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So, do you believe that during those 40 days when Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God, there are important things which cannot be found in the Scriptures?

Do you believe that a resurrected Christ is going to spend 40 days among the disciples, giving them just "more of the same"?

Here's what Hugh Nibley says the ancient records indicate as to what transpired during those 40 days:

While those who ponder the historical relevance of Acts 1:3 concern themselves almost exclusively with the evidence of the canonical writings, we now possess in the early apocryphal texts, both those recently discovered and those being reappraised in the light of new findings, an impressive body of evidence that has direct bearing on the problem of the historicity of the 40 days. It is the purpose of the present study to indicate briefly the nature of this evidence...

            It is significant that the favorite theme of the early apocrypha happens to be "the teachings of the Lord to the Apostles after the Resurrection," often directly indicated as such, [30] and often indirectly. [31] This has often been interpreted as both a bid for prestige by the various authors and a claim to immunity from criticism. [32] But the tradition could only offer such security if it enjoyed unquestioned acceptance in the church, and if we examine the actual teachings purveyed under the frank of the 40 days it soon becomes apparent that they were never designed to be popular, but represent old and very unpopular doctrines in retreat. Even among the first disciples belief in a literal resurrection was only enforced after long resistance, [33] and it proved an horrendum to the churchmen ever after. [34] But the most conspicuous teaching of all in the 40-day repertoire is a picture of the future which cannot be surpassed for unrelieved pessimism and gloom. Here surely is no product of wishful thinking or sly invention.
            In a standard 40-day situation the apostles, deeply worried, ask the Lord what lies ahead for them and their work, [35] and receive an appalling reply: They are to be rejected by all men and take their violent exit from the world, [36] what time corrupters and false shepherds will appear within the church, where a growing faction of the worldly-minded will soon overcome and annihilate what remains of the faithful saints. [37] The sheep turn into wolves as the Wintertime of the Just settles down; [38] the lights go out and the long age of darkness begins under the rule of the Cosmoplanes, disastrously usurping the authority of Christ. [39] There is indeed a promise of comfort and joy, but it is all on the other side and in the distant return of the Lord. [40] The apostles protest, as we do today: Is this a time for speaking of death and disaster? [41] Can all that has transpired be but for the salvation of a few and the condemnation of many? But Jesus remains unyielding: that is not for us to decide or to question. [42] The grim picture is confirmed by the Apostolic Fathers, who are convinced that they are beholding the fulfillment of these very prophecies, and are driven by a tragic sense of urgency and finality. [43] After them the early patristic writers accept the pattern with heavy reluctance, [44] and only the surprising and unexpected victory of the church in the fourth century enable Eusebius's generation to turn the tables and discredit the whole pessimistic tradition. [45]
            Nobody would willingly invent such a depressing message or accept it without the highest credentials. The picture, though full of familiar elements from the earlier Jewish apocalypses, is not derived from them. The actors are not prophets and kings of other ages but the very men sitting before the Master; the predictions are not for distant ages but limited to a scope of two generations; [46] and what is described is not the fate of the world or even of Israel, nor titanic upheavals of nature, but the undoing of the Christian society by perverters and corrupters in its midst. [47] The more grandiose imagery is not missing, but it is kept distinct from the story of the church, which is concrete, specific, and utterly gloomy. [48]
            All the 40-day teaching is described as very secret, delivered to a closed cult group. [49] There is no desire to intrigue and mystify, however, as with the Gnostics, but rather the clearly stated policy that knowledge should be given always but only to those who ask for it, [50] with the corollary that the higher and holier a teaching the more carefully it should be guarded. [51] As "the last and highest revelation," the teaching of the 40 days was top secret, and has not come down to us. [52] Since Irenaeus, churchmen have strenuously denied that there ever was a secret teaching or that anything really important has ever been lost. [53] To profess otherwise would be perilously close to an admission of bankruptcy; yet Christian scholars do concede that the Apostles had information that we do not have, [54] allow the existence of an unwritten Apostolic tradition in the church, [55] and grant that there was a policy of secrecy in the early church-- though insisting that it began with the catechetical schools. [56] The catechists, however, appeal to a much earlier tradition of secrecy, [57] and when the Fathers attempt to reproduce the unwritten tradition which they claim for the church they have nothing to offer but the commonplaces of the schools. [58] Plainly things have been lost...
