Whose Acts of Peter?

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The <i>Actus Vercellenses</i>, a Latin text preserved in only one manuscript copy, is published widely in translation under the title <i>Acts of Peter</i>. The <i>Acts of Peter</i> is thought to be the title of an ancient work, originally in Greek, which is usually said to have been composed in the second-century in Asia Minor. Accordingly, the Vercelli Acts are often treated simply as evidence for second-century Christian discourse. However, many issues relating to the study of the <i>Actus Vercellenses</i> qua <i>Acts of Peter</i> have hitherto been inadequately established, especially: the character, extent, and original time of composition of the ancient <i>Acts of Peter</i> ; the antiquity of the manuscript copy and the Latin version; and the proximity of the Latin <i>Actus Vercellenses</i> to extant Greek parallels in the <i>Martyrium Petri</i>, the <i>Vita Abercii</i>, and the Oxyrhynchus fragment. Through a detailed examination of the external evidence for ancient Petrine acta writings, through a thorough paleographical and philological investigation of manuscript Vercelli Bib. Cap. CLVIII and the Latin text of the <i>Actus</i>, and through an extensive synoptic comparison of all the extant Greek parallels to the <i>Actus Vercellenses</i>, Matthew C. Baldwin investigates and settles all of these issues. Ultimately, the results show that the <i>Actus Vercellenses</i> is probably best understood as evidence for fourth century Christianity in the west. In its current form, this <i>Acts of the Apostle Peter</i> is effectively that of a later, Latin speaking <i>scriptor</i> from the west.