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The Apocalypse of Adam: Evidence for a Christian Gnostic Provenance

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The Apocalypse of Adam: Evidence for a Christian Gnostic Provenance THE APOCALYPSE OF ADAM: EVIDENCE FOR A CHRISTIAN GNOSTIC PROVENANCE BY G. M. SHELLRUDE The Apocalypse of Adam' has aroused considerable interest because of the claim by its first editors, which has been supported by other scholars, that it is a document of a non-Christian and perhaps pre­ Christian Gnostic sect. 2 The significance of this claim lies in the Redeemer myth in the Apoc. Adam. According to the myth a heavenly Redeemer enters history by means of a docetic union with an historical person. His purpose is to create a redeemed community by the proclamation of Gnosis. When the Demiurge tries to destroy this enigmatic figure, the heavenly Redeemer departs into the heavenly world while the fleshly vehicle of his manifestation suffers. If this text represents a non-Christian and temporally pre-Christian Gnosticism, then it is the first concrete evidence for a pre-Christian Redeemer myth of this type. The conclusion of this communication is that the Apoc. Adam cannot be admitted as evidence for a pre-Christian Redeemer myth because of the clear evidence that it is a document of Christian Gnosticism. ' I am using the Coptic text and English translation prepared by G. W. MacRae in Nag Hammadi Codices, V, 2-5 and VI with Papyrus Berolinensis 8502, 1 and 4, ed. D. M. Par­ rot, Leiden, 1979, 154-195. I have consulted the Coptic text and German translation prepared by A. Biihlig and P. Labib, Koptisch-gnostische Apokalypsen aus Codex V von Nag Hammadi, Halle-Wittenberg, 1963, 96-117, and the translation of M. Krause, "The Apocalypse of Adam", in Gnosis: A Selection of Gnostic Texts, II, ed. W. Foerster, Oxford, 1974, 13-23. ' Biihlig, Koptisch-gnostische Apokalypsen, 86-95. He has elaborated his views in two subsequent articles: "Die Adamapokalypse aus Codex V von Nag Hammadi als Zeugnis jiidisch-iranischer Gnosis", OrChr 48 (1964), 44-49, and "Jiidisches und Iranisches in der Adamapokalypse des Codex V von Nag Hammadi", in Mysterion und Wahr!,eit, Leiden, 1968, 149-161. The non-Christian nature of the text has been supported by G. W. MacRae, "The Coptic Gnostic Apocalypse of Adam", Heythrop Journal VI (1965), 27-35, and "The Apocalypse of Adam Reconsidered", SBL Seminar Papers, Missoula, 1972, 573-579. K. Rudolph has adopted this position in a number of articles: his review of Biihlig and Labib's work in TLZ 90 (1965) 361-362, in "Gnosis und Gnostizismus, ein Forschungsbericht", ThR 34 (1%9), 160-169, and in Die Gnosis: Wesen und Geschichte einer spiitantiken Religion, Giittingen, 1977, 148-149. THE APOCALYPSE OF ADAM 83 A number of scholars have argued that the Apoc. Adam is a Christian Gnostic text. 3 The evidence they have adduced falls into two categories: 4 evidence that the author was acquainted with the literature of the canonical New Testament, the correspondence of motifs in the Apoc. Adam to demonstrably Christian Gnostic motifs. While it is impossible to review all this evidence, I would like to make a few observations about the debate. It is admitted on all sides that the Apoc. Adam contains motifs and expressions that could be interpreted as evidence for an acquaintance with the New Testament. 5 However the supporters of the pre-Christian hypothesis object to inferring Christian influence from these parallels on the ground that the allusions are not sufficiently explicit. Professors MacRae and Bohlig have argued that Gnostic literature is explicitly syncretistic and invariably makes some clear references to the religious traditions employed. 6 The obvious response to this is that the Apoc. Adam veils its allusions to Jesus and the early Church because of its apocalyptic character. In a later article Professor Mac Rae had to take this counter argument seriously in light of the Nag Hammadi text The Concept of Our Great Power (VI, 4). In this text there is a veiled pro­ phecy of the coming Redeemer which is an ex eventu interpretation of the histo.rical Jesus (40.24-42.21). Professor MacRae's response is that this text differs from the Apoc. Adam in that '' ... the very effectiveness of the revelatory vision depends on its evoking known New Testament ' The first arguments were contained in reviews of Bohlig and Labib's work: Schenke, OLZ 61 (1966), 31-34; J. Danielou, "Bulletin d'histoire des origines chretiennes", RechSR 54 (1966), 291-292; R. Haardt, WZKM 61 (1967), 153-159. R. McL. Wilson, Gnosis and the New Testament, Oxford, 1968, 135-139, tentatively argued for the presence of Christian influence. A. F. J. Klijn, Seth in Jewish, Christian and Gnostic Literature, Leiden, 1977, 90-96, thinks that a Christian background is obvious although he does not defend his position. For further lists of opinions on both sides see the notes in Klijn and in F. T. Fallon, The Enthronement of Sabaoth, Leiden, 1978, 69-70, note 146. ' E. Yamauchi, "The Apocalypse of Adam, Mithraism, and Pre-Christian Gnosticism", Textes et Memoires, 4, Etudes Mithriaques, Leiden, 1979, 537-563, has argued that the Apoc. Adam cannot be dated before the second century A.D. because of the allusion to Mitha's rock birth in 80.21-26. ' Professor MacRae, Coptic Gnostic Apoc. Adam, 32, has noted the following motifs: the Redeemer is a man of supra-historical origins, the community he creates are metaphorically called 'fruit-bearing trees', the hostile powers are angry with him, he suf­ fers in the flesh, and his followers 'receive his name upon the water', i.e. by baptism. One could also add the reference to the Holy Spirit's descent on the fleshly vehicle of the Redeemer's manifestation, the use of the designation 'Name' for the Redeemer, the state­ ment that he works 'signs and wonders', and the apparent allusion to Revelation 12.1-6 in 78.18ff. ' MacRae, Ibid., 32, and Bohlig, Jiidisches und lranisches, 154. .
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