New Testament Apocrypha
By W. Schneemelcher & R. Wilson Mcl. (editors)

Preface to the Sixth German Edition

by Prof. W. Schneemelcher

The first volume of the Neutestamentliche Apokryphen in deutscher Ubersetzung, founded in 1904 by Edgar Hennecke (died 1951), appeared in a third edition in 1959. A fourth edition which came out in 1968 was simply a corrected reprint of the third edition. The present sixth edition is a corrected reprint of fifth edition, in which printing errors have been removed; at one point only some supplementary material has been introduced.

The complete recasting of the third (fourth) edition was necessary because in recent years there has been a considerable amount of work in the area of research into the apocrypha.

In recent years there has been so much research in this area that a completely new recasting of the work seemed appropriate. In particular the texts of the Coptic gnostic library of Nag Hammadi, which in 1959 could not yet be comprehensively evaluated, have in the interval been opened up and made generally accessible. A number of works from this find belong beyond doubt to the kinds of text the extant witnesses of which are assembled in this volume. In deciding which texts from Nag Hammadi ought to be included in our collection, I have profited from the advice of C. Clope, H.-M. Schenke and H.J. Klimkeit, to whom I would express my cordial thanks.

Through the inclusion of texts from Nag Hammadi the book has become more voluminous than in the previous edition. The remaining sections had in part to be completely remodelled, but in part the drafting of the previous edition could be taken over in a revised form. I have to thank all the collaborators who shared in this edition. We may also remember with gratitude those who through their work contributed to the success of the previous edition, but in the interval have been called from this life.

R. Kassel, R. Merkelbach and R. Stichel have advised me in many questions of detail. A. de Santos Otero has frequently helped with his special knowledge. K. Schaferdiek, who already in the previous edition rendered great service, has been a true helper this time also. G. Ahn has assisted me in correcting the proofs. To all those named I would express my hearty thanks.

Finally I must also thank the publisher G. Siebeck and his colleagues (especially R. Pflug) for their understanding collaboration. For over eighty years this work has been taken care of by the Tubingen publishing house - a notable testimony to the solid continuity of this house.

The second volume "Apostolisches. Apokalyptik und Verwandtes" appeared in 1989.

See also: Preface to the English Edition