Ann G.

BROCK
Harvard University
GENRE OF THE ACTS OF PA UL
ONE TRADITION ENHANCING ANOTHER
Les Actes de Paul et Thecle (APITh) sont importants pour determi-
ner Ie genre des Actes de Paul. Cette contribution examine les structures
du dialogue, aussi bien les fractures litteraires qu'ideologiques, pour
monfrer comment Thecle, un temoin chretien independant, a ete recupere
sous l'autorite de Paul. Ainsi, les APITh ne sont pas une compilation de
traditions sur Thecle, incorporees a des traditions sur Paul et Thecle,
mais sont, au contraire, une simple greffe de Paul sur la legende de
Thecle. C'est ainsi que l'auteur cree une composition litteraire fondee sur
un modele semblable aux evangiles du Nouveau Testament.
The Acts of Paul and Thecla (APITh) is crucial to determining the
genre of the Acts of Paul. This paper will examine patterns of dialogue,
as well as, literary and ideological fissures in the text of the APITh to
show how Thecla, an independent Christian witness, has been subsumed
under the authority of Paul. The APITh, then, is not a compilation of tra-
ditions about Thecla incorporated into traditions about Paul and Thecla,
but is instead merely a grafting of Paul onto the Thecla legend.
The author thus creates a literary composition modeled similarly to the
gospels of the New Testament.
I propose that the genre and Sitz im Leben of the Acts of Paul
(APi) is a religious propaganda tract for the early Christian com-
munity which the author writes in order to enhance the promi-
nence of Paul as an apostle. Such a proposal takes seriously
Tertullian's statement that the Asian presbyter who wrote APl
did so because he wished to add something of his own to the
prestige of Paul 1. Whether or not Tertullian's statement indeed
contains some historical reminiscence, these words adding to
the prestige of Paul encapsulate what appears to be the rheto-
rical dynamic of the text. The author enhances Paul's status
within the composition in numerous ways:
1. Ernest EVANS, Q. septimii Florentis Tertulliani De Baptismo Liber.
Tertullian's Homily on Baptism. (London: SPCK, 1964), p. 37.
Apocrypha 5, 1994, p. 119-136
120
A. G. BROCK
1.- Paul's actions often parallel those of Christ as he is de-
picted in the New Testament. For instance, Paul preaches in
beatitudes, performs miracles, is martyred, and then makes an
appearance to others.
2.- Through various interactions, the author places the figure
of Paul in a position of prominence over other early Christian
missionaries, thereby crediting Paul for having baptized,
strengthened, or commissioned them.
3.- Specifically, the writer takes the well-known Christian
witness of Thecla and remoulds her tradition, grafting Paul into
the story.
Before discussing genre and the effect of the above three
points of the author's strategy, however, I will first present some
groundwork concerning the nature of the text of APi.
I. Introdnction and Snmmary of Genre Debate.
A reference made by Tertullian in De Baptismo (XVII, 5)
gives some assistance in placing the API both geographically and
chronologically:
quod si quae Acta Pauli, quae perperam scripta sunt,
exemplum Theclae ad licentiam mulierum docendi tinguen-
dique defendunt, sciant in Asia presbyterum qui earn scriptu-
ram construxit, quasi titulo Pauli de suo cumulans, convictum
atque confessum id se amore Pauli fecisse loco decessisse .
But if certain Acts of Paul, which are falsely so named,
claim t~.e example of Thecla for allowing women to teach
and to baptize, let men know that in Asia the presbyter who-~o~piled
that document, thinking to add of his own to Paul's
reputation, was found out, and though he professed he had
done it for love of Paul, was deposed from his position 2.
Thus, if Tertullian's reference is trustworthy, Asia Minor is the
probable place of origin of the text. Furthermore, this reference
from De Baptismo was written approximately 200 CE, providing
the terminus ante quem for the API 3. When Tertullian refers to
2. Ibid., p. 36-37. It must be noted, however, that few manuscripts from
Tertullian are extant, and, with this text, only two (Codex T and B). For
more information see: Thomas W. McKAY, Response to Davies'
"Women, Tertullian, and the Acts of Paul" , Semeia 38, p.145-149.
