Lost scriptures: books that did not make it into the New Testament (73 page)

is this merciless and bitter shepherd, who

life, because they have also committed

is showing no compassion at all for these

blasphemy against the name of the Lord.

sheep?” “This,” he replied, “is the angel

Death therefore belongs to them.

of punishment. He is one of the upright

4
But the ones you saw that were not

angels, but he has been appointed to mete

leaping about but were grazing in one

out punishment.

place, these are the ones who have deliv

3
And so he takes those who have

ered themselves over to luxuries and destrayed from God and proceeded in the ceits, without committing blasphemy

desires of this age, and he punishes them

against the Lord. They have been ruined

with the various terrifying punishments

by falling from the truth. For these there

that each of them deserves.”

is a hope of repentance, and it can make

4
“I want to know, Lord,” I said, “what

them live. And so, those who have exsorts of punishments there are.” “Listen,”

perienced this kind of ruin have some

he said, “to the various torments and punhope of new life, but death brings eternal ishments. For the torments come in the

destruction.”

present life. Some people are punished

5
Then we went a little way ahead, and

with financial losses, others with deprihe showed me a large shepherd with a vations, various diseases, or every kind

wild kind of appearance, clothed in the

of disruption, or by being abused by

skin of a white goat, with a bag on his

miscreants and many other kinds of

shoulder, a very hard and knotty staff,

suffering.

and a great whip. He had an extremely

5
For many people undertake numerbitter look about him. I was afraid of him, ous projects but go back and forth in their

he had such a look.

minds, and nothing at all goes well for

6
This shepherd was taking the sheep

them. And they say that they do not prosfrom the young shepherd—those that per in what they do, but it never occurs

were frisky and luxuriously fed, but not

to them that they have done what is evil;

leaping—and driving them into an area

instead, they blame the Lord.

that was steep and filled with thorns and

6
And so, when they have suffered

thistles. And the sheep could not extricate

every affliction, they are handed over to

themselves from the thorns and thistles

me for good discipline, and they are made

but became entangled in them.

strong in the faith of the Lord, and they

7
And so they had to graze while being

serve as the Lord’s slaves the remaining

entangled among the thorns and thistles;

days of their lives, with pure hearts.

and they were being miserably beaten by

When they repent, they think about the

the shepherd. He was forcing them to

evil deeds they have done, and then they

move here and there, giving them no rest

give glory to God, because he is an upat all, so that those sheep were not at all right judge and each one has rightly suftranquil.

fered everything in light of what he has

278

NON-CANONICAL APOCALYPSES AND REVELATORY TREATISES

done. For the rest of their lives they will

your heart and serve God. Take care,” he

serve as the Lord’s slave with pure hearts,

said, “lest the time be fulfilled and you

and they will prosper in their every deed,

be found foolish. Listen, now,” he said,

receiving everything they ask from the

“to what you want to know, so that you

Lord. Then they glorify the Lord, bemay understand these things.

cause they have been delivered over to

3
The one who lives in luxury and deme, and they no longer suffer any evil.”

ceit for a single day, doing whatever he

wants, is clothed with great foolishness

(VI,
4)

and does not understand what he is doing.

64 I said to him, “Lord, explain The next day he forgets what he did the something else to me.” “What

day before. For luxury and deceit have

do you want to know?” he asked. “Are

no memories, because the person is

those who live in luxury and deceit,” I

clothed in foolishness. But when punishasked, “tormented for the same amount ment and torment cling to a person for a

of time they lived in luxury and deceit?”

single day, he is punished and tormented

He replied to me, “They are tormented

for a year, because punishment and torthe same amount of time.”

ment have great memories,

2
“Then they are tormented very little,

4
And so, when he is tormented and

Lord,” I said. “For those who have lived

punished over the course of the entire

in luxury like this and forgotten God

year, then he remembers his luxury and

should be tormented seven times as

deceit and he knows that he is suffering

long.”

because of these evil deeds. All those

3
He said to me, “You are a fool and

who live in luxury and deceit are tordo not understand the force of the tormented in this way, because even though ment.” “If I had understood it, Lord,” I

they are alive they have handed themreplied, “I would not have asked you to selves over to death.”

explain it to me.” “Listen,” he said, “and

5
“What sorts of luxuries, Lord,” I

I will tell you the force of both things.

asked, “are harmful?” He replied, “Ev

4
The time of luxury and deceit is a

erything that brings a person pleasure is

single hour. But an hour’s worth of tora luxury,” he said. “For even the foulment has the force of thirty days. And

tempered person who acts as he desires

so, if someone lives in luxury and deceit

enjoys a luxury. So too does the adulterer,

for a single day, and is then tormented

the drunkard, the slanderer, the liar, the

for a single day, that day of torment has

greedy, the defrauder, and anyone who

the force of an entire year. Thus, a person

does anything similar, as he desires, in

is tormented for the same number of

his own diseased way. Such a person,

years as the days he has lived in luxury.n

then, enjoys a luxury in what he does.

