The Apocalypse of Paul (nhc v,2): Cosmology, Anthropology, and Ethics
In: Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic StudiesSearch for other papers by Lautaro Roig Lanzillotta in
Current site
Google Scholar
The cosmology behind the Apocalypse of Paul is interesting in many respects. To begin with it shows a peculiar ten-heaven structure instead of eight heavens as one might normally expect in a Gnostic text; it structures the cosmos into three clear, separate regions; and it omits any reference to the first two heavens. At the same time, Apocalypse of Paul’s cosmology is especially fascinating, on the one hand for the close connection with the text’s anthropology, which conceives of man in the light of the cosmological framework, and, on the other, for its description of Paul’s ascension as an ethical progress. Most interesting for the present context, however, is that this description includes rather transgressive elements, such as the presentation of the Biblical god as the Demiurge and a polemical view of the apostles. The latter are not only said to be stationed in the archontic region together with the Demiurge, but also to be surpassed by Paul, who is the only individual entitled to enter the divine region. After providing a thorough analysis of Apocalypse of Paul’s cosmology, the present paper provides an overview of the anthropological, theological, and ethical implications of its worldview.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Bethge Hans-Gebhard Robinson James M. “On the Origin of the World (OTOOTW)” The Coptic Gnostic Library—A Complete Edition of the Nag Hammadi Codices 2000–04 Brill Online, 2015. Reference. http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/ coptic-gnostic-library/on-the-origin-of-the-world-otootw-aOTOOTW
-
Böhlig Alexander Böhlig Alexander & Labib Pahor “Die Apokalypse des Paulus” Koptisch-gnostische Apokalypsen aus Codex V von Nag Hammadi im Koptischen Museum zu Alt-Kairo 1963 Halle-Wittenberg Martin-Luther-Universität 15 26
-
Bullard Roger A. Mills Watson E. et al. “Paul, Apocalypse of (NH)” I Mercer Dictionary of the Bible 1990 Macon Mercer University Press 664
-
Bousset Wilhelm Hauptprobleme der Gnosis 1973 [1907] Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments 10 Göttingen Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht
-
DeConick April D. DeConick April D. “Apostles as Archons. The Fight for Authority and the Emergence of Gnosticism in the Tchakos Codex and Other Early Christian Literature” Codex Judas Papers: Proceedings of The International Congress On The Tchacos Codex Held At Rice University, Houston, Texas, March 13–16, 2008 2009 Leiden Brill 243 288
-
DeConick April D. DeConick April D., Shaw Gregory & Turner John D. “The Road for the Souls Is through the Planets: The Mysteries of the Ophians Mapped” Practicing Gnosis Ritual, Magic, Theurgy and Liturgy in Nag Hammadi, Manichaean and Other Ancient Literature Essays in Honor of Birger A. Pearson 2013 Leiden Brill 37 74
-
Dirkse Peter A., Brashler James & Parrott Douglas M. Parrott Douglas M. “The Discourse on the Eighth and the Ninth” Nag Hammadi Codices V, 2–5 and VI with Papyrus Berolinensis gnosticus. 1979 Leiden Brill 341 373
-
Fallon Francis T. “The Gnostic Apocalypses” Semeia 1979 14 123 158
-
