Thesis One
The New Testament Apocryphal texts
were authored after 325 CE (Nicaea)
The New Testament Apocryphal texts were authored by non Christians
after the Council of Nicaea as a Hellenistic satirical reaction to the NT Canon
and represent the final voice of The Second Sophistic.
(1.1) Introductory Articles
Diagramatic Overviews to Chronology (1) The NT Canon;
(2) The NT Apocrypha (current opinion); (3) Ecclesiastical Histories; (4) Ecclesiastical Hagiographies;
(5) Pagan Histories; (6) The Lineage of the Academy of Philosophers following Plato and/or Pythagoras; and
(7) An Alternative proposed chronology for the NT Apocrypha.
Masterlist of the Discovered New Testament Apocrypha:
Listings of the entire New Testament Apocryphal literature (1) according to the mainstream
chronological estimates, and (2) according to the type (ie: Acts, Gospels, etc).
Academic Descriptions of the NT Apocrypha: A compilation of commentary.
concerning the nature of the entire set of new testament non canonical
literature. Much (but not all) of the New Testament Apocryphal corpus is essentially a Homerization of the Canon, and was authored
in the aftermath of the Council of Nicaea. It mimics the canon. A clever and studiously inventive author of
Hellenistic romance narratives took a leaf out of Constantine's Bible.
Academic Descriptions of the "Leucian Acts":
Analysis of a number of the standard translations of the non canonical
"Acts of the Apostles" reveals a distinct signature of anti-christian
satire. This article examines an index of these non canonical "Acts"
which appear to be easily explained as being written in opposition to
the Constantine Bible, and the authority, authenticity and aptitude of
Constantine's top-down emperor cult "christianity" with respect
to the ministry of spiritual knowledge (gnosis), and of the role
and tradition of healing. The authors appear as ascetic priests,
with knowledge of discourse on the embodied soul, the ascetic path
and the ministry of healing previously extant in the empire
under a number of ancient gods, perhaps the most popular being
Asclepius.
(1.2) The Signature of Greek Satire in more than 20 NT Apocrypha
Text count 22-OCT-2009 is 23
Syriac Acts of Philip:
If Philip knew neither Latin or Greek was he an illiterate?
Why is Philip so annoying? He orders the captain and passengers around.
Did the wind arise on account of Philip's prayer? Or did it arise because of the Jews blashemy?
Where was the boat bound at high speed? Carthage. What did the Romans do to Carthage?
Why does Philip's Christian Angel bind a Jew by the big toes from the top sail in a gale force wind?
Why does a Christian angel slay 40 Jewish priests?
TAOPATTA (NHC 6.1): The Acts of Peter and the (11, 12 or was it 13?) Apostles
Why does Jesus cite the Bhagvad Gita at Nag Hammadi 6.1?
The central figure of the story NHC 6.1 entitled
"The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles" is
an enigmatic "Pearl Merchant" called Lithargoel.
Every single Christian commentator on the planet
at the moment (I know of no exceptions) wishes to
identify this Lithargoel with Jesus.
If so, when Lithargoel is asked the name of the city
which houses the :Pearl of great Price" he says
that the city is called "Nine Gates"
He said to me, "This is the name of my city, 'Nine Gates.'
The embodied (Soul) who has controlled his nature
having renounced all actions by the mind
dwells at ease in the City of Nine Gates,
neither working nor causing work to be done.
--- Bhagvad Gita 5:13
The better explantion for this is that the author is not
presenting Lithargoel as Jesus at all. The apostles
in their utter ignorance have mistaken Lithargoel for
this Jesus character. Lithargoel is presented as the
standard healer such as the therapeutae of Asclepius,
equipped with medicne pouch and apprentice physician.
On the other hand, every single line of the story which
relates to the apostles casts the apostles as inept and
ignorant, fearful and not as "traditional ascetics". The
fact of the matter is that the apostles cannot even
count, since how many were there?
The title TAOPATTA suggests 13.
The apostolic tradition (which is being IMO satirised) suggests 12.
