Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von The Acts of Bartholomew
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You will love this if you enjoy ancient legends of saints and apostles, vivid scenes of angels and demons, and questions about how faith travelled to far countries.
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What do you do when the god you have trusted all your life goes silent on the very day a stranger arrives? In the temple of Astaruth in India, sick pilgrims lie helpless waiting for their idol to heal them, and the idol says nothing. The stranger is Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles, who has taken lodging among the pilgrims and the poor.
The Acts of Bartholomew is an ancient narrative about his mission to India. Its author is unknown. Early Christian communities read it with wonder, because it gives the apostles faces, voices, and dangers. You begin in a temple where nothing answers.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A silent idol empties a temple of hopeFree
- 2A demon paints the apostle's portrait
- 3Healing a possessed man and a chained princess
- 4The apostle refuses gold and teaches the king
- 5A bound demon speaks and the idol falls
- 6An angel seals the temple and a kingdom is baptised
- 7What the story says about power, and how it is told
Punkt 1 von 7
A silent idol empties a temple of hope
The story opens in India. Into it comes Bartholomew, apostle of Christ. He does not go to a palace or a marketplace. He takes a place in the temple of Astaruth and lives there as one of the pilgrims and the poor.
The temple holds an idol of the same name, and people believe it heals the sick. The story claims the opposite. When someone sacrifices to it, the demon inside simply steps back so that the sufferer seems cured. The body looks better while the soul grows more sick, and the people keep returning.
Then Bartholomew's presence changes the place. Astaruth stops answering. The temple fills with sick people from distant countries, and they sacrifice every day, yet no reply comes. The pilgrims lie there helpless.
So the people travel to another city, where a god named Becher is honoured. Becher, who is also a demon, answers that since God sent Bartholomew to this region, Astaruth has been held in chains of fire and can no longer speak. The demon says Bartholomew is the friend of Almighty God, come to take away the worship of idols.
The story begins not with a miracle but with something failing to happen, and the false gods themselves must admit who is stronger. When false power falls quiet, the true authority has already arrived.
That’s 1 of 7 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of The Acts of Bartholomew
The full book, start to finish.Questions about The Acts of Bartholomew
What is the Acts of Bartholomew about?
It tells how the apostle Bartholomew comes to India, silences the idol Astaruth, heals a king's daughter, converts King Polymius and his people, and faces the anger of the king's brother. The tale follows his mission and its cost.
Is the Acts of Bartholomew in the Bible?
No. It belongs to the New Testament apocrypha, writings about the apostles that circulated among early Christians but remained outside the canon. Readers valued them for devotion and storytelling, and many survive in several versions and languages.
Who are Astaruth, Becher, and Polymius?
Astaruth is an idol and demon in an Indian temple, Becher is a demon in a neighbouring city, and Polymius is the king whose daughter Bartholomew heals. Each plays a clear role in the apostle's mission.
Did Bartholomew really go to India?
Ancient writers such as Eusebius record a tradition that he preached there, and scholars debate how much history lies behind it. The Acts itself is legend and devotion, and it shows how early Christians imagined the reach of the mission.
What is the main message of the Acts of Bartholomew?
The tale argues that true power belongs to prayer, trust, and humility, not to gold or idols. It also shows healing as freedom for both body and soul, brought through the apostle's authority.
Cite this edition
The Acts of Bartholomew. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acts-of-bartholomew.
The acts of Bartholomew. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acts-of-bartholomew
The Acts of Bartholomew. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acts-of-bartholomew.
@book{anonymous2026acts,
title = {The Acts of Bartholomew},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acts-of-bartholomew}
}
