Apostles

APOSTLES (Gr. Ἀπόστολος "Sent One", from ἀποστέλλω). — Title of the twelve collaborators chosen by Jesus, to whom he entrusted the continuation and completion of his redemptive mission (Mt. 28:18-20; Jn. 15:16). Thus Jesus called "the twelve" (Mk. 3:14; Mt. 10:1), whom he chose from an unspecified number of disciples (Lk. 6:13). "The twelve" was a fixed designation: Mk. 6:7 (Lk. 9:1); Mt. 10:5; 20:17; 26:14, etc.; Acts 6:2; this is proved above all by 1 Cor. 15:5, where Paul speaks of the appearances of the Risen One to "the twelve".

This is a tradition that comes from Jerusalem. The fixed number also emerges from Acts 1:15 ff., where the election of Matthias in place of Judas is narrated, and thus "the eleven" (Mt. 28:16; Mk. 16:14; Lk. 24:9, 33; Acts 1:26) become "the twelve" again. It is not possible to explain the formation of the group of the twelve by a historical development later than Jesus' earthly life. Jesus himself willed "the twelve", chosen, as appears from Mt. 19:28 (cf. Lk. 22:30).

(phot. Enc. Catt.)

"to sit upon twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel" at the glorious return of the Son of Man. The "twelve" will therefore participate in the judicial function of the "Son of Man" over Israel; they too will be, like Him, revealed in glory; the Greek word (χρίνων) can also be interpreted in the sense of governance (cf. Mt. 19, 21, and Rev. 20, 4). This glorious future of the "twelve" is the reward for the sacrifices they now make, abandoning everything and following Jesus (Mt. 9, 27, 29); they who persevere with Him in tribulations will have a share in His kingdom and will eat and drink at His table (Lk. 22, 28 ff.). John sees (Rev. 21, 14) the wall of the new Jerusalem "which had twelve foundations and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." The choice of the "twelve" thus has close connections with the eschatological doctrine of Jesus. To be part of the "twelve" means: to abandon everything, to be with Jesus in His tribulations in order to become, by participating in His judgment and His kingdom, the foundation of a new city. From the fact that the "twelve" are placed in relation to the Son of Man, it follows that the concept of the "twelve" was part of the most ancient doctrine of the community of Jerusalem. It cannot therefore surprise us that the Jewish Christians too place the "twelve" in relation to the twelve tribes of Israel. In a fragment of the Gospel used among the Ebionites, Jesus says: "I wish you to be the twelve apostles to bear witness concerning Israel" (St. Epiphanius, Haer., 13, ed. K. Holl, I, Leipzig 1915, p. 350, tr. 1-2); cf. Pseudo-Clement, Recogn., I, 40; Epist. Barnabae, 8, 3: "being twelve to bear witness concerning the tribes." According to Praxis Pauli (ed. C. Schmidt, Hamburg 1936, p. 60, 34), the "twelve" would have been chosen from the twelve tribes.

Jesus Himself gave the title of apostles to the "twelve" (Lk. 6, 13; various manuscripts in Mk. 3, 14). Naturally the choice of the "twelve" does not coincide with their mission as apostles.

By reason of their eschatological function, the "twelve" receive the charge of bearing witness "concerning the twelve tribes of Israel" (Epist. Barn., 8, 3; cf. Mk. 6, 11 and Lk. 9, 5; Mt. 13, 9 and parallels). This primitive concept of apostle thus remains bound to Israel. The apostle is the announcer of the imminent kingdom of God (Mt. 10, 7; Lk. 10, 9) in Israel (Mt. 10, 5 ff.) sent by Jesus. He participates in the sufferings of the Son of Man in order to be glorified with Him at the end. The privations imposed on the "twelve" by Jesus are the lack of a fixed dwelling, the abandonment of family, poverty; their sufferings reach their height in arrest (Mk. 6, 7; Mt. 10, 17; Lk. 9, 1 ff.) and in death.

The Catholic conviction is therefore well founded, that the apostle is the model of the ascetic and of the martyr. But the apostle is also the great thaumaturge. According to Mk. 6, 7 (cf.

3, 15), the "twelve" receive power over unclean spirits (Mt. 10, 1; Lk. 9, 1). The nearness of the kingdom of God is expressed not only in an announcement, but also in the defeat of the demonic forces in the world, just as on the other hand the simple greeting of peace, given by the "twelve" to those who accept their message, is transformed into a blessing (Mt. 10, 13; Mk. 6, 10; Lk. 9, 4 ff.). Thus, salvation or ruin are bound to the presence of the apostle as to that of Jesus Himself.