3. SCHNEEMELCHER, W., Acts of Paul , New Testament Apocrypha,
E. HENNECKE and W. SCHNEEMELCHER eds. (Philadelphia: Westminster,
121 GENRE OF THE ACTS OF PAUL
Thecla's example above, it is unclear whether Tertullian refers to
the API in its entirety or only to the segment, the Acts of Paul
and Thecla, which circulated independently as well. This subse-
quent lack of consensus on the primitive integrity of the API
makes the issue of genre more complex. For instance, in addi-
tion to the Acts of Paul and Thecla (APITh) several other frag-
ments, such as the Corinthian correspondence (3 Cor) and the
Martyrdom of Paul (MP) also circulated both independently and
as part of the Acts of Paul 4.
According to Rostalski's statistics, the API has an overall uni-
formity of language 5. Rordorf, likewise, states that the style of
the Greek remnants of the API so resemble the APITh that
the identity of the author of the two narratives can hardly be
doubted 6. Therefore, for the sake of brevity, I will work from
the assumption that the same person who compiled and wrote
APITh also compiled and wrote the API 7. Having in a cursory
manner established the text, the next step, before coming to
any conclusions about genre, is to spend some time carefully
analyzing the text.
1964), II, p. 235. Unless otherwise indicated, all English references to
the API will be from Schneemelcher.
4. Davies raises the issue of whether Tertullian is referring to this docu-
ment or another one altogether. He suggests some lost pseudepigraphi-
cal Pauline letter used by feminist groups. My disagreement with this
hypothesis is presented later in this paper.
5. Friedrich ROSTALSKI, Die Sprache der griechischen Paulusakten.. mil
Berucksichtigung ihrer lateinischen Obersetzungen (Myslowitz: Buch-
druckerei Max Rolle, 1913).
6. Willy RORDORF, Tradition and Composition in. the Acts of Thecla,
Semeia 38, p. 44. He also cites Schmidt and Schubart as further support.
If the author composed the narrative framework of the Acts of Paul and
Thecla, this would explain its similarities in vocabulary with the rest of
the API without negating the possibility of the absorbtion of an inde-
pendent Thecla tradition into the text.
7. The greatest amount of scholarly debate concerning the integrity of
the text occurs with respect to Third Corinthians. [See Thomas
W. MAcKAY's article, Response to Davies' "Women, Tertullian, and the
Acts of Paul",., Semeia 38, p. 148.] McKay points out that of the five
Latin witnesses, only the Zurich manuscript preserves the narrative
bridge between the Correspondence of the Corinthians and Paul's
response. Thus, although the Coptic version of the API and the ZUrich
manuscript of the Latin text associate 3 Cor with the API, scholars often
contend that 3 Cor is a later accretion. For the Latin manuscripts see
Oscar VON GEBHARDT, Die Lateinischen Obersetzungen der Acta Pauli et
Theclae. Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Altchristlichen
Literaturs. VII, I. Leipzig: Hinrichs Buchhandlung, 1902.
122
A. G. BROCK
II. Portrayal of Paul in API.
The portrayal of Paul's actions in the API is strikingly similar
to the portrayal of Christ's actions in the New Testament gos-
pels. For example, the author portrays Paul as preaching in beat-
itudes just as Jesus did (Mt 5:3-12; Lk 6:20b-23) 8. Like Jesus,
Paul was persecuted and martyred for his message. Likewise, he
also makes a post-resurrection appearance (MP 6). In fact, an
even more direct emphasis of the parallels between the two
figures appears in the author's statement that when Thecla
looked upon the crowd, she saw the Lord sitting in the form of
Paul (c. 21).
Not only does the text parallel Paul's actions to those of
Christ, but the text also portrays Paul as more than a mere
human being. For example, the beginning of the APITh states
for now he appeared like a man, and now he had the face of an
angel (c. 3) echoing the synoptic accounts of the transfigura-
tion of Christ. Another similarity to Christ is Paul's hearing a
heavenly voice that others around him cannot hear 9. As Thecla
looks steadily upon him, he departs into the heavens and, in the
next scene, is fasting in an open tomb. Further parallel circum-
stances in the gospels include numerous miracles such as exor-
cisms (PHeid 40) and a raising of the dead (the boy in Antioch).
Moreover, just as Mary sat at the feet of Jesus (Lk 10:39), so,
too, Thecla sits at the feet of Paul. She hears him proclaim the
mighty acts of God (c. 18) and is even portrayed as kissing his
fetters -possibly reminiscent of the woman kissing Jesus' feet
(Lk 7:38). Another resemblance to the gospels appears in Paul's
being betrayed to the authorities by people with whom he
traveled (Demas and Hermogenes). Likewise, he undergoes
rejection by the crowd and also a scourging. Furthermore, at
Paul's death, a soldier is amazed and glorifies God (MP 5,
Lk 23:44). Finally, Paul's tomb is visited by Luke and Titus who
are praying there at dawn (MP 7). Thus in numerous ways, Paul
is portrayed in the API as being in especially close proximity to
the divine sphere.
