The New Testament Apocrypha

(Summary of a Lecture by Richard Bauckham on 5 May 1999)

[Richard Bauckham is a Professor of New Testament at the University of St. Andrews. He is a specialist in the Gospel of John; early christology; the Book of Revelation; theological interpretation of scripture; and noncanonical Jewish and Christian literature. He has published numerous books, including a recent collection of essays in the latter area: _The Fate of the Dead: Studies on the Jewish and Christian Apocalypses_ (Leiden: Brill, 1998).--JRD]

Terminology and definition

There are two traditional terms for this body of literature: the Apocryphal NT, the title of English collections (Hone 1820, James 1924, Elliott 1993; cf. Sparks' Apocryphal OT), and the NT Apocrypha, title of the German collections and their English translations (since the first edition of Hennecke, 1904).

There are several problems with this terminology:

(1) The term 'NT Apocrypha' might suggest a fixed collection of texts, like the OT apocrypha (= deutero-canonical works), whereas in fact we are dealing with a very open category, potentially inclusive of a very large number of works.

(2) Either term might suggest that the works in question were in some sense candidates for inclusion in the NT canon and at some point in the process of the formation of the NT canon were excluded. This would be very misleading. Only three of these works (Apocalypse of Peter, Acts of Paul, Gospel of the Hebrews) were ever listed among the 'disputed' books (antilegomena) which some treated as canonical (reading them as authoritative Scripture in Christian worship). Many which were written before and during the process of canonization are treated by later authors as 'rejected' (apocryphal) works, but for various reasons were complete non-starters, never seriously considered candidates for canonical status. Many more were written during and after the completion of the canon, not as potentially canonical works or as rivals to the canonical books, but as works functioning to supplement the canon.

(3) The term 'apocrypha,' which came to be used by the Fathers in the sense of 'spurious' or 'rejected' books, suggests literature that was rejected and suppressed in mainstream Christianity. This is true only of some of these works, to a greater or lesser degree, and differently in different periods. The Gnostic works were those first called 'apocrypha' and were vehemently rejected in mainstream Christianity from the second century. But many of the so-called NT apocrypha were not doctrinally unorthodox. Some of these were officially rejected but remained popular in practice. Such works continued to be written by orthodox Chtristians into the early middle ages, and some of the NT apocrypha were extremely popular throughout the middle ages, not suppressed, but not treated as authoritative in the canonical sense (e.g. the infancy Gospels and the apocalypses that revealed the fate of the dead in the afterlife). So the status of these works varies enormously, from those used only by heretics to those used widely by the orthodox, and with varying kinds of authority or usefulness for those who read them.

(4) If the terms 'Apocryphal NT' and 'NT Apocrypha' should not be understood as implying candidature for and exclusion from the NT canon, what kind of relationship to the NT is envisaged? By classifying the apocryphal literature as Gospels, Acts, Epistles, Apocalypses, the collections suggest that these are works in the same genres as those of the NT texts, and that we are dealing with the same kind of literature that we find in the NT. In fact, this is the case with only quite a small minority of the texts called NT Apocrypha. Most of the apocryphal Gospels are not comparable in literary genre with the canonical Gospels; the apocryphal Acts of Apostles resemble the canonical Acts in some ways, but also differ sufficiently to constitute a different literary genre; by contrast with the NT, there are very few apocryphal Epistles; and the apocryphal Apocalypses are mostly more like Jewish apocalypses than like the NT Apocalypse of John. Literary genre is not a satisfactory way of defining the way these texts relate to the NT. I suggest rather: the works in question are either attributed to or about NT characters.

