The Gospel of Thomas

1. The Gospel of Thomas Adult Sunday School January-March 2008 Nathan Love

2. The Gospel of Thomas This class will explore over some ten weeks the Gospel of Thomas recently brought to light in the treasure trove of largely gnostic compositions stumbled upon by an Arab peasant, quite by accident, in 1945 in Egypt. The Gospel of Thomas(only one of a number of non-canonical gospels) contains the sayings of Jesus purportedly recorded by the disciple Thomas. We will explore the sayings themselves, make comparisons with the four gospels of the New Testament, all of which will allow us to enter into discussions concerning mystery religions then prevalent offering formulae for personal salvation through various rites and wisdom traditions, especially in communities in Alexandria, Egypt, where both Christian thinkers and Jewish philosophers of a neo-platonic mind set attempted to fill in the gaps, so to speak, of the four gospels whose authority and faithfulness church tradition has consistently upheld. The text of the Gospel of Thomas has become widely available in print (The Gospel According to Thomas, Harper-Collins, ed. James M. Robinson) and on the Internet: (http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gosthom.html). Two other books widely available and of particular interest are The Gnostic Gospels (1985) and Beyond Belief (2003), both by Elaine Pagels. The latter book offers an intriguing and plausible – but by no means convincing – theory that speaks to a dynamic relationship she believes exists between the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Thomas.

3. Outline of Content I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX How many gospels are there, anyway? Alexander and Alexandria and the importance of Greek Greek in Palestine and Egypt What is Coptic? Papyri and codices The Nag Hammadi Library Other gospels in the Nag Hammadi Library The four gospels of the New Testament The synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke The Gospel of John The words of Jesus Q (> Quelle) oral or written tradition of transmission As Jesus taught his disciples, Thomas, Mary, Judas…. Thomas the disciple / apostle / ‘twin’ Mystery religions and personal salvation Gnosis and Neo-Platonism The Gospel Of Thomas The five gospels Gnostic gospels Web site Interactive quizzes

4. How many gospels are there, anyway? Answer: About 20 more or less complete ones. Significant descriptions or portions of twelve ancient texts that meet the criteria necessary to be considered an early (indisputably written before the end of the second century) gospel have been preserved from antiquity. Six early gospels are attested by manuscripts from the second century or shortly thereafter: Matthew, Luke, John, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Peter, and an “Unknown Gospel” (P.Egerton 2). Six additional early gospels are attested by patristic citations from the same time period: Mark (Irenaeus), Secret Mark, Gospel of the Ebionites(Irenaeus), Gospel of the Nazareans (Eusebius), Gospel of the Hebrews(Clement), and Marcion’s gospel(Irenaeus). http://www.journalofbiblicalstudies.org/Issue4/Articles/dating_early_christian_gospels.htm Gospel of Mary of Magdala, Infancy Gospel of James (The Protoevangelium of James), Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Phillip

5. How many gospels are there, anyway? apocryphal gnostic canonical gospels

6. How many gospels are there, anyway? Turbaned midwives attend the infant Jesus in this oil painting of “The Nativity” (c. 1425) attributed to the Netherlandish artist Robert Campin. According to the Proto-Gospel of James, an early—but noncanonical—Christian text, Joseph summoned the women to assist at Jesus’ birth. One midwife, named Salome, questioned Mary’s virginity, the gospel continues. She swore, “Unless I put (forward) my finger and test her condition, I will not believe that a virgin has brought forth.” Fire consumed the incredulous midwife’s hand as she tested Mary until an angel instructed her to touch Jesus to be cured. In Campin’s painting, Salome displays her healed hand. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon/Erich Lessing http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/best/bswbBestSubPage.asp?PubID=BSBR&Volume=13&Issue=3&ArticleID=7

7. How many gospels are there, anyway? Another representation of the Nativity in a large-scale Byzantine fresco (c. 1175) in the Church of Karanlik Kilise in Turkey is interesting not only for its two midwives, but for locating the birth of Jesus in a cave and including an ox and a donkey. The nativity site, not pinpointed by the evangelists, is most often a stable in Western art, but in Eastern art, it is usually a cave. Nor are the familiar animal creche figures, so ubiquitous today, found in the canonical gospels. • The earliest written source we have for the ox and the donkey is the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, which scholars date to about the year 800, yet these animals were carved in stone on a fourth-century Roman sarcophagus lid, now part of the pulpit of the Church of St. Ambrose in Milan. • http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_38_42/ai_n16740774 • Isaiah 1:3 “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel • does not know, my people do not understand.”

