The Gospel of Peter was a prominent passion narrative in the early history of Christianity, but over time passed out of common usage. In modern times it is known from early hearsay, especially from a publicly circulated letter of Serapion, Bishop of Antioch in 190 - 203, who had found upon examining it that "most of it belonged to the right teaching of the Saviour," but that some parts might encourage its hearers to fall into the Docetist heresy. Serapion's rebuttal of the Gospel of Peter is lost, but it is mentioned by Eusebius [1]. Saint Peter, also known as Peter, Simon ben Jonah/BarJonah, Simon Peter, Cephas and Kepha—original name Simon or Simeon (Acts 15:14)—was one of the twelve original disciples or apostles of Jesus. ... The Passion is the technical term for the suffering and Agony of Jesus that led directly to the Crucifixion, a central Christian event. ... This article outlines the history of Christianity and provides links to relevant topics. ... Serapion was Bishop of Antioch (191 - 211). ... Events A part of Rome burns, and emperor Commodus orders the city to be rebuilt under the name Colonia Commodiana First year of Chuping era of Chinese Han Dynasty Births 190 is a number Deaths Athenagoras of Athens, Christian apologist Categories: 190 ... Events Roman Emperor Septimius Severus rebuilds Byzantium. ... In Christianity, Docetism is the belief, regarded by most theologians as heretical, that Jesus did not have a physical body; rather, that his body was an illusion, as was his crucifixion. ... Eusebius of Caesarea (~275 – May 30, 339) (often called Eusebius Pamphili, Eusebius [the friend] of Pamphilus) was a bishop of Caesarea in Palestine and is often referred to as the father of church history because of his work in recording the history of the early Christian church. ...

Origen too mentions, in his Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (x.17), that the Gospel of Peter, together with "the book of James", was the source for the story, which later became Church doctrine, that the brothers of Jesus were sons of Joseph "by a former wife who had lived with him before Mary", thus: Origen (ca. ... The Gospel of Matthew (literally: according to Matthew, Greek: Κατα Μαθθαιον ) is one of the four Gospel accounts of the New Testament. ... The Gospel of James is an apocryphal gospel also sometimes known as the Infancy Gospel of James or the Protevangelium of James probably written about 150 AD. The document presents itself as written by James: I, James, wrote this history in Jerusalem. ... Jesus (8-2 BC/BCE– 29-36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. ... Gabriel delivering the Annunciation to Mary. ...

"They [of Nazareth] thought, then, that He was the son of Joseph and Mary. But some say, basing it on a tradition in the Gospel according to Peter, as it is entitled, or "The Book of James," that the brethren of Jesus were sons of Joseph by a former wife, whom he married before Mary. Now those who say so wish to preserve the honour of Mary in virginity to the end, so that that body of hers which was appointed to minister to the Word which said, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee," might not know intercourse with a man after that the Holy Ghost came into her and the power from on high overshadowed her."

It is strange that Origen includes the Gospel Of Peter with "The Book of James", as no version of the Gospel Of Peter has been found which contains birth or infancy of Jesus or his mother. It is quite possible that he was referring to another Gospel Of Peter which perhaps is evidenced by two papyrus fragments: P.Oxy 4009 and P.Oxy 2949. However, these two fragments also give no support to the identification of this work with "The Book of James", also called Protevangelium of James. This work and the Gospel Of Peter should be kept quite distinct, with the Gospel Of Peter a source only on the Passion narrative. The factual accuracy of this article needs to be verified. ... The Gospel of James is an apocryphal gospel also sometimes known as the Infancy Gospel of James or the Protevangelium of James probably written about 150 AD. The document presents itself as written by James: I, James, wrote this history in Jerusalem. ... The Gospel of James is an apocryphal gospel also sometimes known as the Infancy Gospel of James or the Protevangelium of James probably written about 150 AD. The document presents itself as written by James: I, James, wrote this history in Jerusalem. ... The Gospel of James is an apocryphal gospel also sometimes known as the Infancy Gospel of James or the Protevangelium of James probably written about 150 AD. The document presents itself as written by James: I, James, wrote this history in Jerusalem. ...

