Abstract
Reviewed by: La version copte de la Prédication et du Martyre de Thomas. Avec une Contribution codicologique au Corpus copte des Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha par Enzo Lucchesi Richard I. Pervo Paul-Hubert Poirier. La version copte de la Prédication et du Martyre de Thomas. Avec une Contribution codicologique au Corpus copte des Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha par Enzo Lucchesi. Subsidia Hagiographica 67. Bruxelles: Société des bollandistes, 1994. Pp. 124 + eight plates. Because they were both suspect and useful, none of the early Apocryphal Acts survives in its original form. Popularity generated frequent revisions intended to purify their theologies, update their ecclesiastical orientation, and condense them into a more accessible form. Suspicion led to suppression. For the recovery of their original text, contents, and scope, the various ancient versions can be of great value, but these present their own challenges, since translators also revised and some translations are themselves versions of versions. Poirier and Lucchesi have made a useful contribution to the assembly of materials for the evaluation of the Coptic evidence regarding the Acts of Thomas (AThom). This work is distinct for two reasons: it survives in complete, but not original, form and was arguably composed in Syriac rather than Greek. Lucchesi sorts into six codices the Coptic texts about the ministries and deaths of various apostles (no more than half of which may have included Paul), now found in many fragments distributed among at least fourteen libraries. This was an arduous task if ever such existed. Poirier then presents a Coptic edition of some sixteen fragments, ranging from a few lines to several pages in length, together with a French version. Each contributor supplies a number of notes and comments. Prédication includes summaries and parts of episodes from what are called the Acta Thomae minora, which are not from the ancient AThom, although they are related to it. Characteristics of this tradition include a ministry in Macedonia as well as India, destruction of idols with the consequent conversion of temples to Christian usage, and an edifying conclusion in which the protagonist is skinned alive but then restored and transported to the company of other apostles. There Peter is hailed as “my Bishop” and Thomas as “the second Christ” (Codex F f. 108r, 23–25, p. 67). The latter epithet is an echo of the ancient Acts, where Thomas is Jesus’s twin. The Martyre fragments, on the other hand, are relatively close and generally full translations of AThom 159–70 (71). Codices F and M support those editions that place Thomas’s prayer (chs. 144–48) after ch. 167, with M giving the latter part of ch. 165 as the conclusion to this episode. In several cases the Coptic texts may offer earlier readings than those attested in the Syriac and Greek mss. of the Acts. It now seems quite likely that the Arabic and Ethiopic versions of these texts were made from Coptic originals. This welcome example of patient Bollandist labor serves to remind those who work with printed editions of Christian apocrypha that we shall do well to take the particularity of individual manuscripts into account. Page 64 (Coptic text) of the review copy was, evidently through a printing error, blank. Richard I. Pervo Seabury-Western Theological Seminary Evanston, Illinois Copyright © 1996 The Johns Hopkins University Press
Published Version
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