Acts of Thaddeus: Turin Shroud Encyclopedia

Turin Shroud Encyclopedia
Copyright © Stephen E. Jones[1]

Acts of Thaddeus #6

This is "Acts of Thaddeus," part #6 of my new Turin Shroud Encyclopedia. For information about this series, see part #1 and part #2. Emphases are mine unless otherwise indicated.

[Index #1] [Previous: acheiropoietos #5] [Next: Adler, A #7]

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The Acts of Thaddeus (hereafter "the Acts) is written in Greek, probably in the 7th century. According to

[Right (enlarge)[2]: Mid-tenth century encaustic (hot wax) painting at Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai, being part of an original triptych, depicting Thaddeus handing the Image of Edessa [see future "Image of Edessa"] to Edessa's King Abgar V (r. 4 BC-AD 50)[see "Abgar V".]

the Acts' title, Thaddaeus was "One of the Twelve"[3], i.e. one of the twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus (Mt 10:2-3; Mk 3:14-19; Lk 6:13-16). A comparison of those three Gospels' lists of the twelve apostles reveals that "Thaddaeus" in Mt 10:3 and Mk 3:18 is evidently "Judas the son of James" in Lk 6:16 & Acts 1:13 and "Judas (not Iscariot)" in Jn 14:22.

The Acts claims to have been written by a Hebrew named Lebbaeus, who was from Edessa, came to Jerusalem in the time of John the Baptist and was baptized by him and renamed Thaddaeus (or Thaddeus):

"Lebbaeus, who also is Thaddaeus, was of the city of Edessa— and it is the metropolis of Osroene, in the interior of the Armenosyrians — an Hebrew by race, accomplished and most learned in the divine writings. He came to Jerusalem to worship in the days of John the Baptist; and having heard his preaching and seen his angelic life, he was baptized, and his name was called Thaddaeus.

If the story was made up, why have Lebbaeus being first a disciple of John the Baptist and then later becoming a disciple of Jesus? Why not make Lebbaeus/Thaddeus a disciple of Jesus only?

"And having seen the appearing of Christ, and His teaching, and His wonderful works, he followed Him, and became His disciple; and He chose him as one of the twelve, the tenth apostle according to the Evangelists Matthew and Mark."

This has a `ring of truth' in that Jn 1:35-42 records that John the Baptist encouraged his disciples to follow Jesus instead of him. And that the Apostle Andrew, who was the Apostle Peter's brother, and an unnamed disciple who was presumably the Apostle John[4], were former disciples of John the Baptist who became Apostles of Jesus.

The alternative is that given by the early church historian Eusebius (263-339), that Thaddeus was one of the the "seventy disciples of Christ" (presumably one of the seventy-two (aka seventy), in Lk 10:1,17):

"Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, under divine impulse sent Thaddeus, who was also numbered among the seventy disciples of Christ, to Edessa, as a preacher and evangelist of the teaching of Christ."

In the fifth-century Doctrine of Addai [see future "Doctrine of Addai"], Thaddeus was also one of the seventy, but there are anachronistic problems with that.

There is no way of reconciling the two accounts of who Thaddeus was. If he was one of the twelve Apostles, then he was not one of the Seventy.

What the Acts of Thaddeus itself claims, that Thaddeus was a Hebrew from Edessa, with a Hebrew name, seems plausible, because a 7th century Greek author would be unlikely to make it up that Thaddeus was a Hebrew with a Hebrew name.

Many Greek manuscripts of Mt 10:3 and Mk 3:18 have "Lebbaios" instead of "Thaddaios," including D (Codex Bezae).[5] But manuscripts ℵ (Codex Sinaiticus) and B (Codex Vaticanus) have "Thaddaios"[6] and therefore modern English translations read "Thaddaeus." However, on the main principle of textual criticism, Lectio difficilior potior "the more difficult reading is the stronger," it may well be that Matthew and Mark originally wrote "Lebbaios who was called Thaddeus" in Mt 10:3 and Mk 3:18, respectively, but subsequent copyists of manuscripts (ℵ) and (B), simplified it to "Thaddeus" only[7].

That Thaddeus was originally from Edessa would explain why he was sent by Jesus to heal Edessa's King Abgar V and to preach the Gospel in Edessa.

The Acts recounts the story of Abgar V ("Abgarus"):

"In those times there was a governor of the city of Edessa, Abgarus by name. And there having gone abroad the fame of Christ, of the wonders which He did, and of His teaching, Abgarus having heard of it, was astonished, and desired to see Christ, and could not leave his city and government."

This may be historically accurate in that Abgar V in the time of Jesus' public ministry (AD 26-30) was a Protectorate of the Parthian Empire, and so Abgar V was not then truly a king but only a governor (or ruler). However, see below that Abgar was also "governor of the country of the Edessenes," i.e. of Osroene as well.

The Acts then anachronistically refers to "the days of the Passion" of Jesus, that is, His suffering and death by crucifixion, which had not yet happened.

"And about the days of the Passion and the plots of the Jews, Abgarus, being seized by an incurable disease, sent a letter to Christ by Ananias the courier, to the following effect:—

It also seems unlikely that Abgar, in Edessa, would have known about "the plots of the Jews" against Jesus (Mt 26:3-4; Mk 14:1; Jn 11:45-48,53) (but see below).

Abgar's "incurable disease" was, according to tradition, leprosy. Mt 4:23-25 records that Jesus' "fame spread throughout all Syria" because of His "healing every disease and every affliction among the people." The Roman province of Syria shared a border with Osroene, so Abgar V would surely have heard of Jesus' healings and having been "seized by an incurable disease" (leprosy), would have sought to be healed by Jesus. And it is not unlikely that a king or governor would write an official letter to Jesus to give weight to his request.

Abgar's letter to Jesus (according to the Acts) began:

"To Jesus called Christ, Abgarus the governor of the country of the Edessenes, an unworthy slave. The multitude of the wonders done by you has been heard of by me, that you heal the blind, the lame, and the paralytic, and cure all the demoniacs; and on this account I entreat your goodness to come even to us, and escape from the plottings of the wicked Jews, which through envy they set in motion against you. My city is small, but large enough for both."

It is difficult to believe that Abgar would have called himself "an unworthy slave" of Jesus. But then he was desperate to receive healing from Jesus. It is also possible (contrary to above) that Abgar did know of reports of the Jewish religious leaders plotting against Jesus, and added this as an inducement for Jesus to come to him.

The Acts clarified above that Abgar was the governor of the "country of the Edessenes," not just of the city of Edessa. But then Abgar wrote, "My city is small, but large enough for both," as though all that Abgar was governor of was the city of Edessa, and a "small" city at that. This

[Above (enlarge)[8]: The ruins of Edessa's citadel, within ancient Edessa, which itself is within the modern city of Sanliurfa.]

appears to be another anachronism in that in 201 Edessa was devastated by a major flood and in 205 King Abgar VIII (r. 177–212) [see "Abgar VIII"] rebuilt Edessa as a smaller fortress or citadel (above) within the walls of the former city of Edessa.

Abgar's letter to Jesus continued:

"And Ananias, having gone and given the letter, was carefully looking at Christ, but was unable to fix Him in his mind. And He knew as knowing the heart, and asked to wash Himself; and a towel [tetradiplon = "four doubled"] was given Him; and when He had washed Himself, He wiped His face with it. And His image having been imprinted upon the linen [sindon = "shroud"], ..."

As inserted within square brackets above, the word translated "towel" is Greek [tetradiplon = tetra "four" + diplon "doubled" = "four doubled"; and the word translated "linen" is the Greek word sindon = "shroud"[9]. This can only be the Shroud, doubled four times such that the face is uppermost, visible in landscape aspect (see below) [see also

[Above (enlarge): Tetradiplon and the Shroud of Turin illustrated: The full-length Shroud of Turin (1), is doubled four times (2 through 5), resulting in Jesus' face within a rectangle, in landscape aspect (5), exactly as depicted in the earliest copies of the Image of Edessa, the 11th century Sakli church, Turkey (6) and the 10th century icon of King Abgar V of Edessa holding the Image of Edessa, St. Catherine's monastery, Sinai (7).]

28Mar12, 23Aug12, 11Sep12, 15Sep12, 18May14, 19Jan17, 20Jan17, 24Jan17 & 04Oct18].

In the seventh century the Shroud (as the Image of Edessa four-doubled so only the face was visible in landscape aspect) was in Edessa fastened to a board and embellished with gold, having been brought to Edessa from Ravenna in 540 [See "540a"], according to my Ravenna theory. So no one in Edessa evidently knew that behind the face image was the full-length Shroud. But as classics professor Robert Drews (1936-) pointed out, it would have been possible to see from the side [Left (enlarge)[10].] that behind the face was a long cloth doubled four times.

The Acts continues with Jesus' verbal reply to Abgar through his courier, Ananias:

"He gave it to Ananias, saying: Give this, and take back this message, to him that sent you: Peace to you and your city! For because of this I have come, to suffer for the world, and to rise again, and to raise up the forefathers. And after I have been taken up into the heavens I shall send you my disciple Thaddaeus, who shall enlighten you, and guide you into all the truth, both you and your city."

