Religious Studies Review • VOLUME 36 • NUMBER 2
(2 Cor 12:2-4). The rest of the book is devoted to an extensive
interpretation of the Apocalypse of Paul and its contexts, an
enlargement of Kaler’s commentary in the aforementioned
Laval edition. The five main sections expand on the following
sentence: “The Apocalypse of Paul is a text (1) written in the
late 2nd or early 3rd century by a gnostic (possibly Valen-
tinian) author (2) showing the apostle Paul (3) as an apoca-
lyptic hero (4) in order to authoritatively present a gnostic
understanding of the cosmos and the Pauline writings” (5).
This is, to my mind, the best treatment of the Apocalypse of
Paul so far published.
Birger A. Pearson
University of California, Santa Barbara
PARADISE RECONSIDERED IN GNOSTIC MYTH-
MAKING: RETHINKING SETHIANISM IN LIGHT
OF THE OPHITE EVIDENCE. By Tuomas Rasimus. Nag
Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, 68. Leiden, The Nether-
lands: Brill 2009. Pp. xx + 355; plates. $169.00.
This book is a revised edition of the author’s 2006 dis-
sertation, completed jointly at the University of Helsinki and
Laval University in Canada. Part I is an introduction,
wherein Rasimus presents the history of scholarship on the
Ophites and Gnostic Sethianism. He argues that the
“Sethian” system delineated by Schenke and others is only
part of a larger whole, and the Ophite materials ought to be
taken into account as part of a “Classic Gnostic” system. Part
II is entitled “Myth and Innovation,” and compares the
Ophite and Sethian speculations on the Serpent, the Creator
and Archons, Sophia, and Adam and Christ. He argues for a
“Sethianization” of earlier Ophite and Barbeloite myths. Part
III is devoted to ritual. Rasimus considers the patristic evi-
dence for Ophite snake worship, which he concludes is ten-
dentious; Origen’s claim that the Ophites cursed Christ; and
the evidence for Ophite rituals, which consists of both texts
and amulets. While some of his arguments are not as con-
vincing as others, for example, the connection he makes
between Ophite traditions and the Corinthian opponents of
Paul, there is much of value in this book, particularly for
those interested in ancient Gnosticism and early Christian
history.
Birger A. Pearson
University of California, Santa Barbara
BIBLICAL ARGUMENT IN MANICHAEAN MIS-
SIONARY PRACTICE: THE CASE OF ADIMANTUS
AND AUGUSTINE. By J. A. van den Berg. Nag Hammadi
and Manichaean Studies, 70. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill,
2010. Pp. xii + 239. $147.00.
In this revised Utrecht dissertation, van den Berg takes
up the issue of biblical interpretation in Manichaeism as
reflected especially in the work of the Manichaean mission-
ary Adimantus, whose Disputationes is partially preserved in
Augustine’s Contra Adimantum Manichaei discipulum, prob-
ably composed in late 393 or early 394. Van den Berg
• JUNE 2010
accepts the view of some scholars that Adimantus is to be
identified as Mani’s disciple Addas, well known to us from
Oriental sources. After a brief introduction (chapter 1), van
den Berg discusses the identity and biography of Adimantus
based on the available sources (chapter 2). He then presents
a reconstruction of Adimantus’ Disputationes (chapter 3) and
a detailed analysis of its method, contents, and purposes
(chapter 4). He takes up next the literary context of the
Disputationes (chapter 5). In this chapter, the Capitula of the
Manichaean Faustus, known to us from Augustine’s Contra
Faustum, is treated extensively. van den Berg also refers to
other works of Adimantus and even suggests that he was the
editor of the Manichaean Kephalaia preserved in Coptic. The
book concludes with a chapter of conclusions and sugges-
tions for further research. This book is an important contri-
bution to the study of Manichaeism in North Africa and
Egypt.
Birger A. Pearson
University of California, Santa Barbara
History of Christianity (Early)
EARLY CHRISTIAN BOOKS IN EGYPT. By Roger S.
Bagnall. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009.
Pp. x + 110. $29.95.
This book consists of four chapters, based on lectures
delivered at the École Pratique des Hautes Études. The
primary purpose is to critique the “self-enclosed character”
of scholarship on early Christian books. At least three main
assertions are made: Christian papyri dated to the second
century are dated too early; Christians were not the cause
of the emerging dominance of the codex; and Christian
preference for the codex was likely because of Romaniza-
tion by the church. Bagnall begins by noting how crucial
the dating of papyri is to understanding early Christianity,
but, because he finds dating hands to be too subjective,
much of his discussion is based on probabilities and statis-
tical models relating to manuscripts and their surrounding
culture. The book’s most helpful contribution is the caution
that scholarship on Christian papyri should not operate in
isolation from papyrology in general because both areas of
study have much to contribute to one another. But some of
the book’s assertions and suggestions need to be examined
in more detail before being accepted, especially because
many are based on assumptions that need further rein-
forcement or debate. In such a short work, adapted from
lectures, however, it is difficult to treat every argument in
depth. In essence, Bagnall’s conclusion is that the earliest
Christian papyri from Egypt came from the third century,
when there is also more evidence of ecclesiastical hierar-
chy, and the use of the codex as the primary format for
Scripture was a Latin influence handed down from the
church in Rome.
Amy M. Donaldson
University of Notre Dame
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