Festugière André-Jean L’idéal religieux des Grecs et l’Évangile 1932 Paris Gabalda
-
Festugière André-Jean Hermétisme et mystique païenne 1967 Paris Aubier Montaigne
-
Funk Wolf-Peter Schneemelcher Wilhelm & Hennecke Edgar “Koptisch-gnostische Apokalypse des Paulus” Neutestamentliche Apokryphen in deutscher Ubersetzung, ii Band: Apostolisches Apokalypsen und Verwandtes. 1989 5. Aufl. Tubingen Mohr-Siebeck 628 633
-
Funk Wolf-Peter Schneemelcher W. & Wilson R. McL. “The Coptic Gnostic Apocalypse of Paul” New Testament Apocrypha II: Writings Related to the Apostles, Apocalypses and Related Subjects 1992 Cambridge James Clarke 695 700 Louisville: Westminster/John Knox
-
Funk Wolf-Peter Painchaud Louis & Pasquier Anne “The Linguistic Aspect of Classifying Nag Hammadi Codices” Les textes de Nag Hammadi et le problème de leur classification: Actes du Colloque tenu à Québec du 15 a 19 septembre 1993. 1995 Québec Presses de l’Université Laval 107 147 Louvain: Peeters 1995
-
Funk Wolf-Peter Schneemelcher Wilhelm “Koptisch-gnostische Apokalypse des Paulus” Neutestamentliche Apokryphen in deutscher Ubersetzung 1997 II Band: Apostolisches Apokalypsen und Verwandtes 6. Aufl. Tübingen Mohr-Siebeck 628 633
-
Hanegraaff Wouter J. “Altered States of Knowledge: The Attainment of Gnōsis in the Hermetica” The International Journal of the Platonic Tradition 2008 2 128 163
-
Harrison J.R. “In Quest of the Third Heaven: Paul & His Apocalyptic Imitators” Vigiliae Christianae 2004 58 24 55
-
Kaler Michael Flora tells a Story: the Apocalypse of Paul and Its Contexts 2008 Waterloo, ON Wilfrid Laurier University Press
-
Kaler Michael, Painchaud Louis & Bussieres Marie-Pierre “The Coptic Apocalypse of Paul, , Irenaeus’ Adversus Haereses 2.30.7, and the Second-Century Battle for Paul’s Legacy” Journal of Early Christian Studies 2004 12 173 193
-
Kasser Rodolphe “Textes gnostiques. Remarques à propos des éditions récentes du Livre secret de Jean et des Apocalypses de Paul, Jacques et Adam” Museon 1965 78 71 98 299 306
-
Kasser Rodolphe “Bibliothèque gnostique VII: L’Apocalypse de Paul” Revue de théologie et de philosophie 1969 19 259 263
-
Klauck Hans-Josef “Die Himmelfahrt des Paulus (2 Kor 12:2–4) in der koptischen Paulusapokalypse aus Nag Hammadi (NHC V/2)” Studien zum Neuen Testament und seiner Umwelt 1985 10 151 190
-
Krause Martin Hellholm David “Die literarischen Gattungen der Apokalypsen von Nag Hammadi” Apocalypticism in the Mediterranean World and the Near East 1983 Tübingen Mohr Siebeck 621 637
-
Leinkauf Thomas & Steel Carlos G. Platons Timaios Als Grundtext Der Kosmologie in Spätantike, Mittelalter und Renaissance 2005 Leuven Leuven University Press
-
MacRae George W. Nickelsburg George W.E. Jr. “The Judgment Scene in the Coptic Apocalypse of Paul” Studies on the Testament of Abraham 1976 SBL Septuagint and Cognate Studies 6; Missoula, MT Scholars Press 285 288 1976
-
Mahé Jean-Pierre Hermès en Haute-Égypte 1978–1982 Québec Les presses de l’Université Laval; Leuven: Peeters
-
Mendell Henry Suppes Patrick, Moravcsik Julius & Mendell Henry “The Trouble with Eudoxus” Ancient and Medieval Traditions in the Exact Sciences 2000 Stanford, CA Center for the Study of Language and Information 59 138
-
Murdock William R. The Apocalypse of Paul from Nag Hammadi 1965 Th.D. dissertation, School of Theology at Claremont
-
