Writing fan fiction isn’t just a modern trend. Ancient authors crafted works that creatively elaborated on original sources. The Bible, with its rich characters and stories, became a gold mine for Jewish and Christian writers. They spun their own fanciful tales from the scriptural canon, often filling in details that the Bible only touched upon. Here’s a look at ten ancient texts that put a new spin on familiar Sunday school stories.
10 The Life of Adam and Eve
Genesis 5:5 tells us Adam lived for 930 years after being driven from Eden and had children, including Cain, Abel, and Seth. But what else happened during those long years? A first-century book, originally in Hebrew or Aramaic, fills in the gaps, detailing Adam and Eve’s struggles in the harsh world outside Paradise. Multiple versions exist, including the Greek Apocalypse of Moses and the more common Life of Adam and Eve.
The book reveals that God commanded his angels to worship Adam as the image of God, but Satan refused and was cast out of heaven, leading him to cause the downfall of Adam and Eve. After their exile, Eden was sealed off by ice. Adam and Eve’s first night was filled with terror as they experienced darkness for the first time. They atoned for their sins through fasting, with Adam standing in the river Gihon and Eve bathing in the Tigris.
After their repentance, Cain and Abel were born, and later Seth, after Abel’s murder. God cursed Adam with 72 ailments, and as he neared death at 930 years old, he sent Seth and Eve back to Eden for the oil of healing. Michael refused, saying Adam had only a week to live. After Adam’s death, his soul was taken to the third heaven, and his body was buried in Paradise. Eve died after the six days of mourning and was buried beside him.
9 The Book of Enoch
Enoch is a mysterious figure in the Bible, noted as one of two people (along with Elijah) who avoided death by being taken to heaven alive. Genesis states he “walked with God,” implying special revelations, but doesn’t elaborate. The texts collectively known as the Book of Enoch, dating from the first or second century, provide details of Enoch’s visions as he journeys through heaven and earth with angelic guides.
Enoch recounts the fall and punishment of the Watchers, angelic beings who mated with humans, producing giants—a story touched upon in Genesis. Enoch tries to intercede for them, but the Watchers are bound and thrown into the underworld. Their giant offspring destroy each other, and the survivors perish in the Flood. Enoch is then shown the secrets of heaven, prophecies about Israel’s history, the Messiah, and the resurrection.
Notably, Enoch tours outer space with the angel Uriel, witnessing celestial motions, geographical features, and meteorological phenomena. Although primarily a religious text, this section might be considered the earliest Jewish scientific work. The Book of Enoch was considered authoritative by early Christians, quoted in the New Testament’s Epistle of Jude.
8 The Apocalypse of Abraham
Genesis 12:1 tells us God commanded Abram (later Abraham) to leave his country and kindred. But why was Abraham chosen to be the father of God’s people? The Apocalypse of Abraham, dating to the late first century, provides the backstory.
Abraham’s father, Terah, was an idol maker, and Abraham assisted him. Abraham initially worshiped the idol Merumat but began to doubt its power after some statues were destroyed. He tried to persuade his father of his newfound truth, but Terah wouldn’t listen. Thus, Abraham heard God command him to leave, and as soon as he departed, fire consumed Terah and his household.
The angel Yahoel leads Abraham to Mount Horeb to offer sacrifices to God. Azazel, or Satan, tempts Abraham in the form of an unclean bird, but Abraham rejects him, and Yahoel gives Abraham the celestial garments that the fallen angel once wore. A dove takes Abraham to outer space, where he sees a panoramic view of Earth.
Abraham witnesses new angels being created daily, singing hymns before vanishing. He is shown the future of Israel, their suffering, the destruction of their Temple, and their ultimate redemption in the Messianic Age.
7 Joseph and Asenath
Joseph’s marriage to Asenath, the daughter of an Egyptian priest, troubled later Jewish writers. Asenath, likely a worshiper of Egyptian gods, wasn’t explicitly monotheistic in the Bible. Yet, she was the mother of Ephraim and Manasseh, two key tribes of Israel.
A Hellenistic Jewish text from Egypt, written in Greek around 100 BC to AD 100, Joseph and Asenath, fills in the missing details like a Greek romance novel.
The story begins with Joseph touring the country as a government official, storing up grain. He arrives at Putiphare’s estate in Heliopolis, where the priest, impressed by Joseph’s virtues, arranges a marriage between him and Asenath. Asenath, desired by many, secludes herself in a tower and initially dislikes Joseph because he is a foreigner and an ex-con. However, she finds him attractive upon meeting him, but Joseph is uninterested because Asenath worships Egyptian gods.
To win Joseph’s love, Asenath renounces Egyptian gods, destroys her idols, and repents. God accepts her conversion by sending an angel, freeing Joseph to marry her. Pharaoh’s son, wanting Asenath, conspires with Joseph’s brothers to kill Joseph and kidnap Asenath. Benjamin thwarts the ambush. The prince dies, and Pharaoh dies of grief.
Eventually, Joseph reigns over Egypt for 48 years after Pharaoh gives him the diadem.
6 Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres
2 Timothy 3:8 compares false teachers to Pharaoh’s magicians, Jannes and Jambres, who resisted Moses. Exodus doesn’t name these magicians, but legends made them familiar in Jewish, Christian, and Gentile circles. The Apocryphon of Jannes and Jambres survives only in fragments, but other traditions fill out the story.
