Acts of Andrew

Acts of Andrew

[The beginning and much of the journey narrative survive only in an abbreviated Latin witness.]

After the ascension, the apostles went out into the regions appointed to them. Andrew began in Achaia. Afterward, returning from the city called Mermidona, he came again into the land assigned to him.

As he walked with his disciples, a blind man called to him and said, “Andrew, apostle of Christ, I know that you are able to restore my sight. Yet I ask only that those with you give me enough to clothe and feed myself.” Andrew answered, “This is the voice of the adversary, who does not wish you to receive sight.” He touched the man’s eyes, and he saw. Then Andrew commanded that his filthy garment be removed and that he be clothed with what was sufficient. The man returned home giving thanks.

Demetrius of Amasea had an Egyptian youth whom he loved, and the youth died from fever. Hearing of Andrew’s works, Demetrius fell at his feet and begged for help. Andrew came to the house, prayed, turned toward the bier, raised the youth, and restored him alive. Those of the house believed and were baptized.

A young believer named Sostratus came secretly to Andrew and said, “My mother desires me unlawfully. I rejected her, and now she has gone to the proconsul to accuse me of the very evil she sought. I would rather die than expose her.” When he was brought before the proconsul, he remained silent. His mother accused him and also blamed Andrew. The proconsul ordered the youth to be sewn into the sack of parricides and cast into the river, and Andrew to be imprisoned.

Andrew prayed. The earth shook, thunder sounded, the proconsul fell from his seat, and all were thrown down. The accusing woman withered and died. The proconsul fell before Andrew and pleaded for mercy. Andrew prayed again; the shaking ceased, the injured were healed, and the proconsul and his household believed and were baptized.

At Sinope, the son of Cratinus had been seized by an unclean spirit. Cratinus himself burned with fever, and his wife was swollen with dropsy. Andrew commanded the spirit to depart from the youth, rebuked Cratinus for his disordered life, and told him to rise and sin no more. He was healed. Concerning the wife Andrew said, “If she will return to her former sin, let her not be healed; but if she will keep herself from it, let her be healed.” The swelling left her, and she received bread with thanksgiving. The whole household believed. When Cratinus later offered rich gifts, Andrew said, “Give them instead to those in need.”

At Nicaea, seven demons dwelling among the tombs stoned travelers at midday and had killed many. The people came to Andrew carrying olive branches and crying, “Our deliverance is in you, man of God.” Andrew commanded the spirits to appear, and they came in the likeness of dogs. He ordered them, in the name of Jesus, to depart into dry and barren places and to harm no one until the day of judgment. They vanished with a roar. The people believed, and Andrew appointed Callistus over them.

At the gate of Nicomedia, Andrew met an aged father and mother following the bier of their son, whom seven dogs had killed. Andrew perceived that the same spirits had done this. He prayed, saying, “Let the spirit of this youth return.” The believers answered, “Amen.” The youth arose. His parents offered gifts, but Andrew refused them and took the youth with him, instructing him in the way.

Crossing the Hellespont toward Byzantium, they were overtaken by a violent storm. Andrew prayed, and the sea became calm. Passing through Thrace, they met armed men who intended violence. Andrew made the sign of the cross and prayed. A shining messenger touched the weapons, and the men fell powerless while Andrew and those with him passed on.

At Philippi, two households had arranged marriages between their sons and daughters. A word came to them: “Wait for my servant Andrew; he will tell you what you must do.” When Andrew arrived, they told him the matter. His face shone, and he exhorted the young people to choose holiness and remain free from the union prepared for them. They received his word and followed the way he taught.

A wealthy young man named Exoos came to Andrew without his parents’ knowledge and asked to learn the way of truth. He believed and followed Andrew, taking no thought for his possessions. His parents tried to draw him away with wealth. When they later came to burn the house where Andrew and Exoos stayed, the youth prayed over a vessel of water and sprinkled the flames, and the fire died. Those who climbed against them were struck blind. Some believed, but the parents remained hardened and afterward died. Exoos used his inheritance for the poor.

At Thessalonica, the people asked Andrew to heal Adimantus, who had been unable to walk for twenty-three years. The young man had seen Andrew in a dream. He arose, came running to the assembly, and fell at Andrew’s feet. The people cried, “There is none like the God proclaimed by Andrew.”

Another youth, tormented by an unclean spirit, hanged himself before Andrew arrived. The father brought the body, believing that the God Andrew preached could raise him. Andrew prayed, and the youth arose. The people believed, and Andrew taught them for three days.

Medias of Philippi begged Andrew to heal his son. At the city gate, an old man asked mercy for prisoners whom Medias had confined until their bodies were covered with sores. Andrew said, “How do you ask mercy for your son while you hold these men in chains? Release them first.” Medias repented and freed them. Andrew healed the prisoners and then healed Philomedes, the son of Medias, who had suffered for twenty-two years. Philomedes then went through the houses, commanding the sick to rise in the name of Jesus Christ, and many were healed.

