Is the Apocalypse of Peter in the Bible?
No. It is in no canon of Scripture. It was, however, a genuine borderline case in the second and third centuries — the Muratorian Fragment lists it while noting that some churches would not read it publicly.
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The Apocalypse of Peter — Free PDF Study Guide
A clear, honest introduction to the Apocalypse of Peter — the second-century vision of the world to come that came closer to the New Testament canon than almost any other rejected book. It gives a guided tour of the punishments of the damned and the garden of the blessed, and its imagery runs straight through medieval art into Dante. This free guide covers the text, the Muratorian Fragment, the Ethiopic and Akhmim versions, and why the church finally set it aside.
An original Bible Sundays study companion. The Apocalypse of Peter is not Scripture and is in no Bible. It is studied here as an early Christian document — read it alongside Revelation and Matthew 25 in the King James Version.
What you get
The vision on the mountain and the guided tour of heaven and hell
Why the Muratorian Fragment lists it beside Revelation — with a caveat
The Ethiopic version and the Greek Akhmim fragment: two different texts
The punishments catalogue and its long shadow over Dante and medieval art
The universalist passage some manuscripts contain — and what to make of it
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What is the Apocalypse of Peter?
The Apocalypse of Peter is a Christian apocalypse written around AD 130–150, framed as a private revelation given by the risen Christ to Peter on a mountain — essentially an expansion of the transfiguration. It survives in two quite different forms: a complete Ethiopic version, translated from Arabic from Greek, and a shorter Greek fragment found in the same Akhmim grave that yielded the Gospel of Peter and part of 1 Enoch. The Ethiopic is generally regarded as closer to the original. Its subject is the end: the return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the judgment, and then, in extended detail, the fate of the wicked and the reward of the righteous.
The tour of hell and the garden
The book's most striking feature is a catalogue of punishments matched exactly to the sins that earned them. Blasphemers hang by the tongue; those who dishonoured their parents are gnawed by worms; false witnesses have their lips cut; the rich who despised the poor are clothed in rags and pierced. The righteous, by contrast, dwell in a shining garden with fragrant trees and bodies clothed in light. This principle of mirrored, fitted punishment — later called the contrapasso — passes from the Apocalypse of Peter through the Apocalypse of Paul and the medieval vision literature into Dante's Inferno, which is why the book matters far beyond its own century.
How close it came to the canon
Closer than almost any other rejected text. The Muratorian Fragment, a late second-century canon list, includes 'the Apocalypse of John and of Peter' — adding at once that 'some of us will not have the latter read in church.' Clement of Alexandria commented on it as though it were Scripture. It was still being read publicly in parts of Palestine in the fifth century, and it appears in the Codex Claromontanus list. But Eusebius in the fourth century places it among the spurious writings, noting that no orthodox writer of the earlier generations had cited it as canonical, and the fourth-century canon lists that fixed the New Testament left it out. Its exclusion was a slow, argued, public process — the opposite of suppression.
Why it was finally set aside
Three factors. It is pseudonymous, written in Peter's name a lifetime after his death. Its authority rests on a private tour rather than on the apostolic testimony that shaped the rest of the New Testament. And some manuscripts contain a passage in which the saved successfully intercede for the damned and God grants them release — a hope that clashed with the plain reading of Matthew 25:46, and which Sozomen indicates was already controversial. For a Christian reader today the book's real value is comparative: set the fitted torments of Apocalypse of Peter beside the reticence of Scripture, where hell is described in stark images but never toured, and the difference in temper is instructive. Revelation and Matthew 25 tell us enough to be sober and no more; the Apocalypse of Peter tells us far more than anyone was given to know.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same as 2 Peter?
No. 2 Peter is a canonical epistle of the New Testament. The Apocalypse of Peter is a separate, non-canonical vision of the afterlife written around AD 130–150.
Did the Apocalypse of Peter influence Dante?
Indirectly but substantially. Its principle of punishments fitted to sins passed into the Apocalypse of Paul and the medieval vision tradition, which Dante drew on heavily when composing the Inferno.
Why was the Apocalypse of Peter rejected?
It was written pseudonymously long after Peter's death, its authority rested on a private vision rather than apostolic testimony, and some versions taught that the damned could later be released — which conflicted with Matthew 25:46.
What does the Bible actually say about hell?
Scripture describes it in solemn, restrained images: outer darkness, unquenchable fire, the second death, everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46; Mark 9:43–48; Revelation 20:14–15). It offers no guided tour and no catalogue of specific torments.
What is the Akhmim fragment?
A Greek manuscript found in a grave at Akhmim, Egypt, in 1886–87, containing part of the Apocalypse of Peter alongside part of the Gospel of Peter and 1 Enoch. Its version of the text differs from the fuller Ethiopic.
Is there an Apocalypse of Paul too?
Yes — a later fourth-century work that expands the Apocalypse of Peter's tour of the afterlife. It is likewise non-canonical and was even more widely read in medieval Europe.
Can I print or share this study guide?
Yes. This guide is an original Bible Sundays work, free to print, copy, and share for personal, ministry, or classroom use. No email or sign-up required.
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Every name below appears in the King James Bible. Each page gives the meaning, the verse it appears in, and who carried it in Scripture.
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- ArielLion of God
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