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 he was a prominent translator of various regional Egyptian texts in the early 20th century. So, to bring light to these rarely seen Coptic texts in their English form, here is a complete copy from that particular book. Please note, I did some slight altering of the early 20th century English to make it a bit more modern (example “saith” to “said”). There are also sections of the texts that are missing.

The discourse which Saint Timothy, the Archbishop of Rakote, pronounced on the festival of the holy Archangel Michael, that is to say, on the twelfth day of this month of Paône (May 6). And he discoursed also on the caverns of those who are undergoing punishments, and on the souls who are in them. And he discoursed also on repentance, and the rising of the Nile. In the peace of God! Bless us! Amen. Amen. Amen.

This day is a great festival, O my beloved. Let us assemble together, and let us rejoice, and let us be glad therein. I behold this day the mighty archangel, the holy Michael, placing in our hands spiritual food, according to the words of the holy singer David, who said, ‘ Judah, celebrate thy festival, and pay thou the things which thou hast vowed.’  And again he said, ‘ The angel of the Lord camped round about those who fear Him, and delivered them.’ Now this merciful angel who camped round about those who fear Him and delivered them is Michael………. [Two lines illegible]

Michael strived on their behalf, and he made supplication to God until He re-established them in these worlds of light. And this he did, not for the righteous only, but also for the sinners who have turned their hearts to Him, even those who have once only offered up an offering in the Name of God and that of the Archangel Michael. And Michael the compassionate will never forget that man who shall give unto the poor even one loaf of bread or one cup of cold water. If thou wished to hear it, I will relate a story unto thee.

Now it came to pass that I, the least of all men, Timothy your father, went up to Jerusalem to worship the Cross of our Saviour, and His life-giving tomb, and the holy places wherein our Saviour walked about. Afterwards I went into the house with the mother of Proclus, the disciple of John the Evangelist, and I dwelt therein, and I found a parchment book which Proclus, the disciple of John, had written; and the people who were in the house had taken it and were using it as a phylactery. And I read therein, and I found this great consolation, which was like unto that about which the Evangelist testified, and he said: It came to pass that I John with whom the angel walked…. [Two lines illegible]

.. up on a lake which was exceedingly terrible. And that lake was situated amongst lakes, and the depth and the breadth of that lake were greater than the depth and breadth of all the other lakes. And I heard great noises therein, which were like unto the roar of mighty waters. And I asked the angel who walked with me, saying, ‘ My lord, what is the meaning of this pit which I see? Up from the midst thereof there raised such a great smoke of fire that the fiery fumes of its smoke go up for a distance of three hundred stadia. I saw lions of fire which made me ill, and dragons of fire, and serpents, and scorpions, and the bear of fire, and the worm which never slept coiling’ itself in folds, and vipers and asps of frightful aspect. And there was a wheel (?), and thousands of thousands and tens of thousands of tens of thousands of fiery lightnings leaped forth, and shot down into the chaos of Tartarus, that burned with fire.

And this angel said unto me, ‘O beloved of God, John, thou see this punishment, which is the most terrible of all punishments. Woe be unto all those sinners who shall be cast into this punishment, for it is exceedingly severe …… [Two lines illegible]

[Two lines illegible] …. I will tell thee about it. The wheel (?) of fire which thou have seen bared down the sinners who are on it, and it submerged them for three hundred days; only with the greatest difficulty can a man remain fast in the lower part thereof, for afterwards they are cast up again, like a wheel, in the third year. All those who are to be punished are bound thereto, and the path of all of them lead to the bottom of that pit.’ And I wept for a long time over the destruction of the sinners. And the angel said unto me, ‘Weep thou not, O John, beloved of God, for, behold, thou shall this day see a mighty miracle wrought by the Archangel Michael and his great boldness.’

Then, while I was talking with him, behold, Michael the archangel came forth from heaven sitting upon the chariot of the Cherubim. The angels went before him singing, and there followed him all the righteous, and the Patriarchs, and all the Prophets, and they were decked with great splendor and with great glory. And there were ……… in their hands, and branches of sweet-smelling shrubs, and they went before him dancing and singing praises to him. And he came and stood over those who were suffering punishments, and straightway the flames were extinguished, and all the wild beasts which were in them……. [Two lines broken and illegible]

and they disappeared. And straightway Michael the archangel lowered into the lake his right wing, and there came up on it a multitude of souls, whereof the number could not be told, for they reached from the arm of the compassionate archangel to the extreme tip of his wing, and he brought them up out of their tortures, and set them down upon the earth, and he filled twelve meadows therewith. And again Michael, the mighty one, lowered his wing into the lake, and he seized a larger number of souls than on the first occasion, and brought them up. And afterwards the Cherubim, and the Seraphim, and all the righteous who had come forth and followed him, bowed low before him, and they entreated him to lower his wing into the lake for the third time. And Michael, who is full of compassion, did so, and he brought up on it an exceedingly great number of souls, whom he delivered from unending tortures. And straightway the angels, and all the righteous who had come forth with Michael, took them and carried them into the Jerusalem which is in the heavens ……. [Two lines broken and illegible]

Michael brought them before the Father of goodness, and all the souls worshipped Him; and straightway the Archangel Michael took them into the rest which is everlasting.

And I John marvelled exceedingly at the compassion of God and His Archangel Michael, and I ascribed glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, and I gave thanks unto God, and unto the Archangel Michael. And the angel who was accompanying me said, ‘ O John, thou beloved of God, take good heed unto the day which is the day of the festival of the Archangel Michael. Now the first is the twelfth day of the month of Athôr, wherein the Father established him over the kingdom that is in the heavens, because of the victory which he gained, and because he bound in fetters the Enemy who was fighting against his Lord. The second festival is on the twelfth day of the month of Paône, whereon God gave this never-ending gift…… [Four lines broken and illegible]

when they had seen the insolent contempt which the Jews showed to Him, which was so great that even the heaven of heavens was not able to bear His sorrow of heart. And when He had risen from the dead …….. It was Michael who suffered with Him from the door of the tomb to Amente. And again, it was Michael who bound Beliar (i.e. Satan) in fetters, by the order of his Lord, and it was Michael who brought to the Saviour all the captive souls over whom the Devil had tyrannized, and our Saviour went up to the Father with the captive souls. And after the Resurrection the Father rejoiced over His beloved Son, and kissed Him, and granted to Him the power to judge the living and the dead. Unto Him belonged the power of the Godhead henceforth and forever. Then the Son of Goodness, Jesus the Christ, arrayed Michael in great and indescribable splendor, which was greater than the glory that He had bestowed upon him on the first occasion, when He established Him as Governor over the kingdom which is in the heavens [Four lines broken and illegible]

over all the tortures, and each of the angels is arrayed splendidly in his place. And when the Archangel Michael cometh forth from the veil of the Father all ranks of angels, from Adam His created being, are gathered together unto him, and they sing hymns of praise before him, even as thou have seen them, O John the Theologian, until he cometh to the place of all the tortured. And forthwith the way of all the tortured is open, and the great torture which is excruciating and is most terrible is relaxed. And all the souls that are undergoing torture assemble together in this lake year by year, according to the compassion of God the Father. And the Archangel Michael came to these beings who are tortured and lowered his right wing into the lake three times, and brought up a multitude of souls, and sat them down upon the earth. Now, when his wing is filled (i.e. covered) with souls in this manner, their number amounted to two hundred times ten thousand, and nine times ten thousand, and a half of ten thousand, and eight hundred and seventy (i.e. 2,095,870 souls).

[Two lines wanting] and the poor, and those who have kept the day of the Resurrection of our Saviour, that is to say, the Lord’s Day, and those who have given a crust of bread and a cup of cold water to the poor on the holy day of the Lord’s Day. The second class he brought up in the name of the Archangel Michael, and it included those who have been merciful to the poor in respect of the crust of bread which they gave to the needy in the Name of God, and that of the Archangel Michael. And our Lord Jesus the Christ cried to the class of tortured souls so that they may obtain rest whether they be Christian, or Gentile, or Jew. Those who have partaken of the Body and the Blood of our Lord Jesus, the Christ, does God leave alone. And straightway all the righteous, and all the hosts which are in the heavens, invoke the Archangel Michael, even as thou have now seen them do, in order that he may show compassion upon all the souls that have remembered his name upon the earth. After these things he does in this manner a second time …….

