Articles Authored
My Favorite Journal
My favorite journal for the study of early Christianity is the Dutch publication, Vigiliae Christianae.
The editors there were the first to acquire studies I had written, and
have continued to support me throughout my career. Whenever I am
searching for cutting edge high quality research, I turn first to this
journal's archives.
weblink to VC
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A Great New Journal Series
Editor Paul Foster has been working to put together a terrific series of articles in the last two years of Expository Times.
One series covers the Apostolic Literature and can be found in the 2006
issues of the Times. The second series is being published in 2007. Its
subject matter is the extra-canonical gospels. I have written the piece
for the Gospel of Thomas. Both series are being collected and published
separately as books. What a great idea! Weblink to Expository Times. Weblink to Writings of the Apostolic Fathers.
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Articles in journals, edited books, and conference volumes
“What the Gospel of Judas Really Says”
Abstract: DeConick covers several grammatical points of difference
between the National Geographic translation and her own. She then
makes an examination of the narrative of the Gospel of Judas, and
concludes what we do know from the manuscript is that Judas was
separated from the everlasting generation and his soul was connected
with the archons and the fate of his star. Judas’ tragedy is used by
the Sethian author to criticize and mock his mainstream brothers and
sisters who do not themselves realize that the demonic disciple they
curse is in fact the one who made possible their atonement.
Forthcoming in Madeleine Scopello (ed.), Gospel of Judas Conference Volume (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies; Leiden: Brill).
“The Mystical Christianity in the Gospel of Thomas and the Beginnings of Eastern Orthodoxy”
Abstract:
This article summarizes DeConick's position on the esotericism in the
Gospel of Thomas as representative of an early form of Christian
mysticism growing in Syrian soil. It was a mysticism of a "paradise
now," an internalization of the apocalypse that recreated Eden within
the parameters of the Church, including the transformation of the
faithful into Adam and Eve as they were before the Fall. This situation
was opportune to develop a mysticism of vision and heavenly journey, a
mysticism that represents a precursor to later Eastern Orthodoxy.
Forthcoming
in The Gospel of Thomas in the Context of the Literature and the
History of the Religion of Early Christianity and Late Antiquity,
Colloquium Proceedings (Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena).
“Conceiving Spirits. The Mystery of Valentinian Sex”
Abstract:
This article explores further Valentinian views about sex and
procreation. Why were the Valentinians so concerned about conceiving
souls implanted with a superior spirit like the Lord’s, one that might
be “elect” or, at least, inclined to live morally? Because this would
increase the number of souls that had the opportunity to convert to
Christianity and be redeemed. DeConick argues further that the
Valentinians may not have been against eros. Based on a passage
from one of the Valentinian texts, she says that the Valentinian lovers
appear to have made a distinction between eros and epithumia,
between sexual pleasure and lust, between lovemaking and hedonism. They
were against carnality for certain, but perhaps not sexual pleasure
between married partners. We do not hear in the Valentinian texts
anything approaching Augustine’s reproach of eros, that ideal sex
should be nothing more than a handshake. For the Valentinians, sex
seems to be understood as a delightful and sacred experience all at
once, when the souls of the parents mingled with the heavenly powers
and resulted in the conception of a spiritually superior child, one who
would be morally-inclined and redeemable, if not elect.
In W. Hanegraaff and J. Kripal (eds.), Hidden Intercourse. Eros and Sexuality in Western Esotericism.
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“The Gospel of Thomas”
Abstract: This article views the Gospel of Thomas as the product of an early Eastern form of Christianity, most probably
originating
in a Syrian context. The text should not be seen as representing some
Gnostic or marginal sapiential form of Christianity, rather it reflects
a trajectory in ‘orthodox’ Christianity that valued mystical or
esoteric teaching. Such traditions have been found in mainstream
Christianity throughout its history. The text of the Gospel of Thomas
is understood to be a rolling corpus, or aggregate of sayings that
represent different moments in the life and history of the early
Thomasine community.
In Expository Times 118:10, pages 469-479.
For PDF version of this article, click icon at right.
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“What is Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism?”
Abstract: This
is a programmatic essay, engaging and mapping the field of early Jewish
and Christian mysticism. DeConick discusses definitions of mysticism in
terms of emic and etic differences. She then covers the tradition in
terms of a dynamic bilateral tradition in which the boundaries between
what is Jewish and what is Christian are blurred. She moves on to point
out the importance of examining the intersection of hermeneutics and
religious experience, rather than excluding one of these facets.
Communal identities are taken up. She emphasizes that no single social
group was responsible for the practices and preservation of this
tradition, but rather that various groups familiar with the mystical
tradition employed it with different emphases and applications. Next,
she turns to describing the "priestly" cosmology that is assumed by the
mystical literature. She includes a section on the importance of the
internalization of the apocalypse in terms of the development of the
mystical tradition. She ends the article with a description of various
communal practices within the literature.
