Podcasts about Valentinian

On todays Show we celebrate the return of Texas Jim and we talk about Jimbo's paper on early Christian liturgical and catechetical patterns, which identified 12 features of apostolic Christianity. These include beliefs in God's unity, Jesus' divinity and humanity, and the resurrection. Jimbo compared Apostolic Fathers' texts with Nag Hammadi texts, finding that only the Secret Book of James and some Valentinian texts partially aligned with the narrative pattern. The paper concluded that early Christianity was unified around these beliefs, despite diverse practices. The conversation also touched on the implications of these findings for modern Christian orthodoxy and the importance of implicit versus explicit theological statements. The discussion delves into the interpretation of the Bible, emphasizing the depth beyond literalism. Speaker 2 critiques the shallow approach of Richard Dawkins and others, advocating for a deeper understanding of Christianity's narrative and salvific plan. The conversation highlights the unity of Christianity through 12 core features, despite diverse practices like communion. They contrast this with Gnostic texts, which deviate significantly from Apostolic Christian principles. The narrative pattern unites major Christian denominations, including Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Catholicism. Don't miss it!

Was Valentine's Day really about love—or was it a church cover-up for a near-Pope-turned-heretic?--- Join and support the community: https://www.creationspaths.com/ In this episode of _Creation's Paths_, Charlie and Brian explore the hidden history of Valentine's Day, uncovering its potential ties to Valentinus, an early Christian teacher and theologian. While many assume that the holiday originated with St. Valentine, Charlie presents an alternative theory: that the figure we associate with love may actually be based on Valentinus, a near-Pope-turned-heretic who taught about divine union, love, and spiritual fulfillment.The discussion delves into Valentinus' theology, which emphasized mystical unions, sacred marriage, and the concept of the _pleroma_ (fullness of God). Charlie and Brian trace the evolution of his teachings, their potential influence on later Christian mysticism, and how the Catholic Church may have co-opted his legacy. They also connect Valentinian thought to movements like the Cathars, Kabbalah, and Hermetic traditions.Listeners also get a deep dive into early church conspiracies, theological debates, and how imperialism shaped religious doctrine. With a mix of humor, history, and mysticism, Charlie and Brian uncover how Valentinus' radical ideas about love and unity may have been repackaged into the modern celebration of Valentine's Day.Thank you for Liking and Subscribing to this podcastThank you for sharing this episode with your loved ones, friends and community--- Thank you for Tips or Donations: https://ko-fi.com/cedorsett https://patreon.com/cedorsett $CreationsPathsSubstack: https://www.creationspaths.com/ For all of the things we are doing at The Seraphic Grove go to Creation's Paths https://www.creationspaths.com/ For Educational Resource: https://wisdomscry.com Guided Meditations Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV0C8kiTKv0J2QAAlD1uaIJvQ3Sr9sIqO Christopagan Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV0C8kiTKv0ISXDQkZBRB7EHrUUJgXlGN The Everything Playlist:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLV0C8kiTKv0Ln3eGW-tDk2R68PM6c182OCreation's Paths Podcast: http://www.creationspaths.com/podcast Church of the Oak Podcast: http://churchoftheoak.com/Hallowstead Podcast: http://hallowstead.com/Social Connections: BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/creationspaths.com Threads https://www.threads.net/@creationspaths Instagram https://www.instagram.com/creationspaths/## Chapters:00:00 Introduction and Valentine's Day Overview01:07 Meet the Hosts: Charlie and Brian01:17 Historical Context of St. Valentine02:36 The Conspiracy Theories Around Valentine's Day04:30 Valentinus: The Man Behind the Legend07:07 Valentinus' Teachings and Theology11:38 Valentinus' Influence and Legacy17:37 Modern Connections and Practices29:56 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Valentinian, son of the Rope Man, emerged from dad's shadow, paid his dues in the army, and was in the right place at the right time when Julian's short-lived successor Jovian died somewhere outside Ancyra.  Rising to the purple with his brother Valens (Adrianople anyone?) by his side, Valentinian would go on to rule from the west, holding the Rhine, recovering Britannia, and quashing rebelling in Africaa.  He would be the last truly dominant Roman Emperor to rule the West, with the help of two savage she-bears, but was he a hero?  

Step into the rich and vibrant garden of Puritan wisdom with Charles Spurgeon, one of the most beloved preachers and authors in recent Christian history. In Flowers from a Puritan's Garden, Spurgeon prayerfully selects and expands upon the profound insights and analogies gleaned from Thomas Manton's sermons. Each “flower” in this garden is a spiritual truth, lovingly cultivated and presented with Spurgeon's signature warmth, wit, and pastoral care. Whether you are a long-time admirer of Puritan writings or new to their influence, Flowers from a Puritan's Garden offers a refreshing and spiritually nourishing read. Perfect for daily devotions, personal study, or as a gift to those seeking encouragement in their Christian journey, this book will help readers to see the beauty of God's truth as it applies to our lives. Discover the timeless beauty of following Christ through the eyes of one of history's greatest preachers, and allow the truths in these pages to blossom in your heart. About the Author Charles Haddon (C. H.) Spurgeon (1834-1892) was a British Baptist preacher. He started preaching at age 16 and quickly became famous. He is still known as the “Prince of Preachers” and frequently had more than 10,000 people present to hear him preach at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. His sermons were printed in newspapers, translated into many languages, and published in many books.

An Interview with Dr. David Brakke David Brakke challenges the common notion that Christians had a New Testament type of Bible by around 200. Rather, he claims, their Bible was Jewish scriptures plus a wide variety of written texts by Jesus followers used in multiple contexts. Marcion and his followers would have been the exception, since he rejected the Jewish writings. Brakke's recent analysis of two ancient Christian texts concludes that the early Christian years were diverse and served different purposes before the biblical canon was established. Irenaeus, the Church Father of the second century, probably set the tone for an approval or disapproval of certain texts. He thought various texts should reflect the rule of faith for that time, and this would have excluded such texts as Valentinian – or so-called gnostic types of writing. On the other hand, Irenaeus was also aware of 'barbarian Christians' who had no text at all. That didn't seem to concern him. Brakke summarizes from his study of the two second-century texts—the Muratorian Fragment and the Secret Book of James—that Christians were very different in antiquity. In 200, people were not interested in asking for a New Testament. They sort of agree on some ancient writings which were very useful, but others not at all.

Scratch your head sometimes at the byzantine Gnostic cosmogonies and cosmologies? Don't worry as Dr. Cyd Ropp returns to the Virtual Alexandria to discuss her new book, A Simple Explanation of the Gnostic Gospel of the Tripartite Tractate. Her insights on the Valentinian work reveal a clear, logical, but profound theology for cosmic liberation and divine remembrance – a wisdom of the ages other mystics have spoken about. She'll extend her Gnosis-making machine to other Gnostic concepts, allowing us a clear picture of the Demiurge, the Logos, the Pleroma, Aeons, and reincarnation. It's so simple you'll laugh at the idea of “secret knowledge.”More on Cyd: https://gnosticinsights.com/Get Astro Gnosis 3 tickets: https://thegodabovegod.com/astro-gnosis-3/The Gnostic Tarot: https://www.makeplayingcards.com/sell/synkrasisHomepage: https://thegodabovegod.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aeonbyteAB Prime: https://thegodabovegod.com/members/subscription-levels/ Virtual Alexandria Academy: https://thegodabovegod.com/virtual-alexandria-academy/Voice Over services: https://thegodabovegod.com/voice-talent/ Astro Gnosis (Meet the Archons): https://thegodabovegod.com/meet-archon-replay/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/aeon-byte-gnostic-radio/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today I explore some key Sufi teachings compatible with the contemporary mystic or gnostic path called Sant Mat. The Sants and Radhaswamis of the living present highly value the mystic poetry and wisdom of Rumi, Hafiz, Rabia, Sarmad, Hazrat Sultan BaHU, Sanai, Baba Farid and so many other Sufi Faqir lovers of the Beloved, viewing them as being Saints of the highest order. Hear verses of Hakim Sanai on meditating the Mysteries of Creation, connecting with the Subtle Realms of dimensions beyond in what can be called Inner Space, the Kingdom of God within. I focus upon the Inner Sound Mysticism of some of the great Sufi Saints of the ages: Rumi, Fakhruddin ‘Iraqi, Shah Niaz, Hazrat Sultan BaHU, Hazrat Inayat Khan, and Dara Shikoh. An exploration of the vegan verses of Rumi is presented. There is an essay on how mystical schools of spirituality are very fragile and short-lived in this world of illusion, this realm of Samsara, the World of Changes, how usually there are typically only a few generations of living masters and then, after the passing of the last master, a mystic path or branch of a school of spirituality fades from the scene, unless of course it gets hijacked and repurposed, turned into another world religion with a very different focus (zombification). When the latter happens, often the earlier teachings and sacred texts undergo serious edits. What had been a shared knowledge about Inner Sound and Light meditation practices, vegetarian ethics and other key principles might even be reclassified as "apocryphal" or "extra canonical". Although there is an oppressive history of lost teachings of the Sound Current (The Lost Chord), that there are no permanent universities of mysticism on planet Earth, no surviving Pythagorean, or Valentinian gnostic schools of wisdom still with us with roots in antiquity, or a church of the Ebionites with copies of Sayings Gospel Q or the Gospel of the Hebrews, a hopeful message is presented that Life Always Begets New Life. As old mystic paths and sangats fade into the oblivion of time (Kal) they are replaced with new living schools of spirituality -- that it's always been this way. Seneca the Stoic: "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." There are also readings from Dr. Jagessar Das,  the Sar Bachan Radhaswami Prose Book One (Huzur Maharaj Rai Saligram), Sar Bachan Radhaswami Poetry Volume One (Swami Ji Maharaj), Prem Bani Radhasoami Volume One (Hazur Maharaj Rai Saligram), Tukarama, Russell Perkins (The Stranger of Galilee), and Baba Ram Singh. We conclude with the mystic poetry of Baba Farid the Sufi. Many of his mystic poetry verses are to be found in the Sikh Scriptures, also known as the Adi Granth. (Gurbani)    In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami   James Bean Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts Sant Mat Radhasoami A Satsang Without Walls Spiritual Awakening Radio Website: https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com        

On Thursday June 3rd, 2021 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a reading off the newly drafted Corpus Christi ceremony which will represent the Rosicrucian climax of the ancient pagan seasonal ceremony round. It will be performed following the Spring Sacred Marriage Nuptiae rite. In keeping with the Sacred Marriage being the supreme sacrament and passion of early Gnostic Christianity. The ritual will follow the ancient Naassene document honoring Jesus as the last of the pagan dying Gods coming down to rescue and marry Mary Magdalene so that they may rule together as King and Queen of Israel. So if you want experience the Second Coming, Valentinian style, tune in and receive the Gnosis.

On Thursday May 21st 2020 the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the Twisted History of Christianity. The general theme of this presentation is how the distortion of its original principles perverted its mission for the following two thousand years of world history. We will examine how the Christian religion, which was supposed to bring peace, love and comfort to the people who accepted it, brought instead War, hatred, persecution and despair. We will begin by recalling what Christianity was supposed to be and who Jesus's Father in Heaven really was. We will remember how his wife, Mary Magdalene and later the bishop Valentinian and his follower Marcus tried to carry on the original teachings. We will recall how the Roman Church created its Inquisition to stamp out the resurgence of original Gnostic Christianity in Southern France where Mary Magdalene and Marcus had preached, and how the Roman Church launched a genocidal crusade against these innocent Cathars killing millions. The Inquisition went on to murder thousand of heretics and witches while the Church bishops exploited the poor and offered salvation for money. Finally Northern European Christians revolted in a movement called the Reformation, but the Protestants failed to correct the original mistake the Roman Church had made in accepting Yahweh as the father of Jesus and incorporating the corrupted Old Testament as part of the Christian Bible. By the 18th century all forms of Christianity were challenged by the rise of a new atheistic religion that offered the same promise: peace, love and comfort. It emerged from the horror of the French Revolution. You can call it socialism, humanism, or communism – but what ever name it goes under, it is actually a Christian Heresy. It is Christian altruism without salvation. So, If you want to want to know how the early Christians got it wrong and how we can fix it, tune in and we'll reveal a real New Testament.

