Re: The Jerusalem Church after 70 CE
Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2017 12:21 pm
Well, Alon certainly delivered regarding Aquila, Jewish Christians and post-70 CE Jerusalem/Aelia Capitolina. I was more familiar with Aquila from Jewish sources (where he is called Onkelos), but Alon cited some Christian sources besides Epiphanius that I was unaware of, and since it doesn't look like anything else regarding Aquila has come up since Alon's time, I can cite more recent scholars who are viewable on Google books (Alon isn't) and I don't have to carry Alon's book with me in my backpack to the library.
Aquila seems similar to the earlier Queen Helena of Adiabene and Clement of Rome, who were also claimed by Jews and Christians. In Aquila's case though, Silverstone appears to be saying that Epiphanius is the first Christian to claim him (Google books cuts off at a key part for me).
But whenever Jewish Christians may have returned to (or near) post-70 CE Jerusalem (if they did), they would have been excluded from there after 135 CE, so in the big picture their return would have ultimately been a bust.
I've been in one of my periodic states of disinterest in ancient history lately, so the Christian sources regarding Aquila that I was unaware of have been on the backburner, but since I gather they come after Epiphanius, I reckon they may not have much historical value, but I need to give this issue some more thought.
Aquila seems similar to the earlier Queen Helena of Adiabene and Clement of Rome, who were also claimed by Jews and Christians. In Aquila's case though, Silverstone appears to be saying that Epiphanius is the first Christian to claim him (Google books cuts off at a key part for me).
Regarding the timing of Aquila's arrival in Jerusalem, Silverstone says on the same page that:The statement of Epiphanius that Aquila first became a Christian [before converting to Judaism] is perhaps not historical, for neither by any writer prior to Epiphanius nor in the Jewish sources is mention ...
https://books.google.com/books?id=8NNRA ... us&f=false
So if there is anything to this account then it would place the Jewish Christian presence in or near Jerusalem as early as 117 CE (when I gather that Jerusalem was little more than a Roman garrison). But perhaps this is wishful thinking on Epiphanius' part.According to Epiphanius, he [Aquila] was appointed by his relative, the Emperor Hadrian, to superintend the rebuilding of Jerusalem under the new name of Aelia Capitolina, forty-seven years after the destruction of the temple (i.e., in 117, the year of Hadrian's succession). This took place circa 130, however, but it is possible that Aquila went to Jerusalem in 117, and spent some years there before beginning actual operations.
But whenever Jewish Christians may have returned to (or near) post-70 CE Jerusalem (if they did), they would have been excluded from there after 135 CE, so in the big picture their return would have ultimately been a bust.
I've been in one of my periodic states of disinterest in ancient history lately, so the Christian sources regarding Aquila that I was unaware of have been on the backburner, but since I gather they come after Epiphanius, I reckon they may not have much historical value, but I need to give this issue some more thought.