Luke also knows (10, 1-16) a mission of 70 (72) disciples (v.); the prayer of Jesus directed here to the "seventy" is in Mt. instead directed to the "twelve," as moreover results from Luke himself in his recapitulation (22, 35).

The position of the 70 (or 72) disciples is not clear; their names are not given; Eusebius, Hist. eccl., I, 12, 1, says that their catalogue has not been preserved. In any case, the name apostle is not granted to them by Luke, although one might think that the seventy corresponded to the 70 (72) peoples of the world (Gen. 10) and that in them the propaganda among the Gentiles was prefigured. The "seventy" go, like the "twelve," to the Hebrews, and according to Lk. 22, 47 (cf. Acts 1, 8) the mission among the Gentiles is entrusted to the "twelve" and not to the "seventy." Later Tertullian, Adv. Marcion., IV, 24 (ed. E. Kroymann, III, Vienna-Leipzig 1906, p. 499, l. 23), calls them "apostles," while it is uncertain whether Irenaeus too, II, 32, 4, placed them among the apostles.

The term apostle is thus connected with the "twelve," without however the two concepts fully coinciding. The expression apostle is more formal, while the concept of the "twelve" is rich in evocations.

A new phase in the history of the apostle begins with the resurrection of Jesus. The apostles become witnesses of the resurrection of Christ (Lk. 24, 49 and 46; I Cor. 15, 8 ff.), but not all the witnesses of the resurrection become apostles, neither the 500 brethren, nor the women. This is clear proof of the fact that the term apostle existed prior to the resurrection of Christ (it remains doubtful whether James, the brother of Jesus, was placed among the apostles). The apostle, who was once an envoy among the Hebrews, now becomes the missionary of the world; the power over demons, the possibility of healing the sick extends over the whole human habitation ("miracles of the apostle": II Cor. 12, 12) together with preaching.

The obligation to give an account of the apostolic work (Mk. 6, 30; Lk. 9, 10; 10, 17) is now fixed for the second coming of Christ (I Cor. 4, 4; Phil. 1, 6, 10 ff.). With the ascension of Jesus the apostles also become the vicars of Christ in a more concrete sense than before (Lk. 10, 16; Mt. 10, 40; Jn. 13, 20; 17, 18; cf. I Clem., ch. 42, etc.). Therefore they institute the deacons (Acts 6, 1-6) and the presbyters (Acts 14, 23; cf. 15, 4, 6, 22 ff., etc.). The apostle gathers beside himself his presbyters or bishops (Acts 20, 17, 28). Some Protestants acknowledge that the apostles are the source of the hierarchy of the Church; e.g. W. Mundle, in Zeitschrift für neutestamentl. Wissenschaft, 27 (1928), p. 41, speaks of "apostolic succession," while others (e.g. K. H. Rengstorf) pass over it in silence.

Luke, who was also a disciple of Paul, who was not one of the "twelve," insists greatly on the activity of these in the Acts of the Apostles. It is "the twelve" who control the Christian mission from Jerusalem. Peter and John inspect the mission in Samaria (8:14 ff.); the movement in Antioch is controlled by Barnabas, who comes from Jerusalem (11:22). Peter (11:1 ff.; 12:17 and 15:22) and also Paul (9:26 ff.; 11:30; 15:1 ff.; 18:22; 21:15 ff.) always return to Jerusalem. This does not mean that "the college" of the "twelve" always resides in Jerusalem, as K. Holl would have it. Peter and John carry on their activity also outside Jerusalem (8:14; 9:32 ff.; 10:1 ff.; 12:17); Paul (1 Cor. 9:5) knows of the missionary activity not only of Peter and the other apostles, but also of the "brethren of the Lord."

The number of the "twelve" was not considered indispensable: after the death of James, the brother of John (Acts 12:1), no other apostle was elected in his place. The position of James "the brother of the Lord" is not clear to us. It seems that he was in Jerusalem among the apostles (Gal. 1:19). E. Lohmeyer (Galilaea und Jerusalem, Göttingen 1936) holds that he was the head of those Jewish Christians who had gone from Galilee, before or after the death of Jesus, to Jerusalem.

