It has no connection with the narrative but relates in allegorical fashion the return of the soul, which has been awakened from its preoccupation with earthly matters, to the higher state of heavenly existence. Here is a theme congenial to Christian thought and orthodox in its theology when extricated from the popular concepts of the times.[56] The actual authorship of the Hymn of the Soul, which is found in the Syriac version of the Acts alone, is unknown, but it has been attributed to some disciple of the Syrian Bardesanes, a Christian Gnostic who lived in the second half of the second century.[57] There seems to be no doubt that Bardesanes was himself influential as a hymn writer and that he was representative of a group of poets who were beginning to employ contemporary rhythms set to melodies familiar in daily secular life.[58]
The Acts of Thomas contains a second hymn,
The damsel is the daughter of light,
a poem of oriental imagery, personifying the divine wisdom as a bride.[59]
The apocryphal Acts of John, dating from the middle of the second century, yields a third hymn, the Hymn of Jesus. In the Gospel narrative of the last supper, Jesus and his disciples, before going to the Mount of Olives, sing a hymn together. It is not identified but is generally believed to be a part of the Hallel or group of Passover Psalms, 113-118. The writer of the Acts of John represents Jesus as using a new hymn which opens,
Glory be to Thee, Father.
It contains a long series of antitheses, as follows:
I would be saved and I would save,
I would be loosed and I would loose,
I would be wounded and I would wound,