VI:
The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles (includes The Hymn of the Pearl)
The Thunder, Perfect Mind
Authoritative Teaching
The Concept of Our Great Power
Republic by Plato – The original is not Gnostic, but the Nag Hammadi library version is heavily modified with then-current Gnostic concepts.
The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth – a Hermetic treatise
The Prayer of Thanksgiving (with a hand-written note) – a Hermetic prayer
Asclepius 21–29 – another Hermetic treatise
Codex VII:
The Paraphrase of Shem
The Second Treatise of the Great Seth
Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter
The Teachings of Silvanus
The Three Steles of Seth
Codex VIII:
Zostrianos
The Letter of Peter to Philip
Codex IX:
Melchizedek
The Thought of Norea
The Testimony of truth
Codex X:
Marsanes
Codex XI:
The Interpretation of Knowledge
A Valentinian Exposition, On the Anointing, On Baptism (A and B) and On the Eucharist (A and B)
Allogenes
Hypsiphrone
Codex XII
The Sentences of Sextus
The Gospel of Truth
Fragments
Codex XIII:
Trimorphic Protennoia
On the Origin of the World
Fragments
The so-called "Codex XIII" is not a codex, but rather the text of Trimorphic Protennoia, written on "eight leaves removed from a thirteenth book in late antiquity and tucked inside the front cover of the sixth." (Robinson, NHLE, p. 10) Only a few lines from the beginning of Origin of the World are discernible on the bottom of the eighth leaf.
Mandaean texts
Ginza Rabba (The Great Treasure, also known as The Book of Adam) (DC 22)
Qulasta (Canonical Prayerbook) (DC 53) (see also list of Qulasta prayers)
Sidra d-Nišmata (Book of Souls) (first part of the Qulasta)
ʿNiania (The Responses) (part of the Qulasta)
Drašâ d-Jōhânā (Mandaean Book of John, also known as The Book of Kings)
Diwan Abathur (Scroll of Abatur) (DC 8)
Harran Gawaitha (Scroll of Great Revelation) (DC 9, 36)
Diwan Maṣbuta d-Hibil Ziwa (The Baptism of Hibil Ziwa) (DC 35)
Alf trisar šuialia (The 1012 Questions) (DC 36 [complete, with all 7 books], DC 6 [incomplete])
Šarh d-qabin d-Šišlam Rabbā (The Wedding of the Great Šišlam) (DC 38)
Šarh d-Traṣa d-Taga d-Šišlam Rabbā (The Coronation of the Great Šišlam – describes a ritual for the ordination of the Mandaean clergy)
Asfar Malwāšē (The Book of the Zodiac) (DC 31)
Diwan Malkuta ʿLaita (Scroll of Exalted Kingship) (DC 34)
Heresiography
Against Heresies
Refutation of All Heresies
Panarion
Other
Acts of Peter
Clementine literature
Odes of Solomon
Gospel of Judas
Gospel of the Saviour
Quoted or alluded
These texts are mentioned or partially quoted in the writings of the Church Fathers.
Gospel of Basilides mentioned by Origen, Jerome, Ambrose, Philip of Side, and Bede.
Basilides' Exegetica mentioned in Hippolytus of Rome (Refutatio Omnium Haeresium VII, ixv and X, x) and Clement of Alexandria (Stromata IV, xii and IV, xxiv–xxvi)
Epiphanes' On Righteousness, mentioned in Clement of Alexandria (Str. III, ii).
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “List of Gnostic texts” is ancient Christian manuscript or text featuring gnostic themes. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through List, Gnostic and texts, not as a finished interpretation.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 15, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3831124. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1945, 1769, 1784 and 1896.
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