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The Acts of Andrew
Summary of Contents
1–5 Andrew heals the slave of Stratocles, Aegeates' brother.
6–12 Stratocles himself is converted.
13–16 Maximilla refuses sexual relations with her husband, Aegeates.
17–21 She substitutes her servant Euclia to sleep with him instead.
22–4 Aegeates executes Euclia when he discovers the truth.
25–50 Maximilla refuses Aegeates' sexual advances. Andrew is imprisoned, but his followers listen to his preaching in prison.
51–4 Aegeates crucifies Andrew.
55–8 Andrew preaches for four days.
59–63 The crowd persuade Aegeates to release Andrew, but the apostle prefers to die.
64 Maximilla and Stratocles bury Andrew, then devote themselves to a life of piety. Aegeates commits suicide.
A. The Acts of Andrew
1. Stratocles, Aegeates' brother, who had petitioned Caesar not to serve in the army but to pursue philosophy, arrived in Patras from Italy at that very moment. Excitement overtook the entire praetorium of Aristocles, because Stratocles had not come to visit Aegeates for a long time. Maximilla too left the bedroom delighted to greet him, and when she had welcomed Stratocles, she went inside with him. At daybreak, she was alone while Stratocles fulfilled his duty to his friends, behaving gently towards everyone and greeting them all graciously and with decorum.
2. As he was thus engaged, one of the servants under the supervision of Aristocles, whom Stratocles loved dearly, was stricken by a demon and lay in filth, out of his mind. When Stratocles saw him he said, 'If only I had never come here but perished at sea this would not have happened to me? Friends I cannot live without him.' As he said this turning to those with him, he hit himself about the eyes and became disturbed and unfit to be seen.
When Maximilla heard about this, she emerged upset from her bedroom and said to Stratocles, 'Do not worry about your servant, brother. Soon he will be healed, for there is a most God‐fearing man staying in this city who can not only dispel demons, but if a menacing and serious sickness overcomes someone, he cures it. We have therefore come to trust in him, but we say this as those who have put him to the test.' Iphidama likewise said such things to Stratocles to restrain him from performing some rash act, in his extreme anguish.
3. While both women were consoling Stratocles, Andrew, having agreed with Maximilla that he would go to the boy, arrived at the praetorium. On entering the gate he said, 'Some force is fighting inside; hurry brothers!' Without asking questions he burst inside to the place where Stratocles' servant was foaming at the mouth, entirely contorted.
Those who came dashing because of Stratocles' cries had no idea who Andrew was when they saw him smiling and pushing aside those who were present, making a path in order to get to the servant lying on the ground. Those who had already met Andrew and had seen him at work gave ground, fearing him as a god. Stratocles' servants, on the other hand, viewed him as a common man and tried to beat him. When the rest saw them maltreating him they rebuked them for not knowing what they were doing. When they settled down, they waited to see the outcome.
4. Just then someone told Maximilla and Iphidama that the blessed one had arrived. They were elated, ran from their rooms, and hurried to Stratocles: 'Come and you will see how your servant is healed.'
Stratocles also got up and walked with them, and when he saw the enormous crowd standing around his servant he said quietly, 'Alcman,' (this was the boy's name) 'you have become a spectacle by coming to Achaea!'
Andrew stared at Maximilla, and while looking at her he said the following: 'My child, what is most disconcerting to those who are turning to a faith in God away from a great tempest and wandering is to see these ailments cured which many considered beyond help. Look, even now I see what I am saying coming to pass. Magicians are standing here helpless to do anything. They have given up healing the servant. So have those charlatans whom we all see trading in public. Why have they been unable to expel this fearsome demon from the poor servant? Because they are kindred to it. It is useful to say this before the present crowd.'
5. Without delay he got up and said, 'O God who do not give heed to magicians, O God who do not offer yourself to the quacks, O God who withdraw from things foreign to yourself, O God who always offer your possessions to your own, even now, in the presence of all these people, grant my request quickly with respect to Stratocles' servant by banishing the demon whom those who are its kindred could not.'
Immediately the demon relented and said in a masculine voice, 'I flee, servant of God! I flee not only from this servant but also from this entire city.'
'I not only command you to flee from this city', Andrew told him, 'but I bar you from setting foot in any of those regions where there is so much as a trace of my brethren.'
When the demon had left, Alcman got up from the ground. Andrew extended his hand to him, and the lad walked with him, self‐composed, steady on his feet, speaking normally, affectionately looking at Andrew and his master, and inquiring about the cause for the crowd inside. Andrew told him, 'There is no need for you to learn about anything alien to you. It is enough for us to see in you what we have seen.'
6. While they were thus occupied, Maximilla took Andrew and Stratocles by the hand and entered her bedroom along with all of the brethren who were there. Once seated, they fixed their eyes on the blessed Andrew so that he might speak. For the sake of Stratocles, Maximilla had been eager for the apostle to talk so that he might believe in the Lord. His brother Aegeates was altogether blasphemous and despicable with respect to what is superior.
7. 'O Stratocles,' Andrew began, 'I know well that you are moved by what has happened, but I am also certain that I must bring out into the open the person now latent within you. Your total bewilderment and pondering of the source and cause of what has happened are the greatest proofs that the soul within you is troubled, and the perplexity, hesitation, and astonishment in you please me. Bring to birth the child you are carrying and do not give yourself over to labour pains alone. I am no novice at midwifery or divination. I desire what you are bearing. I love what you are suppressing. I will suckle what is within you. I know the one who is silent. I know the one who has hope. Already your new self speaks to me. Already I encounter those things he has suffered for so long. He is ashamed of his former religion; he mourns his former public conduct; he considers all his former worship vacuous; he has no idea what true religion is; he tacitly reproaches the useless gods of his past; having become a vagabond, he suffers in order to become educated. Whatever his former philosophy, he now knows that it was hollow. He sees that it is destitute and worthless. Now he learns that it promises nothing essential. Now he admits that it pledges nothing useful. Is that not so? Does the person inside you not say these things, Stratocles?'
8. After a loud groan, Stratocles answered as follows: 'Most prophetic man, truly a messenger of the living God, I too will not separate from you until I recognize myself by having despised all those things about which you rebuked me for idly squandering my time in them.'
Stratocles was with the apostle night and day and never left him, sometimes examining, learning from, and interrupting him, and other times remaining silent and enjoying himself, having truly become enamoured of saving attentiveness. Declaring that he would take leave of all his possessions, he decided to live alone, with no one else but the apostle. He ceased examining the blessed one when anyone else was present, but while the rest of the believers were doing something else, he questioned him in private. When the others fell asleep, he would lie awake and by his enthusiastic interruptions would not let Andrew sleep.
9. Andrew would not keep quiet but exposed Stratocles' inquiries to the brethren by telling him, 'Stratocles, double your harvest by asking me questions in private and by hearing the same in the presence of the brethren, for in this way what you desire and seek will all the more surely be stored up in you. It is not right for you to conceal your labour pains even from your peers. Take the example of a woman in labour: When the labour pains overcome her and the foetus is forced by some power to come forth—not to stay within but to be squeezed outside—the foetus becomes obvious and noticeable to the attending women who take part in such mysteries (it was the foetus itself that cried out when the mother cried out earlier). Then, after the birth, these initiates at last provide for the new‐born whatever care they know, so that, in so far as it is up to them, the foetus might be born alive. Likewise, Stratocles my child, we too must not be passive but bring your offspring into the open, so that they may be registered and be brought to the gift of saving words by many kindred, whose associate I found you to be.'
10. Maximilla and Iphidama rejoiced that Stratocles was conducting himself in a pious manner, was at last firmly accepting all the words that were akin to him, and possessed a steady soul and a firm and unalterable faith in the Lord. Alcman, after his cure, no longer resisted the faith. Because they were rejoicing and being confirmed in Christ night and day, Stratocles, full of gratitude, Maximilla, Iphidama, Alcman, along with many of the other brethren, were deemed worthy of the Lord's seal.
11. 'My children,' Andrew told them, 'if you keep this seal's impression separate from other seals that imprint different designs, God will commend you and receive you to his domain. Because such a radiant image appears in your souls which are essentially set loose from your bodies, the punishing powers, evil authorities, fearsome rulers, fiery angels, hideous demons, and foul forces, who cannot endure being forsaken by you, since they have nothing to do with the symbol of the seal which is kindred to light, run aground and sink during their flight to their kindred: darkness, fire, gloom, and whatever other impending punishment one might imagine. But if you pollute the brilliance of the grace given you, those awful powers will taunt you and tease you by dancing here and there. Like an impostor or a tyrant, each will demand its own. Then it will do you no good to call on the God of your seal which you defiled by apostasizing from him. (12.) So, my children, let us guard the deposit entrusted to us. Let us return the deposit spotless to the one who entrusted it to us. When we arrive there, let us say to him, "Look, we brought you your gift unabused. Which of your possessions will you give us?" He will answer us at once, "I will give you myself. All that I am I give to my own. If you desire unflickering light, I am it. If you desire a life not subject to evolution, I am it. If you desire rest from futile labour, you have me as your rest. If you desire a friend who supplies goods not of this world, I am your friend. If you desire a father for those who are rejected on earth, I am your father. If you desire a legitimate brother to set you apart from false brothers, I am your brother. If you desire and seek anything more valuable to you, you have me with all that is mine, and all that is mine will be in you." Beloved, our Lord gives us this reply.'
After Andrew said these things, some of the brethren cried, others rejoiced, but because he had become a neophyte Stratocles in particular was so elevated in his mind that he forsook all his possessions and devoted himself to the word alone.
13. There was great joy among the brethren as they gathered together night and day at the praetorium with Maximilla. On the Lord's day, when the brethren were assembled in Aegeates' bedroom listening to Andrew, the proconsul arrived home. When her husband's arrival was announced to Maximilla she was troubled, anticipating the outcome, that he would find so many people inside.
When Andrew saw her perplexity, he said to the Lord, 'Do not permit Aegeates to enter this bedroom, Lord Jesus, until your servants can leave here without fear, for they have come together for your sake, and Maximilla constantly pleads with us to meet and take our rest here. Inasmuch as you have judged her worthy to deserve your kingdom, may she be especially emboldened, and Stratocles too. Save us all by repelling that savage lion armed to attack us.'
As the proconsul Aegeates came in, he had stomach pains, asked for a chamber pot, and spent a long time sitting, attending to himself. He did not notice all the brethren leave in front of him. For Andrew laid his hand on each one and said, 'Jesus will screen your appearance from Aegeates, in order to secure your invisibility before him.' Last of all, Andrew sealed himself and left.
14. When this grace of the Lord was completed, Stratocles, because he had been away from his brother for a long time, went out and embraced Aegeates, with a smile on his face but with no joy in his soul. The rest of his servants and freedmen greeted him in the same manner.
But Aegeates, out of passion for Maximilla, rushed into the bedroom assuming she was still asleep. She was at prayer. When she saw him, she looked away toward the ground.
'First give me your right hand', he told her. 'I will kiss the woman I will call no longer "wife" but "queen", so that I may find relief in your chastity and love for me.'
For when the wretch found her at prayer, he supposed she was praying for him and was delighted to hear his own name mentioned while she prayed. This is what Maximilla actually said: 'Rescue me at last from Aegeates' filthy intercourse and keep me pure and chaste, giving service only to you, my God.' When he approached her mouth intending to kiss it, she pushed him back and said, 'Aegeates, after prayer a woman's mouth should never touch a man's.'
Taken back by the sternness of her face, the proconsul left her. Because he had just completed a long journey, he took off his travelling clothes, relaxed, and lay down to sleep.
15. Maximilla then told Iphidama, 'Sister, go to the blessed one so that he may come here to pray and lay his hand on me while Aegeates is sleeping.'
Without hesitation she ran to Andrew, and after she reported the request of faithful Maximilla, Andrew went and entered another bedroom where Maximilla was. Stratocles also entered with the apostle, having come with the blessed one from his guest house. After Stratocles had greeted his brother, he asked about the accommodation where the Lord's apostle was staying. Guided by a brother named Antiphanes, Stratocles entered with the blessed one.
16. Andrew laid his hand on Maximilla and prayed as follows, 'I pray to you, my God, Lord Jesus Christ, who knows the future, and I entrust to you my child, the worthy Maximilla. May your word and power be mighty in her, and may the spirit that is in her struggle even against Aegeates, that insolent and hostile snake. O Lord, may her soul remain forever pure, sanctified by your name. In particular, protect her, O Master, from this disgusting pollution. With respect to our savage and unbearable enemy, cause her to sleep apart from her visible husband and wed her to her inner husband, whom you above all recognize, and for whose sake the entire mystery of your plan of salvation has been accomplished. If she has such a firm faith in you, may she obtain her own proper kinship through separation from those who masquerade as friends but are really enemies.' When he had prayed thus and entrusted Maximilla to the Lord, he left with Stratocles once again.
17. Maximilla then planned the following. She summoned a comely, exceedingly wanton servant‐girl named Euclia and told her something that delighted her and met her desires. 'You will have me as a benefactor of all your needs, providing you scheme with me and carry out what I advise.' Because she wanted to live chastely from that time on, Maximilla told Euclia what she wanted and got her word agreeing to it, and so for some time she employed the following subterfuge. Just as a woman customarily adorns herself to look like her rival, Maximilla groomed Euclia in just such finery and put her forward to sleep with Aegeates in her stead. Having used her as his lover, he let her get up and go to her own bedroom, just as Maximilla used to. By so doing, Maximilla escaped detection for some time, and thereby got relief, rejoiced in the Lord, and never left Andrew. 1 See Evodius of Uzala's paraphrase in the introduction above.
18. When eight months had elapsed, Euclia demanded that her lady procure her freedom. That same day, Maximilla granted her whatever she asked. A few days later she made more demands, this time a large sum of money, and Maximilla gave it to her without hesitation. When Euclia demanded some of her jewellery, Maximilla did not object. In a word, even though Euclia regularly took clothing, fine linen, and headbands from Maximilla, she was not content but flaunted the affair before the other servants, boasting and vaunting herself.
The slaves, though indignant at Euclia's bragging, at first curbed themselves from injuring her. But she would laugh at them when showing them the gifts her mistress had given her. Euclia's fellow servants recognized them but were at a loss about what to do. Wishing to provide even greater proof of what she was saying, Euclia stationed two of them at the head of her master's bed when he was drunk, in order to convince them that she was indeed sleeping with him as though she were Maximilla. When she woke him from a deep sleep, she and the fellow servants observing the situation heard: 'Maximilla, my queen, why do you come so late?' Euclia said nothing, and the attending servants left the bedroom without a sound.
19. But Maximilla, supposing that Euclia was true to her word and reliable because of the gifts given her, spent her nights resting with Andrew along with Stratocles and all the other brethren. Andrew saw a vision, and as Maximilla listened, he told the brethren, 'Today at the home of Aegeates some new contrivance is brewing, brimming with trouble and wrath.' Maximilla begged him to disclose what this might be, but he said, 'Do not be eager to learn from me what you are to recognize soon enough.'
20. She altered her customary attire and entered the praetorium gate in plain sight. The household servants who had known about the affair—how it was that every day she and Stratocles went to Andrew, and at what hour she returned to her own bedroom—took her to be a visitor. She entered the proconsul's praetorium at that hour trying to escape detection. When they had forcibly exposed her they noticed she was their mistress. Some of them wanted to divulge the ruse and to tell Aegeates, while the others, motivated by hypocrisy toward their mistress, feigned fondness for her and silenced the others, assaulted them as though they were insane, and drove them out. While the slaves were fighting each other Maximilla burst into her bedroom and prayed that the Lord would fend her from every evil.
21. One hour later, those who had fought on Maximilla's behalf against their fellow servants set upon her, fawning, expecting to receive some reward, as though they were servants of Aegeates. The blessed lady considered them deserving of their request and summoned Iphidama: 'Give them their due.' She ordered that those who had hypocritically simulated affection for her be given one thousand denarii and commanded them to disclose the matter to no one.
Even though they solemnly swore themselves to silence about what they had seen, at the instigation of their father the devil they went to their master immediately, money in hand, and told him the whole story, including how their own fellow servant submitted to the plan Maximilla devised because she no longer wanted to sleep with Aegeates, repulsed by sexual intercourse with him as a heinous and despicable act.
22. The proconsul learned everything in detail, how Euclia had shared his bed as though she were his spouse, and how she confessed to having done so to her fellow slaves. Through interrogation he also discovered her motivation, for under torture she confessed to all the payments she received from her lady for keeping quiet.
The proconsul, furious at her for boasting to her fellow servants and for saying these things in order to defame her mistress—he wanted the matter to be kept secret since he was still fond of his spouse—cut out Euclia's tongue, mutilated her, and ordered her thrown outside. She stayed there without food for several days before she became food for the dogs. The rest of the servants who had told their story to him—there were three of them—he crucified.