You see,” he said, “that the time of luxury

6
All these luxuries are harmful to the

and deceit is very brief, but that of punslaves of God. Those who are punished ishment and torment is long.”

and tormented, therefore, suffer because

of these deceitful practices.

(VI,
5)

7
But there are also luxuries that save

65 I said, “Lord, since I have not people. For many people who do what is completely understood about

good enjoy luxury by being borne along

the times of deceit and luxury and torment, explain them to me more clearly.”

2
He answered me, “You are persistently foolish and do not wish to cleanse nNote: the calculations are based on a twelve-hour day

THE SHEPHERD OF HERMAS

279

by their own pleasure. And so this kind

4
“But look, Lord,” I said, “they have

of luxury can be profitable for the slaves

in fact repented from their whole heart.”

of God, and provides life to such a per

“I myself know they have repented from

son. But the harmful luxuries that I mentheir whole heart,” he replied. “But do tioned before provide torments and punyou think,” he said, “that the sins of those ishments. If people remain in them

who repent are forgiven on the spot? Not

without repenting, they provide death for

at all! But the one who repents must

themselves.”

torment his own soul and become mightily humble in his every deed and be afflicted with many and various afflictions.

Parable
Seven

And if he should endure the afflictions

that come upon him, the one who created

(VII)

and empowered all things will be fully

66 After a few days I saw him in compassionate and bring him some the same plain where I had seen

healing.

the shepherds, and he said to me, “What

5
This will certainly happen if he sees

are you looking for?” “I have come here,

that the heart of the one who repents is

Lord,” I said, “to ask you to order the

pure from every evil deed. And it is to

punishing angel to leave my house, beyour advantage, and to your household’s, cause he is afflicting me terribly.” “You

to be afflicted now. But why am I telling

need to be afflicted,” he replied, “because

you so much? You must be afflicted, just

this is what the glorious angel comas that angel of the Lord commanded, the manded for you. For he wants you to be

one who delivered you over to me. Give

put to the test.” “What evil thing have I

the Lord thanks for this—for he considdone, Lord, to be handed over to this ered you worthy to have the affliction

angel?” I asked.

explained in advance, that by knowing

2
“Listen,” he said, “your sins are

about it in advance you could endure it

many, but not enough for you to be

strongly.”

handed over to this angel. But your

6
I said to him, “Lord, be with me and

household has committed great sins and

I will be able to endure every affliction.”

lawless acts, and the glorious angel is

“I will be with you,” he said. “And I will

embittered by their deeds. This is why he

also ask the punishing angel to afflict you

commanded you to be afflicted for a time,

less severely. You will be afflicted for a

to lead them to repent and cleanse thembrief time, and you will again be restored selves from all worldly desires. When

to your place. But continue by being

they repent and are cleansed, then the

humble, serving the Lord with a pure

punishing angel will leave.”

heart, you, your children, and your

3
I said to him, “Lord, even if they are

household, and proceed in my commandacting in ways that embitter the glorious ments, which I have given you, and your

angel—what have I done?” “It cannot be

repentance will be able to be strong and

otherwise,” he said. “They cannot be afpure.

flicted unless you are as well, since you

7
And if you guard these matters,

are the head of the household. For if you

along with your household, every afflicare afflicted, of necessity they are too; tion will leave you. And affliction will

but if you are flourishing, they can exleave everyone who proceeds in these my perience no affliction.”

commandments.” . . .

The Apocalypse of Peter

Three different apocalypses surviving from ancient Christianity claim to have been written by Peter. The one presented here was discovered in 1887

in the tomb of a Christian monk, along with the Gospel of Peter; it was subsequently found in a fuller Ethiopic translation.1 This apocalypse was well-known in early Christianity; some churches counted it among the New Testament Scriptures.2 Eventually, though, it came to be excluded from the canon, in part because Christians realized that it was pseudonymous. Even then, however, the book continued to exercise a significant influence on Christian thought. This is the first Christian writing to describe a journey through hell and heaven, an account that inspired a large number of successors, including, ultimately, Dante’s
Divine
Comedy.

The book begins with Peter and the other disciples on the Mount of Olives listening to Jesus deliver his “apocalyptic discourse” (see Mark 13).

Peter asks about the coming judgment. Jesus responds by describing the terrifying events that will occur when the world is destroyed by fire at the last judgment. He then details the eternal torments that await those destined for hell and the perpetual blessings of those bound for heaven.

There is some ambiguity over whether Jesus actually takes Peter on a journey through these two abodes of the dead or simply describes them in such vivid detail that it feels as if Peter is seeing them. There is no ambiguity, however, concerning the respective fates of those destined for one place or the other. In an unsettling way, the horrific punishments of the damned are made to fit their crimes (chaps. 7–12). Those who have followed Christ and kept the commandments of God, however, will be brought into the eternal kingdom, where they will enjoy the blissful life of heaven forever. The book ends with Peter describing first-hand what he saw on the Mount of Transfiguration, possibly in order to validate the legitimacy of the rest of his vision (cf. 2 Pet 1:17–18). The ultimate goal of this first-hand description of hellish and heavenly realities is reasonably clear: the way to escape eternal torment is to avoid sin.