It goes without saying that this is false that the Shroud image was imprinted on a cloth while Jesus was alive and then Jesus gave the Image of Edessa/Shroud to Abgar's courier Ananias to take it back to Abgar!

The original Abgar V story recorded by Eusebius in the fourth century was that Abgar V wrote to Jesus asking for Him to come and heal Abgar and Jesus wrote a letter back to Abgar promising to send one of His disciples after His Ascension to heal Abgar and bring Christianity to him and his people. It is part of the "substratum of fact" that Abgar V did write a letter to Jesus to come to Edessa and heal him and that after Jesus' death a disciple of Jesus, Thaddeus (Syriac Addai), did heal Abgar and help establish Christianity in Edessa. The Acts builds on that Abgar V story and updates it with new information about the Image of Edessa/Shroud which had arrived in Edessa recently before it was instrumental in repelling the Persian siege of 544. And more believably the Acts does not record that Jesus wrote a letter of reply to Abgar's letter, but gave Ananias a verbal message to take back to Abgar.

Most surprisingly, the Acts then has a terse `one-liner' of what is the most important part of the Abgar story, the actual healing of Abgar, through Jesus "likeness" imprinted on the "towel" (tetradiplon):

"And having received Ananias, and fallen down and adored the likeness, Abgarus was cured of his disease before Thaddaeus came."

So according to the Acts of Thaddeus, it should really have been titled the "Acts of Ananias" because he, not Thaddeus, did the really important work of receiving from Jesus His "likeness" imprinted on a "towel" and taking it from Jerusalem to Abgar in Edessa, who was then healed through it "before Thaddaeus came"! This sounds like an interpolation into an existing Abgar story.

As pointed out above, it is false that Jesus imprinted His face image on the Image of Edessa/Shroud while He was alive and therefore it is also false that Abgar was healed through the Image/Shroud, at least without Thaddeus being present and after Jesus had died.

I make that distinction because, as mentioned in a previous post, Eusebius' 4th century Abgar story does not mention that Jesus imprinted the image of His face on a cloth, nor that Abgar was healed by him seeing the Image of Edessa/Shroud. But Eusebius does mention that Abgar was healed upon seeing "a great vision" when Thaddeus appeared before him. It may be that this "great vision" was the Image of Edessa/Shroud carried by Thaddeus into Abgar V's presence and through which Abgar was healed.

No less than the great St. Athanasius (c. 328-373), "affirmed that a sacred Christ-icon, traceable to Jerusalem and the year 68, was then present in Syria" and Eusebius was under pressure by the Emperor Constantine I (r. 306-312)'s half-sister, Flavia Julia Constantia (c.293–c.330) to reveal the whereabouts of that image so she could add it to Constantine I's relic collection in Constantinople. Eusebius' evasive reply suggests that he knew of that "Christ-image" and was covering for it. So it may be that part of the "substratum of fact" underlying the Abgar story was that Abgar was healed by the Image of Edessa/Shroud carried by Thaddeus, but it remained in Thaddeus' possession, not Abgar's.

From here on, despite it being a very interesting, what seems to be an authentic description of first century Christian evangelism, there is nothing of relevance to the Shroud in the Acts, so I will briefly summarise what remains of interest (each quote is from the online Acts of Thaddeus):

"And after the passion, and the resurrection, and the ascension, Thaddaeus went to Abgarus; and having found him in health, he gave him an account of the incarnation of Christ, and baptized him, with all his house. And having instructed great multitudes, both of Hebrews and Greeks, Syrians and Armenians, he baptized them in the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit ... and he communicated to them of the undefiled mysteries of the sacred body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ ... and to give close heed to the things that had been said by the apostles in Jerusalem. For year by year they came together to the passover, and again he imparted to them the Holy Spirit."

This is further evidence of the Acts basic authenticity. Not only are there no citations from the New Testament, because it hadn't yet been written, the reference to heeding "the things that had been said by the apostles in Jerusalem" might seem to be a problem because according to the Acts, Thaddeus was an Apostle (see above). But as the New Testament Book of Acts, chapter 15 reveals, up to about the year 50, the central authority of the early Church was a Jerusalem Council of the Apostles who remained in Jerusalem.

The Acts of Thaddeus records that Thaddeus, with Abgar's help, destroyed pagan temples (presumably in Osroene) and built Christian churches:

"And Thaddaeus along with Abgarus destroyed idol-temples and built churches; ordained as bishop one of his disciples, and presbyters, and deacons, and gave them the rule of the psalmody and the holy liturgy."

