The Apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla (Studies on Early Christian Apocrypha)

220 Pages·1996·20.54 MB·English

by  J.N. Bremmer

1996, Kok Pharos Publishing House
P.O. Box 5016, 8260 GA Kampen, the Netherlands
Cover by Geert de Koning, Kampen
ISBN 90 390 0152 9 / CIP
NUGI 631
All rights resewed. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means. electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publisher.
Contents
Preface
Notes on contributors
List of abbreviations
I. J. Bolldk, The description of Paul in the
Acta Pauli
11. M. Misset-van de Weg, A wealthy woman named
Tryphaena: patroness of Thecla of Iconium
111. J.N. Brernrner, Magic, martyrdom and women's
liberation in the Acts of Paul and Thecla
IV. T. Adarnik, The baptized lion in the
Acts of Paul
V. G. Luttikhuizen, The apocryphal correspondence
with the Corinthians and the Acts of Paul
VI. J. Bolyki, Events aper the martyrdom: missionary
transformation of an apocalyptical metaphor in
Martyrium Pauli
CONTENTS
VII. I. Czachesz, The Acts of Paul and the Western
text of Luke's Acts: Paul between canon and
apocrypha
VIII. P.J. Lalleman, The resurrection in the
Acts of Paul
IX. P. Herczeg, New Testament parallels to the
Acta Pauli documents
X. A. Hilhorst, Tertullian on the Acts of Paul
XI. M. Pesthy, Thecla in the Fathers of the Church
XII. I. Karasszon, Heroism in the Acts of Paul and
in the Bible
XIII. P.J. Lalleman and M. Misset-van de Weg,
Bibliography of Acts of Paul
Index of names, subjects and passages
Preface
After the fall of the Berlin Wall the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
decided to intensify contacts with universities in Eastern Europe.
In 1991 the then Head of the Department of Church History,
Professor Hans Roldanus, took this opportunity to forge links with
the Karoli Gaspar University of Budapest. In the search for a
common research project, which would also prove to be attractive
to classicists working at the Lorant-Eotvos University of Budapest,
it was decided to focus on the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles.
This particular choice hardly needs to be defended. The world of
early Christianity is currently the recipient of an ever increasing
attention from New Testament and patristic scholars, as well as
from ancient historians. Various Apocryphal Acts have recently
been re-edited or are in the process of being re-edited, but the con-
tents of these Acts are still very much under-researched.
It is the object of the Dutch-Hungarian cooperation to study
the major Apocryphal Acts in a series of yearly conferences, of
which the proceedings are published in the series, Studies in the
Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. The editors envisage in principle
publishing five volumes, but they are open to further suggestions.
Whereas the first volume of the new series contained the fruits
of the conference on the Acts of John (1995), the present study
centres on the Acts of Paul. The first chapters analyse various
persons or passages of the Acts: the description of Paul, Queen
Tryphaena, Thecla, the baptized lion, the Corinthian correspon-
dence and the martyrdom of Paul. There follow then some ana-
lyses of different aspects: the relation of the Acts of Paul to the
Western text of the Acts of Luke, the resurrection of the dead and
11 PREFACE
the problem of the New Testament parallels. Thirdly, two studies
discuss the still largely unexplored reception of the Acts: its use by
Tertullian and the Church Fathers. A final contribution examines
the Acts from a certain distance, viz. as one example of the ap-
plication of narrative techniques of the Old Testament to the
Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. The volume is rounded off by a
bibliography and an index.
The conference which formed the starting-point of this book
took place at the KBroli Ghsphr University of Budapest in the
autumn of 1995. Our 'theological' colleagues and the classicists of
the Lorhnt-Eotvos University made our stay in Hungary a most
memorable event through their warm hospitality. During our
discussions we greatly profited from the presence of Willy Ror-
dorf, whose new edition of the Acts of Paul is eagerly awaited. For
their share in the success of the conference we would also like to
thank the then Dean JBnos Phsztor, Bishop Lorhnt Hegediis, Phl
NCmeth, who gave an illuminating talk about a contemporary
Thecla monastery in Syria. We are also grateful to the Faculty of
Theology and Science of Religion of the Rijksuniversiteit Gronin-
gen for its financial support towards the conference. Tjalling de
Vries of the Computer Department of the Faculty of Arts readily
prepared the camera-ready copy of this book. Stijn ten Hoeve,
Alasdair MacDonald, Janneke Wayer and, especially, Pieter Lalle-
man assisted in various ways. Without their generous help it would
have been impossible to prepare this volume in such an efficient
manner.
Jan N. Bremmer Groningen, I October 1996
Notes on Contributors
Tamais Adamik b. 1937, is Professor of Latin at the Lorlnt-
