Historical region located in north-eastern Iran
POPULARITY
18 episodes with Parthia
8 episodes with Parthia
11 episodes with Parthia
9 episodes with Parthia
4 episodes with Parthia
6 episodes with Parthia
5 episodes with Parthia
3 episodes with Parthia
3 episodes with Parthia
Antiochus III is gunning for the east. Xerxes of Armenia, Arsaces II of Parthia and even Euthydemus of Bactria are going to be on the receiving end of Seleucid wrath... Sources for this episode: TBA
Send a Message to the TeamThis episode, the team continues to explore what happens in the late Roman Republic era if Crassus survives being captured in Parthia. Panel: Dylan, Chris, and Evan You can follow and interact with A Fork In Time on….Discord: https://discord.com/invite/xhZEmZMKFSFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/aforkintimeTwitter: @AFITPodcastOur YouTube ChannelIf you enjoy the podcast and want to support it financially, you can help by:Supporting us monthly via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aforkintime....or, make a one-time donation via Podfan to A Fork In TimeWebsite: www.aforkintimepodcast.comE-Mail: aforkintimepodcast@gmail.comTheme Music: Conquer by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.comSupport the show
Matthew 2:1-12 The Search of the Wise Men (vv. 1-8) They consulted the politicians They consulted the academics They consulted the religious The Success of the Wise Men (vv. 9-12) They were joyful They were worshipful They were obedient More to Consider The exact identity of the Magi is impossible to determine, though several ideas have been suggested. They have been given traditional names and identified as representatives of the three groups of peoples that descended from Noahs sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. More likely they were Gentiles of high position from a country, perhaps Parthia, northeast of Babylon, who were given a special revelation by God of the birth of the King of the Jews. This special revelation may simply have been in the sky, as might be indicated by their title Magi (specialists in astronomy) and by the fact they referred to a star which they saw. Or this revelation could have come through some contact with Jewish scholars who had migrated to the East with copies of Old Testament manuscripts. Many feel the Magis comments reflected a knowledge of Balaams prophecy concerning the star that would come out of Jacob (Num. 24:17). Whatever the source, they came to Jerusalem to worship the newborn King of the Jews. (According to tradition three Magi traveled to Bethlehem. But the Bible does not say how many there were.) Louis Barbieri, Dallas Theological Seminary The visit of the Magi is an indication that the Gentiles will someday worship the King when the kingdom is set up on earth (Isa. 60:6). Their experience is a good lesson in finding the will of God: (1) they followed the light God gave them; (2) they confirmed their steps by the Word of God; and (3) they obeyed God without question and He led them each step of the way. Note that they went home by another way (v. 12). Anyone who comes to Christ will go home another way and be a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). Wiersbe, W. W. (1992). Wiersbes expository outlines on the New Testament (pp. 1718). Victor Books.
What if a story born out of personal anguish could inspire people around the globe? Join us as we unravel the enchanting journey of Henry Van Dyke's "The Story of the Other Wise Man." This episode invites you into the world of Artaban, the often-overlooked fourth wise man, whose path to follow the star was marked by profound moral decisions and life's relentless trials. Through the lens of Van Dyke's reflections, we contemplate the universal struggle to do one's best, even when the road isn't as clear-cut as we hope. Step back in time to ancient Parthia, where the air resonates with the soulful chants of noblemen gathered for a spiritual rite. Led by Artaban, they seek divine enlightenment and the clarity of truth, invoking the blessings of Arra Mazda. This sacred ritual showcases a deep yearning for purity and peace, echoing the timeless human quest for spiritual fulfillment. As we delve into these themes, the episode encourages you to reflect on the power of faith and community, and the enduring search for meaning in our lives.Support the showThe American Soul Podcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1791934/subscribe
He was a Galilean, the son of Alphaeus, and was originally named Levi. He was a tax-collector (an occupation despised by the Jews of Palestine) until he met the Lord, who said to him, "Follow me." From that day he was one of the disciples. After the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Apostle was appointed to bring the Gospel to his fellow Jews, for whom, according to the Church's tradition, he wrote down the Gospel for the first time, in the Aramaic language, eight years after the Ascension. Some years later, this book was translated into Greek by St James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem. No copy in the original language has survived. Later, St Matthew traveled to Parthia and the city of Hierapolis (on the Euphrates river) to proclaim the Gospel to the pagans there. One tradition holds that he reposed in peace in that region at a great age. Another tradition holds that he was martyred by a king of that region, who later repented and was baptized, taking the name Matthew. The king then cast down the idols and established the Christian faith in his realm. When St Matthew is portrayed in icons, the likeness of a man is shown with him, one of the four living creatures spoken of in the first chapter of Ezekiel. St Irenaeus writes that the man symbolizes Christ's Incarnation.
Trinity never appears in the bible; Private interpretation of verses; Unicorns?; Breeches?; Helicopter moms?; Weakening the people; Call hogging; Defining "god"; Vessels of Holy Spirit; Believing what you don't understand; Council intentions; Saved by the blood?; Simple thing Jesus suggested; The Gospel of the Kingdom; Why people are sitting; Council of Nicaea; "ouisa"; Synod of Elvira; Jesus the same as God?; Agreements to believe?; Tree of Knowledge; Required beliefs; Walking with Holy Spirit; Seeking His kingdom and righteousness; Charity?; Why gather together?; Insurance; "Potestas"; The seat of Moses; False Pharaohs; Heir via adoption; Jesus's lineage; Temple purification; Parthia?; Gifting gold; Melchizedek; Re-forming the office of king and priest; Pilate's position; Bondage of Egypt; Revelation; Walk on water.
Demetrius II was king last time we checked in with the kingdom of Macedon. In order to establish some context for the time period when both Macedon and Egypt were getting involved in Cleomenes of Sparta's war, we are going to have to introduce both Antigonus III and the young Philip V. Sources for this episode: Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur. Rawlinson, G. (1871), A Manual of Ancient History, From the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. Comprising the History of Chaldea, Assyria, Media, Babylonia, Lydia, Phoenicia, Syria, Judaea, Egypt, Carthage, Persia, Greece, Macedonia, Parthia, and Rome. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers. Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Antigonus III Doson (online) (Accessed c.16/04/2024). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Philip V of Macedon (online) (Accessed 15/04/2024 and 16/04/2024).
Seleucus II has perished from falling off his horse. Long live king Alexander! Oh... wait... That's too original of a name, isn't it? Well, Seleucus III it is then. Find out in this episode what the new Seleucid regime has to consider. Sources for this episode: Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur. Grainger, J. D., (2014), The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323- 223 BCE), Seleukos I to Seleukos III. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. (eBook). Rawlinson, G. (1871), A Manual of Ancient History, From the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. Comprising the History of Chaldea, Assyria, Media, Babylonia, Lydia, Phoenicia, Syria, Judaea, Egypt, Carthage, Persia, Greece, Macedonia, Parthia, and Rome. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers. Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Cleomenes III (online) (Accessed 09/04/2024). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Seleucus III Ceraunus (online) (Accessed 09/04/2024).
Revealing important understandings; Parables; John's baptizing; Existence of Jesus; "Moses"; Understanding mankind; "Human"?; "Monster"?; Existence of Jesus; Temple function; Iceland example; Gleaning; Gospels; Original authors; Spiritual reality; John the Baptist's doctrine; The Way of Charity; Ruben's temple; Welfare by charity or force; Jesus's side trip? Beelzebub?; What Jesus meant; Mark 5:1; Unclean spirit?; Son of God?; Unbindable man; Cutters; Our spiritual nature; Hiding from God - sitting in darkness; "Worship"; Forced Oaths?; Penalty of perjury; Binding your conscience; "Demoniac"; Torment; Greedy for gain; Why Jesus came here; Parthia; Calling out the spirit; Out of the country?; Space between two places; Spirit and truth; Why choose the swine?; Jesus allowed it; Lots of pigs and lots of herdsmen; v16; Understanding the message; Becoming susceptible to possession; Or letting in Holy Spirit; Healing daughter of Synagogue leader; Woman with blood issue; v29; Focus of belief; "Virtue"?; "dunamis" - power/strength; Believe, have faith; Death?; Kingdom for the living; "Be Not Afraid"; Talitha cumi; "Not to be that way with YOU"; Different dimensions/realms; Biting your neighbor; Unethical?; Man and woman relationship; Debt; Using your neighbor; Why democracies fail; Demonic thinking; Doing the will of the father; god(ess); City of blood; Bondage of Egypt; Possession in the bible; Mt 17:15; Peace.
In the year 53 BC, Rome suffered one of the greatest military defeats in its history. A Roman army led by Marcus Lucinisu Crassus was led into the desert in present-day Southern Turkey and was systematically destroy by an army from the Kingdom of Parthia. The defeat itself didn't radically weaken Rome, but the death of Crassus led to a chain of events that would result in the end of the Roman Republic. It was also the opening salvo in a centuries-long rivalry between Rome and Parthia that would never be definitively resolved. Learn more about the Battle of Carrhae and how the role it played in the destruction of the Roman Republic on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Available nationally, look for a bottle of Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond at your local store. Find out more at heavenhilldistillery.com/hh-bottled-in-bond.php Sign up today at butcherbox.com/daily and use code daily to choose your free offer and get $20 off. Visit BetterHelp.com/everywhere today to get 10% off your first month. Use the code EverythingEverywhere for a 20% discount on a subscription at Newspapers.com. Visit meminto.com and get 15% off with code EED15. Listen to Expedition Unknown wherever you get your podcasts. Get started with a $13 trial set for just $3 at harrys.com/EVERYTHING. Subscribe to the podcast! https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Ben Long & Cameron Kieffer Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Getting a clear view of the good news; Hebrew language; "nakah" = "Smite"? Or "Establish"?; "Put to death", "Stoning"; Moses and Christ preaching the same message; Contextual understanding; Letters from Early Church time; False messiahs?; Name confusion; Living as free souls under God; Seeing the truth; Parthia connection; Filling in the answers; Mark 2 in Capernaum; Healings; Dead Sea Scrolls; Overthrowing orthodoxy?; Golden calf; Sitting in darkness; Using Tree of Knowledge?; Preaching the "word" (logos); The palsied man; Uncovering the roof; Reason for forgiving sins; Forgiveness; Defining "Blasphemy"; Denying true nature of God; Sacrificing at the altars; Burning bones?; Strange fire?; "Wrath" of God; Giver of life; Freewill offerings; Leaving judgment to God; Christ's weightier matters; Mark 2:10 "power"; Admiring Jewish philosophers; Word established by God; Followers of Jesus; "sinners"; Sharing vs forcing; "Modern" Christians; Repentance; Revealing truth; Approaching Holy Spirit; Mark 2:19; Why not fast?; Story-telling; Distraction of fasting; Bridegroom with them?; Food that feeds the spirit; Bride vs harlot based on reasoning; Metaphors; Making idols; Unlawful for sabbath?; Caeser son of God; Government dole?; Murdering Gauls; "Free" bread; Sabbath; Going into debt; Choosing to remain a servant/slave; Ruling judges; Obedience to the Father; Essenes; Pythagoras; Destroying liberty; Loving neighbor as self (charity); Teaching mercy and forgiveness; Standing in the gap; Increasing government force; Sabbath made for man? Speaking to Pharisees; The "way" of the Sabbath; No forcing neighbor!; Our dominion; Violating Sabbath; Is taxation stealing?; Coveting?; Altars are people; Distortion of the old testament; Corban = sacrifice; Being "registered"; Tables of rulers; Christ's solution; Justin's apology - assembling on Sunday (1st day); Sharing with those in need; Protection drawing subjection; The light of loving neighbor; "Worship"; Ps 69:22; Rom 11:9; Giving away God's endowments; Lk 22:25; President?; Judeo-Christian philosophy; Benefactors; Mt 20:25; Mark 10:42; Ecc 11:1; Why 7 men?; Welfare snare; Casting bread upon the waters; Red Heifer; 1 John 3:14; Loving brethren; Government of, for and by the people; Laying down our lives; Fast from force.
Revealing information modern churches don't; The "Word" of God; "logos" = right reason; Distorting Moses; Straightening out understanding; Bondage of Egypt; Kingdom of God; Melchizedek; "well-regulated"; Self-organization; "Militia"; Slavery; Employment; Mark: first gospel written?; Who was Mark?; Building altars of clay and stone; Republics; Social bonds; Living by faith vs force; Why people are suffering; Mark - shorted gospel - summary; Jesus the philosopher; Ten Commandments; Abundance of life; Aliens?; Uniqueness of Christ; Stories absent from Mark; "Carpenter"?; Socialists not getting the gospel; Sophistry; Sayings of Jesus; Mark 1:1 Title?; Christ the anointed; "patronus"; Son of God?; Pagan temples; Christ's "Way"; Bringing light to darkness; Caesar's welfare; John preparing the Way; Lk 3:3; John 1:23; Getting closer to God; Repentance?; Remission of sins; John's raiment; Magi?; Parthia; Offices of Caesar; Locusts = carob?; Date honey?; Caesar's baptism; "Nazareth"; Baptizing Jesus; Spiritual compelling; What Christ preached; Making Simon and Andrew fishers of men; Prominent families; Hearing the cries of your brother; Covetousness; Setting your neighbor free; Jesus' astonishing doctrines; Christ's "authority" (power of choice, free man); Self-governing; Synagogue; Tens; Teaching authority/liberty; "idiotes"; The Higher Liberty book; Unclean spirits?; "Legion"; "destroy"?; Casting out demons; Fearing the light; "torn" = drive/convulsion; Spirit of destruction; Healing Peter's mother; Possession by devils; Prayer; How did Jesus pray?; Preaching in synagogues; Humbling yourself; Moving with compassion; Vow of the Nazarite; Learning meaning and methods of Jesus Christ; Leprosy; Fear not.
Seleucus is beginning to head out eastwards again- somewhere we haven't been for a long time. Let's familiarise ourselves with Andragoras, governor of Parthia, and the Parsi who we last discussed in episode 42... Sources for this episode: Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur. Broderson, K. (1986), The Date of the Secession of Parthia from the Seleucid Kingdom. Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 35(3): 378-381. Dobbins, K. W. (1974), Mithridates II and his Successors: A Study of the Parthian Crisis 90-70 B.C. Antichthon 8: 63-79. The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2024), Andragoras (online) (Accessed 04/03/2024). Grainger, J. D., (2014), The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323- 223 BCE), Seleukos I to Seleukos III. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. (eBook). Lendering, J., Livius (2018, last changed 2020), Arsaces II (online) (Accessed 04/03/2024). Lendering, J., Livius (2018, last changed 2020), Arsaces III Phriapatius (online) (Accessed 04/03/2024). Olbrycht, M. J. (2014), The genealogy of Artabanos II (AD 8/9- 39/40), King of Parthia. Miscellanea Antrhopologica et Sociologica 15(3): 92-97. Rawlinson, G. (1871), A Manual of Ancient History, From the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. Comprising the History of Chaldea, Assyria, Media, Babylonia, Lydia, Phoenicia, Syria, Judaea, Egypt, Carthage, Persia, Greece, Macedonia, Parthia, and Rome. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers. Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Andragoras (Seleucid satrap) (online) (Accessed 04/03/2024). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Priapatius (online) (Accessed 04/03/2024).
