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8 The BiBle STyle Guide
bible society 2008
apocalyptic, apocalypse(s)
A style of crisis writing found in the Bible (and
elsewhere) involving doom-laden revelations about
major disasters or of the end of the world. The term
comes from the Greek word apokalypsis, which means
‘revelation’. Apocalyptic writing was usually understood
as involving some kind of heavenly vision, during which
secrets would be revealed. The only two examples of
apocalypses in the Bible would be the books of Daniel
and Revelation, although some would say that there
is also apocalyptic material in the books of Zechariah
and Ezekiel. Among Catholics the book of Revelation is
sometimes known as the Apocalypse.
apocrypha, old testament
The term apocrypha comes from the Greek word
apokryphos, which means ‘something hidden’. It means
different things in different contexts. Generally, it has a
negative meaning and refers to ‘wannabe’ books of the
Bible – rather than real ones. Some Christians use the
term ‘old testament Apocrypha’ to refer to a certain
set of books that are sometimes claimed to be part
of the Old Testament, but as they see it, don’t really
belong in the collection. This includes, with some minor
variations, the books of Wisdom, 1 and 2 Maccabees,
Baruch, Sirach, Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Esdras and the
Prayer of Manasseh.
Catholic and Orthodox Christians take a different
view. As they see it, those books are genuinely part of
the Bible, so they don’t refer to them by the negative
term ‘apocrypha’ (Catholics, however, don’t include 1
and 2 Esdras or the Prayer of Manasseh). They refer
to them as the either the deuterocanonical books
or sometimes as the anagignoskomena. Other
‘wannabe’ Old Testament material (other than that
particular set of books) are usually described by everyone
as Old Testament Pseudipigrapha. Most Christians
agree in describing ‘wannabe’ Christian texts as ‘New
testament Apocrypha’. For further detail on this issue,
read section 6.2, Finalising the Writings collection.
apocrypha, new testament/christian
This term refers to a range of literature (such as
apocalypses, gospels, epistles and acts) that
were mostly written after the books that form part
of the New Testament (i.e. from the second century
CE onwards). They offer interesting insights into how
Christianity developed and splintered during the
second century CE. Most of the works are attempts
to embellish the original New testament material,
providing extra information where there were clear
gaps in the market.
The Infancy gospels of James and Thomas are classic
examples of this, since they cover the childhoods of
Jesus and of the Virgin Mary. Many second century
gospels cover the period after the Resurrection of
Jesus, especially the Gnostic texts. Some writers,
such as those who produced 3 Corinthians or the
Epistle to Laodicea, spotted excuses in the New
Testament itself to produce extra material. For example,
1 Corinthians 5.9 refers to another letter of Paul to the
apostle
Corinthians and Colossians 4.16 mentions a letter to
the Laodiceans. The Apocalypse of Peter appears to be
a grislier version of the book of Revelation.
However, that’s not to say that this wider field of later
Christian literature contained nothing of value. Some of
the earlier material may be compared to unauthorised
biographies of Jesus and the apostles. In other words,
they may contain grains of truth but are generally to
be taken with a large pinch of salt. Especially valued
were four teaching documents; the Epistle of Barnabas,
the Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles), the
Shepherd of Hermas and the first letter of Clement.
Most biblical scholars believe that these particular
documents were written fairly early, in the late first
and early second centuries CE. Therefore, these four
works were sometimes floated as possible candidates
for inclusion in the New Testament canon. Eventually,
however, they were left out of the mainstream canon
because people didn’t think they were written by the
apostles or with their approval. Certain other works,
such as the Egerton Gospel and gospel fragments
found at a rubbish dump in Oxyrhynchus (Egypt) may
be even earlier again. They may even be among the
other accounts of the life of Jesus that the gospel writer
Luke mentioned (Luke 1.1–3) and therefore be of some
historical value.
The term apostle comes from the Greek word
apostolos, which roughly means ‘someone sent’. There
are 80 references to apostles in the New Testament,
but some scholars would argue that there appear
to be two different types (although the distinctions
aren’t all that clear). Many of those references are to
the 12 men who were sent out by Christ to preach
during his lifetime and who were later witnesses to the
resurrection of Jesus (Matthew 10.1–4; Acts 1.21–22).
As such, they were viewed in some sense as authority
figures within the early Christian community.
Later, Matthias and Paul were also understood as
apostles in this way (Acts 1.26; 1 Corinthians 9.1).
However, there were also a wider group of people
called ‘apostles’ who were sent out as messengers
to/from churches or as missionaries (Acts 13.1–3;
14.4; 1 Corinthians 12.27–29; 2 Corinthians 8.23;
Philippians 2.25). It is in this second sense that some
later Christian writers described Mary Magdalene as
the ‘apostle to the apostles’. This was because she was
sent by Jesus with a message to the 12 apostles.