23. Stricken by grief, Aegeates stayed in seclusion that day and ate nothing at all, baffled by the great change in Maximilla's attitude toward him. After crying for some time and reproaching his gods, he went to his spouse, fell at her feet weeping, and said, 'I cling to your feet, I who have been your husband now for twelve years, who always revered you as a goddess and still do because of your chastity and your refined character, even though it might have been tarnished, since even you are human. So if you are keeping some secret from me about another man—something I never would have suspected—I will make allowances and I myself will cover it up, just as you often put up with my follies. Or if there is something else even more serious than this that separates you from me, confess it and I will quickly remedy the situation, for I know it is entirely useless to contradict you.'
While he persistently cajoled and begged, she told him, 'I am in love, Aegeates. I am in love, and the object of my love is not of this world and therefore is imperceptible to you. Night and day it kindles and enflames me with love for it. You cannot see it for it is difficult to see, and you cannot separate me from it, for that is impossible. Let me have intercourse with it and take my rest with it alone.'
24. The proconsul left her as if he were a maniac, not knowing what to do. He did not dare commit any impropriety against the blessed woman, for her pedigree far outstripped his. He said to Stratocles who was walking with him, 'Brother and my only legitimate surviving relative, I do not know if my wife is in a state of ecstacy or lunacy.'
And as he dejectedly began to tell Stratocles something else, one of his attending servants whispered in his ear, 'Master, if you would learn of this affair in detail, ask Stratocles; he will satisfy your curiosity, for he knows all about your wife. But if you wish to know of the entire matter now, I will apprise you.'
25. He drew Aegeates aside and told him privately, 'There is a certain stranger sojourning here who has become renowned not only in this city but throughout Achaea. He performs great miracles and cures which exceed human strength, as I in part can corroborate in that I was present and saw him revive corpses. And so that you may know the whole story, he proclaims a reverence for the divine and truly shows it to be shining forth into public view. My mistress, following Iphidama's lead, became acquainted with this stranger. She has so given way to desire for him that she loves no one more than him, including you I would say. Not only has she become intimately involved with the man, she has enchained your brother Stratocles with the same passion for him that has enchained her. They confess but one God, the one that that man disclosed to them, denying the existence of every other on earth. But listen to what your brother did that was the most insane thing of all. Even though he is of noble stock, the most honoured man in Achaea, addressed as brother of the proconsul Aegeates, he carries his own little oil flask to the gymnasium. Even though he owns many slaves, he appears in public doing his own chores—buying his own vegetables, bread, and other necessities, and carrying them on foot through the centre of the city—without shame in the sight of everybody.'
26. While the youth was telling this to his master, who was taking a walk and staring at the ground all the time, he spotted Andrew from a distance and shouted out loud: 'Look, master! There is the man responsible for the present disruption of your household.' The entire crowd turned to see the cause of his shout. Without another word, the youth—who was as fearsome as Aegeates, as though he were his brother and not really his slave—ran from the proconsul, seized Andrew, and forcibly brought him to Aegeates, wrapping around his neck the towel that the blessed one used to wear over his shoulder.
When the proconsul saw him, he recognized him and said, 'You are the one who once cured my wife and who refused a considerable sum of money that I wanted to donate. Teach me too about your renown and what sort of power you have, such that you are praised, so I hear, by those who are rich and poor, including infants, even though you appear in this manner like a simple old man.'
The entire crowd there dearly loved the apostle, and when they learned that the proconsul was speaking with him but not knowing why, they ran to the place where he was talking with Andrew. Without hesitation, Aegeates ordered him to be locked up, saying, 'Corrupter! You will see my rewards to you for your benefactions to Maximilla.'
27. A short time later, Aegeates left and went to Maximilla and discovered her eating bread and olives with Iphidama, this being the normal time for it, and said to her, 'Maximilla, now that I have captured your teacher and locked him up, I bring you news about him: he will not escape from me but will suffer a horrible death.'
'My teacher is not someone who can be detained,' the blessed lady answered, 'for he is not apprehensible or perceptible. Inasmuch as you have never overpowered anyone like this, Aegeates, stop this boasting.' He went out smiling, leaving her to eat.
'Sister,' Maximilla said to Iphidama, 'here we are eating while our benefactor, second to the Lord himself, is imprisoned. Go to the garrison in the name of the Lord, Iphidama, and find out where the prison is. I believe that at nightfall we will be able to see the Lord's apostle and that no one will see me leaving except Jesus and you, my guide.'
28. Iphidama changed her usual clothing and dutifully rushed off. Once she discovered where the prison was, she went there and saw a large crowd standing at the prison gate. She inquired why the crowd had formed, and someone told her, 'Because of the most pious Andrew, locked up by Aegeates.'
When the faithful Iphidama had stood there for an hour, she saw the prison gate opened, and encouraged by this, she said, 'Jesus, I ask you to go in with me to your servant.' No one detected her as she entered and found the apostle speaking with his fellow inmates, whom he had already strengthened by encouraging them to believe in the Lord.
29. When he turned and saw Iphidama, his soul was elated, and he said to the Lord, 'Glory be to you, Jesus Christ, ruler of true words and promises, who instils courage in my fellow servants. All who make use of you conquer their enemies, for you alone exist. Behold your Iphidama, driven by desire for us, has come here. I know that she and her mistress are under surveillance. Shield her with your covering both now as she leaves and this evening when she returns with her mistress, so that they will be invisible to their enemies. For as long as I have been here, they have made every effort to be bound together with me. Guard them yourself, Lord, for they are affectionate and God‐loving.'
When he had prayed for Iphidama, Andrew dismissed her and said, 'The prison gate will be opened before you get there, and when you and Maximilla return here this evening, it will have been opened, and you will rejoice in the Lord and leave again, so that by these events too you both might be confirmed in our Lord.'
30. Iphidama left at once and found everything to be just as Andrew had predicted. When she came to Maximilla, she informed her about the blessed one's noble soul and resolve; namely, that even though imprisoned he was not quiet, but in fact urged on his fellow inmates and extolled the Lord's power. She also recounted to her whatever else he said to her inside the prison that pertained to them both.
When Maximilla heard everything Iphidama told her about the apostle, she exulted in spirit and said, 'Glory be to you, O Lord, for I am about to see your apostle again without fear. Even if an entire legion kept me locked up under key, it would not be strong enough to prevent me from seeing your apostle. It would be blinded by the radiant appearance of the Lord and by the boldness of his servant before God.' Having said this, she waited for lamps to be lit so that she could leave.
31. The proconsul said to some of those who were with him, 'I know Maximilla's audacity, because she never obeys me. Therefore, leave the praetorium doors unguarded but have four men go off to the prison and tell the jailer, "At this moment secure the door for which you are responsible! See that you do not open it for any of the dignitaries, even if you are won over by intimidation or bribery—not even if I should come myself—or you will lose your head!' " He commanded four others posted around her bedroom to detect if she should come out. The first four sped to the prison, while the others paced up and down in front of the blessed woman's bedroom as ordered. The cursed Aegeates went to supper.
32. Maximilla prayed with Iphidama to the Lord for a long time, telling the Lord again, 'Lord, at last it is time for me to go to your servant.' She left the bedroom with Iphidama, saying, 'Lord, be with us and do not forsake those who are here.'
When she arrived at the prison gate she found a beautiful young boy standing before opened doors who told them, 'Both of you go in to your Lord's apostle. He has been expecting you for some time.' Running ahead of them, he went to Andrew and told him, 'Look, Andrew, these women have come to you rejoicing in your Lord. May they be strengthened in him by your speech.' . . .
33(1) 2 This alternative numbering is that conventionally given to Vat. 808, which begins here. '( . . .) is everything about you lax? Have you still not convinced yourselves that you do not yet bear his goodness? Let us stand in awe and rejoice with each other over our abundant partnership with him. Let us say to each other: "Blessed is our race, for someone has loved it. Blessed is our existence, for someone has shown it mercy. We are not cast to the ground, for we have been recognized by such a height. We do not belong to time, so as to be dissolved by time. We are not the product of motion, which disappears of its own accord, nor of earthly birth so as to die in the same condition. Rather, we are those who aspire to greatness. We belong to the one who indeed shows mercy. We belong to the better, therefore we flee the worse. We belong to the good, through whom we drive away the disgraceful; to the just, through whom we reject the unjust; to the merciful, through whom we abandon the unmerciful; to the saviour, through whom we have recognized the destroyer; to the light, through whom we have cast off the darkness; to the one, through whom we have turned from the many; to the heavenly, through whom we have learned about the earthly; to the enduring, through whom we see the transitory." What better cause do we have for desiring to give thanks, to speak boldly, to sing a hymn, or to boast before the God who had mercy on us than that we have been recognized by him.'
34(2). And after he had spoken with the women for some time he at last sent them away saying, 'Go in peace. For you well know, O maidservants of Christ, that because of his love I will never entirely abandon you, and that because of his mediation, you will never again abandon me.' Each one left for home.
For several days, while Aegeates had no thought of pressing charges against the apostle, there was great joy among them. Every day they were strengthened in the hope of the Lord; they convened fearlessly at the prison and were incessantly with Maximilla and Iphidama and the others, because they were protected by the guardianship and grace of the Lord.
35(3). One day, while Aegeates sat as judge, he remembered the case of Andrew. Like a maniac, he left the case at hand, rose from the bench, and dashed to the praetorium seething with anger at Maximilla but flattering her all the same. Maximilla got home from the prison before he arrived.
36(4). When he went in to her, he said, 'Maximilla, because your parents thought me worthy to be your husband, they pledged you to me in marriage without regard to wealth, heredity, or reputation, considering only the kindness of my soul. Just now I deliberately left the court and came here not to enumerate the many matters I had wanted to reproach you with—such as the benefits I enjoyed from your parents, or the honours and favours you received from me during our lives together, such as your designation as my queen—but simply to learn from you this one thing. If you would be the woman you once were, living together with me as we are accustomed to—sleeping with me, having sexual relations with me, bearing my children—I would treat you well in every way. What is more, I will release the stranger whom I have in prison. But if you should not choose this course, I will do you no harm—I am unable to—but I will torment you indirectly through the one you love more than me. Answer me tomorrow, Maximilla, after you have considered which of the two options you want, for I am fully prepared to carry out this threat.' Having said this, he left.
37(5). At the usual time, Maximilla again went with Iphidama to Andrew. Putting his hands on her eyes and then bringing them to her mouth, she kissed them and began to seek his advice about every aspect of Aegeates' ultimatum.
'O Maximilla my child,' Andrew replied, 'I know that you have been moved to resist any proposition of sexual intercourse and wish to be dissociated from a foul and filthy way of life. For a long time this conviction has dominated my thinking, but still you want me to give my opinion. I bear you witness, Maximilla: do not commit this act. Do not submit to Aegeates' threat. Do not be moved by his speech. Do not fear his disgusting schemes. Do not be conquered by his artful flatteries. Do not consent to yield yourself to his impure spells. Endure each of his tortures by looking to us for a while, and you will see him entirely numb and wasting away from you and from all of your kindred. Inasmuch as I do not keep silent in making the matter visible and actual through you, the most important thing I should say to you now comes to me: I rightly see in you Eve repenting and in me Adam converting. For what she suffered through ignorance, you—whose soul I seek—must now redress through conversion. The very thing suffered by the mind which was brought down with her and was estranged from itself, I make right with you, through your recognition that you are being raised up. You healed her deficiency by not experiencing the same passions, and I have perfected Adam's imperfection by fleeing to God for refuge. Where Eve disobeyed, you obeyed; what Adam agreed to, I flee from; the things that tripped them up, we have recognized. For it is ordained that each person should correct his or her own fall.
38(6). 'Having said these things as I have said them, I would also say this: You have done well, O nature being saved, for you are neither overbearing nor in hiding. You have done well, O soul crying out what you suffered and returning to yourself. You have done well, O man who learn what is not yours and speed on to what is yours. You have done well, O hearer of what is being said, for I know that you are greater than what is thought or said; I recognize that you are more powerful than those who presume to dominate you; more distinguished than those who cast you down to shame, than those who lead you away to captivity. O man, if you understand all these things in yourself—that you are immaterial, holy, light, akin to the unbegotten, intellectual, heavenly, translucent, pure, superior to the flesh, superior to the world, superior to the powers, superior to the authorities over whom you really are—if you perceive yourself in your condition, then take knowledge in what you excel, if you see your face in your own being, having broken every shackle—I mean not only those shackles acquired by birth but also those beyond the realm of birth, whose magnificent names we have presented to you—then desire to see him who was revealed to you without having been created, whom you alone soon will recognize, if you take courage.
39(7). 'I have said these things in your presence, Maximilla, because the force of what has been said applies also to you. Just as Adam died in Eve through his complicity with her, so also I now live in you through your observing the commandment of the Lord and through your transporting yourself to a state worthy of your being. Scorn Aegeates' threats, Maximilla, for you know that we have a God who has compassion on us. Do not let his threats move you but remain chaste. Let him not only avenge himself on me with the tortures of captivity, let him also throw me to the beasts, burn me with fire, and throw me off a cliff. What does it matter? Let him destroy this body as he wishes, for it is only one body and it is akin to him.
40(8). 'Once again my speech is for you, Maximilla. I say to you, do not yield yourself to Aegeates. Stand up against his ambushes, especially, Maximilla, since I saw the Lord saying to me, "Andrew, Aegeates' father, the devil, will use him to release you from this prison." So from now on keep yourself chaste and pure, holy, unsullied, unalloyed, unadulterated, separated from anything foreign to us, unbroken, undamaged, unweeping, unwounded, unvexed by storms, undivided, unfalling, unsympathetic to the works of Cain. For if you do not give yourself up to their opposites, Maximilla, I will rest, even if I am forcibly unloosed from this life for your sake—that is, for my sake. If I am driven from here, perhaps I can help others of my kindred because of you, but if you become won over by the seductions of Aegeates and the flatteries of the serpent, his father, so that you return to your former sexual acts, know this: I will be punished there because of you, until you yourself realize that I despised living this life because of an unworthy soul. (41[9].) Therefore, I beg you, wise man [sic], that your clearsighted mind stand firm. I beg you, mind unseen, that you may be protected. I entreat you, love Jesus. Do not be overcome by the inferior. You whom I entreat as a man, assist me in my becoming perfect. Help me too, so that you may recognize your true nature. Suffer with my suffering, so that you may recognize what I suffer and escape suffering. See what I see, and what you see will blind you. See what you should, and you will not see what you should not. Hear what I say and throw off whatever you heard (from Aegeates). I have said these things to you and to any who hear, if perchance you might hear.'
42(10). 'But to you, Stratocles,' he said, looking at him, 'why are you afflicted with many tears and why do you groan out loud? Why do you despair? Why your great grief and great sorrow? You recognize what has been said, so why do I beg you, child, that you live accordingly? Do you know to whom I have said these things? Has each gripped your mind? Has it reached your intellect? Do I still have the one who listened to me? Do I find myself in you? Is there someone in you speaking whom I see as my own? Does he love the one who has spoken in me and does he desire to have fellowship with him? Does he wish to be united with him? Does he strive to become loved by him? Does he long to be yoked with him? Does he find any rest in him? Does he have anywhere to lay his head? 3 Cf. Matt 8: 20 and Luke 9: 58 . Surely there is nothing in you to resist him—nothing to be turbulent against him, nothing to counteract him, nothing to hate him, nothing to flee from him, nothing to be savage to him, nothing to shun him, nothing that has turned away from him, nothing to rush from him, nothing to be oppressed, nothing to fight him, nothing to associate with others, nothing to be flattered by others, nothing to conspire with others, no other things to disturb him, nothing in you alien to me, no opponent, no corrupter, no enemy, no magician, no charlatan, no pervert, no deceiver, no traitor, no misanthrope, no hater of rational discourse, no one similar to tyrants, no boaster, no arrogant man, no maniac, no kinsman of the snake, no weapon of the devil, no advocate for fire, no friend of darkness. Stratocles, surely there is no one in you to oppose my saying these things, is there? Who is it? Answer! I do not speak in vain, do I? I have not spoken in vain, have I? "No!", says the man in you who weeps once again, Stratocles.'
43(11). Then Stratocles approached Andrew weeping and wailing. Andrew took Stratocles' hand and said, 'I have the one I sought. I have found the one I desired. I hold the one I loved. I rest because of the one I have waited for. The very fact that you are still groaning louder and are weeping uncontrollably symbolizes for me that I have already achieved rest, because I have not spoken in vain to you the words which are akin to me.'
44(12). 'Most blessed Andrew,' Stratocles replied, 'do not think that there is anything that vexes me but you, for the words which came from you are like fiery javelins impaling me. Each of them strikes me and truly blazes and burns with love for you. The sensitive part of my soul, which is disposed toward what I have heard, is tormented in that it presages with anguish (what will take place). For you yourself may leave, and I know well that it is good that you do so. But after this, where and in whom will I seek and find your concern and love? I received the seeds of the words of salvation while you were my sower; for them to sprout and reproduce requires no one else but you, blessed Andrew. What do I have to say to you but this, servant of God? I need the great compassion and help that comes from you in order to be worthy of these seeds I already have from you, which I might not otherwise see undamaged and sprouting into the open without your willing it and praying for them and for my entire self.'
