Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men's Journey to Bethlehem

by Brent Landau

  A second consequence of the Revelation of the Magi’s opinion about Christ’s all-encompassing revelation is that it renders the traditional model of Christian expansion completely pointless. Throughout much of Christian history, and particularly since the beginning of the Age of Exploration in the fifteenth century, one dominant means by which Christianity has spread among non-Christian populations is through the work of dedicated missionaries. The general assumption is that the work of missionaries has been absolutely necessary because Jesus Christ delegated this task to the most devoted of his followers.24

  But why could not Christ himself have been the principal agent of Christian expansion? If Christ existed before Jesus of Nazareth did (as the first verses of the Gospel of John claim) and could even visit people after his ascension (as Acts of the Apostles claims that he didto the Apostle Paul), then what would prevent Christ from appearing to anyone, in any place, at any time? This appears to have been a question asked by the author of the Revelation of the Magi, and his answer was, “Nothing.” Christ appeared to the Magi before he assumed human flesh, and what is more, he apparently felt no need to identify himself to the Magi as Christ. The author, to be sure, is very concerned that the Christian revelation be spread to all the people of the world, but in his estimation, human missionaries are in no way essential for this task.

  If we see this view of Christ as central to the author of the Revelation of the Magi, then it becomes much clearer why someone else would have felt compelled to change the original ending of the story. As the Revelation of the Magi originally ended, the Magi and the people of Shir have all come to experience the presence of Christ, though they have done so completely without any of the trappings that we might associate with institutional Christianity. They are, in the words of the great twentieth-century Catholic theologian Karl Rahner, “anonymous Christians.” The Apostle Thomas episode solves this “problem” by having the Magi baptized and commissioned by an apostolic emissary to go preach the Gospel throughout the entire world.

  A helpful analogy for what has happened to the Revelation of the Magi would be the difference between the"abrupt ending” and the “longer ending” of the Gospel of Mark, most likely the first of the canonical Gospels to be written. The vast majority of scholars today believe that the original ending of Mark’s Gospel was at 16:8. This would mean that Mark ended with the women running terrified from the angel’s appearance at the empty tomb of Jesus—that is, without any appearances of the resurrected Jesus. Mark would therefore have ended with the words “they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” Although the precise reasons for the “abrupt ending” will likely never be completely clear, some scholars believe that by it Mark intended to convey a powerful theological message to his audience—possibly that Christian faith grows and perseveres in spite of the frailty and often failure of its would-be messengers.

  A powerful theological message, and arguably a brilliant ending to this Gospel. But also one that could be misunderstood or seem rather inadequate, particularly given the presence of Resurrection appearances in later Gospels. So someone, probably in the second century, attached a “longer ending” to Mark’s Gospel (16:9–20) that contained several appearances of the risen Jesus, along with Jesus’s missionary charge to his disciples. In other words, this individual changed the ending of Mark’s Gospel to reflect much more clearly and explicitly how Christians in his time and place expected a Gospel to end. Something much like that seems to have happenedto the Revelation of the Magi. It was simply not good enough for the Magi to have had a revelation of Christ that did not “make them Christians” in a straightforward and unambiguous way,25 just as it was not good enough for the women of Mark’s Gospel to hear that Jesus had been raised without seeing any definitive evidence of it or telling anyone about what they saw at the tomb. Hence, the endings of both Mark’s Gospel and the Revelation of the Magi were rewritten and expanded to make them more palatable to the typical expectations of later Christians.

  So, the Revelation of the Magi has a view of other religious traditions that is highly unusual among early Christian writings. That feature, along with its status as the longest and most developed apocryphal narrative about the Magi, should make it of considerable interest for scholars of Christian origins. But the present book would not have been written were Revelation of the Magi of interest for only a limited number of academic specialists. Over the past several years I have shared my work on this writing, with members of several church communities and with a number of friends and relatives, some of whom do not consider themselves especially religious. Their enthusiastic response, I believe, has much to do with the way in which the Magi have embedded themselves in popular culture to a degree surpassing many other figures from the Bible. Fewer and fewer people may have much understanding of such a monumental personality as, say, the Apostle Paul, but it seems as if everyone knows the wise men!