K. Holl, in his famous inaugural lecture Der Kirchenbegriff des Paulus in seinem Verhältnis zu dem der Urgemeinde (Sitzungsberichte d. Berliner Akademie, 1921, p. 920 ff.; Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Kirchengeschichte, II: Der Osten, Tübingen 1928, p. 44 ff.) maintained the thesis that the community of Jerusalem had, under the regime of the "twelve," a hierarchy by divine right (p. 54) and that Jerusalem was considered the center of the whole Church

(p. 55 ff.; cf. p. 61 ff.). His thesis is much contested (also by K. H. Rengstorf and W. Mundle), and is untenable from the Catholic point of view. Perhaps Jewish Christianity in Palestine after the death of Jesus organized itself, imitating certain forms of ancient Judaism (Sanhedrin, emissaries in the diaspora, taxes); but the evangelical concept of the apostolate transcended this organization.

The apostolate created by Jesus was universal and, through apostolic succession, perpetual; in the field of doctrine it transmitted the doctrine of the Master; after the ascension of Christ, it provided for the government of the faithful with prescriptions in the disciplinary and dogmatic field (Acts 15).

Alongside that of the "twelve," the apostolate of St. Paul appears different; Epiphanius (Haer., I, ed. Holl, p. 232, 10 ff.) places Paul outside the "twelve" and outside the "seventy." In Galatia his right to call himself an apostle was called into doubt, probably because the Christian community of Antioch had sent him (Acts 13:1 ff.). Paul replied by emphasizing that he was not an apostle by human initiative, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead (Gal. 1:1).

Being sent by Christ was a fundamental element in the concept of the apostolate; by adding "and God the Father," Paul gives his apostolate a special coloring. He cannot claim to have been with Jesus during his earthly life, as is required for an apostle in Acts 1:21 ff. (cf. Mk. 3:14), but he can affirm that he has seen Jesus (1 Cor. 9:1) and that he is like the others a witness of his resurrection (1 Cor. 15:5-8). Paul was not instructed by other men, but by Christ himself (Gal. 1:13); nor does he mention Ananias who had baptized him (Acts 9:18; 22:16), nor do the Acts speak of any instruction on the part of Ananias. The miracles of the apostles are not lacking to him (Gal. 3:5; 2 Cor. 12:12; Rom.

15:18), nor apostolic privations and sufferings (2 Cor. 6:3 ff.; 11:23 ff.), nor visions and revelations (2 Cor. 12:1 ff.). Paul is therefore an apostle like the others. He and Barnabas were recognized by the Three, that is James, Cephas and John, in their right to go to the Gentiles (Gal. 2:9), but the text does not say directly that they were recognized as apostles, or rather, in what sense their apostolate was interpreted.

The designation apostle was added by Jesus to the concept of the "twelve." Jesus, speaking Aramaic, certainly made use of an Aramaic word. In the Syriac Church the apostle is called šeliḥā, a word corresponding in rabbinic literature to šaliaḥ (K. H. Rengstorf, p. 414), in Aramaic šeliḥā (cf. St. Jerome, In Gal. 1, 1: PL 26, 335). The rabbis sent by the central authority of Jerusalem to collect alms or to visit the diaspora receive the designation šeliḥim. Such an emissary (šaliaḥ) was also Paul, when he was sent to Damascus (Act. 9:1 ff.); but the Jewish missionary never bears this name (Rengstorf, p. 418 ff.).

In this old sense also the "apostles of the churches" who carry the alms for the saints in Jerusalem (II Cor. 8:23), or Epaphroditus who comes as "apostle" of the Philippians to Paul are šeliḥim. Difficult is in Rom. 16:7 the title "apostle" given to Andronicus and Junia. If the word "apostle" in a religious sense was connected with the twelve, how can these two unknown persons call themselves "Christian missionaries"? (Rengstorf, p. 422, 33 ff.; H. Lietzmann, An die Römer, 4th ed. Tübingen 1933, p. 24). It seems that here too the Jewish sense of šeliḥim "emissaries" recurs, as for the two (Timothy and Erastus) in Act. 19:22.

