Podcasts about Hippolytus

In this Easter special, we explore the profound teachings about the Savior's suffering in Gethsemane and its eternal implications. We discuss how early Latter-day Saints grappled with the concepts of repentance, eternal punishment, and the infinite nature of Christ's atonement. We also explore the radical truths in D&C 19 that challenge the prevailing 19th-century Protestant beliefs by emphasizing a Savior who deeply desires us to avoid suffering through sincere repentance. Gerrit also draws on connections between biblical texts and early Christian writings, including Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Hippolytus. Most importantly, this episode underscores the Savior's desperate plea for repentance, not out of wrath, but from a profound desire to spare His children from unimaginable suffering. This message of compassion and redemption is especially powerful during the Easter season, and a reminder of the incredible depth of Christ's love and the hopeful promise of forgiveness and spiritual renewal.    Sweetwater Rescue Temple Project: Helping the Saints of Lithuania get to the Helsinki, Finland Temple https://www.sweetwaterrescue.org/current If you would like to donate, please click on the link: https://www.sweetwaterrescue.org/donate   Sign up for our free monthly email: ⁠ ⁠https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com⁠   If you have any questions or possible topics of discussion for upcoming podcasts, please email us at: ⁠⁠questions@standardoftruthpodcast.com

Tom Riello on 10 facts about US Catholics, Mike Aquilina discusses Hippolytus, and Dan Burke has our Sunday Gospel Reflection.

Hippolytus lived 1800 years ago! In many ways we only know scraps about his life. But from what we do learn about his life, we can tell he loved and stood for God.Thank you so much to Matt Maples for reading this episode for us!Join Revived Studios on Patreon for more!Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/revived-thoughts6762/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The persecution by antichrist from the Church Fathers.Sponsored by Charity Mobilehttps://www.charitymobile.com/rtt.phpSources:https://www.returntotradition.orgContact Me:Email: return2catholictradition@gmail.comSupport My Work:Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/AnthonyStineSubscribeStarhttps://www.subscribestar.net/return-to-traditionBuy Me A Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/AnthonyStinePhysical Mail:Anthony StinePO Box 3048Shawnee, OK74802Follow me on the following social media:https://www.facebook.com/ReturnToCatholicTradition/https://twitter.com/pontificatormax+JMJ+

Esta semana, en el Madrid mazo guapo de Nieves Ortiz dentro del Buenos Días que presenta Ely del Valle, nos vamos a Alcalá de Henares, en concreto al Antiquarium, o lo que es lo mismo, un nuevo museo recién inaugurado que nos transporta a la Antigua Roma. En dos plantas abiertas al público se exponen más de 600 piezas, muchas procedentes de las excavaciones del parque arqueológico de Complutum, que recrean el modo de vida de los romanos y las romanas que habitaron la zona en el periodo comprendido entre el siglo I d.C. y el siglo V d.C. La verdad es que es una galería muy completa en cuya apertura se lleva trabajando cerca de 20 años y que por fin es una realidad tras un enorme trabajo arqueológico, de documentación e investigación. Alcalá de Henares inaugura el Antiquarium de la Ciudad Romana de Complutum En su interior hay verdaderas joyas, una de ellas es un enorme mosaico, - El Auriga Victorioso -, que apareció mientras se ejecutaban unas obras a las afueras de la ciudad en 1988 y un conjunto pictórico recuperado de la Casa de los Grifos que se considera la mejor colección de pintura mural romana de la península. Además, como curiosidades, hay piezas que tienen un pasado algo más que incierto. Es el caso por ejemplo de una escultura Pudicizia, una virgen, de la que se desconoce su origen exacto y que se encontró en una tumba del Cementerio Viejo de Alcalá en 1890. Se trata de una pieza única en España. Solo existen ejemplares similares en los Museos Vaticanos y en el de Estambul y se desconoce de qué fecha data. Lo que también es un misterio es el contenido de un par de jarras selladas del todo, procedentes de excavaciones llevadas a cabo en el llamado Auguraculum, un lugar donde se practicaba la magia y se leía el futuro a través de las vísceras procedentes de sacrificios animales. Los arqueólogos han bautizado a las jarras encontradas como Harry Pollos ¿Por qué? Hallados restos de la antigua muralla del siglo XIV de Alcalá junto a la Puerta de Madrid Además del vínculo de algunos romanos con las ciencias ocultas, lo cierto es que tenían una vida intelectual muy rica y la sociedad en general estaba muy alfabetizada. Las letras, el arte, estaban muy presentes en su cultura, y también la música como acreditan algunos elementos encontrados en excavaciones como flautas, silbatos, o crótalos de bronce, vamos las castañuelas que se usaban ya para una danza que se piensa es la antecesora del flamenco. En este espacio museístico se habla del origen de la ciudad, de su desarrollo en casi todos los campos y se habla de sus habitantes, de los complutenses, a los que se ha dedicado una sala en la que se representa a algunos de los personajes más típicos y destacados con vídeos y materiales que narran sus historias. Entre otros hay un médico, una niña de buena familia, un militar, y también hay una esclava, Flacilla, a la que se pone cara simulando cómo sería hoy en día. La historia romana de Alcalá de Henares se desentierra en Complutum El Antiquarium es la puerta de entrada al parque arqueológico de Complutum, que alberga, entre otros espacios, el Foro, la Casa de los Grifos, o la de Hippolytus y que nos permite esa inmersión en el mundo de la Antigüedad Clásica, base de Alcalá, de la región y del modo en que nuestra cultura occidental organiza sus modos de vida. Todos sábados se realiza una visita guiada gratuita para el público general a las 10:00 de la mañana. (Aforo limitado a 30 personas – No es necesario realizar reserva previa). Y el Antiquarium está abierto todos los días menos los lunes en horario de 10:00 hasta las 14:00 horas y de 16:00 a 18:00 en horario de invierno.

In this episode of FACTS, Dr. Boyce will dive into Malachi 1:11, exploring its prophetic connection to Eucharistic worship in the early Church. Dr. Boyce will investigate how this Old Testament passage foreshadows the practices of Christian Eucharist, as seen through the writings of early Church Fathers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, and Athanasius. By examining these early theological voices, Dr. Boyce will highlight how they recognized the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy in the Church's sacramental life, offering a deeper understanding of the Eucharist as an integral part of Christian worship from the very beginning. Join us for this compelling exploration of Scripture, early Christian writings, and the rich history of the Eucharist in the Church. If you'd like to donate to our ministry or be a monthly partner that receives newsletters and one on one discussions with Dr. Boyce, here's a link: https://give.tithe.ly/?formId=6381a2ee-b82f-42a7-809e-6b733cec05a7 #Malachi1:11 #EucharisticWorship #EarlyChurchFathers #JustinMartyr #Irenaeus #Tertullian #Hippolytus #Athanasius #ChristianEucharist #ChurchHistory #SacramentalTheology #ProphecyAndTheEucharist #ChristianWorship #OldTestamentProphecy #FACTSPodcast #TheologyExploration #MalachisProphecy #EucharistInTheChurch

Christmas Is Not A Pagan Holiday Today, let's look at the common arguments for a Pagan Origin of Christmas. Let's put them into 3 categories: 1. The 25th Date coincides with other pagan holidays like Saturnalia and Sol Invictus 2. The gods who were born on the 25th make Christ look like a copycat in a long line of copycats. 3. The Christmas Tree appears to be the Asherah Pole from Jeremiah 10:1-5. So let's start with the date of the 25th. Where did the date come from? Some sources attribute Theophilus of Antioch circa 171-183 AD as the first to use the 25th of December date as the date of Christ's birth, due to the notion that prophets are conceived on the day they die (Christ's death being attributed here as the 25th of March). Some even attribute Pope St. Telesphorus in circa 125-136 AD as having ascribed the December 25th date decades earlier. The dates of Saturnalia were the 17th-23rd , never on the 25th. A Pre-Christ Sol Invictus is only referenced in 1 manuscript, the Chronography of 354. This manuscript was written over 100 years after Hippolytus of Rome's Commentary on Daniel (circa 202~211 AD), which references the December 25th Birth of Christ. It is entirely possible that the observance of Sol Invictus's birthdate may have even been a mimicry of the December 25th date! There go those two points, showing a crippling lack of scholarship on the part of the proponents of a Pagan Origin of Christmas. As for other gods who have held or picked up the 25th, some of these have resurrection stories and other vague similarities to Christ's story. I'll have to quote Lewis here on this general contention as Lewis said it better than I could: “And what did God do? …He sent the human race what I call good dreams: I mean those queer stories scattered all through the heathen religions about a god who dies and comes to life again and, by his death, has somehow given new life to men.” If one takes the proposition that man came from Noah, and Noah expected the redeemer of the Genesis 3 covenant, would not man expect such a redeemer? Also, would not the Devil himself love to abuse this desire for a Savior and propagate such false religions for the Devil's own gain? This view, even if you believe it to be wrong, is at least consistent. On a side note, I do not believe, like many, that Christ's birth was on the 25th of December. It was likely on the feast of First Fruits in April. This would better fit the prophetic timeline and The Christ Comet is a theory of the Star of Bethlehem that plots the activities of a specific comet to that time frame. This comet would have behaved in such a way as to lead the Magi to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem, but this is neither here nor there for this discussion. On the note of the Christmas Tree, the Asherah Pole of Pre-Christ Iran is often connoted with the Tradition of the Christmas Tree, which was started around the 1500s by the French and Germanic Christians, the better part of two millennia separated from Jeremiah's words in Jeremiah 10:1-5: "1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good." On that note, how would uncarved trees have anything to do with carved wooden idols? Just because heathens used trees in false worship, does not mean that trees are somehow pagan. If pagans doing something or celebrating in a certain way makes any association with the item or practice anathema, stop singing, stop praying, and while you're at it, stop breathing! This extreme is almost a strawman, but the point of this should be why are we doing what we do? Some traditions are valueless, granted. Some are even dangerous, agreed. But let's base our critiques, if we have them, on facts and not unsupported nonsense. (For example, find an actual ancient source on the use of Christmas Trees for Saturnalia. Few if any exist, and none that we are aware of.) Santa Clause, on the other hand, is a different story. St. Nicholas (Born circa 280 AD) is the oldest reference of the Jolly Man who gave aid to the poor and powerless. Tales of St. Nicholas include him giving dowries to girls being sold into prostitution, thereby saving them from such a life, and giving gifts to the poor. Others are more fantastic. However, all of these stories should be celebrated, in the context of what the Love of God can do through one man. St. Nicholas wasn't magical, he was transformed through his relationship to Christ. Santa Claus, as we have him today, came from numerous accretions and other legends, some even pagan in origin (think Krampus). All of that aside, however we got Santa Claus is not necessarily important. What is concerning is that some have taken the caricature of St. Nicholas and turned him into a god who rewards good works and the sacrament of milk and cookies. We tell children Santa and Jesus are both real and then wonder why they no longer believe in Christ only a few short years of their belief in Santa being shattered. Where is our consistency? Have we been guilty of worshiping a false god that satisfies our own paganistic desires for self fulfillment in America? Has Consumerism consumed the message of Christmas? So, is Christmas a pagan holiday root and branch? Not in the root, but maybe for some, the branch. We should ask ourselves: Is Christ still on the throne of Christmas, or have we erected our own god of self-actualization with a fat bearded man who gives gifts with little effort from us, a caricature of God the Father Himself? Do we spend nearly as much time worshiping the King of Heaven as we do ourselves, and even our children and families? https://www.learnreligions.com/why-is-christmas-on-december-25-700439 https://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2017/12/december-25th-birth-jesus-interesting-considerations.html https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2019/12/08/just-how-pagan-is-christmas-really/ https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2018/12/05/the-origins-of-the-christmas-tree/ https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/great-christ-comet-revealing-star-bethlehem/

Josh found his notes on the dating of Christmas and the farthest date of December 25th he could find referenced was in 200 A.D. from Hippolytus of Rome“23.3. For the first advent of our Lord in the flesh, when he was born in Bethlehem, was December 25th,3 Wednesday,4 while Augustus was in his forty-second year, but from Adam, five thousand and five hundred years. He suffered in the thirty-third year, March 25th,5 Friday,6 the eighteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, while Rufus and Roubellion were Consuls.” Hippolytus of Rome 202-211 A.D.

Have you heard of Hippolytus’s Refutation of All Heresies? Written not long after 222 A.D. this book works through dozens of heresies–beliefs that the author disagreed with. Some scholars have argued against Hippolytus as the author, preferring to call him pseudo-Hippolytus. But regardless of who wrote the tome, the fact is that this huge book was the mature result of nearly seventy years of Christians cataloging heresies. In each case the next generation typically included much of what had come before and this book is no exception. It’s a massive tome, totaling more than 400 pages long in the most recent translation by David Litwa. In this talk, delivered at the 2024 UCA conference held in Little Rock, Arkansas, Dr. Dale Tuggy draws on the Refutation of All Heresies to catalog the major christological options that were known to the author in the third century. Excluding all the gnostic groups, Tuggy identifies three broad groups of Christians who held very different ideas about Christ: the Dynamic Monarchians, the Modalistic Monarchians, and the Logos Incarnationists. Or to use the parlance of today, biblical unitarians, oneness believers, and Arians. But, what about the Trinity? Where was it? Why didn’t pseudo-Hippolytus mention three persons in one being? Surely hundreds of millions of Christians who say the Church has always believed in the Trinity from the beginning can’t be wrong, can they? Listen in to this talk to find out. Dale Tuggy is an analytic philosopher specializing in Trinity theories. He’s the author of the Trinity article in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy as well as the book What Is the Trinity, which gives a brief introduction to the various Trinity models and their problems. A month ago, a new book came out that he contributed to called One God, Three Persons, Four Views, in which he debated various Trinitarian scholars, putting forward his own non-trinitarian view as an alternative. Find out more about Tuggy and his work at his blog: Trinities.org. In what follows he lays out the various christologies in the period before Nicea as well as explains quotations by Athenagoras and Mileto that modern trinitarian defenders use to prove that the Trinity was there in the second century. Lastly, he provides evidence for which view he thinks was the majority in the second and third centuries. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— Get the transcript of this episode Check out these other episodes with Dale Tuggy Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Get Finnegan’s book, Kingdom Journey to learn about God’s kingdom coming on earth as well as the story of how Christianity lost this precious pearl of great price.

Caius was a priest in Rome, in the third century. He wrote that if one comes to Rome, one can visit the shrines at the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul. These tombs had been known and visited since the apostle's deaths, and are known to this day - they are in the same place where Caius knew them. The tomb of St. Paul is directly under the main altar of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, which was built on the site of the first memorial chapel, which was itself built on the site of the original shrine. The tomb of St. Peter is directly under the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City. The present St. Peter's Basilica, built in the renaissance, was built on the same site as the original St. Peter's, which was commissioned by the emperor Constantine in the fourth century. The tomb has always been directly under the altar.  Links To read the fragments that we have from Caius: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1724&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2464384 To listen to Mike Aquilina's episode on Hippolytus, contemporary of Caius and antagonist of Pope St. Zephyrinus: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-17the-long-strange-trip-hippolytus-rome/ For more on the third century context in the history of the early Church, see the book: Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/ SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/ DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch Join the conversation in the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/ Dr. Papandrea's Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/  

