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PAUL, ACTS OF

An apocryphal acts of various traditions about the Apostle Paul. According to the 9th-century Stichometry of Nicephoros, it contained 3600 lines (compare the 2800 lines of the canonical Acts). About one third of the work is missing. Originally written in Greek, substantial parts of the text are extant only in Coptic translation. Since Tertullian refers to it in De Baptismo, it must have been composed before 200, probably in the last quarter of the 2nd century. Several distinct units (the Acts of Paul and Thecla, 3 Corinthians, and the Martydrom of Paul) appear to predate the composition of the entire book. Authorship is unknown, though some recent scholarship contend for a female author, at least of the source for the Acts of Paul and Thecla.

The work tells of missionary journeys of Paul and his miracles and preaching on these journeys. Many of the places are the same as in canonical Acts but none of the stories. The constantly recurring theme is the need for asceticism in general and celibacy in particular. Among many other acts, Paul baptizes a talking lion, who becomes a Christian. After Paul is beheaded in Rome, he rises from the dead, appears to the emperor Nero, and condemns him.

Bibliography. D. R. MacDonald, ed., The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. Semeia 38 (Atlanta, 1986); The Legend and the Apostle (Philadelphia, 1983); W. Schneemelcher, “Acts of Paul,” in New Testament Apocrypha, ed. E. Henncke-Schneemelcher, 2 (Philadelphia, 1965): 322-90.

J. Christian Wilson

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PAUL, ACTS OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)