The length of this book is given in the Stichometry of Nicephorus as 2,500 lines: the same number as for St. Matthew's Gospel. We have large portions of it in the original, and a Latin version (purged, it is important to note, of all traces of unorthodoxy) of some lost episodes, besides a few scattered fragments. These will be fitted together in what seems the most probable order.
The best edition of the Greek remains is in Bonnet, Acta Apost. Apocr. 11.1, 1898: the Latin is in Book V of the Historia Apostolica of Abdias (Fabricius, Cod. Apoer. N. T.: there is no modern edition).
The beginning of the book is lost. It probably related in some form a trial, and banishment of John to Patmos. A distinctly late Greek text printed by Bonnet (in two forms) as cc. 1-17 of his work tells how Domitian, on his accession, persecuted the Jews. They accused the Christians in a letter to him: he accordingly persecuted the Christians. He heard of John's teaching in Ephesus and sent for him: his ascetic habits on the voyage impressed his captors. He was brought before Domitian, and made to drink poison, which did not hurt him: the dregs of it killed a criminal on whom it was tried: and John revived him; he also raised a girl who was slain by an unclean spirit. Domitian, who was much impressed, banished him to Patmos. Nerva recalled him. The second text tells how he escaped shipwreck on leaving Patmos, swimming on a cork; landed at Miletus, where a chapel was built in his honour, and went to Ephesus. All this is late: but an old story, known to Tertullian and to other Latin writers, but to no Greek, said that either Domitian at Rome or the Proconsul at Ephesus cast John into a caldron of boiling oil which did him no hurt. The scene of this was eventually fixed at the Latin Gate in Rome (hence the St. John Port Latin of our calendar, May 6th). We have no detailed account of this, but it is conjectured to have been told in the early part of the Leucian Acts. If so, it is odd that no Greek writer mentions it.
Leaving for the time certain small fragments which may perhaps have preceded the extant episodes, I proceed to the first long episode (Bonnet, c. 18).
[John is going from Miletus to Ephesus.)
Text
18 Now John was hastening to Ephesus, moved thereto by a vision. Damonicus therefore, and Aristodemus his kinsman, and a certain very rich man Cleobius, and the wife of Marcellus, hardly prevailed to keep him for one day in Miletus, reposing themselves with him. And when very early in the morning they had set forth, and already about four miles of the journey were accomplished, a voice came from heaven in the hearing of all of us, saying: John, thou art about to give glory to thy Lord in Ephesus, whereof thou shalt know, thou and all the brethren that are with thee, and certain of them that are there, which shall believe by thy means. John therefore pondered, rejoicing in himself, what it should be that should befall (meet) him at Ephesus, and said: Lord, behold I go according to thy will: let that be done which thou desirest.
19 And as we drew near to the city, Lycomedes the praetor of the Ephesians, a man of large substance, met us, and falling at John's feet besought him, saying: Is thy name John? the God whom thou preachest hath sent thee to do good unto my wife, who hath been smitten with palsy now these seven days and lieth incurable. But glorify thou thy God by healing her, and have compassion on us. For as I was considering with myself what resolve to take in this matter, one stood by me and said: Lycomedes, cease from this thought which warreth against thee, for it is evil (hard): submit not thyself unto it. For I have compassion upon mine handmaid Cleopatra, and have sent from Miletus a man named John who shall raise her up and restore her to thee whole. Tarry not, therefore, thou servant of the God who hath manifested himself unto me, but hasten unto my wife who hath no more than breath. And straightway John went from the gate, with the brethren that were with him and Lycomedes, unto his house. But Cleobius said to his young men: Go ye to my kinsman Callippus and receive of him comfortable entertainment -for I am come hither with his son- that we may find all things decent.
20 Now when Lycomedes came with John into the house wherein his wife lay, he
caught hold again of his feet and said: See, lord, the withering of the beauty,
see the youth, see the renowned flower of my poor wife, whereat all Ephesus was
wont to marvel: wretched me, I have suffered envy, I have been humbled, the eye
of mine enemies hath smitten me: I have never wronged any, though I might have
injured many, for I looked before to this very thing, and took care, lest I
should see any evil or any such ill fortune as this. What profit, then, hath
Cleopatra from my anxiety? what have I gained by being known for a pious man
until this day? nay, I suffer more than the impious, in that I see thee,
Cleopatra, lying in such plight. The sun in his course shall no more see me
conversing with thee: I will go before thee, Cleopatra, and rid myself of life:
I will not spare mine own safety though it be yet young. I will defend myself
before Justice, that I have rightly deserted, for I may indict her as judging
unrighteously. I will be avenged on her when I come before her as a ghost
21 And with yet more words Lycomedes addressing Cleopatra came near to the
bed and cried aloud and lamented: but John pulled him away, and said: Cease from
these lamentations and from thine unfitting words: thou must not disobey him
that (?) appeared unto thee: for know that thou shalt receive thy consort again.
Stand, therefore, with us that have come hither on her account and pray to the
God whom thou sawest manifesting himself unto thee in dreams. What, then, is it,
Lycomedes? Awake, thou also, and open thy soul. Cast off the heavy sleep from
thee: beseech the Lord, entreat him for thy wife, and he will raise her up. But
he fell upon the floor and lamented, fainting. [It is evident from what follows
that Lycomedes died: but the text does not say so; some words may have fallen
out.]
John therefore said with tears: Alas for the fresh (new) betraying of my
vision! for the new temptation that is prepared for me! for the new device of
him that contriveth against me! the voice from heaven that was borne unto me in
the way, hath it devised this for me? was it this that it foreshowed me should
come to pass here, betraying me to this great multitude of the citizens because
of Lycomedes? the man lieth without breath, and I know well that they will not
suffer me to go out of the house alive. Why tarriest thou, Lord (or, what wilt
thou do)? why hast thou shut off from us thy good promise? Do not, I beseech
thee, Lord, do not give him cause to exult who rejoiceth in the suffering of
others; give him not cause to dance who alway derideth us; but let thy holy name
and thy mercy make haste. Raise up these two dead whose death is against me.