8. Alexander and Alexandria and the importance of Greek Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), the king of Macedonia that conquered the Persian empire and annexed it to Macedonia, is considered one of the greatest military geniuses of all times. Here he is depicted in a mosaic preserved in Pompeii. He is the first king to be called "the Great." For Judaism and Christianity the implications are profound and extensive, positive and negative.

9. Alexander and Alexandria and the importance of Greek From: Atlas of the Bible Lands Editor: Harry Thomas Frank

10. Alexander and Alexandria and the importance of Greek Josephus the Jewish historian wrote about the warning signs that were on the barrier that separated the court of the gentiles from the other courts in the Temple. Not until recent times did archaeologists actually discover one. Its seven-line inscription read as follows: NO FOREIGNER IS TO GO BEYOND THE BALUSTRADE AND THE PLAZA OF THE TEMPLE ZONE WHOEVER IS CAUGHT DOING SO WILL HAVE HIMSELF TO BLAME FOR HIS DEATH WHICH WILL FOLLOW

11. Greek in Palestine and Egypt By the middle of the first century, there are probably more Jews living outside of the homeland, than actually live back in Judah proper. This is what is called the Diaspora, that is, the dispersion of Jewish population throughout the Empire. There are major Jewish communities in most of the large cities of the Empire, all the way from the Persian Gulf on the east to Spain on the west. It's an extensive diffusion of the Jewish population throughout the Roman. The Greek word ‘diaspora’ means a scattering. And indeed there was a scattering of Jews throughout the known Greek and Roman world from the third century B.C. and on down. There were large Jewish communities in Egypt, especially in Alexandria, but even throughout the countryside, up the Nile Valley. Alexandria is an ancient metropolis with a fabled library that Paul may have consulted at one point in his ministry. It is a center of learning and scholarship.

12. Greek in Palestine and Egypt The language that unites the far-flung Roman Empire is Greek. The Jews of Alexandria need the scriptures translated into Greek (the Septuagint, LXX, i.e., 70 elder translators). The earliest extant copies of NT writings are in Greek or a colloquial Greek dialect (koine). It has been pointed out that Jesus was aware of Greek (‘hypocrite’, Greek for ‘actor’). Egypt is prominent in the NT (as well as the OT). Jesus spends part of his infancy there (Matthew). The Egyptian miracle worker seems to move with ease in Palestine until his disappearance just outside Jerusalem.

13. What is Coptic? Language. When the Egyptian language is written with the Greek alphabet (plus a few letters for sounds Greeks did not make), it is called Coptic. Art. Visual arts associated with the Greek- and Egyptian-speaking Christian peoples of Egypt from about the 3rd to the 12th century AD. It is essentially reflected in the stone reliefs, wood carvings, and wall paintings of the monasteries of Egypt. With the creation of Alexandria in 332 BC, Hellenization came to Egypt, together with first the art of the Greeks, and then that of the Romans, which began to overlay that of the more ancient Egyptian styles. It was in this setting that Christianity arrived in Egypt and it was here that the rich flavor of Coptic (Egyptian Christian) art evolved. (http://touregypt.net/featurestories/copticpainting.htm)

14. What is Coptic? Christ and Saint Mina. 6th-century icon from Bawit, Egypt, now in the Louvre. http://www.answers.com/topic/menas-jpg

15. Papyri and codices

16. Papyri and codices The twelve codices are essentially twelve books. The roll was the usual form of a book up until the first century C.E., when it began to be replaced by a more economical format that permitted writing on both sides, namely the modern book with individual leaves or a ‘codex’, the Latin word for a set of wooden waxed tablets tied together as a scratch pad, which was the ancestor of the book with papyrus, parchment,or paper leaves. Whereas literary works continued to be written in the more prestigious form of the scroll, Christians (but not Jews) soon came to prefer the more economical codex. In Egypt the most common writing material was papyrus. The triangular stalk of the papyrus plant is filled with fibrous pith that can be cut or peeled off in long thin strips. These strips are laid side by side and then dried, and polished it becomes a flexible, smooth, and durable writing surface.

