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Dr. Nicholas Roumas on Orthodox Apocryphal Stories
38:02
Melanie interviews Dr. Nicholas Roumas about his book Stories Not in the Bible: Apocryphal Books from the Orthodox Tradition, published by Ancient Faith Publishing. Roumas, a theology professor at Hellenic College with a doctorate in dogmatics from Marquette University, explains how his study of Old Testament pseudepigrapha led to the project.
He recounts that he grew up in a mixed religious household and learned Orthodoxy by reading books such as the New Testament, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and the Protoevangelium of James. At Marquette he studied under Marcus Plested and Andrei Orlov, gaining expertise in Old Testament pseudepigrapha. The book presents seven apocryphal texts preserved by Orthodox scribes for nearly two thousand years, many surviving only in Slavonic manuscripts until the printing press displaced them.
Roumas arranges the texts in biblical chronological order: the Death of Adam (Life of Adam and Eve/Apocalypse of Moses), Enoch and the Watchers (Book of Watchers/1 Enoch), the Coming of the Flood (Slavonic Enoch/2 Enoch), Abraham and the Idols (Apocalypse of Abraham), the Story of Aseneth (Aseneth's Prayer), the Genesis of Mary (Protoevangelium of James), and the Trial of Jesus (Acts of Pilate/Gospel of Nicodemus).
He chose these seven for their narrative quality and their shared arc from sin to redemption. Roumas describes the translation challenges: the manuscript tradition is chaotic, with garbled wording in Slavonic copies and scribes who freely added, removed, or rewrote material, so no single authoritative version exists. He acted as a scribe selecting the most coherent tellings. Roumas emphasizes that these books are not Scripture, not on par with the Church Fathers, and not factually reliable; they are edifying storytelling for "serious fun," a playground for sacred history that belongs to the Orthodox tradition.
He notes that the Protoevangelium of James likely recorded existing oral traditions about Mary rather than originating them. His key message is that this material is part of the Orthodox tradition that disappeared for a historical blip and is now available again for Orthodox readers to reclaim and read as their own.
Key moments
- Dr. Rumis introduces himself: he lives in Massachusetts, has always been Orthodox but grew up in a mixed religious household and learned Orthodoxy by reading books such as the New Testament, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and the Protoevangelium of James.
- He is a professor of theology at Hellenic College teaching New and Old Testament, with a doctorate in dogmatics from Marquette University where he studied under Marcus Plested and Andrei Orlov, gaining expertise in Old Testament pseudepigrapha.
- The book contains seven apocryphal texts preserved by Orthodox scribes for nearly 2,000 years, many only surviving in Slavonic until the printing press displaced them from common awareness.
- The seven books are arranged in biblical chronology: Death of Adam (Life of Adam and Eve/Apocalypse of Moses), Enoch and the Watchers (Book of Watchers/1 Enoch), Coming of the Flood (Slavonic Enoch/2 Enoch), Abraham and the Idols (Apocalypse of Abraham), Story of Aseneth (Aseneth's Prayer), Genesis of Mary (Protoevangelium of James), and Trial of Jesus (Acts of Pilate/Gospel of Nicodemus).
- He chose these seven because they are great stories that provide enjoyment as narrative theology, and they fit together with an arc from sin (Adam, Enoch) to redemption (Mary, Christ).
- The hardest part was sorting through the chaotic manuscript tradition: some texts exist only in Slavonic with garbled wording, and scribes freely added, removed, or rewrote material, so no single authoritative version exists.
- These books are not Scripture, not on par with the Church Fathers, and not factually reliable; they are edifying storytelling for "serious fun", a playground for sacred history. The Protoevangelium of James likely recorded existing oral traditions about Mary rather than originating them.
- His key message: this is part of the Orthodox tradition that disappeared for a historical blip and is now available again for Orthodox readers to reclaim and read as their own.