There is a statement of the content of Thaddeus' teaching, which seems to have been retrospectively added because it seems to contain quotations from the New Testament (although they could be independent accounts of the same things):

"And Thaddaeus said: No doubt you have heard of what has taken place in Jerusalem about Jesus Christ, and we are His disciples, and witnesses of the wonderful things which He did and taught, and how through hatred the chief priests delivered Him to Pilate the procurator of Judaea. And Pilate, having examined Him and found no case, wished to let Him go; but they cried out, If you let him go, you are not Caesar's friend, because he proclaims himself king. And he being afraid, washed his hands in the sight of the multitude, and said, I am innocent of the blood of this man; see ye to it. And the chief priests answered and said, His blood be upon us and our children. And Pilate gave him up to them. And they took Him, and spit upon Him, with the soldiers, and made a great mock of Him, and crucified Him, and laid Him in the tomb, and secured it well, having also set guards upon Him. And on the third day before dawn He rose, leaving His burial-clothes in the tomb. And He was seen first by His mother and other women, and by Peter and John first of my fellow disciples, and thereafter to us the twelve, who ate and drank with Him after His resurrection for many days. And He sent us in His name to proclaim repentance and remission of sins to all the nations, that those who were baptized, having had the kingdom of the heavens preached to them, would rise up incorruptible at the end of this age; and He gave us power to expel demons, and heal every disease and every malady, and raise the dead."

In particular, "And He was seen first by His mother and other women" is evidence of a later Mariolatry, because the Gospels record that Jesus was seen first by women, none of whom were Mary the mother of Jesus, namely "Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome" (Mk 16:1). Salome was evidently "the mother of the sons of Zebedee" (Mt 27:56), who were the Apostles James and John (Mk 3:17; 10:35; Lk 5:10). Salome was evidently the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus (Jn 19:25), and Mary the mother of James [and Joseph] (Mk 15:40), the "other Mary" (Mt 27:61; 28:1) was "Mary the wife of Clopas" (Jn 19:25). The first recorded appearance of the Risen Jesus was to Mary Magdalene (Jn 20:11-17).

The final evidence of the authenticity of the Acts is that it does not record Thaddeus having died and been buried in Edessa, but in "Berytus, a city of Phoenicia," which is modern Beirut:

"Teaching, therefore, and evangelizing along with the disciples, and healing the sick, he went to Berytus, a city of Phoenicia by the sea; and there, having taught and enlightened many, he fell asleep on the twenty-first of the month of August. And the disciples having come together, buried him with great honour ..."

Continued in the next part #7 of this series.

Notes
1. This post is copyright. I grant permission to quote from any part of this post (but not the whole post), provided it includes a reference citing my name, its subject heading, its date and a hyperlink back to this page. [return]
2. "File:Faddei70.JPG," Wikimedia Commons, 24 March 2017. [return]
3. Knight, K., ed., 2018, "The Acts of Thaddaeus, One of the Twelve," New Advent, 18 October. [return]
4. Hendriksen, W., 1964, "A Commentary on the Gospel of John: Two Volumes Complete and Unabridged in One," [1954], Banner of Truth: London, Third edition, Vol. I, p.105; Kruse, C.G., 2003, "The Gospel According to St. John: An Introduction and Commentary," The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, Inter-Varsity Press: Leicester UK, p.84. [return]
5. "E Kaine Diatheke," (Greek New Testament), Second Edition, The British and Foreign Bible Society, London, 1958, reprinted 1964, pp.27, 108. [return]
6. Ibid. [return]
7. Metzger, B.M., 1975, "A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament," United Bible Societies: London, Third edition, pp.26, 81. [return]
8. Extract from "Edessa citadel in Urfa, Turkey (Google Maps)," Virtual Globetrotting, 2016. [return]
9. Scavone, D.C., 1989, "The Shroud of Turin: Opposing Viewpoints," Greenhaven Press: San Diego CA, p.82; Petrosillo, O. & Marinelli, E., 1996, "The Enigma of the Shroud: A Challenge to Science," Scerri, L.J., transl., Publishers Enterprises Group: Malta, p.174; Guscin, M., 2009, "The Image of Edessa," Brill: Leiden, Netherlands & Boston MA, pp.146; Wilson, I., 2010, "The Shroud: The 2000-Year-Old Mystery Solved," Bantam Press: London, pp.140-141. [return]
10. Drews, R., 1984, "In Search of the Shroud of Turin: New Light on Its History and Origins," Rowman & Littlefield: Lanham MD, p.41. [return]

Posted 28 March 2019. Updated 7 January 2024.