  The Revelation of the Magi is indeed a fascinating and imaginative story about some of the Bible’s most intriguing figures. But the emphasis of the Revelation of the Magi on the universality of Christ’s revelation may also captivate many readers. The questions this writing poses are of potential importance for anyone who considers herself or himself religious, spiritual, or simply interested in theological questions. Could Christ actually be the source of multiple revelations throughout human history? Would there be any way of knowing this? What would the implications of this be for Christian attitudes toward non-Christian religions? What would this mean for the practice of evangelism? Would it even be correct to regard such a divine being as “Christ” if the Christian revelation is but a single isolated example of this being’s salvific activity? Does any revelation take precedence over others? The answers to these questions will probably differ depending on one’s basic religious convictions. But whether one is a born-again Christian, a Latter-day Saint, a “religious seeker,” or a Buddhist, the Revelation of the Magi raises challenging questions about divine revelation, religious pluralism, and the uniqueness of religions—questions that merit deep, sustained reflection.

  The English Translation of the

  “Revelation of the Magi”26

  1. INTRODUCTION 27

  1:1About the revelation of the Magi, and about their coming to Jerusalem, and about the gifts that they brought to Christ.28 1:2An account of the revelations and the visions, which the kings,29 [sons of kings,30] of the great East31 spoke,32 who were called Magi in the language of that land because in silence, without a sound, they glorified and they prayed.33 1:3And in silence and in the mind they glorified and prayed to the exalted and holy majesty of the Lord of life,34 to the holy and glorious Father, who is hidden by the great brightness of himself and is more lofty and holy than all reasoning. 1:4And the language of human beings is not able to speak about him as he is, except as he has wished, and when he has wished, and by means of whom he wishes. 1:5And neither his heavenly worlds nor the lower ones are able to speak about his majesty, except as it is fitting for the will of his majestyto reveal to the worlds so that they are able to partake from the gift35 of his majesty, because (his majesty) is great and they are not able to speak of it.

  2. THE MAGI—THEIR NAMES AND LINEAGE

  2:1And so, there were those wise men,36 who were called Magi in the language of the land because in silence, without a sound, they praised the God of all, that one who, by his word and will, has come to be all that is, all that exists and arises, and all that is going to be. 2:2And there is nothing that exists outside of his will,37 and furthermore, there is no one who will stand against the will of the Father of all. 2:3The names of the wise men and kings were called as follows:38 Zaharwandad son of Artaban; Hôrmizd son of Sanatruq; Auštazp son of Gudaphar;39 Aršak son of Mihruq; Zarwand son of Wadwad; Arîhô son of Kosrau; Artahšišat son of Hawîlat; Aštanbôzan son of Šîîšrawan; Mihruq son of Humam; Ahširaš son of Sahban; Nasardîh son of Baladan; Merôdak son of Bîl. 2:4 These are kings, sons of Eastern kings, in the land of
Shir,40 which is the outer part of the entire East of the world inhabited by human beings, at the Ocean,41 the great sea beyond the world, east42 of the land of Nod,43 that place in which dwelt Adam, head and chief of all the families of the world. 2:5And these sons of kings received commandments, laws, and even books from their fathers.

  The English Translation

  2:6And generation from generation, one by one, they received (them,) from the time of Seth, the son of our father Adam, because Adam revealed (them) to his son Seth when he had him.44 2:7And Adam taught Seth about his prior greatness, before he transgressed against the commandment, and about his expulsion from Paradise.45 And he warned his son Seth not to transgress also against the (divine) justice as Adam (did).

