the heretics’ apostle and two pauline pseudepigrapha 339
overlook evidence telling us about fourth- or fifth-century egypt. conse-
quently, in my recent work generally, and in this specific case, i will focus
more on the assessment of how these works function within their one
securely attested context, namely the nag hammadi collection itself, as a
whole or in terms of the individual codices or sub-collections of codices.
The Apocalypse of Paul
The Apocalypse of Paul (hereafter Apoc. Paul) is a short ascension apoca-
lypse, taking up just seven pages in codex V, ca. 200 lines. paul, in 2 cor
12:2–4, speaks briefly of his apocalyptic experiences; the Apoc. Paul pro-
vides a story that integrates these mentions, as well as other pauline refer-
ences (most prominently, rom 8:38; gal 1:13–17; eph 1:21, 4:8, 6:12; col 1:16),
into a very stereotypical ascension apocalypse context.
The tale begins with paul, walking alone on “the mountain of Jericho,”7
being greeted by a small child who is revealed to be the holy spirit. The
child/spirit exhorts paul to learn to tell “the hidden things in those that
are visible” (19.13–14), and lifts paul up to the fourth heaven, which con-
tains a trial. from there, paul and the child/spirit ascend through the fifth
heaven (in which there is a scene of judgment), the sixth (in which paul
is challenged by a “toll-collector [τελώνης]” [22.20]), and the seventh (in
which paul must evade the questions and threats of a demiurgical “old
man” whose throne is seven times brighter than the sun [22.24–23.29]).
following this, paul is free to ascend through the eighth and ninth heav-
ens, up to the tenth, in which he greets his “fellow spirits” (24.7–8). The
Apoc. Paul ends here, but with an open ending: in the seventh heaven,
paul had declared his intent to eventually go “down to the land of the
dead”—presumably our world—“to lead captive the captivity that was led
captive in the captivity of Babylon” (23.12–16; cf. eph 4:8).
The broad outlines of this text show its author’s familiarity with the
Judeo-christian apocalyptic tradition, the motifs of which are unmistak-
ably deployed, including the use of a revered figure as a protagonist, the
presence of an angelic guide, arrangement of the heavens in levels, the use
of question and answer dialogue to impart information, the presentation
of judgment and eschatological predictions, the presence of an angelic
7 There is no mountain of Jericho. Jean-marc rosenstiehl has presented an extremely
interesting, but also extremely speculative, interpretation of the phrase (rosenstiehl and
Kaler, L’Apocalypse de Paul, 26–34).