45(13). 'Child,' answered Andrew, 'these things are what I myself also found in you. I glorify my Lord that my estimation of you was not groundless, but knew what it said. So that you all may know, tomorrow Aegeates will hand me over to be impaled on a stake. Maximilla, the Lord's servant, will trouble the enemy in him to whom he belongs, and will not consent with him to do anything alien to her. By turning against me he will presume to console himself'
46(14). Maximilla was not present when the apostle said this, for when she heard the words that applied to her and in some way was changed by them, she became what the words themselves had signified. She rushed out deliberately and resolutely and went to the praetorium. Because she had bidden farewell to her whole life as well as to wickedness, the mother of the flesh, and to things pertaining to the flesh, when Aegeates made the same severe demand which he had told her to ponder—namely, whether she would be willing to sleep with him—she rebuffed him. He turned attention at last to the destruction of Andrew and considered what kind of death he might impose on him. Of all the options crucifixion most preoccupied him. Then he went off with his friends and ate like an animal.
47 4 The Armenian passion narrative begins here. (15). Maximilla, led by the Lord disguised as Andrew, went to the prison again with Iphidama. A great crowd of the brethren was inside when she found him speaking the following: 'Brethren, the Lord sent me as an apostle to these regions of which my Lord considered me worthy, not to teach anyone, but to remind everyone akin to these words that all people pass their time among ephemeral evils, revelling in their destructive fantasies, which I have continually encouraged you to shun. I have urged you to pursue things that are permanent, and to flee from all that is transient. Look, not one of you stands firm, but everything—including human conventions—is in flux. This happens because of the uneducated soul's wandering into nature and retaining the pledges of its mistake. Therefore, I consider blessed those who have obeyed the words preached and who through them observe, as in a mirror, the mysteries concerning their proper nature, for the sake of which all things were constructed. (48[16].) Therefore, I command you, beloved children, to build firmly on the foundation laid for you, which is unshakeable and impregnable to the stratagems of the wicked. Be rooted on this foundation. Stand firm, remembering everything that happened while I was living among all of you. You saw acts performed through me which you yourselves cannot disbelieve; such signs performed that perhaps even mute nature would have cried out in acclaim. I have handed over to you words which I pray you received in the way the words themselves would want. Dear friends, stand firm in everything you have seen, heard, and participated in, and God, in whom you have believed, because he had mercy, will present you to himself as acceptable, eternally at rest. (49[17].) Do not let what is going to happen to me trouble you as though it were some strange marvel, namely that God's servant, by whom God himself provided many things through acts and words, will be violently driven from this passing life by a wicked man. This violence will not come upon me only, but also on all who have loved, believed, and confessed (Jesus). The devil, entirely void of shame, will arm his own children against them, so that they may join forces with him. But he will not obtain what he wants. I will tell you why he undertakes these things. From the beginning of all things, in other words, from that time when the one without beginning descended to that realm under him to drive away ( . . .). The enemy, a stranger to peace, (oppresses) the one not belonging to him, but is merely one of the weaker, inconspicuous, and thus far unable to be recognized. And because this person does not understand, he has to wage war with him. In so far as the enemy also aspires to dominate him forever, he opposes him in a manner that makes their hostility resemble a friendship. In order to place him under his control, he often flaunted his own pleasure‐loving and deceitful traits, supposing that through these he would subjugate him. By faking a friendship befitting his victim, he did not display himself openly as an enemy. (50[18].) This activity took place for so long that the victim forgot to recognize it. 〈But〉 the devil recognized it; that is, because of his gifts he (was not seen to be an enemy). But when the mystery of grace was set aflame, and the plan for rest was revealed, and the light of the word was set forth, and the race being saved was proved to have been previously at war with pleasures, and when the enemy saw himself scorned and his gifts, through which he thought to intimidate, ridiculed because of the goodness of the merciful one, he began to entangle us in hate, hostility, and insurrection. He has made it his business not to leave us alone until we give way to the things that he values. For when this was the case, our opponent had nothing to worry about, and he pretended to depict his status as friendly to us. He had no fear that we would revolt inasmuch as we had been deceived by him. But let us not stand aside from Christ by the deceit of the enemy, because the providence of God has been revealed to us and has enlightened us. He has weakened the enemy's power and arrogance. For the hidden aspect of the devil's nature and what seemed to be unnoticed, this Christ exposed and forced to confess what it was. Therefore, brethren, since we understand what will happen, let us awaken and separate ourselves from him. Let us not be vexed or agitated by the storm, and let us not bear in our souls traces of the devil which are not ours. But since we have been entirely buoyed up by the whole word, let us all eagerly anticipate the goal and let us take flight from him, so that at last he may be exposed for what he is by nature, as we fly off to those things which are ours.' 5 End of Vat. 808.
51 6 The alternative numbering indicates the chapters of the martyrdom proper. (1). Throughout the night Andrew spoke these things to the brethren and prayed, and all rejoiced together and were confirmed in the Lord. Early in the morning, Aegeates summoned Andrew from prison and said to him, 'The time to complete my judgement against you has arrived, you stranger, alien to this present life, enemy of my home, and corrupter of my entire house. Why did you decide to burst into places alien to you and corrupt a wife who used to please me in every way and never slept with another man? She has convinced me that she now rejoices in you and your God. So enjoy my gifts!'
He commanded that Andrew be scourged with seven whips. Then he sent him off to be crucified and commanded the executioners not to impale him with nails but to stretch him out tied up with ropes, 〈and〉 to leave his knees uncut, supposing that by so doing he would punish Andrew even more cruelly.
This matter became known to everyone, for it was rumoured throughout Patras that the stranger, the righteous one, the man who possessed God, was being crucified by the impious Aegeates, even though he had done nothing improper. All alike were outraged.
52(2). As the executioners led him to the place intending to carry out their orders, Stratocles, who had learned what was happening, arrived running and saw the executioners violently dragging off the blessed one like a criminal. Stratocles did not spare any of them but gave each a beating, ripped their clothing from top to bottom, tore Andrew away, and told them, 'Thank the blessed one for educating me and teaching me to check my violent temper. Otherwise, I would have demonstrated for you what Stratocles and Aegeates the rogue are capable of. For we (believers) have learned to endure our afflictions.' He grabbed the apostle's hand and went away with him to the seaside location where he was to be crucified.
53(3). The soldiers left and presented themselves to Aegeates explaining what had happened. 'Change your clothes', the proconsul answered, 'and go back there to perform your duties. When you rid yourselves of the convict's friends, then obey your orders. Avoid as best you can letting Stratocles see you, and do not argue if he should require from you anything at all. For I know the nobility of his soul, such that if provoked he probably would not even spare me.' They did exactly as Aegeates told them.
Stratocles walked with the apostle to the designated spot, but he was perturbed, furious with Aegeates, now and then railing against him under his breath.
'Stratocles my child,' Andrew responded, 'from now on I want you to keep your mind unwavering, and do not wait for advice from someone else, but take such advice from yourself—that you not be inwardly oriented toward seeming hardships nor attached to mere appearances—for it is fitting for a servant of Jesus to be worthy of Jesus. I will tell you and the brethren walking with me something else about people alien to us. As long as the demonic nature lacks its bloody food and cannot suck up its nutrition because animals are not slain, it weakens and recedes to nothingness, becoming entirely dead. But if it has what it longs for, it strengthens, expands, and rises up, growing by means of those foods it enjoys. This situation, child, obtains to those outside who die when we do not attach ourselves to what they are attached to. But even that self within ourselves which is contrary (to our true nature), when it dares to do something and cannot find anyone to consent with it, is beaten and totally crushed to the earth, dead, because it did not complete what it undertook. Let us keep this image always before our eyes, children, so that we not grow drowsy and the opponent intrude and slaughter us. 7 The Armenian adds a long allegory about an eagle. This is the end of my speech, for I think that while we were speaking we arrived at the appointed place. The cross planted there is a sign to me that this is the place.'
54(4). He left everyone, approached the cross, and spoke to it in a loud voice: 'Greetings, O cross! Greetings indeed! I know well that, though you have been weary for a long time, planted and awaiting me, now at last you can rest. I come to you, whom I have known. I recognize your mystery, why you were planted. So then, cross that is pure, radiant, full of life and light, receive me, I who have been weary for so long.'
The blessed one said these things standing on the ground looking intently at the cross. When he came to it, he commanded the brethren to summon the executioners, who were standing far away, to carry out their orders. When they came, they tied up only his feet and armpits, without nailing up his hands or feet nor severing his knees because of what the proconsul had commanded them, for Aegeates intended to torment him by being hung and being eaten by dogs if he were still alive at night.
55(5). The brethren stood around, so many they were nearly innumerable. When they saw that the executioners had withdrawn and had carried out against the blessed one none of the usual procedures suffered by those who are hung, they expected to hear something more from him, for even while hanging he moved his head and smiled.
'Why do you smile, Andrew, servant of God?', asked Stratocles. 'Should your laughter not make us mourn and weep because we are being deprived of you?'
'Shall I not laugh, Stratocles my child,' Andrew answered, 'at Aegeates' futile trap by which he intends to avenge himself on us? He has not yet been persuaded that we are alien to him and his designs. He is not able to hear, since if he were able, he would have heard that the person who belongs to Jesus and who has been recognized by him in the end cannot be punished.'
56(6). When Andrew had said these things, he addressed a general speech to everyone, for even the pagans had hurried to the site, infuriated at Aegeates' unjust decision. 'Men who are present with me, women, children, old, slaves, free, and any others who would hear: if you suppose this act of dying is the end of ephemeral life, leave this place at once. If you understand the conjunction of the soul with a body to be the soul itself, so that after the separation (of the two) nothing at all exists, you possess the intelligence of animals and one would have to list you among ferocious beasts. And if you love immediate pleasures and pursue them above all, in order to enjoy their fruits exclusively, you are like thieves. And if you suppose that you are merely that which can be seen and nothing more, you are slaves of folly and ignorance. And if you perceive that only this nocturnal light exists and nothing in addition to it, you are kindred to this night. And if you think that your earthly food is capable of creating bodily mass and the blood's constitutive power, you yourselves are earthly. And if you suppose that you are happy even though you have an inequitable body, you actually are miserable. And if your external prosperity makes you happy, you truly are most wretched. And if the pleasure and intercourse of marriage please you, and if the corruption which is from them, full of pain, makes you sad, and if you are in need of sustenance for your many children, and if the irritating poverty they cause is known to you, it will upset you. And if the rest of your possessions draw you to themselves as though you belonged to them, may their impermanence reproach you. (57[6].) What benefit is there for you who gain for yourselves external goods but do not gain your very selves? what pride issues from external ancestry if the soul in you is held captive, sold to desires? And why do we desire pleasure and childbearing, for later we have to separate? No one knows what he does. Who will take care of his wife when he is preoccupied merely by the passions of desire? Or why all the rest of the concern for externals, while you yourselves neglect what you actually are? I exhort you all rather to rid yourselves of this life which is painful, vain, senseless, boastful, empty, perishable, transitory, the friend of pleasures, the slave of time, the servant of drunkenness, the neighbour of debauchery, the possession of greed, the kindred of wrath, the umpire of treachery, the ally of murders, the prince of hatred, the patron of desire, the master of adulteries, the mediator of jealousies, the instigator of murders. I entreat you who have come here together for my sake, abandon this entire life and hasten to overtake my soul which speeds toward things beyond time, beyond law, beyond speech, beyond body, beyond bitter and lawless pleasures full of every pain. Observe now, even you, with the eyes of your souls, those things about which I speak. Follow my deep‐seated love. Learn of my sufferings about which I am now speaking with you. Take my mind as a deposit. Participate in another fellowship for yourselves. Submit yourselves to my lashes, and cleanse your ears to hear what I say. Flee from everything merely temporal. Even now speed away with me. (58[6].) Even now I know that you are not inattentive to my words. Truly I see you mild as I want it, and to be far away from external forms, for the internal is our unity. I greet you with the grace of God and with love which is due him and even more with your consent to each other, to keep us away from those who do harm, and to apply to him, and to the good, and to the innocence which is to him and to the accord which is in them. For this reason men quietly take courage in the knowledge of our God. On the one hand, I am leaving to prepare routes there for those who align themselves with me and are equipped with a pure faith and with love for him; I am stifling the fire, banishing the shadows, extinguishing the furnace, killing the worm, eradicating the threat, gagging the demons, muzzling and destroying the ruling powers, dominating the authorities, throwing down the devil, casting out Satan, and punishing wickedness. On the other hand, with respect to those who have come here not out of love for God but out of hypocrisy and because of unfruitful pleasures, who have submitted themselves to superstition, disbelief, and every other ignorance, and who suppose nothing else exists after one's release from here, all these monsters fly out, become agitated, rush forth, take wing, ravage, fight, conquer, rule, wreak vengeance, enflame, rage, afflict, punish, and attack. They blaze, enact violence, and do not withdraw or relent, but rejoice, exult, smile, mock, and take their rest and delight in all who are similar to them, possessing those who succumbed to them by not believing in my God. Choose then which of the two paths you prefer, for the choice is yours to decide.'
59(6). When the crowds heard Andrew's speech, they were won over by him, so to say, and did not leave the spot. The blessed one proceeded to speak to them even longer than he had before, to such an extent that those who heard him took it as a sign. He spoke to them for three days and nights, and no one, no matter how weary, separated from him.
On the fourth day, when they observed his nobility, the adamance of his thought, the sheer abundance of his words, the value of his exhortation, the stability of his soul, the prudence of his spirit, the firmness of his mind, and the precision of his reasoning, they were furious with Aegeates and together ran off to the tribunal. As he sat there they cried out, 'What is this judgement of yours, O proconsul? You have judged wickedly! You have made an unjust decision! Your courts are a sacrilege! What crime did the man commit? What evil has he done? The city is in uproar! You are wronging us all! You are grieving us all! Do not betray the city of the emperor! Grant the Achaeans the just man! Grant us this God‐fearing man! Do not kill this man possessed of God! Do not destroy this pious man! Even though he has been hanging for four days, he is still alive. Although he has eaten nothing, he has nourished us with his words. Bring the man down and we will all become philosophers! Untie the prudent one, and all Patras will be law‐abiding! Release the wise man, and all Achaea will receive mercy!'
60(7). When Aegeates at first disregarded the crowd and gestured for them to leave the tribunal, they were enraged and were gaining courage to oppose him in some way; they numbered about two thousand. When the proconsul saw that they were in some way incensed he was terrified that he might suffer a revolution. He rose from the tribunal and went off with them, promising to release the blessed Andrew.
Some ran ahead to disclose to the apostle this very fact as well as the reason for Aegeates' coming to the place. The crowd was jubilant because the blessed Andrew was about to be untied, and when the proconsul arrived, all the brethren were rejoicing, among them Maximilla.
61(8). When Andrew heard this, he said, 'O the great lethargy of those I have taught! O the sudden fog engulfing us even after many mysteries! O, how much we have spoken up to the present, and we have not convinced our own! O, how much has happened so that we might flee the earthly! O, what strong statements have been spoken against carnal things, and yet they want more of the same! O, how many times I have prayed that I might lift them from these filthy habits, but instead they were encouraged to nothingness! Why this excessive fondness for the flesh? Why this great complicity with it? Do you again encourage me to be put back among things in flux? If you understood that I have been loosened from ropes but tied up to myself, you yourselves would have been eager to be loosened from the many and to be tied to the one. What should I say? I know well that what I am saying will happen, for you yourselves will I tie up with me, and after liberating myself, I will release myself from all things and become united with the one who came into being for all and who exists beyond all. (62[8].) But now that Aegeates is coming to me, I will keep quiet and embrace my children. Whatever I must resolve by speaking to him, these I will speak. Aegeates, why have you come to us again? Why should you who are foreign to us come to us? What do you want to attempt now? What do you want to contrive? Whom do you wish to summon? Say something! Have you come to untie us because you changed your mind? Even if you really did change your mind, Aegeates, I would never accede to you. Were you to promise all your possessions, I would stand aloof from them. Were you to say you yourself were mine, I would not trust you. Would you untie the one who is tied up, proconsul? Would you untie the one who has fled? Would you untie the one who was liberated? Would you untie the one recognized by his kindred, the one who received mercy, the one loved by him, the one alien to you, the stranger who appeared so only to you? I possess the one with whom I will always be. I possess the one with whom I will be a compatriot for countless ages. It is to him that I go. It is to him that I speed on, to the one who made me recognize even you by saying to me: "Mark Aegeates and his gifts. Do not let that rogue frighten you, and let him not suppose that he can seize you, for you are mine. He is your enemy. He is a corrupter, a cheat, a destroyer, a slanderer, merciless, a maniac, a plotter, a murderer, an insolent egotist, a flatterer, a magician, terrible, petulant, insensitive, and decorated on all sides by his material veneer." Inasmuch as I recognized you through your turning to me, I am released from you. Proconsul, I know well that you bewail and mourn because of what I am saying to you as I flee to the one beyond you. You will weep, beat your breast, gnash your teeth, grieve, despair, lament, anguish, and behave like your relative the sea, which you now see furiously troubled by waves because I am leaving all of you. The grace which came because of me is delightful, holy, just, true, charming, and articulate, along with all the things by which you seemed to have been adorned through me.'
