University of Groningen The Apocryphal Acts of Paul And Thecla Bremmer, Jan N.

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University of Groningen

The Apocryphal Acts of Paul And Thecla
Bremmer, Jan N.
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VII. The Acts of Paul and the western
text of Luke's Acts: Paul between
canon and apocrypha
There must have been an exciting discussion about the person and
life of the apostle Paul in the Early Church. W. Bauer quotes some
characteristic reflections on Paul in two groups.' On the one hand,
in the Jewish Christian tradition he is designated as a pagan who
converted to Judaism so that he could many the high priest's
daughter. He is claimed not to have seen the Lord, and is ident-
ified with Simon the magician, who was rebuked by Peter and
John in Acts 8. On the other hand, Jerome argues that Paul was
born in Galilee. In other sources the resurrected Jesus himself
explains Paul's future role to the disciples, the apostle's name ap-
pears among the twelve, and he is given the 'divine' epithet.
Finally, the apocryphal Acts of Paul (AP) itself presents a tradition
in which the apostle seems to have stood in high esteem.'
In this study I will read the AP against the backdrop of three
other documents in order to understand better how the canonical
and orthodox image of the apostle is related to the apocryphal and
legendary traditions about him. The first of these texts is the
commentary of Ephrem Syrus on Acts. I find this collation prom-
ising because Ephrem's commentary on the letters of Paul is an
1 W. Bauer, 'Das Apostelbild in der altchristlichen iiberliefemng:
Nachrichten', in E. Hennecke and W. Schneemelcher (eds), Neutes-
tamentliche Apokryphen I1 (Tiibingen, 1964') 1 1-4 1.
2 I intend to talk about 'popular tradition' following W. Schneemel-
cher and K. Schaferdiek, 'Apostelgeschichten des 2. und 3. Jahrhunderts:
Einleitung', in NeuTA 11, 11 1; see also Karasszon, this volume, Ch. 12.
108 ISWAN CZACHESZ
important witness of the Corinthian correspondence of the AP.'
Another text is provided by the peculiar readings of the Lukan
Acts in Codex Bezae (D). Ephrem seems to have known the text
of D, or at least there is a common tradition behind them. Finally,
~
I will use the Armenian catena which contains mainly comments
by Chrysostom and Ephrem on the same book.4 Since the Bezae-
an version of Acts differs considerably from the text in other
manuscripts, I intend to regard it as a writing between the biblical
canon and the apocrypha.' C.K. Barrett seems to support this
view, and his essay will be dealt with in more detail later.6
First I will seek the signs of direct textual interdependence
between the AP and the other sources, then the possible theolog-
i
ical similarities will be examined, and finally I will attempt to
schematize the relations between the sources.
Textual evidence
Now I turn to the analysis of the textual evidence of the connect-
3 F.C. Conybeare, 'The commentary of Ephrem on Acts', in J.H.
Ropes, The Text of Acts, Vol. 111 of F.J. Foakes Jackson and K. Lake
(eds), The Beginnings of Christianity (London, 1926) 373-453. The com-
mentary survived in an Armenian translation, which Conybeare rendered
into Latin. Witness: Schneemelcher, 'Paulusakten ', in NeuTA 11, 217.
4 Trans. by Conybeare, 'The commentary'.
5 However, I will not touch most traditional problems of Codex D., e.g.
the question of the priority of the Bezaean version over the
'Alexandrian ', or the ever renewed theory of a double edition of Acts by
Luke. A classical survey is in B. M. Metzger, A textual commentary on
the Greek New Testament (London, 1975) 259-72. For a recent summary
see P.M. Head, 'Acts and the problem of its texts', in B.W. Winter and
A.D. Clarke (eds), The Book of Acts in its Ancient Literary Setting
(Grand Rapids and Carlisle, 1993) 415-44.
6 C.K. Barrett, 'Is there a theological tendency in Codex Bezae? ', in E.
Best and R.McL. Wilson (eds), Text and Interpretation (Cambridge,
1979) 15-27. Also Head, 'Acts', 438 writes: 'the western text might
stand part-way along the road to the non-canonical Acts.'
PAUL BETWEEN CANON AND APOCRYPHA 109
ion between the AP and the other three sources. I will follow the
conduct of the story as reconstructed by W. Schneemelcher, and
seek textual parallels with the peculiar readings of either Ephrem,
the catena, or D.
