I’m going back to the tollhouse subject with this post and I want to go to the Church side (rather than Gnostic) to see what is stated there. There are numerous writings on tollhouses and just so you know, tollhouses are widely debated within the Orthodox community with some writings regarding them still appearing from …
Category Archives: coptic
Toll Houses in the (Coptic) Apocalypse of Paul
Over the past few months, I’ve been gathering sources on Toll Houses. This is an Orthodox concept regarding souls after they leave the body and their ascent into heaven. Now let it be said, this is not a mainstream belief in modern Orthodoxy. There is much debate in it, but the concept does exist, and …
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The Prayer of Mary at Bartos
If you like the North African magic that appeared in the “Book of Mary’s Repose” and the “Lefāfa Ṣedeḳ“, you’re going to love this. I recently obtained an English translation of the text known as “The Prayer of Mary At Bartos.” The booklet I received is just the text with no commentary or history, thus …
An Encomium on St John the Baptist
Another full Coptic tale for you with this post! This particular text is titled “An Encomium on Saint John the Baptist, by Saint John Chrysostom.” Now was this actually written by John Chrysostom? I have read online that it’s more likely a “pseudo-” attribution. I will leave that up to you, the reader, to decide …
Mary Magdalene in the Psalms of the Lord Heracleides
Earlier this year I presented a Manichaean Psalm that mentioned Salome. Now I will present you a Psalm involving Mary Magdalene. This Psalm comes from the collection titled “Psalms of the Lord Hercleides”. These are dated back to around the mid 4th century. I am pulling this translation from the 1938 book “A Manichaean Psalm …
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The Mysteries of Saint John the Apostle and Holy Virgin
This particular Coptic tale is quite interesting. It is an ascension text, but then dives into a question and answer narrative. John the Theologian/Evangelist is taken up into the heavens by Jesus. There, John is handed over to a Cherubim, whom he questions rigorously. There are some interesting dialogue that is presented here. I find …
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The Repose of Saint John the Evangelist and Apostle
I guess I have Saint John on my mind as I have yet another post on him (and a few more in queue!). My last post was an Ethiopic version of the death of John, this time I have a Coptic tale of this event to share. The manuscript of this story dates to about …
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Discourse on the Arch-Angel Gabriel
In the past month I brought you Coptic tales of Michael and Raphael, now here is one on Gabriel! This particular text is LONG! This text comes to us from via Miscellaneous Coptic texts in the dialect of Upper Egypt by E. A. Wallis Budge. This text is complete except it’s ending. Like the other texts, …
Comparing translations of Thomas sayings
I mentioned in previous blog posts on how important it is to check out various translations of texts. Sometimes it is not possible but when there are multiple translations you should definitely do so! Unless you can read the source manuscript (Coptic, Greek, etc…), you are forced to go by modern (or somewhat modern, i.e. …
Encomium on the Arch-Angel Raphael
I have another tale for you from the Coptic tradition this time of the Arch-Angel Raphael and his interaction with Saint John Chrysostom. This comes from the Miscellaneous Coptic texts in the dialect of Upper Egypt by E. A. Wallis Budge. I am presenting this text in full. I have modernized some words and there are sections that …
Culmination of Wisdom 