Socrates: A victim of an ancient Greek law against proselytism /Σωκράτης: Θύμα ενός αρχαιοελληνικού νόμου κατά του προσηλυτισμού

   [1.1.1] Πολλάκις ἐθαύμασα τίσι ποτὲ λόγοις Ἀθηναίους ἔπεισαν οἱ γραψάμενοι Σωκράτην ὡς ἄξιος εἴη θανάτου τῇ πόλει. ἡ μὲν γὰρ γραφὴ κατ’ αὐτοῦ τοιάδε τις ἦν· ἀδικεῖ Σωκράτης οὓς μὲν ἡ πόλις νομίζει θεοὺς οὐ νομίζων, ἕτερα δὲ καινὰ δαιμόνια εἰσφέρων· ἀδικεῖ δὲ καὶ τοὺς νέους διαφθείρων.

    [1.1.2] Πρῶτον μὲν οὖν, ὡς οὐκ ἐνόμιζεν οὓς ἡ πόλις νομίζει θεούς, ποίῳ ποτ’ ἐχρήσαντο τεκμηρίῳ; θύων τε γὰρ φανερὸς ἦν πολλάκις μὲν οἴκοι, πολλάκις δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν κοινῶν τῆς πόλεως βωμῶν, καὶ μαντικῇ χρώμενος οὐκ ἀφανὴς ἦν. διετεθρύλητο γὰρ ὡς φαίη Σωκράτης τὸ δαιμόνιον ἑαυτῷ σημαίνειν· ὅθεν δὴ καὶ μάλιστά μοι δοκοῦσιν αὐτὸν αἰτιάσασθαι καινὰ δαιμόνια εἰσφέρειν. [1.1.3] ὁ δ’ οὐδὲν καινότερον εἰσέφερε τῶν ἄλλων, ὅσοι μαντικὴν νομίζοντες οἰωνοῖς τε χρῶνται καὶ φήμαις καὶ συμβόλοις καὶ θυσίαις. οὗτοί τε γὰρ ὑπολαμβάνουσιν οὐ τοὺς ὄρνιθας οὐδὲ τοὺς ἀπαντῶντας εἰδέναι τὰ συμφέροντα τοῖς μαντευομένοις, ἀλλὰ τοὺς θεοὺς διὰ τούτων αὐτὰ σημαίνειν, κἀκεῖνος δὲ οὕτως ἐνόμιζεν. [1.1.4] ἀλλ’ οἱ μὲν πλεῖστοί φασιν ὑπό τε τῶν ὀρνίθων καὶ τῶν ἀπαντώντων ἀποτρέπεσθαί τε καὶ προτρέπεσθαι· Σωκράτης δ’ ὥσπερ ἐγίγνωσκεν, οὕτως ἔλεγε· τὸ δαιμόνιον γὰρ ἔφη σημαίνειν. καὶ πολλοῖς τῶν συνόντων προηγόρευε τὰ μὲν ποιεῖν, τὰ δὲ μὴ ποιεῖν, ὡς τοῦ δαιμονίου προσημαίνοντος· καὶ τοῖς μὲν πειθομένοις αὐτῷ συνέφερε, τοῖς δὲ μὴ πειθομένοις μετέμελε. [1.1.5] καίτοι τίς οὐκ ἂν ὁμολογήσειεν αὐτὸν βούλεσθαι μήτ’ ἠλίθιον μήτ’ ἀλαζόνα φαίνεσθαι τοῖς συνοῦσιν; ἐδόκει δ’ ἂν ἀμφότερα ταῦτα, εἰ προαγορεύων ὡς ὑπὸ θεοῦ φαινόμενα καὶ ψευδόμενος ἐφαίνετο. δῆλον οὖν ὅτι οὐκ ἂν προέλεγεν, εἰ μὴ ἐπίστευεν ἀληθεύσειν. ταῦτα δὲ τίς ἂν ἄλλῳ πιστεύσειεν ἢ θεῷ; πιστεύων δὲ θεοῖς πῶς οὐκ εἶναι θεοὺς ἐνόμιζεν;


* Ξενοφών, Απομνημονεύματα, Βιβλίο Α'.

