I second Halcyon's recommendation of King's book. It really is excellent. Another great book along those lines is Rethinking "Gnosticism" by Michael Williams.
Abrasax, a character in Sethian Gnostic mythology, appears in three Nag Hammadi texts: the Gospel of the Egyptians, the Apocalypse of Adam, and the Book of Zostrianos. The Gospel of the Egyptians explains that Abrasax is one of four "ministers" (along with Gamaliel, Gabriel, and Samlo) who serve...
Since the tractate Melchizedek is an example of Christianized Sethianism, it likely stands in the middle phase of the Sethian religion, after the original non-Christian Judaic phase, but before the later Platonized phase. Beyond that I think it's pretty hard to say much about its age. Birger...
Well, the book Melchizedek in Nag Hammadi Codex IX is clearly a work of Sethian Gnosticism (e.g. it includes distinctively Sethian characters such as Barbelo, Doxomedon, Harmozel, Oroiael, Daveithe, and Eleleth). The text identifies Melchizedek with Jesus Christ (an elaboration on the Christian...