This unusually high correspondence between the actions of
Paul in the API and the actions of Jesus in the canonical
8. AP1Th 5 contains the only two sentences which correspond directly
with the NT: specifically Mt 5:8 and 9.
9. From the unpublished Coptic papyrus: the beginning of the stay in
Ephesus, SCHNEEMELCHER II, p. 263-264.
123 GENRE OF THE ACTS OF PAUL
gospels 10 are not necessarily sufficient to establish a similarity in
genre. However, the close parallels in depictions point to the
possible use of such a gospel model in the portrayal of the apostle
Paul. The result is that Paul's status in the APt is noticeably higher
than his status in Luke~ Acts. Although Paul is a significant figure
in the canonical Acts, in the APt he is raised to superhuman
status. The next section will examine how the portrayal of Paul in
interactions with other missionary figures aids in establishing an
elevated, or even hierarchical, position for the apostle Paul.
III. Further elevation of the status of the Apostle Paul.
Paul not only encounters numerous early Christian missionary
figures in the API, but is almost always portrayed in a position of
authority over them. By means of motivations and words placed
upon the lips of the characters, the author rhetorically enhances
the authority of Paul. For example, Thecla, who I will argue
later was a prominent figure in the early Christian movement, is
portrayed with the words, She desired to be counted worthy
herself to stand in Paul's presence... (c. 7). Likewise, on a strik-
ingly familiar note, API describes the prominent missionary
couple Aquila and Priscilla as praying that they might be found
worthy for Paul to set foot in their house 11. The author estab-
lishes Paul's spiritual superiority over other characters not only
through such descriptions, but also through interactions with
them, such as visitations, baptisms, and commissionings.
Paul's visitation and conversation with Prisca (Priscilla) and
Aquila serve to heighten his hierarchical position over them.
Prisca and Aquila were among the prominent early Christian
founders of house churches in Rome, Corinth, and Ephesus.
They worked independently of Paul 12; their names were proba-
bly well-known across Asia Minor 13. Significantly, in the API,
10. The references to the canonical gospels or the canonical Acts
are only a means of identification and not an indication that the author
of APl necessarily knows of the existence of a canon.
lL The next references are from the beginning of the stay in Ephesus
-unpublished Coptic papyrus, SCHNEEMELCHER, II, p. 263.
12. Elisabeth SCHUSSLER FIORENZA, In Memory of Her: A Feminist
Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins. (New York: Crossroad,
1983), p. 178.
13. Aquila and Priscilla (actually usually listed with Prisca's name first
because she was the more prominent of the two -Rom 16:3 and
2 Tim 4:19). Ibid., p. 178.
124
A. G. BROCK
when Paul visits Prisca and Aquila, an angel of the Lord appears
as well. Although the angel appears to all of them, only Paul can
hear the words. Paul's subsequent conversation with the group
further underscores his apostolic prominence. For instance,
immediately following a reference to Pentecost (the point at
which Peter and others received apostolic legitimation), Paul
makes these three points:
1) he makes a reference to his own Damascus experience;
2) he establishes God the Father as the source of his message:
The [...] Father, he it is who preached to me the Gospel of his
Son [...] ;
3) and then, he traces his apostolic lineage by pointing out that
he entered the great church through the blessed Judas, the
brother of the Lord. All three of these points function to fortify
his status with respect to the rest of the apostles.
Various early Christian communities often aligned themselves
with different apostles. Competition for apostolic authority is,
therefore, a motive for apostolic propaganda and could be one
way of explaining the context for the author's elevation of the
apostle Paul. Such use of apostolic propaganda could also
explain why the API contains a version of the Quo Vadis speech
(PH 7-8) which also appears in the Acts of Peter (APt) in
Act. Verc. c. 35. If the APt contains a personal appearance of
Jesus to the apostle Peter in order to tell him that he would be
crucified, then in all fairness he must also appear to Paul. The
account in APt is probably the primary version because the
context for the one in the API seems more contrived.
