A "Pauline" Defense of Women's Right to Baptize? Intertextuality and Apostolic Authority in the Acts of Paul

Introduction

In early Christian studies, the Acts of Paul has gained attention as an expression of Pauline tradition in the second century. Indeed, in a study now over a decade-and-a-half old, Dennis R. MacDonald argued that the Acts of Paul and the Pastoral Epistles each borrowed from a common stock of oral legends about the apostle Paul, but applied them to very different purposes. ¹ The Acts of Paul seems to have been written in the context of ongoing eschatological expectations and a corresponding disruption of social conventions (e.g., rejection of marriage, ministry of women). By contrast, the Pastorals oppose such a vision of Paul's ministry, and instead seek to endorse conservative social values and the development of an organized ecclesiastical leadership.

The first known external reference to the Acts of Paul appears in Tertullian's On Baptism (ca. 200 C.E.). ² In that treatise, Tertullian confirms that the author of the Acts of Paul wrote the work as an attempt to enhance Paul's legacy, and that he brought together already existing material about the apostle in creating the work:

. . . it was a presbyter in Asia who put together that book, compiling the work from his own materials in the name of Paul. Having been convicted, he confessed that he had done it out of love for Paul.

MacDonald himself was concerned to show how the author of the Acts of Paul may have relied on oral materials in his composition; however, he does not say much at all about how the author utilized the writings of Paul in putting together the Acts.

Does the author utilize Paul's writings? If so, what can be said about the author's role as an "exegete" of Paul? The answers to such questions are complicated by the fact that there are no extended quotations of Paul's letters in the Acts of Paul. This should not be so surprising: the Acts of Paul was not meant to be a commentary on the letters, but a source of Pauline legend and teaching in its own right. Yet, even in the absence of explicit, extended quotation, it is possible to discern the influence of Paul's writing on the work. To do so, the reader must tune his or her ear to subtle allusions and echoes--terms, phrases, and cadences drawn from the letters.

The Acts of Paul is, in fact, full of allusions to Paul's writings. Its author knew and referred to all seven of Paul's genuine letters (Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, Philemon), as well as most of his disputed or spurious works (Ephesians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy). ³ Among these works, Paul's Corinthian correspondence (esp. 1 Corinthians) is alluded to quite frequently. The allusions take various forms. Sometimes it may be just the mention of a name: for example, a reference to Stephanas, the man whose household Paul claims to have baptized in 1 Corinthians 1.16. ⁴ In other cases, such allusions involve the borrowing of whole phrases and ideas. Below, I present five examples of how the language of Paul in 1 Corinthians is echoed in the Acts of Paul:

1. "Blessed are those who have kept the flesh pure, for they will become a temple of God (naos theou)." (Acts of Paul and Thecla 5)
"Do you not know that you are the temple of God (naos theou) and that the Spirit of God lives in you? . . . For the temple of God is holy, and you are that temple." (1 Cor 3.16-17)

2. "Blessed are those who have wives as if they had none." (Acts of Paul and Thecla 5)
"Let those who have wives be as if they had none."(1...