17. The Nag Hammadi Library The Nag Hammadi Library, a collection of fourth-century papyrus manuscripts contained in twelve codices plus eight leaves of a thirteenth codex, was discovered in upper Egypt in 1945. There are 52 separate tractates. Due to duplications there are 45 separate titles. This immensely important discovery includes a large number of primary gnostic scriptures -- texts once thought to have been entirely destroyed during the early Christian struggle to define "orthodoxy" -- scriptures such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, and the Gospel of Truth. The discovery and translation of the Nag Hammadi library, completed in the 1970's, has provided impetus to a major re-evaluation of early Christian history and the nature of gnosticism.  http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/nhlalpha.html

18. The Nag Hammadi Library It was on a December day in the year of 1945, near the town of Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt, that the course of gnostic studies was radically renewed and forever changed. An Arab peasant, digging around a boulder in search of fertilizer for his fields, happened upon an old, rather large red earthenware jar. Hoping to have found a buried treasure, and with due hesitation and apprehension about the jinn who might attend such a hoard, he smashed the jar open. Inside he discovered no treasure and no genie, but instead books: more than a dozen old codices bound in golden brown leather. Little did he realize that he had found an extraordinary collection of ancient texts, manuscripts hidden a millennium and a half before -- probably by monks from the nearby monastery of St. Pachomius seeking to preserve them from a destruction ordered by the church as part of its violent expunging of heterodoxy and heresy.

19. The Nag Hammadi Library Nag Hammadi Texts - Codex IV Both the codex and the pages in it were created in circa 400 A.D.

20. The Nag Hammadi Library The focus that brought the collection together is an estrangement from the mass of humanity, an affinity to an ideal order that completely transcends life as we know it, and a life-style radically other than common practice. This life-style involved giving up all the goods that people usually desire and longing for an ultimate liberation. It is not an aggressive revolution that is intended, but rather a withdrawal from involvement in the contamination that destroys clarity of vision. The texts were translated one by one from Greek into Coptic, and not always by translators capable of grasping the profundity or sublimity of what they sought to translate. The translator of a brief section of Plato’s Republic clearly did not understand the text, though it obviously seemed edifying and worth translating. Those who collected this library were Christians, and many of the essays were originally composed by Christian authors.

21. Other gospels in the Nag Hammadi Library The Apocryphon of James – very brief containing some words of the Lord, The Gospel of Truth– not really a ‘gospel’ except in the sense of good news, more a homily, The Gospel of Philip– not a gospel in NT sense, just an occasional word or deed of Jesus, talks about Mary, mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, “the one who was called his companion,” The Book of Thomas the Contender – a revelation dialogue between the resurrected Jesus and his twin brother Judas Thomas, ostensibly recorded by Mathaias (the apostle Matthew?) at a time just before Jesus’ ascention, The Gospel of the Egyptians – is not that cited in Patristic literature, but is rather about the life of Seth (third son of Adam and Eve) as father of the gnostic race, The Gospel of Mary – contains dialogue between the risen Savior and the disciples, followed by the Savior’s special revelation to Mary Magdalene It first came to light in 1896 in Cairo.

22. The four gospels of the New Testament Mark written 65-75, Crucified Christ Matthew written 80-90, Teaching Christ Luke written 80-100, Universal Christ John written 90-100, Eternal Christ becomes flesh The four gospels are anonymous, but attributed from earliest tradition to apostles. The dates of composition remain uncertain, and, in some cases, controversial. They were likely preceded by vibrant oral traditions about what Jesus said and did with the Passion narrative at their core. These traditions were circulated in various communities where they were given context and meaning for worship and resolution of problems and questions arising in communities of followers.

23. The four gospels of the New Testament – canon The four gospels are canonical; the Gospel of Thomas is apocryphal. The terms canonical and apocryphal have specific meanings in traditional Christianity. Canonical writings are those that are exclusively to be used "in the church" as its official writings. 1. Their most common use is in the liturgy: The compositions of the Old and New Testaments are read aloud and preached on, for the formation of a certain community identity. 2. These are also the compositions used in public debates over doctrine and morals in the public community (see councils). Apocryphal writings are available for individual reading. Some, but by no means all, were condemned as heretical; some were extremely popular, but at the level of personal edification.

