Book Description

Acts of Paul is a collection of early Christian traditions that were not included in the canonized Acts: the Acts of Paul and Thekla, 3 Corinthians, the Martyrdom of Paul, and other fabulous stories, such as Paul baptizing a lion. By the end of the second century, there was a rumor in North Africa that "Acts of Paul" had been fabricated by a presbyter in Asia Minor (Tertullian, De baptismo 17.5) and to this day, it is alleged that Acts of Paul is later than and inferior to the traditions preserved in Acts - historically, theologically, and otherwise. But what evidence is there for the composition and reception of Acts of Paul? In this study, Glenn E. Snyder critically examines Greek, Latin, and Coptic witnesses to Acts of Paul from the second to sixth centuries, with chapters on the independently circulating acts, extant collections, and other evidence for the formation of Acts of Paul.