Culmination of Wisdom

The History of the Death of Saint John the Evangelist

Returning back to the translations of E. A. Budget with another Ethiopic tale, this time in regards to Saint John the Evangelist/Theologian. This translation appeared in 1898 in “The Contendings of the Apostles Vol 2” and I’ve slightly modified some of it for the modern reader. I am currently unsure where and when this story originated, so you’ll just have to take it as is. Enjoy!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. One God.

Here begins the Book of the Death of John, the son of Zebedee, the disciple and friend of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin and Evangelist, wherein are described his divinity and his departure from this world which took place on the island of Patmos on the fourth day of the month TIR (December 30). May his peace protect his handmaiden Walatta Madhan forever and ever, Amen.

Now the going forth of each of the holy Apostles unto the county which had come unto him as portion from God took place after the giving of the commandments by God, the Redeemer of the whole world, and after his Ascension into heaven with great glory. And the portion which came unto John, the son of Zebedee, was Asia. And when he had come unto Epheson (Ephesus), which is the mother-city of Ephesians, he preached unto them, and told them the story of the Gospel in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, amid great striving, and privation, and fatigue, and did wonderful things without number. And even after his patient endurance, and the tribulations, and the trials which came upon him from the men of this city, they multiplied their worship of false gods, more than the men of every other country, even as said the scribe who is one of us. And the city of Ephesus, the story of which is told in the “Acts of the Apostles,” continued thus to do until at length the people thereof would take oaths by things which were lies, and until there was nothing true in it, even as the book said, “The men of the Ephesians perform worship unto the goddess of the temple, Artemis the great.” And afterwards John overthrew that unclean temple and destroyed it by his preaching, and he wrought miracles and wonderful things innumerable in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he cleansed the country from the uncleanness of idols, and he delivered the people from a bitter worship wherein there was no profit, and he brought them to the knowledge of God our Lord Jesus Christ, and of his glorious Father, and of the Holy and Life-giving Spirit. And he built churches everywhere in the country in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and appointed unto them bishops, and priests, and deacons; and the faith in and the knowledge of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ increased among them, and righteousness multiplied in the land.

And after all the Apostles had finished their work, and had gone forth from this world – now Peter had been crucified in the city of Rome, and they had cut off the head of Paul in the same city, and Mark they had flayed alive in the city of Alexandria and it was two days before he died, and in this wise each of the Apostles suffered in the country which he had gone to convert, and they all had contended with tribulations and with abundant punishments, each according to his own way – the blessed John still continued to live in the world for many years, and he lived until the reign of Domatianos (Domitian), and he lived seventy years after the resurrection of our Lord. And he became an exceedingly old man, and he tasted death neither by the sword not by any violence whatsoever, for God loved him exceedingly because of his purity, even as it is written in his Gospel that he was the friend of the Lord who was worthy to rest upon the breast of the Son, and One Who sits in the bosom of his Father in the heavens, by reason of the purity of his soul and boy. And after he had written his divine Gospel which exalts all hearts, and the Apocalypse which he saw in Patmos, and which is full of the mysteries of God, God Almighty – may his Name be blessed! – wished to deliver him from the fatigue of this world which he had endured patiently for his Name’s sake, for the blessed John was rejoicing exceedingly in God. Now there were multitudes of the brethren who were dwelling with him in Ephesus, and they were glad and rejoiced in the sight of him even as if they had seen God, our Lord Jesus Christ. And on each Sabbath day all these people would come together, and would rejoice in the Spirit, and would sing psalms and spiritual hymns, even as they were sung in the churches by the children of the Jerusalem which is in the heavens. Then would John the Evangelist begin to address the people with words of the spirit, and to say unto them, “Behold, O my beloved brethren in the spirit, ye heirs unto me in the service of the Kingdom of God our Lord Jesus Christ, behold, ye have seen how many mighty deeds our Lord Jesus Christ has wrought by my hand among you, and what great gifts of spiritual grace, and how many miracles, and what exalted doctrine, and what great knowledge, and what abundant admonitions, and comfort, and honor, and greatness, have come from Him, and how great is the multitude of His mercies towards you, even as your eyes have seen, and your ears have heard. And be not open in respect of your eyes only, through fear, but be ye also open in respect of your hearts. And be ye watchful to complete your work so that ye may be meet to be called ‘blessed,’ concerning whom the Book said, ‘Blessed are ye when ye labor, and when ye become strong in God, and ye shall become workers unto Him at all times without trepidation.’ And ye know the consolation which is the foundation of the Great Mystery which our Lord Jesus Christ wrought to effect your salvation. And He entreats you, O brethren, by my tongue, to become learned in His judgment, holding Him in fear, and neither to grieve His spirit, nor to sin against Him, nor to provoke Him to anger, nor to reject Him with contumely. For He knows the mysteries of your hearts, and the things which proceed from you, and all your works, and all your transgressions of His commandments. And grieve ye not God the Merciful, the Compassionate, the Patient, the Most Holy of those who are holy, Who makes holy, in Whom there is neither blemish, nor impurity, nor malice, nor wrath. He alone is, and He loves and regards with pleasure him that rejects Him not. God is His Name which is to be named above all names, and He does not exist for time only but for eternity. This is the Name upon which it is necessary for you to lay hold, so that He may rejoice in your acceptance thereof, and in the integrity of your paths; He is well pleased with your lives, for He loves gentleness and patience, and He accepts these; rejoice in your good works and in your patient endurance of many tribulations; He takes pleasure in your purity, and in your love for Him; He puts your compassion to the test, and He accepts your repentance; be ye not then moved from following His commandments. And although ye commit tens of thousands of wickednesses, if ye turn unto Him with a pure mind, He will accept your petition, for He grieves for the wickedness of the children of men. If a fornicator turn to Him in truth He will receive him as if he were a virgin. And although the man shall turn again to his evil deeds, and go back unto wickedness, yet if once again he be converted, and repent, and make straight his ways, God through His abundant mercy will have compassion upon him, and will receive him. But if a man continue in the wickedness of his works, and nevertheless put his trust in the mercy of God to save him, God will know thereof, for He will lay hold upon the main in whom He finds iniquity, and He will never, never, show mercy upon him. These things I speak unto you, O brethren, but I myself endeavor to fulfill the commandments wherewith God has commanded me.”

And as Saint John was giving commandments unto the brethren, he rose up and stood on his feet, and stretched out his hands to heaven, and he gave thanks and made supplication, saying, “O my Lord Jesus Christ, Who has mingled the crown which is fleeting with that which is abiding, Who are the one sweet-smelling flower wherein are mingled all other flowers, Who has sown in our hearts thy life-giving Word which alone makes beautiful with sweet odor the souls and the bodies of those who are gentle and lowly of heart, Who are compassionate, and Who shows love unto man, Who are alone the righteous Judge, Who has existed always, Whom no place can contain; O my Lord Jesus Christ, do Thou in the multitude of Thy mercy preserve all those who put their hope in Thy Name, for Thou knows the cunning and the craft devices of him that leads men into error which are spread abroad in every place, and we beseech Thee by Thy power to put an end to them.”