[Two lines wanting] . . . the supplications of the saints, and the compassion of God. And the Archangel Michael have acted in this wise from the time of the Resurrection of our Saviour until this day, and moreover, he will not cease to do so on every twelfth day of the month Paône until the end of this world. And he took them (i. e. the souls) each into the place which it have merited; furthermore, Michael went inside the veil on the same day, and casted himself down at the feet of the Father, and worshipped Him, and did not rise up again until the Father had accepted his supplications and until He provided the means of subsistence for men and beasts, and water in the river Nile. For all the angels who are over the Powers of the earth are gathered together every twelfth day of the month Paône, outside the veil of the Father, and wait there until the Archangel Michael cometh forth from inside the veil. Immediately the angels see his face and the kind of apparel which the Father of Good hath put upon him, straightway the angels who are over the operations of the earth know what manner of crops shall be upon the earth; this they know through the kind of apparel wherein Michael is arrayed. And the angels rejoice with an exceedingly great joy on behalf of all mankind because God the Father hath had compassion upon them, through the supplication of the merciful Michael, and had provided for their sustenance, and for the river to rise for men and beasts.

Now therefore, O John, blessed are those who shall remember the poor in the name of the Archangel Michael. I declare unto thee, O John, that if a man shall provide for making a copy of this book, or shall have copied a similar work of instruction, and shall give it to a church in the name of the Archangel Michael, or shall give an offering to the house of God, or shall light a lamp in the church in the name of the Archangel Michael, or shall offer up incense for his name’s sake, or even if he give a loaf of bread in remembrance of him, whether he be the greatest of all sinners, or whether he be a man who is utterly careless, when he comes forth from the body, and he is borne to the places of punishment, he shall not feel the torture of the place of punishment wherein he shall be, because of the deeds of charity which he did in the name of the Archangel Michael. But he shall be in the places of punishment as one who is in a house which is comfortably warm until God shall visit him and shall show mercy unto him and bring’ him out of the places of punishment and take him to a place of rest through the supplication of Michael.

Now therefore, O John, the beloved of God, if a man shall provide a copy of the glorious Covenant (i. e. the New Testament), and shall have one written, and shall give it to a church in the name of the Archangel Michael, or if he have one written, and keeps it in his own possession, neither sickness, nor pestilence, nor ill luck shall enter the house wherein it is forever. And upon his beasts and cattle, and upon his fields, and upon his fruit trees and vineyards no harm shall fall through any wild animal or rat, and there shall be no wastage in his fields, and there shall be no privation in his house, and his children and his children’s children shall lack nothing, even to the fourth generation. The name of Michael shall be over them like a strong coat of armor. If a man shall write down the following legends, or shall paint them upon the wall of his house, that is to say:

no harmful thing of the adversary shall fall upon that house, and no device whatsoever of evil men shall prevail against it. Now, let every man who shall have written a copy of the Covenant (i.e. the New Testament) keep it carefully as a phylactery, and not lay it in a place wherein there is any unclean thing, for mighty is the power of these wonderful Names. And when the angel of the Lord had said these things unto me, he brought me down upon the earth, and I John stood upon the Mount of Olives, and he went up into the heavens. And I marveled exceedingly at the things which had been revealed unto me, and I ascribed glory to God and to His great Archangel Michael.

These are the things which I found in Jerusalem in the house of the mother of Proclus, the disciple of John the Evangelist; and I, your father Timothy, returned to my city Rakote in great joy. Now therefore, O my beloved, inasmuch as we have heard these great and imperishable words from the mouth of the angel, according to the testimony which the Evangelist had borne to us, be not apathetic in showing mercy to the poor and to those who are needy, each one of you according to his ability, in the name of the Archangel Michael. Through the supplication of Michael, we obtain this great freedom of speech before our Saviour. We, miserable sinners that we are, obtain through the supplication of Michael the waters of the river Nile, and the dew, and the rain. We obtain through the supplication of Michael a fine climate, and the growth of the fruits of the earth. We obtain through the supplication of Michael sweet spiritual foods. We obtain through the supplication of Michael the wine which we drink, and the other kinds of sweet spiritual foods, and all the rest of the drinks which we drink to the love of God. If thou wish to make the name of Michael protect thee in every temptation, write thou the name of Michael upon the four corners of thy house, inside and outside. And also write it upon the edge of thy garment so that it may protect thee from every evil which shall rise up against thee, both that which is hidden and that which is manifest. Write thou the name of Michael upon the table at which thou eats ….. thy bread, and it will make it …. Write it also upon the platter wherefrom thou eats, so that it may give sweetness to thy mouth and satisfaction. Write it also upon the cup wherefrom thou drinks, in order that it may bring thee joy and gladness without drunkenness and arrogance; there must be no drunkenness. When we drink wine, we should sing psalms and make a merry noise according to the words of Paul: ‘ He who would rejoice, let him sing psalms.’ Who is mighty in his strength and in his wisdom except Him concerning Whom the Psalmist saith, ‘ The Lord hath risen up like a man from sleep, and like a mighty man drunk with wine ? ‘ The righteous man Noah was drunk with wine, even as the Scripture said, ‘ He planted a vineyard, he ate of the fruit thereof, he became drunk.’ When a man drinks wine, and becomes drunk, he uttered obscene and foul words, nay, more than this, he committs fornication, or does disgraceful and bold and impudent deeds, and he staggers about from one side of the road to the other in the marketplace and streets of the city. Such is the man who is drunk indeed, and who is full of disgrace, and our holy fathers knew of the danger of wine before they gave us admonitions about it; do not, under any circumstances, O my beloved sons of the Holy Church, get drunk. For this matter or, habit clings …… [One line wanting]

Let us keep watch over our feet at all times, and pray with our faces cast down to the earth, and let us make entreaty, saying, ‘ O Archangel Michael, abase thyself before the Good Father that He may forgive us our sins and our transgressions. We beseech thee, O Michael, to make supplication to the Master, the Christ, on our behalf, so that He may bless our days, and give us peaceful years. O our helper, Michael, entreat Him Whose mercy is according to His desire, the God of the universe, so that He may make the storm which is blowing over us to sink to rest. O compassionate Archangel Michael, make entreaty to the Lord for us that He may bring up the water in the river Nile, and that God, the Compassionate, may open unto us His right hand, which is full of good things of all kinds and which giveth food unto all flesh, even as it is written, ‘ When Thou opens Thy hand they shall become filled with Thy goodness.’ O Archangel Michael, Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the Lord, entreat God the Merciful One to keep guard over and to bring up our little sons until they arrive at a full and perfect state of manhood. We beseech thee, O Archangel Michael, of thy compassion to make supplication on our behalf to the Father, who forgives, that we may be guarded from every temptation of the Adversary, and that He may permit us to repent, and that we may be saved before we bring to an end our life in lying vanities.

I beseech you, O beloved brethren, O Christ-loving congregation, to withdraw yourselves from injustice of every kind, and from slander, and impurity, and envy, and hatred, and strife, and theft, and enmity, and slaughter, and fornication, and pollution, and uncleanness, and guile. And you must make haste to lift up your hands and your souls, and to go with boldness, and with purity, and with honest intent to the Commander-in-Chief of the armies that are in the heavens, that is to say, Michael. And may it happen unto us, 0 brethren, that as we gather ourselves together in this holy place on this great festival this day, even so He may gather us together in His kingdom, and that having made us all worthy we may hear that blessed voice, saying, ‘ Come, ye blessed of My Father, and inherit the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world through the grace and love of man of our Lord Jesus the Christy to Whom be all glory and honor, which befit Him, and His Good Father, and the Holy Spirit, life-giving’ and consubstantial, for ever and ever. Amen.

COLOPHON

This book Was copied through the zeal and care of the most God-fearing deacon whose name God knows. He provided the money for the copying of the volume of this book by his own labor, and he had it written, and he gave it to the shrine of Apa Aaron in the mountain of Tebô (Edfû), so that the God of this blessed and righteous man Apa Aaron, and of the Patriarch and Apostolic Archbishop Athanasius, and of the Archangel Michael, might bless our God-loving and charitable deacon with every perfect and spiritual blessing, even as He blessed our Fathers, the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from whom all the nations have received light, and that He might deliver and save him from all the wiles of the Devil, and from all the evil designs of wicked men, and gird him about with patient endurance. And after the establishing of this festival of the saints which he has commemorated may he receive favor from their King, the Christ, and may they cause him to be worthy to hear the voice which is full of joy and gladness of every kind, saying, ‘ Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom which hath been prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ ^ Amen. Amen. So be it! Amen. Amen.