            The apocryphal teachings of the 40 days taken together comprise an imposing doctrinal edifice, totally unlike the patchwork systems of the Gnostics. It begins with the most natural question to ask anyone returning to earth after being away: Where did you go and what did you see? The Lord's discourse in reply recalls the journeys to worlds above and below recounted by the prophets and patriarchs of the old Jewish apocrypha. [62] And yet the picture is quite different: They go as observers and report what they have seen, while he goes as a missionary and reports what he has done. The central theme is the Descensus, a mission to the spirits below closely resembling the Lord's earthly calling. [63] He brings the kerygma to all, and those who accept it follow him out of the depths into the light, [64] receive baptism, [65] and hence mount up by degrees to realms of glory, for as in the Jewish apocrypha the picture of other worlds is not a simple one. [66] This mounting up is depicted as the return of the spirit to its heavenly home, where it existed in glory before coming to earth. [67] This is not the Gnostic idea of preexistence, however, for the soul is not sent down as punishment nor imprisoned in the flesh, nor does it fly directly to God after its release from physical confinement; [68] rather it is sent to be tried and tested in "the blessed vessel" of the flesh whose immortality is guaranteed by the resurrection. [69]
            There is a strong emphasis in early Christian literature on the doctrine of the Two Ways, depicting life as a time of probation, a constant confrontation with good and evil and the obligation to choose between them. [70] This is conceived as part of a plan laid down "in the presence of the first angels" at the creation of the world, [71] according to which through Adam's fall the human race would be placed in the position, envied by the angels, of being perfectly free to choose good or evil and thereby fully merit whatever rewards would follow. [72] Satan rebelled against the plan, refused obeisance to Adam, and was cast down upon the earth with his cohorts, to fulfill divine purpose by providing, as "the serpent," the temptation necessary for an effectual testing of human beings. [73] Through inspired prophets men from time to time are taught the rules of the game, but are prone to cheat, fall away into darkness, and require painful correction before return to divine favor and a new dispensation of heavenly gifts and covenants. [74] The historical picture is a complicated one, culminating in the final return of the Lord, but not before he has made other appearances, notably to a few "righteous and pure souls and faithful," preparatory to the ultimate and glorious parousia. [75]...
            To summarize, then, we have in the early apocryphal writings both direct and indirect evidence for the reality of the post-resurrectional activity of Jesus. (1) By uniformly supporting the clear and unequivocal language of Acts 1:3, and by making the 40-day teaching their principal concern, these writers serve notice that this subsequently despised and neglected theme had top priority among the early Christians. (2) Under the heading of the 40-day conversations the same writings convey to us a consistent and closely-knit body of doctrine, (3) accompanied by an equally organic structure of rites and ordinances--not a farrago of odds and ends in the Gnostic manner. [107] (4) The Gnostic phenomenon itself attests the universal awareness that such a teaching had formerly existed and been lost to the main church: the specific Gnostic claim to possess the secrets of the 40 days shows what it was that was missing. (5) Furthermore, the apocryphal writings themselves fully explain that loss in terms of both secrecy and apostasy, while (6) the great impact of the 40-day image on popular Christianity is clearly reflected in popular legends and cults.
            As indirect evidence we must consider the extreme oddness and unpopularity of the 40-day proposition, logically and artistically disturbing and burdened with a view of the future which is negative and frightening. It is anything but a product of wishful thinking or a bid for popular support. Yet the only arguments against it have been arguments of interpretation. Over against a facile manipulation of tests stands a massive array of phenomena which deserves more than the wave of the hand which we have given it here. Why is there no Evangelium quadraginta dierum? Its absence confirms the unreality of the 40 days to those scholars who point out that the record speaks only of what Christ taught during that period rather than what he did. [108] But as Anselm observes, before the resurrection Christ was human-- after it he was God. [109] As such he came to teach and to teach only-- all are agreed that even the eating and drinking had no other purpose-- communing with men on a wholly different level from the man of sorrows in the Gospels. The 40-day episode is indeed unique. If it never took place, what was it that produced the singular phenomena that have been attributed to it?
Footnotes
30. The Testament in Galilee 1, 45 (the Ethiopian version of the Epistola Apostolorum), in PO 9:177, 216, also in Schmidt, Gesprache Jesu, 26-27; this work can also be found in ANT, 485-503, and in NTA 1:189-226; Apocryphon of James 8:1-4, discussed by H. Puech and G. Quispel, "Les ecrits gnostiques du Codex Jung," Vigiliae Christianae 8 (1954): 8; Acts of Thomas 1; "Les ecrits gnostiques du Codex Jung," in Testamentum Domini Nostri Jesu Christi (Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ), ed. Ignatius E. Rahmani (Moguntiae: Kircheim, 1899), 1, prologue; Gospel of the Twelve Apostles 14, in PO 2:169-70; Gospel of Bartholomew, in PO 2:190-91, 194; and fragments in Andre Wilmart and Eugene Tisserant, "Fragments grecs et latins de l'evangile de Barthelemy," Revue Biblique 22-- n.s. 10 (1913): 185; Oxyrhynchus Logia, no. 8 (1); Freer Logion, in ANT, 34; Book of the Resurrection of Christ, in ANT, 185.
31. It has been shown that the term "the Living Jesus" (and even "kyrios") refers specifically to the risen Lord, Schmidt, Gesprache Jesu, 264; cf. James Rendel Harris, The Odes and Psalms of Solomon: Now First Published from the Syriac Version (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1909), 73. Thus the same value must be given to the opening line of the Gospel of Thomas 80:10 (--NHLE 32:10, p. 118), as to the Oxyrhynchus Logia, no. 8 (1): "sayings which Jesus who liveth and was dead spake to Judas Thomas"; cf. Gospel of Thomas 99:7-8 (--NHLE 51:7-8, p. 129). The conversational and questioning form of discourse is another clue, Schmidt, Gesprache Jesu, 206; Puech and Quispel, "Les ecrits gnostiques du Codex Jung," 9, n. 3; Gospel of Thomas 81:14-17 (--NHLE 33:14-17, p. 118); Oxyrhynchus Logia, 4-5, 13 (6), 8 (1); a large number of the pseudo Acts in E.A. Wallis Budge, Contendings of the Apostles (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1935), begin with the Apostles questioning Christ after the Resurrection. Where an account of the Resurrection or Descensus is included in the report the setting is naturally post-resurrectional: this refers to all the apocrypha mentioned below, notes 63-66. The 40-day situation is implied where the resurrection of others is described, as in the second Akhmim fragment of the Gospel of Peter, in ANT, 508; Gospel of the Twelve Apostles 2, in PO 2:135; and Acts of Thomas 54-55, in ANT, 390-91. The Prologue to the Discourse on Abbaton purports to offer documentary evidence from the hands of the Apostles for the typical 40-day situation it describes, in E.A. Wallis Budge, Coptic Martyrdoms (London: British Museum, 1914; reprinted New York: AMS, 1977), 225-26, 474-75.
