Editing Apocalypse of Peter (section)

==Authorship and date==
[[File:Eastern Mediterranean 125 political map eastern med.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|The [[Eastern Mediterranean]] region around 125 AD. Scholars hypothesize that the author of the Apocalypse of Peter may have been from [[Roman Judea]]<ref name="bauckham160" /> or [[Roman Egypt]].<ref name="Bremmer2003" /><ref name="bremmer2009" /><ref name="mueller2003">{{cite book |last=Müller |first=Caspar Detlef Gustav  |author-link=Caspar Detlef Gustav Müller |editor-last1=Schneemelcher |editor-first1=Wilhelm |editor-link1=Wilhelm Schneemelcher |translator-last1=Wilson |translator-first1=Robert McLachlan |translator-link1=R. McL. Wilson |date=2003 |orig-date=1989 |title=New Testament Apocrypha: Volume Two: Writings Relating to the Apostles; Apocalypses and Related Subjects |edition=Revised |location=Louisville |publisher=Westminster Press |chapter=Apocalypse of Peter |pages=620&ndash;625 |isbn=0-664-22722-8 }}</ref>|alt=Refer to caption]]

The Apocalypse of Peter seems to have been written between 100 AD and 150 AD. The {{lang|la|[[terminus post quem]]}}&mdash;the point after which the Apocalypse of Peter must have been written&mdash;is shown by its probable use of [[4 Esdras|the Fourth Book of Esdras]], which was written about 100 AD.<ref name="maurer664">{{harvnb|Maurer|1965|p=664}}.  Compare Apocalypse of Peter Chapter 3 with {{bibleverse|2 Esdras|5:33–56|NRSV}} (4 Esdras, confusingly, is chapter 3 onward of the compilation book later called 2 Esdras).</ref>  The Apocalypse is quoted in Book 2 of the [[Sibylline Oracles]] ({{circa|150}}), and cited by name and quoted in [[Clement of Alexandria]]'s ''Prophetical Extracts'' ({{circa|200}}).<ref name="clement-pe-quote" /> It also appears by name in the [[Muratorian fragment]], generally dated to the late 2nd century ({{c.|170–200}}).<ref name="metzger" /> All of this implies it must have been in existence by around 150 AD, the {{lang|la|terminus ante quem}} (the date before which it must have been written).<ref name="elliott">{{cite book |last = Elliott |first = James Keith |editor-first1 = J. K. |editor-last1 = Elliott |chapter=The Apocalypse of Peter |title = The Apocryphal New Testament |year = 1993 |publisher = Oxford University Press |isbn = 0-19-826182-9 |pages=593&ndash;595 |doi=10.1093/0198261829.003.0032 }}</ref>

The geographic origin of the author is unknown and remains a matter of scholarly debate. The main theories are for [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] or Egypt.<ref name="bremmer2024" /><ref name="batovici2022" /> [[Richard Bauckham]] argues for more precisely dating the composition to the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]] (132–136), and identifies the author as a [[Jewish Christian]] in [[Roman Judea]], the region affected by the revolt. As an example, the writer seems to write from a position of persecution, condemning those who caused the deaths of martyrs by their lies, and Bar Kokhba is reputed to have punished and killed Christians. This suggestion is not accepted by all; [[Eibert Tigchelaar]] wrote a rebuttal of the argument as unconvincing, as other calamities such as the [[Diaspora Revolt|Jewish revolt under Trajan]] (115&ndash;117) could have been the inspiration, as could forgotten local persecutions.<ref name="Tigchellaar2003">{{cite book |chapter=Is the Liar Bar-Kokhba? Considering the Date and Provenance of the Greek (Ethiopic) Apocalypse of Peter |last=Tigchelaar |first=Eibert |author-link=Eibert Tigchelaar |editor1-first=Jan N. |editor1-last=Bremmer |editor1-link=Jan N. Bremmer |editor2-first=István |editor2-last=Czachesz |title=The Apocalypse of Peter |date=2003 |publisher=Peeters |isbn=90-429-1375-4 |pages=63–77}}</ref>{{NoteTag|[[Richard Bauckham]]'s argument for composition by a Jewish-Christian author in Palestine during the Bar Kokhba revolt also notes the text speaks of a single false messiah who has not yet been exposed as false.  The reference to the false messiah as a "liar" may be a Hebrew pun turning Bar Kokhba's original name, Bar Kosiba, into Bar Koziba, "son of the lie".<ref name="bauckham160">{{harvnb|Bauckham|1998|pp=160&ndash;161}}.</ref> Scholars who have found Bauckham's argument convincing include [[Oskar Skarsaune]] and Dennis Buchholz.<ref name="Skarsaune 2007">{{cite book |last=Skarsaune |first=Oskar | author-link=Oskar Skarsaune |editor-last=Skarsaune |editor-first=Oskar | editor1-link=Oskar Skarsaune |editor2-last=Hvalvik |editor2-first=Reidar |editor2-link=Reidar Hvalvik |title=Jewish Believers in Jesus |pages=384–388 |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-56563-763-4}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Buchholz|1988|pp=277–278, 408–412}}.</ref> Scholars who agree with [[Eibert Tigchelaar]] against Bauckham include Eric Beck and Tobias Nicklas.<ref>{{harvnb|Beck|2019|pp=9–11, 175}}.</ref>}} Other scholars suggest [[Roman Egypt]] as a possible origin; [[Jan N. Bremmer|Jan Bremmer]] suggests that Greek philosophical influence in the work points to an author or editor in more Hellenized Egypt, although perhaps working off a Palestinian text.<ref name="Bremmer2003" /><ref name="bremmer2009" />{{NoteTag|Other advocates of an Egyptian origin include [[Klaus Berger (theologian)|Klaus Berger]] and [[Caspar Detlef Gustav Müller|C.D.G. Müller]], who detect similar veneration of Peter in other Egyptian Christian works as well as references to Egyptian cultural practices. Clement of Alexandria's notice of the work suggests it was popular in Alexandria, the literary center of Egypt.<ref name="mueller2003" />}}