Sophia Scriptura

Apocalypse of Peter (Akhmim fragment)

Apocalypsis Petri · Ἀποκάλυψις Πέτρου

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Contents

  1. 0The title of the fragment.
  2. 1Christ warns that many false prophets will teach doctrines of destruction.
  3. 2The false teachers will become sons of destruction.
  4. 3God will come to the faithful who suffer and will judge the lawless.
  5. 4The Lord leads the disciples to the mountain to pray.
  6. 5The twelve ask to see one of the righteous dead.
  7. 6Two radiant men appear before the Lord.
  8. 7Their faces and clothing shine with indescribable glory.
  9. 8Their bodies are whiter than snow and redder than roses.
  10. 9Their beauty cannot be described.
  11. 10Their hair is like a garland of flowers or a rainbow.
  12. 11The disciples are amazed at their sudden appearing.
  13. 12Peter asks the Lord who they are.
  14. 13The Lord says they are the righteous brothers.
  15. 14Peter asks where the righteous dwell.
  16. 15The Lord shows Peter the radiant land of the righteous.
  17. 16The fragrance of the place reaches the disciples.
  18. 17Its inhabitants wear the shining clothing of angels.
  19. 18Angels move among them.
  20. 19The righteous praise God together in equal glory.
  21. 20The Lord names it the place of the righteous.
  22. 21Peter sees a dark place of punishment opposite.
  23. 22Blasphemers of the way of righteousness hang by their tongues over fire.
  24. 23Those who turn from righteousness are tormented in a lake of burning mire.
  25. 24Adulterous women hang by their hair, and their partners by their feet, over the mire.
  26. 25Murderers are tormented by reptiles and worms while their victims watch and praise God's justice.
  27. 26Women who procured abortions sit in filth, struck by fire from the children they aborted.
  28. 27Persecutors of the righteous burn and are eaten by worms.
  29. 28Those who reviled the way of righteousness gnaw their lips and are burned in the eyes.
  30. 29False witnesses gnaw their tongues with fire in their mouths.
  31. 30The pitiless rich roll on red-hot stones.
  32. 31Usurers stand in a lake of pus, blood and boiling mire.
  33. 32Those who practised same-sex intercourse are cast down from a cliff again and again.
  34. 33Makers of idols stand in fire beside others who beat one another unceasingly.
  35. 34Those who abandoned the way of God are roasted in fire.

About this work

Author
Anonymous
Attribution
pseudonymous · Anonymous; an apocalypse under Peter's name (pseudonymous), generally dated to the early second century (ca. 100-150; confidence: approximate). Listed in the Muratorian Canon (with a note that some would not have it read in church) and quoted by Clement of Alexandria (Ecl. 41, 48-49) and Methodius. The Akhmim Greek is a fragment of 34 verses (8th-9th century codex); a longer Ethiopic form survives and differs. It is not part of the 66-book canon.
Standing
Not honoured as a saint or in a church calendar by the Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant traditions. Anonymous or pseudonymous work read and used in the church of its time.
Date
ca. 100–150 (approximate) · Known to Clement of Alexandria and the Muratorian Canon (late 2nd century).
Written at
unknown, Egypt (probably) (disputed)
Language
Greek
Genre
other
Reference system
verse, following Harnack's division (1-34); 0 = title (supplied from the codex tradition, not printed as a heading in Harnack's text). Verse numerals the OCR could not read are not separate refs: their text lies inside the preceding ref.
SBL abbreviation
Apoc. Pet.Not yet checked
Text from
Adolf von Harnack, Bruchstücke des Evangeliums und der Apokalypse des Petrus, Texte und Untersuchungen 9.2 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1893), 16-20 (Printed edition in the public domain; Tesseract OCR of a public-domain scan (Internet Archive))