Mysteria Iohannis
Standard abbreviation: Myst. John
Other titles: Mysteries of Saint John and the Holy Virgin
Clavis numbers: ECCA 232; CANT 333
Category: Revelatory Dialogues, Pseudo-Apostolic Memoirs
Related literature: Investiture of the Archangel Michael, Life of Adam and Eve, Investiture of Abbaton, Investiture of the Archangel Gabriel.
Compiled by Lloyd Abercrombie, University of Oslo
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Abercrombie, Lloyd. “Mysteries of John.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/mysteries-of-john/.
Created April 2019. Current as of March 2024.
1. SUMMARY
The Mysteries of John is a revelation dialogue in which John “the beloved disciple” features prominently. It is preserved in its entirety in a single Sahidic Coptic manuscript that dates from the beginning of the eleventh century. There is also a Bohairic fragment of a small portion of the text. There are, to date, no known references to the text, but interesting parallels exist with Jewish and Islamic works. The story begins on the Mount of Olives after Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus summons his apostles and they are brought to him on a cloud. The apostle John asks Jesus to reveal everything to him. In response, Jesus gathers the apostles in prayer and the heavens open. A cherub appears to them and Jesus commands the cherub to take John to heaven. Up until this point, the narrative is in the third-person, but from here to the end of the text it is told in the first-person from the perspective of John himself.
Jesus and the disciples having been left behind, John and the cherub (always called “cherubim” in the manuscript) begin their tour, not only of heaven but also of the Garden of Eden. John poses a total of thirty-six questions to the cherub, to which he receives answers. John’s questions are mostly focused on the natural world and the beginning of Genesis, but they also include queries about the Archangel Michael’s role in governing the world, Hezekiah’s healing, divine providence, predestination and free-will, and the difference between animals and humans. Concerning the natural world, John inquires about the beginnings of agriculture, the watering of fields, the cause of famine, and the arrangement of the stars. Among the questions concerning Genesis, several involve perceived conundrums in the story of the Fall: why did God allow Satan to tempt Adam? Why was Adam culpable if God allowed the devil to trick him? And does God determine who will be good and who will be evil?
In the course of their discussion, the cherub unambiguously and repeatedly reassures John that God is good and cares for humanity, refering to the Father as “the Father of Mercy” and to Christ as “the Son of Goodness.” The cherub also tells John that God rewards people who obey his will and perform good deeds. Yet when the Father himself appears in the text, he is portrayed as somewhat unsympathetic to human failing. There are several references to God’s anger and to the “Angel of Wrath.” Yet again, this is countered by the cherub’s insistence on God’s patience and the power of the Archangel Michael’s intercessions. The story ends after John returns to the Mount of Olives and the apostles go out into the world.
Named historical figures and characters: Adam (patriarch), devil, Eve (matriarch), Hezekiah, Jesus Christ, John (son of Zebedee), Michael (angel), Noah (patriarch), Solomon (king).
Geographical locations: Eden, Euillat (Havilah), Euphrates River, Geon River, Jordan River, Mount of Olives, Phison River, Tigris River.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Coptic (CPC 0041; PAThs entry)
3.1.1.1 Bohairic
Cairo, Coptic Museum, inv. no. 47 (10th/11th cent.) (PAThs entry)
Evelyn White, Hugh G. The Monasteries of the Wadi ‘n Natrûn. Part 1: New Coptic Texts from the Monastery of Saint Macarius. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1926 (edition of Cairo, inv. no. 47 with English translation, p. 51).
3.1.1.2 Sahidic
London, British Library, Or. 7026 (dated 1005) (=MERC.AQ; PAThs entry)
Budge, E. A. Wallis. Coptic Apocrypha in the Dialect of Upper Egypt. London, 1913 (Sahidic text, pp. 59–74, translation, pp. 241–57).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Alcock, Anthony. “The Mysteries of John.” Published online 16 September 2013. https://suciualin.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/the-mysteries-of-john-the-apostle.pdf (English translation of Budge’s edition).
Court, John M. The Book of Revelation and the Johannine Apocalyptic Tradition. JSNT Sup. 190. Sheffield Press, 2000 (reprint of Budge’s English translation, pp. 132–63).
Lundhaug, Hugo and Lloyd Abercrombie. “Mysteries of John.” Pages 481–98 in vol. 2 of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Edited by Tony Burke. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2020 (English translation based on fresh, autoptic look at manuscript and review of all available sources).
3.2.2 German
Tripaldi, Daniele. “Die Mysterien des Johannes.” In vol. 3 of Antike christliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung. Edited by Christoph Markschies and Jens Schröter. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, forthcoming (German translation based on fresh look at all available sources).
3.2.2 Italian
Erbetta, Mario, ed. and trans. Gli apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. in 4. Turin: Marietti, 1966–1981. (Italian translation of BL Or. 7026, vol. 3: 417–24).
3.2.3 Russian
Smagina, Eugenia Borisovna. “Misterii Ioanna, Apostola I Svi͡atogo Devstvennika.” St. Tikhon’s University Review, Ser. III: Philology 5/45 (2015): 97–110. (Russian translation of BL Or. 7026, with short introduction and explanatory notes.)
3.3 General Works
Burmester, O. H. E. “Egyptian Mythology in the Coptic Apocrypha.” Or 7 (1938): 355–67.
Kalchenko, Evgenia S. “‘Mysteries of John, the Apostle and Holy Virgin’: Reflection of Ancient Traditions in the Coptic Narrative.” Vestnik drevney istorii (Journal of Ancient History) 81.4 (2021): 914–21.
Orlandi, Tito. “Gli Apocrifi copti.” Augustinianum 23 (1983): 57–71.
Suciu, Alin. The Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon: A Coptic Apostolic Memoir. WUNT 370. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017 (p. 99).
Tripaldi, Daniele. “Apostles, Long Dead ‘Heretics,’ and Monks: Noncanonical Traditions on Angels and Protoplasts in Two Late Antique Coptic Apocalypses (7th-8th Century CE).” Pages 179–205 in Apocryphal and Esoteric Sources in the Development of Christianity and Judaism: The Eastern Mediterranean, the Near East and Beyond. Texts and Studies in Eastern Christianity 21. Edited by Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev. Leiden: Brill, 2021.
__________. “Edfu and the Oriens: On Re-discovering Ancient Egyptian Lore in Two Coptic Apocalypses.” ZAC 20.1 (2016): 127–46.