Ambitious Authorial Fiction in Epistula apostolorum and Gospel Reading Practices in Justin Martyr’s First Apology and the Acts of Peter

This article presents Epistula apostolorum (EpAp) as a second-century apostolic writing targeted toward reception as gospel among an ambitiously conceived readership of Christian assemblies. Juxtaposition between this text and parallel descriptions of communal reading among early Christians in this period reveals its intention to be read in like manner. Internal evidence within EpAp indicates that its fictive authorship by an apostolic collective invokes continuity with writings of the prophets and apostles before it. Additionally, the epistolary conceit of this text presents its apostolic authors directly addressing a sweeping audience of Christian readers in churches throughout the four corners of the world. External evidence from Justins First Apology (67.3-4) illustrates the practices for communal reading of writings of the prophets and memoirs of the apostles among early Christian communities. Similarly, the apostle Peter is narratively depicted interpreting the writings of the prophets and his fellow apostles in a setting of public reading among gathered Christians in the Acts of Peter (20). I conclude that EpAps mode of authorial fiction aspires to a status worthy of reading in early Christian gatherings like those depicted in Justins First Apology and the Acts of Peter.