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The Pseudepigrapha of PaulThe pseudepigrapha of Paul are the early writings falsely attributed to the apostle Paul. These include: The Epistle to the Laodiceans; The Epistles of Paul to Seneca, with Seneca's to Paul; The Acts of Paul and Thecla; Paul in Ephesus; Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle Paul; The Beginning of the Stay in Ephesus; and The Apocalypse of Paul. The first three of these writings are published in The Lost Books of the Bible1 and the rest are published in The Other Bible.2 The purpose of this article is to compare the themes of these writings with those of the canonical writings of Paul. Taking them in the order previously mentioned, we begin with The Epistle to the Laodiceans. This epistle is extremely short, having only 19 verses. The theme is mainly exhortation to good works. The content seems obviously to be drawn almost verbatim from other canonical writings of Paul. There is nothing here that does not appear in other epistles such as 1 Thessalonians and Philippians. It lacks fluidity of thought and definitely appears to have been pieced together by someone wishing to produce the epistle mentioned in Colossians as being written to the Laodiceans. There is no mention of others by name and, overall, adds nothing to the study of Paul. The epistles of Paul and Seneca consist of fourteen very short epistles that record a dialog between Annaeus Seneca, a tutor of Caesar's household, and Paul. The theme appears to be that Seneca has become acquainted with Paul and his writings (the letters to the Galatians, Corinthians, and the people of Achaia are specifically mentioned) and become very fond of both. Seneca even had some of the Paul's writings read to the emperor Nero. Upon learning of this, Paul discouraged Seneca from doing this because the doctrine may offend the emperor resulting in his anger with Seneca. The burning of Rome is mentioned by Seneca who implies that Nero is the cause of it, rather than the Jews and Christians who are being blamed for it. Paul commends Seneca's maturing faith and asks him to make it known to the emperor, his family, and to friends. Paul warns him that his testimony will meet with opposition, but that the Word of God will eventually convert them. One unique feature of these letters is that some of them are dated. It is also interesting to note that Jesus Christ is not mentioned in these letters. These letters are marked by politeness and great mutual admiration and seem to have been produced together rather than compiled later. Some of the letters are extremely short without much of anything in the way of content, causing suspicion as to their genuiness. The Acts of Paul and Thecla in The Lost Books of the Bible differs from the version in The Other Bible in the ending. This will be covered later. According to Barnstone, this book was composed around A.D. 185-195 by a presbyter in Asia Minor, who was expulsed from the church as a result. The theme of the book is continence and salvation. In this book, as in other apocryphal works, sexual purity is a key to eternal salvation. The book opens with Paul arriving at Iconium to stay with a man named Onesiphorous. It contains a physical description of Paul supposedly given by Titus for Onesiphorous to recognize him when he arrived. Paul enters the house of Onesiphorous and preaches a sermon that is very similar to the beatitudes of Jesus. In the house next door, a young virgin woman named Thecla listens to Paul's preaching and, believing in his preaching, she never leaves the window in order to hear Paul. Her fiancee, Thamyris, becomes very jealous and seeks to persecute Paul, who has taught the young women to remain chaste in order to achieve salvation. Eventually Paul is imprisoned, then scourged and driven out of Iconium. Thecla is ordered to be burned alive by the promptings of her own mother to be an example for the other young women of Iconium. God quenches the flames with rain and hail and Thecla is released. Later, in Antioch, a man named Alexander falls in love with Thecla but she refuses him as well. She embarrasses him in public and is condemned by the governor to be torn apart by beasts. A woman named Tryphaena obtains custody of her until the execution. While Thecla is staying with Tryphaena, Tryphaena has a dream in which her dead daughter, Falconilla, appears to her and tells her to receive Thecla in her place and to ask her to pray for her that she may be translated to the place of the just. On the following day, Thecla is taken naked into the stadium where a bear and lion attack her but are killed by a protective lioness. Thecla baptizes herself in a pit of water containing killer seals. Lightning kills the seals and as more beasts are sent upon her, God sends a cloud of fire to keep the beasts away and to conceal her nakedness. Finally, the governor releases her. She finds Paul again and after informing him of all that happened begins a preaching ministry. She finds her way back to Iconium and finds that Thamyris is dead. She witnesses to her mother and seeks to be reconciled to her. Here the version in The Other Bible ends saying that Thecla went away to Seleucia and after preaching the word of God died nobly. The Lost Books of the Bible version says that after witnessing to her mother, her mother rejected her message. Thecla then went to Seleucia and then to live in a mountain where she led a monastery for women. She healed the sick and cast out unclean spirits. She healed so many that the physicians of Seleucia were filled with envy and plotted against her by stirring up evil men to rape her. They assumed that if she lost her virginity she would no longer have power to heal. As the men laid hold of her, she prayed to God and God opened the rock and told her to flee into it. She ran into the opening and it was sealed behind her. She was ninety years old when she was translated and the day kept in her memory is the twenty-fourth of September. This book is more about Thecla than it is about Paul. There are things in this book that are not consistent with canonical teachings. For example, the appearance of the dead Falconilla asking for prayer to be translated to heaven and the heavy emphasis on chastity as necessary for salvation. This book adds nothing to the benefit of the Church and it is not difficult to see why it was rejected by the Church. Next is Paul in Ephesus. He is condemned to be killed by beasts for preaching chastity to wives of local officials. Paul condemns the materialism of Artemilla, the wife of a ruler, who requests baptism as a result. The next day Paul is cast into the stadium with a fierce lion. When the lion and Paul see each other, Paul recognizes it as the lion he baptized and the two converse. God saves Paul and lion with a hail storm which kills many, and they escape. It is ridiculous to believe that Paul baptized a talking lion. This does nothing for the edification of the Church or to reveal the mind of God. It also adds nothing to our knowledge of Paul. Next is The Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle Paul. Here we read of many of Caesar's men who were converted under Paul's preaching. Nero views their allegiance to Jesus as their King as treason and has them tortured. Paul is also captured as the leader who enlists soldiers from Rome. He is ordered to be beheaded. Paul tells Nero that when he is killed he will appear to him in proof that he is not dead but alive to Christ Jesus. The witnesses to Paul's execution are the Roman prefect Longus and the centurion Cestus. They are converted when milk spurts onto their clothing at Paul's beheading. Paul returns again before Caesar as "God's soldier" to haunt the bloody tyrant. Again, there is nothing in this writing to add to the edification of the Church. The idea of people being converted because of miraculous sign such as milk coming from Paul's beheaded body is totally inconsistent with the biblical record. Also, the idea of Paul visiting Nero after his death is inconsistent with the biblical record. Next is The Beginning of the Stay in Ephesus. This writing records the baptism of the talking lion mentioned previously. The lion cast himself at Paul's feet and Paul asked him what he wanted. The lion said he wished to be baptized. After immersing the lion three times, the lion said to Paul, "Grace be with you!" Paul returned the greeting and the lion ran off into the country rejoicing. It ends with the statement, "A lioness met him, and he did not yield himself to her but ran off." Again we see the emphasis on chastity. This writing also adds nothing to the Church and adds nothing to our understanding of Paul, but appears to be pure fiction. Lastly is The Apocalypse of Paul. An elaborate scheme to prove this books authenticity was developed to justify its appearance centuries after Paul's death. The writing was stored in a sealed marble box along with Paul's shoes under the foundation of the house Paul lived in at Tarsus. The book contains Greek mythology and is written in a style similar to Dante's Inferno. The story elaborates on Paul's journey into heaven mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12. The story goes into great detail about what Paul saw and all the biblical personalities he meets. He also witnesses the suffering of the unrighteous. There are many theological problems with this writing. Chastity is again emphasized, even for married people. In the judgment of some is mentioned the opening of the doors of the monastery. This is something that did not even exist in first century Christianity. In another instance Paul asks an angel what "hallelujah" is. Paul would not have asked such a question. In another instance, we see evil angels torturing the condemned. This is inconsistent with biblical teaching, since the Bible says the devil and his angels will be cast into the lake of fire. In yet another instance, some are condemned in great suffering for denying that the Eucharist the body and blood of Christ. Mary appears as a virgin, which is also inconsistent with the biblical record, since she had other children after Jesus. In another instance, Abraham explains that salvation is offered to people through work, renunciation and holiness and humility and love and gentleness and right faith in the Lord. The ending of the book contains an explanation by Paul as to how the book was discovered. Paul writes that after his death, Jesus told him that all that was shown to him was not to be hidden but rather to be revealed in hopes that men would repent. How Paul could have written this after he was dead and the book had been hidden under the house is not mentioned. This is clearly a fabrication. These writings appear to be written by ascetics who believed the body and physical things to be evil, especially sexual relations. This is inconsistent with the teaching of Paul in the canonical writings. Paul condemned sexual relations outside of marriage, but in no way encouraged married people to abstain from sexual relations with their spouses. In fact he encouraged it! These writings also lack any doctrinal purpose. They do not contain any teaching for church, but only fantastic stories. It becomes obvious then why the Church has rejected these writings throughout the ages. _____________ 1 William Hone, The Lost Books of the Bible (New York: Gramercy Books, 1979). 2 Willis Barnstone, ed., The Other Bible (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1984).
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