The Gospel of John (GJohn) bears a striking resemblance to two later Jesus books, Epistula Apostolorum (EpAp) and Apocryphon of James (ApocrJas) (NHC I,2), in making authority claims that appeal to the socio-cultural significance of the textual medium. In all three, these claims are twofold: (1) internally ascribing authorship to representative figures of the early Jesus tradition portrayed as literate; (2) explicitly emphasizing the written medium of these authors’ compositions. GJohn can provide an instructive model for understanding these features in EpAp and ApocrJas, as both are demonstrably familiar with GJohn. EpAp and ApocrJas consequently can be examined alongside GJohn’s editorial expansion in ch. 21 as examples of early readers and users of GJohn exhibiting comparable claims regarding literate authors and their texts – applied to the Beloved Disciple (GJohn), the ‘Eleven’ apostles (EpAp) and James (ApocrJas).
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