Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

THOMAS, ACTS OF

The only one of the apocryphal acts to survive in its entirety. The Acts of Thomas relates the evangelical work of the apostle during his journey to India. As with most of other acts, the apostle is depicted as working numerous miracles, including casting out demons and reviving the dead. In several of the episodes those who return from the dead give explicit descriptions of hell and heaven. Also included are animals that speak, including one wild ass that exorcizes a demon and then preaches to the assembled multitude. Thomas is martyred by a powerful Indian official because the apostle had converted his wife to a celibate and ascetic life-style.

Two extended poetic sections, the Hymn of the Bride and the Hymn of the Pearl, which display clearly identifiable gnostic elements, have led many to characterize the whole of the Acts of Thomas as gnostic. For example, in the Hymn of the Pearl the story of an eastern prince’s recovery of a pearl and his receiving a special garment as a reward for its retrieval is often interpreted as an allegory of the soul’s journey through the material world and its eventual reunion with the heavenly realms. However, the majority of the legendary tales involve little that can be clearly reckoned as gnostic. Instead, like most of the other apocryphal acts, the Acts of Thomas seems to reflect popular early Christian themes of ascetic piety and unworldliness.

Preserved in several languages, the primary witnesses to the Acts of Thomas are Syriac and Greek. Syriac is the most likely candidate for its original language, as the Greek displays several errors which resulted from misunderstanding of the Syriac. However, the surviving Syriac versions clearly have undergone some emendations to make them more palatable to later “orthodox” Christians. The work most likely originated in Syria, probably in Edessa, in the first half of the 3rd century. Although the text claims that Judas Thomas, the twin of Jesus, is the author, the dating of the text makes such a claim improbable. As such, the Acts are generally regarded as an anonymous composition.

Bibliography. J. K. Elliott, The Apocryphal New Testament, rev. ed. (Oxford, 1993), 439-511; A. F. J. Klijn, The Acts of Thomas. NovTSup 5 (Leiden, 1962).

James R. Mueller

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

THOMAS, ACTS OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)