Beyond The Bible - CLAS Users
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New TestamentCOMMENTARY12/15/16, 7)12 PMDECEMBER 14 2016A thirteenth-century manuscript page from an Infancy Gospel Library Laurenziana, Florence/akg-imagesBeyond the BibleJ. K. ELLIOTTWhen, in the fourth century, the Church, East and West,finally agreed its canon of Scripture, the twenty-sevenbooks that made up the New Testament were not theonly early Christian writings in circulation.Comparable books excluded from that canonicalcollection were then branded “apocryphal”.The narratives that make up the bulk of the NewTestament apocrypha shed light on our understandingof popular and widespread religious practices d-the-bible/Page 1 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMbeliefs, enlarge our grasp of doctrine and history, andoffer insights into how the Christian story wasdeveloped, received and embellished. Seldom can anyother body of literature have had such a profoundinfluence on religious thought. From these texts may beseen the origin of teachings on celibacy and virginity,asceticism and poverty, intercession by Mary, the roleof women, patron saints, the veneration of relics,monasticism and Christianity’s negative reactions toJudaism.Beyond the theological realm these texts influenced art,as may be observed in many cycles of Mary’s oranother saint’s life, for example, in the cathedrals ofVenice, Chartres and Bourges, or in the Arena Chapelin Padua. The poetry of Milton, Dante and Herderreveals the inspiration of apocryphal Christian writings.Drama in the York and N-Town mystery plays was alsoobviously influenced by them. So, too, was music:Holst’s Hymn of Jesus, performed at the Three ChoirsFestival in 1921, took its libretto from the apocryphalActs of John. Even the Hollywood blockbuster QuoVadis? dramatized an episode from the apocryphal Actsof yond-the-bible/Page 2 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMS U B S C R I B E T O T H E W E E K LY T L SNEWSLETTERFirst nameLast nameEmail addressWe'll also keep you informed about offers, promotions andinformation that may be of interest to you. Please tick here ifyou don't want to receive theseYour information will be used in accordance with our privacypolicySign upUnlike Jewish intertestamental writings commonlydesignated as “The Apocrypha” in Protestant Bibles,and referring to an agreed number of texts, the title“New Testament apocrypha” applies to a huge andamorphous collection of Christian or quasi-Christiantexts written in different languages and in severalcountries over many years, starting from the secondChristian century. The definite article in this titlesuggests a fixed collection, which is not the case –modern scholarly compendia of such writings differover what is included. Not only that: very few of thetexts commonly assembled under this umbrella beyond-the-bible/Page 3 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMclaim to have been apocryphal in its literal meaning of“hidden”. In theory, a cumbersome expression such as“early non-canonical Christian writings” may be moreaccurate, but common usage has stabilized a term thattells would-be readers what to expect when turning to acollection of texts with this conventional title on itsspine.The popularity of the apocrypha in antiquity and theirwide geographical spread gave them a powerfulinfluence on Christian thinking, imagination andpractice, despite ecclesiastical disapprobation.Unsurprisingly, the censoring of books and their beingplaced on a blacklist always have the opposite effect tothat intended.The Bible itself may proclaim in Ecclesiastes 12:12 that“of the making of books there is no end”. It is astatement that rings particularly true for early Christianapocrypha.The number of apocryphal texts already published andthus readily accessible to a general readership has beenincreasing in recent decades. Even more texts are in d-the-bible/Page 4 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMpipeline. A new book by Tony Burke and Brent Landau– New Testament Apocrypha: More non-canonicalScriptures (Eerdmans, 2016) – is the first in a projectedmulti-volume series. It contains several previouslyunknown or unfamiliar texts. Those writings publishedhere originated in the earliest Christian centuries andthey are preserved in a variety of languages: Coptic,Syriac, Arabic as well as Armenian, Georgian, OldIrish and Ethiopic. Some of them add to the knownrepertoire of tales about the Magi, John the Baptist andother dramatis personae from the New Testament, suchas Barnabas, Judas, Mary Magdalene, Titus and Pilate.There are many more apocryphal texts still to edit,publish and discuss in continuing attempts to explorethe multifaceted nature of early Christianity. Some,including a number recently edited and published, areknown today from only a few manuscripts or even onlya single copy sometimes found in an archaeologicaldig. It is not