Secret Alias wrote:1. Gaius (1 Cor 1:14; Rom 16:23)
"Gaius", 1 Corinthians 1:14 is suspicious. I believe that is is possible to provide a link back to the Historical here:
Tacitus, Histories, Book 4:
"The murder of
Calpurnius Galerianus caused the utmost consternation. He was a son of
Caius Piso, and had done nothing, but a noble name and
his own youthful beauty made him the theme of common talk; and while the country was still unquiet and delighted in novel topics, there were persons who associated him with idle rumours of Imperial honours. By order of Mucianus he was surrounded with a guard of soldiers. Lest his execution in the capital should excite too much notice, they conducted him to the fortieth milestone from Rome on the Appian Road, and there put him to death by opening his veins. Julius
Priscus, who had been prefect of the Praetorian Guard under Vitellius, killed himself rather out of shame than by compulsion..."
The chain starts at Acts 6: 5, 15
[5] And what they said pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Proch'orus, and Nica'nor, and Ti'mon, and Par'menas, and Nicola'us, a proselyte of Antioch.
...
[15] And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Octavian was the "Proselyte of Antioch", which makes this an inverted List of Caesars, which makes "Stephen"...
Change "Caius" to "Gaius", etc. and Suddenly!, you've got a Change in Christianity! Ummm........./s
1 Corinthians 1: 14 - 17 (RSV):
[14] I am thankful that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Ga'ius;
[15] lest any one should say that you were baptized in my name.
[16] (I did baptize also the household of Steph'anas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any one else.)
[17] For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
There was mischief afoot! Look at verse 17. Here is another "He was speaking of the Temple of His Body" moment:
"...lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power..."
This is cognitively vacuous. People will manufacture a meaning for this and not see the magician's hand hide the Family name for "Stephanas" in full view of the crowd.
"MUCIA'NUS, LICI'NIUS, three times consul in a.d. 52, 70, and 75 respectively, must have passed, by adoption, from the Mucian to the Licinian gens..."
I cannot make the leap here - It's not on my Job Description - but there might be some other Business going on.
CW