The Thunder: Perfect Mind: One of the Most Heralded Nag Hammadi Documents

In this archival recording of a live Bible and Beyond Discussion, held on Monday, August 23, 2021, presenter Dr. Hal Taussig discusses "The Thunder: Perfect Mind," a text that has become one of the most engaging recently discovered early Christ texts. It was found in the Nag Hammadi jar with 51 other Christ-related ancient documents in 1945 in the Egyptian desert.

The document’s recent notoriety has come mainly via world-wide artistic attention. Nobel Prize winning author, Toni Morrison, quotes it in her novels. Multiple Oscar award-winning director Ridley Scott has made a film about it. Julia Dash opened her award-winning full-length film, "Daughters of the Dust," with Thunder. Umberto Eco’s famous novel, "Foucault’s Pendulum," features Thunder. Leading early Christianity scholar, Elaine Pagels probably is most responsible for spreading the news about Thunder, quoting it extensively in her popular books. Sue Monk Kidd has joined Morrison and Eco in bringing Thunder into a significant novel, "The Book of Longings." University of Pennsylvania professor Andrew Lamas calls this poem “one of the ten most important documents in history.” Thunder was also one of ten ancient texts added to A New New Testament. It features a divine, mostly female, first-person voice which embodies a vulnerable—yet powerful—presence.