The Deaths of the Apostles in the Apocryphal Acts

• Although far less prominent than the death of Jesus, the passing away of his disciples can arguably be described as some of the most significant events in first-century Christianity, and the way in which they were depicted in ancient literature can tell us how early Christian authors imagined how a Christian should live and die. This paper studies how the apostles’ deaths are depicted in the collections of early Christian stories known as the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles – stories whose predominantly fictional nature give their authors freedom to depict their protagonist’s de- mise as an ideal Christian death. In comparison to how an ideal death is conceived in Greco-Roman culture in general, and in philosophical biographies in particular, these apocryphal death scenes are found to manifest many of the same ideals – calm, control, and consistency – while adding Christian values such as belief in immediate resurrection and the importance of teaching and evangelizing to your last breath.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Filosofi, etik och religion -- Religionsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion -- Religious Studies (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Bibelvetenskap, Nt

Biblical Studies, New testament

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)