Apocryphon of James
Encyclopedia
The Apocryphon of James, also known by the translation of its title - the Secret Book of James, is a pseudonymous text amongst the New Testament apocrypha
. It describes the secret teachings of Jesus
to Peter
and James
, given after the Resurrection
but before the Ascension.
A major theme is that one must accept suffering as inevitable. The prominence of James and Peter suggest that the work originated in the Jewish Christian community. It shows no dependence on canonical texts, and was probably written in the mid-to-late 2nd century. It has Gnostic affinities but can't be attributed to any Gnostic sect, and some scholars rule that it's not Gnostic at all.
, first of the thirteen codices in the Nag Hammadi library
. Although the text appears to be a Coptic
translation from Greek
, the author claims to have written in Hebrew
. Because of references to persecution and martyrdom, it is unlikely that the text was written after 313
, when Constantine I
ended Christian persecution. Other clues in the text point to a composition in the 2nd century, and perhaps in the first half.
(i.e. a letter) from James to someone else whose name is obscured by the damage to the text. The author describes Jesus expanding on various sayings and answering questions 50 days after the Resurrection, but before the Ascension. Both James and Peter are given secret instruction, but at the end only James appears to understand what has happened. (As with the Gospel of John 1-20 and the Gospel of Mary, in this book Peter has implicitly failed the Christian movement).
Jesus gives teachings in unusual and seemingly contradictory phrases, and also offers brief parables. He invites Peter and James into the Kingdom of Heaven
with him, but they are distracted by the other apostles' questions and miss their chance. Afterwards, James is described as sending out the 12 apostles, indicating (as in other apocryphal documents) that James initially succeeded Jesus as the leader of the movement.
The brief framing letter appears independent of the remainder of the text, suggesting to some that the Apocryphon may have originated as multiple separate texts redacted together. This framing letter references a previous "secret gospel", which has apparently been lost. Within the Apocryphon, the discussions of martyrdom and prophecy also appear to be somewhat separate, indicating an original text, for the main body of the document, which was composed of brief sayings. It is still debated whether the closest parallels to the New Testament canon are part of the Apocryphon's last redactional hand or else part of its sources.
or other developed gnostic cosmologies, so it is not usually counted as a truly gnostic text.
Many of the sayings appear to be shared with the canonical Gospels, and the text includes this reference to other sayings: "It sufficed for some persons to pay attention to the teaching and understand 'The Shepherds' and 'The Seed' and 'The Building' and 'The Lamps of the Virgins' and 'The Wage of the Workers' and 'The Double Drachma' and 'The Woman'." The references to salvation through "the cross" seem to imply familiarity with Paul
's letters, or at least his teachings. But its introduction says, "And five hundred and fifty days after he arose from the dead, we said to him: ...", which is considerably longer than the forty days which Luke's Acts of the Apostles
gives for the Ascension. Some have felt that this implies that the relationship of the Apocryphon of James with the canon is through oral tradition, and that the community which wrote it rejected or else did not know Luke-Acts
. (On the other hand, Irenaeus
in Against Heresies
gave a time span of eighteen months, and Irenaeus was certainly familiar with the work.) Some scholars posit that the earliest version of the Apocryphon was independent of the canonical gospels, but that an unknown redactor knew of and referenced canonical works in the known edition.
New Testament apocrypha
The New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early Christians that claim to be accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. These writings often have links with books regarded as "canonical"...
. It describes the secret teachings of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
to Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
and James
James the Just
James , first Bishop of Jerusalem, who died in 62 AD, was an important figure in Early Christianity...
, given after the Resurrection
Death and Resurrection of Jesus
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
but before the Ascension.
A major theme is that one must accept suffering as inevitable. The prominence of James and Peter suggest that the work originated in the Jewish Christian community. It shows no dependence on canonical texts, and was probably written in the mid-to-late 2nd century. It has Gnostic affinities but can't be attributed to any Gnostic sect, and some scholars rule that it's not Gnostic at all.
Origin
The text survives in a single, damaged manuscript as the second section of the Jung CodexJung Codex
The Jung Codex was found at Nag Hammadi. It slipped through the hands of the Egyptian authorities and was sold to private collectors in the United States...
