Actes de l'apotre Philippe (review)

The Acts of Philip (APhil) is one of the latest of several apocryphal acts of apostles which date to the early centuries of the Christian era. Dating to around c.e. 400, the text probably arose in Phrygia. It indicates a strong ascetical tendency, which was characteristic of Christianity in Asia Minor generally, and particularly in that central interior region.

The text of the APhil is preserved only in fragments, rather than any one continuous manuscript. The two most significant of these are Xenophontos 32, a fourteenth-century paper manuscript from the monastery at Mount Athos, and Vaticanus graecus 824, a parchment manuscript from the eleventh-century which is preserved at the Vatican. The translation is based primarily on the former, while lacunae are supplemented by the latter. Where the two manuscripts both provide a witness to the text (e.g., APhil I and III–VII), they provide evidence that, paradoxically, the older manuscript seems to witness to a more recent recension of the text. The shorter version of the text attested in the Vatican manuscript is used here to supplement those portions of parts VIII and IX which are incomplete or missing in Xenophontos. Since Part X is missing in all of the manuscripts, this process is not a perfect solution to the problem of the fragmentary nature of the textual tradition, but it seems the most reasonable solution to providing as complete a translation as possible.

Translated and introduced by the “Association pour l’Étude de la Littérature Apocryphe Chrétienne,” this volume is divided into four basic parts: the introduction (13–88), the translations of the Acts of Philip (91–220) and of the Martyrdom of Philip (221–40), and two appendices, the first reporting eleven textual variants from Vaticanus graecus 824 (241–45) and the second a brief introduction to and translation of the longer version of the Martyrdom found in Vaticanus graecus 808 (246–81). These are supplemented by four indices devoted to proper names, subjects, biblical references, and ancient authors and texts.

This “handbook” for the APhil is a very nice addition to the literature in French. The introduction is quite a solid piece of work. The translation is accessible and the notes throughout are illuminating. If this volume is any indication of the quality of the series, the entire collection would be worth having. For scholars and graduate students interested in an introduction to the apocryphal acts, I would recommend this work.