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date: 23 January 2021

Abstract and Keywords

Many scholars now regard non-canonical writings as valuable witnesses to the diversity of early Christianity. In the light of that view, this chapter outlines their contribution to the history of liturgy and prayer. It shows that apocryphal acts are key sources for a Syrian type of baptism that gives paramount importance to the anointing of the candidates. It also notes the emergence in Eucharistic prayers of multifaceted patterns and forms of contents that largely differ from later conventions, but nevertheless leave traces in various later witnesses. On the theological level, critical reflections on the cultic reinterpretation of Christian worship are discovered in several apocryphal texts.

Keywords: Early Christian Apocrypha, Late Antiquity, apocryphal acts, apocryphal gospels, baptism, Eucharist, worship, prayer

Harald Buchinger

Harald Buchinger is Professor of Liturgical Studies at the University of Regensburg.

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