Early Christian Apocryphal Literature

the thesis analyzes the work commonly known under the name of "Gospel of Nicodemus" and examines, in particular, the second part of the work: the Descenus ad Inferos. The purpose of this writing is to try to temporally and geographically locate this anonymous work.

L'Évangile selon Marie est un apocryphe gnostique des premiers siècles dont le texte copte a été retrouvé en Égypte à la fin du XIXe siècle. La première traduction (en allemand) a été publiée par Walter Till en 1955; la première traduction française par Anne Pasquier en 1983. Des fragments grecs plus anciens de cet évangile ont aussi été découverts au cours du XXe siècle.

(The Gospel of Mary is an apocryphal Gnostic gospel attributed to Mary Magdalene, written in Coptic and rediscovered in Egypt at the end of the 19th century. First translated in German in 1955, in English in 1979, in French in 1983. Older fragments in Greek have also been found during the 20th century. Here our new translation from Coptic to French with its transliteration and interlinear Coptic - Greek - French, edited by the Black Roses Association.)

The era in which ‘Socrates’ is thought to have emerged pertains to
c. 600-300 BC, known as “The Axial Age”. It is thought to have been
a time of some very original characters and religio-philosophical founding fathers: Socrates, Confucius, Buddha and Zoroaster.

“Yet Philo says not a word about Jesus, Christianity nor any of the events described in the New Testament. In all this work, Philo makes not a single reference to his alleged contemporary "Jesus Christ", the godman who supposedly was perambulating up and down the Levant, exorcising demons, raising the dead and causing earthquake and darkness at his death”.
Kenneth Humphreys.

This dual scenario now set up the likelihood that the grandiloquent emperor of Maccabees, Antiochus so-called IV ‘Epiphanes’, be identified with the edict issuer of the Gospel of Luke, “Caesar Augustus” (meaning that the latter would have been a Seleucid Greek, instead of a Roman).

OPEN ACCESS: https://www.mohrsiebeck.com/buch/the-nag-hammadi-codices-as-monastic-books-9783161622335?no_cache=1

Since their discovery in 1945, the significance of the texts contained in the thirteen papyrus manuscripts now known as the Nag Hammadi Codices has been fiercely debated. In the history of scholarship, the texts have primarily been analyzed in light of the contexts of their hypothetical Greek originals, which in a majority of cases have been thought to have been authored in the second and third centuries CE in a variety of contexts. The articles in this volume take a different approach. Instead of focusing on hypothetical originals, they ask how the texts may have been used and understood by those who read the Coptic papyrus codices in which the texts have been preserved and take as their point of departure recent research indicating that these manuscripts were produced and used by early Egyptian monastics. It is shown that the reading habits and theological ideas attested historically for Upper Egyptian monasticism in the fourth and fifth centuries resonate well with several of the texts within the Nag Hammadi Codices.

Creative practitioners inside academia are often tasked with explaining how their embodied practices constitute research. The Peribiophoty project reverses this paradigm to ask: how does academic research constitute embodied practice?  By considering the personal and intellectual contexts (peri), surrounding academics and their biographies (bio), through audio-visual representation (photy), we investigate how academic thinking is embodied thinking. The notion that “traditional” research only involves the brain is challenged by the audio-visual representations of thoughts and ideas embedded in objects, experience, time, and interactions. Peribiophoty makes its propositions about academic thinking through embodied presence and rhythmic juxtapositions of gesture, things, place, text on screen and voice. It evokes the narrative pasts and selves of the project’s literature, history, and digital games scholars as substantively entangled with their ongoing research programs and demonstrate...

Per comprendere il senso complessivo della ricerca condotta da Fabrizio Frasnedi bisogna fare riferimento all'orizzonte cristiano nel quale si inscrive la sua poliedrica opera. Per Frasnedi la letteratura è la continuazione con altri mezzi dell'evento dell'Incarnazione. La sua consistenza è, dunque, "iconica". Essa è una "sacra scrittura" che ha il suo perno nell'esperienza della radicale finitezza dell'esistenza umana e che si contrappone frontalmente ad ogni idolatria, in primis all'idolatria del testo e della sua autonomia. The Sacred Scripture of finity To understand the global meaning of Fabrizio Frasnedi's research, it is necessary to refer to the Christian horizon in which his multifaceted work is inscribed. For Frasnedi, literature is the continuation by other means of the event of the Incarnation. Its consistency is therefore 'iconic'. It is a 'Sacred Scripture' that has its pivotal point in the experience of t...