When the proconsul heard these things he stood there speechless and as if stunned. Andrew looked at him again and said, 'Aegeates, enemy of us all, now you stand there watching. You stand there quiet and calm, unable to do anything you dare. My kindred and I speed on to things our own, leaving you to be what you are and what you fail to understand about yourself.'
63(9). And when Aegeates again attempted to approach the wood to untie Andrew, the entire city was in an uproar at him. The apostle Andrew shouted: 'O Master, do not permit Andrew, the one tied to your wood, to be untied again. O Jesus, do not give me to the shameless devil, I who am attached to your mystery. O Father, do not let your opponent untie me, I who am hanging upon your grace. May he who is little no longer humiliate the one who has known your greatness. But you yourself, O Christ, you whom I desired, whom I loved, whom I know, whom I possess, whom I cherish, whose I am, receive me, so that by my departure to you there may be a reunion of my many kindred, those who rest in your majesty.' When he had said these things and further glorified the Lord, he handed over his spirit, so that we wept and everyone grieved his departure.
64(10). After the departure of the blessed apostle, Maximilla, accompanied by Stratocles, completely disregarding those standing around her, came forward, untied the corpse of the blessed one, and having provided it with the necessary attention, buried it at nightfall.
She separated from Aegeates because of his savage soul and lawless public life. Thereafter, though he simulated good behaviour, she had nothing whatever to do with him. Choosing instead a life holy and quiet, provided for by the love of Christ, she spent her time happily with the brethren. Even though Aegeates often importuned her and offered her the opportunity to control his affairs, he was not able to persuade her. One night, undetected by anyone in his household, he threw himself from a great height and died.
Stratocles, Aegeates' brother according to the flesh, did not want so much as to touch the property Aegeates left—the wretch died childless. He said, 'May your possessions go with you, Aegeates! May Jesus be my friend and I his! Casting from me the entire lot of external and internal evils and entrusting to that one everything I own, I thrust aside everything averse to him.'
65(11). Here let me make an end of the blessed tales, acts, and mysteries difficult—or should I say impossible—to express. Let this stroke of the pen end it. I will pray first for myself, that I heard what was actually said, both the obvious and also the obscure, comprehensible only to the intellect. Then I will pray for all who are convinced by what was said, that they may have fellowship with each other, as God opens the ears of the listeners, in order to make comprehensible all his gifts in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom, together with the Father, be glory, honour, and power with the all‐holy and good and life‐giving, Spirit, now and always, forever and ever, amen.
B. Papyrus Texts
(I) P. Utrecht 1 1 Pages 1 – 8 are no longer extant.
t P. 9 he apostle. But when Andrew the apostle of Christ heard that they had arrested those from the city on his account, he arose and went out into the middle of the street and said to the brethren that there was no reason for dissimulating anything. And while the apostle was speaking these words, a young man was there, one of the four soldiers, in whose body was hidden a demon. When that young man had come into the presence of the apostle, the demon. cried out, saying, 'O Varianus, what have I done to you that you should send me to this god‐fearing man?' When the young man had said this, the demon cast him down, and made him foam [at the mouth]. His fellow‐soldiers, however, seized him and persisted in [holding him up]. But Andrew pitied the young man and said to his fellow‐soldiers: 'Are you ashamed, because you see your nature exposing you? Why do you take away the prize money so that he does not appeal to his king, to receive help so as to be able to fight against the demon who is hidden in his limbs? Not only is he appealing for this, but he is speaking in the language of the palace, so that his king will soon hear him. For I hear him say: [O Varianus, what [have I done to you that you should [send me to this god‐ fearing [man . . . Andrew [ a p. 10 gainst me. For this act which I have done, I have not done it by myself, but I have been compelled to do it. I will tell you, then, the whole meaning of this matter. This young man who is tormented in his body, has a sister, a virgin, who is a great ascetic and athlete. Truly, I say, she is near to God because of her purity and her prayers and her love. Now, to relate it briefly, there was somebody near her house, who was a great magician. It happened one day thus: one evening the virgin went up on her roof to pray, the young magician saw her praying, Semmath entered into him to fight against this great athlete. The young magician said within himself: 'I have spent twenty years under the instruction of my master until I was taught this skill, behold! now this is the beginning of my career; if I do not prevail upon this virgin, I shall not be able to do any work.' And the young magician conjured up some great powers upon the virgin and sent them after her. And when the demons went to tempt her or to persuade her, they acted like her brother and knocked at the door. She arose and went down to open the door, thinking that it was her brother. But first she prayed much, so that the demons became like [flames of fire? or as the . . . and fell]? ]and fled away ]little. T p. 13 he virgin wept with Eirusia. Eirusia, however, said to the virgin: 'Why do you weep? Do you not know that those who come here . . . to weep [ for this is the place . . . now these powers come after you, in order to tempt you (? or: in order to take you?) . . . you weep, while the sorrow [ Now however, if you weep over your brother because a God (?) . . . with him, to‐morrow I shall send him to the apostle Andrew, that he may heal him. Not only so that I shall heal him, but I shall make him enter into the (military) service of the palace.' When the demon had said this, the apostle said to him: 'How did you acquire knowledge concerning the hidden mysteries of the height? A soldier, when cast out of the palace, is not at all allowed to learn the mysteries of the palace; and how will he learn the hidden mysteries of the height?' The demon said to him, 'I descended into this night . . . this young man, while a power out of the height entered into[ ] virgin in him out . . . goes, while she will go away . . . this her friend . . . said ] sorrow (?) befalls me [ the great power came out of the height in this night [ (The apostle is speaking) p. 14 'why then should you not tremble, since you speak (of) the mysteries of the height. I tremble completely in all my limbs and I glorify the Receiver who will come for the souls of the saints. O athletes of virtue, not in vain have you fought. Behold! the judge of the contest prepares for you the crown imperishable. O fighters, not in vain have you acquired weapons and shields, and not in vain have you endured wars: the king has prepared for you the palace. O virgins, not in vain have you guarded the purity and not in vain have you persevered in prayers, your lamps burning at midnight, until this voice reached you: 'Arise, go out to meet the bridegroom.' 2 Cf. Matt. 25: 6 . When the apostle had said this, he turned to the demon and said [to him], 'Now indeed it is time for you to come out from this young man, so that he may enter on (military) service at the heavenly palace.' The demon said to the apostle, 'Truly, O man of God, I have never destroyed a limb of his because of the holy hands of his sister. Now, however, I shall go out from this young man, for I have done no harm at all to his limbs.' And when the demon had said this he went out of [the young man]. When he had [gone out from] the young [man] [he put off his uniform] o p. 15 f soldiery and [cast it] before the feet of the apostle, saying, 'O man of God, I have spent twenty coins to acquire this ephemeral garment; but now I desire to spend all that I have to acquire the uniform of your God.' His fellow‐soldiers said to him, 'Poor youth, if you deny the garment of the king, you will be punished.' Said the young man to them, 'Indeed I am a miserable fellow because of my earlier sins; would that my punishment were only because of this that I denied the garment of the king and not that I am punished because I have despised the garment of the immortal King of the Ages. O ignorant ones, do you not see what kind of man this is? For he has no sword in his hand nor any weapon of war and (yet) these great miracles are performed by him.'
(II) Bodleian Fragment
. . . Ir man . . . to behold me in the member which is . . . Then said Jesus to Andrew, 'Come near to me, Andrew; your name is the fire; blessed are you among men.' Andrew answered and said unto the Saviour 'Allow me to speak.' Then said he to him, 'Speak, Andrew, you firmly established pillar.' Andrew answered and said, 'As God lives Who is your Father, I Iv came out from the house of my father and my mother; and as my soul lives, I have not again gone into it, and I have not beheld the faces of my father and my mother, neither have I beheld the faces of my children and my wife, but I bore my cross every day, following you from morning till night and I have not laid it down.' Jesus answered and said, 'I know this Andrew? . . . ' . . . IIv a lesser than one of us who bear your name. Two coats I have not desired for myself; even this coat which is upon me . . . '
C. Gregory of Tours' Epitome
The famous triumphs of the apostles are, I believe, not unknown to any of the faithful, for some of them are taught us in the pages of the gospel, others are related in the Acts of the Apostles, and about some of them books exist in which the actions of each apostle are recorded; yet of the more part we have nothing but their Passions in writing.
Now I have come upon a book on the miracles (virtues, great deeds) of St Andrew the apostle, which, because of its excessive verbosity, was called by some apocryphal. And of this I thought good to extract and set out the 'virtues' only, omitting all that bred weariness, and so include the wonderful miracles within the compass of one small volume, which might both please the reader and ward off the spite of the adverse critic: for it is not the multitude of words but the soundness of reason and the purity of mind that produce unblemished faith.
1. After the Ascension the apostles dispersed to preach in various countries. Andrew began in the province of Achaea, but Matthew went to the city of Mermidona. 1 The rest of 1 gives a short abstract of the Acts of Andrew and Matthew.
2. Andrew left Mermidona and came back to his own allotted district. Walking with his disciples he met a blind man who said, 'Andrew, apostle of Christ, I know you can restore my sight', but I do not wish for that: only bid those with you to give me enough money to clothe and feed myself decently.' Andrew said, 'This is the devil's voice, who will not allow the man to recover his sight.' He touched his eyes and healed him. Then, as he had but a vile rough garment, Andrew said, 'Take the filthy garment off him and clothe him afresh.' All were ready to strip themselves, and Andrew said, 'Let him have what will suffice him.' He returned home thankful.
3. Demetrius of Amasea had an Egyptian boy of whom he was very fond, who died of a fever. Demetrius hearing of Andrew's miracles, came, fell at his feet, and besought help. Andrew pitied him, came to the house, held a very long discourse, turned to the bier, raised the boy, and restored him to his master. All believed and were baptized.
4. A Christian lad named Sostratus came to Andrew privately and told him, 'My mother cherishes a guilty passion for me: I have repulsed her, and she has gone to the proconsul to throw the guilt on me. I would rather die than expose her.' The officers came to fetch the boy, and Andrew prayed and went with him. The mother accused him. The proconsul bade him defend himself. He was silent, and so continued, until the proconsul retired to take counsel. The mother began to weep. Andrew said, 'Unhappy woman, you do not fear to cast your own guilt on your son.' She said to the proconsul, 'Ever since my son entertained his wicked wish he has been in constant company with this man.' The proconsul was enraged, ordered the lad to be sewn into the leather bag for parricides and drowned in the river, and Andrew to be imprisoned till his punishment should be devised. Andrew prayed, there was an earthquake, the proconsul fell from his seat, every one was prostrated, and the mother withered up and died. The proconsul fell at Andrew's feet praying for mercy. The earthquake and thunder ceased, and he healed those who had been hurt. The proconsul and his house were baptized.
5. The son of Gratinus of Sinope bathed in the women's bath and was seized by a demon. Gratinus wrote to Andrew for help: he himself had a fever and his wife dropsy. Andrew went there in a vehicle. The boy tormented by the evil spirit fell at his feet. He bade it depart and so it did, with outcries. He then went to Gratinus' bed and told him he well deserved to suffer because of his loose life, and bade him rise and sin no more. He was healed. The wife was rebuked for her infidelity. 'If she is to return to her former sin, let her not now be healed: if she can keep from it, let her be healed.' The water came out of her body and she was cured. The apostle broke bread and gave it her. She thanked God, believed with all her house, and relapsed no more into sin. Gratinus afterwards sent Andrew great gifts by his servants, and then, with his wife, asked him in person to accept them, but he refused saying, 'It is rather for you to give them to the needy.'
6. After this he went to Nicaea where were seven devils living among the tombs by the wayside, who at noon stoned passers‐by and had killed many And all the city came out to meet Andrew with olive branches, crying, 'Our salvation is in you, O man of God.' When they had told him all, he said, 'If you believe in Christ you shall be freed.' They cried, 'We will.' He thanked God and commanded the demons to appear; they came in the form of dogs. Said he, 'These are your enemies: if you profess your belief that I can drive them out in Jesus' name, I will do so.' They cried out, 'We believe that Jesus Christ whom you preach is the Son of God.' Then he bade the demons go into dry and barren places and hurt no man till the last day. They roared and vanished. The apostle baptized the people and made Callistus bishop.
7. At the gate of Nicomedia he met a dead man borne on a bier, and his old father supported by slaves, hardly able to walk, and his old mother with hair torn, bewailing. 'How has it happened?', he asked. 'He was alone in his chamber and seven dogs rushed on him and killed him.' Andrew sighed and said, 'This is an ambush of the demons I banished from Nicaca. What will you do, father, if I restore your son?' 'I have nothing more precious than him, I will give him.' He prayed, 'Let the spirit of this lad return.' The faithful responded, 'Amen'. Andrew bade the lad rise, and he rose, and all cried, 'Great is the God of Andrew.' The parents offered great gifts which he refused, but took the lad to Macedonia, instructing him.
8. Embarking in a ship he sailed into the Hellespont, on the way to Byzantium. There was a great storm. Andrew prayed and there was calm. They reached Byzantium.
9. Thence proceeding through Thrace they met a troop of armed men who made as if to fall on them. Andrew made the sign of the cross against them, and prayed that they might be made powerless. A bright angel touched their swords and they all fell down, and Andrew and his company passed by while they worshipped him. And the angel departed in a great light.
10. At Perinthus he found a ship going to Macedonia, and an angel told him to go on board. As he preached the captain and the rest heard and were converted, and Andrew glorified God for making himself known on the sea.
11. At Philippi were two brothers, one of whom had two sons, the other two daughters. They were rich and noble, and said, 'There is no family as good as ours in the place: let us marry our sons to our daughters.' It was agreed and the earnest paid by the father of the sons. On the wedding‐day a word from God came to them, 'Wait till my servant Andrew comes: he will tell you what you should do.' All preparations had been made, and guests bidden, but they waited. On the third day Andrew came: they went out to meet him with wreaths and told him how they had been charged to wait for him, and how things stood. His face was shining so that they marvelled at him. He said, 'Do not, my children, be deceived: rather repent, for you have sinned in thinking to join together those who are near of kin. We do not forbid or shun marriage. 2 This cannot be the author's original sentiment: it is contradicted by all that we know of the Acts. It is a divine institution: but we condemn incestuous unions.' The parents were troubled and prayed for pardon. The young people saw Andrew's face like that of an angel, and said, 'We are sure that your teaching is true.' The apostle blessed them and departed.
12. At Thessalonica was a rich noble youth, Exuos, who came without his parents' knowledge and asked to be shown the way of truth. He was taught, and believed, and followed Andrew, taking no care of his worldly estate. The parents heard that he was at Philippi and tried to bribe him with gifts to leave Andrew. He said, 'Would that you had not these riches, then you would know the true God, and escape his wrath.' Andrew, too, came down from the third storey and preached to them, but in vain: he retired and shut the doors of the house. They gathered a band and came to burn the house, saying, 'Death to the son who has forsaken his parents', and brought torches, reeds, and faggots, and set the house on fire. It blazed up. Exuos took a bottle of water and prayed, 'Lord Jesus Christ, in whose hand is the nature of all the elements, who moisten the dry and dry the moist, cool the hot and kindle the quenched, put out this fire that your servants may not grow evil, but be more enkindled unto faith.' He sprinkled the flames and they died. 'He is become a sorcerer', said the parents, and got ladders, to climb up and kill them, but God blinded them. They remained obstinate, but one Lysimachus, a citizen, said, 'Why persevere? God is fighting for these. Desist, lest heavenly fire consume you.' They were touched, and said, 'This is the true God.' It was now night, but a light shone out, and they received sight. They went up and fell before Andrew and asked pardon, and their repentance made Lysimachus say, 'Truly Christ whom Andrew preaches is the Son of God.' All were converted except the youth's parents, who cursed him and went home again, leaving all their money to public uses. Fifty days after they suddenly died, and the citizens, who loved the youth, returned the property to him. He did not leave Andrew, but spent his income on the poor.
13. The youth asked Andrew to go with him to Thessalonica. All assembled in the theatre, glad to see their favourite. The youth preached to them, Andrew remaining silent, and all wondered at his wisdom. The people cried out, 'Save the son of Carpianus who is ill, and we will believe.' Carpianus went to his house and said to the boy, 'You shall be cured to‐day, Adimantus.' He said, 'Then my dream is come true: I saw this man in a vision healing me.' He rose up, dressed, and ran to the theatre, outstripping his father, and fell at Andrew's feet. The people seeing him walk after twenty‐three years, cried, 'There is none like the God of Andrew.'
