Apocryphicity
A Blog Devoted to the Study of Christian Apocrypha
VIA Mark Goodacre's NTBLog: The latest Journal for the Study of the New Testament is a special edition focused on Simon Gathercole's The Composition of the Gospel of Thomas and Mark Goodacre's Thomas and the Gospels (which I reviewed HERE). See the original post for a full table of contents.
A few weeks ago James Allen, host of "Teachings of Enoch," a radio show on KKVV in Las Vegas, interviewed me on my book Secret Scriptures Revealed. You can listen to the two-part interview at James' archive site. Thanks again, James, for having me on the show.
The two-part BBC2 documentary “The Bible Hunters” has generated some discussion among bloggers recently, due particularly to participating-scholar Larry Hurtado’s criticisms of the show. I was finally able to watch the series over the last few days (it has not yet aired in North America) and thought I would make some comments, particularly about the second episode in the series, “The Search for Lost Gospels.”
“The Bible Hunters” is hosted by Jeff Rose, described in his profile as “an archaeologist and anthropologist specializing in the prehistory, palaeoenvironments, genetics, and religious traditions of the Middle East.” Throughout the series he visits (on foot, by boat, by camel, and by motorcycle) a number of Middle Eastern sites related to important biblical and non-biblical manuscript discoveries—including St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai, Akhmim, and the White Monastery in Sohag. In each location he interviews scholars and monks about the manuscripts, and then places the discoveries into the context of 19th/20th-century debates about the authenticity of the Bible. A number of British scholars help Rose elucidate the discoveries and their impact, including David Gange (University of Birmingham), Edward Adams (King’s College, London), and Michael Ledger-Lomas (King’s College, London); American Kent Clark (Trinity Western University) also makes an appearance. The deficit of women’s voices is apparent—Janet Soskice is the exception, included to comment on the Smith sisters, whose careers are documented in Soskice’s book The Sisters of Sinai (discussed HERE).
The first episode, “The Search for Bible Truth,” follows the exploits of …
If you have ever needed a fast and handy source for an early Christian text, chances are you have come across Peter Kirby’s popular site Early Christian Writings. To celebrate ECW’s recent expansion, I asked Kirby some questions about the origins of the site and the challenges it has posed for him over the years.
Early Christian Writings describes itself as “the most complete collection of Christian texts before the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.” At last count, the site features 226 entries, arranged in chronological order from the hypothetical Passion Narrative in 30-60 to the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies in 320-380. Included are all New Testament texts and some of their hypothetical sources (e.g., the Signs Gospel, Q), a large variety of Christian Apocrypha (as well as Christian-authored Old Testament Apocrypha, such as the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs), Gnostic Apocrypha (newly added in January 2014), and significant non-Christian authors writing on Christianity (such as Josephus and Pliny the Younger). The entry for each text features at least one English translation (the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, for example, has five), links to online resources, a short bibliography of print scholarship, and a brief introduction.
Kirby created the site almost 15 years ago when he was in college working on a Computer Science degree. In his spare time he participated in New Testament-themed listserv discussions, such as Internet Infidels and Crosstalk. To hold his own in such discussions, Kirby produced an online crib sheet of the relevant early …
VIA LARRY HURTADO'S BLOG: Larry comments on the second episode of BBC's The Bible Hunters (HERE). This episode focuses on discoveries of apocryphal texts (the Nag Hammadi Library and Oxyhrynchus). I'll make some comments on it as soon as I get my (virtual) hands on a copy.
Several years ago I came across a text described in a manuscript catalog as “On the Funeral of Jesus.” I worked up an edition and translation of the text for the 2010 workshop in Winnipeg on Acta Pilati traditions. At the time, several sentences in the text were difficult to reconstruct and translate; so I put it aside, expecting someday to get back to it. The years went by, but now I have finally returned to the text and solved most of the remaining problems.
The text is an untitled, two-page excerpt found in a fourteenth/fifteenth-century Greek manuscript. It appears to derive from a sermon that draws upon the Acta Pilati traditions, particularly the Narrative of Joseph of Arimathea. The text is difficult to read, due to scribal misspellings (itacisms), abbreviations, and manuscript damage. It begins midsentence with Pilate (it seems) granting Joseph the body of Jesus. Nicodemus hears of this and asks to join Joseph in preparing the body. Then Joseph and Nicodemus speak. Joseph remarks that a “counterfeit” appeared in the burial shroud of “the stranger.” Presumably this “stranger” is Jesus, but this counterfeit (perhaps “image”) is perplexing. Joseph says that he and the stranger (a ghostly Jesus?) appeared outside of the synagogue while the priests were asking why Jesus’ relatives were not burying him. They mention also “dead (dying?) strangers” coming in to Jerusalem at Jesus’ death (perhaps a reference to the resurrected saints of Matthew 27:52-53).
Nicodemus tells Joseph not to worry and that he …
Brandon Hawk, a student working on Anglo-Saxon apocrypha at the University of Connecticut, has posted to his blog this excellent review of my book Secret Scriptures Revealed (excellent because it's so positive!). Thanks Brandon.
VIA LARRY HURTADO'S BLOG: Larry Hurtado is among the scholars interviewed for BBC's two-part series "Bible Hunters." He offers some reflections on the first episode HERE. The home page for the series at BBC includes two clips from the first episode—one of these is about the Oxyrhynchus Papyri. The second episode apparently covers discoveries of apocryphal texts, such as the Nag Hammadi. Alas, no word yet on broadcast in North America.