  3. THE TRANSMISSION OF THE MYSTERIES

  3:1And Seth received the commandment of his father with a pure heart,46 and he took care of the agreement and the gift of the exalted Lord of majesty. 3:2And it was given to Seth to set down in a book and to make known the wisdom, and to call upon the name of the LORD,47 the Lord of every soul who seeks after life. 3:3And from him a book appeared in the world for the first time,48 which was set down in the name of the Exalted One. 3:4And Seth entrusted to his descendants the book that was set down, and it was transmitted up to Noah, that one who was found just and was delivered from the waters.49 3:5And [in the time of the Deluge,] Noah [took] the books of commandments with him [in the Ark. And when] he came out of the Ark, Noah also commanded the generations after him, who recounted his great deeds and the hidden mysteries50 that are written in the books of Seth about the majesty of the Father and all the mysteries. 3:6And the [books,] and the mysteries, and the speech were handed down in succession by tradition even until our 51 fathers. 3:7And they learned and received with joy, and handed them down to us ourselves, and we also kept with love and fear their mysteries of the books and the secrets and the words. 3:8And we prayed in silence and gave thanks and glorified, bowing our knees and lifting our hands to the height of heaven,52 to the Lord of that majesty that is hidden from the eyes of everything that lives.

  4. THE PROPHECY OF THE STAR

  4:1And those books of hidden mysteries were placed on the Mountain of Victories53 in the east of Shir, our country, in a cave, the Cave of Treasures of the Mysteries of the Life of Silence.54 4:2And our fathers commanded us as they also received from their fathers, and they said to us:55 “Wait for the light that shines forth to you from the exalted East56 of the majesty of the Father, the light that shines forth from on high in the form of a star57 over the Mountain of Victories and comes to rest upon a pillar of light58 within the Cave of Treasures [of] Hidden Mysteries. 4:3And also command your sons, and your sons their sons, until the mystery of the star that shines forth from the exalted majesty appears to your generations, a light like a star, and giving light to the entire creation and obscuring the light of the sun, moon, and stars, and not one of them is seen or is able to stand in the presence of its light.59 4:4For it is the great mystery of the Son of the exalted majesty, who is the voice of the Father; the offspring of his hidden thought; the light of the ray of his glory; the will and image of his hiddenness;60 4:5the allengendering word of his thought; source of life never-failing from his spring;61 the all-governing word according to the will of the one who sent it;62 an image that has no form or likeness among any things that exist. 4:6This one, by whose power and word all the worlds were set in order and established, is the Son of perfect mercy, is the ray of light of the glory of the Father of ineffable majesty. 4:7Therefore, know that when this light from that majesty that has no end shines forth for you and will appear like a star to you so that you are able to see him: eagerly, with joy and love, and completely, with care, taking with you his own pure gifts,63 which were put in the Cave of Treasures of Hidden Mysteries on the Mountain of Victories by your fathers, go to where his light, the star, leads you. 4:8And you will see a great and amazing sign, God appearing in the bodily form of a human being, unsightly,64 poor, imperfect, frail, lowly, even the sign of the cross appearing upon him [see Speculum Humanae Salvationis on pages 40 and 41]. And you will go before him with love and joy, taking with you your gifts, and you will worship in the presence of the child, despised, poor, and killed.65 4:9And you will offer him your gifts, and you shall receive from him the blessing of salvation and shall partake with him in the joy, which, when he comes with his hidden glory, with his perfect divinity, with his perfect riches that do not pass away, with his new world, with his light that [text missing], with perfect salvation, which he will give to all [text missing]. 4:10Also, take care and command your sons. And if the coming of the light of the star does not happen in your days, also have your sons tell it to their sons, until the mysteries and revelations shall come to pass that are written about his coming.”

  The Three Magi. Speculum Humanae Salvationis, by Ludolfus de Saxonia. Ms.15, f.10r. Vellum. Germany, ca. 1410. Spencer Collection. Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. Photo Credit : New York Public Library/Art Resource, NY

  An illuminated manuscript of the Speculum Humanae Salvationis, Germany, ca. 1410. The illustrator demonstrates an awareness of the Revelation of the Magi, depicting Christ in the form of a star hovering over the Magi. Notice especially the detail of Christ carrying the cross (cf. Revelation of the Magi 4:8).

