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What if the apostles could ask the risen Jesus what happens to the body after death?
The Epistle of the Apostles presents itself as a letter from the eleven apostles to Christians everywhere. In this anonymous second-century text, they recount encounters with Jesus after his resurrection. Sarah, Martha and Mary Magdalene visit the tomb; the apostles struggle to believe, then face the teacher they fear is a ghost.
The dialogue turns from wounds they can touch to questions about heaven, flesh and the future. Jesus warns against Simon and Cerinthus, while the letter insists that Christ truly takes flesh, dies and rises bodily. Its teachings reveal how an early Christian writer defends the resurrection against rival views of Christ.
What you’ll discover
- A letter to everyone Follow an opening address that gathers churches east, west, north and south into its concern.
- Doubt meets physical wounds Encounter the scene where frightened apostles are invited to touch the risen Jesus.
- Descent through the heavens Explore the letter’s strange account of how the Word comes down to earth.
- The body’s promised future Consider its teaching that flesh rises with soul and spirit, rather than being left behind.
- Questions about the return Read the text’s account of a promised second coming and the signs that precede it.
Is it for you?
This summary suits readers of early Christianity, students of the Gospels and their afterlife, and anyone curious about how second-century believers defended the resurrection of the body. It may suit you less if you want a plain narrative, since much of the text is dialogue and teaching.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Eleven apostles write to the whole church
- The women find the tomb and are not believed
- Touch the wounds, for the flesh is real
- The Word came down through the heavens
- The dead rise, and Paul is foretold
- Signs of his return and how the letter lived on
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The Epistle of the Apostles
by Various early Christian authors· 150
The risen Jesus answers his apostles’ questions about faith and resurrection.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
Eleven apostles write to the whole church
The letter opens like a letter from the New Testament. The eleven apostles greet the churches of the east and west, the north and south. They name themselves one by one, among them John, Thomas, Peter, Andrew, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Nathanael, Judas the Zealot, and Cephas. Cephas appears here as a separate name from Peter, which is one of the oddities scholars note. Judas Iscariot is gone, and the group is the eleven who remain.
They say they write to share what they saw, heard and touched. Their purpose is to guard believers against false teaching. Two men are named as the source of the danger, Simon and Cerinthus. Simon is probably Simon Magus, who appears in the Acts of the Apostles and became in later Christian writing the father of heresy. Cerinthus was a teacher in Asia Minor in the late first century. Early writers such as Irenaeus say he separated the man Jesus from a heavenly Christ who came upon him at baptism and left before the cross.
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What is the Epistle of the Apostles about?
It is a letter in which the eleven apostles report the teaching of the risen Jesus. It defends the real incarnation and bodily resurrection of Christ, describes his descent from heaven, and promises his return.
Who are Simon and Cerinthus in the Epistle of the Apostles?
They are the false teachers the letter warns against. Simon is probably Simon Magus from the Acts of the Apostles. Cerinthus was an early teacher in Asia Minor who separated the man Jesus from the heavenly Christ.
When was the Epistle of the Apostles written?
Most scholars date it to the middle of the second century, around 150 to 170, though some give a slightly wider range. It was probably written in Greek, and no author is named.
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