Metamorphoses

Ekstasis
Religious Experience
from Antiquity to the Middle Ages
General Editor
John R. Levison

Editorial Board
David Aune Jan Bremmer John Collins Dyan Elliott
Amy Hollywood Sarah Iles Johnston Gabor Klaniczay
Paulo Nogueira Christopher Rowland Elliot R. Wolfson

Volume 1

Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York

Metamorphoses
Resurrection, Body and Transformative Practices
in Early Christianity
Edited by
Turid Karlsen Seim and Jorunn kland

Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York

 Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines of the ANSI

to ensure permanence and durability.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Metamorphoses : resurrection, body, and transformative practices in early
Christianity / edited by Turid Karlsen Seim and Jorunn kland
p. cm. - (Ekstasis, ISSN 1865-8792 ; v. 1)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 978-3-11-020298-4 (alk. paper)
1. Body, Human - Religious aspects - Christianity - History of doctrines - Early church, ca. 30-600.
2. Change - Religious aspects Christianity - History of doctrines - Early church, ca. 30-600.
I. Seim,
Turid Karlsen. II. kland, Jorunn.
BT743.M46 2009
2301.11-dc22
2008051564

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

ISBN 978-3-11-020298-4
ISSN 1865-8792
Copyright 2009 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin
All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Printed in Germany
Painting on the cover: firefox by Elliot R. Wolfson, New York City, 2007,
oil on canvas, 24 * 24.
Cover Design: Martin Zech, Bremen

Contents

Turid Karlsen Seim and Jorunn kland

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Turid Karlsen Seim
The Resurrected Body in Luke-Acts: The Significance of Space

...

19

Adela Yarbro Collins

Ancient Notions of Transferal and Apotheosis in Relation
to the Empty Tomb Story in Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

41

Karen L. King
In your midst as a child In the form of an old man
Images of Aging and Immortality in Ancient Christianity . . . . . . . . . . .

59

Jorunn kland
Genealogies of the Self: Materiality, Personal Identity,
and the Body in Pauls Letters to the Corinthians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

83

Vigdis Songe-Mller
With What Kind of Body Will They Come?
Metamorphosis and the Concept of Change: From Platonic
Thinking to Pauls Notion of the Resurrection of the Dead

.......

109

..............

123

Outi Lehtipuu
Flesh and Blood Cannot Inherit the Kingdom of God:
The Transformation of the Flesh in the Early Christian Debates
Concerning Resurrection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

147

Einar Thomassen
Valentinian Ideas About Salvation as Transformation

169

Troels Engberg-Pedersen
Complete and Incomplete Transformation in Paul
a Philosophical Reading of Paul on Body and Spirit

............

VI

Contents

Hugo Lundhaug
These are the Symbols and Likenesses of the Resurrection:
Conceptualizations of Death and Transformation in the
Treatise on the Resurrection (NHC I,4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

187

Istvn Czachesz
Metamorphosis and Mind
Cognitive Explorations of the Grotesque in
Early Christian Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

207

Antti Marjanen
Male Women Martyrs: The Function of Gender-Transformation
Language in Early Christian Martyrdom Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

231

Denise Kimber Buell

Imagining Human Transformation in the Context of Invisible
Powers: Instrumental Agency in Second-Century Treatments
of Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

249

Samuel Rubenson
As Already Translated to the Kingdom While Still in the Body
The Transformation of the Ascetic in Early Egyptian
Monasticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

271

John J. Collins
The Angelic Life

.....................................................

291

Liv Ingeborg Lied

Recognizing the Righteous Remnant?
Resurrection, Recognition and Eschatological
Reversals in 2 Baruch 47-52 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

311

Bibliography

337

.........................................................

Indices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Index of References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Index of Modern Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Index of Subjects and Persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

367
367
388
395

Introduction
TURID KARLSEN SEIM AND JORUNN KLAND1
In this volume we explore how ideas and experiences of transformation
were expressed in early Christianity, asking the following questions: In
which ways and to which extent did the faith in an individual resurrection accommodate processes of transformation? What were the frameworks within which transformative ideas such as resurrection and also
experiences of having become "a new being" were shaped? Which
analogies did they refer to, and what were the parameters by which
transformation was noted and actually asserted? How did taxonomic
patterns, that is constructions of an ordered design of the created
world, accommodate or challenge transformative movements?
The focus on transformation helps connect various topics that so far
have been studied separately or from the perspective of a particular
discipline or selection of sources. In addressing the questions, we draw
on the rich diversity of Christian and Jewish groups and beliefs and
discover ever again that, even in controversy, the boundaries between
them are often blurred and porous. While taking chronology into account, we hesitate to speak of development in evolutionary terms. Since
the religious, philosophical and cultural environment was significant
for the formation and articulation of their beliefs, we examine how they
depended upon and actively exploited existing forms of thought,
speech and behavior that is how they yielded to given discourses
while slowly establishing new ones. The establishment of new forms of
behavior means that it was possible to connect faith in resurrection and
ethical ideas and practices pertaining to a new life.
What we learned is laid out in the many essays that constitute the
corpus of this volume. They speak for themselves but are briefly introduced in the outline below. It is, however, necessary in this introduction to comment more comprehensively on the broader framework of
metamorphosis. In addition we have to reflect on the fact that the trans-

Turid Karlsen Seim is professor and director of The Norwegian Institute in Rome,
University of Oslo, Italy; Jorunn kland is professor at the Centre for Gender Research, University of Oslo. while at CAS: Senior Lecturer at the Department of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield, UK.

Introduction

formation of gender plays less of a role in this volume than one might
have hoped or planned (see separate section below).

Metamorphosis and Resurrection as Reflection on the Self

It has been claimed that the stories of metamorphoses of humans or
deities that have been passed down to us from the ancient world represent a narrative way of getting at issues of self, personal identity, and
the paradox or problem of change in human selves and shapes.
Ancient philosophers addressed the same concerns in other terms
and genres, and many of the contributions in this volume refer to their
discussions: what remains of the past through sudden changes, or
through sets of changes? How can this inconstant, changeable and material body accommodate and help one hold on to identity, continuity
and eternal life?
As will become clear in this volume, the same concerns and questions that were addressed in the stories of metamorphoses or in philosophical discussions over sameness, permanence and change were
also addressed by the stories of resurrection. As Karen King notes in
her essay, Christians shared the ancient conviction that fleshy bodies
are subject to the same conditions of mutability and instability that
applies to all matter .bodies were constantly metamorphosing
throughout peoples lives. Richard Sorabji has analysed these ancient
convictions in more detail. To the crucial question what makes an
individual the same person over a period of time? Sorabji answers
with Heraclitus, Plato, Aristotle and with the early Christians and
their belief in resurrection.2 It is on the basis of such thematic resemblances that are evident to scholars even far outside the biblical field,
that many contributors to this volume have chosen to consider resurrection as one form or sub-category of metamorphosis, and also as an
adjustment of the concerns generating stories of metamorphoses into
an emerging Christian worldview. If Christianity started with the resurrection of Christ, stirring the hope that also those who belonged to
him would resurrect, it is perhaps no surprise that resurrection rather
than metamorphosis more generally became the focus of the debates
over change and transformation of human selves and shapes.
Tales about transformation, Metamorphoses, formed a well-known
genre in antiquity. Such narratives of metamorphosis told about hu-

Richard Sorabji, Self: Ancient and Modern Insights about Individuality, Life, and Death
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006), 57-78.

Metamorphosis and Resurrection as Reflection on the Self

mans or deities who emerged as animals, plants, or differently-looking

humans. Some element of their original abilities, qualities or mentalities
was always retained, such as the ability to speak or reason. Best known
today is the 15 volume work by Publius Ovidius Naso, written at the
dawn of the first century CE. The perspective on metamorphosis presented there is that the world is constantly undergoing transformation.
Individual stories in his work sample spectacular transformations that
seemingly disregard the normal boundaries and order of nature, as
human beings may be transformed to animals, plants or rocks. However, the stories do not represent a liebhabers collection of curiosities.
They are to Ovid intriguing expressions of the Heraclitean principle of
panta rei, the fluidity of all forms. The constant, underpinning question
remains whether there is any permanence or continuity in this fluidity
and if so, whether it can be traced and recognised. In most of the stories
the metamorphosis implies that the bodily human form disappears, yet
some personal characteristics endure and become even more obvious
since so much else has changed. The transformation helps in fact make
manifest a constitutive continuity. Change represents a paradox, in that
it presupposes its own opposite: non-change or sameness.
About 150 years later, Apuleius wrote another famous Metamorphoses, more often today called the Golden Ass (asinus aureus). It tells the
story of Lucius who rather naively rubs himself with a magic ointment
and is transformed into an ass even if he keeps his human mind. Notwithstanding its more entertaining qualities, Apuleius Metamorphoses
emphasizes the polarity between Lucius magically induced transformation to an ass and his recovery to humanity made possible only
through divine intervention.
There are great differences between Ovid and Apuleius, but they
are mentioned as illustrations of how tales of transformation do address significant questions about the ontological or ethical status of a
certain taxonomic order. Which features carry continuity or reveal a
continued presence in a different form? Are continuity and/or recognisability always important? Which are the structuring principles in
such a taxonomy? Are certain taxonomic boundaries considered uninfringeable, that is: did it have absolute limits so that certain transformations were unacceptable, even unthinkable, and which categories were
used as boundary-markers? Taxonomic presuppositions such as these
most often remain implicit to a degree that when they become explicit
one is unaware of their significance.
In our context, it is further interesting to note that Ovids Metamorphoses was produced in the Augustan era and thus was contemporary
to some of the Jewish writings mentioned in this volume, and preceded

Introduction

many of the Christian writings under discussion by just a few decennia.

One could therefore reflect on whether the more general notions of
metamorphosis in this period also in a more direct way contributed to
the development of resurrection as a central focus in Christian thought.
The belief in resurrection provided a similar opportunity to reflect on
the metamorphosis of the body and whatever was retained in the process through death and resurrection.
The relationships between the narratives of metamorphosis in
Ovid, Apuleius and other Graeco-Roman authors and the Christian and
Jewish texts of resurrection and various forms of heavenly experience
or exposure will, however, not be further explored in this volume. The
essays provide close readings of the Jewish and Christian texts without
taking this larger framework much into consideration and rather drawing on philosophical texts. It is, however important to highlight the
larger phenomenon of metamorphosis narratives and its inherent questions because they have provided a general frame of reference for much
of the reading work carried out in the essays. It is also clear that the
vocabulary and conceptual repertoire of metamorphosis unlocked the
texts in new ways for the contributors, so that many of the innovative
qualities of the project are a direct consequence of the invocation of this
repertoire.
But metamorphosis and resurrection tie in with broader debates
also today. The nature of the self and of identity have been much debated topics, not only in contemporary philosophy, but also in broader
intellectual discussions in the late or post-modern period.3 The connection is well stated by Caroline Walker Bynum:
We are, as these odd old tales suggest, shapes with stories, always changing but also always carrying traces of what we were before. ... Indeed I
would suggest that we, as we reflect on the European tradition of metamorphosis, are like another of Ovids transformations: Narcissus. For even
if we gaze at our own reflection when we bow low over the pool of our literary past, that gazing is a mark of who we are, and who we are is, in part,
what we have been. The stories of our high tradition, like our folklore, are a
significant component of what we think with. Hence our self-reflexivity,
our tendency to study ourselves, is a mark of the self we carry with us as
we bend over the pool.4

Bynums quote makes clear how the latest preoccupation with the self
and identity is just another twist in a very old habit of self-reflection (in
both meanings of the term), which also contributes to a further devel3
4

See e.g. Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self: The Making of Modern Identity (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1989).
Caroline Walker Bynum, Metamorphosis and Identity (New York: Zone Books, 2001),
188-9.

Missing Gender?

opment of our selves. But the quote also brings to the surface some of
the historical discourses enclosed in the modern concepts and debates,
which then can be seen as containing and continuing old tensions. It
must also be acknowledged, however, that some of the aporias of previous moments of self-reflection may have been resolved along the
way. The essays offered here add further detail to the image we see as
we bend over the pool perhaps also showing someone we had never
imagined could be ourselves.
Whose image do we see? It is clear that when the first Christians
looked in the mirror, dimly, who they saw was not primarily themselves, but Christ, since their own selves in some sense had be replaced
with Christ in baptism. They were being transformed into the same
image from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor 3:18). Transformation thus can also be seen as a disciplinary and ethical programme
including transformation as designed by a hierarchical configuration of
gender; martyrdom and the ascetic agon as transformation, and the idea
that likeness to the angels might be attained and life in paradise rehearsed already before physical death. By Jesus resurrection death was
rendered invisible as one always looked past and beyond it; there is
indeed in most of the material a remarkable disinterest in physical
death.
Frequent address of christological issues is inevitable in a volume
where resurrection and transformation into the image of Christ are key
topics. Some of the essays revisit the relationships between the death
and resurrection of Christ and the death and resurrection of all believers (one of the themes in 1 Cor 15). Others nuance the picture of the
death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

Missing Gender?
A type of change that has been frequently addressed in recent scholarship on Early Christianity the last 20-30 years is gender transformation:
In many Early Christian texts women are described in male terms, embodying male virtues and even going through physical changes that
give them a more male appearance. Within the context of a project on
metamorphosis, body and transformative practices, Early Christian
notions of gender and gender-bending have a self-evident place from
the outset. Still, apart from a few exceptions, gender is less in focus in
the essays presented here. And the essay that focuses the most on gender transformation concludes on a negative note, that the stories of
women becoming male in Early Christian texts are not as widespread

Introduction

as recent literature might suggest. Still, this does not lead us to conclude that gender was an unimportant site of transformation in Early
Christianity. Several of the contributors have spent much of their time
previously researching exactly that, and even had plans for continuing
this vein of research as part of the project. But it became clear as the
project settled, that gender transformation and gender bending have
been so intensely researched in recent years that other types of human
transformation are now in more urgent need of analysis and interpretation. Perhaps gender transformation needs eventually to be inserted
back into the larger picture. The current volume thus represents a way
of transferring some critical insights and methodological advances
from the area of gender studies to the study also of other human phenomena in the ancient world. A short perusal of the bibliography
should make clear the debt to feminist and other gender critical methodologies, although gender is neither a primary category of analysis nor
a primary thematic focus of analysis. It should, however, be remembered that there are no stories of women making heavenly journeys,
and not all believers in the resurrection believed in the resurrection of
women. Some believed that women would be resurrected as men or as
genderless beings still defined in masculine terms.

Research Process
This collective volume is based on the joint work of an international
research group studying Metamorphoses: Resurrection, Taxonomies and
Transformative Practices at the Centre for Advanced study (CAS) at the
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in Oslo during the academic year 2006-2007.5 A generous grant made it possible for the group to
work together over a longer period of time, and even if the composition
of the group changed during the year, we maintained a collective working pattern in order for the individual contributions to be shaped by an
interactive process within the group. The weekly group meetings were
instrumental in this respect. Here we discussed work in progress and
pondered at close hold many of the texts which are included as primary sources in this volume. First drafts of the essays in this volume were
first presented at a CAS-conference in June 2007 and since revised in
light of the exchange. This process of ongoing mutual response is evident from the many cross-references in the volume. It is equally evident
that the project did not assume an overarching theoretical model but
5

For further information see www.cas.uio.no.

Outline of the Volume

left each participant with the freedom to contribute from his or her own
theoretical position, method and field of expertise. This did not create
tensions but rather a multifaceted ongoing exchange that allowed for
complexities to be appreciated, proving fruitful for the wide-ranging
outcome.

Outline of the Volume

I The Case of Jesus
The story about the death and resurrection of Jesus is at the core of
early Christian beliefs, and some will say that it is also at the beginning
of it. The essays by Turid Karlsen Seim and Adela Yarbro Collins consider ideas and practices in antiquity which may have informed the
narratives about Jesus resurrection and ascension in the gospels of
Luke and Mark, whereas Karen King in her essay discusses the significance of the many stories of multiform appearances of Jesus in various
stages of life.
Turid Karlsen Seim studies the relationship between the resurrection
and the ascension stories in Luke-Acts with a particular look to the
significance of spatial movement and the qualities of Christs resurrected body. Before the ascension, which represents the closure of Jesus mission on earth, he is described in more physical terms than anywhere else in the gospels post-resurrection stories, because he is still
on earth. The ascension story has, apart from some form-critical studies, been under-researched, probably because of a certain embarrassment felt by scholars of a scientific age which no longer believes heaven
to be up there. Are the qualities of Jesus body subject to change by
his move from earth to heaven? Seim answers in the affirmative and
draws on other texts where the shape and quality of the resurrected
body are dependent on the place where it occurs, e.g. 2 Baruch and 1
Corinthians 15. She also explores the appearances from heaven in Acts.
In the narrative of Luke-Acts, spatial categories as they intertwine with
temporal, are fundamental in defining and redefining bodies. Consequently, they are also fundamental in defining who belongs to this
world/time and who are considered worthy of experiencing the resurrection of the dead and attaining the other world/time.
Adela Yarbro Collins explores two models, which she thinks Mark
had for his portrayal of the divinization of Jesus. The story of the empty

Introduction

tomb is a Markan innovation, implying that Jesus has left the world of
human beings and been transferred to the heavenly world. The first
model is Elijah, whose appearance at the transfiguration of Jesus reveals that Jesus resurrection would be analogous to the transferal of
Elijah to heaven. Both events occur by the will and power of God and
nothing remains on earth from their bodies. However, Elijah does not
die and is not exalted to the same degree as Jesus. The second model is
the apotheosis of Roman emperors with the story of Romulus as the
prototype. Several early Christian writers allude to this legend, and
Arnobius uses it to support Christian beliefs about Jesus death and
resurrection/ ascension. While seeking out similarities with the Markan
account and the story of Elijah, Yarbro Collins explores the various
Roman accounts of the legend as well as ideas and practices associated
with the divinization of Roman emperors, which she assumes were
familiar to the author and ancient audiences of Mark. Like the emperors, Jesus dies before being exalted to heaven, but whereas Jesus gained
in power, they had less after death. By imitating the imperial practice of
deification, Mark positions Jesus as the true divi filius vis--vis Rome
and the emperor, challenging their claim to divinity by replacing them.
In relation to texts where Jesus is portrayed as a child, an old man
or as being polymorph, Karen King discusses various strategies that
Christians developed for squaring the mutability of aging with the
belief in the human potential for immortality with its required immutability. Attention might be shifted from the body to the condition and
development of the soul; one stage in life might be seen as representing
the transcendent ideal; or polymorphic visions in which the multiform
appearance of Jesus at different life stages made them see beyond the
metamorphoses of materiality to the unitary spiritual reality. Most attractive to King is a strategy that calls upon believers not merely to see
beyond the material to the spiritual but to see the divinity in all stages
and circumstances of Jesus life also his childhood and his suffering
and death. This enables them to cultivate their spiritual connection to
God in every stage of their own life, and to see God in their fellow human beings. By cultivating the capacity to see what is spiritual already
in this life of the flesh, to see past the flesh and its metamorphoses, they
are able not only to face death in joy but to ignore it as a lie that Jesus
rendered invisible

Outline of the Volume

II Paul and Claiming Paul

A. Paul
In studies of early Christian notions of metamorphosis and resurrection, it is obvious that much space will have to be given to Paul and 1
Corinthians 15. Pauls Corinthian correspondence and especially this
chapter captured much scholarly imagination and represented a certain
centripetal power in the project. No less than three essays in this volume include readings of 1 Corinthians 15, and another three essays
include discussions of its later impact. Even in the other parts of the
volume there are frequent references to 1 Corinthians 15 and certain
other passages in 2 Corinthians, such as in Seims essay in part I, which
bases much of its treatment of taxonomy on 1 Cor 15.
The three essays dealing at some more length with 1 Corinthians 15
proper share a further feature. They are informed by broader philosophical discussions, ancient and modern, which are not directly invoked
by Paul himself but still seen by the authors of the essays as useful interpretive keys to unlocking this very rich text.
By using modern, materialist theories of the self, in particular Rosi
Braidottis understanding of the self as nomadic, as something always
in process, always metamorphosing into something different, Jorunn
kland interprets 1 Corinthians 15 and 2 Corinthians 12.1-7. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul emphasizes sequences but implicitly also the metamorphosis from corruptible to incorruptible, from weak to strong, from
animate to pneumatic without any soul to guarantee the continuity.
The continuity is situated in Christ whose image they carry who are in
Christ. Paul is lost for words in face of such a complete metamorphosis, yet he argues for a continuity that is not self-identical but metamorphic. Does the plant remember that it once was a seed? In 2 Corinthians 12.1-7, kland takes at face value Pauls claim of an actual
experience and tries to understand the alterity of his perceptions. His
dilemma in the passage is that he remembers experiencing something
that he cannot properly account for, something that transgressed his
previously held world-views and notions of the body. This makes the
nicely ordered cosmologies of 1 Corinthians 15 collapse. Paul talks of
himself as not necessarily self-identical. Only God and Christ seem to
hold it together. kland concludes that the quest for continuity is a
misdirected tracing of the lost soul. Instead she follows Braidotti in
speaking of an in-between subject or an embodied memory.
Vigdis Songe-Mller takes as her point of departure the problem of
change in Greek philosophy: If the visible world is a reflection of the

10

Introduction

static world of ideas, how can one account for change? Parmenides
concluded that change cannot really exist. Plato was obsessed with
change because it could not be rationally explained, still it occurs. He
situated change by invoking a place outside of place and time: it lurks
between motion and rest and occurs suddenly, in a short moment.
Songe-Mller introduces Paul and 1 Corinthians 15 into this debate and
explores the parallels, but also the differences, between Pauls statement that, we will all be changed, in an instant (15:52) and Platos
notion of sudden change. She points out that whereas Plato tried to
account for change in general by an extraordinary and inexplicable
moment, Paul explained an extraordinary change, namely the resurrection, with reference to a unique moment. It is this shared notion of the
radical and abrupt change, the singular and unpredictable event, that
has also made philosopher Alain Badiou interested in Paul. SongeMller includes a discussion of his interpretation of Paul with reference
also to Pauls conversion experience as narrated in the Acts of the
Apostles.
Reading 1 Corinthians 15 together with a range of other texts (Phil
3:2-21; 2 Cor 2:14-5:10; Rom 8:9-13) Troels Engberg-Pedersen explores the
idea of complete and incomplete transformation in Paul. He finds that a
full and complete cognitive transformation happened when Paul and his
addressees became Christ followers and received the cognitive and
material pneuma. Then follows a period of gradual, physical transformation through this life, which is where Paul and his addressees find
themselves as he writes. This material transformation will be completed at the resurrection of the dead. The gradual, physical transformation has two intimately connected sides: the body of flesh and blood
literally dies gradually until it shares completely Christs body at his
death while at the same time the pneuma is already at work transforming the body. Against most interpreters, Engberg-Pedersen holds that
flesh and blood will not in some sense be shed in such a way that it is
only what remains that will be resurrected. In Pauls body there is the
concomitant and simultaneous presence of the life of Jesus (for which
the pneuma is responsible) and Jesus death, which is seen in Pauls
mortal flesh. Also in Romans 8:10 Paul states that the Romans are in
fact dead, and the pneuma is now at work in them, generating life.
B. Claiming Paul
The impact of 1 Corinthians 15 and other Pauline passages is traced in
various ways in the essays by Outi Lehtipuu, Einar Thomassen and
Hugo Lundhaug. These essays make clear that for many early Chris-

Outline of the Volume

11

tians, Paul was someone whose authority was not likely to be contested, regardless of the side of the debates on which one was located.
The section of the book dealing with Paul and his early readers is entitled Paul and Claiming Paul rather than Paul and his earliest reception history or similar, because it becomes evident that some of the
interpretations beyond receiving Paul and using Paul to think with, are
also about claiming Paul and donning his authority.
Including works of Irenaeus and Tertullian as well as the Gospel of
Philip, Outi Lehtipuu studies the debates on the resurrection in Early
Christian texts, especially how the transformation of the body was envisaged with reference to the Pauline statement flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor 15: 50). One side took this verse
to mean that only the soul element of the human would be resurrected, the other side that the earthly body of flesh would be resurrected, in perfected form. It is the latter side, represented by Irenaeus
and Tertullian, who had the harder task, and they also at times admit
that Paul comes dangerously close to teaching spiritual resurrection.
Their view was partly developed in opposition to those who understood the verse in more spiritual terms and who considered the verse
irreconcilable with any faith in the resurrection of a body made of
earthly, human flesh. Lehtipuu points out that both Paul and other
early traditions of resurrection were ambiguous enough for diverging
views to develop, and that the different interlocutors regarded themselves as the best Pauline interpreters. The underlying agenda concerned who could rightfully claim to be a Christian. Notions of resurrection thus functioned as a boundary marker dividing people into
us and them.
Einar Thomassen delineates how the soteriological process by Valentinian texts can be variously portrayed as a manifestation of the latent
spiritual seed, so that when the Savior-Light appears he draws to himself those who share his fundamental nature; as a divine pedagogy, an
education or maturation whereby the seed, sometimes seen to be weak,
incomplete, womanish and deformed, will mature to be receptive of the
Savior; or as a transformation from a state of deficiency to completeness
where the language of biological generation with its multiplicity of
connotations is symbolically displayed. The inconsistencies are looked
at diachronically since the Valentinian texts employ images and motifs
charged with a prehistory which inevitably has left layers of meaning.
Thomassen also explores the logical architecture of the Valentinian
system, its groundwork being a dynamic monistic ontology using the
notions of extension and contraction deriving from the roots as NeoPlatonism in Late Hellenistic monistic Neopythagoreanism. Finally, he

12

Introduction

reflects on the puzzle inherent in the very concept of transformation:

one desires to be saved as oneself and at the same time as something
other than what one is here and now. The Valentinian material shows
some of the contradictory ways this dilemma is dealt with in a system
where oneness is the supreme value but duality refuses to be eliminated.
By examining metaphorical blends in the Treatise on the Resurrection, Hugo Lundhaug explores how they shape as well the rhetorical
exposition as the doctrinal understanding of resurrection, in close interplay with Scriptural exegesis (primarily Pauline texts 1 Cor 15:44, 2
Cor 4:16-5:4, Rom 7:22-23). Resurrection is strongly affirmed but in a
manner that speaks of two different kinds of flesh and also two different kinds of bodies, one that dies and one that lives on. It represents the
uncovering of an internal, invisible body within the outer visible body
which is destined to die. The uncovering seems to take place when, in
the resurrection, the spiritual swallows the psychic and fleshly person.
Resurrection involves an ascension in connection with which the inner
members, thought and mind, will receive new flesh of a different
kind. The conceptual blend of resurrection, birth and death facilitate an
original interpretation of the much debated metaphor of old age as a
of the body. The material body and life provide the place and
time needed for a pregnancy to develop towards the birth of the new
and superior resurrection body immediately upon the death. Resurrection may be acquired also before death, by practicing an ascetic life,
and perhaps also by way of a necessary initial reception through a
(baptismal) ritual involving dying, resurrecting and putting on Christ.

III. Formation and Transformation of Selves

The last section in the volume deals more thematically with issues of
formation and different forms of rituals and practices that in various
ways are defined by transformative categories.
Istvn Czachesz focuses on grotesque stories of inter-species metamorphosis, bodies without clear boundaries and bodies that behave in
unexpected ways. The grotesque is preoccupied with bodily boundaries and limits, and how these are negotiated, blurred and exceeded e.g.
through metamorphosis between basic categories such as human, animal, plant, artifact and natural object. The most common forms of
metamorphosis are between human and animal or deity and animal.
Human characteristics such as the ability to speak are retained, which
may reflect that texts are written to humans who see themselves as the

Outline of the Volume

13

centre of the universe. Still an ability to speak violates basic expectations about animals. In order to understand why the grotesque was
seen as an effective and clearly favored persuasive tool by Early Christian authors, Czachesz draws on cognitive theory in establishing a taxonomy of the grotesque. Appealing to innate perceptions of fundamental differences between human, animal, plant, artifact and natural
object, and also activating fundamental feelings of fear and disgust, the
mind more easily grasps and remembers grotesque images because
they violate expectations and create feelings of disgust or empathy.
Since they are more easily remembered, they are also strong persuasive
tools.
Antti Marjanen shows how gender transformation already early on
was a symptom of spiritual advancement in Christian circles, but became increasingly more important as seen in the Christian martyrdom
accounts. In these accounts feminine gendered language is used to represent weakness, irrationality, passivity, and spiritual inferiority. Marjanen notes that the examples of full transformation of women into men
are very few. Instead, he finds numerous accounts of women martyrs,
who overstep ordinary gender roles and assume masculine qualities.
This applies above all to women gladiators, athletes and soldiers, but
also women martyrs who advocate the Christian truth by rhetorical
means behave in a masculine way. Even if some feminine qualities
were useful in a martyr situation, like endurance and patience, there
was never a question of men incorporating these qualities and thus
crossing the gender boundary in the opposite direction. In the end,
Marjanen wonders if the emphasis on masculine qualities in the
women martyrs was not only a symptom of their spiritual perfection,
but also due to the fact that such qualities (e.g. firmness and force) were
actually required in the situation.
Denise K. Buell focuses especially on inter-species metamorphosis,
i.e. transformation that challenges the boundary between human and
divine. But first she asks what sense it makes to speak about transformation, including conversion, within anthropological paradigms where
the human person is not an independent, autonomous and selfidentical individual as modern notions of the self assume, but a site of
contestation for various external powers, demonic or divine. Buell
analyses this complex field, particularly the various metaphors, using
Mary Kellers notion of instrumental agency. Tatian and Clement of
Alexandria describe the human as a living and moving statue in which
the numinous power dwells. For the Christian person, pneuma and logos
are the transformative substance and force that have entered into the
person and changes it from within. These views also translate into ethi-

14

Introduction

cal practices. First, the human ought to be trained to be the perfect instrument for the divine. Second, since the bodys orifices and their associated senses were particularly vulnerable to attack, these were sites
of particularly intense regulation. Third, since some transformation was
indeed possible, acting as a divine instrument also meant attracting
divine power which in turn could lead some Christians to transform
across a species boundary from human to divine.
Samuel Rubenson introduces the letters of Ammonas from midfourth century Egypt and explores how they speak about bodily experiences of transformation and heavenly realities. Comparing them
with the better known letters of Antony, he questions the assumed
polarization between a mystical and a philosophical tradition in early
Egyptian monasticism. In the letters of Ammonas there is no reference
to resurrection of the body nor is there any indication of an ontological
dualism between flesh and spirit. Ideas of spiritual growth and of bodily experiences of heavenly and divine realities are predominant, including a gradual transformation of the body of corruption. The recipients are encouraged to strive for such experiences, which are seen
as constant facts being described primarily in sensual terms. By means
of divine power the ascetic labor becomes easy, marked by freedom,
joy, sweetness and rest. It entails revelations and knowledge of secrets
set in heaven but the content of these are not communicated in writing
but only in personal encounters. The transformation of the ascetic takes
place in the body and transforms it. Although they foresee a future and
final and spatial translation to heaven, everything it signifies is already
within reach in the present: the heaven is open and the true light visible; both the spatial and the temporal divide between the divine and
the human sphere are transcended.
John J. Collins analyses early attestations of ideas of exaltation in
Jewish writings, noting that they cannot be categorized in terms of the
binary contrast of resurrection of the body and the immortality of the
soul. Nor is it clear whether they imply a resurrected body of flesh and
blood; they refer to the elevated righteous luminous beings, donning a
garment of glory. The main part of his contribution deals with the Dead
Sea Scrolls. Here fellowship with the angels is constitutive of the sectarian, male celibate community, whose members apparently claim some
measure of transformation as a present reality. In the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice the community somehow sees itself as joining the angels
in worshipping God without spatially ascending to heaven, but perhaps through repetitive, hypnotic recital. Also the Hodayot speak of the
being in communion with angels, including themes of purification and
communication of knowledge. While Collins acknowledges that the

Mapping Convergences

15

hymns retain a strong sense of the flesh-bound state of humanity, he

also observes that the idea of communion with the heavenly host
means that they regarded themselves as transformed to a considerable
degree. There is a remarkable lack of any reflection on death as a problem and no unambiguous references to resurrection. The emphasis is
on continuity between life with the angels in the present and its fuller
realization in the future. This foretaste was sufficient powerful for mortality to be rendered insignificant.
Liv Ingeborg Lied reinterprets the meaning and function of the recognition motif in 2 Baruch 47-52. She traces three periods in God revelation of history in this text: the first is the perverted period of wicked
reign in the corruptible world; the second is the process of change towards eschatological reversal of power in favor of the righteous who
are also those who know. This includes a day of judgment when all
will be recognizable in order to be judged both the living and the
resurrected dead will appear unchanged. Lied contests that the text
speaks about recognition of the resurrected as a form of identification
of the persons they once were (i.e. before they died). Baruch deals with
opposing groups: the wicked versus the righteous and they are recognized in virtue of which group they belong to. The righteous must be
recognized so that righteousness will be victorious in the end, in contrast to the wickedness and unfairness of the present world. After the
judgment there will be further, but separate processes of transformation for the righteous and the wicked: the righteous to further heavenly
splendor and beauty, whereas the wicked will perish with the corruptible world. In the third period (51:7-16) the elevation and transformation
of the righteous continues as they enter heavenly world.

Mapping Convergences
When the results of the manifold contributions in this volume are difficult to summarize, this is no coincidence. Not only do the contributions
cover a variety of sources and contexts from a period of several hundred years. Even more important is the shared conviction that, as established borderlines have become blurred, early Christianity and Judaism
in a Greco-Roman context can no longer be interpreted in harmonizing
and evolutionary terms. In exploring how an inconstant and changeable body is able not just to hold on to, but even develop or gain identity by being transformed, these contributions have cracked open the
solidity of long established views. The contributions show that though
the term metamorphosis is not used at all in many writings, the per-

16

Introduction

spective of metamorphic change was instrumental in readdressing the

early Christian faith in resurrection and eternal life.
One all-important location or event of transformation according to
early Christians and also many Jewish groups was a future resurrection
of the dead, be it universal or not. In a Christian context, the belief in
Jesus death and resurrection further shaped and determined such
ideas and served as a primary identity marker. Also the fact that the
resurrected Jesus was no longer to be seen in earthly circumstances had
to be accommodated. In Part 1 the resurrection/ascension stories in the
gospels of Mark and Luke, even if read through very different lenses,
converge in illuminating the significance of spatial movement and a
transposition from earth to heaven as an ultimate transformative moment.
Jesus resurrection from the dead was regarded as both unique and
prototypical. The prototypical or paradigmatic implication was programmatically developed in various ways. It was perceived in sacramental terms and/or it might be ritually performed and experienced in
a communal space set aside for the purpose of worship shared with
the heavenly host. It was translated into ethical practices and further
developed into an ascetic discipline bringing about transformation
through a gradual spiritual growth into the likeness and perfection of
Christ often expressed in sensual terms. The line of death lost its impact and became porous, and the bodily mutability or transformation
caused by the course of time was superseded by an indifference to the
physical body as Christians gazed beyond it to the ultimate transformation into glorious light and into a state of timelessness. The religious
community provided the home for processes of transformation, and in
Christian communities structures were established for promoting and
accommodating the cultivation of spiritual discernment and growth.
Members were enabled to move beyond the confinements of the constant transformations of the flesh and become perfect instruments for
the divine.
The belief in the resurrection of all Christians did not start with the
written narratives of the resurrection of Jesus but with Pauls transformation of the discourse on human continuity and change into a discourse on death, resurrection, and salvation. 1 Corinthians 15 has been
immensely influential in the history of Christianity, and this volume
brings more clearly to light just how important the chapter became as
point of departure for further reflection on bodily change and resurrection. The centripetal pull of the chapter also illuminates how and why
the pre-existing Greco-Roman discourse on metamorphosis was for a
while completely absorbed into the early Christian discourse on the

Mapping Convergences

17

resurrection of all believers, where contributions were often presented

as interpretations of 1 Corinthians 15.
Further, the essays dealing directly with the Pauline text also uncover how the key texts in 1 and 2 Corinthians share an extended interface with the broader Greco-Roman philosophical and literary discussions of continuity, change and metamorphosis. The Pauline texts in
question contain the generative questions and constitutive elements
behind those broader discussions. But Paul reassembled the pieces in a
strikingly different way, which is why the shared interface has not yet
been sufficiently recognized.
The necessary focal point for Paul which allowed him to reassemble
and restructure the Greco-Roman discourses on human continuity and
change was Christs death and resurrection, which were seen to carry
paradigmatic significance. Still, in Pauls own texts in Christ is a
rather open term compared to what it became later. In the essays presenting us with glimpses of the afterlife of Pauls texts in various
groups of early Christianity, it becomes clear how central the Corinthian correspondence was in the early Christian discussions of resurrection and salvation. Since Paul set the agenda early on, he quickly
reached authoritative status. This means that in the disputes that followed, all sides had to persuasively argue how Paul fitted best with
their perspective, they all had to claim Paul as their own.
Part 2 further demonstrates how the notion of resurrection made already urgent questions of the body and of the human self even more
acute. One could therefore conclude that rather than seeing early Christianity as a movement that disparaged or rejected the body, it was a
movement preoccupied with the body, its meanings, possibilities and
limitations. Transformation was seen to take place in the body as well
as transforming the body.
In Part 3, which deals mainly with post-canonical literature, metamorphosis in the traditional, pre-Christian sense returns. This is a curious return given what was said above about the absorption of this discourse on continuity, change and metamorphosis into Pauls discourse
on death and resurrection. The explanation is perhaps exactly Pauls
reluctance to describe the new and unknown in any detail. What does it
mean to be in Christ, what words did he hear in heaven? Paul describes several movements from known to unknown forms, and he
comes close to being apophatic about it. His texts thus become a new
episode in the discourse on metamorphosis, in that from known form
to known form becomes from known form to unknown form. However, the unknown is hermeneutically very difficult to relate to, the
unknown has to turn into something known. So later early Christian

18

Introduction

authors in some sense had no choice but to try to fill in the picture.
Many later texts carrying the name of Paul expands on 2 Corinthians 12
and intimates what he really saw and heard in heaven, even if Paul in
that text insists that it is forbidden for humans to utter the unspeakable
words he heard.
This is also the period in which stories of transitions into other existing forms return, i.e. the classical metamorphosis narratives as we
know them from pagan literature. Animals and interspecies transformation return, well-known forms again transform into other wellknown forms. Thus, such transformation was still seen as conceivable
at some level. Multiformity might illustrate several related themes:
Gods greatness, the multiformity of ways in which God may appear,
and ultimately the need to transcend appearances by cultivating inner
spiritual wisdom. The spatial and temporal divide is transcended
through a foretaste powerful enough for mortality to be rendered insignificant and for resurrection and heavenly translation to be regarded
as completion.

The Resurrected Body in Luke-Acts:

The Significance of Space
The Resurrected Body in Luke-Acts
TURID KARLSEN SEIM1
berschrift 2: fr Kpitel ohne 2 wird hier 1 Kurzform wiederholt
In a speech to an audience of Jews in Pisidian Antioch, Luke has Paul
with reference to LXX Psalm15:10 contrast David and Jesus as follows:
For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation,
died, was laid beside his ancestors and experienced corruption; but he
whom God raised up experienced no corruption () (Acts 13:36).2

Pauls speech echoes the longer inaugural expos by Peter at Pentecost,

in Acts 2:24-31. Here Peter states that Jesus was crucified and killed, but
God raised him up that is freed him from the pangs of death3 because
death could not hold him in its power. This is presented as a fulfillment
of LXX Psalm 15:8-10. Since David, to whom the psalm is ascribed, died
and was buried in a grave they still know, he cannot be the one intended by the promise of the psalm. Rather David spoke prophetically
of the incorruptibility/resurrection of his messianic descendant who by
the witness Peter is identified as this Jesus whom God raised up.
Jesus was not left to Hades nor did his flesh see corruption or as some
versions to v. 31 interestingly say balancing with : his soul
was not left to Hades and his flesh did not see decay.4 This is language
signifying a complete immortality: Jesus, flesh and soul alike, is regarded as imperishable.
The accounts related to Jesus body and tomb in Luke 24 may seem
to affirm this corporeal incorruptibility. When the women arrive in the
_____________
1
2
3
4

Turid Karlsen Seim is professor and director of The Norwegian Institute in Rome,
University of Oslo, Italy.
If nothing else is mentioned, the translations are from NRSV
Codex Cantabrigiensis together with several early translations read the pangs of
Hades.
There is, however, no reason to assume this as the primary reading. It is rather a
matter of further precision making clear that whereas may decay, does
not decay but may go to Hades. Concerning the idea of incorruptibility and not being left in the Netherworld (Hades or Sheol) see the article of John J. Collins in this
volume, where he claims that the idea of an incorruptible body that is not flesh
and blood is () in fact more typically Hellenistic than the Platonic idea of immortality.

20

Turid Karlsen Seim

tomb where they had seen Jesus dead body been laid, they enter but,
contrary to their expectations, they do not find it and the dazzling messengers ask them why they look for the living among the dead. Jesus
is not dead, he has commended his spirit into Gods hands (Luke 23:49)
and he is not among the dead but among the living.
Jesus dead body was wrapped in linen cloth and laid in a previously unused tomb (Luke 23:53) but according to the Lukan narrative
his body was never anointed for burial. There is no symbolic anointing
beforehand as in the gospels of Mark, Matthew and John.5 When the
women who had been with him from Galilee, at early dawn on the first
day of the week go to the tomb with ointments and spices they had
brought for his body, their preparations are to no avail since his body is
not there. The living is not among the dead. God freed him from the
pangs of death and did not leave him to experience corruption. Jesus
physical body is resurrected; this is the narrative about how it was not
left to perish but returned to the land of the living.
Accordingly, the narratives that follow, about how the risen Jesus
appears to his disciples in earthly circumstances, seem to emphasise the
incorrupt physicality of his resurrected body. He may seem to arrive
from nowhere and vanish suddenly but there are no markers clearly
invoking that his appearances should be perceived as epiphanies. He
still appears as the Jesus they knew, present among them on earth.
His first appearance to the whole group of disciples in Luke 24:3643, deals with the implied ambiguities. It happens suddenly while the
disciples talk together digesting the stories they have heard about more
exclusive showings:6
While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and
said to them, Peace be with you. They were startled and terrified, because
they thought that they were seeing a ghost (). But he said to them,
Why are you frightened and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at
my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost
does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. And when he had
said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they
were still disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, Have you anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and
ate in their presence. Then he said to them, These are the words that I
spoke to you while I was still with you

_____________
5
6

Mark 14:3-9 par. In the Lukan story about an anointing of Jesus by a sinful woman
(Lk 7:36-50) there is no indication that this is a preparation for his burial.
As for the narrative and theological strategy in Luke 24, see T.K. Seim "Conflicting
Voices, Irony and Reiteration: An Exploration of the Narrational Structure of Luke
24.1-35 and Its Theological Implications" in Fair Play: Diversity and Conflicts in Early
Christianity (eds. I. Underberg, C. Tuckett, and K. Syreeni. Leiden: Brill, 2002) 151-64.

The Resurrected Body in Luke-Acts

21

In this episode divine blindfolding is not a feature; the disciples are not
kept from recognizing Jesus as were the two on their way to Emmaus.
They are, however, terrified since they take him for a . The
manuscript D clarifies this by introducing the term ghost,
which is a possible meaning also of . The term appears
to be used about those who have passed away. In Hebrews 12:23 they
are the righteous in heaven, but in 1 Pet 3:19 it most likely refers to
those who are kept incarcerated in Hades.7 The disciples fear that Jesus
is a spirit on walkabout from Hades, and one point of the story may in
fact be to counter such interpretations of the resurrection. Its emphatic
enlisting of solid physical evidence is notable. He is the same Jesus as
they once knew him. Not only is Jesus visibly recognisable, being flesh
and bone he may also be touched and, having his bodily functions intact, he also eats. In no other appearance story does Jesus actually eat.
Even when there is a meal involved, such as in the Emmaus episode
(Luke 24:30) and also in John 21:12-14, the resurrected Jesus takes it
upon himself to act as host but does not appear to partake of the food.
In Luke 24:41-43 this pattern is remarkably reversed; the disciples feed
Jesus and in their presence he eats the food they have prepared.8 This
proves that he is neither a ghost nor an angel, since the belief that angels do not eat ordinary earthly food was axiomatic in Judaism from at
least the second century BC. 9
There is also a bridging reminder to his presence among them in
the past in the reference to the word he had spoken while he was still
with them (24:44). He is saying nothing that they not already had been
told. The way in which this is being expressed, however, is slightly
_____________
7

In the much discussed 1 Peter 3:19 the idea, which only just surfaces in the context of
encouraging good deeds despite suffering, seems to be that only spirits have access
to this place of incarceration after death. It says that Christ was put to death in the
flesh but made alive in the spirit, in/by which he went and proclaimed to the imprisoned spirits. Some claim that the imprisoned spirits refer to a particular group, but
there is no agreement as to whether these are the generation of Noah, cf. v. 20, or the
fallen angels of Gen 6:1-6., or indeed all deceased.
Whereas an eucharistic reference may be seen in the breaking of the bread at Emmaus in Luke 24:30, A.Lieber Jewish and Christian Heavenly Meal Traditions. in
Paradise Now. Essays on Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism (ed. A. D.DeConick; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006) 313-36. is to my mind mistaken in claiming
that these eating episodes cannot be separated from the Eucharistic meal (p.331),
and exploiting the stories extensively as a mystical meal where God is being seen
and the esoteric, hidden level of scripture revealed.
See D.Goodman, Do Angels Eat? JJS 37 (1986) 160-175. Cf. also Acts 23:6-8 where the
narrator informs the reader that the Sadducees deny the existence of both angels and spirits
not as such but as modes of resurrection, cf. K. P. Sullivan, Wrestling With Angels. A Study
of the Relationship between Angels and Humans in Ancient Jewish Literature and the New
Testament (Leiden: Brill, 2004) 135.

22

Turid Karlsen Seim

odd, indicating the difficulties involved in affirming his presence as he

speaks as well as the difference of this presence to what it was like before his death and resurrection, when he was still with them. In Acts 1
this difficulty is resolved as his post-resurrection presence is prolonged
so that his teaching is resumed for a period of forty days. The purpose
of his post-resurrection appearance among them is in each case to reestablish the community of his disciples.
It has been suggested that Jesus in 24:39-41 shows them his feet and
hands to display the stigmata so that the disciples can recognise him by
the marks of his crucified body. The resurrected Lord is indeed the
crucified Jesus of Nazareth. Whereas this is an explicit motif in a similar
scene in the Gospel of John (John 20:25-29),10 it is significantly absent in
Luke. Here the hands and feet apparently are the bodily parts that are
most easily available to be touched when it comes to probe and prove
that the substance of this resurrected body of Jesus is flesh and bone.
Does the slightly ambiguous emphasis on recognition in this episode imply that the resurrected Jesus is not necessarily recognisable in
his resurrected appearance? Many interpreters have taken the feature
that the two disciples on their way to Emmaus, in Lukes first account
of a post-resurrection appearance, do not realize that their unknown
companion is Jesus, to indicate that his appearance had been changed.
However, in the Emmaus story the disciples eyes are deliberately being kept from recognising him. The imposed blindness of the two disciples is an important device of suspension, and it lasts until the moment of revealed recognition when the, to them hitherto unknown,
traveler breaks the bread at supper.11 Since the blindness in this case is
imposed, the Emmaus story does not undermine the fact that the resurrected Christ is recognisable as the Jesus the disciples knew. Corporeal
continuity seems to prevail; the resurrected Jesus is indeed still in the
flesh which has not seen decay.
According to Luke the resurrected Jesus appeared to his disciples
during a limited period until he withdrew from them and was taken up
to heaven. The closure of Jesus earthly mission is not his resurrection
but his departure by ascension. His earthly existence is prolonged
beyond death and grave as he is again with his disciples, reestablishing community. However, his presence among his disciples in
this physical form comes to an end after which they no longer see him.
_____________
10

11

The episode with the doubting Thomas appears to assume wounds or marks
corresponding to those inflicted on Jesus body at the crucifixion with an emphasis
on the pierced side which in John has a particular symbolic significance.
See Seim, Conflicting Voices, 16062.

The Resurrected Body in Luke-Acts

23

In Luke this radical change is narratively explained by a transfer of

Jesus from earth to heaven employing a spatial cosmology.
In an article on the hermeneutical challenge which Lukes ascension
narrative pose, James Dunn notes that the ascension has provoked surprisingly little interest, be it in treatments of the life of Jesus or in Christology, or even in treatments of Christian doctrine.12 Dunns explanation of this lackadaisical attitude is that the spatial movement depicted
in the episode, is at best puzzling and more likely embarrassing for an
age which no longer conceives of heaven up there. Even if this to
Dunn means that the tradition should be pursued in search of a reconstructed factual event behind the narrative,13 his diagnosis may well be
right. Meaning and truth claims are to the so-called modern mind often
intimately attached to a kind of scientific or empirical factuality which
pre-modern presentations cannot possibly meet. Since a pre-modern
cosmology no longer is regarded as scientifically sustainable, Christian
theology has tended to submit and take refuge to the future as the last
unknown. The temporal, eschatological perspective has therefore become all-predominant and mythological stories about spatial mobility
between heaven and earth are left behind. It is, however, important not
to oversimplify or misinterpret the spatial approach in crude literal
term; a spatial approach may also apply to a mental, symbolic map.14
Lately the restoration of mythology and a renewed interest in early
Jewish and Christian mysticism and angelogy have to some degree
changed the situation described above, as has continued form-critical
work on the various types of ascension stories. In this article the focus
is more limited on the narratives of Jesus post-resurrection appear-

_____________
12

13

14

The Ascension of Jesus: A Test Case for Hermeneutics in Auferstehung Resurrection: The Fourth Durham-Tbingen Research Symposium: Resurrection, Transfiguration
and Exaltation in Old Testament, Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity. (Eds.
F.Avemarie and H.Lichtenberger. WUNT 135; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001) 301322.
In her Harvard 2006 Dissertation, Lifted Up From the Earth: The Ascension of Jesus
and the Heavenly Ascents of Early Christians, 43-44, kindly made available to me,
Catherine Playoust critically examines and dismisses such historical reconstructions.
Also Playoust, Lifted Up, 2-15, discusses the embarrassing nature of the doctrine
of the ascension for those exposed to Western science and philosophy and the various strategies involved in alleviating the uneasiness. She makes clear that by adopting a spatial understanding of what heaven meant in antiquity she sees herself as
parting from those who presume that language about heavens was frequently used
by ancient authors as a metaphor about something else (p. 8). I think, however, that
she here draws to sharp a distinction.

24

Turid Karlsen Seim

ances and ascension in Luke-Acts in order analytically to trace the significance of space in relation to resurrected body.15
The ascension story represents material peculiar to Luke, and it is
used twice in remarkably different versions (Lk 24:50-51 and Acts 1:911). However, there is every reason to believe that the two versions are
meant to refer to the same once-only event. In neither version is there
any description or mention of the passage to heaven itself; the ascension is not portrayed as a travel and there is no hint of a conquest of
cosmos as Christ travels through the many spheres.
The version in the Gospel is primarily a closing act. It is marked by
terms of closure; and its perspective is that of the disciples: Jesus is
taken out of their sight. He is no longer visible and touchable in their
midst and he never again appears on earth in the form of flesh and
bone. There is no reassurance of everlasting ubiquity, no promise that
Jesus himself will be with them always and everywhere as it happens
in the concluding great commission in Matthew 28:16-20.16 Indeed,
Jesus no longer has his place on earth; he has been shifted to heaven
and he has left them behind. However, in his place the disciples will
receive the Holy Spirit that he pours out from on high. The Spirit empowers and guides them, indeed becomes the divine presence on earth
and in history as the course of events continues to develop through a
constantly on-going process of promise and fulfilment. In fact, Jesus
had to move to the heavenly space in order for the Holy Spirit to come
upon them (Acts 2:33).
The first version of the ascension of Jesus in Luke 24:50-51 seems to
follow upon the appearances of the resurrected Jesus within the very
same day and it is marked by brevity. The explicit mention that he
was carried up into heaven is missing in some manuscripts,17 but the
sense of departure is unmistakable as is also the element of divinization
as they worship him. It brings the narrative of Jesus earthly life to an
end. The second version, in Acts 1:9-11 is the opening story of Lukes
second volume. It serves together with the preface as a rehearsal of or
_____________
15

16

19

M.C.Parsons, The Departure of Jesus in Luke-Acts. The Ascension Narratives in Context.

(JSNTSup 21; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1987) raises the same question, but
his approach is more specifically designed by a particular literary, narrative method.
The concluding scene of the Gospel of Matthew is therefore strictly speaking not, as
often assumed, a departure scene nor does it tantamount to an ascension. Even if the
post-resurrection appearances do cease, the story of the life of Jesus is in Matthew
left open and transparent due to his ever-presence with them. Correspondingly,
there is no promise of the spirit being sent in his absence.
Codex Sinaiticus prior to scribal corrections, D and it. For further assessment see
Playoust, Lifted Up, 48 n.13.

The Resurrected Body in Luke-Acts

25

rather a bridge to the Gospel.18 However, it represents a far more explicit and elaborate story than the one first told, and the ascension is no
longer assumed to take place on the very same day as the appearances
but only after a period of forty days during which Jesus is giving instructions through the holy spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
This emphasis on the election and instruction of the apostles prepares
for the exclusive role of the apostolic collegium in relation to the restoration of the people of God in the first part of Acts.19
Differently from the earlier gospel version of Jesus ascent, the more
detailed second version exhibits according to Gerhard Lohfink the vocabulary and narrative features characteristic of the Gattung rapture
story (Entrckung):20 it concludes a persons time on earth, it is witnessed on earth and narrated from the perspective of these witnesses.
In contrast to heavenly journeys where the traveler is bound to return
in order to communicate what he has seen or learned, a rapture story
assumes that the traveler remains in heaven. It also differs from the
category of assumption in that it involves the whole person, soul and
body no trace is left on earth. It is not just a mystical experience of
exaltation or the elevation of the soul after death. A further prominent
feature of rapture is that there is no death experience; it represents a
promotion to immortality and deification.
In the Greco-Roman tradition rapture seems to have collapsed into a literary convention with which Luke most likely has been familiar
as several motifs in his accounts reveal: the cloud, the mountain, the
_____________
18

19

20

While not underestimating the divergences between the two volumes, I remain
convinced that they are written by the same author but that the second volume did
not follow immediately and may not have been planned or even foreseen when the
first was written.
M. C. Parsons explains the seemingly intolerable temporal difference between the
two stories in functional, contextual terms, Departure of Jesus, 194-95. For further elaboration of the role of the apostles see T.K. Seim, The Double Message. Patterns of
Gender in Luke-Acts (Edinburgh/Nashville: T&T Clark/Abingdon Press, 1994), 160-62.
Playoust, Lifted Up, 48 persuasively counters those who take this Lukan
development of the story in Acts to prove that a separate, visible, witnessed ascension as a separate thread from the resurrection/exaltation is a Lukan innovation on
which later tradition depends. In fact, Acts seems to have taken most of the secondcentury to become widespread and influential and the first source to refer to a forty-day duration is Tertullian (Apol.21).
Die Himmelfahrt Jesu. Untersuchungen zu den Himmelfahrts- und Erhhungstexten bei
Lukas (StANT 26; Mnchen: Ksel, 1971). Lohfink also claims that Luke was the first
to translate and visualize the kerygma of Jesus exaltation into a rapture story. However, by examining several ascension-related texts from the late first to mid-second
century AD, Playoust, Lifted Up, 47-69, succeeds in demonstrating that exaltation
traditions during this period were developed into ascension traditions multiple
times without any apparent dependence on Acts 1.

26

Turid Karlsen Seim

visibility of the event as attested to by eyewitnesses, their joy and their

worship. Arie W. Zwiep critically expands Lohfinks use of primarily
Greco-Roman sources and claims that even though the rapture category
in early Judaism had become somewhat suspect, it was not uncommon
towards the end of the first century.21 It developed according to a fixed
pattern, which may be recognized in the Lukan account - especially the
version found in Acts. It includes an advance announcement of what
will happen, an instruction often lasting for forty days of those who
stay behind to ensure that the teaching will not perish; the terms
and to describe the event, and a set terminus ad quem of the raptured persons preservation in heaven and his
return for an envisaged role in the eschatological drama.
It is important for Zwiep not only to distinguish between the ascension stories and what he calls exaltation imagery but to set them
sharply apart. The lack in the ascension stories of any reference first
and foremost to Psalm 110:1 but also to Daniel 7:13-14 and Psalm 68:19,
which speak of exaltation, makes Zwiep insist that Luke has not intended any connection to be made between Acts 1:9ff and 2:32-36, since
here Peter in his speech refers to Psalm 110:1 and uses the language not
of ascension but of exaltation. In a narrative perspective Zwieps assumption is insupportable, and it is possible only because he entertains
a sharp division between redaction and tradition and argues on strictly
form-critical grounds: The exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of God
which Peter refers to in Acts 2:32-36, does not belong to the rapture
type of ascension but is rather a heavenly journey. It stems from tradition and is therefore not truly Lukan. But why does Luke have Peter
make such a point of it? Theologically, Zwiep claims that the event to
which Peter refers, is not the ascension but the resurrection, and the
ascension is nothing but the last post-resurrection appearance of Jesus.
Luke reserves Psalm 110 exclusively for the interpretation of the Easter
event to mark resurrection as exaltation.22 Zwiep quotes with sympathy
Klaus Bergers phrase Auferstehung in den Himmel hinein and
shares the understanding that the appearances of the resurrected Jesus
in Luke 24 are manifestations from heaven of the already exalted

_____________
21

22

Arie W. Zwiep, The Ascension of the Messiah in Lukan Christology. (NT S 87; Leiden:
Brill, 1997). This monograph has to some part been condensed in the article Assumptus est in caelum. Rapture and Heavenly Exaltation in Early Judaism and
Luke-Acts in Auferstehung Resurrection, (Eds. F. Avemarie and H. Lichtenberger.
WUNT 135; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001) 323-50. The dating of some of the sources
on which he draws may be debatable.
Ascension of the Messiah, 110.

The Resurrected Body in Luke-Acts

27

Lord.23 He comes and goes from above but only during a period of
forty days when an exclusive, apostolic instruction takes place
(Acts 1:2-8). According to Zwiep, this is how Luke safeguards the authenticity of the Christian kerygma over against Gnostic exploitations
of the post-resurrection period of teaching.24 The appearance stories
and the ascension in the Gospel of Luke are subsumed into the version
in Acts 1 which is to be regarded as the theologically overruling or
more fully accomplished story.
The post-resurrection appearance stories display, according to
Zwiep, the appearance of a heavenly being in a human mode of being
to be form-critically distinguished from more spectacular manifestations of the heavenly world. In some odd asides, Zwiep also indicates
that even if those who are raptured to heaven in the Jewish and Christian stories were not deified, they had to undergo the necessary physical transformation to fit the heavenly conditions, and moreover that the
ascension puts Jesus on a heavenly sidetrack, waiting for his glorious
comeback at the parousia.25 The heavenly, possibly transformed Jesus
is temporarily up there on a sidetrack until he again is called upon to be
part of earthly (?) eschatological events. In this way Zwiep is able not
just to combine a spatial perspective with a temporal but to subsume it
into an overruling temporal scheme as simply a digression. Whereas
the ancient texts move freely within a spatially shaped cosmology as
well as mythically conceived sequential narratives in ways that make
spatial and temporal categories interact, modern interpreters tend to
focus on the temporal, in this case eschatological, dimensions and the
temporal categories serve to overrule the spatial categories.
This is not to say that Luke does not expect a return at the end of
time of Jesus as the Son of Man. It is also clear that Luke, differently
from the promise of the ubiquity of the almighty in the concluding
scene in the Gospel of Matthew, sees Jesus as having departed and
from above fulfilling the promise that the Holy Spirit be poured out.26
_____________
23

24
25
26

Ascension of the Messiah, 159-63, drawing on J.E. Alsup, The Post-Resurrection Appearance Stories of the Gospel Tradition. A History-of-tradition Analysis with Text-Synopsis.
(Calwer Theologische Monographien 5. Stuttgart: Calwer Verlag, 1975). See also
Adela Y. Collins article in this volume, where she assumes that in the Gospel of
Mark , the story of the empty tomb implies that Jesus has been transformed, has left
the world of human beings, and has been transferred definitively from earth to heaven. However, Mark does in consequence not narrate the resurrection appearance
stories that both he and his audience knew.
Assumptus est, 347, and more extensively in Ascension of the Messiah, 171-75, 188.
Ascension of the Messiah, 182.
In this there is a remarkable affinity, despite the difference in language, between the
gospels of Luke and John by which they differ significantly from the gospels of
Mark and Matthew.

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Turid Karlsen Seim

However, to speak of an absentee Christology, that is not only his

physical absence but also the present inactivity of the exalted Lord,27 is
to take it too far. In Acts there are, however extraordinary, accounts of
two appearances from above - to Stephen and to Paul. It is also the exalted Jesus who according to Acts 2:33 pours out the Holy Spirit that
possesses, inspires and guides the followers of Jesus but never becomes
their permanent possession. Furthermore, it is inherent to the Lukan
concept of remembrance that Jesus continues to be present in the collective commemoration of what he told them when he was still with
them. The Gospel story concludes by his departure but yet constitutes
a continued presence by replacement.28
In this present article, Lukes periodization is of less concern; the
focus is rather on the assumed qualities of the resurrected body and the
question whether these qualities are subject to change as he moves
from earth to heaven, and in case, how he is perceived as being
changed.
In 2 Baruch, also called the Apocalypse of Baruch, a Jewish writing
from early Second Century CE and preserved in Syriac though originally written in Greek,29 spatial and sequential, temporal categories interact by serving different purposes. Resurrection is at least in one account described as a two-stage process:
For the earth will surely then give back the dead; it receives them now in
order to keep them, transforming nothing in their appearance but as it has
received them so it will give them back. And as I have delivered them to it,
so it will raise them. For those who are then alive must be shown that the
dead have come alive again, and that those who went [away] have come
[back]. And when they have recognised those they know now, then judgment will become effective, and that which was spoken of will come to
pass.
And after this appointed day is over, the pride of those who are found
to be guilty will be changed, as will also the glory of those who have been
found righteous. For the shape of the evildoers will go from bad to worse,
like those who suffer torment. Again the glory of those who have now been
justified (.) their faces will shine even more brightly and their appearance

_____________
27
28

29

Zwiep, Ascension of the Messiah, 182.

See T.K. Seim In Living Memory. Reflections on Collective Memory and Patterns of Commemoration in Early Christianity, in Cracks in the Walls. Essays on Spirituality, Ecumenicity and Ethics, (Eds. E.M. Wiberg Pedersen and J. Nissen. Frankfurt
am Main: Peter Lang, 2005) 93-106.
For further presentation and discussion, see the article on 2 Baruch by Liv Ingeborg
Lied in this volume. My interpretation draws on hers with some minor divergences.
See also G. Stemberger, Der Leib der Auferstehung. Studien zur Anthropologie und Eschatologie des palstinischen Judentums im neutestamentlichen Zeitalter (ca. 179 v. Cr.[sic]
100 n.Chr.) (Analecta Biblica 56; Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1972) 85- 91.

The Resurrected Body in Luke-Acts

29

(or splendour) will then be glorified in transformations, and the form of

their face will be turned into the light of their beauty to enable them to acquire and receive the immortal world which is promised to them (2 Bar
50:1-51:3)30

In this vision of Baruch, there is first a universal resurrection when the

earth gives back the dead. There is at this stage no indication of transformation; they are all in some way recognizable as those whom the
earth once received. The continuity and identity of those raised is therefore important but the quality of this identity, namely the features that
are subject to recognition, is not necessarily individual. There can,
however, be no mistake as to their righteousness or unrighteousness.
The judgment is unfailingly just. When recognition has taken place and
judgment has been passed accordingly, transformation may happen.
Those deemed to be righteous are elevated and their shape is blurred
into a luminous beauty. The punishment of the evil-doers is the horror
of the decaying shadows of their former selves (51:5) but also that
they will have to witness the glorious state of those who are now their
inferiors, as these are transformed to look like angels and are made
equal to the stars (51:5, 10). This happens as they attain a timeless
world which is now invisible, indeed the extent of Paradise will be
spread before them 51:11), and in the end their splendour will exceed
even the splendour of the angels (51:13).
An interesting and significant element in this two-stage process is
the connection established between the shape in which the resurrected
appear and the place where it occurs. In the resurrection from the earth,
on the earth, the resurrected bodies maintain recognizable features. But
during the transposition to the heights of the world now invisible an
ever increasing transformation to beauty and splendour occurs for
those named righteous, whereas the unrighteous is deformed to shadow and nothingness. There is a consistent dichotomy at work, which
is expressed morally, visually and spatially.
In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul argues didactically rather than polemically
in defense of a resurrection from the dead.31 In the eschatological scenario of 1 Corinthians 15, there is, differently from 2 Baruch, no universal
resurrection. According to the order laid out in the brief apocalypse in
vv. 23-28, only those who belong to Christ follow him in being resur_____________
30
31

The translation is in this case a blend of various others, included the one by Liv
Ingeborg Lied.
I agree with Jeffrey Ashers identification of Pauls type of argumentation in this
chapter as being didactic rather than polemical, Polarity and Change in 1 Corinthians
15. A Study of Metaphysics, Rhetoric, and Resurrection, (HUTh 42; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000) 48-58. For further perspectives on 1 Corinthians 15, see the articles by
Troels Engberg-Pedersen and Vigdis Songe-Mller in this volume.

30

Turid Karlsen Seim

rected. 32 This limitation explains why there in 1 Corinthians 15 is submission or vindication of the powers opposed to God, but no judgment.
It represents a clarification of how death ultimately will be destroyed as
the last enemy. Cosmology and eschatology are made to intersperse by
the way in which spatial categories are matched by temporal or rather
sequential categories. Hence, continuity as expressed by recognizability
plays no role like it does in apocalyptic texts such as 2 Baruch where a
main purpose is to reassure the righteous that in the end justice will be
victorious through a double outcome. Nor is there any need for a twostage process. In 1 Corinthians 15 resurrection from the dead is not
perceived as bodily restoration;33 rather it involves a transformation,
which requires that also those still alive when it happens, are subject to
radical change.
In the second part of the chapter, vv. 35-57, Paul addresses in unusually direct terms foolish questions pertaining the nature of the
resurrected body: How are the dead raised? With what kind of body
do they come? (v. 35). He maintains that the relationship between the
present body and the one recreated in the resurrection is analogous to
that between a seed and the plant growing from it as the seed itself
perishes, dies. There is some kind of dependency and sequence, but
there is no apparent likeness. The analogy covers for continuity, but
primarily it allows for this continuity to have an emphasis on difference
and contrast.
Fundamental to Pauls line of argumentation in this second part of
1 Corinthians 15 is a taxonomy, an orderly description of Gods work of
creation, its categories and differences, found in vv. 38-41:
Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for human beings, another for
animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are both heavenly
bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing and
that of the earthly another, There is one glory of the sun, and another glory
of the moon, and yet another glory of the stars, indeed, star differs from
star in glory.

Jeffrey R. Asher has shown that the varieties of terrestrial and celestial
bodies as listed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15.38-41, correspond to descriptions found in ancient Greek and philosophical sources. Still, the
correspondence is limited: these lists serve other purposes and, more
_____________
32

33

In her article in this volume, Jorunn kland, intriguingly explains this as being due
to the way in which Paul perceives continuity as being situated in the one whose
image we carry, Christ, so that continuity only applies to those who are in Christ.
This is why Paul takes no interest in the empty tomb, if he at all was familiar with
that tradition.

The Resurrected Body in Luke-Acts

31

significantly, they lack the contrast established between the two kinds,
the locative polarity which argumentatively precedes the temporal. The
background or origin of this particular taxonomy therefore remains
nebulous.34
Paul regards this taxonomy as the divinely created design of creation (1 Cor 15:38-41). Fundamental to it is the division of cosmos into
two opposite spaces of habitation, the terrestrial and the celestial. The
genus of was accordingly divided into two opposite species
(heavenly bodies and earthly bodies) and under each of the two species
further subdivisions, sharing the same basic quality, might be distinguished. The emphasis is not on the internal classification in each
group but on the qualitative difference between earthly and heavenly.
The quality of all earthly bodies is carnal even if they do not share the
same kind of flesh, whereas the heavenly bodies are characterized by
their radiance, . A certain kind of body belongs to a particular
space; it has its own habitat. is characteristic of and belongs on
earth; is characteristic of and belongs in heaven these categories
serve as spatial boundary markers.
From this follows that flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God and the perishable cannot inherit the imperishable (1 Cor
15:50) 35 Hence transposition from an earthly existence to heavenly is
not conceivable without transformation from flesh to glory. In order to
move across the divide, radical change or transformation is necessary.
This is only possible due to the creative will and power of God, who
gives to each a body as he chooses.36 The taxonomy in 1 Corinthians 15,
_____________
34

35

36

Polarity and Change, 140, In Hesiods Works and Days 276-278 four kinds of terrestrial
life-forms are listed: humans, beasts, fish and fowl. Similar lists can be found in Sophocles and Vergil. Greek philosophers also spoke, even after the discovery of the
wandering planets, of a threefold division of the sun, the moon and the stars. Ashers work does not solve the problem of the provenience of the taxonomy in 1 Corinthians 15. It does, however, represent a major step forward since most commentators on the passage follow the parallels listed by Strack-Billerbeck and assume that
the taxonomy represents an allusion either to the classification of animals in Jewish
dietary laws or more likely to the priestly account of creation in Genesis 1. At one
level this is undoubtedly adequate and there is no contradiction between Gen 1 and
Pauls cosmological indications in 1 Corinthian 15. But the similarity is far from
striking and especially the emphatic contrast between the two different series of bodies in the Pauline passage is at best implicit in the Genesis account.
Which to Ashers mind is the reason why the Corinthians did not believe in the
resurrection: it violated the principles of their cosmological doctrine and they probably argued that it is absurd to think that a terrestrial body could be raised to the celestial realm, Polarity and Change, 144.
In the philosophical context presumed by Jeffrey Asher, transformation or change
represented a problem and was not easily accommodated. So also Vigdis SongeMller who in her article in this volume explores the paradox of change in Platonic

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Turid Karlsen Seim

accordingly, also emphasizes that among terrestrial and celestial bodies

alike, differentiation is evident. The differentiation is not so much
aimed at hierarchical configurations as at maintaining the creative diversity of the will and power of God on earth as in heaven. This
might mean that the idea of what might be considered transgressive
change in itself needed to be bolstered.
The resurrection as Paul sees it, is therefore a transposition from being an earthly creature to becoming a heavenly - in the sense that flesh
is perishable and therefore subject to ultimate change: that of corruption through aging and death. Earthly bodies, as constituted by ,
do not possess immortality, they are deemed to perish like a seed in the
soil. Transposition from an earthly existence to heavenly is not conceivable without transformation from flesh to glory. In an instant the resurrection body becomes a transformed body, conform to the requirements of celestial existence as it by divine creative intervention attains
the glorious distinctions of celestial bodies.
The one feature, which in this taxonomy seems to resist adaptation
to a divide that can be overcome only by complete transformation, is
the assumption (1 Cor 14:40b) that also terrestrial bodies possess 37
Of course, Paul explicitly states that the of heavenly bodies is
different from that of the earthly, but it still means that earthly bodies
are not without and that this quality somehow is the reflection of
the creator in creation. Human beings as created by God are potentially
what one might call blended beings.38
Are similar taxonomic presuppositions traceable in Luke-Acts? Are
spatial boundaries being negotiated in similar ways? The emphasis in
the Lukan post-resurrection stories on the physical presence of the resurrected Jesus before he was lifted up, have already been stated. Does,
_____________
37

38

philosophy and how parallels may be discerned between Paul and Plato in the way
they both deal with change by referring it to the inexplicable instant.
In order fully to maintain the absolute polarity, Asher cannot possibly accept that
the of v. 40b is identical with the of v. 41. He relegates the problem to a
foot-note as he establishes a distinct semantic difference between the term as
referring to terrestrial bodies (v. 40b) and to celestial bodies (v. 41). In the latter case
it simply means light whereas in the first it refers to the radiance of all created bodies in the cosmos because they are products of Gods creative power(Polarity and
Change, 105 n. 38) Cf. also the gender hierarchy in the so-called kefale-structure of 1
Cor 11:3-12 where Paul draws on a cosmological order which assumes that human
beings as created in Gods image has , as it is hierarchically reflected from God
to Christ, from Christ to the man and from man to woman.
One might pursue this further by exploring how relates to and vice
versa. An indirect contribution to this is Troels Engberg-Pedersens article in this volume interpreting Pauls understanding of body and spirit in light of Stoic philosophy.

The Resurrected Body in Luke-Acts

33

however, the corporeal nature of Jesus post-resurrection appearances in

Luke 24 essentially or ontologically define the nature of the resurrected
body, or does it depend on the earthly location?39
The ascension removed Jesus from the eyes of those remaining on
earth, and his physical presence among tem was brought to an end.
However, on two occasions he does act/reappear from on high: to Stephen at his martyrdom and to Paul on the road to Damascus.40 The
story of Pauls conversion is reiterated three times (Acts 9:3-9; 22:6-11;
26:12-18). The three versions are not identical but they are all significantly different from the earlier accounts of Jesus appearances in the
period between his resurrection and ascension. In the last of the three
versions, Paul tells King Agrippa about his experience, referring to it as
a heavenly vision (26:19) - thereby indicating that it was an appearance of the heavenly Jesus. However, all three versions agree that not
much was seen apart from a bright blinding light. Jesus appearance to
Paul is not characterized by Jesus bodily presence but by the absence
of any corporeal form. There is no way by which he can be recognized
by physical features. In stead, he makes himself known by compelling
words identifying the speaker as Jesus, in 22:8 even as Jesus from Nazareth. Thus a striking contrast is established between the reference to
the speaker as being the earthly Jesus and the lack of any bodily appearance by which he might be recognized. He can be heard but not
seen as he simply appears in or as light. The continuity or identification
is by name, but not by flesh and bone.
In Acts 6:15 as the council opens its proceedings against Stephen,
one of the seven. Prior to his speech of defense, we are told that as all
those who sat in the council looked intently at him, they saw that his
_____________
39

40

In posing this question I differ radically from Crispin Fletcher-Louis, Luke-Acts:

Angels, Christology and Soteriology (WUNT 94; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1997). To him
the spatial dimension is less significant and indeed represents a problem, since he,
despite the language of angelomorph, is concerned with. In his conclusion, p. 250,
he claims that whilst transformation in the Jewish context is frequently achieved on
ascent to the heavenly realm, this is nowhere present in Luke-Acts. Rather transformation is possible through association with the incarnational presence of Jesus, the
angelomorphic Son of Man.
Many of those who have written extensively on the post-resurrection appearance
stories, mention also these post-ascension appearances in Acts but they are primarily
interested in keeping them form-critically separate from the gospel stories. According to John Alsup they belong to the Gattung of heavenly radiance appearance
which is of a distinct different but not primary origin (Post-Resurrection Appearance
Stories, 84-85). To Arie Zwiep Lukes reiterated report of Christs appearance to Paul
on the Damascus road represents a problem which he deals with primarily in terms
of how Paul, outside of the constraints of the forty-days scheme, gains authentication of his mission later confirmed by the apostles in Jerusalem. (Ascension of the
Messiah, 173-74).

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Turid Karlsen Seim

face was like the face of an angel. This may be a premonition of the
martyrdom by which the proceedings of the council conclude.41 In any
case it indicates that his countenance was in some way illuminated, but
only as a likeness to angels.42 After Stephens speech, immediately preceding his execution, it is reported twice that Stephen, filled with the
Holy Spirit, was privileged to gaze into heaven where he saw the
of God and Jesus standing prominently at the right hand of God (7:5559).43 Look, he said, I see the heavens opened and the Son of man
standing at the right hand of God, and later he prays in an allusion to
Jesus last word on the cross Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.44 In this
passage there is an element of recognition but no indication as to particular features of identification. There is in the episode an intriguing
interchange of names: The heavenly Son of Man is Jesus and vice versa.45 The heavenly figure at the right hand of God is Jesus of Nazareth
as the Son of Man. As predicted in Luke 22:69, Jesus as the Son of Man
has taken his seat at the right hand of the power of God.
_____________
41

42

43

44

45

Cf. Hans Conzelmann, Acts of the Apostles. (Hermeneia .Philadelphia: Fortress Press,
1987) 48. Also in the story of Jesus transformation in Luke 9:29 the change of the
face is mentioned first. Similar descriptions are found in LXX Daniel 3:92, and later
in Acts of Paul and Thecla 3, and less parallel in the Martyrdom of Polycarp 12:1: his
face was full of grace, even though this martyrdom also states in 2:3: The fire of
their cruel torturers had no heat for them, for they set before their eyes an escape
from the fire which is everlasting and is never quenched, and with the eyes of their
heart they looked upon the good things which are preserved for those who have endured () shown by the Lord to them who were no longer men but already angels.
These examples may be inspired by Acts 6:15.
On this I agree with Sullivan, Wrestling With Angels, 120-21, and remain unpersuaded by Crispin Fletcher Louis attempt at also in this case to see angelization as
ontological, that is something integrated into Stephens life before his death (LukeActs, 96-98).
For the discussion as to why Jesus is standing, see; Jacob Jervell, Die Apostelgeschichte
(Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1998) 252, with the sound conclusion that Im
Zusammenhang ist aber nur wichtig, dass Jesus sich zur rechten Gottes befindet.
Alan Segal suggests that the gaze into the open heaven may indicate that Stephen at
the moment of his martyrdom is lifted up, Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in
the Religions of the West (New York: Doubleday, 2004), 466, 481. See also Zwiep, Ascension of the Messiah, 177.
For the parallels between Jesus and Stephens trials and martyrdoms, cf. Abraham
Smith, Full of Spirit and Wisdom: Lukes Portrait of Stephen (Acts 6:1-8:1a) as a
Man of Self-Mastery, in Asceticism and New Testament (Eds. Leif E.Vaage and Vincent L. Wimbush. New York, London: Routledge, 1999) 97-114.
This is the only mention of the title Son of Man outside of the gospels and also the
only time when it is not used by Jesus himself. Alsup claims that Luke (reluctantly?
reworks a Stephen-tradition which contained the account of his martyrdom and vision (its Gattung being an representation perhaps influenced by the
heavenly radiance type with characteristic mention of light) by the identification of
Jesus as the Son of Man (Post-Resurrection Appearance Stories, 83).

The Resurrected Body in Luke-Acts

35

In Luke the identification of the Son of Man with Jesus is clear. It

may, however, be that Jesus moves towards becoming this Son of Man,
and that this temporal dimension converges with a spatial dimension
between earthly and heavenly existence, most clearly expressed in
Luke 12:8-9 And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before
others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God;
but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels
of God. The correspondence between Jesus and the Son of Man is
maintained both in relation to a temporal perspective and a difference
in spatial allocation.
The Son of Man saying closest to the vision of Stephen in Acts 7:55
is found in Luke 9:26 in a teaching by Jesus on the cost of discipleship
(9:23-27). After Jesus has foretold his disciples that the Son of Man will
suffer rejection and be killed to be raised again on the third day, he tells
them that to follow him will or rather should lead them to lose their life
for his sake:
If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up
their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will
lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it
profit them if they gain the whole world but lose and forfeit themselves?
Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man
will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father
and of the holy angels. But truly I tell you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.

This promise is in fact fulfilled to Stephen in Acts 6-7. It also leads on to

the story about the transformation of Jesus before the eyes of three of
his disciples (Luke 9:28-36). By a slight change of wording, so that rather than in the glory of the Father as in Mark 8:38, Luke has in his
glory and that of the Father Luke makes the transfiguration an immediate fulfillment of this prediction.46
As pointed out above, in the post-resurrection appearance stories in
Luke 24 there is an earthly, sarkic ordinariness about Jesus. Also the
ascension story describes the departure of Jesus from his disciples and
his transposition from earth to heaven without mentioning any transformative traits. His ascent simply means that he disappears from the
sight of his disciples and there seems to be no interest in the travel as
such. However, in the transfiguration story, which Luke shares with
Mark and Matthew,47 transformative features are predominant. Jesus
_____________
46
47

See Luke Johnson, The Gospel of Luke (SP 3; Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press
1991).
For discussion of history of tradition and of genre, see Adela Collins, Mark. A Commentary. (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007) 414-19. She thinks that it
probably was not originally a resurrection-appearance story, but rather evokes an

36

Turid Karlsen Seim

takes with him three of his disciples up on the mountain, and while he
prays, the appearance of his face is changed and his clothes become
dazzling white.48 He is transformed into brightness and three of his
disciples are there to witness it. Traditional markers of epiphany are
abundant in the story: the mountain setting, heavenly visitors, clouds
and voices from above, as well as a bright and shining whiteness. As
Jesus is transfigured, Moses and Elijah appear, also they according to
Luke in glory. It is peculiar to Luke that they with an unusual choice
of terms speak about Jesus departure () which he is about to
accomplish in Jerusalem. Moses and Elijah are not just great figures
from the past representing the Law and the Prophets and being present
since the promises they were given are about to be fulfilled. They are
among the immortals, those who did not see death but according to
Jewish tradition were taken up to heaven. Especially Elijah was famous
for his translation to heaven (Sir 48:9: Jos.Ant. 9.2.2 par. 28),49 but also
Moses was assumed not to have died (Jos.Ant. 4.8.48 par. 325-326). Like
them Jesus will be translated up into heaven.
In a not altogether persuasive attempt at applying Jewish angelic
categories to the Lukan Jesus, Crispin Fletcher-Louis tries not to claim
that Jesus is presented as an angel, or the Angel of the Lord, but that he
is angelomorphic in the sense that he has angelic attributes.50 Christ is
both more human than can be expected of an angel and also more fully
divine since he receives worship. For Jews, says Fletcher-Louis, angelic
categories could be used without exhausting identity in either human
or divine direction. Fletcher-Louis reading of Jewish sources is illuminating, especially the way in which he shows how an angelic life can be
disassociated from eschatology thus supporting an emphasis on spatial
perspectives. However, besides the fact that he is overstating his case,
my main question concerns his persistent quest for Jesus true identity.
_____________

48

49
50

ancient genre of epiphany and metamorphosis. The transfiguration could then be

understood in two different ways: either the true nature of Jesus as divine being is
momentarily revealed, or it is a temporary change in anticipation of the final one.
Whereas the Synoptic accounts agree about the transformation of his clothes to
splendid whiteness, they describe differently how his face is being changed, cf. Sullivan, Wrestling With Angels, 114-16. He sees it as an aspect of angelophanies the
only case in which Jesus might be considered angelomorphic even if it is not entirely
clear that he became an angel since indeed the term is obviously absent. I find Sullivans comment on the recent spate of work on angelomorphic Christology appropriate when he says that they have to look at antecedents, later identifications, and
especially angelomorphic descriptions of Christ to develop their material the
point to my mind being that the Gospel material dwindles in to very little indeed.
The significance of Elijah is also addressed by Adela Collins and Samuel Rubenson
in their contributions to this volume.
See above n. 39.

The Resurrected Body in Luke-Acts

37

He is looking for a stable and essential continuity in Jesus identity

between the two periods of his existence. Jesus has to be essentially the
same both in his earthly life and in his heavenly (pre)existence. Since
the continuity is attached to the angelic or angelomorphic attributes,
they must be discernable throughout. The earthly Jesus must therefore
be proven to possess such angelic features as might be expected from
the Jewish material on which Fletcher-Louis abundantly draws. In his
interpretation of the story of the transfiguration of Jesus he therefore
sees only two possibilities:51 The mortal Jesus experiences transformation at this point, becoming more angelomorphic for the first time, or
the angelomorphic identity which Jesus already possessed is made
manifest for the first time, Fletcher-Louis is caught by his own logic and
has to insist on the latter. The transfiguration is not to be regarded as a
transformation indeed there was no such moment, only many moments of unveiling. The question, however, remains as to what the
unveiling reveals. Does it have to be that he is in real fact an angel? Or
is it rather, as I myself believe, a glimpse, a preview, a trailer of the
heavenly, immortal Jesus, which entails a transformation of his bodily
form different from its earthly physicality? Significantly, the transfiguration story is located in the narrative between Jesus first prediction of
his rejection, suffering and resurrection and the second. Immediately
afterwards the travel narrative starts; Jesus has begun. Ultimately the way leads not just to Jerusalem, but to heaven: When the
days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem
(Lk 9:51).
The story about the transfiguration differs from the appearances of
the resurrected Jesus and may seem to have more in common with the
account of Pauls encounter with the ascended Jesus of Nazareth. It
carries the marks of epiphany and divine ; it represents a glimpse
of a heavenly existence which is not there to stay as everything returns
to earthly ordinariness. It bears witness to the conviction that transposition from an earthly existence to a heavenly requires bodily transformation. In order to describe the heavenly body categories of light and
brightness () are employed. These are noticeable substances yet
without tangible solidity. They mark difference rather than continuity
and recognisability. It affirms a sort of resurrected body but not its flesh
and blood and bone.52
_____________
51
52

Luke-Acts, 38-50.
According to John J. Collins in his article in this volume, early apocalyptic literature
does not provide much description of the transformed heavenly state beyond referring to the elevated righteous as luminous and shining sometimes in terms of donning glory as a garment, and thereby attaining equality with the angels. Cf. also Sul-

38

Turid Karlsen Seim

In Luke the spatial dichotomy leads to or is converted to social dichotomies which allows for a connection to be made while respecting
the taxonomic dichotomy. The heavenly life is proleptically realized on
earth in ways that do not transgress the taxonomic order. One is invited
to live as if . By means of a convoluted case configured to demonstrate that faith in resurrection is absurd, the Sadducees, who did not
hold this faith, try to trap Jesus (Lk 20:27-39).The example is based on
the institution of the Levirate marriage, and a thematic cluster of marriage, death and progeny is being addressed. 53
In all the Synoptic versions of this dispute, the different nature of
the resurrected life is emphasized. Marriage has no further role to play,
it is irrelevant. The trap of the Sadducees has no catch: in the resurrection the woman belongs to no man at all. When the dead are raised,
they neither marry nor are they given in marriage; they are like angels
in heaven (Mk 12:25). In Mark and Matthew this is spelt out in temporal categories as a dichotomy between this life and the resurrected life to
come. Only in the future life will marriage be forsaken. In the Lukan
version this is different. Luke develops a lengthy response which is
almost a small treatise on the ethos of resurrection and immortality. It
exhibits a pleonastic compilation of terms, indicating that traditional
Jewish concepts are interpreted in Greco-Roman terms as it happens
also in other Jewish writings at the time. Resurrection is being recast as
immortality:
Jesus said to them, The sons of this aeon marry and let themselves be married, but those who are considered worthy to attain the other and the
resurrection of the dead neither marry nor do they let themselves be mar-

_____________

53

livan, Wrestling with Angels, 138-39: no specific traditions of humans transforming

into angels in the afterlife seem to be evident prior to the first century CE. (.) Early
traditions about the afterlife may have understood human passing as leading to
communion with the divine as stars (=angels) in the heavens.
Originally in The Double Message, 20829, and further developed in Children of the
Resurrection: Perspectives on Angelic Asceticism in Luke-Acts in Asceticism and the
New Testament, 115-26. Sullivan, Wrestling with Angels, 133-34, maintains that the
emphasis in Luke 20 is on correct interpretation as this is one of three pericopes
grouped together in order to demonstrate the superiority of Jesus scriptural interpretation to that of other groups. This may well be right, but represents nevertheless
a limited focus. I do, however, agree with his point if not his wording (p. 138-39),
that, even if we accept that Luke intended for this audience to understand the teaching of Jesus as an outline for living the resurrection life, it still represented human
action mimicking the life of the angels. It did not mean that humans were perceived
as being transformed into angels in their earthly lives. This further means that I have
not been persuaded by Crispin Fletcher-Louis in many ways complimentary attempt at consolidating my interpretation of this passage by applying what he calls a
history-of-religions examination of the Jewish context of Luke-Acts (Luke-Acts, 81-88, 106107).

The Resurrected Body in Luke-Acts

39

ried. Indeed they cannot die anymore, since they are like angels
() and they are Gods sons, being sons of the resurrection. And
the fact that the dead are raised, Moses himself showed, in the story about
the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now God is not God of the dead but of the living; for to him they are all alive.

The Lukan discourse does not totally abandon the temporal categories
but the antithetic design between what is and what will be, is being
transposed to an already existing distinction between those who belong
to this and those who are considered worthy of a place in the
other and the resurrection of the dead. The term has both a
spatial and a temporal connotation. The temporal dichotomy between
present and future is converted to a social dichotomy in the present. In
this present earthly existence the body is marked by immortality by not
depending on procreation of posterity: Over against the Sadduceean
position that a man should and gain immortality
by posterity, the Lucan Jesus holds that marriage and thereby procreation is no longer necessary in order to survive death; in stead there is
resurrection and immortality. They are and sons of God
.54
The hapax legomenon is significant. It may reflect the
same kind of equality with angels as Philos ,
which involves that they possess , incorruptibility. However,
it represents equality of status rather than of nature.55 They are like the
angels because they as sons of the resurrection are granted immortality.
The ascetic ethos of abandonment represents the way in which the goal
itself may be reflected and realized. They are not sons of this but
sons of the resurrection and thereby granted immortality. Still being on
earth, they on have been redefined but yet not transformed.

_____________
54
55

Some versions among them Codex Cantabrigiensis read: for being Gods sons of
resurrection, they are like angels.
Cf. Sullivan, Wrestling With Angels, 134.

Ancient Notions of Transferal and Apotheosis in

Relation to the Empty Tomb Story in Mark
Ancient Notions of Transferal and Apotheosis
ADELA YARBRO COLLINS1
tel ohne 2 wird hier 1 Kurzform wiederholt
This study concerns the divinization of Jesus of Nazareth in Mark. The
process of divinization appears to have two stages. From the baptism
until the death of Jesus, he is divine in the sense that he has more authority and power than ordinary human beings, but is not yet on a par
with the God of Israel. With his resurrection, he is exalted to the same
level as God in terms of power and authority. This exaltation is predicted in the passage that opens with Jesus question, How can the
scribes say that the messiah is son of David?2 The exaltation of Jesus to
divine status is implied in the next verse by the citation of Ps 110:1 and
its application to the messiah: The Lord said to my Lord, sit on my
right until I put your enemies under your feet. It is also predicted in
Jesus reply to the high priest at his trial before the Sanhedrin. When
the high priest asks Jesus if he is the messiah, he responds, I am, and
you will see the Son of Man sitting on the right of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.3 Both of these passages imply that, with
the resurrection, Jesus is exalted to a divine status as Gods primary
agent in ruling and judging. The fulfillment of these predictions is implied by the discovery of the empty tomb and by the words of the
young man sitting in the tomb, who is surely meant to be understood
as an angel.4 He says, He is risen; he is not here.5 In the context of the
Gospel as a whole, this statement implies that Jesus has been transformed, has left the world of human beings, and has been transferred to
the heavenly world.
My aim is to put this portrayal of the divinization of Jesus in Mark
in cultural context by proposing that the evangelist had two primary
models for this portrait. The first is the story of Elijah in 1-2 Kings. The
_____________
1
2
3
4
5

Adela Yarbro Collins is professor at Yale University Divinity School, USA.

Mark 12:35.
Mark 14:61-62.
Adela Yarbro Collins, Mark: A Commentary (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007),
795-96.
Mark 16:6.

42

Adela Yarbro Collins

other is the complex of traditions related to the apotheosis of the Roman emperor. Let us begin with Elijah.
Elijah is explicitly mentioned a number of times in Mark. In 6:14 the
narrator remarks that Jesus name and mighty deeds had become
known. The next verse states that some of the people thought that Jesus
was Elijah. This idea recalls the prophecy at the end of Malachi that
God would send Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord
comes. It could signify either the returned Elijah himself or an Elijahlike figure. Similarly, when Jesus asks the disciples in 8:27 who people
say that he is, one of their responses is Elijah. Furthermore, Elijah
appears with Moses at the transfiguration of Jesus. After the transfiguration, Jesus tells the three disciples that Elijah has already come.6 It is
probably implied here that John the Baptist was Elijah returned. Nevertheless, there are many prophetic features in Marks depiction of Jesus,
and some of his miracles recall mighty deeds of Elijah.7 As Elijah
caused a jar of meal and a jug of oil to feed a few people for many days,
so Jesus caused a few loaves and fishes to feed thousands for one meal.8
As Elijah raised the son of a widow from the dead, so Jesus raised the
daughter of Jairus.9
In the books of Kings, one clue to the source of the power of Elijah
is the statement But the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; he girded up
his loins and ran in front of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.10 This
description is impressive because Ahab was traveling in his chariot!
Another is the request of Elisha, when Elijah was about to be taken up
by the whirlwind, Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.11 It is likely that your spirit means the spirit with which God
has endowed you.
As Elijahs power to work miracles and prophetic authority were
granted to him by God through a gift of the divine spirit, so also Jesus
was endowed with the spirit of God at his baptism. The narrative sequence of Mark implies that it was Jesus possession of this spirit that
allowed him to teach authoritatively and to perform mighty deeds.
As noted earlier, Elijah appeared at the transfiguration of Jesus. As
they walked down from the mountain, Jesus instructed the three disciples who had witnessed the event to tell no one what they had seen
_____________
6
7
8
9
10
11

Mark 9:13.
Yarbro Collins, Mark, 44-52.
Cf. 1 Kgs 17:8-16 with Mark 6:30-44 and 8:1-10.
Cf. 1 Kgs 17:17-24 with Mark 5:21-24a, 35-43.
1 Kgs 18:46.
2 Kgs 2:9.

Ancient Notions of Transferal and Apotheosis

43

until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.12 This instruction suggests that Elijah appeared in order to reveal to the disciples and to the
audience of Mark that Jesus resurrection would be analogous to the
transferal of Elijah in a whirlwind to heaven.13
The main points of similarity between the resurrection of Jesus and
the transferal of Elijah are that the events occur by the will and power
of God and that nothing remains on earth from their bodies. The main
differences are that Elijah does not die, as Jesus does, and is not exalted
to the same degree as Jesus. Elijah is divinized only in the sense that he
is made immortal and transported to heaven, presumably into the
presence of God.
Scholars who study ruler cults and the imperial cult also discern
two types or stages of divinization. Some who write in German use the
term Vergttlichung for the first stage and the term Vergottung for
the second.14 In relation to Rome, Vergttlichung, being made godlike, refers to the approval and exercise of honors that were similar to
those usually accorded the gods, but which did not legally elevate the
honorand to one of the gods of the state.15 Rather, they gave the honorand a certain elevation of status in the human-political realm. Vergottung, being made a god, on the other hand, means the official reception of a human being into the ranks of the gods of the state in
accordance with the laws relating to the sacred. To speak of Vergottung in a Roman context, the criteria must be fulfilled that are given
with the other gods of the state: a cult-name, a cult-place, a functioning
cult, i.e., one particularly related to Rome, and an official state priest.
These criteria are clearly fulfilled in the creation of a new god in the
consecratio or apotheosis of the (deceased) emperor.16
The pre-republican kings and the later triumphators were living
human beings treated as god-like in Rome. Both the early kings and
those who later celebrated triumphs appeared as an earthly Jupiter.
_____________
12
13
14

15

16

Mark 9:9.
2 Kgs 2; Yarbro Collins, Mark, 402-3, 429.
Kostas Buraselis, I. Einleitung: Terminologische Vorklrung, in 3.d.Heroization,
Apotheosis, in Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum (ThesCRA) (6 vols., Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2004-2006), 3.d = 2.125-214, I. = 2.126-29, esp. 128,
col. 1; Helga Gesche, Die Vergottung Caesars (Frankfurter Althistorische Studien 1;
Kallmnz: Michael Lassleben, 1968), 9-10.
According to Ittai Gradel, the depiction of the living emperor with divine attributes
in sculpture and other media had the advantage of fruitful ambiguity, since it could
be interpreted anywhere on a scale from complete identification to merely a parallel
between the heavenly and the earthly monarch, and hence cater for several views of
the emperor and his position; III. Apotheose. B. Roman apotheosis, 1-3, in
3.d.Heroization, Apotheosis, 2.186-198, esp. 189, col. 2.
Gesche, Vergottung, 9-11.

44

Adela Yarbro Collins

They wore the typical dress of Jupiter, that is, a purple cloak, later replaced by the embroidered toga picta. They carried a scepter with the
figure of an eagle on the top and wore a golden wreath upon their
heads. Most strikingly, their faces were painted red, as was the face of
the image of Capitoline Jupiter. The question whether these men were
divine or human was not the issue. The dress of the triumphator was
simply the emblem of supreme power or status.17
Living emperors were sometimes portrayed with attributes of Jupiter in discreet court portraiture or in places outside Rome.18 A relief
from Aphrodisias in Asia Minor portrays the living Augustus with the
eagle of Zeus/Jupiter beside him.19 The living Tiberius is presented in
the Jupiter costume on a sardonyx cameo in five layers.20 The living
Claudius is portrayed in the same way by a statue from Lanuvium (a
city of Latium, southeast of Rome).21
Another example was the living Julius Caesar. Cicero, Suetonius,
and Dio Cassius all report that, during his lifetime, images of Caesar
were placed in temples along with the image of a traditional, state
god.22 He was not yet an official Roman state god, but he was honored
as god-like, as . Cicero attests that, during his lifetime,
Caesars image was carried in procession with those of the gods.23 Dio
distinguishes between the image of Caesar, which he calls an
or , and the cult statue of a god, which he calls an . Nevertheless, the inclusion of Caesars image in the procession implied that
he was more similar to the gods, or enjoyed their favor to a higher degree, than other human beings.24
_____________
17
18
19

20
21
22

23

24

Gradel, Roman Apotheosis, 188, col. 2.

Christopher H. Hallett, The Roman Nude: Heroic Portrait Statuary 200 BC-AD 300
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 230-31.
Hallett, Roman Nude, 162, plate 92. The relief dates to the early 1st cent. CE. Hallett
argues that statues of the nude or partially nude emperor do not necessarily depict
deceased Divi, because the Divi were normally portrayed wearing the toga (ibid.,
225).
Ibid., 171, plate 97; for discussion, see ibid., 225.
Ibid., 168, plate 96.
Cicero Letters to Atticus 12.45.2; 13.28.3; Suetonius Lives of the Caesars, The Deified
Julius 76.1; Dio Cassius Roman History 44.4.4; 44.6.4; cf. Appian Roman History, The
Civil Wars 2.106. For discussion, see Gesche, Vergottung, 26-27.
Cicero Letters to Atticus 13.44.1; 13.28.3; Gesche, Vergottung, 28-29. According to
Kostas Buraselis, the last historical act of Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, was to have a statue of himself as a god made part of a procession
along with the twelve (traditional) gods; III. Apotheose. A. Die griechische und hellenistische Apotheose, 1. through 4.a.iii, in 3.d.Heroization, Apotheosis, 2.158-74,
esp. 166, col. 2.
For references and discussion, see Gesche, Vergottung, 26-29.

Ancient Notions of Transferal and Apotheosis

45

Analogously, Jesus is portrayed during his lifetime as exercising an

activity normally reserved to God when he declares to the paralytic
that his sins are forgiven.25 Although the epithet son of God does not
necessarily imply full divinity,26 its use by a heavenly voice at the baptism and transfiguration implies divine favor beyond the ordinary. The
transfiguration itself is ambiguous. Although its purpose in Mark is
probably to anticipate Jesus transformation in resurrection, it is open
to the interpretation that Jesus was a divine being or at least a god-like
being walking the earth.27 As the resurrection of Jesus is previewed in
the account of the transfiguration, divine honors were actually voted
for Julius Caesar during his lifetime, although these would take effect
only after his death.28
The practice of deifying (some) dead emperors began with the deification of Julius Caesar by the senate in 42 BCE with clear reference to
the precedent of Romulus.29 Like the story of Elijah, the story of Romulus may be characterized as legend or even myth. Romulus and his
twin brother Remus were the sons of the priestess Rhea Silvia and the
god Mars. The brothers are the traditional founders of Rome, and Romulus, according to tradition, its first king. One of the oldest accounts
of the transferal and apotheosis of Romulus is that of Livy.30 According
to him, Romulus was about to review the army near the swamp of Capra when suddenly a storm came up, with loud claps of thunder, and
enveloped him in a cloud so thick as to hide him from the sight of the
assembly; and from that moment Romulus was no more on earth.31
The senators, who had been standing beside Romulus, asserted that he
had been caught up on high in the blast.
Then, when a few men had taken the initiative, they all with one accord
hailed Romulus as a god and a gods son, the King and Father of the Ro-

_____________
25
26

27
28
29

30
31

Mark 2:5; Yarbro Collins, Mark, 185.

Adela Yarbro Collins, Jesus as Messiah and Son of God in the Synoptic Gospels, in
eadem and John J. Collins, King and Messiah as Son of God (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
2008) 123-48.
Yarbro Collins, Mark, 418-19.
Gesche, Vergottung, 40-55.
Gradel, Roman Apotheosis, 187, cols. 1-2; Gesche, Vergottung, 84, 94. On the connections between Augustus and Romulus, see Mary Beard, John North, and Simon
Price, Religions of Rome (2 vols.; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998),
1.182-84.
Livy 1.16.1-8.
Livy 1.16.1; trans. from B. O. Foster, Livy (14 vols.; LCL; Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press; London: Heinemann, 1919), 1.57.

46

Adela Yarbro Collins

man City, and with prayers besought his favour that he would graciously
32
be pleased forever to protect his children.

There was a rumor that the senators had rent the king in pieces due to
their growing dissatisfaction with his rule. This rumor, however, did
not become widely accepted, in large part due to the following incident:
And the shrewd device of one man is also said to have gained new credit
for the story (of apotheosis). This was Proculus Julius, who ... addressed
the assembly as follows: Quirites, the Father of this City, Romulus, descended suddenly from the sky at dawn this morning and appeared to me.
... Go, said he, and declare to the Romans the will of Heaven that my
Rome shall be the capital of the world; so let them cherish the art of war,
and let them know and teach their children that no human strength can
resist Roman arms. So saying, he concluded, Romulus departed on
33
high.

