The length of this book is given in the Stichometry of Nicephorus as 2,500 lines: the same number as for St. Matthew's Gospel. We have large portions of it in the original, and a Latin version (purged, it is important to note, of all traces of unorthodoxy) of some lost episodes, besides a few scattered fragments. These will be fitted together in what seems the most probable order.
The best edition of the Greek remains is in Bonnet, Acta Apost. Apocr. 11.1, 1898: the Latin is in Book V of the Historia Apostolica of Abdias (Fabricius, Cod. Apoer. N. T.: there is no modern edition).
The beginning of the book is lost. It probably related in some form a trial, and banishment of John to Patmos. A distinctly late Greek text printed by Bonnet (in two forms) as cc. 1-17 of his work tells how Domitian, on his accession, persecuted the Jews. They accused the Christians in a letter to him: he accordingly persecuted the Christians. He heard of John's teaching in Ephesus and sent for him: his ascetic habits on the voyage impressed his captors. He was brought before Domitian, and made to drink poison, which did not hurt him: the dregs of it killed a criminal on whom it was tried: and John revived him; he also raised a girl who was slain by an unclean spirit. Domitian, who was much impressed, banished him to Patmos. Nerva recalled him. The second text tells how he escaped shipwreck on leaving Patmos, swimming on a cork; landed at Miletus, where a chapel was built in his honour, and went to Ephesus. All this is late: but an old story, known to Tertullian and to other Latin writers, but to no Greek, said that either Domitian at Rome or the Proconsul at Ephesus cast John into a caldron of boiling oil which did him no hurt. The scene of this was eventually fixed at the Latin Gate in Rome (hence the St. John Port Latin of our calendar, May 6th). We have no detailed account of this, but it is conjectured to have been told in the early part of the Leucian Acts. If so, it is odd that no Greek writer mentions it.
Leaving for the time certain small fragments which may perhaps have preceded the extant episodes, I proceed to the first long episode (Bonnet, c. 18).
[John is going from Miletus to Ephesus.)
Text
18 Now John was hastening to Ephesus, moved thereto by a vision. Damonicus therefore, and Aristodemus his kinsman, and a certain very rich man Cleobius, and the wife of Marcellus, hardly prevailed to keep him for one day in Miletus, reposing themselves with him. And when very early in the morning they had set forth, and already about four miles of the journey were accomplished, a voice came from heaven in the hearing of all of us, saying: John, thou art about to give glory to thy Lord in Ephesus, whereof thou shalt know, thou and all the brethren that are with thee, and certain of them that are there, which shall believe by thy means. John therefore pondered, rejoicing in himself, what it should be that should befall (meet) him at Ephesus, and said: Lord, behold I go according to thy will: let that be done which thou desirest.
19 And as we drew near to the city, Lycomedes the praetor of the Ephesians, a man of large substance, met us, and falling at John's feet besought him, saying: Is thy name John? the God whom thou preachest hath sent thee to do good unto my wife, who hath been smitten with palsy now these seven days and lieth incurable. But glorify thou thy God by healing her, and have compassion on us. For as I was considering with myself what resolve to take in this matter, one stood by me and said: Lycomedes, cease from this thought which warreth against thee, for it is evil (hard): submit not thyself unto it. For I have compassion upon mine handmaid Cleopatra, and have sent from Miletus a man named John who shall raise her up and restore her to thee whole. Tarry not, therefore, thou servant of the God who hath manifested himself unto me, but hasten unto my wife who hath no more than breath. And straightway John went from the gate, with the brethren that were with him and Lycomedes, unto his house. But Cleobius said to his young men: Go ye to my kinsman Callippus and receive of him comfortable entertainment -for I am come hither with his son- that we may find all things decent.
20 Now when Lycomedes came with John into the house wherein his wife lay, he
caught hold again of his feet and said: See, lord, the withering of the beauty,
see the youth, see the renowned flower of my poor wife, whereat all Ephesus was
wont to marvel: wretched me, I have suffered envy, I have been humbled, the eye
of mine enemies hath smitten me: I have never wronged any, though I might have
injured many, for I looked before to this very thing, and took care, lest I
should see any evil or any such ill fortune as this. What profit, then, hath
Cleopatra from my anxiety? what have I gained by being known for a pious man
until this day? nay, I suffer more than the impious, in that I see thee,
Cleopatra, lying in such plight. The sun in his course shall no more see me
conversing with thee: I will go before thee, Cleopatra, and rid myself of life:
I will not spare mine own safety though it be yet young. I will defend myself
before Justice, that I have rightly deserted, for I may indict her as judging
unrighteously. I will be avenged on her when I come before her as a ghost
21 And with yet more words Lycomedes addressing Cleopatra came near to the
bed and cried aloud and lamented: but John pulled him away, and said: Cease from
these lamentations and from thine unfitting words: thou must not disobey him
that (?) appeared unto thee: for know that thou shalt receive thy consort again.
Stand, therefore, with us that have come hither on her account and pray to the
God whom thou sawest manifesting himself unto thee in dreams. What, then, is it,
Lycomedes? Awake, thou also, and open thy soul. Cast off the heavy sleep from
thee: beseech the Lord, entreat him for thy wife, and he will raise her up. But
he fell upon the floor and lamented, fainting. [It is evident from what follows
that Lycomedes died: but the text does not say so; some words may have fallen
out.]
John therefore said with tears: Alas for the fresh (new) betraying of my
vision! for the new temptation that is prepared for me! for the new device of
him that contriveth against me! the voice from heaven that was borne unto me in
the way, hath it devised this for me? was it this that it foreshowed me should
come to pass here, betraying me to this great multitude of the citizens because
of Lycomedes? the man lieth without breath, and I know well that they will not
suffer me to go out of the house alive. Why tarriest thou, Lord (or, what wilt
thou do)? why hast thou shut off from us thy good promise? Do not, I beseech
thee, Lord, do not give him cause to exult who rejoiceth in the suffering of
others; give him not cause to dance who alway derideth us; but let thy holy name
and thy mercy make haste. Raise up these two dead whose death is against me.
22 And even as John thus cried out, the city of the Ephesians ran together to
the house of Lycomedes, hearing that he was dead. And John, beholding the great
multitude that was come, said unto the Lord: Now is the time of refreshment and
of confidence toward thee, O Christ; now is the time for us who are sick to have
the help that is of thee, O physician who healest freely; keep thou mine
entering in hither safe from derision. I beseech thee, Jesu, succour this great
multitude that it may come to thee who art Lord of all things: behold the
affliction, behold them that lie here. Do thou prepare, even from them that are
assembled for that end, holy vessels for thy service, when they behold thy gift.
For thyself hast said, O Christ, 'Ask, and it shall be given you'. We ask
therefore of thee, O king, not gold, not silver, not substance, not possessions,
nor aught of what is on earth and perisheth, but two souls, by whom thou shalt
convert them that are here unto thy way, unto thy teaching, unto thy liberty
(confidence), unto thy most excellent (or unfailing) promise: for when they
perceive thy power in that those that have died are raised, they will be saved,
some of them. Do thou thyself, therefore, give them hope in thee: and so go I
unto Cleopatra and say: Arise in the name of Jesus Christ.
23 And he came to her and touched her face and said: Cleopatra, He saith,
whom every ruler feareth, and every creature and every power, the abyss and all
darkness, and unsmiling death, and the height of heaven, and the circles of hell
[and the resurrection of the dead, and the sight of the blind], and the whole
power of the prince of this world, and the pride of the ruler: Arise, and be not
an occasion unto many that desire not to believe, or an affliction unto souls
that are able to hope and to be saved. And Cleopatra straightway cried with a
loud voice: I arise, master: save thou thine handmaid.
Now when she had arisen 24 And Cleopatra going with John into her bedchamber, and seeing Lycomedes
dead for her sake, had no power to speak (suffered in her voice), and ground her
teeth and bit her tongue, and closed her eyes, raining down tears: and with
calmness gave heed to the apostle. But John had compassion on Cleopatra when he
saw that she neither raged nor was beside herself, and called upon the perfect
and condescending mercy, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, thou seest the pressure of
sorrow, thou seest the need; thou seest Cleopatra shrieking her soul out in
silence, for she constraineth within her the frenzy that cannot be borne; and I
know that for Lycomedes' sake she also will die upon his body. And she said
quietly to John: That have I in mind, master, and nought else.
And the apostle went to the couch whereon Lycomedes lay, and taking
Cleopatra's hand he said: Cleopatra, because of the multitude that is present,
and thy kinsfolk that have come in, with strong crying, say thou to thine
husband: Arise and glorify the name of God, for he giveth back the dead to the
dead. And she went to her husband and said to him according as she was taught,
and forthwith raised him up. And he, when he arose, fell on the floor and kissed
John's feet, but he raised him, saying: O man, kiss not my feet but the feet of
God by whose power ye are both arisen.
25 But Lycomedes said to John: I entreat and adjure thee by the God in whose
name thou hast raised us, to abide with us, together with all them that are with
thee. Likewise Cleopatra also caught his feet and said the same. And John said
to them: For tomorrow I will be with you. And they said to him again: We shall
have no hope in thy God, but shall have been raised to no purpose, if thou abide
not with us. And Cleobius with Aristodemus and Damonicus were touched in the
soul and said to John: Let us abide with them, that they continue without
offence towards the Lord. So he continued there with the brethren.
26 There came together therefore a gathering of a great multitude on John's
account; and as he discoursed to them that were there, Lycomedes, who had a
friend who was a skilful painter, went hastily to him and said to him: You see
me in a great hurry to come to you: come quickly to my house and paint the man
whom I show you without his knowing it. And the painter, giving some one the
necessary implements and colours, said to Lycomedes: Show him to me, and for the
rest have no anxiety. And Lycomedes pointed out John to the painter, and brought
him near him, and shut him up in a room from which the apostle of Christ could
be seen. And Lycomedes was with the blessed man, feasting on the faith and the
knowledge of our God, and rejoiced yet more in the thought that he should
possess him in a portrait.
27 The painter, then, on the first day made an outline of him and went away.
And on the next he painted him in with his colours, and so delivered the
portrait to Lycomedes to his great joy. And lie took it and set it up in his own
bedehamber and hung it with garlands: so that later John, when he perceived it,
said to him: My beloved child, what is it that thou always doest when thou
comest in from the bath into thy bedchamber alone? do not I pray with thee and
the rest of the brethren? or is there something thou art hiding from us? And as
he said this and talked jestingly with him, he went into the bedchamber, and saw
the portrait of an old man crowned with garlands, and lamps and altars set
before it. And he called him and said: Lycomedes, what meanest thou by this
matter of the portrait? can it be one of thy gods that is painted here? for I
see that thou art still living in heathen fashion. And Lycomedes answered him:
My only God is he who raised me up from death with my wife: but if, next to that
God, it be right that the men who have benefited us should be called gods -it is
thou, father, whom I have had painted in that portrait, whom I crown and love
and reverence as having become my good guide.