A Sermon for Whitsunday Acts 2:1-11 by William Klock “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? How about now…now are we there yet?” As you read the Gospels the disciples' questions about the kingdom of God feel a bit like that. All Jesus needed was one of them kicking the back of his seat on the way to Jerusalem. “When will the kingdom come? How long? Are we there yet? Is it almost time, Jesus?” But it wasn't just the disciples. It was First Century Judaism. Pretty much everyone was on the edge of their seat with anticipation for the kingdom. Everyone except the Sadducees, because of course, they were sitting on the top of the heap, already in control of everything. They'd already arrived and weren't particularly interested in anything that might upset the status quo. But even then, they knew it was the Romans who were really calling the shots, so I suspect even the Sadducees were thinking “Are we there yet?” They just didn't say it out loud. Everyone knew it was time. It had to be. And that sense was even stronger for the disciples, because they knew Jesus was the Messiah—the one come to usher in God's kingdom and to set the world to rights. So if the Messiah had come—well—the kingdom had to be really close. And so Luke, as he opens the book of Acts with the Ascension of Jesus, he tells us of Jesus' promise to his friends: “Don't go back to Galilee. Stay in Jerusalem. As John baptised you with water, in a few days I will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.” But they hadn't asked Jesus about the Holy Spirit. They wanted to know when the kingdom was coming, because it had to be soon. And so even as Jesus was leading them up the Mount of Olives and about to ascend to his throne, they were pestering him, “Is this the time? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now?” And, remember, in answer to their question Jesus ascended, up on the clouds, into heaven, to take up his throne, to rule and to reign. And as he did that, he commissioned his disciples to do something that I don't think they expected. He commissioned them to be his royal heralds, to go out and to proclaim this good news to Jerusalem, to Judea, even to Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth. Now, this wasn't the first time Jesus had sent his disciples out to proclaim the kingdom, but when he'd sent them out before, it was to a people who were also asking those “Are we there yet?” questions. The disciples had gone out and told the people that in Jesus the Messiah had come and that the kingdom was in sight. But now Jesus is sending them out to proclaim that in his resurrection and ascension the kingdom has come and that was no small task. Because even though the disciples had seen their risen Lord and even though they saw him ascend to his throne, this wasn't how anyone expected the kingdom to arrive. They thought everyone would be resurrected all at once. They though the Messiah would put down the enemies of God's people and cast down their empires. They expected a king like David who would punish evil, wipe away all the problems, and make everything as it should be. Instead, the wrong people were still in control, evil people still did evil things, so much was still wrong with the world—and yet Jesus had inaugurated something, he really had risen from the dead, and they'd seen him ascend to his throne with their own eyes, so they knew he was truly Lord and that the kingdom had come. The Lord's plan was to work through them, to spread the good news and to tell the world that Jesus is Lord, and to grow the kingdom. That wasn't what anyone expected, but they should have, because that's how the Lord had been working in the world ever since he called Abraham out of the land of Ur and set him apart from everyone else, and made him and his family a witness to the world—that one day, through this people, the whole earth would know the Lord and his greatness and his goodness and his faithfulness and come to give him glory. I wonder if we, too, don't forget this sometimes. We might know better deep down, but we kind of assume that the Christian life is, more or less, a personal thing. We raise our kids in it. Maybe we talk to a few close people about it. But we act as if our duty is mostly just to be good, godly people until Jesus comes back and sets everything to rights—as if he's the one who's going to make it all happen by doing all the hard work. Sure, there are some people called to be missionaries who go off to faraway places where they've never heard of Jesus, but for most of us, it's just a quiet, personal, individual sort of thing. Even the dominant eschatology of our day assumes that things will just get worse and worse until Jesus zaps us all out of here and rains down fire and brimstone on this awful, corrupt world. But that's never what the story was about and that's never where it was headed. The Lord called and created a people to make him known with the expectation that eventually that people—not in their own power, but in his—but that people would really make him known until, as the prophets Isaiah and Habakkuk both said, the knowledge of his glory would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Maybe we forget our part in this kingdom mission because it seems so impossible. What? Us? Grow the kingdom until the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth? What? Us? Bring the nations to give him glory? That's too big for us? We'll just be holy over here and wait for Jesus to come back and do the impossible stuff. And at this point, Jesus' disciples had no idea just how big and impossible the task was. Taking the gospel to the gentiles wasn't even on their radar. They were still thinking it was a message for Jews. It would be some years before the full extent of it even sank in. And this is why Jesus told his friends to stay in Jerusalem and to wait. In his resurrection he was vindicated as the Messiah. In his ascension he took his throne and sent the clear message that the kingdom has come. But before the disciples could go on with the work of the kingdom, they needed something that God's people had never had before—at least not in this way. They needed the power of the Holy Spirit to truly be the new Israel, to carry on the mission the Lord had given to Abraham and Isaac, and to all of Israel: to bless the nations by making him known to them. Without the Spirit, Jesus' disciples would have the same problem God's people had always had and after a time, when the excitement wore off, they would become fickle and faithless and their loyalties would be divided and they would fall into sin and the nations would mock them, this time jeering, “Where's your Messiah now?” No, they needed this gift of the indwelling Spirit to set their hearts on God and to write his law of love on their hearts—truly transforming their affections. And it was this Spirit who would empower them to go out into a hostile world with the good news about Jesus and to live out his love and his grace and his justice, carrying the kingdom to the ends of the earth. That's why they had to wait in Jerusalem. I don't think they really had any idea what was about to happen. They didn't even really understand the full extent of the mission he'd given them. They were just excited because of his resurrection and his ascension and Luke says that while they waited in Jerusalem that they spent their time in the temple praising and blessing God. And then comes our Epistle today. Look at Acts 2. Luke writes, When the day of Pentecost arrived… Let's stop there. This isn't an incidental detail. It's integral to the story. As integral as Jesus having been born a Jew. As integral as his death and resurrection taking place at Passover. “Pentecost” means “fiftieth” in Greek. Greek-speaking Jews gave the festival this name because it fell fifty days after Passover, but its biblical name was the “feast of weeks” and it was connected with the wheat harvest. It was when the Lord commanded his people to bring him their firstfruits. That's the very first part of the harvest. It was an offering to the Lord and it was an act of faith on their part. Other peoples brought offerings to their gods after the harvest had been brought in, once they knew what they could spare. But Israel gave in faith from the very first of the harvest, trusting the Lord to give the rest. So Pentecost was a feast of expectation and faith. But Pentecost was also the feast when Israel celebrated the giving of the law, the torah, at Mt. Sinai. That's where the significance of “fifty” comes from. Again, it follows fifty days after Passover and you'll remember that Passover commemorated Israel's exodus from Egypt: their slavery, Moses and the Lord's command to Pharaoh, “Let my people go!”, the plagues, the blood on the doorposts, the sparing of Israel's firstborn sons, the flight from Egypt, the rescue at the Red Sea. Passover was a festival of the Lord's deliverance of his people and it celebrated that great event in which Israel was born as a nation. And each generation participated in those events anew as they gathered year in and year out in their homes to share the Passover meal. It marked them out as the Lord's covenant people. But that wasn't the end of the story. From the Red Sea, the Lord led his people into the wilderness and fifty days later he gave them his law. He called Moses up to Mt. Sinai and when Moses came back down he brough the law with him, carved on stone tablets. In the Exodus the Lord had made Israel his people. At Mt. Sinai he showed them what it meant and what it looked like to be his people. So at Passover the Jews celebrated their redemption. At Pentecost they remembered that the Lord had redeemed them for a purpose: to live a new kind of life in order to fulfil his purposes and their calling. Can you see how this all fits together with the events of the Gospels? Easter is our Passover, when we remember how, through Jesus, the Lord redeemed us from our bondage to sin and death and made us his people. And now, on Pentecost—this is our Mt. Sinai. Let's continue with Acts 2: When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. In Exodus we're given an awesome picture of the holiness of God as his presence descended on the mountain in smoke and fire and thunder, and here the Spirit comes again like a storm, in this mighty rushing wind and fire descends upon his people. And here Luke tells this new story to parallel the old. As Moses went up on the mountain to the Lord, so Jesus has ascended into heaven. And now Luke wants us to understand that Jesus, just as he promised he would, has come back down. Moses came down with tablets of stone to tell the people how to live as the Lord's covenant people. And now Jesus has returned, he's come down from heaven in the person of the Holy Spirit, to write his law of love on the very hearts of his people. Don't misunderstand. That doesn't mean that Israel had a harsh and rigid law written on stone and that Jesus' people just “follow their hearts” or something like that. There's a sense in which that's true, but definitely not in the sense that the world talks about following your heart. Following our hearts is what got us into trouble and made a mess of this world, because apart from Jesus and the Spirit our hearts are set on sin and self. That's the point here. The law written on stone showed Israel how to live as God's holy people, but it couldn't change the affections of their hearts. The Spirit, on the other hand, takes away the need for those stone tablets by changing our very hearts, filling them with a love for God and a desire for holiness, and by turning us away from sin and from self. And notice how the wind and the fire come from heaven. Through the Spirit the creative and renewing power of the Lord—the very breath that he breathed into humanity to give us life in the first place—it descends on his people to accomplish his work on earth. Jesus taught his disciples to pray “on earth as it is in heaven” and Pentecost was the firstfruits of an answer to that prayer. Sometimes Christians treat the presence and gifts of the Holy Spirit as things that raise us up above the world or that make the world irrelevant, but it's really just the opposite. The Spirit is the life-giving breath of God that gives us a foretaste of the resurrection and of the life we hope for one day in this world set to rights. As the Spirit sets our hearts on God, he makes us the “on earth as it is in heaven” people, the people who not only show the world what God's kingdom looks like, but who actually live out his kingdom and its values of love and grace and mercy and justice in the midst of a world that values all the opposites of those things. But the first manifestation of the Spirit's “on earth as it is in heaven” ministry is what we see here. Luke says, first, that Jesus' people were all together when this happened—they were united—and then the first manifestation of the Spirit was this amazing speech in other languages. But what exactly was it? Let's keep reading from verse 5: Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” Jews had spread out across the known world and festivals like Passover and Pentecost brough them back to Jerusalem. The Spirit came on Jesus' disciples with fire and the sound of a mighty rushing wind, but what everyone else couldn't help but notice was the ruckus they made as they began to speak in these other languages. And it got their attention. The disciples were a bunch of rubes from Galilee, way up north, or at least that's how people in Jerusalem would have seen them. Galileans spoke Aramaic and Greek—the local languages—but they weren't cosmopolitan enough to speak all these other languages. And yet these men visiting Jerusalem from places like Egypt and Asia and even from places like Parthia, beyond the borders of the empire, heard these Galileans speaking in their own languages. That made them stop and take note. But what they were saying caught their attention even more. Luke says they were telling of the mighty works of God. In the context here that can mean only one thing. They were proclaiming the good news about Jesus. That he had come proclaiming the kingdom and calling the people to repentance, that he had been crucified, that he had risen from the dead, and that he had ascended, and is now Lord—and maybe most of all, that he had done this in fulfilment of the Lord's promises and to show the Lord's faithfulness. Many of these visitors had, no doubt, heard about Jesus and how he'd been crucified just a few weeks before. Some of them had probably heard rumors that he'd risen from the dead. If they'd been spending any time around the temple, they would have heard and seen the disciples praising God for what he had done in Jesus—and they probably thought they were crazy. But now they hear these bumpkins from Galilee declaring the might works of God miraculously in their own languages and they stop. And they listen. And some of them, Luke says, sneered at the disciples thinking they were drunk. But that's when—if we were to continue on from today's Epistle in Chapter 2—that's when Peter stood up addressed them, saying, “It's nine o'clock in the morning. It's hardly the time of day for men to be drunk. No, what you're seeing is the fulfilment of the words spoken by the prophet Joel when he told of the Lord's promise to pour out his Spirit and to redeem his people. And Peter went on to tell the men there, again, of the mighty deeds of God: of Jesus, of his death, of his resurrection, and his ascension. And he walked the men through the scriptures they knew so well and through the promises the Lord had made to his people, and he showed how Jesus had and was fulfilling them. He finished his sermon, Luke says, proclaiming: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36) And the men who were listening were cut to the heart and cried out to Peter, “What should we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:38-41) The “on earth as it is in heaven” people began to grow. The rest of the book of Acts is Luke's testimony to the mighty deeds of God through these people, empowered by Jesus and the Spirit. We see the gospel—and with it the kingdom—going out from Jerusalem, to Judea, and then to Samaria, where it united Jews and Samaritans for the first time. And then we see it go out to the nations, to the gentiles, the book ending with Paul proclaiming the good news about Jesus in Rome, right under Caesar's nose. And Acts shows us churches sprouting up across the world. Acts is the firstfruits of the kingdom harvest—a harvest that would, eventually include the whole Roman Empire and beyond. And, Brothers and Sisters, Pentecost reminds us how. Without it we might be tempted to give up, to retreat into the church building, and wait for Jesus to come and do it all himself. But Pentecost reminds us that going all the way back to Abraham, the Lord has been calling and creating and empowering a people to make him known to a world lost in darkness, a people to be light, a people—like the disciples that day in Jerusalem—to proclaim to the world the mighty deeds of the God of Israel. A people to proclaim the good news that in this Jesus who was crucified, who has risen from the dead, and who has ascended to his throne to rule and reign, that he is and that he will set this world to rights. But, maybe most importantly, Pentecost reminds us that Jesus has called us and made us this people, not only to go out and to tell, but to go out and live and to do and to make and to build and to show his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. We do that as we live the fruit the Spirit has given and as we show the world, in real, practical, hands-on ways what God's new creation is like, living his love and his mercy and his grace and his justice and working for those things in the world. It is an impossible task, but Pentecost also reminds us that we are not called to do it in our own power or on our own terms, but as we are empowered and guided by Jesus and the Spirit. Let's pray: O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Auxiliaries were some of the most important troops in the all-conquering Roman Army. Unlike legionaries, their more heavily-armoured and widely famed counterparts, auxiliaries were recruited from across the Empire and were renowned for their versatility. Deployed as border guards in the far-away hinterlands near Hadrians Wall or as mobile cavalry in the deserts of Parthia, they helped aid the advance of Rome's military behemoth in many more ways than one.In today's episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by historical novelist Ben Kane to delve deeper into the fascinating stories of these soldiers and uncover who they were, where they came from and how important they were to Rome's many conquests. This episode was edited and produced by Joseph Knight.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code ANCIENTS - sign up here.You can take part in our listener survey here.