It's another Strange Demise in the unfortunate sphere of The Game of Death of Thrones of Death!  And we're in Rome, in and about Rome, sort of near Rome, ok he's Roman at least! Valentinian The First.  Come hear how he screamed himself to death! (spoilers) Big thanks to Scott Buckley for some lovely music ZapSplat for Music, Marching and Bears!  Pay us money to stop on Ko-Fi. WE DARE YOU. Visit the Socials - Facebook, Insta, Twitter (we're not callin' it X, I mean come on. It's like an awful student film that Bilbo wrote thinking he were proper cuttin' edge)

Fragments Of The Lost Writings Of Valentinus - Valentinian Gnostic Texts. Valentinus was the best known and, for a time, most successful early Christian Gnostic theologian. He founded his school in Rome. According to Tertullian, Valentinus was a candidate for bishop but started his own group when another was chosen. Valentinus produced a variety of writings, but only fragments survive, largely those quoted in rebuttal arguments in the works of his opponents, not enough to reconstruct his system except in broad outline. His doctrine is known only in the developed and modified form given to it by his disciples, the Valentinians. He taught that there were three kinds of people, the spiritual, psychical, and material; and that only those of a spiritual nature received the gnosis (knowledge) that allowed them to return to the divine Pleroma, while those of a psychic nature (ordinary Christians) would attain a lesser or uncertain form of salvation, and that those of a material nature were doomed to perish. The fragments here are selected from: Bentley Layton, The Gnostic Scriptures https://amzn.to/3GzOFm5 Please consider supporting my work and download this audio as part of the ESOTERIC AND OCCULT WISDOM - MASTER COLLECTION VOL. 2 (an ongoing collection of Gnostic, alchemical, Hermetic, and related occult audio projects that span dozens of hours) at https://altrusiangrace.bandcamp.com Music is by Illuminated Void from "The Vesper Serpent". *JOIN MY PATREON at https://www.patreon.com/altrusiangracemedia *BECOME A YOUTUBE CHANNEL MEMBER at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMzRTOugvDLwhSwJdoSWBZA/join *JOIN THE CULT OF STARRY WISDOM at https://altrusiangrace.bandcamp.com/starry-wisdom-cult *FOLLOW THE AGM PODCAST at https://altrusiangracemedia.podbean.com *MY TSHIRTS AND DESIGNS ON AMAZON at https://amzn.to/3peS9j3 *MY NEW 2022 MERCH LINE "OCCULT NOUVEAU" at https://amzn.to/3OeUHZL *MY TSHIRTS AND DESIGNS ON TEEPUBLIC at https://teepublic.sjv.io/XxvPDX *LICENSE MY MUSIC FOR YOUR PROJECT at https://www.pond5.com/artist/altrusiangracemedia *MY BOOKS ON AMAZON at https://amzn.to/3oQGh6A As an Amazon Associate I earn a small amount from qualifying purchases and it helps to support my channel. Please consider LIKING the video, SUBSCRIBING to the channel, and SHARING the links! These simple actions go a long way in supporting AGM and is truly appreciated!  ~~Places to follow and support Altrusian Grace Media~~ Website ► https://altrusiangrace.blogspot.com/ Bandcamp ► https://altrusiangrace.bandcamp.com Teepublic Store ► https://teepublic.sjv.io/XxvPDX Twitter ► https://twitter.com/AltrusianGrace Rumble ► https://rumble.com/c/c-375437 YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/AltrusianGraceMedia Odessy ► https://odysee.com/@altrusiangracemedia:1 Bitchute ► https://www.bitchute.com/channel/altrusiangracemedia/ To kindly donate directly to my channel: www.paypal.me/altrusiangrace For inquiries regarding voice-over work or licensing for my work (including music) please contact altrusiangracemedia ((at)) gmail.com AGM BACKUP CONTENT ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO0nCG5aqB1CHyU3Xf0TUbg #Gnosticism #Alchemy #Hermeticism #Occult #Esoteric #Audiobook #Mysticism #Gnostic #Egyptian #Christianity #NagHammadi #Spirituality #Jung

Do you think there are any passages in the "Pauline" epistles that look like they might be written by Simon Magus? What do you make of Valentinus's claim that he was in the apostolic line of “Paul” and had secret teachings through Paul's disciple Theudas? If this is true, and Paul is Simon, can any Valentinian-like doctrine be found in any passages in Paul that might, therefore, be likely candidates for an original scrap of Simon's writing? Isn't it suspicious that a Savioe should actually be named "Savior" (Yehoshua)? Wasn't Jesus really, by "holy spirit," intending a dynamic and fresh experience of life in the present moment? I suffer from OCD (scrupulosity) and have an intense fear of going to hell for losing my belief which is totally irrational I know, but certain sensational claims by exorcists have made me wonder if it's all real after all. How can claims like this be rationalized? It seems it is impossible to hold in mind all facades of the jewel that is Jesus, when contemplating him, or having a personal relationship with him in one's mind. In their contemplation of him, are Christians really relating to one character or a cast of characters? Matthew 28:9-10 seem superfluous. Why does the risen Jesus simply repeat what the angel said only a moment before? Could it be that some of the supposed “appearances” can be explained by Jesus' early followers noticing people that reminded them of Jesus and they managed to convince themselves it really was Jesus? Because as odd as that sounds it seems to be what the two men in Lk. 24 did. I doubt that the Flavians invented Christianity. They were so pragmatic and hard-nosed that their strategy would have been simply to crush their enemies.

The Tripartite Tractate is a Gnostic work found in the Nag Hammadi library. It is the fifth tractate of the first codex, known as the Jung Codex. It deals primarily with the relationship between the Aeons and the Son. It is divided into three parts, which deal with the determinism of the Father and the free-will of the hypostatized aeons, the creation of humanity, evil, and the fall of Anthropos, and the variety of theologies, the tripartition of humanity, the actions of the Saviour and ascent of the saved into Unity. Your copy of The Nag Hammadi Library can be found at https://amzn.to/2lzpFoa Please consider supporting my work and download this audio as part of the ESOTERIC AND OCCULT WISDOM - MASTER COLLECTION (an ongoing collection of Gnostic, alchemical, Hermetic, and related occult/spiritual audio projects that span dozens of hours) at https://altrusiangrace.bandcamp.com/ *JOIN MY PATREON at https://www.patreon.com/altrusiangracemedia *BECOME A YOUTUBE CHANNEL MEMBER at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMzRTOugvDLwhSwJdoSWBZA/join *JOIN THE CULT OF STARRY WISDOM at https://altrusiangrace.bandcamp.com/starry-wisdom-cult *FOLLOW THE AGM PODCAST at https://altrusiangracemedia.podbean.com *MY TSHIRTS AND DESIGNS ON AMAZON at https://amzn.to/3peS9j3 *MY NEW 2022 MERCH LINE "OCCULT NOUVEAU" at https://amzn.to/3OeUHZL *MY TSHIRTS AND DESIGNS ON TEEPUBLIC at https://teepublic.sjv.io/XxvPDX *LICENSE MY MUSIC FOR YOUR PROJECT at https://www.pond5.com/artist/altrusiangracemedia *MY BOOKS ON AMAZON at https://amzn.to/3oQGh6A As an Amazon Associate I earn a small amount from qualifying purchases and it helps to support my channel. Please consider LIKING the video, SUBSCRIBING to the channel, and SHARING the links! These simple actions go a long way in supporting AGM and is truly appreciated!  ~~Places to follow and support Altrusian Grace Media~~ Website ► https://altrusiangrace.blogspot.com/ Bandcamp ► https://altrusiangrace.bandcamp.com Teepublic Store ► https://teepublic.sjv.io/XxvPDX Twitter ► https://twitter.com/AltrusianGrace Rumble ► https://rumble.com/c/c-375437 YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/AltrusianGraceMedia Odessy ► https://odysee.com/@altrusiangracemedia:1 Bitchute ► https://www.bitchute.com/channel/altrusiangracemedia/ To kindly donate directly to my channel: www.paypal.me/altrusiangrace For inquiries regarding voice-over work or licensing for my work (including music) please contact altrusiangracemedia ((at)) gmail.com AGM BACKUP CONTENT ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO0nCG5aqB1CHyU3Xf0TUbg #Gnosticism #Alchemy #Hermeticism #Occult #Esoteric #Audiobook #Mysticism #Gnostic #Egyptian #Christianity #NagHammadi #Spirituality #Jung  

After Julian's death on campaign in Persia in AD 363, his successors struggled to stave off growing barbarian invasions in the west and Persia's new-found dominance in the east. They did their best to keep the show on the road but the cracks in Rome's armour were beginning to show. Indeed, for the emperor Valentinian, it all proved too much when he literally burst a blood vessel and died in a fit of anger while negotiating with the German tribe, the Quadi. 

This week's episode compares Sethian gnosticism to the Valentinian gnosticism we usually feature. We'll learn some of the basic ways that these two strains of "gnosticism" differ. Who/what is the Barbelo? Who/what is Yaldabaoth? Who/what falls from the Fullness to create our material world? Who and how is a person redeemed to the Fullness?

This week's episode compares Sethian gnosticism to the Valentinian gnosticism we usually feature. We'll learn some of the basic ways that these two strains of "gnosticism" differ. Who/what is the Barbelo? Who/what is Yaldabaoth? Who/what falls from the Fullness to create our material world? Who and how is a person redeemed to the Fullness?

This episode discusses some of the differences and similarities between Gnosticism and Christianity and suggests that this Gnostic theology is what Jesus of Nazareth actually taught. Who is God? What is the original sin? Who and what is the Christ? Are you and your loved ones going to Heaven?

This episode discusses some of the differences and similarities between Gnosticism and Christianity and suggests that this Gnostic theology is what Jesus of Nazareth actually taught. Who is God? What is the original sin? Who and what is the Christ? Are you and your loved ones going to Heaven?

Gnostic priest David Parry materialized at the Virtual Alexandria to discuss some of our favorite cosmic villains (or friends) in the Bible and ancient traditions. Are they extraterrestrials or spiritual wickedness in high places? Can a modern mystic viewpoint shed light on these entities, or can we just lean on the perennial wisdom of such giants as Swedenborg, Jung, and others? David also shared his work as a contemporary Valentinian reverend navigating the extremes of orthodox religion and runaway materialism.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/aeon-byte-gnostic-radio/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On Thursday March 10th, 2022 the Hermetic Hour with Host Poke Runyon will present a dramatic reading of Chapters Four and Five of his magical adventure novel The Tomb of Prester John. This will be of particular interest to those seeking to understand the origins of the Gnostic Mass and its roots in Valentinian and Simonic Gnostic traditions. Doc Roland's Lady archaeologist partner, a belly dancing former Scarlet Woman, channels both the spirits of Jesus's Mary Magdalene and Simon's Helen in their quest to find the Tomb of the medieval warrior priest king, while being stalked by her former lover Khalil Ibn Iblis, the Gnostic priest turned terrorist assassin. The Tomb of Prester John is a novel that delivers magical secrets in fiction form. In this episode you will discover that Gurdjieff's enneagram is the entrance to the Ninth Gate, that Jehovah is Popeye, and that The Gnostic Mass was originally Christian. So come with us on a quest for the Tomb of Prester John.

