Praedicatio Petri ad Faustum
Standard abbreviation: Pre. Pet. Faust.
Other titles: Preaching of Peter (Coptic and Ethiopic), History of Saint Peter
Clavis numbers: ECCA 845; CANT 204
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: Acts of Peter, Pseudo-Clementines, Acts of Peter by Clement, the Heartless Rich Man and the Precious Stone, Martyrdom of Bartholomew
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Preaching of Peter to Faustus.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/preaching-of-peter-to-faustus/.
Created August 2020. Current as of January 2024.
1. SUMMARY
Pre. Pet. Faust. is extant in Arabic, Ethiopic, and (to date) two fragments in Coptic. Since the Arabic and Coptic texts have yet to be published, the following summary relies on the Ethiopic text. It begins with Peter arriving at Rome, where he preaches at a tetrapylon (a monument set at the intersection of two roads), encapsulated as five beatitudes— “Blessed are the merciful . . .” (Matt 5:7), “the pure in heart . . .” (Matt 5:8), “the pure in body, for they shall become the habitation of the Holy Spirit” (Acts Paul 3:5; 1 Cor 3:16), “the peacemakers . . .” (Matt 5:9), “those who give to the poor, for unto them shall God give in return” (cf. Prov 19:17), and “those who have wives, and who are as if they had them not, for they shall become the children of life, and inherit everlasting life” (Acts Paul 3:5; 1 Cor 7:29). A similar set of beatitudes appears in the Martyrdom of Bartholomew. Peter attracts the attention of the city’s prefects and nobles, who are astonished when a voice from the pillars responds to Peter’s preaching with “Amen.” They are further amazed to see Peter perform an exorcism on a man who had been possessed by Satan for 72 years.
One of the nobles, Faustus (Eth.: Ḳewesṭôs; the Coptic text has the more well-known name Faustus), goes home and tells his wife, ’Akrôsyâ, what he saw and heard. They agree to devote themselves to Peter’s teachings, including giving all of their possessions to the poor. Shortly thereafter, the emperor sends for Faustus but Faustus worries because now he has nothing to present to the emperor as a gift. He asks his brother for help, but he refuses, calling Faustus a madman for giving his money away. Fortunately, ’Akrôsyâ finds a few coins in their home and sends Faustus off to see the emperor with the hope that, along the way, he will be able to transform the money into something worthy of a gift to the emperor.
Pre. Pet. Faust. here incorporates the story of the Heartless Rich Man and the Precious Stone, a tale found in the Chronicon of George the Monk (9th cent.), the Compendium historiarum of George Cedrenus (11th cent.), and a Syriac collection of sayings of the desert fathers by the seventh-century monk Enanisho. Faustus encounters two men fighting over a gemstone. Recalling Peter’s words “blessed are the peacemakers,” he calms their conflict by giving each of them half of his money in return for the stone. When Faustus’s travels bring him to Jerusalem (an odd detour given that Faustus was on his way from Rome to see the emperor, but is due to the incorporation of the tale), he goes into the temple to worship and encounters a man who works with gemstones. He discovers that the priest Dêmâs was seeking s stone like this one to complete his breastplate; the stone had been lost since the days of Nebuchadnezzar. Faustus offers the stone to the priest and is rewarded with double the amount of wealth he had before he gave away his possessions to the poor. As he journeys on a voice promises him that he will be rewarded in the afterlife for following Peter’s teaching.
Faustus reaches the emperor, presents his gift, and is given a beautiful home. Meanwhile, Faustus’s brother comes to ’Akrôsyâ and tells her Faustus will never return, so she should marry him and he will take back all of the riches that were given to the poor. ’Akrôsyâ refuses and escapes with her two children (Clement and Kanâyôs). En route to Athens (Eth.: ’Etnôsyâ), their ship is destroyed in a storm; Clement is washed ashore in Alexandria and ’Akrôsyâ and Kanâyôs on Cyprus.
Peter rejoins the story when God tells Peter to go to Alexandria. There he preaches once again with the beatitudes, and Clement becomes his disciple. God then tells the two to go to Cyprus, where the family is reunited. Peter tells them that Faustus’ brother is dead and that they should return to Rome where they will soon see their father.
Back in Rome, the two boys die from drinking poisoned water. ’Akrôsyâ prepares their bodies for burial and places them in a storehouse. When Faustus arrives, she cannot bear to tell him what has happened, so she concocts a story to soften the blow. ’Akrôsyâ tells Faustus that a man gave her a precious pearl to watch over, but she loved it so much that when he returned she denied she had it. The man says he will come back and speak to her husband. Faustus asks his wife why she would keep the pearl from the man? In response, ’Akrôsyâ takes Faustus to the storehouse and reveals to him the bodies of her sons, declaring “these are the pearl.” The couple and their household pray and a voice says that the boys will live again because of the family’s devotion to the teaching of Peter. The boys are restored to life and devote their lives to God: Clement becomes a bishop and Cesios (Eth: Kanâyôs) a deacon.
Named historical figures and characters: ’Akrôsyâ (mother of Clement), Clement (bishop), Faustus (father of Clement), Jesus Christ, Cesios (brother of Clement), Nebuchadnezzar, Peter (apostle), Satan.
Geographical locations: Alexandria, Athens, Cyprus, Egypt, Jerusalem, Rome, Sadôm, temple (of Jerusalem).
