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JOHN, ACTS OF

One of several apocryphal works purportedly written by Leucius Charinus. It was probably written in Greek in the late 2nd or early 3rd century c.e. Its provenance is unknown.

The Acts of John relates the mission, miraculous deeds, and peaceful death of the apostle in Asia Minor. John heals the sick, raises the dead, destroys the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, and converts many pagan worshippers. In one highly entertaining episode, John even commands bedbugs to gather in one spot on the bed so as not to disturb his sleep. Unlike many other apocryphal acts, John does not die a martyr’s death but instead offers a final prayer commending the ascetic ideal of sexual purity and abstinence, and then lies down in a previously prepared grave and dies.

Although much in the Acts of John is not heterodox, the work was condemned as heretical by the Second Council of Nicaea (787 c.e.) because of its docetic and modalist tendencies. No complete manuscript of the work is extant, and the ca. 70 percent of the text that does survive must be reconstructed from manuscripts and secondary sources. One such source, the Acts of John by Prochorus, a 5th-century Greek collection, preserves several episodes from the earlier Acts of John but also rewords and embellishes its predecessor. The Acts were also used by Pseudo-Abdias and the Manichaean Psalm-Book, and known to Augustine, Eusebius, and Epiphanius.

Bibliography. J. K. Elliott, ed., The Apocryphal New Testament, rev. ed. (Oxford, 1993), 303-49; E. Junod and J.-D. Kaestli, Acta Iohannis, 2 vols. (Turnhout, 1983).

James R. Mueller

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

JOHN, ACTS OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)