Acts of John

Summary:

This narrative is an apocryphal acts, presenting the miraculous feats of the Apostle John. Unlike the other apocryphal acts, it lacks an account to the Apostle's martyrdom. Instead, it concludes with John asking some men to dig a trench, into which he climbs and, giving up his spirit, dies peacefully rejoicing. The narrative recounts John's travels to Smyrna, Laodicea, but especially Ephesus. John's miracles include healing the sick and raising the dead. For example - John requests that all the old women of Ephesus be brought to the theatre, where he heals them all in order to persuade them to believe in God. John commands bedbugs to line up outside his bed so he can rest. The Acts repeatedly refers to Jesus as the Word, but also repeats some of the Johannine Christological metaphors such as door, light, and way. John's descriptions of Jesus are clearly Gnostic-docetic - Jesus only appears to be human and alters his appearance to suit his audience

Sources:

Utilizes some phrases and images from the canonical Gospels The genre of the Hellenistic romance novel

Canonical Status: Among the New Testament apocryphal Acts

Author:

Unknown Tradition credits the book to Leucius Charinus

Date: 3rd century

Provenance:

Probably Asia Minor Less likely Syria

Original Language:

Greek Preserved in many Greek and Latin manuscripts

Notes prepared by David Arnold (Senior Religion Major)

for the Wesley Center for Applied Theology at Northwest Nazarene University

Copyright 2000 by the Wesley Center for Applied Theology

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