22 And even as John thus cried out, the city of the Ephesians ran together to
the house of Lycomedes, hearing that he was dead. And John, beholding the great
multitude that was come, said unto the Lord: Now is the time of refreshment and
of confidence toward thee, O Christ; now is the time for us who are sick to have
the help that is of thee, O physician who healest freely; keep thou mine
entering in hither safe from derision. I beseech thee, Jesu, succour this great
multitude that it may come to thee who art Lord of all things: behold the
affliction, behold them that lie here. Do thou prepare, even from them that are
assembled for that end, holy vessels for thy service, when they behold thy gift.
For thyself hast said, O Christ, 'Ask, and it shall be given you'. We ask
therefore of thee, O king, not gold, not silver, not substance, not possessions,
nor aught of what is on earth and perisheth, but two souls, by whom thou shalt
convert them that are here unto thy way, unto thy teaching, unto thy liberty
(confidence), unto thy most excellent (or unfailing) promise: for when they
perceive thy power in that those that have died are raised, they will be saved,
some of them. Do thou thyself, therefore, give them hope in thee: and so go I
unto Cleopatra and say: Arise in the name of Jesus Christ.
23 And he came to her and touched her face and said: Cleopatra, He saith,
whom every ruler feareth, and every creature and every power, the abyss and all
darkness, and unsmiling death, and the height of heaven, and the circles of hell
[and the resurrection of the dead, and the sight of the blind], and the whole
power of the prince of this world, and the pride of the ruler: Arise, and be not
an occasion unto many that desire not to believe, or an affliction unto souls
that are able to hope and to be saved. And Cleopatra straightway cried with a
loud voice: I arise, master: save thou thine handmaid.
Now when she had arisen 24 And Cleopatra going with John into her bedchamber, and seeing Lycomedes
dead for her sake, had no power to speak (suffered in her voice), and ground her
teeth and bit her tongue, and closed her eyes, raining down tears: and with
calmness gave heed to the apostle. But John had compassion on Cleopatra when he
saw that she neither raged nor was beside herself, and called upon the perfect
and condescending mercy, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, thou seest the pressure of
sorrow, thou seest the need; thou seest Cleopatra shrieking her soul out in
silence, for she constraineth within her the frenzy that cannot be borne; and I
know that for Lycomedes' sake she also will die upon his body. And she said
quietly to John: That have I in mind, master, and nought else.
And the apostle went to the couch whereon Lycomedes lay, and taking
Cleopatra's hand he said: Cleopatra, because of the multitude that is present,
and thy kinsfolk that have come in, with strong crying, say thou to thine
husband: Arise and glorify the name of God, for he giveth back the dead to the
dead. And she went to her husband and said to him according as she was taught,
and forthwith raised him up. And he, when he arose, fell on the floor and kissed
John's feet, but he raised him, saying: O man, kiss not my feet but the feet of
God by whose power ye are both arisen.
25 But Lycomedes said to John: I entreat and adjure thee by the God in whose
name thou hast raised us, to abide with us, together with all them that are with
thee. Likewise Cleopatra also caught his feet and said the same. And John said
to them: For tomorrow I will be with you. And they said to him again: We shall
have no hope in thy God, but shall have been raised to no purpose, if thou abide
not with us. And Cleobius with Aristodemus and Damonicus were touched in the
soul and said to John: Let us abide with them, that they continue without
offence towards the Lord. So he continued there with the brethren.
26 There came together therefore a gathering of a great multitude on John's
account; and as he discoursed to them that were there, Lycomedes, who had a
friend who was a skilful painter, went hastily to him and said to him: You see
me in a great hurry to come to you: come quickly to my house and paint the man
whom I show you without his knowing it. And the painter, giving some one the
necessary implements and colours, said to Lycomedes: Show him to me, and for the
rest have no anxiety. And Lycomedes pointed out John to the painter, and brought
him near him, and shut him up in a room from which the apostle of Christ could
be seen. And Lycomedes was with the blessed man, feasting on the faith and the
knowledge of our God, and rejoiced yet more in the thought that he should
possess him in a portrait.
27 The painter, then, on the first day made an outline of him and went away.
And on the next he painted him in with his colours, and so delivered the
portrait to Lycomedes to his great joy. And lie took it and set it up in his own
bedehamber and hung it with garlands: so that later John, when he perceived it,
said to him: My beloved child, what is it that thou always doest when thou
comest in from the bath into thy bedchamber alone? do not I pray with thee and
the rest of the brethren? or is there something thou art hiding from us? And as
he said this and talked jestingly with him, he went into the bedchamber, and saw
the portrait of an old man crowned with garlands, and lamps and altars set
before it. And he called him and said: Lycomedes, what meanest thou by this
matter of the portrait? can it be one of thy gods that is painted here? for I
see that thou art still living in heathen fashion. And Lycomedes answered him:
My only God is he who raised me up from death with my wife: but if, next to that
God, it be right that the men who have benefited us should be called gods -it is
thou, father, whom I have had painted in that portrait, whom I crown and love
and reverence as having become my good guide.
28 And John who had never at any time seen his own face said to him: Thou
mockest me, child: am I like that in form, 29 But do thou become for me a good painter, Lycomedes. Thou hast colours
which he giveth thee through me, who painteth all of us for himself, even Jesus,
who knoweth the shapes and appearances and postures and dispositions and types
of our souls. And the colours wherewith I bid thee paint are these: faith in
God, knowledge, godly fear, friendship, communion, meekness, kindness, brotherly
love, purity, simplicity, tranquillity, fearlessness, griefiessness, sobriety,
and the whole band of colours that painteth the likeness of thy soul, and even
now raiseth up thy members that were cast down, and levelleth them that were
lifted up, and tendeth thy bruises, and healeth thy wounds, and ordereth thine
hair that was disarranged, and washeth thy face, and chasteneth thine eyes, and
purgeth thy bowels, and emptieth thy belly, and cutteth off that which is
beneath it; and in a word, when the whole company and mingling of such colours
is come together, into thy soul, it shall present it to our Lord Jesus Christ
undaunted, whole (unsmoothed), and firm of shape. But this that thou hast now
done is childish and imperfect: thou hast drawn a dead likeness of the dead.
There need be no portion of text lost at this point: but possibly some few
sentences have been omitted. The transition is abrupt and the new episode has
not, as elsewhere, a title of its own.