It was written on the twenty ……. day of the month Epêp, in the seven hundred and eighth year of the Era of Diocletian (i. e. a. d. 992), by …… Zôkratôr …… the least of all men, the son of the blessed Archdeacon Joseph. Pray for me a sinner.

I, Zôkratôr, the least of all men, the son of the blessed Joseph, the archdeacon of the city of Snê (Asnâ), may God give him rest!, beg you to remember me, of your love, O my fathers and brethren. Behold my repentance. Entreat ye God on my behalf that He may forgive me a few of my sins, which are exceedingly many, and that He may lead me henceforward in the right way, according to His holy and blessed wish. And do ye yourselves forgive me all my blunders, because I am not very learned, and I only received my instruction from the schoolteachers. Behold my repentance. Do an act of grace and forgive me.

In this year wherein we have written this volume, which is the seven hundred and eighth year of the Era of Diocletian (i.e. A. D. 992) and the three hundred and seventy-second year of the Saracens (i.e. of the Era of the Hijrah = A. D. 982), a great miracle took place in connection with the rise of the river Nile. On the fifteenth day of the month of Mesore, we were taxed (?) on a cubit of water, but afterwards it (i.e. the flood) ….. until it ….. two cubits. Thus through the prayers which Saint Mary, the Lady of us all, made on our behalf, God visited us through His compassion towards us …… Mesore ………

There you have it! I do plan on doing more posts in the future that bring forth English translations of these rarely seen texts.

Cover photo: Coptic art of Michael the ArchAngel: https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/p_kopt_686/0012/image,info

bP

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 copy by Richard A. Edwards & Robert A. Wild that includes the full version in a handy booklet paperback format. The SoS is presumed to be from an early Christian writer, but some of the sayings definitely predate Christianity. Like all things in the early days of Christianity, there was a lot of fluidity between various spiritual practices. 

What does this have to do with Jesus? I recently picked up a book titled Extracanonical Sayings of Jesus by William D. Stroker that collects most of the non-canonical sayings of Jesus except those in larger Gnostic writings such as the Pistis Sophia, Bruce Codex writings, etc… If one were to combine all that, the book would probably be 1000 pages! This Stroker book is amazing. The author does not offer commentary, just the sayings along with parallel quotes. An amazing reference guide takes up the back third of the book and is going to be a great tool for me in the future. I noticed the guide had SoS listed, so with this blog post, I want to go over these four instances:

Sentence 20: Give precisely the things of the world to the world and the things of God to God.

Now this is pretty obvious. The “render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” quote appears in various canonical texts as well as the Gospel of Thomas and the Pistis Sophia.

Sentence 179: What you do not want to happen to you, do not do it yourself either.

This phrase here pops up in various canonical texts as well as Gospel of Thomas (6). It is a bit more universal and could just be a generic wisdom saying.

Sentence 316: Where your thought is, there is your goodness.

Sentence 326(a): As your heart is, (so) will be your life.

These last two sayings are parallels with other phrases that pop up in the writings of the church fathers as well as Matthew 6:21 (ESV For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also) and Luke 12:34 (ESV For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also). 

Now the question arises, did the author of the SoS use Jesus for these quotes? I am not totally convinced. They do feel a bit too universal and may have been spoken of in wisdom traditions during that time. Sentence 20 does feel like a Jesus saying, though the author of the SoS seems to be recalling it not in full. Then again, is the full SoS even from a single author? That too I highly doubt. It does feel like a pre-Christian text that was “Christianized” later on. Does this even matter though? As we journey along the wisdom tradition, does the source, be it Jesus, the Buddha, whoever, even matter, if one learns from it? Knowledge is the key to salvation! 

I will be referencing the Extracanonical Sayings book in the future. I HIGHLY recommend picking this up!!!

bP

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 his disciples up to Mount Maurei. There he tells them that in seven days he will ascend to his Father and that he will not be seen in this likeness thereafter. So now is the time to get the questions out there! They ask him to show them the abyss. At first Jesus does not recommend this, but proceeds to go along and show them. He led them to Chairoudek, which is the place of truth. He called upon the angels of the west and the world was rolled up like a scroll. The abyss was then presented to the disciples, whom all fell to the ground on their faces in fear. Jesus raised them up and basically said ‘I told you so’ as he called upon the angels to cover up the abyss. Be careful of what you ask!

Section 4 moves to the Mount of Olives. Peter asks Mary (mother) to ask Jesus of what lies in the heavens. Mary tells Peter to ask himself, since he is the “rock” in which the church is to be built upon. I sense a little hostility there, lol. Peter tells Mary that she is the tabernacle that formed the lord, so she should ask. Mary then goes into a pretty long rant regarding Adam and Eve, and their symbolic relationship with the sun and moon. To make a long story short, she does this just to turn around and tell Peter since he is in the image of Adam, he should be the one to ask. When it was said and done, neither of them asks. It is Bartholomew who goes up to Jesus and he asks not what the heavens have, but rather, about the adversary (Beliar/Satan). Jesus was surprised by this and warned against this. Not learning from the past request, Bartholomew insists and begins to praise Jesus to get on his good side. Jesus eventually gives in and the others in the group ask to see the adversary as well. So Jesus takes them down from the Mount of Olives and to the gates of Hell. He calls upon Michael to open the gates. Once opened, the ground begins to shake and hundreds of angels bring up Beliar, whom is bound with fiery chains. This text gives an interesting description of Beliar. Depending on which manuscript you read, there are different specs. Some say his length is 1,600 cubits while other say 1,900 or 17. His breadth is either 40, 300 or 700. All are quite ridiculous in their descriptions, but let’s just say he was a monstrous size being! His face was like lightning of fire, eyes full of darkness, nostrils had smoke coming from them, and wings of various lengths (depending on the manuscript). Noticed there is no mention of horns. That attribute had not yet made itself to the mythology of the devil when this was originally written.

Jesus tells Bartholomew to put his foot upon Beliar’s neck and then ask him whatever he wishes to know. Now if Beliar is a large being, I am not sure how stepping on his neck will do anything. Perhaps it is something like the lasso of truth from the Wonder Woman comics, LOL!  Bartholomew proceeds to step upon the neck of Beliar but soon becomes afraid and runs off. He goes to Jesus and requests one of his garments to help him overcome his fear. Jesus tells him that his garments are not of this world and he can not have them. With a little bit more motivation, Jesus urges Bartholomew to go back. He musters up the courage and resumes with his foot onto the neck of Beliar and pushes his face into the ground. He asks who is he and what is his name. Beliar tells him to ease up on the neck so he could speak. Bartholomew relents. Beliar states that he was originally called Satanael, which meant “Angel of God“. But when he rejected the reflection of God, he was called Satanas, which meant “Angel of the Underworld“. Bartholomew demands he tell him everything and keep nothing hidden. Beliar is getting pissed, but goes along with the request and goes into a lengthy detail of events. Here is what he had to say:

For I was formed as the first angel. For when God made the heavens, he took a handful of fire. First, he made me; second, he made Michael; third, he made Gabriel; fourth, he made Raphael; fifth, he made Uriel; sixth, he made Xathanael. He also made six thousand other angels whose names I am not able to speak, for they are God's staff-bearers. They beat me with their staffs seven times a day and seven times a night. They never leave me alone, and they dissipate my power.

He goes on to say that each of the seven heavens have a million angels. Outside the heavens, there are angels who oversee various aspects of the material world. Khairoum oversees the north wind, Ertha oversees the east wind, Kerkoutha the south wind and Naoutha the west wind. Beliar tells Bartholomew he can not say the other angel names as he is not permitted to do so. Bartholomew asks how he punishes the souls of men. A breaking wheel came from the abyss with a jagged-edged sword that flashed fire. Beliar tells him that each of the jags of the sword are for various different sins. Beliar admits that he or his underlings are not permitted to go into the world (if he was able, he’d rampage through it in three days) but have lesser minions go out and tempt men with various sins that will trap them for damnation. Beliar starts naming off other angels before Bartholomew tells him to be quiet. He asks Jesus to have mercy on the sins of men. However, Beliar was not done speaking. He still had quite a bit to say including how he ended up where he is at. This next part is pretty interesting in the mythology of the “fallen angel”. We always hear of this story, but are never really told the full story. Well, this gospel presents a version of that origin.

