The Acts of John

Some of the most entertaining stories found among the apocryphal accounts of the apostles are in the “Acts of John,” stories of the missionary adventures of the son of Zebedee, the disciple commonly regarded as Jesus’ closest companion.1 Many of the stories demonstrate the uncanny power of God at work within his great apostle, as he is able to perform remarkable miracles by healing the sick and raising the dead—evidence of the truth of his proclamation of the gospel of Christ. The following excerpts narrate some of the apostle’s most remarkable deeds, including a tale in which he raises from the dead a prominent leader in the city of Ephesus, Lycomedes, and his beautiful wife, Cleopatra (chaps. 19–25). A second resurrection account involves a gripping tale of passion gone awry, in a love triangle involving the beautiful but ascetic Christian, Drusiana, her loving husband, Andronicus, and the unbeliever Callimachus, whose unsatisﬁed lust becomes known to Drusiana, causing her to die of grief for being the object of temptation. In a ﬁt of passion, however, Callimachus bribes his way into the burial vault, where he plans to fulﬁll his lust on Drusiana’s corpse, only to be attacked by a preternatural serpent that stands as her guardian (chaps. 63–86). Razor-sharp in its contrast between ascetic virtue and lustful vice, this intriguing Acts of John stresses both the need for purity before God and the power of the apostle, who is able to raise the dead and to right all that has gone wrong in the world (the pure Drusiana too, it should be noted, performs a resurrection in the account). Other stories found here are somewhat more amusing—including John’s encounter with a host of unwanted bed-bugs at a roadside inn (chaps. 60–61). Yet other accounts, probably from a different source, involve more mystical reﬂections on the nature of Christ, who is described in ways that appear docetic—that is, suggesting that he did not have a real ﬂesh-andblood body (see esp. chaps. 85–103).

See further Ehrman, Lost Christianities, 41–44.

Translation by J. K. Elliott; Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993) 311–26; 328–35; used with permission.

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It is difﬁcult to know when the Acts of John was composed, but many scholars locate it to the second half of the second century.

When we came near the city Lycomedes, the commander-inchief of the Ephesians, a wealthy man, met us, fell down before John and asked him for help, with these words, “Your name is John; the God whom you preach has sent you to help my wife, who has been paralyzed for seven days and lies past recovery. But glorify your God and treat her out of compassion for us. Whilst I was reﬂecting what to do, a man came to me and said, ‘Desist, Lycomedes, from the evil thought which militates against you. Do not submit. For out of compassion for my servant Cleopatra I have sent you a man from Miletus, named John, who will comfort her and restore her to you cured.’ Delay not, therefore, servant of the God who announced you to me, but hasten to the ailing woman.” And John went at once from the gate with the brethren who were with him and followed Lycomedes into his house. And Cleobius said to his servants, “Go to my relative Callippus and make yourselves comfortable in his house—for I am coming there with his son—that we may ﬁnd everything prepared!”

When Lycomedes and John had come into the house in which the woman was lying, he grasped his feet again, and said, “See, Lord, the lost beauty, see the youth, see the much talked of bloom of my unhappy wife, the admiration of all Ephesus! Woe to me, unhappy man! I was envied, humbled, the enemy’s eye was ﬁxed on me. I never wronged anyone, although I could harm many. I envisaged this situation and I was always anxious to experience no sorrow

or anything like it! Of what use is my care now, Cleopatra? What good was it to me, that I was called godly to this day? I suffer more than a heathen, seeing you, Cleopatra, suffering so. The sun in his circuit shall not see me, if you are no more with me. Cleopatra, I will die before you. I will not spare my life though I am still youthful. I will justify myself before the goddess of right, whom I served in righteousness, though I might indict her for her unrighteous sentence. I will avenge myself on her by coming as a shade. I will say to her, ‘You have forced me to leave the light of life, because you tore away Cleopatra. You are the cause of my death, by having prepared for me this fate. You have forced me to blaspheme Providence by destroying my joy.’ ”

And Lycomedes spoke more to Cleopatra, went to her couch, and cried bitterly. But John drew him away and said, “Abandon these tears and unbecoming words! It is not proper for you, who saw the vision, to be disbelieving. Know that your partner for life will be restored to you. Therefore join us, who have come for her sake, and pray to the God whom you saw, when he showed me to you in a vision! What is the matter, Lycomedes? Wake up and open also your soul! Cast from you heavy sleep! Call on the Lord, beseech him for your wife, and he will support her.” But he fell to the ground and wept dejectedly. And John said with tears, “Woe to the treachery of the vision, woe to the new temptation prepared for me, woe to the new craft of him who devises cunnings against me!