The text has Peter saying there were 11
apostles who PROSTRATED THEMSELVES
in the oriental fashion in favor with Constantine.
We are dealing with another satire.
Exactly the same invective as Julian's satire against Constantine and Jesus.
The Acts of Andrew and Matthew: The Intrepid Travels to the Land of the Cannibals
Welcome Aboard !!! Why does Jesus drive a Water Taxi in "Acts of Andrew and Matthias"
Homerisation of the new testament in fine style.
The apostles journey to the Land of the Cannibals.
Thousands of poor souls are being devoured each day.
But there is a hitch and Mathais gets stuck there.
Oh dear!
Thousands are being eaten around him!!
What does our hero do?
He shuts his eyes and prays.
Perhaps a miracle will happen?
And behold!
A rescue mission is mounted by the other apostles.
And Jesus appears as the captain of a powerful boat.
It has two angels in the back.
He says "Welcome Aboard!!".
The Acts of Peter and Andrew - Aggressive wizards, camels, needles.
Peter fits a camel through the eye of a needle!
HELLENISTIC SATIRE of the Apostles - The apostles travel around via a bright cloud.
They have esceped from the Land of the Cannibals. (See above)
Why do the apostles order an angel to suspend a woman by her hair at the city gates while they pass?
The text states "Alas! these are of the twelve Galilaeans who go about separating men
from their wives; What are we to do?
Who were the Galilaeans? Emperor Julian in 361 CE legislated that the name of the Christians
be legally altered to "Galilaeans". Is the author of this text the originator
of the perjoritive term "Galilaeans" which Emperor Julian later ran with?
The Hellenistic civilisation went down under the waves
of the new christian state religion writing satires.
They were - at the time - very political.
They needed to be buried in order to be preserved.
Constantine ediected for their destruction as did
every church council in the 4th century and beyond.
The prohibited books were listed.
It was a hit list for orthodox.
Search and destroy these texts.
The list itself grew as the centuries past.
The list eventually became the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.
The Acts of Thomas:
The Apostles are casting lots to see who is going where: Thomas gets India.
Thomas renegs on the casting of lots, and refuses to go to the Indians.
Jesus appears and orders Thomas to travel to India.
Judas refuses Jesus' commands; Jesus sells him into slavery
Jesus receives a bill-of-sale for the sale of Thomas.
The Act of Peter: Peter forgets to heal his own daughter.
(4)
Why does Peter heal the multitudes but fails to heal his own daughter?
Another Coptic satire of the fourth century state regime.
Here Peter who heals the multitudes from his front porch
fails to heal his daughter because it is not expedient to do so.
The Acts of Pilate: The presumed three."Acts of Pilate" are simplified to one
Pilate tells the Jews that Jesus heals by the power of Asclepius
The two scribes "Leucius" and "Karinus" record the saga of the Descent.
The Gospel of Philip: Exactly where did Jesus often kiss Mary?
Exactly where Jesus often kissed Mary Magdalene is emminently
questionable. The coptic text of the source document known as the
Gospel of Philip is reported to be damaged at that precise place.
Poetically, the translators have often opted for "her mouth". Other
more conservative alternatives mooted have been ....
On her forehead
on her cheek
on her lips
This list is of course not comprehensive.
Do we have an image of the coptic page at that precise spot? I for one
would love to know exactly where Jesus often kissed Mary. ;) Here
are some alternative translations of the passage in question:
(1.1) English Translation by Wesley W. Isenberg =
And the companion of the [...] Mary Magdalene. [...] loved her more
than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on her mouth.
(1.2) English Translated by Anton Teplyy and Dr.Mikhail Nikolenko (2002) =
The Lord loved her more than He loved all other disciples and often
kissed her on her mouth.
(1.3) English Translation and Notes by Paterson Brown =
The [Lord loved] Mariam more than [all the (other)] Disciples, [and
he] kissed her often on her [mouth].
The Letter of Peter to Philip (NHC 8.2) - In fine Homerian melodrama Jesus asks the apostles "Why [TF] are you asking me"?
