Apocrypha
Acts of John
Deeds of the Apostle
2 chapters · read and listen
Reading note
An apocryphal or pseudepigraphal text — outside the canon of the Western churches, yet widely circulated among ancient Jews and Christians. Published here from a public-domain translation, edited for continuous reading.
Chapters
Dossier
John's travels through Asia, containing the strangest episode in early Christian literature: the Hymn of the Dance, in which Jesus places the disciples in a circle and sings with them before his arrest.
Where this text comes from
Greek, 2nd century AD, preserved incompletely. It is one of the five great apocryphal acts and among the oldest.
Why it is not in the Bible
Formally condemned. The Second Council of Nicaea, in 787, ordered copies burned — a rare decision, prompted by its docetic content and its refusal to admit that Christ had a real body.
What you will find
- Note: what is published on this page is the record about the work — authorship, circulation and condemnation — not the narrative itself.
- It preserves the fact that the Manichaeans used this book at the end of the 4th century, and that it was composed at Edessa by Leucius Charinus.
- The condemnation is twofold and named: Pope Leo I and the Council of Nicaea ordered the copies burned.
- It is because of that order that the work survives only in fragments — and that what remains here is the record rather than the story.
Frequently asked questions
- Why were the Acts of John condemned?
- For docetism — the denial that Christ had a real human body. The Second Council of Nicaea in 787 ordered the copies destroyed, which is why the text survives only in fragments.