Apocalypse of Peter

An early Christian apocalypse mentioned in the Muratorian Fragment as disputed for public reading.

The Apocalypse of Peter is an early Christian apocalypse from the early second century, at medium confidence. The Muratorian Fragment mentions it and questions public reading in church. That is a limited, early list-maker’s doubt, not a ban issued by a later council, and it is not a statement about the Revelation of John. The Revelation of John is the New Testament Apocalypse, listed by Athanasius among the twenty-seven. The Apocalypse of Peter is a different work. Existence in the second century and disputed public reading are the claims this entry carries.

Not the later New Testament Revelation of John.

Date

Early 2nd century CE (medium confidence)

Confidence

medium

Languages

Greek

Traditional authorship

Peter

Authorship note

Circulated in Peter's name; not received into the New Testament

• Akhmim fragment · Apocalypse of Peter fragment

  6th–9th centuries CE (medium confidence) · Greek · Greek fragment and Ethiopic text

  The Apocalypse of Peter is known from a Greek fragment in the Akhmim codex and from a fuller text in Ethiopic. That Greek codex is commonly placed in the sixth to ninth centuries, at medium confidence, because it has no colophon date. The Muratorian Fragment already knows a book by this name and hesitates about reading it in church, centuries before this copy. The Akhmim fragment is manuscript evidence for that book. It is not the Revelation of John, which the same early lists treat separately and which later New Testament canons receive.

• lists noncanonical

  Jewish canon

  The Apocalypse of Peter is not a book of the Tanakh. Josephus, near the end of the first century, describes twenty-two Jewish books his people trust and sets later writings in a lower rank. The later rabbinic Bible, counted as twenty-four books, likewise leaves The Apocalypse of Peter outside Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim. The Apocalypse of Peter is a Christian vision of judgment. It is not a Jewish biblical book and it is not the Revelation of John. Jewish copying or quotation, where it exists, is reception. It is not the same fact as a place in the Hebrew canon, and it is not a Christian council’s decision.

• questions

  Muratorian Fragment

  The Muratorian Fragment, a Latin canon list whose date is disputed between the late second century and the fourth, mentions the Apocalypse of Peter and questions whether it should be read publicly in church. The reception kind is questions. The fragment is not talking about the Revelation of John, which later lists receive as the New Testament Apocalypse. Questioning public reading is a limited act. It shows that some early Christian list-makers knew the Apocalypse of Peter and did not treat it as an unquestioned church book. It is not a later Reformation confession, and it is not a statement about 1 Enoch or Tobit.

• questions

  Muratorian Fragment

  The Muratorian Fragment names the Apocalypse of Peter and questions whether it should be read in church. The Akhmim Greek fragment and the Ethiopic text show that the book was copied anyway. Questioning public reading is the early list’s reception. Later New Testament canons keep the Revelation of John and leave this apocalypse out.

• ProtestantRelated literature

  Not among the Protestant 27 New Testament books.

• CatholicRelated literature

  Not in the Catholic New Testament.

• OrthodoxRelated literature

  Not in the 27-book Eastern New Testament.

• EthiopianRelated literature

  Not identified with the published EOTC 81 New Testament list used here.

• TanakhNot applicable

  Christian apocalypse, not Tanakh.

• LXXNot applicable

  Not an Old Testament book.

• Early ChristianDisputed

  The Muratorian Fragment allows private reading but questions public reading.

• Second TempleNot applicable

  Early Christian work.

No council, confession, or canon list in this dataset names Apocalypse of Peter. Tradition status is recorded in the section above.

No direct quotation or literary dependence on another writing in this dataset is recorded for Apocalypse of Peter.

No dated canon event in this dataset is tied to Apocalypse of Peter.

• Westminster Confession I.2–3 names the 66-book Protestant canon and says the books commonly called Apocrypha are not of divine inspiration and are not part of the canon of Scripture.
• Council of Trent, Session IV (8 April 1546), lists the Catholic canonical books including the deuterocanonical writings received in the Vulgate.
• Athanasius, Festal Letter 39 (367), lists 22 Old Testament and 27 New Testament books and names some other writings as useful but not canonical.
• The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church publishes an 81-book list that includes 1 Enoch, Jubilees, and the Meqabyan books.
• Josephus, Against Apion 1.8, speaks of 22 Jewish books and distinguishes later writings as not equally trusted.
• Brenton’s public-domain Septuagint translation includes Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, the Additions, and Maccabees as part of the Greek Old Testament corpus.
• The Muratorian Fragment discusses New Testament books, accepts the Apocalypse of John, and treats the Apocalypse of Peter as disputed for public reading.
• A Greek fragment found at Akhmim preserves part of the Apocalypse of Peter. A fuller text survives in Ethiopic.