Acts of Andrew
Encyclopedia
The Acts of Andrew is the earliest testimony of the acts and miracles of the Apostle Andrew. The surviving version is alluded to in a 3rd century work, the Copt
ic Manichaean Psalter, providing a terminus ante quem, according to its editors, M.R. James (1924) and Jean-Marc Prieur in The Anchor Bible Dictionary (vol. 1, p. 246), but it shows several signs of a mid-2nd century origin. Prieur stated that "The distinctive christology
of the text", its silence concerning Jesus as a genuinely historical figure, and its lack of mention of church organisation, liturgy
, and ecclesiastical rites
, lead one to "militate for an early dating". By the 4th century, the Acta Andreae were relegated to the New Testament apocrypha
.
Prieur also stated that its "serene tone" and innocence of any polemic or disputes concerning its ideas or awareness of heterodoxy, particularly in the area of christology, show that "it derived from a period when the christology of the Great Church had not yet taken firm shape".
The episodic narratives in which Andrew figures survive incompletely in two manuscript traditions, aside from citations and fragments that are assumed to have come from lost sections. One is an early Coptic
manuscript of part of one of the narratives, conserved at Utrecht University Library; The other is embodied in the Greek Martyrium, supplemented by manuscripts that bring it to 65 chapters.
Traditionally the text is said to have been based on the Acts of John
and the Acts of Peter
, and even to have had the same author, the "Leucius Charinus
" who is credited with all the 2nd-century romances
. Like these works, the Acts of Andrew describes the supposed travels of the title character, the miracles he performed during them, and finally a description of his martyrdom.
In a separate text known by the name of the Acts of Andrew and Matthias, which was edited by Max Bonnet in 1898 and translated by M.R. James, Matthias is portrayed as a captive in a country of anthropophagi (literally man-eaters, i.e. cannibals
) and is rescued by Andrew and Jesus; it is no longer considered to be a portion of the text of Acta Andreae.
Like those in the two books of Acts on which it appears based, the miracles are extremely supernatural, and highly extravagant. For example, aside from the usual miracles of raising the dead, healing the blind, and so forth, he survives being placed amongst fierce animals, calms storms, and defeats armies simply by crossing himself. There is also a great deal of moralising - Andrew causes an embryo
which was illegitimate
to die, and also rescues a boy from his incest
uous mother, an act resulting in her laying false charges against them, requiring God to send an earthquake
to free Andrew and the boy. So much does the text venture into the realm of extreme supernatural events, that, while being crucified, Andrew is still able to give sermons from The Book of Esther
for three days.
Eusebius of Caesarea
knew the work, which he dismissed as the production of a heretic
and absurd. Gregory of Tours
was delighted to find a copy and wrote a drastically reduced rescension of it about 593, leaving out the parts for "which, because of its excessive verbosity, [it] was called by some apocryphal", for which he felt it had been condemned. His free version expunges the detail that the apostle's ascetic preaching induced the proconsul's wife to leave her husband— socially and morally unacceptable to a Merovingian audience— brings the narrative into conformity with catholic orthodoxy of his time, then adds new material.
The Acts of Andrew was often classed as a gnostic
work before the library of Nag Hammadi
clarified modern understanding of Gnosticism. In his book, Christianizing Homer: The Odyssey , Plato, and the Acts of Andrew, Dennis MacDonald
posits the theory that the non-canonical Acts of Andrew was a Christian retelling of Homer's Odyssey.
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
ic Manichaean Psalter, providing a terminus ante quem, according to its editors, M.R. James (1924) and Jean-Marc Prieur in The Anchor Bible Dictionary (vol. 1, p. 246), but it shows several signs of a mid-2nd century origin. Prieur stated that "The distinctive christology
Christology
Christology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature...
of the text", its silence concerning Jesus as a genuinely historical figure, and its lack of mention of church organisation, liturgy
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
, and ecclesiastical rites
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
, lead one to "militate for an early dating". By the 4th century, the Acta Andreae were relegated to the New Testament apocrypha
New Testament apocrypha
The New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early Christians that claim to be accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. These writings often have links with books regarded as "canonical"...
.