A man named Nicolaus offered a gilded chariot, white mules, and white horses for the healing of his daughter. Andrew said, “I accept not these visible gifts. Offer instead the inward person, that you may know the true God, reject what passes away, and desire what endures.” He healed the girl and taught the household.

Philosophers came to dispute with Andrew, but no one could withstand the word spoken through him. Virinus the proconsul, hearing that Andrew taught the people to forsake the temples and worship one God, sent soldiers to seize him. When they entered, the brightness of Andrew’s face caused them to fall in fear. One soldier, possessed by a spirit, cried out and then fell dead when the spirit left him. Andrew prayed and raised him.

Virinus ordered Andrew to be exposed to beasts. A fierce boar circled him and did not touch him. A bull, driven by many men, refused to harm him, killed those who tormented it, and fell dead. A leopard passed by Andrew and killed the proconsul’s son. Andrew then prayed and raised the young man. The people desired to kill Virinus, but Andrew restrained them.

A woman asked Andrew to cleanse her house, which had been devastated by a serpent of enormous size. Andrew commanded it to bow its head and die. It coiled around an oak, poured out poison and blood, and perished. A child whom it had killed was raised in the name of Jesus Christ.

Andrew then related a vision. He saw a great mountain shining with light, and with him were Peter and John. John raised Peter to the summit and said to Andrew, “You also are to drink Peter’s cup.” Then he revealed the mystery of the cross upon which Andrew would shortly hang. Andrew commended the believers to the Lord, broke bread with thanksgiving, gave it to them, blessed them, and departed.

On the voyage to Patrae, one of the company fell into the sea. Andrew rebuked the wind, and the man was borne back by the waves and taken into the ship. On the twelfth day they came to Patrae.

Lesbius the proconsul had sent men to seize Andrew, but their ships were wrecked. Afterward, two dark beings appeared to Lesbius and scourged him. Andrew came, taught him, prayed for him, and healed him. Lesbius believed.

Trophima, who had left a former life and devoted herself to the teaching, was falsely accused and sent to a house of prostitution. She kept the Gospel upon her breast, and no one could approach her. When a young man attempted violence, the book fell to the ground; she cried to God, a messenger appeared, and the young man fell dead. Afterward she prayed, and he arose. Callisto, who had caused her suffering, was herself struck down, but Andrew raised her also and reconciled the two women.

By the shore, a drowned youth was cast up by the sea. Andrew raised him. The youth said that he and thirty-nine companions had been shipwrecked while seeking the new teaching. Andrew prayed, and the other bodies were brought to the shore. The believers took each by the hand and said, “Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, raises you.” They all arose.

An aged man named Nicolaus confessed that he had lived in immorality for seventy-four years. Andrew fasted and prayed for him until a voice from heaven declared that mercy had been granted, but that the old man also must fast. Nicolaus gave away his goods, lived on bread and water for six months, and died. A voice told Andrew, “Nicolaus, for whom you interceded, has become mine.”

At Megara, Andrew entered a house filled with unclean spirits. They cried, “What have you to do here, Andrew? This house is ours.” He drove them out and healed all who had been tormented.

Returning to Patrae, Andrew was summoned to Maximilla, wife of the proconsul Aegeates, who lay in fever. Andrew took her by the hand, and she was healed. Aegeates sent him silver, but Andrew refused even to look at it.

Stratocles, the brother of Aegeates, arrived from Italy. A beloved servant of his was seized by a spirit and lay foaming in the court. Andrew took the servant’s hand and raised him whole. Stratocles believed and remained with Andrew.

Maximilla came continually to hear the word. When Aegeates returned and sought to enter while the believers were assembled, Andrew prayed that he would be delayed until they had departed. Aegeates was seized with weakness, and the believers went out safely.

[A brief ancient notice preserves the following episode.]

When Andrew came to a wedding, he separated those who were about to marry and instructed the men and women to remain holy in the unmarried state.

[Another ancient citation preserves the following.]

Maximilla, refusing the marriage-bed of Aegeates, placed her maid Euclia in her own place. On another occasion, as Maximilla and Iphidamia went to hear Andrew, a beautiful child accompanied them. The child entered the praetorium and imitated their voices so that Aegeates believed they were still within and departed.

[Fragment breaks here.]

Is there still such weakness among you? Have you not yet been persuaded that you bear his goodness? Let us reverence him and rejoice together in the generous fellowship that comes from him.

Let us say within ourselves: Blessed is our race—by whom has it been loved? Blessed is our condition—by whom has it received mercy? We are not cast down, we who have been recognized by so great a height. We are not offspring of time, afterward to be dissolved by time. We are not a device of motion, made only to be destroyed again by motion, nor things born from the earth and ending again in the earth.