surprising, however, that some texts havedisappeared completely, perhaps leaving only theirtitles in writings by the Church Fathers and othersources; brief extracts from others are known only fromquotations. In contrast to these sparse /beyond-the-bible/Page 5 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMthough, several supposedly fringe apocryphal textsremarkably survive in a good number of extantmanuscripts. For example, a Greek work, theProtevangelium of James, written in the secondcentury, has been preserved in its entirety in over ahundred manuscripts today. Additionally, itsmanuscripts range in date over several centuries, thusbetraying the abiding appeal of this work. Translationsof other early Greek or Latin apocrypha also survive inthe ancient Christian languages – Syriac, Coptic,Georgian, Armenian, Slavic or Arabic, thereby alsoindicating their increasing and widespread popularity.Students of Christian history and doctrine neglect thisliterature at their peril. Some of the texts may indeedhave been influenced by what were to be calledheresies by disapproving authorities, but that is notsurprising as many originated in the syncretistic worldof the second and third centuries. But the majority ofthese New Testament apocrypha superstitious,magical, unsophisticated though many are – can,however, be properly termed proto-orthodox.As well as the Protevangelium of James, /beyond-the-bible/Page 6 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMapocryphal gospel texts include the Infancy Gospel ofThomas, the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, the ArabicInfancy Gospel, the Gospel of Peter, and the Gospel ofNico demus. Then there are numerous apocryphal Actscentring on the derring-do of Paul, Peter and other earlyapostles. There are also a large number of apocryphalapocalypses and several epistolary works.Christian writings castigated as heretical or undesirableoften survived in clandestine versions. The variousapocryphal Acts, in particular, were largely rewritten,frequently revised or epitomized. (Montague RhodesJames called them réchauffés.) For example, theancient Acts of Andrew was heavily censored,allegedly to avoid “verbosity” and to omit “all that bredweariness”.There is a considerable body of otherwise unknownsayings attributed to Jesus in patristic writings, biblicalmanuscripts, and in apocryphal sources; most of thesesayings are unparalleled in the New Testament itself.They are often dubbed “Agrapha”, that is “unwritten”(in the canonical gospels). One of the most commonlystudied of ancient gospels containing many Agrapha -the-bible/Page 7 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMthat of Thomas. Like many such texts, it claims to bethe work of an early disciple, in this case DidymusJudas Thomas; it was rediscovered in its entirety at NagHammadi in Egypt as recently as 1945–6. Its openingwords speak merely of its being a collection of “secretwords”, thus being a rare example of an overtly“hidden” book. It contains 114 sayings, nearly all ofthem attributed to Jesus. As such, it is one of the fewnon-canonical texts in which the very words of Jesushimself may survive.Among narrative texts are gospels about the lives anddeaths of Mary and of Jesus. Firstly the Mariangospels, products of the need to amplify the story ofMary and satisfy the natural curiosity of readers of thetexts that became the four canonical gospels. Anyoneattempting to tell her life story, basing it on only theNew Testament, comes across many tantalizing gaps.Biographical queries arise: Where was she born? Whowere her parents? How was she reared? What about herdeath? Other questions are theological: Why was thiswoman in particular chosen to be the mother of Jesus?What was special and unique about her? What examplecan she set? It was in order to answer questions such -the-bible/Page 8 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMthese that, by the second century, Christian imaginationand piety began producing apocryphal tales aboutMary. Many survived.The Protevangelium of James relates events beforeJesus’s birth, hence its name “the Proto-Gospel”; it tellsof Mary’s parents, Anne and Joachim, and of Mary’sbirth and upbringing. The stories in it reflect adeveloping tradition that was ultimately expressed inChristian teaching about the perpetual virginity ofMary. In addition, it gave support and impetus to afestival, the Presentation of Mary in the Temple(marked in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches onNovember 21), and to teachings like the ImmaculateConception.A later apocryphal work, the Gospel of PseudoMatthew, dating from between the fourth and sixthcenturies, popularized these legends about Mary’s earlylife in Latin-speaking Christendom well into theMiddle Ages. The motive for compiling this gospelalso seems to have been to further the veneration ofMary, not least by the inclusion of stories about theHoly Family’s sojourn