The Apocalypse of Peter (Studies on Early Christian Apocrypha)

224 Pages·2003·5.12 MB·English

by  Jan N. Bremmer

Apocalypse
JAN N. BREMMER
PEETERS
0 2003, Uitgeverij Peeters, Bondgenotenlaan 153, 3000 Leuven
ISBN 90-429-1 375-4
D. 2003/0602/127
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publisher.
Contents
Preface vii
List of abbreviations ix
.. .
Notes on contributors xlll
I J.N. Bremmer, The Apocalypse of Peter: Greek
or Jewish? 1
I1 P. van Minnen, The Greek Apocalypse of Peter 15
I11 M. Pesthy, "Thy mercy, 0 Lord, is in the heavens;
and thy righteousness reacheth unto the clouds" 40
IV J. Bolyki, False Prophets in the Apocalypse
of Peter- 52
V E. Tigchelaar, Is the Liar Bar Kokhha? Considering
the Date and Provenance of the Greek (Etlziopic)
Apocalypse of Peter 63
VI T. Adamik, The Description of Paradise in the
Apocalypse of Peter 7 8
VII K.B. Copeland, Sinners and Post-Mor-tem 'Baptism '
in the Aclzerusian Lake 9 1
VIII I. Czachesz, The Grotesque Body in the
Apocalypse of Peter 108
CONTENTS
IX L. Roig Lanzillotta, Does Punishment Reward the
Righteous? The Justice Pattern Underlying the
Apocalypse of Peter 127
X J. van Ruiten, The Old Testament Quotations in
the Apocalypse of Peter 158
XI A. Jakab, The Reception of the Apocalypse of
Peter in Ancient Christianity 174
XII G. Luttikhuizen, The Suflering Jesus and tlze
Invulnerable Christ in the Gnostic Apocalypse
of Peter 187
XIII J.N. Bremmer, Bibliography of tlze Apocalypse
of Peter 200
Index of names, subjects and passages 204
Preface
After the fall of the Berlin Wall the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
decided to intensify contacts with universities in Eastern Europe. In
1991 the then Head of the Department of Church History of the Fac-
ulty of Theology and Science of Religion, Professor Hans Roldanus,
took this opportunity to forge links not only with the theologians of
the Kholi Gispfir University of Budapest but also with the classicists
of the Lorint-Eotvos University of Budapest. The initiative seemed
highly promising, as the world of early Christianity was receiving
ever increasing attention from New Testament and patristic scholars
as well as from ancient historians. Initially, it was decided to focus
on the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, a genre of which various
representatives had recently been re-edited or were (are!) in the
process of being re-edited. After completing the study of the major
Acts, we have decided to proceed with the major Apocalypses. With
the widening of the scope of our series we have also changed the title
to Studies in Ear-ly Christian Apocl-ypha. The series will continue to
publish the results of our conferences, but the editors also welcome
other studies in this field, be they proceedings or monographs.
Following the volumes on the Acts of John (1995), Paul and
Tllecla (1996), Peter (1998), Andrew (2000) and Thonlas (2001), this
volume is dedicated to the Apocalypse of Peter-. The volume starts
with a short survey of the Forsckungsgeschichte and a discussion of
the old question regarding its eventual inspiration: Greek or Jewish.
It is followed by a new look at the circumstances of its finding, the
composition of the codex and its character, and also by a new edition
of the Bodleian and Rainer fragments. The major part of the book
studies various aspects and passages of the Apocalypse: the nature of
the Ethiopic pseudo-Clementine work that contained the Apocalypse,
false prophets, the Bar Kokhba hypothesis, Paradise, the post-mortem
'baptism' of sinners, the grotesque body, the pattern of justice under-
. . .
Vlll PREFACE
lying our work, the Old Testament quotations, and the reception of
the Apocalypse in ancient Christianity. The book concludes with a
study of the Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter. As has become customary,
the volume is rounded off by a bibliography and a detailed index.
The conference that formed the basis of this book took place at
the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in the autumn of 2000. We would
like to thank the Faculty of Theology and Science of Religion and the
Onderzoekschool Rudolf Agricola, which is the Groningen Research
School for the Humanities, for their financial support towards the
conference. Alan Dearn helped to correct the English; Ton Hilhorst
and Gerard Luttikhuizen assisted in correcting the proofs, and Birgit
van der Lans was a great help in making the index. We are grateful
to them all.
Jan N. Bremmer Groningen, June 2003
IstvAn Czachesz
List of abbreviations
AAA Apoc~yphalA cts of the Apostles
ANRW Azrfstie,p und Niedergang d er~om ischen Welt
JAC Jal7rbuch fur- Antike ~ ~Cnhdris tentum
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JECS Journal of Early Chi-istian Studies
