Semeia 80: The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles in Intertextual Perspectives

314 Pages·1997·2.02 MB·English

by  Robert F. Stoops

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SEMEIA80
T A A A
HE POCRYPHAL CTS OF THE POSTLES
I P
IN NTERTEXTUAL ERSPECTIVES
Guest Editor: Robert F. Stoops, Jr.
Board Editor: Dennis R. MacDonald, Jr.
© 1997
by the Society of Biblical Literature
Published by
SCHOLARS PRESS
P.O. BOX 15399
Atlanta, GA30333-0399
Printed in the United States of America
on acid free paper
the apocryphal acts of the apostles semeia 80
CONTENTS
Contributors to this Issue ……………………………………………………v
Introduction: Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles in
Intertextual Perspectives
Robert F. Stoops, Jr. ………………………………………………… 1
I. WHICH CAME FIRST?
1.Which Came First? Intertextual Relationships Among
the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles
Dennis R. MacDonald ……………………………………………… 11
2.Egging on the Chickens: ACowardly Response
to Dennis MacDonald and Then Some
Richard I. Pervo …………………………………………………….. 43
3.The Acts of Peterin Intertextual Context
Robert F. Stoops, Jr. ………………………………………………… 57
II. INTERTEXTUAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE APOCRYPHAL ACTS
OF THE APOSTLES
4.Intertextuality in the Acts of Thomas
Harold W. Attridge …………………………………………………. 87
5. ApocryphalIntertextual Activities: AReframing
of Harold W. Attridge’s “Intertextuality in the Acts of Thomas”
Christopher R. Matthews …………………………………………… 125
6.Paul’s Conversion in the Canonical Acts and in the Acts of Paul
Willy Rordorf
Translated by Peter W. Dunn…………………………………… 137
7.The Acts of Pauland the Legacy of the Lukan Acts
Julian V. Hills ………………………………………………………. 145
8.The Acts of Paul: Replacement of Acts or Sequel to Acts?
Richard Bauckham …………………………………………………... 159
9.The Acts of Pauland the Canonical Acts: APhenomenon of Rereading
Daniel Marguerat
Translated by Ken McKinney…………………………………... 169
10.Canon and Antitype: The Relationship Between the
Acts of Peterand the New Testament
Christine M. Thomas ……………………………………………….. 185
11.The Acts of Peterand Luke’s Intertextual Heritage
Christopher R. Matthews …………………………………………… 207
12.An Ancient Jewish Christian Rejoinder to Luke’s Acts
of the Apostles: Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions1.27–71
F. Stanley Jones ……………………………………………………… 223
III. CULTURAL CONTEXT AS INTERTEXT IN THE
APOCRYPHAL ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
13.This World or Another? The Intertextuality of the Greek Romances,
the Apocryphal Acts and Apuleius’ Metamorphoses
Judith B. Perkins ……………………………………………………. 247
14.The Nuptial Chamber Revisited: The Acts of Thomas
and Cultural Intertextuality
Richard Valantasis ………………………………………………….. 261
15.An Illustration in the Admont “Anselm” and its Relevance
to a Reconstruction of the Acts of John
David R. Cartlidge ………………………………………………….. 277
IV. GENERAL RESPONSE
Historical, Rhetorical, Literary, Linguistic, Cultural
and Artistic Intertextuality: AResponse
Vernon K. Robbins ………………………………………………………. 291
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE
Harold W. Attridge Christopher R. Matthews
Divinity School Weston Jesuit School of Theology
Yale University 3 Phillips Place
409 Prospect St. Cambridge, MA02138
New Haven, CT 06510
Judith B. Perkins
Saint Joseph College
Richard J. Bauckham
Department of Classics
St. Mary’s College
West Hartford, CT 06119
University of St. Andrews
St. Andrews
Richard I. Pervo
Fife, KY16 9JU
Department of Classical
United Kingdom
and Near Eastern Studies
University of Minnesota
David R. Cartlidge
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Maryville College
502 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway Vernon K. Robbins
Maryville, TN 37804 Department of Religion
Emory University
Julian V. Hills Atlanta, GA30322
Department of Theology
Marquette University Willy Rordorf
P.O. Box 1881 Faculté de Théologie
Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881 Université de Neuchâtel
CH 2000 Neuchâtel
F. Stanley Jones Switzerland
Religious Studies
Robert F. Stoops, Jr.
California State University
Department of Liberal Studies
Long Beach, CA90840
Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA98225
Dennis R. MacDonald
Claremont School of Theology
Christine M. Thomas
1325 North College Ave.
Department of Religious Studies
Claremont, CA91711
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA93106
Daniel Marguerat
Faculté de Théologie Richard Valantasis
Université de Lausanne Hartford Seminary
BFSH2 CH-1015 Lausanne 199 North Beacon Street
Switzerland Hartford, CT 06105

I : A A A
NTRODUCTION POCRYPHAL CTS OF THE POSTLES IN
I P
NTERTEXTUAL ERSPECTIVES
Robert F. Stoops, Jr.
Western Washington University
This volume represents the recent work of the SBL Seminar on Inter-
textuality and Christian Apocrypha and responses to it. The Seminar took
up the issue of intertextuality as a rubric that might be broad enough to
bridge the gap between social-historical interests of many of its members
and the text-critical research being done by European scholars working on
the same body of literature. For the Seminar, intertextuality has functioned as
an umbrella term, useful for integrating different approaches, and as a con-
stant reminder of the complexity of communication in both the ancient and
contemporary worlds.
The title chosen for this volume is meant to suggest a number of things. It
intentionally gives the apocryphal Acts pride of place. The papers included in
this volume focus on specific documents and their concrete relationships to
other texts rather than to theory. Among other things, this volume continues
the work of Semeia38, The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles,which has taken its
place as an important collection in the study of early Christian Apocrypha.
Many of the contributors to that volume are represented in this one as well,
and the advances that have been achieved within this field of study over the
past dozen years are evident. New critical editions of some of the most im-
portant texts have been published (Junod and Kaestli; Prieur; MacDonald),
standard translations have been revised (Schneemelcher; Elliott), and new
collections have appeared (Desreumaux and Norelli; Bovon and Geoltrain).
The number of scholars working in the field and the number of studies pub-
lished annually have both increased several-fold, and a new journal, Apoc-
rypha,dedicated to the field has begun publication.
As the title suggests, this volume does include more explicit discussion
of methodological issues than did Semeia38. The term intertextuality,in spite
of being a relatively recent coinage, has a range of meanings. It can designate
anything from the literary-critical concept of the “anxiety of influence” to the
sociology-of-knowledge proposition that the production and reception of
texts is always conditioned by a larger web of “texts,” both written and un-
written. Members of the Seminar have been attracted to different parts of
the critical literature employing the concept of intertextuality. Like others, we
have found ourselves using a word in common but meaning different things
by it, or at least having different centers of gravity, depending on individual
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