in Egypt. It is in this Gospel nd-the-bible/Page 9 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMJesus’s birth is acknowledged not only by shepherds,but also by animals. The well-known Christmas cardscene with an ox and ass adoring the newborn Jesus intheir manger is due to the influence of the OldTestament, in particular Isaiah 1:3 (“An ox knows itsowner and a donkey its master’s stall”) and theSeptuagint version of Habakkuk 3:2 (“O Lord . . . Youshall be known in the midst of two living creatures”)cited in Pseudo-Matthew 14; it represents an ongoingtradition in which various Old Testament passages wereread as Messianic prophecies that were then said tohave been fulfilled in the life of Jesus. Then comes thetext known as De Nativitate Mariae (sometimes, lessaccurately, called the Gospel of the Birth of Mary)which was also popular in the West. Over 130manuscripts of this work have been catalogued. Theend of Mary’s life is retailed in numerous and differing“dormition” accounts which led to the Catholicdoctrine, Mary’s Assumption, defined only in 1950.Gospels telling stories from the missing years ofJesus’s childhood began with the Infancy Gospel ofThomas and then the Arabic Gospel, which relateincidents about Jesus as a young boy. Their main ond-the-bible/Page 10 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMis to show his precocious awareness of his supernaturalorigin and his control over life, death and nature. Theyecho contemporary theologians’ debates about thenature of Jesus – God and/or man. They are couched interms of a “normal” human child who works at hisfather’s bench and runs errands for his mother, butwho, nevertheless, displays paranormal powers. Butmodern readers tend to be struck more by thedestructiveness of many of Jesus’s actions than thepiety underlying the stories. He is portrayed more asenfant terrible than Wunderkind.No sizeable apocryphal gospel reports incidents fromJesus’s ministry, it perhaps being felt that accounts inwhat became the four canonical gospels had saidenough, but there are later gospels that fill in gapsabout Jesus’s death. These Passion gospels include thenow fragmentary Gospel of Peter, which tells of thecrucifixion in an idiosyncratic way and also the Gospelof Nicodemus – a work that had a profound influenceon medieval English literature. The latter tells ofJesus’s career between his death on Good Friday andthe discovery of his body two days later. In that interimJesus is said to have been gainfully occupied, beyond-the-bible/Page 11 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMthe Underworld. The credal affirmation, “He descendedinto Hell”, seems to have been based on a particularinterpretation of the canonical 1 Peter 3:19 (“In thespirit he went and preached to the spirits in prison”).That verse encouraged later generations of Christians toexpand what was meant there by Jesus’s appearancebefore imprisoned spirits. In addition, the apocryphalmaterial helped to address the Church’s doctrinalconcerns about the destiny of those who had diedbefore Jesus’s incarnation and who, as a consequence,seemed to miss the opportunity to be saved. TheGospel of Nicodemus provides a solution to thedilemma concerning those who lived and died beforeJesus’s ministry; in it we read that Jesus breaks downthe gates of Hades, releases the faithful deadimprisoned there, and leads them to Paradise. This isthe scene known from the medieval Mystery Plays asthe Harrowing of Hell; more recently it has been retoldas a comic episode in Frederick Buechner’s novel TheLion Country (1971).Of the many surviving apocryphal books of Acts, themost influential are the five oldest: the Acts of Andrew,the Acts of John, the Acts of Paul, the Acts of yond-the-bible/Page 12 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMand the Acts of Thomas. The stories themselves,although bearing some resemblance to the genre ofliterature paralleled in the Acts of the Apostles in theNew Testament, with its breathless sequence of stories,journeys, conversions, plots and speeches, are in effectcounterparts to the popular reading matter of thoseliterate Roman believers who are likely to have beenthe main readers of these Christianized novels.Eventually, this type of literature gave rise to Lives ofthe Saints and to hagiographies, notably The GoldenLegend by Jacob of Voragine from the mid-thirteenthcentury, which was translated into several languagesand helped popularize many of the apocryphal talesthroughout Europe.The ecclesiastical authorities who officially denouncedthe apocryphal books of Acts nevertheless allowedtheir concluding sections to survive and circulate. It isin these that exemplary accounts of the hero’s death,usually by martyrdom, are found. The majority of theearlier stories in the apocryphal Acts are concernedwith the deeds of the eponymous hero – these are the“acts” themselves; many survive albeit often only inmanuscript fragments. Some