Acts of Peter and the Twelve

The Acts of Peter and the Twelve or the Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles is a Christian text from about the 4th century. It is the first treatise in Codex VI of the Nag Hammadi library texts, taking up pages 1–12 of the codex's 78 pages. The writing extends the Parable of the Pearl from Matthew 13:45–46. In the text, Peter the Apostle meets a pearl merchant named Lithargoel, who is later revealed to be Jesus. Jesus commands the apostles to care for the poor. Before its discovery in Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945, the text was completely unknown. The discovered text is written in Coptic and was likely created in c. 300–350 AD. The retention of two Greek vocatives in the text, however, is evidence that the tractate is a translation of a Greek original. Scholars give a general estimate for the date of the original as the 2nd or 3rd century AD, but its final redaction may have been written as late as 367 AD. The first four sheets of papyrus, containing pages 1–8, have some damage to the text at the top. Thus, the introductory lines are unclear. On the other two sheets of papyrus, containing pages 9–12, the text is mostly intact. Along with the rest of the works in the Nag Hammadi library, the text was translated into English and published in The Nag Hammadi Library in English in 1977. The publication was part of the work of the Coptic Gnostic Library Project, which began in 1966 at Claremont Graduate University. Douglas M. Parrott and R. McL. Wilson translated the text to English. The text has also been translated into French, German, and Norwegian. The apostles arrive at a small city called Habitation and Peter seeks lodging. They meet a man who introduces himself as Lithargoel, meaning "the light, gazelle-like stone". Lithargoel warns Peter that the road is very dangerous and the apostles must abandon everything they have and fast to travel it. Peter discovers that the city is named Habitation because those who endure the trials and difficulties of the storms will inhabit the city and be included in the kingdom of heaven.

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Related concepts (2)

Saint Peter

Saint Peter (died between AD 64 and 68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas ( () 'rock'), was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ and one of the first leaders of the early Christian Church. He appears repeatedly and prominently in all four New Testament gospels as well as the Acts of the Apostles. According to Christian tradition, Peter was crucified in Rome under Emperor Nero.

List of Gnostic texts

Gnosticism used a number of religious texts that are preserved, in part or whole, in ancient manuscripts, or lost but mentioned critically in Patristic writings. Prior to the discovery at Nag Hammadi, only the following texts were available to students of Gnosticism. Reconstructions were attempted from the records of the heresiologists, but these were necessarily coloured by the motivation behind the source accounts.