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I am going to lose my life (not that it’s worth much) for the cross,” Ignatius wrote. “I am ever so eager to be a martyr, but I do not know if I deserve to be.” “I need your love if I am going to deserve the fate I long for, and not prove a ‘castaway’.” “These chains – my spiritual pearls! Through them I want to rise from the dead by your prayers.” “...if we do not willingly die in union with his Passion, we do not have his life in us.” “I hope, indeed, by your prayers, to have the good fortune to fight with wild beasts in
Friday, November 21, 2008
The Martyred Bishop
One of the most fascinating and famous early Christian martyrs was the Bishop of Antioch, Ignatius. When he died in a Roman arena in the year 107 CE, savaged by wild beasts, he was about 70 years old. Born just after Jesus’ crucifixion, Ignatius had served Christ all his life, and he went willingly to his death, seeing in it the culmination of all his service. As amazing as it seems to us today, Ignatius actually longed for his violent death. To him, it was a chance to be a sacrifice to God, and to truly earn the name, “Christian.” Who was this compelling figure, whose final goal was to get to God, no matter the cost? Ignatius was a man known to us today as one of the “Apostolic Church Fathers”, a group that includes other first century Bishops like Clement and Polycarp. These men were appointed by the Apostles themselves, forming a succession of authority to continue to lead the church. The writings of these men tell us about the early churches in and Asia Minor, including the Church of Antioch in Syria, where followers of Jesus were first called Christians.Ignatius was the second Bishop of Antioch, chosen by the Apostle Peter. His job as a Bishop was to lead church prayers, celebrate the Eucharist, conduct baptisms, give spiritual counsel, preside over marriages, and preach sermons.He had the devoted help of the Deacons and Presbyters working under him.He was a learned, faithful, humble, and selfless man. So why did he have to die – who would want to kill a man like that?The Emperor Trajan, that’s who. Ruling Rome from the year 98 to 117 CE, Trajan was paranoid about secret societies that might plot to take power away from him. In his fear, he banned all clubs and political associations.That included gatherings of Christians, who seemed suspicious because they met in their homes behind closed doors, claimed to worship a different “King”, were accused of eating “flesh and blood”, and were growing in number alarmingly fast. Trajan was the first Emperor to make capital punishment of Christians an official policy.We know about his policies from a pair of letters written between Trajan and Pliny, the governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor. The two letters tell us a lot about what dangers Christians faced, and reveal why Bishop Ignatius had to die. Pliny lived in an Empire where the citizens were required to worship the Roman Emperor and the Roman gods at the official temples, using the established religious rites. He was unsure of how to deal with the troublesome Christians in his region. Pliny saw the Christian “superstition” spreading rapidly and endangering Roman religion, culture, and society. How should Christians be investigated and punished? Under what circumstances should they be executed? What should he do if someone was anonymously accused of being a Christian? In trying to work out the details of the policy by himself, Pliny had tortured and executed a few Christians, but he was in doubt about the exact procedures to follow. So he wrote to Trajan for clarification. Trajan wrote back, and told Pliny to follow a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell...but if they do tell, then kill them!’ policy. Officially, if a person was proven to be a Christian, then the punishment was death. But anonymous accusations were not to be allowed. Christians were not to be actively sought out. Furthermore, even if a person was accused of being a Christian, they had a chance to obtain pardon through repentance. Specifically, if the accused person publically worshipped and sacrificed to the Roman gods, then they could escape the death penalty. But some Christians were unable to deny Jesus in that way. Death was preferable. One such person who strongly preferred death was Bishop Ignatius. We know the story of Ignatius from seven letters he wrote while on his way to die. We also have a document called “The Martyrdom of Ignatius” which was supposedly written by two people who accompanied him on his final journey and witnessed his execution. The “Martyrdom” tells how Ignatius had guided the church of Antioch through the earlier persecutions of the Emperor Domitian, and how he was glad the persecution had ceased. But part of Ignatius still wished he could become a martyr, because by dying that way, he would perfect his discipleship to Christ, and become as intimately close to the Lord as it was possible to be.When Trajan threatened Christians with death, as described above, Ignatius saw his chance to attain his goal.It happened that Trajan was staying in Antioch while on a campaign against the Parthians. It is not clear from the source material whether Ignatius was accused and arrested or if he turned himself in. In any case, Ignatius came willingly before the Emperor, where he testified that he was a Christian who carried the spirit of Jesus within him. Under the law, Ignatius was a proven Christian, by his own admission. Trajan sentenced him to be bound and taken by soldiers to Rome, where he would be devoured by beasts for the gratification of the people. Ignatius actually cried out with joy, saying, I thank thee, O Lord, that Thou hast vouchsafed to honor me with a perfect love towards Thee, and hast made me to be bound with iron chains, like Thy Apostle Paul.Next, Ignatius had to make the long journey to Rome, escorted over land and sea by ten soldiers. On the way, he met with many fellow Christians, who came to see him where he stopped.The Bishop gave out many words of encouragement and listened to the problems of the church representatives.Then, just as Paul once did, Ignatius wrote letters to those churches to guide them.We have seven letters from him in all, six to churches and one to the Bishop Polycarp.To our modern way of thinking, it seems strange and a bit awe-inspiring that a person would actively seek martyrdom. What goes through the mind of a person like that? The letters of Ignatius give us an intimate understanding in his own words.He wrote about dying as “going through the pangs of being born.” He wrote, “Let me imitate the Passion of my God”, and “Let me be fodder for wild beasts – that is how I can get to God. I am God’s wheat and I am being ground by the teeth of wild beasts to make a pure loaf for Christ.” “Then I shall be a real disciple of Jesus Christ when the world sees my body no more. Pray Christ for me that by these means I may become God’s sacrifice.”
I am going to lose my life (not that it’s worth much) for the cross,” Ignatius wrote. “I am ever so eager to be a martyr, but I do not know if I deserve to be.” “I need your love if I am going to deserve the fate I long for, and not prove a ‘castaway’.” “These chains – my spiritual pearls! Through them I want to rise from the dead by your prayers.” “...if we do not willingly die in union with his Passion, we do not have his life in us.” “I hope, indeed, by your prayers, to have the good fortune to fight with wild beasts inRome Rome Rome Rome Antioch
I am going to lose my life (not that it’s worth much) for the cross,” Ignatius wrote. “I am ever so eager to be a martyr, but I do not know if I deserve to be.” “I need your love if I am going to deserve the fate I long for, and not prove a ‘castaway’.” “These chains – my spiritual pearls! Through them I want to rise from the dead by your prayers.” “...if we do not willingly die in union with his Passion, we do not have his life in us.” “I hope, indeed, by your prayers, to have the good fortune to fight with wild beasts in
Christian Apocrypha: Peter versus Simon Magus
The Old Testament has its Apocrypha, books that were important and popular, but did not make it into the canonical Bible, such as the “Books of the Maccabees” and “Judith”. The New Testament has its Apocrypha as well, books which were so popular and so often copied in the early days of Christianity that they survive to this day, even though they did not make it into the Bible. Although they could not compare with inspired scripture like the Gospels, these books were written to teach Christian ideas and to entertain readers at the same time. One of these books, the “Acts of Peter”, is a direct sequel to a story found in the Acts of the Apostles, the encounter between Peter and Simon the Magician.
Simon was an infamous sorcerer from the Samaritan town of Gitta. Acts 8:4-24 describes how Simon met with Peter in Samaria and tried to buy the power of the Holy Spirit. “Now a certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great. All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, ‘This man is the power of God that is called Great.’ And they listened eagerly to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip, who was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with Philip and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that took place.
“Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money! You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness.’ Simon answered, ‘Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may happen to me.’”
Simon’s act gave rise to the term “Simony”, which means the crime of paying money in exchange for holy authority or a position in the church. After he is rebuked for his crime, Simon is not mentioned again in the New Testament. But his story was not over. Early Christian writers condemned him as the founder of a second century group of Gnostics, heretics who claimed that only complex secret knowledge brought salvation. Simon’s followers claimed that he was the power of the true God in human form. Their belief system was in direct conflict and competition with the spread of early Christianity in the Roman Empire. In fighting for the hearts and minds of the people, Christian writers saw the need to attack the heresy where it began, with the magician Simon. The story of Simon in Acts is unfinished; Simon is rebuffed but not defeated. And so the apocryphal book, the “Acts of Peter” was written to continue the story and show its readers the final defeat and death of Simon Magus.
The “Acts of Peter” was written between 150 and 200 CE, to denounce and discredit the founder of the rival Gnostics. It tells of a public miracle contest between Peter and Simon Magus. The story begins when Simon miraculously flies through the air into Rome. There, he works more wonders and begins to preach that he, not Jesus, is the Messiah and the power of God. Simon is so convincing that large groups of the Christian faithful begin to worship him instead, and leaders like Paul are not there to stop them. This is an emergency; it seems the power of Satan is working through Simon to cause all the simple and weak believers in Rome to fall.
God sends a vision to Peter, summoning him to go to Rome to fight Simon. Upon his arrival, Peter speaks to a large crowd of the brethren, and warns them that Satan is tricking them into leaving their faith. The people repent, but the danger of Simon remains, and they ask Peter to remove the threat once and for all. The magician is staying at the house of a senator whom he has converted, so Peter takes the crowd to his door. From this point on, the story becomes a duel of miracles between Simon and Peter. The contest is reminiscent of the duel between Moses and Aaron, and Pharaoh’s sorcerers (Exodus 7:8-13), in that Simon ultimately shows that he has some powers, but he cannot match or resist the power of God.
Peter’s first miracle is to give a dog the power of speech. Peter sends the dog in to tell Simon to come out. Simon instructs the dog to tell Peter he is not there. The dog curses Simon and exits to tell Peter that it is time for “a great contest with the enemy of Christ and his servants, and many that have been deceived by him shalt thou turn unto the faith; wherefore thou shalt receive from God the reward of thy work. And when the dog had said this he fell down at the apostle Peter's feet and gave up the ghost. And when the great multitude saw with amazement the dog speaking, they began then, some to throw themselves down at Peter's feet, and some said: Show us another sign, that we may believe in thee as the minister of the living God, for Simon also did many signs in our presence and therefore did we follow him.”
Peter’s second miracle is to bring a dead fish back to life and set it swimming for all to see. Restored to his faith by these signs, the senator has Simon beaten and thrown out of his house. Simon comes to Peter’s residence and calls him out, saying, “Lo, here am I, Simon: come thou down, Peter, and I will convict thee that thou hast believed on a man which is a Jew and a carpenter's son.” Peter sends down a woman and her nursing baby. In this third miracle, the baby curses Simon with an adult voice, announcing that Peter will meet him in the Roman forum on the Sabbath, there to decide the contest.
At night, Jesus appears to Peter and says, “Already is much people of the brotherhood returned through me and through the signs which thou hast wrought in my name. But thou shalt have a contest of the faith upon the sabbath that cometh, and many more of the Gentiles and of the Jews shall be converted in my name unto me who was reproached and mocked and spat upon. For I will be present with thee when thou askest for signs and wonders, and thou shalt convert many: but thou shalt have Simon opposing thee by the works of his father; yet all his works shall be shown to be charms and contrivances of sorcery.”
When the Sabbath arrives, such a large crowd gathers, that people are charged for their seats. Christian brethren and Roman pagans alike fill the forum. Even senators and prefects are in attendance. The crowd demands that Peter and Simon each give proof of their claims so that the people may choose who to believe. Peter promises proof, and mocks Simon for his attempts to buy the power of the Holy Spirit, as described in Acts. Simon then mocks Jesus as a mere man who lived and died. The Roman prefect then issues the first challenge for both men. He calls one of his servants and commands that Simon should kill the slave, and that Peter should bring him back to life. Simon speaks a word, and the man dies. Peter says God is not to be tempted or proved, but that God will love and hear those that are worthy. At Peter’s prayer, the man is brought back to life.
