The Acts of Andrew in the surviving version is probably a 3rd century work, according to Jean-Marc Prieur in The Anchor Bible Dictionary (vol. 1, p. 246), but it shows signs of a mid-2nd century origin: "The distinctive christology of the text, its silence concerning the historical and biblical Jesus, and its distance from later institutional organization and ecclesiastical rites militate for an early dating. Moreover, its serene tone and unawareness of any polemic against some of its ideas as heterodox, particularly in the area of christology, show that it derived from a period when the christology of the Great Church had not yet taken firm shape." (Prieur).

Eusebius of Caesarea knew the work, which he dismissed as the production of a heretic and absurd. The Acts of Andrew is often classed as a gnostic work, but Geoff Trowbridge asserts that " The importance of martyrdom is stressed throughout, which is not in line with Gnostic philosophy." (Trowbridge link) Eusebius of Caesarea (~275 – May 30, 339) (often called Eusebius Pamphili, Eusebius [the friend of] Pamphilus) was a bishop of Caesarea in Palestine and is often referred to as the father of church history because of his work in recording the history of the early Christian church. ... Heresy, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the ‘catholic’ or orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox. ... Gnosticism is a blanket term for various religions and sects most prominent in the first few centuries A.D. General characteristics The word gnosticism comes from the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis (γνῶσις), referring to the idea that there is special, hidden mysticism (esoteric knowledge) that only a few possess. ...

There is an early fragment in Coptic, but the Acts have been edited from Greek and Latin manuscripts of the 12th century. Coptic is an adjective referring to the original inhabitants of Egypt, the Copts. ...

External links

• Early Christian Writings: (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/actsandrew.html) Acts of Andrew
• Geoff Trowbridge, The "Whole" Bible (http://www.maplenet.net/~trowbridge/actsand.htm)