The ''Gospel of the Saviour'' is a fragmentary Coptic text from an otherwise unknown gospel that has joined the

New Testament apocrypha The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cite ...

. It consists of a fragmentary fire-damaged

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves, and goats. It has been used as a writing medium for over two millennia. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins o ...

codex that was acquired by the

Egyptian Museum of Berlin The Egyptian Museum of Berlin (german: Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung) is home to one of the world's most important collections of ancient Egyptian artefacts, including the iconic Nefertiti Bust. Since 1855, the collection is a part of t ...

in 1961 (accessioned as Papyrus Berolinensis 22220). Its nature was only discovered in 1991, when it came round to being described (the sheer number of similar manuscripts being described causing the 30-year delay), and was revealed in a 1996 lecture by Charles W. Hedrick.

Translations and formats

It has been edited and translated into English by Hedrick and Paul Mirecki (Hedrick and Mirecki 1999) and by

Bart D. Ehrman Bart Denton Ehrman (born 1955) is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books, including t ...

(Ehrman 2003). The fragmentary nature of the text admits of more than one sequential ordering of the contents, giving rise to more than one useful translation, and some public discussion (see § Bibliography).

Date, origin and style

The manuscript appears to date from the 6th century; Hellenisms in the vocabulary and grammar suggest that it was translated from a lost Greek original. The hypothetic original Greek text on which it is based is thought to have been composed somewhere in the late second or early third century, judging from the theology and style. The Gospel is not a narrative but a dialogue, a form often chosen in Antiquity for didactic material.

Alin Suciu Alin Suciu is a Romanian coptologist and papyrologist. He is a senior researcher at the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities and docent in Early Christian Literature and Coptic Christianity, Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki. ...

has argued that the ''Gospel of the Saviour'' is not in fact a gospel but rather belongs to the Coptic genre of "apostolic memoir" and was written after the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; la, Concilium Chalcedonense), ''Synodos tēs Chalkēdonos'' was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bi ...

in 451.

Gnostic themes

The content is heavily

Gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

in that salvation is available only to those who understand the secret knowledge (''

gnosis Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge ( γνῶσις, ''gnōsis'', f.). The term was used among various Hellenistic religions and philosophies in the Greco-Roman world. It is best known for its implication within Gnosticism, where it ...

''), and also shows parallels with the

Gospel of Peter The Gospel of Peter ( grc, κατά Πέτρον ευαγγέλιον, kata Petron euangelion), or the Gospel according to Peter, is an ancient text concerning Jesus Christ, only partially known today. It is considered a non-canonical gospel and ...

, in that the significance of the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

is somewhat watered down, being considered a part of a heavenly journey, an idea much more in keeping with a Gnostic world-view. The unnamed Saviour (assumed to be

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

) engages in a dialogue with his apostles that is somewhat more personal than is found elsewhere. And at one point, the cross itself is addressed, as if it is a living creature, a companion rather than a device for death.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Charles W. Hedrick and Paul A. Mirecki, 1999. ''Gospel of the Savior: A New Ancient Gospel'' (Santa Rosa, California: Polebridge Press) * Stephen Emmel, 2002. “The Recently Published Gospel of the Savior (''unbekanntes Berliner Evangelium''): Righting the Order of Pages and Events,” in ''

Harvard Theological Review The ''Harvard Theological Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1908 and published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Harvard Divinity School. It covers a wide spectrum of fields in theological and re ...

'' 95 pp 45–72
abstract
* Charles W. Hedrick, 2003. “Caveats to a ‘Righted Order’ of the Gospel of the Savior," in ''Harvard Theological Review '' 96 pp 229–238
abstract
. * Bart D. Ehrman, 2003. ''Lost Scriptures: books that did not make it into the New Testament'' (Oxford University Press). * Wolfgang Kosack, ''Novum Testamentum Coptice. Neues Testament, Bohairisch, ediert von Wolfgang Kosack. Novum Testamentum, Bohairice, curavit Wolfgang Kosack. / Wolfgang Kosack.'' neue Ausgabe, Christoph Brunner, Basel 2014. . *

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20020618002448/http://www.bib-arch.org/bswb_BR/bswbBRFeature2b.html Latest Gospel Found
Early Christian Writings: The Gospel of the Saviour

* {{Authority control 2nd-century Christian texts 3rd-century Christian texts 6th-century manuscripts Agrapha of Jesus and apocryphal fragments Gnostic Gospels Lost apocrypha Texts in Coptic