Another method for establishing Paul's spiritual authority is
through the baptism of other characters in the API, especially
characters of no small distinction. For example, Artemilla and
Eubula come to Paul for baptism. The prominence of Artemilla
is demonstrated in a number of ways. For example, the highest
level of Greek language of any of Paul's four speeches is his
speech to Artemilla. According to Schmidt, this conversion
speech shows much more rhetorical art than any of the other
three speeches, including his speech to the governor 14. Not only
does Paul's elevated language signal Artemilla's prominence in
the community, but so does his choice of words in addressing
her: Woman, ruler of this world, mistress of much gold, citizen
of great luxury... (PH 2). Another character, Procla, is described~
14. Carl SCHMIDT and Wilhelm SCHUBART, IIpa~Et<; IIauA.ou, Acta Pauli
nach dem Papyrus der Hamburger Staats-und Universitiits-Bibliothek.
(Gliickstadt and Hamburg: J. J. Augustin, 1936), p.14.
125
GENRE OF 1HE ACTS OF PAUL
as a woman in the city who did many <good> works for the
Ephesians (Ephesus 13). Likewise, Paul baptizes her and all
her household.
Although the author does not portray Paul baptizing Thecla,
the author, nevertheless, also establishes Paul's authority over
her. Perhaps the legend of Thecla's self-baptism was already too
well-known for Paul to be portrayed as the one who baptizes
her. Instead, the author uses another device for establishing
hierarchy -Paul is the one who commissions Thecla. Although
Thecla has already been teaching the word of God and has even
converted Tryphaena's entire household, Paul says to her, Go
and teach the word of God (c. 41). This commissioning occurs
almost at the end of APITh. Again, one can see obvious similarity
to the gospels, as Paul's action parallels that of Jesus, who also
sent out disciples with a commission to teach. Even though
Thecla has already been teaching, Paul's statement functions as
an official conferring of authority, effectively making Thecla one
of Paul's disciples. That such an action, in fact, establishes a
hierarchy is further supported by the Syrian version of the
APITh, which contains the colophon: The history of Thecla -
a disciple of Paul 15. This discipleship effectively subsumes the
figure of Thecla to Paul.
IV. Evidence of the Remoulding of the Thecla Tradition.
Schneemelcher states that one cannot distinguish the tradi-
tions from the author's literary composition, because the tradi-
tions are part of homogeneous creations 16. Nevertheless, I
contend that some speculations may be made about the legend
cycle that lies behind the APITh. As a starting point, I maintain
the improbability that someone would have composed the Acts
of Paul and Thecla as a literary unit in its present form. For
example, where is Paul when Thecla is being burned at the stake
or being attacked by an aggressive suitor or by wild beasts?
Paul's being conspicuously absent at climactic, dangerous
moments, seems to be in contradiction to the propaganda mo-
tive of adding to the prestige of Paul . In fact, Davies does not
think that this API could possibly be the text to which Tertullian
15. Willy WRIGHT, Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: I: The Syriac Texts;
II: The English Translations. (Amsterdam: Philo Press, 1968), p. 116
and 145.
16. SCHNEEMELCHER, II, p. 80.
126
A.
G. BROCK
refers, because, in his estimation, this text certainly does not add to
the prestige of Paul. Instead, it depicts him as deserting her just
when she needed him most, refusing to baptize her, [and] failing to
recognize her spiritual worthiness until the concluding passages of
the narrative 17. I suggest that while it appears that Thecla has
been abandoned by Paul at crucial junctures of the story, in fact, in
those instances, he did not desert her; rather, the character of
Paul was never in the original story in the first place.
I propose a reconstruction of the textual history in which the
author does not take traditions about Thecla and join them
with traditions about Paul and Thecla, but rather compiles
traditions solely about Thecla and then grafts Paul onto the
narrative. The author portrays Paul as the person who teaches
her in the beginning and commissions her in the end, thereby
crediting Paul as the source of her contributions. In all proba-
bility, it was this framework and not the text itself that was
written by the presbyter from the love of Paul . In this
reconstruction my methodology is to read against the grain,
looking for inconsistency in character portrayal, the presence
of ideological or literary fissures in the text, and changes in
patterns of dialogue.
1. Inconsistency in Character Portrayal.
Even in the earliest commentaries, scholars have mentioned
the noticeably secondary position Paul holds in the APlTh. This
response may well be a recognition that Paul is a later accretion
to some legend, story, or historical reminiscence, which I will
refer to as the Acts of Thecla (abbreviated AThe).