With the Clouds of Heaven Daniel 7:1-28 by William Klock The seventh chapter of Daniel begins this way: In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. It's finally Daniel's turn to dream. The storyteller rolls back the clock about a decade to the first year of Belshazzar, which would have been about 550 BC. The implied audience, remember, is the faithful Jews living in Judah in the early 160s BC, during the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. The purpose of the book of Daniel was to encourage them and to exhort them to stand firm for the Lord, to stand firm for his law, even as this pagan king was making it illegal for them to live according to the law and to worship the Lord, even as many of their fellow Jews were caving in to the pressure and apostatizing. The book of Daniel points them back to their ancestors who lived during the Babylonian exile and had their own struggles to remain faithful to the Lord. The story is told through their eyes to encourage the current generation. We also need to understand that the book of Daniel now shifts its genre from tales about Daniel and his friends in the Babylonian court to apocalyptic visions. There are four visions. This first one in Chapter 7, a second in Chapter 8, a third in Chapter 9, and a fourth spanning Chapters 10-12. In Greek, an apokalypsis is a revelation, an unveiling, of something. It's related to prophecy, but it usually has—at least in the Bible—it usually has to do with current events and is God's way of pulling the curtain back to show that current events aren't just random or haphazard, but that he's at work behind them. Biblical apocalyptic encourages the faithful to stand firm and to trust in the Lord knowing that even as evil seems like it's out of control, it's not. God is sovereign and he—and his faithful people—will win the day. It reminds us that God is king and that he will vindicate his people for their faith. And, as we saw with Revelation, one of the defining characteristics of apocalyptic literature is that it communicates through symbols. And that can make it difficult for us. The symbolism would have been obvious to the original hearers, but because it's very context dependent—things like culture and history, worldview and mythology and things like that—it can be very hard for us to understand. One of the hard things for us, one of the things that gets lost in translation is the visceral reaction this symbolism would have created in the original audience. For us it's just something to decode: this means that. For them, the imagery would stir up emotions. This wasn't about events thousands of years ago. This was about what they were experiencing. It was about their world, their not-too-distant past, and their not-too-distant future. It was about the present affliction, the present persecution, the present pressures that confronted them. Think of the feelings you might have as you watch the evening news: fear, dread, sadness, elation. Those sorts of feelings were connected with this imagery. The timing of this vision, at the beginning of Belshazzar's co-regency, means that Daniel's vision would coincide with big news. For millennia the Assyrian empire had dominated the Near East. The Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar and Nabonidus and Belshazzar was the last incarnation of Assyria. To the north was the Median Empire and to the east the Persian. Cyrus the Great, the Persian emperor was on the move, gobbling up parts of Media and Babylon. In 550 BC the Medes fell to the Persians. Now Babylon was in Cyrus' sights. Here were Daniel and his people, bystanders in the middle of turbulent times. We can imagine Daniel hearing the most recent news of the fall of the Medes, going to bed, tossing and turning, finally falling into restless sleep, and dreaming. Let's continue with verse 2: Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagles' wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.' After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. (Daniel 7:2-8) In his vision, Daniel stands by the great sea. In the Old Testament the “great sea” always means the Mediterranean. It was the centre of the ancient world. Imagine Daniel standing in a place jutting out into the sea, a place the Rock of Andromeda at Joppa. The waters rage and the winds blow. It's not an ordinary wind. The winds rage from north and south, east and west all at the same time and the sea churns violently around him. For all the ancient Near Eastern peoples, the sea represented chaos. Genesis opens with the sea—formless and void—representing the chaos of the uncreated world into which the Lord speaks, separating the waters, raising dry land, bringing the order needed for humans to live and to flourish. Now, in his dream, Daniel sees the sea raging. Chaos threatens the order of God's good creation. As we look at our own current events, it's not very hard to image what Daniel felt. Turn on the news or look on the Web and so often it seems like chaos and evil are tearing the world apart. In so many places humans languish when they should be flourishing, all because of war and corruption, because of poverty and greed and sickness. Sometimes it seems like chaos has won the day. And who's at the heart of the chaos? Daniel sees four ferocious beasts emerge from the sea. The beasts are symbolic and it's hard to be certain exactly how all the symbolism here works. A lot of it seems to come from the Old Testament prophets, but it could also be coming from the mythology and the symbols of the various peoples and empires that are symbolized. Some of it is eerily similar to the symbolism of the Babylonian books Daniel would have studied in learning about divination and the symbolism of dreams. What we do know—because Daniel is told in verse 17—is that these beasts represent four empires. We know from what has preceded and what follows in Daniel that the sequence of empires begins with Assyria, of which Babylon was the last incarnation. So a regal lion with the wings of an eagle emerges from the sea representing the greatness of Babylon. Its wings are plucked off and it is set on two feet, which reminds us of Nebuchadnezzar in Chapter 4, ranging in the wilderness like a wild animal, but eventually restored to humanity and kingship by the Lord. From this point there's disagreement on how to interpret the symbolism and that's because of our distance from the original context. We just can't be sure what the symbolism means and it then becomes very easy to look through history and cherry pick things that match the symbolism and squeeze it into our modern interpretations. I'll just note that the rabbis and Christians for most of our history interpreted these four empires as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. That was mostly because in the days of the rabbis and early Christians, Rome was the great global power and because Rome so often stood opposed to both the Jews and Christians. Rome fell, but Byzantium—the eastern Roman empire—remained until the 15th Century. And there were successors to Rome in the West. In 800 Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans and it wasn't until 1806 that the Holy Roman Empire finally came to an end. But as the years went by, connecting Daniel's fourth beast to Rome became more difficult, and since the early 19th Century folks have had to work especially hard to hold on to that interpretation, whether identifying the beast with the papacy or with the European Union—and those schemes have consistently ended up falling apart. History gives us a better basis for interpreting Daniel's beasts. We know now that at the time Daniel was written there was a common scheme across the Ancient Near East for describing the succession of empires. The four great empires were Assyria, the Medes, the Persians, and the Greek Macedonians. In fact, as the Romans replaced the Greeks in the centuries that followed, they were added to the scheme as a fifth empire. So following this common pattern, the bear represents the Medes. As in Nebuchadnezzar's statue, it was clearly inferior to the Babylonians. The three ribs in its mouth may be a reference to Jeremiah 51:27-29, which describes the three nations that joined with the Medes in their attack on Babylon. And the four-winged, four-headed leopard then represents the Persians. The swiftness with which the Persians conquered the four corners of the earth contrasts with the ponderous bear imagery of the Medes. But Daniel's vision really isn't very interested in the second and third kingdoms. The focus of his dream is on the fourth. This is the kingdom that raged and threatened the people of God at the time the book was written. And the fourth kingdom is different. As we'll see in a bit, the first three beasts, despite appearances, were all under control. But this fourth beast, it does what it wants to do—or at least, that's how it thinks of itself. The imagery of the great beast, exceedingly strong, and stamping into oblivion what was left after breaking things apart with its iron teeth or tusks, suggests an elephant—a good image of Alexander's unstoppable army that conquered the territory of the other three empires. The ten horns are fitting symbols of the ten kingdoms that arose from Alexander's empire after his death.[1] But out of those horns there came up one king in particular, who was a menace to the people of God. The little horn is, again, a fitting image of Antiochus Epiphanes. He tried to abolish the law and the worship of the God of Israel. He was the one who claimed divinity for himself. He was the cause of all their woes. But then, in the midst of the chaos, as the sea churns and these ferocious beasts rage across the earth, a new image appears—a bit like Dad coming home to find his unruly children tearing apart the house. Look at verses 9 and 10: “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. The beasts are brought to heel as the God of Israel takes his seat as judge. The one who tamed chaos in the first place established earthly kings to preserve his order and to promote human flourishing. These kings have done the opposite and now what at first seemed like wild and ferocious beasts stand pitifully before the judgement seat of the Most High God, his fiery throne, and before the heavenly hosts. Then verses 11 and 12: “I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. Even as he stands before the Most High, that blasphemous little horn continues to speak. The other beasts, for all their raging, served the Living God—as we've seen in the first six chapters. They all, in some way and in the end, acknowledged him. The Lord of history raised them up to serve his purposes. But this horn on the fourth beast rages against the sovereign God and is judged: killed, destroyed, and burned to oblivion. The vision gave hope to the faithful living under his reign of terror. But that's not all there is to it. Daniel has a second vision and this one's not just about the bringing down of wicked rulers; this one is about the raising up of a righteous one. As St. Paul writes in Romans, creation waits with eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed. It's not enough to judge the wicked. Creation longs for its rightful stewards. Look at verses 13 and 14: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. History will not continue as a reign of terror and blasphemy, nor will it merely end in judgement. In place of the raging kings represented by ferocious beasts, Daniel now sees one “like a son of man”. In the beginning the Lord created human beings to rule his creation with goodness and wisdom as his stewards and that's what this new figure like a son of man represents. After the Lord has judged the wicked empires of the world, this son of man arrives riding on the clouds—that's a dramatic image of the Lord's war chariot. He is presented before the Ancient of Day, before the Most High God, and to him is given glory and an everlasting dominion—ultimately a kingdom that will not be destroyed. But what does this all mean? The dream continues as one of the heavenly host explains the symbolism to Daniel in verses 15-27: “As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me. I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. ‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.' “Then I desired to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet, and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom. “Thus he said: ‘As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them; he shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings. He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end. And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.' This is the hope of the saints. The blasphemous little monster will put himself in the place of God. He will torment the faithful. He will have power and authority and, to all appearances, it will seem like his reign will last forever—or longer than those other kingdoms, at any rate. A time, times—and that would go in sequence: four times and eight times and sixteen times and so on. But no. It's a time and times and suddenly a half. That might be a reference to the roughly three-and-a-half years Antiochus Epiphanes terrorized Judah, but it's more likely the idea that his power is cut short at its height. The Lord will give him enough rope to hang himself. And his kingdom will be given to the saints, to the holy ones of the Most High—and his dominion, his kingdom will go on forever and ever. It's an image of the world set to rights. Chaos is finally, once and for all given order in by the Lord, and human beings are restored to their rightful place, to serve before the Lord as his stewards—as priests and kings. This is why the Jews saw the son of man here as a symbolic representative of Israel. They were the people elect and set apart by the Lord, a people made holy to be a light to the nations—a people who, in living with the Lord in their midst—gave the world a glimpse of what creation was supposed to be like and who pointed forward to the day when it really would be set to rights and men and women would finally serve the Lord as the stewards and rulers of his creation. The chapter ends in verse 28: “Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart.” This is the end of the first vision, but there's more to come. This vision sets the scene and gives us the setting and timeframe for the visions that will follow. But then—and I guess I'm jumping ahead to the end of Daniel—we realise as Christians that even as Daniel's visions end, it's not really the end of the matter. The Lord did indeed bring down the evil Antiochus IV. The Lord did indeed vindicate his people. A new king would take the throne in Judah. But as is so often the case with Old Testament prophecy, even though we see it obviously fulfilled in the events of those days, it's fulfilled in a way that leaves things open to a final and greater fulfilment. Judah was only free for a century and then Pompey came, conquered Jerusalem for Rome, and deposed the Hasmonean dynasty. And the people would wait again for the Lord to deliver them. It was in those dark days that Jesus was born and began his ministry and it shouldn't surprise us in the least that he took for himself this title from Daniel, son of man. He was the embodiment of the humanity we forsook in the garden and the embodiment of the Israel that Israel could never manage to be. In him, God became the first man to be what we were created to be. And as our representative, he broke the bonds of sin by letting evil do its worst. The chaos and the vicious beasts of fallen, sinful, rebellious humanity rose up around him and did their worst, they killed him, and they buried him in the earth, and for three days evil thought it had triumphed. But on the third day, God vindicated his son, raising him from death. And as Jesus rose from his grave, so Jesus also rose to take his throne. The son of man has been given dominion and glory and his kingdom and as the good news of his death and resurrection goes out, the peoples, nations, and languages are being brought to him in faith, to serve him and to give him glory. And in that, we see the people of God, the new Israel, the church empowered by word and Spirit, coming on the clouds—riding the Lord's war chariot, equipped with the gospel—the good news of Jesus, crucified, risen, and enthroned in glory. And there, Brothers and Sisters, we ought to find hope and inspiration to stand firm in faith even as the seas rage today, as new beasts emerge from the dark waters, even as they speak vain and blasphemous things. Jesus has won the decisive battle. He now sends out: Onward! Christian soldiers. And on we go, taking up our crosses into the world, knowing that the one who humbled himself on the cross and who conquered by his blood not only stands with us, but has filled us with his own Spirit and now goes on before us. Let's pray again our Collect: Almighty God, consider the heartfelt desires of your servants, we pray, and stretch out the right hand of your majesty to defend us against all our enemies, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. [1] Ptolemaic Egypt, Seleucia, Macedon, Pergamum, Pontus, Bithynia, Cappadocia, Armenia, Parthia, and Bactria.
After a tumultuous reign, a new Vologases has taken over Parthia and starteed a new branch of the dynasty. He will now have to deal with more Roman trouble, a devastating plague and...stability maybe? You can find all the images on our website! https://soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia.wordpress.com/2024/01/14/56-vologases-iv/ Here's the link to our Patreon! www.patreon.com/soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia
'Shortly after Marcus Aurelius came to power in AD 161, the Roman Empire was racked by a series of military crises. While unrest in Britain and a new war with Parthia were swiftly dealt with, the invasion of Roman territory by the Chatti and Chauci peoples heralded a resurgent threat from the empire's European neighbours. Soon the Marcomanni and the Quadi, as well as the Dacians and the Sarmatian Iazyges, would attack the Romans in a series of savage conflicts that continued until AD 175 and would involve the first invasion of Roman Italy since the beginning of the 1st century BC.' Marc talks to Murray about his latest Combat title for Osprey on Marcus Aurelius' Marcomannic Wars, Barbarian Warrior vs Roman Legionary: Marcomannic Wars AD 165–180. Join us on Patron patreon.com/ancientwarfarepodcast
Parthia is split between east and west, the Kushans are ravaging the east and Trajan is getting ready to set the west alight. Will the empire survive? Is Vologases the man for the job? Seems unlikely. You can find all the images on our website! https://soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia.wordpress.com/2024/01/07/55-vologases-iii/ Here's the link to our Patreon! www.patreon.com/soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia
To mark the fiftieth episode of After Alexander, we're going to go back in time all the way to the first wars of the successors to focus on Alexander IV. Specifically, we will focus on a point in his life we didn't mention the first time around- Alexander the Little was married! Sources for this episode: Berger, B. M. (1960), How Long Is a Generation? The British Journal of Sociology 11(1): 10-23. Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur (eBook). Geer, R. L. (1947), Diodorus of Sicily (Volume IX). Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd. Grainger, J. D. (2014), The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323- 223 BCE), Seleukos I to Seleukos III. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. (eBook). Langhorne, J. and Langhorne, W. (1770), on Attalus (date unknown), Life of Demetrius (online) (Accessed 12/10/2023). Matsamura, S. and Forster, P. (2008), Generation time and effective popular size in Polar Eskimos. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 275: 1501-1508. Plutarch (1920), The Parallel Lives. Loeb Classical Library Volume IX. Reproduced by Thayer, B, University of Chicago (online) (Accessed 12/10/2023). Rawlinson, G. (1871), A Manual of Ancient History, From the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. Comprising the History of Chaldea, Assyria, Media, Babylonia, Lydia, Phoenicia, Syria, Judaea, Egypt, Carthage, Greece, Macedonia, Parthia, and Rome. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers. Watson, J. S. (1853), on Attalus (date unknown), Justinus: Epitome of Pompeius Trogus' Philippic Histories (online) (Accessed 23/10/2023). Welles, C. B. (1962), Diodorus of Sicily (Volume VIII). Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd. Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Aeacides of Epirus (online) (Accessed 12/10/2023). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Alexander I of Epirus (online) (Accessed 12/10/2023). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Alexander IV (online) (Accessed 12/10/2023). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Argead dynasty (online) (Accessed 12/10/2023). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Arybbas of Epirus (online) (Accessed 12/10/2023). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Deidamia I of Epirus (online) (Accessed 12/10/2023). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Demetrius I Poliorcetes (online) (Accessed 12/10/2023). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Neoptolemus II of Epirus (online) (Accessed 12/10/2023). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Philip II (online) (Accessed 12/10/2023). Author unknown, 23andMe (date unknown), Average Percent DNA Shared Between Relatives (online) (Accessed 12/10/2023).
This is the second episode in a series of speculations and alternate histories. This time: What if Christian missionaries had never preached to the pagans? Second, what may happened if Christian missionaries had ignored the Roman empire, and proselytised in Parthia, instead? Third, what would have become of Christianity if the Jewish revolts had never occurred, and the Temple stood to the end of the empire?
He was a Galilean, the son of Alphaeus, and was originally named Levi. He was a tax-collector (an occupation despised by the Jews of Palestine) until he met the Lord, who said to him, "Follow me." From that day he was one of the disciples. After the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Apostle was appointed to bring the Gospel to his fellow Jews, for whom, according to the Church's tradition, he wrote down the Gospel for the first time, in the Aramaic language, eight years after the Ascension. Some years later, this book was translated into Greek by St James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem. No copy in the original language has survived. Later, St Matthew traveled to Parthia and the city of Hierapolis (on the Euphrates river) to proclaim the Gospel to the pagans there. One tradition holds that he reposed in peace in that region at a great age. Another tradition holds that he was martyred by a king of that region, who later repented and was baptized, taking the name Matthew. The king then cast down the idols and established the Christian faith in his realm. When St Matthew is portrayed in icons, the likeness of a man is shown with him, one of the four living creatures spoken of in the first chapter of Ezekiel. St Irenaeus writes that the man symbolizes Christ's Incarnation.
He was a Galilean, the son of Alphaeus, and was originally named Levi. He was a tax-collector (an occupation despised by the Jews of Palestine) until he met the Lord, who said to him, "Follow me." From that day he was one of the disciples. After the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Apostle was appointed to bring the Gospel to his fellow Jews, for whom, according to the Church's tradition, he wrote down the Gospel for the first time, in the Aramaic language, eight years after the Ascension. Some years later, this book was translated into Greek by St James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem. No copy in the original language has survived. Later, St Matthew traveled to Parthia and the city of Hierapolis (on the Euphrates river) to proclaim the Gospel to the pagans there. One tradition holds that he reposed in peace in that region at a great age. Another tradition holds that he was martyred by a king of that region, who later repented and was baptized, taking the name Matthew. The king then cast down the idols and established the Christian faith in his realm. When St Matthew is portrayed in icons, the likeness of a man is shown with him, one of the four living creatures spoken of in the first chapter of Ezekiel. St Irenaeus writes that the man symbolizes Christ's Incarnation.
"Leaven"; Bottom-up management; Danger of repose; Community of Early Church; vs Free bread of Rome; Mammon - righteous and unrighteous; "Corban" and "doron"; Matt 14:1 Death of John the Baptist; Herodias; Knowing history -> language; Needing the Holy Spirit; Self-deception; Gathering in tens, hundreds and thousands; Developing trust; Facing truth; Giving to have life more abundant; Sacrifice; Seeing the darkness within you; Killing children; Pythagoras?; Judicial system of Israel; Jews who aren't Jews; Welfare states vs righteousness; Feeding the multitude; Manna?; Twelve baskets left?; Feeding Levites; Comparing Mark with Matthew; Barabbas; Pontius Pilate and the crucifixion of Christ; "Commanded"; Focusing on the message; Hospital closures; Practice of giving; Matt 14:22; Walking on water; Jesus: Son of God; Ministers of service; Cities of Refuge; Making the sick, whole; Healing by faith; Help with unbelief; Seeking the kingdom; Herod Antipas; "Tetrarch"; No king in Jerusalem; History of the time; Exile of Herod Antipas; Parthia?; Societal degeneration; Revolutionary war: Christ's revolution; Invest in the kingdom.
It doesn't feel like that long ago that we were here last, but Syrian War III is here- seven years after the first settled on Syrian War II. Get ready to see Ptolemy III rampage through Syria and the Middle East in a way Egyptian kings haven't done since Thutmose III more than a thousand years previously. Something tells me it's not going well for the Seleucids... Sources for this episode: Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur (eBook). Casson, L. (1993), Ptolemy II and the Hunting of African Elephants. Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-2014) 123: 247-260. Drower, M. S. and Dorman, P. F. (2023), Thutmose III (online) (Accessed 23/10/2023). The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2019), Horemheb (online) (Accessed 23/10/2023). Gilbert, N. (2010), African elephants are two distinct species. Nature. Gowers, W. (1947), The African Elephant in Warfare. African Affairs 46(182): 42-49. Gowers, W. (1948), African Elephants and Ancient Authors. African Affairs 47(188): 173-180. Grainger, J. D. (2014), The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323- 223 BCE), Seleukos I to Seleukos III. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. (eBook). Mariette, A. (1892), Outlines of Ancient Egyptian History. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Murison, R. G. (1951), History of Egypt. Edinburgh. T. & T. Clark. Philips, A. K. (1977), Founder of the XIXth Dynasty? O: Cairo 25646 reconsidered. Orientalia 46(1): 116-121. Rawlinson, G. (1871), A Manual of Ancient History, From the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western Empire. Comprising the History of Chaldea, Assyria, Media, Babylonia, Lydia, Phoenicia, Syria, Judaea, Egypt, Carthage, Greece, Macedonia, Parthia, and Rome. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers. Redford, D. B. (2003), The Wars in Syria and Palestine of Thutmose III. Leiden/Boston: BRILL. TED-Ed, YouTube (2014), The pharaoh that wouldn't be forgotten (online) (Accessed 23/10/2023). Watson, J. S. (1853), on Attalus (date unknown), Justinus: Epitome of Pompeius Trogus' Philippic Histories (online) (Accessed 23/10/2023). Author unknown, The Calculator Site (date unknown), What is 5'2'' in cm? (Accessed 01/11/2023). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Battle of Raphia (online) (Accessed 23/10/2023).
