News

100 Entries in e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha

E-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha, NASSCAL’s comprehensive bibliography of Christian Apocrypha research, was created in 2015—the first entry, for the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, is dated October 27. As of today, the clavis contains entries for 100 texts.  There are still many more to do—Maurice Geerard’s Clavis apocryphorum Novi Testamenti lists 346 texts, and that was in 1992. But work on the clavis will never truly end, with new bibliographical entries, manuscript images, and other resources to be added over time. The Manuscripta apocryphorum pages, which contain full descriptions and links to images, now number 196, and these too will continue to grow as new manuscripts become digitized every day. A project of this scope cannot be done by one person alone; the editors would like to thank the following contributors for their work:

Election of new NASSCAL Board of Directors

The General Meeting of NASSCAL will take place at the upcoming Material of Christian Apocrypha conference in Charlottesville, Nov. 30-Dec. 1 (details HERE). The Meeting will be our opportunity to elect a new Board of Directors, including a new Vice-President, Communications Officer, Student Board Member and seven members-at-large. Janet Spittler will become President and Tony Burke will become Immediate Past President.

The Nominations Committee, comprised of Vice-President Janet Spittler, Board Member Stanley Jones, and Student Member Bradley Rice, has assembled the following list of nominees for the remaining positions:

Brandon Hawk (Vice President and President-Elect)
Eric Vanden Eykel (Communications Officer)
Jonathan Henry (Student Member)

Members-at-large:

Slavomír Čéplö
Cornelia Horn
Stanley Jones
Stephen Pelle
Julia Snyder
Lily Vuong
Lorne Zelyck

The NASSCAL by-laws allow also for self-nominations from the membership. The Nominations Committee must be notified of self-nominations by midnight of Nov. 15.

In the event that no additional nominations are received, the Board will be acclaimed. If voting is required, ballots will be sent to NASSCAL members. These will be presented at the general meeting where the formal election will take place.

Please address any inquiries to the Nominations Committee via Janet Spittler ([email protected]).

NASSCAL Member Publication: Brent Landau on P. Oxy. 210

Brent C. Landau. “A Re-transcription and Analysis of a Possible Apocryphal Gospel Fragment, Papyrus Oxyrhynchus II 210, Utilizing a Digital Microscope.” Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 94/3 (2018): 427–80.

Abstract: Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 210 preserves a single folio of what is apparently an unknown apocryphal gospel. The recto contains references to an angel that previous editors have regarded as being part of an infancy narrative; the verso contains several sayings by Jesus. Because P.Oxy. 210 is highly fragmentary, the three most important previous editions have disagreed markedly about its transcription and reconstruction. This article presents a paleographical analysis and redating of this manuscript and an overview and evaluation of previous scholarship. It then utilizes a digital microscope to provide the most accurate transcription of this fragment thus far, and includes a detailed “transcriptional commentary” explaining the process by which the present editor arrived at this transcription. It concludes by assessing how much can be said with confidence about the contents of this fragment.

 

Christian Apocrypha at the 2018 SBL Annual Meeting

The 2018 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature is fast approaching (Nov. 17–20). To help prepare for the event, we have compiled all of the presentations focusing on Christian Apocrypha. As usual, NASSCAL is well-represented.

Christian Apocrypha Section sessions:

S17-116 Christian Apocrypha (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Theme: New and Neglected Christian Apocryphal Texts
Tobias Nicklas, Universität Regensburg, Presiding
Chance Bonar, Harvard University: “An Introduction to 3 Apocryphal Apocalypse of John”
Florentina Badalanova Geller, Freie Universität Berlin: “Apocryphal Gospels and the Folk Bible”
Tony Burke, York University: “Opera Evangelica: The Discovery of a Lost Collection of Christian Apocrypha”
Bradley Rice, McGill University: “The Suspension of Time in the Book of the Nativity of the Savior”
James E. Walters, Rochester College: “The (Syriac) Exhortation of Peter: A New Addition to the Petrine Apocryphal Tradition”
Business Meeting