An extract ...
Then Peter gathered the others also.
They went upon the mountain which is called "the (mount) olives,"
the place where they used to gather with the blessed Christ
when he was in the body.
Then, when the apostles had come together, and had thrown
themselves upon their knees, they prayed thus saying,
"Yabba Yabba Yabba Yea hear us!"
And they prayed again another time, saying,
"Son of life, Son of immortality, who is in the light, Son, Christ of
immortality, our Redeemer, give us power, for they seek to kill us!"
Then a great light appeared
so that the mountains shone
from the sight of him
who had appeared.
And a voice called out
to them saying,
"Listen to my words
that I may speak to you.
Why [TF] are you asking me ?
The Acts of Paul:
Aesops Fables in the Acts of Paul (The Baptised Lion Affair)
Paul baptises a talking lion in the wilderness.
When thrown to the lions at the conclusion
Paul meets a christian lion in the arena.
SATIRE via AESOP.
The Acts of John:
Jesus does not leave footprints in the sand.
John cannot seem to touch Jesus' physical body
The Gospel of Peter:
Jesus is lead from the tomb and his head is higher than the sky.
The cross follows along behind Jesus at a walk.
The cross speaks its own talk. It says "YEAH!".
Acts of John the Theologian:
The Jews write a book to the Emperor Domitian complaining about the new and strange nation of Christians
The tradition of the Domitian persecution is sourced from this text: Domitian was affected with rage ...
The Gospel of Judas:
Judas is presented as one of twelve "daimons".
None of the twelve "daimons" can look at Jesus in the eyes.
Jesus is presented as a "Head Daimion" or sorceror.
The History of John: (from the Syriac)
The text of this apocryphal act specifically states: "This history was composed by Eusebius of Cęsarea"
The history of John, the son of Zebedee, who lay upon the breast of our Lord Jesus at the supper, and said, "Lord, who betrayeth Thee?" This history was composed by Eusebius of Cęsarea concerning S. John, who found it in a Greek book, and it was translated into Syriac, when he had learned concerning his way of life and his birth and his dwelling in the city of Ephesus, after the ascension of our Lord to Heaven.
The Gospel of Mary
Featured and publicised heavily by Dan Brown in his novel "The Da Vinci Code.
Mary is presented in having exclusive knowledge not given to Peter.
As a result, Peter is peeved. "Did He really speak privately with a woman and not openly to us?
Are we to turn about and all listen to her?
Did He prefer her to us? (4)
The Apocalypse of Peter: (NHC 7.3)
"As the Savior was sitting in the temple in the three hundredth (year) of the covenant ...."
"And there shall be others of those who are outside our number who name themselves bishop and also deacons,
as if they have received their authority from God. They bend themselves under the judgment of the leaders.
Those people are dry canals."
Infancy Gospel of Thomas: The Child Jesus as a malevolent trickster wizard
The text describes the life of the child Jesus, with fanciful, and sometimes malevolent,
supernatural events, comparable to the trickster nature of the god-child in many a Greek myth.
One of the episodes involves Jesus making clay birds, which he then proceeds to bring to life,
an act also attributed to Jesus in Qur'an 5:110. In another episode, a child disperses water
that Jesus has collected, Jesus then curses him, which causes the child's body to wither
into a corpse, found in the Greek text A, and Latin versions. The Greek text B doesn't
mention Jesus cursing the boy, and simply says that the child "went on, and after a little
he fell and gave up the ghost," (M.R. James translation). Another child dies when Jesus
curses him when he apparently accidentally bumps into him. In the latter case, there are
three differing versions recorded the Greek Text A, Greek Text B, and the Latin text.
Instead of bumping into Jesus in A, B records that the child throws a stone at Jesus,
while the last says the boy punched him.
When Joseph and Mary's neighbors complain, they are miraculously struck blind by Jesus.
