Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to Apocalyptic Literature
- Cambridge Companions to Religion
- The Cambridge Companion to Apocalyptic Literature
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- 1 Through a Glass Darkly: Time, the End, and the Essence of Apocalyptica
- 2 Apocalypticism as a Worldview in Ancient Judaism and Christianity
- 3 Introduction to the Book of Revelation
- 4 The Gnostic Apocalypses
- 5 Exegeting the Apocalypse with the Donatist Communion
- 6 Tests of Faith, Rebirth out of Corruption, or Endless Cycles of Regeneration: Experiments in the Restoration of the Late Roman Empire
- 7 Latin Reception of the Apocalypse in the Early Middle Ages
- 8 Exegesis of the Apocalypse in the Tenth Century
- 9 The End of the World at the Ends of the Earth: Apocalyptic Thought in Medieval Ireland
- 10 Byzantine Apocalyptic Literature
- 11 Joachim of Fiore and the Apocalyptic Revival of the Twelfth Century
- 12 Apocalyptic Sensibility in Renaissance Europe
- 13 “Pride & Vanity of the Imagination, That Disdains to Follow This World’s Fashion”: Apocalypticism in the Age of Reason
- 14 The Formation of Antichrist in Medieval Western Christian Thought
- 15 From Dabiq to Jerusalem: Trajectories of Contemporary Salafi-jihadi Apocalypticism
- 16 American Evangelicals and the Apocalypse
- 17 Apocalypticism in the Contemporary World
- Appendix: Early Medieval Commentaries on the Apocalypse
- Index
- Series page
- References
4 - The Gnostic Apocalypses
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2020
Edited by
Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to Apocalyptic Literature
- Cambridge Companions to Religion
- The Cambridge Companion to Apocalyptic Literature
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- 1 Through a Glass Darkly: Time, the End, and the Essence of Apocalyptica
- 2 Apocalypticism as a Worldview in Ancient Judaism and Christianity
- 3 Introduction to the Book of Revelation
- 4 The Gnostic Apocalypses
- 5 Exegeting the Apocalypse with the Donatist Communion
- 6 Tests of Faith, Rebirth out of Corruption, or Endless Cycles of Regeneration: Experiments in the Restoration of the Late Roman Empire
- 7 Latin Reception of the Apocalypse in the Early Middle Ages
- 8 Exegesis of the Apocalypse in the Tenth Century
- 9 The End of the World at the Ends of the Earth: Apocalyptic Thought in Medieval Ireland
- 10 Byzantine Apocalyptic Literature
- 11 Joachim of Fiore and the Apocalyptic Revival of the Twelfth Century
- 12 Apocalyptic Sensibility in Renaissance Europe
- 13 “Pride & Vanity of the Imagination, That Disdains to Follow This World’s Fashion”: Apocalypticism in the Age of Reason
- 14 The Formation of Antichrist in Medieval Western Christian Thought
- 15 From Dabiq to Jerusalem: Trajectories of Contemporary Salafi-jihadi Apocalypticism
- 16 American Evangelicals and the Apocalypse
- 17 Apocalypticism in the Contemporary World
- Appendix: Early Medieval Commentaries on the Apocalypse
- Index
- Series page
- References
Summary
This chapter surveys the body of ancient Gnostic apocalypses, works that differentiate God from the creator of the world and identify humanity as divine. These apocalypses are important for our understanding of Greek, Jewish, Coptic, and Manichaean literature, as well as early Islam, but a brief look at two such apocalypses—the Apocryphon of John and the Apocalypse of Paul—reminds us that their use of visionary motifs and pseudepigraphy also served diverse ends in the world of early Christianity.
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- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Companion to Apocalyptic Literature , pp. 59 - 78Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020
References
Selected Further Reading
Attridge, Harold W. “Valentinian and Sethian Apocalyptic Traditions.” Journal of Early Christian Studies 8, no. 2 (2000): 173–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brakke, David M. “Scriptural Practices in Early Christianity: Towards a New History of the New Testament Canon.” In Invention, Rewriting, Usurpation: Discursive Fights over Religious Traditions in Antiquity, 263–80. Edited by Ulrich, Jörg, Jacobson, Anders-Christian, and Brakke, David. Frankfurt am Main: Lang, 2011.Google Scholar
Burns, Dylan M. Apocalypse of the Alien God: Platonism and the Exile of Sethian Gnosticism. Divinations. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014.Google Scholar
Collins, John J. “Introduction: Towards the Morphology of a Genre.” In “Apocalypse: The Morphology of a Genre.” Edited by Collins, John J.. Special issue, Semeia 14 (1979): 1–19.Google Scholar
Frankfurter, David. “The Legacy of Jewish Apocalypses in Early Christianity: Regional Trajectories.” In The Jewish Apocalyptic Heritage in Early Christianity, 129–200. Edited by VanderKam, James C. and Adler, William. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1996.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartenstein, Judith. Die zweite Lehre: Erscheinungen des Auferstandenen als Rahmenerzählungen frühchristlicher Dialoge. Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur 146. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2000.Google Scholar
Kaler, Michael. Flora Tells a Story: The Apocalypse of Paul and Its Contexts. Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2008.Google Scholar
Pregill, Michael. “Ahab, Bar Kokhba, Muhammad, and the Lying Spirit: Prophetic Discourse before and after the Rise of Islam.” In Revelation, Literature, and Community in Late Antiquity, 271–313. Edited by Townsend, Philippa and Vidas, Moulie. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011.Google Scholar
Reeves, John C. Heralds of That Good Realm: Syro-Mesopotamian Gnosis and Jewish Traditions. Leiden: Brill, 1996.Google Scholar
Wurst, Gregor. “Apokalypsen in den Nag Hammadi-Codices.” In Die Nag-Hammadi-Schriften in der Literatur- und Theologiegeschichte des frühen Christentums, 69–78. Edited by Schröter, Jens and Schwarz, Konrad. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017.Google Scholar