Apocryphon of John
Home > Gnostics > Apocryphon of John Apocryphon of John At a Glance Treatise Genre: (2/5) ** Reliability of Dating: (4/5) **** Length of Text: Greek Original Language: Ancient Translations: Modern Translations: English Estimated Range of Dating: 120-180 A.D. Chronological List of Early Christian Writings Discuss this text on the Early Writings forum. Text English Translation by Frederik Wisse Offsite Links Secret Sayings - The Apocryphon of John Books Alastair H. B. Logan, Gnostic Truth and Christian Heresy (Hendrickson 1996). Bentley Layton, The Gnostic Scriptures: A New Translation With Annotations and Introductions (Doubleday 1987). James M. Robinson, ed., The Nag Hammadi Library in English (San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins 1990), pp.
104-123. Recommended Books for the Study of Early Christian Writings Information on Apocryphon of John Bentley Layton writes (The Gnostic Scriptures, p. 26): The manuscripts [three at Nag Hammadi, one elsewhere] and summary [in Irenaeus] attest the circulation of no less than four distinct editions of the Greek text in antiquity. Such a series of editions must have resulted from continual study and revision of AJn by gnostic teachers; it is a measure of the importance and timeliness of the work for ancient gnostic Christianity. These four ancient editions, usually called "versions," comprise the following. 1. The long version, which is represented by two virtually identical Coptic manuscripts, MSS NHC II and NHC IV, is the text translated here.
When one of the two manuscripts is defective, its original reading can often be restored from the other. The most obvious difference between the long version and the short version is that the former contains a lengthy excerpt from a certain Book of Zoroaster (cf. 15:29-19:8f). 2. A short version, which is represented by Coptic MS NHC III, differs from the others in certain details of phraseology and systematic theology; as a Coptic translation it differs in style and vocabulary from all the other Coptic versions. 3. Another short version, which is represented by Coptic MS p. Berol. 8502, also differs in certain details of phraseology and systematic theology; as a Coptic translation it differs in style and vocabulary from all the other Coptic versions.
4. The summary of BJn in St. Irenaeus (IrG) is too brief and compressed to classify it as long or short, but in any case it shows certain minor differences that distinguish it from each of the three other versions. The long version has been chosen for translation here because of its apparent coherence; however, scholars have not determined which version is the original. Frederik Wisse writes (The Nag Hammadi Library in English, p. 104): The Apocryphon of John is an important work of mythological Gnosticism. Using the framework of a revelation delivered by the resurrected Christ to John the son of Zebedee, this tractate offers a remarkably clear description of the creation, fall, and salvation of humanity; the mythological description is developed largely in terms of the early chapters of Genesis.
Reports of the church fathers indicate that some of them were familiar with the contents of The Apocryphon of John: the teachings of certain Gnostics described by Irenaeus are very similar to the cosmological teachings of the present tractate. Though Irenaeus apparently did not know The Apocryphon of John in its present form, it is certain that the main teachings of the tractate existed before 185 C.E., the date of Irenaeus' work Against Heresies. The Apocryphon of John was still used in the eighth century by the Audians of Mesopotamia. Kurt Rudolph writes (Gnosis, pp. 102-103): In this document [Secret Book of John] too there is reference to the coming into being of three men: the psychic, the pneumatic and the earthly.