  5. THE RITUAL OF THE MAGI

  5:1And we received the laws and commandments from our fathers, and we taught all the mysteries, and we reminded our sons: “Perhaps in your days the coming of the light of this star will happen, as we received and learned from our fathers.” 5:2And we went up to the Mountain of Victories, and when we were all assembled at the foothills of the mountain from each one’s dwelling place, we remained in one place for purification on the twenty-fifth day66 of every month. 5:3And we bathed in acertain spring that was on the foothills of the mountain, and it is called “The Spring of Purification.” 5:4And seven trees stood over it: an olive, a vine, a myrtle, [a cypress,] an orange, a cedar, and a juniper.67 5:5And that mountain was altogether incomparably more beautiful and desirable than all the mountains in our land, and the smell of all sweet spices effused from it, and the dew that was sprinkled was a sweet smell.68 5:6And when it became the first of the month,69 we ascended and went to the top of the mountain and stood before the mouth of the Cave of Treasures of Hidden Mysteries. 5:7And we knelt on our knees and stretched forth our hands to heaven, and we prayed and worshiped in silence, without a sound, to the Father of that heavenly majesty that is ineffable and infinite forever.70 5:8On the third of the month we entered the cave up to the treasures, the treasures that were prepared as the star’s own [gifts] and for the adoration of that light that we awaited. 5:9And what we read and heard from the revelation, when we returned, descending in joy, we said to and instructed our sons, our families, and everyone who gave themselves with love to learn. 5:10And if it should chance that one of us should pass away, we would raise up his son or one of the sons of his family [in his place,] as when we succeeded our fathers, until the time of the coming of the star has been fulfilled. 5:11We also taught the people of that country,those who gave themselves to the love of revelation to learn with joy. And those who did not wish to learn and distanced themselves from help because they saw our quiet way of life, that we prayed in silence, [we] said our mysteries to them with honor.71

  6. AN EXCERPT FROM

  SETH’S BOOKS OF REVELATION

  6:1Again,72 from the books that were in the Cave of Treasures of Hidden Mysteries: every word that our father Adam, the beginning of our great lineage, spoke with his son Seth, whom he had after the death of Abel, whom his brother Cain killed73 and over whom his father Adam mourned. 6:2And Adam instructed Seth his son about [text missing], [and about the revelation] of the light of the star and about its glory, because he [saw] it in the Garden of Eden when it descended and came to rest over the Tree of Life; and it illuminated the entire (garden) before Adam transgressed against the commandment of the Father of heavenly majesty. 6:3And when he
transgressed against the commandment that (the Father) ordained for him, the sight74 of the star was taken away from him, and (it was also taken away from him) because of his expulsion from Paradise. And Adam our father mourned over (his) foolishness, that he was humbled from his greatness. 6:4And he strongly warned his son Seth, and he taught him to walk in righteousness so that he might find mercy before the Father of majesty.

  7. THE FALL OF ADAM

  7:1And he said to him: “My son, there will be generations and ages from me and from my offspring, and they will be recounting my foolishness and speaking figuratively with figures of speech to one another. 7:2They are fulfilled about me, and they will say: ‘Every kingdom that will be divided against itself shall not stand.’75 This is fulfilled about me, because I doubted about my kingdom in which I stood, and I, by my hands, destroyed it myself. 7:3My son, the rib that was removed from me76 became a thorn, and it blinded my eye. 7:4I even prophesied when I saw her, and I said: ‘This time is bone and flesh from me.’77 And rightly did I call her ‘time,’ because she became a stumbling block for me.78 7:5My son, guard from her the words of your mouth and do not reveal to her all the mysteries of your heart.79 7:6For my compassionate master made her a helper for me,80 for honor and glory, because he loved me like a beloved son.81 7:7And I made her an injury for me and a destroyer of my footprints so that she cast me out of Paradise, my kingdom. 7:8And I did not understand my honor, but I was puffed up in my heart by the advice of treachery that she gave to me, a cup of sound filled with poison by the lie of the serpent.