Editing Apocalypse of Peter (section)

{{Short description|2nd-century Christian apocalyptic text}}
{{For-multi|the Nag Hammadi text|Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter|the 10th-century Arabic text|Arabic Apocalypse of Peter}}
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{{Use American English|date=June 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
[[File:Apocalypse of Peter Akhmim Plate vii.png|right|thumb|upright=1.3|The beginning of the Greek fragment of the Apocalypse of Peter found in [[Akhmim]], Egypt|alt=Photograph of parchment]]
The '''Apocalypse of Peter''',{{NoteTag|{{langx|grc|Ἀποκάλυψις τοῦ Πέτρου|translit=Apokálypsis toú Pétrou|translation=Revelation of Peter}}. When there is a risk of confusion with the unrelated [[Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter]] or the [[Arabic Apocalypse of Peter]], it is sometimes referred to as the "Greek (Ethiopic) Apocalypse of Peter".<ref name="batovici2022">{{cite book |last=Batovici |first=Dan  |editor-last1=Edwards |editor-first1=J. Christopher |date=2022 |title=Early New Testament Apocrypha |publisher=Zondervan Academic |chapter=Apocalypse of Peter (Greek) |pages=446&ndash;458 |series=Ancient Literature for New Testament Studies 9 |isbn=9780310099710 }}</ref>}} also called the '''Revelation of Peter''', is an [[Early Christianity|early Christian]] text of the 2nd century and a work of [[apocalypse|apocalyptic literature]]. It is the earliest-written extant work depicting a Christian account of [[heaven]] and [[hell]] in detail. The Apocalypse of Peter is influenced by both [[Jewish eschatology|Jewish apocalyptic literature]] and [[Hellenistic philosophy|Greek philosophy]] of the [[Hellenistic period]]. The text is extant in two diverging versions based on a [[lost literary work|lost]] [[Koine Greek]] original: a shorter Greek version and a longer [[Ge'ez language|Ethiopic]] version.

The work is [[pseudepigraphal]]: it is purportedly written by the disciple [[Saint Peter|Peter]], but its actual author is unknown.  The Apocalypse of Peter describes a divine vision experienced by Peter through the risen Jesus Christ.  After the disciples inquire about signs of the [[Second Coming of Jesus]], the work delves into a vision of the afterlife ({{transliteration|grc|[[katabasis]]}}), and details both heavenly bliss for the righteous and infernal punishments for the damned.  In particular, the punishments are graphically described in a physical sense, and loosely correspond to "[[an eye for an eye]]" ({{lang|la|lex talionis}}): blasphemers are hung by their tongues; liars who bear false witness have their lips cut off; callous rich people are pierced by stones while being made to go barefoot and wear filthy rags, mirroring the status of the poor in life; and so on.

The Apocalypse of Peter is not included in the [[standard canon of the New Testament]], but is classed as part of [[New Testament apocrypha]]. It is listed in the canon of the [[Muratorian fragment]], a 2nd-century list of approved books in Christianity and one of the earliest surviving proto-canons. However, the Muratorian fragment expresses some hesitation on the work, saying that some authorities would not have it read in church. While the Apocalypse of Peter influenced other Christian works in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries, it came to be considered inauthentic and declined in use. It was largely superseded by the [[Apocalypse of Paul]], a popular 4th-century work heavily influenced by the Apocalypse of Peter that provides its own updated vision of heaven and hell. The Apocalypse of Peter is a forerunner of the same genre as the ''[[Divine Comedy]]'' of Dante, wherein the protagonist takes a tour of the realms of the afterlife.