Discipleship Ideals from Mark to the Acts of Thomas and His Wonderworking Skin

• Viewed as part of the reception history of the New Testament, the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles document a fascinating history of the development of the portrayal of the apostles, promoting various versions and accentuations of early Christian theology. This paper studies one aspect of this development, namely how the portrayal of an ideal Christian disciple is transformed from the Gospel of Mark to the Acts of Thomas and his Wonderworking Skin – a fourth- or fifth-century narrative in which Jesus sells Thomas as a slave in India. After displeasing his new master, Thomas is tortured and skinned alive, but manages to use his peeled-off skin to work miracles, and leads a large number of people to accept Christ. The discipleship ideals discernible from this story will be compared to similar ideals expressed in the Gospel of Mark, and the development between the two discussed.

Subject headings

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

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

Keyword

Bibelvetenskap, Nt

Biblical Studies, New testament

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)