Basándonos en sus fuentes apócrifas y en sus interpretaciones patrísticas y exegéticas, buscamos en el presente artículo analizar el abordaje que, sobre el tema de la Natividad de María, hicieron diez artistas bizantinos e italianos en otras tantas importantes obras pictóricas. Tras precisar una serie de datos sobre el origen oriental y la difusión de la homónima festividad mariana por los territorios cristianos de Oriente y Occidente, nos centramos en determinar las similitudes y diferencias que esos diez maestros exhiben en el tratamiento del motivo, y en interpretar, a la luz de sus fuentes literarias y doctrinales, los personajes, situaciones, gestos, elementos escenográficos, accesorios y objetos incluidos en tales imágenes. Además de proponer ciertas interpretaciones sobre los posibles significados simbólicos subyacentes en ese asunto iconográfico, ponemos asimismo en relación ciertos aspectos de lo sobrenatural y lo cotidiano que creemos percibir en las obras analizadas. Pala...

The new edition is a peer-reviewed academic journal linked to Saint Aphrem Theological Seminary, Ma'arrat Saydnaya, Syria. SOPJ publishes articles in Syriac, Arabic, English and other European languages related to Eastern and Syriac Christianity.

41 mann perceived an inconsistency in Barth’s practice, since Barth had opened the door to Sachkritik in his Romans commentary (even if he himself refused to walk through it, a point to which Bultmann drew attention in his review). The seeds of their later disagreement over the program of demythologizing were sown in this earlier debate over the meaning of Sachkritik. Although the term Sachkritik is a modern designation, what it designates is not.2 As both Barth and Bultmann were aware, its locus classicus is found in Martin Luther’s critical handling of certain biblical texts, most famously in his rejection of the canonical standing of James. Not surprisingly, Luther’s willingness to criticize the Bible was controversial even among many Protestants in the sixteenth century. John Calvin, for all his sympathies with Luther’s theology, refused to follow Luther in this respect. Like Calvin, Barth sought to read the entire canon of Scripture as a unity, whereas Bultmann, like Luther, sa...

Cette rencontre est ouverte à toute personne, universitaire ou non, intéressée à découvrir des recherches en cours en Suisse portant sur des textes en langue grecque ancienne. La perspective adoptée est large et comprend des approches philologiques, historiques, papyrologiques, numériques, etc.

The article explains the problematic Second Teacher episode in the so-called developmental interpretation of IGT recently proposed by M. R. Whitenton and J. R. C. Cousland. The article shows that the killing of the second teacher in the text of Gs, which is appropriately identified as problematic for the developmental interpretation, appears to be a later version of the episode that most likely already sought to supplement a more original account. In the earliest recoverable form, preserved in the early versions (Syriac, Latin and Ethiopic), the story consistently does not blame Jesus for the death of the second teacher, either in the episode itself or in the other passages. So in the earliest surviving version(s), the teacher dies but not because of a curse from Jesus. Therefore, this episode does not disturb the so-called developmental interpretation.

In: Aa. Vv., La memoria. Forme e finalità del ricordare nel cristianesimo antico. XLVIII Incontro di Studiosi dell’Antichità Cristiana (Roma, 5-7 maggio 2022), “Studia Ephemeridis Augustinianum”, 164, Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum – Nerbini International, Roma – Firenze 2023, pp. 97-108.

Abstract:
Diversi scritti protocristiani presentano non solo differenti memorie relative a parole e azioni di Gesù di Nazaret, ma anche differenti rappresentazioni dell’atto di messa per iscritto di tali memorie ovvero della trasmissione scritta della memoria. La costruzione della memoria delle origini, dunque anche della propria identità, per il gruppo (o gli autori) connesso con un determinato testo, concerne non solo la selezione delle memorie trasmesse finalizzata all’identificazione di uno specifico contenuto kerygmatico, ma anche la narrazione del quando, come e perché determinate memorie sono state trasposte in scrittura. Questo contributo intende focalizzarsi sulla questione specifica della rappresentazione della messa per iscritto delle memorie, evidenziandone alcune attestazioni in scritti databili al II secolo, di differente origine: l’Apocrifo di Giacomo, il Frammento di Muratori e l’Epistola degli Apostoli.

