OCR Text |
Show . CRYPHAL GOSPEL OF PETER. Great interest in the religious world attaches to the recent publication in Paris of the translation transla-tion of a recently-discovered manuscript of the apocryphal gospel of Peter. It is a document of the early half of the second century, and the copy discovered on an Egyptian tomb is judged to have been made in the eighth century. The following account ac-count of the resurrection is given: "There was a great voice from Heaven, and the soldiers saw the heavens open and two men descending de-scending thence with a great light and approaching the tomb, and the stone which was put at the door rolled away from itself and departed on one side, and the tomb was open and both young men entered en-tered it. When, therefore, the soldiers saw.it they awakened the centurion and ciders, for they, too, were hard by keeping watch, and as they declared what things they had seen, again they saw coming com-ing forth from the tomb three men, and two supporting sup-porting one, and a cross following them, and of the two the heads reached unto the heavens, but th.j head of him that was led overpassed the heavens, and they heard a voice from the heavens saying, 'Hast thou preached to them that sleep?' And an answer was heard from the cross, 'Yes.' " There was also found a copy of the lost apocalypse apoca-lypse of Peter. This is a most valuable discovery, for, as the translator indicates, it furnishes the origin ori-gin of most of the early Christian ideas of hell. Much of the later literature on the subject is traceable to this now restored document. A single sin-gle quotation shows,its"hature: "And I saw fso another place of chastisement and these that, jvere being chastised and angels that were enabling had their raiment dark, according ac-cording to the J j niosphere of that place. And there were somVihere hanging by their tongues, and these were -W that blaspheme the way of righteousness; an'fcgtsaw murderers and them that had conspirea -3h them cast into certain 'narrow places full :,-vil reptiles and- being smitten by those I land wallowing there y Vis in that tormf '"vVthere were set upon An, as it were i ,.? ;.Jr , . v jtcness, ana tne .sToui hem that h t standing and '.g Upon"-ff V fiinae -murderov In the same iMherP persecutors, blas :fs witness j- usurers are describe . . . . 8 , "nirW - -i A1 ) |