Jannes and Jambres, sons of Balaam, predict Moses’ birth and advise Pharaoh to kill him, but Moses escapes. They flee to Ethiopia but return to Egypt. The Apocryphon tells of their mother’s premonition of disasters and how demonic figures take Jannes to Hades. Summoned to oppose Moses, Jannes is struck by disease and acknowledges the divine power in Moses.
Knowing he’s dying, Jannes warns Jambres against pursuing the Hebrews, sparing him from the Red Sea’s destruction. Jannes appoints Jambres as his successor and dies. Jambres calls up Jannes’s spirit, who describes the torments of Hades and admonishes Jambres to repent.
5 The Testament of Moses
Deuteronomy 34:5-6 states that Moses died and was buried by God in Moab, with no one knowing the exact location. The Testament of Moses, reveals that before dying, Moses gave Joshua secret prophecies about Israel. Joshua is told that after leading the people to the promised land, they will fall into idolatry. An eastern king will invade, take Jerusalem, and lead the people into captivity for 77 years.
Some will be restored, but evil kings and priests will reign, including a tyrant ruling for 34 years. Amid chaos, a man named Taxo will choose death over disobeying the law. Ultimately, God will rescue Israel and punish the Gentiles.
The book lacks the story of Moses’s assumption to heaven and the dispute between Michael and Satan over Moses’s body, possibly because Moses had murdered an Egyptian and disobeyed God. Jude 9 references this event, indicating early Christian familiarity with the Testament.
4 The Ascension of Isaiah
John 6:38 tells us that Jesus came down from heaven to do God’s will. The Ascension of Isaiah details Christ’s journey from heaven to earth.
The Ascension of Isaiah narrates Isaiah’s flight through seven heavens while in a coma. Each heaven becomes more glorious than the last. In the seventh heaven, Isaiah sees God command Christ to descend to Earth, where Satan and his demons reside, and then proceed to Sheol.
As Christ descends, he disguises himself to blend in, giving gatekeepers passwords. Reaching the firmament, Christ appears as a human. The demons, failing to recognize him, crucify him. Christ descends to Sheol, breaking the power of Satan and death. Jesus ascends in glory, bringing the righteous freed from Sheol. The demons realize they are defeated. Satan, angered by Isaiah’s visions, incites King Manasseh to saw Isaiah in half, alluded to in Hebrews 11:37.
3 History of Joseph the Carpenter
Matthew 1:16 simply notes that Joseph was the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus. But considering his vital role as the human father of Jesus, the Bible tells us very little about Joseph. The History of Joseph the Carpenter, a 4th-century document, provides more details through Jesus’s reminiscences.
Joseph, from Bethlehem, was a priest and a carpenter. He married and had four sons and two daughters. After his wife died, the priests entrusted 12-year-old Mary, who had been offered to the Temple since age three, to his care.
The priests asked Joseph to keep Mary chaste until marriage. He took her home, where she lived for two years until the angel Gabriel announced Jesus’s birth.
Jesus recounts the Nativity story up to the return to Nazareth. Joseph worked diligently and honestly, remaining vigorous even in old age. At 111, an angel informed Joseph of his impending death. After praying in the Temple, Joseph died in the presence of Jesus and Mary from the same disease that killed his first wife.
2 Infancy Gospel of Thomas
Luke 2:40 notes that Jesus grew strong and full of wisdom. But what was Jesus like as a child? The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, a 2nd-century work, portrays Jesus as a seemingly ordinary child with superpowers.
Jesus animates dried fish and clay sparrows. He carries water in his cloak after breaking a jar. He stretches wood to help Joseph, heals an injured man, and saves James from a snake bite. He also raises the dead—a friend who fell from a roof, a man killed in an accident, and a child who died from illness.
But Jesus also curses a boy dead, kills another boy, and blinds the parents, angering Joseph. He is accused of pushing a playmate off a roof. This violent, petulant child whose tantrums led to the Infancy Gospel being rejected from scripture.
1 The Acts of Paul and Thecla
Romans 16:7 mentions Junia, a female apostle whom scribes altered to the male Junias. The church hierarchy disliked the idea of a female apostle. The Bible often downplays the role of women in the early church.The Acts of Paul and Thecla, a 2nd-century text, imagines the life of one of Paul’s female disciples.
Thecla is converted by Paul’s preaching on celibacy in Iconium and is imprisoned, but a miraculous downpour saves her from being burned at the stake.
Thecla joins Paul in Antioch, where she is nearly raped by a nobleman but is jailed for defending herself. In the arena with wild beasts, a lioness protects her, and she baptizes herself in a pool of seals, after which fire kills the animals.
Thecla dresses as a man, finds Paul in Myra, takes a vow of celibacy, and becomes a missionary, urging women to forsake marriage. After 72 years as a hermit, she goes to Rome, hoping to reunite with Paul, but he is already executed. Thecla spends the rest of her life praying, preaching, and doing miracles.
These ancient fan fiction texts provide fascinating insights into the imaginative elaborations on biblical narratives that have captivated readers for centuries. From the lives of Adam and Eve to the adventures of Thecla, these stories offer unique perspectives and fill in the gaps left by the canonical texts.
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