The Apocryphal Corinthian Correspondence
This morning I read a short letter that claims to be from the elders of the church at Corinth, written to the apostle Paul, concerning heretical teachers. I also read the longer reply known as Third Corinthians. Both letters are authentically ancient; they were originally written in Koine Greek, probably in the early second century CE.[1]
Scholars do not regard the letters as having been genuinely written by either the Corinthian elders or Paul respectively.[2] They are considered apocryphal and do not have the authority of Holy Scripture. Nevertheless, the letters are sound in doctrine, and they shed some light on Christian thought in the second century.
The Prophetess Theonoe
The names of the five elders who supposedly wrote to Paul are given in their letter. They are all men’s names, with Stephanas’s name mentioned first (cf. 1 Cor. 1:16; 16:15–18). Many churches by the end of the first century and early second century had only male elders.[3] But one woman is mentioned in their short letter, Theonoe.[4]
Apparently, Theonoe had the gift of prophecy and the elders took her revelations seriously, as shown by this statement: “For we believe, as it has been revealed[5] to Theonoe, that the Lord has delivered you [Paul] out of the hand of the lawless one (or enemy).”
From this one sentence, we can infer that Theonoe had a ministry somewhat like that of Philip’s daughters (Acts 21:8–9) and Agabus (Acts 21:10–12). The ministry of another woman prophet in Corinth bears a closer resemblance to the ministry of Agabus.
The Prophetess Myrte
Myrte (or Myrta) is a female prophet mentioned in a fragmentary Coptic manuscript, “Fragment 9,” included in the apocryphal Acts of Paul. According to the narrative where she appears, Paul had come and preached at Corinth but was now leaving. The church fasts and prays, and a man named Cleobius prophecies that Paul will be martyred in Rome. Then Myrte prophecies, also about Paul’s impending martyrdom, but in a more encouraging way. Her prophecy is recorded but because of damage to the manuscript, we only know bits of it.
But the Spirit came upon Myrte so that she said unto them: “Brethren . . . and look upon this sign, that ye . . . For Paul the servant of the Lord shall save many in Rome, so that of them shall be no number, and he will manifest himself more than all the faithful. Thereafter shall . . . . of the Lord Jesus Christ come . . . . a great grace is . . . . at Rome. And this is the manner wherein the Spirit spake unto Myrte.[6]
Myrte’s positive prophecy has the result that “everyone took the bread, and they were in joy . . .”[7]
The Apocryphal Acts of Paul
The collection of documents known as the Acts of Paul mentions several female ministers, most notably Thecla of Iconium. The apocryphal Corinthian correspondence was at some point included in the Acts of Paul. Some stories in this collection may be complete fiction, others may contain a mix of historical and fictional elements, but many of the stories are based on real people living in the first and early second centuries who were well-known to the church. So Theonoe and Myrte may have been real prophetesses who ministered in Corinth. Whatever the case, the Acts of Paul tell us more about the viewpoint of its second-century writers than about the historical Paul.[8]
Footnotes
[1] The letter of the Corinthians to Paul and Third Corinthians, collectively known as the Apocryphal Corinthian Correspondence, are contained in Papyrus X of the Bodmer Papyri. This papyrus dates to the third or fourth century. The Greek text of Bodmer Papyrus X is halfway down this page.
See Floyd V. Filson “More Bodmer Papyri,” The Biblical Archaeologist 25.2 (May 1962): 50–57, esp. 54, for more information on Papyrus X.
[2] The Syrian Church and the Armenian Church regarded the letters as canonical in the fourth or fifth centuries, and translations of the letters were included in their Bibles. These Churches later dropped the letters from their canons. The apocryphal Corinthian correspondence was also translated into Coptic and Latin at an early date. The Coptic Heidelberg Papyri, which dates to the sixth century, contains the letters and includes them in the Acts of Paul. The letters are also “included in some late medieval Latin New Testament manuscripts.”
Gerard Luttikhuizen, “The Apocryphal Correspondence with the Corinthians and the Acts of Paul,” The Apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla, Jan N. Bremmer (ed) (Kampen, Netherlands: Kok Pharos Publishing House, 1996), 75–91, esp. 75.
[3] After the first century, only a few early Christian groups had women among their elders. Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 375) said about the Montanists, a late second-century Christian group, “They have women bishops, presbyters [i.e. elders], and the rest; they say that none of this makes any difference because ‘In Christ, there is neither male nor female.’” Panarion 49.2.5 (cf. Gal. 3:28). Epiphanius disapproved.
Nevertheless,
In all the writings of the heresiologists, no serious accusation of doctrinal heterodoxy managed to attach itself to [Montanism]. Hippolytus of Rome avers that the “Cataphrygians” [i.e. Montanists] conceive of the creator correctly, and that they receive the teachings of the gospels about Christ (Haer. 8.19). In the fourth century, Epiphanius testifies that this is still the case: the Montanists believe in the trinity and the resurrection of the dead in the same way as the “holy catholic church,” and they accept both the Old and New Testaments (Pan. 48.1).
Christine M. Thomas, “The Scripture and the New Prophecy: Montanism as Exegetical Crisis,” in Early Christian Voices: In Texts, Traditions, and Symbols, edited by David H. Warren, Ann Graham Brock, and David W. Pao (Brill, 2003), 155-165, 155. (Google Books)
[4] Theonoe is pronounced “thee-yoh-noh-ee”, and rhymes with “Chloe”.
[5] ἀπεκαλύφθη from ἀποκαλύπτω.
[6] “The Acts of Paul”, The Apocryphal New Testament, M.R. James translation and notes (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924) http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/actspaul.html
[7] Ibid.
[8] F.F. Bruce has remarked that the Apocryphal Acts are “historically worthless.” Bruce, Men and Movements in the Primitive Church (Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1979), 140. But they do give us insight into some aspects of some parts of the second-century church.
Image
Image of Coptic papyrus, page 15, from Carl Schmidt, Acta Pauli. Aus der Heidelberger Koptischen Papyrushandschrift Nr. 1, Leipzig 1905 (Nachdruck Hildesheim 1965)
http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~gv0/Papyri/ActaPauli/ActaPauli.html
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2 thoughts on “Theonoe and Myrte: Prophetesses in Corinth”
The name “Theonoe” may mean something like “mind of God”. She may be another prophet with a significant name.
Yes, I was meaning to mention something like that. Thanks for bringing it up.
Here’s what Plato says (through the voice of “Socrates”) in a discussion about the goddess Athena.