Many words from Christ; Our journey as individuals; Matt 10:1; Disciples/students; Parables?; Sickness and disease; Bible sources; Uninspired translators - Inspired readers; Hearing the Word of God; Trauma; "Sickness" = nosos - disease; "Disease" = infirmity/weakness (soft/effeminate); Transference of traits/identity via trauma; Overcoming trauma; Consequential disease; Giving "power" to disciples; Listing apostles; Immigration?; Population collapse?; The design of God; Preaching the gospel; Leprosy?; Rotting of the soul; Why gather?; Preparedness; Conduits of Holy Spirit; Judging; Wise serpents; Protecting sheep in the midst of wolves; Living for your children - strengthening; Sin of Sodom; Resurrecting righteousness; Sanhedrin (Council); Subjection; "Swear not"; Taking God's name in vain; Other churches; Governments of power; Confrontation; Speaking from the heart/spirit; Dealing with demons; Letting God work in your life; Fear Not!; Repentance; "Israel"; Power of choice; Confess? (homologeo) - agree/say the same; Doers of the Word; Artificial Holy Spirit; Sacrifice; Knowing yourself; The Way of Christ; Matt 25:34-46 lookahead; "Brethren"; Name of Christ; Where is your faith?; Who is your comforter?; Helping with unbelief; Parthia v Rome; Building social bonds; Christian soldiers; It's time to repent.
Contextualizing Matthew; Christ's history-changing message; Parthia and India; Digging deeper; Son of God controversy; Rome's free bread and circuses; Earlier congregations; Baptizing Christians; Welfare snare, Bondage of Egypt; Income tax; Never to go there; Choosing rulers; Julius Caesar's temples; Covetousness; Christ vs Caesar; Robbing your neighbor; Covetousness is not OK; Attacking delusion? Or saving lives?; "Christians" working iniquity; Freewill; Dopamine?; Fasting; Analyzing the Gospel; Pursuit of happiness; John 5:34; Rom 10:1; "Might be saved"; Our freewill choice; Living in light; Matt 6:22; Focus on truth; George Floyd example; Bringing light into the room; Matt 7:1; Turning neighbor into resource; Saving yourself?; "Judgement" = crema; Decree; Responsibility; Protecting neighbor; Peoples' courts; Juries; Deciding fact and law; Corban of the Pharisees; Seeing your error; Keeping commandments; Sacrifice; Matt 7:5; Your beam; Idolatry; Col 3:5; Hypocrites; Pearls of truth; Heading families; Taking care of society's needy; Approving corruption; The way of the Kingdom; Faith; Strait gate; Loving truth; Racism?; Wolves in sheep's clothing; Knowing by fruits; Fruit of modern church; Your chosen gods; Dainties; Wanting to see; Unrighteous mammon; Changing the way you think; Matt 7:21; Laws of force; Why Rome was in Judea; "Born again"; The fruit of your faith; "Belief"; Seeing your darkness; The rock of Christ; Decrees of Jesus Christ; Doers; "Authority" (power); Who is the higher power in your life?; Liberty; Siding with righteousness; "Evil"; Being wise men; Gathering in Christ's way; Scattered flock; Revelation-based judgement; Matt 8:1; Multitudes; Touching lepers; Christian minorities; Repent an do Christ's doctrines.
Judging; Which rules?; Right to choose; Spiritual choices; Perspective; Cultural revolution; Barbarians; Knowing yourself to know others; Your idols; Two trees; Socialist degeneration; Daily travesties; Perfect law of liberty; Matt 8:1; Healing the leper; John the Baptist; Parthia; Jesus the king; Immediate cleansing; Lev 14:2 Law of the leper; Pharisee party; Possession; Jesus' plan; Healing; Vaccines; Reproduction; Intuition and revelation; Jesus and the Old Testament; Charity + Faith + Hope; 8:9 - man under authority (exousia); Stories by Christ; How will you choose?; Ideologies; True sons; Starting your journey; Accepting the love of God; Peter's mother-in-law; 8:17 Isaiah reference; Taking care of needy of your society; Making The Lord your Lord; 1+ hour of additional summary to follow…
Raiment of John the Baptist; Matt 3:4; Camel hair and leather belt?; Parthia; Magi?; Essene message; Hemyan; Linking to Iran?; Priests to all nations; Ephesus; Parthian battle techniques; Mustering Militia; Religion's essential social bonds; Altars of Jehovah-Nissi; Lev 14 leprosy; Hocus-pocus; Cat allergies?; Milkmaids and smallpox; Matt 4 review; Free bread and circuses; Tempting God; Sons of God; Faithful maidens; Contracting with other gods; Systems of social welfare; Freewill offerings; The road to pure religion; Long term care facilities; Fishers of men; The "way" of Christ; Living Network; 1 Pe 2:5; Rev 2:17; 1 Cor 3:16; Temple of the Holy Ghost; Seeking His kingdom and righteousness; Matthew out of chronological order; Sermon on the mount; Beatitudes; Keeping commandments; Rationalizing; Denying Christ; Expanding challenges; Rom 1:25; Non-inheritors of the kingdom; Insufficient Christianity; Another hour of summary to come…
We've dealt with Antiochus the Unfortunate, but now let's circle round to Egypt and deal with Ptolemy III. What were his motivations? How had his sister Berenice and her rival Laodice reacted to their husband's death? Most importantly- how does all of this connect to the upcoming Third Syrian War? 1) Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Vol. I). London: Edward Arthur. 2) The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2019), Antiochus II Theos (online) [Access date unknown, c.22/01/2022]. 3) Grainger, J. D. (2014), The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323- 223 BCE), Seleukos I to Seleukos III. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books Ltd. (eBook) [Accessed 22/01/2022]. 4) Komnene, A., (2009), The Alexiad. London: The Penguin Group. 5) Justinus, Attalus (date unknown), Justinus: Epitome of Pompeius Trogus' “Philippic histories” (online) [Access date unknown]. 6) Lendering, J., Livius (created 2006, last modified 2020), Berenice Phernophorus (online) [Accessed c.22/01/2022]. 7) Littlewood, I. (2002), The Rough Chronicle Guide: France. London: Penguin Group Ltd. 8) Rawlinson, G. (1869), A manual of ancient history from the earliest times to the fall of the Western Empire, comprising the history of Chaldea, Assyria, Media, Babylonia, Lydia, Phoenicia, Syria, Judea, Egypt, Carthage, Persia, Greece, Macedonia, Rome, and Parthia. Oxford: Clarendon Press (eBook) [Access date unknown]. 9) TED-Ed, YouTube (2021), How a concubine became the ruler of Egypt - Abdallah Ewis (online) [Accessed 07/08/2023]. 10) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown) Antiochus II (online) [Accessed c.22/01/2022]. 11) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Berenice II of Egypt (online) [Accessed 07/08/2023]. 12) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Berenice Syra (online) [Accessed c. 22/01/2022]. 13) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Demetrius the Fair [Accessed 07/08/2023]. 14) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Laodice I (online) [Accessed c.22/01/2022].
Sinatruces has been waiting for his shot for decades and at last he can sit himself on the throne of Parthia. And did we mention he has a good hat? Come along for our power grandpa and for a surprisingly good run. Here's the link to our brand new Patreon!! www.patreon.com/soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia You can find all the images on our website! https://soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia.wordpress.com/2023/07/02/41-sinatruces/
This is part 20 of the Early Church History class. So far we've been focusing primarily on Christianity within the Roman Empire in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East--the land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Nevertheless, Christianity also spread south to Africa, north to Armenia, and east to Asia where it reached Persia, India, and China. Hopefully this session will counterbalance the Mediterranean focus we've had so far, expanding your perspective to be a little more global. Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni_EnPzxJ4k&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2lk3B0I7Pa77hfwKJm1SRI&index=20&t=2890s&pp=iAQB —— Links —— See my lecture on YouTube: History of Christianity in Africa For more on Armenian Christianity, see The Key of Truth: A Monument of Armenian Unitarianism 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 —— Africa First Century Jesus took refuge in Africa as a baby (Matthew 2:13-15) An African from Cyrene carried Jesus' cross (Mark 15:21). At Pentecost, Jews from Egypt and Libya were present (Acts 2:10). At Antioch, Simeon called Niger and Lucius of Cyrene were part of the Jew-Gentile mixed church (Acts 13:1). Egypt By the 2nd c., New Testament scriptures were translated into Coptic. Alexandria was a center for Christianity (Clement, Origen, Arius, Alexander, Athanasius). Maghreb (North Africa) Christianity attested from at least the second century through martyrs of Scilla in Numidia and Perpetua and Felicitas in Carthage. Tertullian, Cyprian, Novatian, Donatus, and Augustine Ethiopia Frumentius and Edesius became slaves to the King of Axum. Athanasius of Alexandria ordained Frumentius a bishop. King Ezana became a Christian between 330 and 350. In the late 5th c., the nine saints came and founded monasteries, including at Debre Damo. In the 6th c., King Kaleb crossed the Red Sea to defeat Du Nawas, king of Himyar (Yemen). He then rebuilt the churches there and spread Christianity in the region. Nubia In the second half of the 6th c., Christian missionaries began converting key people in Makuria. Makuria became a mighty kingdom that held off the Muslims in the 7th c. Armenia Christianity spread to Armenia from the south (Syria) and west (Constantinople). Gregory the Illuminator (Grigor Lusavorich) preached Christianity, but ran afoul of King Tiridates III (r. 298-330) who imprisoned him. Gregory converted Tiridates who declared Armenia a Christian Nation (c. 301). Mashtots (d. 440) knew Armenian and Greek. Worked under Catholicos Sahak (r. 387-438) to create Armenian letters and translate scriptures into Armenian Eznik (380-455) was a disciple of Mashtots who represented Armenia at the Council of Ephesus (431). Eznik wrote Refutation of the Sects, which survives today. Asia India Thomas the Apostle (50s) In 240, The Acts of Thomas claimed that the Apostle Thomas travelled to India during the reign of King Gundaphar (first century). Ephrem the Syrian and Jerome mention Thomas in India, though Origen and Eusebius put Thomas in Parthia. Local tradition in southwest India claims Thomas came there, and they call themselves “Thomas Christians” to this day. Travel was available between the Roman Empire and India. Samuel Moffett: “ [M]ost opinions range from ‘possible' to ‘probable,' with a discernible trend toward the latter position.”[1] Pantaenus (180 or 190) Eusebius and Jerome claim Pantaenus went to India on a trip Pantaenus' disciples, Clement and Origen, seem to have a good knowledge of India. David of Bassora (300) preached in India. Bishop Theophilus the Indian (d. 364) Traveled to India on behalf of Emperor Constantius and found Christians in India He said they were different in some customs, but they agreed with him that the Son was “other in substance” than the Father. Cosmas the Indian Voyager (Indicopleustes) Reports about Christians on Taprobane Island (Sri Lnaka) in the 6th c. Persia Also called the Nestorian Church after Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople (r. 428-431) Jewish pilgrims from Parthia were at Pentecost in Jerusalem (Acts 2:9). Syrian Christians from Edessa spread to Persia. 340s Sassanian King Shapur II persecuted Christians, martyring 16,000. 410 Council of Seleuci-Ctesiphon (aka Council of Mar Isaac) King Yazdegerd I (r. 399-421) organized Christians in the Sassanian Empire and officially showed toleration, though Zoroastrianism remained the official state religion. 424 Church of the East declared independence from the Church of the Roman Empire. China Christianity is clearly attested starting in 635 when Alopen, the Nestorian missionary, came. It is likely that the Chinese came in contact with Christians from the nomads who lived on the other side of the Great Wall of China at the end of 6th c. Review Christianity spread to Africa from the first century in Egypt, the Maghreb, and Ethiopia. King Ezana of the Axumite Empire became a Christian due to evangelism of Frumentius in the 330s. Athanasius of Alexandria ordained Frumentius Bishop and ensured that homoousion Christianity would take root. Christianity spread throughout Axumite Empire in the fifth century through the work of the nine saints who built monasteries, including the one at Debre Damo. In the sixth century, King Kaleb defeated the King of Himyar (Yemen) at the behest of the Roman Emperor to protect Christians and rebuild their churches. Armenia became Christian through missionaries from Syria in the south and from Constantinople in the west. Grigor Lusavorich (Gregory the Illuminator) converted King Tiridates III, who then sponsored the conversion of Armenia in 314. In the fifth century, Mashtots worked with a team to invent the Armenian alphabet and translate the Bible and many other Christian documents into Armenian. Although certainty is not possible, it is probably that the Apostle Thomas brought Christianity to India in the first century and Pantaenus visited in the second century. Bishop Theophilus, the Indian, visited India in the 350s and reported the Christians there were subordinationists who believed the Son was "other in substance." Persia had Christians from the first century, first from Jewish pilgrims who attended Pentecost, then through Syrian evangelistic efforts centered in Edessa. Christians living under the Sassanian rule of King Shapor faced brutal persecution, torture, and martyrdom in the 340s. The Council at Seleucia-Ctesiphon of 410 ended the persecution and gave structure to Christianity within the empire, though Zoroastrianism remained the official state religion. In 424, Persian Christianity declared itself independent of Roman Christianity. In the sixth century, nomads beyond the Great Wall of China likely brought Christianity in contact with the Chinese. [1] Samuel Hugh Moffett, A History Christianity in Asia, vol 1 (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1992), 35.
Here is the 9th episode in the series on Winning the Battle. Having the Sword of the Spirit with you at all times is like playing sport on a team with a teammate who guarantees wins in every single game they play. How awesome is going into battle with someone like that! For all other episodes and more, check out our website at thewordonthestreetpodcast.com Check out more episodes on The Word Of God Join The Word On The Street Podcast conversation on our Facebook group here Follow The Word On The Street Podcast on Instagram here Click here to leave a review on Apple Podcasts Here are the bible verses quoted in today's episode: Bible Passage: Ephesians 6:14-17 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Bible Passage: 1 Corinthians 6:19 You surely know that your body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives. The Spirit is in you and is a gift from God. Bible Passage: John 16:7 It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. Bible Passage: Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, “Turn to God and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Bible Passage: Acts 2:1-13 On the day of Pentecost all the Lord's followers were together in one place. Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak. Many religious Jews from every country in the world were living in Jerusalem. And when they heard this noise, a crowd gathered. But they were surprised, because they were hearing everything in their own languages. They were excited and amazed, and said: Don't all these who are speaking come from Galilee? Then why do we hear them speaking our very own languages? Some of us are from Parthia, Media, and Elam. Others are from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, parts of Libya near Cyrene, Rome, 11 Crete, and Arabia. Some of us were born Jews, and others of us have chosen to be Jews. Yet we all hear them using our own languages to tell the wonderful things God has done. Everyone was excited and confused. Some of them even kept asking each other, “What does all this mean?” Others made fun of the Lord's followers and said, “They are drunk.” Bible Passage: Acts 2:38-42 Peter said to them, “Turn to God and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you and your children. It is for everyone our Lord God will choose, no matter where they live.” Peter told them many other things as well. Then he said, “I beg you to save yourselves from what will happen to all these evil people.” On that day about 3,000 believed his message and were baptized. They spent their time learning from the apostles, and they were like family to each other. They also broke bread and prayed together. Today's Questions: Do you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in your body and if yes, can you feel him or sense him there? Chat about what you might be feeling or sensing. The Holy Spirit is a sword to fight off Satan and his evil army, what else can he do?
Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! When Cleopatra and Marc Antony met by the River Tarsus, Antony was smitten. And when Cleopatra went back to Alexandria, he forgot about invading Parthia and followed her home. The two then spent a magical few months in Alexandria, where they threw each other lavish banquets, made bets and compacts, played ridiculous practical jokes on each other and the public--and fell in love. But nothing good can ever stay. The real world came knocking, and soon Marc Antony was forced to choose between his heart in Alexandria and his future in Rome. Sponsors and Advertising This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to advertising@airwavemedia.com. Thanks HelloFresh! Go to HelloFresh.com/fangirl16 and use code fangirl16 for 16 free meals plus free shipping! Thanks Athletic Greens. Go to athleticgreens.com/fangirl to get a FREE 1-year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The empire is at rock bottom, the east is in shambles and the west is on fire, who will save us now? Mithridates is going to give it a go. In today's episode, discover what made Parthia the Parthia we know and love, not only that but get ready for introductions to our western and eastern neighbors. Here's the link to our brand new Patreon!! www.patreon.com/soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia You can find all the images on our website! https://soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia.wordpress.com/2023/06/04/38-mithridates-ii-the-great/
Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Shakespeare wrote about them. Hollywood glamorized them. For thousands of years, they've come down to us as the ultimate star-crossed lovers: the Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra, and the Roman commander Marc Antony. In the wake of Caesar's death, Cleopatra fled to Egypt--and began picking up the pieces. Meanwhile, Marc Antony defeated Caesar's assassins in battle, and then set his sights on invading Parthia. But to invade Parthia, he needed the money and support of Rome's richest client ruler: Cleopatra. And Cleopatra had an agenda, too: she needed another Roman protector to shore up her power in Egypt. Find out what happened when these two met on the banks of the River Tarsus. Sponsors and Advertising This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to advertising@airwavemedia.com. Thanks HelloFresh! Go to HelloFresh.com/fangirl16 and use code fangirl16 for 16 free meals plus free shipping! Thanks Athletic Greens. Go to athleticgreens.com/fangirl to get a FREE 1-year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Whitsunday: The On-Earth-As-In-Heaven People Acts 2:1-11 by William Klock Last week as we remembered Jesus' ascension we read Luke's account of the risen Jesus and his final days with the disciples. He writes in Acts 1: And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. (Acts 1:4-5) That was all just fine, but what they really wanted to know was when the kingdom was coming. For years they'd been asking it in one way or another: When will you bring the kingdom? When will you take your throne? When will you set the world to rights? Are we there yet? How much further? And, remember, in answer to their question Jesus ascended, up on the clouds, into heaven, to take up his throne, to rule and to reign. And as he did that, he commissioned his disciples to do something that I don't think they expected. He commissioned them to be his royal heralds, to go out and to proclaim this good news to Jerusalem, to Judea, even to Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth. Now, this wasn't the first time Jesus had sent his disciples out to proclaim the kingdom, but when he'd sent them out before, it was to a people who were also asking those “Are we there yet?” questions: When will the Messiah come? When will the kingdom come? When will the God of Israel set this broken world to rights?. And the disciples went out and told the people that in Jesus the Messiah had come and that the kingdom was in sight. But now Jesus is sending them out to proclaim that in his resurrection and ascension the kingdom has come and that was no small task. Because even though the disciples had seen their risen Lord and even though they saw him ascend, things weren't what they or anyone else had expected. They thought everyone would be resurrected all at once. They though the Messiah would put down the enemies of God's people and cast down their empires. They expected a king like David who would punish evil, wipe away all the problems, and make everything as it should be. Instead, the wrong people were still in control, evil people still did evil things, so much was still wrong with the world—and yet Jesus had inaugurated something, he really had risen from the dead, and they'd seen him ascend to his throne with their own eyes, so they knew he was truly Lord and that the kingdom had come. The Lord's plan was to work through them, to spread the good news and to tell the world that Jesus is Lord, and to grow the kingdom. That wasn't what anyone expected, but they should have, because that's how the Lord had been working in the world ever since he called Abraham out of the land of Ur and set him apart from everyone else, and made him and his family a witness to the world—that one day, through this people, the whole earth would know the Lord and his greatness and his goodness and his faithfulness and come to give him glory. I wonder if we, too, don't forget this sometimes. We might know better deep down, but we kind of assume that the Christian life is, more or less, a personal thing. We raise our kids in it. Maybe we talk to a few close people about it. But we act as if our duty is mostly just to be good, godly people until Jesus comes back and sets everything to rights—as if he's the one who's going to make it all happen by doing all the hard work. Sure, there are some people called to be missionaries who go off to faraway places where they've never heard of Jesus, but for most of us, it's just a personal, individual sort of thing. Even the dominant eschatology of our day assumes that things will just get worse and worse until Jesus zaps us all out of here and rains down fire and brimstone on this awful, corrupt world. But that's never what the story was about and that's never where it was headed. The Lord called and created a people to make him known with the expectation that eventually that people—not in their own power, but in his—but that people would really make him known until, as the prophets Isaiah and Habakkuk both said, the knowledge of his glory would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Maybe we forget our part in this kingdom mission because it seems so impossible. What? Us? Grow the kingdom until the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth? What? Us? Bring the nations to give him glory? That's too big for us? We'll just be holy over here and wait for Jesus to come back and do the impossible stuff. And at this point, Jesus' disciples had no idea just how big and impossible the task was. Taking the gospel to the gentiles wasn't even on their radar. They were still thinking it was a message for Jews. It would be a few years before the full extent of it even sank in. And this is why Jesus told his friends to stay in Jerusalem and to wait. In his resurrection he was vindicated as the Messiah. In his ascension he took his throne and sent the clear message that the kingdom has come. But before the disciples could go on with the work of the kingdom, they needed something that God's people had never had before—at least not in this way. They needed the power of the Holy Spirit to truly be the new Israel, to carry on the mission the Lord had given to Abraham and Isaac, and to all of Israel: to bless the nations by making him known to them. Without the Spirit, Jesus' disciples would have the same problem God's people had always had and after a time, when the excitement wore off, they would become fickle and faithless and their loyalties would be divided and they would fall into sin and the nations would mock them, this time jeering, “Where's your Jesus now?” No, they needed this gift of the indwelling Spirit to set their hearts on God and to write his law of love on their hearts—truly transforming their affections. And it was this Spirit who would empower them to go out into a hostile world with the good news about Jesus and to live out his love and his grace and his justice, carrying the kingdom to the ends of the earth. That's why they had to wait in Jerusalem. I don't think they really had any idea what was about to happen. They didn't even really understand the full extent of the mission he'd given them. They were just excited because of his resurrection and his ascension and Luke says that while they waited in Jerusalem that they spent their time in the temple praising and blessing God. And then comes our Epistle today. Look at Acts 2. Luke writes, When the day of Pentecost arrived… Let's stop there. This isn't an incidental detail. It's integral to the story. As integral as Jesus having been born a Jew. As integral as his death and resurrection taking place at Passover. “Pentecost” just means “fiftieth” in Greek. Greek-speaking Jews gave the festival this name because it fell fifty days after Passover, but its biblical name was the “feast of weeks” and it was connected with the wheat harvest. It was when the Lord commanded his people to bring him their firstfruits. That's the very first part of the harvest. It was an offering to the Lord and it was an act of faith on their part. Other peoples brought offerings to their gods after the harvest had been brought in, once they knew what they could spare. But Israel gave in faith from the very first of the harvest, trusting the Lord to give the rest. So Pentecost was a feast of expectation and faith. But Pentecost was also the feast when Israel celebrated the giving of the law, the torah, at Mt. Sinai. That's where the significance of “fifty” comes from. Again, it follows fifty days after Passover and you'll remember that Passover commemorated Israel's exodus from Egypt: their slavery, Moses and the Lord's command to Pharaoh, “Let my people go!”, the plagues, the blood on the doorposts, the sparing of Israel's firstborn sons, the flight from Egypt, the rescue at the Red Sea. Passover was a festival of the Lord's deliverance of his people and it celebrated that great even in which Israel was born as a nation. And each generation participated in those events anew as they gathered year in and year out in their homes to share the Passover meal. It marked them out as the Lord's covenant people. But that wasn't the end of the story. From the Red Sea, the Lord led his people into the wilderness and fifty days later he gave them his law. He called Moses up to Mt. Sinai and when Moses came back down he brough the law with him, carved on stone tablets. In the Exodus the Lord had made Israel his people. At Mt. Sinai he showed them what it meant and what it looked like to be his people. So at Passover the Jews celebrated their redemption. At Pentecost they remembered that the Lord had redeemed them for a purpose: to live a new kind of life in order to fulfil his purposes and their calling. Can you see how this all fits together with the events of the Gospels? Easter is our Passover, when we remember how, through Jesus, the Lord redeemed us from our bondage to sin and death and made us his people. And now, on Pentecost—this is our Mt. Sinai. Let's continue with Acts 2: When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. In Exodus we're given an awesome picture of the holiness of God as his presence descended on the mountain in smoke and fire and thunder, and here the Spirit comes again like a storm, in this mighty rushing wind and fire descends upon his people. And here Luke tells this new story to parallel the old. As Moses went up on the mountain to the Lord, so Jesus has ascended into heaven. And now Luke wants us to understand that Jesus, just as he promised he would, has come back down. Moses came down with tablets of stone to tell the people how to live as the Lord's covenant people. And now Jesus has returned, he's come down from heaven in the person of the Holy Spirit, to write his law of love on the very hearts of his people. Don't misunderstand. That doesn't mean that Israel had a harsh and rigid law written on stone and that Jesus' people just “follow their hearts” or something like that. There's a sense in which that's true, but definitely not in the sense that the world talks about following your heart. Following our hearts is what has got us into trouble and made a mess of this world, because apart from Jesus and the Spirit our hearts are set on sin and self. That's the point here. The law written on stone showed Israel how to live as God's holy people, but it couldn't change the affections of their hearts. The Spirit, on the other hand, takes away the need for those stone tablets by changing our very hearts, filling them with a love for God and a desire for holiness, and by turning us away from sin and from self. And notice how the wind and the fire come from heaven. Through the Spirit the creative and renewing power of the Lord—the very breath that he breathed into humanity to give us life in the first place—it descends on his people to accomplish his work on earth. Jesus taught his disciples to pray “on earth as it is in heaven” and Pentecost was the firstfruits of an answer to that prayer. Sometimes Christians treat the presence and gifts of the Holy Spirit as things that raise us up above the world or that make the world irrelevant, but it's really just the opposite. The Spirit is the life-giving breath of God that gives us a foretaste of the resurrection and of the life we hope for one day in this world set to rights. As the Spirit sets our hearts on God, he makes us the “on earth as it is in heaven” people, the people who not only show the world what God's kingdom looks like, but who actually live out his kingdom and its values of love and grace and mercy and justice in the midst of a world that values all the opposites of those things. But the first manifestation of the Spirit's “on earth as it is in heaven” ministry is what we see here. Luke says, first, that Jesus' people were all together when this happened—they were united—and then the first manifestation of the Spirit was this amazing speech in other languages. But what exactly was it? Let's keep reading from verse 5: Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” Jews had spread out across the known world and festivals like Passover and Pentecost brough them back to Jerusalem. The Spirit came on Jesus' disciples with fire and the sound of a mighty rushing wind, but what everyone else couldn't help but notice was the ruckus they made as they began to speak in these other languages. And it got their attention. The disciples were a bunch of rubes from Galilee, way up north, or at least that's how people in Jerusalem would have seen them. Galileans spoke Aramaic and Greek—the local languages—but they weren't cosmopolitan enough to speak all these other languages. And yet these men visiting Jerusalem from places like Egypt and Asia and even from places like Parthia, beyond the borders of the empire, heard these Galileans speaking in their own languages. That made them stop and take note. But what they were saying caught their attention even more. Luke says they were telling of the mighty works of God. In the context here that can mean only one thing. They were proclaiming the good news about Jesus. That he had come proclaiming the kingdom and calling the people to repentance, that he had been crucified, that he had risen from the dead, and that he had ascended, and is now Lord—and maybe most of all, that he had done this in fulfilment of the Lord's promises and to show the Lord's faithfulness. Many of these visitors had, no doubt, heard about Jesus and how he'd been crucified just a few weeks before. Some of them had probably heard rumors that he'd risen from the dead. If they'd been spending any time around the temple, they would have heard and seen the disciples praising God for what he had done in Jesus—and they probably thought they were crazy. But now they hear these bumpkins from Galilee declaring the might works of God miraculously in their own languages and they stop. And they listen. And some of them, Luke says, sneered at the disciples thinking they were drunk. But that's when—if we were to continue on from today's Epistle in Chapter 2—that's when Peter stood up addressed them, saying, “It's nine o'clock in the morning. It's hardly the time of day for men to be drunk. No, what you're seeing is the fulfilment of the words spoken by the prophet Joel when he spoke of the Lord's promise to pour out his Spirit and to redeem his people. And Peter went on to tell the men there, again, of the might y deed of God: of Jesus, of his death, of his resurrection, and his ascension. And he walked the men through the scriptures they knew so well and through the promises the Lord had made to his people, and he showed how Jesus had and was fulfilling them. He finished his sermon, Luke says, proclaiming: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36) And the men who were listening were cut to the heart and cried out to Peter, “What should we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:38-41) The “on earth as it is in heaven” people began to grow. The rest of the book of Acts is Luke's testimony to the mighty deeds of God through these people, empowered by Jesus and the Spirit. We see the gospel—and with it the kingdom—going out from Jerusalem, to Judea, and then to Samaria, where it united Jews and Samaritans for the first time. And then see it go out to the nations, to the gentiles, the book ending with Paul proclaiming the good news about Jesus in Rome, right under Caesar's nose. And Acts shows us churches sprouting up across the world. Acts is the firstfruits of the kingdom harvest—a harvest that would, eventually include the whole Roman Empire and beyond. And, Brothers and Sisters, Pentecost reminds us how. Without it we might be tempted to give up, to retreat into the church building, and wait for Jesus to come and do it all himself. But Pentecost reminds us that going all the way back to Abraham, the Lord has been calling and creating and empowering a people to make him known to a world lost in darkness, a people to be light, a people—like the disciples that day in Jerusalem—to proclaim to the world the mighty deeds of the God of Israel. A people to proclaim the good news that in this Jesus who was crucified, who has risen from the dead, and who has ascended to his throne to rule and reign, that he is and that he will set this world to rights. But, maybe most importantly, Pentecost reminds us that Jesus has called us and made us this people, not only to go out and to tell, but to go out and live and to do and to make and to build and to show his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. We do that as we live the fruit the Spirit has given and as we show the world, in real, practical, hands-on ways what God's new creation is like, living his love and his mercy and his grace and his justice and working for those things in the world. It is an impossible task, but Pentecost also reminds us that we are not called to do it in our own power or on our own terms, but as we are empowered and guided by Jesus and the Spirit. Let's pray: O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Parthia is here at last! Join us to find out the origins of our third main empire and how it rose from a small kingdom to the major power player in Iran thanks to our new friend Mithridates I. You can find all the images on our website! https://soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia.wordpress.com/2023/04/30/34-mithridates-i/
Well, Iran is out of Seleucid control with new forces filling the vacuum and we'll follow the kingdom of Persis. Join us to find out if Wadfradad is the right name, some fun numismatics, and can we stop the rise of Parthia? You can find all the images on our website! https://soyouthinkyoucanrulepersia.wordpress.com/2023/04/23/33-wadfradad-i/
