Chapter 22

Additional Acts

The Acts of Peter

The publication of the Acts of the Apostles spawned a whole new genre of devotional literature mixed with tales of adventure. Each new writing purported to faithfully record the travel stories of a specific apostle in the wake of Jesus’s death, offering wondrous accounts of their efforts to bring the gospel message to the four corners of the Earth.¹

The Acts of Peter, though only surviving in damaged or incomplete manuscripts, has largely been reconstructed by scholars. It seems to represent the views of the Roman church, and may have been composed by a member of an affiliate church in Asia Minor. It focuses on the rivalry between the apostle Peter and the infamous Simon Magus. Unlike in Jewish-Christian writings like The Memoirs of Clement, which use Simon as a stand-in for Peter’s “enemy” Paul, here—as in the Acts of the Apostles—Simon Magus is presented as someone who the text makes clear is not Paul, an apostle whom this work praises. It is also one of the few early Christian writings that bears witness to the tradition that Peter ever visited Rome²—a view with little historical evidence, but one necessary to uphold the Roman church’s teaching that Peter was its very founder, and the first pope.³

Artist depiction of Simon Magus demonstrating his divinity by flying over the city of Rome

As the story begins, the capital of the empire is said to be in the thrall of a Jewish man named Simon Magus, who is claiming to be “the great power of God”, and who has gained many converts through his “magical sayings and wickedness” and his performance of impressive miracles. “Is this man the Christ?” the people openly wonder.⁴

To cement his status as “The God of Italy” and “The Savior of Rome”, Simon announces to the crowds that the following day they will see him fly through the air over the gates of Rome. He makes good on his promise, and the people now worship him in earnest. Even those who had once been converted by the apostle Paul’s preaching now wonder if Simon is the true prophet and Paul a fraud. Paul himself is said to have traveled on from Rome to Spain, and so is unavailable to intervene.⁵

Artist depiction of Peter accusing the Romans of being under the influence of Satan

For this reason, Jesus himself appears to Peter in Jerusalem, alerting him to the situation in Rome where Simon Magus—who, the author informs us, Peter had previously defeated and run out of Judah—has now deluded the Christians in the capital. Peter drops everything and, taking no provisions, heads to Caesarea on the coast where he boards a ship that is waiting for him. Upon reaching Rome, Peter makes a speech before the multitudes, urging them to repent, but ultimately blaming their infidelity to Christ on Satan whom he goes on to blame for a great number of things including his own three denials of Jesus on the night he was arrested. Displaying an anti-sexuality theology that is common among these various books of Acts, Peter pins the blame on Satan for the original “lust” of Adam in the Garden of Eden. He even blames Satan for setting Pharaoh’s heart against Moses in ancient Egypt—something the scriptures themselves attribute instead to God.⁶

Artist depiction of Simon Magus arguing with a talking dog sent by Peter

The venerable apostle then marches with the crowd to the house where Simon Magus is staying, but is stopped at the door by a guard who reveals that he has been ordered by Simon to claim he isn’t home. Peter then sees a large dog nearby, and miraculously endows it with a human voice, and orders it to go inside the house and summon Simon. Every onlooker—and even Simon himself—is amazed, but he nonetheless tells the dog to tell Peter that he is not at home. “You most wicked and shameless man,” replies the dog, “worst enemy of all who live and believe in Christ Jesus!” When the dog returns to Peter, it informs him that he will have a difficult fight against Simon, the enemy of Christ, but he will win many converts. With that the dog falls dead at his feet.⁷

Artist depiction of fish returning from the dead and leaping out of a shop window

The crowds demand to see another miracle from Peter to top those which Simon has been performing in their presence. So Peter points to some nearby smoked tuna in a shop window, and says to them, “Tuna, in the presence of all these people, live and swim like a fish!” With that, the apostle casts them into a pond where they begin to swim and eat bread thrown to them. To make sure it is not merely a trick, some from the crowd stay for over an hour to see that the tuna are still alive.⁸