La direzione verticale della salita al cielo del Risorto ha la stessa traiettoria dei desideri di felicità e bellezza del cuore umano. Indagine terminologica, scavo nel passato letterario, esegesi biblica e vita del credente si intrecciano in questo affascinante percorso.

Proprietà letteraria riservata. Nessuna parte di questo volume può essere riprodotta o trasmessa in qualsiasi forma o con qualsiasi mezzo elettronico, meccanico o altro senza l'autorizzazione scritta dei proprietari dei diritti e dell'editore. L'editore è a disposizione degli eventuali detentori di diritti che non sia stato possibile rintracciare.

A timeline that reveals the unbalanced truth taught in different denominations. The Roman Catholic Church, its third doctor and patriarch of Calvinism (Augustine), and the creators of the codices had been responsible for its inclusion (7 books), while the late reformers included for the first time the full Apocrypha (14 books) into our Bibles, having clouded this evil by creating a separate section for those books and giving them the very same weight as the 4 books excluded by Luther (Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation). God will judge all those who diluted His Word with other texts. May we never go back to include those works of human inspiration in between God's 'two book covers' of His Word.

The timeline also clearly reveals that the original Septuagint, which is often used as scape goat for the inclusion of the Apocrypha, did not include for at least 400 years the 'Septuaginta Plus', rather until the first codices added those books.

| Methodology & Overview of Works: www.fitforfaith.ca/overview | Sources are linked within the PDF document. All Rights Reserved.

This is a draft translation of the Latin biography of James the Lesser (also known as “James the Just” and “brother of the Lord”) from Fabricius’ 1703 text of Pseudo-Abdias 6.1–6 in volume 2 of his Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti (591–608). The biography incorporates material from the Gospel of the Hebrews concerning Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance to James, material from the Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions concerning an attack on James in the Temple seven years after the crucifixion, and the Hegesippan martyrdom preserved in book 2, chapter 23 of Eusebius’ History of the Church.

Johann Albert Fabricius, Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti, Vol. 2 (Hamburg: Benjamin
Schiller, 1703), 591–608.

Εἰκών εἰμι τῆς ἀρρήτου δόξης σου: the opening of one of the Eulogētaria hymns in the Byzantine funeral service—a highly interesting composition with roots in Late Ancient Jerusalem—invites a connection with Genesis 1:26. However, even though the allusion to the story of creation, Eden, and the Fall is undeniable, this hymn does not speak of the human being as κατ᾿εἰκόνα, but straightforwardly as the εἰκών of God's glory. A first step in interpreting this line should therefore be the consideration of another set of biblical references, dealing not with "image" but with "glory." We can then, as a second step, make sense of the resulting interpretation within the larger theological context of Byzantine Christomorphic anthropology, with its rich biblical and extra-biblical sources.

RESUMEN Al hilo de su exposición acerca de la doctrina de los marcosianos, Ireneo de Lyon realiza en Adversus haereses I,20,1 una afirmación acerca de una “inenarrabilem multitudinem apocryphorum et perperum scripturarum” / ἀμύθητον πλῆθος ἀποκρύφων καὶ νόθων γραφῶν. En el presente artículo discutimos el significado de los textos griego y latino, haciendo notar sus diferencias y explicando cada uno de ellos en su contexto respectivo. Teniendo como trasfondo la formación del canon bíblico, ¿se refieren los pasajes a libros secretos o a libros apócrifos propiamente dichos? Y, por otro lado, ¿remiten a escritos completos o a determinados pasajes de los mismos?

PALABRAS CLAVE Ireneo de Lyon, gnosticismo, Escritura, canon, apócrifos, valentinianos, marcosianos.

SUMMARY In line with his exposition concerning the doctrine of the Marcosians, Irenaeus of Lyons speaks in Adversus haereses I, 20, 1 about an “inenarrabilem multitudinem apocryphorum et perperum scripturarum” / ἀμὐθητον πλῆθος ἀποκρὐφων καί νὀθων γραφῶν. In the present article, we discuss the meaning of the Greek and Latin texts, noting their differences and explaining each one of them in their respective context. Having as background the formation of the biblical canon, do these lines refer to secret books or to apocryphal books per se? And, on the other hand, do the refer to the totality of the work or to certain passages of them?

KEYWORDS Irenaeus of Lyons, Gnosticism, Scripture, canon, apocryphal books, Valentinians, Marcosians.