Some of the most realistic, sympathetic, complex, and villainous women of the ancient world are found in the works of Euripides. He seemed to have had an interest in the people on the margins, women, foreign "barbarians", and enslaved people. Today we're looking at them, and Euripides through them. Find the International Podcast Day livestream here! CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thing. Sources: (Translations listed under each) Euripides' Hecuba, The Trojan Women, Medea, Hippolytus, Andromache, The Suppliant Women; Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae; Mary Lefkowitz' Euripides and the Gods. Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Revelation, Session Two Christ the Savior, Anderson SC Fr. Anthony Perkins Sources: The translation of the Apocalypse is from the Orthodox Study Bible. Lawrence R. Farley, The Apocalypse of St. John: A Revelation of Love and Power, The Orthodox Bible Study Companion (Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2011), Bishop Averky, The Epistles and the Apocalypse (Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, Volume III. (Holy Trinity Seminary Press, 2018). Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011). Venerable Bede, The Explanation of the Apocalypse, trans. Edward Marshall (Oxford: James Parker and Co., 1878). William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005). Correction from Last Week Revelation was removed from active use because it was being used to support the Marcionists, not the Gnostics [or Montanism as I said in the class!]. The Orthodox Study Bible; “[I]n the second and third centuries Revelation was widely twisted and sensationally misinterpreted, and the erroneous teachings brought troublesome confusion to Christians – a trend that continues to this day.” Review of Last Week The Church wants us to be aware of the Last Judgement but from WITHIN the sacraments and the “good defense” God gives us through them.  Authorship and Dating of the Work The author was St. John the Theologian St. John's disciple Papias of Hierapolis, St. Justin the Martyr (lived in Ephesus), St. Irenaeus (disciple of Polycarp of Smyrna who was a disciple of St. John), St. Hippolytus (disciple of St. Irenaeus), St. Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and Origen were early leaders of the Church who knew and witnessed to this. The work itself (see 1:2; also exile on Patmos). The date of the work is AD 95/96 St. Irenaeus; Against Heresies (5.30.3) Purpose of the Work To show things that must shortly come to pass (1:1). Pastoral protection and encouragement to the early Church against state persecution and (internal) heresy. Apokalypsis means uncovering of something that has been hidden. Style and Interpretation of the Work Apocalyptic Literature.  A “visceral” (Fr. Lawrence) and heavily symbolic genre.  It is meant to be prophetic in every sense of the word. “It is a human work.  But it is also an apostolic work, and as an apostle, John tells the truth, striving to convey to us the substance and power of what the Lord revealed to him for our sake.” (Fr. Lawrence) What are we to make of the diverse interpretations offered by saints? Not to be taken literally in the modern sense; “Thus, for example, a literalistic understanding of the images of this book has given occasion, and even now continues to give occasion, for the false teaching of “Chiliasm” – the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth.” (Bishop Averky) Bishop Averky says four main categories of interpretation (and calls for a combination): Visions and symbols of the “last times” (end of the world, the anti-christ, second coming) Description of the historical pagan Roman persecutions against the Church in the first century. Look for realization of the prophecies in recent history. Allegorical and moral meaning. The Orthodox Study Bible: “Faithfulness in tribulation” is the main theme, with subthemes of Divine Judgment of human wickedness and The symbolic presentation of most major New Testament teachings concerning eschatology, the study of the last things. 1:1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants – things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John. Andrew of Caesarea. “An apocalypse is the manifestation of hidden mysteries when the intellect is illuminated either through divine dreams or according to waking visions from divine enlightenment. To be given to Christ, it says, making this statement about him especially with respect to his human , since in the Gospel he above all others dwelt on the sublime and things that befit God. And here, the magnitude of the divinity of Christ is shown through the attending angel, and through the name of the teaching servants, for “all things are his servants.” The must come to pass soon means that some of the predictions concerning them are to come to pass immediately thereafter and the things regarding the end are not to be delayed, because “one thousand years” to God is “like yesterday's day, which is reckoned as having elapsed.” St. Bede. The revelation of Jesus Christ.  The progress with which the Church that had been founded by the Apostles was to be extended, or the end with which it was to be perfected, had need to be revealed, in order to strengthen the preachers of the faith against the opposition of the world. And John, in his own manner, refers the glory of the Son to the Father, and testifies that Jesus Christ has received from God. shortly. That is, which are to happen to the Church in the present time. signified. He wrapped up this revelation in mystical words, that it might not be manifested to all, and become lightly esteemed. angel. For an angel appeared to John in the form of Christ, as will be seen more clearly in that which follows. John. That through John He might lay open to all His servants the things which he, by the privilege of a peculiar chastity, obtained above all others to behold. Oecumenius: When it is said to him, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him,” it is as though he said, “This revelation is given from the Father to the Son, and then from the Son to us,” his servants. By calling the saints the “servants” of Christ, he safeguards what is proper to his deity. For, to whom would men belong, unless to him who is the Maker and Creator of humankind? And who is the Creator of human-kind and of all creation? No one other than the only begotten Word and Son of God! For, the present author says in the Gospel, “All things were made through him.” And why does he wish to add “what must soon take place,” although those events which will take place have not yet occurred, even though a considerable span of time has passed, more than five hundred years, since these words were spoken? Because to the eyes of the eternal and endless God all ages are regarded as nothing, for, as the prophet says, “A thousand years in your sight, O Lord, are as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.”3 For this reason, therefore, he added “soon,” not to indicate a measure of time which must pass before the fulfillment of what must happen, but to indicate the power and eternality of God. For to him who is, any passage of time, even should it be great and considerable, is something small when compared with that which is unending   1:2. Who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.   OSB: Testimony of Jesus refers to a witness concerning Jesus; not the testimony of Christ Himself. Andrew of Caesarea.  “Christ,” he says, “declared these things to me through an angel, as a master to a household servant, as I had borne witness to my confession to him,” of which, on the basis of the visions to bear witness and, in view of the return of those who hear, to preach both the things which are and which escape human understanding and the things which will occur in the future, for, prophetically, he had seen them both. And clear from what he says: those things which are and those which must come to pass. These are descriptions both of the present time and of the future. St. Bede; testimony. That thou mayest not doubt of the person of John, he is the same who gave testimony to the eternal Word of God incarnate, according as he saw, saying, “Whose glory we saw, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father.”   1:3.  Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. Andrew of Caesarea.  He blesses those who read and hear through the actions, for the present time is near, through which it is possible to acquire the blessing, and to all the work is laid open. As the Lord says, “Work [13] while it is day.” And elsewhere, the time is near, the time of the distribution of prizes, on account of the brevity of the present life in comparison to the future. St. Bede. Blessed. Teachers and hearers are therefore blessed, because they who keep the Word of God find that a short time of labour is followed by everlasting joys. Averky; “The book of the Apocalypse has, consequently, not only a prophetic but also a moral significance.  The meaning of these words is as follows: blessed is he who, reading this book, will prepare himself by his life and deeds of piety for eternity, for the translation to eternity is near for each of us. Fr. Lawrence.  Seven beatitudes (blessings) are pronounced upon (Fr. Lawrence): 1:3 “the one who reads and the ones who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things which are written in it” 14:13 the martyrs “who die in the Lord from now on” 16:15 “the one who keeps alert,” faithfully awaiting the Lord's Coming 19:9 “those who are called to the wedding supper of the Lamb” 20:6 the martyrs who have “a part in the first resurrection” 22:7 all who “keep the words of the prophecy of this book” 22:14 all those in the martyric Church, “those who wash their robes, so that they may have their right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.”  

Like most things Euripides wrote, his treatment of the Olympian gods and what they were capable of (and best of all, how that's received by mortals) is absolutely ripe for interpretation. Euripides walked the line of impiety and seemed to have a ball. CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thing. Sources: The Masque of Dionysus by Helen P Foley; Isabelle Torrance's Euripides; Mary Lefkowitz' Euripides and the Gods; passages read from Hippolytus and Helen, translated by EP Coleridge; Ion, translated by Cecelia Eaton Luschnig; and Bacchae, translated by T. A. Buckley, revised by Alex Sens, and further revised by Gregory Nagy. Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Canonized anti-Popes and humble children work for unity and mercy.

Today is Tuesday, August 13, 2024, A Feria, with commemoration of Sts. Hippolytus and Cassian, Martyrs, a 4th class feast, with the color of green. In this episode: The meditation: “Touched With Compassion, Jesus Raises the Dead,” today's news from the Church: “Reinforcing Anti-Conversion Measures in India,” and today's thought from the Archbishop. We'd love your feedback on these Daily Devotionals! What do you like / not like, and what would you like us to add? podcast@sspx.org Sources Used Today: Practical Meditations  (Angelus Press) “Reinforcing Anti-Conversion Measures in India,” (FSSPX.news) https://fsspx.news/en/news/india-reinforcing-anti-conversion-measures-46814 The Spiritual Life- Archbishop Lefebvre (Angelus Press) - - - - - - - Please Support this Apostolate with 1-time or Monthly Donation >> - - - - - - - Explore more: Subscribe to the email version of this Devotional - it's a perfect companion! Subscribe to this Podcast to receive this and all our audio episodes Subscribe to the SSPX YouTube channel for video versions of our podcast series and Sermons FSSPX News Website: https://fsspx.news Visit the US District website: https://sspx.org/ - - - - - What is the SSPX Podcast? The SSPX Podcast is produced by Angelus Press, which has as its mission the fortification of traditional Catholics so that they can defend the Faith, and reaching out to those who have not yet found Tradition.  - - - - - - What is the SSPX? The main goal of the Society of Saint Pius X is to preserve the Catholic Faith in its fullness and purity, to teach its truths, and to diffuse its virtues, especially through the Roman Catholic priesthood. Authentic spiritual life, the sacraments, and the traditional liturgy are its primary means of bringing this life of grace to souls. Although the traditional Latin Mass is the most visible and public expression of the work of the Society, we are committed to defending Catholic Tradition in its entirety: all of Catholic doctrine and morals as the Church has always defended them. What people need is the Catholic Faith, without compromise, with all the truth and beauty which accompanies it. https://sspx.org

The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time by Dr. Shane Owens. Ordinary Weekday/ Pontian, Pope, Martyr, and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyr First Reading: Ezekiel 2: 8 – 3: 4 Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 119: 14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131 Alleluia: Matthew 11: 29 Gospel: Matthew 18: 1-5, 10, 12-14   Learn more about the Mass at www.stpaulcenter.com After over 20 years of preparation, the complete Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Old and New Testament is finally ready. Drawing from the best of modern biblical scholarship, Church teaching, and the Catholic theological tradition, this study Bible is uniquely designed to help you read Scripture from the heart of the Church. Go to stpaulcenter.com/bible to pre-order your copy today!

He was the pagan jailkeeper who guarded St Laurence (see August 10); seeing his prisoner's holiness and the wonders wrought by him, Hippolytus was convinced of the truth of the Faith and became a Christian. When St Laurence baptized him, he was granted a vision of heaven and said 'I see innocent souls in great joy.' He took Laurence into his own home, and his entire household were baptized, nineteen in all.   When St Laurence was martyred, Hippolytus retrieved his body by night and buried it. He was detected and brought before the Emperor Valerian on the third day after Laurence's death. Despite severe beatings he would not renounce his faith. The Emperor ordered that he be stripped and flayed but, standing naked before the emperor, Hippolytus said 'You have not stripped me, but have begun to clothe me.' Despite all torments, neither Hippolytus nor any of his household would deny Christ. All of his household were slain, one by one, before Hippolytus. Finally Hippolytus himself was bound behind a wild horse and dragged to death. Our Holy Mother the Empress Irene (Xenia in Monasticism) (12th c.) She was the pious wife of the Emperor John II Comnenus (reigned 1118-1143), but retired into monastic life. She founded the Monastery of the Pantokrator in Constantinople.

Tuesday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of Saints Pontian and Hippolytus, pope and antipope; Pontian was the first pope to abdicate; he struggled with the schismatic movement which supported the antipope Hippolytus; Pontian was arrested by Roman officials in 235; Hippolytus was reconciled to the church before his martyrdom; both died in 235 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 8/13/24 Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

The St. Paul Center's daily scripture reflections from the Mass for Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time by Dr. Shane Owens. Ordinary Weekday/ Pontian, Pope, Martyr, and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyr First Reading: Ezekiel 2: 8 – 3: 4 Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 119: 14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131 Alleluia: Matthew 11: 29 Gospel: Matthew 18: 1-5, 10, 12-14   Learn more about the Mass at www.stpaulcenter.com After over 20 years of preparation, the complete Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Old and New Testament is finally ready. Drawing from the best of modern biblical scholarship, Church teaching, and the Catholic theological tradition, this study Bible is uniquely designed to help you read Scripture from the heart of the Church. Go to stpaulcenter.com/bible to pre-order your copy today!

Hey, friends! Today's episode is about the first ever antipope who had a lot of firsts and the first pope to have a complete date of his papacy known. Let's find out how enemies became friends (and Saints) with our new friends: Pope Saint Pontian and Saint Hippolytus.

 1 And when great multitudes stood about him, so that they trod one upon another, he began to say to his disciples: Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.Multis autem turbis circumstantibus, ita ut se invicem conculcarent, coepit dicere ad discipulos suos : Attendite a fermento pharisaeorum, quod est hypocrisis.  2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed: nor hidden, that shall not be known.Nihil autem opertum est, quod non reveletur : neque absconditum, quod non sciatur.  3 For whatsoever things you have spoken in darkness, shall be published in the light: and that which you have spoken in the ear in the chambers, shall be preached on the housetops.Quoniam quae in tenebris dixistis, in lumine dicentur : et quod in aurem locuti estis in cubiculis, praedicabitur in tectis.  4 And I say to you, my friends: Be not afraid of them who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.Dico autem vobis amicis meis : Ne terreamini ab his qui occidunt corpus, et post haec non habent amplius quid faciant.  5 But I will shew you whom you shall fear: fear ye him, who after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say to you, fear him.Ostendam autem vobis quem timeatis : timete eum qui, postquam occiderit, habet potestatem mittere in gehennam : ita dico vobis, hunc timete.  6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?Nonne quinque passeres veneunt dipondio, et unus ex illis non est in oblivione coram Deo?  7 Yea, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows.sed et capilli capitis vestri omnes numerati sunt. Nolite ergo timere : multis passeribus pluris estis vos.  8 And I say to you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God.Dico autem vobis : Omnis quicumque confessus fuerit me coram hominibus, et Filius hominis confitebitur illum coram angelis Dei : Hyppolytus, guardian of St Laurence, was converted and baptized by the Saint. He was tied by the legs to wild horses. A.D. 260. St Cassian, a schoolmaster of Imola, was pierced to death by his pagan pupils, armed with styluses A.D. 320. He is the patron of stenographers.

Ezekiel 2:8-3:4 (He gave me the scroll to eat and it was as sweet as honey) 1 Peter 4:12-19 (If you can have some share in the sufferings of Christ, be glad)

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 1255, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: Oh Ph. With Ph in quotes 1: For the record, Thomas Edison invented the first practical one of these in 1877. the phonograph. 2: The mortar and pestle is a symbol of this profession. a pharmacist. 3: In days gone by this game bird was popularly served "under glass". a pheasant. 4: A finger bone, or a group of heavily armed infantry with overlapping weapons. a phalanx. 5: In mythology, after Hippolytus rejects her, this wife of Theseus hangs herself. Phaedra. Round 2. Category: Wallaces 1: Lurleen Burns married this man when she was 16 and later succeeded him as governor of Alabama. George Wallace. 2: Before "Braveheart" his story was told in the 15th century by Henry the Minstrel. William Wallace. 3: (Hi, I'm Wallace Langham) Mike's son, this broadcaster became NBC News White House Correspondent in 1982. Chris Wallace. 4: He and his wife Lila launched Reader's Digest in 1922 with a press run of 5,000. DeWitt Wallace. 5: "The Emperor of Ice-Cream" is a famous work by this poet whose day job was VP of an insurance company. Wallace Stevens. Round 3. Category: Chicago 1: Remove 1 letter from the name of a plaza in Dallas and you get this plaza in Chicago's Loop. Daley Plaza. 2: Nearly 250,000 gathered to see Obama's 2008 victory speech in Chicago's front yard, this park named for another president. Grant Park. 3: Scandalous highlight of the 1893 Columbian Exposition and title of the following:"She had a ruby on her tummy and / A diamond big as Texas on her toe, whoa whoa / She let her hair down and / She did the hoochie coochie real slow, whoa whoa". "Little Egypt". 4: Untouchable Tours visits such sanguineous spots as the site of this February 1929 event. the Valentine's Day Massacre. 5: Some attribute this nickname of the city to its proud, boasting citizens, not its breeziness. "The Windy City". Round 4. Category: 20Th Century Thinkers 1: Called the Russian Revolution's most brilliant thinker, he lost a power struggle with Stalin and was killed in Mexico. Trotsky. 2: This New Yorker wondered, "Can we actually 'know' the universe?... It's hard enough finding your way around Chinatown". Woody Allen. 3: The works of this woman on the left include 1965's "Normality and Pathology in Childhood". Anna Freud. 4: This 3-named economist was an architect of the International Monetary Fund and part of the Bloomsbury Group. Keynes. 5: This "in the machine" was Gilbert Ryle's term for the idea that the mind is apart from the body yet controls it. ghost in the machine. Round 5. Category: Written In Cyrillic 1: Some Tajik speakers call their language Zaboni Forsi, meaning this national tongue. Persian. 2: This carnivore associated with Russia is medved in Russian. a bear. 3: One way to say hello in Serbian is this, borrowed from Italian. ciao. 4: In Ukrainian, this winter month when Russia invaded in 2022 is Lyutyy, "cruel". February. 5: Belarussian took words like "pan", meaning "sir" or "mister" from this language spoken due west of Belarus. Polish. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia!Special thanks to https://blog.feedspot.com/trivia_podcasts/ AI Voices used

Welcome to Seeking Truth with Sharon Doran. Sharon has a passion for scripture that will motivate and challenge you to immerse yourself in God's Word and apply His message to your everyday life. Visit SeekingTruth.net to learn more about bringing Seeking Truth to your parish or to become an online learner. In today's episode, we delve into part two of an overview of the Gospel of Mark. Sharon explores Hippolytus of Rome's list of the 70 apostles of Christ, highlighting the journeys of Mark and Luke. Initially, both evangelists struggled with Jesus' teachings but were later brought back to faith by Peter and Paul, respectively. Discover the incredible stories of Mark and Luke's conversions, their significant contributions to the New Testament, and their ultimate martyrdom. Learn about Mark's miracles, his mission in Alexandria, and the historical and spiritual significance of his relics, which are venerated in both Venice and Egypt. Join us as we uncover the profound insights and hidden meanings within the Gospel of Mark, with the hope that you will find new revelations in your own spiritual journey.

If you enjoy this podcast, please rate us on iTunes and leave a positive review. If you'd like to reach out to us or suggest ideas for an episode, email us at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com.  We'd love to hear from you. Also, we have an Instagram account now.  Follow us at inklingsvarietyhour. Chris resumes his conversation with Jonathan Geltner and Eric Geddes about the first half of Lewis' fourth Narnia book, The Silver Chair. Among other things, we discuss: A bit more of Chapter 4, "Parliament of Owls." Rilian's Predicament: Oedipal or just Literary? Puddleglum: Origins Fred Paxford John Studley's Bad Translation of Hippolytus (16th Century, OHEL) Geographical Literary American "Indian Guides" English dourness, Thorin and Company, and Dickens Rock Giants at Play in The Silver Chair and The Hobbit Jill and Eustace: Pilgrims or T-r-r-r-r-avelers? The Ever-r-r-r-Glamorous Art of R-Trilling Parallels with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Other Romances, such as: Lanval, by Marie de France Sir Orfeo (based on Orpheus but with Fairies--here's Tolkien's translation) Post-script: Arthurian Torso Thanks to Jonathan Geltner and Eric Geddes for a great conversation. Follow Jonathan's work at his blog and his substack, and buy his book.   This Week's Poetry Thursday: C.S. Lewis' "The Birth of Language."   Next Tuesday: Joined by Joseph Weigel from the Men with Chests podcast, we'll discuss civilized giants!  And maybe we'll even get to the Underworld. Stay tuned!   Coming this Season: Perelandra, more podcast crossovers (Thinklings, Men with Chests), Arthurian Torso, "The Golden Key," Inkwell Chronicles: Race to Krakatoa, Lewis and Tolkien and a whole lot more. 

