User:Arne Eickenberg/Neoapocrypha

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Neoapocrypha, commonly called modern apocrypha or new apocrypha … later (introduction)

Characteristics and contents

later; incl. an introductory overview of the cultural environment (Age of Enlightenment, Nationalism, Zionism, Failure of the Life-of-Jesus-research, Völkisch movement, blood and soil, neo-mysticism, also as a response to industrialization and secularization etc.); anti-Judaist tendencies of neoapocrypha

Mysticism

esoterics, obscurantism, secret knowledge

Alternative biographies of Jesus

Jesus of Indian, Arian, Persian, Gallic, Germanic, Arabic origin etc.; journeys to Egypt, India, Tibet, Japan etc. and their origin (Apollonios etc.); survival after crucifixion (incl. early authors like Bahrdt & Schleiermacher); never crucified; twin brother of Jesus; married Jesus

Theological deviations

e.g. Jesus' studies and the theological consequences, reincarnation etc.

Propagation, defense and reception

later

Alleged obscurantism of the early Church

incl. Morley Steynor et al.

Copycats — a short history of transmission

incl. a stemma

Aftermath — religions, sects and cults

e.g. LDS Church, Unification Church etc.

Effects on modern popular culture

New Age Christ, Hare Krishna (Krishna = Christus), feminist and vegetarian Christology, Order of the Nazarenes, Buddhist practices by Christians and Christian priests, ad-hoc-Jesuses in modern culture (Jesus was a woman, a homosexual, an African etc.), The Last Temptation of Christ, The DaVinci Code, neo-mysticism & parapsychology etc.

Early precursors and related writings

later

The original Christian apocrypha

overview only; incl. similar concepts to neoapocrypha from antiquity like Gnostic esoteric Christian sects; Manichaeism

Talmudic tradition on Jesus

Jewish polemics and mockery; Jesus, son of a Roman soldier; Pantheras < > parthenos; Toledoth Jeschu etc.

Forged correspondence between Seneca and Paulus (4th century or earlier)

spawned the listing of Seneca as a Christian Saint in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (late 4th century)

Mediaeval writings

Himmelsbriefe ("Heaven's letters"; known since the 6th century); Acta Silvestri and the Donation of Constantine; Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals; Decretum Gratiani; Liber Pontificalis

Himmlische Geheimnisse (early 18th century)

"Heavenly Secrets"; Emmanuel Swedenborg

Jesus mitten unter den Seinen (late 18th century)

"Jesus Amidst His Own"; Anna Katharina Emmerick; recorded by Clemens Brentano

Gospels allegedly based on written records

later

Gospel of Barnabas (16th century)

not the apocryphal Epistle of Barnabas

The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth (ca. 1820)

Thomas Jefferson; alternative title: Jefferson Bible

Book of Mormon (1830)

Joseph Smith Jr.

Urevangelium der Essäer (1867)

"Ur-Gospel of the Essenes"; Friedrich Clemens Gierke (as "Friedrich Clemens"); also called Das fünfte Evangelium ("The Fifth Gospel"); 2nd edition published as Jesus der Nazarener — Des Weisesten der Weisen Leben, Lehre und natürliches Ende. Der Wirklichkeit nacherzählt und dem deutschen Volke gewidmet (engl.: "Jesus the Nazarene — Life, Teachings and Natural Death of the Wisest of the Wise. Reality Retold and Dedicated to the German People").

L'Evangelie De l'Enfance De Notre Seigneur Jesus Christ Selon St. Pierre (1904)

"The Gospel of the Childhood of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Peter"; Catulle Mendès (Latin Childhood Gospel)

The Crucifixion of Jesus, by an Eyewitness (1919)

Elsie Louise Morris; originally German (late 18th century), followed by a Swedish edition (1880)

Gospel of Josephus (1927)

Luigi Moccia

Das Friedensevangelium der Essener (1937/1974)

"The Essene Gospel of Peace"; Edmond Bordeaux Székely; originally called Das Friedensevangelium des Jesus Christus (durch den Jünger Johannes) (1937); published in English as "The Gospel of Peace of Jesus Christ by the Disciple John" (1937) as an excerpt of "The True (Unknown) Gospel of John on the Miraculous Healing of the Son of Man and on All Secret Things of Heavens and of Earth" (1937); re-issued in Germany in 1972 together with the Ouseley's "Gospel of the Perfect Life" as Heliand with the subtitle Die Gesundheitslehren einer altslawischen und einer aramäischen Evangelienhandschrift in der Bibliothek des Vatikans (engl.: "The Health Teachings of an Old-Slavonic and an Aramaic Gospel Manuscript in the Library of the Vatican"). An English two-part sequel was published in 1974, finally including the Essene-reference: The Gospel of the Essenes. In the US all three volumes have been published under the title The Essene Gospel of Peace. A supplementary report called The Discovery of the Essene Gospel of Peace was published in 1977.