In 1886, when it was first recovered by a French archaeologist, Urbain Bouriant, from an 8th or 9th-century manuscript that had been respectfully buried with an Egyptian monk, the fragmentary Gospel of Peter (now in the Cairo Museum) was the first non-canonical gospel to have been rediscovered, preserved in the dry sand of Egypt. Publication, delayed until 1892, occasioned intense interest. From the passion sequence that is preserved, it is clear that the gospel was a narrative gospel, but whether a complete narrative similar to the canonical gospels or simply a Passion cannot be said. Two other papyrus fragments from Oxyrhyncus (P.Oxy 4009 and P.Oxy. 2949) dating to the 2nd or early 3rd century, have turned up since. They are possibly but not conclusively from the Gospel of Peter, and would suggest, if they belonged, that the text was more than just a passion narrative. These small fragments both seem to give first person accounts of discussions between Jesus and Peter in situations prior to the Passion week. Cairo (Arabic: ‎ translit: ) is the capital city of Egypt (and previously the United Arab Republic) and has a metropolitan area population of approximately 15. ... The Passion is the technical term for the suffering and Agony of Jesus that led directly to the Crucifixion, a central Christian event. ... There are few remains at Oxyrhynchus to be seen above ground: its treasures lie beneath the sands Oxyrhynchus ( Greek: Οξύρυγχος; sharp-nosed; ancient Egyptian Per-Medjed; modern Arabic el-Bahnasa) is an archaeological site in Egypt, considered one of the most important ever discovered. ...

To date it is one of four early extracanonical narrative gospels, which exist only in fragmentary form: this Gospel of Peter, the Egerton Gospel, and the very fragmentary Oxyrhynchus Gospels (P.Oxy. 840 and P.Oxy. 1224). The Egerton Gospel (British Library Egerton Papyrus 2) refers to a group of fragments of a codex of a previously unknown gospel, found in Egypt and sold to the British Museum in 1934 and now dated to the very end of the 2nd century AD. It is one of the... Two fragmentary manuscripts, the Oxyrhynchus Gospels with British Library accession numbers 840 and 1224, throw light on early non-canonical Gospel traditions of Christianity for scholars, but are ignored by most Christians, as they are extremely fragmentary. ...

Date

While scholars debate as to whether this text is dependent upon the canonical gospels or to what extent it contains an independent witness of the earliest Christian traditions, they generally agree on a date in the 2nd century, for when it was condemned by Serapion upon inspection at Rhossos, ca. 190–203, the Rhossos community had already been using it in liturgy. Later Western references, which condemn the work, such as Jerome, ("Of famous men" i: "the books, of which one is entitled his Acts, another his Gospel, a third his Preaching, a fourth his Revelation, a fifth his Judgement are rejected as apocryphal") and Decretum Gelasianum, traditionally connected to Pope Gelasius I, are apparently based upon the judgement of Eusebius, not upon a direct knowledge of the text. In the 5th century, Theodoret (Religious History ii.2) mistakenly reports that the Jewish Christian sect of the Nazoraeans used "the gospel called 'according to Peter.'" All other references to the Jewish Christian group show that their single gospel was in fact the Gospel of the Nazoraeans. , by Albrecht Dürer Jerome (ca. ... Gelasius I was Pope (492 - 496). ... Eusebius is the name of several significant historical people: Pope Eusebius - Pope in AD 309 - 310. ... Theodoret (393 – c. ... Nazoraean is the designation given to a first century offshoot of Nazarene Judaism by Epiphanius. ... The Gospel of the Nazarenes is a book of the New Testament Apocrypha. ...

Pseudepigraphical authorship

The Gospel of Peter is pseudepigraphical; in other words, it bears the name of a supposed author who did not actually compose the text: Pseudepigrapha (Greek pseudos = false, epi = after, later and grapha = writing (or writings), latterly or falsely attributed, or down right forged works, describes texts whose claimed authorship is unfounded in actuality. ...

"And I with my companions was grieved; and being wounded in mind we hid ourselves:" —GoP, 7.

