Current administration: Tony Burke (chair), Jae Hahn, Julia Lindenlaub, Jacob Lollar, Janet Spittler, Lily Vuong.
2025 Annual Meeting Christian Apocrypha Sessions
Saturday, November 22, 1:00–3:30 pm
S22-235 The Apocrypha of Symeon Metaphrastes, Part 1
Tony Burke, York University, Presiding
In the tenth century, Symeon Metaphrastes was commissioned by Byzantine Emperor Basil II with the task of creating an expansive menologion collecting lives of saints for reading in the monasteries. Symeon’s menologion is a mix of rewritten and newly-written texts. Fifteen of them focus on the lives of apostles and other first-century figures. The goal of the Apocrypha of Symeon Metaphrastes Project is to prepare English translations of this corpus for a volume to be published in 2027. Leading up to that publication, contributors to the project will present their preliminary work at the SBL in 2025 and 2026 and at a workshop to be hosted by the Beyond Canon Project in Regensburg in the summer of 2026. The first set of presentations are the following:
Introduction to Symeon Metaphrastes by Christian Høgel (20 min.)
Discussion (10 min.)
Hypomnema on John, Son of Zebedee (ECCA 191; CANT 221), by Janet Spittler (15 min.)
Martyrdom of Longinus the Centurion (ECCA 730), by Nathan Hardy (15 min.)
Discussion (15 min.)
Break (15 min.)
Hypomnema on Timothy (ECCA 928; CANT 296), by Scott Robertson (15 min.)
Hypomnema on Matthew (ECCA 768; CANT 271), by Tony Burke (15 min.)
Discussion (30 min.)
Saturday, November 22 4:00–6:30 pm
Christian Apocrypha and Cult in Late Antiquity (Joint session with Religious World of Late Antiquity)
Megan Nutzman, Ohio State University, presiding
Troy Hillman (Boston University): From Relic to Ritual: The Jesus-Abgar Tradition and the Cultic Reception of Apocryphal Texts (30 min.)
The Abgar-Jesus correspondence has long been understood as an important apocryphal tradition, but its continued efficacy across material forms reveals a deeper ongoing cultic function and reception of ritual power. This paper explores how an epistolary relic of Jesus to King Abgar transcended its origins as textual forgery to become a powerful religious and cultic tradition that shaped devotional and ritual practices. From amulets and inscriptions to the acheiropoietic Mandylion, the Abgar-Jesus epistles took on new ritual functions that extended far beyond Edessa. This variety of material forms reinforced the perceived power of Jesus and Abgar, guiding popular piety as well as the construction of sacred space. By situating the Abgar-Jesus correspondence within broader discussions on apocryphal and pseudepigraphal traditions, this paper considers how such texts were adapted into lived religious practice, demonstrating the continued interplay between textual traditions, materiality, as well as devotional and cultic landscapes of early Christianity.
Blake Leyerle (University of Notre Dame): In the Shoes of Abgar: Egeria in Edessa (30 min.)
Among her visits to sites associated with apocryphal texts, Egeria’s description of Edessa (ca. 384 CE) stands out for its length and detail. She quotes the bishop as he summarizes the correspondence between Abgar and Jesus, recalls subsequent miracles, and points to specific features of Abgar’s palace, before leading her in a ritual reenactment of the letter’s arrival. Her account ends with her pleasure at having received a “fuller” copy of the correspondence. Egeria’s comments on the site have not gone unnoticed, but scholars have attended mostly to their historical implications. This paper will focus instead on their narrative quality, on their function within a letter written to a group of “sisters” back home. Building on my previous work on quotation within the Itinerarium, I argue that the significance of the Abgar legend cannot be understood apart from the this-worldly orientation of early Christian pilgrims and, in particular, Egeria’s self-presentation.
Jonah Bissell (Boston University): Michael as Naturengel: Ecology and Angel Cults in Mediterranean Antiquity (30 min.)