The APl contains an ecclesiastical tradition that maintains the
memory of a strong legendary/historical female figure who is an
early Christian teacher and preacher. She suffers persecution for
her religious convictions, especially for resisting familial and
social pressures. Thecla becomes a particularly prominent figure
in Asia Minor from the second century through at least the sixth
century CEo She is mentioned by Church Fathers, such as
Tertullian, who resents the way in which Christians appealed to
Thecla to legitimize the practice of women baptizing and
teaching. Numerous other legends sprang up about Thecla.
Dagron's book, Vie et miracles de sainte Thecle, includes among
other materials, forty-six accounts of miracles attributed to her
17. Stevan L. DAVIES, Women, Tertullian, and the Acts of Paul
Semeia 38. 0.139-143.
127 GENRE OF nIE ACTS OF PAUL
even after her death 18. Such a figure became an inspiration to
many, as evidenced by the spread of the cult of Thecla as far as
Spain. In fact, the feast day of Saint Thecla is celebrated both in
the West (on September 23) and in the East (on September 24).
This strong figure of Thecla, described above, is preserved in
the early Christian traditions as a solitary missionary figure.
However, this memory of the martyr contrasts sharply with the
figure of Thecla depicted in the author's redactional framework.
The following passages demonstrate some of the rhetorical
means by which the figure of Thecla is subsumed beneath the
authority of Paul:
1.- she is so entranced with Paul's word that for three days and
nights she does not leave her window (c. 8) ;
2.- Thecla is placed at Paul's feet in the prison scene. The phrase
sitting at someone's feet is symbolic language for being
someone's student. So, too, did Mary sit at the feet of Jesus in
Bethany, and Paul at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) ;
3.- Thecla not only sits at the feet of Paul, but also kisses his
fetters (c. 18);
4.- after Paul is taken away, she throws herself into the place
where Paul had sat (c. 20);
5.- after the trial, Thecla seeks Paul <<as a lamb in the wilder-
ness looks about for the shepherd (c. 21) ;
6.- when she looks upon the crowd, she sees the Lord sitting
in the form of Paul... (c. 21);
7.- Thecla sets out to find Paul, and upon finding him, she cries
out to the Father, I praise thee that thou didst save me from
the fire, that I might see Paul! (c. 24);
8.- Paul's reply to her implies that she was saved because Paul
prayed for her, and then he humbly offers praises that God hast
so speedily <accomplished> what I asked, and hast hearkened
unto me (c. 24);
9.- she wishes to join Paul in his mission, offering to get a short
haircut and follow him wherever he goes (c. 25) ;
10.- she asks Paul to baptize her (c. 25);
11.- Paul gives her his commission to teach, Go and teach the
word of God! (c. 41);
12.- not only does Thecla throw herself into the place where
Paul had sat in prison, but later, when she returns to Iconium to
the house of Onesiphorus, she again throws herself down on the
floor where Paul had sat and taught the oracles of God (c. 42).
18. Gilbert DAGRON, Vie et miracles de sainte Thecle, texte grec, traduc-
tion et commentaire, Subsidia Hagiographica 62, (Brussels: Societe des
Bollandistes.1978).
128
A.
G. BROCK
Because of these variations in character portrayal, I maintain
that the protagonist Thecla who single-handedly rips off
Alexander's cloak and removes his crown (c. 26) is not the same
Thecla who sits at Paul's feet in prison and kisses his fetters
(c. 18). The following textual inconsistencies will help to deter-
mine points in the text in which the legend of Thecla ends and
the portrayal of the fictional disciple of Paul begins.
2. Fissures -Ideological or Literary.
Numerous inconsistencies in the text, primarily in the form of
ideological or literary fissures, clearly demonstrate that the
APITh as a whole was not a literary creation from the beginning.
1.- In addition to myself, others such as Schneemelcher have
pointed out an inconsistency in the justice of the governor's ver-
dict. It is striking that Paul, who is really the guilty party, is
according to c. 21 expelled from Iconium, but Thecla must suffer
death by tire 19. This inconsistency points to one of the sites at
which the author has absorbed the Thecla tradition. The core
Thecla legend probably continues at c. 22, immediately after the
author's redaction that Paul departed into the heavens (c. 21).
