Think of the shock that scholars scouring the archives of the University of Oxford in England had when they came across a rare manuscript about Jesus Christ! And not only that! No one knew of the existence of such a document, which is the only translated copy of a text considered "heretical, " since the New Testament class decided to leave it out — and forbid its inclusion.

According to Chris Baynes of the Independent news portal, the manuscript produced over 1, 500 years ago is part of a collection of texts known as the Nag Hammadi Library. It consists of 13 Coptic Gnostic books that were discovered in a terracotta pot in Egypt in 1945, but the document now found consists of a Greek translation whose existence no one knew.

Unexpected finding

The manuscript was found by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin who were digging through the Oxford archives. After reviewing the material they realized that it was fragments of an apocryphal gospel known as the “First Apocalypse of James” which miraculously - tum dum tsss - survived the passage of the centuries.

Nag Hammadi Library Fragment (Independent / Oxford University)

According to Chris, the manuscript was written between the 5th and 6th centuries and deals with secret revelations made by Jesus to his brother James about the kingdom of heaven and about future events, including details about the martyrdom of James.

Illustration depicting the Martyrdom of James (Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain 1)

As scholars have explained, this text complements the information in the Bible relating to the life of Christ, as it describes conversations the Nazarene allegedly had with his brother and whose content would have led James to become a better "teacher" of Jesus' teachings. after your death.

Lost translation

The First Revelation of James was not included among the 27 books that make up the New Testament, and there is a letter from the year 367 written by Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, who commands that no text be added or removed from this collection of books. By the way, it was because of this little letter that the text eventually earned the heretic "rank" - not because it talks about pacts with the evil one or about the end times.

Illustration showing James (Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain 2)

In the case of the manuscript found now, it consists of the only translation ever found of this document, and because it was written “on a whim” with uniform writing, separate syllable words, and well-crafted letters, scholars believe it is a model. created by some teacher to help their students learn how to read and write in Greek.

In addition, researchers believe that anyone who created this translation should have a strong affinity for the material. This is because, in addition to being a text "forbidden" by the Church, the manuscript seems to consist of a complete copy of the First Revelation of James and not a short excerpt from the book, as would be the most normal. Scholars are still working on the surprising document and should publish an article detailing their findings soon.