This chapter introduces the scholarly conflict over the origin of the Nag Hammadi codices and problematises them from the various perspectives. It argues that there are strong scholarly trends in both camps that have influenced the study and understanding of the texts and, further, that the codices’ material features have been understudied in previous analyses of their provenance. The chapter goes on to provide an overview of previous research and concludes with an outline of the content of the book. It maintains that the texts’ palaeographical, visual and editorial features may offer ways through the polarised scholarly debates concerning the background of the texts. It also suggests that by learning more about this significant, early Christian manuscript find we stand to gain important new insights about a formative period of early Christian history when the boundaries of orthodoxy and heresy were beginning to take shape.

This chapter introduces the scholarly conflict over the origin of the Nag Hammadi codices and problematises them from the various perspectives. It argues that there are strong scholarly trends in both camps that have influenced the study and understanding of the texts and, further, that the codices’ material features have been understudied in previous analyses of their provenance. The chapter goes on to provide an overview of previous research and concludes with an outline of the content of the book. It maintains that the texts’ palaeographical, visual and editorial features may offer ways through the polarised scholarly debates concerning the background of the texts. It also suggests that by learning more about this significant, early Christian manuscript find we stand to gain important new insights about a formative period of early Christian history when the boundaries of orthodoxy and heresy were beginning to take shape.