32. Schmidt, Gesprache Jesu, 201-6.
33. Matthew 28:17; Mark 16:8, 11-14; Luke 24:11, 21-35, 21-43; John 20:9, 25-29.
34. Schmidt, Gesprache Jesu, 346-47.
35. "Let us know what is the end of the aeon for we stand in the midst of scandals and offenses," Gospel of the Twelve Apostles, in PO 2:160; Apocryphon of James, see Puech and Quispel, "Les ecrits gnostiques du Codex Jung," 12-15; Gospel of Thomas 82:25 (--NHLE 34:25, p. 119); The Testament in Galilee 1:4, 40, 43, 45, 47-48, 51, 61; Revelation to Peter, in Vardapet, "The Revelation of the Lord to Peter," 12; Epistle of the Apostles 17 (28); 19 (30); cf. Testament of Moses 11, in OTP 1:933-34; Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 2; Apocalypse of Peter, in ANT, 510-11.
36. For a general treatment, Hugh Nibley, "The Passing of the Primitive Church," Church History 30 (1961): 132-35, reprinted below in this volume, 169-72.
37. The two parties are the righteous thlibomenoi and the wicked thlibontes, Herbert Braun, "Zur nachpaulinischen Herkunft des zweiten Thessalonischerbriefes," Zeitschrift fur die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 44 (1952-53): 152-54. "They will combine against those who love me, to hate them and push them aside as nothing," Epistle of the Apostles 50 (61), in ANT, 503; Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ 1:13. "The idea that the just are going to be persecuted by the wicked" is found in The Testament in Galilee, and Clement, First Epistle to the Corinthians 1, 3-6, 45-47, 57, in PG 1:205-8, 213-21, 299-308, 324-25; see L. Guerrier, "Avant-Propos," in PO 9:145.
38. On the wolves, Ignatius, Epistola ad Philadelphenses (Epistle to the Philadelphians) 2, in PG 5:820; Clement, Second Epistle to the Corinthians 5, in PG 1:336; Didache 16, in Kirsopp Lake, The Apostolic Fathers, Loeb Classical Library, 2 vols. (Cambridge: Harvard University/London: Heinemann, 1912), 1:332; 1 Enoch 89:13-27, 51-75; 90, in OTP 1:65-72; cf. Epistle of the Apostles 50 (61), discussed by Schmidt, Gesprache Jesu, 197-98. On the Wintertime, Shepherd of Hermas, Similitudes 3-4, in PG 2:955-58, and Charles Wessely, ed. and tr., "Les plus anciens monuments du christianisme ecrits sur papyrus," in PO 18:469-70; Barnabas, Catholic Epistle 15, 5, in PG 2:772; Apocalypse of Baruch (-- 2 Baruch) 21:22-24, in OTP 1:628; Gospel of Philip 100:25-35 (--NHLE 52:25-35, p. 132), cf. 112:5-10 (--NHLE 64:5-10, p. 138). The same imagery of the seasons in Eusebius, De Laudibus Constantini (In Praise of Constantine) 17, in PG 20:1432-33; Cyril of Alexandria, Commentarius in Joannis Evangelium (Commentary on John) IV, 14, in PG 73:617-18, 620; E. W. Brooks, "A Collection of Letters of Severus of Antioch," no. 81, in PO 14:130; Gospel of Thomas 84:22-23 (--NHLE 36:22-23, p. 120); 1QS (Manual of Discipline) 4:18-19; TB, Pesahim 2a.
39. This is the most conspicuous theme in all the Apocrypha: The Testament in Galilee 1:3-6; Michael Asin de Palacios, ed. and tr., "Logia et Agrapha Domini Jesus apud Moslemicos Scriptores, Ascelicos Praesertion Usitata," no. 115, in PO 19:542; Sylvain Grebaut, "Les miracles de Jesus," in PO 17:827-29; Odes of Solomon 38:9-15, in OTP 2:767; Ascension of Isaiah 3:19-4:5 (-- Testament of Hezekiah, a Christian work), in OTP 2:160-61; Clement, First Epistle to the Corinthians 2-5, in PG 1:209-20; Ignatius, Epistola ad Ephesios (Epistle to the Ephesians) 17, in PG 5:657; Epistle to the Philadelphians 2-3, in PG 5:697-700; Barnabas, Catholic Epistle 16:9-72, in PG 2:773; Apostolic Constitutions VII, 32, in PG 1:1021-24; Didache 16, in Lake, The Apostolic Fathers 1:332; 1 Enoch 89:10-27, in OTP 1:65-66; Sibylline Oracles III, and IV, 49, in ibid. 1:385; Secrets of Enoch ([Slavonic] 2 Enoch) 34, in ibid. 1:158-59; 2 Baruch 27-30; 48:32-43; 70, in ibid. 1:630-631, 637, 644-45; 4 Ezra (-- 2 Esdras) 5:1-13; 9:1-13; 10:1-54, in ibid. 1:531-32, 544-48; Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 8; Testament of Moses 5:1-6, in ibid. 1:929-30; The Second Coming of Christ, in PO, 145; Epistle of the Apostles 36-45, in ANT, 498-502; Apocryphon of Thomas 1, in ibid., 556-58; Akhmim & Freer fragments, in ibid., 507-8; Book of John the Evangelist, in ibid., 191-93.
