Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power

This provocative collection of rites, spells, amulets, curses, and recipes of the early Coptic Christians documents Christianity as a living folk religion resembling other popular belief systems - something quite different from what theo-logical and doctrinal traditions have led us to believe.
Like The Nag Hammadi Library, this extraordinary collection of little known incantatory texts radically alters our perception of Christianity as primarily a highly theological and orthodox tradition. These texts and illustrations show that the folk practices of the earliest Christians are quite similar to the day-to-day beliefs and rituals of spirituality that imbue indigenous primal religions and popular religion generally. Placing these previously unknown ancient texts in historical context and explaining their significance, Marvin Meyer and Richard Smith also reveal the place of healing, prayer, miracles, and magic in the Christian teaching practice.
Illustrated with line drawings and photographs from the original ancient documents and containing a plethora of rituals, curses, and spells, Ancient Christian Magic is the practical and liturgical companion to the narrative and theological texts of The Nag Hammadi Library.

Traditionalists may find heretical the use of "Christian" as a modifier for "magic." But it's an apt combination for this gathering of previously untranslated curses, recipes and spells ritualistically cast by Egyptian Christians. In the Coptic language of the early Gnostics the words for "religion" and "magic" have common roots. While the texts offered here are individually intriguing (especially those about sex and healing), their cumulative effect is, as the editors note, that "they demonstrate that Christianity can take the form of a folk religion . . . making use of ritual power for all sorts of practical purposes." There is, however, something else happening here as well. The materials gathered in this book largely date from the era of the Nag Hammadi Library, which, since its 1945 discovery in Egypt, has revealed aspects of early Christianity in a manner and scope comparable to that with which the Dead Sea Scrolls have illuminated the study of ancient Judaism; as a result, this collection also deepens and broadens our knowledge of how believers in Christ lived before the "Church" evolved. Readers who made a religion bestseller of The Nag Hammadi translation, for which Smith was managing editor, will find this collection to be a valuable adjunct to that benchmark of scholarship on Christian origins.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Meyer (The Secret Teachings of Jesus, 1984) and Smith (The Nag Hamadi Library, not reviewed) provide literate and entertaining translations of a variety of early Christian magical incantations. For too long, the editors contend, scholars have tended to draw distinctions between what is called ``religion'' and what is termed mere ``magic.'' In an effort to help reverse this trend, they have assembled a large number of texts from ancient Egypt that were purported by their Christian users to have ritual power. Relying on the latest theories concerning ritual studies, these scholars demonstrate not only the falsity of this dichotomy but also the incredible diversity of expressions in an early Christianity that is too often thought to have been monolithic. The spells and formulae in the volume perform a number of different functions, from healing for specific physical ailments to the securing of love and sex. There is also a collection of curses, including the interesting and vituperative curse by a mother upon a younger woman who had captured her son's affections. The most important part of the volume deals with various rites practiced by the Gnostics (a catch-all appellation for disparate groups of Christian heretics who believe in salvation through secret, mystical knowledge), including an initiation and a spell for ascending through the heavens. The final section of the work offers selections from various magic handbooks of the ancient world. The book could have benefited from some attention to Tom Driver's recent The Magic of Ritual (not reviewed). Though primarily of interest to religious scholars, there is enough here to entertain interested lay readers as well. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

The use of magic or ritual in the early practice of the Christian religion reflects its roots in folk practices and beliefs. This volume presents a sampling of English translations of early texts, dating from 100 C.E. to the 12th century, that concern private rituals done for specific purposes (e.g., to attract a woman, to cure a medical problem). Each section begins with an essay about the kinds of texts included in the section. The book is valuable it makes available the English translations of ritual texts from the early era of Christianity that show how practitioners viewed their relationship to power, demons, angels, and God. Recommended for academic collections supporting Christian religious scholarship.
- Gail Wood, SUNY Coll. of Technology Lib., Alfred
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.