Beliar said that God told Michael to bring him a clod of earth from each of the four corners of the earth and watch from each of the four rivers of Paradise. Once these elements were brought together, God formed Adam. Michael bowed to Adam, since he was an image of God. When Beliar came to where Adam was, Michael informed him to worship this image of God’s likeness. Beliar said he was fire, made of fire, and would not worship a material clod of earth. Michael told him that God would be angry with him. Beliar said that would not happen, but rather God will make him a throne, opposite of his, and he would be like him. Well, that didn’t go as planned, as God banished him from the heavens. God asked the other 600 angels below Beliar if they would worship Adam, and they refused and thus were banished as well. After being cast down to the earth, they all fell into a deep sleep for forty years. When the sun shone seven times more brightly than fire, this woke Beliar up. He saw the other six hundred angels asleep and began to wake them up. He woke his son, Salpsan, and plot to deceive the ‘man’ (Adam) who caused this mess. Beliar took a jar and poured sweat from his chest and arm hair. He then dipped it in the water sources from which the four rivers flowed. When Eve drank from the water, she discovered desire. If she would not have drank from this water, she would have been impossible to deceive.

So the water aspect is new to the Eve story, an event that lead her to the infamous apple scene. I do think it’s a bit odd that sweat from Beliar’s chest and arm hair is the catalyst for this poisonous water. After this story, Bartholomew ordered Beliar back to Hell and thus ends their conversation. Bartholomew begins a lengthy prayer to Jesus. Once he finished, Jesus offers him an explanation of his name. He tells Bartholomew that the Father gave him the name “Christ” so that he may come down to earth and anoint all men who come to the olive tree of life. He was given the name “Jesus” so that through the power of God, he may heal every sin of the ignorant and enable men to bear divine things. Bartholomew offers another lengthy prayer to Jesus and when he is done, Jesus proclaims various attributes of himself. Once done, all the apostles and Jesus embraced.

The final section is rather short. Bartholomew asks Jesus what is the most serious sin and Jesus responds with that of hypocritical slander. He also states that all sins would be forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Spirit. This harkens to Mark 3:28-29. Bartholomew asks him to explain this sin and Jesus states “Whoever declares a word against anyone who is a servant of my holy Father also blasphemes against the Holy Spirit. But anyone who serves God reverently is worthy of the Holy Spirit, while the person who speaks anything evil against him will not be forgiven. Woe to whoever swears “by God’s Head”! He is not even really forswearing him. For God Most High has twelve peaks, because he is truth and in him there is no deceit or false oath.” Jesus tells Bartholomew to go out and preach to everyone this word. However, Bartholomew has one more question. He asks if someone commits a sin in the body, what is their punishment. Jesus replies that it is better that a baptized person keeps their baptism blameless and warns against the pleasure of the flesh. He states that monogamy is a solemn matter and after a third wife, the sinner is unworthy of God. The text ends with glorification of God by the apostles.

There you have it! This is a rather short Gospel but does have some interesting mythology building aspects. Section 1 has a retelling of the Harrowing of Hell story, section 2 has an origin of Mary’s conception of Jesus and section 4 has an origin story for the adversary. These stories feel like they originated elsewhere and this “gospel” brings them together as a collection of stories that are delivered in a dialogue structure. As I mentioned in the last post, I used Simon Gathercole’s translation for my overview. I will link a public domain translation below but be aware, like all translations, there are differences. I do highly recommend Simon’s book The Apocryphal Gospels. 

Public Domain translation: http://gnosis.org/library/gosbart.htm

Artwork made via Midjourney.

bP

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 not to be confused with “The Book of the Resurrection of Christ by Bartholomew the Apostle”. The gospel is split into 5 sections. With post one, I will cover sections 1 and 2, and the second post will cover sections 3 – 5.

The gospel starts with the resurrection of Jesus. Bartholomew approached Jesus and asks him to reveal the mysteries of the heavens (that’s a mighty tall request!!). Bartholomew tells Jesus that during the crucifixion, he was viewing the event from a distance and saw angels coming down from heaven to worship Jesus, and then without warning, Jesus had disappeared from the cross. A voice from the subterranean depths was heard by him after this disappearance. He asked Jesus where did he go and Jesus responds that he had went to Hell in order to bring up Adam and all those with him. The voice that Bartholomew had heard came from Hell (Hades). Hades said to Beliar, “It looks like God has come here!“ If you recall from my blog post on the Gospel of Nicodemus, it is Hades and Satan that have a quarrel between each other, and a rather humorous one at that! Now based on the translation (GoB), my copy states “Hell” (I am reading from Simon Gathercole’s work) but in other translations, such as the one I have linked at the end of this post, “Hades” is used. Now keep in mind this is a deity and not a location. Hades would be the more appropriate translation in my opinion. Hades and Satan are not the same deity in these apocrypha texts. Hades is more a neutral character who is basically a “warden” of the underworld. Satan is the one who is causing mischief upon humans. In the GoB, Satan is given the name Beliar. Beliar says to Hades that it appears that one of the prophets is descending. Hades is in disbelief and states that 6,000 years has not yet passed and asks why is this happening. Beliar basically tells him not to worry and to secure the gates as God does not come down here. At this moment, a severe pain erupts through Hades’ body and he flees. 

Jesus arrives at the gates, demands to be let in and then bounds Beliar up with unbreakable chains. He releases all the patriarchs and went back to the cross. Noticed the difference in this retelling and the one in the Gospel of Nicodemus. In this one, the harrowing takes place during the crucifixion while the Nicodemus version takes place after the event. Bartholomew asks who was the massive man that the angels carried up to heaven and Jesus identifies him as Adam. He states that he had told Adam “I was hanged on the cross because of you and your children.“ (Ouch! A slight burn on Adam there, lol) Adam lamented and said “Such is your will, O Lord.” Other angels came to Adam and were singing as they went into heaven but one colossal angel with a flaming sword did not. The text does not identify this angel here, but earlier in the text, it is mentioned that Michael was among those with Jesus during the Harrowing, so I am assuming this colossal angel is Michael.

Jesus tells the apostles that a sacrifice is being offered in Paradise and he must be present to receive it, otherwise the souls of the righteous would not be able to enter. Bartholomew asks how many souls depart the world each day and Jesus tells him 30,000. He then asks how many souls enter Paradise each day and Jesus responds with 3(!). Bartholomew asks if Jesus was in Paradise at the same time as he was teaching them, and Jesus tells him that he is at both places always. Another question asked is how many righteous souls are found amongst the departed. Jesus tells him that it is 53. The 50 that do not enter Paradise, they go to a place of resurrection. A final question is asked and that is how many souls are born each day, Jesus responds that it is one more than the number of souls that depart each day. This ends section one of the gospel.

The second section deals with Mary and her conception of Jesus. Bartholomew approaches Peter, Andrew and John, and suggests they ask Mary how she conceived, carried and eventually gave birth to ‘one of such great magnitude’. The others are a bit hesitant about this. Bartholomew asks Peter to do this, but Peter deflects to John. Eventually Bartholomew decides to be the one to approach Mary since the others refuse. After asking her, Mary says “Are you really asking me about this mystery? If I begin to tell you, fire will come forth from my mouth and set all the world ablaze.“ Apparently this did not dissuade them from repeatedly asking her. Eventually she decides to answer but first they must pray. After getting in position, she stands before them and begins a rather lengthy prayer. Once she is done, she sits down and has the four men sit around here, bracing her so her body does not break apart (remember her prior warning). She begins to recall that during her time in the temple as a youth, an angel appeared to her. This was the second time an angel had come to her, but this angel was different than the first one. The temple shook and Mary fell to the ground. The angel lifted her up and a cloud of dew touched her face. The angel sprinkled the dew over her body and said “Greetings, you who are highly favored, chosen vessel.” He struck the right-hand side of his garment and a loaf of bread appeared, which he placed on the altar of the temple. He ate a piece of it and then gave some to Mary. Next, he did the same with his left-hand, but this time a cup full of wine, drinking some and then Mary. Obviously, this is an analogy of the Eucharist. Both the loaf of bread and cup of wine returned to complete fullness. The angel tells Mary that in three years she will receive his word and conceive a son, through whom all creation will be saved. He offers her parting words and disappears. As soon as she was done speaking, fire starts coming from her mouth to engulf the world. Jesus suddenly appears and says “Do not speak this mystery or all creation will come to an end today.” The apostles froze with fear as they were concerned Jesus would be angry with them. They done made him mad!

