An erudite commentary on the Acts of Paul, one of the most important of the Apocryphal Acts, including an improved translation of the text.
Richard I. Pervo provides the most complete translation of the pseudoepigraphic Acts of Paul in English, together with a detailed commentary. The research perspective of this work is primarily literary, with detailed attention to the history of composition and revision. The author encourages a fresh look at this section of the “Apocryphal Acts” through the lens of the Pauline legacy and in the context of ancient popular narrative.
| Dimensions | 229 × 153 mm |
|---|---|
| Pages | 392 |
| Format | |
| Trade Information | JPOD |
Preface
Abbreviations
The Acts of Paul: A Translation
Introduction
Translation, Commentary, and Notes
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Appendices
Fragments of Uncertain Location
The Continuation of Thecla’s Story
The Acts of Titus
General Bibliography
Index of Ancient Sources
Index of Modern Authors
With characteristic energy and erudition, Richard Pervo reintroduces the Acts of Paul to the specialist and the non-specialist. The translation is exhilarating, at times even racy. The introduction, notes, and commentary are rich and disciplined. The volume will serve as the new point of departure for students of this important but neglected apocryphal book – likely in origin the First of the ‘major’ apocryphal acts and thus standing at the threshold between Christian canon and Christian apocrypha.
Julian Hills, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Kudos to Richard Pervo for the first English translation of the entire extant Acts of Paul. This text will be indispensable for situating the Acts in its literary, historical, and theological context. Pervo opens with a comprehensive introduction and then proceeds with a translation, commentary, bibliography, and notes for each section. Pervo provides the most complete commentary on the text in any language, a tour de force by this distinguished canonical Acts and Apocrypha scholar.
Judith Perkins, University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford, Connecticut
… the present-day reader is in Richard Pervo’s debt for his scholarly work on the text, its translation and his detailed commentary.
Geoffrey Turner, in Heythrop Journal, Vol 57, Issue 4
