Arabic Apocalypse of Peter
It is pseudepigraphically attributed to Clement of Rome, relating a vision experienced by the Apostle Peter of the resurrected Jesus; the actual author is unknown.
The last section features prophecies of future rulers and kingdoms and loosely describes 2nd–10th-century history, while also giving reassurance that the non-Christian governments foreseen by Peter will only rule for a limited period, and will eventually fall.
The text is an apocalypse revealing secrets of the future, purportedly delivered by Jesus to the apostle Peter, who then transmitted them to Clement of Rome.
While the Apocalypse of Peter is a collection of disparate sections that cover several topics, one prominent subject is an attempt to resolve the contradiction for why the all-powerful God has seemingly allowed governments opposed to (Miaphysite) Christianity to rule.
Clement is contending with hostile Jews, and asks Peter for insight to prove that the Christian interpretation of the Torah and other Jewish scriptures is correct.
[3] In the second section, Clement says he knows enough to refute the Jews, but wishes to know the heavenly secrets that the resurrected Jesus had revealed to Peter at the Mount of Olives.
The work also stresses the unified nature of God and Jesus, in line with Miaphysite theology, and possibly as a defense against Islamic claims that the Christian Trinity was too close to polytheism.
[3][5] The third section is largely a "political apocalypse" featuring prophecies of the Arab rulers, although they are actually historical records (that is, vaticinium ex eventu).
The prophecies do not explicitly describe a fall of the caliphate after a tremendous battle or divine act, but do allude to a number of signs that indicate when the Kingdom of God will be established.
While the time of deliverance is left open, the author paints a number of scenarios that suggest that the caliphate's rule is not permanent and is already crumbling, calling attention to internal strife and succession squabbles as proof that their rulers lacked divine support for their sovereignty.
[2] Earlier 7th- and 8th-century Miaphysite works had largely downplayed Islam as a religious threat; the caliphate was portrayed simply as barbarians and tools of God in testing Christianity, under the assumption that their reign would be short.
Written after centuries had passed under Muslim rule, the Apocalypse of Peter was one of the later Arab Christian works to treat Islam somewhat more seriously, as a religious threat deserving an apologetical response.
Other polemical labels applied to a figure that is presumably Muhammad include "destroyer of himself and his followers, disciple of the Son of Perdition, womanizer, liar, briber.
[3] While sections of the work are clearly adapted from earlier manuscripts such as the Cave of Treasures, the date of the final composition of the complete Apocalypse of Peter is tentative and unclear.
[2][1] A later work that seems to quote the Arabic Apocalypse of Peter is the Jāvidān-nāma-yi kabīr written by Fazlallah Astarabadi, the founder of Hurufism, a sect of Sufism.
Jacques de Vitry, the bishop of Acre, wrote to Pope Honorius III in 1219 of the work, as did papal legate Pelagio Galvani; and Oliver of Paderborn described it in his book Historia Damiatina.
[9][10] Benjamin Weber suggests that the Crusaders coming into contact with the book was not a fortuitous accident but rather an intentional act of the local Egyptian Christian population.
Margaret Dunlop Gibson published a transcription of the Arabic along with a translation into English of the first section of the Apocalypse based on a manuscript from Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula in 1901.
[11] In 1930 and 1931, Alphonse Mingana published a karshuni (Arabic written with the Syriac alphabet) manuscript and English translation in the series Woodbrooke Studies.