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Did the voice from heaven, which came to me by the way, intend this for me, predicting to me what should here take place? Will it deliver me up to such a great multitude of citizens, for the sake of Lycomedes? The man lies here lifeless, and I know that I shall not leave this house alive. Why do you delay, Lord? Why have you deprived us of your gracious promise? I beseech you, Lord, let him not rejoice who delights in the sorrow of others. Let him not dance who always laughs at us! But let your holy name and your compassion come quickly! Waken the bodies of the two, who are against me!”

While John was crying, the city of Ephesus ran to the house of Lycomedes, supposing him dead. And when John saw the great multitude, he prayed to the Lord, “Now the time of refreshing and conﬁdence has come with you, O Christ; now is the time for us weary ones to have help from you, physician, who heal freely. Keep my entrance here free from derision! I beseech you, Jesus, help such a great multitude to come to the Lord of the universe. Behold the afﬂiction, behold those who lie here! Even those who came here, make holy instruments for your service, after they have seen your gift. For you have said yourself, O Christ, ‘Ask and it shall be given you.’2 We therefore beseech you, O King, not for gold, not for silver, not for riches, not for possession, nor for any transient, earthly goods, but for two souls through whom you will convert those present to your way, to your knowledge, to your conﬁdence, and to your infallible promise. For many of them shall be saved, after they have known your power through the resurrection of the departed. Give us, therefore, hope in you! I will go to Cleopatra and say, ‘Arise, in the name of Jesus Christ.’ ”

And he went, touched her face, and said, “Cleopatra, he whom every ruler fears, and every creature, power, abyss, and darkness and unsmiling death and the heights of heaven and the caverns of the lower world and the resurrection of the dead and the sight of the blind and the whole power of the ruler of the world, and the pride of its prince, says, ‘Rise and become not a pretext for many who will not believe, and an afﬂiction for souls who hope and could be saved.’ ” And Cleopatra cried out at once, “I will rise, master, save your handmaiden!” When she had risen after the seven days, the whole city of Ephesus was stirred by the miraculous sight. . . .

. . . After two days the birthday of the idol’s temple was celebrated. While everybody was dressed in white garments, John wore black and went to the temple. They laid hold of him and tried to kill him. But John said, “Men, you are mad to lay hold of me, the servant of the only God.” And climbing on to the platform he spoke to them:

“Men of Ephesus, you are in danger of behaving like the sea. Every discharging river and every precipitating spring, downpours and incessant waves and torrents rushing from the rock, are permeated by the bitter salt which is in the sea. Thus to this day you are unchangeably hostile to true piety, and you perish in your old idolatry. How many miraculous deeds did you see me perform, how many cures! And still you are hardened in the heart and cannot see clearly. What now, men of Ephesus? I have ventured now to come up to this idol’s temple, to convince you that you

Matt 7:7.

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are wholly without God and dead to human reasoning. Behold, here I stand. You all assert that Artemis is powerful. Pray to her, that I alone die! Or if you cannot accomplish this, I alone will call upon my God to kill you all because of your unbelief.”

Since they already knew him and had seen the dead raised, they cried aloud, “Do not treat us so and kill us, we beseech you, John; we know indeed that you can do it.” And John answered them, “If you do not wish to die, let me convince you of your idolatry. Any why? So that you may desist from your old error. Be now converted by my God or I will die at the hands of your goddess. For I will pray in your presence to my God, and ask him to have mercy upon you.”

After these words he prayed, “God, who are God above all so-called gods, who to this day have been despised at Ephesus, you induced me to come to this place, which I never had in view. You have abrogated every form of worship through conversion to you. In your name every idol, every demon, and every unclean spirit is banished. May the deity of this place, which has deceived so many, now also give way to your name, and thus show your mercy on this place! For they walk in error.”

And with these words of John the altar of Artemis suddenly split into many parts, and the oblations put up in the temple suddenly fell to the ground, and its glory broke, and so did more than seven of the idols. And half of the temple fell down, so that when the roof came down, the priest also was killed at one stroke. And the people of the Ephesians cried, “There is only one God, that of John, only one God who has

compassion for us; for you alone are God; now we have become converted, since we saw your miraculous deeds. Have mercy upon us, God, according to your will, and deliver us from our great error.” And some of them lay on their faces and cried; others bent their knees and prayed; others rent their garments and lamented; still others tried to escape.

And John stretched out his hands and prayed with uplifted soul to the Lord, “Glory be to you, my Jesus, the only God of truth, who procure your servants in manifold ways!” And after these words he said to the people, “Rise up from the ground, people of Ephesus, pray to my God, and know how his invisible power was made manifest and his miraculous deeds took place before your eyes! Artemis herself should have helped. Her servant should have received help from her and not have died. Where is the power of the deity? Where are the sacriﬁces? Where the birthday? Where the festivals? Where the garlands? Where the great enchantment and the poison allied to it?”

