THE TEACHING OF ADDEUS THE APOSTLE1

Addæus [said] to him: Because thou hast thus believed, I lay my hand upon thee in the name of Him in whom thou hast thus believed. And at the very moment that he laid his hand upon him he was healed of the plague of the disease which he had for a long time.3 And Abgar was astonished and marvelled, because, like as he had heard about Jesus, how He wrought and healed, so Addæus also, without any medicine whatever, was healing in the name of Jesus. And Abdu also, son of Abdu, had the gout in his feet; and he also presented his feet to him, and he laid his hand upon them, and healed him, and he had the gout no more. And in all the city also he wrought great cures, and showed forth wonderful mighty-works in it.

Abgar said to him: Now that every man knoweth that by the power of Jesus Christ thou doest these miracles, and lo! we are astonished at thy deeds, I therefore entreat of thee to relate to us the story about the coming of Christ, in what manner it was, and about His glorious power, and about the miracles which we have heard that He did, which thou hast thyself seen, together with thy fellow-disciples.

Addæus said: I will not hold my peace from declaring this; since for this very purpose was I sent hither, that I might speak to and teach every one who is willing to believe, even as thou. Assemble me to-morrow all the city, and I will sow in it the word of life by the preaching which I will address to you -about the coming of Christ, in what manner it was; and about Him that sent Him, why and how He sent Him; and

1 This fragment, extending to the lacuna on p. 14, is contained in the MS. No. 14,654, at fol. 33. It consists of one leaf only, and is part of a volume of fragments, of which the age is certainly not later than the beginning of the fifth century.

2 [See note 1 on p. 10.]

* Moses Chor. says that he had been suffering seven years from a disease caught in Persia.

about His power and His wonderful works; and about the glorious mysteries of His coming, which He spake of in the world; and about the unerring truth1 of His preaching; and how and for what cause He abased Himself, and humbled His exalted Godhead by the manhood which He took, and was crucified, and descended to the place of the dead, and broke through the enclosure which had never been broken through [before], and gave life to the dead by being slain Himself, and descended alone, and ascended with many to His glorious Father, with whom He had been from eternity in one exalted Godhead.

2

And Abgar commanded them to give to Addæus silver and gold. Addæus said to him: How can we receive that which is not ours? For, lo! that which was ours have we forsaken, as we were commanded by our Lord [to do]; because without purses and without scrips, bearing the cross upon our shoulders, were we commanded to preach His gospel in the whole creation, of whose crucifixion, which was for our sakes, for the redemption of all men, the whole creation was sensible and suffered pain.

4

And he related before Abgar the king, and before his princes and his nobles, and before Augustin, Abgar's mother, and before Shalmath, the daughter of Meherdath, Abgar's wife, the signs of our Lord, and His wonders, and the glorious mighty-works which He did, and His divine exploits, and His ascension to His Father; and how they had receivedpower and authority at the same time that He was received up-by which same power it was that he had healed Abgar,

3 The vowels supplied in this word are conjectural, as is the case with most of the proper names in these Documents. Perhaps the name of this person is to be read Shalamtho, as there is a Zahap, the wife of Phasaëlus, mentioned in Jos. Antiq. b. xviii. c. v.

4 Who this was, does not appear. He may have been some connection of Meherdates king of the Parthians, of whom Tacitus, Ann. xii. 12, speaks as having been entertained at Edessa by Abgar.

5 According to Moses Chor. b. ii. ch. xxxv., the first, or chief, wife of Abgar was Helena.

and Abdu son of Abdu, the second person1 of his kingdom; and how He informed them that He would reveal Himself at the end of the ages 2 and at the consummation of all created things; [he told them] also [of] the resuscitation and resurrection which is to come for all men, and the separation which will be made between the sheep and the goats, and between the faithful and those who believe not.

And he said to them: Because the gate of life is strait and the way of truth narrow, therefore are the believers of the truth few, and through unbelief is Satan's gratification. Therefore are the liars many who lead astray those that see. [Liars they are :] for, were it not that there is a good end awaiting believing men, our Lord would not have descended from heaven, and come to be born, and to [endure] the suffering of death. Yet He did come, and us did He send3

4

of the faith which we preach, that God was crucified for1 all men.