We belong to a greatness toward which we press and whose possession we are—a greatness that has had mercy on us. We belong to the better, and therefore flee the worse; to the beautiful, and therefore reject the foul; to the righteous, and therefore cast away injustice; to the merciful, and therefore reject cruelty; to the Savior, by whom we know the destroyer; to the light, by whom we have cast away darkness; to the One, by whom we have turned from the many; to the heavenly, by whom we have learned to know the earthly; to the abiding, by whom we have seen the transitory.

If we desire to offer worthy thanksgiving, confidence, hymn, or boasting to the God who has shown us mercy, what greater theme have we than this: that we have been recognized by him?

After saying these things, Andrew sent the brothers and sisters each to their own house, saying, “You who serve Christ are never forsaken by me because of the love that is in him; neither shall I be forsaken by you because of his mediation.” They departed rejoicing. Yet they continued to gather without fear in the prison with Maximilla, Iphidamia, Stratocles, and the rest, protected by the grace of the Lord.

Aegeates came to Maximilla and said, “Your parents gave you to me as wife. Return to the life we formerly shared, and I will treat you well and release the stranger whom I hold in prison. But if you refuse, I will not harm you; instead I will afflict the one you love more than me. Consider and answer me tomorrow.”

Maximilla went to Andrew and told him everything. Andrew said, “Maximilla, my child, do not be conquered by the threat of Aegeates. Do not yield to his words, his shameful counsels, or his flattering deceit. Endure his torments for a little while, and you will see him wither away from you and from all who are joined to you.”

“In you I behold Eve repenting, and in myself Adam returning. What she suffered in ignorance, you now set right by turning back; what the spirit suffered when it fell away from itself is restored in me with you, who see yourself brought home. Her failure you remedy by refusing to suffer as she did; his imperfection I repair by taking refuge in God. What she disobeyed, you obey. What he consented to, I flee. What both transgressed, we have now understood, for each must raise up his own fall.”

“Well done, nature that is being saved, for you have stood firm and have not hidden yourself. Well done, soul that cries out from what it suffered and returns to itself. Well done, human being who understands what belongs to you and presses toward it. Perceive in yourself that you are immaterial, holy light, akin to the Unbegotten, intellectual, heavenly, transparent, pure, above flesh, above the world, above rulers and powers. Know yourself in your true condition, break every bond, and desire to see the One revealed to you, who does not come into being.”

“Trample down the threats of Aegeates. Let him bind me, cast me to beasts, burn me, or throw me from a height. There is only this body; let him abuse what is akin to him. Keep yourself pure, undivided, unbroken, and free from the works of Cain.”

Andrew turned to Stratocles and said, “Why are you overwhelmed with tears and groaning? Have the words entered your understanding? Is there within you one who loves the One speaking in me, desires fellowship with him, and longs to become one with him? Or is there still an adversary within—deceitful, proud, violent, serpent-like, a weapon of darkness?”

Stratocles answered, “Nothing afflicts me except that you are departing. Your words are like arrows of fire cast into me. I have received the seed of salvation from you, but who will tend it when you are gone?” Andrew took his hand and said, “I have found the one I loved. Your tears show that my words have not been spoken in vain.”

Then Andrew said, “Tomorrow Aegeates will deliver me to be crucified. Maximilla will enrage the enemy within him by refusing what is hateful to her, and he will turn against me.”

When Maximilla rejected Aegeates, he resolved to put Andrew to death. She returned with Iphidamia to the prison, and Andrew spoke to the gathering: “I was sent by the Lord to these regions not to teach what was wholly unknown, but to remind those who are kin to these words that they live among temporal evils and delight in harmful illusions. Depart from what passes away and press toward what endures.”

“Blessed are those who become obedient to the proclaimed word and thereby see the mysteries of their own nature. Build yourselves firmly upon the foundation laid for you, which cannot be shaken. Remember what you have seen and heard while I walked among you. The God in whom you have believed will have mercy on you and bring you to rest through all ages.”

“Do not be troubled that a servant of God is driven from this temporal life by an evil man. The shameless adversary arms his children against all who love and confess the Lord, but he will not obtain his desire. At first he hides his enmity under false friendship, suggesting his thoughts as pleasant and attractive. But when the light of grace appears and the saved race turns away from his pleasures, he is exposed and begins openly to make war.”

“Knowing this, be watchful. Do not carry upon your souls marks that are not your own. Lift yourselves wholly upward through the Word. Gladly await the end and fly from the adversary.”

[The fragment breaks here.]

After Andrew had spoken through the night, prayed with the believers, and committed them to the Lord, Aegeates summoned him early in the morning and said, “The end of your judgment has come, stranger, enemy of this present life and foe of my house. You entered places that were not yours and corrupted my wife, who formerly obeyed me. Now you shall receive the reward of what you have done.”