This episode we look at the transmission of Buddhism through the 1st to 5th centuries from India, to the Kushan Empire, and across the Silk Road to the Han and succeeding dynasties, and even to Baekje, on the Korean peninsula. For more, especially photos, please check out https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-84 Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 84: The Middle Way through the Middle Kingdom. First things first, thank you to Bodil, Gabe, and Lauren for donating to support the show on Ko-Fi and Patreon. If you'd like to join them, will have information at the end of the episode. Also an apology—if my voice isn't in tip-top shape, well, it seems that COVID finally found us after 3 years or so, and I'm on the tail end of it. So thank you for your understanding. Last episode we talked about Siddhartha Gautama, aka Shakyamuni, the Historical Buddha, and his teachings, and how they spread, at least through the Indian subcontinent, with the patronage of rulers like Ashoka the Great. The original teachings, initially taught as an oral tradition, was eventually turned into a series of writings, called the Tripitaka. As for how those writings came about, it's worth talking about the languages involved. The native language of Shakyamuni was probably a language known as Maghadi, or something similar. But the Indian subcontinent, including the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Afghanistan, is over three times the size of western Europe. There are at eight south Asian language families, with hundreds of different languages, depending on how you count them. The modern state of India counts 22 official languages, not including English. I mention this to point out that as the Buddha's disciples spread his teachings, they were, by necessity, translating it into different languages. There is a story that a student suggested to the Buddha that they make Sanskrit the official language of Buddhism. Even then, Sanskrit was considered a language of learning and education, much as Greek or Latin was in medieval Europe, but the Buddha rejected this and insisted that his teachings be taught in people's own tongue. This proved great for reaching people, but over time there was a fear that the oral teachings might be lost, and so they were written down. The oldest written Buddhist canon is generally agreed to be texts in Pali, commissioned in Sri Lanka. These are sometimes called the southern Tripitaka—or Tipitaka in Pali—and it is the primary canon for Theravada Buddhists. In the north, however, Sanskrit remained the prominent language of learning, and texts written down and transmitted in the north—particularly those that made it to China and on to Japan—were typically Sanskrit or translations of Sanskrit texts. This is what some refer to as the Northern Tripitaka. Both of these were transcriptions of the oral teachings that Buddhist monks were otherwise memorizing and presenting to the Buddhist community. That oral tradition, in fact, never really went away, and these early texts were more like a reference so that monks could check their memory. Chanting the sutras—and especially chanting from memory—remained a highly prized skill of Buddhist orators. Now, the split between northern and southern texts is convenient, but it isn't necessarily as simple as all that. We have plenty of examples of texts, particularly in the northern traditions, that don't necessarily have an extant Sanskrit counterpart. In fact, the oldest extant sutras of any tradition that we have today are known as the Gandharan sutras, and written in the Ghandari language using a Karosthi script. Gandhara refers to a region centered north and west of the Indus river, in modern Pakistan, stretching to the Kabul river valley in modern Afghanistan and north to the Karakoram mountains, which is one of the interlocking ranges that form the boundary between modern Pakistan and India and modern China and the Tibetan plateau. It is believed to be the namesake of the city of Kandahar, in modern Afghanistan. This area was important, and not just to Buddhism. For thousands of years it has been a crossroads between the Indian subcontinent, the area known as the Middle East, and the inner trade routes of central Eurasia. It was part of the conquest by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE, becoming part of his kingdom, but then it was lost in battle to the Mauryan empire, which Ashoka the Great ruled in the 3rd century BCE. The area later fell to Indo-Greek rule from members of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom to the north. The most famous ruler during this period was probably Menander I, who is also remembered as a patron of Buddhism, building more stupas and monasteries in the region. The Hellenic Greco-Bactrians were eventually displaced by tribes of the Yuezhi, who themselves were being displaced by the Xiongnu, in central Eurasia. In this epic game of musical chairs, a branch of the Yuezhi eventually settled in the area, ruling a large territory, including Gandhara, under what is known as the Kushan empire. They had first moved into the area of Bactria and Sogdiana probably around the 1st or 2nd century BCE, and by the 1st century CE they were exerting authority over Gandhara. Around the time the Gandharan sutras were written down, in the 1st or 2nd centuries, Buddhism—especially Mahayana Buddhism—was flourishing in the region, and Kanishka the Great—don't you love how all of these rulers are known as “the Great”, by the way?—ruled the Kushan empire, and hence Gandhara, in the early 2nd century. He is said to have been a great patron of Buddhism, although it was one of several religions, including Zoroastrianism, that flourished in the region at this time. The Kushan empire is believed to be the same Yuezhi that we mentioned in episode 79, when we talked about the Han diplomat Zhang Qian, who had trekked through hostile Xiongnu, or Hunna, territory across much of what is now western China in the 2nd century BCE, seeking allies against the Hunna. At that point, the Yuezhi had had enough of war, however, and they declined to fight, preferring to settle where they were and eventually growing into the Kushan empire. That connection with the Han dynasty, however, likely was maintained through trade routes that continued to operate across the vast expanse of central Eurasia. The Han dynasty itself continued to send out diplomatic missions to the various states of central Eurasia, and of course there were trade routes. As the Kushan empire expanded into the Tarim basin, it met once again with the Han, who had defeated the Hunna, and then claimed routes across the oasis towns of the desert regions. While the routes would have high and low periods, often depending on the state of various conflicts, in general it seems that Buddhist missionaries probably made it to the Han dynasty and the Yellow River region, and founded monasteries, as early as the first century CE and certainly by the second century. And, by our best understanding, the folks in these monasteries were already doing a lot of copying and translation of texts – both as a meritorious act, and to spread the word. Since this is around the time the Gandharan texts were written, they were likely a part of this larger tradition of copying and translating that was going on, although many of those early documents did not survive intact to the modern day. One of the earliest records of Buddhism in the Han dynasty is a record dated to 65 CE. Liu Ying, Prince of Chu and son of Emperor Guangwu of Han, sponsored Buddhism—as well as a school of Daoism—in attempts to better understand longevity and immortality. While he was eventually accused of treason, putting something of a damper on his patronage of the religion, it is the first mention we have in the histories of Buddhism, and in some ways it speaks to something else about the initial acceptance of Buddhism. While there were likely those well-versed in Buddhism, particularly in the community of foreigners from the Western Regions, evidence suggests that for many lay people it was just as likely about what people thought that the religion could do for them in this life as anything else. After all, there are many stories of miraculous events, and there was the concept of reincarnation and karma—the idea that by building merit, one could improve their lot in the next life. There was even a belief that by building merit, one could improve their lot in the current life—and apparently extend their life or even, possibly, gain immortality. Sure, there were the more intellectual and philosophical endeavors, but for many people Buddhism was just as much about what it could do for them in the here and now. Stories of monks and other holy men fit in right alongside stories of Daoist immortals. In Han tombs, where Buddhist imagery is found, it is often found with or in place of the Queen Mother of the West—the same image that is found on many of the bronze mirrors that traveled across to the Japanese archipelago around this time. It was likely that many of the early stories that the laypeople heard were probably fragments as much as anything. Even with the Tripitaka written down, much of the transmission was still done orally. Furthermore, it was in translation—and probably a translation of a translation. The earliest stories of Buddhism's transmission—particularly the translation of texts into Sinitic characters, the lingua franca of East Asia—claim that first the Theravada canon, and then later Mahayana texts, were translated in the second century, with foreigners from Parthia and Kushan credited with the early translations. Others would continue the work, and at first it was mostly people from the Western Regions doing the translating. One of the earliest stories of sutras making their way to the Han dynasty comes from the time of Liu Ying, when his brother, Emperor Ming, sat on the throne. The stories claim that the emperor saw an image of a golden Buddha, and that he requested either a statue or temple be erected. So he sent people off to Kushan, where they found two monks who would come back with them in 68 CE, bringing portraits and scripture—specifically the “Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters”, which the two monks helped translate into a Sinitic version at Baimasi, or White Horse Temple. As such, this “Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters” has been accorded a status as the first such Buddhist work to be brought to the area that is, today, modern China, and the White Horse Temple, located in Luoyang, is counted as one of the earliest temples in the Yellow River region. That said, there are a lot of questions as to the authenticity of this tale, though it does mirror others about the arrival of Buddhism in the East, even if we cannot verify the actual first temple or work. Although Buddhism arrived during the Han dynasty, it wouldn't really begin to fully develop until after the dynasty's fall in the 3rd century. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, the metaphysical and doctrinal beliefs of Buddhism began to penetrate the elite circles in a more tangible way. Much of the philosophical underpinnings blended well with the interest at the time in “Dark Studies” and the school of “Pure Conversation”, which we discussed back in episode 72. While Buddhist temples, much like their Daoist brethren, found some sanctuary from the chaos that created this period in the mountains and hills—not to mention a bit of added spiritual cachet—it was really the opportunity to gain greater state patronage that also helped. Monks like Zhi Dun began to reconcile Buddhist thought and doctrine with local beliefs. In some cases, local religious figures—including gods and other spirits—were incorporated into the Buddhist framework, often by their “conversion” to the Buddha's teachings. This was one of the strengths of Buddhism—although it carried with it a framework of Indian religious teachings and thoughts, it was not exclusive in its cosmological outlook. Buddhism was more focused on helping one escape the suffering of this world, which would take you beyond all such things. As the doctrines were meant for all beings—not just humans, but for animals, spirits, gods, and even demons—there was nothing to necessarily exclude other beliefs. This helped some of the ethnic Han dynasties to accept and even promote Buddhism. Meanwhile, some of the non-ethnic Han dynasties patronized Buddhism for either its miraculous powers or just because it was a foreign religion, much like they were foreigners in the Yellow River Basin. In many cases, state-sponsorship was a two way street. Dynasts would set themselves up as holy men, claiming to be Boddhisatvas. They would even appropriate the concept of the Cakravartin, a Buddhist “Golden-Wheel-Turning-King”, which had overtones of cosmic overlordship. I can see how that would fit in quite well with local concepts that a sovereign might lay claim to ruling “all under heaven” and be carrying out a “Heavenly mandate”. Along the Yangzi River, Buddhist monks gained a certain amount of independence. They were not expected to bow to the sovereign, for example; an acknowledgment of their holy nature. In the northern Wei dynasty, however, it was a different story. There, the ruler was said to be no less than an incarnation of the Buddha, and a Chief Monk was selected to oversee the Sangha and no doubt ensure that the various Buddhist communities were in line with official dogma. At the same time, the government provided captured men and women to work fields to help pay for Buddhist temples and their work. Likewise, people would make merit by donating wealth and land to temples, in hopes of blessings either in this current life or in the next life. For their part, the temples were expected to act as storehouses or granaries—the wealth that poured into them would be used to help alleviate suffering, especially in the case of droughts or floods. It soon became clear, however, that more wealth was going into the temples than was necessarily coming out. There were attempts to reign in this Buddhist establishment, often by limiting the number of temples or even the number of monks, as well as limiting what people could donate. These same edicts were undercut by the elites of the country, however, and often proved less than effectual. Along with sutras and Buddhist teachings, Buddhist images and architecture spread widely. In India and the Western Regions, a key aspect of many temples was the stupa. This was a mound containing a relic of some sort. Originally these relics were said to be remnants of the Buddha, after he had been cremated. Later, it was said that the remnants of the Buddha turned hard, like crystal, and that the original remains were gathered up and distributed to even more stupas. Later they may contain other relics, as well. The stupa was an important part of the Buddhist temple, but over time, its character changed. Instead of a mound like we still see in Southeast Asia, we start to see a building—a tower—which became a ubiquitous symbol of Buddhist temples in East Asia. This multi-level pagoda originally started off with simply three levels, often made of brick and stone, but over time it grew with five or seven levels. These towers were inspired by a description in the Lotus Sutra, a Mahayana text, that described a bejeweled seven-storey tower. Speaking of the Lotus Sutra, this was one of the many teachings that made its way to East Asia, and a hugely influential one. It purports to tell the story of a sermon by the Buddha outside of those mentioned in the Theravada texts. The teachings expounded upon in the Lotus Sutra had a great impact on Mahayana Buddhism and how people viewed the teachings of the Buddha. For one, it also proposed the idea that the Buddha did not actually cease to exist when he attained nirvana, but is simply no longer visible. He still remains in the world to help all life find salvation from suffering. That goes along with the concept of the Bodhisattva, a being who attains a Buddha-like understanding but out of compassion remains in the world to assist others. The Lotus Sutra also made claims such as the idea that anyone could attain Buddhahood, if they followed the teachings—and not just one particular set of teachings. It opened the idea that there were multiple vehicles—that is to say different practices—that would all get you to the truth, to Englightenment. Even the term “Mahayana” means the “Great Vehicle”, while Mahayana sees Theravada as “Hinayana”, the “Lesser Vehicle”. Both will get you where you need to be, but Mahayana offers an exapansion of teachings and texts that Theravada Buddhism does not necessarily accept as authentic. Indeed in Mahayana belief we also see a focus on multiple Buddhas with different specialties – not only the historical Buddha, but Vairocana, aka Dainichi Nyorai, the Great Solar Buddha, Amitabha, aka Amida Nyorai or Amida Butsu, and so on. In comparison, the Theravada school tend to be more dogmatic on various points of practice and belief, claiming that they focus on the actual teachings of the Historical Buddha and not necessarily looking for extra texts and practices. There may have been Buddhas in previous ages that attained nirvana and departed this existence, but the Buddha of the current age is the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni. Another Buddha, Maitreya, is not expected for another five to ten thousand years—not until the teachings of the Buddha have been forgotten and are once again required. Acquiring freedom from this existence through nirvana is not necessarily one and the same with obtaining Buddhahood—the enlightened understanding required to save all beings. There is another school, “Vajrayana”, the “Lightning” or “Diamond” vehicle. It focuses on tantric, or esoteric teachings, which practitioners believe provide a more direct, and faster method to enlightenment. Many secret teachings, or mikkyo in Japanese, can trace themselves in some way to these practices, though it likely didn't make it to East Asia until the Tang dynasty or so in the 8th century, so we'll come back to it when we get to things like Kuukai and Saichou, who brought Shingon and Tendai, respectively, to Japan in the early 9th century—about four centuries from our current chronological position. Both the Mahayana and Vajrayana schools included the teachings from the Lotus Sutra, which would become one of the most important sutras, certainly by the Tang dynasty, as well as in the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago. Its widespread dissemination is often attributed to the famous monk Kumarajiva. Kumarajiva was a citizen of Kucha, one of the oasis towns along the northern edge of the Tarim Basin, and site of a bustling metropolis and capital of one of the largest oasis kingdoms in the Tarim basin. Even today, you can see remnants of the ancient city in the desert, and the dry conditions have preserved a number of artifacts, including plenty of texts referencing Buddhist and other beliefs. Kumarajiva traveled from the peripheral city of Dunhuang, another site renowned for its Buddhist roots, especially the famous Mogao caves—a series of Buddhist grottoes built into a cliff face which, along with the dry conditions, have exquisitely preserved the early sculpture and painting, as well as, again, numerous documents. He came to Chang'an around 401, and he helped translated numerous Buddhist scriptures into Sinitic characters, which could then be shared and read by people across East Asia—everywhere in the ancient Sinic sphere of influence. Besides the Lotus Sutra, another famous text told of the Buddha Amithabha, aka Amida Butsu in Japan. Amithabha's teachings claimed that any who would call on the name of Amithabha, or just picture them in their mind with a sincere heart, would, on their death, find themselves reborn in a Western Paradise—a “Pure Land” where there were no distractions other than to meditate on the Buddha's teachings and eventually attain freedom from this existence. Whereas many of the teachings and theological discussions of the various Buddhist schools could get quite complex—thus almost requiring any serious student to join a monastery if they wanted to truly study a particular flavor—the teachings of Amithabha were appealing to those without necessarily a lot of time or resources. It boiled down to a few practices that just about anyone could do. It didn't require that you donate huge sums of money or land, or that you spend all your day copying scriptures. One could chant the name of Amithabha in the fields as you were working, or picture them in your mind as you prepared for bed. These kinds of practices—the chanting of particular mantras or other such things—became a kind of thing people could do to help protect themselves or ward off evil. A particular example of this practice is preserved in a text from Dunhuang, which has a colophon explaining its purpose. According to Patricia Ebrey's translation, the text, which was copied by someone named Sun Sizhong, was an incantation that, if said 7, 14, or 21 times a day, with various somatic and material components (willow twig to cleanse the mouth, scattering flowers and incense before the image of the Buddha, and kneeling and joining the palms of the hands) it would clear away the four grave sins, the five wicked acts, and other transgressions. “The current body would not be afflicted by “untimely” calamities, and one will be reborn into the realm of immeasurably long life. Plus, reincarnation in the female form would be escaped forever.” On that last piece—yeah, Buddhism came with a little bit of baggage. In ordering all of life, men were seen as inherently higher on the ladder than women. This discrimination has been walked back or even abolished in some modern interpretations, but it was definitely present in older beliefs. Besides the power of the incantation if said 7, 13, or 21 times a day, Sun Sizhong went on to explain that if someone recited it 100 times in the evening and then at noon and it will ensure rebirth in the “Western Regions”, while 200,000 recitations gets you perfect intelligence, and 300,000 recitations, one will see Amitabha Buddha face to face and be reborn in the Pure Land. As you can probably start to see, there were many different beliefs and teachings that fell under the Mahayana teachings, and many of the texts were translations. Even those that had been translated into Sinitic, it was often done by foreigners for whom the local Sinic language was not their native tongue, so there was always a kind of awareness that important pieces might have been lost in translation along the way. In the 5th century, this led some monks to make the particularly long and dangerous journey all the way to Kushan and on to India, to access the original primary sources for themselves. One of these was a monk by the name of Faxian. At the age of 62, Faxian decided to go to India to try to get to the heart of what the Buddha really taught. He set out in 399, traveled across the Tarim Basin and into the Kashmir region and the Indus Valley—Gandhara, in modern Pakistan. From there he traveled to central India and arrived at Patna, where he stayed and studied for three years. He traveled around, seeking out works in Sanskrit on Buddhsit ethics and teachings, studying the local languages as well. In 410 he made his way to the mouth of the Ganges and down to Sri Lanka, where he stayed for almost two years before boarding a ship and traveling home—traveling through the straits of Malacca and around Southeast Asia to take the sea route back to his home. The journey was perilous, and at least twice the boat lost its way. According to the stories, some of his fellow travelers, who followed more Brahmanic teachings rather than Buddhist, believed that Faxian and his quote-unquote “heretical” teachings were what were leading them astray. Faxian was able to maintain order and he and his books eventually made it safely to the Shandong peninsula in or around 412. He made his way down to Jiankang, aka modern Nanjing on the Yangzi river. There he spent the rest of his life translating the scriptures he had brought back. Others would make similar journeys, all to try to find more authentic versions of the texts—which usually meant finding the Sanskrit version—and then creating translations from those. With the growth in popularity in Buddhism, it is probably little wonder that it eventually made its way over to the Korean peninsula. It is hard to say exactly when Buddhism arrived, but the Baekje annals in the Samguk Sagi claim that it was brought there by a monk of Central Asia descent in about 384. One year later, we are told the king of Baekje erected a temple and caused ten men to become monks. The timing of this generally accords with some of the information in the Nihon Shoki, which claims that Buddhism first came from the Western Regions to the Han dynasty, and then to Baekje 300 years later, and then to Yamato about 100 years after that. While the dates aren't exact, this generally accords with what we know of the way that Buddhism traveled to East Asia and to Baekje, at least. Although we have textual evidence, there isn't much archaeological evidence for Buddhism on the Korean peninsula in this time outside of urban centers. That is where we find temple rooftiles and other indications that Buddhism was practiced, but at the time it was probably something more common amongst elites than the common people, at least in the 4th and early 5th centuries. With the invasions by Goguryeo and the loss of northern territory in about 475, it did gain increased patronage. Still, it wasn't until the 6th century that it really left the urban centers, which is roughly the time we are talking about with the Yamato sovereign Ame Kunioshi, aka Kimmei Tennou. Next episode we'll get into just how Buddhism came over to the islands—or at least what is recorded and what we have evidence for—in the sixth century. We'll also talk about its reception and its patronage by the famous Soga clan. Until then, thank you for listening and for all of your support. If you like what we are doing, tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts. If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website, SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to Tweet at us at @SengokuPodcast, or reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page. You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com. And that's all for now. Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.