24. The four gospels of the New Testament – canon What about canon? For this discussion I am indebted to Dr. Luke Timothy Johnson, Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. The historical process of identifying sacred texts as canon involved several discrete stages, but at no stage was there a conspiracy. Community traditions were used in the composition of the earliest letters and Gospels. By the end of the first century, we can detect in Christian writers the process of collecting writings that are regarded as authoritative. The stage of selection is demanded by the crisis of self-definition in Christianity's second century, a crisis that involved both books and ideologies. On one side was the challenge of contraction: In different ways, Tatian and Marcion saw the traditional Gospels as too many. On the other side was the challenge of expansion: Some new compositions claimed revelational authority but also challenged traditional collection.

25. The four gospels of the New Testament – canon These challenges made it necessary for the first time to "name one's sources" in conversations and controversies. The response of late-2nd -century teachers, such as Tertullian and Irenaeus, was to refute the teachings of the "heretics" but also to establish an "orthodox" strategy of self-definition. 1. A set number of compositions exists that accurately if not adequately "measure" Christian existence: the canon of the Old and New Testaments. 2. These compositions are to be read within the "measure" of the rule of faith: the creed. 3. The authoritative interpretation of these compositions and creed; is invested in a public teaching office: the bishops who are the apostolic successors. The consequence is that Christianity is defined in public and institutional terms; these positions are subsequently ratified in the 4th century.

26. The synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke The synoptic gospels (from Greek, συν, syn, ‘together’, and όπσις, opsis, ‘seeing’) share similarities that distinguish them from the fourth canonical gospel, John. The synoptic gospels share the same sayings of Jesus as well as the same sequence of events. On the other hand, each of the three synoptic gospels offers unique witnesses to both Jesus’ words and deeds. At times, they seem to disagree on matters that have puzzled many over the ages.

27. The synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke How is it that three accounts, seemingly so consistent in their treatment of words and deeds of Jesus, can often disagree? This has become known as the synoptic problem. Attempts to explain the interrelationships of the synoptic gospels are numerous, varied, and date back to the fourth century after Christ. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synoptic_Problem

28. The synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke Church historian Eusebius of Caesarea, devised a method that enabled scholars to find parallel texts. In the 5th century, Augustine of Hippo developed what was later known as the Augustinian hypothesis, which proposed why these three gospels were so similar. In this view, the gospels were written in order of presentation, but that Mark was Matthew's "lackey and abbreviator" and that Luke drew from both sources.

29. The synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke • Agreement between Matthew and Luke begins where Mark begins and ends where Mark ends. • Matthew reproduces about 90% of Mark, Luke about 50%. They often reproduce Mark in the same order. When they disagree, either Matthew or Luke supports the sequence in Mark. • In segments the three share, agreement averages about 50% . • When there is this “triple tradition,” Matthew and Mark often agree against Luke, and Luke and Mark often agree against Matthew. On the other hand, Matthew and Luke only rarely agree against Mark. • Many, if not most, scholars have concluded that Mark was written before Matthew and Luke and that Matthew and Luke used Mark as the fundamental source for narrative information about Jesus in their gospels, to which they added other materials.

30. The synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke http://www.utoronto.ca/religion/synopsis/meta-syn.htm

31. The Gospel of John In the synoptic gospels, Jesus speaks somewhat mysteriously in parables and aphorisms. He has little to say about himself. He is baptized by John, and announces the coming of the kingdom of God. Jesus performs many healings and exorcisms. His temple incident comes as a sort of climax prior to his arrest. In John’s gospel, his baptism is presupposed rather than mentioned. Jesus speaks in long discourses and reflects extensively on his mission and person. There are no exorcisms. The temple incident happens early on. Foot washing seems to replace the last supper. If the synoptic gospels have proved useful in imagining the historical Jesus, John’s gospel has provided a portrait of the Christ of faith. Jesus is not only Messiah but the Son of God, as well. It is interesting that the earliest copy is found in Egypt.