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Arabic
3.1.1.1 Arabic Script
Beirut, Bibliothèque Orientale de l’Université Saint Joseph, 1426 (1855) ~ contents unconfirmed
Bryn Mawr, Bryn Mawr College Library, BV 69, fol. 49r (ca. 830–880)
Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Graf 472 (18th cent.)
Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 1 (13th/14th cent.)
Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 2 (14th cent.)
Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 3 (1626)
Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 6 (not dated) ~ contents unconfirmed
Cairo, Coptic Catholic Patriarchate Library, Hist. 16 (15th cent.)
Cairo, Coptic Museum, 59, fols. 156r–168v (19th cent.)
Cairo, Coptic Museum, 60, fols. 2r–19v (19th cent.)
Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Magl. III 29, fols. 2v–18v (ante 1664)
Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek, Or. 1067 (Tischendorf 32) (15th cent.)
Mount Sinai, Monē tēs Hagias Aikaterinēs, ar. 539, fols. 1v–13v (12th cent.)
Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodl. Ar. 541 (Nicoll 49), fols. 1r–6r (18th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 74, fols. 1v–13v (13th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 75, fols. 2v–18v (16th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 4770, fols. 1v–8v (19th cent.)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 4771, fols. 159v–175v (19th cent.)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Borg. ar. 223 (1729)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. ar. 694, fols. 1v–6r (14th cent.)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 500, fols. 2v–15r (15th cent.)
Wadi El-Natrun, Monastery of the Syrians (Dayr al-Suryān), no shelf number, fols. 2r–18v (14th cent.)
Bausi, Alessandro. “Alcune osservazioni sul Gadla ḥawāryāt.” Annali dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli 60–61 (2001–2002): 77–114 (list of 31 Arabic manuscripts of the collection, pp. 97–101).
Graf, Georg. Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur. 5 vols. Rome: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1944 (manuscripts listed, vol. 1, p. 262).
3.1.1.2 Garšūnī
Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 40, fols. 3v–16v (ca. 1750)
Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 446, fols. 49r–61r (ca. 1750)
Mosul, Chaldean Catholic Church, Archdiocese of Mosul, 32,pp. 102–153 (16th cent.) ~ HMML
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Syr. 232, fols. 206r–213v (17th cent.)
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Sbath 124, fols. 1r–9v (16th cent.)
3.1.2 Coptic (Sahidic)
MONB.DM, pp. 7–8 (10th–12th cent.)
MONB.QY, pp. 17–18 (10th cent.)
3.1.3 Ethiopic
3.1.3.1 Ethiopic text (BHO 939)
London, British Library, Or. 678, fols. 1v–11v (15th cent.)
London, British Library, Or. 683, fols. 1v–10r (17th cent.)
London, British Library, Or. 685, fols. 5v–14v (18th cent.)
Bausi, Alessandro. “Alcune osservazioni sul Gadla ḥawāryāt.” Annali dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli 60–61 (2001–2002): 77–114 (list of 31 Ethiopic manuscripts of the collection, pp. 93–97).
Budge, Ernest A. W. Gadla Ḥawâryât: The Contendings of the Apostles, Being the Lives and Martyrdoms and Deaths of the Twelve Apostles and Evangelists. Vol. 1. London: Henry Frowde, 1899 (Ethiopic text based on British Library, Or. 678 and 683, pp. 7–36).
Pisani, Vitagrazia. “The apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: unknown witnesses from East Tәgray.” Pages 75–93 in Essays in Ethiopian Manuscript Studies. Proceedings of the International Conference Manuscripts and Texts, Languages and Contexts: the Transmission of Knowledge in the Horn of Africa. Hamburg, 17–19 July 2014. Edited by Alessandro Bausi, Alessandro Gori, and Denis Nosnitsin. Supplements to Aethiopica 4. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2015 (descriptions of ten Ethiopic manuscripts cataloged for the Ethio-SPaRe project).
3.1.3.2 Ethiopic Synaxarion
The Ethiopian Synaxarion (first recension) includes a summary of the text for 5 Hamle (June 29 Julian).
Budge, Ernest A. W. The Book of the Saints of the Ethiopian Church: A Translation of the Ethiopic Synaxarium: Made from the Manuscripts Oriental 660 and 661 in the British Museum. 4 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1928 (English translation from the entry for 5 Hamle, vol. 2, pp. 1062–64).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Budge, E. Wallis. Gadla Ḥawâryât: The Contendings of the Apostles, Being the Lives and Martyrdoms and Deaths of the Twelve Apostles and Evangelists. Vol. 2 (English translations). London: Henry Frowde, 1901 (English translation, pp. 7–31).
3.3 General Works
Adler, William. “The Heartless Rich Man and the Precious Stone.” Pages 360–66 in vol. 1 of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Edited by Richard Bauckham, James R. Davila, and Alexander Panayotov. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2013 (discussion of Pre. Pet. Faust., pp. 362–63).
Bausi, Alessandro. “San Clemente e le tradizioni clementine nella letteratura etiopica canonico-liturgica.” Pages 13–55 in Ancient and Medieval Studi su Clemente Romano: Attie degli Incontri di roma, 29 marzo e 22 novembre 2001. Edited by Philippe Luisier. OCA 268. Rome: Pontificio Istituto Orientale, 2003.