2.- Another ideological inconsistency reveals itself in what
appears to be two different understandings of baptism which
exist in the text of API. Whereas one might think that Thecla's
endurance of a trial of fire and her miraculous deliverance might
be a sufficient indication that she is worthy of baptism, Paul still
hesitates and denies her baptism until a later time. By contrast,
in the last section of the API, Luke and Titus are seized with
human fear when they see Longus and Cestus arrive at the
tomb because they think they will be killed. Yet, in the very next
sentence, Longus and Cestus are baptized simply because they
say that they saw Paul standing between Luke and Titus (MP 7).
Several explanations are possible for the different approaches to
baptism: 1) Two different sources would account for the
different understandings of baptism. 2) Or, as mentioned earlier,
perhaps Paul does not baptize her because he cannot, because it
is already a well-known part of the legend that she has baptized
herself. In the remoulded version, however, she asks Paul for the
baptism (c. 25), and he tells her to have patience (in other
words, the time will come). Therefore, when she baptizes
herself, the words are placed on her lips, Now is the time for
my baptism , and she throws herself in the water, saying: In
19. SCHNEEMELCHER, II, p. 221
129
GENRE OF THE ACTS OF PAUL
the name of Jesus Christ . The unevenness of the text may indi-
cate that the author has again added to the legend, because
herein lies another apparent literary fissure. In the next two
lines, oddly enough, the text repeats itself, she threw herself
into the water, in the name of Jesus Christ (c. 34).
3.- There exists a rather weak attempt at the end of AP1Th
to patch the rift between Thecla and her mother. Strikingly, the
only female character in all of AP1Th who is not supportive of
Thecla is her own birth mother, the one who says, Burn the
lawless one! (c. 20). The initial legend may have preserved the
way in which traditional family bonds were broken in the early
Christian communities and new families were formed. Thecla's
ally, Tryphaena, may be part of this new family bond in that she
becomes like an adopted mother to Thecla. After inviting
Thecla into her house, Tryphaena tells her, I will assign to thee
all that is mine . This section of the text clearly contains an ele-
ment of closure which I contend could well have been the end of
the AThe legend: Thecla goes into Tryphaena's house, instruc-
ting her and the maidservants with the result that they all belie-
ved and there was great joy in the house (c. 29). The author
then augments the legend with a new section beginning with
the statement that Thecla once again yearns for Paul and goes in
search of him. Interestingly, the appended narrative framework
includes in its closure an attempt to everse the rift in the original
family.
3. Change in the Sources of Dialogue.
Using the criteria of which characters receive a voice in the
narrative, one may make further claims about the lack of literary
unity of the API. With the exception of the APITh, women have
practically no speaking parts in the entirety of the dialogue of
the Acts of Paul. In the APITh, however, the proportion is radi-
cally altered. Not only do women speak, but they do so in
greater proportion than do the men other than Paul. The
amount of dialogue for women in APITh is 43 lines, whereas the
amount of dialogue for all the men including Paul is 60 lines.
Male characters other than Paul have about half the male
dialogue. In a similar comparison of women's dialogue to men's
in the rest of the API (not counting 3 Cor) women receive not
even one percent, but one-third of one percent. This change in
percentage cannot be attributed to the absence of women in the
remainder of the API. Rather, Paul encounters numerous other
women, including Nympha, Myrta, Procla, Priscilla, Artemilla,
and Eubula. However, all of these women together have a total
130 A. G. BROCK
of only five lines of dialogue between them. [Ironically, the lion
who comes to Paul. for baptism also has one half of one percent,
with four lines of dialogue]. Paul is portrayed as speaking to
the women in dialogue, sometimes even long speeches,
but the women rarely speak in return. By contrast, even the
supporting female characters in the APiTh have twenty lines
of dialogue.
In summary, the male characters speak about as often as Paul
does in both APiTh and the rest of APi. However, in APiTh,
Paul and the male characters combined speak only 59 % of the
time, compared to 99 % in the rest of APi. I seriously doubt that
this trend is an abrupt reversal in style on the part of the author,
but rather indicates the insertion of earlier material into the
literary framework.
V. Sitz im Leben.
When reading ancient texts, one frequently becomes accus-
tomed to reading certain names in combination such as Prisca
and Aquila, Joseph and Aseneth, and in the AAA, of course,
Paul and Thecla. However, judging by the aforementioned
fissures in the story of Paul and Thecla, I maintain that in all
probability there never was a missionary team of Paul and
Thecla. Instead, the two names are deliberately juxtaposed for
some purpose. Some scholars have suggested that the API incor-
porates the legend of Thecla to lend Thecla the authority of the
apostle Paul. While this may be true, I wish to point out that the
opposite may also be true. The Acts of Paul incorporates the
Acts of Thecla in order to maximize upon her popularity within
certain communities or geographical areas. This option has grea-
ter probability when one takes into account the rhetorical dyna-
mic of the remainder of the text as a whole in which interactions,
conversations, and descriptions of Paul all appear to be working
together to enhance his apostolic authority.