28 And John who had never at any time seen his own face said to him: Thou
mockest me, child: am I like that in form, 29 But do thou become for me a good painter, Lycomedes. Thou hast colours
which he giveth thee through me, who painteth all of us for himself, even Jesus,
who knoweth the shapes and appearances and postures and dispositions and types
of our souls. And the colours wherewith I bid thee paint are these: faith in
God, knowledge, godly fear, friendship, communion, meekness, kindness, brotherly
love, purity, simplicity, tranquillity, fearlessness, griefiessness, sobriety,
and the whole band of colours that painteth the likeness of thy soul, and even
now raiseth up thy members that were cast down, and levelleth them that were
lifted up, and tendeth thy bruises, and healeth thy wounds, and ordereth thine
hair that was disarranged, and washeth thy face, and chasteneth thine eyes, and
purgeth thy bowels, and emptieth thy belly, and cutteth off that which is
beneath it; and in a word, when the whole company and mingling of such colours
is come together, into thy soul, it shall present it to our Lord Jesus Christ
undaunted, whole (unsmoothed), and firm of shape. But this that thou hast now
done is childish and imperfect: thou hast drawn a dead likeness of the dead.
There need be no portion of text lost at this point: but possibly some few
sentences have been omitted. The transition is abrupt and the new episode has
not, as elsewhere, a title of its own.
30 And he commanded Verus (Berus), the brother that ministered to him, to
gather the aged women that were in all Ephesus, and made ready, he and Cleopatra
and Lycomedes, all things for the care of them. Verus, then, came to John,
saying: Of the aged women that are here over threescore years old I have found
four only sound in body, and of the rest some . . . . (a word gone) and some
palsied and others sick. And when he heard that, John kept silence for a long
time, and rubbed his face and said: O the slackness (weakness) of them that
dwell in Ephesus! O the state of dissolution, and the weakness toward God! O
devil, that hast so long mocked the faithful in Ephesus! Jesus, who giveth me
grace and the gift to have my confidence in him, saith to me in silence: Send
after the old women that are sick and come (be) with them into the theatre, and
through me heal them: for there are some of them that will come unto this
spectacle whom by these healings I will convert and make them useful for some
end.
31 Now when all the multitude was come together to Lycomedes, he dismissed
them on John's behalf, saying: Tomorrow come ye to the theatre, as many as
desire to see the power of God. And the multitude, on the morrow, while it was
yet night, came to the theatre: so that the proconsul also heard of it and
hasted and took his sent with all the people. And a certain praetor, Andromeus,
who was the first of the Ephesians at that time, put it about that John had
promised things impossible and incredible: But if, said he, he is able to do any
such thing as I hear, let him come into the public theatre, when it is open,
naked, and holding nothing in his hands, neither let him name that magical name
which I have heard him utter.
32 John therefore, having heard this and being moved by. these words,
commanded the aged women to be brought into the theatre: and when they were all
brought into the midst, some of them upon beds and others lying in a deep sleep,
and all the city had run together, and a great silence was made, John opened his
mouth and began to say:
33 Ye men of Ephesus, learn first of all wherefore I am visiting in your
city, or what is this great confidence which I have towards you, so that it may
become manifest to this general assembly and to all of you (or, so that I
manifest myself to). I have been sent, then, upon a mission which is not of
man's ordering, and not upon any vain journey; neither am I a merchant that make
bargains or exchanges; but Jesus Christ whom I preach, being compassionate and
kind, desireth by my means to convert all of you who are held in unbelief and
sold unto evil lusts, and to deliver you from error; and by his power will I
confound even the unbelief of your praetor, by raising up them that lie before
you, whom ye all behold, in what plight and in what sicknesses they are. And to
do this (to confound Andronicus) is not possible for me if they perish:
therefore shall they be healed.
34 But this first I have desired to sow in your ears, even that ye should
take care for your souls -on which account I am come unto you- and not expect
that this time will be for ever, for it is but a moment, and not lay up
treasures upon the earth where all things do fade. Neither think that when ye
have gotten children ye can rest upon them (?), and try not for their sakes to
defraud and overreach. Neither, ye poor, be vexed if ye have not wherewith to
minister unto pleasures; for men of substance when they are diseased call you
happy. Neither, ye rich, rejoice that ye have much money, for by possessing
these things ye provide for yourselves grief that ye cannot be rid of when ye
lose them; and besides, while it is with you, ye are afraid lest some one attack
you on account of it.
35 Thou also that art puffed up because of the shapeliness of thy body, and
art of an high look, shalt see the end of the promise thereof in the grave; and
thou that rejoicest in adultery, know that both law and nature avenge it upon
thee, and before these, conscience; and thou, adulteress, that art an adversary
of the law, knowest not whither thou shalt come in the end. And thou that
sharest not with the needy, but hast monies laid up, when thou departest out of
this body and hast need of some mercy when thou burnest in fire, shalt have none
to pity thee; and thou the wrathful and passionate, know that thy conversation
is like the brute beasts; and thou, drunkard and quarreller, learn that thou
losest thy senses by being enslaved to a shameful and dirty desire.
36 Thou that rejoicest in gold and delightest thyself with ivory and jewels,
when night falleth, canst thou behold what thou lovest? thou that art vanquished
by soft raiment, and then leavest life, will those things profit thee in the
place whither thou goest? And let the murderer know that the condign punishment
is laid up for him twofold after his departure hence. Likewise also thou
poisoner, sorcerer, robber, defrauder, sodomite, thief, and as many as are of
that band, ye shall come at last, as your works do lead you, unto unquenchable
fire, and utter darkness, and the pit of punishment, and eternal threatenings.
Wherefore, ye men of Ephesus, turn yourselves, knowing this also, that kings,
rulers, tyrants, boasters, and they that have conquered in wars, stripped of all
things when they depart hence, do suffer pain, lodged in eternal misery.
37 And having thus said, John by the power of God healed all the diseases.
This sentence must be an abridgement of a much longer narration. The
manuscript indicates no break at this point: but we must suppose a not
inconsiderable loss of text. For one thing, Andronicus, who is here an
unbeliever, appears as a convert in the next few lines. Now he is, as we shall
see later, the husband of an eminent believer, Drusiana; and his and her
conversion will have been told at some length; and I do not doubt that among
other things there was a discourse of John persuading them to live in
continence.
37 (continued.) Now the brethren from Miletus said unto John: We have
continued a long time at Ephesus; if it seem good to thee, let us go also to
Smyrna; for we hear already that the mighty works of God have reached it also.
And Andronicus said to them: Whensoever the teacher willeth, then let us go. But
John said: Let us first go unto the temple of Artemis, for perchance there also,
if we show ourselves, the servants of the Lord will be found.
38 After two days, then, was the birthday of the idol temple. John therefore,
when all were clad in white, alone put on black raiment and went up into the
temple. And they took him and essayed to kill him. But John said: Ye are mad to
set upon me, a man that is the servant of the only God. And he gat him up upon
an high pedestal and said unto them:
39 Ye run hazard, men of Ephesus, of being like in character to the sea:
every river that floweth in and every spring that runneth down, and the rains,
and waves that press upon each other, and torrents full of rocks are made salt
together by the bitter telementt (MS. promise!) that is therein. So ye also
remaining unchanged unto this day toward true godliness are become corrupted by
your ancient rites of worship. How many wonders and healings of diseases have ye
seen wrought through me? And yet are ye blinded in your hearts and cannot
recover sight. What is it, then, O men of Ephesus? I have adventured now and
come up even into this your idol temple. I will convict you of being most
godless, and dead from the understanding of mankind. Behold, I stand here: ye
all say that ye have a goddess, even Artemis: pray then unto her that I alone
may die; or else I only, if ye are not able to do this, will call upon mine own
god, and for your unbelief I will cause every one of you to die.
40 But they who had beforetime made trial of him and had seen dead men raised
up, cried out: Slay us not so, we beseech thee, John. We know that thou canst do
it. And John said to them: If then ye desire not to die, let that which ye
worship be confounded, and wherefore it is confounded, that ye also may depart
from your ancient error. For now is it time that either ye be converted by my
God, or I myself die by your goddess; for I will pray in your presence and
entreat my God that mercy be shown unto you.
41 And having so said he prayed thus: O God that art God above all that are
called gods, that until this day hast been set at nought in the city of the
Ephesians; that didst put into my mind to come into this place, whereof I never
thought; that dost convict every manner of worship by turning men unto thee; at
whose name every idol fleeth and every evil spirit and every unclean power; now
also by the flight of the evil spirit here at thy name, even of him that
deceiveth this great multitude, show thou thy mercy in this place, for they have
been made to err.
42 And as John spake these things, immediately the altar of Artemis was
parted into many pieces, and all the things that were dedicated in the temple
fell, and [MS. that which seemed good to him] was rent asunder, and likewise of
the images of the gods more than seven. And the half of the temple fell down, so
that the priest was slain at one blow by the falling of the (?roof, ? beam). The
multitude of the Ephesians therefore cried out: One is the God of John, one is
the God that hath pity on us, for thou only art God: now are we turned to thee,
beholding thy marvellous works! have mercy on us, O God, according to thy will,
and save us from our great error! And some of them, lying on their faces, made
supplication, and some kneeled and besought, and some rent their clothes and
wept, and others tried to escape.
43 But John spread forth his hands, and being uplifted in soul, said unto the
Lord: Glory be to thee, my Jesus, the only God of truth, for that thou dost gain
(receive) thy servants by divers devices. And having so said, he said to the
people: Rise up from the floor, ye men of Ephesus, and pray to my God, and
recognize the invisible power that cometh to manifestation, and the wonderful
works which are wrought before your eyes. Artemis ought to have succoured
herself: her servant ought to have been helped of her and not to have died.
Where is the power of the evil spirit? where are her sacrifices? where her
birthdays? where her festivals? where are the garlands? where is all that
sorcery and the poisoning (witchcraft) that is sister thereto?
44 But the people rising up from off the floor went hastily and cast down the
rest of the idol temple, crying: The God of John only do we know, and him
hereafter do we worship, since he hath had mercy upon us! And as John came down
from thence, much people took hold of him, saying: Help us, O John! Assist us
that do perish in vain! Thou seest our purpose: thou seest the multitude
following thee and hanging upon thee in hope toward thy God. We have seen the
way wherein we went astray when we lost him: we have seen our gods that were set
up in vain: we have seen the great and shameful derision that is come to them:
but suffer us, we pray thee, to come unto thine house and to be succoured
without hindrance. Receive us that are in bewilderment.
45 And John said to them: Men (of Ephesus), believe that for your sakes I
have continued in Ephesus, and have put off my journey unto Smyrna and to the
rest of the cities, that there also the servants of Christ may turn to him. But
since I am not yet perfectly assured concerning you, I have continued praying to
my God and beseeching him that I should then depart from Ephesus when I have
confirmed you in the faith: and whereas I see that this is come to pass and yet
more is being fulfilled, I will not leave you until I have weaned you like
children from the nurse's milk, and have set you upon a firm rock.
46 John therefore continued with them, receiving them in the house of
Andromeus. And one of them that were gathered laid down the dead body of the
priest of Artemis before the door [of the temple], for he was his kinsman, and
came in quickly with the rest, saying nothing of it. John, therefore, after the
discourse to the brethren, and the prayer and the thanksgiving (eucharist) and
the laying of hands upon every one of the congregation, said by the spirit:
There is one here who moved by faith in God hath laid down the priest of Artemis
before the gate and is come in, and in the yearning of his soul, taking care
first for himself, hath thought thus in himself: It is better for me to take
thought for the living than for my kinsman that is dead: for I know that if I
turn to the Lord and save mine own soul, John will not deny to raise up the dead
also. And John arising from his place went to that into which that kinsman of
the priest who had so thought was entered, and took him by the hand and said:
Hadst thou this thought when thou camest unto me, my child? And he, taken with
trembling and affright, said: Yes, lord, and cast himself at his feet. And John
said: Our Lord is Jesus Christ, who will show his power in thy dead kinsman by
raising him up.
47 And he made the young man rise, and took his hand and said: It is no great
matter for a man that is master of great mysteries to continue wearying himself
over small things: or what great thing is it to rid men of diseases of the body?
And yet holding the young man by the hand he said: I say unto thee, child, go
and raise the dead thyself, saying nothing but this only: John the servant of
God saith to thee, Arise. And the young man went to his kinsman and said this
only -and much people was with him- and entered in unto John, bringing him
alive. And John, when he saw him that was raised, said: Now that thou art
raised, thou dost not truly live, neither art partaker or heir of the true life:
wilt thou belong unto him by whose name and power thou wast raised? And now
believe, and thou shall live unto all ages. And he forthwith believed upon the
Lord Jesus and thereafter clave unto John.
[Another manuscript (Q. Paris Gr. 1468, of the eleventh century) has another
form of this story. John destroys the temple of Artemis, and then 'we' go to
Smyrna and all the idols are broken: Bucolus, Polycarp, and Andronicus are left
to preside over the district. There were there two priests of Artemis, brothers,
and one died. The raising is told much as in the older text, but more shortly.
'We' remained four years in the region, which was wholly converted, and then
returned to Ephesus.]
48 Now on the next day John, having seen in a dream that he must walk three
miles outside the gates, neglected it not, but rose up early and set out upon
the way, together with the brethren.
And a certain countryman who was admonished by his father not to take to
himself the wife of a fellow labourer of his who threatened to kill him -this
young man would not endure the admonition of his father, but kicked him and left
him without speech (sc. dead). And John, seeing what had befallen, said unto the
Lord: Lord, was it on this account that thou didst bid me come out hither
to-day?
49 But the young man, beholding the violence (sharpness) of death, and
looking to be taken, drew out the sickle that was in his girdle and started to
run to his own abode; and John met him and said: Stand still, thou most
shameless devil, and tell me whither thou runnest bearing a sickle that
thirsteth for blood. And the young man was troubled and cast the iron on the
ground, and said to him: I have done a wretched and barbarous deed and I know
it, and so I determined to do an evil yet worse and more cruel, even to die
myself at once. For because my father was alway curbing me to sobriety, that I
should live without adultery, and chastely, I could not endure him to reprove
me, and I kicked him and slew him, and when I saw what was done, I was hasting
to the woman for whose sake I became my father's murderer, with intent to kill
her and her husband, and myself last of all: for I could not bear to be seen of
the husband of the woman, and undergo the judgement of death.
50 And John said to him: That I may not by going away and leaving you in
danger give place to him that desireth to laugh and sport with thee, come thou
with me and show me thy father, where he lieth. And if I raise him up for thee,
wilt thou hereafter abstain from the woman that is become a snare to thee. And
the young man said: If thou raisest up my father himself for me alive, and if I
see him whole and continuing in life, I will hereafter abstain from her.
51 And while he was speaking, they came to the place where the old man lay
dead, and many passers-by were standing near thereto. And John said to the
youth: Thou wretched man, didst thou not spare even the old age of thy father?
And he, weeping and tearing his hair, said that he repented thereof; and John
the servant of the Lord said: Thou didst show me I was to set forth for this
place, thou knewest that this would come to pass, from whom nothing can be hid
of things done in life, that givest me power to work every cure and healing by
thy will: now also give me this old man alive, for thou seest that his murderer
is become his own judge: and spare him, thou only Lord, that spared not his
father (because he) counselled him for the best.
52 And with these words he came near to the old man and said: My Lord will
not be weak to spread out his kind pity and his condescending mercy even unto
thee: rise up therefore and give glory to God for the work that is come to pass
at this moment. And the old man said: I arise, Lord. And he rose and sat up and
said: I was released from a terrible life and had to bear the insults of my son,
dreadful and many, and his want of natural affection, and to what end hast thou
called me back, O man of the living God? (And John answered him: If) thou art
raised only for the same end, it were better for thee to die; but raise thyself
unto better things. And he took him and led him into the city, preaching unto
him the grace of God, so that before he entered the gate the old man believed.
53 But the young man, when he beheld the unlooked-for raising of his father,
and the saving of himself, took a sickle and mutilated himself, and ran to the
house wherein he had his adulteress, and reproached her, saying: For thy sake I
became the murderer of my father and of you two and of myself: there thou hast
that which is alike guilty of all. For on me God hath had mercy, that I should
know his power.
54 And he came back and told John in presence of the brethren what he had
done. But John said to him: He that put it into thine heart, young man, to kill
thy father and become the adulterer of another man's wife, the same made thee
think it a right deed to take away also the unruly members. But thou shouldest
have done away, not with the place of sin, but the thought which through those
members showed itself harmful: for it is not the instruments that are injurious,
but the unseen springs by which every shameful emotion is stirred and cometh to
light. Repent therefore, my child, of this fault, and having learnt the wiles of
Satan thou shalt have God to help thee in all the necessities of thy soul. And
the young man kept silence and attended, having repented of his former sins,
that he should obtain pardon from the goodness of God: and he did not separate
from John.
55 When, then, these things had been done by him in the city of the
Ephesians, they of Smyrna sent unto him saying: We hear that the God whom thou
preachest is not envious, and hath charged thee not to show partiality by
abiding in one place. Since, then, thou art a preacher of such a God, come unto
Smyrna and unto the other cities, that we may come to know thy God, and having
known him may have our hope in him.
[Q has the above story also, and continues with an incident which is also
quoted in a different form (and not as from these Acts) by John Cassian. Q has
it thus:
Now one day as John was seated, a partridge flew by and came and played in
the dust before him; and John looked on it and wondered. And a certain priest
came, who was one of his hearers, and came to John and saw the partridge playing
in the dust before him, and was offended in himself and said: Can such and so
great a man take pleasure in a partridge playing in the dust? But John
perceiving in the spirit the thought of him, said to him: It were better for
thee also, my child, to look at a partridge playing in the dust and not to
defile thyself with shameful and profane practices: for he who awaiteth the
conversion and repentance of all men hath brought thee here on this account: for
I have no need of a partridge playing in the dust. For the partridge is thine
own soul.
Then the elder, hearing this and seeing that he was not bidden, but that the
apostle of Christ had told him all that was in his heart, fell on his face on
the earth and cried aloud, saying: Now know I that God dwelleth in thee, O
blessed John! for he that tempteth thee tempteth him that cannot be tempted. And
he entreated him to pray for him. And he instructed him and delivered him the
rules (canons) and let him go to his house, glorifying God that is over all.
Cassian, Collation XXIV. 21, has it thus:
It is told that the most blessed Evangelist John, when he was gently stroking
a partridge with his hands, suddenly saw one in the habit of a hunter coming to
him. He wondered that a man of such repute and fame should demean himself to
such small and humble amusements, and said: Art thou that John whose eminent and
widespread fame hath enticed me also with great desire to know thee? Why then
art thou taken up with such mean amusements? The blessed John said to him: What
is that which thou carriest in thy hands? A bow, said he. And why, said he, dost
thou not bear it about always stretched? He answered him: I must not, lest by
constant bending the strength of its vigour be wrung and grow soft and perish,
and when there is need that the arrows be shot with much strength at some beast,
the strength being lost by excess of continual tension, a forcible blow cannot
be dealt. Just so, said the blessed John, let not this little and brief
relaxation of my mind offend thee, young man, for unless it doth sometimes ease
and relax by some remission the force of its tension, it will grow slack through
unbroken rigour and will not be able to obey the power of the Spirit.
The only common point of the two stories is that St. John amuses himself with
a partridge, and a spectator thinks it unworthy of him. The two morals differ
wholly. The amount of text lost here is of quite uncertain length. It must have
told of the doings at Smyrna, and also, it appears, at Laodicca (see the title
of the next section). One of the episodes must have been the conversion of a
woman of evil life (see below, 'the harlot that was chaste ')-]
Our best manuscript prefixes a title to the next section:
From Laodicca to Ephesus the second time.
58 Now when some long time had passed, and none of the brethren had been at
any time grieved by John, they were then grieved because he had said: Brethren,
it is now time for me to go to Ephesus (for so have I agreed with them that
dwell there) lest they become slack, now for a long time having no man to
confirm them. But all of you must have your minds steadfast towards God, who
never forsaketh us.
But when they heard this from him, the brethren lamented because they were to
be parted from him. And John said: Even if I be parted from you, yet Christ is
always with you: whom if ye love purely ye will have his fellowship without
reproach, for if he be loved, he preventeth (anticipateth) them that love him.
59 And having so said, and bidden farewell to them, and left much money with
the brethren for distribution, he went forth unto Ephesus, while all the
brethren lamented and groaned. And there accompanied him, of Ephesus, both
Andronicus and Drusiana and Lycomedes and Cleobius and their families. And there
followed him Aristobula also, who had heard that her husband Tertullus had died
on the way, and Aristippus with Xenophon, and the harlot that was chaste, and
many others, whom he exhorted at all times to cleave to the Lord, and they would
no more be parted from him.
60 Now on the first day we arrived at a deserted inn, and when we were at a
loss for a bed for John, we saw a droll matter. There was one bedstead lying
somewhere there without coverings, whereon we spread the cloaks which we were
wearing, and we prayed him to lie down upon it and rest, while the rest of us
all slept upon the floor. But he when he lay down was troubled by the bugs, and
as they continued to become yet more troublesome to him, when it was now about
the middle of the night, in the hearing of us all he said to them: I say unto
you, O bugs, behave yourselves, one and all, and leave your abode for this night
and remain quiet in one place, and keep your distance from the servants of God.
And as we laughed, and went on talking for some time, John addressed himself to
sleep; and we, talking low, gave him no disturbance (or, thanks to him we were
not disturbed).
61 But when the day was now dawning I arose first, and with me Verus and
Andronicus, and we saw at the door of the house which we had taken a great
number of bugs standing, and while we wondered at the great sight of them, and
all the brethren were roused up because of them, John continued sleeping. And
when he was awaked we declared to him what we had seen. And he sat up on the bed
and looked at them and said: Since ye have well behaved yourselves in hearkening
to my rebuke, come unto your place. And when he had said this, and risen from
the bed, the bugs running from the door hasted to the bed and climbed up by the
legs thereof and disappeared into the joints. And John said again: This creature
hearkened unto the voice of a man, and abode by itself and was quiet and
trespassed not; but we which hear the voice and commandments of God disobey and
are light-minded: and for how long?
62 After these things we came to Ephesus: and the brethren there, who had for
a long time known that John was coming, ran together to the house of Andronicus
(where also he came to lodge), handling his feet and laying his hands upon their
own faces and kissing them (and many rejoiced even to touch his vesture, and
were healed by touching the clothes of the holy apostle. [So the Latin, which
has this section; the Greek has: so that they even touched his garments).]
63 And whereas there was great love and joy unsurpassed among the brethren, a
certain one, a messenger of Satan, became enamoured of Drusiana, though he saw
and knew that she was the wife of Andronicus. To whom many said: It is not
possible for thee to obtain that woman, seeing that for a long time she has even
separated herself from her husband for godliness' sake. Art thou only ignorant
that Andronicus, not being aforetime that which now he is, a God-fearing man,
shut her up in a tomb, saying: Either I must have thee as the wife whom I had
before, or thou shalt die. And she chose rather to die than to do that foulness.
If, then, she would not consent, for godliness' sake, to cohabit with her lord
and husband, but even persuaded him to be of the same mind as herself, will she
consent to thee desiring to be her seducer? depart from this madness which hath
no rest in thee: give up this deed which thou canst not bring to accomplishment.
64 But his familiar friends saying these things to him did not convince him,
but with shamelessness he courted her with messages; and when he learnt the
insults and disgraces which she returned, he spent his life in melancholy (or
better, she, when she learnt of this disgrace and insult at his hand, spent her
life in heaviness). And after two days Drusiana took to her bed from heaviness,
and was in a fever and said: Would that I had not now come home to my native
place, I that have become an offence to a man ignorant of godliness! for if it
were one who was filled with the word of God, he would not have gone to such a
pitch of madness. But now (therefore) Lord, since I am become the occasion of a
blow unto a soul devoid of knowledge, set me free from this chain and remove me
unto thee quickly. And in the presence of John, who knew nothing at all of such
a matter, Drusiana departed out of life not wholly happy, yea, even troubled
because of the spiritual hurt of the man.
65 But Andronicus, grieved with a secret grief, mourned in his soul, and wept
openly, so that John checked him often and said to him: Upon a better hope hath
Drusiana removed out of this unrighteous life. And Andronicus answered him: Yea,
I am persuaded of it, O John, and I doubt not at all in regard of trust in my
God: but this very thing do I hold fast, that she departed out of life pure.
66 And when she was carried forth, John took hold on Andronicus, and now that
he knew the cause, he mourned more than Andronicus. And he kept silence,
considering the provocation of the adversary, and for a space sat still. Then,
the brethren being gathered there to hear what word he would speak of her that
was departed, he began to say:
67 When the pilot that voyageth, together with them that sail with him, and
the ship herself, arriveth in a calm and stormless harbour, then let him say
that he is safe. And the husbandman that hath committed the seed to the earth,
and toiled much in the care and protection of it, let him then take rest from
his labours, when he layeth up the seed with manifold increase in his barns. Let
him that enterpriseth to run in the course, then exult when he beareth home the
prize. Let him that inscribeth his name for the boxing, then boast himself when
he receiveth the crowns: and so in succession is it with all contests and
crafts, when they do not fail in the end, but show themselves to be like that
which they promised (corrupt).
68 And thus also I think is it with the faith which each one of us
practiseth, that it is then discerned whether it be indeed true, when it
continueth like itself even until the end of life. For many obstacles fall into
the way, and prepare disturbance for the minds of men: care, children, parents,
glory, poverty, flattery, prime of life, beauty, conceit, lust, wealth, anger,
uplifting, slackness, envy, jealousy, neglect, fear, insolence, love, deceit,
money, pretence, and other such obstacles, as many as there are in this life: as
also the pilot sailing a prosperous course is opposed by the onset of contrary
winds and a great storm and mighty waves out of calm, and the husbandman by
untimely winter and blight and creeping things rising out of the earth, and they
that strive in the games 'just do not win', and they that exercise crafts are
hindered by the divers difficulties of them.
69 But before all things it is needful that the believer should look before
at his ending and understand it in what manner it will come upon him, whether it
will be vigorous and sober and without any obstacle, or disturbed and clinging
to the things that are here, and bound down by desires. So is it right that a
body should be praised as comely when it is wholly stripped, and a general as
great when he hath accomplished every promise of the war, and a physician as
excellent when he hath succeeded in every cure, and a soul as full of faith and
worthy (or receptive) of God when it hath paid its promise in full: not that
soul which began well and was dissolved into all the things of this life and
fell away, nor that which is numb, having made an effort to attain to better
things, and then is borne down to temporal things, nor that which hath longed
after the things of time more than those of eternity, nor that which exchangeth
70 And as John was discoursing yet further unto the brethren that they should
despise temporal things in respect of the eternal, he that was enamoured of
Drusiana, being inflamed with an horrible lust and possession of the many-shaped
Satan, bribed the steward of Andronicus who was a lover of money with a great
sum: and he opened the tomb and gave him opportunity to wreak the forbidden
thing upon the dead body. Not having succeeded with her when alive, he was still
importunate after her death to her body, and said: If thou wouldst not have to
do with me while thou livedst, I will outrage thy corpse now thou art dead. With
this design, and having managed for himself the wicked act by means of the
abominable steward, he rushed with him to the sepulchre; they opened the door
and began to strip the grave-clothes from the corpse, saying: What art thou
profited, poor Drusiana? couldest thou not have done this in life, which
perchance would not have grieved thee, hadst thou done it willingly?
71 And as these men were speaking thus, and only the accustomed shift now
remained on her body, a strange spectacle was seen, such as they deserve to
suffer who do such deeds. A serpent appeared from some quarter and dealt the
steward a single bite and slew him: but the young man it did not strike; but
coiled about his feet, hissing terribly, and when he fell mounted on his body
and sat upon him.
72 Now on the next day John came, accompanied by Andronicus and the brethren,
to the sepulchre at dawn, it being now the third day from Drusiana's death, that
we might break bread there. And first, when they set out, the keys were sought
for and could not be found; but John said to Andronicus: It is quite right that
they should be lost, for Drusiana is not in the sepulchre; nevertheless, let us
go, that thou mayest not be neglectful, and the doors shall be opened of
themselves, even as the Lord hath done for us many such things.
73 And when we were at the place, at the commandment of the master, the doors
were opened, and we saw by the tomb of Drusiana a beautiful youth, smiling: and
John, when he saw him, cried out and said: Art thou come before us hither too,
beautiful one? and for what cause? And we heard a voice saying to him: For
Drusiana's sake, whom thou art to raise up-for I was within a little of finding
her 74 And Andronicus seeing those corpses, leapt up and went to Drusiana's tomb,
and seeing her lying in her shift only, said to John: I understand what has
happened, thou blessed servant of God, John. This Callimachus was enamoured of
my sister; and because he never won her, though he often assayed it, he hath
bribed this mine accursed steward with a great sum, perchance designing, as now
we may see, to fulfil by his means the tragedy of his conspiracy, for indeed
Callimachus avowed this to many, saying: If she will not consent to me when
living, she shall be outraged when dead. And it may be, master, that the
beautiful one knew it and suffered not her body to be insulted, and therefore
have these died who made that attempt. And can it be that the voice that said
unto thee, 'Raise up Drusiana', foreshowed this? because she departed out of
this life in sorrow of mind. But I believe him that said that this is one of the
men that have gone astray; for thou wast bidden to raise him up: for as to the
other, I know that he is unworthy of salvation. But this one thing I beg of
thee: raise up Callimachus first, and he will confess to us what is come about.
75 And John, looking upon the body, said to the venomous beast: Get thee away
from him that is to be a servant of Jesus Christ; and stood up and prayed over
him thus: O God whose name is glorified by us, as of right: O God who subduest
every injurious force: O God whose will is accomplished, who alway hearest us:
now also let thy gift be accomplished in this young man; and if there be any
dispensation to be wrought through him, manifest it unto us when he is raised
up. And straightway the young man rose up, and for a whole hour kept silence.
76 But when he came to his right senses, John asked of him about his entry
into the sepulchre, what it meant, and learning from him that which Andronicus
had told him, namely, that he was enamoured of Drusiana, John inquired of him
again if he had fulfilled his foul intent, to insult a body full of holiness.
And he answered him: How could I accomplish it when this fearful beast struck
down Fortunatus at a blow in my sight: and rightly, since he encouraged my
frenzy, when I was already cured of that unreasonable and horrible madness: but
me it stopped with affright, and brought me to that plight in which ye saw me
before I arose. And another thing yet more wondrous I will tell thee, which yet
went nigh to slay and was within a little of making me a corpse. When my soul
was stirred up with folly and the uncontrollable malady was troubling me, and I
had now torn away the grave-clothes in which she was clad, and I had then come
out of the grave and laid them as thou seest, I went again to my unholy work:
and I saw a beautiful youth covering her with his mantle, and from his eyes
sparks of light came forth unto her eyes; and he uttered words to me, saying:
Callimachus, die that thou mayest live. Now who he was I knew not, O servant of
God; but that now thou hast appeared here, I recognize that he was an angel of
God, that I know well; and this I know of a truth that it is a true God that is
proclaimed by thee, and of it I am persuaded. But I beseech thee, be not slack
to deliver me from this calamity and this fearful crime, and to present me unto
thy God as a man deceived with a shameful and foul deceit. Beseeching help
therefore of thee, I take hold on thy feet. I would become one of them that hope
in Christ, that the voice may prove true which said to me, 'Die that thou mayest
live': and that voice hath also fulfilled its effect, for he is dead, that
faithless, disorderly, godless one, and I have been raised by thee, I who will
be faithful, God-fearing, knowing the truth, which I entreat thee may be shown
me by thee.
77 And John, filled with great gladness and perceiving the whole spectacle of
the salvation of man, said: What thy power is, Lord Jesu Christ, I know not,
bewildered as I am at thy much compassion and boundless long-suffering. O what a
greatness that came down into bondage! O unspeakable liberty brought into
slavery by us! O incomprehensible glory that is come unto us! thou that hast
kept the dead tabernacle safe from insult; that hast redeemed the man that
stained himself with blood and chastened the soul of him that would defile the
corruptible body; Father that hast had pity and compassion on the man that cared
not for thee; We glorify thee, and praise and bless and thank thy great goodness
and long-suffering, O holy Jesu, for thou only art God, and none else: whose is
the might that cannot be conspired against, now and world without end. Amen.
78 And when he had said this John took Callimachus and saluted (kissed) him,
saying: Glory be to our God, my child, who hath had mercy on thee, and made me
worthy to glorify his power, and thee also by a good course to depart from that
thine abominable madness and drunkenness, and hath called thee unto his own rest
and unto renewing of life.
79 But Andronicus, beholding the dead Callimachus raised, besought John, with
the brethren, to raise up Drusiana also, saying: O John, let Drusiana arise and
spend happily that short space (of life) which she gave up through grief about
Callimachus, when she thought she had become a stumbling block to him: and when
the Lord will, he shall take her again to himself. And John without delay went
unto her tomb and took her hand and said: Upon thee that art the only God do I
call, the more than great, the unutterable, the incomprehensible: unto whom
every power of principalities is subjected: unto whom all authority boweth:
before whom all pride falleth down and keepeth silence: whom devils hearing of
tremble: whom all creation perceiving keepeth its bounds. Let thy name be
glorified by us, and raise up Drusiana, that Callimachus may yet more be
confirmed unto thee who dispensest that which unto men is without a way and
impossible, but to thee only possible, even salvation and resurrection: and that
Drusiana may now come forth in peace, having about her not any the least
hindrance -now that the young man is turned unto thee- in her course toward
thee.
80 And after these words John said unto Drusiana: Drusiana, arise. And she
arose and came out of the tomb; and when she saw herself in her shift only, she
was perplexed at the thing, and learned the whole accurately from Andronicus,
the while John lay upon his face, and Callimachus with voice and tears glorified
God, and she also rejoiced, glorifying him in like manner.
81 And when she had clothed herself, she turned and saw Fortunatus lying, and
said unto John: Father, let this man also rise, even if he did assay to become
my betrayer. But Callimachus, when he heard her say that, said: Do not, I
beseech thee, Drusiana, for the voice which I heard took no thought of him, but
declared concerning thee only, and I saw and believed: for if he had been good,
perchance God would have had mercy on him also and would have raised him by
means of the blessed John: he knew therefore that the man was come to a bad end
[Lat. he judged him worthy to die whom he did not declare worthy to rise again].
And John said to him: We have not learned, my child, to render evil for evil:
for God, though we have done much ill and no good toward him, hath not given
retribution unto us, but repentance, and though we were ignorant of his name he
did not neglect us but had mercy on us, and when we blasphemed him, he did not
punish but pitied us, and when we disbelieved him he bore us no grudge, and when
we persecuted his brethren he did not recompense us evil but put into our minds
repentance and abstinence from evil, and exhorted us to come unto him, as he
hath thee also, my son Callimachus, and not remembering thy former evil hath
made thee his servant, waiting upon his mercy. Wherefore if thou allowest not me
to raise up Fortunatus, it is for Drusiana so to do.
82 And she, delaying not, went with rejoicing of spirit and soul unto the
body of Fortunatus and said: Jesu Christ, God of the ages, God of truth, that
hast granted me to see wonders and signs, and given to me to become partaker of
thy name; that didst breathe thyself into me with thy many-shaped countenance,
and hadst mercy on me in many ways; that didst protect me by thy great goodness
when I was oppressed by Andronicus that was of old my husband; that didst give
me thy servant Andronicus to be my brother; that hast kept me thine handmaid
pure unto this day; that didst raise me up by thy servant John, and when I was
raised didst show me him that was made to stumble free from stumbling; that hast
given me perfect rest in thee, and lightened me of the secret madness; whom I
have loved and affectioned: I pray thee, O Christ, refuse not thy Drusiana that
asketh thee to raise up Fortunatus, even though he assayed to become my
betrayer.
83 And taking the hand of the dead man she said: Rise up, Fortunatus, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Fortunatus arose, and when he saw John in the
sepulchre, and Andronicus, and Drusiana raised from the dead, and Callimachus a
believer, and the rest of the brethren glorifying God, he said: O, to what have
the powers of these clever men attained! I did not want to be raised, but would
rather die, so as not to see them. And with these words he fled and went out of
the sepulchre.
84 And John, when he saw the unchanged mind (soul) of Fortunatus, said: O
nature that is not changed for the better! O fountain of the soul that abideth
in foulness! O essence of corruption full of darkness! O death exulting in them
that are thine! O fruitless tree full of fire! O tree that bearest coals for
fruit! O matter that dwellest with the madness of matter (al. O wood of trees
full of unwholesome shoots) and neighbour of unbelief! Thou hast proved who thou
art, and thou art always convicted, with thy children. And thou knowest not how
to praise the better things: for thou hast them not. Therefore, such as is thy
way (?fruit), such also is thy root and thy nature. Be thou destroyed from among
them that trust in the Lord: from their thoughts, from their mind, from their
souls, from their bodies, from their acts) their life, their conversation, from
their business, their occupations, their counsel, from the resurrection unto (or
rest in) God, from their sweet savour wherein thou wilt 85 And having thus said, John prayed, and took bread and bare it into the
sepulchre to break it; and said: We glorify thy name, which converteth us from
error and ruthless deceit: we glorify thee who hast shown before our eyes that
which we have seen: we bear witness to thy loving-kindness which appeareth in
divers ways: we praise thy merciful name, O Lord (we thank thee), who hast
convicted them that are convicted of thee: we give thanks to thee, O Lord Jesu
Christ, that we are persuaded of thy 86 And having so prayed and given glory to God, he went out of the sepulchre
after imparting unto all the brethren of the eucharist of the Lord. And when he
was come unto Andronicus' house he said to the brethren: Brethren, a spirit
within me hath divined that Fortunatus is about to die of blackness (poisoning
of the blood) from the bite of the serpent; but let some one go quickly and
learn if it is so indeed. And one of the young men ran and found him dead and
the blackness spreading over him, and it had reached his heart: and came and
told John that he had been dead three hours. And John said: Thou hast thy child,
O devil.
'John therefore was with the brethren rejoicing in the Lord.' This sentence
is in the best manuscript. In Bonnet's edition It introduces the last section of
the Acts, which follows immediately in the manuscript. It may belong to either
episode. The Latin has: And that day he spent joyfully with the brethren.
There cannot be much of a gap between this and the next section, which is
perhaps the most interesting in the Acts.
The greater part of this episode is preserved only in one very corrupt
fourteenth-century manuscript at Vienna. Two important passages (93-5 (part) and
97-8 (part)) were read at the Second Nicene Council and are preserved in the
Acts thereof: a few lines of the Hymn are also cited in Latin by Augustine (Ep.
237 (253) to Ceretius): he found it current separately among the
Priscillianists. The whole discourse is the best popular exposition we have of
the Docetic view of our Lord's person.
87 Those that were present inquired the cause, and were especially perplexed,
because Drusiana had said: The Lord appeared unto me in the tomb in the likeness
of John, and in that of a youth. Forasmuch, therefore, as they were perplexed
and were, in a manner, not yet stablished in the faith, so as to endure it
steadfastly, John said (or John bearing it patiently, said):
88 Men and brethren, ye have suffered nothing strange or incredible as
concerning your perception of the For when he had chosen Peter and Andrew, which were brethren, he cometh unto
me and James my brother, saying: I have need of you, come unto me. And my
brother hearing that, said: John, what would this child have that is upon the
sea-shore and called us? And I said: What child? And he said to me again: That
which beckoneth to us. And I answered: Because of our long watch we have kept at
sea, thou seest not aright, my brother James; but seest thou not the man that
standeth there, comely and fair and of a cheerful countenance? But he said to
me: Him I see not, brother; but let us go forth and we shall see what he would
have.
89 And so when we had brought the ship to land, we saw him also helping along
with us to settle the ship: and when we departed from that place, being minded
to follow him, again he was seen of me as having rather bald, but the
beard thick and flowing, but of James as a youth whose beard was newly come. We
were therefore perplexed, both of us, as to what that which we had seen should
mean. And after that, as we followed him, both of us were by little and little
90 And at another time he taketh with him me and James and Peter unto the
mountain where he was wont to pray, and we saw in him a light such as it is not
possible for a man that useth corruptible (mortal) speech to describe what it
was like. Again in like manner he bringeth us three up into the mountain,
saying: Come ye with me. And we went again: and we saw him at a distance
praying. I, therefore, because he loved me, drew nigh unto him softly, as though
he could not see me, and stood looking upon his hinder parts: and I saw that he
was not in any wise clad with garments, but was seen of us naked, and not in any
wise as a man, and that his feet were whiter than any snow, so that the earth
there was lighted up by his feet, and that his head touched the heaven: so that
I was afraid and cried out, and he, turning about, appeared as a man of small
stature, and caught hold on my beard and pulled it and said to me: John, be not
faithless but believing, and not curious. And I said unto him: But what have I
done, Lord? And I say unto you, brethren, I suffered so great pain in that place
where he took hold on my beard for thirty days, that I said to him: Lord, if thy
twitch when thou wast in sport hath given me so great pain, what were it if thou
hadst given me a buffet? And he said unto me: Let it be thine henceforth not to
tempt him that cannot be tempted.
91 But Peter and James were wroth because I spake with the Lord, and beckoned
unto me that I should come unto them and leave the Lord alone. And I went, and
they both said unto me: He (the old man) that was speaking with the Lord upon
the top of the mount, who was he? for we heard both of them speaking. And I,
having in mind his great grace, and his unity which hath many faces, and his
wisdom which without ceasing looketh upon us, said: That shall ye learn if ye
inquire of him.
92 Again, once when all we his disciples were at Gennesaret sleeping in one
house, I alone having wrapped myself in my mantle, watched (or watched from
beneath my mantle) what he should do: and first I heard him say: John, go thou
to sleep. And I thereon feigning to sleep saw another like unto him [sleeping],
whom also I heard say unto my Lord: Jesus, they whom thou hast chosen believe
not yet on thee (or do they not yet, &c.?). And my Lord said unto him: Thou
sayest well: for they are men.
93 Another glory also will I tell you, brethren: Sometimes when I would lay
hold on him, I met with a material and solid body, and at other times, again,
when I felt him, the substance was immaterial and as if it existed not at all.
And if at any time he were bidden by some one of the Pharisees and went to the
bidding, we went with him, and there was set before each one of us a loaf by
them that had bidden us, and with us he also received one; and his own he would
bless and part it among us: and of that little every one was filled, and our own
loaves were saved whole, so that they which bade him were amazed. And oftentimes
when I walked with him, I desired to see the print of his foot, whether it
appeared on the earth; for I saw him as it were lifting himself up from the
earth: and I never saw it. And these things I speak unto you, brethren, for the
encouragement of your faith toward him; for we must at the present keep silence
concerning his mighty and wonderful works, inasmuch as they are unspeakable and,
it may be, cannot at all be either uttered or heard.
94 Now before he was taken by the lawless Jews, who also were governed by
(had their law from) the lawless serpent, he gathered all of us together and
said: Before I am delivered up unto them let us sing an hymn to the Father, and
so go forth to that which lieth before us. He bade us therefore make as it were
a ring, holding one another's hands, and himself standing in the midst he said:
Answer Amen unto me. He began, then, to sing an hymn and to say:
Glory be to thee, Father.
And we, going about in a ring, answered him: Amen.
Glory be to thee, Word: Glory be to thee, Grace. Amen.
Glory be to thee, Spirit: Glory be to thee, Holy One:
Glory be to thy glory. Amen.
We praise thee, O Father; we give thanks to thee, O Light, wherein darkness
dwelleth not. Amen.
95 Now whereas (or wherefore) we give thanks, I say:
I would be saved, and I would save. Amen.
I would be loosed, and I would loose. Amen.
I would be wounded, and I would wound. Amen.
I would be born, and I would bear. Amen.
I would eat, and I would be eaten. Amen.
I would hear, and I would be heard. Amen.
I would be thought, being wholly thought. Amen.
I would be washed, and I would wash. Amen.
Grace danceth. I would pipe; dance ye all. Amen.
I would mourn: lament ye all. Amen.
The number Eight (lit. one ogdoad) singeth praise with us. Amen.
The number Twelve danceth on high. Amen.
The Whole on high hath part in our dancing. Amen.
Whoso danceth not, knoweth not what cometh to pass. Amen.
I would flee, and I would stay. Amen.