14. A citizen had a son possessed by an unclean spirit and asked for his cure. The demon, foreseeing that he would be cast out, took the son aside into a chamber and made him hang himself. The father said, 'Bring him to the theatre: I believe this stranger is able to raise him.' He said the same to Andrew. Andrew said to the people, 'What will it profit you if you see this accomplished and do not believe?' They said, 'Fear not, we will believe.' The lad was raised and they said, 'It is enough, we do believe.' And they escorted Andrew to the house with torches and lamps, for it was night, and he taught them for three days.
15. Medias of Philippi came and prayed for his sick son. Andrew wiped his cheeks and stroked his head, saying, 'Be comforted, only believe', and went with him to Philippi. As they entered the city an old man met them and entreated for his sons whom, for an unspeakable crime, Medias had imprisoned, and they were putrefied with sores. Andrew said, 'How can you ask help for your son when you keep these men bound? Loose their chains first, for your unkindness obstructs my prayers.' Medias, penitent, said, 'I will loose these two and seven others of whom you have not been told.' They were brought, tended for three days, cured, and freed. Then the apostle healed the son, Philomedes, who had been ill twenty‐two years. The people cried, 'Heal our sick as well.' Andrew told Philomedes to visit them in their houses and bid them rise in the name of Jesus Christ, by which he had himself been healed. This was done, and all believed and offered gifts, which Andrew did not accept.
16. A citizen, Nicolaus, offered a gilt chariot and four white mules and four white horses as his most precious possession for the cure of his daughter. Andrew smiled. 'I accept your gifts, but not these visible ones: if you offer this for your daughter, what will you for your soul? That is what I desire of you, that the inner man may recognize the true God, reject earthly things and desire eternal . . . ' He persuaded all to forsake their idols, and healed the girl. His fame went through all Macedonia.
17. Next day as he taught, a youth cried out, 'What have you to do with us? Have you come to turn us out of our own place?' Andrew summoned him: 'What is your work?' 'I have dwelt in this boy from his youth and thought never to leave him: but three days since I heard his father say, "I shall go to Andrew"; and now I fear the torments you bring us and I shall depart.' The spirit left the boy. And many came and asked, 'In whose name do you cure our sick?'
Philosophers also came and disputed with him, and no one could resist his teaching.
18. At this time, one who opposed him went to the proconsul Virinus and said, 'A man is arisen in Thessalonica who says the temples should be destroyed and ceremonies done away, and all the ancient law abolished, and one God worshipped, whose servant he says he is.' The proconsul sent soldiers and knights to fetch Andrew. They found his dwelling; when they entered, his face so shone that they fell down in fear. Andrew told those present the proconsul's purpose. The people armed themselves against the soldiers, but Andrew stopped them. The proconsul arrived; not finding Andrew in the appointed place, he raged like a lion and sent twenty more men. They, on arrival, were confounded and said nothing. The proconsul sent a large troop to bring him by force. Andrew said, 'Have you come for me?' 'Yes, if you are the sorcerer who says the gods ought not to be worshipped.' 'I am no sorcerer, but the apostle of Jesus Christ whom I preach.' At this, one of the soldiers drew his sword and cried, 'What have I to do with you, Virinus, that you send me to one who can not only cast me out of this vessel, but burn me by his power? Would that you would come yourself! You would do him no harm.' And the devil went out of the soldier and he fell dead. On this the proconsul came and stood before Andrew but could not see him. 'I am he whom you seek.' His eyes were opened, and he said in anger: 'What is this madness, that you despise us and our officers? You are certainly a sorcerer. Now will I throw you to the beasts for contempt of our gods and us, and we shall see if the crucified whom you preach will help you.' Andrew: 'You must believe, proconsul, in the true God and his Son whom he has sent, specially now that one of your men is dead.' And after long prayer he touched the soldier: 'Rise up: my God Jesus Christ raises you.' He arose and stood whole. The people cried, 'Glory be to our God.' The proconsul, 'Believe not, O people, believe not the sorcerer.' They said, 'This is no sorcery but sound and true teaching.' The proconsul: 'I shall throw this man to the beasts and write about you to Caesar, that you may perish for contemning his laws.' They would have stoned him, and said, 'Write to Caesar that the Macedonians have received the word of God, and forsaking their idols, worship the true God.'
Then the proconsul in wrath retired to the praetorium, and in the morning brought beasts to the stadium and had the apostle dragged thither by the hair and beaten with clubs. First they sent in a fierce boar who went about him thrice and did not touch him. The people praised God. A bull led by thirty soldiers and incited by two hunters, did not touch Andrew but tore the hunters to pieces, roared, and fell dead. 'Christ is the true God,' said the people. An angel was seen to descend and strengthen the apostle. The proconsul in rage sent in a fierce leopard, which left everyone alone but seized and strangled the proconsul's son; but Virinus was so angry that he said nothing of it nor cared. Andrew said to the people, 'Recognize now that this is the true God, whose power subdues the beasts, though Virinus knows him not. But that you may believe the more, I will raise the dead son, and confound the foolish father.' After long prayer he raised him. The people would have slain Virinus, but Andrew restrained them, and Virinus went to the praetorium, confounded.
19. After this a youth who followed the apostle sent for his mother to meet Andrew. She came, and after being instructed, begged him to come to their house, which was devastated by a great serpent. As Andrew approached, it hissed loudly and with raised head came to meet him; it was fifty cubits long: everyone fell down in fear. Andrew said, 'Hide your head, foul one, which you raised in the beginning for the hurt of mankind, and obey the servants of God, and die.' The serpent roared, and coiled about a great oak near by and vomited poison and blood and died.
Andrew went to the woman's farm, where a child killed by the serpent lay dead. He said to the parents, 'Our God who would have you saved has sent me here that you may believe on him. Go and see the slayer slain.' They said, 'We care not so much for the child's death, if we be avenged.' They went, and Andrew said to the proconsul's wife [her conversion has been omitted by Gregory], 'Go and raise the boy.' She went, nothing doubting, and said, 'In the name of my God Jesus Christ, rise up whole.' The parents returned and found their child alive, and fell at Andrew's feet.
20. On the next night he saw a vision which he related. 'Hearken, beloved, to my vision. I beheld, and lo, a great mountain raised up on high, which had on it nothing earthly, but only shone with such light, that it seemed to enlighten all the world. And lo, there stood by me my beloved brethren the apostles Peter and John; and John reached his hand to Peter and raised him to the top of the mount, and turned to me and asked me to go up after Peter, saying, "Andrew, you are to drink Peter's cup." And he stretched out his hands and said, "Draw near to me and stretch out your hands so as to join them unto mine, and put your head by my head." When I did so I found myself shorter than John. After that he said to me: "Would you know the image of that which you see, and who it is that speaks to you?", and I said, "I desire to know it." And he said to me, "I am the word of the cross whereon you shall hang shortly, for his name's sake whom you preach." And many other things he said to me, of which I must now say nothing, but they shall be declared when I come unto the sacrifice. But now let all assemble that have received the word of God, and let me commend them to the Lord Jesus Christ, that he may vouchsafe to keep them unblemished in his teaching. For I am now being loosed from the body, and go to that promise which he has vouchsafed to promise me, who is the Lord of heaven and earth, the Son of God Almighty, very God with the Holy Ghost, continuing for everlasting ages?' 3 John in the latter part of this vision has been substituted by Gregory for Jesus. The echoes of the Acts of John and of Peter are very evident here.
All the brethren wept and smote their faces. When all were gathered, Andrew said, 'Know, beloved, that I am about to leave you, but I trust in Jesus whose word I preach, that he will keep you from evil, that this harvest which I have sown among you may not be plucked up by the enemy, that is, the knowledge and teaching of my Lord Jesus Christ. But pray always and stand firm in the faith, that the Lord may root out all tares of offence and vouchsafe to gather you into his heavenly garner as pure wheat.' So for five days he taught and confirmed them: then he spread his hands and prayed, 'Keep, I beseech you, O Lord, this flock which has now known your salvation, that the wicked one may not prevail against it, but that what by your command and my means it has received, it may be able to preserve inviolate for ever.' And all responded, 'Amen.' He took bread, broke it with thanksgiving, gave it to all, saying, 'Receive the grace which Christ our Lord God gives you by me his servant.' He kissed everyone and commended them to the Lord, and departed to Thessalonica, and after teaching there two days, he left them.
21. Many faithful from Macedonia accompanied him in two ships. And all were desirous of being on Andrew's ship, to hear him. He said, 'I know your wish, but this ship is too small. Let the servants and baggage go in the larger ship, and you with me in this.' He gave them Anthimus to comfort them, and bade them go into another ship which he ordered to keep always near . . . that they might see him and hear the word of God. And as he slept a little, one fell overboard. Anthimus roused him, saying, 'Help us, good master; one of your servants perishes.' He rebuked the wind, there was a calm, and the man was borne by the waves to the ship. Anthimus helped him on board and all marvelled. On the twelfth day they reached Patras in Achaea, disembarked, and went to an inn.
22. Many asked him to lodge with them, but he said he could only go where God bade him. That night he had no revelation, and the next night, being distressed at this, he heard a voice saying, 'Andrew, I am always with you and forsake you not,' and was glad.
Lesbius the proconsul was told in a vision to take him in, and sent a messenger for him. He came, and entering the proconsul's chamber found him lying as dead with closed eyes; he struck him on the side and said, 'Rise and tell us what has happened to you.' Lesbius said, 'I abominated the way which you teach, and sent soldiers in ships to the proconsul of Macedonia to send you bound to me, but they were wrecked and could not reach their destination. As I continued in my purpose of destroying your Way, two Ethiopes appeared and scourged me, saying, "We can no longer prevail here, for the man is coming whom you mean to persecute. So to‐night, while we still have the power, we will avenge ourselves on you." And they beat me sorely and left me. But now do you pray that I may be pardoned and healed.' Andrew preached the word and all believed, and the proconsul was healed and confirmed in the faith.
23. Now Trophima, once the proconsul's mistress, and now married to another, left her husband and joined Andrew. Her husband came to Lesbius' wife and said she was renewing her liaison wth the proconsul. The wife, enraged, said, 'This is why my husband has left me these six months.' She called her procurator and had Trophima sentenced as a prostitute and sent to the brothel. Lesbius knew nothing, and was deceived by his wife, when he asked about her. Trophima in the brothel prayed continually, and had the Gospel on her bosom, and no one could approach her. One day as someone attacked her the Gospel fell to the ground. She cried to God for help and an angel came, and the youth fell dead. After that, she raised him, and all the city ran to the sight.
Lesbius' wife went to the bath with the steward, and as they bathed an ugly demon came and killed them both. Andrew heard and said, 'It is the judgement of God for their usage of Trophima.' The lady's nurse, decrepit from age, was carried to the spot, and supplicated for her. Andrew said to Lesbius, 'Will you have her raised?' 'No, after all the ill she has done.' 'We ought not to be unmerciful.' Lesbius went to the praetorium; Andrew raised his wife, who remained shamefaced: he bade her go home and pray. 'First', she said, 'reconcile me to Trophima whom I have injured.' 'She bears you no malice.' He called her and they were reconciled. Callisto was the wife.
Lesbius, growing in faith, came one day to Andrew and confessed all his sins. Andrew said, 'I thank God, my son, that you fear the judgement to come. Be strong in the Lord in whom you believe.' And he took his hand and walked with him on the shore.
24. They sat down, with others, on the sand, and he taught. A corpse was thrown up by the sea near them. 'We must learn', said Andrew, 'what the enemy has done to him.' So he raised him, gave him a garment, and bade him tell his story. He said, 'I am the son of Sostratus, of Macedonia, lately come from Italy. On returning home I heard of a new teaching, and set forth to find out about it. On the way here we were wrecked and all drowned.' And after some thought, he realized that Andrew was the man he sought, and fell at his feet and said, 'I know that you are the servant of the true God. I beseech you for my companions, that they also may be raised and know him.' Then Andrew instructed him, and thereafter prayed God to show the bodies of the other drowned men: thirty‐nine were washed ashore, and all there prayed for them to be raised. Philopator, the youth, said, 'My father sent me here with a great sum. Now he is blaspheming God and his teaching. Let it not be so.' Andrew ordered the bodies to be collected, and said, 'Whom will you have raised first?' He said, 'Varus my foster‐brother.' So he was first raised and then the other thirty‐eight. Andrew prayed over each, and then told the brethren each to take the hand of one and say, 'Jesus Christ the son of the living God raises you.'
Lesbius gave much money to Philopator to replace what he had lost, and he stayed with Andrew.
25. A woman, Calliopa, married to a murderer, conceived an illegitimate child and suffered in travail. She told her sister to call on Diana for help; when she did so the devil appeared to her at night and said, 'Why do you trouble me with vain prayers? Go to Andrew in Achaea.' She came, and he accompanied her to Corinth, Lesbius with him. Andrew said to Calliopa, 'You deserve to suffer for your evil life: but believe in Christ, and you will be relieved, but the child will be born dead.' And so it was.
26. Andrew did many signs in Corinth. Sostratus the father of Philopator, warned in a vision to visit Andrew, came first to Achaea and then to Corinth. He met Andrew walking with Lesbius, recognized him by his vision, and fell at his feet. Philopator said, 'This is my father, who seeks to know what he must do.' Andrew: 'I know that he is come to learn the truth; we thank God who reveals himself to believers.' Leontius the servant of Sostratus, said to him, 'Sir, do you see how this man's face shines?' 'I see, my beloved,' said Sostratus, 'let us never leave him, but live with him and hear the words of eternal life.' Next day they offered Andrew many gifts, but he said, 'It is not for me to take anything from you but your own selves. Had I desired money, Lesbius is richer.'
27. After some days he bade them prepare him a bath; and going there saw an old man with a devil, trembling exceedingly. As he wondered at him, another, a youth, came out of the bath and fell at his feet, saying, 'What have we to do with you, Andrew? Have you come here to turn us out of our abodes?' Andrew said to the people, 'Fear not', and drove out both the devils. Then, as he bathed, he told them, 'The enemy of mankind lies in wait everywhere, in baths and in rivers; therefore we ought always to invoke the Lord's name, that he may have no power over us.'
They brought their sick to him to be healed, and so they did from other cities.
28. An old man, Nicolaus, came with clothes rent and said, 'I am seventy‐four years old and have always been a libertine. Three days ago I heard of your miracles and teaching. I thought I would turn over a new leaf, and then again that I would not. In this doubt, I took a Gospel and prayed God to make me forget my old devices. A few days after, I forgot the Gospel I had about me, and went to the brothel. The woman said, "Depart, old man, depart: you are an angel of God, do not touch me or approach me, for I see in you a great mystery." Then I remembered the Gospel, and am come to you for help and pardon.' Andrew discoursed for a long time against incontinence, and prayed from the sixth to the ninth hour. He rose and washed his face and said, 'I will not eat till I know if God will have mercy on this man.' A second day he fasted, but had no revelation until the fifth day, when he wept vehemently and said, 'Lord, we obtain mercy for the dead, and now this man that desires to know your greatness, why should he not return and you heal him?' A voice from heaven said, 'You have prevailed for the old man; but just as you are worn with fasting, let him also fast, that he may be saved.' And he called him and preached abstinence. On the sixth day he asked the brethren all to pray for Nicolaus, and they did. Andrew then took food and permitted the rest to eat. Nicolaus went home, gave away all his goods, and lived for six months on dry bread and water. Then he died. Andrew was not there, but in the place where he was he heard a voice, 'Andrew, Nicolaus for whom you interceded, is become mine.' And he told the brethren that Nicolaus was dead, and prayed that he might rest in peace.
29. And while he was staying in that place Antiphanes of Megara came and said, 'If there be in you any kindness, according to the command of the Saviour whom you preach, show it now.' Asked what his story was, he told it. 'Returning from a journey, I heard the porter of my house crying out. They told me that he and his wife and son were tormented of a devil. I went upstairs and found other servants gnashing their teeth, running at me, and laughing madly. I went further up and found they had beaten my wife: she lay with her hair over her face unable to recognize me. Cure her, and I care nothing for the others.' Andrew said, 'There is no respect of persons with God. Let us go there.' They went from Lacedaemon to Megara, and when they entered the house, all the devils cried out, 'What are you doing here, Andrew? Go where you are permitted: this house is ours.' He healed the wife and all the possessed persons, and Antiphanes and his wife became firm adherents.
