ii. 1-25) has given strong grounds for regarding the Acts of John and

Peter as derived from one and the same author, but there are like affinities existing between the Acts of Peter and those of Paul. For a discussion of this work see Zahn, _Gesch. Kanons_, ii. 856-865; Lipsius, _Apok. Apostelgesch._ i. 348-542; Hennecke, _NT. Apokryphen_, 423-432. For bibliography, Hennecke, _NT. Apok. Handbuch_, 492 sq.

_Acts of Paul._--The discovery of the Coptic translation of these Acts in 1897, and its publication by C. Schmidt (_Acta Pauli aus der Heidelberger koptischen Papyrushandschrift herausgegeben_, Leipzig, 1894), have confirmed what had been previously only a hypothesis that the Acts of Thecla had formed a part of the larger Acts of Paul. The Acts therefore embrace now the following elements:-(a) Two quotations given by Origen in his _Princip._ i. 2. 3 and his comment on John xx. 12. From the latter it follows that in the Acts of Paul the death of Peter was recounted, (b) _Apocryphal 3rd Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians_ and _Epistle from the Corinthians to Paul_. These two letters are connected by a short account which is intended to give the historical situation. Paul is in prison on account of Stratonice, the wife of Apollophanes. The Greek and Latin versions of these letters have for the most part disappeared, but they have been preserved in Syriac, and through Syriac they obtained for the time being a place in the Armenian Bible immediately after 2 Corinthians. Aphraates cites two passages from 3 Corinthians as words of the apostle, and Ephraem expounded them in his commentary on the Pauline Epistles. They must therefore have been regarded as canonical in the first half of the 4th century. From the Syriac Bible they made their way into the Armenian and maintained their place without opposition to the 7th century. On the Latin text see Carriere and Berger, _Correspondance apocr. de S.P. et des Corinthiens_, 1891. For a translation of Ephraem's commentary see Zahn ii. 592-611 and Vetter, _Der Apocr. 3. Korinthien_, 70 sqq., 1894. The Coptic version (C. Schmidt, _Acta Pauli_, pp. 74-82), which is here imperfect, is clearly from a Greek original, while the Latin and Armenian are from the Syriac. (c) _The Acts of Paul and Thecla_. These were written, according to Tertullian (_De Baptismo_, 17) by a presbyter of Asia, who was deposed from his office on account of his forgery. This, the earliest of Christian romances (probably before A.D. 150), recounts the adventures and sufferings of a virgin, Thecla of Iconium. Lipsius discovers Gnostic traits in the story, but these are denied by Zahn (_Gesch. Kanons_, ii. 902). See Lipsius, _op. cit._ ii. 424-467; Zahn (_op. cit._ ii. 892-910). The best text is that of Lipsius, _Acta Apostol. Apocr._, 1891, i. 235-272. There are Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic and Slavonic versions. As we have seen above, these Acts are now recognized as belonging originally to the Acts of Paul. They were, however, published separately long before the Gelasian Decree (496). Jerome also was acquainted with them as an independent work. Thecla was most probably a real personage, around whom a legend had already gathered in the 2nd century. Of this legend the author of the Acts of Paul made use, and introduced into it certain historical and geographical facts, (d) The healing of Hermocrates of dropsy in Myra. Through a comparison of the Coptic version with the Pseudo-Cyprian writing "Caena," Rolffs (Hennecke, _NT. Apok._ 361) concludes that this incident formed originally a constituent of our book, (e) The strife with beasts at Ephesus. This event is mentioned by Nicephorus Callistus (_H.E._ ii. 25) as recounted in the [Greek: perlodoi] of Paul. The identity of this work with the Acts of Paul is confirmed by a remark of Hippolytus in his commentary on Daniel iii. 29. 4, ed. Bonwetsch 176 (so Rolffs). (f) Martyrdom of Paul. The death of Paul by the sentence of Nero at Rome forms the close of the Acts of Paul. The text is in the utmost confusion. It is best given by Lipsius, _Acta Apostol. Apocr._ i. 104-117.

Notwithstanding all the care that has been taken in collecting the fragments of these Acts, only about 900 stichoi out of the 3600 assigned to them in the Stichometry of Nicephorus have as yet been recovered.

The author was, according to Tertullian (_De Baptism._ 17), a presbyter in Asia, who out of honour to Paul wrote the Acts, forging at the same time 3 Corinthians. Thus the work was composed before 190, and, since it most probably uses the martyrdom of Polycarp, after 155. The object of the writer is to embody in St Paul the model ideal of the popular Christianity of the 2nd century. His main emphasis is laid on chastity and the resurrection of the flesh. The tone of the work is Catholic and anti-Gnostic. For the bibliography of the subject see Hennecke, _NT. Apok._ 358-360.

_Acts of Peter._--These acts are first mentioned by Eusebius (_H.E._