New Testament apocrypha
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The New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early Christians that claim to be accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. These writings often have links with books regarded as "canonical". Not every branch of the Christian church agrees on which writings should be regarded as "canonical" and which are "apocryphal" (See, for example, the Gospel according to the Hebrews).
Definition
The word "apocrypha" means "things put away" or "things hidden" and comes from the Greek through the Latin. The general term is usually applied to the books that were considered by the church as useful, but not divinely inspired. As such, to refer to Gnostic writings as "apocryphal" is misleading since they would not be classified in the same category by orthodox believers. Often used by the Greek Fathers was the term antilegomena, or "spoken against", although some canonical books were also spoken against, such as the Apocalypse of John in the East. Often used by scholars is the term pseudepigrapha, or "falsely inscribed" or "falsely attributed", in the sense that the writings were written by an anonymous author who appended the name of an apostle to his work, such as in the Gospel of Peter or The Æthiopic Apocalypse of Enoch: almost all books, in both Old and New Testaments, called "apocrypha" in the Protestant tradition are pseudepigrapha. In the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, what are called the apocrypha by Protestants include the deuterocanonical books: in the Catholic tradition, the term "apocrypha" is synonymous with what Protestants would called the pseudepigrapha, the latter term of which is almost exclusively used by scholars.[1]
History
Development of the New Testament Canon
Main article: Development of the New Testament canon
That some works are categorized as New Testament Apocrypha is indicative of the wide range of responses that were engendered in the interpretation of the message of Jesus of Nazareth. During the first several centuries of the transmission of that message, considerable debate turned on safeguarding its authenticity. Three key methods of addressing this survive to the present day: ordination, where groups authorize individuals as reliable teachers of the message; creeds, where groups define the boundaries of interpretation of the message; and canons, which list the primary documents certain groups believe contain the message originally taught by Jesus (in other words, the Bible). There was substantial debate about which books should be included in the canons. In general, those books that the majority regarded as the earliest books about Jesus were the ones included. Books that were not accepted into the canons are now termed apocryphal. Some of them were vigorously suppressed and survive only as fragments. The earliest lists of canonical works of the New Testament were not quite the same as modern lists; for example, the Book of Revelation was regarded as disputed by some Christians (see Antilegomena), while Shepherd of Hermas was considered genuine by others, and appears (after the Book of Revelation) in the Codex Sinaiticus.
The works that presented themselves as "authentic" but that did not obtain general acceptance from within the churches are called New Testament Apocrypha. These are not accepted as canonical by most mainstream Christian denominations; only the Ethiopian Orthodox Church recognizes the Shepherd of Hermas, 1 Clement, Acts of Paul, and several Old Testament books that most other denominations reject, but it should be noted that this church does not adhere to an explicit canon.[citation needed]
The Syriac Peshitta, used by all the various Syrian Churches, originally did not include 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude and Revelation (and this canon of 22 books is the one cited by John Chrysostom (~347-407) and Theodoret (393-466) from the School of Antioch).[2] Western Syrians have added the remaining five books to their New Testament canons in modern times[2] (such as the Lee Peshitta of 1823). Today, the official lectionaries followed by the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church and the East Syriac Chaldean Catholic Church, which is in communion with the Bishop of Rome, still only present lessons from the 22 books of the original Peshitta.[2]
The Armenian Apostolic church at times has included the Third Epistle to the Corinthians, but does not always list it with the other 27 canonical New Testament books. This Church did not accept Revelation into its Bible until 1200 CE.[3] The New Testament of the Coptic Bible, adopted by the Egyptian Church, includes the two Epistles of Clement.
Modern scholarship
Tischendorf and other scholars began to study New Testament apocrypha seriously in the 19th Century and produce new translations. The "standard" scholarly edition of the New Testament Apocrypha in German and English is that of Schneemelcher.[4] The texts of the Nag Hammadi library are often considered separately but the current edition of Schneemelcher also contains eleven Nag Hammadi texts.[5]
Books that are known objectively not to have existed in antiquity are usually not considered part of the New Testament Apocrypha. Among these are the Libellus de Nativitate Sanctae Mariae (also called the "Nativity of Mary") and the Latin Infancy gospel. The latter two did not exist in antiquity, and they seem to be based on the earlier Infancy gospels.[citation needed]
Gospels
Main articles: Gospel and List of gospels
Canonical gospels
Four gospels came to be accepted as part of the New Testament, or canonical. Many other documents (of various genres) given the title "gospel" were written subsequently.
Infancy gospels
The rarity of information about the childhood of Jesus in the canonical gospels led to a hunger of early Christians for more detail about the early life of Jesus. This was supplied by a number of 2nd century and later texts, known as infancy gospels, none of which were accepted into the biblical canon, but the very number of their surviving manuscripts attests to their continued popularity.
Most of these were based on the earliest infancy gospels, namely the Infancy Gospel of James (also called the "Protoevangelium of James") and Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and on their later combination into the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew (also called the "Infancy Gospel of Matthew" or "Birth of Mary and Infancy of the Saviour").
The other significant early infancy gospels are the Syriac Infancy Gospel, the History of Joseph the Carpenter and the Life of John the Baptist.
