Epistula Apostolorum
Standard abbreviation: Ep. Apos.
Other titles: Mäṣḥafä Kidan/The Book of the Testament; Testament of Our Lord in Galilee; Letter/Epistle of the Apostles (not to be confused with the Testamentum Domini Nostri Jesu Christi edited by Rahmani [1899] which is also known as the ‘Mäṣḥafä Kidan’, nor the Testament of Our Lord and Savior in Galilee; a short apocalypse that precedes Ep. Apos. in the manuscript tradition).
Clavis numbers: ECCA 265; CANT 22
VIAF: 176999841; 702145857121222922674
Category: Revelatory Dialogues; Epistles
Related literature: Infancy Gospel of Thomas
Compiled by Warren C. Campbell, University of Notre Dame ([email protected]).
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Campbell, Warren C. “The Epistle of the Apostles.” Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/epistle-of-the-apostles/.
Created January 2020. Current as of May 2023.
1. SUMMARY
The Epistle of the Apostles was swiftly introduced to the academic world after a flurry of (re)discoveries and publications at the turn of the twentieth century. A fragmentary Coptic (Akhmimic) codex of Ep. Apos. was found by Carl Schmidt in Cairo in 1895 (IFAO P. 416/LDAB 107969). This papyrus codex is dated to the fourth or fifth century CE. While there are a number of substantial lacunae (e.g. 1–7, 19, 31–38, 49–51), it is possible to determine the original length of the Coptic text because the pages are numbered. Shortly after Schmidt’s discovery, an additional witness was identified in a Latin palimpsest and published by Bick in 1908 (containing 12:1; 13:1–5; 17:2–5). A full text of Ep. Apos. came to light from a number of Ethiopic manuscripts, providing the basis for an editio princeps of the Ethiopic text published by Louis Guerrier and Sylvain Grébault in 1913. Finally, in 1919 Carl Schmidt and Isaak Wajnberg published a standard edition of the Coptic text, together with a German translation of the Ethiopic and Coptic versions in parallel columns.
Ep. Apos. is framed as an epistle-like text written by the eleven apostles containing revelatory material bestowed upon them by the resurrected Christ in order to counter the “false apostles” Simon and Cerinthus. The text has a rough two-part structure. The first section (3–18) features a summary of the life of Jesus based on episodes from the canonical Gospels along with the story of Jesus and the Teacher from Infancy Gospel of Thomas 6 and 14. In ch. 20 the dialogue format truly begins and is maintained until a final ascension scene in ch. 51. Questions that prompt cycles of dialogue include the form of the eschatological body, whether the soul and the flesh are judged together or separately, whether there will be a diversity of teachings distinct from the apostles, and whether gentiles partake equally in the inheritance. Since Ep. Apos. is only fully extant in Geʿez, it has undoubtedly received less attention than neighboring apocryphal gospels. Still, it quite possibly was written in the late second century (17), appears to contain early creedal material (3), certainly incorporates material from the Gospel of John, provides an expanded allegorical reading of Matthew’s parable of the bridesmaids (43–44), curiously preserves a number of Old Testament agrapha (11, 33), and includes an extended reflection on the origins and mission of the apostle Paul (31–33). In the Ethiopic tradition, Ep. Apos. was transmitted with a variety of texts, including the Book of the Rolls, Jubilees, a portion of the Pseudo-Clementines, and material by John Chrysostom.
Named Historical Figures and Characters: Abraham (patriarch), Adam (patriarch), Andrew (apostle), Archelaus, Bartholomew (apostle), Cerinthus, David (king), Gabriel (angel), Isaac (patriarch), Jacob (patriarch), James (son of Zebedee), Jesus Christ, John (son of Zebedee), Joseph (of Nazareth), Judas (son of James; the Zealot), Lazarus (of Bethany), Mary (Virgin), Mary Magdalene, Martha (of Bethany), Matthew (apostle), Michael (angel), Nathaniel, Paul (apostle), Peter (apostle), Philip (apostle), Pontius Pilate, Raphael (angel), Sarah (matriarch), Simon (Magus), Thomas (apostle), Uriel (angel).
Geographical Locations: Bethlehem, Cana, Cilicia, Damascus, Golgotha, Israel, Jerusalem, Syria, Zion.
2. RESOURCES
“Epistula Apostolorum.” Early Christian Writings: Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Administrator: Peter Kirby (features an English translation by M. R. James and a brief bibliography).