This is the end of the second section. My next post will cover the remaining parts of the gospel. For my review, I used Simon Gathercole’s translation from his book The Apocryphal Gospels. This book is an excellent collection of modern English translations of numerous texts and fragments. I HIGHLY recommend it!

M.R. James translation at gnosis.org: http://gnosis.org/library/gosbart.htm

Featured artwork made with Midjourney.

bP

(Greek) Gospel of the Egyptians

In the Nag Hammadi library, there is a text identified as the “Gospel of the Egyptians”, but did you know there is another text that goes by the same name? This other text has the name of the “Greek” Gospel of the Egyptians and only survives in fragmented / quotation form, as the Nag Hammadi version is sometimes identified as the “Coptic” Gospel of the Egyptians. I will present all the known fragments below. I did take out the commentary remarks from the various church fathers that these come from (I will provide a link at the bottom to the source of the sayings) and structured them in a way that the quotes flow a bit better.

Salome asked the Lord “Until when shall men continue to die?” The Lord answers “So long as women bear children.” Salome replies “I have done well, then, in not bearing children?” The Lord responds “Every plant eat thou, but that which hath bitterness eat not.” Salome inquired when the things concerning which she asked should be known, the Lord responds with “When ye have trampled on the garment of shame, and when the two become one and the male with the female is neither male nor female.”

This is the longest fragment that survives. It does feel incomplete and without context, but as is, we have Salome asking about if by not giving birth would it mean there is no longer death for people.  So to take this in a Gnostic context, when a child is born, this child would be the “life source” for the demiurge and the archons. If you wish for people not to suffer and to escape this material plane, then don’t have children. With life comes the eventual decay into death. You can also view this in a re-incarnation scenario where one re-incarnates via their offspring (ancestral memory and genetics), but if you stopped having children, then this stops. A short cut out of samsara? lol

To take it another way, by not bearing children, ideally you would be celibate hence abstaining from the desires of the world. So in an Orthodox Christian monastic way of thinking, this would apply. I like all these interpretations but it’s all how you perceive it. 

The fragment then has the Savior speaking about eating all fruits except those that are bitter. This phrase can be a bit puzzling. Does it really provide an answer to Salome or is it out of context / missing phrase(s)? If it really does answer her question, then it would seem that bitter fruit would be an allegory for the things that are not good for us. Pretty standard advice I would say. 

The last part of this segment is quite interesting as this is basically saying 22 from the Gospel of Thomas. Gotta love these Thomas sayings popping up elsewhere! The way it is phrased, it would seem that once a person truly knows who they are, this is the time in which this knowledge will become known, thus the answer the Savior is giving to Salome.

The Savior said “I came to destroy the works of the female.”

Clement of Alexandria interprets this as the female means lust, and that the works are birth and decay. So if we read this with the first segment, by destroying/stopping the works, i.e. birth from the female, this will end the cycle of death/suffering. He could have phrased it a bit differently, lol.

The soul is very hard to find and to perceive; for it does not continue in the same fashion or shape or in one emotion so that one can either describe it or comprehend it’s essence.

Once again, no context, but this reads to me as the ascension of the soul through the heavens.

The Savior showed his disciples that the same person was Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Here is a pro-Trinity statement that appears, at least how it is presented since we have no context in how it is used.

There you have it, the remains of the “Greek” Gospel of the Egyptians. Definitely some interesting quotes there and the first segment is one I often contemplate on. 

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/gospelegyptians.html

Featured artwork made with Midjourney.

bP

2 Clement & Gospel of Thomas 22

I love how Gospel of Thomas sayings pop up in other writings and today I am showcasing such an example. Saying 22 from Thomas shows up in 2 Clement. What is 2 Clement you ask? Better known as the “Second Epistle of Clement”, this is an early writing attributed to Clement of Rome (not to be confused with Clement of Alexandria), though it’s authorship may not be correctly attributed, i.e. Pseudo-Clement. Interestingly enough, the Orthodox Tewahedo church in Ethiopia has this book (or at least a version of it) listed in their New Testament canon (which is 35 books compared to the 27 in other traditions). As far as I know, no English translation exists of the Tewahedo bible in its entirety, as the OT extra books can be found in English but the NT books not so much.

Gospel of Thomas saying 22 states the following:

Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his disciples, "These nursing babies are like those who enter the kingdom."

They said to him, "Then shall we enter the kingdom as babies?"

Jesus said to them, "When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom]."

2 Clement addresses this statement in chapter 12 of the epistle, it reads as such:

12:1 Let us, therefore, in love and righteousness expect every hour the kingdom of God, since we know not the day of the appearing of God.
12:2 For the Lord himself, when he was asked by a certain man when his kingdom should come, replied, When two shall be one, and that which is without as that which is within, and the male with the female neither male nor female.
12:3 Now two are one when we speak the truth one to another, and there is, without hypocrisy, one soul in two bodies.
12:4 And by that which is without being as that which is within, he meaneth this: He calleth the soul that which is within, and the body that which is without; in like manner, therefore, as thy body is visible, let thy soul be made manifest by good deeds.
12:5 And by the male with the female neither male nor female, he meaneth this: When a brother seeing a sister doth not in any way regard her as a female, nor doth she regard him as a male;
12:6 when ye do these things, he saith, the kingdom of my Father will come.

Gotta love it! Speaking of Thomas sayings popping up in other works, the recently published oxyrhynchus papyri 5575 has a very interesting Thomas connection. If you do a google search, you’ll see various articles on that. O.P. 5576 and 5577 are gnostic writings, though their translations have not yet appeared online. They are featured in a newly published book though it’s a bit pricey at the moment. When those translations become more easily available, I will most certainly post about them as one of them is a dialogue between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

Read 2 Clement here: https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/2clement-hoole.html

Featured artwork is an 11th century mosaic of Clement of Rome.

bP

The Preaching and Martyrdom of James the Just

With the feast day of James the Just coming up on October 23, I wanted to post some lesser known stories of James. This post presents two stories from the Ethiopian tradition. Usually I do summaries of texts but in this case I am presenting the two stories in complete form. These come from the 1901 book “The Contendings of the Apostles: Vol 2 – The English Translation” by E.A. Wallis Budge (same person who has done English translations of other Ethiopic & Egyptian texts, be sure to check out his work!). The first story is titled “The Preaching of Saint James the Just” and the second story is titled “The Martyrdom of Saint James the Just”. When I transcribed the text, I pretty much kept it as is. There were a few instances I “modernized” a word/phrase to help it read a bit better. That being said, I kept most of it in the style of the early 20th century biblical English style.

The Preaching of Saint James the Just

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

Here begins the Preaching of James the Just, the Apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was surnamed the brother of our Lord in the flesh.  Now the lot which went out to him was that he should preach in Jerusalem, and after he had preached unto the people thereof, he became Bishop in Jerusalem, and he died therein in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  In the peace of God, Amen.  May his prayer and his blessing be with his handmaiden Walatta Madhan!

And it came to pass that, when the Apostles were gathered together that the countries of the world might be divided among them, our Lord Jesus Christ sat in their midst and said unto them, “My peace be upon you, O My holy Apostles!  As my Father sent me to the to the world, even so do I send you that ye may preach throughout the whole word the knowledge of my Heavenly Father.”  And for this reason they cast lots, and the lot came to James to preach the Holy Gospel in Jerusalem and in all the districts thereof.  Therefore did he bow down before God and say, “O God, Thou knowest that the Jews will seek to kill us when we preach thy resurrection and the Holy Gospel.  And are not the command the lot which have gone forth to me great?  Yet I am only one, and I know that the Jews will not listen unto the words which I shall speak unto them.  I beseech thee then, O Lord, send me to the Gentiles, together with my brethren, and I will do everything which thou shall command me to do, and I will bear patiently all the sufferings which shall come upon me for thy name’s sake.”  And our Lord answered and said unto James, “Hearken, and I will tell thee; but thou must needs preach the Gospel in the place which hath gone forth to thee by lot.  Behold, I have left Peter, my chosen one, to toil for your sake.  Thou shalt, however, be Bishop in Jerusalem, and the Jews shall hearken unto thy words, and thou shalt end they contending nobly, and thy grave shall be therein.  Rise up and finish that for which I have prepared thee.”