And the people rose up from the ground and made haste to destroy the remainder of the temple, crying, “We know that the God of John is the only one, and henceforth we worship him, since we have obtained mercy from him.” And as John came down, many of the people touched him, saying, “Help us, John, help us who die in vain! You see our intention; you see how the multitude following you cleaves to hope in your God. We have seen the way in which we have gone astray when we were lost. We have seen that our gods were erected in vain. We have seen their great and disgraceful derision. But give us, we beseech you, help without hindrance, when

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we have come to your house! Receive us, who are desperate!”

. . . On the ﬁrst day we came to a lonely inn, and when we were trying to ﬁnd a bed for John we experienced a strange event. There was one bedstead with covers over which we spread our cloaks which we had brought and requested him to lie down and to rest, whilst we slept on the ﬂoor. He had hardly lain down, when he was molested by bugs. But as they became more and more troublesome, and as it was midnight already, we all heard him say to them, “I say to you, you bugs, be considerate; leave your home for this night and go to rest in a place which is far away from the servants of God!” And while we laughed and talked, John fell asleep. And we conversed quietly, and thanks to him we remained undisturbed.

When it was day, I rose ﬁrst, and with me Verus and Andronicus. And in the door of the room which we had taken was a mass of bugs. And having called all the brethren, we went outside to have a full view of them. John was still asleep. When he woke up we showed him what we had seen. And sitting up in bed and seeing them, he said, “Since you have been wise to heed my warning, go back to your place!” When he had spoken and had risen from the bed, the bugs hastened from the door to the bed, ran up the legs into the joints and disappeared. And John said again, “This creature heard the voice of a man and kept quiet and was obedient. We, however, hear God’s voice, and yet irresponsibly transgress his commandments. And how long will this go on?”

After this we came to Ephesus. And when the brethren who lived there had learned that John had re-

turned after this long time, they met in the house of Andronicus, where he was also staying, grasped his feet, put his hands to their faces, and kissed them because they had touched his clothes.

And while great love and endless joy prevailed among the brethren, one, a servant of Satan, coveted Drusiana, although he saw and knew that she was the wife of Andronicus. Very many people remonstrated with him, “It is impossible for you to obtain this woman, especially since she has separated even from her husband out of piety. Or do you alone not know that Andronicus, who was not the godly man he now is, had locked her up in a tomb, saying, ‘Either I’ll have you as a wife, as I had you before, or you must die?’ And she preferred to die rather than to commit the repugnant act. Now, if out of piety she withheld her consent to sexual intercourse with her husband and master, but persuaded him to become like-minded, should she consent to you, who wish to commit adultery with her? Desist from your passion, which gives you no rest! Desist from your scheme, which you cannot accomplish!”

Though his intimate friends remonstrated with him, they could not persuade him. He was even so impudent as to send word to her. When Drusiana heard of his disgraceful passion and shameless demands, she became very despondent, and after two days she was feverish. She said, “Oh, if I only had not come back to my native city where I have become a stumbling-block to a man who believes not in the worship of God! For if he were ﬁlled with God’s word, he would not fall into such a passion. Therefore, O Lord, since I have become accessory to a blow which struck an ignorant soul, deliver me from this prison

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and take me soon to you!” And without being understood by anyone Drusiana departed this life in the presence of John, not rejoicing but sorrowing over the physical trouble of that man.

And Andronicus was sad and carried a hidden sorrow in his heart, and wept bitterly, so that John could only silence him by saying to him, “Drusiana has departed this unjust life for a better hope.” To this answered Andronicus, “Of this I am certain, John, and I have no doubt in the belief in my God. My hopes are grounded on the fact, that she departed this life pure.”

After she was interred, John took Andronicus aside, and having learned of the cause he sorrowed more than Andronicus. And he kept silence, considering the threats of the enemy, and sat still a little. When the brethren were assembled to hear which words he would say concerning the departed, he began to speak:

“When the helmsman who crosses the ocean has landed with the ship and passengers in a quiet haven free from storms, he feels secure. The husbandman who sowed the seedgrains in the ground and cared for them with great pains is only then to enjoy a rest from his labors when he has harvested abundant corn in his barns. Whoever promises to take part in a race should rejoice only when he has obtained the prize. He whose name is entered on the list of prize-ﬁghting should triumph only after he receives the crowns. And thus it is with all races and skills, when they do not fail at the end, but are carried out, as they were intended.

“So I think it is with the faith which every one of us practises,

and which can only be decided as having been the true one when it remains the same to the end of life. For there are many obstacles which cause unrest to human reasoning: cares, children, parents, glory, poverty, ﬂattery, youth, beauty, boasting, desire for riches, anger, pride, frivolity, envy, passion, carelessness, violence, lust, slaves, money, pretence, and all the other similar obstacles which exist in life; it is the same for the helmsman who takes his course for a quiet journey and is opposed by the adverse winds and a great tempest and a mighty wave, when the heaven is serene; it is the same for the husbandman who is opposed by untimely weather and blight and creeping worms appearing from the ground; for the athletes, the near miss, and for the craftsman the obstacles to their skills.