Secret Gospel of Mark (1973)

Morton Smith / incl. pros & cons (apocryphal vs. neoapocryphal interpretations)

Evangelium des Judas Ischarioth (1975)

"Gospel of Judas Iscariot"; published by Eduard "Billy" Meier in 1975 under the title Talmud Immanuel; not the apocryphal "Gospel of Judas" from antiquity

Allegedly revealed and received gospels

later

The New Revelation: Gospels and writings by Jakob Lorber

Gospel of Jacob

later

Quellenevangelium (1840-41)

"Source Gospel", a.k.a. Pathiel or Die große Zeit der Zeiten ("The Great Time of the Times")

Evangelium der Berge (1842)

"Gospel of the Mountains", a.k.a. Großglockner; part of the "Gospels of Nature"

Evangelium des Jakobus (1843/44-1952)

"Gospel of Jacob — newly received"; a.k.a. "Die Jugend Jesu ("The Adolescence of Jesus")

Drei Tage im Tempel (1859/60)

("Three Days in the Temple")

Das große Evangelium Johannis (1851-64)

"The Great Gospel of John"

Other related writings by Jakob Lorber

1. Die Haushaltung Gottes ("God's Housekeeping), 1840-44; 2. Himmelsgaben ("Gifts from Heaven"), 1840-64; 3. Writings on the soul, the afterlife etc.

L'Évangile de la Vie Parfaite (1881)

"Gospel of the Perfect Life"; Gédéon Gaspard Richard Ouseley; a.k.a. L'Évangile des Douze ("Gospel of the Holy Twelve"); not the lost "Gospel of the Twelve" from antiquity

Das Fünfte Evangelium (1904-1908)

"The Fifth Gospel"; Rudolf Steiner / allegedly from the metaphysical Akashic Records; part of the publication Aus der Akasha-Chronic ("From the Akashic Records")

The Aquarian Age Gospel of Jesus, the Christ of the Piscean Age (1908)

Levi H. Dowling / allegedly from the metaphysical Akashic Records

Evangelium des Jakobus (1920-24/1982)

"Gospel of Jacob"; compiled by the "Fraternity Silvani"; title later changed to Botschaft des Jakobus ("Message of Jacob") in 1982

Wolli Kangron — The Divine Principles (1936)

Sun Myung Moon; complete textbook finished in 1946

Das Fünfte Evangelium (1947-56)

"The Fifth Gospel"; Hans Naber; incl. connections to the Shroud of Turin

L'Évangile Donné à Arès (1974)

"Gospel of Arès"; Michel Potay; commonly seen as the most reputable neoapocryphal writing; followed by Le Livre (1977); both published in 1984 as L'Évangile ("The Gospel")

A Course in Miracles (1976)

Helen Schucman & William Thetford

A und Ω — Das Evangelium Jesu nach Gabriele Wittek (1975-77)

"A and Ω — The Gospel of Jesus according to Gabriele Wittek"; Gabriele Wittek

Texts on the trial of Jesus

later

Alleged court records (16th century)

1. Death Penalty of Jesus (allegedly from a copper plate in Aquila); 2. Sanhedrin Transcript; 3. later editions and revisions

Essäer-Brief (1849)

"Epistle to the Essenes"; P.F.H. Klencke; later incorporated into the "Ur-Gospel of the Essenes"

A Correct Transcript of Pilate's Court (1879)

Rev. W.D. Mahan; re-issued in 1880 as The Acta Pilati with comments by Rev. Georges Sluter; not the apocryphal Acta Pilati (from the Gospel of Nicodemus)

The Archko Volume (1887)

W.D. Mahan

The Confessions of Pontius Pilate (1893)

B. Shehadi

Supplements to the New Testament

later

"Sequels" to the Acts of the Apostles

later

Acts: Chapter 29 (1871)

Geo. J. Stevenson; a.k.a. the Sonnini Manuscript

The Second Book of Acts (1904)

Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie

La Vie Inconnue de Jésus-Christ (1894)