40. "To these afflictions on earth corresponds the song of triumph in Heaven," E. Fascher, "Gottes Konigtum im Urchristentum," Numen 4 (1957): 113. "Through their faithfulness unto death they will attain to the glory of God, which is their true destiny," Willem C. van Unnik, Newly Discovered Gnostic Writings (Naperville, Ill.: Allenson, 1960), 84. "Joyeuses promesses melees de menaces affligeantes, trop de sentiments contradictoires," Puech and Quispel, "Les ecrits gnostiques du Codex Jung," 15.
41. Puech and Quispel, "Les ecrits gnostiques du Codex Jung," 12, 6, 10, on Apocryphon of James 5:28-16:11; Epistle of the Apostles 36 (47, Copt. viii-ix), in ANT, 498; Clement, Second Epistle to the Corinthians 5 (Peter protests), in PG 1:336, cf. 1 Enoch 89:68-71; Verdapet, "The Revelation of the Lord to Peter," 12.
42. The Testament in Galilee 51, 54, 56; 2 Baruch 55:2-8, in OTP 1:640; just so Moses in Apocalypse of Paul, in E.A. Wallis Budge, Miscellaneous Coptic Texts (London: British Museum, 1915; reprinted AMS, 1977), 553-54, 1074; 1 Enoch 89:69, 75-77, in OTP 1:68-69. There is a special treatment in 4 Ezra 5:28-40; 6:59; 7:46; 8:1-3, 14-15, in ibid., 1:533, 536, 538, 542. The answer is always the same: The Testament in Galilee 1:42-43, 56; 1 Enoch 89:75; 2 Baruch 69:2-4, 75; 4 Ezra 5:40; 7:60-61; 8:47, 55-56; Epistle of the Apostles 19 (30), in ANT, 491-92.
43. To the testimony of the Apostolic Fathers, Hugh Nibley, "The Passing of the Primitive Church," 4-5, add Asin de Palacios, "Logia et Agrapha," nos. 108, 115, in PO 19:539, 542; Psalms of Solomon 8 (Odes of Solomon 51/50), 15-17, in OTP 2:658-60, 664-69; Testuz, Papyrus Bodmer X, 52; Apocalypse of Paul, in Budge, Miscellaneous Coptic Texts, 540-42, 1060-61; Acts of Thecla (Acts of Paul), cit., Schmidt, Gesprache Jesu, 196; Testament of Hezekiah (-- Ascension of Isaiah) describes "the worldliness and lawlessness which prevailed" in the church, R. H. Charles, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon, 1913), 2:155; Ephraim, Asketikon, in Budge, Coptic Martyrdoms, 163-64, 415-16, is very close to the Clement, First Epistle to the Corinthians, and the Shepherd of Hermas; 127 Canons of the Apostles 12, in PO 8:582-83; The Testament in Galilee 1:3, 6-9; Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 8.
44. So Justin, Dialogus cum Tryphone (Dialogue with Trypho) 110, in PG 6:493; Origen, Commentaria in Evangelium secundum Matthaeum (Commentary on Matthew) 36-38, in PG 13:1650-53; Hippolytus, Fragmenta in Danielem (Fragments on Daniel) 38-40, in PG 10:664-65; and idem Scholia in Danielem 12, 1, in PG 10:688; Lactantius, Divinae Institutiones (Divine Institutes) IV, 30, in PL 6:540-44; V, 6, in PL 6:567-69; VII, 17, in PL 6:793-95; Irenaeus, Contra Haereses (Against Heresies) V, 30, 1, in PG 7:1203; cf. ibid., IV, 34, 4, in PG 7:1086; Ephraim, Asketikon, in Budge, Coptic Martyrdoms, 163-64, 415-16. "It is as if the Main Church had a premonition of its demise which constantly and ceaselessly resounds through the early writings," R. Abramowski, "Der Christus der Salomooden," Zeitschrift fur die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 35 (1936): 69, n. 41.
45. Nibley, "The Passing of the Primitive Church," 135-36.
46. These things happen not to the Apostles but to the second generation after them. The Testament in Galilee 4; so Shepherd of Hermas, Similitudes 9, 14; 10, 4, in PG 2:979-80; cf. Asin de Palacios, "Logia et Agrapha," no. 224, in PO 19:601; Hegesippus in Eusebius, HE III, 32, in PG 20:281; Epistle of the Apostles 34 (45), in ANT, 497. Paul is "the last of the last who will preach to the heathen," Schmidt, Gesprache Jesu, 187; cf. 1 Corinthians 4:9-13, and Origen, Contra Celsum (Against Celsus) 4, 22, in PG 11:1056-57; W. Nestle, in Zeitschrift fur Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 4 (1952): 118-19.