VIA Paleojudaica: Egypt's Mysterious Monastery Hides Ancient Secrets by Teresa Levonian Cole in Spear's Magazine (made available here via AINA. Among the many finds at Deir al-Surian (the Monastery of the Syrians) is the earliest manuscript witness to the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (purchased by the British Library; catalogued as Add. 14484). The manuscript also contains portions of the Infancy Gospel of James and the Assumption of the Virgin.
The 2014 réunion de l'AELAC will take place August 29-31 at the Centre culturel Saint Thomas in Strasbourg. Traditionally (indeed for over 25 years) the réunion has taken place at Mont Roland in Dole. But the centre has closed its doors, so AELAC has found a new home for their annual gathering. Visit the AELAC site for news on the programme as it develops (www.aelac.org).
VIA LARRY HURTADO: "Jesus' Wife" Fragment: Latest Developments
Rumour has it that the ink is not modern. Of course, this won't silence those who want it to be a forgery.
As mentioned in my previous post, I will be appearing at University of Toronto on Monday as part of a series led by their Seminar for Culture and Religion in Antiquity. The title of the paper is, "What Do We Mean by ‘The Bible’? Re-imagining Canon for the Twenty-first Century." My interest in the canon has been developing over the last year through writing Secret Scriptures Revealed, reading several of Lee Martin McDonald’s books on canon (and working with Lee for last year’s York Christian Apocrypha Symposium), and in the development of the latest iteration of my class The History of the Bible.
This year the students were required to read two books on canon, McDonald’s The Origin of the Bible: A Guide for the Perplexed (London/New York: T & T Clark, 2011) and Michael J. Kruger’s Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2011), and prepare a paper comparing the authors’ positions on the formation of the Bible. I wanted the students to be acquainted with two perspectives on canon formation: one historical-critical, one theological. This is a strategy I often use in my courses, so that students come away from the classes with more than just the general scholarly consensus found in their textbooks. Using Kruger also reflects my work on apologetic responses to the recent increase of interest in Christian Apocrypha (see, e.g., “Heresy Hunting in the New Millennium,” SBL Forum, 2008 and a number of Apocryphicity …
I have been invited to speak at the University of Toronto at their Seminar for Culture and Religion in Antiquity. My current research interest is the formation of the New Testament and the resulting categorization of Christian writings as either canonical or non-canonical. I will use the opportunity of the presentation to solidify some of my thoughts on the topic. For more information, visit the SRCA web site. Here is the abstract for the presentation:
Monday, February 10, 4–6pm
Tony Burke, York University
"What Do We Mean by “The Bible”? Re-imagining Canon for the Twenty-first Century"Recent discussion of the formation of the New Testament canon ranges from the liberal leanings of historical-critical scholarship—typified by the view that political and pragmatic motivations contributed to the selection of texts—and the conservative standpoints of theologians—who see the hand of the Holy Spirit at work, guiding the processes of both composition and canonization. Neither of these opposing poles fully take into account the fluidity of the NT canon. Over the centuries Christians have ignored the boundary line between canonical and non-canonical texts. And the contents of the NT varies both temporally and geographically. So, the very terms “canonical” and “non-canonical” are inadequate for categorizing Christian literature. This talk will outline the complexities involved in the study of the NT canon and considers new approaches for understanding interactions among different forms of Christian literature, throughout history and into the future.
The web site AncientThought.com has a call out for contributors. From their home page:
AncientThought aims to establish itself as one of the leading online resources for exploring the world of ancient thought by integrating the best of current scholarship with innovative digital learning tools. To achieve this we have two timeline projects that are currently active: one exploring ancient philosophy and the other the history of early Christianity. Timelines that consider other areas of ancient thought might be added at a later date.
As far as Christian Apocrypha are concerned, there are several non-canonical texts listed in their call for contributors, and certainly others can be suggested to the editors.
One of the titles I mentioned in my SBL Diary back in November (and deserving of more attention) is Thomas A. Wayment’s The Text of the New Testament Apocrypha (100-400 CE) (London: T&T Clark, 2013). Wayment, an Associate Professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University, has assembled here a collection of the earliest Christian Apocrypha extant on papyrus and parchment from the first five centuries. Note, however, that only Greek manuscripts are featured in the volume.
Each chapter of the book focuses on a single text (e.g., the Didache, the Gospel of Mary) or a group of texts (Acts of the Apostles, Sayings Gospels) and provides a bibliography, orthographic notes, and critical editions (not merely transcriptions) of each manuscript. The back half of the volume contains photographs of each manuscript, the majority in colour. The images vary in quality—P. Bodmer V and X, for example, are clear and gorgeous to look at, but P. Oxy 840 is reproduced too small and the reverse side of each page bleeds through the papyrus, making the text difficult to read.
The full list of texts included in the volume is: Acts of the Apostles (John, Paul, Peter), the Epistle of Barnabas, the Didache, the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Peter, the Infancy Gospel of James (including a complete edition of P. Bodmer 5 and two recently published manuscripts: P. Ashmolean inv. 9 and Cairo Greek Papyrus JE 85643), the Shepherd of Hermas (with …