For the second challenge, the mother of a dead senator brings her son’s body to the forum. Peter shouts, “Ye men of Rome, let there now be a just judgment betwixt me and Simon; and judge ye whether of us two believeth in the living God, he or I. Let him raise up the body that lieth here, and believe in him as the angel of God. But if he be not able, and I call upon my God and restore the son alive unto his mother, then believe ye that this man is a sorcerer and a deceiver”. Simon retorts, “Ye men of Rome, if ye behold the dead man arise, will ye cast Peter out of the city? And all the people said: We will not only cast him out, but on the very instant will we burn him with fire.”
Simon proceeds to trick the crowd, by moving the dead body like a puppet. Peter, threatened with burning, reveals the deception to the onlookers: the man is still dead. Peter then genuinely brings the senator back to life. When the crowd threatens to burn Simon instead, Peter reminds them to love their enemies. Simon is spared so that he might repent, but a few days later, the defeated magician proclaims that everyone has been deceived by Peter. Simon Magus announces that he will fly up to God his father. Amazingly, he begins to fly over Rome. Peter calls out to Jesus to make Simon fall, not to die, but to fail in converting any more people. Simon plummets, breaks his leg, and is finally abandoned by the Romans, who believe in Peter henceforth. Later, however, he dies during surgery.
So ends this apocryphal tale. The Gnostic followers of Simon eventually fell to the advance of Catholic Christianity, just as Simon fell before Peter. Rome, after several centuries, surrendered to Peter’s faith. This book may once have influenced the outcome of that struggle, but that victory did not come quickly enough for the apostle. Another section of the “Acts of Peter” gives the earliest known description of Peter’s death – he was crucified upside down in Rome. The “Acts of Peter”, with its whimsical miracles, like a talking dog and baby, was never destined to stand alongside canonical, inspired scripture. But it does entertain while teaching that it is important to help fellow Christian believers along when others try to lead them astray. In this story, Peter is an outstanding servant of God when he answers God’s call to go and speak the truth in answer to the lies of a deceiver, trusting in God to work through him and bring both new and fallen believers to the faith.
Simon was an infamous sorcerer from the Samaritan town of Gitta. Acts 8:4-24 describes how Simon met with Peter in Samaria and tried to buy the power of the Holy Spirit. “Now a certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great. All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, ‘This man is the power of God that is called Great.’ And they listened eagerly to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip, who was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with Philip and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that took place.
“Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money! You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness.’ Simon answered, ‘Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may happen to me.’”
Simon’s act gave rise to the term “Simony”, which means the crime of paying money in exchange for holy authority or a position in the church. After he is rebuked for his crime, Simon is not mentioned again in the New Testament. But his story was not over. Early Christian writers condemned him as the founder of a second century group of Gnostics, heretics who claimed that only complex secret knowledge brought salvation. Simon’s followers claimed that he was the power of the true God in human form. Their belief system was in direct conflict and competition with the spread of early Christianity in the Roman Empire. In fighting for the hearts and minds of the people, Christian writers saw the need to attack the heresy where it began, with the magician Simon. The story of Simon in Acts is unfinished; Simon is rebuffed but not defeated. And so the apocryphal book, the “Acts of Peter” was written to continue the story and show its readers the final defeat and death of Simon Magus.
The “Acts of Peter” was written between 150 and 200 CE, to denounce and discredit the founder of the rival Gnostics. It tells of a public miracle contest between Peter and Simon Magus. The story begins when Simon miraculously flies through the air into Rome. There, he works more wonders and begins to preach that he, not Jesus, is the Messiah and the power of God. Simon is so convincing that large groups of the Christian faithful begin to worship him instead, and leaders like Paul are not there to stop them. This is an emergency; it seems the power of Satan is working through Simon to cause all the simple and weak believers in Rome to fall.
God sends a vision to Peter, summoning him to go to Rome to fight Simon. Upon his arrival, Peter speaks to a large crowd of the brethren, and warns them that Satan is tricking them into leaving their faith. The people repent, but the danger of Simon remains, and they ask Peter to remove the threat once and for all. The magician is staying at the house of a senator whom he has converted, so Peter takes the crowd to his door. From this point on, the story becomes a duel of miracles between Simon and Peter. The contest is reminiscent of the duel between Moses and Aaron, and Pharaoh’s sorcerers (Exodus 7:8-13), in that Simon ultimately shows that he has some powers, but he cannot match or resist the power of God.
Peter’s first miracle is to give a dog the power of speech. Peter sends the dog in to tell Simon to come out. Simon instructs the dog to tell Peter he is not there. The dog curses Simon and exits to tell Peter that it is time for “a great contest with the enemy of Christ and his servants, and many that have been deceived by him shalt thou turn unto the faith; wherefore thou shalt receive from God the reward of thy work. And when the dog had said this he fell down at the apostle Peter's feet and gave up the ghost. And when the great multitude saw with amazement the dog speaking, they began then, some to throw themselves down at Peter's feet, and some said: Show us another sign, that we may believe in thee as the minister of the living God, for Simon also did many signs in our presence and therefore did we follow him.”
Peter’s second miracle is to bring a dead fish back to life and set it swimming for all to see. Restored to his faith by these signs, the senator has Simon beaten and thrown out of his house. Simon comes to Peter’s residence and calls him out, saying, “Lo, here am I, Simon: come thou down, Peter, and I will convict thee that thou hast believed on a man which is a Jew and a carpenter's son.” Peter sends down a woman and her nursing baby. In this third miracle, the baby curses Simon with an adult voice, announcing that Peter will meet him in the Roman forum on the Sabbath, there to decide the contest.
At night, Jesus appears to Peter and says, “Already is much people of the brotherhood returned through me and through the signs which thou hast wrought in my name. But thou shalt have a contest of the faith upon the sabbath that cometh, and many more of the Gentiles and of the Jews shall be converted in my name unto me who was reproached and mocked and spat upon. For I will be present with thee when thou askest for signs and wonders, and thou shalt convert many: but thou shalt have Simon opposing thee by the works of his father; yet all his works shall be shown to be charms and contrivances of sorcery.”
When the Sabbath arrives, such a large crowd gathers, that people are charged for their seats. Christian brethren and Roman pagans alike fill the forum. Even senators and prefects are in attendance. The crowd demands that Peter and Simon each give proof of their claims so that the people may choose who to believe. Peter promises proof, and mocks Simon for his attempts to buy the power of the Holy Spirit, as described in Acts. Simon then mocks Jesus as a mere man who lived and died. The Roman prefect then issues the first challenge for both men. He calls one of his servants and commands that Simon should kill the slave, and that Peter should bring him back to life. Simon speaks a word, and the man dies. Peter says God is not to be tempted or proved, but that God will love and hear those that are worthy. At Peter’s prayer, the man is brought back to life.
For the second challenge, the mother of a dead senator brings her son’s body to the forum. Peter shouts, “Ye men of Rome, let there now be a just judgment betwixt me and Simon; and judge ye whether of us two believeth in the living God, he or I. Let him raise up the body that lieth here, and believe in him as the angel of God. But if he be not able, and I call upon my God and restore the son alive unto his mother, then believe ye that this man is a sorcerer and a deceiver”. Simon retorts, “Ye men of Rome, if ye behold the dead man arise, will ye cast Peter out of the city? And all the people said: We will not only cast him out, but on the very instant will we burn him with fire.”
Simon proceeds to trick the crowd, by moving the dead body like a puppet. Peter, threatened with burning, reveals the deception to the onlookers: the man is still dead. Peter then genuinely brings the senator back to life. When the crowd threatens to burn Simon instead, Peter reminds them to love their enemies. Simon is spared so that he might repent, but a few days later, the defeated magician proclaims that everyone has been deceived by Peter. Simon Magus announces that he will fly up to God his father. Amazingly, he begins to fly over Rome. Peter calls out to Jesus to make Simon fall, not to die, but to fail in converting any more people. Simon plummets, breaks his leg, and is finally abandoned by the Romans, who believe in Peter henceforth. Later, however, he dies during surgery.
So ends this apocryphal tale. The Gnostic followers of Simon eventually fell to the advance of Catholic Christianity, just as Simon fell before Peter. Rome, after several centuries, surrendered to Peter’s faith. This book may once have influenced the outcome of that struggle, but that victory did not come quickly enough for the apostle. Another section of the “Acts of Peter” gives the earliest known description of Peter’s death – he was crucified upside down in Rome. The “Acts of Peter”, with its whimsical miracles, like a talking dog and baby, was never destined to stand alongside canonical, inspired scripture. But it does entertain while teaching that it is important to help fellow Christian believers along when others try to lead them astray. In this story, Peter is an outstanding servant of God when he answers God’s call to go and speak the truth in answer to the lies of a deceiver, trusting in God to work through him and bring both new and fallen believers to the faith.
A Prophet's Sidekick
The sidekick: Batman had his Robin, Lone Ranger had his Tonto, Don Quixote had his Sancho, and the Prophet Jeremiah had his ... Baruch? Indeed, the great prophet whose words are recorded in the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations had help - a friend, follower, and scribe all rolled into one. Jeremiah was called by God as a boy to warn Jerusalem that because the people of Judah had worshipped other gods, Babylon was going to conquer them, unless they repented. The people did not listen or repent, and eventually, Jeremiah was called to tell Judah that there was no longer any way to avoid the invasion of Judah by Babylon, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the Babylonian exile. Finally, Jeremiah was called to promise the eventual restoration of the people to their land.
It was a fateful time in which to live. In Jeremiah’s lifetime, the good King Josiah instituted religious reforms based on the rediscovered book of Deuteronomy, but his three sons (Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jeconiah), who were kings after him, disregarded those reforms and refused to heed the prophecies of Jeremiah. Zedekiah, the king who came after the sons of Josiah, was to be the last king of Judah. Jeremiah warned the last king not to rebel against Babylon, but Zedekiah made an alliance with Egypt anyway. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem and conquered it, taking Zedekiah away in chains and destroying the city. Jeremiah’s prophecies had come to pass. It was a national disaster for Judah. Is it any wonder that the people wanted to “shoot the messenger”?
Jeremiah’s message was deeply unpopular, and there were times when he was imprisoned, or when his life was in danger. Some wanted to destroy his words. The prophet needed help to face such opposition, and he had it in the form of a scribe, named in our English Bible: Baruch. Baruch’s actual name was “Berekhyahu”, which means “Blessed of God”. He was the son of Neriyahu, (in English: Neriah, meaning “God is my Lamp”) and the brother of Seriah, the chamberlain of King Zedekiah. Baruch came from a distinguished family, and was himself a very learned man.
The first duty of Baruch was to write down the words spoken by the prophet. “In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. It may be that when the house of Judah hears of all the disasters that I intend to do to them, all of them may turn from their evil ways, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him.” (Jer 36:1-4)
Baruch’s role went beyond merely writing, however. Circumstances arose which demonstrated the value of Jeremiah’s sidekick. Jeremiah felt threatened by King Jehoiakim. Even when it was too dangerous for the prophet to come out of hiding and speak in the Temple, it was still God’s command that the people hear the message. So it fell to Baruch to temporarily fulfill the role of Jeremiah himself. “And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, ‘I am prevented from entering the house of the Lord; so you go yourself, and on a fast day in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house you shall read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the people of Judah who come up from their towns. It may be that their plea will come before the Lord, and that all of them will turn from their evil ways, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.’ And Baruch son of Neriah did all that the prophet Jeremiah ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.” (Jer 36:5-8)
When the king’s officials heard Baruch reading the scroll, they were alarmed at the prophecy. Telling Baruch to hide and avoid arrest, they brought the scroll before the king. But the king showed his contempt for the prophecy by cutting it into pieces and burning them. “Now, after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which King Jehoiakim of Judah has burned. And concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah you shall say: [...] his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity; I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the people of Judah, all the disasters with which I have threatened them—but they would not listen. Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the secretary Baruch son of Neriah, who wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words of the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.” (Jer 36:27-32)
So Baruch wrote down and spoke in public the words of the prophet. It was almost like he was a prophet himself. What did he feel and think about himself and his role? Did he want more credit or fame? Did he want to be a prophet himself? Jeremiah chapter 45 suggests that perhaps he did “seek great things” for himself. So too did Sancho seek greatness for himself as a reward for faithful service to the great Don Quixote. Perhaps it is a natural feeling for a sidekick to have. But God’s direct reply to Baruch was bleak. “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: [...] I am going to break down what I have built, and pluck up what I have planted—that is, the whole land. And you, do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for I am going to bring disaster upon all flesh, says the Lord; but I will give you your life as a prize of war in every place to which you may go.’” (Jer 45:1-5) In a time when the whole country was to be destroyed, there was no “greatness” in being a prophet. Merely staying alive was the best reward Baruch could be given in such a terrible time.
