Apocryphicity

A Blog Devoted to the Study of Christian Apocrypha

Month: February 2007

The Jesus Tomb and the Acts of Philip II

by Tony

The argument for the identification of the Mariamne e Mara of the Jesus Tomb with Mary Magdalene based on the Acts of Philip is clarified by Simcha Jacobovici in a short video on Youtube and an article in the Jerusalem Post. Perhaps “clarified” is too strong. Jacobovici appeals to the 1970 edition of Acts of Philip by Francois Bovon in which, Jacobovici claims, Mary is referred to as “Mariamne” and is characterized as an apostle, a healer, and a leader. The Post article also mentions Bovon’s edition:

Francois Bovon, professor of the history of religion at Harvard University, says that "Mariamene, or Mariamne, probably was the actual name given to Mary Magdalene," and that this is the name given to Mary Magdalene in a non-canonical text called the "Acts of Philip," which mentions the apostles and Mariamne, sister of the apostle Philip.

The excerpt from the Acts I posted (HERE), in which the only Mariamne identified is Mary of Bethany and sister of Philip, is from M. R. James’ edition. I do not have Bovon’s at hand but can anyone clarify this? Are both the Post and Jacobovici misrepresenting the text?

Continue Reading

The Jesus Tomb and the Acts of Philip

by Tony
In an interview with James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici on the Today Show (see the interview here), it was revealed that Acts of Philip is instrumental in determining that the Talpiot tomb holds the remains of the family of Jesus. The two stated that the identification of the ossuary of “Mariamne” as Mary Magdalene was vital to their theory. According to Cameron and Jacobovici, Mary Magdalene’s “real name” is revealed in the Acts of Philip to be Mariamne. The problems with this assertion should be obvious. First, the Acts of Philip is a dubious source for identifiying first-century figures. Second, as far as I am able to determine (the best books are not at hand at the moment), the Mariamne of Acts of Philip is not Mary Magdalene but Mary of Bethany. Here is an excerpt:

94 It came to pass when the Saviour divided the apostles and each went forth according to his lot, that it fell to Philip to go to the country of the Greeks: and he thought it hard, and wept. And Mariamne his sister (it was she that made ready the bread and salt at the breaking of bread, but Martha was she that ministered to the multitudes and laboured much) seeing it, went to Jesus and said: Lord, seest thou not how my brother is vexed?

…
Continue Reading

The Jesus Tomb

by Tony

Tomorrow in New York there will be a press conference for the release of the book The Jesus Tomb by Simcha Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino. I have known about this book and its claims for some time now (James Tabor’s The Jesus Dynasty provides hints to its contents) but I did not think it appropriate to mention on a blog dedicated to apocryphal literature. And then I read Amazon’s synopsis of the book (emphasis mine):

Were the remains of Jesus's body found over 25 years ago and the truth hidden? Now, The Jesus Tomb tells the shattering story of what may very well be the greatest archaeological find of all time — the discovery of the Jesus family tomb. The Jesus Tomb is the most exciting real-life archaeological detective story ever told. In 1980 a crypt was accidentally discovered in Jerusalem. Inside were ossuaries (bone boxes) with inscriptions bearing the names of Jesus of Nazareth, the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Judah, the son of Jesus. The artefacts were recorded and catalogued and then locked away for over a quarter of a century. But the tomb itself wasn't destroyed — it's under the foundations of a modern apartment. In 2005, documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici gained permission to break the floor and re-enter the tomb. Together with top forensic archaeologist Charles Pellegrino and the team involved in the original discovery, he started an earth-shattering investigation that will shock the Judeo-Christian world. In a rollercoaster narrative combining history, archaeology and cutting-edge science,

…
Continue Reading

Update on Oxyrhynchus “Hoax”

by Tony

Stephen Carlson of Hypotyposeis has provided a helpful update on the Oxyrhynchus story. He provides a link to Daniel B. Wallace at the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts who has this to say:

The sensational report in the school newspaper of Bighham Young University about a new ending for Mark 16 in an early papyrus has circulated the Internet rather rapidly. Other publications have picked it up and the news has continued to spread, with scholarly speculation over what the ending might be.

All of this is premature, however, and in fact is based on faulty reporting. The scholars involved in the “discovery” have written a disclaimer and have asked me to post it. The three professors working on multi-spectral imaging of ancient manuscripts at BYU are Thomas Wayment, Roger Macfarlane, and Stephen Bay. I contacted Professor Macfarlane because of my interest in the discovery. He told me that it was a journalistic mistake. I would simply ask that the scholarly community recognize that not only is there no such manuscript to speculate about, but that the reputations of these professors should not in any way be impugned by this unintentionally false report of their findings. Please read their retraction for yourselves to see what has actually transpired. As all of us who teach know, our students don’t always hear exactly what we are saying. This is simply just another classic case of that, but the ramifications for the reputation of these gentlemen could have been unfortunate

…
Continue Reading

News on the Oxyrhynchus Papyri: Hype or Hoax?

by Tony

Last week Stephen Carlson of Hypotyposeis and other bloggers mentioned an article from the BYU (Brigham Young University) web site about new technology that could aid in reading some of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri (“Mysteries of Ancient Egyptian Papyri Revealed,” Feb. 14). It appears now that the article was either a case of an overzealous (and confused) reporter or an intentional attempt to mislead readers. The article has been removed from the web site but here is the excerpt that appeared on Carlson’s blog:

Three BYU professors have uncovered mysteries in ancient Egyptian writings aided by new technology that allows people to see inscriptions invisible to the naked eye.