Attila the Hun! Does his name conjure up images of savagery in your mind? Of a bloodthirsty warrior-king who ruthlessly tortured and killed his enemies as he sacked city after city?  An especially barbaric man who stood out for violence in a time known for so much violence? OR - was he a man of his times? Was he no more or less violent than the Romans, whose historians wrote his story? And when they wrote his story, how much was truth and how much was hyperbole and slander? Today we look into 5th century CE Europe, when the Western Roman Empire is falling, when Attila and his Huns are sacking city after city. We try to separate fact from fiction, and get to know the real Attila, not the evil cartoon presented in clickbait articles and videos. The Bad Magic Charity of the month is SEO: Sponsors for Educational Opportunity. SEO's mission is to create a more equitable society by closing the opportunity gap for young people from historically excluded communities. To find out more, go to seo-use.orgWatch the Suck on YouTube: https://youtu.be/95AGdmpbw88Merch - https://badmagicmerch.com/  Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89vWant to join the Cult of the Curious private Facebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" in order to locate whatever happens to be our most current page :)For all merch related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)Please rate and subscribe on iTunes and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcastWanna become a Space Lizard?  Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcastSign up through Patreon and for $5 a month you get to listen to the Secret Suck, which will drop Thursdays at Noon, PST. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. You get to vote on two Monday topics each month via the app. And you get the download link for my new comedy album, Feel the Heat. Check the Patreon posts to find out how to download the new album and take advantage of other benefits.

The interview with my guest of this week's episode was actually recorded right away on New Year's Day and I'm very happy to welcome author, leader of a Gnostic Parish and a Martinist Lodge, 32nd Degree Mason and 9° Magus in the S.I.R.A., Rev. Mathieu G. Ravignat. Mathieu has published three large and very deeply researched and well-written books on the Élus Coëns, the French Gnostic Church and Egyptian Masonry and of course these will be our main topics of interest. Growing up in a devout but open-minded Canadian Catholic family Mathieu was called to spirituality at a young age and even considered priesthood as a path in his early teens. However, during his university years he discovered several authors like William Blake who exerted a huge influence on his spiritual views and pointed him into different directions making him re-questioning his orthodox Catholic framework and opening up the gates to Western Esotericism to him. Mathieu went on to contact local esoteric groups and soon became active in Masonic circles, especially embracing Martinism. In 2019 Mathieu published a book ‘The French Gnostic Church: Doctrinal and Liturgical Evolution' which is about one of the least understood esoteric parts of the Western Esoteric Tradition. We'll be talking about his inspiration for putting quite a lot of work into this project as well as how digitization played a big part in it. We'll be exploring how the Gnostic Church could evolve in France, how it embraced mystical experiences in a Valentinian tradition and went on to become the first church in modern history that consecrated a woman as a bishop. Of course we'll be discussing the figure of visionary and neo-Catharist Jules Doinel who as its leader aimed to return to a ‘primitive' form of Christianity with its basis in the Gospel of John. The covers of Mathieu Ravignat's two books that we disuss in this episode.Available here Aside from Roman Catholicism and Protestantism that both got carried forward into French respectively British Esoteric practices there was also a third ‘movement' within esotericism without a religious framework which was a huge inspiration for another of Mathieu's books, ‘Quest for a Lost Rite: The Origins, High Degrees and Spiritual Practices of Traditional Egyptian Freemasonry'. In this book he aims for the reconstruction of very specific degrees and also provides spiritual methods of the rites and we'll be diving deeply into his motivation to make the information within this book available for the public in not only going into details on historical aspects but creating a work that is useful to the soul and offers real tools for practice. In the end, Mathieu will kindly open up on his upcoming projects including a book titled ‘Hermetic Musings Volume I.', containing articles on esoteric subjects such as the concept of the bridal chamber in ancient Gnosticism, practical alchemy and much more. Music played in this episode ONCE AGAIN, TODAY'S MUSIC IS BY ONE OF OUR LISTENERS. BENJAMIN BROWN, SOUND ENGINEER FROM SCOTLAND, CONTACTED ME AND OFFERED US THREE OF HIS WORKS. Benjamin Brown is a recording engineer and musician based between Glasgow and The Black Isle in Scotland. The music that we hear in this episode is from a record he made during 2020 and finished last year. Here is what he says about his work: "It's a pretty little thing which I suppose is something I have always wanted to make.. It is a continuation of what I have always done - express myself via music - and to me, makes perfect sense. When I was nineteen I joined the band Falloch and made a quiet decision to spend the next decade pursuing "music" to see where I could get.

What happened in the fourth century? You’ve probably heard all kinds of rumors about Arius of Alexandria and his newfangled heresy. But, was Arius really a sinful outsider who tried to corrupt Christianity? Was his idea of a Son with a beginning even new? In this episode we’ll cover an outline of the major events Read more about 423 One God 13: The Fourth Century[…]

Something which is often talked of in magical circles, but not greatly understood- is Gnosticism and those who were called Gnostics. These Gnostics were those that valued personal experience of God; a knowledge called "gnosis," over more orthodox traditions and institutions. For the last 2000 years, we knew very little about these Gnostics, but all of that changed with an amazing archeological find in 1945 in Egypt. Taking us through Gnosticism and all things Gnostic, is the host of the greatest gnostic podcast ever, Aeon Byte Gnostic Radio- Mr. Miguel Conner!

On Thursday June 3rd, 2021 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a reading off the newly drafted Corpus Christi ceremony which will represent the Rosicrucian climax of the ancient pagan seasonal ceremony round. It will be performed following the Spring Sacred Marriage Nuptiae rite. In keeping with the Sacred Marriage being the supreme sacrament and passion of early Gnostic Christianity. The ritual will follow the ancient Naassene document honoring Jesus as the last of the pagan dying Gods coming down to rescue and marry Mary Magdalene so that they may rule together as King and Queen of Israel. So if you want experience the Second Coming, Valentinian style, tune in and receive the Gnosis.

A special show of sorts. I make public one of our exclusive Finding Hermes meetings. Christ Bennett, a leading researcher on entheogens, presented on the topic of cannabis use in ancient religion. This included the visionary rituals of Sethians, Valentinian, and other Gnostic sects. Enjoy this spanning lecture on how Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, and other faiths of antiquity reached altered states of consciousness with cannabis.  More information on Chris Get Chris’ book

On Thursday December 10th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the Valentinian Gnostic origins of the Dee-and-Kelley Enochian 30 Aethyr system. This ancient configuration indicates that John Dee had more to do with the actual construction than previously imagined. Apparently the Aethyrs did not spring full-armed from the brow of Kelley, like Athena from the brow of Zeus. Dee was the scholar and must have discovered the Valentinian model in research, thus directing Kelley's scrying. This has prompted us to add Valentinian angelic invications to the Aethyrs, similar to the way the Shemehamphorash angels are used in Goetia. It acts as a spiritual safety on what is otherwise an entirely elemental process and makes Enochian visions more spiritually and psychologically digestible. So if you want to experience sanctified Enochian, tune in and we will fire up the Tablets.

Ambrose of Milan, more than any other figure, is invoked in the West as the model for church-state relations. He’s the one who said: “The emperor is within the Church, not above the Church.” And he said it with deeds as well as words. He said it in private letters and public demonstrations. He said it through direct confrontation and civil disobedience. A former politician himself, he had a keen understanding of the game—and in the late fourth century the stakes were very high. Links Ambrose, Sermon against Auxentius on the Giving Up of the Basilicas https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2075 Ambrose, Letter XXI to Valentinian I https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2074 Ambrose, Letter XX to his sister Marcella https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2073 Ambrose Letter LI to Theodosius https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2079 Ambrose, On the Mysteries https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2090 Augustine, Confessions, Book 8.7.15 https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=3102 Mike Aquilina’s website https://fathersofthechurch.com Mike Aquilina’s books https://catholicbooksdirect.com/writer/mike-aquilina/ Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org Donate today! https://www.catholicculture.org/users/donate/audio  

Bei seinen letzten Verhandlungen regte sich Valentinian I. dermaßen über unverschämte Forderungen auf, dass er einen Schlaganfall erlitt und verstarb. Mit seinem Wirken ist die letzte Blütezeit des römischen Lebens auf deutschem Boden verbunden.

Sein cholerisches Temperament wurde ihm zum Verhängnis: Der Soldatenkaiser Valentinian I. regte sich bei einem Feldzug im heutigen Ungarn bei Verhandlungen mit dem Stamm der Quaden dermaßen über deren unverschämte Forderungen auf, dass er auf der Stelle einen Schlaganfall erlitt und verstarb. Da hatte er knapp zwölf Jahre als römischer Kaiser regiert, davon siebeneinhalb Jahre von Trier aus. Autor: Walter Liedtke

ROMANS 9:1-33 (See also Exodus 9:13-17 and Jeremiah 18:1-6)(Review) The Valentinian Myth (A Christian Gnostic Heresy, Valentinius AD 100- AD 160)God is the ultimate being, he generated 30 different beings (silence, truth, wisdom, etc). Christ was one of these beings referred to as Aeons. All of these beings formed together to create a perfect world known as Pleroma. A disruption occurred within the Pleroma when one of the beings (Wisdom) began seeking to understand how she came to be. As a result, a fall occurred, creating a distorted/lower form of Wisdom that created the Demiurge (God of the material world), the universe, the Devil, earth, and mankind.Most humans are only composed of matter and soul, but the pneumatic element from the true wisdom trickled down into a select number of humans, giving them a sense of enlightment, desire for something more, and that they really belong to another world.As such, according to the Valentinian myth, humanity is divided at birth into the pneumatics and the non-pneumatics. Certain people are, by their very nature, destined for salvation while others are damned.Early Christian Perspective on Romans 9-Many of the most prominent Patristic thinkers (early church fathers), including Origen and Irenaeus held that Romans 9:6-13 was describing God's foreknowledge, rather than some form of deterministic work, meaning that God's election was based upon God's ability to see in advance man's faith and freewill, rather than God deciding for him. -The fact that Paul expresses concern for his brothers and sisters here, yet provides that these same individuals have opportunity to return to Christ in Romans 11:23, provides further evidence that God's work here isn't deterministic.-Calvin (and to some degree Luther), extrapolated on Augustine's strong teachings on grace (which was in contrast to Pelagianism/Salvation by merit), to use Romans 9 as evidence of God's sovereignty choice in salvation, rather than the will of man. Commentary on Romans 9-Paul introduces the idea of a true Israel, those that children of the promise or reckoned through Isaac (the child of the promise and a "type" of Christ.)-Romans 9:12-13, see Genesis 25:23 and Malachi 1:2-3, two nations, Israel and Edom, written centuries after the boys deaths.-The older (Israel) will serve the younger (Gentiles).-Romans 9:15-18, see Exodus 33:19 and Exodus 9:13-17 -Because of depravity, there is an addition of mercy, rather than a subtraction of grace. -Throughout the chapter, Paul compares the Jews/Israel first to Ishmael, then Esau, and finally Pharaoh, as a culmination of his teaching on faith righteousness, demonstrating that God is no respecter of persons - and that the true Israel is the one who comes to Christ through faith. -Paul subtly references Jeremiah 18:1-6, regarding the Potter and the Clay. Notice that Jeremiah references not two lumps of clay, but 1 that was repurposed. This is what Christ did by "tearing down the temple and rebuilding it in 3 days". -Shockingly, the "objects of his wrath" is referring to unbelieving Israel, which he cared for with great patience. -Paul concludes this section by clearly stating that it was a lack of faith, and not God's choice that caused the falling away of Israel, but that the Gentiles (who believe) are saved by grace through faith.Support the show (https://pushpay.com/g/nfluencechurch)