The assertion that "apostle" was a name to designate the "missionary" (thus A. Wikenhauser, in Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, I, Leipzig 1942, p. 554) does not seem well founded. The word "apostle" as a translation of šaliaḥ "emissary" is also found in Jewish texts (this is wrongly denied by Wikenhauser, loc. cit., p. 555): cf. CIL, IX, 648, 6220 (J. B. Frey, Corpus inscriptionum judaicarum, I, Rome 1936, p. 438 ff., n. 611 [Venosa]). The inscription speaks of "duo apostoli et duo rebites." The Theodosian Code mentions in a law of 399 (in XVI, 8, 14) officials, "quos ipsi apostolos vocant, qui ad exigendum aurum atque argentum a patriarcha certo tempore diriguntur." Eusebius, Comm. in Is., 18, 1: PG 24, 213 ff., knows of Jewish apostles who carry encyclical letters of their authorities, also to combat the Christian mission. The notice of Eusebius is confirmed by Epiphanius, Haer., 30, 4, 2, ed. K. Holl, CB, XXV, p. 338, 21 ff. (cf. 4, 11), who places them in close relations with the Jewish patriarch (cf. St. Jerome, In Gal., 1, 1: PL 26, 335). J. B. Frey finds it difficult to admit such an interpretation for the inscription of Venosa (loc. cit., pp. cx and 439), but his skepticism does not appear plausible (the date: 9th century, of Lietzmann, does not seem well founded).

For the legends and apocrypha: v. the entries of the individual apostles; for the names of the apostles, v. CATALOGO DEGLI A.

(phot. Anderson)

Billerbeck, Kommentar zum N. T. aus Talmud und Midrasch, III, Munich 1926, p. 2 ff. — For the apocryphal narratives and for the legends concerning the apostles: R. A. Lipsius, Die apokryphen Apostelschichten und Apostellegenden, 3 vols., Braunschweig 1883-90; R. A. Lipsius-M. Bonnet, Acta Apostolorum apocrypha, Leipzig, I (1896) and II (in two parts, 1893 and 1903); Th. Schermann, Prophetenund Apostellegenden (Texte u. Unters., 31, 11), Leipzig 1907.

MISSION, PREROGATIVES, POWERS OF THE APOSTLES

Election and immediate mission by Jesus represent the first and fundamental requirement for the qualification of apostle. This is clearly demonstrated by many texts of Sacred Scripture: thus in Mk. 3:13-14 it is said that Jesus "went up on a mountain and called to himself those whom he wanted... and he appointed twelve to be with him and to send them out to preach"; in Jn. 17:18, the Lord, addressing the Father, says: "As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world"; the same in Jn. 20:21, where Jesus says to the apostles: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you."

It is debated, however, whether beyond this immediate mission other conditions are required for the apostolate; and in particular whether it is necessary that the apostle have "seen the Lord." This requirement seems to be demanded by the already cited text of Mk. 3:13-14: "he appointed twelve to be with him"; St. Peter also seems to presuppose it when, in the matter of giving Judas a successor, he suggested that he be chosen from among those who "accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us, because he must become with us a witness to his resurrection" (Acts 1:21-22); and it is precisely to this requirement that St. Paul seems to allude when he writes: "Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?" (1 Cor. 9:1).

Despite this discussion, however, many authors incline to the view that election and immediate mission constitute not only the fundamental but also the sole requirement for the apostolate. They therefore claim this requirement both for Matthias (Acts 1:25-26), for Paul (Acts 9:15; 22:15), and for Barnabas (Acts 13:2-4).

This mission of the apostles is directed to a twofold office: one extraordinary, which was to cease with the apostles themselves, and which consists in continuing the work of Jesus by laying, according to the divine plan, the foundations of the Church upon the one cornerstone, Christ Jesus; the other ordinary, which was to be transmitted to the successors of the apostles, and which consists in being the hierarchical authority in the Church already founded.

The mission of the founders of the Church is illustrated, among others, by the following texts of Sacred Scripture: Mt. 16:18: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church"; Eph. 2:20: "You are... built upon the foundation of the apostles... Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone"; Apoc. 21:14, where the apostle John, describing the "new Jerusalem," says: "The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb."

The words addressed by Jesus to the apostles, on the other hand, concern the function of hierarchical authority in the Church: "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Mt. 18:18); this function is further indicated in the words that Jesus spoke to Peter, and, in union with and under the dependence of Peter, to all the apostles, namely to feed his lambs and his sheep (Jn. 21:15-17).