El cristianismo primitivo atestigua una notable especulación en torno a los magos, también en lo que hoy se denomina literatura cristiana apócrifa. En esta breve presentación nos acercaremos a algunas de estas tradiciones apócrifas y a la riqueza religiosa que contienen.

RÉSUMÉ

Dans la présente contribution, nous nous proposons de faire une comparaison entre l'explication de la chute de l'ange d'après Irénée de Lyon et la narration du même événement dans la Vie d'Adam et Ève. La raison d'une telle recherche réside dans le fait que nous trouvons chez Irénée un point de contact initial avec le récit de notre apocryphe: la chute de l'ange et son péché contre Dieu sont compris en fonction de l'homme créé à l'image de son Créateur. Méthodologiquement, il faut faire attention à la différence de genre littéraire, plus narratif dans la Vie d'Adam et Ève, plus théologique chez Irénée, avec lequel ils abordent la chute de Satan.

How do the ancient apocryphal Acts of the Apostles regard truth and error ? Is it possible to speak of a normative consciousness concerning the faith in these works ? Which institutions, if any, kept, defended and conveyed their conceptions of God, man and the world ? This paper is a limited contribution to these questions. It intends to present and discuss these points as reflected in the Acts of John through an analysis of its most interesting paragraphs. Although the terminology of truth and error does not appear very often in the work, this thematic underlies many of the different scenes of the narrative.

Comment les anciens Actes apocryphes des apôtres considèrent-ils la vérité et l’erreur ? Est-il possible de parler d’une conscience normative concernant la foi dans ces œuvres ? Quelles institutions, si elles existaient, ont gardé, défendu et propagé leurs conceptions de Dieu, de l’homme et du monde ? Cet article se veut une contribution limitée concernant ces questions. Il présente et discute ces éléments tels qu’ils sont reflétés dans les Actes de Jean, à travers une analyse de ses paragraphes les plus intéressants. Bien que la terminologie de la vérité et de l’erreur n’apparaisse pas très souvent dans cette œuvre, cette thématique est sous-jacente dans beaucoup de scènes de la narration.

Eléments d’anthropologie dans l’œuvre d’Irénée de Lyon: une analyse du commencement d’Epideixis 11

Dans cet article, nous cherchons à analyser quelques aspects anthropologiques présents dans les premières lignes d’Ep. 11, où Irénée fait une exposition-explication de la création de l’homme en prenant comme cadre de référence Gn 2,7 – en partie cité et en partie paraphrasé – et Gn 1,26–27. Après avoir considéré le privilège de l’homme par rapport aux autres créatures (I) et le caractère de la terre à partir de laquelle celui-ci a été formé (II), l’argumentation se concentre sur l’expression «en ayant mélangé, dans la mesure juste, sa puissance avec la terre» (III), en cherchant de déterminer la nature de cette «puissance» et son rapport avec l’Esprit. Cette discussion s’encadre dans le sujet beaucoup plus ample de la constitution anthropologique d’Adam: si l’Esprit en soi ou au moins d’une certaine manière y fait partie. Pour ce faire nous avons pris des passages de l’Ep. et de l’Adversus haereses pouvant aider à éclaircir ce point disputé.

Irénée de Lyon – anthropologie – création de l’homme – l’Esprit – Adam – Epideixis Adversus haereses.

Anthropologische Elemente im Werk des Irenäus von Lyon: eine Analyse des Beginns der Epideixis 11

In diesem Artikel versuchen wir einige anthropologische Aspekte zu analysieren, die sich in den ersten Zeilen der Epideixis 11 finden. Dort legt Irenäus eine darstellende Erklärung der Kreation des Menschen vor, indem er als Referenzrahmen Gen 2,7 – teils zitierend und teils paraphrasierend – sowie Gen 1,26–27 heranzieht. Nach der Betrachtung des Hervorgehobenseins des Menschen in Bezug auf andere Geschöpfe (I) und den Charakter der Erde, von dieser ausgehend jener geformt wurde (II), konzentriert sich die Argumentation auf den Passus «so vermischt habend, in einer rechten Art und Weise, seine Kraft mit der Erde» (III). Dabei wird der Versuch unternommen, die Natur dieser Kraft und ihr Bezug zum Geist zu bestimmen. Diese Diskussion reiht sich in das grössere Thema der anthropologischen Konstitution Adams ein, ob nämlich der Geist selbst oder wenigstens in einer bestimmten Weise daran Anteil hat. Um das zu leisten, ziehen wir Passagen der Epideixis und des Adversus haereses heran, die dazu beitragen können, diesen umstrittenen Punkt zu erhellen.