ROMANS 9:1-18 (See also Exodus 9:13-17)The Valentinian Myth (A Christian Gnostic Heresy, Valentinius AD 100- AD 160)God is the ultimate being, he generated 30 different beings (silence, truth, wisdom, etc). Christ was one of these beings referred to as Aeons. All of these beings formed together to create a perfect world known as Pleroma. A disruption occurred within the Pleroma when one of the beings (Wisdom) began seeking to understand how she came to be. As a result, a fall occurred, creating a distorted/lower form of Wisdom that created the Demiurge (God of the material world), the universe, the Devil, earth, and mankind.Most humans are only composed of matter and soul, but the pneumatic element from the true wisdom trickled down into a select number of humans, giving them a sense of enlightment, desire for something more, and that they really belong to another world.As such, according to the Valentinian myth, humanity is divided at birth into the pneumatics and the non-pneumatics. Certain people are, by their very nature, destined for salvation while others are damned.Early Christian Perspective on Romans 9-Many of the most prominent Patristic thinkers (early church fathers), including Origen and Irenaeus held that Romans 9:6-13 was describing God's foreknowledge, rather than some form of deterministic work, meaning that God's election was based upon God's ability to see in advance man's faith and freewill, rather than God deciding for him. -The fact that Paul expresses concern for his brothers and sisters here, yet provides that these same individuals have opportunity to return to Christ in Romans 11:23, provides further evidence that God's work here isn't deterministic.-Calvin (and to some degree Luther), extrapolated on Augustine's strong teachings on grace (which was in contrast to Pelagianism/Salvation by merit), to use Romans 9 as evidence of God's sovereignty choice in salvation, rather than the will of man. Commentary on Romans 9-Paul introduces the idea of a true Israel, those that children of the promise or reckoned through Isaac (the child of the promise and a "type" of Christ.)-Romans 9:12-13, see Genesis 25:23 and Malachi 1:2-3, two nations, Israel and Edom, written centuries after the boys deaths.-The older (Israel) will serve the younger (Gentiles).-Romans 9:15-18, see Exodus 33:19 and Exodus 9:13-17 -Because of depravity, there is an addition of mercy, rather than a subtraction of grace. Support the show (https://pushpay.com/g/nfluencechurch)

For this episode of The Alchemical Mind, we switch gears from the dark cosmology of the Sethians to the Gospel of Phillip and the Valentinians. Valentinus was educated in Alexandria and set up his school in Rome and was largely influential in early Christianity by introducing the original concept of a triune god. Apparently through his discontent of not becoming bishop of Rome, Valentinus set up his school with a curiously non-dual view of the nature of god that was deeply influenced by the Platonists, Hermeticists, and Eastern ideology. In The Gospel Of Philip, we learn about the Valentinian view of the nature of god, the sacraments, the divinity of Christ, the creation of the world, and most importantly, the importance of words and symbols and their interpretations. If you'd like to check in touch, follow the podcast on Twitter, @MindAlchemical, or just leave a voicemail directly on Anchor.fm. I will now be posting these episodes on Youtube so subscribe there as well! If you haven't subscribed yet, be sure to do so on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a review, and share with a friend. Music provided by Kabbalistic Village. Huge thanks! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-alchemical-mind/support

Talked a little about a new video from Ancient Paths TV https---youtu.be-iM5vQHGwnqA about Bart Ehrman, playing a few clips and making application. Then we gave an introduction to a vitally important variant of Gnosticism in ancient history, Valentinianism. Don't let the name dissuade you, this is really important stuff- We will take a few calls tomorrow to start off the program, and then wrap up the week as we will not be doing a program on Friday. See you tomorrow-

On Thursday May 21st 2020 the Hermetic Hour, with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the Twisted History of Christianity. The general theme of this presentation is how the distortion of its original principles perverted its mission for the following two thousand years of world history. We will examine how the Christian religion, which was supposed to bring peace, love and comfort to the people who accepted it, brought instead War, hatred, persecution and despair. We will begin by recalling what Christianity was supposed to be and who Jesus's Father in Heaven really was. We will remember how his wife, Mary Magdalene and later the bishop Valentinian and his follower Marcus tried to carry on the original teachings. We will recall how the Roman Church created its Inquisition to stamp out the resurgence of original Gnostic Christianity in Southern France where Mary Magdalene and Marcus had preached, and how the Roman Church launched a genocidal crusade against these innocent Cathars killing millions. The Inquisition went on to murder thousand of heretics and witches while the Church bishops exploited the poor and offered salvation for money. Finally Northern European Christians revolted in a movement called the Reformation, but the Protestants failed to correct the original mistake the Roman Church had made in accepting Yahweh as the father of Jesus and incorporating the corrupted Old Testament as part of the Christian Bible. By the 18th century all forms of Christianity were challenged by the rise of a new atheistic religion that offered the same promise: peace, love and comfort. It emerged from the horror of the French Revolution. You can call it socialism, humanism, or communism – but what ever name it goes under, it is actually a Christian Heresy. It is Christian altruism without salvation. So, If you want to want to know how the early Christians got it wrong and how we can fix it, tune in and we'll reveal a real New Testament.

The Nag Hammadi Library today on the Metaphysical Theater The Nag Hammadi Library, a collection of thirteen ancient books (called "codices") containing over fifty texts, was discovered in upper Egypt in 1945. This immensely important discovery includes a large number of primary Gnostic scriptures – texts once thought to have been entirely destroyed during the early Christian struggle to define "orthodoxy" – scriptures such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, and the Gospel of Truth. The discovery and translation of the Nag Hammadi library has provided impetus to a major re-evaluation of early Christian history and the nature of Gnosticism. (Readers unfamiliar with this history may wish to read an excerpt from Elaine Pagels' excellent popular introduction to the Nag Hammadi texts, The Gnostic Gospels.) We have add extensive resources on two centrally important texts from Nag Hammadi: The Gospel of Thomas and The Secret Book of John. Multiple authoritative translations of several Nag Hammadi scriptures are included in the collection.  Valentinus and Valentinian Gnosis. Valentinus was one of the most influential Gnostic Christian teachers of the second century A.D., and was the only Gnostic considered for election as Bishop of Rome (Pope). He founded a movement which spread throughout Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Despite persecution by developing orthodoxies, the Valentinian school endured for over 600 years. A large number of texts in the Nag Hammadi collection are influence by Valentinian tradition. Due to its importance, we have a large section of the library dedicated specifically to Valentinus and the Valentinian Tradition. Check out, by typing into google " is this the largest metaphysical library on the web?" And thank you for listening to this Anchor FM podcast of the metaphysical theater

Death is one of the few certain aspects of life. None of us are getting out of this movie alive! The expression 'memento mori' is a Latin phrase meaning “Remember death!”. The phrase and imagery of memento mori remind us of our own mortality, but are we all going to the same place? What does it mean to pass over to the other side? Walking with Alyson in the shadow of the valley of death this week is Valentinian priest, David Abel.

We deal with the fascinating creation myth found in the Nag Hammadi library's Tripartite Tractate. This Valentinian work provides as many differences as it does parallels to the Sethian cosmologies. Even more, our guest reveals her beautiful visuals that correspond to this gospel, as well as unique insights on the Gnostic plight and the world we live in today. Astral Guest: Cyd Charise Ropp, Ph.D., author of The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated: Gnosis freely dispensed and demystified. This is a partial show for nonmembers. For the second half of the interview, please become a member: http://thegodabovegod.com/members/subscription-levels/   or patron at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aeonbyte More information on Cyd: https://newgnosticgospel.blogspot.com/http://emergentmagick.com/ Get Cyd's book: https://amzn.to/2XbDNFI Listen to this and all shows on YouTube or iTunes (available on all other podcast providers like Stitcher or Spotify). Download these and all other shows: http://thegodabovegod.com/  

This is episode 12 called The Apogee of the Kingdom of the Suebi and in this episode you will learn: SHOW NOTES - The situation of Hispania and Italy after the Vandals had left Hispania for North Africa - How weak the foundations of the Kingdom of the Suebi under King Hermeric were - The peak of the bagaudae groups in Gaul and Hispania and the expansion of the Vandal Kingdom - The ambitious Suebic campaign of King Rechila to conquer Lusitania and Baetica - How the Suebic control actually worked in those provinces - The progressive emotional disconnection between the Hispano-Romans and the Western Roman Empire as Valentinian's III expeditions failed - The firsts of King Rechiar: first Catholic Germanic king and the issue of coins - Why the Visigoths and the Suebi briefly sealed an alliance - How the threat of the Huns ended their alliance - How King Rechiar took advantage of the weakness of the Empire to invade Hispania Carthaginensis and Tarraconensis - How the Visigoths decisively crushed the Suebi in 456 and caused the disintegration of the kingdom

Um die Grenzen zu sichern, eroberte Kaiser Valentinian mit seinen Truppen halb Süd-Germanien. Schließlich regierte er von Trier aus sein Römisches Reich.

  The first of the Semi Final episodes. Caracalla, Valentinian, Augustus and Constantius III face off but only one can go through... Featuring three new rounds! Infamous Natorius, Mortis Mamorea and Historia Ridiculi - What impact did they have? How good was their death? How would they cope in other situations?

Petronius had big dreams, by day he was a loyal senator, helping Valentinian keep the empire ticking over, but by night: by night he was scheming and plotting and planning and cackling. He was going to rule the empire, and when he did, he would show them all! Nothing would stop him! He was not scared of anyone or anything! Sorry? Who are coming? The Vandals... oh. oh dear. 

It's all going wrong! It's all going wrong! Here is poor Valentinian, trying his hardest (well, at least his mother is) and his generals are doing nothing to stop the barbarians, they are too busy fighting amongst themselves. Britain has gone, Spain is going, Africa is going, Gaul is going, What is left? The empire is about to fall! Wait, who's this? Is that, no it can't be, is that Atilla the Hun? Oh £%@*.

The daughter of the emperor Theodosius I, Galla Placidia successfully navigated the tumultuous politics of the late Roman Empire to rule as regent for her son Valentinian III. In Rome's Christian Empress: Galla Placidia Rules at the Twilight of the Empire (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015), Joyce Salisbury details the extent of this accomplishment by situating it within the context of her time. Orphaned at an early age, Placidia grew up in the household of Stilicho, a Vandal general who had established himself as the most powerful figure in the western Empire. The sacking of Rome in 410 made her the captive of the victorious Goths, eventually marrying their leader Ataulf. After the tragic death of their son and Ataulf's subsequent assassination brought her hopes of establishing a Romano-Gothic dynasty to an end, she was forced by her ruling half-brother Honorius to marry his general Constantius III. With Constantinus and Honorius's deaths leaving her son Valentinian as emperor, Placidia became regent for the boy, in which capacity she dealt with the problems of barbarian invasions, rebellious commanders, and the many other challenges of an empire in decline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The daughter of the emperor Theodosius I, Galla Placidia successfully navigated the tumultuous politics of the late Roman Empire to rule as regent for her son Valentinian III. In Rome's Christian Empress: Galla Placidia Rules at the Twilight of the Empire (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015), Joyce Salisbury details the extent of this accomplishment by situating it within the context of her time. Orphaned at an early age, Placidia grew up in the household of Stilicho, a Vandal general who had established himself as the most powerful figure in the western Empire. The sacking of Rome in 410 made her the captive of the victorious Goths, eventually marrying their leader Ataulf. After the tragic death of their son and Ataulf's subsequent assassination brought her hopes of establishing a Romano-Gothic dynasty to an end, she was forced by her ruling half-brother Honorius to marry his general Constantius III. With Constantinus and Honorius's deaths leaving her son Valentinian as emperor, Placidia became regent for the boy, in which capacity she dealt with the problems of barbarian invasions, rebellious commanders, and the many other challenges of an empire in decline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The daughter of the emperor Theodosius I, Galla Placidia successfully navigated the tumultuous politics of the late Roman Empire to rule as regent for her son Valentinian III. In Rome’s Christian Empress: Galla Placidia Rules at the Twilight of the Empire (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015), Joyce Salisbury details the extent of this accomplishment by situating it within the context of her time. Orphaned at an early age, Placidia grew up in the household of Stilicho, a Vandal general who had established himself as the most powerful figure in the western Empire. The sacking of Rome in 410 made her the captive of the victorious Goths, eventually marrying their leader Ataulf. After the tragic death of their son and Ataulf’s subsequent assassination brought her hopes of establishing a Romano-Gothic dynasty to an end, she was forced by her ruling half-brother Honorius to marry his general Constantius III. With Constantinus and Honorius’s deaths leaving her son Valentinian as emperor, Placidia became regent for the boy, in which capacity she dealt with the problems of barbarian invasions, rebellious commanders, and the many other challenges of an empire in decline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The daughter of the emperor Theodosius I, Galla Placidia successfully navigated the tumultuous politics of the late Roman Empire to rule as regent for her son Valentinian III. In Rome’s Christian Empress: Galla Placidia Rules at the Twilight of the Empire (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015), Joyce Salisbury details the extent of this accomplishment by situating it within the context of her time. Orphaned at an early age, Placidia grew up in the household of Stilicho, a Vandal general who had established himself as the most powerful figure in the western Empire. The sacking of Rome in 410 made her the captive of the victorious Goths, eventually marrying their leader Ataulf. After the tragic death of their son and Ataulf’s subsequent assassination brought her hopes of establishing a Romano-Gothic dynasty to an end, she was forced by her ruling half-brother Honorius to marry his general Constantius III. With Constantinus and Honorius’s deaths leaving her son Valentinian as emperor, Placidia became regent for the boy, in which capacity she dealt with the problems of barbarian invasions, rebellious commanders, and the many other challenges of an empire in decline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The daughter of the emperor Theodosius I, Galla Placidia successfully navigated the tumultuous politics of the late Roman Empire to rule as regent for her son Valentinian III. In Rome’s Christian Empress: Galla Placidia Rules at the Twilight of the Empire (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015), Joyce Salisbury details the extent of this accomplishment by situating it within the context of her time. Orphaned at an early age, Placidia grew up in the household of Stilicho, a Vandal general who had established himself as the most powerful figure in the western Empire. The sacking of Rome in 410 made her the captive of the victorious Goths, eventually marrying their leader Ataulf. After the tragic death of their son and Ataulf’s subsequent assassination brought her hopes of establishing a Romano-Gothic dynasty to an end, she was forced by her ruling half-brother Honorius to marry his general Constantius III. With Constantinus and Honorius’s deaths leaving her son Valentinian as emperor, Placidia became regent for the boy, in which capacity she dealt with the problems of barbarian invasions, rebellious commanders, and the many other challenges of an empire in decline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The daughter of the emperor Theodosius I, Galla Placidia successfully navigated the tumultuous politics of the late Roman Empire to rule as regent for her son Valentinian III. In Rome’s Christian Empress: Galla Placidia Rules at the Twilight of the Empire (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015), Joyce Salisbury details the extent of this accomplishment by situating it within the context of her time. Orphaned at an early age, Placidia grew up in the household of Stilicho, a Vandal general who had established himself as the most powerful figure in the western Empire. The sacking of Rome in 410 made her the captive of the victorious Goths, eventually marrying their leader Ataulf. After the tragic death of their son and Ataulf’s subsequent assassination brought her hopes of establishing a Romano-Gothic dynasty to an end, she was forced by her ruling half-brother Honorius to marry his general Constantius III. With Constantinus and Honorius’s deaths leaving her son Valentinian as emperor, Placidia became regent for the boy, in which capacity she dealt with the problems of barbarian invasions, rebellious commanders, and the many other challenges of an empire in decline.

