The Gospel of Peter (), or the Gospel according to Peter, is an ancient text concerning

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

, only partially known today. Originally written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

, it is a non-canonical gospel and was rejected as

apocryphal Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

by the Church's synods of Carthage and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, which contributed to the establishment of the New Testament canon. It was the first of the apocryphal gospels to be rediscovered, preserved in the dry sands of Egypt. A major focus of the surviving fragment of the Gospel of Peter is the Passion narrative, which ascribes responsibility for the

crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being crucifixion, nailed to a cross.The instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus f ...

Herod Antipas Herod Antipas (, ''Hērṓidēs Antípas''; ) was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea. He bore the title of tetrarch ("ruler of a quarter") and is referred to as both "Herod the Tetrarch" and "King Herod" in the New Testament. He was a s ...

rather than to

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...

Composition

Authorship

The Gospel of Peter explicitly claims to be the work of

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

: According to bible scholar Craig Blomberg, the Gospel of Peter is

pseudepigraphical A pseudepigraph (also anglicized as "pseudepigraphon") is a falsely attributed work, a text whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past. The name of the author to whom the wor ...

(bearing the name of an author who did not actually compose the text). The true author of the gospel remains a mystery. Although there are parallels with the three

synoptic gospels The gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Mark, and Gospel of Luke, Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical ...

, Peter does not use any of the material unique to Matthew or unique to Luke.

Raymond E. Brown Raymond Edward Brown (May 22, 1928 – August 8, 1998) was an American Sulpician priest and prominent biblical scholar. He was a specialist on the hypothetical Johannine community, which he speculated contributed to the authorship of the Gosp ...

and others find that the author may have been acquainted with the synoptic gospels and even with the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...

; Brown even suggests that the author's source in the canonical gospels was transmitted orally, through readings in the churches, i.e. that the text is based on what the author remembers about the other gospels, together with their own embellishments. Ron Cameron and others have further speculated the Gospel of Peter was written independently of the synoptic gospels using an early proto-gospel. A consequence of this is the potential existence of a source text that formed the basis of the passion narratives in Matthew, Luke, and Mark, as well as in Peter.

Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...

makes mention of the Gospel of Peter as agreeing with the tradition of the

Hebrews The Hebrews (; ) were an ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic-speaking people. Historians mostly consider the Hebrews as synonymous with the Israelites, with the term "Hebrew" denoting an Israelite from the nomadic era, which pre ...

. The relationship to the Gospel according to the Hebrews becomes more clear when

Theodoret Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus (; AD 393 – 458/466) was an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus (423–457). He played a pivotal role in several 5th-century Byzantine ...

states that the Nazarenes made use of the Gospel of Peter, for it is known by the testimony of the Fathers generally that the Nazarene Gospel was commonly called the Gospel according to the Hebrews. The same Gospel was in use among the

Ebionites Ebionites (, derived from Hebrew , , meaning 'the poor' or 'poor ones') as a term refers to a Jewish Christian sect that existed during the early centuries of the Common Era. Since historical records by the Ebionites are scarce, fragmentary and ...

, and, in fact, as almost all critics are agreed, the Gospel according to the Hebrews – under various names such as the Gospel according to Peter, according to the Apostles, the Nazarenes, Ebionites, Egyptians, etc. – was substantially the same work, circulated very widely throughout the early Church, though with modifications.

Date

The gospel is widely thought to date from after the composition of the four canonical gospels. Scholars are divided as to the exact date of the text, with some placing it in the first half of the 2nd century and considering it to have been compiled based on oral traditions about Jesus, independent of the canonical gospels.Ehrman and Pleše 2011, pp. 370–372. The dating of the text depends to a certain extent on whether it is the same "Gospel of Peter" condemned by Serapion, Bishop of Antioch upon inspection at Rhossus.Ehrman and Pleše 2011, p. 371. The Rhossus community had already been using it in their liturgy. John Dominic Crossan argues that the Gospel of Peter, as it is found in the modern day, was composed in the 2nd century but incorporates a passion narrative source that predates all other known passion accounts. He calls this primitive passion source the "Cross Gospel." Crossan asserts that this Cross Gospel was written before the

synoptic gospel The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical wording. They stand in contrast to John, whose ...

s of Mark, Matthew, and Luke and that it influenced both them and the Gospel of Peter. Crossan's view is not accepted by mainstream Biblical scholars. footnote Craig A. Evans argues that the Gospel of Peter was written in the 2nd century CE to counter anti-Christian polemics of that time (such as the ones found in

Celsus Celsus (; , ''Kélsos''; ) was a 2nd-century Greek philosopher and opponent of early Christianity. His literary work '' The True Word'' (also ''Account'', ''Doctrine'' or ''Discourse''; Greek: )Hoffmann p.29 survives exclusively via quotati ...

's ''

The True Word ''The True Word'' (or ''Discourse'', ''Account'', or ''Doctrine''; , ''Logos Alēthēs'') is a lost treatise in which the ancient Greek philosopher Celsus addressed many principal points of early Christianity and argued against their validity. In ...

''). Later Western references, which condemn the work, such as

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

and the , traditionally connected to

Pope Gelasius I Pope Gelasius I was the bishop of Rome from 1 March 492 to his death on 21 November 496. Gelasius was a prolific author whose style placed him on the cusp between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.The title of his biography by Walter Ullma ...

, are apparently based upon the judgment of

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

, not upon a direct knowledge of the text.

Historical references

The

Second Epistle of Clement The Second Epistle of Clement (), often referred to as 2 Clement (pronounced "Second Clement"), is an early Christian writing. It was at one point possibly considered canonical by the Coptic Orthodox Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. 1 and 2 Cl ...

refers to a passage thought to be from the Gospel of Peter:

mentions "the Gospel according to Peter, as it is called", together with "the Book of James" (believed by scholars to be the apocryphal

Gospel of James The Gospel of James (or the Protoevangelium of James) is a second-century infancy gospel telling of the miraculous conception of the Virgin Mary, her upbringing and marriage to Joseph, the journey of the couple to Bethlehem, the birth of J ...

), in support of the doctrine of the

perpetual virginity of Mary The perpetual virginity of Mary is a Christian doctrine that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin "before, during and after" the birth of Christ. In Western Christianity, the Catholic Church adheres to the doctrine, as do some Lutherans, Ang ...

. However, it is not clear that he was referring to what is known modernly as the Gospel of Peter because the extant fragments say nothing about this or about the birth of Jesus. In his ''

Church History Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of t ...

'',

writes that Bishop Serapion of Antioch had been informed that a Christian community in Rhosus was using the Gospel of Peter in their liturgy and had sent a letter authorizing them to do so, while also denying that such Gospel was actually written by

. Later, however, Serapion was informed that the Gospel of Peter "hid a heresy", which he attributed to Marcian of Rhossos and that he identified with

docetism In the history of Christianity, docetism (from the ''dokeĩn'' "to seem", ''dókēsis'' "apparition, phantom") was the doctrine that the phenomenon of Jesus, his historical and bodily existence, and above all the human form of Jesus, was mere s ...

. Serapion reports that he read the Gospel carefully and had the opportunity "to find, along with much of the Savior's true doctrine, some additions". Eusebius also states that several works had been attributed to Peter: the

First Epistle of Peter The First Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament. The author presents himself as Peter the Apostle. The ending of the letter includes a statement that implies that it was written from "Babylon", which may be a reference to Rome. The ...

, the

Second Epistle of Peter 2 Peter, also known as the Second Epistle of Peter and abbreviated as 2 Pet., is an epistle of the New Testament written in Koine Greek. It identifies the author as "Simon Peter" (in some translations, 'Simeon' or 'Shimon'), a bondservant and ...

, the

Acts of Peter The Acts of Peter is one of the earliest of the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (genre), Acts of the Apostles in Christianity, dating to the late 2nd century AD. The majority of the text has survived only in the Vetus Latina, Latin translation of ...

, the Gospel of Peter, the Preaching of Peter and the Apocalypse of Peter. He accepts the First Epistle of Peter as genuine, the Second Epistle as useful but not canonical, while he describes the others as "not universally accepted".

mistakenly says in his that Serapion wrote the Gospel of Peter. In his ''Compendium of Heretical Accounts'',

states that the 4th century Nazarene sect used the Gospel of Peter in their liturgy, though there is little evidence to support this claim. In his ''Church History'', Philip of Side states that "the ancients absolutely refused the Gospel of the Hebrews, the Gospel of Peter and the

Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is a non-canonical Logia, sayings gospel. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate the works ...

, which they considered the work of heretics."

Discovery

The Gospel of Peter was recovered in 1886 by the French archaeologist

Urbain Bouriant Urbain Bouriant (11 April 1849 – 19 June 1903) was a French Egyptologist, who discovered the Gospel of Peter in a tomb at Akhmim. He is best known from his translation of Al-Maqrizi, published as ''Description topographique et historique de l'Eg ...

in the modern Egyptian city of

Akhmim Akhmim (, ; Akhmimic , ; Sahidic/Bohairic ) is a city in the Sohag Governorate of Upper Egypt. Referred to by the ancient Greeks as Khemmis or Chemmis () and Panopolis (), it is located on the east bank of the Nile, to the northeast of Sohag. ...

( north of

Nag Hammadi Nag Hammadi ( ; ) is a city and Markaz (administrative division), markaz in Upper Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile in the Qena Governorate, about north-west of Luxor. The city had a population of close to 61,737 . History ...

). The 8th- or 9th-century

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

had been respectfully buried with an Egyptian

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

. The fragmentary Gospel of Peter was the first non-canonical gospel to have been rediscovered, preserved in the dry sand of Egypt. Publication, delayed by Bouriant until 1892, occasioned intense interest. From the passion sequence that is preserved, it is clear that the gospel was a narrative gospel, but whether a complete narrative similar to the canonical gospels or simply a Passion cannot be said. Two other papyrus fragments from

Oxyrhynchus Oxyrhynchus ( ; , ; ; ), also known by its modern name Al-Bahnasa (), is a city in Middle Egypt located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo in Minya Governorate. It is also an important archaeological site. Since the late 19th century, t ...

(P.Oxy 4009 and P.Oxy. 2949) were uncovered later and published in 1972. They are possibly, but not conclusively, from the Gospel of Peter and would suggest, if they belonged, that the text was more than just a passion narrative. These small fragments both seem to give first person accounts of discussions between Jesus and Peter in situations prior to the Passion week. It has also been speculated that the Fayyum Fragment may be an excerpt from the Gospel of Peter. To date it is one of four early non-canonical narrative gospels, which exist only in fragmentary form: this Gospel of Peter, the

Egerton Gospel The Egerton Gospel (British Library Egerton Papyrus 2) refers to a collection of three papyrus fragments of a codex of a previously unknown gospel, found in Egypt and sold to the British Library, British Museum in 1934; the physical fragments are ...

, and the two very fragmentary Oxyrhynchus Gospels ( P.Oxy. 840 and P.Oxy. 1224). The main point of interest from the first has resided in establishing its relationship to the four canonical gospels.

J. Rendel Harris (1852–1941) decided to introduce the Gospel of Peter to the public in ''A Popular Account of the Newly-Recovered Gospel of Peter.'' He opens with a description of its discovery, offering his opinions regarding its date and original language. Classifying the work as a Docetic gospel, Harris defines the community in which it arose as well as its use during the Patristic age. He translates the fragment and then proceeds to discuss the sources behind it. Harris is convinced that the author borrowed from the canonical accounts, and he lists other literature that may have incorporated the Gospel of Peter, with special emphasis on the ''

Diatessaron The ''Diatessaron'' (; c. 160–175 AD) is the most prominent early gospel harmony. It was created in the Syriac language by Tatian, an Assyrian early Christian apologist and ascetic. Tatian sought to combine all the textual material he fou ...