I would adorn, and I would be adorned. Amen.
I would be united, and I would unite. Amen.
A house I have not, and I have houses. Amen.
A place I have not, and I have places. Amen.
A temple I have not, and I have temples. Amen.
A lamp am I to thee that beholdest me. Amen.
A mirror am I to thee that perceivest me. Amen.
A door am I to thee that knockest at me. Amen.
A way am I to thee a wayfarer. 96 Now answer thou (or as thou respondest) unto my dancing. Behold thyself in
me who speak, and seeing what I do, keep silence about my mysteries.
Thou that dancest, perceive what I do, for thine is this passion of the
manhood, which I am about to suffer. For thou couldest not at all have
understood what thou sufferest if I had not been sent unto thee, as the word of
the Father. Thou that sawest what I suffer sawest me as suffering, and seeing it
thou didst not abide but wert wholly moved, moved to make wise. Thou hast me as
a bed, rest upon me. Who I am, thou shalt know when I depart. What now I am seen
to be, that I am not. Thou shalt see when thou comest. If thou hadst known how
to suffer, thou wouldest have been able not to suffer. Learn thou to suffer, and
thou shalt be able not to suffer. What thou knowest not, I myself will teach
thee. Thy God am I, not the God of the traitor. I would keep tune with holy
souls. In me know thou the word of wisdom. Again with me say thou: Glory be to
thee, Father; glory to thee, Word; glory to thee, Holy Ghost. And if thou
wouldst know concerning me, what I was, know that with a word did I deceive all
things and I was no whit deceived. I have leaped: but do thou understand the
whole, and having understood it, say: Glory be to thee, Father. Amen.
97 Thus, my beloved, having danced with us the Lord went forth. And we as men
gone astray or dazed with sleep fled this way and that. I, then, when I saw him
suffer, did not even abide by his suffering, but fled unto the Mount of Olives,
weeping at that which had befallen. And when he was crucified on the Friday, at
the sixth hour of the day, darkness came upon all the earth. And my Lord
standing in the midst of the cave and enlightening it, said: John, unto the
multitude below in Jerusalem I am being crucified and pierced with lances and
reeds, and gall and vinegar is given me to drink. But unto thee I speak, and
what I speak hear thou. I put it into thy mind to come up into this mountain,
that thou mightest hear those things which it behoveth a disciple to learn from
his teacher and a man from his God.
98 And having thus spoken, he showed me a cross of light fixed (set up), and
about the cross a great multitude, not having one form: and in it (the cross)
was one form and one likenesst [so the MS.; I would read: and therein was one
form and one likeness: and in the cross another multitude, not having one form].
And the Lord himself I beheld above the cross, not having any shape, but only a
voice: and a voice not such as was familiar to us, but one sweet and kind and
truly of God, saying unto me: John, it is needful that one should hear these
things from me, for I have need of one that will hear. This cross of light is
sometimes called the (or a) word by me for your sakes, sometimes mind, sometimes
Jesus, sometimes Christ, sometimes door, sometimes a way, sometimes bread,
sometimes seed, sometimes resurrection, sometimes Son, sometimes Father,
sometimes Spirit, sometimes life, sometimes truth, sometimes faith, sometimes
grace. And by these names it is called as toward men: but that which it is in
truth, as conceived of in itself and as spoken of unto you (MS. us), it is the
marking-off of all things, and the firm uplifting of things fixed out of things
unstable, and the harmony of wisdom, and indeed wisdom in harmony [this last
clause in the MS. is joined to the next: 'and being wisdom in harmony']. There
are 99 This cross, then, is that which fixed all things apart (al. joined all
things unto itself) by the (or a) word, and separate off the things that are
from those that are below (lit. the things from birth and below it), and then
also, being one, streamed forth into all things (or, made all flow forth. I
suggested: compacted all into 100 Now the multitude of one aspect (al. 101 Nothing, therefore, of the things which they will say of me have I
suffered: nay, that suffering also which I showed unto thee and the rest in the
dance, I will that it be called a mystery. For what thou art, thou seest, for I
showed it thee; but what I am I alone know, and no man else. Suffer me then to
keep that which is mine, and that which is thine behold thou through me, and
behold me in truth, that I am, not what I said, but what thou art able to know,
because thou art akin thereto. Thou hearest that I suffered, yet did I not
suffer; that I suffered not, yet did I suffer; that I was pierced, yet I was not
smitten; hanged, and I was not hanged; that blood flowed from me, and it flowed
not; and, in a word, what they say of me, that befell me not, but what they say
not, that did I suffer. Now what those things are I signify unto thee, for I
know that thou wilt understand. Perceive thou therefore in me the praising (al.
slaying al. rest) of the (or a) Word (Logos), the piercing of the Word, the
blood of the Word, the wound of the Word, the hanging up of the Word, the
suffering of the Word, the nailing (fixing) of the Word, the death of the Word.
And so speak I, separating off the manhood. Perceive thou therefore in the first
place of the Word; then shalt thou perceive the Lord, and in the third place the
man, and what he hath suffered.
102 When he had spoken unto me these things, and others which I know not how
to say as he would have me, he was taken up, no one of the multitudes having
beheld him. And when I went down I laughed them all to scorn, inasmuch as he had
told me the things which they have said concerning him; holding fast this one
thing in myself, that the Lord contrived all things symbolically and by a
dispensation toward men, for their conversion and salvation.
103 Having therefore beheld, brethren, the grace of the Lord and his kindly
affection toward us, let us worship him as those unto whom he hath shown mercy,
not with our fingers, nor our mouth, nor our tongue, nor with any part
whatsoever of our body, but with the disposition of our soul -even him who
became a man apart from this body: and let us watch because (or we shall find
that) now also he keepeth ward over prisons for our sake, and over tombs, in
bonds and dungeons, in reproaches and insults, by sea and on dry land, in
scourgings, condemnations, conspiracies, frauds, punishments, and in a word, he
is with all of us, and himself suffereth with us when we suffer, brethren. When
he is called upon by each one of us, he endureth not to shut his ears to us, but
as being everywhere he hearkeneth to all of us; and now both to me and to
Drusiana, -forasmuch as he is the God of them that are shut upbringing us help
by his own compassion.
104 Be ye also persuaded, therefore, beloved, that it is not a man whom I
preach unto you to worship, but God unchangeable, God invincible, God higher
than all authority and all power, and elder and mightier than all angels and
creatures that are named, and all aeons. If then ye abide in him, and are
builded up in him, ye shall possess your soul indestructible.
105 And when he had delivered these things unto the brethren, John departed,
with Andronicus, to walk. And Drusiana also followed afar off with all the
brethren, that they might behold the acts that were done by him, and hear his
speech at all times in the Lord.
The remaining episode which is extant in the Greek is the conclusion of the
book, the Death or Assumption of John. Before it must be placed the stories
which we have only in the Latin (of 'Abdias' and another text by 'Mellitus',
i.e. Melito), and the two or three isolated fragments.
(Lat. XIV.) Now on the next (or another) day Craton, a philosopher, had
proclaimed in the market-place that he would give an example of the contempt of
riches: and the spectacle was after this manner. He had persuaded two young men,
the richest of the city, who were brothers, to spend their whole inheritance and
buy each of them a jewel, and these they brake in pieces publicly in the sight
of the people. And while they were doing this, it happened by chance that the
apostle passed by. And calling Craton the philosopher to him, he said: That is a
foolish despising of the world which is praised by the mouths of men, but long
ago condemned by the judgement of God. For as that is a vain medicine whereby
the disease is not extirpated, so is it a vain teaching by which the faults of
souls and of conduct are not cured. But indeed my master taught a youth who
desired to attain to eternal life, in these words; saying that if he would be
perfect, he should sell all his goods and give to the poor, and so doing he
would gain treasure in heaven and find the life that has no ending. And Craton
said to him: Here the fruit of covetousness is set forth in the midst of men,
and hath been broken to pieces. But if God is indeed thy master and willeth this
to be, that the sum of the price of these jewels should be given to the poor,
cause thou the gems to be restored whole, that what I have done for the praise
of men, thou mayest do for the glory of him whom thou callest thy master. Then
the blessed John gathered together the fragments of the gems, and holding them
in his hands, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said: Lord Jesu Christ, unto whom
nothing is impossible: who when the world was broken by the tree of
concupiscence, didst restore it again in thy faithfulness by the tree of the
cross: who didst give to one born blind the eyes which nature had denied him,
who didst recall Lazarus, dead and buried, after the fourth day unto the light;
and has subjected all diseases and all sicknesses unto the word of thy power: so
also now do with these precious stones which these, not knowing the fruits of
almsgiving, have broken in pieces for the praise of men: recover thou them,
Lord, now by the hands of thine angels, that by their value the work of mercy
may be fulfilled, and make these men believe in thee the unbegotten Father
through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ our Lord, with the Holy Ghost the
illuminator and sanctifier of the whole Church,
world without end. And when the faithful who were with the apostle had
answered and said Amen, the fragments of the gems were forthwith so joined in
one that no mark at all that they had been broken remained in them. And Craton
the philosopher, with his disciples, seeing this, fell at the feet of the
apostle and believed thenceforth (or immediately) and was baptized, with them
all, and began himself publicly to preach the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.
XV. Those two brothers, therefore, of whom we spake, sold the gems which they
had bought by the sale of their inheritance and gave the price to the poor; and
thereafter a very great multitude of believers began to be joined to the
apostle.
And when all this was done, it happened that after the same example, two
honourable men of the city of the Ephesian sold all their goods and distributed
them to the needy, and followed the apostle as he went through the cities
preaching the word of God. But it came to pass, when they entered the city of
Pergamum, that they saw their servants walking abroad arrayed in silken raiment
and shining with the glory of this world: whence it happened that they were
pierced with the arrow of the devil and became sad, seeing themselves poor and
clad with a single cloak while their own servants were powerful and prosperous.
But the apostle of Christ, perceiving these wiles of the devil, said: I see that
ye have changed your minds and your countenances on this account, that, obeying
the teaching of my Lord Jesus Christ, ye have given all ye had to the poor. Now,
if ye desire to recover that which ye formerly possessed of gold, silver, and
precious stones, bring me some straight rods, each of you a bundle. And when
they had done so, he called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and thev
were turned into gold. And the apostle said to them: Bring me small stones from
the seashore. And when they had done this also, he called upon the majesty of
the Lord, and all the pebbles were turned into gems. Then the blessed John
turned to those men and said to them: Go about to the goldsmiths and jewellers
for seven days, and when ye have proved that these are true gold and true
jewels, tell me. And they went, both of them, and after seven days returned to
the apostle, saying: Lord, we have gone about the shops of all the goldsmiths,
and they have all said that they never saw such pure gold. Likewise the
jewellers have said the same, that they never saw such excellent and precious
gems.
