Virtutes Iohannis
Standard abbreviation: Acts John (Lat.)
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 716; CANT 219
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: Acts of John, Acts of John in Rome, John and the Robber, Passion of John by Pseudo-Melito.
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Acts of John (Latin).” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/acts-of-john-latin/.
Created February 2024.
1. SUMMARY
After the death of James, John is arrested in Ephesus on the orders of the emperor Domitian. The proconsul of Ephesus commands the apostle to stop preaching and to deny Christ, but John refuses, so the proconsul orders that he be plunged into a vessel of boiling oil (a story taken from Tertullian, Prescription against Heretics 36.3). When John comes out of the pot unharmed, the proconsul wants to release him but is afraid to go against the wishes of the emperor, so John is instead exiled to Patmos where he composes his Apocalypse.
John is allowed to return to Ephesus after the death of Domitian. There he gathers a large following from the performance of healing miracles. John also ministers to churches outside of the city. On one of his journeys to these churches he meets a young man and entrusts him to the care of a local priest. This is the story of John and the Robber first told by Clement of Alexandria. The full tale is given, followed by the story of Drusiana and Callimachus from the Acts of John.
Then comes a new episode that begins with a meeting with Craton the philosopher. Craton is putting on a display in the forum. He convinces two rich brothers to spend their inheritances on gems, which they are told to shatter in front of the audience. John tells Craton that his master would have sold the gems and given the proceeds to the poor. Craton responds that if John’s master was truly God, he should be able to make the gems whole. John does so and Craton and the two men become believers. Inspired by these events, two nobles of Ephesus named Atticus and Eugenius sell their possessions and become disciples of John. But on a trip to Pergamon they see their former servants dressed in fine silks and lament the loss of their fortunes. John says if they wish their wealth to be restored, they must fetch him some sticks and stones; he transforms these into gold and gems and tells the men to sell them but not before he preaches about the emptiness of wealth (with appeal to the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus from Luke 16:19–31). Then a crowd bring the body of a young man, Stacteus, to John and implore him to raise him like he did Drusiana. Once Stacteus is raised he rebukes Atticus and Eugenius saying that he saw angels weeping about their downfall; he tells them they should beg John to restore their souls. The two men repent but must offer penance to God for thirty days, begging for the gems and gold to return to their original forms.
Another familiar story follows: the fall of the temple of Diana (Artemis) found also in Acts of John and other Johannine acts. In this brief telling, a crowd drags John to the temple to worship the goddess. At his prayer, the statues and temple fall and 12000 people become believers. But one of the priests, Aristodemus, is unconvinced. He challenges John to drink poison and if he does not die, the priest will finally believe (this story is adapted from the Acts of John in Rome). First two men scheduled for execution test the poison’s effectiveness and die. John drinks and is unharmed, but Aristodemus only converts after John raises the two men to life. Aristodemus tells the proconsul what happened and they both go to John begging for mercy. A basilica is built in John’s name.
The final episode is the metastasis of John. At the age of 97 John is visited by Jesus, who tells the apostle the time has come for his departure. After a final Eucharist celebration at the basilica, John goes to the outskirts of the city with Berus and two other disciples. There he instructs them to dig a grave. John delivers a final speech about how Jesus prevented John’s efforts to marry when he was a young man, and then he goes into the grave. The men fill the grave and immediately manna issues from it and continues to this day. The text finishes with an epilogue about the death of Herod Agrippa expanding Acts 12:20–23.
Named Historical Figures and Characters: Abraham, Alexander (husband of Salome), Andronicus, Aristodemus, Artemis/Diana, Atticus, Berus, Callimachus, Craton, Domitian, Drusiana, Eugenius, Fortunatus, Herod Agrippa, James (son of Zebedee), John (son of Zebedee), Lazarus (poor man), Leucius, Mammon, Moses (patriarch), Peter (apostle), Salome (daughter of Archelaus), Satan, Stacteus.
Geographical Locations: Asia, Callirhoe, Ephesus, Jericho, Jordan, Laodicea, Patmos, Pergamon, temple of Artemis/Diana.
2. RESOURCES
Ampullae from Shrine of John (6th/7th cent.): a number of red ceramic oil flasks used by pilgrims to collect “manna” from the tomb of John in Ephesus. The practice is related to the tradition, hinted at in Acts of John 111–115 (and made more explicit in the Latin Acts of John), that John remains alive beneath the tomb. There is speculation also that one of the figures on the flasks is Prochorus, the disciple of John.
Baptismal font at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Liège: twelfth-century brass or bronze font with a depiction of John’s baptism of the philosopher Craton. (Wikipedia)
Cycle of John, Basilica of San Marco (11th/12th cent.): a series of frescoes depicting five scenes from Acts of John (Latin) (chs. 11, 17, 19–20).
“Pseudo-Crato.” Wikipedia.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Latin (BHL 4316–4319)
Manuscripts used by Junod and Kaestli:
S Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, lat. 534, fols. 107v–151r (9th cent.)
D Dublin, Trinity College, 737 (olim G.04.16), fols. 59r–79r (9th and 12th/13th cent.)
W Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek Weissenburg, 48, fols. 64v–84r (9th cent.)
V Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, lat. 455, fols. 65r–91r (9th cent.)
N Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 5563, fols. 56r–76v (10th cent.)
X Wolfenbüttel, Helmstedt, 536, fols. 57r–75r (11th cent.)
B Bamberg, Historische Manuscripte, 139 (olim Q.VI.59), fols. 22v–33r (12th cent.)
Q Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, 12604, fols. 38r–49v (12th cent.)
K Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, lat. 497, fols. 50v–60v (13th cent.)
L Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, lat. 560, fols. 61v–85v (13th cent.)
A Angers, Bibliothèque municipale, 281 (olim 272), fols. 99v–115v (11th cent.)
Q Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, 18298, fols. 33r–43v (9th/10th cent.) IMAGES
M Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 3779, fols. 35r–47v (10th/11th cent.) IMAGES
R Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 3308, fols. 391v–395r (12th cent.)
T Trèves, cath. 133, fols. 84r–91r (12th cent.)
Fabricius, Johann Albert. Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti. 2 vols. 2nd ed. Hamburg: Schiller, 1719 (a reprint of Lazius’s edition via Lefèvre in vol. 2, pp. 531–90).
Giles, J. A. Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti: The Uncanonical Gospels and Other Writings. 2 vols. London: D. Nutt, 1852 (reproduction of Fabricius, vol. 1, pp. 336–69).
Junod, Éric, and Jean-Daniel Kaestli. Acta Iohannis. 2 vols. CCSA 1–2. Turnhout: Brepols, 1983 (Latin text based on 15 manuscripts in vol. 2, pp. 799–834; introduction, pp. 750–798).
Lazius, Wolfgang. Abdiae Babyloniae episcopi et apostolorum discipuli de historia certaminis apostolici libri decem. Bale, 1552 (Repr. Paris: Guillard & Belot, 1566; reprint by Jean Lefèvre in 1560) (based on ONB 455 and 534 but with some editorial glosses at the beginning of the texts, pp. 50r–71r).
Nausea, Friedrich. Anonymi Pilalethi Eusebiani in vitas, miracula passionesque apostolorum rhapsodiae. Cologne: Peter Quentel, 1531 (Latin text, fols. 29v–50v).
Piñero, Antonio, and Gonzalo del Cerro. Hechos apócrifos de los Apóstoles. 3 vols. Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 2011 (Latin edition based on Junod and Kaestli’s manuscripts with facing Spanish translation, vol. 3, pp. 765–843).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
James, Montague Rhodes. The Apocryphal New Testament: Being the Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypses. Oxford: Clarendon, 1924; corrected edition, 1953 (chs. 14–21 only, pp. 257–64).
3.2.2 French
Migne, Jacques-Paul. Dictionnaire des Apocryphes. 2 vols. 1856. Repr., Turnhout: Brepols, 1989 (vol. 2, cols. 327–56).
3.3.3 German
Borberg, Karl Friedrich. Bibliothek der neutestamentlichen Apokryphen, gesammelt, übersetzt, und erläutert. Stuttgart: Literatur-Comptoir, 1841 (vol. 1, pp. 537–89).
3.2.4 Italian
Erbetta, Mario. Gli apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 3 vols. in 4. Turin: Marietti, 1966–1981 (vol. 2, pp. 111–29).
Moraldi, Luigi. Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. 2 vols. Classici delle religioni, Sezione quarta, La religione cattolica 24. Turin: Unione Tipografico-Editrice Torinese, 1971 (vol. 2, pp. 1507–33).
3.2.5 Spanish
Piñero, Antonio, and Gonzalo del Cerro. Hechos apócrifos de los Apóstoles. 3 vols. Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 2011 (Latin edition with facing Spanish translation, vol. 3, pp. 765–843).
3.3 General Works
Bremmer, Rolf H. “The Reception of the Acts of John in Anglo Saxon England.” Pages 183–96 in The Apocryphal Acts of John. Edited by Jan. N. Bremmer. SAAA 1. Kampen: Kok Pharos, 1995 (with discussion of the use of the text in the homiliary of Pembroke 25 item 10).
Culpepper, R. Alan. John, the Son of Zebedee: The Life of a Legend. University of South Carolina Press, 1994 (pp. 202–204).
Elliott, J. K. The Apocryphal New Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993 (pp. 347–49).
Junod, Eric and Jean-Daniel Kaestli. “Le dossier des ‘Actes de Jean’: état de la question et perspectives nouvelles.” ANRW 25,6 (1988): 4293–4362 (at 4321–26).
Klauck, Hans-Joseph. The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: An Introduction. Trans. Brian McNeil. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2008 (p. 44).
Lipsius, Richard A. Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten und Apostellegenden. 2 vols. in 3 parts. Braunschweig, 1883–1890 (see vol. 1:408–31).
Schäferdiek, Knut. “Die ‘Passio Johannis’ des Melito von Laodikeia und die ‘Virtutes Johannis.’” AnBoll 103 (1985): 367–82.