30 And he commanded Verus (Berus), the brother that ministered to him, to
gather the aged women that were in all Ephesus, and made ready, he and Cleopatra
and Lycomedes, all things for the care of them. Verus, then, came to John,
saying: Of the aged women that are here over threescore years old I have found
four only sound in body, and of the rest some . . . . (a word gone) and some
palsied and others sick. And when he heard that, John kept silence for a long
time, and rubbed his face and said: O the slackness (weakness) of them that
dwell in Ephesus! O the state of dissolution, and the weakness toward God! O
devil, that hast so long mocked the faithful in Ephesus! Jesus, who giveth me
grace and the gift to have my confidence in him, saith to me in silence: Send
after the old women that are sick and come (be) with them into the theatre, and
through me heal them: for there are some of them that will come unto this
spectacle whom by these healings I will convert and make them useful for some
end.
31 Now when all the multitude was come together to Lycomedes, he dismissed
them on John's behalf, saying: Tomorrow come ye to the theatre, as many as
desire to see the power of God. And the multitude, on the morrow, while it was
yet night, came to the theatre: so that the proconsul also heard of it and
hasted and took his sent with all the people. And a certain praetor, Andromeus,
who was the first of the Ephesians at that time, put it about that John had
promised things impossible and incredible: But if, said he, he is able to do any
such thing as I hear, let him come into the public theatre, when it is open,
naked, and holding nothing in his hands, neither let him name that magical name
which I have heard him utter.
32 John therefore, having heard this and being moved by. these words,
commanded the aged women to be brought into the theatre: and when they were all
brought into the midst, some of them upon beds and others lying in a deep sleep,
and all the city had run together, and a great silence was made, John opened his
mouth and began to say:
33 Ye men of Ephesus, learn first of all wherefore I am visiting in your
city, or what is this great confidence which I have towards you, so that it may
become manifest to this general assembly and to all of you (or, so that I
manifest myself to). I have been sent, then, upon a mission which is not of
man's ordering, and not upon any vain journey; neither am I a merchant that make
bargains or exchanges; but Jesus Christ whom I preach, being compassionate and
kind, desireth by my means to convert all of you who are held in unbelief and
sold unto evil lusts, and to deliver you from error; and by his power will I
confound even the unbelief of your praetor, by raising up them that lie before
you, whom ye all behold, in what plight and in what sicknesses they are. And to
do this (to confound Andronicus) is not possible for me if they perish:
therefore shall they be healed.
34 But this first I have desired to sow in your ears, even that ye should
take care for your souls -on which account I am come unto you- and not expect
that this time will be for ever, for it is but a moment, and not lay up
treasures upon the earth where all things do fade. Neither think that when ye
have gotten children ye can rest upon them (?), and try not for their sakes to
defraud and overreach. Neither, ye poor, be vexed if ye have not wherewith to
minister unto pleasures; for men of substance when they are diseased call you
happy. Neither, ye rich, rejoice that ye have much money, for by possessing
these things ye provide for yourselves grief that ye cannot be rid of when ye
lose them; and besides, while it is with you, ye are afraid lest some one attack
you on account of it.
35 Thou also that art puffed up because of the shapeliness of thy body, and
art of an high look, shalt see the end of the promise thereof in the grave; and
thou that rejoicest in adultery, know that both law and nature avenge it upon
thee, and before these, conscience; and thou, adulteress, that art an adversary
of the law, knowest not whither thou shalt come in the end. And thou that
sharest not with the needy, but hast monies laid up, when thou departest out of
this body and hast need of some mercy when thou burnest in fire, shalt have none
to pity thee; and thou the wrathful and passionate, know that thy conversation
is like the brute beasts; and thou, drunkard and quarreller, learn that thou
losest thy senses by being enslaved to a shameful and dirty desire.
36 Thou that rejoicest in gold and delightest thyself with ivory and jewels,
when night falleth, canst thou behold what thou lovest? thou that art vanquished
by soft raiment, and then leavest life, will those things profit thee in the
place whither thou goest? And let the murderer know that the condign punishment
is laid up for him twofold after his departure hence. Likewise also thou
poisoner, sorcerer, robber, defrauder, sodomite, thief, and as many as are of
that band, ye shall come at last, as your works do lead you, unto unquenchable
fire, and utter darkness, and the pit of punishment, and eternal threatenings.
Wherefore, ye men of Ephesus, turn yourselves, knowing this also, that kings,
rulers, tyrants, boasters, and they that have conquered in wars, stripped of all
things when they depart hence, do suffer pain, lodged in eternal misery.
37 And having thus said, John by the power of God healed all the diseases.
This sentence must be an abridgement of a much longer narration. The
manuscript indicates no break at this point: but we must suppose a not
inconsiderable loss of text. For one thing, Andronicus, who is here an
unbeliever, appears as a convert in the next few lines. Now he is, as we shall
see later, the husband of an eminent believer, Drusiana; and his and her
conversion will have been told at some length; and I do not doubt that among
other things there was a discourse of John persuading them to live in
continence.
37 (continued.) Now the brethren from Miletus said unto John: We have
continued a long time at Ephesus; if it seem good to thee, let us go also to
Smyrna; for we hear already that the mighty works of God have reached it also.
And Andronicus said to them: Whensoever the teacher willeth, then let us go. But
John said: Let us first go unto the temple of Artemis, for perchance there also,
if we show ourselves, the servants of the Lord will be found.
38 After two days, then, was the birthday of the idol temple. John therefore,
when all were clad in white, alone put on black raiment and went up into the
temple. And they took him and essayed to kill him. But John said: Ye are mad to
set upon me, a man that is the servant of the only God. And he gat him up upon
an high pedestal and said unto them:
39 Ye run hazard, men of Ephesus, of being like in character to the sea:
every river that floweth in and every spring that runneth down, and the rains,
and waves that press upon each other, and torrents full of rocks are made salt
together by the bitter telementt (MS. promise!) that is therein. So ye also
remaining unchanged unto this day toward true godliness are become corrupted by
your ancient rites of worship. How many wonders and healings of diseases have ye
seen wrought through me? And yet are ye blinded in your hearts and cannot
recover sight. What is it, then, O men of Ephesus? I have adventured now and
come up even into this your idol temple. I will convict you of being most
godless, and dead from the understanding of mankind. Behold, I stand here: ye
all say that ye have a goddess, even Artemis: pray then unto her that I alone
may die; or else I only, if ye are not able to do this, will call upon mine own
god, and for your unbelief I will cause every one of you to die.