Artist depiction of a baby castigating a feces-covered Simon Magus

The owner of the house in which Simon Magus is staying becomes converted by Peter, and goes inside to have his servants forcibly remove the magician, hitting him in the face, beating him with a rod, throwing stones at him, and dumping filthy chamber pots over his head. Peter adds insult to injury, by miraculously having a 7-month-old baby take on a manly voice, and say to Simon, “You abomination before God and people!…Soon an everlasting punishment awaits you…I, a child, am forced by God to speak, and still you do not blush…On the coming Sabbath, you will be led to the Forum of Julius so you may be revealed for what you are…Jesus Christ says to you, ‘Be speechless by the power of my name!’” causing Simon to temporarily become unable to speak.⁹

Artist depiction of Jesus giving the apostle Peter a pep talk before his confrontation with Simon Magus

Jesus then appears to Peter to deliver a pep talk of sorts before his final confrontation with Simon. When the Sabbath day arrives, a huge crowd gathers, including Roman senators, prefects, and other magistrates. Simon Magus and Peter stand before them all. For the first test of their powers, a prefect summons his slave and orders Simon to kill him and Peter to raise him back to life. Simon whispers into the slaves ear, at which he drops dead. But Peter not only restores him to life with a word, but goes on to resurrect several dead sons of local nobles. Simon, on the other hand, can only temporarily bewitch the crowd into believing he had raised someone from the dead, by moving the corpse around a bit and opening its eyes.¹⁰

Artist depiction of God granting Peter’s prayer that Simon Magus crash to the ground and become severely injured

Peter seems to have won the day, gaining scores of followers, but Simon Magus promises the people he will do what his rival Peter cannot: fly through the air over the via sacra—the main street through the center of the city. Indeed, the next day arrives, and true to his word, Simon is seen by the crowds of people flying over the temples and hills of the city. Worried over this, Peter’s supporters tell him that such a spectacle will win away all his followers. They urge him to cause Simon to fall from the sky and become crippled, making the oddly specific request that the fall break his leg in three places. And so this happens exactly according to their request. Fallen and crumpled in misery, Simon is then pelted with stones by the crowd, killing him.¹¹

Artist depiction of Xanthippe refusing to have sex with her husband

After his victory, Peter stays in Rome and preaches chastity, enticing four of a local prefect’s concubines to henceforth abstain from sex. Furious, the prefect vows to murder his concubines and burn Peter alive. Similarly a beautiful woman named Xanthippe responds to Peter’s teachings by refusing to have further sex with a friend of the emperor named Albinus, who then also seeks Peter’s life. Many other women are said to choose abstinence in order to serve the God of Peter in chastity and purity. Jesus then appears to Peter, announcing that he will soon be crucified, and Peter reacts to this news with rejoicing and praise.¹²

Artist depiction of Peter being crucified upside down at his request

The prefect he angered sends four soldiers to arrest Peter, ordering that he be crucified for the crime of atheism (as noted, a common charge against Christians or Jews who refuse to worship the traditional Roman gods). Though Peter’s followers are distraught, he assures them that this is all God’s plan, and he won’t hear of any attempts to delay his death sentence. Peter’s request to be crucified in an upside-down position is honored by his executioners. In its final paragraph, The Acts of Peter relates that Emperor Nero was upset with the prefect who ordered Peter’s death. The emperor, we are told, had a vision in which he was instructed not to persecute the servants of Christ, so from that day on he left them alone.¹³

This writing enjoyed much popularity despite its not being selected for inclusion in the New Testament canon that was eventually settled upon by the Roman church. By the 300s CE, a church historian reported that it was considered to have the status “not universally accepted” among the Roman Catholic churches of that time. The book’s legendary public showdown with Simon Magus, however, and especially its presentation of Peter’s execution on the inverted cross became part of non-canonical Christian lore that could be seen reflected in Christian art more than a thousand years later.¹⁴