30. He returned to Patras where Aegeates was now proconsul, and one Iphidama, who had been converted by a disciple, Sosias, came and embraced his feet and said, 'My lady Maximilla, who is in a fever, has sent for you. The proconsul is standing by her bed with his sword drawn, meaning to kill himself when she expires.' He went to her, and said to Aegeates, 'Do yourself no harm, but put up your sword into its place. There will be a time when you will draw it on me.' Aegeates did not understand, but made way. Andrew took Maximilla's hand, she broke into a sweat, and was well: he bade them give her food. The proconsul sent him 100 pieces of silver, but he would not look at them.
31. Going thence he saw a sick man lying in the dirt begging, and healed him.
32. Elsewhere he saw a blind man with wife and son, and said: 'This is indeed the devil's work: he has blinded them in the soul and body.' He opened their eyes and they believed.
33. One who saw this said, 'I beg you come to the harbour; there is a man, the son of a sailor, sick fifty years, cast out of the house, lying on the shore, incurable, full of ulcers and worms.' They went to him. The sick man said, 'Perhaps you are the disciple of that God who alone can save.' Andrew said, 'I am he who in the name of my God can restore you to health', and added, 'In the name of Jesus Christ, rise and follow me.' He left his filthy rags and followed, the pus and worms flowing from him. They went into the sea, and the apostle washed him in the name of the Trinity, and he was whole and ran naked through the city proclaiming the true God.
34. At this time the proconsul's brother Stratocles arrived from Italy. One of his slaves, Alcman, whom he loved, was taken by a devil and lay foaming in the court. Stratocles hearing of it said, 'Would the sea had swallowed me before I saw this.' Maximilla and Iphidama said, 'Be comforted: there is a man of God here, let us send for him.' When he came he took the boy's hand and raised him whole. Stratocles believed and became a follower of Andrew.
35. Maximilla went daily to the praetorium and sent for Andrew to teach there. Aegeates was away in Macedonia, angry because Maximilla had left him since her conversion. As they were all assembled one day, he returned, to their great terror. Andrew prayed that he might not be allowed to enter the place till all had dispersed. And Aegeates was at once seized with indisposition, and in the interval the apostle signed them all and sent them away, himself last. But Maximilla on the first opportunity came to Andrew and received the word of God and went home.
36. After this Andrew was taken and imprisoned by Aegeates, and all came to the prison to be taught. After a few days he was scourged and crucified; he hung for three days, preaching, and expired, as is fully set forth in his Passion. Maximilla embalmed and buried his body.
37. From the tomb comes manna like flour, and oil: the amount shows the barrenness or fertility of the coming season—as I have told in my first book of Miracles. I have not set out his Passion at length, because I find it well done by some one else. 4 The Passion to which Gregory alludes is probably Conversante et Docente.
38. This much have I presumed to write, unworthy, unlettered, &c. The author's prayer for himself ends the book. May Andrew, on whose death‐day he was born, intercede to save him.
D. The Acts of Andrew and Matthias
1. At that time, all the apostles were gathered together at one place and divided the regions among themselves by casting lots, so that each would leave for his allotted share. The lot fell on Matthias to go to the city called Myrmidonia. 1 Where 'Myrmidonia' occurs in the text, following Latin witnesses, note that the bulk of Greek support reads 'city (or region) of the cannibals'. Generally, I follow MacDonald throughout in preferring Myrmidonia with the Latin.
The people of that city ate no bread and drank no water, but ate human flesh and drank their blood. They would seize all who came to their city, gouge out their eyes, and make them drink a drug prepared by sorcery and magic. When forced by them to drink the drug, the victims' hearts became muddled and their minds deranged. Out of their minds and taken to prison, they would eat hay like cattle or sheep.
2. So when Matthias entered the gate of the city Myrmidonia, the people of that city seized him and gouged out his eyes. They made him drink the drug of their magical deceit, led him off to the prison, and gave him grass to eat.
He ate nothing, for his heart was not muddled and his mind not deranged when he took their drug, but he prayed to God weeping, 'Lord Jesus Christ, for whom we have forsaken everything to follow you, knowing that you help all who hope in you, pay attention and see what they have done to your servant Matthias, how they have nearly reduced me to the condition of beasts, for you know all. Therefore, if you have determined in my case that the lawless people of this city should devour me, I will not flee your plan. Restore to me, Lord, the light of my eyes, so that I can see what the lawless men of this city are undertaking against me. Do not abandon me, my Lord Jesus Christ, and do not hand me over to this bitter death.'
3. As Matthias was praying, a light shone in the prison, and a voice came out of the light saying, 'Beloved Matthias, receive your sight.' Immediately he received his sight. Again the voice came out saying, 'Brace yourself, our Matthias, and do not be terrified, for I will never abandon you. I will rescue you from every danger, not only you but also all your brothers and sisters who are with you, for I am with you every hour and always. But remain here twenty‐seven days for the benefit of many souls, and then I will send Andrew to you who will lead you out of this prison, not only you but also all who are with you.' When the Saviour had said these things, he again said to Matthias, 'Peace be with you, our Matthias', and he returned to heaven.
Seeing this, Matthias said to the Lord, 'May your grace continue with me, my Lord Jesus!' Then Matthias sat in the prison and sang.
When the executioners came into the prison to carry people away to eat, Matthias would shut his eyes so they would not notice he could see. The executioners came to him, read the ticket on his hand, and said to each other, 'In three days we will take this one too from the prison and slaughter him.' (They would indicate for everyone they caught the date of their capture, and they tied a ticket to their right hands so that they would know the completion of thirty days.)
4. When twenty‐seven days elapsed since Matthias had been captured, the Lord Jesus appeared in a city of Achaea where Andrew was teaching and said to him, 'Arise, go with your disciples to the city called Myrmidonia, and bring Matthias out of that place, for in three days the citizenry will bring him out and slaughter him for their food.'
'My Lord,' answered Andrew, 'I cannot travel there before the three day limit, so send your angel quickly to get him out of there. For you know, Lord, that I too am flesh and cannot go there quickly. I do not even know the route.'
'Obey the one who made you,' he told Andrew, 'the one who can speak but a word and that city and all its inhabitants would be brought here. For if I were to command the horns of the winds, they would drive it here. But rise up early, go down to the sea with your disciples, and you will find a boat on the shore that you and your disciples should board.' Having said this, the Saviour again said, 'Peace to you, Andrew, and to those with you', and he went into the heavens.
5. Rising early in the morning, Andrew and his disciples went to the sea, and when he descended to the shore he saw a small boat and seated in the boat three men. The Lord by his own power had prepared the boat. He himself was in the boat like a human captain, and he had brought on board two angels whom he transformed to look like humans, and they were sitting in the boat with him.
When Andrew saw the boat and the three men in it, he was overjoyed. He went to them and said, 'Brothers, where are you going with this little boat?'
'We are going to the city of Myrmidonia', answered the Lord.
Andrew looked at Jesus but did not recognize him, because Jesus was hiding his divinity and appeared to Andrew as a human captain. 'I too am going to the city of the Myrmidons,' Andrew answered, "so take us to this city, brothers.'
'Everybody flees from that city', Jesus told him. 'How is it that you are going there?'
'We have a small task to perform there, and we must finish it,' Andrew answered. 'But if you can, do us the favour of taking us to the city of Myrmidonia where you too are now going.'
'If it is so very necessary for you,' Jesus answered, 'board this boat and travel with us.'
6. 'Young man,' said Andrew, 'I want to make something clear to you before we board your boat.'
'Say what you want', Jesus said.
'Listen brother: we have no fare to offer you,' Andrew said, 'and we have no bread to eat.'
'How then can you board if you have no fare for us and no bread to eat?', Jesus asked.
'Listen brother,' said Andrew to Jesus, 'do not think that we withhold our fare from you as an act of arrogance. We are disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, the good God. He chose us twelve and gave us this command: "When you go to preach take on the road no money, no bread, no bag, no sandals, no staff, and no change of tunic.' 2 Cf. Mark 6: 8–9; Matt. 10: 7–10 : Luke 9: 3, 10: 4 . So if you will do us the favour, brother, tell us straightaway. If not let us know and we will leave to find ourselves another boat.'
'If this is the command you received, and if you are carrying it out,' Jesus told Andrew, 'board my boat joyfully. In truth, I would rather bring aboard my boat you disciples of the one called Jesus than those who offer me gold and silver, for I am fully worthy that the apostle of the Lord should board my boat.'
'Brother,' responded Andrew, 'allow me. May the Lord grant you glory and honour.' Andrew and his disciples boarded the boat.
7. After boarding he sat down by the sail of the boat, and Jesus said to one of the angels, 'Get up and go below to the hold of the boat, bring up three loaves, and place them before all the brothers, so that the men may eat in case they are hungry from having come to us after a long trip.' He got up, went below to the hold of the boat, and brought up three loaves, just as the Lord had commanded him, and set out the bread for them.
Then Jesus said to Andrew, 'Brother, stand up with those in your party and take bread for nourishment, so that you may be strong enough to endure the turbulence of the sea.'
'My children,' Andrew told his disciples, 'we have experienced great generosity from this person, so stand up and take bread for nourishment, so that you might be strong enough to endure the turbulence of the sea.'
His disciples could not respond to him with as much as a word; they were already seasick. Then Jesus insisted that Andrew and his disciples take bread for nourishment.
'Brother,' said Andrew, unaware he was Jesus, 'may the Lord grant you heavenly bread from his kingdom. Just leave them alone, brother, for you see that the servants are queasy from the sea.'
'Perhaps the brothers have no experience of the sea,' Jesus told Andrew. 'Ask them if they want to return to land and wait for you until you finish your task and return to them again.'
Then Andrew asked his disciples, 'My children, do you want to return to land and wait for me there until I finish the task for which I was sent?'
'If we separate from you,' they answered Andrew, 'we may become strangers to the good things that you provided us. We shall be with you now wherever you go.'
8. Jesus said to Andrew, 'If you are indeed a disciple of the one called Jesus, tell your disciples the miracles your teacher did so that their souls may rejoice and that they may forget the terror of the sea, for we are about to push the boat off shore.' Jesus at once said to one of the angels, 'Cast off the boat', and he cast the boat off from land. Jesus went and sat at the rudder and piloted the craft.
Then Andrew encouraged and strengthened his disciples saying, 'My children, you who have handed over your souls to the Lord, do not be afraid, for the Lord will never abandon us. At that time when we were with our Lord, we boarded the boat with him, and he lay silently on board in order to test us; he was not really sleeping. A great wind arose, and the sea swelled so much that the waves broke over the sail of the boat. Because we were terrified, the Lord stood up and rebuked the winds, and calm returned to the sea. 3 Cf. Matt. 8: 23–7; Mark 4: 35–41; Luke 8: 22–5 . All things fear him, because they are his creations. So now, my children, do not be afraid, for the Lord Jesus will never abandon us.'
As the holy Andrew said this, he prayed in his heart that his disciples would be drawn off to sleep and no longer be terrified by the tempest. As Andrew prayed, his disciples fell asleep.
9. Andrew turned to the Lord, still not knowing it was the Lord, and said to him, 'There is something I would like to say to you.'
'Say what you wish', the Lord told him.
'Sir, show me your sailing technique, because from the moment I boarded until now I have constantly observed your piloting and I am astounded. I have never seen anyone sail the sea as now I see you doing. I sailed the seas sixteen times; this is my seventeenth, and I have never seen such skill. The ship actually responds as though it were on land. So, young man, show me your technique, for I eagerly desire to learn it.'
'We too have often sailed the sea and been in danger,' Jesus told Andrew, 'but because you are a disciple of the one called Jesus, the sea knew that you were righteous and so it was still and did not lift its waves against the boat.'
Then Andrew cried out in a loud voice, 'I bless you, my Lord Jesus Christ, that I have met a man who glorifies your name.'
10. 'Tell me, disciple of the one called Jesus,' Jesus asked Andrew, 'why did the faithless Jews not believe in him and say that he was not God but a human? How could a human do the miracles of God and his great wonders? Make it clear to me, disciple of the one called Jesus, for we heard that he revealed his divinity to his disciples.'
'Bother,' Andrew answered, 'he did indeed reveal to us that he was God, so do not suppose he is a human, for he himself created human beings'.
'Why then did the Jews not believe?', Jesus asked. 'Perhaps he performed no signs before them.'
'Have you not heard about the miracles he performed before them?', answered Andrew. 'He made the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, he cleansed lepers and changed water into wine. 4 Cf. Matt. 11: 5; Luke 7: 22; John 2: 1–12 . He took five loaves and two fish, made a crowd recline on grass, and after blessing the food gave it to them to eat. Those who ate were five thousand men and they were filled. They took up their excess, twelve baskets of leftovers. 5 Cf. Matt. 14: 13–21; Mark 6: 32–44; Luke 9: 10–17 . And even after all these miracles they did not believe in him.'
'Perhaps he did these signs before the people and not before the high priests,' Jesus told Andrew, 'and for this reason they did not believe in him.'
11. 'Yes, brother,' answered Andrew, 'he did them also before the high priests, not only publicly but also privately, and they did not believe in him.'
'What kind of miracles did he do privately?', Jesus asked. 'Disclose them to me.'
'O you with an inquisitive spirit,' Andrew said, 'why do you test me?'
Jesus said, 'By saying these things to you, disciple of the one called Jesus, I am not testing you, but my soul rejoices and exults—and not only mine, but every soul that hears of his wonders.'
'O child,' Andrew said, 'the Lord will fill your soul with all joy and every good thing, since you asked me now to tell you the signs which our Lord did privately. (12.) When we twelve disciples went with our Lord into the temple of the Gentiles in order for him to make us recognize the devil's ignorance, because the high priests saw us following Jesus they told us, "O you wretches, how can you walk with the one who says, 'I am the son of God'? God does not have a son, does he? Which of you has ever seen God consorting with a woman? Is he not the son of Joseph the carpenter? Is his mother not Mary, and are not his brothers James and Simon?" 6 Cf. Matt. 13: 55 .
'When we heard these words, our hearts turned weak. But Jesus, knowing that our hearts were giving way, took us to a desolate place, performed great signs before us, and demonstrated all of his divinity for us. And we said to the high priests, "You come too and see, for he has persuaded us."
13. 'When the high priests went with us and entered into the temple of the gentiles, Jesus showed us the form of heaven, so that we should know whether it was real or not. Thirty men of the people and four high priests entered with us. Looking to the right and left of the sanctuary, Jesus saw two sculpted marble sphinxes in the likeness of cherubim, which the priests of the idols worship and adore, one on the right and one on the left. Jesus turned to us and said, "Behold the replica of heaven, for these are similar to the cherubim and seraphim in heaven." Then Jesus looked at the sphinx on the right side of the temple and said to it, "I tell you, O model of that which is in heaven, which the hands of artists sculpted, be loosened from your place, come down, answer, disgrace the high priests, and prove to them that I am God and not a human."
14. 'And immediately, that very hour, the sphinx leaped up from its place, acquired a human voice, and said, "O foolish sons of Israel, the blindness of their own hearts is not enough for them, but they want to make others blind like themselves by saying God is a human. He it is who from the beginning formed the human and gave his breath to everything, who moves everything immovable. He it is who called Abraham, who loved his son Isaac, who returned his beloved Jacob to his land, appeared to him in the desert, and made for him many good things. He it is who led them out and gave them water from the gushing rock. He is the judge of the living and the dead. He it is who prepares marvellous things for those who obey him, and prepares punishment for those who do not believe in him. Do not suppose that I am merely a marble idol, for I tell you that the temples are more beautiful than your synagogue. Although we are stones, the priests gave us alone the name god, and the priests themselves who conduct worship in the temple purify themselves for fear of the demons. If they have sexual relations with women, they purify themselves seven days for fear they cannot enter into the temple because of us, and because of the name they gave us: 'god'. But when you fornicate, you take the law of God, go into God's synagogue, sit, read, and do not reverence the glorious words of God. Therefore, I tell you that the temples will abolish your synagogues, so that they even become churches of the unique son of God." Having said this, the sphinx was silent.
15. ' "The sphinx's speech is trustworthy," we told the high priests, "because even the stones tell you the truth and put you to shame".
'The high priests of the Jews answered, "Observe and learn that this stone speaks through magic. You must not suppose that he is a god. Had you tested what the sphinx said to you, you would have known this, for you heard the stone claim that this is the one who spoke with Abraham. Where did he find Abraham or see him? Since Abraham died not a few years before this person was born, how did he know Abraham?"
'Again Jesus turned to the sphinx and said to it, "Why do these people not believe that I spoke with Abraham? Go and enter the land of the Canaanites, go to the double cave in the field of Mambre where lies the body of Abraham, and outside the tomb call, 'Abraham, Abraham, you whose body is in the cave, but whose soul is in paradise, thus says the one who moulded human beings at the beginning, the one who made you his own friend: "Arise with your son Isaac and Jacob, and go into the temples of the Jebusites in order that we might refute the high priests, that they may know that I knew you and you me." ' "
'When it heard these words, immediately the sphinx walked before us all, went into the land of the Canaanites, to the field of Mambre, and called outside the tomb, just as Jesus had commanded it. At once the twelve patriarchs came out of the tomb alive and said to it, "To which of us were you sent?"
