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ACTS, APOCRYPHAL

Works describing the deeds of various apostles, partly inspired by but often in some tension with the book of Acts that became canonical. Composition of these works continued until the 6th century c.e. Extracts from them have remained in liturgical use. These acts, together with writings about the infancy or the passion of Jesus, attest to early Christian interest in extended accounts about the founders of Christianity. Building upon the Gospel type of narrative, they also reflect engagement with a broader literary culture, including philosophical biographies and popular novels. Theologically, the apocryphal acts represent developments of the “radical” Jesus tradition embedded in Q and the Gospel of Thomas, for their heroes are typically homeless itinerants who preach messages of renunciation and other-worldliness. Their narrative geographical horizon extends from Spain to India (not to mention heaven and hell). Readers of these books could find both uplifting messages and entertaining stories.

Five “major” compositions emerged in the period ca. 150-ca. 225: Acts of Andrew, John, Paul, Peter, and Thomas. Mutual imitation and contamination complicate the task of establishing literary relations among them. These acts have suffered from both popularity and condemnation. Because of the former, they underwent repeated expansion or abbreviation, as well as editing toward conformity with orthodox taste. Use by Manicheans and others judged heretical led to their eventual suppression. As a result, none of these acts survives in its original form, and only one is complete. Despite their general similarities, the various acts display a substantial variety of content and message.

The Acts of Andrew, possibly written in Alexandria, probably near the beginning of the 3rd century, presents a radical message influenced by Greek philosophy. The equally radical Acts of John, which may also be from Egypt and date to ca. 200, continues “heretical” trends opposed in 1–3 John. Subsequent editing thrust this work into the realm of Valentinian Gnosticism. The Acts of Paul, composed in 2nd-century Asia Minor, stands closest to the canonical work and was relatively unobjectionable to Catholic Christians. One section, the famous Acts of Thecla, survived through use in her cult. The extant portions of the Acts of Peter, also written in Asia Minor during the 2nd century, portray a less vagrant and less countercultural community leader, although fragments indicate that at some stage this book, like other apocryphal acts, highly honored celibacy. The beginnings of none of these four acts survive, but their climactic descriptions of the apostles’ deaths are both well attested and highly edited. Matters are quite different with regard to the Acts of Thomas, evidently composed in Syriac in the region of Edessa during the first quarter of the 3rd century. This complete work exhibits considerable literary and theological depth. Its message, although not classically gnostic, was quite adaptable to gnostic views.

The numerous “minor” acts, featuring such figures as Barnabas, Titus, and Bartholomew, as well as later texts about the more famous apostles, tend to be orthodox in theology and ecclesiological in orientation. An exception is the Acts of Philip. Much hagiography (saints’ lives) owes a large debt to the acts genre.

These texts have been the subject of vigorous attention in recent decades, yielding new editions, translations, and a number of specialist investigations. This activity reflects academic shifts toward an appreciation of pluralism and minority voices as well as the attraction of cultural studies. The apocryphal acts are important because they do attest to the diversity of early Christian thought in its popular expression and to the acient fascination with the extraordinary lives and deeds of holy persons. Their impact upon Christian art and literature remained prominent throughout the Middle Ages, and beyond.

Bibliography. J. K. Elliott, ed., The Apocryphal New Testament, rev. ed. (Oxford, 1993), 229-523; R. I. Pervo, “The Ancient Novel Becomes Christian,” in The Novel in the Ancient World, ed. G. Schmeling. Mnemosyne Sup. 159 (Leiden, 1996), 685-711; W. Schneemelcher and R. McL. Wilson, eds., New Testament Apocrypha, rev. ed., 2 (Louisville, 1992), 75-482.

Richard I. Pervo

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ACTS, APOCRYPHAL

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)