XVI. Then the holy John said unto them: Go, and redeem to you the lands which
ye have sold, for ye have lost the estates of heaven. Buy yourselves silken
raiment, that for a time ye may shine like the rose which showeth its fragrance
and redness and suddenly fadeth away. For ye sighed at beholding your servants
and groaned that ye were become poor. Flourish, therefore, that ye may fade: be
rich for the time, that ye may be beggars for ever. Is not the Lord's hand able
to make riches overflowing and unsurpassably glorious? but he hath appointed a
conflict for souls, that they may believe that they shall have eternal riches,
who for his name's sake have refused temporal wealth. Indeed, our master told us
concerning a certain rich man who feasted every day and shone with gold and
purple, at whose door lay a beggar, Lazarus, who desired to receive even the
crumbs that fell from his table, and no man gave unto him. And it came to pass
that on one day they died, both of them, and that beggar was taken into the rest
which is in Abraham's bosom, but the rich man was cast into flaming fire: out of
which he lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus, and prayed him to dip his finger in
water and cool his mouth for he was tormented in the flames. And Abraham
answered him and said: Remember, son, that thou receivedst good things in thy
life, but this Lazarus likewise evil things. Wherefore rightly is he now
comforted while thou art tormented, and besides all this, a great gulf is fixed
between you and us, so that neither can they come thence hither, nor hither
thence. But he answered: I have five brethren: I pray that some one may go to
warn them, that they come not into this flame. And Abraham said to him: They
have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. To that he answered: Lord,
unless one rise up again, they will not believe. Abraham said to him: If they
believe not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe, if one rise
again. And these words our Lord and Master confirmed by examples of mighty
works: for when they said to him: Who hath come hither from thence, that we may
believe him? he answered: Bring hither the dead whom ye have. And when they had
brought unto him a young man which was dead (Ps.-Mellitus: three dead corpses),
he was waked up by him as one that sleepeth, and confirmed all his words.
But wherefore should I speak of my Lord, when at this present there are those
whom in his name and in your presence and sight I have raised from the dead: in
whose name ye have seen palsied men healed, lepers cleansed, blind men
enlightened, and many delivered from evil spirits ? But the riches of these
mighty works they cannot have who have desired to have earthly wealth. Finally,
when ye yourselves went unto the sick and called upon the name of Jesus Christ,
they were healed: ye did drive out devils and restore light to the blind.
Behold, this grace is taken from you, and ye are become wretched, who were
mighty and great. And where as there was such fear of you upon the devils that
at your bidding they left the men whom they possessed, now ye will be in fear of
the devils. For he that loveth money is the servant of Mammon: and Mammon is the
name of a devil who is set over carnal gains, and is the master of them that
love the world. But even the lovers of the world do not possess riches, but are
possessed of them. For it is out of reason that for one belly there should be
laid up so much food as would suffice a thousand, and for one body so many
garments as would furnish clothing for a thousand men. In vain, therefore, is
that stored up which cometh not into use, and for whom it is kept, no man
knoweth, as the Holy Ghost saith by the prophet: In vain is every man troubled
who heapeth up riches and knoweth not for whom he gathereth them. Naked did our
birth from women bring us into this light, destitute of food and drink: naked
will the earth receive us which brought us forth. We possess in common the
riches of the heaven, the brightness of the sun is equal for the rich and the
poor, and likewise the light of the moon and the stars, the softness of the air
and the drops of rain, and the gate of the church and the fount of
sanctification and the forgiveness of sins, and the sharing in the altar, and
the eating of the body and drinking of the blood of Christ, and the anointing of
the chrism, and the grace of the giver, and the visitation of the Lord, and the
pardon of sin: in all these the dispensing of the Creator is equal, without
respect of persons. Neither doth the rich man use these gifts after one manner
and the poor after another.
But wretched and unhappy is the man who would have something more than
sufficeth him: for of this come heats of fevers rigours of cold, divers pains in
all the members of the body, and he can neither be fed with food nor sated with
drink, that covetousness may learn that money will not profit it, which being
laid up bringeth to the keepers thereof anxiety by day and night, and suffereth
them not even for an hour to be quiet and secure. For while they guard their
houses against thieves, till their estate, ply the plough, pay taxes, build
storehouses, strive for gain, try to baffle the attacks of the strong, and to
strip the weak, exercise their wrath on whom they can, and hardly bear it from
others, shrink not from playing at tables and from public shows, fear not to
defile or to be defiled, suddenly do they depart out of this world, naked,
bearing only their own sins with them, for which they shall suffer eternal
punishment.
XVII. While the apostle was thus speaking, behold there was brought to him by
his mother, who was a widow, a young man who thirty days before had first
married a vvife. And the people which were waiting upon the burial came with the
widowed mother and cast themselves at the apostle's feet all together with
groans, weeping, and mourning, and besought him that in the name of his God, as
he had done with Drusiana, so he would raise up this young man also. And there
was so great weeping of them all that the apostle himself could hardly refrain
from crying and tears. He cast himself down, therefore, in prayer, and wept a
long time: and rising from prayer spread out his hands to heaven, and for a long
space prayed within himself. And when he had so done thrice, he commanded the
body which was swathed to be loosed, and said: Thou youth Stacteus, who for love
of thy flesh hast quickly lost thy soul: thou youth which knewest not thy
creator nor perceivedst the Saviour of men, and wast ignorant of thy true
friend, and therefore didst fall into the snare of the worst enemy: behold, I
have poured out tears and prayers unto my Lord for thine ignorance, that thou
mayest rise from the dead, the bands of death being loosed, and declare unto
these two, to Atticus and Eugenius, how great glory they have lost, and how
great punishment they have incurred. Then Stacteus arose and worshipped the
apostle, and began to reproach his disciples, saying: I beheld your angels
vveeping, and the angels of Satan rejoicing at your overthrow. For now in a
little time ye have lost the kingdom that was prepared for you, and the
dwellingplaces builded of shining stones, full of joy, of feasting and delights,
full of everlasting life and eternal light: and have gotten yourselves places of
darkness, full of dragons, of roaring flames, of torments, and punishments
unsurpassable, of pains and anguish, fear and horrible trembling. Ye have lost
the places full of unfading flowers, shining, full of the sounds of instruments
of music (organs), and have gotten on the other hand places wherein roaring and
howling and mourning ceaseth not day nor night. Nothing else remaineth for you
save to ask the apostle of the Lord that like as he hath raised me to life, he
would raise you also from death unto salvation and bring back your souls which
now are blotted out of the book of life.
XVIII. Then both he that had been raised and all the people together with
Atticus and Eugenius, cast themselves at the apostle's feet and besought him to
intercede for them with the Lord. Unto whom the holy apostle gave this answer:
that for thirty days they should offer penitence to God, and in that space pray
especially that the rods of gold might return to their nature and likewise the
stones return to the meanness wherein they were made. And it came to pass that
after thirty days were accomplished, and neither the rods were turncd into wood
nor the gems into pebbles, Atticus and Eugenius came and said to the apostle:
Thou hast always taught mercy, and preached forgiveness, and bidden that one man
should spare another. And if God willeth that a man should forgive a man, how
much more shall he, as he is God, both forgive and spare men. We are confounded
for our sin: and whereas we have cried with our eyes which lusted after the
world, we do now repent with eyes that weep. We pray thee, Lord, we pray thee,
apostle of God, show in deed that mercy which in word thou hast always promised.
Then the holy John said unto them as they wept and repented, and all interceded
for them likewise: Our Lord God used these words when he spake concerning
sinners: I will not the death of a sinner, but I will rather that he be
converted and live. For when the Lord Jesus Christ taught us concerning the
penitent, he said: Verily I say unto you, there is great joy in heaven over one
sinner that repenteth and turneth himself from his sins: and there is more joy
over him than over ninety and nine which have not sinned. Wherefore I would have
you know that the Lord accepteth the repentance of these men. And he turned unto
Atticus and Eugenius and said: Go, carry back the rods unto the wood whence ye
took them, for now are they returned to their own nature, and the stones unto
the sea-shore, for they are become common stones as they were before. And when
this was accomplished, they received again the grace which they had lost, so
that again they cast out devils as before time and healed the sick and
enlightened the blind, and daily the Lord did many mighty works by their means.
XIX tells shortly the destruction oi the temple of Ephesus and the conversion
of 12,000 people.
Then follows the episode of the poison-cup in a form which probably
represents the story in the Leucian Acts. (We have seen that the late Greek
texts place it at the beginning, in the presence of Domitian.)
XX. Now when Aristodemus, who was chief priest of all those idols, saw this,
filled with a wicked spirit, he stirred up sedition among the people, so that
one people prepared themselves to fight against the other. And John turned to
him and said: Tell me, Aristodemus, what can I do to take away the anger from
thy soul? And Aristodemus said: If thou wilt have me believe in thy God, I will
give thee poison to drink, and if thou drink it, and die not, it will appear
that thy God is true. The apostle answered: If thou give me poison to drink,
when I call on the name of my Lord, it will not be able to harm me. Aristodemus
said again: I will that thou first see others drink it and die straightway that
so thy heart may recoil from that cup. And the blessed John said: I have told
thee already that I am prepared to drink it that thou mayest believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ when thou seest me whole after the cup of poison. Aristodemus
therefore went to the proconsul and asked of him two men who were to undergo the
sentence of death. And when he had set them in the midst of the market-place
before all the people, in the sight of the apostle he made them drink the
poison: and as soon as they had drunk it, they gave up the ghost. Then
Aristodemus turned to John and said: Hearken to me and depart from thy teaching
wherewith thou callest away the people from the worship of the gods; or take and
drink this, that thou mayest show that thy God is almighty, if after thou hast
drunk, thou canst remain whole. Then the blessed Jolm, as they lay dead which
had drunk the poison, like a fearless and brave man took the cup, and making the
sign of the cross, spake thus: My God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whose word the heavens were established, unto whom all things are subject,
whom all creation serveth, whom all power obeyeth, feareth, and trembleth, when
we call on thee for succour: whose name the serpent hearing is still, the dragon
fleeth, the viper is quiet, the toad (which is called a frog) is still and
strengthless, the scorpion is quenched, the basilisk vanquished, and the
phalangia (spider) doth no hurt -in a word, all venomous things, and the
fiercest reptiles and noisome beasts, are pierced (or covered with darkness).
[Ps.- Mellitus adds: and all roots hurtful to the health of men dry up.] Do
thou, I say, quench the venom of this poison, put out the deadly workings
thereof, and void it of the strength which it hath in it: and grant in thy sight
unto all these whom thou hast created, eyes that they may see, and ears that
they may hear and a heart that they may understand thy greatness. And when he
had thus said, he armed his mouth and all his body with the sign of the cross
and drank all that was in the cup. And after be had drunk, he said: I ask that
they for whose sake I have drunk, be turned unto thee, O Lord, and by thine
enlightening receive the salvation which is in thee. And when for the space of
three hours the people saw that John was of a cheerful countenance, and that
there was no sign at all of paleness or fear in him, they began to cry out with
a loud voice: He is the one true God whom John worshippeth.
