The Apocryphal Acts of John

STUDIES ON THE

APOCRYPHAL ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

In recent years the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles have increasingly drawn the attention of scholars interested in early Christianity andlor the history of the ancient novel. New editions of the most important Acts have appeared or are being prepared. We are therefore pleased to announce a new series, Studies on the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (edited by Jan N. Bremmer), which will contain studies of individual aspects of the main Acts: those of John, Paul, Peter, Andrew, and Thomas. Initially, four volumes are scheduled. Editors: T. Adarnik, J. Bolyki, J. N. Bremmer (editor-in-chien, P. Herceg, A. Hilhorst, G. Luttikhuizen en J. Roldanus. 1. The Apocryphal Acts of John, J.N. Bremmer (ed.), Kampen 1995 2. The Apocrypal Acts of Paul, J.N. Bremmer (ed.), Kampen 1996 (in preparation)

1995,Kok Pharos Publishing House P.O. Box 5016,8260 GA Kampen, the Netherlands Cover by Geert de Koning, Kampen ISBN 90 390 0141 3 1 CIP NUGI 63 1 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Contents

Preface Notes on contributors List of abbreviations I.

A. Hilhorst, The Apocryphal Acts as Martyrdom Texts: the case of the Acts of Andrew

11.

J. Bolyki, Miracle Stories in the Acts of John

111.

J. Bremrner, Women in the Apocryphal Acts of John

IV.

I. Karasszon, Old Testament Quotations in the Apocryphal Acts

V.

J. Roldanus, Die Eucharistic in den Johannesakten

VI.

P.J. Lalleman, Polymorphy of Christ

VII. G. Luttikhuizen, A Gnostic Reading of the Acts of John VIII. P. Herceg, Sermons in the Acts of John IX.

T. Adamik, The Influence of the Apocryphal Acts on Jerome's Lives of Saints

171

CONTENTS

X.

R.H. Bremmer, Jr, The Reception of the Acts of John in Anglo-Saxon England

183

XI.

G. Jenkins, Papyrus Ifiom Kellis. A Greek Text with Afinities to the Acts of John

197

XII. P.J. Lalleman, Bibliography of Acts of John

23 1

Index of names, subjects and passages

236

Plates

Preface

After the fall of the Berlin Wall the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen decided to intensify contacts with universities in Eastern Europe. In 1991 the Head of the Departmment of Church History, Professor Hans Roldanus, took this opportunity to forge links with the KBroli GBspBr University of Budapest. In the search for a common research project, which would also prove to be attractive to classicists of the Lorint-Eotvos University of Budapest, it was decided to focus on the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. This particular choice hardly needs to be defended. The world of early Christianity is currently the recipient of an ever increasing attention from New Testament and patristic scholars as well as from ancient historians. Various Apocryphal Acts have recently been re-edited or are in process of being re-edited, but the contents of these Acts are still very much under-researched. It is the object of the Dutch-Hungarian cooperation to study the major Apocryphal Acts in a series of yearly conferences. The proceedings thereof will be published in the new series, Studies in the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. The editors envisage in principle to publish four volumes, but they are open to hrther suggestions. The present study centres mainly on the Acts of John. The first chapter analyses the differences between the Apocryphal Acts and the Acts of the Martyrs. Then follows a series of studies on various aspects of the Acts of John: miracles, women, Old Testament quotations, the eucharist, polymorphy, Gnostic elements and speeches. The last part of the volume presents studies of the still largely unexplored reception of the Acts: its use by Jerome, its appearance in Anglo-Saxon England and, finally, the rather sensational publication of a new papyrus which demonstrates the early use of the Acts by the Manichaeans in Egypt; this poses new questions regarding the transmission and origin of the text. Problems of

.. II

PREFACE

time and distance have made it unavoidable that this chapter here appears in a format slightly different from that used in the rest of the book. The volume is rounded off by a bibliography of the Acts, and an index. I am most grateful to the Faculty of Theology and Science of Religion of the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen for its financial support of the original conference. Tjalling de Vries of the Computer Department of .the Faculty of Arts readily and speedily prepared the camera-ready copy of this book. Jeroen Geurts, Geoff Jenkins, Pieter Lalleman, Alasdair MacDonald and Cor de Vos also assisted in various ways. Annemiek Boonstra was most helpful, especially in the final days of preparation, which were overshadowed by the sudden loss of my father.

Jan N. Bremmer

Groningen, 19 September 1995

Notes on Contributors

Tamais Adamik b. 1937, is Professor of Latin at the LorhntEotvos University of Budapest. He is the author of the following studies in Hungarian: A Commentary to Catullus (1971), Martial and His Poetry (1979), Aristotle's Rhetoric (1982) and A History of Roman Literature 1-111 (1993-94). JBnos Bolyki b. 1931, is Professor of New Testament Studies at the KBroli GBspar University-Theological Faculty of Budapest. He is the author of the following studies in Hungarian: The Questions of the Sciences in the History of Theology in the 20th Century (1970), Faith and Science (1989), Principles and Methods of New Testament Interpretation (1990) and The Table Fellowships of Jesus (1992). Jan N. Bremmer b. 1944, is Professor of History and Science of Religion at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. He is the author of The Early Greek Concept of the Soul (1983) and Greek Religion (1994), co-author of Roman Mjth and Mythography (1987), editor of Interpretations of Greek Mythology ( 1 987), From Sappho to de Sade: Moments in the History of Sexuality (1989), and co-editor of A Cultural History of Gesture (1991). Rolf H. Bremmer Jr b. 1950, is Associate Professor of Medieval English at the Rijksuniversiteit Leiden. He is the author of The Fyve Wyttes (1987) and A Bibliographical Guide to Old Frisian Studies (1992), and co-editor of Aspects of Old Frisian Philology (1990), P.J. Cosijn: Notes on BeowuIf (1991), Zur Phonologie und Morphologie des Altniederlandischen (1992), Current Trends in West Germanic Etymological Lexicography (1993) and Companion to Old English Poetry (1994).

Pi1 Herceg b. 1939, is Professor of History of Religion at the Karoli Gaspar University-Theological Faculty of Budapest. He is the author of the following studies in Hungarian: The History of the New Testament (1979), The Plot of the Theology of the New Testament (1 986), "Do you understand what you are reading? " (1990) and History of Religions (1993). A. Hilhorst b. 1938, is Associate Professor of Early Christian Literature and New Testament Studies at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. He is the author of Simitismes et latinismes duns le Pasteur d'Hermas (1976), editor of De heiligenverering in de eerste eeuwen van het Christendom (1988), and co-editor of Fructus Centesimus. Me'langes G.J.M Bartelink ( 1 989), The Scriptures and the Scrolls. Studies A.S. van der Woude (1992), Early Christian Poehy (1993) and Evangelie en beschaving. Studies Hans Roldanus (1995). Geoffrey Jenkins, b. 1954, is Associate Professor in Biblical Studies and Judaism at the University of Melbourne. He is the author of The Old Testament Quotations of Philoxenos of Mabbug (1988). Istvin Karasszon b. 1955, is Professor of Old Testament Studies at the Karoli Gaspar University-Theological Faculty of Budapest. He is the author of the following studies in Hungarian: The Methodologv of Old Testament Interpretation (1991), The History of Ancient Israel (1992) and Religion in Ancient Israel (1995). Pieter J. Lalleman b. 1960, prepares a dissertation on the Acts of John at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Gerard Luttikhuizen b. 1940, is Professor of Early Christian Literature and New Testament Studies at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. He is the author of The Revelation of Elchasai (1985) and Gnostische Geschrifren I (1986).

CONTRIBUTORS

V

Hans Roldanus b. 1930, is Professor Emeritus of Church History at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. He is the author of Le Christ et I'homme duns la theologie d2thanase d'Alexandrie (1968) and De Syrisch Orthodoxen in Istanbul ( 1 984).

List of abbreviations

AAA AJ ANRW CIL Junod & Kaestli, Al NHC NHLE NTA RAC RE

SEG r n T ZNW ZPE

Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles Acts of John Aufstieg und Niedergang der romischen Welt Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum E. Junod and J.-D. Kaestli, Acta Iohannis, 2 vols (Turnhout 1983) Nag Hammadi Codices J.M. Robinson (ed.), The Nag Hammadi Library in English (Leiden, 1 98S3) W. Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha, tr. and ed. R. McL. Wilson, 2 vols (Cambridge, 1992) Reallexikon fir Antike und Christentum Realencyclopadie des classischen Altertumswissenschaji Supplementurn Epigraphicum Graecum Theologisches Worterbuch zum Neuen Testament ZeitschrifC fir die neutestamentliche WissenschaJ Zeitschrlji fir Papyrologie und Epigraphik

All references to the text of the AJ are to the edition by Junod and Kaestli, and all translations, if not otherwise indicated, are from NTA I1 (by K. Schaferdiek).

I. The Apocryphal Acts as martyrdom texts: the case of the Acts of Andrew A. HILHORST

Christianity may have proclaimed a message of peace, but it met with violence right from the beginning. Its founder died on the cross, Peter and Paul were executed as well, and the subsequent period saw so many deaths for the sake of the faith that it has rightly been called the age of the martyrs. Small wonder, then, that so many narratives about the early Christians end in an execution. This is not only so in the Acts of the Martyrs, but occurs just as often in the Apocryphal Acts of Apostles (AAA), with the notable exception of the Acts of John. It might have been expected, therefore, that both bodies of texts should have been associated with each other. In reality, they are nearly always kept apart, both in ancient and modern scholarship. Is there a good reason for this? Perhaps we can find an answer to this question by making a comparison between both genres. We might even think that there is a terminological indication that they belong together, since both of them are called Acts. This, however, would be misleading. In the Acts of Apostles, 'Acts' S whereas represents the Greek term npctg~tq,' C O ~ S ~ ~ C U O Udeeds','

1 See A. Wikenhauser, Die Apostelgeschichte und ihr Geschichtswert (Miinster, 1921) 95-8. The ,4,4,4 is customarily connected with the socalled praxeis literature (cf. ib. 95, 103-4, 106-7), but the differences are rather strong. Moreover, no complete specimen of praxeis literature has survived; Wikenhauser 98-100 can only mention the fragmentary remains ~~ by Callisthenes (+ 330 B.C.; F. Jacoby, of the l l p & c ~'Ak~cdrvGpov Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, 124 F 14) and Sosylus's 'AvvCpov IIpdrc~tq(zk 200 B.C.; ibidem, 176 F 1 ) .

2

A. HILHORST

in the Acts of the Martyrs 'Acts' refers to the trial records on which at least some of the Acts of the Martyrs were based.* In Latin there is no ambiguity. IIpctc~tqis translated by the fourth declension plural actus, whereas the court records are designated by the second declension plural act^.^ Only in English and other modem languages actus and acta coincide as 'Acts'. The Acts of the Martyrs

Turning now to the problem, we begin our discussion by sketching the martyrdom literature in its early stage and in its later development. Our point of departure will be the picture drawn by one of the great masters in the field, the Bollandist scholar Hippolyte Delehaye, in his Les Passions des martyrs et les genres littkraires, which appeared in 1921 and was republished in a revised version in 1961, a quarter of a century after his death. His treatment may be summarized as follows. The martyrdom literature consists of an account of the trial and execution of Christians who refuse to honour the gods of the Empire. Two forms may be discerned: the acta, which contain mainly the interrogation by the judge, and the martyrium or passio, which narrates the events from the arrest up to the death of the martyr. The earliest martyrdom texts stem from the second and third centuries and are evidently written under the fresh impression of the facts. The narrative is unadorned and free from fancifbl elements. The judge is often a gentleman, who reluctantly ends by

2 See H. Leclercq, 'Actes des martyrs', in Dictionnaire d'arche'ologie chre'tienne et de liturgie I 1 (Paris, 1907) 373-446, esp. 373-85; H. Delehaye, Les passions des martyrs et les genres littkraires (Brussels, 1966') 125-31; G. Lanata, Gli atti dei martiri come documenti processuali (Milan, 1973) 6-7; G.A. Bisbee, Pre-Decian Acts of Martyrs and Commentarii (Philadelphia, 1988) 33-4; G.W. Bowersock, Martyrdom & Rome (Cambridge, 1995) 37-8. 3 Cf. Thesaurus Linguae Latinae I (Leipzig, 1900) 1409. For the canonical Acts of the Apostles both actus and acta have been used, cf. Wikenhauser, Apostelgeschichte, 104.

APOCRYPHAL ACTS AS MARTYRDOM TEXTS

3

passing sentence of death on the martyr just because the latter will not accept a compromise. Each text has its individuality, and the account can usually be checked against independent sources. Therefore the value of these early martyrdoms or, to use the expression of Delehaye, historical Passions, 'passions historiques', is priceless. Their number is limited; among the most famous are the Martyrdom of Polycarp, the Martyrdom of Pionius, the Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs, the Acts of Justin, the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas, and the Letter of the Churches of Lyons and Vienne. After the acceptance of the Church by the Roman Empire the production of texts continues, but their physiognomy changes. The individual features have made way for ready-made elements. Names, places, and chronology are often fictitious; miracles play a predominant role; the martyr grows into a superhuman character, the judge into a monster. Circumstances do, of course, account for this development. Since the author had to rely on distant memories, on meagre and uncertain information, there was nothing left for him but to fall back on the well-known commonplaces. Delehaye calls these late martyrdoms the epic Passions, 'passions Cpiques', since they follow the procedures of epic poetry, minus, he adds maliciously, the metrical form, the poetic art and the talent to realise such a magnificent idea.4

Apocryphal Acts of Apostles as martyrdom texts: the Acts of Andrew as an example As already mentioned, in most of the AAA the apostle ends in dying a martyr's death. Therefore it should be possible to give these stories their place in the panorama shown us by Delehaye. Delehaye himself, however, hardly takes the AAA into consider-

4 Delehaye, Passions, 173. For a succinct survey cf. R. Aigrain, L'hagiographie. Ses sources, ses mbthodes, son histoire ([Paris], 1953) 132-55; A.A.R. Bastiaensen et al., Atti e passioni dei martiri ([Milano], 1987) XXVIII-XXX.

4

A. HILHORST

ation; so we are left here to our own devices. My approach will be to use the Acts of Andrew (AA) as a testcase. Although it will not be attempted here, it would not be difficult to show that the results are also valid for the other early AAA. The AA have not been preserved in their entirety. In addition to Greek fragments and a little piece in Coptic we have rewritten parts of the work in Greek and Armenian and an extensive Latin summary of the entire work, made in the late sixth century by Gregory of Tours. In 1982 the existing material was enriched by the editio princeps of a substantial part of the Greek text, narrating the events directly preceding the final part, which we already had.5 All of the important text-forms appeared in a new critical edition by Jean-Marc Prieur in 1989.6 A year later, Dennis Ronald MacDonald published his edition of the texts, in which he incorporated the Acts of Andrew and Matthias in the City of the Cannibals.' In doing so he followed the example of Gregory of Tours in the summary mentioned above.8 Since, however, the atmosphere in the Acts of Andrew and Matthias is so different from that of the other Andrew stories, I cannot believe they were once part of the AA; so they shall not be included here for consideration. Judging from Gregory's abridged version, the AA proper

5 0. As~opdt~qq, 'T6 & V E K ~ O T O pap~15pto TO^ & ~ C O D T ~ ~ - O'AvGpEU a', Acts of the Second International Congress of Peloponnesian Studies, Patrae, 25-31 May 1980 I = Peloponnesiaca. Journal of the Society of Peloponnesian Studies, Suppl. 8 (Athens, 1981-82) 325-52. 6 J.-M. Prieur, Acta Andreae (Turnhout, 1989) with an extensive bibliography on pp. XV-XXVI. 7 D.R. MacDonald, The Acts of Andrew and The Acts of Andrew and Matthias in the City of the Cannibals (Atlanta, 1990). His translation of the Acts of Andrew and the Acts ofAndrew and Matthias is reprinted in J.K. Elliott, The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford, 1993) 245-67, 283302. Another recent translation is by W. Schneemelcher, NTA 11, 101-51 (translated from Schneemelcher's Neutestamentliche Apolayphen 11, Tiibingen 1 9 8 9 ~although ) he omits the Acts of Andrew and Matthias. 8 Gregory of Tours, Andr. 1 . I use the edition by M. Bonnet (Hannover, 1885), as reprinted in Prieur, Acta Andreae 11, 555-65 1 .

APOCRYPHAL ACTS AS MARTYRDOM TEXTS

5

originally consisted of two parts, first Andrew's wanderings from Amasea in Cappadocia to Patras in the Peloponnesus, and second, his stay at Patras and other towns in Achaia. During the second part the apostle comes into conflict with the authorities twice. Both times he is sentenced to death, but only the second time is the sentence executed. This circumstance, and the fact that only the second account is available in Greek, the original language of the Acts, invite us to base our investigation on the latter a c c ~ u n t . ~ This account may be summarized as follows. During his stay in Patras, Andrew converts a number of people. One of these is Maximilla, the wife of the proconsul Aegeates. When the latter comes home after a long journey, he is faced with his wife's unwillingness to have any further sexual intercourse with him. Aegeates implores her to reconsider her decision, but fails to win her back. A servant informs him that Andrew has inspired her new attitude, whereupon he imprisons the apostle. Andrew addresses his fellow prisoners, is visited surreptitiously by Maximilla, and is eventually sentenced to death by Aegeates. He is then flogged and bound to the cross. In this position he addresses the crowd for three days and nights in succession. The crowd protests against the execution to Aegeates, who is prepared to release Andrew. Now, however, it is Andrew's turn to protest: his very execution means his liberation. After a last prayer he dies on the cross. Maximilla remains firm; Aegeates takes his own life in despair. Features of the epic Passions in the Acfs of Andrew

This summary already betrays a conspicuous trait of the Andrew story, namely that it is not just a martyrdom story, but shows a wealth of resemblances with the later martyrological texts, the epic Passions of the time after the persecutions. No less than six cha-

1.e. Greek Acts of Andrew, ed. Prieur, Acta Andreae 11, 442-549. Of the 65 chapters of this text, the first 32 are those only available since 1982, cf. n. 5.

9

6

A. HILHORST

racteristic features may be discerned.'' First, the martyr enjoys help from heaven which turns him into a superhuman figure. Those having seen him at work are said to fear him 'like some god' (3)," notwithstanding his unsightly appearance (26). His divine power shows itself in a number of ways: - He has the gift of clairvoyance (8, 19, 29, 45). - He heals the sick (2, 5, 25), including the already mentioned Maximilla (2, 26); this healing consists of a successful confrontation with a demon. He even raises the dead (25). When danger threatens, the brethren become invisible at his prayer (13). - Miracles make clear that God is with him. The gate of the prison where Andrew is being detained opens spontaneously for Maximilla's lady-companion who wants to visit him (28-9). The Lord himself, disguised as Andrew, brings Maximilla to the prison where Andrew is being kept (46). - Physical vexations do not harm him. He smiles while hanging on the cross ( 5 9 , and after three days and nights on the cross he is unbroken (59). Second, the martyr delivers long speeches: to Maximilla and her brother-in-law in prison (37-42), to the brethren in prison (4750), a night at a stretch (51),12 and even three days and nights while bound at the cross (56-8). Of course this preaching is successful, except with those - to use the author's term - whose father is the devil (21, 40). Third, Andrew as well as the other characters of the story have no individuality, but are stereotypes. Andrew, Maximilla, and her brother-in-law Stratocles are good without reserve, even if there are degrees in superiority. For example, Andrew is always in control of the situation, whereas Maximilla knows fear, as is

10 For examples in the 'epic Passions' see Delehaye, Passions, ch. 111. 11 The figures between brackets indicate the chapters in Prieur, Acta Andreae, and MacDonald, Acts ofAndrew. 12 The martyr's speeches in prison can be compared to the Martyrdom of Pionius 12-4, although in the latter there is no suggestion of the

speech being either interminable or at night.

APOCRYPHAL ACTS AS MARTYRDOM TEXTS

7

apparent from the scene in which she is together with Andrew and the brethren at the praetorium. Hearing that her husband is arriving, who is supposed to know nothing of the gathering, she panicks, but Andrew calms her down and organizes a safe retreat for the company (13). Stratocles is an honest brother who hangs on the apostle's lips, but he is somewhat impetuous (in 2 he nearly committed suicide, although this was before his conversion, because a beloved slave of his was dying) and slow-witted (in 52-3 he still works hard for the release of crucified Andrew, entirely against the latter's wish). The proconsul, Aegeates, Maximilla's husband, is unconvertible and a brute. He is a glutton (46), and every night he is drunk (18). After being deceived by Maximilla's female slave Euclia he 'cut out Euclia's tongue, mutilated her, and ordered her thrown outside. She stayed there without food for several days before she became food for the dogs.' (22, trans. MacDonald). When sentencing Andrew he acts as a tyrant: no interrogation is held, but by abuse and sarcasm he makes clear to Andrew that he will punish him properly (26). Judicial correctness means so little to him that he tries to win his wife over by promising to cancel Andrew's execution if she meets his marital wishes (36). Yet Aegeates is the only character with a touch of individuality, and he tends to captivate the modem reader by his desperate attempts to win back Maximilla, his wife, who has embraced the ideal of chastity (22-4, 36). Fourth, there is a supreme indifference to historical facts. No proconsul resided at all in the city of Patras. All names except Andrew's are fictitious." In the early Acts of the Martyrs pains are taken to formulate the death sentence decently; here, however, we look in vain for that (cf. 26-7). Fifth, there are numerous improbabilities. In addition to those already mentioned, the following example is telling. Maximilla, who has decided to live in continence, makes her female slave Euclia take her place in the conjugal bed for eight months every

13

Cf. Prieur, Acta Andreae I, 79.