An interesting similarity between this account and the narrative of

Elijahs transferal is that the removal from earth takes place during a
storm. According to the Greek version, Elijah is taken up in a whirlwind or hurricane ().34 According to Livy, the setting is a
storm (tempestas), and Romulus is taken up by a cloud (nimbus).35 The
appearance to Proculus Julius is similar to the appearance stories in
Matthew, Luke, and John, especially to the commissioning of the Eleven.36
For comparison with Mark, it is important to note that the account
of Livy presupposes that Romulus had definitively left the earth and
been transferred to heaven. Nonetheless, he could return briefly to
earth to appear to Proculus Julius. Similarly, the empty tomb in Mark
_____________
32
33
34
35
36

Livy 1.16.3.
Livy 1.16.5-7.
2 Kgs 2:11.
Livy 1.16.1.
Matt 28:16-20. John E. Alsups study is marred by his reliance on an inappropriate
use of the category of the ; The Post-Resurrection Appearance Stories of the
Gospel Tradition: A History-of-Tradition Analysis with Text-Synopsis (Calwer Theologische Monographien 5; Stuttgart: Calwer Verlag; London: SPCK, 1975). He may be
right that the Hellenistic apotheosis stories offer little help in making precise the
actual origins of the gospel appearance story Gattung if there is such a thing (ibid.,
270; emphasis original). But they provide rich cultural comparative material that
suggests how the Gospel accounts may have been read and understood by their audiences in the first few centuries CE. Wendy Cotter, in contrast, argues that the Gospel appearance stories belong to the same basic genre as the Greco-Roman apotheosis accounts; Greco-Roman Apotheosis Traditions and the Resurrection
Appearances in Matthew, in The Gospel of Matthew in Current Study: Studies in Memory of William G. Thompson, S.J. (ed. David E. Aune; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001),
127-53, esp. 129-30.

Ancient Notions of Transferal and Apotheosis

47

implies that Jesus had been transferred definitively from earth to heaven. This implication is not undercut by the prediction of Jesus in 14:28
and the reminder of the angel in 16:7 that Jesus would go before (the
disciples) to Galilee. These statements refer to the resurrection appearance story or stories that the evangelist (and his audience) knew,
but which he does not narrate.37
Since Mark does not narrate appearances of the risen Jesus, it is impossible to determine whether he would have portrayed them as theophanic or as realistic. The appearance of the risen Jesus to the eleven in
Matt 28:16-20 is of the theophanic or visionary type, like the appearances to which Paul refers in 1 Cor 15:5-9.38 The author of Luke-Acts
depicts the appearances of the risen Christ to Paul as Christophanies.39
The appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene in John may also be theophanic, since she does not recognize him until he addresses her.40
The appearance of the risen Jesus to Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary in Matt 28:9-10, however, is realistic since they recognize him
immediately and take hold of his feet. His appearances to the disciples
in John are also realistic, since he invites Thomas to put his finger in the
wounds of his hands and his hand into the wound of his side.41 Even if
he is not portrayed as eating in John 21, he cooks breakfast for the disciples and serves them.42 The appearances to the disciples in Luke 24
and Acts 1 are also realistic. It seems that in the Emmaus story43 and in
the third appearance of Jesus in John44 the ritual meals of the community are (re-)founded and associated with Jesus role as host. In the appearances in Luke-Acts the risen Jesus instructs the disciples and prepares them for their role as apostles.45
Let us return now to Romulus. Another early account of his
apotheosis is that of Ovid in his Metamorphoses.46 Ovid begins with
_____________
37

38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46

On 14:28 and 16:7 as allusions to the appearances of the risen Jesus, see Adela Yarbro
Collins, The Empty Tomb and Resurrection according to Mark, in eadem, The Beginning of the Gospel: Probings of Mark in Context (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992), 119-48,
esp. 136-37. See also Yarbro Collins, Mark, 667, 670-71, 801. On the resurrection of Jesus in Mark as a translation or transferal of Jesus from earth to heaven, see Yarbro
Collins, The Empty Tomb, 138-48; eadem, Mark, 791-94.
Pauls description of Gods revealing () the risen Christ to him in Gal
1:15-16 is similar.
Acts 9:3-9; 22:6-11; 26:12-18. See the study by Karlsen Seim in this volume (p. 29).
John 20:11-18.
John 20:26-29.
John 21:9-13.
Luke 24:13-35.
John 21:9-14.
Karlsen Seim, in this volume, especially p. 22-23.
Ovid Metamorphoses 14.805-828.

48

Adela Yarbro Collins

Mars addressing Jupiter, arguing that the time had come to grant the
reward which was promised to me and to thy worthy grandson, to take
him from earth and set him in the heavens.47 When Jupiter then hid
the whole sky with his dark clouds and filled the earth with thunder
and lightning, Mars descended in his chariot and caught Romulus up.
His mortal part dissolved into thin air, as a leaden bullet hurled by a
broad sling is wont to melt away in the mid-heavens. And now a form
clothes him, worthier of the high couches of the gods, such form as has
Quirinus, clad in the sacred robe.48
It is noteworthy that Romulus is taken up in a chariot, as is Elijah.
More importantly, this text is evidence for the identification of Romulus with Quirinus, the god associated with the site of Rome.49 Although
the identification is not historically reliable, it was accepted from the
third century BCE onward.50 This case and others provide evidence that
the Romans, like the Greeks (sometimes), linked a change of name to
deification. Julius Caesar became Divus Iulius, and Caesar Augustus
became Divus Augustus.51 One could argue that Jesus of Nazareth also
has a change of name at his resurrection or apotheosis by becoming
Jesus Christ or Jesus (the) Messiah.
The name Jesus Christ appears in the introductory titular sentence of Mark in association with the gospel. One could argue that
this is not his name in the text of Mark itself, but is used here to refer to
the risen Christ. In 8:29, Peter says to Jesus, You are the Christ. Jesus
rebuke in the following verse that they might speak to no one concerning him may be interpreted as an indication that he is indeed the messiah designate, but has not yet begun to exercise that role in the full
sense. In 9:41, Jesus says For whoever gives you a cup of water to
drink on the basis that you belong to Christ, truly I say to you, he will
surely not lose his reward. The saying presupposes a missionary situa_____________
47

48

49
50
51

Quotation from ibid., 14.810-11; trans. from Frank Justus Miller, Ovid (2nd ed. rev.
by G. P. Goold; 6 vols.; LCL; Cambridge: Harvard University Press; London: Heinemann, 1984), 2.359.
Ibid., 14.816-28; Miller and Goold, 2.359. Immediately following, the transferal of
Romulus wife is narrated (829-51). The latter account may have served as a
precedent for the apotheosis of the wife of the emperor and other relatives.
Cicero de re publica 2.20; Buraselis, Einleitung, 128, col. 2.
Gradel, Roman Apotheosis, 187-88. The identification was present in Ennius; on
his fragments, see Alsup, Appearance Stories, 233, n. 661.
E.g., Ino and her son Melikertes become Leukothea and Palaimon; Kostas Buraselis,
III. Apotheose. A. Die griechische und hellenistische Apotheose, 1. through 4.a.iii,
in 3.d.Heroization, Apotheosis, 2.158-74, esp. 159-160. A change of name at deification is also attested for Aeneas, who became Indiges; Ovid Metamorphoses, 14.581-608,
esp. 608; Gradel, Roman Apotheosis, 187-88.

Ancient Notions of Transferal and Apotheosis

49

tion in the future.52 Thus the title or new name, Christ, pertains to the
time after Jesus resurrection. As mentioned earlier, in 12:35 Jesus asks,
How can the scribes say that the messiah is son of David? His quotation of Ps 110:1 in the next verse makes clear that the issue is the postresurrection status of Jesus.53 Similarly, when the high priest asks Jesus
if he is the messiah, he responds, I am, and you will see the Son of
Man sitting on the right of the Power and coming with the clouds of
heaven. His positive response may be understood as indicating that he
is the messiah designate, since the elaboration of that response concerns
the exaltation of Jesus after the resurrection. The last time the name
Christ or better, the epithet messiah is used in Mark is in the mocking of Jesus by the chief priests in 15:32, Let the messiah, the king of
Israel, come down now from the cross, in order that we may see and
believe. The ironic portrayal of Jesus as a king in chapter 15 is an important part of Marks reinterpretation of the concept of messiah or
king of Israel.54 The predictions of the coming of the Son of Man in
glory and power, however, make clear that, after the resurrection, Jesus, as Jesus Christ or Jesus the Messiah, will exercise his messiahship or kingship.
Another early account of the apotheosis of Romulus, the oldest one
in Greek, is that of Dionysius of Halicarnassus.55 Like Livy and Ovid,
he places the disappearance of Romulus in the setting of a storm.56 He
notes that some writers believe that he was caught up into heaven by
his father, Mars.57 He states at first that the more plausible accounts
say that he was killed by his own people and gives a lengthy account
of the political reasons for his assassination, concluding with the remark that he seemed to be exercising his power more like a tyrant
than a king.58 A bit later, however, he says:
Be that as it may, the incidents that occurred by the direction of Heaven in
connexion with this mans conception and death would seem to give no
small authority to the view of those who make gods of mortal men and
59
place the souls of illustrious persons in heaven.

_____________
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59

The Twelve have already been sent out and have returned; cf. Mark 6:7-13, 30.
Mark 13:21 is irrelevant, since the reference is to false messiahs, as the next verse
makes clear.
Yarbro Collins, Mark, 53-72.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus Ant. Rom. 2.56.2-7; 2.63.4.
Ibid., 2.56.2.
Ibid.; trans. from Earnest Cary, The Roman Antiquities of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (7
vols.; LCL; London: Heinemann; Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1937), 1.473.
2.56.3; Cary, 1.473.
2.56.6; Cary, 1.475.

50

Adela Yarbro Collins

He then goes on to tell how, when his mother was violated, whether
by some man or by a god, there was a total eclipse of the sun and a
general darkness as in the night covered the earth, and that at his death
the same thing happened.60
In his discussion of the kingship of Numa, Dionysius says that the
latter ordered that Romulus, under the name of Quirinus, be honored
with a temple and sacrifices throughout the year. In this context, he
mentions that:
while the Romans were yet in doubt whether divine providence or human
treachery had been the cause of his disappearance, a certain man, named
Julius, descended from Ascanius (a son of Aeneas), who was a husbandman and of such a blameless life that he would never have told an untruth
61
for his private advantage, arrived in the Forum and said that, as he was
coming in from the country, he saw Romulus departing from the city fully
armed and that, as he drew near to him, he heard him say these words:
Julius, announce to the Romans from me, that the genius to whom I was
allotted at my birth is conducting me to the gods, now that I have finished
62
my mortal life, and that I am Quirinus.

Dionysius differs from Livy in placing the appearance of Romulus to

Julius when Romulus is about to be transferred to heaven, rather than
after he had been taken up.63 Plutarch, like Livy, describes the appearance experienced by Julius Proculus as an epiphany of the one who had
already ascended into heaven.64 Dionysius presentation of Romulus in
transit is analogous to the appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene in
John, when he had not yet ascended to the Father. The later appearances to the disciples in John appear to be analogous to the epiphanies
of Proculus in the accounts of Livy and Plutarch.
Plutarch also emphasizes that Romulus disappeared suddenly,
and no portion of his body or fragment of his clothing remained to be
seen.65 Another distinctive element in Plutarchs account is Romulus
revelation to Proculus that Romulus had come from the gods and was
destined to be with humankind only a short time. After founding the
city destined to be the greatest on earth, he was to dwell once again in
_____________
60
61

62
63
64
65

Ibid.
A later Greek writer says that Livia, Augustus wife, bestowed a million sesterces
upon a certain Numerius Atticus, a senator and ex-praetor, because he swore that he
had seen Augustus ascending to heaven after the manner of which tradition tells
concerning Proculus and Romulus; Dio Cassius 56.46.1-3.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus Ant. Rom. 2.63.3-4; Cary, 1.495.
Gerhard Lohfink, Die Himmelfahrt Jesu: Untersuchungen zu den Himmelfahrts- und
Erhhungstexten bei Lukas (Mnchen: Ksel Verlag, 1971), 35.
Plutarch Lives, Romulus 28.1-3, Lohfink, Himmelfahrt, 35.
Plutarch Romulus 27.5; trans. from Bernadotte Perrin, Plutarchs Lives (11 vols.;
LCL; London: Heinemann; New York: Putnam, 1914), 1.175.

Ancient Notions of Transferal and Apotheosis

51

heaven.66 Plutarch also criticizes the whole tale, and others like it, because, in his view, to mix heaven with earth is foolish. Something
within human beings comes from the gods and returns to them, but
only when it is most completely separated and set free from the body,
and becomes altogether pure, fleshless, and undefiled.67
Plutarch also knows the conjecture that the senators slew Romulus.68 This is an opportune time to mention that a number of early
Christian writers alluded to the Romulus legend, including Tertullian,
Minucius Felix, Arnobius, and Augustine.69 Arnobius, a Christian apologist who flourished during the reign of Diocletian, assumed that Romulus had been torn in pieces by the senators and noted that the Romans affirm that he then ascended into heaven. He uses this example to
support Christian beliefs about Jesus death and resurrection or ascension.70
As noted earlier, the transferal and apotheosis of Romulus was an
important precedent for the apotheosis of the emperors. The ideas and
practices associated with the divinization of the emperors were surely
familiar to the author and ancient audiences of Mark. The imperial cult
was widespread in the East, including cultic honors given to the living
emperor. It was practiced even in Palestine, where Herod the Great
built temples dedicated to Augustus and Roma in Caesarea on the sea,
Banias, and Sebaste. These temples were maintained and updated by
his sons. Thus even though there is no explicit mention of the imperial
cult or the deification of the emperors in Mark, these traditions were
part of the cultural scene in the Mediterranean world.
The transferal of Jesus differs from that of Elijah, as noted earlier,
and from that of Romulus in that neither Elijah nor Romulus, in the
main version of the story, dies before being taken to heaven. The emperors, however, did experience death before becoming divine. The death
of Julius Caesar is a dramatic example. Ovid includes in his Metamorphoses an account of Caesars death and apotheosis.71
In this account, Ovid honors the living Augustus by honoring Caesar:
_____________
66
67

68
69
70
71

Plutarch Romulus 28.2; Perrin, 1.179.

Ibid., 28.6-7; Perrin, 1.181. On the distinction between earthly bodies and heavenly bodies, see the discussion of 1 Cor 15:36-44a in the study by Troels EngbergPetersen in this volume (pp. 124-25).
Ibid., 27.5-8; Perrin, 1.175, 177.
Cotter, Apotheosis Traditions, 136-38.
Ibid., 137.
Ovid Metamorphoses 15.745-870.

52

Adela Yarbro Collins

It was not so much his wars triumphantly achieved, his civic deeds accomplished, and his glory quickly won that changed him, illustrious in war
and peace, to a new heavenly body, a flaming star; but still more his
offspring deified him. For there is no work among all Caesars achieve72
ments greater than this, that he became the father of this our Emperor.

After elaborating this point, he adds So then, that his son might not be
born of mortal seed, Caesar must needs be made a god.73 When Venus
saw that an armed conspiracy against her son was forming, she tried to
prevent Caesar death.74 The gods were moved indeed; and although
they were not able to break the iron decrees of the ancient sisters, still
they gave no uncertain portents of the woe that was at hand.75 Yet
even so, the warnings of the gods were unable to check the plots of men
and the advancing fates.76 When Venus tries to protect Caesar by hiding him in a cloud, as she had protected Paris and Aeneas, Jupiter
speaks to her as follows, Dost thou, by thy sole power, my daughter,
think to move the changeless fates?77 Jupiter then tells her that in the
abode of the three sisters, there are tablets of brass and solid iron on
which all that happens, including the future, is inscribed.78 He says that
he has read them and will tell her what is to come. The years that Caesar owed to earth are finished, That as a god he may enter heaven and
have his place in temples on the earth, thou shall accomplish and his
son.79
Jupiter then prophesies the accomplishments of Augustus, ending with the remark, and not till old age, when his years have equalled
his benefactions, shall he attain the heavenly seats and his related
stars.80 Returning to Caesars fate, he instructs Venus, Meanwhile do
thou catch up this soul from the slain body and make him a star in order that ever it may be the divine Julius who looks forth upon our Capitol and Forum from his lofty temple.81 The narrative then continues:
Scarce had he spoken when fostering Venus took her place within the senate-house, unseen of all, caught up the passing soul of her Caesar from his
body, and not suffering it to vanish into air, she bore it towards the stars of
heaven. And as she bore it she felt it glow and burn, and released it from

_____________
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81

Ibid., 15.746-751; trans. (modified) from Miller and Goold, 2.417, 419.
Ibid., 15.760-761; Miller and Goold, 2.419.
Ibid., 15. 780-842.
Ibid., 15.781-782; Miller and Goold, 2.421. These portents are described in 15.783-798.
Ibid., 15.799-800; Miller and Goold, 2.421.
Ibid., 15.803-808; Miller and Goold, 2.421, 423.
Compare the (heavenly) book of truth in Dan 10:21.
Ovid Metamorphoses 15.808-819; Miller and Goold, 2.423.
Ibid., 15.819-839; Miller and Goold, 2.423, 425.
Ibid., 15. 840-842; Miller and Goold, 2.425.

Ancient Notions of Transferal and Apotheosis

53

her bosom. Higher than the moon it mounted up and, leaving behind it a
82
fiery train, gleamed as a star.

Ovids account differs from Mark in its polytheism and its rich detail.
Yet the two accounts share the idea that a violent death at the hands of
enemies is divinely ordained and must happen. In both cases, the one
who suffers violence and death is vindicated by God or the gods and
exalted to heaven.
During Caesars lifetime, it was voted that he would be buried inside the pomerium, the sacred boundary of the city of Rome.83 An ancient tradition, however, prohibited burial within that boundary. The
traditional rule held sway and Caesars ashes were buried in his family
tomb.84 The fact of Caesars burial raises the question whether it is the
body or the soul that is deified. Elias Bickermann took as his point of
departure the evidence that Helvius Pertinax in the late second century
and Septimius Severus in the early third were cremated twice.85 In the
first funeral, the emperors physical body was cremated. Afterward, his
bones or ashes were buried in the usual way. In the second, a wax
model or effigy of his body was cremated.86 Bickermann concluded that
the rite of consecration or deification of the emperor was identical with
the traditional notion of Entrckung, that is, the transferal from earth to
heaven of the entire body of the one so favored. In the second funeral of
the emperor, the effigy, representing the whole body of the deceased,
was burned and disappeared entirely. Like the friends of Herakles who
found no bones on his pyre when it ceased burning,87 so the wax image
would leave no bodily elements behind. Bickermann interpreted this
second cremation as a magical ritual that effected transferal. Florence
Dupont argued, following Bickermann in part, that the apotheosis of
the emperor had to do with the body, not the soul.88 Dupont is right
that the notion of apotheosis was not necessarily connected with the
Platonic idea of the immortal soul. As Ovids account of the apotheosis
of Julius Caesar shows, however, it was not necessary that the whole
body of the emperor disappear entirely. It was the soul, the anima, of
_____________
82
83
84
85

86
87
88

Ibid., 15.843-850; Miller and Goold, 2.425.

Gesche, Vergottung, 50-53.
Beard, North, and Price, Religions of Rome, 1.180.
Elias Bickermann, Die rmische Kaiserapotheose, Archiv fr Religionswissenschaft
27 (1929): 1-31; reprinted in Rmischer Kaiserkult (ed. Antonie Wlosok; Wege der Forschung 372; Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1978), 82-121, esp. 86-92.
See Herodians account of the two funerals of Severus: 4.1-2.
Diodorus Siculus 4.38.5; cited by Bickermann, Die rmische Kaiserapotheose, 99.
Florence Dupont, The Emperor-Gods Other Body, in Fragments for a History of the
Human Body (ed. Michel Feher; New York: Urzone; Cambridge: MIT Press, 1989),
3.396-419, esp. 398.

54

Adela Yarbro Collins

Caesar that was transformed into a star. Without the assistance of the
gods, the soul would have vanished or dissolved into air.89
The narrative of the empty tomb in Mark, however, does depict the
total disappearance of his body. What Dupont affirmed of the second
cremation of some emperors applies even more forcefully to the empty
tomb story in Mark: What, then, in the imaginary funeral corresponds
to the imago of the human funeral? There is only one answer: absence.
An absence expressing an elsewhere.90 Although Jesus died, unlike
Elijah and Romulus, his body disappears entirely, as theirs also do.91
An analogy to the empty tomb of Jesus may be found in Plutarchs Life
of Numa, the second king of Rome according to tradition. Plutarch says
that Numas body was not burned because he did not wish it to be.
Instead, they made two stone coffins and buried them under the Janiculum, a hill west of the Tiber and outside the boundaries of the ancient city. One of these held his body, and the other the sacred books
which he had written out with his own hand, as the Greek lawgivers
their tablets.92 After some discussion of the reason for burying the
books, Plutarch goes on to say that:
about four hundred years afterwards, when Publius Cornelius and Marcus
Baebius were consuls, heavy rains fell, and the torrent of water tore away
the earth and dislodged the coffins. When their lids had fallen off, one coffin was seen to be entirely empty, without any trace whatsoever of the
93
body, but in the other the writings were found.

Plutarch does not comment on the significance of the discovery of the

empty coffin. The reason may be that it was clear to his audience that
this absence implied an elsewhere, that is, Numas deification.
When Augustus died in 14 CE, the senate voted his deification immediately after the funeral.94 According to Ittai Gradels reading of Dio
Cassius, the funeral differed in scale, but not in kind from traditional
noble funerals, with the interesting exception that an eagle was let loose

_____________
89
90
91

92
93
94

Ovid Metamorphoses 15.843-846; Miller and Goold, 2.424-425.

Dupont, The Emperor-Gods Other Body, 417.
The implication is probably that both the soul and the body of Jesus become immortal, as is also implied in Acts 2:24-31; 13:34-37. See the discussion in the study by
Karlsen Seim in this volume (p. 19).
Plutarch Lives, Numa 22.2; Perrin, 1.379, 381.
Ibid., 22.4-5; Perrin, 2.381.
The fullest description is that of Cassius Dio 56.31.2-43.1; see also Suetonius The
Twelve Caesars, Divus Augustus 2.100; Gradel, Roman Apotheosis, 196, col. 1
through 197, col. 1. See also Beard, North, and Price, Roman Religion, 1.208-9.

Ancient Notions of Transferal and Apotheosis

55

from a case on the pyre, when it was lighted.95 Some modern scholars
have doubted that the eagle rite was part of Augustus funeral, since
Suetonius does not mention it.96 Gradel has argued persuasively, however, that Suetonius, whose account is much shorter than that of Dio
Cassius, only mentioned details that were unique to Augustus and
omitted elements that would have been familiar to his urban Roman
audience. Dio Cassius, in contrast, needed to give a full account since
his Greek audience would have been less familiar with the details.97
Gradel also argues that the eagle ritual was invented for the occasion of
Augustus funeral.98
After Augustus funeral, a junior senator, Numerius Atticus, swore
in public that he had seen the late emperor ascending to heaven.99 Some
scholars have inferred from this oath (and the one following the deification in 38 CE of Diva Drusilla, Caligulas sister) that deification was
contingent upon some kind of proof of this sort that the emperor had
actually been transferred to heaven.100 Gradel has pointed out, however, that these oaths played no role in the legal process of deification and
that they seem to rely solely upon individual initiative. It is likely, as he
suggests, that these oaths were inspired by the tradition of Proculus
oath that he had seen the deified Romulus.101
Tiberius and Caligula were not deified, although Caligula was able
to persuade the senate to deify his sister Drusilla. Claudius, Vespasian,
and Titus were also deified. In my view, Marks Gospel was written
before Vespasian and Titus were deified, but the author may have
known about the apotheosis of Claudius.102
The Markan Jesus is similar to the emperors in dying before being
exalted to heaven. He differs from Julius Caesar and Augustus in the
_____________
95

Gradel, Roman Apotheosis, 196, col. 1. See also Ittai Gradel, Emperor Worship and
Roman Religion (Oxford Classical Monographs; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2002), 27182, 298-99, 305-20.
96 E.g., Bickermann, Die rmische Kaiserapotheose, 93; Simon Price, The Consecration of the Roman Emperor, in Rituals of Royalty: Power and Ceremonial in Traditional
Societies (ed. Simon Price and David Cannadine; Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1987) 56-105, esp. 95.
97 Gradel, Roman Apotheosis, 196, cols. 1-2.
98 Ibid., 196, col. 1.
99 Ibid., 197, col. 1; Suetonius says that an ex-praetor swore that he had seen Augustus
spirit ascending to heaven; Divus Augustus 2.100.
100 Bickermann, Die rmische Kaiserapotheose, 84, 121; Price, Consecration; Cotter,
Apotheosis Traditions, 134.
101 Gradel, Roman Apotheosis, 197, col. 1. See also idem, Emperor Worship, 295-97.
102 On the deification of Claudius, see Gradel, Roman Apotheosis, 197, cols. 1-2;
Donna W. Hurley, Suetonius: Divus Claudius (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2001), 14, 241-42. See also Gradel, Emperor Worship, 299-304.

56

Adela Yarbro Collins

circumstance that each of the two emperors was believed to have one
divine parent. Mark mentions nothing of a virginal conception implying that Jesus was the son of God in a relatively strong sense, as Matthew and Luke describe him.103 Another difference is that the power
and authority of the emperors were greater when they were alive, as
Jupiter on earth, than after they had died, as just one god among many.
The Markan Jesus, in contrast, has a far more powerful position after
death, in being seated at the right hand of God. His power will become
manifest when he returns as Son of Man.
Since the Gospel of Mark was written at a time when Roman power
and influence were massive facts of life, it is to be expected that, in describing the role of Jesus in the events of the last days, the author
would position himself indirectly and Jesus directly vis--vis Rome and
the emperor. The point at which this positioning is most clear is the
acclamation of the centurion at the foot of the cross.104 He says, This
man really was Gods son. The phrase used, , was familiar in
the eastern Mediterranean world as the Greek translation of the Latin
Divi filius, an official title of Augustus as son of the deified Caesar.105
Placing this saying in the mouth of a Gentile, a provincial officer in the
Roman army,106 was equivalent to challenging the right of the living
emperor to claim to be Jupiter on earth. More pertinently, it was a challenge to the claim to divinity on the part of the deified emperors. They
are not really sons of God or even of a god.
In tracing the theme of Jesus divinity in comparison with that of
the Roman emperors and their prototype Romulus, we have seen the
way in which a subject of imperial Rome both imitates the practices of
deification current in Rome and attempts to criticize them by oneupping them and replacing them.
It is important to keep in mind that during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, worship of a living or dead human being expressed and
was a symptom of the absolute power of the person being so honored
in relation to his or her worshippers.107 This culturally based union of
the political and the religious no doubt affected how ancient audiences
received the Gospel of Mark. The analogies between the divinization of
_____________
103 I am grateful to Denise Buell for calling this difference to my attention in this context.
104 Mark 15:39.
105 Yarbro Collins, Mark, 767-68.
106 Ibid., 764-65.
107 Gradel, Roman Apotheosis, 194, col. 2. Cf. Simon R. F. Price, Rituals and Power: The
Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor (Cambridge, UK/New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1984).

Ancient Notions of Transferal and Apotheosis

57

Jesus and that of some emperors suggest that ancient audiences perceived the role of the risen Christ in terms of political power as well as
religious significance.

In your midst as a child

In the form of an old man
Images of Aging and Immortality in Ancient Christianity
Images of Aging and Immortality in Ancient Christianity
KAREN L. KING1
berschrift 2: fr Kapitel ohne 2 wird hier 1 Kurzform wiederholt
But the righteous, even though they die early, will be at rest. For old age is
not honoured for length of time, or measured by number of years; but understanding is grey hair for anyone, and a blameless life is ripe old age.
(Wisdom of Solomon 4:7-9 NRSV)
There is an earned innocence, I believe, which is as much to be honoured
as the innocence of children. (Gilead by Marilynne Robinson)2

Two recently discovered manuscripts from Egypt contain Coptic translations of second century gospels in which Jesus is portrayed as a child.
In an enigmatic aside to readers, the Gospel of Judas says that often Jesus
did not reveal himself to his disciples but you will find him in their
midst as a child.3 In the Gospel of the Savior, Jesus tells his disciples, I
am in your midst as a child. 4 How are these declarations to be interpreted? The answer is not immediately clear insofar as images of Jesus
as a child are widespread in the Christian writings of the first centuries
C.E., where they appear in a wide variety of literary contexts, are used
to discuss diverse issues, and serve multiple purposes.
Christian images of aging are of course firmly embedded within the
ancient Mediterranean context. Yet while, for ancients as for moderns,
_____________
1
2
3

Karen L. King is professor at Harvard, USA.

Robinson, Gilead, p. 30.
GosJudas 33.18-21. References to the Coptic text follow the manuscript page and line
numbering of the critical edition by Kasser and Wurst, Gospel of Judas, pp. 184-235;
translations into English are mine unless otherwise noted.
GosSav 107.57-60; Emmel 73. References to the Coptic text follow the manuscript
page and line numbering of the critical edition by Hedrick and Mirecki, The Gospel of
the Savior. I follow here the codicological reconstruction with textual emendations of
Emmel, The Recently Published Gospel of the Savior, as well as his English translation (with some minor changes noted). The numbering of the references throughout refers first to the Coptic text in Hedrick and Mirecki, then gives the numeration
of Emmels reconstruction.

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Karen L. King

the human experience of bodily change over time requires consciousness of the inevitable mutability of bodily aging, how such transformations are conceptualized and evaluated is far from universal, given the
enormous variation in social-ideological-material conditions.5 Even
within a limited geographical area, such as the ancient Mediterranean,
a shared discourse of bodily change will be deployed differentially
depending, for example, on the distinctions made,6 the strategic modes
of differentiation employed,7 the characterizations of differences given,8
the resources being activated,9 the fields in which the discourse is
deployed,10 where different players are positioned, and the ends in
view.11 Such diversity of deployment suggests that Christians would
have articulated distinctive emphases and alternative views, as well as
reproduced common discursive elements, and Christian literature
proves this to be the case.
Scholars have, for example, examined Christian theological imagination of the resurrected body, noting that Christians shared the ancient conviction that fleshly bodies are subject to the same conditions of
mutability and instability that applies to all matter. Perhaps nothing
marked that instability more clearly than the experience of aging, the
inevitable mutations that time works upon each human being from
birth to death. Yet in the ancient world, these transformations were
conceived variously. Ancient physicians and philosophers, for exam_____________
5

6
7
8
9
10

11

As Bryan Turner puts it, the body is a physiological potentiality which is realized
socially and collectively through a variety of shared body practices within which the
individual is trained, disciplined and socialized (Body and Society, 25). For comparative studies, see Carse, Shape-Shifting; Lange, Christos Polymorphos; Lubac,
Different Manifestations of Christ and the Buddha.
For example, stages of life.
For example, oppositional, hierarchical, complementary, or scaled.
For example, in tying particular stages to life to particular moral, physical, or intellectual characteristics.
The assumption here is that any particular deployment of an aging discourse will
engage only select elements and strategies that it enables.
This analytic offers a tool to analyze how a limited number of distinctions and
modes of difference regarding aging were available for improvisational deployment
across a wide range of fields to do widely varying kinds of work. Some common
fields for deployment included rhetorical praise or blame, such as is found in funerary encomia and burial inscriptions or public declamation (to praise a young man
for his maturity or to slander ones opponent as childish or senile); medical distinctions between disease and aging for purposes of proper healing and amelioration of
symptoms; in philosophy or education, for determining what is age-appropriate for
physical instruction and intellectual formation (including athletics and physical punishment); in Christian theology for articulation of a range of moral and spiritual
conditions, especially with regard to eschatological ideals, polemics, or pedagogies.
For more on my use of the conceptuality of bodies and fields, see Bourdieu,
Programme for a Sociology of Sport.

Images of Aging and Immortality in Ancient Christianity

61

ple, speculated that the origin of life was due to innate heat or sustaining fire.12 Bodies were conceptualized as mixtures of qualities (hot and
cold, wet and dry) with their corresponding substances (fire and air,
water and earth). At birth, moisture was said to dominate over dryness.
As one matured, this balance tipped in favour of dryness. The ideal was
often figured as a mature (male) body, whose perfection consisted of a
balance of qualities with dryness and heat dominating. Aging was the
deterioration of this balance as bodies became dryer and colder, until
finally the innate fire of life was extinguished.13 Particularly problematic was the fact that life itself was a very fluid and thus potentially
dangerous affair, especially insofar as sexual intercourse and reproduction, as well as eating and drinking, were necessary for the continuation of the species as well as the individual, and yet these were often
diagnosed as sites of imbalance and depletion. Physicians often attempted to regulate bodily humours by offering regimens that would
restore balance to the body.14 This kind of framework presupposed that
bodies were constantly metamorphosing throughout peoples lives,
and it allowed some flexibility for various formulations of balance,
mean, and moderation as ideal states (if not ultimately remedies for
aging and death).
Christian literature often shows similar kinds of presuppositions,
but the realities of aging posed a particular theological problematic for
them: how to square their belief in the human potential for immortality
with its required immutability with the ultimately unavoidable mutations of aging. One way this problem was treated was to imagine that
the fleshly resurrection of believers required an immutable body that
would not eat or drink, defecate, have desire or engage in sex, would
not procreate, would never be ill and would not age.15 A primary
strategy for realizing such a body was the ascetic life, which aimed at a
physical ideal in which images of dryness and hardness (e.g., rocks and
gems) predominated over those of wetness and softness (e.g., pliable
_____________
12

13

14
15

This sustaining fire was regularly distinguished from the kind of fire which consumes. See, for example, Aristotle Gen. Anim.737a1-9; Galen, On Marasmus, in
Theoharides, p. 376.
See, for example, Aristotle Gen. Anim.766b27-34; Galen On Marasmus; see also
Niebyl, Old Age and Solmsen, The Vital Heat. It is notable regarding ancient
imagination of immortality that Galen clearly states that aging and death are not necessary, but result as a consequence of the fluid condition of the body at birth. That
fluidity was initially necessary for shaping the body, but the requirement for the
body to dry out in order for it to mature meant that it continued drying until the
heart itself was dried and life ended (On Marasmus in Theoharides, 374).
See, for example, Galens discussion of differences due to age in Mixtures I.2.522-23,
577-598; On the Body 810.
See, for example, Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh, 57-61; On the Soul 56.

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Karen L. King

seeds and plants), as Caroline Walker Bynum has argued. She concludes that for the church fathers who were writing around 400 C.E.:
[T]he paradigmatic body was the body of the saint, purified in life by
denying those natural processes (especially nutrition and procreation)
that threaten stability, and glorified in death by becoming a jewel-like
relic that miraculously protects the living against the decay of illness
and death.16 Teresa Shaw has further demonstrated that dietary regimes designed by medical doctors to keep the body in a healthy humeral balance were redeployed by Christian ascetics to shape their bodies
into the dry hardness required for immortal existence.17 In this seemingly paradoxical logic, it is the experience of bodily mutation that
makes it possible to imagine transformation into the immutability of
agelessness.
Although such strategies tended to give up the medical ideal of
humeral balance in favour of extreme dryness, the ideal of balance was
nonetheless maintained through the notion of age transcendence, as
Christian Gnilka argues. He points in particular to Gregory Nazianzans formulation: A true philosopher (i.e., Christian) welcomes the
end of life as the time appointed for a necessary liberation, and crosses
over graciously to that life to come, where no one is immature or aged,
but everyone shares the age of spiritual perfection!18 Here, he argues,
we find a clear dissociation of aging in terms of spiritual development
from aging as stages of bodily development. This Christian ideal of age
transcendence thus separates what much of Greco-Roman discourse on
aging had tied together. One of the most common distinctions in antiquity described aging in terms of stages of life, especially youth, prime
of life, and old age.19 Stages of life were primarily but variously characterized by differences in three areas: physical fitness, moral development, and reasoning capacity.20 In particular, childhood was characterized negatively by physical weakness, the inability to speak, lack of
reasoning capacity, or moral incompetence (esp. lack of courage and
_____________
16
17
18
19

20

The Resurrection of the Body, 113.

Shaw, The Burden of the Flesh.
Trans. Daley, Gregory of Nazianzus, pp. 111-112.
Writers variously considered 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or even 10 different stages (see. Goldin,
Children and Childhood, p. 2; Parkin, Old Age in the Roman World, pp. 15-35, 299-301).
These most often included baby, child, youth, prime of life, old age, and a wide variety of associated terms. It is notable that these stages almost universally were
solely gendered male. Discussion of the life stages of women is not distinguished or
even mentioned as such in any of the literature I have thus far considered, although
we do find references to female stages of life as girl, virgin, married woman, mother,
and women who no longer menstruate.
See Golden, Children and Childhood, pp. 1-22; Change or Continuity, 183-184.

Images of Aging and Immortality in Ancient Christianity

63

the incapacity for moral judgement); positively by innocence, humility,

and naivet. Children were often said to be free of the passions and
desires that came with age, and thus could occasionally be represented
as pure vessels of divine prophecy.21 Maturity could also be characterized positively (by wisdom, experience, prudence, courage, or physical strength), but especially old age was characterized negatively (by
physical weakness, illness, loss of reasoning capacity, or other such
signals of the decline toward death). But the Christian ideal of age transcendence that Gnilka describes, rather than associating certain stages
of life with particular moral characteristics, offered a vision of the ideal
spiritual state as one that simultaneously combined the best characteristics of youth (innocence and freedom from passion) with the best of
aging (wisdom and self-control).22 Gnilka argues, for example, that in
his Life of Macrina, Gregory of Nyssa offered an alternative mode of age
transcendence when he discussed resurrection as the restoration of
human nature to the original condition in which it was created by God.
At that time, there was neither childhood nor old age, any more than
illness or physical deficiencies, since all suffering came about only later
as a consequence of human sin. Differences in physical age would
therefore disappear with the resurrection.23
But ancient Christian reflection on aging was not always tied to
questions about resurrection, whether of Jesus or of believers. Images
of aging also occurred, for example, in polymorphic appearances of
Jesus (Christ, Savior).24 Some early Christian texts use polymorphy to
urge Christians to cultivate a capacity for spiritual vision that looks
past appearances in order to apprehend divine truth. This perspective
calls for a certain disregard of bodily age and appearance in favor of
the cultivation of the soul.25 A story in the Acts of Peter 20-21 illustrates
this point. Three blind widows come to Peter, wishing to be healed, but
instead Peter instructs them about cultivating the inner eye that they
_____________
21

22
23

24
25

See Golden, Children and Childhood, pp. 1-22 and also Change or Continuity, which,
while arguing against a more positive attitude toward children in the Hellenistic period, paints a good portrait of select historiographical representations of children
and childhood. For Christianity, see Bakke, When Children Became People, esp. 15-109.
Gnilka, Aetas Spiritalis, 65.
Gnilka, Aetas Spiritalis, 154. Tertullian offered a different view: We maintain that
every soul, whatever be its age on quitting the body, remains unchanged in the
same, until the time shall come when the promised perfection shall be realized in a
state duly tempered to the measure of the peerless angels (de Anima 56; trans.
Coxe, pp. 232-233).
For a discussions of how to define polymorphy with regard to Christian literature
and practice, see Garcia, La polymorphie du Christ.
For the theological diversity of polymorphic Christology, see Cartlidge, Transfigurations of Metamorphosis Traditions; Bovon, The Child and the Beast.

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Karen L. King

already possess: If there be in you the faith that is in Christ, if it be

firm in you, then perceive in your mind that which you do not see with
your eyes, and though your ears are closed, yet let them be open in
your mind within you. These eyes shall again be shut, seeing naught
but men and oxen and dumb beasts and stones and sticks; but not
every eye sees Jesus Christ.26 As they pray, an unspeakable, invisible
light shines into the hall, so brilliant that it blinds the vision of seeing
persons. But as the light pierces the eyes of the three blind widows, and
each sees the Lord but differently: one see a handsome old man,
another a young man, and the third sees a boy. Peter praises God for
the miracle and simultaneously sums up the lesson: God is greater
than our thoughts, even as we have learned of these aged widows, how
they behold the Lord in diverse forms.27 This anecdote reinforces
teaching Peter had already given in a previous chapter about why Jesus
appeared in the form of a human being: Because of peoples limited
perceptions, God revealed himself as great and small, fair and foul,
young and old, seen in time and unto eternity invisible and much
more, so that people could perceive that Jesus is all things and there is
none other greater than he who is door, light, way, bread, water, life,
resurrection, refreshment, pearl, treasure, seed, and so on.28 In this case,
polymorphy simultaneously illustrates several related theological
themes: Gods greatness, the multiformity of ways in which God exists,
and the need to transcend appearances by cultivating inner, spiritual
vision. In this kind of presentation, youth and old age are but one element among others, but one that is particularly appropriate for conveying the multiformity of God in the human Jesus.
These themes of divine multiformity and spiritual insight appear in
other early Christian literature as well. The Secret Revelation of John, for
example, also recounts a vision of Christs polymorphic, divine nature
and it also uses that vision to stress the need to look beyond the appearances of the world to perceive the divine. But because it offers a
different theological framework, these themes work differently as we
will see.
The revelation begins when Christ appears to John in brilliant light,
first as a young man (
), then an old man (
), and finally a
woman (
):
And lo, a young man [appeared to] me. But [when I saw] that the likeness
(
), [in which there] was a light, was an old man, [I gazed] into it. I did

_____________
26
27
28

Acts of Peter 21 trans. Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 2, p. 304.

Acts of Peter 20 trans. Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 2, p. 305 (modified).
Acts of Peter 20 trans. Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 2, p. 304.

Images of Aging and Immortality in Ancient Christianity

65

not [understand] this wonder, (which gave the impression) that [there was
a woman] with many forms [in the light]. Her forms (
) appeared
through one another. (I thought), if she is one, [how] can she consist of
three faces ( )?29

When John sees these forms, he is frightened and confused, but the
Savior comforts him and resolves his confusion by saying:
John, wh[y] are you doubting and [fearful]? 10For you are not a stranger
[to this like]ness. Do not be faint[hearted! 11I am the one who dwells with
[you (pl.) al]ways. 12I am the [Father.] I am the Mother. [I] am [the S]on. 13I
am the one who exists for ever, undefil[ed and un]mixed. 14N[ow I have
come] to instruct you [about what] exists and what [has come] into being
and what mu[st] come into being, 15so that you will [understand] the things
which are invisible a[nd those which] are visible, 16and to t[each you] about
the perfe[ct Human].30

The Saviors revelation, both in the polymorphic appearance and in his

words to John about it, addresses a number of themes, including prominently the eternal nature of the divine31 and the unity of God.32 It also
_____________
29

30
31
32

BG 21:3-13. Critical text in Till-Schenke, Die Gnostischen Schriften, p. 82-83; see also
the critical edition of Waldstein and Wisse, The Apocryphon of John; English trans.
cited from Plee, Poetics of the Gnostic Universe, 29. As the brackets in the translation
show, a significant lacuna mars the Berlin Codex (BG) version of SRJ at this point.
The corresponding passage in Nag Hammadi Codex II reads a servant (
). The lacuna in BG has been variously restored as likeness (
Waldstein
and Wisse, The Apocryphon of John, p.16 ) or woman (
Schenke in Till-Schenke,
Die Gnostischen Schriften, p. 82-83). Here I am following Plees suggestion that the
lacuna be filled by
instead of
, as Schenke
suggested (see the discussion of Plee, Poetics of the Gnostic Universe, p. 28-40). As
Plee notes, Schenkes restoration of the lacuna as woman is supported internally
on two grounds: 1) the lacuna requires a feminine noun, and 2) the three forms (old
man, woman, and child) correspond well to Christs own proclamation that he is
the Father, the Mother, and the Son, that is, the Invisible Spirit, Barbelo-Pronoia,
and Allogenes-Christ. In addition, Plee brings to bear a history-of-religions parallel from a new fragment of the Acts of Philip published by Franois Bovon in which a
man named Stachys has a vision of a handsome young man with three forms or
faces (ActPhil 14:4). Plese reports: The first had the shape of a beardless youth carrying a jar; the one in the middle, of a woman (, ) clad in a glorious
garment, a torch in her hand; and the third was of an older man(Plee, Poetics of the
Gnostic Universe, p. 38). Philip subsequently interprets this vision of Christ as the
perfect man, the great spirit, and the father, concluding you are with us in three
perfect forms, the images of the invisible (ActPhil 14:5; see Plee, Poetics of the Gnostic Universe, p. 39).
SRJ 3.9-16 (BG); numbering follows my translation in The Secret Revelation of John.
See, for example, Junod, Polymorphie du Dieu Sauveur, 42-43.
As Plee puts it, the Saviors manifestation conveys the mystery of the divine nature which can be condensed in a simple formula: God may be seen either under a
threefold or under a single aspect. The Saviors visual revelation serves thus as a fi-

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Karen L. King

prefigures central themes that are addressed more fully in the rest of
the work, which tie together the nature of God, the Savior, and humanity. First, the Saviors appearance as youth, old man, and woman reflects the primary theology of the text in which God is figured as a divine triad of Father, Mother, and Son. The Savior declares that all these
are revealed in him. As Son, he is also Christ and the First Man, whose
image appeared on the waters below as the model for the creation of
humanity by the lower world rulers. Hence humanity is linked with the
divine through the divine image, the Perfect Human. Moreover, because the world below is modelled on the divine realm, the divine
household of Father, Mother, and Son needs to be seen as the model for
the family of Adam, Eve, and Seth in the human realm. But the Saviors
revelation also stresses that the purpose of Christs appearance is to
teach John how to distinguish what is pure, undefiled, and eternal,
from what is impure, mixed, and subject to becoming and destruction.
This revelation is necessary because the rulers of the world work purposefully to lead humanity astray. Salvation consists in accepting the
truth of the Saviors teaching, receiving the holy spirit from the Mother,
and overcoming the passions and errors that lead one astray not only
from God, but from ones own properly spiritual nature. This theme is
declaimed loudly here, when the Savior tells John that he is eternal,
holy, and pure, and that he will instruct him about what exists, what
has come into being and what will be. Like the blind widows in the
Acts of Peter, this knowledge will allow John to understand what is
invisible and distinguish it from what is merely visible, but unlike Peters instruction, the Saviors point is to enable people to expose the
arrogance and ignorance of the powers at work in the world by discerning the true Spirit from the counterfeit. The strong contrast be_____________
gurative preamble to his ensuing self-portrayal as a trinity-in-unity: I am the Father,
I am the Mother, and I am the Son (Poetics of the Gnostic Universe, p. 38-39). He
notes further: The Christ who appears in multiple forms () to his disciples was a widely used motif in the early Christian literature, and the meaning of
his polymorphy, its , was a controversial subject among the first theologians. For some, multiformity had more to do with different spiritual capacities of
recipients than with Christs real nature. For others, it proved that Christ was, in
fact, without any form and above all determinations. For some, again, polymorphy
was the visible expression of Christs multiple potencies, virtues, or perfections
(), in contrast with the unity, simplicity, and ineffability of the transcendent
Father. For others, it was the symbol of Christs paradoxical status, of his being one
with and, at the same time, different from the other members of the divine triad. Due
to lacunas in the text of BG, Johns position in regard to this issue remains somewhat
ambiguous. The unity of the Savior he refers to, does he sees [sic] it as underlying,
occasioning, or transcending the plurality of forms? (Poetics of the Gnostic Universe,
p. 32-33).

Images of Aging and Immortality in Ancient Christianity

67

tween the immaterial divine world above and the material world below
primarily serves a social critique aimed at forming a particular way of
being in the world. The Saviors revelation aims to produce readers
who recognize that deception and violence are tools of the weak and
the malicious not of the true God. They are urged to seek and cultivate their true spiritual natures, created in the Image of the First Human and filled with the Spirit of the Mother. By linking the nature of
God and humanity, the Saviors polymorphy signals both the presence
of the divine in human bodies old and young, male and female as
well as simultaneously their potential for spiritual transformation and
transcendence.
These examples demonstrate not only that the polymorphic image
of aging could be used to reflect on themes other than the resurrection,
but also that any image is complex and complexly reverberates with
themes in the rest of the work in which it operates. When we examine
the images of Jesus as a child in the two Coptic gospels, we thus need
to consider them not only with regard to ancient discourse of aging
more generally, but with regard to how they fit thematically in their
respective literary and theological contexts. It is also necessary to place
them comparatively within the diverse field of Christian deployments
of images of aging in order to see the ways in which these gospels both
belong to that field and are distinctive.

The Gospel of Judas33

Near the beginning of the newly rediscovered Gospel of Judas, a strange
sentence appears, stating: Frequently he (Jesus) would not reveal himself to his disciples, but you would find him in their midst as a child
(33:18-23). There are a number of difficulties with this sentence. First of
all, the Coptic term translated as child,
, is otherwise unattested.34 But even if we accept the editors reading as child, there are
two other oddities with this sentence: Why would Jesus not reveal him_____________
33

34

For an account of the discovery of the Gospel of Judas, see Kasser, The Story of
Codex Tchacos. The critical edition of the Coptic text may be found in Kasser and
Wurst, The Gospel of Judas, pp. 184-235. For a brief introduction to the Gospel of Judas, see Pagels and King, Reading Judas.
For
see Crum, A Coptic Dictionary, p. 631a, aBohairic; Kasser et al., The Gospel of
Judas, p. 20, n. 7. Antti Marjanen has suggested that
is a previously unknown
Sahidic variant of the Bohairic (email correspondence). Other terms would be expected, for example:
(child) or
(youth).

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Karen L. King

self to his disciples? And what are we to make of the interruption in the
storys flow by the unexpected change from third person description to
direct address to the reader you will find him in their midst?35 We
will return to these difficulties below.
What might Jesuss appearance as a child indicate? At first glance,
the point might be to suggest that Jesuss appearance as a child shows
that the physical body is not a limitation for a divine being; rather it
demonstrates how malleable the body is. Its birth, growth, and death
are only appearances compared with the eternal stability of the spirit.
After all, the Gospel of Judas does not tell about Jesuss birth (as do the
infancy narratives of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke) nor about his
becoming flesh (as does the prologue to the Gospel of John), but rather
it talks about him appearing on earth (GosJud 33:6-7). Moreover, the
Gospel of Judas says that Jesus once left his disciples in order to visit the
holy race not in these realms (36:11-19) but later returned, further
lending credence to the view that Jesuss appearance on earth serves to
contrast material mutability with divine immutability, in keeping with
Jesuss teaching about the ultimate destruction of the lower realm and
its rulers on the last day (GosJud 40:25-26; 55:15-20).
But more is going on here, for equally odd is the first part of the
sentence, which states that Jesus would not reveal himself to his disciples. It would seem that it was precisely because he was a child that
the disciples did not perceive his presence in their midst. Yet the image
of Jesus as a child was a common notion in ancient Christianity. Two of
the New Testament gospels, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, tell of
Jesuss birth, and Luke also has a story of Jesus as a young man impressing the elders in the Temple with his wisdom (Luke 2:41-52). This picture of Jesus as a child who was wise beyond his years (a puer senex) is
elaborated in greater detail in the legendary second century Infancy
Gospel of Thomas, where Jesus confounds his poor teacher, Zacchaeus,
and strikes dead some children who wrong him. Although Jesus raises
the children back to life in the end, he laughs at how the adults misunderstand his actions, admonishing them to greater insight: Now let
that which is yours bear fruit, and let the blind in heart see. I have come
from above to curse them and call them to the things above, as He
commanded who sent me for your sakes (InThomas 8:1).36 This portrait
of Jesus laughing is very reminiscent of the Gospel of Judas, in which
Jesus laughs at the foolishness of his disciples and admonishes them to
_____________
35

36

This second person address might indicate a secondary addition, but whether that is
the case or not, we still have to ask what point this sentence is making in its current
literary context.
Trans. Oscar Cullman in Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha. vol. 1, p. 446.

Images of Aging and Immortality in Ancient Christianity

69

higher spiritual knowledge (GosJudas 34:2-35:5). In the Gospel of Thomas,

Jesus himself teaches about the wisdom to be learned from children. He
tells his disciples that the man old in days will not hesitate to ask a
small child of seven days old about the place of life, and he will live
(GosThomas 4),37 but there the point is not about Jesus as a child but that
creation (the pristine universe God created in seven days, represented
here by a seven-day-old child) holds the whole meaning of life. So, too,
in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples that they must turn
and become like children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven
(Matthew 18:1-6; 9:13-15),38 and later tradition will also picture the Spirit
who guides Paul as a child (Apocalypse of Paul 18:3-22). In all of these
cases, including the Gospel of Judas, the image of the child points to a
figure which was wide-spread in antiquity,39 that of the puer senex, the
child who is wise beyond his years. Because of his purity and innocence, such a child was thought to be able to convey the hidden or unexpected presence of the divine. 40 Such images are found outside of
Christianity as well. Cicero, for example, relates a charming Etruscan
story about the origins of divination, in which a farmer, ploughing
deeper than usual, rouses a figure named Tages, who had the appearance of a boy but the wisdom of an old man. Tages proceeds to teach
the whole of Etruria about the science of soothsaying, illustrating
how the wise child could be connected with inspired teaching.41
Clement of Alexandria is perhaps the strongest voice among early
Christians to argue that the ideal state of the Christian is childlike.42 He
talks, for example, about people who have wasted the stages of their
lives () in atheism, coming only in old age to the state of guileless children:
_____________
37
38
39

40

41
42

Trans. Layton in Nag Hammadi Codex II,2-7, vol. 1, p.55.

All Biblical translations are from the New Revised Standard Version.
Gnilka distinguishes the Christian ideal of spiritual transcendence of age, the puersenex motif in which a boy attains spiritual maturity, and three other forms: 1) the
child with the characteristics of old age; 2) the well-known adage that old age is a
second childhood; and 3) images of the polymorphic Christ such as are found in the
Acts of John or Peter (see Aetas Spiritalis, pp. 37-45). For further discussion of the
puer-senex, see Curtius, European Literature, 98-105; Garcia, Lenfant vieillard.
A charming Christian example of such a child appears in a work referred to as the
Coptic Gospel of Bartholomew, in which the seven-month old child of Joseph of
Arimathea asks his father to save him from the milk of his wetnurse the wife of Judas Iscariot because she and her husband have taken blood money! See Schneemelcher, Neutestamentliche Apocryphen, vol. 1, pp. 437-440; text and German translation in Mattias Westerhoff, Auferstehung und Jenseits, p.53.
Cicero, De divinatione II.xiii (text and trans. in Falconer, Cicero, p. 426-429).
See the brief discussion of Bakke, When Children Became People, 58-63.

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Karen L. King

You have been boys (), then lads (), then youths (),
then men (), but good you have never been. Have respect to your
old age (); become sober now you have reached the sunset of life;
even at the end of life acknowledge God, so that the end of your life may
regain a beginning of salvation. Grow old to daemon-worship; return as
young men to the fear of God; God will enroll you as guileless children
( ) (Exhortation to the Greeks X.84).43

In what sense are Christians properly called children? Clement tells us:
Rightly, then, are those called children who know Him who is God alone
as their Father, who are simple, and infants, and guileless, who are lovers
of the horns of the unicorns. To those, therefore, who have made progress
in the word, He has proclaimed this utterance, bidding them dismiss anxious care of the things of this world, and exhorting them to adhere to the
Father alone, in imitation of children (Paedagogus I.5).44

He goes on and praises children as gentle, tender, delicate, simple,

guileless, destitute of hypocrisy, straightforward and upright in mind,
which is the basis of simplicity and truth. Christians are members of
the new race, in contrast to the old:
In contradistinction, therefore, to the older people, the new people are
called young, having learned the new blessings; and we have the exuberance of lifes morning prime in this youth which knows no old age, in
which we are always growing to maturity in intelligence, are always
young, always mild, always new: for those must necessarily be new, who
have become partakers of the new Word. And that which participates in
eternity is wont to be assimilated to the incorruptible: so that to us appertains the designation of the age of childhood, a lifelong spring-time, because the truth that is in us, and our habits saturated with the truth, cannot
be touched by old age; but Wisdom is ever blooming, ever remains consistent and the same, and never changes. (Paedagogus I.5)45

For Clement, this eternal youth belongs to moral reformation:

Truly, then, are we the children of God, who have put aside the old man,
and stripped off the garment of wickedness, and put on the immortality of
Christ; that we may become a new, holy people by regeneration, and may
keep the man undefiled. And a babe, as Gods little one, is cleansed from
fornication and wickedness (Paedagogus I.6).46

_____________
43
44
45

46

Text and trans. from Butterworth, Clement of Alexandria, pp. 230-233.

Trans. Coxe, The Instructor, 213.
Trans. Coxe, The Instructor, 214. Note that Clement can draw upon both negative
and positive descriptions of childhood, applying the negative characteristics (lack of
reasoning, fearfulness, foolishness, and so on) to Jews or to believers prior to conversion, while the positive characteristics, he says, properly belong to Christians.
Trans. Coxe, The Instructor, 217.

Images of Aging and Immortality in Ancient Christianity

71

As he puts it, the childhood which is in Christ is maturity, as compared with the law. Or again, those things which have been concealed from the wise and prudent of this present world have been revealed to babes.47 For Clement, then, Christians are eternal children,
reformed from the sins and errors associated with aging in order to
return to the perfections of childlike innocence, purity, and oracular
wisdom. His diction easily invokes the puer senex. Here, however, such
an ideal state applies not only to Jesus, but to every Christian since
childhood is properly the model of Christian life and immortality. As
Gnilka notes, Clement assumes a striking disjuncture between physical
and spiritual age, since presumably one can attain to the status of child
of God at any stage of life. In that sense, we might mistake Clements
language as simply metaphor. But given his belief in the bodily resurrection, it is quite possible he was characterizing a permanent eschatological condition: the end of the age is the new age; Christians are the
new people; immortality is not agelessness but eternal youth. The
childlike condition of the soul in this life marks the permanent condition of the immortal resurrected self in the eschaton. It is not strictly
metaphor, but transformation that Clement has in mind.
Perhaps in the Gospel of Judas, too, the child Jesus is understood to
be this kind of puer senex, although it has to be noted that nothing is
said explicitly about him being wise or giving instructions and oracles
as a child though he appears as the wise teacher and revealer throughout the rest of work. Nor is childhood presented as an ideal for his disciples. Indeed it would seem that the point being made most clearly in
this passage is rather one which is made repeatedly elsewhere in the
Gospel of Judas that Jesuss own most intimate disciples did not perceive his true nature and identity due to their lack of spiritual insight.
They could not see beyond his childlike appearance to comprehend
his true nature.
The disciples misunderstanding points more strongly to another
notion that was especially widely deployed in Christianity: that people
perceived Jesus only as they were able or in the case of the Gospel of
Judas, unable. Origen, for example, castigates the non-Christian Celsus
because he is unable to perceive the divine Logos in Jesus: (H)ow did
he fail to notice that his (Jesuss) body differed in accordance with the
capacity of those who saw it, and on this account appeared in such
form as was beneficial for the needs of each individuals vision? It is
not remarkable that matter, which is by nature subject to change, altera_____________
47

Trans. Coxe, The Instructor, 218, 217. See also Mark Golden, Childhood in Classical
Athens, 10.

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tion, and transformation into anything which the Creator desires, and
is capable of possessing any quality which the Artificer wishes, at one
time possesses a quality of which it is said He had not form or beauty,
and at another time a quality so glorious and striking and wonderful
that the three apostles who went up with Jesus and saw the exquisite
beauty fell on their faces.48 He goes on, The doctrine has an even
more mysterious meaning since it proclaims that the different forms of
Jesus are to be applied to the nature of the divine Logos. And I
would include also the different stages of his life, and any of the actions
which he did before he suffered and after he rose again from the
dead.49 Origens point is that Christs different appearances, including
his different ages, belong to the economy of salvation; it is less about
bodily form than it is about his care for souls at different stages of ascent to God.50 The disciples in the Gospel of Judas, however, most clearly
resemble Origens opponent, Celsus, for they are unable to see past the
external appearance of Jesus as a child to perceive his essential nature.
They, too, are serving false gods with the consequence that they are
unable to perceive the higher divine reality.
As in the Secret Revelation of John, the image of Jesus as a child in the
Gospel of Judas communicates more than one message. Although the
disciples misunderstanding is certainly not incompatible with docetism or the image of Jesus as puer senex, the most explicit theme is clearly
that of rhetorical blame: Jesus appeared as child in their midst, but the
disciples did not perceive the presence of the divine revelation in Jesus.
Right at the outset, the reader is prepared for what will come: the exposure of the disciples inability to grasp Jesuss identity or to understand
his teaching. The reader, on the other hand, is able to find him in their
midst, even as a child. This contrast has the effect not only of disturbing
the image the readers may have had of the disciples as authoritative
guides to understanding, but it also constructs the readers as people
who have superior insight. They are implicitly warned not to accept the
teaching of the twelve uncritically. By the end of the Gospel of Judas,
_____________
48
49
50

CCels VI.77; trans. Chadwick, Contra Celsum, p. 390.

Chadwick, Contra Celsum, p. 390, 391 (my emphasis).
Following McGuckin, The Changing Forms of Jesus, pp. 219-220. Origen writes:
If the immortal divine Word assumes both a human body and a human soul, and
by so doing appears to Celsus to be subject to change and remoulding, let him learn
that the Word remains Word in essence. He suffers nothing of the experience of the
body or the soul. But sometimes he comes down to the level of him who is unable to
look upon the radiance and brilliance of the Deity, and becomes as it were flesh, and
is spoken of in physical terms, until he who has accepted him in this form is gradually lifted up by the Word and can look even upon, so to speak, his absolute form
(CCels. IV.15; trans. Chadwick, Origen: Contra Celsum, pp. 193-194).

Images of Aging and Immortality in Ancient Christianity

73

they will have learned that only those who have grasped
Jesuss teaching are able to perceive the perfect human within themselves, and only they have the capacity for spiritual discernment to
perceive the divine image, even in a child.

The Gospel of the Savior51

In the Gospel of the Savior, the Lord tells his disciples, I am [in] your
midst li[ke] a child52 (107:5-60; Emmel 73). On first glance, this declaration may seem very similar to Jesuss appearance to the disciples as a
child in the Gospel of Judas. But although the Gospel of the Savior is extremely fragmentary (only seven parchment leaves plus a number of
unplaced fragments survive), it is nonetheless clear that the statement
appears in quite a different literary context. Both gospels contain dialogue between the Savior and his disciples set in a time just before the
crucifixion, but in the Gospel of Judas the disciples are unable to perceive
Jesuss presence as a child whereas in the Gospel of the Savior, the Savior
speaks to them directly and affirms his presence as a child. Thus the
Gospel of the Savior lacks the polemic against the twelve disciples found
in the Gospel of Judas. Instead the Saviors statement is part of his teaching to all his followers, who are explicitly called apostles. In the extant portion of the gospel, they not only receive revelation from Jesus,
but are also participants in a mountaintop vision in which the Savior
ascends to the seventh heaven to the throne of God, prostrates himself
before his Father, and asks three times to have this cup removed. All
this is witnessed by the apostles who become as spiritual bodies
clothed with the power of our apostleship.
The passage of interest for our purposes here takes place after they
descend, when the apostles ask the Savior about the nature of his resurrection appearance. The passage begins in a fragmentary sentence, but
continues in one of the best preserved sections of the manuscript:
three [days I will] take you [...] with me and show you [the] things you
desire [to] see. So [do not be alarmed] when [you] see [me]!

_____________
51

52

The Gospel of the Savior is known to us from fragments of a Coptic translation of a 2nd
c. gospel originally composed in Greek, preserved in a (6th-7th c?) parchment codex
now housed in the Egyptian Museum, Berlin (Papyrus Berolinensis 22220). A critical
edition of the Coptic text may be found in Hedrick and Mirecki, The Gospel of the Savior; see also Schenke, Das sogenannte Unbekannte Berliner Evangelium (UBE);
and Emmel, The Recently Published Gospel of the Savior, who offers an important
reordering of the pages and new restorations.
Here we find the usual Coptic terminology:
. For the use of the plural,
see Polotsky, Collected Papers, p. 231; Hedrick and Mirecki, The Gospel of the Savior.

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We said to him, Lord, in what form (

) will you reveal yourself to
us, or in what kind of body (
) will you come? Tell us!
John responded and said, Lord, when you are ready to reveal yourself to us, do not reveal yourself to us in all your glory, but change your
glory into [some other] glory so that [we might be able to bear] it, lest we
see [you and] despair from [fear]!
[Then the Savior] replied, [Rid] yourself [of] this [fear] that [you] are
afraid of, so that you might see and believe! But do not touch me until I ascend to [my Father and your Father], to [my God and] your God, to my
Lord and your Lord! If someone [comes close] to me , he [will get burned.
I] am [the] blazing [fire. Whoever is close] to [me] is close to [the fire].
Whoever is far from me is far from life. So now gather [unto] me, O my holy members (
), [... 6 lines untranslatable...].
[He] said to us, I am [in] your midst in [the manner] of a child
(
).
He said, Amen! 53
A little while I am among you.
[...] responded, Amen!

Some points here are more clear than others. The disciples are fearful
that they will be overcome by the glorious form or body of the revealed
Lord, but the Savior tells them not to fear. They need to see and believe.
On the other hand, they are not to touch him until he ascends. The notion of Jesuss glorious appearance was much discussed among early
Christians, especially with reference to accounts of the transfiguration.
Origen, for example, argued that only three of the disciples were invited to the mountain with Jesus because at that time only they were
advanced enough to be able to see his glory, and similarly, not everyone had the capacity to see the resurrected Jesus.54 Does the presence of
Jesus as a child belong to this theme, following as it does on Jesuss
discussion of his fire-hot, glorious bodily form? It is not entirely clear,
especially since about six lines of text are missing just before Jesuss
self-declaration about being like a child in their midst.
Why, then, are readers presented here with the notion that Jesus is
present among his disciples as a child? This statement is placed at the
beginning of his self declarations detailing the rehearsal of his earthly
career. It is interesting that when asked about his future form and body
(in what form will you reveal yourself, in what kind of body will you
come?), the Savior describes how he exists in the world: he is among
them as a child; he is plotted against because he is a stranger to the
_____________
53

54

For more on this section, especially the use of the singular he said, see the discussion of Schenke, Das sogenannte Unbekannte Berliner Evangelium, pp. 202-203;
Emmel, The Recently Published Gospel of the Savior, p. 58, n. 73 ff.
See Contra Celsum II.64.

Images of Aging and Immortality in Ancient Christianity

75

world; he grieves for the world; he is the king and son of the king; he is
fighting; he is himself sent, and he sends apostles; he has overcome the
world and become free; he will be given vinegar and gall, and be
pierced in the side with a spear. He admonishes his disciples to know
themselves, to go out, to grieve for the world but also to rejoice and not
to let the world overcome them; they should become free and acquire
life and rest. Finally he tells them, Whoever does not partake of my
body and my blood is a stranger to me. To each of these selfdeclarations and admonitions, the apostles respond, Amen! 55
Is being a child a reference to the earliest stage of his life before
he is plotted against and killed? What about the other ways he is described: as a stranger, mourner, king and son of the king, warrior, apostle, conqueror of the world? The description of being like a child
takes its place among those. Perhaps the emphasis of the child image
falls on the well-known images, portraying Jesus as an innocent or as
the pure, prognostic child who speaks in prophetic oracles. Yet, as in
the Gospel of Judas, these points are not made explicitly. What is clear is
that by the end, the disciples are meant to perceive the full identity of
the Savior: the one who ascends to heaven and speaks directly with
God, who appears in a glorious body and is fire, and who in his crucifixion overcomes the world and rules as king; this Jesus is also the one
who lived as a child.
It would seem that the disciples and hence all believers are being called upon to recognize the glorious Lord in the whole career of
Jesus, from childhood to crucifixion. In this case again, the transformation that the Gospel of the Savior desires to effect is to be found less in
Jesuss resurrection from this body of flesh into a transfigured body of
glory than in furthering the capacity of the apostles to discern Jesuss
true divine nature while still in his body, including during his life stage
as a child. In the Gospel of the Savior, this bodily nature apparently does
not block the disciples understanding of Jesuss divine nature since
they perceive a vision of his heavenly stature during his ministry and
before the resurrection.56 Every stage in Jesuss life holds a lesson for
_____________
55

56

We might speculate that this is a ritual fragment embedded in the revelation, perhaps like the prayer from Qumran discussed in this volume by John Collins, and
perhaps with a similar purpose of authorizing the prayer by giving it a divine revelatory origin?
Whether the Gospel of the Savior continued with a narrative of the crucifixion and
resurrection is unknown. But it may be that the gospel could end before these were
narrated, as the disciples already have seen all they need to know in order to understand the nature of the Lord and his saving action in the world, as we see in both the
Gospel of Mark (where no resurrection is recounted in the version ending at 16:8) and
the Gospel of Judas.

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Karen L. King

his followers, as he tells them: I am fighting [for] you. You too, wage
war! I am being sent. I in turn want to send you. I have overcome
the world. And you, do not let the world overcome you! I will be
[pierced] with a spear [in my] side. He who saw it, let him bear witness
and his testimony is true! (GosSav 108.26-33, 45-49, 59-64; Emmel 8586, 89, 92-93). In this way, the transformation in Jesuss resurrection
from this material body to a transfigured, glorious body, is also the
revelation of who they are and what path they need to follow; as Jesus
tells them: Become acquainted with [yourselves], that you might profit
me, and I will rejoice over your work! (GosSav 108.12-16; Emmel 80)57
The admonition that those who see the crucifixion should become witnesses may also belong to the arena of martyrdom; as Jesus is tortured
and killed, so also might they be in bearing witness to Jesuss life and
teaching. Jesuss most poignant Christological declaration, however, is
not made to his followers, but to the cross: [Do not] weep, O [cross],
but rather [rejoice] and recognize [your] Lord as he [is coming toward]
you, that he is [gentle] and [lowly]! (Emmel 108-10958). Here surely
Jesus is the model for how his followers should face persecution: rejoicing as they approach their deaths, gentle and lowly. Throughout the
work, Jesus teaches them not merely to see beyond the material to the
spiritual, but to see what is spiritual in Jesuss life and deeds, to comprehend the divine not only in the vision of glory but also in his suffering and death and in his childhood. It is only fear that keeps them
from this truth. By receiving Jesuss revelation and overcoming their
fear, they are able to take on the garment of apostleship and become
witnesses to the truth. In this, Jesus is their model: I lay down my life
for you. You too, lay down your lives for your [friends], so that you
might please my Father! For there is no greater command than this, that
I should [lay down my] life [for ] humankind (GosSav Emmel 19-21).
This fate is what Jesus alludes to when he says to them that If someone [comes close] to me, he [will get burned. I] am t[the] blazing [fire.
Whoever is close] to [me] is close to [the fire]. Whoever is far from me is
far from life (GosSav 107.39-48; Emmel 71).
Where should we place this kind of presentation in the practices of
Christian life? It could fit, as Origens presentation does, in a polemical
context, as a stab against those who mocked Christians worshipping a
man as a God, a human who not only had been put to an inglorious
death but who had lived as a mere child. If so, the gospels point would
_____________
57
58

I follow here Emmels restoration (The Recently Published Gospel of the Savior,
68).
Following the restoration of Emmel (The Recently Published Gospel of the Savior,
70).

Images of Aging and Immortality in Ancient Christianity

77

be that only some of Jesuss followers were able to perceive his glorious
divinity even while he was in the material body. But given that the
image of the child appears among Jesuss injunctions to the apostles to
rejoice in this world and not to grieve, it may have served more directly
to turn Christians to an understanding of the spiritual value of bodily
existence, not only in ritual practice (note the admonition that it is necessary to partake of his body and blood59), but in celebrating the Saviors triumph over death and in facing their own deaths in joy without
fear.
We might better understand this notion that Jesuss own career imparted meaning to every stage of life by looking to Irenaeus, who made
the remarkable and remarkably insistent argument that Jesus lived
to be an old man. Irenaeus disputes the claim that Jesuss ministry
lasted only one year, arguing instead that he reached nearly fifty years
old, having begun his ministry around age thirty, and he cites the Gospel of John 8:56, 57 (Isaiah 53:2) to prove it:
For when the Lord said to them, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My
day, and he saw it, and was glad, they answered Him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? Now, such language is fittingly
applied to one who has already passed the age of forty, without having as
yet reached his fiftieth year, yet is not far from this latter period. (22.6)

But why is Irenaeus straining so hard to make this argument? He seems

to have two interests. The first was to counter charges that Jesuss
teaching was that of an immature youth. In his opinion, those who say
Jesus taught only one year are thereby:
robbing Him of that age which is both more necessary and more honourable than any other; that more advanced age, I mean, during which also as
a teacher He excelled all others. For how could He have had disciples, if He
did not teach? And how could He have taught, unless He had reached the
age of a Master?

The second interest is theological, or more precisely incarnational. For

Irenaeus argues that by living to the age of fifty, Jesus sanctified every
stage of human life:
Being a Master, therefore, He also possessed the age of a Master, not despising or evading any condition of humanity, nor setting aside in Himself
that law which He had appointed for the human race, but sanctifying every
age, by that period corresponding to it which belongs to Himself. For He
came to save all through means of Himself all, I say, who through Him
are born again to God infants, and children, and boys, and youths, and
old men. He therefore passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, thus sanctifying infants; a child for children, thus sanctifying those

_____________
59

GosSav 105.11-14; Emmel 96.

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Karen L. King

who are of this age, being at the same time made to them an example of
piety, righteousness, and submission; a youth for youths, becoming an example to youths, and thus sanctifying them for the Lord. So likewise He
was an old man for old men, that he might be a perfect Master for all, not
merely as respects the setting forth of the truth, but also as regards age,
sanctifying at the same time the aged also, and becoming an example to
them likewise. Then, at last, He came on to death itself, that He might be
the first-born from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence, the Prince of life, existing before all, and going before all.
(22.4)

Irenaeus marks the stage of early life as up to 30 years, but from the
fortieth and fiftieth years a person begins to decline toward old age. It
is that latter age which our Lord possessed while He still fulfilled the
office of a Teacher, even as the Gospel and all the elders testify (22.5).
Thus, for Irenaeus, Jesuss existence must have encompassed all the
stages of life so that he can serve as an example for imitation to every
person, no matter what ones age.60 To children, he modelled piety,
righteousness and submission; to old men, he exemplified all the virtues of a master in his incarnation, in true flesh and blood. This modelling is the fundamental purpose of the incarnation, for, according to
Irenaeus, Christ became flesh in order to restore humanity to the full
likeness to God lost due to apostasy in the sin of Adam and Eve. The
restoration of this likeness occurs through vision of God, especially as
revealed in the incarnation of Christ and in his ministry, death, and
resurrection. He became what we are so that we might become what
he is.61 Aging enters this equation as part of the law that God appointed for the human race. What is required is not a transcendence of
age and its metamorphoses, but a kind of taxonomic sanctification; that
is, sanctification takes place primarily through achieving those moral
behaviors appropriate to a persons stage of life. Here there is technically no polymorphy, conceived as simultaneous appearances, because
Christ himself cannot be limited or fixed to a single life-stage since he is
a teacher for all, as Irenaeus stresses.62 But Irenaeus images of Jesus
aging also allow a Christian pedagogy in which practices aimed at
forming Christian bodies to a restored likeness to God could be conceived as age-specific. Nothing about the practices Irenaeus recommends are, however, in any way specifically Christian they conform
to standard moral teaching in antiquity about the ideal virtues of child_____________
60
61
62

I frame this sentence inclusively, but I am not sure how gender inclusive Irenaeus
argument or intention is here.
See Against Heresies V. preface-I.1.
McGuckin argues that this presentation fits well with his notion of Christs existence
as recapitulation (see The Changing Forms of Jesus, 221, n. 18).

Images of Aging and Immortality in Ancient Christianity

79

ren, youth, mature, and aged men. What makes them in any sense
Christian, as Gnilka would stress, is that they have been clearly tied
to one particular Christological (incarnational) and eschatological
schema.
It is interesting that the Gospel of the Savior marks many of the same
points in Jesuss career as Irenaeus does: a child, a master and teacher,
his death, and resurrection; and it, too, thereby Christianizes the many
different positions in which one might find oneself in the world, not
only in age, but also as a stranger, a warrior, someone who is high (a
king) and someone who grieves and suffers, who is persecuted and
abused. In these ways, Jesus in the Gospel of the Savior sanctifies multiple aspects of human living. His appearance in glory is only one manifestation to his disciples. They are to embrace all these life experiences bodily experiences as simultaneously manifestations of the
divine. 63
Irenaeus and the Gospel of the Savior are pointing toward something
quite profound about how Christians could see Jesuss life and death as
a model for cultivation of spiritual perfection. His career from child to
adult and according to Irenaeus, even into old age not only sanctified every stage of human aging but also made possible the polymorphic imagination of God, who could be simultaneously the glorious
Savior and the lowly, gentle man on the cross. For Irenaeus, the imitation of Jesus made possible the restoration of the likeness to God in
which humanity was created but which people had lost due to sin. For
the Gospel of the Savior, Jesus was similarly the revelation not only of
God, but also of humanitys true spiritual nature. Both gave a high
valuation for the bodily career of Jesus, as well as his divinity. In the
Gospel of the Savior, Jesus clearly is a person of flesh and blood, and he
says of his own death that he will die with joy and pour out my blood
for the human race (Emmel 52). Yet one sentence in particular seems
to indicate that the final state of believers will not be material, for Jesus
_____________
63

Another articulation of this notion that the divine encompasses the full range of
human experience, in all its complexity and contradictions, lies in the Nag Hammadi
tractate Thunder Perfect Mind. There the simultaneous affirmations of contraries,
which as Anne McGuire puts it, displaces the duality of apparent opposites with
paradoxes that cross and nullify the boundaries between them by pointing toward
the multiplicity within the divine (Searching the Scriptures, 104). The voice of Thunder
overcomes the fragmentation of the self by naming, cherishing, insisting upon the
multiplicity of self-hood and experience including the experience of age:
Come forward to me, you who know me and you who know my members, and establish the great ones among the small first creatures. Come forward to childhood
and do not despise it because it is small and it is little. And do not turn away greatnesses in some parts from the smallnesses, for the smallnesses are known from the
greatnesses (Thunder 17.19-32).

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admonishes his disciples: So now [while] you are in the body, do not
let matter rule over you! (GosSavior Emmel 11). Here the difference
from Irenaeus is clear, since he affirms the bodily resurrection of believers in the strongest terms. Yet contrary to Irenaeus insistence that
such a position makes a mockery of Jesuss incarnation, death, and the
eucharist ritual, the Gospel of the Savior interprets them, drawing heavily
upon the Gospels of Matthew and especially John, in ways that make
them theologically central. In the Gospel of the Savior, the image of Jesus
as a child works on multiple themes that are prevalent throughout the
text. It not only answers the question of why only some people perceived Jesuss divine nature, but it asks believers to see the divine in
every stage of Jesuss life and in every condition in which he lived,
including that of a child. Because of this, everything Jesus said and did
is instructional, a model or admonition to follow. Believers are asked to
cultivate spiritual vision, to see the divine in themselves and each other. They are called upon to be witnesses to the truth, which may very
well mean to suffer with joy the kind of torture and violence that Jesus
underwent. And just as God loved Jesus, so He loves them.

Conclusion
We have only begun to scratch the surface in describing the various
ways Christians deployed representation of bodily aging as they appear in early Christian literature there is no claim here to a comprehensive treatment of the topic. But enough has been said to allow us to
speculate briefly about the questions we raised at the beginning: How
did Christians square their belief in the human potential for immortality with its required immutability with the lived experience of aging,
the inevitable mutations that time works upon each human being from
birth to death?
One very common strategy was to shift attention from the body itself to the condition of the soul. This move required an entire rhetoric
which uncoupled the link between bodily age and spiritual or moral
maturity. A young child could show the wisdom of age, and an old
man qualities of child-like innocence. Stages of the souls development
could then be treated almost independently of bodily aging. Alternatively, ideals could be sharpened that focused on representing one age
as that of the transcendent ideal, the resurrection body: that of the child
or more frequently the mature man but never the decaying body of
the elderly. Another deployment involved polymorphic visions, in
which the multiform appearance of the divine at different life stages

Images of Aging and Immortality in Ancient Christianity

81

pushed the visionary to see beyond the metamorphoses of materiality

to the unitary spiritual reality beyond them, calling for a kind of blindness to the mutations of the physical body itself. Variations on this
perspective could be put to diverse rhetorical uses, especially to blame
those who could not see past the bodily appearances of Jesus as a child
or a suffering victim to perceive his divine nature. But the view that I
have found most attractive are those which call upon believers to
perceive the divine in the all stages of Jesuss life and therefore to see
God in their fellow humans, whether young or old, and to cultivate
their spiritual connection to God in every stage of their own lives. Such
a perspective does not require a belief in the transformation of the mutable material body into an immutable material body, but it does require
the capacity to perceive what is immutable even now in what is constantly subject to change and metamorphosis. The call to avoid the external and look within might seem to lead to an avoidance of viewing
bodies at all hiding them in caves or under impenetrable clothing, or
even thinking that the blind have an advantage because they are not
distracted by mere appearances, but for Gregory and for the desert
fathers it was much more that the physical body itself should be the
window onto the soul. The ideal philosopher or monk should embody
the values of the spirit, for example in preserving a mature body into
old age, letting physical beauty be a mirror of inner beauty, letting ugliness be overshadowed by spiritual loveliness. As Gregory of Nazianzan puts it: the true philosopher gives no opportunity to be observed
externally, but turns the onlookers gaze to the inner person. (cf. Rom
7:22; Eph 3:16). No matter what stage of life, the goal was to cultivate
and convey inner spiritual perfection.64 On this point all Christians
could agree.
The gospel depictions of Jesus as a child in the Gospel of Judas and
the Gospel of the Savior fit well within the rhetorical deployments of
these Christian images of aging, even as they articulate their own distinctive theological understandings, views that would come into conflict with what ultimately won the title of orthodoxy. Yet we understand their distinctive place in the history of Christianity only if we can
see how much they share with other Christians. To perceive glorious
divinity in the child Jesus requires spiritual discernment acquired
through understanding of the true revelation given by the Savior.
In the end, the most important consequence for me in all this is the
way in which the topic of growing old unto death is both ever present
and almost completely absent in Christian literature. Even as stories of
_____________
64

See Gregory of Nazianszus, Oration 26.10-11.

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Karen L. King

Jesuss childhood, death, and resurrection were being told and retold as
they came to take a central place in Christian theology such as we see
in both the Gospel of Judas and the Gospel of the Savior Christians rarely
turned their reflective gaze upon the frailties of vulnerable children or
of aging bodies in their decline toward death. Instead they neutralized
the charged contrast between aging and immortality, frequently by
allegorizing or metaphorizing childhood and old age, even as they
invited the perceptive to see God in every human body at every stage
of life. They suspended the transformations of time by focusing on the
ultimate metamorphosis into timelessness.65 It was timeless eternity
that was to be cultivated in this life, patterned on humankinds originary likeness to God, and directed toward the final age. Death, when it
comes up at all, is merely the place where some draw a line but the
line itself is porous and unclear, for even now Christians are called
upon to embody so far as possible that state they will attain finally after
death even when that embodiment is primarily achieved through a
learned and continually strived-for indifference to the physical body
and its powerful metamorphoses.
In my initial proposal for this essay, I wrote Many early Christians
perceived death as a moment when reality is bared and truth appears
in naked clarity. I now think that statement is fundamentally wrong.
For early Christians, it is not death that bares reality, but the cultivation
of the inner eye, of the capacity to see what is spiritual already in this
life of the flesh, past the flesh, beyond its metamorphoses. And that
means never to look at death itself, but always look past and beyond it,
to ignore it as a lie that Jesus rendered invisible in glorious light.

_____________
65

I thank Gordan Kaufman for emphasizing to me the importance of time.

Genealogies of the Self:

Materiality, Personal Identity, and the Body
in Pauls Letters to the Corinthians
Genealogies of the Self
JORUNN KLAND1

I should say that there were two Cratyluses2

A history of the present asks what historical discourses are enclosed in

modern concepts and debates. What do the modern concepts and debates resolve compared to previous moments in history, what do they
hide, which historical tensions have they absorbed? As David Halperin
states,
To write the history of the present is a deliberately paradoxical project.
For such a history is necessarily and inevitably framed by contemporary
preoccupations and investments. And yet, for that very reason, it looks to
the past for something lacking in the present, something that can offer a
new leverage against the contemporary problems with which the historian
is engaged. Such a history privileges neither the present nor the past, but
the unstable relation between the two. Those of us who locate ourselves at
their uncertain intersection do so in the hope of finding ourselves changed
by the experience. 3

Following this genealogical procedure,4 if we want to move back in

time in order to explore one of the separate discourses that anticipate
the modern concept of the self, and that thus constitutes, so to say, one
of the sources of the modern self,5 an obvious place to look is in the
_____________
1

2
3
4

Jorunn kland is professor at the Centre for Gender Research, University of Oslo.
While at CAS: Senior Lecturer at the Department of Biblical Studies, University of
Sheffield, UK.
Cratylus character in Plato, Cratylus, 432c.
David Halperin, How to Do the History of Homosexuality (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002), 23.
The type of genealogical method pursued here is the one often associated with Michel Foucault and David Halperin among others. See Halperin, History of Homosexuality, 1-23.
Cf. Charles Taylors book Sources of the Self: The Making of Modern Identity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989).

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Jorunn kland

earliest Christian discourses of the body and resurrection.6 Paul is our

earliest Christian author, and his texts represent an un-tapped potential
in modern discussions of self.7 Hence, I will in this essay present as a
contribution to a genealogy of the self a close reading of 2 Corinthians
12 and a semi-close reading of 1 Corinthians 15. The genealogical approach implies that rather than complying with the modern and largely
subconscious categories, and rather than just applying a modern theory
to an ancient text, I will here let the critique go both ways, by using also
Pauls texts to turn the spotlight back on the modern categories that
might prevent us from understanding what he is saying. We start by
making our way back in time through the history of the self, guided by
Raymond Martin and John Barresi.

1 The History of the Self and Processes of Becoming

In their book The Rise and Fall of Soul and Self,8 authors Martin and Barresi maintain that although there were previous, disparate views on the
self and personal identity in ancient Greece, it was not until the early
Christians needed to make sense of the Christian dogma of the postmortem resurrection of humans that a continuous tradition of reflections on these issues emerged.9 Those previous incidents of reflection
on self and identity focused on issues of continuity and change:10 there
must be a sense of same person according to which someone can remain
the same person in spite of changing. Saying what this sense is, or what
these senses are, is the philosophical problem of personal identity.11 There
_____________
6

8
9

10
11

In this vein, issues of mind and self as well as 1 Corinthians 15 are addressed
within the first 5 pages of Caroline Walker Bynums The Resurrection of the Body in
Western Christianity, 200-1336 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995).
See however Theo K. Heckel, Body and Soul in St Paul, in Psyche and Soma: Physicians and Metaphysicians on the Mind-Body Problem from Antiquity to Enlightenment (ed.
J. P. Wright and P. Potter; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 117-132 (119).
Raymond Martin and John Barresi, The Rise and Fall of Soul and Self: An Intellectual
History of Personal Identity (New York: Columbia University Press, 2006).
Martin and Barresi, Soul and Self, 2. It is this substantial historicising of the self that
makes Martin and Barresis book more useful as a point of departure in our context
than e.g. Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality Volume Three: The Care of the Self
(New York: Pantheon, 1986), who operates with an anachronistic notion of the self,
and sees the definition of the self mainly in sexual/medical terms; or Taylors book
mentioned above, which only substantiates its discussions properly in the coverage
of the modern world.
This is also what Songe-Mller confirms elsewhere in this volume.
Martin and Barresi, Soul and Self, 3, cf. 4.

Genealogies of the Self

85

was also some reflection on the possibility of survival of bodily death,

above all in Platos Phaedo.
I will in this essay use Martin and Barresis terminology:

a theory of the self is an explicit theory that tells us what sort

of thing the self is, if indeed it is a thing.
a theory of personal identity is a theory of personal identity
over time, that is, theories that explain why a person, or self, at
one time is or is not the same person or self as someone at some
other time.12

Martin and Barresi point out that through the history of the soul and
self, philosophers and theologians have had three main epistemologies
and philosophical frameworks to draw on:

First, the earliest church fathers were trained in Greek philosophy and drew upon materialist atomism, or more precisely on
its descendant variety Stoicism. The materialist atomists held
that material bodies are temporary configurations of material
fragments (atoms) that constantly come together and pull apart
in an ever-changing universe.
Second, Platonist thought took over from Stoicism early on, and
fundamentally shaped Christian theology on the soul as a unified, timeless, immaterial entity residing in a changeless realm.
Thirdly, Aristotelianism entered the discussion in the 13th century, above all through the works of Thomas Aquinas. This
view held that there was a changeless dimension within every
material object.
Greek materialism re-entered the discussion at a later point
again, namely at the birth of modern science in the 17th century, and has remained the most important frame of reference
for discussions of self and personal identity ever since.

The latter point on materialism re-emerging as a main explanatory

framework in the 17th century presupposes that one, as Martin and
Barresi clearly do, keeps out of view the continued religious preoccupation with the soul even in the age of rationalism and Enlightenment.
After all, the birth of modern science more or less coincided with the
birth of Pietism, which emphasises the soul very strongly. In the 18th
century this interest in the soul energised the preoccupation with resurrection among self and personal-identity theorists, a preoccupation
also registered by Martin and Barresi.13 The preoccupation was sparked
_____________
12
13

Martin and Barresi, Soul and Self, 2.

Martin and Barresi, Soul and Self, 2 and 159.

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Jorunn kland

by the fact that the inherited Medieval and the new Pietist notion of
the immaterial soul that had previously accounted for the phenomenon
of resurrection, was no longer usable in a rationalist, materialist, scientific framework. Still many of the materialists, such as Joseph Priestly,
did not want to give up on the idea of resurrection.
In their survey, Martin and Barresi devote relatively little space to
Paul. Typically, the Pauline texts they do mention are 1 Corinthians 15
and a couple of texts from 2 Corinthians, but not chapter 12 where Paul
describes his heavenly journey.14 They present Paul as a materialist
thinker, but not directly influenced by Philo and Stoicism. They rather
locate Philos strong influence on Christian theology to the 2nd century
and the period of the apologists, and view his direct influence on the
canonical documents themselves (especially the Gospel of John) as
more or less loose hypotheses that have to carry a heavy burden of
proof.15
One of the insights we gain from Martin and Barresi is how wrong
we end up if we read the texts written by Paul, shaped within some
kind of materialist framework (in Pauls case a variant of Stoicism influenced by Jewish philosophy) using the glasses of the subsequently
developed notion of the Christian soul. One way of turning the spotlight back onto the effects of those glasses, and perhaps even discarding
them, is instead to use modern, materialist theories of the self to read
Paul. There is a chance they might be closer to Paul than the traditional
Christian doctrines on the soul.
One example of such a modern, materialist thinker is Rosi Braidotti,
who also reacts against the modern notion of the self as an identical,
integrated and isolated whole. In her book appropriately (in our
context) entitled Metamorphoses,16 she says:
I would therefore rather keep a sober perspective on what I consider as
the great challenge of contemporary social theory and cultural practice,
namely how to make the new technologies enhance the embodied subject.

_____________
14
15

16

In their discussions of Paul they draw heavily on the work of Theo Heckel (Heckel,
Body and Soul, cf. Martin and Barresi, Soul and Self, 46-52).
Martin and Barresi, Soul and Self, 55. This is mentioned to position them, and myself,
in relation to Engberg-Pedersens essay in this book. Locating Paul more broadly, as
they do, within the materialist vein of Greek philosophy, where also Stoicism belongs, I consider entirely correct. Identifying concrete terminological or other links
between 1 Corinthians 15 and Stoic philosophy or Philo is possible, but one must be
careful not to insist that Paul uses the terms at the same intensional level as the philosophers.
Rosi Braidotti, Metamorphoses: Towards a Materialist Theory of Becoming (Cambridge:
Polity, 2002).

Genealogies of the Self

87

My specific target in this regard is the tendency, which I consider nihilistic, that consists in declaring the superfluity of the body and its alleged irrelevance, or else to reduce it to meat, or to the status of a familiar parasite This results paradoxically in both accelerating and denying its
mortality, rendering bodily pain and suffering irrelevant in the process.
Against such denials, I want to re-assert my bodily brand of materialism
and remain to the end proud to be flesh!17

The extremely interesting parallels between the latter part of this quote
and 2 Cor 12:7-10 (Pauls weakness, pain and the thorn in the flesh) will
not be paid its full due here, but will be an undercurrent throughout
this essay. We will just note here the paradox that in spite of various
materialisms underpinning modern notions of the self (as Martin and
Barresi point out), very few are explicitly reflecting along the lines
Braidotti suggests. This lack of self-reflexive reflection on the self could
with Braidotti be labelled as an imaginative deficit of our culture, that
is to say our collective inability to find adequate representations of the
kind of embodied nomadic subjects we have already become.18 Thus
her aim is not just to suggest a materialist theory of the self, but also to
suggest the self as something always in process, something always
becoming and coming into being in short, always metamorphosing
into something different. She believes this metamorphosis takes place
perhaps because of the addition of new layers or aspects of our selves
(such as artificial limbs and other technological, bodily improvements),
but rather than characterising the ensuing changes enacted at the depth
of subjectivity fragmentation, she calls it multiplicity and nomadism. This terminology obviously refers back to her previous, acclaimed Nomadic Subjects,19 but the connotations from her theory of
becoming back to the meaning of the Hebrew name of God, Jahve I
will become who I will become, are difficult to miss for a biblical
scholar. Thus she calls for a conceptual and representational shift in
perspective:
I have quarrelled with the nostalgic tendency which accounts for changes,
especially technological ones, in a paranoid mode that renders them as
monstrous, pathological, decadent or threatening. I have also offered,
both in this chapter and in chapter 4, counter-readings of these changes in
such a way as to highlight their positivity and force.20

_____________
17
18
19
20

Braidotti, Metamorphoses, 257.

Braidotti, Metamorphoses, 258.
Rosi Braidotti, Nomadic Subjects: Embodiment and Sexual Difference in Contemporary
Feminist Theory (Columbia University Press, 1994).
Braidotti, Metamorphoses, 258.

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Jorunn kland

It is this current intellectual and soul-less climate that has urged a

reconsideration of ancient notions of metamorphosis, continuity and
change in general, and of early Christian notions of resurrection and
personal identity in particular. As Martin and Barresi state, in our own
times the souls descendent, the self, has become theorized as something that lacks unity and that itself requires an explanation.21 Within
Pauline studies, the fact that the notion of the soul has lost its explanatory force has opened up new questions. The soul used to explain the
continuity between the pre-resurrection and post-resurrection bodies of
1 Corinthians 15 and the earthly body and the (possibly) heaventravelling body of 2 Corinthians 12:2-3. We may have deconstructed the
soul as a Platonic product and hence rendered it useless as interpretive
key to Paul, but what to use instead to make sense of what he says
about body, resurrection, and personal identity? This is now an open
question that makes new readings of the texts possible.
But in this history of the present, the movement also goes the other
way, from the ancient world to the modern: Pauls first and disparate
thoughts on the heavenly body, the thorn in the flesh, and Christ living
in him, might be taken as examples of the kind of adequate representations that Braidotti is looking for.

2. Spitze und Krone 22 1 Corinthians 15

Since the Gospel stories focus so firmly on the resurrection of Jesus,
Pauls texts that are earlier, more dogmatic in form, and talk about all
Christ-believers, set the agenda for the later Christian intellectual explorations of body and resurrection, into which usable fragments from
the Gospel stories were inserted. As Jan Bremmer points out,
Paul seems to have been the first to present Jesus resurrection as the beginning of the collective eschatological resurrection, whereas in traditional
Jewish thought individual resurrection, as in the case of Jesus, had been
typical only of martyrs like the Maccabees.23

1 Corinthians 15 in particular has ended up as an authoritative statement on Christian resurrection,24 and the chapter is in Martin and Bar_____________
21
22
23
24

Martin and Barresi, Soul and Self, 4.

Karl Barth, Die Auferstehung der Toten: Eine akademische Vorlesung ber 1. Kor. 15
(Zrich: Evangelischer Verlag, 1953), 57.
Jan Bremmer, The Rise and Fall of the Afterlife (London: Routledge, 2002), 43.
Bremmer also points out that Phil. 1:22-23 and 2 Cor 5:1-10 seem to suggest that Paul
thinks he will be with Christ immediately after his death (Bremmer, Afterlife, 57).

Genealogies of the Self

89

resis view the real reason why the doctrine of the resurrection was
later developed into one of the central tenets of Christianity.25
It is generally assumed that Paul wrote all of 1 Corinthians before 2
Corinthians (in one or many parts), and that therefore whatever he says
in the first letter would historically have been a preparation and provided a sounding board for the latter. We will therefore first briefly
comment on 1 Corinthians 15 before we move on to 2 Corinthians 12.
Vast is the multitude of Protestant exegetes who have attempted to
explain Pauls confused and confusing denotations of soul, body, flesh
and spirit. When Karl Barth characterised 1 Corinthians 15 as the peak
and crown of the letter then, he only formulated more excellently what
previous generations of theologians and exegetes had always meant, at
least if one measures quantitatively the amount of theological text devoted to this chapter. Other essays in this volume deal in more detail
with the chapter: In short, Songe-Mller traces notions of continuity,
change and the instant in 1 Corinthians 15 in light of Greek philosophy,
and Engberg-Pedersen shows that what Paul argues in this chapter
fully overlaps with Stoic philosophy synthetically understood. The
comments on 1 Corinthians 15 included below do not exclude any of
these arguments and perspectives, but acknowledge that it is in the end
Paul rather than Zeno who has been the more influential on European
notions of the self (even if he is not perhaps the sharper thinker among
the two). Therefore, Paul is the more important conversation partner if
one wants to write a genealogy of the modern notions of the self.
I follow mainstream readings of the chapter in seeing as Pauls
main concern here to make the Corinthians understand that resurrection has not yet taken place for everyone.26 Resurrection properly
speaking presupposes death. The Corinthians cannot pretend that they
are already resurrected with Christ, anticipate the kind of freedom
from earthly constraints that follows resurrection, and deny that any
further resurrection will happen (15:12). We get an impression earlier in
the letter that over-realized eschatology was a problem. For example,
the Corinthians were apparently pretending that they were already
living the resurrection, everyone was speaking the angelic tongue language at the same time, and the flesh was left behind to do its own
dirty business. This is a very traditional understanding of the rhetorical
situation behind 1 Corinthians, but still one that in my view highlights
_____________
25
26

Martin and Barresi, Soul and Self, 49.

See overview over interpreters who read the chapter this way (incl. Heinrici, Ksemann, Barrett, Bruce, and others) and a discussion of this view in Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NIGTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 11734.

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the division in Pauls attitude to an embodied life, a division that I am

not so sure was as much the Corinthians as Pauls own. Antoinette
Wire has carefully reminded us not to take everything he puts into the
Corinthians mouths for face value,27 as their views rather than as
various types of projections of his own.
In Pauls view, only Christ has so far been resurrected and translated into a different dimension (cf. the notion of first fruit in 15:20). If
Christ is resurrected, then such a phenomenon exists, then it is possible.
In 1 Corinthians 15 then, Christs resurrection proves the resurrection
of the dead. What has happened to Christ will happen to all Christians,
(15:20 and 23).
Paul further counters the smart rhetorical traps, if the dead resurrect, how do they do it and what kind of body will they have? (15:35).
Paul considers it an ignorant question with a self-evident answer: Everyone can see what happens to a seed when put into the soil (15:36-37):
a totally new plant emerges, but of the seed there is nothing left. Still it
is true that different seeds give rise to different bodies (15:38). Paul here
in the middle of the passage talks about various types of bodies,
. But importantly, when he starts out on his discourse on resurrection in 15:12, he does not talk about the resurrection of , but
rather of , the resurrection of the dead, i.e. those who are dead.
This must surely be significant, but exactly what it signifies is a bit unclear. We must remember that faith in the resurrection of the body
was something that only became creed hundreds of years later. Since
he refers back to the Corinthians in 15:12, it is possible that resurrection of the dead was the standard expression used by them. What is
clear, however, is that he considers those people (irrational,
15:36-37) who believe that the raising up of the dead is about putting a
seed or a dead body - into the earth, and then the identical entirety
and composition will surface again, only alive (15:18, cf. 15:51). The
raising up of the dead thus in this context is not at all the same as the
raising up of the body and absolutely not the same as the raising up of
the flesh, and this is what Paul continues to point out categorically:
flesh (and blood) cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (15:50). There
are many types of flesh, human flesh, animal flesh, bird flesh, and fish
flesh (15:39), but all flesh is subject to decay and corruption and cannot
inherit incorruption. A transformation is necessary (15:51-52).
_____________
27

Antoinette Wire, The Corinthian Women Prophets: A Reconstruction Through Pauls

Rhetoric (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1990), 163, 287 n. 8. Cf. also her headings such as
Their Common Identity or Pauls Differentiation of Gifts (135) and Their Communal Speaking or Pauls Hearing of Individuals (146).

Genealogies of the Self

91

In 15:40-41 we learn that there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, and they have different , which I suggest we translate aura,
we just have to forget the New-Age-connotations of the term. The reason for this suggestion is that glory is a term emptied of meaning in
everyday language today outside of the Bible translations. Since there
are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, body is not in itself a distinctive feature of heavenly vs. earthly existence. That is why the seed
metaphor is so apt, and why any faith in the resurrection of the body
really would not be a big deal for Paul. To understand this, we might
refer to the Aristotelian distinction between or , form, and
, matter.28 We only have to remember that Paul was no philosopher,
that all known texts by him have come into being in attempts to connect to and communicate with particular churches, and that this means
that even his in-corporation (understood quite literally!) of terminology
contributes to his formation of a hybrid, networked self (cf. Braidotti
above): terms may be aliens in his mouth, but still connect him to the
network. In the heat of the argument, Paul can utilise any philosophical
model at hand. He walks in and out of discourses,29 supports various
theories, sometimes also philosophical theories. The fact that he does
not do so faithfully, or does not always appear as a Stoic philosopher
does not prevent him from sometimes doing it. This just means that his
texts must be interpreted on a text-to-text basis.
When Paul explains the distinction between the earthly body and
the post-resurrection body, he further emphasises that the
, the animated body comes first, and only after the raising up
we get a spiritual or pneumatic body ( ). The distinction is expressed in temporal, not spatial terms, but here as elsewhere in Pauls world-view the spatial and temporal categories overlap
and reinforce each other.30 He outlines his taxonomy on a cosmic scale,
presenting sequences of events and places. He thus emphasises se_____________
28

29

30

Bultmann, too, points out the similarities here between Paul and Aristotles understandings of the body, but rejects that Paul is Aristotelian on rhetoricalmethodological grounds: Es ist methodisch falsch, fr die Interpretation von
von dieser Stelle auszugehen, an der sich Paulus verleiten lt, auf die Argumentationsweise seiner Gegner einzugehen, und dabei den -Begriff in einer fr ihn
sonst nicht charakteristischen Weise verwendet. Genuin paulinisch ist in diesen Versen nur der Grundgedanke: es gibt menschliches Sein und auch in der Sphre des
pneuma nur als somatisches. Unpaulinisch aber ist der Gebrauch von als
Form, Gestalt (Rudolf Bultmann, Theologie des Neuen Testaments [Tbingen: Mohr
Siebeck, 1968], 193-194).
Cf. further explanation of this in Jorunn kland, Women in Their Place: Paul and the
Corinthian Discourse of Gender and Sanctuary Space (London: T&T Clark, 2004), 26-30,
241.
Cf. kland, Women in Place, 32-34.