And it came to pass that when he had ended his prayer he took bread, and gave thanks, saying thus: “What blessing, and what speech which ascribes praise, and what word, and what speech of gratitude, and what thanksgiving, and what Name shall be pronounced over this bread which is now broken except They Name, O Jesus Christ, Whose Name gives life and salvation? This is the bread of life which came down from heaven for the salvation of the world. We bless Thee, O thou Who has become for us a way unto the place of life. WE give thanks unto Thee, O Thou Who by Thy word has created all things, Thou are the Guide, Thou are the Gate of grace, Thou are the Salt, Thou are the Treasury of the Pearl, Thou are the Net of the life of righteousness, Thou are the Power of Wisdom, Thou are the Refuge of rest, Thou are the Prop of life; and Thou permit thyself to be called by these names for the sake of men, so that they may be saved and become new men from out of the wickedness of their former works into the sin of which they had fallen; and to Thee be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

And it came to pass that when Saint John had finished breaking the blessed bread, he first partook thereof himself and then gave it to those who were gathered together there, and he entreated them to become worthy thereof, and he gave them the salutation of peace, and sent them to their habitations. And after these things he told Prochorus his disciple to take with him two of the brethren, and picks and spades, and Prochorus did as he had commanded him. Then John went out with them from the city in secret and walked outside it, and he said unto us, “Dig here”; and we received his commands, and dug a hole even as he had commanded us. And he put off his apparel and laid it in the grave, and he stood above it; and he put a linen garment, and stretched out his hands upwards, and he looked towards the east, and prayed, saying “O my Lord Jesus Christ, who has chosen my poor person to be Thy disciple and to preach in Thy holy Name those things which thou did declare aforetime by the tongues of Thy holy Prophets, whom thou did deliver at all times; Who desires the salvation of all those who believe on thee with all their hearts; Who first gave unto all created beings their souls that they might know that thou are the Comforter of all Thy people, and that Thou does not reject either great or small; Who did give unto my soul understanding and meekness; Who did appear thereunto when it was dead; Who did receive it when it was besmirched with the pollution of sin; Who did make it Thy pure bride, after it had been defiled with the wickedness of sin, and brought low by Satan; Who did take it into Thy hand, and did raise it up from the fallen estate into which the Enemy had cast it; and did deliver it from the hands of its Enemy, and did make him to be a feeble thing beneath its feet; Who alone are holy among the saints, O Jesus Christ my Lord, Whose Name is sweet; Who reject not from his memory the joy of heavenly beings; Who are the Protector of those who fear Him upon the earth, and of those who are beneath it; Who are the Joy of those who are good; Who are the Protector of those whose hearts are true; Who receives those who are worthy and who praise Thy Name together according to Thy word and commandment; O Lord, it is necessary that Thou should deliver me from the fatigue of this fleeting world. I give thanks unto Thee, O my Lord, that Thou has preserved me in purity from all the contaminations of the world, and that Thou has set the fear of Thee deep down in my heart. Thou has made to be remote from me all the lusts of sin, and I have had dominion over them; I have destroyed the motions of the flesh, and Thou has driven out the temptations of sin from my body. Thou has made my soul to refuse to perform outwardly the evil which is in my flesh, and the sin which encompasses the members of my body. Thou has made my path straight, and free from turning aside; and Thou has given me of old a faith which is straight and is free from error; and Thou has written Thy Law within me; and Thou has not permitted me to desire any other god save Thyself. And what is there greater, or more honorable, or sweeter, or more to be desired than Thyself? And who is there that can be compared with Thee? Turn, O Lord, unto that which is Thine, and accept the soul of John, Thy servant, who put his hope in Thee. Behold, I have ended the service which thou did give unto me to perform. And behold, I have come unto Thee, having put away grief, and unto the rest which is nigh unto Thee, for I know, O my Lord, that Thou will order in peace my way into the habitation of Thy glory.” And when the blessed John had spoken all of these words he fell upon his face on the ground, and he worshipped and said, “I bow before Thee, O Though unto Whom every knee bows, and unto Whom all the glory belongs, Thou the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.”

Then John said unto us, “My children, may the peace of God be with you! Go now into the city, and tell the brethren therein to keep all the words which I have commanded them, for concerning these we shall be obliged to justify ourselves; and of the will of God I have hidden nothing whatsoever from you. You shall be rewarded according to your works, and I am innocent of your blood. I have concealed naught of doctrine of Christ from you, and there is naught of the knowledge of Him which I have not declared unto you; ye have hearkened thereunto from me, and I have informed you concerning Him. Take good care that you be not cast away, and that you suffer not condemnation in the judgments, and that ye be not obliged to endure a two fold penalty, for from those unto whom He has given much He will require much, even as our Lord said, ‘And may our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirits for ever, and may he Strength you, and may He fulfill all your desires in His sinless judgment.”

Now from this time forward John dwelt not with them in the flesh. And when we had heard these words from him, we embraced his hands, and feet, and wept bitterly; and we left him in the grave and departed to the city, and we told the brethren everything that had happened. Then they went forth quickly with us unto the place where we left Saint John, and we could not find him, but we did find in the earth his apparel, and also his sandals filled with dust. Now the grave which we had dug was not visible, and we were unable to make certain where its place had been, because of the dust which had filled it up and which lay about over it in abundance. And we came back to the city and were giving thanks unto God Who had bestowed the gifts of grace upon those who were worthy thereof, and especially because He had shown honor unto His beloved John, the Evangelist, and had delivered him by his wonderful death. Therefore let us ascribe the praise which is meet to the Lord, and to His Father, and to the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen, Amen and Amen.

-bP

Wisdom and her Daughters

On September 17, it is the Orthodox feast day for Saint Sophia and her Daughters. The daughters being Faith, Hope and Love. Now while these characters (presented as literal people) were all given a back story by the church, they are actually allegorical figures. This past year I joined a Freemason fraternity and it has opened a new way of thinking for me on various ideas. It has re-kindled my love of Hermeticism as well as looking at various Christian related allegories in a new perspective. I have been writing various essays along my journey and I am not sure how to present them. Most of them would not work on this blog, but I do feel this essay would. In the first degree (Entered Apprentice) of Freemasonry, the theological virtues are taught which are Faith, Hope and Charity (Love). When I was informed of this, I immediately thought of the Saint Sophia and her Daughters icon. This ignited a thought in my mind to write out a short essay of it. Below is my essay. I think it may come off more as a homily though.

Wisdom and her Daughters

The above icon represents Saint Sophia and her three daughters, Faith, Hope and Love. While there is a church legend stating them to be literal people, complete with a back story, they are actually a set of allegorical saints. I will go through each one and describe their role in detail.

We start with Saint Sophia. For those who do not know Greek, Sophia is the word for WISDOM. So an alternative name for this icon would be “Wisdom and her Daughters”. Faith, Hope and Love are the three theological virtues or the three graces. Corinthians 13:13 states “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (ESV)

Depending on the translation, love is replaced with charity, thus the two terms are synonymous.

