Prayer of the Apostle Paul

The Prayer of the Apostle Paul (Latin: Precatio Pauli, in short: PrecPl ) is the first text on the "Codex Jung" (Codex I) of the Nag Hammadi writings (NHC ). She seems to have been preceded by the Codex after the longer treatises had been written off. While the text - like all the rest of the codex - is written in Coptic, he bears a Greek title. From the manuscript are missing about two lines at the beginning of the text.

The original Greek text is drafted clearly pseudepigraph, ie it was not written from the historical apostle Paul. For he shows Gnostic influence that can not be found in Paul's letters. Many experts refer to it as a valentinianisches work based on characteristic expressions, such as the "psychic God ". This suggests a formation between 150 and 300 AD There you will find parallels to many other texts that might have partially served as sources, including the Corpus Hermeticum, the Three Steles of Seth, the Gospel of Philip and the genuine letters of Paul.