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Jorunn kland

quence, but implicitly then also the metamorphosis of the first order
into something which is both continuous and discontinuous with the
previous order: from corruptible to incorruptible, from weak to strong,
from animate to pneumatic (15:42-43).31 But the first order is a necessary precondition for the metamorphosis. Next, Paul uses the course of
nature to prove this sequence, and hence to prove the (Platonizing)
philosopher wrong: First the seed, then the plant. The emphasis on sequence: first dust, then spirit, throughout this passage, and the fact that
he seemingly understands also the spirit, in material terms,32
are two further reasons to place Paul among the materialists, ancient
and modern, rather than among the Platonizing or logos-speculating
philosophers. This does not of course prevent him from incorporating
the terminology of such philosophers and using it to connect with
broader discourses.
It is important to note that there is no immortal soul here. Paul
seems to talk about a piece of flesh given its form by God, and animated in an ancient Hebrew sense. The human being is ,33 and
when he uses the term it resonates with the ancient ideas
about Jahve blowing the breath of life into the nose of the earthling in
Gen. 2:7 and animating it.34 From this idea follows that Jahves animation of the flesh ceases when the fleshy body dies, and that no soul
exists independently of it. Also Daniel Boyarin comments on how Paul
in 1 Corinthians 15 combines what Boyarin stages as the binary oppo_____________
31

32
33
34

There have been endless discussions of how Paul argues here. Some, such as David
Hay (see e.g. David M. Hay, Philo's Anthropology, the Spiritual Regimen of the
Therapeutae, and a Possible Connection with Corinth, in Philo und das Neue Testament: Wechselseitige Wahrnehmungen [ed. R. Deines and K.-W. Niebuhr; Tbingen:
Mohr Siebeck, 2004], 127-142), perceive that Paul here argues against the understanding of the creation stories of which Philo is an exponent. This understanding
implied that the spiritual human being was created first (Gen 1:26-27), and that the
materialisation, the increased density of the hyle, resulted in material bodies appearing in Gen 2:7. In van Kootens words, most of those who do regard Philos writings
as relevant for discerning the meaning of 1 Cor 15 construe a difference between Paul
and Philo, assuming that Paul is in fact arguing against a Corinthian version of the
two types of man anthropology also known from Philo.... Paul seems to deliberately
invert Philos sequence of the first, pneumatic-heavenly man and the second, psychic-earthly man (George Van Kooten, Paul's Anthropology in Context (WUNT, 1st series; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008], 221).
See Engberg-Pedersen elsewhere in this volume.
This is pointed out by Bultmann, Theologie, chapter 4, esp. 197.
The translation of adam as earthling or earth creature rather than Adam in the
stories of Genesis before the naming of Eve in Gen 2:23 is standard in feminist biblical scholarship from Phyllis Trible onwards, and is increasingly being used also in
contemporary Bible versions (Phyllis Trible, God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality [London: SCM, 1992], 76-82, 98).

Genealogies of the Self

93

sites of platonic dualism and Hebraic anthropologies, where the

body does not represent a problem because of its sheer materiality as
part of the created, physical world.35
As the theology of the resurrection of the body developed, it presupposed some kind of continuity, which could be understood in different ways as bodily, material, or spiritual continuity, continuity of the
soul, etc.. This is understandable, because without any kind of continuity it would not make sense to talk about personal identity before and
after. Rather one would only note that one person dies here and another one is brought to new life there, one shadow emerges in the
heavens; in short, totally unrelated phenomena. Such a discontinuous
notion of resurrection would actually come closer to notions of reincarnation, apart from one difference: those who believe in reincarnation
still maintain that there is a connection even if as particular manifestations of a soul we do not remember our previous manifestations.
There is no soul in our text that could guarantee the continuity between the animated body and the pneumatic body. What is then the
continuity between what is sown in the earth and destroyed, and what
is raised? If there is neither resurrection of the flesh nor of the soul,
where then is the personal identity seated? Is it I who am raised, or is it
not-I?
First, perhaps 15:49 might be key: Such as we carried (past) the image of the animalic (i.e. Adam), so we shall also carry (future) the image
of the heavenly (i.e. Christ). The continuity thus could be situated in the
one whose image we carry, Christ. If this is what Paul means, then the
continuity only applies to those who are in Christ.36 This is far from a
safe interpretation because the text is rather unclear, but I still see it as
the likeliest interpretation. Paul himself seems unable to give a further,
proper account of this, he just calls it a mystery (15:51). Here then, and
as we shall see also in 2 Corinthians 12, he ends up in a position well
formulated by Terry Eagleton:
There is a paradox in the idea of transformation. If a transformation is
deep-seated enough, it might also transform the very criteria by which we
could identify it, thus making it unintelligible to us. But if it is intelligible, it
might be because the transformation was not radical enough. If we can talk
about the change then it is not full-blooded enough; but if it is full-blooded

_____________
35
36

A Radical Jew: Paul and the Politics of Identity (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1994), 63.
For a reading that also sees these alternatives, i.e. reads the text in the same way, but
interprets the possibilities entirely differently, see Bultmann, Theologie, 199-200.

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enough, it threatens to fall outside our comprehension. Change must presuppose continuitya subject to whom the alteration occurs.37

A Paul lost for words in face of metamorphosis is a Paul who envisages

a transformation so full-blooded that it threatens the personal identity
of the subject to whom the altered state occurs, and thus it falls outside
the comprehension of that subject.
Second, searching for the key in the text-external discourses Pauls
terminology connects to, one could suggest along Aristotelian lines that
a continuity exists in the as form, although the material varies
according to space (earth or heaven). But as should be clear by now,
Paul cannot easily be fitted into any one of the ancient philosophical
discourses, so also this suggestion has to remain speculative. Still
among the options available, I see Paul as coming closest to an Aristotelian/Stoic line of argument on this topic which of course does not
prevent him from sounding more like a Platonist elsewhere.
Thirdly, with Braidotti in mind however, one could answer that it is
such questions (and also Terry Eagletons presupposition of a stable
subject) that are wrong, and that with a materialist, hybrid and nomadic view of self and personal identity, the continuous metamorphosis of the self is seen as the rule rather than as exception in need of explanation. Braidotti talks about the self as an enfleshed memory that
repeats itself and is capable of lasting through sets of discontinuous
variations.38 Such a notion of self can explain how Paul can both presuppose some kind of continuity between before and after by labelling the process raising up and transformation (15:51), while at the
same time view the stages as discontinuous (with reference to the list of
opposites earthly-heavenly, etc.). Thus it seems to me that Paul in 1
Corinthians 15 is trying to argue for a continuity that is not selfidentical, but metamorphic, and this is an idea that it is impossible to
grasp within the parameters given us as well by traditional theologies
of the soul as by ordinary modern (inclusive of its mirror-image: postmodern) notions of self and personal identity. But can the plant remember that it has once been a seed?
This issue becomes even more acute when we move on to 2 Corinthians 12.

_____________
37
38

Terry Eagleton, Subjects and Truths, New Left Review no. 9 (May-June 2001): 155160.
Braidotti, Metamorphoses, 229-230, see full quote in this essays conclusion.

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3. The Authentic Self Seized by Faith 39 - 2 Corinthians 12

Against the background of 1 Corinthians 15s views on continuity and
its promotion of a particular taxonomy including a rigid temporal sequence at the end of days, we move on to 2 Corinthians 12. The passages have in common a certain inaccessibility: their notions of body,
self and personal identity are difficult to make sense of, as the ample
amount and wide spectrum of proposals in secondary literature demonstrate. I start with a translation (my own) of the passage in question
(12:1-7):
It is necessary to boast, but it isnt healthy/useful. I will now move over to
visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a human in Christ who fourteen years ago, whether in the body I dont know or whether out of the
body I dont know, God knows, having been raptured this guy to the third
heaven. And I know this particular man, (whether in [the] body or without
the body I do not know, God knows) that he was raptured into paradise,
and heard unspeakable things said/unutterable words, which it is not allowed for man to utter. Of such a one I will boast, but of myself I will not
boast, unless in my weaknesses. If I will want to boast I will not be a fool,
because I will speak the truth. But I am reluctant, lest any one should think
as to me above and beyond what he sees me [to be], or whatever he may
hear of me. And that I might not be exalted by the exceeding greatness of
the revelations, there was given to me a thorn for the flesh, an angel of Satan

3.1 Meaning Intertextual, Contextual or

Contingent on Social Situation?
The narrative is extremely brief, considering the vast scope of its content. This means there are a number of basic issues to consider before
we can even start to ask questions about self, personal identity, and the
body.
First, the issue of genre and what kind of ascent story this is. As
Paula Gooder points out, most of the research on this passage has been
preoccupied with identifying its literary parallels. This parallellomania has only increased in the contemporary period, even if already
Semler was making such attempts in the 18th century.40 Still, a certain
idea of what to read the text as is necessary for understanding its no_____________
39
40

Rudolf Bultmann, The Second Letter to the Corinthians (trans. R. Harrisville; Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1985), 220.
Paula R. Gooder, Only the Third Heaven? 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 and Heavenly Ascent
(Library of New Testament Studies; London: T&T Clark, 2006), 11-12.

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tions of self. James Tabor classifies 12:2-4 as an example of ascent as a

Foretaste of the Heavenly world.41 I follow Tabor and others who read
the passage similarly, but hasten to agree with Paula Gooder that due
to its brevity the text is a rather unusual representative of the Heavenly Travel-genre.42 In so many stories belonging to this genre, the
narrator or protagonist is given a particular message to communicate.
Paul is clearly not, which means that in our passage the experience
itself is foregrounded. This is unusual also compared to the other texts
authored by Paul, the Apostle, the envoy of Christ.
Gooder also observes that in 2 Corinthians 12-scholarship preoccupied with genre and literary parallels, the reader is frequently presented with lists of similar terminology and similarities in narrative
sequence. Still, the frequent presentation of possible similarities has not
led to a more in-depth scrutiny of these similarities, and proper acknowledgement of the differences.43
Second, the issues of literary integrity and rhetorical situation of
the larger literary unit to which the passage belongs, namely Pauls
Apology, 2 Corinthians 10-13.44 Interpretations of the passage have
proven to be very volatile to various scholarly notions of these issues.
Before the preoccupation with literary parallels described under the
previous point became dominant, it was more common to try to determine the genre of the broader section that our passage belongs to, and
by this detour determine also the intention behind the passage proper
an approach that has been renewed and strengthened with the advent
of rhetorical criticism. 45 The clue to the function of the passage in this
vein of research is in 12:1, 5 and 6. Paul tries to impress the
Corinthians by mentioning his heavenly travel. They boast about religious experiences, he has such experiences but does not boast about
them unless forced to (see below). Margaret Mitchell for example,
compares Pauls rhetoric of self-boast in 2 Corinthians 11-12 with Plu_____________
41

42
43
44

45

James Tabor, Things Unutterable: Pauls Ascent to Paradise in its Greco-Roman, Judaic
and early Christian Contexts (Studies in Judaism; Lanham: University Press of America, 1986), 81, 113-125.
Gooder, Third Heaven, 20.
Gooder, Third Heaven, 19.
For this designation, see e.g. Jan Lambrecht, Second Corinthians (Sacra Pagina 8;
Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1999), 152: Pauls Self-Defense (10:1-13:10); Hans
Lietzmann, An die Korinther I/II (5th ed.; Handbuch zum Neuen Testament 9; Tbingen: Mohr, 1969), 139: eine temperamentvolle Selbstverteidigung. For a full overview over the Semler or four-chapter hypothesis, see Murray Harris, The Second
Epistle to the Corinthians (NIGTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 29-41.
See e.g. J. David Hester Amador, Revisiting 2nd Corinthians: Rhetoric and the Case
for Unity, in New Testament Studies 46 (2000): 92-111; Margaret M. Mitchell, A Patristic Perspective on Pauline periautologia, New Testament Studies 47 (2001): 354-371.

Genealogies of the Self

97

tarchs "de laude ipsius, but questions whether ancient readers before
John Chrysostom would have made the same connection.46 A variant of
this reading strategy, which forefronts the function of the passage in the
argument of 2 Corinthians 10-13, is the old suggestion that the latter is
identical to the tearful letter (Trnenbrief),47 and thus a separate letter,
based on the assumption that Paul was so beside himself with grief
over the Corinthians that he turned mad.48 Among the extant Pauline
letters, these chapters seem to be the ones written in the strongest affect, and Pauls apparent confusion and repetition of himself in 12:2-4
are seen as pathological symptoms.
As to the readings that understand the rhetorical situation as the
primary clue to unlocking 2 Corinthians 10-13, it is not difficult to
imagine that Pauls authority was questioned in Corinth, especially by
the super-apostles ( , 12:11). But he would have
had a range of alternative ways of dealing with the situation. His response in 2 Corinthians 10-13 in general, and his inclusion of his heavenly journey in this Apology in particular, thus reflect at least a certain
level of choice even if Paul scripts his autobiographical story as one that
is neither important nor interesting in itself, it is only there because he
is forced to respond with identical weapons to those used to attack
him.
A problem when the meaning of the text is seen as a function of its
rhetorical situation, is that the hermeneutical problems are just transferred from the level of the text to the historical situation behind it; they
do not disappear and they are not really resolved either in this particular case, since the situation has to remain entirely hypothetical and
anyway is reconstructed exclusively on the basis of the text the historical situation is supposed to explain!49
_____________
46
47

48

49

Mitchell, Pauline periautologia.

See an overview in David Horrell, The Social Ethos of the Corinthian Correspondence:
Interests and Ideology from 1 Corinthians to 1 Clement (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1996),
302-312). This theory does not properly solve the problem that it is not really tears
Paul expresses in these chapters, but rather folly, boasting and divine revelations.
For similar reasons, Narrenede was the older, source-critical designation of 2 Cor 1013, a designation also used by Bultmann, Second Letter, 218-219. See also Harris,
Second Corinthians, 661-2 and 777.
This problem of circularity is particularly acute in Leif Carlssons Round Trips to
Heaven: Otherworldly Travellers in Early Judaism and Christianity (Ph.D. diss.,
Dept. Of History and Anthropology of Religions, Lund University, 2004). But in all
fairness it has to be said that the problem arises because he tries harder than most interpreters to integrate studies of heavenly travels with studies of the rhetorical function of the passage in Pauls polemic against his Corinthian opponents, and with the
social situation in Corinth.

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The cost of focusing so firmly on the function of the passage in the

larger context of 2 Corinthians 10-13, is that questions about the meaning of the passage itself disappear. The passage must surely fit the
broader authorial intentions behind 2 Corinthians 10-13, however these
intentions are understood. But even if they may explain why the author
was led to share his heavenly journey with the Corinthians, authorial
intentions do not mono-causally determine and explain the content of
the narrative - not even for those who hold that Pauls authorial intentions are readily available to modern scholars.
Within the context of an interdisciplinary project on metamorphosis
and resurrection, another study of 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 in light of its
literary parallels would surely have fitted very well. But as I hope to
have made clear, in this essay I will not seek refuge in form-criticism
out of embarrassment by Pauls description of his spatial movement,
which is not in accordance with modern cosmologies (cf. Seim p. 23-24).
Hence we are returning to the initial questions of self, personal identity
and the body that are made even more acute by Pauls spatial movement.

3.2 Vision, Revelation, and Experience

For students trying to trace moments in the genealogy of the self, it is
noteworthy that Paul mentions straightforwardly that someone is
beamed up to the third heaven. Many modern readers of 2 Corinthians 12 presuppose without discussion that Paul, as many other ancient authors of apocalypses, is talking about a vision or a dream. A
recent example is Leif Carlsson in that he does not distinguish between
having visions or revelations, and being physically moved.50
But from Tabors work mentioned above, it is clear that 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 should be differentiated from the Book of Revelation and
other narratives of heavenly journeys in which the narrator is asleep
when given a vision.
The vision hypothesis is indeed supported by the framing verses
12:1 and 7, where Paul uses the terms for vision and revelation
( and ). Rather than harmonising these framing
devices with the content of 12:2-4, we will, however, distinguish between narrative framework (12:1 and 7) and that with which the frame
is filled, the core narrative (12:2-4),51 and just acknowledge the tension
_____________
50
51

Leif Carlsson, Round Trips, 169.

These are the verses together with 7b-10 that Gooder takes as the core narrative of
ascent (Gooder, Third Heaven, 195-203).

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99

between them. A rationale behind the drive towards reading 2 Corinthians 12 as an account of a vision seems to be the modern idea that
since no one can travel to heaven, really, Paul must only be talking
about a vision. But that is not what Paul himself claims. In Pauls sacred
scriptures, the current Hebrew Bible, there is nothing wrong with having visions or dreams, rather the opposite. If Paul wanted to share a
vision, it would be no problem to talk about it as such. In fact, it would
have been easier for him, because he would not have had the problem
of the body to deal with (12:2-3).
In the core narrative, Paul does not imply that the experience was
just a vision, dream or revelation to someone remaining firmly on the
ground. The communication of the experience is direct. I want to take
this textual feature for face value and see where it takes us, rather than
just explaining it away. Especially from within the context of an interdisciplinary research project on metamorphosis, the strangeness of 2
Corinthians 12 might be illuminating. This means that I will assume
that Paul is talking about an actual experience, and not question the
experience as such. My concern is to try to understand the alterity of
Pauls perceptions of his own experiences, which are surely shaped by
notions of the human body, self and personal identity that are very
different from modern European ones.52

3.3 The Human Body in Space

The (this one, this guy; 12:3) is characterised as an
in 12:2, a human being, in contrast to a deity, semi-divine figure or an
angel. In the ancient world, the trans-celestial spatial movement described was considered to be more within the range of the bodily repertoire of such beings. For an earthling, it was clearly not. Thus although
Paul introduces the incident straightforwardly, his description of it is
anything but straightforward. He places it back in time, 14 years ago.
He speaks in third person, a feature I will return to below. He states

_____________
52

Cf. also Ernst Ksemann, Die Legitimitt des Apostels: Eine Untersuchung zu II
Korinther 10-13, Zeitschrift fr die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 41 (1942): 33-71:
Paulus wute sich von diesem Vorgang, dessen Realitt fr ihn feststand, existensiell betroffen. Man hat also die Frage nach der sachlichen und theologischen Bedeutung dieses Ereignisses nicht ber der religionsgeschichtlichen und psychologischen
analyse zu vergessen, wenn man Paulus selbst hren und verstehen will (66 n. 189).

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that he does not know whether it happened in the body or out of the
body in 12:2. This is then re-stated with slightly different words in 12:3.
The similarities in content between 12:2 and 3 have led some scholars to
suggest a haplography here, either of v. 2 as a whole, or at least of 2b
(either in the body I dont know, or out of the body I dont know, God
knows) in 3b (either in the body or without the body I dont know,
God knows).
But there are also arguments against reading 12:3 as a haplography:
There is no manuscript support for the haplography theory. The core
passage 12:2-4 is extremely awkward stylistically: this is not elegant
Greek anyway, but a passage full of infelicities, discontinuities and
ruptures that the haplography theory does only little to resolve. There
are also other repetitions in this passage, like I dont know twice in
2b. The partial repetition of v. 2 in v. 3 might be taken as a sign of a
tired, 2nd century copyist, but it might more likely be taken as an indication that Paul had difficulties expressing the unspeakable (12:4) when
he first dictated this incident to his scribe. In favour of the latter view,
or at least the view that Paul himself is the author of both 12:2 and 3, is
also the fact that the content of the verses differs slightly.
If Paul says that he was raptured without a body, there is a problem,
because who was he then, and who travelled? If he decided out of the
body, definitely, in a Corinthian context this could further easily be
seen as a dispensation of the body, something of which Paul has earlier
accused the Corinthians (1 Cor 6 and 8). If on the other hand he says
that he was raptured in the body, he has undermined his own argument in 1 Corinthians 15: If the fleshy body cannot inherit the kingdom
of God, and the corruptible cannot inherit incorruption, how can Paul
the earthling go with his corruptible (and corrupting?) body to the
third heaven?
One difference between 12:2 and 3 is that 12:3 is formulated as a
repetition, it is shorter and more efficient, apart from the ,
which is added to refer back to 12:2. More importantly, out of the
body, , in 12:2, becomes without the body, in 12:3. A
majority of witnesses, among them Codex Sinaiticus, has in both
verses, but Aland26 opts for a lectior difficilior-reading and assumes that
in 12:3 in these manuscripts is a correction of a more original
found in P46, Codex Vaticanus and the original hand of Codex Bezae
Claromontanus. Because the issue is contested, it is not safe ground to
draw exegetical conclusions on the exclusive basis of . But both
terms indicate Paul can conceive of a human person outside of the
body. Or is the problem rather that he cannot, at least not from the outset? That according to his anthropology, a human is first and foremost

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an embodied self; the body is earthly material; and only after the resurrection there will be another body from a finer material and fit for another purpose? And that according to his cosmology, different cosmic
spaces involve different types of materiality? If so, earthly dust and
earthly flesh is incompatible with the various spheres of the heavens
(cf. third heaven in 12:2). It is impossible to be a human without a body,
but it is also impossible for an earthly body to travel to the third
heaven. Still Paul remembers that he did 14 years ago. This is, I believe,
Pauls dilemma in this passage, and one reason why he is lost for
words.
2 Corinthians 12 presents us with the nice taxonomies and sorted
worldviews of 1 Corinthians 15 starting to dissolve and collapse when
confronted with Pauls own boundary-breaking experience. For how
can Paul and modern interpreters - mediate and negotiate his experience within the parameters of the taxonomy that the experience exceeds? Paul is clearly unable to, and among modern interpreters it is
only Bultmann in my opinion who has taken this issue seriously. He
characterises the Paul of chapter 12 as the authentic self seized by
faith.53 Such a designation has its own problems in our context, of
course, as in my view the modern notion of the authentic self has
strongly contributed to our lack of comprehension of this passage.
When the authentic, continuous and autonomous self is seized by faith,
it is neither autonomous any longer, nor authentic nor continous.
Something Other or alien has entered, taken control and disintegrated
its unity. Nevertheless, from within a phenomenological and existentialist framework, Bultmann addresses the same issues of self, identity
and continuity that many contributors to this volume address from
within a more materialist framework (Stoic, cybernetic, or otherwise).
2 Corinthians 12 is at odds with 1 Corinthians 15 also in its more
general location on the space/time-axis: Whereas Paul in 1 Corinthians
15 is preoccupied with transgression of time, i.e. getting the Corinthians
to understand that resurrection follows a rigid sequence and that the
resurrected state belongs firmly to the future, 2 Corinthians 12 talks
about transgression of space, i.e. it talks about Paul travelling to the
third heaven. The text ignores temporal sequence apart from the 14
years that have passed since the incident happened (12:2). In temporal
_____________
53

Bultmann, 2 Corinthians, 220. In this work he brings his relatively late interest in
existentialism and phenomenology to bear on exegesis of 2 Corinthians. The choice
of text is probably not coincidental, as 2 Corinthians 12 is in many ways an ideal
point of departure to formulate a phenomenology of the self. For Bultmann on Paul
and a phenomenology of the self, see John Meech, Paul in Israel's Story: Self and
Community at the Cross (AAR Academy Series; Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2006).

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terms, 2 Corinthians 12 implies an anticipation of a future self, who one

will become, within the earthling life of Paul experiencing the journey.

3.4 The use of third person

Paul is speaking in third person in this passage. Although some scholars have considered the possibility that he is indeed speaking of someone else54 (i.e. he will only boast of his celebrity friends), most scholars
regard this possibility unlikely, and take Paul to speak about himself,
not least because of the rhetorical frame here. How would this story
serve him, if it were not his own experience? If it is another person,
how could it then be Pauls boast?
Paul seems to introduce a schism in himself here, between such a
one, this man, and myself. This person was taken up, but Paul cannot
account for how it happened. The third person speech has been suggested to be modesty speech, but I find Bultmann more persuasive
when he states that the expression derives from the idea in verse 5 that
Pauls responsible I did not participate, that something occurred to
him of which he was, as it were, an observer, or which in retrospect
happened to him as to an alien This gives expression to the unusual
phenomenon, also described in the .55
Bultmanns view fits nicely with what was stated above, that the experience transgressed the everyday, accountable Pauls own taxonomies as found e.g. in 1 Corinthians 15. He who was very quick to limit
the ec-static experiences of others (1 Cor 14), cannot speak properly of
his own. Ksemann states:
Was II Kor 12 2 ff. erzhlt wird, ist nicht Manifestation des Logos, sondern
ein Gewahren von Mysterien. Paulus wei nicht einmal, in welcher Verfassung er davon betroffen wurde. Der vo ist dabei nicht beteiligt gewesen. Und doch handelt es sich um einen Vorgang, der auf neutestamentlichem Boden nur in der Geschichte von Jesu Himmelfahrt eine Parallele
findet und den Apostel in einzig-artiger Weise begnadet hat.56

The distinctions between I and the human (12:2), the human and
Christ (12:2),57 I and such a one (12:5), Pauls flesh and the angel
_____________
54
55
56
57

See discussion in Harris, Second Corinthians, 834.

Bultmann, Second Letter, 219.
Ksemann, Die Legitimitt des Apostels, 66.
Carlsson points out how the visions and revelations are made possible by Christ in
12:1 (Carlsson, Round Trips, 170). But it is also noted that the person himself is in
Christ in 12:2. The parallels between 12:2 and the resurrection in Christ in 1 Corin-

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of Satan (12:7), and even Christs strength and Pauls weakness (12:9)
all embodied in one singular human body, Paul imply that Paul operates with a highly composite view of self, far more sophisticated than
any modern, simplistic notion of the unified subject. Modern readers
who have read 2 Corinthians 12 within such a paradigm have accused
Paul of expressing a type of dual consciousness or schizofrenia
wrongly, as Bultmann points out.58 12:2-7 then, is another instance
where Paul is talking about the self as not necessarily self-identical, and
about himself as a cybernetic organism, just like when he says it is no
longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Gal 2:20). Jan Bremmer59
implies that Paul talks along similar lines also in Philippians 1:22-23
(For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain...) and 2 Corinthians 5:110 (For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this [house] we groan, earnestly desiring to be
clothed upon with our house which is from heaven).
From these texts, and from Pauls inability to decide whether he
travelled in or without the body, shows that Paul was able to sustain
more complex thoughts of personal identity and bodily transformation
than those expressed in 1 Corinthians 15.

3.5 Ineffable
The story continues with slight repetitions in 12:4: In 12:2 Paul says this
person travelled to the third heaven, in 12:4 it is to Paradise. In Mesopotamian traditions, Paradise was considered as a garden on earth, a
notion that we can also find in the story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2. After the transition to the Graecophone realm, was
equalled with the Elysian fields, where the blessed dead enjoy their
afterlife. In Jewish tradition these were understood as the righteous
dead rather than as the ones who had undergone the Eleusinian initiations.60 Any way, it is interesting that Paul here identifies Paradise with
_____________

58
59
60

thians 15 must be explored on another occasion, where a preliminary suggestion is

that it is Christ who guarantees the continuity between the seed and the plant, the
fleshy earth body and the (heavenly) resurrection body.
Bultmann, Second Letter, 220.
Bremmer, Afterlife, 57.
On Hypotheses about the Eleusinian initiation rites and their meaning, see Alan
Segal, Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in the Religions of the West (New York:
Doubleday, 2004), 206, 216-218. The identification of Paradise with the Elysian fields

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the third heaven, thus possibly suggesting that a journey to this place is
something that happens immediately after death. The journey described then, can be seen as parallel to the journeys to Hades undertaken by certain mortals that we hear about in Greek literature.61 In
Pauls case, it is likely that being in Christ is what qualifies this particular human to make such an inter-celestial journey, cf. 12:2.
In 12:4 we also find the expression . As Harris
points out, the term is ambiguous, signifying that which cannot be expressed or which must not be expressed.62 Paul has so far struggled to
verbalise his journey so the former meaning is likely, but so is the latter.
It is difficult to express what is transgressive, but it also should not be
expressed, because every expression would be a reduction of it into
mere human categories. But since the latter meaning is found also in
the added, separate clause which it is forbidden for a human to speak
(12:4b), I take to refer primarily to ineffable words.
If we compare 2 Corinthians 12 with the only other extant apocalypse in the NT involving a peep into heaven, the Book of Revelation,
we find that the stories are very different. Its author, John, is too preoccupied by describing what he sees and hears to actually focus on himself and his physical state. Paul seems to be too absorbed by the experience to say anything about what he actually sees and hears, so it is
convenient that it is not only ineffable, but also not meant for humans.
The fact that Paul does not convey much content of what he experienced in the third heaven, is something many of the later paraphrases
and expansions of the text have tried to alleviate. Two related examples
are the Coptic Apocalypse of Paul (Nag Hammadi) and the Latin The
Apocalypse of Paul (or Visio Pauli),63 written a couple of centuries after 2
Corinthians. They do contrary to what Paul says in 12:4, and utter all
_____________
61
62

63

was assisted by the overlapping semantic fields of both terms, in direction of afterlife
and green gardens and fields.
See e.g. Segal, Life After Death, 206-208.
Harris, Second Corinthians, 843. Other interpreters understand the term again as mere
irony or rhetoric: The verbal contradiction may be accidental, but it is probably
another instance of playing upon the words of which St. Paul is fond (Alfred
Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Second Epistle of St. Paul the
Aposte to the Corinthians [ICC; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1915], 345).
See George W. MacRae, et al., The Apocalypse of Paul (V,2) in The Nag Hammadi
Library in English (3rd revised ed.; ed. James M. Robinson; San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1990), 256-259; Th. Silverstein and A. Hilhorst. Apocalypse of Paul. A New
Critical Edition of Three Long Latin Versions. (Geneva: Patrick Cramer diteur,
1997). The Greek edition of the work opens with This was revealed when he was
taken into the third heaven, which is a direct reference to 2 Corinthians 12:2. The
Latin version makes an explicit link to 2 Corinthians 12, as it opens by quoting the
whole passage more or less verbatim.

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the ineffable words that Paul in his great loyalty to the heavens abstained from sharing with the Corinthians.
There is obviously not enough space to address all the interesting
features of 2 Corinthians 12 here. One issue we must save for a later
occasion is Pauls awareness that he comes dangerously close to presenting himself as a fool (, 2 Cor 12:6). This surely must be understood as a disclaimer, and links in with the discussions above concerning why Paul cannot speak properly about his heavenly journey.
Another issue concerns the narrative self, and whether it would be
possible at all to give a self-narration when all the ordinary, immanent
parameters to which the self is relative are gone: the space and location,
the personal relations and networks, time, etc.. Without these, Paul of
Tarsus as every other human person would quite literally be lost in
space. The narrative self might be another paradigm within which to
discuss why he is lost for words. I hope to be able to address these issues on a later occasion, and will move on to some concluding remarks.

4. Remember Me64
In spite of many scholars noting that Paul does not operate with a conception of soul as it was developed in later theology (or earlier in Greek
philosophy), the soul ironically still continues to leave traces in readings of 1 Corinthians 15 and 2 Corinthians 12, because it is so difficult
for us to unlearn the soul as explanatory key. One such trace of the lost
soul is the intense quest for continuity before and after death, because
what can account for it if there is no soul? This essay has tried to take as
its starting point the absence in the Corinthian correspondence, of a
soul representing the continuity of the person. This starting point led to
a realization that the quest for continuity can in itself lead astray. The
quest for continuity is but a trace of the lost soul that belongs to a different moment in the genealogy of the self, as outlined in the introduction. I have tried to explore what a reading of Paul might look like if we
can neither use the soul nor its trace, a fixed element of continuity, in
readings of the passages in question. Once the notion of the soul is discarded and does not any longer guarantee the continuity between the
fleshly-body (corresponding to the seed in 1 Cor 15) and the spiritual
body (corresponding to the plant), we realize with regard to 2 Corinthians 12 that it is equally problematic to talk about heavenly journeys
_____________
64

Didos Farewell, from Henry Purcell, Dido and Aeneas.

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Jorunn kland

with or without a body, and Pauls inability to give a proper account

comes all the more to the fore.
Does this mean there has to be two Cratyluses (cf. the epigraph),
two Pauls?
Definitely not! Instead of the soul, instead of continuity, Braidottis cybernetics, her talk about enfleshed memory and her materialist model of becoming have been companions through this reading
of Paul. Braidotti says:
Within the philosophical tradition, the genealogy of the embodied nature
of the subject can be ironically rendered as Descartes nightmare, Spinozas
hope, Nietzsches complaint, Freuds obsession, Lacans favourite fantasy,
Marxs omission, [and we could add Bultmanns foundation], a piece of
meat activated by electric waves of desire, a text written by the unfolding
of genetic uncoding. Neither a sacralized inner sanctum, nor a pure socially-shaped entity, the enfleshed Deleuzian subject is rather an inbetween: it is a folding-in of external influences and a simultaneous unfolding outward of affects, a mobile entity, an enfleshed sort of memory that
repeats and is capable of lasting through sets of discontinuous variations, while
remaining faithful to itself. The contemporary body is ultimately an embodied
memory.65

Wordy and heavy, the quote is still useful to question modern and
post-modern assumptions about the embodied, self-identical subject.
Perhaps Pauls somatic self is closer to the Deleuzian in-between
subject that is always in the process of becoming (like Jahve) and capable of lasting through sets of discontinuous variations, the cyborg hybrid. The continuity of the body either through this life or from the
heaven and back to earth is perhaps in the end a memory thing.
Braidottis notion of enfleshed memory can accommodate the fact
that on the one hand there is an alienated relationship between Paul
and , this guy, no experience of integrated unity, still Paul has
experienced the heavenly journey and most importantly: he remembers
it. He emphasises that this was a man who was in Christ, and that
God knows, God knows (twice; 2 Cor 12: 2-3). As in 1 Corinthians
15 God and Christ seem to represent the continuity here, or to borrow
Braidottis terms: in Christ could be seen as a new technology enhancing Paul as an embodied subject and linking him up to a broader
network in a very material way. Braidottis cybernetic notion may help
to think how the alien element (in Pauls case Christ or the thorn)
helps reconnect with the world in another way it is not about creating
a super-individual, it is about creating a connected one. If in the ancient
world a human was seen less as a separate, independent entity, per_____________
65

Braidotti, Metamorphoses, 229-230, my italics.

Genealogies of the Self

107

haps it was not necessary to postulate so much of a fixed, individual

continuity because the continuity was provided by the general or
common category, in this case Christ.
The cybernetic model is so obviously not there in Pauls text, but
still it may help us to discover Pauls particular brand of materialism
and thereby help us question modern ways of thinking about the self
that I think are real obstacles when trying to understand how some
ancients conceptualised embodiedness, self, personal identity and
metamorphosis.

With What Kind of Body Will They Come?

Metamorphosis and the Concept of Change:
From Platonic Thinking to Pauls Notion of the
Resurrection of the Dead
Metamorphosis and the Concept of Change
VIGDIS SONGE-MLLER 1
berschrift 2: fr Kapitel ohne 2 wird hier 1 Kurzform wiederholt
How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?
These two questions, which Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:35 puts into the
mouth of an imagined and foolish someone, are questions that
readers of the chapter still pose, even though we have studied Pauls
answers to or perhaps rejection of those foolish questions. In the rest
of the chapter, where Paul, rather enigmatically, tells the Corinthians
how they should think about the resurrection of the dead, he stresses
that in the resurrection we will all be changed (; 1 Cor
15:51), not gradually, but instantly ( ; 1 Cor 15:52), not partly,
but totally: we will become what we today are not: the perishable shall
be imperishable, and the mortal shall be immortal (1 Cor 15:53). Pauls
notion of the resurrection of the dead, in other words, involves a
change from one state of being to a radically different state of being.
However, not only Paul, but also the imagined fool from Corinth, presupposes that there is some kind of continuity in this radical transformation, insofar as they both posit an underlying subject: Whereas the
fool asks With what kind of body will they come?, Paul answers We
will all be changed. Why is the first question foolish, while Pauls
answer is not? Or to put the question differently: how is the paradigm
that underlies Pauls answer different from the paradigm that underlies
the imagined foolish questions? How are we to understand Pauls notion of metamorphosis, i.e. his notion of the resurrection of the dead? In
order to give an answer to those questions, foolish or not, I shall first go
back to the way in which the concept of change emerged as a fundamental philosophical problem in ancient Greece.

_____________
1

Vigdis Songe-Mller is professor at the Department of Philosophy, University of

Bergen, Norway.

110

Vigdis Songe-Mller

The Paradox of Change and the Instant

in Platonic Philosophy
If there were no continuity in the process of change, the thing, or person, that changes, would just disappear, and one could not talk of
change. The concept of change can be looked upon as no less than a
paradox: change presupposes its own opposite: no-change, or sameness. This paradox, or the discovery of this paradox, can be traced back
to the beginning of Greek philosophy: unlike his predecessors, Parmenides did not search for the origin or the end of all things, but problematized these very phenomena, and more generally: all kinds of
change. Parmenides reflections on the paradox of change can be said
to have determined the course of Greek philosophy and to some degree
the later course of Western philosophy, as well.
The paradox of change, as Parmenides formulated it, has as its presupposition a conviction of a certain relationship between human rationality and reality. This relationship was also first stated by Parmenides: the same thing can be thought and can exist.2 If a
phenomenon cannot be explained rationally, it cannot exist. Or to put it
differently: reality and human rationality obey the same rules. This
way of thinking has radical consequences when it comes to understanding change: according to Parmenides, change is such a phenomenon that cannot be explained by human reason.
Parmenides argument, which leads him to the conclusion that
change does not exist, is dependent on a radical distinction between
being and non-being, formulated as an alternative: Is or is not3. Reason cannot tolerate both at once, which would involve a contradiction,
and since it is impossible to know that which does not exist4, the
choice is easy: Is. For Parmenides this is a basic truth, which determines
his ontology: there is Being, but nothing is not5. Since the phenomenon of change involves a passage from non-being to being or vice
versa change cannot exist. This is a radical conclusion, which contradicts our most basic experience of life and nature, which involves con_____________
2

3
4
5

Parmenides, fragment 28 B 3. The number of the fragment is according to Hermann

Diels and Walther Kranz, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (Berlin: Weidmann, 1951).
The translation is Leonardo Tarns, in L. Tarn, Parmenides. A Text with Translation,
Commentary, and Critical Essays (Princeton / New Jersey: Princeton University Press,
1965).
Parmenides, 28 B 8.16.
Parmenides, 28 B 2,7.
Parmenides, 28 B 6,1-2.

Metamorphosis and the Concept of Change

111

stant change: birth, growth, decay and death. Reason forces Parmenides to deny the existence of these phenomena.
The problem of change haunted Greek philosophy after Parmenides. It was perceived as no less than a scandal that such a basic
phenomenon, which one experiences all the time one hardly experiences anything else - could not be explained rationally. Plato, the spiritual heir of Parmenides, can be said to have been obsessed with change,
for the very reason that he could not properly explain it. For him,
change belonged to the illusionary world of the senses and of the body,
which was conceived of as a mere copy of the real and therefore rational - unchanging and eternal world, to which our soul belongs. But
for Plato, unlike for Parmenides, change remained a problem; he did
not simply reject it as nonexistent.
In his dialogue Parmenides, Plato comes closer than elsewhere to a
way of dealing with the irrational phenomenon of change. Here Plato
situates change by invoking what he calls a very strange thing, a
queer creature, a non-place (), namely the instant: this
queer creature, the instant ( ), lurks between motion and
rest being in no time at all and to it and from it the moving thing
changes to resting and the resting thing changes to moving.6 A passage from one state to another can only occur instantly, at a moment
outside not only place but also time, a moment which is not a part of
the world of the senses, but neither of the ideal world of reason. The
instant, which according to Plato is the source of change, is placed beyond both. As a non-place it is an abyss, lacking a form, and as not
belonging to any time the instant has neither a before nor an after. It is
not what we call now, or the present. In a way the instant does not
exist, it just happens. Or rather: change happens, as an inexplicable
event.
The word is used by Plato in other dialogues, as well. In
Symposium it is used twice in order to signify a sudden, and fundamental, change from one state of mind to another, where the new state of
mind enables the person to see the world and life from a totally different perspective. Before I go into Platos use of in Symposium,
however, I shall in the light of Platos reflections on change in Parmenides - look at Pauls notion of the resurrection of the dead in his first
letter to the Corinthians. I do not intend to speculate about a possible
influence of Plato on Paul, but I hope to show that Platos way of deal_____________
6

Plato, Parmenides 156 d-e. The English translation is that of Mary Louise Gill and
Paul Ryan, in Plato, Complete Works, edited, with introduction and notes, by John M.
Cooper (Indianapolis / Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, 1971).

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Vigdis Songe-Mller

ing with the phenomenon of change may shed some light on some of
Pauls utterances on the resurrection of the dead.

We Will All Be Changed - in a Moment

(1 Cor 15:51-52)
Pauls central focus in 1 Corinthians 15 is the belief in the resurrected
Christ, and the consequence of this belief: the resurrection of the dead.
All and everything is dependent upon this paradigmatic event: the
resurrection of Christ. This is stated clearly by Paul several times, for
instance in 15:16-19: For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not
been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile;
you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in
Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be
pitied more than all men.7
Although Christs resurrection is a necessary condition for the resurrection of the dead on the last day, it is not a sufficient one: the belief
in the resurrection of Christ is the other necessary condition. In other
words: the transformation of the resurrected body - the transformation
of a mortal body into an immortal, spiritual body presupposes not
only the transformation of the resurrected Christ, but also a rather different, but related, transformation: the transformation which occurs
when a person gains belief in the resurrected Christ. Both these two
kinds of transformations involve, I suppose, the whole person, but different aspects of the person are stressed in the two cases: whereas in his
description of the resurrection of the dead Paul focuses on the transformation of the body, he focuses on the transformation of the mind in
his description of the consequence of converting to the belief in the
resurrected Christ. The transformation of the mind is no less radical
than the transformation of the body: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor 5:17).
Paul uses similar metaphors when he describes the transformation of
the body (in death) and the transformation of the mind (in life), for
instance the metaphor of putting on new clothes: For the trumpet will
sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the
mortal with immortality (1 Cor 15:52-53). And: You were taught,
with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is
being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude
_____________
7

Quotes from the NT are taken from the New International Version.

Metamorphosis and the Concept of Change

113

of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness (Eph 4:22-24)8 I shall treat this metamorphosis of the mind (of the living) as a parallel to the metamorphosis of
the body (of the dead). Let me first look closer at the phenomenon of
the resurrection of the dead.
Paul introduces his teaching on the resurrection of the dead as a
metamorphosis of the body in a somewhat puzzling way, by posing the
two questions I started with, put in the mouth of an imagined someone: But someone may ask: How are the dead raised? With what
kind of body will they come? (1 Cor 15:35). I shall focus on the last of
these two questions. Who is this imagined someone () among the
Corinthians, from whom Paul expects, at least rhetorically, such a question? A person whose views accord with Platonic or Aristotelian thinking would not be likely to pose it, unless in irony or mockery.9 For such
a person there could be no question about an eternal, heavenly bodily
existence. Within Platonic and Aristotelian thinking, a body, as such,
undergoes change, which includes decay and death. An atomist or a
Stoic might, at least theoretically, ask such a question, but it could also
be the case that Paul, as a method for explaining his thoughts on the
resurrection of the dead, has in mind a person who was not necessarily
trained in philosophy, but who was brought up with traditional Greek
mythology. I shall venture on an interpretation that understands the
foolish someone not necessarily as an unlearned Corinthian, but at
least as one who was familiar with traditional Greek mythology.10
_____________
8

10

See also Col. 3:9-10: Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self
with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
This question has by most scholars been interpreted as a reflection of the mockery
and sarcasm of the Corinthians who opposed the idea of the resurrection of the
dead, and to whom Paul refers in 1 Cor 15:12. This is, however, not a necessary interpretation, and I will explore the possibility that Paul, as a method for explaining
his ideas of the resurrection, makes up a question that he thinks someone among the
Corinthians may honestly ask. For a short summery and critique - of the different
theories about the Corinthian opponents to Pauls teaching of the resurrection of the
dead, see Jeffrey R. Asher, Polarity and Change in 1 Corinthians 15. A Study of Metaphysics, Rhetoric, and Resurrection (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000), chapter III, 1.2:
The Problem With Theories Regarding Opponents as an Interpretative Context of 1
Corinthians 15, pp. 3648.
Most scholars seem to agree that the members of the Corinthian community were
divided into wealthy persons on the one hand and artisans and perhaps slaves on
the other, and also that the number of wealthy members was relatively small. It is
not likely that either the artisans or the slaves in Corinth at the time of Paul had any
philosophical education. Therefore, only a discourse that includes popular mythological views will be understood by everyone. I therefore find it plausible that Paul,
in his exposition of the resurrection of the dead, in the form of an answer to an im-

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The Greeks were familiar with the conception that eternal existence
includes bodily existence. Or perhaps rather: that there are bodies
which live forever and which are not a part of natures cycle of birth,
growth, decay and death, namely the bodies belonging to gods and to
very special humans, whom the gods decided to give the status of immortals.11 A transformation of mortals into immortals actually required
a bodily transformation, a transformation from a mortal human body to
an immortal divine body. The Pythagorian/Platonic dualism between
body and soul is not present in Greek mythological thinking. Rather,
there is another dualism, namely between two kinds of bodies: human
and divine. An unlearned person, who was familiar with Greek mythology, might very well respond to Pauls prophesy of the resurrection of the dead with the question: With what kind of bodies will they
come?
In his book A Radical Jew, Daniel Boyarin, basing himself on a paper
by Patricia Cox Miller,12 suggests that the distinction between the subbodies of human beings and the super-bodies of the gods in Greek
mythology explains Christian imagining of the transformed body of
the perfected Christian, as we find it in 1 Corinthians 15.13 For Boyarin
this means, I suppose, that the combination of Platonic dualism and
an anthropology that does not regard the body as problematic because
of its sheer materiality as part of the physical world,14 was already
prepared for in Greek mythological thought. This is, as far as I can see,
_____________

11

12

13
14

agined fool, will draw, not only on philosophical theories, but also on common mythological knowledge. After all, an aim of the letter as a whole seems to be to bring
unity to the community and to reconcile factionalism (cf. Margaret M. Mitchell, Paul
and the Rhetoric of Reconciliation: An Exegetical Investigation of the Language and Composition of 1 Corinthians (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991)).
This aim can only be reached if Paul manages to talk to all of the members. Moreover, Pauls rebuke in chapter 8 at those who sacrifice to idols makes it likely that the
strong influence that rituals (which were based on traditional mythology) had on
common people, was a serious worry to Paul. For a discussion on the social status of
the members of the Corinthian community, see Dale B. Martin, The Corinthian Body
(New Haven / London: Yale University Press, 1995), pp. 70-76.
In Greek mythology, Achilles and Heracles are among the most well known mortals
to whom the gods accorded immortality. For a discussion of resurrection and eternal
existence within ancient Greek mythology, see Dag istein Endsj, Oppstandelse
og evig liv i det gamle Hellas, pp. 4962 in Kropp og oppstandelse, edited by Troels
Engberg-Pedersen and Ingvild Slid Gilhus (Oslo: Pax Forlag, 2001).
Daniel Boyarin, A Radical Jew. Paul and the Politics of Identity (Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California Press, 1994); Patricia Cox Miller, Dreaming
the Body: An Aesthetics of Asceticism, in Asceticism, edited by Vincent L. Wimbush
and Richard Valantasis (New York / Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 281300.
Boyarin, A Radical Jew, p. 62.
Boyarin, A Radical Jew, p. 64. Boyarins quote is from P. Cox Miller.

Metamorphosis and the Concept of Change

115

only partly true. Boyarin argues for a special kind of hierarchical dualism that permeates Pauls writings: There is flesh and spirit. The spirit
is higher and more important, but the flesh is not to be disregarded
either.15 The body itself, Boyarin claims, becomes for him [Paul] a
dualist term16, insofar as the spiritual body is radically different from
the fleshy, mortal body. The dualism between mortal and immortal
bodies within Greek mythology is, however, of another kind than the
bodily dualism of Paul.
The distinction between the sub-bodies of human beings and the
super-bodies of the [Greek] gods is taken from Jean-Pierre Vernant.
He calls the divine bodies sur-corps since, although they are bodies,
they are not burdened with the very qualities that were regarded as
characteristic of a body: change, decay and death. And while human
bodies are marked with the seal of limitation, deficiency, and incompleteness17, divine bodies are not. Whereas mortals eat in order to
stave off bodily decay from one day till the other, and have intercourse
in order to continue their race, the gods were known to eat, drink and
have sex for pleasure.18 In other words: unlike the Pauline divine body,
the bodies of Greek gods were desiring bodies.19 When Paul expects
someone in his Corinthian congregation to ask the question With
what kind of body will they rise?, he may envisage that this someone would like to get a more detailed description of the resurrected
body: Will it be like the bodies of the gods, whose lives were full of
bodily pleasures? Will it, for instance, be a beautiful body like that of
Aphrodite, whom all the male gods desired, or will it be an extremely
strong body like that of Ares? Are those the kinds of questions that
Paul expects from someone in his Corinthian congregation and to
which he cries out: You fool!? (1 Cor 15:36).
Pauls answer to this foolish question must have puzzled the members of the Corinthian communities, both learned and unlearned: You
fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies (1 Cor 15:36).
_____________
15
16
17

18

19

Boyarin, A Radical Jew, p. 64.

Boyarin, A Radical Jew, p. 62.
Jean-Pierre Vernant, Mortals and Immortals: The Body of the Divine, in Jean Pierre Vernant, Mortals and Immortals. Collected Essays, edited by Froma I. Zeitlin (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991), p. 31.
For a discussion of this point, see my book Philosophy Without Women. The Birth of
Sexism in Western Thought (London: Continuum, 2003), chapter 2: Thought and Sexuality: A Troubled Relationship.
Several of Pauls statements, for instance If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and
drink, for tomorrow we die" (1 Cor 15:32) and flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:50) suggest this: that heavenly body is not burdened
with bodily desires, such as desires for sex, food and drink.

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What does it mean that the seed which is sown, must die in order to
come to new life? The image of the death of a seed was a familiar one in
Greek mythology: Persephone, the daughter - or rather an aspect - of
the goddess of vegetative growth, Demeter, spends three months of the
year in Hades, or with Hades, the god of death, and the remaining nine
months among the living. This myth tells the story of the cycle of vegetative life: the seed dies before it comes to new life in springtime. As a
story of the cycle of life, it stresses the continuity of life and death
rather than the disruption between the two. Death is a kind of sleep,
rather than a disappearance or a wiping out of the old being.20 Pauls
point, however, seems to be the opposite: When you sow, you do not
plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of
something else (1 Cor 15:37).
This way of describing the relationship between before and after
death is not only contrary to mythological thinking, but also to Platonic
and Aristotelian thought, where we also find, at least indirectly, the
image of the seed: according to Platonic thinking, the seed of a man
secures his physical continuity after death, since the seed contains a
new himself21, and according to Aristotelian thinking, the seed is
potentially the same kind of being as that from which the seed originally came. Both Plato and Aristotle refer to the seed in order to stress
the continuity of the race between the generations, whereas the function
of Pauls image of the seed seems to be a disruption within the individual before and after death. For Paul, death is the last enemy (1 Cor
15:26). The implication of this metaphor is well formulated by Oscar
Cullmann: When one wishes to overcome someone else, one must
enter his territory. Whoever wants to conquer death must die; he must
really cease to live nor simply live on as an immortal soul, but lose
life itself, the most precious good which God has given us.22
_____________
20
21

22

Cf. Hesiod, Work and Days, edited with prolegomena and commentary by M.L. West
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978), 116.
Plato, Symposium: Pregnancy, reproduction this is an immortal thing for a mortal animal
to do (206c); reproduction is what mortals have in place of immortality (206e);
mortal nature seeks so far as possible to live for ever and be immortal. And this is possible in one way only: by reproduction, because it always leaves behind a new young in place
of the old. (207d); Now, some people are pregnant in body, and for this reason turn more to
women and pursue love in that way, providing themselves through childbirth with immortality and remembrance and happiness, as they think, for all time to come. (208e) In other
words: the seed that people (i.e. men) are pregnant with, will secure their (imperfect,
since bodily) immortality, i.e. continuity; this suggests that the male seed contains the new
being, which is a new himself (a new young in place of the old). The English translation
of Symposium is that of Alexander Nehamas and Paul Woodruff, in Plato, Complete Works.
Oscar Cullmann, Immortality of the Soul or Resurrection of the Dead? The Witness
of the New Testament (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1958), pp. 25f.

Metamorphosis and the Concept of Change

117

Paul might think that the someone who may ask With what
kind of body will they come?, is a fool for several reasons. He is a fool
if he hopes for a beautiful body like that of Apollo or fears a lame body
like that of Hephaestus. He is equally a fool if he thinks that there is a
continuous cycle of life and death. Paul introduces another kind of
immortal body, based on another kind of relationship between life and
death: it is sown a psychic body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is
a psychic body, there is also a spiritual body (1 Cor 15:44). The words
soul and psychic are rarely used by Paul. Within the just cited and
the following two verses, however, he uses them four times, each time
in contrast to spirit and spiritual.23 In 15:45 Paul cites Genesis 2:7
("So it is written: The first man Adam became a living soul"), where
living soul refers to the breath of life that God breathed into man
made of the dust of the ground.24 It is therefore reasonable to translate with natural body in contrast to spiritual body.
This is also the most common translation.25 On the other hand, in this
letter Paul is confronting Greeks, and among them the wise (),
the scholar (), the philosopher (; 1 Cor 1:20),
and I suppose that it is far from improbable that Paul was familiar with
the body-soul dichotomy in Hellenic thinking. The very special word
construction is in the context of Hellenic thinking rather
provocative, and if Paul here has the traditional body-soul split in
mind, this strange expression stresses in a very effective way that Paul
distances himself from Hellenic philosophical thinking: he not only
unites soul and body, but also explicitly says that mans soul will die
along with the body.26 I suggest that Paul here uses this expression in
_____________
23

24

25

26

It is sown a psychic body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a psychic body,

there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living
soul"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the
psychic, and after that the spiritual. (1 Cor 15:44-46)
Gen. 2:7: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (21st Century King
James Version).
In 12 of the 19 English translations of The New Testament at www.biblegateway.com
in verse 44 is translated with natural body. The other translations
are: natural (physical) body (Amplified Bible), natural human body (New Living Translation), physical body (Contemporary English Translation), human
body (New Life Version), earthly body (New International Readers Version),
beastly body (Wycliff New Testament), body for this world (Worldwide English
(New Testament)). Not one of them translates with a word that has anything to do with soul.
Whereas for Plato the expression is more or less a contradiction in
terms, for Aristotle it would be possible. It could mean a body which is formed, or
animated, by its special soul: an animal body is different from a human body because of their different kinds of soul. could also be used to mean a

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Vigdis Songe-Mller

order to stress the newness of his message: even what you, Corinthians,
call a soul, will die, together with the mortal body. The Corinthians
have to throw away their usual conception of death and life after
death.27 That his message of the resurrection of the dead breaks radically with the Greek intellectuals way of thinking, Paul has already
made clear: Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the
philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the
world? Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1 Cor 1:20-23).
If not the immaterial, immutable soul, then what secures the continuity of the individual before and after resurrection? The answer must
be: the body in some way or other: But God gives it a body as he
has determined, and to each () seed he gives its own ()
body (1 Cor 15:38). Although
may be translated with each
kind, clearly signifies the personal or individual. In other words:
each seed, i.e. each earthly body, will, it seems, get its own individual
resurrected body. Therefore, the individual is, in some way or other, the
same before and after resurrection; and this sameness has something to
do with the body. In other words: the soul, according to Paul, totally
disappears in death, but the body does not: it is raised. This is certainly
a provocative way of putting it!
In his chapter in this book Troels Engberg-Pedersen argues, to my
mind convincingly, that, although there is a total transformation of
each individual body, there is also a continuity: That, I suggest, is the
point of the that Paul repeats four times in 15:53-54. If this
something is going to put on immortality and incorruption, then it
must, as it were, be there.28 There is, however, nothing in the text
which states exactly what kind of continuity this is: even though each
individual has a body before and after resurrection, it is not the same
body. More generally: we cannot point at any special part of the individual that remains the same. The continuity of the person before and
after resurrection can, it seems, only be put in negative terms: it does
_____________

27

28

living body as opposed to a dead body. On the other hand, Aristotle explicitly opposes psychic and somatic parts of the human being: We may assume the distinction between bodily () pleasures and those of the soul () (Nicomachean Ethics 1117b28). As far as I know the word construction is
not to be found in the Greek philosophical corpus.
Cf. Asher, Polarity and Change, pp. 41-43. According to Asher the pneumatikonpsychikon antithesis was unfamiliar to the Corinthians. If this is the case, 15:44 must
have sounded very strange in the ears of the Corinthians, both learned and unlearned.
T. Engberg-Pedersen in this volume, p. 110.

Metamorphosis and the Concept of Change

119

not seem to depend on an unchanging element, an element which remains the same before and after death and which, like the Platonic soul,
does not ever, and cannot, undergo any kind of change. Or, to put it
differently: continuity is not based on the essence of the individual, on
that which determines what kind of being this individual is. This is
nothing but a repetition of the statement with which I started: the
change is total. If the change is total, if each individual changes from
what she is (perishable and mortal) into what she is not (imperishable
and immortal), then what remains the same? There is no rational answer to this question, and Paul does not try to explain it. Rather, he
points to the will and agency of God: God gives it a body as he has
determined (1 Cor 15:38). God, in other words, can be supposed to
create continuity, independently or beyond the limitations of human reason.29
The metamorphosis of the resurrected body, so Paul tells us, is a
mystery: Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will
all be changed - in a flash ( ), in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself
with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality (1 Cor 15:5153). Ironically, the phenomenon of change is as great a mystery to the
Greek philosophers in the Platonic tradition as the metamorphosis of
the body is to Paul. Neither can be explained by human reason. And for
both Plato and Paul, there is something beyond human rationality, for
which this something beyond is its presupposition: for Plato it is the
Good (in the Republic) or the Beautiful (in Symposium),30 and for Paul it
is God. The foolishness, according to the learned Greeks, of Pauls
message (1 Cor 1:23) is perhaps no more foolish than Platos explana_____________
29

30

Cf. Descartes, who stresses that God should not be thought within the boundaries of
human reason: God creates truth. See for instance Descartes letter to Pre Mersenne,
April 14, 1630: Que les vrits mathmatique, lesquelles vous nommez ternelles,
ont t tablies de Dieu et en dependant entirement, aussi bien que tout le reste des
creature. In Descartes, vres philosophique. Tome I (16181637) (Paris: ditions Garnier, 1988), p. 259.
See for instance Republic 508b-e: Lets say, then, that this [the sun] is what I called
the offspring of the good, which the good begot as its analogue. What the good itself
is in the intelligible realm, in relation to understanding and intelligible things, the
sun is in the visible realm, in relation to sight and visible things. So that what
gives truth to the things known and the power to know to the knower is the form of
the good. And 509b: Therefore, you should also say that not only do the objects of
knowledge owe their being known to the good, but their being is also due to it, although the good is not being, but superior to it in rank and power. The Good is
thus not only beyond human reason and knowledge, but also beyond being: both being and knowledge is due to the Good. The English translation of Republic is that
of G.M.A Grube and rev. C.D.C. Reeve, in Plato, Complete Works.

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Vigdis Songe-Mller

tion of change: while Plato situates every kind of change in the instant
(), Paul situates this extraordinary change the resurrection
of the dead in the moment ( ).31

Suddenly a Bright Light from Heaven

Flashed around me (Acts 22: 6)
is once put in the mouth of Paul, in the Acts, when Paul tells
of his conversion, which is also a kind of metamorphosis:
About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly () a bright
light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a
voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?'
" 'Who are you, Lord?' I asked.
" 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. My
companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him
who was speaking to me (Acts 22:6-9).

In his book St. Paul. The Foundation of Universalism Alain Badiou calls
Pauls conversion an event, something which happens, purely and
simple, unexpectedly and uncontrollably, on an anonymous road;32
Paul sees a light and hears a voice, and he puts his belief in what he
sees and hears, without asking for explanation or for proof. Pauls be_____________
31

32

Asher argues that the introduction of the notion of change in 15:51-52 functions as
the solution to the problem of resurrection: in order to correct the foolish, imagined
interlocutor in 15:35, who, according to Asher, denied that there is a resurrection of
the dead (Polarity and Change, p. 166), on the ground that it is impossible for a terrestrial human body (flesh and blood and corruptible) to attain a celestial dwelling
(p. 152), Paul is emphasizing change, that is, the transformation that the human
body must undergo during the resurrection to comply with the strictures of cosmic
polarity (p. 163). According to the principle of cosmic polarity, which the Corinthians dissenters, according to Asher, adhere to, there is a sharp distinction between
the sub- and superlunary realms; therefore a terrestrial body cannot ascend to a heavenly habitation. Paul therefore, to a certain degree, agrees with the Corinthian dissenters; only if he can show that the body undergoes a radical change, he can convince them that there is not only a resurrection of the dead, but a resurrection of the
body. I find Ashers thorough analysis convincing, but, as far as I can see, he fails to
recognize that by introducing the notion of change, Paul is not only offering a solution to a problem, but is inscribing himself in a long philosophical tradition, in which
change is one of the central problems. According to Asher, Pauls notion of change is
similar to a long range of philosophers notion of change (his analyses of this similarity are too sweeping to be convincing), but Asher does not seem to face the fundamental problem or paradox of change.
Alain Badiou, The Foundation of Universalism (Stanford: Stanford University Press,
2003), p. 18.

Metamorphosis and the Concept of Change

121

lief, or conviction, is, according to Badiou, unconditioned: It is not dependant on having met Jesus, on having heard stories about his life, his
death and his resurrection. It is independent of empirical or theoretical
knowledge; it belongs to another order, to the order of event. To put it
differently: there is no natural explanation for Pauls conversion, just
as there is no natural explanation for the resurrection of the dead.
Neither event can be explained by human reason; they are both, so
Badiou, conditioned by the divine. Badious classification of Pauls
conversion, as well as of the resurrection of the dead, as an event that
can be explained neither empirically not theoretically is, to my mind, a
fruitful perspective. The temporal dimension of such an event is, necessarily, placed beyond empirical time. It belongs to the instant.
As already mentioned, Plato uses the word twice in Symposium, both times to describe a radical conversion of mind. I shall here
mention one of them. In the so called ladder of love, Diotima describes the ascent from ignorance to full knowledge, driven by erotic
desire. The first part of this ascent is completed by gradual steps from
the desire for one beautiful body to all beautiful bodies, then from the
desire of beautiful bodies to beautiful souls, until the lover is overwhelmed by the great sea of beauty33. Diotima explains how and
why the philosopher-lover ascends from one step to the other; there is a
reason, a logos, for his ascent: the beauty, which he desires, is the same
in all objects in bodies, in souls, in knowledge and he is therefore
driven from the love of single examples of beauty to that which is
common to all beautiful things. The lovers last step, however, towards
the divine Beauty itself in its one form34, cannot be explained by the
logos, which has determined the steps so far. The last step is rather a
jump into what Diotima calls the final and highest mystery (
, ).35 The rational
continuity of the ladder is broken: You see, the man who has been
thus far guided in matters of Love, who has beheld beautiful things in
the right order and correctly, is coming now to the goal of Loving: all of
a sudden () he will catch sight of something wonderfully
beautiful in its nature; that Socrates, is the reason for all his earlier labors.36

_____________
33
34
35
36

Plato, Symposium 210d.

Plato, Symposium 211e.
Plato, Symposium 210a.
Plato, Symposium 210.

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Vigdis Songe-Mller

The only explanation that Diotima can give, is that it happens instantly. The divine Beauty itself is the presupposition for all rationality and is thus itself above human reason.37

Conclusion
Although Paul is far from being a Platonist, there are several parallels
between Paul and Plato in their ways of dealing with radical change.
Both of them describe not only ontological change, but also radical
change of mind by pointing to an event which occurs in an instant and
to an entity which is beyond human reason. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul is
preoccupied with three events: the resurrection of Christ, the resurrection of the dead and the faith in Christ. All these events involve radical
change, so radical that Paul may have felt a necessity of giving some
kind of an explanation. Since for Plato all change is radical change, it
might not be a complete coincidence that Paul here comes very close to
Platos way of thinking. Whereas Plato explains all kinds of change by
the extraordinary and inexplicable moment, Paul explains this extraordinary change, the resurrection of the dead, by a similarly extraordinary
moment, which is on the verge of time: at the last trumpet, and obviously beyond human reason. Both Plato and Paul single out an extraordinary change of mind which enables the philosopher and the
Christian, respectively, to grasp the truth. Also these changes of mind
are explained by the inexplicable instant. And where Plato points to the
unconditioned Good, or to the unconditioned Beauty, Paul points to
the active and creative will of God.

_____________
37

The second time is used in Symposium, is in the last section of the dialogue,
after the speech of Socrates/Diotima, when Alcibiades, the well-known politician,
with whom Socrates had had some kind of love affair, rovers into the party. Alcibiades is drunk and does not notice the presence of Socrates, not even when he is
seated beside him. Suddenly (Symposium 213c) he becomes aware of the presence of
Socrates, and his way of talking and behaving changes. Alcibiades sudden awareness of Socrates and his correspondingly sudden change of behaviour is an obvious
(metaphorical?) parallel to the philosophers sudden view of the Beauty itself. Cf.
Martha Nussbaum, The Fragility of Goodness. Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), pp. 184 f.

Complete and Incomplete Transformation in Paul

a Philosophical Reading of Paul on Body and Spirit
Complete and Incomplete Transformation in Paul
TROELS ENGBERG-PEDERSEN1
berschrift 2: fr Kapitel ohne 2 wird hier 1 Kurzform wiederholt
This essay addresses two issues. I will first present an interpretation of
Pauls conception of the transformation of the individual human being
that he expected to take place at the resurrection. The analysis will be
based mainly on 1 Corinthians 15.2 Next I will sketch an understanding
of Pauls conception of the already half-transformed life of Christ followers who are living in the present world before the resurrection.
Here the basic texts will be from Phil 3:2-21, 2 Cor 2:14-4:18 and Rom
8:1-13. The aim is to articulate a coherent understanding of these two
stages in the lives of Christ followers that makes concrete and direct
sense within the ways of thinking that were available in Pauls world.
It should be noted that while I will be drawing on and in some
cases analysing quite closely the passages mentioned, the aim here is
not to do regular exegesis. That would require, among other things,
that we considered the overall point of the passages within the context
of the letter: why Paul wrote like that just there. Instead, the attempt
will be to articulate an overall conception of the precise state of Christ
followers both now and in the future and the claim will be that this
conception is both presupposed and also directly expressed in those
passages. Some of the questions that we shall address to Pauls text are
informed by broader philosophical categories both ancient and modern that are not directly invoked by Paul himself. But the claim remains that the overall conception we shall be articulating is in fact
Pauls own.
In this essay the term transformation is intended to stand for a
change that is complete. When people have been transformed in this
sense, both they themselves and onlookers will say that they have
changed completely. Such a change need not, of course, cover every_____________
1
2

Troels Engberg-Pedersen is professor at the Biblical Studies Section of The Faculty of

Theology at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
I am convinced that Pauls account of the resurrection in 2 Cor 5:1-10 fits in closely
with the picture he gives in 1 Corinthians 15, but there is insufficient space here to
show this.

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Troels Engberg-Pedersen

thing there is to be said about them. In almost all cases there will be
some aspects in respect to which they have not changed. Thus transformation will always be relative to some framework that defines the
relevant aspect in respect to which the change has occurred. It remains
the case that relative to such a given framework, the change indicated
by speaking of a transformation should be understood as being complete: where the person previously was such and such (say, A), he or
she now is something else (B, C, D or ...) that implies the contradictory
of A. One issue that will concern us is in what respects Paul speaks of a
real transformation in Christ believers at various stages in their lives
and the extent to which he may wish only to speak of an incomplete
transformation in some of these respects. Another issue concerns different types of (complete or incomplete) transformation: whether cognitive, physical (that is, ontological), moral, social or something else.3

The Resurrected Life

Three passages in 1 Corinthians 15 are directly relevant to the question
of how Paul understood the transformation of the body at the resurrection, including the pneumatic resurrection body itself that he mentions at 15:44. The three passages are: the mytho-poietic one of 15:2028, the more directly cosmological one of 15:35-49 and another, more
mytho-poietic one of 15:50-55.
I have argued elsewhere for an understanding of the two latter passages that may be summarized as follows.4 In the whole of the cosmological passage of 15:35-49 Paul does three major things. He first (15:3644a) answers the question concerning the resurrection body in terms of
a distinction between earthly bodies and heavenly bodies, where the
latter are also, by implication, pneumatic ones. This answer, I contend,
presupposes a Stoic cosmology. The basic idea is the contrast between
bodies that are earthly and bodies that are heavenly (cf. 15:40), which
Paul directly connects with the contrast between a body that is psychic and one that is pneumatic (15:44). Thus psychic belongs with
earthly and pneumatic with heavenly and this last bit is to be understood in accordance with the only cosmological position in Pauls
_____________
3
4

These reflections on the term transformation itself spring from discussions within
the CAS project, not least at the follow-up seminar in Rome, 8-10 May 2008.
See TE-P, A Stoic Understanding of Pneuma in Paul, in TE-P and Henrik Tronier
(eds.), Philosophy at the Roots of Christianity (Working Papers 2; The Faculty of Theology, University of Copenhagen, 2006) 101-123. I take over here some paragraphs directly from this essay.

Complete and Incomplete Transformation in Paul

125

world that distinctly took the heavenly phenomena of the sun, the
moon and the stars (explicitly mentioned by Paul in 15:41) to be made
up of bodies that consisted of pneuma. Thus Pauls pneuma is a material
entity, a kind of stuff.5
Next (15:44b-46), Paul relates his answer to a tradition of interpretation of Gen 2:7 that we know from Philo of Alexandria. From this tradition he apparently took over the idea of two Adams, one pneumatic
and the other psychic. But he also corrects the tradition by insisting on
a chronological sequence, with the pneumatic Adam coming last. Here,
of course, he is already speaking specifically of Christ in a manner that
has been prepared for earlier in the chapter (at 15:22). In effect, what
15:44b-46 does is to describe the Christ event in the light of philosophical speculation about Gen 2:7.
Finally, in 15:47-49 Paul combines the cosmological tale of 15:36-44a
with the content of 15:44b-46. He fits the two traditions he is relying on
(Stoic cosmology and a Jewish, philosophical Genesis tradition) into his
Christ event conception of a chronological sequence of the two men
(Adam and Christ) by articulating the idea of a change in human beings: from wearing the visible appearance of the earthly clay man
(Adam) to wearing that of the heavenly man (Christ, 15:47) namely, a
body that is pneumatic. Thus there are two basic points: (a) of a pneumatic heaven against an earthly earth and (b) of a change from earthly
man to heavenly man.
The third of our three passages (15:50-55) obviously harks back to
the first one (15:20-28) in its elaborate use of apocalyptic imagery, including the idea of finally conquering death. But it also directly continues the second one. By saying What I mean is this ... ( ,
15:50), Paul explicitly states that he is now going to spell out what he has
just said.6 And indeed, the overall theme of 15:50-55 is precisely that of
the future change (, cf. 15:51, 52). In 15:53-54, however, Paul
also adds a specific, philosophical point about the pneumatic body that
had not been so clearly stated in 15:35-49. We should conclude that
_____________
5

I take over this characterization (stuff) from Dale B. Martins splendid book on The
Corinthian Body (New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 1995) e.g. p. 128. (Compare in general his chapters 1 on The Body in Greco-Roman Culture and 5 on The
Resurrected Body, with which I both agree and disagree.)
A. C. Thiselton finds it tempting to interpret as what I mean ... is
this, but settles for this I affirm ...: since he concurs with Weiss, Jeremias,
Collins, and others, who stress the beginning of a new pericope at 15:50 (The First
Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, NIGT, Grand Rapids,
Michigan/Cambridge, U.K.: Eerdmans and Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 2000) 12901291. A reference to 1 Cor 7:29 (see Danker in BDAG with meaning mean)
should have persuaded Thiselton to stay with his first intuition.

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Troels Engberg-Pedersen

whereas we moderns may feel that the apocalyptic, more mythopoietic section of 15:50-55 speaks an entirely different kind of language from the ostensively more scientific language of 15:35-49, Paul
himself did not see any such difference.
Three points are made in 15:50-55. (a) Flesh and blood (
, 15:50), meaning the ordinary, corruptible body (cf. ), cannot inherit the kingdom of God and incorruption (). (b)
Instead (15:51-52), there will be a change, which will touch both the
dead and the living. (c) And this change (15:53-54) will mean that this
corruptible (something) and this mortal (something) (meaning this
individual body) puts on incorruption and immortality. Here the
process that Paul has in mind is the one that in the Aristotelian tradition was called substantive change: that the whole substance changes
into an altogether different, new substance.7
Thus Paul had the idea that this individual body of flesh and
blood, this clay body made out of earth, will be transformed so that what
was previously a body of flesh and blood will now be a body made up
of pneuma. It is not that the flesh and blood will in some sense be
shed in such a way that it is only what remains that will be resurrected.8 Rather, the individual body of flesh and blood will be transformed as a whole so as to become through and through a pneumatic one.
Here there is a genuine and complete transformation. What previously
was A (a body of flesh and blood) now is B (a pneumatic body), which
implies the contradictory of A: from corruptible to incorruptible. If we
try to spell out Pauls idea, it seems to be that Christ as pneuma will
physically and literally come from heaven and transform the individual
body of flesh and blood of believers; in this way he will turn them into
_____________
7

The contrasting kind of change in Aristotle is alteration, e.g. so-called qualitative

change: Socrates (being one and the same substance) was previously white, but is
now black (sunburned or the like). By contrast, substantive change is exemplified by
a change from a living being to a corpse (or, as in Pauls case, the other way round).
For substantive change in Aristotle, see De Generatione et Corruptione I.4, 319b10-18:
there is alteration when the substratum is perceptible and persists, but changes in
its own properties ... The body, e.g., although persisting as the same body, is now
healthy and now ill; ... But when nothing perceptible persists in its identity as a substratum, and the thing changes as a whole (when e.g. the seed as a whole is converted into blood, or water into air, or air as a whole into water), such an occurrence
is no longer alteration. It is a coming-to-be [] of one substance and a passingaway [] of the other ... (tr. H.H. Joachim in The Works of Aristotle [ed. W.R.
Ross, vol. II, Oxford: Clarendon, 1930 and later]).
Against Martin (and a host of others): e.g. Martin, The Corinthian Body, 126 (sarx and
psyche have been sloughed off along the way) and 128 (shed). (Incidentally, in
both passages Martin is very close to seeing and even saying that the notion of a
heavenly, pneumatic body was a Stoic specialty among the philosophers.)

Complete and Incomplete Transformation in Paul

127

bodies that are through and through pneumatic and that will physically
and literally come to stay together with himself in heaven.
I shall come back in a moment to the notion of complete transformation (passing-away and coming-to-be) that is being expressed here.
Before that we must speculate a little on exactly how Paul imagined
this transformation to take place. Had he been a Platonist, he would
probably have been thinking in terms of shedding the body of flesh and
blood.9 That would also have been the case had he been a genuine Stoic
and nothing but that. For according to the Stoics, too, the soul of the
wise man will arise balloon-like from the corpse to take its place in
heaven alongside other heavenly bodies made up of pneuma.10 Had
Paul been Philo he might have described the resurrection of Christ followers along the lines of Philos account of the post-mortem existence
of especially egregious people like Moses. Of him Philo says that as the
time came when he was going to be sent from earth to heaven to
become immortal () after having left this mortal life
behind, he was summoned thither by the father, who resolved
() his twofold nature of soul and body ( )
into a single unity ( ... ), transforming his whole being ( ) into mind (), pure as the
sunlight (Mos. 2.288, basically LCL tr.). Here we do find the idea of
transforming the whole being into a single substance. And Philo even
employs a specifically Stoic term for this operation (that of
, see later). But Philo would have been too Platonic for
Paul since the end stage for Philo is simply that of , whereas what
Paul wants is a pneumatic body. Where, then, can we find an idea similar to Pauls that might help us understand it better?
The solution is once more Stoic, but different from the Stoic conception of the fate of individuals. Rather, as I have suggested elsewhere,
Paul thinks of the fate of his individual Christ followers along the lines
of the way the Stoics thought that the world as a whole will finally be
resolved (with the Stoic technical term on which Philo is also drawing) into pure, material energy and thought: into God himself, at the
moment when (as Paul also has it) God will become everything in
everything (15:28, at the end of 15:20-28; cf. also Rom 8:19-22). This
_____________
9

10

The fact that Paul thought of the pneuma as some form of physical stuff already
shows that he was not a Platonist. This does not prevent him from speaking from
time to time in ways that sound somewhat Platonic, e.g. in 2 Cor 4:18 where he contrasts the visible with the invisible.
I am quoting here from A.A. Long, Soul and Body in Stoicism, Phronesis 27 (1982)
34-57, espec. 53. (Also in Long, Stoic Studies [New York: Cambridge University Press,
1996].)

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Troels Engberg-Pedersen

process which the Stoics called conflagration () and

which they understood as a total, physical transformation of the present world as a whole into a pneumatic state11 is the one that the individual, Pauline Christ followers will also undergo. That is what happens when their body of flesh and blood is transformed into a body
that is pneumatic.
At this point it is worth asking two questions that stray even further away from Pauls own text. If Paul had the idea of a complete
transformation of the whole of the psychic body of Christ followers into
a pneumatic body along the lines suggested, (i) should we find some
direct continuity between the two bodies? (ii) and should we think of
some form of individual subjectivity all through the process in the
sense that there is an individual awareness, on the part of the person
who is changed, to the effect that I, who previously was that, now am
this?
First on continuity: definitely yes. That, I suggest, is in fact the very
point of the that Paul repeats four times in 15:53-54: that this
corruptible (something) and this mortal (something) (meaning this
individual body) will put on incorruption and immortality. If this mortal and corruptible something, which must consist of flesh and blood,
is going to put on immortality and incorruption, then it must, as it
were, be there for that operation to be successful. But since flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (see 15:50), this body of flesh
and blood must also necessarily be changed away from (being made up
of) flesh and blood. Thus, as we saw, it must be transformed, namely,
into an altogether different kind of body: the pneumatic one. In short,
we do have a case here of what Aristotle would have called substantive change. This is not strange since Paul is after all speaking of a
change from being dead or dying (mortal) to being eternally alive (immortal), that is, of a process of passing-away that is also one of comingto-be. At the same time there will be a kind of continuity across this
kind of transformation even though it is in itself complete and changes
everything in the initial body of flesh and blood.12
Will there then also be individual subjectivity across that change? It
is hard to know and my reply here will be almost purely speculative.
My guess is that there will be a kind of awareness of oneself (the
_____________
11
12

For this idea compare, e.g., the texts in A.A. Long & D.N. Sedley (eds.), The Hellenistic Philosophers (2 vols., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987) 52.
In Aristotle, too, there is continuity in substantive change, which is accounted for
in terms of the Aristotelian notion of prime matter. It is arguable that in some
cases, at least, the expression prime matter in fact refers to individual perceptible
beings, not to some nebulous, underlying stuff.

Complete and Incomplete Transformation in Paul

129

pneuma will take care of that since it is not only a material but also a
cognitive entity), but one that is rudimentary in the following sense: it
is an awareness that the pneumatic body that one now is (as one oneself sees it) is the same body as the fully individual and subjective body
that one once was. Taken by itself, however, there is probably not much
sense of individual subjectivity in the newly generated pneumatic body
itself. For that body rather forms part of the shared pneumatic body that
is Christ or, perhaps, God himself when God is everything in everything.
I said that this suggestion is almost purely speculative. That is true
with regard to the pneumatic body. Paul simply does not spell out
anywhere how he imagined the future state of Christ followers in terms
of individuality and subjective self-awareness. For the psychic body of
flesh and blood, by contrast, there is more to go on. When, in his various vice lists Paul identifies what is wrong about that body, the essential culprit is precisely a too strong sense of subjectivity and individuality: either sinners will focus inordinately on their individual bodies or
else they will focus on themselves in explicit contrast with others
whom they will oppose.13 Thus if I am right in guessing along these
lines, the total, material transformation that Paul imagined would take
place at the resurrection would overcome this kind of individuality and
subjective self-awareness since both are tied to the body of flesh and
blood. The individual pneumatic body, by contrast, rather forms part of
a pneumatic fellowship (koinnia).

The Life of Believers Before the Resurrection

Suppose that Paul had the idea I have just presented of a complete
physical transformation at the resurrection. How, then, did he think
that Christ followers would be living up until that moment? This question reflects the fact that the pneumatic transformation that Paul has in
mind is not just situated in the (near) future: it has also partially
taken place in the (near) past when Paul and his addressees became
Christ followers. At least, Paul is happy to say that God has prepared
() Christ followers for the resurrection by giving them
the pneuma as a down payment (, 2 Cor 5:5). But precisely
only as a down payment, which means that the pneumatic transformation has only partially begun. And that is what raises the question: ex_____________
13

Compare my analysis of Pauls notion of the flesh as employed, e.g., in Galatians, in

Paul and the Stoics (Edinburgh/Louisville: T&T Clark/Westminster John Knox, 2000)
152-153.

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Troels Engberg-Pedersen

actly how did Paul imagine the life of Christ followers, who would
already have received the pneuma (cf. Gal 3:2 for
) that God had given them to prepare them for the physical
resurrection, but who would also, still, be living in flesh and blood? In
other words, how does the idea of a future, complete, pneumatic transformation fit in with the much messier situation of human beings living
in the present in flesh and blood, but also with the pneuma somehow
already at work?
I think one can discern a specific pattern of ideas in Paul on this issue, not just in a single text but in several texts. This in itself suggests
that the pattern constitutes a fairly coherent and basic idea in Pauls
thought world. The pattern has three elements. First, there is the idea of
a complete transformation already in this life that is cognitive. Second,
there is the idea of a transformation already in this life that is physical
or material, but not yet complete; instead, it is incipient and gradual, as
it were on its way towards the final, bodily transformation at the resurrection. Third, there is an idea that constitutes the flip side of the previous one: of a dying away of the physical body of flesh and blood, which
is itself only incipient and gradual. Let us consider in some detail two
texts where this pattern can be found: Phil 3:2-21 and 2 Cor 2:14-4:18 (+
5:1-10).

Different Types of Transformation in Phil 3:2-21

The first idea we noted is that in a certain respect believers at least
Paul himself have already undergone a transformation that is complete. As we shall see in Philippians 3, Paul describes this experience or
event in terms of seeing and getting to know. Thus it is a transformation that is cognitive. Elsewhere, he explicitly speaks of a cognitive
transformation when he exhorts his Roman addressees as follows: ...
be transformed by the renewal of your mind (
) ... (Rom 12:2). As shown in Philippians 3,
however, in his own case this renewal had already taken place.
We need to have this famous passage in front of us: Phil 3:4-12
(NRSV, revised).
4 ... If anyone should wish to put confidence in the flesh, I [could do so]
even more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 Yet

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whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.
8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing
value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the
loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain
Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that
comes from the law, but one that comes through Christ faith, the righteousness from God based on faith, 10 that I may know him [Christ] and the
power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming
conformed with him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already grasped it or have already become perfect; but I
pursue it to get hold of it since Christ Jesus, too, has got hold of me.

Consider the first half of this account of Pauls own conversion. Paul
has already left all his previous assets behind as part of his experience
of the overwhelming impact of the knowledge () of Christ Jesus, my Lord (3:8). Everything other than Christ he regards as a loss
and rubbish. Thus it is clear that he himself considered this transformation to be complete. What previously had positive value now has its
contradictory: negative value. It is also clear that he took the change to
be a cognitive one. It was a matter of knowing Christ and regarding
() everything else in certain ways.
In describing himself in this way, Paul does not necessarily imply
that his addressees have undergone the same experience. But he does
use his self-account as a way of enjoining them to adopt the same kind
of directedness towards Christ that he has described in his own case.
That happens in 3:12-17, where he breaks off his description of his own
forward-looking attitude in order to give his addressees an opportunity
to become part of the same kind of directedness. The precise way in
which he ties them in with his own experience is noteworthy and it
forces us, as we shall see in a moment, to consider in detail what he
says of himself between his initial account of his own cognitive transformation (3:7-8) and his turn to his addressees (3:12ff). He ends his
self-account by expressing the hope that he will eventually arrive at the
resurrection from the dead (3:11), and then breaks off by saying that he
himself has not yet reached or grasped it (the it being not directly
expressed in the text) nor is he yet perfect (3:12a); still, he pursues
it in the hope that he may grasp it corresponding to the fact that he
has himself been grasped by Christ (3:12b). It is this state of pressing
forward (cf. 3:13-14) that he then uses to urge his addressees to engage
in the same pursuit (3:15-16) and to take himself as their model (3:17).
But exactly what is the it that Paul has not yet grasped? And what is
he aiming to say in the complex and crucial verses between his account

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of his own initial, cognitive transformation in 3:7-8 and the expression

in 3:11 of his hope to arrive at the resurrection in the future?
Let us consider the possible referents of it. In 3:11 he has spoken
of the resurrection from the dead that he is hoping to arrive at. If we
bring in the description of the resurrection that he gives at the end of
the chapter (3:21), we will see that in Philippians, too, this future event
implies a change that is not just a cognitive but also a bodily and physical one. It occurs when Christ will trans-form () the
body () of our lowliness into being con-formed with
() the body () of his glory in accordance with the energy () of his having the power () also to subject
everything to himself (my tr.). Is it this physical change, then, that
Paul has not yet reached or grasped (the term in 3:12 is )? Is he
speaking in material terms of reaching or grasping the resurrection? Or
is he rather speaking in cognitive terms of grasping Christ, corresponding to the fact that he has himself been grasped by Christ?
Two considerations seem to suggest that the reference is not after
all to the resurrection itself. Since Paul clearly presupposes both in 3:11
and wholly explicitly in 3:20-21 that the resurrection lies in the future,
and since he does not appear to be at all up against people in Philippi
who might have thought of a resurrection in the present, 3:12 would
come out very lamely if the reference were to the resurrection: of course
you have not grasped it, Paul, since it lies in the future! Also, it seems
initially rather likely that the idea of Christs having grasped Paul refers back in some way to the description he has just given in 3:7-8,
where the change was described in cognitive terms as a matter of
knowing Christ Jesus.
If we go by this, we might take it that what Paul has not quite
grasped (and so he is not perfect) but strives cognitively to grasp is
Christ. Here the idea could be that although Paul has in fact undergone
a cognitive transformation that is complete (by 3:7-8) in the sense that
he has come to know the only thing that matters (Christ), he may not,
perhaps, have deepened this knowledge in such a way that there is
cognitively in him nothing but Christ. If this cognitive reading were the
proper one, we would have the idea of a continuing cognitive transformation in the present life that springs from an initial cognitive transformation that was in one way complete, but in another way allowed
for some deepening. This, incidentally, would certainly be within the
horizon of Pauls thought inasmuch as he does speak earlier in the letter of progression () in his addressees (1:25); and it could be
supported by noting that Stoicism, for instance, has exactly the same
idea. There one may have grasped the ultimate truth about the good

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without being able to see exactly how it informs each particular situation. So there is a need for further deepening.14
However, it is hard to see how such a reading will fit what appears
to be Pauls very categorical statement in 3:7-8 to the effect that his cognitive transformation is already utterly complete. In addition, there is
the textual fact that with 3:12 coming directly after 3:11 the initially
obvious thing for the implied it to refer to actually is the resurrection
from the dead (or something closely connected with it). Furthermore,
should we really take it that Christ has grasped Paul distinctly and
exclusively in a cognitive sense only?
These considerations all land us in an aporia. The it that Paul has
not yet grasped can hardly be the physical state of the resurrected
body. But neither is it likely to be merely a full, cognitive grasp of
Christ. So what is it?
This is where we need to go back to the verses that come in between Pauls account of what did happen to him (cognitively) and led
to his being where he is now (3:7-8) and the expression of his hope for
what should happen in the future (3:11). In the intervening verses (3:8
end-3:10) he is very precisely speaking of something that lies between
his present state and the fixed future event of the resurrection. This is
clear, for instance, from his use of (in order that, 3:8 end) and
what is probably also a final use of the article with an infinitive at the
beginning of 3:10 ( , in order that I may get to know ...).
Thus he is in fact speaking of the state he goes on to describe in 3:12-14
as one of his pursuing it (3:12), which is also his pursuing the prize of
Gods upward call in Christ Jesus (3:14).
A careful analysis of the two-three verses we are considering shows
that it can be seen to contain two parallel phrases: (3:8 end3:9) and (3:10). What is more, in these two phrases the first
elements probably correspond to one another, as do the second ones.
That is, to (3:8 end) corresponds
(3:10 beginning), and to (3:9 beginning) there
may be a correspondence in ...
(3:10). The point is that both
and seem to speak of knowing, the latter explicitly
so and the former by implication from Pauls talk in 3:7-8 of loss and
gain in a cognitive context. By contrast, the expression
employs Pauls superficially quite enigmatic talk of being in Christ: can
_____________
14

I have explored this theme in Stoicism in The Stoic Theory of Oikeiosis: Moral Development and Social Interaction in Early Stoic Philosophy (Studies in Hellenistic Civilization
II; Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, 1990) 128-140.

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this be made clearer by his talk of getting to know the power of Christs
resurrection?
Here is a suggestion: the power of Christs resurrection is the
pneuma, Gods pneuma, which according to Rom 8:11 may both live
in believers His pneuma that lives within you and will also be
the instrument through () which God will raise the mortal bodies
of believers. By coming to know this power, Paul will also come to be
found in Christ. For Christ, too, as Paul says elsewhere (cf. 2 Cor
3:17), is pneuma. On such a reading Paul is saying that while he has
already undergone a transformation that is cognitive and complete
one of being struck by the overwhelming impact of the knowledge
() of Christ Jesus, my Lord (3:8) he is also at present undergoing a physical change in the form of a process that consists in gradually
being taken over more and more by the material pneuma in order that
he may eventually and finally come to be found in Christ.
This reading takes the idea of being found in Christ in a completely literal sense and it finds an easy means for doing so in the notion of the material pneuma. But why, then, does Paul speak here also
in cognitive terms of knowing Christ (3:10 beginning) and gaining
him (3:8 end)? Because the pneuma is both a material thing and a cognitive one. This means that the material process of being taken over by
the pneuma is in fact also at the same time a cognitive process, and
presumably the one we noted of getting an ever more deepened grasp
of Christ. This should not be taken to be inconsistent with the claim
that Pauls initial conversion was both cognitive and complete. As he
describes it, it was. Still, since he remains a person of flesh and blood in
the present world, there is plenty of room for speaking of a gradual
change into being a person who is completely aligned with that initial
grasp.
We have now found that there is both a cognitive and a physical
side to Pauls ongoing transformation and both are based on possession
of the pneuma. May we then also read this back into his account of the
initial transformation itself and take it that Paul would see the pneuma
to be present then and to explain that cognitive transformation? Plainly,
yes. In fact, we may now see the latter half of 3:12 to be precisely saying
this. Paul is pursuing the pneuma to get hold of it since Christ Jesus,
too, (in the form of the pneuma) has initially got hold of him.
In this way we have found a solution to our aporia concerning the
referent of it in 3:12. What Paul has not yet grasped is neither the
resurrection as such nor Christ just like that. Rather, it is the complete
possession of the pneuma which will eventually transform Pauls body
at the resurrection, and this complete possession of the pneuma is also

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the complete possession both in a cognitive and a physical sense of

Christ. Furthermore, those two things, one may guess, are in fact not
much different from the resurrection itself. In this way all of our intuitions may be said to have been partly right.
There remain two phrases in 3:9 and 3:10 respectively that we
should also account for as part of this reading of Pauls overall line of
argument in these verses: the reference to righteousness in 3:9 and to
sharing in Christs sufferings and death in 3:10. The first reference of
course takes up the one to righteousness under the law at 3:6. Paul is
marking the change from one type of righteousness to another. What is
intriguing is the question of the relationship between the phrase not
having etc. and the immediately preceding in order that I may be
found in him. In any case it is noteworthy that we here find the two
ideas that lie behind the two distinct scholarly categories of participation and forensic speech being extremely closely connected by Paul.
But exactly how?
There seem to be two possibilities. Either not having etc. spells
out what the state of being found in Christ (also) consists in. This is the
weakest reading and it may well be right. The other possibility is that
not having etc. indicates a cause or presupposition for the state of
being found in Christ. This is a stronger, or more specific, reading and
consequently more difficult to maintain. It could be supported by the
fact that in Romans (cf. 5:1) righteousness as resulting from is
apparently followed by being in a state that is permeated by the pneuma
(cf. 8:1-13). Similarly, it could be supported by what appears to be a
kind of theory in Galatians to the effect that is followed by obtaining the pneuma (cf. 3:2, 3:14, 4:6). Be that as it may. In either case, Pauls
reference to the proper kind of righteousness in Phil 3:9 clearly aims at
strengthening the idea of directedness towards Christ since it comes
about through Christ faith and based on (that) faith in the believer.
Then the remaining phrase: Pauls expression in 3:10 of his desire to
come to know a sharing () with Christs sufferings by
acquiring the same shape () as Christ in his death.
How should we understand this? The fact that Paul uses the term
here, which he then takes up again in 3:21
(), suggests that already in 3:10 he is speaking of a bodily
change, but of a type that we have not come across until now. In fact, in
the two passages he will be speaking of a bodily change in two directions, here of becoming like Christ in his death and there of becoming
like Christ in his glory. Thus, sharing in Christs sufferings will literally
mean coming to have a body that has the same shape as Christs in his
death, a body that is on its way towards dying (in its aspect of flesh

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and blood). This idea may seem far-fetched, but elsewhere (Gal 6:17) of
course Paul does say that I ... carry around in my body the tattoomarks of Jesus. If this reading of 3:10 is correct, then what we find
here is the flip side of the transformation to which Paul has just been
referring earlier in the verse. He desires, so he says, to know the power
of Christs resurrection, that is, gradually to come to obtain more and
more of the pneuma. But the flip side of that is that his body of flesh
and blood will simultaneously acquire the same shape as Christs in his
death, in other words, that it will gradually die away.
Summarizing on Pauls account of his own transformation in Philippians 3, we may say that there are basically three forms of change
that Paul has undergone in the period before the final transformation at
the resurrection which is referred to and described in 3:11 and 3:21. The
first is a transformation that has already taken place. It is cognitive and
as it is described in 3:7-8, it must be understood to be complete. However, while it is the cognitive side that is emphasized, we have also seen
that it is likely to be the result of reception of the pneuma, when Paul
was laid hold on by Christ. The second change is a transformation
which has only begun and consists in gradually coming to gain
Christ and be found in him and gradually getting to know him and
the power for resurrection. This change is a material one since it consists in receiving more and more of the pneuma, some of which Paul
had already received when he was initially grasped by Christ. At the
same time it also has a cognitive side to it of deepening his knowledge
of Christ so that he may finally come to be nothing but a person with
the knowledge by which he was initially struck. Finally, there is the flip
side of the latter process, when Paul gradually and materially becomes
more and more like Christ in his death. That the two last types of
change were understood by Paul to be material and bodily (in addition,
as I have insisted, to having a cognitive side to them) is shown by the
fact that he does speak precisely of two types of body in 3:21 and of a
transformation from one into the other: the human body in the present,
which is a lowly one, and the body of glory of Christ with which the
future human body will be made isomorphic. Only, in 3:8-12 the two
types of body are understood to be present at the same time in the here
and now.
With this reading of Philippians 3 we have opened up for saying far
more about Pauls picture of his own transformation than merely taking it to be cognitive and complete. We have also found Paul to be referring to a gradual physical take-over in the present life by the
pneuma. And we have seen that he had the further idea of a corresponding wasting-away of his physical body of flesh and blood until it

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becomes like Christs in his death. Thus, all three elements in the complex pattern of Pauls picture of his own life here and now are in place.

Different Types of Transformation

in 2 Corinthians 2:14-5:10
The same three elements in the pattern are found in 2 Corinthians 3-4.
Here 4:6 provides an account of what appears to be Pauls own founding experience and the account is clearly given in cognitive terms. God
has caused a light to shine () in our hearts to provide the
enlightenment () that consists in knowledge () of the
glory of God on the face of Jesus Christ (my tr.). There is both knowing and seeing here. But the idea in the two chapters seems to be that
Pauls own founding experience as described in 4:6 exemplifies everyones turning towards the Lord (3:16), which is then followed by an
account in 3:18 of what this means for us all: And all of us, with
unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a
mirror, are being transformed () into the same image
from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the
Spirit (NRSV). Here, then, we both have the idea of a cognitive and
complete, initial transformation on Pauls part and of a continuing
transformation on the part of both Paul and his addressees. Is the latter,
then, also purely and distinctly cognitive?
There is no doubt that it is in fact cognitive. It is, after all, a matter
of seeing the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces (though still as in a
mirror). But it also seems that Paul has the idea of the transformation as
being something more than cognitive. He does after all say that we
are (all) being transformed by or in the seeing, as if this was a matter
not just of the understanding but of us as wholes. And he states that
the transformation is operated by the Lord, (who is) the spirit. If the
pneuma is a material entity, then necessarily something more than a
cognitive transformation is being envisaged here. Finally, there is the
enigmatic phrase from glory to glory. Elsewhere, as we have seen,
glory () is closely connected with the idea of the resurrected
body (cf. Phil 3:21) and also, by implication, with the pneuma that operates the resurrection (cf. 1 Cor 15:35-49). It is possible, therefore, and
indeed rather likely, that the idea in 2 Cor 3:18 is that the transformation of us that is being operated by the pneuma is a transformation of
our bodies as wholes from being infused with a certain amount of
pneuma and the glory that corresponds with that into a more extensive infusion with more pneuma and more glory.

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This reading does not, of course, leave the cognitive level behind.
On the contrary, the gradual, material change may also be accompanied by a gradual deepening at the cognitive level in the way that we
discussed in connection with Pauls self-account in Phil 3:7-10. This fits
since, as we saw, the pneuma is both a material and a cognitive entity.
We may conclude that in addition to the idea of an initial transformation that is cognitive and complete, and which is most clearly exemplified in Pauls own case, there is also the idea that the initial transformation, which once more has probably come about through the
reception of the pneuma, is followed by a change of Christ followers
which is physical and material and only gradual, but which may also
imply a cognitive deepening. Christ followers, here including Paul
himself, are gradually being filled more and more and hence being
transformed in their bodies by the material pneuma which they initially received as a down payment. (For the latter idea see 2 Cor 1:22
and 5:5.) This process was referred to with respect to Paul himself at
Phil 3:8 end-10 and 3:12 and is referred to with respect to all believers
in the latter half of 2 Cor 3:18. It is also what is referred to at 2 Cor 4:16
when Paul says of himself that our inner nature is being renewed day
by day.
So far, then, what we have in 2 Corinthians 3-4 is first a cognitive
transformation to begin with; this transformation is a complete one, at
least in Pauls own case; and it is a transformation that comes with reception of the (material and cognitive) pneuma. Second, we have a
gradual change that is physical (but also cognitive) and that gradually
transforms the body of flesh and blood that Christ followers continue
to carry around on their way towards the final and complete, material
transformation that will take place at the resurrection of the dead.
But then, 2 Corinthians 4 also articulates the third idea that I earlier
characterized as the flip side of the idea of a gradual physical change.
This is the idea expressed, for instance, at 4:10, where Paul speaks of
himself as always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, just as he
had spoken in Phil 3:10 of sharing in Christs sufferings by becoming
like him in his death. What it means is quite literally that Paul is
moving towards having a body of flesh and blood that is physically
dead. Of course, we must say: near-dead since the body of flesh and
blood remains physically there until he will in fact die (or be resurrected before that). But the point is that the physical body of flesh and
blood gradually and in a wholly literal sense dies away, atrophies at
the same time as the body of flesh and blood is also being transformed
by the pneuma into a body that is now no longer one of flesh and blood,

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but a pneumatic one. These two processes are two sides of the same
process.
Second Corinthians 4:7-5:10 spells out this double aspect of Pauls
picture of the present state of Christ believers: the being transformed
and the dying away. He is in fact speaking of himself, but as always he
does so with an eye on his addressees: ideally, they, too, would have
the same experience. Paul begins by stating that he has the treasure
he has just mentioned in 4:6, namely, as we saw, his own cognitive
conversion experience, in the earthen pots of his fragile body of flesh
and blood (4:7). After a few verses he identifies this combined state in a
striking manner (4:10-11):
.. always carrying around in the body the death of Jesus, in order that the
life, too, of Jesus may become manifest [or visible] in our body. / For we
who are living are constantly being given up to death because of Jesus [in
the various ways he has just described in 4:8-9], in order that the life, too, of
Jesus may become manifest [or visible] in our mortal flesh.

Here Paul is speaking of a number of ways in which the death of Jesus

is found and may be seen in his own body of flesh and blood and saying that this serves a special purpose, which is that the life, too, of Jesus
may become manifest or visible in that same, mortal body. But what is
the time frame? When does he expect the latter thing to happen? Is it
something that will take place in the future? Or is it something that is
taking place already now?
One might think that the idea of Jesus life becoming manifest in
Pauls mortal flesh would indicate that he is thinking of the present.
However, that idea might also mean that Jesus life will become manifest in the future in Pauls mortal flesh (as it is now), namely, when
that flesh will be transformed by the life of Jesus into the resurrection
body. For we already know from 1 Corinthians 15 that it is the very
same body that is now mortal and fleshly but will eventually be something quite different. Is Paul not relying on this idea and so in fact
speaking of the future in the quoted lines? Indeed, he goes on a little
later (at 2 Cor 4:14 and more extensively in 5:1-10) to spell out precisely
what will happen at the resurrection, that is, in the future.
Against this reading, which would imply that Paul is speaking of
the future in 4:10-11, too, stands the fact that he also claims (in 4:13)
that we already now have the pneuma of faith, just as he has said in
4:7 that we have the treasure in earthen pots. Moreover, in 5:5 it is
said that God has already now equipped believers for the resurrection
by having given them the pneuma as a down payment. So, something of
what will become more fully present at the resurrection is already there
in the present. Does Paul then think that his present, mortal body of

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flesh and blood is also in some way and to some extent the playing
ground for what will eventually be far more strongly there: the
pneuma, when the mortal thing is (finally) engulfed by life (cf. 5:4)?
In fact, yes. For Paul himself brings together the deadliness and affliction () of his present life with the life and glory () of his
future life (cf. 4:17) when he states in 4:16 that even though our outer
person is being wasted away, nevertheless our inner (person) is being
renewed day by day. This verse functions as a turning-point around
which we get, first, a description of Pauls present affliction (4:7-15) and
then an account of his hoped-for glory (4:17-5:10). The fact, then, that he
brings these two accounts together as something that is simultaneously
located in his own body both in its exterior and its interior shows
that although the life of Jesus will presumably only in the future become fully and completely manifest and visible in Pauls mortal body
of flesh and blood, the process itself towards that state has already begun. To some degree the life of Jesus is already manifest in Pauls mortal
body even though this is overlaid by the far more manifest presence of
Jesus death, that is, by the wasting away of Pauls body of flesh and
blood.
We should conclude that 2 Corinthians 4 makes wholly explicit
what I argued was in fact also present in Phil 3:10: the idea of the concomitant and simultaneous presence in Pauls body of the life of Jesus
(for which the pneuma is responsible) and Jesus death, which is seen in
Pauls mortal flesh (sarx).

