Adhortatio salvatoris
Standard abbreviation: Disc. Sav.
Other titles: Discourse Upon the Cross, the Stauros-Text
Clavis numbers: ECCA 586
Category: Pseudo-Apostolic Memoirs
Related literature: Dance of the Savior, Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon
Compiled by: Paul Dilley, University of Iowa ([email protected])
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Dilley, Paul. “Discourse of the Savior.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/discourse-of-the-savior/.
Posted October 2016.
1. SUMMARY
Disc. Sav. is a post-resurrection dialogue between Jesus and the apostles set four days before his ascension. Peter begins the dialogue by asking Jesus about the “mystery of the cross.” Jesus responds that he will bring the cross with him upon his return to judge the living and the dead. This is to “reveal the shame” of the “law-breaking Jews” who crucified him. The cross will stand beside him in the valley of Josaphat and all those who have performed acts of piety (e.g., feeding the hungry, and notably, writing books in praise of the cross) will stand under its shadow. After Jesus has judged everyone, the righteous will follow the cross as it rises into the heavens. Jesus then tells the apostles to proclaim the cross to the whole world.
Named historical figures and characters: “Holy Members” (the Apostles), Jesus Christ, Peter (apostle).
Geographical locations: Mount of Olives, Valley of Jehoshaphat/Josaphat.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Coptic
Qasr el-Wizz Codex (Aswan, Nubian Museum, Special Number 168; formerly Cairo, Coptic Museum inv. 6566; ca. 1000)
Emmel, Stephen. “Preliminary Reedition and Translation of the Gospel of the Savior: New Light on the Strasbourg Coptic Gospel and the Stauros-Text from Nubia.” Apocrypha 14 (2003): 9–53 (text of a portion of the manuscript, p. 52).
Hubai, Péter. Koptische Apokryphen aus Nubien. Der Qasr el-Wizz Kodex. TUGAL 163; Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2009. Translation by Angelika Balog of A Megváltó a keresztról: Kopt apokrifek Núbiából (A Kasr El-Wizz kódex). Cahiers Patristiques, Textes Coptes. Budapest: Szent István Társulat, 2006 (editio princeps of the Qasr el-Wizz texts).
Tsakos, Alexandros, Christian Bull, Lloyd Abercrombie, and Einar Thomassen. “Miscellanea Epigraphica Nubica IV: A New Edition of the Wizz Codex with an English Translation.” Collectanea Christiana Orientalia 10 (2013): 193–209.
3.1.2 Old Nubian
Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin–Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Orientabteilung, Ms. orient. quart. 1020, pp. 1–18 (10th cent.)
Browne, Gerald M. “Griffith’s Stauros Text.” Studia Papyrologica 22 (1983): 75–119. (A re-edition of the Old Nubian version with English translation).
Emmel, Stephen. “Preliminary Reedition and Translation of the Gospel of the Savior: New Light on the Strasbourg Coptic Gospel and the Stauros-Text from Nubia.” Apocrypha 14 (2003): 9–53 (translation of the end of the text, pp. 44–46).
(editio princeps of the Old Nubian version, pp. 41–53).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Browne, Gerald M. “Griffith’s Stauros Text.” Studia Papyrologica 22 (1983): 75–119. (A re-edition of the Old Nubian version with English translation).
Dilley, Paul C. “The Discourse of the Savior and the Dance of the Savior.” Pages 184–96 in vol. 1 of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Edited by Tony Burke and Brent Landau. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016.
Ehrman, Bart D. and Zlatko Pleše. The Other Gospels: Accounts of Jesus from Outside the New Testament. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014 (pp. 226–30).
Hughes, George R. “A Coptic Liturgical Book from Qasr el-Wizz in Nubia.” Pages 10–13 in Oriental Institute Report 1965/1966. Chicago: Oriental Institute, 1966.
3.2.2 German
Nagel, Peter. “Ein Stauros-Text aus Qasr el-Wizz in koptsicher und altnubischer Parallelversion.“ Pages 217–86 in Florilegium Aegyptiacum. Eine wissenschaftliche Blütenlese von Schülern und Freunden für Helmut Satzinger zum 75. Geburtstag am 21. Jänner 2013. Edited by Julia Budka, Roman Gundacker, and Gabriele Pieke. Göttinger Miszellen, Beihefte 14. Göttingen: Seminar für Ägyptologie und Koptologie, 2013.
3.3 General Works
Emmel, Stephen. “Preliminary Reedition and Translation of the Gospel of the Savior: New Light on the Strasbourg Coptic Gospel and the Stauros-Text from Nubia.” Apocrypha 14 (2003): 9–53.
Scanlon, George T. “Excavations at Kasr el-Wizz: A Preliminary Report. II.” JEA 58 (1972): 7–42 (esp. 18).
Suciu, Alin. The Berlin-Strausbourg Apocryphon: A Coptic Apostolic Memoir. WUNT 370. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017 (pp. 42–47).