APOCRYPHA
613
APOCRYPHA
historical setting of these Acts agrees remarkably
with what is known of the conditions in the Parthian
enij)ire in the first century after Christ. — The Actn
ol at. Banuiixm:i|)pear to have been composed toward
the end of tliu filth century by a Cypriot. They are
ascribed to St. Mark the Kvangelist, and are liistor-
ically wortliles.s. They are extant in tlic original
Greek and in a Latin version. The narrative is based
upon the nnitual relations and activities of Barna-
bas, Mark, imd Paul, lus recorded in the Acts of the
Apostles. — GcsUi Matthiir. This is the latest of the
pseudo-.\cts, having been coiniX)sed by a monk of
Treves, in the twelfth century, as a i)relude to an
account of the translation of the sacred relic, and
the body of St. Matthias to that city, and their sub-
.se<iucnt redisco\eries. It pretends to liave tleri\ed
the liistory of the Apostle s career from a Hebrew
MS. (See M.vtthi.vs, St., Apostle.)
See the literature coiumon to the Gnostic Acts above. — Special for Act.i of Peter unci Paul; Chahk, &Tt. Peter (Simon) in Hast., Diet, of the Bible. — Special for Acts of St. Paul: Schmidt, Acta Pauli (LeipziK, 1904). exhaustive researches, Coptic text, and (Jerm. trans.: Dkihkh. in Revue Biblique, 1904. 443 .'tqq., summarizes contents; Nav. Revue de VOrient rhritten (1898), III, published a Syriac MarHp-dom of St. Paul. — Special for Acts of Paul and Tliecla: Gwi.sN, Thecla, in Diet, of Christ liiou.: Rev, Etuilet sur Us Acta Pauli et Thecla: (Paris. 1890): IIamsev, The Church in the Roman Empire before 170 A. D. (I^ndon. 1893), 375 aqq.; Holzhev. Die Thefila-Akten. Ihre Verbreitunn uml Beurteiiung in der Kircfte (Ulunich, 1905). — Special for the Teaching of Addai; Phillips, The Doctrine of Addai, the .Apostle (London, 1870). Syriac and English texts with notes; Tixf.ront, Lts oripines de VEgliae d'tdesse et la lioende d'Ab^ar (Paris, 1888). — Special for Acts of Simon and Jutle: The text of the Pa.ssio is in h abricius, Codei .-Xnocri/phus Novi Testamenii (Hamburg, 1703, 1719). — Special for .\cts of Barnabas: Braunsberger, Der Apostel Barnabas (.Mainz, 1876).
(c) Qua.<<i-Apostolic Acts. — It must suffice to men- tion " .A.cts of St. Mark ", of Alexandrian origin, and written in the fourth or fifth centurj-; ".Vets of St. Luke ", Coptic, not earlier than end of fourth; "Acts of St. Timothy ", composed by an ICphesian after 425; "Acts of St. Titus", of Cretan origin, between 400-700; ".\cts of Xanthippe and Polyxena", con- nected with the legends about St. Paul and St. An- drew.
Se€ Lipstrs, Die apokrj/phen Aposteltjeschichten (Brunswick, 1884), 11, 2; Jameh, Apocrypha Anecdota (Cambridge, 1893).
(4) Apocryphal Doctrinal Works. — Tcilamentum Domini Xostri Jesu. It was known that a SjTiac work of this name existeil, and an extract w-as pub- lishctl in 18,')G. In 1899 Moiisignor Kaliniani, Patri- arch of the I'niteil SjTian.s, published from a late MS. the Syriac text, a Latin introduction and transla- tion. The work is in two books. It begins with an apocalj-pse of the approaching day of .-Vntichrist alleged to have been uttered by Our Lord after Ilis Resurrection. Between this and the body of the work there is a very loose connection, as the main portion represents Christ as enacting, even to small details, laws for the governance and ritual of the Church. The writer places on Our Lord's lips de- scriptions of liturgical obscn-ances prevalent in his own and earlier periods. There are evident points of contact between the Testament and the ancient ecclesiastico-liturgical Canones Ilippolyti, .Vpostolic Constitutions, and .\postolic Canons. Monsignor Hahmani assigns the Testament to the second cen- turj', and pl.aces the above works in the relation of dependence on it. But critics unanimously refuse to accord a high antiquity to the Testament, dating it in the fourtli or fifth centurj', and inverting the dependence mentioned. On the ground that there is no indication of an acquaintance with the book outside the Orient, anil that Arabic and Coi)tic recensions of it are known. Dr. .\. Baumstark regards the work a.s a compilation originating in .Monophjsite circles, and current in the national Cliurclies of tlwit sect in Syria and Kgj'pt. The ap()c:ilyi)tic opening has been found in a Latin MS. of the eiglitli century,
and published by M. R. James, "Apocrypha Anec-
dota (Cambridge, 189:j). The Preaching of Peter
or Kerygma Petri. Clement of .\lexandria repeatedly
([uotes from a K-i/pvyna Mirpov, concerning whose
credibility he obviously h:Ls no doubt. On the other
hand, Eusebius classes it;i.s apocryphal. A certain
"Doctrine of Peter", mentioned by a later writer,
w;is probably identical with the " Preaching ". From
the scanty remains of this work we can lorm but a
very imperfect idea of it. It spoke in St. Peter's
name anil represented liim above all as a teacher of
the Gentiles. The iloctrinal parts occur in a frame-
work of an account of the missionary journeys.