Jewish Christian gospels
Main article: Jewish-Christian gospels
Jewish Christian sects within Early Christianity that retained a strong allegiance to Judaism, upholding Mosaic Law, used these gospels as specific to themselves:
- Gospel of the Ebionites - 7 quotes cited, all by Epiphanius
- Gospel of the Hebrews - 7 quotes survive, six of them by Jerome
Some scholars consider that the 2 last named are in fact the same source.[6]
Non-Canonical gospels
Other documents entitled "gospels" came into existence in the second and third Christian centuries. Sometimes, those attributed to the text state elsewhere that their text is the earlier version, or that their text excises all the additions and distortions made by their opponents to the more recognised version of the text. The Church Fathers insisted that these people were the ones making distortions, but some modern scholars do not. It remains to be seen whether any are earlier and more accurate versions of the canonical texts. Details of their contents only survive in the attacks on them by their opponents, and so for the most part it is uncertain as to how extensively different they are, and whether any constitute entirely different works. These texts include:
- Gospel of Marcion (mid 2nd century)
- Gospel of Mani (3rd century)
- Gospel of Apelles (mid-late 2nd century)
- Gospel of Bardesanes (late 2nd - early 3rd century)
- Gospel of Basilides (mid 2nd century)
Sayings gospels
One or two texts take the form of brief logia—sayings and parables of Jesus—which are not embedded in a connected narrative:
A minority of scholars regard the Gospel of Thomas as part of the tradition from which the canonical gospels eventually emerged; in any case both of these documents are important as showing us what the theoretical Q document might have looked like.
Passion gospels
A number of gospels are concerned specifically with the "Passion" (arrest, execution and resurrection) of Jesus:
- Gospel of Nicodemus (also called the "Acts of Pilate")
- Resurrection of Jesus Christ (which claims to be according to Bartholomew)
Although three texts take Bartholomew's name, it may be that one of the Questions of Bartholomew or the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is in fact the unknown Gospel of Bartholomew.
Harmonized gospels
A number of texts aim to provide a single harmonization of the canonical gospels, that eliminates discordances among them by presenting a unified text derived from them to some degree. The most widely read of these was the Diatessaron.
Gnostic texts
Main article: Gnostic gospels
In the modern era, many Gnostic texts have been uncovered, especially from the Nag Hammadi library. Some texts take the form of an expounding of the esoteric cosmology and ethics held by the Gnostics. Often this was in the form of dialogue in which Jesus expounds esoteric knowledge while his disciples raise questions concerning it. There is also a text, known as the Epistula Apostolorum, which is a polemic against Gnostic esoterica, but written in a similar style as the Gnostic texts.
Dialogues with Jesus
- Apocryphon of James (also called the "Secret Book of James")
- Gospel of Judas (also called the "Gospel of Judas Iscariot")
- Gospel of Mary (also called the "Gospel of Mary Magdalene")
- Greek Gospel of the Egyptians (distinct from the Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians)
General texts concerning Jesus
- Coptic Apocalypse of Paul (distinct from the Apocalypse of Paul)
- Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter (distinct from the Apocalypse of Peter)
Sethian texts concerning Jesus
The Sethians were a gnostic group who originally worshipped the biblical Seth as a messianic figure, later treating Jesus as a re-incarnation of Seth. They produced numerous texts expounding their esoteric cosmology, usually in the form of visions:
- Apocryphon of John (also called the "Secret Gospel of John")
- Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians (distinct from the Greek Gospel of the Egyptians)
Ritual diagrams
Some of the Gnostic texts appear to consist of diagrams and instructions for use in religious rituals:
Acts
Main article: Acts of the Apostles (genre)
Several texts concern themselves with the subsequent lives of the apostles, usually with highly supernatural events. Almost half of these are said[who?] to have been written by Leucius Charinus (known as the Leucian Acts), a companion of John the apostle. The Acts of Thomas and the Acts of Peter and the Twelve are often considered Gnostic texts. While most of the texts are believed to have been written in the 2nd century, at least two, the Acts of Barnabas and the Acts of Peter and Paul are believed to have been written as late as the 5th century.
Epistles
Main article: Epistles
There are also non-canonical epistles (or "letters") between individuals or to Christians in general. Some of them were regarded very highly by the early church:
- Epistle to the Laodiceans (an epistle in the name of Paul)
- Epistle to Seneca the Younger (an epistle in the name of Paul)
- Third Epistle to the Corinthians - accepted in the past by some in the Armenian Orthodox church.
