The Apocryphal Acts of Paul, Peter, John, Andrew and Thomas

1909·12.8 MB·English

by  Pick, Bernhard, 1842-1917

APOChVPHAL ACTS
OF
PJIUL, PETER, JOHN,
TlNDREWANDTHOnnS
BY
BERNHARD PICK
SEEN BY
PRESERVAIfON
SEiWlCES
DATE
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V THE
APOCRYPHAL ACTS
OF
PAUL, PETER, JOHN,
ANDREW THOMAS
and
BY
BERNHARD PICK
CHICAGO
THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING CO.
LONDON AGENTS
Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd,
1909
Copyright 1909
by
THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING CO.
CHICAGO
m^
PREFACE
The publication of the epoch-making work by
Lipsius on the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles
comprising about 1800 pages closely printed;
Schmidt's Coptic Acta Pauli, more especially the
critical edition of the Apocryphal Acts by Lipsius
and Bonnet, have opened a large, but very little cul-
tivated field of ancient Christian literature. The old-
est of these Acts are those which are treated in the
present volume. They give us a picture of Chris-
tianity towards the end of the second century.
They are important for the history of the Christian
cultus in the second and third cent., and by their
description of the divine service in the houses they
supplement of picture delineated in the Acts of the
Apostles. They are also important for the his-
tory of Christian poetry which commences among
the Gnostics in short though these Acts contain
; :
both " truth and fiction," they cannot be ignored
by the teacher and preacher, the missionary and
historian. What has hitherto been a terra incog-
nita generally speaking, has now been made accessi-
ble, especially by the beautiful edition of Lipsius
and Bonnet, whose text must now be considered as
textits receptus. Tischendorf's text which was pub-
lished in 1851, is now superseded by this later pub-
PREFACE
iv
lication, and what is said of the text concerns also
the EngHsh translation of Apocryphal Acts based on
Tischendorfs work. As an illustration we only re-
fer to the fact that chaps, 39-41, 62-158 now found
in the Acts of Thomas are wanting in Tischendorf's
edition. The Acts of Paul and Thecla formerly
regarded as a separate book, are now proven to be a
part of the Acts of Paul, to which also belongs the
so-called third epistle to the Corinthians. Without
calling attention to many other points, it is obvious
that the Apocryphal Acts, as far as they have been
translated into English, need a thorough revision,
if not a new translation. For the present we offer
the oldest and therefore most important Acts,
That these Acts cannot be ignored because they
form an important contribution to the primitive
literature of the Church, the reader can readily see
from the special introductions and literature. In
the preparation of the present volume the work
edited by Edgar Hennecke has been of great help.
I have also made free use of the English translation
of the Apocryphal Acts by A, Walker in the Ante-
Nicene Christian Library (Edinb. 1867), as far as
was possible. In other respects the present work
is entirely independent, and whatever its shortcom-
ings may be, we have the satisfaction that it is the
first effort to make the researches of Lipsius, Bon-
net, Schmidt, etc, accessible to the English reader.
B. P,
Newark, New Jersey, Nov, 1908,
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
. Preface iii
General Introduction to Apocryphal Acts . vii
THE ACTS OF PAUL
I. .... i
A. The Acts of Paul and Thecla 8
B. Paul's correspondence with the Corin-
thians 35
C. The Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle Paul 43
n. THE ACTS OF PETER 50
1. The deed of Peter 52
2. Peter's affair with Simon 57
Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle Peter 106
. .
m. THE ACTS OF JOHN
123
1. Acts of the Holy Apostle John the The-
ologian 126
2. Arrival at Ephesus and Work there .136
Lycomedes and Cleopatra 136
The picture ofJohn 142
Healing of the old women 145
Destruction of the Artemis Temple . . 148
The Raising of the Priest 152
The Parricide 154
John and the Partridge 157
3. Return to Ephesus and Second Abode there 159
From Laodicea a second time to Ephesus . 159
End and Raising up of Drusiana . . . 161
4. Pertaining to the life of Jesus and His
Death 175
5. The end of John 188
Appendix: John and the robber . . . 196
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
IV. THE ACTS OF ANDREW 200
....
1. The double fragment of Euodius 201
2. Andrew in prison 203
3. The death of Andrew 215
V. THE ACTS OF THOMAS 222
The deeds of the holy Apostle Thomas 225
. . .
First deed of the Apostle Judas Thomas. How
the Lord sold him to the merchant Abban,
that he should go down and convert India 225
.
Second deed of the Apostle Thomas..H.is.a.p-
pearance before King Gundafor 238
Third deed. About the dragon .... 250
Fourth deed. Concerning the colt 260
Fifth deed. About the demon that dwelt in
the woman 262
Sixth deed. Concerning the young man who
killed the maiden 270
Seventh deed. Concerning the comma.nd.e.r .. 279
Eighth deed. About the wild asses 284
Ninth deed. About the wife of Charis . . . 294
Tenth deed. How Mygdonia receives baptism . 323
Eleventh deed. Concerning the wife of Misdai 333
Twelfth deed. Concerning Vazan, Misdai's son 338
Thirteenth deed. How Vazan and the others
were baptized 348
Martyrdom of the Holy and Famous Apostle
Thomas 355
INDEX OF PASSAGES
I. 2,^2,
IL INDEX OF SUBJECTS 366