The daughter of the emperor Theodosius I, Galla Placidia successfully navigated the tumultuous politics of the late Roman Empire to rule as regent for her son Valentinian III. In Rome’s Christian Empress: Galla Placidia Rules at the Twilight of the Empire (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015), Joyce Salisbury details the extent of this accomplishment by situating it within the context of her time. Orphaned at an early age, Placidia grew up in the household of Stilicho, a Vandal general who had established himself as the most powerful figure in the western Empire. The sacking of Rome in 410 made her the captive of the victorious Goths, eventually marrying their leader Ataulf. After the tragic death of their son and Ataulf’s subsequent assassination brought her hopes of establishing a Romano-Gothic dynasty to an end, she was forced by her ruling half-brother Honorius to marry his general Constantius III. With Constantinus and Honorius’s deaths leaving her son Valentinian as emperor, Placidia became regent for the boy, in which capacity she dealt with the problems of barbarian invasions, rebellious commanders, and the many other challenges of an empire in decline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The daughter of the emperor Theodosius I, Galla Placidia successfully navigated the tumultuous politics of the late Roman Empire to rule as regent for her son Valentinian III. In Rome’s Christian Empress: Galla Placidia Rules at the Twilight of the Empire (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015), Joyce Salisbury details the extent of this accomplishment by situating it within the context of her time. Orphaned at an early age, Placidia grew up in the household of Stilicho, a Vandal general who had established himself as the most powerful figure in the western Empire. The sacking of Rome in 410 made her the captive of the victorious Goths, eventually marrying their leader Ataulf. After the tragic death of their son and Ataulf’s subsequent assassination brought her hopes of establishing a Romano-Gothic dynasty to an end, she was forced by her ruling half-brother Honorius to marry his general Constantius III. With Constantinus and Honorius’s deaths leaving her son Valentinian as emperor, Placidia became regent for the boy, in which capacity she dealt with the problems of barbarian invasions, rebellious commanders, and the many other challenges of an empire in decline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The daughter of the emperor Theodosius I, Galla Placidia successfully navigated the tumultuous politics of the late Roman Empire to rule as regent for her son Valentinian III. In Rome’s Christian Empress: Galla Placidia Rules at the Twilight of the Empire (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015), Joyce Salisbury details the extent of this accomplishment by situating it within the context of her time. Orphaned at an early age, Placidia grew up in the household of Stilicho, a Vandal general who had established himself as the most powerful figure in the western Empire. The sacking of Rome in 410 made her the captive of the victorious Goths, eventually marrying their leader Ataulf. After the tragic death of their son and Ataulf’s subsequent assassination brought her hopes of establishing a Romano-Gothic dynasty to an end, she was forced by her ruling half-brother Honorius to marry his general Constantius III. With Constantinus and Honorius’s deaths leaving her son Valentinian as emperor, Placidia became regent for the boy, in which capacity she dealt with the problems of barbarian invasions, rebellious commanders, and the many other challenges of an empire in decline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's tough being 4 years old. Everything is too big, you have to eat your greens, you are getting to grips with this toilet business, and your mother and the most powerful bishop in the west of the empire are playing tug-of-war with your existence. Oh, and a scary man with a cool name, who already killed your brother, is coming to kill you also.  It took Little Val several years before he attempted to get control over his fate... in retrospect, maybe he shouldn't have bothered. 

The Constantinians are dead! It is time for a brave new start, it's time for the one and only Valentian to step forward! Who, you ask? You remeber him, he is the son of the trator who was responsble for Jovian's father-in-law's death. No? He ran away from the barbarians under Babatio. That's the one! Let's see how he does... is he strong eough to found a dynasty, to put down two reolts and countless invasions? Let's find out! 

"This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."-1 John 1:15 Why when, you mix white and black, you get grey, and neither over powers the other? Because they exist within each other. Darkness is a form of light. It is merely light in repose or withdrawn; NOT the absence of light. Everything is light, exists on the electromagnetic (light) spectrum, including darkness- ultraviolet. Just in different gradations or frequencies. Whenever light is withdrawn from something, it is darkened, or takes on a murky quality, but is never absent, which is impossible. I affirm some commonalities with the Valentinian tradition in that I think that darkness emerged out of the light emanated from God and as it proceeded from Him down the way (and hierarchy-density) became distant to Him and took on an "otherly" or deficient element, finally being entangled in matter which is composed of varying degrees of light and darkness, not only to benefit us mortal creatures (who can't know one without the other), but also to highlight the cosmic drama, essentially a morality play that God had scripted beforehand and which would play out in this dense Creation cycle. In the Valentinian view matter was considered "the shadow" of the Pleroma or Uncreated Realm of Supernal Light (where the Father of Light dwells as per James 1:17 and 1 Timothy 6:16) or the "Ain Soph Aur" of Kabbalistic tradition of which I would affirm in agreement with.

On Thursday December 10th, 2015 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will present a discussion on the Valentinian Gnostic origins of the Dee-and-Kelley Enochian 30 Aethyr system. This ancient configuration indicates that John Dee had more to do with the actual construction than previously imagined. Apparently the Aethyrs did not spring full-armed from the brow of Kelley, like Athena from the brow of Zeus. Dee was the scholar and must have discovered the Valentinian model in research, thus directing Kelley's skrying. This has prompted us to add Valentinian angelic invoications to the Aethyrs, similar to the way the Shemehamphorash angels are used in Goetia.It acts as a spiritual safety on what is otherwise an entirely elemental process and makes Enochian visions more spiritually and psychologically digestable. So if you want to experience sactified Enochian, tune in and we will fire up the Tablets.  

Chapter 13 – Athanasius, Ambrose and Arianism The variety of issues discussed in the Council of Nicaea (325 AD) ranged from how to date Easter to whether to ordain eunuchs as priests, but everything was secondary to settling the Arian controversy. Arius taught that Jesus was made by God and was not divine on the same level as God. Athanasius played a key role in opposing Arianism, condemning it as heresy and emerged as the key figure in the triumph of orthodox theology. Ambrose also continued to oppose heresies in the church. He sold off his family holdings and gave the proceeds to those in need. He opposed the Empress Justina who was a strong supporter of Arianism. Key Words Eusebius of Nicomedia, The Bishop of Nicaea, Theognis, Hosius, homoousios, “one substance”, “consubstantial”, “begotten not made”, homoiousios, “of a similar substance”, “semi-Arians”, Roger Olson, Constantine, Constantius, radical subordinationism, Julian, Jovian, Valens, hypostases, Tertullian, “Trinitarian formula, una substantia, tres personae”, Justo Gonzalez, Frances Young, St. Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, Auxentius, Valentinian, Empress Justina, Theodosius

Valentinian was a brutal soldier, but did have a soft spot deep down.  He had a no nonsense approach to religion.  His brother had a lot more trouble with religious dissension, particularly in Egypt.

Valens spent the late 360s and early 370s dealing with hostile Goths in the north and hostile Persians in the east. In 375 he would be left to face these threats alone when Valentinian suddenly died.

Shortly after Valentinian and Valens ascended to the throne, one of Julian the Apostate's maternal cousins seized control of Constantinople.

Today, Father Bryan Ouellette speaks about the Valentinian School of Gnosticism. Who were the Valentinians and what was their relationship to orthodox Christianity? Find out why history remembers the Christian Gnostics to be the followers of Valentinus and his theology.

