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The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: Harvard Divinity School Studies. Edited by Francois Bovon, Ann Graham Brock, and Christopher R. Matthews. Religions of the World. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999. xxx + 394 pp. $24.95 paper.
This collection of essays by students, faculty, and alumni of Harvard Divinity School covers a wide range of topics, including texts of two apocrypha not previously published. Particularly noteworthy is Francois Bovon's "Editing the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles," a guide for discovering, editing and publishing apocrypha. Significant, too, is his "Byzantine Witnesses for the Apocryphal Acts," an introduction to the topic that traces traditions and texts concerning James, the son of Alphaeus.
Ann Graham Brock's comparison of the treatments of political authority in the Acts of Paul and the Acts of Peter argues that the Acts of Paul forges a link between the authority of Paul and "strong female leadership" and portrays the apostle in tension with surrounding society, whereas the Acts of Peter does neither.
Caroline Johnson's "Ritual Epiclesis in the Greek Acts of Thomas" argues that several liturgies in the Acts of Thomas resemble contemporary magical invocations. Christopher R. Matthews in "Articulate Animals" traces the roots of such apocryphal animals to Jewish Scriptures, Greco-Roman romances, philosophical discussions, and basic literary education; animals possess an "innate ability ... to perceive the divine" (231).
Christine M. Thomas's discussion of the textual trail of the Acts of Peter is excellent, but problems arise when she posits her "prehistory" of the Acts, insofar as she has imported categories and interpretive strategies from formcritical studies of the gospels. Not only do scholars of the gospels disagree on how to monitor their putative "prehistories," but the...