S17-309 Christian Apocrypha (4:00 PM to 6:30 PM)
Theme: Connecting Gospels
Sandra Huebenthal, University of Passau, Presiding
Tobias Nicklas, Universität Regensburg: “Water into Beer! Transformations of Biblical Miracles in Late Antique and Early Medieval Traditions”
Janet Spittler, University of Virginia: “The Minor Acts of Thomas and John 20:24–29”
Francis Watson, University of Durham: “‘Inasmuch as Many Have Attempted…’: The Apocryphon of James and the Problem of Gospel Plurality”
J.R.C. (Rob) Cousland, University of British Columbia: “Rereading the Christology of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas: The Rewriting of Luke 2:41-52 in Paidika 17”
Julia Snyder, Universität Regensburg, Respondent

S19-138 Joint Session: Religious Competition in Late Antiquity; Christian Apocrypha (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Theme: Religious Competition in the Christian Apocrypha
Arthur Urbano, Providence College (Rhode Island), Presiding
Jacob A. Lollar, Florida State University: “What Has Ephesus to Do with Edessa?: The Syriac History of John, the Cult of the Dea Syria, and Religious Competition in Fourth-Century Syria “
Jung Choi, North Carolina Wesleyan College: “Two Bodily Practices in the Acts of Peter”
Shaily Shashikant Patel, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University: “Magic and Polysemy: The Case of the Pseudo-Clementines”
Christopher A. Frilingos, Michigan State University: “Blood into Stone: Violence, Sanctuary, and ‘Jewish Christianity’ in the Protevangelium Jacobi“
Lily Vuong, Central Washington University, Respondent

S19-308 Christian Apocrypha (4:00 PM to 6:30 PM)
Theme: Sex and Violence in the Christian Apocrypha
Janet Spittler, University of Virginia, Presiding
Catherine Playoust, University of Divinity: “‘And Still He Won’t Leave Me Alone’ (Acts Thom. 43.11): A Toxic Masculine Demon in the Acts of Thomas”
Michael Whitenton, Baylor University: “Subversive (E)masculation: A Medical Perspective on Paul’s Baldness in Acts of Thecla”
Andrew R. Guffey, McCormick Theological Seminary: “Toxic Femininity? Enkrateia and Gender in Christian Apocryphal Literature”
Jennifer Hunter, Northern Arizona University: “Perfection and the Ritual Reunification of Male and Female in the Gospel of Philip”
Eric Vanden Eykel, Ferrum College: “Faithfulness or a Flamethrower? The Judgment and Redemption of Salome in the Protevangelium of James”

Additional Christian apocrypha papers in Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism Section sessions:

S19-231 Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism (1:00 PM to 3:30 PM)
Theme: Recent Research in Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism
Nicola Lewis, Claremont Graduate University, Presiding
Eric Crégheur, Université d’Ottawa – University of Ottawa: “Toll Collectors and Gate Guardians: A Typical Gnostic Motif?“
Eunice Villaneda, Claremont School of Theology: “Trading Gender for Redemption: A Look into the Suppression of the Valentinian Feminist”
Michael Beshay, Ohio State University: “The Gnostic Roots of Marian Devotion in Late Antiquity”

Of interest also is a session on canon formation:

S19-112a Development of Early Christian Theology (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Theme: Canonical Texts Across the Ancient Mediterranean World, Year 1: What is a Canon and How is it Formed?
Matthew Crawford, Presiding
Fritz Graf, The Ohio State University: “Canonical Texts in Greek Religion: From Orpheus to Homer”
Hindy Najman, University of Oxford: “Between Canons and Margins: Rethinking Pseudepigraphy and Biblical Composition”
Jens Schroeter, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin – Humboldt University of Berlin: “The Canon of the New Testament: Some Observations concerning Its Origin and Meaning”
Lewis Ayres, Durham University & Australian Catholic University: “Inevitability, Literary Critical Practices, and the Development of the Canon”

And there are a variety of additional papers on apocryphal texts in other sessions:

S17-107 Academic Teaching and Biblical Studies (9:00 AM to 11:00 AM)
Theme: Ten-Minute Teaching Tips for Teaching Biblical Studies
Brent Landau, University of Texas at Austin: “Telling the Difference between Canonical and Apocryphal Sayings of Jesus: It’s Harder than You Think”

S17-147 Speech and Talk in the Ancient Mediterranean World; Ancient Fiction and Early Christian and Jewish Narrative (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Patricia Duncan, Texas Christian University: “Speech, Characterization, and Intertextuality in the Pseudo-Clementine Novel”