40 But they who had beforetime made trial of him and had seen dead men raised
up, cried out: Slay us not so, we beseech thee, John. We know that thou canst do
it. And John said to them: If then ye desire not to die, let that which ye
worship be confounded, and wherefore it is confounded, that ye also may depart
from your ancient error. For now is it time that either ye be converted by my
God, or I myself die by your goddess; for I will pray in your presence and
entreat my God that mercy be shown unto you.
41 And having so said he prayed thus: O God that art God above all that are
called gods, that until this day hast been set at nought in the city of the
Ephesians; that didst put into my mind to come into this place, whereof I never
thought; that dost convict every manner of worship by turning men unto thee; at
whose name every idol fleeth and every evil spirit and every unclean power; now
also by the flight of the evil spirit here at thy name, even of him that
deceiveth this great multitude, show thou thy mercy in this place, for they have
been made to err.
42 And as John spake these things, immediately the altar of Artemis was
parted into many pieces, and all the things that were dedicated in the temple
fell, and [MS. that which seemed good to him] was rent asunder, and likewise of
the images of the gods more than seven. And the half of the temple fell down, so
that the priest was slain at one blow by the falling of the (?roof, ? beam). The
multitude of the Ephesians therefore cried out: One is the God of John, one is
the God that hath pity on us, for thou only art God: now are we turned to thee,
beholding thy marvellous works! have mercy on us, O God, according to thy will,
and save us from our great error! And some of them, lying on their faces, made
supplication, and some kneeled and besought, and some rent their clothes and
wept, and others tried to escape.
43 But John spread forth his hands, and being uplifted in soul, said unto the
Lord: Glory be to thee, my Jesus, the only God of truth, for that thou dost gain
(receive) thy servants by divers devices. And having so said, he said to the
people: Rise up from the floor, ye men of Ephesus, and pray to my God, and
recognize the invisible power that cometh to manifestation, and the wonderful
works which are wrought before your eyes. Artemis ought to have succoured
herself: her servant ought to have been helped of her and not to have died.
Where is the power of the evil spirit? where are her sacrifices? where her
birthdays? where her festivals? where are the garlands? where is all that
sorcery and the poisoning (witchcraft) that is sister thereto?
44 But the people rising up from off the floor went hastily and cast down the
rest of the idol temple, crying: The God of John only do we know, and him
hereafter do we worship, since he hath had mercy upon us! And as John came down
from thence, much people took hold of him, saying: Help us, O John! Assist us
that do perish in vain! Thou seest our purpose: thou seest the multitude
following thee and hanging upon thee in hope toward thy God. We have seen the
way wherein we went astray when we lost him: we have seen our gods that were set
up in vain: we have seen the great and shameful derision that is come to them:
but suffer us, we pray thee, to come unto thine house and to be succoured
without hindrance. Receive us that are in bewilderment.
45 And John said to them: Men (of Ephesus), believe that for your sakes I
have continued in Ephesus, and have put off my journey unto Smyrna and to the
rest of the cities, that there also the servants of Christ may turn to him. But
since I am not yet perfectly assured concerning you, I have continued praying to
my God and beseeching him that I should then depart from Ephesus when I have
confirmed you in the faith: and whereas I see that this is come to pass and yet
more is being fulfilled, I will not leave you until I have weaned you like
children from the nurse's milk, and have set you upon a firm rock.
46 John therefore continued with them, receiving them in the house of
Andromeus. And one of them that were gathered laid down the dead body of the
priest of Artemis before the door [of the temple], for he was his kinsman, and
came in quickly with the rest, saying nothing of it. John, therefore, after the
discourse to the brethren, and the prayer and the thanksgiving (eucharist) and
the laying of hands upon every one of the congregation, said by the spirit:
There is one here who moved by faith in God hath laid down the priest of Artemis
before the gate and is come in, and in the yearning of his soul, taking care
first for himself, hath thought thus in himself: It is better for me to take
thought for the living than for my kinsman that is dead: for I know that if I
turn to the Lord and save mine own soul, John will not deny to raise up the dead
also. And John arising from his place went to that into which that kinsman of
the priest who had so thought was entered, and took him by the hand and said:
Hadst thou this thought when thou camest unto me, my child? And he, taken with
trembling and affright, said: Yes, lord, and cast himself at his feet. And John
said: Our Lord is Jesus Christ, who will show his power in thy dead kinsman by
raising him up.
47 And he made the young man rise, and took his hand and said: It is no great
matter for a man that is master of great mysteries to continue wearying himself
over small things: or what great thing is it to rid men of diseases of the body?
And yet holding the young man by the hand he said: I say unto thee, child, go
and raise the dead thyself, saying nothing but this only: John the servant of
God saith to thee, Arise. And the young man went to his kinsman and said this
only -and much people was with him- and entered in unto John, bringing him
alive. And John, when he saw him that was raised, said: Now that thou art
raised, thou dost not truly live, neither art partaker or heir of the true life:
wilt thou belong unto him by whose name and power thou wast raised? And now
believe, and thou shall live unto all ages. And he forthwith believed upon the
Lord Jesus and thereafter clave unto John.
[Another manuscript (Q. Paris Gr. 1468, of the eleventh century) has another
form of this story. John destroys the temple of Artemis, and then 'we' go to
Smyrna and all the idols are broken: Bucolus, Polycarp, and Andronicus are left
to preside over the district. There were there two priests of Artemis, brothers,
and one died. The raising is told much as in the older text, but more shortly.
'We' remained four years in the region, which was wholly converted, and then
returned to Ephesus.]
48 Now on the next day John, having seen in a dream that he must walk three
miles outside the gates, neglected it not, but rose up early and set out upon
the way, together with the brethren.
