Foreword

Abbreviations

List of Contributors

Part One Mystery and Secrecy in the Nag Hammadi and Related Gnostic Writings

From the Bowel of Hell to Draco: The Mysteries of the Peratics

Interprétation d'une formule barbare chez les gnostiques valentiniens d'après le Contre les hérésies d'Irénée, I, 21,3

Mystery and Secrecy in The Secret Revelation of John

Sethian Books of the Nag Hammadi Library as Secret Books

«Joseph le charpentier planta un jardin. . .» (EvPhil 73,8–9): Sens apparent et sens caché dans l'Évangile selon Philippe

Invocation et glorification du Nom divin dans le Livre sacré du grand Esprit invisible ou Évangile égyptien (NHC III,2; NHC IV,2)

The Term μυστήριον in Coptic-Manichaean Texts

Secrets et révélation dans le codex Tchacos

I Tell You a Mystery: From Hidden to Revealed in Sethian Revelation, Ritual, and Protology

Part Two Mystery and Secrecy in Other Christian Practices, Text Traditions, and Material Culture

Mystery and Secrecy in the Egyptian Desert: Esotericism and Evagrius of Pontus

Secrecy in the Gospel of John

Living in Tombs: The Secret of an Early Christian Mystical Experience

Mystery and Authority in the Writings of Shenoute

Mystery and Secrecy in Paul

Mystère et mystères dans les Actes de Thomas

Revisiting the Ichthys: A Suggestion Concerning the Origins of Christological Fish Symbolism

Part Three Mystery and Secrecy in Non-Christian Practices, Text Traditions, and Material Culture

Secrecy and Initiation in the Mithraic Communities of Fourth Century Rome

Initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries: A “Thin” Description

The Notion of Mysteries in the Formation of Hermetic Tradition

Those Who Know and Those Who Don't: Mystery, Instruction, and Knowledge in 2 Baruch

The “Mithras Liturgy” as Mystery and Magic

The Secret Hymn in Hermetic Texts

Cognitive and Evolutionary Approaches to Ancient Rituals: Reflections on Recent Theories and Their Relevance for the Historian of Religion

Index of Ancient Literary Sources

Index of Keywords