S17-214 Construction of Christian Identities (1:00 PM to 3:30 PM)
Julia Kelto Lillis, University of Virginia: “Virgin Categories in the Protevangelium of James and Histories of Sexuality in Antiquity”

S18-118 Corpus Hellenisticum Novi Testamenti (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Outi Lehtipuu, University of Helsinki: “Hello from the Other Side: Women and Resurrection in Apocryphal Acts”
Laura Carnevale, University of Aldo Moro: “Women’s Authority in the First Century: The Daughters of Philip, the Daughters of Job, and the Therapeutae”

S18-124 Ethiopic Bible and Literature (9:00 AM to 12:00 PM)
Fanos W. Tsegaye, University of St. Andrews: “Testament of the Lord: Its Countenance in the Ethiopic Eucharistic Prayers”
Meron Gebreananaye, University of Durham: “The Reception of Non-Canonical Gospels in Ethiopic Tradition: A Brief Look at ?the Tam?ra Iyesus”

S18-134 Jewish Christianity / Christian Judaism (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Antti Vanhoja, University of Helsinki: “Bearer of Heresies: Simon Magus in the Pseudo-Clementine Basic Writing from the Perspective of Identity Construction”
Warren C. Campbell, University of Notre Dame: “From Jewish-Christian Counter-History to Ecclesial Normativity: The Epistula Clementis in the Archival History of the Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions”

S19-132 New Testament Textual Criticism (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Ian N. Mills, Duke University: “‘Unripe Figs’: Isho’dad’s Diatessaron and the Original Language of Tatian’s Gospel”

S19-107 Book History and Biblical Literatures (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Julian V. Hills, Marquette University: “The Apocryphal New Testament as ‘Bound-With’ Volume: Collection, Dissemination, Interpretation”
Olivia Stewart Lester, Oxford University: “Prophecy, Pseudepigraphy, and Collection: The Making of the Sibylline Oracles”

S19-111 Children in the Biblical World; Psychology and Biblical Studies (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Michael Whitenton, Baylor University: “Humor in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas”

S19-206 Bible and Visual Art; Exile (Forced Migrations) in Biblical Literature (1:00 PM to 3:30 PM)
Ian Boxall, The Catholic University of America: “Visualizing the Flight into Egypt”

S19-220 Healthcare and Disability in the Ancient World (1:00 PM to 3:30 PM)
Pieter Botha, University of South Africa: “Disabling Romanticism: The Body in New Testament Apocrypha”

S20-102 Ancient Fiction and Early Christian and Jewish Narrative (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Timothy P. Hein, University of Edinburgh: “Birth Pains: What Can (Re)Producing Jesus’ Birth Narrative (Re)Produce?”

S20-112 Early Jewish Christian Relations (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Jennifer R Hunter, Northern Arizona University: “From Hebrews to Christians: Religious Identity and Competition within the Gospel of Philip”

S20-135 Slavery, Resistance, and Freedom (9:00 AM to 11:30 AM)
Joseph E. Brito, Concordia University – Université Concordia: “Appropriating the Title of ‘Servant of God’ in the Second Century CE: Slavery and Identity in the Acts of Paul and Thecla”

NASSCAL Member Publication: Rick Brannan’s Acts of Pilate Greek Reader

Rick Brannan. The Acts of Pilate & the Descent of Christ to Hades: A Greek Reader. Appian Way Greek Readers. Bellingham, WA: Appian Way Press, 2018.

The Acts of Pilate (Acta Pilati) and the Descent of Christ to Hades (Dec. Hades) are Christian Apocrypha. They are not canonical, but they do provide the traditional understanding of what happened at the trial of Jesus and what happened during his death and resurrection.

Because the Greek vocabulary of the Acts of Pilate and the Descent of Christ to Hades is similar to the Greek New Testament, it can provide the student of New Testament Greek reading experience outside of the New Testament with familiar vocabulary. Each word that occurs 20 times or less in the Greek New Testament is footnoted in this edition and given lexical information, part of speech information, and a contextual gloss.

This volume also includes:

The Greek text from Tischendorf
A lightly modernized edition of Alexander Walker’s translation from the Ante Nicene Fathers (ANF) volume 9
A Greek-English glossary of all footnoted words

Order the book from Amazon HERE.