And a certain countryman who was admonished by his father not to take to
himself the wife of a fellow labourer of his who threatened to kill him -this
young man would not endure the admonition of his father, but kicked him and left
him without speech (sc. dead). And John, seeing what had befallen, said unto the
Lord: Lord, was it on this account that thou didst bid me come out hither
to-day?
49 But the young man, beholding the violence (sharpness) of death, and
looking to be taken, drew out the sickle that was in his girdle and started to
run to his own abode; and John met him and said: Stand still, thou most
shameless devil, and tell me whither thou runnest bearing a sickle that
thirsteth for blood. And the young man was troubled and cast the iron on the
ground, and said to him: I have done a wretched and barbarous deed and I know
it, and so I determined to do an evil yet worse and more cruel, even to die
myself at once. For because my father was alway curbing me to sobriety, that I
should live without adultery, and chastely, I could not endure him to reprove
me, and I kicked him and slew him, and when I saw what was done, I was hasting
to the woman for whose sake I became my father's murderer, with intent to kill
her and her husband, and myself last of all: for I could not bear to be seen of
the husband of the woman, and undergo the judgement of death.
50 And John said to him: That I may not by going away and leaving you in
danger give place to him that desireth to laugh and sport with thee, come thou
with me and show me thy father, where he lieth. And if I raise him up for thee,
wilt thou hereafter abstain from the woman that is become a snare to thee. And
the young man said: If thou raisest up my father himself for me alive, and if I
see him whole and continuing in life, I will hereafter abstain from her.
51 And while he was speaking, they came to the place where the old man lay
dead, and many passers-by were standing near thereto. And John said to the
youth: Thou wretched man, didst thou not spare even the old age of thy father?
And he, weeping and tearing his hair, said that he repented thereof; and John
the servant of the Lord said: Thou didst show me I was to set forth for this
place, thou knewest that this would come to pass, from whom nothing can be hid
of things done in life, that givest me power to work every cure and healing by
thy will: now also give me this old man alive, for thou seest that his murderer
is become his own judge: and spare him, thou only Lord, that spared not his
father (because he) counselled him for the best.
52 And with these words he came near to the old man and said: My Lord will
not be weak to spread out his kind pity and his condescending mercy even unto
thee: rise up therefore and give glory to God for the work that is come to pass
at this moment. And the old man said: I arise, Lord. And he rose and sat up and
said: I was released from a terrible life and had to bear the insults of my son,
dreadful and many, and his want of natural affection, and to what end hast thou
called me back, O man of the living God? (And John answered him: If) thou art
raised only for the same end, it were better for thee to die; but raise thyself
unto better things. And he took him and led him into the city, preaching unto
him the grace of God, so that before he entered the gate the old man believed.
53 But the young man, when he beheld the unlooked-for raising of his father,
and the saving of himself, took a sickle and mutilated himself, and ran to the
house wherein he had his adulteress, and reproached her, saying: For thy sake I
became the murderer of my father and of you two and of myself: there thou hast
that which is alike guilty of all. For on me God hath had mercy, that I should
know his power.
54 And he came back and told John in presence of the brethren what he had
done. But John said to him: He that put it into thine heart, young man, to kill
thy father and become the adulterer of another man's wife, the same made thee
think it a right deed to take away also the unruly members. But thou shouldest
have done away, not with the place of sin, but the thought which through those
members showed itself harmful: for it is not the instruments that are injurious,
but the unseen springs by which every shameful emotion is stirred and cometh to
light. Repent therefore, my child, of this fault, and having learnt the wiles of
Satan thou shalt have God to help thee in all the necessities of thy soul. And
the young man kept silence and attended, having repented of his former sins,
that he should obtain pardon from the goodness of God: and he did not separate
from John.
55 When, then, these things had been done by him in the city of the
Ephesians, they of Smyrna sent unto him saying: We hear that the God whom thou
preachest is not envious, and hath charged thee not to show partiality by
abiding in one place. Since, then, thou art a preacher of such a God, come unto
Smyrna and unto the other cities, that we may come to know thy God, and having
known him may have our hope in him.
[Q has the above story also, and continues with an incident which is also
quoted in a different form (and not as from these Acts) by John Cassian. Q has
it thus:
Now one day as John was seated, a partridge flew by and came and played in
the dust before him; and John looked on it and wondered. And a certain priest
came, who was one of his hearers, and came to John and saw the partridge playing
in the dust before him, and was offended in himself and said: Can such and so
great a man take pleasure in a partridge playing in the dust? But John
perceiving in the spirit the thought of him, said to him: It were better for
thee also, my child, to look at a partridge playing in the dust and not to
defile thyself with shameful and profane practices: for he who awaiteth the
conversion and repentance of all men hath brought thee here on this account: for
I have no need of a partridge playing in the dust. For the partridge is thine
own soul.
Then the elder, hearing this and seeing that he was not bidden, but that the
apostle of Christ had told him all that was in his heart, fell on his face on
the earth and cried aloud, saying: Now know I that God dwelleth in thee, O
blessed John! for he that tempteth thee tempteth him that cannot be tempted. And
he entreated him to pray for him. And he instructed him and delivered him the
rules (canons) and let him go to his house, glorifying God that is over all.
Cassian, Collation XXIV. 21, has it thus:
It is told that the most blessed Evangelist John, when he was gently stroking
a partridge with his hands, suddenly saw one in the habit of a hunter coming to
him. He wondered that a man of such repute and fame should demean himself to
such small and humble amusements, and said: Art thou that John whose eminent and
widespread fame hath enticed me also with great desire to know thee? Why then
art thou taken up with such mean amusements? The blessed John said to him: What
is that which thou carriest in thy hands? A bow, said he. And why, said he, dost
thou not bear it about always stretched? He answered him: I must not, lest by
constant bending the strength of its vigour be wrung and grow soft and perish,
and when there is need that the arrows be shot with much strength at some beast,
the strength being lost by excess of continual tension, a forcible blow cannot
be dealt. Just so, said the blessed John, let not this little and brief
relaxation of my mind offend thee, young man, for unless it doth sometimes ease
and relax by some remission the force of its tension, it will grow slack through
unbroken rigour and will not be able to obey the power of the Spirit.
