The Apocryphal Jesus: Legends of the Early Church

229 Pages·2008·10.59 MB·English

by  J. K. Elliott

THE APOCRYPHAL JESUS
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The Apocryphal
Jesus
Legends of the Early Church
J. K. ELLIOTT
OXPORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
OXFORD
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©J.K.Elliot 1996,2008
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First published 1996
Reissued as a paperback 2008
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Typeset by SPI Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India.
Printed in Great Britain
on acid-free paper by
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ISBN 978-0-19-954402-8
13579 10 8642
Preface
During the ten years since I published my digest of the most influential,
popular and readable of the apocryphal texts in The Apocryphal Jesus:
Legends of the Early Church I have inevitably been keeping an eye on
other comparable studies, and have been pleasantly surprised at the rapid
growth in the publication of articles and books, both academic and jour-
nalistic, concerning the so-called apocryphal New Testament and related
literature. Some (but certainly not all) of the media involvement has been
prurient, sensationalist and irresponsible. But much of the interest has
been due to a proper concern for the variety of beliefs and writings that
emerged in the earliest centuries of Christianity and a recognition that
all such materials ought to be considered in an historical and theological
study of religions in antiquity.
For instance, recent curiosity about the role of Mary Magdalene in
Christianity and questioning about the historicity of stories about her in
the New Testament and elsewhere extend beyond strictly academic cir-
cles, although several learned monographs on her significance have also
appeared. Even more recently the newly discovered Gnostic text The Gos-
pel of Judas, vigorously promoted by National Geographic, has resulted in
detailed palaeographical research by acknowledged and respected experts
but also in wild speculation, sometimes from writers who should know
better!
The newly launched OUP series, Early Christian Gospel Texts, and
other comparable studies (such as the volumes published in Corpus
Christianorum: Series Apocryphorum by Brepols of Turnhout) ensure that
these texts are critically established and accompanied by judicious analy-
sis. Exegetical commentaries on such writings are beginning to emerge.
The attention thereby bestowed on these texts by mainstream academic
theologians is a far cry from the disdain and disregard with which such
writings were typically treated in the 20th century. A survey of the second-
ary literature on these documents from the past century all too readily
reveals a dearth of scholarly investigations.
Preface vi
The reversal in academic pursuits is to be seen in the two volumes
of French translations Ecrits apocryphes chretiens, containing learned
footnotes and introductory material, published in the past decade in
the prestigious series Bibliotheque de la Pleiade. Those are notable exam-
ples of the high standards to which such literature is now subjected. The
ongoing publication of monographs containing essays on aspects of
apocryphal writings in the series Studies on the Apocryphal Acts of the
Apostles (now retitled Studies on Early Christian Apocrypha) by Peeters
(Leuven) is also welcomed. Nor should one ignore the journal Apocrypha
and the allied series of texts and studies Apocryphes: Collection de poche
de I'AELAC, published by Brepols. The Association pour I'etude de la
litterature apocryphe chretienne (= AELAC) hosts annual conferences,
publishes a bulletin and is the force behind the Corpus Christianorum
volumes on the apocrypha.
Not surprisingly, many of the current popular and well-publicized the-
ories, speculative reconstructions and general interest follow in the wake
of novels such as The Da Vinci Code. This fiction bolsters ill-informed
theorists' assertions that primitive, 'orthodox', Christianity was founded
on dubious and often carefully orchestrated conspiracies. Nonetheless,
scholarly recognition that early documents such as those found in collec-
tions such as the Apocryphal New Testament or the Nag Hammadi Gnos-
tic library have much to teach about the milieu in which Christianity in
its earliest centuries developed is now widespread. The texts and contexts
not only of the books that formed the New Testament canon but also of
those from Gnostic movements as well as the influence of secular pagan
literature on Christian writers are increasingly topics which the student
of early Christianity now routinely takes on board. It is gratifying to con-
sider that The Apocryphal Jesus may have played its part in encouraging
such scholarship.
J.K.Elliott
August 2007
Contents
Preface v
Introduction 1
A. STORIES RELATING TO THE PERIOD
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT GOSPELS 7
1. The Birth of Jesus 9
2. The Childhood of Jesus 19
3. Jesus' Parents 31
(a) Mary 31
(fo) Joseph 44
4. The Ministry of Jesus 51
(a) Stories about Jesus' Ministry 51
(b) 'Secret' Sayings of Jesus 55
(c) Jesus' Physical Appearance 57
(d) Other Stories about Jesus' Ministry 59
(e) A Letter from Jesus 64
5. The Death and Resurrection of Jesus 66
6. Pilate 89
7. Jesus in the Underworld 97
8. Veronica 109
9. Zacharias 112
B. STORIES RELATING TO THE GROWTH
OF THE CHURCH 115
10. Peter 117
viii Contents
11. Paul 130
(a) Paul's Missionary Journey 130
(fc) Paul's Letters 143
12. John 147
13. Thomas 161
14. Andrew 175
C. STORIES RELATING TO LIFE AFTER DEATH 187
15. Heaven and Hell 189
16. The End Time 205
Epilogue 209
Further Reading 213
Indexes
1. Apocryphal Texts Cited 219
2. General Index 220
Introduction
Christians from the second-third centuries onwards seem to
have been avid readers. Not only did they study the twenty-
seven writings that later were to be collected together to form
the New Testament, but they also heard and read other stories
and sayings about Jesus and the founders of the church which
were not in the New Testament. Many of the early stories
about Jesus, his parents, and his disciples were supplemented
and expanded as the church developed. Secular romances, the
novels of their day, provided precedents on which the burgeon-
ing Christian literary tradition drew. The curiosity of pious
Christians about the origins of their faith was increasingly
satisfied by a growing number of Gospels, Acts, and other types
of literature.
Much of this writing provided the popular reading matter of
a significant number of believers. These second-third-century
inventions may be judged as crudely sensational, magical, or
superstitious. Little of this literature maintains the restrained
spirituality of the earlier writings that eventually formed the
New Testament. Nor do these 'popular' books match the highly
intellectual theology of the church father's treatises that are
contemporaneous with them. Yet these lively supplementary
Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypses testify to a vigorous
folk religion which was sometimes deviant, even unorthodox,
when compared to the mainstream Christianity that estab-
lished itself, but which, in general, was perfectly normal and
orthodox, albeit reflecting an uncritical, simple, even ascetic,
faith. These writings characterized and stimulated a signifi-
cant number of early Christians.
Once the church authorities decided to control the flood of
writings by selecting approved, canonical, texts, authorized for