The Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter is a text found amongst 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 ...

, and part of the

New Testament apocrypha The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cite ...

. Like the vast majority of texts in the Nag Hammadi collection, it is heavily

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 pe ...

. It was probably written around 100-200 AD. Since the only known copy is written in Coptic, it is also known as the ''Coptic Apocalypse of Peter''. The text begins with Jesus instructing Peter on the importance of true knowledge and the danger of ignorance, values strongly associated with Gnosticism. However, the most defining feature of the text is its extreme interpretation of the crucifixion. Like some of the rarer Gnostic writings, the Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter doubts the established crucifixion story. Peter witnesses the crucifixion with Jesus seemingly simultaneously alongside him, on the cross, and above the cross, laughing. When Peter turns to the Jesus next to him to ask for an explanation, he is told: ''"He whom you see above the cross, glad and laughing, is the living Jesus. But he into whose hands and feet they are driving the nails is his physical part, which is the substitute."''The gospel is also notable for Jesus' statements that condemn church leaders, citing them as "dry canals" that lead Christians astray. The gospel ends with Peter "coming to his senses", suggesting the events depicted to have at least partially come from a dream.

Christology

It is unclear whether this text advocates an adoptionist or

docetist In the history of Christianity, docetism (from the grc-koi, δοκεῖν/δόκησις ''dokeĩn'' "to seem", ''dókēsis'' "apparition, phantom") is the heterodox doctrine that the phenomenon of Jesus, his historical and bodily existence, an ...

Christology In Christianity, Christology (from the Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Christ", is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Differ ...

, but based on its literary parallels with the ''

Second Treatise of the Great Seth Second Treatise of the Great Seth is an apocryphal Gnostic writing discovered in the Codex VII of the Nag Hammadi codices and dates to around the third century. The author is unknown, and the Seth referenced in the title appears nowhere in the te ...

'', it may well subscribe to the latter.

References

Translation by James Brashler and kamijki

Christology

References

See also