Jesus then starts receiving lessons, but arrogantly tries to teach the teacher instead,
upsetting the teacher who suspects supernatural origins. Jesus is amused by this suspicion,
which he confirms, and revokes all his earlier apparent cruelty. Subsequently he
resurrects a friend who is killed when he falls from a roof, and another who cuts
his foot with an axe.
After various other demonstrations of supernatural ability, new teachers try to teach Jesus,
but he proceeds to explain the law to them instead. There are another set of miracles
in which Jesus heals his brother who is bitten by a snake, and two others who have died
from different causes. Finally, the text recounts the episode in Luke in which Jesus,
aged twelve, teaches in the temple.
The Interpretation of Knowledge: NHC 11.1
Text commences ... (13 lines missing) ...
they came to believe by means of signs and wonders and fabrications.
The likeness that came to be through them followed him,
but through reproaches and humiliations
before they received the apprehension of a vision
they fled without having heard that the Christ had been crucified.
But our generation is fleeing since it does not yet
even believe that the Christ is alive. .
Further section is cited ...
And he was crucified and he died - not his own death,
for he did not at all deserve to die because of the church of mortals.
And he was nailed so that they might keep him in the Church.
The Exegesis on the Soul: NHC 2.6
Text commences ... Wise men of old gave the soul a feminine name.
Indeed she is female in her nature as well. She even has her womb.
In this text the sayings of the LXX, and the sayings of Jesus and the sayings of Paul
are completed by a trinity of citations from Homers "Odyssey".
Asclepius 21-29: NHC 6.8 - instruction from Hermes (Trismegistus) to Asclepius.
The text reveals the persecution of the epoch ....
"Trismegistus, what is the character of the iniquity that is there?"
"Now you think, Asclepius, that when one takes something in a temple, he is impious.
For that kind of a person is a thief and a bandit. And this matter concerns gods and men.
But do not compare those here with those of the other place. Now I want to speak this discourse
to you confidentially; no part of it will be believed. For the souls that are filled with much evil
will not come and go in the air, but they will be put in the places of the daimons,
which are filled with pain, (and) which are always filled with blood and slaughter,
and their food, which is weeping, mourning, and groaning."
"Trismegistus, who are these (daimons)?"
"Asclepius, they are the ones who are called 'stranglers',
and those who roll souls down on the dirt,
and those who scourge them, and those who cast into the water,
and those who cast into the fire, and those
who bring about the pains and calamities of men.
For such as these are not from a divine soul, nor from a rational soul of man.
Rather, they are from the terrible evil."
The Prayer of the Apostle Paul: NHC 1.1
The text reveals that the "Prayer of Paul" consists of 11 sentences containing a total of 19 abrupt demands.....
Plato's Republic at Nag Hammadi: NHC 6.5
Comparing Plato' Republic in the Nag Hammadi coptic to the Original Greek reveals that
the monsters of Plato's ancient fables "have now become natural creatures", and are loose in the Republic.
(1.3) Other Related Articles
Thesis TWO
The author of the New Testament Apocrypha texts
was (a non-christian) Arius of Alexandria.
The author of NT Apocrypha ("The Hidden Books of the New Testament" ) and the historical person behind the fourth century pseudonym "Leucius Charinus"
is man at the focus of the "Arian Controversy", Arius of Alexandria. It is argued that Arius authored the bulk of the NT Non-Canonical Acts and Gospels between the
years of 325 CE (when Constantine widely published and supported the NT Canonical Gospels and Acts) and 336 CE (when he was poisoned in
the City of Constantine). Arius is presented as a non-christian. Arius is presented as a "Porphyrian", perhaps related to the Academy of
Plato. It is argued that Arius is not a "christian bishop" but rather an academic Hellenistic priest and a non christian. He was the focus of the
Graeco-Roman resistance against the actions of Constantine.
Leucius Charinus and Arius of Alexandria are One Person
From the available sources we examine the questions:
(1) what do we really know about Arius of Alexandria, and
(2) what do we really know about the author who is called Leucius Charinus.