32. The words of Jesus The early Jesus movement or the early Church had, at some point, to preserve the saying and teachings of Jesus. Obviously, the four canonical Gospels are of paramount importance in this regard to the early followers of Christ and to each succeeding generation, including our own. Some occur in only one Gospel, others in all three Synoptic Gospels, and others in only two of the Synoptic Gospels (especially Matthew and Luke). For the most part, all the sayings recorded in Mark occur in one form or another in both Matthew and Luke; however, Matthew and Luke also contain some 250 verses of sayings that are similar, at times identical, to one another but that do not occur in Mark. These include the Beatitudes and other portions of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7, Luke 6; 9).

33. Q (> Quelle) oral or written tradition of transmission These 250 verses of similar material not found in Mark include the Beatitudes, the Lord’s Prayer, and the parable of the lost sheep. Since this material is often nearly verbatim in Greek in Matthew and Luke, it suggests that the oral tradition had at some earlier stage been translated from Aramaic into Greek. This translation may indicate a separate transmission from what we read in Mark as a “sayings source” for Jesus’ teaching. It does not include narrative features or miracles of Jesus’ life; only his words. Biblical scholars usually call it Q (from the German Quelle meaning ‘source’) or the Synoptic Sayings Source – or even Sayings Gospel – , and date this hypothetical material between 50 and 70 C.E. It is unclear whether it had already been written down in a fixed order since Matthew and Luke arrange the sayings differently.

34. Q (> Quelle) oral or written tradition of transmission Whether written or oral, the Q tradition seems to reflect an early stage in the transmission of the oral tradition in the life of the early Christian communities. Combining the most accepted solution to the synoptic problem with the Q tradition, it would seem that Matthew and Luke used two major, earlier sources, Mark and Q, to compose their respective Gospels. Each used Mark as their baseline outline but modified Mark by reordering material from Mark and inserting the Q material in unique ways. The only form in which Q is preserved is precisely that found in Matthew and Luke, and perhaps the Gospel of Thomas!

35. The four gospels of the New Testament The Gospel of Thomas has 47 parallels to Q (i.e., words common to Matt. & Luke but not in Mark), 17 parallels to Matthew, four to Luke and five to John. Mark written 65-75, Papias (c.a. 130 C.E.) suggests that the Gospel was written by Mark) Matthew written 80-90, Papias names the Gospel Matthew, according to Eusebius. Luke written 80-100, In the 2nd century only, it was suggested that Luke, the companion of Paul is the author. John written 90-100, About 180 C.E., Irenaeus reports a tradition according to which John, son of Zebedee, was the author, although others ascribed it to John the elder in Ephesus, and still other ascribed it to the beloved disciple (mentioned in John).

36. As Jesus taught his disciples In Mark 4:10 When he was alone, the Twelve and others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, ‘and ever hearing but never understanding …’” In Mark 13, Jesus predicts the destruction of Jerusalem. Peter, James, John and Andrew approached him privately, “Tell us, when will all these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to be fulfilled? In Mark 14, Jesus goes to pray in Gethsemane, and he takes with him Peter, James and John. In Mark 15, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Salome go to Jesus’ tomb only to discover that Jesus had arisen. “When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.

37. As Jesus taught his disciples Traditions grew up according to which Jesus taught more or differently to his 12 disciples, if not more or differently to certain of his 12 disciples. Gnosticism, as it developed in Christian circles, made just such a claim. And a gnostic believer was/is one who has gained insight into the secret teachings of Jesus. The Gospel of Thomas begins, “These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded. “ Duccio's Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew

38. Thomas the disciple / apostle / twin Is this Thomas after whom the Gospel of Thomas is named Thomas the disciple, that is, the Doubting Thomas? Is this rather meant to be a twin brother of Jesus? The Gospel of Thomas begins, “These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded. “ Both ‘Didymos’ and ‘Thomas’ mean ‘twin’. Didymus Judas Thomas was revered in the Syrian church as an apostle (Matt. 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15). He was also revered as the twin brother of Jesus (so claimed by the Acts of Thomas, a 3rd-century work). This attribution likely tells us more about where the gospel was written; it tells us nothing about the author!

