The Acts of John As a Gnostic Text Dr

The Acts of John as a Gnostic text Dr. Pieter]. Lalleman label for everything not fully orthodox. The Acts of Thomas KEYWORDS: apostles, Peter, Paul, ideology, Gnostic, and Andrew on the other hand are more or less similar in Orthodox, Ephesus, Asia Minor, Smyrna, Artemis, the ideas that they express and they both represent a cer Docetism, cross, Old Testament tain form of Gnostic thinking, although not everybody agrees with this qualification. The Acts of John, in whichever way THE BIBLICAL book Acts of the Apostles has a title which we want to describe its theological ideas, has a position of its does not suit the contents, because the story focuses on just own among the extra-biblical Acts. a few apostles, mainly Peter and Paul. This is however, as we know, not Luke's fault, because the title of the book was added well after its writing. In any case, Christians who Text and order wanted to know what the other apostles had done and what The Acts of John was written in Greek but it has not been had happened to them needed to tum to other sources of preserved intact in its entirety. The church found it so hereti information. But even about the two principal characters of cal that it was placed on the index. Possession and copying Acts, Peter and Paul, much more could be told. To mention of it were forbidden. It is therefore very remarkable that the just one thing, in Acts their death is not described. Conse text was not completely lost, as with so many other texts quently, from the second century onwards these gaps in from the early church. In fact, we do not just owe our knowl popular knowledge were filled by a number of early Christian edge of it to one of those spectacular discoveries that were texts that presented themselves as 'Acts' of a specific apos made in Qumran or in Nag Hammadi. It has been with us all tle. The five oldest and best known texts of tl1is group are the the time. Acts of Andrew, John, Paul, Peter and Thomas. From later The Acts of John was partly handed down unnoticed. periods we have the lesser known Acts of Bartholomew, Large parts were incorporated in a collection of older and Philip, Matthew, Thaddeus and not a few others. younger stories about the apostle John. In turn, this collec But these texts are not just stories; they have an ideol ogy of their own. Thus, regarding each of them, the question tion was part of a larger group of stories about all apostles, has been posed whether the contents could or should be qual which was read in the form of daily readings in medieval ified as orthodox or heretical. In the second half of the 19th monasteries. In order to reconstruct the ancient Acts of John, century this question often took the form of the dilemma: older and younger elements of this medieval collection - Orthodox or Gnostic. We will see in the course of this paper which exists in several manuscripts - had to be sifted. This that a slight refinement of categories was in place. process was not an immediate and complete success, as can Here we will focus on just one of these texts, the Acts of be seen from the fact that the stories which in the nineteenth John. In my opinion this text is the most interesting of all century received the chapter numbers 1 to 17 in the recon ApoCIYJ?hal Acts because it gives a description of Jesus which structed Acts of John are now no longer considered part of differs radically from what we find in the NT, yet was not the original text. However, as the chapter numbers had written by a 20th or 21st century theologian. We will dis become a fixed element of research, the authentic text now cuss the place of this text in the field of early Christianity. starts with chapter 18 !diagram 1] The transmission of the most interesting part of the book, Labels Diagram 1 For a long time it has been standard practice to treat the five [1- 17 inauthentic] Acts of Andrew, John, Paul, Peter and Thomas as a kind of 18-86 in several MSS corpus. As the author of the collection, a certain Lucius was 87-105 just in one MS mentioned, who is probably just a legendary figure, this cor 106-115 in many MSS pus of Acts was usually labelled 'Gnostic', although some scholars regarded them as the output of a Jewish form of Christianity. This common treatment was not completely which bears the chapter numbers 87 to 105, was different unjustified, in so far as the Manichees dealt with these texts from that of the rest of the text. These chapters are found in as a group. only one manuscript in which no other parts of the Acts of But in order to make progress, the attention of scholars John occur and which (incidentally) contains numerous mis had to focus on the individual Acts. When this was done, the takes. It was copied in 1324 by somebody who was tmable to unified picture disappeared. It became clear that the Acts of write good Greek himself and probably did not know with Paul and Peter may not be really 'Orthodox' in our modem what kind of a text he was dealing. This important part has sense, but that they are definitely not Gnostic: at least as thus been preserved more or less by accident. long as that word is not so stretched that it becomes the Besides the beginning, other parts of the text are miss- EVANGEL, 20.1, SPRING 2002 9 ing as well, as can be seen from the rough beginnings and area, 1 and in the Acts of John women have important posi endings of some episodes. Moreover, sometimes it appears tions in society as well as in the circle of the believers, that copyists abbreviated long speeches of John on their own something which coincides with what we know about the accord. How much of the text is lost is hard to say; it is also social situation in Asia Minor in the 2nd century. uncertain if the losses are permanent. Only recently a We can, I think, be even more specific about the place of reworked fragment of an already known part the Acts was origin: in our text.. The inhabitants of Smyrna are described found in the Dakleh oasis in Egypt. Thus, new findings in in a remarkably positive manner. This suggests that the the future cannot be excluded. author was somehow related to the city of Smyrna, the tra A textual problem of another nature concerns the place ditional rival of Ephesus. of the chapters that bear the numbers 87-105 in the whole of The name of the author or authors remains unknown. the text. As I said, these chapters have been preserved only Because women have an important and remarkably positive in a separate manuscript from 1324. For some time now it role in the diverse episodes of the Acts of John as well as in has been the common assumption that they were not inserted the other Apocryphal Acts, it has been suggested that these in the correct position when research started in the nine texts were written by women. Although this cannot be teenth century. These chapters are thought to fit better excluded, the positive evidence for the idea is so small that between chapters 36 and 37 and they have indeed been I usually refer to the author as a male person. placed there in the recent printed editions. [diagram 2] However, my own research led me to the conclusion that Story line The first preserved chapter, chapter 18, brings us right into Diagram 2: 'improved order' (1964) the middle of the action. It tells us how John and a group of [1-17 inauthentic] followers are on their way from Miletus, a harbour city in 18-36 Asia Minor, to Ephesus. As soon as John arrives there, he 87-105 raises two persons who were apparently dead (ch.l8-25). 37-86 There is not a word about the prior existence of a Christian 106-115 church in the city, whereas the New Testament tells us that Paul had fotmded a church there. In the next episode somebody secretly commissions the the nineteenth century order is the better order after all. I painting of a portrait of John. When John discovers the paint therefore propose to consider the order as indicated by the ing he is unhappy about it, because according to him the real chapter numbers to be the correct one. This order is assumed human being cannot be captured in a picture for it is spiritual in the rest of my presentation. (ch.26-29). In the theatre of the city of Ephesus John gives a long Origin speech and afterwards heals many old women from the city who are ill (chs.30-36). He gains some adherents and makes The story is situated in Asia Minor and more specifically in long speeches. These speeches are quite moralistic and their and around Ephesus. It was, therefore,.assumed that the text content is somewhat removed from the message of the New was originally written in this area. The Gospel that bears Testament. John also raises more people from the dead, but the name of John was also situated in this area in 19th cen he lays stress on the fact that spiritual resurrection is more tury research.

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