We postulate that these two authors
could in fact be the one and the same person. The life, the memory, the books and the very name of Arius of Alexandria
were significantly subject to Constantinian damnation in the fourth century. At this time, the name of Leucius
Charinus commences to appear in an more unambiguous historical sense.
.
324-333 CE: Political Resistance against Constantine.
Arius of Alexandria - the non christian ascetic priest
who "reproaches, grieves, wounds and pains the Church".
Constantine's "Dear Arius" Letter: A
political analysis of a letter composed about 333 CE by Constantine, addressed to
Arius and the Arians. Constantine would very much like to publically execute Arius,
but he does not know exactly where Arius is - perhaps Syria. Arius is revealed as
someone who had previously been conspicuous by his silence and unobtrusive character.
He is described in the manner of an ascetic priest. Constantine is stung by the
anti-christian polemic in the writings of Arius; Arius is the focus of belief in
unbelief of Constantine's new political and religious initiatives. Constantine
reveals that Arius "reproaches, grieves, wounds and pains the Church".
A very nasty letter by a very nasty despot. Eventually Constantine manages
to poison Arius, but before that time when Arius was no longer, he had composed
a number of texts against the Pontifex Maximus' preferred and sponsored cult.
These heretical writings were sought out by the orthodox.
Who was Arius of Alexandria?: The author
of stinging impious profane tractates at variance with the orthodoxy. Banned and
damned eternally by Constantine and all who followed in his footsteps.
Who was Leucius Charinus?: The author
of the five Leucian Acts is certainly a very shady character. He and his works
are mentioned in a great range of very colorful language. Perhaps the most illustrious
of descriptions is provided by Photius, who writes:
In a word, his books contain a vast amount of
childish,
incredible,
ill-devised,
lying,
silly,
self-contradictory,
impious, and
ungodly statements,
so that one would not be far wrong in calling them
the source and mother of all heresy.
THESIS: Leucius Charinus and Arius of Alexandria are One Person:
We examine the questions what doe we really know about Arius of Alexandria amd what do we really know about the author who
is called Leucius Charinus. We postulate that these two authors could be one and the same person in Arius of Alexandria.
An examination of the Three Acts of Pilate: is also relevant to the above (Jesus heals via the Hellenistic Asclepius)
Reaction of the Orthodox Christian Regime to the New Testament Apocrypha
325-590 CE: Knowledge Burning by the (new) Christian regime
Christian persecution of Non-Christians: A summary by Vlasis Rassias (Demolish Them!)
The source material for much of this is Book 16, Codex Theodosius.
Knowledge Burning in the 4th Century: A tabulation of citations evidencing the destruction of libraries, or the destruction of temples
(within which many non-christian libraries were associated), or the destruction
of specific books, and works of authors and/or groups, some of which were
sought out to be burnt. The Nag Hammadi codices discovered 1948 are in
fact conjectured to be books which were hidden in order to enhance their preservation.
Did the Index Librorum Prohibitorum commence in the fourth century?: Most sources
maintain that the "List of Forbidden Books" were published by the Papacy from the fifteenth century, however there are
a number of documentary sources which themselves suggest that Constantine and Eusebius already had a catalogue of books
which were "forbidden under punishment of death". We find out in the next century that some of these books
had been authored by the son of the devil. These needed special treatment by the orthodoxy.
Hellenism as a Fourth Century Heresy: According the Panarion ("Against Heresies") of
Epiphanius of Salamis, bishop of the later fourth century, the first seven heresies (in a compendium of eighty) were as follows:
(1) Barbarism,
(2) Scythianism,
(3) Hellenism,
(4) Judaism,
(5) Stoicism,
(6) Platonism, and
(7) Pythagoreanism.
348 CE: The Nag Hammadi Codices (Carbon Dated)
Nag Hammadi Index: Index of the 13 ancient books, containing 52 texts.
The Sixth Codex
NHC 6.1: The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles
The sixth codex is intriguing, since it contains, as indicated above,
treatises by Hermes, the spiritual master of the scribes. The sixth book
contains reference to Asclepius, and with the exception of the very first
text within it, the other (seven) texts of Book Six at Nag Hammadi are very
much heavy duty non-christian. At first glance, the first text in the
book (NHC 6.1) appears by name to be christian. But is it indeed Christian?