And James said unto him, “O Lord, let but my father Peter help me; and I will bear everything which shall befall me for thy honourable Name’s sake;” and our Lord gave them the salutation of peace, and went up into heaven with great glory.  Now the Apostles were filled with the power of the Spirit, and they prayed at the Mount of Olives.  And Peter answered and said unto the Apostles, “Let us go with our brother James, so that we may establish him in his bishopric.”  Then Peter rose up and all those who were with him, and they stretched out their hands and prayed, saying, “O God, Who dost sustain all creation, hearken unto us.  We know that thou wilt not be far from us in whatsoever we require of thee.  Grant thou unto our brother James the power to give consolation unto thy people whom thou hast brought back to him, and may he console them, even as thou hast consoled him.”  And it came to pass that when they had prayed their prayer, and each of them had given him the salutation of peace, they brought James into Jerusalem, and he preached in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; and many men believed in his story.

Now, when the Jews saw James preaching in the name of Christ, certain of them wished to slay him, and they were not able to find an opportunity to do this, because of those who had believed in God through him; and when he knew that they were conspiring together against him, he went forth to the regions round about the city, and he preached unto them in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  And it came to pass that when he had come into those regions he found a certain aged man there, and he said unto him, “I desire that thou wilt let me abide with thee;” and the aged man said unto him, “Take thy rest until tomorrow.”  And the Apostle departed to come unto him in his house, and on the way thither he found a man who had a devil in him.  Now when Satan saw James the Apostle, he cried out and said, “What hast thou to do with me, O Apostle of Christ?  Hast thou come hither to destroy me?”  And the Apostle said unto him, “O unclean spirit, make an end of thy speech, and go forth from this man;” therefore Satan went forth from the man in the form of fire.  And it came to pass that when the aged man saw this miracle he fell at the feet of the Apostle and said, “I am not worthy that thou shouldst come into my house: but tell me what I shall do that I and all the people of my house may be saved.”  Therefore the Apostle glorified the name of Jesus Christ, and said, “Master, I give thanks unto thee that thou hast made fair my way;” and he returned to the man and spake unto him the word which would save him, and he taught him that our Lord Jesus Christ is God.  So the aged man brought him into his house; and all the people thereof were gathered together unto him, and he taught them and made them to know the faith, and he baptized them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and he made them to be heirs in the Holy Mysteries, that is to say, the Body of our Lord and His precious Blood.

And it came to pass that, when the people of the country heard of James, they brought unto him all their folk who were sick with sicknesses of every kind, and he healed them; and he appointed priests and deacons for them, and he made the old man bishop, and he gave him the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Then James went forth into all the districts which were round about Jerusalem, and preached therein; and then he returned to Jerusalem.  And the faithful heard of the coming of James (now he was surnamed ‘the Just’) into Jerusalem, and they all came to him, praising God our Lord Jesus Christ, with his Father, and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever.  Amen and Amen.

The Martyrdom of Saint James the Just

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

Here begins the Martyrdom of Saint James the Just, the blessed Apostle, which took place on the eighteenth day of the month of Hamlệ (July).  In the peace of our Lord, Amen.  May his prayer and his blessing be with his handmaiden Walatta Maghan!

And it came to pass that when James returned to Jerusalem he preached unto the people in that city in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; and many believed on him by reason of the signs and wonders which God made to go forth by the hand of his holy Apostle, and God our Lord made him worthy of the episcopal throne in Jerusalem.  And when he had become Bishop, God made manifest the healing of many folk who were sick of every kind of disease.  Now the governor of the city was a lover of money, and hated Saint James because Satan stirred him up against him; and he had no children because God Almighty, whose name is great, was rebuking him for the multitude of his sins.  And meanwhile his wife was entreating God to give her children, and she was wont to do deeds of kindness unto all those who were in affliction, and to send gifts and offerings to the sanctuary of the church daily without her husband having knowledge thereof, because of his great greed, and every day of her life she sorrowed exceedingly, and made entreaty to God for children.  And it came to pass that although her entreaty waxed great the glorious and holy God did not grant her desire, because he knew that good was about to come upon her.  And when the glorious fame of Saint James and of his faith had come to the city, now God was with him in all his work, she rose up with joy and gladness, and came to Saint James in true belief that at the request of the saint God would give her that which she desired.  And it came to pass that when the saint knew that Tệryộbastậ {or Piobsata), the wife of ‘Ammậnyộs (Aumanius or Ananus) the governor, wished to come to him to be blessed by him his wonder increased, and he said, “This is a great matter;” now he well knew her husband’s wickedness, and that he had commanded her not to come to him.  And when she had come into his presence she bowed her head, and prostrated herself at his feet, and said unto him, “O holy father, I beseech thee to grant the request of thy handmaiden, and to hearken unto her words: I have dwelt with my husband for twenty years and I have not gotten a child, and by reason of this matter I am exceedingly sorrowful.”

And Saint James said unto her, “Dost thou believe in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that he is able to give thee children?”  And she answered with her whole heart, and said unto him, “I do believe.”  And he said unto her, “If thou believest it shall be unto thee according to thy belief;” and she gave unto him the “blessing” (i.e. alms), which was with her, that he might give it unto those who were in sorrow and affliction; and she came unto her house glorifying God.  Now what the holy man had said came to pass, for after this thing God hearkened unto her petition and gave unto her that which she desired, and she conceived and gave birth unto a son whom she called James, according to the name of Saint James; then she took her son and much possessions, and came to the saint, and he blessed her.  And she said unto him, “O servant of the Good God, behold, God hath hearkened unto thy petition, and he hath given unto me that I asked for; and this child, this fruit which thou seest in my arms (hath come) through thy prayer; and I beseech thee, O my father, to bless him with all thy heart.”  And the saint took him from her hands, and he blessed him with all his heart, and he gave him back to his mother and sent them away to their house in peace.

And it came to pass that when Aumanius (or Ananus) heard of it, he was angry with an exceedingly great anger because his wife had done this thing.  And he gathered together unto him all the nobles of the city, and said unto them, “Are ye going to do nothing in this matter?  Behold, the Bishop is destroying the city and leading astray all the people, and he wisheth that all those who are in our territories shall be of his opinion, and under his teaching.”  And they all rose up and came together, and said, “What then can we do unto him?”  And certain men of them said, “Behold, he will come to the feast, and if ye desire to lay hold upon him we will lie in wait for him in the synagogue.”  Now many men were called James, but James the Just was not of them.  And besides this God Almighty had chosen him and had sanctified him from his mother’s womb, like Jeremiah the prophet, and he neither drank wine all the days of his life nor ate meat where from the blood had gone not forth; and a razor had never gone up upon his head, and he never took a bath, and he put on no clothing except one loose garment all the days of his life.  And he continued in the sanctuary always, and he stood up, and watched, and prayed humbly unto God that he would forgive the sins of the people, until at length his foot swelled by reason of his prolonged standing and prostrations; and it was for this reason he was called “James the Just.”  Now the Jews knew that he was both just and sincere towards them, and that he was of the type of the Prophets.  And this James was the youngest of the sons of Joseph the carpenter, who had four male children and two daughters; and all Joseph’s children married except James, and he became an orphan.  And it came to pass that, when our Lady Mary became the bride of Joseph, she found James as a little boy in his house, and she tended him and taught him the fear of God, and for this reason they used to call our Lady Mary the “mother of James.”

And it came to pass that, when James had been appointed Bishop in Jerusalem, multitudes believed on our Lord through him, because they became convinced of his sincerity.  Then a great uproar took place among the Jews, and among the Scribes, and among the Pharisees, because all the people said that Jesus was the Christ; and they came to James that they might take counsel with him concerning Him.  And they said unto him, “We beseech thee to set thyself at the head of all the multitude, for they will not believe that Jesus is the Christ who shall come.  Now behold, all the people will come unto Jerusalem at the Passover, do thou then speak unto them and make their hearts to rejoice, for we know that thou dost not speak any false thing whatsoever; and besides, thou art unto them as a prophet.  And we will make them to hear concerning thy graciousness, and that there is no unchastity in thee; accept now our petition, and let them all hear thy voice; and thou shalt go up unto the upper portion of the synagogue, and we will stand there until all the people shall hear thy voice.”

And, behold, of the children of Israel multitudes of the people, of the tribes and of the Scribes and Pharisees, went up to the synagogue wishing that James would tell them that Jesus was the son of Joseph, and that he was his brother; and they commanded the deputy of the congregation to order the multitudes to keep silence and to hearken unto the voice of James the Just.  And they all cried out, and said, “We have upon us the desire to hear, and we will not be denied, for the people are made to err by the evilness of the teaching of the Jews, and they have a love for the belief in Jesus who was crucified; tell us now, O just one, who is Jesus the King?”  

