More Christian Apocrypha
I mentioned in a previous post several texts that tend to be omitted from "New Testament Apocrypha" collections and thus have been neglected in scholarship. Typically this is because they are relatively late texts and thus fall outside of the temporal parameters of the formation of the New Testament. As a means of attracting attention to these texts I have added a new page (More Christian Apocrypha) to my site focusing on the texts. At the moment it is little more than a list of the material but I will add more information to the page when time permits. Any suggestions for additions and general improvement would be appreciated.
I just read the narrative of Jopseph of Arimathea. Very interesting. I was struck by its reliance on physical phenomena: the physical theft of the Law, the relationship of Judas to Caiaphas, the framing of Jesus, the letters written and read. It’s quite a change from the mystery we find in Mark, for example. Perhaps that’s what time does to a tradition. As the years go by, skepticism increases – hence the need for something more substantial.
The figure of Demas is also interesting. His crimes are more vague than Gestas’ crimes, and in some ways he mirrors Jesus himself. And so he undergoes a transformation from guilt by association to spiritual twin.