Perhaps it is thanks to Baruch, the scribe, secretary, and editor, that we have the book of Jeremiah today. He is considered to be one of the writers who contributed to the Bible. His fame is such that, in the Catholic version of the Bible, the Apocryphal book “1 Baruch” is traditionally attributed to him and included in the Old Testament. He may not have felt appreciated in his own lifetime, but he now has the respect he deserved back then. Given his fame, it was understandably exciting when actual physical evidence of his life was found by archaeologists in Jerusalem.
A bulla is a small round clay seal, which is placed on a rolled-up scroll and stamped with the name of the writer of the scroll. A collection of these bullae were found in Jerusalem in a house burned during the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. The fire burned the scrolls but baked the clay seals and preserved them. Among the seals was one stamped with the name, “Berekhyahu son of Neriyahu the scribe”, or, Baruch son of Neriah as it is written in the English Bible. It is quite possible that this is the very seal used by Baruch himself. Other seals, found with the Baruch seal, bear the names of people mentioned in the book of Jeremiah, including King Jehoiakim’s son, Jerahmeel (Jer 36:26), the King’s secretary Elishama (Jer 35:12), and the King’s scribe Gemariah (Jer 36:10). These other seals make it even more likely that the Baruch bulla is really that of Jeremiah’s scribe. A second Baruch bulla has also been found. Taken together, the seals are physical evidence of the historical truth contained in the Bible.
It was a fateful time in which to live. In Jeremiah’s lifetime, the good King Josiah instituted religious reforms based on the rediscovered book of Deuteronomy, but his three sons (Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jeconiah), who were kings after him, disregarded those reforms and refused to heed the prophecies of Jeremiah. Zedekiah, the king who came after the sons of Josiah, was to be the last king of Judah. Jeremiah warned the last king not to rebel against Babylon, but Zedekiah made an alliance with Egypt anyway. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem and conquered it, taking Zedekiah away in chains and destroying the city. Jeremiah’s prophecies had come to pass. It was a national disaster for Judah. Is it any wonder that the people wanted to “shoot the messenger”?
Jeremiah’s message was deeply unpopular, and there were times when he was imprisoned, or when his life was in danger. Some wanted to destroy his words. The prophet needed help to face such opposition, and he had it in the form of a scribe, named in our English Bible: Baruch. Baruch’s actual name was “Berekhyahu”, which means “Blessed of God”. He was the son of Neriyahu, (in English: Neriah, meaning “God is my Lamp”) and the brother of Seriah, the chamberlain of King Zedekiah. Baruch came from a distinguished family, and was himself a very learned man.
The first duty of Baruch was to write down the words spoken by the prophet. “In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. It may be that when the house of Judah hears of all the disasters that I intend to do to them, all of them may turn from their evil ways, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him.” (Jer 36:1-4)
Baruch’s role went beyond merely writing, however. Circumstances arose which demonstrated the value of Jeremiah’s sidekick. Jeremiah felt threatened by King Jehoiakim. Even when it was too dangerous for the prophet to come out of hiding and speak in the Temple, it was still God’s command that the people hear the message. So it fell to Baruch to temporarily fulfill the role of Jeremiah himself. “And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, ‘I am prevented from entering the house of the Lord; so you go yourself, and on a fast day in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house you shall read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the people of Judah who come up from their towns. It may be that their plea will come before the Lord, and that all of them will turn from their evil ways, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.’ And Baruch son of Neriah did all that the prophet Jeremiah ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.” (Jer 36:5-8)
When the king’s officials heard Baruch reading the scroll, they were alarmed at the prophecy. Telling Baruch to hide and avoid arrest, they brought the scroll before the king. But the king showed his contempt for the prophecy by cutting it into pieces and burning them. “Now, after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which King Jehoiakim of Judah has burned. And concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah you shall say: [...] his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity; I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the people of Judah, all the disasters with which I have threatened them—but they would not listen. Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the secretary Baruch son of Neriah, who wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words of the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.” (Jer 36:27-32)
So Baruch wrote down and spoke in public the words of the prophet. It was almost like he was a prophet himself. What did he feel and think about himself and his role? Did he want more credit or fame? Did he want to be a prophet himself? Jeremiah chapter 45 suggests that perhaps he did “seek great things” for himself. So too did Sancho seek greatness for himself as a reward for faithful service to the great Don Quixote. Perhaps it is a natural feeling for a sidekick to have. But God’s direct reply to Baruch was bleak. “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: [...] I am going to break down what I have built, and pluck up what I have planted—that is, the whole land. And you, do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for I am going to bring disaster upon all flesh, says the Lord; but I will give you your life as a prize of war in every place to which you may go.’” (Jer 45:1-5) In a time when the whole country was to be destroyed, there was no “greatness” in being a prophet. Merely staying alive was the best reward Baruch could be given in such a terrible time.
Perhaps it is thanks to Baruch, the scribe, secretary, and editor, that we have the book of Jeremiah today. He is considered to be one of the writers who contributed to the Bible. His fame is such that, in the Catholic version of the Bible, the Apocryphal book “1 Baruch” is traditionally attributed to him and included in the Old Testament. He may not have felt appreciated in his own lifetime, but he now has the respect he deserved back then. Given his fame, it was understandably exciting when actual physical evidence of his life was found by archaeologists in Jerusalem.
A bulla is a small round clay seal, which is placed on a rolled-up scroll and stamped with the name of the writer of the scroll. A collection of these bullae were found in Jerusalem in a house burned during the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. The fire burned the scrolls but baked the clay seals and preserved them. Among the seals was one stamped with the name, “Berekhyahu son of Neriyahu the scribe”, or, Baruch son of Neriah as it is written in the English Bible. It is quite possible that this is the very seal used by Baruch himself. Other seals, found with the Baruch seal, bear the names of people mentioned in the book of Jeremiah, including King Jehoiakim’s son, Jerahmeel (Jer 36:26), the King’s secretary Elishama (Jer 35:12), and the King’s scribe Gemariah (Jer 36:10). These other seals make it even more likely that the Baruch bulla is really that of Jeremiah’s scribe. A second Baruch bulla has also been found. Taken together, the seals are physical evidence of the historical truth contained in the Bible.
Christian Apocrypha: The Story of Paul and Thecla
The Old Testament has its Apocrypha, books that were important and popular, but did not make it into the canonical Bible, such as the “Books of the Maccabees” and “Judith”. The New Testament has its Apocrypha as well, books which were so popular and so often copied in the early days of Christianity that they survive to this day, even though they did not make it into the Bible. Although they could not compare with inspired scripture like the Gospels, these books were written to teach Christian ideas and to entertain readers at the same time. One such book is the “Acts of Paul”, a collection of stories about the Apostle Paul. The Acts of Paul, like the “Acts of Peter” and other apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, were meant to satisfy the need for more stories about the Apostles. The “Acts of Paul” contains the famous story of the greatest of virgin martyrs, a young woman named Thecla. She was a model for female ascetics through the centuries, and she was made into a Saint. Her story can inspire women today as they take on leadership roles in a once male-dominated church.
“Paul and Thecla” was written in the second century by a presbyter (church elder) in Asia Minor, the region where Paul started several churches during his missionary journeys. Paul had been dead for a century when the story was written, but his collected letters continued to guide the church. The story begins as Paul travels from Antioch to Iconium (both in modern Turkey), on his first missionary journey. In the Bible, Acts 13 explains that Paul preached to the Gentiles and the Jews in Antioch, making many converts, but others were angered by his preaching and forced him to flee to Iconium.
In “Paul and Thecla”, we get a rare physical description of Paul, which has influenced artists for centuries. We read, “And he saw Paul coming, a man small of stature, with a bald head and crooked legs, in a good state of body, with eyebrows meeting and nose somewhat hooked, full of friendliness, for now he appeared like a man, and now he had the face of an angel.”
Paul goes to stay at the house of Onesiphorus, where he begins to preach the word of God concerning the resurrection of Jesus and the importance of abstinence from sex. Paul wrote about abstinence in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9, saying, “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am. But if they are not practicing self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.” So the author of “Paul and Thecla” is possibly being authentic when he has Paul say, “Blessed are they who have kept the flesh pure, for they shall become a temple of God,” and “Blessed are the bodies of virgins, for they shall be well pleasing to God, and shall not lose the reward of their purity.” Originally, when Paul was writing 1 Corinthians, he expected that the end of the world was soon to come. It was therefore less important to get married because one should instead be preparing for the heavenly bridegroom, Christ. But among some Christians who interpreted Paul’s legacy, the ascetic movement continued even after that sense of eschatological expectation faded, hence the teaching about abstinence in “Paul and Thecla”.
Enter the virgin Thecla, a young Greek woman who sits below a window and listens to Paul preach day and night. Although she is engaged to a young man named Thamyris, she becomes fascinated by the virgin life Paul is preaching, and she does not get up, even to eat or drink. Her mother and Thamyris are unable to move her, and she no longer wants to be married. Paul’s preaching that people should stay sexually pure in order to have eternal life is very upsetting to Thamyris and the local young men. But why did it appeal to Thecla? In early Christianity, the virgin life could, in a way, empower women. In a married household, the man was in charge and the role of a woman was strictly defined and centered on child bearing. Perhaps Thecla saw a way to be free of all that.
The angry Thamyris has Paul dragged before the governor and accused of teaching women not to marry. Paul is then jailed, but Thecla will not be parted from him. She bribes her way into the prison where she sits at Paul’s feet and continues to hear about God’s plan for salvation. When Paul is returned to the governor to face trial, Thecla continues to hold fast to him, until her enraged mother calls for Thecla to be burned alive as a lesson to any other women who may have approved of Paul’s message. Paul is scourged and driven from the city while a pyre is lit for Thecla, who bravely faces her death. Due to a miraculous intervention by God, a huge rainstorm quenches the flames and saves her.
The outcast Thecla goes in search of Paul, who has taken refuge in a roadside tomb. She finds Paul praying for her survival, and they are reunited. Thecla cuts her hair short and agrees to follow Paul, but he does not baptize her as she asks, telling her to be patient. Paul and Thecla travel to Antioch, but when they arrive, an influential young nobleman named Alexander falls in love with her. He publically tries to force himself on her, and she fights free, tearing his robe and knocking off his crown. In his humiliation at being laughed at by onlookers, he has her brought before the governor and accused of assaulting a nobleman, and she is unjustly sentenced to be thrown to the wild beasts in an arena. The local women are horrified at this evil judgment. Paul is nowhere to be found, so Queen Tryphaena, who is related to Caesar, agrees to keep custody of Thecla until her sentence is carried out. Tryphaena comes to love Thecla like her deceased daughter. The day of the arena games comes, and the Queen watches anxiously as Thecla faces the lions and bears. Another miracle occurs - a lioness sacrifices herself for Thecla, defending her by killing the other animals, while the local women gasp and cry out.
Thecla spots a pool of water, and decides to baptize herself in it before she dies, in the name of Jesus Christ. The angry Alexander has even more beasts thrown at her. Women in the crowd throw perfumed flowers that effectively put the animals to sleep. Then, Alexander has Thecla tied between two raging bulls, hoping to see her torn apart, but a heavenly fire burns the ropes. Finally, the watching Queen is overcome and collapses, while her handmaidens call out that they think she is dead. She has really only fainted, but suddenly Alexander and the governor become afraid of what her relative, Caesar, might do. Tryphaena’s death at the games could make Caesar attack Antioch. The games are abruptly halted. (If this was the Queen’s ploy, it was a clever one.) The governor demands to know who Thecla is, and what she has about her to protect her from the beasts. “She answered, ‘I am a handmaid of the living God. As to what I have about me, I have believed in him in whom God is well pleased, his Son. For his sake not one of the beasts touched me. For he alone is the goal of salvation and the foundation of immortal life.’”