Romans 8:9-13 as Final Proof?

As we are working towards our conclusion on types of transformation
in Paul, it is worth considering Rom 8:9-13. The understanding for
which I have argued of the kind of transformation envisaged by Paul at
either end of the spectrum will probably not meet much resistance. The
initial change is no doubt at least also a cognitive one and the final
change is no doubt at least also a physical one. The same agreement
will hardly be given to the proposed account of the interim period,
where I have placed two gradual changes, one of being gradually taken
over by the physical (and cognitive) pneuma and one of gradually and
literally wasting away in ones mortal body of flesh. Perhaps Rom 8:913 may provide additional support for this picture.
In Rom 8:1-13 Paul describes the solution to the problem connected
with living under the Jewish law that he has spelled out in 7:7-25. The
solution includes a general account of the consequences of the Christ

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141

event (8:1-4) and a specific account of how these consequences have

impinged on his Roman addressees (8:9-13, NRSV revised):
9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God
dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, the body [] is dead []
because of sin, while the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the
Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised
Christ from the dead will make alive your mortal bodies also through []
his Spirit that dwells in you. 12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the
flesh, to live according to the flesh 13 for if you live according to the flesh,
you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,
you will live.

The first thing to be noted here is the careful manner in which Paul
backs up his claim that the Romans are in the pneuma: (i) Gods
pneuma inhabits them, (ii) they have the pneuma of Christ, and (iii)
Christ is in them. From Gods pneuma to Christs pneuma to Christ,
and from its inhabiting them to their having it to his being in them:
Paul is no doubt speaking of one and the same thing a take-over of
the Romans by Christ who is pneuma.
The second thing to be noted is the striking claim that while the
body () is dead, the pneuma that is present in them is, means or
generates life for them, to which Paul adds an even more striking set of
ideas: ... dead because of sin and ... life because of righteousness (8:10).
The former idea is exceedingly difficult to understand.15 If the body is
dead, are the bodies of the Romans also dead? How can that apply to
the present? And how has the body become dead because of sin? The
idea about the pneuma is presumably the somewhat more straightforward one that if Christ is in them, then the pneuma that is thereby also
in them generates life for them since they are righteous. Here too, however, one may ask whether Paul is actually speaking of the present.
With regard to the question about the time-frame, we must note
that Paul goes immediately on (8:11) to speak of something that will
happen in the future, namely, that God will make the Romans mortal
bodies alive by means of the pneuma that lives in them. This must imply that if the claim of 8:10 that the body is dead does mean that the
bodies of the Romans are in some way dead, then that must be a fea_____________
15

J. A. Fitzmyers interpretation may stand here as a representative for many others.

Taking in a concessive sense (though the body be
dead because of sin), he paraphrases as follows: Without the Spirit, the source of
Christian vitality, the human body is like a corpse because of the influence of sin
...; but in union with Christ the human spirit lives, for the Spirit resuscitates the
dead human body through the gift of uprightness (Romans, Anchor Bible 33; New
York: Doubleday, 1993) 490-491. The interpretation I shall propose is quite different.

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ture of the present. For in the future their mortal bodies will not be
dead, but will be made alive. Similarly, the fact that Paul appears to be
going on in 8:11 to draw out the future consequences of what he has said
in 8:10 suggests that the pneuma means life to the Romans in the present.
Then the earlier questions: does what Paul says about the body in
fact have implications for the bodies of the Romans? Are their bodies
dead in the present? It is difficult to think otherwise. For Paul speaks so
massively in verses 9-11 of the pneuma (and Christ) dwelling in them,
which can hardly mean anything other than in their bodies. And this
idea also makes immediate sense of the point he goes on to make in
8:11 to the effect that God will raise their (mortal) bodies through his
pneuma that dwells in you namely, in those bodies. In all this I am
presupposing that there is a clear and sharp distinction between the
two terms and . Where the former means dead, the
latter means mortal, that is, liable to die. In a way, however, this
only makes the whole issue even more perplexing. If the Romans bodies are already dead, then why will God sometime in the future make
their mortal bodies come alive, as if they were not yet dead? In short,
what does it mean for Paul to say that if Christ is in the Romans, then in
their case the body, that is, their bodies, are already dead?
The addition of because of sin should help us find an answer.
Earlier in the passage Paul has said something important about sin
when he describes the Christ event as follows (8:3, my tr.):
God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin
and he condemned sin in the flesh.

Here Paul appears to be speaking not just of Christs having been sent
but also of his death, which is seen as a condemnation on Gods part of
sin in the flesh. If this is correct, then it is highly noteworthy that the
protasis of 8:10 says: if Christ is in you. In the light of 8:3 this may
mean more than just that they have the pneuma in them. It may also
mean that just as Christ died in order to effect Gods condemnation of
sin in the flesh, so the bodies of the Romans, too, will actually be dead if
the Christ who himself did die is in them. The phrase because of sin
may then be spelled out as meaning since Christ died because of sin. If
Christ is in fact in the Romans, then their bodies will be like his: dead as
his was because of sin. On such a reading, the first half of 8:10 very
closely resembles the first 11 verses of Romans 6, where baptism is
interpreted as a process of dying together with Christ so that the body
of sin might be destroyed (6:6, NRSV). Still, of course, if Christ is in the
Romans, it will also follow that the pneuma that is in them and Christ
is precisely also pneuma will mean life for them because of right-

Complete and Incomplete Transformation in Paul

143

eousness. And here, too, the added phrase may mean since by
Christs act you are righteous. Thus the picture of the Romans that
Paul is painting at 8:10 appears to be this: that by having Christ in them
their bodies are now dead because those bodies are similar to the Christ
who died in order for God to deal with sin but the pneuma that they
also have means life for them since by that same act of Christ they have
become righteous. The Romans both have bodies that are dead and a
pneuma that generates life.
But are their bodies literally dead? Both yes and no. They should be
literally dead, but are not yet quite so. Conversely, the pneuma does
not (yet) quite generate life for them. It is this not quite perfect situation
that will then find its final resolution at the resurrection as described in
8:11, when through his pneuma that already now does dwell in the
mortal (and dying) bodies of the Romans, God will make those bodies
come alive, by finally transforming them (as we know from elsewhere)
so that these mortal bodies, which in a way were already dead, are now
finally made completely alive by the pneuma.
I conclude that in the exceedingly compact verse of 8:10 Paul is describing exactly the two features of the proper Christ believer that I
spoke of as being the flip side of one another. If Christ is in the Romans,
then they too can say what Paul had said of himself in 2 Cor 4:16: that
even though our outer being is wasting away, our inner being is being
renewed day by day. Only, here Paul says of them that their bodies
are in fact dead and the pneuma concomitantly at work in them, generating life.
Here are two obvious objections to this reading. I have taken Paul
at his word: the Romans bodies are dead. Why, then, should he go
immediately on to exhort these Romans to kill () the
deeds of the body by means of the pneuma (8:13), even saying that if
they do that, then they will live ()? Even more, I have taken
Paul to speak of a literal death in this verse corresponding to his claim
that the pneuma is literally, physically and materially present in them.
Why, then, should he go on to address them in distinctly cognitive
terms, as one necessarily does when one engages in paraenesis (as here
in Rom 8:11-13)?
This is where we may finally get hold of the fundamental shape of
Pauls picture. First, he is speaking of a set of events that are at the
same time both physical and cognitive. Reception of the pneuma near
the beginning of the process is both a physical and a cognitive event. So
is the effect of the presence of the pneuma in believers bodies as they
move on towards the resurrection. And so is that final event itself: a
concluding complete physical transformation of the body to which

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corresponds the cognitive experience of having finally grasped Christ

through his pneuma (cf. our reading of Phil 3:12). This dual character of
the various events of which Paul is speaking dissolves the second problem: just as one may address the material pneuma in cognitive terms,
so one may use the same terms to address people who are taken to be
moving towards literal death.
Second, within this physical-cum-cognitive set of events there is no
doubt that the final set is by far the most important one: it is what gives
shape to everything that comes before. However, in another respect the
most important set is the initial one, where the Christ believer is set
distinctly apart from the rest of the world, both physically by receiving
the down payment of the pneuma and cognitively in conversion as at
least modelled to the Philippians by Paul himself. Physically, this
change is not complete from the beginning. And this is what accounts
for the process between the two poles that Paul speaks of as one of
wasting away and being constantly renewed. Cognitively, however, the
difference between before and after is so great that Paul is here tempted
to say two things at the same time: both that the initial, cognitive
change is (at least in his own case) utterly complete and also that it of
course allows for concrete deepening. The latter picture provides the
space that is needed for paraenesis. The former picture, however, pinpoints a logical feature of paraenesis itself that is part of its very definition: that paraenesis does not really add anything new; rather, it presupposes that the addressees already know everything, at least in
principle.
From time to time this dual character of the process of paraenesis at
the cognitive level even spills over into the physical account. That happens, for instance, when Paul claims that the Romans bodies are already are dead (8:10) or that they have already been crucified with
Christ in baptism (cf. 6:6). Corresponding to what we just said about
the process at the cognitive level, we may therefore say that at this
level, too, Paul wishes to say two things at the same time, both that the
physical change was in all relevant respects complete from the beginning and also that there remains space for a further process towards
the final transformation. Only, whereas we can construct a sensible
account at the cognitive level (with the distinction between an initial
grasp that is in a way complete and its further deepening), in the case
of Pauls statements about the character of the initial physical change
we must insist that he here overplays his hand: even if Christ is in the
Romans as a result of their having received the first fruits of the
pneuma (cf. 8:23), their bodies are in fact not literally dead! Still, one
can easily see why Paul gives his statements this extra twist. It fits his

Complete and Incomplete Transformation in Paul

145

understanding of paraenesis at the cognitive level. And it emphasizes

that the crucial event vis--vis the rest of the world lies in the initial
reception of the pneuma.
This interpretation of Rom 8:10 fits in with, and gives added point
to, a few verses in Galatians that have always intrigued interpreters
(Gal 5:24-25, NRSV revised):
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Here we have the following ideas that also go into the Romans passage:
belonging to Christ; having crucified the body; living by the pneuma
and paraenesis. What is most striking, however, is the idea that belonging to Christ at one and the same time reflects the two aspects of Christ
that are his death (the crucifixion) and his life (the resurrection). As applied to believers these are precisely the two elements in their present
life that constitute what I have called the flip sides of one another: having crucified the fleshly body and living by the pneuma, where both are
meant to be taken quite literally.
Seen in this light, a verse like Phil 3:10, which we have already
studied, also comes out with its true meaning. Here too we have the
idea of getting to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, that
is, experiencing more and more strongly the pneuma in oneself, and at
the same time also the idea of sharing in his sufferings by becoming
conformed with him in his death. Both that kind of dying and that
kind of living are found in those who belong to Christ.

Conclusion
My theme has been ideas of complete and incomplete transformation in
Paul.
I have argued for a specific understanding of the idea of complete
transformation in connection with the final resurrection. Here it is certainly a complete and physical transformation, whereby the body of
flesh and blood is being physically and completely transformed into a
body that is through and through pneumatic. (We also saw, however,
that Paul might well think of this final, physical transformation as a
final, cognitive one.)
I have also argued for finding the idea of a complete transformation
at the beginning of the whole process, when Paul and his addressees
became Christ followers. Here, however, the transformation though
complete is only a cognitive one, which, however, reflects the fact that

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Paul and his addressees have received the cognitive and material
pneuma when they became Christ followers.
Following on this initial change, which is complete at the cognitive
level but incomplete at the physical one, there begins a process of material change towards the final physical transformation that will only take
place at the resurrection. And here I claimed that there are two intimately connected sides to this process: that of the body of flesh and
blood literally dying away and that of the pneuma gradually gaining
more and more of the upper hand in that body. In both cases, however,
there also is a cognitive side to the process, which I spoke of as a deepening of the initial cognitive transformation. It is unproblematic, however, to speak of the process as being both a physical and a cognitive
one. For the pneuma is both a cognitive and a material phenomenon. It
is equally unproblematic to speak of the initial cognitive change as
being complete and as also being in need of deepening. For cognition
has several levels that allow for that.
Finally, I have claimed that these various transformations, which
we have developed on the basis of 1 Corinthians 15, Philippians 3 and 2
Corinthians 3-4, are given what is perhaps their most striking expression in Romans 8, where Paul speaks most directly of a physical takeover, that is, of a complete transformation generated by the material
pneuma not just in the future (8:11), but also in the present (8:9-10).
With Christ in them, the Romans have bodies here and now that are
dead, but a pneuma that generates life. We also saw, however, that
here, at least, Paul somewhat overplayed his hand. The same will hold
for those other passages we noted: Gal 5:24 and Phil 3:10.
All through, however, I have insisted on trying to take literally
what Paul says as making excellent sense within the philosophical
ways of thinking that were available to him in his own world. Though
the resulting reading may make it quite difficult for us to apply Pauls
ideas directly in the modern world, it has the advantage of making
them stand out as part of their own world rather more sharply than
they are normally seen.

Flesh and Blood Cannot Inherit the Kingdom of

God: The Transformation of the Flesh in the Early
Christian Debates Concerning Resurrection
The Transformation of the Flesh in the Early Christian Debates
OUTI LEHTIPUU1
berschrift 2: fr Kapitel ohne 2 wird hier 1 Kurzform wiederholt
One of the fiercest battles in early Christianity was fought over the correct understanding of resurrection. Hints of this battle are already seen
in the New Testament,2 but the debate seems to have reached a new
level from the latter half of the second century onward when the expression resurrection of the flesh ( , carnis resurrectio) was introduced and became the crux of the matter.3 Indeed, several
writers in different parts of the Christian world devoted whole tracts to
this question, often under the name of On the Resurrection, or the like.
These include e.g. (Pseudo-)Justin in Rome, Athenagoras probably as
the name indicates in Athens,4 Tertullian in Carthage, and the unknown author of the Nag Hammadi tract the Treatise on the Resurrection
(NHC I,4).5 Practically all Christians in this period agreed on some kind
of a survival of the human after death6 but whereas some envisioned
_____________
1
2

4
5
6

Outi Lehtipuu is a researcher at the Department of Biblical Studies, University of

Helsinki, Finland.
Cf. 2 Tim 2:17-18: Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved
from the truth by claiming that the resurrection has already taken place. All biblical
quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version, if not otherwise noted.
Gunnar af Hllstrm, Carnis Resurrectio: The Interpretation of a Credal Formula (Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum 86. Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica,
1988), 9-11. The New Testament writings use expressions such as resurrection of
the dead ( ), resurrection of the righteous (
) or just resurrection with no attributes. The earliest occurrence of the
term resurrection of the flesh seems to be in Justin Martyrs Dial. 80,5; see Claudia
Setzer, Resurrection of the Body in Early Judaism and Early Christianity: Doctrine, Community, and Self-Definition (Boston & Leiden: Brill, 2004), 74-75.
Philip of Side, however, writing in the fifth century, places Athenagoras in Alexandria; af Hllstrm, Carnis Resurrectio, 42.
See the analysis of this writing and its way of understanding resurrection of the
flesh in Hugo Lundhaugs article in this volume.
According to the sarcastic comment of Tertullian, there is the one single solitary
Lucan who maintains that the soul will not survive. However, even he seems not to
teach a total annihilation at death but expects something to rise. See Res. 2.12. All

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Outi Lehtipuu

only the survival of the soul, others maintained that the soul could not
exist without a body. Thus, according to Tertullian, The salvation of
the soul I believe needs no discussion: for almost all heretics, in whatever way they accept it, at least do not deny it.7 In contrast, the salvation of the body needed a lot of discussion.
For Tertullian and many other Church fathers, it was this selfsame
earthly flesh that would be resurrected, albeit in a perfected form. They
based their views on Paul, especially on his discussion in 1 Corinthians
15 where the apostle speaks of resurrection. However, as part of his
discussion Paul also wrote that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God.8 This apparent denial of the resurrection of the flesh
proved to be problematic for these advocates of bodily resurrection and
some of them, notably Irenaeus and Tertullian, devoted a lot of space to
crafting elaborate exegeses showing that Paul, after all, does not refute
the resurrection of the flesh.9 This was necessary since they knew that
others took the verse to support a more spiritual view of the resurrection and to reject the survival of the earthly body after death. In the
words of Irenaeus, this [passage] is cited by all the heretics in their
folly with an attempt to show that Gods formation [sc. the body] is not
saved.10 Two such examples have survived:11 one is in a polemical
passage in the first book of Irenaeus Against Heresies, the other in the
Nag Hammadi treatise, the Gospel of Philip.
The early Christian debate concerning the right understanding of
resurrection has roused keen scholarly interest and studies on the topic
abound.12 Some of the more recent important contributions include
Gunnar af Hllstrms study Carnis Resurrectio: The Interpretation of a
Credal Formula and Claudia Setzers book Resurrection of the Body in
Early Judaism and Early Christianity: Doctrine, Community, and SelfDefinition. My approach, however, differs from both of these. Whereas
af Hllstrm writes a history of dogma wishing to shed light on the
_____________
7
8
9
10
11

12

quotations from Tertullian are, if not otherwise noted, by Ernst Evans in Tertullians
Treatise on the Resurrection (London: SPCK, 1960).
Res. 2.12.
1 Cor 15:50.
Irenaeus Haer. 5.9-14; Tertullian Res.48-50.
Haer. 5.9.1. All translations of Irenaeus are my own, if not otherwise noted.
Noormann points out that given Irenaeus claim that all heretics (ab omnibus haereticis) use this verse, it is surprising to find so little evidence of this; Rolf Noormann,
Irenus als Paulusinterpret: Zur Rezeption und Wirkung der paulinischen und deuteropaulinischen Briefe im Werk des Irenus von Lyon (WUNT 2. Reihe 66. Tbingen: Mohr
(Siebeck), 1994), 501-502. However, most writings of those who were labeled heretics were later destroyed which means that only an arbitrary sample of them have
survived.
See the bibliography in af Hllstrm, Carnis Resurrectio, 11-12.

The Transformation of the Flesh in the Early Christian Debates

149

development of the formulation of the Apostolic creed, my interest lies

in how different early Christians read and interpreted Paul in general
and his discussion on resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 in particular.
Like Setzer, I am interested in questions of identity and self-definition
and how different representations of resurrection belief served as tools
for boundary drawing between insiders and outsiders. But my focus is
on inter-Christian debates and group demarcation between different
Christian groups while Setzer also discusses Christian self-definition
over against paganism.13 I concentrate on what different early Christian
writers meant by the word flesh, how they envisioned the resurrected flesh, and how they understood Pauls claim that flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

Who Has the Right to Lean on Pauls Authority?

Despite the different views of resurrection, all the above-mentioned
ancient writers have at least one thing in common: they all use Scriptures to legitimize their views.14 The single most important authority
for them was the apostle Paul who enjoyed a quite extraordinary position; he was the apostle par excellence, to whom many writers simply
referred as .15 A case in point is Irenaeus who cites him
more frequently than any other authority16 and opens his five volume
_____________
13

14

15
16

Setzer does claim that belief in resurrection stands for many ancient authors as a
boundary marker between authentic representatives of the faith and those who only
claim to belong; Setzer, Resurrection, 4. However, even though she discusses different Christian views on resurrection, she fails to make adequate distinctions between
terms like resurrection, resurrection of the body, and resurrection of the flesh.
In her view, these all seem to represent the authentic Christian understanding
which is that of the growing church (p. 149). Setzer refers to Hopkins in arguing
that belief in resurrection was useful as a unifying symbol for the small Christian
communities that absorbed outsiders as new members at a rapid rate; Setzer, Resurrection, 134-35, 149-50; cf. Keith Hopkins, Christian Number and Its Implications
(JECS 6 [1998], 185-226.) But was resurrection such an easy shorthand symbol that
could be used to unite Christians over against their pagan environment? The fierce
polemic over resurrection in ancient sources attests to the contrary.
Of the above-mentioned writers, Athenagoras is exceptional since he cites Paul only
once (1 Cor 15:53 in Athenagoras, Res. 18). This might indicate that he is addressing
his writing mainly to non-Christians.
See, e.g., the works of Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian passim; Athenagoras Res.
18; Treat. Res. 45,24.
It is typical of Irenaeus to introduce a quotation of Paul with the words
(apostolus ait, etc.); see, e.g., Haer. 1.1. Prae; 5.2.2.; 5.10.2.; 5.14.3.; 5.28.2; 5.31.1.;
5.35.2. This formula occurs frequently especially in the fifth book of Against Heresies

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Outi Lehtipuu

work with a (deutero-)Pauline quotation17 obviously these writers

made no distinction between the genuine Pauline letters and those ascribed to him. One reason for Pauls prominent position was the wide
distribution of his letters early on. One indication of this is the report of
the trial of the Scillitan martyrs who were tried and condemned to
death in Carthage in 180. According to the report, the condemned had
in their possession copies of Pauls letters and their major spokesperson
Separatus defends himself with words echoing 1 Timothy 6:16: I
serve that God whom no one has seen, nor can see with these eyes.18
Moreover, the second century church was predominantly of gentile
origin in many parts of the Christian world. Thus, Paul, the apostle of
the gentiles, was considered their apostle and revered in a special way.19
However, both Paul and other early traditions of resurrection were
ambiguous enough to allow for diverging views to develop.20 Many
early Christian writers found it disturbing that their rivals used Paul
and claimed to represent his authority as well. In many sources, there
are complaints of how difficult it is to distinguish true teaching from
false. Irenaeus, for example, finds fault with those whom he calls heretics since they speak like us but think otherwise (
, );21 they imitate our phraseology22 and transfer [expressions found in Scripture] out of their
natural meaning to a meaning contrary to nature.23 It is his church
alone, according to Irenaeus, that proclaims the truth it has received
from the apostles, preserves it, and transmits it further.24 Similarly,
Tertullian complains that his opponents deceive people by purposefully talking about the resurrection of the flesh even though they mean
something else:
_____________
17

18
19
20

21
22
23
24

where he wishes to prove his point from the rest of the teachings of our Lord and
the apostolic epistles (Haer 5.Prae.); Cf. Noormann, Irenus, 517-23.
The quoted passage is 1 Timothy 1:4. Irenaeus writes: Some persons reject the truth
and introduce false statements and endless genealogies, which provide questions,
as the Apostle says, rather than the divine training that is in faith. Translation by
Robert M. Grant (Irenaeus of Lyons. London & New York: Routledge, 1997).
The Latin runs: ... quem nemo hominum vidit nec videre his oculis potest; cf. the
relevant part of 1 Tim. 6:16: .
Noormann, Irenus, 40-41.
On the New Testament traditions concerning resurrection, see Outi Lehtipuu, Biblical Body Language: Spiritual and Bodily Resurrection (in Anthropology in Context:
Studies on Anthropological Ideas within the New Testament and its Ancient Context.
Edited by M. Labahn and O. Lehtipuu. Leuven: Peeters, forthcoming.)
Haer. 1. Prae. 2.
Haer. 3.15.1.
Haer. 1.9.4.
Haer. 5. Prae.; cf. 1.8.1.

The Transformation of the Flesh in the Early Christian Debates

151

Thereafter then, having by faith obtained resurrection, they are, they say,
with the Lord, whom they have put on in baptism. In fact, by this device
they are accustomed often enough to trick our people even in conversation,
pretending that they too admit the resurrection of the flesh. Woe, they
say, to him who has not risen again in this flesh, to avoid shocking them
at the outset by a forthright repudiation of resurrection. But secretly, in
their private thoughts, their meaning is, Woe to him who has not, while he
is in this flesh, obtained the knowledge of heretical secrets: for among them
resurrection has this meaning.25

So powerful is the rhetoric of these Church fathers that often scholars

have taken their side and concluded that those representing an opposing view adopted their language26 even though they deviated from the
apostolic tradition.27 However, the author of the Gospel of Philip, whose
view of the resurrection certainly contrasts with that of Irenaeus and
Tertullian, also leans on Pauls authority and he also worries about the
correct understanding of crucial terminology. According to him,
Names given to the worldly are very deceptive, for they divert our thoughts from what is correct to what is incorrect. Thus one who hears the word
God does not perceive what is correct, but perceives what is incorrect. So
also with the father and the son and the holy spirit and life and
light and resurrection and the church and all the rest people do not
perceive what is correct but they perceive what is incorrect, [unless] they
have come to know what is correct.28

From his point of view, it is his opponents who falsify the Christian
tradition and deceive others.
A comparison between the ways Irenaeus and Tertullian on the one
hand and the author of the Gospel of Philip on the other hand understand the Pauline statement flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God shows how one and the same text can be used for promoting quite different views. However, in contrasting the writings of
these authors, I am not suggesting any direct controversy between
them. Given the fact that the surviving texts must represent just a small
_____________
25
26

27
28

Res. 19.6.
This is maintained, e.g., by A.H.C. van Eijk in his otherwise well-balanced article,
The Gospel of Philip and Clement of Alexandria: Gnostic and Ecclesiastical Theology on the Resurrection and the Eucharist (VC 25 [1971], 94-120), 100: Apparently
these gnostics tried, rather successfully, not only to copy the language of ecclesiastical theologians, but also to incorporate some of their points. In this respect, the article is a product of its own time.
Recently, Noormann has argued that Irenaeus position comes closer to the intentions of Paul than do those of his opponents; Irenus, 508-12.
53,23-35. Translation here as elsewhere by Wesley W. Isenberg in the Nag Hammadi
Library in English (ed. James M. Robinson. San Francisco: Harper, 1990).

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and arbitrary sample of all those circulating in antiquity29 and the problems of dating the Nag Hammadi texts,30 any such direct dispute must
be deemed unlikely. Moreover, the early Christian debates were often
struggles on several fronts simultaneously, as the diverse polemics in
any one writing reveal. It would be an oversimplification to envision
only two sides in the debate, say, the promoters of the resurrection of
the flesh on the one hand and those of a spiritual resurrection on the
other. Even so, a comparison of these texts is sensible as they represent
different stances in a debate that went on for centuries.31
The analysis of the different texts yields some interesting results.
Despite the different outcome, many of the arguments are surprisingly
similar. However, judging from the bitterness of the polemics, the different groups were socially far apart. Or, to be more precise, they
wanted to be sharply distinguished from those representing a divergent view. Whether the outsiders could tell the difference, say, between
Irenaeus and those whom he calls heretics, is another matter. Actually,
it was not always easy for the insiders to tell the difference, either.32
This made the threat of those whose view deviated from that of the
author the more dangerous.

Irenaeus: Flesh and Blood Without the Spirit

Cannot Inherit the Kingdom of God
The longest and most elaborate treatment of the Pauline statement
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God is found in the
fifth book of Irenaeus Against Heresies.33 Irenaeus cannot accept the
claim that body which for him means the earthly flesh would not
survive death. Those who think otherwise do not acknowledge the
_____________
29
30

31

32
33

Cf. Hopkins, Christian Number, 200.

The dating of the Gospel of Philip varies considerably; see Herbert Schmid, Die Eucharistie ist Jesus: Anfnge einer Theorie des Sakraments im koptischen Philippusevangelium
(NHC II,3) (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 88. Leiden: Brill, 2007), 11-14 and
Hugo Lundhaug, There is a Rebirth and an Image of Rebirth: A Cognitive Poetic
analysis of Conceptual and Intertextual Blending in the Exegesis on the Soul (NHC
II,6) and the Gospel of Philip (NHC II,3). (Ph.D. diss. University of Bergen, 2007), 32127. Whereas the former favors an early date, the last third of the second century,
the latter considers a fourth century date the more probable. Unfortunately, any dating remains speculative.
See Caroline Walker Bynum, The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, 2001336. (Lectures in the History of Religions, New Series 15; New York: Columbia
University Press, 1995).
See Irenaeus complaints, e.g., in Haer. 3.16.6-8.
Haer. 5.9-14. See also Setzers analysis of this section; Resurrection of the Body, 128-30.

The Transformation of the Flesh in the Early Christian Debates

153

power of God, the creator.34 If only the soul were raised, the resurrection would be partial. However, salvation concerns the whole human
being. Moreover, Paul calls the human body the temple of God35 and
Christians members of Christ.36 Therefore, Irenaeus reasons, to say
that the temple of God in which the Spirit of the Father dwells and the
members of Christ do not participate in salvation but are brought down
to perdition, is not that the utmost blasphemy?37
From this point of view, Paul cannot mean that the flesh is excluded
from the resurrection. What 1 Corinthians 15:50 says is that flesh and
blood alone (carnem solam; ), that is, those who
do not have the spirit of God in themselves, cannot inherit the kingdom
of God. According to Irenaeus, human beings are composed of three
parts: flesh, soul, and spirit. One of these dominates; those whom the
spirit rules are spiritual (spiritales), those whom the flesh rules are carnal (carnales), while those whom the soul rules fall in between. If the
soul follows the spirit, it will be raised up by it, but if it follows the
flesh, it falls into earthly desires (in terrenas concuspicentia). The spiritual ones also have the flesh but since the spirit is stronger than the
flesh,38 the weakness of the flesh will be absorbed by the strength of the
spirit.39 But those who do not have the spirit are dead because it is the
spirit who makes human beings alive.40
In addition to this ontological argument based on the tripartite
anthropology, Irenaeus provides an ethical argument closely related to
the former one.41 Those who follow the flesh do the works of the flesh
and will die. In support of his argument, Irenaeus refers to different
_____________
34

35
36
37
38

39

40
41

Cf. Haer.5.3. If God was capable of creating humans out of the dust of the earth,
Irenaeus reasons, why would he not be able to re-create them after death? Actually,
Irenaeus argues, it is easier to re-create the body that once existed from the substance
that is dissolved into the earth than to create bones and sinews in the first place.
1 Cor 3:16.
1 Cor 6:15.
Haer. 5.6.2.
Here Irenaeus refers to Jesus words according to which the spirit is willing but the
flesh is weak (Matt 26:41). Elsewhere (Haer. 5.2.3; cf. 5.3.3), he echoes different Pauline passages such as 2 Cor 12:9 (power made perfect in weakness) and 1 Cor 15:53
(the perishable and mortal body will put on imperishability and immortality) to
make a similar point.
Strictly speaking, Irenaeus continues his argument, the flesh does not inherit but it
can be inherited. This is shown in the words Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matt 5:5). Earth, which is the substance of the flesh, remains an object of the Spirit that can take the flesh for inheritance into the kingdom of God (Haer.
5.9.4).
Haer. 5.9.1-3.
Noormann, Irenus, 505.

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Pauline passages such as those who are in the flesh [ ]

cannot please God42 and if you live according to the flesh [
], you will die; but if you by the Spirit put to death the works of
the body [ ], you will live.43 Of special importance to him are the different Pauline vice lists, especially the one in
Galatians.44 There Paul gives a long list of things starting with fornication and ending with gluttony which he explicitly calls the works of
the flesh [ ] and warns that those who do such
things will not inherit the kingdom of God.45 All in all, for Irenaeus it
is not the substance of the flesh as such that is excluded from the kingdom of God but the carnal nature of those who do not possess the Spirit
and therefore do the works of the flesh.
Irenaeus completes his reasoning with two further arguments. First,
he claims, this is not the only place where Paul promotes the resurrection of the flesh.46 If 1 Corinthians 15:50 referred to flesh and not to
fleshly works, Paul would contradict himself.47 Lastly, Irenaeus uses a
christological argument. Paul cannot have meant that the substance of
flesh and blood does not inherit the kingdom of God since he speaks
everywhere (ubique) about the flesh and blood of Christ.48 This he
does first, to prove the humanity of the Lord and secondly, to confirm
the salvation of the flesh. Even though the flesh of the Lord was differ_____________
42
43
44
45
46

47

48

Rom 8:8.
Rom 8:13; Haer. 5.10.
Gal 5:19-21; cf. 1 Cor 6:9-11 cited as well in 5.11.1 and Col 3:5 cited in 5.12.3.
Haer. 5.11.
Irenaeus refers, e.g., to 1 Cor 15:53 where Paul talks about the corruptible and mortal
flesh that shall put on incorruption and immortality (Haer. 5.13.3). Strictly speaking,
Paul does not use the word flesh or even body but the abstractions
and which does not prevent Irenaeus from interpreting them as referring
to the flesh. In the same vein, Irenaeus refers to several other Pauline passages
to prove his point. For example, the body of our humiliation (
; Phil 3:21) means this body of flesh and the mortal that
may be swallowed up by life (2 Cor 5:4-5) is quite clearly (manifestissime) the
flesh; ...for the soul is not mortal, neither is the spirit (Haer. 5.13.3.). Similarly, he
interprets passages where Paul talks about his sufferings together with his hope for
the future life (such as 2 Cor 4:10; Phil 3:10 and a combination of 1 Cor 15:32 and
15:13-21) to speak about the continuity of the fleshly substance through death and
resurrection (Haer. 5.13.4.); cf. Noormann, Irenus, 507.
In Irenaeus view, ...in all these [passages], they [his opponents] must either
allege that the apostle contradicts his own opinion, regarding the statement Flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; or, they will again be forced to make
wicked and crooked interpretations (malignas et extortas expositions) of all the sayings
[of Paul] in order to twist and alter the sense of the words (Haer. 5.13.5.).
Haer. 5.14.1.

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155

ent from ours in the respect that he did not commit any sin, its substance was similar to ours, Irenaeus reasons.49
What attracts the attention in Irenaeus reasoning is the contradictory evaluation of the flesh. On the one hand, it is part of Gods creation, an indispensable part of a human being, the precious temple of
God. But, on the other hand, it is weak, bound to earthly desires and
in need of the power of the Spirit in order to be saved. Similarly, the
expression flesh and blood both stands for the negative works of the
flesh and refers to Jesus and the salvation of the flesh. This kind of
ambiguity can also be found in the Pauline teaching. However, Paul
uses several words, mostly and , and seems to make a distinction between them.50 Paul is not quite consistent in his use of these
words but usually refers either neutrally to the human body51 or
positively to the church as the body of Christ.52 The word can also
be used in a neutral sense to refer to the human flesh as opposed to the
spirit53 but often it is viewed negatively to denote the weakness of humans and their ability to sin.54 In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul uses both
and to refer to earthly bodies (that comprise of different kinds of
flesh)55 but only the word when speaking of heavenly bodies that
surpass the earthly bodies in glory.56 This distinction is lost in Irenaeus

_____________
49

50

51
52

53
54

55
56

Haer. 5.14.3. Later (5.31.2.) Irenaeus argues that the destiny of the believers will be
similar to that of the Lord who was taken up into heaven in the same body in which
he was raised. Irenaeus justifies his claim by quoting Luke 6:40: No disciple is
above the Master, but everybody who is perfect shall be as his Master.
On these terms, see, e.g., Robert Jewett, Pauls Anthropological Terms: A Study of Their
Use in Conflict Settings (Leiden: Brill, 1971), 49-166, 201-304; Robert H. Gundry, Soma
in Biblical Theology with Emphasis on Pauline Anthropology (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press), 1976); Udo Schnelle, Neutestamentliche Anthropologie: Jesus Paulus
Johannes (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1991), 66-75.
Rom 1:24; 1 Cor 6:13; 2 Cor 4:10; Gal 6:7.
E.g., Rom 7:4; 1 Cor 10:16-17; 11:24-27; 12:12-27. Only in Romans does Paul use the
word in a negative fashion but then it is usually more specially qualified, e.g.,
as body of sin ( ; Rom 6:6), mortal body ( ; Rom
6:12), or body of death ( ; Rom 7:24). The only exception is the
above-mentioned verse Rom 8:13 where Paul speaks of the works of the body (
).
As in, e.g., 1 Cor 5:5; 2 Cor 7:15.
Rom 7:5,18,25; 8:3-5,9,12-13; 13:14, etc. Additionally, Paul uses the word to
refer to a human perspective (e.g., 1 Cor 1:26; 2 Cor 1:17). In the deutero-Pauline
epistles, it is also used to underline the humanity of Christ (Eph 2:14; Col 1:22, 1 Tim
3:16).
Cf. 1 Cor 15:39.
Gundry, Soma, 167; Dale B. Martin, The Corinthian Body (New Haven and London:
Yale University Press, 1995), 124-26.

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who does not differentiate between corpus and caro when referring to
resurrection but speaks constantly of the flesh only.
Another interesting point is to compare Irenaeus anthropological
ideas to those of his opponents. There are some strikingly similar features. The starting point for Irenaeus view is his interpretation of the
creation and the dichotomy between the body and the soul on the one
hand, the soul and the spirit, on the other. In his reading of Genesis 2:7,
God first formed the flesh of Adam out of the earth, and then breathed
the breath of life into him. This made Adam into a psychic being with
body and soul, but it is only the life-giving spirit57 that makes him
spiritual.58 This kind of interpretation of the creation of Adam occurs in
many early Christian texts and comes quite close to the creation myths
in many Nag Hammadi writings.59 For Irenaeus, the natural human
being is body and soul; only participation in the divine Spirit makes the
human being perfect.60 Irenaeus combines this idea with the first creation story: the human being as body and soul is the image of God, the
perfect human being who consists of body, soul, and spirit is also the
likeness of God.61 But if the soul lacks the Spirit, the one who is such is
really (only) psychic, and being left carnal, he will be imperfect.62 The
way Irenaeus uses the Pauline words and as opposites of and 63 resembles what he accuses his opponents of doing. Similarly, in his interpretation of the verse flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, he divides people into three
classes: the carnal, the psychic, and the spiritual in a similar manner to
which he accuses his rivals.64
To sum up Irenaeus argument, flesh and blood as such cannot inherit the kingdom of God since without the Spirit they are bound to
carnal deeds. However, those who participate in the Spirit of God will
be saved in their entirety including the flesh. The Spirit transforms
_____________
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64

Cf. 1 Cor 15:45.

Haer. 5.12.2.
Cf. Apoc. John 19,4-33; Hyp. Arch. 88,11-17; Orig. World 114,36-116,8; Apoc. Adam
66,14-25.
Noormann, Irenus, 493-94; cf. Eric Osborn, Irenaeus of Lyons (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2001), 17.
Cf. Gen 1:26.
Haer. 5.6.1.
Cf. 1 Cor 2:16-3:3.
Cf. Haer.1.6.1-2; 1.7.5. Contra Noormann, Irenus, 496. He maintains that for Irenaeus,
the psychic and the pneumatic do not represent two classes of human beings but
two different phases of humanity: the Adam and the Christ humanity. This kind of
reading, however, does not take into full account Irenaeus arguments in Haer. 5.6.,
5.9., and 5.12., referred to above.

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the flesh that is needed in the earthly paradise. In the end of his book,65
Irenaeus describes a millenarian paradise where the transformed flesh
will not grow old but the saved will enjoy a glorious, incorruptible state
on the renewed earth.

Tertullian: All Flesh Will Be Raised and Judged

Some decades later, Tertullian follows along the lines of Irenaeus in his
treatise On the Resurrection.66 He, too, argues that believing in the immortality of the soul means only half a resurrection (dimidia resurrectio).67 The full resurrection must concern the whole human being, including the flesh. For this reason, the apostle cannot deny the salvation
of the flesh; he condemns the works of the flesh, not the flesh itself.68
This is also the meaning of the verse flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God.69 Tertullian ties the meaning of flesh and blood
closely together with Pauls previous discussion concerning Adam and
Christ.70 Flesh and blood are the image of the earthly man (
); that is, the Adamite being without the Spirit of Christ.
In addition, Tertullian brings in a further argument: the verse does not
actually deny the resurrection of the flesh and blood but their entry to
the kingdom of God. All human beings will be resurrected in the flesh
and judged but those who are mere flesh and blood are not allowed to
enter the kingdom of God. Thus, flesh and blood are kept out of the
kingdom on account of guilt, not of substance (nomine culpae non substantiae).71
_____________
65
66

67
68

69

70
71

Haer. 5.33-36.
The treatise is known in manuscripts both by the name of de resurrectione mortuorum
and de carnis resurrectione or de resurrectione carnis. For the sake of simplicity, I refer
to it by the English name On the Resurrection.
Res. 2.2; cf. Irenaeus Haer. 5.31.1; Epiphanius Pan. 2.9.3.
Res. 46. Here Tertullian refers to Rom 8:8-9 (cf. Irenaeus Haer.5.10.2.): But you are
not in the flesh but in the Spirit, because the Spirit of God dwells in you. He reasons
that Paul addresses these words to people who evidently are in the flesh, i.e., alive;
therefore, the words in the flesh must mean that they are not in the works of the
flesh, i.e., they do not live carnally (carnaliter viverent). Cf. af Hllstrm, Carnis resurrectio, 70.
Res. 48-50. Tertullian argues that the question in 15:35 (How are the dead raised?
With what kind of body do they come?) already implies that the resurrection is defined as corporeal and that the following discussion including v. 50 is about the
quality of the bodies.
1 Cor 15:45-49.
Cf. af Hllstrm, Carnis Resurrectio, 68-69.

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The fact that both Irenaeus and Tertullian devote lengthy discussions to refuting any conflicting opinions shows that there actually
were Christians who did understand resurrection differently, who believed, e.g., that the soul would ascend to heaven immediately after
death or that the resurrection had already taken place and that the
body would not survive death. The Church fathers were well aware
that the verse 1 Corinthians 15:50 gave a scriptural backing for these
kinds of ideas.72 The controversy over the correct understanding of
resurrection was, to a great extent, a controversy over the correct understanding of Scriptures.73 Irenaeus accuses his opponents of bad exegesis. He calls vain and truly unfortunate (vani et vere infelices) all
those who do not perceive the manifest and clear (manifesta et clara)
meaning of Pauls saying. They are like the tragic Oedipus who blinded
himself. Those who cling to the literal sense of the verse have lost their
true meaning: they pick two words [namely: flesh and blood] from
Paul without having understood the apostles meaning or investigated
the content of the words.74
In a similar vein, Tertullian attacks his opponents and their way of
using Scriptures. As a matter of fact, he first accuses them of repeating
the same arguments that the pagans use, instead of using Scriptures.75
In his view, if they were to base their questionings on the Scriptures
alone they will not be able to stand.76 Secondly, he refutes their
claim that the preaching of the prophets should be understood figuratively.77 It is true, he admits, that sometimes and in some places (interdum et in quibusdam) the prophets used allegories and should be interpreted spiritually. This, however, does not apply to resurrection for
two reasons. First, the corporeal resurrection is manifest elsewhere in
Scriptures and things uncertain should be prejudged by things cer_____________
72
73

74

75

76
77

Irenaeus Haer.5.9.1; Tertullian Res. 48.

See, e.g., Tertullian Res. 22 where he aims at showing how Scriptures forbid us
either to assume that the resurrection is already present in the acknowledgement of
the truth, or to claim that it ensues immediately upon departure from this life.
Haer. 5.13.2. In another passage, Irenaeus compares the exegesis of his opponents to
a random collection of Homeric verses to make up a Homeric-sounding story that
Homer, however, never composed (Haer. 1.9.4.).
Is there anything a heretic says which a gentile has not already said, and said more
frequently? asks Tertullian (Res. 4.1.) According to him, the typical objections
against the resurrection of the flesh include the following: 1. How can a body that
has been burnt on a funeral pyre or eaten by wild beasts be recovered? 2. Why
would a lame or a one-eyed person want the body back? 3. What function would the
preservation of, e.g., sexual, alimentary, and respiratory organs serve? 4. Must the
body again experience hardships such as sores, disease, and death?
Res. 3.6.
Res. 20-21.

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159

tain, and things obscure by things manifest.78 Secondly, Tertullian

reasons that it is not likely that that aspect of the mystery to which
the whole faith is entrusted should turn out to have been ambiguously announced and obscurely propounded.79
Interestingly, Tertullian must also admit that sometimes Paul seems
to teach spiritual resurrection.80 This is most evident in the deuteroPauline letter to the Colossians where the apostle links resurrection
to baptism: when you were buried with him in baptism, wherein
you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God who
raised him from the dead.81 However, in Tertullians reading, to be
dead spiritually does not exclude becoming dead corporeally. On the
same principle, when Paul declares believers to be spiritually raised in
baptism, he does not deny that they will rise again corporeally.82 Lastly,
Tertullian invokes the divine necessity: as Paul himself has predicted,
there have to () be factions () among you, for only so will
it become clear who among you are genuine ().83 These could
not exist without a perverse understanding of Scriptures. However,
even though there might be some materials to support such a heretical
understanding of resurrection, there are plenty of other scriptural passages to correct these.84
Tertullian also follows Irenaeus in maintaining that the resurrection
flesh must be this very same flesh that took part in the hardships of life.
Since it is the flesh that is destroyed by persecution or is affected by
ascetic practices, the same flesh must be raised to receive its just reward. Similarly, it is the body that is responsible for the sins it has
committed since the soul can never be apart from the flesh. God would
be unjust if it were the soul alone that received either the reward or the
punishment actually deserved by the body.85 However, the resurrected
flesh will be a transformed flesh. Again, Tertullian quotes 1 Corinthians
15:51-52:
_____________
78
79
80
81

82
83
84
85

Res. 21.2.
Res. 21.3.
Res. 23-25.
Col. 2:12. Paul himself never explicitly linked resurrection with baptism. According
to him, baptism means participating in Christs death (Rom 6:4) while resurrection
would happen only in the future (Rom 6:4; cf. 2 Cor 4:14.) It is only in the later Pauline tradition where baptism means both the death and the resurrection of the believer.
Thus, insistence on spiritual resurrection in baptism, at the entrance into faith in
no way contradicts the fulfillment of resurrection at the end of the age (Res. 25.6).
1 Cor 11:19.
Res. 40.1; 63.8.
Res. 8;15;41.

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We all shall certainly rise again, but we all shall not be changed (omnes
quidem resurgemus, non autem omnes demutabimur), in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump not all, but those only, he means,
who are found in the flesh And the dead, he continues, will rise again,
and we shall be changed.86

This quotation follows the reading of the Western text type whereas the
version chosen for the critical text of Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament
runs: We shall all not die but we all will be changed, in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound,
and the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed.87
This reading, which in all probability represents Pauls original
idea, lays emphasis not so much on the resurrection itself but on the
transformation; some will be resurrected and transformed, but others,
namely those who will still be alive when the Lord comes, will only be
transformed (they do not need to be resurrected since they are alive all
along).88 Thus, all will be changed but not all will be raised. In the
Western text type, we find the opposite: all will be raised but not all
will be changed; only those who are in the flesh. All flesh will rise;
then follows a change into an angelic state. Those who are in the flesh,
i.e., alive will be changed. In Tertullians reading, Paul talks about this
change when he declares that the corruptible will put on incorruption
and the mortal will put on immortality.89 The flesh will be swallowed
up by life;90 in other words, the mortal flesh does not disappear but will
put on a kind of immortal, heavenly over-garment. This cannot happen
with those who are dead since their flesh is already swallowed up as
_____________
86
87

88
89
90

Res. 42.1.
The manuscripts attest four basic readings of verse 51. 1) Most manuscripts, including such unicials as B, D2, and Y, support the reading chosen by Nestle-Aland: we
will not all sleep, but we will all be changed ( ,
). 2) Some manuscripts, e.g., and C, have the opposite: we will
all sleep, but we will not all be changed ( ,
). This variant might be explained by the embarrassment caused by
the death of the apostle and his generation. 3) A couple of manuscripts, including
the early papyrus P46, negates both verbs: we will not all sleep, but we will not all
be changed ( , ). This is
perhaps a conflation of the two other readings. 4) The variant found in Tertullian
( , ) is prominent among the
manuscripts belonging to the Western text type such as the unicial D together with
some Latin translations and the works of some Church fathers. For details, see Bruce
M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (New York: United
Bible Societies, 2nd ed., 1994).
For more on the idea of transformation in Pauls thinking, see the articles of Troels
Engberg-Pedersen and Vigdis Songe-Mller in this volume.
1 Cor 15:53.
Cf. 2 Cor 5:4.

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they are dissolved into earth. At the resurrection, these dead will receive a renewed body.91 In what way the transformation of the living
flesh can be called a resurrection is something Tertullian does not explain any further.
In the end of his treatise,92 Tertullian gives a detailed description of
what the transformed, resurrected flesh will be like. Even though it is
the selfsame flesh that has gone through the earthly life, it will be made
perfect; all wounds and defects will be healed. The resurrected bodies
will have alimentary organs and both sexes will retain their sexual organs even though there is no eating and procreation in heaven. But
these organs must also be present at the judgment so that the whole
human being can be judged.93 Here Tertullian probably thinks especially of sins of the tongue and sexual sins, even though he does not
mention them explicitly.94 In addition, these organs have other functions on earth, as well: for example, the mouth is needed for praising
God and teeth help with articulation and serve as an adornment of the
mouth. The lower parts (inferna) of both male and female are also
needed for excretion. Moreover, intestines and genitals can be inactive
and inoperative as shown by all those who fast, who are voluntary
eunuchs, virgins wedded to Christ, and all those who are barren why
not so in heaven?

The Ophites: Jesus Rose in a Spiritual Body

Compared to these chapters-long treatments of 1 Corinthians 15:50 in
Irenaeus and Tertullians works, the ones reflecting the opposite view
are quite brief indeed. The first example is found in Irenaeus description of a group that is traditionally linked with the so-called Ophites.
Irenaeus calls these Christians simply others and refers to them using
_____________
91
92
93

94

In the same passage, Tertullian speculates how the recently dead still belong to the
first category since their earthly body has not yet totally decayed; Res. 42.6-9.
Res. 57-63.
The idea that the soul and the body need to be united at the judgment also occurs in
many other texts, e.g., 4 Ezra and 2 Bar. On the latter text, see the article of Liv Ingeborg Lied in this volume. Another interesting example is the story of the lame and
the blind man in the so called Apocryphon of Ezekiel preserved in Epiphanius Pan.
64.70,5-17 and b. Sanh. 91ab.
In many descriptions of hell, the punishments equate the sins committed, e.g., those
who have blasphemed are hung by their tongues, women who have plaited their
hair in order to seduce men are hung by their hair, and men who have had intercourse with these women are hung by their thighs. See, e.g., the Apocalypse of Peter 710 (in Ethiopic).

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the third person pronoun. The mythology of the group, however, especially the mentioning of nous that was twisted in the shape of a snake95
resembles what other heresiologists say about the Ophites.96 According to Irenaeus, this group believed that Christ descended from the
realm of the Father of all into a man called Jesus but left him before he
was crucified. After his death,
Christ, however, did not forget him [sc. Jesus] but sent down on him a certain power that raised him up again in his body. This body they call ensouled [animale] and spiritual [spiritale], because he left the worldly elements [of the body] in the world. But when the disciples saw that he had
risen from the dead, they did not recognize him;97 no, not even Jesus [did
they recognize], namely, in what manner he rose from the dead. This they
claim was a very great error among the disciples that they thought he had
risen in a worldly body, since they were ignorant of the fact that Flesh and
blood do not inherit the kingdom of God.98

This group of Christians used the verse 1 Corinthians 15:50 to support

their kind of docetic Christology and to reject the bodily resurrection of
Jesus. According to them, Christ had descended on a holy man, Jesus,
but departed from him before the crucifixion. However, through the
power of Christ, Jesus was raised but his resurrected body was psychic
and spiritual and it was an error to think he had risen in the flesh.
Whether they thought the same concerning resurrection in general,
remains unclear but is likely. In his treatise On the Flesh of Christ, Tertullian also claims that those who deny the humanity of Christ do so expressly in order to refute the resurrection of the flesh since it would be
a leading argument for the resurrection of the flesh if Christ had risen
in the flesh.99 It is plausible that docetic Christology and spiritual understanding of resurrection often went hand in hand but this was not
necessarily always the case.
_____________
95
96

97
98

99

Cf. Haer. 1.30.5.

For more on Ophites, see Tuomas Rasimus, Paradise Reconsidered: A Study of the
Ophite Myth and Ritual and Their Relationship to Sethianism. Ph.D. diss. University of Helsinki, 2006.
This is an allusion to the Emmaus story; cf. Luke 24:16.
Haer 1.30.13. Translation by Dominic J. Unger in St. Irenaeus of Lyons Against the
Heresies 1 (Ancient Christian Writers 55. New York: Paulist Press, 1992). I have modified the translation of the last sentence since Unger has the Pauline quotation: Flesh
and blood do not inherit the kingdom of heaven whereas the Latin runs: caro et sanguis
regnum Dei non apprehendunt. All in all, Irenaeus cites the verse 1 Cor 15:50 in slightly
different versions; cf. ... caro et sanguis regnum Dei hereditare non possunt (5.9.1.);
... caro et sanguis regnum Dei possidere non possunt (5.9.4 and 5.13.5); ... caro et sanguis regnum Dei non possident (5.10.1.)
Tertullian, Carn. Chr. 1.

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The Gospel of Philip:

What Will Rise Is the Flesh and Blood of Jesus
Another example of a text that quotes 1 Corinthians 15:50 and uses it to
reject the resurrection of the earthly flesh is the Gospel of Philip.100
Some are afraid lest they rise naked. Because of this they wish to rise in the
flesh, and [they] do not know that it is those who wear the [flesh] who are
naked. Flesh [and blood shall] not inherit the kingdom [of God]. What
is this which will not inherit? This which is on us. But what is this, too,
which will inherit? It is that which belongs to Jesus and his blood. Because
of this he said He who shall not eat my flesh and drink my blood has not
life in him.101 What is it? His flesh is the word [=Logos], and his blood is
the holy spirit. He who has received these has food and he has drink and
clothing.102

According to the writer, it is wrong to believe that one needs the

earthly flesh this which is on us at the resurrection to avoid nakedness. Ironically, he remarks that only those who have a body can be
naked, i.e., without clothes.103 Nakedness itself is to be avoided; a little
later the writer declares that no one will be able to go in to the king if
he is naked.104 But the true clothing is not this earthly flesh which will
not inherit the kingdom of God. The true clothing is received in the
Eucharist. It is the flesh and blood of Jesus i.e., the Logos and the Holy Spirit that provide the clothing, the true flesh needed for the resurrection. Thus, the author does not use the Pauline quotation to deny
bodily resurrection as such. On the contrary, the naked spirit cannot
rise on its own without flesh and blood. The author goes beyond
Paul in claiming that actually a certain kind of flesh and blood shall inherit the kingdom of God, namely, the flesh and blood of Jesus. By
identifying these with Logos and the Holy Spirit, the author gives a
spiritual interpretation to the Eucharist and to the resurrection
body.105 The flesh that rises is a spiritual flesh an idea that the au_____________
100 For a fuller treatment on the resurrection belief in the Gospel of Philip, see Schmid,
Eucharistie, 131-223 and Hugo Lundhaug,s forthcoming article Transformation and
Redefinition: Resurrection of the Flesh in the Gospel of Philip (NHC II,3).
101 John 6:53.
102 Gos. Phil. 56,26-57,8.
103 Martha Lee Turner, The Gospel According to Philip: The Sources and Coherence of an
Early Christian Collection (Nag Hammadi and Manichean Studies 38. Brill: Leiden),
232.
104 Gos. Phil. 58,15-17.
105 Some scholars deny the sacramental emphasis of the passage, see, e.g., Turner, Gospel, 233. However, in the overall context of the passage, a eucharistic understanding
seems probable. Cf. Schmid, Eucharistie, 171-78.

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thor no doubt found in line with Pauls teaching on the spiritual

body.106
What is striking in this passage is the very use of the word flesh
(
). In the authors view, the resurrection of the flesh is necessary:
I find fault with the others who say that it [=the flesh] will not rise. Then
both of them are at fault. You say that the flesh will not rise. But tell me
what will rise, that we may honor you. You say the spirit in the flesh, and it
is this other light in the flesh. It is a word [logos] this other one that is in the
flesh.107 For whatever you will say, it is nothing outside the flesh that you
say. It is necessary to rise in this flesh, since everything exists in it. In this
world those who put on garments are better than the garments. In the
kingdom of heaven the garments are better than those who have put them
on.108

The flesh that must be resurrected is clearly something other than the
earthly flesh. The author finds fault both with those who argue for the
resurrection of the earthly flesh and those who claim that only the
naked spirit or soul will rise. For him, resurrection takes place in the
flesh. But, as we have seen, it is not the material flesh but the flesh of
Jesus which is the Logos.109 Little wonder, then, that Irenaeus found it
frustrating when his opponents speak like us but think otherwise
and Tertullian complained that his rivals deceive people by the way in
which they speak of the resurrection of the flesh!110

_____________
106 Cf. 1 Cor 15:44.
107 Here I translate differently from Isenberg. In this difficult passage, the writer seems
to be opposing a view according to which only the spirit, that is, a light in the flesh
but alien to the flesh will rise. Instead, argues the writer, the other one that will
rise is in the flesh. See the detailed discussion in Schmid, Eucharistie, 187-94. He suggests that the word logos (here with an indefinite article) means simply something
that is in the flesh (p. 192).
108 Gos. Phil. 57,9-22.
109 Cf. Lundhaug, Rebirth, 219-20.
110 In his On the Resurrection, Tertullian claims that the followers of Valentinus, together
with some others, teach only the souls immortality while despising the body (Res.
2.2). The above analysis of the Gospel of Philip usually labeled a Valentinian writing
does not confirm this. On the contrary, it polemicizes against the resurrection of
the soul alone. However, the writing seems to correspond to Tertullians other allegation, that of talking about the resurrection of the flesh but meaning something else
by it (Res. 19.6).

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165

Resurrection, Interpretation of Scripture,

and Authentic Christianity
The comparison of the different texts that quote 1 Corinthians 15:50 to
justify their view on resurrection reveals some interesting differences
and similarities. It is only the Ophites (according to Irenaeus) who
use the Pauline quotation to reject the idea of the resurrection of the
flesh altogether. In their opinion, Jesus only rose in an ensouled and
spiritual body since flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God. All the other writers claim that flesh and blood properly qualified actually do inherit the kingdom. However, the author of the Gospel
of Philip clearly represents a different view from Irenaeus and Tertullian. Instead of the earthly flesh, it is the flesh and blood of Jesus that
rise, he argues. The author would agree with the Ophites that resurrection does not involve the worldly elements, the earthly flesh. The
promoters of the resurrection of the earthly flesh also make clear that
resurrection entails a transformation. None of them imagined the life to
come to equal this-worldly life with all its deficiencies and imperfection; on the contrary, it would be living in a perfected state that involves a transformed flesh. This transformation, however, was rather
an enhancement of what is, not metamorphoses into what is not.111
Even though the outcome in the Gospel of Philip is different from
that of the Church fathers, they all use arguments that closely resemble
each other. Both allude to Pauls discussion about clothing and nakedness.112 The necessity of proper clothing in order to avoid nakedness
and so to be able to approach the king resembles Tertullians teaching
on the Spirit that clothes flesh and blood with incorruptibility and immortality so that they may be able to inherit the kingdom of God.113
Moreover, Irenaeus connects resurrection with the Eucharist by combining Pauls Eucharistic saying about sharing in the blood and body of
Christ114 with the idea of Christians being members of Christs body.115
According to him, the sharing of the flesh and blood of Christ in the
Eucharist means nutrition for the members of Christ through the flesh
and blood of Christ.116 This brings salvation, as (deutero-)Paul writes to
_____________
111 Bynum, Resurrection, 8. Bynum traces this change of view to the Middle Ages but it
can already be seen in the Patristic texts.
112 Cf. 2 Cor 5:1-4.
113 Tertullian Res. 42.12-13; 50.5.
114 1 Cor 10:16.
115 Eph 5:30. Cf. Noormann, Irenus, 490-91.
116 Haer. 5.2.2-3. Cf. Haer. 4.18.5.

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the Colossians.117 Irenaeus concludes: And in the whole letter the

Apostle clearly testifies that we have been saved by the flesh of our
Lord and his blood.118
It is conceivable that the author of the Gospel of Philip found support
for his view of the Eucharist and its salvific function in Pauls letters, as
well. Scholars often interpret the Gospel of Philip as representing realized eschatology: the resurrection is a present reality experienced in
the Eucharistic ritual.119 Indeed, the author emphasizes that it is necessary to experience resurrection before one dies: Those who say they
will die first and then rise are in error. If they do not first receive the
resurrection while they live, when they die they will receive nothing.120 However, when talking about the resurrection and the Eucharist, the author uses verbs in the future tense.121 This suggests that, in his
view, the resurrection has a future aspect, too. This future salvation is
experienced at the present in the Eucharist.122 This is not far from the
way Irenaeus seems to understand the ritual.123 However, for Irenaeus,
the material elements of the Eucharist are a sign and a symbol of the
resurrection of the flesh which brings him back to the proper meaning
of 1 Corinthians 15:50: If then flesh and blood are what make life for
us, it was not literally said of flesh and blood that they cannot inherit
the kingdom of God, but of the carnal actions we have mentioned
which turn man toward sin and deprive him of life.124
Another similarity in all the above-mentioned writings is their polemical character. The author of the Gospel of Philip is very clear in
claiming that those representing a different understanding of resurrection both those who promote the resurrection of the earthly flesh and
those who deny every kind of resurrection of the flesh are at fault.
Similarly, Tertullian polemicizes against his rivals, often ridiculing
them openly. Ironic statements such as What voice of an archangel,
what trumpet of God, has yet been heard, except perhaps in the sleep-

_____________
117 Col 1:22: he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to
present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him
118 Haer 5.14.3. Translation by Grant, Irenaeus.
119 E.g., Noormann, Irenus, 504.
120 Gos. Phil. 73,1-4; cf. 56,15-19; 66,16-20.
121
(shall inherit 56,34-57,1; 57,2);
(it shall rise 57,10);
(the flesh shall rise 57,12);
(that which shall rise
57,13).
122 Similarly, Schmid, Eucharistie, 156-62.
123 See also Schmid, Eucharistie, 332-37.
124 Haer. 5.14.4.

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167

ing-places of heretics.125 can be found all through his treatise. The style
of Irenaeus is perhaps less sarcastic but the polemical character is obvious and sometimes even more explicit. According to him, whereas
Marcion blasphemes openly, Valentinians do so by a perversion of the
sense [of Scripture] and both should be recognized as agents of Satan
by all those who worship God.126
The author of the Gospel of Philip draws a similar conclusion yet
addresses his polemics in the opposite direction. The author warns that
all those who hold diverging views are not genuine Christians at all. He
writes: If one go down into the water and come up without having
received anything and says, I am a Christian, he has borrowed the
name at interest. But if he receive the holy spirit, he has the name as a
gift.127 This resembles closely the claim of Justin Martyr. According to
him, there are some who are called Christians, but who say there
is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are
taken to heaven and warns his partner in dialogue, do not imagine
that they are Christians.128 For Tertullian, resurrection is a similar divide. According to him, one cannot be a Christian who denies that
resurrection which Christians confess, and denies it by such arguments
as non-Christians use.129
These examples show that the question concerning resurrection
thus ultimately had to do with Christian identity and the issue of who
_____________
125 Res. 24.7. Cf. Res. 22.11.: And is there any now who has risen again, except a heretic?
126 Haer. 5.26.2. Cf. Ps-Justin, Res. 10. In the light of this quotation, it is impossible to
maintain with Osborn (Irenaeus, 5) that Irenaeus was as peace-loving as his name indicates and that power play was not important for him. Osborn writes: His irenic
approach shows that his objection to heresies on matters of faith had little to do with
a struggle for power. Even on matters of faith, elsewhere he prays for his adversaries whom he loves more than they love themselves. This is certainly what Irenaeus
himself claims (Haer.3.25.7) but it is another matter to take his testimony at face value!
127 Gos. Phil. 64,22-27. Cf. Gos. Phil. 67,9-27:
Truth did not come into the world naked, but it came in types and images. The
world will not receive truth in any other way. There is a rebirth and an image of rebirth. It is certainly necessary to be born again through the image. Which one? Resurrection. The image must rise again through the image. The bridal chamber and
the image must enter through the image into the truth: this is the restoration. Not
only must those who produce the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit
do so, but <those who> have produced them for you. If one does not acquire them,
the name (Christian) will also be taken from him. But one receives the unction of
the [] of the power of the cross. This power the apostles called the right and the
left. For this person is no longer a Christian but a Christ.
128 Translation by Roberts & Donaldson in the Ante-Nicene Fathers.
129 Res. 3.5.

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Outi Lehtipuu

may rightfully claim to be a Christian. In this struggle, all leaned on

Pauls authority and claimed to be the only true heirs of the apostle.
Referring to Paul and other prior Christian tradition shows that the
authors wanted to identify themselves with the larger Christian body
and the apostolic tradition.130 Their rivals were not true Christians but
agents of Satan. In this way, the belief in resurrection and especially its
correct understanding functioned as a boundary marker that divided
Christians into us and them, into insiders and outsiders. The
harshness of the polemic reveals that deviant interpretations of resurrection even of resurrection of the flesh were a real threat for the
identity and self-definition of many early Christian groups.

_____________
130 Contra Noormann, Irenus, 529, who claims that Irenaeus interpretation is a continuation (Weiterfhrung) of Pauls teaching whereas his opponents represent the views
of Pauls opponents.

Valentinian Ideas About Salvation

as Transformation
Valentinian Ideas About Salvation as Transformation
EINAR THOMASSEN1
berschrift 2: fr Kapitel ohne 2 wird hier 1 Kurzform wiederholt
In his violent attack on the Valentinians in Book 31 of the Panarion,
Bishop Epiphanius, amongst other grievances, also ridicules their
views on resurrection:
They deny the resurrection of the dead, uttering some senseless fable about
it not being this body that rises, but another one which comes from it and
which they call spiritual ( ,
2
, ). But [salvation belongs?] only
to those among them who are spiritual, and to those called psychic
provided, that is, the psychics act justly. But those called material, carnal and earthly perish utterly and are in no way saved. Each substance
proceeds to what emitted it: the material is given over to matter and what
is carnal and earthly to the earth. (Pan. 31.7.67; trans. P. R. Amidon)

It is somewhat amusing that what Epiphanius here calls a senseless

fable of the Valentinians in fact seems to be sound Pauline doctrine.
The spiritual body that rises from the present one as a new and transformed being is precisely what Paul speaks about in 1 Cor 15:44:
, . In other
words, the Valentinians appear to have held a view of the resurrection
that was more in agreement with Paul than was the doctrine professed
by the heresy-hunting bishop.
The sound Paulinism of the Valentinian doctrine of resurrection becomes more questionable, however, in the company of the theories
about various categories of humans referred to in the text. The Valentinians are content that not all humans will be resurrected, not everybody will acquire the spiritual body. Some people are of a merely material nature and will disintegrate into the base source of their transient
existence when they die. Others are spiritual from the outset, and will
achieve resurrection by virtue of their inborn nature. Others again, the
psychicals, have a chance to acquire a spiritual body if they behave
_____________
1
2

Einar Thomassen is Professor of Religion at the Department of Archaeology, History, Culture Studies and Religion, University of Bergen, Norway.
A couple of words seem to be missing in the Greek text.

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Einar Thomassen

well, but they may also fail to do so if they do evil deeds. Such ideas
about various kinds of human beings and their different capacities for
salvation may not have been in Pauls mind when he wrote 1 Cor
15:3557. On the other hand, Paul was certainly not a universalist either. There are those who are saved and those who are perishing (1 Cor
1:18, 2 Cor 2:15). Thus, the resurrection with a spiritual body cannot
have been envisaged by Paul as a prospect for all human beings; only a
limited number of believers will be granted the privilege of being
changed into the incorruptible image of the heavenly human being.

The Three Kinds

The question might be asked, however, why it is that some human beings come to believe in the message of salvation while others reject it.
That question is what the Valentinian theory of different human kinds
is meant to answer. The explanation can only be, the Valentinians
thought, that humans possess different predispositions, and that these
predispositions make them respond in different ways to the appearance of the Saviour and to his teaching. Thus, the Tripartite Tractate
makes the reactions to the Saviour the litmus test of whether one belongs to one or the other of the three human categories:
Humanity came to exist as three kinds with regard to essence: spiritual,
psychical, and material .... They were nevertheless not known at first, but
only when the Saviour came to them, shedding light upon the saints and
revealing what each one was. The spiritual kind is like light from light and
like spirit from spirit. When its head appeared, it immediately rushed to it.
At once it became a body for its head. It received knowledge straightaway
from the revelation.
The psychical kind, however, being light from fire, tarried before recognizing the one who had appeared to it, and still more before rushing to him
in faith. ...
The material kind, however, is alien in every respect: it is like darkness
that avoids the shining light because it is dissolved by its manifestation.
For it did not accept his [coming], and is even [...] and filled with hatred
against the Lord because he revealed himself. (NHC I 11819; my translation)

By reflecting on the fact that not all human beings will be saved and
resurrected, the Valentinians attempt to take Pauls soteriology one step
further. The classification of humans into immediate receivers, tarri-

Valentinian Ideas About Salvation as Transformation

171

ers and rejecters3 is, moreover, given a further explanation in terms

of a physical theory and a myth of origins. The three categories are
conceived as substances, and the origins of these substances are explained in the language of a mythical narrative.4 The material substance
originated in the passion of the aeon Sophia; this passion, which disrupted the harmony of the divine Pleroma, was cut off from the
Pleroma together with the passionate Sophia herself. The substance of
soul, on the other hand, came into being as a result of Sophias conversion after she realized her error, together with her repentance and the
prayer for help she directed to her brothers and sisters in the Pleroma.
The spiritual substance, finally, was generated by Sophia when the
Saviour was sent out by the Pleroma to help her: the vision of the Saviour and his accompanying angels inspired her to bring forth a spiritual seed, representing her joyful response to the vision and the hope
of being united with what she saw. The spiritual seed are images of the
Saviour and his angels, and they reside together with their mother
Sophia as a church in an intermediary region below the Pleroma,
but above the cosmos. After having brought forth these three substances, Sophia created the cosmos; in doing so she brought the material and psychical substances to order, using as her unwitting tool the
Demiurge, the lord of the psychical powers.
Thus there exist three substances, deriving from three different
states of mind: matter from passion, soul from repentance and spirit
from joy. The cosmos is composed of matter and soul; spirit is located
in a separate region above the cosmos. This spirit is turned both upwards toward the Pleroma of which it is an image, and downwards
toward the cosmos, providing its matter with form and its soul with the
rationality of regular motion.
Into the cosmos are placed human beings. The Demiurge (again
moved by Sophia) creates the choc human shape and breathes into it a
soul. Into the human protoplast Sophia then, unbeknownst to the
Demiurge, inserts a spiritual seed. This spiritual seed becomes a latent
component of humanity, waiting to be actualized by the future descent
of the Saviour into the cosmos. In this process from seed to actualization a redemptive economy is unfolded, analogous to Pauls vision that
there is sown a physical body, raised a spiritual body in fact, the
salvation historical scheme of the Valentinians can be regarded as a
commentary on Pauls statement.
_____________
3
4

Similar concerns are at work in the Apocryphon of John, where Eleleth, the fourth
luminary, is the abode of the tarriers (BG 36; NHC II 14).
In the following I synthesize the accounts of the Valentinian system in Irenaeus,
Haer. 1.18, [Hipp.], Haer. 6.2936, Tri. Trac. etc.

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Einar Thomassen

It is in this process from seed to actualization that the idea of a

transformation may find a place. But what is the nature of this transformation?

The Manifestation of the Seed

Valentinian ideas about the process leading from the created human
being to the resurrected, spiritual human, can be found in several texts.
One version is found in the Excerpts from Theodotus:
The followers of Valentinus maintain that when the animated body had
been fashioned, a male seed was implanted by the Logos in the elect soul
while it was asleep, an effluence from the angelic (nature), in order that
there should be no deficiency. And this operated like leaven, uniting what
seemed to be separate, the soul and the flesh, which had in fact been put
forth separately by Sophia. And Adams sleep was the forgetting of the
soul. ...
Therefore when the Saviour came, he awakened the soul and enflamed
the spark. For the words of the Lord are power. Therefore he said, Let
your light shine before men. And after his resurrection, he infused his
spirit into the apostles and blew out and separated the earth like ashes,
while he enflamed and gave life to the spark. (Exc. Theod. 23)

The story is that after the first man had been fashioned (by the Demiurge, on may assume) as a , the Saviour-Logos inserted
into him a spiritual seed. (Unusually, the sower in this text is the Saviour himself and not Sophia.5) That the seed derived from the angels
( ) must be an allusion to the idea that it had
been brought forth by Sophia as an image of the angels surrounding
the Saviour. Deposed in the first human, the seed is further described
as a spark (), and when the Saviour came into the world he set
the spark ablaze through the power of his words. He thereby also set it
apart, i.e. liberated it, from the material body. Now, it is noteworthy
that although the image of the seed as such suggests a biological process of growth and development, the idea of such a process is not really
elaborated on in the account. Rather than a gradual development of
maturation, the point made in the text is simply that the seed remained
hidden throughout history until it was finally revealed by the Saviour.6
_____________
5

This is most likely an early version of the story. See Einar Thomassen, The spiritual
seed: the church of the Valentinians (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 60; Leiden: Brill 2006), 43435.
The idea that the spiritual seed served to keep soul and body together gives a function for the seed, and is also closely connected with its hiddenness, since the mani-

Valentinian Ideas About Salvation as Transformation

173

In order to better express this point, the image of the seed is therefore
replaced by that of a spark. Like the image of the seed, the contrast
between spark and flame expresses a contrast between latency and
actualization, but in this case, there is no connotation of a development
from the first state to the second. The basic soteriological idea in the
account cannot, therefore, sustain the initial biological metaphor.
In this case no real transformation takes place, only a manifestation
of something that already exists. The spirit is hidden, because it is
united with matter and soul, and the work of the Saviour is to detach
the spirit from matter, thereby making it shine forth, releasing it and
enabling it to return to the Pleroma. The idea is similar to the one we
have already encountered in the Tripartite Tractate: the three kinds of
humans were ... not known at first, but only when the Saviour came to
them, shedding light upon the saints and revealing what each one
was. It is as if the spiritual seed only needs to be made manifest in
order to be redeemed. It suffices for it to become detached from matter;
it does not need to be transformed in any way. The idea reminds one of
what Irenaeus says about the Valentinians comparing their own spiritual nature to gold in mud, incorruptible and incapable of being
changed in any way.7
An important difference between the text from the Excerpts and that
from Tri. Trac. is that the former speaks about matter, soul and spirit in
general anthropological terms, as if applicable to all humans, whereas
the latter uses these three categories to classify various kinds of human
beings. Thus the first text describes the manifestation of the latent spiritual component in man after its having been concealed within the body
and soul, while the second text describes the manifestation of a special
group of spiritual persons who until the arrival of the Saviour-Light
were indistinguishable from the psychical and hylic people surrounding them. This is an important difference, but it need not concern us at
the moment, since they are, basically, two versions of a common soteriological schema, and it is this schema itself that is of primary interest
here. The question is: is the process of salvation thought about as a
_____________
7

festation of the seed coincides with the separation of the spirit and soul from the
body.
Just as gold, when placed in mud, does not lose its beauty but retains its own nature, since the mud is unable to harm the gold, so they say that they themselves cannot suffer any injury or lose their spiritual substance, whatever material actions they
may engage in (Iren. Haer. 1.6.2). I think it likely that the metaphor was used by the
Valentinians themselves; there are similar things in the Gospel of Philip # 22, 48 (NHC
II 58, 64); also cf. Gospel of Thomas # 29. The implication Irenaeus draws from it, however, i.e. that it gave the spirituals licence to commit immoral acts, is no doubt his
own invention.

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Einar Thomassen

transformation, or is it, as the two texts seem to be making out, rather a

manifestation of what already exists, a stable nature, an ousia that remains immutable from the beginning to the end?

Real Transformation
Other Valentinian texts, however, seem to tell a different story. Sometimes we are told that the temporary sojourn of the spirit in the cosmos,
its momentary union with soul and matter, constitutes a necessary
learning process. This is a perspective that can also be found in the
Tripartite Tractate, where the idea of a divine pedagogy pervades the
argument throughout. The pedagogical value of the cosmos can be
conceived either positively or negatively. In the first case the world is
seen as an image or a reflection of the eternal aeon; it is therefore able to
teach us something about that aeon, as in a mirror, darkly (Tri. Trac.
104). In the second case the lesson to be learned is this: we may appreciate the bliss of spiritual eternity better after having experienced the
sickness and corruption of physical existence (ibid. 107). The one lesson
does not seem to exclude the other, since they appear in close proximity
in the same document.
If the spiritual seed is intended to learn something during its incarnate life in body and soul, this must mean that the spirit is somehow
modified during the process. A statement to this effect occurs in
Irenaeus:
The offspring of their mother, Achamoth ... was inserted secretly into the
Demiurge without his knowing it, in order that through him it might be
sown into the soul that derived from him and in the material body, and,
having been born and grown up there (
), might be prepared to receive the perfect Logos (
). ... This seed, moreover,
they say is the Church, counterpart of the Church above, and this they consider to be the human being who is within them. (Iren. Haer. 1.5.6)

Thus the seed will mature during its life in the body so as to become
receptive of the Saviour when he presents himself. This does not seem
to be quite consistent with the idea that the spiritual nature of the seed
is already given and immutable. If you are supposed to learn something, the possibility must evidently exist that you may in fact fail to do
so and in the end not pass the exam. This inconsistency suggests that
there may be some structural ambiguity in the soteriological theory.
The ambiguity on this point becomes even more acute when we are
confronted with texts that paint a rather negative picture of the condition of the spiritual seed in the world. Several texts stress the weakness,

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175

incompleteness and even deformity of the spiritual seed before its redemption. Consider, for example, the following passages from the Excerpts from Theodotus:
For as long as we were children of the female only, like of a shameful union incomplete, like babies, senseless, weak and unformed, brought forth
like abortions we were children of the Woman. But once we were given
form by the Saviour, we became children of a Man and of a bridal chamber.
(68)
So long, then, they say, as the seed is yet unformed, it is the offspring of
the female, but when it is formed, it is changed to a man and becomes a son
of the bridegroom. It is no longer weak and subject to the cosmic forces,
both visible and invisible, but having been made masculine, it becomes a
male fruit.
He whom the Mother generates is led into death and into the world, but
he whom Christ regenerates is transferred to life into the Ogdoad. And
they die to the world but live to God, that death may be loosed by death
and corruption by resurrection. (7980)

Here still another view of the soteriological process is presented. According to the first view presented above (Exc. Theod. 23; Tri. Trac.
11819), the spiritual seed is permanently immutable it only needs to
be made manifest; according to a second perspective (Iren. Haer. 1.5.6;
Tri. Trac 104, 107), the spirit needs to grow and mature. Now we are
told that the seed is weak and deficient, like a woman, possessing all
the negative characteristics of the mother Sophia who gave birth to it in
a rash passion, without her male partner.
The deficiency of the created human being is also stressed in a passage in Tri. Trac.:
For the [form] that the Logos8 brought forth [was] deficient in such a way
that he was [afflicted] by sickness. It did not resemble him, for he brought
him forth into [oblivion], ignorance, [...], and all the other sicknesses, having given him only the first form. (105)

Here, the condition of humanity is described both as defective a lack

of knowledge and health and as incomplete: the first human was
given only a first form.

_____________
8

The Logos is the preferred designation in Tri. Trac. for the figure that is normally
called Sophia in other Valentinian systems.

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Einar Thomassen

Images of Transformation
The soteriological process can thus be variously portrayed (1) as a
manifestation, (2) as an education or a maturation and (3) as a transformation from a state of deficiency to completeness. The tensions and
potential inconsistencies between these different visions can be analysed internally, from the point of view of the philosophical presuppositions of the system itself, and I shall attempt to do so in the concluding section of this paper. It is also interesting, however, to look at these
divergences in a diachronic perspective, since the texts express their
ideas about soteriological transformation by employing images and
motifs which each has a prehistory and have been transmitted with
layers of meaning that cannot be totally controlled when they are being
reused.
The idea of a manifestation seems to a large extent to derive from
apocalyptic scenarios. The text from Tri. Trac. 118 which says that the
Saviour came, shedding light upon the saints and revealing what each
one was is using a motif also found in Hermas, Sim. 4.2: When the
grace of the Lord shines down, then all those serving God shall be revealed, and they will be made manifest for all. Similar ideas are found
in 1 En. 104.2: Be hopeful, because formerly you have pined away
through evil and toil. But now you shall shine like the lights of heaven,
and you shall be seen. Also, the parable of the tares in Matt 13:2443
describes how the good seed grows together with that sown by the
devil, but when the angels come to reap, the good seed will shine
() like the sun (13:43; cf. Dan 12:3). The motif is complex;
actually there are two motifs that tend to merge, the first being that of
the saints who will be recognized, the second that of being raised or
transformed into a luminous existence. The latter motif, moreover, may
also be developed in the direction of an astral soteriology: the saints
will become stars, or like stars.9 In the Valentinian texts, both the motif
of becoming recognized and that of becoming luminous are present
(the spark was enflamed; Let your light shine before men, Exc. Theod.
3). On the other hand the idea of turning into a star is evidently not an
attractive prospect for a Valentinian Christian.
Whereas the apocalyptic texts generally speak about transformation
in this context,10 in the Valentinian texts the redemption is not so much
a matter of being turned into light as of actualizing an inherent quality.
_____________
9
10

See also 1 En. 49.4; 2 En. 46.4; 2 Bar. 83.23; Diogn. 6.14; Ep. Apost. 36; Iren. Haer.
1.24.6 (Basilides).
See the contributions by John J. Collins and Liv I. Lied in this volume.

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177

The spirituals are light from light (Tri. Trac. 118), that is, there is an
ontological consubstantiality between the spirituals and the transcendent world, and when the Saviour-Light appears, he draws to himself
those who share his fundamental nature. On the other hand there may
be a case for discussing to what extent analogous notions of predestination may also be present in the apocalyptic texts. For instance, in Matt
13:3743 the good seed, the children of the kingdom, is sown by the Son
of Man and the evil seed, the children of the evil one, is sown by the
devil; thus the shining of the righteous may signify just as much the
disclosure of their identity as the transformation into a luminous new
form of being. The situation may be similar in other of the apocalyptic
texts where this motif occurs.
The idea of an educational process also implies, as already noted, a
form of transformation: living in the material world enables the spiritual seed to grow and learn, in preparation for its reception of the Saviour.11 This idea is a variant of the general Christian theological notion
of a divine pedagogy, which forms part of an economy of salvation
planned through the providence of God. As is well known, theories of
this kind are found in Irenaeus12 as well as in Clement of Alexandria13
and Origen,14 and I shall make no more comment on this theme here,
apart from suggesting that the affinities between the Valentinian and
the more mainstream theological ideas about the divine oikonomia
and soteriological pedagogy is an understudied area.
The other texts quoted above use the language of biological generation to describe a more drastic process of transformation effected by the
Saviour. Thus, Exc, Theod. 68, 7980 portray the transformation as a
rebirth. From being the children of a single parent we are reborn as
children having both parents. The first birth was not even a proper
birth, but rather a miscarriage; only when the Saviour appeared were
we truly born as well-formed children. This is a theme that can also be
found in the Gospel of Philip:
When we were Hebrews we were orphans, with only a mother, but when
we became Christians we had a father and a mother. (# 6, NHC II 52)

_____________
11
12
13

14

In addition to the passages from Tri. Trac. referred to above, see also Iren. Haer. 1.5.6,
1.6.1, 1.7.5, 2.19.4 and Val. Exp. (NHC XI,2) 37.
E.g. Eric Osborn, Irenaeus of Lyons (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2001),
especially chapters 4 and 10.
See the recent survey of literature on Clement by Eric Osborn, One hundred years of
books on Clement, VC 60 (2006) 367388 (with special attention to the theme of the
divine economy).
Hal Koch, Pronoia und Paideusis (Berlin: de Gruyter 1932).

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In this text, the theme of Sophias malformed children is used to describe the transition from a Jewish to a Christian identity the mythological theme serves as an interpretive frame for the change of socioreligious affiliation. A multiplicity of connotations are involved in this
symbolism: the idea of orphanage, or the lack of a father, as a state of
deprivation; the stigma of illegitimacy associated with single motherhood;15 the quasi-scientific and mythological notions that a female by
herself is able to produce a deformed child;16 and finally the more abstract Valentinian idea that perfection arises out of the union of two,
while imperfection is the result of singularity.17
Closely related to this theme in the texts from Exc. Theod. is that of a
change from femaleness to maleness: from being female, i.e. weak and
deficient, we were transformed by the Saviour into male beings, complete and fully formed. This theme is further attested in Heracleon. In
frg. 5 (commentary on John 1:23) he says that the relationship between
the Saviour and John the Baptist is the same as that between the Logos
and the voice (). The voice which is akin to the Logos, Heracleon says, will become Logos, just as woman is transformed into man
( ,
; Orig. In Joh. 6.111). Here, Heracleon
is clearly alluding to, as a familiar idea, a topos from Valentinian soteriology: the female will become male. This idea is, of course a widespread one in ancient Christianity, and I do not have to go into its
many attestations here.18
A related way of conceiving the transformation is indicated in the
text from Tri. Trac. 105, where mention was made of a first form. This
is, I think, a concept borrowed from ancient embryology, where the
foetus is sometimes said to attain a first form at an early stage of its

_____________
15

16

17
18

An interesting possible parallel is found in Gos. Thomas # 105, if the text is corrected
according to a suggestion once made by Johannes Leipoldt: Whoever knows not
father and mother will be called the child of a whore; see H.-M. Schenke, Das Philippus-Evangelium (Nag Hammadi Codex II,3) (Texte und Untersuchungen 143; Berlin:
Akademie-Verlag 1997), 161. It may well be that the emphasis here is on knowing
both ones father and ones mother.
James E. Goehring, A classical influence on the gnostic Sophia myth, VC 35 (1981)
1623; Richard Smith, Sex education in gnostic schools, in Karen L. King (ed.), Images of the feminine in gnosticism (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press 1988), 345360; E. Aydeet Fischer-Mueller, Yaldabaoth: The gnostic female principle in its fallenness,
NovTest 32 (1990) 7995, at 8589.
Whatever emerges from a syzygy is a pleroma, whatever from one single is an
image (Exc. Theod. 32.1).
See in particular Antti Marjanens contribution to this volume.

Valentinian Ideas About Salvation as Transformation

179

development in the womb.19 It thus refers to a state of partial formation

only at the moment of birth is the child fully formed. The image is
thus rather close to that of the abortion used in Exc. Theod. 68 (see
above), though here the aspect of the incompleteness of the foetus that
is stressed is more its capacity for further formation than its actual deformity. Thus, the perspective is more that of the gradual formation of
the embryo towards the moment of birth than the radical transformation of a rebirth. In this sense the image shares the perspective of the
theme of the divine pedagogy commented upon above.
A last theme involving soteriological transformation must also be
commented upon. Certain Valentinian texts speak about a transformation into angels. According to Exc. Theod. 21, the distinction male/female
is equivalent to that of angel/cosmic human:
... the female (elements), having become male, enters into the Pleroma.
Therefore it is said that the woman is changed into a man and the Church
here below into angels. (
.
.)

The union with angels is an idea that is also encountered in Irenaeus

description of Valentinian eschatology:
The spiritual beings will divest themselves of their souls and become intelligent spirits, and without being hindered or seen, they will enter into the
Pleroma, and will be bestowed as brides on the angels around the Saviour
( ). (Iren. Haer. 1.7.5)

In this last text it is not precisely said that the spiritual humans will be
turned into angels, only that they will be united with them in a conjugal relationship. It seems likely, however, that these are just two ways
of referring to the same idea; becoming married to an angel doubtlessly
means that one acquires the nature of an angel oneself.
It is an intriguing question what the background may be to this
idea of a marriage with angels. I have not been able to find a satisfactory answer, though several components of the idea may be considered. Angels in general represent the idea of a superhuman form of
existence, one to which humans may aspire or be transformed into. The
transformation into angels may be an eschatological prospect in an
apocalyptic context, a disciplinary project that can be partially or proleptically realized in this life in an ascetic context, or an experience induced by communal cultic participation or by the general sense of belonging to a sect of the elect, as seems to be the case in some Qumran
_____________
19

Galen, De plac. Hipp. et Plat. 6.6.32, 8.4.5, Adv. Lycum 7.3; [Porph.] Ad Gaurum 35.35
Kalbfleisch; Diog. Laert. 8.29; Thomassen, Spiritual Seed, 309313.

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documents.20 In the latter context, the idea of the angels as a collective,

a host, is particularly important. Generally speaking, angels not
only represent a different and higher level of being than humanity in a
taxonomy of ontological categories; they are also, as personifications of
the state to which one aspires, hypostatizations of the soteriological
identities of the believers, both individually and collectively. Becoming
united with ones angel therefore means attaining that state, and to be
incorporated into the eternal community of saints.
For the Valentinians, the angels are mediators between the Pleroma
and the spiritual seed of humans. They are manifestations of the aeons,
and the seed came into being as images of the angels. The angels appeared to Sophia as a host accompanying the Saviour.21 This motif reuses a traditional divine epiphany scenario,22 but has a much more
metaphysical (actually Platonist) significance in the Valentinian system.
The Saviour and his angels manifest the Pleroma as being simultaneously one and many the Saviour its unity, the angels its multiplicity.
The multiplicity of the angels is, moreover, a necessity with regard to
the condition of existence in the lower world: because the spirituals
exist as discrete individuals, they can only be assimilated to the unity of
the Pleroma through the particularizing mediation of the angels. It is
this assimilation that is conceived of as a marriage, and this is the ideological context for the concept of the bridal chamber. This concept
appears in two contexts. One is eschatological, as in Iren. Haer. 1.7.1:
When the whole seed is perfected, ... will the mother, Achamoth, leave the
place of the Middle, enter into the Pleroma, and receive her bridegroom,
the Saviour, ... with result that the Saviour and Sophia, who is Achamoth,
form a pair (). These then are said to be bridegroom and bride, but
the bridal chamber is the entire Pleroma. The spiritual beings ... will enter
into the Pleroma, and will be bestowed as brides on the angels around the
Saviour.

Here, the bridal chamber is the Pleroma, and the unification with the
angels takes place after the ascent out of the body, a process that will be
completed at the end of the world when the entire spiritual seed has
passed through cosmic existence and the apokatastasis will occur.23 In
other texts the bridal chamber is a ritual act performed in this life: baptism ... is also called the bridal chamber (Tri. Trac. 128),24 and the
_____________
20
21
22
23
24

Several variants of the idea are treated in the articles in this volume.
Iren. Haer. 1.2.6, 1.4.5; Exc. Theod. 3536, 44.12; Tri. Trac. 87.
Cf. Deut 33:2; Zach 14:5; 1 En. 1.9; Matt 16:27; 1 Thess 3:13; etc.
Similarly Iren. Haer. 1.21.1; Exc. Theod. 64
Also Iren. Haer. 1.21.3, and probably 1.13.6 and 9. The several references to the bridal
chamber in the Gospel of Philip are notoriously difficult to pin down, though they

Valentinian Ideas About Salvation as Transformation

181

union with the angels may also be closely associated with baptism.25
This suggests that the Valentinians could use the same ideas about
soteriological transformation in different contexts, which were not felt
to be mutually exclusive. Whether to describe the event of the Saviours
epiphany in the world, to explain the meaning of the rituals of initiation or to imagine the final restoration of the Pleroma, the same language might be used: receiving the Saviour, being reborn, becoming a
child of two parents, changing from female into male or attaining the
union with ones angelic partner.

The Dialectics of Unity and Duality

In this last section of the paper I shall return to the problem of the apparent contradiction in Valentinian soteriology, that redemption is
sometimes seen as simply a manifestation of what already exists as an
immutable reality, and at other times as a profound transformation and
the attainment of a new identity. From one point of view, the spiritual
seed deposited in the first human is only waiting to be revealed and
released by the advent of the Saviour; from another perspective, the
seed is seriously deficient and must either be subsequently formed
through a process of growth, or be totally transformed by having its
deficiency replaced by fullness. How can these diametrically opposite
soteriological ideas co-exist in the same system of thought? In order to
better understand this apparent inconsistency, one needs to refer to the
logical architecture of the Valentinian system as a whole.
The Valentinian treatises represent perhaps the earliest attempt in
the history of Christian theology to translate the Christian hope of salvation into an all-encompassing philosophical system. The groundwork
of this attempt is a dynamic monistic ontology using the notions of
extension and contraction, much akin to what we find in Neoplatonism
and deriving from the same historical roots as Plotinuss system,
namely Late Hellenistic monistic Neopythagoreanism.26 Successive
events of extension () and contraction () in fact make
up the narrative of the Valentinian philosophical myth. First, the divine
fullness, the Pleroma, spreads out from a single source into plurality.
_____________
25

26

seem in some places at least to be associated with initiation rites (e.g. # 68, NHC II
67).
In Exc. Theod. 2122, 3536 the angels are baptized together with Jesus in the Jordan,
so that we may each receive our angel when we ourselves are baptized; see my Spiritual Seed, 377383.
I have tried to show this in Spiritual Seed, chapter 23.

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Einar Thomassen

This movement of outward extension is ultimately concretized in the

last of the aeons, usually named Sophia, who, overcome by passion,
drifts into infinity until her extension is ultimately arrested by cutting
her in two. The Pleroma then withdraws from the cut-off part, which as
infinite extension becomes the source of matter, devoid of form. After
this cutting off-operation, the Pleroma contracts inside the so-called
Boundary and is consolidated and given form. In subsequent phases,
formative agents are emitted from the Pleroma to the formless Sophiamatter outside. In this context, too, the language of extension and
withdrawal is used. The formative agent, who is given names such as
Christ, Jesus or the Saviour, extends himself to Sophia and then
withdraws.27 It is though this operation that matter and soul are distinguished and given form, and at the same time the spiritual seed is produced by Sophia, as images of the aeons of the Pleroma, after she has
turned round from her extension into infinity in order to face the
Pleroma, the source of form. This spiritual seed is still, however, attached to matter and soul and needs to be redeemed from these impediments.
When the Saviour ultimately descends from the Pleroma into the
world of matter, the pattern repeats itself once more. The descent,
which implies an incarnation, signifies an extension of spirit into matter, analogous to what happened to Sophia at the beginning, and it is
followed by a new withdrawal, when the Saviour returns from the
Cross to the Pleroma. The Saviours passion in the world is thus homologous to the earlier passion of Sophia: in both cases the passion
means that spirit is temporarily subjected to the forces of irrationality
and matter. The chief expression of this meaning of the incarnation of
the Saviour is the crucifixion: at the cross the Saviour extends himself
into matter, symbolized by his spreading out the limbs of his body and
letting them be fixed to a piece of wood. At the end of his incarnation
he gives up his spirit, that is, sets the spirit free from the body, and then
returns to the pure spiritual realm. The Cross thus serves to separate
spirit from matter, just as the two parts of Sophia were separated at the
beginning by the Boundary. That is also why is one of the
names of the Boundary encircling the Pleroma.
This brief summary should make it clear, I hope, in what sense the
Valentinian system can be called a philosophy of Christianity. The
_____________
27

E.g. Iren. Haer. 1.4.1 Christ took pity on her, extended himself ()
through the Cross [i.e. the Boundary] and, by his own power, imparted to her form,
but only in respect of substance, not of knowledge. Having done this, he hastened
back above and withdrew his power ( ); for other
examples, Spiritual Seed, 27579.

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183

Christian ideas about fall and redemption are here given a metaphysical interpretation through a monistic philosophy that seeks to solve the
ontological problem of mediating between unity and multiplicity by
means of a theory of extension and contraction. It follows that all elements of the Valentinian narrative must be interpreted on the basis of
these premises, and that also includes the Valentinian views on soteriological transformation and resurrection. The ambiguities relating to
the status of the spiritual seed, i.e. whether it is already essentially perfect and only needs to be manifested or is essentially deficient and
needs to be transformed, must therefore be understood in relation to
the underlying structure of the monistic ontology itself. This structure,
in fact, is itself deeply ambiguous. Once the first principle starts to unfold into something other than itself, difference inevitably becomes
uncontrollable, and that is why Valentinian protologies typically describe long chains of generation where the successful mediation of
unity and duality is constantly being deferred from one level of being
to the next: once the monad becomes a dyad it will multiply itself into a
tetrad, an ogdoad and a triakontad, and the continued unity of the
whole depends on the precarious unity of each of its constituent aeons,
they themselves being syzygies, double beings consisting of a masculine and a feminine component, one but at the same time two.
When Sophia, the female component of the last aeonic syzygy,
breaks the unity through her divisive passion and is removed from
the Pleroma, the initial tension is not solved but only radicalized. Cut
off from the divine plenitude, Sophia is from one point of view nothing,
the non-being of matter, but from another point of view she is still an
aeon whose proper place is in the Pleroma. This ambiguity in the status
of the fallen aeon reflects the situation that the tension between unity
and duality inherent in the process of generation itself has not been
stabilized with the elimination of Sophia: in so far as she is still something, the Pleroma is lacking a member and the crisis of extension has
not been resolved.28
_____________
28

The texts are struggling with this dilemma. Some affirm that once Sophia and her
passion had been removed, the Pleroma was consolidated and achieved perfect form
(e.g. Iren. Haer. 1.2.56; Exc. Theod. 31). Irenaeus main source states that Sophias fate
became a lesson for the aeons. The couple Christ-the Holy Spirit was produced to
educate and consolidate the Pleroma, and in this way it was brought to perfect unity
described as a state where each of the aeons is simultaneously all the others, and
the single part is the same as the whole. At least one text, however, the Tripartite
Tractate, admits that the Pleroma did not become perfect after the elimination of the
errant aeon: For not only earthly humans need the redemption, but the angels need
the redemption as well, and the images, and even the Fullnesses of the aeons and
those marvellous luminous powers needed itso as to leave no doubt with regard
to anyone. And even the Son, who constitutes the type of the redemption of the All,

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Einar Thomassen

The ambiguity of Sophias status also affects her seed. On the one
hand, the spiritual seed can be seen as sharing the deficiency, formlessness and nothingness that characterize Sophia as the cause of matter.
That is why they have to be formed, or even transformed into something they were not before their deficiency will be replaced by fullness. On the other hand they can also be seen as spiritual natures that
are of the same substance as the aeons of the Pleroma, and from this
perspective redemption becomes instead a matter of revealing this innate quality. The variations in the ways the Valentinians imagined the
process of redemption should therefore be understood in the light of
this ambiguity.
Now, the ambiguity in the status of Sophia and her seed that produces these variations is itself a product of the constantly deferred mediation of oneness and duality that takes place in the unfolding of the
Valentinian system. Ultimately, the separation between the Pleroma
and the spiritual seed in the cosmos is an expression of the original
duality which began with the self-duplication of the Father into Father
and Son, and which eventually led to the crisis and separation of
Sophia. The restoration of the spiritual seed to the Pleroma can therefore be seen as that which brings about the definitive resolution of the
initial ontological tension. It does not do so, however, without continual ambiguity. For in the end, two competing notions of the result of
the restoration remain. Either, the restoration is conceived as a complete oneness, a return to the situation at the very beginning;29 or, it will
result in a state of equilibrial duality where the two members of the
dyad are individually distinct but the threat of separation has been
overcome. If complete oneness is the aim, two opposite options exist for
construing the soteriological process. One option is to envisage a complete transformation, so complete that one may speak about a replacement of deficiency with fullness, or, in other words, of non-being with
being. The other option is to think that there is no transformation at all,
only the manifestation of what already exists as an immutable reality.
In both cases, the solution is to regard the empirical world as irreality,
an illusion only the oneness of the divine truly exists. Becoming to_____________

29

[needed] the redemption, having become human and having submitted himself to
all that was needed by us, who are his Church in the flesh. After he, then, had received the redemption first, by means of the word that came down upon him, all the
rest who had received him could then receive the redemption through him. For
those who have received the one who received have also received that which is in
him (Tri. Trac. 124-25). Here, the Pleroma itself remains unredeemed until the Saviour himself has descended into the cosmos and been redeemed from it; everything
else is then redeemed through him an apokatastasis by chain reaction.
Tri. Trac. 127, 132.

Valentinian Ideas About Salvation as Transformation

185

tally transformed and understanding that one already possesses eternal

being are two parallel ways of articulating the soteriological implication of the realization that the world is actually nothing.30
The other way of conceiving the restoration, by seeing it as the joining of two partners in a harmonious relationship, is what is expressed
by the metaphors of male and female and angels and humans. Here,
not the assimilation to oneness, but the stabilization of duality seems to
be the eschatological vision. But once again the texts are ambiguous.
On the one hand, spiritual humans will be bestowed as brides on the
angels around the Saviour (Iren. Haer. 1.7.1): it is a male-female relationship where the two partners form a happy union. On the other
hand, we have also seen that humans are conceived as females that will
be changed into males. This idea implies not only that femininity is
seen as deficiency and masculinity as completeness, but also that the
female is associated with division and plurality, and the male with
oneness. The two ideas are curiously combined in Exc. Theod. 21: the
females, becoming men, are united to the angels and pass into the
Pleroma. The text presumably does not imply a homosexual marriage;
rather, it seems to be the result of a blending of two soteriological models, one that sees oneness, associated with masculinity, as the soteriological ideal of ultimate completion, and another that imagines that
ideal as the complementary union of two individuals in the form of a
syzygy.
In this way, the ambiguity inherent in the problem of how to mediate between oneness and duality, which forms the most basic metaphysical presupposition of the system, reappears at the end in the soteriological visions of the system. In soteriological terms, this ambiguity
translates, I think, into the question of whether personal individuality
will in some way be retained in the apokatastasis. Are we all going to be
ultimately assimilated to oneness, or will we, in our future disembodied and soul-free existence as spiritual beings in the transcendent
world, become the members of a harmonious community, enjoying
personal relationships with others. I am not sure the Valentinians
themselves knew the precise answer to that question.

_____________
30

This is the perspective underlying such texts as the Gospel of Truth and the Treatise on
Resurrection, where the idea of a total transformation and that of the manifestation of
an already existing reality exist side by side.

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Conclusion: Valentinian Resurrection

As was noted at the beginning of this paper, the Valentinians could
envisage their soteriological goal in good Pauline style as a resurrection
in a spiritual body. However, resurrection for them did not imply the
raising of dead and buried bodies for them to face judgment on the last
day. The concept of resurrection is not, in fact, used very often in
Valentinian texts, and when it does, it is usually reinterpreted as apokatastasis, restoration.31 It is a matter of bringing all the spiritual seed
from Sophia into the Pleroma. That seed will continue to be sown into
human bodies for a certain amount of time, until the store of seed in the
realm of Sophia is exhausted.32 It will pass through short human lives,
in order to be educated and to be baptized. Through that ritual we will
either liberate our internal spiritual self from the powers of matter, or
acquire a spiritual self given to us by the Saviour from without in the
form of the angel, with whom we are either conjoined as a marital couple or into whom we are totally transformed, becoming ourselves allmale angels. This soteriological process may be thought to take place in
the ritual itself, or the ritual may be seen as a preparation for the process, which really takes place after the death of the individual, during
the ascent of the spirit from the physical world, or, finally, it may also
be thought to be realized fully only at the very end, when all the spiritual seed has passed through human existence and is gathered together
into the Pleroma. These are all additional ambiguities of Valentinian
soteriology and eschatology, which cannot be treated here. Finally, it
may be observed that on a very basic level the Valentinians were facing
the same sort of puzzle as much other soteriological thought that uses
the idea of transformation. One desires to be saved as oneself and at the
same time as something other than what one is here and now. This
puzzle is inherent in the very concept of transformation, and the Valentinian material shows some of the contradictory ways the puzzle is
dealt with in a system where oneness is the supreme value but where
duality nevertheless refuses to be eliminated.