In April D. DeConick
(ed.), Paradise Now: Essays on Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism
(Symposium Series 11; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature) pages
1-26.
For PDF version of this article, click icon on right.
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“Corrections to the Critical Reading of the Gospel of Thomas”
Abstract:
This article offers suggestions for corrections to the critical reading
of several passages in the Gospel of Thomas. The passages discussed are
P.Oxy. 1.24; P.Oxy. 654.8-9; P.Oxy. 654.9; P.Oxy. 654.15; P.Oxy.
654.25; P.Oxy. 654.26-27; NHC II,2,39.34.
In Vigiliae Christianae 60, pages 201-208.
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“On the Brink of the Apocalypse: A Preliminary Examination of the Earliest Speeches in the Gospel of Thomas”
Abstract: This
paper is a preliminary look at the Kernel Gospel through the lens of
rhetorical analysis. DeConick examines the five speeches of Jesus in
the Kernel Gospel of Thomas, and concludes that Jesus' message at this
early stage of interpretation had an apocalyptic character, featuring
eschatological dimensions as well as mystical ones. These mystical
ideas, however, took on a life of their own when, after the fall of the
Jerusalem Temple, the Thomasine Christians felt the impact of the
delayed Eschaton. With the collapse of their teleology came a
reformation of their apocalyptic thought. This reformation resulted in
a shift that served to isolate the mystical dimension from the
temporal, making the mystical an end unto itself.
In J.
Asgeirsson, A.D. DeConick, and R. Uro (eds.), Thomasine Traditions in
Antiquity: The Social and Cultural World of the Gospel of Thomas (Nag
Hammadi and Manichaean Studies; Leiden: E.J. Brill) pages 93-118.
For PDF version of this article, click icon on right.
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“Reading the Gospel of Thomas as a Repository of Communal Memory”
Abstract:
Reading the Gospel of Thomas as a repository of early Christian
communal memory suggests that the Gospel contains traditions and
references to hermeneutics that serve to reconfigure older traditions
and hermeneutics no longer relevant to the experience of the community.
In the case of the Gospel of Thomas, the community's original
eschatological expectations were disconfirmed by its contemporary
experience of the non-Event. When the Kingdom did not come, rather than
discarding their Gospel and closing the door of their Church, the
Thomasine Christians responded by reinterpreting Jesus' sayings,
believing themselves to have previously misunderstood Jesus' intent -
to have applied the wrong hermeneutic to his words. So they aligned
their old traditions with their present experience, rationalizing the
non-Event, shifting their theology to the encratic and mystical, and
creating a new hermeneutic through which the old traditions could be
viewed. This response is visible in the way in which they revised their
Gospel, adding question-and-answer unites and dialogues that addressed
the subject specifically, along with a series of new sayings that
worked to instruct the believer in the new theology and guide him or
her hermeneutically through the Gospel.
In A. Kirk and T.
Thatcher (eds.), Memory, Tradition, and Text: Uses of the Past in Early
Christianity (Semeia 52; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature) pages
207-220.
For PDF version of this article, click icon on right.
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“The Great Mystery of Marriage: Sex and Conception in Ancient Valentinian Traditions”
Abstract:
Using medical literature from antiquity, this article is able to answer
the perennial question whether or not the Valentinians were abstinent
or sexually active. The answer is that they were engaged in sexually
active monogamous marriages. The sexual activity was understood to be
sacramental, a mystery, because of its procreative power. The sexual
act had strict prescriptions in order to safeguard this procreative
power and its abuse. The dominant prescription was that sex within
marriage had to be pure rather than carnal. This meant that during the
sexual act, when a child was being conceived, the parents were required
to lift their thoughts to God above and contemplate the higher
mysteries. In so doing, they would conceive children with higher grade
souls.
In Vigiliae Christianae 57, pages 307-342.
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"The Original Gospel of Thomas"
Abstract: This is the article that started it all, and ended with the publication of Recovering the Original Gospel of Thomas.
In this piece, DeConick begins to explore the possibility of the
rolling corpus as a model for Thomas' compositional history. She starts
to lay out her reasoning and her methodology, although this does not
become fully developed for her until she writes Recovering, especially in terms of the importance of orality.
In Vigiliae Christianae 56, pages 167-199.
For PDF version of this article, click icon on right.
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“The True Mysteries: Sacramentalism in the Gospel of Philip."
Abstract:
DeConick writes about the sacraments in the Gospel of Philip,
connecting them to esoteric Temple traditions. It appears that the
Valentinians engaged in the same rituals as other Christians (baptism,
chrism, eucharist), although they also believed marriage to be a
sacramental state reflecting the sacred marriages of the Aeons in the
Pleroma. The Bridal Chamber is not a physical ritual, but an event that
will take place at the End of the World when the Pleroma opens up to
the wedded spirits as a bridal chamber.