1.1.1 I have often wondered by what arguments those who drew up the indictment against Socrates could persuade the Athenians that his life was forfeit to the state. The indictment against him was to this effect: Socrates is guilty of rejecting the gods acknowledged by the state and of bringing in strange deities: he is also guilty of corrupting the youth.

1.1.2 First then, that he rejected the gods acknowledged by the state — what evidence did they produce of that? He offered sacrifices constantly, and made no secret of it, now in his home, now at the altars of the state temples, and he made use of divination with as little secrecy. Indeed it had become notorious that Socrates claimed to be guided by ‘the deity:’ it was out of this claim, I think, that the charge of bringing in strange deities arose. 1.1.3 He was no more bringing in anything strange than are other believers in divination, who rely on augury, oracles, coincidences and sacrifices. For these men's belief is not that the birds or the folk met by accident know what profits the inquirer, but that they are the instruments by which the gods make this known; and that was Socrates' belief too. 1.1.4 Only, whereas most men say that the birds or the folk they meet dissuade or encourage them, Socrates said what he meant: for he said that the deity gave him a sign. Many of his companions were counselled by him to do this or not to do that in accordance with the warnings of the deity: and those who followed his advice prospered, and those who rejected it had cause for regret. 1.1.5 And yet who would not admit that he wished to appear neither a knave nor a fool to his companions? but he would have been thought both, had he proved to be mistaken when he alleged that his counsel was in accordance with divine revelation. Obviously, then, he would not have given the counsel if he had not been confident that what he said would come true. And who could have inspired him with that confidence but a god? And since he had confidence in the gods, how can he have disbelieved in the existence of the gods?

* Xenophon, Memorabilia, Book 1.

Kyrios (Lord) as the rendering of the Tetragrammaton in the LXX: An outdated view / Ο όρος Κύριος ως απόδοση του Τετραγράμματου στην Ο': Μια παρωχημένη άποψη

* James R. Royse,
"Philo, KURIOS, and the Tetragrammaton"
[Ο Φίλων, ο Κύριος και το Τετραγράμματο],
Studies in Hellenistic Judaism,
Studia Philonica Annual III (Brown Judaic Studies),
Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press, 1991,
p./σ. 167 [167-183].

A history of Jehovah's Witnesses in videos / Η ιστορία των Μαρτύρων του Ιεχωβά σε βίντεο

* Μάρτυρες του Ιεχωβά—Πίστη εν Δράσει, Μέρος 1ο:
Από το Σκοτάδι στο Φως

* Jehovah's Witnesses—Faith in Action, Part 1:
Out of Darkness

 

* Μάρτυρες του Ιεχωβά—Πίστη εν Δράσει, Μέρος 2ο:
Ας Λάμψει το Φως

* Jehovah's Witnesses—Faith in Action, Part 2:
Let the Light Shine

*    *

*

Pre-Constantinian Christian eschatology / Προκωνσταντίνεια χριστιανική εσχατολογία

Eschatology, broadly understood as a study or doctrine of last things, refers to the entire range of beliefs and notions concerning the end of history and final transformation of the world. The life in this present age, imperfect and impermanent, will be brought to an end in which the sovereign God will judge the righteous and the wicked and make all things new. Ancient Jews in the exile and under the Greek and Roman occupations looked forward to the end where God’s reign would be established, and early Christians inherited, transformed, and appropriated for their own purpose the Jewish eschatological expectations of the prophetic and apocalyptic traditions of the Second Temple period. With a conviction in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, early Christians, both Jews and Gentiles, believed that the eschaton invaded the present age and that they were indeed living in the last days where God’s kingdom would be ushered in; with a belief in the imminent return of Christ (παρουσία), they looked forward to the final judgment where God (through Christ) would vindicate the righteous and punish the sinners. In the pre-Constantine era, eschatological concerns were still alive within various Christian communities in varying degrees. Regardless of different nuances and understandings of the eschaton, for early Christians, the end (which is the beginning of the new era) was not only the restoration of the pristine past and the telos of history, but also the fulfillment of future hope in a perfect, just world ruled by God. The eschatological vision for the perfect world to come might take a messianic figure, millennial kingdom, cataclysmic events, or apocalyptic transformations veiled in mysterious symbols, images, and code words. Regardless of the varieties of the eschatological vision, it created an alternative reality by which the present world should be perceived and understood, and projected the hope for the ultimate judgment into this world.

Eschatology in the pre-Constantine period then carried a significant social and moral function in the corporate lives of early Christian communities that shared that vision. It provided social and moral critique and judgment on the present society and status quo on the one hand and put forth an alternative vision and reality of the other world. It not only created a Christian identity distinct from the dominant world but also connected this unique sense of group identity and solidarity to the particular behaviors within the community and vis-à-vis the outsiders.


Η εσχατολογία, ευρύτερα νοούμενη ως μελέτη ή δόγμα των εσχάτων, αναφέρεται σε όλο το εύρος δοξασιών και αντιλήψεων σχετικά με το τέλος της ιστορίας και την τελική μεταμόρφωση του κόσμου. Η ζωή σε αυτή την παρούσα εποχή, ατελής και προσωρινή, θα οδηγηθεί στο τέλος της κατά το οποίο ο υπέρτατος Θεός θα κρίνει τους δίκαιους και τους πονηρούς και θα τα κάνει όλα νέα. Οι αρχαίοι Εβραίοι κατά την εξορία και υπό την ελληνική και τη ρωμαϊκή κατοχή απέβλεπαν στο τέλος οπότε η κυριαρχία του Θεού θα εγκαθιδρυόταν και οι πρώτοι χριστιανοί κληρονόμησαν, μεταμόρφωσαν και προσάρμοσαν για δικούς τους σκοπούς τις ιουδαϊκές εσχατολογικές προσδοκίες των προφητικών και αποκαλυπτικών παραδόσεων της περιόδου του Δεύτερου Ναού. Πεπεισμένοι για τον θάνατο και την ανάσταση του Ιησού Χριστού, οι πρώτοι χριστιανοί, αμφότεροι Ιουδαίοι και Εθνικοί, πίστευαν ότι το έσχατον εισέβαλε στην παρούσα εποχή και ότι πράγματι ζούσαν στις τελευταίες ημέρες οπότε θα ξεκινούσε η βασιλεία του Θεού· με πίστη στην επικείμενη επιστροφή του Χριστού (παρουσία), απέβλεπαν στην τελική κρίση οπότε ο Θεός (μέσω του Χριστού) θα δικαίωνε τους δίκαιους και θα τιμωρούσε τους αμαρτωλούς. Στην προκωνσταντίνεια εποχή, οι εσχατολογικές ανησυχίες ακόμη υφίσταντο μεταξύ διαφόρων χριστιανικών κοινοτήτων σε διάφορους βαθμούς. [...]

* Johan Leemans, Brian J. Matz & Johan Verstraeten (eds),
Reading Patristic Texts on Social Ethics Issues and Challenges for Twenty-First-Century Christian Social Thought
[Η Ανάγνωση των Πατερικών Κειμένων επί της Κοινωνικής Ηθικής και οι Προκλήσεις για την Χριστιανική Κοινωνική Σκέψη του Εικοστού Πρώτου Αιώνα],
Catholic University of America Press, 2011,
pp./σσ. 65, 66.

The metaphysical interpretation of Exodus 3:14 & the Christian theology /Η μεταφυσική ερμηνεία του Έξοδος 3:14 & η χριστιανική θεολογία

Christof Hardmeier,
Erzähldiskurs und Redepragmatik Im Alten Testament:
Unterwegs Zu Einer Performativen Theologie Der Bibel,
Mohr Siebeck, 2005,
p./σ. 372.

Η συνείδηση κατά τον Ιωάννη τον Χρυσόστομο /The conscience according to John Chrysostom

Ἐξ ἀρχῆς πλάττων ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, νόμον αὐτῷ φυσικὸν ἐγκατέθηκε. Καὶ τί ποτέ ἐστιν νόμος φυσικός; Τὸ συνειδὸς ἡμῖν διήρθρωσε, καὶ αὐτοδίδακτον ἐποίησε τὴν γνῶσιν τῶν καλῶν καὶ τῶν οὐ τοιούτων· οὐ γὰρ δεόμεθα μαθεῖν ὅτι κακὸν ἡ πορνεία, καὶ καλὸν ἡ σωφροσύνη, ἀλλ' ἴσμεν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τοῦτο.