A. Paul's conversion
The story of Paul's conversion seems a key feature of his biogra-
phy in the canonical Acts. As is superfluous to say, the episode is
narrated in detail three times within the book, which is unparal-
leled in the Bible. The entire passage is not preserved either in D
or in the AP. But we do have some fragments of the latter, on
which basis C. Schmidt has reconstructed the scene, and ample
material in Ephrem, which allow us to make some observations.
First, we learn from the AP is that Paul received a command
after his conversion to go to Damascus and Jerusalem. Acts 9:6
indeed is a command: 'but rise and enter the city, and you will be
told what you must do'. But neither is the command preceded by
Paul's conversion, nor is a specific place like Damascus or
Jerusalem mentioned. The problem is partially solved if we look at
the two other accounts in Acts 22 and 26. In Acts 22.10 Paul is
sent into Damascus - which is also obvious from the context -,
and in 26.16-8 he is commissioned to 'open the eyes of the
nations'.
The commentary of Ephrem combines and amplifies these pas-
sages resourcefully, setting up a lengthy conversation between
Paul and Jesus:
Jesus asks: 'Why do you persecute me?' Paul faints in his
mind, and thinks: 'I for the sake of the heavens persecute, can it
be that I persecute him whose dwelling is in the heavens?' He
says: 'Who are you, my Lord, who in the heavens from per-
secution suffer? For I persecute Jesus, who is among the dead,
along with his disciples.' The Lord answers: 'I am Jesus, whom
you are persecuting.' Then Ephrem minutely describes Saul's fear
that he would receive great punishment. Finally he says: 'What do
you want me to do? For whatever I have done until now, I did
ignorantly. Therefore, I have accepted your messenger together
with the message, so that I pay the penalty for my persecution,
110 ISWAN CZACHESZ
which my persecution accumulated for me.'
Paul's last sentence sounds quite obscure. Nevertheless there
are three main emphases in the dialogue: (1) Paul acted out of
ignorance; (2) He confessed his sins; (3) He accepted Jesus'
message, and perhaps the task of proclaiming it. Whether the last
sentence contains the act of commissioning, cannot be decided
with certainty here. I will discuss this issue later.
Then Ephrem argues that the reason why Paul was not healed
on the spot was that all Damascus might gather and see 'the
threatening sign which was put on him, because he dared to
persecute the perfect and immaculate body of the Church.' He
also explains why the other men did not see the light and were not
blinded: (1) Because God had mercy on them; (2) Because it was
Saul, who had asked for the letter of the priests; (3) Because it
was he that was elected for the preaching and the apostleship.
So far we can conclude that in Ephrem's text the events on
the Damascus road contain Paul's confession, atonement, and
apostolic calling. This process is accomplished, and there is no
need for the mediation of Ananias. In Ephrem, Ananias is men-
tioned briefly as the 'physician'. In its basic ideas Ephrem's ac-
count corresponds to the brief summary Schmidt reconstructed in
the AP. In other words, Ephrem offers an expanded version of the
latter.
Earlier I pondered over the meaning of Paul's obscure words
in Ephrem about the 'messenger' and the 'message' which he
accepted in his confession. Paul's account of his conversion in the
appendix of the AP provides an interesting solution to the problem.
There the apostle talks about the Spirit, which fell upon him and
preached to him the Gospel of his Son. This episode may explain
what Paul meant in Ephrem: the 'messenger' is no one else than
the Spirit, and the 'message' is the Gospel of God's Son. More-
over, in the Coptic papyrus the word 'Gospel' is expressed by the
infinitive ~\iayy~hf<atvw,' hich corresponds to the words praeco-
num and praeconiatio in the Latin translation of Ephrem. That is,
in both cases what is communicated to Paul is not only the con-
7 See Kasser's footnote, in NeuTA 11, 269 n. 1.
PAUL BETWEEN CANON AND APOCRYPHA 111
tent, but also the action of the proclamation. When he is taught
about the Gospel, at the same time he is charged with the Gospel.
This seems an important connotation of the word in both
Ephrem's commentary and the AP. Further evidence is supplied
by Ephrem's paraphrase of Acts 20.26-7. There he writes about
Paul's bearing tribulations for 'the gospel which he gospels' (we
will discuss the passage below). The question could be settled with
more clarity by consulting the original Armenian and Coptic texts.
Then, according to the AP, Paul went 'with great joy' to
Damascus, where he found the congregation fasting. Although fast
is equally important for Luke, he does not speak about 'great joy',
and makes Paul stay in the street called 'Straight' for several days
before joining the disciples. What is the case in Ephrem? Here we
find the interesting claim that while Saul was brought to Damas-
cus, he was proceeding with 'great pride'. No textual witness
allows this reading in the biblical text. There are only two pos-
sibilities: either Ephrem knew the AP, or there was a common
tradition on which both the author of the AP and Ephrem drew.