_____________
31
32

Exc. Theod. 7.5, 61.58, 80.12; probably implied in Heracleon fr. 15; Treat. Res. 44.
Tri. Trac. 123, 135; Exc. Theod. 67.3; Iren. Haer. 1.6.1, 1.7.1. 1.7.5.

These are the Symbols and Likenesses

of the Resurrection:
Conceptualizations of Death and Transformation
in the Treatise on the Resurrection (NHC I,4)
Conceptualizations of Death and Transformation

HUGO LUNDHAUG1
berschrift 2: fr Kapitel ohne 2 wird hier 1 Kurzform wiederholt
How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? (1
Cor 15:35 RSV). Pauls rather cryptic way of answering this relatively
straightforward question did little to stop the question from being
asked time and again throughout the history of Christianity.2 In the
present article I will explore how one particular early Christian text, the
Treatise on the Resurrection (NHC I,4), one of the tractates from the socalled Nag Hammadi Codices, interprets Pauls answer to this question. The resurrection is, as the title of the tractate indicates, its central
theme. In the following analysis I will investigate how the resurrection
is conceptualized in this text. More specifically I will focus on what
metaphors the text uses to conceptualize the resurrection, and how they
shape its rhetorical exposition and understanding of key aspects of the
doctrine in close interplay with Scriptural exegesis.

1. Resurrection: How, When, and of What?

The implied author of the purported letter,3 which in the only extant
manuscript witness is entitled the Treatise on the Resurrection,4 sets the
_____________
1
2

Hugo Lundhaug is a post-doctoral research fellow at the Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo, Norway.
See, e.g., Caroline Walker Bynum, The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity,
2001336 (Lectures in the History of Religions, New Series 15; New York: Columbia
University Press, 1995).
Whether this is a genuine letter or simply a treatise written as a letter is impossible
to know. For references to the various scholarly positions on this issue, see Malcolm
L. Peel, The Treatise on the Resurrection, in Nag Hammadi Codex I (The Jung Codex):
Notes (ed. Harold W. Attridge; NHS 23; Leiden: Brill, 1985), 137.
Treat. Res. has been described as one of the densest and most problem-ridden texts
of the [Nag Hammadi] Library, but also one whose diminutive size is quite out of

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Hugo Lundhaug

stage by stating that there are many who are faithless (

) concerning the resurrection (Treat. Res. 44.8-9),5 and tries in the remainder
of the text to explain to his son Rheginos, and the latters brothers,
why belief in the resurrection is important, and, crucially, exactly how
this concept is to be understood.
What, then, is the resurrection? (Treat. Res. 48.3-4) is thus the central question this text sets out to answer. Rheginos is told not to
doubt the resurrection (Treat. Res. 47.2-3), nor to think that it is a fantasy (
) (Treat. Res. 48.10-13). What, then, does resurrection
_____________

proportion to its importance (Bentley Layton, Vision and Revision: A Gnostic

View of Resurrection, in Colloque International sur les textes de Nag Hammadi [Qubec,
2225 aot 1978] [ed. Bernard Barc; BCNH tudes 1; Qubec: Les Presses de
lUniversit Laval, 1981], 190). It has come down to us in a single copy, in the Coptic
language, as a part of Nag Hammadi Codex I. The manuscript is astonishingly well
preserved, with very few lacunae. For facsimile reproductions of the manuscript, see
Michel Malinine, et al., De Resurrectione (Epistula ad Rheginum): Codex Jung F.XXIIrF.XXVv (p. 4350) (Zrich: Rascher, 1963); The Facsimile Edition of the Nag Hammadi
Codices: Codex I (Leiden: Brill, 1977). For editions of the Coptic text, see esp. Malcolm
L. Peel, The Treatise on the Resurrection, in Nag Hammadi Codex I (The Jung Codex):
Introductions, Texts, Translations, Indices (ed. Harold W. Attridge; NHS 22; Leiden:
Brill, 1985), 12357, but cf. also Malinine, et al., De Resurrectione; Jacques . Mnard,
Le Trait sur la rsurrection (NH I, 4): Texte tabli et prsent (BCNH Section Textes
12; Qubec: Les Presses de lUniversit Laval, 1983); Bentley Layton, The Gnostic
Treatise on Resurrection from Nag Hammadi: Edited with Translation and Commentary
(HDR 12; Missoula, Mont.: Scholars Press, 1979); Bentley Layton, Coptic Gnostic
Chrestomathy: A Selection of Coptic Texts with Grammatical Analysis and Glossary (Leuven: Peeters, 2004), 15660. The text has been preserved in the Lycopolitan L6 dialect
of Coptic (cf. Rodolphe Kasser, A Standard System of Sigla for Referring to the Dialects of Coptic, Journal of Coptic Studies 1 [1990]: 14151; what is now commonly referred to as Lycopolitan [L] was previously known as Subachmimic [A]). For a discussion of the dialect of Treat. Res. in relation to other texts written in the same, or
closely related, dialect, see Wolf-Peter Funk, How Closely Related Are the Subakhmimic Dialects, ZAS 112 (1985): 12439. All translations from Coptic throughout
this article are my own.
The issue of faith is not merely incidental, as Treat. Res. states later on, in a polemic
against philosophy, that if there is someone who does not believe, he cannot be persuaded (
), before proceeding to further contrast faith (
) with persuasion (
) (see Treat.
Res. 46.3-7). In fact, as Treat. Res. makes clear, even a philosopher (
) will
be saved and resurrected if only he believes (see Treat. Res. 46.8-10). For a discussion
of the anti-philosophical polemics of Treat. Res., see Luther H. Martin, The AntiPhilosophical Polemic and Gnostic Soteriology in The Treatise on the Resurrection
(CG I, 3), Numen 20:1 (1973): 29. For an example of a similar dichotomy between
faith and persuasion in the patristic literature, see Athanasius, Vita Antonii 80.1.
Bentley Layton, however, interprets Treat. Res.s stated emphasis upon faith in contrast to persuasive rhetoric as disdain for reasoned argumentation on the part of
the author, and reads Treat. Res.s stated dichotomy between persuasion and faith instead as one between demonstration and gnosis (Layton, Vision and Revision, 207
and 205).

Conceptualizations of Death and Transformation

189

entail according to Treat. Res.? The explanation given is not exactly straightforward. The treatise affirms that the dead shall rise
(
; Treat. Res. 46.7-8), but this resurrection of the
dead turns out to be a more complicated concept than it might at first
appear, for we are told that the body (
) will be left behind (Treat.
Res. 47.34-35), and that the visible members (
) shall not be saved (Treat. Res. 47.38-48.1). What is this resurrection
then?
First of all, despite the stated destruction of the visible members, it
seems that it is not merely a resurrection of the dead that is at issue here,
but more specifically a resurrection of the flesh. This is hinted at by way
of a rhetorical question: Therefore do not be in doubt concerning the
resurrection, my son Rheginos, for (even) if you did not (pre-)exist in
flesh (

), you received flesh (

) when you
came into this world. Why shall you not receive (the) flesh (

) when you ascend into the aeon? (Treat. Res. 47.1-8). The argument seems to be that we receive flesh in connection with our entry
into this world, and therefore we should logically also receive flesh
when we leave this world and enter into the next.6 But is this latter
flesh of the same kind as the former? The reference to two different,
but analogous, receptions of flesh the one at birth and the other in
connection with the ascent into the aeon indicates that it is not. Elsewhere as well Treat. Res. indicates that the former flesh is indeed different from the latter, when the implied author admonishes Rheginos
that he should not live in accordance with this flesh (
), evidently referring to the visible this-worldly flesh,
while simultaneously implying the existence of another, better kind
(Treat. Res. 49.11-12).

_____________
6

Cf. Peel, The Treatise on the Resurrection, 179. Contrary to Bentley Layton I do not
interpret this passage as a dialogue between the author and an imaginary interlocutor in which the lecturer himself adduces possible objections and then answers
them (Layton, The Gnostic Treatise, 77). From this premise Layton translates rather
freely as follows: Now (you might wrongly suppose) granted you did not preexist
in flesh indeed, you took on flesh when you entered this world why will you not
take your flesh with you when you return to the realm of eternity? (Layton, The
Gnostic Treatise, 23). Peel finds Laytons translation to be a tendentious effort to
make the text conform to orthodox Middle Platonic teaching about survival of the
bare soul after death, and I agree with him that the passage should be read as being
adressed straightforwardly by the author to Rheginos (Peel, The Treatise on the
Resurrection, 179).

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2. The External and the Internal Body

How, then, is it that the visible dead members shall not be saved, for
the living members within them was going to arise? What, then, is the
resurrection? It is always the uncovering of those who have arisen
(Treat. Res. 47.38-48.6).7 As we can see, Treat. Res. not only speaks about
different kinds of flesh, but also, it seems, about different bodies, one
that dies and one that lives on. The material body, referred to as the
visible dead members (
), are not
destined for salvation, for resurrection is instead defined as an uncovering (
) of the living members within them (
[ ]
#
#
), i.e., within the visible members.
Treat. Res. seems, then, to operate with a concept of an internal body,
constituted by the internal, invisible, living members, that resides within another body constituted by the external, visible, mortal members.
The latter is destined simply to die, and is most probably to be identified with the body () that is left behind by the one who is saved
(
) (Treat. Res. 47.34-35).
But what is the nature of the internal body that rises? It has been
claimed that Treat. Res. makes no reference whatsoever to a special
form of resurrection flesh, or resurrection body,8 and that the terms
and are synonymous for the author of Treat. Res.9 But we
have already seen that, in connection with the ascent to heaven, the
internal members seem to receive flesh of a different kind than the
perishable flesh of the visible members. While the text does not explicitly mention a spiritual flesh, or a spiritual body, the references
to a different flesh gained in connection with the ascent, taken together
with the description of a spiritual resurrection (
#) that swallows (
) both the psychic ( % & #)
and the fleshly (
#) (Treat. Res. 45.39-46.2), a spiritual resurrection that is in fact directly identified with the ascent (Treat. Res.
_____________
7

8
9

I read
at Treat. Res. 47.38 as a variant spelling of
(Sahidic
) (cf. Layton, The Gnostic Treatise, 25, 158; for a survey of other readings, see Peel,
The Treatise on the Resurrection, 18788). Peel claims that such a reading presupposes an aural confusion between and , and argues that this would be an
unlikely error if the scribe was visually copying the manuscript (ibid., 187). I
would, however, be inclined to see the manuscript reading as indicating that the
manuscript was not in fact copied visually, but rather by dictation. Cf. also 48.14,
where is likewise used instead of in
.
See Layton, Vision and Revision, 208, 211. Against this view, see, e.g., Peel, The
Treatise on the Resurrection, 14243.
See Layton, Vision and Revision, 211 n.96.

Conceptualizations of Death and Transformation

191

45.39-46.2),10 would seem to indicate rather strongly that the new flesh
is thought to be of a spiritual kind. This implication is further strengthened when we read the passages in question together with intertextually linked parts of 1 and 2 Corinthians.
A key aspect in this regard is the metaphorical use of the concept of
swallowing. The reference in Treat. Res. to the spiritual resurrection
swallowing (
) both the psychic and the fleshly may fruitfully be
understood in light of the concept expounded in 1 Cor 15:44 of there
being both a psychic body ( ) and a spiritual body
( ) the former being sown and the latter arising
and the reference some verses later, in 15:54, to death being swallowed in victory. In such an intertextual reading the sowing and arising described in 1 Cor 15:44 thus becomes analogous to the entry into,
and ascent from, this world, mentioned at Treat. Res. 47.5-8.
Treat. Res. also uses the metaphor of swallowing in three other instances, and there are also other New Testament texts that may have a
distinct bearing on the interpretation of the use of this metaphor in
Treat. Res. The Savior swallowed death (Treat. Res. 45.14-15) proclaims Treat. Res., but Christ is also said to have raised himself up,11
having swallowed the visible by means of the invisible (Treat. Res.
45.19-22),12 and later we are told that the imperishability [flows] down
upon the corruption, and the light flows down upon the darkness,
swallowing it, and the fullness fills/perfects (
) the deficiency (Treat. Res. 48.38-49.6). We thus have references to the spiritual
swallowing the psychic and the fleshly, the invisible swallowing the
visible, light swallowing darkness,13 and immortality swallowing mortality. The latter clearly recalls 2 Cor 5:4, with its reference to mortality
being swallowed by life, but we also notice the parallelism in Treat. Res.
between the resurrection of Christ and that of the Christians. Christ is
said to have risen having swallowed the visible by means of the invisible (Treat. Res. 45.19-22), and it seems that the same goes for the
_____________
10
11
12
13

Cf. Origen, Princ., II.10.3. We will return below to an analysis of the preceding metaphorical description referred to in this statement.
For the notion that Christ raised himself up, cf. Athanasius, Inc. 31.4.
We will return below to the role of Christ in prefiguring the salvation of the individual Christian.
Considering the extended use of First Corinthians in Treat. Res., the reference to light
swallowing darkness may easily be read in connection with 1 Cor 4:5, but in the context of Treat. Res.s discourse on the resurrection, Luke 11:36, which speaks about the
body () needing to be full of light rather than darkness, may be an equally relevant intertext. Overall, however, it may be argued that 1 Cor 15:53-54 is the central
intertextual focus, with its dichotomies corruption-incorruption, mortality-immortality, and the reference to death being swallowed in victory.

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Christians: their resurrection is the uncovering of their invisible internal living members their internal body.
If we are justified in equating this resurrection with the spiritual
resurrection, referred to above (Treat. Res. 45.39-46.2), the uncovering
of the internal body would seem to take place when the spiritual swallows the psychic and the fleshly parts, or aspects, of the person in question.14 These passages in Treat. Res. thus make perfect sense when understood in light of 2 Cor 4:16-5:4. This Pauline intertext, which ends
with the statement in 2 Cor 5:4 about mortality being swallowed by life,
begins in 2 Cor 4:16 with a reference to an external man (
) that perishes and an internal [man] ( [])
that is renewed daily. It then goes on, in 4:18, to speak about the
things that are seen, which are temporal, and the things that are not
seen, which are eternal. Further significance is added when this passage is then also understood in intertextual combination with the description made in Rom 7:22-23 of the contrast between the internal
man ( ) and the members ( ).15 By an interpretive blending of these passages, Treat. Res. regards both the internal
and the external as being constituted by , and consequently speaks of internal and external members. Read together,
then, these Pauline intertexts provide us with a rationale for Treat.
Res.s internal body consisting of invisible, incorruptible members, and
the external one consisting of mortal, visible members. Moreover, the
contrast made in 2 Cor 5:1-2 between the perishable earthly and the
imperishable heavenly bodies thus makes good sense when understood
from the perspective of Treat. Res.s interpretation of the resurrection.16
Treat. Res.s reference to the reception of flesh in connection with the
ascent,17 would moreover seem to imply that the invisible internal living members attain new flesh.18 What then constitutes these internal
members themselves? What shall not perish (
) is elsewhere specified by Treat. Res. as the thought of those who are saved
(
) and the mind () of those who have known
him (
; Treat. Res. 46.21-24), i.e., those who
have known Christ. It is thus likely that Treat. Res. equates the mind
_____________
14
15

16
17
18

This is in line with Troels Engberg-Pedersens interpretation of Pauls understanding

of the resurrection, in the present volume.
On this contrast in Rom 7:22-23 in comparison with 2 Cor 4:16, cf. Anders-Christian
Lund Jacobsen, The Constitution of Man According to Irenaeus and Origen, in
Krper und Seele: Aspekte sptantiker Anthropologie (ed. Barbara Feichtinger, et al.; Beitrge zur Altertumskunde 215; Mnchen: K. G. Saur, 2006), 79 n.33.
Cf. Peel, The Treatise on the Resurrection, 143.
Cf. Peel, The Treatise on the Resurrection, 136.
Cf. Peel, The Treatise on the Resurrection, 14243.

Conceptualizations of Death and Transformation

193

() with the internal members, and that it is the mind that shall receive new, spiritual, flesh in connection with the Christians ascent to
heaven, after having shed the material body as well as the soul, or
psychic element.19 But how is this understood?

3. Conceptualizations of Life and Death

At this point we also need to consider the way in which Treat. Res.
blends the concepts of resurrection and birth. For in the rhetoric of this
text, these concepts are implicitly presented as being analogical, both
involving exit from one world, or state of being, and entry into another.
This analogy brings to the fore not just the relationship between birth
and resurrection, however, but also the connection between death and
resurrection. As we shall see, the way in which death and resurrection
are here closely associated with certain metaphorical conceptualizations of life constitutes the basis of a range of what the treatise itself
refers to as the symbols and likenesses of the resurrection
(
; Treat. Res. 49.6-7), and which
we may refer to as metaphorical blends.20

3.1. Life is a Pregnancy and Death is Birth

The Processual Dimension
Even by themselves, the parallelisms between entry into, and exit from,
this world, open up for a comparison between the concepts of birth and
_____________
19

20

Insight into Treat. Res.s concept of the is, however, obscured by the fact that
this is the only instance in the treatise where the term is used. Peel notes that this
salvation of the mind has the distinctly Christian twist that it is contingent on
knowledge of Christ and belief in his resurrection (see Peel, The Treatise on the Resurrection, 173).
The terminology of blending derives from the cognitive theories of Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner (see esp. Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner, Conceptual Integration Networks, Cognitive Science 22:2 [1998]: 13387; Gilles Fauconnier and
Mark Turner, The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and the Minds Hidden Complexities [New York: Basic Books, 2002]; for an introduction to this theoretical framework
and an extensive application to the study of ancient texts, see Hugo Lundhaug,
There is a Rebirth and an Image of Rebirth: A Cognitive Poetic Analysis of Conceptual and Intertextual Blending in the Exegesis on the Soul [NHC II,6] and the Gospel of Philip [NHC II,3] [Ph.D. diss., University of Bergen, 2007]; for a shorter introduction and application of the theory, see Hugo Lundhaug, Conceptual Blending in
the Exegesis on the Soul, in Explaining Christian Origins and Early Judaism: Contributions from Cognitive and Social Science [ed. Petri Luomanen, et al.; Biblical Interpretation Series 89; Leiden: Brill, 2007], 141-160).

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Hugo Lundhaug

resurrection, but a blending of these concepts also surfaces in a more

explicit manner elsewhere in the treatise. In the middle of a discussion
of the fate of the body we are presented with the following metaphorically based argument: The 21 of the body is old age, and you
exist in corruption having the deficit as a profit. For you shall not give
(away) that which is better when you depart (Treat. Res. 47.17-22). Old
age is here referred to as a , or, more specifically, the of
the body ( &
).
Now, is not an unambiguous term and as such it may carry
a variety of metaphorical implications. The most pertinent metaphorical source domain for the argument that is made in Treat. Res., however, is that of human birth. In this sense, the term refers to the
membrane covering the fetus in the womb, but may also, at the same
time, carry connotations of the entire afterbirth, i.e., all that which is
expelled and discarded at birth.22 As it employs this term here, then,
Treat. Res. invites the reader to consider life, death, and resurrection in
terms of the more concrete and easily grasped concepts of pregnancy
and birth. For, notwithstanding the rather awkward phrasing of the
passage wherein it appears, the way the term is employed in
Treat. Res. may be regarded as a metaphorical description of old age
within the framework of a specific metaphorical conceptualization of
life and death. But how are we to understand the metaphor?
It has been suggested that, metaphorically, the term , as it is
used in Treat. Res., simply represents that which has had its useful
purpose, but which ultimately is discarded.23 However, this interpretation downplays the important metaphorical implications that may
arise from the fact that not only denotes the waste-products of
pregnancy and birth, but also a membrane.24 It has also been claimed
_____________
21
22

23

24

I have deliberately left the Greek term untranslated at this point. See the
discussion below.
See, e.g., LSJ, 1999a; Layton, The Gnostic Treatise, 8182; Malcolm L. Peel, The Epistle
to Rheginos: A Valentinian Letter on the Resurrection (NTL; Philadelphia: Westminster
Press, 1969), 84.
Peel, The Epistle to Rheginos, 84; cf. also Horacio E. Lona, ber die Auferstehung des
Fleisches: Studien zur frhchristlichen Eschatologie (BZNW 66; Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1993), 225; Peel, The Treatise on the Resurrection, 182. In his Contra Celsum
Origen employs the concept of the as a metaphor for the body (See Cels.
VII.32; cf. Peel, The Treatise on the Resurrection, 182), using the term specifically
in its sense of afterbirth. Origens usage is only superficially similar to that of Treat.
Res., however, for in contrast to Origen, Treat. Res. does not use the term as a metaphor for the body, but rather for old age, and plays specifically on the metaphorical
implications arising from the fact that the word may denote a membrane.
The term may also denote the membrane covering a chicken in the egg. If we choose
to understand to refer to the membrane covering the chicken in the egg, we

Conceptualizations of Death and Transformation

195

that is here simply a harsh and unprepared (also undeveloped)

metaphor for body.25 This, however, runs counter to the fact that
Treat. Res. does not, in fact, state that the body is the . It is old
age that is the of the body.26 This again implies that the body is
metaphorically something other than a , for if old age is the
of the body, then what is the body? Moreover, since, as we have
seen, Treat. Res. operates with both an internal and an external body,
which one is it? Further, the metaphor also implies the birth of something, and from something, when the of old age is broken
through and left behind, which leads to the question of the identity of
this metaphorical baby. So, let us see how this conceptual blend works.
Old age is metaphorically the thin membrane that is traversed and
discarded when the metaphorical baby is born. Since old age can be
considered to be a boundary state between life and death, the moment
of metaphorical birth can be understood as death, and consequently the
implied metaphorical pregnancy is to be understood as life. Within the
overall rhetoric of Treat. Res., the only candidate for the baby that is
born from this metaphorical pregnancy would seem to be the living
members (
) that in this life is located inside the visible
ones that perish, which means that it is the internal body that is metaphorically the baby that is born from the external. As we have seen,
Treat. Res. understands the resurrection as the uncovering of this internal body, which would then happen at the death of the external, perishable, one. For Treat. Res. resurrection thus becomes the birth of the
internal living body, and actually also identical with its metaphorical
conceptualization of death.
It is worth noting, however, that the metaphor of old age as the
of the body would only seem to work well when we presuppose the concept of a full human life that runs its course through to a
natural death at advanced age, in which case old age may be regarded
as the boundary state through which the pregnancy of life passes chronologically to the metaphorical birth that is death. It is thus interesting
that this text in fact has even more to say concerning the ageing of the
external, perishable, body. As we saw, one exists here in this world in
_____________

25
26

may understand death as the hatching of the chicken from the egg. The moment the
chicken breaks through the shell and leaves behind the membrane that has covered
it in the egg thus becomes a way to conceptualize the moment of death. Life becomes
the gestation of the chicken in the egg, and old age the the boundary (the membrane)
one has to break through and leave behind in order to get to the new life.
Layton, The Gnostic Treatise, 82.
Layton, however, argues that of the body must here be a genetive of constituency,
since, in his view, only in a very strained sense is old age itself the envelope of the
body (Layton, The Gnostic Treatise, 84).

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Hugo Lundhaug

corruption (
) and is to regard the resulting deficit (
) as
a profit ( # ). This makes sense when we interpret this corruption
as a metaphorical description of the gradual deterioration of the physical body with old age. The deficit resulting from the ageing of this
body is to be regarded as a profit, for it means that the birth of the internal, living, body moves closer, as the womb constituted by the
external body is left behind as the inner body passes through the boundary of old age.27 An implication that may be drawn from this is that
the physical decay brought on by ageing is not something that should
be looked upon negatively quite the contrary, since death is simply
the birth of something better, a new body with a different kind of
flesh.28 As it is employed in Treat. Res., the metaphor of earthly life as a
pregnancy thus highlights the transitory nature of the material body
and bodily life, while emphasizing the continuation of life in a new and
better kind of body after death.
Can this perhaps also tell us something about the possible implied
audience/readers of Treat. Res.? From the present analysis it would in
fact seem that an ideal reader of Treat. Res. would be an elderly one,
which may again imply that one of the questions the treatise is addressing is the relationship between the ever changing external material
body and the resurrection body. One of the questions that were asked
in the early Christian centuries was the question of whether one is
going to arise in the exact same body one has when dying.29 This was a
question that needed to be answered, for if one were to rise in exactly
the same body, then it would not be advisable to live to a ripe old age.
Treat. Res.s metaphor of old age as the of the body, and of the
latters decay as a profit, would, however, serve as a consolatory answer to such worries, turning the decay of old age into something positive.30
However, even though the decay of the material body is thus presented in a positive light, and death is conceptualized as birth, this does
_____________
27

28
29
30

The reference to the decay of the earthly body as a profit (

# ) also has intertextual connotations. It resonates well with Phil 1:21, with its references to life as Christ and death as a profit (
# /).
Cf. Peel, The Epistle to Rheginos, 84.
Cf., e.g., Bynum, The Resurrection of the Body.
One might here also note that Treat. Res. utilizes the metaphorical potential inherent
in the concept of the rather selectively, for while the membrane covers the
foetus throughout the pregnancy, old age is only an aspect of the last phase of the
metaphorical pregnancy. From the perspective of conceptual blending theory, this is
a good example of selective projection of elements and structure from the structuring input space to the blended space in a so-called single-scope network (see, e.g.,
Fauconnier and Turner, The Way We Think). For more on early Christian views on
ageing, see Karen Kings article in the present volume.

Conceptualizations of Death and Transformation

197

not mean that Treat. Res. has a wholly negative view of the body. For, as
we have seen, it is this material body that serves the metaphorical function of the womb in the metaphorical conceptualization of life as a
pregnancy, and this conceptual blend highlights the importance of the
material body and life in this world as the time and place of the development and maturation needed to effectuate the birth of what we may
regard as the resurrection-body. Granted, the physical, external body is
described as that which is worse (
; Treat. Res. 47.22)31 in relation to the inner, spiritual one, but Treat. Res. nevertheless grants that
there is grace for it (
; Treat. Res. 47.24).32 While it remains unclear what this grace actually consists in, there does not
seem to be any wholesale disparagement of the physical body as such
in this text, but rather a pronounced emphasis on the relatively higher
value of the inner body in relation to the outer.

3.2. Life is a Place, and Death is Departure

The Spatial Dimension
The passage concerning the ends with the statement that you
shall not give (away) that which is better when you depart (Treat. Res.
47.21-22). This is an expression of the rather common conceptual metaphor of death as departure,33 which again depends on the basic conceptualization of time as space, for we may observe that the concept of the
passage of time is blended with the concept of physical movement
through space. The departure associated with death is in this text quite
literally understood as an ascent to heaven (
) (Treat. Res. 45.27,
36), also referred to as the aeon (
; Treat. Res. 47.8). The change
in bodily state from life to death is thus not only envisioned as the
crossing of a boundary, but also as a spatial departure upwards. What
we now need to look into in more detail is the relationship between
death, resurrection, and ascent.

_____________
31
32

33

Cf. Layton, Vision and Revision, 19798.

Layton argues, not very convincingly, that this is an impossible translation, opting
instead for what it [the body] owes is gratitude (see Layton, The Gnostic Treatise, 25, 15556; Layton, Vision and Revision, 19194). For the interpretation chosen
here, cf. Peel, The Epistle to Rheginos, 33, 85; Peel, The Treatise on the Resurrection, 153.
For references to ancient uses of this metaphor, see Peel, The Epistle to Rheginos, 84
85.

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Hugo Lundhaug

3.3. Life is a Day, and Death is Sunset The Temporal Dimension

At a relatively early stage Treat. Res. makes use of the common conceptual metaphor of life as a day, expressed more specifically through the
constituent metaphor of death as the sunset of life. Treat. Res. elaborates
upon it within a distinctly Christian framework, however, and relates it
to the resurrection:
But if we are manifest in this world wearing him, it is the rays of that one
that we are, and it is by him that we are ruled until our setting, that is, our
death in this life. It is by him that we are drawn to heaven, like rays by the
sun, not being detained by anything. This is the spiritual resurrection that
swallows the psychic as well as the fleshly. (Treat. Res. 45.28-46.2)

First and foremost, death in this life, that is, the death of the external
body, is here understood in terms of the setting of the sun the moment of death equaling the moment the sun sets. Treat. Res. expands
upon this common framework, however, by specifying that we, i.e.,
the Christians, are the rays of the Savior Jesus Christ, thus simultaneously understanding Christ as the sun, and the Christians as the
suns rays. This then enables the text to argue that just as the rays of the
sun are drawn to the sun at sunset, the Christians are drawn to Christ
at their death.34 Even more important, however, are the implications of
this blend with regard to the interpretation of the resurrection, since
Treat. Res. explicitly states that this process of being drawn to heaven at
death, like the rays to the sun at sunset, is to be identified with the
spiritual resurrection (
#). The implications of
this are twofold. Firstly it implies that this spiritual resurrection happens immediately upon death, and, secondly, it equates resurrection
with ascent to heaven. This is moreover an ascent that cannot be hindered, for it follows from this blend, and this is also made explicit in
the text, that just as it is impossible to detain the rays of the sun when
the sun goes down, it is impossible to stop the Christians from going
up to the Savior in heaven when they die. The metaphor of death as a
sunset, as it is used in Treat. Res., thus combines the spatial and temporal aspects of death and resurrection by cleverly integrating the ascent theme by reference to the suns rays returning to their origin. Treat.
Res. thus very closely connects the death of the external physical body
with both ascent and resurrection the latter two concepts having seemingly been merged.
_____________
34

The Christians are thus light from light ( ), a description that is of

course well known from the Nicene and other fourth century creeds, where it is applied to Christ (see, e.g., J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds [3rd ed.; London:
Longman, 1972], 21516).

Conceptualizations of Death and Transformation

199

The immediacy of the resurrection/ascent at the death of the external body is something Treat. Res. stresses rather strongly. The text reports that there are some who wish to know if he who is saved,
when he leaves behind his body (
), shall he be saved immediately? (Treat. Res. 47.31-36) The answer given is simple, but effective: Do
not let anyone doubt concerning this (Treat. Res. 47.36-37). Since the
text disengages the concept of the resurrection from the external body
belonging to this-worldly existence, referred to as the visible dead
members (
), the salvatory ascent
involves only the inner members, and resurrection is defined as the
uncovering
of those who have arisen (

). The specification that the resurrection is always, or

at every occasion (
), such an uncovering would seem to
highlight the fact that Treat. Res. is not referring to a general resurrection of all Christians at the end of time, but rather to a phenomenon
that is repeated at every occasion when the internal members of a person are freed from the external ones at his or her physical death in this
world.
But what about the reception of flesh? Treat. Res. states concerning
the one who is resurrected that it is this which existed before that he
shall himself receive again (Treat. Res. 49.34-37). The reference to the
one who is saved receiving ( ) again that which existed before
indicates that the spiritual resurrection flesh received in connection
with the resurrection/ascent existed prior to the individuals earthly
incarnation. This, moreover, indicates that Treat. Res.s rhetorical premise, if you did not (pre-)exist in flesh (
(
; Treat. Res. 47.4-5), expresses a hypothetical case that is not
supported by the implied author, who rather seems to support the idea
of a heavenly pre-existence in a superior kind of flesh the flesh one
will receive again in the resurrection.

4. Past, Present, and Future Resurrection:

The Already and the Not Yet
We have seen above that Treat. Res. uses the term resurrection to
refer to an immediate post-mortem resurrection-ascent. Yet, the question concerning when the resurrection is supposed to take place is a bit
more complicated than that, for, as it is used in Treat. Res., the term
resurrection is not temporally confined to the post-mortem state, but
has a wider field of reference. This-worldly practice and insight are key
concepts in this regard:

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Hugo Lundhaug

For if he who shall die knows about himself that he will die, even if he does
many years in this life he is brought to this. Why do you not see yourself as
having risen,35 and you are brought to this? If you have the resurrection
(
),36 but continue as if you shall die yet that one knows that he
has died why, then, do I forgive your lack of practice ((
) )?37 It is
necessary for each one to train (
) in a number of ways, and for him to
be released from this element, in order for him not to go astray.38 (Treat.
Res. 49.16-34)

The important concept of having the resurrection is introduced by way

of a question to Rheginos of why he does not already in his present
state see himself as having risen. This concept must be understood as
an important corollary of the paradoxical claim that resurrection is
something that happens to those who have arisen. But how exactly
may one receive and have the resurrection already in this life?

_____________
35
36

37
38

Cf. Col 2:20ff.

This is the only passage where Treat. Res. refers directly to the resurrection using the
Coptic term
, rather than the Greek (
). For the latter,
see Treat. Res. 44.6; 45.40; 47.3; 48.4, 10-11, 16, 31; 49.7, 16; 50.17-18. What characterizes this only example of the use of the Coptic
instead of
is the
fact that it is closely juxtaposed with the use of the same word as a verb: Rheginos is
asked why he does not see himself as having risen (
), and the concept
of having the resurrection (
) is introduced. The use of the Coptic term at
this point, then, seems to serve first and foremost the purpose of facilitating a play
on the Coptic word meaning to rise (
), which is employed at several points
throughout the tractate. Consequently there is no reason to believe, even though
Treat. Res. uses
elsewhere, that a hypothetical Greek original would
have used a word different from where our preserved Coptic text uses
. The conclusion that there does not seem to be any substantial difference in
meaning between these terms in Treat. Res. is supported by the way in which the
treatise uses the latter in its introduction to the recently quoted passage, telling Rheginos that he should come out of the divisions and the fetters and then (or: already)
you have the resurrection;
# #
(Treat. Res. 49.13-16). The terms
and
are thus interchangeable when used as references to the concept of
having the resurrection. Intertextually, the phrase come out (
) may,
especially as it is used here within the context of a resurrection discourse, directly
evoke Jesus command in John 11:43 to Lazarus to come out of the tomb. The Greek
of John 11:43 is translated
in the Lycopolitan New Testament
(see Herbert Thompson, The Gospel of St. John According to the Earliest Coptic Manuscript: Edited with a Translation [Publications of the Egyptian Research Account and
British School of Archaeology in Egypt 36; London: British School of Archaeology in
Egypt, 1924]);
in the Sahdic version (see Hans Quecke, Das Johannesevangelium sadisch: Text der Handschrift PPalau Rib. Inv.-Nr. 183 mit den Varianten der
Handschriften 813 und 814 der Chester Beatty Library und der Handschrift M 569 [PapyCast 11; Rome/Barcelona: Papyrologica Castroctaviana, 1984]).
Cf. 1 Tim 4:7-8; Col 2:20ff.
Cf. Col 2:20ff.

Conceptualizations of Death and Transformation

201

Firstly, in order to reap the benefits of having the resurrection one

needs to acknowledge it. As we saw in the passage quoted above, if
you see yourself as having risen, then you will indeed arise. And
resurrection, as we saw earlier, was defined as the uncovering, when
the external body is stripped off at death, of the internal body of those
who have already acquired the resurrection in this life. This rather circular definition should not simply be regarded as an example of illogical or flawed argumentation, however, for it does, quite effectively,
serve to connect the goal of post-mortem resurrection with this-worldly
practice. But what kind of practice? It seems we must here distinguish
between two aspects: the practice that effects the reception of the resurrection in this life, and the practice that ought to follow such a reception. With regard to the latter we saw that it was necessary to practice () or train () in order to prevent one from
going astray and to facilitate the release from the material elements.
Here the use of the terms and may well be understood as references to some sort of ascetic practice.39
Resurrection may be acquired by refraining from a life in accordance with this flesh (Treat. Res. 49.11-13) and by realizing that one
has already died and risen again. This personal insight, however, combined with an acknowledgement of the necessity of practice and
training, is not necessarily the whole story. For, even though the text
makes no mention of baptism whatsoever,40 we cannot exclude the
possibility that Treat. Res. operates with the concept of a necessary initial reception of the resurrection by means of ritual, rather than, or in
addition to, ascetic practice. The statement that the one who has acquired the resurrection knows that he has died (
;
Treat. Res. 49.27-28) might for instance be understood as a reference to
the recollection of some kind of ritual death and resurrection, a rather
common early Christian interpretation of the rites of Christian initiation, and baptism in particular, drawing on Rom 6:1-11.41
There are also other parts of Treat. Res. that may be interpreted in
the same vein. For instance, the treatise cites Paul to the effect that the
Christians (referred to in the first person plural) have participated in
_____________
39
40
41

For patristic references, see PGL 243b, 324a.

Peel, The Treatise on the Resurrection, 163.
For the importance of Rom 6:1-11 in early Christian interpretations of baptism, cf.,
e.g., Thomas M. Finn, Early Christian Baptism and the Catechumenate: West and East Syria (Message of the Fathers of the Church 5; Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press,
1992), 910; Thomas M. Finn, From Death to Rebirth: Ritual and Conversion in Antiquity
(New York: Paulist Press, 1997), 25556; Kilian McDonnell, The Baptism of Jesus in the
Jordan: The Trinitarian and Cosmic Order of Salvation (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical
Press, 1996), 217, 23032.

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Hugo Lundhaug

Christs death and resurrection. Treat. Res. claims that as the apostle
said: we have suffered with him and we have risen with him and we
have gone to Heaven with him (Treat. Res. 45.24-28). The crucial question with regard to the praxis that is here presupposed by Treat. Res. is
what this participation, referred to in the past tense, refers to. Understood against the background of Rom 6, this Pauline quotation, which is
actually not a quotation, but rather a composite allusion to Rom 8:17
and Eph 2:6,42 may plausibly be interpreted as a reference to baptismal
initiation.
Yet another concept utilized in Treat. Res. that may be understood
in light of ritual practice, and especially baptism, is that of wearing
(
/) Christ. We have seen that Treat. Res. likens Christians
who wear Christ to the rays of the sun, but how does one put him
on? Since the terminology of putting on Christ, when encountered in an
early Christian context, often carry strong connotations of ritual initiation,43 this metaphor may also be interpreted in that light.44 Such an
interpretation is furthermore strengthened if we read Treat. Res.s metaphor of wearing Christ intertextually with Gal 3:27, where Paul closely connects the putting on of Christ with baptism.45
It is, however, fair to point out that since Treat. Res. never explicitly
refers to initiatory ritual, it is of course impossible to know whether
such an interpretation of the text was intended by its author, and it can
plausibly be argued that the interpretation of ascetic practice, or a
Christian way of life in more general terms, may in itself account for
the imagery discussed here. The putting on of Christ referred to in
Treat. Res. may, with 1 Cor 15:49 in mind, for instance be understood in
terms of the ritual acquisition of the internal body that will rise at the
death of the exterior one. Still, we may just as well regard this acquisition as a result of ascetic, or other, practice. In any case, only those who
_____________
42
43

44

45

Cf. Peel, The Epistle to Rheginos, 7072; Peel, The Treatise on the Resurrection, 162.
See, e.g., Sebastian P. Brock, Clothing Metaphors as a Means of Theological Expression in Syriac Tradition, in Typus, Symbol, Allegorie bei den stlichen Vtern und ihren
Parallelen im Mittelalter (ed. Margot Schmidt; Eichsttter Beitrge 4; Regensburg:
Friedrich Pustet, 1982), 1138; Jonathan Z. Smith, The Garments of Shame, HR 5
(1966): 21738; Nils Alstrup Dahl and David Hellholm, Garment-Metaphors: The
Old and the New Human Being, in Antiquity and Humanity: Essays on Ancient Religion and Philosphy: Presented to Hans Dieter Betz on His 70th Birthday (ed. Adela Yarbro
Collins and Margaret M. Mitchell; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001), 13958.
It is here also worthy of note that often when we encounter the garment metaphor in
early Christian mystagogy it is formulated in terms of the putting on of light. Such
an interpretation of baptismal initiation would fit very well with Treat. Res.s description of the Christians as beams of light from Christ the Sun.
The connection between Treat. Res. 45.30-31 and Gal 3:27 has also been suggested by
Peel, The Epistle to Rheginos, 136.

Conceptualizations of Death and Transformation

203

have put on Christ will be drawn to heaven when they die. Since
Treat. Res. makes no direct references to ritual, and thus does not explicitly link its understanding of the resurrection with ritual initiation, all
we can conclude is that this is an interpretive possibility, albeit a possibility that is strengthened if we presuppose a Sitz im Leben for Treat.
Res. among Christians who, based on Romans 6, interpreted baptism in
terms of death and resurrection, and who employed the garmentmetaphor mystagogically. What we may say with greater certainty,
however, is that the treatise operates with the concept of an already
experienced resurrection which it links with what seems most likely to
be interpreted as ascetic practice.

5. Conclusion: Resurrection According

to the Treatise on the Resurrection
Now, in summary, how does Treat. Res. treat the resurrection? We have
seen that there are certain key conceptual metaphors that underlie the
rhetoric of this text. Resurrection is closely connected to three distinct
conceptualizations of death, which are again intimately connected to
corresponding conceptualizations of life. These are the metaphorical
conceptualizations of death as birth, death as departure, and death as
sunset, which are connected to the metaphors of life as a pregnancy, life
as a place, and life as a day respectively. These metaphors highlight
different aspects of the resurrection. The metaphors of death as birth
and death as sunset are, for example, central to the tractates argument
for the immediacy of the resurrection. Quite paradoxically, but well
within the logic of the text, resurrection is linked simultaneously to
both birth and death. What becomes apparent is the intriguing fact that
Treat. Res.s concept of the resurrection is actually in many respects
identical to its underlying conceptual metaphors of death.46 One might
even say that its understanding of the resurrection is based on a literalizing reinterpretation of these metaphors. The concepts of death and
resurrection are thus in important ways merged, and resurrection, like
death, emerges from this text partly as a new birth and partly as a departure, thus establishing both its immediacy and its boundarycrossing nature. And resurrection, as death, is a departure upwards
an ascent that is a direct consequence of the tractates elaboration of the
metaphor of death as a sunset. Moreover, the spatial metaphor of de_____________
46

In early Christian discourse, as Karen King notes in her article in the present volume,
the topic of death is ubiquitous and absent at the same time.

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Hugo Lundhaug

parture and the processual metaphor of birth also imply that death is
not simply the end, but also a beginning of, and an entry into, something new. Moreover, the idea that resurrection requires cultivation
and involves an uncovering of something internal is also connected
with the conceptual metaphors of life as a pregnancy, and death and
resurrection as birth.
A different metaphor that serves to highlight related aspects is that
of the body as a garment. Resurrection is in this sense the shedding of
the material body, like a garment, by those who have already acquired
the resurrection in this life. This shedding/uncovering happens at
death. Resurrection is thus something that ultimately takes place when
the external body of those who have already been resurrected dies.
Resurrection thus happens at the death of the perishable body, but it
has also already taken place, most probably by means of some kind of
ascetic and/or ritual practice.
As for the underlying anthropology, the contrast posited in Treat.
Res. is not primarily one between and , but rather between the internal and the external, the visible and the invisible, the
perishable and the imperishable. As we have seen, Treat. Res. operates
with a concept of bodies constituted by internal, invisible, living members and bodies constituted by external, mortal, visible members. Both
of these bodies have flesh, albeit different kinds of flesh one associated with this present world, and another associated with the next.
The view that the material this-worldly flesh shall arise is opposed.
Nevertheless, Treat. Res. seems to hold that resurrection still involves
some kind of flesh. This new flesh emerges as the spiritual flesh of
an inner embryonic body that needs to be cultivated in the present life,
but which is at the same time in some sense preexistent. The perfectly
cultivated inner body will then ascend in a perfected state immediately
upon the death of the material body.
In the preceding analysis of Treat. Res. we have seen how Treat. Res.
implicitly strives to answer the question of 1 Cor 15:35 concerning the
nature of the resurrection, and that it draws crucially on both 1 Corinthians and other Pauline texts in formulating its own answers.47
Echoing 1 Cor 15:50, Treat. Res. affirms that the material flesh will have
no part in salvation. Moreover, the text agrees with what 1 Cor 15:39
points out, namely that not all flesh is the same flesh, and it is in line
with 15:40, concerning the different kinds of bodies. From this, Treat.
Res. seems to draw the conclusion that not only is there a flesh that is
_____________
47

In fact, Treat. Res.s understanding of Paul comes strikingly close to how Troels
Engberg-Pedersen, in the present volume, argues Paul himself understood the resurrection.

Conceptualizations of Death and Transformation

205

not destined for salvation, but there is also a different kind of flesh
which indeed is, and which the text defines in conscious agreement
with 1 Cor 15:44, while also drawing crucially on other Pauline texts,
most notably 2 Corinthians and Romans. Last, but not least, we have
seen that Treat. Res. regards the resurrection as both a past, present, and
future event and experience, and that it argues strongly for the absolute
necessity of acquiring, and having faith in, the resurrection already in
this life.

Metamorphosis and Mind

Cognitive Explorations of the Grotesque in Early
Christian Literature
Metamorphosis and Mind Cognitive Explorations
ISTVN CZACHESZ1
berschrift 2: fr Kapitel ohne 2 wird hier 1 Kurzform wiederholt
The word grotesque did not exist in antiquity. It has been coined
from the Italian grotto after the excavation of Neros Domus Aurea in
the fifteenth century. The walls of this palace were decorated with
graceful fantasies, anatomical impossibilities, extraordinary excrescences, human heads and torsos.2 In modern literary studies, the concept of the grotesque was introduced by Mikhail Bakhtin (18951975).3
Bakhtin especially explored this subject in his study of the art of Franois Rabelais (ca. 14941553), which appeared in English as Rabelais and
his World. In this book, Bakhtin introduced the term grotesque realism to identify a peculiar aesthetic concept of the human body, which
he found in Rabelais and traced back to folk culture.4 Grotesque realism
shows the body without clear boundaries, focusing on the apertures,
convexities and offshoots. There is an emphasis on activities in which
the body exceeds its limits, such as copulation, pregnancy, childbirth,
agony, eating, drinking, and defecation. The grotesque body is a phenomenon in transformation, in an as yet unfinished metamorphosis of
death, birth, growth, and becoming.

_____________
1
2
3

Istvn Czachesz is a fellow of the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, Finland,
and a Privatdozent at the Faculty of Theology, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
A. K. Robertson, The Grotesque Interface (Frankfurt am Main: Vervuert/Iberoamericana, 1996), 10.
. ,
(: , 1965); English translation: Rabelais and His World, trans. H. Iswolsky (Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press, 1968); cf. R.
M. Berrong, Rabelais and Bakhtin: Popular Culture in Gargantua and Pantagruel (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1986); A. Simons, Creating New Images of
Bakhtin, in Studies in Eastern European Thought 49 (1997), 30517.
Bakhtin, Rabelais and His World, 18.

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Istvn Czachesz

1. Uses of the Grotesque in Early Christian Literature

In my forthcoming monograph I deal with three different domains
where early Christian literature uses grotesque imagery:5 the grotesque
in hell, in social rhetoric, and in the realm of the divine. I will give a
few examples from each domain.

1.1. Hell
The central chapters of the Apocalypse of Peter, dating to the late first or
early second century,6 describe the punishments of different sins in the
underworld.7 At this place I can only give a selection, focusing on the
cases that are most relevant for my present contribution. People who
blasphemed the way of righteousness are hanged from the tongue
and burned by fire (ApPt 22 A; 7.12 E).8 Other sinners are hanged up
from different body parts, such as hair or legs. Women who conceived
children outside marriage and procured abortion sit in a pool of discharge and excrement, with their eyes burned by flames coming from
their children (26 A; 8.14 E).9 As for parents who committed infanticide, flash-eating animals come forth from the mothers rotten milk and
torment the parents (8.510 E). Those who persecuted and gave over
the righteous ones sit in a dark place, are burned waist-high, tortured
by evil spirits, and their innards are eaten by worms (27 A; 9.12 E).
Various other sinners sit in burning mud and bodily discharges, such
as blood, pus, and excrement. Those who blasphemed and spoke ill of
the way of righteousness bite their lips and get fiery rods in their
eyes (28 A; 9.3 E). False witnesses bite their tongues and have burning
flames in their mouths (29 A; 9.4 E). They who trusted their riches, did
not have mercy on the orphans and widows, and were ignorant of
Gods commandments, are wearing rags and are driven on sharp and
fiery stones (30 A; 9.57 E). Men behaving like women and women
_____________
5
6
7
8
9

I. Czachesz, The Grotesque Body in Early Christian Literature: Hell, Scatology, and Metamorphosis, Habilitationsschrift (Heidelberg, 2007).
J. N. Bremmer and I. Czachesz, eds., The Apocalypse of Peter (Leuven: Peeters, 2003).
I. Czachesz, The Grotesque Body in the Apocalypse of Peter, in Bremmer and
Czachesz, The Apocalypse of Peter, 10826.
A and E stand for the Greek Akhmim Codex and the Ethiopic text, respectively.
The Greek text is fragmentary; for different emendations, see E. Klostermann, Apocrypha I. Reste des Petrusevangeliums, der Petrusapokalypse und des Kerygmata Petri (Berlin: DeGruyter, 1933), 11, notes. The Ethiopic has infanticide as a separate sin. Cf. M.
Himmelfarb, Tours of Hell: An Apocalyptic Form in Jewish and Christian Literature
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983), 9697.

Metamorphosis and Mind Cognitive Explorations

209

having intercourse with each other endlessly throw themselves into an

abyss (32 A; 10.24 E).10 Men and women, whose sin is unspecified, hit
each other with fiery rods.11 They who did not obey their parents slip
down from a fiery place repeatedly; they are also hanged and tormented by flesh-eating birds (11.15 E).12 Slaves who did not obey their
masters chew their tongues, and are burned in eternal fire (11.89 E).
They who did charity and regarded themselves righteous are blind and
deaf, pushing each other onto live coal (12.13 E).
The fourth century Apocalypse of Paul, better known by its Latin title
as the Visio Pauli, gives us a somewhat different list of sins and punishments.13 Besides omitting some of the sins and tortures, it contains a
number of new ones, as well: piercing of the bowels with hooks (dragging the entrails through the mouth in the Coptic version),14 hitting
people with stones and wounding the face, worms proceeding from the
mouth and nostrils, cutting the lips and the tongue with a fiery razor,
wearing burning chains in the neck, sitting in ice and snow, sitting in a
pit of pitch and sulphur, or wearing clothes drawn with these substances, and the closing of the nostrils. Previously I have suggested
various possible sources of these images:15 they might have had their
origin in real life, particularly in the Roman practice of torture (possibly
as applied to the martyrs), Jewish or Greek literary tradition, or they
may have been invented by the early Christian authors. Yet our concern
is with the question of why they (and not other punishments) were
recorded in these lists, and what their function was in early Christian
discourse.
Other grotesque images are connected with peoples lives in this
world, rather than with their fate after death. In the Acts of Thomas 308,
the apostle finds the corpse of a handsome young man beside the road,
_____________
10

11
12
13

14

15

One of the Ethiopic manuscripts adds idolatry. Both Ethiopic mss. contain a remark
on those who cut their flesh, cf. D. D. Buchholz, Your eyes will be opened: A study of
the Greek (Ethiopic) Apocalypse of Peter (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1984), 21215. For cultic tattooing and cutting in antiquity, see D. E. Aune, Revelation 616 (Nashville: Nelson, 1997), 46569; W. Burkert, Ancient Mystery Cults (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1987), 81.
This group is mentioned only in the Akhmim text. The sins are not specified.
Cf. the punishment of the homosexuals above.
J. N. Bremmer and I. Czachesz (eds.), The Visio Pauli and the Gnostic Apocalypse of Paul
(Leuven: Peeters, 2007), with discussion of former scholarship; I. Czachesz, Torture
in Hell and Reality: The Visio Pauli, in Bremmer and Czachesz, The Visio Pauli, 130
43.
E. A. W. Budge, Miscellaneous Coptic Texts in the Dialect of Upper Egypt (London:
British Museum, 1915). This text is not identical with the Apocalypse of Paul in Nag
Hammadi Codex V.
Czachesz, Torture.

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Istvn Czachesz

and begins to pray. Soon a huge serpent or dragon (, which is

also black according to the Syriac text) comes forth from the bushes,
and recounts how he killed the man, because he made love to a beautiful woman whom the dragon loved. The apostle then converses at
length with the dragon and finally commands him to suck out the poison from the corpse. The serpent obeys and bursts up, the apostle in
turn raises the young man, who becomes his follower. In another episode (ATh 4250), a woman tells Thomas about her encounter with a
troubled and disturbed young man, who came up to her after she left
the bath, and asked her to sleep with him. She refused him, but he appeared to her in dream and had sexual intercourse with her. This has
been going on for a long time, until she met the apostle. The mysterious
lover turns out to be a demon, who negotiates for a while with the
apostle, but then leaves his fair wife. In a third episode (ATh 6281),
mother and daughter are attacked by a man and a boy on the street: the
men are black, their teeth are like milk and their lips like soot. From
that day, the two women are struck on the floor time to time unexpectedly. The apostle exorcises them and the demon in the mother turns out
to be the one he expelled in chapters 4250. Stories of demonic possession are frequent in the Gospels and other early Christian literature, yet
the grotesque representations of the demons set these stories apart
from most comparable narratives.

1.2. Social Rhetoric

In a second group of texts, grotesque images are used to mock and
ridicule the adversaries of early Christians. Many times we read about
grotesque labels attached to Jesus and his followers. Jesus is called a
glutton and a drunkard (Matthew 9:11/Luke 7:34); Paul a plague or
pestilence (, Acts 24:56), sorcerer and deceiver (Acts of
Peter 4); Peter a busybody or troublemaker (, Acts of Peter
34). Yet most of the time it is the Christians who use such labels, calling
Pharisees and Sadducees in the Gospels brood of vipers (Matthew
3:7; 23:32), Herod Antipas a fox (Lk 13:32), Simon magus the foulest
(pestilentissimus) of men (Acts of Peter 14) and abomination (horrendum, Acts of Peter 14). The Epistle to Titus 1:12 quotes Epimenides hexameter that Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes ( ), lazy
gluttons (lit. bellies).
The most powerful applications of the grotesque in the domain of
social rhetoric are found in narratives that employ scatological humour,

Metamorphosis and Mind Cognitive Explorations

211

so typical of Greek comedy and the popular mimus,16 to ridicule the

antagonists of the Christian narratives. In the Acts of Peter, the senator
Marcellus is mislead by the tricks of Simon magus, whom he even entertains in his own house. Upon the arrival and mighty miracles of
Peter (e.g. raising a smoked tuna fish), however, Marcellus turns
against his teacher, rushes into his house and throws curses at his head
(Acts of Peter 14). Then the servants take Simon, beat him with rods and
stones, and complete the treatment by emptying chamber pots (vasa
stercoribus plena) onto his head. In the Passion of Andrew, the Christians
of Patras assemble in the palace of the proconsul Aegeates. As they are
celebrating the day of the Lord in the room of Maximilla, wife of the
proconsul, servants report the lord of the house is coming home. Andrew prays and asks the Lord Jesus that everyone could leave before
the proconsul enters the room. And behold, Aegeates is immediately
struck with diarrhea (he was troubled by his bowels,
), asks for a lavatory seat, and sits on it while the
brothers, made invisible by Andrew, are able to steal out beside him.

1.3. The Bright Side of the Grotesque

The power of grotesque images is also employed in language about the
divine. Various early Christian writings suggest that Jesus was capable
of appearing in different forms, both simultaneously and subsequently.17 In the Acts of John 8889, Jesus simultaneously appears to
James as a child and to John as a handsome man. Not much later he
appears to John as a bald headed man with thick and flowing beard,
and to James as a youth whose beard is just starting. In the same text,
John reports that Jesus body was sometimes soft, but sometimes hard
as stone; his eyes were always open; he left no footprints on the
_____________
16

17

J. H. Henderson, The Maculate Muse: Obscene Language in Attic Comedy (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1974) 187203; E. Segal, Roman Laughter: The Comedy of Plautus
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1987, 2nd edition); H. Wiemken, Der griechische
Mimus: Dokumente zur Geschichte des antiken Volkstheaters (Bremen: Schnemann,
1972). Cf. K. J. Reckford, Aristophanes Old-and-new Comedy (Chapel Hill, N. C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1987); D. F. Harvey and J. M. Wilkins, The Rivals of
Aristophanes: Studies in Athenian Old Comedy (London: Duckworth and The Classical
Press of Wales, 2000); I. C. Storey, Eupolis: Poet of Old Comedy (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2003).
This phenomenon has been called polymorphy in recent scholarship. Definitions of
polymorphy vary as well as theories of its origin. For two recent discussions of the
subject see Czachesz, The Grotesque Body, 12746; P. Foster, Polymorphic Christology: Its Origins and Development in Early Christianity, The Journal of Theological
Studies 58 (2007), 6699.

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ground, and he was often a small figure looking upwards to the sky.
During his transfiguration on the mountain, Jesus head reaches
heaven; when John walks up to him, he turns around, suddenly becoming a small man, and pulls Johns beard.
In the Acts of Peter 2021, blind women see Christ in different forms
simultaneously. Some see an old man, whose appearance they cannot
describe; others see a young man (iuuenem adulescentem), still others a
boy. In various Apocryphal Acts, Christ routinely appears as a beautiful young man, or in the form of the protagonist.18 In the Acts of Andrew
and Matthias he appears as a ship captain (5, 17) and as a little child (18,
33) and claims he can appear in any form he wishes (18).
Occasionally Jesus appears in the form of animals. The lamb of
Revelation is a well-known example, but precisely because of its familiarity we seldom think about it as a case of theriomorphic representation. Jesus also appears as an eagle in various writings. In the Apocryphon of John, which paraphrases the biblical story of creation, Jesus
Christ, the Savior, teaches Adam and his wife Eve: I appeared in the
form of an eagle on the tree of knowledge [] that I might teach them
and awaken them out of the depth of sleep. For they were born in a
fallen state and they recognized their nakedness (NHC II.23.2633).19
In the Acts of Philip 3.59 (probably 4th century),20 the apostle Philip
prays and beseeches the Lord Jesus to reveal himself. Suddenly a huge
tree appears in the desert. When Philip looks upwards, he catches
glimpse of the image of a huge eagle, the wings of which are spread
out in the form of the true cross. Philip addresses the magnificent
eagle, and asks it to take his prayers to the Savior. He calls it chosen
bird, the beauty of which is not of this place. Suddenly he realises
that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who revealed himself in this form. The
apostle praises the Lord, and Jesus (still in the form of an eagle) exhorts
the apostle.
Speaking animals are stock-material in the Apocryphal Acts.21 In
the Acts of Paul, the apostle baptises a speaking lion, which he meets
_____________
18

19

20
21

Czachesz, The Grotesque Body, 13233. Cf. P. J. Lalleman, Polymorphy of Christ, in

J. N. Bremmer, ed., The Apocryphal Acts of John (Kampen: Kok Pharos, 1995), 97118,
esp. 109.
The short version of the text probably dates to the second century, cf. G. P. Luttikhuizen, A Gnostic Reading of the Acts of John, in Bremmer, The Apocryphal Acts of
John, 11952 at 1245. This passage is found in the long version.
I. Czachesz, Commission Narratives: A Comparative Study of the Canonical and Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (Leuven: Peeters, 2007), 140, note 1.
Ch. R. Matthews, Articulate Animals: A Multivalent Motif in the Apocryphal Acts
of the Apostles, in F. Bovon, A. G. Brock, and Ch. R. Matthews, eds., The Apocryphal
Acts of the Apostles (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999), 20532; I.

Metamorphosis and Mind Cognitive Explorations

213

again when he is sentenced to the animals in Ephesus.22 In the Acts of

Peter 912 a dog serves as the apostles messenger, summoning Simon
Magus. In the Acts of Thomas, both speaking animals of the Hebrew
Bible are featured: the apostle destroys the serpent of Eden (313, see
above), and speaking asses assist him twice in the narrative (3941; 68
81). Philip in his Acts meets three articulate animals: the eagle that is
Jesus Christ (Acts of Philip 3.59); a leopard and a kid, which he baptises
and which will even receive the Eucharist (chapters 8 and 12). Other
animals do not speak but display intelligent behaviour otherwise: for
example, bugs obey the apostle in the Acts of John 6061, leaving his bed
and waiting outside of the house during the whole night, until John lets
them back into their dwelling.

2. Violating Expectations: Counterintuitive Ideas

Although I have given rather diverse examples of the grotesque in the
first part of my contribution, it is certainly true of all of them that they
show things in surprising, non-standard ways. Normally speaking, no
scary animals are born of mothers milk, nobody changes his stature in
a second, people are not foxes, eagles do not speak, and servants do not
empty chamber-pots on the heads of their masters. Things work in
these texts in ways we do not see in everyday experience.
How elements that violate everyday expectations affect the attractiveness and memorability of ideas is explained by Pascal Boyers
model of minimal counterintuitiveness. Boyers theory is based on the
assumption that the human mind has been shaped by evolution for
millions of years. Our minds did not develop to think about just everything in the world, but primarily to secure our survival amongst a particular set of challenges. Therefore, we are predisposed to pay attention
to certain aspects of the world around us (e.g., predators, prey, human
faces, depth), and think in particular ways about that information (e.g.,

_____________

22

Czachesz Speaking Asses in the Acts of Thomas: An Intertextual and Cognitive

Perspective, in G. H. van Kooten and J. T. A. G. M. van Ruiten, eds., Balaam and His
Speaking Ass (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 27585.
Hamburg Papyrus 13. Paul meets the lion another time in the Coptic fragment of
the Acts of Paul, preserved in Papyrus Bodmer XLI (R. Kasser and P. Luisier, Le Papyrus Bodmer XLI en dition princeps: lpisode dphse des Acta Pauli en copte et
en traduction, Le Muson 117 (2004), 281384). Cf. T. Adamik, The Baptized Lion in
the Acts of Paul, in J. N. Bremmer. ed., The Apocryphal Acts of Paul (Kampen: Kok
Pharos, 1996), 6074.

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fighting, fleeing, cooperating, mating).23 The human mind is not a blank

slate when we are born, but rather it is a well-adapted organ which we
can use to solve specific tasks in the world. Experimental work has
shown that humans share a number of ontological categories to make
sense of their environment.24 Ontological categories represent the most
fundamental conceptual cuts one can make in the world, such as those
between animals and plants, artifacts and animals, and the like.25 Experiments have also shown that at the ontological level there are clusters of properties that unambiguously and uniquely belong to all members of a given category at that level. All animals are alive, have
offspring, and grow in ways that only animals do.26 In other words,
people have particular expectations toward objects belonging to a particular category. Psychologists have not yet reached a final agreement
regarding the set of basic ontological categories, but the following list is
widely supported: HUMAN, ANIMAL, PLANT, ARTIFACT, and
(natural) OBJECT.27
Boyers theory of counterintuitiveness suggests that religious ideas
violate intuitive expectations about ordinary events and states, inasmuch as they combine certain schematic assumptions provided by
intuitive ontologies, with non-schematic ones provided by explicit cultural transmission.28 Or, as he more recently summarised his model,
religious concepts generally include explicit violations of expectations
associated with domain concepts, that is, they violate the attributes
that already children intuitively associate with ontological categories.
The idea of a ghost that can go through walls, for example, is based on
the ontological category of human beings, but violates our expectations
_____________
23
24
25
26
27

28

Evolutionary psychology examines such aspects of human cognition. A representative study is S. Pinker, How the Mind Works (New York: Norton, 1997).
F. C. Keil, Semantic and Conceptual Development: An Ontological Perspective (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1979), 4662.
F. C. Keil, Concepts, Kinds, and Cognitive Development (Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press,
1989), 196.
Keil, Concepts, Kinds, 214.
Keil, Semantic and Conceptual Development, 48; S. Atran, Basic Conceptual Domains,
Mind and Language 4 (1989), 716; idem, In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape
of Religion (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 98; P. Boyer, Cognitive Constraints on Cultural Representations, in L. A. Hirschfeld and S. A. Gelman, eds.,
Mapping the Mind: Domain Specificity in Cognition and Culture (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1994), 391411, at 4001; idem, Religion Explained: The Human Instincts that Fashion Gods, Spirits and Ancestors (New York: Basic Books, 2001), 90. For a
slightly different account, see J. L. Barrett, Coding and Quantifying Counterintuitiveness: Theoretical and Methodological Reflections, forthcoming.
P. Boyer, The Naturalness of Religious Ideas: A Cognitive Theory of Religion (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1994), 48, 121, and passim.

Metamorphosis and Mind Cognitive Explorations

215

about intuitive physics that should otherwise apply to humans. Concepts that contain such violations, Boyer suggests, are more salient
than other types of cultural information, thereby leading to enhanced
acquisition, representation, and communication.29
Boyers theory has been tested in various experiments. Justin Barrett and Melanie Nyhof added three types of concepts to a simple narrative framework:30 (1) expectation-violating items included a feature
that violates intuitive assumptions for the ontological category to which
the object belongs (e.g., a living thing that never dies); (2) bizarre items
that included a highly unusual feature that violates no category-level
assumption (e.g., a living thing that weighs 5000 kilograms is strange,
but such a feature is not excluded by ontological expectations about
living things); (3) ordinary items with a usual feature (e.g., a living
thing that requires nutrients to survive). Subjects had to read the story
and write it down from memory; the results were used as input data
for a second generation, whose versions in turn were read and written
down by a third group. Barrett and Nyhof found that during the three
subsequent recalls of the story, counterintuitive and bizarre items were
remembered significantly better than common items. Experiments run
by Pascal Boyer and Charles Ramble produced similar results.31
Ara Norenzayan and Scott Atran conducted a different experiment.32 They suspected that the narrative framework in the previous
experiments biased the recall of different types of items; therefore they
gave subjects only lists of items without a narrative framework.33 Their
initial findings contradicted Boyers theory: the more intuitive an item
or a set of items was, the better it was remembered. However, when
Norenzayan and Atran compared the results of the immediate and
delayed recalls (after three minutes and one week, respectively), they
found that memory for minimally counterintuitive items decayed less
then for intuitive or excessively violating ones. Recently both the role of
_____________
29

30

31
32

33

P. Boyer and C. Ramble, Cognitive Templates for Religious Concepts: Crosscultural Evidence for Recall of Counter-intuitive Representations, Cognitive Science
25 (2001), 53564 at 538.
J. L. Barrett and M. A. Nyhof, Spreading Non-natural Concepts: The Role of Intuitive Conceptual Structures in Memory and Transmission of Cultural Materials,
Journal of Cognition and Culture 1 (2001), 69100.
Boyer and Ramble, Cognitive Templates.
Atran, In Gods We Trust, 1007; A. Norenzayan and S. Atran, Cognitive and Emotional Processes in the Cultural Transmission of Natural and Nonnatural Beliefs, in
M. Schaller and C. S. Crandall (eds.), The Psychological Foundations of Culture (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004) 14969.
As in the previous experiments, the lists were balanced against various influences,
see Atran, In Gods We Trust, 1013.

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Istvn Czachesz

context and the long-term advantage of counterintuitive ideas has been

confirmed by experiments conducted by Lauren Gonce and her collaborators.34 A new look at Barrett and Nyhofs results reveals that also
in their experiment the memory of counterintuitive ideas decayed less;
they paid no attention to this probably because of the absolute advantage of such concepts in both immediate and delayed recall in the experiment.35
Since grotesque images always include one or more elements that
violate everyday experience, Boyers model explains why such images
are attractive and why they are remembered. Most of the examples in
this article indeed contain only limited violations of ontological templates. Bodies in hell are distorted only in one or two ways at a time;
stories with drastic humour retain a believable setting to which they
add only few scatological elements; and animals speak or listen to the
apostles but are not weird otherwise.
Whereas Boyers theory of counterintuitiveness certainly explains
some elements of the grotesque, including its attention-grabbing nature
and memorability, it does not explain others. To begin with, not all
violations in our examples affect ontological expectations. Metabolism
certainly belongs to our ontological expectations about human beings
its occurrence in scatology rather violates learned expectations about
the settings in which it should occur and the ways it should be described. This, of course, cannot be taken as a disproof of Boyers theory,
which is mainly intended to explain our belief in ghosts, spirits, and
gods. Nevertheless, it must be noted that some recent experiments did
not find a difference (in terms of memorability) between the violation
of ontological and other categories.36 More importantly, this model
does not yet explain why grotesque images are different from other
kinds of counterintuitive ideas (the very idea of God, to mention an
obvious example) that are not felt to be grotesque.

_____________
34

35
36

L. O. Gonce et al. Role of Context in the Recall of Counterintuitive Concepts,

Journal of Cognition and Culture 6 (2006), 52147; M. A. Upal et al., Contextualizing
Counterintuitiveness: How Context Affects Comprehension and Memorability of
Counterintuitive Concepts, Cognitive Science 31 (2007), 41539.
Barrett and Nyhof, Spreading Non-natural Concepts, 8587, 8990.
K. Steenstra, A Cognitive Approach to Religion: The Retention of Counterintuitive
Concepts (Masters thesis, Radboud University, Nijmegen, 2005).

Metamorphosis and Mind Cognitive Explorations

217

3. Metamorphosis and Mind

The concept of metamorphosis offers another perspective to approach the
grotesque in early Christian literature. Dead people in hell, however
strangely they appear and behave, were originally people like you and
me who have been changed into a different form. The eagle that talks to
Philip is actually Jesus who appears as an eagle. In a less spectacular
way, many of the grotesque images have come into existence by changing either normal things (of which we have first-hand experience from
everyday life) or counterintuitive ones into new, surprising forms. This
is not self-evident, because there are many counterintuitive ideas that
do not include an element of metamorphosis. For example, Ezekiels
throne vision (Ezekiel 1:525) describes a structure that has not come to
existence (according to the narrative) from something that belongs to
ordinary experience. Whereas ancestors (or saints) used to be ordinary
people, this cannot be said of God at least in Jewish and Christian
thought. In this part of my article, I will argue that although metamorphosis can have several different meanings in ancient and modern
usage, it is ultimately related to the manipulation of everyday expectations attached to ontological categories.
When Ovid speaks of metamorphoses, he generally means that
someone or something assumes a completely different form which is,
however, a usual form otherwise. According to his invocation, Ovid
wants to deal with shapes transformed into new bodies (in nova
mutatas formas corpora).37 If we look at his metamorphoses, we can
see that the new bodies are most of the time quite usual objects,
plants, animals, or human beings. The same is true of the metamorphosis of Lucius in the Ass Novel (in both Pseudo-Lucians and Apuleius
versions). At other times, however, Ovids heroes do assume forms that
are unusual in themselves: Hermaphroditus is merged with the nymph
Salmacis (IV.274388); some people become divine beings, such as Hercules, Aeneas, Romulus, and Hersilia.38 Among Ovids metamorphoses
there are also ones in which somebody or something acquires a new
and unusual feature, rather than undergoing a thorough change. A
good example is Icarus who flies using the wings made by his father
Daedalus. Some examples from the New Testament correspond to the
latter two types in Ovids book. When the Gospels write of Jesus
metamorphosis () on the mount of transfiguration,39 he
_____________
37
38
39

Ovid, Metamorphoses I.1.

For the latter, see I. S. Gilhus, Animals, Gods and Humans: Changing Attitudes to Animals in Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Ideas (London: Routledge, 2006), 79.
Mark 9:2; Matthew 17:2; cf. Luke 9:29.

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Istvn Czachesz

still remains in human form but acquires unusual attributes: his face
shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. (Matthew
17:2). When Paul suggests believers would be transformed into Jesus
image (2 Corinthians 3:18, ), he
certainly does not refer to Jesus bodily appearance on earth, but some
other form that is unknown from everyday, first-hand experience.
Given the range of metamorphoses we have in these examples, it seems
advisable to start out with a rather broad understanding of metamorphosis, which spans from the growing of strange attributes to a complete change into either normal or unusual shapes.
Our observations about counterintuitiveness (that is, the violation of
expectations attached to universal ontology) and metamorphosis allow
for a characterisation of grotesque phenomena. Objects can fall under
four rubrics with regard to counterintuitiveness and metamorphosis (see
Table below). (1) The first type involves both metamorphosis and at least
one counterintuitive element. Ovids Hermaphroditus and heroes undergoing apotheosis are examples of this category. Among the grotesque
motifs mentioned in this article, we can refer here to the monsters born of
breast milk; devout animals; or Jesus appearing as a speaking eagle. (2)
The second type contains only metamorphosis, without a counterintuitive element. Ovids Icarus certainly belongs to this category. Do his heroes changed into animals also belong here? This needs further clarification, which we will undertake later on. Many grotesque images are
created in this way, such as people in hell assuming strange positions
and suffering various ordeals; victims of scatological humour; and Jesus
appearing as a ship captain or a child. (3) The third type contains only a
counterintuitive element, but no metamorphosis. Various gods, at least
ideally, belong to this category (in practice, however, most deities have
the inclination to assume different shapes). In the realm of the grotesque,
demonic figures fall under this rubric: the huge dragon, the young man
lurking at the bath, and the black man and his son. (4) Objects of the
fourth type include no counterintuitive element, neither have they undergone a metamorphosis. It is hard to find an example among the grotesque images studied in this article that would fit here. Strange things
do occur in our natural environment but are they grotesque? Our fantasy can also create objects and monsters that nevertheless do not violate
ontological expectations but again, are such things grotesque? It seems
reasonable to hypothesise that grotesque images minimally involve either counterintuitiveness or metamorphosis.

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Metamorphosis and Mind Cognitive Explorations

Table 1
METAMORPHOSIS

yes

no

1) devout animals; Jesus appearing as a speaking eagle

3) demonic
figures

2)

4) ???

no

COUNTERINTUITIVENESS

yes

people in hell assuming

strange positions and
suffering ordeals; victims of
scatological humour; Jesus
appearing as a ship captain
or a child

We have already seen how counterintuitive ideas arise from the innate
ontological expectations that dwell in our minds. Is the phenomenon of
metamorphosis also related to these mental structures? It seems very
much so. Frank C. Keil, whose experimental studies have greatly contributed to our understanding of ontological expectations, has undertaken a study with Michael H. Kelly about the metamorphoses in
Ovids book and the fairy-tales of the Brothers Grimm.40 Kelly and Keil
have looked at all transformations in Metamorphoses, and observed in
which ontological category the metamorphosis starts and where it
ends. In general, Kelly and Keil found that metamorphoses are unlikely
to cross the boundary between animate beings (including gods, humans, and animals) and inanimate things. Taken both texts together, 73
percent of animate beings remained animate and 81 percent of inanimate objects remained inanimate. Metamorphoses do not normally
change people into chairs, or hammers into gods. A look at our sample
reveals that this is also true of the metamorphoses involved in grotesque motifs. In most of them we find animate beings that also remain
_____________
40

M. H. Kelly and F. C. Keil, The More Things Change: Metamorphoses and Conceptual Structure, Cognitive Science 9 (1985), 40316.

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Istvn Czachesz

animate: gods, humans, or animals. One exception seems to be the

monsters born of breast milk but even in this case the underlying
assumption might be that the monsters are actually born from the
mothers. More direct examples might be derived from other parts of
biblical literature, such as Lots wife in Genesis 19. This example shows,
however, that once an animate being turns into an inanimate one, it
loses most of its fascination Lots wife as a salt pillar is much less
interesting than, let us say, Lucius as an ass. An example of the opposite metamorphosis is John the Baptists claim that God is able to raise
children for Abraham out of stones (Matthew 3.9) which is, however,
never realised. A closely related subject which we cannot explore in
more detail in this article is whether the resurrection of the dead requires that the dead retain an animate ontological status. In the Apocalypse of Peter they certainly do.
What can we observe if we look at the data on a finer scale? What
about the metamorphoses that remain within the animate/inanimate
categories? In order to be able to handle the wealth of data, Kelly and
Keil divided metamorphoses into two groups: those where a conscious being (that is, human or god) is being transformed, and those
where the starting shape involves members of other ontological categories. What they found was that more than half of the humans and gods
who underwent a metamorphosis ended up as animals (51 percent in
Ovid and 52 percent in the Grimms fairy-tales). Approximately a fifth
of them were transformed into other humans or gods (20 percent in
Ovid and 23 percent in Grimm). Exactly ten percent in both texts became plants, and a little more than ten percent (12 and 11, respectively)
became inanimate objects. Some five percent became liquids (which are
handled as a different ontological category by the authors), and there
are three cases in Ovid (2 percent) when conscious beings become
events rather than objects. The level of similarity in the data from Ovid
and the Grimms is all the more surprising since the two texts are divided by a great historical distance. We can add here a rudimentary
comparison with Greek mythology, based on the catalogue of P. M. C.
Forbes Irving. Considering only the amount of motifs in different categories, we find similar proportions as Kelly and Keil found in Ovid and
the Brothers Grimm. Animal metamorphoses (particularly metamorphoses into birds) are the most widespread, followed by metamorphoses into plants, stones, and other objects.41
_____________
41

P. M. C. Forbes Irving, Metamorphosis in Greek Myths (Oxford: Oxford University

Press, 1990), 196319. Forbes Irvings catalogue does not include the transformations
of gods, witches, magicians, or inanimate objects.

Metamorphosis and Mind Cognitive Explorations

221

Even on a finer scale, Kelly and Keil conclude, the stability of ontological status is observable. The further we move away from the original ontological category, the less likely we will find there the final state
of the metamorphosis. In terms of their hypothesis, this is because all
humans at an early age develop a sense that things cannot be manipulated so that they change their ontological category. Most children at
the age of five still admit that a horse can be changed into a zebra by
painting stripes on it, tailoring its mare and tail, and teaching it to behave like a zebra.42 At the same time, they resist the idea that a toy bird
can be changed into a real bird by similar operations. What is really
interesting, is that similarity between the starting and ending form does
not seem to influence their judgment: children are just as likely to
allow an insect to be turned into a mammal or an insect into a fish as
they are to allow one mammal to be turned into a closely related one.43
These findings can be used to explain the relative ontological stability
in Metamorphoses and the Grimms fairy-tales: things tend to remain in
their ontological categories, or if they do change them, they shift into
neighbouring ones.
But there is one piece of data that is not explained by the stability of
ontological categories, namely the dominance of god-animal and human-animal transformations among animate beings. According to Ingvild Gilhus, in the Roman world it was easier for a god or human to
change into an animal than the other way around because gods, humans and animals in Ovids Metamorphoses are also locked into a system that in several ways functions hierarchically.44 This system allows
for changes toward lower categories, makes some exceptions for
humans who may occasionally become gods, but does not let animals
change into higher forms. The system, Gilhus concludes, also implies a more fundamental division between animals and humans than
between humans and gods, which is in accordance with a general tendency in peoples thinking concerning animals in these centuries.
Whereas this model agrees on several points with the universal ontology account (existence of a locked system; greater distance between
humans and animals than between gods and humans), it also yields
some serious difficulties. First, it introduces a time-bond element, connecting the hierarchical system of Metamorphoses to the way of thinking
in these centuries. How can it be then that the same proportions are

_____________
42
43
44

Keil, Concepts, Kinds, and Cognitive Development, 195215.

Keil, Concepts, Kinds, and Cognitive Development, 21113.
Gilhus, Animals, Gods and Humans, 82.

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Istvn Czachesz

found in the fairy-tales of the Brothers Grimm?45 Second, and more

importantly, it does not explain why there are higher and lower
places in the assumed hierarchy. The special status of humans in the
universe is a widely shared insight, yet Adam was made of the dust of
earth as was man in Metamorphoses I.7688.46 For a second time, after
the flood, humans are made of stones (I.381415), as Deucalion and
Pyrrha obey the divine command and throw stones behind them.
The challenge has been recognised by Kelly and Keil, who emphasise the fundamental similarities between conscious beings and animals. Whereas this may explain why many humans become animals
rather remaining humans, it does not account for the asymmetry of the
metamorphoses (human to animal rather than animal to human),
which has been addressed by Gilhus. To find a solution, it may be useful to focus both on how metamorphosis between humans and animals
happens and the results of such metamorphoses. This is how Arachne
is made into a spider and Lucius into an ass:47
So saying, as she turned to go she sprinkled her with the juices of Hecates
herb; and forthwith her hair, touched by the poison, fell off, and with it
both nose and ears; and the head shrank up; her whole body also was
small; the slender fingers clung to her side as legs; the rest was belly.
(Ovid, Metamorphoses VI.13945, Miller)
Then I hastily tore off all my clothes, dipped my hands eagerly into the
box, drew out a good quantity of the ointment, and rubbed all my limbs
with it. I then flapped my arms up and down, imitating the movements of
a bird. But no down and sign of feathers appeared. Instead, the hair on my
body was becoming coarse bristles, and my tender skin was hardening into
hide. There were no longer fingers at the extremities of my hands, for each
was compressed into one hoof. From the base of my spine protruded an
enormous tail. My face became misshapen, my mouth widened, my nostrils flared open, my lips became pendulous, and my ears huge and bristly.
The sole consolation I could see in this wretched transformation was the
swelling of my penis though now I could not embrace Photis. (Apuleius,
Metamorphoses III.24, Walsh)

Both episodes describe the metamorphosis of a human being into an

animal but what are the attributes changing here? In both cases it is
_____________
45

46

47

For animal-human metamorphoses in more fairy-tales, see G. Brunner Ungricht, Die

Mensch-Tier-Verwandlung: Eine Motivgeschichte unter besonderer Bercksichtigung des
deutschen Mrchens in der ersten Hlfte des 19. Jahrhunderts (Bern: Peter Lang, 1998).
In Genesis 2.7, God also breathes the breath of life (Heb. nishmath chayyim, Gr.
) into Adamss nostrils. In Metamorphoses I, the stones transform into
humans by the power of the gods (superorum numen, I.411), but nothing is added
to them.
Cf. Gilhus, Animals, 80.

Metamorphosis and Mind Cognitive Explorations

223

only the outward appearance that receives attention nothing is told

about the inner parts or the mental processes. Lucius reports the whole
metamorphosis in first person, making it evident that he remained
Lucius all the time. Actually Lucius remains the narrator of the whole
novel, losing his ability to speak, but retaining his human mind. As
Gilhus rightly observes about Ovids Metamorphoses, Most striking in
many of these transformations is the way that being an animal is described as being in a foreign place. It is as if the human soul is peeping
out from an animal body, and the human consciousness is trapped
within the beast. This aspect of metamorphosis is hardly striking if
we compare it once more with experimental evidence. The way
Arachne and Lucius are transformed is similar to the alleged operations
that were used in the above-mentioned experiments conducted by Keil.
As we have seen, the experiments have shown that whereas five-yearolds would accept that by such operations, for example, horses turn
into zebras, they resist the idea that this works across ontological categories. The human mind seems to have the tendency to assume continuity in animate beings which cannot be turned into other beings in
the same way as chairs into tables.
Let us now look at the results of the metamorphoses. As the statistics of Kelly and Keil show, in Ovid and the Grimm fairy-tales most
animate beings remain animate, animals being the most frequent resulting form. As a rule, these animals will receive human traits that they do
not have otherwise. It is precisely these human features that make such
animals interesting to the reader, and indeed, this is the very reason
animal metamorphoses are so popular. The result of such metamorphoses is a counterintuitive being, in the sense that it violates basic
ontological expectations (to different degrees) about animals. Since
readers continue to think about these animals as humans in an animal
shape, they will attribute to them thoughts and feelings beyond that
what is explicitly mentioned in the text. Even if the human aspect in the
animals is sometimes flattened by the text,48 an animal shape still
makes it much easier to retain such traits than would the form of an
inanimate object. The resulting forms of animal metamorphoses may
come very close to another type of metamorphosis, which is frequent in
early Christian texts, when animals receive in the narrative some level
of human intelligence. Such beings are also counterintuitive and seem
to do the same job as the results of the animal metamorphoses. Yet
there is a basic difference in how readers treat them: in terms of the
_____________
48

As Gilhus, Animals, Gods and Humans, 89, argues. We may add that in this respect
there are great differences between individual cases.

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Istvn Czachesz

ontological model, devout animals essentially remain animals, and the

reader will be less willing to supply them with human traits that are
not explicitly mentioned in the text. Here the default assumptions
about animals are continued, which are, however, less rich than our
assumptions about human beings.
What would a real animal-into-human metamorphosis look like? In
fact, there are examples of such metamorphoses, but not in the literature under consideration. Werewolves might be good candidates; however, they can be probably better described as people changing into
wolves temporarily than the other way around.49 In Japanese folktales,
animals often transform into humans.50 These metamorphoses are different from the human to animal transformations of Ovid and the
Grimms in several respects. First, the process of transformation is never
described.51 Second, the metamorphosis does not involve a special difficulty, no magical act is needed, and the animal can even change its
shape repeatedly in both ways.52 Third, the metamorphosis takes place
with a particular purpose (of the animal).53 Finally, the perfection of the
metamorphosis plays a major role in the stories: if the animal is recognised, it has to flee or can be killed.54 Without a deeper analysis of the
material, it can be observed that in most of these folktales (with the
exception of a single variant) the animals have a human psyche already
before the metamorphosis: they are thankful, want to marry a human,
or to fight with him.55 Consequently, readers attribute to these creatures
human thoughts and feelings both before and after the metamorphosis.
In sum, they are thought about as humans in an animal shape rather
the other way around.

_____________
49

50
51
52
53
54
55

Cf. Brunner Ungricht, Die Mensch-Tier-Verwandlung, 1613; D. Ogden, Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002) 17578; J. R. Veenstra, The Ever-Changing Nature of the Beast: Cultural Change, Lycanthropy, and the Question of Substantial Transformation (From
Petronius to Del Rio), in J. N. Bremmer and J. R. Veenstra, eds., The Metamorphosis of
Magic from Late Antiquity to the Early Modern Period (Leuven: Peeters, 2002), 13366.
I. Vogelsang, Die Verwandlung vom Tier zum Menschen im japanischen Volksmrchen (Dissertation, Universitt Hamburg, 1997).
Vogelsang, Die Verwandlung, 16.
Vogelsang, Die Verwandlung, 16, 4344.
Vogelsang, Die Verwandlung, 2634.
Vogelsang, Die Verwandlung, 3442.
Vogelsang, Die Verwandlung, 2634.

Metamorphosis and Mind Cognitive Explorations

225

4. Emotional Effects
Whether we read about humans turned into animals, or hanging head
downwards in hell, or doing their business before an invisible congregation, we cannot help drawing various inferences about their thoughts
and feelings. In doing so we rely on our ability to read the minds of
other people,56 which we can achieve even in cases when the other one
is not there, is dead, or is only a fictional character.57 Yet the way we do
this may be considerably different if images of the human body are
involved. In the final part of my contribution I will explore this dimension of the grotesque representations in early Christian literature.
A recent finding in developmental psychology has been the surprising fact that notwithstanding the former claims of Jean Piaget children imitate facial expressions and other bodily movements at a very
early age, indeed, right after birth.58 Children can imitate hand movements already during the first six months of life and as soon as 42 minutes after birth they imitate facial acts.59 So-called mirror-neurons have
been identified in the brains of monkeys that facilitate the imitation of
goal-directed motion: these neurons are activated whenever the monkey sees another individual (monkey or experimenter) making a goaldirected action with the hand or with the mouth.60 Imitation is not necessarily conscious: one has to think only about the contagiousness of
yawning. Humans synchronise many aspects of their behaviour spontaneously, without taking notice of it.61 People have the tendency to
automatically mimic and synchronise movements, facial expressions,
_____________
56
57

58

59
60

61

Ch. Frith and U. Frith, Theory of Mind, Current Biology 15 (2005), R644.
M. Taylor, Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999); J. M. Bering, Intuitive Conceptions of Dead Agents
Minds: The Natural Foundations of Afterlife Beliefs as Phenomenological Boundary, Journal of Cognition and Culture 2 (2002), 263308; E. V. Hoff, A Friend Living
Inside Me The Forms and Functions of Imaginary Companions, Imagination, Cognition and Personality: The Scientific Study of Consciousness 24 (2005), 15190.
A. N. Meltzoff, Elements of a Developmental Theory of Imitation, in The Imitative
Mind: Development, Evolution, and Brain Bases (ed. A. N. Meltzoff and W. Prinz; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 1941. For an introduction to imitation,
see S. Hurley and N. Chater, Introduction: The Importance of Imitation, in Perspectives on Imitation: From Neuroscience to Social Science (ed. S. Hurley and N. Chater; 2
vols: Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press, 2005), vol 1, 152.
Meltzoff, Elements of a Developmental Theory of Imitation, 2223.
G. Rizzolatti et al., From Mirror Neurons to Imitation: Facts and Speculations, in
Meltzoff and Prinz, The Imitative Mind, 24766; G. Rizzolatti, The Mirror Neuron
System and Imitation, in Hurley and Chater, Perspectives on Imitation, vol 1, 5576.
R. W. Byrne, Social Cognition: Imitation, Imitation, Imitation, Current Biology 15
(2005), R498500; S. Strogatz, Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order (New
York: Theia, 2003).

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postures, and emotional vocalisations with those displayed by others.62

A widespread use of imitation is social mirroring, the purpose of
which is to show empathy or mutual identification,63 but imitation also
enables us to engage in joint action and sophisticated cooperation.64
The effects of imitation extend beyond signalling or carrying out actions together and influence our thoughts and feelings. We can also use
imitation when we do not actually carry out the imitated actions. There
are important clues suggesting that imitation fulfils a major role in understanding the thoughts and emotions of others. On the analogy of the
mirror neurons in monkeys, it has been found, that also in humans the
observation of actions performed by others activates cortical motor representation that is, brain areas are activated that are responsible for the
movement of different parts of the body.65 In humans, however, this
response involves a wider range of actions, such as intransitive and
mimed actions: reaction has been detected in the muscles of subjects
observing both transitive and intransitive actions, and even meaningless
hand or arm gestures. There are similar findings about emotion: the same
brain parts that are involved in the feel of disgust and pain are also activated when we empathise with such emotions.66 This leads to the unifying view of social cognition, suggesting that these brain areas can be
activated also when decoupled from their peripheral effects, enabling us
to simulate and thereby understand the actions and emotions of others.67
Not only we do not actually have to carry out actions or be exposed
to pain in order to empathise with them, but also a limited amount of
information is sufficient to activate the relevant brain areas and elicit
empathy. In monkeys, the mirror neurons represent actions whether they
_____________
62
63
64

65
66

67

R. W. Gibbs, Embodiment and Cognitive Science (Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 2006), 249.
R.W. Byrne, Social Cognition.
M. Brass and C. Heyes, Imitation: Is Cognitive Neuroscience Solving the Correspondence Problem? Trends in Cognitive Sciences 9 (2005), 48995; L. Q. Uddin et al.,
The Self and Social Cognition: The Role of Cortical Midline Structures and Mirror
Neurons, Trends in Cognitive Sciences 11 (2007), 15357.
V. Gallese, Ch. Keysers, and G. Rizzolatti, A Unifying View of the Basis of Social
Cognition, Trends in Cognitive Sciences 8 (2004), 396403.
C. Keysers et al., A Touching Sight: SII/PV Activation During the Observation and
Experience of Touch, Neuron 42 (2004), 33546; T. Singer et al., Empathy for Pain
Involves the Affective But Not the Sensory Components of Pain, Science 303 (2004),
115762.
Gallese et al., A Unifying View, 400; A. N. Meltzoff and J. Decety, What Imitation
Tells Us About Social Cognition: A Rapprochement Between Developmental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of
London B 358 (2003), 491500. Imitation certainly does not provide the full story
about mind-reading, see our remark on false beliefs below.

Metamorphosis and Mind Cognitive Explorations

227

are performed, heard, or (partially) seen.68 In humans, disgust is represented in the brain when only the facial expression of disgust is observed.69 It is, however, questionable whether the simulation theory
can explain more complex thoughts about other peoples mental states.
For example, simulation is not sufficient to account for the attribution of
false beliefs that is, beliefs that differ both from ones own beliefs and
the true state of the world.70 Notwithstanding the very early presence of
imitation, the understanding of such scenarios emerges not earlier than
between the ages of 4 and 6 years.71
In light of recent neuroscientific research, we can now make some
observations about the images of the grotesque body in our texts. It is
arguable that these vivid spectacles of human bodies more directly activate empathising sensations than references to more sophisticated behaviors and thoughts that occur in other literary discourses. In terms of what
we learned about (involuntary) imitation and empathy, we have good
reason to believe that descriptions of postures, movements, limbs, faces,
eyes, mouth, nose, ears, genitals, and other body parts, as well as various
means of torture related to them, are understood by activating respective
neural circuits in our brains and muscles. Many of the descriptions of the
punishments in hell also report the reactions of the victims, describing
their fear, cries, and groans supplying additional sources that stimulate
the readers sensations and emotions.
There are at least two additional factors that may further intensify
these interpretations. First, the emotions that the images of suffering and
distorted bodies most likely elicit are fear and disgust. Fear and disgust
are two basic emotions that have deep (if not the deepest) evolutionary
roots and they are processed by dedicated neural circuits (that is, brain
parts that deal only with them). These emotions are indispensable for
avoiding danger and for the survival of the organism.72 Fear is responsible for detecting threat and occurs rapidly and without conscious awareness: for example, people suffering from phobias react to the images of
snakes or spiders even when they see them without noticing it (that is,
subliminally). Disgust is thought to be originally responsible for avoiding contamination and disease by eating, but its usage has extended with
time. By activating exactly these two vital emotions, many images of the
_____________
68
69
70
71
72

Gallese et al., A Unifying View, 397.

Gallese et al., A Unifying View, 400.
Cf. J. Ward, The Students Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience (Hove, UK: Psychology
Press, 2006), 325.
U. Frith and Ch. D. Frith, Development and Neurophysiology of Mentalizing,
Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 358 (2003), 459-73, esp. 460.
Ward, Cognitive Neuroscience, 315.

228

Istvn Czachesz

grotesque body make a very rapid and even unnoticed impression on the
reader.
Another mechanism that reinforces the effect of body images is the
connection between bodily movements and emotions. According to the
theory of William James (known as the James-Lange theory of emotion),
we experience emotions because we perceive changes in our bodies. Although the James-Lange theory has been dismissed by experimental research, it is true that bodily experiences influence emotional experience.73
Patterns of movements can be reasonably linked with different emotions,
and a loss of sensation due to injury decreases the experience of emotions.74 In different experiments, the facial expression of subjects was artificially influenced, for example by having to read certain words or holding
objects between their lips, while they had to read stories.75 The results have
shown that the inadvertent facial expressions of the subjects changed the
emotions which they associated with the stories or the characters in them.
Similar results were found when subjects had to assume various bodily
postures. In consequence, if we somehow imitate the postures and movements of the bodies in the texts, these simulations may also secondarily
modify our emotional experience. Although this explanation may seem
redundant since empathy involves simulation anyway, it is arguable that
rich details and multiple sources of interpretation amplify the effect of the
text.
In sum, there are a number of factors which make grotesque representations of the human body emotionally salient. Such representations include the description of tortures in hell, the drastic scenes of the Apocryphal Acts (with references to metabolism, bowels, head etc.), mockery such
as glutton and drunkard and lazy gluttons (lit. bellies),76 and discussion of Jesus body as well as his pulling Johns beard in Acts of John 90. All
of these treatments of the human body are likely to be represented in the
mind of the reader or listener using basic simulations of simple actions and
sensations related to the respective body parts. The types of sensations and
emotions occupy a broad scale, ranging from simple mentions of body
parts, natural processes, and touching of the body (John touches Jesus) to
the infliction of pain by fire, hitting, biting, hanging, and other means.
_____________
73
74
75

76

Ward, Cognitive Neuroscience, 320.

Gibbs, Embodiment, 25253.
F. Strack et al., Inhibiting and Facilitating Conditions of the Human Smile: A
Nonobtrusive Test of the Facial Feedback Hypothesis, Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology 54 (1988), 76877; R. Larsen et al., Facilitating the Furrowed
Brow: An Unobtrusive Test of the Facial Feedback Hypothesis Applied to Unpleasant Affect, Cognition and Emotion 6 (1992), 32138; Gibbs, Embodiment, 25355.
Matthew 7:19; Luke 7:34; Titus 1:12, respectively.

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Metamorphosis and Mind Cognitive Explorations

Given the evolutionary importance of pain, fear, and disgust, we can conclude that images evoking such sensations and emotions stand apart from
the rest of the list, somewhat similarly as counterintuitive ideas stand apart
from other violations of everyday experience.

5. Toward a Cognitive Theory of the Grotesque

If we now combine the three aspects of analysis introduced in this chapter
(counterintuitiveness, metamorphosis, and emotions), we arrive at a threedimensional representation of grotesque elements in early Christian literature. Table 2 shows two dimensions, violation of everyday experience and
emotionally salient imagery, on the horizontal and vertical axes, respectively. The third dimension, metamorphosis, can be understood as a
change of positions in the chart.
Table 2
EMOTIONALLY SALIENT BODY IMAGERY
fear or
disgust

demons with black lips;

demon sleeping w/
woman in sleep

speaking
serpent that
bursts up?

[e.g. sheep
with five legs]

J.s body hard/soft; animals born of breast milk

bodies in
hell, scatological jokes

J. as ship captain, child,

young man

[e.g. illness]

[e.g. repulsive illness]

counterintuitive

speaking animals,
J. reaching to
sky (?)

yes

yes

no

VIOLATION OF
EVERYDAY EXPERIENCE

no

There are four areas in the table that deserve special attention: the top
row, the third column, the upper right corner, and the bottom left corner. The top row and the third column of the table are both related to
features of grotesque images that are connected to innate modules of
the mind, shaped by evolutionary history. The mental representations

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Istvn Czachesz

of the items in these areas involve different mechanisms in the mind

than do the representations of items in the rest of the table. In particular, they are likely the most attention grabbing, and increasingly so as
we proceed from left to right and bottom to top.
The least impressive images are found in the bottom left cell of the
table. These are ordinary items, such as a ship captain, child, or young
man. The reason that they are still grotesque is because they are metamorphosed representations of Jesus. However, they do not exhibit any
extraordinary feature in themselves: they do not perform miracles or
walk through walls. They are not permanent representations of Jesus,
only results of short-lived metamorphoses. This cell is not permanently
inhabited by any item. The same holds true for the upper right corner.
The only item that fits here is the speaking serpent that bursts up: at
this moment, the imagery is likely to activate our brain areas responsible for disgust an assumption that could be only confirmed by experimental tools. This image also occupies this cell only for a moment,
thereafter disappearing from the scene. The behaviour of both of these
areas can be explained by the requirement that excessively counterintuitive ideas do not survive in the long run. It seems that a similar
combination arises if we add to counterintuitive images body imagery
that evokes fear and disgust.
If images undergo a metamorphosis, they can either stay within the
same cell, or move toward less or more salient cells (by moving toward
the lower left or upper right corners, respectively). Theoretically, they
can also increase their expectation violating component while decreasing their emotional component. A metamorphosis remaining in the
same area is Jesus appearing as an eagle again, a metamorphosis that
is only temporary. Metamorphoses pointing to the left and/or upward
include speaking animals, various punishments in hell as well as scatological jokes. Speaking (or articulate) animals undergo a metamorphosis: they usually gain these qualities when they meet the apostles and
most likely lose them when they depart. The difference between scatological jokes and hell is that bodies in scatological jokes change back to
normal bodies, whereas bodies in hell do not.
To sum up, grotesque images activate mental modules that seem to
be served by dedicated neural structures and shaped by evolutionary
history, modules that are related to innate ontology and the emotions
of fear and disgust. In addition, grotesque images involve often shortlived metamorphoses into or from shapes that are related to these mental modules.

Male Women Martyrs:

The Function of Gender-Transformation Language
in Early Christian Martyrdom Accounts
The Function of Gender-Transformation Language
ANTTI MARJANEN1
berschrift 2: fr Kapitel ohne 2 wird hier 1 Kurzform wiederholt
Martyrdom is probably one aspect of Christian life from the second to
the fourth century, in which men and women were basically treated in
an equal manner. There is no reliable way to know the exact division
between male and female martyrs during the period. The general impression one gets from early Christian martyrdom accounts is that
there were many women who shared the tragic fate of martyrdom with
their male fellow Christians. Clearly, the methods of torture varied and
special cruelties and forms of humiliation were developed for martyrs
of each sex; yet there is no indication that women actually received
more lenient treatment.2 Still, the successful performance of martyrdom, if the expression may be allowed, usually demanded qualities
that were generally considered masculine. The very act of martyrdom
and the preparatory operations preceding or leading to it also occurred
in contexts normally linked with male spheres of influence, such as
court sessions, prisons, and arenas.3
_____________
1
2

Antti Marjanen is professor at the Department of Biblical Studies, University of

Helsinki, Finland.
Johannes N. Vorster (The Blood of the Female Martyrs as the Sperm of the Early
Church, R&T 10 [2003]: 66-99, esp. 69-78) has emphasized that women measuring
low on the hierarchical scale of the social body could easily be maltreated and humiliated more than men. Likewise, in several martyrdom accounts women are either
threatened with rape or the possibility of being sent to a brothel. Common to our
sources is that the threat does not materialize, since divine intervention prevents the
sexual violation from happening. Even in the one instance where a young woman,
Irene, is said to have been sent to a brothel no man dared to approach her, because
the Holy Spirit preserved and guarded her pure and inviolate (Irene in the Martyrdom of Saints Agape, Irene, and Chione at Saloniki, 5-6 [Herbert Musurillo, The Acts of
the Christian Martyrs (Oxford Early Christian Texts; Oxford: Clarendon, 1972), 291]).
Whether or not the texts represent wishful thinking, they at least indicate that the
danger was real.
There are references to women gladiators in ancient sources but, on the whole,
womens participation in gladiatorial games was exceptional; see Thomas Wiedemann, Emperors and Gladiators (London: Routledge, 1992), 10, 26, 37, 112, 133.

232

Antti Marjanen

The purpose of this investigation is to analyze how the authors of

early martyrdom accounts portrayed their female protagonists coping
with the world of persecution and torture and how these descriptions
served the literary strategy of any given author. I am especially interested in those texts where the successful performance of martyrdom
presupposes that women martyrs overstep and transgress ordinary
gender roles and expectations.

1. Sources
The relevant martyrdom accounts I am using in this study are found in
The Acts of the Christian Martyrs collected by Herbert Musurillo, in the
martyrdom accounts of Holy Women of the Syrian Orient translated and
introduced by Sebastian Brock and Susan Ashbrook Harvey, and in the
Coptic Martyrdoms of the Pierpont Morgan Collection edited by E. A.
E. Reymond and J. W. B. Barns. In addition, I have also studied some
apocryphal acts, such as the Acts of Paul and Thecla and the Acts of
Philip. The age of the texts from which the material derives varies considerably, but I would argue that with regard to the use of gendertransformation language in various martyrdom accounts the question
of dating is not of great importance, so long as we stay within the period of late antiquity until the 6th century.
Before dealing specifically with the use of gender-transformation
language in martyrdom texts, I give a brief overview of the way other
early Christian texts used gendered language, even the transgression or
transformation of gender roles, in connection with their description of
Christian life, values, and qualities. This sketch will give us instructive
comparative material for the analysis of the martyrdom accounts.

