HUMA 3423 New Testament Apocrypha
Oct. 27: Research Skills Tutorial (Hour 1); Apocalypses (Hour 2)
Read for Today: Burke ch. 4 (p. 94-100); from Ehrman: Apocalypse of Peter, Apocalypse
of Paul, Apocalypse of the Virgin (PDF).
Online Resources: before there were movies, artists drew upon the New Testament
Apocrypha for their work. For a sampling of art based on the NT Apocrypha check out
David Cartlidge’s database of images.
** Analysis of the Apocalypse of Peter due today (if you chose that text) **
The class will be visited today by Humanities librarian Scott McLaren. This is your
opportunity to brush up on your research skills in preparation for your major paper. Be
sure to re-read the assignment description and come to class prepared to have all your
questions answered.
*** Major Paper Work-in-Progress Report due today ***
1. A Brief History of Apocalyptic Literature
 grows out of prophetic literature (e.g., Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.); these texts
sometimes feature visions of God, woes on enemies, promise of reward for the
faithful
 crisis of faith in the Babylonian Exile led to re-evaluation of God’s relationship
with Israel; no longer writing texts to criticize Israelites for failing to live up to
God’s expectations; now writing texts to keep them faithful
 Ezekiel: here God promises to intervene in battles of the Israelites against dark
forces of evil; promises: “then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and
will act, says the Lord”
 Daniel: first true “apocalypse”; composed during the Maccabean Revolt (ca. 168165 BCE)
 motifs employed:
o some found in prophetic texts: heavenly journey, revelations from God,
faithful rewarded, unfaithful punished
o animal imagery: animals used to represent nations, symbols
o view of History: history as a series of “ages” each one passing away to the
next
o pseudonymity: written in voice of eminent figure of the past
o ex eventu prophecy: prophecy after the fact
 samples of apocalyptic literature: 1 Enoch, Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs,
and the War of Light and Darkness from the Dead Sea Scrolls, numerous others
also
2. Apocalypticism in Early Christianity
 apocalyptic Palestinian prophets/holy men
 the “Synoptic Apocalypse”
3. Revelation
 the first Christian apocalypse; ingredients: pseudonymity(?), persecution, beasts
as kingdoms, keep the faith, angels and demons, cataclysms, peace at end

letters to the churches follow conventions of apocalypses
4. Apocalypse of Peter
 well-known and popular text: citations in Sozomen, Clement of Alexandria,
Eusebius, Muratorian Canon, Methodius, Macarius, Theophilus of Antioch, a
fourth-century Latin homily
 extant remains: 5/6th cent. Greek Akhmim fragment found in 1886/1887
(includes Gospel of Peter and 1 Enoch); Bodleian/Rainer fragments (5th cent.)
 Ethiopic from two manuscripts of Ps-Clementine literature; dated 7/8th cent.
 dating the Apocalypse: the fig tree parable and the Bar Kochba Revolt (132-135
CE)
 the Tour of Hell genre:
o Hell in ancient Jewish thought: Sheol and Gehenna
o lex talionis
5. Apocalypse of Paul
 expands on Paul’s heavenly journey from 2 Cor 12
 extant in many forms (Greek, Syriac, Armenian, Slavonic, Latin)
 draws on Apocalypse of Peter and transmits the tour of Hell imagery to later
Christian writers
6. Apocalypse of the Virgin
 one of the most popular and successful apocrypha in the history of the Christian
tradition
 Greek manuscripts “in the hundreds,” and copies in Old Church Slavonic,
Romanian, Serbian, Armenian, Georgian, Syriac, Coptic, and Ethiopic
 derives from the apocalyptic section of the Dormition of Mary; becomes
independent ca. 6-9th c.
 exerted great influence on the Apocalypse of Paul
 influences: Feodor Dostoyevsky, Brothers Karamazov (2.5.5), includes a
summary
7. The Legacy of the Tour of Hell
 Dante Alghieri (1265-1321), the Divine Comedy
 John Milton, (1608-1674), Paradise Lost