The text centers upon the
character of a mysterious Pearl Man called Lithargoel, who expounds the
allegorical story of the Road to the City of the Pearl, which
city Lithargoel tells us is named Nine Gates. The text may
be entitled The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles, but the story
is focussed upon this mysterious physician and healer Lithargoel.
In fact, the apostles are presented as inept, continually seeking food and shelter,
lacking in basic cognitive skills, lacking in healing skills, lacking in ascetic
discipline, lacking in basic memory skills, and even
in basic counting skills, since the number of apostles in the story is
presented variously as either eleven (in the text) or thirteen (in
the subject title) but nowhere twelve, as per the Canonical Acts.
In this series of articles, TAOPATTA is explicated as an allegorical
story of the ascetic path and the related skills of the ascetic physican
and healer, the citizen of the city of "Nine Gates" (the human body).
However, TAOPATTA is also a consistent parody highlighting the inauthenticity
of the christian apostles in the spiritual ministry.
NHC 6.5: A gnostic and purposeful misrepresentation of Plato's Republic
NHC 6.6: Preserving Hermes: Hermes - to the father of the universe
NHC 6.8: Hermes to Asclepius
: Hermes - to the father of modern medicine, Asclepius
325-336 CE: The Heresey of the Nicaean priest - Marcellus of Ancyra
Fragments of the Heresey of Marcellus of Ancyra :
Marcellus was one of the bishops present at the Councils of Nicaea,
and who, a few years after this Council, wrote a book against Asterius,
a prominent figure in the party which supported Arius.
In this work (only fragments of which survive), he was accused
of maintaining one or more heresies. The fragmentary nature
of his surviving work makes reconstructing difficult.
We know he was accused and condemned by a council of his enemies.
What does Marcellus reveal?
325-490 CE: Anathematising Public Opinion about Jesus Christ
Anathemas of Church Councils as representative of public opinion:
A collation of the anathemas and heresies registered by the christian ecclesiastical
councils from Nicaea through to the Decretum Gelasianum of c.491 CE. We have been
provided a lavish history by the christian victors in which the pagan side of the story
has not been presented. An examination of the anathemas and heresies which were variously
registered by the christian bishops allows an objective assessment of how the opinion
of the pagan populace concerning the new god Jesus, and his new religion christianity,
were being received in the empire.
351 CE: A Register of Popular Public Opinion about Jesus Christ
Hilary of Poitiers' De Synodis:
Promoted to Bishop in 350 CE, Hilary of Poitiers preserves a list of twenty-seven
anathemas agreed upon by the Council of Sirmium c.351 CE. This list of twenty seven
issues represented the troublesome public opinion faced by the authority of the
orthodoxy in the Eastern empire, and as such, highlights the public opinion
at this time in the fourth century. Conspicuous by its presence at the primary
position in the list, are the words of Arius, present in the first two opinions:
01: The Son is sprung from things non-existent,
or from another substance and not from God,
and that there was a time or age
when He was not.
02: The Father and the Son are two Gods.
To an independent political observer, public opinion about Jesus
is not at all positive and orthodox, and reflects a position that
he certainly is not to be regarded as coming from God, but rather
has sprung from nothing existing. A new God has been invented. The
literature of the new God (of Constantine) is fiction.
359-363 CE: The Arraignment of the Emperor Julian against Christianity
Against the Galilaeans:
The very first independent political comment concerning the new State Religion
of Christianity was formalised c.362 CE by the Emperor Julian who wrote that he thought
that it was expedient that he write his convictions to all mankind.
Julian's invectives 362 are re-examined in a new light:
Julian's Saturnalia Party: Satire written 362 CE in which Constantine finds Jesus while living a life of pleasure and incontinence.