The professors Roger Macfarlane, Stephen Bay and Thomas Wayment, have been working on deciphering these writings on papyrus found in an Egyptian dump where an ancient city known as Oxyrhynchus previously existed. The papyri are now housed at the University of Oxford in England and studied by various scholars around the globe.

The technology developed by BYU called multispectral imaging, can penetrate through dirt, stains and other material on the papyri, making it possible to expose obscured lettering.

. . .

Specific material in these texts include an unidentified Christian apocryphal Gospel, a new ending to the Gospel of Mark, a different version of two verses in the book of Philemon, and a missing section in Luke 22:43-44. In the King James Version, these verses in Luke talk about Christ shedding blood in the Garden of Gethsemane.

When I first read the …

Continue Reading

New Apocryphon on the Funeral of Jesus?

by Tony

While viewing the contents of a manuscript listed in a catalogue I came across a fragmentary text which appears to discuss the funeral of Jesus. The text begins: "…he was greatly afraid. He said to Joseph: 'I give you, Joseph, the body of Jesus.'" It ends with: "…of the misery of those who do not wish to do good to those faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ…".

Does anyone recognize this text? 

Continue Reading

Popular New Thriller Features Gnostics

by Tony

Jim Davila at Palaeojudaica has a few posts (HERE and HERE) on the new thriller The Book of Names by Jill Gregory and Karen Tintori (read a review HERE). The book features a battle between a group of chosen ones, the lamed vovniks, mentioned in the Talmud and a rival group called the Gnoseos. Comparisons to Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code are inevitable but there have been plenty of decent biblical or medieval thrillers that are worthy of mention. Ian Caldwell and Diustin Thomason’s The Rule of Four and Lev Grossman’s Codex are both highly readable literary thrillers dealing with efforts to thwart evil efforts to hide important medieval manuscripts. There are numerous Jesus novels that feature apocryphal traditions—far too many to mention.

Another early biblical thriller is the now-infamous The Mystery of Mar Saba written by in James H. Hunter 1940 which some claim inspired Morton Smith to “forge” Secret Mark. For a discussion of the book in connection with the gospel see HERE. Novelist Jeffrey Archer will add to the CA-related fiction next month with his The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot. You can read about it HERE, but here’s a quick publisher’s summary:

The Gospel According to Judas, by Benjamin Iscariot sheds new light on the the mystery of Judas—including his motives for the betrayal and what happened to him after the crucifixion—by retelling the story of Jesus through the eyes of Judas, using the canonical

…
Continue Reading

Review: Craig Evans’ Fabricating Jesus

by Tony

In the course of research for an essay on the past 20 years of scholarship on the CA I was led to reading several recent books which critique both the primary texts and the scholars who work on them. Such books include Darrell Bock’s The Missing Gospels: Unearthing the Truth Behind Alternative Christianities, Ben Witherington’s The Gospel Code: Novel claims About Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Da Vinci, and Philip Jenkins’ Hidden Gospels: How the Search for Jesus Lost Its Way. These books are best described as Christian apologetic. Their aim is to redress the harm they perceive is being done to Christianity as a result of such evils as The DaVinci Code, the Jesus Seminar, Bart Ehrman and other “pseudo-scholarship.” Certainly some material from these books can be useful (particularly Jenkins’ treatment of 19th century apocrypha discoveries, forgeries and the sensationalism that attended them), but the majority of the time the authors’ apologetic interests interfere with their arguments, leading them to make misleading, even erroneous, comments about the texts and CA scholars. Witherington goes so far as to demonize his adversaries in stating, “these scholars, though bright and sincere, are not merely wrong; they are misled. They are oblivious to the fact that they are being led down this path by the powers of darkness” (The Gospel Code, p. 174).

It is in the context of exploring this anti-CA apologetic that I read Craig Evans’ Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels. …

Continue Reading

Ethiopic Apocrypha Manuscripts

by Tony

Scholars of Ethiopic Apocrypha may be interested in an article from the SBL Forum by Steve Delamarter (George Fox Evangelical Seminary) titled “The SGD Digital Collection: Previously Unknown and Uncatalogued Ethiopian Manuscripts in North America.” Several apocryphal texts are mentioned in the article.

Continue Reading