"The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ"; Nicolai Aleksandrovich Notovich; first mention of Jesus' voyage to India

The Messiah in India (1899)

Ghulam Ahmad of the Ahmadiyya mission; incl. later variations, e.g. an Afghan tribe as Jesus' offspring, or the family of the keeper of the Yuz-Asaf grave in Srinagar (Kashmir) as Jesus' offspring

Benanbrief (1910)

"The Epistle of Benan" or "The Letter of Benan"; von der Planitz / Baron von Rabenau

Letter of Jesus Christ (1917)

Chicago Evening Post

A Letter of our Lord Jesus Christ, Found on the Grave of the Mother of God (early 20th century)

Michael Saliveros

Epistle of Kallikrates (1928)

Atlantic Monthly

Letters of Pontius Pilate (1928)

W. P. Crozier; letters from Pilate to Seneca

Letters from Pontius Pilate's Wife (1929)

Catherine van Dyke

The Mystical Life of Jesus (1929)

H. Spencer Lewis of the Antiquus Mysticus Ordo Rosae Crucis ("AMORC")

The Secret Doctrines of Jesus (1937)

H. Spencer Lewis

Jesât Nassar genannt Jesus Christus (1965)

"Jehoshua the Nazir"; Mariell Wehrli-Frey; allegedly based on the 19th-century work Yehoshua by Otto Hanisch (pseudonym: "Otoman Zar-Adusht Hanish"); the Jesus of the neo-zoroastrian sect "Mazdaznan"

Jesus Scroll (1973)

Donovan Joyce

The Kolbrin Bible (1980–2005)

Janice Manning (author of the original Egyptian Texts of the Bronzebook: the First Six Books of the Kolbrin Bible); complete bible allegedly drafted by a member of "The Hope Trust" (1992); complete publication (2005) by Marshall Masters, Glenn Kimball and Janice Manning from the "The Culdian Trust": The Kolbrin Bible — 21st Century Master Edition; in 2006 two excerpts were published by Janice Manning: Celtic Texts of the Coelbook: The Last Five Books of The Kolbrin Bible as well as a re-issue of her 1980 book

Semi-neoapocryphal publications

later

Natürliche Geschichte des großen Propheten von Nazareth (1800-02)

"Native History of the Great Prophet of Nazareth"; Karl Heinrich Venturini; released in 4 volumes; preceded by a publication by Humphrey Prideaux (1717), who first connected Jesus to the Essenes

Erlösung von Jesu Christo (1931)

"Deliverance from Jesus Christ"; Mathilde Ludendorff (as "Mathilde von Kemnitz")

German National Socialism

e.g. Geschichte der katholischen Staatsidee by Heinrich Wolf (1933-36); "History of the Catholic State-Concept"; incl. maybe mythological tangents ("Spear of Destiny" etc.)

The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (1982)

Michael Baigent / Richard Leigh / Henry Lincoln

A Jesus who was a Christ (1986)

Revilo P. Oliver; followed by the posthumously published The Origins of Christianity and Reflections on the Christ Myth (both 1994)

The True Authorship of the New Testament (1986)

Abelard Reuchlin; gospels written by the Pisonian family from Rome

Conspiracy in Jerusalem — The Hidden Origins of Jesus (1988)

Kamal S. Salibi; later re-issued as Who was Jesus? Conspiracy in Jerusalem

The Dead Sea scrolls and 1QpHab

later

The Dead Sea Scroll Deception (1991)

Michael Baigent / Richard Leigh

The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered (1992)

Robert H. Eisenman / Michael Wise

Starb Jesus in Kaschmir? Das Geheimnis seines Lebens und Wirkens in Indien (1993)

"Did Jesus Die in Kashmir? The Secret of His Life and Deeds in India"; Siegfried Obermeier; notable because the author claims the existence of a 1000-year old Muslim historical apocryphon Ikmal-ud-Din, which is said to report the Christ's death in Kashmir.

Nazarenus — The Gospel According to Seneca (1996)

Monica Stecchini, Steven Stecchini and Jan Sammer

Caesar's Messiah — The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus (2005)

Joseph Atwill

Semi-neoapocryphal hermeneutics

later

Dispensationalism (1820s)

John Nelson Darby

Rapture (1827)

early forms (incl. Emmanuel Lacunza) / John Darby / Margaret MacDonald

God's kingdom (1983)

Graeme Goldsworthy and other theories