This paper explores the development of Michael the Archangel’s role as Naturengel in Jewish and Christian traditions, culminating in his association with the Nile inundation in pre-modern Egypt. Early Jewish texts such as Jubilees and 1 Enoch depict angels governing natural elements, linking Michael to snow, frost, dew, water, etc. By the 4th century (CE), Michael’s cult was established in Western Anatolia, reinforced by legends such as his diversion of the floodwaters at Chonae. Similar themes emerge in Coptic apocryphal and homiletic literature, including the Investiture of the Archangel Michael and the Apocalypse of Paul, where Michael is explicitly or cryptically referenced as the “angel of the waters.” This paper traces the origins of this motif in early Jewish and Christian literature, exploring how local apocryphal expansion served to shape Michael’s role as “patron of the flood” in pre-modern Egypt.
Alexey Somov (Institute for Bible Translation, Moscow): The Martyrdom of Daniel and the Three Youths and the Development of the Cult of the Three Youths in Alexandria (30 min.)
While the cult of the Three Youths was well established in late antiquity in Alexandria, the question of their relics is much more complicated. According to Coptic and Ethiopic tradition, archbishop Theophilus (4th century) built a church in Alexandria dedicated to the Three Youths. However, Theophilus’ efforts to bring their relics from Babylon were unsuccessful. A little-known apocryphal legend about the martyrdom of Daniel and the Three Youths, which most probably originated in Alexandria, can shed new light on this story of the absence of the relics in the church built by Theophilus. It claims that Daniel and the Three Youths were persecuted and killed by the wicked Persian king Atticus, buried, and then resurrected together with Christ. I suggest that this legend was composed to explain the existence of the cult but the absence of the relics: they are not there because they have been resurrected.
Katherina Heyden (University of Bern): The Cultic Context of the Testament of Abraham (30 min.)
This paper situates the Greek long version of the Testament of Abraham within its local and cultic context, focusing on its narrative, theological, and ritual meanings. It argues that the archaeological site of Rāmat al-Khalīl in Hebron is the most plausible Sitz im Leben for the text’s composition and transmission. By analyzing literary and material evidence, the study reconstructs the site’s worship practices, shared and competed between Phoenicians, Jews, and Christians for centuries. Special attention is given to hospitality as both a cultic experience and theological virtue, linking it to Abraham’s encounter with death. This interdisciplinary approach, combining narratological analysis, archaeology, and historical criticism, offers new insights into the sacred space, textual transmission, and religious interactions that shaped the TestAbr.
Sunday, November 23 9:00–11:30 am
Open Session 2
Addie Harrington, University of Texas at Austin, presiding
Ciara Mulcahy (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill): “Johannine Discourse” in Late Antiquity: The Acts of John by Prochorus as a Johannine Text (30 min.)
In the Acts of John by Prochorus, Prochorus draws on Johannine themes found in the Gospel and epistles: the adaptation of the Beloved Disciple figure, light and darkness imagery, a miracle parallel with the wedding at Cana, discourse about love, and Johannine-coded similarities between Jesus and John’s deaths. I argue that Prochorus weaves Johannine themes into the text in order to position the text and himself within the Johannine literary tradition. In this way, the author of the Acts of John by Prochorus participates in a broader category of “Johannine Discourse.” Even more, I argue that Prochorus views his text as the culmination of this Johannine genre; in other words, John’s ministry in the Acts of John by Prochorus fulfills what was foretold in these centuries-earlier Johannine texts. This examination also interrogates the notion that “Johannine literature” consists merely of the Gospel and three epistles.
Christian Vrangbaek (Aarhus University): Unveiling the Unknown: Character Knowledge and Narrative Ambiguity in the Acts of John (30 min.)
