Pseudo-Abdias is the name formerly given to a collection of

New Testament Apocrypha The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cit ...

held by the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

and consisting of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

translations in ten books containing several chapters. Each book describes the life of one of the

Apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

. The name "Pseudo Abdias" itself is a mistake, dating from the edition of Swiss scholar

Wolfgang Lazius Wolfgang Laz, better known by his Latinized name Wolfgang Lazius (October 31, 1514 – June 19, 1565), was an Austrian humanist who worked as a cartographer, historian, and physician. Lazius was born in Vienna, and first studied medicine, becomin ...

(1552), and based on the mention of a disciple called Abdias, who is presented as the companion of the two apostles Simon and Judas Thaddeus on the way to Persia in one of the books, ''Passio Simonis et Iudae'' (BHL H, 7749-7751).Writings Relating to the Apostles - Apocalypses and Related Wilhelm Schneemelcher, Robert McLachlan Wilson - 2003 (7-23) contains a Passio Simonis et ludae (BHL H, 7749-7751) which reflects an entirely different tradition about the deeds ... 20 about a certain Abdias, who is presented as the companion of the two apostles on the way to Persia and as first

History

In Lazius' edition (W. Lazius, ''Abdiae Babyloniae episcopi et apostolorum discipuli de historia certaminis apostolici libri decem'' Basel, 1552), the introduction to the Pseudo-Abdias is allegedly written by

Sextus Julius Africanus Sextus Julius Africanus (c. 160 – c. 240; Greek: Σέξτος Ἰούλιος ὁ Ἀφρικανός or ὁ Λίβυς) was a Christian traveler and historian of the late second and early third centuries. He is important chiefly because o ...

who claimed the originals were written by

Abdias of Babylon Legend makes Abdias (or Obadiah) first bishop of Babylon and one of the Seventy Apostles who are collectively mentioned in the ''Gospel of Luke'' . Saints Simon and Jude allegedly consecrated him as the first Bishop of Babylon. He is also asso ...

who was allegedly consecrated by Saint Simon and personally knew some of the

Apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

s. Abdias was supposed to have originally written them in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and Latin, after which they were translated into

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

by "Eutropius", his assistant. The claims to the documents being genuine works of Abdias have been widely disputed for several centuries. Their original authorship was first brought into question over book six, which was associated with another assistant of Abdias called "Caton". Book six covers the lives of Saint Simon and

Saint Jude Jude ( grc-gre, Ἰούδας Ἰακώβου translit. Ioúdas Iakóbou) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is generally identified as Thaddeus ( grc-gre, Θαδδαῖος; cop, ⲑⲁⲇⲇⲉⲟⲥ; ...

. It has also been noted that a similar volume called the

Pseudo-Crato Pseudo-Crato or Pseudo-Craton is the name given by modern scholarship to a figure named 'Craton' in Book 6 (6.20) of Pseudo-Abdias' ten-volume pseudepigraphical and apocryphal histories of the apostles. It is unclear whether Craton and the work c ...

was allegedly written by a disciple of Simon's called Crato. Pseudo-Abdias was published in 1703 by

Johann Albert Fabricius Johann Albert Fabricius (11 November 1668 – 30 April 1736) was a German classical scholar and bibliographer. Biography Fabricius was born at Leipzig, son of Werner Fabricius, director of music in the church of St. Paul at Leipzig, who was the ...

in the second volume of a collection he had compiled of

apocryphal Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...

manuscripts. He subtitled it ''"Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha, sive, Historia Certaminis Apostolici adscripta Abdiae"'' (English: The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, or, the History of the Apostolic Struggle ascribed to Abdias). The art historian

Otto Demus Otto Demus (born St. Pölten, Austria, 1902; died Vienna, 17 November 1990) was an Austrian art historian and Byzantinist. He is considered a member of the Vienna School of Art History. Between 1921 and 1928, Demus studied art history at the Uni ...

argued that Pseudo-Abdias was a significant influence upon the designers of the mosaics of

St Mark's Basilica The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark ( it, Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica ( it, Basilica di San Marco; vec, Baxéłega de San Marco), is the cathedral church of the Catholic Chu ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. Meredith Parsons Lilich sees the same influence of Pseudo-Abdias in the

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

Reims Cathedral , image = Reims Kathedrale.jpg , imagealt = Facade, looking northeast , caption = Façade of the cathedral, looking northeast , pushpin map = France , pushpin map alt = Location within France , ...

References

{{Authority control Christian manuscripts New Testament apocrypha Pseudepigraphy