University of Groningen The Apocryphal Acts of Paul And Thecla Bremmer, Jan N. IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below. Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Publication date: 1996 Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database Citation for published version (APA): Bremmer, J. N. (1996). The Apocryphal Acts of Paul And Thecla. (2 ed.) Kok Pharos Publishers. Copyright Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). The publication may also be distributed here under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the “Taverne” license. More information can be found on the University of Groningen website: https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/self-archiving-pure/taverne- amendment. Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum. Download date: 17-03-2023 IV. The baptized lion in the Acts of Paul TAMAS ADAMIK 'The rhetorician Theon accurately defined a fable as a "fictitious story metaphorically representing the truth", the "truth" in question being a fact of live or human behaviour, more often a piece of worldly wisdom than a "moral" in the ethical sense." Within this worldly wisdom the lion played a big part in the works of both Aesop and Phaedrus. It became the king of animals, and as such it could be either good or bad. In Phaedrus' 1.5 it is bad: A lion, in a royal whim Took other beasts to hunt with him. A stag entangled in their toil, He into three divides the spoil; Then in these words the lordly beast His humble company addressed: 'This portion I as strongest claim; This, because Lion is my name; And as for the remaining share, To touch it, let me see who dare!'2 In ancient Christian literature the figure of the lion takes a more complex part than in pagan texts. That is why the story of the baptized lion in the Acta Pauli (AP) aroused the interest of ancient 1 The Cambridge History of Classical Literature 1.4: The Hellenistic Period and the Empire (Cambridge, 1989) 140-1. 2 English by Sir Brooke Boothby, cited from M. Grant (ed), Latin Literature. An Anthology (New York, 1989) 285. THE BAPTIZED LION 6 1 Christian authors. Carl Schmidt dealt with this subject at great length as early as his book on the AP published in 1905. On the basis of data in Saint Jerome and Nicephorus, he argued that the AP had contained the story of the baptized lion, although the fragments of the Coptic papyrus manuscript did not confirm it.3 In addition, he published the English translation made by E.J. Good- speed from an Ethiopic text,4 in which the story of the baptized lion is to be found as follows: And Paul departed towards the mountain. And as he walked there, Paul found a lion and his height was twelve cubits and his size as that of a horse. And he met Paul and they saluted each other as though they knew each other. And the lion said to Paul: Well met, Paul, servant of God and apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ! I have one thing, which I ask thee to do unto me. And Paul said unto him: Speak; I will hear. And the lion said: Make me to enter into the great things of the Christians. And Paul took him and made him to enter into the great things of the Christians. And when he had finished the law of the seventh day, then they bade each other farewell. And again Paul retumed to the city. According to the Ethiopic text, this meeting with the lion hap- pened when Paul had left Caesarea for the mountains. After the event, Paul returned to Caesarea and preached the commandment of the Lord. A woman, whose name was Pelagia, daughter of the king, renounced her husband and followed the exhortation of Paul. The king commanded that Paul should be cast into prison. The story continues as follows: And they set a lion in ambush for Paul in the theater, and they set in ambush the one whose height was twelve cubits and his size as that of a horse, the one that had met Paul, that Paul had made to enter into the great things of the Christians. ... And they brought Paul from the prison and they brought him into the theater. And after Paul they 3 C. Schmidt, Acta Pauli aus der Heidefberger koptischen Papyrus- handschrifi Nr I (Leipzig, 1905; repr. Hildesheim, 1965) esp. xix-xxi. 4 Ibidem, xxii-iv. brought the lion into him. And it seemed to them, that he would devour him, and they all said: But this day hath Paul met that which will punish him. And Paul stretched forth his hands and prayed, the lion also prayed after him; and Paul worshiped and the lion also worshiped with him. And when they had finished glorifying and praying, Paul also turned and said to the lion: Well met! And Paul said to the lion: How is it that thou wast caught, who art so great? And the lion also said unto Paul: Thou also, behold thou wast caught, and they brought thee that I might devour