The ‘Hymn of the Pearl’ in the literary context of the Origins of Christianism. Analysis and first conclussions on AT 108-111.62

  • Israel Muñoz Gallarte Universidad de Córdoba (España).
Keywords: Apocryphal Christian Literature, Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, Acts of Thomas, Hymn of the Pearl, Imperial Greek Literature, Greek Philosophy.

Abstract

One of the most beautiful and enigmatic texts in the corpus of the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles is beyond doubt the so-called Hymn of the Pearl (Acts of Thomas 108-113), whose meaning, however, is far from getting an academic consensus in the current bibliography. As A.F.J. Klijn in his «The So-Called Hymn of the Pearl (Acts of Thomas ch. 108-113)», Vigiliae Christianae, vol. 14, n. 3 (1960) 156, stated a coherent analysis of the poem should bring an answer to two main questions: «What is meant with the pearl? and Who is the principal person in this hymn?». The following pages will try to propose a tenable meaning to this passage by allocating it in its due conceptual context and will offer a consequent hypothesis to those questions that remain still opened.

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Published
2017-10-03
How to Cite
Muñoz Gallarte I. (2017). The ‘Hymn of the Pearl’ in the literary context of the Origins of Christianism. Analysis and first conclussions on AT 108-111.62. ’Ilu. Revista de Ciencias de las Religiones, 22, 245-265. https://doi.org/10.5209/ILUR.57415
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Articles