It is, that when God formed man, he implanted within him from the beginning a natural law. And what then was this natural law? He gave utterance to conscience within us; and made the knowledge of good things, and of those which are the contrary, to be self-taught. For we have no need to learn that fornication is an evil thing, and that chastity is a good thing, but we know this from the first.


* Ιωάννης ο Χρυσόστομος / John Chrysostom,
Εις τους ανδριάντας / Ad populum Antiochenum 12:3 [9]
[MPG 49:131, Engl. transl. E. Budge]

The miraculous Byzantine eulogiai /Οι θαυματουργές βυζαντινές ευλογίες

*

To sum up, in the Early Byzantine period  pilgrimage  mementoes were produced at the shrine and probably distributed for free to the pilgrims. It was to this fact and  the substances they contained (e.g. myron, oil or sacred  soil), which  also came from the holy places, that they owed their miraculous nature. Nevertheless, a series of facts allow us to suppose that already  in this period the production of pilgrimage devotionalia had been passed  to privately run workshops, not directly connected with the shrines, which with the latters’ connivance – or perhaps un- beknown  to them – produced objects  with the same  function,  which  we might describe  as “imitations” of the genuine  mementoes. This can be seen  above  all in  a  series  of  artefacts,  intended  for  individual  use  or  personal  devotion, which  used  the loca sancta  iconography together with magical/apotropaic motifs, i.e. with subjects of a religious nature but not derived from the “official” traditions  or teachings of the Church.

In the Middle Byzantine period  this  picture  changes significantly. Both the material  remains  and  the sources  allow us to assert  that  the production of pilgrim mementoes for a whole area passed into the hands of local  workshops. The koutrouvia from Thessaloniki and  the crusader workshop  in Acre bear witness  to this  view. Moreover the iconographical analysis  of the  koutrouvia  has also  allowed  us to trace  what  might  be described  as a form of competition between the two loca sancta in Thessaloniki that attracted pilgrims, the basilica of St Demetrios and the monastery of St. Theodora.

There is less information available as regards distribution of the eulogiai, but in every case the indications to date allow us to posit that, just as in the early period, in the Middle Byzantine period too mementoes were available free of charge from the shrines, since the cost of producing these artefacts was negligible in comparison to the profits the church could make from the potential donations from the faithful. It was the promise of a miracle that attracted the gifts from the laity and the eulogiai were the tangible proof of that possibility.

Finally, the production and distribution of pilgrim tokens seems to change radically in the Late Byzantine period, since a sort of commercialization and “globalization” emerges in this aspect of the pilgrimage as the period progresses. The glass medallions mass produced in Venice, which Venetian merchants distributed to the biggest, most popular shines of the day in East and West, constitute crucial evidence of these changes. In my opinion it is the reappearance in the Eastern Mediterranean, after the creation of the crusader kingdoms, of Western pilgrims, who as mentioned above had very different views about going on pilgrimage but also about the use and importance of pilgrim souvenirs, that underlies these changes.

Ιn the end that is what is so striking about these simple, cheap objects; the fact that, by studying them alongside the sources, we can discover a great deal both about the economic activities and the mentalité of medieval man.

* Dr. Vicky Foskolou,
"Blessing for sale? On the production and distribution of pilgrim mementoes in Byzantium",
Byzantinische Zeitschrift,
Vol. 105, Issue 1, pp. 53–84,
ISSN (Online) 1864-449X, ISSN (Print) 0007-7704,
DOI: 10.1515/bz-2012-0004, December/Δεκέμβριος 2012.