"But I Simon Peter and Andrew my brother took our nets and went to the sea;" — GoP, 14.

This was a common convention for lending weight to a text; thus, though the writer identifies himself as Simon Peter in the first person singular, this is improbable. But this gospel may be the oldest extant writing produced and circulated under the authority of the apostle Peter. According to tradition, Peter was crucified upside-down, as shown in this painting by Caravaggio. ... Saint Andrew (Greek: Andreas, manly), the Christian Apostle, brother of Saint Peter, was born at Bethsaida on the Lake of Galilee. ...

It has been argued more recently that the Gospel of Peter preserves genuine traditions of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. It is like other Apocrypha, which were formerly thought to be entirely fanciful but in the light of more recent manuscript discoveries may be seen to be derived from historical fact. The excerpts may be seen to show knowledge of the true facts as preserved in the monasteries, with some embellishments, and with some retention of the surface statements in order to maintain the centrality of Jesus. Supporting evidence can be obtained by means of the pesher technique. Pesher is a Hebrew word meaning interpretation in the sense of solution. It became known from one group of the Dead Sea Scrolls. ...

Sources

Though there are parallels with the three synoptic gospels, Peter does not use any of the material unique to Matthew or unique to Luke, leading to two differing conclusions. The Synoptic Gospels are the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke. ...

• Ron Cameron and others conclude that the author may have written independently of the synoptic Gospels and may have directly or indirectly used the Q Gospel, a hypothetical source also employed by the authors of Luke and Matthew, but applying to his borrowings a theology (including docetism) that was unacceptable to the developing mainstream Christianity. A consequence of this is the potential existence of a Passion Narrative (John Dominic Crossan calls this a "Cross Gospel"), a source text that formed the basis of the passion narratives in Matthew, Luke, and Mark, as well as in Peter.
• Raymond E. Brown and others find that the author may have been acquainted with the synoptic gospels and even with the Gospel of John; Brown (The Death of the Messiah) even suggests that the author's source in the canonic gospels was transmitted orally, through readings in the churches, i.e that the text is based on what the author remembers about the other gospels, together with his own embellishments.

Some characteristics of Peter suggest a place earlier in the oral tradition. To be specific, the developed apologetic technique that is typical of the final edition of the Gospel of Matthew and of Justin Martyr, which seek to demonstrate a correspondence between prophetic predictions in the Old Testament and their detailed fulfilments in the fate of Jesus, is quite lacking in Peter. A credible assessment of Peter as dependant on the synoptic gospels needs to account for this consistent omission of any reference to the fulfilments of prophecy. The Synoptic Gospels are the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke. ... The Q document (also called the Q Gospel, the Sayings Gospel Q, the Synoptic Sayings Source, and in the 19th century the Logia) comprises a hypothetical collection of Jesuss sayings, hypothesized in accordance with the two-source hypothesis to be a source of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. ... In Christianity, Docetism is the belief, regarded by most theologians as heretical, that Jesus did not have a physical body; rather, that his body was an illusion, as was his crucifixion. ... John Dominic Crossan (born Nenagh, Co. ... Father Raymond Edward Brown, S.S., (born 22 May 1928, died August 8, 1998), appointed in 1972 and in 1996 to the Pontifical Biblical Commission, which advises the pontiff on scriptural matters, and professor emeritus at the Protestant Union Theological Seminary in New York where he taught for 23 years... The Gospel according to John is the fourth gospel document in the sequence of the canon of the New Testament, and scholars agree it was the fourth to be written down. ... The Gospel of Matthew (literally: according to Matthew, Greek: Κατα Μαθθαιον ) is one of the four Gospel accounts of the New Testament. ... Saint Justin Martyr (Justin the Martyr a. ... Note: Judaism commonly uses the term Tanakh, but not Old Testament, because it does not recognize the concept of a New Testament. ...