“Epistula Apostolorum.” Wikipedia.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Coptic (CPC 0034; PAThs entry)
Cairo, Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, P. 416 (=CMCL.BB), fols. 1–16 (4th/5th cent.) (PAThs; Papyri.info)
Schmidt, Carl (with Isaak Wajnberg). Gespräche Jesu mit seinen Jüngren nach der Auferstehung: Ein katholisch-apostolisches Sendschreiben des 2. Jahrhunderts. TU (III, 13). Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1919. Repr. Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1967 (re-edition in 1967 includes translation of the Ethiopic text by Wajnberg).
———. “Eine bisher unbekkante altchristliche Schift in koptisher Sprache.” SPAW (1895): 705– 11.
———. “Eine Epistola apostolorum in koptischer und lateinischer Überlieferung.” SPAW (1895): 1047–56.
3.1.2 Ethiopic
Listed according to the sigla in Hills (2009):
Family 1:
A Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Éthiopien d’Abbadie 51, fols. 113v–130v (15th/16th cent.)
B Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Éthiopien d’Abbadie 90, pp. 100–101 (16th cent.) ~ Gallica
C Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Éthiopien d’Abbadie 199, pp. 199–201 (17/18th cent.) ~ Gallica
K London, British Library, Or. 362/Wright no. 362, pp. 275–277 (18th cent.)
N Ambāssal (Wallo), Monastery of Hayq Estifānos, EMML 1945, fols. 38r–54r (18th cent.); ~ HMML; Macomber
O Genner Agar, Monastery of Dabra Bagge, EMML 2358 (16th cent.) ~ HMML; Macomber
T Tānāsee, Kebran Gabriel Monastery, 35, fols. 35r–46r (18th cent.)
Family 2:
L London, British Library, Or. 793/Wright no. 361, pp. 270–275 (18th cent.)
M Addis Ababa, Church of St. Gabriel, EMML 370 , fols. 119r–127v (19th/20th cent.) ~ HMML; Macomber
P EMML 6925 (Hills says 6925) (17/18th cent.) ~ HMML; uncataloged
Q EMML 7021 (19th cent.) ~ uncataloged
R EMML 7204 (18th cent.) ~ uncataloged
S Stuttgart, Landesbibliothek, Or. fol. 49 (15/16th cent.)
V Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cerulli et. 151, p. 108 (20th cent.)
Unassigned:
Tigray, Gunda Gunde Monastery, GG-072, fols. 27r–41r (15th cent.)
Guerrier, Louis, (with Sylvain Grébaut). “Le Testament en Galilée de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ.” PO 9 (1913): 177–232. Repr. Turnhout: Brepols, 1982 (editio princeps with French translation based on K with readings noted for A, B, C, and L).
3.1.3 Latin
Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. Palat. Vindobonensis 16 (olim Bobbiensis), fol. 67 (underwriting: 5th cent.)
Bick, Josef. “Wiener Palimpseste, I. Teil. Codex Palat. Vindobodensis 16, olim Bobbiensis.” Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, philosophisch-historische Klasse 159/7. Vienna: Hölder, 1908 (edition, pp. 90–99, pl. IV).
Baumstark, Anton. “Alte und neue Spuren eines außerkanonishcen Evangeliums (vielleicht des Ägypterevangeliums).” ZNW 14 (1913): 232–47.
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Anthony Alcock. “Epistula Apostolorum: English Translation of the Coptic Text.” Roger Pearse: Thoughts on Antiquity, Patristics, Information Access, and More. Online: https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/epistula-apostolorum_alcock_2012.pdf.
Cameron, Ron. ed. The Other Gospels: Non-Canonical Gospel Texts. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1982 (pp. 133–62).
Elliott, J. K. The Apocryphal New Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993 (pp. 555–88).
Hills, Julian W. The Epistle of the Apostles. Early Christian Apocrypha 2. Santa Rosa: Polebridge Press, 2009.
James, M. R. The Apocryphal New Testament. 1924. Repr., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1953 (pp. 485–503).
3.2.2 French
Amiot, François, trans. “La Lettre des Apôtres.” Pages 275–85 in La bible apocryphe: Évangiles apocryphes. Textes pour l’histoire sacrée. Paris: Fayard, 1954.
Pérès, Jacques-Noël, ed. and trans. L’Épître des Apôtres. Apocryphes: Collection de poche de l’AELAC 5. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1994.
———. “Épître des apôtres.” Pages 357–92 in vol. 1 of Écrits apocryphes chrétiens. Edited by François Bovon and Pierre Geoltrain. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade 442. Paris: Gallimard, 1997.
3.2.3 German
Duensing, Hugo, ed. and trans. Epistula Apostolorum nach dem Äthiopischen und Koptischen Texte herausgegeben. Bonn: Marcus & Weber, 1925.
