Fragments of a Dialogue between John and Jesus: Essential Insights

In the first part of his article W. E. Crum published, under the title ‘A gnostic Fragment’, a parchment leaf found at Deir el-Balazah (probably the ancient monastery of Apa Apollo) to the west of Assiut, and two other fragments belonging to the same manuscript. Kahle published the text afresh, with an improved translation. The manuscript is written in Sahidic, with some archaic forms. On its contents, they state: To judge from what remains, the document could have been a ‘revelation’, an apokalupsis, in which John himself ostensibly relates the secret revelations which he received from the Saviour in the course of a conversation with him. The apocryphon probably consisted of a series of questions posed by the apostle, to each of which Christ replies. For this reason and also because of the themes treated, it must be brought into close connection with the Apocryphon of John; it is not however to be identified with it, or regarded as a special version of this document. On the other hand it has no connection with the various other apocrypha (‘Apocalypse’, ‘Mysteries of John’, etc.) current under the name of the same apostle.

Some Contemporary Texts: Act of Peter (150-350 A.D.), Concept of Our Great Power (150-360 A.D.), Acts of Pilate (150-400 A.D.), Anti-Marcionite Prologues (150-400 A.D.), Dialogue Between John and Jesus (150-400 A.D.), Tatian’s Address to the Greeks (160-170 A.D.), Claudius Apollinaris (160-180 A.D.), Apelles (160-180 A.D.), Julius Cassianus (160-180 A.D.).