The descendants of the tribe of Ephraim migrated into lands such as Parthia and Bactria, but they eventually spread to Britain. Britain became a seedbed for the spread of Christianity. Just like the meanings of the names "Ephraim" and "Manasseh," Britain and America started out "fruitful" but have become "forgetful." America needs to follow Christ again, and we need to stand strong in Christ. With God, all things are possible. Watch, Listen and Learn 24x7 at PastorMelissaScott.com Pastor Melissa Scott teaches from Faith Center in Glendale. Call 1-800-338-3030 24x7 to leave a message for Pastor Scott. You may make reservations to attend a live service, leave a prayer request or make a commitment. Pastor Scott appreciates messages and reads them often during live broadcasts. Follow @Pastor_Scott on Twitter and visit her official Facebook page @Pastor.M.Scott. Download Pastor Scott's "Understand the Bible" app for iPhone, iPad and iPod at the Apple App Store and for Android devices in the Google Store. Pastor Scott can also be seen 24x7 on Roku and Amazon Fire on the "Understand the Bible?" channel. ©2023 Pastor Melissa Scott, Ph.D., All Rights Reserved
The descendants of the tribe of Ephraim migrated into lands such as Parthia and Bactria, but they eventually spread to Britain. Britain became a seedbed for the spread of Christianity. Just like the meanings of the names "Ephraim" and "Manasseh," Britain and America started out "fruitful" but have become "forgetful." America needs to follow Christ again, and we need to stand strong in Christ. With God, all things are possible. VF-2369 Genesis 35:11 Watch, Listen and Learn 24x7 at PastorMelissaScott.com Pastor Melissa Scott teaches from Faith Center in Glendale. Call 1-800-338-3030 24x7 to leave a message for Pastor Scott. You may make reservations to attend a live service, leave a prayer request or make a commitment. Pastor Scott appreciates messages and reads them often during live broadcasts. Follow @Pastor_Scott on Twitter and visit her official Facebook page @Pastor.M.Scott. Download Pastor Scott's "Understand the Bible" app for iPhone, iPad and iPod at the Apple App Store and for Android devices in the Google Store. Pastor Scott can also be seen 24x7 on Roku and Amazon Fire on the "Understand the Bible?" channel. ©2023 Pastor Melissa Scott, Ph.D., All Rights Reserved
The birth of Jesus Christ is the epitome of hope for humanity, fulfilling the promises made by the prophets of his arrival as the ruler of Israel. According to Matthew 1:21, Mary was to give birth to a son, who was to be named Jesus, and he would save his people from their sins. This event is situated in between Luke 2:39-40 and is believed to have taken place two years before the wise men arrived to visit the baby Jesus. At eight days old, Jesus was circumcised, and 40 days later, his mother Mary underwent purification. Simeon blessed Jesus and rejoiced in his arrival as the Savior. At the age of two, Jesus and his parents went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover feast. Contrary to popular belief, Jesus was not the king of the Jews, as translated in the King James Bible. He was, however, promised to be the lion of the tribe of Judah. The three wise men depicted in the nativity scene were possibly from the country of Parthia in the East, and they were not blindly following a star but had knowledge of the promises of God through the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, and others. There may have been more than just three wise men, and they carried gifts worth thousands of dollars on their journey, which caused alarm in Herod and all of Jerusalem. The birth of Jesus had to take place at a specific time, so that his death would occur in the middle of Daniel's 70th week. He died at the Spring Feast of Passover at the age of 33 and a half, with his conception calculated to have taken place in late December or early January. The 280-day gestation period puts his birth in late September or early October, around the Feast of Tabernacles. The Wise Men found Jesus and when they asked Herod about him, Herod wanted to know when the event took place. After they heard from the king, they departed and followed the star until it led them to the young child. To fulfill prophecy, Joseph took Jesus and his mother to Egypt after the wise men's visit, and stayed there until Herod's death. Herod's attempt to kill all children in Bethlehem, from two years old and under, is recorded in Matthew 12:16. The Bible prophesies the lamentation and bitter weeping of the women in Ramah, Bethlehem, Judea, and Ramah. Jesus chose his disciples from Galilee, many of whom were from the tribe of Benjamin and the same age as Jesus. They could have been victims of Herod's massacre, but their parents took them and fled to Galilee, freeing them from Herod's authority. This fulfillment of the prophecy in Jeremiah is seen in Jesus' disciples. The woman in Genesis 37:9 is identified as Israel, and the sun, moon, and stars in Revelation 12:1 symbolize national Israel. The story of Jesus' birth and life continues in the Book of Revelation.
This episode we look at some of the physical evidence from this period. In particular, since we are talking about the sovereign known as Ankan Tenno, we will look at a glass bowl, said to have come from his tomb, which appears to have made its way all the way from Sassanid Persia to Japan between the 5th and 6th centuries CE. Along the way we'll take a brief look at the route that such an item may have taken to travel across the Eurasian continent all the way to Japan. For more on this episode, check out https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-79 Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 79: Ankan's Glass Bowl. We are currently in the early part of the 6th century. Last episode was our New Year's wrapup, but just before that we talked about the reign of Magari no Ōye, aka Ohine, aka Ankan Tennō. According to the Chronicles, he was the eldest son of Wohodo, aka Keitai Tennō, coming to the throne in 534. For all of the various Miyake, or Royal Grannaries, that he granted, his reign only lasted about two years, coming to an unfortunate end in the 12th month of 535. The Chronicles claim that Ohine was 70 years old when he died, which would seem to indicate he was born when his father, Wohodo, was only 13 years of age. That seems rather young, but not impossibly so. It is said that Ankan Tennō was buried on the hill of Takaya, in the area of Furuichi. And that is where my personal interest in him and his short reign might end, if not for a glass bowl that caught my eye in the Tokyo National Museum. Specifically, it was the Heiseikan, which is where the Tokyo National Museum hosts special exhibitions, but it also hosts a regular exhibition on Japanese archaeology. In fact, if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend checking it out. I mean, let's be honest, the Tokyo National Museum is one of my favorite places to visit when I'm in Tokyo. I think there is always something new—or at least something old that I find I'm taking a second look at. The Japanese archaeology section of the Heiseikan covers from the earliest stone tools through the Jomon, Yayoi, Kofun, and up to about the Nara period. They have originals or replicas of many items that we've talked about on the podcast, including the gold seal of King Na of Wa, the Suda Hachiman mirror, and the swords from Eta Funayama and Inariyama kofun, which mention Wakatakiru no Ōkimi, generally thought to be the sovereign known as Yuuryaku Tennō. They also have one of the large iron tate, or shields, on loan from Isonokami Shrine, and lots of bronze mirrors and various types of haniwa. Amongst this treasure trove of archaeological artifacts, one thing caught my eye from early on. It is a small, glass bowl, round in shape, impressed throughout with a series of round indentations, almost like a giant golf ball. Dark brown streaks crisscross the bowl, where it has been broken and put back together at some point in the past. According to the placard, this Juuyo Bunkazai, or Important Cultural Property, is dated to about the 6th century, was produced somewhere in West Asia, and it is said to have come from the tomb of none other than Ankan Tennō himself. This has always intrigued me. First and foremost there is the question of provenance—while there are plenty of tombs that have been opened over the years, generally speaking the tombs of the imperial family, especially those identified as belonging to reigning sovereigns, have been off limits to most archaeological investigations. So how is it that we have artifacts identified with the tomb of Ankan Tennō, if that is the case? The second question, which almost trumps the first, is just how did a glass bowl from west Asia make it all the way to Japan in the 6th century? Of course, Japan and northeast Asia in general were not strangers to glassmaking—glass beads have a long history both on the Korean peninsula and in the archipelago, including the molds used to make them. However, it is one thing to melt glass and pour it into molds, similar to working with cast bronze. These bowls, however, appear to be something different. They were definitely foreign, and, as we shall see, they had made quite the journey. So let's take a look and see if we can't answer both of these questions, and maybe learn a little bit more about the world of 6th century Japan along the way. To start with, let's look at the provenance of this glass bowl. Provenance is important—there are numerous stories of famous “finds” that turned out to be fakes, or else items planted by someone who wanted to get their name out there. Archaeology—and its close cousin, paleontology—can get extremely competitive, and if you don't believe me just look up the Bone Wars of the late 19th century. Other names that come to mind: The infamous Piltdown man, the Cardiff Giant, and someone we mentioned in one of our first episodes, Fujimura Shin'ichi, who was accused of salting digs to try to claim human habitation in Japan going back hundreds of thousands of years. This is further complicated by the fact that, in many cases, the situation behind a given find is not necessarily well documented. There are Edo period examples of Jomon pottery, or haniwa, that were found, but whose actual origins have been lost to time. Then there are things like the seal of King Na of Wa, which is said to have been discovered by a farmer, devoid of the context that would help to otherwise clear the questions that continue to surround such an object. On top of this, there are plenty of tombs that have been worn down over the ages—where wind and water have eroded the soil, leaving only the giant stone bones, or perhaps washing burial goods into nearby fields or otherwise displacing them. So what is the story with the tomb of Ankan Tennō, and this glass bowl? To answer this, let's first look at the tomb attributed to Ankan Tennō. The Nihon Shoki tells us in the 8th century that this tomb was located at Takaya, in the area of Furuichi. This claim is later repeated by the Engi Shiki in the 10th century. Theoretically, the compilers of both of these works had some idea of where this was, but in the hundreds of years since then, a lot has happened. Japan has seen numerous governments, as well as war, famine, natural disaster, and more. At one point, members of the royal household were selling off calligraphy just to pay for the upkeep of the court, and while the giant kofun no doubt continued to be prominent features for locals in the surrounding areas, the civilian and military governments of the intervening centuries had little to no budget to spare for their upkeep. Records were lost, as were many details. Towards the end of the Edo period, and into the early Meiji, a resurgence in interest in the royal, or Imperial, family and their ancient mausoleums caused people to investigate the texts and attempt to identify mausoleums for each of the sovereigns, as well as other notable figures, in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki. Given that many of those figures are likely fictional or legendary individuals, one can see how this may be problematic. And yet, the list that eventually emerged has become the current list of kofun protected by the Imperial Household Agency as imperial mausolea. Based on what we know, today, some of these official associations seem obviously questionable. Some of them, for instance, are not even keyhole shaped tombs—for instance, some are circular, or round tombs, where the claim is often made that the other parts of the tomb were eroded or washed away. Still others engender their own controversy, such as who, exactly, is buried in Daisen-ryō, the largest kofun, claimed to be the resting place of Ōsazaki no Mikoto, aka Nintoku Tennō. Some people, however, claim that it is actually the sovereign Woasatsuma Wakugo, aka Ingyō Tennō, who is buried there, instead. What is the truth? Well, without opening up the main tomb, who is to say, and even then it is possible that any evidence may have already been lost to the acidic soils of the archipelago, which are hardly kind to organic matter. By the way, quick divergence, here—if you look up information on Daisen-ryō, aka Daisen Kofun, you may notice that there are drawings of a grave, including a coffin, associated with it. That might get you thinking, as I did at one point, that Daisen kofun had already been opened, but it turns out that was a grave on the slopes of the square end of the kofun, and not from the main, circular burial mound. Theoretically this may have been an important consort, or perhaps offspring or close relative of the main individual interred in the kofun, but most likely it is not for the person for whom the giant mound was actually erected. So, yes, Daisen kofun remains unopened, at least as far as we know. As for the kofun identified for Ankan Tennō, today that is the tomb known as Furuichi Tsukiyama Kofun, aka Takaya Tsukiyama Kofun. While the connection to Ankan Tennō may be somewhat unclear, the kofun has had its own colorful history, in a way. Now most of the reports I could find, from about '92 up to 2022, place this kofun, which is a keyhole shaped kofun, in the correct time period—about the early to mid-6th century, matching up nicely with a 534 to 535 date for the reign given to Ankan Tennō. But what is fascinating is the history around the 15th to 16th centuries. It was just after the Ounin War, in 1479, when Hatakeyama Yoshihiro decided to build a castle here, placing the honmaru, the main enclosure, around the kofun, apparently incorporating the kofun and its moats into the castle design. The castle, known as Takaya Castle, would eventually fall to Oda Nobunaga's forces in 1575, and most of the surrounding area was burned down in the fighting, bringing the kofun's life as a castle to an end. Some of the old earthworks still exist, however, and excavations in the area have helped determine the shape of the old castle, though there still have not been any fulsome excavations of the mound that I have found. This makes sense as the kofun is designated as belonging to a member of the imperial lineage. There are, however, other keyhole shaped kofun from around the early 6th century that are also found in the same area, which also could be considered royal mausolea, and would seem to fit the bill just as well as this particular tomb. In addition, there are details in the Chronicles, such as the fact that Magari no Ohine, aka Ankan Tennō, was supposedly buried with his wife and his younger sister. This is, however, contradicted by records like the 10th century Engi Shiki, where two tombs are identified, one for Ankan Tennō and one for his wife, Kasuga no Yamada, so either the Chronicles got it wrong, or there were already problems with tomb identification just two centuries later. So we still aren't entirely sure that this is Ankan Tennō's tomb. But at least we know that the glass bowl came from a 6th century kingly tomb, even if that tomb was only later identified as belonging to Ankan Tennō, right? Well, not so fast. The provenance on the bowl is a bit more tricky than that. You see, the bowl itself came to light in 1950, when a private individual in Fuse, Ōsaka invited visiting scholar Ishida Mosaku to take a look. According to his report at the time, the bowl was in a black lacquered box and wrapped in a special cloth, with a written inscription that indicated that the bowl had been donated to a temple in Furuichi named Sairin-ji. There are documents from the late Edo period indicating that various items were donated to Sairin-ji temple between the 16th to the 18th centuries, including quote-unquote “utensils” said to have been washed out of the tomb believed to be that of Ankan Tennō. Ishida Mosaku and other scholars immediately connected this glass bowl with one or more of those accounts. They were encouraged by the fact that there is a similar bowl found in the Shōsōin, an 8th century repository at Tōdai-ji temple, in Nara, which houses numerous artifacts donated on behalf of Shōmu Tennō. Despite the gulf of time between them—two hundred years between the 6th and 8th centuries—this was explained away in the same way that Han dynasty mirrors, made in about the 3rd century, continued to show up in burials for many hundreds of years afterwards, likewise passed down as familial heirlooms. Still, the method of its discovery, the paucity of direct evidence, and the lack of any direct connection with where it came from leaves us wondering—did this bowl really come from the tomb of Ankan Tennō? Even moreso, did it come from a 6th century tomb at all? Could it not have come from some other tomb? We could tie ourselves up in knots around this question, and I would note that if you look carefully at the Tokyo National Museum's own accounting of the object they do mention that it is quote-unquote “possibly” from the tomb of Ankan Tennō. What does seem clear, however, is that its manufacture was not in Japan. Indeed, however it came to our small group of islands on the northeastern edge of the Eurasian continent, it had quite the journey, because it does appear to be genuinely from the Middle East—specifically from around the time of the Sassanian or Sassanid empire, the first Iranian empire, centered on the area of modern Iran. And it isn't the only one. First off, of course, there is the 8th century bowl in the Shousoin I just mentioned, but there are also examples of broken glass found on Okinoshima, an island deep in the middle of the strait between Kyushu and the Korean peninsula, which has a long history as a sacred site, mentioned in the Nihon Shoki, and attached to the Munakata shrine in modern Fukuoka. Both Okinoshima and the Shōsōin—at least as part of the larger Nara cultural area—are on the UNESCO register of World Heritage sites, along with the Mozu-Furuichi kofun group, of which the Takaya Tsukiyama kofun is one.. Okinoshima is a literal treasure trove for archaeologists. However, its location and status have made it difficult to fully explore. The island is still an active sacred site, and so investigations are balanced with respect for local tradition. The lone occupant of the island is a Shinto priest, one of about two dozen who rotate spending 10 days out at the island, tending the sacred site. Women are still not allowed, and for centuries, one day a year they allowed up to 200 men on the island after they had purified themselves in the ocean around the island. Since then, they have also opened up to researchers, as well as military and media, at least in some instances. The island is apparently littered with offerings. Investigations have demonstrated that this island has been in use since at least the 4th century. As a sacred site, guarding the strait between Kyushu and the Korean peninsula, fishermen and sailors of all kinds would make journeys to the island and leave offerings of one kind or another, and many of them are still there: clay vessels, swords, iron ingots, bronze mirrors, and more. The island's location, which really is in the middle of the straits, and not truly convenient to any of the regular trading routes, means that it has never really been much of a strategic site, just a religious one, and one that had various religious taboos, so it hasn't undergone the centuries of farming and building that have occurred elsewhere. Offerings are scattered in various places, often scattered around or under boulders and large rocks that were perhaps seen as particularly worthy of devotion. Since researchers have been allowed in, over 80,000 treasures have been found and catalogued. Among those artifacts that have been brought back is glass, including glass from Sassanid Persia. Pieces of broken glass bowls, like the one said to have come from Ankan's tomb, as well as what appear to be beads made from broken glass pieces, have been recovered over the years, once more indicating their presence in the trade routes to the mainland, although when, exactly, they came over can be a little more difficult to place. That might be helped by two other glass artifacts, also found in the archaeological exhibit of the Heiseikan in the Tokyo National Museum: a glass bowl and dish discovered at Niizawa Senzuka kofun Number 126, in Kashihara city, in Nara. This burial is believed to date to the latter half of the 5th century, and included an iron sword, numerous gold fittings and jewelry, and even an ancient clothes iron, which at the time looked like a small frying pan, where you could put hot coals or similar items in the pan and use the flat bottom to help iron out wrinkles in cloth. Alongside all of this were also discovered two glass vessels. One was a dark, cobalt-blue plate, with a stand and very