Murdock William R. & MacRae George W. Parrott Douglas M. “The Apocalypse of Paul” Nag Hammadi Codices V,2–5 and VI with Papyrus Berolinensis 8502, 1 and 4. 1979 Leiden Brill 47 63
-
Mussies Gerard van den Broek Roelof & Vermaseren Maarten Jozef “Catalogues of Sins and Virtues Personified (NHC II, 5)” Studies in Gnosticism and Hellenistic Religions presented to Gilles Quispel on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday. 1981 Leiden Brill 314 336
-
Nock A.D. & Festugière André-Jean Corpus Hermeticum, I: Traités I–XII; II: Traités XIII–XVIII; Asclépius; III–IV: Fragments extraits de Stobée (I–XXIX); Fragments divers 1945–1954 Paris Société d’Edition “Les Belles Lettres”
-
Orbe A “Gli apocrifi cristiani a Nag Hammadi” Augustinianum 1983 23 81 109
-
Riedweg Christoph Helmuth Schneider Hubert Cancik & Salazar Christine F. “Soul, migration of the” Brill’s New Pauly 2015 Antiquity volumes Brill Online. http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/soul-migration-of-the-e1106520
-
Roig Lanzillotta Lautaro Bremmer Jan N. & Czachesz István “Does Punishment Reward the Righteous? The Justice Pattern Underlying the Apocalypse of Peter” The Apocalypse of Peter 2003 Leuven Peeters 127 157
-
Roig Lanzillotta Lautaro Bremmer Jan N. & Czachesz István “The Coptic Apocalypse of Paul in Ms. Oriental 7023” The Visio Pauli and the Gnostic Apocalypse of Paul 2007 Leuven Peeters 158 197
-
Roig Lanzillotta Lautaro Hernández Á., Villalonga S. & Ciner P. “El polimorfismo divino en la literatura apócrifa cristiana primitiva y en Nag Hammadi” Actas del I Congreso Internacional de Estudios Patrísticos: “La identidad de Jesús: unidad y diversidad en la época de la patrística” 2013 San Juan Argentina Universidad Católica de Cuyo 1 27
-
Roig Lanzillotta Lautaro Bremmer Jan N., Karmann T.R. & Nicklas T. “The Cosmology of the Ascension of Isaiah: Analysis and Re-Assessment of the Text’s Cosmological Framework” The Ascension of Isaiah 2016 Leuven Peeters 259 288
-
Rosenstiehl Jean-Marc & Kaler Michael L’Apocalypse de Paul (NH V,2) 2005 Bibliothèque copte de Nag Hammadi, 31 Québec; Leuven Les Presses de l’Université Laval; Peeters
-
Rosenstiehl Jean-Marc Painchaud Louis & Poirier Paul-Hubert “La montagne de Jericho (NH v, 2,19, IIB): Contribution a l’étude de l’Apocalypse copte de Paul” Coptica-Gnostica-Manichaica: Mélanges offerts à Wolf-Peter Funk 2006 Leuven Peeters 885 892
-
Rudolph Kurt Nagel P. “Der gnostische Dialog als literarisches Genus” Probleme der koptischen Literatur 1968 Halle-Wittenberg Halle: Saale 85 107
-
Salaman Clement, Van Oyen Dorine, Wharton William D. & Mahé Jean-Pierre The Way of Hermes. New Translations of The Corpus Hermeticum and The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius 2000 Rochester, Vermont Inner Traditions
-
Schenke Hans-Martin “Rez. A.Böhlig- P. Labib, Apokalypsen” Orientalische Literaturzeitung 1966 61 23 34
-
Schoedel William R. Parrott Douglas M. “The (First) Revelation of James” Nag Hammadi Codices V, 2–5 and VI with Papyrus Berolinensis 8502, 1 and 4 1979 Leiden Brill 66 103
-
Scott Walter Hermetica: the Ancient Greek and Latin Writings which contain religious or philosophic teachings ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus 1936–1945 Oxford The Clarendon Press
-