In Vigiliae Christianae 55, pages 225-261.
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“John Rivals Thomas: From Community Conflict to Gospel Narrative.”
Abstract: This
essay explores the connection between the gospels of John and Thomas on
the community and tradition level rather than source level. Like other
religious texts, these gospels address the particular needs of their
respective communities and express special theological and
soteriological positions. As community documents, each as its own
geographical location, its own community history, and its own religious
traditions. Like other religious texts, both were written with the
express purposes of polemicizing, persuading, and propagating a
particular belief system. In the case of the Gospel of John, one of the
dialogues it is engaged in is whether or not visions and heavenly
journeys can effect salvation.
In Tom Thatcher and Robert
Fortna (eds.), Jesus in Johannine Tradition: New Directions
(Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press) pages 303-312.
For PDF version of this article, click icon on right.
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“Heavenly Temple Traditions and Valentinian Worship: A Case For First-Century Christology in the Second Century"
Abstract: This
paper represents DeConick's initial attempt to unravel Valentinian
Christology in light of Jewish mystical traditions. She analyzes the
Christology through the lens of Heavenly Temple cosmology. She covers
descriptions of Jesus-Christ as the Only-Begotten Son, the Face of God,
the Boundary of God, the Aeon Jesus (his body and the body of the
ecclesia), the Perfect Man, and the High Priest.
In Carey Newman,
Jim Davila and Gladys Lewis (eds.), The Jewish Roots of Christological
Monotheism, Papers from the St. Andrews Conference on the Historical
Origins of the Worship of Jesus (Supplements to Journal for the Study
of Judaism 63; Leiden: Brill) pages 308-341.
For PDF version of this article, click icon on right.
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"'Blessed are those who have not seen' (John 20:29): Johannine Dramatization of an Early Christian Discourse"
Abstract: This
article represents the beginnings of DeConick's consideration of the
relationship between the Gospels of John and Thomas, which resulted in
her book Voices of the Mystics. The article focuses on John's
articulation of a debate about soteriology, specifically over the
validity of proleptic visionary flights to heaven. She concludes that
the Johannine author is not painting an arbitrary picture of the
apostle Thomas, the hero of Syrian Christianity, when he portrays him
as a false hero whose mystical leanings are corrected by Jesus in
chapter 20.
In John Turner and Anne McGuire (eds.), The Nag
Hammadi Library After Fifty Years, Proceedings of the 1995 Society of
Biblical Literature Commemoration (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies
44; Leiden: Brill) pages 381-398.
For PDF version of this article, click icon on right.
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"The Dialogue of the Savior and the Mystical Sayings of Jesus"
Abstract:
This article addresses the process of immortalization emphasized in the
Dialogue of the Savior. Like the Gospel of Thomas, this text
hermeneutically attempts to offer the reader the correct interpretation
of Jesus' sayings, which it claims will immortalize the reader. The
author of the Dialogue reassures his reader that he or she can
anticipate a transformation associated with ascent, similar to that
which is promised in the Gospel of Thomas. But the difference between
the two is that the Dialogue continuously instills in the reader that
the immortalization will not be pre-mortem. It will only be realized
after the flesh is stripped off and destroyed at the time of death.
In Vigiliae Christianae 50, pages 178-199.
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"Fasting from the World: Encratite Soteriology in the Gospel of Thomas"
Abstract: This article became one of the chapters of her later book, Seek to See Him. In
this piece, she explains the encratism of the Gospel of Thomas as a
pre-requisite for pre-mortem journeys into heaven, ascent, and vision
of God.
In Ugo Bianchi (ed.), The Notion of "Religion" in
Comparative Research. Selected Proceedings of the XVIth IAHR Congress,
Rome , 3rd-8th September, 1990 (Rome: L'Erma) pages 425-440.
For PDF version of this article, click icon on right.
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"Stripped Before God: A New Interpretation of Logion 37 in the Gospel of Thomas"
Abstract:
This article challenges the long-held tradition started by Jonathan Z.
Smith, that saying 37 is baptismal. Through comparative analysis,
DeConick and Fossum suggest that the actual ritual alluded to may be
unction.
Co Authored with Jarl Fossum. This paper began DeConick's
examination of the Gospel of Thomas against the mirror of Jewish
mystical traditions.
In Vigiliae Christianae 45, pages 123-150.
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"The Yoke Saying in the Gospel of Thomas 90"
Abstract:
This is a form-critical investigation of saying 90 and its Matthean
parallel. DeConick concludes that the version preserved in the Gospel
of Thomas is earlier than that preserved in Matthew.
In Vigiliae Christianae 44, pages 280-294.
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