———. “Epistula Apostolorum.” Pages 126–55 in Neutestamentliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung, Bd. 1: Evangelien und Verwandtes. 3rd ed. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher and Edgar Hennecke. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1959.
Müller, C. Detlef G. trans. “Epistula Apostolorum.” Pages 205–33 in Neutestamentliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung, Bd. 1: Evangelien und Verwandtes. Edited by W. Schneemelcher. 6th ed. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1990. English translation: “Epistula Apostolorum.” Pages 249–84 in New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 1, Gospels and Related Writings. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher. Translated by R. McL. Wilson. Rev. ed. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox, 1991.
———. “Die Epistula Apostolorum.” Pages 1062–92 in vol. 1 of Antike christliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung. 2 vols. AcA I/1–2. Edited by Christoph Markschies and Jens Schröter. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2012
3.2.4 Italian
Erbetta, Mario. Gli apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. Italy: Marietti, 1975–1981 (vol. 3, pp. 37–62).
Moraldi, Luigi. Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 2 vols. Classici delle religioni, Sezione quarta, La religione cattolica 24. Turin: Unione Tipografico-Editrice Torinese, 1971 (vol. 2, pp. 1669–1702).
3.3 General Works
Abraha, Tedros and Daniel Assefa. “Apocryphal Gospels in the Ethiopic Tradition.” Pages 639–43 in Jesus in apokryphen Evangelienüberlieferungen. Edited by Jörg Frey and Jens Schröter. WUNT 254. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010.
Amann, Émile. “La lettre des apôtres.” Pages 523–25 in vol. 1 of Dictionnaire de la Bible: Supplément. 10 vols. Edited by Louis Pirot and André Robert. Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1929.
Bardenhewer, Otto. “Eine ‘Epistola apostolorum’.” Pages 589–98 in Geschichte der altkirchlichen literatur. Bd. 1: Vom Ausgang des apostolischen Zeitalters bis zum Ende des zweiten Jahrhunderts. 2., umgearb. Aufl. 5 vols. Freiburgh im Breisgau: Herder, 1913–1932.
Bardy, G. “Rezension von C. Schmidt. (s. o.).” RB 50 (1921): 110–34.
Bauer, Johannes Baptist. Die neutestamentlichen Apokryphen. Die Welt der Bibel 21. Düsseldorf; Patmos, 1968 (pp. 87–88).
Baumstark, Anton. “Hippolytos und die außerkanonische Evangelienquelle des äthiopischen Galiläa-Testaments.” ZNW 15 (1914): 332–35.
Bockmuehl, Markus. Ancient Apocryphal Gospels. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2017 (pp. 215–20).
Choi, Michael J. “Cerinthus for Gnostic Survival According to Irenaeus and Epistula Apostolorum.” 한국교회사학회지 36 (2013): 11–46.
Cladder, H. J. “Zur neuen ‘Epistola Apostolorum’.” ThR 18 (1919): 452–53.
Daniélou, Jean. “Les traditions secrètes des apôtres.” Eranos-Jahrbuch 31 (1962): 199–215.
Delazer, Jakob. “De tempore compositionis Epistolae Apostolorum.” Anton (1929): 257–92, 387–430.
———. “Disquisitio in argumentum Epistolae apostolorum.” Anton 3 (1928): 369–406.
Ehrhardt, Arnold A. T. “Judaeo-Christians in Egypt, the Epistula Apostolorum, and the Gospel to the Hebrews.” Pages 360–82 in Studia Evangelica III: Papers Presented to the Second International Congress on New Testament Studies Held at Christ Church, Oxford, 1961. Edited by F. L. Cross. TU 88. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1964.
Eijk, A. H. C. van. “Only That Can Rise Which Has Previously Fallen.” JTS 22 (1972): 517–29.
Frank, I. “Epistula Apostolorum.” Pages 110–11 in Der Sinn der Kanonbildung: Eine historisch-theologische Untersuchung der Zeit vom 1. Clemensbrief bis Irenäus von Lyon. Freiburger theologische Studien 90. Freiburg: Herder, 1971.
Gantenbein, Florence. “‘Guides to Those Who Believe’ (EpAp 43:7): A Re-consideration of the Wise Virgins as Role Models of Ministry in the Epistula Apostolorum.” Early Christianity 13.2 (2022): 145–62.
Gerlach, Karl. The Antenicene Pascha: A Rhetorical History. Liturgia condenda 7. Leuven: Peeters, 1998 (pp. 95–103).
Gry, Léon. “La date de la parousie d’après l’Epistula Apostolorum.” RB 49 (1940): 86–97.
