Acts of Philip

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The Acts of Philip is a text discovered in 1974 by Fran=C3=A7ois=20 Bovon and Bertrand=20 Bouvier in the library of Xenophontos Monastery on Mount Athos in Greece.[1]=20 The manuscript dates from the fourteenth century but it is thought to be = a copy=20 of a fourth century original.[1]=20 Many of the stories in the manuscript were already known from other = sources, but=20 some were hitherto unknown.[2] The=20 narrative claims that Jesus sent out a group = of=20 followers to spread his message. The followers were Philip, Bartholomew, = and a=20 woman named Mariamne who = is=20 identified as Philip's sister. A number of sources have alleged that = Bovon=20 claims that that Mariamne could be identical to Mary = Magdalene.[1]=20 However, Bovon himself denies this, writing in a letter to the Society = of=20 Biblical Literature:

As I was interviewed for the Discovery Channel's program The = Lost Tomb=20 of Jesus, I would like to express my opinion here.

First, I have now seen the program and am not convinced of its = main=20 thesis. When I was questioned by Simcha Jacobovici and his team the = questions=20 were directed toward the Acts of Philip and the role of Mariamne in this = text. I=20 was not informed of the whole program and the orientation of the=20 script.

Second, having watched the film, in listening to it, I hear two = voices,=20 a kind of double discourse. On one hand there is the wish to open a = scholarly=20 discussion; on the other there is the wish to push a personal agenda. I = must say=20 that the reconstructions of Jesus' marriage with Mary Magdalene and the = birth of=20 a child belong for me to science fiction.

Third, to be more credible, the program should deal with the = very=20 ancient tradition of the Holy Sepulcher, since the emperor Constantine = in the=20 fourth century C.E. built this monument on the spot at which the emperor = Hadrian=20 in the second century C.E. erected the forum of Aelia Capitolina and = built on it=20 a temple to Aphrodite at the place where Jesus' tomb was = venerated.

Fourth, I do not believe that Mariamne is the real name of Mary = of=20 Magdalene. Mariamne is, besides Maria or Mariam, a possible Greek = equivalent,=20 attested by Josephus, Origen, and the Acts of Philip, for the Semitic=20 Myriam.

Fifth, the Mariamne of the Acts of Philip is part of the = apostolic team=20 with Philip and Bartholomew; she teaches and baptizes. In the beginning, = her=20 faith is stronger than Philip's faith. This portrayal of Mariamne fits = very well=20 with the portrayal of Mary of Magdala in the Manichean Psalms, the = Gospel of=20 Mary, and Pistis Sophia. My interest is not historical, but on the level = of=20 literary traditions. I have suggested this identification in 1984 = already in an=20 article of New Testament Studies.

Fran=C3=A7ois Bovon, Harvard Divinity School

Among the accomplishments of the group was the conversion of a = talking leopard and a=20 talking goat,[1]=20 as well as the slaying of a dragon.^{[3] The=20
text discovered by Bovon also described a community that practised vegetarianism =
and celibacy.[1]}=20 Women in the community wore men's = clothes and held=20 positions of authority comparable to men, serving as priests and deacons.^[1]=20 The community used a form of the eucharist where vegetables=20 and water were=20 consumed in place of bread and wine.^[4]

The manuscript discovered by Bovon has been published in a French = translation. An=20 English translation was planned "within a few years" (as of 2000).^[1]=20 Other English translations are based on collections of fragments known = from=20 before Bouvon's discovery.

[edit]=20 References

^ ^=
a=20 ^=
b=20 ^=
c=20 ^=
d=20 ^=
e=20 ^=
f=20 ^=
g=20 http://www.harvardmagazine.com/on-line/0500113.html =
^ = http://www.magdalene.org/em_actsphilip.php "A = complete=20 collection of several already-known single Acts, Bovon's discovery = filled in=20 the blanks existing in previously-published translations of the Acts = of=20 Philip"=20
^ = http://www.gnosis.org/library/actphil.htm=20
^ = http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2000/02.03/apocrypha.h= tml=20

[edit]=20 External links

Text = of the Acts=20 of Philip (based on sources available before the Mount Athos = discovery)=20
Encyclopedia=20 Magdalena: The Acts of Philip=20
Fourth-Century Church Tales -- article from = Harvard=20 magazine=20
Women Priests, Vegetarianism - An Early Christian = Manuscript=20 Holds Some Surprises -- from the Harvard = University=20 Gazette.=20
Bovon's=20 letter to the Society of Biblical Literature


	This article about a book related to Christianity is a = stub. You = can help=20 Wikipedia by expanding = it.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.= org/wiki/Acts_of_Philip"

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