“The believer must above all things consider the end and carefully examine how it will come, whether energetic and sober and without impediment, or in confusion and ﬂattering worldly things and bound by passions. Thus one can praise the beauty of the body only when it is completely naked; and the greatness of the general when he has happily ﬁnished the whole campaign as he promised; and the excellence of the physician when he has succeeded in every cure; and so one praises a soul ﬁlled with faith and worthy of God if it has happily accomplished that which it promised, not one of which made a good beginning, and gradually descended into the errors of life and became weak, nor the numb soul which made an effort to attain higher things and was afterwards reduced to perishable, nor that which loved the temporal more than the eternal, nor that which exchanged the perishable for the lasting, nor that which honored what was not to be honored and loved

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works of dishonor, nor that which accepted pledges from Satan and received the serpent into its house, nor one which was reviled for God’s sake and afterwards was ashamed, nor one which consented with the mouth but did not show it by the deed; but we praise one which refused to be inﬂamed by ﬁlthy lust, to succumb to levity, to be ensnared by thirst after money, or to be betrayed by the strength of the body and anger.”

While John continued to preach to the brethren that they despise earthly goods for the sake of the eternal ones, the lover of Drusiana, inﬂamed by the inﬂuence of the polymorphous Satan to the most ardent passions, bribed the greedy steward of Andronicus with money. And he opened the tomb of Drusiana and left him to accomplish on the body that which was once denied to him. Since he had not procured her during her lifetime, he continually thought of her body after she was dead, and exclaimed, “Although when living you refused to unite with me in love, after your death I will dishonor your corpse.” Being in such a frame of mind he obtained the opportunity to execute his impious plan through the accursed steward, and both went to the tomb. Having opened the door, they began to take the graveclothes from the corpse, and said, “What have you gained, unhappy Drusiana? Could you not have done this while you were alive? It need not have grieved you if you had done it willingly.”

While they spoke and only the shift remained, there appeared something wonderful, which people that do such things deserve to experience. A serpent appeared from somewhere, bit the steward, and killed him. And the serpent did not bite the young man, but encircled his feet, hissing fearfully, and

when he fell down, the serpent sat on him.

On the following day John and Andronicus and the brethren went at the break of day to the tomb in which Drusiana had been for three days, so that we might break bread there. And when we were about to start, the keys were not to be found. And John said to Andronicus, “It is right that they are lost, for Drusiana is not in the tomb. Nevertheless, let us go, that you do not appear neglectful, and the doors will open of themselves, since the Lord has already given us many other things.”

When we came to the place, the doors opened at the master’s behest, and at the tomb of Drusiana we saw a beautiful youth smiling. When John saw him, he exclaimed and said, “Do you come before us here also, noble one? And why?” And he heard a voice saying to him, “For the sake of Drusiana, whom you are to raise up. I found her almost deﬁled on account of the dead man lying near the tomb.” And when the noble one had thus spoken to John he ascended to heaven before the eyes of all. And John turned to the other side of the tomb and saw a young man, the very prominent Ephesian Callimachus—for this is what he was called—and on him a huge snake sleeping, also the steward of Andronicus, named Fortunatus, dead. On seeing both, he stood helpless and said to the brethren, “What does all this mean? Or why did the Lord not reveal to me what took place here, for he was always concerned for me?”

When Andronicus saw these bodies, he jumped up and went to the tomb of Drusiana. And when he saw her in her shift, he said to John, “I understand what took place, blessed

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servant of God. This Callimachus loved my sister. And as he could not get her, although he tried it often, he no doubt bribed this accursed steward of mine with a great sum of money with the intention— as one can now see—to accomplish his purpose through him. For this Callimachus said to many, ‘If she will not yield to be me alive, rape shall be committed on her death.’ This, O master, the noble one saw and did not allow her earthly remains to be violated. That is why those who engineered this are dead. And the voice which came to you ‘Raise Drusiana!’ foretold this. For she departed this life through sorrow. And I believe him who said that this is one of the men who was led astray. For you were asked to raise him. As for the other I know that he does not deserve salvation. But one thing I ask of you. Raise Callimachus ﬁrst, and he shall confess what took place.”

And John looked at the corpse and said to the poisonous snake, “Depart from him who is to serve Jesus Christ!” Then he rose and prayed, “God, whose name is rightly praised by us; God, who overcomes each harmful work; God, whose will is done, who always hears us, make your grace now efﬁcacious on this youth! And if through him some dispensation is to take place, make it known to us, when he is raised!” And the young man immediately arose and kept silence for a whole hour.