Julian places the following words into the mouth of Jesus, and finally has
Constantine and his sons punished by avenging deities for their impiety,
and utter irreligiousness:
"He that is a seducer, he that is a murderer,
he that is sacrilegious and infamous,
let him approach without fear!
For with this water will I wash him
and will straightway make him clean.
And though he should be guilty
of those same sins a second time,
let him but smite his breast and beat his head
and I will make him clean again."
The Fabrication of the Galilaeans:
The emperor Julian never called "christians" by that name, and instead in all
his dealings, used the term "Galilaeans". He referred therefore to the
new testament literature as "the fabrication of the Galilaeans". He was
convinced that it was a fiction of men composed by wickedness. This article
explores this thing that Julian termed "the fabrication of the Galilaeans".
Presented is the specification of the package of fiction, fraud, interpolation,
and the fraudulent misrepresentation of ancient history, by Constantine, in the
fourth century.
363-364 CE: The Council of Laodicea - Prescriptions against the Heretics and the Apocrypha
The records from The Council of Laodicea indicate that
the reading of the New Testament Apocryphal tractates, were forbidden ....
Canon 59: Let no private psalms nor any uncanonical books be read in church,
but only the canonical ones of the New and Old Testament.
Canon 33: No one shall join in prayers with heretics or schismatics.
Canon 36:
They who are of the priesthood, or of the clergy,
shall not be magicians, enchanters, mathematicians, or astrologers;
nor shall they make what are called amulets, which are chains for their own souls.
And those who wear such, we command to be cast out of the Church.
364-450 CE: Censorship of Julian, and Knowledge of Fiction
Cyril of Alexandria: The role of the Tax-Exempt Bishop in the political censorship of Julian's writings. Before
the time of Cyril, people referred to the Nicene "Fathers" as the fathers of the
new state church. However, Cyril started the practice of referring to the
"fathers of the church" as the Pre-Nicene Eccesiastical writers, whom Eusebius
introduces in his Historia Eccesiastica. Cyril is very appropriately
called "The Seal of the Fathers". He is also involved with Nestorius. Cyril
writes that he is compelled to refute "the lies of Julian" and goes
about the business in many books.
but none as went far as Julian,
who damaged the prestige of the Empire
by refusing to recognize Christ,
dispenser of royalty and power.
he composed three books against the holy gospels
and against the very pure Christian religion,
he used them to shake many spirits
and to cause them uncommon wrongs.
420-450 CE: Censorship of Nestorius, and Knowledge of Fiction
Nestorius, Ex-ArchBishop of Constantinople:
Wrote a summary of all the various heretics mid-fifth century, and his writings were
targetted for burning by edict. By some miraculous means, assisted by writing under
the pseudonym of Heracleides, a Syriac translation survived. The English translation
of these presumed destroyed writings of Nestorius became available, and reveals that
certain groups of heretics in the mid-fifth century still believed that Jesus was
fictitous; moreover that these beliefs were insisted to be based on ancient truth.
One of the Christian euphemisms for fiction is Docetism, in which the heretics
are descibed as not believing in the physical body of Jesus, only that "it seemed"
to have existence, but in reality, did not in fact have existence. Nestorius writes
a systematic classification of heresies, and states the following:
I see many who strongly insist
on these [theories of fiction]
as something [based] on
the truth and ancient opinion.
Our position is that these groups included the Greek academics
of the East
who shared Julian's conviction that the new testament
was a fiction of men.
429 CE: Cyril's Censorship of the Heresies Nestorius
Blasphemies and Heresies of Nestorius according to Cyril:
An examination of the five books composed in 429 CE by the orthodox tax-exempt murderer
and christian Bishop of Alexandria Cyril, against the "blasphemies and heresies" of Nestorius.
"I will speak the words too of offence.
Of His own Flesh was the Lord Christ discoursing to them;
Except ye eat, He says, the Flesh of the Son of Man
and drink His Blood, ye have no Life in you:
the hearers endured not the loftiness of what was said,
they imagined of their unlearning
that He was bringing in cannibalism."
Nestorius is today seen as a systematic reported of what he sees and hears
around him in the world, but Cyril does not want any of these things written.
