Seven Circuits in Clement of Alexandria
In Book 5 of the Stromateis by Clement of Alexandria there is a puzzling passage in the discussion of esotericism. Now concealment is evinced in the reference of the seven circuits around the temple,...
View ArticleThe Name of the Father is the Son
The Valentinian Gospel of Truth declares that The Name of the Father is the Son. This saying has been much discussed and possible parallels sought. Raoul Mortley in an essay in Neoplatonism and...
View ArticleEphrem Syrus on the composition of the Four Gospels
I’ve been reading Carmel McCarthy’s translation of Saint Ephrem’s Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron. At the end there is a short pasage about the Evangelists. McCarthy is doubtful whether it is by...
View ArticleOrigen baptism and the new tomb of Christ
Paul’s teaching that in baptism the Christian is buried with Christ is developed in the late 4th century so as to compare the baptistry/font to a tomb. A good early example is Cyril of Jerusalem’s 2nd...
View ArticleKabbalah and Neoplatonism
This post deals with rather later texts than is usual on this blog but I hope it is of interest. I read an interesting blogpost Nonduality in Proclus and its Parallels in the Kabbalah of Cordovero...
View ArticleThe Mysteries of the Apostolic Tradition
The Apostolic Tradition is the name given by scholars to an ancient church order surviving in several incomplete and/or modified later forms. This title derives from the belief that the original form...
View ArticleThe Mysteries of the Apostolic Tradition 2
A particularly interesting and particularly obscure passage in the Apostolic Tradition occurs after the section on baptism and first communion. Now we have briefly delivered to you these things...
View ArticleThe Mysteries of the Apostolic Tradition 3
For the version of the white stone passage in the new Ethiopic text we will have to depend on my English translation of Dr Bausi’s Italian translation of the Ethiopic. It is therefore convenient to be...
View ArticleDoes Mark’s Jesus prophesy the destruction of the Temple ?
I came across this argument in God’s Mountain: The Temple Mount in Time, Place, and Memory by Yaron Z. Eliav . I am not certain that it is valid. But it is important if true, and deserves wider...
View ArticleBasilides Baptism and Epiphany
In Clement of Alexandria Stromateis book 1 there is a discussion of chronology sacred and secular including this intriguing passage. And the followers of Basilides hold the day of his [Christ's]...
View ArticleWere Andronicus and Junia regarded by Paul as Apostles ?
Romans 16:7 reads: Greet Andronicus and Junia, my compatriots and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. alternatively Greet Andronicus and Junia,...
View ArticleSlavery and the Limits of Obedience
In the book of essays Early Christian Families in Context there is an interesting essay by Carolyn Osiek Female Slaves Porneia and the Limits of Obedience which argues that Christian teaching on the...
View ArticlePseudo-Dionysius Proclus and Thomas Taylor
Dionysius the Areopagite is the alleged author of a set of important religious/philosophical/mystical works; various letters, a treatise on the Divine Names, a treatise on Mystical Theology and...
View ArticleDid Origen know a Forty Day fast ?
In the Homilies on Leviticux X 2 Origen says we [Christians] have forty days dedicated to fasting; we have the fourth [Wednesday] and sixth day [Friday] of the week on which we regularly fast The 4th...
View ArticleA Jewish-Christian Origin for 2 Enoch (Slavonic Enoch) ?
The origins of 2 Enoch have always ben obscure. It exists in at least two Slavonic forms, the short and long recension, found in manuscripts dating from medieval times. Recently some Coptic fragments...
View ArticleSeven Circuits in Clement of Alexandria Revisited
In an old post Seven Circuits in Clement of Alexandria I attempted an explanation of Clement’s puzzling reference to the seven circuits around the temple, which are made mention of among the Hebrews....
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