The Acts of Paul

Artist depiction of Paul speaking to Emperor Nero

Nero also makes an appearance in another writing from this period known as The Acts of Paul which only survives in incomplete form. As it begins, we are told that the emperor’s favorite cupbearer Patroclus has died, saddening the emperor. But he is then returned to life by Paul, and Nero is greatly pleased by the news until he is told that his resurrection was brought about through “Christ Jesus, king of the ages”.¹⁵

“Is he to destroy all kingdoms?” Nero asks his revived cupbearer, dejectedly. “Yes,” he is told by his servant, “he destroys all kingdoms under heaven. He alone shall remain in all eternity, and no kingdom will escape him.” When Patroclus and a few other of the emperor’s servants confess that they are “fighting for that king”, Nero gives orders that all Christians in the city are to be rounded up and executed.¹⁶

Artist depiction of a man putting away his sword after executing the apostle Paul

Paul is among those brought before Nero, and he affirms that, indeed, one day this king, Christ, will “destroy the world”. The emperor then decrees that those arrested should be burned at the stake except for Paul who is to be decapitated. Paul warns Nero that, if he should execute him, he will come back from the dead and appear to him. The apostle is then led off to die, but manages to convert his two executioners, and when they behead him, milk splashes out instead of blood. As he promised, Paul appears in resurrected form before the emperor, warning him of great punishments to come for his shedding the innocent blood of the righteous. In a similar ending to The Acts of Peter, Nero again is said to relent from his persecution of Christians from that day forth. This writing enjoyed great popularity as well, and firmly established the lore that Paul died in Rome by beheading.¹⁷

The Acts of Thecla

Ancient church fresco depicting the apostle Paul and his follower Thecla

The enduring popularity of the woman known as Thecla has lasted through the ages, with shrines to the saint still standing in various cities—with no less than two tombs claiming to be the spot of her burial. The myriad legends surrounding her can be traced back to the latter 100s CE, when she became the only woman whose acts were recorded for posterity alongside those of the male apostles.¹⁸

Said to be the daughter of a family of nobles in Iconium in central Asia Minor, Thecla’s life forever changes when she hears the apostle Paul pronounce a message of chastity and abstinence: “Blessed are the bodies of the virgins, for these will be pleasing to God and will not lose the reward for their chastity…You will not be raised from the dead unless you remain chaste.” Young Thecla listens to Paul’s preaching day and night, and sees many virgin women and married women coming to him to adopt a life of sexual asceticism. She too wishes to be considered worthy by the apostle and to leave her family behind.¹⁹

Artist depiction of Thecla kissing the shackles around Paul’s feet

But Thecla’s fiancée and other men of the city are aghast at Paul for corrupting all the city’s women with his bizarre notions, and they goad the governor into confronting Paul and throwing him in prison. Thecla then sneaks out at night, bribes the prison guard, and sits at the apostle’s feet, kissing his shackles. Interestingly, this writing is the only early Christian document to provide a physical description of Paul—one which would have enduring influence over the portrayal of the apostle in art through the Middle Ages and after. He is described here as “a man short in stature, with a bald head, bowed legs, in good health, eyebrows that meet, a fairly large nose, and full of grace—looking at times like a human, and other times like an angel.”²⁰

Artist depiction of Thecla about to burned to death affixed to a cross

The next day when Paul is to be summoned for judgment, the apostle is found missing from the prison while Thecla is said to be “rolling around on the place where Paul had been.” When she is brought before a crowd and publicly renounces her fiancé, her own mother shouts for her to be burned at the stake as a warning to all the other women giving themselves over to Paul’s preachings. The governor agrees to this plan, and while Paul is merely run out of town after being flogged, Thecla is brought naked into the arena where she is affixed to a cross surrounded by wood and hay. It is set ablaze, but miraculously, the flames do not touch her, and God then causes a massive hailstorm which scatters the people and douses the fire.²¹

