The Text, its Chigins, and its Transmission. Tony Chartrand-Burke A thesis submitted in conformity

463 Pages·2002·22.02 MB·English

The Infncy Gospel of Thomas:
The Text, its Chigins, and its Transmission.
Tony Chartrand-Burke
A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Graduate Department of Religion, University of Toronto
Q Copyright by Tony Chartrand-Burke 200 1
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The Injàncy Gospel of Thomas:
The Text, its Origias, and its Transmission
by Tony Chartrand-Burke, Ph.D. 200 1
Department of Religious Studies, University of Toronto
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas (IGT), an early apocryphal *ting about Jesus'
childhooci, has been known in the West for centuries-IGT vas first published in the
seventeenth centuxy-yet, &er al1 this time, scholars interested in the text remain
focused on recovering its earliest form and on situating it in the spectrum benveen heresy
and orthodoxy. Such efforts have overshadowed the need to situate this text in the history
of literature. Oniy by identifjmg its literary affinities can IGT mily be understood.
Upon IGT's discovery scholars imrnediately identified the text as the "Gospel of
Thomas" mentioned by a number of early Church \Miters and fiequently associated with
gnostics. The absence of anything remotely gnostic in the text led to the creation of an
expurgation theory which holds that gnostic discomes must have been removed from the
text by a Cathoiic reviser. With the publication of the ûue Gospel of' Thornus from Nag
Hammadi in 1956 bath the association with Gnosticism and the expurgation theory
should have come to an end; yet rnany scholars continue to clairn that gnostic sayings
have teen removed fiom the text.
Tbis dissertation seeks to correct these ideas. Recent work on ET has shown that
the text tias been lengthened over the centuries, not shortened, with material having been
added to the text in order to harmonize its portraya1 of Jesus with that of the NT gospels.
New Greek manuscripts of the gospel, edited and published here for the first the, heIp tu
bolster this shorter text theory and aid in tracing the text7s transmission They also set
ii
IGT on a firm text-critical foundation for the study of its contents- A cntical analysis of
these contents reveais that IGT was never more gnostic at all. In fact, the conventions
employed in ancient biographical literature dictate that childhood portrayals of eminent
adults are inteaded to foreshadow their later career. IGT's irascible wondenvorker,
therefore, is based not on gnostic cantempt for the wodd but fiom the author's belief that
the aduit Jesus was just as likely to curse as to bless. These conventions reveal also that
IGT's Jesus is wise and mature not because he is meant ro be understood as a gnostic
Redeemer figure but because, in antiquity, these qualities often were celebrated in
praiseworthy children. The ancien6 vaIued their offspring onty when they approached
aduIthood, for in adulthood thcy were needed to care for their parents and carry on the
family name. It was in aduithood too that a peson attained reason, the requisite vittue for
becoming tmly human.
The Jesus of IGT, therefore, is far more ordinary than previously thought, He is
temperamentai, not because he represents gnostic contempt of the world, but because the
author believes his young Jesus is consistent with the Jesus, and the apodes, of the NT.
He is mature and wise not because he is not really human-neither gnostic Redeemer nor
god-child-but because in the eyes of the te& author and audience, these things make
him human.
Acknowledgments
This dissertation couid not have been completed without the assistance and
support of numerous colleagues, family members, and fnends. My supervisory
cornmittee-Profs. Robert Sinkewicz, Peter Richardson, and Leif Vaage-helped bring
cohesion to the work Prof Sinkewicz, in particular, provided great assistance in text-
cntical matters. My readers-Profs. Michel Desjardins and Ron Hock4ffered vaIuable
advice for revisions. Prof. Desjardins was part of this project fiom the start. i join
Michel's many appreciative former students in thanking him for his sober judgement, his
keen eye for detail, and his selfless devotion to his students. I wish to thank also Prof. T.
Allan Smith of the Toronto School of Theology for his translation of Thomas Rosen's
critical edition of the Slavonic tradition, Erich Lamberz for volunteering his notes on the
Vatopedi MS, Profs. Harold Remus and Peter Erb of Wilfnd Laurier University for their
advice and support, Sever Voicu and Thomas Rosen for their interest in my work, Adam
Lehto for assistance Iearning Syriac, Prof. François Bovon and Caroline Kelly at Harvard
Divinity School for some long-distance research assistance, Iane Lynch and the
Interlibrary Loan staff at Robarts Libcary, and the students, faculty and staff of the Centre
for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto
Manuscript material has ken futnifutnisbhye dt he following institutions: the U.S.
Library of Congrcss, Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Biblioteca univenitaria in
Bologna, the Sachsische Landesbibliothek in Dresden, the Library OF the Or'todox
Patriarchate of Jenisalem, the Patriarchal institute of Patristic Snidies in T"aaloniki, the
Ausuian National Lhrary in Vienna, the National Bank of Greece, the Biblioteca
Apostoiica Vaticana, and Leonidas Ananiades. I am gratefii also to the University of
Toronto School of Graduate Studies for covering the costs of obtaining the material.
On a more personal level I would like to thank my family (both the Chartrands
and the Burkes) for their interest and support, but prticularly my wife Ro.ua~e,to whom
1 dedicate this work, for encouraging me to begin my doctorate and her efforts to help me
complete it. 1 must acknowledge also the unique contribution made by my own enfant
terrible, Meghan Chartrand-Burke, who lent vital perspective to the section on parents
and children in antiquity.
Contents
...
