Sasagu Arai
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese researcher of early Christianity and Gnosticism
. Arai is a Doctor of Theology Professor emeritus of University of Tokyo
and Keisen University
, and a member of The Japan Academy
. He graduated (1962) at Erlangen-Nürnberg University in Germany.
Arai was a pioneer of the studies of Gnosticism after the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library
.
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
. Arai is a Doctor of Theology Professor emeritus of University of Tokyo
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
and Keisen University
Keisen University
is a private women's college in Tama, Tokyo, Japan, established in 1988. The university is linked to the Keisen School for Young Women, founded in 1929 by Michi Kawai, the National Secretary of the Young Women's Christian Associations of Japan.- Philosophy :...
, and a member of The Japan Academy
The Japan Academy
is an honorary organization founded in 1879 to bring together leading Japanese scholars with distinguished records of scientific achievements. The Academy is currently organization attached to the Ministry of Education; and the organization's headquarters located in Ueno Park, Tokyo, Japan...
. He graduated (1962) at Erlangen-Nürnberg University in Germany.
Arai was a pioneer of the studies of Gnosticism after the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library
Nag Hammadi library
The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. That year, twelve leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local peasant named Mohammed Ali Samman...
.
Works
- Early Christianity and Gnosticism (1971), Iwanami shoten
- Jesus and his Age (1974), Iwanami shoten (shinsho)
- New Testament and Gnosticism (1986), Iwanami shoten
- Evangelium according to Thomas (1994), Koudansha
- Nag Hammadi Library ed. (4 vol.), (1997–1998), Iwanami shoten
- Jesus Christ, Part1, Part2 (2001), Koudansha
- Collected Works of Arai Sasagu (10 vol. and addendum book), (June 2001 - June 2002), Iwanami shoten