Thecla flees the city and manages to catch up with Paul, finding him praying for her safety. Though she longs to be baptized, the apostle tells her that it is not yet time for her baptism. They travel on together to the city of Antioch in Syria. There, a politically powerful man named Alexander is attracted to young Thecla, and makes a series of unwelcome and aggressive advances until she loudly denounces his actions in public, and pushes him away—tearing his cloak and knocking his crown off his head in the process. For this, Alexander reports Thecla to the governor of Antioch who sentences her to be killed in the arena fighting wild beasts. As a consolation, at her request, Thecla is allowed to keep her chastity until her execution.²²

Artist depiction of Thecla in the arena, surrounded by lions and bears

On the day her sentence is to be carried out, Alexander himself brings her to the arena where she is stripped and given only an undergarment to wear. Lions and bears are released into the stadium to attack her. But when a fierce lioness runs toward her, it comes to a halt and lays down at her feet. A bear then moves to attack Thecla, but the lioness tears it apart. A second lion specially trained by Alexander then lunges forward, but does not make it past the lioness, and both animals are killed in their struggle.²³

Artist depiction of Thecla in the pool of vicious seals

When a great many more wild animals are released, Thecla prays and then runs, shouting, “In the name of Jesus Christ, on this final day, I am baptized!” Throwing herself into a giant vat of water, she immerses herself while the crowd of onlookers realizes she just dove into a giant basin holding vicious seals that will surely devour her. But a flash of lightning and a cloud of fire protect her, and the seals float to the surface of the water, dead, their corpses conveniently concealing Thecla’s nakedness.²⁴

Alexander has one more scheme to enact his vengeance, though, and gets the governor’s permission to have Thecla’s feet tied to two fearsome bulls who have red-hot irons put under their genitals. Thecla again escapes harm when fire miraculously breaks her bonds. But the fright of this spectacle causes the local queen—who is a relative of the emperor—to faint, and at this, the games are called off and Thecla is released. She is then interviewed by the governor and professes her belief in the Son of God whose powers kept her alive.²⁵

Artist depiction of Paul praying with a talking lion

The Acts of Paul and Thecla were often treated as parts of a single work, and in a fragment from the former, the apostle himself has an encounter with a lion. In that story, Paul converts the wild beast to Christianity. With the miraculous ability to speak, the lion prays with Paul and then asks to be baptized.²⁶

The Acts of John

Artist depiction of the famous Temple of Artemis in Ephesus

The disciple John, son of Zebedee, is presented as a powerful preacher and miracle worker in his own book of acts, written in the first-person as if by a traveling companion. Arriving at the city of Ephesus on the coast of Asia Minor, he performs healings and raises the dead to life. In one incident, a large crowd of locals wearing white robes has come to the city’s famed Temple of Artemis to celebrate the anniversary of its construction. John then arrives on the scene wearing all black, and stands between the people and the temple. In a contest of sorts, he invites the people to call on their powerful goddess Artemis to strike him down. If the goddess fails to kill him, however, he will call on the true God to kill the entire crowd at once.²⁷

Artist depiction of the Apostle John watching as half the Temple of Artemis collapses with deadly results

Fearful that he could pull off such a miracle, the crowd hems and haws. Meanwhile, John utters a prayer to God, after which the temple’s great altar breaks into pieces, and half the temple collapses, including a section of the roof that crushes one of the priests, killing him instantly. This dramatic and deadly tactic causes the crowd to tremble in fear, and then burst into tears and laments. While some convert, others simply do their best to escape.²⁸

Artist depiction of the Apostle John dealing with bed bugs

Not all of John’s miracles are on such a grand scale. While staying at an inn in the same city, the apostle finds that his sleeping arrangements are infested with bedbugs that pester him through the night until he addresses them directly, saying, “I say to you, you bugs, be considerate! Leave your home this night and go rest in a place which is far away from the servants of God!” In the morning he and his companions come across a “mass of bugs” in the doorway. “Since you have been wise to heed my warning,” says John, “go back to your place!” and the bugs dutifully crawl across the floor, up the legs of the bed, and back into the mattress.²⁹

