The present volume offers a new edition, English translation, and interpretation of the Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon , previously known as the Gospel of the Savior. Alin Suciu demonstrates that this apocryphal text is one of the "apostolic memoirs," a peculiar genre of Coptic literature sufficiently documented here for the first time.

Die Unvollständigkeit, in der viele koptische Schriften überliefert sind, erschwert ihre Bewertung und der Text in diesem Band bildet hier keine Ausnahme. Das Berlin-Straßburg Apokryphon - vormals als Evangelium des Erlösers bekannt und in zwei fragmentarischen Handschriften erhalten - wurde fälschlicherweise für ein Evangelium aus dem zweiten Jahrhundert gehalten, welches bei der Zusammenstellung des christlichen Kanons übergangen wurde. Alin Suciu zeigt, dass die Missdeutung des Textes aus mangelhafter Kenntnis koptischer Literatur resultiert. Vielmehr ist das Berlin-Straßburg Apokryphon eines der zahlreichen "apostolischen Memoirs", einem besonderen Genre koptischer Literatur, welche aus Schriften bestand, die angeblich von den Aposteln verfasst wurden und Teil von Predigten berühmter Kirchenvätern sind. Diese Texte wurden nach dem Konzil von Chalcedon, als Teil der Bemühungen der neu entstehenden koptischen Kirche, ihre Identität nach dem Schisma zu festigen, geschrieben.

Autorentext
Born 1978; 2013 PhD in Religious Studies from Université Laval, Québec; 2013-14 research fellow at the Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian Studies, Hamburg; since 2015 senior researcher at the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Klappentext

The incomplete state in which many Coptic writings have survived makes them difficult to assess, and the text studied in this book is no exception. Preserved in two fragmentary manuscripts, the Berlin-Strasbourg-Apocryphon - previously known as the Gospel of the Savior - has been wrongly identified as a second-century gospel which was bypassed in the formation of the Christian canon. Alin Suciu demonstrates that this misunderstanding of the text derives from an insufficient knowledge of Coptic literature. Rather, the Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon is one of the numerous "apostolic memoirs," a peculiar genre of Coptic literature which consists of writings allegedly written by the apostles, often embedded in sermons attributed to famous church fathers. These texts were composed following the Council of Chalcedon, as part of the attempt of the emerging Coptic church to mold its identity after the schism.

Inhalt
Introduction
Chapter 1: History of Research on the Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon

A New Ancient Gospel? - Other Documents Emerge: The Strasbourg Fragments and the Qasr el-Wizz Codex - Reframing the Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon

Chapter 2: The Manuscripts
P. Berol. 22220
Location and Acquisition - Origin of P. Berol. 22220 - Paleography and Dating - Scribal Note - Codicology - Orthography

Strasbourg Copte 5-7
Location and Acquisition - Papyrological Reconstruction - Language - Paleography and Dating

The Qasr el-Wizz Codex
Discovery and Location - Content of the Codex - Description and Dating of the Manuscript

Chapter 3: The Content of the Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon and the Relationship between the Manuscripts
Outline of the Text - The Relationship between the Manuscripts - The Relationship between P. Berol. 22220 and Strasbourg Copte 5-7 - The Relationship between the Strasbourg Fragments and the Qasr el-Wizz Manuscript - The Relationship between P. Berol. 22220 and the Qasr el-Wizz Manuscript - The Qasr el-Wizz Version of the Hymn of the Cross - Placing P. Berol. 22220 Frag. 9 - Placing Strasbourg Copte 6

Chapter 4: The Place of the Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon in Coptic Literature
"We, the Apostles." The Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon and Other Similar Coptic Stories Attributed to the Apostles - The Apostolic Memoirs Framed by a Patristic Sermon - The Apostolic Memoirs without a Homiletic Framework - "O My Holy Members," "O My Honored Members": Apostles, Martyrs, and Monks - The Literary and Liturgical Function of the Coptic Memoirs of the Apostles - The Local Egyptian Character of the Apostolic Memoirs - Dating the Apostolic Memoirs - The Christology of the Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon : Christ as King and Son of the King. The Dating of the Work

Text and Translation
Edition of P. Berol. 22220 - Edition of Strasbourg Copte 5-7 - Edition of the Hymn of the Cross according to the Qasr el-Wizz Codex - Translation of P. Berol. 22220 - Translation of Strasbourg Copte 5-7 - Translation of the Hymn of the Cross according to the Qasr el-Wizz Codex