Silverstein Theodore & Hilhorst Anthony Apocalypse of Paul. A New Critical Edition of Three Long Latin Versions 1997 Geneva P. Cramer
-
Solmsen Friedrich Solmsen Friedrich “Reincarnation in Ancient and Early Christian Thought” Kleine Schriften 1982 3 Hildesheim Olms 465 494
-
Tardieu Michel Trois mythes gnostiques: Adam, Éros et les animaux d’Égypte dans un écrit de Nag Hammadi (II,5) 1974 Paris Études Augustiniennes
-
Tischendorf Constantin von Apocalypses Apocryphae, Mosis, Esdrae, Pauli, Iohannis, item Mariae Dormitio, additis evangeliorum et actuum apocryphorum suplementis 1966 [1866] Hildesheim G. Olms
-
Trevijano Etcheverría R. Macho A. Díez et al. “El Apocalipsis de Pablo (NHC V2: 17,19–24,9). Traduccion y Comentario” Quaere Paulum. Miscelánea a Monseñor Dr. Lorenzo Turrado 1981 Salamanca Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca 217 236
-
Tröger Karl-Wolfgang Mysterienglaube und Gnosis in Corpus Hermeticum XIII 1971 Berlin Akademie-Verlag
-
Tröger Karl-Wolfgang Gnosis und Neues Testament. Studien aus Religionswissenschaft und Theologie 1973 Gütersloh Gütersloher Verlagshaus
-
Van den Broek Roelof Hermes Trismegistus: Inleiding, Teksten, Commentaren 2006 Amsterdam Pelican
-
Vielhauer Philipp Geschichte der urchristlichen Literatur: Einleitung in das Neue Testament, die Apokryphen und die apostolische Väter 1975 Berlin de Gruyter
-
Wallis-Budge E.A. Miscellaneous Coptic Texts in the Dialect of Upper Egypt. Edited, with English Translations 1915 [1966] Oxford Oxford University Press
-
Wilson R.McL Tenney Merrill Chapin et al. “Paul, Apocalypse of” The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible 1975 IV Grand Rapids Zondervan 623 624
-
Wallis-Budge W.E.A. Miscellaneous texts in the dialect of Upper Egypt 1915 London 534 574 1043 1084 Edited with English translations
-
Wucherpfennig Ansgar Heracleon Philologus. Gnostische Johannesexegese im zweiten Jahrhundert 2002 Tübingen Mohr Siebeck
-
Wright J. Edward The Early History of Heaven. 2000 Oxford Oxford University Press
-
Yarbro Collins Adela Cosmology and Eschatology in Jewish and Christian Apocalypticism 1996 Leiden Brill
-
1
Schenke 1966, 25; See also the opinion by the Berliner Arbeitskreis in Tröger 1973, 43. In the same line, Böhlig 1963, 15 15.
-
2
Klauck 1985.
-
4
Wright 2000, 163.
-
7
Roig Lanzillotta 2007.
-
9
Silverstein and Hilhorst 1997.
-
13
Murdock and MacRae 1979.
-
14
See Rosenstiehl and Kaler 2005, 12–14.
-
15
Böhlig 1963, 11–14.
-
16
Schenke 1966.
-
17
Funk 1995, 107–47.
-
18
Trevijano Etcheverría 1981.
-
21
Rudolph 1968, 99, prefers the description “Gnostic Dialogue,” since the text includes this dialogue after the description of the vision of the heavens.
-
22
Krause 1983, 626–28, on the basis of the criteria offered by Vielhauer 1975; See also Fallon 1979, 138; and Klauck 1985, 159–60.
-
23
Murdock and MacRae 1979, 48.
-
24
Krause 1983, 625.
-
25
Murdock and MacRae 1979, 48; Böhlig 1963; Klauck 1985, 178–187; MacRae 1976, 285–88.
-
26
Kasser 1965, 76.
-
27
Murdock 1968, 237, cited in Kaler 2008, 38–39.
-
28
Trevijano Etcheverría 1981; Kaler 2008, 40.
-
30
Roig Lanzillotta 2013.
-
35
References in Rosenstiehl and Kaler, 2005, 26–34.
-
37
Rosenstiehl and Kaler 2005, 26–29. The “elaborate and ingenious” explanation is, according to Kaler (2008, 9 n. 17), due to Rosenstiehl. Kaler comments it in extenso at 2008, 198–201.