Artist depiction of Fortunatus’s fatal snake bite

We are then introduced to a married couple named Andronicus and Drusiana who John has converted to his Christian brand of sexual abstinence. But a “servant of Satan” named Callimachus then becomes full of lust for Drusiana. Believing herself to be the cause of Callimachus’s sin, Drusiana falls sick and dies. Still determined to have sex with Drusiana, Callimachus bribes Andronicus’s steward Fortunatus to gain access to her tomb and intends to rape her corpse, for, we are told, he had previously publicly stated, “If she will not yield to me alive, rape shall be committed on her death.” But suddenly, a huge poisonous snake appears in the tomb and bites Fortunatus, killing him. It then smothers Callimachus.³⁰

Artist depiction of the mysterious child visiting John and Andronicus in the tomb

The Apostle John and Andronicus later come to the tomb to pray. They find the door opened and a “beautiful youth” standing there, smiling. The child tells John that he must raise Drusiana back to life. Entering the tomb, the apostle tries to piece together what happened there. To get some answers, he resurrects Callimachus who recounts to him a vision he just had in which an angel told him to “Die, that you may live.” The would-be necrophiliac then proclaims his belief in the God of John and promises to be faithful and godly. John rejoices and praises the mercy and compassion of Jesus. Drusiana is then returned to life as well. Feeling sorry for the dead steward, she herself then raises him from death too. But Fortunatus does not convert to Christianity, and so is banished to live far away from the Christians. Not long afterward, we are told, Fortunatus dies a second time because the giant snake’s venom was still in him. In a farewell to the unrepentant man, John announces, “You have your child, Devil!”³¹

Artist depiction of Jesus’s shapeshifting nature as described by John

In the remainder of The Acts of John—which may have originally been a separate work by another author³²—the apostle gathers his followers and retells several of the events from Jesus’s life on earth, though with an emphasis on Jesus’s shape-shifting nature. At his calling to be a disciple, while in a fishing vessel with his brothers, John recounts that when they saw Jesus on the shore, he looked to some as if he was a smiling and attractive pubescent boy while to others he appeared to be a bald-headed man with a long beard. When John closed his eyes and opened them to look again, he saw him as a short, unattractive man. Then closing his eyes and opening once more, he beheld a man so tall his head reached the heavens.³³

Artist depiction of Jesus grabbing the beard of the apostle John

The body of Jesus during his earthly ministry is also said to have had variable form, with his skin feeling “smooth and tender” one moment, and “hard like stone” the next. Sometimes, we are told, his body felt material and solid, while other times he was “bodiless as if not existing at all.” At the scene of the Transfiguration, Jesus seemed to John to stand incredibly tall, naked, and with snow-white glowing feet. Just afterward he appeared to John as a man of small stature, and in that moment he chided the apostle for his insufficient faith, giving his beard a tug—which caused John some 30 days of intense pain.³⁴

Artist depiction of the disciples holding hands as Jesus sings and dances

As the day of the savior’s death approaches, the author continues the Christian anti-Jewish streak found in many early Christian writings, having Jesus refer to Jews as “murderers, a wicked people who received their law from a wicked serpent.” In a scene unparalleled in any known gospel, Jesus then has his disciples form a circle around him, holding hands, while he sings an original and lengthy gnostic hymn while also dancing. He then cautions the disciples to “keep silent about my mysteries!” which may indicate this was a sacred ritual act in the author’s community which is here inaugurated by the savior himself—just as in previous gospels Jesus was made to initiate the rite of receiving the Holy Spirit through baptism, the Eucharist at the Last Supper, and, for the Gospel 4.0 (John), a mutual foot-washing ritual.³⁵

Artist depiction of the apostle John sitting in his own grave, ready to cover himself with dirt and die

