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Historians declare that India is divided into three parts; and the first is said to end at Ethiopia, and the second at Media, and the third completes the country; and the one portion of it ends in the dark, and the other in the ocean.  To this India, then, the holy Bartholomew the apostle of Christ went, and took up his quarters in the temple of Astaruth, and lived there as one of the pilgrims and the poor.  In this temple, then, there was an idol called Astaruth, which was supposed to heal the infirm, but rather the more injured all.  And the people were in entire ignorance of the true God; and from want of knowledge, but rather from the difficulty of going to any other, they all fled for refuge to the false god.  And he brought upon them troubles, infirmities, damage, violence, and much affliction; and when any one sacrificed to him, the demon, retiring, appeared to give a cure to the person in trouble; and the foolish people, seeing this, believed in him.  But the demons retired, not because they wished to cure men, but that they might the more assail them, and rather have them altogether in their power; and thinking that they were cured bodily, those that sacrificed to them were the more diseased in soul.

And it came to pass, that while the holy apostle of Christ, Bartholomew, stayed there, Astaruth gave no response, and was not able for curing.  And when the temple was full of sick persons, who sacrificed to him daily, Astaruth could give no response; and sick persons who had come from far countries were lying there.  When, therefore, in that temple not even one of the idols was able to give a response, and was of benefit neither to those that sacrificed to them nor to those who were in the agonies of death on their account, they were compelled to go to another city, where there was a temple of idols, where their great and most eminent god was called Becher.²⁴⁰⁹

2409 The history of Abdias gives the name as Berith, after Judg. ix. 46.

And the demon answered and said:  He has black hair, a shaggy head, a fair skin,²⁴¹⁰

2410 Lit., white flesh.

2411 Pseudo-Abdias says:  a hundred times.

2412 Pseudo-Abdias says:  a hundred times.

And when the demon had said this, he held his peace.  And they returned, and set to work to look into every face of the pilgrims and poor men, and for two days they could find him nowhere.  And it came to pass, that one who was a demoniac set to work to cry out:  Apostle of the Lord, Bartholomew, thy prayers are burning me up.  Then said the apostle to him:  Hold thy peace, and come out of him.  And that very hour, the man who had suffered from the demon for many years was set free.

And Polymius, the king of that country, happened to be standing opposite the apostle; and he had a daughter a demoniac, that is to say, a lunatic.  And he heard about the demoniac that had been healed, and sent messengers to the apostle, saying:  My daughter is grievously torn; I implore thee, therefore, as thou hast delivered him²⁴¹³

2413 Abdias calls him Pseustius.

Then the king loaded camels with gold and silver, precious stones, pearls, and clothing, and sought to see the apostle; and having made many efforts, and not found him, he brought everything back to his palace.

And it happened, when the night had passed, and the following day was dawning, the sun having risen, the apostle appeared alone with the king in his bed-chamber, and said to him:  Why didst thou seek me yesterday the whole day with gold and silver, and precious stones, pearls, and raiment?  For these gifts those persons long for who seek earthly things; but I seek nothing earthly, nothing carnal.  Wherefore I wish to teach thee that the Son of God deigned to be born as a man out of a virgin’s womb.  He was conceived in the womb of the virgin; He took to Himself her who was always a virgin, having within herself Him who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and all that therein is.  He, born of a virgin, like mankind, took to Himself a beginning in time, He who has a beginning neither of times nor days; but He Himself made every beginning, and everything created, whether in things visible or invisible.  And as this virgin did not know man, so she, preserving her virginity, vowed a vow²⁴¹⁴

2414 Or, prayed a prayer.

2415 Comp. Luke i. 26–38.  Abdias goes on:  He then, after His birth, suffered Himself to be tempted by that devil who had overcome the first man, persuading him to eat of the tree forbidden by God.

2416 Comp. Luke iv. 1–13.

The king says to him:  And how is it that thou saidst just now that she was the first virgin of whom was born God and man?  And the apostle answered:  I give thanks to the Lord that thou hearest me gladly.  The first man, then, was called Adam; he was formed out of the earth.  And the earth, his mother out of which he was, was virgin, because it had neither been polluted by the blood of man nor opened for the burial of any one.  The earth, then, was like the virgin, in order that he who conquered the son of the virgin earth might be conquered by the Son of the Virgin Mary.  And, behold, he did conquer; for his wicked craft, through the eating of the tree by which man, being deceived, came forth from paradise, kept paradise shut.  Thereafter this Son of the virgin conquered all the craft of the devil.  And his craft was such, that when he saw the Son of the virgin fasting forty days, he knew in truth that He was the true God.  The true God and man, therefore, hath not given Himself out to be known, except to those who are pure in heart,²⁴¹⁷

2417 Matt. v. 8.

And when the Lord had conquered the tyrant, He sent His apostles into all the world, that He might redeem His people from the deception of the devil; and one of these I am, an apostle of Christ.  On this account we seek not after gold and silver, but rather despise them, because we labour to be rich in that place where the kingdom of Him alone endureth²⁴¹⁸

2418 Lit., reigneth.

2419 Jer. ii. 27.

The king says to him:  To-morrow, at the first hour of the day, the priests are ready to sacrifice in the temple, and I shall come there, and shall be able to see this wonderful work.

And it came to pass on the following day, as they were sacrificing, the devil began to cry out:  Refrain, ye wretched ones, from sacrificing to me, lest ye suffer worse for my sake; because I am bound in fiery chains, and kept in subjection by an angel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whom the Jews crucified:  for, being afraid of him, they condemned him to death.  And he put to death Death himself, our king, and he bound our prince in chains of fire; and on the third day, having conquered death and the devil, rose in glory, and gave the sign of the cross to his apostles, and sent them out into the four quarters of the world; and one of them is here just now, who has bound me, and keeps me in subjection.  I implore you, therefore, supplicate him on my account, that he may set me free to go into other habitations.