Acts Timeline https://www.2belikechrist.com/articles/timeline-of-the-book-of-acts  Philip's unmarried daughters Acts 21:8-9 Philip the Deacon reflection w/Same As Apostle Arguments http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/264.html  Hermione, Eutychis, Irais, and Chariline https://www.markcarlson-ghost.com/index.php/2016/09/17/philips-daughters-prophets-names/  Hermione https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2022/09/04/102492-martyr-hermione-daughter-of-saint-philip-the-deacon Welcome to Popeular History, a library of Catholic knowledge and insights. As promised, this episode is going to be a bit of a roundup of extra stories and tidbits we have on some of our recent characters from outside the Bible. Let's start with our main man of late, a guy I really didn't think I'd be talking about this much but we are deacon oriented so I'm rolling with it, Philip the Deacon. The best extrabiblical tie-in point for Philip is actually in the canonical bible, where in an aside, Paul says the following, quote: "We reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied." (Acts 21:9) End quote. And that's it. Here we have four women with holy powers and no additional info apart from they're the unmarried daughters of one of the first deacons. You aren't going to find many prompts more ripe for fan fiction than that, and the early Christian community ran with it, naming the daughters Hermione, Eutychis, Irais, and Chariline, or some other set of names, it's inconsistent, but definitely they got names outside the bible and went off on adventures. They may have went on to be a source for a source for Eusebius, who can be described as the dominant early Church historian so we'll definitely be revisiting him in time. Philip himself is cited as the Protodeacon among the seven original deacons, the proto- part meaning first, kind of like how his colleague Stephen is referred to as the Protomartyr, though I suppose that application is more in terms of chronology than dignity. The title of Protodeacon does have a specific application in the College of Cardinals today, namely it's the Cardinal who has held the title of Cardinal-Deacon the longest. The protodeacon is normally the one who gives the announcement- Habemus Papam- "we have a Pope" when a new Pontiff is elected. I didn't come across any death tradition for Philip the Deacon, but I did find a site making an unexpectedly compelling case for identifying him with Philip the Apostle. Sure, the Apostles set up the deacons to allow themselves to get on with their apostling, but what if he was, like, an embedded supervisor? It would be fairly recognizable organizational move today and would match with the extra emphasis he receives, not to mention his extrabiblical protodeacon status. The lack of any apparent tradition regarding the deacon's death is to me the most compelling argument, usually there's *something* floating around about that. The biggest wrinkle is what we talked about yesterday, with the apostles kind of being needed to sign off on the baptisms of the Samaritans, you know, that discussion of confirmation. Anyways, when a saint dies–and pretty much everyone who believes in saints accepts Philip the Deacon as a saint–well, when a saint dies it's typical for the day of their death to go down as their feast day. I'm going to be talking a LOT about all sorts of things over the course of this podcast, but I won't be going into feast days much. They're easy to look up and can be tricky to explain accurately considering they can vary across traditions, or even within traditions as practices vary over time, and they can get bumped in certain years by other more significant dates, and I'd want to call out of they're based on something other than their date of death, all of which would be interesting if you were interested in feast days but extremely dry if you weren't. Really, there's plenty of material in feast days for their own podcast, and if anyone wants to take that on or has one to recommend I'll be happy to edit this to include a plug for that show, but in the meantime, no, I will not be focusing on feast days. Too easily findable elsewhere, and too derailing for our already very fragilly railed narrative. I'll simply be doing darn near everything else. Now, we've talked a lot about two out of the seven deacons; can extrabiblical tradition tell us more about the others? Yes, of course! But I'm not going to go into every detail various traditions have about everyone. Believe it or not, I didn't even do that for Philip. The high level takeaways are that four out of five of the remaining deacons were martyred, and the fifth, Nicolas, well he was actually suspected of being a heretic by two early big names in the Church, Saints Iranaeus and Hippolytus, both of whom we'll get to in time. You see, in Revelations 2, God, or uh, well, probably god? Revelations is a trip. Anyways, in Revelations 2 God makes it clear he really doesn't like the "Nicolateans", whoever that is. It does seem that they were a heretical Christian sect early enough to make it into the actual Bible, but that and the apparent name of their founder is basically all we have on them from the Bible. Outside the Bible, like I mentioned, Nicholas the Deacon is very much a suspect, and it probably doesn't help his case that his name not only matches the perp, but he was named last among the Seven, the same place of dubious honor Judas Iscariot once held among the Twelve. That's all for today. We're going to talk more about two characters we've discussed recently multiple times in due course, and we'll save them for those times. After all, Simeon Bachos the Eunuch traditionally founded a national church whose impact on Christian history is as extensive as it is unique, and Saint Paul is, well, Saint Paul. Similarly, I'll find other appropriate occasions to discuss the later lives and deaths of the Apostles we haven't already covered, in addition to letting Pontifacts take the lead on that, they have a series coming up, it will be exiting in a few months. And Cornelius, for his part, actually has surprisingly little to review, he traditionally wound up as a bishop, and that's about it. Which I make sound like nothing,  but it would have been a sign of his new life in Christ, just as it was for everyone else who wound up in leadership in the new Christian church. It certainly isn't nothing. Anyways, I believe that basically leaves us with Simon Magus, which is perfect. In our next narrative episode, we'll follow him to Rome, and as you might have guessed Rome is going to be our home base for the next two thousand or so years of narrative. Thank you for listening, God bless you all!

Modalism denies the distinctions between the three Persons of the Trinity, so that God is presented as, not a Trinity at all, but rather a monad with three names. Modalism can be expressed chronologically (the Father became incarnate as the Son) or functionally (the names describe activities like Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer), but either way, in modalism the Son IS the Father in disguise, which ultimately denies the real humanity of Jesus Christ and the reality of his passion. Links For more information on Irenaeus of Lyons, listen to Mike Aquilina's Episode 10:  https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/irenaeus-lyon-putting-smack-down-on-heresy/ To read Irenaeus of Lyons' Demonstration of the Apostolic Teaching: https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/irenaeus_02_proof.htm For more information on Tertullian, listen to Mike Aquilina's Episode 13: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/tertullian-and-theology-sarcasm/ and Episode 14: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/tertullian-man-who-forged-words-and-invented-freedoms/ To read Tertullian's Against Praxeas: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1670&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2368544 For more information on Hippolytus, listen to Mike Aquilina's Episode 17: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-17the-long-strange-trip-hippolytus-rome/ To read Hippolytus' Refutation of All Heresies: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1706&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2371969 and: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1717&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2371969 For more detail on the heresy of modalism, and an introduction to Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, and Novatian, see the books:  Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/ and Trinity 101: Father, Son, Holy Spirit: https://www.liguori.org/trinity-101.html SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/ DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch Join the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/ Dr. Papandrea's Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/

The heresy of docetism evolved into a complicated web of schools of mythology, which we lump together under the name of gnosticism. These all still denied the real humanity of Christ, though in two distinct ways. Docetic gnosticism continued the trend of seeing Christ as a phantom, with no real tangible body. “Hybrid” gnosticism made concessions to the accounts of a tangible body of Jesus, but called it an ethereal, or luminous, body - in other words, not a true material flesh and blood body. Links For more information on Clement of Alexandria, listen to Mike Aquilina's Episode 16: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/clement-alexandria-teacher-in-new-kind-school/ To read Clement of Alexandria's Exhortation to the Heathen: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1658&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2371968 For more information on Irenaeus of Lyons, listen to Mike Aquilina's Episode 10: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/irenaeus-lyon-putting-smack-down-on-heresy/ To read Irenaeus of Lyons' Demonstration of the Apostolic Teaching: https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/irenaeus_02_proof.htm For more information on Hippolytus, listen to Mike Aquilina's Episode 17: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-17the-long-strange-trip-hippolytus-rome/ To read Hippolytus' Refutation of All Heresies: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1706&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2371969 and: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1717&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2371969 For more information on the gnostic gospels, listen to Mike Aquilina's episode “Apocrypha Now!…”: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/apocrypha-now-on-myth-lost-gospels/ To read some of the gnostic writings, see the Primary Sources tab on Dr. Papandrea's home page (scroll down to Infancy Gospel of Thomas and following): https://jimpapandrea.wordpress.com/primary-sources-links/ For more detail on the heresy of gnosticism, see the books: Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/ and The Earliest Christologies: Five Images of Christ in the Post-Apostolic Age: https://www.ivpress.com/the-earliest-christologies For more on gnosticism (and the other heresies) and Science Fiction, see the book: From Star Wars to Superman: Christ Figures in Science Fiction and Superhero Films: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/from-star-wars-to-superman/ For more on the doctrine of the Resurrection Body and its relationship to anthropology, see the book: What Really Happens After We Die?: There WILL Be Hugs in Heaven: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/what-really-happens-after-we-die/ SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's Newsletter:  https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters/ DONATE at:  http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube - The Original Church:  https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch Join the Original Church Community on Locals:  https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/ Dr. Papandrea's Homepage:  http://www.jimpapandrea.com Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed:  https://www.ccwatershed.org/  

Introduction:The Catholic Church is about two thousand years old. Over those two millenia, different liturgical feasts have come and gone. There are two modern feast days in the Church today which are not well understood and which have an interesting history. That is what we will be looking at today! What is the Epiphany? And what is the Baptism of the Lord?What is the Epiphany?Epiphany comes to us from the Eastern Church where sources suggest that it is the same festival as Christmas (Christ's Nativity). Some in the Early Church celebrated Christmas on January 6, but most celebrated it on December 25. The celebration of the magi being led by a star was also in the mix. What is really interesting though is what Epiphany came to mean. As I mentioned, some celebrated the birth of Jesus and there are discrepancies about what it was called. Some sources call it the Theophany. That's a very interesting thing because St. Hippolytus writes about the eis ta hagia theophaneia (Greek: for the holy theophany) in reference to someone about to receive the Sacrament of Baptism. Others still, on January 6, commemorate the miracle of Jesus changing the water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana. Others attributed the feast of the Theophany as marking the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. Still others marked it as a day to remember the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor. Today, the East tends to focus on the Baptism of the Lord in the Jordan on Epiphany and the West tends to concentrate on the mystery of the Magi. Another interesting link between the East and the West was the water blessed on this great feast. In the East (including Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism today), the service of Theophany includes the Great Blessing of Water. This inspired the blessing of Epiphany water in the West, which was adopted and included in the Roman Ritual in 1890. If you are interested in seeing the full text of this blessing, a parish of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest has a handy PDF. There is also a blessing of the home that can be done by lay people. It utilizes chalk that has been blessed by the priest at the parish and then taken home. If a priest can be present, this is preferred, but is not always logistically possible in a large parish. At any rate, each room of the house is blessed with holy water and then the exterior doorway is marked with the blessed chalk. The prayer is:“Blessed be this doorway. May all who come to our home this year rejoice to find Christ living among us as we welcome them with respect and kindness. May all our comings and goings be under the seal of God's loving care. May we seek and serve, in everyone we meet, Jesus, Who is Lord forever and ever. Amen.”Meanwhile, the door is inscribed with the chalk with the year and the letters C, M, and B, with crosses in between each part: 20 + C + M + B + 24The first and last numbers are the current year, marking the entire year for Christ. The letters have two meanings. First, the C, M, and B, stand for the traditional names of the magi: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. But it also stands for the Latin blessing: Christus Mansionem Benedicat (Latin: Christ, bless this house).These long held and beloved devotionals and sacramentals of the Epiphany chalk and water give us a sense of how ancient this celebration is. In so doing, our houses become sacramentals and we show our love for the Lord. Unlike the violent and despicable King Herod, we welcome the Christ child into our home with open arms. If you are really interested in the History of the feast and how it appears in various Missals and Sacramentaries, I would recommend the Catholic Encyclopedia article on New Advent entitled “Epiphany.”So, what is the Epiphany / Theophany? An epiphany, in terms of definition, is a sudden realization. The Greek phainein means to cause to appear or show. Theophany is the combination of the word epiphany with the Greek word theos meaning God. So, a theophany is a sudden realization, or a better word might be manifestation, of God in glory. Rather than attempting to figure out what exactly we ought to mark this Epiphany, I think it would be fruitful to walk through the various moments in the life of Christ that have historically been associated with the Epiphany, these various theophanies. Appearance of the MagiIn the Gospel of Matthew, we see the magi visiting the newborn Jesus in Bethlehem. Magi comes from the Greek word mangos which was associated with a priestly caste from Persia. These wise men were well versed in reading the meaning of the stars (astrology) and interpreting dreams. Astrology was something which all of the ancients paid attention to and while the stars do not influence the course of things as the ancients thought, God can still use them to signal major events. The position of the stars and planets coincided with the natural movements of the Earth and the seasons; so, reading the stars was a wealth of information for those who knew what they were looking at. The Magi from the East were wealthy and possibly royal Gentiles and came to request an audience with King Herod. They had seen signs in the stars associated with Jupiter - the king of the planets - and came to meet this new king. Herod was taken aback by this news of a new king, as he had not recently fathered a baby son. The magi likely consulted with the scribes and chief priests and were pointed towards Behtlehem. In Micah 5:2, there is a clear indication that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. This is where the Theophany comes in. The magi come before the newborn king: Jesus. They present him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold because He is a king. Frankincense because He is the priestly mediator between God and man. And myrrh because He would suffer and die for the sins of man. The magi reveals the glory of the Messiah, the God-man, who came into the world to save the Jews and the Gentiles alike. The presence of the Gentile dignitaries kneeling before the Christ child makes it clear that God is manifesting Himself to all the nations and not just the Jews. And the presents, the gifts, of these wise men manifest the reality of the God-man as priest, prophet, and king. For more on the magi and what may have led them from the East, I warmly recommend the “Mysteries of the Magi” article on JimmyAkin.com. Miracle at the Wedding Feast of CanaOn to the next Theophany: the Miracle at the Wedding Feast of Cana. Jesus reveals who He is and shows the power of God by working His first public miracle. The second Chapter of John's Gospel recounts:“On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.' And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.' His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.'Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water.' And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.' So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.' This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”There is so much to say here! One thing that St. Augustine points out is that the Son, when He was with the Father, instituted marriage. And, yet, here He is coming to a wedding. (cf. Catena Aurea) What a gift that is, in and of itself. One of the curious parts of this manifestation of God's glory is when Jesus answers His mother saying: “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Of course, Jesus is never disrespectful to the Blessed Mother. The Church Fathers saw Jesus calling Mary “Woman” as a reference to her role as the New Eve, the Mother of all the living. The “hour” to which Jesus is referring is His death. He knew that He still had yet to call the disciples, proclaim the Kingdom, do miracles, declare His divinity in word and deed, and then show the humility of God in undergoing the daily sufferings of humanity. In obedience to His mother, He nonetheless worked His first public miracle, thus beginning the time of His hour. But as St. Augustine points out, our Lord claims the reality later in John's Gospel that He has the power to lay His life down and the power to take it up again. (cf. Jn 10:18) So, it is not that His manifestation of divine power will start some sort of fated countdown - rather it was that He did not think it was expedient to show His power in this way.As St. John Chrysostom points out: “Although He had said, Mine hour is not yet come, He afterwards did what His mother told Him, in order to shew plainly, that He was not under subjection to the hour.” (Catena Aurea) Yet, He also showed honor to His mother in performing the miracle. At any rate, this miracle was not a mere manipulation. It was not a magic trick or an illusion. Instead, as Alcuin of York put it: “He was the King of glory, and changed the elements because He was their Lord.” (ibid.)There is much more that is revealed in this miracle. But this will suffice for now. Jesus is the Lord of heaven and earth. He is the Son of God. And in His first public miracle, we see a true Theophany. What should our response be? None other than what our Blessed Mother says: “Do whatever He tells you.”Baptism of Jesus in the JordanThe next Theophany is the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. To prepare for the kingdom of Heaven, St. John the Baptist called people to repentance, to turn away from their sins. He did this by baptizing people in the Jordan River. This baptism was purely symbolic and not to be confused with the Sacrament of Baptism. People came from all Judea and all the region around the Jordan river to hear John preach. Even the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes came out to hear John preach, confess their sins, and be baptized. John's was a voice crying in the desert to prepare the way of the Lord. Of course, Jesus had no need of being baptized. He was sinless and is God. So, what is happening here? The Catechism does a beautiful job of explaining:“The baptism of Jesus is on his part the acceptance and inauguration of his mission as God's suffering Servant. He allows himself to be numbered among sinners; he is already ‘the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.' Already he is anticipating the ‘baptism' of his bloody death. Already he is coming to ‘fulfill all righteousness, ‘that is, he is submitting himself entirely to his Father's will: out of love he consents to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins. The Father's voice responds to the Son's acceptance, proclaiming his entire delight in his Son. The Spirit whom Jesus possessed in fullness from his conception comes to ‘rest on him.' Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all mankind. At his baptism ‘the heavens were opened' - the heavens that Adam's sin had closed - and the waters were sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the Spirit, a prelude to the new creation.” (CCC 536)Pope Benedict XVI, in his book Jesus of Nazareth, points out the symbolism as well of Jesus entering into the waters of the Jordan River as He would one day enter into death and the tomb. And His rising from the water was like His Resurrection to come. We still hold to this theological reality in our own Sacrament of Baptism: we die with Christ and we rise with Christ a new creation. Jesus' public life begins when He is baptized by John in the Jordan River. We say that this is a Theophany because Jesus is revealed to be the Lamb of God by John: the Messiah of Israel and the Son of God. But more than that, when the baptism happens, the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes upon Jesus and the voice of the Father from Heaven proclaims: “This is my beloved Son.” Here, then, we have a full Theophany of all three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. Transfiguration of the LordThe final Theophany we will quickly review is the Transfiguration of the Lord. In St. Mark's Gospel, we hear:“And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.' For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, ‘This is my beloved Son; listen to him.' And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. And they asked him, ‘Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?' And he said to them, ‘Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.'” (Mk 9:2–13)He revealed Himself first in a stable in Bethlehem, in lowly stature. God Almighty condescended to share in our humanity, the model of perfect humility. He revealed Himself at a wedding party, who is Himself the Bridegroom of the Church. He revealed Himself in the waters of the Jordan; He sanctified the waters of the world - a clearly meaningful gesture considering how important water is to us as humans. Now, He reveals His glory on a lofty mountaintop. He did not transfigure His features because the Apostles still recognized Him but an ineffable brightness was added. He brings with Him two people: Moses and Elijah. Moses is the representative of the whole Law and Elijah represents all the Prophets. Jesus is the embodiment of the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. As in each Theophany, the mission of Jesus is revealed. He is the Incarnate Word who came to redeem our fallen humanity. His “hour” begins with His first public miracle - the hour of His passion, death, and resurrection. The Baptism in the Jordan River reveals His public ministry and that He is the Messiah. Pope Benedict XVI reminds us, too, that: “The mystery of the Transfiguration must not be separated from the context of the path Jesus is following. He is now decisively oriented to fulfilling his mission, knowing all too well that to arrive at the Resurrection he must pass through the Passion and death on the Cross. He had spoken openly of this to his disciples; but they did not understand, on the contrary they rejected this prospect because they were not reasoning in accordance with God, but in accordance with men (cf. Mt 16:23).” (Benedict XVI, Angelus, March 4, 2012)The “folly of the Cross” is coming and Jesus wants to prepare Peter, James, and John to make their way the forested thickness of the passion and death. The light showing forth from Jesus on the mountain was not added from without; as God, He had the divine light within Him already. He was further revealing Himself to His closest friends. Besides the light, we also hear the voice of the Father echo the words from the Jordan River: “This is my beloved Son.” But He adds: “Listen to Him.” What in the World is a Theophany?So, what is a Theophany? It is a sudden manifestation of God in His glory, power, humility, truth, and grace. God reveals Himself and the mission of the Son to us throughout the Gospels. We must seek to place ourselves in these moments. In the Sacred Liturgy, in particular, we can do this by God's grace. In the Mass, we step outside of space and time and the mundane in a mystical way. We enter into a foretaste of heavenly glory, but Jesus as our High Priest also makes present these past moments of majestic revelation afresh in the Holy Mass. At the Epiphany, we are celebrating the arrival of the magi to adore the Christ child, and standing astounded with the chief steward of the feast at the wedding in Cana, and standing by the waters of the Jordan River seeing the Holy Spirit descend and the voice of the Father resound, and standing dazzled by the transfiguration of the Lord. It can be overwhelming to hold so many things in our mind at once. But thankfully, Holy Mother Church has given space to do so over the years. In the Latin Rite, we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord on January 6 or the closest Sunday in the United States - in 2024, for example, it is on Sunday, January 7. In 1955, Pope Pius XII separated out Baptism of the Lord as a distinct feast. This was celebrated on January 13 for some time but is now kept as the first Sunday after Epiphany or, if Epiphany is celebrated on Sunday in a particular country, then Baptism of the Lord is celebrated on the Monday after. The Wedding Feast at Cana comes up in the Gospel readings on January 7 for daily Mass and on the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time in Year C. And the Transfiguration is celebrated on August 6, which allows us to remember the link to the other three theophanies half a year later. Please Consider DonatingIf you enjoy these episodes, if you've gotten anything out of Good Distinctions, if you enjoy the written articles that I put out and want to continue to see this channel grow, I need your help. It costs quite a bit of money to put this on. There's a lot of different software and equipment that it takes to make it happen well and properly. Please consider prayerfully donating. You can do so for as little as $5 a month or $50 for a yearly membership.Special thanks to the following monthly and yearly subscribers of Good Distinctions!* Carson S.* Jo-Anne J. * Ann G.If you'd like to support Good Distinctions and help it grow, please click the link below!Good Distinctions is a listener-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Good Distinctions at www.gooddistinctions.com/subscribe

Hippolytus is the young prince of Athens, son of the king and famed hero Theseus, and stepson of Phaedra, the queen. When Aphrodite, goddess of love, makes the innocent Phaedra a weapon of her divine wrath against Hippolytus, a tragic tale of lust, deceit, and death ensues as the royal family of Athens is torn apart. A story from Greek mythology, based on the tragedy Hippolytus by Euripides (staged in 428 BC), featuring: Hippolytus, Phaedra, Theseus, Aphrodite, Artemis, Phaedra's Nurse Original story contributed by Konstantinos Christidis --- FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop --- CREDITS: Music from www.storyblocks.com Thumbnail Images: Phaedra and Hippolytus (Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, c. 1802) Phaedra (Alexandre Cabanel, c. 1885) WDS Logo Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation (c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum)

Special Guest Host Father Matthew Spencer discusses the upcoming Christmas celebration and addresses common misconceptions about the holiday's origins. He delves into the significance of the Christmas novena and distinguishes between healthy spiritual practices and superstitious motives. Why is Christmas on December 25? (04:17) Joseph - What's the difference between a healthy novena and a superstitious one? Craig - Sextus Julius (160-240 AD) wrote and thought that Christmas was Dec 25. Hippolytus wrote that Christmas was Dec 25. Mary - What's the difference between CE and AD? Mary - When someone fights with me about my religious beliefs, I tell them I'm happy they believe in something! Carmen - I need book recommendations for someone who is not Catholic. This person is interested in learning. I purchased The Seven Story Mountain & the Four Loves by CS Lewis. Are those OK? Christina - My grandson's teacher told him not to make the Sign of the Cross when he says the Glory Be. Therese - How do we overcome the feelings of inadequacy before Christmas? (45:33)

Imagine a scenario where Jesus was born in the spring, during lambing season, right in Bethlehem, renowned for its sacrificial lambs. We invite you on a journey into this intriguing narrative, a fresh perspective supported by biblical clues and Jewish traditions. Exploring this possibility, we dive into the mystery and symbolism of events that align the holy days of Israel, particularly Shavuot or Pentecost, with critical moments in Jesus' life. Our discourse encompasses the significance of the Hebrew calendar, the role of the moon and stars, and the involvement of the Magi in Jesus' birth story.Could the date of Jesus' birth mirror the completion of the tabernacle, symbolizing God's dwelling with us? Our investigation into ancient texts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, and a censored writing by the early church father, Hippolytus, sheds light on this possibility. We delve into the concept of the month of Nisan, a time associated with new beginnings and fulfillment of prophecies. We also examine the symbolism of the tabernacle, linking it with the nine-month gestation period of a child and the birth of the Messiah.Adding to the richness of our exploration, Rabbi Jonathan Cahn shares his profound insights in our conversation, highlighting the transformative power of embracing Jesus. Rabbi Cahn's stories of struggle and hope serve as a reminder of Jesus' profound love for us all. Join us, as we unravel the mysteries surrounding Jesus' birth, and trace the connections between his life, the Hebrew calendar, and holy days. Let's embark on this fascinating journey together, in our commitment to finding truth, gaining wisdom, and nurturing our faith.If you would like to share your story, click this link: https://thepromoter.org/story/ Thanks for Listening, and subscribe to hear a new episode each week!

“23.3. For the first advent of our Lord in the flesh, when he was born in Bethlehem, was December 25th,3 Wednesday,4 while Augustus was in his forty-second year, but from Adam, five thousand and five hundred years. He suffered in the thirty-third year, March 25th,5 Friday,6 the eighteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, while Rufus and Roubellion were Consuls.” Hippolytus of Rome 202-211 A.D. This is the quote Josh skewered!  Shows you how pastors get things wrong :)

