Pseudo-Cyril of Jerusalem On the Life and the Passion of Christ

Pseudo-Cyril of Jerusalem's Coptic homily On the Life and the Passion of Christ is in fact a collection of apocryphal stories. Roelof van den Broek offers a critical edition of this text, with introduction, translation and notes. The text provides information about the worldly crafts of the apostles and Jesus' external appearance; it also contains a peculiar chronology of Holy Week (implying that Jesus was arrested on Tuesday evening) and a long story about Pilate’s role in the trial of Jesus. The latter contains, int. al., letters by Pilate and Herod, discussions between Pilate and Jesus during a dinner they had together, and a description of the dreams of Pilate and his wife Procla and their explanation by Jesus.

Roelof van den Broek, emeritus professor of History of Christianity (Utrecht), published Dutch translations of gnostic and hermetic texts, Studies in Gnosticism and Alexandrian Christianity (1996), Gnostic Religion in Antiquity (forthcoming), and numerous articles in international academic journals and collective volumes.