2. Gendered Language and the Description of

Christian Life in Early Christian Texts
In many cultures, but in the ancient Mediterranean in particular, feminine gendered language is used to represent human weakness, irrationality, sensuality, passivity, cowardliness, instability and spiritual
inferiority. Masculine terminology on the other hand symbolizes that
which is valiant, rational, chaste, active, courageous, immovable and
spiritually perfect. These stereotypes appear not only in popular speech

The Function of Gender-Transformation Language

233

but also in the teachings of various philosophical schools.4 Such views

clearly affected the way the hierarchy of men and women, maleness
and femaleness, was conceived. Both in the streets of the Mediterranean cities and in the lecture rooms of the philosophers, women were
placed far below men and barely above beasts. Indicative of these sentiments is a statement by Philo who characterizes human progress in
virtue by saying that it is indeed nothing less than the giving up of the
female gender [] by changing into the male (Quaestiones et Solutiones in Exodum 1.8).5
Considering the contemporary popular and philosophical discussion, it is no wonder that the stereotypical usage of gendered language
crept into the area of religion, including Christianity. There are numerous examples whereby an undesirable religious condition is described
in feminine-gendered language. To give but a few examples: Christ of
the gnostic tractate Second Treatise of the Great Seth (NHC VII,2) admonishes his readers: Do not become female lest you give birth to evil and
its siblings: to jealousy and division, anger and wrath, fear and halfheartedness and empty, non-existent desire (65.24-31). In the Nag
Hammadi Apocalypse of Peter (NHC VII,3) the author divides Christians
into various categories according to their spiritual level and dedication.
The little ones who have been given immortal souls are called
, the brotherhood that really exists,
whereas those who lack immortal souls and represent only an imitation
of the brothers are identified as
, sisterhood. In a thirdcentury Christian wisdom text, Teachings of Silvanus (NHC VII,4), persons who have abandoned control of the mind () in their lives have
cut off maleness and turned themselves to femaleness alone, with the
result that they have become psychic, i.e., inferior Christians (93.9-15).
The author of Zostrianos, a second-century Sethian text, exhorts readers:
Flee from the madness and bondage of femaleness and choose for
yourselves the salvation of maleness (131.5-8).6 To cite an example
outside the Nag Hammadi corpus, Didymus the Blind states: In the
order of the perceptible reality one cannot change ones nature but in
the spiritual reality one can The one who is in the state of being a
woman can grow and become male one day (Fr. in Gen. 63 [SC 233, p.
160]). Didymus text shows that pejorative feminine terminology is not
_____________
4

5
6

For examples of this kind of attitude, see Marvin W. Meyer, Making Mary Male:
The Categories Male and Female in the Gospel of Thomas, NTS 31 (1985): 554-70,
esp. 563-67.
This reference is pointed out by Meyer, Making Mary Male, 564.
Translated by John H. Sieber in Nag Hammadi Codex VIII (NHS 31; ed. John H. Sieber;
Leiden: Brill, 1991), 223.

234

Antti Marjanen

deployed for women only but for every Christian who has not reached
sufficient spiritual maturity.
The last four texts also demonstrate the logical consequence of the
pejorative use of femaleness as a negative religious symbol. Its opposite, i.e., maleness, becomes a metaphor for liberation from femaleness
and thus stands for salvation or religious advancement. Although these
and other texts speak about maleness and femaleness in symbolic
terms, supposedly affecting all peoples lives,7 a tendency can also be
seen which limits this kind of symbolic use of gendered terminology to
women only. In other words, spiritually ordinary women are females, whereas spiritually extraordinary women can become males
or like males, whatever this meant in each particular case.
The idea of gender transformation as an indication of spiritual advancement is not confined to Christianity. In the Jewish Joseph and Aseneth,8 which portrays the conversion of Aseneth to the Jewish faith, her
repentance is accepted by a heavenly messenger who describes her
subsequent transformation as follows: you are a chaste virgin today, and your head is like that of a young man. Religious, genderedtransformation language is also found outside the Mediterranean context. Mahyna-Buddhism developed a theory of the transformation of
the female into male, whereby even a woman could become a Buddha.
Sasagu Arai refers to a text in Lotus Sutra, in which the 8 year-old
daughter of the dragon-king changed into a man, went to the Spotless
World in the south, attained perfect enlightenment, and became a Buddha.9 There are also traces of the idea of gender transformation in later
religious texts. In the mystical Islamic tradition of Sufism it is said that
one can receive instruction from a woman, because a woman who has
become male in the way of God is no longer a woman.10
_____________
7

9
10

Kari Vogt (Mnnlichwerden Aspekte einer urchristlichen Anthropologie, Concilium 21 [1985]: 434-42, esp. 437) has pointed out that in his Homiliae in Josue (SC 71, p.
267) Origen, for example, states explicitly: It is the difference between hearts which
decides whether somebody is a man or a woman. How many women are there who
before God belong to strong men, and how many men must be counted among weak
and sluggish women.
There has been much controversy over the religious character of Joseph and Aseneth.
Nowadays, there are not many who regard it as Christian but there is a developing
consensus on its Jewish character; see Randall D. Chesnutt, From Death to Life: Conversion in Joseph and Aseneth (JSPSup 16; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995),
71-76.
Sasagu Arai, To Make Her Male: An Interpretation of Logion 114 in the Gospel of
Thomas, StPatr 24 (1993): 371-76, esp. 376.
See Helena Hallenberg and Irmeli Perho, Heijastuksia valosta mystikkojen islam (Helsinki: Yliopistopaino, 1992), 35.

The Function of Gender-Transformation Language

235

Although many kinds of religious texts and traditions refer to gender transformation as a symbol for religious perfection or improvement, in Christian texts from the second to the fourth century it gains
an especially visible role. The most famous text, in this regard, is
probably the last logion of the Gospel of Thomas, in which Jesus states
that women can enter the kingdom of heaven on condition that they
make themselves males (114). What is actually meant by making oneself male is debated. Interpretations vary from the restoration of an
androgynous prelapsarian human being to the renunciation of inferior
female spirituality and the advancement to male spiritual perfection. It
is also suggested that in the case of the latter, the gender transformation
may also involve a concrete male impersonation.11 Whether or not Gos.
Thom. 114 should be understood in these concrete terms, in the apocryphal acts there are several references to women whose becoming or
making oneself male is not only an internal transformation but affects
their physical appearance as well.
In the Acts of Paul and Thecla (40) we can read how Thecla, after her
self-administered baptism in the pool of the seals, undergoes a
change in her outward appearance by putting on male dress (40). This
act marks both her accomplishment of having preserved her virginity
and her advancement to a higher spiritual level. In the Acts of Thomas,
Mygdonia cuts her hair short and thus demonstrates her refusal to surrender to sexual intercourse with her husband (114). Another instructive example of male impersonation is presented in the Acts of Philip, in
which the Savior admonishes Mariamne, who together with his brother
Philip and Bartholomew prepares herself for a missionary enterprise, as
follows:
(MS V 8.4 [95]).12 The request of the Savior implies that
Mariamne adopts a male appearance.
A somewhat different case of the concrete gender transformation is
provided by a Syrian fourth- or fifth-century hagiographical story of
Pelagia, a wealthy and beautiful prostitute of Antioch, who hears a
moving sermon by a visiting Egyptian bishop Nonnos and is converted
and baptized by him.13 After her baptism, she renounces her wealth,
secretly puts on male attire and retires to the life of a recluse on the
_____________
11

12
13

For various interpretations of Gos. Thom. 114, see Antti Marjanen, The Woman Jesus
Loved: Mary Magdalene Traditions in the Nag Hammadi Library and Related Documents
(Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 40; Leiden: Brill, 1996), 48-52.
Franois Bovon, Bertrand Bouvier & Frdric Amsler, Acta Philippi: Textus (Corpus
Christianorum: Series Apocryphorum 11; Turnhout: Brepols, 1999), 244.
An English translation of the text is found in Sebastian P. Brock and Susan Ashbrook
Harvey, Holy Women of the Syrian Orient (Updated Edition with a New Preface;
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997), 40-62.

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Mount of Olives. There she becomes known as the eunuch Pelagios.

She has lost her earlier beauty but now she is famous for her virtuous
life and her performance of miracles. It is only when she dies that people become aware of her biological sex. The story ends with a somewhat amusing, but rather revealing, reference to peoples reaction:
Praise to you, Lord; how many hidden saints you have on earth and
not just men, but women as well! Was this comment read as an instructive indication that even some women may, by the grace of God,
reach a spiritual height that is ordinarily reserved for men? Or was it
conceived, as a modern reader tends to see it, as an ironical twist in the
narration, which emphasizes that a woman can be seen as a spiritual
hero only if she disguises herself as a man?14
The term male was also used to describe the excellence of those
ascetic women who remained virgins or widows and devoted their
lives to charity, ardent meditation and prayer, and the study of the
Bible. Wanting to emphasize the great significance of his sister as his
instructor, Gregory of Nyssa calls Macrina a man (Vita Macrinae 1 [SC
178, p. 140]). John Chrysostom praises his disciple, Olympias, as follows: Dont say woman but what a man! because this is a man, despite her physical appearance (Life of Olympias 3).15
The previous examples, which could easily be multiplied, provide
vital background for the study of early Christian martyrdom accounts.
They reveal four tendencies in the ancient use of gender-transformation
language: (1) If gendered language is used to describe spirituality or a
Christian way of living more generally, feminine terminology stands
for a less successful performance, if not for failure; (2) becoming male is

_____________
14

15

It is difficult to know how common it was that women wanted to demonstrate their
spiritual excellence by male impersonation. The fact that this kind of conduct was
criticized suggests that it was not altogether unusual. Philo, for example, does not
show any understanding of women who assumed the dress of men (De virtutibus
21), despite the fact that he had a high regard of women members among the socalled Therapeutae in Alexandria (De vita contemplativa). In Christian churches, as
well, male impersonation by women was strongly criticized. The fourth-century
synod of Gangra accepted a canon, according to which every woman who, even
though under pretence of asceticism, changes her apparel and puts on that of a man
ought to be anathematized (Canon 14; for the canons of the Council of Gangra, see
Karl-Georg Schon, Konzil von Gangra in http://www.pseudoisidor.mgh.de/html/
075.htm [7.1.2006]; for an English translation, see Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
[second series; ed. P. Schaff et al.; New York: Christian Literature, 1899; repr. Peabody: Henrdickson, 1994], 14:91-101).
The reference is derived from Karen Jo Torjesen, When Women Were Priests: Womens
Leadership in the Early Church and the Scandal of Their Subordination in the Rise of Christianity (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993), 211.

The Function of Gender-Transformation Language

237

a symbol of spiritual progress;16 (3) femaleness can be transformed into

maleness through a religious conversion or spiritual growth; (4) the
transformation may be a mental or spiritual process (conversion, spiritual growth) or a change in life-style (e.g., sexual asceticism); when
gender transformation is seen as a mental or spiritual process, it may
apply to both sexes, but it may also take place through concrete actions
by which one changes ones appearance (e.g., a woman putting on male
dress or cutting her hair).

3. Gender Transformation in
Early Christian Martyrdom Accounts
When I decided to study gender-transformation terminology in martyrdom accounts and thus moved into an area where the protagonists
are typically male, I assumed that the descriptions of women martyrs
would contain many language examples of women becoming male.
Instinctively, I imagined that managing life in this specific situation of
Christian existence would favor women martyrs with a manly attitude.
I was not completely wrong but not right either. There are not very
many martyrdom texts in which the expression woman becoming
male appears. This does not mean, however, that martyrdom accounts
do not contain descriptions of women martyrs who overstep ordinary
gender roles and assume male qualities. This is especially true with two
kinds of women martyrs: first, women martyrs portrayed as gladiators,
athletes, and soldiers;17 second, women martyrs depicted as advocators
of the Christian truth.
_____________
16

17

The Nag Hammadi Exegesis on the Soul provides an exception to this general rule. In
that text the conversion of the soul is depicted as a turning of the fallen souls male
genitalia to the inside so that it regains its female womb, i.e., that the original female
state of the soul is restored. For an excellent analysis of the text, see Hugo Lundhaug, There is Rebirth and an Image of Rebirth: A Cognitive Poetic Analysis of
Conceptual and Intertextual Blending in the Exegesis on the Soul (NHC II,6) and the
Gospel of Philip (NHC II,3) (Ph.D. diss., University of Bergen, 2007), esp. 65-137.
Whether the exceptional use of gender-transformation language points to a late
(perhaps a fourth-century) dating of the text in a time when a female virgin becomes
a symbol of the ideal Christian existence, as Lundhaug seems to suggest (137; 374375), or whether the exceptional use of gender transformation language is not due to
the late composition of the document but is rather caused by the authors desire to
picture the restored relationship of Christ and the soul in terms of a marriage in
which the redeemed soul appears as a female partner, does not have to be decided
here.
The difference between the three categories is not very distinct in the texts. In the
case of the martyrs in Lyon, for example, they are frequently called as athletes

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3.1 Women Martyrs as Christian Gladiators, Athletes, or Soldiers

As several martyr texts suggest, one background against which martyrdom as a phenomenon has to be seen is the world of gladiators, athletes, and soldiers. A martyrs contest often resembles that of a gladiator in an arena.18 Although the martyrs, unlike the gladiators, very
seldom had any real chance to survive their ordeal, the similarity between their fight and that of the gladiators was recognized both by
Christian themselves and their persecutors. In the Martyrdom of Pionius
the Presbyter and His Companions,19 proconsul Quintillian is said to have
addressed Pionius as follows (20): You accomplish very little hastening towards your death. For those who enlist to fight the beasts for a
trifling bit of money despise death. You are merely one of those. Another example of a text which views martyrdom in language derived
from athletic contexts is a Syrian martyrdom account Febronia.20 The
women of a convent face the challenge of being seized by Roman soldiers and taken to court. The abbess of the convent, Bryene, encourages
the title character of the text, Febronia, by saying: Remember the wrestlers who went before you, who underwent a glorious martyrdom,
receiving a crown of victory from the heavenly ringmaster of the light.
These people were not just men, but they include women and children
as well (15).21
In the gladiatorial and athletic context endurance, strength, and
courage were qualities which were required. All of these qualities were
normally connected with manly behaviour. To be sure, endurance (pa_____________

18

19
20
21

( or ; e.g., Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.1.17, 19, 36), whereas the occasion of their martyrdom is described in terms of gladiatorial games (e.g., Eusebius,
Hist. eccl. 5.1.37, 53). The vision where Perpetua sees her future martyrdom is also
clearly staged in a gladiatorial framework (The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas 10.7-13). In the Coptic Martyrdom of Saints Paese and Thecla, Paese and Thecla are
encouraged to act as soldiers before their martyrdom (see below), whereas their actual interrogations and tortures linked with them take place in an arena, the normal
context of gladiatorial games.
For athletic and military terminology in early Christian martyrdom accounts, see
Andrei-Drago Giulea, Heavenly Images and Invisible Wars: Seven Categories of
Biblical and Extra-Biblical Imagery and Terminology in the Acts of the Martyrs of
Lyons and Vienne, Archus 10 (2006): 147-165, esp. 163; Nicole Kelley, Philosophy as
Training for Death: Reading the Ancient Christian Martyr Acts as Spiritual Exercises, CH 75 (2006): 723-747, esp. 726-727; Elisabeth A. Castelli, Martyrdom and Memory:
Early Christian Culture Making (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004), 61-67.
Musurillo, The Acts of Christian Martyrs, 136-167.
Brock and Harvey, Holy Women of the Syrian Orient, 150-176.
Brock and Harvey, Holy Women of the Syrian Orient, 160. One of the earliest Christian
texts in which martyrdom is seen in terms of a fight by an athlete or a gladiator is
Ign. Pol. 3:1.

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239

tientia or ) was considered a female virtue as well, because it

was usually associated with passivity and more precisely with giving
birth.22 To be able to endure the pain of delivery, women had to have
patientia.23 Yet, patientia alone was not sufficient in the face of martyrdom. Especially in the context where martyrdom was seen against the
background of gladiatorial games, endurance gained a different
shade of meaning and was coupled with courage, a significant male
characteristic. It was not enough to cope with the pain a mother had to
endure while giving birth, but a gladiator had to have endurance and
courage, while standing erect and being prepared, even to die in an
arena.24 It is symptomatic of this trend that when Seneca speaks about
that quality which was required of athletes and those politically tortured, he referred to courageous endurance as distinct from female
patientia.25
When martyrdom accounts present scenes in which women martyrs are encouraged to show endurance joined with courage and
strength they presuppose that women are transgressing their ordinary
gender roles. In the Coptic Martyrdom of Saints Paese and Thecla, which
sets its events during the Diocletian persecutions, the female protagonist of the text, Thecla, arrives in Alexandria together with a party,
_____________
22

23
24

25

It was exactly because of its passive character that was primarily considered a female virtue and manly only to a lesser degree. Nevertheless, Brent D.
Shaw (Body/Power/Identity: Passions of the Martyrs, JECS 4 [1996]: 285) has
pointed out that for the survival of men was just as important as male virtues of assertive and purposive action, although it traditionally also contributed to
the disparagement of those men who chose to resort to it and not to resist unjust
treatment.
Vorster, The Blood of the Female Martyrs, 89.
A new content of is already illustrated by Luke 21:19; 1 Pet. 2:18-20; Ign.
Pol. 3:1 and especially 4 Macc 17:2-18 (for an analysis of the text, see Shaw,
Body/Power/Identity, 278-280). A further example of a similar understanding of
is found in the Testament of Job, in which feminine , characterized
as female endurance of pain in childbirth (T. Job 18.4), proves to be superior to the
athletic power of Satan (27:2-5) and is thus elevated to a new and higher level. Similar examples of a new courageous are also provided in Christian texts. According to the source used by Eusebius the martyrs of Lyon are described as follows:
[T]hey manifested the power of martyrdom in deed, speaking to the pagans with
great openness, and showing forth their nobility by their perseverance [],
fearlessness [], and courage [] (Hist. eccl. 5.2.4; Musurillo, The Acts of
the Christian Martyrs, 82-83). Cf. also the passage in the Acts of Philip (MS V 15.15-16
[121-122]; Bovon, Bouvier & Amsler, Acta Philippi, 366) in which Philip, Bartholomew, and Mariamne are captured by public executioners and threatened with death
by their leader. Yet they exhibit such and that while being
dragged away they arouse great amazement among onlookers who are said to glorify God because of the courageous endurance of the martyrs.
Shaw, Body/Power/Identity, 269-312, esp. 291-300.

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consisting of Mary the Virgin, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist,
and the angels Gabriel and Raphael. There Theclas brother Paese is in
prison and there both he and she will experience a martyrs death.
When Thecla parts company with her fellow travellers Mary the Virgin
exhorts her as follows: Be not faint-hearted, but courageous be
strong, fear not (72 R i 4-6, 30-31).26 Marys words not only resemble
the words of encouragement which the angel Raphael had directed to
Paese earlier, when he appeared to him in prison (
; Find strength and be a brave man; 61 V i 1921).27 They also recall a similar phrase used in 1 Sam. 4:9, where a military chief urges his troops to face a superior army in battle. David also
employs similar words when he calls Solomon in order to deliver final
instructions on ruling over the kingdom of Israel. Thus, Marys words
to Thecla are taken from the world of military and political affairs exhorting her to become a Christian soldier. When Thecla is later presented in the arena her militant courage becomes useful as she assumes
the role of an athlete.
Blandina, a slave woman from second-century Lyons, is also portrayed as a Christian gladiator in the martyrdom account preserved by
Eusebius in his Historia ecclesiastica (5.1.3-5.1.63). Having successfully
undergone the first day of torture, this woman, whose mistress
doubted whether her bodily weakness would ever allow her to make a
bold confession of faith, proved her pessimistic mistress wrong. As the
text quoted by Eusebius says, through her confession of faith Blandina
like a noble athlete got renewed strength and Christ proved that the
things that men think cheap, ugly, and contemptuous are deemed worthy of glory before God (5.1.19, 17; translation by Musurillo). According to the author of Blandinas story, she proved to be a concrete example of inversion in the social order. A second century slave woman,
who united in her person two inferior components of the social body
woman and slave climbed several echelons in societal and Christian
hierarchy by successfully assuming the role of a Christian gladiator in
her martyrdom. She provided a new identification model for Christian
women, by showing how gendered and societal limitations could be
transgressed.28
_____________
26
27
28

E. A. E. Reymond and J. W. B. Barns, Four Martyrdoms from the Pierpont Morgan Coptic
Codices (Oxford: Clarendon, 1973), 60-61.
Reymond and Barns, Four Martyrdoms, 47.
Gail Corrington Streete, Women as Sources of Redemption and Knowledge in Early
Christian Traditions, in Women and Christian Origins (ed. Ross S. Kraemer and Mary
Rose DAngelo; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 352.

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Not all scholars are satisfied with the new identification model the
women of early Christian martyrdom accounts gave their readers. Johannes Vorster asks pointedly: Why was the gladiatorial model used
to portray the enduring capabilities of female martyrs? Why choose
a model representing the epitome of virile, brutal masculinity?29 While
admitting that the possibilities of finding better identification models
for women from their own everyday life within a patriarchal society
might have been limited, Vorster believes that the gladiatorial model
served the interests of the texts male authors. Identification with
women in stories, which presented them as spiritual gladiators and
soldiers, meant subscribing to the perfection of males and maintaining
the gender hierarchy. Ultimately, women, even martyr women, could
reach the same spiritual level as men only when they became males
(see below).
Even if Vorsters criticism of the gladiatorial model for describing
early women martyrs is justified he overlooks one thing. Of course, it is
true that the gladiatorial model is the most dominant but it is not the
only one in early Christian martyrdom accounts. Even though Blandina
is depicted as a Christian gladiator it is not the sole characterization
given to her in the account preserved by Eusebius. In the last scene of
the text, an entirely new dimension of this woman is presented (Hist.
eccl. 5.1.53-55). Blandina is in the arena together with a boy of fifteen,
Ponticus. They are the last ones to be slaughtered. Blandina strengthens
her young colleague and helps him endure every torment with nobility.
Finally it is Blandinas turn, but she is no longer depicted as a gladiator
who is ready to fight to the end. The author portrays a new image:
like a noble mother encouraging her children, she sent them before her
in triumph to the King, and then, after duplicating in her own body all
her childrens sufferings, she hastened to rejoin them, rejoicing and
glorifying in her death as though she had been invited to a bridal banquet instead of being a victim of the beasts (Hist. eccl. 5.1.55).
Musurillo has suggested that this portrait of Blandina as a mother of
the suffering martyrs has its prototype in the mother of the Jewish martyrs in the Second Book of the Maccabees (2 Macc. 7:1-42; cf. also 4.
Macc. 8:1-17:6).30 Be that as it may,31 the most important thing is that a
Christian martyrdom account provides women readers with an identi_____________
29
30
31

Vorster, The Blood of the Female Martyrs, 91.

Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, 79.
It is of interest that the mother of the Jewish martyrs in the Second Book of the Maccabees is said to have fired her womans reasoning [] with a mans courage [] when she encouraged her sons to take up the challenge of martyrdom
(7:21).

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fication model that fits better within the boundaries of a female gender
role than that of a gladiator or an athlete. Nevertheless, even the role of
mother does not remain within the limits of expected norms but is
transformed in the case of Blandina.32 The expected reaction of a
mother would be to protect her children against any external danger.33
Blandina is portrayed as the one who encourages her children to take
up the challenge of martyrdom. Unlike an ordinary mother, she thus
sends her children to death. The point of the story is to emphasize,
however, that this death is a gate for a new and better life.

3.2 Women Martyrs as Advocates of the Christian Truth

The court hearings that martyrs faced were occasions, which usually
required skills better suited to the education of men who normally had
at least some training in rhetoric. Vorster even goes so far as to say: To
speak in public was the prerogative of the male.34 He sees this principle confirmed in early Christian martyrdom accounts. Vorster maintains that the authors of the texts participate in re-asserting the gender
expectations of the society and let men talk and defend their beliefs and
the superiority of the Christian faith, while women keep quiet or only
resort to brief and simple comments. To Vorsters surprise, even Perpetua, clearly the main character of the text which bears her name, does
not present a proper defense of the Christian faith when she appears
before the governor Hilarianus.35 For Vorster, this is all the more surprising because the speeches held in front of the judges provided the
best opportunity both in the real and literary world to invert roles
by demonstrating the wisdom and moral excellence of the defendant
over against his or her accusers.
Vorster is partly correct, of course. In most martyrdom accounts,
men do take the lead in defending the truthfulness and superiority of
_____________
32
33

34
35

This was pointed out by Adela Yarbro Collins in the Metamorphoses project seminar
at the CAS, Oslo, June 12, 2007.
This tension between the natural attitude of a mother and obedience to a religious
conviction is explicitly reflected in the Fourth Book of Maccabees where the mother
of seven sons encourages the martyrdom of her children to prove the strength of
Jewish religion (14:11-16:25).
Vorster, The Blood of the Female Martyrs, 84.
This may be explained by the peculiar literary strategy of the Martyrdom of Saints
Perpetua and Felicitas. The propaganda aims of the text are not carried out in connection with Perpetuas appearance before the governor. They are seen in her dialogues
with her father, in the narration of her visions, and finally in the description of her
control over events in the arena where she decides for herself how she will depart
from this world.

The Function of Gender-Transformation Language

243

the Christian cause. Yet there are remarkable exceptions which show
that gender roles were transgressed in this matter as well.36 I offer three
examples. Each contains a strong polemical edge but also considerable
rhetorical power. And while men probably wrote them all, at least they
give their female voices the satisfaction of beating their male opponents.
The first is taken from Febronia. After having been brought to the
arena and stripped by the soldiers, Febronia is derided by her judge
Selenos who insinuates that, in fact, she enjoys being naked and able to
show her shapely features. Febronia replies: Listen, judge, my Lord
knows that I have never seen a mans face up to this very moment, and
just because I have fallen into your hands I am called shameless and
impudent woman! You stupid and imperceptive man, what athlete
entering the contest to fight at Olympia engages in battle wrapped up
in all his clothes? Doesnt he enter the arena naked, until he has conquered his adversary? I am waiting in expectancy for tortures and
burning by fire; how could I do battle with these while I have my
clothes on? Should I not meet the torture with a naked body, until I
have vanquished you father Satan, throwing scorn upon all your
threats of tortures?37
The second example derives from the Coptic Martyrdom of Saints
Paese and Thecla. After having met her brother in the prison in Alexandria, Thecla and Paese are brought together to the Duke who urges
Paese to sacrifice. Before Paese has time to say anything, Thecla, the
brave-souled woman (
), asks the Duke why
they have to sacrifice to Apollo. After all, the god had not been strong
enough to heal the Duke when he became ill. Instead, Paese had to do it
(74 V ii 29-31).38 Later, when Thecla and other Christians are repeatedly
brought to the Duke who always tries to convince them to sacrifice,
Thecla has had enough of it. She answers the Dukes request: Like a
woman who is foolish so that her parents and kinsfolk are wearied
_____________
36

37
38

Female Christian martyrs were not the only women portrayed as defenders of their
personal integrity and mental freedom against brutality of men. Brent D. Shaw
(Body/Power/Identity, 271) refers to the second-century Greek romance Leukipp,
in which a slave woman Leukipp resists her master, who tries to control and violate
her body, by delivering a speech filled with rhetorical power.
See Brock and Harvey, Holy Women of the Syrian Orient, 166.
Thecla strongly contradicts the expextations held by a more traditional understanding of womens behavior in a situation like this. For example, Philo insists that it is
shameful if a wife publicly opens her mouth to defend her husband: The audacity
of women who when men are exchanging angry words or blows hasten to join in,
under the pretext of assisting their husband in the fray, is reprehensible and shameless in a high degree (De specialibus legibus 3.172).

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with teaching her, and she does not obey them and feel shame; and like
a dog which returns to its vomit and is abhorred; so it is with you also
(84 R ii; my translation). Thecla surely scored points for that, at least in
the minds of the male readers. It is of course paradoxical that she reverses traditional gender roles and beats her opponent by using a rhetorical device which builds on a traditional understanding that foolishness is more easily associated with a woman than with a man.
The third example comes from a later period, from a sixth-century
martyr text, in which the persecution was not launched by Roman
forces but by the Jews who had established a kingdom in southern
Arabia and wanted to expel local Christians.39 The text speaks about a
curious figure, a Christian slave woman Mahya. Despite the hagiographical character of Mahyas account, she is introduced as a disagreeable woman, impudent, and abusive, disliked by everyone because of her disagreeable character. The text which follows is
puzzling. Not only does it present a surprising depiction of its protagonist but it also contains irony, extreme hatred toward oppressors,
and great encouragement to face the challenge of martyrdom. Here is a
portion of Mahyas story:
Now when Mahya heard that her owners and her family and companions
had been put to death, she dashed out into the street, put a belt around her
waist like a man, and ran through the streets of the town shouting: Men
and women, Christians, now is the moment to pay back to Christ what you
owe him. Come out and die for Christ, just as he died for you. Whoever
fails to come out to Christ today does not belong to him; whoever does not
answer Christs call today will not be required again tomorrow. This is the
time of battle! Come and assist your Lord Christ, for tomorrow the gate
will be closed and you wont be able to go in to him. I know you hate me.
By Christ, from today on I will not be your enemy; no, by Christ, I will not
be abusive to you. Look at me: there is no one as wicked as me; follow me,
so that I dont have to go alone otherwise the Jews will run away from me
as usual, and will not put me to death.
That is what she was shouting out all the way until she reached the kings
presence. When some Jews who knew her saw her, they told the king:
This woman is the very Satan of the Christians: there is not a single devil
that does not live in her.
She then addressed the king: I am speaking to you, Jewish butcher of the
Christians! Get up and butcher me too, for I am a Christian, a maid of
Harith son of Kab whom you killed yesterday. Dont imagine that you
have won a victory over my master. No, my master has been victorious
over you; for it is you who have been vanquished, in that you have played
false to your God, and my master has won over you, seeing that he did not
play false and deny Christ. I am telling you that had you come out against

_____________
39

See Brock and Harvey, Holy Women of the Syrian Orient, 100-21, esp. 109-11.

The Function of Gender-Transformation Language

245

my master with a robber band, I would have met you with spear and
sword, and Id have kicked you with my feet. But had my master so
wanted, hed have squashed you like a fly.

Whatever one thinks about the text, one thing at least is clear. There is
nothing in this text about any lack of courage, timidity, or passivity that
should characterize the normal behaviour of Mediterranean women.
And who can say that a Mediterranean woman cannot defend her conviction? Certainly, Mahyas speeches do not meet Quintillians requirements for a well-shaped speech, but can one deny the presence of
rhetorical power? It is still another matter whether the portrait of Mahya, a silly woman, can provide a persuasive identification model for
Christian women or for any Christian, for that matter. Is she simply too
extreme? Still, she is called a blessed woman later in the text, and the
text was included in a hagiographical collection. The confusion this text
faces is increased by the fact that Mahya is not credited with any reward for her boldness. We are not told that she was then taken to
heaven or given a crown of victory. Nor are we told that she was assigned a day on which she was to be commemorated, as is the case with
some other Syrian martyrs. In the story she does not even receive a
proper burial. The text simply concludes by saying that after she was
killed she was thrown into a wadi. What function could this kind of
account have? Or was there any? And if there was not, why was the
story preserved, copied, and transmitted?
In any case, these three examples provide sufficient grounds to critique Vorsters view that in the descriptions of trials women conform to
the cultural patterns of their time. Do they really, without exception,
stay quiet and let men, who have supposedly received rhetorical training, handle the defense of martyrs and the Christian cause? Our examples, which could be multiplied, demonstrate that even in martyrdom
accounts, women can be portrayed as transgressing their ordinary gender roles. Whether or not this means that these texts always served as
identification models for real women is not certain. Rather some of
the texts may have been written or read in order to strengthen mens
egos. If lowly Christian women could successfully combat their opponents why could men not do so, given their rhetorical training and
other advantages? It is also possible that women were used to embarrass or humiliate pagans while providing instructive examples of how
pagan judges more than failed to expose the guilt and indecency of the
women martyrs. Indeed, while torturing Christians and sentencing
them to death, even they transgressed their own cultural and legal

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rules and values.40 Both in Febronias and Mahyas case this seems
likely.

3.3 Women Martyrs as Becoming Males

As mentioned earlier, the material studied here did yield some occurrences of women becoming male but not as many as expected. There
were two explicit cases and one implicit, which may actually be reacting critically to the whole idea.41 I start with the instance I regard as an
implicit case with a possible critical edge to it. In the Martyrdom of Saint
Crispina (3) the title character Crispina is brought before the judge, the
proconsul Anullinus, who, in order to disgrace her, commands that she
be disfigured by having her hair cut and her head shaved with a razor
till she is bald. As a consequence of this act she becomes (like) a
male in the same way that Mygdonia does in the Acts of Thomas, but in
this case the operation is not seen in a positive light. It is an ignominy
meant to disgrace her. It may be bold speculation but we must ask
whether behind this text there is an attempt to criticize the practice of
male impersonation and to say that it is something that is forced by
persecutors. The author of the text seems to say that such an act bears
no mark of spiritual advancement; rather it is a shameful act.
The first of the other two instances that introduce the experience of
be(com)ing (like) male is in the Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas (7). It is interesting that the expression appears in the vision
where Perpetua sees herself in the middle of an arena, forced to fight an
Egyptian gladiator who symbolizes the Devil. Somehow the vision
anticipates the final destiny of Perpetua although the details of the vision do not match the actual event. When Perpetua prepares herself for
the fight in her vision, her assistants strip off her clothes and begin to
rub her down with oil; she then suddenly realizes that she is a man
(masculus). This coincides nicely with what we have seen in other texts,
which place the martyrdom in a gladiatorial context. In that context
_____________
40
41

This was suggested by Einar Thomassen in the Metamorphoses project seminar at

the CAS, Oslo, June 12, 2007.
In this study I did not want to include martyrdom accounts where women became
Christ-like figures, such as Blandina. She was hung on a post in the form of a
cross and her fellow-martyrs saw in her him who was crucified for them (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.1.41). Nor did I want to include Febronia, whose martyrdom is portrayed by the onlookers as a suffering for the salvation of many (cf. Mark 10:45; for
the text of Febronia 29, see Brock and Harvey, Holy Women of the Syrian Orient, 169).
Although the texts speak of women assuming the role of Christ, the actual idea of
gender transformation is not involved.

The Function of Gender-Transformation Language

247

manly qualities are expected from all including women. So, if the distinction can be justified, as I think it is, the case of Perpetua
be(com)ing male does not stand for spiritual advancement or perfection but for an extra portion of courage, strength and firmness needed
for the fight. This fits in well with the concluding section of the text
where Perpetua herself, in a courageous, controlled, and masculine
manner, directs the shaky gladiators sword to her throat and thus determines the moment of her own death. In light of these events, it is not
surprising that the martyrs in the text are not only called beatissimi but
also fortissimi.
Febronia is our final example of a woman martyr who becomes
male. When the Roman soldiers seize her in order to take her for trial
at the theatre, the abbess Bryene promises to pray for her, trusting that
she will endure her contest. She will get to her heavenly bridegroom,
who is watching her contest, and to the hosts of angels, who are standing there before him carrying the crown of victory, as they await her
end. Febronia promises to be worthy of Bryenes trust and says: In a
womans body I will manifest a mans valiant conviction. 42 Even here
the context of Febronias promise seems to suggest that a mans valiant conviction has more to do with the firmness she wants to demonstrate while facing the challenge of martyrdom than with spiritual advancement.

4. Conclusion
Unlike other types of early Christian texts, which use gender-transformation language, early Christian martyrdom accounts give a different impression. The transformation or the transgression of gender roles,
i.e., women obtaining male qualities or in rare cases becoming male,
has to do with the successful endurance of martyrdom rather than with
spiritual progress in or through the act itself. Maybe that is the reason
why the explicit gender-transformation language, women becoming
male, is largely missing in martyrdom accounts. Still, it is clear that
even in these texts the endurance of martyrdom by women presupposes an overstepping or transgression of gender roles, which can be
described as a transformation, both in terms of language and a mental
process.

_____________
42

Brock and Harvey, Holy Women of the Syrian Orient, 162-163.

Imagining Human Transformation in the Context

of Invisible Powers: Instrumental Agency in
Second-Century Treatments of Conversion1
Imagining Human Transformation in the Context of Invisible Powers
DENISE KIMBER BUELL2
berschrift 2: fr Kapitel ohne 2 wird hier 1 Kurzform wiederholt
Indeed we warn you3 to be careful lest the should mislead you
and turn you from reading and understanding what we have said. They
struggle () to make you their slaves and servants. They ensnare, now by apparitions in dreams, now by tricks of magic, all those who
do not fight () with their all for their own salvationeven as
we also, after our conversion by the Word, have separated ourselves from
those and have attached ourselves to the only unbegotten God
through his son.4

For Justin Martyr, what is at stake in conversion to Christianity is no

less than a question of which kinds of invisible forces hold sway over
humans. Even when explained as impure and debased spiritual powers,5 are a real threat to humans, precisely because they may
trick humans to believe that false things are true. But humans are not
merely passive puppets or pawns in a cosmic battle. While vulnerable
to negative forces and capable of being animated and protected by di_____________
1

2
3

4
5

This article is based on the joint work of an international research group studying
Metamorphoses: Resurrection, Taxonomies and Transformative Practices in Early
Christianity at the Centre for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Science
and Letters in Oslo during May and June 2006-07. Thanks to Laura Nasrallah and
Karen King for comments on this paper prior to the June 2007 conference and to the
Centre participants for their feedback.
Denise Kimber Buell is professor and chair of the Department of Religion, Williams
College, USA.
Putatively, the emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius (see Justin Martyr, 1
Apology 1.1). Translation closely follows that of Barnard (Justin Martyr, The First and
Second Apologies, English translation by Leslie William Barnard [Ancient Christian
Writers 56; New York: Paulist, 1997]).
1 Apol. 14.1.
I.e., the corrupt progeny of human women and fallen angels (2 Apology 5). For a
detailed discussion of Justins aetiology of demons, and how it offers him a way to
address gentiles differently from Jews, see Annette Yoshiko Reed, The Trickery of
the Fallen Angels and the Demonic Mimesis of the Divine: Aetiology, Demonology,
and Polemics in the Writings of Justin Martyr, JECS 12:2 (2004): 141-171.

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Denise Kimber Buell

vine forces, humans have also to take action, to fight with their all for
their own salvation. The ideal is to cultivate oneself as Gods instrument, as a self able to know, receive, and even transmit divine agency.
Justin expresses one version of a logic that permeates many ancient
texts, Christian and non-Christian alike: that humans are inevitably
instruments of external agencies.
What does it mean to speak about transformation, including conversion, when humans are understood as instruments of external powers, demonic or divine? Justin conceptualizes human agency not so
much in terms of individual, autonomous freedom, but in terms of
instrumental agency to spiritual forces both good and evil.6 How can
and ought a Christian best prepare to be the right sort of instrument to
the right sort of spiritual forces?
Early Christians offer a range of answers to these questions, positing a greater or lesser porousness to the boundaries of the human person, and differing views about the site of authentic selfhood. Justin
Martyrs agonistic imagery represents humans as objects of cosmic
contest; he exhorts humans to enlist themselves as soldiers on the side
that will accomplish their salvation. Justins slightly younger contemporary Theodotos, also adapted agonistic imagery, describing the unbaptized human as both the site of cosmic contest (the potential prize)
and that which is instrumentalized by cosmic powers (good and bad).7
Theodotos cautions that the transformation produced in baptismal
rituals may either permanently seal demonic powers into oneself or
permanently protect one from them, by means of an infusion of divine
power.8
If Theodotoss imagery portrays humans as even more porous than
Justins, Clement of Alexandria tends in the opposite direction. Clement, writing a generation after Justin and in the same intellectual context as Theodotos, promotes an understanding of the human self as
malleable, like a wax tablet, but also capable of being trained to discern
_____________
6

Mary Keller develops the concept of instrumental agency in her analysis of possession. See Keller, The Hammer and the Flute: Women, Power, and Spirit Possession (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002), esp. pp. 9-10 and 73-101. I discuss this concept further in the next section.
Excerpts of Theodotos 67.1-73.3. The transformation of baptism, for this text, is described not only as death and rebirth, but also instrumentally: From the moment
one comes up from baptism, he is called a slave of God even by the unclean spirits
and they now tremble at the one whom they had recently possessed ()
(Exc. Theod. 77.3). Translation closely follows that of Casey (see The Excerpta ex Theodoto, English Translation and edited with introduction and notes by Robert Pierce
Casey [Studies and Documents, edited by Kirsopp Lake and Silva Lake; London:
Christophers, 1934]).
Exc. Theod. 83.

Imagining Human Transformation in the Context of Invisible Powers

251

demonic from divine power and thus to resist demonic influence. For
Clement, senses such as sight and hearing are sites of intensive regulation, since he imagines these as vectors not only for bridging the gap
between self and others but also for altering the human person, for
better or worse.9
All three of these Christian authors illustrate possibilities of conceptualizing an instrumental relationship between the human and invisible
forces. In what follows, I shall first elaborate what I mean by an instrumental understanding of humanity relative to invisible powers and
why instrumentality illuminates dynamics of the ancient Roman social
and philosophical context. Examples from Tatians Oration to the Greeks
and Clements Protreptikos provide illustrations of how second-century
Christians deployed arguments about human transformation to critique contemporary understandings about human-divine relations,
even as Christians shared with their non-Christian contemporaries an
instrumental understanding of human agency. The final section of the
paper explores the polemical function of instrumental imagery among
Christians. Here, Clement of Alexandrias Stromateis serves as the primary example. Clement rejects alternative Christian renderings of instrumental agency, especially the idea that external forces may literally
penetrate the human person, for good or ill.

Instrumental Agency
A number of New Testament texts describe believers as Gods slaves,
slaves being the quintessential instrumental social category in antiquity.10 Pauls striking image of having died, so that Christ now lives in
him,11 likewise communicates an ideal of becoming and being a divine
_____________
9
10

11

See extended discussion below of Clements Protreptikos and Stromateis.

E.g., Rom 6:16, 1 Peter 2:16. Second-century examples of this language of enslavement include the Excerpts of Theodotos, compiled by Clement of Alexandria in the late
second century. This text also portrays humans as targets of and instruments in a
cosmic battle between forces of good and evil. Even as the wicked powers are firmly
located as inferior to the power of God and the savior, humans may be easily attacked and enslaved by bad powers, and require the assistance of Christ to ensure
success against these wicked powers and attain salvation. For Theodotos, according
to Clement, there are beneficial powers in the cosmos that help humans in this battle
before baptism, but they are not sufficient to follow and rescue and guard us
against the opponents who attack the soul through the body and outward things
and pledge it to slavery (Exc. Theod. 73.1). Baptism, in this text, is a change
() that affects the soul, not the body (77.2), and one is called Gods slave,
even by the unclean spirits, from the moment one comes up from baptism (77.3).
Gal 2:20.

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Denise Kimber Buell

instrument or vessel, a view that he extends to his readers in Romans,

by saying Do not yield your members () to sin, as instruments or
weapons of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God, as ones who have
been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.12 So too, the imagery of being the temple or
spiritual house of God or living stone also depicts the human-divine
relationship in terms of the divine occupying the human.13
This imagery indicates a view that agency is not simply the domain
of an autonomous self but also of the forces that may penetrate or control it, in the manner of an occupant of a dwelling (including a deity in
a temple) or a master to a slave. When such imagery takes center stage,
we find the one occupied or owned depicted as having what Mary Keller calls instrumental agency.14 That is, one in and through whom
external forces, including and deities, act in this world has
agency in relation to its capacity as an instrument.
Instrumental agency posits a porousness of the boundaries of the
human. For early Christians, this porousness is both a source of concern
and an opportunity for transformations that lead to salvation. The
opening quotation from Justin Martyrs First Apology expresses one
version of this concern. Christians must struggle both to separate themselves from and become Gods instrumentsa move that
ideally protects Christians. But Christians must also remain vigilant,
since Justin thinks that also operate through some who claim
to be Christian, including Marcion and Simon Magus.15 When humans
are portrayed ideally in an instrumental relation to the divine, conversion entails cultivating the relationship between ones body and soul as
well as the relationship between ones composite self and external

_____________
12
13

14
15

Rom 6:13.
Temple or house: 2 Cor 6:15, 1 Pet 2:5; living stone: 1 Pet 2:4. The author of the Epistle
to Barnabas writes: Before we believed in God, the dwelling of our heart was perishable and weak, just like a temple built by hands, for it was full of idolatry, it was a
house of demons because what was done was opposed to God (Barn. 16.7). Justins
student Tatian puts it, the Spirit of God is not with all, but, taking up its abode with
those who live justly, and intimately combining with the soulthe souls which are
obedient to wisdom have attracted to themselves the cognate spirit (Oration to the
Greeks, 13). Coxes English translation consulted (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2: Fathers of the Second Century: Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, and Clement of Alexandria [entire], English translation by A. Cleveland Coxe [American edition; 1885;
reprinted, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995]).
Keller, Hammer and Flute, especially 73-101.
See, e.g., 1 Apol. 26.1-4; 56.1-5; 58.2-3. See also discussion in Reed, The Trickery of
the Fallen Angels.

Imagining Human Transformation in the Context of Invisible Powers

253

forces towards an outcome in which, ideally, the human becomes the

proper instrument for God.16
External powers descend into the human soul and seek to
strengthen or lead it astray, also according to the roughly contemporary Secret Revelation of John. For this text, the Spirit of Life and the
counterfeit Spirit compete for the human, although the former is clearly
presented as superior. The human response to these external forces
matters for the process of salvation. While the Spirit of Life descends
into all human souls (recalling also Justins notion of the logos spermatikos in all humans), some souls may still be led astrayat least temporarilyby the presence and power of the counterfeit or despicable
spirit.17 In contrast, [t]hose upon whom the Spirit of Life will descend
and (with whom) it will be powerfully present, they will be saved and
become perfect.18 As Karen King suggests, this text seems to offer a
model of ethical action as the main human response, based on the
teaching embodied in this text.19
Justin and the Secret Revelation of John both imagine a kind of battle
between invisible forces that takes place over and within humans, and
both counsel saving knowledge and ethical action for the person who
would gain salvation and eternal life.20 They differ, of course, in their
_____________
16

17
18

19
20

In the genre of martyrdom literature, we find a spectacular example of this instrumentalization in the description of Christ manifesting himself through the outstretched body of the Christian slave woman Blandina: through her presenting the
spectacle of one suspended on something like a cross, and through her earnest
prayers, she [Blandina] inspired the combatants with great eagerness: for in the
combat they saw, by means of their sister, with their bodily eyes, Him who was crucified for them, that He might persuade those who trust in Him that every one that
has suffered for the glory of Christ has eternal communion with the living God
(Martyrs of Lyons and Vienne 28; see Acts of the Christian Martyrs, Volume 2, introduction, edited, and English translation by Herbert Musurillo [Oxford: Clarendon,
1972]).
SRJ 23.18-31.
SRJ 23.4. Translation is that of Karen L. King, contained in King, The Secret Revelation
of John (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006), p.69. This translation is from
the text preserved in Nag Hammadi Codex II; the parentheses duplicate Kings editorial marks, here indicating material that King has supplied in order to render the
translation into a more fluent English prose (p.25).
King, The Secret Revelation of John, pp. 138-142.
Irenaeus, strident critic of rival Christian views, including those contained in a version of the Secret Revelation of John, nonetheless shares with it the view that the human is a site of contest for invisible external forces. He interprets the strong man
story from Matthew and Luke to argue that while his readers are the vessels and
house formerly occupied by the diabolical strong man, the devil is no match for
the Lord, who binds the devil: Now we were first the vessels and the house of this
[strong man] when we were in a state of apostasy; for he put us to whatever use he
pleased, and the unclean spirit dwelled within us. For he [the devil] was not strong

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Denise Kimber Buell

respective understandings of the place of God in relation to creation.

What I want to stress with these examples is that instrumental agency
does not position the human as merely a passive victim, but requires
humans to respond and develop themselves so as to achieve salvation.
Keller develops the concept of instrumental agency to account for
both external powers (spirits, ancestors, deities) and humans in the
context of possession, especially when the possessed has no consciousness or memory during or after possession. In these contexts, it is the
human body that is instrumentalized by possessing external agencies,
suggesting that instrumental agency pertains to bodies (not conscious
subjects). We cannot simply transfer Kellers definition, then, to contexts in which human persons remain conscious while engaging with
external agencies.21
Rather, even imagery as stark as that of enslavement needs to be
read not simply as an ideal of cultivating the human body to be the
perfect instrument for the divine but, as Troels Engberg-Pedersen has
suggested for Pauls writings, an alignment of the human with divine
agency that is also conscious and intentional.22 The human must desire
and seek out this alignment to be free from misalignment (with other
external agencies); external agencies do not merely impose themselves
on powerless bodies. Nevertheless, human will is not sufficient to accomplish this alignment, but requires divine action. For EngbergPedersen, this alignment is a transformative process accomplished by
the acquisition of a new epistemological capacity, , which
enables humans to understand new and genuine knowledge ().23
_____________

21

22

23

as opposed to he who bound him, and spoiled his house, but as against those persons who were his tools, inasmuch as he caused them to wander away from God:
these the Lord did snatch from his grasp (Against All Heresies 3.8.2; see Ante-Nicene
Christian Library, Volume V: Irenaeus, Vol. 1., edited by Alexander Roberts and James
Donaldson [Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1888]).
It is beyond the scope of this paper to consider early Christian prophecy, but this is
another context in which ancient authors, Christian and non-Christian, discuss the
relationship between human and non-human agencies. Whether viewed as legitimate or not, prophecy and oracle are usually framed in terms of an invisible agency
speaking through a human instrument. When oracular or prophetic utterances are
made by a speaker who does not have any recollection of them after the fact, one
finds a closer parallel to the cases Keller considers. For further discussion of prophetic speech, see especially Laura Nasrallah, An Ecstasy of Folly: Prophecy and Authority in Early Christianity (Harvard Theological Studies 52; Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Divinity School, 2003).
Troels Engberg-Pedersen, Self-Sufficiency and Power: Divine and Human Agency
in Epictetus and Paul, in Divine and Human Agency in Paul and His Cultural Environment, edited by John M. G. Barclay and Simon Gathercole (London: T&T Clark,
2006), p. 127.
Ibid., p. 138.

Imagining Human Transformation in the Context of Invisible Powers

255

While Engberg-Pedersen insists that it does not make sense to

speak of a distinction between divine and human agency in Pauls
writings,24 I would nuance this view in light of a modified version of
Kellers instrumental agency. The infusion of divine makes
sense precisely if we do grant a distinction between divine and human
agencies. I agree that these are not opposed in Pauls writings, however. Instead, human agency ideally makes the human person subject
to divine agency in a way that instrumentalizes not simply the material
body but also the soul and cognitive faculties through a transformation
of the human self from one without to a new creation, filled
with .
recurs in Christian writings as a divine substance that enters or is activated in the human as part of the process of salvific transformation. When Christ is identified as , reason may be understood also as a transformative force. Writing a century after Paul,
Justins writings imagine both demonic and Christic forces as ones that
may penetrate and seek to control the human person, such that exorcism in the name of Christ offers one of the most powerful ways to
expel demonic powers (2 Apol. 6).25 But, as Annette Yoshiko Reed convincingly stresses, Justin also associates human subjection to these invisible forces with the mental states of irrationality (demonic) and reason (divine). The cultivation of reason, for Justin, is a human
undertaking necessary to free oneself from demonic control and enter
into right relation with God.26 At the same time, it is important to remember that Justins close identification of Christ with reason, as
, which he depicts as a spiritual seed implanted in the human,
makes the most sense if we understand reason as both an invisible external force available to humans and the ideal product of tuning the
human in proper relation to this divine force.
Religious discourses build room for both external forces and individual practices in ways that destabilize the potential dichotomy of
agent and patient and foreground the ambiguity of individual responsibility in relation to larger systems of power.27 We can read
many early Christian discussions of transformations associated with
conversion in light of instrumental agency.
Exorcism, baptism, and chrism are important in many early Christian texts and lives as practices that signify and perform major transformations, including the expulsion of wicked powers, infusion of di_____________
24
25
26
27

Ibid., p. 139.
See Reed, The Trickery of the Fallen Angels, p. 162.
Ibid., p. 162.
Keller, The Hammer and the Flute, p. 77.

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Denise Kimber Buell

vine power, remodelling of ones soul, and sealing of ones soul from
evil.28 These practices constitute moments in a more comprehensive
transformative process, which may include practices explicitly framed
as capable of transforming or perfecting the body as the perfect vehicle
for the spirit, or the perfect receptacle for divine seed.29 As Samuel
Rubensons paper in this volume also shows, the ascetic life can be
imagined as producing and anticipating ones belonging in heaven.
Speaking of the human as having instrumental agency preserves
the notion of individualitythere is a self to be saved. It also makes it
possible to locate the individual as a member of a group in relation to
external agencies. The person could become one of Gods slaves, Gods
people, Gods heirs, rather than a slave to the Devil, , or fate
(). The transformative process thus entails not only a shift in
the individuals relationship to divine powers but also in relation to
other humans, as one becomes legible in relation to a group.30

Historical Context: Situating Instrumental Agency

in Empire
Foregrounding instrumental agency helps us to analyze the production
of Christian identities and practices in the context of the Roman empire,
for at least three reasons. First, the conditions of empire include systemic forces that cannot be comprehended by the simple dichotomies of
domination and resistance. Christians were imbricated in networks of
power that relied on instrumental agency: slaves, soldiers, colonial
administrators, and domesticated animals were all subject (willingly or
_____________
28

29

30

These rituals are crucial to examine as well as sites for negotiating human-divine
relations and effecting transformation, as the contributions in this volume by Hugo
Lundhaug and Outi Lehtipuu show. See also Henry Ansgar Kelly, The Devil at Baptism: Ritual, Theology, and Drama (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1985).
I have in mind here what Catherine Bell refers to as ritualization. As Bell puts it,
ritualization is a way of acting that is designed and orchestrated to distinguish and
privilege what is being done in comparison to other, more quotidian, activities. As
such, ritualization is a matter of various culturally specific strategies for setting off
some activities from others.and for ascribing such distinctions to realities thought
to transcend the powers of human actors (Bell, Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice [Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1992], p. 74).
The relationship of transformative processes to claims about shifting and demarcating collective belonging are discussed in a number of the papers in this volume. See
especially the essays by John Collins, Liv Ingeborg Lied, Einar Thomassen, Karen
King, and Samuel Rubenson. For the marking of this new collective belonging as
ethnic or racial, see Denise K. Buell, Why This New Race: Ethnic Reasoning in Early
Christianity (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005).

Imagining Human Transformation in the Context of Invisible Powers

257

not) to the will of human others. Female bodies, especially maternal

bodies, were regularly figured as instrumental, whether construed as
subject to male authority, constitutively passive and penetrable, vessels
for male seed, or containers for new life.31 An instrumental notion of
agency presupposes that human beings are not, as discrete individuals,
the ultimate sources of agency, but rather, sites for manifesting the
wills and desires of external agencies. In the social landscape of the
Roman empire, it is not surprising to find texts that demand that a human accept, resist, cultivate him or herself in relation to external powers, including in ways that refract and destabilize social and political
norms.
Second, the philosophical discourses from which many Christians
drew also elaborated models of the human in instrumental terms
often locating the relations of the composite human person as one in
which the body was ideally the instrument of the soul, or the governing
part of the soul.
Third, instrumental agency helps to explain contemporaneous religious practices and some of the Christian critiques of these practices.
Phenomena such as oracles, prophets, and the dreams of healing cults
epitomize the idea of non-human external agencies communicating
through human bodies (for good or ill). Christians, like their nonChristian contemporaries, do not accept these practices uncritically, but
neither do they reject the possibility that external agencies may express
themselves through humans. For example, when Tatian unsurprisingly
rejects the efficacy of healing cults, such as the popular cult of Asclepius famously patronized and praised by Tatians contemporary Aelius
_____________
31

A very different way of characterizing the porousness of the self is through the
imagery of rebirth. Depicting believers as reborn may connote an instrumental relation between the believer and the divine, insofar as divine is what regenerates and hence animates and shapes the believer. God or a Christian teacher is often
viewed as the one who generates or deposits the seed which results in the new birth;
thus, rebirth requires an external agency, even as the individuals participation and
cultivation is required for the process to be successful. See, for example, Acts of Andrew 44.9-16, in which Stratocles speaks of Andrew having sown seeds of salvation
in his soul, which then must be nourished in order to flourish. As Thomassen also
discusses in his contribution, Clement attributes to Theodotos the view that we must
be shaped by the savior () in order for us to be complete, no longer senseless, weak, and shapeless (like ) (Exc. Theod. 68), which is repeated slightly
later in a discussion of baptism: So long, then, they say, as the seed is yet unformed
(), it is the offspring of the female, but when it received form, it was
changed into a man () and becomes a son of the bridegroom (79). In addition
to cosmological narratives alluded to in this phrasing, this passage echoes an understanding of an embryo as receiving its form from male seed that determines and enables its growth and development.

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Denise Kimber Buell

Aristides, he relies on the assumption that invisible powers may affect,

if not invade, humans:
The demons do not cure, but by their art make humans captivesFor, as it
is the practice of some to capture persons and then restore them to their
friends for a ransom, so those who are esteemed gods, invading the bodies
of certain persons, and producing a sense of their presence in dreams,
command them to come forth into public, and in the sight of all, when they
have taken their fill of the things of the world, fly away from the sick, and,
destroying the disease which they had produced, restore humans to their
former state.32

Tatians critique unfolds first by attributing illness to demons and then

by collapsing the differences between demons and those venerated as
gods. He does not, however, fully reject the notion that external forces
may enter humans and may heal them.
For Tatian, humans do need healing, but for him this means restorationto the original condition of human creation, into Gods likeness: if we cultivate our flesh to be like a temple, God is pleased to
dwell in it by the spirit, Gods representative; but if it not be such a
habitation, humans surpass wild animals in speech onlyin other respects their life is like theirs (beasts), as one who is not a likeness of
God.33 In his view, the loss of likeness to God arose from the wrong
kind of instrumental relation: matter desired to exercise lordship over
soul.34 For Tatian, the self might seem to be identified with the soul,
but the authentic human is a composite organized with the correct relations: a body in and through whom the soul expresses its likeness to
God, to the extent that the divine spirit chooses to inhabit it. Just as the
body ought to be trained to be the perfect instrument for the soul, so
too the composite human (enfleshed soul) ought to be trained to be the
perfect instrument for divine spirit.
Second-century Christians thus define themselves and exhort others to transform themselves in the context of these three factors: of
cosmologies populated with invisible as well as visible powers, of anthropologies that imagine humans as composite and mutable beings,
and of social conditions characteristic of a slavery-dependent, colonizing empire. I turn now to a closer look at how an appeal to instrumental agency serves early Christian authors in articulating their anthro_____________
32
33

34

Orat. 18.
Orat. 15. Of course, Tatian is not alone in this view. Other early Christians, including
Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria, also frame transformation in terms of restoration, including specifically the restoration of a lost likeness to God, with reference
to Gen 1:26.
Orat. 15.

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259

pologies and soteriologies, specifically as it bears on the kinds of transformations entailed in Christian conversion.

The Human Instrument: Christian Critique of

Pagan Statues
Tatians discussion of the causes and cures for disease and Clement of
Alexandrias critique of mystery cults and cult statues might seem to
have little in common at first glance; yet both rely on instrumental notions of human agency to define both what constitutes the human and
the kinds of change necessary to accomplish human salvation.
As Tatian well knew, religious practices of the time did not limit instrumental agency to human bodies. Statues were especially understood as potential instruments for divine power. As Deborah Steiner
puts it, the concept underpinning the efficacy ascribed to images venerated in cult is that the statue acts as a vessel, a potential or actual
container for the numinous power that could take up residence inside.35 The idea that statues may be vessels for the divine seems corroborated in religious practices: assuming the god resident within the
habitation that the image supplies, [ritual activities including prayer,
procession, burial, washing] aim to make divinity emerge and act on
behalf of those performing the rite. That is, the idols were not so
much representational as persuasive objects, whose external appearance and deployment were thought directly to influence the conduct of
the divinities portrayed.36 Christian texts repeatedly condemn religious practices, especially pertaining to the use of statues. Instead of
interpreting this only in terms of a venerable tradition of invective
_____________
35

36

Deborah Tarn Steiner, Images in Mind: Statues in Archaic and Classical Greek Thought
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001), p. 79. She continues: Statues repeatedly articulate the problem of how closely faade and interior, surface and depth cohere. Not just the nature of gods, but that of fellow men and women can be at issue
here (Steiner, Images in Mind, pp. 79-80). The current work of Laura Nasrallah explores how early Christian rhetoric about statuary, especially statuary that presents
humans with divine attributes, needs to be evaluated in the context of the visual
landscape of the Roman Empire (see Nasrallah, The Earthen Human, The Breathing
Statue: The Sculptor God, Greco-Roman Statuary, and Clement of Alexandria,
forthcoming in Beyond Eden: The Biblical Story of Paradise [Genesis 2-3] and Its Reception
History, edited by Konrad Schmid [Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008]). My conversations with her about her work-in-progress have helped to sharpen my own analyses
of Clements Protreptikos.
Steiner, Images in Mind, pp. 105-106. For this position, Steiner is indebted to Christopher Faraone. See Christopher A. Faraone, Talismans and Trojan Horses: Guardian
Statues in Ancient Greek Myth and Ritual (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).

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against idolatry, I think we need also to recognize its bearing on Christian arguments about how to cultivate the correct kind of instrumental
agency.
Clement of Alexandria, for example, promotes an instrumental relationship between human and divine that locates the human firmly as
a divine vessel and instrument; at the same time, he rejects the idea that
one may encounter the divine through an aniconic or iconic vessel,
such as a statue, or that one may cultivate relationships with divine
powers as if to use them as instruments for human desires.37 Clement
both lambastes veneration of statues and construes Christians as authentic statues, insofar as Christians, not sculpture, are containers for
the divine.
This argument pervades his treatise ostensibly addressed to a
Greek audience, the Protreptikos. He writes: we are they who, in this
living and moving statue (), the human, bear about the image
of God, an image which dwells with us, is our counsellor (),
companion, the sharer of our hearth, which feels with us, feels for us.
We have been made a consecrated offering to God for Christs sake.38
_____________
37

38

Surviving Christian amulets and magical spells to effect healingas well as less
pleasant goals such as cursessuggests another dimension of instrumentalization,
more in continuity with local non-Christian religious practices. As Karen King has
argued, the list of demons associated with specific parts of the psychic body in the
longer version of the Secret Revelation of John (16.1-17.63) may correlate with practices
undertaken to help cleanse the body of evil influence and thereby bring healing
(King, The Secret Revelation of John, p. 152; see also pp. 114-118, 153).
Protreptikos 4.59.2. I am closely following the Loeb translation by Butterworth here,
with some emendations of my own (Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks,
The Rich Mans Salvation, To the Newly Baptized, English translation by G. W. Butterworth [Loeb Classical Library 92; 1919; reprinted, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999]. Citations follow critical edition by Otto Sthlin (Clemens Alexandrinus, erster Band, Protrepticus und Paedagogus, edited by Otto Sthlin [Die
griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte 12; Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1905]). See also the forthcoming interpretation of this passage offered by Laura
Nasrallah, which productively locates Clements discussion of statues both in relation to interpretations of Genesis 2 and Roman statuary (Nasrallah, The Earthen
Human, forthcoming). Philip Harland is surely correct that the landscape of religious practices, including processions played a role in the imagery early Christian
authors such as Ignatius and Clement of Alexandria selected to communicate Christian collective identity and practices. (Harland, Christ-Bearers and Fellow-Initiates:
Local Cultural Life and Christian Identity in Ignatius Letters, JECS 11:4 (2003), pp.
481-499). He suggests that the image of God-bearing and its Christian-inflected
variation of Christ-bearing would have both been drawn from and intended to recall processional practices of bearing statuary and other sacred cult objects. In a
footnote, Harland calls attention to how non-Christian authors, including Philo and
Epictetus already play with the imagery of bearing the divine within the human
soul, as the proper way to worship in contrast to carrying around some external
God, made of silver and gold (Epictetus, Discourses 2.18.14). Philo explicitly glosses

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This passage communicates a strikingly instrumental understanding of

the relationship between humans and God.39 Clement portrays Christians as statuary animated by God in sharp contrast to non-Christians
who mistake cult images for that which is animated by the divine.
Christians are the offerings for Christs sake, not libations or other offerings made by a human to request divine favors.
Humans are represented as stones with the paradoxical capacity for
life, unlike statues crafted by human hands which can only be animated by ghosts or daimonic spirits masquerading as gods. At the outset of the Protreptikos, Clement critiques Orpheus, Amphion, and Arion
for making music influenced by demons which led humans both to
worship stones and wood and indeed to become themselves mere
wood and stones in the stupidity of their idol worship.40 But the savior
Clement proclaims can make men out of stones and bring to real
and true life those who were otherwise dead.41 This imagery clarifies the perilous effects that bodily actions can have on ones ontological status as well as the significance of wielding the body properly.
_____________

39

40
41

the concept of God-bearing in terms of Genesis 1:26) (see On the Creation 69; noted in
Harland, Christ-Bearers and Fellow Initiates, p. 487n16). But Harland does not develop an interpretation of the precise rhetorical elements that Christian authors emphasize and the elements that they alter to craft simultaneously a critique of local religious practices and identities and an alternative to them.
Clement also imagines that humans can develop themselves to become proxy agents
of the divine. In the Protreptikos, Clement not only asserts that: the Logos of God
himself not speaks to you plainly, having become human, in order that such as you
may learn from a human ( ) how it is even possible for a human to
become a god () (Prot. 1.8.4), and also that there is nothing more like [God]
than any one of us who becomes as righteous as possible (Prot. 10.97.2). This notion
of human progression accords with Clements self-description as one who offers to
become a counsellor () to his listeners (the same term he uses for divine
presence in humans) (Prot. 10.95.3).
Prot. 1.3.1.
Prot. 1.4.5. Thus, having associated hypocrites and other outrageous humans with
serpents, wolves, and savage beasts, Clement insists that all of these most savage
beasts and all such stones, the heavenly song transformed into gentle humans..See
how mighty is the new song! It has made humans out of stones and humans out of
wild beasts. They who were otherwise dead, who had no share of real and true life,
revived when they but heard the song (Prot. 1.4.3, 5). This passage obviously foregrounds hearing, and the transformative power that music may have. Musical instruments offer ideal imagery for communicating a subjectivity in which external
forces (the musician) interact with the individual (the lyre or flute) to exert action or
force in the world (music). But statuary in antiquity also could communicate a comparable idea; as Deborah Steiner writes, statues were viewed first and foremost not
as representational or aesthetic objects but as performative or efficacious agents, able
to interact in a variety of ways with those who commissioned, venerated, and even
on occasion defaced them (Steiner, Images in Mind, p.xii).

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Clement seeks to convince his listeners of three interlocking points:

1) that which ordinary statues seem to represent (the gods) is not really
realbut either dead or demonic; 2) these statues are made by human
hands, not divine ones, and at best represent the vessels, not the invisible divine reality; 3) those who venerate that which these statues represent mistake matter and death for reality and thus become themselves
stone and wood. While the first two points echo traditional biblical
polemic against idolatry, this third point indicates Clements view
about the serious implications of misapprehending true from false. As
we shall see, while divine power can restore those who have become
wood and stones, Clement insists that his listeners also take responsibility for their senses.

What Changes and How?

For Clement, sense perception bears directly on the question: How can
one become the best sort of instrument for the best sort of divinity?
Taking responsibility for ones senses features prominently in a number
of second-century Christian texts. Imagery of illumination, awakeness,
and sobriety, all denote concerns with the conditions of the self to use
ones senses properly.42 Theories of sight and hearing in particular converge with instrumental understandings of selfhood insofar as these
senses are crucial vectors by which the external forces enter into and
affect the individual and by which the individual might transform her
or his apperception of reality. The concern for sight and hearing allows
early Christian authors to develop an instrumental understanding of
agency that addresses local religious practices, philosophical discourses
about representing the divine as well as about vision, scriptural invective against idolatry, and interpretations of biblical accounts of creation,
as well as rival Christian views.
In the Protreptikos, Clement of Alexandria invokes the senses of
hearing and especially sight to disparage Greek and local religious
practices as contributing to human degeneration, turning them into
stones and wood or irrational (and sometimes deaf) beasts who need to
_____________
42

E.g., of the texts mentioned earlier, the Secret Revelation of John uses sensory imagery
related especially to sight, hearing, memory, alertness, touch, and taste both to narrate misperception and to exhort true perception. The text as a whole embodies the
importance of authentic hearing and seeing, as it is contextualized as a revelatory
discourse of the savior to John, initiated by an appearance of the savior. Within the
narrative, the plotline is advanced by uses of sense perception that either trap, divide, or mislead on the one hand, or free, unify, and instruct to salvation on the
other hand (e.g., SRJ 26.1-31).

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alter their looking and listening in order to be able to really see and
hear the truth that can restore them and, indeed, perfect them.43
Clement opens the Protreptikos by focusing his audiences attention
on hearing, emphasizing the ear as a porous site through which a human might be transformed into subhuman or even inorganic matter. By
listening to Logos song, not the maddening, dehumanizing songs of
mysteries or Sirens,44 one can be transformed back into a gentle human
and remolded to resemble ones original archetypeonce more becoming a living statue animated by the image and likeness of God. That is,
correct hearing actually allows one to be reshaped, in a mixing of aural
and plastic imagery. The onus is on the listener, to block ones ears
from false sounds and teachings.
Even more than hearing, Clement stresses the significance of sight
in the Protreptikos. As Simon Goldhill has shown, Clement fully incorporates the theory of the eye that flourishes in educated secondcentury Greek writings, a materialist theory indebted to Platonic and
Stoic ideas. According to this view, looking stamps ()
and impresses () the soul with an image of what is seen:
what is at stake in looking is your very soul, the truth of things. How
you look is part of your relation to God.45 The stakes of Clements
_____________
43

44

45

At the end of his Protreptikos, Clement of Alexandria writes: Only the God-fearing
human is rich, wise and well-born, and therefore the image, together with the likeness, of God. (Prot. 12.122.4). Clement draws on Gen 1:26 to insist that all humans
are divine creations, and thus all are eligible for salvation. But he argues that his audience of putative Greeks have ceased to be accurate images and thus require both
self-cultivation and transformation by the Logos.
The image of the Sirens appears near the end of the Protreptikos, where Clement
reprises the musical image, calling his listeners to ignore the deadly siren song of
custom, by lashing themselves to the wood of the cross, in order that God may safely
pilot them to heavens harbors, so that they may see God and be initiated into the
real holy mysteries (Prot. 12.118.1-4). Christian mysteries are the real deal, of which
the Bacchic mysteries are mere semblance (see Prot. 12.118.5-120.1).
Simon Goldhill, The erotic eye: visual stimulation and cultural conflict, in Being
Greek Under Rome, edited by Simon Goldhill (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2001), p. 174. As Goldhills article stresses, looking is erotically charged: looking is a kind of copulation, a sexual embrace before the act of fornication, a corruption akin to adultery or prostitution (179, 175). Clement, in his critique of statues,
certainly draws upon biblical, Philonic, and Pauline condemnations of idolatry, but
he also marries these to a theory of the eye to argue that wrong looking is wrong
living.Worshipping statues is but a weaker form of copulating with them (174).
Copulation is, of course, another way to represent the breaching of the boundaries of
self. Understanding looking as an action bearing on the state of ones soul and relation to God illuminates the way Clement connects idolatry with sexual licentiousness. Kathy L. Gacas excellent study of porneia explores this in greater detail for
Clements work. See Gaca, The Making of Fornication: Eros, Ethics, and Political Reform
in Greek Philosophy and Early Christianity (Hellenistic Culture and Society 40; Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), pp. 247-272.

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critique of statues as mere dead things becomes clearer if one accepts

the possibility that perceiving statues in the wrong way might actually
lead to a shift in ones very being; his theory of sight helps explain his
warning that those who venerate statues themselves become stones and
wood, degenerating from their status as Gods creation.
Even when the soul is foregrounded as the site of transformation,
flesh carries significant weight. The flesh is the visible boundary of the
individual; furthermore, with properly calibrated vision, one can discern the state of the invisible interior by examining its surfaces.
What can you see when you can really see? According to Clement,
you see that priests and those who worship at local temples are putrid
devotees of death: In this passage, he vividly connects this charge to the
bedraggled embodied state of the humans who serve such false external agencies: Let any of you look at those who serve the idols (
). One will see that they have filthy
hair, dirty and tattered clothing, complete strangers to baths, with
claws for nails like wild beasts, and many lack their genitals. They are
actual proof that the precincts of idols are so many tombs or prisons.46
By contrast, Clement exhorts his listeners: Receive the Christ; receive
sight; receive your lightinjunctions cleverly sandwiched between a
quotation from the Psalms (the commandment of the Lord shines far,
giving light to the eyes) and the Iliad (Thus shall you well discern
who is God and who is but mortal).47
To be initiated into the true (Christian) mysteries means to receive a
seal (), become holy (dance with angels, sing hymns of praise
to God), and to be changed to become like the archetype of which humans are imperfect images: O you who were formerly images
(), but do not all resemble [your model], I desire to restore
() you to the archetype, that you may become even as I am. I
will anoint you with the ointment of faith, whereby you cast away corruption; and I will display the bare form ( ) of righteousness, in which you shall ascend to God.48 The one who regains the
image and likeness of God is the only rich, sane, wellborn person.49
_____________
46
47

48
49

Prot. 10.91.1.
Prot. 11.113.2. See Psalms 19:8 and Iliad 5.128. This sandwiching epitomizes Clements appropriation of both scriptural and philosophical materials and his claim that
Christianity is the one saved constituted out of the peoples from the Hellenic
training and the law (Strom. 6.42.2; for more on Clements notion of Christians as
a , see Buell, Why This New Race). Slightly later Clement continues this motif of
light and vision: Let us remove the ignorance and darkness that spreads like a mist
over our sight; and let us get a vision of the true God (Prot. 11.114.1).
Prot. 12.120.4-5.
Prot. 12.122.4.

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This one lives a good life, which means being obedient to God and
imitating the Logosthrough Clement as his proxy. The Logos has
built his temple () in humans so that he might install/consecrate
() God in humans.50
While being able to perceive the truth accurately is a motif that
threads through many early Christian texts, Clements understanding
of how sight works actually hints at a way in which he situates his understanding of instrumental agency in distinction from rival Christians
in Alexandria. Let me speak to this briefly, to give some sense of how
instrumentality could be nuanced in different ways.

How is the Human an Instrument?

Intra-Christian Polemics about Agency and Conversion
In his multi-volume Stromateis, Clement resists the imagery of demonic
invasion and occupation. Instead, Clement portrays the human soul as
impressionable, in the manner of a wax tablet: all passions are imprints made in the soul when it is malleable and yielding, and like seal
impressions of the spiritual powers against whom we are wrestling.51 I
suppose it is the job of the powers of wickedness to try to implant
something of their own nature in each being with a view to wrestling
down and securing power over those who say no to them.52 This imagery is quite consistent with that of the Protreptikos, in understanding
the effect of sensory perception, especially seeing, as shaping the soul.
What is significant for my argument is that Clement makes this
point specifically to contrast with rival Christian views in Alexandria,
notably those of the study circles associated with Basilides and Valentinus, both of whom flourished before Clements day.53 Clement sets up
a debate with writings ascribed to Basilides and Valentinus in order to
present a concept of instrumental agency that is more appealing, I
would venture, to elite males, but that also perhaps gives all people a
_____________
50
51
52
53

Prot. 11.117.4. See Steiner, Images in Mind, p. 115 and p. 115n144. Clement uses a
common term here for the installation or consecration of a cult statue in a temple.
Clement is clearly alluding to Eph 6:12.
Strom. 2.110.1.
I understand Clement as having no more official sanction than the heads of these
study circles in his day (see David Brakke, Canon Formation and Social Conflict in
Fourth-Century Egypt: Athanasius of Alexandrias Thirty-Ninth Festal Letter, HTR
84 [1994]: 395-419; and Denise K. Buell, Making Christians: Clement of Alexandria and
the Rhetoric of Legitimacy [Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999], pp. 79-94, 180182).

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better sense of how they might control their (inevitable) condition of

being instruments of or the holy spirit/logos.
Clement explains the process by which some humans fall prey to
these powers:
The powers of which we have been speaking offer souls readily disposed
to that sort of thing spectacles of beauty, fancies, adulterous acts, pleasures,
and similar seductive appearances, rather as drovers wave their branches
in front of their animals. They trick those who cannot distinguish true
pleasure from false, or a beauty that is perishable and insolent from beauty
of holiness; they enslave them and lead them on. Each decision, continually
impressed upon the soul, leaves an inner perception stamped upon it. And
the soul, without knowing, is carrying around an image of the passion. The
cause lies in the act of seduction and our assent to it.54

Clement does not deny that there are demonic external forces, but he
stresses that their deleterious effects arise from humans mistaking
falsehood for truththese evil powers offer falsehoods in the guise of
truth and make humans their instruments when humans misuse their
senses and become molded and stamped with false pleasures and
passions. By emphasizing pedagogical imagery, Clement portrays the
human person as more bounded than porous; impressionable, but also
responsible for cultivating resistance to bad influences.
He presents the ideas promoted by Basilides and Valentinus as very
different. The former, he writes, says that passions are spirits that attach themselves to the human soul and bring the desires of the soul
into a plausible likeness of animals, causing the human to imitate the
actions of the animals whose characteristics they hold within them.55
Clement disparages this approach as one that turns the human into a
kind of Trojan horse, the image of a wooden horse in the poetic myth,
enfolding in one body an army of so many different spirits.56
He goes on to criticize Valentinus for portraying humans as occupied by evil spirits before conversion. Clement cites Valentinus as stating,
there is only one good beingthrough him alone can the heart become
pure, when every evil spirit has been driven from the heart.I suppose the
hearts experience is like a caravan site. It too has holes bored and dug into
it and is often filled with filth when people stay there and behave outrageouslyThe heart also, unless it takes care in advance, experiences something similar, being unpurified and a home for many spiritual powers. But
when the Father, the only good being, has visited it, it becomes sanctified

_____________
54
55
56

Strom. 2.111.3-4.
Strom. 2.112.1-2.
Strom. 2.113.2.

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and blazes with light. In this way, the man with a heart that receives blessings because he will see God.57

Why does Clement object to this view, when it seems to recall Clements own depiction of the relationship between divine and human
agencies in the Protreptikos? The criticism that Clement launches here is
that Valentinus neither adequately accounts for the vulnerability of the
soul nor adequately credits the human with the possibility of making a
change of obedience that would lead to salvation.
Clement emphasizes choice (), that faith is not only
necessary but has real soteriological value.58 Nonetheless, this choice is
only legible in relation to the reality of divine power, to transform
reformthe individual (conform back to archetype of image; adopt as
son) and only meaningful insofar as the individual engages in a sustained and life-long process of Christian paideia that affects all aspects
of life, from sleeping, eating, bathing, clothing, sex, and so on.
In the context of the section with which we are immediately concerned, Clement responds to the views of Basilides and Valentinus by
invoking The Epistle to Barnabas as his apostolic witness. The irony is
that Clement has to gloss Barnabas to avoid sounding too similar to his
Christian rivals. Clement writes, I do not need lots of words to describe how we say the activities of the devil and the unpurified spirits
flow into the sinners soul. I need merely to call as witness the apostolic
figure of Barnabas when he says Before we believed in God, the habitation of our heart was weak and corruptible, in very truth a temple built
with hands. For it was filled with idolatry and a home for evil spirits,
through acting contrary to God. Clement, however, denies that
Barnabas is saying that spirits actually inhabit human bodies. Rather,
Clement insists he is saying that sinners perform acts comparable to
those of evil spirits; he is not saying that the actual spirits live in the
soul of the man without faith.59 Barnabas is now made to say that faith
does not drive away evil spirits but rather brings forgiveness of sins;
additionally, he argues that the way that God comes to live in us is by
the teachings of the Logos (and our faith in them).
Clements critique of his rival Christians may seem a bit forced. But
his arguments indicate that at least one Christian author preferred to
define instrumentality less as a form of spiritual occupation than in
terms of the stamping and molding more commonly associated with
pedagogical training. In contrast to the gritty images of enslaved or
enlisted bodies that predominate in other texts, Clements kind of ar_____________
57
58
59

Strom. 2.114.3-6.
See e.g., Strom. 2.9.2.
Strom. 2.116.3-117.1.

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gument might have appealed to free, paideia-aspiring men of Alexandria in particular, folks who might have been accustomed to wielding
other humans as instruments or raised to idealize self-mastery.

Conclusion
For Clement, as for many other early Christians (and, indeed, nonChristians), the questions are: Which master will one serve?60 How can
one transform oneself to create the conditions for activating or receiving divine power? By belonging to God, not the devil or daimonic
powers, one becomes transformed in ways often described as healed,
sealed, reborn, or free of fate or death.61
Did one actually receive the holy spirit in baptism or do demonic
powers cling invisibly within?62 Has one been sealed and thereby
protected? How can one remain vigilant to and free from demonic
powers? How can one read the surfaces of the body or world to determine the workings of invisible powers? These are some of the questions
that arise within and can be addressed with an understanding of selves
in the world whose agency is not autonomous and limited to the individual. As I have demonstrated with just a few examples, secondcentury sources vary in how they answer these questions, even as they
share a common understanding of the self as contingentproduced in

_____________
60

61

62

In his Protreptikos, Clement of Alexandrias understanding of all humans as created

by the Christian God produces an argument of restoration, repentance, and recognition: he exhorts his listeners to acknowledge God as creator and serve God, repenting of having been formerly misled to worship other false gods: I would ask you,
whether you do not think it absurd that you humans who are Gods last creation,
from whom you have received your soul () and entirely belong, should serve
another master? (Prot. 10.92.2). See also later in this chapter: Acknowledge your
master. You are Gods handiwork; how could that which is his peculiar possession
rightly become anothers? (Prot. 10.103.3).
Some Christians even figure transformation as crossing a sex or species boundary
from female to male or from human to divine (e.g., Gospel of Thomas 114 [sex] and
Prot. 1.8.4 [species]).
It is fitting to go to baptism with joy, but since unclean spirits often go down into
the water with some and these spirits following and gaining the seal together with
the candidate become impossible to cure for the future, fear is joined with joy, in order that only one who is pure may go down to the water (Exc. Theod. 83).

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relationship to an internal diversity (at least body and soul) and external forces (human and non-human).
Early Christian authors employ a range of instrumental imagery to
talk about the formation and transformation of Christian selves. Musical instruments, statuary, buildings, as well as categories of social bodies (especially those of children, students, mothers, and slaves) all can
be used to emphasize a transformative process in which humans cultivate (e.g., through , prayer, or prescribed ethical programs)
ways to invite in or ward off different external agencies as well as ways
to instrumentalize their own bodies. There is certainly much more of
this instrumental language to be explored.63
Early Christian texts regularly formulate transformations in ways
that may strike modern Western readers as odd or even uncomfortable,
because of their unfamiliar way of speaking about self and agency.
Early Christians, like their ancient contemporaries did not hold a modern Western view of the autonomous self, where agency is aligned with
individual consciousness and an individual self with distinct physical
and psychic boundaries. Nonetheless, the concerns of these early Christian texts resonate with concerns identified in missiological, anthropological, postcolonial, and feminist writings from modern periods:64 how
_____________
63

64

I could imagine interesting examinations of the gendered ways that this language
gets elaborated, to the extent that female bodies are imagined as penetrable and vessel-like, especially in the context of pregnancy (including annunciation stories).
The challenges that we face in interpreting early Christian texts find an analogue in
some contemporary anthropological discussions of agency, especially informed by
postcolonial and feminist theory,especially questions about how to interpret religion and claims about external, non-verifiable agencies such as spirits and deities.
For example, Bronwen Douglas argues that one can find significant traces of indigenous emphases on autonomous spiritual agency in ethnographic descriptions of taboos and customs surrounding them, which Catholic missionaries cite for their own
purposes as evidence of native belief in original sin (Douglas, Encounters with the
Enemy? Academic Readings of Missionary Narratives on Melanesians, Comparative
Studies in Society and History 43:1 [2001]: 37-64). In a related vein, Webb Keane has
argued that Dutch Calvinist representations of Sumbanese traditional religion encodes a shared belief in external invisible agents even as the Christians accounts disparage Sumbanese for ascribing external agency to the wrong things (such as objects) or in the wrong way (in their ritual practices and prayers), and the Sumbanese
critique Christians of hubris for addressing the divine directly (Keane, From Fetishism to Sincerity: On Agency, the Speaking Subject, and their Historicity in the Context of Religious Conversion, Comparative Studies in Society and History 39:4 [1997],
pp. 678, 689). Amy Hollywood asks about how feminists might allow ourselves to be
challenged by medieval women mystics expressions of freedom as self-abjection in
the face of the divine other (Hollywood, Gender, Agency, and the Divine in Religious Historiography, The Journal of Religion 84:4 [2004], p. 528). Further exploration
of the different understandings of selfhood and agency produced and communicated in early Christian texts may be able to shed light on contemporary struggles
over questions of agency arising especially in conditions of postcoloniality, global

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are individuals located and connected in systems of power? What kinds

of understandings of the self are revealed or imagined in texts that exhort transformations? How do we (and our ancient sources) adjudicate
claims about external, invisible non-human agencies and their bearing
on understandings and ideals about humanness (and human difference)?
Early Christian texts resemble some modern non-Western sources
insofar as they locate the humans relationship to invisible powers as
one requiring vigilance and cultivation to ensure individual and social
well-being, cosmic order, and salvation (however imagined). While
questions of choice and free will do arise in early Christian texts, they
are posed in the context of presuming the existence and agency of external, invisible powers. Our understanding of both modern and ancient contexts can benefit from further analysis of what is at stake in the
crafting of agency and subjectivity.

_____________
capitalism and modern forms of negotiating the political with the religious, as these
conditions increasingly destabilize the possibility of claiming selfhood and agency as
autonomous. I do not mean either that early Christian texts provide an answer to
contemporary questions or that the contexts of antiquity and the present are the
same. Rather, I want to signal that the interpretive relationship between ancient and
modern is not simply unidirectional. In a recent article, Jonathan Z. Smith offers a
deliberately provocative juxtaposition of modern spirit possession in a context of
Christian missionizing to pose fresh questions about the Corinthian reception of
Pauls gospel. See Smith, Re: Corinthians, in Relating Religion: Essays in the Study of
Religion (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), pp. 340-361.

As Already Translated to the Kingdom

While Still in the Body1
The Transformation of the Ascetic in
Early Egyptian Monasticism
The Transformation of the Ascetic in Early Egyptian Monasticism
SAMUEL RUBENSON2
berschrift 2: fr Kapitel ohne 2 wird hier 1 Kurzform wiederholt
In studies of early Christian asceticism the last decades have witnessed
a rather dramatic change in interpretation. Earlier emphasis on ascetic
practice as a sign of disdain for the body, related to a strongly dualistic
anthropology, have given way to a reading of Christian ascetic texts as
expressions for a strong belief in the possibility and even necessity of
transforming the body. In his magisterial study of early Christian understanding of body and society Peter Brown argues that the early
Christian ascetics differed radically from some of their contemporary
pagan ascetics in that they did not consider the body as primarily a
nuisance, ultimately irrelevant, but rather as the central stage for their
struggle for salvation. The body was a holy temple, something that
ought to be offered to God. Their ideal was not deliverance from the
body, but the transformation of the body into a perfect vehicle for the
spirit.3 Other scholars have emphasized the performative and communicative aspects of ascetic practice.4
Others have argued that we should not, as has been done in much
previous research, primarily look into various forms of Platonism in
order to interpret early Christian ascetic ideology, but rather into Stoi_____________
1

2
3

Ep.Amm. VIII.2 G: ,
; (S): hkhan hwn atn aykh m deshtantn lekhn lemalkt kad adkl bepagr.
Samuel Rubenson is professor at the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies,
Lund University, Sweden.
Peter Brown, The Body and Society. Men, Women and Sexual Renunciation in Early
Christianity, CUP Press 1988, p. 176-177 (on the basic difference between Origen and
Celsus) and p. 222, 235-237 (on the desert fathers).
See Richard Valantasis, A Theory of Social Function of Asceticism, Vaage, Leif &
Wimbush Vincent L. (eds), Asceticism and the New Testament, New-York London
1999; Gavin Flood, The Ascetic Self. Subjectivity, Memory and Tradition, Cambridge
New York: Cambridge University Press 2004.

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Samuel Rubenson

cism. In particular the intense ongoing research into the writings of

Evagrius of Pontus shows how much Evagrius depended on Stoic anthropology and especially Stoic psychology.5 The emphasis here is not
on any separation of soul, or mind, from body, of immaterial from material, but rather on the making the body and soul to conform to the
logos, the rational capacity, and thus create harmony and stability in
the entire person. Others still are increasingly looking into trajectories
that link the emergence of monastic tradition with Jewish apocalypticism and various forms of sectarian mystical traditions, whether Gnostic or not, suggesting a interrelation between asceticism and mysticism
in a common anthropomorphic image of God.6
This shift in current research is related both to a shift in what
sources we use, and to reinterpretations of standard sources. Previous
scholarship on early monasticism has focused on hagiography, as well
as descriptions by prominent representatives of the church and its hierarchy. Stories about the desert ascetics fighting demons and exposing
themselves to severe practices of self-mortification have dominated the
view, and the condemnations of various practices by the authorities
have been used as evidence. Sayings and anecdotes in the Apophthegmata Patrum as well as descriptions in the Life of Antony have for example been taken at face value as evidence for practices of the desert fathers, without much reflection on the specific setting of the texts
themselves or on their literary form.7 In recent studies the educational
and apologetic character of the texts as well as their relation to pagan
literary traditions have undermined much of the results of earlier studies.8
_____________
5
6

Richard Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind. From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation, Oxford 2000.
Earlier attempts to find a background for emerging monasticism in Philos Therapeutae, among the Essenes, or in the Qumran documents are revisited, but focus is
now rather on the apocryphal OT literature. See for example Alexander Golitzin,
The Demons suggest an Illusion of God's Glory in a Form: Controversy over the
Divine Body and Vision of Glory, Studia Monastica 44 (2002) pp. 13-43 and Rowan
Williams, Faith and Experience in Early Monasticism: New Perspectives on the Letters of Ammonas, Akademische Reden und Kolloquien der Friedrich-Alexander-Universitt Erlangen Nrnberg, Bd. 20, Universittsbibliothek Erlangen-Nrnberg 2002.
For a succinct and pertinent discussion see James E. Goehring, The Encroaching
Desert: Literary Production and Ascetic Space in Early Christian Egypt, Journal of
Early Christian Studies 1 (1993), pp. 281296.
For the Life of Antony, see Samuel Rubenson, Anthony and Pythagoras: A Reappraisal of the Appropriation of Classical Biography in Athanasius Vita Antonii, Beyond Reception Mutual Influences between Antique Religion, Judaism, and Early Christianity, ed. David Brakke, Anders-Christian Jacobsen and Jrg Ulrich (Frankfurt: Peter
Lang 2006), pp. 191-208. For the Apophthegmata Patrum see Lillian Larsen, Pedagogical parallels: Re-reading the Apophthegmata Patrum (Ph.D. diss., Columbia Uni-

The Transformation of the Ascetic in Early Egyptian Monasticism

273

More significantly a wide variety of other texts have increasingly

been used to study the lives and views of the earliest monastic tradition. Papyrological studies have revealed that the monks of fourthcentury Egypt were much less isolated and also less ascetic than the
texts let us believ, and comparative work on non-orthodox texts suggests less sharp boundaries between various forms of Christian and
non-Christian asceticism.9 Even more important are a number of texts
attributed to fourth-century Egyptian Christian ascetics, but only partly
edited and studied.10 Against a perceived sharp dichotomy between the
ascetic tradition of the fourth-century Coptic Nag Hammadi codices
and the early monastic movement, these texts witness to a more complex web of ascetic and monastic communities giving rise to a variety
of expressions for their understanding of ascetic life and the relation
between the divine and the human, the body and the mind.
Of particular interest in connection with early monastic views on
resurrection and the transformation of the body are the letters of Ammonas. These letters, dated to the mid-fourth century, have for long
been recognized as one of he most important witnesses to the first
stages in the development of Christian mysticism. In them the experience of various kinds of heavenly realities as already present in bodily
life is a dominant theme, and the letters have in recent debates on
Egyptian monasticism, and especially on the first Origenist controversy, been regarded as witnesses to an ancient monastic tradition
deeply rooted in Jewish mysticism. The letters are here claimed to represent an anti-philosophical trajectory opposed to the Alexandrinian
_____________
9

10

versity 2006) and Per Rnnegrd, Threads and Images: The Use of the Bible in the
Apophtheghmata Patrum, (Ph.D. diss., Lund 2007).
In general see Samuel Rubenson, The Letters of St. Antony. Monasticism and the Making
of a Saint, Minneapolis 1995. For the papyrological works see i.a. Ewa Wipszycka,
Le Monachisme gyptieen et les villes, Travaux et Mmoirs 12 (1994), pp. 144. For
others texts see i.a. James E. Goehring, Monastic Diversity and Ideological Boundaries in Fourth-Century Christian Egypt, JECS 5 (1997), pp. 6184 and Heinrich
Holze, ANAPAUSIS im anachoretischen Mnchtum und in der Gnosis, ZKG 106
(1995), pp. 1-17.
For the letters of Antony see Rubenson (1995). The letters of Ammonas have in a
number of recent articles been discussed in relation to the letters of Antony, see
David Brakke, The Making of Monastic Demonology: Three Ascetic Teachers on
Withdrawal and Resistance, Church History 70 (2001), 1948, Williams (2002) , Samuel Rubenson, Wisdom, Paraenesis and the Roots of Monasticism Early Christian
Paraenesis in Context ed. by James Starr and Troels Engberg.Pedersen (BZNW 125),
Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 2004, pp. 521534, and idem Argument and Authority in
Early Monastic Correspondence, Foundations of Power and Conflicts of Authority in
Late-Antique Monasticism. Proceedings of the International Seminar Turin, December 2-4,
2004 (Orientalia Lovaniensia Aanalecta 157), Louvain 2007, pp. 7587.

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Samuel Rubenson

theological tradition represented by the letters of Antony and the writings by Evagrius of Pontos. 11
In this contribution I will make an attempt to systematize the references to bodily experiences of transformation and of heavenly realities
in the Ammonas letters and try to situate them in within the early monastic tradition. By doing this I want to question the prevalent polarization between a mystical and a philosophical tradition in early Egyptian
monasticism.

The Letters of Ammonas

The letters of Ammonas are known to us in a number of versions, preserved in Arabic, Armenian, Ethiopic, Georgian, Greek, and Syriac.12
The numbers of letters preserved in the different languages varies, as
does the order of the letters. There are, moreover, substantial differences between the various versions and to some extent even between
manuscript traditions within one of the versions. Given the importance
of the letters and the growing scholarly debate on the interpretation of
them, it is unfortunate, and somewhat surprising, that little effort has
been made to compare all the versions and try to establish a more firm
foundation for an analysis and interpretation of them. The only substantial analysis, albeit only of the Arabic, Greek and Syriac, is still the
article by Franz Klejna printed 1936.13
The letters were first published in 1641 in a Latin translation of the
Arabic version, and in 1855 an Armenian version of three letters was
printed as part of the Vitae Patrum.14 But it was only with the critical
_____________
11

12

13

14

See Golitzin (2002) and Williams (2002) developing suggestions made by Georges
Florovsky and Graham Gould in their interpretations of the first Origenist controversy.
A Coptic version is attested by quotations in Shenoute, by the colophon of the Arabic version and by a reference in the medieval Coptic author Ab-l-Barakt. See Samuel Rubenson, The Arabic Version of the Letters of St. Antony, Actes du deuxime
congrs des tudes arabes chrtiennes, OCA 226, Rome 1986, p. 19-29.
Franz Klejna Antonius und Ammonas, eine Untersuchung ber Herkunft und
Eigenart der ltesten Mnchsbriefe, Zeitschrift fr katholischen Theologie 62 (1938), pp
309-348. The only attempt at a comparison of all versions is made for the translation
of the letters into French by Dom Bernard Outtier and Dom Lucien Regnault, Lettres
des Pres du Desert. Ammonas, Macaire, Arsne, Srapion de Thmuis, Spiritualit Orientale 42, Abbaye de Bellefontaine 1985.
Abraham Ecchellensis, Sanctissimi patris nostri Beati Antonii magniepistolae viginti.
Nunc primum ex Arabico Latini juris factae, Paris 1641. In accordance with the Arabic
mss the letters are here, as well as in the reprint of the text in Patrologia Graeca, attributed to St. Antony and printed as letters 8-20 in a collection where the first seven

The Transformation of the Ascetic in Early Egyptian Monasticism

275

edition of a Syriac version in 1915 and a Greek version in 1916 that

scholars became aware of these texts.15 An Ethiopian version of two
letters was published in 1963 and a Georgian version of one letter in
1976.16 The published text of the letters thus presently consists of 14
letters in Syriac, 13 in Arabic, 8 in Greek, three in Armenian, two in
Ethiopic and one in Georgian. In addition another 12 letters are known
in Georgian mss. The authenticity of the letters and their attribution to
Ammonas, a fourth century monk and disciple of Antony known also
from other sources, taken for granted by the editors, and strongly defended by Klejna, has been upheld in all recent studies. The important
differences between the letters of Ammonas and the letters of Antony
have even been used to question the authenticity of the latter, but as I
have argued elsewhere, and will point out below, there are also important similarities between the two collections. Noteworthy is the common dependence on the letters of St. Paul, in style as well as in terminology and perspectives. 17 It is obvious that the authors of the letters
model their own relation to their disciples on how they interpret Pauls
relations to his disciples.18

_____________

15

16

17

18

letters are the genuine letters of St. Antony. The Arabic text of the entire collection
was printed in Cairo in 1899: Anb Murqus al-Antn, Kitb Raudat al-nufs f rasil
al-qidds Antniys, Cairo 1899, p. 48-140. For the Armenian see Vitae Patrum II, Venice 1855, pp. 597603.
Syriac: Michael Kmosko, Ammoni Eremitae Epsitolae (Patrologia Orientalis X.VI), Paris
1915, pp. 555616. Greek: Francois Nau, Ammonas, successeur de saint Antoine (Patrologia Orientalis XI), Paris 1915, pp. 393502. An earlier, but uncritical Greek edition was made by Augoustinos Iordanites, TOU OSIOU HMWN ABBA AMMWNA
EPISTOLAI PENTE, Jerusalem 1911. An additional Greek letter was later printed
in G.L. Marriott, Macarii Anecdota, Harvard Theological Studies 5 (1918), pp. 47-48
(where it appears as Macarius, Homily 57).
Ethiopic: V. Arras, Collectio Monastica (CSCO 238-239), Louvain 1963. Georgian:
Gerardus Garitte, De Unius ex Ammonae epistulis versione iberica, Le Muson 89
(1976), pp. 123-131.
See Rubenson 2004, p. 530531 and 2007, p. 86. The letters of Ammonas (Ep. Amm.)
are in the following quoted according to Kmoskos edition of the Syriac text with the
exception that the beginning of letter X in the edition of the Syriac is regarded as the
end of letter IX as attested in the Greek and Georgian versions and in accordance
with the French translation by Outtier and Regnault. Where the Greek text is significant reference to it is given in parenthesis in accordance with the edition of Nau.
Translations are my own. The letters of Antony (Ep. Ant.) are quoted according to
the English version in Rubenson 1995.
See for example Ep. Amm IV.1 and Hebr 5:14; V.1 and 2 Tim. 1:35; V.2 and Rom
1:11; VI.2 and 1 Thess 2:8; IX.34 and 2 Tim 3:5.

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Heaven on Earth
The letters of Ammonas are dominated by ideas of spiritual growth
and experiences of heavenly and divine presence, and Ammonas has
been regarded as a major pioneer in Christian mysticism. In the letters
there are abundant references to divine and secret mysteries and revelations, to things that cannot be written down and to bodily experiences
of heavenly and divine realities. These are both described as something
the author himself has had and as something the recipients of the letters can attain under certain conditions. Although the term resurrection
does not appear in the letters of Ammonas, the basic idea of a gradual
transformation from the body of corruption to the body of the resurrection referred to in the letters of Antony, is manifest.19 The main
object of the exhortations in the letters is to encourage the recipients to
seek for these experiences, to persist in their struggle for them and to
interpret any loss of them as temporary. and as a trial.
The letters of Ammonas are directed to people who belong to
heaven, to the kingdom20 or the kingdom of heaven.21 In contrast
to the letters of Antony there is, however, no attempt to teach an overarching protology or cosmology, and thus no references to a creation in
the image of God or to an original spiritual essence,22 nor is there any
ontological dualism between flesh and spirit, as in Antonys references to fleshly love and godly love, or fleshly names and spiritual names, or to a spiritual identity signified as being true Israelites.23 Words specifically denoting flesh as opposed to spirit do
not occur, and the references to body make up a difficulty of their
own, to which I will return.
The basic images for this belonging to heaven are the interconnected Biblical concepts of childhood and inheritance. The recipients
are children of the kingdom in virtue of being adopted.24 By imitating
Christ, who is sent, as it says, to heal the infirmities and sicknesses of
men, the perfected souls are made worthy of adoption as sons of
God.25 This image of adoption is paralleled in the letters of Antony
where it is linked to a transfer from being a servant to being a son, for
which Antony uses a combination of John 15:15, Rom. 8:15-17, and 1
_____________
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

For the body of the resurrection see Ep.Ant I.71.

Ep.Amm. IV.1.
Ep.Amm. VII.1.
For the protology and cosmology of Antony see Rubenson (1995), pp. 6468.
See Ep.Ant. III.35, IV.23, V.12.
Ep.Amm. IV.1. For the Pauline background see Rom 8:17, Gal 3:29, Gal. 4:7.
Ep. Amm. XII.3.

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277

Cor 5:16.26 In both collections adoption is linked to the concept of kenosis, of Christ descending from heaven to heal human kind, as well as
to the outpouring of the Spirit, in Antonys letters even designated as
the Spirit of adoption. There is, furthermore, in both collections of
letters a clear connection between the status of adoption and spiritual
knowledge, knowledge about ones own identity.27
The central feature of this adopted childhood in the letters of Ammonas as well as Antony is its connection to inheritance. Ammonas
reminds the recipients that since they belong to what is eternal, what is
from above, and is living, they are counted in the inheritance of God,
they have a heavenly inheritance, their own portion as a reward for all
their labour.28 They will inherit what cannot be seen.29 This inheritance
is what God has promised to their fathers, and they are entitled to it as
children of promise.30 With reference to Gen. 28:1015 relating
Jacobs vision of ascending and descending angels and the promises he
receives about inheriting the land, Ammonas reassures his addressees
that they as children share in the blessing and the promises made to
their fathers.31. The same concept of inheritance is also used in Antonys letters with a specific reference to the ascetics being joint heirs
with the saints.32
Another way of expressing this belonging to heaven are references
to having a specific place in heaven prepared, probably based on John
14:2. Ammonas writes about it as the place of rest, or the divine
rest and, moreover, makes clear that the ascetic can already in the
body see his place in heaven.33 This explicitly spatial interpretation of
belonging to heaven is also recurrent in the references to ascending to
_____________
26
27

28
29
30

31
32

33

Ep. Ant. II.26-30; IV.4-12.