Thecla is released to the crowd of women, and proceeds to teach the gospel to the newly believing Queen and her household. But Thecla yearns for Paul again, and goes to seek him where he is preaching in Myra. There she reveals to Paul that she has stayed a virgin, and that she has baptized herself. Paul is astonished to see her, and commands her to go and teach the word of God, using the gold given to her by the Queen to help the poor. So Thecla returns to Iconium, where she finds her former fiancé dead. After offering her mother the gospel, Thecla travels to Seleucia, a city in Mesopotamia, where she founds and lives in a cave convent and baptizes, heals, and teaches the word of God to many people for the next seventy-two years.
Apocryphal works like “Paul and Thecla” are not on the level of Holy Scripture, but they do reflect teachings and concerns of the time in which they were written, and so they can teach us what was important to early Christians. Certainly the sufferings Thecla faced were historical. Depending on which Roman Emperor was in power during a given decade, and what policies he had towards Christians, there were many periods during the centuries before Constantine when Christians were thrown to wild beasts, burned, crucified, or tortured to death in public arenas. They were executed for refusing to worship pagan gods. Of course, they did not experience the miraculous interventions that saved Thecla. But perhaps “Paul and Thecla” was written during a period of persecution, and was meant to give courage to people who were going to face martyrdom.
Was there a real Thecla? Various Church fathers mention “Thekla” and list her as one who faced martyrdom by fire and beasts, and Seleucia was later known as the city of the holy virgin Thecla. There really was a Tryphaena, first cousin once removed to the Emperor Claudius (41-54CE). It is probable that the real story of Thecla (whatever it was) was romanticized and embellished by the second century presbyter who wrote “Paul and Thecla”. That presbyter wrote a very popular story which was widely copied and translated, but unfortunately, the church objected strongly to some elements in it. The author was punished by being expelled from the church. What the patriarchal church leaders of the second century could not tolerate even in fiction was a woman evangelist baptizing and preaching. Only men were allowed to baptize and preach. Fortunately the story of “Paul and Thecla” has survived to modern times, and now many churches ordain women. This very old feminist story was evidently written before its time.
“Paul and Thecla” was written in the second century by a presbyter (church elder) in Asia Minor, the region where Paul started several churches during his missionary journeys. Paul had been dead for a century when the story was written, but his collected letters continued to guide the church. The story begins as Paul travels from Antioch to Iconium (both in modern Turkey), on his first missionary journey. In the Bible, Acts 13 explains that Paul preached to the Gentiles and the Jews in Antioch, making many converts, but others were angered by his preaching and forced him to flee to Iconium.
In “Paul and Thecla”, we get a rare physical description of Paul, which has influenced artists for centuries. We read, “And he saw Paul coming, a man small of stature, with a bald head and crooked legs, in a good state of body, with eyebrows meeting and nose somewhat hooked, full of friendliness, for now he appeared like a man, and now he had the face of an angel.”
Paul goes to stay at the house of Onesiphorus, where he begins to preach the word of God concerning the resurrection of Jesus and the importance of abstinence from sex. Paul wrote about abstinence in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9, saying, “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am. But if they are not practicing self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.” So the author of “Paul and Thecla” is possibly being authentic when he has Paul say, “Blessed are they who have kept the flesh pure, for they shall become a temple of God,” and “Blessed are the bodies of virgins, for they shall be well pleasing to God, and shall not lose the reward of their purity.” Originally, when Paul was writing 1 Corinthians, he expected that the end of the world was soon to come. It was therefore less important to get married because one should instead be preparing for the heavenly bridegroom, Christ. But among some Christians who interpreted Paul’s legacy, the ascetic movement continued even after that sense of eschatological expectation faded, hence the teaching about abstinence in “Paul and Thecla”.
Enter the virgin Thecla, a young Greek woman who sits below a window and listens to Paul preach day and night. Although she is engaged to a young man named Thamyris, she becomes fascinated by the virgin life Paul is preaching, and she does not get up, even to eat or drink. Her mother and Thamyris are unable to move her, and she no longer wants to be married. Paul’s preaching that people should stay sexually pure in order to have eternal life is very upsetting to Thamyris and the local young men. But why did it appeal to Thecla? In early Christianity, the virgin life could, in a way, empower women. In a married household, the man was in charge and the role of a woman was strictly defined and centered on child bearing. Perhaps Thecla saw a way to be free of all that.
The angry Thamyris has Paul dragged before the governor and accused of teaching women not to marry. Paul is then jailed, but Thecla will not be parted from him. She bribes her way into the prison where she sits at Paul’s feet and continues to hear about God’s plan for salvation. When Paul is returned to the governor to face trial, Thecla continues to hold fast to him, until her enraged mother calls for Thecla to be burned alive as a lesson to any other women who may have approved of Paul’s message. Paul is scourged and driven from the city while a pyre is lit for Thecla, who bravely faces her death. Due to a miraculous intervention by God, a huge rainstorm quenches the flames and saves her.
The outcast Thecla goes in search of Paul, who has taken refuge in a roadside tomb. She finds Paul praying for her survival, and they are reunited. Thecla cuts her hair short and agrees to follow Paul, but he does not baptize her as she asks, telling her to be patient. Paul and Thecla travel to Antioch, but when they arrive, an influential young nobleman named Alexander falls in love with her. He publically tries to force himself on her, and she fights free, tearing his robe and knocking off his crown. In his humiliation at being laughed at by onlookers, he has her brought before the governor and accused of assaulting a nobleman, and she is unjustly sentenced to be thrown to the wild beasts in an arena. The local women are horrified at this evil judgment. Paul is nowhere to be found, so Queen Tryphaena, who is related to Caesar, agrees to keep custody of Thecla until her sentence is carried out. Tryphaena comes to love Thecla like her deceased daughter. The day of the arena games comes, and the Queen watches anxiously as Thecla faces the lions and bears. Another miracle occurs - a lioness sacrifices herself for Thecla, defending her by killing the other animals, while the local women gasp and cry out.
Thecla spots a pool of water, and decides to baptize herself in it before she dies, in the name of Jesus Christ. The angry Alexander has even more beasts thrown at her. Women in the crowd throw perfumed flowers that effectively put the animals to sleep. Then, Alexander has Thecla tied between two raging bulls, hoping to see her torn apart, but a heavenly fire burns the ropes. Finally, the watching Queen is overcome and collapses, while her handmaidens call out that they think she is dead. She has really only fainted, but suddenly Alexander and the governor become afraid of what her relative, Caesar, might do. Tryphaena’s death at the games could make Caesar attack Antioch. The games are abruptly halted. (If this was the Queen’s ploy, it was a clever one.) The governor demands to know who Thecla is, and what she has about her to protect her from the beasts. “She answered, ‘I am a handmaid of the living God. As to what I have about me, I have believed in him in whom God is well pleased, his Son. For his sake not one of the beasts touched me. For he alone is the goal of salvation and the foundation of immortal life.’”
Thecla is released to the crowd of women, and proceeds to teach the gospel to the newly believing Queen and her household. But Thecla yearns for Paul again, and goes to seek him where he is preaching in Myra. There she reveals to Paul that she has stayed a virgin, and that she has baptized herself. Paul is astonished to see her, and commands her to go and teach the word of God, using the gold given to her by the Queen to help the poor. So Thecla returns to Iconium, where she finds her former fiancé dead. After offering her mother the gospel, Thecla travels to Seleucia, a city in Mesopotamia, where she founds and lives in a cave convent and baptizes, heals, and teaches the word of God to many people for the next seventy-two years.
Apocryphal works like “Paul and Thecla” are not on the level of Holy Scripture, but they do reflect teachings and concerns of the time in which they were written, and so they can teach us what was important to early Christians. Certainly the sufferings Thecla faced were historical. Depending on which Roman Emperor was in power during a given decade, and what policies he had towards Christians, there were many periods during the centuries before Constantine when Christians were thrown to wild beasts, burned, crucified, or tortured to death in public arenas. They were executed for refusing to worship pagan gods. Of course, they did not experience the miraculous interventions that saved Thecla. But perhaps “Paul and Thecla” was written during a period of persecution, and was meant to give courage to people who were going to face martyrdom.
Was there a real Thecla? Various Church fathers mention “Thekla” and list her as one who faced martyrdom by fire and beasts, and Seleucia was later known as the city of the holy virgin Thecla. There really was a Tryphaena, first cousin once removed to the Emperor Claudius (41-54CE). It is probable that the real story of Thecla (whatever it was) was romanticized and embellished by the second century presbyter who wrote “Paul and Thecla”. That presbyter wrote a very popular story which was widely copied and translated, but unfortunately, the church objected strongly to some elements in it. The author was punished by being expelled from the church. What the patriarchal church leaders of the second century could not tolerate even in fiction was a woman evangelist baptizing and preaching. Only men were allowed to baptize and preach. Fortunately the story of “Paul and Thecla” has survived to modern times, and now many churches ordain women. This very old feminist story was evidently written before its time.
A Closer Look at Two of Jesus' Healing Miracles
Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’ (Mark 7:31-37)
They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Can you see anything?’ And the man looked up and said, ‘I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.’ Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then he sent him away to his home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’ (Mark 8:22-26)
The two passages above are examples of the familiar healing miracles of the Gospel of Mark. What new things can we learn from them? More than you might guess. These brief stories appear to be simple, but if we take a closer look at the details, we can find a wealth of information in them.
For instance, the people who get healed are a deaf-mute and a blind man. What is the significance of that? It turns out that the types of people who are cured here are part of a prophecy about the Messianic age, found in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah said: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.” (Isaiah 35:5-6) Jesus’ healing of these particular people is in fulfillment of prophecy. Matthew’s Gospel sums up this fulfillment in the following passage: “After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.” (Matthew 1529-31)
Another curious detail is the use of Jesus’ saliva to heal in both passages. Why did he use his own saliva? If you read the rest of the Gospel, you can see that it apparently wasn’t strictly necessary for the healing. Jesus heals all the other people in the Gospel without using any saliva at all. In Mark 10:46-52, for example, Jesus heals another blind man without laying hands on him at all, let alone using any spittle. “They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.”
So why was the saliva mentioned in our first two passages? In Jesus’ time, saliva was considered by physicians to be a medicinal substance, useful in the treatment of eye diseases. Amusingly, the Talmud says that the saliva of the firstborn son of a father, in particular, has these curative properties. Jesus may not have needed to use saliva, but he may have known that the people he was healing believed it to be medicinal. The act of applying saliva may have strengthened the belief, and helped the faith, of the two men so that they would be cured. After all, faith is an essential part of Jesus’ healing miracles. “Go, your faith has made you well,” says Jesus to the other blind man. Perhaps the other man’s faith did not need any help.
Did Jesus use a magic word when he said Ephphatha? Accounts of so-called wonder-workers which were written after the time of Jesus, mention that lengthy and elaborate incantations in magic languages were used to accomplish miracles such as exorcisms. Jesus really cannot be compared to those people. He never used magic or spells. All he did by looking to Heaven and saying “Ephphatha” was simply to ask God to open up the man’s closed senses. It was God the Father who was doing the healings in the Gospel, working through Jesus. Ephphatha is actually just a word in Jesus’ language, Aramaic, translated for Greek language readers.
In both of our passages, Jesus performs a healing in private, away from the village, away from the crowds, then asks the people who were healed not to talk about it. As the following Gospel passage from Matthew shows, Jesus often asked for secrecy from those he healed. “Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.’ (Matthew 12:15-21)
Apparently, Jesus asked for secrecy because he did not want to be “known”, to be famous, or infamous as the case may be, for his healing miracles. Being too well known could bring trouble from the authorities, or crowds that were too large. Of course people did talk, and crowds and trouble came just as expected. The Isaiah prophecy mentioned above suggests that Jesus also wanted as much secrecy as he could get in order to delay the full and open proclamation of his true nature until he had fulfilled his mission, died, and returned.