The only common point of the two stories is that St. John amuses himself with
a partridge, and a spectator thinks it unworthy of him. The two morals differ
wholly. The amount of text lost here is of quite uncertain length. It must have
told of the doings at Smyrna, and also, it appears, at Laodicca (see the title
of the next section). One of the episodes must have been the conversion of a
woman of evil life (see below, 'the harlot that was chaste ')-]
Our best manuscript prefixes a title to the next section:
From Laodicca to Ephesus the second time.
58 Now when some long time had passed, and none of the brethren had been at
any time grieved by John, they were then grieved because he had said: Brethren,
it is now time for me to go to Ephesus (for so have I agreed with them that
dwell there) lest they become slack, now for a long time having no man to
confirm them. But all of you must have your minds steadfast towards God, who
never forsaketh us.
But when they heard this from him, the brethren lamented because they were to
be parted from him. And John said: Even if I be parted from you, yet Christ is
always with you: whom if ye love purely ye will have his fellowship without
reproach, for if he be loved, he preventeth (anticipateth) them that love him.
59 And having so said, and bidden farewell to them, and left much money with
the brethren for distribution, he went forth unto Ephesus, while all the
brethren lamented and groaned. And there accompanied him, of Ephesus, both
Andronicus and Drusiana and Lycomedes and Cleobius and their families. And there
followed him Aristobula also, who had heard that her husband Tertullus had died
on the way, and Aristippus with Xenophon, and the harlot that was chaste, and
many others, whom he exhorted at all times to cleave to the Lord, and they would
no more be parted from him.
60 Now on the first day we arrived at a deserted inn, and when we were at a
loss for a bed for John, we saw a droll matter. There was one bedstead lying
somewhere there without coverings, whereon we spread the cloaks which we were
wearing, and we prayed him to lie down upon it and rest, while the rest of us
all slept upon the floor. But he when he lay down was troubled by the bugs, and
as they continued to become yet more troublesome to him, when it was now about
the middle of the night, in the hearing of us all he said to them: I say unto
you, O bugs, behave yourselves, one and all, and leave your abode for this night
and remain quiet in one place, and keep your distance from the servants of God.
And as we laughed, and went on talking for some time, John addressed himself to
sleep; and we, talking low, gave him no disturbance (or, thanks to him we were
not disturbed).
61 But when the day was now dawning I arose first, and with me Verus and
Andronicus, and we saw at the door of the house which we had taken a great
number of bugs standing, and while we wondered at the great sight of them, and
all the brethren were roused up because of them, John continued sleeping. And
when he was awaked we declared to him what we had seen. And he sat up on the bed
and looked at them and said: Since ye have well behaved yourselves in hearkening
to my rebuke, come unto your place. And when he had said this, and risen from
the bed, the bugs running from the door hasted to the bed and climbed up by the
legs thereof and disappeared into the joints. And John said again: This creature
hearkened unto the voice of a man, and abode by itself and was quiet and
trespassed not; but we which hear the voice and commandments of God disobey and
are light-minded: and for how long?
62 After these things we came to Ephesus: and the brethren there, who had for
a long time known that John was coming, ran together to the house of Andronicus
(where also he came to lodge), handling his feet and laying his hands upon their
own faces and kissing them (and many rejoiced even to touch his vesture, and
were healed by touching the clothes of the holy apostle. [So the Latin, which
has this section; the Greek has: so that they even touched his garments).]
63 And whereas there was great love and joy unsurpassed among the brethren, a
certain one, a messenger of Satan, became enamoured of Drusiana, though he saw
and knew that she was the wife of Andronicus. To whom many said: It is not
possible for thee to obtain that woman, seeing that for a long time she has even
separated herself from her husband for godliness' sake. Art thou only ignorant
that Andronicus, not being aforetime that which now he is, a God-fearing man,
shut her up in a tomb, saying: Either I must have thee as the wife whom I had
before, or thou shalt die. And she chose rather to die than to do that foulness.
If, then, she would not consent, for godliness' sake, to cohabit with her lord
and husband, but even persuaded him to be of the same mind as herself, will she
consent to thee desiring to be her seducer? depart from this madness which hath
no rest in thee: give up this deed which thou canst not bring to accomplishment.
64 But his familiar friends saying these things to him did not convince him,
but with shamelessness he courted her with messages; and when he learnt the
insults and disgraces which she returned, he spent his life in melancholy (or
better, she, when she learnt of this disgrace and insult at his hand, spent her
life in heaviness). And after two days Drusiana took to her bed from heaviness,
and was in a fever and said: Would that I had not now come home to my native
place, I that have become an offence to a man ignorant of godliness! for if it
were one who was filled with the word of God, he would not have gone to such a
pitch of madness. But now (therefore) Lord, since I am become the occasion of a
blow unto a soul devoid of knowledge, set me free from this chain and remove me
unto thee quickly. And in the presence of John, who knew nothing at all of such
a matter, Drusiana departed out of life not wholly happy, yea, even troubled
because of the spiritual hurt of the man.
65 But Andronicus, grieved with a secret grief, mourned in his soul, and wept
openly, so that John checked him often and said to him: Upon a better hope hath
Drusiana removed out of this unrighteous life. And Andronicus answered him: Yea,
I am persuaded of it, O John, and I doubt not at all in regard of trust in my
God: but this very thing do I hold fast, that she departed out of life pure.
66 And when she was carried forth, John took hold on Andronicus, and now that
he knew the cause, he mourned more than Andronicus. And he kept silence,
considering the provocation of the adversary, and for a space sat still. Then,
the brethren being gathered there to hear what word he would speak of her that
was departed, he began to say:
67 When the pilot that voyageth, together with them that sail with him, and
the ship herself, arriveth in a calm and stormless harbour, then let him say
that he is safe. And the husbandman that hath committed the seed to the earth,
and toiled much in the care and protection of it, let him then take rest from
his labours, when he layeth up the seed with manifold increase in his barns. Let
him that enterpriseth to run in the course, then exult when he beareth home the
prize. Let him that inscribeth his name for the boxing, then boast himself when
he receiveth the crowns: and so in succession is it with all contests and
crafts, when they do not fail in the end, but show themselves to be like that
which they promised (corrupt).