Eusebius wrote that Serapion of Antioch had found no objections to the gospel being used in the churches of Western Syria (e.g. by the community at Rhossus), but feared that it might have the side effect of promoting docetic Christology. Certainly the text avers that Christ on the cross "remained silent, as though he felt no pain" and his death is paraphrased as a direct assumption ("... and he was taken up"). Geoff Trowbridge finds, however, that this passage agrees with the expected silence of the "suffering servant" in Isaiah 53:7, and therefore is not in itself a docetic statement [2]. In Christianity, Docetism is the belief, regarded by most theologians as heretical, that Jesus did not have a physical body; rather, that his body was an illusion, as was his crucifixion. ... An assumption is a proposition that is assumed, i. ...

Transmission

As far as currently known, the gospel is preserved in three fragments. In 1886 an 8th century text was discovered, with other manuscripts, in a monk's grave in the modern Egyptian city of Akhmim (sixty miles north of Nag Hammadi). Later, two small 6th century papyri that may belong to Peter were uncovered at Oxyrhynchus and published in 1972. Akhmim, or Ekhmim, ia a town of Upper Egypt, on the right bank of the Nile, 67 mi by river south of Assiut, and 4 mi above Suhag, on the opposite side of the river where there is railway communication with Cairo and Assuan. ... The town of Nag Hammadi in Egypt Nag Hammâdi (Arabic نجع حمادي; transliterated: Naj Hammādi) (26°03′N 32°15′E), is a town in the middle of Egypt, called Chenoboskion in classical antiquity, about 80 kilometres north-west of Luxor with some 30,000 citizens. ... Oxyrhynchus (Greek: Οξύρυγχος; sharp-nosed; ancient Egyptian Per-Medjed; modern Egyptian Arabic el-Bahnasa) is an archaeological site in Egypt, considered one of the most important ever discovered. ...

Contents

Secure that other scholars were preparing critical and scholarly editions, J. Rendel Harris (1852 - 1941) decided to introduce it to the public in A Popular Account of the Newly-Recovered Gospel of Peter. He opens with a description of its discovery, offering his opinions regarding its date and original language. Classifying the work as a Docetic gospel, Harris defines the community in which it arose as well as its use during the Patristic age. He translates the fragment and then proceeds to discuss the sources behind it. Harris is convinced that the author borrowed from the canonical accounts, and he lists other literature that may have incorporated the Gospel of Peter, with special emphasis on the Diatessaron. J. Rendel Harris (Plymouth, Devonshire, January 27, 1852 - March 1, 1941) was a biblical scholar and curator of manuscripts, who was instrumental in bringing back to light many Syriac Scriptures and other early documents. ... Tatians Diatessaron was one of a number of harmonies of the four Gospels, that is, the material of the four distinct Gospels rewritten as a continuous narrative resolving all conflicting statements. ...

One of the chief characteristics of the work is its Anti-Judaism, and consequently Pontius Pilate is exonerated of all responsibility for the Crucifixion, the onus being laid upon the scribes and other Jews. However, the Gospel of Peter was condemned as heretical after the time of Eusebius, for its alleged docetic elements. Other elements which may have led to its condemnation are its more supernatural embellishments, including angels, the descent into hell, and the ability for the cross itself to respond. An example of state-sponsored atheist anti-Judaism. ... Ecce Homo (Behold the Man!), Antonio Ciseris depiction of Pontius Pilate presenting a scourged Jesus of Nazareth to the people of Jerusalem Pontius Pilate (Latin Pontius Pilatus) was the governor of the Roman province of Judea from AD 26 until around AD 36. ... Heresy, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the Catholic or Orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox. ... Eusebius is the name of several significant historical people: Pope Eusebius - Pope in AD 309 - 310. ... In Christianity, Docetism is the belief, regarded by most theologians as heretical, that Jesus did not have a physical body; rather, that his body was an illusion, as was his crucifixion. ...