47. Schmidt, Gesprache Jesu, 385, notes that there is no mention whatever of the pagans as a source of danger or discomfort; it is the believers themselves who turn into betrayers and "enemies of righteousness," Epistle of the Apostles 35, 37, 44, in ANT, 497-98, 510. A clear distinction is made between the immediate end and the end of the world, Epistle of the Apostles 34, in ibid., 497; 1 Enoch 1:2; Schmidt, Gesprache Jesu, 102, 339, 484, comments on this.
48. E.g., "These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke," Gospel of Thomas 80:10 (--NHLE 32:10, p. 118). Since Apocrypha are by definition secret writings, citations are not necessary. Even the "canonical traditions record appearances only to believers" during the 40 days, E. C. Rust, "Interpreting the Resurrection," in Journal of Bible and Religion 29 (1961): 27-28.
49. Matthew 7:8 following 7:6; so Gospel of Truth 19:4-18 (--NHLE, p. 39); Recognitiones Clementinae (Clementine Recognitions) III, 53, 58, in PG 1:1305, 1307; Gospel of Thomas 96:30-34 (--NHLE 48:30-34, p. 128); 80:12-19 (--NHLE 32:12-19, p. 118); 81:10-14 (--NHLE 33:10-14, p. 118); 88:16-18 (--NHLE 40:16-18, p. 122); 91:34-92:1 (--NHLE 43:34-44:1, pp. 124-25); Tatian, Orationes (Orations) 6, in PG 6:817. See next note.
50. It can only damage even Christians who are not prepared for it, 1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12-13; Ignatius, Epistle to the Trallians 5, in PG 5:781; Clementine Recognitions II, 60, in PG 1:1276-77; Clement of Alexandria, Stromata I, 1, in PG 8:704. The highest is achieved by the fewest: Gospel of Thomas 94:9-13 (--NHLE 46:9-13; p. 126); Gospel of Truth 21:3-6 (--NHLE, p. 40); Gospel of Philip 105:32-106:10 (--NHLE 57:32-58:10, p. 135); Clementine Recognitions I, 23, in PG 1:1219; I, 28, in PG 1:1222; I, 52, in PG 1:1236; III, 3, in PG 1:1283; III, 34, in PG 1:1297; IV, 25, in PG 1:1324-25; 4 Ezra 14:44-46 in OTP 1:555; Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ 1:18; Clement of Alexandria, Stromata V, 10, in PG 9:93-101; Gospel of Bartholomew 66-68, in ANT, 179-80; Apocalypse of Peter, in ibid., 520; Apocryphon of James 1:8-25 (--NHLE, p. 30).
51. At this time the Apostles with some embarrassment ask questions which they have never asked before, "The Testament in Galilee," 31, 35 in PO 9:204-5, 207; Epistle of the Apostles 20 (31), 24 (35), 25 (36), in ANT, 492-95; Gospel of Bartholomew 4-5, in ibid., 173-81; Gospel of the Twelve Apostles, in PO 2:135; cf. Jerome, Dialogus contra Pelagianos (Dialogue against the Pelagians) II, 15, in PL 23:576-77. They are chided for asking too much, Apocryphon of James 2:33-39 (--NHLE, p. 30); Epistle of the Apostles 25 (36); but are told "the last and highest teachings," Discourse on the Abbaton, in Budge, Coptic Martyrdoms, 231-32, 480; Gospel of the Twelve Apostles, PO 2:160-61; Epistle of the Apostles 12 (23): "great and amazing and real things." Acts of Thomas 36, in ANT, 382; Gospel of Bartholomew, fragment in Wilmart and Tisserant, "Fragmenta grecs et latins," 185. On the ignorance of the Apostles before the Resurrection, R. Latourelle, "Revelation, histoire et incarnation," Gregorianum 44 (1963): 257.
52. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Introduction 2, in PG 7:440-44; II, 27, in PG 7:802-4; III, 1, 1, in PG 7:844; III, 14, in PG 7:913-14. It was all to be taught "from the housetops," H. Rahner, "The Christian Mystery and the Pagan Mystery," in Joseph Campbell, ed., The Mysteries (New York: Pantheon, 1955), 357-58; at least nothing important has been lost, Latourelle, "Revelation, histoire et incarnation," 258. Yet it is quite possible to publish some things while withholding others, Gospel of Thomas 87:10-17 (--NHLE 39:10-17, p. 122); 4 Ezra 14:6.
53. So Latourelle himself, "Revelation, histoire et incarnation," 258, and A. de Bovis, "La fondation de l'Eglise," Nouvelle revue theologique 85 (1963): 12-13. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata I, 1, in PG 8:701, insists that his own teachings sound imbecile beside those of the Apostles, as does Ignatius, Epistle to the Trallians 5, in PG 5:784 (long version); cf. Polycarp, Epistle to the Philippians 3, in PG 5:1009. Clement of Alexandria tells how early teachings inevitably become lost, Stromatum I, 1, in PG 8:704; and John Chrysostom, In Epistolam I ad Corinthios Homilia (Homily on the First Epistle to the Corinthians) 7, in PG 61:58, and Basil, Epistolae (Letters) 8, in PG 32:257, note that many sacred writings have been lost. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, himself puts the knowledge of the Apostles in a special category, I, 13, 6, in PG 7:588, and when pressed admits that the Bible does not explain everything, and so falls back on tradition, III, 3, 1, in PG 7:848, and when this fails him he appeals to the oldest churches, III, 4, 1, in PG 7:851, and when these disagree to the most outlying ones, III, 4, 2, in PG 7:855-56.