8

A. HILHORST

night without the husband being aware of the interchange (178).14 Sixth, the terms used to designate the characters are those of the epic Passions. Andrew is called 'the blessed one' (6 p a ~ 6 1 ptoq) time and again; likewise Maximilla is more than once fl p a ~ a p i r 1 5 . 'Conversely ~ no term of abuse is too strong to characterize Aegeates. In a prayer to Jesus Christ, Andrew calls him 'that insolent and hostile snake' (16), and to Maximilla he declares that his father is the devil, the serpent (40). Her brother-in-law calls him 'Aegeates the rogue' (52), and the narrator himself has the term 'impious' for him (51). It can therefore be seen that there is a remarkable similarity between the AA and the martyrological literature of the post-persecution period. How can we account for this? The easiest explanation would be that the AA are likewise a product of the fourth or fifth century. That, however, is simply not the case. The Coptic Utrecht fragment dates back to the fourth century, which enables us to date the Greek text to the beginning of that century at the latest. Moreover, Eusebius mentions them in his Church History (3.25.6), of which the first edition was written approximately in the tirst decade of the fourth century. This presupposes at least a third century date for the AA. It is therefore best to adhere to the general opinion that the AA were written in the second half of the second century, in the period of the persecutions.16 Earlier discussions

As I remarked before, Delehaye in his standard work on the martyrological literature hardly deals with the AAA. The justification for this is given in the following curious statement:

14 A characteristic transformation of the motif 'Wife has maidservant impersonate her while she goed to her lover', on which cf. S. Thompson, Motif-Index of Folk-Literature IV (Copenhagen, 1 9572) no. K1843.4. 15 Cf. the index of words in Prieur, Acta Andreae 11, 782 s.vv. 16 For this dating, Prieur, Acta Andreae I, 412-4.

APOCRYPHAL ACTS AS MARTYRDOM TEXTS

9

Bien que constituant un genre nettement dCfini, les Actes apocryphes des ap6tres seront cette fois laisses de cGtC, et nous n'y toucherons qu'en passant. I1 n'en resultera aucune lacune importante dans nos recherches. Cette littkrature, dont les origines remontent trbs haut, a suivi des voies indkpendantes, son influence sur les Actes des martyrs se constate relativement assez tard et a Cte exagerke." There are several points here on which we should have liked to hear more: the definition of the genre, its early origins, the independent ways it followed, the starting point of its influence on the Acts of the Martyrs, the scholars who exaggerated its influence. But what especially stands out is that the author fails to respond to the fact that the AAA nearly always end in martyrdom. To that we cannot object that the martyrdom is only the final phase of a story that encompasses much more events, for he does include quite a few texts which have the same feature, such as the Vita Cypriani, the panegyrics of the fourth-century Church Fathers, the hagiographical novels and other texts." The phrase 'this time' arouses the hope that the author makes up for his omission in other publications, but as far as I know he nowhere deals with the AAA to any extent. This may be no accident. As a Bollandist scholar, Delehaye was interested in reliable information about the saints; in this respect the apocryphal Acts had precious little to offer. Also the peculiar morality and the absence of the institutional element had little to attract him. A student of hagiography such as Delehaye might be expected

17 Delehaye, Passions, 12. The only places where Delehaye touches upon the AAA as a genre are 8, 9, 12, 226. Individual Acts mentioned are those of John (46), Thecla (101, 188 n.2, 223, 277-8), Andrew and Matthias, Bartholomew, and Thomas (all of them 255 n.6). M. Van Uytfanghe unfortunately saw no opportunity to discuss the apocryphal Acts in his stimulating essay 'L'hagiographie: un ((genre)) chrktien ou antique tardif?', Analecta Bollandiana 111 (1993) 135-88, cf. ib. 179, although in a footnote he points out that the apocryphal Gospels and the AAA have much in common with the epic Passions. 18 Delehaye, Passions, 69-77 (Vita Cypriani), 141-69 (panegyrics), 227-30 (novels).

10

A. HILHORST

to include the AAA in his discussions, since they show many of the features he regards as typical of hagiography, and moreover are as early as the Acts of the Martyrs. One cannot, however, with the same right ask a scholar of apocryphal literature to give his opinion on the Acts of the Martyrs, because he may well argue that they are not of his province. Nevertheless, Wilhelm Schneemelcher in the second volume of his New Testament Apocrypha makes the following observation. The central position of the apostle in the AAA makes these works a starting-point for the later hagiographical literature, which set in on a grand scale with the rise of the veneration of the saints. The AGG [apocryphal Acts of Apostles] undoubtedly influenced this literature, especially since individual parts (e.g. martyrdoms) were, evidently at an early date, lifted out of the original AGG and circulated separately. It is certainly not altogether easy, but probably rewarding, to follow up the question of when and how the process of transition from the AGG to the legends of the saints came about.Ig Unfortunately, this does not help us much further. Schneemelcher acknowledges influence of the AAA on the martyrdom texts but the picture he offers is inaccurate. Martyrdoms separated fiom the AAA did not stimulate the hagiographical literature, but it is the other way round: the early martyrdom texts, that is, the Acts of the Martyrs, inspired the separation of the martyrdom sections fiom the larger works. And it is a half truth at best to suggest that the AAA underwent a 'transition' to the Legends of the Saints, since the AAA had their own posterity: AAA were produced far into Byzantine times. Possible explanations

So once more we conclude that we are left to our own devices. To state our problem once again: how do we account for the relation-

19 Schneemelcher, NTA 11, 76 (German original 11, 72).

APOCRYPHAL ACTS AS MARTYRDOM TEXTS

11

ship between the AAA and the martyrological literature, especially since the martyrdom sections of the AAA the second and third century show striking similarities not with the simultaneous Acts of the Martyrs, but with their successors, the fourth- and fifthcentury epic Passions? I can imagine three possible explanations. First of all, we could argue that elements thought to be typical of the epic Passions already occur in the historical ones. Of course it has to be acknowledged that the latter texts may have undergone additions and modifications in the course of their transmission, but there are details even in the original text-forms which we would tend to describe as unhistorical. The miraculous element especially comes to mind. However, if to us what is contrary to the laws of nature is incredible, the pre-scientific world view of antiquity knew of no strict exclusion of the miraculous. Here we cannot apply modem standards. A case in point is the sixteenth chapter of the Martyrdom of Polycavp, which describes Polycarp's death. Since the burning stake fails to kill Polycarp, he is stabbed to death. Thereupon 'there came out a dove and such a quantity of blood that the flames were extinguished, and even the crowd marvelled that there should be such a difference between the unbelievers and the elect' (trans. Musurillo). The dove is probably a later interpolation; it is absent from the text-form transmitted in Eusebius's Church History 4.15.20 But the blood is a different matter. A natural event such as a stream of blood, which may be supposed to check the fire, is explained as a miracle under the influence of the emotional situation. Not the miracle as such, as Delehaye aptly remarks, but its excessive frequency and stereotypy discredits a text?' And this is what distinguishes the apocryphal stories about apostles together with the epic Passions from the early Acts of the Martyrs. So this explanation does not apply.

20 Cf. B. Dehandschutter, Martyrium Polycarpi. Een literair-kritische studie (Louvain, 1979) 99-101 (both text-forms side by side on p. 124);

Dehandschutter, 'The Martyrium Polycarpi: a Century of Research', ANRW I1 27.1 (Berlin and New York, 1993) 485-522, esp. 491, 493, 497. 21 Delehaye, Passions, 37.

12

A. HILHORST

Next we could consider the possibility of the AAA being composed in a closed milieu, in which the authors, unaware of the real state of affairs during the persecutions, could dream up fanciful stories about superior apostles killed by brutal magistrates. The stories may indeed be unrealistic, but it is hard to believe that their authors lived in isolation. Christianity existed in many forms in those days. There were, amongst others, Judaeo-Christians, Gnostic Christians, Marcionites, Montanists and those belonging to the main stream of Christianity. These groups had all sorts of contacts with each other. The martyr Pionius, who proudly declares that he is 'a presbyter of the Catholic Church' (Mart. Pion. 19.5), has the Montanist Eutychianus (11.2) and the Marcionite Metrodorus (21.5) as his fellow martyrs. And to return to the AAA, these were known outside the circles in which they were written, as we can document from such writers as Tertullian (De baptism0 17) and Eusebius (Church History 3.25.6), and it would be strange if the contacts were not mutual. We simply have to recognize that the M A came into being in a society in which the persecution of the Christians was a common phenomenon. So this explanation helps us no further. Perhaps then we should say that the apostles were beings of a different order than the martyrs. Many facts, to be sure, militate against this view. Peter and Paul are venerated as martyrs in Rome together with other martyrs. The introduction of the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas declares the recent acts of faith to be as important as those of ancient, that is of New Testament times. The succession lists of bishops join the bishops of the later periods with their predecessors up to the apostles.22 Still we should not give up this explanation too soon. To begin with, an idealization of the figures of the apostles sets in very early, namely in the canonical Acts of the Apostles. Accounts like those of the common property of the brethren in Jerusalem, the Apostolic Council, Paul's speech before the Areopagus, and his stay in Rome no doubt stylize reality. Even wonder-working is present, including punishment miracles like those in the story of 22

Cf. L. Koep, 'Bischofsliste', RAC 2 (1954) 407-15.

APOCRYPHAL ACTS AS MARTYRDOM TEXTS

13

Ananias and Sapphira (5) and Elymas (13.1 1). Adversaries of Paul's are portrayed in a less than favourable way; thus Paul has no scruples to address the same Elymas by the words: 'You utter fraud, you impostor, you son of the devil, you enemy of all true religion' (13.1 1, trans. Jerusalem Bible). True, this denigratory stance is not taken towards the Roman authorities and Paul's death as a martyr is passed over in silence, but this may well be a stylizing in its own right, meant to show to the Greco-Roman upperclass how respectable the new religion was. Furthermore, this explanation can give us more insight if we shift our attention to the Acts of the Martyrs and state with a variant of the formula just used that the martyrs were beings of a different order than the apostles. Of course the early martyrdom texts portray them with admiration. However, they are not yet the canonized saints of the later epic Passions and, indeed, of the AAA. They are contemporaries, fellow men, acquaintances of those who described their steadfastness. No fantasy was needed, for one knew the facts, which were impressive enough. Conclusion

Thus we reach the following conclusion. The authors who described the deeds of the apostles did not personally know them and had only little factual information about them. They therefore tended to idealize them and to depict them as beings of an extraordinary or even superhuman stature. This process announces itself in the canonical Acts of the Apostles and is in full vigour in the AAA. By contrast, the martyrs were described in records of facts. Only gradually, as their cult developed, did they acquire a status comparable with that of the apostles. Only then were they portrayed, like the apostles in the AAA before them, as invincible men of God. In this light we can also explain a phenomenon which remains strange in Delehaye's theory, namely the updating of early Acts of the Martyrs. For example, we have no less than three versions of the Acts of Justin. The oldest one offers a terse description of the trial, in the later one the judge Rusticus, the urban prefect of

Rome, lets slip a designation of the accused as 'miserable fellow', xav&eht&,and in the latest version he is simply 'a terrible man, a plague, and filled with all impiety'. We know Rusticus from other sources. He is a gentleman to the core, a prominent Stoic philosopher and teacher of Marcus Aurelius. Why then this distortion of the facts? Evidently because they did no longer satisfy the needs of the devotees, who just wanted to see their hero as a superman. Therefore, in the end we cannot but contradict Delehaye. The typical features we observe in the epic Passions do not make their appearance only in the fourth and fifth centuries: they abound in the AAA composed in the second and third centuries. Thus where literary history is concerned, these pieces form an organic part of the martyrdom literature, and it is rather the early Acts of the Martyrs, with their sober style and their respect for facts, that turn out to be the exceptions.

11. Miracle stories in the Acts of John

JANOS BOLYKI

Mass evangelisations are advertised by placards in the streets. Having done her shopping, an old woman is going home. She carries heavy bags in both her hands. She does not even notice the first three placards; they are just the same as all the other bills. 'They advertise something' - she says to herself. At the fourth placard she remembers she has seen something similar already. She stops in front of the fifth, puts down her shopping bags and puts on her glasses. 'Do you want to be healed?' - asks the inscription on the poster. 'Perhaps they advertise some new medicine ...' - she thinks. But no... It is something else. She reads the sixth poster to the end. Now she understands. She is invited to a religious meeting. Many things are promised to her if she attends. It is all too beautiful. But is it true?' She notices the seventh placard just when it is being put on. A thin man stands on the ladder. He smokes a pipe while working with the bills. 'Excuse me, sir' - says the elderly lady. 'Just wanted to ask: are all these nice promises true?' The man looks down at her and says with a little superiority: 'These posters promise all kinds of miracles. You have to go and see it for yourself. There you will learn how much truth there is in them!' Toward the end of the 2nd century A.D. - due to some lack in 1 G. Theissen, Urchristliche Wundergeschichten. Ein Beitrag zur formengeschichtlichen Erforschung der synoptischen Evangelien (Giitersloh, 19875) 260 draws a parallel between the early Christian miracle

stories and the evangelisation placards of today and he affirms that both aim at drawing the attention of people.

technological development - people were not able to put up seven posters, say, on the wall of the theatre in Ephesus. Instead, passersby were given a little codex with seven miracle stories of the apostle John, related to the evangelisation crusade of the apostle. Those who found it interesting, went along to the meeting of the Christians to see for themselves how much truth there was in the stories. We turn to these seven stories of the Acts of John in this contribution. Miracle stories within the composition of the AJ

We can find seven miracle stories in the AJ,* of which the order is not accidental but serves the gradual progress of the plot. It . ~ miracles are displays the progress of the mission in E p h e ~ u s The as follows. The miracles themselves: I.

Cc.19-25: Lycomedes and Cleopatra;

11.

Cc.30-3: Healing of the old Women;

The miracles in the context of the 'conquering' of Ephesus John finds accommodation which becomes the basis for the missionary work John finds publicity to his preaching

111.

Cc.37-45: Destruction of the temple of Artemis;

John challenges the whole city to make a decision

IV.

Cc.46-7: Raising of the Priest of the temple of Artemis;

From resurrection of the body to a spiritual resurrection

V.

Cc.48-54: Conversion of a Parricide;

The effect of the mission reaches the surroundings of the city

There are seven miracles in the canonical Gospel of John. We think that the role of the miracles is to show the progress of the mission the apostle carried out in the city. This progress may cover the period from the founding of the congregation to the strengthening of it.

2 3

MIRACLE STORIES

VI.

Cc.60-1: The Obedient Bugs;

VII. Cc.63-86: Drusiana and the Four Men;

17

Holiness and humour in a short story Ethical standards of a strong congregation

A. The first miracle: Lycomedes and Cleopatra (19-25) The main characters of the miracle are: Lycomedes, his wife, and the apostle John. We read about the healing of a woman who had been lying paralysed for seven days and about the raising of a semi-dead (perhaps dead?, cf. the different diagnosis in 21.9 and 23.1 8).4 These two events characterise the miracle as a sub-genre of therapy and anastasis, respectively. The following are the keywords in the story: to lament, to cry out, to fall, to arise, to raise, to trust, to disbelieve. In c.19 we find the exposition. The social milieu is made up by the upper class of the city. Lycomedes is one of the chief authorities of the city (strategos) and is described as a wealthy man.' He and his wife have a large house with several bedrooms and a spacious hall that can accommodate many people. They can easily receive John and his company to stay in their home. When John approaches the city of Ephesus, Lycomedes falls to John's knees as Jairus, the leader of the synagogue, fell to Jesus' knees (Mk 5.22). He presents his request as did the centurion in Capernaum (Lk 7.1-10). We learn that Lycomedes' wife has been lying paralysed for seven days. In ancient times this was the upper limit beyond which there was no hope to be cured. Lycomedes had had a vision in which he understood that John would cure his wife. A heavenly voice urged Lycomedes to leave behind the thoughts that were fighting against him (strateuomene, a word related to the rank of Lycomedes). He was to hurry to John. C.20 narrates the words of Lycomedes. First he wants to evoke sympathy on the side of John concerning the paralysed v, 4 7~oA.b~ ~ J R V O V and v s v ~ ~ p o p ~ f v orespectively. 5 For the strategos see Jan Bremmer, this volume, 39.

Cleopatra. Then he starts to complain: although he is without sin, nevertheless the goddess Justice has burdened him severely. He has lost his confidence and rebelled against providence; we can find a similar scene in C h a r i t ~ n . ~ In c.21 the apostle turns first to the lamenting husband. He says that someone who had seen an appearance should not have such mistrust. But his words have no effect, because Lycomedes falls upon the ground. Now even John says a prayer with tears, because he has to face two temptations - two (semi?-)dead persons lying in front of him. The enemy will take advantage of this situation - not necessarily Satan, but those who oppose the mission. C.22 tells us that 'the city of Ephesus' ran together to the house of Lycomedes. They thought the couple had died. John prays to Christ. He quotes Matt 7.7: 'Ask, and it shall be given to you Y. He may indirectly refer also to Acts 3.20 when he says that 'Now is the time of refreshment...', the loss of which had been lamented over by Lycomedes previously. In c.23 we learn that John touches the face of Cleopatra just as Jesus touched the sick (e.g. Mk 1.41). This is one way of conveying healing powers. Nevertheless the word spoken by the apostle is more important than the movement of touching. We learn that the miracle is performed in order not to give place for the mockery of the unbelieving people. In other words: everything happens for furthering the mission. Cleopatra rises on account of the word of John. The eye-witnesses ('the city of the Ephesians' as the choir of the crowd) are amazed just as the crowds who witnessed Jesus' healing miracles.' C.24 presents us with lyrical moments. Cleopatra laments over her dead husband who died because of pain over her death. John says a short and beautiful prayer: 'Lord Jesus Christ, thou seest (her) distress...'. We are moved by the death-wish of the wife who does not want to stay alive without her husband. John - taking Cleopatra's hand - steps to the couch on which Lycomedes lay. 6 Junod & Kaestli, AI, 165113. 7

Theissen, Urchristliche Wundergeschichten, 79.

MIRACLE STORIES

19

John praises God, because 'to the dead he gives (back) the dead' which means that by raising the dead he revives also those who are dead in their unbelief. John prays for the resurrection of Lycomedes by referring to the relatives of the family and to the crowd. Lycomedes rises and wants to worship John (by kissing his feet). But the apostle refuses: 'It is not my feet, man, that you should kiss, but those of God ...' In c.25 the resurrected couple ask John to stay with them. With some hesitation John accepts the invitation, although some members of his company look for accommodation elsewhere. We can observe the following literary-theological points in this miracle story: (a) The border between death (in the 20th century sense of physical death) and swoon or even paralysis becomes indistinct. That is why therapy and apostasis cannot be separated. There is an underlying view according to which every illness is the beginning of death after all; on the other hand, there is no status of death out of which there would not be a way out: healing or even rising up. (b) It is faith that evokes the miracle, but miracles also strengthen one's faith. (c) The man of God heals through the medium of prayer above all. (d) One of the main aspects of a miraculous healing is mission: to raise the faith of the crowd. (e) It is fair that those who benefit from the apostolic miracle should contribute to the success of the mission by offering hospitality to the apostle and his companions. (0 In comparison to the miracle stories in the canonical Gospels it is a surprising phenomenon that John passes on the ability of resurrecting to Cleopatra. John 'teaches her' how to raise her husband. This is unknown in the Gospels. It does not occur in the canonical Acts either. In Acts the apostles heal with the power of Jesus, but Jesus himself is not present there in his physical body. In our story John is present even when the second miracle is performed by the woman who had been cured by the apostle (24.19). In this way the missionary work is extended by the inauguration of new co-workers.

JANOS

20

BOLYKI

B. The second miracle: the healing of the old women (30-2 and 37.1-2) The full extent of the story would cover cc.30-7, but this includes long discussions (e.g. 33-6). That is why we treat as a miracle story only cc.30-2 and 37.1-2. The genre of this story cannot be categorized among the miracle stories in the New Testament. I call it a miracle of demonstrati~n.~ 'Demonstration' is a specific subgenre of the miracles. Its task is to prove the power of the gospel. It demonstrates the truth of the missionary preaching. In our case it provides the framework of the preaching: at the beginning it invites attention; at the end it proves the expectations. In the beginning of the story (30) John commands that women over 60 years of age should be catered for in the whole city. It appears that there are only four among them who are healthy; the rest are ill. John plans to gather them in the theatre by the following day. He wants to heal them in order to evoke faith in some. On the following day we find the good-willing proconsul in the theatre (3 1). However, also Andronicus, a strategos, is there. He mocks John and presents conditions for John's entering the theatre. John commands that all old women should be brought into the theatre (32). Some are brought on beds; some are even asleep. The whole city runs together (cf. Acts of the Apostles 19.40b). The text tells us briefly that after the missionary sermon - John cured every illness by the power of God (37). It seems probable that some texts are missing that would have coloured the miracle. From a theological point of view it stands out that the miracle is not only in connection with the missionary preaching - as in the previous story -, but also with deacony. When John learns that the congregation does not look after the old, ill women, he charges the city with slackness (30.9). The Christians have been led astray by the devil so that they were irresponsible toward the needy (30.1 1). It seems, therefore, that one aspect of the miracle is to strengthen

-

8 This classification is not the same as the one used by Theissen, Wundergeschichten, 71-2, 75-6, when he refers to the 'demonstration' of a miracle in the context of therapy, exorcism and the miracles of gifts.