When the man had regained his senses, John asked what his intrusion into the tomb meant. And having learned from him what Andronicus had already told him, how he passionately loved Drusiana, John asked further whether he had accomplished his wicked design to commit rape on the holy earthly remains. And he replied, “How could I

have accomplished this when this fearful beast killed Fortunatus with one bite before my eyes? And this deservedly so, for he encouraged me to such madness, after I had already desisted from the illtimed and dreadful frenzy—but he frightened me and put me in the state in which you saw me, before I arose. But I will tell you another great miracle, which nearly slew me and almost killed me. When my soul was seized with mad passion and the incurable disease was troubling me, when I had already robbed her of the grave-clothes with which she was dressed, and went from the grave to put them down as you see, I turned back to perpetrate the abominable deed. And I saw a beautiful youth covering her with this cloak. Rays of light fell from his face upon hers, and he turned to me also and said, “Callimachus, die, that you may live.” Who it was, I knew not, servant of God. Since you have come here, I know that it was an angel of God. And this I truly know, that the true God is preached by you; and I am sure of it. But I pray you, see to it that I may be delivered from this fate and dreadful crime, and bring me to your God as a man who had gone astray in scandalous, abominable, deceit. On my knees I ask for your help. I will become one of those who hope in Christ so that the voice may also prove true, which spoke here to me, ‘Die to live!’ And it is already fulﬁlled. For that unbeliever, godless, lawless man, is dead; I am raised by you as a believer, faithful and godly, that I may know the truth, which I ask of you to reveal to me.”

And John, rejoicing, contemplated the whole spectacle of the salvation of people and said, “O Lord Jesus Christ, I do not know what your power is. I am amazed at your great mercy and endless forbearance. Oh, what

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greatness descended to servitude! O unspeakable freedom, which was enslaved by us! O inconceivable glory, which has come upon us! You have kept the grave from shame, and redeemed that man who contaminated himself with blood, and taught him to be chaste who meant to violate dead bodies. Father, full of mercy and compassion toward him who disregarded you, we praise, glorify, and honor you and thank you for your great goodness and long-suffering, holy Jesus, for you alone are God and none else; you against whose power all devices can do nothing now and in all eternity! Amen!”

After these words, John took Callimachus, kissed him, and said, “Glory be to our God, who had mercy upon you, child, and deemed me worthy to praise his power, and delivered you by a wise method from that madness and intoxication and called you to rest and renewal of life.”

When Andronicus saw that Callimachus had been raised from the dead, he and the brethren besought John to raise Drusiana also, and said, “John, let her be raised and happily complete life’s short space, which she gave up out of sorrow for Callimachus, because she thought she was a temptation to him! And when it pleases the Lord, he will take her to himself.” And without delay John went to the grave, seized her hand and said, “You who alone are God, I call upon you, the immense, the unspeakable, the incomprehensible, to whom all worldly power is subject, before whom every authority bows, before whom every pride falls down and is silent, before whose voice the demons are confounded, at whose contemplation the whole creation surrenders in quiet meditation. Your name will be hallowed by us. Raise Drusiana that Callimachus be still

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further strengthened in you who alone can do what is wholly impossible with man, and have given salvation and resurrection, and let Drusiana come out comforted because, in consequence of the conversion of the youth, she no more has the least impediment to long for you!”

Having spoken thus John said, “Drusiana, arise!” And she arose and came from the tomb. And when she saw that she wore nothing but her shirt, she was perplexed how to explain what had happened. Having learned everything from Andronicus, while John was upon his face and Callimachus with tears praised God, she also rejoiced and praised God.

Having dressed herself and looked around, she saw Fortunatus. And she said to John, “Father, he too shall rise, though he tried so much to become my betrayer.” When Callimachus heard her speaking thus, he said, “No, I beg you, Drusiana. For the voice which I heard did not mention him, but only concerned you, and when I saw I believed. If he were good, God out of mercy would have certainly raised him through the blessed John. He knew that the man should have a bad death.” And John answered him, “My son, we have not learnt to recompense evil with evil: For God had not recompensed the evil which we have done to him, but has given us repentance. And although we did not know his name, he did not forget us, but had mercy upon us. And when we reviled him, he forsook us not, but was merciful. And when we were disbelieving, he remembered not the evil. And when we persecuted his brethren, he did not requite us, but made us repent, turn away from sin, and called us to himself, as he called you also, child Callimachus, and, without remembering your former

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sins, made you his servant through his long-suffering mercy. If you do not wish me to raise Fortunatus, let Drusiana do it.”

Without wavering, but in the joy of her spirit and soul, she went to the body of Fortunatus and said, “God of the ages, Jesus Christ, God of truth, you allowed me to see signs and wonders and granted me to partake of your name. You breathed into me your spirit with your polymorphous face, and showed much compassion. With your rich goodness, you protected me when my former husband, Andronicus, did violence to me, and gave me your servant Andronicus as a brother. Until now you have kept me, your maiden, pure. You raised me when I was dead through your servant John. To me, risen and freed from offence, you showed me him who was offended at me. You gave me perfect rest in you, and delivered me from the secret madness. I love you with all my heart. I beseech you, Christ, not to dismiss Drusiana’s petition, who asks of you the resurrection of Fortunatus, though he tried so much to become my betrayer.”

