The Propaganda War Against Mythicism [Vridar]

Discussion about the New Testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, Christian origins, historical Jesus or otherwise, etc.
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Leucius Charinus
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Re: The Propaganda War Against Mythicism [Vridar]

Post by Leucius Charinus »

MrMacSon wrote:
Leucius Charinus wrote:
MrMacSon wrote:Is there an indication that these post-resurrection encounters are less, more or as frequent as pre-resurrection encounters?
Sláinte. AFAIK, with the exception of the "Infancy Gospels", all of the (non canonical) encounters are post-resurrection.
Cheers. When and where do you - or anyone else - think these apocryphal/Gnostic gospels were predominantly read, or in common use?
WHEN: I think they were post Nicaean reactions to Constantine's support of the Bible as the "Holy Writ" of the Egypto-Graeco-Roman empire. [I think that their mention by Irenaeus, Origen and other early heresiologists were later retrojections, and for a classic example of this, see the WIKI article on the dating of the Clementine Literature to an Arian author c.330 CE, despite its supposed mention by Origen in the 3rd century]

WHERE: In the theatres of Alexandria. "The Leucian Acts are Hellenistic romances, which were written to appeal to the masses" (see Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard, Mercer Dictionary of the Bible)

Eusebius, Life of Constantine, Ch. LXI - How Controversies originated at Alexandria through Matters relating to Arius wrote:
"the sacred matters of inspired teaching were exposed to the most shameful ridicule in the very theatres of the unbelievers."
A "cobbler of fables" [Augustine]; "Leucius is the disciple of the devil" [Decretum Gelasianum]; and his books "should be utterly swept away and burned" [Pope Leo I]; they are the "source and mother of all heresy" [Photius]
andrewcriddle
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Re: The Propaganda War Against Mythicism [Vridar]

Post by andrewcriddle »

Leucius Charinus wrote:

Gospel of Barnabas: (Used by the Quranic compliers - "The wonderful God" swaps Judas with Jesus, and Judas is the one crucified ....)
Gospel of Barnabas wrote:
‘And Judas the traitor entered before the rest into the place from which Jesus had just been taken up. And the disciples were sleeping. And the wonderful God acted wonderfully, changing Judas into the same figure and speech with Jesus. We, believing that it was he, said to him, “Master, whom seekest thou?” And he said to them, smiling, “Ye have forgotten yourselves, since ye do not know Judas Iscariot.” At this time the soldiery entered; and seeing Judas so like in every respect to Jesus, laid hands upon him….’(Chapter 217)
The Gospel of Barnabas is almost certainly a medieval work based partly on the Quran.

Andrew Criddle
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Leucius Charinus
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Re: The Propaganda War Against Mythicism [Vridar]

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andrewcriddle wrote:The Gospel of Barnabas is almost certainly a medieval work based partly on the Quran.
A "Gospel according to Barnabas" is mentioned in two early Christian lists of apocryphal works:
  • *the Latin Decretum Gelasianum (6th century, but containing data from Damasius in the 4th century), as well as

    *a 7th-century Greek List of the Sixty Books.
Certainly, if there were in fact an earlier Gospel of Barnabas, the extant medieval works have seriously added to it (eg: the mention of Muhammad). However there have been, and continue to be a number of scholars who argue that an early version of this non canonical gospel is likely to have existed. See for example the arguments presented in Barnabas and the Gospels: Was There an Early Gospel of Barnabas? by R. Blackhirst.
Blackhirst wrote:It is not inherently implausible that such a work as a Gospel of Barnabas was written and circulated .... A closer look at the lists reveals evidence that could be taken either way on this matter; it could support a case for an early Barnabas as much as it could support the case against.

The remarkable fact is that it is possible to account for all of the works mentioned in both lists with the one exception of the Gospel of Barnabas.
Additionally, the theme that someone else dies in the place of Jesus (and that Jesus LAUGHS at this event) as claimed in the extant (medieval mss) of the Gospel of Barnabas is also found in other ancient sources, such as in The Second Treatise of the Great Seth, in the mid-4th century Nag Hammadi codices. Therefore I do not think that the matter is entirely closed on the question of an ancient source for this gospel. There are in the ancient sources at least 23 Gnostic Gospels and 29 Gnostic Acts under the names of various so-called apostles, therefore another early gospel under the name of Barnabas is neither here nor there in the entire scheme of things as they stand.
A "cobbler of fables" [Augustine]; "Leucius is the disciple of the devil" [Decretum Gelasianum]; and his books "should be utterly swept away and burned" [Pope Leo I]; they are the "source and mother of all heresy" [Photius]
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