Please hit Subscribe/Follow and leave a 5-star rating and review. Click here to go to Steve's Website. Click here to go to Jens Poshmark page. Click here to donate to the show.     Steve Sabo was born in Ohio but has traveled the world. Although writing was always a passion, he made his career as a stand up comedian, performing in 46 of the 50 states, several countries and four islands. When he was younger he enjoyed thrill sports such as sky-diving, cliff-diving and bungi-jumping but you are much more likely to find him curled up with a good book nowadays. He enjoys watching UFC events and John Cusack movies. He performed for the troops in Iraq and Kuwait. He is an extroverted introvert and still enjoys rocking out at a concert whenever possible. Comedy road warrior Steve Sabo brings nonstop fun and laughter wherever he goes. No stage is too big or too small for him to conquer; he has performed for crowds as large as 5,000 and as small as two. First hitting the comedy stage straight out of high school, he has honed his craft at comedy clubs, bars, casinos, military bases, cruise ships, colleges, corporate shows, fundraisers, restaurants and even a backyard or two. Wherever laughter is needed you will find him, ready and willing to perform.   In over three decades as a performer, he has had the privilege of sharing the stage with comedy legends such as Joan Rivers, Chris Rock, Kevin James, Dave Attel, Jim Breuer, Christopher Titus, Brad Williams, Steven Michael Quezada and Tom Green. He has made television appearances on HBO, NBC, E! and Comedy Central. He is heard regularly on SiriusXM Satellite Radio and has appeared on the nationally syndicated "Sex Talk Live" , "BTS Radio Show" and "The Jiggy Jaguar Show". Television and Film "From the Earth to the Moon" HBO - Supporting Role "Gray Matter" E! Entertainment Televsion "America's Rising Stars" Syndicated "Equal Justice" Syndicated - Second lead "Night Shift" Syndicated - principal player NBC-local, Tampa, FL UPN-local, Rochester, NY Comedy Central-various "Mickey LaMose" Independent film short - lead "Bay Carpets" Commercial - lead "Hell's Lake" Independent Film- lead "Pi Day Die Day" Independent Film- supporting role "Detroit International Comedy Festival" Documentary- cameo What is Horror Fiction? Horror is a genre of literature, film, and television that is meant to scare, startle, shock, and even repulse audiences. The key focus of a horror novel, horror film, or horror TV show is to elicit a sense of dread in the reader through frightening images, themes, and situations. In the horror genre, story and characters are just as important as mood and atmosphere. A horror story often shocks and provokes with its exploration of the unknown. The horror genre in literature dates back to Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, where horror stories explored themes related to death, demons, evil spirits, and the afterlife. Examples include the ancient Greek tragedy Hippolytus by Euripides, a gruesome story about how jealousy and a lack of empathy can lead to tragedy; and Parallel Lives by Plutarch, a series of biographies highlighting the many moral failures of man. The gothic novel, a genre of horror that focuses specifically on death, originated in the eighteenth century and is exemplified by the author Edgar Allan Poe. Horror literature in the nineteenth century and twentieth centuries often focused on tales involving occult ideas, like Mary Shelly's Frankenstein (1818) or Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). Modern horror novels have expanded the genre to include new elements and contemporary themes, like serial killers and slasher stories—Stephen King's The Shining (1977) is a perfect example—as well as genre mashups that combine horror with historical fantasy, and modern interpretations of fantastical creatures, like ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and witches.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Let's face it the New Testament probably calls Jesus God (or god) a couple of times and so do early Christian authors in the second century. However, no one offers much of an explanation for what they mean by the title. Did early Christians think Jesus was God because he represented Yahweh? Did they think he was God because he shared the same eternal being as the Father? Did they think he was a god because that's just what they would call any immortalized human who lived in heaven? In this presentation I focus on the question from the perspective of Greco-Roman theology. Drawing on the work of David Litwa, Andrew Perriman, Barry Blackburn, and tons of ancient sources I seek to show how Mediterranean converts to Christianity would have perceived Jesus based on their cultural and religious assumptions. This presentation is from the 3rd Unitarian Christian Alliance Conference on October 20, 2023 in Springfield, OH. Here is the original pdf of this paper. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5Z3QbQ7dHc —— Links —— See more scholarly articles by Sean Finnegan Get the transcript of this episode Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here Introduction When early Christian authors called Jesus “god” (or “God”) what did they mean?[1] Modern apologists routinely point to pre-Nicene quotations in order to prove that early Christians always believed in the deity of Christ, by which they mean that he is of the same substance (homoousios) as the Father. However, most historians agree that Christians before the fourth century simply didn't have the cognitive categories available yet to think of Christ in Nicene or Chalcedonian ways. If this consensus is correct, it behooves us to consider other options for defining what early Christian authors meant. The obvious place to go to get an answer to our initial question is the New Testament. However, as is well known, the handful of instances in which authors unambiguously applied god (θεός) to Christ are fraught with textual uncertainty, grammatical ambiguity, and hermeneutical elasticity.[2]  What's more, granting that these contested texts[3] all call Jesus “god” provides little insight into what they might mean by that phrase. Turning to the second century, the earliest handful of texts that say Jesus is god are likewise textually uncertain or terse.[4] We must wait until the second half of the second century and beyond to have more helpful material to examine. We know that in the meanwhile some Christians were saying Jesus was god. What did they mean? One promising approach is to analyze biblical texts that call others gods. We find helpful parallels with the word god (אֱלֹהִים) applied to Moses (Exod 7.1; 4.16), judges (Exod 21.6; 22.8-9), kings (Is 9.6; Ps 45.6), the divine council (Ps 82.1, 6), and angels (Ps 8.6). These are texts in which God imbues his agents with his authority to represent him in some way. This rare though significant way of calling a representative “god,” continues in the NT with Jesus' clever defense to his accusers in John 10.34-36. Lexicons[5] have long recognized this “Hebraistic” usage and recent study tools such as the New English Translation (NET)[6] and the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary[7] also note this phenomenon. But, even if this agency perspective is the most natural reading of texts like Heb 1.8, later Christians, apart from one or two exceptions appear to be ignorant of this usage.[8] This interpretation was likely a casualty of the so-called parting of the ways whereby Christianity transitioned from a second-temple-Jewish movement to a Gentile-majority religion. As such, to grasp what early postapostolic Christians believed, we must turn our attention elsewhere. Michael Bird is right when he says, “Christian discourses about deity belong incontrovertibly in the Greco-Roman context because it provided the cultural encyclopedia that, in diverse ways, shaped the early church's Christological conceptuality and vocabulary.”[9] Learning Greco-Roman theology is not only important because that was the context in which early Christians wrote, but also because from the late first century onward, most of our Christian authors converted from that worldview. Rather than talking about the Hellenization of Christianity, we should begin by asking how Hellenists experienced Christianization. In other words, Greco-Roman beliefs about the gods were the default lens through which converts first saw Christ. In order to explore how Greco-Roman theology shaped what people believed about Jesus as god, we do well to begin by asking how they defined a god. Andrew Perriman offers a helpful starting point. “The gods,” he writes, “are mostly understood as corporeal beings, blessed with immortality, larger, more beautiful, and more powerful than their mortal analogues.”[10] Furthermore, there were lots of them! The sublunar realm was, in the words of Paula Fredriksen, “a god-congested place.”[11] What's more, “[S]harp lines and clearly demarcated boundaries between divinity and humanity were lacking."[12] Gods could appear as people and people could ascend to become gods. Comprehending what Greco-Roman people believed about gods coming down and humans going up will occupy the first part of this paper. Only once we've adjusted our thinking to their culture, will we walk through key moments in the life of Jesus of Nazareth to hear the story with ancient Mediterranean ears. Lastly, we'll consider the evidence from sources that think of Jesus in Greco-Roman categories. Bringing this all together we'll enumerate the primary ways to interpret the phrase “Jesus is god” available to Christians in the pre-Nicene period. Gods Coming Down and Humans Going Up The idea that a god would visit someone is not as unusual as it first sounds. We find plenty of examples of Yahweh himself or non-human representatives visiting people in the Hebrew Bible.[13] One psalmist even referred to angels or “heavenly beings” (ESV) as אֱלֹהִים (gods).[14] The Greco-Roman world too told stories about divine entities coming down to interact with people. Euripides tells about the time Zeus forced the god Apollo to become a human servant in the house of Admetus, performing menial labor as punishment for killing the Cyclopes (Alcestis 1). Baucis and Philemon offered hospitality to Jupiter and Mercury when they appeared in human form (Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.26-34). In Homer's Odyssey onlookers warn Antinous for flinging a stool against a stranger since “the gods do take on the look of strangers dropping in from abroad”[15] (17.534-9). Because they believed the boundary between the divine realm and the Earth was so permeable, Mediterranean people were always on guard for an encounter with a god in disguise. In addition to gods coming down, in special circumstances, humans could ascend and become gods too. Diodorus of Sicily demarcated two types of gods: those who are “eternal and imperishable, such as the sun and the moon” and “the other gods…terrestrial beings who attained to immortal honour”[16] (The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian 6.1). By some accounts, even the Olympian gods, including Kronos and Uranus were once mortal men.[17] Among humans who could become divine, we find several distinguishable categories, including heroes, miracle workers, and rulers. We'll look at each briefly before considering how the story of Jesus would resonate with those holding a Greco-Roman worldview. Deified Heroes Cornutus the Stoic said, “[T]he ancients called heroes those who were so strong in body and soul that they seemed to be part of a divine race.” (Greek Theology 31)[18] At first this statement appears to be a mere simile, but he goes on to say of Heracles (Hercules), the Greek hero par excellence, “his services had earned him apotheosis” (ibid.). Apotheosis (or deification) is the process by which a human ascends into the divine realm. Beyond Heracles and his feats of strength, other exceptional individuals became deified for various reasons. Amphiarus was a seer who died in the battle at Thebes. After opening a chasm in the earth to swallow him in battle, “Zeus made him immortal”[19] (Apollodorus, Library of Greek Mythology 3.6). Pausanias says the custom of the inhabitants of Oropos was to drop coins into Amphiarus' spring “because this is where they say Amphiarus rose up as a god”[20] (Guide to Greece 1.34). Likewise, Strabo speaks about a shrine for Calchas, a deceased diviner from the Trojan war (Homer, Illiad 1.79-84), “where those consulting the oracle sacrifice a black ram to the dead and sleep in its hide”[21] (Strabo, Geography 6.3.9). Though the great majority of the dead were locked away in the lower world of Hades, leading a shadowy pitiful existence, the exceptional few could visit or speak from beyond the grave. Lastly, there was Zoroaster the Persian prophet who, according to Dio Chrysostom, was enveloped by fire while he meditated upon a mountain. He was unharmed and gave advice on how to properly make offerings to the gods (Dio Chrysostom, Discourses 36.40). The Psuedo-Clementine Homilies include a story about a lightning bolt striking and killing Zoroaster. After his devotees buried his body, they built a temple on the site, thinking that “his soul had been sent for by lightning” and they “worshipped him as a god”[22] (Homily 9.5.2). Thus, a hero could have extraordinary strength, foresight, or closeness to the gods resulting in apotheosis and ongoing worship and communication. Deified Miracle Workers Beyond heroes, Greco-Roman people loved to tell stories about deified miracle workers. Twice Orpheus rescued a ship from a storm by praying to the gods (Diodorus of Sicily 4.43.1f; 48.5f). After his death, surviving inscriptions indicate that he both received worship and was regarded as a god in several cities.[23] Epimenides “fell asleep in a cave for fifty-seven years”[24] (Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 1.109). He also predicted a ten-year period of reprieve from Persian attack in Athens (Plato Laws 1.642D-E). Plato called him a divine man (θεῖος ἀνήρ) (ibid.) and Diogenes talked of Cretans sacrificing to him as a god (Diogenes, Lives 1.114). Iamblichus said Pythagoras was the son of Apollo and a mortal woman (Life of Pythagoras 2). Nonetheless, the soul of Pythagoras enjoyed multiple lives, having originally been “sent to mankind from the empire of Apollo”[25] (Life 2). Diogenes and Lucian enumerate the lives the pre-existent Pythagoras led, including Aethalides, Euphorbus, Hermotimus, and Pyrrhus (Diogenes, Life of Pythagoras 4; Lucian, The Cock 16-20). Hermes had granted Pythagoras the gift of “perpetual transmigration of his soul”[26] so he could remember his lives while living or dead (Diogenes, Life 4). Ancient sources are replete with Pythagorean miracle stories.[27] Porphyry mentions several, including taming a bear, persuading an ox to stop eating beans, and accurately predicting a catch of fish (Life of Pythagoras 23-25). Porphyry said Pythagoras accurately predicted earthquakes and “chased away a pestilence, suppressed violent winds and hail, [and] calmed storms on rivers and on seas” (Life 29).[28] Such miracles, argued the Pythagoreans made Pythagoras “a being superior to man, and not to a mere man” (Iamblichus, Life 28).[29] Iamblichus lays out the views of Pythagoras' followers, including that he was a god, a philanthropic daemon, the Pythian, the Hyperborean Apollo, a Paeon, a daemon inhabiting the moon, or an Olympian god (Life 6). Another pre-Socratic philosopher was Empedocles who studied under Pythagoras. To him sources attribute several miracles, including stopping a damaging wind, restoring the wind, bringing dry weather, causing it to rain, and even bringing someone back from Hades (Diogenes, Lives 8.59).[30] Diogenes records an incident in which Empedocles put a woman into a trance for thirty days before sending her away alive (8.61). He also includes a poem in which Empedocles says, “I am a deathless god, no longer mortal, I go among you honored by all, as is right”[31] (8.62). Asclepius was a son of the god Apollo and a human woman (Cornutus, Greek Theology 33). He was known for healing people from diseases and injuries (Pindar, Pythian 3.47-50). “[H]e invented any medicine he wished for the sick, and raised up the dead”[32] (Pausanias, Guide to Greece 2.26.4). However, as Diodorus relates, Hades complained to Zeus on account of Asclepius' diminishing his realm, which resulted in Zeus zapping Asclepius with a thunderbolt, killing him (4.71.2-3). Nevertheless, Asclepius later ascended into heaven to become a god (Hyginus, Fables 224; Cicero, Nature of the Gods 2.62).[33] Apollonius of Tyana was a famous first century miracle worker. According to Philostratus' account, the locals of Tyana regard Apollonius to be the son of Zeus (Life 1.6). Apollonius predicted many events, interpreted dreams, and knew private facts about people. He rebuked and ridiculed a demon, causing it to flee, shrieking as it went (Life 2.4).[34] He even once stopped a funeral procession and raised the deceased to life (Life 4.45). What's more he knew every human language (Life 1.19) and could understand what sparrows chirped to each other (Life 4.3). Once he instantaneously transported himself from Smyrna to Ephesus (Life 4.10). He claimed knowledge of his previous incarnation as the captain of an Egyptian ship (Life 3.23) and, in the end, Apollonius entered the temple of Athena and vanished, ascending from earth into heaven to the sound of a choir singing (Life 8.30). We have plenty of literary evidence that contemporaries and those who lived later regarded him as a divine man (Letters 48.3)[35] or godlike (ἰσόθεος) (Letters 44.1) or even just a god (θεός) (Life 5.24). Deified Rulers Our last category of deified humans to consider before seeing how this all relates to Jesus is rulers. Egyptians, as indicated from the hieroglyphs left in the pyramids, believed their deceased kings to enjoy afterlives as gods. They could become star gods or even hunt and consume other gods to absorb their powers.[36] The famous Macedonian conqueror, Alexander the Great, carried himself as a god towards the Persians though Plutarch opines, “[he] was not at all vain or deluded but rather used belief in his divinity to enslave others”[37] (Life of Alexander 28). This worship continued after his death, especially in Alexandria where Ptolemy built a tomb and established a priesthood to conduct religious honors to the deified ruler. Even the emperor Trajan offered a sacrifice to the spirit of Alexander (Cassius Dio, Roman History 68.30). Another interesting example is Antiochus I of Comagene who called himself “Antiochus the just [and] manifest god, friend of the Romans [and] friend of the Greeks.”[38] His tomb boasted four colossal figures seated on thrones: Zeus, Heracles, Apollo, and himself. The message was clear: Antiochus I wanted his subjects to recognize his place among the gods after death. Of course, the most relevant rulers for the Christian era were the Roman emperors. The first official Roman emperor Augustus deified his predecessor, Julius Caesar, celebrating his apotheosis with games (Suetonius, Life of Julius Caesar 88). Only five years after Augustus died, eastern inhabitants of the Roman Empire at Priene happily declared “the birthday of the god Augustus” (ἡ γενέθλιος ἡμέρα τοῦ θεοῦ)[39] to be the start of their provincial year. By the time of Tacitus, a century after Augustus died, the wealthy in Rome had statues of the first emperor in their gardens for worship (Annals 1.73). The Roman historian Appian explained that the Romans regularly deify emperors at death “provided he has not been a despot or a disgrace”[40] (The Civil Wars 2.148).  In other words, deification was the default setting for deceased emperors. Pliny the Younger lays it on pretty thick when he describes the process. He says Nero deified Claudius to expose him; Titus deified Vespasian and Domitian so he could be the son and brother of gods. However, Trajan deified Nerva because he genuinely believed him to be more than a human (Panegyric 11). In our little survey, we've seen three main categories of deified humans: heroes, miracle workers, and good rulers. These “conceptions of deity,” writes David Litwa, “were part of the “preunderstanding” of Hellenistic culture.”[41] He continues: If actual cases of deification were rare, traditions of deification were not. They were the stuff of heroic epic, lyric song, ancient mythology, cultic hymns, Hellenistic novels, and popular plays all over the first-century Mediterranean world. Such discourses were part of mainstream, urban culture to which most early Christians belonged. If Christians were socialized in predominantly Greco-Roman environments, it is no surprise that they employed and adapted common traits of deities and deified men to exalt their lord to divine status.[42] Now that we've attuned our thinking to Mediterranean sensibilities about gods coming down in the shape of humans and humans experiencing apotheosis to permanently dwell as gods in the divine realm, our ears are attuned to hear the story of Jesus with Greco-Roman ears. Hearing the Story of Jesus with Greco-Roman Ears How would second or third century inhabitants of the Roman empire have categorized Jesus? Taking my cue from Litwa's treatment in Iesus Deus, I'll briefly work through Jesus' conception, transfiguration, miracles, resurrection, and ascension. Miraculous Conception Although set within the context of Jewish messianism, Christ's miraculous birth would have resonated differently with Greco-Roman people. Stories of gods coming down and having intercourse with women are common in classical literature. That these stories made sense of why certain individuals were so exceptional is obvious. For example, Origen related a story about Apollo impregnating Amphictione who then gave birth to Plato (Against Celsus 1.37). Though Mary's conception did not come about through intercourse with a divine visitor, the fact that Jesus had no human father would call to mind divine sonship like Pythagoras or Asclepius. Celsus pointed out that the ancients “attributed a divine origin to Perseus, and Amphion, and Aeacus, and Minos” (Origen, Against Celsus 1.67). Philostratus records a story of the Egyptian god Proteus saying to Apollonius' mother that she would give birth to himself (Life of Apollonius of Tyana 1.4). Since people were primed to connect miraculous origins with divinity, typical hearers of the birth narratives of Matthew or Luke would likely think that this baby might be either be a descended god or a man destined to ascend to become a god. Miracles and Healing As we've seen, Jesus' miracles would not have sounded unbelievable or even unprecedent to Mediterranean people. Like Jesus, Orpheus and Empedocles calmed storms, rescuing ships. Though Jesus provided miraculous guidance on how to catch fish, Pythagoras foretold the number of fish in a great catch. After the fishermen painstakingly counted them all, they were astounded that when they threw them back in, they were still alive (Porphyry, Life 23-25). Jesus' ability to foretell the future, know people's thoughts, and cast out demons all find parallels in Apollonius of Tyana. As for resurrecting the dead, we have the stories of Empedocles, Asclepius, and Apollonius. The last of which even stopped a funeral procession to raise the dead, calling to mind Jesus' deeds in Luke 7.11-17. When Lycaonians witnessed Paul's healing of a man crippled from birth, they cried out, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men” (Acts 14.11). Another time when no harm befell Paul after a poisonous snake bit him on Malta, Gentile onlookers concluded “he was a god” (Acts 28.6). Barry Blackburn makes the following observation: [I]n view of the tendency, most clearly seen in the Epimenidean, Pythagorean, and Apollonian traditions, to correlate impressive miracle-working with divine status, one may justifiably conclude that the evangelical miracle traditions would have helped numerous gentile Christians to arrive at and maintain belief in Jesus' divine status.[43] Transfiguration Ancient Mediterranean inhabitants believed that the gods occasionally came down disguised as people. Only when gods revealed their inner brilliant natures could people know that they weren't mere humans. After his ship grounded on the sands of Krisa, Apollo leaped from the ship emitting flashes of fire “like a star in the middle of day…his radiance shot to heaven”[44] (Homeric Hymns, Hymn to Apollo 440). Likewise, Aphrodite appeared in shining garments, brighter than a fire and shimmering like the moon (Hymn to Aphrodite 85-89). When Demeter appeared to Metaneira, she initially looked like an old woman, but she transformed herself before her. “Casting old age away…a delightful perfume spread…a radiance shone out far from the goddess' immortal flesh…and the solid-made house was filled with a light like the lightning-flash”[45] (Hymn to Demeter 275-280). Homer wrote about Odysseus' transformation at the golden wand of Athena in which his clothes became clean, he became taller, and his skin looked younger. His son, Telemachus cried out, “Surely you are some god who rules the vaulting skies”[46] (Odyssey 16.206). Each time the observers conclude the transfigured person is a god. Resurrection & Ascension In defending the resurrection of Jesus, Theophilus of Antioch said, “[Y]ou believe that Hercules, who burned himself, lives; and that Aesculapius [Asclepius], who was struck with lightning, was raised”[47] (Autolycus 1.13). Although Hercules' physical body burnt, his transformed pneumatic body continued on as the poet Callimachus said, “under a Phrygian oak his limbs had been deified”[48] (Callimachus, Hymn to Artemis 159). Others thought Hercules ascended to heaven in his burnt body, which Asclepius subsequently healed (Lucian, Dialogue of the Gods 13). After his ascent, Diodorus relates how the people first sacrificed to him “as to a hero” then in Athens they began to honor him “with sacrifices like as to a god”[49] (The Historical Library 4.39). As for Asclepius, his ascension resulted in his deification as Cyprian said, “Aesculapius is struck by lightning, that he may rise into a god”[50] (On the Vanity of Idols 2). Romulus too “was torn to pieces by the hands of a hundred senators”[51] and after death ascended into heaven and received worship (Arnobius, Against the Heathen 1.41). Livy tells of how Romulus was “carried up on high by a whirlwind” and that immediately afterward “every man present hailed him as a god and son of a god”[52] (The Early History of Rome 1.16). As we can see from these three cases—Hercules, Asclepius, and Romulus—ascent into heaven was a common way of talking about deification. For Cicero, this was an obvious fact. People “who conferred outstanding benefits were translated to heaven through their fame and our gratitude”[53] (Nature 2.62). Consequently, Jesus' own resurrection and ascension would have triggered Gentiles to intuit his divinity. Commenting on the appearance of the immortalized Christ to the eleven in Galilee, Wendy Cotter said, “It is fair to say that the scene found in [Mat] 28:16-20 would be understood by a Greco-Roman audience, Jew or Gentile, as an apotheosis of Jesus.”[54] Although I beg to differ with Cotter's whole cloth inclusion of Jews here, it's hard to see how else non-Jews would have regarded the risen Christ. Litwa adds Rev 1.13-16 “[W]here he [Jesus] appears with all the accoutrements of the divine: a shining face, an overwhelming voice, luminescent clothing, and so on.”[55] In this brief survey we've seen that several key events in the story of Jesus told in the Gospels would have caused Greco-Roman hearers to intuit deity, including his divine conception, miracles, healing ministry, transfiguration, resurrection, and ascension. In their original context of second temple Judaism, these very same incidents would have resonated quite differently. His divine conception authenticated Jesus as the second Adam (Luke 3.38; Rom 5.14; 1 Cor 15.45) and God's Davidic son (2 Sam 7.14; Ps 2.7; Lk 1.32, 35). If Matthew or Luke wanted readers to understand that Jesus was divine based on his conception and birth, they failed to make such intentions explicit in the text. Rather, the birth narratives appear to have a much more modest aim—to persuade readers that Jesus had a credible claim to be Israel's messiah. His miracles show that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power…for God was with him” (Acts 10.38; cf. Jn 3.2; 10.32, 38). Rather than concluding Jesus to be a god, Jewish witnesses to his healing of a paralyzed man “glorified God, who had given such authority to men” (Mat 9.8). Over and over, especially in the Gospel of John, Jesus directs people's attention to his Father who was doing the works in and through him (Jn 5.19, 30; 8.28; 12.49; 14.10). Seeing Jesus raise someone from the dead suggested to his original Jewish audience that “a great prophet has arisen among us” (Lk 7.16). The transfiguration, in its original setting, is an eschatological vision not a divine epiphany. Placement in the synoptic Gospels just after Jesus' promise that some there would not die before seeing the kingdom come sets the hermeneutical frame. “The transfiguration,” says William Lane, “was a momentary, but real (and witnessed) manifestation of Jesus' sovereign power which pointed beyond itself to the Parousia, when he will come ‘with power and glory.'”[56] If eschatology is the foreground, the background for the transfiguration was Moses' ascent of Sinai when he also encountered God and became radiant.[57] Viewed from the lenses of Moses' ascent and the eschaton, the transfiguration of Jesus is about his identity as God's definitive chosen ruler, not about any kind of innate divinity. Lastly, the resurrection and ascension validated Jesus' messianic claims to be the ruler of the age to come (Acts 17.31; Rom 1.4). Rather than concluding Jesus was deity, early Jewish Christians concluded these events showed that “God has made him both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2.36). The interpretative backgrounds for Jesus' ascension were not stories about Heracles, Asclepius, or Romulus. No, the key oracle that framed the Israelite understanding was the messianic psalm in which Yahweh told David's Lord to “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool” (Psalm 110.1). The idea is of a temporary sojourn in heaven until exercising the authority of his scepter to rule over earth from Zion. Once again, the biblical texts remain completely silent about deification. But even if the original meanings of Jesus' birth, ministry, transfiguration, resurrection, and ascension have messianic overtones when interpreted within the Jewish milieu, these same stories began to communicate various ideas of deity to Gentile converts in the generations that followed. We find little snippets from historical sources beginning in the second century and growing with time. Evidence of Belief in Jesus' as a Greco-Roman Deity To begin with, we have two non-Christian instances where Romans regarded Jesus as a deity within typical Greco-Roman categories. The first comes to us from Tertullian and Eusebius who mention an intriguing story about Tiberius' request to the Roman senate to deify Christ. Convinced by “intelligence from Palestine of events which had clearly shown the truth of Christ's divinity”[58] Tiberius proposed the matter to the senate (Apology 5). Eusebius adds that Tiberius learned that “many believed him to be a god in rising from the dead”[59] (Church History 2.2). As expected, the senate rejected the proposal. I mention this story, not because I can establish its historicity, but because it portrays how Tiberius would have thought about Jesus if he had heard about his miracles and resurrection. Another important incident is from one of the governor Pliny the Younger's letters to the emperor Trajan. Having investigated some people accused of Christianity, he found “they had met regularly before dawn on a fixed day to chant verses alternately amongst themselves in honour of Christ as if to a god”[60] (Letter 96). To an outside imperial observer like Pliny, the Christians believed in a man who had performed miracles, defeated death, and now lived in heaven. Calling him a god was just the natural way of talking about such a person. Pliny would not have thought Jesus was superior to the deified Roman emperors much less Zeus or the Olympic gods. If he believed in Jesus at all, he would have regarded him as another Mediterranean prophet who escaped Hades to enjoy apotheosis. Another interesting text to consider is the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. This apocryphal text tells the story of Jesus' childhood between the ages of five and twelve. Jesus is impetuous, powerful, and brilliant. Unsure to conclude that Jesus was “either god or angel,”[61] his teacher remands him to Joseph's custody (7). Later, a crowd of onlookers ponders whether the child is a god or a heavenly messenger after he raises an infant from the dead (17). A year later Jesus raised a construction man who had fallen to his death back to life (18). Once again, the crowd asked if the child was from heaven. Although some historians are quick to assume the lofty conceptions of Justin and his successors about the logos were commonplace in the early Christianity, Litwa points out, “The spell of the Logos could only bewitch a very small circle of Christian elites… In IGT, we find a Jesus who is divine according to different canons, the canons of popular Mediterranean theology.”