Apocryphal collection · Passion and descent into hell · 2 min read
Gospel of Peter
Giants whose heads touch the sky and the talking cross
The full text of this study is in Portuguese; the summary, key points and official view are in English.
In 1886–1887, a French mission found in a monk’s grave at Akhmim, in Egypt, a small codex with a fragment of the Gospel of Peter, until then known only by name. The text narrates the trial, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and contains the most spectacular scene in all apocryphal literature: the soldiers guarding the tomb see the heavens open and two men come down in a great light; the stone rolls away by itself; three men come out of the tomb (the heads of two of them reach the sky, and that of the third goes beyond the heavens), followed by a cross. A voice asks: “Have you preached to those who sleep?”, and the cross answers: “Yes”.
Key points
- Manuscript: the Akhmim codex (8th–9th centuries), published in 1892 by Urbain Bouriant.
- Serapion, bishop of Antioch (c. 190), forbade its reading in the church of Rhossus (Eusebius, Church History 6.12).
- Date of composition: 2nd century.
- Herod, not Pilate, gives the order for the crucifixion.
- Jesus stays silent on the cross, “as if he felt no pain”.
What scholars say
Scholars debate whether the Gospel of Peter depends on the canonical gospels or preserves an independent Passion tradition; most date it to the middle of the 2nd century. Serapion considered it suspect of docetism (the idea that Christ only seemed to suffer).
Keep investigating
- Gospel of Nicodemus (Acts of Pilate) The trial, the bowing standards and Christ's descent into Hades
- Gospel of the Savior (Berlin Papyrus 22220) Jesus's farewell, the ascent to heaven and the dialogue with the cross
- Apocalypse of Peter A visit to heaven and hell, a millennium before Dante
Other languages: Português · Español
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