kiana
(Kiana)
#1
344 michael kaler
alone and having an uncanny experience is something that can happen
to anyone, at any time, and the lack of detail in the Apocalypse of Paul
heightens the universality of this experience.
with regard to the narrative frames of the works, the Apocalypse of
Adam wraps its story up very neatly indeed: “These are the revelations
which Adam made known to seth his son. And his son taught his seed
about them.. .” Adam’s career is finished and the story of Adam is closed.
similarly, the two Apocalypses of James end with martyrdoms—in the first
case, of Jesus; in the second, of James. in these examples as well, the story
is completed and closed, the main characters’ arcs resolved. Their endings
give the reader a sense of finality.
in the Apocalypse of Paul, things are very different. The tale ends while
paul is still ascending, still rising, and being greeted by his fellow spir-
its (23.30–24.9), with the clear promise of an eventual return to earth to
carry out his mission (23.13–17). The historical arc is not closed. paul has
enjoyed a moment of revelation and promise, leading to communion with
his fellow spirits, but following this blissful “time out” he must return to
history. The lack of closure in the text turns it into an ongoing story, into
which the reader can see him or herself fitting. The fact that it ends with-
out a return to a defined historical context enhances its mythical, dream-
like feeling—and myths and dreams float free of time, being as relevant to
readers in the fourth century (or the twenty-first!) as in the first century.
for both of these reasons, the paul of the Apocalypse of Paul is a fig-
ure that could well have resonated with the readers of this codex. we
know, from the choice of texts contained in it, that the compilers and
readers were interested in apocalyptic literature, and of the four apoca-
lypses contained in the codex, the Apocalypse of Paul is the most open
to the reader—not a tale of events that happened and then ended once
and for all, but rather a record of the sorts of events that could happen
to anyone at any time. it is an evocative work that draws the reader in,
not least through the absence of explicit barriers (for instance, historically
specific details about the time and place of the events) to the reader’s
identification with paul. in this codex, paul is the bridge that extends the
revelatory tradition from out of religious history to the reader—just as,
in the mainstream christian presentation of him, he was the bridge that
extended the promise of salvation to the gentiles.