MIRACLE STORIES

21

diacony. The word of Jesus tells John that the miracle will result in missionary success (30.13-7). The theatre assures great publicity for the miracle. It is not by accident that the place is called 'theatre' (theatron) and from the same root thea is used in the sense of 'play', 'spectacle' (cf. 60-1 for the use of technical terms of the theatre). The result of the miracle in front of a large audience is the boldness of the congregation members, of the preachers. C. The third miracle: the destruction of !he temple of Artemis (3745)

The genre of this miracle can be classified as 'demonstrative', too. It serves to prove that the God of John is right in contrast to the pagan gods. One can even claim that it has a character of judgment (cf. the scene of Elijah and the Baal priests in 1 Kings 18). The judgment-character is supported by the chiastic structure: A/ John is called from Ephesus to Smyrna, but he stays for the sake of the conversion of the Ephesians B/ The Ephesians want to kill John in the temple of Artemis C/ John threatens them with judgment from God (sermon) Dl John asks God to drive away the idol-demon (prayer) XI The judgment occurs (half of the temple collapses and the priest dies); the people cry for mercy to the God of John D'1 John thanks God for the miracle (prayer) C'I The people confess their faith in the God of John (sermon) By/ The people ask for the help of John; they want him to stay A'/ John stays on the request of the Ephesians. The chiastic structure is perfect: in the centre stands the judgment as a turning point. Before and after the judgment we find a prayer (asking and thanking respectively). Before the first prayer and after the second prayer there is a sermon and confession respectively. Three points before the centre the people turn against John and three points after the centre they turn against the cult in the

temple. The beginning and ending scene is about the staying of John in Ephesus: first, in order to achieve their conversion; second, because they have been converted. As regards the theological content of this miracle, at a superficial level it may seem to be a miracle of punishment. Indeed, one might ask: Do the collapsing of the temple and the death of the priest not point to punishment from God? We have to answer, however, that the priest is raised in the next miracle. Therefore, it is not the punishment that dominates, but the judgment coming from God (we refer once again to the similar scene in 1 Kings 18; we also note Acts 19 to be in the background of this story: the smiths of Ephesus cause a riot against an apostle, with the temple of Artemis playing a role in the scene there). In a prayer John says that the worshippers in the Artemis cult have been deceived. A demon stands behind the deception (41.68). The driving out of the demon is narrated parallel to the destruction of the temple. This implies a change in the pagan spirit, that is, the public opinion. Besides, the staying of John in Ephesus is emphasized. Although he is expected in Smyma, he has to stay in order to help the congregation stand firm in C h r i ~ t . ~

D. The fourth miracle: the raising of the priest of the temple of Artemis (46-7) The genre of this miracle could legitimately be called a semeion in the sense used in the canonical Gospel of John -, because the physical resurrection points beyond itself to the spiritual resurrection. The author plays with the verbs that express resurrection, b v i o r ~ p tand Bycipo, with an ambiguity in meaning that is familiar to us from John's Gospel."

9 E.g. b p h v E V EKE V kv rfj ' E ~ E O ~nW6 hV~ tE p ~ l v a45.2; p e p 6 v q ~ a ~ 6 x 6 ~ pou ~ ~ ~ 6( i j5OE@ 45.5; Bni csrsp~clvntrpcrv ~ a r a o r f i o w(to set them on solid rock) 45.9. 10 E. Richard, 'Expressions of Double Meaning and their Function in the Gospel of John', New Testament Studies 31 (1985) 96-112.

MIRACLE STORIES

23

If we examine the composition of the story we find the exposition in 46.1-4. In the worship service of the Christians there appears a pagan young man who is a relative of the priest of Artemis (whose death was narrated in the previous miracle). He brings with him the corpse of the priest, but leaves it outside. He attends the service with interest. Cc.46.5-23 narrates the conversion of the young man. John can see through the heart of the pagan man who is not occupied with his deceased relative, but with his own soul: he believes that if he turns to the Lord then John will raise his relative from the dead. The miracle of the raising of the dead occurs in 47.1-9. John empowers the converted young man to raise his own relative, the priest of Artemis, who is raised by the word of the young man. Finally, we find the conversion of the resurrected pagan priest in 47.10-6. John tells the priest that he is still not really alive, because he does not have eternal life yet. The pagan priest comes to faith and has eternal life. From all these we may gather the following theological and literary observations. First, we can see in the structure that the miracle of resurrection is located between two conversions. The direction leads us from the physical resurrection to a spiritual one. The theological point is clear: the spiritual resurrection is more precious than the physical one (cf. Jn 11). The centrality of the idea of the resurrection is not only aff~rmedby the frequency of the verbs (ttviozqpt and kyzipo occur seven times in this short story), but also by various beautiful apophthegms. Contrary to the classical New Testament form, as found in the Synoptics," apophthegms in the A J are not an answer to a provocative question. They rather resemble the sayings found in the Johannine dialogues. The following example may suffice: 'Now that you have risen, you are not really living, nor are you a partner and heir to the true life; will you belong to him by whose name and power you were raised? So now, believe, and you shall live for all eternity' (47.103). Second, at the beginning of the story we find interesting data concerning early Christian liturgy: the prophecy addressed to a

1 1 Ph. Vielhauer, Geschichte der urchristlichen Literafur (Berlin and New York, 1975) 298f.

person is preceded by an 'address' (hornilia), 'prayer' (euche), 'thanksgiving' (eucharistia) and the laying on of hands (cheirothesia). Third, in the context of the whole book, the previous miracles show a progress. Differing from them, this miracle presents the ideal state that is to be reached by every Christian. We feel a distinction between psychical and pneumatic Christians - the wording resembling that of the canonical Gospel of John.

~

E. The Jifih miracle: the conversion of a parricide (48-54)12 The genre of the story is a family drama rather than a traditional biblical miracle story. If we classify it as a miracle, then it is a resurrection miracle: the murdered father is raised; and this resurrection is followed by two conversions. Let us compare the structure of this miracle with that of the preceding one.

The raising of the priest: an old, dead priest; a young kinsman; corpse left outside the door; the dead priest raised; the conversion of two participants;

1

I I

1 I

I

The story of the parricide: an old, dead father the young man who murdered his father the killing happens outside the gates the murdered father raised the conversion of two participants.

The structure of the story is as follows. John meets the man who had killed his father (48). John prevents the parricide from killing his lover, her husband, and himself (49). John promises the young man that he shall raise his murdered father. The young man, in turn, promises to stay away from further killings (50). John prays for the old man. John raises him from the dead and leads him to faith (51-2). The young man cuts off 'his private parts'. He tells his lover that he had murdered his father because of her, but God has had mercy on him (53). John does not condemn the action of the young man, but tells him that the devil should not be fought

12 See also Jan Brernrner, this volume, 52f.

I

MlRACLE STORIES

25

against by destroying the member of the body that caused temptation; rather by resisting the thoughts that are 'the unseen springs through which every shameful emotion is stirred up' (54). The young man repents and joins John. One of the theological themes of the story is again the relationship between physical and spiritual resurrection. Once again we can see the theological truth expressed: the spiritual resurrection is better (more) than the physical one. In c.52 the father raised from the dead asks: 'I was released from a terrible life (in which) I suffered many grievous insults from my son, and his lack of affection, and you called me back, servant (lit. man) of the living God - for what purpose?' And John answered him: 'If you are arising to this same (life), you should rather be dead; but rouse yourself to a better (one)!' The story draws a sharp line between the spheres of Satan and God. The satanic sphere is characterised by the son's killing of his father and by his plan of further killings as well as of suicide. God's sphere is seen in Jesus' power: the lover and her husband are saved from being killed; the young man is saved from suicide; the father is raised from the dead; father and son are converted. As we have seen, John does not condemn the self-castration of the young man. This shows the anti-sexual, encratic tendency of the book. When John says referring to the castration of the young man that 'it is not those organs which are harmful to man, but the unseen springs', 54.7-8), his apophthegm expresses a compromise between two Christian ways of life: the encratic life and that lived in a family circle.

F. The sixth miracle: the obedient bugs (60-1) The previous story, that included murder and self-castration, was probably too dense for a contemporary reader (as it would be even for a reader today). A good writer needs something more relaxing. The sixth miracle belongs to the genre of entertaining. It describes itself as a light, short play (paignion, 60.3). The story is simple. C.60: John and his companions are on their way from Laodicea to Ephesus. On the first day they stay at

a 'lonely inn'. There was only one bed and even that was not made up. The story - narrated in the first person plural - tells us that the bed is offered to John. The rest sleep on the floor. They hear in the dark that John is troubled by the numerous bugs. Around midnight the apostle orders the bugs to leave and keep a distance 'from the servants of God'. He commands the bugs to behave themselves and 'to be quiet' (e~gnomonisate).'~The companions laugh at this (this is the only place of the book with humourlirony). They cannot see in the dark, but when they hear that John was able to fall asleep, they are happy, because the apostle can have a rest. C.61: In the morning the narrator and two other companions can see that the bugs gathered by the door of the room. The apostle is still asleep. When he awakes, he praises the bugs and lets them back to the bed. As a lesson, the apostle utters an apophthegm in the form of an antithetical parallelism. We can make four observations as regards the literary and theological characteristics. First, we may say that this miracle wants to make an effect through the power of humour. One can note concerning all the stories in the Bible where there is a dialogue between men and animals, that they are surrounded with humour or irony (e.g. Balaam's donkey; Jonah and the great fish). It is also characteristic that this is the only miracle in the A J which is not performed in front of outsiders with a missionary purpose, but inside the Christian community (and even there in an inner circle). Its aim is to teach a lesson which is embedded in a humorous scene. Secondly, the apostle - sleeping with a clear conscience - reminds us of Jesus sleeping in the boat (Matt 8.24). We can see self-irony on the side of the writer and the disciples. As a third observation we may refer to Bovon's view that the bugs are a symbol of bodily desires.I4 These stay away from the bed of the

13 Junod & Kaestli, AI, 24811.2 suggest the following translations:

'intelligent, bonsentiment, bienveillant'. 14 F. Bovon, 'Das Leben der Apostel: Biblische ijber~ieferun~enund apokryphe Erzahlungen', in his Lukas in neuer Sicht (Neukirchen Vluyn, 1985) 224f suggests that the bugs express the 'self-restriction of

MIRACLE STORIES

27

apostle. The story then would narrate the last temptation of the old servant. Although this is an interesting thought, it remains unconvincing. The apophthegm in the form of an antithetical parallelism seems to offer another lesson: the example of obedience (61.13-5). The bugs were obedient; the commitment of the believers for obedience toward God should supersede the obedience of the bugs. In John's words: 'This creature listened to a man's voice and kept to itself and was quiet and obedient; but we who hear the voice of God disobey his commandments and are irresponsible; how long will this go on?' In the text, the first two lines of the apophthegm correspond with one another; the other two are chiastic:

G. The seventh miracle: 'What is the meaning of this sight?' (Drusiana and the four men, 63-86) The title of the story in Schaferdiek is 'Drusiana and Callimachus'. It is true that Callimachus plays an important role, but not the only one in the story. Thus we prefer the title above because each of the four men in the story represents a specific type: Andronicus the Christian husband, who lives with his wife in a 'marriage a la Joseph' (i.e. without sexual intercourse); Callimachus the possessed lover, who would even violate the dead Drusiana, but who is converted through the miraculous punishments; Fortunatus the wicked steward, who cannot get converted, because he does not have the spark of God; and John the spiritual leader, who performs miracles.

the beloved disciple'. In his opinion several manuscripts call the bugs korides in the feminine gender; one could even translate 'girls'(korai). Junod & Kaestli, AI, differ from this view, because in their opinion one cannot tell the gender from the genitive plural in 60.7-8.

28

JANOS BOLYKI

The genre of the story differs from the categories of Theissen to such an extent that it seems unnecessary to try to harmonize them." We can only say that we find a resurrection and God's miracles of punishment in this story. However, the text itself helps us identify the genre. The apostle John asks in 73.13-4: 'What is the meaning of this sight (BEapa, 'drama')? There is a variant reading in the Venice manuscript, 71.2: 'strange drama' ({Evov BEapa), that is: 'a puzzle to be solved'. Let us accept, then, that the genre of the story is BEapa ('drama'), which awaits a solution. The following passages point to a theatrical character, too: 'the tragedy (dramatourgia) which he had plotted' (74.7) and 'the whole spectacle (theoria) of man's salvation' (77.2). If we accept this self-characterisation of the story, then we can see even more clearly the complementary characters of the previous story and of this one: a light, short play (paignion) - and an erotic-ascetic drama, full of deaths. It belongs to the question of genre to observe that we have only a part of the Drusiana story before us.I6 We hear about the anger of her husband - that he shut her in a sepulchre because she denied her obligations as a wife; about her miraculous escape; about the conversion of her husband, Andronicus - who knows her as his sister rather than as his wife from this time on, etc. If we put together all these details - leaving aside the other stories of A J - then we would have a real Drusiana novel. The structure of the story is as follows. Callimachus falls in love with Drusiana, the wife of Andronicus the strategos. The others warn him not even to think of these kinds of things (63). Callimachus sends an indecent offer to Drusiana. She falls ill and then dies in her sadness, because she fears she might have given reason to such sinful thoughts (64). The apostle John learns the details from the mourning husband, Andronicus (65-6). Here follows John's long warning (with many examples) about faith which is real only if it endures to the end (67-9). This warning does not belong directly to the miracle story. After this, Calli15 Theissen, Wundergeschichten, 82f. 16 Junod & Kaestli, AI, 264-5 note this in the critical apparatus.

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machus and Fortunatus, the steward of Andronicus, enter the sepulchre of Drusiana so that Callimachus may violate the dead body (70). As a punishment, Fortunatus is fatally bitten by a serpent which then winds itself round the feet of the semi-dead Callimachus (71). Early in the morning John, Andronicus and other Christians go to the sepulchre of Drusiana to eat bread (eucharistia), but they cannot find the key (72). By that time the closed doors of the sepulchre open automatically." An angel ('a handsome young man', the 'beautiful one') is waiting for them at the grave. He tells John to resurrect Drusiana. They find the semidead Callimachus and the dead Fortunatus (73). At the corpse of his wife, Andronicus comes to understand the preceding events. He asks John to resurrect Callimachus first (!) so that he may confess to them what has happened, and then to raise Drusiana (74). John raises Callimachus by driving away the serpent and by praying over him (75). Callimachus then tells the whole story. He adds that he heard an angelic voice which said to him: 'die that you may live!' Now he wants to believe in God (76). John says a prayer of thanksgiving for Callimachus's conversion and receives him into the congregation (77-8). On the request of Andronicus, John prays for the resurrection of Drusiana. John raises her by his word: 'Drusiana, arise!' (79-80). Then Drusiana asks John to resurrect Fortunatus, the wicked steward. Callimachus wants to oppose this. John does not want to return evil for evil. He agrees that Fortunatus should be resurrected and tells Drusiana to perform this (81). Drusiana prays for the resurrection of Fortunatus and she says to him: 'Rise up, Fortunatus, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! ...' Fortunatus rises up, but he is afraid of the congregation of the saints; thus he flees (82-3). John curses Fortunatus who does not understand spiritual matters (84). The congregation celebrates the Eucharist in the sepulchre. John foresees that Fortunatus will die from the bite of a serpent. Somebody reports that this is fulfilled. John's final words in the story are: 'Devil, thou hast thy son' (85-6). We can observe the following three theological characteristics

17

See Jan Bremmer, this volume, 43.

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in the story of Drusiana. First, we may affirm that the ideas of physical death - spiritual death and bodily resurrection - spiritual resurrection dominate the story. Here we find that the power of God not only resurrects but can also punish by death (where it is always the serpent which executes the punishment). We meet a character who is raised from the physical death, but who is not able to get converted from spiritual death. His 'nature' prevents him from changing (a gnostic idea!). Therefore, we could call this narrative a story about two kinds of life ('resurrection' and 'salvation', 79.14) and two kinds of death. Second, the motif of forgiveness is theologically significant (81). Callimachus, who had sinned himself, does not want the resurrection of Fortunatus or to give him the possibility of conversion. John has to teach Callimachus: 'My son, we have not learned to return evil for evil' (81.10). This idea may go back to Jesus; to the Sermon on the Mount. (It is a pity that it is 'spoiled' later by the gnostic motif according to which Fortunatus is unable to repent from birth on, because he is from 'another spring' than the Christians.) John's sentence above (81 .lo) displays a striking similarity to c.28 of Joseph and Aseneth, a Hellenistic Jewish novel, where we repeatedly find that one should forgive the defeated wicked enemy.I8 18 M. Philonenko, Joseph et Aseneth: Introduction, Texte Critique, Traduction et Notes (Leiden, 1968). Chapter 28 in this novel contains a situation similar to that of the Drusiana story in as much as the call for forgiveness is related to a murderous man (the son of the Pharaoh and his companions) who wants to lead astray god-fearing women. The call for forgiveness is expressed, for example, in the following ways: 'And we know that our brothers are men who worship God and do not repay anyone evil for evil' (28.10); 'spare your brothers and do not do them evil for evil' (28.10); 'By no means, brother, will you do evil for evil to your neighbour' (28.14). The two novels (JosAs and AJ) may have even more common characteristics. On the sociological context of JosAs see H.C. Kee, 'The Socio-Cultural Setting of Joseph and Aseneth', New Testament Studies 29 (1982) 394-413 and Miracle in the Early Christian World: A Study in Sociohistorical Methods (New Haven and London, 1983) esp. 252-6, 275.

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Third, we may affirm that the sexual-ethical standpoint of this drama is encratic, perhaps even gnostic. According to this view, man can live with his sexuality only in two extreme ways: either he is full of desires so that he wants to violate even the corpse of a woman, or, he is encratic to an extent that he looks upon his own wife as his 'sister'. The story lacks the apostolic idea, according to which 'the marriage bed is undefiled' (Heb 13.4; cf. lTim 4.3, 5.14).

The miracles of the AJ in the context of 2nd century theology From a literary point of view the first and the fourth miracles fit the genre categories as worked out by Theissen (i.e. Lycomedes and Cleopatra; the raising of the priest of Artemis, respectively). Most of the miracles are so closely bound up with prayers and sermons that we may even regard them as missionary preaching which promises miracles or which ends in miracles (e.g. the healing of the old women). Perhaps it is best to characterise them as complex novels that consist of miracles, prayers and sermons (e.g. the story of Drusiana). The last two stories (the obedient bugs; Drusiana and the four men) call themselves 'a light, short playy, paignion, and a 'drama', theama, respectively. We have no reason to doubt that these genres were a deliberate choice of the author. It seems to be clear that the author does not simply want to ascribe the characteristics of a 'divine man', theios aner, to John the apostle, but each miracle takes the plot of the novel one step further. The mission in Ephesus reaches from the laying of the foundations - through important decisions - to the deepening of the faith of the believers. This is even more striking if we compare the AJ with the Acts of Andrew in the version of Gregory of Tours (Liber de miraculis beati Andreae Apostoli), where we find the short miracle stories in one block. These miracles show a wider variety (e.g. the healing of a blind, of a leper, etc.) than those of the AJ. The miracles of the Acts of Andrew display more characteristics of the genres as analyzed by Theissen. When compared with them, the miracles of the AJ are rather like complex novels.

In summary we may say that if we draw a line from the canonical Fourth Gospel to the 2nd century Hellenistic novels, then the line would cross the circle of the AJ toward the third fourth of the distance. The main themes of the miracles are: death and life; spiritual Apart from this main theme we death and spiritual resurre~tion.'~ have the following miracles left: the destruction of the temple of Artemis and the bitings of serpents - as miracles of punishment; and the cheerful story of the obedient bugs - ending in an apophthegm. In the case of the resurrections it is difficult to distinguish in medical terms between death and fainting. The blurring of the difference may be deliberate. The attention of the writer is focussed on the distinction between physical an spiritual resurrection rather than on the distinction between therapy and anastasis. We find almost all the possibilities: semi-dead and dead people raised. Later they undergo a spiritual metamorphosis or resurrection and become Christians. We read from someone spiritually resurrected who dies bodily and then is raised again from physical death. Finally, Fortunatus is raised from bodily death in vain, because 'by nature' he is incapable of conversion (expressed n p b ~r b ~ p e i r r o v , with a play on words: "Q 4 b o y &@6o1~oq 84.2-3). With the character of Fortunatus we arrive at the question of possible gnostic elements in the AJ. The tendency toward determinism belongs to gnostic soteriology: those who are not from the nature of light are unable to get converted. Although our concern here is not the whole AJ, we affirm that it is undoubtedly strongly influenced by Gnosis (see, for example, the speeches on the mystery of the cross, that express a dualistic-docetic Christo-

19 On the symbolic interpretation of the resurrection scenes see Bovon, 'Leben', 225; and K. Schaferdiek, 'Herkunft und Interesse der alten Johannesakten', ZNW 74 (1983) 247-67, where on p. 265 he uses the term 'Das Wunder als Manifestation des Heils' and notes that the scenes of raising up the dead and the conversion scenes occur together. He affirms that this phenomenon wants to express that the believers live in a 'presentic eschatology'.