The deliberate juxtaposition of the names of Paul and Thecla
also indicate a social milieu, at least with respect to the author of
API, in which the linking of a Pauline apostleship and strong
female leadership are ideologically compatible. In sharp
contrast, the Pastorals present Pauline apostleship and strong
female leadership as mutually exclusive. In this respect, I find
MacDonald's research concerning the competition among
groups claiming Paul to be especially thought-provoking. He
suggests that the Pastoral epistles were written in response to
those groups who follow the Paul depicted in the apocryphal
131
GENRE OF THE ACTS OF PAUL
traditions 2. That there exists some theological interaction
between the Pastorals and the tradition behind the API is quite
probable. For example, it seems significant that such a high cor-
relation exists between proper names mentioned in the API and
those also mentioned in I and II Timothy, including Onesiphorus
(II Tim 1:16 & 17; 4:19), Demas (II Tim 4:10), Hermogenes
(II Tim 1:15), Titus (II Tim 4:10), Luke (II Tim 4:11), Prisca
(II Tim 4:19), Aquila (II Tim 4:19), and Alexander (I Tim 1: 20,
and II Tim 4:14). These common references lead one at the very
minimum to acknowledge that they both draw upon a common
tradition. However, the existence of a struggle for authority
among early Christian groups may be even more compelling as
an explanation of the common references above and the under-
lying tensions between the groups 21.
VI. Theories of Genre.
The body of literature encompassing the apocryphal acts
contains so many striking variations that one cannot assign the
totality of these texts to one genre. No doubt these differences
account for the numerous conflicting theories with respect to
their genre. Many scholars consider the AAA to be literary
fictional creations. Scholars such as von Dobschiitz, for example,
draw parallels between the apocryphal acts and the Hellenistic
novel 22. Reitzenstein also perceives fictional origins, but argues
that the apocryphal acts arise not from the genre of novel but
from Hellenistic miracle stories. Pliimacher sees the AAA as
Christian versions of the Hellenistic romance 23. Pervo suggests
20. Dennis Ronald MACDoNALD, The Legend and the Apostle: The
Battle for Paul in Story and Canon. (Philadelphia: Westminster Press,
1983), p. 56-57.
2L It is perhaps relevant that the name Onesiphorus and the church in
his house is mentioned eleven times in a text as short as the APlTh. In
fact, the setting of Onesiphorus' house seems to be the very framework
within which the story of Paul and Thecla is set. It is from the house of
Onesiphorus that Thecla first hears the word of God coming. And again
at the end she announces to Paul that she is going to Onesiphorus'
house. There she teaches on the floor where Paul had sat. Subsequently,
when she prays, she addresses and identifies God as : [ ...] God of this
house where the light shone upon me [...] -in reference once again
to Onesiphorus' house.
22. SCHNEEMELCHER, II, p. 80.
23. Ibid., II, p. 80-81.
132 A.
G. BROCK
the genre of historical novel with motives of entertainment,
instruction, and propaganda 24.
Several other scholars also perceive a relationship between
the AAA and the Hellenistic novel, but do not interpret the
similarities as necessarily indicating the literary dependence of
the AAA on the novel genre. Soder, for example, identifies
novelistic elements in the AAA in that she finds strong similari-
ties in motifs: travel, propaganda, erotic elements, crowds; and
oracles. She points out, however, that these elements also exist
in folk tales and folk narratives. Likewise, Kerenyi sees the
apocryphal acts and the novel as related and contends that both
the apocryphal acts and the novel, therefore, contain similar
non-literary folkloric elements. Thus, for these scholars, folk
stories are the primary source for the stories and motifs in
the AAA 25.
Kaestli, however, does not agree that the AAA are popular
literature as Soder suggests. Nor are they a Christian form of the
novel because the miracle stories of apostles are not part of the
Gattung of novel 26. He sees the AAA, shaped by the novelistic
genre, as an attempt to preserve ecclesiastical traditions.