Irenäus von Lyon – Anthropologie – Erschaffung des Menschen – Geist – Adam Epideixis – Adversus haereses.

Elementi d’antropologia nell’opera d’Irénée di Lione: un’analisi dell’inizio dell’Epideixis 11

In questo articolo, cerchiamo di analizzare qualche aspetto antropologico presente nelle prime linee dell’Epideixis 11, in cui Irénée dà una spiegazione della creazione dell’uomo prendendo come quadro di riferimento la Gn 2,7 – in parte citata e in parte parafrasata – e la Gn 1,26–27. Dopo aver considerato il privilegio dell’uomo in rapporto alle altre creature (I) e il carattere della terra a partire da cui egli è stato formato (II), l’argomentazione si concentra sull’espressione «avendo mescolato, nella misura giusta, la sua potenza con la terra» (III), cercando di determinare la nature di questa «potenza» e il suo rapporto con lo Spirito. Questa discussione si inquadra nel discorso molto più ampio inerente alla costituzione antropologica di Adamo: se lo Spirito in sé o almeno in una certa maniera ne fa parte. A questo scopo facciamo riferimento al passaggio dell’Epideixis e dell’Adversus haereses che potrebbero aiutare a chiarire questa controversa questione.

Irénée di Lione – antropologia – creazione dell’uomo – lo Spirito – Adamo – Epideixis Adversus haereses.

Elements of anthropology in the work of Irenaeus of Lyons:

an analysis of the beginning of Epideixis 11 In this paper we will attempt to analyse anthropological aspects found in the opening lines of Epideixis 11, in which Irenaeus offers an exposition and explication of the creation of man, taking as his frame of reference Gn 2,7 – which is partly cited and partly paraphrased – and also Gn 1,26–27. The argument begins by considering the privilege enjoyed by man in comparison with other creatures (I) and the character of the earth from which man was formed (II). Next it focuses on the words «having mixed, in appropriate measure, His power with the earth» (III) in an attempt to determine the nature of this ‹power› and its relationship to the Holy Spirit. This discussion opens up the much wider question of the anthropological constitution of Adam: that is, whether it is constituted, at least in some form, by the Holy Spirit. In our analysis we examine passages from the Epideixis and from the Adversus haereses which may help to clarify this point of dispute.

Irenaeus of Lyons – anthropology – creation of man – the Holy Spirit – Adam – Epideixis – Adversus haereses.

Jesus was a healer, but what may not be as obvious is that he started a legacy of healing. He passed on his skills and abilities to his followers at least three times. Though not as frequently, they continued to heal through the Book of Acts. The legacy continued in the Apocryphal Acts and other apocryphal materials spanning the early centuries of the common era. Secondary literature looks at modern scholarship and leans heavily into Rabbinic literature. Up to this point, other English-language works in healing have sorely lacked luster in providing. The exploration of the healing legacy of Jesus shifted to meet the skills and needs of the healers, patients, and communities involved. Further, the healings had a substantive resultant impact on various levels of socioeconomics for the parties, which is explored by reexamining each group type of healings, from lameness and paralytics to possession and resurrection, and more. The hope is that taking a holistic approach to these healings as possible will allow readers a new way of experiencing the early common era and these events that permeated everyone's lives at one time or another.

Progetto di ricerca per il concorso di dottorato in Scienze dell'antichità con borsa vinto il 04.07.2023 interateneo presso l'Università "Ca' Foscari" di Venezia (sede principale), l'Università degli Studi di Udine e l'Università degli Studi di Trieste.

Abstract della tesi di laurea magistrale in Scienze dell'antichità: archeologia, storia, letterature, curriculum archeologico, interateneo presso l'Università degli Studi di Udine (sede principale) e l'Università degli Studi di Trieste, tesi dal titolo "A Cesare quel che è di Cesare. Gesù, gesuani e gruppi politici giudaici di I secolo d.C." (pagg. 303) di Andrea Di Lenardo; relatrice: prof.ssa Emanuela Colombi; data di discussione e di laurea magistrale: 06.07.2021.

The article is dedicated to the Church Slavonic translation of the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla, focusing on the oldest preserved manuscript. As only a fragment of it comes to our days, it caused special attention to the surviving parts of the text – the end and the miracles. The Greek original text and the Church Slavonic later manuscripts were used for analysis.