, first of the thirteen codices in the Nag Hammadi library
Nag Hammadi library
The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. That year, twelve leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local peasant named Mohammed Ali Samman...
. Although the text appears to be a Coptic
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
translation from Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, the author claims to have written in Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
. Because of references to persecution and martyrdom, it is unlikely that the text was written after 313
313
Year 313 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus...
, when Constantine I
Constantine I
Constantine the Great , also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. Well known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, Constantine and co-Emperor Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious tolerance of all...
ended Christian persecution. Other clues in the text point to a composition in the 2nd century, and perhaps in the first half.
Content
The text is framed as an epistleEpistle
An epistle is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The letters in the New Testament from Apostles to Christians...
(i.e. a letter) from James to someone else whose name is obscured by the damage to the text. The author describes Jesus expanding on various sayings and answering questions 50 days after the Resurrection, but before the Ascension. Both James and Peter are given secret instruction, but at the end only James appears to understand what has happened. (As with the Gospel of John 1-20 and the Gospel of Mary, in this book Peter has implicitly failed the Christian movement).
Jesus gives teachings in unusual and seemingly contradictory phrases, and also offers brief parables. He invites Peter and James into the Kingdom of Heaven
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
with him, but they are distracted by the other apostles' questions and miss their chance. Afterwards, James is described as sending out the 12 apostles, indicating (as in other apocryphal documents) that James initially succeeded Jesus as the leader of the movement.
The brief framing letter appears independent of the remainder of the text, suggesting to some that the Apocryphon may have originated as multiple separate texts redacted together. This framing letter references a previous "secret gospel", which has apparently been lost. Within the Apocryphon, the discussions of martyrdom and prophecy also appear to be somewhat separate, indicating an original text, for the main body of the document, which was composed of brief sayings. It is still debated whether the closest parallels to the New Testament canon are part of the Apocryphon's last redactional hand or else part of its sources.
Relation to other texts
To many scholars, the flavor of the sayings appears somewhat gnostic in tone, primarily because its doctrines do not accord with orthodox interpretation of canonical scripture. The manuscript was also found among explicit gnostic teachings in the Nag Hammadi Library. The text also uses gnostic terms, such as referring to "fullness" as a means to salvation, but the doctrines in the Apocryphon of John certainly do not accord with the ValentinianValentianism
Valentinianism is a Gnostic movement that was founded by Valentinus in the second century AD. Valentinianism was one of the major Gnostic movements...
or other developed gnostic cosmologies, so it is not usually counted as a truly gnostic text.
Many of the sayings appear to be shared with the canonical Gospels, and the text includes this reference to other sayings: "It sufficed for some persons to pay attention to the teaching and understand 'The Shepherds' and 'The Seed' and 'The Building' and 'The Lamps of the Virgins' and 'The Wage of the Workers' and 'The Double Drachma' and 'The Woman'." The references to salvation through "the cross" seem to imply familiarity with Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
's letters, or at least his teachings. But its introduction says, "And five hundred and fifty days after he arose from the dead, we said to him: ...", which is considerably longer than the forty days which Luke's Acts of the Apostles
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
gives for the Ascension. Some have felt that this implies that the relationship of the Apocryphon of James with the canon is through oral tradition, and that the community which wrote it rejected or else did not know Luke-Acts
Luke-Acts
Luke-Acts is the name usually given by Biblical scholars to the hypothetical composite work of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament. Together they describe the Ministry of Jesus and the subsequent lives of the Apostles and the Apostolic Age.Both the books of Luke and...
. (On the other hand, Irenaeus
Irenaeus
Saint Irenaeus , was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire . He was an early church father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology...
in Against Heresies
On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis
On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis, today also called On the Detection and Overthrow of Knowledge Falsely So Called , commonly called Against Heresies , is a five-volume work written by St. Irenaeus in the 2nd century...
gave a time span of eighteen months, and Irenaeus was certainly familiar with the work.) Some scholars posit that the earliest version of the Apocryphon was independent of the canonical gospels, but that an unknown redactor knew of and referenced canonical works in the known edition.