In Freemasonry, these three concepts are taught at the initiation. Faith is the believe in a higher power, Hope in immortality, and Charity / Love is what we have for all mankind. The icon above represents that all three of these virtues come from Divine WISDOM. If one does not have WISDOM, then Faith in a higher power is typically not believed. Any Hope for immortality is laughed at by the ignorant. Charity for mankind is ignored by the selfishness of the individual. To have Divine WISDOM, these concepts would flow freely from the individual.

The definition of Faith is a complete trust or confidence in someone or something. We are told that in FM to have Faith in a supreme deity. To have complete trust in something, one must have absolute knowledge of that concept. To have that kind of knowledge, is to have WISDOM. This is not to say we have complete knowledge of the supreme deity, far from it, but we have full knowledge in that supreme deity’s existence.

The definition of Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. We hope for immortality. In Christian ideology, immortality would be salvation. The definition of salvation is preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss. So we are expecting, or having a desire, to be preserved or delivered from harm, ruin or loss. How does one desire to be preserved from harm? This takes knowledge/gnosis of the situation to be able to keep oneself from meeting that dreadful end. In Christian thought, it is the belief in Christ that saves the individual from harm. To know Christ is to know Divine WISDOM. In Orthodoxy, Christ is Wisdom. In early Christianity/Gnostic belief, Christ is the Bridegroom of WISDOM, as Christ is the Word (LOGOS) and together with WISDOM (Sophia), form the bond that helps one escape the material world. Whether one believes in the singular or plural concept of Wisdom, as long as one possesses Divine Wisdom, they will have that desire of being delivered from an undesirable end.

The definition of Charity is the voluntary giving of help to those in need. By offering charity to a person, we are offering them love. Hence their relation in how they are used in this concept. This is why Corinthians 13:13 states that Charity (Love) is the greatest virtue of them all. One may lose their faith and their hope in salvation, but to show charity towards others, that act would be the greatest of all. Once again, having the WISDOM of Divine Love towards others shows us the true love of “God’s” grace. There is no greater act one could perform on this planet than that of charity, and unfortunately, an act that is often not given.

To summarize this essay, when one has a knowledge of a greater power, this spawns out the concepts of having trust in that particular power, having the desire to be persevered from ignorance and showing our fellow mankind love.

-bP

Featured picture is an icon of St. Sophia and her Daughters.

Apocalypse of holy John the Theologian

Another Apocalyptic John text that appears in the New Testament Apocrypha Volume 2 (edited by Tony Burke) is titled “Apocalypse of holy John the Theologian” or “3 Apocryphal Apocalypse of John”. The exact date of this work can not be pinpointed, but it looks like 1300s CE-ish. It survives in Greek and Church Slavic manuscripts. I will be going over the Greek translation (by Tony Burke and Chance E. Bonar). Since the translation is in copyright, I will not reprint the text. I will give my brief thoughts on it as a whole.

This “Apocalypse” story is a bit different than the other two I previously posted about. This one is a dialogue narrative between John the Evangelist/Theologian and Abraham! Also, there is no mention of the anti-Christ.

The story starts with “God” going up the Mount of Olives. The text states that “having risen from the dead 6530 years from the time of Adam, on March 27”. Now that’s awfully specific! In the Slavonic version of the text, no span of time is mentioned. At the top of the Mount, “God” brought out Adam and the other prophets. He then appeared to the disciples and told them now they will receive the Kingdom of Heaven. He spoke to Abraham and informed him that he (Abraham) will be diving the souls of the departed into two groups, one for heaven and the other for hades. The disciple Peter asked when the end will come and the Lord answered with the typical response of hate being born in the midst of humanity, nation against nation, famines, wars, brother versus brother, etc…. The usual answer given in these apocalyptic texts. The Lord was taken up into heaven at the seventh hour of the fifth day. His mother, Mary, followed soon after and the apostles then welcomed all of the righteous and Abraham.

Now begins a back and forth between Abraham and John the Evangelist/Theologian. A shorter version of this dialogue has appeared as it’s own text titled “The Questions of John to Abraham” (which is also featured in this book in case you pick it up). A lot of the answers to these questions are Abraham first scolding John for not listening to when so and so prophet said “insert bible verse”. Some of the questions that John asks are “Are the Jew going to find mercy?”, “Will the impious be judged with the Christians?”, “Who will recognize their family in the resurrection?”, etc… A lot of the questions seem to be going over the church’s stance on various issues. There are some topics covered such as how to treat priests and monks, wealth, baptism, forgiveness/confession, etc…

After reading the previous two, I was rather disappointed with this one. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s just a text presenting dogma in a narrative dialogue between two biblical figures. The end of times scenario that usually plays out in these works is sorely missing. However if you like reading dogma presented to you in a different fashion, then this text is for you. 😉

The book I got this story from also features another Apocalypse of John story. However, it deals with John Chrysostom, and not John the Evangelist/Theologian. It too is a dialogue work but this time between John C. and Jesus. If you are fond of Byzantine Liturgies, then you’ll want to check out that story.

Artwork is an 18th century Russian icon of “The Bosom of Abraham”.

First Apocryphal Apocalypse of John

With my last post, I mentioned how there are several “Apocalypses of John” texts out there besides the canonical version. In the book New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures Vol 2 (edited by Tony Burke) there are 3 more texts with this title. This post will be going over what the book refers to as the “First Apocryphal” Apocalypse of John. Kind of hard to distinguish them all if they use the same name, lol. I guess that is about as good as you can do in this instance. The date of this text is unclear but there is mention of it back in the ninth century. The book mentions that it’s probably from the 700s-900s CE time period, but could be earlier. The translation is by Rick Brannan. Since the translation is in copyright, I’ll do my usual synopsis and commentary notes.

The text starts after the ascension of Christ. John is alone upon Mount Tabor. He prayed for seven days to hear from the Lord in regards of what is to come for the world. After this week of prayer, a cloud carried John away from the mountain and towards the face of heaven. A voice told John to look up and understand. When John looked up, an outpouring of light shined upon him. It was greater than that of the sun. Also a strong odor was noticed. The voice told him to “look” and suddenly a book, wider than seven mountains and longer than the human mind can imagine (!), which had seven seals upon it, was revealed to John.

John asked what was in the book and he was told it contained what is in heaven, earth, the abyss, judgment and the righteousness of all mankind. John asked when are these things going to happened and was answered with a parable about famine, using corn and wine as it’s symbols. John asked what will you (the Lord) do after this famine occurs, the voice tells him that the “denier will appear, who is called the antichrist”. John asks that this figure be revealed to him.

So like the previous post, this one has a description of the Antichrist. This one isn’t quite as absurd as the other one, but there are some interesting aspects. Here is a list of attributes:

Face is dark
Hairs of his head are sharp as arrows
Eyebrows are like a field (i.e. wildness)
Right eye like the morning star rising
Other eye like a lion
His mouth is one cubit length
Teeth a broad span
Fingers are like sickles
Footprint is two spans
Upon his forehead, an inscription “Antichrist”

That last part I found interesting. In Islam, the Dajjal (Antichrist) has the Arabic inscription of “k-f-r”, which means “unbelief”, written upon it’s forehead. The Dajjal’s arrival is also preceded by a famine and lack of rain. His eyes are both unusual as well, though different from this description. Hmm, do I sense a source / inspiration for the Dajjal lore?