He commanded seven men to scourge Andrew and afterward crucify him. He ordered that his feet should not be pierced, so that hanging unfastened he might suffer longer.

The report spread through Patrae that the righteous stranger, servant of Christ, was being crucified though he had done no wrong. The people ran together in anger at the unjust judgment.

When Stratocles saw Andrew dragged like a criminal, he struck the executioners and tore their garments, taking Andrew from them. Andrew said to him, “My child, possess your soul in stillness. Remove this anger from yourself. It belongs to the servant of Jesus to be worthy of Jesus.”

They came to the place beside the sea where the cross had been set. Andrew left those with him, approached the cross, and spoke to it as to a living thing:

“Hail, cross; rejoice indeed. You who have long stood waiting for me shall now be at rest. I come to you, whom I know as belonging to me; I come to you who have desired me.”

“I know the mystery for which you are set up. You are planted in the world to establish what is unstable. One part reaches upward toward heaven, signifying the Word above, the head of all things. Another stretches to the right and left, putting to flight the hostile power and gathering together what has been scattered. Another is fixed in the earth and set securely in the depth, joining what is on and beneath the earth to the heavenly.”

“O cross, instrument of the salvation of the Most High; trophy of victory over the enemies; planted on earth, bearing fruit in heaven; name filled with all things. You have bound the restless circuit of the world. You have shaped what was without form. You clothed yourself with the Lord, bore the thief as fruit, called the apostle to repentance, and did not refuse to receive us.”

“Why do I delay speaking and not embrace the cross, that through the cross I may be made alive and through it depart from the common death of all?”

Then he said to the executioners, “Come, servants of Aegeates, ministers of joy to me. Fulfill the desire of us both. Bind the lamb to the wood of suffering, the human being to the Maker, the soul to the Savior.”

They bound his hands and feet but did not nail them, according to the order of Aegeates. They left him hanging. When the disciples saw that he was not treated as those usually crucified, they hoped still to hear him. Andrew moved his head and smiled.

Stratocles asked, “Why do you smile, servant of God? Your laughter makes us weep because we are losing you.” Andrew answered, “Shall I not laugh at the vain assault of Aegeates, who thinks he can punish us? We are strangers to him and to his designs. The one who belongs to Jesus cannot be punished, because he is known by Jesus.”

Andrew then addressed all who stood there: “Men and women, children and elders, enslaved and free, all who hear: pay no attention to the empty deceit of this present life. Look instead upon us who hang here for the Lord and are about to depart from the body. Renounce the desires of the world, reject the worship of idols, and run to the true worship of the God who does not lie. Make yourselves a pure temple ready to receive the Word. Hasten after my soul as it hastens toward heavenly things. Despise what is temporary and establish your minds as those who believe in Christ.”

The crowd remained, and Andrew spoke to them for a day and a night. On the next day they went together to Aegeates and cried, “You have judged unjustly. What evil has this man done? The whole city is troubled. Give us back the righteous and holy man. For two days he has hung without food, yet he strengthens us with his words, and we believe in the God he proclaims.”

Fearing an uprising, Aegeates went with them, promising to release Andrew. When Andrew heard, he said, “How dull are those whom I have taught. Even now they cling to what is earthly. Leave me to die in the manner appointed. Let no one release me from these bonds, for it is ordained that I depart from the body and be present with the Lord, with whom I also am crucified.”

He turned toward Aegeates and cried, “Why have you come, one who is alien to me? Do you say you have repented and come to release me? Even if you repent, I will not now consent to you. Even if you promise all your wealth, I will not depart from myself. Can you release one who is already free, one recognized by his own Kin, one who has obtained mercy and is loved by him? I go to the One with whom I shall remain for unnumbered ages.”

Aegeates approached the cross to loose him. Andrew cried, “Do not permit, Lord, your Andrew, bound upon your cross, to be released again. Do not give the one who hangs upon your mystery to the shameless adversary. Jesus Christ, whom I have seen, whom I hold, whom I love, in whom I am and shall be, receive me in peace into your everlasting dwellings, so that through my departure many who are kin to me may enter into you and rest in your majesty.”

Having said this and glorified the Lord, Andrew gave up his spirit.

Maximilla and Stratocles drew near, took down his body, cared for it according to custom, and buried it near the shore. Maximilla remained apart from Aegeates and lived quietly among the believers, filled with the love of Christ.

Aegeates, unable to persuade her to return, cast himself from a height in the night and died. Stratocles refused his brother’s possessions, saying, “Let your goods go with you, Aegeates. I need none of them. Let Christ be my friend and I his servant. I offer all that I have to the One in whom I have believed, and I pray to share with Andrew in the ageless and unending kingdom.”

Andrew suffered at Patrae on the thirtieth day of November.