And she took the hand of the dead man and said, “Rise, Fortunatus, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!” And Fortunatus rose up. And seeing John in the tomb and Andronicus and Drusiana risen from the dead and Callimachus now a believer, he said, “O how far the power of these awful people has spread! I wish I were not raised, but remained dead, so as not to see them.” And with these words he ran from the tomb.

And when John perceived the unchangeable soul of Fortunatus, he said, “O nature, unchanged for the

better! O source of the soul, remaining in the ﬁlth! O essence of corruption, full of darkness! O death, dancing among those belonging to you! O fruitless tree, full of ﬁre! O wood, producing coal as fruit! O forest, with trees full of unhealthy shoots, neighbor of unbelief! You showed us who you are, and you will always be convicted with your children. And the power of praising higher things is unknown to you, for you do not have it. Therefore as your issue is, so is your root and nature. Vanish away from those who hope in the Lord—from their thoughts, from their mind, from their souls, from their bodies, from their action, from their life, from their conversation, from their activity, from their deeds, from their counsel, from their resurrection to God, from their fragrance which you will share, from their fastings, from their prayers, from their holy baptism, from their eucharist, from the nourishment of their ﬂesh, from their drink, from their dress, from their agape, from their acts of mourning, from their continence, and from their righteousness. From all these, most unholy and abominable Satan, shall Jesus Christ, our God and judge of those who are like you and your nature, remove you.”

After these words John prayed, fetched a loaf of bread to the tomb to break it, and said, “We praise your name, who have converted us from error and unmerciful lusts. We praise you who have brought before our eyes that which we saw. We bear witness to your goodness manifested to us in various ways. We hallow your gracious name, Lord, and thank you who have convicted those who are convicted by you. We thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, that we believe in your unchangeable mercy. We thank you that you are in need of a

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saved human nature. We thank you that you gave this sure faith, that you alone are God, now and for ever. We, your servants, thank you, O holy One, we who are assembled with good reason and risen from the dead.”

Having thus prayed and praised God, he made all the brethren partake of the eucharist of the Lord and then left the tomb. And when he had come into the house of Andronicus, he said to the brethren, “Dear brethren, a spirit within me has prophesied that, in consequence of the bite of the serpent, Fortunatus would die of blood-poisoning. Let someone make haste and inquire whether it is so!” And one of the young men ran and found him dead already, the poison having spread and reached his heart. And he returned to John, reporting that he had been dead three hours already. And John said, “You have your child, devil!” Thus John rejoiced with the brethren in the Lord.

. . . Then those who were present inquired about the cause, and were especially perplexed because Drusiana had said, ‘The Lord appeared to me in the tomb in the form of John and of a youth.’ And as they were perplexed and in some ways were not yet conﬁrmed in the faith, John said with patience:

“Men and brethren, you have suffered nothing that is strange or incredible in your perception of the Lord, inasmuch as we also, whom he chose for himself as apostles, were tried in many ways. I, indeed, am able neither to set forth to you nor to write the things which I saw and heard. Now I must adapt

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them to your hearing; and in accordance with everyone’s capabilities I will communicate to you those things whereof you are able to become hearers, that you may see the glory that surrounds him who was and is both now and forever. “For when he had chosen Peter and Andrew, who were brothers, he came to me and to my brother James, saying, ‘I have need of you, come unto me.’ And my brother said, ‘John, this child on the shore who called to us, what does he want?’ And I said, ‘What child?’ He replied, ‘The one who is beckoning to us.’ And I answered, ‘Because of our long watch that we kept at sea you are not seeing straight, brother James: but do you not see the man who stands there, fair and comely and of a cheerful countenance?’ But he said to me, ‘Him I do not see, brother; but let us go and we shall see what it means.’ And so when we had landed the ship, we saw him helping us to beach the ship.

“And when we left the place, wishing to follow him again, he again appeared to me, bald-headed but with a thick and ﬂowing beard; but to James he appeared as a youth whose beard was just starting. We were perplexed, both of us, as to the meaning of what we had seen. But when we followed him, we both became gradually more perplexed as we thought on the matter. Yet to me there appeared a still more wonderful sight; for I tried to see him as he was, and I never at any time saw his eyes closing but only open. And sometimes he appeared to me as a small man and unattractive, and then again as one reaching to heaven. Also there was in him another marvel; when I sat at table he would take me upon his breast and I held him; and sometimes his breast felt to me to be smooth and tender, and sometimes hard,

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like stone, so that I was perplexed in myself and said, ‘What does this mean?’ And when I was thinking of these things. . . .3