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I

I 1 I

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logy, in 97-102). If we consider the miracles only, the emphasis on spiritual resurrection is in itself not a gnostic idea (cf. the canonical Gospel of John 11.25). However, we may note that the christophany - written in the form of a Christological reminiscence - has a gnostic character (88-93). We may even speak of polyphany since John remembers that Jesus was present among them now in body now in spirit, i.e. in many forms. In c.93 we find a recollection of the table fellowship of Jesus in the house of Simon the Pharisee (Lk 7.36ff). In a gnostic re-working the story becomes a miracle, because the bread in front of Jesus is multiplied - so that the whole company is satisfied - whereas nothing happens to the bread of the others. The encratic elements of the AJ - especially sexual temperance - are not only a gnostic characteristic but can be seen also as an On whatever basis, the writer held influence of neo-platoni~m.*~ that enkrateia is on a higher level of the Christian life than family relations. Whereas the followers of Jesus left everything behind, so also (temporarily?) family life, the AJ emphasises sexual temperance. The ethical radicalism of the AJ does not include the giving up of one's possessions or the abandoning of one's home. We may add, however, that sexual temperance could result in further suffering from the side of the environment (e.g. Drusiana's being locked up in a sepulchre - to which we find references, although it is not part of the surviving story). The anthropology of the miracle stories strongly displays a dualistic character. The pagan participants are spiritually dead whereas the Christians are already raised to a new life, even in their earthly existence. Nevertheless, we can find a description of a transition - expressed by literary-psychological means (e.g. the story of the repenting parricide). The majority of the miracles

20 Schaferdiek's remarks on the relationship between Gnosis, neoplatonism, and enkrateia in the Acts of Andrew (272-3) apply also to the relevant parts of the AJ. On the influence of Manichaeism see P. Nagel,

'Die apokryphen Apostelakten des 2. und 3. Jh. in der manichaischen Literatur', in K.W. Trijger (ed), Gnosis und Neues Testament (Berlin, 1973) esp. 152-3 and 165-71; Jenkins, this volume, Ch. XI.

shows a schematic 'either-or' character. The physical existence of man has no meaning if he is not resurrected also in a spiritual sense (52.5-12). Physical life can only yield deep sins (murder, adultery, etc.). Looking at the miracles from a sociological perspective, we may observe that wealthy men and their wives - even the leaders of the city - dominate the scene (e.g. strategos, 19.1, 31.7; proconsul, 31.5). Even the 'steward' of Andronicus is not a house-servant, but rather an overseer 70.5). A real social aspect, however, is only displayed in the story of the healing of the old women (30-6). The environment is usually of a distinguished kind: a large house that can accommodate many people, the temple of Artemis, the theatre. We are almost always in the city. The only exceptions are the story of the parricide - that occurs outside Ephesus (4854);21 and the episode about the obedient bugs - that comes to pass in a poor inn (60-1). If we consider, finally, the intention of the miracle stories, then it seems irrelevant to raise the question whether the numerous resurrections are viewed as historical facts,22or as metaphors that illustrate spiritual resurrection. The intention of the author points beyond these alternatives; his main interest lies in the mission. We could apply the self-characterization of the canonical Fourth Gospel here (20.31, RSV): 'these are written that you may believe...'. Thus the missionary intention does not only surface in the realm of a missionary story (cf. the canonical Acts), i.e. in narrating the founding of a congregation, the strengthening of it, and the example of the founding apostle. Rather we may say that this intention is there even in the sense of what is nowadays called a 'readers-response criticism'. This means that the miracle stories did not only constitute an interesting reading but also wanted to help the readers reach the goal that was reached by the characters

See Jan Bremmer, this volume, 53 note 47. On the question of historicity see R.A. Lipsius, Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten und Apostellegenden I (Braunschweig, 1 883) 5 16-9. He holds that the historical value of the AJ is minimal ('aussergeringst') for the life story of the apostle.

21 22

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of the stories: salvation and resurrection. As the prayer in 79.16-7 says: 'what to men is unattainable and impossible, and to thee alone is possible, even salvation and resurrection'. Did the old lady, mentioned in our introduction as a fictitious character, get to the place of the evangelisation? We do not know. We know, however, that the A J and similar religious-missionary novels were widely read in the 2nd and 3rd centuries (just as crime stories are read today and 'Westerns' watched). The readers were not of the least civilized (i.e. not of those who could not read). Rather, we may think that the readers belonged to an educated level of the population - who, nevertheless may have been on the verge of poverty. In today's terms: they were the lower bourgeois who were threatened to become the proletariat. In any case, there was a great demand for these novels.23 This demand may be understood from various viewpoints. They have a literary value which lies in their interesting plot and romantic stories. They are easily readable. More importantly, they fulfilled an ethical role. The Hellenistic period relativised the system of norms in the local community (polis). These novels presented ideals, norms, and examples for the crowds who longed after a lifestyle enriching for a community. Finally, these Christian novels were 'modem' in the sense that they made use of a popular literary genre in order to cany out - to use these terms with a positive meaning - a successful 'missionary propaganda'.

23 On the theme of the Apocryphal Acts in the context of the Hellenistic novel see D.R. Edwards, 'The New Testament and the Ancient Romance: A Survey of Recent Research', The Petronian Newsletter 1978 (9-14 Feb.); T. Szepessy, 'The Ancient Family Novel (A Typological Proposal)', Acta Antiqua Hung. 31 (1985-88) 357-565; W. Rordorf, L a o r ~ n d -i Lex credendi (Freibourg, 1993) 445-7.

111. Women in the Apocryphal Acts of John JAN N. BREMMER

At the beginning of the 1980s, feminism began to influence the study of the Apocryphal Acts of Apostles (AAA). Stevan Davies suggested that the Acts were conceived and read by a community of Christian women; Dennis MacDonald attributed the origin of the Acta Pauli to oral traditions deriving from women who were in opposition to the ruling patriarchal order; and Virginia B u m s stated that the Acts were originally oral stories told by women in female communities, while the focus on chastity reflected the desired or experienced liberation from the patriarchal order.' But towards the end of the decade a reaction set in. Whilst in principle approving of this sociological approach, Jean-Daniel Kaestli argued strongly that the Acts are unlikely to have an oral background or an origin in a female community, and Peter Dunn has seriously questioned the degree of liberation that the Acts really

1 Cf. S.L. Davies, The Revolt of the Widows (New York and Winston, 1980); D.R. MacDonald, The Legend and the Apostle. The Battle fir Paul in Story and Canon (Philadelphia, 1983); idem, 'The Role of Women in the Production of the Apocryphal Acts', The N ~ f freview 41 (1984) 21-38; V. Bums, Chastiv as Autonomy: Women in the Stories of the Apocryphal Acts (New York and Queenston, Ont., 1987), who first expounded her views in an article with the same title in Semeia 38 (1986) 101-17. Davies, 'Women in the Third Gospel and the New Testament Apocrypha', in A.-J. Levine (ed), "Women L i b This'! New Perspectives on Jewish Women in the Greco-Roman World (Atlanta, 1991) 185-97 simply ignores the critique by Kaestli (note 2).

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offered to women.* Considering these differences in opinion it is hard to disagree with Kaestli that we now need a study of each of the individual Acts in order to appreciate the contribution of the Acts as a whole to our knowledge of ancient Christianity and to understand the role women played in that m ~ v e m e n t .It~ will be the aim of this paper to contribute to the current debate about women and the Acts through a detailed study of the place of women in AJ. I start with the episode of Lycomedes and Cleopatra.

Lycomedes and Cleoparra (19-29) The beginning of A J has been lost and our text starts in medias res with the information that John, prompted by a ~ i s i o n ,hurried ~ to Ephesus. His companions only with difficulty prevailed upon him to rest one day in Miletus. These companions are mentioned by name, except for 'the wife of Marcellus': the particular reference may well indicate that in the previous chapters John had performed a miracle for her. It is interesting to note that we find among these companions both males and females. In the Greek novel the world of the women is highly limited and the only friends of a female protagonist are usually slaves. The situation is rather different in the AAA, where women and men quite regularly

J.-D. Kaestli, 'Response' (viz. to preceding article by Bunus), Semeia 38 (1986) 119-31; idem, 'Les Actes apocryphes et la reconstitution de I'histoire des fernmes dans le christianisme ancien', Cahiers bibliques de Foi et Vie 28 (1989) 71-79; idem, 'Fiction IittCraire et realite sociale: que peut-on savoir de la place des femmes dans le milieu de production des actes apocryphes des aphtres?', Apocrypha 1 (1990) 279-302; P.W. Dunn, 'Women's Liberation, the Acts of Paul, and other Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles', Apocrypha 4 (1993) 245-61. 3 Kaestli, 'Fiction littkraire', 302. 4 This is a recurrent motif in the Acts, cf. R. Soder, Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten und die romanhafre Literatur der Antike (Stuttgart 1932; repr. Dmstadt, 1969) 171-5; Bremmer, ZPE 39 (1980) 29.

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mingle.5 Unfortunately, we are unable to reconstruct the precise route of the apostle, but his journey from Miletus via Ephesus to Smyrna, and subsequently via Laodicea (58f) back to Ephesus, suggests that he first toured the coastal cities before visiting those inland, just like the Roman governor on his yearly visits to the assize d i s t r i ~ t s .The ~ focal point of the surviving part of AJ, though, is clearly Ephesus and all non-Ephesian parts have been lost.' This seems to suggest that our surviving manuscripts derive from an Ephesian copy, since according to early Christian traditions John had taught in Asia Minor and was buried in Ephesus.' When John and his followers were approaching Ephesus, they were met by a certain Lycomedes, who requested the apostle to come to his house and to heal his wife Cleopatra, who was paralysed. Lycomedes was still young and one of the Ephesian strategoi,9 the executive council of Ephesus;lo moreover, he was 'a wealthy man': the reader is not left in any uncertainty about his importance. Cleopatra was equally young and although, according to her husband, she was now 'a withered beauty', she had once

5 For women in the Greek novel see the perceptive study of B. Egger, 'Zu den Frauenrollen im griechischen Roman. Die Frau als Heldin und Leserin', in H. Hofinann (ed), Groningen Colloquia on the Novel I (Groningen, 1988) 33-66. 6 Cf. J. den Boeft, J. Brernmer, VigChr 39 (1985) 119, overlooked by E. Plumacher, 'Apostolische Missionsreise und statthalterliche Assisetour. Eine Interpretation von Acta Iohannis c. 37.45 und 55', ZNW 85 (1994) 259-78. 7 As is observed by L. van Kampen, Apostelverhalen. Doel en compositie van de oudste apokriefe Handelingen der apostelen (Diss. Utrecht, 1990) 101. 8 Cf. M. Hengel, Die johanneische Frage (Tubingen, 1993) 113-9, 9 K. Schaferdiek, NTA 11, 172 curiously translates with 'praetor'; A.F.J. Klijn (ed), Apokriefen van het Nieuwe Testament I1 (Kampen, 1985) 14 uses 'generaal', which insufficiently indicates the political nature of the office. 10 The discussion by W. Schwahn, RE Suppl. 6 (1954) 1112f is totally out of date, cf. the index of the Inschr8en von Ephesos (Bonn, 1979-84).

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been so beautiful that the whole of Ephesus had been ecstatic about her. It is not difficult to recognise in these descriptions topoi of the Greek novel, which also regularly details the youth, beauty and noble birth of the hero and heroine." After this appeal John immediately went to his house, where Lycomedes knelt before him and started to lament his fate. He blamed his wife's illness on the evil eye of his enemies and, as often happens in pagan novels, he announced his suicide - a fiequently occurring narrative ploy to enhance the dramatic character of the situation.'' Despite the exhortations of the apostle to control himself, he fell to the ground and died. The apostle then healed Cleopatra who in turn resurrected her husband. After Lycomedes had recovered, he charged a painter with making a portrait of John, which he installed in his bedroom in front of an altar, surrounded by candles and wreathed with garlands. Irenaeus, a contemporary (see Appendix) of ASS author, informs us that Carpocratian gnostics wreathed and worshipped portraits of Jesus, Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle and other philosophers ( A h . haer. 1.25.6), and Augustine mentions that a certain Marcella from the same sect worshipped Homer, Pythagoras and Jesus and burned incense in front of their images (De haer. 7). Lycomedes' altar will have served a similar purpose.13 In this passage, then, there

1 1 Cf. Xen. Eph. I . 1 and F. Letoublon, Les l i e n communs du roman. St6riotypes grecs d'aventure et d'amour (Leiden, 1993) 114-7 (young: this element is not mentioned by Junod and Kaestli, AI, 165, 441f), 119-

26 (beautiful, noble). 12 B. Wesseling, Leven, Liefde en Dood: motieven in antieke romans (Diss. Groningen, 1993) 73-119. 13 This worship of portraits is clearly of Greek origin and was introduced by the Epicureans, cf. B. Frischer, The Sculpted Word (Berkeley, Los Angeles and London, 1982). In the course of time the custom seems to have merged with the Roman ritual of worshipping important 'gurus' in a lararium, cf. A.D. Nock, Essays on Religion and the Ancient World 11, ed. Z . Stewart (Oxford, 1972) 669 (where this passage is absent); S. Settis, 'Severo Alessandro e i suoi Lari (S.H.A., S.A., 29, 2-3)', Athenaeum 50 (1972) 237-51; J.D. Breckenridge, 'Apocrypha of Early Christian

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seems to be a polemic going on against gnostic sects who to a certain extent competed for the same followers as more orthodox Christianity, not least for women.I4 In this episode the difference in behaviour between husband and wife is rather striking. Lycomedes is weak, grovels at the feet of the apostle and dies from grief. Cleopatra, on the other hand, is firm and the apostle saw her 'neither raging from grief nor being outside herself, although she also grieved for her partner. In fact, it is explicitly said that because of her controlled behaviour the apostle had pity on Cleopatra and prayed to Christ on her behalf. Moreover, he allowed her to resurrect her own husband," and she did not relapse into pagan practices. Clearly, the author of AJ pictures Cleopatra both as more in control of herself and as a firmer follower of Christ than her husband. Fortunately, the chapters about the relationship between Lycomedes and Cleopatra have survived almost completely,'6 unlike those about Andronicus and Drusiana, the other couple who appear as protagonists in the Acts of John.

Andronicus and Drusiana (63-86) When John returned to Ephesus for the last time, he was accompanied by Andronicus and Drusiana (a married couple), Aristobula,

Portraiture', Byz. Zs. 67 (1974) 101-9. 14 For gnostics and women see J.E. Goehring, 'Libertine or Liberated: Women in the So-called Libertine Gnostic Communities', in K.L. King (ed), Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism (Philadelphia, 1988) 329-44, repr. in D.M. Scholer (ed), Women in Early Christianity (New York and London, 1993) 183-98; H. Havelaar, 'Sofia en Maria Magdalena. Twee vrouwenfiguren in gnostische teksten', in D. van Paassen and A. Passenier (eds), Op zoek naar vrouwen in ketterij en sekte (Kampen, 1993) 25-40. 15 P. Schneider, The Mystery of the Acts of John (San Francisco, 1991) 24 curiously states that 'Lykomedes had only fainted'. This contradicts the explicit testimony of the text that he had died (23: nenekromtnon). 16 But see Junod & Kaestli, AI, on 25.3, 29.10, 19.

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'who had learnt that her husband Tertullus had died in the Way (of Christ)', Aristippe and Xenophon, and the 'chaste prostitute' (59). Allusions in later literature strongly suggest that they all played a role in the original AJ," but only some episodes about Andronicus and Drusiana have survived the 'editing' and censorship of previous centuries. The introduction of Drusiana has been lost, but we may assume that she, like Cleopatra, was a young woman, since Callimachus, who has fallen in love with her (below), is also described as a young man (71, 73, 76) - love for an older woman is hardly probable in these novels. Andronicus' age is not mentioned, but he is described as a strategos, like Lycomedes, and he is 'protos of the Ephesians at that time' (31).18 Junod and Kaestli translate this qualification with 'un notable', but this insufficiently brings out the agonistic flavour of the tern: Andronicus is a 'leading citizen' (Schaferdiek) of the town. From allusions in the Manichaean Coptic Psalter it appears that after her conversion Andronicus had locked up Drusiana and John together in a tomb.19 After two weeks they were released, the husband also converted and the couple started to live together as brother and sister (63)." Does this relationship to some extent reflect contemporary events? It is clear that an ascetic trait runs through all of the Acts, but contemporary notices about ascetic couples are unfortunately lacking. The negative influence of conversion on mixed pagan-Christian marriages, however, can be parallelled in 'real life': Justin relates the story of an anonymous Roman matrona who afier her conversion

17 Junod & Kaestli, AI, 94-6. 18 The expression strongly reminds of the honorary title 'first of the citizens', which was especially, but not exclusively, popular in Palestine. Cf. F. Vattioni, ' A proposito di protopolites', Stud Pap. 16 (1977) 23-29 (add SEG 38.1586); M. Blume, 'A propos de P.Oxy. I, 41', in L. Criscuolo and G. Geraci (eds), Egitto e Storia Antica dall' Ellenismo all' etd Araba. Bilancio di un confront0 (Bologna, 1989) 271-90, esp. 286. 19 Junod & Kaestli, AI 549, rightly point to the novel for this motif; add Letoublon, L i e n communs, 74-8. 20 Junod & Kaestli, AI, 86-91.

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divorced her husband for his 'sinful' life and whose Christian teacher was subsequently executed (Ap. 2.2). In the surviving parts of A J we are told that Callimachus, also 'protos of the Ephesians', fell in love with Drusiana. But as he did not succeed in winning her favours, he fell in a state of melancholy. This distressed Drusiana to such an extent that she fell ill and, rather improbably, died 'because of the bruising of the soul of that man'. Andronicus also grieved too much, if not to the same degree as Lycomedes. He regularly burst into tears in the company of others so that John repeatedly had to silence him. After her burial, Drusiana was not yet free from her 'lover'. On the contrary, together with Fortunatus, the corrupt steward of Andronicus, Callimachus broke into the grave of Drusiana in order to commit necrophilia. When they were on the point of removing the last garment, the rather expensive dikrossion (Appendix), a huge snake suddenly appeared from nowhere, fatally bit the steward and remained on Callimachus after he had fallen to the ground. The next day Andronicus, John and some other brothers went to the grave. On arrival, the apostle opened the doors of the grave by a simple order as they had forgotten the keys. The motif of automatically opening doors derives from pagan literature,2' as does another detail in this scene. When they entered the grave, they saw an attractive young man who was smiling. The same smiling youth is also encountered in the Acts of Paul, where a youth of great beauty appeared smiling and loosened Paul's bonds (7), and in the Acts of Peter, where Jesus appeared smiling to Peter in his prison (16). The motif is well known from pagan epiphanies where the appearing divinity traditionally smiles to reassure anxious mortals.22 Erik Peterson has argued that when Christ appeared as youth, he appeared as the child that Adam was

21 The classic study is 0. Weinreich, Religionsgeschichtliche Studien (Darmstadt, 1968) 45-290 (1929'). For more passages and the most recent bibliography see J.J. Smoolenaars, Statius Thebaid VII: a commenf a y (Leiden, 1994) 40f. 22 Many parallels: 0. Weinreich, Antike Heilungswunder (Giessen, 1909) 31-12;M. Puelma, Mus. Helv. 17 (1960) 149.

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before the Fall.23 This explanation, however, is hardly persuasive and the motif deserves further attention. Andronicus considered Fortunatus unworthy of being saved but asked John to resurrect Callimachus in order that he should confess exactly what had happened, not, we may observe, so that he should convert. Drusiana, on the other hand, generously asked the apostle to resurrect Fortunatus as well, even though Callimachus opposed her request. When John charged her to do so she performed the resurrection with enthusiasm, but not before she had pronounced a prayer in which she mentioned Andronicus' earlier violence towards her. As in the case of Cleopatra, then, she is represented in a more favourable light than her husband.

Old women and widows (30-7) In addition to the two couples we have discussed, the surviving part of AJ also shows us John actively engaged on behalf of old women. He ordered Verus to bring to him all the old women of Ephesus in order to care for them. When he heard how many of them were in an ill state of health, he told Verus to bring them to the theatre, so that he could heal them there and thus also convert some of the spectators through these healings. This connection between healing and conversion is not unique in Christian texts and deserves a small excursus. In his study of the first stages of Christianisation, Ramsay MacMullen attaches great weight to exorcism and miracles as one of the means of attracting converts.24 'We should', according to him, 'assign as much weight to this, the chief instrument of conversion, as the best, earliest reporters do'. On closer inspection, these reporters - note the use of a term which suggests well-informed eyewitnesses - turn out to be the early Christian apolog-

23 E. Peterson, Friihkirche, Judentum und Gnosis (Freiburg, 1959) 18996.

24 R. MacMullen, Christianizing the Roman Empire (New Haven, 1984) 27.

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ists. And indeed, their claims were not negligible. Justin boasted that 'many persons possessed by demons, everywhere in the world and in our own city, have been exorcized by many of our Christian men' (I1 Ap. 6); Irenaeus asserted that 'some people incontestably and truly (note the defensive tone!) drive out demons, so that those very persons, who have been purified of evil spirits, often become believers and become members of the Church' (Adv. haer. 2.32.4), and Tertullian even issued the challenge 'let a man be produced right here before your (viz. the emperor's) court who, it is clear, is possessed by a demon, and that spirit, commanded by any (!) Christian at all, will as much confess himself a demon, which is true, as, by lying, he will elsewhere profess himself a "god"' (Apol. 23.4). In the light of this evidence, it is hardly surprising that Lane Fox observes that 'the fame of the Christian exorcists was widely k n o ~ n . ' ~But ' was it? In fact, Lane Fox seems to have his doubts, since he raises some objections against the efficacity of this kind of miracle. He rightly observes that we know of no historical case when a miracle or exorcism turned an individual, let alone a crowd, to the Christian faith, and he quotes Justin who in the 130s observed that miracles only impress eyewitnesses (Dial. 60.6).26 Should we not go even further? When we look more precisely at the claims of the Christian apologists we cannot be but struck by the vagueness of their utterances. Nobody ever cites a specific case. Irenaeus wrote that miracles were still frequent in his time (Adv. haer. 2.32.4), but as Lane Fox rightly observes, his claim that 'even dead bodies have been resurrected and they stayed with us for a good many years', does not improve his credibility. Theophilus, an apologist in the 180s, observes only that exorcisms worked 'sometimes and even today' (Ad Autol. 2.8), and Origen is hardly more precise: 'If I put in writing all those cases I have been present at myself, I would make myself a laughing-stock for the unbelievers, who would think that I myself had made up these stories, like those others they suspect of having 25 26

R. Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians (Hmondsworth, 1986) 328. Compare A J 2.23, 4.48, 6.14-15.30, 12.9, 18.