of the passages are nd-the-bible/Page 13 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMknown and have had their influence on Christiantradition. The unflattering description of Paul as short,bald and bandy is familiar. Peter’s inverse crucifixionoccurs in the Acts of Peter, as does his reviving a deadtunny fish. The story of the poisoned chalice is in theActs of John, as is a humorous account of John’srebuking bed bugs. This Acts tells of a parricide whocastrates himself and also features a protracted yarnwhich ends in an attempted necrophiliac rape.In the Acts of Paul, Paul baptizes a lion, whichcoincidentally meets him later when Paul is cast intothe arena. We read of the evangelization of India in theActs of Thomas, a tradition still maintained by theMalabar Christians (forming part of the OrientalOrthodox tradition) in Kerala and Madras. The scene inQuo Vadis? in which the resurrected Jesus sees theimpending death of the apostle as a repetition of hisown crucifixion, comes from the Acts of Peter; acomparable scene also occurs in the Acts of Paul. Thestory of Thecla, the famed woman apostle and heroineof the Acts of Paul, became very popular with devoteesin several centres after her death and eyond-the-bible/Page 14 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMAll these Acts provide good entertainment. But despitethe fictitious stories, the apocryphal Acts do have ahistorical value too – although this does not concern thefirst-century events they purport to relate. Their mostobvious importance is that they give an unparalleledinsight into the popular folk religion of their own times.But even more important, they reveal aspects of earlyChristian preaching, teaching and worship. Most of theapocryphal books of Acts are orthodox and stem fromChristians who, in writing these stories about theapostles, projected into them their own contemporaryfaith. Behind the undoubted exaggeration and distortionlie beliefs that develop ideas found in the NewTestament in general and the Acts of the Apostles inparticular. These apocryphal Acts may be crudelysensational, may promote an unthinking superstition atworst, a simple faith at best, but their creation, enduringexistence and undoubted popularity reveal aChristianity that was vibrant, popular and, above all,successful throughout the Dark Ages and beyond.Turning to the apocryphal apocalypses we note thatChristian writers, biblical and post-biblical, concernedthemselves, just as their Jewish precursors had ond-the-bible/Page 15 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMwith teaching about the future. In general, apocalypsesspeak of the signs and portents presaging the end ofthis world and revealing the nature of the next. In theapocryphal literature we may separate these twofeatures. First are writings like the Apocalypse ofThomas, which contains predictions about the endingof the present world and is thus apocalyptic in the senseof foretelling the future. Secondly there are texts thatdescribe what heaven and hell hold in store for thefaithful and the unbeliever – always a matter ofcontemporary interest. Post-biblical writers used thisgenre of literature, containing guided tours of the otherworld, with great imagination. Two of the mostinfluential texts were the Apocalypse of Peter, possiblydating from the mid-second century, and theApocalypse of Paul, probably written in the fourth. Thelatter work proved to be the most popular of theWestern Church’s apocryphal apocalypses and it led tothe commonly held beliefs about heaven and hell thatfuelled the medieval imagination, its literature and art.Theological and philosophical ideas permeated thethinking behind the apocryphal writings. In turn thosetexts came to influence or satisfy the ate/beyond-the-bible/Page 16 of 17
TLSBeyond the Bible: Literature from the fringes of the New Testament12/15/16, 7)12 PMcuriosity of the Christian imagination. The currentsearches for a reception history of each piece ofliterature encourages an investigation into how theseChristian apocrypha influenced a wider milieu, bothwritten and artistic. Painting, sculpture, stained glassand contemporary culture often benefited from theseextra-biblical tales and themes. Links between thewritten, rhetorical, texts and the iconic representationsof them in the plastic arts are profitable lines of study.This often innovative non-canonical literature, despitethe pejorative definitions usually associated with thedescription of it as “apocryphal”, ought never now tobe “hidden”, nor should it be relegated as “spurious”,“secondary” or “of dubious vate/beyond-the-bible/Page 17 of 17
apocryphal gospel texts include the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, the Arabic Infancy Gospel, the Gospel of Peter, and the Gospel of Nico demus. Then there are numerous apocryphal Acts centring on the derring-do of Paul, Peter and other ea
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