Athanasianism, alike Arianism / Αθανασιανισμός, κατά το Αρειανισμός

Johann Heinrich Becker,
De nostra per Christum facta redemptione (1768),
p./σ. 6.
[Latin/Λατινικά, PDF]

Levi Leonard Paine,

A critical history of the evolution of trinitarianism
and its outcome in the new Christology

[Κριτική ιστορία της εξέλιξης του τριαδισμού
και των συνεπειών του στη νέα Χριστολογία],


New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1900.
[English/Αγγλικά, PDF]


*

Ο Ανδρέας Λασκαράτος & Τα μυστήρια της Κεφαλονιάς / Andreas Laskaratos & his The mysteries of Cephalonia

The Westminster Review,
Vol./τόμ. 11,
Hooper, 1856,
pp./σσ. 216-245.

[English/Αγγλικά, PDF]

* Ανδρέας Λασκαράτος / Andreas Laskaratos,
Τά μυστήρια τῆς Κεφαλονιᾶς ἤ Σκέψες ἀπάνου στήν οἰκογένεια, στή θρησκεία καί στήν πολιτική εἰς τήν Κεφαλονιά,
εκδ. Β. Κομπούγιας, 1925.
[Ελληνικά/Greek, PDF]

L. L. Grabbe on R. Furuli: A case of religiously motivated peer criticism / Μια περίπτωση ομότιμης κριτικής βάσει θρησκευτικών κινήτρων

FURULI, ROLF, Persian Chronology and the Length of the Babylonian Exile of the Jews Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian and Persian Chronology Compared with the Chronology of the Bible, 1 (Oslo: R. Furuli A/S [furuli@online.no], 2003), pp. 251.
n.p. ISBN 82-994633-3-5.


Once again we have an amateur who wants to rewrite scholarship. F.’s expertise is admittedly in Semitic languages, and his PhD (in progress) is on the Hebrew verbal system. He notes, ‘My disadvantage is that I am neither a professional archaeoastronomer nor a historian’. This has not deterred him from making some radical re-interpretations of Achaemenid-period chronology and putting it forward boldly as an ‘Oslo chronology’. Part of his redating is fairly modest: he accepts the beginning and end of Achaemenid rule according to the standard dating, and puts the beginning of Darius I’s reign only one year later than is conventional. He argues, however, that the first 11 years of Xerxes’ reign overlap with the last 11 of Darius, and that Artaxerxes I came to the throne in 475 BCE and ruled 51 years. (F. has indeed found the interesting fact that a couple of tablets have the years ‘50’ and ‘51’ for Artaxerxes, but he admits that overwhelmingly tablets make 41 his last year and none is found between 41 and 50, suggesting the obvious: a scribal error.) Gifted amateurs have sometimes revolutionized scholarship, notably M. Ventris and Linear B. But Ventris was willing to work with specialists such as J. Chadwick whereas F. shows little evidence of having put his theories to the test with specialists in Mesopotamian astronomy and Persian history. Perhaps the most telling point is his rather naive argument that the 70 years of Judaean captivity must be a literal 70 years of desolation of the land because some biblical passages make such a statement. A second volume is promised; we shall see if it is any more convincing.

L.L. GRABBE *

* Book review in:
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 28:5 [2004],
pp./σσ. 42, 43.

Is it suicide the refusion of blood transfusion for religious reasons? /Είναι αυτοκτονία η άρνηση μετάγγισης αίματος για θρησκευτικούς λόγους;

It is true, of course, that common sense usually has it that a suicide requires active performance, meaning that only if someone kills himself should the act be deemed a suicide. But there are several cases where people actually do not kill themselves but still die by suicide. Someone who attacks a policemen with the intent to be shot, or who skies in a dangerous area to be buried under an avalanche, does not kill himself but performs a suicide. On the other hand, not every case of death that is due to the rejection of medical treatment is therefore a case of suicide by omission. There needs to be a desire to die. For instance, if a Jehovah's Witness refuses a required blood transfusion, he does not act on the basis of a desire to die, but out of respect for God's commands. Hence, for a suicide it is not the means of death that are important, but whether there is a desire to die and an alternative option that does not (directly) lead to death.

