Get the CD Now!

Treatise on the Resurrection

At a Glance
Treatise
Genre:
(2/5) **
Reliability of Dating:
(2/5) **
Length of Text:
Greek
Original Language:
Ancient Translations:
Modern Translations:

Estimated Range of Dating: 170-200 A.D.

Chronological List of Early Christian Writings
Discuss this text on the Early Writings forum.

Text

Books

Recommended Books for the Study of Early Christian Writings

Information on the Treatise on the Resurrection

Malcom L. Peel writes (The Nag Hammadi Library in English, p. 52): "The importance of this short, eight-page, didactic letter lies in its witness to a distinctively unorthodox interpretation of Christian teaching about survival after death. By the late second century, the probable time of its composition, Christians - whether Gnostic or orthodox - were struggling with certain challenges and questions. Was such survival philosophical demonstrable (as Socrates had argued in the Phaedo)? What form might it take? (Immortality of the soul? Resurrection of the body? Reincarnation?) When would such survival be experienced? (At death? At Christ's final return? Perhaps even before death?) The New Testament teaching was somewhat ambiguous on several of these points, though within the great church there seemed general agreement on at least two matters: the prototype and basis of hope for such survival was the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the resurrection of individuals would entail their retention of personal identity."

Some Contemporary Texts


Go to the Chronological List of all Early Christian Writings

Please buy the CD to support the site, view it without ads, and get bonus stuff!

Early Christian Writings is copyright © Peter Kirby <E-Mail>.

Get the CD Now!
MLA
Style

Kirby, Peter. "Treatise on the Resurrection." Early Christian Writings. <http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/treatiseres.html>.