This 17th episode is titled “What a Difference a Century Makes.”During the mid-4th Century, the history of the Church walked apace with the history of the Roman Empire. With the death of Constantine the Great, the rule of the Empire divided among his 3 sons, Constantine II, Constans, & Constantius. In the power-hungry maneuverings that followed, they did their upbringing in a Christian education little honor. They quickly removed any challenge by their father's relatives, then set to work on one another. 3 years after their father's death they went to war in a struggle for sole supremacy. Constantine II was slain by Constans, who was in turn murdered by a Gallic commander of the Imperial guard named Magnentius. After the defeat and suicide of Magnentius, Constantius became sole Emperor & reigned till his death in 361.Constantius departed from his father Constantine's wise policy of religious toleration. Constantius was greatly influenced by the Arian bishop of Constantinople Eusebius who inspired him to use the authority of his office to enforce the Arian-brand of Christianity not only on the pagans of the Empire but also on those Christians who followed the Nicene Orthodoxy. Paganism was violently suppressed. Temples were pillaged and destroyed with the loot taken from them given either to the Church or Constantius' supporters. As Christians had earlier been subject to arrest & execution, so now were pagans. Not unexpectedly, large numbers of former pagans came over to Christianity; their conversion feigned. A similar persecution was applied towards Nicaean Christians. They were punished with confiscation and banishment.Constantius meddled in most of the Church's affairs, which during his reign was fraught with doctrinal controversy. He called a multitude of councils; in Gaul, Italy, Illyricum, & Asia. He fancied himself an accomplished theologian and enjoyed being called Bishop of bishops.Constantius justified his violent suppression of paganism by likening it to God's command to Israel to wipe out the idol-worshipping Canaanites. But intelligent church leaders like Athanasius argued instead for toleration.  Athanasius wrote,Satan, because there is no truth in him, breaks in with ax and sword. But the Savior is gentle, and forces no one to whom He comes, but knocks on and speaks to the soul: ‘Open to me, my sister?' If we open to Him He enters but if we will not, He departs. For the truth is not preached by sword and dungeon, by the might of an army, but by persuasion and exhortation. How can there be persuasion where the fear of the Emperor is uppermost? How exhortation, where the contradictory has to expect banishment and death?The ever-swinging pendulum of history foretells that the forced-upon faith of Constantius will provoke a pagan reaction. That reaction came immediately after Constantius during the reign of his cousin, Julian the Apostate. Julian had only avoided the earlier purge of his family because he was too young to pose a threat. But the young grow up.  Julian received a Christian education and was trained for a position in church leadership. But he harbored and nurtured a secret hatred for the religion of the court, a religion under which his family was all but exterminated. He studied the banned texts of Eastern mystics & Greek philosophers; all the more thrilling because they were forbidden. Julian became so immersed in paganism, he was made the leader of a secret order devoted to keeping the ancient religion alive.Despite his hostility toward Christianity, Julian recognized the Faith was too deeply entrenched in the Empire to turn back the sundial to a time when Christians were persona non grata. He decided instead to simply pry loose the influence they'd established in the civil realm. He appointed non-Christians to important posts & reclaimed some of the old pagan temples that had been turned into churches back to their original use.Julian enacted a policy of religious tolerance. Everyone was free to practice whatever faith they wanted. Make no mistake, Julian wanted to eliminate Christianity. He felt the best way to accomplish that, wasn't by attacking it outright. After all, 200 years of persecution had already shown that wasn't effective. Rather, Julian figured all the various sects of Christianity would end up going to war with one another and the movement would die the death of a thousand cuts, all self-inflicted. His plan didn't work out, of course, but it was an astute observation of how factious the followers of Christ can be.When Julian was killed in 363 in an ill-advised war against the Sassanids, the pagan revival he'd hoped for fizzled. The reasons for its demise were many. Because Paganism is an amalgam of various often contradictory beliefs and worldviews it lacked the cohesion needed to stare down Christianity. And compared to the virtuous morality and ethical priorities of Christianity, paganism paled.Julian's hoped-for elimination of Christianity by allowing its various sects to operate side by side never materialized. On the contrary, major advances were made toward a mutual understanding of the doctrinal debates that divided them. The old Athanasius was still around and as an elder statesman for the Church he'd mellowed, making him a rallying point for different groups. He called a gathering of church leaders in Alexandria in 362, right in the middle of Julian's reign, to recognize the Creed of Nicea as the Church's official creedal statement. His resolution passed.But trouble was brewing in the important city of Antioch. While the Western churches under the leadership of the Bishop of Rome remained steadfast in their loyalty to the Nicean Creed, the Eastern Empire leaned toward Arianism. Antioch in Syria was a key Eastern city split between adherents of Nicea & Arianism. The official church, that is, the one recognized by the Emperor in Constantinople had an Arian bishop. The Nicean Christians were led by Bishop Paulinus in a separate fellowship. But in 360, a new bishop rose to lead the Arian church at Antioch – and he was a devoted Nicean named Meletius! This occurred right at a time when more & more Eastern bishops were coming out in favor of the Nicene Creed. These Eastern bishops supported Meletius and the New Niceans of Antioch. We might think this would see a merger of the old-Niceans under Paulinus with the new, and à we'd assume wrongly. Rome & the Western church considered Paulinus the rightful bishop of Antioch & remained suspicious of Meletius & the new-Niceans. Efforts on their part to negotiate with & be accepted by the Western church were rebuffed. This served to increase the divide between East & West that had already been brewing for the last few decades.A new center of spiritual weight developed at this time in Cappadocia in central-eastern Asia Minor. It formed around the careers of 3 able church leaders, Basil the Great, his brother Gregory of Nyssa, and their friend, Gregory of Nazianzus. Their work answered the lingering concerns that hovered around the words the Nicaean Council had chosen to describe Jesus as being of the same substance as the Father. These 3 Cappadocian Fathers were able to convince their Eastern brothers that the Nicean Creed was the best formulation they were likely to produce and to accept that Jesus was of the same substance as the Father, and so God, not a similar substance and so something other than or less than God, as the Arians held it. They pressed in on terms that made it clear there was only one God but 3 persons who individually are, and together comprise that one God; The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They said the 3 operated inseparably, none ever acting independently of the others. Every divine action begins from the Father, proceeds thru the Son, and is completed in the Holy Spirit.In 381 at the Council of Constantinople, the Eastern Church demonstrated its acceptance of the Cappadocian Fathers' theology by affirming their adherence to the Nicean Creed. This effectively marked the end of Arianism within the Empire. And unlike the previous 3 ecumenical councils, the Council of Constantinople was not followed by years of bitter strife. What the council failed to do was resolve the split in the church at Antioch. The West continued to support the Old-Niceans while the East supported the New. It was clear to all tension was building between the old seat of Imperial power & the new capital; between Rome & Constantinople.  Which church & bishop would be the recognized leader of the whole? Antioch became the site where that contest was lived out thru their surrogates, Paulinus & Meletius.The Council of Constantinople attempted to deal with this contest by developing a system for how the churches would be led. The rulings of the Council, and all the church councils held during these years are called Canon Law, which established policy by which the Church would operate. One of the rulings of the Council of Constantinople established what was known as dioceses. A diocese was a group of provinces that became a region over which a bishop presided. The rule was that one diocese could not interfere in the workings of another. Each was to be autonomous.Though Jovian followed Julian as emperor in 363 his reign was short. He followed a policy of religious toleration, as did Valentinian I who succeeded him. Valentinian recognized the Empire was too vast for one man to rule & appointed his younger brother Valens to rule the East. Valens was less tolerant than his brother & attacked both paganism & the Nicean Christians. But Valens was the last Arian to rule in either East or West. All subsequent emperors were Orthodox; that is, they followed the Nicean Creed.When Valentinian died in 375, rule of the Western Empire fell to his son Gratian. When Valens died, Gratian chose an experienced soldier named Theodosius to rule the East.Gratian & Theodosius presided over the final demise of paganism. Both men strongly supported the Orthodox faith, and at the urging of Bishop Ambrose of Milan, they enacted policies that brought an end to pagan-worship. Of course, individuals scattered throughout the Empire continued to secretly offer sacrifices to idols & went through the superstitious rituals of the past, but as a social institution with temples & a priesthood, paganism was eradicated. Under the reign of Theodosius, Christianity was made the official religion of the Empire.We'll end this episode with a look at how the church at Rome emerged during the 4th & 5th Centuries to become the lead church in the Empire.In theory all the bishops of the Empire's many churches were equal. In reality, from the time of the Apostolic Fathers, some gained greater prominence because their churches were in more important cities. During the 2nd & early 3rd Centuries Alexandria, Antioch, Rome & Carthage were the places of the greatest spiritual gravity; their senior pastors recognized as leaders, not just of their churches but of The Church. The Council of Nicaea in 325 recognized Alexandria as the lead church for all North Africa, Antioch in the East & Rome as preeminent in the West.Constantinople, the new Eastern political capital, was added to that list in 381 by the Council of Constantinople.  As one of its rulings in canon law, the Council declared Constantinople 2nd only to Rome in terms of primacy in deciding church matters.We might assume the Bishop of Rome would gladly accept this finding of the Council, being that it acknowledged the Roman “see” (that is, a bishop's realm of authority) as primary. He didn't! He objected because the Council's ruling implied the position of a Church and its Bishop depended on the status of their city in the Empire. In other words, it was the nearness to the center of political power that weighed most. The Bishop of Rome maintained that the preeminence of Rome wasn't dependent on political proximity but on historical precedent. He said the decree of a Synod or Council didn't convey primacy. The Roman Bishop claimed Rome was primary because God had made it so.  At a Council in Rome a year after the Council of Constantinople, the Roman Bishop Damasus said Rome's primacy rested on the Apostle Peter's founding of the Roman church. Ever since the mid-3rd C, Roman Christians had used Matthew 16, Luke 22 & John 21 to claim their church possessed a unique authority over other churches & bishops. This Petrine Theory as it's come to be known was generally accepted by the end of the 6th C. It claimed Peter had been given primacy over his fellow apostles, and his superior position had been passed on from him to his successors, the bishops of Rome, by apostolic succession.In truth, there was already a substantial church community in Rome when Peter arrived in Rome and was martyred. The Christians honored Peter as they did all their martyrs by making his grave a popular gathering place. Eventually, it became a shrine. Then, when persecution ended, the shrine became a church. The leader of that church became associated with Peter whose grave was its central feature.When Constantine came to power, he ordered a basilica built on the site on Vatican Hill. To mark that a new day of favor toward the Church had come, Constantine gave the Lateran Palace where the Roman Empress had lived to the Bishop of Rome as his residence. But the story that arose later which puts Emperor Constantine on his face before Sylvester, the Bishop of Rome, pleading forgiveness in sackcloth & ashes & handing over to him the rule of Italy & Rome, is a fiction.Until Bishop Damasus in the mid-4th C, the Roman bishops were competent leaders of the church but tended toward weakness when dealing with the Emperors, who often sought to dominate the Faith. A dramatic change occurred at the end of the 4th C, when under Ambrose of Milan, the Church dictated to the Emperor.Bishop Damasus, a contemporary of Ambrose, installed the Primacy of Peter as a central part of Church doctrine. He claimed the Roman church was started by Peter, who'd passed on his authority to the next bishop, who'd, in turn, handed it to his successor and that each Bishop of Rome was a recipient of Peter's apostolic authority. Since Peter was the leader of the Apostles that meant the Roman church was the lead church and the Bishop the leader, not just of Rome but of all Christendom. Damasus was the first to address other bishops as ‘sons' rather than ‘brothers.'Historical events during the 4th & 5th Centuries enhanced the power of the Bishop of Rome. When Constantine moved the political capital to Constantinople in 330, it left the Roman Bishop as the strongest individual in Rome for long stretches of time. People in the west looked to him for temporal as well as spiritual leadership when a crisis arose. Constantinople & the Emperor were hundreds of miles & weeks away; the Roman bishop was near; so people turned to him to exercise authority in meeting political as well as spiritual crises. In 410 when Alaric and the Visigoths sacked Rome, Bishop Innocent I used clever diplomacy to save the city from the torch. When the Western Empire finally fell in 476, the people of Italy looked to the Roman Bishop for civil as well as religious leadership.Great leaders like Cyprian, Tertullian, & Augustine were outstanding men of the Western church who counted themselves as being under the leadership of the Bishop of Rome. The Western Empire had also managed to stay free of the heretical challenges that had wracked the East, most notably, the brouhaha with Arius and his followers. This doctrinal solidarity was due in large part to the steadfast leadership of Rome's Bishops.Another factor that contributed to Rome's rise to dominance was the decline of the other great centers. Jerusalem lost its place due to the Bar Kochba rebellion of the 2nd C. Alexandria & Antioch were overrun by the Muslims in the 6th & 7th Centuries; leaving Constantinople & Rome as the centers of power.In an Imperial edict in AD 445, the Emperor Valentinian III recognized the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome in spiritual affairs. What he enacted became Canon law for all.Another great boon to the influence & prestige of the Roman Bishop was the missionary work of monks loyal to Rome. Clovis & Augustine planted churches in northern France & Britain, all owing allegiance to Rome.But above all, the Roman church was led by several able bishops during this time; men who overlooked no opportunity to enhance & extend their power.Leo I was bishop at Rome from 440 to 461 & by far the ablest occupant of the Bishop's seat until Gregory I, 150 years later. His skill earned him the title “Leo the Great.”We're not sure when Rome's bishops began to be called “pope”, a title which for years had been used by the bishop of Alexandria. But Leo was the first to refer consistently to himself as pope – from Latin, a child's affectionate term for papa. In 452, Leo persuaded Attila the Hun to let the city of Rome alone. Then 3 years later when the Vandals came to sack the city, Leo convinced them to limit their loot-fest to 2-weeks. The Vandal Leader Gaiseric kept his word, and the Romans forever after esteemed Leo as the one who saved their city from destruction.Pope Leo insisted all church courts & the rulings of all bishops had to be submitted to him for final decision. This is what Valentinians III's edict of 445 granted and he was determined to apply it.Pope Gelasius I, who ruled from 492 to 496, said that God gave sacred power to the Pope and royal power to the King. But because the Pope had to account to God for the King at the judgment, the sacred power of the Pope was more important than royal power. So, civil rulers should submit to the Pope. While the emperors didn't all automatically knuckle under to popes, most did resign a large part of authority & political influence to the Roman Bishops.

