Apocryphon of James
The Apocryphon of James or Secret Book of James ( Latin : Epistula Jacobi, "Letter of James", abbreviation: EpJak) is a pseudepigraphic script from the 2nd century and part of the writings of Nag Hammadi (NHC I, 2). A secret teaching (apocryphal) is passed on, which James and Peter are said to have received after Jesus' resurrection and before his ascension to heaven . In terms of genre, it is a mixture of letter, dialogue and vision report .
An important issue is the need to accept suffering as inevitable. The two main characters, James and Peter, suggest that the scriptures originated in a Judeo-Christian community. It shows no dependence on canonical texts. Presumably it was written between the middle and the end of the 2nd century. The Apocryphon shows a certain proximity to Gnosis , but cannot be ascribed to a specific Gnostic direction. Some scholars deny that it counts as gnosis.
Origin, dating
The text is preserved in a single manuscript from the fourth century. It can be found in the second part of the so-called Codex Jung, the first of thirteen codices of the Nag Hammadi writings (= NHC I). The handwriting is damaged, but not a line is entirely lost, so the text can be reconstructed with some certainty. The Coptic text is likely a translation from the Greek , but the author claims to have written it in Hebrew . Due to the references to persecution and martyrdom, it seems unlikely that it would be written after 313, i.e. after the Constantinian Revolution . Other indications in the text indicate that it was written in the 2nd century, possibly in its first half. Kirchner believes that the writing could be drafted as early as the end of the 1st century.
content
The text is conceived as an epistle of James, addressed to an individual, whose name in the manuscript is illegible. The author describes Jesus as he expresses himself on various sayings and answers questions. This happens 550 days after the resurrection, but before his ascension to heaven. James and Peter receive secret instructions, but in the end only James understands what has happened; indirectly it is implied that Peter missed the cause of Christ.
Jesus teaches in unusual and apparently contradicting sentences, he also tells short parables . He invites Peter and James into the kingdom of God , but because they let the questions of the other apostles distract them, they miss their chance. Then it describes how James sent out the twelve apostles. This shows - as in other apocryphal texts - that James was originally the follower of Jesus as the leader of the movement.
Assumptions about the history of the text
The brief outline letter should be independent of the rest of the text. According to some researchers, this suggests that the Apocryphon is the result of an editorial merging of several separate texts. The framework letter refers to an earlier "secret gospel" that would therefore be lost. Within the Apocryphon, the discussions about martyrdom and prophecy also seem to be independent of each other, which indicates that the main part of the document originally goes back to a text composed of short sayings. It is still under discussion whether the closest parallels to the New Testament are part of the final editing of the Apocryphon or part of its sources.
Relationship to the canonical texts
Many scholars see the sayings as gnostically colored, primarily because their statements do not correspond to the orthodox understanding of the canonical scriptures . In addition, the manuscript was found in the midst of a collection of unambiguous and explicit Gnostic scriptures in Nag Hammadi. The text also uses Gnostic terminology, such as "abundance" as a means of salvation. The teachings of the Apocryphon certainly do not agree with Valentinianism or other developed Gnostic cosmologies. Therefore the Apocryphon is usually not counted among the truly Gnostic texts.
Numerous sayings give the impression of being in common with the canonical Gospels . In the text there are references to other sayings: “For some people it was enough to draw attention to the lesson and use keywords such as' the shepherds', 'the seeds',' the building ',' the lamps of the virgins', 'the Pay the workers' to understand 'the double drachm' and 'the woman' ”.
The references to redemption and salvation through “the cross” seem to prove familiarity with the letters of the apostle Paul or at least with his teachings.
In the introduction, however, it says: "And 550 days after he rose from the dead, we said to him: ...". This is considerably longer than the 40 days mentioned in Luke's book of Acts . This difference led some to believe that the material of the Apocryphon was transmitted orally and that the community which wrote it either rejected the Lukan double works (Gospel and Acts) or did not know them. On the other hand, Irenaeus of Lyons in his work Adversus haereses indicated a period of 18 months between the resurrection and the ascension, and Irenaeus was certainly familiar with Luke's double works. Some researchers postulate that the oldest version of the Apocryphon was independent of the canonical Gospels, but that an unknown editor, knowing the Gospels, referred to the canonical works and incorporated allusions into the Apocryphon.
Remarks
literature
- Frank Leslie Cross, Elizabeth A. Livingstone (Eds.): Apocryphal Epistle of James. In: The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York, Oxford 2005.
- Apocryphon of James, English
- Dankwart Kirchner: Letter of James. In: Wilhelm Schneemelcher (Ed.): New Testament Apocrypha in German translation. Vol. I, 6th edition. Mohr, Tübingen 1990. pp. 234-244.
- Robert J. Miller: The Complete Gospels. Polebridge Press, Salem (OR) 1992, pp. 332–342, ISBN 0-944344-49-6 (view of the Jesus seminar)
- Hans-Martin Schenke, Hans-Gebhard Bethge, Ursula Ulrike Kaiser: Nag Hammadi German. Volume 1: NHC I, 1-V, 1 . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2010.
- Francis E. Williams: The Apocryphon of James (Introduction and Translation). In: James M. Robinson (Ed.): The Nag Hammadi Library. HarperCollins, San Francisco 1990, p. 29.