[62] Another important though often overlooked scholarly group of Christians in the second century was led by a certain Theodotus of Byzantium.[63] Typically referred to by their heresiological label “Theodotians,” these dynamic monarchians lived in Rome and claimed that they held to the original Christology before it had been corrupted under Bishop Zephyrinus (Eusebius, Church History 5.28). Theodotus believed in the virgin birth, but not in his pre-existence or that he was god/God (Pseudo-Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 7.35.1-2; 10.23.1-2). He thought that Jesus was not able to perform any miracles until his baptism when he received the Christ/Spirit. Pseudo-Hippolytus goes on to say, “But they do not want him to have become a god when the Spirit descended. Others say that he became a god after he rose from the dead.”[64] This last tantalizing remark implies that the Theodotians could affirm Jesus as a god after his resurrection though they denied his pre-existence. Although strict unitarians, they could regard Jesus as a god in that he was an ascended immortalized being who lived in heaven—not equal to the Father, but far superior to all humans on earth. Justin Martyr presents another interesting case to consider. Thoroughly acquainted with Greco-Roman literature and especially the philosophy of Plato, Justin sees Christ as a god whom the Father begot before all other creatures. He calls him “son, or wisdom, or angel, or god, or lord, or word”[65] (Dialogue with Trypho 61).  For Justin Christ is “at the same time angel and god and lord and man”[66] (59). Jesus was “of old the Word, appearing at one time in the form of fire, at another under the guise of incorporeal beings, but now, at the will of God, after becoming man for mankind”[67] (First Apology 63). In fact, Justin is quite comfortable to compare Christ to deified heroes and emperors. He says, “[W]e propose nothing new or different from that which you say about the so-called sons of Jupiter [Zeus] by your respected writers… And what about the emperors who die among you, whom you think worthy to be deified?”[68] (21). He readily accepts the parallels with Mercury, Perseus, Asclepius, Bacchus, and Hercules, but argues that Jesus is superior to them (22).[69] Nevertheless, he considered Jesus to be in “a place second to the unchanging and eternal God”[70] (13). The Father is “the Most True God” whereas the Son is he “who came forth from Him”[71] (6). Even as lates as Origen, Greco-Roman concepts of deity persist. In responding to Celsus' claim that no god or son of God has ever come down, Origen responds by stating such a statement would overthrow the stories of Pythian Apollo, Asclepius, and the other gods who descended (Against Celsus 5.2). My point here is not to say Origen believed in all the old myths, but to show how Origen reached for these stories as analogies to explain the incarnation of the logos. When Celsus argued that he would rather believe in the deity of Asclepius, Dionysus, and Hercules than Christ, Origen responded with a moral rather than ontological argument (3.42). He asks how these gods have improved the characters of anyone. Origen admits Celsus' argument “which places the forenamed individuals upon an equality with Jesus” might have force, however in light of the disreputable behavior of these gods, “how could you any longer say, with any show of reason, that these men, on putting aside their mortal body, became gods rather than Jesus?”[72] (3.42). Origen's Christology is far too broad and complicated to cover here. Undoubtedly, his work on eternal generation laid the foundation on which fourth century Christians could build homoousion Christology. Nevertheless, he retained some of the earlier subordinationist impulses of his forebearers. In his book On Prayer, he rebukes praying to Jesus as a crude error, instead advocating prayer to God alone (10). In his Commentary on John he repeatedly asserts that the Father is greater than his logos (1.40; 2.6; 6.23). Thus, Origen is a theologian on the seam of the times. He's both a subordinationist and a believer in the Son's eternal and divine ontology. Now, I want to be careful here. I'm not saying that all early Christians believed Jesus was a deified man like Asclepius or a descended god like Apollo or a reincarnated soul like Pythagoras. More often than not, thinking Christians whose works survive until today tended to eschew the parallels, simultaneously elevating Christ as high as possible while demoting the gods to mere demons. Still, Litwa is inciteful when he writes: It seems likely that early Christians shared the widespread cultural assumption that a resurrected, immortalized being was worthy of worship and thus divine. …Nonetheless there is a difference…Jesus, it appears, was never honored as an independent deity. Rather, he was always worshiped as Yahweh's subordinate. Naturally Heracles and Asclepius were Zeus' subordinates, but they were also members of a larger divine family. Jesus does not enter a pantheon but assumes a distinctive status as God's chief agent and plenipotentiary. It is this status that, to Christian insiders, placed Jesus in a category far above the likes of Heracles, Romulus, and Asclepius who were in turn demoted to the rank of δαίμονες [daimons].[73] Conclusion I began by asking the question, "What did early Christians mean by saying Jesus is god?" We noted that the ancient idea of agency (Jesus is God/god because he represents Yahweh), though present in Hebrew and Christian scripture, didn't play much of a role in how Gentile Christians thought about Jesus. Or if it did, those texts did not survive. By the time we enter the postapostolic era, a majority of Christianity was Gentile and little communication occurred with the Jewish Christians that survived in the East. As such, we turned our attention to Greco-Roman theology to tune our ears to hear the story of Jesus the way they would have. We learned about their multifaceted array of divinities. We saw that gods can come down and take the form of humans and humans can go up and take the form of gods. We found evidence for this kind of thinking in both non-Christian and Christian sources in the second and third centuries. Now it is time to return to the question I began with: “When early Christian authors called Jesus “god” what did they mean?” We saw that the idea of a deified man was present in the non-Christian witnesses of Tiberius and Pliny but made scant appearance in our Christian literature except for the Theodotians. As for the idea that a god came down to become a man, we found evidence in The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Justin, and Origen.[74] Of course, we find a spectrum within this view, from Justin's designation of Jesus as a second god to Origen's more philosophically nuanced understanding. Still, it's worth noting as R. P. C. Hanson observed that, “With the exception of Athanasius virtually every theologian, East and West, accepted some form of subordinationism at least up to the year 355.”[75] Whether any Christians before Alexander and Athanasius of Alexandria held to the sophisticated idea of consubstantiality depends on showing evidence of the belief that the Son was coequal, coeternal, and coessential with the Father prior to Nicea. (Readers interested in the case for this view should consult Michael Bird's Jesus among the Gods in which he attempted the extraordinary feat of finding proto-Nicene Christology in the first two centuries, a task typically associated with maverick apologists not peer-reviewed historians.) In conclusion, the answer to our driving question about the meaning of “Jesus as god” is that the answer depends on whom we ask. If we ask the Theodotians, Jesus is a god because that's just what one calls an immortalized man who lives in heaven.[76] If we ask those holding a docetic Christology, the answer is that a god came down in appearance as a man. If we ask a logos subordinationist, they'll tell us that Jesus existed as the god through whom the supreme God created the universe before he became a human being. If we ask Tertullian, Jesus is god because he derives his substance from the Father, though he has a lesser portion of divinity.[77] If we ask Athanasius, he'll wax eloquent about how Jesus is of the same substance as the Father equal in status and eternality. The bottom line is that there was not one answer to this question prior to the fourth century. Answers depend on whom we ask and when they lived. Still, we can't help but wonder about the more tantalizing question of development. Which Christology was first and which ones evolved under social, intellectual, and political pressures? In the quest to specify the various stages of development in the Christologies of the ante-Nicene period, this Greco-Roman perspective may just provide the missing link between the reserved and limited way that the NT applies theos to Jesus in the first century and the homoousian view that eventually garnered imperial support in the fourth century. How easy would it have been for fresh converts from the Greco-Roman world to unintentionally mishear the story of Jesus? How easy would it have been for them to fit Jesus into their own categories of descended gods and ascended humans? With the unmooring of Gentile Christianity from its Jewish heritage, is it any wonder that Christologies began to drift out to sea? Now I'm not suggesting that all Christians went through a steady development from a human Jesus to a pre-existent Christ, to an eternal God the Son, to the Chalcedonian hypostatic union. As I mentioned above, plenty of other options were around and every church had its conservatives in addition to its innovators. The story is messy and uneven with competing views spread across huge geographic distances. Furthermore, many Christians probably were content to leave such theological nuances fuzzy, rather than seeking doctrinal precision on Christ's relation to his God and Father. Whatever the case may be, we dare not ignore the influence of Greco-Roman theology in our accounts of Christological development in the Mediterranean world of the first three centuries.    Bibliography The Homeric Hymns. Translated by Michael Crudden. New York, NY: Oxford, 2008. Antioch, Theophilus of. To Autolycus. Translated by Marcus Dods. Vol. 2. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001. Aphrahat. The Demonstrations. Translated by Ellen Muehlberger. Vol. 3. The Cambridge Edition of Early Christian Writings. Edited by Mark DelCogliano. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 2022. Apollodorus. The Library of Greek Mythology. Translated by Robin Hard. Oxford, UK: Oxford, 1998. Appian. The Civil Wars. Translated by John Carter. London, UK: Penguin, 1996. Arnobius. Against the Heathen. Translated by Hamilton Bryce and Hugh Campbell. Vol. 6. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995. Arrian. The Campaigns of Alexander. Translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt. London, UK: Penguin, 1971. Bird, Michael F. Jesus among the Gods. Waco, TX: Baylor, 2022. Blackburn, Barry. Theios Aner and the Markan Miracle Traditions. Tübingen, Germany: J. C. B. Mohr, 1991. Callimachus. Hymn to Artemis. Translated by Susan A. Stephens. Callimachus: The Hymns. New York, NY: Oxford, 2015. Cicero. The Nature of the Gods. Translated by Patrick Gerard Walsh. Oxford, UK: Oxford, 2008. Cornutus, Lucius Annaeus. Greek Theology. Translated by George Boys-Stones. Greek Theology, Fragments, and Testimonia. Atlanta, GA: SBL, 2018. Cotter, Wendy. "Greco-Roman Apotheosis Traditions and the Resurrection Appearances in Matthew." In The Gospel of Matthew in Current Study. Edited by David E. Aune. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001. Cyprian. Treatise 6: On the Vanity of Idols. Translated by Ernest Wallis. Vol. 5. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995. Dittenberger, W. Orientis Graecae Inscriptiones Selectae. Vol. 2. Hildesheim: Olms, 1960. Eusebius. The Church History. Translated by Paul L. Maier. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2007. Fredriksen, Paula. "How High Can Early High Christology Be?" In Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity. Edited by Matthew V. Novenson. Vol. 180.vol. Supplements to Novum Testamentum. Leiden: Brill, 2020. Hanson, R. P. C. Search for a Christian Doctrine of God. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007. Hart, George. The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. 2nd ed. Oxford, UK: Routledge, 2005. Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fagles. New York, NY: Penguin, 1997. Iamblichus. Life of Pythagoras. Translated by Thomas Taylor. Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras. Delhi, IN: Zinc Read, 2023. Justin Martyr. Dialogue with Trypho. Translated by Thomas B. Falls. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2003. Laertius, Diogenes. Life of Pythagoras. Translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie. The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library. Edited by David R. Fideler. Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1988. Laertius, Diogenes. Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. Translated by Pamela Mensch. Edited by James Miller. New York, NY: Oxford, 2020. Lane, William L. The Gospel of Mark. Nicnt, edited by F. F. Bruce Ned B. Stonehouse, and Gordon D. Fee. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974. Litwa, M. David. Iesus Deus. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014. Livy. The Early History of Rome. Translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt. London, UK: Penguin, 2002. Origen. Against Celsus. Translated by Frederick Crombie. Vol. 4. The Ante-Nicene Fathers. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003. Pausanias. Guide to Greece. Translated by Peter Levi. London, UK: Penguin, 1979. Perriman, Andrew. In the Form of a God. Studies in Early Christology, edited by David Capes Michael Bird, and Scott Harrower. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2022. Philostratus. Letters of Apollonius. Vol. 458. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 2006. Plutarch. Life of Alexander. Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert and Timothy E. Duff. The Age of Alexander. London, UK: Penguin, 2011. Porphyry. Life of Pythagoras. Translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie. The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library. Edited by David Fideler. Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1988. Pseudo-Clement. Recognitions. Translated by Thomas Smith. Vol. 8. Ante Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003. Pseudo-Hippolytus. Refutation of All Heresies. Translated by David Litwa. Atlanta, GA: SBL, 2016. Pseudo-Thomas. Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Translated by James Orr. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1903. Psuedo-Clement. Homilies. Translated by Peter Peterson. Vol. 8. Ante-Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1897. Siculus, Diodorus. The Historical Library. Translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Vol. 1. Edited by Giles Laurén: Sophron Editor, 2017. Strabo. The Geography. Translated by Duane W. Roller. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 2020. Tertullian. Against Praxeas. Translated by Holmes. Vol. 3. Ante Nice Fathers. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003. Tertullian. Apology. Translated by S. Thelwall. Vol. 3. Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003. Younger, Pliny the. The Letters of the Younger Pliny. Translated by Betty Radice. London: Penguin, 1969. End Notes [1] For the remainder of this paper, I will use the lower case “god” for all references to deity outside of Yahweh, the Father of Christ. I do this because all our ancient texts lack capitalization and our modern capitalization rules imply a theology that is anachronistic and unhelpful for the present inquiry. [2] Christopher Kaiser wrote, “Explicit references to Jesus as ‘God' in the New Testament are very few, and even those few are generally plagued with uncertainties of either text or interpretation.” Christopher B. Kaiser, The Doctrine of God: A Historical Survey (London: Marshall Morgan & Scott, 1982), 29. Other scholars such as Raymond Brown (Jesus: God and Man), Jason David BeDuhn (Truth in Translation), and Brian Wright (“Jesus as θεός: A Textual Examination” in Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament) have expressed similar sentiments. [3] John 20.28; Hebrews 1.8; Titus 2.13; 2 Peter 1.1; Romans 9.5; and 1 John 5.20. [4] See Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians 12.2 where a manuscript difference determines whether or not Polycarp called Jesus god or lord. Textual corruption is most acute in Igantius' corpus. Although it's been common to dismiss the long recension as an “Arian” corruption, claiming the middle recension to be as pure and uncontaminated as freshly fallen snow upon which a foot has never trodden, such an uncritical view is beginning to give way to more honest analysis. See Paul Gilliam III's Ignatius of Antioch and the Arian Controversy (Leiden: Brill, 2017) for a recent treatment of Christological corruption in the middle recension. [5] See the entries for  אֱלֹהִיםand θεός in the Hebrew Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT), the Brown Driver Briggs Lexicon (BDB), Eerdmans Dictionary, Kohlenberger/Mounce Concise Hebrew-Aramaic Dictionary of the Old Testament, the Bauer Danker Arndt Gingrich Lexicon (BDAG), Friberg Greek Lexicon, and Thayer's Greek Lexicon. [6] See notes on Is 9.6 and Ps 45.6. [7] ZIBBC: “In what sense can the king be called “god”? By virtue of his divine appointment, the king in the ancient Near East stood before his subjects as a representative of the divine realm. …In fact, the term “gods“ (ʾelōhı̂m) is used of priests who functioned as judges in the Israelite temple judicial system (Ex. 21:6; 22:8-9; see comments on 58:1; 82:6-7).” John W. Hilber, “Psalms,” in The Minor Prophets, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, vol. 5 of Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament. ed. John H. Walton (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009), 358. [8] Around a.d. 340, Aphrahat of Persia advised his fellow Christians to reply to Jewish critics who questioned why “You call a human being ‘God'” (Demonstrations 17.1). He said, “For the honored name of the divinity is granted event ot rightoues human beings, when they are worthy of being called by it…[W]hen he chose Moses, his friend and his beloved…he called him “god.” …We call him God, just as he named Moses with his own name…The name of the divinity was granted for great honor in the world. To whom he wishes, God appoints it” (17.3, 4, 5). Aphrahat, The Demonstrations, trans., Ellen Muehlberger, vol. 3, The Cambridge Edition of Early Christian Writings (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 2022), 213-15. In the Clementine Recognitions we find a brief mention of the concept:  “Therefore the name God is applied in three ways: either because he to whom it is given is truly God, or because he is the servant of him who is truly; and for the honour of the sender, that his authority may be full, he that is sent is called by the name of him who sends, as is often done in respect of angels: for when they appear to a man, if he is a wise and intelligent man, he asks the name of him who appears to him, that he may acknowledge at once the honour of the sent, and the authority of the sender” (2.42). Pseudo-Clement, Recognitions, trans., Thomas Smith, vol. 8, Ante Nicene Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003). [9] Michael F. Bird, Jesus among the Gods (Waco, TX: Baylor, 2022), 13. [10] Andrew Perriman, In the Form of a God, Studies in Early Christology, ed. David Capes Michael Bird, and Scott Harrower (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2022), 130. [11] Paula Fredriksen, "How High Can Early High Christology Be?," in Monotheism and Christology in Greco-Roman Antiquity, ed. Matthew V. Novenson, vol. 180 (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 296, 99. [12] ibid. [13] See Gen 18.1; Ex 3.2; 24.11; Is 6.1; Ezk 1.28. [14] Compare the Masoretic Text of Psalm 8.6 to the Septuagint and Hebrews 2.7. [15] Homer, The Odyssey, trans., Robert Fagles (New York, NY: Penguin, 1997), 370. [16] Diodorus Siculus, The Historical Library, trans., Charles Henry Oldfather, vol. 1 (Sophron Editor, 2017), 340. [17] Uranus met death at the brutal hands of his own son, Kronos who emasculated him and let bleed out, resulting in his deification (Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel 1.10). Later on, after suffering a fatal disease, Kronos himself experienced deification, becoming the planet Saturn (ibid.). Zeus married Hera and they produced Osiris (Dionysus), Isis (Demeter), Typhon, Apollo, and Aphrodite (ibid. 2.1). [18] Lucius Annaeus Cornutus, Greek Theology, trans., George Boys-Stones, Greek Theology, Fragments, and Testimonia (Atlanta, GA: SBL, 2018), 123. [19] Apollodorus, The Library of Greek Mythology, trans., Robin Hard (Oxford, UK: Oxford, 1998), 111. [20] Pausanias, Guide to Greece, trans., Peter Levi (London, UK: Penguin, 1979), 98. [21] Strabo, The Geography, trans., Duane W. Roller (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge, 2020), 281. [22] Psuedo-Clement, Homilies, trans., Peter Peterson, vol. 8, Ante-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1897). Greek: “αὐτὸν δὲ ὡς θεὸν ἐθρήσκευσαν” from Jacques Paul Migne, Patrologia Graeca, taken from Accordance (PSCLEMH-T), OakTree Software, Inc., 2018, Version 1.1. [23] See Barry Blackburn, Theios Aner and the Markan Miracle Traditions (Tübingen, Germany: J. C. B. Mohr, 1991), 32. [24] Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, trans., Pamela Mensch (New York, NY: Oxford, 2020), 39. [25] Iamblichus, Life of Pythagoras, trans., Thomas Taylor, Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras (Delhi, IN: Zinc Read, 2023), 2. [26] Diogenes Laertius, Life of Pythagoras, trans., Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie, The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1988), 142. [27] See the list in Blackburn, 39. He corroborates miracle stories from Diogenus Laertius, Iamblichus, Apollonius, Nicomachus, and Philostratus. [28] Porphyry, Life of Pythagoras, trans., Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie, The Pythagorean Sourcebook and Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1988), 128-9. [29] Iamblichus,  68. [30] What I call “resurrection” refers to the phrase, “Thou shalt bring back from Hades a dead man's strength.” Diogenes Laertius 8.2.59, trans. R. D. Hicks. [31] Laertius, "Lives of the Eminent Philosophers," 306. Two stories of his deification survive: in one Empedocles disappears in the middle of the night after hearing an extremely loud voice calling his name. After this the people concluded that they should sacrifice to him since he had become a god (8.68). In the other account, Empedocles climbs Etna and leaps into the fiery volcanic crater “to strengthen the rumor that he had become a god” (8.69). [32] Pausanias,  192. Sextus Empiricus says Asclepius raised up people who had died at Thebes as well as raising up the dead body of Tyndaros (Against the Professors 1.261). [33] Cicero adds that the Arcadians worship Asclepius (Nature 3.57). [34] In another instance, he confronted and cast out a demon from a licentious young man (Life 4.20). [35] The phrase is “περὶ ἐμοῦ καὶ θεοῖς εἴρηται ὡς περὶ θείου ἀνδρὸς.” Philostratus, Letters of Apollonius, vol. 458, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 2006). [36] See George Hart, The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, 2nd ed. (Oxford, UK: Routledge, 2005), 3. [37] Plutarch, Life of Alexander, trans., Ian Scott-Kilvert and Timothy E. Duff, The Age of Alexander (London, UK: Penguin, 2011), 311. Arrian includes a story about Anaxarchus advocating paying divine honors to Alexander through prostration. The Macedonians refused but the Persian members of his entourage “rose from their seats and one by one grovelled on the floor before the King.” Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, trans., Aubrey De Sélincourt (London, UK: Penguin, 1971), 222. [38] Translation my own from “Ἀντίοχος ὁ Θεὸς Δίκαιος Ἐπιφανὴς Φιλορωμαῖος Φιλέλλην.” Inscription at Nemrut Dağ, accessible at https://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/mithras/display.php?page=cimrm32. See also https://zeugma.packhum.org/pdfs/v1ch09.pdf. [39] Greek taken from W. Dittenberger, Orientis Graecae Inscriptiones Selectae, vol. 2 (Hildesheim: Olms, 1960), 48-60. Of particular note is the definite article before θεός. They didn't celebrate the birthday of a god, but the birthday of the god. [40] Appian, The Civil Wars, trans., John Carter (London, UK: Penguin, 1996), 149. [41] M. David Litwa, Iesus Deus (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014), 20. [42] ibid. [43] Blackburn, 92-3. [44] The Homeric Hymns, trans., Michael Crudden (New York, NY: Oxford, 2008), 38. [45] "The Homeric Hymns," 14. [46] Homer,  344. [47] Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus, trans., Marcus Dods, vol. 2, Ante-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001). [48] Callimachus, Hymn to Artemis, trans., Susan A. Stephens, Callimachus: The Hymns (New York, NY: Oxford, 2015), 119. [49] Siculus,  234. [50] Cyprian, Treatise 6: On the Vanity of Idols, trans., Ernest Wallis, vol. 5, Ante-Nicene Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995). [51] Arnobius, Against the Heathen, trans., Hamilton Bryce and Hugh Campbell, vol. 6, Ante-Nicene Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995). [52] Livy, The Early History of Rome, trans., Aubrey De Sélincourt (London, UK: Penguin, 2002), 49. [53] Cicero, The Nature of the Gods, trans., Patrick Gerard Walsh (Oxford, UK: Oxford, 2008), 69. [54] Wendy Cotter, "Greco-Roman Apotheosis Traditions and the Resurrection Appearances in Matthew," in The Gospel of Matthew in Current Study, ed. David E. Aune (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 149. [55] Litwa, 170. [56] William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark, Nicnt, ed. F. F. Bruce Ned B. Stonehouse, and Gordon D. Fee (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974). [57] “Recent commentators have stressed that the best background for understanding the Markan transfiguration is the story of Moses' ascent up Mount Sinai (Exod. 24 and 34).” Litwa, 123. [58] Tertullian, Apology, trans. S. Thelwall, vol. 3, Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003). [59] Eusebius, The Church History, trans. Paul L. Maier (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2007), 54. [60] Pliny the Younger, The Letters of the Younger Pliny, trans., Betty Radice (London: Penguin, 1969), 294. [61] Pseudo-Thomas, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, trans., James Orr (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1903), 25. [62] Litwa, 83. [63] For sources on Theodotus, see Pseduo-Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 7.35.1-2; 10.23.1-2; Pseudo-Tertullian, Against All Heresies 8.2; Eusebius, Church History 5.28. [64] Pseudo-Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies, trans., David Litwa (Atlanta, GA: SBL, 2016), 571. [65] I took the liberty to decapitalize these appellatives. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, trans. Thomas B. Falls (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2003), 244. [66] Justin Martyr, 241. (Altered, see previous footnote.) [67] Justin Martyr, 102. [68] Justin Martyr, 56-7. [69] Arnobius makes a similar argument in Against the Heathen 1.38-39 “Is he not worthy to be called a god by us and felt to be a god on account of the favor or such great benefits? For if you have enrolled Liber among the gods because he discovered the use of wine, and Ceres the use of bread, Aesculapius the use of medicines, Minerva the use of oil, Triptolemus plowing, and Hercules because he conquered and restrained beasts, thieves, and the many-headed hydra…So then, ought we not to consider Christ a god, and to bestow upon him all the worship due to his divinity?” Translation from Litwa, 105. [70] Justin Martyr, 46. [71] Justin Martyr, 39. [72] Origen, Against Celsus, trans. Frederick Crombie, vol. 4, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003). [73] Litwa, 173. [74] I could easily multiply examples of this by looking at Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, and many others. [75] The obvious exception to Hanson's statement were thinkers like Sabellius and Praxeas who believed that the Father himself came down as a human being. R. P. C. Hanson, Search for a Christian Doctrine of God (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007), xix. [76] Interestingly, even some of the biblical unitarians of the period were comfortable with calling Jesus god, though they limited his divinity to his post-resurrection life. [77] Tertullian writes, “[T]he Father is not the same as the Son, since they differ one from the other in the mode of their being. For the Father is the entire substance, but the Son is a derivation and portion of the whole, as He Himself acknowledges: “My Father is greater than I.” In the Psalm His inferiority is described as being “a little lower than the angels.” Thus the Father is distinct from the Son, being greater than the Son” (Against Praxeas 9). Tertullian, Against Praxeas, trans., Holmes, vol. 3, Ante Nice Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003).