The opening leaves of the text are lost, so the Passion begins abruptly with the trial of Jesus before Pilate, after Pilate has washed his hands, and closes with its unusual and detailed version of the watch set over the tomb and the resurrection. The Gospel of Peter is more detailed in its account of the events after the Crucifixion than any of the canonical gospels, and it varies from the canonical accounts in numerous details: Herod gives the order for the execution, not Pilate, who is exonerated; Joseph (of Arimathea, which place is not mentioned) has been acquainted with Pilate; in the darkness that accompanied the crucifixion, "many went about with lamps, supposing that it was night, and fell down". The Passion is the technical term for the suffering and Agony of Jesus that led directly to the Crucifixion, a central Christian event. ... It has been suggested that Resurrection of the dead be merged into this article or section. ...

Christ's cry from the cross, in Matthew given as Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? which Matthew explains as meaning My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? is explained in Peter as My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me. Immediately after, Peter states that when he had said it he was taken up, this doubtless supplying part of the fears of the text's supposed docetism. The account in Peter tells that the supposed writer and other disciples hid because they were being sought on suspicion of plotting to set fire to the temple, and totally rejects any possibility of their disloyalty.

The Roman soldiers are described as flagellating Jesus, mocking him, planning who would get Jesus' clothes, and deliberately wanting Jesus to die a more painful death and so not breaking his legs. The centurion who kept watch at the tomb is given the name Petronius. Details of the sealing of the tomb, requested of Pilate by the elders of the Jewish community, elaborates upon Matthew 28:66 "So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch:" saying instead Whipping on a post Flagellation is the act of whipping (Latin flagellum, whip) the human body. ... Petronius (c. ...

"And Pilate gave them Petronius the centurion with soldiers to guard the tomb. And with them came elders and scribes to the sepulchre, and having rolled a great stone together with the centurion and the soldiers, they all together who were there set it at the door of the sepulchre; and they affixed seven seals, and they pitched a tent there and guarded it. And early in the morning as the sabbath. was drawing on, there came a multitude from Jerusalem and the region round about, that they might see the sepulchre that was sealed."

Most importantly, the Resurrection and Ascension, which are described in detail, are not treated as separate events, but occur on the same day:

9.And in the night in which the Lord's day was drawing on, as the soldiers kept guard two by two in a watch, there was a great voice in the heaven; and they saw the heavens opened, and two men descend from thence with great light and approach the tomb. And that stone which was put at the door rolled of itself and made way in part; and the tomb was opened, and both the young men entered in.

10. When therefore those soldiers saw it, they awakened the centurion and the elders; for they too were hard by keeping guard. And, as they declared what things they had seen, again they see three men come forth from the tomb, and two of them supporting one, and a cross following them: and of the two the head reached unto the heaven, but the head of him that was led by them overpassed the heavens. And they heard a voice from the heavens, saying, Thou hast preached to them that sleep. And a response was heard from the cross, Yea."

The text is unusual at this point in describing the cross itself as speaking, and even moving around, which has lead a few scholars to suspect it of gnostic sympathies. The text then proceeds to follow the Gospel of Mark, ending at the short ending (where the women flee the empty tomb in fear), and adding on an extra scene set during the feast of unleavened bread, where the disciples leave Jerusalem, and ends, like the short ending, without Jesus being physically seen or explicitly resurrected. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Mark 16 is the final chapter of the Gospel of Mark. ...

References

• J. Rendel Harris, A Popular Account of the Newly-Recovered Gospel of Peter
• John Dominic Crossan, The Cross That Spoke: The Origins of the Passion Narrative. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988.

James Rendel Harris (Plymouth, Devon, January 27, 1852 – March 1, 1941) was a British biblical scholar and curator of manuscripts, who was instrumental in bringing back to light many Syriac Scriptures and other early documents. ...

See also

• Biblical canon
• apocrypha

The Biblical canon is an exclusive list of books written during the formative period of the Jewish or Christian faiths; the leaders of these communities believed these books to be inspired by God or to express the authoritative history of the relationship between God and his people (although there may... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

External links

• Gospel of Peter (Greek text)
• Early Christian Writings: Gospel of Peter: several translations and commentaries, and three Patristic references
• Gospels.net: Gospel of Peter: additional information
• The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge :Peter the Apostle: III.1
• Geoff Trowbrige, "The Gospel of Peter"
• Barbara Thiering's interpretation of the Gospel of Peter