Eotvos University of Budapest. He is the author of the following
studies in Hungarian: A Commentary on Catullus (1971), Martial
and His Poetry (1 979), Aristotle 's Rhetoric (1982), Jerome 's
Selected Works (1991), A History of Roman Literature I-IV (1993-
96). He is also the editor of a new Hungarian translation of The
Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (1996).
JBnos BolMk b. 1944, is Associate Professor of Latin at the
Lorhnt-Eotvos University of Budapest. He is the author of the fol-
lowing studies in Hungarian: Firmicus Maternus: Astrology. The
Error of Pagan Religions (1984), co-author of A Commentary on
Vergil's Aeneid I-VI (1988) and Philo of Alexandria: The Life of
Moses (1995).
JBnos Bolyki b. 193 1, is Professor of New Testament Studies at
the Khroli Ghsphr University of Budapest. He is, in Hungarian, the
author of The Questions of the Sciences in the History of Theology
in the 20th Century (1970), Faith and Science (1989), Principles
and Methods of New Testament Interpretation (1990) and The
Table Fellowships of Jesus (1992), and co-author of Codex D in
the Book of Acts (1995)
Jan N. Bremmer b. 1944, is Professor of History and Science of
Religion at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. He is the author of
The Early Greek Concept of the Soul (1983) and Greek Religion
(1994), co-author of Roman Myth and Mythography (1987), editor
iv CONTRIBUTORS
of Interpretations of Greek Mythology (1987), From Sappho to de
Sade: Moments in the History of Sexuality (1989) and The Apo-
cryphal Acts of John (1995), and co-editor of A Cultural History
of Gesture (1991), Between Poverty and the Pyre. Moments in the
history of widowhood (1995) and A Cultural History of Humour
(1997).
Istvin Czachesz b. 1968, teaches Biblical Studies at the School
for Diaconal Workers in Budapest and prepares a dissertation on
the Books of Acts at the Kiroli Gaspar University of Budapest. He
is, in Hungarian, the author of Gaia's Two Faces (1996) and co-
author of Codex D in the Book of Acts (1995).
Pi1 Herczeg b. 1939, is Professor of History of Religion at the
Karoli Gaspk University. He is the author of the following studies
in Hungarian: The History of the New Testament (1979), The Plot
of the Theology of the New Testament (1986), "Do you understand
what you are reading?" (1990) and History of Religions (1993).
A. Hilhorst b. 1938, is Associate Professor of Early Christian
Literature and New Testament Studies at the Rijksuniversiteit
Groningen. He is the author of Skmitismes et latinismes duns le
Pasteur dlHermas (1976) and co-author of Apocalypse of Paul: a
new critical edition of three long Latin versions (1996), editor of
De heiligenverering in de eerste eeuwen van het Christendom
(1 988), and co-editor of Fructus Centesimus. Me'langes G.JM
Bartelink (1 989), The Scriptures and the Scrolls. Studies A.S. van
der Woude (1992), Early Christian Poety (1993) and Evangelie
en beschaving. Studies Hans Roldanus (1 995).
Istvin Karasszon b. 1955, is Professor of Old Testament Studies
at the Karoli Gaspar University of Budapest. He is the author of
the following studies in Hungarian: The Methodology of Old
Testament Interpretation (19 9 l), The History of Ancient Israel
(1992) and Religion in Ancient Israel (1995).
CONTRIBUTORS V
Pieter J. Lalleman b. 1960, is Research Associate at the Rijks-
universiteit Groningen and prepares a dissertation on the Acts of
John.
Magda Misset-van de Weg b. 1943, is Research Associate at the
Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht and prepares a dissertation on women as
models of faith in I Peter and the Acts of Thecla.
Gerard Luttikhuizen b. 1940, is Professor of Early Christian
Literature and New Testament Studies at the Rijksuniversiteit
Groningen. He is the author of The Revelation of Elchasai (1985)
and Gnostische Geschriften I (1 986).
Monika Pesthy b. 1954, is Research Fellow at the Center of
Jewish Studies at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. She is the
author of the following study in Hungarian: Origen and the
Prophets (1995).
List of abbreviations
AAA Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles
ANRW Aufitieg und Niedergang der romischen Welt
Bremmer, Jan N. Bremmer (ed), The Apocryphal Acts of
AAJ John (Kampen, 1995)
CIL Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
JAC Jahrbuch fir Antike und Christentum
JTS Journal of Theological Studies
NTA W. Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha, tr.
and ed. R. McL. Wilson, 2 vols (Cambridge, 1992)
PG Patrologia Graeca
PL Patrologia Latina
RAC Reallexikon fir Antike und Christentum
RE Realencyclopadie des classischen Altertumswissen-
schafr
SEG Supplementum Epigraphicurn Graecum
TRE Theologische Realenzyklop adie
TWNT Theologisches Worterbuch zum Neuen Testament
VigChris Vigiliae Christianae
ZNW Zeitschrifr fir die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
firr
ZPE Zeitschrzj? Papyrologie und Epigraphik
All translations, if not otherwise indicated, are from NTA I1 (by K.
Schaferdiek).