Considering the textual evidence in Paul's conversion story, I
suggest that there is a definite link between the text of the AP and
Ephrem's commentary on Acts. If we had the entire passage in the
AP and the readings of D in Acts 9, they would certainly provide
further surprising details. My hypothesis is that Ephrem's text,
especially the curious dialogue between Paul and Jesus, supplies
information about the contents of the lost chapter in the AP and D.
B. Paul in Sidon
Skipping several episodes in the AP, we come to Paul's sojourn in
Sidon. In Acts 27.3 we read about a short visit of Paul to Sidon on
his journey to Rome, but that hardly provided the basis for the
present narrative.' Unfortunately the text of the AP again survived
here only fragmentarily, as was the case with the conversion story.
Still we find some interesting matches between this passage and
the readings of Ephrem and D in Acts 15.36-16.40, that is, the
beginning of Paul's second missionary journey and his stay in
8 Schneemelcher, 'Paulusakten ', 224.
112 ISTVAN CZACHESZ
Philippi.
It stands out quite clearly that Paul's and Silas' miraculous
rescue from the prison in Philippi served as a model for the
miracle in the Apollo temple. In Philippi, Paul and Silas are
thrown into prison; in Sidon, Paul and his companions are thrown
into the temple of Apollo. In both cases, their intensive prayers
cause the building to partially cave in around midnight. Now I will
examine whether the relevant sections in Ephrem and D reveal
likeness to the Sidon episode in the AP.
According to the AP, Paul delivered a sermon in Sidon in
which he tried to retain the people of the city from doing some-
thing evil. Only a short fragment of this sermon survives, in which
Paul brings up the example of Sodom and Gomorrah: 'Have you
not heard of that which happened, which God brought upon
Sodom and Gomorrah?'
The phrase 'Sodom and Gomorrah' appears in rebukes in a
few instances in apocryphal texts,9 and probably draws on Rom
9.29, where in turn Paul quotes Isaiah 1.9. Nevertheless, Rom 9.29
is the only place where Paul quotes the phrase in the Bible, and it
does not occur at all in Acts. It is the more surprising that Ephrem,
when he comments on Paul and Barnabas setting out on their
second missionary journey, and dividing on the issue of John
Mark's participation, refers to the very example of Sodom and
Gomorrah.
Ephrem reads: 'There is a cause why they separated to go and
preach in different regions, following the example of Abraham
parting from Lot, so that he become a teacher among the Canaan-
ites, and Lot be found among the Sodomites following this exam-
ple.'
Although Ephrem does not mention Gomorrah, he writes about
'Barnabas, who parted from Paul', which implies that the former
is going to the Canaanites like Abraham, and that the latter is
going to Sodom like Lot. It is also clear that in Gen 13 Abraham
and Lot separated simply because 'the land could not support both
of them living together.' So when Ephrem calls Lot the teacher of
9 The Ascension of Isaiah 3.10; 5Ezra 2.8; The Apocalypse of Paul 39.
PAUL BETWEEN CANON AND APOCRYPHA 113
the Sodomites, he refers to his righteousness against the wicked-
ness of the city. Further, in Gen 13.9 the sinful city is Sodom
alone, and Gomorrah appears only as Sodom's political ally. In
sum, Ephrem interprets the departing of Abraham and Lot in the
light of the 'Sodom and Gomorrah' tradition. At the beginning of
his second missionary journey he presents Paul as Lot, the right-
eous one, going to sinful Sodom, which recalls the example of
Sodom and Gomorrah.
It was hardly possible for Ephrem to evoke the image of Lot
in Sodom independently from the entire story of Sodom and
Gomorrah. Since this argument never occurs in the Lukan Acts,
and since in the AP it appears in a missionary context similar to
Acts 15, right before the temple episode, which is analogous with
the prison story, I conclude that Ephrem depends on the tradition
of the AP.
The climax of both the Sidon and Philippi narratives comes
when the intensive prayer of Paul and his companions causes the
building to collapse partially around midnight. In Acts 16 the con-
version of the jailer follows, while in the morning the magistrates
appear on the scene in both stories.
In addition to this, the AP gives a detailed account of people's
reaction to the event. This element is lacking in the Bible, but not
so in Ephrem and D. Ephrem comments on Acts 16: 'The magis-
trates of the city were appalled and terrified by the earthquake, and
learning the truth they knew that this earthquake was really on
their account, but they did not choose to admit that.' D even
knows that the magistrates 'gathered on the marketplace and
recalled the earthquake'. Especially the latter version is similar to
the AP: 'They went away and proclaimed in the city. And all the
inhabitants of the city ran to the temple, and saw Paul and those
who were with him.'
