Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter
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The Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter, not to be confused with the Apocalypse of Peter, is a text found amongst the Nag Hammadi library, and part of the New Testament apocrypha. Like the vast majority of texts in the Nag Hammadi collection, it is heavily gnostic. It was probably written around 100-200 A.D. Since the surviving text, although likely to have been translated from an original Greek version, is in Coptic, it is also known as the Coptic Apocalypse of Peter. The text takes gnostic interpretations of the crucifixion to the extreme, picturing Jesus as laughing and warning against people who cleave to the name of a dead man, thinking they shall become pure. The text disagrees with the Orthodox Church's doctrine of Salvation. According to this text:
"He whom you saw on the tree, glad and laughing, this is the living Jesus. But this one into whose hands and feet they drive the nails is his fleshly part, which is the substitute being put to shame, the one who came into being in his likeness. But look at him and me."
It is unclear whether this text advocates an adoptionist or docetist christology, but based on its literary parallels with the Second Treatise of the Great Seth, it may well ascribe to the latter.
[edit] References
- Translation by James Brashler and Roger A. Bullard
- Online translation of the Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter