The past month or so I have been doing a deep dive into the Quran and really enjoy comparing the aspects of various figures in there with their Christian / Jewish counterparts, particularly that of Jesus / Isa. I had a previous blog post (link HERE) that mentions the crucifixion body swap that appears in …
Author Archives: bP
The Virgin Mary and the Cannibal of Qemer
Now here is something a bit different! Cannibals have made their way into the apocrypha throughout the years (believe it or not!). This particular tale I am sharing with you comes from the Ethiopic tradition and features Our Lady interacting with a cannibal. This story is a well known tale in the Ethiopic apocrypha but …
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Jesus writes a letter to King Abgarus
One of the shortest but very interesting pieces of apocrypha is the correspondence between King Abgarus and Jesus Christ. I find it fascinating that the only claimed writing from Jesus is between him and a King from Osroene. Now upon reading these two letters (one from the King, and the response from JC), you can …
Discourse on the Arch-Angel Gabriel
In the past month I brought you Coptic tales of Michael and Raphael, now here is one on Gabriel! This particular text is LONG! This text comes to us from via Miscellaneous Coptic texts in the dialect of Upper Egypt by E. A. Wallis Budge. This text is complete except it’s ending. Like the other texts, …
Comparing translations of Thomas sayings
I mentioned in previous blog posts on how important it is to check out various translations of texts. Sometimes it is not possible but when there are multiple translations you should definitely do so! Unless you can read the source manuscript (Coptic, Greek, etc…), you are forced to go by modern (or somewhat modern, i.e. …
Encomium on the Arch-Angel Raphael
I have another tale for you from the Coptic tradition this time of the Arch-Angel Raphael and his interaction with Saint John Chrysostom. This comes from the Miscellaneous Coptic texts in the dialect of Upper Egypt by E. A. Wallis Budge. I am presenting this text in full. I have modernized some words and there are sections that …
Discourse on Saint Michael the Arch-Angel
With this post, I am bringing you the FULL text titled “Discourse on Saint Michael the Arch Angel”, by Timothy, Archbishop of Alexandria. This apocrypha text is included in the book Miscellaneous Coptic texts in the dialect of Upper Egypt by E. A. Wallis Budge. You may recall I did some other posts regarding Budge’s translations, as …
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Jesus sayings in the “Sentences of Sextus”…?
A previous entry on my blog was a sample from the “Sentences of Sextus”, a fragmented wisdom collection that was in the Nag Hammadi library, but also survives complete in other manuscripts. If you only read the NHL version, I highly suggest obtaining a copy of the complete work. Not too long ago I picked up a …
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Gospel of Bartholomew (2 of 2)
This is the second post of the Gospel of Bartholomew. What is fascinating about these remaining parts of the gospel is the inclusion of the “fallen angel / Satan” origin story. This is always alluded to in the canon but never fully laid out. Continuing on with the Gospel of Bartholomew, section 3 begins with Jesus taking …
Gospel of Bartholomew (1 of 2)
Today I present a dialogue style gospel. This is a post resurrection text that mainly involves Jesus speaking to Bartholomew. The gospel goes through various situations including another retelling of the harrowing of hell (see my previous post HERE in regards to that story). This text also goes by the name “The Questions of St. Bartholomew” and is …
