Lost scriptures: books that did not make it into the New Testament (64 page)

O man, thou hast lent no ear to the wis

“Take my yoke upon you.”30 And further,

dom that says to thee: the lust of the

“in his youth” means in his hope. Thus he

ascetic dishonors the virgin.25 So also did

has commanded that salvation be prethe first created man fall because of a served in lonely celibacy, so that each one

virgin: when he saw a woman giving him

of you may remain as a lonely tower aca smile, he fell. His senses became tied cording to the saying of the Evangelist

to a craving which he had never known

that house should not remain upon house,

before, assuredly he had not experienced

but should come down at once. Why then,

earlier its flavour and the sweetness that

O man, dost thou make haste to build you

proved his downfall. O man who fearest

a ruin upon a strange house and thus to

not the face of this criminal person, passoccasion not only your own destruction ing by whom many have lost their lives.

but also that of the bride of Christ who is

The disciple of the Lord, Judas Jacobi,

united to you?

brings that to our remembrance when he

And also if thou art free from unchassays: “Beloved, I would bring to your tity, already thou committest a sin in

remembrance, though ye know, what

keeping up connections with women; for

happened to them who were oppressed

finally, thus says the Lord in the Gospel:

by the corruption of the flesh, as for in

“He who looks upon a woman to lust

stance the genuine persons (veraces) who

after her hath committed adultery with

did not preserve their dignity, but abanher already in his heart.”31 On this acdoned their heavenly abode and, enticed count a man must live for God sincerely

by lust, went to the daughters of men to

and free from all lust. In Daniel also we

dwell with them.”26

read: “As these false old men, who had

Today also they forfeit the angelic

craved for the beauty of Susanna, were

character who crave to dwell with strange

unable to practise any unchastity with

daughters, according to the word of the

her, they slandered her. Susanna was

Lord who proclaimed by Isaiah: “Woe

unto you who join house to house and

24

add field to field that they may draw nigh

1 Cor 5:1ff. 25Ecclus 20:4? 26Gen 6:2 (cf. Jud. 1:

5f.) 27Isa 5:8. 28Mic 1:11 (?) 29Lam 3:27–28.

one another.”27 And in Micah it is said:

30Matt 11:29. 31Matt 5:28.

PSEUDO-TITUS

245

brought before their court, and these

writing the history of the first men, and

rogues had her stand before them with

the holy Elias (was given the task) of

her head uncovered so that they might

registering the new deeds of this later

satisfy their craving at least in looking on

people!

her beauty.”32 And thus they were unable

All that has thus to be construed acto escape capital punishment. How much cording to the condition of (our) time:

more when the last day comes! What,

each of the two springs from his own

thinkest thou, will Christ do to those who

age, Enoch (as a symbol) of righteoushave surrendered their own members to ness and Elias (as a symbol) of holiness.

rape? The apostle has already shown the

But we must comply with the rule of our

future in advance, saying: “Let no tempholiness, as the apostle says: “In body tation take hold of you, he says, save

and spirit genus must resemble genus and

what is human!”33 O temptation to senthe disciple the master.”37 And the spirit suality! Man is not able to control himof Elias rested finally on Elisha. He also self, and inflicts on himself the predicted

begged of him that he might immediately

fatal wounds! O exhalations of the flesh!

receive from him a double blessing like

The glowing fire hidden deep in the heart

the one which (later) the Lord gave to his

nourishes a conflagration! O ignoble

advanced disciples, saying, “He that befight, to strike root in a dark night! O tree lieves on me will also do the works that

of seducing fruit that shows thick foliage!

I do, and will do greater works than

O false lips, out of which honey drops

these.”38 But such grace is granted only

and which in the end are as bitter as

to those who fulfil the commandments of

poison! O charming eloquence, the words

the Master. What should we now say? If

of which shoot arrows into the heart! O

Elisha served in the house of Elias to

madness of love: death fetters the young

comply with the rule of propriety and the

as a chain, whilst wisdom announces the

boy Gehazi assisted the (prophet) Elisha

future, that is, what it always orders:

as Baruch (the prophet) Jeremiah, in or

“Avoid, my son, every evil and everyder to leave us an (instructive) rememthing that resembles it.”34 And further: brance, why does a man today take a

“And every man who takes part in a footwoman as servant under a semblance of race abstains from all things that he may

holiness? If it is a matter of a close relabe able to obtain the crown that is pretive, then that will do; but not if she is a pared for him.”35

strange woman. After the flood the sons

Why takest thou, O man, a woman as

of Noah looked for places for themselves

a servant? Consider the conduct of (our)

where they might build cities, and they

holy ancestors. Thus Elias, a noble man

named them after their wives. Precisely

who still lives in the body, took a young

so do these (men) now behave who are

man as servant, to whom also he left his

united (to women).

mantle as a holy keepsake when he was

O ascetics of God who look back at

taken up into paradise in a chariot of

women to offer them gifts, to give them

fire.36 There Enoch also lives in the body,

who was carried away (there) in the first

age. O holy dispensation of God, who

has provided for the coming age! Enoch,

32Cf. Dan 13:32 (‘Susanna’ in Apocrypha). 33Cf. 1

the righteous, from among the first peo

Cor 10:13. 34Didache 3:1 351 Cor 9:25. 362 Kings

2:15. 37The source of this Paul-saying is unknown.