54. A favorite teaching of Basil, Gottfried Thomasius, Die christliche Dogmengeschichte als Entwicklungsgeschichte des kirchlichen Lehrbegriffs, 2nd ed. (Erlangen: Deichert, 1886-89), vol. 1, Die Dogmengeschichte der alten Kirche (Erlangen: Deichert, 1886), 279-80. The greatest teachings were not trusted to writing, Clementine Recognitions I, 21, in PG 1:1218; Epistles of Paul and Seneca 6, in ANT, 482; John Chrysostom, De Laudibus Sancti Pauli Apostoli Homilia (Homily on the Praise of St. Paul the Apostle) 5, in PG 50:500, and Homilia de Melchisedeco (Homily on Melchizedek) 1, in PG 56:257-58.
55. Albert Schweitzer, Geschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschung (Tubingen: Mohr, 1913) 1:396, admits the secrecy though at a loss to explain it (--The Quest of the Historical Jesus [New York: Macmillan, 1964]). An awkward attempt to explain the secrecy of the 40 days is made by John Chrysostom, Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 1, in PG 60:19, and borrowed by Oecumenius, Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 1, 2, in PG 118:45, and Theophylactus, Exposition of the Acts of the Apostles 1, 16, in PG 125:505. On the doctrina arcana and the catechetical schools, J. Baum, "Symbolic Representations of the Eucharist," in Campbell, ed., The Mysteries, 261; O. Chadwick, From Bossuet to Newman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1957), 68.
56. Discussed by A. Adam, "Ein vergessener Aspekt des fruhchristlichen Herrenmahles," Theologische Literaturzeitung 88 (1963): 10-11, for Origen and Clement of Alexandria. Cf. Clement (dubia), Homiliae (Homilies) 19, 20, in PG 2:441; Lactantius, Divine Institutes VII, 26, in PL 6:815; Clementine Recognitions III, 74, in PG 1:1314. Baum himself is seeking to explain why representations of the Lord's supper in art are "shunned down to the fifth century," Baum, "Symbolic Representations of the Eucharist," 262.
57. Irenaeus can only use the feeble arguments of the Gnostics against them: Against Heresies II, 2, 4, in PG 7:714; II, 8, 3, in PG 7:733; II, 22, 6, in PG 7:785; II, 25, 3, in PG 7:799; II, 28, 2-3, in PG 7:804-7. "When, however, we come to inquire into the nature of this sublime knowledge, we find that it consists of subtle explanations . . . allegorical and mystical interpretations . . . and of moral precepts," John Kaye, Ecclesiastical History of the Second and Third Centuries, Illustrated from the Writings of Tertullian (London: Griffith, Farran & Browne, 1894), 16-17.
58. Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 80, 2-5, in PG 6:664-65. This remains the question of questions, to distinguish Christians from pagans and true Christians from false: Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos (Expositions on the Psalms) 88, in PL 37:1134; Sermones (Sermons) 109, in PL 39: 1961; Questions from Both Sides 114 (Against Pagans), in PL 35:2345 (Appendix).
62. Such cosmic tours are described in Jubilees, 1 Enoch, 2 Enoch, Apocalypse of Abraham, Odes of Solomon, Testament of Moses, Apocalypse of Isaiah, Ascension of Isaiah, 2 Baruch. In the Testaments of Abraham, Isaiah, Isaac, the XII Patriarchs, Adam, Enoch, the saint gives blessings and prophecies to his (12) descendants or disciples before mounting to heaven and immediately after his return from a cosmic tour: the parallel to the 40 days is obvious; see Marinus de Jonge, The Testaments of the XII Patriarchs (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1953), 120.
63. Schmidt, Gesprache Jesu, 481-86. On the present-day "rediscovery" of the Descensus, O. Rousseau, "La descente aux enfers, fondement soteriologique du bapteme chretien," Recherches des sciences religieuses 40 (1951-52): 273; Martin H. Scharlemann, "He Descended into Hell," Concordia Theological Monthly 27 (1956): 81. Bo Reicke, The Disobedient Spirits and Christian Baptism (Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1946), 14-15, asks why the Descensus is not treated in the earliest literature even though it "was clearly developed already in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers." Obviously because it was a secret teaching, though very popular in the early Church, A. Dell, "Matthew 16, 17-19," Zeitschrift fur die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 15 (1914): 31-33.
64. For a general treatment, John A. MacCulloch, The Harrowing of Hell (Edinburgh: Clark, 1930), chs. 15 & 16. On the Jewish background, Marc Philonenko, Les interpolations chretiennes des Testaments des XII Patriarches (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1960), 22-24. See note 65.
65. Rousseau, "La descente aux enfers, fondement soteriologique du bapteme chretien," 273-97, declares the Descensus to be nothing less than "the soteriological foundation of Christian baptism," and Bo Reicke, in Archiv fur Kirchengeschichte, n.s. 27:2-3, notes that early Christian baptisms were consciously dramatized to represent a release from the underworld. Harris, The Odes and Psalms of Solomon, 123, identifies Christ's own baptism with the Descensus. On the baptism in the Acherusian Lake, J. B. Frey, "La vie de l'au-dela dans les conceptions juives au temps de Jesus-Christ," Biblica 13 (1932): 145-46; Erik Peterson, "Die Taufe im acherusischen See," Vigiliae Christianae 9 (1955): 1-20. Cf. John H. Bernard, "The Descent into Hades and Christian Baptism," Studia Sacra (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1917), 1-50.