' "I was sent to the three patriarchs for evidence," the sphinx answered. "But as for you, go and rest until the time of resurrection."
'Hearing this, they went into the tomb and slept. The three patriarchs went with the sphinx, came to Jesus, and refuted the high priests. Then Jesus said to the patriarchs, "Go to your places." They left at once.
'Jesus turned to the sphinx and said, "Go up to your place", and immediately it arose and stood at its place. Even though the high priests saw these things, they did not believe in him. He showed us many other mysteries, which, should I narrate to you, brother, you would not be able to endure them.'
'I can endure them,' Jesus told him, 'for when the prudent hear useful words, their hearts rejoice. But when speaking with the perverted, you never—not until death—persuade their souls.'
16. When Jesus knew that the boat was nearing land, he laid his head on one of his angels, was still, and stopped speaking with Andrew. Seeing this, Andrew too laid his head on one of his disciples and fell asleep.
Jesus knew that Andrew was asleep and said to his angels, 'Spread out your hands, lift up Andrew and his disciples, and go and place them outside the gate of the city of the cannibals. Once you have set them on the ground, return to me.'
The angels did as Jesus commanded them: they lifted Andrew and his sleeping disciples, raised them aloft, and brought them outside the gate of the city of the cannibals. After putting them down, the angels returned to Jesus, and then Jesus and his angels ascended into heaven.
17. Early in the morning Andrew woke, looked up, and found himself sitting on the ground. When he looked, he saw the gate of the city of Myrmidonia. Looking about, he saw his disciples sleeping on the ground, and he woke them by saying, 'Get up, my children, and know the great event that has happened to us. Learn that the Lord was with us in the boat and we did not know him, for he transformed himself into a captain in the boat. He humbled himself and appeared to us as a mortal in order to test us.' When he had come to himself, Andrew said, 'Lord, I recognized your excellent speech, but I did not recognize you because you did not reveal yourself to me.'
'Father Andrew,' his disciples said, 'do not suppose that we were conscious when you spoke with him in the boat, for we were dragged off by a deep sleep. Eagles descended, carried away our souls, brought us to the heavenly paradise, and we saw great marvels. We saw our Lord Jesus sitting on a throne of glory and all the angels surrounding him. We saw Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, all the saints, and David singing a psalm with his harp. We saw you twelve apostles standing there before our Lord Jesus Christ, and outside you twelve angels circling you. One angel stood behind each of you, and they were like you in appearance. We heard the Lord say to the angels, "Listen to the apostles with regard to everything they ask of you." This is what we saw before you woke us, father Andrew, and they brought our souls into our bodies.'
18. When Andrew heard this he was exuberant that his disciples had been considered worthy to see these marvels. Andrew looked up into heaven and said 'Appear to me, Lord Jesus Christ, for I know you are not far from your servants. Forgive me, for I beheld you on the boat as a human and spoke with you as with a human. Therefore, O Lord, reveal yourself now to me in this place.'
After Andrew had said these things, Jesus came to him appearing like a most beautiful small child and said, 'Greetings, our Andrew.'
When Andrew saw him he fell to the earth, worshipped him, and said, 'Forgive me, Lord Jesus Christ, for on the sea I saw you as a human and spoke with you. My Lord Jesus, what sin had I committed that caused you not to reveal yourself to me on the sea?'
'You did not sin,' Jesus said to Andrew. 'I did these things to you because you said, "I cannot travel to the city of Myrmidonia in three days." I showed you that I can do anything and appear to each person in any form I wish. Now stand up, go to Matthias in the city, and bring him and all those strangers who are with him out of the prison. For behold, I show you, Andrew, before you enter their city what you must suffer. They will show you many terrible insults, contrive tortures, scatter your flesh on the public avenues and streets of their city. Your blood will flow on the ground like water. They will not be able to kill you, but they will contrive many afflictions. Stand firm, our Andrew, and do not respond in kind to their unbelief. Remember those many tortures my soul endured when they beat me, spat in my face, and said, "He casts out demons through Beelzebul." 7 Cf. Matt. 9: 34; 12: 24, 27; Mark 3: 22; Luke 11: 15, 19 . Am I not able with the blink of my eyes to crush the heaven and the earth against those who sin against me? But I endured and forgave in order to provide a model for you all. So now, our Andrew, if they inflict on you these insults and tortures, endure them, for there are those in this city who are about to believe.' After the Saviour said these things, he ascended into the heavens.
19. Andrew rose up and went to the city with his disciples without anyone seeing him. They went to the prison, and Andrew saw seven guards standing at the door of the prison guarding it. He prayed silently, and the seven guards fell and died. When he came to the prison door, Andrew marked it with the sign of the cross and it opened automatically. On entering the prison with his disciples he saw Matthias sitting, singing psalms by himself. When he saw Andrew, Matthias rose, and they greeted each other with a holy kiss. 'O brother Matthias,' Andrew said, 'how is it that one finds you here? In three days they will take you out for slaughter, and you will become food for the people of this city. Where are the great mysteries you were taught? Where are the marvels with which we were entrusted, any of which shake heaven and earth if you were to narrate them?'
'O brother Andrew,' Matthias answered, 'did you not hear the Lord say, "Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves?" 8 Cf. Matt. 10: 16; Luke 10: 3 . For as soon as they brought me into prison I prayed to the Lord, and he revealed himself to me saying, "Stand firm here for twenty‐seven days, and then I will send you Andrew who will deliver you and everyone with you from the prison." Now look, I see you just as the Lord said I would. So now what should we do?'
20. Then Andrew looked into the middle of the prison and saw the prisoners naked and eating grass like dumb beasts. Andrew beat his breast and said to himself, 'O Andrew, look and see what they have done to people like you, how they nearly reduced them to the state of irrational beasts.'
Then Andrew began rebuking Satan saying to him, 'Woe to you, Devil, enemy of God and his angels. These wretches and strangers did you no harm, so why have you brought this punishment upon them? O rogue, how long will you war with the human race? From the beginning you caused Adam to be expelled from paradise. God caused him to sow a diet of grain on the earth, but you turned his bread on the table into stones. Later, you entered into the minds of the angels, made them to be defiled with women, and made their unruly sons giants, so that they devoured the people of the earth, 9 Cf. Gen. 6: 1–4 . until the Lord raged against them and brought a flood on them in order to obliterate every structure the Lord had made on the earth. But he did not obliterate his righteous one, Noah. Now you come to this city as well in order to make its residents eat humans and drink their blood so that they too may end up accursed and destroyed. For you assume that God will obliterate what he has moulded. Enemy! Have you not heard that God said, "I will never again bring a flood on the earth?" 10 Cf. Gen. 9: 11 . If any punishment is prepared, it is for retaliation against you.'
21. Andrew and Matthias then rose up and prayed, and after the prayer Andrew put his hands on the faces of the blind men in the prison, and immediately they received their sight. He also put his hand on their hearts, and their minds regained human consciousness. Then Andrew said to them, 'Stand up, go to the lower parts of the city, and you will find along the road a large fig tree. Sit under the fig tree and eat its fruit until I come to you. Should I delay coming there, you will find enough food for yourselves, for the fruit of the fig tree will not fail. No matter how much you eat, it will bear more fruit and feed you, just as the Lord commanded.'
'Come with us, our lord,' the men said to Andrew, 'lest the lawless men of this city see us again, lock us up, and inflict tortures on us more dreadful and numerous than what they have inflicted on us so far.'
'Go!', Andrew answered them. 'For I tell you truly that when you go not even a dog will bark at you with his tongue.'
The men went off just as the blessed Andrew had told them. All the men whom Andrew released from prison numbered two hundred and forty‐eight, and the women forty‐nine. He made Matthias go with his disciples out of the city toward the east. Andrew commanded a cloud, and the cloud lifted Matthias and Andrew's disciples and placed them on the mountain where Peter was teaching, and they stayed with him.
22. After Andrew left the prison, he walked about the city, and by a certain street he saw a pillar with a copper statue standing on it. He sat behind that pillar in order to see what would happen. When the executioners arrived at the prison to remove people for their food according to their daily custom, they found the doors of the prison opened and the seven guards lying dead on the ground. At once they went and told the rulers, 'We found the prison opened, and when we went inside we found no one, except for the guards lying dead on the ground.'
When the rulers of the city heard these things, they said to each other, 'What has happened? Have some people perhaps gone into the city prison, killed the guards, and released the prisoners?' Then they commanded the executioners, 'Go to the prison and bring the seven men so that we may eat them. Tomorrow let us go and gather together all the elderly of the city so that they can cast lots among themselves until the lots select seven. Let us slaughter seven each day, and they will be our food until we select some young men and appoint them to boats as sailors. They can invade the neighbouring territories and bring captives here for our food.'
The executioners went and brought out the seven dead men. An earthen oven had been erected in the middle of the city, and next to it lay a large trough where they used to slay people and their blood would flow into the trough, whence they would draw up the blood and drink it. They brought the men and placed them in the trough. When the executioners lifted their hands over them, Andrew heard a voice saying, 'Andrew, look what is happening in this city.'
Andrew looked and prayed to the Lord, 'My Lord Jesus Christ, you who commanded me to enter this city, do not let the residents of the city do any harm, but let the swords fall from their lawless hands, and may their hands be like stone.'
Immediately the swords fell from the executioners' hands, and their hands became stone. When the rulers saw what had happened, they cried, 'Woe to us, for there are magicians here who even went into the prison and led the people out! For look, they have put these men under a magic spell. What should we do? Go now, and gather up all the elderly of the city; we are hungry.'
23. They went and gathered up all the old people of the city, and found two hundred and seventeen. They brought them to the rulers, made them cast lots, and the lot fell on seven old people. One of those selected said to the attendants, 'I beg you! I have a small son. Take him, slaughter him in my place, and let me go.'
The attendants answered him, 'We cannot take your son unless we first take the matter up with our superiors.'
The attendants went and informed the rulers, and the rulers answered the attendants: 'If he gives you his son in his place, let him go.'
When the attendants came to the old man, they told him, and the old man said to them, 'In addition to my son I also have a daughter. Take and slaughter them, only let me go.' He delivered up his children to the attendants for them to slaughter, and they dismissed him unharmed.
As they went to the trough, the children wept together, and begged the attendants, 'We beg you: do not kill us when we are so small, but let us reach full stature and then slaughter us.' But the attendants did not listen to the children or have compassion on them, but brought them weeping and begging to the trough.
As they brought them for slaughter, Andrew saw what was happening and cried. He looked into heaven weeping and said, 'Lord Jesus Christ, just as you listened to me in the case of the dead guards and did not let them be devoured, so now too, listen to me, so that the executioners may not bring death on these children. Loosen the swords from the hands of the executioners.'
Immediately the swords were loosened and fell from the hands of the executioners like wax in fire. At that, when the executioners saw what had happened, they were terrified. When Andrew saw what had happened, he glorified the Lord, because he had responded to him in every instance.
24. When the rulers saw what had happened, they wept terribly saying, 'Woe to us, for now we perish. What shall we do?'
Then the devil came looking like an old man and began to speak in the midst of them all, 'Woe to you, for now you are dying for lack of food. What good will sheep or cattle do you? They will never satisfy you. If you want my opinion, get up and search for a certain stranger here residing in the city named Andrew and kill him. If you do not, he will not allow you to carry out this practice ever again, for it is he who released the people from prison. Indeed, the man is in this city, and you do not recognize him. So now, arise, seek him out, so that at last you can gather your food.'
Andrew saw how the devil was speaking to the crowds, but the devil did not see the blessed Andrew. Then Andrew told the devil, 'O most cruel Belial, opponent of every creature, my Lord Jesus Christ will lower you into the abyss.'
When the devil heard these things he said, 'I hear your voice, and I recognize it, but I do not know where you are standing.'
'Why were you nicknamed Amael?', Andrew asked the devil. 'Was it not because you are blind, unable to see all the saints?'
Hearing this, the devil said to the citizens, 'Look around now for the one who is speaking with me, for he is the one.'
The citizens ran about, shut the city gates, and searched for the blessed one but did not see him. Then the Lord revealed himself to Andrew and said to him, 'Andrew, arise and reveal yourself to them, so that they may learn the power of the devil who sways them.'
25. Then Andrew arose before them all and said, 'Look, I am Andrew whom you seek.'
The crowds ran to him, seized him, and said, 'What you have done to us we shall do to you.' They deliberated among themselves saying, 'How shall we kill him?' They said to each other, 'If we behead him, his death will not be agonizing for him.' Still others said, 'If we burn him with fire and give his body to feed our superiors, this death is not painful for him.'
Then one of them whom the devil had entered and possessed said to the crowd, 'As he has done to us, let us do to him. Let us invent the most heinous tortures for him. Let us go, tie a rope around his neck, and drag him through all the avenues and streets of the city each day until he dies. When he is dead, let us divide his body for all of the citizens and distribute for their food.'
Hearing this, the crowds did as he had said to them. They tied a rope around his neck and dragged him through all the avenues and streets of the city. As the blessed Andrew was dragged, his flesh stuck to the ground, and his blood flowed on the ground like water. When evening came, they threw him into the prison and tied his hands behind him. He was utterly exhausted.
26. Early the next morning, they brought him out again, tied a rope around his neck, and dragged him about. Again his flesh stuck to the ground and his blood flowed. The blessed Andrew wept and prayed, 'My Lord Jesus Christ, come and see what they have done to me your servant. But I endure because of your command which you commanded me when you said, "Do not respond in kind to their unbelief." Now Lord, observe how many tortures they bring upon me, for you, Lord, know human flesh. I know, Lord, that you are not far from your servants and I do not dispute the command which you gave me. Otherwise, I would have made them and their city plunge into the abyss. But I shall never forsake your command which you commanded me, even to the point of death, because you, Lord, are my help. Only do not let the enemy mock me.'
As the blessed Andrew said these things, the devil was walking behind him saying to the crowds, 'Hit his mouth to shut him up!'
At nightfall they took Andrew, threw him again into the prison, tied his hands behind him, and left him again until the next day.
Taking with him seven demons whom the blessed Andrew had cast out of the vicinity, the devil entered the prison, stood before the blessed Andrew, and jeered at him cruelly. The seven demons and the devil taunted the blessed Andrew, 'Now you have fallen into our hands. Where are your power, your awesomeness, your glory, and your grandeur, you who raise yourself up against us, dishonour us, narrate our deeds to the people in every place and region, you who make our temples deserted houses with the result that no sacrifices for our delight are offered up in them? For this reason we will retaliate. We will kill you as Herod killed your teacher called Jesus.'
27. The devil said to his seven wicked demons, 'My children, kill him who dishonours us, so that at last all the regions will be ours.' Then the seven demons came and stood before Andrew wanting to kill him. But when they saw the seal on his forehead which the Lord had given him, they were afraid and were not able to approach him but fled. The devil said to them, 'My children, why do you flee from him and not kill him?'
The demons answered the devil, 'We cannot kill him, for we saw the seal on his forehead and were afraid of him, for we knew him before he came into this torment of his humiliation. You go and kill him if you can, for we do not obey you, lest God heal him and deliver us up to bitter tortures.'
'We cannot kill him,' said one of the demons, 'but come, let us mock him in this torment.'
The demons and the devil came to the blessed Andrew, stood before him, and mocked him saying, 'Look Andrew, you too have come to dishonourable shame and tortures. Who can rescue you?'
After the blessed Andrew heard these things he wept greatly, and a voice came to him saying, 'Andrew, why do you weep?' (The voice was the devil's, for the devil altered his voice.)
'I weep', answered Andrew, 'because my Lord commanded me, "Be patient with them." Had he not, I would have shown you my power.'
The devil answered Andrew, 'If you have some such power, use it.'
'Even if you kill me here', answered Andrew, 'I will never do your will but the will of Jesus Christ who sent me. For this reason then you do these things to me, so that I may neglect the command of my Lord, for if the Lord visits this city for my sake, I will punish you as you deserve.' When the seven demons heard these things, they fled with the devil.
28. The next morning they again fetched Andrew, tied a rope around his neck, and dragged him. Again his flesh stuck to the earth, and his blood flowed on the ground like water. As he was dragged, the blessed Andrew wept, saying, 'Lord Jesus Christ, these tortures are enough; I am exhausted. Look at what the enemy and his demons have done to me. Remember, O Lord, that you spent three hours on the cross and you weakened, for you said, "My Father, why have you forsaken me?" 11 Cf. Matt. 27: 46; Mark 15: 34 . Look, Lord, for three days I am dragged around in the avenues and streets of this city. Lord, especially because you know that human flesh is weak, command my spirit to leave me, my Lord, so that at last I may attain rest. Lord, where are your words which you spoke to us to strengthen us, telling us, "If you walk with me, you will not lose one hair from your head?" 12 Cf. Luke 21: 18; Acts 27: 34 . Therefore, Lord, look and see that my flesh and the hairs of my head stick to the ground, for I have been dragged around in heinous tortures for three days, and you, my Lord, have not revealed yourself to me to fortify my heart. I am utterly exhausted.' The blessed Andrew said these things as he was dragged about.