(5) The terms 'Apocryphal NT' and 'NT Apocrypha' cannot, of course, cover works which are either attributed to or about *OT* characters. Christians did write such works (mostly apocalypses, but also narrative works), as well as editing Jewish works of this kind. Such works are included, if anywhere, in editions of the OT Pseudepigrapha. This is potentially misleading, because it suggests that the OT Pseudepigrapha are Jewish and the NT Apocrypha Christian. It is especially misleading if a collection of OT Pseudepigrapha takes (Charlesworth's OTP does) as a criterion of inclusion that a work must preserve Jewish traditions, even if in Christian redaction. This means that Christian OT Pseudepigrapha fall between the two stools, and that the examples that do occur, e.g., in Charlesworth's OTP are usually studied only for the sake of their possible Jewish substratum or contents. (Moreover, if we are looking for early Jewish traditions in Christian works, I think we are as likely to find them in the Apocalypse of Peter or the Apocalypse of Paul, as we are in the Ascension of Isaiah or the Coptic Apocalypse of Elijah.) Most scholarship on the OT Pseudepigrapha has been interested in them as Jewish literature, so that those which are originally Christian or the Christian redaction of others have been seriously neglected. Responding to these problems the CCSA includes both 'NT Apocrypha' and 'Christian OT Pseudepigrapha,' refusing artificial distinctions between them, and prefers the term 'Christian apocrypha' for the whole corpus of literature.

The content of the rest of the lecture will be found (in more detail than as given) in the following three published articles by Richard Bauckham:

• "Gospels (Apocryphal)," in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, ed. J. B. Green, S. McKnight and I. H. Marshall (Downers Grove, Illinois/Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 1992) 286-291.
• "Apocryphal Pauline Literature," in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. G. F. Hawthorne and R. P. Martin (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993) 35-37.
• "Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphal Literature," in Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments, ed. R. P. Martin and P. H. Davids (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997) 68-73.

  Select List of Christian Apocrypha, classified by genre

  All early and some especially important later works are listed
  * = work listed twice in different categories

  Gospels

  Gospel of Thomas
  Gospel of Peter
  Papyrus Fragments of Unknown Gospels
  Jewish Christian Gospels (Gospels of Hebrews, Nazarenes, Ebionites)
  Gospel of the Egyptians
  Secret Gospel of Mark
  Gospel of Nicodemus (Acts of Pilate and Descent to Hades)

  Birth and Infancy Gospels

  Protevangelium of James
  Infancy Gospel of Thomas
  History of Joseph
  Infancy Gospel of Matthew
  Arabic Infancy Gospel
  Latin Infancy Gospel

  Post-Resurrection Gospels (Dialogues and Revelations)

  Apocalypse of Peter*
  Epistle of the Apostles*
  Questions of Bartholomew
  Testament of our Lord
  Testament of our Lord in Galilee
  Apocryphon of James*
  Book of Thomas
  Sophia of Jesus Christ
  Dialogue of the Saviour
  First Apocalypse of James
  Coptic (Gnostic) Apocalypse of Peter*
  Gospel of Mary
  Letter of Peter to Philip (2nd part)*
  Pistis Sophia
  Books of Jeu

  Apostolic Acts

  Acts of Andrew
  Acts of John
  Acts of Paul
  Acts of Peter
  Acts of Thomas
  Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles

  Apostolic Epistles

  Epistle of the Apostles*
  Apocryphon of James*
  3 Corinthians (part of Acts of Paul)
  Laodiceans
  Letter of Peter to Philip (1st part)*
  Correspondence of Paul and Seneca
  Epistle of Titus

  Other Apostolic Literature

  Preaching of Peter
  Prayer of the Apostle Paul
  Second Apocalypse of James
  Pseudo-Clementine literature
  Accounts of the Dormition/Assumption of the Virgin

  Apocalyptic and Prophetic Literature

  Apocalypse of Peter*
  Ascension of Isaiah
  Apocalypse of Thomas
  Apocalypse of Paul
  Coptic (Gnostic) Apocalypse of Paul
  Coptic (Gnostic) Apocalypse of Peter*
  (Christian) Sibylline Oracles
  5 Ezra
  6 Ezra
  Coptic Apocalypse of Elijah
  Apocalypses of the Virgin Mary
  Greek Apocalypse of Ezra
  Apocalypse of Sedrach
  Latin Vision of Ezra
  Questions of Ezra
  Apocalypses of Daniel
  Seventh Vision of Enoch
  

  Wisdom Literature

  Teachings of Sylvanus

  Hymnic Literature

  Odes of Solomon

  (c) 1999
  Reproduction beyond fair use only on permission of the author.