The Letter of Peter to Philip is a Gnostic Christian epistle found in the Nag Hammadi Library in Egypt. It was dated to be written around late 2nd century to early 3rd century CE and focuses on a post-crucifixion appearance and teachings of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

to the apostles on the Mount of Olives, or Mount Olivet.

Overview

The Letter of Peter to Philip, found in the cache of texts at

Nag Hammadi Nag Hammadi ( ; ar, نجع حمادى ) is a city in Upper Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile in the Qena Governorate, about north-west of Luxor. It had a population of close to 43,000 . History The town of Nag Hammadi is name ...

and bound into Codex VIII, contains a brief letter purporting to be from

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

to Saint Philip, followed by a narrative and

Gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized p ...

discourse upon the nature of Christ. It was probably written in the late 2nd century or the beginning of the 3rd, originally in Greek, but translated into Coptic in the Nag Hammadi text. The title of the Letter is originally "The Letter of Peter Which He Sent to Philip", but is commonly simplified to "The Letter of Peter to Philip". Another copy of the letter has more recently been found in the Codex Tchacos and is titled plainly as "The Letter of Peter to Philip".

The Nag Hammadi Library

The

Nag Hammadi Library The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the " Chenoboskion Manuscripts" and the "Gnostic Gospels") is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Thirteen leather-bound papyr ...

is a collection of thirteen codices that was found near the Egyptian city of

in 1945. Many writings found in this library are referred to as “Gnostic Gospels” because most of the documents contain

teachings that conflicted with the beliefs of proto-orthodox Christianity, which at the time was becoming the predominant form of Christianity. Therefore, most were rejected from the canon as

Orthodox Christianity Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Chu ...

was formed in the early centuries C.E.

Summary of the text

The Letter of Peter to Philip begins with a greeting from the apostle Peter, the presumed author of this letter. It continues with Peter speaking directly to Philip, expressing his (Peter's) wish that Philip rejoin the apostles in their evangelization mission. When Philip and the apostles meet on the Mount Olives, they prayed together twice, each time emphasizing light as a symbol of Jesus. After their prayers, the apostles are visited by a great light from the sky identifying itself as “Jesus Christ who is with you forever”.“The Letter of Peter to Philip.” Trans. Frederik Wisse. The Nag Hammadi Library, revised edition. Ed. James M Robinson. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1990. PDF. He began teaching the apostles of the aeons and their pleroma, followed by a series of questions from apostles about their struggles against the

archons ''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...

and how much they must suffer for the sake of their faith. Once the light disappeared from them, the apostles left the Mount Olives to go to Jerusalem, continuing their evangelization.

Analysis and scholarly reception

The Letter of Peter to Philip is the last concluding tractate of the Nag Hammadi Codex VIII. Its predecessor is the Sethian text, '' Zostrianos''. It is speculated by scholars that the Letter of Peter to Philip was chosen as the last tractate for its convenience of brevity. This is supported by the fact that the Letter and ''Zostrianos'' share little theological or literary relationship. The Letter uses passages that are reminiscent of the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...

and

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...

which indicates that the author may have attempted to classify the text as one of the acts of the apostles. The Letter is considered to be Petrine in nature because of Peter's position as the leader of the apostles. The addressee of the Letter, Saint Philip, is portrayed as submissive, answering to Saint Peter's authority. In early Christianity, there was a conflict between the traditions associated with Peter and Philip. This letter is supposed by some scholars to be a "Petrine document designed to promote Peter's primacy in the early church." In addition, this document attempts to claim true apostolic authority by connecting the teachings Jesus gives in this post-crucifixion appearance with those he delivered during his earthly ministry. This would have been a bold assertion in the face of the proto-orthodox Christianity that was gaining power over other types of early Christianity.Os, Bas van. “The Role of the Apostles in the Letter of Peter to Philip.” Annali di storia dell’esegesi 29.2 (2012): 155-60. ATLA Religion. Web. 15 Oct 2015.

References

External links