Then the apostle answered:  Confess, unclean demon, who is it that has injured all those that are lying here from heavy diseases?  The demon answered:  The devil, our ruler, he who is bound, he sends us against men, that, having first injured their bodies, we may thus also make an assault upon their souls when they sacrifice to us.  For then we have complete power over them, when they believe in us and sacrifice to us.  And when, on account of the mischief done to them, we retire, we appear curing them, and are worshipped by them as gods; but in truth we are demons, and the servants of him who was crucified, the Son of the virgin, have bound us.  For from that day on which the Apostle Bartholomew came I am punished, kept bound in chains of fire.  And for this reason I speak, because he has commanded me.  At the same time, I dare not utter more when the apostle is present, neither I nor our rulers.

The apostle says to him:  Why dost thou not save all that have come to thee?  The demon says to him:  When we injure their bodies, unless we first injure their souls, we do not let their bodies go.  The apostle says to him:  And how do you injure their souls?  The demon answered him:  When they believe that we are gods, and sacrifice to us, God withdraws from those who sacrifice, and we do not take away the sufferings of their bodies, but retire into their souls.

Then the apostle says to the people:  Behold, the god whom you thought to cure you, does the more mischief to your souls and bodies.  Hear even now your Maker who dwells in the heavens, and do not believe in lifeless stones and stocks.  And if you wish that I should pray for you, and that all these may receive health, take down this idol, and break it to pieces; and when you have done this, I will sanctify this temple in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; and having baptized all of you who are in it in the baptism of the Lord, and sanctified you, I will save all.

Then the king gave orders, and all the people brought ropes and crowbars, and were not at all able to take down the idol.  Then the apostle says to them:  Unfasten the ropes.  And when they had unfastened them, he said to the demon dwelling in it:  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, come out of this idol, and go into a desert place, where neither winged creature utters a cry, nor voice of man has ever been heard.  And straightway he arose at the word of the apostle, and lifted it up from its foundations; and in that same hour all the idols that were in that place were broken to pieces.

Then all cried out with one voice, saying:  He alone is God Almighty whom Bartholomew the apostle proclaims.  Then the holy Bartholomew, having spread forth his hands to heaven, said:  God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, who for the salvation of men hast sent forth Thine only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in order that He might redeem by His own blood all of us enslaved by sin, and declare us to be Thy sons, that we may know Thee, the true God, that Thou existest always to eternity God without end:  one God, the Father, acknowledged in Son and Holy Spirit; one God, the Son, glorified in Father and Holy Spirit; one God, the Holy Spirit, worshipped in Father and Son; and acknowledged to be truly one,²⁴²⁰

2420 Or, unity.

2421 Matt. xxi. 22.

And when all responded to the Amen, suddenly there appeared an angel of the Lord, shining brighter than the sun, winged, and other four angels holding up the four corners of the temple; and with his finger the one sealed the temple and the people, and said:  Thus saith the Lord who hath sent me, As you have all been purified from all your infirmity, so also this temple shall be purified from all uncleanness, and from the demons dwelling in it, whom the apostle of God has ordered to go into a desert place; for so hath God commanded me, that I may manifest Him to you.  And when ye behold Him, fear nothing; but when I make the sign of the cross, so also do ye with your finger seal your faces, and these evil things will flee from you.  Then he showed them the demon who dwelt in the temple, like an Ethiopian, black as soot; his face sharp like a dog’s, thin-cheeked, with hair down to his feet, eyes like fire, sparks coming out of his mouth; and out of his nostrils came forth smoke like sulphur, with wings spined like a porcupine; and his hands were bound with fiery chains, and he was firmly kept in.  And the angel of the Lord said to him:  As also the apostle hath commanded, I let thee go; go where voice of man is not heard, and be there until the great day of judgment.  And when he let him go, he flew away, groaning and weeping, and disappeared.  And the angel of the Lord went up into heaven in the sight of all.

Then the king, and also the queen, with their two sons, and with all his people, and with all the multitude of the city, and every city round about, and country, and whatever land his kingdom ruled over, were saved, and believed, and were baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  And the king laid aside his diadem, and followed Bartholomew the apostle of Christ.

And after these things the unbelievers of the Greeks, having come together to Astreges²⁴²²

2422 Abdias calls him Astyages; elsewhere he is called Sanathrugus.

2423 Lit., no-priests—μιερεῖς for μὴ ἱερεῖς—a name given in scorn to heathen priests by Christian writers.

2424 Lit., calling out.

And when he had thus spoken, the king was informed that this god Baldad²⁴²⁵

2425 Abdias calls him Vualdath.

And innumerable multitudes came from all the cities, to the number of twelve thousand, who had believed in him along with the king; and they took up the remains of the apostle with singing of praise and with all glory, and they laid them in the royal tomb, and glorified God.  And the king Astreges having heard of this, ordered him to be thrown into the sea; and his remains were carried into the island of Liparis.

And it came to pass on the thirtieth day after the apostle was carried away, that the king Astreges was overpowered by a demon and miserably strangled; and all the priests were strangled by demons, and perished on account of their rising against²⁴²⁶

2426 Or it may mean:  that the apostle might be established.

And there was great fear and trembling, and all came to the Lord, and were baptized by the presbyters who had been ordained by the holy apostle Bartholomew.  And according to the commandment of the apostle, all the clergy of the people made King Polymius bishop; and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ he received the grace of healing, and began to do signs.  And he remained in the bishopric twenty years; and having prospered in all things, and governed the church well, and guided it in right opinions,²⁴²⁷

2427 Or, in orthodoxy.

E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH