The Shelves · Philosophy

The Secret Book (Apocryphon) of John

Conjecturedin Alexandria?Conjectured · Our reconstructionour placement

◇ Doubted: where it was written is uncertain.

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I · The entry, in his form

In the table of Philosophy

Conjectured · Our reconstructionour placement

Anonymous (Sethian tradition)

The Secret Book (Apocryphon) of John

Opening words not preserved.

Length: not counted

◇ Doubted: where it was written is uncertain.

Above, his entry form, filled from what we know. Below, ours.

II · Does it survive? Where to read it

Survives whole

Four Coptic copies: three from Nag Hammadi and one in the Berlin Codex bought in Cairo in 1896. Irenaeus summarizes a version of its myth around 180 CE.

Was it in Alexandria?

Conjectured

Of the Egyptian milieu.

On the ledge: written in Egypt or in a tradition the city shaped; not known in the Library.

Read it today

Translation, Gnostic Society Library · a translation · link checked 31 Oct 2026
Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.29 (New Advent) · a translation · link checked 31 Oct 2026

III · In the show

Logos, Time, Archons, and Planetary Creation, episode 36, at 1 hour 51 minutes 51 secondsTranscript“we get the same thing in the apocryphon of John and the hypotheses of the archons, the gnostic apocryphon where they're talking about how the demiers didn't make creation” (intended: Hypostasis of the Archons)Conjectured
Fallen angels and demonic orders, episode 11, at 15 minutes 55 secondsTranscript“the hypotheses of the archons and the secret book of John, even the book of Enoch, the Watchers” (intended: Hypostasis of the Archons)Conjectured
Plato’s Demiurge vs. the Gnostic Demiurge, episode 36, at 1 hour 54 minutes 33 secondsTranscriptPlato's demiurge against the Gnostic demiurge.Known: attested

+ 14 more

Gnostic texts and orthodoxy, episode 11, at 19 minutesTranscriptKnown: attested
Alexandria as Esoteric Crossroads, episode 17, at 47 minutes 57 secondsTranscriptAlexandria as Esoteric Crossroads: the Nag Hammadi codices with their Platonic and Hermetic tractates.Known: probable
Correction
What was said
The Nag Hammadi codices were "found outside of Alexandria".
What the sources say
Near Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt, some 600 km south of Alexandria (about 615 km in a straight line, farther by the river). That Mark brought Christianity to Alexandria is church tradition, which the speaker rightly flags as such.
Reference
- Eusebius, Church History 2.16, 2.24
Heresiologists and early Christian doctrine, episode 2, at 43 secondsTranscriptHeresiologists: the early schools known through their opponents.Known: attested
Gnostic readings of the serpent and demiurge, episode 2, at 37 minutes 33 secondsTranscriptGnostic readings of the serpent and the demiurge.Known: attested
Gnosticism, Material vs Spiritual Reality, episode 23, at 37 minutes 20 secondsTranscriptValentinians and Basilideans.Known: attested
Gnostic texts and orthodoxy, episode 11, at 20 minutes 11 secondsTranscript“The the Coptic schools in Alexandria in and around Alexandria”Known: attested
Correction
What was said
"The Coptic schools in Alexandria".
What the sources say
The Alexandrian teachers wrote in Greek; Coptic belongs to the later translations made in Upper Egypt.
Alexandria as Esoteric Crossroads, episode 17, at 47 minutes 57 secondsTranscript“two uh hermetic tracks all found outside of Alexandria Egypt 1945”Known: probable
Correction
What was said
The Hermetic tracts were "all found outside of Alexandria".
What the sources say
Near Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt, some 600 km south of Alexandria (about 615 km in a straight line, farther by the river). Codex VI holds three Hermetic texts (the Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth, the Prayer of Thanksgiving, an extract of the Asclepius) and an extract of Plato's Republic.
Masonic origins and the Elus-Cohen tradition, episode 5, at 21 minutes 30 secondsTranscript“the Nagamati codices weren't discovered until the 1940s.”Known: probable
Gnosticism · Chronology: Nag Hammadi discoveryThe Nag Hammadi discovery.Known: probable
Gnosticism · Chronology: Suppression and survivalCodices copied after c. 350 and buried.Known: probable
Hermeticism · Chronology: Prophet to some, sorcerer to othersNag Hammadi Codex VI holds three Hermetica.Known: probable
Gnosticism · Irenaeus, Against Heresies I: Thirty aeons and a LimitKnown: attested
Gnosticism · Traditions: Sethian, Valentinian, BasilideanKnown: attested
Gnosticism · Chronology: Great system-buildersKnown: attested

IV · Sources and the living entry

Ancient references

Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.29

Modern scholarship (6)

M. Waldstein and F. Wisse, The Apocryphon of John: Synopsis of Nag Hammadi Codices II,1; III,1; and IV,1 with BG 8502,2 (Leiden: Brill, 1995).
B. Layton, The Gnostic Scriptures (New York: Doubleday, 1987)
K. L. King, What Is Gnosticism? (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003).
J. M. Robinson (ed.), The Nag Hammadi Library in English (Leiden: Brill; San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1977; 3rd ed. 1988).
M. A. Williams, Rethinking 'Gnosticism': An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996).
D. Brakke, The Gnostics: Myth, Ritual, and Diversity in Early Christianity (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010).

Entry checked 31 Oct 2026 · no corrections · Suggest a correction ›

THE SECRET BOOK (APOCRYPHON) OF JOHN