This episode of Communio Sanctorum is titled, “Look Who's Driving the Bus Now.”As noted in a previous episode, it's difficult in recounting Church History to follow a straight narrative timeline. The expansion of the Faith into different regions means many storylines. So it's necessary to do a certain amount of backtracking as we follow the spread of the Gospel from region to region. The problem with that though in an audio series, it can be confusing as we bounce back & forth in time. We've already followed Christianity's expansion to the Far East & went from the 4th C thru about the 6th, then did a quick little jaunt all the way to the 17th C. Then in the next episode we're back in Italy talking about the 3rd C.This week's episode is a case in point. We're going to take a look at 2 interesting & important individuals in the history; not only of the Faith, but of the world. It's a couple men we've already looked at - Bishop Ambrose of Milan and Emperor Theodosius I. The reason we're considering these 2 is because their relationship was instrumental in setting the tie between Church & State that becomes one of the defining realities of Europe in the Middle Ages.I know some of this is a repeat of earlier material. Hang with me because we need to consider the background of the players here.Ambrose was born into the powerful Roman family of Aurelius about 340 in the German city of Trier, which served at the time as the capital of the Roman province of Gaul. Both his parents were Christians. His father held the important position of praetorian prefect. His mother was a woman of great intellect & virtue.His father died while he was still young & as was typical for wealthy Romans of the time, Ambrose followed his father into the political arena. He was educated in Rome where he studied law, literature, & as we'd expect of someone going into politics - rhetoric. In 372 he was made the governor of the region of Liguria, its capital being Milan, the 2nd capital of Italy after Rome. In fact, in the later 4th C, Milan was the new Imperial Capital. The Western Emperors deemed Rome as both in need of major repairs & too far removed from where all the action was. For decades the Emperors in Rome were too distant from the constant  campaigns against the Germanic tribes. They wanted to be closer to the action, so imperial HQs shifted to Milan.Not long after he became governor, the famous controversy between the Arians & Catholics heated up. In 374 the Arian bishop of Milan, Auxentius, died. Of course, the Arians expected an Arian would be named to replace him. But the Catholics saw this as an opportunity to install one of their own. The ensuing controversy threatened to destroy the peace of the City, so Governor Ambrose attended the church meeting called to appoint a new bishop. He thought his presence as the chief civil magistrate would forestall rioting. Imagine that! The Christians had a reputation for getting unruly when they didn't get their way. Sounds like LA when the Lakers win.Yep è Those Christian in Milan! Running amok in the streets, overturning chariots & looting street vendors selling fish tacos – Shameful!Anyway, Ambrose attended the election, hoping his presence would remind the crowd à Rioting would be forcefully suppressed. He gave a speech to those gathered about the need to show restraint & that violence would dishonor God. His message was so reasonable, his tone so honorable, when it came time to nominate candidates for the bishop's chair, a voice called out “Ambrose for bishop!” There was a brief silence, then another voice said, “Yes, Ambrose.” Soon a whole chorus was chanting, “Ambrose for bishop. à Bishop Ambrose.”The governor was known to be Catholic in belief, but had always shown the Arians respect in his dealing. They saw the way the political winds were blowing and knew in a straight vote, a Catholic bishop was sure to be elected. They realized Ambrose, though of the other theological camp, wouldn't be a bad choice. So they added their voices to the call for his investiture as bishop of Milan.At first, Ambrose vehemently refused. He was a politician, not a religious leader. He knew he was in no way prepared to lead the Church. He hadn't even been baptized yet and had no formal training in theology. None of this mattered to the crowd who'd not take his refusal as the last word. They said he was bishop whether he liked it or not.He fled to a colleague's house to hide. His host received a letter from the Emperor Gratian saying it was entirely proper for the civil government to appoint qualified individuals to church leadership positions since the Church served an important role in providing social stability. If there were people serving in the political realm who'd be more effective in the religious sphere, then by all means, let them transfer to the Church. Ambrose's friend showed him the letter & tried to reason with him but Ambrose wouldn't budge. So the friend went to Church officials and told them where Ambrose was hiding. When they showed up at the door intent on seeing him take the seat they'd given him, he relented. Within a week he was baptized, ordained & consecrated as Bishop of Milan.He immediately adopted the ascetic lifestyle shared by the monks. He appointed relief for the poor, donated all of his land, & committed the care of his family to his brother.Once Ambrose became bishop, the religious toleration that had marked his posture as a political figure went out the window. A bishop must defend the Faith against error. So Ambrose took the Arians to task. He wrote several works against them and limited their access to Church life in Milan, which at the time was arguably the most influential church in the West since Milan was the seat of imperial power.In response to Ambrose's moves to squelch them, the Arians appealed to high-level leaders in both the civil & religious spheres at both sides of the Empire. The western Emperor Gratian was catholic while his younger successor & augustus, Valentinian II was an Arian. Ambrose tried, but was unsuccessful in swaying Valentinian to the Nicene-catholic position.The Arian leaders felt there were enough of them in positions of influence that if they held a council, they might be able to win the day for Arianism and asked the Emperor for permission to hold one. Of course, they hid their real motive from Gratian, who thought a council during his reign a great idea and consented. Ambrose knew the real reason for the council and urged Gratian to stack the meeting with Western, pro-Nicene catholic bishops. In the council held the next year in 381 at Aquileia, Ambrose was elected to preside & the leading Arian bishops dropped out. They were then deposed by the council.This wasn't the end of troubles with the Arians however. Valentinian's mother, the dynamic Justina, knew the Arians were well represented among the generals & got them to rally behind  her son. They demanded 2 churches to hold Arian services in; a basilica in Milan, the other in a suburb. Saying “No” to the Emperor & his mother is usually not so good for one's health & most students of history would assume this would be the end, not only of Ambrose's career, but of his life. But that's not the way this story ends.When Ambrose denied the Arian demands, he was summoned to appear before a hastily convened court to answer for himself. His defense of the Nicene position & the necessity as bishop to defend the Faith was so eloquent the judges sat amazed. They realized there was nothing they could do to censure him w/o setting themselves in opposition to the truth & risking another riot. They released him and affirmed his right to forbid the use of the churches by the Arians.The next day, as he performed services in the basilica, the governor of Milan tried to persuade him to compromise & give up the church in the suburb for use by the Emperor & his mother. After all, Ambrose had made his point and his concession now would be seen as an act of grace & good will. It's precisely the kind of thing Ambrose would have urged when he was governor. But as bishop, it was a no-go. The governor wasn't accustomed to being denied & gave orders that BOTH churches were to be turned over to the Arians for their use at Easter. Instead of being cowed, Bishop Ambrose declared:If you demand my person, I am ready to submit: carry me to prison or to death, I will not resist; but I will never betray the Church of Christ. I will not call upon the people to [support] me; I will die at the foot of the altar rather than desert it. The rioting of the people I will not encourage: but God alone can appease it.Ambrose & his congregation then barricaded themselves inside the church in a kind of religious filibuster. When Valentinian & his mother Justina realized the only way to gain access was to forcefully evict them & how violently the people of Milan were likely to react, the order was rescinded.Trained in rhetoric and law, well-versed in the Greek classics, Ambrose was known as a learned scholar, familiar with both Christian & pagan sources. His sermons were marked by references to the great thinkers, not only of the past but his own day. When he was elected bishop, he embarked on a kind of crash-course in theology. His teacher was an elder from Rome named Simplician. His knowledge of Greek, rare in the West, allowed him to study the NT in its original language. He also learned Hebrew so he could deepen his understanding of the OT. He quickly gained a reputation as an excellent preacher.As noted in a previous episode, it was under his ministry that the brilliant Augustine of Hippo was converted. Prior to moving to Milan, Augustine was unimpressed by the quality of Christian scholarship. To be blunt, he thought Christians were for the most part an uneducated rabble. Ambrose shattered that opinion. Augustine found himself drawn to his sermons and sat rapt as he heard the Gospel explained.Ambrose's sermons often promoted an ascetic lifestyle. He was so persuasive, several noble families forbade their daughters listening to him, fearing they'd chose celibacy over marriage. Since marrying off a daughter to another noble family was a way to advance socially, they feared their girls would become nuns, and thwart their plans.Ambrose introduced, or I should say re-introduced congregational singing to church services. Not afraid to innovate, when he included Eastern melodies in the hymns he wrote, and they proved to be wildly popular, some accused him of casting a spell on the people of Milan. Due to Ambrose, hymn singing became an important part of the liturgy of the Western Church.Ambrose's most important contribution was in the area of church-state relations. He contended, not with just 1, but 3 emperors; & prevailed in each encounter. His relationship with Theodosius, the first emperor to make Rome a Christian state, is the best known. And the tale is one of those moments in history that would make a great miniseries.In 388 the local bishop & several monks led a mob in the Mesopotamian city of Callinicum to destroy the city's synagogue. Why isn't clear – but there was much ill will between Christians & Jews because the later had been one of the main informants on Christians during the persecutions of the previous century. Now that the Christians were buddied up to civil power, it didn't take much to ignite a little payback, even though it was utterly contrary to the love Jesus called His followers to show. Be that as it may, the Emperor Theodosius ordered the rebuilding of the synagogue at the expense of the rioters, including the bishop. When Ambrose heard of the decision, he immediately shot off a fierce protest. The glory of God was at stake, so he couldn't remain silent. He wrote, “Shall a bishop be compelled to re-erect a synagogue? Can he do this thing that ought not be done? If he obeys the Emperor, he'd become a traitor to his faith; if he disobeys the Emperor, he becomes a martyr. What real wrong is there, after all, in destroying a synagogue, a home of perfidy, a home of impiety, in which Christ is daily blasphemed?” Ambrose went on to say he was no less guilty than the bishop of Callinicum since he made no secret of his wish that all synagogues be destroyed, that no such places of blasphemy be allowed to exist.In a surprise move, Theodosius revoked his earlier decision. The Christians didn't have to rebuild the synagogue they'd destroyed. Well, you might imagine what message that sent—it was open season on Jews & their meeting places.All this makes Ambrose appear a rabid anti-Semite. It's confusing then to read of his high regard for their moral purity & devotion to learning.So ends Round 1 in the wrestling match between the Bishop of Milan & the Emperor Theodosius. Before we look at Round 2, let's take a closer look at Theodosius.Blond & elegant, Theodosius began his imperial career the usual way for emperors of this era. He was born in northwest Spain, to a father who was a talented military commander. Theodosius learned his military lessons by campaigning with his father's staff in Britain.After being crowned emperor in the East in 379, he battled the ever-troubling Germanic tribes in the North. The incessant war did little but wearing out both sides, so Theodosius offered the tribes an option. In exchange for land and supplies, Germans would provide soldiers for the legions. These Germans would serve under a Roman banner & generals. It was a novel idea for the time, an arrangement that later emperors increasingly depended on.To fund this expanded army, Theodosius raised taxes to a new high. His enforcement of collection of the new taxes was carried out harshly. Any official neglecting to collect was flogged.During a serious illness early in his reign, Theodosius was baptized. In 380 he proclaimed himself a Nicene Christian & called a council at Constantinople to put an end to the Arian heresy.Having won that victory, Theodosius tried to get his choice for the patriarch of Constantinople approved but the bishops demanded he appoint someone from their list. They prevailed. It was the first of several instances where Theodosius yielded to church leaders.And this brings us to Round 2 between Theodosius & Ambrose.Chariot-racing was THE big sport of the Greco-Roman world for hundreds of years. Merge baseball, basketball, football, & soccer into a single sport & you get the idea of just how huge chariot-racing was. Many of the larger cities had 4 to 6 teams, designated by a color. These teams often represented a neighborhood or social class, so rivalries were sectarian & fierce. Fans formed clubs around their teams and attacked each other. A band of thugs for the Reds might rampage through the Purple neighborhood, leading to a riot of retribution a couple days later. The point is, supporters were fanatically loyal to their team.In 390, local authorities imprisoned a charioteer in Thessalonica for homosexual rape. This charioteer happened to be one of the city's favorites, and riots broke out when the governor refused to release him. That governor and several of his staff were killed, the charioteer busted out of jail by his fans.Thessalonica was no out-of-the-way village; it was a major city and the riot couldn't go without being answered. The Emperor needed to do something, but the something he did was all wrong. He announced another chariot race. When the crowd arrived, the gates to the arena were locked and they were massacred by imperial troops. In a 3 hour horror show, 7000 were executed!Later records showed that after the initial order was sent by Theodosius with this plan, he realized it was a grave injustice & sent another message to rescind the first. It got there too late.Many across the empire were stunned at the news of the massacre. Bishop Ambrose was horrified. He shot off another angry letter to Theodosius demanding repentance. He wrote, “I exhort, I beg, I entreat, I admonish you, because it is grief to me that the perishing of so many innocent is no grief to you. And now I call on you to repent.” Then Ambrose did something that proved the turning point in Church-State affairs.When Theodosius visited Milan & attend a church service, he expected Bishop Ambrose to serve him Communion. Ambrose refused! He said until Theodosius repented for what he'd done at Thessalonica, no elements would cross his lips.Now, remember—It was believed the celebration of Communion was essential for maintaining salvation. It renewed and refreshed God's grace. Barring the Emperor from Communion put his soul at risk.So when Theodosius professed repentance, Ambrose in effect replied, “Hold on pal; not so fast. Your repentance must be marked by penance - & a very public version.' He told Theodosius to set aside his royal garments, put on a simple shroud, and publicly plead for God's mercy where any & everyone could see & hear him. There's some debate as to how long this went on but one source says it lasted 8 months before Ambrose finally relented & consented to serve the Emperor Communion.As stated, Theodosius' capitulation to Ambrose marks a major turning point in Church-State relations. The Bishop's treatment of the Emperor introduced the medieval concept of a Christian Emperor as a dutiful “son of the Church serving under orders from Christ.” For the next thousand years, secular and religious rulers struggled to determine who was sovereign in the various spheres of life.Lest the previous events I've just shared make Ambrose & Theodosius appear as rivals, understand that the Bishop of Milan was in fact the Emperor's friend, confidant & counselor, in both religious & political matters. Theodosius is supposed to have said, “I know no bishop worthy of the title, except Ambrose.” When the emperor died, Ambrose was at his side.Two years after the showdown, Ambrose himself fell ill. And his impending death caused far more concern on the part of people than the passing of a dozen emperors. One wrote: “When Ambrose dies, we shall see the ruin of Italy.” On the eve of Easter, 397, the man who'd been bishop of Milan for 23 years finally closed his eyes for the last time.