It's time for round two of Aeschylus' tragedy Prometheus Bound, and Dave and Jeff are back at it with a careful look at the role of Ocean in his dialogue with the titular hero. Relying on the work of David Konstan, the guys discuss some of the interesting dynamics at play in the stichomythia, as well as some inner workings of the chorus of Ocean's daughters, the Oceanids. Is there a political subtext of democracy and tyranny at work here? How does the poet deal with universal and timeless themes of suffering and hardship against the very real background of fifth-century Athenian politics? How does this piece compare to the poet's own Agamemnon, Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, or Euripides' Hippolytus? Tune in as we rely on Prof. Deborah Roberts' excellent translation and notes to take us through the deceptively simple plot of this timeless masterpiece. Warning: there are some awful puns strewn throughout this show.

Sin is increasing and causing the natural world to come unglued. Hear what Steve found when reading early church father Hippolytus's ancient book on the Antichrist. Steve did a miniseries on St. Hippolytus, an early Church father, awhile back. The episodes on Hippolytus are 239-249. To listen to the full series on the Early Church Fathers, those episode numbers are 239-261.

If he wrote the first commentary on the Antichrist, he might be a good one to study… Steve did a miniseries on St. Hippolytus, an early Church father, awhile back. The episodes on Hippolytus are 239-249. To listen to the full series on the Early Church Fathers, those episode numbers are 239-261.

He was the pagan jailkeeper who guarded St Laurence (see August 10); seeing his prisoner's holiness and the wonders wrought by him, Hippolytus was convinced of the truth of the Faith and became a Christian. When St Laurence baptized him, he was granted a vision of heaven and said 'I see innocent souls in great joy.' He took Laurence into his own home, and his entire household were baptized, nineteen in all.   When St Laurence was martyred, Hippolytus retrieved his body by night and buried it. He was detected and brought before the Emperor Valerian on the third day after Laurence's death. Despite severe beatings he would not renounce his faith. The Emperor ordered that he be stripped and flayed but, standing naked before the emperor, Hippolytus said 'You have not stripped me, but have begun to clothe me.' Despite all torments, neither Hippolytus nor any of his household would deny Christ. All of his household were slain, one by one, before Hippolytus. Finally Hippolytus himself was bound behind a wild horse and dragged to death. Our Holy Mother the Empress Irene (Xenia in Monasticism) (12th c.) She was the pious wife of the Emperor John II Comnenus (reigned 1118-1143), but retired into monastic life. She founded the Monastery of the Pantokrator in Constantinople.

He was the pagan jailkeeper who guarded St Laurence (see August 10); seeing his prisoner's holiness and the wonders wrought by him, Hippolytus was convinced of the truth of the Faith and became a Christian. When St Laurence baptized him, he was granted a vision of heaven and said 'I see innocent souls in great joy.' He took Laurence into his own home, and his entire household were baptized, nineteen in all.   When St Laurence was martyred, Hippolytus retrieved his body by night and buried it. He was detected and brought before the Emperor Valerian on the third day after Laurence's death. Despite severe beatings he would not renounce his faith. The Emperor ordered that he be stripped and flayed but, standing naked before the emperor, Hippolytus said 'You have not stripped me, but have begun to clothe me.' Despite all torments, neither Hippolytus nor any of his household would deny Christ. All of his household were slain, one by one, before Hippolytus. Finally Hippolytus himself was bound behind a wild horse and dragged to death. Our Holy Mother the Empress Irene (Xenia in Monasticism) (12th c.) She was the pious wife of the Emperor John II Comnenus (reigned 1118-1143), but retired into monastic life. She founded the Monastery of the Pantokrator in Constantinople.

The Saints Talk about BaptismSt.  Augustine strongly disapproves of the practice of deferring baptism, feeling it would have been better to bring him to God's salvation than to let him go on sinning because he was young. Baptism would not have kept him from sinning, but for Augustine, forgiveness of sin is not a single, all-or-nothing event. Because all human beings are subject to the influence of original sin, they constantly sin and are constantly in need of God's forgiveness and grace. Once again, Augustine draws an analogy from everyday life: No one would ever recommend letting a sick man get worse, merely because he was not completely cured yet.Saint Basil the Great [379] All of us who desire the kingdom of God are, by the Lord's decree, under an equal and rigorous necessity of seeking after the grace of Baptism. St. Vincent Ferrer ~ Every baptized person should consider that it is in the womb of the Church where he is transformed from a child of Adam to a child of God. St. Isidore, Doctor of the Church ~ Baptism is not the work of man but of Christ, and this sacrament is so holy that it would not be defiled, even if the minister were a murderer. St. Thomas Aquinas ~ Just as a man cannot live in the flesh unless he is born in the flesh, even so a man cannot have the spiritual life of grace unless he is born again spiritually. This regeneration is effected by Baptism: "Unless a man is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (Jn 3:5)  St. Ephrem (d. 373) wrote a beautiful hymn in which he connected the baptism of Jesus with the womb of Mary and the sacrament of the Eucharist: “See, Fire and Spirit in the womb that bore you! See, Fire and Spirit in the river where you were baptized! Fire and Spirit in our Baptism; in the Bread and the Cup, Fire and Holy Spirit!” Christ, the Light of the World, dwelt first in the womb of the Virgin—who was thus “baptized” by her Son—and then in the womb of the Jordan; he emerged from both as the Incarnate Word, the Savior of mankind. Those who are baptized thus become the children of Mary and partakers of the body, blood, soul, and divinity of her Son.St. Hippolytus of Rome (“The Apostolic Tradition,” 215 A.D.) “Baptize first the children; and if they can speak for themselves, let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them.”  Holy Scriptures that relate to The Sacrament of BaptismLk 5:17;Lk 6:19;Luke 8:46. Mk 16:15-16. Rom 6:4; Cf. 4:25.Lk 5:17;Lk 6:19;Lk 8:46. Catholic Church Catechism on the Sacrament of Baptism537 Through Baptism the Christian is sacramentally assimilated to Jesus, who in his own baptism anticipates his death and resurrection. The Christian must enter into this mystery of humble self-abasement and repentance, go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him, be reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father's beloved son in the Son and "walk in newness of life"One Baptism for the Forgiveness of Sins977 Our Lord tied the forgiveness of sins to faith and Baptism: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved."519 Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification, so that "we too might walk in newness of life."520978 "When we made our first profession of faith while receiving the holy Baptism that cleansed us, the forgiveness we received then was so full and complete that there remained in us absolu

Welcome to Episode #105 of Way of the Bible podcast. This is our first of eight episodes in our fourteenth mini-series entitled, Book That Blesses | Revelation. On this episode, Jesus' Prologue to Things Coming, we're going to overview the first five Chapters of the book of Revelation. An impossible task to do in any depth on one episode. So if you want to be blessed yourself, as we'll see in a moment, you'll read it on your own after you listen.Revelation is a book of eschatology. Eschatology is a part of theology concerned with the final events of history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity. This concept is commonly referred to as "the end of the world" or "end times".There are Four Main Approaches When Studying Eschatology: Preterism,  Historicism , Idealism, and FuturismFuturism contends that New Testament prophecies (including those in Revelation) refer to real people and events yet to appear on the world stage. Early church futurists were Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, and Victorinus. The futurist approach is the best approach for following the principles of literal interpretation of the Scriptures.  In this overview of Revelation, I'll be using the Futurism approach, as I am convinced by scripture it refers to real people and events that may soon come to fruition in human history.The book of Revelation was written by the Apostle John in approximately 95 AD while imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos. It is the only prophetic book in the New Testament as compared to 17 prophetic books in the Old Testament. John is the only writer in scripture to reveal God's presence in the farthest spectrums of Eternity past (Jn 1-3) and Eternity future (Rev 21-22). As we'll see, Revelation is the end point of all prophetic scriptures. If you read the Old Testament prophetic writings, you'll likely be scratching your head wondering if and when the prophecy was fulfilled. If it hasn't been fulfilled yet, it will be. In Revelation, all hanging prophecies are resolved and all promises of God are fulfilled. Jesus ends all rebellion in heaven and on earth, and reconciles all things to God. God then gives all things back to Jesus and God's children who are co-heirs into eternity with Christ.Revelation draws more on the Old Testament text than any other book of the Bible. Direct references in Revelation come from Isaiah-49; Daniel-34; Ezekiel-31; Psalms-23; Exodus-21; Jeremiah-16; Zechariah-10 (that's 184 text quotations!). Revelation also draws from Genesis, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Kings, Proverbs, Hosea, Joel, Malachi, Amos, Job, Maccabees, and Micah. Counts of direct references and allusions to OT passages range from 400 to 500+.

This is part 18 of the Early Church History class. I wonder how many Christians in the world today believe the gifts of the spirit ceased in the time of the apostles? I know there are quite a few. Many others, however, believe they are available today and make time for them in their worship services. This is one of those topics about which we don't need to guess. We have the historical record and can just look and see if generations after the apostles continue to speak in tongues, prophecy, cast out demons, or perform miraculous healing. In today's episode we'll survey what the data say about the first five hundred of Christian history. We'll also cover the Montanists, a lesser-known movement centered on prophecy, tongues, and asceticism. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz29T8ApWCc&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2lk3B0I7Pa77hfwKJm1SRI&index=18 —— Links —— Check out our series on gifts of the spirit with interviews from different perspectives here. More Restitutio resources on Christian history See other classes here Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here —— Notes —— Gifts of the Spirit in General Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 82.1; 88.1 Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 2.32.4 Tertullian of Carthage, On Baptism 20 Novatian of Rome, On the Trinity 29 Apostolic Constitutions 8.1-2 Speaking in Tongues and Prophecy Didache 11.7-12 Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 5.6.1 Tertullian of Carthage, Against Marcion 5.8; On the Soul 9 Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity 8.33 Montanism (Excursus) 165 - Montanus began speaking in tongues and prophesying, initiating a movement called the New Prophecy[1] Sayings of Montanus “Behold, man is like a lyre and I fly to him like a plectrum. Man sleeps and I stay awake. Behold, the Lord is the one who throws human hearts into ecstasy and gives a heart to men.” (Panarion 48.5.1)[2] “I am the Lord God, the Almighty, who abide in man.” (Panarion 48.11.1) “Neither angel nor envoy, but I the Lord God, the Father, have come.” (Panarion 48.11.9) Maximilla and Priscilla became prophetesses. The New Prophecy people emphasized obedience to God, asceticism, fasting, celibacy, and spiritual experiences. They rejected remarriage and any serious sin after baptism. They survived until the mid-sixth century when Justinian initiated a persecution in Pepuza. Exorcisms Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 30.3; 76.6; 85.2-3 Tertullian of Carthage, On the Shows 29 Origen of Alexandria, Against Celsus 7.4 Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition 20-21[3] Healing and Miracles Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 2.31.2 Origen of Alexandria, Against Celsus 1.46, 67 Cyprian, Letters 16.4.1; 39.1.2 Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition 14 Apostolic Constitutions 8.26 Disappearance with Time Causes for diminishment Reaction to Montanists' emphasis on the spirit Constantinian shift watered down Christianity, resulting in the gifts mainly finding expression among the desert fathers and mothers. Rigidity of church services and authority solely among bishops and councils quenched the spirit. John Chrysostom, Homilies on 1 Corinthians 29 Augustine of Hippo, Homilies on 1 John 6 Review Christians throughout the first five centuries believed that gifts or charisms of the spirit were available to Christians. We have several reports of speaking in tongues as well as prophecy from the Didache, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Hilary. In the second century, Montanus began a movement called the New Prophecy that emphasized the gifts of the spirit. New Prophecy leaders included female prophets such as Maximilla and Priscilla as well as a male theologian named Tertullian. Though excommunicated by many churches and persecuted by the government from Constantine onward, The New Prophecy movement endured for four centuries. Christians associated demons with the gods the pagans worshiped and confidently believed they had the power to drive them out. Casting out demons was standard operating procedure in churches both for first-time visitors and at baptisms. Miraculous healing, including raising the dead, was well-known to early Christians. Church orders said someone with the gift of healing would be obvious to all in the church. Over time, possibly due to a reaction against the Montanists, the Constantinian shift, or the rigidifying of church services, the gifts of the spirit diminished. By the fourth century, John Chrysostom said speaking in tongues and prophecy had ceased. By the fifth century, Augustine thought it silly to expect tongues. [1] Others called them Phrygians, Cataphrygians, and Montanists [2] Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 48.5.1, trans. Philip R. Amidon (New York: Oxford 1990), 170. [3] Available online at http://www.bombaxo.com/hippolytus-the-apostolic-tradition/