NASSCAL Member Publication: Collected Essays by Annette Yoshiko Reed

Annette Yoshiko Reed. Jewish-Christianity and the History of Judaism. Collected Essays. TSAJ 171. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018.

Publisher’s abstract: “Jewish-Christianity” is a contested category in current research. But for precisely this reason, it may offer a powerful lens through which to rethink the history of Jewish/Christian relations. Traditionally, Jewish-Christianity has been studied as part of the origins and early diversity of Christianity. Collecting revised versions of previously published articles together with new materials, Annette Yoshiko Reed reconsiders Jewish-Christianity in the context of Late Antiquity and in conversation with Jewish studies. She brings further attention to understudied texts and traditions from Late Antiquity that do not fit neatly into present day notions of Christianity as distinct from Judaism. In the process, she uses these materials to probe the power and limits of our modern assumptions about religion and identity.

The publisher’s catalog page includes a preview with the table of contents and introductory material and the book is viewable on Google Books.

 

NASSCAL Member Publication: Ivan Miroshnikov’s The Gospel of Thomas and Plato

Ivan Miroshnikov. The Gospel of Thomas and Plato: A Study of the Impact of Platonism on the “Fifth Gospel.” Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 93. Leiden: Brill, 2018

Publisher’s abstract: In The Gospel of Thomas and Plato, Ivan Miroshnikov contributes to the study of the earliest Christian engagements with philosophy by offering the first systematic discussion of the impact of Platonism on the Gospel of Thomas, one of the most intriguing and cryptic works among the Nag Hammadi writings. Miroshnikov demonstrates that a Platonist lens is indispensable to the understanding of a number of the Thomasine sayings that have, for decades, remained elusive as exegetical cruces. The Gospel of Thomas is thus an important witness to the early stages of the process that eventually led to the Platonist formulation of certain Christian dogmata.

Visit the Brill site for table of contents and excerpts.

NASSCAL Member Publication: Brandon Hawk’s Preaching Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England

Brandon Hawk. Preaching Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018.

Preaching Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England is the first in-depth study of Christian apocrypha focusing specifically on the use of extra-biblical narratives in Old English sermons. The work contributes to our understanding of both the prevalence and importance of apocrypha in vernacular preaching, by assessing various preaching texts from Continental and Anglo-Saxon Latin homiliaries, as well as vernacular collections like the Vercelli Book, the Blickling Book, Ælfric’s Catholic Homilies and other manuscripts from the tenth through twelfth centuries.

Vernacular sermons were part of a media ecology that included Old English poetry, legal documents, liturgical materials, and visual arts. Situating Old English preaching within this network establishes the range of contexts, purposes, and uses of apocrypha for diverse groups in Anglo-Saxon society: cloistered religious, secular clergy, and laity, including both men and women. Apocryphal narratives did not merely survive on the margins of culture, but thrived at the heart of mainstream Anglo-Saxon Christianity.

Table of Contents and more at the University of Toronto Press site.

NASSCAL Member Publication: Janet Spittler’s “Animals in the Way” in Ancient Jew Review

NASSCAL Vice-President Janet Spittler contributed an article to Ancient Jew Review entitled “Animals in the Way,” which looks at depictions of animals in Christian apocrypha. Spittler has published previously on this topic, including her monograph Animals in the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: The Wild Kingdom of Early Christian Literature (WUNT II 247; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008). The article, which can be accessed HERE, begins with:

My first academic venture with animals was not driven by an interest in animals per se. Animals were, rather, standing in the way of my understanding the texts I like best: the early Christian narratives of the adventures of the apostles. Animals appear throughout these texts (bedbugs in the Acts of John, the dog in the Acts of Peter, lions in the Acts of Paul, etc.), sometimes literally standing in the apostle’s way—as does the colt of an ass in the Acts of Thomas act four, demanding that Thomas ride on his back. The apostle does not immediately agree. He has questions: “Who are you? To whom do you belong?”[i] When the colt identifies himself as a member of the family (genea) of both Balaam’s ass and the colt on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem, Thomas is still reluctant to climb on his back, but as the reader I at least have some sense of what the animal is doing here. I’ve read its relatives in similar roles.