We're changing gears a bit to begin a series of podcasts considering the impact Christianity has had on the world. We'll unpack how the Faith has left its imprint on society. The Title of this episode is The Change - Part 1: The Sanctity of Life.Knowing my fascination with history and especially the history of Rome, a few years ago, someone recommended I watch a mini-series that aired on a cable network. While it was dramatic historical fiction, the producers did a good job of presenting the customs & values of 1st C BC Roman culture. While the series was suspenseful & entertaining, it was difficult to watch because of the brutality that was commonplace. And it wasn't put in merely for the sake of titillation or to make the shows more provocative. It was an accurate depiction of the time. More than once, I found myself near tears, broken over just how lost the world was. Several times I said out loud, "They needed Jesus!"Exactly! THAT was the very era Jesus was born into & the culture the Gospel spread in. How desperately the Roman Empire needed the life-affirming message the Early Church preached & lived.There's an old saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” When the early Christians came to Rome, we can be thankful they DIDN'T do what the Romans did. On the contrary, slowly but surely, with fits & starts, they eventually transformed the Greco-Roman world from rank paganism to a more or less Biblical worldview. Nowhere was that seen more clearly than in the change that was made to the sanctity of human life.During the early days of the Roman republic, the high value put on the family unit formed a moral base that lent a certain weight to the value of the individual. But as the idea of the State grew during the late republic, then blossomed in the Empire, people were evaluated in terms of what they could contribute to the State. That meant people on the bottom of the social scale had little to no value. The poor, women, and slaves became chattel; property to be used. Life became cheap. And the pagan gods bequeathed no real moral virtue into the Roman world. They were understood to be whimsical & selfish at the best of times, cruel in the worst.The Christian value of the sanctity or specialness of human beings was based in the Jewish view of man as created in God's image. There was a healthy Jewish population in the City of Rome itself & scattered throughout other major cities of the Empire. Early on, the unique Jewish view of man had infiltrated the Roman world where ever Jews were to be found. So different was this view of man from the paganized Greco-Roman worldview that many of the more enlightened Greeks & Romans had begun attending Jewish synagogues. If they stayed, they became known as God-fearers; Gentiles who believed in the God of the Bible, but hadn't become full converts to Judaism by being circumcised, baptized, & keeping kosher. They occupied a section in many synagogues, sitting by themselves to hear the teaching of Scripture. The book of Acts tells us some of Paul's most fruitful work was in this God-Fearer section of the synagogue.The Jewish idea of men & women being created in God's image took on new potency when the Gospel was preached, for it told of God becoming man. And becoming a man so He could go to the cross to ransom lost men & women; translating them from a destiny in hell to the glory of heaven. All this spoke of God's view of the value of human beings. If He would endure the passion & cross, it meant life was of inestimable value. Rather than life being cheap, it was to be honored and protected at all costs, regardless of its station or quality.One way the early Christian demonstrated this was the church's opposition to the widespread practice of infanticide. It was common to expose unwanted children soon after birth, either by drowning or leaving them on exposed where the elements or wild beasts would finish them. They were left to die for physical deformities, for being of the wrong sex, or simply because the parents couldn't afford another mouth to feed.Abandoning unwanted infants was quite common in the Greco-Roman world. In fact, the founding myth of Rome begins with 2 infant boys being tossed into the Tiber River. Romulus & Remus both survived to be suckled by a she-wolf, then raised by an elderly shepherd. It was their later struggle that founded the city of Rome, named for one of the brothers - Romulus.So in the city of Rome itself, parents would regularly leave unwanted children at the base of the Columna Lactaria. In later times, Roman parents would abandon their infants there to show grief over some national calamity, like the death of a beloved emperor. To put that in modern terms, imagine someone dropping off their 2 week old infant at a memorial for 9/11 - and just walking away; thinking that somehow shows solidarity with everyone's shock & grief. Yet that's what many Romans did with their newborns when calamity struck.Greeks also practiced infanticide by abandoning infants. They did so because it was woven into their mythology. The well-known Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex revolves around Oedipus who at only 3 days was abandoned by his father King Laius of Thebes. Ion, founder of Ionia was abandoned as an infant by his mother. Poseidon, Aesculapius, & Hephaistos were all abandoned infants. Even Paris who started the Trojan War was abandoned as a child. In Sparta, every newborn was brought before the elders for inspection. If the child was deemed weak in any way, it was abandoned.As shocking, is realizing in all the literature come to us from that time, nowhere is there a shred of evidence infanticide was wrong, or even questioned.Infanticide wasn't practiced just among the Greeks & Romans; other ancient societies practiced it as well. Plutarch said the Carthaginians had made infant sacrifice a regular occurrence. When building a new house or wall, they mixed the blood of an infant with the mortar, thinking it made the wall stronger. If a wealthy family had no new-born to offer, they'd buy one off a poor mother. Though we don't have a record of what was on the 12 Tablets that formed the basis of Roman Law & civilization, we know a good deal of what was in them from the quotes of later Romans. Cicero says it was part of Roman law to expose deformed infants. In the 1st C AD, Seneca, remarks in passing, without batting the proverbial eye, that deformed infants were routinely drowned. Infanticide was so common in the later Greek era that in the 2nd C BC, Polybius blamed a population decline on it. Because infanticide was so common, large families among both Greeks & Romans was rare. An inscription found at Delphi reveals that in a 2nd C sample of 600 families, only 1% had more than 1 daughter! Infanticide was practiced in India, China, Japan, Africa, the rainforests of Brazil, among the Inuit, & among the native North & Central  Americans.Early Christians balked not at calling infanticide, murder. To them, infants were creatures of God who bore His image no less than their mature counterparts. They'd heard of Jesus' attention to little children in Matthew 19. That passage is interesting because the disciples thought the children approaching Jesus weren't worthy of His august attention. In their attitude toward the little ones, contrary as it was to Jesus' own perspective, we catch of glimpse of how the Greco-Roman culture had influenced them. The pre-Roman Jewish culture put a huge emphasis on children. They were regarded as a great blessing from God. Children were God's promise of a future! Yet in the disciples' shooing the children away from Jesus, we see how the Greco-Roman devaluing of life had infected them.We ought to reflect on how the modern abortion debate may have affected our valuation of human life. The parallels to the current population decline among ethnic Europeans ought to be obvious & a sign of how the Judeo-Christian worldview has been gutted from Western civilization.The Didache, the standard catechism used by the Church in the 1st C tells Christians, "You shall not commit infanticide." It's condemned in the Epistle of Barnabas, written about 130. In AD 222, the 1-time slave turned bishop of Rome, Callistus expressed his dismay at the widespread practice of exposing unwanted infants.It was this & the very vocal Christian opposition to it that helped fuel the persecution the early church faced in so many places around the Empire. The Romans placed great stock in tradition and looked with suspicion on anyone who sought to change it. The Christians were doing just that with their radical ideas about how to treat the unwanted.While Christians opposed infanticide, they were unable to do anything about it as a social policy while they were an outlawed group. It wasn't until the Edict of Milan in AD 313 that they were able to even speak to official policy. Then, only 60 years later Emperor Valentinian, at the urging of Basil of Caesarea, outlawed the wicked practice of infanticide.But while they waited for the laws to change, early Christians didn't sit on their hands. They regularly went out to the hillsides where children were left exposed and took them into their homes, raising them as their own children. In Rome, Bishop Callistus organized people to roam the streets in the late evening, looking for abandoned children. He then placed them in the homes of parents wanting them. As far as we know, this was the first organized adoption agency, even though it was done on the sly. The famous martyr Polycarp's protégé, Benignus of Dijon, recused & nurtured abandoned little ones, ministering to the needs of children who'd been deformed because of botched abortions. Afra of Augsburg, a notorious prostitute before her conversion to Christ, began a ministry to the abandoned children of prisoners, thieves, smugglers, pirates, runaway slaves, and all sorts of ne'er-do' wells.No one should get the impression from this that following Valentinian's outlawing of infanticide & child-abandonment, there was an immediate, overnight end to the practice. Far from it. People in Europe & the Eastern Empire continued to off their off spring in large numbers. And Christians continued to adopt them. But as the influence of the Christian worldview spread, there was a deep & fundamental shift that took place in the way people viewed human life; all of it from cradle to grave. And where that respect for life settled in, infanticide evaporated. It got to the point where a single abandoned infant became a shocking event the news of which spread like wild-fire. And when desperation moved some young mother to abandon her child, where did she leave it? Not on a hillside to let it die. No. She left it on the doorstep of the local church because she knew her child would be taken care of.So it ought to be with the deepest kind of grief that we hear now about newborns being left in dumpsters & gas station restrooms. It seems we've regressed, not progressed; devolved, not evolved. Society has at any rate. And to think - there are people who actually rejoice that the Christian worldview has been cut loose from modern society.We have abortion, which is really just an earlier form of infanticide. Partial birth abortion isn't even that! If a woman doesn't make the appointment to rid herself of the unwanted before it's born, no problem; when in Rome, do as the Romans do.What's next? Gladiatorial combat? Oops - too late. // Slavery? Again, too late. It's already here.We'll be taking a look at many more ways the Christian Faith has impacted culture & civilization in the weeks to come.

Sat, 1 Jan 1791 12:00:00 +0100 http://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/11095/ http://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/11095/1/8J.can.976.pdf Teller, Wilhelm Abraham Teller, Wilhelm Abraham: Valentinian der Erste oder geheime Unterredungen eines Monarchen mit seinem Thronfolger über die Religionsfreyheit d