39. Mystery religions and personal salvation Orphic mysteries or Orphism, religious cult of ancient Greece, prominent in the 6th cent. B.C. According to legend Orpheus founded these mysteries and was the author of the sacred poems from which the Orphic doctrines were drawn. From the ashes of the Titans sprang the human race, who were part divine (Dionysus) and part evil (Titan). This double aspect of human nature, the Dionysian and the Titanic, is essential to the understanding of Orphism. The Orphics affirmed the divine origin of the soul, but it was through initiation into the Orphic Mysteries and through the process of transmigration that the soul could be liberated from its Titanic inheritance and could achieve eternal blessedness. Orphism stressed a strict standard of ethical and moral conduct. Initiates purified themselves and adopted ascetic practices (e.g., abstinence from eating animal flesh) for the purpose of purging evil and cultivating the Dionysian side of the human character.

40. Mystery religions and personal salvation Cult of Osiris (or Sarapis) Ptolemaic adaptation of ancient Egyptian religious tradition of Isis and Osiris. The cult of Osiris had a particularly strong interest towards the concept of immortality. Plutarch recounts one version of the myth surrounding the cult in which Set (Osiris's brother) fooled Osiris into getting into a coffin, which he then shut, had sealed with lead and threw into the Nile. Osiris's wife, Isis, searched for his remains until she finally found him embedded in a tree trunk. She used a spell she had learned from her father and brought him back to life so he could impregnate her. Osiris, lord of the dead. His green skin symbolizes rejuvenation.

41. Mystery religions and personal salvation Cult of Osiris After they finished, he died again, so she hid his body in the desert. Months later, she gave birth to Horus. While she was off raising him, Set had been out hunting one night and he came across the body of Osiris. Enraged, he tore the body into fourteen pieces and scattered them throughout the land. Isis gathered up all the parts of the body, less the phallus which was eaten by a fish thereafter considered taboo by the Egyptians, and bandaged them together for a proper burial. The gods were impressed by the devotion of Isis and thus restored Osiris to life in the form of a different kind of existence as the god of the underworld.

42. Mystery religions and personal salvation Mithraic Mysteries - Mithras This cult came into the Pax Romana from older Hindu myth, but became a “mystery cult”during the Roman second century, especially. In every Mithraic temple, the place of honor was occupied by a tauroctony, a representation of Mithras killing a sacred bull which was associated with spring. Mithras is depicted as an energetic young man, wearing a Phrygian cap, a short tunic that flares at the hem, pants and a cloak which furls out behind him. Mithras grasps the bull so as to force it into submission, with his knee on its back and one hand forcing back its head while he stabs it in the neck with a short sword. The figure of Mithras is usually shown at a diagonal angle and with the face turned forward.

43. Mystery religions and personal salvation Mithraic Mysteries - Mithras Mithraism began to attract attention in Rome around the end of the first century. Statius mentions the typical Mithraic relief in his Thebaid (Book i. 719,720), around 80 CE. The earliest material evidence for the Roman worship of Mithras dates from that period, in a record of Roman soldiers who came from the military garrison at Carnuntum in the Roman province of Upper Pannonia. By the year 200, Mithraism had spread widely through the army, and also among traders and slaves. During festivals all initiates were equals including slaves. The German frontiers have yielded most of the archaeological evidence of its prosperity: small cult objects connected with Mithras turn up in archaeological digs from Romania to Hadrian's Wall.

44. Mystery religions and personal salvation Mithraic Mysteries – Mithras Some commentators surmise that the Mithraists worshipped Mithras as the mediator between Man and the supreme God of the upper and nether world. Other commentators have additionally labeled Mithraism as a mystery religion with a life-death-rebirth deity, comparable to Isis, or Persephone/Demeter, the cult of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Evaluation of the relationship of early Christianity with Mithraism has traditionally been based on the polemical testimonies of the 2nd century Church fathers, such as Justin's accusations that the Mithraists were diabolically imitating the Christians. All three of these mystery religions, whatever else they taught, promised a means to personal salvation beyond the grave.