shallow conical shape. The other was a round glass bowl with an outwardly flared lip. Around the smooth sides, the glass has been marked with three rows of circular dots that go all the way around, not dissimilar from the indentations in the Ankan and Shōsōin glass bowls. All of these, again, are believed to have come from Sassanid Persia, modern Iran, and regardless of the provenance of the Ankan bowl, it seems that we have clear evidence that Sassanian glassworks were making their way to Japan. But how? How did something like glass—hardly known for being the most robust of materials—make it all the way from Sassanid Persia to Yamato between the 5th and 8th centuries? To start with, let's look at Sassanid Persia and its glass. Sassanid Persia—aka Sassanid or Sassanian Iran—is the name given to the empire that replaced the Parthian empire, and is generally agreed to have been founded sometime in the early 3rd century. The name “Sassanid” refers to the legendary dynastic founder, Sassan, though the first historical sovereign appears to be Ardeshir I, who helped put the empire on the map. Ardeshir I called his empire “Eran sahr”, and it is often known as an Iranian or Persian empire, based on their ties to Pars and the use of the Middle Persian, or Farsi, language. For those not already well aware, Farsi is one of several Iranian languages, though over the years many of the various Iranian speaking peoples would often be classified as “Persian” in English literature. That said, there is quite a diversity of Iranian languages and people who speak them, including Farsi, Pashto, Dari, Tajik, and the ancient Sogdian language, which I'm sure we'll touch on more given their importance in the ancient silk road trade. Because of the ease with which historical “Iranian” ethnic groups can be conflated with the modern state, I am going to largely stick with the term Persian, here, but just be aware that the two words are often, though not always, interchangeable. The Sassanid dynasty claimed a link to the older Achaemenid dynasty, and over the subsequent five centuries of their rule they extended their borders, dominating the area between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf, eastward to much of modern Afghanistan and Pakistan, running right up to the Hindu Kush and the Pamir mountains. They held sway over much of Central Asia, including the area of Transoxiana. With that they had access to both the sea routes, south of India and the overland routes through the Tianshan mountains and the northern and southern routes around the great Taklamakan desert – so, basically, any trade passing between Central and East Asia would pass through Sassanid territory. The Persian empire of the Sassanids was pre-Islamic—Islamic Arab armies would not arrive until about the 7th century, eventually bringing an end to the Sassanid dynasty. Until that point, the Persian empire was largely Zoroastrian, an Iranian religion based around fire temples, restored after the defeat of the Parthians, where eternal flames were kept burning day and night as part of their ritual practice. The Sassanids inherited a Persian culture in an area that had been dominated by the Parthians, and before that the Hellenistic Seleucids, and their western edge bordered with the Roman empire. Rome's establishment in the first century BCE coincided with the invention of glassblowing techniques, and by the time of the Sassanid Empire these techniques seem to have been well established in the region. Sassanid glass decorated with patterns of ground, cut, and polished hollow facets—much like what we see in the examples known in the Japanese islands—comes from about the 5th century onward. Prior to that, the Sassanian taste seems to have been for slightly less extravagant vessels, with straight or slightly rounded walls. Sassanid glass was dispersed in many different directions along their many trade routes across the Eurasian continent, and archaeologists have been able to identify glass from this region not just by its shape, but by the various physical properties based on the formulas and various raw materials used to make the glass. As for the trip to Japan, this was most likely through the overland routes. And so the glass would have been sold to merchants who would take it up through Transoxiana, through passes between the Pamirs and the Tianshan mountains, and then through a series of oasis towns and city-states until it reached Dunhuang, on the edge of the ethnic Han sphere of influence. For a majority of this route, the glass was likely carried by Sogdians, another Iranian speaking people from the region of Transoxiana. Often simply lumped in with the rest of the Iranian speaking world as “Persians”, Sogdians had their own cultural identity, and the area of Sogdia is known to have existed since at least the ancient Achaemenid dynasty. From the 4th to the 8th century, Sogdian traders plied the sands of Central Eurasia, setting up a network of communities along what would come to be known as the Silk Road. It is along this route that the glassware, likely packed in straw or some other protective material, was carried on the backs of horses, camels, and people along a journey of several thousand kilometers, eventually coming to the fractious edge of the ethnic Han sphere. Whether it was these same Sogdian traders that then made their way to the ocean and upon boats out to the Japanese islands is unknown, but it is not hard imagining crates being transferred from merchant to merchant, east, to the Korean Peninsula, and eventually across the sea. The overland route from Sogdia is one of the more well-known—and well-worn—routes on what we modernly know as the Silk Road, and it's very much worth taking the time here to give a brief history of how this conduit between Western Asia/Europe and Eastern Asia developed over the centuries. One of the main crossroads of this area is the Tarim Basin, the area that, today, forms much of Western China, with the Tianshan mountains in the north and the Kunlun Mountains, on the edge of the Tibetan plateau, to the south. In between is a large desert, the Taklamakan desert, which may have once been a vast inland sea. Even by the Han dynasty, a vast saltwater body known as the Puchang Sea existed in its easternmost regions. Comparable to some of the largest of the Great Lakes, and fed by glacial run-off, the lake eventually dwindled to become the salt-marshes around Lop Nur. And yet, researchers still find prominent boat burials out in what otherwise seems to be the middle of the desert. Around the Tarim basin were various cultures, often centered on oases at the base of the mountains. Runoff from melting ice and snow in the mountains meant a regular supply of water, and by following the mountains one could navigate from watering hole to watering hole, creating a natural roadway through the arid lands. In the middle of the Basin, however, is the great Taklamakan desert, and even during the Han dynasty it was a formidable and almost unpassable wasteland. One could wander the sands for days or weeks with no water and no indication of direction other than the punishing sun overhead. It is hardly a nice place and remains largely unpopulated, even today. While there were various cultures and city-states around the oasis towns, the first major power that we know held sway, at least over the northern route, were the Xiongnu. Based in the area of modern Mongolia, the Xiongnu swept down during the Qin and early Han dynasties, displacing or conquering various people. An early exploration of the Tarim basin and its surroundings was conducted by the Han dynasty diplomat, Zhang Qian. Zhang Qian secretly entered Xiongnu territory with the goal of reaching the Yuezhi—a nomadic group that had been one of those displaced by the Xiongnu. The Yuezhi had been kicked out of their lands in the Gansu region and moved all the way to the Ferghana valley, in modern Tajikistan, a part of the region known as Transoxiana. Although Zhang Qian was captured and spent 10 years in service to the Xiongnu, he never forgot his mission and eventually made his way to the Yuezhi. By that time, however, the Yuezhi had settled in to their new life, and they weren't looking for revenge. While Zhang Qian's news may have been somewhat disappointing for the Han court, what was perhaps more important was the intelligence he brought back concerning the routes through the Tarim basin, and the various people there, as well as lands beyond. The Han dynasty continued to assert itself in the area they called the “Western Regions”, and General Ban Chao would eventually be sent to defeat the Xiongnu and loosen their hold in the region, opening up the area all the way to modern Kashgar. Ban Chao would even send an emissary, Gan Ying, to try to make the journey all the way to the Roman empire, known to the Han court as “Daqin”, using the name of the former Qin dynasty as a sign of respect for what they had heard. However, Gan Ying only made it as far as the land of Anxi—the name given to Parthia—where he was told that to make it to Rome, or Daqin, would require crossing the ocean on a voyage that could take months or even years. Hearing this, Gan Ying decided to turn back and report on what he knew. Of course if he actually made it to the Persian Gulf—or even to the Black Sea, as some claim—Gan Ying would have been much closer to Rome than the accounts lead us to believe. It is generally thought that he was being deliberately mislead by Parthian merchants who felt they might be cut out if Rome and the Han Dynasty formed more direct relations. Silks from East Asia, along with other products, were already a lucrative opportunity for middlemen across the trade routes, and nobody wanted to be cut out of that position if they could help it. That said, the Parthians and, following them the Sassanid Persians, continued to maintain relationships with dynasties at the other end of what we know as the Silk Road, at least when they could. The Sassanid Persians, when they came to power, were known to the various northern and southern dynasties as Bosi—possibly pronounced something like Puasie, at the time, no doubt their attempt to render the term “Parsi”. We know of numerous missions in both directions between various dynasties, and Sassanian coins are regularly found the south of modern China. And so we can see that even in the first and second centuries, Eurasia was much more connected than one might otherwise believe. Goods would travel from oasis town to oasis town, and be sold in markets, where they might just be picked up by another merchant. Starting in the fourth century, the Sogdian merchants began to really make their own presence known along these trade routes. They would set up enclaves in various towns, and merchants would travel from Sogdian enclave to Sogdian enclave with letters of recommendation, as well as personal letters for members of the community, setting up their own early postal service. This allowed the Sogdian traders to coordinate activities and kept them abreast of the latest news. I'm not sure we have a clear indication how long this trip would take. Theoretically, one could travel from Kashgar to Xi'an and back in well under a year, if one were properly motivated and provisioned—it is roughly 4,000 kilometers, and travel would have likely been broken up with long stays to rest and refresh at the various towns along the way. I've personally had the opportunity to travel from Kashgar to Turpan, though granted it was in the comfort of an air conditioned bus. Still, having seen the modern conditions, the trip would be grueling, but not impossible back in the day, and if the profits were lucrative enough, then why not do it—it is not dissimilar to the adventurers from Europe in the 16th century who went out to sea to find their own fortunes. And so the glass bowl likely made its way through the markets of the Tarim basin, to the markets of various capitals in the Yellow River or Yangzi regions—depending on who was in charge in any given year—and eventually made its way to the Korean peninsula and from there to a ship across the Korean strait. Of course, those ships weren't simply holding a single glass vessel. Likely they were laden with a wide variety of goods. Some things, such as fabric, incense, and other more biodegradable products would not be as likely to remain, and even glass breaks and oxidizes, and metal rusts away. Furthermore, many of the goods had likely been picked over by the time any shipments arrived in the islands, making things such as these glass bowls even more rare and scarce. Still, this bowl, whether it belonged to Ankan or not, tells us a story. It is the story of a much larger world, well beyond the Japanese archipelago, and one that will be encroaching more and more as we continue to explore this period. Because it wasn't just physical goods that were being transported along the Silk Road. The travelers also carried with them news and new ideas. One of these ideas was a series of teachings that came out of India and arrived in China during the Han dynasty, known as Buddhism. It would take until the 6th century, but Buddhism would eventually make its way to Japan, the end of the Silk Road. But that is for another episode. For now, I think we'll close out our story of Ankan and his glass bowl. I hope you've enjoyed this little diversion, and from here we'll continue on with our narrative as we edge closer and closer to the formal introduction of Buddhism and the era known as the Asuka Period. Until then, thank you for listening and for all of your support. If you like what we are doing, tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts. If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website, SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to Tweet at us at @SengokuPodcast, or reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page. You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com. And that's all for now. Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.
Historically Thinking: Conversations about historical knowledge and how we achieve it
If the Parthian Empire is known at all, it's by students of Roman history who see it pop up from time to time, before disappearing once again. Marcus Licinius Crassus, a member of the first triumvirate– consisting of himself, Pompey, and Julius Caesar– died in battle against the Parthians. At the moment of his assasination, Caesar was preparing for a campaign against Parthia; and Mark Anthony, of the second triumvirate, was defeated by the Parthians when he attempted to realize Caesar's dream. The Emperor Trajan some 150 years later finally achieved victories against Parthia, making his way as far as the shore of the Persian Gulf. But who were the Parthians, on their own terms, not just as antagonists of the Romans? Where did they come from? How did they come to power? What was the extent of their Empire? And how were they integrated with the world around them, apart from their seemingly continual warfare with the ever-growing Roman Empire? With me to answer these questions is Nicholas Overtoom, Assistant Professor of History at Washington State University, and author of Reign of Arrows: The Rise of the Parthian Empire in the Hellenistic Middle East. For Further Investigation Think of this as the second in a series of conversations on the powers and principalities that occupied the territory of Iran. The first of these was with Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, about the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Some time in the next six months we'll get to the Sassanids, who overthrew the Parthians. For more on the importance of nomads, see my conversation with Pamela Crossley in Episode 185; her book on the importance of nomadic thought and culture for all of Eurasia is Hammer and Anvil: Nomad Rulers at the Forge of the Modern World.
He was a Galilean, the son of Alphaeus, and was originally named Levi. He was a tax-collector (an occupation despised by the Jews of Palestine) until he met the Lord, who said to him, "Follow me." From that day he was one of the disciples. After the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Apostle was appointed to bring the Gospel to his fellow Jews, for whom, according to the Church's tradition, he wrote down the Gospel for the first time, in the Aramaic language, eight years after the Ascension. Some years later, this book was translated into Greek by St James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem. No copy in the original language has survived. Later, St Matthew traveled to Parthia and the city of Hierapolis (on the Euphrates river) to proclaim the Gospel to the pagans there. One tradition holds that he reposed in peace in that region at a great age. Another tradition holds that he was martyred by a king of that region, who later repented and was baptized, taking the name Matthew. The king then cast down the idols and established the Christian faith in his realm. When St Matthew is portrayed in icons, the likeness of a man is shown with him, one of the four living creatures spoken of in the first chapter of Ezekiel. St Irenaeus writes that the man symbolizes Christ's Incarnation.
He was a Galilean, the son of Alphaeus, and was originally named Levi. He was a tax-collector (an occupation despised by the Jews of Palestine) until he met the Lord, who said to him, "Follow me." From that day he was one of the disciples. After the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Apostle was appointed to bring the Gospel to his fellow Jews, for whom, according to the Church's tradition, he wrote down the Gospel for the first time, in the Aramaic language, eight years after the Ascension. Some years later, this book was translated into Greek by St James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem. No copy in the original language has survived. Later, St Matthew traveled to Parthia and the city of Hierapolis (on the Euphrates river) to proclaim the Gospel to the pagans there. One tradition holds that he reposed in peace in that region at a great age. Another tradition holds that he was martyred by a king of that region, who later repented and was baptized, taking the name Matthew. The king then cast down the idols and established the Christian faith in his realm. When St Matthew is portrayed in icons, the likeness of a man is shown with him, one of the four living creatures spoken of in the first chapter of Ezekiel. St Irenaeus writes that the man symbolizes Christ's Incarnation.
Emperor He is a nice guy...that's great and all, but does that make him a competent head of state? No, no it does not. But also, Gan Ying ends up in Parthia and learns about Da Qin. Da Qin? Oh, that is what the Han called Rome.
Despite the defeat at Raphia, Antiochus III was not discouraged from further conquests. After dealing with his final rival Achaeus in 213, the Seleucid king would lead a massive expeditionary force into Asia, an anabasis, intending to assert his authority over the wayward satrapies and kingdoms that splintered away during the troubled reigns of his predecessors. Marching from Armenia to India between 212-205, Antiochus and his army would battle the likes of Arsaces II of Parthia and Euthydemus I of Greco-Bactria as they restored the borders of the empire, allowing Antiochus to claim the epithet Megas (the Great) as a testament to his power. Episode 073 Notes: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.wordpress.com/2022/06/04/073-the-seleucid-empire-the-anabasis-of-antiochus-the-great/) Episode 073 Transcript: (https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2022/06/073-the-seleucid-empire-the-anabasis-of-antiochus-iii.pdf) Family Tree: The Reign of Antiochus III (Part One) (https://hellenisticagepodcast.files.wordpress.com/2022/06/reign-of-antiochus-iii-part-1-1.pdf) Social Media: Twitter (https://twitter.com/HellenisticPod) Facebook (www.facebook.com/hellenisticagepodcast/) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/hellenistic_age_podcast/) Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/hellenisticagepodcast) Show Merchandise: Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/shop/HellenisticAgePod) Redbubble (https://www.redbubble.com/people/HellenisticPod/shop?asc=u) Donations: Ko-Fi (https://ko-fi.com/hellenisticagepodcast) Amazon Book Wish List (https://tinyurl.com/vfw6ask)
He was a Galilean, the son of Alphaeus, and was originally named Levi. He was a tax-collector (an occupation despised by the Jews of Palestine) until he met the Lord, who said to him, "Follow me." From that day he was one of the disciples. After the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Apostle was appointed to bring the Gospel to his fellow Jews, for whom, according to the Church's tradition, he wrote down the Gospel for the first time, in the Aramaic language, eight years after the Ascension. Some years later, this book was translated into Greek by St James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem. No copy in the original language has survived. Later, St Matthew traveled to Parthia and the city of Hierapolis (on the Euphrates river) to proclaim the Gospel to the pagans there. One tradition holds that he reposed in peace in that region at a great age. Another tradition holds that he was martyred by a king of that region, who later repented and was baptized, taking the name Matthew. The king then cast down the idols and established the Christian faith in his realm. When St Matthew is portrayed in icons, the likeness of a man is shown with him, one of the four living creatures spoken of in the first chapter of Ezekiel. St Irenaeus writes that the man symbolizes Christ's Incarnation.
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
