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Introduction
The First Apocalypse of James narrates two conversations between Jesus and his “brother” James, one before Jesus’s death and ascension and one following his return from these events. The text describes an ascension christology that becomes an ascension soteriology: after his death, Jesus ascends through the realms of cosmic toll-collectors and a guard, and James must likewise to reach his “roots.” Both Jesus and James overcome the toll-collectors by declaring that they belong to the “Preexistent Father” (ⲡⲓⲱⲧ ⲉⲧϣⲟⲟⲡ ϫⲛ̄ ⲛ̄ϣ̣[ⲟⲣⲡ̄])1 as opposed to the female power Achamoth, mother to the toll-collectors who produced them without the consent of the Father. In 1 Apoc. Jas., Jesus reveals to James their shared identity as sons of the Preexistent Father and, through his death, he shows the archons that sons of the Preexistent Father cannot be overpowered. His own postmortem ascension then paves the way for James to follow him into heaven.
The “dialogue gospel” has three main sections: the two conversations between James and Jesus, separated by Jesus’s departure, death, and return, and a revelatory section that states that Jesus’s teaching is to be handed down to Addai, then to Manael, then to Levi, and finally to Levi’s son who will communicate it to others.2 Before this time, it is to be kept secret. The first two sections are the focus of this paper.
Although 1 Apoc. Jas is commonly dated to the late second/early third century, we only know it from later manuscripts.3 Today, 1 Apoc. Jas. exists for us in three recensions: the Coptic Nag Hammadi Codex V 3 (NH), the Coptic Codex Tchacos 2 (CT), and a recently discovered, yet-to-be published Greek manuscript.4 The two Coptic codices are dated to the fourth century and the Greek manuscript to the sixth. As will be discussed briefly later, the extent to which Johannine motifs are developed in the two Coptic versions are largely the same. For the purpose of this study, CT is better preserved than NH and will be the manuscript predominantly used in this paper. Where it makes better sense to use the NH recension, or where the versions offer different readings, this will be explained.
The First Apocalypse of James shows knowledge of Valentinianism.5 This...