thee. Did they not know that we were dear to one another? We are servants of our Lord. And after they had seen him talking with Paul, they all won- dered and said: Great is the faith of this man; even the beast of the field obeys him, and the people hearken to him. And they said: Now take Pelagia, but let him go with his lion. And the lion and Paul departed. According to Schmidt, the compiler of this story used older sour- ces in which the motifs of the speaking and baptized lion were found, but he changed many details. Instead of Ephesus, e.g., he located the plot in Caesarea, and instead of the verb 'to baptize' he used the phrase 'to enter into the great things of the Christians', and so on. The Hamburg Papyrus In 1936 a decisive change took place in research on the AP: Carl Schmidt published the Hamburg papyrus in which - although in a fragmentary state - the story of the baptized lion survived from the original Greek np6c~tql Ia6hou.' The surviving text makes it clear that the baptism of the lion took place on Paul's journey from Damascus to Jericho. Later, in Ephesus, Paul met the same lion in the stadium after Hieronyrnus, the governor of Ephesus, had condemned him to death. In the Hamburg Papyrus the story is told as follows: 5 C. Schmidt and W. Schubart, lIpci[etq lIav1ov (Gliickstadt and Harn- burg, 1936) 36-9. THE BAPTIZED LION 63 At dawn there was a cry from the citizens: 'Let us go to the spec- tacle! Come, let us see the man who possesses God fighting with the beasts!' Hieronymus himself joined them, partly because of his suspicion against his wife, partly because he (Paul) had not fled; he commanded Diophantes and the others slaves to bring Paul into the stadium. He (Paul) was dragged in, saying nothing but bowed down and groaning because he was led in triumph by the city. And when he was brought out he was immediately flung into the stadium, so that all were vexed at Paul's dignity. ... Hieronymus ... ordered a very fierce lion, which had but recently been captured, to be set loose against him. The following text is very imperfect. It deals with the lion's prayer and its conversation with Paul. The people thereupon cry out: 'Away with the sorcerer! Away with the (poisoner!' But the lion) looked at Paul and Paul (at the lion. Then) Paul recognised that this (was the) lion which had come (and) been baptized. (And) bome along by faith Paul said: 'Lion, was it thou whom I baptized?' And the lion in answer said to Paul: 'Yes,' Paul spoke to it again and said: 'And how wast thou captured?' The lion said with one (?) voice: 'Even as thou, Paul.' As Hieronymus sent many beasts, that Paul might be slain, and against the lion archers, that it too might be killed, a violent and exceedingly heavy hail-storm fell from heaven, although the sky was clear, so that many died and all the rest took to flight. But it did not touch Paul or the lion, although the other beasts perished under the weight of the hail, (which was so severe) that Hieronymus' ear was smitted and tom off, and the people cried out as they fled: 'Save us, 0 God, save us, 0 God of the man who fought with the beasts!' And Paul took leave of the lion, without his (i. e. the lion?) saying anything more, and went out of the stadium and down to the harbour and embarked on the ship which was sailing for Macedonia; for there were many who were sailing, as if the city were about to perish. So he embarked too like one of the fugitives, but the lion went away into the mountains as was custo- mary for it. In his comment on this text, Carl Schmidt highlights that Saint Jerome and Nicephorus knew the whole AP, and that the Ethiopian 64 TAMAS ADAMIK compiler translated it on the basis of the original Greek text.6 I agree with his opinion, and would simply add that the story of the speaking and baptized lion in the AP was spread among the Christians. This can be demonstrated by the unpublished Coptic papyrus from which R. Kasser published a small part in translation in NTA. The passage describes the beginning of Paul's stay in Ephesus with the first part of the story of the baptized lion told by Paulus in a sermon on Pentecost as follows: I was walking in the night, meaning to go to Jericho in Phoenicia, and we covered great distances. But when morning came, Lemma and Ammia were behind me, ... There came a great and terrible lion out of the valley of the burying-ground. But we were praying, ... But when we finished praying, the beast had cast himself at my feet. I was filled with the Spirit (and) looked upon him, (and) said to him: 'Lion, what wilt thou?' But he said: 'I wish to be baptized.' I glorified God, who had given speech to the beast and salvation to his servants. Now there was a great river in that place; I went down into it and he followed me... I myself was in fear and wond- erment, in that I was on the point of leading the lion like an ox and baptizing him in the water. But I stood on the bank, men and breth- ren, and cried out, saying: 'Thou who dost dwell in the heights, who didst look upon the humble, who didst give rest to the afflicted(?), who with Daniel didst shut the mouths of the lions, who didst send to me our Lord Jesus Christ, grant that we ... escape (?) the beast, and accomplish the plan which thou hast appointed'. When I had prayed thus, I took (the lion) by his mane (and) in the name of Jesus Christ immersed him three times. But when he came up out of the water he shook out his mane and said to me: 'Grace be with thee!' And I said to him: 'And likewise with thee.' The lion ran off to the country rejoicing (for this was revealed to me in my heart). A lioness met him, and he did not yield himself to her but ... ran off. These three variants of the story of the baptized lion demonstrate that this story of the AP was very popular among the Christians: 6 Schmidt, IIpoi[~ItI~cr v?lov, 96-8. THE BAPTIZED LION 65 they told it to each other in different ways. But it has kindled the interest of modem scholars as well. After Schmidt, B.M. Metzger, W. Schneemelcher and H.J.W. Drijvers have dealt with it.' Metz- ger translated this story from Greek into English and commented on it in a clever way. His footnote 14 is important because there he calls the attention to the similarity between this story and that of Androclus: 'The popularity of the tale is evidenced by the use which the anonymous Asian presbyter made of it in the Acts of Paul.' Schneemelcher thinks that one can do nothing with the parallel of the Androclus story. He joins Kurfess, who stressed on the basis of Rom 8.19-23 that the author of the AP wanted to show by the baptism of the lion that in the activity of Paul the redemption of creation is realized, that is, God's oikonomia attains its goal. Against Schneemelcher, Drijvers emphasizes that the lion was not converted by Paul but came from the valley of bones. The phrase 'valley of bones' alludes to Ezekiel 37.1-9, where the prophet says: 'The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.' The dry bones came to life by the word of the Lord. From this, it follows that in the AP life is represented by Jesus Christ and by baptism in his name. On the other hand, the lion symbolizes death because it came from the valley of bones. But in the encratite thoughts of the AP death is closely associated with sexuality, therefore the lion is the symbol of both. So when Paul baptizes the lion, he rescues it from death. In return, the lion rescues him from death in the theatre. Drijvers stresses the symbolic and theological meaning of the story: the lion is the symbol of sexuality, but under the influence of Paul and 7 B.M. Metzger, 'St. Paul and the baptized lion', Princeton Seminary Bulletin 39 (1945) 11-21; W. Schneemelcher, 'Der getaufte Lowe in den Acta Pauli', Mullus. Festschrift Th. Klausner = JAC, Erganmngsband 1 (Miinster, 1964) 316-26, repr. in his Gesammelte Aufsatze zum NT und zum Patristik (Thessaloniki, 1974) 223-39; H.J.W. Drijvers, 'Der getaufte Lowe...', in P. Nagel (ed), Carl-Schmidt-Kolloquium an der Martin-- Luther-Universitat 1988 (Halle, 1990) 181-9, repr. in his History and Religion in Late Antique Syria (Aldershot, 1994) ch. X. 66 TAMAS ADAMIK baptism it becomes encratite and renounces its sexuality. Popular views of lions In this section I would like to shed light on the cultural back- ground and motifs which led the author of the AP to construct the story of the baptized lion. Carl Schmidt already drew attention to Paul's report that he had been condemned to an animal fight in Ephesus: 'If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not?' (1 Cor 15.32). And later he mentions Ephesus again and that he escaped a lion: 'Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion' (2 Tim 4.17). Therefore Christians could have known that Paul had fought with a lion in Ephesus and had escaped un- harmed.' The importance of this tradition was increased by its association with the biblical story of Daniel and the lions: 'My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, 0 king, have I done no hurt' @an 6.22). Already Hippolytus combined these two stories in his commentary on Daniel written in 202-204 A.D.: 'For if we believe that when Paul was condemned to death, a lion, let loose upon him, fell down and licked his feet, how shall we not believe the things that happened in the case of Daniel?' (3.29).9 8 Cf. D.R. McDonald, 'A Conjectural Emendation of 1 Cor 15:31-32: Or the Case of the Misplaced Lion Fight', Harvard Theol. Rev. 73 (1980) 265-76. 