The voice tells John that the Antichrist will make false visions. The Lord states that there will be no rain or wind upon the earth during this time. John asks about how long the Antichrist will be active and the answer is “I will make the three years like three months, and the three months like three weeks, and the three weeks like three days, and the three days like three hours, and the three hours like three minutes….” It is mentioned that Enoch and Elijah are both sent to prove this person is the Antichrist, and upon doing so, both will be killed. This happened in the previous story I wrote about.

John asks what will happen after that and the Lord tells him that ALL human beings will die! That’s quite the departure from this type of story where at least some people survive. After the death of all mankind, the angels will will raise up ram horns to the heavens, and the Archangels Michael and Gabriel will sound them. This sound will be heard throughout the world and thus resurrect the dead.

The next part is pretty interesting on how these resurrected bodies will appear. It states that everyone will be resurrected as thirty year olds and that everyone will look the same. This includes ALL of humanity from the very beginning to the time this happens. There will be no different characteristics among anyone. They will also be bodiless, in that they will be angelic in nature. All the angels will take everything that is holy upon the earth and transport it all into the heavens. This will cause the evil spirits to arise from the abyss and merge with the Antichrist. They too will ascend into the heavens.

At this time the world gets annihilated. The planet basically becomes a “clean slate” where the landscape will be flat as a table and white as snow. The great sign of the Son of Man will appear and all the angels will start worshipping it. The Antichrist and his minions will also see it but will be unable to do anything about it. This leads to Christ coming down from the heavens (there’s quite a bit of descriptive detail in relation to this).

John asks what will become of the heavens, the sun, the moon and the stars. The voice tells him that a lamb with seven eyes and seven horns will appear and open the book that has seven seals upon it. The text describes what will happen when each seal is open. Here is the result:

#1 – Stars of the sky will fall
#2 – The Moon will be hidden
#3 – The light of the Sun will be hidden
#4 – The heavens will be dissolved and the sky will be chaotic
#5 – The earth will be ripped apart and judgment will be revealed upon all
#6 – 2/3 of the sea will vanish
#7 – Hades will be uncovered

Well that was quite the interesting take on what the seven seals are! Now judgement begins. First the Antichrist and his minions are judged and sent to Hades (a depth of which one could fall for twenty years and still not reach the bottom). The second to be judged are the idol worshippers and heretics. The third to be judged are the “race of Hebrews” who crucified Jesus. Those people will not go into the abyss but rather to Tartarus. The next to be judged are the baptized Christians. It is of note that they are still judged by their sins, so if a king, priest, patriarch, etc… was not repentant and of bad nature, they will not get a free pass. Those who are deemed worthy, they will live on earth which has been turned into paradise. The text describes this paradise until it’s conclusion, but nothing different stands out from other such descriptions.

And there you have it! I did not mention it during my synopsis but at various sections, the voice quotes various bible scriptures when something happens. That alone tells you that the bible is used as a means to push the narrative. Like the previous story, I appreciate the description of the Antichrist. I always find these details to be fascinating even if they are a bit ludicrous. The emergence of everyone as 30 year olds, androgynous and the fact they are essentially “light entities” was an interesting take.

Featured artwork from the Dublin Apocalypse folio, circa 14th century

The Revelation of John about Antichrist

No, this isn’t about the book in the canonical Bible, but rather an apocrypha text. In case you are unaware, there are a handful of texts that have the name of “Apocalypse of John” / “Revelation of John”, and I plan to highlight a few of them in the near future. This particular text I am showcasing today is titled “The Revelation of John about Antichrist” (yes, there is no “The” before Antichrist). It is a Latin text that exists in several copies. I am using the New Testament Apocrypha (edited by Tony Burke) as my source. The date of this text is unknown but thinking has it at least 1000 years ago, so in terms of apocrypha, it’s not quite so old as other tales. What is interesting about this particular version is it’s description of the “Anti-Christ”. The text is only four pages long and since the translation by Charles D. Wright is in copyright, I can not relay it word for word but rather will do a synopsis.

The text starts with John the Evangelist/Theologian asking the Lord about the end of the world. The Lord responds with this parable about various signs of the world and that the antichrist will reign and perform great wonders and signs among the people. John asks what will these signs be so everyone will know how to spot him. Now we get to a very interesting part where the Lord gives a detailed description of him. It is as such:

Born of a harlot from the tribe of Dan in Israel
600 cubits in length of his body and 400 in width (!!!!)
One eye
One ear
His lip hanging down to his chest
No upper teeth or knees
soles of his feet will be round like wheels
One rib will be visible on his left side but not the others
Black hair, which is also described as “terrible”
A threefold fume will go through his nose and reach heaven like a sulfurous flame
He will be raised in Chorazin and will dwell in the city of Bethsaida, but only for a few days.

Now that is one heck of a description!! Not sure how anyone could not know something was up with this fella! lol

John is then told that no one will be able to hide from this antichrist, that all of God’s elect will die because of him. Those who believe in this antichrist will receive a mark (single letter) upon their forehead and it will not be removable. The dead will rise, rivers reverse, trees uprooted, etc… Typical end of the world scenarios. I do think the alternation of the mark to just a single letter is interesting.

On the day of the birth of the antichrist, everyone will know as fathers will kill sons (and vice versa), brother and brother, women will no longer conceal themselves from men, churches destroyed, priests will lament, people will no longer have any thought for relics or bodies of the saints. Nation against nation, etc.. etc… The typical “signs” of an end times prophecy.

The next section is pretty interesting as it mentions that Enoch and Elijah, who are witnessing this from heaven, decide to wage war against this antichrist. They both are killed and lie dead in the streets for three days and nights. On the fourth day they arise into eternal life and on the fifth day, God sends down the archangel Michael to slay the antichrist, who proceeds to slice him in half! The time line of all this transpiring is that of three years and six months. I like the fact that Enoch and Elijah make an appearance in this story! These two are suggested to be the two witnesses in the canonical Revelation. They are also the two witnesses in the apocrypha “The Apocalypse of Elijah” and the “Gospel of Nicodemus“.

After Michael killed the antichrist, a great silence fell over the earth and heaven for forty days and nights. Once those days were up, angels went to the four corners of the earth and cried out “Arise, arise, arise” and all the dead began to be resurrected. Thus ends this short alternate version of the Apocalypse of John.

I found the description of the antichrist figure to be the most note worthy aspect of the story. It is an interesting description to say the least. Enoch and Elijah making an appearance was fascinating as well. I plan to review more of these alternate apocalypses in the coming months!

Featured photo was made by Martin Schongauer, circa 1480-1490.