Connected with the office of founders of the Church are the prerogatives of the apostles, that is, those extraordinary gifts with which the Lord willed personally to enrich the apostles, so that they might be fit to accomplish the great mission entrusted to them. In the common judgment of theologians, these prerogatives are: confirmation in grace, whereby, after the descent of the Holy Spirit, the apostles could practically no longer commit either any grave sin or any fully deliberate venial sin; personal infallibility, whereby, in their preaching and teaching, each apostle was immune from error both regarding the doctrine to be believed and regarding the norms of moral life to be followed; universal jurisdiction with fullness of powers, whereby each apostle, without prejudice to the primacy of Peter, could found churches anywhere, create bishops, and organize religious life with full authority. Whether the charism of biblical inspiration is also to be considered a prerogative of the apostle is uncertain: some affirm it, for example U. Ubaldi, P. Schanz, J. M. Lagrange; most deny it, such as I. B. Franzelin, F. Leitner, Ae. Dorsch, H. Hurter, C. Pesch, G. M. Perrella.

Connected with the ordinary office of hierarchical authority of the Church are the powers of the apostles, that is, those faculties that they received as pastors of the faithful, and that they transmitted to the bishops whom they ordained. They concern the power: to teach (Mt. 28:18, 20); to govern (Mt. 18:17-18); to sanctify, especially through the administration of the Sacraments (Mt. 28:19; Lk. 22:19; Jn. 20:21-23).

How the apostles fulfilled the mission to which they had been destined, using their own prerogatives and exercising the powers given them by the Lord, is brought to light both by the Acts, by the Letters, and by the history of the early Church.

For the apostles and the deposit of Revelation, v. DOGMA, EVOLUZIONE del.

Francesco Carpinio

THE APOSTLES IN POPULAR LITERATURE

In the tradition of the common people there still circulates a series of brief legends, in prose and in a form that is not fixed, which have flourished around the figures of the apostles, presented, as a rule, as an indistinct group accompanying the Divine Master. Some concern in particular the apostle Peter and also the mother of St. Peter. In this kind of fragmentary popular apocryphal gospel, transmitted orally, the various personages are sometimes completely misrepresented, and the episodes acquire an almost fairy-tale character. Elements of a crude and naive comicality are even introduced into it. The figure of this or that apostle also appears in brief lyric-narrative songs, which develop legendary motifs around the Holy Family.

Paolo Toschi

THE APOSTLES IN ICONOGRAPHY

Their representation is one of the favorite themes already of paleochristian art, not only as insignificant accessories to the events of Jesus, but also as actors and principal figures. In this case they appear either individually or in a group. We refer elsewhere to the figuration of individual identifiable apostles.

The apostles are represented collegially often from the beginning of the 4th century onward. Jesus is always among them, sometimes in symbol (cross, lamb), ordinarily in reality, either on the cathedra or on the holy mount, in the act of instructing them or of sending them to evangelize the world (traditio legis, traditio clavium), or in the solemn gesture of the Maestus. Therefore they are found indifferently all seated in a circle (catacomb art), or standing above a line (façades of sarcophagi), and they usually hold the volumen in their hand. More rare are extraordinary arrangements due to the nature of the field, e.g. the apostles arranged in a circle around the bust of Jesus (on the bottom of a glass), or the symbolic figuration by means of twelve lambs, doves, and even twelve stars sometimes combined with the real representation of the persons. A striking singularity is given by the paintings of the hypogeum of the Aurelii (Rome), both because of the age notably earlier than the 4th century, and because the apostles would there be represented without Jesus, both as a college and as individuals.

The apostles, like the other biblical figures, are all equally presented in tunic and pallium, almost always beardless, without any characteristic physiognomic element, except for Peter and Paul, the two leaders, from the 4th century and not much later Andrew (unkempt hair). When they wished to distinguish them, they simply wrote each one's name on him. Then it appears that among the twelve Paul is usually put in place of Matthias; however, sometimes they also include the two evangelists Mark and Luke substituted for Thaddeus and one James. This list, which is found already in a sarcophagus of Arles and then in the mausoleum of Theodoric at Ravenna, later became stereotyped in medieval Greek art, while in the West the other list was used, which was that of the Communicantes in the Canon of the Mass.

With the progress of the Middle Ages, to the ancient themes already mentioned there come to be added those of the Ascension, of Pentecost, of the Last Supper, of the dormitio Virginis and later that of the Last Judgment and of the separation of the apostles or division of the world, and such remain also those known to the art of the Renaissance. Entirely singular and much used beyond the Alps is the representation of the twelve articles of the creed by means of the twelve apostles, often paired with the twelve prophets. The preferred places for the Apostolic College are those arched or concave, such as apses and domes; in particular the great portals of Romanesque and Gothic churches.