4

And, if there be those who are not willing to agree with these our words, let them draw near to us and disclose to us what is in their mind, that, like as in the case of a disease, we may apply to their thoughts healing medicine for the cure of their ailments. For, though ye were not present at the time of Christ's suffering, yet from the sun which was darkened, and which ye saw, learn ye and understand concerning the great convulsion which took place at that time, when He

5

1 Probably one of the second rank. Tacitus, Ann. vi. 31, 32, mentions a man named Abdus, perhaps the same as this one, as possessing great authority in the Parthian kingdom.

2 [Or "times."]

3 The remainder of "The Teaching of Addæus" is taken from another MS. of the Nitrian collection in the Brit. Mus., Cod. Add. 14,644. It is one of those which were procured in the year of the Greeks 1243 (A.D. 931) by the abbot Moses during his visit to Bagdad. It appears to be of the sixth century.

Both "for" and "willing" are conjectural, the Ms. being damaged. -WRIGHT.

[Possibly "earthquake," for which sense see Mich., p. 161; and so on p. 17.]

was crucified whose gospel has winged its way through all the earth by the signs which His disciples [my] fellows do in all the earth: yea, those who were Hebrews, and knew only the language of the Hebrews, in which they were born, lo! at this day are speaking in all languages, in order that those who are afar off may hear and believe, even as those who are near. For He it is that confounded the tongues of the presumptuous in this region who were before us; and He it is that teaches at this day the faith of truth and verity by us, humble and despicable1 men from Galilee of Palestine. For I also whom ye see am from Paneas, from the place where the river Jordan issues forth, and I was chosen, together with my fellows, to be a preacher.

For, according as my Lord commanded me, lo! I preach and publish the gospel, and lo! His money do I cast upon the table before you, and the seed of His word do I sow in the ears of all men; and such as are willing to receive it, theirs is the good recompense of the confession [of Christ]; but those who are not persuaded [to accept it], the dust of my feet do I shake off against them, as He commanded me.

Repent therefore, my beloved, of evil ways and of abominable deeds, and turn yourselves towards Him with a good and honest will, as He hath turned Himself towards you with the favour of His rich mercies; and be ye not as the generations of former times that have passed away, which, because they hardened their heart against the fear of God, received punishment openly, that they themselves might be chastised, and that those who come after them may tremble and be afraid. For the purpose of our Lord's coming into the world assuredly was, that He might teach us and show us that at the consummation of the creation there will be a resuscitation of all men, and that at that time their course of conduct will be portrayed in their persons, and their bodies will

1 [Properly "miserable." Compare Rom. vii. 24; 1 Cor. xv. 19.] 2 [Otherwise Cæsarea Paneas, or C. Philippi: now Banias.]

3 [Cureton: "the whole object of our Lord's coming into the world was." But is = omnino.]

be [so many] volumes for the writings of justice; nor will any one be there who is unacquainted with books, because every one will read that which is written in His own book.1

3

Ye that have eyes, forasmuch as ye do not perceive, are yourselves also become like those who see not and hear not; and in vain do your ineffectual voices strain themselves to deaf ears. Whilst they are not to be blamed for not hearing, because they are by nature deaf and dumb, yet the blame which is justly incurred falls upon you, because ye are not willing to perceive-not even that which ye see. For the dark cloud of error which overspreads your minds suffers you not to obtain the heavenly light, which is the understanding of knowledge.5

6

Flee, then, from things made and created, as I said to you, which are only called gods in name, whilst they are not gods in their nature; and draw near to this [Being], who in His nature is God from everlasting and from eternity, and is not something made, like your idols, nor is He a creature and a work of art, like those images in which ye glory. Because, although this [Being] put on a body, [yet] is He God with His Father. For the works of creation, which trembled when He was slain and were dismayed at His suffering of death,-these bear witness that He is Himself God the Creator. For it was not on account of a man that the earth trembled, but on account of Him who established the earth upon the waters; nor was it on account of a man that the sun grew dark in the heavens,

1 A few lines are wanting here in the Ms.

2 The greater part of the word rendered "deaf" is conjectural.— WRIGHT. [The "your" looks as if it were impersonal: "it is useless for any one to talk to the deaf."]

3 ["By" () is not in the printed text.]

4 [Lit. "the blame in which justice is involved (prop., buried) is yours."]

5 [Comp. Prov. xix. 25.]

6"This" is doubtful.-WRIGHT.

I have very little doubt that we should substitute is [the earth trembled] for i [who is from the earth].—WRIGHT.