Prieur also stated that its "serene tone" and innocence of any polemic or disputes concerning its ideas or awareness of heterodoxy, particularly in the area of christology, show that "it derived from a period when the christology of the Great Church had not yet taken firm shape".
The episodic narratives in which Andrew figures survive incompletely in two manuscript traditions, aside from citations and fragments that are assumed to have come from lost sections. One is an early Coptic
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
manuscript of part of one of the narratives, conserved at Utrecht University Library; The other is embodied in the Greek Martyrium, supplemented by manuscripts that bring it to 65 chapters.
Traditionally the text is said to have been based on the Acts of John
Acts of John
The Acts of John is a collection of narratives and traditions concerning John the Apostle, well described as a "library of materials" , inspired by the Gospel of John, long known in fragmentary form...
and the Acts of Peter
Acts of Peter
The Acts of Peter is one of the earliest of the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. The majority of the text has survived only in the Latin translation of the Vercelli manuscript. It is mainly notable for a description of a miracle contest between Saint Peter and Simon Magus, and as the first record...
, and even to have had the same author, the "Leucius Charinus
Leucius Charinus
Leucius, called Leucius Charinus by the Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople in the ninth century, is the name applied to a cycle of what M. R. James termed "Apostolic romances" that seem to have had wide currency long before a selection were read aloud at the Second Council of Nicaea and rejected...
" who is credited with all the 2nd-century romances
Romance (genre)
As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as...
. Like these works, the Acts of Andrew describes the supposed travels of the title character, the miracles he performed during them, and finally a description of his martyrdom.
In a separate text known by the name of the Acts of Andrew and Matthias, which was edited by Max Bonnet in 1898 and translated by M.R. James, Matthias is portrayed as a captive in a country of anthropophagi (literally man-eaters, i.e. cannibals
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
) and is rescued by Andrew and Jesus; it is no longer considered to be a portion of the text of Acta Andreae.
Like those in the two books of Acts on which it appears based, the miracles are extremely supernatural, and highly extravagant. For example, aside from the usual miracles of raising the dead, healing the blind, and so forth, he survives being placed amongst fierce animals, calms storms, and defeats armies simply by crossing himself. There is also a great deal of moralising - Andrew causes an embryo
Embryo
An embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...
which was illegitimate
Legitimacy (law)
At common law, legitimacy is the status of a child who is born to parents who are legally married to one another; and of a child who is born shortly after the parents' divorce. In canon and in civil law, the offspring of putative marriages have been considered legitimate children...
to die, and also rescues a boy from his incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
uous mother, an act resulting in her laying false charges against them, requiring God to send an earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
to free Andrew and the boy. So much does the text venture into the realm of extreme supernatural events, that, while being crucified, Andrew is still able to give sermons from The Book of Esther
Esther
Esther , born Hadassah, is the eponymous heroine of the Biblical Book of Esther.According to the Bible, she was a Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus...
for three days.
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon...
knew the work, which he dismissed as the production of a heretic
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
and absurd. Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours
Saint Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather...
was delighted to find a copy and wrote a drastically reduced rescension of it about 593, leaving out the parts for "which, because of its excessive verbosity, [it] was called by some apocryphal", for which he felt it had been condemned. His free version expunges the detail that the apostle's ascetic preaching induced the proconsul's wife to leave her husband— socially and morally unacceptable to a Merovingian audience— brings the narrative into conformity with catholic orthodoxy of his time, then adds new material.
The Acts of Andrew was often classed as a gnostic
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
work before the library of Nag Hammadi
Nag Hammâdi
Nag Hammadi , is a city in Upper Egypt. Nag Hammadi was known as Chenoboskion in classical antiquity, meaning "geese grazing grounds". It is located on the west bank of the Nile in the Qena Governorate, about 80 kilometres north-west of Luxor....
clarified modern understanding of Gnosticism. In his book, Christianizing Homer: The Odyssey , Plato, and the Acts of Andrew, Dennis MacDonald
Dennis MacDonald
Dennis Ronald MacDonald is a professor of theology at the Claremont School of Theology in California. MacDonald is known for his controversial theories wherein the Homeric Epics are the foundation of various Christian works including the Gospel of Mark and the Acts of the Apostles...
posits the theory that the non-canonical Acts of Andrew was a Christian retelling of Homer's Odyssey.