Nestorius reports that some of the people imagined Jesus to be bringing in
cannibalism. The clever pagan priests were polemicists and seditionists against
the agenda of the Constantinian Canonical writings. One of them even went as
far to write an entire tractate, entitled
The Acts of Andrew and Matthias (Matthew) (from "The Apocryphal New Testament"
M.R. James-Translation and Notes, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924) in which Matthew
is sent to preach into the Land of the Cannibals:
"At that time all the apostles were gathered together
and divided the countries among themselves, casting lots.
And it fell to Matthias to go to the land of the anthropophagi. (cannibals)
Now the men of that city ate no bread nor drank wine,
but ate the flesh and drank the blood of men;
and every stranger who landed there they took, and put out his eyes,
and gave him a magic drink which took away his understanding.
"
491 CE: Censorship Masterlist - The Decretum Gelasianum
The Decretum Gelasianum
is a listing of the canonical texts of the new testament and a
list of the apocrypha, which is substantial in it length, and
attracts the wrath of the late fifth century Papal Council. It is
usually acknowledged that some of these works may have been
listed a century earlier, by Pope Dasius. This is a far more
expansive list than that recorded by Eusebius.
It makes explicit reference, for example, to .... all the books
which Leucius the disciple of the devil made (This refers to a
series of about 5 of the non canonical texts).
This of course also represents a Hit-List of officially heretical books,
and as such is recognised as a forerunner of the Vatican's Librorum Prohibitorum
(Index of Vatican Banned and Prohibited Books) which operated continuously from the
sixteenth (following the invention of the printing press) to the twentieth centuries.
In the mid twentieth century, the index of banned books had included over four thousand
six hundred books, one of which was Edward Gibbon's monumental work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
The precedent for the preparation of a Hit-List for Censorship
(destruction by fire, etc) of heretical books (and authors) commenced
with Constantine in the year 325 CE. The Decretum Gelasianum
thus represents a pre-Gutenburg proto-type of the Librorum Prohibitorum,
and additionally, an extension of the political hit-lists of Constantine.
(See for example here and especially here.)
000-324 CE: What religion(s) did Christianity Replace?
At the dawn of the fourth century the religious milieu of the Roman empire
was diverse, much like the mixture of religions in the world today. There
were many many different cults, some new and some ancient. Perhaps hundreds
of different religious cults were in operation, if the archaeological record
is to be reconstructed for this epoch. Ancient temples and shrines dotted
the landscape of the empire, but at no center were there more, than in and
around the City of Alexander, Alexandria.
Although no one cult dominated the others, due to the huge diversity of beliefs
and worship which were not yet codified, or centralised into any state level,
the sponsorship of the lineage of the Roman Emperors, including their coinage,
and a review of the monumental and archaeological remains, suggests that one
particular cult may have been perceived as leading the others.
The Therapeutae of Asclepius Which temples did Constantine target for destruction (Aegae, +, ...)?
Which priests did Constantine target for execution (Aegae, +, ...)?
Which ascetic priests wrote parodies against the ineptitude
of the fourth century christian "ministry" of "healing"
and of "embodied ascetic wisdom"? (Arius? Pachomius?) Ancient Healers
of the Lineage of Hippocrates and Galen, therapeutae (physicians; "sons of the elder",
"sons of the monk") of Asclepius: an ascetic ministry and physicians of souls. They
are described by Philo, as distinct from the Palestinian Essenes, living in Egypt,
and in Greece. Philo remarks they are ubiquitous in the empire c.20CE. The
therepeutae were ascetics (Egyptian and Hellenic). The signature of Buddhist
influence is unmistakable. The most popular Egypto-Graeco-Romon hero of the first
three centuries -- by the archaeological evidence -- is the Healer Asclepius, his
"asclepia" (healing centers), and associated gymnasiums, their
associated libraries, and their hierarchy of attendants and priests -
the therapeutae of Asclepius.
Ancient Pearls of Wisdom
Further related articles
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