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made up such tales' (C. Cels. 1.46). In fact, there is a powerful argument which deters us from accepting exorcism as an important factor in the conversion to Christianity. Before Constantine, very little open advertising of Christianity is attested. Conversion by exorcism therefore could hardly have taken place in front of large crowds, and it is very hard to believe that the rather steep rise of Christianity was due to a secret army of exorcists going from door to door in order to win converts. The fame of Christian exorcism, of which Lane Fox spoke, only existed, accordingly, in the imagination of the Christians. I do not want to deny the existence of Christian exorcists, but their prominence was, so to speak, not so much a question of fame but rather of claim. This claim finds its explanation in the contemporary religious situation. The increasing distance between believer and god in the Hellenistic-Roman period went hand in hand with an exaltation of the powers of that god. Building on the Jewish tradition, the early Christians focussed on mental health rather than bodily welfare. Their special focus may well have been a felicitous one in a period in which mental health seems to have come more under stress than in the previous era, but it is impossible even to be remotely precise in this respect. The fact remains that in their praises of their own medical efficacity the Christian apologists had merely joined the chorus of those who praised the powers of their own particular god. It is this typically 'Hellenistic', aretalogical aspect of the new faith which explains the claims made for healing powers. Compared with the early Christian apologists this aspect is rather exaggerated in the AAA, where the apostles perform all kinds of miracles, including raising the dead, the most spectacular feat of religious power, and healing the ill en masse as John proposed to do in Ephesus. There is, then, a strong missionary aspect to these Acts. Let us now return to the apostle and the old women. When the masses of Ephesus heard of his plan, they were already queuing up during the night in order not to miss the spectacle. Rosa Soder has rightly observed that in the Acts the 'crowd' is a recurrent topos in descriptions of miracles and serves to enhance the dramatic character of many scenes. Yet these crowds were not only a literary

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phenomenon but must also have reflected contemporary behaviour, as is well illustrated by a scene in the Martyrdom of Pionius. When Pionius and his fellow Christians were led off after their arrest wearing chains, 'quickly, as if for an unexpected spectacle, a crowd rushed up so that they jostled one another. And when they arrived at the Agora, at the eastern Stoa and the double gate, the whole of the Agora and the upper porticoes were filled with Greeks and Jews, and even women'.27 Soder has also drawn attention to the prominence of the theatre in these descriptions. This motif, too, reflects a contemporary phenomenon, viz. the enormous popularity of the theatre in Imperial times which gradually replaced the agora as the meeting place for the a~sernbly.~' When the old women and the crowd were assembled, John harangued his audience with a long sermon, in which he threatened his audience with the Last Judgment. The threat was apparently such a stock-in-trade part of early Christian preaching that even Celsus had noted that Christians 'threaten others with these punishments' (C. Cels. 8.48). According to Lane Fox, 'there was an ample place ... for plain fear in Christian conversions, and Christian authors did not neglect it: their martyrs' words on hell and the coming Judgment were believed to be an advertisement every bit as effective as their example at the stake.'29 Although Lane Fox is probably right that the threat was intended to support the plea for conversion, he provides not a single example to support his statement that the threat did actually work. Yet there can be no doubt that the early Christians had internalised the fear of the Last Judgment to an extent that is unthinkable today, as the following example may illustrate. The Carthaginian group of

27 Mart. Pion. 3, cf. L. Robert, Le mariyre de Pionios, prgtre de Smyrne (Washington, 1994) 54f, who does not comment upon the remarkable presence of the women. 28 Crowd and theatre: Soder, Apoktyphen Apostelgeschichten, 158-62; note also S. Said, 'The City in the Greek Novel', in J. Tatum (ed), The Search for the Ancient Novel (Baltimore, 1994) 216-36, esp. 221f. 29 Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians, 326ff; see also R. MacMullen, Changes in the Roman Empire (Princeton, 1990) 136.

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martyrs around Perpetua threatened those pagans who had come to their prison to jeer at them 'with God's judgment, stressing the joy they would have in their own suffering, and ridiculing the curiosity of those that came to see them'. John's words, then, clearly reflected contemporary Christian thinking in this respect.30 When the apostle had finished his sermon, he healed the illnessess, but, unfortunately, the conclusion of the episode has been lost and we simply do not know what happened afterwards. Presumably, the old women and many spectators converted and accepted the new faith. Curiously, Junod and Kaestli pay no attention at all to the fact that the apostle cures old women, although this is a most remarkable feature of the episode. Old women had joined the Christian movement from the very beginning, as the pseudo-Pauline Letter to Titus shows (2.3), but in Greek and Roman society old women were in many ways at the bottom of the social scale. They were the butt of Attic comic mockery; Hellenistic sculptors frequently represented them as drunks; and Romans typically represented witches as old ~omen.~ In' concentrating on old women, then, the early Christians showed compassion for a social category which was despised and which must have often been in dire circumstances. It is interesting that even contemporary pagans noted this concern for old women. In a book which he wrote around 165 about the self-immolation of the philosopher P e r e g r i n u ~ ,the ~ ~ satirist Lucian mentions 'old crones' among his visitors in prison (12). Lucian clearly satirised their prominent position among the Christians, but he did

30 P. Perp. 17; see also Mart. Pol. 11.2; Mart. Ptolemaei et Lucii 2; Mart. Lugd. 26; Mart. Agape etc. 4. 31 Cf. Bremmer, 'The Old Women of Ancient Greece', in J. Blok & P. Mason (eds), Sexual Asymmetry. Studies in Ancient Society (Amsterdam, 1987) 191-215; S. Pfisterer-Haas, Darstellungen alter Frauen in der griechischen Kunst (New York, 1989); P. Zanker, Die trunkene Alte (Frankfurt, 1989); H . Wrede, 'Matronen im Kult des Dionysos', Rom. Mitt. 88 (1991) 164-88. 32 Cf. C.P. Jones, Culture and Society in Lucian (Cambridge Mass., 1986) 117-32.

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not realise that he was witnessing a slow revolution in the ancient value-system, which would soon develop into a tidal wave. Old women also play a small role in an episode of AJ which has only recently been recovered from an Old Irish text. According to the fourteenth-century Liber Flavus Fergusiorum, 'very many pious nuns, widows, and such holy persons following John' lived from the alms which the apostle received from his fellow Christians. When they complained continuously about their small portions and accused the apostle of embezzling charitable donations, he changed hay into gold which he subsequently threw into the sea. In this way he showed the 'hypocritical widows' that he did not need any wealth and had given them every penny of the alms he had received.33 The attention given to widows may surprise, but charity towards widows was an important activity in second-century Christianity. In the Acts of Peter we hear of a certain Marcellus who was the 'refuge' of all the widows in town (8). Peter heals some blind, old widows (21), and after he resurrects the son of a senator, the mother wants to distribute some of her property to her newly freed slaves, but the apostle tells her to distribute the remainder among the widows (28). In the Acts of Paul a father sold his possessions and 'brought the price to the widows', after Paul had resurrected his son (4). In Rome in the first half of the second century some Christians even tried to profit from this charity: Hermas saw in his visions a mountain with snakes and other wild animals, which were meant for those deacons who had embezzled money destined for widows: some of the deacons, who did the day-to-day work of charity whilst the bishop had the final responsibility, clearly lived in style at the expense of the congregational funds.34In fact, charity must have been reasonably 'big business',

33 M. Herbert & M. McNamara, Irish Biblical Apocypha. Selected Texts in Translation (Edinburgh, 1989) 93, whose translation slightly differs from that in Junod & Kaestli, AI, 114f. 34 Cf. Sim. IX.26.2 (deacons) and 27.2 (bishops); Just. Ap. 67.7 (deacons); M. Leutzsch, Die Wahrnehmung sozialer Wirklichkeit im 'Hirten des Hermas' (Gottingen, 1987) 73f, 135, 161.

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since around 250 bishop Cornelius proudly mentioned that the congregation supported 1500 widows and other needy person^.^' Not every Christian, though, was pleased with the special treatment of widows, which so strongly contradicted prevailing values. The anonymous author of a popular Apocalypse of Peter, which perhaps originated in Egypt about 135, understood this negative feeling well and therefore included in his description of Hell the following warning: In another place situated near them, on the stone a pillar of fire (?), and the pillar is sharper than words - men and women who are clad in rags and filthy garments, and they are cast upon it, to suffer the judgment of unceasing torture. These are they who trusted in their riches and despised widows and the woman (with) orphans...in the sight of God (9). The wealthy who despised widows were not alone in their contempt. As in the case of the old women (above), Lucian also mentions, presumably with a sneer, the presence of widows among the visitors to Peregrinus. For the upper classes this interest was indeed absurd, but the organisation involved in charity must have been an important factor in the overall organisational strength of the early

Conclusion What have we learned, then, about the place of women in the

35 Eus. HE. 6.43. For the importance of charity for the development of the Christian church in Late Antiquity see Peter Brown, Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards a Christian Empire (Madison, 1992) 78-103. 36 For the widows see more in detail J.-U. Krause, Witwen und Waisen im Romischen Reich, 2 vls (Heidelberg, 1994); Bremmer, 'Pauper or Patroness: the widow in the early Christian Church', in J. Bremmer and L. van den Bosch (eds), Between Poverty and the Pyre. Moments in the History of Widowhood (London, 1995) 31-57.

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production, reception and text of AS! In itself, it would not be impossible for a woman to have been the author, since many women in the Roman period could read and write,37 but in fact very few women are known to have written prose fiction in antiquity.18 The simple fact of a sympathetic treatment of women in a piece of writing does not necessarily make the author a woman.39 Moreover, the treatment of women in A J is rather varied. Whereas upper-class women play an active role, old women are only an object of the apostle's actions, and widows are even severely reproached. Clearly, AJ reflects in this respect the normal hierarchical views of the Greco-Roman upper classes and, thus, are hardly the product of a community of egalitarian 'sisters'. Similarly, Burrus' idea of an oral background for some of the stories in AJ, notably that about Drusiana, will hardly stand a critical test, since the stories are too poorly informed about Ephesus for such an origin to be ~redible.~' If female authorship, then, is not immediately probable, what about its readership? In the study of the Greek novel, female ' female readership has lost much of its earlier p ~ p u l a r i t y . ~Yet readership can hardly be excluded, since throughout the Greek

37 Cf. S.G. Cole, 'Could Greek Women Read and Write?', in H. Foley (ed), Reflections of Women in Antiquity (New York and London, 1981) 219-45; add the Christian examples in Bremmer, 'Why Did Christianity Attract Upper-Class Women?', in A. Bastiaensen, A. Hilhorst, C. Kneepkens (eds), Fructus centesimus. Mklanges Gerard J.M. Bartelink.. (Steenbrugge and Dordrecht, 1989, 37-47) 42f. 38 Cf. Bowie, 'The Readership of Greek Novels', 438f. 39 See the objections to Davies' thesis in M. Lefkowitz, 'Did Ancient Women Write Novels?', and R. Kraemer, 'Women's Authorship of Jewish and Christian Literature in the Greco-Roman Period', in Levine, "Women Like This'', 199-219 and 221-42. 40 Persuasively argued by K. Schaferdiek, 'Herkunft und Interesse der alten Johannesakten', ZNW 74 (1983) 247-67. H. Engelmann, 'Ephesos und die Johannesakten', ZPE 103 (1994) 297-302 is not convincing. 41 Cf. B. Wesseling, 'The Audience of the Ancient Novel', in Hofmann, Groningen Colloquia I, 67-79; S.A. Stephens, 'Who read ancient novels?', in Tatum, The Search for the Ancient Novel, 405-18.

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novel women are represented as literate and, for example, in Chariton's Callirhoe they also form part of the internal audien~ e . ~In' the case of AJ a female readership certainly seems to have been one of the target audiences of the if only since the readership of the Acts of Paul (and Thecla?) included women (below). But there are other indications as well. In AJ the two heroines are clearly depicted as far superior to their husbands: Cleopatra does not relapse into pagan practices, unlike Lycomedes, and Dmsiana is not only more in control of herself but also resurrects her husband, not vice versa. AJ, then, allowed upper-class women clear possibilities for identification and this strongly points to female readership; considering the nature of Greco-Roman literacy, such readers were by definition members of the middle and ~ ~ p e r - c l a s s e sIndeed, . ~ ~ it would be strange if it had been otherwise, since in the first centuries women seem to have constituted the majority of Christian member~hip.~' Did AJ also suggest a 'liberated life-style to Whereas Cleopatra and Lycomedes presumably led a normal married life, Drusiana and Andronicus have renounced sexuality in their relationship. Apparently, the author left both possibilities open to married couples. In this connection there is a further scene we should consider (48-55). Before he left Ephesus for Smyrna, John met a young man who had fallen in love with his neighbour's 7

42 Cf. B. Egger, 'Looking at Chariton's Callirhoe', in J.R. Morgan and R. Stoneman (eds), Greek Fiction. The Greek Novel in Context (London and New York, 1994) 31-48, esp. 35f. 43 As was already observed long ago for the AAA in general by F. Pfister, in E. Hennecke (ed), Neutestarnentliche Apokryphen (Tubingen, 19242)169. 44 Contra P. Lampe, Die stadtrornischen Christen in den ersten beiden Jahrhunderten (Tubingen, 1989*)102. 45 A. von Harnack, Die Mission und Ausbreitung des Christenturns, 1902' (Berlin, 19244)589-61 1 ; Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians, 310. 46 For the contemporary life of upper-class married women see M.Th. Raepsaet-Charlier, 'La vie familiale des Blites dans la Rome impkriale: le droit et la pratique', Cahiers du Centre G. Glotz 5 (1994) 165-97.

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Irritated by his father's warning against this liaison, he kicked him to death. Junod and Kaestli insufficiently bring out the evil character of this deed. For Greeks and Romans parricide was perhaps the most appalling crime imaginable - witness the myth of Oedipus, whose parricide led to incest with his mother.48 The story therefore has a strong moralistic flavour. Moreover, the parricide subsequently led to the self-castration of the young man, since after John had resurrected his father the man cut off his testicles and threw them before his former girl friend.49 It seems noteworthy that although John disapproved of this act, nevertheless he did not heal the youth but accepted him as he was. In other words, if AJ offered an alternative life style to women, it also suggested a life of continence for men. Finally, the prominent position of the women will also have had a certain missionary appeal among Greek and Roman women. It is important to stress the inclusion of the latter in AJ, since in the Greek novel the Roman world is mostly carefully eliminated. AJ, however, mentions a proconsul (31) and contains a number of Roman names: Marcellus, Tertullus, Fortunatus, and Drusiana, a most unusual but unmistakably Roman name.'' In the earliest stages of Christianity, these women could occupy influential positions to a degree unheard of in contemporary pagan religions

47 Considering the hostile attitude towards the country in most Greek novels, we may notice that the young man is explicitly described as coming from the chora (48), cf. E. Bowie, 'The novels and the real world', in B. Reardon (ed), Erotica Antiqua (Bangor, 1976) 91-6, esp. 94f. 48 Cf. Bremmer (ed), Interpretations of Greek Mythology (London, 1 9882)49-51. 49 For the connection between youth and castration see Nock, Essays I, 476f. 50 I have been able to find only one other instance of this name, viz. Dmsiana, the daughter of M. Flavius Drusianus (CIL 6.1414: c. 200 AD). Dio Cassius 57.13.1 mentions that the sharpest swords were called 'Dmsiana', but this does not seem relevant in our case.

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or Judaism," as still sometimes today in modem although a reaction against this more active role set in at an early stage.53 In fact, if w e can trust the transmitted text o f Tertullian's De baptismo (17.5),54 certain Carthaginian women invoked the Acts of Paul (and Thecla?) t o claim the right to instruct and t o baptise. Evidently, a certain 'liberating' effect o f the AAA can not be denied."

Appendix: date and place of composition of AJ Until now little agreement has been reached regarding the place and time of composition of the AAA, as AJ strikingly illustrates: Junod and Kaestli argue for Egypt about the middle of the second

51 Pagan religions and Christianity: Bremmer, 'Christianity and Upperclass Women'; J. Hidalgo de la Vega, 'Mujeres, carisma y castidad en el cristianismo primitive', Gerihn 11 (1993) 229-44; A. Buelman and R. Frei-Stolba, 'Les flaminiques du Culte impkrial: contribution au r6le de la femme dans I'empire romain', ~ t u d e sde Lettres 1994, 114-26. Judaism: see the balanced view by P.W. van der Horst, Hellenism-JudaismChristianity. Essays on Their Interaction (Kampen, 1994) 73-95, although women were perhaps not as important as leaders of synagogues as he suggests, cf. T. Rajak and D. Noy, 'Archisynagogoi: Office, Title and Social Status in the Greco-Jewish Synagogue', J. Roman Stud. 83 (1993) 75-93; see now also Van der Horst, 'Images of Women in Ancient Judaism', in R. Kloppenborg and W.J. Hanegraaff (eds), Female Stereovpes in Religious Traditions (Leiden, 1995) 43-60. 52 G. Kosack, 'Christianisierung - Ein Schritt zur Emanzipation? Die Bedeutung der Religion f i r die Mafa-Frauen (Nordkamerun)', Anthropos 90 (1995) 206-17. 53 Cf. R. Niirnberg, 'Non decet neque necessarium est, ut mulieres doceant. ~berlegungenzum altkirchlichen Lehrverbot f i r Frauen', Jahrb. j: Ant. u. Christ. 31 (1988) 57-73; K.J. Toresen, 'Tertullian's "Political Ecclesiology" and Women's Leadership', Studia patristica 2 1 (1989) 277-82; E.M. Synek, 'In der Kirche moge sie schweigen', Oriens Christianus 77 (1993) 151-64. 54 Cf. W. Rordorf, Lex orandi - Lex credendi (Freiburg, 1993) 475-84. 55 Contra Dunn, 'Women's Liberation'.

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century, Klijn suggests Asia Minor about AD 200, and Schaferdiek Syria somewhere in the third ~ e n t u r y . ' ~Junod and Kaestli have suggested the middle of the second century on the basis of the prominence of Asia Minor and Ephesus in John's activities, whereas Schaferdiek thinks of the third century on the grounds that it is cited first by Eusebius and the Manichaeans. The latter argument is hardly convincing, since the 'profane' Greek novels are equally little mentioned by other authors and were clearly not very popular, as is shown by the limited number of papyri found; moreover, the use of the AAA by the Manichaeans hardly supports such a late date." The former argument is equally unpersuasive because Asia Minor and Ephesus are prominent since the Acts of the Apostles at least. I would therefore like to draw attention to the prominence of old women and widows in the text. The special interest in these socially marginal categories seems to fit the second century better than the third, when Christianity was already growing explosively and making strong inroads into the higher layers of Greco-Roman society. Regarding the place of composition of the AJ, Junod and Kaestli have argued strongly for Egypt, perhaps Alexandria.'' Their view is based on doctrinal parallels between AJ and pagan and Christian Egyptian authors as well as the frequency of a typically Egyptian garment, the dikrossion (71, 74, 80, lll).59 The

56 Junod & Kaestli, AI, 689-700; Klijn, Apokriefen, 13f; Schaferdiek, NTA 11, 152-6. The problem is left open by Rordorf, Lex orandi, 440f. 57 Papyri: Stephens, 'Who read ancient novels?', and Ewen Bowie, 'The Readership of Greek Novels in the Ancient World,' in Tatum, The Search for the Ancient Novel, 435-59. Manichaeans: K. Rudolph, 'Das fifihe Christentum in agypten: Zwischen Haresie und Orthodoxie', in D. Willers et al., Begegnung von Heidentum und Christentum im spatantiken k'gypten = Riggisberger Berichte 1 (Riggisberg, 1993) 21-3 1 , esp. 24n19; Jenkins, this volume, Ch. XI. 58 Junod and Kaestli, AI, 689-94. 59 Since the editio maior of Junod & Kaestli, the very rare term dikrossion has now turned up in a Ptolemaic papyrus: W.A.M. Liesker

and A.M. Tromp, 'Zwei ptolemaische Papyri aus der Wiener Papyrus-

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latter argument is especially strong, since a non-Egyptian author might have borrowed ideas from the Alexandrian theologians but would hardly have introduced an Egyptian garment in a non-Egyptian surrounding. We may perhaps add to their arguments that, as the papyri show,60 John's Gospel was the most popular of the canonical Gospels in Egypt; the combination mbnos sti (51.12) also is a typically Egyptian, acclamatory e ~ ~ r e s s i o n Equally, .~' there are some indications that the Greek novel originated in Egypt.62 If AJ was the oldest of the AAA,63 an origin in Egypt would fit neatly with other indications in that direction. However, the problem of the chronological relationship of the various AAA is not yet settled. After the rather arbitrary treatment of this problem by previous generations of scholars, valuable arguments have recently been offered for the priority of the Acts of Paul and the Acts of Peter.64 The debate is still open.65

sammlung', ZPE 66 (1986) 79-89, esp. 81. ~ Neuen Testaments und 60 K. Aland, Studien zur ~ b e r l i e f e r u n des seines Textes (Berlin, 1967) 99-103, updated and corrected by S.R. Llewelyn (ed), New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity 7 (Macquarie, 1994) 246, 257-9. 61 Cf. Isidorus 1.23; C.H. Gordon, 'His Name is 'One',' J. Near Eastern Stud. 29 (1970) 198f; H.S. Versnel, Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion I (Leiden, 1990) 213. Kaestli & Junod wrongly translate mbnos szi with 'toi seul (le peux)'. 62 J. Tait, 'Egyptian Fiction in Demotic and Greek', in Morgan and Stoneman, Greek Fiction, 203-22; but see also S.A. Stephens and J.J. Winkler, Ancient Greek Novels: the fragments (Princeton, 1995) 12-8. 63 As is suggested by Junod & Kaestli, AI, 694-700. 64 Cf. F. Stanley Jones, 'Principal Orientations on the Relations between the Apocryphal Acts (Acts of Paul and Acts of John, Acts of Peter and Acts of John)', SBL Seminar Papers 1993, 485-505; D.R. MacDonald, 'The Acts of Paul and The Acts of John: Which Came First?' and 'The Acts of Peter and The Acts of John: Which Came First?'; J.B. Perkins, 'The Acts ofPeter as Intertext: Response to Dennis MacDonald', Ibidem, 506-10, 623-6, 627-33. 65 I am most grateful to Ton Hilhorst for his observations and to Ken Dowden for his helpful correction of my English.

IV. Old Testament quotations in the Acts of Andrew and John I S T VA N KARASSZON

In an ancient Hungarian proverb we are informed about the significance of the quotations in one's literary activity: 'Show me your library, and I will tell you who you are!' Quotations in ancient religious documents are testimonies to the theological standpoint of the respective authors, and their research is instructive with regard to their position in the development of the tradition. The task of reviewing Old Testament quotations in the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (AAA) is overdue; we try to fill this gap and, by way of comparison, we quote the LXX and Vulgate alongside with the text of Acts of John (AJ), the Acts of Andrew (AA), and Gregory of Tours' reworking of the Acts of Andrew in his Liber de miraculis (VA).' Old Testament quotations in the AAA are conspicuous by their paucity. This is true, not only in comparison with the New Testament, but also in the light of the commentaries of the Church Fathers. The ways and methods of quoting the Old Testament in the New Testament is a subject in itself which, in its turn, has been treated a couple of times; so it is no use dealing with it again.2 Thus much, however, must be said that the New Testa-

1 All quotations of VA and AA are according to the edition of J.-M. Prieur, Acta Andreae (Turnhout, 1989). 2 Old Testament quotations in the New Testament are, of course, far from being uniform. I think that the description of The Interpreter's Dictionav of the Bible I11 (Nashville, 1962) 977 is still valid and worth quoting: 'In general, the purpose of quoting the OT is to secure confirmation of some NT statements by an authority respected by Jews, Chris-

58

ISWAN KARASSZON

ment writings needed Old Testament quotations for purposes of legitimacy, in order to guarantee continuity within both Testaments. That is why the New Testament authors often used the scheme of promise and fulfilment: Old Testament promises are fulfilled in New Testament events, first of all in the historical . ~ is depicted with event of the earthly activity of Jesus C h r i ~ t This lucidity in Lk 4.22, in the account of the first sermon of Jesus Christ in Nazareth. After having read the text of Isaiah, the anointed one spoke: 'Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing'. The issue is quite different in the commentaries of the Church Fathers. Most recently, F. Bovon published an investigation into the missionary speeches of Jesus in the AAA and drew our attention to the basic difference between the Acts and the Fathers' homilies: 'Un exkgbte de 17AntiquitC... recherche et souligne I'harmonie entre les ordonnances de JCsus et I'Ancien Testament'. By way of example he quotes Cyril of Alexandria who explains the commission of Jesus' disciples by citing Jeremiah: the difference between the true and false prophets is actualised in his homily, so that both Testaments form a unity in his sermon. Bovon asserts that nothing of this can be found in the apocryphal Acts: 'lorsque I'envoi des disciples ou des ap8tres n'est pas placC a la lumibre de I'Ancien Testament, il n'est pas rattache non plus a une autre rkalisation historique dans la vie des a p h e s , mais A d'autres sentences de JCsus I~i-mEme'.~

tians, and God-fearing Gentiles... What is thereby confirmed may be a matter of conduct..., a general principle..., or a theological insight...' 3 I am fully aware that this overall picture of the New Testament must be specified. However, it was not by chance that the former generation of theologians took the scheme promise-fulfilment as a model, even if this model is criticised and does not take hold any more without reservations. A brief sketch of the research is to be found in G.F. Hasel, New Testament Theology: basic issues in the current debate (Grand Rapids, 1978) especially 193-5. 4 F. Bovon: 'Le discours missionnaire de J6sus: r6ctption patristique et . Rel. 68 (1993) 481-97, esp. 483, 484. narration apocryphe', ~ t Thkol.

OLD TESTAMENT QUOTATIONS

59

The present paper aims at answering the question put by this remarkable fact: why this disregard for the Old Testament in the AAA? Did the authors forget one part of the Bible or do we have to look for special theological reasons behind their attitude? Without anticipating our final results, the second answer seems to be more realistic than the first one; in that case, however, we have to make clear-cut differences between the theology of the Church Fathers and the AAA. Is this endeavour legitimate? If not, the differences consist only in the methods of demonstration, not so much in their contents. Whatever the definite answer will be, we firmly hope that our investigations will provide colleagues with a solid basis for further research. 1. VA 1 1.25-27 Non nos nuptias aut avertirnus aut vitamus, cum ab initio Deus masculum iungi praecipisset et ferninam, sed potius incesta damnamus (Gen 2.24)5 'I-kn y i b - jri 't- ' b y w 't- 'mw wdbk b 'Stw E V E K E V Z O ~ T O U ~ a z a h ~ &vOpaxo< i~~t T ~ Vxa~gpa ~ a rfiv i

pqztpa a6zo0 ~ a npoo~ohhqe?fo&zat i xpbq ah00

T ~ Vyuvai~a

quam ob rem relinquet homo patrem suum et matrem et adherebit uxori suae... Fortunately enough, there is not much to explain in this text: The apostle is confronted with pagan wedding customs and alerts his followers to the Christian way of celebrating a wedding. He does not hesitate to make sure that Christianity is not against marriage; for this purpose he quotes the above passage of the Old Testament. When looking at the Masoretic text (Mi"), LXX and the Vulgate (V), we can state that the original version and the translations are unanimous (there is only one minor difference: V does not translate the suffix -6 of MT which would yield matrem suam). At first sight, however, one can see the great difference in the wording of

5

Prieur, Acta Andreae, 591. (Turnhout, 1989) 591.

60

ISTVAN KARASSZON

V and of the Latin text of VA, so that it is by no means sure that we have to do with a direct quotation. Our text is rather a loose allusion to Gen 2.24 which inserts Deus... praecipisset ('God ordered') and interrupts the text of the Bible. For the climax of this passage is surely what is omitted here: 'and they will become one flesh.' As to the theological interpretation of this passage, we want to make two remarks. First, it is true that VA quotes the Genesis correctly if it wishes to stress the power of the affection of married couples. No question that the text intended to express this emotion which is inherent to the 'nuclear family', and our text is right in looking for a justification of love and family in this text; as we read in the celebrated commentary of C. Westermann on Genesis: 'Die Liebe von Mann und Frau erhalt hier eine einzigartige Wiirdig~ng'.~ However, there is also a remarkable difference: VA understands this text as a justification of the institution of the family and tries to deduce from it the Christian principles of family-life. This is not true of the original text; once again, we quote Westermann: 'V. 24 wie V. 23 eben gerade nicht von der Ehe als Institution zur Erzeugung von Nachkommenschaft spricht, sondern von der Gemeinschaft von Mann und Frau als solcher'.' Gen 2.24 is an assertion, not an imperative. The New Testament quotes Gen 2.24, e.g. in Mc 10.7 (par Mt 14.5); the quotation is put into the mouth of Jesus Christ. The wording is according to the text of LXX (with a minor alteration). However, the context is quite different: Jesus wished to refute the social institution of divorce, and the basis of His assertion was to be found in the Tora. Of course, he cited Gen 2.24 at full length.8

6 C. Westermann, Genesis I, (Neukirchen-Vluyn, 19762) 3 18. 7 Westermann, Ibidem. 8 D. Liihrmann's commentary on Mark (Tiibingen, 1987) states: 'Da-

durch aber wird klar, d& es nicht nur um Monogamie, sondern auch um ein Scheidungsverbot geht.' We need not enter into the details of text critical problems; according to Liihrmann, the influence of Gen 2.24 and the use of LXX is beyond doubt.

OLD TESTAMENT QUOTATIONS

61

We can state then that VA moves in the opposite direction, if it wishes to justify the social institution of marriage with the same quotation. Gen 2.24 is quoted in Eph 5.31 as well. This passage tackles the issue of the marriage, just like VA - but what a difference! The christological concentration in founding Christian marriage is totally absent from VA while it is crucial to Eph. The rather conservative commentary of E.K. Simpson speaks of a 'marvellous analogy' between the nuptial bond and Christ's relation to the Church, in which 'the earthly and heavenly bridal are inextricably blended'.9 Why is this analogy put into parenthesis in VA? Not by chance, I think, but certainly on purpose: the environment of VA is not Christian and the christological analogy would not be a convenient tool to persuade people. We may then conclude that VA knows and acknowledges the Biblical text, but it is not the intention of the author to comment on the Bible, rather to justify his own position on a special topos, namely on Christian marriage. For this purpose he makes use of the text of the Bible; he does not wish to distort it, but it puts it into light of his special situation. The way of quoting is characteristic of his intention: that is why he does not quote Gen 2.24 word by word, only roughly. 2. VA 12.33 Ut quid, o viri, casso vos labore consumitis? Deus enim pugnat pro viris istis, et vos non cognoscitis? (Ex 14.25)" fi n l B m Ihm (viz. bmgvm) 6 y&p ~ d p t o qnoh&p&i'X E P ~CI\ST&V TO~)C, AiyU7tTfoU~ Deus enim pugnat pro eis contra nos The understanding of this passage is once again rather easy: the author refers to a great miracle which is a sign of God's activity; the exclamation is a rhetorical way of demonstrating the direct 9 E.K. Simpson and F.F. Bruce, The Epistles to the Ephesians and the Colossians (Grand Rapids, 1957) 13. 10 Prieur, Acta Andreae, 595.

intervention of God in history and putting a question means here certainly a strong affirmation. The original text and the translations are in harmony; especially, we can praise the translation of I in the Hebrew text: peri in Greek and p r o in Latin, i.e. 'for' and not 'with'.'' VA replaces this preposition with pro viris istis, which is an explication, not only an expansion, and refers to the representatives of Christian message present in our narrative, not to the people of God. Consequently, we have to do here with an adaptation of the Biblical text, rather than with a direct quotation or a brief comment. This is also true of the further expansion of the text, et vos non cognoseitis?, which is not part of the Biblical text, but a reaffirmation of the assertion of the first part of the sentence. The question is now at hand: was VA justified in expanding the Biblical text in this way? As we have done before, also this time we turn to a modem commentary. B.S. Childs writes: 'In the repetition of the description of Israel's crossing ... the miraculous delivery is contrasted with the destruction of the Egyptians ...'I2 The rhetoric device of the Biblical author is the contrast between Egyptians and Israelites; the defeat on the first side, and the victory on the other side display the mighty acts of Israel's God, and this narrative technique gives tension and energy to the text. In comparison with VA we have to state that precisely this narrative technique and rhetoric device were picked up by the author: we see the pagans on one side, and the Christian messengers on the other; the contrast, here too, demonstrates the power of God and the truth of the Gospel. To be sure, the Biblical quotation is not exact; we observe once again that VA does not comment on the Bible, it only cites the Bible and uses it for its own purposes. But we have to state that the expansion is done on purpose (not by chance), and the author testifies to a profound knowledge of the goal of the Biblical

11 Cf. (L. Koehler) and W. Baumgartner, Hebraisches und aramaisches Lexikon zum AIten Testament I1 (Leiden, 1977) 500. Most recently, P. Reymond, Dictionnaire d'htbreu et dTaramCen bibliques (Paris, 1991) 192. 12 B.S. Childs, Exodus (London, 1974) 227.

OLD TESTAMENT QUOTATIONS

narrative: he reproduces the point exactly.

Andreas, ego semper tecum sum et non te derelinquo (Josh 1 .5)13 'hyh 'mk I' 'rpk wl' ' i b k ( o b ~ o q )Eoopat ~ a PET$ i 006 ~ a Oi ~ K&yca.cah&lymo~ 01362 ~ X E P ~ W O O ~ EC I ~

ero et tecum, nun dimittam ne derelinquam te

One has to understand this oracle against the background of the historical setting into which VA puts the quotation: Andrew takes the decision to start and he determines that the direction should be ordered by God. Impressive is the choice of this quotation: it really comes from a new beginning, since the Biblical author depicts the outset of the conquest of Canaan by these words. Of course, the difference must not be neglected, too. This beginning in the Book of Joshua follows the former narratives of Moses; that is why the text of VA and that of MT and the translations are slightly different: the word semper must be inserted, replacing the reference to Moses (represented by ~ a ini LXX and et in V). But this minor alteration is done on purpose and fulfils the same function. On the other side, LXX and V are surely right if they translate hyha with a future (Eoopat and ero); we may ask why VA used present tense here - perhaps it wished to express God's steadfast presence with Andrew. Whatever the case might be, the ancient translations are right. Much more conspicuous is, however, that the two last verbs of the Biblical text are rendered word by word in the ancient translation, whilst VA uses only one verb: derelinquo. Modem linguistics say that the use of the two verbs in Hebrew is a pleonasm; the correct translation is, accordingly, that of VA, operating with one corresponding verb only. Here VA retains its right against the ancient translations. As to the literal and theological problems of this Biblical

13

Prieur, Acta Andreae, 619.

64

ISTVAN KARASSZON

passage, we have to do with a compound unity. First of all, the widespread notion of the divine promise to accompany a hero is referred to;I4 presumably VA wishes to pick up this notion and so it intends to join the Biblical tradition. In Josh 1.5, however, this theme is interwoven with the idea of the Holy War, and VA does not seem to realise this combination. As one of the modem commentaries states: 'The motif of divine presence frames the second half of our section ... The formula is taken up into the holy war ideology of Israel'.ls In my judgement, it is totally impossible that VA would not have known the idea of the Holy War in the theology of the Old Testament: there is such a vast Biblical material on this theme that this solution should be discarded. Rather I find that the author of VA led himself by the aims and goals of his own narrative and so he neglected one of the aspects of the quoted Biblical passage. Once again, we can state that the author picked up one of the topoi of the Old Testament which he thought to share with the Bible and used it for his special intention. This intention, however, was by no way to comment on the Biblical narrative: VA writes its own history. Let us add to all this that Josh 1.5 is quoted in Heb 13.5, too. The context is a series of virtues which should prevail when the new people of God goes its way, i.e. it will introduce a new period in history, just like in the life of Andrew. The wording is, however, different; Josh 1.5 is rendered here as follows: 06 pfi os &vQ 066' 06 pfi (JE k'y~arahtno.According to H.F. WeiR, this translation has much in common with Philo's rendering,16 so we have to do here with a further branch of the development of the textual tradition. The purpose is slightly different: Heb wishes to provide the members of the people of God with a solid basis for their behaviour. This is superfluous in Andrew's case, so it remains with the divine promise in VA. 14 Cf. H.D. PreuB, '... ich will mit dir sein!', Zs. Alttest. Wiss. 80 (1968) 139ff. 15 T.C. Butler, Joshua (Waco, 1983) 12. 16 H.F. Weiss, Der Brief an die Hebraer (Gottingen, 1991) 706.

OLD TESTAMENT QUOTATIONS

4. VA 24.51-52 Non est similis tibi, Domine (Ps 86 8; LXX: 85 8)17 Yn-kmk b 'Ihym 'dny O I ~ KEonv bpot6q o o t kv ecofq, ~ d p t € non est similis tui in diis, Domine This exclamation is the climax of a narrative about the miracle of resurrecting of dead person. Eye-witnesses to the miracle acknowledge the power and so the existence of Andrew's God; it seems that the whole story was told just to this end. VA had, of course, a great number of Biblical passages at hand expressing the same contents: the incomparability of God in the Old Testament. And it seems that he made a good choice: the context of this verse reports great tribulations (genre: individual lament)," and the comparison is strengthened by the presence of foreign nations in the subsequent verses. All this fits well into the situation of the miracle in VA, and we have good reasons to suggest that all these circumstances were considered by the author of VA before deciding in favour of our verse. In the wording there is only one important change: VA drops the word b'lhym; remarkably enough, this word is not rendered correctly in the ancient translations: 'in the gods' is clearly a Hebraism, since the right translation should be 'among the gods'. However, this is a way of translating which is common to ancient translations. About the reasons for omitting this word in VA we are reduced to speculation: perhaps the author wished to avoid the alternative of the existence of other gods in order to underline the exclusiveness of the God of Christians.Ig In the theology of Psalm 86 and that of VA, however, there are basic differences. The Psalmist does not need any miracle in his poem: the quoted exclamation is a motif of confidence ('Vertrau-

17 Prieur, Acta Andreae, 63 1. 18 H. Gunkel, Die Psalmen (Gottingen, 1926) 376: 'Das Klagelied des Einzelnen in Todesnot und Feindesbedrangnis.' 19 Gunkel, Ibidem, 377: 'Das Wort setzt eigentlich das Dasein rnehrerer Gotter voraus, die sich mit Jahwe nicht vergleichen konnen.'

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ISTVAN KARASSZON

ensmotif), even in face of the enemies and tribulations, in the structure of the psalm. The Psalmist does not intend to convert people to his God; rather he is in search of peace and rest. In this respect, VA moves far from the Old Testament. For him this exclamation is a manifesto which finds public acceptance; by the same stroke, it is the result of his Christian mission and a prelude to further missionary acts. Certainly that is the very essence of what the author intends to say: that is why VA puts this exclamation to the end of his narrative whilst the quoted verse is rather in the centre of the Psalm.

5 . VA 13.18-20 Populi autem stupebant, videntes eum post viginti tres annos ambulantem, et gIoriJicabant Deum, dicentes, quia: Non est similis deo Andreae (Is 46.9)20 ky 'nky 'I w 'yn 'wd 'Ihym ps kmwny k y 6 ~ t p 6t 8s6c,, at O I ~ KE o r t v E r t nhqv k p o O non est ultra Deus nec est similis mei All what we have said in the above paragraph is also true of this passage: after a miracle has taken place, the eye-witnesses express their acceptance of the true God; the exclamation is the climax of the narrative, indeed it is the very point of the author. However, this time we are not sure that there is a real quotation here: the ancient translations are really translations, i.e., they render the text of the Hebrew Bible in Greek and Latin. In opposition to them, VA is rather a paraphrase; the speaker in the Biblical text is God himself, but in VA the incomparability of God is confirmed by people who were present at the miracle of the healing of the young man. Perhaps the author did not wish to quote the Bible explicitly; instead he simply used Biblical terms and phraseology. Our question is here as it was above whether the author understands and interprets the Bible correctly. The first part of our

20

Prieur, Acta Andreae, 599.

OLD TESTAMENT QUOTATIONS

67

answer can be an affirmation: Yes, he was in line with the purpose of Deutero-Isaiah who referred to the mighty acts of God in order to convince his compatriots about the power of God in history. That is why he often used the example of the former deeds of Yahweh, e.g., the creation. This kind of proving God's power is the purpose of VA: it tells us about miracles which display God's activity in the course of the mission and this is a proof of his power for other people. No question: the author knew the Bible profoundly and he who cites here used the Old Testament regularly. Modem criticism, however, goes even farther. As we read in the commentary of C. Westermann on Deutero-Isaiah, the feature of the present text was that of a trial speech:2' God was accused within the framework of collective lament of forgetting His people and of being defeated by foreign gods. It is the 'Sitz im Leben' of a trial that God claims incomparability for Himself, and His former deeds will testify to His divinity. VA, in turn, does not wish to enter into trial in the name of God, and so it neglects this important aspect of the Biblical text. His goal and intention are to demonstrate the power of God which is beyond any doubt and question; finally, even outsiders accept the incomparability of God. The possibility of the existence of other gods is suppressed here, just as it was in the former passage. For this reason VA omits the word 'lhym in the second part of the sentence. Here again the goal of the narrative prevails over the Biblical narrative, but this is by no means due to a lack of the knowledge of the Bible. 6. A J 113.20 6 zQv iipyov k ~ & o r zbv q &7c&Ctov&7co6t6ob~ pto06~~~ Mt 1 6 . 2 7 ~~ a z6ze i &7co66oet & ~ & o r~qa z zfiv h xp&Ctv a6zoO Rom 2.6 65 &no66ost k ~ & o z ~ q a z zhh Epya aCzoO Prov 24.12d 65 &xo6i6ootv k ~ & o z q~ a z zhh CSpya aCzo0

C . Westermann, Isaiah 40-66 (London, 1969) 184: 'But these opening words, too, correspond to one of the parts of the trial speeches, namely, the summons to Israel to be God's witnesses.' 22 Junod & Kaestli, AI, 313.

21

68

ISTV AN KARASSZON

Ps 61.13b 6Tt 06 & x 0 6 6 0 ~ tk~K & o t ~KaT& r& Epya a13~00 This time we have not quoted MT and V; the quotations are clearly taken from LXX. This fact is quite remarkable because we did not see much affinity toward the text of LXX (in contrast to the Church Fathers). The only explanation of this might be given by the circumstance that the New Testament quotations go back to the LXX text. We can assume that the text of A J is not a quotation taken directly from LXX, but only by the mediation of the New Testament. In comparison with the New Testament, however, there are some differences in the respective theologies. The Gospel according to Matthew makes use of the Old Testament quotation in order to stress the parousia; the eschatological aspect of this text is beyond discussion. Readers of the Gospel are summoned to direct their acts in view of the last judgement, for, as Schweizer writes: 'Die Frage nach dem Menschensohn (V. 13) ist erst mit dem Hinweis auf das auch den Jungem bevorstehende Gericht und den Lohn fur rechte Jiingertreue b e a n t ~ o r t e t ' . ~It~ is immediately obvious, though, that nothing of this has been retained in AJ. The eschatological dimension is not absent in Romans, but it is clear that this quotation stands firm within the context of the justification by faith alone. This entitles the Apostle to change the overall ambience of the Old Testament quotation - a fact which is stressed in the commentary of U. Wilckens: 'Das Zitat Ps 61.13 (vgl. Spr 24.12), im dortigen Kontext positiv gemeint als H o f i u n g des von Feinden bedrangten Gerechten auf Gottes rettenden Eingriff, gewinnt so bei Paulus eine drohende Note. Gerecht ist Gottes Gericht gegeniiber dem siindigen Juden einzig darin, daB er ihm "zuruckgibt", was er sich durch seine Taten selbst envirkt hat'.24

23 E. Schweizer, Das Evangelium nach Matthaus (Gottingen, 19864) 226, who assumes that Matthew's redaction even increased the eschatological dimension of the material of the tradition: 'Jesus riickt also immer starker von der Rolle des das Gericht entscheidenden Zeugen ... in die des Richters und des H e m des Gottesgerichtes; Ibidem (quote). 24 U. Wilckens, Der Brief an die Romer (Ziirich, 1987*) 126.

OLD TESTAMENT QUOTATIONS

69

This very endeavour of the Apostle is not recorded in A$ even if we presuppose that it is a new dimension, we have to state that it suppressed this aspect of the Epistle to the Romans in its quotation. What was to be quoted from the New Testament? Prov 24.12 is a locus classicus of the Jewish doctrine of retribution ('Vergeltungslehre'); according to this, God warrants the good order of life by giving everybody what they deserve. To be sure, this doctrine was not without doubts and debates in the theology of the Old Testament. But all this does not alter the explanation of this verse. T. Romer writes with good reasons: 'Ainsi, selon les Proverbes, le Seigneur est celui qui institue et garantit le lien entre le comportement d'un individu et sa destinke. Pour que I'ordre du monde soi maintenu, les actes de I'homme doivent ktre dGment rktribuks... L'importance de ce lien entre la cause et son effet va d'ailleurs provoquer une evolution dangereuse de la sagesse, a I'origine ~ ' to Psalm d'une crise grave dont Job sera le tkmoin r k ~ o l t C . ~AS 61.13 (MT: 62), H. Gunkel mentions its relation to wisdom literature. However, the function of this last verse is that of comfort and consolation: 'Das Wort aber, das ihm (i.e. the Psalmist) zuteil geworden ist, und das ihn in seinen Schmerzen getrostet hat, ist dieses, daR Jahve allein Schutz und Gnade in seiner Hand halt. Die Lehre, mit der er schlieRt, dal3 Gott jedem nach seinem Tun vergilt, ist das standige Thema der Weisheitsdichtung in ihrer Peri~de'.~~ As we see, the history of the theology of this verse is impressive. The question emerges: what remained from all of this in AS! But unfortunately we have no chance of attempting any answer: the quotation in A J stands within the context of a series of the praise of God, so we can not say with certainty how much the author understood the fascinating history of this Biblical text. It seems to me certain that he was aware of the character of this verse as a quotation from the Old Testament in the New Testament. But the doctrine of retribution (here a positive term) became 25 T. Romer, La Sagesse duns 1'Ancien Testament (Aubonne, 1991) 9. 26 Gunkel, Die Psalmen, 263.

a topos for AJ, so he did not need to enter into details about it.

7. A J 90.8-9

... at Iorapat

& + O P ~ V[afirbv] EIS r& 6~1oOtaafir06~' This time I refrain from quoting the parallel text, i.e., Ex 33.23, because it is clear that this is not a translation, rather a loose allusion to the Biblical text. A J describes here the transfiguration of the Lord and in doing so it uses Old Testament phraseology: the glory of the Lord was to be looked upon from behind, it could not be seen face to face. In order to illustrate this, the author makes a quick hint to the Old Testament theophany which is regarded here as the counterpart of the New Testament revelation. In view of this less precise allusion we are entitled to assume that not only knew the author the text of the Old Testament, but he supposed his audience to be well acquainted with this story: He must have been sure that listeners or readers understood what he was about to quote.

Conclusion It is now time to briefly summarise the results of our sketch of the Old Testament quotations in the AAA. Even though the authors rarely quote the Old Testament, they testify to their profound knowledge of the Bible. Consequently, the paucity of Old Testament quotations should be explained by their special purpose and theology. The first answer to this finding is at hand: they did not feel the necessity of proving the continuity within the Old and New Testament any more; rather they accepted that this was granted by the New Testament itself. That is why they did not hesitate to quote from the Old Testament as an authoritative source; in those cases where quotations from the Old Testament are used both by the New Testament and the AAA, we can state that the latter did not need the authority of the New Testament any more: it was their free choice whether they followed the New

27

Junod & Kaestli, AI, 195.

OLD TESTAMENT QUOTATIONS

71

Testament way of quoting or not. The authority of the Old Testament was not damaged or diminished, only its relevance bore not so heavy as that of the New Testament (a comparison with quotations from the New Testament reveals this quite clearly). Much more important is, however, our second remark: it seems that in the time of the AAA several topoi of Christian doctrines developed, and the authors' purpose was rather to comment on these topoi and not on the Old Testament. This will be definitely different in the homilies of the Church Fathers! In the above investigation we witnessed the following topoi: Christian marriage, the power of God in miracles, the presence of God with the missionaries, the praise of the Almighty God by Christians and pagans alike, God's incomparability and the negation of foreign gods - all these must have been fervently debated issues during the missionary activities of the early Christians.

V.

Die Eucharistie in den Johannesakten

HANS ROLDANUS

Unsere Kenntnisse uber Form und Entwicklung der Eucharistie in den ersten Jahrhunderten sind durftig. Immer wieder zeigt die Forschung eine Vorliebe von der Annahme auszugehen, daB es einen apostolischen Archetypus gegeben habe, aus dem sich alle, uns bekannten Traditionen, besonders die eucharistischen Gebetstexte, entwickelt hatten. Vor kurzem hat Paul Bradshaw dargelegt, daR sich einer solchen Annahme einige Fakten, bzw. Unsicherheiten entgegenstellen.' Die Annahme, daR das Vorbild in einer im ersten Jahrhundert ublichen judischen Mahlzeit und den d m gehorigen Segensspni'chen und Danksagungen liegt - ein Stutzpunkt fiir eine urspriinglich identische Gestalt der christlichen Eucharistiefeier! - hat sich als unmiiglich enviesen. Andererseits gelingt es nur schwer, die vorhandenen Dokumente alle in einen Stamrnbaum einzufugen. Das gilt besonders von Didachd 9-10, was dazu gefuhrt hat, daR man diese Kapitel entweder fiir die Beschreibung einer nichtsakramentalen Mahlzeit (z.B. einer Agape') hielt oder als Beweis einer urspriinglich dualen Feiertradition ansah. Bekannt ist die von Hans Lietzmann 1926 vorgeschlagene n , ~Rekonstruktion, die m a r in ihrer Trennung in zwei T ~ ~ e eine Radikalitat keine breite Zustimmung gefunden hat, dennoch aber in abgeschwachten Formen (z.B. von 0. Cullmann und W. Rordorf)

1 P.F. Bradshaw, The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship (London, 1992) 13 1-60. 2 H. Lietanann, Messe und Herrenmahl (Berlin, 1955') 241f; Bradshaw, The Search, 5 1 ff.

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weitergefuhrt wurde. Diese Sachlage sol1 uns bei einer Untersuchung der eucharistischen Stellen in einer apokryphen Schrift aus dem 2. Jahrhundert davor warnen, diese irgendwo als (Fehl-) entwicklung von der urspriinglichen Form der Gebetstexte sowie des Ritus einzustufen. Dabei sol1 auch bedacht werden, daR wir das eucharistische Material in den Acta Johannis zwar mit dem Befund aus der Didache' und aus Justins Apologia vergleichen konnen, aber daJ3 diese zwei Dokumente wahrscheinlich nur Beispiele bestehender Brauche im 2. Jahrhundert sind und nicht zu zwingenden Entwicklungslinien veranlassen mussen. Die heute anerkannte Pluriformitat des Urchristentums legt es vielmehr nahe, auch eine Vielzahl eucharistischer Brauche anzunehmen, obwohl G. Dix und andere mit Recht behauptet haben, daB im palastinensischen Urchristentum ein unabanderlicher Kern des eucharistischen Ritus bestanden haben Die Zweispurigkeit hat sich auf zwei Fragen zugespitzt. Einerseits auf das Verhaltnis zwischen Doxologie und Anamnese: wann und wo wurde mit dem, jetzt allgemein anerkannten, anfanglich eschatologischen Fokus der Feier die Erinnerung an Jesu Selbsthingabe in den Tod verbunden? Und hat es daher eucharistische Gebete gegeben, in denen nur ein Aspekt, z.B. der Lob an Gott oder ein allgemein gehaltener Dank f i r seine Gaben, also ohne Erinnerung an Jesu Sterben, hervorgehoben wurde? Bradshaw nach ware das sehr wahrscheinlich. H. Feld spricht davon, daR sich das Motiv des Dankes 'in der Geschichte der Theologien und Liturgien am eindeutigsten und beharrlichsten durchgehalten' hat.5 Andererseits hat es sich auf den Zusammenhang von Brot und Wein zugespitzt: wahrend der Wein urspriinglich als Hinweis auf das vollendete Gottesreich gedeutet wurde, sind - jedenfalls schon bei Paulus - die getrennten Handlungen des Brotbrechens und der

3 G. Dix, The Shape of the L i t u r g ~(Westminster, 1945). 4 Bradshaw, The Search, 160. 5 H. Feld, Das Verstandnis des Abendmahls (Darmstadt, 1976) 57. Er beachtet dabei allerdings nicht, wie es Bradshaw, The Search, 15ff. u. 44 tut, den Unterschied zwischen ~dhoy60.1 und ~dxapto.r6o!

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Weinspendung zusammengeriickt und in ihrer Deutung parallelisiert, so daR beide den ganzen Christus als Gabe repAsentieren. Behm hat hier eine 'durch anthropologische Vorstellungen bedingte Sinnverschiebung in der Abendmahlsterminologie... bei Paulus' gesehen, der auch Johannes gefolgt sei. Behm spricht sogar von einem 'anthropologischen Mflverstandnis der Abendmahlsworte' (ThWB 111, 739-42: meine Kursivierung). Diese anthropologisierende Umdeutung der Einsetzungsworte sei, Behm nach, verantwortlich f i r den ProzeR, wobei 'die Abendmahlselemente in die Mitte der Betrachtung riickten' (ibidem). Zu dieser Ansicht p a t nicht gerade die Theorie Lietzmanns, nach der eben das Jerusalemer eschatologische Freudenmahl ohne WeingenuR gewesen ware, welcher Brauch sich dann mindestens bis in die Gemeinden, in denen die Johannesakten entstanden und f i r welche sie bestimmt waren, erhalten hatte.6 Wir mussen also darnit rechnen, dal3 es f i r die in unserem Text fehlende Weinkommunion andere, eigene Beweggriinde gegeben haben mag. Beide, der hier beschriebene Vollzug der Handlung wie die dabei gesprochenen Gebete, verdienen unsere Auherksamkeit. Auch wollen wir den etwaigen Nachhall johanneischer Eucharistievorstellungen nicht auRer acht lassen. 1. In den Acta Johannis ist an zwei Stellen mit Klarheit von einer Eucharistiefeier die Rede und zweimal stellt sich die Frage, ob wir mit eucharistischen Anspielungen zu tun haben. Einmal ist das der Fall bei einem Gastmahl, ein anderes Mal bei einem Reihentanz. Sie finden sich in dem, sich von der iibrigen Erzahlung abhebenden, Stuck cc.87-105, das von Hennecke-Schneemelcher (HS), von Junod & Kaestli (AI) und von Klijn (K) begriindeterweise zwischen dem ersten, summarischen Satz und dem Rest des c.37 angesetzt wird:' es handelt sich um eine eigentiimliche 'Evangeliumsverkiindigung des Johannes' (so HS), welche dem Thema der

6 Lietzmann, Messe und Herrenmahl, 239-49. 7 E. Hennecke und W. Schneemelcher (Hrsg.), Neutestamentliche Apolayphen I1 (Tiibingen, 19714) 125-76 (K.Schaferdiek); A.F.J.Klijn (ed), Apokriefen van het Nieuwe Testament I1 (Kampen, 1985) 9-55.

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'irdischen Erscheinung Christi' (so K) gewidmet ist. Die Eigenartigkeiten dieses Zeugnisses des Johannes uber Christi irdische Erscheinung stellen besondere Fragen zur Interpretation der genannten Stelle, cc.93-6, zumal diese Kapitel von Junod & Kaestli (AI) und von Paul Schneider (PS) als Interpolation angesehen ~ e r d e n .Wenden ~ wir uns zuerst den eindeutigeren Erwahnungen eines eucharistischen Rituals zu: sie befinden sich in dem Abschnitt der iiber einen zweiten Aufenthalt von Johannes und seinem Gefolge in Ephesus berichtet, cc.62-115. Erstens gibt es die fortgesetzte Geschichte um Drusiana, cc.6386. Die eigentlichen eucharistischen Handlungen stehen in den letzten zwei Kapiteln: Johannes nimmt ein Brot, um es zu brechen, spricht zuerst ein Lobgebet im Plural, von dem zwei Satze mit F o ~ & < o p ~eingeleitet v werden, ein mit pap.rupoCp~v,ein folgender mit a i v o O p v und vier mit &\)~apzo.r06p&v. Dann gibt er 'allen Briidern teil an der TOO Kvpiov ~ \ ) ~ a p t o . r l a 5Die ' . Teilnehmer an dieser Feier sind, auRer Johannes, einige von ihm mitgefiihrte Briider (72.5), und die drei Hauptfiguren dieser mit c.63 anfangenden Episode: der schon bekehrte (vgl. c.31 mit 37!) Andronicus, seine Frau Drusiana und ein, sie gegen ihren Willen begehrender, junger Mann namens Callimachus. Dieser ist Ursache verschiedener Todesfalle, weil namlich nicht nur Drusiana, da sie kein Skandalon sein will, sich aber doch mitschuldig achtet, aus dem Leben scheidet, sondern auch Callimachus und Andronicus' geldgieriger Venvalter Fortunatus, der jenem geholfen hat, in Drusianas Grab hineinzuschlupfen, um mit ihr Nekrophilie zu treiben, f i r diese Greueltat mit dem Tod durch einen SchlangenbiR bestraft werden. Es mussen also zwei Tote aufenveckt werden: auf Bitten von Andronicus zuerst der Callimachus, damit er bekenne, was er gemacht hat. Er bereut seine Untat und ist also auch ein Bekehrter. Dann Drusiana, auf deren Dringen auch Fortunatus fiir eine Weile ins Leben zuriickkommt, um aber bald danach wiederum den Tod zu finden, weil er ein Unwiirdiger ist. Ihn trim ein Bannspruch des Johannes, in dem auch von AusschluR &xd E \ ) x ~ 8 P.G. Schneider, "'A Perfect Fit": The Major Interpolation in the Acts of John', SBL 1991 Seminar Papers, 5 18-32.

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p t o z C a ~die Rede ist. Zweitens veranstaltet Johannes kurz vor seinern eigenen Tod einen Gottesdienst, cc.106-10. Er spricht Abschiedsworte, ein Dank- und Furbittegebet; dann folgt ein Dankgebet iiber erbetenem ) , ein vorn bisherigem Brot (aizqoaq &pzov ~ 6 x c c p l o ~ q o s v also Beten sich abhebendes, eucharistisches Gebet, wonach er dieses Brot bricht und es 'uns allen gab, indern er fiir jeden der Briider betete, er rnochte der Gnade des H e m und der heiligsten Eucharistie wurdig sein'. Ausdriicklich wird envahnt, daR Johannes auch selbst an der Brotgemeinschaft teilnimmt (1 10). In beiden Fallen handelt es sich also urn ein explizites eucharistisches Ritual. Da dies, wie schon gesagt, in cc.93ff. nicht der Fall ist, bleiben wir vorlaufig bei diesen zwei Eucharistiefeiern stehen und wollen die einer naheren Betrachtung unterziehen. 2. Welchen Sinn und Bedeutung hat ein eucharistisches Mahl an den beiden Stellen? Man konnte meinen, es venveise nach Tod und Aufenveckung. Die erste Eucharistiefeier findet ja in einem Grab statt, wo kurz zuvor zwei Menschen des wahren Lebens teilhaftig geworden ~ i n d Es . ~ war sicher eine frornme Besorgnis der Drusiana, die sie in den Tod gefuhrt hat, aber der Verfasser konnte sehr wohl gemeint haben, daR sie diesen Tod nicht verdiente und deshalb darin auch nicht bleiben sollte. Ihr Tod kann in der Erzahlung auch die Funktion haben, das sexuelle Begehren des Callimachus bis ins Widerliche steigern zu lassen: er will sich ja an ihrer Leiche vergreifen. So tief ist seine Begierde, aber so griindlich zeigt sich auch seine Bekehrung, denn durch sein spontanes Siindenbekenntnis macht sich Callimachus sozusagen seiner Ruckkehr wiirdig. Bei dem Sterben des Johannes folgt diese m a r nicht, aber durch zweierlei wird doch klargemacht, daR der Tod hier nicht das letzte Wort hat: erstens ubefallt ihn das Verscheiden gar nicht,

Einige Zuge erinnern an die biblische Auferstehungsgeschichte: Die kleine Gruppe kornmt am dritten Tag rnorgens friih am Grab, wovon die Ture offenbar geschlossen sind (sie offken sich erst auf Befehl des Apostels), und es erscheint ein schoner Jiingling (72-3).

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denn er behalt die Initiative bei seiner Bestattung und dem Geistgeben. Und zweitens dankt er fiir seine Bewahrung und ist sicher, ungehindert von bosen Machten zu seinem Herrn zu kommen (c.111, 114). Es ist aber klar, daR hier die Eucharistie weder gedacht ist wie ein @ppa~ov CleavaaCa5 im Sinne des Ignatius, noch wie eine Nahrung oder Stiirkung auf das ewige Leben hin, wie es Irenaus lehrte.1° Der Sinn mu8 wohl ein anderer sein, denn das wahre und ewige Leben braucht den Kommunikanten nicht mehr verburgt zu werden. Johannes und Drusiana sind schon ganz rein und bei dem Callimachus vollzieht sich die geistig-moralische Reinigung auch ganzlich, bevor er an der Eucharistie teilhat: auf dem Hohepunkt seiner Siinde sieht er einen schonen, strahlenden Jungling, der zu ihm sagt: 'stirb, auf daR du lebst!' Und er stellt fest, daR 'jener', d.h. der Unglaubige, Zuchtlose und Gottlose in ihm schon gestorben is? und sein Ich auferweckt. Die Eucharistiefeier hat also eher Bestatigungs- als Versprechungscharakter. Das zeigt sich auch am Los des Fortunatus. Als Drusiana in ihrer Herzensgute ihn auch auferweckt sehen mochte, erhebt Callimachus den Einwand, daR die Stimme des schonen Junglings, die er gehort hat, jenen nicht genannt hat. Auch Andronicus wuBte schon, daR sein Verwalter, im Gegensatz zu dem nur 'irregeleitenen' Callimachus, der Rettung unwurdig ist. Johannes aber nimmt keinen Standpunkt ein und uberlaRt es Drusiana zu handeln. Als Fortunatus seinen GeGhrten im lusternen Abenteuer, Callimachus, als offenbar Glaubigen sieht, mijchte er gar nicht wieder leben und entweicht der fiommen Gesellschaft. Dann versteht aber Johannes, der uber Callimachus schon wuBte, daR er 'ein Diener Jesus Christi werden sollte' ( 7 9 , daB sich die Seele des Fortunatus kraft ihrer Natur nicht zum Besseren wenden kann: Er hat ja dargetan, wer er ist. Er besitzt auch nicht die Moglichkeit, Gott zu verherrlichen: an seinem Benehmen zeigt sich, wie seine Wurzel und Natur sind. Daraufhin 'exkommuniziert' ihn Johannes mit dem Erofiungsspruch: 'Sei fern von denen, die auf den Herrn hoffen'. Er wird ausgeschlossen vom ganzen Wandel und allen religiosen 10 Ignatius, Eph. 20.2; Irenaeus, A h . haer. 4.18.5, 5.2.3.