9 Cf. Hippolytus, Commentary on Daniel, ed. G. Bardy and M. Lef2vre (Paris, 1947) 161: 'Quand donc I'ange apparut dans la fosse, les bEtes fkroces s'adoucirent, et lui manifestaient leur joie en secouant leur queue comme si elles voulaient se soumettre B un nouvel Adam. Elles ICchaient les pieds saints de Daniel, se roulaient sur ses pas, dksiraient Etre pik- tinCes par lui. Si nous croyons que, quand Paul fut condarnnC aux b&tes, le lion qui fut lachC contre lui se prosterna ti ses pieds et le ICcha, THE BAPTIZED LION 67 Pliny the Elder collected popular ideas about lions in book 8 of his Naturalis historia. He stresses the good breeding of lions: Leoni praecipua generositas tunc, cum colla armosque vestiunt iubae; id enim aetate contingit e leone conceptis ... simili mod0 feminae. Magna his libido coitus et ob hoc maribus ira (8.42). This idea confirms the conclusion of Drijvers that the lion in the AP could be a symbol of sexuality; in all variants it is highlighted that the baptized lion was of huge size, and in the unpublished Coptic papyrus the lion has a big mane which is - according to Pliny - the sign of sexuality, and when 'a lioness met him, he did not yield himself to her but ran off, that is, it renounced its sexuality. We may note in passing that on the Romanesque cath- edrals, the figure of the lion is often to be found as a symbol of body, as the symbol of lechery." Pliny also highlights the clemency of lions: leoni tantum ex feris dementia in supplices ('Among the beasts only the lion pardons the suppliants.') It is animal omnium generosissimum ceterisque imperitans (8.48). Pliny quotes various examples of the clemency of lions: Mentor Syracusanus met a lion with a painful splinter in its foot. The lion went up to Mentor and licked his feet to request his help, and Mentor drew the splinter out of its foot. According to Pliny pictura casum hunc testatur Syracusis ('a picture affirms the veracity of this case at Syracuse', 8.56). Another case told by Pliny is more interesting. Elpis Samius met a pourquoi ne croirait-on pas semblable miracle pour Daniel.' 10 G. de Champeaux and S. Stercloc, Introduction au monde des sym- boles (Zodiaque, 1972) 265-7, 275: 'Entre les deux arbres apparait Daniel, bras ecartts, en orant; les lions qui devaient le dtvorer lui Ikchent les mains comme de bons chiens celles de leur maitre. Jet6 aux lions par les ennemis du wai Dieu, il est la figure du Christ: il a vaincu les puis- sances de la mort et retrouvk I'accks du paradis. ... Si I'on ajoute que les lions sont un syrnbole fikquent de la luxure (le vice qui dCvore furieuse- ment), on est amen6 B penser que I'artiste a interprttk le ptch6 originel non pas, bien siir, cornme un vulgaire ptch6 de luxure, mais dans sa constquence qui fut d'introduire le trouble et m&me la honte dans un domaine qui ttait sorti tout pur des mains du Crtateur.' lion on the seashore in Africa, which stood there with jaws agape. Elpis was terrified and climbed into a tree. The lion went to the tree with its open jaws and begged him to have pity (hiatu ... miserationem quaerebat). Its mouth was open because a big bone had gotten stuck in its teeth. Finally, Elpis climbed down and extracted the bone from the lion's mouth, who was so grateful that it offered its prey to him (traduntque, quamdiu navis ea in litore steterit, retulisse gratiam venatus adgerendo, 8.58). Returning home to Samos, Elpis dedicated a temple to Dionysus, who was thereby named 'wide-open Dionysus'. Androclus and the lion These examples demonstrate that stories about the generosity and gratitude of lions were widespread in antiquity. But the most famous of these stories was told by Apion in his work Aigyptiaka. During the reign of Caligula, Apion came from Alexandria to Rome, where he lived for some years. He described an animal hunt in the circus maximus in the fifth book of his Aigyptiaka. This work does not survive, but in antiquity his lion story was well known; Aulus Gellius translated it from Greek into Latin in the second half of the second century. The story became known as 'Androclus and the lion': 'In the Great Circus', he says, 'a battle with wild beasts on a grand scale was being exhibited to the people. Of the spectacle, since I chanced to be in Rome, I was', he says, 'an eye-witness." There were there many savage wild beasts, b~tesre markable for their huge size, and all of uncommon appearance or unusual ferocity. But beyond all others', says he, 'did the vast size of the lions excite wonder, and one of these in particular surpassed all the rest. This one lion had drawn to himself the attention and eyes of all because 11 It is strange that Pliny the Elder does not mention the Androclus story; Seneca the Younger refers to it in his De beneficiis 2.19.1 : Leonem in amphitheatro spectavimus, qui unum e bestiariis agnitum, cum quon- dam eius fuisset magister, protait ab impetu bestiarum.