This paper explores the dynamics of character knowledge and narrative ambiguity in the apocryphal Acts of John, building upon Christopher Frilingos’ work on family relationships and imperfect knowledge in early Christian infancy gospels. Drawing parallels with Meir Sternberg’s narrative theory, I examine how the Acts of John employs gaps in character knowledge to create tension and drive the narrative forward. By analyzing these elements, I aim to demonstrate how the Acts of John, like the infancy gospels studied by Frilingos, uses imperfect knowledge as a literary device. This study contributes to the growing body of scholarship on apocryphal acts, offering a fresh perspective on the Acts of John through the lens of narrative theory and character knowledge. By bridging Frilingos’ work on infancy gospels with Sternberg’s narrative approach, I aim to shed new light on the literary sophistication and theological concerns of this important early Christian text.
Florence Gantenbein (University of Zurich): Revisiting Drusiana: The Role of Elite Christian Women in Second Century Ephesos (30 min.)
The Apocryphal Acts of John are known for the prominence of female characters such as Drusiana. Married to Ephesos’ primary strategist (στρατηγός πρῶτος), Drusiana belongs to the city’s elite and is described as John’s disciple, travelling companion, and hostess in Ephesos. My proposed presentation is based on a forthcoming monograph that explores the agency of early Christian women in Ephesos, set against the backdrop of prominent women in Roman Ephesos, such as female prytaneis, priestesses of Artemis, and high priestesses of the imperial cult. Although Drusiana is not described as an early Christian ‘office holder’, her actions bear witness to her agency. Her home becomes the center of the Christian community in Ephesos, and her faith – which enables her to bring a dead person back to life – is portrayed as akin to that of the miracle-working John. Drusiana thus becomes an example of women’s agency in early Christianity.
Michael Kok (Morling College, Perth Campus): The Title of the Gospel of the Ebionites (30 min.)
The “Gospel of the Ebionites” is a modern title. It is unlikely that Epiphanius’s copy of the Gospel had a title, for he misidentified the text as both the “Gospel According to the Hebrews” and a corrupted version of the original edition of the “Gospel According to Matthew” (Pan. 30.3.7; 13.1-2). I will examine other potential references to this Gospel in the writings of Irenaeus (Haer. 1.26.2; 3.1.1; 11.7), Clement (Strom. 5.10.63.7), and Origen (Hom. Luc. 1.2; cf. Jerome, Pelag. 3.2) to see if they offer any evidence for the title of this Gospel. It is doubtful that any of these passages provide additional attestation for this Gospel, so Epiphanius remains the sole witness to this text. It is possible that Epiphanius had a fragmentary text that was missing its title since the Gospel preface identifies the apostles in general or Matthew in particular as its pseudonymous author(s) (Pan. 30.13.2-3).
Acacia Chan (University of Texas at Austin): To Affinity and Beyond: An Ethnographic Approach to Interdisciplinary Dialogue between Christian Apocrypha and Fanfiction Studies (30 min.)
The parallels between Christian apocrypha and fanfiction have been noted repeatedly on social media, in classrooms, and more recently, in scholarship. While previous work focused on published scholarly texts to reveal the parallels between the two fields, my study uses an ethnographic approach to intervene in an emerging interdisciplinary conversation between Christian apocrypha studies and fan studies. Through four months of ethnographic interviews with and conversations between Christian apocrypha scholars and fanfiction scholars, I explore the degree to which these scholars already interact with each other, the primary points of connection and distinction between the two fields, and how scholars can find affinity (a shared connection centering mutual goals) between fields separated by time and space. These findings speaks not only to the two subject fields, but also to broader questions around productive interdisciplinary work.
Monday, November 24 1:00–3:30 pm
Open Session 1
Chance Bonar, Tufts University, presiding
Slavomír Čéplö (Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences): New Witnesses to the Arabic “Infancy Gospel of Thomas” and New Philology (30 min.)