66. The doctrine by which "the soul mounts up continually from topos to topos was thoroughly orthodox, Carl Schmidt, Gnostische Schriften in koptischer Sprache aus dem Codex Brucianus (Leipzig: Hinrich, 1892), 193-94; Schmidt, Gesprache Jesu, 496-97, 512-13; cf. Origen, Homiliae in Librum Jesu Nave 25, in PG 12:944; cf. Gospel of Thomas 90:5-7 (--NHLE 42:5-7, p. 123); Gospel of Truth 21:23-34 (--NHLE 21:23-24, p. 40); Gospel of Philip 133:17-18 (--NHLE 85:17-18, p. 150); Apocalypse of Paul, in Budge, Miscellaneous Coptic Texts, 1027-28, 1055; Ignatius, Epistle to the Trallians 5, in PG 5:781-85; Epistle to the Ephesians 19, in PG 5:753; Epistola ad Polycarpum (Epistle to Polycarp) 7, in PG 5:869, calling Polycarp theodromos, "God runner," "Messenger of God"; Epistle of the Apostles 13-14; 19, in ANT, 489-92; 2 Enoch 61:2; Oxyrhynchus Logion 1, 2; Clement of Alexandria, Stromata II, 9, in PG 8:975-81; V, 14, 96, in PG 9:148-49. Cf. the doctrine of "stages of ascent," i.e., three levels of enlightenment to which the Christian can aspire even during this life, H. P. Owen, "The 'Stages of Ascent' in Hebrews 5:11-6:3," New Testament Studies 3 (1957): 243-53.
67. An old and orthodox idea. According to Wilhelm Bousset, Judisch-christlicher Schulbetrieb in Alexandria und Rom (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1915), 269, Clement of Alexandria was the first to reject it. Though it was condemned by the Council of Constantinople in 553, A. Mehat, "'Apocatastase' Origene, Clement d' Alexandrie, Acts 3, 21," Vigiliae Christianae 10 (1956): 196, Pius XII himself in Mediator Dei refers to this life as "an exile."
68. Irenaeus, Against Heresies I, 25, 4, in PG 7:676-78; Clementine Recognitions II, 57, in PG 1:1275. Augustine condemns the idea that the soul sinned in its pre-existence and is being punished on earth, without condemning the doctrine of pre-existence itself, M. Leusse, "Le probleme de la Preexistence des Ames chez Marius Victorinus After," Recherches des sciences religieuses 29 (1939): 236, n. 1; 237, n. 1. So also Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechesis IV de Decem Dogmatibus (Catechetical Lecture on the Ten Doctrines) 19, in PG 33:480; while Origen even suggests that earth-life is a reward rather than a punishment, Peri Archon (On First Things) I, 8, 4, in PG 11:179-82; II, 9, 6-8, in PG 11:230-33.
69. Quote is from Barnabas, Catholic Epistle 21, 7-8, in PG 2:780-81; cf. The Testament in Galilee 47, in PO 9:218-19; Gospel of Philip 124:32-36 (--NHLE 76, p. 146); Psalms of Thomas, in Alfred Adam, Die Psalmen des Thomas und das Perlenlied als Zeugnisse vorchristlichen Gnosis, in Zeitschrift fur die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, Supplement 24 (Berlin: Topelmann, 1959), 9:1, 8-10; 2 Baruch 15:8, 16; 19:1; 21:13, 16; Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ 1:13; Tertullian, De Baptismo (On Baptism) 20, 2, in PL 1:1332-34.
70. Sources listed in de Jonge, The Testaments of the XII Patriarchs, 119-20, to which add 127 Canons of the Apostles 2, in PO 8:575; Asin de Palacios, "Logia et Agrapha," nos. 145, 193, in PO 19:562-63, 583; Homiliae Clementinae 7, in PG 2:221; Clement, Second Epistle to the Corinthians 6, in PG 1:336; Ignatius, Epistle to the Magnesians 5, in PG 5:761-64; Barnabas, Catholic Epistle 5, 19-20, in PG 2:733-37; Clementine Recognitions II, 24, in PG 1:1261; often in the Manual of Discipline (1QS) 3:2-4, 13-25; 4:1-26; cf. Psalm 1.
71. On the Council, Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 102, in PG 6:712-13; 141, in PG 6:797-800; 1 Enoch 48:2-6; 62:7; Ignatius, Epistle to the Ephesians 19, in PG 5:753; 4 Ezra 9:18; The Hypostasis of the Archons 135:23-25 (--NHLE 87:23-25, p. 153). A genuine biblical motif, H. Wheeler Robinson, "The Council of Yahweh," Journal of Theological Studies 45 (1944): 151-57; Frank M. Cross, "The Council of Yahweh in Second Isaiah," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 12 (1953): 274-77. Cf. N. A. Dahl, "Christ, Creation, and the Church," in William Davies & David Daube, The Background of the New Testament and Its Eschatology (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1956), ch. 22, on the importance of protology in early Christian thought; Masao Sekine, "Schopfung und Erlosung im Buche Hiob," in J. Hempel and L. Rost, eds., Von Ugarit nach Qumran, in Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, Supplement 77 (Berlin: Topelmann, 1958): 220-21. That the Two Ways is part of the Plan is specified by Clementine Recognitions I, 24, in PG 1:1220; I, 28, in PG 1:1222; III, 26, in PG 1:1294-95; V, 9, in PG 1:1334; cf. Odes of Solomon 7:11-12; 31, and Harris' comment, p. 129; Apocryphon of James 4:27-5:6 (--NHLE 4:27-5:6, pp. 31-32); Psalm of Thomas 8:16-18 (the demons have a counterplan); Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 102, in PG 6:712-13; 141, in PG 6:797-800, and Apologia pro Christianis (Apology), 10, in PG 6:460-61.
