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- What it is: An anonymous early Christian narrative about the apostle John, belonging to the apocryphal acts.
- Origins: Usually dated to the late second or early third century; composed in Greek, with missionary stories set mainly in Ephesus.
- Key scenes: Miracles, a confrontation at the Temple of Artemis, Jesus leading a circle dance, and a revelation of a luminous cross.
- Biblical status: Outside the New Testament canon of every major Christian tradition; rejected by the Second Council of Nicaea in 787.
The Acts of John is an anonymous early Christian narrative, usually dated to the late second or early third century, about the apostle John's missionary activity and revelations concerning Jesus. Its surviving stories are set mainly in Ephesus. Alongside healings and resurrections, it presents Jesus in changing forms and depicts him leading his disciples in a ring dance. It belongs to the apocryphal acts, not the New Testament.
This guide explains the work's identity, uncertain origins, and surviving contents, followed by its rejection and manuscript history. The final section points to related guides. Throughout, the narrative's accounts of miracles and revelations are described as features of the text, rather than as established historical events.
What is the Acts of John?
The work presents John as a missionary who teaches, heals, and raises the dead. It combines accounts of apostolic activity with extended revelations about Jesus, so its subject is both John's work among other people and the understanding of Christ attributed to him. Scholars study it as evidence for the diversity of early Christian storytelling, devotion, and ideas about Jesus.
Its literary family is the apocryphal acts of the apostles. The Acts of Andrew, Peter, Paul, and Thomas are conventionally grouped with it, but these five narratives are separate works, not parts of one original book. The work about John is also distinct from the Gospel of John, the Johannine letters, and the Book of Revelation, and is not a section of the canonical Acts of the Apostles.
When, where, and by whom was it written?
Most scholarly dating places the work in the late second or early third century. It was composed in Greek. Ephesus in Roman Asia Minor is the principal setting of the surviving missionary stories, but the setting of those stories does not itself establish a place of composition. The evidence supports a cautious account of its origins rather than a precise date and named author.
The author is unknown. Later tradition associated the work with the name Leucius, but that association does not settle its authorship. Nor does the narrative's presentation of John as an eyewitness establish that the historical apostle wrote it. The distinction is between the apostle portrayed within the story and the anonymous writer responsible for the narrative in which that portrayal appears.
What does the surviving work contain?
The missionary adventures range from resurrections to a comic miracle involving bedbugs obeying John's command to leave his sleeping place. John restores Lycomedes and his wife Cleopatra to life. An episode involving a portrait contrasts an outward image with inward virtues, while the story of Drusiana and Callimachus connects sexual desire, death, resurrection, and repentance. Sexual continence is presented as an aspect of Christian discipleship. These episodes place the narrative's miracles alongside its concerns about conduct.
The Temple of Artemis episode stages a confrontation between John's preaching and Ephesian worship of the goddess. John's prayer brings about the miraculous destruction of part of the sanctuary, and the narrative presents the event as leading worshippers to acknowledge John's God. This is a literary account, not established evidence for the historical destruction of the Ephesian sanctuary. Within the story, the temple confrontation forms part of John's missionary activity and its encounters with the worship of Artemis.
The revelations include the Hymn of Christ, also called the Hymn of Jesus, set before Jesus' arrest. Jesus leads a circle dance, with the disciples responding in an antiphonal structure; this scene is absent from the canonical Gospels. Elsewhere, Jesus appears differently to different observers, and his body does not behave like an ordinary human body. In the passion revelation, John encounters a luminous cross, and Jesus distinguishes the visible crucifixion from a hidden reality. The surviving narrative ends with John's departure from life, not execution by persecutors.
Why is it outside the Bible?
The Acts of John is not part of the New Testament canon of any major Christian tradition. Its portrayals of Christ's body and suffering conflicted with doctrines upheld by church authorities who condemned it. A specific documented rejection occurred at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, when passages from the work were presented during the proceedings and the council rejected it.
Scholars commonly describe these portrayals as docetic because they qualify or deny the ordinary physical reality of Jesus' body and suffering. The term describes features of the text; it does not identify its anonymous author with a securely known religious organization. The doctrinal conflict concerns the work's account of Christ, rather than simply its use of miracle stories or its focus on an apostle.
How does the Acts of John survive?
The original work does not survive intact in a single complete manuscript. Its text is reconstructed from a fragmentary manuscript tradition and episodes transmitted separately. The surviving material therefore has to be described with care: it preserves missionary adventures and revelations, but it does not provide a complete manuscript of the original work. Its transmission is not the history of one intact surviving copy.
Accounts of John's death also circulated independently, both in Greek and in versions in other languages. That separate circulation is part of the evidence for the work's transmission. The relevant history is one of scattered textual witnesses and independently preserved episodes, rather than a single discovery that supplied the entire original narrative. The manuscript tradition is central to explaining what survives.
Where to go next
The guide to the Acts of Thomas concerns another work in the conventional grouping of five apocryphal Acts. The broader topic of books outside the biblical canon is addressed by the guide to the lost books of the Bible. The edition on this site is titled The Acts of John.
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The Acts of JohnAnonymous (Early Christian Apocrypha)Hear a sample
The Acts of PeterAnonymousHear a sample
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Questions about the Acts of John
What is the Acts of John?
The Acts of John is an anonymous early Christian narrative about the apostle John. Usually dated to the late second or early third century, it combines missionary stories set mainly in Ephesus with revelations about Jesus. It belongs to the apocryphal acts of the apostles, rather than the New Testament.
Who wrote the Acts of John?
Its author is unknown. Later tradition connected it with Leucius, but that attribution does not establish who composed it. The work was written in Greek. Although John appears as an eyewitness within the narrative, that literary presentation does not establish authorship by the historical apostle.
What is the Hymn of Christ in the Acts of John?
The Hymn of Christ is a scene before Jesus' arrest in which he leads his disciples in a circle dance. It is also called the Hymn of Jesus. The disciples respond to Jesus, creating an antiphonal structure. The dance belongs to this narrative and is not found in the canonical Gospels.
Why was the Acts of John rejected?
Church authorities condemned its portrayals of Christ's body and suffering because these conflicted with doctrines they upheld. Those portrayals are commonly called docetic. The Second Council of Nicaea rejected the work in 787 after passages were presented during its proceedings. That description does not establish the author's affiliation with a particular religious organization.
Is the Acts of John in the Bible?
No major Christian tradition places the Acts of John in its New Testament canon. It is a separate apocryphal narrative, not part of the canonical Acts of the Apostles. It is also distinct from the Gospel of John, the Johannine letters, and the Book of Revelation.