Euripides was the youngest of the fifth-century Athenian tragedians, and is often described as the most radical. But how daring was he? How far did he push the boundaries of dramatic form? Focusing on Medea and Hippolytus, Emily and Tom discuss the ways Euripides sought to shock his audiences, make them laugh, and explore their anxieties in a time of cultural change.This is an extract from the episode. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up here:Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPqIn other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadingsEmily Wilson is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jones is an editor at the London Review of Books. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is part 11 of the Early Church History class. Have you heard of the Roman emperor Constantine? He had a massive impact on Christianity. Not only did he end the brutal persecutions of his predecessors, but he also used the Roman government to actively support the Church. However, his involvement also resulted in significant changes that eventually led to the merger between Church and State called Christendom. In this episode you'll learn about the good and the bad effects of Constantine's involvement in Christianity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQDFaIh2SsY&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2lk3B0I7Pa77hfwKJm1SRI&index=11 Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts —— Links —— More podcasts about Constantine Get Kegan Chandler's book, Constantine and the Divine Mind Find out more about this summer's Family Camp here. More Restitutio resources on Christian history See other classes here Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here —— Notes —— Today, we're looking at one of the most influential people in church history: Constantine (272-337). Also called Constantine the Great or Constantine I There would be 10 more emperors named Constantine. Constantine 11th was the last Roman emperor who died when the Muslims conquered Constantinople in 1453. Constantine's “Edict of Milan”[1] 303-313 - The Great Persecution 313 - Toleration granted to Christians and all religions Restore confiscated property Constantine's Favoring of Christianity Exemption from public office Tax exemption Use of cursus publicus Printing of Christian scriptures Closing of law courts on Sundays Abolition of face-branding as a punishment Constantine and Churches Donated 3,000 bags of money to church in African provinces Rebuilt and enlarged damaged churches Built new churches, especially through his mother, Helena Helena also allegedly finds the true cross (relic). Constantine's Government Appointed government officials that were Christians Sought advice from Christian bishops on decisions Shared his table with Christians Had bishops accompany soldiers Christian Attitude Toward Military Prior to Constantine Jesus and his apostles taught to love enemies (Matthew 5.5, 9, 38-48; 1 Thessalonians 5.15; Romans 12.14, 17-21; 1 Peter 3.8-11) Didache 1.3-4; Justin Martyr, First Apology 39, Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.34, Tertullian, On Idolatry 19, Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition 16.17-19, Origen, Against Celsus 5.33, Cyprian, Epistle I: To Donatus 6, Arnobius, Against the Heathen 1.6, Lactantius, Divine Institutes 5.8.[2] Preston Sprinkle: “Despite the presence of Christians in the military, it is clear that no single Christian writer before Constantine sanctioned the use of violence, not even toward bad guys.”[3] Constantine's Vision Had been a worshiper of Sol Invictus (Unconquered Sun) Allegedly saw something above the sun Had a dream in which Christ told him to use his initials, chi rho (also called, labarum), on his soldiers' shields (“in this you will conquer”) At the battle of the Milvian Bridge, Constantine defeated Maxentius, fished his body out of the river, decapitated him, and paraded his head through the city on a stick. Christian Leaders Seek Favor Christians requested the emperor to persecute other Christians. Constantine's Edict Against the Heretics Novatians, Valentinians, Marcionites, Paulians, Cataphrygians Currying imperial favor to defeat one's Christian enemies became a standard tactic. The Constantinian shift initiated a new stage in church history—Christendom, the idea that a society or nation could be Christian. Before long, all infants would be baptized, making everyone a member of the church by birth. Everyone would be raised Christian. The government would pay clergy their salaries. How many of these so-called Christians followed Christ? Evangelism was no longer needed. The kingdom had come. The Roman Empire became the holy Roman Empire and was seen as God's kingdom on earth. Review Constantine's involvement in Christianity brought several significant changes, both good and bad, initiating the “merger” of the church and the state known as Christendom. Constantine ended the persecution of Christians, issuing the Edict of Milan (along with Licinius) in 313. Constantine donated large sums of money to rebuild churches, build new churches, and support clergy. Constantine's favoritism of Christianity incentivized people to join the church. Christians changed from discouraging military participation to blessing it. Christians pursued the emperor's favor to persecute pagans, Jews, and other Christian sects with different beliefs. Constantine's desire to have Christian advisors in his entourage caused some Christians to begin identifying the Roman Empire as God's kingdom on earth. Rather than strict obedience to the teachings of Christ, Christendom came to lower the requirements for all, while the zealous left, pursued monasticism whether as isolated hermits or in communities. [1] Scholars point out that the “Edict of Milan” was really a letter sent from Nicomedia. [2] More quotations in David Bercot, Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. [3] Preston Sprinkle, Fight (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2013), 212-3.

This is part 9 of the Early Church History class. How did Christians organize themselves in the first few centuries? We're taking a break from theology and switching to focus on practical matters of church offices, church governance, church discipline, conversion, and charity. As it turns out we have a surprising amount of information about how early Christians did church not only from scattered quotes, but from a series of church manuals that have survived. In some ways these church orders sound eerily familiar to modern ears and in other ways, utterly foreign. See what you think. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7tCjuTbHx8&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2lk3B0I7Pa77hfwKJm1SRI&index=9&t=1892s Sources The Didache (100)[1] Apostolic Tradition (215) (Hippolytus?)[2] Didascalia Apostolorum (230)[3] Apostolic Church Order (300)[4] Apostolic Constitutions (380)[5] quotes from others like Justin, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Cyprian, etc. Church Orders are notoriously hard to date (composite documents). They don't necessarily reflect the whole church and sometimes disagree with each other. They simply represent a snapshot of what Christians were doing in a particular time and place. Joseph Lynch: “In the innermost circle were the people who were full members, the baptized faithful. Two groups were in the second circle: the unbaptized catechumens (“those under instruction”) who were seeking entry to the inner circle and the baptized penitents who had been expelled from the inner circle and were trying to get back in. The huge third circle held the non-believers (pagans and Jews), the former Christians (apostates), and the unacceptable Christians (heretics).”[6] Bishops (Overseers) qualifications in 1 Timothy 3.1-7; Titus 1.7-9 extraordinary honor as God's representative 50 years old (if possible) learned (if possible) and skillful with words preach, administer communion, baptize, rebuke sin, restore repentant, visit the sick supported financially, but live moderately coordinate burying believers Presbyters (Elders) qualifications in Titus 1.6-9 functions in 1 Timothy 5.17; James 5.14; 1 Peter 5.1-4 (shepherd, anoint sick, teach) Tertullian: “The tried men of our elders preside over us, obtaining that honour not by purchase, but by established character. There is no buying and selling of any sort in the things of God.”[7] Deacons/Deaconesses (Servants) qualifications in 1 Timothy 3.8-13; Acts 6.3-6 take care of the poor, elderly, sick they “go everywhere night and day” (Apostolic Church Order 22) bring communion to people's homes encourage giving and handle distribution prior to communion a deacon “calls out in a loud voice: ‘Is there anyone who maintains anger with his neighbour?'” (Didascalia 11[2.54]) serve as ushers “[I]f anyone is found sitting in a place which is not his, the deacon within should warn him and make him stand up and seat him in the place which is his own, as is right” (Didascalia 12.7) “And the deacon should also observe that nobody is whispering or going to sleep or laughing or gesticulating, for it is fitting that they should be watching in the church respectfully and attentively, with ears alert to the word of the Lord.” (Didascalia 12.10-11) Acolytes (Subdeacons) acolytes were subdeacons they assisted the deacons helped with food distribution Virgins committed to celibacy served the congregation supported by the church growing significance in the fourth and fifth centuries return to them when we get to Jerome Widows qualifications in 1 Timothy 5.3-16 typically 60+ years old though Didascalia set the age at 50+ younger widows should get remarried widows could remarry once, but “after this she is a harlot” (Didascalia 14.2 [3.2]) office of a widow is one who committed to not getting remarried served the congregation especially in prayer supported by the church financially Apostolic Church Order 21“Three widows should be appointed. Two are to continue in prayer for all who are in temptation and for revelations concerning whatever is necessary. One is to assist women who are being troubled by sickness. She is to be a good minister, discreet in communicating what is necessary to the elders…” Exorcists cast out demons Readers Apostolic Church Order 19 “A reader should be appointed after careful testing. He should not be a babbler, or a drunkard, or a jester. He should be of upstanding life, submissive, well-intentioned, taking the lead in the assemblies on the Lord's days, who is good to listen to and is able to construct a narrative, aware that he labours in the place of an evangelist.” Doorkeepers presumably took care of maintenance needs Laity from Greek word for people regular members of the church the great majority submit to leadership Authority Structures local bishop decisions made by council of bishops pentarchy of patriarchs bishop of Rome emperor Christian Practices conversion communion prayer church discipline giving and welfare church service Day of Meeting Didache mentions gathering “the Lord's own day” but doesn't link it to the Sabbath (14.1) Justin says “Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly” (1 Apology 67) Epistle of Barnabas says they meet on the 8th day b/c that's when Jesus arose form the dead (15.8-9) Also met other days frequently (Didache 16.2) Order of Service Justin Martyr: “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons.”[8] pre-service screening reading of scripture teaching (men only, cf. Didascalia 15.6 [3.6]) dismissal of catechumens prayer of the faithful kiss of peace communion Recommended Reading Worship in the Early Church by Justo and Catherine Gonzalez Review Several church orders have survived, which provide snapshots into how early Christians organized and worshiped Three main divisions: insiders, outsiders hoping to become insiders, and outsiders Roles within the church: apostles, prophets, bishops, elders, deacons, acolytes, virgins, widows, exorcists, readers, and doorkeepers Conversion was a lengthy process that involved years of instruction, regular attendance, exorcism, anointing, and baptism Catechumenates and the penitent had to leave prior to the prayer of the faithful, kiss of peace, and communion Leaders took church discipline seriously and both expelled people and welcomed the repentant back Christians voluntarily contributed to support their leaders and to care for those in need Meeting on Sundays, the church service included a screening, reading of scripture, a teaching, prayer of the faithful, kiss of peace, and communion. [1] Michael Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2007). [2] The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus of Rome, trans. Kevin P. Edgecomb, accessed Feb 13, 2023, http://www.bombaxo.com/hippolytus-the-apostolic-tradition/. [3] The Didascalia Apostolorum, trans. Alistair Stewart-Sykes (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2009). [4] The Apostolic Church Order, trans. Alistair C. Stewart (Macquarie Centre, Australia: SCD Press, 2021). [5] the only version I have is in the ANF vol 7, but I did not use it in this lecture [6] Joseph H. Lynch, Early Christianity, (New York: Oxford, 2010), 105. [7] Tertullian, Apology 39, trans. S. Thelwall, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol 3, p. 46. [8] Justin Martyr, First Apology 67, ANF, vol 1, p. 186.

Brent Billings and Elle Grover Fricks finish out the series by turning their attention to two figures in the book of Revelation.Cinnabar — WikipediaLitter (vehicle) [palanquin] — WikipediaEpiphanius of Salamis — WikipediaHippolytus of Rome — WikipediaIsis — WikipediaBEMA 300: John — The Migdal

This is part 6 of the Early Church History class. In the latter half of the second century, two kinds of Christians arose to defend the faith. On the one hand, apologists wrote defenses of Christianity directed at the Roman government. They responded to rumors, arguing that Christians were decent people who should be shown toleration. On the other hand, heresy hunters (or heresiologists) began to combat Christian groups that diverged significantly from apostolic Christianity, such as the Gnostics, Valentinians, and Marcionites. Today we'll briefly overview this fascinating period of Christianity when persuasion not coercion was the means to defeat one's opponents. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43mIuUVqCK0&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2lk3B0I7Pa77hfwKJm1SRI&index=6 —— Links —— More Restitutio resources on Christian history More classes here Support Restitutio by donating here Join our Restitutio Facebook Group and follow Sean Finnegan on Twitter @RestitutioSF Leave a voice message via SpeakPipe with questions or comments and we may play them out on the air Intro music: Good Vibes by MBB Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Free Download / Stream: Music promoted by Audio Library. Who is Sean Finnegan?  Read his bio here —— Notes —— Apologists (Defenders) of the 2nd C. - Quadratus (130?)- Aristo of Pella (c. 140?)- Aristides (c. 145)- Miltiades (c. 160-180?)- Justin Martyr (d. 165)- Athenagoras (c. 170-180)- Melito of Sardis (c. 170-180?)- Appolinaris of Hierapolis (170-180)- Tatian (d. 180?)- Theophilus of Antioch (c. 180-185)- Epistle of Diognetus (150-225) Quadratus of Athens (130) - addressed book to Hadrian (r. 117-138)- claimed to know people healed by Jesus Epistle of Diognetus (150-225) - author ideas: Hippolytus, Aristides, Pantaenus- common criticisms are that Christians are incestuous b/c we call each other brother and sister, cannibals b/c we eat body and blood of Jesus, atheists b/c we didn't believe in the gods, politically subversive b/c we didn't honor the emperor by offering incense to his statue- Diog. 5.1-17 provides an excellent example of an effective apologist Justin Martyr (100-165) - Stoic -> Peripatetic -> Pythagorean -> Platonist -> Christian- founded a school in Rome- claimed Greek philosophers accessed truth of the Logos, thus Christianity is not a novel religion- Justin addressed his case to the Roman emperor and his sons and the senate and the Roman people (First Apology 1.1-2)- Dialogue with Trypho employed the idea of heresy as defined by a key belief—resurrection (see chapter 80) Heresy Hunters - Justin (140-160)- Irenaeus (180-199)- Tertullian (200-213)- Hippolytus (200-230)- Eusebius (324)- Epiphanius (374-377)- Theodoret (452-453) Standard Arguments - too complicated- trace beliefs to heresiarch- unnatural interpretation of scripture- can't trace beliefs back to the apostles- perverted truth leads to perverted morals- new generations recycle old heresies Irenaeus of Lyons (130-202)- Argued against Valentinus, Marcus, Ptolemaeus, Saturninus, Basilides, Carpocrates, Cerinthus, Ebionites, Nicolaitans, Cerdo, Marcion, Tatian, the Encratites, Orphites, Sethians, Cainites, and others- Against Heresies (aka. The Refutation and Overthrow of Falsely Called Gnosis) intended to equip church leaders to protect their unsuspecting flock from getting tricked into believing any forms of Gnosticism Review - Apologists focused on defending Christianity against outsiders by writing to the Roman authorities and laying out a case for toleration.- Justin Martyr taught that Christianity had continuity with Greek philosophers who also accessed the Logos.- Heresy hunters (heresiologists) defended Christianity against insiders who had differing beliefs from theirs.- Christians fought heresy by using key beliefs they knew their opponents couldn't affirm and by labelling them.- Justin and Irenaeus emphasized resurrection and an ultimate kingdom on earth to exclude those who held varieties of Gnostic beliefs.

In most of the world today, slavery is unthinkable. Is it possible that we could ever reach that same place with abortion in America?  Just as there were once states where it was legal to own slaves and other states where it wasn't, we are now a nation deeply divided on the issue of abortion on a state-by-state level. In certain states, abortion is allowed, encouraged, and even subsidized abortion. In others, abortion is all but illegal. The history of the Church's stance on both issues, abolition and abortion, is instructive as we seek to obey Christ in a post-Roe world.  Clearly, the early Church did not like slavery. The New Testament condemns behaviors that were endemic to the slave trade. In his letter to Philemon, Paul gave broad hints that masters should free their Christian slaves. Early Christians often purchased slaves specifically to set them free.   Even so, neither the New Testament nor the early Church pushed for full abolition of slavery, for at least two reasons.  First, taking a public stand would have brought even more unwanted attention to an already targeted group. Second, the ancient world offered no model to Christians for a society without slaves, so few could envision what that would look like. Though Christians saw slavery as a curse, they could not conceive of being rid of it entirely (any more than they could imagine a world rid of disease or poverty). This failure of moral imagination meant that it would be centuries before the implications of the Gospel would lead Christian rulers to take definitive steps toward abolishing slavery.  By the Middle Ages, overt slavery was rare in Europe, and Church leaders spoke out against it. Thomas Aquinas claimed that slavery might be part of the “law of nations” but was against the law of nature and therefore a sin. When, centuries later, the infamous Atlantic slave trade began, Portugal and Spain defied the decrees of four different popes to spread it in their colonies. In the English-speaking world, the rampant practice of slavery found opposition among Quakers and a rising evangelicalism that eventually ended first the slave trade, then slavery altogether.  All this means that the American theologians who defended slavery were following the culture's lead, not Church teaching. Though it took far too long for the implications of the Gospel to become clear, the teaching of both Jesus and Paul of the spiritual and moral equality of all persons meant that slavery was incompatible with Christianity, and its abolition in Christian states was only a matter of time. Eventually, because of the commitment to the worth and dignity of every human being as created in the image of God, Christians fought to end the abuse of slavery.  In contrast, the Christian position on abortion has been clear from day one. In the Didache, the earliest non-New Testament Christian work to survive, Christians are instructed “you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born.” Similarly, the late first or early second century Epistle of Barnabas, a manual of ethics in this early period, says “you shall not murder a child by abortion, nor again kill it when it is born.” In “A Plea for Christians,” written in 177, Athenagoras of Athens wrote, “[w]e say that those women who use drugs to bring on abortion commit murder …”  Similar teaching can be found in the writings of Clement of Alexandria, the pseudonymous Apocalypse of Peter, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Cyprian, and Lactantius, which takes us up to the de-criminalization of Christianity by Constantine. The teaching of the Church on abortion has been clear from the start and continued to be clear well into the 20th century.   Only recently have some claiming the name of Christ accepted abortion as morally licit, or worse, have celebrated it. Christian opposition to abortion is based on precisely the same reasoning as Christian opposition to slavery. Every human being is made in the image of God and is crowned with glory and honor, a dignity we dare not ignore. The same dehumanizing and depersonalizing claim that undergirded the idea that slaves were less worthy as human beings, and further undergirded the horrific treatment of African Americans in the Jim Crow South, is also at work in pro-abortion thinking. And yet, the same liberating power of the imago dei that broke the chains of slavery demands that we see the dignity of preborn children and work to protect them.   Slavery and the subsequent dehumanizing treatment of African Americans was evil, and that the crusade to end both was (and is) God's work. May we also recognize that dehumanizing and killing the unborn is at least as evil, and rightly abhorred.