The Martyrdom of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist

Being that June 24 is the feast day (nativity, as his death feast day is later) of John the Baptist, I wanted to bring light to this story found in the New Testament Apocrypha Volume 3 edited by Tony Burke. This interesting text makes it’s modern English translation debut thanks to Tony Burke and Sarah Veale. Since this translation is in copyright, I’ll do a synopsis on each chapter. I have some other John the Baptist stories I would like to get to this year as well. The Jewish preacher was quite the popular guy who is not only venerated in Christianity, but also in Islam, Mandaeism and even Freemasonry! The following story is titled The Martyrdom of Zechariah, a text of an unknown source date.

Chapter 1 – This short chapter describes the flight from Herod’s massacre of infants. It mentions that Joseph was warned by an angel, so he, Mary and Jesus fled to Egypt for twelves months and stayed at the house of Alphaeus. It is mentioned that Herod becomes mad as he can not find Jesus and orders the massacre of all infants two years or younger. This causes Elizabeth (mother of John) to take her child and head into the hills.

Chapter 2 – This chapter deals with the murder of Zechariah. It has Herod’s assassins tracking down Zechariah and demanding him to tell them where his son, John, is located. If Zechariah hands John over, he will be spared. If he does not comply, he will be brought back to Herod. Once the assassins find Zechariah, he denies their request for John and the assassins kill him in front of the temple (apparently they didn’t bother bringing him back to Herod!). Zechariah crawled into the temple and as he reached the altar, he fell over dead. A member of his congregation found the pool of blood and saw that the body had become invisible! The congregation then grieved for seven days. Chapter 2 is pretty much from the Infancy Gospel of James. I’m going to side step this story and present the Zechariah death from that infancy gospel below. Translation is by Mark Mattison:

Chapter 23: The Murder of Zechariah
(1) But Herod asked for John and sent officers to Zechariah, saying to him, “Where are you hiding your son?” But he replied, saying to them, “I’m a minister of God, and I sit in God’s Temple. How should I know where my son is?” (2) And his officers went away and reported all these things to Herod. And Herod was angry, and said, “His son is about to be king over Israel!” And he sent his officers again, to say to him, “Tell me the truth. Where’s your son? You know that your life is in my hand.” And the officers went away and reported these things to him. (3) And Zechariah said, “I’m a martyr of God if you shed my blood, because the Lord will receive my spirit, since you’ll be spilling innocent blood at the entrance of the Temple of the Lord.” And around daybreak, Zechariah was murdered, and the people of Israel didn’t know that he was murdered.

Chapter 24: Mourning for Zechariah
(1) But at the hour of greeting, the priests came, and Zechariah didn’t meet them to bless them as was customary. And the priests stood around for Zechariah, waiting to greet him with a blessing and to glorify the Most High God. (2) But when he delayed, they were all afraid. But one of them gathered the courage to go into the sanctuary and saw blood clotted beside the altar of the Lord. And a voice was saying, “Zechariah has been murdered, and his blood won’t be wiped away until his avenger comes!” When he heard this saying, he was afraid, and he went and reported to the priests what he had seen and heard. (3) And they gathered their courage and went and saw what had taken place. And the panels of the Temple cried out, and they (the priests) ripped their clothes from top to bottom. And they didn’t find his corpse, but they found his blood had turned to stone. And they were afraid, and they went out and reported to all the people that Zechariah had been murdered. And when all the tribes of the people heard, they mourned him and wept three days and three nights. (4) And after three days, the priests held a council about who should replace Zechariah. And the lot fell to Simeon, for he was told by the Holy Spirit that he wouldn’t see death until he saw the Christ in the flesh.

As you can tell, it’s pretty close. Now where the infancy gospel ends, this story will continue on….

Chapters 3 & 4 – Elizabeth carries John and head towards a mountain. She calls out “Mountain of God, receive a mother with child!” God hears this request and sends down the archangel Uriel to split open the mountain for those two to hide. Uriel hid the entrance and fortified it so no one can enter. He provided a spring of water and bread for Elizabeth, and she fed John by her breast milk. Herod’s men could not find the two despite hearing stories they were in the area. This story is sourced from the Infancy Gospel of James as well. Here is it’s excerpt:

(3) And when Elizabeth heard that John was sought, she took him up into the hills and looked around for somewhere to hide him, but there wasn’t a hiding place. Then Elizabeth groaned and said, “Mountain of God, take a mother with her child,” because Elizabeth was unable to go up higher. And immediately, the mountain split and took her, and a light shone through the mountain for her. For an angel of the Lord was with them, protecting them.

Uriel was not named as such, but the story is the same. Speaking of this cave, there is a pilgrimage site dedicated to it! You can check it out here: https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2021/06/the-cave-where-saint-elizabeth-hid-with.html

Chapter 5 – After John had been in the desert for four months, the Lord went from Egypt with the archangel Gabriel to Bethlehem into the temple where Zechariah had died. He ordered Uriel to get John and bring him there. Once there, all four archangels, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael and Michael, came out and brought forth the body of Zechariah. The lord blew onto him and gave him life. The Savior commanded that water come from the spring within the Holy of Holies in the temple. He baptized John first and immediately afterwards Zechariah. The angels shouted various praises to God before eventually burying Zechariah below the altar in the church. I don’t believe this particular part of the story originates from any known story outside of this one. The appearance of the four archangels is a nice touch. The interesting part of this chapter is the fact that John was baptized by Jesus/God. This is never mentioned as such in the Gospels. It is typically assumed John was never baptized, as we now think of it (i.e. a Christianized way). So this bit of information adds a twist to the story of John.

Chapter 6 – The Lord goes back to Egypt with Gabriel and John hitches a ride with Uriel back to Elizabeth in the desert. Once with his mother, John was able to get up and walk around! At nine months old, Uriel tells Elizabeth to quit feeding John her milk but rather his food will be wild honey and locusts. This gives the reader the “origin” of why John eats the way he does. Personally I just think John lives very humbly and eats whatever comes to him in the wild.

Chapter 7 – Once John hits 13 months old, an angel said to Elizabeth that Herod is dead and they came leave their mountain hide out. The same angel (unnamed in the story) informs Joseph in Egypt about Herod’s death and that Archelaus now rules. This causes Joseph and his family to flee to a town called Nazareth, where Elizabeth and John are now at.

Chapter 8 – John has apparently been given over to Uriel and at five years of age, John obtained his traditional clothing of camel’s hair and a leather belt. This would be his outfit for the rest of his life.

Chapters 9 & 10- This starts with a problematic time frame. It states John is twelve years old and then begins to talk about John’s imprisonment due to his rebuking of Herod IV. The translator has a note regarding this issue and states it may be in error or missing information. Personally, I’m just going to ignore that part and figure he is much older. The story presented in these two chapters is pretty on par with tradition of John’s rebuke of Herod becoming desirous of Philip’s wife. This causes John’s imprisonment.

Chapter 11 – This chapter is about Jesus being baptized by John. In the narrative of the story, this should have been placed before the previous two chapters. The first line of Matthew 21:25 is quoted in this chapter. Those who don’t know the verse off hand, it states:

The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’  (ESV)

But for us readers of the story, we DO know where the baptism of John came from! Back in chapter 5, John was baptized by God/Jesus!

Chapter 12 – C12 accounts the beheading of John. This particular story states that the daughter of Herod was named Herodias, and it was she who danced and requested the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Now we all know the traditional story is that Herodias is the wife of Philip, and that Salome was her daughter, and it was Salome who made the request (on behalf of her mother) to Herod. The names got switched up here. So in that aspect, let’s adjust the names to their proper form and go with that. 😉 At the end of the chapter, it mentions that the dogs in the audience took the head of John and delivered it to his disciples. Good dogs!

Chapter 13 – The archangel finds Elizabeth and led her to John’s disciples. Uriel tells her to bury John where his father lies. She did not know where Zechariah was buried however Uriel led her to the temple that housed his body. John was buried under the altar near his father. Uriel proclaimed that John’s death will be avenged.

Chapter 14 – This chapter includes the gruesome deaths of Herod and Salome for the death of John. The introduction to this text mentions that this comes from various early tradition texts. This is my first time reading it, so I will have to take their word on the matter. It mentions that the daughter was decapitated as she fell into a well and was stuck. Herod died from chocking. Herodias became blind in her left eye. Apparently Herod’s former wife distributed all the property of Herod’s to the poor.

Chapter 15 – This ends the story by mentioning that it was “I, Eurippios, the disciple of holy John, the second of his disciples in strictness, wrote so that….” who wrote out this story regarding John. The translator mentioned that in another manuscript, the name is spelled out as Herpios.

While the story was named for John’s father, it was definitely more about the life of the baptist. Even though a few details were messed up, I thought it was a pretty entertaining read. I do like the gathering of the four archangels. The baptism of John was really interesting though. Be sure to pick up the book this story is featured in. It is a great resource of extremely rare apocrypha.

Infancy Gospel of James: https://www.gospels.net/infancyjames

Featured artwork is of Zechariah and John, a medieval Georgian fresco from the Monastery of the Cross, Jerusalem.

-bP

The Eremitic Life of Mary Magdalene

Here is a short text involving the life of Mary Magdalene after the resurrection of Christ. It survives in quite a few manuscript copies, all dating from the 10th century onward, however it is believed to originate earlier. This tale is pretty similar to other western legends regarding MM though it does not feature her in France, but rather skips right ahead to her being a desert hermit. You could say she becomes the first Christian Desert Mother! Another interesting point is that the Catholic doctrine of turning Mary into a prostitute does not exist in this story. This short text is featured in the book New Testament Apocrypha Volume 3 and the translation is provided by Brandon W. Hawk. Since this is the English debut of this particular text and the translation is in copyright, I will not be reproducing it in full but rather give a synopsis and some commentary. I do highly recommend picking up all those NTA volumes (1 – 3), edited by Tony Burke.

The story is broken into 4 chapters. The first chapter is titled “Mary Magdalene retreats into the wilderness”. It states that Mary no longer wanted to see any other human after the ascension of Christ. Her love of him and the weariness that had taken it’s toll on her after the ascension, had caused her withdraw to the desert. She did not eat any type of food but rather was taken into the air by angels and fed spiritually by their songs.

Chapter 2 is titled “A Priest witnesses Mary Magdalene in communion with angels”. After 30 years, a Priest was wandering through the desert as part of his Lenten seasonal fasting and had seen a person being raised into the air and later brought back. He had witnessed this several times. The Holy Spirit encouraged the Priest to seek out this mysterious person. He was lead to an entrance of a cave.

Chapter 3 is titled “Dialogue between Mary Magdalene and a priest”. The Priest yelled into the cave, first by using the phrase of the trinity and asked if its a human living in the cave or some spirit. A voice responded from the cave and stated that since he adjured her by the Holy Trinity, she introduced who she was. The Priest said he had read and heard about her but it had been thirty years since she last was seen. Mary explains what happened after the ascension, why she decided to live as a hermit and how the angels feed her daily with heavenly sweetness. With the appearance of the holy man, Mary takes this as a sign that her time on earth is coming to an end. She tells the Priest that in seven days, bring her clothing so that she can be among people when she finishes her life.

Chapter 4 is titled “Mary Magdalene’s assumption”. After seven days, the Priest brought the clothing and threw it into the cave. She ordered him to go away and return in three days. Once those three days were up, the Priest returned and Mary requested to be taken to a human dwelling. The Priest took her to his congregation where the church celebrated Mass. Once Mary accepted the communion of the body and blood of Christ, she stood at the altar, hands raised in prayer and she sent forth her own holy spirit. The story ends with the Priest burying her on the church grounds.

The story is a very abridged version of the Golden Legend tale, mainly focusing on the last part. However no talks of her trips to France or visiting Peter via a pilgrimage are included. No mention of the Catholic prostitution lie. The book that features this text mentions in the introductory about it paralleling the story of Saint Mary of Egypt. I absolutely love the Saint Mary of Egypt story and do see a lot of similarities, so I think they be onto something. However, you’d think it’d be fairly easy to shoehorn the prostitution angle into the story if that was the case, but it is not. I suspect this story may have originated in the East. But that is just a hunch and no real evidence behind it. I do like the fact this story makes Mary the first Desert Mother. I’ve been fascinated with the Desert Fathers and Mothers for quite some time (a LOT of wisdom can be found in their sayings), so that aspect brought a smile to my face.

Artwork was made with Midjourney.

The Life of Mary Magdalene

Recently I acquired all three volumes of the “New Testament Apocrypha: More noncanonical Scriptures”, edited by Tony Burke. These volumes contain rarely seen apocrypha texts, some of which are making their English debut. I noticed volume 2 and 3 had some Mary Magdalene stories. With this post, I am going to talk about the story in volume 2 titled The Life of Mary Magdalene. This story is pretty unique in that it has aspects from the western and eastern traditions! When one reads up on various tales of Mary Magdalene post resurrection, she usually ends up in France and most stories have her staying in that area until she leaves this world. The east doesn’t seem to have many stories of Mary. There is the red egg story where Mary is having a conversation with Emperor Tiberius about Jesus and his resurrection, and an egg changed colors from white to red as a sign from God that her message was true. As of now I still have not found the source of that story and it just seems to be an oral legend that has been passed down through the centuries. The eastern tradition also has Mary passing away in the east, typically in the company of Saint John the Theologian and sometimes including the Theotokos (Mother Mary). I was pretty excited when I first heard of this Life of MM apocrypha text. So what exactly is in it? It is a rather short text, only about ten pages long and features a mixture of various other texts, stitched together to form a narrative. Sort of reminds me of the Pseudo-Matthew infancy Gospel that stitches together various stories to form a longer tale. The Golden Legend is used quite a bit in this Life of MM. If you have not remind my three blog posts on that story, you can check them out here: #1, #2 & #3.

The dating of this story is unknown but the academic introduction places it around the 11th/12th centuries. It appears the story was assembled to emphasize the Byzantium relics of Mary Magdalene as this would have been after the looting of Constantinople by the Latin west. This was post Church Schism so there were a lot of issues between the Latins and Greeks. That being said, let’s take a look!

The story starts with a prologue introducing the reader to who Mary Magdalene was in the bible. The second chapter dives into her history. It is presented that her father’s name is Cyrus and her mother’s name is Eucharistia, and that the family is of a noble and wealthy line from Magdala. Mary had heard of a teacher from Jerusalem preaching and performing miracles so she left home to seek him out. Once finding the teacher, Jesus, she became a disciple of his. The story mentions about Mary having seven demons within her. This is of course referenced in Luke 8:2. These seven demons are referred to as the opposites of the seven virtues. Thus they are 1) Irreverence, 2) Stupidity, 3) Ignorance, 4) Lying, 5) Vanity, 6) Conceit and 7) Beauty. I don’t think I ever read this before in any text so I found this to be quite interesting.

Chapter 3 portrays Mary as a witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus. She is mentioned as giving up her wealth, glory, beauty and all material things to become a follower of Christ. Like in the biblical narrative, it mentions her at his death, then seeing various angels at the tomb before eventually seeing the resurrected Christ.

Chapter 4 takes place after the ascension. In the bible, Mary Magdalene disappears. We hear of the other apostles in Acts, but no mention of Mary. Per this story, Mary travels to see the Emperor to report what Pilate had done. She gains an audience with the Emperor (no name is given, but it’s Tiberius) and explains how the chief priests, Annas and Caiaphas, had delivered Jesus to Pilate for trial and the later crucifixion. She mentioned the signs that happened after his death, such as the world going dark, and Tiberius had remembered that incident happening. So he calls for the priests and Pilate to come to Rome to stand trial. Caiaphas had died in Crete but Annas did make it to Rome where a judgment was made against him and he was sentenced to death being tightly bound in wet buffalo skin and “cooked” under the sun light. I must say I never heard of this type of death penalty before!

Chapters 5, 6 & 7 deal with Pilate. Apparently these chapters are taken from the medieval apocrypha text “The Letter of Tiberius to Pilate”. I had not heard of this text before but upon seeking it out and reading it, I see the connections. I will post a link to that story at the end of this blog post. To make a long story short, and especially since it doesn’t deal with Mary Magdalene, Pilate arrives in Rome and is wearing one of Jesus’ clothes as an aid (? good luck charm perhaps?) under his other clothes. Mary had pointed out the specific cloth and that was enough for Tiberius to continue the interrogation. Pilate retells his story of the priests handing over Jesus, how he thought Jesus should be handled under Jewish law, but it was not until the king / Caesar reference is made, that Pilate proceeds to go along with the sentence. The Emperor puts Pilate into a prison that is outside the walls of Rome to await his death sentence. Later on, the Emperor was on a deer hunting expedition outside the city when his party came close to the prison. Pilate had leaned out of his cell window telling the Emperor to hurl the arrow at the deer since the hunt was not going well. This enraged the Emperor and he hurled the arrow at Pilate instead, which stabbed him right in the heart and killed him! This side story is kind of out of place and reminds me of that side story in the Book of Mary’s Repose where the story includes another apocrypha tale that has nothing to do with the main narrative. The last part of chapter 7 has us returning back to the Mary Magdalene story and she travels to Jerusalem to become a disciple of Peter where she would stay for the next fourteen years.

Chapter 8 now starts to use references from the Golden Legend story. It mentions that Peter told Mary of an apostle by the name of Maximus. It then states that the Hebrews in the area put Maximus and Mary, along with other Christians, onto a boat without sails or oars, nor food and water, and left to drift onto the sea as they did not want them in the area anymore. Thanks to the will of God, the boat landed at Marseille (France). Once there, they found the people to be idolaters and no one to host them. Mary began to preach to the people there and was able to convert them. Now this differs from the Golden Legend as there is no Lazarus or Martha. In the Golden Legend, Mary Magdalene was merged with Mary, sister of Martha, thus becoming Martha’s sister and Lazarus’ brother. I always disliked that aspect of the story and was so happy to see it left out here. I never viewed those two Marys to be the same person.

Chapter 9 has Mary appearing in the visions of the local ruler’s wife. Mary tells her that she should give aid to the foreigners since they were hungry and in need of help. The wife was too afraid to inform her husband of this. A second vision occurred and the wife did not say anything. The third time Mary appeared to both the ruler and wife in quite the furious rage. She had cursed them both before leaving. Again, this comes from the Golden Legend story. Chapter 10 continues their story as the ruler and wife wake up from this dream, discuss what happened and decided to do good with the people who were in need of aid. After giving aid, the two spoke to Mary and it was mentioned of the miracles performed by God. The two had requested to God that they would be able to have a child. Mary proceeded to pray to for them so the wife would get pregnant, and as it would happen, she did. This made the couple happy and the ruler wanted to accompany Mary to Rome to meet Peter. His wife wanted to go as well even though her husband was against the idea. Eventually she got her way and the couple travelled abroad with Mary.

Chapters 11 & 12 continue their story. If you have read the Golden Legend, then you are aware of what happens. The wife labors at sea and dies. The sailors wanted to toss the body over board but her husband objected. They found a mountain along the water and placed her body in a cave. The ruler and Mary then proceeded on their trip to Rome and met with Peter. Peter had told the man not to be grieved but do what Mary tells him to do. The man is then taken to various pilgrimage sites. After two years, the man wished to return home. Before leaving, he was baptized by Mary. On the way back to his home land, the cave was spotted where his dead wife was laid. Wanting to give her a proper burial at his home land, they stopped to gather the bones. To his surprise, a small child and his wife were there, alive. The wife explained that Mary Magdalene was at her side the whole time.

Chapter 13 ends the story with everyone arriving back at France where Mary explained to everyone what had happened during their journey. Once she established a church and leaders to run it, Mary left and visited other places to spread the word. She eventually ends up in Ephesus where she finds John the Theologian. She later falls asleep (dies) in his company. The text ends with a footnote that the great king Leo VI transferred Mary’s relics to Constantinople to the Monastery of Holy Lazarus. Now in the Golden Legend, it mentions that “some say” Mary and John the Theologian had married. This particular story mentions them getting together but nothing about marriage. In my opinion, it would have been more of a spiritual bond those two had together. Some stories have Mother Mary living with John at the time of Magdalene’s arrival. Those three were all together at the death of Jesus thus they would have come full circle with this reunion.

I’ve always enjoyed the Golden Legend story but the mixing of the two Marys annoyed me. So with this different version, I am glad that issue is not present. I am also happy to see nothing mentioned of Mary being a prostitute. That was never an issue in the Eastern Orthodox church. My only (slight) complaint with this story is the ending. I absolutely love the west’s ending where Mary becomes a hermit in a cave for 30 years, only being fed by angels on a daily ascension and eventually is covered entirely by hair (as I like to refer to that incarnation as “Hairy Mary”). That particular story is very inspired by Saint Mary of Egypt’s ordeal, but I always liked the hermit aspect and the visual art that often accompanies it.