In Antonys letters this connection is created by John 15:15 and the idea of Jesus
revealing to his disciples what the Father has taught him. In Ammonas letters the
status as adopted children of the kingdom is the basis for a new vision revealing
the greatness of the heavenly inheritance, echoing Eph. 3:14-16.
Ep. Amm I.1 and VII.1. The reference in the latter to having a portion of the Kingdom of Heaven: menth dmalkth dashmay has a background in Ef. 1:11ff.
Ep.Amm I.1, Ep.Ant VII.45.
Ep.Amm IV.1 (G III.1): ; bnay meulkn. Promise also plays
an important role in the letters of Antony, see for example the references to the law
of promise in Ep.Ant. II.78, discussed in Rubenson
(1995), p. 74 note 1.
Ep.Amm VII.1.
Ep. Ant III.3; IV.12-13, where Antony states that since the monks are joint heirs with
the saints no virtues are alien to them. Antony also states that souls and bodies will
be sanctified and inherit together (Ant I.22), to which I will return when discussing
the concept of body in the letters.
Ep.Amm. VI.1: Showing them their places while yet in the body; VII.2.

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Samuel Rubenson

heaven. The most important of these in the letters of Ammonas is the

quotation from the Ascension of Isaiah, with its description of the ascent
from heaven to heaven.
But when the soul ascends from Hades, as long as it follows the Spirit of
God, trials come over it all the time everywhere, but having overcome all
trials it becomes discerning and takes on another splendour. Thus when
Elijah was going to be taken up, coming to the first heaven he was amazed
by its light, but when he mounted into the second he was so amazed that
he said: I consider the light of the first heaven to be darkness, and likewise for each heaven of the heavens. Thus soul of the perfectly righteous
makes progress and advances until it ascends to the heaven of heavens.34

The attribution of the ascension to Elijah, not Isaiah, is perhaps to

be explained as a conflation of the traditions in the Apocalypse of Elijah
and the Ascension of Isaiah.35 What is striking is that the author of the
letters, after quoting the Ascension of Isaiah, states that there are ascetic
who experience this ascension in their life on earth. Another Biblical
figure linked to ascent and visions in the letters of Ammonas is Jacob,
with references to his vision of the ladder to heaven as well as his wrestling with an angel.36 In letter VII these two stories are combined in a
very creative way with an allusion to Pauls heavenly journey, but instead of quoting 2 Cor 12:25, Ammonas quotes Romans 8:38 and the
denial that any angels or powers, whether in the above or the below
can separate him from the love of God.37
_____________
34

35

36

37

Ep.Amm X.1 (G IV.6): ,

, ,

. ,
,
, , ,
.
, . Cf. The
Ascension of Isaiah VIII.21. The Syriac version does not name the prophet and avoids
all reference to heaven and heaven of heavens, speaking instead of steps or degrees
taks.
Elijah was a familiar representatives of Biblical eschatological and mystical tradition
in early Egyptian monasticism, see David Frankfurter, Elijah in Uppe Egypt. The Apocalypse of Elijah and Early Egyptian Christianity, Minneapolis: Fortress Press 1993. Antony refers to Elijah in his letter VI. 7576.
See for example letter XIII.8 where the author writes that he will make his adressees
enter Bethel where he will interpret the vision of Ezekiel. Jacob also has a very
prominent role in the letters of Antony personifying divine vision, since his name
Israel is interpreted as man seing God. see Rubenson (1995), p. 69, note 3.
Ep.Amm. VII.12. No Greek of this letter is preserved. The published Syriac text is
probably corrupt in several instances as is evident from the unpublished Georgian
version as well as the apparatus.

The Transformation of the Ascetic in Early Egyptian Monasticism

279

The strongly spatial imagery of the letters of Ammonas is linked to

notions about the the powers of the air trying to prevent the ascetic
from reaching the heavenly sphere. The main Biblical support for this is
the reference to heavenly powers in the letter to the Ephesians.38 But
unlike the visions in the Life of Antony where these powers try to prevent the soul of the deceased to pass, interrogating it about its sins, the
forces in the air are in the letters of Ammonas active in this life, and
also possible to pass before death.39 Whereas Athanasius writes about
the angels supporting the ascending soul against the forces of the air,
Ammonas writes about the need to acquire the divine power that
makes asceticism easy, grants freedom and joy and guides to the rest.
Here Ammonas seems to be closer to St. Paul, who sees the hostile
power active in other people.
The idea that the ascetic can experience a kind of Himmelsreise and
receive visions and revelations of great mysteries even before his death
has been used as the main argument for regarding the letters of Ammonas as belonging to a very different tradition than Origen and the
letters of Antony, linking them to the so called anthropomorphites
who appear as opponents to the Origenists at the end of the fourth
century.40 But although there is nothing in the Letters of Antony about
a heavenly ascent, the idea is not only prominent in the Life of Antony,41 but also to be found in Origen, who writes about an ascent
through the heavens and revelation of heavenly mysteries without,
however, referring to the Ascension of Isaiah, but rather to II Cor. 12:14
(the ascent of St Paul) and Hebr. 4:14 (Christ ascending through the
heavens).42
_____________
38

39

40
41
42

See Ep.Amm II.2 (G II.2) and Eph 2:2: .

Ammonas quotes the text, but goes on to write about the . See
also Eph. 3:8ff. and 6:10 echoed throughout the letters of Ammonas.
The quotation of Eph. 2:2 in letter II.2 is preceded by references to the possibility of
acquiring the divine power in order to be able to spend all time in freedom, so that
the work of God may be easy, and the power is then identified with the power
guiding men to God, and the power making the ascetic despise honour as well as
dishonour, the comforts of the body as well as empty wisdom.
Williams, p. 2529.
See Vita Antonii 6566. The passage here has numerous intersting parallels with the
letters of Ammonas, including references to Eph. 2:2, 6:13 as well as 2 Cor 12:24.
If, then, you believe that Paul was caught up to the third heaven and was caught up
into Paradise and heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter, you
will consequently realize that you will presently know more and greater things than
the unspeakable words then revealed to Paul, after which he came down from the
third heaven. But you will not come down if you take up the cross and follow Jesus,
whom we have as a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens. Origen,
An Exhortation to Martyrdom XIII (tr. by Rowan A Greer, Origen. An Exhortation to

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Samuel Rubenson

Signs of Belonging to Heaven

When Ammonas describes what this belonging to heaven entails, and
how it is experienced, he uses a variety of human experiences. Prominent among these are joy, freedom of care, sweetness, and easiness.43
These are central features of heavenly life and are not only attainable
for the ascetic in this life, but are the solid evidence for participation in
heavenly realities. They represent Paradise and its delight, but a paradise that can be regained in this life in the body. They are in Ammonas
letters not something future, but something anyone is able to acquire
and experience. They are moreover not only passing glimpses of something, sudden experiences, but are referred to as more constant facts.
Although the heavenly gifts may be lost as part of a kind of trial, they
will return to the true ascetic and be firmly established.44
What is significant is that it is precisely this bodily life with its ascetic practice and virtuous deeds that is made sweet and easy. In several passages Ammonas explicitly connects sweetness with ascetic labour. Labour is changed into joy and gladness.45 The divine sweetness
provides strength, it even makes renunciation and hatred for the world
sweet.
And when he has sown his seed in them, it makes them hate all the world,
be it gold, silver or ornaments, or father or mother or wife or children, and
so it makes all the work of God sweeter to them than honey and the honeycomb, be it toil or fasting or vigil or quiet or works of mercy.46

Joy and sweetness are, moreover, not only final results or rewards, but
are even connected explicitly with the beginning of ascetic life and purification.47 The power of grace that approves the soul, prepares it to
rejoice, and makes the soul fervent in God, is provided for day by
_____________
43

44

45

46
47

Martyrdom, Prayer and Selected Works, Classics of Western Spirituality, New York:
Paulist Press 1979, p. 50.
Ep. Amm II.23, III.14, IV,1, VI.1, VII.2, VIII.2, IX.1, 2, 4, 5, X.2, 3, XI.3, XII.1, XIII.5.
The same signs are also mentioned I the letters of Antony, see Ep.Ant. I.45, III.35, IV,
13, V.8, VI.16, 99, 115.
Ep. Amm IX.45 (G IV.5). This emphasis on a first reception of the signs of heaven, a
period of trial when they seem to be lost, and finally a state where they are firmly established and the ascetic unshakeable is the most prominent concern throughout the
letters.
Ep.Amm. IV.1 (G III.1: ,
, ,
), VII.2 (G -), XII.1 (G I.1:
).
Ep.Amm. X.2 (G ).
Ep. Amm. IX.4 (G IV.4).

The Transformation of the Ascetic in Early Egyptian Monasticism

281

day.48 The signs of belonging to heaven are given now, and can also be
lost now. In trials joy and sweetness will disappear, but return again if
the ascetic is steadfast and continues to seek God with all his heart. If
he does, a greater joy overtakes the ascetic and he no longer needs to
pray for himself.49
Related to these signs is the important concept of rest. Here again,
rest is not something that is promised in a life after death, as a reward
in the afterlife, but as something attainable in the body. In letter VII,
mentioned above, Ammonas writes that he prays for his disciples that
they attain to Gods place of rest. That this place of rest is heavenly, is
where Jesus went when leaving the world, is made clear by a reference
to John 17:24 where Jesus in the farewell speech prays that the disciples
may be where he is to see his glory. But for Ammonas this place of rest
is connected with being preserved (John 17:15) from evil and with being blessed like Jacob after his wrestling with an angel in Gen 32. Blurring the chronology of the Biblical story Ammonas does not distinguish
this blessing from the blessing Jacob received from his father, a blessing
that made it possible for him to see the divine ladder. To Ammonas
Jacob and his blessings are a model for the ascetic, who by imitating his
fathers is blessed and given the vision of the heavenly host and made
unshakeable and able to quote St. Paul writing that nothing can ever
separate him from the love of God (Rom 8:38).50
Another important sign, already noted, is a complete freedom of
fear.51 This freedom of fear is not only a freedom of fear in relation to
the powers of evil and the forces of the air, but is also described as having great boldness before God.52 The freedom of fear makes the ascetic
unshakeable and immovable, a theme that is also found in other monastic texts and has obvious parallels in some of the Nag Hammadi
writings.53

_____________
48
49
50
51
52
53

Ep. Amm. III.2 (G VI.2). The Syriac text has fattens the soul, probably a misreading
of in the Greek as related to the verb .
Ep. Amm. VIII.2 (G IV.9).
Ep. Amm. VII.1 (G ).
Ep. Amm. IV.1 (G III.1, quoted above) and VIII.2 (G IV.9:
, ).
Ep. Amm II.2 (G II.2: ).
See Rubenson (1995), p. 66 with references.

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Revelation and Knowledge

In addition and related to the more sensory pleasures like joy, sweetness, easiness and rest, Ammonas sees revelations and knowledge as
the most essential aspects of the heavenly life attainable by the ascetic
while still in the body. The revelations are in the letters of Ammonas
usually called mysteries, either divine or heavenly.54 It is thus the
divine and heavenly character of the revelation and the unexplorable
wealth of knowledge it contains that is important. Throughout we find
echoes of Pauline language, and especially of Eph. 3. But unlike Paul,
Ammonas does not claim that the mysteries are revealed through
Christ, although he at several places echoes Romans and once also
speaks about the mysteries as the the infinite riches of Christ.55 The
mysteries are secrets set in heaven, but the revelation of them fortifies and arms the soul and shows the ascetic already in the body his
place in heaven.56
Night and day I pray that the power of God may increase in you, and reveal to you the great mysteries of the Godhead57 which are not easy for me
to utter with the tongue, because they are great and not of this world, and
are not revealed save only to those who have purified their hearts from
every defilement and from all the vanities of this world, and those who
have taken up their crosses, and again fortified their souls and been obedient to God in everything. In them the Godhead dwells, arming58 the soul.
For just as trees do not grow unless the agency of water is available to
them, so also the soul cannot mount upwards unless it receives heavenly
joy. And if men do receive it, few are they to whom God reveals secrets set
in heaven, showing them their places while they are yet in the body, and
granting them all their requests.59

Except for the references to their places in heaven Ammonas does not
say much about the content of the revelations and the knowledge attained. Although the revelations are referred to as divine or heavenly,
and as mysteries, it is clear that they are also something that the author
is able to reveal to his disciples, something they can learn and make use
of. In addition to heavenly matters it is also a question of knowledge
_____________
54

55
56
57
58
59

Ep. Amm. III.4: rz dalhth (no Greek), IV.1 (G III.1: ), VI.1: rz

dalhth and rz debashmay mysteries in heaven (no Greek), XII.4: rz shemayn
heavenly mysteries (no Greek), XIII.3 (G VII.3:
).
Ep. Amm. VI.2 (no Greek).
Ep. Amm. VI.1 (no Greek).
S: rz rawreb dallhth.
S: zyn in pael = to arm, to equip. Nau translates adornans animam. Chitty erroneously has feeding the soul.
Ep.Amm. VI.1

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about the essence of ascetic practices and of trials and temptations.60 At

one point he speaks about receiving a vision and a discernment
granting the ability to discern between good and bad. This discernment
protects the ascetic from being deceived, and especially from being
snared by the pretext of the good,61 and once he refers to knowledge
as something that makes the ascetic able to be delivered from the error
of time.62 But more often Ammonas emphasizes that what is revealed
is something that cannot be put into writing, things that are not possible to relate or even to utter.63
The revelations are, moreover, not given to all, on the contrary only
to a few, only to those who are purified from vanity and defilement.
Among these the author obviously sees himself, and repeatedly he
refers to his own experiences and to the revelations given to him daily,
especially pointing out that they are different from day to day.64 In a
striking passage he even compares his own experiences of temptation
and trouble to Jesus and his descent from heaven:
Such was my temptation. For just as, when our Lord came down from
heaven, He found another atmosphere that was dark, and when he again
was about to go down into Sheol, he saw an atmosphere that was even
heavier than the first and said, Now is my soul troubled (John 12:27), so
after this same pattern have I also at this time been afflicted by temptation
in all kinds of ways, and troubled.65

Since the experiences are personal and not easily communicated in

writing, the personal encounter of the author with the disciples is depicted as a moment of deeper revelation. What Ammonas is unable to
write down, he will tell the disciples when he comes in person. He will,
_____________
60
61
62
63

64
65

Ep. Amm. XII.4 (G I.4: ); XIII.5 (no Greek).

Ep.Amm IV.1 (G III.1:
).
Ep. Amm I.3 (no Greek). The passage is strongly reminiscent of the emphasis on
knowing the time in the letters of Antony. See Rubenson (1995), p. 8188.
Ep.Amm. I.2: promises (no Greek), V: other things (no Greek), VI.1: rz dalhth
mysteries of the divinity (no Greek), VIII.1,2 (G IV.9: ,
. ,
). The fact that most of these passages, as well as those referred to below do not appear in the preserved Greek is an argument for regarding
the Greek as a purified version. The repeated reference to the difficulty of speaking
about this is common in early monastic letters and may echo 2 Cor 12:4.
Ep. Amm. XIII.4 (no Greek).
Ep.Amm. XIII.5. In the Greek version of this letter (G VII) all personal references are
missing, as well as the intricate comparison of the authors experience of darkness
with the references to the anguish of Jesus in John 12:27 and the imprisonment of
Jospeh in Gen. 39:20. The continuaton of the letter in Syriac (XIII.811), which originally seems to have been a separate letter is also missing in Greek.

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as he writes, take them to Betel, where Jacob saw the ladder, and he
will interpret for them the vision of Ezekiel.66

Power, Fervour and Spirit

As already mentioned a central aspect of how the ascetic is able to attain the experiences and the revelations is the presence of what is
termed a divine power. Again and again Ammonas returns to the necessity of receiving and cultivating this power. The divine power is
given, and is sometimes referred to as the power of grace, or just the
power.67 It is a guardian that encompasses the soul and protects it,
and Ammonas entreats his disciples to pray for and to acquire this
power.68 The power makes the ascetic despise honour and dishonour,
hate worldly needs and bodily rest, and it is the power that makes it
possible for the ascetic to spend all his time in freedom.69 It is, moreover, also the power that grants the revelations of the great mysteries of
God. This power is acquired by prayer, but it also presupposes quietness and renunciation. The power is something the ascetic cultivates so
that it grows.
Related to the concept of power is an emphasis in the letters on fervour, in making the heart fervent in God.70 he divine fervour is like
fire that changes the cold into its own power.71 There are, however, two
kinds of fervour. The first is the fervour of the beginning, a fervour that
is irrational and troubled. Only after having resisted temptations and
been proven in trials does the ascetic attain the second and greater fervour which is rational, peaceful and persevering. This second fervour
gives man the capacity to see spiritual things. 72 It is, moreover, important to realize that Satan imitates God and gives a kind of fervour too, a
fervour that is like joy, but is no real joy.73
_____________
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73

Ep. Amm. XIII.8 (no Greek).

The three expressions seem to be used indiscriminately. See for example Ep. Amm.
III.2 (G VI.2): and a few lines later .
Ep. Amm. II.13 (G II.13), III.3 (G VI.3).
Ep. Amm. II.2 (G II.2:
, ).
Ep. Amm. III.2 (G VI.2: ).
Ep. Amm. III.4 (G II.3: , ,
).
Ep. Amm. X.3 (no Greek).
Ep. Amm. XI.3 (G V.3: ,
, ).

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285

Connected to the concepts of divine power and fervour is the concept of the spirit. But as in the letters of Antony, Ammonas uses a variety of expressions,74 and it is often unclear if they refer to the same
spirit or not. In most letters it seems as if there is no real difference. The
disciples are asked to pray for the spirit, and the spirit, often designated
the Holy Spirit, is said to grant joy, sweetness and revelations to those
who are upright. In two letters there is an emphasis on the spirit withdrawing after a first period of joy, as a trial, and a return with even
greater joy is promised to those who overcome their trials.75 But in letter XIII a sharp distinction is introduced between on the one hand the
spirit of truth, also named the Holy Spirit, given to the apostles, and
probably also referred to as the spirit of gentleness in the greeting, and
on the other the spirit of repentance, given to those who are not yet
clean.76 This second spirit has the task to prepare the souls and then
offer them to the Holy Spirit. Ammonas subsequently writes about the
spirit of God, handing over man to Satan to be tried, as the spirit did
with Jesus after his baptism, 77 presumably referring to the Holy Spirit,
who is also in letter IX and X said to withdraw to have man tried.

Body and Fruit

The most difficult concept related to the heavenly home of the ascetic in
the letters of Ammonas is the concept of fruit. While all versions use
the metaphor of good works as fruits of the ascetic labour, the Greek,
Georgian, Armenian and Arabic versions develop the metaphor and
use fruit as a more independent theological concept. In almost all these
instances the two oldest extant Syriac manuscripts have body instead
of fruit, while the other Syriac manuscripts vacillate between body
and fruit. Previous translations, as well as Williams analysis, have
followed the two old Syriac manuscripts, regarding fruit as a revision, but there are good arguments against this. In addition to the fact
_____________
74

75
76

77

Ep. Amm. VIII.2 (G IV.9): Holy Spirit and spirit of joy; IX.4 (G IV.4): Holy Spirit; X.12: Spirit; XIII.15 (G VII.13): spirit of gentleness (
) spirit of repentance ( ), Holy Spirit, spirit
of truth, Spirit of God.
Ep. Amm. IX.4 (G IV.4), X.2 (no Greek).
Ep. Amm. XIII.2 (G VII.2). In the letters of Antony the distinction between two spirits
is upheld by reference to two baptisms, the baptism of John and the baptism of Jesus. See Ep. Ant. VII.58ls and Rubenson (1995), p. 7981.
Ep. Amm. XIII.56 (G VII.56). This is the only passage that refers to baptism in the
letters of Ammonas, and it is not at all clear that he considers the granting of the Holy Spirit as the essence of baptism.

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that all other versions (Greek, Georgian, Armenian, Arabic and Ethiopic) have fruit, it also makes more sense in the context. The two old
Syriac mss. are, moreover, not consistent in their application of body
for fruit, using fruit in parallel passages (Ep. Amm. III). The use of
two other related terms, adsh species, form and elalth harvest in
letter I and XIII, unfortunately not preserved in Greek, but having
fruit in Arabic and Georgian, also makes it less likely that body is
the original word.
It is not entirely clear in what sense fruit is used in the letters. In
the NT as well as in early Christian literature in general, karpos metaphorically refers primarily either to the results of or the rewards for
ascetic labour, but it can also refer to the labour itself, as the visible
signs of inner dispositions.78 In Antonys letters fruit is used only
twice and in both cases synonymously with desire, as the fruit of the
flesh.79 Evagrius rather speaks about fruit positively and as reward, as
for example the fruits of eternal life or freedom as a fruit of love or
the pleasant fruits of knowledge.80 In Ammonas letters fruit seems to
refer to the result of the ascetic labour or the reward for it, or perhaps
the condition or status achieved. Although clearly produced by the
ascetic, his fruit is from above and all living if not destroyed and scattered by Satan. The fruit of the true ascetic is acceptable to God, reckoned by God, and thus it abides with him. 81 It belongs to the unseen
and is unchangeable.82
The perhaps most revealing passage is in letter XIII, unfortunately
not preserved in Greek, where Ammonas connects the ascetic with
Christ.
Greet all those who have shared in the toil and the sweat of their fathers in
temptation. As John says somewhere, By the sweat of the soul God is glorified, by the seed of the sweat of its labour, the soul shares with the Lord.
They are sharing in his fruits, for it is written, If we suffer with him, we
shall also live with him (Rom 8:17), and the rest that follows. The Lord also
said to his disciples, you who have endured with me my trials, I establish
for you the covenant of the kingdom, as my father has promised me, that
you should sit at my table (Luke 22:29).83

_____________
78

79
80
81
82
83

In the LXX karpos is usually used for the result or reward of ascetic labour, it rarely
denotes the work or status of the ascetic himself. A possible exception is LXX Prov.
19:22 .
Ep. Ant. I.24, 29.
Evagrius, Foundations 1; Vices 3; Praktikos 32.
Ep. Amm. I.1 (no Greek), III.3 (VI.3).
Ep. Amm. I.2 (no Greek).
Ep.Amm XIII.10 (no Greek).

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287

The Syriac word used here, elalth means fruit in the sense of harvest, and it is evident that it is related to the metaphorical use of seed
in the previous sentence. What is sown by suffering with Christ is harvested through living with him. It is by being a partaker in Christs
fruit that the ascetic gains a place at the table of the father. Here the
fruit of the Lord is clearly his resurrection. The use of the metaphor of
seed and fruit not only links Ammonas to 1 Cor 15, but also in an intriguing manner to the discussion about the resurrection in the Treatise
on the Resurrection in Nag Hammadi Codex I, and its understanding of
the resurrection as giving birth, producing fruit.84
A different approach to the use of the metaphor of fruit in the letters of Ammonas can be gained by observing the connection made between the passion of Christ and the sharing in his fruits. Although
there is no explicit reference to anything cultic in the letters of Ammonas,85 the use of fruit, karpos, in connection with offering or
sacrifice is well attested in early Christian literature. Although a ritual use of is not attested in the New Testament it is found in
the LXX as well as in 2 Clement, and was later used in early ascetic
terminology to designate the specific gifts given to holy men.86 This
would also make it likely that the use of body instead of fruit in the
old Syriac version can be explained by an influence of Rom 12:1, where
we find an exhortation to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, or 2 Cor
6:16, a verse quoted in letter X.4, where the body is described as a temple.

Conclusions
In contrast to the lively debate about the resurrection of the body and
its meaning found both in some of the Nag Hammadi treatises and in
relation to the legacy of Origen in monastic sources of the late fourth
and fifth century, the letters of Antony and Ammonas do not contain
any references to a resurrection of the body. The letters of Ammonas do
not refer to resurrection at all, and in the letters of Antony the refer_____________
84
85

86

See Lundhaug in the present volume.

A possible exception is letter XIII.8, not preserved in Greek, where Ammonas after
relating his own mystical expriences promises to take his disciples into Bethel to perform their vows and offer up their offerings and have the vision of Ezekiel interpreted.
See in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (ed. Kittel), Eerdmans
1965, p. 614616, and Lampe, A Patristic Greek Lexicon, p. 704.

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Samuel Rubenson

ences are, except for two echoes of Biblical phrases,87 to the resurrection
of the mind or heart. The resurrection is linked to the coming of Jesus, his gathering of us from all corners of the world, his remissions of sins and his recreation of original unity.88 It is, moreover, clear
that this coming of Jesus, as well as the resurrection of the heart or
mind does not simply refer to a future event, but to a present decisive
moment, to a coming of Jesus that is a reality now.89 The resurrection is
linked to a transformation in the time in which we are that includes
liberation, bodily transformation and restoration of original unity.
In both Antonys and Ammonas letters this participation in the restoration is expressed in terms of inheriting the kingdom with Christ by
virtue of being adopted. Although not totally absent from Antonys
letters there is, however, in the letters of Ammonas a much stronger
sense of this participation taking place in the body and being expressed
as sensory experiences. Through the divine power and fervour given
the ascetic experiences the joy, sweetness and ultimate rest of heaven
and also shares in the mysteries that are to be revealed. The transformation of the ascetic takes place in and transforms the body. Although a
future and final spatial translation to heaven, and complete transformation is implied, everything it signifies is already present. The ascetic is
as already translated to the kingdom. As a result physical death
seems to be of little significance, almost irrelevant. What is to happen
after death has actually already happened. Death is totally conquered
by the trues ascetic.90 Against this background the lack of an emphasis
on resurrection is only to be expected.
In the letters of Ammonas the ability to trascend mortal and earthly
life is made visible in the descriptions of visions and revelations of
heavenly mysteries. These both express and confirm the participation
of the ascetic in eternal life. In the references to the ladder to heaven
revealed to Jacob, as well as the ascension attributed to Elijah (in the
Greek version), but actually quoting the Ascension of Isaiah, the ability to
transcend is given a spatial expression, but there is nothing that reminds us of notions of a visit to a heaven from which one returns in
order to share insights, nor of an invasion of the heavenly realm, or an
idea of an anticipation of a future and final victory. The emphasis is
clearly on the Biblical figures as examples of what is a fact in the life of
the ascetic, the state reached at which heaven is open and the true light
is visible, the light that makes lesser lights into darkness. The visions
_____________
87
88
89
90

Ep.Ant I.71, cf. Luke 14:14; Ep.Ant. VII.34, cf. Luke 2:34..
See Ep.Ant. II. 2223, III.2425, V.2728, VI.91, VII.30.
For an analysis see Rubenson (1995), pp. 8285.
See the conclusions of Karen King in her article in this volume.

The Transformation of the Ascetic in Early Egyptian Monasticism

289

and the ascent transcend both the spatial and the chronological divide
between the divine and the human sphere. In this sense one could say
that the heavenly ascent and the participatory visions replace the idea
of resurrection.91
This emphasis on visions, ascent and participation in the letters of
Ammonas, as well as the insignificance attached to death and the lack
of any teaching on the resurrection, is not at all incompatible with the
very different rhetoric of the letters of Antony. As mentioned above
Antony never refers to the resurrection of the body or the dead, but
repeatedly to the resurrection of the mind. The resurrection is clearly a
cognitive and pneumatic act. It transforms the person and makes in a
sense the decay of the physical body and death irrelevant. It is a resurrection from darkness and diversity back to light and unity, a resurrection at hand for anyone who is willing to gain knowledge. This does
not mean that the body as such is irrelevant, but it is only an outer condition, a temporary scene. The body makes the inner man visible. It is
in the body that it becomes evident if man bears the fruits of the flesh
or the fruits of the Spirit, and it is on account of the fruits that man is
either reckoned by God or not.
Returning finally to the hypothesis about a tension in early Egyptian monasticism between a pristine mystical trajectory with roots in
Jewish apocalypticism and an Alexandrian philosophical tradition related to the world and legacy of Origen, I do not think that an analysis
of the letters of Ammonas in relation to the letters of Antony supports
the hypothesis. It is not only that the two collections share many basic
ideas, but rather that the dichotomies between mysticism and philosophy, as well as between a language of sensory experience and an emphasis on knowledge, do not make much sense in relation to the intellectual world of early Egyptian monasticism. What we find in the
letters is basically a very creative use of Biblical material, especially
metaphors and ideas used by Paul, adapted to context in which transformation made more sense than resurrection.

_____________
91

See Adela Yarbro Collins in the present volume.

The Angelic Life

The Angelic Life
JOHN J. COLLINS1
berschrift 2: fr Kapitel ohne 2 wird hier 1 Kurzform wiederholt
The idea that human beings can be transported to the world of the gods
is an ancient one, in the Near East as well as in Greece. One can think,
for example, of Utnapishtim in Mesopotamia, or of Enoch and Elijah in
the biblical tradition. In ancient Israel, however, such exaltation was
exceptional. It is only at the end of the biblical period that the idea takes
hold that righteous human beings, or at least righteous Israelites,
would join the heavenly host after death. In Jewish tradition, this belief
is first attested in the apocalyptic books of Daniel and Enoch, in the
early second century BCE.2

Angelic Afterlife
Most explicit is the Epistle of Enoch:
Be hopeful! For you were formerly put to shame through evils and afflictions, but now you will shine like the lights of heaven and will be seen, and
the gate of heaven will be opened to you for you will have great joy like
the angels of heaven for you will be companions of the host of heaven
(1 Enoch 104:2-6).

Essentially the same hope is attested in Daniel 12:

Many of those who sleep in the land of dust will awake, some to everlasting life and some to reproach and everlasting disgrace. The wise will shine
like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the common people
to righteousness will be like the stars forever and ever.

It should be noted that these formulations cannot be categorized in

terms of the familiar binary contrast of resurrection of the body and

_____________
1
2

John J. Collins is professor at Yale University Divinity School, USA.

See my essay, The Afterlife in Apocalyptic Literature, in Alan J. Avery-Peck and
Jacob Neusner, Judaism in Late Antiquity. Part Four. Death, Life-After-Death, Resurrection and the World-to-Come in the Judaisms of Late Antiquity (Handbuch der Orientalistik 1/49; Leiden: Brill, 2000) 119-39.

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John J. Collins

immortality of the soul.3 It is probably true that most conceptions of

afterlife assume some kind of body. As Dale Martin has argued, most
philosophers speak of the soul as if it were composed of some substance that we would consider stuff, even if they would not say that it
is composed of hyle.4 But it is not apparent that either Daniel or Enoch
implies a resurrected body of flesh and blood, or bones in the manner
of Ezekiel. The land of dust (rp( tmd)) from which the dead are
raised in Daniel is probably Sheol rather than the grave. (Compare Job
17:16 where Sheol and the dust are used in parallelism). The resurrection seems to involve elevation from the Netherworld to the heavenly
realm. The immortal body is often conceived as fiery or airy, and akin
to the stars in Greek thought.5 In Enoch and Daniel, too, the imagery is
astral. The righteous dead will shine like the stars or like the host of
heaven. In Hebrew tradition, the stars were the host of heaven, or what
would be called the angelic host in Hellenistic times. In the book of
Jubilees, similarly, it is said of the righteous that their bones shall rest
in the earth and their spirits will have much joy (Jub 23:31). Here
again we have a form of resurrected life that is neither resurrection of
the physical body nor immortality of the soul in the Platonic sense. This
literature is not philosophical, and we do not find the kind of discussion of the nature of the resurrected body that we find e.g. in Paul. But
the idea of an incorruptible body that is not flesh and blood is by no
means unusual in the Hellenistic world, and is in fact more typically
Hellenistic than the Platonic idea of immortality.6 The idea of a bodily
resurrection in physical terms is attested in Judaism early on, for example in 2 Maccabees 7, but it is by no means normative or standard.
The early apocalypses do not provide much description of the
transformed state. Both Daniel and Enoch refer to the elevated righteous as luminous or shining. Later apocalypses sometimes describe the
transformation in terms of donning glory as a garment. In the later
apocalypse of 2 Enoch, when Enoch ascends to heaven the Lord instructs the archangel Michael to take Enoch, and extract (him) from
_____________
3

4
5
6

E.g. the famous essay of Oscar Cullmann, The Immortality of Man, in K. Stendahl,
ed., Immortality and Resurrection (New York: Macmillan, 1965) 9-47. Cf. the comments
of G. W. E. Nickelsburg, Resurrection, Immortality and Eternal Life (HTS 26, Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 1972) 177-80. .
Dale B. Martin, The Corinthian Body (New Haven: Yale, 1995) 104-36, especially 115.
Ibid., 118, on heavenly bodies, which were usually thought to be fiery.
See further Martin, The Corinthian Body, 1-37, and Troels Engberg-Pedersen, Complete and Incomplete Transformation in Paul a Philosophical Reading of Paul on
Body and Spirit, in this volume. See also the reflections on the nature of the resurrected body in early Christian and Gnostic texts in the essays of Jorunn kland, Outi
Lehtipou and Hugo Lundhaug, all in this volume.

The Angelic Life

293

the earthly clothing. And anoint him with the delightful oil, and put
(him) into the clothes of glory (2 Enoch 22:8). The oil, we are told, is
greater than the greatest light. When Enoch is clad in his new garments, he tells us: I gazed at all of myself, and I had become like one
of the glorious ones, and there was no observable difference. In the
words of Martha Himmelfarb, donning such a garment can imply
equality with the angels (or better!)7 In Apoc Abraham 13:14, Azazel is
told that he cannot tempt Abraham, for the garment which in heaven
was formerly yours has been set aside for him, and the corruption
which was on him has gone over to you. These admittedly later parallels describe the transformed, angelic state as donning a garment of
glory. Compare also the desire of Paul to put off the earthly tent of
the body, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further
clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life (2 Cor
5:4).8

Angelic Afterlife in the Scrolls

The people who wrote the sectarian scrolls found at Qumran were certainly familiar with the books of Daniel and Enoch. Both are found
there in multiple copies. They also assume that the righteous can expect
a beatific afterlife, not just the dreary afterlife in Sheol as traditionally
imagined. The destiny of the righteous is described as follows in the
Instruction on the Two Spirits:
healing and great peace in length of days, fruitfulness of seed with all
everlasting blessings, everlasting joys in eternal life, and a crown of glory
with majestic raiment in everlasting light (1QS 4:6-8).

The fruitfulness of seed ((rz twrp) has been controversial, since it

would seem to imply continued earthly existence.9 Some of the other
features, however, suggest a transcendent life that surpasses earthly
experience.
_____________
7

Martha Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses (New York:
Oxford, 1993) 40 suggests that the process by which Enoch becomes an angel is a
heavenly version of priestly investiture.
Cf. also the promise of white robes in Rev 3:5. See further Emile Puech, La Croyance
des Essniens en la Vie Future: Immortalit, Resurrection, Vie ternelle? (Paris: Lecoffre,
1993), 436.
A. R. C. Leaney, The Rule of Qumran and its Meaning (Philadelphia: Westminster,
1966), 152. J. Duhaime, La Doctrine des Essniens de Qumrn sur laprs-mort, in
Guy Couturier et al., ed., Essais sur la Mort (Montreal: Fides, 1985) 107, questions
whether the passage refers to the afterlife at all.

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John J. Collins

Everlasting joys in eternal life (xcn yyxb Myml( txm#) echoes

Dan 12:2, where the phrase is Ml( yyx.10
A crown of glory (usually tr+( rather than lylk) is a symbol of
honor in the Hebrew Bible. In Psalm 8:5, humanity is crowned with
glory and honor, as an indication of being only a little lower than
Myhl). In 1QHa 27:25 the scoffing of an enemy is transformed into a
crown (lylk) of glory. It can also have an eschatological connotation.
According to Wis 5:15-16, the righteous live forever, and their reward
is with the Lord Therefore they will receive a glorious crown and a
beautiful diadem from the hand of the Lord. In Rev 2: 10, a crown of
life is a reward for fidelity unto death.11
Majestic raiment (rdh tdm) may be illustrated from the transformation of the righteous on the day of judgment in 1 Enoch 62:15-16:
And the righteous and the chosen will have arisen from the earth, and
have ceased to cast down their faces, and put on the garment of glory. And
this will be your garment, the garment of life from the Lord of Spirits; and
your garments will not wear out, and your glory will not fade in the presence of the Lord of Spirits.

We have already noted the tendency to conceive the immortal state in

terms of a garment of glory in later apocalypses.12
Eternal light is associated especially with the divine presence.
Compare for example 1QHa 12:22-23: you reveal yourself in me as
perfect light. Likewise, 1QS 11:3: from the source of his knowledge he
has disclosed his light.
Wernberg-Meller has astutely remarked that this whole passage in
the Instruction on the Two Spirits is indebted to Psalm 21, where the
blessings are those enjoyed by the king:
For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold on his
head. He asked you for life; you gave it to him length of days forever and
ever. His glory is great through your help; splendor and majesty you bestow on him. You bestow on him blessings forever; you make him glad with
the joy of your presence.13

_____________
10
11
12

13

Puech, La Croyance des Essniens, 435. Cf. also 1QHa 5:23, everlasting peace and
length of days,
Cf. Rev. 3:11. Similarly in 1 Peter 5:4 it is a reward given when the chief shepherd
appears in judgment.
Note also the splendor of the risen righteous in 2 Baruch 51:3: their faces will shine
even more brightly and their features will assume a luminous beauty, so that they
may be able to attain and enter the world which does not die. See the discussion by
Liv Ingeborg Lied, Recognizing the righteous remnant? Resurrection, recognition,
and eschatological reversals in 2 Baruch 49-51, in this volume.
P. Wernberg-Meller, The Manual of Discipline. Translated and Annotated with an Introduction (STDJ 1; Leiden: Brill, 1957) 80.

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It is disputed whether this psalm promises eternal life to the king.14 If

so, the king was considered an exception to the common human lot, but
that is quite conceivable. Some of the blessings, the crown, splendor
and majesty were commonly associated with royalty. They are democratized in the Qumran text, but they also take on otherworldly associations in the apocalyptic worldview of the Scrolls.
The final reward of the righteous is also expressed as the glory of
Adam, in 1QS 4:22-3. The same motif is found in 1QHa 4:14-15 and in
CD 3:20, which also says that the elect will live for a thousand generations.15 4QpPsa (4Q171) 3:1-2 says that those who return from the wilderness will live for a thousand generations and that they and their
descendants forever will possess all the inheritance of Adam. Crispin
Fletcher-Louis has pointed out that Adam was associated with the divine glory qua image of God.16 A fragmentary passage in the Words of
the Heavenly Luminaries, 4QDib Ham, 4Q504 8 4-6 is plausibly reconstructed to read: Adam,] our [fat]her, you fashioned in the image of
[your] glory [the breath of life] you [b]lew into his nostril, and intelligence and knowledge [in the gard]en of Eden, which you had
planted.17 Genesis Rabbah 20:12 reports that Rabbi Meir read Gen 3:21
to say that God dressed Adam and Eve in garments of light rather
than garments of skin. But the glory was lost when Adam was expelled
from the garden. The glory of Adam, then, may coincide with the majestic raiment of light promised in 1QS 4.

_____________
14

15
16
17

The argument for the immortality of the king has been made by John Healey, The
Immortality of the King: Ugarit and the Psalms, Orientalia 53(1984) 245-54. It is disputed by John Day, The Canaanite Inheritance of the Israelite Monarchy, in J.
Day, ed., King and Messiah in Israel and the Ancient Near East (JSOTSup 270; Sheffield:
Sheffield Academic Press, 1998) 85-6.
The promise that those who walk in perfect holiness will live a thousand generations
is also found in CD 7:5-6.
C. Fletcher-Louis, All the Glory of Adam. Liturgical Anthropology in the Dead Sea Scrolls
(STDJ 42; Leiden: Brill, 2002) 91-95.
Trans. F. Garca Martnez and E. J. Tigchelaar, The Dead Sea Scrolls Study Edition
(Leiden: Brill, 1998) 1009. According to the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch (3 Bar 4:16),
Adam was stripped of the glory of God after the Fall. According to Deuteronomy
Rabbah 11:3, Adam claimed to be greater than Moses because he was created as the
image of God. Moses replied I am far superior to you, for your glorious light was
taken away, but as for me, the radiant countenance that God gave me still abides.
See further G. A. Anderson, Garments of Skin, in idem, The Genesis of Perfection.
Adam and Eve in Jewish and Christian Imagination (Louisville: Westminster John Knox,
2001) 117-34.

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Fellowship with the angels in this life

The investment with majestic raiment of light, and the glory of Adam,
is an eschatological blessing in 1QS 4. Many texts in the Dead Sea
Scrolls, however, appear to speak of fellowship with the angels as a
present experience for members of the sect. So in 1QS 11:7-8 we read:
To those whom God has selected he has given them as an everlasting possession; and he has given them an inheritance in the lot of the holy ones.
He unites their assembly to the sons of the heavens in order (to form) the
council of the community and a foundation of the building of holiness to be
an everlasting plantation throughout all future ages.

Again, in 1QHa 11:19-21, the psalmist thanks the Lord

because you saved my life from the pit, and from the Sheol of Abaddon
have lifted me up an everlasting height, so that I can walk on a boundless
plain. And I know that there is hope for someone you fashioned out of dust
for an everlasting community. The depraved spirit you have purified from
great offence so that he can take a place with the host of the holy ones, and
can enter in communion with the congregation of the sons of heaven.

In these and other such passages the fellowship with the angels promised to the righteous after death in the Epistle of Enoch and Daniel is
claimed for the members of the sectarian community. The question is
whether, or to what extent, they can be said to live an angelic life in the
present. The constant use of the perfect tense in these hymns suggests
that the deliverance has already taken place.18 Emile Puech, however,
has argued that the verbs should be read as prophetic perfects which
bespeak a state that is assured but essentially in the future.19
It is certainly true that hymns in the Scrolls do not envision a world
fully redeemed. But it is also apparent that they claim some measure of
transformation as a present reality. The hymn at the end of the Community Rule says that God has given the elect an inheritance in the lot
of the holy ones (1QS 11:7-8). The inheritance, in principle, could still
be in the future. But the passage goes on to say that He unites their
assembly to the sons of the heavens into a council of the community
_____________
18

19

See H.- W. Kuhn, Enderwartung und gegenwrtiges Heil (Gttingen: Vandenhoeck &
Ruprecht, 1966); G. W. E. Nickelsburg, Resurrection, Immortality and Eternal Life in Intertestamental Judaism (HTS 26; Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 1972) 146-56; J. J. Collins
Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls (London: Routledge, 1997) 117-23; D. Dimant,
Men as Angels: The Self-Image of the Qumran Community, in A. Berlin, ed., Religion and Politics in the Ancient Near East (Bethesda, MD: University of Maryland,
1996) 93-103.
Puech, La Croyance des Essniens, 335-419. Note that Kuhn, Enderwartung, 176, also
insists that die futurische Eschatologie nicht aufgehoben ist even if it is ganz in
dern Hintergrund.

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297

and a foundation of the building of holiness to be an everlasting plantation throughout all future ages. (11:8). The phrase council of the
community is the technical name for the sectarian community in the
Community Rule. The word for community is dxy, which means union.20 (Used adverbially, it means together). This passage suggests
that togetherness with the angels is constitutive of the community on
earth.

The dxy
The kind of community designated as dxy was a new phenomenon in
the history of Judaism, when it came into being in the second or early
first century BCE. On a few occasions in the Second Temple period
there were attempts to implement a return to the law of Moses in a
way that involved a new commitment and the formation of a new
community. In Nehemiah 10:29 certain people enter into a curse and
an oath to walk in Gods law, which was given by Moses the servant of
God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our
God and his ordinances and his statutes.21 The movement described in
the Damascus Document, of which fragments were found at Qumran,
was analogous to this. The individual must impose upon himself to
return to the law of Moses with all his heart and soul (15:12). The Damascus Document is primarily concerned with a family based movement, whose members live in camps according to the order of the land
and marry and have children, and who contribute two days salary a
month to the common fund (CD 14:13). The reason for the formation of
that movement was the sense that the law was not being properly observed by other Jews of the time. Problems included defilement of the
temple, which was identified as one of the three nets of Belial in CD
4:18.
The dxy would seem to have developed out of the movement of described in the Damascus Document. Like the latter, it involves a new
covenant, with provision for admission and expulsion. But it makes
_____________
20

21

Fletcher-Louis, All the Glory of Adam, 90, suggests that the designation dxy may refer
to communion with the angels. Alternatively, it may be borrowed from Deut 33:5,
which refers to the union of the tribes of Israel.
The analogy with the Dead Sea Scrolls was already noted by Morton Smith, The
Dead Sea Sect in Relation to Judaism, NTS 7(1961) 347-60. See also Alexei Sivertsev,
Sects and Households: Social Structure of the Proto-Sectarian Movement of Nehemiah 10 and the Dead Sea Sect, CBQ 67(2005) 59-78; idem, Households, Sects, and the
Origins of Rabbinic Judaism (JSJSup 102; Leiden: Brill, 2005) 94-118.

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John J. Collins

greater demands on its members. All property is in common, and there

is no mention of women or children. This association has much in
common with the Essenes described by Philo, Josephus and Pliny, and
most scholars believe that it should be identified as Essene. The silence
on women and children in the Rule of the Yahad is compatible with
reports that the Essenes, or at least one branch of them, were celibate,
although celibacy is never required explicitly.
The raison detre of the more demanding community of the dxy is
spelled out most fully in column 8 of the Community Rule:
the council of the community shall be founded in truth to be an everlasting plantation, a holy house for Israel and the foundation of the holy of holies for Aaron to atone for the land and to render to the wicked their retribution (1QS 8:5-6, cf. 9:3-6).

Then,
when these have become a community in Israel in compliance with these
arrangements, they are to be segregated from within the dwelling of the
men of sin to go to the desert in order to prepare there the path of Him, as
it is written, In the desert prepare the way of ***

It is apparent that the raison detre of the community is to substitute for

the temple cult, which was rejected as defiled.22 The members of the
yahad would atone for sin without the flesh of burnt offerings and
without the fats of sacrifice the offering of the lips in compliance with
the decree will be like the pleasant aroma of justice and the perfectness
of behavior will be acceptable as a freewill offering (1QS 9: 3-5). In the
phrase found in the Florilegium, 4Q174 1.6, they would constitute a
Md) #dqm, a sanctuary consisting of men.23 The passage in 1QH 11
adds to this profile the idea that fellowship with the angels would be a
constitutive factor in establishing this purified worship.24
_____________
22

23

24

See e.g. Georg Klinzing, Die Umdeutung des Kultus in der Qumrangemeinde und im
Neuen Testament (SUNT 7; Gttingen:Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1971) 50-106; L. H.
Schiffman, The Qumran Communitys Withdrawal from the Jerusalem Temple,
Pp. 267-84 in Beate Ego, Armin Lange und Peter Pilhofer in Zusammenarbeit mit
Kathrin Ehlers; ed., Gemeinde ohne Tempel = Community without temple : zur Substituierung und Transformation des Jerusalemer Tempels und seines Kults im Alten Testament,
antiken Judentum und frhen Christentum (Tbingen : Mohr Siebeck, 1999).
The phrase may have more than one level of reference. See George Brooke, Miqdash Adam, Eden, and the Qumran Community, in Ego et al., Gemeinde ohne Tempel, 285-301.
The liturgical context of fellowship with the angels is explored at length by Bjorn
Frennesson, In a Common Rejoicing. Liturgical Communion with Angels in Qumran
(Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia Semitica Upsaliensia 14; Uppsala: Uppsala
University, 1999). Cf. Michael Mach, Entwicklungsstadien des jdischen Engelglaubens
in vorrabbinischer Zeit (TSAJ 34; Tbingen: Mohr (Siebeck), 1992) 216-40.

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299

The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice

The main evidence that the fellowship with the angels is focused on the
heavenly temple is found in the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice.25 These
are compositions for each of thirteen Sabbaths, which call on the angels
to give praise and provide descriptive statements about the angels and
their praise-giving. They do not give the words of the angels or cite any
angelic hymns of praise. We are told that God has established for himself priests of the inner sanctum, the holiest of the holy ones (4Q400
fragment 1). They are also called ministers of the presence in his glorious debir. The angelic priests are depicted as divided into seven
priesthoods, seven councils, and as occupying seven precincts
(Mylwbg) in the heavenly temple. The ninth to thirteenth songs appear
to contain a systematic description of the heavenly temple that is based
in part on Ezekiel 40-48.
The heavenly temple is evidently imagined by analogy with the
earthly temple, except that no attention is paid to any outer courts. The
holy place is an ulam, while the holy of holies is the debir, which contains the merkavah throne. Everything is sevenfold, so there are apparently seven temples.26 It is not clear how they relate to each other. The
text gives no indication of their spatial relationship, and there is no
reason to correlate them with 7 heavens. The motif of 7 heavens only
becomes common after the turn of the era.27
The Songs are recited by the Maskil, in the presence of the community members, who are referred to as we in the second song, and
whose priesthood is compared to that of the angels. In the words of
Philip Alexander, we have here a public liturgy, in which a prayerleader leads a congregation, who may join him in reciting in whole or
in part the words of the hymns. That congregation exhorts the angels in
heaven to perform their priestly duties in the celestial temple, and
somehow through this liturgical act it feels drawn into union with the
_____________
25

26
27

C. A. Newsom, Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice: A Critical Edition (HSS 27; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985). 4QShirot Olat HaShabbata, in E. Eshel et al., Qumran Cave 4. VI.
Poetical and Liturgical Texts, Part 1 (DJD 11; Oxford: Clarendon, 1998) 173-401; P. Alexander, The Mystical Texts. Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice and Related Manuscripts (Library of Second Temple Studies 61; London and New York: T. & T. Clark, 2006) 1361.
R. Elior, The Three Temples. On the Emergence of Jewish Mysticism (Oxford/ Portland,
Oregon: Littmann, 2004) 34-44.
Adela Yarbro Collins, The Seven Heavens in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, in
eadem, Cosmology and Eschatology in Jewish and Christian Apocalypticism (JSJSup 50;
Leiden: Brill, 1996) 21-54.

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John J. Collins

angels in worshipping God.28 This does not require that the community members have ascended to heaven in a spatial sense. As Alexander
has argued, sophisticated Jews in the Second Temple period were
perfectly capable of conceiving of heaven as another dimension or a
parallel universe, and not literally as up there.29
The Songs suggest that the main activity of angels is giving praise
to God. Beyond that, they offer a few characterizations of the angelic
life:30
Angels are spirits, which is to say that they are not flesh, which
is corruptible and mortal, and also subject to impurity.31
There is an angelic priesthood, including ministers of the Face,
which represents the higher forms of angelic life.32 The offerings in the
heavenly temple are bloodless, and can be described as a spiritual
portion or an offering of the tongue.33
The priestly angels are repeatedly referred to as Elim of knowledge, just as God is the God of knowledge and heaven is a place of
knowledge. These angels can pass on to human beings the knowledge
they have received. The precise nature of this knowledge is never clarified in the Songs, but we shall encounter it again in other sectarian
texts.
The ideas about heavenly worship in the Songs of Sabbath Sacrifice
were not peculiarly sectarian. But they are representative of the assumptions that inform the life of the dxy. As Philip Alexander has
noted, many of the key ideas of the Sabbath Songs are alluded to in
works with impeccable sectarian credentials, such as the Hodayot, the
Community Rule, the Rule of the Congregation (1QSa), the Rule of Be_____________
28

29
30
31

32

33

Alexander, The Mystical Texts, 44. Alexander is following the interpretation proposed
by Carol Newsom. Fletcher-Louis has argued that the exhortations are addressed not
to angels but to angelomorphic humans (All the Glory of Adam, 252-394). See the
critique by Alexander, The Mystical Texts, 45-7.
Alexander, The Mystical Texts, 54.
Maxwell J. Davidson, Angels at Qumran (JSPSupp 11; Sheffield; Sheffield Academic
Press, 1992) 290-1.
On the notion of flesh in the texts from Qumran see Jorg Frey, Flesh and Spirit in
the Palesinian Jewish Sapiential Tradition and in the Qumran Texts: An Inquiry into
the Development of Pauline Usage, in C. Hempel, A. Lange and H. Lichtenberger,
ed., The Wisdom Texts from Qumran and the Development of Sapiential Thought (BETL
159; Leuven: Peeters, 2002) 367-404; idem, The Notion of Flesh in 4QInstruction
and the Background of Pauline Thought, in D. Falk et al., ed., Sapiential, Liturgical
and Poetical Texts from Qumran (STDJ 35; Leiden: Brill, 2000) 197-226.
Alexander, The Mystical Texts, 57: Highest of all the angels is the celestial high priest
(Melchizedek/Michael). Below him stand the Deputy High Priest and the rest of the
Angels of the face. Then come the ordinary priestly angels, followed by the hosts of
non-priestly angels.
Ibid., 58.

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301

nedictions and the War Rule.34 Life in the dxy was structured to enable
and facilitate participation in the heavenly cult. There is great emphasis
on purity in the community regulations.35 According to the Rule of the
Congregation, No man defiled by any of the impurities of a man shall
enter the assembly of these [the council of the community]; and no one
who is defiled by these should be established in his office in the midst
of the congregation, everyone who is defiled in his flesh, paralysed in
his feet or in his hands, lame, blind, deaf, dumb or defiled in his flesh
with a blemish visible to the eyes, or the tottering old man who cannot
keep upright in the midst of the assembly; these shall not enter to take
their place among the congregation of the men of renown, for the angels of holiness are among their congregation (1QSa 2:3-9).36 The prominence of priests in the leadership of the sect is well-known, even if it is
not clear whether the title sons of Zadok has any genealogical significance, and if their prominence fluctuates in different recensions of the
Community Rule.
The company of angels is probably also the reason for the absence
of women and children in Serek ha-Yahad. The logic of celibacy in an
angelic context is most explicitly set forth in the Book of the Watchers
in 1 Enoch 15. Enoch is told to chide the Watchers for having lain with
women, and defiled themselves with the daughters of men, and taken
for themselves wives, and done as the sons of earth. God had given
women to human beings so that they might beget children and not
vanish from the earth. But God did not give women to those who existed as spirits, living forever, and not dying for all the generations of
eternity. Sex has no place in the angelic or heavenly life. (Compare the
saying of Jesus in Mark 12:25: when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven).
While neither the Damascus Rule nor the Serek ever explicitly requires
celibacy, this same logic most probably underlies the guarantee in CD
7:5-6 that those who walk in perfect holiness shall live a thousand generations. (This is followed immediately by the statement And if they
live in camps in accordance with the rule of the land, and take women
and beget children . . .). When the community is regarded as a meta_____________
34
35
36

Ibid., 71. See also Frennesson, In a Common Rejoicing.

Cf. Frennesson, In a Common Rejoicing, 114: Purity and Knowledge were qualities
representing the sine qua non on the part of man.
1QSa 2:3-9; J. A. Fitzmyer, A Feature of Qumran Angelology and the Angels of 1
Cor 11:10, in J. Murphy-OConnor and J. H. Charlesworth, ed., Paul and the Dead Sea
Scrolls (New York: Crossroad, 1990) 31-47.

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John J. Collins

phorical temple, as is the case in the Serek, requirements of purity

create an additional obstacle to sexual relations.

Personal Transformation
Like the Songs of Sabbath Sacrifice, the hymn at the end of the Community Rule is put on the lips of the Maskil.37 In addition to what it
says about the yahad, it makes some claims that have a more personal
ring to them:
As for me, to God belongs my judgment; in his hand is the perfection of
my behavior with the uprightness of my heart; and with his just acts he
cancels my iniquities. For from the source of his knowledge he has disclosed his light, and my eyes have observed his wonders, and the light of
my heart the mystery that is to be (hyhn zr) From the spring of his justice is my judgment and from the wonderful mystery is the light of my
heart. My eyes have gazed on that which is eternal, wisdom hidden from
humankind, knowledge and prudent understanding (hidden) from the
sons of man, fount of justice and well of strength and spring of glory (hidden) from the assembly of flesh (1QS 11:2-7).

Here is a claim of special revelation that is rather different from the

specific revelations that we typically find in apocalypses.38 The phrase
raz nihyeh also occurs in 4QInstruction, a wisdom text that is not explicitly sectarian, and in 1Q/4QMysteries. It is variously translated as the
mystery that is to be or the mystery of Being/existence.39 It entails
comprehensive understanding, rather than specific information. It is
probably to be understood as referring to the plan of God for the world,
rather than to experiential knowledge of the divinity. (Compare 1QS
3:15: from the God of knowledge comes all that is and shall be, lk
hyyhnw hywh). The claim of enlightenment is offset by a self-deprecatory
passage, in verses 9-10: I belong to evil humankind, to the assembly of
unfaithful flesh . . . But this is the condition from which the speaker
has been rescued, which serves only to underline the wonderful character of the transformation. It may be that the author of this hymn was an
exceptional individual who had a mystical experience. But as Carol
Newsom has argued, the placement of this hymn at the end of the
Community Rule suggests that it represents the culmination of formation within the community. The character constructed for the Maskil
_____________
37
38
39

Newsom, The Self as Symbolic Space (STDJ 52; Leiden: Brill, 2004) 165-74.
Cf. Mach, Entwicklungsstadien, 210-11.
Matthew J. Goff, The Worldly and Heavenly Wisdom of 4QInstruction (STDJ 50; Leiden:
Brill, 2003) 51-79.

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303

in the instructions and hymn is one that embodies the values of the sect
in a particularly pronounced fashion.40 The experience articulated in
this hymn is paradigmatic for the community. Moreover, we are told
that God has given such knowledge and understanding to the elect,
whom he has united with the holy ones. Knowledge and understanding of heavenly realities is also entailed by fellowship with the angels.
There is also some dialectic between individual and communal experience in the Hodayot. One bloc of the hymns (cols. 10-17) is usually
distinguished as hymns of the Teacher, while the remainder is classified as hymns of the community.41 The attribution to the Teacher is
impossible to verify, but at least these hymns reflect a distinctive, individual voice. Nonetheless, these hymns too were used in the community. Precisely how they were used is difficult to say. There is a longstanding debate as to whether they were primarily cultic or instructional in purpose.42 They are distinctly different from other liturgical
compositions found at Qumran.43 They are not designated for specific
occasions, and some are very long. As Daniel Falk has put it, they are
not functionally analogous to collections of prayers for specific occasions such as Daily Prayers and Words of the Luminaries.44 Nonetheless,
they contain some indications of cultic use, such as references to communal singing, first person plural speakers, calls for congregational
response and references to the Maskil, who may have functioned as a
liturgical leader.45 Even in cases where Hodayot reflect the experiences
of an individual, they may have been appropriated by the community
through common recitation.46
Both the Hymns of the Teacher and the Community Hymns speak
of fellowship with the angels.47 From the Teacher Hymns, we have already cited 1QHa 11:19-21: I thank you Lord, because you saved my
_____________
40
41

42

43
44
45

46
47

Newsom, The Self as Symbolic Space, 173.

Gerd Jeremias, Der Lehrer der Gerechtigkeit (SUNT 2; Goettingen: Vandenhoeck &
Ruprecht, 1963) 168-267, Michael C. Douglas, The Teacher Hymn Hypothesis Revisited: New Data for an Old Crux, DSD 6(1999) 239-66.
Svend Holm-Nielsen, Hodayot. Psalms from Qumran (Acta Theologica Danica 2; Aarhus:Universitetsvorlaget, 1960) 332-348. For bibliography on the debate see Daniel
Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls (STDJ 27; Leiden: Brill,
1998) 103, n.18.
Bilhah Nitzan, Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry (STDJ 12; Leiden: Brill, 1994) 324.
Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers, 101.
For references see Russell C. D. Arnold, The Social Role of Liturgy in the Religion of the
Qumran Community (STDJ 60; Leiden: Brill, 2005) 211. For the hymns of the Maskil,
see Falk, Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers, 100-103, citing 1QHa 20:4-11 and 1QHa 5.
Compare Arnold, The Social Role of Liturgy, 214-21.
Puech, La Croyance, 417: Que ce soit dans lun ou lautre type dhymnes (du Matre
ou de la Communaut) la conception de leschatologie nest pas diffrente.

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John J. Collins

life from the pit, and from Sheol of Abaddon you have lifted me up to
an everlasting height so that I can walk on a boundless plain. The language here reflects the same understanding of resurrection that we
have seen in Daniel 12, except that the deliverance is already effected.
In this case, the hymnist shows an acute consciousness of an ongoing
human condition: But I, a creature of clay, what am I? For I find
myself at the boundary of wickedness and share the lot of the scoundrels (1QHa 11:23-25).48 Nonetheless, he has been purified for admission into communion with the angels. Moreover, you cast eternal destiny for man with the spirits of knowledge, so that he praises your
name in the community of jubilation. The hymnist, then, has a twosided existence. On the one side, he is still beset by enemies (and the
Teacher Hymns spend a good deal of time complaining of persecution
and adversity). On the other side, he is set apart from all that and can
join with the angels in praising God. Elsewhere in the Teacher Hymns
we read that those who walk in the way of your heart have listened to
me; they have arrayed themselves for you in the assembly of the holy
ones (1QHa 12:24-25), and that you have brought [your truth
and]your [glo]ry to all the men of your council, and in a common lot
(dxy lrg) with the angels of the presence.
The themes of purification and knowledge are also prominent in
1QHa 19:3-14, a community hymn.49 This hymn thanks God for having
done wonders with dust. In part, this is a matter of instruction: you
have taught me the basis of your truth and have instructed me in your
wonderful works.50 In part it is a matter of purification: For the sake
of your glory you have purified man from offence so that he can make
himself holy for you to become united with the sons of your truth
and in the lot with your holy ones so that he can take his place in
your presence with the perpetual host and with those who know in
a community of jubilation. In another Community Hymn, 1QHa 7: 7
we read, and we are gathered in the community (dxy) with those who
know and we shall shout (for joy).
There is also a dialectic between individual and community in the
so-called Self-Exaltation Hymn, of which four very fragmentary copies have survived, at least one of which was part of a scroll of Hodayot.51 Two recensions may be distinguished, the shorter form in
_____________
48
49
50
51

Whether this is in fact a Teacher hymn is disputed. See Puech, La Croyance, 366.
Kuhn, Enderwartung, 65-66 denies that it can be attributed to the Teacher.
Kuhn, Enderwartung, 78-112.
On the motif of knowledge in these hymns, see Kuhn, Enderwartung, 113-175.
E. Eshel, The Identification of the Speaker of the Self-Glorification Hymn, in D.
W. Parry and E. Ulrich, ed., The Provo International Conference on the Dead Sea Scrolls

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305

4Q491c and the longer in 4Q427 7 and 4Q471b.52 The first part of this
hymn refers to a mighty throne in the congregation of the gods on
which the speaker apparently claims to have sat. He goes on to boast I
am reckoned with the gods, and my dwelling is in the holy congregation, and there is no teaching comparable [to my teaching]. He also
asks who suffers evil like me and boasts that his glory is with the
sons of the king (i.e. God). Other striking phrases are found in the other
fragments. The speaker is beloved of the king, companion of the holy
ones, and even asks who is like me among the gods? (4Q471b). In
4Q491c this self-exaltation hymn is marked off from the following canticle of the righteous by a large lamed, which has been taken to indicate a separate composition. The marker is not found in other copies of
the text. The canticle is most fully preserved in 4Q427: Sing a hymn,
beloved ones, to the king Exalt together with the eternal host, ascribe greatness to our God and glory to our King.
There is no consensus as to the identity of the speaker in this hymn.
The Teacher of Righteousness has inevitably been proposed, but the
hymn conspicuously lacks the protestations of human unworthiness
that we find in the Hodayot. On the contrary, the speaker boasts that
his desire is not like that of flesh. Several other interpretations are possible: the hymn could have been ascribed to the Teacher after his death,53
or it could be the work of a later teacher,54 or it might be put on the lips
of an eschatological teacher or High Priest, the messiah of Aaron.55 The
original editor, Baillet, suggested the archangel Michael. That suggestion has been widely rejected, but it has recently been revived by Garca
Martnez, at least for 4Q491c, which appears to be part of the War
Scroll.
_____________

52

53
54

55

(STDJ 30; Leiden: Brill, 1999) 619-35; M. O. Wise, Myl)b ynmk ym: A Study of 4Q491c,
4Q471b, 4Q427 7 and 1QHa 25:35-26:10, DSD 7(2000) 173-219. The text is found in
4Q427 fragment 7, 4Q491c, 4Q471b, and in smaller fragments in 4Q431, which is part
of the same manuscript as 4Q471b, and 1QHa 25:35-26:10.
Florentino Garca Martnez, Old Texts and Modern Mirages: The I of Two Qumran Hymns, in idem, Qumranica Minora I. Qumran Origins and Apocalypticism
(STDJ 63; Leiden: Brill, 2007) 105-25 (114-8). See also his longer treatment, ngel,
hombre, Mesas, Maestro de Justicia? El Problemtico Yo de un Poema Qumrnico, in J. J. Fernndez Sangrador and S. Guijarro Oporto, ed., Plenitudo Temporis. Miscelnea Homenaje al Prof. Dr. Ramn Trevijano Etcheverra (Bibliotheca Salmanticensis,
Estudios 249; Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia, 2002) 103-31.
Wise, Myl)b ynwmk ym, 418, argues that the redactor who inserted this hymn into
the Hodayot meant for the reader to think of the Teacher.
I. Knohl, The Messiah Before Jesus: The Suffering Servant of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Berkeley, CA: University of California, 2000) 52-5, suggests Menahem the Essene, who is
mentioned by Josephus.
J. J. Collins, The Scepter and the Star (New York: Doubleday, 1995) 148; Eshel, The
Identification of the Speaker, 635.

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John J. Collins

In the Hodayot recension, at least, the composition is designated as

a rwmzm for the lyk#m. Even the 4Q491 manuscript indicates a hymnic
context (let the holy ones rejoice, line 2). This hymnic context is
strengthened in the Hodayot redaction, where the second composition
is fused with the first one, so that the hymn both begins and ends with
communal praise. Wise draws a direct inference about the speaker in
the first person section from the context of communal praise: each
individual member of the user group spoke of himself or herself. At
least by the stage of the Hodayot redaction, they declaimed in unison
and chanted, singing of their singular significance at the behest of a
worship leader, the Maskil. 56 It is true that the community would have
appropriated the I of the speaker to some degree, but the identification need not be complete. The community could also give praise and
thanks for the exaltation of a leader, whether historical or eschatological. As Philip Alexander argues, the speaker is someone special. His
experience is not something that anyone can achieve, though he can
still lead others into a state of closer communion with the heavenly
host.57 Alexander regards this hymn as evidence for the experience of
ascent, on the assumption that the speaker has returned to earth. This
assumption is not necessarily valid, however. It may be that the heavenly throne reflects a permanent or eschatological abode, and that the
speaker is not the actual author of the hymn, but the exalted Teacher or
an eschatological figure.

Permanent or Temporary Transformation

The self-exaltation hymn is atypical of the Dead Sea Scrolls in many
respects, but it is typical insofar as the exaltation of the speaker is discussed in a cultic context.58 The question arises whether the experience
of communion with the angels was limited to the context of cult. In her
edition of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, Carol Newsom suggested
that the repetitive, hypnotic style of the Songs was meant to induce a
_____________
56

57
58

Wise, Myl)b ynwmk ym, 216. So also Arnold, The Social Role of Liturgy, 221. Eileen
Schuller, Hodayot, in E. Chazon et al., Qumran Cave 4. XX. Poetical and Liturgical
Texts, Part 2 (DJD 29; Oxford: Clarendon, 1999) 102, writes Whoever the referent
may be in 4Q491 11 I, in the recension of this psalm that is found in the Hodayot
manuscripts, the I is to be understood in relationship to the I voice we hear speaking in the other psalms, particularly the other Hymns of the Community.
Alexander, The Mystical Texts, 88.
Fellowship with the angels is also attested in the War Rule, in the context of the final
battle, but that is an exceptional circumstance, and so I leave it aside here. See Davidson, Angels at Qumran, 212-34; Frennesson, In a Common Rejoicing, 88-92.

The Angelic Life

307

sense of communion with the angels, and this suggestion has recently
been revived by Alexander.59 This sense was not necessarily present in
all the worship of the community. Esther Chazon has argued that
communion with the angelic host takes different forms; some prayers
reflect a distinction between human and angelic worshippers.60 But not
all prayer texts found at Qumran were products of the dxy (or even of
the broader movement of the new covenant.) Conversely, the word
dxy occurs with remarkable frequency in connection with communion
with the angels.61 Moreover, as Alexander has noted, the members of
the dxy lived in a permanent state of spiritual discipline and heightened religious susceptibility. They did not have to elevate themselves
as far as would people living in the ordinary world, and struggling
with the cares and distractions of ordinary life.62 It remains true that
the Hodayot, with the exception of the Self-Exaltation Hymn, retain a
strong sense of the flesh-bound state of humanity. But the very fact that
the members could enter into communion with the heavenly host, even
if not yet on a permanent basis, meant that they had already been transformed to a considerable degree.

Resurrection and Transformation

The reason that scholars have tended to speak of realized eschatology in the Scrolls, especially in the Hodayot, is not only that the hymnists speak of communion with the angels, but also the remarkable lack
of any reflection on death as a problem in these texts. There has been
extensive debate as to whether the Hodayot, and the sectarian scrolls
more generally, express a hope for future resurrection. The authors of
the Scrolls were certainly familiar with such a hope, from the books of
Enoch and Daniel. They also use language that is consonant with such
a belief, but this language is poetic and admits of more than one interpretation. 1QHa 19, which we have already discussed in connection
with communion with the angels, also expresses the transformation of
_____________
59
60

61
62

Alexander, The Mystical Texts, 115-6.

Esther Glickler Chazon, Human and Angelic Prayer in the Light of the Dead Sea
Scrolls, in eadem, ed., Liturgical Perspectives. Prayer and Poetry in Light of the Dead Sea
Scrolls (Leiden: Brill, 2003) 35-48. See also eadem, Liturgical Communion with the
Angels at Qumran, in D. K. Falk, F. Garca Martnez and E. M. Schuller, ed., Sapiential, Liturgical and Poetical Texts from Qumran (Leiden: Brill, 2000) 95-105.
Alexander, The Mystical Texts, 103.
Ibid., 116.

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John J. Collins

the elect in another way: to raise worms of the dead from the dust, to
an everlasting council (19:12). The phrase worm of the dead, t(lwt
Mytm, also occurs in 1QHa 14:34 (a Teacher hymn): Hoist a banner, you
who lie in the dust; raise a standard, worm of dead ones. There is an
allusion here to Isa 26:19, which refers to those who dwell in the dust.
There is also an allusion to Isa 41:14: do not fear, worm of Jacob, men
of Israel. (The Hebrew for men here is ytm, a rare word that occurs
only in the construct plural in the Hebrew Bible, and which has the
same consonants as the more familiar word for dead ones). In Isaiah
41, the addressees are in a lowly state, but they are not dead. Analogously, the phrase worm of the dead in the Hodayot may indicate
metaphorically the abject state of unaided human nature. Just as the
hymnist claims to be lifted up from Sheol or the Netherworld, he claims
that the dead are raised from the dust to become members of the community and so enter into fellowship with the holy ones.63 It is not necessary to suppose that the author has actual corpses in mind. It is
possible that these passages have a future resurrection in mind, but the
language is poetic and the reference uncertain.64
There are no unambiguous references to resurrection in the Hodayot, and even possible references are rare. This may be due in part to
the genre of the hymns, but neither are there any unambiguous references to resurrection (as opposed to eternal life) in the Rule books. The
main eschatological focus of these hymns is on life with the angels,
which is experienced to some degree as a present reality. It is remarkable that the sectarian scrolls contain no reflection on death as a problem. The emphasis is rather on continuity between the fellowship with
the angels in the present and its fuller realization in the future.
In his contribution to the Festschrift for Emile Puech, George
Brooke has tried to go beyond the empasse on the question of resurrection in the Hodayot. Brooke assumes that the authors were familiar
with beliefs in resurrection, but the question remains concerning what
they might have done with their knowledge of these beliefs.65 He goes
on to argue, on the basis of an analysis of one Teacher hymn (1QHa 12:5
_____________
63

64
65

Hermann Lichtenberger, Auferstehen in den Qumranfunden, in Friedrich Avemarie and Hermann Lichtenberger, ed, Auferstehung/Resurrection (WUNT 135; Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001) 82, states that 1QHa 19 mit grsster Gewissheit nicht im
Sinne der Totenauferstehung zu interpretieren [ist].
Puech, La Croyance, 413 finds another reference in 1QH 5:29 which seems to indicate
a new creation, but not a resurrection of the dead.
George J. Brooke, The Structure of 1QHA XII 5-XIII 4 and the Meaning of Resurrection, in F. Garcia Martinez, A. Steudel and E. Tigchelaar, ed., From 4QMMT to Resurrection. Mlanges qumraniens en homage mile Puech (STDJ 61, Leiden: Brill, 2006)
15-33.

The Angelic Life

309

-13:4) that it was on the basis of a belief in a future bodily resurrection

that the poet was able to construct a literary entity that proclaimed
precisely how he understood his present position as totally dependent
on God. God had given him illumination, knowledge of the sort that
seemed as if it had virtually transformed his physical body.66 Brooke
argues that the motifs of illumination, both physical and mental, and
standing in the presence of God belong to the field of meaning of
meaning associated with the afterlife, and with the afterlife in terms of
physical, bodily resurrection.67 As we have seen at the beginning of
this article, the physical, bodily character of resurrection in the traditions attested in the Scrolls is more complicated than Brooke allows.
Enoch and Daniel seem to envision rather what might be called a spiritual body. But Brooke is right that the transformed, illuminated life
might be understood to represent the meaning of resurrection for the
poet.68 Insofar as he speaks of resurrection, he uses it primarily as a
metaphor for a transformed state in this life. How far the hymnist expected a further transformation after death is an open question. At least
we should expect that the body would become more luminous in the
hereafter, and freedom from irritation by the unredeemed world would
presumably make some difference. But the Scrolls never clarify for us
how the luminous body of the hereafter would be related to the bones
that were neatly buried in single graves by the shore of the Dead Sea at
Qumran. No significance is attached to the demise of flesh and blood.
Since the well-attested ideal of the community was the angelic life, and
angels were spirits, it is unlikely that the members had any desire to
resume their bodily existence. The angelic life as experienced in the
yahad may have been imperfect, but it was at least a foretaste of eternal
life, and it was powerful enough that ordinary mortality was rendered
insignificant.
There is an obvious analogy between the transformed life as we
find it in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Christian monasticism, as Samuel
Rubenson describes it in this volume on the basis of the letters of Ammonas.69 There too the essential transformation takes place in the
present. Revealed knowledge plays a crucial role in the transformation.
The letters do not even refer to a future judgment, which appears occa_____________
66
67
68

69

Brooke, 33.
Ibid.
Ibid., 29. This reinterpretation of resurrection as a present experience is more explicit
and emphatic in the later Gnostic texts. See the essay of Hugo Lundhaug in this volume.
Rubenson, As already translated to the kingdom while still in the body, in this
volume.

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John J. Collins

sionally in the scrolls, and unlike the scrolls they do not make an explicit contrast between flesh and spirit. But the similarity is striking
nonetheless. There is an interval of several hundred years between the
demise of the Jewish sect and the rise of monasticism, and it is impossible to trace influence from the former to the latter. Rather, they shared
the view that the goal of life was the presence of God in heaven, a view
that was encouraged by various strands of thought, philosophical and
mythical/apocalyptic, in late antiquity. In their eagerness to reach that
goal, both the sectarians and the monks structured their lives so that
they felt they could experience the heavenly life already in the present.

Recognizing the Righteous Remnant?

Resurrection, Recognition and Eschatological
Reversals in 2 Baruch 47-52
Recognizing the Righteous Remnant?
LIV INGEBORG LIED1
berschrift 2: fr Kapitel ohne 2 wird hier 1 Kurzform wiederholt
The description of resurrection, recognition, judgment, and of afterlife
transformations in 2 Bar. 50:1-51:6 has intrigued scholars for years. Due
to its uncommon inclusion of details, this particular passage has become one of the most cited and discussed parts of the early second century C.E., Jewish, pseudepigraphon, 2 Baruch. However, the recognition
motif in 50:1-51:6 has not attracted the same amount of scholarly attention as the other motifs of this passage. Still, it becomes particularly
intriguing to study the use of the recognition motif in the context of
resurrection and judgment, since it is so rare to find it discussed in this
setting. Moreover, when the recognition motif is approached as an integral part of the rhetoric of the larger narrative of 2 Bar. 47-52, an
analysis of its functions in that particular context will shed new light on
the related motifs of 50:1-51:6.
This study will discuss the established interpretations of the recognition motif in 50:1-51:6 and provide a new reading on the basis of the
argumentative context of the passage in 2 Bar. 47-52. The questions I
seek to answer are: what are the functions of the recognition motif in
50:1-51:6 within the context of 2 Bar. 47-52, and what is the object of
recognition in 50:1-51:6?

The Recognition Motif

There has been a growing interest in recent decades in the way the recognition motif is used in Greco-Roman and early Jewish texts.2 Scholars
of Greco-Roman texts have drawn attention to the functions of the rec_____________
1
2

Liv Ingeborg Lied is a researcher at the Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo,

Norway.
Cf. in particular Terence Cave, Recognitions: A Study in Poetics (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1988).

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Liv Ingeborg Lied

ognition motif within the plot of Greco-Roman narratives and dramas,

and to the place of the motif in the standard repertoire of ancient storytellers.3 However, as among others R. Alan Culpepper and Kasper Bro
Larsen have pointed out, the use of the recognition motif is also widespread in biblical and other early Christian and Jewish texts.4 The
themes of recognition and non-recognition can be observed, for instance, in the story of Joseph and his brothers in Gen 42, in Judg 13
where an angel visits Menoah and his barren wife, in the Emmausnarrative in Luke 24, as well as in the various versions of the story of
the witch of Endor.5 And, moreover, these texts apply the recognition
motif in various manners.
The many different uses of this motif suggest that any fixed definition of, or set model for, the use of the recognition motif in ancient texts
is inadvisable.6 The aim of the following sketch is rather to indicate
some tendencies in the use of the recognition motif in late antique texts,
and to provide some hermeneutical tools for the reading of 2 Bar. 50:151:6.
First of all, I take the term recognition to mean the act of recognizing and/or the fact of being recognized, in the sense that an observer
perceives someone to be the same, or belong to the same category, as
something previously known. The term may also imply a formal acceptance, or acknowledgement, of the status or legitimacy of a person or
group, and last but not least, the term may involve identification of a
person or group of persons.7
As Terence Cave, Culpepper, and Larsen have all pointed out, an
act of recognition involves sense perception, like seeing, hearing, or
smelling. Moreover, there must be something to recognize, an object, a
mark or a trait. This may be a mark of a persons individual identity or
a sign of his status, class belonging, or species. However, seeing, hear_____________
3
4

5
6
7

Cf. Kasper Bro Larsen, Recognizing the Stranger: Anagnrisis in the Gospel of
John, (PhD diss., Faculty of Theology, Aarhus, 2006), 5-6.
Cf. R. Alan Culpepper, The Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel: A Study in Literary Design
(Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983); idem, The Gospel and Letters of John (IBT. Nashville: Abingdon, 1998); Larsen, Recognizing the Stranger, idem, Viden og erkendelse i Johannesevangeliet, DTT 66 (2003): 81-106. Cf. also Diana Culbertson, The
Poetics of Revelation: Recognition and the Narrative Tradition (StABH 4; Macon, Ga.:
Mercer University Press, 1989). Thanks are due to Kasper Bro Larsen for sharing his
doctoral thesis with me.
Cf. 1 Sam 28 and L.A.B. 64. Cf. further Gen 38.26; Judg 6:11-24; Isa 53:2; Tob 5:4-5;
L.A.B. 62:9; Jos. Asen. 18-19; John 20:11-18.
Cf. Larsen, Recognizing the Stranger, 55-57.
Cf. The Collins English Dictionary. 21st Century Edition (5th edition; Glasgow: HarperCollins Publishers, 2000), 1288; Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition;
Springfield, Mass.; Merriam-Webster, inc, 2003).

Recognizing the Righteous Remnant?

313

ing or smelling is not in itself an act of recognition: the cognitive aspect

of the act is therefore central to the concept. The observer must have the
ability to understand the true meaning of what he or she observes, in
order to establish the identity or the type of the observed object. This
means that a pragmatic occurrence, or the appearance of a person or a
group of persons, will not necessarily be understood in the same manner by different observers at different occasions. Thus, recognition demands both knowledge and a situation in which the observer will be
able to know again.
As the above mentioned scholars have shown, many ancient texts
apply the recognition motif to underscore the tension between occurrences and events in the narrative world, and the ability of the figures
in the narrative to perceive the event as what it really is. Often, the real
meaning of an event or a sign, alternatively the true identity of a person
or a group, is initially hidden to the observer, and the act of recognition
therefore stands out as the event that creates a shift of perspective8 in
the observer and that introduces a turning point in the story. According
to Cave, the moment of recognition brings about a shift from ignorance
to knowledge; it is the moment that the figures of the narrative understand their circumstances as they really are for the first time, the moment that resolves a sequence of unexplained and often implausible
occurrences; it makes the world (and the text) intelligible.9

The Recognition Motif in 2 Bar. 50:1-51:6:

Translation and Context
As suggested in the introduction, the present study aims to discuss the
function of the recognition motif and the object of recognition in 2 Bar.
50:1-51:6. A closer look at this passage is now warranted:
And he answered and said to me: hear, Baruch, this word and write in the
record of your heart all that you will learn. For the earth will then surely
give back the dead, which it receives now to keep, although transforming
nothing in their appearance, but as it received [them], so it gives them
back. And as I delivered them to it, so also it will raise them. For then it is
needed to show those who live that the dead have come to life and that
those who went [away] have come [back]. And it will happen after they
have recognized one another, those who know now, then judgment will
become strong, and these [things] will come, which were spoken of.

_____________
8
9

Cave, Recognitions, 3.
Cave, Recognitions, 1. Cf. further Culpepper, Gospel and Letter of John, 86; Larsen,
Recognizing the Stranger, 5-10; 20-68.

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Liv Ingeborg Lied

And it will happen when that appointed day has passed on, then after that
the [elevated] pride of those found guilty will soon be transformed, and
also the glory of those found righteous. For the shape of those who now act
wickedly will be made more evil than it is, like those who endure torment.
Also the glory of those who now have been declared justified in my Law,
those in whom there has been understanding in their lives, those who
planted the root of wisdom in their heart, then their splendor will be glorified in transformations, and the shape of their faces will be changed in the
light of their beauty, to enable them to acquire and receive the world that
does not die, which then is promised to them. For because of this especially
they will groan, those who come then, that they rejected my Law, and
stopped their ears so that they did not hear wisdom and did not receive
understanding when they then see those over whom they now are exalted,
who will then be more exalted and glorified than they, and these and those
will be transformed, these into the splendor of angels, and those will waste
away especially in amazement over the visions and the sight of the shapes.
For first they will see, and afterwards they will be punished. (51:1-6)

In this paragraph of 2 Baruch, God reveals to Baruch what will happen

on the day of resurrection, and the time that follows immediately after
it. According to 50:2, the earth will give back (root pn, or raise (root
qwm), the dead just as it received (root qbl) them, to ensure that the
living can be shown (root h9w) that the dead live, and that they have
returned (root t (50:3). The passage underscores that the earth has
transformed (root h9lp) nothing in their appearance (wrt). When those
who know now (ylyn dh ydyn) have recognized (twdw)10 one another (h9d lh9d), God will judge mankind, and all the things which were
formerly declared will happen (50:4). After Gods judgment, those who
were found guilty, as well as those who were found righteous, will be
transformed (root h9lp). 51:1-6 describes the parallel processes of transformation that affect the righteous and the wicked. Whereas the appearance of the wicked will become more evil than it is (by mn m
dytyh) to prepare them for torment, the glory (tbwh9t), the splendor
(zyw) and the shape of the faces (dmwt dpyhwn) of the righteous will be
transformed in the light of their beauty (yywt), (51:3) to enable them
to inherit the immortal, heavenly world. And whereas the righteous
continue to transform into the splendor of angels (lzyw dmlk), the
)

_____________
10

The Syriac word yd, to know, is commonly translated to know, recognize, understand, to see, perceive in the Eshtaphel form, twd, found in 2 Bar. 50:4. Cf. R.
Payne Smith, A Compendious Syriac Dictionary (Edited by J. Payne Smith; Eugene, Or.;
Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1999), 188; Cf. R. Payne Smith (ed), Thesaurus Syriacus I (2
vols.; Oxford, 1879-1901; Repr. Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 2006), 1558. Cf. Gen 27:23;
31:32; 37:32-3; 38:26; 42.7-8; Deut 33:9. This study is however not primarily a study of
the use of this Syriac word, but a discussion of the use of the recognition motif in the
broader context of 50:1-51:6.

Recognizing the Righteous Remnant?

315

wicked will be the remorseful witnesses to the bliss of the righteous

while they themselves face punishment.
Most of the scholars who have discussed the recognition motif in
this passage of 2 Baruch have based their interpretations either on the
1896 translation of Robert H. Charles, or on the 1985 translation of
A.F.J. Klijn.11 My translation of 2 Bar. 50:1-51:6 differs from their translations on one important point. I interpret ylyn dh ydyn in 50:4 as
those who know now, rather than those whom they now know
(Charles), alternatively those who know each other now (Klijn). Although all these translations of the phrase in 50:4 are possible, my
translation is closer to the Syriac manuscript.12 Consequently, those
who mutually recognize one another, and who are mutually recognized in 50:4, are those who know now, and not those who know
each other now. It is, in other words, their status as knowledgeable
that fosters recognition, not solely the possibility that they were acquainted with each other in the time before the resurrection.13
In the following, I will attempt to show that these changes in the
translation of 50:1-51:6 have bearings on the understanding of the recognition motif in the context of 2 Bar. 47-52.

Recognition in the Context of 2 Bar. 47-52

2 Baruch is commonly described as a Jewish, apocalyptical, and eschatological text, written in Palestine in response to the fall of the second

_____________
11

12

13

A.F.J. Klijn, 2 (Syriac Apocalypse of) Baruch, in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha I
(ed. J.H. Charlesworth; 2 vols; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983-85), 615-652;
Robert H. Charles, The Apocalypse of Baruch (London: Black, 1896).
Thanks are due to Samuel Rubenson, who made me consider this translation. Cf.
also Bruno Violet, who included the option, but chose to translate ydyn kennen:
Und sobald die sich gegenseitig erkannt haben, die (sich) jetzt kennen, dann wird
das Gericht in Kraft treten, und die vorhergesagten (Dinge) werden kommen (Bruno Violet, Die Apokalypsen des Ezra und des Baruch in deutscher Gestalt (Die greichischen-christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte 32; Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichssche Buchhandlung, 1924), 275).
I also prefer to keep the Syriac word rmwt, pride/ elevation in 51:1 instead of
rendering it to dmwt. Antonio M. Ceriani, who first published and translated 2 Baruch, proposed that rmwt was most probably mistaken for dmwt , shape, since
dmwt occurs in 51:2. Most translators have accepted this proposal. However, since
the Syriac manuscript in fact has rmwt, and the transformation of the elevation of
the wicked is the topic of 51:5, I choose to keep rmwt in my translation. This means
that I understand 51:1 to focus on the aspect of the wicked that displays pride and
foul elevation (rmwt), and not only as a description of their shape (dmwt).

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Liv Ingeborg Lied

temple in 70 C.E.14 2 Baruch presents itself as The Apocalypse of Baruch

son of Neriah.15 In this manner 2 Baruch invokes the authority of Baruch, the famous scribe of Jeremiah, and situates the plot of its frame
narrative in the last days of Baruchs life at the very end of the first
temple period. 2 Baruch consists of several ordered episodes of narration, prayers and laments, apocalyptic visions or revelatory dialogues
with their respective interpretations, followed by Baruchs public addresses.16 Recent contributors have argued that these episodes build a
unified whole and add thematic development to the composition. In
this manner, 2 Baruch describes Baruchs gradual acceptance of the
current catastrophe, and his growing understanding of the fact that the
fall of the temple was part of Gods plan for the redemption of the
righteous, the law-abiding remnant group in focus in 2 Baruch.
Through the visions, explanations, and the ongoing dialogue with God,
Baruch is convinced that the future of the righteous lies in the incorruptible, heavenly world. That heavenly world will belong to the righteous as soon as the last period of affliction in the corruptible world has
been exhausted. God commands Baruch to instruct his followers in the
Law, since their knowledge of the Law is crucial to their future existence: all mankind, both the righteous minority and the wicked majority, will be resurrected and face judgment, but only the righteous, those
who know and live according to the Law, will live in the blissful place
of Gods presence in the heavenly world.17
_____________
14

15
16

17

2 Baruch is generally acknowledged to be written in the late first or early second

century. The milieu of origin of 2 Baruch remains unknown, although those who
produced 2 Baruch must have been acquainted with several aspects of current discourses, which later has been labelled Christian and/or (proto-) rabbinic. 2 Baruch
has been transmitted in the Syrian church, but neither the history of the text among
Jews and Christians in Syria, nor the influence of Syrian Christians onto the existing
version of the text can be ascertained. Today, the extant text of 2 Baruch is transmitted in a single, Syriac manuscript. This well preserved Syriac version of 2 Baruch
survived as an integral part of an ancient copy of a Syriac Bible and was discovered
in the Bibliotheca Ambrosiana in Milan in the late nineteenth century (Ambrosianus
B21 Inf fols: 257a-265b). In addition, a Greek fragment of 2 Bar. 12:1-13:2 and 13:1114:3 was found in the Egyptian town of Oxyrynchus in the early twentieth century.
These fragments stem from a fourth or fifth century manuscript. 2 Bar. 44:9-15 and
72:1-73:2 are also transmitted in three later West Syriac lectionary manuscripts. 2 Bar.
3-86 is also known from an Arabic manuscript. Cf. e.g. Klijn, 2 Baruch, 615-16.
Ktb dglynh dbrwk br nry.
Cf. Matthias Henze, From Jeremiah to Baruch: Pseudepigraphy in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, in Biblical Traditions in Transmission: Essays in the Honour of Michael A.
Knibb (eds. Charlotte Hempel and Judith Lieu; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2006), 157-77 (163)
and Martin Leuenberger, Ort und Funktion der Wolkenvision und ihrer Deutung in
der Syrischen Baruchapokalypse, JSJ 36 (2005): 206-46 (242).
This description is based on 21:23-5; 43-44; 47-52; 75:1-8 and 83-5. Some passages,
like 30:1-5 and 36:10-11 may present other solutions.

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317

Several scholars have isolated 2 Bar. 47-52 as one of 2 Baruchs constituent episodes.18 Sitting under an oak at Hebron (47:1-2), 19 Baruch
prays to God, invoking Gods role as almighty creator (48:2-24) asking
him to reveal the course of the remaining periods. The section that follows, 48:31-51:16, describes Gods revelation of things to come, interrupted by Baruchs reflections and questions in 48:42-49:3 only.
Three periods can be isolated in Gods revelation of history.20 The
first period, described in 48:31-36, presents the first phase: the imminent end time. This period is presented as the perverted and abnormal
period of wicked reign in the corruptible world. The end time is a period of affliction for the righteous, but a time of glory and peace for the
wicked (48:31-36). The glory and the peace of that time are delusive,
however, since the wicked are unaware of Gods approaching judgment.
The second period, 48:37-51:6, is presented as a time of transition.
This part of Gods revelation focuses on the relationship between the
wicked and the righteous as the times are about to turn in favour of the
righteous. 48:37-38 describes the destruction of the illusory peace of the
wicked reign and introduces a time of tumults. Unrest, destruction and
warfare takes over, constituting the beginning of a process of degeneration and punishment (48:37-41). The coming of the judge (dyn,
48:39), possibly implying the advent of a king/judge Messiah, brings
judgment and punishment to the wicked who still are alive at that
time.21
Baruch interrupts Gods revelation of history in 48:42-49:3. Baruch
sums up the evils of the present world order (48:42-47), and addresses
his followers, announcing that he will now turn to the destiny of the
_____________
18

19
20
21

Fredrick J. Murphy, The Structure and Meaning of Second Baruch (SBLDS 78; Chico,
Calif.: Scholars Press, 1985), 21 and Matthias Henze (private communication). Cf.
further Gwendolyn B. Sayler, Have the Promises Failed? A Literary Analysis of 2 Baruch
(SBLDS 72; Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press, 1984), 27.
This is probably an allusion to the location where God made the covenant with
Abraham. Cf. further 2 Bar. 55:1; 78:18.
Cf. also Paul Volz, Die Eschatologie der jdischen Gemeinde im neutestamentlichen Zeitalter (Tbingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1934), 44.
Sayler has argued that 48:38-43 describes Gods judgment of the wicked and that
50:1-4 concerns only, or primarily, the righteous (Sayler, Promises, 66). However,
since the judge seems to focus on the living ones (48:41), this is not a final judgment of both the living and the dead. This is the Messiahs political, earthly, victory over the nations, in terms of judgment. This is a typical way of describing the
Messianic breakthrough in 2 Baruch (36:1-11; 39:7-40:4; 70:9-72:6) and the motif is
paralleled in 4 Ezra 13:25-38. It is therefore more probable that the Messianic judgment and Gods judgment are complementary, as they are in 72-5. This implies that
the wicked are punished twice (cf. 36:11; first by the Messiah and then by God).

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righteous in the heavenly, incorruptible world. In 50:1-51:6 the glorious

destiny of the righteous is outlined by God as a contrast to the horrible
fate of the wicked from the general resurrection of the dead,22 the
judgment and the respective transformations of the wicked and the
righteous, until the destruction of the wicked is final in 51:6.
The third, and last, part of Gods revelation describes the continuing transformation and elevation of the righteous, until the generations
of the righteous assemble with the fathers in the proximity of the
throne of God (51:13).23

2 Bar. 50:1-4:
Recognizing the Dead as the Ones Who Once Lived:
Former Interpretations
The passage of interest to this study, 50:1-51:6, describes the transition
that starts with the resurrection of the dead (50:1) and ends with the
final punishment of the wicked (51:6), comprising most of the second
period isolated above (i.e., 48:48 51:6). What is the object of recognition, and what are the functions of the recognition motif in this context?
Most of the scholars who have studied the recognition motif in the
context of 50:1-4,24 have suggested that the object of recognition is the
visual characteristic that make it possible to recognize the dead as the
persons who once lived.25 Some of these interpreters have also ascribed
an apologetic purpose to the use of the motif in the passage.26
_____________
22

23

24
25

Most scholars hold that the resurrection described in 50:2 is a general resurrection,
including both righteous and wicked dead. This interpretation is the most probable,
since the outcome of Gods judgment (51:1) presumes that both the wicked and the
righteous are judged. Both the judgment and the stress on the establishment of
status after judgment would be meaningless unless all the dead are resurrected. Cf.
Sayler, Promises, 66, on the alternative view that only the righteous are resurrected in
50:2.
The righteous are established in the heavenly world in 51:13-16. 51:17-52:7 contains
the continued dialogue between God and Baruch. This passage is debated. Cf.
Bogaert, Apocalypse de Baruch I, 422.
Note that most of the scholars who have studied the recognition motif of this passage, have focused on 50:1-4 alone, not on 50:1-51:6.
Cf. e.g., Charles, Apocalypse of Baruch, 82-3; Volz, Eschatologie, 253-254; Joachim Jeremias, Flesh and Blood Cannot Inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. XV.50), NTS 2
(1956): 159; Craig F. Evans, Resurrection and the New Testament (SBT 12; London: SCM
Press, 1970), 16; Raymond E. Brown, The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of
Jesus (New York: Paulist Press, 1973), 84-86; Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews VI, 340;
Sayler, Promises, 65; David E. Garland, Reading Matthew: A Literary and Theological
Commentary on the First Gospel (Reading the New Testament Series; New York: Cross-

Recognizing the Righteous Remnant?

319

One exponent of both these standpoints was Gnther Stemberger.

His 1972 monograph Der Leib der Auferstehung: Studien zur Anthropologie
und Eschatologie des palstinischen Judentums im neutestamentlichen Zeitalter (ca. 170 v.Chr 100 n. Chr) deserves some attention, since it remains
among the most thorough discussions of the recognition motif in 2
Baruch. In Stembergers view, 50:1-4 describes the recognition of the
risen dead as the persons who once lived.27 According to Stemberger,
the identity of the risen dead as the ones who once lived could be verified on the basis of their intact earthly appearance. The act of recognition had to take place immediately after resurrection, however, since
the following transformation process would blur the traits of the risen
dead.
Stemberger held that the purpose of the recognition motif in 50:1-4
was apologetic, gegen die Leugner der Auferstehung. According to
Stemberger, no one should be in doubt that the dead had in fact risen,
since the resurrected dead could be recognized as the persons who had
once died. Stembergers suggestions are, with room for a variety of
nuances, typical of the majority of interpretations of the recognition
motif in 2 Bar. 50:1-4.28
In his 1969 French introduction to 2 Baruch, Pierre-Marie Bogaert
made a different interpretation of 50:1-4 than the majority of scholars.
According to Bogaert, the resurrection of the dead would primarily
serve as a sign to those who still were alive on that day (50:3). Further,
_____________

26
27

28

road, 1993), 265; Richard N. Longenecker. Is There Development in Pauls Resurrection Thought? in Life in the Face of Death: The Resurrection Message in the New Testament (ed. Richard N. Longenecker; McMaster New Testament Studies; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1998), 171-202 (199); Willem S. Vorster, Speaking of Jesus: Essays
in Biblical Language, Gospel Narrative and the Historical Jesus (NovTSup 92; Leiden: E.J.
Brill, 1999), 106; Turid Karlsen Seim, Uddelig og kjnnsls? Oppstandelseskroppen i lys av Lukas, in Kropp og oppstandelse (eds. Troels Engberg-Pedersen og Ingvild Slid Gilhus; Oslo: Pax Forlag AS, 2001), 80-98 (93-4); Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jesus God and Man (London, SCM Press, 2002), 72-3; Daniel J. Harrington, Afterlife
Expectations in Pseudo-Philo, 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch, and Their Implications for the
New Testament, in Resurrection in the New Testament: Festschrift J. Lambrecht (ed. R.
Bieringer, V. Koperski and B. Lataire; BETL CLXV; Leuven: Leuven University Press,
2002), 31; Rivka Nir, The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Idea of Redemption in the
Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (SBLEBL 20; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature,
2003), 162-4.
Richard Bauckham, The Fate of the Dead: Studies in the Jewish and Christian Apocalypses
(NovTSup; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1998), 283.
Gnther Stemberger, Der Leib der Auferstehung: Studien zur Anthropologie und Eschatologie des palstinischen Judentums im neutestamentlichen Zeitalter (ca. 170 v. Chr 100 n.
Chr) (AnBib 56; Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1972), 86-91.
Stemberger, Leib der Auferstehung, 86-91. Cf. Bauckham, Fate of the Dead, 283; Nir,
Destruction, 162.

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Bogaert understood the resurrection and recognition scene in 50:1-4 as

a retrouvailles familiales and referred to Liber antiquitatum biblicarum (L.A.B.) 23:13 and 62:9 to clarify his position. 29 L.A.B. 23:13 describes the restoration of the fathers to their descendants and the descendants to the fathers at the very end of time, and focuses on the
fathers acknowledgement of their descendants. L.A.B. 62:9, on the
other hand, suggests that the souls of the contemporaries David and
Jonathan will be able to know each other even in death. These two passages in the L.A.B., thus, describe recognition both across generations
(23:13) and within the same generation (69:2). Bogaert proposed that
the recognition in 2 Bar. 50:1-5 in a similar manner would serve both
the restoration of generations to each other, and the restoration of the
relationship between those who knew one another during their life
time.
When the interpretations of Stemberger and Bogaert are compared,
the sheer variety of potential interpretations of 50:1-4 is apparent. It is
evident that both the proposed interpretations of the recognition motif
in 50:1-51:6 are possible, and can be supported by the existence of similar ideas in contemporaneous texts. 30 Stembergers suggestion of an
apologetic purpose is possible, since the passage does stress that the
dead have returned and that they have in fact been restored as they
were before they died. That explicitness must serve a purpose. However, Stembergers suggestion of an apologetic purpose can not be affirmed on the basis of an isolated study of 50:1-4, nor by references to
the function of the recognition motif in other texts only. Stembergers
reading of the passage must be relevant to the context in which it occurs in 2 Baruch.
Moreover, Stemberger has based his interpretation primarily on
50:1-3, stressing the need of the living to see that the dead have come
back. Bogaerts interpretation, on the other hand, tends to favour 50:4,
indicating that not only will the sons recognize the fathers, the fathers
will also recognize the sons. According to Bogaert, the dead will recognize the living, just like the living will recognize the dead. In Bogaerts
view, the scene can not be reduced to the need of the living to realize
that the dead have returned: there is also something about the living
that is of interest to the dead. However, Bogaerts interpretation of 50:14 should also be discussed with an eye to the context of the passage. It
_____________
29

30

Pierre-Marie Bogaert, Apocalypse de Baruch, Introduction, Traduction du Syriaque et

Commentaire (2 vols; Source Chrtiennes 144-145; Paris: des ditions du cerf, 1969,
92-93.
Cf: 1 Cor 15; b. Sanh. 90b; 91b; Midr. Qoh. 1:4; Gen. Rab. 95; Eccl. Rab. 1:4:2. Stemberger, Leib der Auferstehung, 87; Bauckham, Fate of the Dead, 283.

Recognizing the Righteous Remnant?

321

is not evident that 50:1-4 describes the reunion of fathers and descendants. It is possible that the restoration of the generations, the final
gathering, takes place only in 51:13. The notion that the resurrection
first and foremost serves as a sign also deserves some further attention.
In the following, I will argue an alternative reading of 50:1-51:6
based on the new translation of 50:4, applying some of the insights of
former interpreters, while questioning others. It is my hypothesis that
the interpretation of the recognition motif in 50:1-4 changes if the passage is understood as intimately connected to 51:1-6, as well as an explicit part of the episode 2 Bar. 47-52.

