Apocryphicity

A weblog devoted to the study of the Christian Apocrypha

About Apocryphicity []

Apocryphicity (ă-pok-rif-is-iti) n. 1. a recently coined term for describing the qualities of apocryphal literature. 2. a recently created weblog (or blog) dedicated to discussion of Christian apocrypha.

Welcome to Apocryphicity. This blog has two aims. The first is to report on developments in the study of Christian Apocrypha (a.k.a. non-canonical Christian literature) in the form of media excerpts, reviews of scholarly literature, and the occasional mention of apocryphal texts and traditions in popular culture. The second is to provide a forum for those interested in the Christian Apocrypha (scholars and non-scholars) to exchange ideas and information.

Apocryphicity is maintained by Dr. Tony Chartrand-Burke who teaches Biblical Studies at the Atkinson School of Arts and Letters (a part of York University in Toronto, Canada). The opinions expressed here are his own.

Anyone interested in the topic of the Christian Apocrypha is welcome to read the posts and, if inspired, add comments. From time-to-time I offer courses on the Christian Apocrypha and Gnosticism; students of these courses are encouraged to participate also.

I would be very grateful if readers would send me links to recent developments online regarding Christian Apocrypha (ancient, medieval, or even modern) along with your own comments if you have any. These can be sent to my e-mail address (tburke@yorku.ca) or can be submitted simply as a comment to any of the blog postings.

Be sure to check out my homepage which features pages related to the CA (including links to other websites and an on-going bibliography project), as well as the web’s premier Infancy Gospel of Thomas page and material related to other research projects.


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The Pope Reads Apocryphal Thomas Texts

December 8th, 2006 by Tony

Back in September Pope Benedict XVI delivered a speech in which he stated that Thomas evangelized Syria and Persia, and then went on to western India, "from where Christianity also reached southern India."The statement angered Christians of southern India who claim Thomas evangelized the south himself. The Pope attempted to make peace with the group by issuing a corrected statement that cites the Acts of Thomas: "Lastly, let us remember that an ancient tradition claims that Thomas first evangelized Syria and Persia (mentioned by Origen, according to Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 3, 1) then went on to Western India (cf. Acts of Thomas 1-2 and 17ff.), from where also he finally reached Southern India." Pope Benedict's original talk acknowledged the validity of the apocryphal book as a source of knowledge. The Acts of Thomas and Gospel of Thomas are apocryphal books, he said, but "in any case important for the study of Christian origins." For more on the story visit here and here.

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