The main point of the healings for the Gospel reader to understand is that they are signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. The following passage from Luke’s Gospel shows that healing the blind was a sign of the Kingdom. “When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Luke 4:16-21)
Healing miracles were visible signs that the Kingdom was at hand. They were also evidence that the personal claims of Jesus were true. When the healings happened, they restored sight and hearing to a few people long ago. As Gospel stories, they can have a continuing effect on people in the present day. Gospel readers past and present can easily see the symbolism in the healings in our passages. Men gained sight, speech, and hearing. Likewise, people who have faith in the Gospel accounts and in Jesus can also have their eyes, voices, and ears opened to see, speak, and hear the truth of God’s word. Our eyes may be opened to the truth in stages, just like the blind man’s sight was restored in part at first, then completely. God is willing to lay hands on us for as many times as it takes.
They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Can you see anything?’ And the man looked up and said, ‘I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.’ Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then he sent him away to his home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’ (Mark 8:22-26)
The two passages above are examples of the familiar healing miracles of the Gospel of Mark. What new things can we learn from them? More than you might guess. These brief stories appear to be simple, but if we take a closer look at the details, we can find a wealth of information in them.
For instance, the people who get healed are a deaf-mute and a blind man. What is the significance of that? It turns out that the types of people who are cured here are part of a prophecy about the Messianic age, found in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah said: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.” (Isaiah 35:5-6) Jesus’ healing of these particular people is in fulfillment of prophecy. Matthew’s Gospel sums up this fulfillment in the following passage: “After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.” (Matthew 1529-31)
Another curious detail is the use of Jesus’ saliva to heal in both passages. Why did he use his own saliva? If you read the rest of the Gospel, you can see that it apparently wasn’t strictly necessary for the healing. Jesus heals all the other people in the Gospel without using any saliva at all. In Mark 10:46-52, for example, Jesus heals another blind man without laying hands on him at all, let alone using any spittle. “They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.”
So why was the saliva mentioned in our first two passages? In Jesus’ time, saliva was considered by physicians to be a medicinal substance, useful in the treatment of eye diseases. Amusingly, the Talmud says that the saliva of the firstborn son of a father, in particular, has these curative properties. Jesus may not have needed to use saliva, but he may have known that the people he was healing believed it to be medicinal. The act of applying saliva may have strengthened the belief, and helped the faith, of the two men so that they would be cured. After all, faith is an essential part of Jesus’ healing miracles. “Go, your faith has made you well,” says Jesus to the other blind man. Perhaps the other man’s faith did not need any help.
Did Jesus use a magic word when he said Ephphatha? Accounts of so-called wonder-workers which were written after the time of Jesus, mention that lengthy and elaborate incantations in magic languages were used to accomplish miracles such as exorcisms. Jesus really cannot be compared to those people. He never used magic or spells. All he did by looking to Heaven and saying “Ephphatha” was simply to ask God to open up the man’s closed senses. It was God the Father who was doing the healings in the Gospel, working through Jesus. Ephphatha is actually just a word in Jesus’ language, Aramaic, translated for Greek language readers.
In both of our passages, Jesus performs a healing in private, away from the village, away from the crowds, then asks the people who were healed not to talk about it. As the following Gospel passage from Matthew shows, Jesus often asked for secrecy from those he healed. “Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.’ (Matthew 12:15-21)
Apparently, Jesus asked for secrecy because he did not want to be “known”, to be famous, or infamous as the case may be, for his healing miracles. Being too well known could bring trouble from the authorities, or crowds that were too large. Of course people did talk, and crowds and trouble came just as expected. The Isaiah prophecy mentioned above suggests that Jesus also wanted as much secrecy as he could get in order to delay the full and open proclamation of his true nature until he had fulfilled his mission, died, and returned.
The main point of the healings for the Gospel reader to understand is that they are signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. The following passage from Luke’s Gospel shows that healing the blind was a sign of the Kingdom. “When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Luke 4:16-21)
Healing miracles were visible signs that the Kingdom was at hand. They were also evidence that the personal claims of Jesus were true. When the healings happened, they restored sight and hearing to a few people long ago. As Gospel stories, they can have a continuing effect on people in the present day. Gospel readers past and present can easily see the symbolism in the healings in our passages. Men gained sight, speech, and hearing. Likewise, people who have faith in the Gospel accounts and in Jesus can also have their eyes, voices, and ears opened to see, speak, and hear the truth of God’s word. Our eyes may be opened to the truth in stages, just like the blind man’s sight was restored in part at first, then completely. God is willing to lay hands on us for as many times as it takes.
Josephus, Jesus, and Christian Interpolations
Josephus was a Jewish historian who wrote a history book called “Antiquities of the Jews” around the year 94CE. Born just a few years after Jesus’ crucifixion, Josephus was in a position to record information about Jesus’ life that would provide independent confirmation of the gospel story and satisfy skeptics through the ages. Did he write about Jesus? The answer is, maybe. Antiquities of the Jews contains one of the most controversial passages of the ancient world. Josephus was a Jew, not a Christian, and a Church Historian named Eusebius later wrote of Josephus that he did not believe Jesus was the Messiah. However, in Antiquities Book 18, Chapter 3, we find this passage about Jesus:
“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct to this day.”
This passage is controversial for many reasons. It does not seem to fit well with what comes before and after it in the text; in chapter 3 there are two lengthy tragic stories about Jewish rebellions which were violently put down, then this wondrous and very brief Jesus account, and then another lengthy tragedy about Jews banished from
What is an interpolation? Ancient books were copied by hand. An interpolation would be if the copyist decided to make a little change, by taking out or adding something, perhaps in order to make the passage fit better with Christian beliefs. Then we in modern times would have only the changed version, and not the original to compare it to. But sometimes you can still tell without the original because the insertion was clumsy and does not seem to fit.
Two good examples of interpolation are in the book called Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (written 150-100BCE). This Jewish work, which was left out of the Bible, tells of how Jacob, on his deathbed, talks to each of his sons in turn and gives them prophesies about the future. In the copies of this work we have today, there is evidence of interpolation. Somebody decided to rewrite a few of those prophesies to fit better with Christian beliefs. We know because we have the original version too, as copied by somebody else before the changes were made.
The first example is from Testament of Joseph 19:1-11. Jacob says, “Listen, my children, concerning the dream that I saw […]” The first paragraph below is the original, followed by the changed one. I put some obvious interpolations in italics.
1. (Original) And I saw in the midst of the horns a certain virgin wearing a multicolored stole; from her came forth a lamb. Rushing from the left were all sorts of wild animals and reptiles, and the lamb conquered them. Because of him the bull rejoiced and the cow and the stags were also glad with them. These things must take place in their appropriate time. And you, my children, honor Levi and Judah, because from them shall arise the salvation of
2. (Interpolation) And I saw that a virgin was born from
See how elements were changed, removed, or added? The second example is from Testament of Benjamin 3:7-8. “He [Jacob] embraced him and kept kissing him for two hours, saying,
1. (Original) In you will be fulfilled the heavenly prophecy which says that the spotless one will be defiled by lawless men and the sinless one will die for the sake of impious men.
2. (Interpolation) Through you will be fulfilled the heavenly prophecy concerning the Lamb of God, the Savior of the world, because the unspotted one will be betrayed by lawless men, and the sinless one will die for impious men by the blood of the covenant for the salvation of the gentiles and of Israel and the destruction of Beliar and his servants.
Now you know how interpolation works. The Jesus passage from Josephus might be an interpolation too. In 1971, a new discovery was published which supports this idea. It was a different Arabic version of the Jesus passage from historian Agapius' Book of the Title, a history of the world from its beginning until 942 A.D. Agapius was a tenth-century Christian Arab bishop who actually quoted Josephus’ Jesus passage, and it was different from the one you read above. Here it is:
“Similarly Josephus, the Hebrew. For he says in the treatises that he has written on the governance of the Jews: 'At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. His conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous. And many people from the Jews and other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and die. But those who had become his disciples did not abandon their loyalty to him. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion, and that he was alive; accordingly he was perhaps the Messiah, concerning whom the Prophets have recounted wonders.”
If you compare the two, you can see that the second one might be the original passage, or closer to it. It is more neutral, and less obviously Christian in its beliefs. It reads more like the writing of a skeptical Jewish historian who is being fair and leaving the possibilities of other beliefs as open questions. You can almost imagine a copyist looking at it, being offended by the doubtful tone of it, and making changes, such as insisting Jesus was the Messiah for sure, that he was more than a man, and that he appeared to the disciples after his death for sure.
The Jesus passage from Josephus is a mystery that may never be solved. Did Josephus write it as is, testifying to Jesus as the Messiah? Was the whole passage stuck in by somebody else? Did a copyist alter what was originally there? There are many opinions. This is all just of academic interest in terms of Christian faith. In short, it does not matter to faith whether Josephus or any other independent historian wrote about Jesus at all. We have the gospels and that is enough for faith. It still would have been nice to point to non-biblical writings which “prove” the gospels are correct. This particular writing by Josephus, although famous, sadly proves nothing, and about its origin, the world may never know.
The Cross and the Fish
Two religious symbols are very popular with modern Christians. We wear a cross on necklaces, and we put a simple fish icon on bumper stickers. How did these symbols come to be used in the first place, back in the early centuries of the Christian era? What did they mean to the first Christians?
The fish symbol, which dates from around the year 100CE, is made of two simple curved lines. But five greek letters were often added to it, as shown above. They make up the greek word for “fish”, which is Ichthus. Early Christians saw a special meaning in these letters. Each one stood for a word that described Jesus.
The use of these letters may have arisen after Emperor Domitian (81-96CE) called himself Son of God (Theou Yios) and had this inscribed on coins. It was up to Christians to deny the divinity of the Roman ruler and uphold the divinity of their Lord.
The fish symbol (without the letters) was already in use for thousands of years before Christians adopted it. It was used to represent the Mother Goddess in many cultures. But it made complete sense for followers of Jesus to adapt it to their purposes, because the gospels are simply full of fish. In Matthew 4:18-19, an example leaps out of the water at us: “As he [Jesus] walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’” So the fish symbol was right for Christians because several of Jesus’ Disciples were fishermen. The act of spreading the gospel and finding new believers was compared to fishing for people.
Matthew 13:47-48 continues the analogy. “‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.” John 21:4-6 promises that with the guidance of the resurrected Jesus, the catch of people into the Kingdom will be a huge one. “Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.” Indeed, could the gospel writer have ever imagined two billion Christians in the year 2001?
Another reason the fish symbol is appropriate is that fish live in water, and Christians have a well known sacrament involving water. One early church leader, Tertullian, wrote about baptism, saying “we, little fishes, after the example of our Ichthus, Jesus Christ, are born in water.”
Prior to the year 313, when religious toleration was declared in the Roman Empire, Christians were sometimes severely persecuted. During the worst times, they had to hold their meetings in secret. It is believed that they used the fish symbol to mark the location of a gathering. Another tradition holds that they used the symbol to identify each other. If one person drew one curved line in the dirt, the other could show they were Christian by completing the fish with another line.
The symbol of the cross, like the fish, is ancient. Before Christians adopted it, it was used to represent fire, the sun, life, and many other concepts, in many cultures. But in the Roman Empire, the cross had only one meaning – an instrument of execution by crucifixion. From that point of view, it may seem odd to wear a cross around your neck. It is like wearing a little electric chair or a noose. But to early Christians, the cross symbol was holy, and for obvious reasons. Jesus’ death upon a cross sanctified the symbol. In Galatians 6:14-15, Paul says, “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!” Instead of a symbol of death, the cross became a symbol of new life.