And it came to pass that when the priests and the Pharisees heard these words, although they pretended to be afraid in the presence of the people, yet were they filled with wraith in their hearts against James the Just; and they went back and cried out to him, and said unto him, “Tell us now, of whom is Jesus the Son?”  Then he said unto them, “He is in truth the Son of God the Father, who begot him before the world, and the Virgin Mary gave birth to him after the appointed number of days.  I believe in him, and in his Father, who is of old, and in the Holy Spirit, the glorious Trinity which shall have its being unto the end of the world, and for ever.”

And it came to pass that when the chief priests, and the Scribes, and the Pharisees heard these words from him, they gnashed their teeth at him, and they stopped their ears, so that they might not hear the voice of God from the mouth of Saint James.  Then they took counsel together each with the other, and said, “We have done evil, for we have made him to be a witness unto the people that Jesus is the Son of God Almighty; but let us go up against him, and slay him, so that the multitude may not believe in Christ.”  Then was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet who said, “The righteous man shall be rewarded, for he that is a harsh man shall not be the anointed one over us; and then shall eat the fruit of their evil work.”  And the Jews went up against James in wrath, and they thrust him off from the pinnacle of the temple and threw him down there from, and he fell upon his face, and he knelt down upon his knees like Stephen Protomartyr, and he made supplication unto God, saying, “O God, thou merciful One, be merciful unto them, and show compassion unto them, for they know not what they do;” and they cast him down as he was making this petition.

Now there was a certain priest of the children of Ahaz who bore witness on his behalf.  And Jeremiah the prophet cried out unto them, saying, “Wait ye a little, what then is this which ye will do unto the man of God the Good?  Behold, he prayeth unto God that he will forgive you your sins.”  And there was among the Jews a certain beater of clothes who withdrew not at the voice of James, and he seized the piece of wood wherewith he was wont to beat clothes, and smote James the Just upon his head with it; and James yielded up his spirit on the eighteenth day of the month of Hamlệ (July), and he ended his contending, and they buried him in the synagogue.

And it came to pass after the death of James the Just, the Apostle, and Martyr, and Bishop, who died in the name of Jesus Christ, there came great wrath upon all the Jews and upon those who dwelt in Jerusalem, but it was the greater upon those who had sought to slay James the Just, the Apostle.  And ‘Esbậsyậnộs (Vespasian) the Emperor besieged them and spoiled their city and country, and carried them away captives, and every day their disgrace was increased, and they were brought lower by reason of the evil which they had wrought against our Lord Jesus Christ and against his saints.  And may it be that we and all Christians who call themselves by his new name may find mercy and forgiveness at the awful place, when our Lord Jesus Christ cometh to judge the living and the dead; to him be glor and honour forever and ever!  Amen, Amen, and Amen.

Here ended the Martyrdom of Saint James the Just.  May his prayer protect us all the children of this place forever!  Amen.

Featured artwork is of traditional Christian iconography

-bP

The Apocalypse of Peter

The Apocalypse (Revelation) of Peter is quite the interesting text. Not to be confused with the “Coptic” Apocalypse of Peter that was found in Nag Hammadi (gotta love similar titled texts), this apocalyptic work almost made it into the canon and was used in some early churches. If you are unfamiliar with it, the text deals with Peter and the revelation he is given to of the final day. These revelations include hellish torments but also heavenly blisses. The hell descriptions give off Dante’s Inferno vibes though it obviously predates that work by at least 1100 years. The history of the AoP is quite interesting. I will link the wiki article at the end as I do not want to dive too much into that back story, but if you like reading about how these ‘lost’ texts re-emerge, you should check it out.

The text survives in Greek and Ethiopic versions. The Greek is fragmented while the Ethiopic version is complete. From my research in the past, I noticed a lot of people like to dismiss the Ethiopian versions, even though time and time again, Ethiopian translations stay pretty accurate to the original versions (besides some name changes, etc…). As I have mentioned before, the Ethiopian Christian tradition has a LOT of material that is quite remarkable. Do not discount that tradition and overlook it. For this review of the AoP, I will be following the Ethiopic version (Bart Ehrman translation).

The text starts with Jesus and his disciples on the Mount of Olives. The disciples ask him what will be the signs of his second coming and the end of the world (this conversation is post resurrection). Jesus warns them not to believe in others who will use his name (i.e. the antichrist). He tells them “For the coming of the Son of God shall not be plain; but as the lightning that shines from the east to the west, so will I come upon the clouds of heaven with a great host in my majesty; with my cross going before my face will I come in my majesty; shining seven times brighter than the sun will I come in my majesty with all my saints, my angels. And my Father shall set a crown upon my head, that I may judge the quick and the dead and recompense everyone according to his works.”

Chapter 2 is an interesting description of the fig tree parable. Peter asks Jesus to explain this saying. Jesus responds by stating the fig tree is the house of Israel. He explains “Verily I say to you, when its twigs have sprouted forth in the last days, then all false Christs come and awake expectation, saying ‘I am the Christ who has now come into the world.’ And when they perceive the wickedness of their deeds they shall turn away and deny him whom our fathers praised, the first Christ whom they crucified and therein sinned a great sin. But this deceiver is not the Christ. And when they reject him, he shall slay them with the sword, and there shall be many martyrs. Then shall the twigs of the fig tree, that is, the house of Israel, shoot forth: many shall become martyrs at his hand. Enoch and Elijah shall be sent to teach them that this is the deceiver who must come into the world and do signs and wonders in order to deceive. And therefore those who die by his hand shall be martyrs, and shall be reckoned among the good and righteous martyrs who have pleased God in their life.“

Chapter 3 has Peter and Jesus once again conversating. This time, Jesus holds out his right hand and the souls of all people are shown onto it. He explains how the sinners and the righteous will be separated at the last day. Peter asks him if it would have been better if the sinners were not created. Jesus responds by asking Peter would he resist God and not show compassion for those who were created. He recognizes that Peter is troubled by seeing what will happen to the sinners and then proceeds to tell him what these sinners have done to receive such judgments.

Chapters 4 – 13 go into detail about the final days. Hell is commanded to open up and give up all that is therein. Animals will restore all the flesh that they have eaten, thus every living creature will once again be alive. The archangel Uriel is mentioned in chapter 4 as being sent by God to over see the resurrection of the dead on judgment day. The plants of the earth are all restored and become fruitful. Basically any living entity is brought back to life on this day. However, a surprise is awaiting them all. Cataracts of fire are let loose throughout the world. Darkness and obscurity spreads throughout. All the water is turned into coals of fire. Imagine being brought back to a flesh existence and the whole world goes to hell, literally!

During all this, Christ comes down on an eternal cloud of brightness with the angels behind him. The Father places a crown upon his head and now it’s time for judgment. Uriel is tasked with bringing forth the souls of sinners. Several examples of punishments are provided due to whatever sin(s) that the soul had performed. The archangel Azrael (spelled Ezrael) brings forth the souls of those who have been slain, who will then behold the torment of those who slew them. Azrael also has the job of casting sinners into a place of darkness so their entrails could be devoured for eternally.

The text has a lot of descriptions of tortures for specific sins. I am not going to list them all (I’d end up quoting most of the text if that was the case), but here are a few examples:

“Women are swallowed up therein up to their necks and tormented with great pain. These are they who have caused their children to be born untimely and have corrupted the work of God who created them. Opposite them shall be another place where children sit alive and cry to God. And flashes of lightning go forth from those children and pierce the eyes of those who for fornication’s sake have caused their destruction.”

“And beside those who are there, shall be other men and women, gnawing their tongues; and they shall torment them with red-hot irons and burn their eyes. These are they who slander and doubt my righteousness.”

“And near by this place of torment shall be men and women who are dumb and blind and whose raiment is white. They shall crowd one upon another, and fall upon coals of unquenchable fire. These are they who give alms and say, ‘We are righteous before God,’ whereas they have not sought after righteousness.”