Apocalypses
Main article: Apocalyptic literature
Several works frame themselves as visions, often discussing the future, afterlife, or both:
- Apocalypse of Paul (distinct from the Coptic Apocalypse of Paul)
- Apocalypse of Peter (distinct from the Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter)
- Apocalypse of Thomas (also called the Revelation of Thomas)
- Apocalypse of Stephen (also called the Revelation of Stephen)
- First Apocalypse of James (also called the First Revelation of James)
- Second Apocalypse of James (also called the Second Revelation of James)
Fate of Mary
Several texts (over 50) consist of descriptions of the events surrounding the varied fate of Mary (the mother of Jesus):
- The Home Going of Mary
- The Falling asleep of the Mother of God
- The Descent of Mary
Miscellany
These texts, due to their content or form, do not fit into the other categories:
- Apostolic Constitutions (church regulations supposedly asserted by the apostles)
- Cave of Treasures (also called The Treasure)
Fragments
In addition to the known Apocryphal works, there are also small fragments of texts, parts of unknown (or uncertain) works. Some of the more significant fragments are:
- The Unknown Berlin Gospel (also called the Gospel of the Saviour)
- The Fayyum Fragment
- The Egerton Gospel
Lost works
Several texts are mentioned in many ancient sources and would probably be considered part of the apocrypha, but no known text has survived:
- Gospel of Eve (a quotation from this gospel is given by Epiphanius (Haer. xxvi. 2, 3). It is possible that this is the Gospel of Perfection he alludes to in xxvi. 2. The quotation shows that this gospel was the expression of complete pantheism)
- Gospel of Matthias (probably different from the Gospel of Matthew)
- Gospel of Perfection (used by the followers of Basilides and other Gnostics. See Epiphanius, Haer. xxvi. 2)
- Gospel of Thaddaeus (this may be a synonym for the Gospel of Judas, confusing Judas Iscariot for Judas Thaddaeus)
A note about The Eastern Orthodox Church
See also: Orthodoxy
While many of the books listed here were considered heretical (especially those belonging to the gnostic tradition—as this sect was considered heretical by Proto-orthodox Christianity of the early centuries), others were not considered particularly heretical in content, but in fact were well accepted as significant spiritual works.
While some of the following works appear in complete Bibles from the fourth century, such as 1 Clement and The Shepherd of Hermas, showing their general popularity, they were not included when the canon was formally decided at the end of that century.
Evaluation
Among historians of early Christianity the books are considered invaluable, especially those that almost made it into the final canon, such as Shepherd of Hermas. Bart Ehrman, for example, said:
- The victors in the struggles to establish Christian Orthodoxy not only won their theological battles, they also rewrote the history of the conflict; later readers then naturally assumed that the victorious views had been embraced by the vast majority of Christians from the very beginning ... The practice of Christian forgery has a long and distinguished history ... the debate lasted three hundred years ... even within "orthodox" circles there was considerable debate concerning which books to include.[7]
This debate primarily concerned whether certain works should be read in the church service or only privately. These works were widely used but not necessarily considered Catholic or 'universal.' Such works include the Didache, Shepherd of Hermas, 1 Clement, 2 Clement, the Epistle of Barnabas, and to a lesser extent the Apocalypse of Peter. Considering the generally accepted dates of authorship for all of the canonical New Testament works (ca. 100 AD or before), as well as the various witnesses to canonicity extant among the writings of Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, etc., the four gospels and letters of Paul were universally held as scriptural, and only ~200 years were needed to finalize the canon; from the beginning of the 2nd Century to the mid-4th Century, no book in the final canon was ever declared spurious or heretical, except for the Revelation of John which the Council of Laodicea in 363-364 AD rejected (although it accepted all of the other 26 books in the New Testament). This was possibly due to fears of the influence of Montanism which used the book extensively to support their theology. See Revelation of John for more details. Athanasius wrote his Easter letter in 367 AD which defined a canon of 27 books, identical to the current canon, but also listed two works that were "not in the canon but to be read:" The Shepherd of Hermas and the Didache. Nevertheless, the early church leaders in the 3rd and 4th Centuries generally distinguished between canonical works and those that were not canonical but 'useful,' or 'good for teaching,' though never relegating any of the final 27 books to the latter category. One aim with establishing the canon was to capture only those works which were held to have been written by the Apostles, or their close associates, and as the Muratorian fragment canon (ca. 150-175 AD) states concerning the Shepherd of Hermas:
- ...But Hermas wrote The Shepherd very recently, in our times, in the city of Rome, while bishop Pius, his brother, was occupying the chair of the church of the city of Rome. And therefore it ought indeed to be read; but it cannot be read publicly to the people in church either among the Prophets, whose number is complete, or among the Apostles, for it is after their time.
See also
- The Q document, a hypothetical document underlying much of the text of the canonical gospels of Matthew and Luke
References
- ^ Charlesworth, James H (1985). Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson. p. 2257. ISBN 978-1-59856-489-1.
- ^ a b c Peshitta
- ^ Reliability
- ^ James McConkey Robinson, Christoph Heil, Jozef Verheyden The Sayings Gospel Q: collected essays 2005 p279 "Not only has a third, fourth, fifth, and sixth edition of the standard German work by Edgar Hennecke and Wilhelm Schneemelcher prepared under the editorship of Schneemelcher appeared, but independent editions are being produced ...
- ^ The fifth Gospel: the Gospel of Thomas comes of age - 1998 p105 Stephen J. Patterson, James McConkey Robinson, Hans-Gebhard Bethge -"The current edition of Wilhelm Schneemelcher's standard New Testament Apocrypha contains eleven Nag Hammadi tractates,"
- ^ Craig A. Evans
- ^ Ehrman, Lost Scriptures P 2,3
External links
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