By the year 100, the cross, alongside the fish, was a main Christian symbol, but it mainly took the form of a gesture. Christians made the sign of the cross on their foreheads before taking any important action, as a sign against the power of demons. They swore by the power of the cross and were known as devotees of the cross. Misunderstanding Pagans accused Christians of actually worshipping the cross, so Christians did not openly use the cross symbol on physical objects like monuments during times of persecution. Instead, a substitute such as an anchor symbol was used. Another substitute was a monogram for the name of Christ, such as Chi-Ro, the first two letters of the word Christ in greek.
The Roman Emperor Constantine helped make the cross symbol an accepted and openly used icon in art. In the year 312CE, during a campaign against his rival Maxentius, Constantine reportedly saw a cross symbol in the sky, along with the words “In this, conquer.” In Constantine’s dream, Jesus supposedly told him to place the symbol on his standards. Subsequently he was victorious. In 326CE, Constantine’s mother supposedly found the wooden pieces of the actual cross near Jerusalem. When Christianity became an official religion in Rome, the cross was openly used in art and on monuments, from then on up to the present day, when church goers commonly wear a cross around their necks and decorate their homes, graves, and churches with crosses.
Symbols are an important part of any worship. Christian symbols like the cross and the fish were indeed borrowed from older cultures, but invested with new meaning. The fish was perhaps the most important symbol to early Christians, but the cross eclipsed it in the fourth century. But in modern times, the fish has made a comeback, proving the enduring nature of symbols. We do not worship symbols, of course, but they are needed to express Christian ideas in simple ways that appeal to all people.
The fish symbol, which dates from around the year 100CE, is made of two simple curved lines. But five greek letters were often added to it, as shown above. They make up the greek word for “fish”, which is Ichthus. Early Christians saw a special meaning in these letters. Each one stood for a word that described Jesus.
The use of these letters may have arisen after Emperor Domitian (81-96CE) called himself Son of God (Theou Yios) and had this inscribed on coins. It was up to Christians to deny the divinity of the Roman ruler and uphold the divinity of their Lord.
The fish symbol (without the letters) was already in use for thousands of years before Christians adopted it. It was used to represent the Mother Goddess in many cultures. But it made complete sense for followers of Jesus to adapt it to their purposes, because the gospels are simply full of fish. In Matthew 4:18-19, an example leaps out of the water at us: “As he [Jesus] walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’” So the fish symbol was right for Christians because several of Jesus’ Disciples were fishermen. The act of spreading the gospel and finding new believers was compared to fishing for people.
Matthew 13:47-48 continues the analogy. “‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.” John 21:4-6 promises that with the guidance of the resurrected Jesus, the catch of people into the Kingdom will be a huge one. “Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.” Indeed, could the gospel writer have ever imagined two billion Christians in the year 2001?
Another reason the fish symbol is appropriate is that fish live in water, and Christians have a well known sacrament involving water. One early church leader, Tertullian, wrote about baptism, saying “we, little fishes, after the example of our Ichthus, Jesus Christ, are born in water.”
Prior to the year 313, when religious toleration was declared in the Roman Empire, Christians were sometimes severely persecuted. During the worst times, they had to hold their meetings in secret. It is believed that they used the fish symbol to mark the location of a gathering. Another tradition holds that they used the symbol to identify each other. If one person drew one curved line in the dirt, the other could show they were Christian by completing the fish with another line.
The symbol of the cross, like the fish, is ancient. Before Christians adopted it, it was used to represent fire, the sun, life, and many other concepts, in many cultures. But in the Roman Empire, the cross had only one meaning – an instrument of execution by crucifixion. From that point of view, it may seem odd to wear a cross around your neck. It is like wearing a little electric chair or a noose. But to early Christians, the cross symbol was holy, and for obvious reasons. Jesus’ death upon a cross sanctified the symbol. In Galatians 6:14-15, Paul says, “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!” Instead of a symbol of death, the cross became a symbol of new life.
By the year 100, the cross, alongside the fish, was a main Christian symbol, but it mainly took the form of a gesture. Christians made the sign of the cross on their foreheads before taking any important action, as a sign against the power of demons. They swore by the power of the cross and were known as devotees of the cross. Misunderstanding Pagans accused Christians of actually worshipping the cross, so Christians did not openly use the cross symbol on physical objects like monuments during times of persecution. Instead, a substitute such as an anchor symbol was used. Another substitute was a monogram for the name of Christ, such as Chi-Ro, the first two letters of the word Christ in greek.
The Roman Emperor Constantine helped make the cross symbol an accepted and openly used icon in art. In the year 312CE, during a campaign against his rival Maxentius, Constantine reportedly saw a cross symbol in the sky, along with the words “In this, conquer.” In Constantine’s dream, Jesus supposedly told him to place the symbol on his standards. Subsequently he was victorious. In 326CE, Constantine’s mother supposedly found the wooden pieces of the actual cross near Jerusalem. When Christianity became an official religion in Rome, the cross was openly used in art and on monuments, from then on up to the present day, when church goers commonly wear a cross around their necks and decorate their homes, graves, and churches with crosses.
Symbols are an important part of any worship. Christian symbols like the cross and the fish were indeed borrowed from older cultures, but invested with new meaning. The fish was perhaps the most important symbol to early Christians, but the cross eclipsed it in the fourth century. But in modern times, the fish has made a comeback, proving the enduring nature of symbols. We do not worship symbols, of course, but they are needed to express Christian ideas in simple ways that appeal to all people.
Angels 101
Information about angels is scattered throughout the Bible - angels are mentioned hundreds of times. However, an organized description of what angels are all about is never given to us. The Bible is more concerned with telling us what angels do, instead of what they are. Putting together what information we have, drawing small details from prophets and gospels, we can assemble the basic facts about these mysterious heavenly beings.
1. Where does the word “angel” come from? In Hebrew, the word for a messenger is “mal’ak”. This word is used to describe those whom God sends to do his will, whether they are human or heavenly. In the Greek translation, the word “aggelos” was used instead. Then, in Latin, the heavenly type of messengers were called “angelus”. From that we get our word “angel”. So, angels are named for one thing they do – act as messengers for God. There are too many examples of this activity to mention; everyone will recall the visit of the angel Gabriel as a messenger to Mary (Luke 1:26-38).
2. What do angels look like? Biblical descriptions of angels are often vague. In the passage of Luke just mentioned, Gabriel is not described. Popular culture, left to its own devices, sometimes portrays them as cute flying babies or white robed women with bird wings. In the Bible, angels may appear as normal human men (Genesis 18:2; 19:1,5; Acts 1:10; Luke 24:4) without wings. In most passages featuring angels, wings are not mentioned at all. A few passages do describe them with wings and the ability to fly swiftly (Isaiah 6:2,6; Daniel 9:21). In any case, angels are basically unlike humans. They are beings of spirit (Hebrews 1:14), so it is no wonder they can have different appearances and forms. As spirits, they do not die (Luke 20:36).
3. Are there different kinds of angels? The Bible mentions a few different types. Archangels are leaders among angels. One named Michael is mentioned in Jude 1:9. Others assumed to be Archangels are named Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel (the last two are named in the Apocrypha). Seraphs, or Seraphim, are fiery angels mentioned in Isaiah 6, attending the Lord on his throne. They are described as having six wings, and they call out the familiar words, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts.” Cherubs, or Cherubim, are animal-human hybrids mentioned in Ezekiel 1 and 10. They are described as having four wings and four faces, and they support a dome, above which is the throne of the Lord. Images of the Cherubs adorned the Ark of the Covenant. Revelation 4:6-9 describes angels quite similar to those of Isaiah and Ezekiel. Finally, some of Paul’s writings (Ephesians 1:21; Colossians 1:16) suggest to Catholics that there are even more ranks of different kinds of angels, known as Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Dominations, and Thrones.
4. What do angels do for God and humans? The roles of angels are as diverse as their physical descriptions. The Cherubim and the Seraphim worship and praise God constantly. But many angels seem to work to help mankind. Angels often bring people information and reveal the meaning or significance of it, as when an angel told Daniel about future rulers (Daniel 10). They might be sent to protect people from harm, as when Daniel was saved from lions (Daniel 6:22). Angels may be sent to answer prayers, as when Peter’s congregation prayed for his release from prison and an angel came to free him (Acts 12:5-7). They can appear to offer instructions to people, as when an angel told Joseph what to do about Mary (Matthew 1:20). Angels can come to people to provide things they need, as when an angel brought food to a despairing Elijah (1 Kings 19:5-8). Angels ministered to Jesus during his earthly life (Matthew 4:11; Luke 22:43). There are many, many more references to the work of angels in the Bible. Overall, angels are ministering agents who help to bring us God’s providence and redemption.
5. Who were the Fallen angels? The Bible indicates that angels are holy (Luke 9:26), but warns that they are not to be worshipped (Colossians 2:18; Revelation 19:10), with good reason. In fact, like us, angels are God’s creations, however awe-inspiring they might be. Like us, they can sin and fall. One book written between the Testaments takes the very brief story of Genesis 6:1-4 and expands on it, revealing a story of angels who were tempted by human women. The “Book of the Watchers” in 1 Enoch explains that “the watchers” (angels) came down to Earth to choose human wives and have children. They revealed forbidden magical knowledge to humans and also impregnated them. Their offspring were murderous giants who ate people and destroyed everything around them. All this sin and chaos was part of the reason God decided to send a flood to cleanse the Earth of the children of the angels. The rebellious angels were then imprisoned in chains and darkness as punishment (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6). As stories of fallen angels developed over time, various other reasons were given for their fall. Besides the lust described in Enoch, pride was given as another cause. The angel Lucifer wanted to raise his throne to the same level as God’s, and so Lucifer was cast out of Heaven. A third reason is found in the book “Life of Adam and Eve”. There, the Devil is described as unwilling to bow down before man, refusing to worship mankind as made in the image of God. He and all those who also refused were cast out of Heaven.
Angels are an integral part of the biblical story, but ultimately, we cannot get a detailed or comprehensive description of them from the Bible. Beyond the basics, the study of angels has fascinated many people, and writings outside the Bible reflect this interest. One can explore other writings to learn about the names of angels, their organization in Heaven, their powers, and all sorts of mystical information. But perhaps all we really need to know about them is that they are on our side. In Hebrews 1:14, it says, “Are not all angels spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?”
1. Where does the word “angel” come from? In Hebrew, the word for a messenger is “mal’ak”. This word is used to describe those whom God sends to do his will, whether they are human or heavenly. In the Greek translation, the word “aggelos” was used instead. Then, in Latin, the heavenly type of messengers were called “angelus”. From that we get our word “angel”. So, angels are named for one thing they do – act as messengers for God. There are too many examples of this activity to mention; everyone will recall the visit of the angel Gabriel as a messenger to Mary (Luke 1:26-38).
2. What do angels look like? Biblical descriptions of angels are often vague. In the passage of Luke just mentioned, Gabriel is not described. Popular culture, left to its own devices, sometimes portrays them as cute flying babies or white robed women with bird wings. In the Bible, angels may appear as normal human men (Genesis 18:2; 19:1,5; Acts 1:10; Luke 24:4) without wings. In most passages featuring angels, wings are not mentioned at all. A few passages do describe them with wings and the ability to fly swiftly (Isaiah 6:2,6; Daniel 9:21). In any case, angels are basically unlike humans. They are beings of spirit (Hebrews 1:14), so it is no wonder they can have different appearances and forms. As spirits, they do not die (Luke 20:36).
3. Are there different kinds of angels? The Bible mentions a few different types. Archangels are leaders among angels. One named Michael is mentioned in Jude 1:9. Others assumed to be Archangels are named Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel (the last two are named in the Apocrypha). Seraphs, or Seraphim, are fiery angels mentioned in Isaiah 6, attending the Lord on his throne. They are described as having six wings, and they call out the familiar words, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts.” Cherubs, or Cherubim, are animal-human hybrids mentioned in Ezekiel 1 and 10. They are described as having four wings and four faces, and they support a dome, above which is the throne of the Lord. Images of the Cherubs adorned the Ark of the Covenant. Revelation 4:6-9 describes angels quite similar to those of Isaiah and Ezekiel. Finally, some of Paul’s writings (Ephesians 1:21; Colossians 1:16) suggest to Catholics that there are even more ranks of different kinds of angels, known as Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Dominations, and Thrones.
