The Apocalypse of Peter
translated by James Brashler and Roger A. Dullard.
As the Savior was sitting in the temple in the three hundredth
year of the covenant and the agreement of the tenth pillar, and
being satisfied with the number of the living, incorruptibleMajesty,
he said to me ,
" Peter, blessed are those above belonging to the Father,
whorevealed life to those who are from life, through me, since
I reminded them, they who are builton what is strong, that they
may hear my word, and distinguish words of unrighteousness andtransgression
of the law from righteousness, as being from the height of every
word of thisPleroma of truth, having been enlightened in good
pleasure by him whom the principalitiessought. But they did not
find him, nor was he mentioned among any generation of the prophets.He
has now appeared among these, in him who appeared, who is the
Son of Man who is exaltedabove the heavens in fear of men of
like essence. But you yourself, Peter, become perfect in accordance
with your name with myself, the one who chose you, because from
you i establisheda base for the remnant whom I have summoned
to knowledge. Therefore be strong until the imitationof righteousness
- of him who had summoned you, having summoned you to know him
in a way whicheorth doing because of the rejection which happened
to him , and the sinews of his hands and his feet, and the crowning
by those of the middle region, and the body of his radiance which
they bringin hope of service becase of a reward of honor - as
he was about to reprove you three times in thisnight".
And as he was saying these things i saw the priests and the people
running up to us with stones, as if they would kill us ; and
I was afraid that we were going to die.
And he said to me.
"Peter, I have told you many times that they are blind ones
who have no guide. If you want to know theirblindness, put your
hands before your eyes - your robe - and say what you see....."
But when I had done it, I did not see anything. I said "No
one sees this way"
And he said to me, "Do it again".
And there came in me fear with joy, for I saw a new light greater
than the light of day. Then it came downupon the savior. And
I told him about those things which I saw.
And he said to me again, "Lift up your hands and listen
to what the priests and the people are saying"
And I listened to the priests as they sat with the scribes. The
multitudes were shouting with their voice.
When he heard these things from me he said to me "prick
up your ears and listen to the things they are
saying." And i listened again, "As you sit, they are
praising you". And when i said these things , the Saviorsaid
"I have told you that these people are blind and deaf. Now
then, listen to the things which they aretelling you in a mystery,
and guard them, Do not tell them to the sons of this age. For
they shall blasphemeyou in these ages since they are ignorant
of you, but they will praise you in knowledge"
"For many will accept our teaching in the beginning. And
they will turn from them again by the will of theFather of their
error, because they have done what he wanted. And he will reveal
them in his judgment,i.e the servants of the Word. But those
who became mingled with these shall become their prisoners,since
they are without perception. And they praise the men of propagation
of falsehood, those whowill come after you. And they will cleave
to the name of a dead man, thinking that they will become pure.But
they will become greatly defiled and they will fall into a name
of error, and into the hand of an evil,cunning man and a manifold
dogma, and they will be ruled without law."
"For some of them will blaspheme the truth and proclaim
evil teaching. And they will say evil things againsteachother.
Some will be named : those who stand in the strenght of the archons,
of a man and a nakedwoman who is manifold and subject to much
suffering. And those who say these things will ask about dreams.And
if they say that a dream came from a demon worthy of their error,
then they shall be given perdition insteadof incorruption."
"For evil cannot produce good fruit. For the place from
which each of them is produces that that which islike itself
; for not every soul is of the truth, nor of immortality. For
every soul of these ages has death assignedto it in our view,
and their eternal destruction, in which they are and from which
they are. They love the creatures of the matter which came forth
with them."
"But the immortal souls are not like these, O Peter. But
indeed, as long as the hour is not yet come, the immortal soul
shall resemble the mortal one. But it shall not reveal its nature,
that it alone is the immortalone, and thinks about immortality,
having faith, and desiring to renounce these things"
"For people do not gather figs from thorns or from thorn
trees, if they are wise, nor grapes from thistles.For on the
one hand, that which is always becoming is in that from which
it is, being from what is not good,which becomes destruction
for it and death. But that which comes to be in the Eternal One
is in the Oneof the life and the immortality of the life which
they resemble."
"Therefore all that which exists not will dissolve into
what exists not. For deaf and blind ones join only withtheir
own kind."
"But others shall change from evil words and misleading
mysteries. Some who do not understand mysteryspeak of things
which they do not understand, but they boast that the mystery
of the truth is theirs alone.And in haughtiness they shall grasp
at the pride to envy the immortal soul which has become a pledge.For
every authority rule, and power of the aeons wishes to be with
these in the creation of the world, in order that those who are
not, having been forgotten by those that are, may praise them,
though they have not been saved, nor have they been brought to
the Way by them, always wishing that they may becomeimperishable
ones. For if the immortal soul receives power in an intellectual
spirit - . But immediatelythey join with one of those who mislead
them."