While his body is being executed on the cross, the author has Jesus simultaneously appear to the apostle John on the Mount of Olives, explaining, “John, to the crowds down below in Jerusalem I am being crucified, but to you I am speaking on this mountain.” The disciple is then given a vision of a cross with Jesus in his true form floating above it. The savior now imparts to John this gnosis: “I suffered, yet I suffered not. I suffered not, yet I did suffer. I was pierced, yet was I not wounded; hanged, and I was not hanged. Blood flowed from me, yet it did not flow. And in a word, those things that they say of me I did not endure, and the things that they do not say, those I suffered.” When he finishes relating these stories to Drusiana and Andronicus, the apostle John is ready to die himself. He instructs his followers to dig a trench which he then lies in and covers himself in dirt, burying himself alive.³⁶

The Acts of Thomas

Artist depiction of Jesus and his identical twin brother Thomas

There is a longstanding tradition in some branches of Christianity that the apostle Thomas—of “Doubting Thomas” fame—was the first to establish the faith in the land of India, a notion that dates back to the popularity of The Acts of Thomas, also written in the latter 100s CE. Referred to by the strange name “Didymous Thomas” (“Twin Twin”) in the fourth gospel, the author here interprets Thomas’s name quite literally, presenting the apostle as the identical twin brother of Jesus. He is said to be “beautiful in appearance”, and is also a carpenter by trade.³⁷

Artist depiction of Jesus appearing to Thomas to insist he evangelize in India

The story begins just after the crucifixion. The disciples are all gathered together, and drawing lots to determine to which distant lands each will travel to spread the gospel of Jesus. When Thomas is assigned to India, he complains that his body is too weak for such a journey. But that night the savior himself appears to him, commanding that he fulfill his assignment. Bold enough to talk back, Thomas says, “Send me wherever else you like, but I am not going to India.”³⁸

Artist depiction of Jesus selling his brother into slavery

In response, the next day, Jesus appears in the local marketplace. When a merchant named Abban from India arrives looking for someone to help build the Great King Gundaphorus a new palace, the messiah personally writes him a bill of sale reading, “I, Jesus, son of the carpenter Joseph, declare that I have sold my slave Thomas to you, Abban, a merchant of Gundaphorus, king of the Indians.”³⁹

Artist depiction of Thomas sitting alone at the lively wedding celebration

So Thomas, enslaved by Jesus to Abban, is brought on a ship that sails for India. Some time later they make land at a city in the midst of a wedding festival for the local ruler’s only daughter, which all citizens and foreigners are compelled to attend. Thomas reluctantly joins the revelers, sitting by himself as they dine, drink, and celebrate. He befriends the only fellow Jew there, a talented flute player. But he is then angered when one of the local ruler’s cupbearers strikes him (for no apparent reason, perhaps accidentally?). Thomas pronounces a curse on the servant, saying he will soon see the hand that struck him carried away by a dog.⁴⁰

Artist depiction of a dog holding in its mouth the severed hand of a servant torn apart by a lion

Not long after, when the servant is drawing water from a nearby fountain, a lion attacks him, tearing him limb from limb. Dogs arrive immediately afterward and carry off his body parts, one of them brings the man’s right hand over to the banquet area. This is enough of a miracle that the flute player throws away her instrument and becomes a convert to Thomas’s God.⁴¹

When the ruler hears what happened, he too is convinced that the apostle is a holy man. He commands that this man go and pray for the fertility of his daughter on the night of her wedding. Thomas refuses to go, but is forced against his will by the ruler’s guards. That night at the bridal chamber, the bride and groom see the apostle approaching them, but it is actually the identical-looking Jesus, who clarifies, “I am not Thomas, I am his brother.”⁴²