72. Irenaeus calls this "the ancient law of liberty," Against Heresies IV, 37, 1-6, in PG 7:1099-1103; IV, 39, 3, in PG 7:1109-10. It is explained in Clementine Recognitions II, 23-25, in PG 1:1260-61; III, 26, in PG 1:1294; III, 49, in PG 1:1303; III, 59, in PG 1:1312; IV, 24, in PG 1324; IV, 34, in PG 1:1330; Apocalypse of Paul, in Budge, Miscellaneous Coptic Texts, 1066; The Testament in Galilee 50, in PO 9:221-23; Apocryphon of James 4:27-5:6 (--NHLE 4:27-5:6, p. 31-32); Clement, Second Epistle to the Corinthians 7, in PG 1:337; Shepherd of Hermas, Similitudes 10, 2, in PG 2:989; Clementine Recognitions I, 7-8, in PG 1:1210-11; I, 16, in PG 1:1215; I, 27, in PG 1:1222; I, 51, in PG 1:1236; II, 21, in PG 1:1259; IV, 14, in PG 1:1320-21; V, 5, in PG 1:1333; 1 Enoch 69:11; 2 Baruch 54:15; 4 Ezra 7:72; 8:55-56; 9:10-11; Tatian, Orations 7, in PG 6:820-21.
73. Testuz, Papyrus Bodmer X, 53-54; Psalm of Thomas 9:7-16; The Pearl, in Adam, Die Psalmen des Thomas und das Perlenlied, 9-15; Theodosius, On St. Michael, in Budge, Miscellaneous Coptic Texts, 339-40, 906-7; Discourse on the Abbaton, in Budge, Coptic Martyrdoms, 240, 488; Gospel of Philip 102:29-31 (--NHLE 54:29-31, p. 133); 123:4-14 (--NHLE 75:4-14, p. 145); Homiliae Clementinae (Clementine Homilies) 9, in PG 2:241-58; Ignatius, Epistle to the Ephesians 13, 19, in PG 5:746-47; Epistle to Polycarp 3, in PG 5:709. Satan rules the earth, Barnabas, Catholic Epistle 2, in PG 2:729; 4, in PG 2:731-33; 18, in PG 2:776-77; Psalm of Thomas 1:17-37; 3:5-8; 1 Enoch 6:7; 44; 2 Enoch 18, 31:4; Acts of Thomas 32-33, 44-45, in ANT, 379-80, 386; Jerome, Dialogue against Pelagians II, 15, in PL 23:576-77, citing an old apocryphon. Cf. the "rule of Belial" in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Zadokite fragment 3:4; Jubilees 10:5-9; 11:5, etc. On the Origin of the World (--NHLE 98:27-99:28, p. 162-63).
74. The rules were first explained to Adam, 2 Enoch 30:14-15; it is the business of the true prophet to announce them, Clementine Recognitions V, 10, in PG 1:1334-35. The image of the games is familiar from the New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers, e.g., Clement, Second Epistle to the Corinthians 7, in PG 1:337-40; and 4 Ezra 7:57-61. The cycle of revelation-- apostasy-- punishment-- restoration is well-known, de Jonge, The Testaments of the XII Patriarchs, 83-86.
75. Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ 1:8; 12; 13; this is a 40-day teaching, according to Adolf von Harnack, in TU 9:16-17. Cf. The Testament in Galilee 7, in PO 9:184; 2 Baruch 29, 2-3; 70:7; Hippolytus, On Daniel 10, in PG 10:685; 12, in PG 10:688; Clementine Recognitions V, 11, in PG 1:1335. The preliminary coming is not to be confused with the later coming, M. Feuillet, "Le sens du mot Parousia dans l'Evangile de Matthieu," in Davies & Daube, The Background of the New Testament and Its Eschatology, 262-69, and L. Guerrier, "Les Tes Avant-Propos," in "The Testament in Galilee," in PO 9:151.
107. The same association of ideas meets us in such venerable documents as the so-called Shabako Stone, Kurt Sethe, Dramatische Texte zur altagyptischen Mysterienspielen 1 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1928), and the Enuma Elish, where we find the council and controversy in heaven, the creation of the world, the law of the Two Ways, the champion and redeemer of the race who overcomes the powers of death, and the obligation of the human race to participate in rites commemorating and dramatizing those cosmic events. The same motifs are conspicuous in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and form the foundation of what is sometimes designated today as "patternism." Whatever the significance of these resemblances, they do show that our apocryphal concepts are not the contrivances of undisciplined Oriental fantasy.
108. Thus Schmidt, Gesprache Jesu, 205.
109. Anselm, Homiliae (Homilies) 7, in PL 158:628-29.