The Coptic Act of Peter in Late Antiquity: Virginity, Disability, Intertextuality

In this essay, I argue that the Coptic Act of Peter (Papyrus Berolinensis 8502.4) is a late ancient Christian reformulation of an early Jewish temple tradition preserved in the book of 3 Maccabees, according to which God preserves the sanctity of his temple by means of divine paralysis. I argue furt...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Drake, Luke (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press 2023
In: Journal of early Christian studies
Year: 2023, Volume: 31, Issue: 4, Pages: 493-521
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Actus Petri / Maccabean books 3. / Intertextuality / Virginity / Paralysis / Holiness
IxTheo Classification:HD Early Judaism
KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity
NBE Anthropology
NCF Sexual ethics
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Summary:In this essay, I argue that the Coptic Act of Peter (Papyrus Berolinensis 8502.4) is a late ancient Christian reformulation of an early Jewish temple tradition preserved in the book of 3 Maccabees, according to which God preserves the sanctity of his temple by means of divine paralysis. I argue further that the implications of this intertextual relationship ought to influence how we interpret the Act of Peter—its narrative, themes, and theology—as well as how and where we might situate this apocryphal account in history. Instead of placing the Greek original in the second or third centuries, I locate it closer to the fourth or fifth, alongside a contemporaneous surge of orthodox exhortations and treatises on virginity—most likely in the context of the varieties of "household asceticism" that were prevalent in late ancient Syria and Asia Minor.
ISSN:1086-3184
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of early Christian studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1353/earl.2023.a915032