You get the point. One could put together quite the list of ‘sins equals this type of punishment’ with this text! Chapter 13 has the angels bring the righteous and elect to show them the sinners who had torment upon them. It mentions that all the tormented cry out for mercy. The angel Temeluchus (spelled Tatirokos, chief angel of torment) comes along and chastises them with even more torment while saying to them “Now do you repent, when it is no longer the time for repentance, and nothing of life remains.” The torment cry out one last time “Righteous is the judgment of God, for we have heard and perceived that his judgment is good, for we are recompenses according to our deeds.” And that sentence right there is why many scholars believe this text did not make the canon. It is saying that if the sinners were able to ask for repentance during this time, then what does it matter during their lifetime what they do. What good is a church if you can ask for repentance during the day of judgment? Regardless of one’s belief on the subject matter, I think we can all agree this would cause an issue in the order of what the church was to become.

Chapter 14 takes us away from the hellish torments and has Jesus ending his discourse with Peter, telling him to go spread the gospel throughout the world. Before he leaves, Jesus takes all his disciples up the holy mountain where two men are standing. These two beings had a light coming from them so bright it made the sun’s light pale in comparison. The appearances of them had a rose like color to them. Each of them had a crown of nard woven from flowers upon their heads. Their hair was like rainbows. Jesus tells his disciples that two beings are Moses and Elijah. The disciples ask of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the other righteous fathers. Jesus shows them a garden full of fair trees and blessed fruits, all of which had a pleasant fragrance that filled the air. Chapters 15 & 16 are descriptions of heaven. Kind of odd that hell gets numerous chapters but heaven only two?

The text ends with a voice from above saying “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased: he has kept my commandments.” Jesus, Moses and Elijah all ascend into heaven. The disciples watched as the three rose through the air and entered. The clouds of heaven closed and the disciples went down the mountain while glorifying God.

Now I want to compare the Greek fragment to the Ethiopian version. In the Greek manuscript that survives, it starts with the introduction of the two heavenly beings as well as a small glimpse into heaven. However it does NOT mention that the two beings are Moses and Elijah. After the showing of heaven, Jesus directs Peter to where the damned are, thus the tour of hell starts. The manuscript ends before all the hellish torments are explored. This fragment was found in a burial tomb of an 8th/9th century monk in Akhmim, Egypt. Many scholars believe this is an edited version of the text and that the Ethiopian version would be more close to the original in its structure. I agree with this statement.

The Revelation to John would win out for inclusion into the New Testament (though itself was almost not included, a story for another time) and the AoP was left out. As I mentioned during the review, that sentence about repentance during judgment would have thrown a major kink into the theology that was being set forth during the formation of an official church. I guess they could have easily edited out that line if need be. The AoP would survive well into medieval times in Europe before copies disappeared (i.e. were just not being copied anymore and not some conspiracy to “silence it”). Thankfully the Ethiopian tradition kept copying the text and we now have it for all to read.

Wiki article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse_of_Peter

Featured artwork is Midjourney AI created and is based on the description of Moses and Elijah.

-bP

Greater Questions of Mary

Once again, I invoke the writings of Epiphanius (the Panarion) of the Borborites. The lost text I am writing about today is the “Greater Questions of Mary”. A few lines are quoted by Epiphanius but most of it is his commentary. I will warn you, the content can get pretty explicit.

Epiphanius gives a few lines to this lost text. I will follow along with how he describes it since this is the only source that is known to exist. He states that the GQM involves Jesus taking Mary (I presume Mary Magdalene, but it does not specifically say; I sure hope it’s not his mother! lol) up a mountain to pray. While there, Jesus produces a woman from his side, whom he then haves sex with and eventually this woman partakes of his “emission”. This act is in reference to the quote “Thus we must do, that we may live.” This act causes Mary to fall to the ground. Jesus helps her up and says “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” Epiphanius states that the text is in reference to John 3:12 (I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?) and John 6:62 (Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!), but I’m going to go a step further and include John 6:61 (Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?). Epiphanius also relates this text to the John 6:53 saying (Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you). This scene being described is obviously an allegory for the Eucharist. With not much else to go on, it is really hard to tell what this scene is trying to portray. If we take it as Epiphanius describes, in a literal context, then yes, I can see it being a perverse allegory of the Eucharist. Mary falling down after witnessing the sex act, it is stated that the Borborites believed this to be the same as when the disciples of Christ found his teaching of the Eucharist to be a “hard teaching” (John 6:60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”). Mary can’t believe this teaching just as the disciples could not believe the teaching.

The next paragraph in the Panarion will refer to Psalms 1:3 (He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers) and Proverbs 5:15 (Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well). It is stated that the Psalms 1:3 refers to a man’s “dirt (emission)” and that the outpouring from it’s fruit is an allegory for climaxing. The leaf not withering is in reference to another consuming this emission, hence not wasting it. Epiphanius provides no quotation from the GQM for this explanation. The proverbs mention is in reference to a section of the GQM that Epiphanius does not quote either, as he does not want to bring any more harm to the reader, but he states: “When it says that Rahab put a scarlet thread in her window, this was not scarlet thread, they tell us, but the female organs. And the scarlet thread means the menstrual blood, and ‘Drink water from your cisterns’ refers to the same.”

In the final paragraph, I am not sure if this is in reference to the GQM or if it’s just a belief of the Borborites. Regardless, I am going to include it here as it is quite an interesting read. It is stated that the flesh must perish and cannot be raised as it belongs to the archon. However, the power of the soul is within everything, be it man, animal, plant, insect, bread, etc…. so we are doing a favor by eating any and all of this, as it will then elevate the soul of that entity to the heavens with us. A form of mercy is shown by doing this. This sort of reminds me of saying 7 from the Gospel of Thomas (Jesus says: “Blessed is the lion which a man eats so that the lion becomes a man. But cursed is the man whom a lion eats so that the man becomes a lion!”). Epiphanius being in line with orthodox tradition would believe in the resurrection of the flesh, so I can see how he would be at odds with the statement, but if one was in the Gnostic tradition and did not believe in that concept, this “gathering of souls” to ascend with you into the heavens makes sense. I like it!

While this fragment of the GQM may be shocking upon first reading it, looking at it through a different interpretation, it makes sense whether you believe in their line of thinking. Personally I wouldn’t get so graphic with my interpretation and allegorical use, but I understand what the group was trying to convey.

Read the Panarion section on the GQM: https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/questionsmary.html

Artwork is Midjourney AI created.

bP

The Gospel of Eve

Once again I dip back into the Panarion by Epiphanius, this time referencing the lost text, “The Gospel of Eve.” This Gnostic (Borborite) text survives in two quotations. Keep this in mind when reading the following because there is no context behind what is being said, either from within the gospel itself or the purpose of Epiphanius’ slandering (he goes on and on ranting about the group, lol). For this first quotation, I changed the wording slightly to make for an easier modern English reading.

I stood upon a high mountain and saw a tall man, and another of short stature, and heard as it were a sound of thunder and went nearer in order to hear. Then he spoke to me and said: I am you and you are I, and where you are, there am I, and I am sown in all things; and where you wilt, you gathered me, but when you gathered me, then gathered yourself.

Now with no context in mind, nor do we know who is saying this (is it Eve? another character?), what can we take from this fragment? I see this as some sort of vision where the higher power is revealing itself to be a part of everything. We have in all of us sparks of divinity from the true “God”, thus in all of us and everything, there in lies the divine source. This phrase also reminds me of the Gospel of Thomas saying 77:

Jesus said, “I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.”

There is a second fragment that exists and Epiphanius claims it is in reference to the group’s ritual partaking of ingesting menstrual blood. Now the evidence of such claims can not be verified, so I can’t really comment one way or another on the claim. That being said, here is the fragment:

I saw a tree bearing twelve manner of fruits every year, and he said unto me, This is the tree of life.

So if we take Epiphanius at his words, this tree would be represented by a female and the twelve manner of fruits would be the monthly menstrual cycle. He claims that the group see menstrual blood to be the blood of Christ. He goes on a rant about the group speaking of how they have sex for enjoyment, not for procreation, and if by some chance any of the women get pregnant, an abortion is performed. The fetus is then mixed with honey, pepper, and other spices. Finally, all the members perform an act of cannibalism and eat this “dish”. This is apparently to mock the archon of lust. As I mentioned before, these claims can’t be verified and perhaps Epiphanius is projecting some sort of deep emotions within himself, lol. Then again, he could be right. This act would definitely be a mockery towards the archon of lust.

This is all that survives of this text unless it somehow emerges from the sands of Egypt (fingers crossed!). I will be revising Epiphanius and his rants against the Borborites in future posts. Stay tuned!!

Artwork is midjourney created, based on the first fragment.

-bP