Paul and Pseudepigraphy (Pauline Studies, Book 8)

the heretics’ apostle and two pauline pseudepigrapha 351

israel and the movement’s roots than peter, who presides over the move-

ment as it grows and expands into a gentile context.

All three works dealing with James establish limits to his relevance.

in the Apocryphon, as we have seen, he anticipates the coming of chris-

tians with greater faith and knowledge than he possesses, through whom

he will be justified. The first Apocalypse of James takes place at the time

of Jesus’ martyrdom, and this is clearly presented as a foreshadowing of

James’ own (32.16–33.5), which we see enacted in the second Apocalypse

of James. Thus in reading through the nag hammadi collection one gets

the impression that James is revered (e.g., Gos Thom 34.25–30), but is also

both temporally and geographically limited and fated to be superseded by

later christian developments.

Conclusion

The presentations of these figures that we find in the nag hammadi col-

lection do not innovate in their broad outlines, although their specific

features might have been upsetting to some groups of early christians.

in early christian literature (including the new Testament), peter is

often presented as the archetypal leader of the disciples, while James is

associated with an early, predominantly Jewish form of christianity, and

Thomas “the Twin” is noted for his closeness to Jesus. There are several

different figures of paul that circulated in the early church; however, the

nag hammadi pseudepigrapha pass over his pastorals-style presentation

as a church father in favour of the mystic, visionary, and master of esoteric

knowledge that is represented in the new Testament in such works as the

corinthian correspondence and ephesians, and that is developed by such

later thinkers as origen and chrysostom.

The overall figures of paul that we find in the Prayer and the Apocalypse

of Paul, copied into nag hammadi codices i and V, would probably not

have been surprising to a contemporary christian reader, although the

ways that these figures were developed or the contexts into which they

were fitted might well have been. in addition to this general familiarity,

the reader of codex i (and possibly codices Xi and Vii as well) could have

found the paul of the Prayer to be an apt model as she sought understanding

of the true state and hidden meaning of the world. The reader of codex V,

on the other hand, could have seen paul as a true apocalyptic hero, one

possessing both power and knowledge, showing the way to liberation, and

actualizing the apocalyptic legacy that the codex as a whole draws upon.