The Apocryphal New Testament (1924)/Apocalypses
APOCALYPSES
Of these it is my intention to include in this collection only such as bear the names of New Testament personages. There are several important books which are fathered upon patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament, and some of these were composed by Christians, while others have received touches and insertions to adapt them for use by Christians. Most of these I have named in the Introduction.
Of Apocalypses attributed to New Testament personages there are not a very great many. That of Peter (early second century) leads the van in date and importance: that of Paul (fourth century) perhaps comes next in influence. That of Thomas has only come to light in recent years. A later stratum is represented by the Apocalypses of John (printed by Tischendorf) and the Virgin. The former is a series of questions and answers—the Byzantines were fond of this form of writing—about the end of the world, which contain nothing very interesting. A description of antichrist is perhaps the most notable feature: on this have put together some matter in my Lost Apocrypha of the O. T., to which I may refer the reader. That of the Virgin follows Paul closely.
The Revelation of Stephen, condemned in the Gelasian Decree along with Paul and Thomas, is something of a puzzle. A short section shall be devoted to it.
We hear of an Apocalypse of James the brother of the Lord, and one quotation from it occurs.[1]
The Syriac text printed by Rendel Harris, The Gospel of the Twelve Apostles, with the Revelation of each one of them, is in its present form late. It does not come up to its imposing title, for it only contains the utterances of Peter, John, and James.
Egypt has its contribution to offer. In Dr. Budge's volumes of Coptic texts will be found:
A Revelation of James the Less, telling how the Lord revealed the glory of John Baptist in the other world, where he figures as the ferry-man of the blessed souls (Coptic Apocrypha, 1913, p. 343).
A book of 'Mysteries of St. John', questions of John the Evangelist addressed to the Cherubim: he is told about all manner of natural things, the rise of the Nile, the dew, &c., and also somewhat about Hezekiah and Solomon (l.c., p. 241).
A revelation made by our Lord to the apostles about Abbaton the angel of death (Coptic Martyrdoms).
There is also a sort of Apocalypse of Philip extant only in Irish, which is apparently derived from a Latin original. It is called the Evernew Tongue. The tongue of the apostle Philip—which had been cut out seven times by his persecutors, ineffectually—discourses to an assembly of kings and prelates at Jerusalem, and tells them wonderful secrets of nature. See the Journal of Theol. Studies, 1918 (xx. 9), where I give an account of it.
In the same article I write on an apocalypse of which we do not know the name. Portions of it exist in Latin and in Irish—the latter embodied in the Vision of Adamnan. The Rev. St. J. Seymour also dealt with it more recently (l. c., xxii. 16).
It tells of the sufferings of souls in the several heavens, and of their presentation to the Lord and acceptance or rejection. A distinctive mark of it is that the names of the heavens, and of the angelic guardian of each, are given.
Of the three Christian Apocalypses which will be presented here, two, Peter and Paul, are visions of the next world, the other, Thomas, is a prophecy of the end of this.
- ↑ Von Dobschiitz in Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 1903, p. 556, cites it from Coislin MS. 296 (Paris). It is to the effect that at the prayer of the apostles, the Lord 'added two sixtieths' to the time of his coming. The date indicated for the Second Coming is A. M. 6500. It is symbolized by the attitude of the priest’s fingers when he blesses. The form of the citation is 'as James the brother of the Lord said in his Apocalypse'. The passage is not found in the Revelation of James contained in the late Gospel of the Twelve Apostles edited by Rendel Harris.