It is clear that Ephrem and especially D intend to show that
the accident was not simply a private exchange between the jailer,
the magistrates, and the apostles, but that its effects reached the
public life and caused an upheaval in the city. And this is argued
also in the AP.
114 ISTVAN CZACHESZ
C. Paul in Ephesus
The next parallels worth consideration occur in the versions of the
Ephesus scene. The outline of the story is similar in the AP and
Acts 19: In his sermon Paul attacks the paganism of the city,
which brings about an uproar against him, and he almost ends up
lynched by the mob. Again we are looking for readings which
reveal a connection between the AP and either Ephrem or D.
In Acts 19, before the conflict with paganism is told, Paul
preaches to John's disciples, who are then baptized. D explains
that they were baptized 'for the forgiveness of sins' (CIS &.4~otv
apap~tQv).T he expression occurs altogether five times in Acts;
in only two cases it is connected with Paul's ministry. The word
'sins' itself occurs three more times. Although the insertion of the
term can be explained from the biblical context, I wish to point
out a parallel in the sermon of the AP: 'the Lord wishes us to live
in God ... and not to die in sins' (PHamburg 1.16).
In Acts 19.24 we read that the controversy in Ephesus was
initiated by a certain Demetrius, who was a silversmith making
silver shrines of Artemis. Interestingly, when Ephrem comments
on the scene, he follows the biblical text almost word for word:
'In that time great persecution was made because of the way,
which came from Demetrius, the goldsmith who was dealing with
silver.' The catena takes over Ephrem's reading. Why did
Ephrem, who cited the biblical passage otherwise faithfully, call
Demetrius a goldsmith? No biblical manuscript, not even D, sup-
ports his text. There is a solution at hand in the AP. There the
crowd wants to bum Paul, but then it is the 'goldsmiths' who
shout: 'To the beasts with the man!' (PHamburg 1.28).
This nuance must be taken seriously if we want to decide
about the relation of Ephrem and the AP. Since Ephrem generally
seems to draw on the readings of D, it is important that this time
the text of D is extant, and it does not support Ephrem. We cannot
even maintain that he quotes a Christian 'topos', or commonplace,
which would probably be arguable in the case of 'Sodom and
Gomorrah' or the 'baptism for the forgiveness of sins'. The only
possible solution is that Ephrem was influenced by the tradition of
the AP.
PAUL BETWEEN CANON AND APOCRYPHA 115
One more detail is worth mentioning. This time it is a sen-
tence in the catena attributed to Chrysostom which says that
Demetrius 'set forth the pains of indigence, and disturbed the
whole city'.'' Although this is a legitimate interpretation of the
events, we cannot exclude its dependence on D, which reads: 'and
the whole city was upset by shame'. It can be excluded that the
word 'shame' resulted from a scribal error. The words can be
perceived as a gloss, but even then this kind of emotional response
is quite unlikely on the basis of the biblical text, where anger
dominates the scene. The description applies much better to the
situation after the animal fight in the AP. The inhabitants of
Ephesus fled from the hail-storm, praying to the God of Paul that
he would rescue (oq<siv) them (PHamburg 5.12).
As in many other cases, it is difficult to explain the reading of
D. Even if we regard it as a commentary to the text, D proves
quite inconsistent with the content of the passage. In turn, the AP
describes a situation which offers a suitable background for such a
gloss. Altogether I do not argue that there is a direct interdepen-
dence between the two texts, but I suggest that there is a common
tradition behind them.
D. Paul's martyrdom
In the final part of our analysis of direct textual evidence we will
examine three more passages. They are found in the last chapters
of the AP, and relate to the martyrdom of Paul in Rome.
With Paul's stay in Corinth the author of the AP is already
steering towards the conclusion of the work." Therefore, the
scene provides a transition to the martyrdom in Rome. The situat-
ion is very similar to the farewell from the Ephesian elders in
Miletus (Acts 20.17-38). However, there is a definite move beyond
the content of Paul's testimony in the Lukan Acts. While in the
Lukan episode Paul talks about his journey to Jerusalem and the
persecutions waiting for him there (Acts 20.220, in the AP Cleo-
bius speaks directly of Paul's 'death' and 'depart out of this
10 Conybeare, 'The commentary', 441.
1 1 Schneemelcher, 'Paulusakten ', 229.