4. What do angels do for God and humans? The roles of angels are as diverse as their physical descriptions. The Cherubim and the Seraphim worship and praise God constantly. But many angels seem to work to help mankind. Angels often bring people information and reveal the meaning or significance of it, as when an angel told Daniel about future rulers (Daniel 10). They might be sent to protect people from harm, as when Daniel was saved from lions (Daniel 6:22). Angels may be sent to answer prayers, as when Peter’s congregation prayed for his release from prison and an angel came to free him (Acts 12:5-7). They can appear to offer instructions to people, as when an angel told Joseph what to do about Mary (Matthew 1:20). Angels can come to people to provide things they need, as when an angel brought food to a despairing Elijah (1 Kings 19:5-8). Angels ministered to Jesus during his earthly life (Matthew 4:11; Luke 22:43). There are many, many more references to the work of angels in the Bible. Overall, angels are ministering agents who help to bring us God’s providence and redemption.
5. Who were the Fallen angels? The Bible indicates that angels are holy (Luke 9:26), but warns that they are not to be worshipped (Colossians 2:18; Revelation 19:10), with good reason. In fact, like us, angels are God’s creations, however awe-inspiring they might be. Like us, they can sin and fall. One book written between the Testaments takes the very brief story of Genesis 6:1-4 and expands on it, revealing a story of angels who were tempted by human women. The “Book of the Watchers” in 1 Enoch explains that “the watchers” (angels) came down to Earth to choose human wives and have children. They revealed forbidden magical knowledge to humans and also impregnated them. Their offspring were murderous giants who ate people and destroyed everything around them. All this sin and chaos was part of the reason God decided to send a flood to cleanse the Earth of the children of the angels. The rebellious angels were then imprisoned in chains and darkness as punishment (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6). As stories of fallen angels developed over time, various other reasons were given for their fall. Besides the lust described in Enoch, pride was given as another cause. The angel Lucifer wanted to raise his throne to the same level as God’s, and so Lucifer was cast out of Heaven. A third reason is found in the book “Life of Adam and Eve”. There, the Devil is described as unwilling to bow down before man, refusing to worship mankind as made in the image of God. He and all those who also refused were cast out of Heaven.
Angels are an integral part of the biblical story, but ultimately, we cannot get a detailed or comprehensive description of them from the Bible. Beyond the basics, the study of angels has fascinated many people, and writings outside the Bible reflect this interest. One can explore other writings to learn about the names of angels, their organization in Heaven, their powers, and all sorts of mystical information. But perhaps all we really need to know about them is that they are on our side. In Hebrews 1:14, it says, “Are not all angels spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?”
Sheol and Gehenna: The Afterlife before Jesus
In modern times, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, it is assumed that after we die, there is an individual judgment, and a soul is sent to either Heaven or Hell. But in Bible times, this was not so. The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament reveal a different set of beliefs, in which souls went to the shadowy realm of Sheol or the fires of Gehenna.
What was the nature of Sheol? Scattered Bible passages give us details, piecing together a description of the underworld. Sheol was the dark domain of the dead, and it was located beneath the Earth (Numbers 16:30). To go there was to go “down” to it (Job 7:9) and it was known as the “Pit” (Psalm 16:10). It was personified as having a mouth and a hungry belly, which was never satisfied (Proverbs 30:15-16; Jonah 2:2; Isaiah 5:14).
After death, everyone went to Sheol, and that meant everyone, period. Ezekiel 32:18-32 describes how people from every nation went there, from Egypt to Assyria. Even the mighty Pharaoh of Egypt went there, along with other kings and princes. The circumcised Israelites went there with the uncircumcised foreigners. Soldiers went there with those they killed. Job 3:17-19 says, “There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster. The small and the great are there, and the slaves are free from their masters.”
Ecclesiastes 9:10 describes Sheol as a place of ghostly shades who can do nothing anymore. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.” In Sheol, souls do not remember God or praise him (Psalm 6:5; 30:9), although God’s presence still exists there (Psalm 139:7-8). God has the power to deliver souls from Sheol (Psalm 86:13), to spare someone from going there at all (Acts 2:27-31), or to lift someone to Heaven instead (like Enoch or Elijah).
When the Bible was translated into Greek, Sheol was translated as “Hades” (e.g. in Matthew 11:23), because it was so similar to the Greek myth of the underworld. In Hellenistic times, Sheol took on some of the characteristics of Hades, such as having a being named “Hades” who ruled over it. Furthermore, Hades was thought to have different sections such as a paradise for the virtuous and a place of punishment for the wicked. By the second century BCE, this idea was also incorporated into Sheol. Sheol was divided into two parts, a place where the virtuous rested in peace until judgment and resurrection, and a place of torment for the wicked.
The virtuous went to a comfortable part of Sheol called the “Bosom of Abraham” where they waited with the Patriarch. Jesus referred to this place in one of his parables (Luke 16:22-26). “The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.” But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.”
As for the place of torment, it was called Gehenna. The name comes from a valley near Jerusalem where children were burned as a sacrifice to Canaanite gods such as Baal or Molech. It was called the valley of the son of Hinnom – “Ge (ben) Hinnom”, which became “Gehenna” (Jeremiah 7:31, 19:2-6, 32:35; 2 Kings 23:10; 2 Chronicles 28:3). Even after that abominable practice of child sacrifice was halted, bodies of executed criminals were thrown there, along with animal carcasses and refuse to be burned. Thus the name was fitting to give to the place of torment in Sheol. In the Bible, Gehenna is usually translated as “Hell”.
Gehenna is a place where both body and soul are destroyed (Matthew 10:28). It is a “furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:49-50) If Sheol was darkness, Gehenna was the outer darkness (Matthew 8:12), “where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.” (Mark 9:48) “This is the second death, the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14).
Western Christians still believe in Gehenna, calling it Hell. But how do we account for the fact that Sheol is not generally believed in today? In the Apostle’s Creed, it states that Jesus “was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead.” What did Jesus do in Hell? One work of Christian Apocrypha called the “Acts of Pilate / Gospel of Nicodemus” includes the story of Christ’s descent into Hell. In this account, we see what supposedly happened to Sheol. Jesus, in fact, went there to close it down. The story goes like this:
Satan tells the ruler of Sheol, Hades, that Jesus, King of Glory, is coming down to him. Hades becomes afraid, remembering how Jesus’ power took Lazarus away from Sheol. Hades orders the gates shut, but Jesus breaks them down, and defeats Satan and Hades. Holy people like Abraham, David, Adam, and Isaiah are there to meet him. Jesus empties Sheol, the section known as the Bosom of Abraham which contains the virtuous, and leads a long procession from Sheol to Heaven, where Enoch and Elijah greet them.
In the centuries up to the present, specific beliefs about Heaven and Hell have been varied, and particular to various branches of Christianity. Western Christianity generally holds that souls are sent to Heaven to be with the Lord after death, ever since Jesus’ redemptive work. But there is still a universal judgment day to come, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:6-10: “...we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord [...] and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.”
What was the nature of Sheol? Scattered Bible passages give us details, piecing together a description of the underworld. Sheol was the dark domain of the dead, and it was located beneath the Earth (Numbers 16:30). To go there was to go “down” to it (Job 7:9) and it was known as the “Pit” (Psalm 16:10). It was personified as having a mouth and a hungry belly, which was never satisfied (Proverbs 30:15-16; Jonah 2:2; Isaiah 5:14).
After death, everyone went to Sheol, and that meant everyone, period. Ezekiel 32:18-32 describes how people from every nation went there, from Egypt to Assyria. Even the mighty Pharaoh of Egypt went there, along with other kings and princes. The circumcised Israelites went there with the uncircumcised foreigners. Soldiers went there with those they killed. Job 3:17-19 says, “There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners are at ease together; they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster. The small and the great are there, and the slaves are free from their masters.”
Ecclesiastes 9:10 describes Sheol as a place of ghostly shades who can do nothing anymore. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.” In Sheol, souls do not remember God or praise him (Psalm 6:5; 30:9), although God’s presence still exists there (Psalm 139:7-8). God has the power to deliver souls from Sheol (Psalm 86:13), to spare someone from going there at all (Acts 2:27-31), or to lift someone to Heaven instead (like Enoch or Elijah).
When the Bible was translated into Greek, Sheol was translated as “Hades” (e.g. in Matthew 11:23), because it was so similar to the Greek myth of the underworld. In Hellenistic times, Sheol took on some of the characteristics of Hades, such as having a being named “Hades” who ruled over it. Furthermore, Hades was thought to have different sections such as a paradise for the virtuous and a place of punishment for the wicked. By the second century BCE, this idea was also incorporated into Sheol. Sheol was divided into two parts, a place where the virtuous rested in peace until judgment and resurrection, and a place of torment for the wicked.
The virtuous went to a comfortable part of Sheol called the “Bosom of Abraham” where they waited with the Patriarch. Jesus referred to this place in one of his parables (Luke 16:22-26). “The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.” But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.”
As for the place of torment, it was called Gehenna. The name comes from a valley near Jerusalem where children were burned as a sacrifice to Canaanite gods such as Baal or Molech. It was called the valley of the son of Hinnom – “Ge (ben) Hinnom”, which became “Gehenna” (Jeremiah 7:31, 19:2-6, 32:35; 2 Kings 23:10; 2 Chronicles 28:3). Even after that abominable practice of child sacrifice was halted, bodies of executed criminals were thrown there, along with animal carcasses and refuse to be burned. Thus the name was fitting to give to the place of torment in Sheol. In the Bible, Gehenna is usually translated as “Hell”.
Gehenna is a place where both body and soul are destroyed (Matthew 10:28). It is a “furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:49-50) If Sheol was darkness, Gehenna was the outer darkness (Matthew 8:12), “where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.” (Mark 9:48) “This is the second death, the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14).
Western Christians still believe in Gehenna, calling it Hell. But how do we account for the fact that Sheol is not generally believed in today? In the Apostle’s Creed, it states that Jesus “was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead.” What did Jesus do in Hell? One work of Christian Apocrypha called the “Acts of Pilate / Gospel of Nicodemus” includes the story of Christ’s descent into Hell. In this account, we see what supposedly happened to Sheol. Jesus, in fact, went there to close it down. The story goes like this:
Satan tells the ruler of Sheol, Hades, that Jesus, King of Glory, is coming down to him. Hades becomes afraid, remembering how Jesus’ power took Lazarus away from Sheol. Hades orders the gates shut, but Jesus breaks them down, and defeats Satan and Hades. Holy people like Abraham, David, Adam, and Isaiah are there to meet him. Jesus empties Sheol, the section known as the Bosom of Abraham which contains the virtuous, and leads a long procession from Sheol to Heaven, where Enoch and Elijah greet them.
In the centuries up to the present, specific beliefs about Heaven and Hell have been varied, and particular to various branches of Christianity. Western Christianity generally holds that souls are sent to Heaven to be with the Lord after death, ever since Jesus’ redemptive work. But there is still a universal judgment day to come, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:6-10: “...we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord [...] and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.”
The End is... Near?
The second coming of Jesus is an event known as the Parousia, in which Jesus will return to judge the world, punish evil, and redeem the saved. This event is still expected as an article of Christian faith, but it has seemingly been long delayed. An examination of New Testament passages shows that the earliest Christians expected Jesus’ return within their lifetimes. The Gospels and Paul’s letters reveal what happened when the Parousia did not occur. They show how it upset many believers, and they detail the explanations people came up with for why it did not occur – reasons which still make sense, even today. It is a story of hope and doubt, fear and reassurance, fevered expectation and changing perspective.
Paul’s letters were written perhaps 20-30 years after Jesus’ resurrection. In that period, as we shall see, Christians were already worried about the delay in Jesus’ return. The gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke were written perhaps 40-50 years after Jesus’ resurrection, but we have to look at them first, for they tell the beginning of the story, during Jesus’ lifetime.