''. Edgar J. Goodspeed stated that the main importance of this work is that it is the first of the Christian apologies, although on the next page he admits that only "bits" actually fall into that category. One of the chief characteristics of the work is that

is exonerated of all responsibility for the Crucifixion, the onus being laid upon

, the scribes, and other Jews, who pointedly did not "wash their hands" like Pilate. However, the Gospel of Peter was condemned as

heretical Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...

by for its alleged docetic elements. The opening leaves of the text are lost, so the Passion begins abruptly with the trial of Jesus before Pilate, after Pilate has washed his hands, and closes with its unusual and detailed version of the watch set over the tomb and the

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

. The Gospel of Peter is more detailed in its account of the events after the Crucifixion than any of the canonical gospels, and it varies from the canonical accounts in numerous details: Herod gives the order for the execution, not Pilate, who is exonerated; Joseph (of Arimathea, which place is not mentioned) has been acquainted with Pilate; in the darkness that accompanied the crucifixion, "many went about with lamps, supposing that it was night, and fell down". Jesus' cry from the cross, which the Gospels of

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

and Matthew give as "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" which Mark and Matthew explain as meaning, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" is reported in the Gospel of Peter as "My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me". Immediately after, Peter states that, "when he had said it, he was taken up", suggesting that Jesus did not actually die. This, together with the claim that on the cross Jesus "remained silent, as though he felt no pain", has led many early Christians to accuse the text of

F. F. Bruce Frederick Fyvie Bruce (12 October 1910 – 11 September 1990) was a Scottish Evangelicalism, evangelical scholar, author and educator who was Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester from 1959 until 1 ...

writes: F. F. Bruce continues: The account in Peter tells that the supposed writer and other disciples hid because they were being sought on suspicion of plotting to set fire to the temple, and totally rejects any possibility of their disloyalty. The centurion who kept watch at the tomb is given the name

Petronius Gaius Petronius Arbiter"Gaius Petronius Arbiter"
Britannica.com. (; ; ; s ...

. Details of the sealing of the tomb, requested of Pilate by the elders of the Jewish community, elaborate upon Matthew 27:66: "So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch", saying instead: Most importantly, the Resurrection and Ascension, which are described in detail, are not treated as separate events, but occur on the same day: The text is unusual at this point in describing the Cross itself as speaking, and even moving out of the tomb. Deane Galbraith shows that the Gospel of Peter has derived its unusual description of the talking and moving cross by interpreting the first six verses of LXX Psalm 18 (Psalm 19 in the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...

) as a prophecy of Jesus' resurrection. The text then proceeds to follow the Gospel of Mark, ending at the short ending (where the women flee the empty tomb in fear), adding on an extra scene set during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, where the disciples leave Jerusalem, and ends, like the short ending, without Jesus being physically seen.

Notes

Citations

References

* Foster, P, (2007), 'The Gospel of Peter', Exp. Times, Vol. 118, No. 7, p. 318-325. * J. Rendel Harris, ''A Popular Account of the Newly-Recovered Gospel of Peter'' * John Dominic Crossan, ''The Cross That Spoke: The Origins of the Passion Narrative.'' San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988.

External links

* , translation by

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English medievalist scholar and author who served as provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936) as well as Vice-Chancellor of the Univers ...

in the 1924 book ''The Apocryphal New Testament''
"Gospel of Peter"
overview and bibliography by Mark G. Bilby. NASSCAL: ''e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha''.

''Gospel of Peter'': several translations and commentaries, and three Patristic references
-> {{DEFAULTSORT:Gospel Of Peter 2nd-century Christian texts 1886 archaeological discoveries Archaeological discoveries in Egypt

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...