Acts of Thomas (Early Christian Apocrypha) - Softcover

Attridge, Harold W.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1598150219 ISBN 13: 9781598150216

Publisher: Polebridge Press, 2010

Synopsis

<p>When modern European missionaries arrived in India in the eighteenth century, they were astonished to discover Christian communities that traced their origins back to Thomas. How and when did Christianity spread eastwards? The earliest answer can be found in the pages of <i>The Acts of Thomas</i>. It begins, <p><i>At that time all of us, the apostles, were in Jerusalem. . . . We divided the regions of the world so that each of us would . . . go to the nation to which the Lord had sent him. India fell to the lot of Judas Thomas, who is also called Didymus; but he did not want to go, claiming that he was unable to travel at all because of his weak constitution.</i></p> <p><i>The Acts of Thomas</i> is one of five surviving apocryphal acts—along with Andrew, John, Peter, and Paul—that recount the adventures of the apostles as they carried the Christian message to the far reaches of their world. The well-known “Hymn of the Pearl,” widely regarded as an allegory of the soul on its journey, from God and back to God, is found in its pages.</p> <p>This volume features </p> <ul><li>a complete fresh translation of the Greek text </li> <li>an introduction, setting <i>TheActs of Thomas</i> in its literary and historical context and evaluating the manuscript tradition</li> <li>notes identifying important differences between the ancient Greek and Syriac versions </li> <li>cross-references within and between the various individual episodes or “acts”</li> <li>an extensive index of quotations of parallels (quotations, allusions, thematic similarities) in canonical and non-canonical writings, including the Coptic Gnostic Nag Hammadi Library </li> <li>a bibliography of primary and secondary sources</li></ul>

About this title

About the Author

Harold W. Attridge, Ph.D., is Dean of Yale University Divinity School and Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament. He has published many scholarly contributions to New Testament exegesis and to the study of Hellenistic Judaism and the history of the early Church. He also has served as the president of the Society of Biblical Literature.

Edition details

• Publisher: Polebridge Press
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1598150219
• ISBN 13: 9781598150216
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 130