¹ All citations from On the Origin of the World are from The Nag Hammadi Library, ed. James Robinson, rev. ed. (San Francisco: Harper, 1988). For ease of reference, they will be cited in the body of the article by original text page and line number, as indicated in Robinson's edition.

² Hans Jonas, The Gnostic Religion (Boston: Beacon, 1991, 2nd edition) 32.

³Esoterikos can be defined as private or secret, especially as understood by a select few who have special knowledge,

⁴ For a concise overview of Gnosticism see: www.gnostic.org.

⁵ Elaine Pagels, "Adam, Eve and the Serpent in Genesis 1-3," in Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism, 412. Other Nag Hammadi texts which include the Genesis creation account(s) are: Gospel of Philip, Exegesis on the Soul, Hypostasis of the Archon, Thunder: Perfect Mind, Apocryphon of John and Apocalypse of Adam.

⁶ Giovanni Filoramo, A History of Gnosticism, 52-53.

⁷ All citations from OW are taken from The Nag Hammadi Library, ed. James Robinson, rev. ed. (San Francisco: Harper, 1988). They will be cited in the body of the article by original text page and line number, as indicated in Robinson's edition.

⁸ The reader is reminded that in the first chapter of Genesis humankind is created "male and female" simultaneously by God.

⁹ All biblical quotations are taken from The New Revised Standard Version, issued by the National Council of the Churches of Christ, 1989.

¹⁰ In fairness to Paul, it should be noted that he continues this dialogue by stating that "just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman."

¹¹ Ambrose, Paradise, 4.24, 10.48. For a collection of writings from Ambrose and other "Early Church Fathers" see: http://ccel.wheaton.edu/fathers2/ .

¹² Augustine, The Literal Meaning of Genesis, 11.37. To view both Latin and English versions of Augustine's works see: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/augustine.html .

¹³ The analogy of movement between Adam and the serpent is intriguing here.

¹⁴ The etymology of the Hebrew word "Eve" has been interpreted in various ways, including "first woman," "mothers of all living things" or, even "serpent" – thus associating her with the concept that all life originated in a primeval serpent.

¹⁵ Martin Luther, Lectures on Genesis, volume I of Luther's Works, 69, 151, 202. Quotations taken from Margaret Miles, Carnal Knowing (New York: Vintage, 1991) 107-112. Some of the works of Luther can be found on the Wittenberg Project's site:

http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/wittenberg-luther.html .

¹⁶ Michael Williams, "Variety in Gnostic Perspectives on Gender," Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism, (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988) 8.

¹⁷ Jerry D. Meyer, "Profane and Sacred: Religious Imagery and Prophetic Expression in Postmodern Art." Journal of the American Academy of Religion LXV/1, 42.