The pseudograph was probably suggested by the
text, II Peter, i, 5. A work which was so well ac-
credited in the ilays of Clement of .\lexaniiria (c.
It()-21j), and which was known to the (inostic Ile-
racleon (c. lt>0-170), must have come from almost
Apostolic antiquity. Scholars favour the hrst
quarter of the .second century. The fragments which
remain betray no signs of heterodox origin. There is
a Syriac " Preaching of .Simon Peter in the City of
Roine."^7'«w Wags or Judicium Petri. This is a
moralizing treati.se ascribed to St. Peter,;ind pre-
fixed to the Didache (q. v.). It is of Jewish-Christian
origin, anil probably was based on the so-c;illed
" Epistle of Barnabas ". — Preaching of Paul. The only
witness to this work is the treatise " Dc Rebaptismo "
in the pseudo-Cyprian writings. According to this
It represented Christ as confessing personal sins, and
forced by His mother to receive oaptism.
For the Testanientum: Rahmani, Teatamentum Domini Nostri Jesu Christi (.Mainz. 1899): Fcnk, articles in Der Kalhotik (1900). 1. 1-14: Theologitche tjuartalschrxft (1900). LXXXII, 161-174; Batiffol, in Revue Biblujue (1900). 253- 2(X): Hah.vack, Vorlaujige Bemerkungen zu dem jiingst Synsch und Lateinisch, publizierten " Testamentum D. N. Jesu Chnstt " (Berlin. 1899); fjAUMsTARK, in Romische (Junrtalschrifl (1900), 1-48: RiCKABV. Ritual in the Reign ol .Maximin, in Am. Cath. (juar. Review (1900), XXV. For the history of the di^cus- sion: Ehrhari), Die altchristlirhe LUeratur (KreiburK, 1900). For the Preaching of Peter: The fragment.s are collected in H11.GENFELD. Novum Testamentum extra Canonem Receptum (Leipzig, 1884), fasc 1\'; Dohschctz, Das Kerugma Petri krUisch untersueht, being XI, 1. of Harxack and Gedhardt's Teite und Untersuchungen. For minor studies consult the histories of Bardenhewer, Har.\ack, and Zaun.
(5) Apocrgphal Epistles. — Pseudo-Epistles of the Blessed Virgin. These are all composed in Latin and at late dates. (1) The Epistle of the Blessed Virgin to St. Ignatius Martyr fills but nine lines in the Fabri- cius edition of the apocrj'pha. It exhorts to faith and courage. There is a reply from Ignatius. ("2) The Epistle to the Messanienses, i. e. the inhabitants of Messina, Sicilj', is equally brief; it conveys an ex- hortation to faith, and a blessing. (3) The Epistle to the Florentines wjts expounded in a sermon of Savonarola, 2.5 October, 1495. We have no other testimonj' of it. It is four lines in length.— Psfudo- Epistles of St. Paul. The Pseudo-Clementine homi- lies contain as a preface two letters, the first of which purports to be from Peter to James the Less, beseeching him to keep his (Peter's) preaching secret.
(See CUE.ME.N'TI.VE PsElDO-WltlTIXr.S.) Pscudo-
Epistle-s of St. Paul; Correspondence with the Corin- thians. The ancient SjTian (Edessenc) Church re- vered as canonical a Third Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, which is accompanied by a letter fiom the pastors of that Church, to which it is an answer. But about the beginning of the fifth century the .Syrian Church fell under the influence of the (ireck, and in conse<|nence the spurious letter gradually lost its canonical status. It was taken up by the neigh- bouring Armenians and for centuries has formed a part of the Armenian New Testament. Latin and Greek writers are completciv silent about this pseudo graph, although Greek and Latin copies have been found. It was obviously suggested by the lost gen- uine Pauline letter referred to in I ("or. v, 9;vii, 1. It was composed by a Catholic presbyter about 100-
