Apocryphon of James

James writes to a beloved disciple, recounting how the Saviour appeared 550 days after His resurrection and drew Peter and James apart to reveal the hidden teaching.

1James writeth unto … : Peace be unto thee from peace; love from love; grace from grace; faith from faith; life from holy life.

2Inasmuch as thou hast asked me to send thee a hidden book which was revealed unto Peter and unto me by the Lord, I could not refuse thee, neither could I gainsay thee. But I have written it in Hebrew letters, and have sent it unto thee — and unto thee alone.

3Yet, since thou art a minister of the salvation of the saints, take heed; and be careful not to recount unto many this book which the Saviour did not wish to recount even unto all of us, His twelve disciples.

4Now the twelve disciples were all sitting together at one time, and recalling what the Saviour had said unto each of them, whether secretly or openly, and were setting it down in books.

5And I, even I, was writing what was in my book, when behold, the Saviour appeared, after He had departed from us — even five hundred and fifty days after He had risen from the dead. And we said unto Him: Hast Thou departed and removed Thyself from us?

6And Jesus said: Nay; but I shall return unto the place from which I came forth. If ye will come with me, come.

7We all answered, and said: If Thou biddest us, we will come.

8He said: Verily, I say unto you, none shall ever enter the kingdom of heaven because I bid him; but rather, because ye yourselves are full.

9Leave James and Peter unto me, that I may fill them. And when He had called the two of them, He took them apart, and bade the rest occupy themselves with that which they were doing.

10The Saviour said: Ye have received mercy. Have ye not understood? Be not desirous, then, to hear about the head, but about the matter that is hidden in the head.

11I say unto you: be ye full, and lack nothing, lest ye lack.

12And I, James, said: Lord, we can be obedient unto Thee if Thou willest, for we have forsaken our fathers and our mothers and our villages, and followed Thee. Grant us, then, not to be tempted by the devil, the evil one.

13The Lord answered, and said: What is your merit, if ye do the will of the Father, and it is not given you of Him as a gift, while ye are tempted by Satan? But if ye are oppressed by Satan and persecuted, and ye do the will of the Father, I say He shall love you, and shall make you equal with me, and shall consider that ye have become beloved through His providence by your own choice.

14Will ye not, then, cease loving the flesh, and being afraid of sufferings? Or know ye not that ye have yet to be abused and to be accused unjustly, and to be shut up in prison, and condemned unlawfully, and crucified, and buried as I myself was, by the evil one?

15Do ye dare to spare the flesh, ye for whom the Spirit is an encircling wall? If ye consider how long the world existed before you, and how long it shall exist after you, ye shall find that your life is one single day, and your sufferings one single hour.

16For the Good shall not enter into the world. Scorn ye, therefore, death; and take thought for life. Remember my cross, and my death, and ye shall live.

17And I answered, and said unto Him: Lord, do not mention to us the cross and the death, for they are far from Thee.

18The Lord answered, and said: Verily, I say unto you, none shall be saved unless he believe in my cross. Yet they that believe in my cross — theirs is the kingdom of God. Become, therefore, seekers of death, even as the dead seek life — for that which they seek is revealed unto them.

19And what is there to trouble them? As for you, when ye examine death, it shall teach you election. Verily, I say unto you: none shall be saved that is afraid of death, for the kingdom of God belongeth to them that put themselves to death.

20Become better than I; make yourselves like the Son of the Holy Spirit.

21Then I, James, asked Him: Lord, in what manner shall we be able to prophesy unto them that ask us to prophesy unto them? For there are many that ask us, and look unto us to hear our utterance.

22The Lord answered, and said: Know ye not that the head of prophecy is cut off with John?

23And I said: Lord, can it be possible to take away the head of prophecy?

24The Lord said unto me: When ye shall have known what the head is, and that prophecy issueth from the head, then understand the meaning of: His head was taken away. I spake unto you in parables; and ye understood not.

25Now then, give heed unto me, as is fitting. Hasten to be saved without being urged. Rather, be ye eager of your own accord; and, if possible, arrive even before me. For thus shall the Father love you.