-
38
According to Orbe 1983, 91, we find here an allegorical reading of Luke 10:30 that inverts the terms of the story. Rosenstiehl and Kaler 2005, 27 n. 159, consider Orbe was probably thinking of Heracleon’s exegesis of John 2:12. This is even more likely taking into consideration Heracleon’s interpretation in Frag. 20 (of John 4:21), of the mountain as the material world: “The mountain represents the Devil, or his world, since the Devil was one part of the whole of matter, but the world is the total mountain of evil, a deserted dwelling place of beasts, to which all who lived before the law and all Gentiles render worship. But Jerusalem represents the creation or the Creator whom the Jews worship. . . . The mountain is the creation which the Gentiles worship, but Jerusalem is the creator whom the Jews serve. You then who are spiritual should worship neither the creation nor the Craftsman, but the Father of Truth. And he (Jesus) accepts her (the Samaritan woman) as one of the already faithful, and to be counted with those who worship in truth”. See Wucherpfennig 2002, 130–131.
-
51
Against the view of Kasser 1969, 260, who surmises a complicated textual history for the text in order to explain the silence regarding the first two heavens, Kaler 2008, 60–61, already surmised that 2 Cor 12:2–4 as point of departure may sufficiently explain this omission.
-
62
See Tröger 1973, 43, who refers to Schenke’s opinion according to which 20.4 with its reference to the “creation” seems to imply a negative answer. Apoc. Paul nhc v,2 20.18–20, however, clearly shows that the apostles are already in the celestial region, since it says that Paul raises his eyes and sees them greeting him. I think the text intentionally distinguishes between Paul’s and the apostles’s “likeness,” which remains in the lower realm, and the soul, which ascends to the archontic region. As for the third, divine region only Paul’s spirit is allowed to enter. Thus also Klauck, 1985, 169. See also Kaler, 2008, 11 n. 37, who provides two additional reasons for denying that the apostles accompany Paul beyond the ogdoad: 1) to begin with, the frame story from Galatians places the apostles in Jerusalem; 2) secondly, the apostles are always explicitly mentioned whenever they are referred to.
-
64
DeConick 2009.
-
81
Murdock and MacRae 1979, 47; Rosenstiehl and Kaler 2005, 28; Kaler 2008, 60–62.
-
84
Also referred to by Bethge 2015: “The complete absence of any description of the upper world or any account of its development is striking.”
-
88
Dirkse, Brashler and Parrott 1979, 342.
-
91
Trans. Salaman et al. 1999.
-
92
Nock and Festugière, 1945, Corp. herm. 1.2–6; and notes to chapters 23–26.
-
93
Hanegraaff 2008, 141–142.
-
94
Nock and Festugière, 1945, Corp. herm. 1.6; Tröger, 1971, 140. Van den Broek 2006, 66; Hanegraaff 2008, 149.
-
98
See Mahé 1978, 120.
-
99
See Mussies 1981.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 667 | 70 | 10 |
| Full Text Views | 259 | 5 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 120 | 14 | 1 |
The Apocalypse of Paul (nhc v,2): Cosmology, Anthropology, and Ethics
In: Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic StudiesSearch for other papers by Lautaro Roig Lanzillotta in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
The cosmology behind the Apocalypse of Paul is interesting in many respects. To begin with it shows a peculiar ten-heaven structure instead of eight heavens as one might normally expect in a Gnostic text; it structures the cosmos into three clear, separate regions; and it omits any reference to the first two heavens. At the same time, Apocalypse of Paul’s cosmology is especially fascinating, on the one hand for the close connection with the text’s anthropology, which conceives of man in the light of the cosmological framework, and, on the other, for its description of Paul’s ascension as an ethical progress. Most interesting for the present context, however, is that this description includes rather transgressive elements, such as the presentation of the Biblical god as the Demiurge and a polemical view of the apostles. The latter are not only said to be stationed in the archontic region together with the Demiurge, but also to be surpassed by Paul, who is the only individual entitled to enter the divine region. After providing a thorough analysis of Apocalypse of Paul’s cosmology, the present paper provides an overview of the anthropological, theological, and ethical implications of its worldview.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 667 | 70 | 10 |
| Full Text Views | 259 | 5 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 120 | 14 | 1 |