2 Bar. 50:1-51:6 Answers 48:31-6:

The Recognition Motif and the Eschatological Reversal
I have suggested that the first part of Gods revelation of the coming
periods of time, 48:31-36, describes the end time, the glorious period of
the wicked on earth. The second part, 48:37-51:6, describes the process
of change in the relationship between the wicked and the righteous in
favour of the righteous, whereas the third and final part, 51:7-16, describes the final bliss of the righteous.
50:1-51:6 plays an important part in the second period, presenting a
central phase of the transition. In some important respects it portrays
the reversal of the glorious reign of the wicked, described in 48:31-36:
And that time will rise, which is oppressing, for it will come and pass on in
sudden turbulence, and it will be troublesome when it comes in the heat of
indignation. And it will happen in those days that all the inhabitants of the
earth will be at rest with each other, because they do not know that my
judgment has come near. For at that time there will not be found many
wise [persons], and the understanding [ones] will be few, but also those
who know will be silent more and more. And there will be much hearsay
and not few rumours, and works of fantasy will be shown, and not a few
promises will be repeated, some of them without cause, and some of them
will be confirmed. And glory will be turned into dishonour, and strength
will be humiliated into contempt, integrity will be destroyed, and beauty
will be meanness. And the many will say to the many at that time: How
has the multitude of understanding been hidden from sight and how has
the multitude of wisdom been displaced?

In the context of Gods revelation of the coming periods, 48:31-36 presents the absolute peak of wickedness in the corruptible world. Being
just that, the period at the very end of the world simultaneously constitutes the low point in the history of the righteous. To the righteous few
(h9dh9dn), who are left, the time of wicked reign is a period of oppres-

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sion. The wise and understanding will be marginalized and those who
know (ylyn dydyn) will be silent (48:33).31 According to 48:35-6, glory,
strength, integrity and beauty, all characteristics commonly ascribed to
the righteous, will be despised and inverted, and the multitude of intelligence (skwltnwt) and wisdom (h9kmt) will be hidden from sight (root
ks)32 and displaced (root n)33. In this manner, 48:31-6 makes the righteous minority, those who know, and the wicked majority, those who
do not know (l ydyn), into contrasting groups. Whereas the righteous
and their order have been suppressed, the wicked order is triumphant
in the corruptible world.34
However, although the wicked is clearly in power in the end time,
it is evident that their entire order is illusory. What people hear are
rumours and hearsay, not the truth, and what they see are works of
fantasy, not real wonders. Likewise, it is entirely coincidental whether
promises are fulfilled or not: some promises are, while others are not
(48:34).
In what respects can 50:1-51:6 be read as the reversal of power?
Firstly, in the same manner as the passage in 48:31-6 describes the
dominance of the ignorant and the suppression of those who know,
50:1-51:6 presents the triumph of the knowledgeable over the ignorant.
Whereas those who now have been declared justified in my Law,
those in whom there has been understanding in their lives, those who
planted the root of wisdom in their heart (51:3) are exalted, those who
were ignorant, who would not listen and rebuked Gods Law (48:31;
51:4) get their proper punishment. In other words, 50:1-51:6 reverses
the situation of the righteous vis--vis the wicked. Whereas the wicked
were in power during the end time, the righteous triumph after the
judgment of God.
Secondly, 50:1-4 stresses that what happens at the day of Gods intervention is real. The miracles God produces are no illusions, and the
changes that take place are not based on rumours or hearsay, but constitute bare facts. The dead appear just as they were before they died,
and it is visible to the living that they live again (50:3). In other words,
God produces real miracles, real dead people, and not mere phan_____________
31
32
33
34

I understand 48:36 to be referring to the main characteristics of one single group and
not to three distinct groups.
Or, covered (Smith, Dictionary, 220).
Smith, Dictionary, 586.
Who are the wicked? We can imagine that the wicked are the foreign suppressors of
Gods people (read: Rome (2 Bar. 35-40)). It is also possible that those who do not
know are those tribes of Israel that rejected the Law and mingled with the gentiles
(48:23; 75:7-8).

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323

toms.35 Moreover, after Gods judgment those things which were spoken of will in fact take place. God fulfils all his promises as he said he
would. Fulfilment of promises is no longer accidental (48:34). The
seeming glory of the wicked is in this manner overcome by the real
miracles of the God of the righteous.
Thirdly, the glory (yqr) that was dishonoured, and the beauty
(pyrwt) that turned into meanness in the end time, are again valued
after Gods judgment. These qualities will even be intensified in the
transformation process that follows the judgment (51:1-3). The inverted
social order returns to normal, that is, as it should have been in Gods
creation.36
When the period described in 50:1-51:6 is read as the reversal of the
order of the end time in 48:31-6, it becomes clear that 50:1-51:6 belongs
to an ongoing argument concerning the destiny of the opponent groups
of the righteous remnant and the wicked majority, and that it presents
the final turn of the tide in favour of the righteous. 50:1-51:6 describes
how the situation changes and how the restoration of the righteous will
occur. The passage plays out the contrast between the terrible fate of
the wicked and the glorious destiny of the righteous, serving to enhance the punishment of the former and the blissful state of the latter.37

2 Bar. 50:1-4:
Group Confirmation, Budding Triumph, and the
Function of Knowledge
The above interpretation of the connection between 50:1-51:6 and 48:316 implies that 2 Baruch focuses mainly on the difference between the
group of the knowledgeable and the group of the ignorant, and that the
changing relationship between these opponent groups after resurrection and judgment is underscored. Thus, it is likely that the expression

_____________
35

36

37

Cf. Bernhard P. Robinson concerning the practice of optical illusions in magical

contexts (The Place of the Emmaus Story in Luke-Acts, NTS 30 (1984): 481-497
(484).
It should also be noted that 50:1-51:6 and 48:31-6 apply identical words and expressions, particularly to describe the group of the righteous and the characteristics of its
members. Both passages refers to the members of the group as wise, and intelligent,
they call them those who know, and refer to their beauty and glory.
Cf. 82:1-9.

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those who know serves as the title of the group of the righteous in
this context.38
Who are those who know? As I suggested above, those who
know now (ylyn dh ydyn) in 50:4 probably correspond to those
who know (ylyn dydyn) in 48:33. The implication of this suggestion is
that the now of 50:4 points back to the period of end time, the period
in which the remnant, the followers of Baruch, live and are instructed
by Baruch. If this is correct, those who know now refers to the group
of the righteous which was suppressed during the wicked reign of the
end time and who used to serve as Baruchs pupils and audience
(48:31-36).
However, the possibility that those who know serves both as a
group title and as a reference to a particular knowledge needs to be
explored. The first passage to be discussed is 50:1-4: why is the appearance of the dead kept unaltered in 50:1-4, does this passage present the
sign, as Bogaert suggested, and who recognizes whom in 50:4?
As mentioned above, Stemberger suggested that the appearances of
the dead were kept unaltered to prove to the living that those who they
could see at that time in fact were the persons they once knew.39 However, the passage 50:2-3 never says that the living identify the dead as
the persons they once were. On the contrary, 50:2-3 says that the dead
are shown (rt. h9w) to the living in unaltered appearances. These unaltered appearances are the concern of the passage, not the identification
of individual dead persons.
Why is the unaltered appearance of the dead then of importance?
In the above comparison of 50:1-51:6 and 48:31-36, I proposed that the
resurrection of the dead proved Gods capacity to produce real miracles, in contrast to the works of fantasy produced by the wicked during
the end time. Only God is in the position to bring the dead back from
the earth. In this manner, the showing of the resurrected dead proves
Gods power to the living.40 Moreover, the notion that the earth (r)
has not transformed the appearance of the dead (50:2) suggests that it is
not the right of the earth to touch what God has entrusted to it.41 God,
the creator, is the only one who can transform the shape and the appearance of man, and, as we have already seen, Gods transformation
_____________
38
39

40
41

This is the observation of John J. Collins.

Other passages in 2 Baruch, describing or alluding to a future resurrection, tend to
take the resurrection as a fact of the future age (Cf. 2 Bar. 14-15; 21:12-25; 30:1-5;
36.11; 44:1-15; 57.2; 75.7-8; 84:1; 85:10-15. Cf. further Harrington, Afterlife Expectations, 24). Stembergers suggestion is weakened by this general tendency.
According to 83:7, this is the most important aspect of the time of the end.
Cf. 2 Bar. 42:8.

Recognizing the Righteous Remnant?

325

of the wicked and the righteous takes place only after judgment (51:16). This interpretation of the passage harmonizes both with 2 Baruchs
general stress on the notion of God as the almighty creator,42 and with
the presentation of the earth as a protective container at Gods service
in 6:8-10.43 So, the living are shown the unaltered appearance of the
dead to ensure that Gods almighty power is evident to everyone.
Unlike Stemberger, Bogaert proposed that the resurrection of the
dead would serve as a sign to the living.44 Unfortunately, Bogaert did
not expand on his suggestion. This leaves his proposal open for interpretation. Whatever Bogaerts own intentions were, some aspects of
50:1-4 do support the idea that the resurrection could serve as a sign. If
we accept the argument, presented above, that 50:1-51:6 describes the
reversal of the situation in 48:31-6, the resurrection and showing of the
dead in 50:2-3 serve as the turning point in the history of the righteous,
proving that their God has finally intervened in the world order and
made his almighty power visible to everyone.45
In what sense, and to whom, can the resurrection and the showing
of the dead serve as a sign? On the one hand, 50:2-3 suggests that the
dead will be shown to all those who are alive at that time, few or
many,46 wicked or righteous. All those who live can see that the dead
have returned (48:46). On the other hand, the perception of this event
as a sign demands knowledge. In other words, the observer must be
able to grasp the occurrence as a sign. This is how the insight of those
who know now (50:4) first becomes relevant.
_____________
42
43

44
45
46

Sayler, Promises, 61; 63.

In 2 Bar. 6:8-10 the earth is ordered to protect the holy vessels of the Jerusalem temple until the day they can once again be restored. The notion of the earth as a protective container was not uncommon in the period (Cf. 2 Bar. 42:8; 4 Ezra 7:32; 4 Bar.
3:18-9; Apoc. Dan. 35. Cf. Liv. Pro. 2:11; L.A.B. 26:4; 2 Macc 2:4-8. Cf. Sayler, Promises,
65; Nir, Destruction, 66-77; Liv Ingeborg Lied, The Other Lands of Israel: A Study of
the Land Theme in 2 Baruch (PhD Diss., University of Bergen, 2007), 60-1; 182-3;
188-9). 2 Baruch probably attests to differing, yet related, ideas about the realm of the
dead (cf. 11:6-7; 21:23; 42:7-8). Cf. further Harrington, Afterlife Expectations, 27.
Bogaert, Apocalypse de Baruch II, 92.
Resurrection is commonly found as an indicator of the coming of the last days in
apocalyptic literature. Cf. e.g., Ezek 37:12-14; Dan 12:2; 1 En. 51:1-2.
It is evident that 2 Bar. 50:2-3 presupposes that some are still alive at the time of
resurrection (Cf. 1 Cor 15:51; 1 Thess 4:15). It is not clear who these people are, however. Most probably, those who live at that time include both righteous and wicked
people, although it is possible that only a group of righteous people is left (Cf. further 29:8; 36:1-37:1). Moreover, it is not clear whether the living ones are many or
few. Probably, there are only a few left, since there remains only a remnant of the
righteous (48.33), and the number of the wicked has been reduced in the preceding
punishment process conducted by the Judge (48:39-43).

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Several passages of 2 Baruch suggest that the righteous those who

are wise and understanding will have the knowledge necessary to
comprehend that a change of time is taking place.47 These passages
suggest that the knowledgeable will understand the event of resurrection in a manner unavailable to the ignorant. Moreover, 2 Baruch generally describes instruction as an urgent matter. On several occasions
Baruchs instruction to his followers is presented as a matter of life and
death.48 We should of course also keep in mind that the passage in
question, 50:1-4, is part of Gods revelation to Baruch of future events, it
is not a description of these events as such (50:1). God gives Baruch
foreknowledge of the way of the world, and this knowledge Baruch
explicitly transmits to his followers (48:48-50).49 In this manner the passage itself describes the knowledge the righteous need to perceive the
sign.
Consequently, at the day of resurrection and showing of the dead,
there will be a marked cognitive difference between those who received
instruction and became knowledgeable in their lives, and those who
stopped their ears so that they did not hear (51:4). Whereas the resurrection and the showing of the dead would be a grand event to all, only
the knowledgeable would have the ability to perceive it as a sign. The
righteous, those who know, will therefore know that when the dead
are resurrected and shown to the living, God has intervened in history.
Hence, in this sense the resurrection and the showing of the dead may
serve as a sign, as Bogaert suggested, but only to the righteous who still
live, signalling that their process of redemption has now finally begun.50
So, who recognizes whom in 50:4? If those who know now refers
to those who know in 48.33, 50:4 describes the mutual recognition of
those who know. This means that the act of recognition is a group
internal event. Even though all the living will be shown that the dead
live, the act of recognition described in 50:4 applies to the members of
_____________
47
48
49

50

Cf. 28:1; 30:2; 48:38.

E.g., 45:1-46:3; 76:4-5.
Cf. e.g., 2 Bar. 31:1-34:1; 44:1-45:2; 76:5-87:1. Compare in particular the use of ntwd
in 75:7-8. This passage implies that only those who have the right knowledge will rejoice, whereas the others will grieve.
2 Baruch implies that redemption is to be understood as a process, embracing several
events (Cf. 50.1-51.16; 71:1-75:8). It is noteworthy in this context that both 57:1-2 and
82:2 describe the judgment as part of a redemptive process that has already started.
In these passages judgment is a positive event, being a promise (82:2) and an object
of belief (57:1-2), to the righteous. Note also that 2 Baruch mentions signs from God
in an eschatological context in other passages as well, however without necessarily
specifying the nature of the sign (Cf. 25:2-4; 72:2 and further 4 Ezra 5:1-13; Sib. Or.
3:796-808 for other signs of the end).

Recognizing the Righteous Remnant?

327

the group of those who know only. Not only do the living ones who
have knowledge recognize the knowledgeable dead, the dead who had
knowledge before they died will also recognize the living, and the
other dead, of their kind. Those who recognize each other are in other
words those who had knowledge now, referring to the group of the
righteous in the end time, who at the time of resurrection can be either
living or dead.51
This interpretation of 50:1-4 highlights the need of the troubled
remnant of end time for hope, reassurance, and revenge. As mentioned
above, Baruch has entered the last days of his life, and his followers
fear that he will abandon them and leave them to destruction.52 In his
instruction, Baruch reassures the followers that they will live, assumedly in the heavenly world, as long as they receive instruction and live
on earth according to the Law. The description of the mutual recognition of those who know in 50:4 foretells that the group will be gathered again after resurrection.53 At that moment the righteous will be
able to identify each other and they will be acknowledged by the other
members as members of the group.
In this sense, 50:1-4 describes the introduction to their victory; their
budding triumph. When the dead returns to life and they are shown to
the living, it becomes evident to all that only the god of the righteous is
able to produce real miracles. He has intervened in history and seen to
that everyone witnesses his power. Moreover, this interpretation displays the importance of the cognitive gap between the knowledgeable
and the ignorant.54 In this manner, the recognition motif in 50:4 serves
to confirm the identity of the remnant group vis--vis the wicked in the
end time.

_____________
51

52
53

54

Thus, to some extent I will defend Bogaerts suggestion that the passage can be
understood as a retrouvailles familiales. There is however not enough information in the passage to confirm that the recognition concerns all generations of righteous people. Although this possibility should not be excluded, since now could be
understood as a broader category including all those who had knowledge in the
now before they died, it is more probable that is refers to the generations of the
remnant group, the followers of Baruch, described for instance in 44:1 (Cf. further
5.5; 10:3; 31:1; 33:2-3; 77:1-6). The final gathering of all the righteous probably takes
place only in the heavenly world (51.13).
Cf. 33:1-3; 45:1-46:7; 76:1-77.10.
Possibly also that they will be reunited with Baruch. 2 Baruch says both that Baruch
will die (3:2; 78:5; 84:1) and that will be taken up by the will of God (i.e., rapture) to
serve as a witness at the judgment (13:3; 46.7; 48:30; 76:2).
Concept of Larsen, Recognizing the Stranger, 9.

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The Destiny of the Righteous:

From Suppression to Witnessed Exaltation (51:1-6)
The description of the final destinies of the righteous and the wicked
continues in 51:1-6 after the short, but crucial, mention of Gods judgment in 50:4. According to 51:1, once the appointed day the day of
judgment has passed on, both the righteous and the wicked will be
transformed by God in accordance with the outcome of the judgment
(49:3).
Two transformative processes take place. Firstly, 51:1-6 describes
the intensification of the characteristics of the appearances of the righteous and the wicked respectively. 51:2 says that the shape of those who
act wickedly will be made even more evil, whereas 51:3 describes how
the splendor and glory of the righteous will be glorified in transformations, their faces changing in the light of their beauty. In other words,
while those who belong to the group that was evil already will now
look even more evil, the splendour, glory and beauty of those belonging to the group of the righteous becomes even more intense and refined.
Secondly, the wicked, who used to be exalted over (root rwm) the
righteous in the corruptible world, find themselves as the dethroned
witnesses to the triumph of the righteous. The transformation process
that follows judgment does not only serve to intensify the appearances
of the wicked and the righteous, it also ensures that the tables are turned.
The righteous will excel, while the wicked groan over their destiny.
How does this process of transformation serve cognition, and what
is the function of the recognition motif in the context of 51:1-6? In the
above discussion of 50:1-4, I suggested that there was a cognitive gap
between the ignorant and the knowing, implying that the ignorant did
not have the insight necessary to perceive the consequences of the
events to their own situation. However, after Gods judgment and
transformation of the righteous and the wicked, the cognitive gap between the groups is bridged. Whereas the multitude of understanding
and wisdom was hidden from the sight of the wicked during end time
(48:36), 51:1-6 describes how this multitude reappears for the eyes of
the wicked.55 Gods transformation of the righteous makes them, and
their proper position, visible to the wicked. The righteous take glorious
shapes and prepare to inherit the undying world (51:3). The unambi_____________
55

Note that the disappearance of the multitude of understanding and wisdom during
end time is not necessarily a given fact, but a description of how the ignorant wicked
perceive the situation.

Recognizing the Righteous Remnant?

329

guous shape of the transformed righteous and the location to which

they are destined make it plain to see, even for those who once were
ignorant, that the final triumph belongs to the righteous.56
There are two functions to the recognition motif in this passage.
Firstly, the wicked are punished a second time when they are forced to
witness and acknowledge the triumph of their opponents.57 They recognize their superiors after judgment as the ones they used to dominate
before judgment, and they are forced to acknowledge their own failure.58 It is not enough that the wicked are made aware of their transgressions and punished by the Judge in 48:40, it is just as crucial that
they see their opponents excel (51:5-6).
Secondly, the recognition motif ensures that the righteous do not
only tower above the wicked in 51:1-6, they also experience a witnessed
exaltation. In this manner the description in 51:1-6 is there to secure
justice, and to finally settle the battle between the groups. Not only will
the wicked be punished twice and the righteous excel, both groups will
acknowledge that this is taking place.
This interpretation implies that the change that occurs in 51:1-6 is
just as much a cognitive change in the observer as it is a change of the
pragmatic circumstances. The passage highlights that not only will
these changes in favour of the righteous occur, it has been just as important to stress that the wicked will acknowledge it and the righteous
rejoice in it. The use of the recognition motif assures that everyone,
both righteous and wicked, share in a common understanding of the
proper relationship between the groups.

The Object of Recognition: Splendor and Evil

What is the object of recognition in 2 Bar. 50:1-51:6? As noted in the
discussion above, the majority of interpreters have held that on the day
of resurrection each individual person would be recognized as the person he or she once was (50:1-4). Does 50:1-51:6 suggest that recognition
concerns the individual person as the one he or she was, or is it possible
that collective judicial statuses, identifiable in the appearance of men,
constitute the objects of recognition?
First of all, it is crucial to note that 50:1-51:6 describes the events
and transformations in the post-resurrection era in terms of visible
_____________
56
57
58

The motif of the turn from blindness to sight is a commonplace (Cf. Isa 29:18).
Volz describes the phenomenon of double judgments in contemporaneous texts
(Eschatologie, 273).
Cf. 4 Ezra 7:37-44. Cf. Harrington, Afterlife Expectations, 30; 32.

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Liv Ingeborg Lied

categories, and generally favours a language of seeing.59 In other

words, the imagery that the passage applies concerns the relation between observers, those who at a given time can see, and the visible
objects they observe and conceive of.60 In 50:3 the dead are shown (root
h9w) to the living, the wicked see (root h9z) the righteous in 51:5, the
wicked waste away in the amazement over the visions (h9zwn) and the
sight (h9zt) as a part of their punishment (51:5-6).
The transformations that affect men after judgment are also expressed in visible categories. Gods transformative acts are described as
something visible to the observer. 50:2 describes the appearance (wrt)
of the dead. 61 The Syriac word zyw, splendor, shining, brightness, is a light-category (51:3; 5),62 as is nwhr, light (51:3). And according to 51:3, the shape of the faces of the righteous will be transformed. It changes into the light of their beauty (51:3).63
However, we should also note that several of the words in the passage may refer both to visible traits and to moral, or judicial status.
Importantly, this is the case for wrt, appearance. wrt can in some
contexts mean moral character.64 Moreover, yywt, beauty, may be
translated honorableness (51:3).65 Likewise, yqr, applied in 48:35,
means both glory and honor, and pyrwt, (moral) beauty, may
also be translated piety (48:35).66 The word p in 51:3 can be translated presence as well as face, suggesting that a broader spectre of
meaning may be involved when the word is used.67 Several of the cate_____________
59
60
61

62
63

64
65
66
67

Cf. Volz, Eschatologie, 46.

Note also the ability to hear (51:4) and the possibility that glory, also can be understood as something heard (48:49; 83:14). Cf. Smith, Thesaurus, 4027-8.
The Syriac word wrt, appearance, can also be translated as image, pattern or
form, and in some contexts ornament, decoration, as well as statue (Cf. Ex.
26:36; 27.16; 36:37; 38.18; 2 Sam 1:24; Sir 38.28; Rom 8.29 and further Smith, Thesaurus, 3386-7 for later usage in Syriac literature). Note that the German translators of 2
Baruch translate wrt Aussehen (following Violet, Apokalypsen, 275). The translation of the word must of course be decided by the context in which it occurs, but the
tendency in the use of the word indicates a focus on the surface level, the visible aspects and the form or shape of an object.
Smith, Dictionary, 114; Smith, Thesaurus, 116-7. Cf. 2 Chr 5:14; Job 40:10; Ps 21:5.
This tendency of the Syriac vocabulary of course corresponds to the choice of motifs
in 50:1-51:6, i.e. the motifs of resurrection, showing and recognition. All favour visible appearances.
Cf. Smith, Dictionary, 476.
Smith, Dictionary, 184; Smith, Thesaurus, 1534.
Smith, Thesaurus, 1533-4.
Smith, Dictionary, 25; Smith, Thesaurus, 278. Some words, like for instance dmwt,
shape, are difficult to translate. The concept of form, shape can be conceived
as a visible phenomenon, but the concept implied may also be a broader one. Proba-

Recognizing the Righteous Remnant?

331

gories in the passage may describe visible objects as well as the judicial
status of that object, and it is likely that both meanings could be alluded
to.
As some scholars have rightfully pointed out, the description of
resurrection, the showing of the dead to the living, and recognition in
50:1-4 is intimately connected to Gods judgment.68 Indeed, the scene
described in 50:1-51:6 is fruitfully understood as a judicial scene, both
in the sense that it presents visible proof at the judgment (50:1-4), and
that it attests to the fairness of the outcome of Gods verdict (51:1-6).
From this point of view, what can be seen must be relevant to the
judgment and to the universal justice that follow.69
What is there to be seen at the day of resurrection and after Gods
judgment? To answer this question, a closer look at Baruchs questions
to God in 49:1-3 is essential:
But yet again I will enquire from you, Mighty One, I will ask for mercy
from him who made everything. In what shape will they live, those who
live in your day? Or, how will their splendor remain, [the splendor] which
will be after that time? Will they then take this appearance of today and
put on these limbs of bondage which are now in evils, and in which evils
are fulfilled? Or will you perhaps transform these things which are in the
world, as also the world?

In this passage, Baruch asks God what shape (dmwt) the living will
take at the day of judgment. Baruch wonders whether their splendor
(zyw) will remain, whether they will take the appearances (wrt) of
today, or whether God will transform (root h9lp) everything. In the following I will read 50:1-51:6 as Gods answer to Baruch questions in
49:1-3 and focus on the information these passages together provides
for the interpreter regarding the appearances of mankind after resurrection.
God answers the first part of Baruchs question concerning the appearance of today (49:3) in 50:2-3. At the day of judgment, both the
living and the resurrected dead will appear unchanged in their appearance. The dead, who have not been changed by the earth, reappear
dressed (root lb)70 in their limbs of bondage (hdm dswr), suggest_____________
68
69
70

bly, it should be read in a creation context as a creation category, as well as a category that denotes form as a visible object.
E.g. Seim, Uddelig og kjnnsls, 93; Harrington, Afterlife Expectations, 29-30.
Cf. b. Sanh. 93b, where the Messiah judges by smell.
Alternatively: clothe themselves in. The clothing metaphor is commonly found in
Syriac literature (Cf. Sebastian P. Brock, Clothing Metaphors as a Means of Theological Expression in Syriac Tradition, in Typus, Symbol, Allegorie bei den stlischen
Vtern und ihren Parallelen im Mittelalter (ed. Margot Schmidt; Eichsttter Beitrge 4;
Regensburg: Friedrich Pustet, 1982), 11-38.

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Liv Ingeborg Lied

ing that they are shown to the living in an earthly body. God addresses
the last part of Baruchs question in 51:1-6. After judgment, God will
transform both those who were found guilty and those who were
found just. They will all appear in a transformed appearance. So, mankind will first put on the appearances of today, and afterwards God
will transform everything.
Will splendor remain after that day? This is Baruchs second question to God in 49:2. God answers this question in 51:1-3. According to
51:3, the splendor, as well as the glory and the beauty of the righteous,
will be glorified in the transformations. In other words, God affirms
that splendor will indeed remain, and even enhanced in the process of
transformation that follows the judgment.
Consequently, God provides confirmative answers to all of Baruch
questions: yes, their splendor will remain, yes, they will take this appearance of today and be dressed in limbs of bondage, and yes, they
will be transformed. As indicated by these answers to Baruchs question, 2 Baruch describes the shape of those who live as subject to a process of transformation.71 The first stage concerns the resurrection of the
dead among the living (50:2-3). The second stage concerns the process
that transforms the righteous and the wicked after judgment (51:1-6).
And one trait remains and intensifies: splendor.
So, what is the object of recognition in 2 Bar. 50:1-51:6? As pointed
out above, Stemberger held that the act of recognition had to take place
before the transformation process, since this process would blur the
identity of the resurrected dead. The intact earthly traits of individual
persons made recognition possible before these traits became subject to
transformation.
However, some tendencies in the passage may suggest otherwise.
Firstly, neither the questions of Baruch in 49:2-3 nor the answers of God
in 51:1-6 display a special concern for the body of the dead as a material, fleshly, entity.72 The earth gives back the dead (myt), not bodies
(50:2). Moreover, 49:3 applies the term limbs of bondage and not a
more common Syriac term for the fleshly body, as for instance pgr.
This does not mean that the dead are not resurrected in an earthly
body, indeed, I think they are. It shows, however, that the concern is for
the dead as intact entities, dressed in earthly bodies attesting to the degree of evils accomplished by the bodily members while in the cor_____________
71

72

Cf. e.g., Seim, Uddelig og kjnnsls, 98. I focus on the part of the transformation
that ends with the final punishment of the wicked in 51:6. The transformation of the
righteous continues in 51:7-13.
Bauckham, Fate of the Dead, 283.

Recognizing the Righteous Remnant?

333

ruptible world (49:3).73 This is a description of the restoration of the

dead as visible objects, as socially and judicially identifiable entities.74
Secondly, this passage of 2 Baruch does not describe the final destiny of individuals, but tells the story of the opposing groups of the
wicked and the righteous. The relationship between the righteous
those who know and the wicked the ignorant is an important
issue in the entire episode (2 Bar. 47-51), and this issue structures the
discussion also in 50:1-51:6. Although we may imagine that the dead
are resurrected and judged one by one, it is their group belonging, their
type, and collective judicial status, not their individuality, which is the
focus of the passage.75 In this sense, the division between the righteous
and the wicked in 2 Bar. 50:1-51:6 resembles the division between sheep
and goats in Matt 25:31-46.76
Thirdly, the transformation process does not change a recognizable
identity into a blurred identity. In contrast, ambiguous appearances
turn unambiguous and true, and hidden traits become revealed. During the abnormal order of the end time, the wicked were visibly elevated (51:1) while the righteous were lowly, hidden and displaced
(51:5). In this period the true judicial statuses of the groups conflicted
with their apparent social standing (48:35). To the wicked majority who
could not see their opponents as they really were, the splendor of the
righteous was hidden by their inferior appearance (48:36). As suggested earlier, the transformation of the wicked and the righteous in
_____________
73

74
75

76

Cf. in particular 2 Bar. 83:1-3: For the Most High will certainly hasten his times, and
he will make his seasons come. And he will surely judge those who are in his world,
and he will inquire into everything openly (root r): into all their works which were
sins (root h9t). And he will certainly examine the hidden (root ks) thoughts and all
that is laid down in the inner chambers (twwn) of all the members (hdm) of man.
And he will uncover (root gl) them to everyone coming out (root npq), with blame.
Cf. further Rom 6:13. Possibly, dh9yw myt (50:3) could be rendered that the dead
have lived. Violet suggested the following reading in his German translation:
Denn es kommt dann darauf an, die Leben, zu zeigen, da die Toten (schon einmal)
gelebt haben und da die gekommen sind, welche dahingegangen waren (Apokalypsen, 275). If this is correct, lived life may be interpreted as a visible quality of the
dead.
Cf. in particular the position of Maud Gleason, Making Men: Sophists and Selfpresentation in Ancient Rome (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995).
Cf. Judg 13 where Menoah and his wife do not recognize the man that comes to
them as the angel he is, the people of Sodom that do not understand that the men at
Lots house are angels (Gen 19). Cf. also the recognition of Samuel due to his robe,
the linen ephod he wore in the temple (1 Sam 2:18), and the non-recognition of Saul
due to his loss of power (L.A.B. 64). The office, position or statuses of Samuel and
Saul are the objects of recognition in these passages. Note how Joseph is unable to
recognize Aseneth in Jos. Asen. 19 because her status, and consequently her appearance, has changed due to her conversion.
Cf. also 4 Ezra 7:37.

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Liv Ingeborg Lied

51:1-6 implies an intensification of their basic characteristics of evil and

splendor. However, it also implies a correction of the relationship between true appearance and true social status. The appearance of the
righteous is no longer paradoxically splendorous (real) and lowly (delusive). After judgment, their magnificence corresponds to their glorious position. Likewise, the wicked are no longer inconsistently elevated
(delusive) and evil (real). They become evil and suppressed.
A fourth aspect also suggests a different reading of the passage. As
pointed out above, Baruch is concerned with the continuity of splendor.
He asks whether splendor will remain (root qw) (49:2).77 Gods answer
suggested that splendor would remain at resurrection and even be
intensified by the transformations. This implies that splendor already
characterizes the righteous in life,78 that splendor will remain their central characteristic after resurrection and that splendor will even become
more intense after judgment. What about the wicked? In 51:2 we read:
For the shape of those who now act wickedly will be made more evil
than it is (by mn m dytyh), (). Just like splendor prevails in the
righteous (51:3), evil endures and intensify in the wicked. The transformation process in this manner leaves no doubt about the real identities and positions of the righteous and the wicked.
So, on earth, all men, wicked and righteous, appear in limbs of
bondage. This is common to all, and is the necessary way of being in
the corruptible world. At the day of Gods intervention, the living and
the resurrected dead will appear in earthly bodies, and their limbs of
bondage will attest to their varying degrees of involvement with corruptibility.79 Moreover, their main characteristics, splendor or evil, will
display their group belonging and judicial status. In this sense, the
dead, as well as the living, appear as entities relevant to judgment.
Consequently, the object of recognition in this passage of 2 Baruch is
the judicial status of man as this status at a given time is visible to the
observer in the appearances of righteous and wicked men. To those
who know, the righteous who recognize each other in 50:4, splendor is
visible in the appearance of the members of the group and makes recognition possible. Due to their knowledge, those who know can see
_____________
77
78

79

Note that the choice between wickedness and righteousness must be made before
death (51:3-4). In a sense, it is the outcome of the choice that is visible.
Cf. 1 Cor 15:40; Hist. Rech. 4:1-2; 5:4; 7:10; 12:3; Jos. Asen. 6:1-5; 14:9; 19. Cf. W.D.
Davies, Paul and Rabbinic Judaism: Some Rabbinic Elements in Pauline Theology (Philadelphia, Pa.: Fortress Press, 1980), 319 for further examples. Cf. also Matthias Augustin, Der schne Mensch im Alten Testament und im hellenistischen Judentum (BEAT(AJ) 3;
Frankfurt am Main: Verlag Peter Lang, 1983), 213-214.
Although everyone sins and needs absolution, God will save the righteous (48:12-24;
83:1-3; 85:15).

Recognizing the Righteous Remnant?

335

behind the association of bodily members with the corruptible world,

and to the hidden glory, beauty, and splendor at the day of resurrection. The ignorant, on the other hand, do not recognize real evil and
real splendor until their own appearances turn increasingly horrible,
and the character of their opponents become unambiguously magnificent after God has transformed everything.

Concluding Remarks:
Recognizing the Righteous Remnant
The above interpretation of the object of recognition and the functions
of the recognition motif in 2 Baruch suggests that the use of the motif
can fruitfully be understood within the context of resurrection, judgment and transformation in 2 Bar. 50:1-51.6, as well as with reference to
the general discourse of justice for the righteous in 2 Bar. 47-52. This
description of the destiny of the righteous and the wicked, serves to
highlight the final rehabilitation of the remnant of end time and ensures its everlasting triumph. The use of the recognition motif highlights the unjust and misleading character of the present, corruptible
world and underscores that once, when God has delivered his verdict,
the unfairness of the present world will be universally acknowledged.
Since the appearances of men give away their judicial status, there will
be no doubt that justice has been done at Gods judgment. After the
judgment, it will be obvious to all that the wicked deserve to go under
together with the corruptible world. In fact, they are intrinsically part
of that world. Likewise, it will be beyond doubt that the splendorous,
beautiful, and glorious members of the group of the righteous are foreign to the corruptible world. Those who know are similar to, possibly of the same type as, the angels of the heavenly world they are about
to enter (51:5-13).80 Their appearance undeniably proves that they belong to the heavenly world of God.

_____________
80

John J. Collins has made me aware of the descriptions of the angels as those who
have knowledge in The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4Q403 24 and 31). Possibly, the
term those who know in 2 Bar. 50:4 indicates the angelic type of the righteous. This
deserves closer scrutiny.

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Indices
Index of References

Index of References
Bible
Old Testament
Genesis
1
1:26

2:23
3:21
6:1-6
19
27:23
28:10-15
31:32
32
37:32-33
38:26
39:20
42
42:7-8

31
156, 258, 261,
263
103, 260
92, 117, 125,
222
92
295
21
220, 333
314
277
314
281
314
312, 314
283
312
314

Exodus
26:36
27:16
36:37
38:18

330
330
330
330

Deuteronomy
33:2

180

2
2:7

33:5
33:9

297
314

Judges
6:11-24
13

312
312, 333

1 Samuel
2:18
4:9
28

333
240
312

2 Samuel
1:24

330

1 Kings
17:8-16
17:17-24
18:46

42
42
42

2 Kings
2
2:9
2:11

43
42
46

2 Chronicles
5:14

330

Nehemiah
10:29
15:12

297
297

368
Job
17:16
40:10
Psalms
8:5
15:8-10
15:10
19.8
21
21:5
68:19
110
110:1
Proverbs
19:22

Indices

New Testament
292
330

294
19
19
264
294
330
26
26
26, 41
286

Isaiah
26:19
29:18
41:14
53:2

308
329
308
77, 312

Ezekiel
1:5-25
37:12-14
4048

217
325
299

Daniel
3:92
7:13-14
10:21
12
12:2
12:3

34
26
52
291, 304
294, 325
176

Zechariah
14:5

180

Matthew
3:7
3:9
5:5
7:19
9:11
9:13-15
13:24-43
13:43
16:27
17:2
18:1-6
23:32
25:31-46
26:41
28:9-10
28:16-20

210
220
153
228
210
69
176
176
180
217, 218
69
210
333
153
47
24, 46, 47

Mark
2:5
5:21-24
5:35-43
6:14
6:7-13
6:30
6:30-44
8:1-10
8:27
8:29
8:38
9:2
9:9
9:13
9:41
10:45
12:25
12:35
13:21
14:3-9

45
42
42
42
49
49
42
42
42
48
35
217
43
42
48
246
38, 301
41, 49
49
20

369

Index of References

14:28
14:61-62
15
15:32
15.39
16:6
16:7
16:8
Luke
11:36
12:8-9
13:32
14:14
20
20:27-39
21:19
22:29
22:69
23:49
23:53
24

47
41
49
49
57
41
47
75

24:13-35
24:16
24:30
24:36-43
24:39-41
24:41-43
24:44
24:50-51

191
35
210
288
38
38
239
286
34
20
20
19, 20, 26, 47,
312
47
162
21
20
22
21
21
24

John
1:23
2:34
2:41-52
6:40
6:53
7:34
7:36-50
8:56
8:57

178
288
68
155
163
210, 228
20
77
77

9:23-27
9:26
9:28-36
9:29
9:51
11:43
12:27
14:2
15:15
17:15
17:24
20:11-18
20:25-29
20:26-29
21:9-13
21:9-14
21:12-14

35
35
35
34, 217
37
200
283
277
276, 277
281
281
47, 312
22
47
47
47
21

Acts
1
1:2-8
1:9
1:9-11
2:24-31
2:31
2:32-36
2:33
67
6:15
7:55
7:55-59
9:3-9
13:34-37
13:36
22:6
22:6-9
22:6-11
22:8
23:6-8
24:5-6
26:12-18
26:19

22, 25, 47
27
26
24
19, 54
19
26
24, 28
35
33, 34
35
34
33, 47
54
19
120
120
33, 47
33
21
210
33, 47
33

370
Romans
1:11
1:24
6
6:1-11
6:4
6:6
6:12
6:13
6:16
7:4
7:5
7:7-25
7:18
7:22
7:22-23
7:24
7:25
8
8:1-4
8:1-13
8:3
8:3-5
8:8
8:8-9
8:9
8:9-10
8:9-11
8:9-13
8:10
8:11
8:11-13
8:12-13
8:13
8:15-17
8:17
8:19-22
8:23
8:29
8:38
12:1

Indices

275
155
202, 203
142, 201
159
142, 144, 155
155
252, 333
251
155
155
140
155
81
12, 192
155
155
146
141
123, 140
142
155
154
157
155
146
142
10, 140, 141
141-45
134, 141-43,
146
143
155
143, 154, 155
276
276, 286
127
144
330
278, 281
287

12:2
13:14
1 Corinthians
1:18
1:20
1:20-23
1:23
1:26
2:16-3:3
3:16
4
4:5
5:5
5:16
6
6:9-11
6:13
6:15
7:29
8
10:16
10:16-17
11:3-12
11:19
11:24-27
12:12-27
14
14:40
14:41
15

15:5-9
15:12
15:13-21

130
155

170
117
118
119
155
156
153
102
191
155
277
100
154
155
153
125
100, 114
165
155
32
159
155
155
102
32, 124
32
7, 9, 10, 16, 17,
29-31, 84, 86,
88-90, 92, 94,
95, 100-103,
105, 106, 109,
114, 122-24,
139, 146, 148,
149, 155, 287,
320
47
89, 90, 113
154

Index of References

15:16-19
15:18
15:20
15:20-28
15:22
15:23-28
15:26
15:28
15:32
15:35

15:35-49
15:35-57
15:36
15:36-37
15:36-44
15:37
15:38
15:38-41
15:39
15:40
15:40-41
15:41
15:42-43
15:44

15:44-46
15:45
15:45-49
15:47
15:47-49
15:49
15:50

15:50-55
15:51

112
90
90
124, 125, 127
125
29
116
127
115, 154
30, 90, 113,
120, 157, 187,
204
124-26, 137
30, 170
115
90
51, 124, 125
116
118, 119
30, 31
90, 155
204, 334
91
125
92
117, 118, 124,
164, 169, 191,
205
117, 125
117, 156
157
125
125
93, 202
11, 31, 90, 115,
125, 126, 128,
148, 153, 154,
158, 161, 162,
165, 166, 204
124-26
90, 93, 94,
109, 125, 325

15:51-52
15:51-53
15:52
15:52-53
15:53
15:53-54
15:54
2 Corinthians
1:17
1:22
2:14-4:18
2:14-5:10
2:15
34
3:16
3:17
3:18
4
4:6
4:7
4:7-15
4:7-5:10
4:8-9
4:10
4:10-11
4:13
4:14
4:16
4:16-5:4
4:17
4:17-5:10
4:18
5:1-2
5:1-4
5:1-10

371
90, 112, 120,
126, 159
119
10, 109, 125
112
109, 149, 153,
154, 160
118, 125, 126,
128, 191
12

155
138
123, 130
10
170
137, 138, 146
137
134
5, 137, 138,
218
138, 140
137, 139
139
140
139
139
138, 154, 155
139
139
139, 159
138, 143, 192
12, 192
140
140
127
192
165
88, 103, 123,
130, 139

372
5:4

Indices

12:5
12:6
12:7
12:7-10
12:9
12:11

140, 160, 191,

293
154
129, 138, 139
112
252
287
155
96-98
96
18, 84, 86, 89,
93-96, 98, 99,
101-105
96, 98, 102
279
9, 95
99-104
88, 99, 106
96-98, 100,
279
278
103
99, 100
100, 103, 104,
283
96, 102
96, 105
98, 103
87
103, 153
97

Galatians
1:15-16
2:20
3:2
3:27
3:29
4:7
5:19-21
5:24
5:24-25

47
103, 251
130
202
276
276
154
146
145

5:4-5
5:5
5:17
6:15
6:16
7:15
1013
1112
12

12:1
12:1-4
12:1-7
12:2
12:2-3
12:2-4
12:2-5
12:2-7
12:3
12:4

6:7
6:17

155
136

Ephesians
2:2
2:6
2:14
3
3:8
3:14-16
3:16
4:22-24
5:30
6:10
6:12
6:13

279
202
155
282
279
277
81
113
165
279
265
279

Philippians
1:21
1:22-23
1:25
3
3:2
3:2-21
3:4-12
3:6
3:7-8
3:7-10
3:8
3:8-9
3:8-10
3:8-12
3:9
3:10

3:11
3:12
3:12-14
3:12-17
3:13-14

196
88, 103
132
130, 136, 146
135
123, 130
130, 131
135
131-33, 136
138
131, 133, 134
133
133, 138
136
133, 135
133-36, 138,
140, 145, 146,
154
131-33, 136
131-34, 138,
144
133
131
131

373

Index of References

3:14
3:15-16
3:17
3:20-21
3:21
4:6
5:1
8:1-13

133, 135
131
131
132
10, 132, 13537, 154
135
135
135

Colossians
1:22
2:12
2:20
3:9-10

155, 166
159
200
113

1 Thessalonians
2:8
3:13
4:15

275
180
325

1 Timothy
1:4
3:16
4:7-8
6:16

150
155
200
150

2 Timothy
1:3-5
2:17-18
3:5

275
147
275

Titus
1:2
1:12

228
210

Hebrews
4:14
5:14
12:23

279
275
21

1 Peter

2:4
2:5
2:16
2:18-20
3:19
3:20
5:4

252
252
251
239
21
21
294

Revelation
2:10
3:5
3:11

294
293
294

Apocrypha
Tobit
5:4-5

312

Wisdom of Solomon
4:7-9
59
5:15-16
294
Sirach
38:28
48:9

330
36

2 Maccabees
2:4-8
7
7:1-42
7:21

325
292
241
241

Pseudepigrapha
1 Enoch
1:9
15
49.4
51:1-2

180
301
176
325

374

Indices

62:15-16
104.2
104:2-6

294
176
291

2 Baruch
386
3:2
5:5
6:8-10
10:3
11:6-7
12:1-13:2
13:11-14:3
13:3
1415
21:12-25
21:23
21:23-25
25:2-4
28:1
29:8
30:1-5
30:2
31:1
31:1-34:1
33:1-3
33:2-3
3540
36:1-11
36:1-37:1
36:10-11
36:11
39:7-40:4
42:7-8
42:8
4344
44:1
44:1-15
44:1-45:2
44:9-15
45:1-46:3
45:1-46:7

316
327
327
325
327
325
316
316
327
324
324
325
316
326
326
325
316, 324
326
327
326
327
327
322
317
325
316
317, 324
317
325
324, 325
316
327
324
326
316
326
327

46:7
4751
4752
47:1-2
48
48:2-24
48:12-24
48:23
48:30
48:31
48:31-36
48:31-51:16
48:33
48:34
48:35
48:35-36
48:36
48:37-38
48:37-41
48:37-51:6
48:38
48:38-43
48:39
48:40
48:41
48:42-47
48:42-49:3
48:46
48:48-50
48:48-51:6
48:49
4951
49:1-3
49:2
49:2-3
49:3
50:1
50:1-3
50:1-4
50:1-5

327
333
15, 311, 31517, 321, 335
317
328
317
334
322
327
322
317, 321-25
317
324-26
323
330, 333
322
322, 328, 333
317
317
317, 321
326
317
317
329
317
317
317
325
326
318
330
294
331
332, 334
332
328, 331-33
318, 326
320
317-22, 32429, 331
320

375

Index of References

50:1-51:3
50:1-51:6

50:1-51:16
50:2
50:2-3
50:3
50:4

51:1
51:1-3
51:1-6

51:2
51:3
51:4
51:5
51:5-6
51:5-13
51:6
51:7-13
51:7-16
51:10
51:11
51:13
51:13-16
51:17-52:7
55:1
57:1-2
57:2
70:9-72:6
71:1-75:8

29
311-15, 318,
320-25, 329,
331-33, 335
326
314, 318, 324,
330, 332
324, 325, 331,
332
314, 319, 322,
330, 333
314, 315, 320,
321, 324-28,
334, 335
315, 318, 328,
333
323, 332
314, 321, 325,
328, 331, 332,
334
315, 328, 334
294, 314, 322,
328, 330, 332, 334
322, 326, 330
29, 315, 330,
333
329, 330
335
318, 332
332
15, 321
29
29
29, 318, 321,
327
318
318
317
326
324
317
326

7275
72:1-73:2
72:2
75:1-8
75:7-8
76:1-77:10
76:2
76:4-5
76:5-87:1
77:1-6
78:5
78:18
82:1-9
82:2
8385
83:1-3
83:2-3
83:7
83:14
84:1
85:10-15
85:15

317
316
326
316
322, 324, 326
327
327
326
326
327
327
317
323
326
316
333, 334
176
324
330
324, 327
324
334

2 Enoch
22:8
46.4

293
176

3 Baruch
4:16

295

4 Baruch
3:18-19

325

4 Ezra
5:1-13
7:32
7:37
7:37-44
13:25-38

326
325
333
329
317

4 Maccabees
8:1-17:6

241

376

Indices

14:11-16:25
17:2-18

242
239

Apocalypse of Abraham
13:14
293
History of the Rechabites
4:1-2
334
5:4
334
7:10
334
12:3
334
Joseph and Asenath
6:1-5
14:9
1819
19

334
334
312
333, 334

Jubilees
23:31

292

Lives of the Prophets

2:11

325

Sibylline Oracles
3:796-808

326

Testament of Job
18.4
27.2-5

239
239

Qumran
1QH
4:14-15
5:29
11
12:22-23
27:25

295
308
298
294
294

1QHa
5
7:7
1017
11:19-21
11:23-25
12:5
12:24-25
13:4
14:34
19
19:3-14
19:12
20:4-11
25:35-26:10

303
304
303
296, 303
304
308
304
309
308
307, 308
304
308
303
305

1QS
2:22-23
3:9-10
3:15
4
4:6-8
8:5-6
9:3-5
9:3-6
11:2-7
11:3
11:7-8
11:8

295
302
302
295, 296
293
298
298
298
302
294
296
297

1QSa
2:3-9

301

4Q174
1:6

298

4Q400
1

299

4Q403
24
31

335
335

377

Index of References

4Q427 7

305

4Q431

305

4Q471b

305

4Q491

306

4Q491c

305

4Q504
8:4-6

295

4QpPsa
3:1-2
CD
3:20
4:18
7:5-6
14:13

295
320

Qohelet Midrash
1:4

320

Early Christian and

Jewish Writings
Ascension of Isaiah
VIII.21

278

Acts of Philip
3.5-9
8
12
14:4
14:5
MS V 8.4 [95]
MS V 15.15-16

212, 213
213
213
65
65
235
239

Acts of Andrew
44.9-16

257

Acts of John
6061
8889

213
211

295

295
297
295, 301
297

Talmud
b. Sanh.
90b
91ab
91b
93b

Gen R.
20:12
95

320
161
320
331

Midrash
Deut. R.
11:3

295, 296

Eccl. R.
1:4.2

320

Acts of Paul and Thecla

3
34
40
235
Acts of Thomas
3038
4250
6281
114

209
210
210
235

378

Indices

Acts of Andrew and Matthias

5
212
17
212
18
212
33
212
Acts of Peter
4
912
14
20
2021
21
Acts of Thomas
3133
3941
6881

28 A
29 A
30 A
32 A

208
208
208
209

Apocryphon of Adam
66.14-25
156
210
213
210, 211
64
63, 212
64

213
213
213

Apocalypse of Daniel
35
325
Apocalypse of Paul
18:3-22

69

Apocalypse of Peter
NHC VII.3
710
7.1-2 E
8.1-4 E
8.5-10 E
9.1-2 E
9.3 E
9.4 E
9.5-7 E
10.2-4 E
11.1-5 E
11.8-9 E
12.1-3 E
22 A
26 A
27 A

233
161
208
208
208
208
208
208
208
209
209
209
209
208
208
208

Apocryphon of John
NHC II 14
19.4-33
NHC II.23.26-33

171
156
212

Athenagoras
Resurrection
18

149

Clement
Exhortation to the Greeks
X.84
70
Paedagogus
I.5
70
I.6
70
Protreptikos
1.3.1
261
1.4.3
261
1.4.5
261
1.8.4
261, 268
4.59.2
260
10.91.1
264
10.92.2
268
10.95.3
261
10.97.2
261
10.103.3
268
11.113.2
264
11.114.1
264
11.117.4
265
12.118.1-4
263
12.118.5-120.1
263
12.120.4-5
264
12.122.4
263, 264

Index of References

Stromateis
2.9.2
267
2.110.1
265
2.111.3-4
266
2.112.1-2
266
2.113.2
266
2.114.3-6
267
2.116.3-117.1
267
6.42.2
264
Treatise on Resurrection
45.24
149
Didymus the Blind
Fr. in Gen.63

233

Ep. apost.
36

176

Hypostasis of the Archons

88.11-17
156
Letters of Ammonas
G I.4
G. I.1
G II.1-3
G II.2
G II.3
G III.1
G IV
G IV.4
G IV.5
G IV.6
G IV.9
GV
G VI.2
G VI.3
G VII.2
G VII.3
G VII.5-6
G VIII.2
I
I.1

283
280
284
279, 281, 284
284
280-83
278, 280
280, 285
280
280
281, 283, 285
285
281, 284
284
285
282
285
271
286
277, 286

I.2
I.3
II.1-3
II.2
II.2-3
III
III.2
III.3
III.3-4
III.4
IV.1
IX.1
IX.2
IX.3-4
IX.4
IX.4-5
IX.5
V
V.1
V.2
V.3
VI.1
VI.2
VI.3
VII.1
VII.1-2
VII.1-3
VII.2
VIII.1
VIII.2
X.1
X.1-2
X.2
X.3
X.4
XI.3
XII.1
XII.3
XII.4
XIII

379
283, 286
283
284
279, 281, 284
280
286
281, 284
284, 286
280
282, 284
275-77, 280-83
280
280
275
280, 285
280
280
283
275
275
284
277, 280, 282,
283
275, 282
286
276, 277, 281
278
285
277, 280
283
280, 281, 283,
285
278
285
280, 285
280, 284
287
280, 284
280
276
282, 283
286

380

Indices

XIII.1-5
XIII.2
XIII.3
XIII.4
XIII.5
XIII.5-6
XIII.6-11
XIII.8
XIII.10

285
285
282
283
280, 283
285
283
278, 284, 287
286

Letters of Antony
I.22
I.24
I.29
I.45
I.71
I.71
II.7-8
II.22-23
II.26-30
III.3
III.3-5
III.24-25
III.35
IV.2-3
IV.4-12
IV.12-13
IV.13
V.1-2
V.8
V.27-28
VI.16
VI.75-76
VI.91
VI.99
VI.115
VII.l-s
VII.30
VII.34
VII.45

277
286
286
280
276
288
277
288
277
277
276
288
280
276
277
277
280
276
280
288
280
278
288
280
280
285
288
288
277

Epiphanius
Pan.
2.9.3
31.7.6-7
64.70
64.70.5-17

157
169
161
161

Epistle to Barnabas
16.7

252

Eusebius
Hist. Eccl.
5.1.3-5.1.63
5.1.17
5.1.19
5.1.36
5.1.37
5.1.41
5.1.53
5.1.55
5.2.4

240
238, 240
238, 240
238
238
246
238
241
239

Evagrius
Foundations
1
Praktikos
32
Vices
3

286
286
286

Excerpts from Theodotus

23
172, 175
3
176
7.5
186
21
179, 185
2122
181
31
183
32.1
178
3536
180, 181
61.5-8
186
64
180
67.173.3
250

381

Index of References

67.3
68
73.1
77.2
77.3
7980
79
80.1-2
83
104
107

186
177, 179, 257
251
251
250, 251
175, 177
257
186
268
175
175

Gospel of Judas
33:6-7
33:18-23
34:2-35:5
36:11-19
40:25-26
55:15-20

68
67
69
68
68
68

Gospel of Philip
6
22
48
53.23-35
56.15-19
56.2657.8
56.3457.1
57.2
57.9-22
57.10
57.12
57.13
58.15-17
64.22-27
66.16-20
67.9-27
68
73.1-4

177
173
173
151
166
163
166
166
164
166
166
166
163
167
166
167
181
166

Gospel of the Savior

105.11-14

77

107:5-60
107.39-48
107.57-60
108.12-16
108.45-49
108.59-64
109.26-33

73
76
59
76
76
76
76

Gospel of Thomas
4
29
105
114

69
173
178
235, 268

Gregory of Nazianzus
Oration
26.10-11
81
Gregory of Nyssa
Vita Macrinae
1

236

Heracleon
frag 15
frag 5

186
178

Hermas
Sim.
4.2

176

Ignatius
Pol.
3:1

238, 239

Infancy Gospel of Thomas

8:1
68
Irenaeus
Adversus Haereses
1.1
1.1-8
1.2

149
171
150

382
1.2.5-6
1.2.6
1.4.1
1.4.5
1.5.6
1.6.1
1.6.1-2
1.6.2
1.7.1
1.7.5
1.8.1
1.9.4
1.13.6
1.13.9
1.21.1
1.21.3
1.24.6
1.30.5
1.30.13
2.19.4
3.8.2
3.15.1
3.16.6-8
3.25.7
4.18.5
5
V.I.1
5.2.2
5.2.2-3
5.2.3
5.3
5.3.3
5.6
5.6.1
5.6.2
5.9
5.9.1
5.9.1-3
5.9.4
5.9-14
5.10

Indices

183
180
182
180
174, 175, 177
177, 186
156
173
180, 185, 186
156, 177, 179,
186
150
150, 158
180
180
180
180
176
162
162
177
254
150
152
167
165
150
78
149
165
153
153
153
156
156
153
156
148, 158, 162
153
153, 162
148, 152
154

5.10.1
5.10.2
5.11
5.11.1
5.12
5.12.2
5.12.3
5.13.2
5.13.3
5.13.4
5.13.5
5.14.1
5.14.3
5.14.4
5.26.2
5.28.2
5.31.1
5.31.2
5.33-36
5.35.2
6.29.36
22.4
22.5
22.6

162
149, 157
154
154
156
156
154
158
154
154
154, 162
154
149, 155, 166
166
167
149
149, 157
155
157
149
171
78
78
77

John Chrysostom
Life of Olympias
3

236

Jos.Ant.
4.8.48
9.2.2

36
36

Justin Martyr
1 Apol
14.1
26.1-4
56.1-5
58.2-3
2 Apol
5
6

249
252
252
252
249
255

383

Index of References

Dial.
80.5

147

Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum

23:13
320
26:4
325
62:9
312, 320
64
312, 333
69:2
320
Martyrdom of Crispina
3
246
Martyrdom of Pionius
20
238
Martyrdom of Polycarp
12:1
34
Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and
Felicitas
7
246
10.7-13
238
61 V i 19-21
240
72 R i 30-31
240
72 R i 4-6
240
74V ii 29-31
243
84 R ii
244
Martyrs of Lyons and Vienne
28
253
On the Origin of the World
114.36116.8
156
Origen
Contra Celsum
II.64
IV.15
VI.77
VII.32

74
72
72
194

Exhortation
XIII
In Joh.
6.111
Princ
II.10.3
Philip of Side
Carnis resurrectio
42

279
178
191

147

Second Treatise of Great Seth

VII.2 65.24-31
233
Secret Revelation of John
3.9-16
65
16.117.63
260
23.4
253
23.18-31
253
26.1-31
262
Tatian
Oration to Greeks
13
15
18

252
258
258

Teachings of Silvanus
NHC VII.4
233
93.9-15
233
131.5-8
233
Tertullian
de Anima
56
Apol.
21
Carn. Chr.
1
On the Resurrection
2.2
2.12

63
25
162
157, 164
147, 148

384
3.5
3.6
4.1
8
10
15
19.6
2021
21.2
21.3
22
22.11
2325
24.7
25.6
40.1
41
42.1
42.6-9
42.12-13
46
48
4850
50.5
57-61
5763
63.8
On the Soul
56

Indices

167
158
158
159
167
159
151, 164
158
159
159
158
167
159
167
159
159
159
160
161
165
157
158
148, 157
165
61
161
159
61

Thunder, Perfect Mind

17.19-32
79
Treatise on Resurrection
NHC I,4
147
40.27-28
201
44
186
44.6
200
44.8-9
188
45.14-15
191
45.19-22
191
45.24-28
202

45.27
45.30-31
45.36
45.3946.2
45.40
45.48-46.2
46.7-8
46.21-24
47.1-8
47.2-3
47.3
47.4-5
47.5-8
47.8
47.17-22
47.21-22
47.22
47.24
47.31-36
47.34-35
47.36-37
47.3848.6
47.3848.1
47.38
48.3-4
48.4
48.10-11
48.10-13
48.14
48.16
48.31
48.3849.6
49.6-7
49.7
49.11-12
49.11-13
49.13-16
49.16
49.34-37
49:16-34
50.17-18

197
202
197
190-92
200
198
189
192
189
188
200
199
191
197
194
197
197
197
199
189, 190
199
190
189
190
188
200
200
188
190
200
200
191
193
200
189
201
200
200
199
200
200

385

Index of References

Tripartite Tractate
87
104
105
107
118
118-19
124-25
127
128
132

180
174, 175
175, 178
174, 175
176, 177
170, 175
184
184
180
184

Val. Exp.
37

177

Vita Antonii
6566
33.18-21

279
59

Classical
Apeleius
Metamorphoses
III.24

222

Appian
Appian Roman History, The Civil
Wars
2.106
44
Aristotle
De Generatione
I.4, 319b10-18
Gen.anim.
737a1-9
766b27-34
Nichomachean Ethics
1117b28

126
61
61
118

Athanasius
Inc.
31.4

191

Cassius Dio
56.31.2-43.1

55

Cicero
De divinatione
II.xiii
Letters to Atticus
12.45.2
Atticus 13.28.3
Atticus 13.44.1
de Republica
2.20

69
44
44
44
48

Dio Cassius
Roman History
44.4.4
44.6.4

44
44

Diodorus Siculus
4.38.5

53

Diog. Laert.
8.29

179

Diogn.
6.1-4

176

Dionysius
Ant.Rom.
2.56.2-7
2.56.2
2.56.3
2.56.6
2.63.3-4
2.63.4

49
49
49
49
50
49

386
Epictetus
Discourses
2.18.14
Galen
Ad Gaurum
35.3-5
Adv. Lycum
7.3
The Mixtures
I.2.522-23
I.2.577-598
de plac. Hipp. et Plat.
6.6.32
8.4.5
On Marasmus
61

Indices

260

179
179
61
61
179
179

Herodian
Severus
4:1-2

53

Hesiod
Works and Days
276-278

31

Homer
Iliad
5.128
Livy
1.16.1
1.16.1-8
1.16.3
1.16.5-7
Ovid
Metamorphoses
I.1
I.76-88
I.381-415
I.411

264

45, 46
45
46
46

217
222
222
222

VI.139-45
14.805-828
14.810-811
15.745-870
15.746-751
15.760-761
15.780-842
15.781-782
15.799-800
15.803-808
15.808-819
15.816-28
15.819-839
15.840-842
15.843-850
15.843-846

222
47
48
51
52
52
52
52
52
52
52
48
52
52
53
54

Parmenides
28 B 1-2
28 B 2
28 B 3
28 B 6
28 B 7
28 B 8.16

110
110
110
110
110
110

Philo
On Creation
69
Vit. Mos.
2.288
Quaest. in Exod.
1.8
Spec. Leg.
3.172
Virt.
21
Plato
Cratylus
432c
Parmenides
156 d-e

261
127
233
243
236

83
111

387

Index of References

Republic
508 b-e
509b
Symposium
210
210a
210d
211e
213c
Plutarch
Lives, Numa
22.2

119
119
121
121
121
121
122

54

22.4-5
Lives, Romulus
27.5
27.5-8
28.1-3
28.2
28.6-7
Suetonius
Lives of the Caesars
76.1
Divus Augustus
2.100

54
50
51
50
51
51

44
55, 56

388

Indices

Index of Modern Authors

Index of Modern Authors

Aalen, S. 337
Adamik, T. 213, 337
Alexander, P. 299, 300, 306, 337
Alsup, J. E. 27, 33, 34, 46, 48, 337
Amador, J. D. H. 96, 337
Amsler, F. 339
Anderson, G. A. 295, 337
Antn, A. M. 337
Arai, S. 337
Arnold, R. C. D. 303, 306, 337
Arras, V. 275, 337
Asad, T. 337
Ashbrook Harvey, S. 232, 235
Asher, J. R. 29-32, 113, 118, 120,
337
Atran, S. 214-15, 337, 357
Attridge, H. A. 187-88, 358
Augustin, M. 334, 338
Aune, D. E. 46, 209, 338, 343
Avemarie, F. 23, 26, 308, 344, 354,
366
Avery-Peck, A. J. 291, 342
Badiou, A. 120-21, 338
Bakhtin, M. 207, 338-39, 362
Bakke, O. M. 63, 69, 338
Barc, B. 188, 353
Barclay, J. M. G. 254, 345
Barnard, L. W. 249, 338
Barns, J. W. B. 232, 240, 252, 359
Barresi, J. 84-89, 355
Barrett, J. L. 89, 214-16, 338
Barth, K. 88, 89, 338
Bauckham, R. 319-20, 332, 338
Beard, M. 53, 54, 339
Bell, C. 256, 339
Bellefontaine, A. de 274, 358

Bering, J. M. 225, 339

Berrong, R. M. 207, 339
Betz, H. D. 202, 343
Bickermann, E. 53, 55, 339
Bieringer, R. 319, 349
Bogaert, P.-M. 318-20, 324-27, 339
Botha, J. E. 365
Bourdieu, P. 60, 339
Bouvier, B. 235, 239, 339
Bovon, F. 63, 65, 212, 235, 239,
339, 355
Boyarin, D. 92, 114-15, 339
Boyer, P. 213-16, 339
Brady, M. 361
Braidotti, R. 9, 86-88, 91, 94, 106,
339
Brakke, D. 265, 272-73, 340, 360
Brass, M. 226, 340
Bremmer, J. N. 88, 103, 208-9, 21213, 224, 337, 340, 343, 353,
355, 364
Brock, S. P. 202, 212, 232, 235, 238,
243-44, 246-47, 331, 340, 355
Brooke, G. J. 298, 308-9, 340
Brown, P. 271
Brown, R. E. 318
Brox, N. 340
Bruce, F. F. 89
Brunner Ungricht, G. 222, 224, 341
Buchholz, D. D. 209, 341
Budge, E. A. 209, 341
Buell, D. K. 13, 56, 249-50, 252,
254, 256, 258, 260, 262, 264-66,
268, 270, 341
Bultmann, R. 91-93, 95, 97, 101-3,
106, 341
Buraselis, K. 43, 44, 48, 341

Index of Modern Authors

Burkert, W. 209, 341

Burnet, J. 341
Butterworth, G. W. 70, 260, 341
Bynum, C. W. 4, 62, 84, 152, 165,
187, 196, 341
Byrne, R. W. 225-26, 341
Camelot, P. Th. 341
Camplani, A. 360
Cannadine, D. 55, 359
Carlsson, L. 97, 98, 102, 341
Carse, J. P. 60, 342
Cartlidge, D. R. 63, 342
Cary, E. 49, 50
Casey, R. P. 250, 342
Castelli, E. A. 238, 342
Cave, T. 311-13, 342
Ceriani, A. M. 315
Chadwick, H. 72, 342
Charles, R. H. 315, 318, 342
Charlesworth, J. H. 301, 315, 338,
346, 352
Charron, A. 344
Chater, N. 225, 350-51, 359
Chazon, E. G. 306-7, 342, 361
Chesnutt, R. D. 234, 342
Cleveland Coxe, A. 252
Collins, J. J. 14, 19, 37, 45, 47, 75,
125, 176, 256, 291-92, 294, 296,
298, 300, 302, 304-6, 308, 310,
324, 335, 342
Conzelmann, H. 34, 342
Cooper, J. M. 111, 342, 358
Corrington Streete, G. 342
Cotter, W. 46, 51, 55, 342
Cox Miller, P. 114, 343
Crandall, C. S. 215, 357
Crum, W. E. 67, 343
Culbertson, D. 312, 343
Cullmann, O. 68, 116, 292, 343
Culpepper, R.A. 312-13, 343
Curtius, E. R. 69, 343

389

Czachesz, I. 12, 13, 207-14, 216,

218, 220, 222, 224, 226, 228,
230, 340, 343
Dahl, N. A. 202, 343
Daley, B. E. 62, 343
Davidson, M. J. 300, 306, 344
Davies, W. D. 334, 344
Day, J. 295
DeConick, A. D. 21, 344, 354
Deines, R. 92, 350
Descartes, R. 106, 119, 344
Diels, H. 110, 344
Dimant, D. 296, 344
Dolan, R. J. 362
Donaldson, J. 254
Douglas, B. 269, 344
Douglas, M. C. 303
Duhaime, J. 293, 344
Duke, E. A. 341
Dunderberg, I. 361
Dunn, J. G. D. 23, 344
Dupont, F. 53, 54, 344
Durand, G. 344
Eagleton, T. 93, 94, 344
Ecchellensis, A. 344
Ego, B. 298, 340, 360
Ehlers, K. 298, 340, 360
Eijk, A. H. C. 345
Elgvin, E. 361
Elior, R. 299, 345
Emmel, S. 59, 73, 74, 76, 77, 79,
345
Endsj, D. O. 114, 345
Engberg-Pedersen, T. 10, 29, 32,
51, 86, 89, 92, 114, 118, 123-24,
126, 128, 130, 132, 134, 136,
138, 160, 254-55, 345, 360-61
Eshel, E. 299, 304-5, 345, 357, 361
Evans, E. 148, 345, 365

390
Fadiga, L. 359
Falconer, W. A. 69, 345
Falk, D. 300, 303, 307, 342, 345-46,
361
Faraone, C. A. 259
Fauconnier, G. 193, 196, 345
Feher, M. 53, 344
Feichtinger, B. 192, 351
Ferguson, J. 346
Fernndez Sangrador, J. J.
305,
347
Filoramo, G. 360
Finn, T. F. 201
Finn, T. M. 346
Fischer-Mueller, E. A. 178, 346
Fitzmyer, J. A. 141, 301, 346
Fletcher-Louis, C.
33, 34, 36-38,
295, 297, 300, 346
Flood, G. 271, 346
Florovsky, G. 274
Fogassi, L. 352, 359
Forbes, I. 220, 346
Foucault, M. 83, 84, 346
Fowler, H. N. 346
Frankfurter, D. 278
Frennesson, B. 298, 301, 306, 346
Freud, S. 106
Frey, J. 300, 346, 353
Frith, C. D. 225, 227, 347, 362;
Frith, U. 225, 227, 347, 362
Funk, W.-P. 188, 347
Gaca, K. L. 263, 347
Gallese, V. 226-27, 347, 352, 359
Garcia Martnez, F. 295, 305, 3078, 340, 342, 346-47
Garitte, G. 275, 347
Garland, D. E. 318, 348
Gathercole, S. 254, 345
Gazzola, V. 352
Gelman, S. A. 214, 339
Gesche, H. 43-45, 53, 348

Indices

Gibbs, R. W. 226, 228, 348

Gilhus, I. S. 114, 217, 221-23, 319,
345, 348, 361
Ginzberg, L. 318, 348
Giulea, A.-D. 348
Gleason, M. 333, 348
Gnilka, C. 63, 69, 71, 79, 348
Goehring, J. E. 178, 272-73, 348
Goff, M. J. 302, 348
Golden, M. 3, 62, 63, 71, 348
Goldhill, S. 263, 348
Golitzin, A. 272, 274, 348
Gonce, L. O. 216, 349, 364
Gooder, P. R. 95, 96, 98, 349
Goodman, D. 21, 349
Goold, G. P. 48
Gould, G. 274
Gradel, I. 43-45, 48, 54-56, 349
Grant, R. M. 150, 166, 349
Greer, R. A. 279, 349
Grube, G. M. A. 119
Gundry, R. H. 155, 349
Hallenberg, H. 234, 349
Hallett, C. H. 44, 349
Hllstrm, G. 147-48, 157, 349
Halperin, D. 83, 349
Harland, P. A. 260-61, 349
Harrington, D. J. 319, 324-25, 329,
331, 349
Harris, M. J. 96, 97, 102, 104, 349
Harvey, D. F. 211, 349
Harvey, S. A. 235, 238, 243-44, 24647, 340
Hay, D. M. 92, 350
Healey, J. 295, 350
Heckel, T. K. 84, 86, 350
Hedrick, C. W. 59, 73, 350
Heinrici, G. 89
Hellholm, D. 202, 343
Hempel, C. 300, 316, 347, 350
Henderson, J. H. 211, 350

Index of Modern Authors

Henze, M. 316-17, 350

Heyes, C. 226, 340
Hilhorst, A. 104, 362
Himmelfarb, M. 208, 293, 350
Hirschfeld, L. A. 214, 339
Hoff, E. V. 225, 350
Hollywood, A. 269, 350
Holm-Nielsen, S. 350
Holze, H. 273, 350
Hopkins, K. 149, 152, 350
Horrell, D. 97, 350
Hurley, D.W. 55, 225, 350-51
Hurley, S. 225, 350-51, 359
Iordanites, A. 351
Isenberg, W. W. 151, 164, 351
Iswolsky, H. 207, 338
Jacobsen, A.-C. 272, 351, 360
Janssens, Y. 351
Jeremias, G. 303, 351
Jeremias, J. 125, 318, 351
Jervell, J. 34, 351
Jewett, R. 155, 351
Joachim, H. H. 126
Johnson, L. T. 351
Jones, L. 342
Junod, E. 65, 351
Ksemann, E. 89, 99, 102, 351
Kasimatis, M. 353
Kasser, R. 59, 67, 188, 213, 351-52
Kaube, H. 362
Kaufman, G. 82
Keane, W. 269, 352
Keenan, J. P. 364
Keil, F. C. 214, 219-23, 352
Keller, M. 250, 252, 254-55, 352
Kelley, N. 238, 352
Kelly, H. A. 219-22, 256, 352;
Kelly, J. N. D. 198, 219-23, 352
Kelly, M. H. 219-23, 352

391

Keysers, C. 226, 347, 352

King, K. L. 2, 7, 8, 59, 60, 62, 64,
66, 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80,
82, 178, 196, 203, 249, 253,
256, 260
Kittel, G. 287
Klejna, F. 274-75, 352
Klijn, A. F. J. 315-16, 352
Klinzing, G. 298, 352
Klostermann, E. 208, 352
Kmosko, M. 275, 352
Knibb, M. A. 316, 350
Knohl, I. 305, 352
Koch, H. 177, 353
Koperski, V. 319, 349
Kraemer, R. S. 240, 342
Kranz, W. 110, 344
Kuhn, H.-W. 296, 304, 353
Labahn, M. 150, 353
Lacan, J. 106
Lake, K. 250, 342, 351, 353
Lalleman, P. J. 212, 353
Lambrecht, J. 96, 319, 349, 353
Lampe, G. W. 287
Lange, C. 347, 360, 364
Lange, G. 60, 347, 353, 360
Larsen, K. B. 312-13, 327, 353
Lassleben, M. 43, 348
Lataire, B. 319, 349
Layton, B. 69, 188-90, 194-95, 197,
353
Leaney, A. R. C. 293, 353
Lehtipou, O. 10, 11, 147-48, 150,
152, 154, 156, 158, 160, 162,
164, 166, 168, 256, 292, 353
Leipoldt, J. 178
Leuenberger, M. 316, 354
Lichtenberger, H. 23, 26, 300, 308,
344, 347, 354
Lieber, A. 21, 354
Lied, L. I. 15, 28, 29, 161, 176, 256,

392
294, 311-12, 314, 316, 318, 320,
322, 324-26, 328, 330, 332, 334
Lietzmann, H. 96, 354
Lieu, J. 316, 350
Lohfink, G. 25, 26, 50, 354
Lona, H. E. 194, 354
Longenecker, R. N. 319, 338, 354
Lubac, H. 60, 354
Luisier, P. 213, 351
Lundhaug, H.
10, 12, 147, 152,
163-64, 187-88, 190, 192-94,
196, 198, 200, 202, 204, 237,
256, 287, 292, 309, 354
Luomanen, P. 193, 354
Luttikhuizen, G. P. 212, 355
MacDonald, D. R. 342
Mach, M. 298, 302, 355
MacRae, G. W. 104, 355
Malinine, M. 188, 355
Marjanen, A. 13, 67, 178, 231-32,
234-36, 238, 240, 242, 244, 246,
355
Marriott, G. L. 275, 355
Martin, D. B. 114, 125-26, 155, 292,
355, 363
Martin, L. H. 188
Martin, R. 84-89
Matthews, C. R. 212, 355
McDonnell, K. 201, 355
McGuckin, J. A. 72, 78, 355
McGuire, A. 79, 356
McLWilson, R. 361
Meech, J. 101, 356
Meltzoff, A. N. 225-26, 356, 359
Mnard, J. E. 188, 356
Metzger, B. M. 160, 356
Meyer, M. W. 233, 351, 356
Miller, F. J. 48, 52-54, 222
Miller, P. C. 114
Mirecki, P. A. 59, 73, 350
Mitchell, M. M. 96, 97, 114, 202,

Indices

343, 356
Munier, C. 356
Murdock, W. R. 355
Murphy, F. J. 317, 356
Murphy-O'Connor, J. 301, 346
Musurillo, H. 231-32, 238-41, 253, 356
Nasrallah, L. 249, 254, 259-60, 356
Nau, F. 275, 282, 357
Nehamas, A. 116
Neusner, J. 291, 342
Newsom, C. 299, 300, 302-3, 306,
357
Nickelsburg, G. W. E. 292, 296,
357
Niebyl, P. H. 61, 357
Nir, R. 319, 325, 357
Nissen, J. 28, 361
Nitzan, B. 303, 357, 361
Noormann, R. 148, 150-51, 153-54,
156, 165-66, 357
Norenzayan, A. 215, 357
North, J. 45
Nussbaum, M. C. 122, 357
Nyhof, M. 215-16, 338
O'Doherty, J. 362
Ogden, D. 224, 357
kland, J. 1, 9, 30, 83, 84, 86, 88,
90-92, 94, 96, 98, 100, 102, 104,
106, 292, 357
Oporto, S. G. 305, 347
Osborn, E. 156, 167, 177, 357
Outtier, B. 274-75, 358
Pagels, E. 67, 358
Pannenberg, W. 319, 358
Parkin, T. G. 62, 358
Parrott, D. M. 355
Parry, D. W. 304, 345
Parsons, M. C. 24, 25, 358
Peck, A. L. 358

Index of Modern Authors

Pedersen, E. M. W. 361
Peel, M. L. 187-90, 192-94, 196-97,
201-2, 358
Perho, I. 349
Perrin, B. 50, 51, 54
Piaget, J. 225
Pilhofer, P. 298, 340, 360
Pinker, S. 214, 358
Playoust, C. 23-25, 358
Plese, Z. 65, 358
Plummer, A. 104, 358
Polotsky, H. J. 73, 358
Price, S. R. F. 45, 53-56, 211, 339,
358-59
Prieur, J.-M. 359
Puech, E. 293-94, 296, 303-4, 308,
340, 355, 359
Quecke, H. 200, 359
Ramble, C. 215, 339
Rasimus, T. 162, 359
Reckford, K. J. 211, 359
Reed, A. Y. 249, 252, 255, 359
Reeve, C. D. C. 119
Regnault, L. 274-75, 358
Reymond, E. A. E. 232, 240, 359
Rizzolatti, G. 225-26, 347, 359
Roberts, A. 254
Robertson, A. K. 207, 359
Robinson, B. P. 323, 355, 359
Robinson, J. M. 104, 151
Robinson, M. 59
Rnnegrd, P. 273, 360
Ross, W. D. 126, 360
Rubenson, S. 14, 36, 256, 271-78,
280-86, 288, 309, 315, 359
Russell, C. D. 303
Ryan, P. 111
Sagnard, F. 360
Sayler, G. B. 317-18, 325, 360

393

Schaff, P. 236, 357

Schaller, M. 215, 357
Schenke, H.-M.
65, 73, 74, 178,
360, 364
Schiffman, L. H. 298, 360
Schmid, H. 152, 163-64, 166, 356,
361
Schmid, K. 259
Schmidt, M. 202, 331, 340
Schneemelcher, W. 64, 68, 69, 361
Schnelle, U. 155, 361
Schon, K.-G. 236, 361
Schssler Fiorenza, E. 356
Schuller, E. 306-7, 342, 347, 357,
361
Scott, J. M. 338
Sedley, D. N. 128, 354
Segal, A. F. 34, 103-4, 361
Segal, E. 103, 211, 361
Seim, T. K. 1, 7, 9, 19, 20, 22, 24-26,
28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 47, 54,
98, 319, 331-32, 361
Seng, H. 351
Setzer, C. 147-49, 152, 361
Seymour, B. 362
Shaw, B. D. 239, 243, 361-62
Shaw, T. 62, 239, 361-62
Sieber, J. H. 233
Silverstein, T. 104, 362
Simons, A. 207, 362
Singer, T. 226, 362
Sivertsev, A. 297, 362
Smith, J. Z. 202, 270;
Smith, M. 297
Smith, R. P. 178, 314
Solmsen, F. 61, 362
Songe-Mller, V. 9, 10, 29, 31, 84,
89, 109-10, 112, 114, 116, 118,
120, 122, 362
Sorabji, R. 2, 272, 362
Sthlin, O. 260, 363
Starr, J. 273, 360

394
Steenstra, K. 216, 363
Steiner, D. T. 259, 261, 265, 363
Stemberger, G. 28, 319-20, 324-25,
332, 363
Stendahl, K. 292, 343
Stepper, S. 363
Sternberg, T. 353
Steudel, A. 308, 340
Storey, I. C. 211, 363
Strack, F. 228, 363
Streete, G. C. 240
Strogatz, S. 225, 363
Sullivan, K. P. 21, 34, 36, 38, 39, 363
Tabor, J. D. 96, 98, 363
Tarn, L. 110, 363
Taylor, C. 4, 83-84, 363
Taylor, M. 225, 363
Theoharides, T. C. 61, 363
Thiselton, A. C. 89, 125, 363
Thomassen, E. 10, 11, 169-70, 172,
174, 176, 178-80, 182, 184, 186,
246, 256-57, 363
Thompson, H. 200, 364
Thompson, W. G. 46, 343
Till, W. 65
Toohey, P. 348
Torjesen, K. J. 236, 364
Trible, P. 92, 364
Tronier, H. 124, 345
Tuckett, C. 20, 361
Turner, B. S. 60, 345, 364
Turner, M. L. 163, 193, 196, 345,
364
Uddin, L. Q. 226, 364
Unger, D. J. 162, 364
Upala, M. A. 216, 349, 364
Vaage, L. E. 34, 271, 361-62, 364
Valantasis, R. 114, 271, 343, 364

Indices

Van Kooten, G. 92, 213, 343, 364

Van Ruiten, J. T. A. G. M. 213, 343
Vanderkam, J. C. 361
Veenstra, J. R. 224, 364
Vernant, J.-P. 115, 365
Violet, B. 315, 330, 333, 365
Vogelsang, I. 224, 365
Vogt, K. 234, 365
Volz, P. 317-18, 329-30, 365
Vorster, J. N. 231, 239, 241-42, 365
Vorster, W. S. 319, 365
Waldstein, M. 65, 365
Ward, J. 227-28, 354, 365
Weinfeld, M. 361
Weiss, 125
Wernberg-Meller, P. 294, 365
Westerhoff, M. 365
Wiberg Pedersen, E. M. 28
Wicker, B. 352
Wiedemann, T. 231
Wiemken, H. 211, 365
Wilkins, J. M. 211, 349
Williams, R. 272-74, 279, 285, 365
Wimbush, V. L. 34, 114, 343, 36162, 364
Wipszycka, E. 273, 366
Wire, A. 90, 366
Wlosok, A. 53, 339
Woodruff, P. 116
Wright, J. P. 84, 350
Wurst, G. 59, 67, 351-52
Yarbro Collins, A. 7, 8, 27, 35, 36,
41-50, 52, 54, 56, 202, 242, 289,
299, 343, 366
Zeitlin, F. 115, 365

Index of Subjects and Persons

395

Index of Subjects and Persons

Index of Subjects and Persons

Aaron 298, 305

Abortion 175, 179
Abraham 34, 39, 77, 220, 317
Achamoth 174, 180
Achilles 114
Adam 66, 78, 92, 93, 117, 125, 15657, 172, 212, 222, 295-97, 300
Aeneas 48, 50, 52, 105, 217
Age 23, 61-63, 69-72, 77-80, 85, 118,
159, 221, 227, 232, 296-97, 324
Agelessness 62, 71
Aging 8, 32, 59-63, 65, 67, 69, 71,
73, 75, 77-82
Ahab 42
Alcibiades 122
Ammonas 14, 272-89, 309
Angelic 36-38, 89, 160, 172, 181,
291-93, 295-97, 299-301, 303,
305, 307, 309, 335
Angelomorphic 33, 36, 37, 300
Angels 5, 14, 15, 21, 29, 33-39, 41,
47, 95, 99, 102, 171-72, 176,
179-81, 183, 185-86, 240, 247,
264, 278-79, 281, 291, 293, 296301, 303-9, 312, 314, 333, 335
Animals 3, 12, 13, 18, 30, 31, 90,
212-14, 216-25, 229-30, 266
Anthony 14, 272
Antony 272-80, 283, 285-89
Apocalypses
28-30, 69, 98, 104,
125, 161, 176-77, 179, 208-9,
220, 278, 291-92, 294-95, 302,
315-16, 318, 320, 325
Apokatastasis 180, 184-86
Apotheosis 8, 41-49, 51, 53, 55, 57,
218
Appearances 7, 8, 20-22, 24-28, 33,

36, 37, 46-48, 50, 63, 64, 68, 69,

72, 79, 81, 125, 170, 212, 237,
262, 313-14, 324, 328-35
Apuleius 3, 4, 217, 222
Aristotelian 2, 61, 85, 91, 94, 113,
116-18, 126, 128
Arnobius 8, 51
Ascension 5, 7, 8, 12, 22-28, 33-35,
51, 278-79, 288
Ascent 25, 33, 35, 72, 96, 98, 121,
180, 186, 189-92, 197-98, 203,
278-79, 289, 293, 306
Ascetic 12, 14, 16, 61, 159, 179,
201-4, 236, 256, 271, 273, 275,
277-89
Asceticism 34, 38, 114, 236, 271-72,
279
Aseneth 234, 333
Athenagoras 147, 149, 252
Augustus 44, 45, 48, 50-52, 54-56
Baptism 5, 41, 42, 45, 142, 144, 151,
159, 180-81, 201-2, 235, 25051, 255-57, 268, 285
Barnabas 252, 267
Baruch 15, 28-30, 294, 311, 313-20,
323-27, 331-35
Basilides 176, 265-67
Birth 12, 50, 60, 61, 68, 80, 85, 111,
114-15, 175, 177, 179, 189,
193-97, 203-4, 207, 225, 233,
239, 257, 287
Blandina 240-42, 246, 253
Bodily resurrection
71, 80, 148,
150, 162-63, 292, 309, 318
Body
of corruption 14, 276

396
of flesh and blood
136, 138-40, 145
Buddha 60, 234

Indices

10, 126-29,

Caesar see Julius Caesar

Caligula 55
Carnis Resurrectio 147-48, 157
Celsus 72, 271
Childbirth 116, 207, 239
Childhood 8, 62, 63, 69-71, 75, 76,
79, 276
Christian
tradition 151, 240
truth 13, 237, 242
Cicero 44, 48, 69
Claudius 44, 55
Clement 13, 69-71, 97, 149, 151,
177, 250-52, 257-68, 287
Cognition 225-26, 228
Cognitive Neuroscience 226-28
Cognitive Sciences
193, 214-16,
219, 221
Community Hymns 303-4
Community Rule 296-302
Conceptualizations 187, 189, 191,
193, 195, 197, 199, 201, 203,
205, 251
Consecratio 43
Continuity 2, 3, 9, 15, 17, 29, 30,
33, 37, 84, 88, 89, 93-95, 101,
103, 105-7, 109-10, 116, 11819, 128, 154, 223, 260, 308, 334
Contra Celsum 72, 74
Coptic Gospel of Bartholomew 69
Coptic Martyrdom of Saints Paese
and Thecla 232, 238-39, 243
Corinth 92, 97, 109, 113
Counterintuitive 213-19, 223, 229-30
Creation 30-32, 43, 66, 69, 92, 156,
212, 254, 261-62, 268, 276
Crucifixion 22, 73, 75, 76, 145, 162, 182
Cybernetic 103, 107

Damascus Document 297

David 19, 41, 49, 240
Dead Sea Scrolls 14, 295-97, 301,
303-7, 309
Death 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 15-17, 1922, 34, 38, 39, 49-53, 60-63, 7682, 88, 89, 103-5, 111-19, 13542, 145, 147-48, 152-54, 15860, 175, 193-99, 201-4, 238-39,
241-42, 244-45, 279, 288-89,
291, 307-9, 319-20
Debated metaphor 12
Deification 8, 25, 45, 48, 51, 53-56
Delightful oil 293
Demiurge 171, 174
Didymus 233
Dio Cassius 44, 50, 54, 55
Dionysius of Halicarnassus Ant
49, 50
Diotima 121-22
Disappearance
49, 50, 116, 230,
328
Disgust 13, 226-27, 229-30
Divi filius 8
Divine
Beauty 121-22
pedagogy 11, 174, 177, 179
Divinization 7, 8, 24, 41, 43, 51, 56
Docetic Christology 162
Eagle 44, 54, 55, 212-13, 217, 230
Economy of salvation 72, 177
Egypt 59
Elevate 15, 25, 37, 43, 292, 307,
315, 318
Elijah 8, 36, 41-43, 45, 46, 48, 51,
54, 278, 288, 291
Elysian fields 103
Embryo 179, 257
Emmaus 21, 22, 47, 162, 323
Empathy 13, 226-28
Endurance 13, 238-39, 241, 247, 314

Index of Subjects and Persons

Enoch 291-94, 296, 301, 307, 309

Eucharist 21, 80, 151, 163-66, 213
Eusebius 238-41, 246
Evagrius 272, 286
Eve 66, 78, 92, 295
Exaltation 14, 23, 25, 26, 41, 49, 291,
305-6
Excerpts of Theodotos 250-51
Experience 1, 4, 9, 14, 20, 33, 51, 60,
62, 63, 72, 79, 83, 96, 98, 99, 1012, 104, 106, 111, 130-31, 139,
158, 166, 179, 228, 272-73, 276,
278-80, 283-84, 303, 306, 309-10
External body 72, 192, 195-99, 201,
204, 259
Febronia 238, 243, 246-47
Femaleness 178, 233-34, 237
Fervour 284-85, 288
Flesh 8, 10-12, 14, 16, 19-22, 24, 3033, 37, 61, 62, 72, 75, 78, 79, 82,
87-90, 92, 93, 95, 115, 120, 12630, 134-36, 138-42, 145-67, 172,
184, 189-93, 199, 204-5, 264,
292, 300-2, 309-10
and blood 126, 155, 157, 163
of Christ 154, 162, 165
Fruit 68, 285-87, 289
Galen 61, 179
Gangra, Concil of 236
Garment metaphor 202-3
Gender transformation 5, 6, 13, 23137, 239, 241, 243, 245-47
Gendered language 13, 232-34, 236
Genealogy 83-85, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95,
97-99, 101, 103, 105-7, 150
Gilead 59
Gladiators 231, 237-42, 246
Glory 5, 14, 28, 30-32, 35, 36, 49,
52, 74-76, 79, 91, 132, 135-37,
140, 155, 240, 253, 272, 281,

397

293-97, 300, 302, 304-5, 314,

317, 321-23, 328, 330, 332
Gospel of Judas 59, 67-69, 71-73,
75, 81, 82
Gospel stories 28, 33, 88
Gregory 62, 63, 81, 236
Grotesque 12, 13, 207-13, 216-19,
225, 227-30
Hades 19, 21, 104, 116, 278
Heaven, 7 299
Heavenly Ascents 23, 95
Hell 161, 208-9, 216-19, 225, 22730
Heracleon 178
Hodayot 14, 300, 303-8
Holy 35, 66, 68, 70, 74, 166, 264,
271, 287, 296, 298-99, 303-6,
308
Spirit 24, 25, 27, 28, 34, 66, 151,
163, 167, 183, 231, 266, 268,
285
Homosexuality 83
Human kinds 170, 277
Identity 2, 4, 15, 29, 36, 37, 71, 75,
84, 93, 101, 114, 126, 149, 168,
177, 181, 195, 261, 277, 305,
312-13, 319, 327, 332
Ignatius 260
Iliad 264
Immortality 8, 14, 19, 25, 32, 38,
39, 59, 61, 63, 65, 67, 69-71, 73,
75, 77, 79-82, 112, 116, 119,
126, 128, 153-54, 157, 160, 165,
191, 292, 295-96
Incarnation 33, 77-79, 182
Inheritance 153, 276-77, 295-96
Initiatory ritual 181, 202
Internal body 190, 192, 195, 201-2
Intertextual 95, 152, 191-93, 196,
213, 237

398
Invisible 12, 64, 65, 225, 249, 251,
253-55, 257-59, 261-63, 265,
267-70
Irenaeus 11, 77-80, 148-59, 161-62,
164-68, 171, 173-74, 177, 179,
183, 253-54, 258
Irene 231
Isaiah 77, 278-79, 288, 308
Israel 41, 49, 130, 240, 295, 297-98,
308, 322, 325
Jacob 39, 278, 281, 284, 288, 308
Jeremiah 316
Jerusalem 33, 36, 37, 275, 319
John Chrysostom 97, 236
Judaism 15, 21, 96, 272, 291-92,
297
Judgment 15, 28-30, 161, 186, 221,
294, 302, 309, 311, 313, 316-18,
321-23, 325-32, 334-35
Julius 50, 52
Julius Caesar 44, 45, 48, 50-53, 55
Jupiter 43, 44, 48, 52, 56
Justin Martyr
147, 167, 249-50,
252-53, 255
Kingdom of God 11, 31, 35, 90,
100, 115, 126, 128, 147-49,
151-54, 156-57, 162-63, 165-66,
318
Knowledge 14, 66, 113, 119, 121,
131-32, 134, 136-37, 151, 170,
175, 182, 193, 212, 240, 254,
277, 282-83, 286, 289, 294-95,
300-4, 308-9, 313, 316, 323-24,
326-27, 334-35
Life 1, 2, 7, 8, 10, 23, 24, 34, 35, 38,
60-64, 68-72, 74-78, 81, 82, 92,
93, 103-4, 110-12, 115-18, 130,
136-37, 139-43, 145-46, 158-60,
165-66, 174-75, 179-80, 191-98,

Indices

200-5, 234-35, 252-53, 278-82,

293-96, 300-1, 308-10, 326-27
of Macrina 63
of Numa 54
of Olympias 236
Light 6, 14, 16, 29, 32-34, 37, 64,
65, 89, 98, 111-12, 120, 125,
137, 142, 145, 151, 164, 167,
170, 176-77, 191-92, 202, 255,
264, 278, 288-89, 294-96, 302,
307, 314, 330
Liturgical 295, 298-300, 303, 307
Livy 45, 46, 50
Lucius 3, 217, 220, 222-23
Mahya 244-46
Maleness 5, 178, 233-35, 237
Manifestations 11, 26, 27, 60, 79,
93, 102, 170, 172-74, 176, 18081, 184-85
Marriage 38, 39, 179-80, 208, 237, 301
Martyrdom 5, 33, 34, 76, 231-32,
237-42, 244-47, 253, 279-80
Mary Magdalene 47, 50
Materialist 2, 10, 12, 76, 77, 85-87,
92, 94, 101, 106-7, 125, 127,
129, 134, 137-38, 144, 146, 164,
166, 171-72, 174, 190, 193,
196-97, 201, 204, 255, 263
Maturation 11, 172, 176, 197
Memory 46, 106, 215-16, 238, 254,
262, 271
Merkavah throne 299
Messiah 26-28, 33, 34, 41, 45, 48,
49, 295, 305, 317, 331
Metamorphosis in Greek Myths 2,
9, 61, 63, 87, 207, 209, 211,
213, 215, 217, 219-21, 223-25,
227, 229
Metaphor 13, 23, 71, 82, 112, 116,
173, 185, 187, 191, 193-98,
202-4, 234, 285, 287, 289, 309

Index of Subjects and Persons

Michael, archangel 292, 305

Mind 12, 13, 21, 56, 64, 70, 71, 84,
94, 111-13, 117-18, 121-22,
126-27, 129-30, 171, 192-93,
202, 207, 209, 211, 213-15, 217,
219, 221, 223, 225, 227-30, 233,
244, 259, 272-73, 288-89, 308
Mirror neurons 225-26
Monasticism 272-73, 281, 287, 310
Mortality 15, 18, 87, 191-92
Moses 36, 39, 42, 127, 295, 297
Mysteries 65, 93, 119, 159, 263-64,
279, 282-84, 288, 302
Nag Hammadi 65, 79, 104, 147-48,
151-52, 156, 163, 172, 178,
187-88, 209, 233, 235, 237, 253,
281, 287
Nakedness 163, 165, 212, 243
Nazareth 22, 33, 34, 37, 41, 48, 120
Neopythagoreanism 11, 181
Numa 50, 54
Old age 12, 52, 59, 61-64, 69, 70,
78, 79, 81, 82, 194-96
Olympias 236, 243
Ontological categories 180, 21415, 217, 219-21, 223
Ophites 161-62, 165
Origen 71, 72, 74, 177, 191-92, 194,
234, 271, 273-74, 279, 287, 289
Orphans 177, 208
Ovid 3, 4, 47, 48, 51-54, 217-24
Paedagogus 70, 260
Paese 238, 240, 243
Pain 87, 226, 228-29, 239
Parmenides 10, 110-11
Passion 63, 66, 145, 171, 182-83,
211, 239, 265-66, 287
Patterns of Gender in Luke-Acts
25, 101

399

Paul 9-11, 16-19, 28-34, 37, 47, 69,

83, 84, 86-94, 96-107, 109, 11146, 148-51, 153-55, 157-60,
163-66, 168-71, 187, 192, 2012, 204, 209-10, 212-13, 218,
232, 235, 251, 254-55, 275-76,
278-79, 281-82, 292-93
Pauline texts 10-12, 17, 31, 86, 88, 97,
150-56, 159, 162-63, 165, 186,
192, 202, 204-5, 282, 300, 334
Pelagia 235
Perpetua 238, 242, 246-47
Peter 19, 21, 26, 48, 63, 64, 66, 69,
161, 208-13, 220, 233
Philip 11, 44, 65, 147-48, 151-52,
163-67, 173, 177, 180, 193,
212-13, 217, 232, 235, 237, 239
Philo 39, 86, 92, 125, 127, 233, 236,
243, 260, 298
Pionius 238
Plato 2, 10, 19, 31, 32, 92, 94, 111,
113, 116-17, 119, 121-22, 127,
180, 292
Pleroma 171, 173, 179-86
Plutarch 50, 51, 54
Polemics 60, 73, 76, 148-49, 152,
164, 166-68, 188, 249
Polymorphy 8, 63-67, 69, 78, 79,
211-12
Power 8, 15, 19, 30-32, 34, 41-43,
49, 52, 55, 56, 66, 73, 119, 13132, 134, 136, 145, 153, 155,
159, 162, 167, 172, 182, 211,
250-51, 253-56, 265-66, 278-80,
282, 284, 322
Predestination 177
Pregnancy 12, 116, 193-97, 203-4,
207, 269
Priests 236, 264, 299, 301
Proculus 46, 50, 55
Protreptikos 260-63, 265, 267-68
Psalms 19, 26, 264, 294-95, 303, 306

400
Pseudo-Justin 167
Psychic 12, 117-18, 124-25, 128-29,
156, 162, 169-71, 173, 190-93,
198, 233, 260, 269
Purity 69, 71, 301-2
Quirinus 48, 50
Qumran 75, 179, 293, 296-98, 3001, 303, 306-7, 309
Rabelais 207
Rapture 25, 26, 327
Rebirth
152, 164, 167, 177, 179,
193, 201, 237, 250, 257, 268
Recognition 15, 22, 29, 30, 34, 268,
294, 311-15, 317-21, 323, 325-35
Resurrection 1-12, 14-18, 21-23, 26,
28-33, 37-39, 41, 43, 47-49, 6164, 75, 84-86, 88-91, 93, 101-2,
109, 111-14, 118, 120-24, 12939, 145-54, 156-70, 185-205,
287-89, 291-94, 307-9, 311,
318-21, 323-27, 329-32, 334-35
of the body 7, 14, 19-25, 27-33,
35, 37, 39, 60, 80, 90, 103, 112,
115, 118-19, 124, 133, 137, 139,
147-49, 159, 161-63, 168, 190,
196-97, 292
of Christ 2, 22, 112, 122, 191
of the dead 90
Revelation 14, 15, 50, 64, 66, 73,
75, 76, 79, 81, 95, 98, 99, 102,
104, 170, 209, 212, 276, 279,
282-85, 288, 302, 312, 317
Reward 48, 159, 245, 277, 280-81,
286, 294
Rhetoric 12, 29, 60, 80, 81, 89, 96,
97, 102, 104, 113, 151, 187,
189, 193, 195, 199, 203, 242-45,
261, 289, 311
Ritual practices
47, 75, 77, 180,
201-4, 256, 259, 269

Indices

Romulus 8, 45-51, 54, 217

Sabbath 14, 299, 300, 303, 306, 335
Samuel 333
Sasagu Arai 234
Scatological humour 208, 210, 216,
218-19, 229-30
Scillitan martyrs 150
Scriptures 21, 79, 149-50, 158-59,
165, 167, 264
Self 2-5, 9, 12, 13, 29, 68, 79, 83-89,
91, 93-99, 101-3, 105, 107, 11213, 250-51, 256-58, 262-63,
268-70, 302-3
Self-declarations 74, 75
Selfsame flesh 148, 161
Semler, J. S. 95, 96
Serek 301-2
Sex 61, 115, 161, 210, 231, 235, 237,
267-68, 301-2
Sexual organs 161
Simon magus 210-11
Socrates 121-22, 126
Sons of Zadok 301
Sophia 171-72, 175, 178, 180, 18284, 186
Soul 8, 9, 11, 14, 19, 25, 52-54, 63,
71, 72, 80, 81, 85, 86, 88, 89,
92-94, 105-6, 116-18, 127, 14748, 152-54, 156-59, 164, 17174, 182, 193, 237, 251-53, 25558, 263-69, 272, 277-80, 282,
284-86, 292
Space 9, 19, 24, 31, 86, 94, 99, 101,
105, 144, 148, 197
Spirit 55, 141, 156-57, 250, 252-53,
277-78, 285
Spiritual body 73, 105, 112, 115,
117, 161, 164-65, 169-71, 186,
190-91, 309
Splendour 15, 29, 278, 291, 294-95,
314, 328-35

Index of Subjects and Persons

Stars

29-31, 38, 52-54, 125, 176,

291-92, 305
Stephen 28, 33-35
Suetonius 44, 54, 55
Sweetness 14, 280-82, 285, 288
Tatian 13, 252, 257-59
Taxonomy 1, 3, 9, 13, 30-32, 38, 78,
91, 95, 101-2, 180
Teacher Hymns 303-4, 308
Temple
44, 50-52, 68, 153, 252,
258, 265, 267, 287, 298-300,
316, 333
Tertullian 25, 51, 61, 63, 147-50,
157-62, 164-67
Thecla 34, 232, 235, 238-40, 243-44
Theodotos 250-51, 257
Thomas 47, 68, 69, 173, 178, 20910, 213, 233-35, 246, 268
Thunder 45, 48, 79
Thunder Perfect Mind 79
Tiberius 44, 55
Timothy 150
Titus 55, 210, 228
Tortures 80, 209, 227-28, 231-32,
238, 240, 243, 245
Transferal 8, 23, 41, 43, 45, 47-49,
51, 53, 55, 57, 150, 276
Transfiguration 8, 23, 35-37, 42,
45, 63, 74, 75, 212, 217
Transform 1-3, 5, 6, 11-18, 29-37,
60, 71, 72, 93, 94, 112, 114,

401

123-24, 130-31, 134, 136-38,

145-47, 159-61, 165, 169, 17179, 183-87, 223-24, 234-35,
249-50, 254-56, 268-69, 271,
273-75, 287-89, 309, 314-15,
328-30, 332-35
Treatise 12, 38, 147, 157, 161-62,
167, 185, 187-90, 192-94, 19697, 201-3, 260, 287
Trials 34, 41, 150, 245, 247, 276,
278, 280-81, 283-86
Tripartite Tractate 170, 173-74, 183
Unity 65, 66, 88, 96, 101, 114, 117,
180-81, 183, 289, 296
Valentinians 11, 12, 164, 167, 16986, 194
Valentinus 164, 172, 265-67
Venus 52
Vespasian 55
Visible 189-90, 192, 199, 204, 33031, 333
Watchers 301
Whirlwind 42, 43, 46
Women martyrs 13, 232, 237-39,
242, 245-46
Yahad 298, 302, 309