This presentation focused attention upon one of the preoccupations of Carl Jung – gnosis, gnosticism, and the mystical formulations of the ancient gnostics – by examining the Secret Book of John from the Nag Hammadi Library and the Berlin Gnostic Codex. The Secret Book of John offers a classic formulation of the mythological, cosmological worldview of the Sethian gnostics, and within that worldview are themes that continue to shed light on the nature of the mind and the soul (the psyche) of a human being.
Marvin Meyer, PhD, was the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies, Chapman University. He was also Director of the Chapman University Albert Schweitzer Institute. He taught courses on religion and values, the New Testament and early Christianity, Greco-Roman and Egyptian religion and culture, the life and thought of Albert Schweitzer, and peace studies. His numerous books include Judas: Gospels and Legends About the Infamous Apostle of Jesus, The Gnostic Gospels of Jesus, The Gospels of Mary, and The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, which has been listed as one of the 100 best spiritual books of the 20th century.
[Dr. Meyer passed away on Thursday, 16 August 2012 at the age of 64, of complications from melanoma.]