Artist depiction of Jesus convincing a newlywed couple to never have sex

The Acts of Thomas is the most forcefully anti-sex writing found among the early Christian corpus, further attesting to the widespread popularity of the ascetic lifestyle among the early Christian communities—an inheritance from the Essenes. Jesus then sits down on the bridal chamber bed and lectures the newlyweds about abstaining from “filthy intercourse”, and levels with them that having children is not worth it. Children, he explains, cause “afflictions and troubles” that are best avoided. They grow up to commit abominable sins for which their parents will be held responsible, plundering orphans and deceiving widows, committing adultery or murder. They are often possessed by demons and become lunatics, crippled, deaf, dumb, paralyzed, or idiots.⁴³

Instead, Jesus advises them to keep their souls pure before God so they will live an untroubled life, free from grief, so they are also rewarded with an incorruptible and true marriage after death. Convinced to refrain from “filthy lust”, the next day the bride reports to her father that she had no intercourse with her “temporary husband”, and that she has now been united to her true husband. By this point, the apostle Thomas has left the area to preach the gospel in other cities of India. The ruler is furious and sends the merchant Abban and others to find him.⁴⁴

Artist depiction of the apostle Thomas’s plans for a grand palace for King Gundaphorus

Abban does find Thomas, but brings him instead to his home city to meet King Gundaphorus. Speaking with the monarch, the apostle agrees to build him a palace. He travels to the site where it is to be constructed, and marks out where all its rooms and features will go. The king then goes off to attend to other business in his realm, leaving Thomas with a great sum of money to begin the project. In his absence, however, Thomas travels through local villages, giving all the king’s money to the poor. Months later the king is sent word that the palace is complete except for its roof, so he sends along another large sum of money which again is distributed as alms to widows and orphans. When the king finally returns to see the palace, Thomas tells him that it is now complete, but that he won’t be able to see it until after he dies. The apostle rejoices as he is then thrown into prison to await his execution the following day.⁴⁵

Artist depiction of the king reunited with his dead brother

But that night King Gundaphorus’s brother dies and goes to heaven where he sees the great palace Thomas constructed. He then appears to his brother, the king, who is in great mourning for him, and the brother asks of him a favor. The king is overjoyed to see him, and says he would be happy to offer him anything he owns. With his request thereby granted, the king’s brother ends up owning the heavenly palace. The brother tells the king not to be sad because Thomas is still alive and will build him an even greater palace if he frees him from prison. So the apostle is released and the Great King Gunapdorus converts to the faith.⁴⁶

Artist depiction of the apostle Thomas reviving a woman who was both murdered and then brought back to life by her Christian husband

Soon after, Thomas encounters a converted Indian Christian who had attempted to convince his lover to abandon their life of sexuality for a life of chastity. When she refused to join him in this way of life, he murdered her rather than allow her to have sex with another. Hearing this, the apostle shouts, “O insane intercourse, how you lead to shamelessness! O unrestrained lust, how you have incited this man to do this!” Together with a group of followers, they rush off to the scene of the crime where Thomas sees the corpse and “was sad because she was a beautiful girl.”⁴⁷

Artist depiction of the woman’s tour guide in hell

The apostle then teaches the murderer how to perform a miracle, walking him through the steps of raising her back to life, so he can perform the miracle himself. Upon her revival, the woman reveals to Thomas what she had experienced while dead, saying she saw, “An ugly man, entirely black, with extremely filthy clothing, who took me to a place with many chasms and a terrible stench arising from hateful vapors.”⁴⁸

Artist depiction of a pile of infants in hell

She describes the first chasm as full of crying and lamentations as people who are attached to blazing, fiery wheels constantly crash into one another. “These are souls like you,” she was told by the man in her vision, “who perverted the intercourse of man and wife.” She looks again and sees great piles of infants struggling as they are heaped on top of each other. “These are their children,” she is told.⁴⁹