It is taken for granted (Burke 2019:51-52) that the Arabic text containing stories of Jesus’ childhood preserved on ff. 145r–153v of Biblioteca Ambrosiana G 11 sup is an Arabic recension of the Greek text known as “Infancy Gospel of Thomas” (Inf. Gos. Thom). The same applies to chapters 39-42 of Sike’s edition of the text known as “Arabic Infancy Gospel” (Arab. Gos. Inf.) (Horn 2010: 600). Yet the Ambrosiana text contains only 9 of the 16 stories in Inf. Gos. Thom., Sike’s text only contains 7 in a different order and both texts add more stories, none of which is extant in Greek. Are they all, Greek and Arabic versions, really the same text? In this paper, I attempt to answer this question (and maybe more) using methods of New Philology (Lied and Lundhaug 2017) and two newly available witnesses to the Arabic version of Inf. Gos. Thom.
Lanie Walkup (Baylor University): Who’s Your Pater? Parentage, Education, and Origins in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (30 min.)
Scholars have largely agreed upon the Infancy Gospel of Thomas’s (IGT) awareness of the Gospel of Luke. One peculiar aspect of IGT’s expansion of Luke, however, is the centrality of Joseph to IGT’s narrative. Joseph’s interactions with Jesus appear consistently across the nineteen chapters of IGT while Mary is neglected. This narrative presentation is quite the opposite of the holy family’s presentation in Luke. Thus, the question emerges—why did the author “butcher” the Lukan depiction of Mary and Joseph? I propose that the Roman idea of imitatio patris (imitation of the father) reflects themes found in IGT that are also raised in Luke specifically through the question about Jesus’s origin in Luke 4:22: “Is this not Joseph’s son?” By examining ancient concepts of fatherhood, education, and socialization, I will argue that IGT’s strong inclusion of Joseph highlights all the more the author’s (as well as Luke’s) view of the unimportance of Joseph in Jesus’s life and Jesus’s divine parentage.
Ursula Ulrike Kaiser (Univeristät Jena): The Protevangelium of James as “Narrated” on an Antique Column in Venice (30 min.)
An antique column in S. Marc in Venice ‘narrates’ the childhood story of Mary in great detail, starting with her parents’ barrenness to her upbringing in the temple until the age of twelve. The column is one of four to hold the ciborium above the main altar. It has attracted some attention among art historians, particularly with regard to its origins, which were long thought to be in 13th-century Venice but are now believed to be in 5th-century Constantinople. The depicted content has not been analyzed in detail until now and seems to have completely escaped the attention of scholars on Christian apocrypha. This paper therefore aims to highlight the religious and historical significance of this remarkable art-historical relic.
Jacob Lollar (Durham University): The Acts of Thomas and the Old Syriac Gospels: Reconsidering the Sinai Palimpsest
The oldest fragment of the Acts of Thomas comes from a Sinai palimpsest manuscript. Other texts, like the Old Syriac Gospels and the Dormition of Mary, were found on other pages as under texts. There are similarities in the handwriting and page layout of some of these under texts. This paper explores the possibility that the Acts of Thomas was included in the same manuscript as the Old Syriac Gospels, which was then erased and reused by a scribe to compose Lives of Holy Women.
Thomas J. Kraus (University of Zürich, Switzerland/University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa): Would the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up? Is Nero Really the Arch-villain in Acta Petri, Acta Pauli and Their Literary Continuations (30 min.)
For quite some people their impression of Emperor Nero is defined by the way he is depicted in the religious epic movie Quo vadis? from 1951 or, to be more precise, by the way Peter Ustinov marvellously acted the Roman emperor. Nero is the bad and mad guy who has persecuted Christians; and this is what he has become among early Christian writers. However, the earliest Christian narratives that mention him, the Acta Petri and Acta Pauli, offer a more complex and differentiated images. The martyrdoms of Peter and Paul in Rome describe how the two apostles were executed in Rome during the reign of Emperor Nero and provide specific impressions of Nero and his responsibility for their deaths. Nero’s image becomes even worse in the literary continuations of the two Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles from a certain starting point onwards.