"But many others, who oppose the truth and are the messengers
of error, will set up their error and their law against these
pure thoughts of mine, as looking out from one perspective, thinking
that good and evil are from one source. They do business in my
word. And they will propagate harsh fate. The race of immortal
souls will go in it in vain, until my Parousia. For they shall
come out of them, andmy forgiveness of their transgressions into
which they fell through the adversaries, whose ransom I gotfrom
the slavery in which they were, to give them freedom that they
may create an imitation remnant inthe name of a dead man, who
is Hermas, of the first-born of unrighteousness, in order that
the lightwhich exists may not believed by the little ones. But
those of this sort are the worker who will be castinto the outer
darkness, away from the sons of light. For neither will they
enter, nor do they permit those who are going up to their approval
for their release."
"And still others of them who suffer think that they will
perfect the wisdom of the brotherhood which really exists, which
is the spiritual fellowship of those united in communion, through
which the weddingof incorruptibility shall be revealed. The kindred
race of the sisterhood will appear as an imitation.These are
the ones who oppress their brothers, saying to them, "Through
this our God has pity,since salvation comes to us through this"
, not knowing the punishments of those who are made gladby those
who have done this thing to the little ones whom they saw, and
whom they took prisoner."
"And there shall be others of those who are outside our
number who name themselves bishop andalso deacons, as if they
have received their authority from God. They bend themselves
under thejudgment of the leaders. Those people are dry canals."
But I said " I am afraid because of what you have told me,
that indeed little ones are, in our view, the counterfeit ones,
indeed, that there are multitudes that will mislead other multitudes
of living ones, and destroy them among themselves. And when they
speak your name they will be believed."
The Savior said , "For a time determined for them in proportion
to their error they will rule over the little ones.And after
the completion of the error, the never-aging one of the immortal
understanding shall become young,and the little ones shall ruler
over those who are their rulers. The root of their error he shall
pluck out, andhe shall put it to shame so that it shall be manifest
in all the impudence which it has assumed to itself. And such
ones shall become unchangeable, O Peter."
"Come therefore, let us go on with the completion of the
will of the incorruptible Father. For behold, those whowill bring
them judgment are coming, and they will be put to shame. But
me they cannot touch. And you,O Peter, shall stand in their midst.
Do not be afraid because opf your cowardice. Their minds shall
be closed,for the invisible one has opposed them."
When he said those things, I saw him seemingly being seized by
them. And I said "What do I see, O Lord, that it is you
yourself whom they take, and that you are grasping me? Or who
is this one, glad and laughingon the tree? And is it another
one whose feet and hands they are striking?"
The Savior said to me, "He whom you saw on the tree, glad
and laughing, this is the living Jesus. But thisone into whose
hands and feet they drive the nails is his fleshly part, which
is the substitute being put toshame, the one who came into being
in his likeness. But look at him and me."
But I, when I had looked, said "Lord, no one is looking
at you. Let us flee this place."
But he said to me, "I have told you, "Leave the blind
alone!". And you, see how they do not know what theyare
saying. For the son of their glory instead of my servant, they
have put to shame."
And I saw someone about to approach us resembling him, even him
who was laughing on the tree.And he was filled with a Holy Spirit,
and he is the Savior. And there was a great, ineffable light
around them,and the multitude of ineffable and invisible angels
blessing them. And when I looked at him, the one who gives praise
was revealed.
And he said to me, "Be strong, for you are the one to whom
these mysteries have been given, to knwo themthrough revelation,
that he whom they crucified is the first-born, and the home of
demons, and the stony vessel,in which they dwell, of Elohim,
of the cross, which is under the Law. But he who stands near
him is the living Savior, the first in him, whom they seized
and released, who stands joyfully looking those who did him violence,while
they are divided among themselves. Therefore he laughs at their
lack of perception, knowing that they are born blind. So then
the one suspectible to suffering shall come, since the body is
the substitute.But what they released was my incorporeal body.
But I am the intellectual Spirit filled with radiant light.He
whom you saw coming to me is our intellectual Pleroma , which
unites the perfect light with my Holy Spirit."
"These things, then, which you saw you shall present to
those of another race who are not of this age. For there willbe
no honor in any man who is not immortal, which has shown that
it is able to contain him who gives his abundance.Therefore I
said, "Every one who has, it will be given to him, and he
will have plenty, " But he who does not have,that is, the
man of this place, who is completely dead, who is removed from
the planting of the creation of what isbegotten, whom, if one
of the immortal essence appears, they think that they possess
him - it will be taken from himand be added to the one who is.
You, therefore, be courageous and do not fear at all. For I shall
be with you in orderthat none of your enemies may prevail unto
you. Peace be to you, Be strong!"
When he had said these things, Peter came to himself. |