The Second Apocalypse of James is the fourth tractate placed right after the First Apocalypse of James of what is now known as Codex V. It is believed to have been written around the second century CE, and then buried and lost until it was rediscovered amongst 52 other GnosticChristian texts spread over 13 codices by an Arab peasant, Mohammad Ali al-Samman, in the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi late in December 1945. The gnostic text contains many Jewish-Christian themes, making many scholars think it to be one of the earlier texts, originally from the early or mid-second century. One of the most curious features of the second apocalypse of James is that this range of dating, of its original text, assigned to it by scholars, requires that it was written before the First Apocalypse of James.
A number of differences are seen from the more canonical history that the text describes. For example, it names James' father Theudas rather than Joseph, who is presented as the biological father of James by the mid-second-century Protevangelium of James. Notably, the names Theudas and Alpheus have similar meanings. The name 'Theudas' means "flowing with water", and the Greek name 'Alpheus' means "changing" or "god of the rivers". The wife of this Theudas is named Mary; whether or not this Mary is the same woman as the mother of Jesus, and whether this Mary is supposed to be the biological mother of James, is never explicitly stated in the text. The First Apocalypse of James explicitly claims that James and Jesus are not biological brothers. In contrast, the Second Apocalypse of James states that Jesus and James share the same mother, presumably being Mary. It then explains that they have different biological fathers.
James, "My Beloved"
The text features a kiss between James and Jesus, on the lips, in a similar manner to the way in which Jesus is said to have kissed Mary Magdalene in the apocryphal Gospel of Phillip. However, the text also describes how such a kiss was a metaphor for the passing of gnosis, explaining the references to it elsewhere, making it clear that this is not the homosexual relationship it might appear to be. James Tabor cites Jesus referring to James as "my beloved" in this passage as evidence for James being the Beloved Disciple.
Martyrdom of James
The text ends with the rather gruesome death of James by stoning, possibly reflecting an early oral tradition of what became of James:
