The_Acts_of_Paul_and_the_Western_text_of

Prévia do material em texto

VII. The Acts of Paul and the western 
text of Luke's Acts: Paul between 
canon and apocrypha 
There must have been an exciting discussion about the person and 
life of the apostle Paul in the Early Church. W. Bauer quotes some 
characteristic reflections on Paul in two groups.' On the one hand, 
in the Jewish Christian tradition he is designated as a pagan who 
converted to Judaism so that he could many the high priest's 
daughter. He is claimed not to have seen the Lord, and is ident- 
ified with Simon the magician, who was rebuked by Peter and 
John in Acts 8. On the other hand, Jerome argues that Paul was 
born in Galilee. In other sources the resurrected Jesus himself 
explains Paul's future role to the disciples, the apostle's name ap- 
pears among the twelve, and he is given the 'divine' epithet. 
Finally, the apocryphal Acts of Paul (AP) itself presents a tradition 
in which the apostle seems to have stood in high esteem.' 
In this study I will read the AP against the backdrop of three 
other documents in order to understand better how the canonical 
and orthodox image of the apostle is related to the apocryphal and 
legendary traditions about him. The first of these texts is the 
commentary of Ephrem Syrus on Acts. I find this collation prom- 
ising because Ephrem's commentary on the letters of Paul is an 
1 W. Bauer, 'Das Apostelbild in der altchristlichen iiberliefemng: 
Nachrichten', in E. Hennecke and W. Schneemelcher (eds), Neutes- 
tamentliche Apokryphen I1 (Tiibingen, 1964') 1 1-4 1. 
2 I intend to talk about 'popular tradition' following W. Schneemel- 
cher and K. Schaferdiek, 'Apostelgeschichten des 2. und 3. Jahrhunderts: 
Einleitung', in NeuTA 11, 11 1; see also Karasszon, this volume, Ch. 12. 
108 ISWAN CZACHESZ 
important witness of the Corinthian correspondence of the AP.' 
Another text is provided by the peculiar readings of the Lukan 
Acts in Codex Bezae (D). Ephrem seems to have known the text 
of D, or at least there is a common tradition behind them. Finally, 
I will use the Armenian catena which contains mainly comments 
by Chrysostom and Ephrem on the same book.4 Since the Bezae- ~ 
an version of Acts differs considerably from the text in other 
manuscripts, I intend to regard it as a writing between the biblical 
canon and the apocrypha.' C.K. Barrett seems to support this 
view, and his essay will be dealt with in more detail later.6 
First I will seek the signs of direct textual interdependence 
between the A P and the other sources, then the possible theolog- 
ical similarities will be examined, and finally I will attempt to 
schematize the relations between the sources. i 
Textual evidence 
Now I turn to the analysis of the textual evidence of the connect- 
3 F.C. Conybeare, 'The commentary of Ephrem on Acts', in J.H. 
Ropes, The Text of Acts, Vol. 111 of F.J. Foakes Jackson and K. Lake 
(eds), The Beginnings of Christianity (London, 1926) 373-453. The com- 
mentary survived in an Armenian translation, which Conybeare rendered 
into Latin. Witness: Schneemelcher, 'Paulusakten ', in NeuTA 11, 217. 
4 Trans. by Conybeare, 'The commentary'. 
5 However, I will not touch most traditional problems of Codex D., e.g. 
the question of the priority of the Bezaean version over the 
'Alexandrian ', or the ever renewed theory of a double edition of Acts by 
Luke. A classical survey is in B. M. Metzger, A textual commentary on 
the Greek New Testament (London, 1975) 259-72. For a recent summary 
see P.M. Head, 'Acts and the problem of its texts', in B.W. Winter and 
A.D. Clarke (eds), The Book of Acts in its Ancient Literary Setting 
(Grand Rapids and Carlisle, 1993) 415-44. 
6 C.K. Barrett, 'Is there a theological tendency in Codex Bezae? ', in E. 
Best and R.McL. Wilson (eds), Text and Interpretation (Cambridge, 
1979) 15-27. Also Head, 'Acts', 438 writes: 'the western text might 
stand part-way along the road to the non-canonical Acts.' 
PAUL BETWEEN CANON AND APOCRYPHA 109 
ion between the AP and the other three sources. I will follow the 
conduct of the story as reconstructed by W. Schneemelcher, and 
seek textual parallels with the peculiar readings of either Ephrem, 
the catena, or D. 
A. Paul's conversion 
The story of Paul's conversion seems a key feature of his biogra- 
phy in the canonical Acts. As is superfluous to say, the episode is 
narrated in detail three times within the book, which is unparal- 
leled in the Bible. The entire passage is not preserved either in D 
or in the AP. But we do have some fragments of the latter, on 
which basis C. Schmidt has reconstructed the scene, and ample 
material in Ephrem, which allow us to make some observations. 
First, we learn from the AP is that Paul received a command 
after his conversion to go to Damascus and Jerusalem. Acts 9:6 
indeed is a command: 'but rise and enter the city, and you will be 
told what you must do'. But neither is the command preceded by 
Paul's conversion, nor is a specific place like Damascus or 
Jerusalem mentioned. The problem is partially solved if we look at 
the two other accounts in Acts 22 and 26. In Acts 22.10 Paul is 
sent into Damascus - which is also obvious from the context -, 
and in 26.16-8 he is commissioned to 'open the eyes of the 
nations'. 
The commentary of Ephrem combines and amplifies these pas- 
sages resourcefully, setting up a lengthy conversation between 
Paul and Jesus: 
Jesus asks: 'Why do you persecute me?' Paul faints in his 
mind, and thinks: 'I for the sake of the heavens persecute, can it 
be that I persecute him whose dwelling is in the heavens?' He 
says: 'Who are you, my Lord, who in the heavens from per- 
secution suffer? For I persecute Jesus, who is among the dead, 
along with his disciples.' The Lord answers: 'I am Jesus, whom 
you are persecuting.' Then Ephrem minutely describes Saul's fear 
that he would receive great punishment. Finally he says: 'What do 
you want me to do? For whatever I have done until now, I did 
ignorantly. Therefore, I have accepted your messenger together 
with the message, so that I pay the penalty for my persecution, 
110 ISWAN CZACHESZ 
which my persecution accumulated for me.' 
Paul's last sentence sounds quite obscure. Nevertheless there 
are three main emphases in the dialogue: (1) Paul acted out of 
ignorance; (2) He confessed his sins; (3) He accepted Jesus' 
message, and perhaps the task of proclaiming it. Whether the last 
sentence contains the act of commissioning, cannot be decided 
with certainty here. I will discuss this issue later. 
Then Ephrem argues that the reason why Paul was not healed 
on the spot was that all Damascus might gather and see 'the 
threatening sign which was put on him, because he dared to 
persecute the perfect and immaculate body of the Church.' He 
also explains why the other men did not see the light and were not 
blinded: (1) Because God had mercy on them; (2) Because it was 
Saul, who had asked for the letter of the priests; (3) Because it 
was he that was elected for the preaching and the apostleship. 
So far we can conclude that in Ephrem's text the events on 
the Damascus road contain Paul's confession, atonement, and 
apostolic calling. This process is accomplished, and there is no 
need for the mediation of Ananias. In Ephrem, Ananias is men- 
tioned briefly as the 'physician'. In its basic ideas Ephrem's ac- 
count corresponds to the brief summary Schmidt reconstructed in 
the AP. In other words, Ephrem offers an expanded version of the 
latter. 
Earlier I pondered over the meaning of Paul's obscure words 
in Ephrem about the 'messenger' and the 'message' which he 
accepted in his confession. Paul's account of his conversion in the 
appendix of the A P provides an interesting solution to the problem. 
There the apostle talks about the Spirit, which fell upon him and 
preached to him the Gospel of hisSon. This episode may explain 
what Paul meant in Ephrem: the 'messenger' is no one else than 
the Spirit, and the 'message' is the Gospel of God's Son. More- 
over, in the Coptic papyrus the word 'Gospel' is expressed by the 
infinitive ~\iayy~hf<atv,' which corresponds to the words praeco- 
num and praeconiatio in the Latin translation of Ephrem. That is, 
in both cases what is communicated to Paul is not only the con- 
7 See Kasser's footnote, in NeuTA 11, 269 n. 1. 
PAUL BETWEEN CANON AND APOCRYPHA 11 1 
tent, but also the action of the proclamation. When he is taught 
about the Gospel, at the same time he is charged with the Gospel. 
This seems an important connotation of the word in both 
Ephrem's commentary and the AP. Further evidence is supplied 
by Ephrem's paraphrase of Acts 20.26-7. There he writes about 
Paul's bearing tribulations for 'the gospel which he gospels' (we 
will discuss the passage below). The question could be settled with 
more clarity by consulting the original Armenian and Coptic texts. 
Then, according to the AP, Paul went 'with great joy' to 
Damascus, where he found the congregation fasting. Although fast 
is equally important for Luke, he does not speak about 'great joy', 
and makes Paul stay in the street called 'Straight' for several days 
before joining the disciples. What is the case in Ephrem? Here we 
find the interesting claim that while Saul was brought to Damas- 
cus, he was proceeding with 'great pride'. No textual witness 
allows this reading in the biblical text. There are only two pos- 
sibilities: either Ephrem knew the AP, or there was a common 
tradition on which both the author of the AP and Ephrem drew. 
Considering the textual evidence in Paul's conversion story, I 
suggest that there is a definite link between the text of the AP and 
Ephrem's commentary on Acts. If we had the entire passage in the 
AP and the readings of D in Acts 9, they would certainly provide 
further surprising details. My hypothesis is that Ephrem's text, 
especially the curious dialogue between Paul and Jesus, supplies 
information about the contents of the lost chapter in the AP and D. 
B. Paul in Sidon 
Skipping several episodes in the AP, we come to Paul's sojourn in 
Sidon. In Acts 27.3 we read about a short visit of Paul to Sidon on 
his journey to Rome, but that hardly provided the basis for the 
present narrative.' Unfortunately the text of the AP again survived 
here only fragmentarily, as was the case with the conversion story. 
Still we find some interesting matches between this passage and 
the readings of Ephrem and D in Acts 15.36-16.40, that is, the 
beginning of Paul's second missionary journey and his stay in 
8 Schneemelcher, 'Paulusakten ', 224. 
112 ISTVAN CZACHESZ 
Philippi. 
It stands out quite clearly that Paul's and Silas' miraculous 
rescue from the prison in Philippi served as a model for the 
miracle in the Apollo temple. In Philippi, Paul and Silas are 
thrown into prison; in Sidon, Paul and his companions are thrown 
into the temple of Apollo. In both cases, their intensive prayers 
cause the building to partially cave in around midnight. Now I will 
examine whether the relevant sections in Ephrem and D reveal 
likeness to the Sidon episode in the AP. 
According to the AP, Paul delivered a sermon in Sidon in 
which he tried to retain the people of the city from doing some- 
thing evil. Only a short fragment of this sermon survives, in which 
Paul brings up the example of Sodom and Gomorrah: 'Have you 
not heard of that which happened, which God brought upon 
Sodom and Gomorrah?' 
The phrase 'Sodom and Gomorrah' appears in rebukes in a 
few instances in apocryphal texts,9 and probably draws on Rom 
9.29, where in turn Paul quotes Isaiah 1.9. Nevertheless, Rom 9.29 
is the only place where Paul quotes the phrase in the Bible, and it 
does not occur at all in Acts. It is the more surprising that Ephrem, 
when he comments on Paul and Barnabas setting out on their 
second missionary journey, and dividing on the issue of John 
Mark's participation, refers to the very example of Sodom and 
Gomorrah. 
Ephrem reads: 'There is a cause why they separated to go and 
preach in different regions, following the example of Abraham 
parting from Lot, so that he become a teacher among the Canaan- 
ites, and Lot be found among the Sodomites following this exam- 
ple.' 
Although Ephrem does not mention Gomorrah, he writes about 
'Barnabas, who parted from Paul', which implies that the former 
is going to the Canaanites like Abraham, and that the latter is 
going to Sodom like Lot. It is also clear that in Gen 13 Abraham 
and Lot separated simply because 'the land could not support both 
of them living together.' So when Ephrem calls Lot the teacher of 
9 The Ascension of Isaiah 3.10; 5Ezra 2.8; The Apocalypse of Paul 39. 
PAUL BETWEEN CANON AND APOCRYPHA 113 
the Sodomites, he refers to his righteousness against the wicked- 
ness of the city. Further, in Gen 13.9 the sinful city is Sodom 
alone, and Gomorrah appears only as Sodom's political ally. In 
sum, Ephrem interprets the departing of Abraham and Lot in the 
light of the 'Sodom and Gomorrah' tradition. At the beginning of 
his second missionary journey he presents Paul as Lot, the right- 
eous one, going to sinful Sodom, which recalls the example of 
Sodom and Gomorrah. 
It was hardly possible for Ephrem to evoke the image of Lot 
in Sodom independently from the entire story of Sodom and 
Gomorrah. Since this argument never occurs in the Lukan Acts, 
and since in the AP it appears in a missionary context similar to 
Acts 15, right before the temple episode, which is analogous with 
the prison story, I conclude that Ephrem depends on the tradition 
of the AP. 
The climax of both the Sidon and Philippi narratives comes 
when the intensive prayer of Paul and his companions causes the 
building to collapse partially around midnight. In Acts 16 the con- 
version of the jailer follows, while in the morning the magistrates 
appear on the scene in both stories. 
In addition to this, the AP gives a detailed account of people's 
reaction to the event. This element is lacking in the Bible, but not 
so in Ephrem and D. Ephrem comments on Acts 16: 'The magis- 
trates of the city were appalled and terrified by the earthquake, and 
learning the truth they knew that this earthquake was really on 
their account, but they did not choose to admit that.' D even 
knows that the magistrates 'gathered on the marketplace and 
recalled the earthquake'. Especially the latter version is similar to 
the AP: 'They went away and proclaimed in the city. And all the 
inhabitants of the city ran to the temple, and saw Paul and those 
who were with him.' 
It is clear that Ephrem and especially D intend to show that 
the accident was not simply a private exchange between the jailer, 
the magistrates, and the apostles, but that its effects reached the 
public life and caused an upheaval in the city. And this is argued 
also in the AP. 
114 ISTVAN CZACHESZ 
C. Paul in Ephesus 
The next parallels worth consideration occur in the versions of the 
Ephesus scene. The outline of the story is similar in the AP and 
Acts 19: In his sermon Paul attacks the paganism of the city, 
which brings about an uproar against him, and he almost ends up 
lynched by the mob. Again we are looking for readings which 
reveal a connection between the AP and either Ephrem or D. 
In Acts 19, before the conflict with paganism is told, Paul 
preaches to John's disciples, who are then baptized. D explains 
that they were baptized 'for the forgiveness of sins' (CIS &.4~otv 
apap~tQv) . The expression occurs altogether five times in Acts; 
in only two cases it is connected with Paul's ministry. The word 
'sins' itself occurs three more times. Although the insertion of the 
termcan be explained from the biblical context, I wish to point 
out a parallel in the sermon of the AP: 'the Lord wishes us to live 
in God ... and not to die in sins' (PHamburg 1.16). 
In Acts 19.24 we read that the controversy in Ephesus was 
initiated by a certain Demetrius, who was a silversmith making 
silver shrines of Artemis. Interestingly, when Ephrem comments 
on the scene, he follows the biblical text almost word for word: 
'In that time great persecution was made because of the way, 
which came from Demetrius, the goldsmith who was dealing with 
silver.' The catena takes over Ephrem's reading. Why did 
Ephrem, who cited the biblical passage otherwise faithfully, call 
Demetrius a goldsmith? No biblical manuscript, not even D, sup- 
ports his text. There is a solution at hand in the AP. There the 
crowd wants to bum Paul, but then it is the 'goldsmiths' who 
shout: 'To the beasts with the man!' (PHamburg 1.28). 
This nuance must be taken seriously if we want to decide 
about the relation of Ephrem and the AP. Since Ephrem generally 
seems to draw on the readings of D, it is important that this time 
the text of D is extant, and it does not support Ephrem. We cannot 
even maintain that he quotes a Christian 'topos', or commonplace, 
which would probably be arguable in the case of 'Sodom and 
Gomorrah' or the 'baptism for the forgiveness of sins'. The only 
possible solution is that Ephrem was influenced by the tradition of 
the AP. 
PAUL BETWEEN CANON AND APOCRYPHA 115 
One more detail is worth mentioning. This time it is a sen- 
tence in the catena attributed to Chrysostom which says that 
Demetrius 'set forth the pains of indigence, and disturbed the 
whole city'.'' Although this is a legitimate interpretation of the 
events, we cannot exclude its dependence on D, which reads: 'and 
the whole city was upset by shame'. It can be excluded that the 
word 'shame' resulted from a scribal error. The words can be 
perceived as a gloss, but even then this kind of emotional response 
is quite unlikely on the basis of the biblical text, where anger 
dominates the scene. The description applies much better to the 
situation after the animal fight in the AP. The inhabitants of 
Ephesus fled from the hail-storm, praying to the God of Paul that 
he would rescue (oq<siv) them (PHamburg 5.12). 
As in many other cases, it is difficult to explain the reading of 
D. Even if we regard it as a commentary to the text, D proves 
quite inconsistent with the content of the passage. In turn, the AP 
describes a situation which offers a suitable background for such a 
gloss. Altogether I do not argue that there is a direct interdepen- 
dence between the two texts, but I suggest that there is a common 
tradition behind them. 
D. Paul's martyrdom 
In the final part of our analysis of direct textual evidence we will 
examine three more passages. They are found in the last chapters 
of the AP, and relate to the martyrdom of Paul in Rome. 
With Paul's stay in Corinth the author of the AP is already 
steering towards the conclusion of the work." Therefore, the 
scene provides a transition to the martyrdom in Rome. The situat- 
ion is very similar to the farewell from the Ephesian elders in 
Miletus (Acts 20.17-38). However, there is a definite move beyond 
the content of Paul's testimony in the Lukan Acts. While in the 
Lukan episode Paul talks about his journey to Jerusalem and the 
persecutions waiting for him there (Acts 20.220, in the AP Cleo- 
bius speaks directly of Paul's 'death' and 'depart out of this 
10 Conybeare, 'The commentary', 441. 
1 1 Schneemelcher, 'Paulusakten ', 229. 
116 ISTVAN CZACHESZ 
world' (PHamburg 6.32). 
Commenting on Acts 20.26-7, Ephrem paraphrases Paul's 
words: 'Up to this day I am clean from the blood of you all, for 
all tribulations I have borne for the sake of the gospel which I 
gospel unto you. For I am not sent to disturb you, neither I came 
with any other plan, but only for the reason that in death and life I 
would preach to you indicating your advantage. ' 
The introductory words 'up to this day' are clearly taken from 
D ( & ~ p t oljv zqq ( ~ f i p ~ p o v qpepaq). However, the further addi- 
tions are not supported by the codex. This is Ephrem's interpret- 
ation of Paul's journey, an interpretation very similar to what we 
read in the AP. It is not only the word 'death' which connects the 
two texts. In Ephrem Paul talks about God's 'plan' or 'design' 
(consilium), and also in the AP we read twice about God's 'dis- 
pensation' (oiuovopla, PHamburg 6.26 and 29) concerning Paul. 
What both wordings mean is that Paul has an important part in 
God's plan ('plan of salvation' or Heilsplan), and that his death 
and life serve to the advantage of the brethren. 
While Luke is reluctant to say anything about Paul's death, 
Ephrem interprets it as a contribution to the salvation of the 
Ephesians. We can assume that in this interpretation the Ephesian 
elders stand for the whole of Gentile Christianity. Finally, the idea 
is very similar to the Corinthian Cleobius' interpretation of Paul's 
death in the AP. In both cases Paul appears as the tool of the 
salvation of the Gentiles. 
Another interesting episode occurs in the section narrating 
Paul's journey from Corinth to Italy. The name of the apostle 
Peter appears in the story, and the narrative contains allusions to 
the Acts of Peter (Apt). After landing in Italy, Paul preaches in the 
house of a certain Claudius. In the final part of the text, which is 
extant in the Coptic PHeid, Paul relates a dialogue between Jesus 
and Peter. In this dialogue Jesus teaches about 'the work' which is 
greater than 'the raising of the dead and the feeding of a crowd'. 
Peter and later Philip ask Jesus about this work. Unfortunately 
Jesus' answer is missing. 
Although we cannot reconstruct what Paul actually said about 
Peter in that sermon, it is evident that the AP compared his calling, 
PAUL BETWEEN CANON AND APOCRYPHA 117 
ministry and death to that of Peter.'' Schneemelcher's hint that 
this composition may draw on Paul's farewell speech in Acts 20 
directed my attention again to Ephrem's commentary on the 
Miletus scene.I3 And indeed there I found an interesting allusion 
to Peter. Ephrem says: 'And he (Paul) called them shepherds or- 
dained by the Spirit, like the Lord Peter.' 
Although such comparison is not totally unexpected in a 
(fourth century) commentary, it is still a fact that Peter literally 
disappears from the Lukan Acts after ch. 12, except for delivering 
a short address at the 'apostolic council' in ch. 15. Luke himself 
seems to follow the Pauline tradition of the 'gentlemen's agreem- 
ent' in Gal 2, carefully marking off the domains of the two 
apostles. Conflating the traditions about Paul and Peter is charac- 
teristic of the AAA. Therefore, it is likely that Ephrem was influen- 
ced by this apocryphal tradition when justifying Paul's testimony 
to the Ephesian elders with Jesus' testimony to Peter. 
Finally, R.I. Pervo finds examples in D for 'intensifying the 
parallelism of Paul and Peter'.14 Two readings in Acts 15-6 may 
demonstrate his argumentation: In the letter of the apostles D 
stresses Bamabas and Paul' merits of risking their lives adding 'in 
every temptation' (EIS n 6 v ~ a nstpaop6v, Acts 15.26). Somewhat 
later Bamabas and Paul set out on their second missionary jour- 
ney, and instead of simply 'delivering the decisions of the 
apostles', D claims they 'proclaimed and delivered to them with 
full boldness the Lord Jesus Christ, and also the orders of the 
apostles and elders' (16.4). 
Altogether the parallel characterization of Peter and Paul is 
perhaps 'intensified' by D; it is an inevitable tendency in the AP; 
and finally Ephrem emphasizes such parallelism quoting the name 
of Peter directly in the context of Paul'sfarewell speech, to which 
the Corinthian episode of the A P may have given him occasion. 
12 R.McL. Wilson, 'Apokryphen 11', TRE 3 (1978) 316-62, esp. 343. 
13 Schneemelcher, 'Paulusakten ', 230. 
14 R.I. Pewo, 'Social and religious aspects of the 'western' text', in 
D.E. Groh and R. Jewett (eds), The Living Text (Lanham MD, 1985) 
229-41, esp. 234. 
The first surviving sentence of the actual 'martyrdom' in the 
AP claims 'there were awaiting Paul at Rome Luke from Gaul and 
Titus from Dalmatia'. This is surprising if we consider that Luke 
is traditionally identified with the 'we source' of act^,'^ ap- 
pearing first in 16.10, and returning also in the journey narrative in 
27.1-28.16. 
Interestingly there is some ambiguity about the identification 
of this 'we' in each of D, Ephrem, and the AP. D makes the 'we 
source' appear as early as in 11.28, inserting a lengthy clause: 
'and there was great joy, and when we gathered ... ' (fjv 62 7cohhr) 
&yaAAiaoy' ovv~orpappEvov 66 qpQv ...). This suggests that 
the voice of 'we' was affiliated with the Antiochene church, but 
its absence in 13.1-3, 14.26-8, and 15.30-5 seems to contradict 
this. Commenting on Acts 12.25, Ephrem clearly identifies Luke 
with Lucius of Cyrene (13.1), talking about 'Lucas Cyrenaicus' 
accompanying Barnabas, Saul and John Mark from Jerusalem to 
Antioch. 
Another 'we' passage has been considered less problematic. 
Hitherto, the text of Acts 20.13 seemed unchallenged: 'but after 
going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos'. It is the more 
surprising what we read in Ephrem: 'I, Luke, and those with me, 
having entered a ship, bore up to Assos'. Perhaps the commen- 
tator wanted to stress that this time 'we' does not mean 'Paul and 
1', because Paul was waiting is Assos.I6 The catena, however, 
reads 'Luke and those with me', separating Luke from the voice 
of 'we'. Altogether I assume that in these readings 'Luke' is 
handled as an actual hero of Acts, rather than an eyewitness in the 
background. This suggestion is supported by one more passage in 
the catena which is attributed to Ephrem. Commenting on Paul's 
activity in Rome, it says 'Luke in turn recorded also about the 
work and labour of his hands.' 
Who is 'we', who is '1', and who is 'Luke'? It seems that in 
the tradition the identification of the voice of 'we' with Luke 
stimulated a growing interest for his person and what he actually 
15 I.H. Marshall, The Acts of the Apostles (Sheffield, 1992) 38. 
16 See Conybeare, 'The commentary ', 443 n. 1. 
PAUL BETWEEN CANON AND APOCRYPHA 119 
did as an agent in Acts. This is expressed by the mentions of his 
name in Ephrem as well as in the Martyrdom. Luke even speaks in 
the first person singular, and is eventually separated from the voice 
of 'we'. Interestingly, his name is cited at Paul's arrival in Rome 
in both sources, and his appearance is connected with Paul's 
hiring a house and teaching there. MP: 'When Paul saw them he 
was glad, so that he hired a barn outside Rome, where with the 
brethren he taught the word of truth' (1). Ephrem: 'Luke in turn 
recorded also about the works and labor of his hands, which he 
gave as the hire of his house for a two year's space; and how he 
ceased not to converse about Christ with Jews and gentiles, who 
came out from and went in to him.' 
The question of theological tendency 
After examining some textual parallels between the AP, Ephrem's 
commentary, and D, we will discuss whether our sources also 
exhibit theological similarities. 
Although there have been attempts to associate the AP with 
theological tendencies like Spirit-christology, encratism, 'esoteric 
symbolism', Montanism, and gnosticism,I7 we have to consider 
also the warnings against such categorization. For example, encr- 
atic tendencies were 'widespread in the Early Church', and gen- 
erally speaking the 'boundaries between 'orthodoxy' and 'heresy' 
were still flexible7.'* Further, 'the AP is not a theological treat- 
ise, but a religious tract', which was 'intended in the first instance 
for the edifying and entertainment of the comrn~nity ' . '~ 
Interestingly enough, opinions concerning Codex Bezae seem 
to develop in a very similar direction. After considering theologi- 
cal tendencies like Montanism, universalism, anti-feminism, or 
anti-Judaism, many scholars find that neither of them gives an 
17 Cf. Schneemelcher, 'Paulusakten', 233f., and Wilson, 'Apokry- 
phen', 345. 
18 Wilson, 'Apokryphen ', 345. 
19 Schneemelcher, 'Paulusakten ', 233. 
120 ISTVAN CZACHESZ 
adequate explanation of the Bezaean readings.*' Barrett argues 
that 'the author of Acts undoubtedly manifests a number of ten- 
dencies', including those that are usually attributed to D. The ten- 
dency in D is 'to emphasize whatever is to be found in the und- 1 
erlying text'. D is fond of increasing interest, heightening tension, I I 
and making descriptions more vivid. There is a general tendency I 
in D 'to explain and simplify, to emphasize and often to exag- I 
gerate, what is already to be found in other forms of the text'. 
Finally, Barrett finds that the Western text of Luke's Acts does 'in 
a relatively innocent and undeveloped way' the same as the early 
apocryphal Acts (AAA), which present us with 'brighter and better 
accounts of the apostle^'.^' 
Is it relevant after all to seek theological tendencies in the AP? 
Even if no single theological tendency is to be attributed to the 
AP, the author 'certainly binds up with it certain definite ec- 
clesiastical and theological purposes'.22 I will briefly discuss 
three theological issues that seem characteristic of each of our 
texts. 
A. Paul the champion 
'It has been a well recognized feature of the Western textual 
I 
tradition that it tends to emphasize the wisdom, authority, and 1 
power of the apostolic figures.'23 We have already referred to 
Bezaean readings in Acts 15-6 which tend to describe Paul as the 
champion of faith. This section is especially rich in long arnplific- 
ations in both D and Ephrem. Already the first sentence is used to 
present Paul as God's righteous one. D remarks that the teachers 
from Judea were 'from the party of the pharisees', thus evoking 
their attacks against and condemnation of Jesus and later Stephen. 
20 Cf. Barrett, 'Tendency '; E. Grasser, 'Acta-Forschung seit 1960', 
ThRundschau 41 (1976) 141-94, or J. Bolyki, 'A D szovegknek sdndeka 
(tendencihja)', in idem (ed), Az Apostofok Cselekedetei a D-kbdexben 
(Budapest, 1995) 159-70. 
21 Barrett, 'Tendency ', 19ff. 
22 Schneemelcher, 'Paulusakten ', 233. 
23 Head, 'Acts', 436. 
PAUL BETWEEN CANON AND APOCRYPHA 121 
In 15.2 D goes on defending Paul's position: 'For Paul argued 
strongly (611o~uptt;6p~voq) that everyone should remain in what 
one believed'. Ephrem is not content with this and adds that 
'those from Judea saw that those belonging to Paul were in great 
grief, and they agreed neither to observe the law nor to reject itY. 
The catena in turn, quoting Chrysostom, claims 'Paul was a better 
expert in the law than they, but did not suffer this in himself .24 
That Paul is the champion of faith in the AP needs no special 
verification. We have already discussed Barrett's thesis that D 
tends to intensify the similarities between Paul and Peter, which is 
also evident in the AP, and is supported by textual evidence in 
Ephrem. 
We have to notice however that Luke's Acts itself displays 
exaggerating tendencies in describing the activity of the apostles. 
The story of Ananias and Sapphira, Peter and John's healing with 
his shadow (ch. 4), or Paul's healing with handkerchiefs (19.12) 
would fit excellently into any of the AAA. Although this tendency 
can be regarded as an accommodation to Hellenistic culture,25 it 
is also to be noted that in the Jewish tradition similar miraclesare 
told about the prophets (e.g. the Elisha-Elijah narratives). 
B. The working of the Spirit 
We have seen already that the presence and activity of the Holy 
Spirit is emphasized throughout the text of the AP and the 
Bezaean readings. Again, this is a feature well known from old in 
connection with Luke's Acts. If there is such tendency in our 
sources it means nothing else than applying this Lukan idea much 
like quoting a commonplace. P e ~ o gives a list of western referen- 
ces to the Spirit in Acts, and concludes that they 'like to link the 
Spirit to baptism, see it as a charisma of officials, and tone down 
any tendency towards charismatic display'.26 
In the AP an interesting reference to the Spirit is made in 
24 Cf. Conybeare, 'The commentary ', 421 n. 2. 
25 So Schneemelcher, 'Zur Entstehung pseudoapostolischer Literatur ', 
in NeuTA 11, 8. 
26 Pervo, 'Social and religious aspects', 233. 
122 ISTVAN CZACHESZ 
Kasser's appendix, in which Paul relates that the Spirit fell upon 
him on the Damascus road. I have already discussed the possible 
connection of this with the conversion story in Ephrem's text. On 
the one hand this may mean that Paul was baptized already on the 
Damascus road. On the other hand it falls in line with the Pen- 
tecost experience of the disciples in Acts 2, and further verifies the 
apostleship of Paul. The reference to the Spirit does not contradict 
the Lukan usage, but relying on it and utilizing it validates the 
position of Pad2' 
C. The role of women 
The role of women both in D and the AP has been widely dis- 
cussed in previous scholarship. Without entering the ongoing 
discussion I would like to remark that the position of women, 
notwithstanding the previously handled issues, seems to be most 
different in D and the AP. While the latter displays an extreme 
interest in the role of women in the Pauline ministry and in the life 
of Paul himself, embracing also the probably independent Thecla- 
tradition, the former seems to eliminate the role of women in 
Luke's Acts. Pervo argues that D and others 'wished to obliterate 
the notion that Jesus had women disciples and remove them from 
the chain of '~itnesses".~' For example, in Acts 17.4 instead of 
'among the leading women' (yuvat~f iv zs zQv npbzov), D reads 
'women of the leading citizens' ( y u v a i ~ s ~ zQv xp6zov). 
If Pewo is right, then 'this posture is the mirror image of that 
found in the AAA, where leading women are featured convert^':^ 
and displays a basic difference between the two contemporary 
documents. 
Conclusion 
After examining a number of textual and theological parallels in 
27 See NeuTA 11, 268-70. 
28 Ibidem, 235. 
29 Ibidem, 238. 
PAUL BETWEEN CANON AND APOCRYPHA 123 
the four sources, I am left with the task of briefly characterizing 
the relation of these sources to each other, especially the relation 
between the AP and the other three texts. 
The most interesting aspect of the Bezaean Acts and the AP is 
that they are contemporaries. Although there is much controversy 
about the origin of D, we can assume that both texts date back to 
the second century, the Bezaean version being somewhat older 
than the AP." The relatively small number of places where we 
found signs of textual interdependence between Bezaean readings 
and the AP is due to three factors: (1) Being contemporaries, it is 
likely that the author (reviser) of neither one knew the other text. 
(2) the AP was not written as a correction or substitute to Luke's 
Acts, but rather as a supplement to it:' while the primary goal of 
D was to correct the canonical Acts, although it also added some 
supplementary material to it. (3) As a consequence of the supple- 
mentary character of the AP, the scenes of Luke's Acts play 
relatively little role in it, and in the few places where they do 
(conversion story, journey to Rome) D has lacunae. I will have to 
come back to the latter phenomenon. 
Still in a couple of instances we have been able to find similar 
pieces of tradition worked into similar episodes of the two writ- 
ings: (1) lively public reaction when the prisonltemple of Apollo 
collapses at Paul's prayer; (2) the mention of the 'forgiveness of 
sins' in Paul's mission in Ephesus; (3) some kind of guilty 
conscience of the people in Ephesus. In addition we also found 
peculiar tendencies in common: (1) the emphasis on the similarity 
between Paul and Peter; (2) special interest in the identity of the 
voice of 'we', i.e., the person and role of Luke; (3) attention paid 
to the role of the Spirit; (4) tackling the problem of the role of 
30 Opinions about the exact dates of origin of both texts differ widely. 
Grasser, ' Acta-Forschung ', 179, proposes AD 140-1 60 for D, Schnee- 
melcher, 'Paulusakten', 235, AD 185-195 for AP; see also Bremmer, this 
volume, 57. 
31 Schneemelcher & Schaferdiek, NeuTA 11, 11 1; see now also R. 
Bauckham, 'The Acts of Paul as a Sequel to Acts', in Winter and Clarke. 
Book of Acts, 105-52, esp. 1 1 1. 
124 ISWAN CZACHESZ 
women in the Church. On the latter issue the two texts seem to be 
sharply divided. 
I find it interesting that it is precisely the beginning and final 
chapters of Paul's missionary biography which are missing from 
D. Is it possible that these chapters contained more of the tradition 
worked into the AP at about the same time when the D revision of 
Acts was made? If so, is it not imaginable that these chapters were 
removed from the manuscript for the very reason that they con- 
tained such apocryphal supplements? The extant textual evidence 
certainly does not allow a final decision on this issue. 
Another circle of problems concerns the relation of Ephrem's 
commentary to the AP. The textual parallels we have found here 
include: (1) references to preaching the gospel as the content of 
Paul's 'catechism' on the Damascus road; (2) Paul's 'great joy' 
when he was led to Damascus; (3) reference to Sodom (and 
Gomorrah) as an analogy to Paul's mission; (4) appearance of the 
goldsmith(s) opposing Paul in Ephesus; (5) interpretation of Paul's 
death as the part of God's plan of salvation in the farewell-scene; 
(6) quoting the example of Peter in the farewell episode; (7) 
mention of Luke at Paul's arrival at Rome. Other parallel interests 
include Paul's heroic persistence, and the person of Luke. 
Ephrem, writing at the end of the fourth century, is in the 
position to select material frorn multiple written sources. Evidently 
he relies on Bezaean readings as well as apocryphal traditions. He 
makes however a clear distinction between the two kinds of 
sources. While readings of D are abundant in the commentary, the 
apocryphal material occurs more sporadically, and is 'demytholog- 
ized'. For example, 'Sodom and Gomorrah' is quoted as a paral- 
lel, and not as the actual content of Paul's preaching. The same 
thing happens to Peter in the farewell speech: instead of Paul 
preaching about him, he is evoked by Ephrem as an example. On 
the other hand Ephrem seems to have known the apocryphal trad- 
ition very well. Expressions like 'Paul's joy' or 'the goldsmith' in 
his commentary look like internalized readings frorn the apocry- 
phal text. Altogether Ephrem displays substantial knowledge of 
non-canonical traditions, out of which readings of D prevail 
against the AP. 
PAUL BETWEEN CANON AND APOCRYPHA 125 
A special problem regards Paul's conversion story, where 
neither D or the A P is extant. Excluding the possibility that 
Ephrem used a totally different source, his version of this intrig- 
uing dialogue probably reflects the lost content of both texts. I 
prefer D as the immediate source of the episode in Ephrem for 
three reasons. (1) Ephrem does not use excessive passages of the 
AP. He rather picks up single words or ideas from the apocryphal 
tradition,and inserts them into his own conduct of thought. (2) Al- 
though the surviving parts of D never supply additions as long as 
the dialogue between Jesus and Paul in Ephrem, the material in the 
Bezaean Acts may have been divided among the three accounts in 
chs. 9, 22 and 26. (3) The first and the last accounts are missing 
from D, and the second has a lacuna just in the middle of the 
conversion story. If these lacunae originally contained the dialogue 
in question, then my hypothesis about the parts of D displaying 
excessively apocryphal character having been intentionally 
removed from the codex applies excellently. The missing verses in 
Acts 22.10-20 are especially interesting, since Paul had two 
visions in this version of the story. However, papyrological inves- 
tigations may provide more certainty in this issue. 
	c7_Page_01.jpg
	c7_Page_02.jpg
	c7_Page_03.jpg
	c7_Page_04.jpg
	c7_Page_05.jpg
	c7_Page_06.jpg
	c7_Page_07.jpg
	c7_Page_08.jpg
	c7_Page_09.jpg
	c7_Page_10.jpg
	c7_Page_11.jpg
	c7_Page_12.jpg
	c7_Page_13.jpg
	c7_Page_14.jpg
	c7_Page_15.jpg
	c7_Page_16.jpg
	c7_Page_17.jpg
	c7_Page_18.jpg
	c7_Page_19.jpg