ple, was commissioned to commit to

38John 14:12

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NON-CANONICAL EPISTLES AND RELATED WRITINGS

property, to promise them houses, to

other he held fast a sword, always ready

make them presents of clothes, to surrento contend against the enemy. Apprehend der to them their own souls and yield to

then the mystery, how one should build

their name all that belongs to them! If

the sanctuary of celibacy: in ascetic lonethou then, O man, behavest rightly and liness one hand must be engaged in the

innocently, why dost thou not take thine

work that an extremely beautiful city may

own sister with thee? Why doest thou not

be built for God, whilst the other grasps

give her all that belongs to thee, and thou

the sword and is always ready for action

wilt possess every thing? Further and furagainst the wicked devil. That is then to ther thou separatest thyself from her: thou

be interpreted in this way: both hands,

hatest her, thou persecutest her. And yet

i.e. the spirit and the flesh, have in mutual

they greatest safety is in her. Nay, sepaharmony to bring the building to comrated from her thou attachest thyself to pletion, the spirit being always on the

another. And thus dost thou think to relookout for the enemy and the flesh buildmain wealthy in body and not be coning on the bedrock of good conduct.

trolled by any lust, and dost say that thou

Therefore it is said in the Gospel: “Let

possessest the heavenly hope. Hear a

your works shine before men that they

word that holds good for thee. Consider

may glorify your Father in heaven.”41 Bewhat the Lord in the Gospel says to hold what a splendid structure is built in

Mary: “Touch me not, says he, for I am

the heavenly Jerusalem. In this city one

not yet ascended to my Father!”39 O dicontends rightly in a lonely position, vine examples which have been written

without any intercourse with the flesh, as

for us! And Paul, the chosen vessel (of

it stands in the Gospel: “In the coming

the Lord) and the impregnable wall

age,” says the Lord, “they will neither

among the disciples, admonishes us when

marry nor be given in marriage, but will

in the course of his mission the virgin

be as the angels in heaven.”42 Thus we

Thecla, full of innocent faithfulness to

must endeavour through blameless con

Christ, wished to kiss his chain—mark

duct to gain for ourselves everlasting

thou what the apostle said to her: “Touch

honor in the future age. O man, who

me not, he said, because of the frailty of

understandest nothing at all of the fruits

(this) time.”40 Thou dost see then, O

of righteousness, why has the Lord made

young man, what the present Lord and

the divine phoenix and not given it a little

the recorded testament of the disciple

wife, but allowed it to remain in lonelihave said against the flesh. For they did ness? Manifestly only on purpose to

not order the women to withdraw for

show the standing of virginity, i.e., that

their own sakes, for the Lord cannot be

young men, remote from intercourse with

tempted and just as little can Paul, his

women, should remain holy. And its resvicar, but these admonitions and comurrection points finally to life. In this mands were uttered for the sake of us

connection David says in the Psalms: “I

who are now members of Christ.

will lay me down and sleep in peace for

Above all the ascetic should avoid

thou, O Lord, makest me to dwell lonewomen on that account and see to it that some in hope.”43 O peaceful rest given

he does (worthily) the duty entrusted to

him by God. Consider the rebuilding of

Jerusalem: at the time of this laborious

39

work every man was armed and mailclad,

John 20:17. 40The scene is described in the surviving Acts of Paul and Thecla c. 18. 41Matt 5:16.

and with one hand he built whilst in the

42Mark 12:25 and pars. 43Ps 4:8. 44Cf. Prov 6:27.

PSEUDO-TITUS

247

without interruption! O great security,

law this word that holds good for thee:

when a man lives lonesome in the body!

The people sat down to eat and to drink;

Thou canst not expect to bind glowing

and they rose to make merry; and of them

coals on thy garment, and not set the robe

23,000 fell there? For they had begun to

alight.44 Should you do such a thing, then

have intercourse with the daughters of

you will remain naked and your shame

men, i.e. they allowed themselves to be

will be manifest. Add to this the word of

invited by them to their unclean sacrithe prophet: “All flesh is grass.”45 That a fices, and the children of Israel dedicated

man then may not go up in flames, let

themselves to Baalpeor. . . .

him keep far from fire. Why exposest

thou thine eternal salvation to loss

through a trifle? Hast thou not read in the

45Is. 40:6 46Exod. 32:6, 28.

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NON-CANONICAL

APOCALYPSES AND

REVELATORY

TREATISES

250

NON-CANONICAL APOCALYPSES AND REVELATORY TREATISES

There is only one “Apocalypse” (or “Revelation”—the Latin equivalent for the Greek term) in the New Testament, a vision recounted by a prophet named John concerning what would happen at the end of time when God overthrows the forces of evil in a set of cataclysmic disasters leading up to the establishment of his utopian reign over the earth. But there were other such apocalyptic visions of the end times in early Christianity, and still other kinds of visionary literature that divulged the secrets of the divine realm, the nature of reality, the revelation of how the world came into existence and of how we came to be here. One other apocalypse was widely considered canonical by orthodox Christians—the Apocalypse of Peter (one of three surviving texts that go by that name)—and another is included as Scripture in one of our oldest manuscripts of the New Testament (the
Shepherd
of Hermas). Other visionary texts were read and revered by various early Christian groups, including Jewish-Christians, Montanists, and Gnostics.