Guerrier, Louis. “Un ‘Testament de Notre-Seigneur et Sauveur Jésus-Christ’ en Galilée.” Revue de l’Orient Chrétien 12 (1907): 1–8.
Gunther, J. J. “Syrian Christian Dualism.” VC 25 (1971): 81–93 (esp. 82–83).
Hammerschmidt, Ernst. “Das pseudo-apostolische Schrifttum in äthiopischer Überlieferung.” JSJ 9 (1964): 114–21.
Hannah, Darrell D. “The Four-fold ‘Canon’ in the Epistula Apostolorum.” JTS 59 (2008): 598–633.
Harnack, Adolf von. “Ein jüngst entdeckter Auferstuhungsbericht.” Pages 1–8 in Theologische Studien: Festschrift B. Weiss. Göttingen: [n.p.], 1897.
Hartenstein, Judith. Die Zweite Lehre Erscheinungen des Auferstandenen als Rahmenerzählungen frühchristlicher Dialoge. TU 146. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2015 (pp. 97–126).
———. “Geschichten von der Erscheinung des Auferstandenen in nichtkanonischen Schriften und die Entwicklung der Ostertradition.” Pages 123–42 in Gelitten – Gestorben – Auferstanden: Passions- und Ostertraditionen im antiken Christentum. Edited by Tobias Nicklas, Andreas Merkt, and Joseph Verheyden. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010 (esp. pp. 129–32).
Hennecke, Edgar. “Ein neuer fund auf dem Gebiet der altchristlichen Literature.” NKZ 32 (1921): 244–57.
Hill, Charles. E. “The Epistula Apostolorum: An Asian Tract from the Time of Polycarp.” JECS 7 (1999): 1–53.
———. “‘The Orthodox Gospel’: The Reception of John in the Great Church Prior to Irenaeus.” Pages 233–300 in The Legacy of John: Second-Century Reception of the Fourth Gospel. Leiden: Brill, 2010.
Hills, Julian V. Tradition and Composition in the Epistula Apostolorum. Harvard Dissertations in Religion 24. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1990. Rev. ed., Harvard Theological Studies 57. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008.
———. “Proverbs as Sayings of Jesus in the Epistula Apostolorum.” Pages 7–34 in The Apocryphal Jesus and Christian Origins. Edited by R. Cameron. Decatur: Society of Biblical Literature Press, 1990 (= Semeia 49).
———. “The Epistula Apostolorum and the Genre ‘Apocalypse’.” SBLASP 25 (1986): 581–95.
———. “Apostles, Epistle of.” Pages 311–12 in vol. 1 of Anchor Bible Dictionary. Edited by David Noel Friedman. 6 vols. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Hornschuh, Manfred. Studien zur Epistula Apostolorum. PTS 5. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1965.
———. “Das Gleichnis von den zehn Jungfrauen in der Epistula Apostolorum.” ZKG 73 (1962): 1–8.
James, M. R. “Epistola Apostolorum: a Possible Quotation?” JTS 23 (1922): 56.
———. “The ‘Epistula Apostolorum’ in a New Text.” JTS 12 (1911): 55–56.
Kiel, Nikolai. “Auferstehung des Fleiches in der Epistula Apostolorum.” Vigiliae Christianae 74.2 (2020): 165–98.
Lake, Kirsopp. “The Epistola Apostolorum.” HTR 14 (1921): 15–29.
Lietzmann, H. “Die Epistula Apostolorum.” ZNW 20 (1921): 173–76.
Lindenlaub, Julia D. “The Gospel of John as Model for Literature Authors and their Texts in Epistula Apostolorum and Apocryphon of James (NHC I,2).” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 43 (2020): 3–27.
Lona, E. Horacio. Über die Auferstehung des Fleisches: Über die Auferstehung des Fleisches Studien zur frühchristlichen Eschatologie. BZNW 66. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1993 (pp 79–90).
McNeil, Brian. “Jesus and the Alphabet.” JTS 27 (1976): 126–28.
Molinari, Andrea Lorenzo. “The existence of a unique, non-canonical Petrine resurrection appearance: evidence from the Gospel of Luke, Ignatius of Antioch, the Epistula Apostolorum and Nag Hammadi.” Proceedings, Eastern Great Lakes and Midwest Biblical Societies 18 (1998): 123–36.
Norelli, Enrico. “La filiación en la Epistula Apostolorum.” Pages 207–34 in Filiación IV. Cultura pagana, religión de Israel, orígenes el cristianismo. Edited by P. de Navascués Benlloch, M. Crespo Losada, and A. Sáez Gutiérrez. Madrid: Editorial Trotta, 2012.
