Table Of Content

APOChVPHAL ACTS OF PJIUL, PETER, JOHN, TlNDREWANDTHOnnS BY BERNHARD PICK SEEN BY PRESERVAIfON SEiWlCES DATE m m iH II3MRY Sty Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2007 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcliive.org/details/apocryplialactsofOOpickuoft 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 oldest 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 history 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 accessible, 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 Tischendorf's text which was pub- lished in 1851, is now superseded by this later pub- PREFACE iv lication, and what is said of the text concerns also the EngHsh translation of Apocryphal Acts based on Tischendorfs work.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