JTS Journal of Tl~eologicalS tudies
NTA W. Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrvpha, tr.
and ed. R. McL. Wilson, 2 vols (Cambridge, 1992')
PG Patrologia Graeca
PL Parrologia Latirla
RAC Realle.~ikon fiir Antike und Christentum
RE Realenc~~clopiididee r classische17 Alter.t~rm'sis~s'e n-
schaft
SBL Society of Biblical Lite~.ature
SEG Supplen7er~tuinE pigrapkicun~G raecum
TWNT Tl7eologisches Worterbuch zlr~nN eslen Tesran7ent
VigC lz I-is Vigiliae Clzristianae
zhw
Zeitschrifr fiir die ne~ltestan7entlickeW issenschaji
ZPE Zeitschrift fii~P apyrologie und Epigraphik
Notes on Contributors
Tamas Adamik b. 1937, is Professor Emeritus of Latin at the
LorBnt-Eotvos University of Budapest. He is the author of the fol-
lowing studies in Hungarian: A Commenta~yo n Catullils (1971),
Martial and His Poetry (19 79), Aristotle 's Rhetoric (19 82), Jerome's
Selected Works (1991), A Histo~yo f Roman Literature I-IV (1993-
96), Ancient Theories of Style fr-om Gorgias to A~rgustine( 1998),
Martial: Selected Epigrams (2001), and translator of Ioannes Sares-
heriensis: Metalogicon (2003). He is also the editor of new Hungar-
ian translations of the Apoc13plial Acts of the Apostles (1996), the
Apoc13phal Gospels ( 1996), the Apocryphal Apocalypses ( 1997), and
the Apocryphal Epistles (19 99).
Janos Bolyki b. 193 1, is Professor Emeritus of New Testament Stud-
ies at the KBroli GBspBr University of Budapest. He is the author of
Jes~lT ischgenieirlschaften (1998), and of the following studies in
Hungarian: The Questions of the Sciences in the History of Tlieologj~
in the 20th Centu~y(1 970), Faith and Science (1989) and T17e Tahle
Fellowships of Jes~is( 1992), Principles and Methods of New Testa-
n~eiltI nterpretation (199g2), The Ecological Crisis in Tl7eological
Perspective (1999), True Witness: Con7rnentary to the Gospel of
John (2001), and The Gospel of Johrl in the Mirror of the Greek
Tragedy (2002). He co-authored, in Hungarian, Codes D in the Book
of Acts (1995) and Revelation: Two Approaches (1997).
Jan N. Bremmer b. 1944, is Professor of History and Science of
Religion at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. He is the author of Tl7e
Early Greek Concept of the Soul (1983), Greek Religion (1999') and
The Rise and Fall of the Afterlife (2002); co-author of Roman Myth
and Mythography (19 87), editor of Interpretations of Greek Mythol-
ogy (1987), From Sappho to de Sade: Moments in the History of Se,i--
CONTRIBUTORS xi
uality (1989), The Apocryphal Acts of John (1995), The Apocrvphal
Acts of Paul and Tlzecla (1996), The Apoclyphal Acts of Peter
(1998), The Apoc~yplralA cts of Andrew (2000) and The Apocryphal
Acts of Thomas (2002), and co-editor of A Cultural Histo~yo f Ges-
ture (1991), Between Poverty and the Pyre. Moments in the history of
widowhood (1995), A Cultural Histo~yo f Humour (1997) and The
Metamorphosis of Magic (2003).
Kirsti Copeland b. 1971, is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at the Uni-
versity of Redlands in southern California. She completed her disser-
tation, Mapping tlie Apocalypse of Paul: Geography, Genre and His-
toly, at Princeton University in 2001. She is the author of 'The
Earthly Monastery and the Transformation of the Heavenly City in
Late Antique Egypt', in A. Yoshiko Reed and R. Abusch (eds), In
Heaven as it is on Earth (2003) and of 'Paulusapokalypse' in Reli-
gion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, fourth edition (2003).
Istvan Czachesz b. 1968, is a postdoctoral fellow of the Netherlands
Organisation for Scientific Research at the Rijksuniversiteit Gronin-
gen. He is the author of Con7missior7 Narratives: A Comparative
Studv of rlze Canonical and Apocryphal Acts (2003), in Hungarian, of
Gaia's Two Faces (1996), co-author of Codes D in the Book of Acts
(1995), editor of Disciples, Wonde~workersM, artyrs (1997: a vol-
ume of essays on the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles), and transla-
tor of Tyconius' Book of Rules (1997).
Attila Jakab b. 1966, teaches Geopolitics of Religions at the Inter-
national Centre for GeopoliticaI Studies of Geneva (www.geopoli-
tics.ch). In addition to numerous articles, he is the author of 20 sii-
cles de prieres ckre'tiennes (1999) and Ecclesia alesandrina.
Evolution sociale et ii7stitutio1111elldeu christianisme alexandrin (IF
er I F siecles) (2001).
Gerard Luttikhuizen b. 1940, is Professor of Early Christian Liter-
ature and New Testament Studies at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.
He is the author of The Revelation of Elchasai (1985), Gnostische
Geschriften I (1986) and De veelvoimigheid van her vroegste chris-
rendom (2002). He is the editor of Paradise I~lterpreted( 1999) and
The Creation of Man and Woman (2000), and co-editor of Stories of
the Flood (19 98).