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Handlungen, 'von ihrem Fasten, von ihren Gebeten, von ihrem heiligen Bad ( h o u ~ p 6 v ,Taufe), von ihrer Eucharistie, von ihrer fleischlichen Nahrung, Trank, Kleidung, von ihrem Liebesmahl (dryttxq),' usw. (Ich komme auf die Reihe von Eucharistie bis Agape' noch zuriick, besonders wegen der Erwahnung von x6zoq). Wahrend die kleine Gruppe die Eucharistie begeht, stirbt Fortunatus erneut infolge eines Schlangenbisses, und Johannes konkludiert, anscheinend zufi-ieden: 'Da hast du dein Kind, Teufel!' (c.86). DaB es sich nach der Eucharistiefeier ergibt, daR Fortunatus schon drei Stunden tot war, unterstreicht seine radikale und totale Exkommmunikation. Deshalb wird klar, daB nur die Glaubigen wiirdig sind, an der Eucharistie teilzunehmen. Auch bei seiner letzten Eucharistie betet Johannes 'fir jeden der Briider, er mochte der Gnade des H e m und der Heiligsten Eucharistie wiirdig sein' (1 10). Die Wiirdigkeit als Bedingung kommt schon vor in der Didache' 9.5 und 10.6b: Da sind es die Getauften, die auch tatsachlich heilig leben. In den AJ sind es die 'von Dir ~berfiihrten',und aus dem Kontext ist klargeworden, da8 sie zu dieser Glaubenseinsicht und zum Heil pradestiniert sind. Der geldgierige Fortunatus hat ja iiberhaupt keine Chance dazuzugehoren, wahrend der Leichenschander ohne jeden Verdienst gerettet wird." Schneider meint, daB in diesem Teil der AJ der Kern die 'geistige Wiedergeburt und die Umwandlung in die Verwandschaft des H e m ' sei. Die Botschaft dieser Auferweckungsgeschichte sei, daB 'es nicht geniigt, physisch von den Toten auferweckt zu werden; man solle geistlich zu einem Christen auferweckt werden'.

11 In c.69 wird 'von schmutziger Lust entbrennen' als Siinde gestellt vor 'sich von Geldgier verlocken lassen'. In c.76 scheint Callimachus schon durch den Anblick der Schlange, die den Fortunatus totbeifit, von seinem liisternen Vorhaben zuriickgehalten zu werden.. 'Zu Recht - meint er - denn jener ermutigte meinen Wahnwitz, als ich schon von jenem unschicklichen und schrecklichen Wahn abgelassen hatte'. Was ihn aber noch mehr ergreift als der Tod seines Gefahrten, ist die Erscheinung des 'Schonen', und zwar in dem Augenblick, da er seine Untat doch durchfiihren will. Hier ist also eine Unausgeglichenheit von pradestinierender Gnade und schwachem Verdienst!

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Bei dieser, an sich richtigen, Betonung des 'geistlichen' bleibt aber m.E. auRer Betracht, dal3 diese geistige Auferstehung eine Sache offensichtlicher Wiirdigung und Erwahlung ist: es ist die von Nichtvorbestimmten gesauberte Gemeinschaft, die die Eucharistiefeier begeht.12 Es versteht sich von selbst, da8 Johannes und die, die ihn zu seinem Ausgang begleiten, auch 'Wurdige' sind! 3. Im Vollzug der eucharistischen Feier geht der Kommunion ein von Johannes ausgesprochenes Gebet voran. Er nimmt ein Brot, um es in der Grabkarnmer zu brechen und spricht zuerst ein formelhaftes Gebet, wovon, wie schon angedeutet wurde, jeder Satz anfangt mit einem 'Wir preisen, wir danken', und dergleichen. Nach diesem Lobgebet kommt er aus dem Grab und 1aRt die Briider 'an der Eucharistie des H e m teilnehmen' (86). Seine letzte Eucharistie findet an einem Sonntag statt. Hier reihen sich, wie oben gesagt, ein Dank- und Furbitte- Gebet aneinander, in denen er besonders die Wohltaten und Hilfsbereitschaft Jesu preist (log), und ein eucharistisches Gebet, das iiber das erbetene Brot ausgesprochen wird (1 09). Nach diesem zweiten Gebet bricht er es und verteilt es (1 10). Wir konnen also feststellen, daR auch in dieser Schrift 'Eucharistie' sowohl das vor der Kommunion ausgesprochene Dankgebet als auch das verteilte Brot bezeichnet. Auch 1aRt sich vermuten, daR mit dem hier beschriebenen Typus des Gemeindemahles nicht eine Agapbfeier verbunden war: im Bannspruch iiber Fortunatus steht Eucharistia durch 'fleischliche Nahrung, Trank und Kleidung' von Agapk getrennt (84). Es scheint nicht zu bezweifeln, daR hiermit der natiirliche Lebensunterhalt gemeint ist. Wurden Agapk und Eucharistia zusammengehoren, dann miinten .rpo+q und 716205 explikativ die Elemente der kombinierten Mahlzeit bezeichnen. In Did.lO.3 ist das allerdings der Fall: aber da werden X V E U ~ ~ T I Krpo+qv ~ V at x o ~ b v ,gefolgt durch 'ewiges Leben', als Gnadengabe 'an uns'

12 Schneider, "'A perfect Fit"', 527: 'spiritual rebirth and transformation into the Lord's kindred'. Vgl. 'spiritually resurrected' (ibidem) und 'spiritual race' (521, 526).

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unterschieden von der Nahrung und Trank, die Gott allen Menschen gegeben hat. Einer spirituellen Deutung stehen in unserem Text aber sowohl die Prazisierung 'fleischlich' bei Nahrung, als auch der Einschub von 'Kleidung' im Wege. Mit n6.coq als Hindeutung auf den Abendmahlsgetrank fallt nun aber auch die einzig mogliche Anspielung auf den Gebrauch von Wein bei der hier beschriebenen Eucharistie aus. Lietzmann hat in seinem Messe und Herrenrnahl darauf hingewiesen, daB Lukas (auBer dem Bericht vom letzten Mahl von Jesus vor seinem Tode natiirlich!) eucharistische Gemeindefeier nur in der Form einer Brotkornrnunion kennt (Lk 24.30,35; Act 2.42,46; 20.11; 27.35). Auch in den Petmstraditionen (Hom. Clem., Petrusakten) wird nur Brot verteilt. Von den beiden Eucharistien der AJ will Lietzmann gezeigt haben, dal3 ihre Form 'dem Typ der DidachGgebete nahekommt'.13 Das kann nur von den Gebeten, auf die wir unsere Aufinerksarnkeit noch richten miissen, behauptet werden. Denn wenn die Gemeinde der AJ tatsachlich nur die Brotkommunion praktiziert hat, wie es auch Lietzmann sicher vorkommt, dann ergibt sich bei sonstigen ~bereinstimmun~en ein deutlicher Unterschied mit der Didache', die den Becher kennt und sogar voranstellt (c.9). Es muR dann nach dem Grund gefiagt werden, weshalb die AJ von diesem Gebrauch abweichen, wenn sie doch iibrigens mit der Form der Didache' bekannt sind. Dieser Punkt ist interessant im Rahmen der Frage, inwieweit die AJ an die kanonische Apostelgeschichte referieren. Es sollte aber auch bedacht werden, daR im c.6 des Evangelium Johannis, Jesus sich zunachst nur als Brot vom Himmel oder Brot des Lebens bezeichnet. Erst ab vs.53 ist auch vom Trinken seines Blutes die Rede, d.h. erst nachdem der redende Christus den ubergang vom lebendigen Brot des Himmels zu dem Fleisch, das er f i r das Leben der Welt hingibt, gemacht hat (vs.51). Nach Bultmann sol1 mit 51c ein Einschub der 'kirchlichen Redaktion' anfangen, der ein sakramentales, mysterienhaftes Interesse verriete. Gegen diese Auffassung ist eingewendet wor-

13

Lietanann, Messe und Herrenmahl, 24 1 f.

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den, daR dem Evangelisten ein Interesse an der Leibhaftigkeit des Offenbarers und seiner Offenbarung gar nicht fremd sei. H.Leroy, Ratsel und M$verstandnis (1968) zitierend, faRt Feld zusammen: 'Wir haben es also in 6,51c-58 nicht mit einem vom Interesse am Abendmahl als kultischem oder sakramentalem Akt bestimmten 'Abendmahlsbericht' zu tun, sondern mit einer 'Interpretation der in der johanneischen Gemeinde gefeierten Eucharistie von der &no =editor's addition (OeO)

secondary addition of scribe subsequently deleted by

editor At this point in the argument then we are altogether dependent on a reconstruction to provide some indication of width for use in further reconstruction. The problematic circularity of this situation is obvious, and further compounded by the fact that we have no more than, on best indications, about one half of the column width preserved. This means that there is very little chance that we will be able successfully to guess what stood in the lacunae. We owe the partial resolution of this conundrum to Stuart Pickering of Macquarie University, who on examining the fragments quickly observed affinities with the Acts of John. In fact a first glance might suggest that ours was actually a copy of the AJ, though on reflection the differences between the texts almost certainly demonstrate that the similarities must be explained in some other terms than as the result of normal textual variation. To this issue of the textual and literary we must return. For the moment it seems reasonable on the basis of the mentioned similarities to study in detail some lines displaying close affinities with the AJ, so as to

I

I

1

PAPYRUS 1 PROM KELLIS

203

determine likely line width, and then to reconstruct the whole on this basis. l1 What we need for this purpose is consecutive lines of the papyrus showing affinities with consecutive text of the AJ. The best example is clearly the case of lines 4-7 of Side B, read as:

5

MENHCafloEYXAPCTOYM[,]~[ OAONAEARKOTI HM [ - EI CAEI~UO!COI AO[ XETRKEXAPI CM.[

A passage from AJ 85 shows close parallels, indicated here by underlining the words also found in the papyrus:'2 E ~ ~ X ~ ~ L O T O D ~ ooi . L ~ V T@ f i v &Trapainlrov < I T I ~ T L Vi>f l v s ~ a vDv i 6c6w~6-n ~ a f i q vBn ob p6vos < 0 ~ b > ~ a a>. i oi ooi GoGXot ~ i r ~ a p t a ~ o f iopo~ ~v~ E T U ~ r p o + d o ~ KTX. w~

e Side B e

l 3

superior rnargin 23mm

5

A1 POYNTEC@YXACccnflEYXAP.[ _+ 17 ARCHM I N ANAn AYECOAI EN [ XRPI CANTI@YCIN@YCERC[ MENHCocoUEYXAPCTOYM [,IN[ OAON AEARKOTI HM [

- E I CAE1 ~ ~ O ~ AO[ C O I

10

XFETRICEXAPICM ,[ I ACE1 C.AI AAXAD KY.[ AN.AO5AN.f NQCI N.4 XAPl TAC.ARPEAC*ALE[

I should note that the decipherment of the text has been camed out without an eye on the connections with the AJ, so as not to imperil the integrity of the readings. 12 The degree of overlap is much diminished (presumably), due to the amount of text lost from the papyrus. 13 As it turns out, there is no indication how close to the beginning of Side B the present end of Side A may have been, assuming this order. 11

GEOFFREY 3ENKWS

15

20

]A1 AOMENAC.Y~OZOY [ ]MOI CTOYTOI C.MHl?q$l)b! [ 1 OOTEAEI OYBOROPNKAII-~$YXH[ ]NREKOJCATOrErONOCCoTM[ ]MI ACT1 NOCENEKEN.. ,[ ][email protected]~NAA~ NONKET[ ]TI NAEYXAPI C T ~ANKAQNTEZ[ I ]KO1 NRNHCAI TOYCOYMYCTlj[ ] E H ~rOMENH$YXHEHON[ I ]?*OAAA ~ ~ M O N O N T AN[ HN 1. ,AC.OZYTAPEI e a MONOCK[ , ,

Notes on readings 1 P, [ Only the minutest trace consistent with iota is visible. 8 KY. [ traces consistent with beta, but not with rho. 9 rNOZ1 N*.[ either sigma or omicron would be possible. 10 ACE[ Theta might just be possible for epsilon. 11 The two fragments connect across this line Eta is virtually certain, as perhaps is the delta 12 MH@F?N[ whose base is well preserved. aKoaL is quite consistent with the uncertain traces remaining. 19 EnON[ Omicron in corr from omega? 21 MONOCR[ Supralinear stroke to kappa tenuously preserved. It is not unreasonable to suggest that 01 aoi 60[ (especially since preceded by &i), began the phrase oi ooi SoDXoi, a slightly idiosyncratic expression which seems not to occur anywhere else in the early Christian literature encoded for TLG Disk C.I4 Standing as ~ ~ E6 V~ 6 w ~ 6inn order, it makes it does just after E ~ X ~ ~ L U T O and certain that the two texts in question are closely parallel. If the parallel extends beyond occasional wording to overall structure, as seems likely, then line 5 will be easiest to reconstruct, for it must contain words anticipating c i s cifi of line 6 , and a Bn 14 A corpus of some 60 authors selected from the database, ranging in date down to the sixth century.

PAPYRUS

1 FROM

KELLIS

205

clause followed by something like (671) 0% p6vos ~ a i uijv ~ a is i what general parallels would lead us to expect. If we are from this to derive our estimate of column's width, however, we must deal with a complicating factor, namely that the papyrus and the AJ seem to differ not only with respect to literary content but also with respect to the text of that which they both preserve. This is especially clear in the case of AJ 85, where it is self-evident from the need for numerous editorial emendations that the text is very poorly preserved indeed, presumably as the result of careless copying of a highly repetitious passage. In fact the very text in question must be defective, since it lacks a substantive to go with rilv d.rrapaiqrov (which can hardly stand as a substantivized adjective-what would it mean?) and rah-qv stands in a very odd position if, as must be the case, it qualifies the missing substantive. Junod & Kaestli add . r r i ~ n v ,referring to another occurrence of the adjective at 107.14.'~ Our papyrus . the suggests another emendation, namely the addition of 6 6 6 ~Since papyrus reverses the order of $pIv 6 c 6 w ~ 6 n the , suggestion that ~ a 6 - q(if~ it was present at all) occurred in the text preceding b86v is reasonable. One might prefer to omit the demonstrative. This would lead to a reconstruction of line 4 as: pivqs. Efi~aplcs~oDpkv[ csoi, TC$ rrjv d.rrapaiqrov with a length of 39 letters.16 Junod & Kaestli are surely right to follow Bonnet (as they much of the time do) in adding 0c6s after p6vos, invoking many parallels including 42.7 and 77.19. The omission would have been accidental, facilitated perhaps by the use of nomina sacra. Were we to assume the presence of 0c6s, we would reconstruct as: b6bv 6 c 6 w ~ 6 n fippv, 6 n oi, p6vos 0 ~ b s~ a vDv i ~ a i with a length of 39 letters. 15 P.291, n.85.2. It is not entirely clear from their note why they preferred T ~ ~ U T LtoS rapovala. Especially if one thinks of 666s as 'means of ~ r salvation', there would be little difference between 666s and r l a ~ when qualified by 'unwavering' NTA 11, 253 or 'irrkcusable' (Junod & Kaestli, AI, 290). 16 We count one for punctuation and two for the space.

206

GEOFFREY JENKINS

Although both dci and € i s dci occur in the A J , ' ~there does not appear to be any textual evidence for cis in the known tradition at this point. We reconstruct line 6 as: - € 1 d~ ~ i . 0i TO^ 80fiX01 € b x a p l ( ~ ~ ~ f i0'01 p i V K E IT\U with a length of 40 letters. Somewhat provisionally then, we conclude that, as a working hypothesis, a line length of about 40 letters should be employed. Clearly, the more successes one has with this hypothesis, the more certain it may become. Equally clearly, there are so many unknowns in this equation-the text of the AJ, the lacunae of our papyrus, the textuallliterary overlap of the two texts-that we can have no certainty here, but I suggest that there is reasonable evidence supporting this indication as a starting point. Of course since we have invoked the parallel between the AJ and Papyrus 1 as evidence for this hypothesis, it will be as well if we do not draw conclusions about this relationship based on nothing more than the assumptions made at the beginning! It should be noted here in defence of this construction that the resulting text would not appear to be much different in its relationship to the AJ where certainly known than where lacunose. This is of course a rigorous test of such reconstructions, where textual variants often turn out to be far and away morelless frequent where the text is unknown than where it is known. It should be noted, however, that in this case the differences will be both textual and literary, so that a measure of aberrance is in this case not so easily come by.I8

Reconstruction Side A +17 ]LV a h 6 v . ~b S6Xov ofi TZI ]q T$ ci-irb TGV ( T W ~ ~ T W ah[V

TOV

17

(PljX[X11

bXopa]vias d v o l ~ o s ,~ a ~ i 3.r<E

> tecias Stb-

The latter is infrequent, but found at 88.8. 18 See for example the broken first folio of the Isocrates codex from Kellis, where there could be many variants in the lost text not guessed at.

PAPYRUS

1. ,[,,].

1 FROM KELLIS

p? 80~d[€tV Ti) ].ITOUT&TY6 1 ~ b&am~o+fis d ] r b I T O X L T E ~ ~ S , a r b p[ ]wv, a'is KOLVWVE^~V p i u ~ l s dlvb I~fixaptoTias, dlrb TPO[49s o a p ~ 6 s , ci11~b G t a ~ o v i a sbyiwy[ 10 C ~ I T~ ]I ~T L ~ E X Ea~f i~ ~Sk v ci-rrb G L ] ~ ~ \ ? ~ v TI T) sE. ~ L[-~ , I T ~ T ] ~ SQ i, a ~ o ~K ~a' L ~a-ratiwaov[ +,pas +tXo[]y~^Lv. K C L ~t v oij P a u t X ~ I aS L [ ~ K ~ ' L i v %jb y i a i ~ ~ X ~ aK i~ a' L ,i v T@ hjiiq V~ELV 15 r(v~l3)pan.1. Bvws 86owatv 86Eav T@[ OE@ 4pc;jv. c i s -r]obs m p ~ d v ~ aiwvias as ] cipiv. Ti)

5

(2 lines vacar)

Comments on the Reconstruction (Side A) The reconstruction of Side A has proved extremely difficult, even though it is possible to discern the profile of AJ 84 on almost every line. In particular the following should be noted: J assumption that the word is 5. We print ] , ~ O ~ T ~ TonQ the c i ~ i v u a o a ~ d -,r w'unreservedly'. 7. AJ has 5s ~otvwv~T.v p i u ~ t s ,with relative pronoun attracted to the case of ~fiwGiasetc. The pronoun a'is of Papyrus 1 presupposes feminine plurals, as ~ f i w s i a smay be. 13. +tXo[]w~lv, following the lead of the rather pedantic accent, which as a circumflex would be inappropriate to [dctv. 11.In this context mpt+,[- would surely need to be verbal and probably imperative (possibly from -rrept+ljw), rather than I T E ~ L +.[-.

GEOFFREY JENKINS

Side B [ciTfoKae-] a i p o i j v ~ c sJluxCs. Ehxapi [aToDpiv UE K(fipi)€ ' 1T)(UO)D X p ( i o ~ ) iB , n 6i6ws fi@v dva~rafiro0ai Zv[ ooi. Ehxapio~oDpiv ooi TC$ x w p i a a v n +irot.v +bocws, [fiv +0ctpopCqv q s o q l o p i q s . E h ~ a p i u ~ o O p [ i ] yGOL. [ TC$ 7i)v d ~ a p a i q ~ o v i ~ a i 5 b6bv 6 c 6 w ~ 6 nfippv, 6 n ui, p6vos 0cbs ~ a vDv E ~ S &EL. Oi ooi 6o[DXo~ c i ~ ~ a p i m G pUE, 6 ~ ~ ( l j p i 'II$(Jo)D )~ X p ( i o ~ ) i ,T@ ~ c x a p t o ~ [ i v iwp l v Boa ~ C p a ~ o-qp~la. a, Boas iaocis, GiSaxds, ~ u P [ c p V i ) o ~ ~csi ,v a ~ a i r o ~ i sBoav , Gta~ovia v , 66tav, yvijutv, B[aas r r i u ~ c i s , +7 ~ o l v w v i a s , 10 X ~ ~ L T U S .Gwpias, d s € [ 1 [ 8 0 p € ~ K ~ T U TO$S b+BaXpoi,s 6~6opCvash r b aoD[ j@v, p i +at.vopCvas b+0aX POISTO~~TOLS- p ~ 8 '&?aT[s T ~ ~ T c~i ~Lo vSo p i v a s . TEXELOGUBW ocv ~ a ili JlvxTi[ _+I1 ?? otpavV$ ~ K O D O ~Tb . ~ E Y O V ~ OOU S Q [ U ( ~ ~ ~ PqLsO V O~KOVO15 p i a s n v o s E v c ~ f y? ~ ? ~ ~ [ y p a ~ c vb ~TOD a t otpavvoD T i v a aivov ~ ( i r p t . ) ~~. [ i v a ~fpoo+ophv Myou. Tiva c h ~ a p t o ~ ( ~ ~ ~ KXGVTES[ ) i a v . T ~ V a [ p ~ o v TODTOV TOG ~ o i v w f i o g t TOO UOD ~ U ~ T $ [ P L O U , +13 ?? ~ i j$]~ ~ c ~ i y o p+vxfj, C q hov[opaowpcv ~ a Gotd[wp~v i 20 8t.a b v 6 p a ~ o svlo]G ELM' oi p6vov f i v & v [ & a ~ a a i v j, v b66v. ~b JdXas. Ci, y a p Ei p6vos ~ [ f i p t c 1

,

. # I @

Table of line lengths

PAPYRUS 1 FR O M KELLIS

209

The precise nature of these parallels between Papyrus 1 and the A J is worthy of a detailed examination here. So as to preserve certainty, no reconstructed readings (for which there is no indication in preserved materials) have here been included in the following table: 2

3 4 6 7

Pauvrus 1 Side A awo TWV owpa~wv Ivias ~ U V O ~ K O Sat T O p-q SoEa