“At another time he took me and James and Peter to the mountain, where he used to pray, and we beheld such a light on him that it is not possible for a man who uses mortal speech to describe what it was like. Again in a similar way he led us three up to the mountain saying, ‘Come with me.’ And we went again and saw him at a distance praying. Now I, because he loved me, went to him quietly as though he should not see, and stood looking upon his back. And I saw that he was not dressed in garments, but was seen by us as naked and not at all like a man; his feet were whiter than snow, so that the ground there was lit up by his feet, and his head reached to heaven; so that I was afraid and cried out, and he turned and appeared as a man of small stature, and took hold of my beard and pulled it and said to me, ‘John, be not unbelieving, but believing, and not inquisitive.’ And I said to him, ‘What have I done, Lord?’ And I tell you brethren, I suffered such pain for thirty days at the place where he took hold of my beard, that I said unto him, ‘Lord, if your playful tug has given me so much pain, what if you had given me a beating?’ And he said to me, ‘Let it be your concern from henceforth not to tempt him who is not to be tempted.’

“But Peter and James were angry because I spoke with the Lord and beckoned me to come to them and leave the Lord alone. And I went, and they both said to me, ‘Who was speaking to the Lord when he was on top of the mountain, for we heard both of them speaking?’ And I, when I considered his great grace and his unity which

has many faces, and his wisdom which without ceasing looked upon us, said, ‘This you shall learn if you ask him.’

“Again when all of us disciples were once sleeping in a house at Gennesaret, after wrapping myself up I watched what he did, and ﬁrst I heard him say, ‘John, go to sleep.’ And thereupon I feigned to be asleep; and I saw another like him whom I also heard saying to my Lord, ‘Jesus, those whom you have chosen still do not believe in you.’ And my Lord said to him, ‘You are right, for they are men.’

“Another glory I will tell you, brethren. Sometimes when I meant to touch him, I met a material and solid body; and at other times again when I felt him, the substance was immaterial and bodiless and as if it were not existing at all. Now, if at any time he were invited by one of the Pharisees and went where he was invited, we went with him. And there was set before each one of us a loaf of bread by our host, and he also received a loaf. And he would bless his own and divide it amongst us; and from that little piece each of us was ﬁlled, and our own loaves were saved intact, so that those who had invited him were amazed. And often when I was walking with him I wished to see whether the print of his foot appeared upon the earth—for I saw him raising himself from the earth—but I never saw it. Now, these things, dear brethren, I speak to you to encourage you in your faith towards him, for we must at the present keep silent about his mighty and wonderful works, inasmuch as they are mysteries and doubtless cannot be uttered or heard.

Gap in text.

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“Now, before he was arrested by the lawless Jews, who received their law from a lawless serpent, he gathered us all together and said, ‘Before I am delivered up to them, let us sing a hymn to the Father, and go forth to what lies before us.’ So he commanded us to make a circle, holding one another’s hands, and he himself stood in the middle. He said, ‘Respond Amen to me.’ He then began to sing a hymn, and to say: ‘Glory be to you, Father!’ And we circling him said, ‘Amen.’ ‘Glory be to you, Word! Glory be to you, Grace!’ ‘Amen.’ ‘Glory be to you, Spirit! Glory be to you, Holy One! Glory be to the glory!’ ‘Amen.’ ‘We praise you, O Father. We give thanks to you, light, in whom darkness does not abide.’ ‘Amen.’

‘I will mourn, lament all of you!’ ‘Amen.’ ‘An Ogdoad4 is singing with us.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘The Twelfth number is dancing above.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘The whole universe takes part in the dancing.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘He who does not dance, does not know what is being done.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I will ﬂee and I will stay.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I will adorn, and I will be adorned.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I will be united, and I will unite.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I have no house, and I have houses.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I have no place, and I have places.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I have no temple, and I have temples.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I am a lamp to you who see me.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I am a mirror to you who perceive.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I am a door to you who knock on me.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I am a way to you, wayfarer.’ ‘Amen.’

‘Now we give thanks, I say: I will be saved, and I will save.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I will be loosed, and I will loose.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I will be pierced, and I will pierce.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I will be born, and I will bear.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I will eat, and I will be eaten.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I will hear, and I will be heard.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I will be understood, being wholly understanding.’ ‘Amen.’ ‘I will be washed, and I will wash.’ ‘Amen.’

“ ‘Now if you respond to my dancing, see yourself in me who speak; and when you have seen what I do, keep silence about my mysteries! You who dance, perceive what I do; for yours is this passion of mankind which I am to suffer! For you could not at all have comprehended what you suffer if I had not been sent to you as the Word by the Father. When you saw what I suffer, you have seen me as one suffering; and

Grace is dancing. ‘I will pipe, dance all of you!’ ‘Amen.’

i.e. the eightfold power.