Artist depiction of adulterers tormented by mud and worms

The next chasm holds women who left their husbands and committed adultery with another. They are tormented with mud and worms. A third chasm has people hung up by their hands, feet, tongue, or hair over reeking sulfurous smoke. These are the ones who were wicked, not visiting the sick, never helping the poor, as well as those who were slanderers and liars. The mechanics of this “prison of souls” are explained, but not all that clearly. It seems that prisoners who “have fully received their punishments” for their sins are then replaced by new prisoners. But some “are fully consumed” and others are “given over to other punishments.”⁵⁰

Artist depiction of the apostle Thomas preaching to the people of India about abstinence and hell

When she finishes describing what she saw in her vision, Thomas adds that “these are not the only punishments. There are others even worse than these.” He exhorts his followers not to engage in any form of adultery, which to God is “an evil exceedingly wicked above all other evils” and leads to “everlasting punishment.” The apostle’s fame then continues to spread across the land. The sick and disabled are said to line the roads he is expected to travel down. Upon receiving miraculous healings, they praise Jesus and vow to leave behind the transgressions of their former ways.⁵¹

Continue Reading:

Chapter 23: Further Revelations

Footnotes

1
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
2
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
3
Eisenman, R. H. (1998). James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Penguin Publishing Group.
4
Stoops, R. F. (2012). The Acts of Peter. Polebridge Press.
5
Stoops, R. F. (2012). The Acts of Peter. Polebridge Press.
6
Stoops, R. F. (2012). The Acts of Peter. Polebridge Press.
7
Stoops, R. F. (2012). The Acts of Peter. Polebridge Press.
8
Stoops, R. F. (2012). The Acts of Peter. Polebridge Press.
9
Stoops, R. F. (2012). The Acts of Peter. Polebridge Press.
10
Stoops, R. F. (2012). The Acts of Peter. Polebridge Press.
11
Stoops, R. F. (2012). The Acts of Peter. Polebridge Press.
12
Stoops, R. F. (2012). The Acts of Peter. Polebridge Press.
13
Stoops, R. F. (2012). The Acts of Peter. Polebridge Press.
14
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
15
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
16
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
17
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
18
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
19
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
20
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
21
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
22
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
23
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
24
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
25
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
26
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
27
Pervo, R. I., Hills, J. V. (2016). The Acts of John. United States: Polebridge Press.
28
Pervo, R. I., Hills, J. V. (2016). The Acts of John. United States: Polebridge Press.
29
Pervo, R. I., Hills, J. V. (2016). The Acts of John. United States: Polebridge Press.
30
Pervo, R. I., Hills, J. V. (2016). The Acts of John. United States: Polebridge Press.
31
Pervo, R. I., Hills, J. V. (2016). The Acts of John. United States: Polebridge Press.
32
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
33
Pervo, R. I., Hills, J. V. (2016). The Acts of John. United States: Polebridge Press.
34
Pervo, R. I., Hills, J. V. (2016). The Acts of John. United States: Polebridge Press.
35
Pervo, R. I., Hills, J. V. (2016). The Acts of John. United States: Polebridge Press.
36
Pervo, R. I., Hills, J. V. (2016). The Acts of John. United States: Polebridge Press.
37
Ehrman, B. D. (2005). Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It Into the New Testament. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, USA.
38
Klijn, A. F. J. (2003). The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Brill.
39
Klijn, A. F. J. (2003). The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Brill.
40
Klijn, A. F. J. (2003). The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Brill.
41
Klijn, A. F. J. (2003). The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Brill.
42
Klijn, A. F. J. (2003). The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Brill.
43
Klijn, A. F. J. (2003). The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Brill.
44
Klijn, A. F. J. (2003). The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Brill.
45
Klijn, A. F. J. (2003). The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Brill.
46
Klijn, A. F. J. (2003). The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Brill.
47
Klijn, A. F. J. (2003). The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Brill.
48
Klijn, A. F. J. (2003). The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Brill.
49
Klijn, A. F. J. (2003). The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Brill.
50
Klijn, A. F. J. (2003). The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Brill.
51
Klijn, A. F. J. (2003). The Acts of Thomas: Introduction, Text, and Commentary. Brill.