Authoritative Discourse

[15] The publication was part of the work of the Coptic Gnostic Library Project, which began in 1966 at Claremont Graduate University.

[19] Her bridegroom secretly fed the soul and rubbed her eyes with the word (logos) to open her mind.

[29] To counter these challenges, she uses the word (logos) as a medicine to open her eyes and conceal her enemies.

[36] The devil presents worldly temptations to capture us,[37] starting with small pains and desires for material things,[38] leading to love of ignorance and ease.

[39] The adversary entices the body with pleasures, aiming to deceive the soul and draw her into ignorance.

[42] She embraces her true light, shedding worldly attachments, and adorning herself with a beautiful mind.

[50] The senseless man is worse than a pagan since he has been told to seek and ask, but his hardness of heart and ignorance prevent him.

[56] Translator George W. MacRae agrees that the text lacks a typical Gnostic cosmogony.

[57] But MacRae believes that the text is Gnostic because of its emphasis on the evil of the material world, the divine origin of the soul, and the idea of salvation through revealed knowledge.

[59] This broader approach reveals that the author was familiar with both New Testament and Gnostic literature and chose to produce a Christian homily.

[60] French translator Jacques Ménard considers the text Gnostic, but this view was criticized by Egyptology professor[61] Jan Zandee in 1978 and by religious scholar Roel van den Broek in 1979.

[63] In particular, van den Broek argues that the text closely parallels the teachings of Porphyry and was likely written contemporaneously in the mid-third century.

[70] Valantasis concludes that monks preserved the text as secular literature that aligned with their ascetic lifestyle.

[71] Tervahauta counters that Valantasis ignores the Christian elements of the text to focus on Roman tradition.

[72] MacRae notes the rarity of the title's lack of a grammatical article, meaning that it would be incorrect to call it The Authoritative Discourse.