In the last decade scholars such as Burrus and MacDonald
have continued the scholarly investigation into the folkloric
origins of the AAA, highlighting the characteristics of oral
narration which are evident therein. For example, Burrus, by
applying Propp's structural analysis, concludes that the chastity
stories of the AAA are more likely to have derived from oral
legend than from novels. She asserts that these stories represent
traits of the social world from which they emerged. Since they
are, therefore, not merely fictional creations, they need to be
taken seriously as revealing elements of historical information 27.
Rather than attempting to squeeze the AAA into a particular
genre, which, as we have seen above, presents difficulties, it is
perhaps more helpful to examine what models have influenced
24. Richard PERVO, Profit with Delight: The Literary Genre of the Acts
of the Apostles. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987).25.
Virginia BURRUS, Chastity as Autonomy: Women in the Stories of
the Apocryphal Acts. (Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1987), p. 18.
26. SCHNEEMELCHER, II, p. 80.
27. Virginia BURRUS, Chastity as Autonomy: Women in the Stories of
the Apocryphal Acts , Semeia 38, p. 101-117. I must add, however, that
I am not completely convinced that the chastity stories need be limited
to being stories about women transmitted by and for women. The
legend of Thecla, for instance, may well have appealed to a broader
audience than just communities of women.
133 GENRE OF 1HE ACTS OF PAUL
the AAA. Although Lukes Acts has frequently been suggested
as a model, there exist some significant differences between it and
the AAA. One concedes that similarly to Acts, the AAA contain
travel narratives, discourses, miracles, and liturgical scenes 28. Yet,
the canonical Acts is lacking some crucial elements such as the
protagonist's death and the focus upon one primary apostle.
Moreover, numerous elements of the overall structure of API
cause it to more closely resemble the form of a gospel than the
canonical acts 29. As already indicated in the beginning of this
paper, recurrent parallels exist between Paul's and Jesus' minis-
try such as performances of miracles, preaching in beatitudes,
persecution, death, and resurrection appearances. Thus, I agree
with Bovon that the gospels more closely resemble the model
for the API than does the canonical Acts. The next step, beyond
the scope of this paper, would be to examine the way in which
both the gospels and the apocryphal acts contain some interest-
ing parallels to the genre of the life of the philosophers 30.
VII. Conclusion.
Not only is assigning the wide range of contents within AAA
to one particular genre difficult, but even establishing the genre
of one apocryphal act presents problems. This difficulty is espec-
ially the case in the API because it portrays a mixture of genres
and contains a complex textual history. APITh resembles both
literary invention and the transmission of oral tradition precisely
because it is both. I maintain that parts of API are tradition or
legend, especially the segments which transmit the experiences
of Thecla. Other parts of API were the purposeful literary crea-
tion of the author. While I concur that novelistic elements do
appear in the API, the genre of novel simply does not fully
encompass what I perceive as the force and motive behind the
API. Instead, a religious propaganda tract modeled somewhat
after the gospels more closely describes the rhetorical dynamic
28. Gonzalo DEL CERRa, Los Hechos Apocrifos de los Apostoles Su
Genero Literario , Estudios Biblicos 51 (1993), p. 207.
29. Fran~ois BOVON, La vie des ap6tres : traditions bibliques et narra-
tions apocryphes , in Les Actes apocryphes des apotres: christianisme et
monde palen. Publications de la faculte de theologie de l'universite de
Geneve, n4, (Geneva: Labor et Fides, 1981), p.141-58.
30. Richard GOULET, Les Vies de philosophes dans I' Antiquite tardive
et leur portee mysterique , in Les Actes apocryphes des apotres: chris-
tianisme et monde pai"en, op. cit., p. 161-208.
134
A. G. BROCK
I see present in the API. In this paper I have indicated three pri-
mary techniques by which the author elevates Paul's position:
through numerous parallels to the life of Jesus, through
hierarchical interactions with other apostles, and through the
remoulding of the Thecla legend into a reverent disciple of Paul.
In support of my conclusions, I also add Tertullian's ancient wit-
ness as to the author's purpose -that the presbyter in Asia
compiled the document, thinking to add of his own to Paul's
reputation and doing so out of love for Paul 31. Thus, I see in
the Acts of Paul a Christian propaganda tract which promotes
the apostolic prominence of Paul. Although it was never inclu-
ded in the canon, this apocryphal text remains valuable in that it
preserves for us some intriguing traditions not only of Paul but
also of the missionary Thecla.
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