Then a voice came to him in Hebrew, 'Our Andrew, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 13 Cf. Matt. 24: 35; Mark 13: 21; Luke 21: 33 . Therefore, look and see behind you at what has happened to your fallen flesh and hair.'
Andrew turned and saw large fruit‐bearing trees sprouting, and he responded, 'I know, Lord, that you have not forsaken me.'
When evening came, they threw him into the prison. Already he was exceedingly weak. The men of the city said to each other, 'He will probably die during the night, for he is weak and his flesh exhausted.'
29. The Lord appeared in the prison, and extending his hand he said to Andrew, 'Give me your hand and stand up whole.'
When Andrew saw the Lord Jesus, he gave him his hand and stood up whole. He fell, worshipped him, and said, 'I thank you, my Lord Jesus Christ.'
When Andrew looked into the middle of the prison, he saw a standing pillar and on the pillar rested an alabaster statue. He stretched out his hands, and said to the pillar and the statue on it, 'Fear the sign of the cross, at which heaven and earth tremble, and let the statue sitting on the pillar spew from its mouth water as abundant as a flood, so that the residents of this city may be punished. Do not fear, O stone, and say "I am just a stone and unworthy to praise the Lord," for in fact you too have been honoured. The Lord moulded us from the earth, but you are pure. Therefore, God gave to his people the tablets of the law made from you. He did not write on gold or silver tablets but on tablets of stone. So now, O statue, carry out this plan.'
As soon as the blessed Andrew had said these things, the stone statue spewed from its mouth a great quantity of water as from a trench, and the water rose on the earth. It was exceedingly brackish and consumed human flesh.
30. When morning came, the men of the city saw what had happened and began to flee, saying to themselves, 'Woe to us, for now we die!' The water killed their cattle and their children, and they began to flee the city.
Then Andrew said to the Lord, 'Lord Jesus Christ, I already have undertaken and performed this sign in this city. Do not forsake me, but send your archangel Michael in a fiery cloud and wall up this city so that if any should want to flee it they will not be able to pass through the fire.'
Immediately a cloud of fire descended and encircled the entire city like a wall. When Andrew learned that the plan had been achieved, he blessed the Lord. The water rose to the necks of the men and was devouring them viciously.
'Woe to us,' they all cried and shouted, 'for all these things came upon us because of the stranger in prison whom we delivered over to tortures. What will we do? Let us go to the prison and free him, lest we die in this deluge of water. Let us all cry out, "We believe in you, O God of this stranger! Take this water from us.' " All went out crying in a loud voice, 'O God of this stranger, remove this water from us.'
Andrew knew that their souls were submissive to him. Then the blessed Andrew said to the alabaster statue, 'Now at last stop spewing water from your mouth, for the time of rest has come. For behold, I am leaving to preach the word of the Lord. I say to you, stone pillar, that if the inhabitants of this city believe, I will build a church and place you in it, because you did this service for me.'
The statue ceased flowing and no longer emitted water. Andrew left the prison, and the water ran from the feet of the blessed Andrew. When the citizenry went to the doors of the prison, they cried out, 'Have mercy on us, God of this stranger. Do not treat us as we treated this man.'
31. The old man who had delivered up his children for slaughter in his place came and entreated at the feet of the blessed Andrew, 'Have mercy on me.'
'I am amazed', said the holy Andrew to the old man, 'that you can say, "Have mercy on me", when you did not have mercy on your own children but delivered them up in your place. Therefore I tell you, at that hour when the water recedes, you will go into the abyss, you and the fourteen executioners who killed people daily, and all of you will stay in Hades until I turn once again and raise you. So now, go into the abyss so that I may show these executioners the place of your murder and the place of peace, and this old man the place of love and the surrender of his children. Now everyone follow me.'
As the men of the city followed him, the water divided before the feet of the blessed Andrew until he came to the place of the trough where they used to slaughter people. Looking up into heaven, the blessed Andrew prayed before the entire crowd, and the earth opened and devoured the water along with the old man, and he and the executioners were carried down into the abyss.
When the men saw what happened, they were terrified and began to say, 'Woe to us, for this person is from God, and now he kills us for the torments which we inflicted on him. For look, what he said to the executioners and the old man has happened to them. Now he will command the fire and it will burn us.'
After hearing this, Andrew said to them, 'My little children, do not be afraid; for I will not let even them stay in Hades. They went there so that you should believe in our Lord Jesus Christ.'
32. Then the blessed Andrew commanded all those who had died in the water to be brought to him, but they were unable to bring them because a great multitude had died, of men, women, children, and beasts. Then Andrew prayed, and all revived.
Later, he drew up plans for a church and had the church built on the spot where the pillar in the prison had stood. After baptizing them, he handed on to them the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ telling them, 'Stand by these, so that you may know the mysteries of our Lord Jesus Christ, for his power is great. I will not hand them on to you now; instead, I am going to my disciples.'
'We beg you,' they all implored, 'stay with us a few days, so that we might drink our fill from your fountain, because we are neophytes.'
Even though they begged him, he was not persuaded but said to them, 'I will go first to my disciples.' And the children with the men followed behind weeping and begging, and threw ashes on their heads. He was still not persuaded by them but said, 'I will go to my disciples, and later I will return to you.' He went on his way.
33. The Lord Jesus, having become like a beautiful small child, descended and greeted Andrew saying, 'Andrew, why do you depart leaving them fruitless, and why do you have no compassion on the children following after you and on the men who implore, "Stay with us a few days"? Their cry and weeping rose to heaven. So now, turn back, go into the city, and stay there seven days until I strengthen their souls in the faith. Then you may leave this city and you will go into the city of the barbarians, you and your disciples. After you enter that city and preach my gospel there, you may leave them and again come into this city and bring up all the men in the abyss.'
Then Andrew turned and entered the city of Myrmidonia saying, 'I bless you, my Lord Jesus Christ who wants to save every soul, that you did not permit me to leave this city in my rage.' When he entered the city they saw him and were jubilant.
He spent seven days there teaching and confirming them in the Lord Jesus Christ. At the completion of seven days, the time came for the blessed Andrew to leave. All the people of Myrmidonia were gathered to him, young and old, and sent him off saying, 'One is the God of Andrew: the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power forever. Amen.'
E. The Acts of Peter and Andrew
1. When Andrew left the city of the cannibals, a cloud of light took him up and carried him to the mountain where Peter and Matthias and Alexander and Rufus were sitting. And Peter said, 'Have you prospered?' 'Yes,' he said, 'but they did me great harm.' 'Come then,' said Peter, 'and rest a while from your labours.' 2. And Jesus appeared in the form of a little child and greeted them, and told them to go to the city of the barbarians, and promised to be with them, and left them.
3. So the four set out. And when they were near the city Andrew asked Peter, 'Do many troubles await us here?' 'I do not know, but here is an old man sowing. Let us ask him for bread; if he gives it us, we shall know that we are not to be troubled, but if he says, "I have none", troubles await us.' They greeted him and asked accordingly. He said, 'If you will look after my plough and oxen I will fetch you bread . . . ' 'Are they your oxen?' 'No, I have hired them.' And he went off. 4. Peter took off his cloak and garment, and said, 'It is no time for us to be idle, especially as the old man is working for us', and he took the plough and began to sow. Andrew protested and took it from him and sowed, and blessed the seed as he sowed. And Rufus and Alexander and Matthias, going on the right, said, 'Let the sweet dew and the fair wind come and rest on this field.' And the seed sprang up and the corn ripened. 5. When the farmer returned with the bread and saw the ripe corn he worshipped them as gods. But they told him who they were, and Peter gave him the Commandments . . . He said, 'I will leave all and follow you.' 'Not so, but go to the city, return your oxen to the owner, and tell your wife and children and prepare us a lodging.' 6. He took a sheaf, hung it on his staff, and went off. The people asked where he got the corn, for it was the time of sowing, but he hastened home. 7. The chief men of the city heard of it and sent for him and made him tell his story. 8. And the devil entered them and they said, 'Alas! these are of the twelve Galileans who go about separating men from their wives. What are we to do?' 9. One of them said, 'I can keep them out of the city.' 'How?' 'They hate all women, and specially unchaste ones: let us put a naked wanton in the gate, and they will see her and flee.' So they did. 10. The apostles perceived the snare by the spirit, and Andrew said, 'Bid me, and I will chastise her.' Peter said, 'Do as you will.' Andrew prayed, and Michael was sent to hold her up by the hair till they had passed. 11. And she cried out, cursing the men of the city and praying for pardon. 12. And many believed at her word and worshipped the apostles, and they did many cures, and all praised God.
13. There was a rich man named Onesiphorus who said, 'If I believe, shall I be able to do wonders?' Andrew said, 'Yes, if you forsake your wife and all your possessions.' He was angry and put his garment about Andrew's neck and began to beat him, saying, 'You are a wizard, why should I do so?' 14. Peter saw it and told him to leave off. He said, 'I see you are wiser than he. What do you say?' Peter said, 'I tell you this: it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' 1 Matt. 19: 24; Mark 10: 25; Luke 18: 25 . Onesiphorus was yet more angry, and took his garment off Andrew's neck and cast it on Peter's and pulled him along, saying, 'You are worse than the other. If you show me this sign, I and the whole city will believe, but if not you shall be punished.' 15. Peter was troubled and stood and prayed, 'Lord, help us at this hour, for you have entrapped us by your words.' 16. The Saviour appeared in the form of a boy of twelve years, wearing a linen garment smooth within and without, and said, 'Fear not: let the needle and the camel be brought.' There was a huckster in the town who had been converted by Philip; and he heard of it, and looked for a needle with a large eye, but Peter said, 'Nothing is impossible with God; rather bring a needle with a small eye.' 17. When it was brought, Peter saw a camel coming and stuck the needle in the ground and cried, 'In the name of Jesus Christ crucified under Pontius Pilate I command thee, camel, to go through the eye of the needle.' The eye opened like a gate and the camel passed through; and a second time, at Peter's bidding. 18. Onesiphorus said, 'You are a great sorcerer: but I shall not believe unless I may send for a needle and a camel.' And he said secretly to a servant, 'Bring a camel and a needle, and find a defiled woman and some swine's flesh and bring them too.' And Peter heard it in the spirit and said. 'O slow to believe, bring your camel and woman and needle and flesh.' 19. When they were brought, Peter stuck the needle in the ground, with the flesh; the woman was on the camel. He commanded it as before, and the camel went through, and back again. 20. Onesiphorus cried out, convinced, and said, 'Listen. I have lands and vineyards, and 27 pounds of gold and 50 of silver, and many slaves: I will give my goods to the poor and free my slaves if I may do a wonder like you.' Peter said, 'If you believe, you shall.' 21. Yet he was afraid he might not be able, because he was not baptized; but a voice came, 'Let him do what he will.' So Onesiphorus stood before the needle and camel and commanded it to go through, and it went as far as the neck and stopped. And he asked why. 'Because you are not yet baptized.' He was content, and the apostles went to his house, and 1,000 souls were baptized that night. 22. Next day the woman who was hung in the air said, 'Alas that I am not worthy to believe like the rest! I will give all my goods to the poor and my house for a monastery of virgins. Peter heard it and went out to her, and at his word she was let down unhurt, and gave him for the poor 4 pounds of gold and many clothes and her house for a monastery of virgins. 23. And the apostles consecrated a church and ordained clergy and committed the people to God.
F. The Acts of Andrew and Paul
. . . We find the captain of a ship which has brought Andrew and Paul to some city. Andrew has gone towards the city; Paul has plunged into the sea to visit the underworld, and leaves a message for Andrew to bring him up again. The shipman's mother—dim of sight—comes to meet her son, and he, having Paul's cloak to bring to Andrew, accidentally touches her eyes with it, and she sees clearly. Andrew takes the cloak and goes to the city with the multitude; a man meets him and begs him to visit and cure his only son, twelve years old, who is dying. But the Jews oppose his entrance; he tells the father to return home: his boy will die, but he must not bury him till the morrow. The father goes home and finds him dead.
Andrew returns to the ship and makes the shipman point out the place where Paul dived into the sea. He takes a cup of fresh water, prays, and pours it into the sea, bidding the salt water retreat and the dry land appear. The abyss cleaves, and Paul leaps up, bearing a fragment of wood in his hand.
He has visited Amente and seen Judas and heard his story. Judas had repented and given back the money, and seen Jesus and pleaded for forgiveness. Jesus sent him to the desert to repent, bidding him fear no one but God. The prince of destruction came to him and threatened to swallow him up, and Judas was afraid and worshipped him. Then in despair he thought to go and ask Jesus again for pardon; but he had been taken away to the praetorium. So he resolved to hang himself and meet Jesus in Amente. Jesus came and took all the souls but his. The powers of Amente came and wept before Satan, who said, 'After all, we are stronger than Jesus; he has had to leave a soul with us.' Jesus ordered Michael to take away Judas' soul also, that Satan's boast might be proved vain, and told Judas how he had destroyed his own hopes by worshipping Satan and killing himself. Judas was sent back till the day of judgement. Paul tells also how he saw the streets of Amente desolate, and brought away a fragment of the broken gates in his hand. There were still some souls in punishment—the murderers, sorcerers, and those who cast little children into the water.
The apostles land, and with Apollonius the shipman go up to the city. The Jews refuse to let them in. They see 'a bird which is called True' 1 This is really a scarabaeus, δίκαιρον in Greek, which word has been mistaken for δίκαιον. digging in a wall. Andrew says, 'You bird, go into the city to where the dead boy is, and tell them that we are at the gate and cannot enter; let them open to us.' The bird gives the message and the people threaten to stone the Jews. At this point the governor comes out; the matter is explained to him by the people and by the Jews, who add, 'If they are the disciples of the living God, why does he not open the gate for them?' The governor is impressed by this and calls on the apostles to open for themselves. They consult, and Paul, suddenly inspired, strikes the gates with the fragment of wood from Amente, and they are swallowed up in the earth. 2 Here two leaves are lost.
. . . The apostles say that the only thing is to order the dead man to be loosed. The Jews seek to flee, but they are held by the soldiers till the grave clothes are loosed. The apostles pray; the dead man rises and falls at the apostles' feet, saying, 'Forgive me for my folly', and tells everything that had happened. Andrew says to the Jews, 'Who is now the deceiver of the people? We or you?' It appears from this that the dead man in question has been an accomplice of the Jews in their trick, and is not the dead child whom the apostles were to raise, and doubtless did raise when they first entered the city. This is confirmed by the next words of the Jews: they fall at the apostles' feet and say, ' . . . (we) killed him in folly, thinking that he would not rise.' They ask for baptism. And the act concludes with a general conversion—apparently of 27,000 Jews.
1 See Evodius of Uzala's paraphrase in the introduction above.
2 This alternative numbering is that conventionally given to Vat. 808, which begins here.
3 Cf. Matt 8: 20 and Luke 9: 58 .
4 The Armenian passion narrative begins here.
5 End of Vat. 808.
6 The alternative numbering indicates the chapters of the martyrdom proper.
7 The Armenian adds a long allegory about an eagle.
1 Pages 1 – 8 are no longer extant.
1 The rest of 1 gives a short abstract of the Acts of Andrew and Matthew.
2 This cannot be the author's original sentiment: it is contradicted by all that we know of the Acts.
3 John in the latter part of this vision has been substituted by Gregory for Jesus. The echoes of the Acts of John and of Peter are very evident here.
4 The Passion to which Gregory alludes is probably Conversante et Docente.
1 Where 'Myrmidonia' occurs in the text, following Latin witnesses, note that the bulk of Greek support reads 'city (or region) of the cannibals'. Generally, I follow MacDonald throughout in preferring Myrmidonia with the Latin.
2 Cf. Mark 6: 8–9; Matt. 10: 7–10 : Luke 9: 3, 10: 4 .
3 Cf. Matt. 8: 23–7; Mark 4: 35–41; Luke 8: 22–5 .
4 Cf. Matt. 11: 5; Luke 7: 22; John 2: 1–12 .
5. Cf. Matt. 14: 13–21; Mark 6: 32–44; Luke 9: 10–17 .
7 Cf. Matt. 9: 34; 12: 24, 27; Mark 3: 22; Luke 11: 15, 19 .
8 Cf. Matt. 10: 16; Luke 10: 3 .
11 Cf. Matt. 27: 46; Mark 15: 34 .
12 Cf. Luke 21: 18; Acts 27: 34 .
13 Cf. Matt. 24: 35; Mark 13: 21; Luke 21: 33 .
1 Matt. 19: 24; Mark 10: 25; Luke 18: 25 .
1 This is really a scarabaeus, δίκαιρον in Greek, which word has been mistaken for δίκαιον.
2 Here two leaves are lost.
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