Overmeire, P. van. “Livre que Jésus révéle à ses disciples: Etude sur l’apocryphe connu sous le nom d’ ‘Epistula Apostolorum’.” Institut Catholique Dissertation. Paris, 1962.
Pérès, Jacques-Noël. “L‘interprétation de la parabole des dix vierges dans l’Épître des apôtres.” Pages 183–90 in Apocryphité. Histoire d’un concept transversal aux religions du Livre: En hommage à Pierre Geoltrain. Edited by Simon Mimouni. BEHE 113. Turnhout: Brepols, 2002.
———. “Un élément de christologie quartodécimane dans l’Épître des Apôtres: l’agape pascale comme occurrence de solidarité.” Apocrypha 13 (2002): 113–21.
Quasten, Johannes. Patrology. Vol. 1: The Beginnings of Patristic Literature. Utrecht: Spectrum, 1950 (pp. 150–53).
Richardson, Cyril Charles. “New Solution to the Quartodeciman Riddle.” JTS 24 (1973): 74–85.
Schmidt, Carl. “Eine bisher unbekkante altchristliche Schift in koptisher Sprache.” SPAW (1895): 705–11.
———. “Eine Epistola apostolorum in koptischer und lateinischer Überlieferung.” SPAW (1895): 1047–56.
Schneider, T. “Das prophetische ‘Agraphon’ der Epistola Apostolorum.” ZNW 24 (1925): 151–54.
Schumacher, H., “The Discovery of the ‘Epistola Apostolorum’.” Homiletical and Pastoral Review 22 (1921/1922): 856–65.
———. “The ‘Epistola Apostolorum’ and the New Testament.” Homiletical and Pastoral Review 22 (1921/1922): 967–75.
———. “The Christology of the ‘Epistola Apostolorum’.” Homiletical and Pastoral Review 22 (1921/1922): 1080–87, 1303–12.
———. “The ‘Epistola Apostolorum’ and the ‘Descensus ad Inferos’.” Homiletical and Pastoral Review 23 (1922/1923): 13–21, 121–28.
Staats, Reinhart. “Ogdoas als ein Symbol für die Auferstehung.” VC 26 (1972): 29–52.
———. “Die torichten Jungfrauen von Mt 25 in gnosticher und antignosticher Literatur.” Pages 98–115 in Christentum und Gnosis. Edited by W. Eltester. BZNW 37. Berlin: Verlag, 1969.
Stewart-Sykes, Alistair. “The Asian Context of the New Prophecy and of Epistula Apostolorum.” VC 51 (1997): 416–38.
Vanovermeire, Pedro. “Livre que Jésus-Christ a révélé à ses disciples: étude sur l’apocryphe, connu sous le nom d’Epistula Apostolorum: premier témoin de l’influence littéraire du quatrième Evangile sur la littérature chrétienne de la première moité du second siècle.” Dr. Théol. Diss., Institute catholique de Paris, 1962.
Veken, B. J. van der. “De Sensu Paschatis in Sácenlo Secundo et Epistula Apostolorum.” Sams Erudin 14 (1963): 5–33.
Vinzent, M. “Give and Take amongst Second Century Authors: The Ascension of Isaiah, the Epistle of the Apostles and Marcion of Sinope.” StPatr 50 (2011): 126–29.
Vitti, Alfredo M. “De ‘Epistula Apostolorum’ apocrypha.” VD 3 (1923): 367–73.
Watson, Francis. An Apostolic Gospel: The Epistula Apostolorum in Literary Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.
———. “The Conversion of Paul: A New Perspective (Epistula Apostolorum 31–33).” Pages 195–212 in Receptions of Paul in Early Christianity The Person of Paul and His Writings Through the Eyes of His Early Interpreters. Edited by Jens Schröter, Simon Butticaz, Andreas Dettwiler. BZNW 234. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2018.
———. “A Gospel of the Eleven: The Epistula Apostolorum and the Johannine Tradition.” Pages 189–215 in Connecting Gospels: Beyond the Canonical/Non-Canonical Divide. Edited by Francis Watson and Sarah Parkhouse. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
———. “On the Miracle Catena in Epistula Apostolorum 4–5.” Pages 107–28 in Gospels and Gospel Traditions in the Second Century: Experiments in Reception. Edited by Jens Schröter, Tobias Nicklas, and Joseph Verheyden. BZNW 235. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2018.
Zwaan, J. de “Date and Origin of the Epistle of the Eleven Apostles.” Pages 344–55 in Amicitiae Corolla: A Volume of Essays Presented to James Rendel Harris. Edited by H. G. Wood. London: University of London Press, 1922.