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seeing that, you have not stood ﬁrm but were wholly moved. Moved to become wise, you have me for a support. Rest upon me! Who am I? You shall know when I go away. What I am now seen to be, that I am not. You shall see when you come. If you knew how to suffer, you would have had the power not to suffer. Learn suffering, and you shall have the power not to suffer. That which you do not know, I will teach you. I am your God, not that of the betrayer. I will that there be prepared holy souls for me. Know the word of wisdom! Say again with me: Glory be to you, Father; glory be to you, Word; Glory be to you, Holy Ghost! Now concerning me, if you would know what I was: with a word I once deceived all things, and was not put to shame at all. I have leaped; but understand the whole, and having understood it say, ‘Glory be to you, Father!’ ‘Amen.’

“After this dance, my beloved the Lord went out; and we were as men gone astray or dazed with sleep, and we ﬂed all ways. Even I, when I saw him suffer, did not abide at his passion but ﬂed to the Mount of Olives, weeping over what had taken place. And when he was hung upon the cross on Friday, at the sixth hour of the day, there came darkness over all the earth. And my Lord stood in the middle of the cave and lit it up, and said, ‘John, to the multitude down below in Jerusalem I am being cruciﬁed, and pierced with lances and reeds, and gall and vinegar is given me to drink. But to you I am speaking, and pay attention to what I say. I put it into your mind to come up to this mountain, so that you might hear matters needful for a disciple to learn from his teacher, and for a man to learn from his God.’

“And having said this, he showed me a cross of light set up, and around the cross a great multitude which had no one form; and in the cross was one form and one likeness. And the Lord himself I beheld above the cross, not having a shape, but only a voice, and a voice not such as was familiar to us, but a sweet and kind voice and one truly divine, and it said to me, ‘It is necessary that one man should hear these things from me, O John, for I have need of someone who will hear. This cross of light is sometimes called the Word by me for your sakes, sometimes Mind, sometimes Jesus, sometimes Christ, sometimes Door, sometimes Way, sometimes Bread, sometimes Seed, sometimes Resurrection, sometimes Son, sometimes Father, sometimes Spirit, sometimes Life, sometimes Truth, sometimes Faith, sometimes Grace. Thus it is called for man’s sake. But in truth, as known in itself and as spoken to us, it is the marking off of all things and the uplifting and foundation of those things that are ﬁxed but had been unstable, and the harmony of the wisdom and indeed the wisdom of the harmony. But there are on the right and on the left, powers, principalities, dominions and demons, operations, threatenings, wrath, devils, Satan and the inferior root, from which the nature of the transient things proceeded.

THE ACTS OF JOHN

“ ‘This, then, is the cross which has united all things by the Word, and marked off things transient and inferior, and then compacted all into one. But this is not the cross of wood which you will see when you go down here, neither am I he who is upon the cross, whom now you do not see but only hear a voice I was reckoned to be what I am not being what I was to many others; but they will call me something else, which is vile and not worthy of me. Therefore, just as the place of rest is neither seen nor spoken of, much less shall I, the Lord of this place, be seen or spoken of.

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“ ‘Now the multitude about the cross which is the lower nature is not of one form; and those whom you see in the cross, do not have one form. That is because every member of him who came down has not yet been gathered together. But when the nature of man shall be taken up, and the race which comes to me in obedience to my voice, then he who now hears me shall be united with it and shall no longer be what it now is, but shall be above them, as I am now. For as long as you do not call yourself mine, I am not that which I was. But if you hear and hearken to me, then you shall be as I am, and shall be what I was, when I have you with myself. For from this you are.6 Therefore, ignore the many, and despise those who are outside the mystery! Know that I am wholly with the Father, and the Father with me.

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“ ‘Therefore I have suffered none of the things which they will say of me: that suffering which I showed to you and to the rest in dance, I wish it to be called a mystery. For what you are, you see that I showed you; but what I am, that I alone know, and no one else. Let me, therefore, keep

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that which is my own, and that which is yours you must see through me. As for seeing me as I am in reality, I have told you this is impossible unless you are able to see me as my kinsman. You hear that I suffered, yet I suffered not; that I suffered not, yet I did suffer, that I was pierced, yet was I not wounded; hanged, and I was not hanged; that 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. Now what they are I will reveal to you for I know you will understand. Perceive in me the slaying of the Logos, the piercing of the Logos, the blood of the Logos, the wounding of the Logos, the hanging of the Logos, the passion of the Logos, the nailing of the Logos, the death of the Logos. And thus I speak, discarding manhood. Therefore, in the ﬁrst place think of the Logos, then you shall perceive the Lord, and thirdly the man, and what he has suffered.’

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“When he had spoken to me these things and others which I know not how to say as he would have me, he was taken up, without any of the multitude having seen him. And when I went down, I laughed them all to scorn, inasmuch as he had told me the things which they said about him; and I held ﬁrmly this one thing in my mind, that the Lord contrived all things symbolically and as a dispensation toward men, for their conversion and salvation.

103 6

Text obscure.

“Therefore, brethren, having seen the grace of the