Featured artwork: St. Mary Magdalene preaching at Marseilles by Antoine de Ronzen 1513

The Letter from Tiberius to Pilate: https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2016/10/03/the-letter-of-tiberius-to-pilate-epistola-tiberii-ad-pilatum/

Mary Magdalene: Baptism of water and fire

In a post awhile back I mentioned some newly translated fragments from the oxyrhynchus dig that had been released to the public. These are fragments 5575, 5576 and 5577. 5575 is a Jesus sayings fragment that has similarities to Matthew, Luke and Thomas. 5576 is a gnostic style fragment. 5577 is a dialogue between Mary (Magdalene) and Jesus. I am focusing on 5577 for this post. If you are curious about the other two fragments, I will have a link at the end of this post where you can read up on them. All three fragments are very fascinating. So what does this 5577 say? Here is a translation by Juan Chapa:

. . . good Father . . . introduces (?) the simple and incorruptible form. Therefore I say, Mary: I showed myself as the artificer mind in the logos made flesh filled with the incorruptible Father, awakening through my kindness the hidden life of the Father . . . form and . . .

. . . will fall on the earth. [John] said: “I bathe you with water, but a man will come and will bathe you with fire and spirit.” Therefore I say to you, Mary: seek to mix water and fire and you will no longer appear as an image of flesh, but an image of the eternal incorruptible light, bringing together for you, Mary, intellectual spirits from two intertwined and dissolved elements.

Now first off, is this even Mary Magdalene the fragment is referring to? Unfortunately there is no definitive answer. So to best answer that, we must look at the context. I don’t ever recall Jesus referring to his mother as “Mary”. There is the Mary of the two sisters of Lazarus, but usually she is not referred to in these stories, especially fragments from the second to fourth centuries where this fragment originated. In the western medieval apocrypha, that Mary does merge with Mary Magdalene and unfortunately taints those stories (like the Golden Legend, which I have posted about before). Mary Magdalene being quite popular in the gnostic style texts and that second fragment having a heavy handed gnostic (some say Valentinian) slant, I believe it’s safe to say it is Magdalene who it is referring to and I’m sticking with it. 😉 Some scholars also believe these fragments may be part of the missing beginning section of the Gospel of Mary. As you may (or may not) know, that gospel is incomplete with the first seven pages missing, as well as part of the middle of the story. I am not totally convinced this is part of the first act of the gospel. There is not enough context. But if more fragments pop up, perhaps a better understanding can be had and a more concise answer can be provided. As of now, I would say it’s a possibility….

So on it’s own, what can we take from these fragments? The first section appears to be Jesus speaking to Mary about his form. Jesus as the logos of the Father made flesh is not a new concept. The second section is pretty interesting though. We have John the Baptist speaking, by the narrator (Jesus), about baptizing people with water but another will baptize in fire and spirit. This is similar to Luke 3:16:

John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (ESV)

So this leads us to Jesus stating: Therefore I say to you, Mary: seek to mix water and fire and you will no longer appear as an image of flesh, but an image of the eternal incorruptible light, bringing together for you, Mary, intellectual spirits from two intertwined and dissolved elements. It really is a shame the fragment ends there. This presents an alchemy of the spiritual elements. The water baptism is the death of the old, awakens in the new life. But the baptism from Christ transcends the flesh and brings Mary to her true nature of an eternal incorruptible light. In the Gospel of Mary, during her teaching to the apostles of what Jesus told her, she describes the ascension of the soul through various steps / archons / toll-house, etc… So you can see how some believe this fragment is from the beginning of the gospel. Having read this fragment the other day, it struck me greatly. It is something I plan on pondering about but definitely wanted to bring it to everyone’s attention.

To read about 5575, 5576 and more about 5577, check out this awesome article: https://www.christiancentury.org/features/early-christianity-fragment-fragment

Featured artwork made by Midjourney using this fragment’s wording and blended with a Russian icon.

Talking baby Jesus

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 the Quran but originally sourced from various gnostic tales. This time I want to highlight the infant Jesus speaking, straight out of the womb! In the Quran, Surah 19, titled Maryam (Mary), 30 – 33, we have the following:

Jesus declared, “I am truly a servant of Allah. He has destined me to be given the Scripture and to be a prophet.
He has made me a blessing wherever I go, and bid me to establish prayer and give alms-tax as long as I live,
and to be kind to my mother. He has not made me arrogant or defiant.
Peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I will be raised back to life!”

19:36 has one more saying and that is:

˹Jesus also declared,˺ “Surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him ˹alone˺. This is the Straight Path.”

So his first words are proclaiming himself a servant of God and and then he goes on to defend his mother. How honorable. As I read this, I recalled Jesus speaking in another early Christian non-canonical text, that being the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of Our Savior. For some odd reason, this particular text doesn’t get the attention like the other infancy gospels. So what does the infant Jesus say in this writing? Right off the bat, in the first section, Jesus says the following:

1. We find (1) what follows in the book of Joseph the high priest, who lived in the time of Christ. Some say that he is Caiaphas. (2) He has said that Jesus spoke, and, indeed, when He was lying in His cradle said to Mary His mother: I am Jesus, the Son of God, the Logos, whom thou hast brought forth, as the Angel Gabriel announced to thee; and my Father has sent me for the salvation of the world.

He is announcing who he is in this gospel but no mention of defending his mother. However, there is no context in the text leading up to that which accuses Mary of wrong doing, hence no need for that.

Since we are doing Quran / Gnostic comparisons, lets go ahead and do another one. In the Quran, Surah Al-Ma’idah 5:110, we have the following:

[The Day] when Allāh will say, "O Jesus, Son of Mary, remember My favor upon you and upon your mother when I supported you with the Pure Spirit [i.e., the angel Gabriel] and you spoke to the people in the cradle and in maturity; and [remember] when I taught you writing and wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and when you designed from clay [what was] like the form of a bird with My permission, then you breathed into it, and it became a bird with My permission; and you healed the blind [from birth] and the leper with My permission; and when you brought forth the dead with My permission; and when I restrained the Children of Israel from [killing] you when you came to them with clear proofs and those who disbelieved among them said, "This is not but obvious magic."

“When you designed from clay what was like the form of a bird with my permission, then you breathed into it, and it became a bird with my permission.” That incident sounds very familiar. In the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which is perhaps one of the most popular apocrypha tales out there, this incident is also played out.

1 This little child Jesus when he was five years old was playing at the ford of a brook: and he gathered together the waters that flowed there into pools, and made them straightway clean, and commanded them by his word alone. 2 And having made soft clay, he fashioned thereof twelve sparrows. And it was the Sabbath when he did these things (or made them). And there were also many other little children playing with him. 3 And a certain Jew when he saw what Jesus did, playing upon the Sabbath day, departed straightway and told his father Joseph: Lo, thy child is at the brook, and he hath taken clay and fashioned twelve little birds, and hath polluted the Sabbath day.

Now it doesn’t surprise me that these elements made their way into the Quran. Muhammad was exposed to Christianity during his life and that wasn’t particularly the Christianity that was of an Orthodox nature, so these stories were still being accepted. In a way, it makes Isa more closer to the gnostic Jesus.

Featured artwork: Persian artwork of Mary and Jesus, circa 1550-1660

Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of Our Savior: http://gnosis.org/library/infarab.htm

Infancy Gospel of Thomas: http://gnosis.org/library/inftoma.htm