Είναι αλήθεια, βέβαια, ότι η κοινή γνώμη συνήθως θεωρεί ότι η αυτοκτονία απαιτεί ενεργή διάπραξη, που σημαίνει ότι μόνο αν κάποιος σκοτώσει εαυτόν θα πρέπει η πράξη να λογιστεί ως αυτοκτονία. Αλλά υπάρχουν διάφορες περιπτώσεις στις οποίες οι άνθρωποι δεν σκοτώνουν εαυτούς πραγματικά αλλά και πάλι πεθαίνουν αυτοκτονώντας. Κάποιος που επιτίθεται σε αστυνομικό με την πρόθεση να τον πυροβολήσουν ή κάποιος που κάνει σκι σε επικίνδυνη περιοχή με κίνδυνο να θαφτεί κάτω από μια χιονοστιβάδα, δεν σκοτώνει εαυτόν αλλά διαπράττει αυτοκτονία. Από την άλλη μεριά, δεν είναι κάθε περίπτωση θανάτου εξαιτίας άρνησης ιατρικής περίθαλψης κατά συνέπεια περίπτωση αυτοκτονίας από αμέλεια. Πρέπει να υφίσταται επιθυμία να πεθάνει. Για παράδειγμα, αν ένας Μάρτυρας του Ιεχωβά αρνείται μια απαιτούμενη μετάγγιση αίματος, δεν ενεργεί βάσει επιθυμίας να πεθάνει αλλά από σεβασμό για τις εντολές του Θεού. Συνεπώς, σε μια αυτοκτονία δεν είναι ο τρόπος θανάτου το σημαντικό αλλά το κατά πόσον υπάρχει επιθυμία να πεθάνει και η εναλλακτική επιλογή που δεν οδηγεί (άμεσα) στο θάνατο.

* Thomas Schramme,
"Rational suicide, assisted suicide, and indirect legal paternalism"
[Ορθολογική αυτοκτονία, υποβοηθούμενη αυτοκτονία και έμμεσος νομικός πατερναλισμός],
International Journal of Law and Psychiatry,
Elsevier Ltd.,
Available online 29 June 2013.

#

Οι χριστιανοί αντιρρησίες συνείδησης κατά τον Α' Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο /The Christian conscientious objectors during the First World War

Αναστασίου Β. Αντωνοπούλου,
Το καταγγέλομεν και κατηγορούμεν των Χιλιαστών
κατά της Ορθοδόξου Εκκλησίας και του ιερού κλήρου,
Πάτραι, εκδ. Αχαιός, 1947,
σ. 96.

P.Oxy. LXXVII 5101 (1st/2nd cent. CE / 1ος/2ος αι. Κ.Χ.): Includes the Tetragrammaton in paleo-Hebrew characters /Περιέχεται το Τετραγράμματο με παλαιοεβραϊκούς χαρακτήρες

[Click to zoom / Κλικ για μεγέθυνση]

The Tetragrammaton
at A12, 14 (A is the bottom middle fragment on the image),
and D14 (D is the bottom left fragment on the image).

P.Oxy.LXXVII 5101
(Rahlfs 2227)
LXX, Psalms XXVI 9-14, XLIV 4-8, XLVII 13-15,
XLVIII 6-21, XLIX 2-16, LXIII 6 - LXIV 5
D. Colomo; W. B. Henry

   
Publication date     2011
Author    
Date     First / second century
Provenance     Oxyrhynchus
Location     Papyrology Rooms, Sackler Library, Oxford
Genre     Religion; Septuagint
Format     Roll
Material     Papyrus

ימח שמו (yimakh shemo) "May his name be obliterated": An ancient Jewish curse as damnatio memoriaethat befell on God's sacred name? «Ας εξαλειφθεί το όνομά του»: Μια αρχαία εβραϊκή κατάρα ως damnatio memoriae που επέπεσε στο ιερό όνομα του Θεού;

Church of Saint Ignazio in the Olivella
(Palermo, Sicily, Italy; c. 1600)

Έξοδος 17:14, ΒΑΜ (1833)


Then the LORD said to Moses,
"Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered
and make sure that Joshua hears it,
because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven."

Exodus 17:14, NIV

* Wikipedia:

- "Yimakh shemo"

- "Damnatio memoriae"