Dialogue Gospel

The Gospel of Dialogue describes a genre of ancient Christian revelation writings. Examples are known primarily from Gnostic literature, but also from non-Gnostic apocryphal literature.

A gospel of dialogue consists of a dialogue between the risen Jesus and his disciples (individual disciples or groups). The disciples usually ask short questions, to which Jesus replies with discourses, parables and admonitions. Often there is a framework in the form of a narrative describing the dialogue situation or a letter.

Examples of representatives of the genus are:

• Sophia Jesus Christ
• Letter of James
• Peter’s letter to Philip
• Apocryphon of John
• Epistula Apostolorum
• Gospel of Mary

literature

• Kurt Rudolph: The Gnostic Dialogue as a Literary Genus. In: Peter Nagel (Hrsg.): Problems of Coptic Literature (= Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Scientific contributions. Series K: Byzantine contributions. Vol. 2, ISSN  0441-6201 ). Martin Luther University, Halle (Saale) 1968, pp. 85-107.
• Hans-Josef Klauck : Apocryphal Gospels. An introduction. Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-460-33022-8 .
• Oliver Ehlen: Guiding principles and novel-like features in apocryphal Gospel texts. Investigations into the motive and narrative structure (based on the Protevangelium Jacobi and the acta Pilati Graec. B) (= Colloquium of Ancient Studies. Interdisciplinary Studies on Antiquity and its Afterlife. Vol. 9). Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-515-08470-3 , p. 61 ff. (At the same time: Jena, Universität, Dissertation, 2000).

Web links

• Review of Klauck's book by Martina Janßen on ZNT online