Abbreviations
Vlll
ONE: iNTRODUCTION 1
SECTION I 9
'IWO THE INFANCY GOSPEL OF THOUST HROUGH THE CENTURIES 10
1. From Antiquity to the Middle Ages
2. IGT Rediscovered: 1675-1 852
3. From Wright to Budge: Five Decades of Slow Progression
4. Meyer to James: New Sources, New Theories
5. From Delatte to Gero: "Gospel No More"
6. Noret to Voicu: A Critical Edition in Sight
7. Assessment
SECTION II
THREE: DESCRIPTiON OF MANUSCRiPTS
1. The Greek MSS
2. The Versions
FOUR: TEXT AND TRANSLATION
1. Editing Principles
2. Text
3. Translation
FIVE: DEVELOPMENT, ORIGM, AND TRANSMISSION
1. Original Form: Short and Long Recensions
2. Ongins
3. Transmission
4. Transmission Stemma
5. Summary
Appendix: Manuscript Transmission Stemma
SECTION III
SIX: THE CKRiSTOLOGY OF THE I1VFNCY GOSPEL OF THOMS
1. The Treatment of Character in Antiquity
2. Jesus the Gnostic Redeemer
3. Jesus the Hero
4. Jesus the Jewish Holy Man
SEVEN: A CHILD'S LIFE IN ROMAN ANTIQüiTY
1. Methodological Issues
2. The World of Mediterranean Families
3. Mediterranean Families
4. Birth and lnfancy
5. Childhood
6. Adolescence and Adulthood
7. The Child in Christian Families
8, A Child's Life in Roman Antiquity: An Assessment
EIGm: CHILDREN AS ADULTS SAW THEM
1. Childhood Remembered
2. ldealized Children
3. Jesus and the Idealized Child
4. Concluding Remarks
NME:C ONCLUSION
BiBLIOGRAPHY
Abbreviations
BHG Bibliotheca hagiographica graeca. Edited by François Halkin, 3d ed.
Subsidia hagiographica 8. Bmsels: Société des Bollandists, 1957.
BHG" Novum auctarium bibliorhecae hagiographicae grueme. Edited by
François Halkin. Subsidia hagiographica 65. Bruwls: Société des
Bollandists, 1984.
CAiW Clmis Apocryphorum Novi Testamenti. Edited by M. Geerard Turnhout:
Brepols, 1992.
CIJ Corpus inscriptionum judaicam. Edited by Jean Baptiste Frey. Rome:
Pontificio istituto di archeologia cristiana, 1936-1952.
CIL Corpus imcriptionum latinarum. Edited by the Berlin Royal Academy.
Berlin: Reimer, 1863-1974.
CPJ Corpus pupyrorurn judaicamm. Edited by A. Tcherikover and Alexander
Fuks. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1960.
a2 Evungeliu Apocrypha. Edited by Constantin Tischendof 2d ed. Leipzig:
H. Mendelsohn, 1876.
IG Inscripciones gruecae. Edited by F. H. von Gaertringen et cd BerIin: De
Gruyter, 189û-.
ILCV Inscriptiones lurinae chrisrianue vetcres. Edited by E. Diehl. 2d ed Berlin,
196 1.
ILS Inscriptiones lutinae selecrue. Edited by Hermann Dessau Berol ini: A pud
Weidemannos, 1892.
PG Pairologia gruecu. Edited by J.-P. Migne. 162 vois. Paris, 1 8441 864.
PL Pairologia lutina. Edited by J.-P. Migne. 217 vols, Paris, 184-1364.
P. 0.y. The 0-qdzynchu.sP upyri. Edited by B. P. Grenfell et ul. London: Egypt
Exploration Society, 189%.
SEG Supplemenrum epigruphicum gruecum Edited by P. Roussel et al.
Lugduni Batavonim: Sijthoff, 1923.
Witnesses to the Infancy Gospel of Thomas
Greek Manuscripts
A Athens, Cod Ath Gr 335
B Bologna, Univ. 2702
C Cod Sinaiticus Gr 532
D Dresden, A 187
H Jenisalem, Cod Sabaiticm 259
L Mount Athos, Cod h r a 8 222
h4 Samos, B. Metropoleos MS Gr 54
O Vienna, Phil. Gr 262
P Paris, A. F. Gr 239
R Rome, Vat. Palat. Gr 364
S Cod Sinaiticus Gr 453
T Vienna, Cod rheol. Gr 123
V Mount Athos, Cod Vatopedi 3 7
W Viema, Cod hist. Gr 91
Versioas
Eth Ethiopic, Miracles of Jesus ch 8
Geo Georgian, MS Tblisi, Cod A 95
Ir Irish, National Library of ireland MS G 50
Lm Ps.-Mt. chs. 26-42
Lt Tischendorfs Latin MS, Vat. kat. 4578
Lu Latin palimpsest, Vindobonensis 563
SI Slavonic family of MSS
SY~ Syriac MSS
Noo-Caaooical Christiao Texts
I Clem. 1 Clement
Acis John Acrs of John
Acrs Puul Acrs of Paul
Acts Pet. Acrs of Peter
rtcts Pd. Acrs of Pilate
Acis Thom. Acts of Thomas
iip. Jus. Apocryphon of Jumes
Ap. John Apocryphon of John
Arub. Gos. Inf Arabie Infancy Gospel
Aristides
Ap ol. Apulogy
Am. Gos. Inf Armeniun Infancy Gospe!
Arno bius
Ah. nat. Adversus nationes
Ascen. ha. Ascension of Isaiah
,4ssum Vir. Asvumption of the Virgin
Augustine
Civ. The City of Cod
Barn Burnabas
Clement of Alexandna
Paed Christ the Educator
Strom Miscellanies
Diai. Sm. Dialogue of the Smiour
Did Didache
Didasc. Didmcafia
Diogn. Diognetw
Ep. Aps. Epistle to the Apostles
Epiphanius
Pan. Refùraïon of Al1 Heresies
(Et@ Apoc. Pet. (Erhiopic) ApocaIpse of Peter