68 And thus also I think is it with the faith which each one of us
practiseth, that it is then discerned whether it be indeed true, when it
continueth like itself even until the end of life. For many obstacles fall into
the way, and prepare disturbance for the minds of men: care, children, parents,
glory, poverty, flattery, prime of life, beauty, conceit, lust, wealth, anger,
uplifting, slackness, envy, jealousy, neglect, fear, insolence, love, deceit,
money, pretence, and other such obstacles, as many as there are in this life: as
also the pilot sailing a prosperous course is opposed by the onset of contrary
winds and a great storm and mighty waves out of calm, and the husbandman by
untimely winter and blight and creeping things rising out of the earth, and they
that strive in the games 'just do not win', and they that exercise crafts are
hindered by the divers difficulties of them.
69 But before all things it is needful that the believer should look before
at his ending and understand it in what manner it will come upon him, whether it
will be vigorous and sober and without any obstacle, or disturbed and clinging
to the things that are here, and bound down by desires. So is it right that a
body should be praised as comely when it is wholly stripped, and a general as
great when he hath accomplished every promise of the war, and a physician as
excellent when he hath succeeded in every cure, and a soul as full of faith and
worthy (or receptive) of God when it hath paid its promise in full: not that
soul which began well and was dissolved into all the things of this life and
fell away, nor that which is numb, having made an effort to attain to better
things, and then is borne down to temporal things, nor that which hath longed
after the things of time more than those of eternity, nor that which exchangeth
70 And as John was discoursing yet further unto the brethren that they should
despise temporal things in respect of the eternal, he that was enamoured of
Drusiana, being inflamed with an horrible lust and possession of the many-shaped
Satan, bribed the steward of Andronicus who was a lover of money with a great
sum: and he opened the tomb and gave him opportunity to wreak the forbidden
thing upon the dead body. Not having succeeded with her when alive, he was still
importunate after her death to her body, and said: If thou wouldst not have to
do with me while thou livedst, I will outrage thy corpse now thou art dead. With
this design, and having managed for himself the wicked act by means of the
abominable steward, he rushed with him to the sepulchre; they opened the door
and began to strip the grave-clothes from the corpse, saying: What art thou
profited, poor Drusiana? couldest thou not have done this in life, which
perchance would not have grieved thee, hadst thou done it willingly?
71 And as these men were speaking thus, and only the accustomed shift now
remained on her body, a strange spectacle was seen, such as they deserve to
suffer who do such deeds. A serpent appeared from some quarter and dealt the
steward a single bite and slew him: but the young man it did not strike; but
coiled about his feet, hissing terribly, and when he fell mounted on his body
and sat upon him.
72 Now on the next day John came, accompanied by Andronicus and the brethren,
to the sepulchre at dawn, it being now the third day from Drusiana's death, that
we might break bread there. And first, when they set out, the keys were sought
for and could not be found; but John said to Andronicus: It is quite right that
they should be lost, for Drusiana is not in the sepulchre; nevertheless, let us
go, that thou mayest not be neglectful, and the doors shall be opened of
themselves, even as the Lord hath done for us many such things.
73 And when we were at the place, at the commandment of the master, the doors
were opened, and we saw by the tomb of Drusiana a beautiful youth, smiling: and
John, when he saw him, cried out and said: Art thou come before us hither too,
beautiful one? and for what cause? And we heard a voice saying to him: For
Drusiana's sake, whom thou art to raise up-for I was within a little of finding
her 74 And Andronicus seeing those corpses, leapt up and went to Drusiana's tomb,
and seeing her lying in her shift only, said to John: I understand what has
happened, thou blessed servant of God, John. This Callimachus was enamoured of
my sister; and because he never won her, though he often assayed it, he hath
bribed this mine accursed steward with a great sum, perchance designing, as now
we may see, to fulfil by his means the tragedy of his conspiracy, for indeed
Callimachus avowed this to many, saying: If she will not consent to me when
living, she shall be outraged when dead. And it may be, master, that the
beautiful one knew it and suffered not her body to be insulted, and therefore
have these died who made that attempt. And can it be that the voice that said
unto thee, 'Raise up Drusiana', foreshowed this? because she departed out of
this life in sorrow of mind. But I believe him that said that this is one of the
men that have gone astray; for thou wast bidden to raise him up: for as to the
other, I know that he is unworthy of salvation. But this one thing I beg of
thee: raise up Callimachus first, and he will confess to us what is come about.
75 And John, looking upon the body, said to the venomous beast: Get thee away
from him that is to be a servant of Jesus Christ; and stood up and prayed over
him thus: O God whose name is glorified by us, as of right: O God who subduest
every injurious force: O God whose will is accomplished, who alway hearest us:
now also let thy gift be accomplished in this young man; and if there be any
dispensation to be wrought through him, manifest it unto us when he is raised
up. And straightway the young man rose up, and for a whole hour kept silence.
76 But when he came to his right senses, John asked of him about his entry
into the sepulchre, what it meant, and learning from him that which Andronicus
had told him, namely, that he was enamoured of Drusiana, John inquired of him
again if he had fulfilled his foul intent, to insult a body full of holiness.
And he answered him: How could I accomplish it when this fearful beast struck
down Fortunatus at a blow in my sight: and rightly, since he encouraged my
frenzy, when I was already cured of that unreasonable and horrible madness: but
me it stopped with affright, and brought me to that plight in which ye saw me
before I arose. And another thing yet more wondrous I will tell thee, which yet
went nigh to slay and was within a little of making me a corpse. When my soul
was stirred up with folly and the uncontrollable malady was troubling me, and I
had now torn away the grave-clothes in which she was clad, and I had then come
out of the grave and laid them as thou seest, I went again to my unholy work:
and I saw a beautiful youth covering her with his mantle, and from his eyes
sparks of light came forth unto her eyes; and he uttered words to me, saying:
Callimachus, die that thou mayest live. Now who he was I knew not, O servant of
God; but that now thou hast appeared here, I recognize that he was an angel of
God, that I know well; and this I know of a truth that it is a true God that is
proclaimed by thee, and of it I am persuaded. But I beseech thee, be not slack
to deliver me from this calamity and this fearful crime, and to present me unto
thy God as a man deceived with a shameful and foul deceit. Beseeching help
therefore of thee, I take hold on thy feet. I would become one of them that hope
in Christ, that the voice may prove true which said to me, 'Die that thou mayest
live': and that voice hath also fulfilled its effect, for he is dead, that
faithless, disorderly, godless one, and I have been raised by thee, I who will
be faithful, God-fearing, knowing the truth, which I entreat thee may be shown
me by thee.