XXI. But Aristodemus even so believed not, though the people reproached him:
but turned unto John and said: This one thing I lack -if thou in the name of thy
God raise up these that have died by this poison, my mind will be cleansed of
all doubt. When he said that, the people rose against Aristodemus saying: We
will burn thee and thine house if thou goest on to trouble the apostle further
with thy words. John, therefore, seeing that there was a fierce sedition, asked
for silence, and said in the hearing of all: The first of the virtues of God
which we ought to imitate is patience, by which we are able to bear with the
foolishness of unbelievers. Wherefore if Aristodemus is still held by unbelicf,
let us loose the knots of his unbelief. He shall be compelled, even though late,
to acknowledge his creator -for I will not cease from this work until a remedy
shall bring help to his wounds, and like physicians which have in their hands a
sick man needing medicine, so also, if Aristodemus be not yet cured by that
which hath now been done, he shall be cured by that which I will now do. And he
called Aristodemus to him, and gave him his coat, and he himself stood clad only
in his mantle. And Aristodemus said to him: Wherefore hast thou given me thy
coat? John said to him: That thou mayest even so be put to shame and depart from
thine unbelief. And Aristodemus said: And how shall thy coat make me to depart
from unbelief? The apostle answered: Go and cast it upon the bodies of the dead,
and thou shalt say thus: The apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ hath sent me that
in his name ye may rise again, that all may know that life and death are
servants of my Lord Jesus Christ. Which when Aristodemus had done, and had seen
them rise, he worshipped John, and ran quickly to the proconsul and began to say
with a loud voice: Hear me, hear me, thou proconsul; I think thou rememberest
that I have often stirred up thy wrath against John and devised many things
against him daily, wherefore I fear lest I feel his wrath: for he is a god
hidden in the form of a man and hath drunk poison, and not only continueth
whole, but them also which had died by the poison he hath recalled to life by my
means, by the touch of his coat, and they have no mark of death upon them. Which
when the proconsul heard he said: And what wilt thou have me to do? Aristodemus
answered: Let us go and fall at his feet and ask pardon, and whatever he
commandeth us let us do. Then they came together and cast themselves down and
besought forgiveness: and he received them and offered prayer and thanksgiving
to God, and he ordained them a fast of a week, and when it was fulfilled he
baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and his Almighty Father and
the Holy Ghost the illuminator. [And when thev were baptized, with all their
house and their servants and their kindred, they brake all their idols and built
a church in the name of Saint John: wherein he himself was taken up, in manner
following :]
This bracketed sentence, of late complexion, serves to introduce the last
episode of the book.
[James gives two additional fragments that do not fit in any other place.
These fragments are very broken and are not of much use for this present
project. However, if there is intrest in them, they can be found on pages 264-6
of the text.]
The last episode of these Acts (as is the case with several others of the
Apocryphal Acts) was preservcd separately for reading in church on the Saint's
day. We have it in at least nine Greck manuscripts, and in many versions: Latin,
Syriac, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopic, Slavonic.
106 John therefore continued with the brethren, rejoicing in the Lord. And on
the morrow, being the Lord's day, and all the brethren being gathered together,
he began to say unto them: Brethren and fellow-servants and coheirs and
partakers with me in the kingdom of the Lord, ye know the Lord, hovv many mighty
works he hath granted you by my means, how many wonders, healings, signs, how
great spirital gifts, teachings, governings, refreshings, ministries,
knowledges, glories, graces, gifts, beliefs, communions, all which ye have seen
given you by him in your sight, yet not seen by these eyes nor heard by these
ears. Be ye therefore stablished in him, remembering him in your every deed,
knowing the mystery of the dispensation which hath come to pass towards men, for
what cause the Lord hath l accomplished it. He beseecheth you by me, brethren,
and entreateth you, desiring to remain without grief, without insult, not
conspired against, not chastened: for he knoweth even the insult that cometh of
you, he knoweth even dishonour, he knoweth even conspiracy, he knoweth even
chastisement, from them that hearken not to his commandments.
107 Let not then our good God be grieved, the compassionate, the merciful,
the holy, the pure, the undefiled, the immaterial, the only, the one, the
unchangeable, the simple, the guileless, the unwrathful, even our God Jesus
Christ, who is above every name that we can utter or conceive, and more exalted.
Let him rejoice with us because we walk aright, let him be glad because we live
purely, let him be refreshed because our conversation is sober. Let him be
without care because we live continently, let him be pleased because we
communicate one with another, let him smile because we are chaste, let him be
merry because we love him. These things I now speak unto you, brethren, because
I am hasting unto the work set before me, and already being perfected by the
Lord. For what else could I have to say unto you? Ye have the pledge of our God,
ye have the earnest of his goodness, ye have his presence that cannot be
shunned. If, then, ye sin no more, he forgiveth you that ye did in ignorance:
but if after that ye have known him and he hath had mercy on you, ye walk again
in the like deeds, both the former will be laid to your charge, and also ye will
not have a part nor mercy before him.
108 And when he had spoken this unto them, he prayed thus: O Jesu who hast
woven this crown with thy weaving, who hast joined together these many blossoms
into the unfading flower of thy cormtenance, who hast sown in them these words:
thou only tender of thy servants, and physician who healest freely: only doer of
good and despiser of none, only merciful and lover of men, only saviour and
righteous, only seer of all, who art in all and everywhere present and
containing all things and filling all things: Christ Jesu, God, Lord, that with
thy gifts and thy mercy shelterest them that trust in thee, that knowest clearly
the wiles and the assaults of him that is everywhere our adversary, which he
deviseth against us: do thou only, O Lord, succour thy servants by thy
visitation. Even so, Lord.
109 And he asked for bread, and gave thanks thus: What praise or what
offering or what thanksgiving shall we, breaking this bread, name save thee
only, O Lord Jesu? We glorify thy name that was said by the Father: we glorify
thy name that was said through the Son (or we glorify the name of Father that
was said by thee . . . the name of Son that was said by thee): we glorify thine
entering of the Door. We glorify the resurrection shown unto us by thee. We
glorify thy way, we glorify of thee the seed, the word, the grace, the faith,
the salt, the unspeakable (al. chosen) pearl, the treasure, the plough, the net,
the greatness, the diadem, him that for us was called Son of man, that gave unto
us truth, rest, knowledge, power, the commandment, the confidence, hope, love,
liberty, refuge in thee. For thou, Lord, art alone the root of immortality, and
the fount of incorruption, and the seat of the ages: called by all these names
for us now that calling on thee by them we may make known thy greatness which at
the present is invisible unto us, but visible only unto the pure, being
portrayed in thy manhood only.
110 And he brake the bread and gave unto all of us, praying over each of the
brethren that he might be worthy of the grace of the Lord and of the most holy
eucharist. And he partook also himself likewise, and said: Unto me also be there
a part with you, and: Peace be with you, my beloved.
111 After that he said unto Verus: Take with thee some two men, with baskets
and shovels, and follow me. And Verus without delay did as he was bidden by John
the servant of God. The blessed John therefore went out of the house and walked
forth of the gates, having told the more part to depart from him. And when he
was come to the tomb of a certain brother of ours he said to the young men: Dig,
my children. And they dug and he was instant with them yet more, saying: Let the
trench be deeper. And as they dug he spoke unto them the word of God and
exhorted them that were come with him out of the house, edifying and perfecting
them unto the greatness of God, and praying over each one of us. And when the
young men had finished the trench as he desired, we knowing nothing of it, he
took off his garments wherein he was clad and laid them as it were for a pallet
in the bottom of the trench: and standing in his shift only he stretched his
hands upward and prayed thus:
112 O thou that didst choose us out for the apostleship of the Gentiles: O
God that sentest us into the world: that didst reveal thyself by the law and the
prophets: that didst never rest, but alway from the foundation of the world
savedst them that were able to be saved: that madest thyself known through all
nature: that proclaimedst thyself even among beasts: that didst make the
desolate and savage soul tame and quiet: that gavest thyself to it when it was
athirst for thy words: that didst appear to it in haste when it was dying: that
didst show thyself to it as a law when it was sinking into lawlessness: that
didst manifest thyself to it when it had been vanquished by Satan: that didst
overcome its adversary when it fled unto thee: that avest it thine hand and
didst raise it up from the things of Hades: that didst not leave it to walk
after a bodily sort (in the body): that didst show to it its own enemy: that
hast made for it a clear knowledge toward thee: O God, Jesu, the Father of them
that are above the heavens, the Lord of them that are in the heavens, the law of
them that are in the other, the course of them that are in the air, the keeper
of them that are on the earth, the fear of them that are under the earth, the
grace of them that are thine own: receive also the soul of thy John, which it
may be is accounted worthy by thee.
113 O thou who hast kept me until this hour for thyself and untouched by
union with a woman: who when in my youth I desired to marry didst appear unto me
and say to me: John I have need of thee: who didst prepare for me also a
sickness of the body: who when for the third time I would marry didst forthwith
prevent me, and then at the third hour of the day saidst unto me on the sea:
John, if thou hadst not been mine, I would have suffered thee to marry: who for
two years didst blind me (or afflict mine eyes), and grant me to mourn and
entreat thee: who in the third year didst open the eyes of my mind and also
grant me my visible eyes: who when I saw clearly didst ordain that it should be
grievous to me to look upon a woman: who didst save me from the temporal fantasy
and lead me unto that which endureth always: who didst rid me of the foul
madness that is in the flesh: who didst take me from the bitter death and
establish me on thee alone: who didst muzzle the secret disease of my soul and
cut off the open deed: who didst afflict and banish him that raised tumult in
me: who didst make my love of thee spotless: who didst make my joining unto thee
perfect and unbroken: who didst give me undoubting faith in thee, who didst
order and make clear my inclination toward thee: thou who givest unto every man
the due reward of his works, who didst put into my soul that I should have no
possession save thee only: for what is more precious than thee? Now therefore
Lord, whereas I have accomplished the dispensation wherewith I was entrusted,
account thou me worthy of thy rest, and grant me that end in thee which is
salvation unspeakable and unutterable.
114 And as I come unto thee, let the fire go backward, let the darkness be
overcome, let the gulf be without strength, let the furnace die out, let Gehenna
be quenched. Let angels follow, let devils fear, let rulers be broken, Iet
powers fall; let the places of the right hand stand fast, let them of the left
hand not remain. Let the devil be muzzled, let Satan be derided, let his wrath
be burned out, Iet his madness be stilled, let his vengeance be ashamed, let his
assault be in pain, let his children be smitten and all his roots plucked up.
And grant me to accomplish the journey unto thee without suffering insolence or
provocation, and to receive that which thou hast promised unto them that live
purely and have loved thee only.
115 And having sealed himself in every part, he stood and said: Thou art with
me, O Lord Jesu Christ: and laid himself down in the trench where he had strown
his garments: and having said unto us: Peace be with you, brethren, he gave up
his spirit rejoicing.
The less good Greek manuscripts and some versions are not content with this
simple ending. The Latin says that after the prayer a great light appeared over
the apostle for the space of an hour, so bright that no one could look at it.
(Then he laid himself down and gave up the ghost.) We who were there rejoiced,
some of us, and some mourned. . . . And forthwith manna issuing from the tomb
was seen of all, which manna that place produceth even unto this day, &c.
But perhaps the best conclusion is that of one Greck manuscript:
We brought a linen cloth and spread it upon him, and went into the city. And
on the day following we went forth and found not his body, for it was translated
by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto whom be glory, &c.
Another says: On the morrow we dug in the place, and him we found not, but
only his sandals, and the earth moving (lit. springing up like a well), and
after that we remembered that which was spoken by the Lord unto Peter, &c.
Augustine (on John xxi) reports the belief that in his time the earth over
the grave was seen to move as if stirred by John's breathing.
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