Acts of Andrew and Paul
ANDREW AND PAUL, ACTS OF. A fragmentary story, extant only in Coptic, from one of the later apocryphal Acts. (Full Coptic text with French tr. by X. Jacques, Orientalia 38 [1969] 187ff.) Paul dives into the sea to visit Amente (the underworld), leaving a message for Andrew to bring him up again. On his return he tells of meeting Judas, the last soul left in Amente; forgiven for his betrayal of Jesus, Judas had been frightened by Satan into worshiping him, and then killed himself. Now he is doomed to remain until the Day of Judgment. The apostles visit a city, but the Jews refuse them admission. Paul strikes the gates with a piece of wood brought from Amente, and they are swallowed up in the earth. A dispute leads to the conversion of some 2,700 Jews.