During the Middle Ages the personal characteristics of each of the twelve also slowly take shape (with influences from the apocryphal Acts), so that around the 10th century in the East, and in the 14th in the West, each is by then recognizable in the series. The principal difference is in the youthful figure that the West gives to St. John, while the East sees in him the Great Old Man of the Apocalypse.

Antonio Ferrua

EPISTLE OF THE APOSTLES - An apocryphon, whose title and extent are uncertain. The name Epistola Apostolorum - probably attested by the Latin translation - applies only to the first 12 chapters. There follow conversations of the risen Jesus with his disciples.

As for its extent, the Ethiopic text is longer than the Coptic text, and in the Latin translation chapter 17 follows chapter 13. In the text published by C. Schmidt there is certainly a lacuna between chapters 14 and 15 (cf. H. Lietzmann, in Zeitschrift für neutestamentl. Wissenschaft, 20 [1921], p. 175). The long Ethiopic text exists only in 18th-century codices and is preceded by an Apocalypse of Jesus and by the first two books of the Testamentum Domini, a Syriac compilation of di-

ecclesiastical law; it was published by L. Guerrier: PO 9, 3. The Coptic papyrus was written around 400 A.D. The fragments of the Latin translation (cod. Vindob. 16, formerly Bobiensis) are, according to Bick, from the 5th century (cf. Sitzungsberichte d. Wiener Akademie, CLIX, 7), according to E. Hauler (Wiener Studien etc., 30 [1908], p. 308 ff.) from the 6th century, and are transmitted together with the Apocalypse of Thomas.

The first part (the Epistle) contains in chapter 2 an interesting list of the names of the apostles (cf. K. Lake, in Harvard Theol. Review, 14 [1925], p. 95), in chapter 4 a quotation from the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas (or Ps.-Matthew, cf. C. Schmidt, p. 226 ff.), mentions in chapter 7 Cerinthus and Simon Magus, without however making clear allusions to their heresies; chapters 9 ff. contain an apocryphal account of the resurrection of Christ (cf. A. Harnack, in Theologische Studien für Bernhard Weiss, Göttingen 1897, p. 3 ff.; A. Baumstark, Hippolyt und die ausserkanonische Evangelienquelle des äthiopischen Galiläa-Testaments, in Zeitschrift für neutestamentl. Wissenschaft, 15 [1914], pp. 332-35). In chapter 11 there is probably a quotation from the Gospel of the Hebrews.

In the second part, chapter 13 recounts the descent of Christ from the heavens in the form of an angel. During his sojourn on earth the archangels serve at the altar of the Father in his place. The theme of the assimilation of Christ to the angels is of gnostic origin (cf. Jos. Barbel, Christos Angelos, Bonn 1941, p. 236 ff.), but it was introduced by Origen into the theology of the Church. It was Christ who, according to chapter 14, appeared to Mary under the form of Gabriel. Chapter 15 recounts how an apostle is freed from prison by means of Gabriel - this time distinct from Christ - in order to be able to attend the commemoration of the death of Jesus. This is probably the account of Acts 12:2 ff., but so modified that one seems obliged to suppose an apocryphon (differently Schmidt, p. 247), perhaps the old Acts of Peter. Chapter 17 states: the Father (!) will return after 120 years. L. Gry has proved (Revue Biblique, 49 [1940], p. 86 ff.) that the indication "between Passover and Pentecost," like the date "120 years," comes from Jewish sources. A Jewish dating of the end of the world is adopted to date the return of Jesus; but for a chronological fixing of the Epistle this contributes nothing. The various questions of the disciples that follow are of lesser interest: the mentality of Egyptian Christianity shines through, as also proved by a liturgical phrase (chapter 21) that is found in the liturgy of St. Mark. These chapters reflect a more recent epoch; for example, the Apostles, and not Ananias, baptize Paul after his conversion (chapter 31): a juridical difficulty (Ananias did not have the right to baptize) that is expressed in Constit. apost., VIII, 46, 17 (ed. F. X. Funk, Didache et Const. apost., I, Paderborn 1905, p. 562, l. 21 ff.).

There is therefore ancient material in the first part, while the second is more recent. The first part must go back to before the 5th century, insofar as it is only a matter of quotation; the entire writing is a much more recent compilation. The literary physiognomy of the compiler is not recognizable.

Erik Peterson