77 And John, filled with great gladness and perceiving the whole spectacle of
the salvation of man, said: What thy power is, Lord Jesu Christ, I know not,
bewildered as I am at thy much compassion and boundless long-suffering. O what a
greatness that came down into bondage! O unspeakable liberty brought into
slavery by us! O incomprehensible glory that is come unto us! thou that hast
kept the dead tabernacle safe from insult; that hast redeemed the man that
stained himself with blood and chastened the soul of him that would defile the
corruptible body; Father that hast had pity and compassion on the man that cared
not for thee; We glorify thee, and praise and bless and thank thy great goodness
and long-suffering, O holy Jesu, for thou only art God, and none else: whose is
the might that cannot be conspired against, now and world without end. Amen.
78 And when he had said this John took Callimachus and saluted (kissed) him,
saying: Glory be to our God, my child, who hath had mercy on thee, and made me
worthy to glorify his power, and thee also by a good course to depart from that
thine abominable madness and drunkenness, and hath called thee unto his own rest
and unto renewing of life.
79 But Andronicus, beholding the dead Callimachus raised, besought John, with
the brethren, to raise up Drusiana also, saying: O John, let Drusiana arise and
spend happily that short space (of life) which she gave up through grief about
Callimachus, when she thought she had become a stumbling block to him: and when
the Lord will, he shall take her again to himself. And John without delay went
unto her tomb and took her hand and said: Upon thee that art the only God do I
call, the more than great, the unutterable, the incomprehensible: unto whom
every power of principalities is subjected: unto whom all authority boweth:
before whom all pride falleth down and keepeth silence: whom devils hearing of
tremble: whom all creation perceiving keepeth its bounds. Let thy name be
glorified by us, and raise up Drusiana, that Callimachus may yet more be
confirmed unto thee who dispensest that which unto men is without a way and
impossible, but to thee only possible, even salvation and resurrection: and that
Drusiana may now come forth in peace, having about her not any the least
hindrance -now that the young man is turned unto thee- in her course toward
thee.
80 And after these words John said unto Drusiana: Drusiana, arise. And she
arose and came out of the tomb; and when she saw herself in her shift only, she
was perplexed at the thing, and learned the whole accurately from Andronicus,
the while John lay upon his face, and Callimachus with voice and tears glorified
God, and she also rejoiced, glorifying him in like manner.
81 And when she had clothed herself, she turned and saw Fortunatus lying, and
said unto John: Father, let this man also rise, even if he did assay to become
my betrayer. But Callimachus, when he heard her say that, said: Do not, I
beseech thee, Drusiana, for the voice which I heard took no thought of him, but
declared concerning thee only, and I saw and believed: for if he had been good,
perchance God would have had mercy on him also and would have raised him by
means of the blessed John: he knew therefore that the man was come to a bad end
[Lat. he judged him worthy to die whom he did not declare worthy to rise again].
And John said to him: We have not learned, my child, to render evil for evil:
for God, though we have done much ill and no good toward him, hath not given
retribution unto us, but repentance, and though we were ignorant of his name he
did not neglect us but had mercy on us, and when we blasphemed him, he did not
punish but pitied us, and when we disbelieved him he bore us no grudge, and when
we persecuted his brethren he did not recompense us evil but put into our minds
repentance and abstinence from evil, and exhorted us to come unto him, as he
hath thee also, my son Callimachus, and not remembering thy former evil hath
made thee his servant, waiting upon his mercy. Wherefore if thou allowest not me
to raise up Fortunatus, it is for Drusiana so to do.
82 And she, delaying not, went with rejoicing of spirit and soul unto the
body of Fortunatus and said: Jesu Christ, God of the ages, God of truth, that
hast granted me to see wonders and signs, and given to me to become partaker of
thy name; that didst breathe thyself into me with thy many-shaped countenance,
and hadst mercy on me in many ways; that didst protect me by thy great goodness
when I was oppressed by Andronicus that was of old my husband; that didst give
me thy servant Andronicus to be my brother; that hast kept me thine handmaid
pure unto this day; that didst raise me up by thy servant John, and when I was
raised didst show me him that was made to stumble free from stumbling; that hast
given me perfect rest in thee, and lightened me of the secret madness; whom I
have loved and affectioned: I pray thee, O Christ, refuse not thy Drusiana that
asketh thee to raise up Fortunatus, even though he assayed to become my
betrayer.
83 And taking the hand of the dead man she said: Rise up, Fortunatus, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Fortunatus arose, and when he saw John in the
sepulchre, and Andronicus, and Drusiana raised from the dead, and Callimachus a
believer, and the rest of the brethren glorifying God, he said: O, to what have
the powers of these clever men attained! I did not want to be raised, but would
rather die, so as not to see them. And with these words he fled and went out of
the sepulchre.
84 And John, when he saw the unchanged mind (soul) of Fortunatus, said: O
nature that is not changed for the better! O fountain of the soul that abideth
in foulness! O essence of corruption full of darkness! O death exulting in them
that are thine! O fruitless tree full of fire! O tree that bearest coals for
fruit! O matter that dwellest with the madness of matter (al. O wood of trees
full of unwholesome shoots) and neighbour of unbelief! Thou hast proved who thou
art, and thou art always convicted, with thy children. And thou knowest not how
to praise the better things: for thou hast them not. Therefore, such as is thy
way (?fruit), such also is thy root and thy nature. Be thou destroyed from among
them that trust in the Lord: from their thoughts, from their mind, from their
souls, from their bodies, from their acts) their life, their conversation, from
their business, their occupations, their counsel, from the resurrection unto (or
rest in) God, from their sweet savour wherein thou wilt
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Kirby, Peter. "Historical Jesus Theories." Early Christian Writings. <http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/1clement-hoole.html>.