The gospels set up the basic idea that in the near future, Jesus would return, and the present world would come to an end. Of course, the Christian faithful were understandably very much interested in exactly when the Parousia would occur. There are two thoughts about this in the gospels. One is, the second coming would occur suddenly and unexpectedly, and no one could predict the time. The other is, the second coming would be preceded by and heralded by many dramatic signs and portents, by which people could know it was coming. These contradictory thoughts exist side by side in the gospels, as shown in Matthew when Jesus discusses when the end would come (the following passages are from Matthew 24:3-44).
Jesus is asked by the disciples, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus responds by listing many signs of the end, the sort of things no one could fail to notice. “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs. Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. […] But anyone who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come. […] For at that time there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. […] For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. ‘Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven” with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. […] when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.”
On the other hand, in the very same chapter of Matthew (24), Jesus proclaims that no one except God the Father, not even Jesus himself, knows exactly when the end will come. “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. […] Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” Even so, Jesus gave broad hints that the Parousia would occur during the lifetimes of his listeners, as shown in the following passages. “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.” (Matthew 24:34) “And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.” (Mark 9:1)
Twenty to thirty years after Jesus spoke these words, when Paul’s letters were written, the second coming had not yet occurred, and Christians were beginning to worry. Despite Jesus’ promise, people were indeed beginning to “taste death”, dying as people eventually do, without the kingdom of God coming with power. First Thessalonians, a letter of Paul, deals with this issue. Paul has to comfort people, telling them that those who die before the second coming will be raised up when it finally does happen, so there is nothing to worry about. “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thess. 4:13-17)
Of course, Paul’s readers still worried about the timing of the Parousia. Paul has to repeat the idea that it will happen at an unexpected time. “Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! […] So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” (1 Thess. 5:1-6)
In another letter of uncertain authorship, 2 Thessalonians, another problem arises. Some Christians have even begun to worry that the Parousia has already happened. The writer has to reassure them that no, it has not. In fact, the writer claims, the second coming cannot occur until a particular agent of evil is revealed. “As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. […] And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-8) Between the two letters to the Thessalonians, there is again a tension between the opposing ideas that the Parousia will be both unexpected and preceded by signs.
Another letter, 2 Peter, was written around 140-150 CE, and was probably the last canonical book of the New Testament to be composed. By that time period, over a century after Jesus’ resurrection, the second coming had obviously still not occurred, and it seemed that it might even be delayed into the indefinite future. At that point, an explanation had to be found which would satisfy people for the long term. The writer of 2 Peter explained that the reason for the seeming delay was to give more people time to repent and be saved. “First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come […] saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!” […] But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:3-9)
The idea that any delay is to allow more people to be saved is a good one, and even in the present day, it makes sense. We have to admit that there are still many people in the world who could be redeemed, and so the delay, already approaching 2,000 years, is perhaps likely to continue. But what can we do in the meantime? The gospel writers encourage us to watch, wait, stay spiritually awake, and be ready. The author of 2 Peter has some last advice as well. We can hasten the second coming by leading righteous lives. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise […] what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God,[…]? But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.” (2 Peter 3:10-15)
Paul’s letters were written perhaps 20-30 years after Jesus’ resurrection. In that period, as we shall see, Christians were already worried about the delay in Jesus’ return. The gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke were written perhaps 40-50 years after Jesus’ resurrection, but we have to look at them first, for they tell the beginning of the story, during Jesus’ lifetime.
The gospels set up the basic idea that in the near future, Jesus would return, and the present world would come to an end. Of course, the Christian faithful were understandably very much interested in exactly when the Parousia would occur. There are two thoughts about this in the gospels. One is, the second coming would occur suddenly and unexpectedly, and no one could predict the time. The other is, the second coming would be preceded by and heralded by many dramatic signs and portents, by which people could know it was coming. These contradictory thoughts exist side by side in the gospels, as shown in Matthew when Jesus discusses when the end would come (the following passages are from Matthew 24:3-44).
Jesus is asked by the disciples, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus responds by listing many signs of the end, the sort of things no one could fail to notice. “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs. Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. […] But anyone who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come. […] For at that time there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. […] For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. ‘Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven” with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. […] when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.”
On the other hand, in the very same chapter of Matthew (24), Jesus proclaims that no one except God the Father, not even Jesus himself, knows exactly when the end will come. “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. […] Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” Even so, Jesus gave broad hints that the Parousia would occur during the lifetimes of his listeners, as shown in the following passages. “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.” (Matthew 24:34) “And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.” (Mark 9:1)
Twenty to thirty years after Jesus spoke these words, when Paul’s letters were written, the second coming had not yet occurred, and Christians were beginning to worry. Despite Jesus’ promise, people were indeed beginning to “taste death”, dying as people eventually do, without the kingdom of God coming with power. First Thessalonians, a letter of Paul, deals with this issue. Paul has to comfort people, telling them that those who die before the second coming will be raised up when it finally does happen, so there is nothing to worry about. “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thess. 4:13-17)
Of course, Paul’s readers still worried about the timing of the Parousia. Paul has to repeat the idea that it will happen at an unexpected time. “Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! […] So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” (1 Thess. 5:1-6)
In another letter of uncertain authorship, 2 Thessalonians, another problem arises. Some Christians have even begun to worry that the Parousia has already happened. The writer has to reassure them that no, it has not. In fact, the writer claims, the second coming cannot occur until a particular agent of evil is revealed. “As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. […] And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-8) Between the two letters to the Thessalonians, there is again a tension between the opposing ideas that the Parousia will be both unexpected and preceded by signs.
Another letter, 2 Peter, was written around 140-150 CE, and was probably the last canonical book of the New Testament to be composed. By that time period, over a century after Jesus’ resurrection, the second coming had obviously still not occurred, and it seemed that it might even be delayed into the indefinite future. At that point, an explanation had to be found which would satisfy people for the long term. The writer of 2 Peter explained that the reason for the seeming delay was to give more people time to repent and be saved. “First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come […] saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!” […] But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:3-9)
The idea that any delay is to allow more people to be saved is a good one, and even in the present day, it makes sense. We have to admit that there are still many people in the world who could be redeemed, and so the delay, already approaching 2,000 years, is perhaps likely to continue. But what can we do in the meantime? The gospel writers encourage us to watch, wait, stay spiritually awake, and be ready. The author of 2 Peter has some last advice as well. We can hasten the second coming by leading righteous lives. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise […] what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God,[…]? But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.” (2 Peter 3:10-15)
Cutting a Covenant
The story of God’s covenant with Abraham includes a strange ritual, described in an eerie scene in the book of Genesis. “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
“As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land […]” (Genesis 15:5-18)
What was the reason for this odd ritual, with animals cut in half and fire passing between the pieces? The ceremony was actually based on the way ancient covenants were made between people in Bible times. A covenant was a solemn agreement, a binding oath between two parties, which was sealed by blood. The usual steps in a covenant were these: First, the terms of the agreement were decided upon. If there were rewards for keeping to the terms, they were spelled out, along with any punishments for breaking them. Second, binding oaths were sworn. An animal was sacrificed, and then the body was cut in half. (In fact, the actual phrase in Hebrew, usually translated as “making a covenant,” is really literally “cutting a covenant.”) The two parties then walked between the animal halves. They made sure to make contact with the blood, by stepping in it. This was a kind of self-curse. They were in effect saying, “If I break the covenant, then may what happened to this animal, happen to me.”
A vivid illustration of this self-curse and its penalty may be found in the book of Jeremiah, in which God declares that the people have broken part of the covenant they made with him at Mount Sinai. The agreement they had made was this: “If a member of your community, whether a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and works for you six years, in the seventh year you shall set that person free.” (Deuteronomy 15:12)
God says through Jeremiah, “You yourselves recently repented and did what was right in my sight by proclaiming liberty to one another, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name; but then you turned around and profaned my name when each of you took back your male and female slaves, whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them again into subjection to be your slaves. Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me by granting a release to your neighbors and friends; I am going to grant a release to you, says the Lord--a release to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. And those who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make like the calf when they cut it in two and passed between its parts: the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf shall be handed over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives. Their corpses shall become food for the birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth.” (Jeremiah 34:15-20)
The covenant with Abraham, though, is different. Abraham asks how he can be sure he will receive the land, and God’s answer is to swear a binding oath, a covenant, according to the rituals used at the time. The terms are spelled out in a description of the future, and the animals are cut in half. But notice that Abraham does not walk through the animal halves. Only the fiery representation of God passes between them. This is an unconditional covenant, in which only God makes a promise – Abraham only needs to accept it.
To modern people, the necessity for blood to seal a covenant may seem distasteful, nevertheless, it was the way things were done. The covenant between God and the Jews at Mount Sinai was also sealed with blood. “And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and set up twelve pillars, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed oxen as offerings of well-being to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he dashed against the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people, and said, “See the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” (Exodus 24:1-8)
Understanding this helps us to understand the story of Jesus at the Last Supper. There, Jesus spoke of a new covenant which was also to be sealed by blood. “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said, “Take, eat, this is my body.” And after taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:26-28) Just as ancient parties made contact with the blood of a covenant by stepping between the animals, we can make contact with the blood of the new covenant when we take part in the Eucharist, whether we think of it symbolically or literally. In baptism, and in faith, we pledge our own loyalty to this covenant, which is described by Jeremiah:
“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt--a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
“As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land […]” (Genesis 15:5-18)
What was the reason for this odd ritual, with animals cut in half and fire passing between the pieces? The ceremony was actually based on the way ancient covenants were made between people in Bible times. A covenant was a solemn agreement, a binding oath between two parties, which was sealed by blood. The usual steps in a covenant were these: First, the terms of the agreement were decided upon. If there were rewards for keeping to the terms, they were spelled out, along with any punishments for breaking them. Second, binding oaths were sworn. An animal was sacrificed, and then the body was cut in half. (In fact, the actual phrase in Hebrew, usually translated as “making a covenant,” is really literally “cutting a covenant.”) The two parties then walked between the animal halves. They made sure to make contact with the blood, by stepping in it. This was a kind of self-curse. They were in effect saying, “If I break the covenant, then may what happened to this animal, happen to me.”
A vivid illustration of this self-curse and its penalty may be found in the book of Jeremiah, in which God declares that the people have broken part of the covenant they made with him at Mount Sinai. The agreement they had made was this: “If a member of your community, whether a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and works for you six years, in the seventh year you shall set that person free.” (Deuteronomy 15:12)
God says through Jeremiah, “You yourselves recently repented and did what was right in my sight by proclaiming liberty to one another, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name; but then you turned around and profaned my name when each of you took back your male and female slaves, whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them again into subjection to be your slaves. Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me by granting a release to your neighbors and friends; I am going to grant a release to you, says the Lord--a release to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. And those who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make like the calf when they cut it in two and passed between its parts: the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf shall be handed over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives. Their corpses shall become food for the birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth.” (Jeremiah 34:15-20)
The covenant with Abraham, though, is different. Abraham asks how he can be sure he will receive the land, and God’s answer is to swear a binding oath, a covenant, according to the rituals used at the time. The terms are spelled out in a description of the future, and the animals are cut in half. But notice that Abraham does not walk through the animal halves. Only the fiery representation of God passes between them. This is an unconditional covenant, in which only God makes a promise – Abraham only needs to accept it.
To modern people, the necessity for blood to seal a covenant may seem distasteful, nevertheless, it was the way things were done. The covenant between God and the Jews at Mount Sinai was also sealed with blood. “And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and set up twelve pillars, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed oxen as offerings of well-being to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he dashed against the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people, and said, “See the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” (Exodus 24:1-8)
Understanding this helps us to understand the story of Jesus at the Last Supper. There, Jesus spoke of a new covenant which was also to be sealed by blood. “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said, “Take, eat, this is my body.” And after taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:26-28) Just as ancient parties made contact with the blood of a covenant by stepping between the animals, we can make contact with the blood of the new covenant when we take part in the Eucharist, whether we think of it symbolically or literally. In baptism, and in faith, we pledge our own loyalty to this covenant, which is described by Jeremiah:
“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt--a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
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