45. Gnosis and Neo-Platonism Early Christian writers were Platonic or neo-Platonic in character (w/ an admixture of Stoicism). Pagan philosophers attacked the Church and her doctrine. Christian apologists and theologians were inclined to borrow the weapons of their adversaries. In Tertullian's eyes, pagan philosophy was little more than the foolishness of this world, whereas Clement of Alexandria considered it a gift from God, a means of educating the pagan world for Christ. Clement argued that Greek philosophy had been given by God to mankind as a second source of truth, comparable to the Hebrew revelation. He believed, as had Justin Martyr thought before him, that Plato had borrowed his wisdom from Moses and the prophets. Just as Philo of Alexandria had tried to reconcile Greek philosophy with the Old Testament, so Clement tried to reconcile Greek philosophy with the Christian religion. For Clement, Socrates and Plato were not pagan thinkers; they prefigured Christianity.

46. Gnosis and Neo-Platonism Marcianus Aristides, a philosopher of Athens, wrote an apology in 140 CE in which he identifies the designer and mover of the world as the Christian God, of whom he predicates the attributes of eternity, perfection, incomprehensibility, wisdom, and goodness. Justin Martyr wrote later in the second century in his Dialogue with Trypho that philosophy a most precious gift of God, designed to lead man to God. Justin explored Stoicism, then consulted the Peripatetics (inspired after Aristotle), turned next to Pythagorean philosophy, but found his lack of familiarity with music, geometry and astronomy made him ill fit for such study. At last, he turned to the Platonists and their doctrine of the immaterial Ideas with which he was delighted to find it gave him a clear vision of God. Eventually, another Christian showed him the inadequacy of Platonism whereupon Justin adopted a negative and hostile attitude to Greek philosophy.

47. Gnosis and Neo-Platonism Justin associated the neo-Platonic term Demiurge (designer of the world) with God. He also believed that Socrates endeavored to lead people from falsehood into truth, as the instrument of Logos, but was put to death by evil men as an impious atheist. Socrates professed that he did not fear for his immortal soul, believing as he did in reward and punishment after death. Justin saw a parallel with Christians, who follow and obey the Incarnate Logos and who denounce false gods but who are termed atheists. Just as the work of Socrates was a preparation for the complete work of Christ, so the condemnation of Socrates was, as it were, a rehearsal or anticipation of the condemnation of Christ and His followers. Tatian, who was likely a pupil of Justin, maintains that the Word, proceeding from the simple essence of God, does not 'fall into the void', as human words do, but remains in its subsistence and is the divine instrument of creation. In explaining the doctrine of creation, he uses language reminiscient of the Timaeusin respect of the Demiurge.

48. Gnosis and Neo-Platonism Athenagoras wrote a Plea for Christians in 177 CE, addressed to the Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, in which he defends Christians against the three accusations of atheism, cannabalistic feasts and incest. He cites numerous Greek philosophers, including Plato, Aristotle and the Stoics. He quotes Plato in the Timaeus. He proves that there cannot be a multitude of material gods, that God, who forms matter, must transcend matter, that the Cause of perishable must be imperishable and spiritual, and he appeals to the testimony of Plato. Athenagoras, like Justin Martyr, adopts the view that there is one true 'philosophy' or wisdom. It is attained adequately only through the Christian revelation, though Greek philosphers divined something of the truth. Socrates 470 BCE - 399 BCE

49. Gnosis and Neo-Platonism Justin Martyr writing to Roman Senate: And those who by human birth were more ancient than Christ, when they attempted to consider and prove things by reason, were brought before the tribunals as impious persons and busybodies. And Socrates, who was more zealous in this direction than all of them, was accused of the very same crimes as ourselves. For they said that he was introducing new divinities, and did not consider those to be gods whom the state recognized. […] and he exhorted them to become acquainted with the God who was to them unknown, by means of the investigation of reason, […] But these things our Christ did through His own power. For no one trusted in Socrates so as to die for this doctrine, but in Christ, who was partially known even by Socrates (for He was and is the Word who is in every man, and who foretold the things that were to come to pass both through the prophets and in His own person when He was made of like passions, and taught these things) […]

50. Gnosis and Neo-Platonism Justin Martyr writing to Roman Senate (continued): For I myself, too, when I was delighting in the doctrines of Plato, and heard the Christians slandered, and saw them fearless of death, and of all other-things which are counted fearful, perceived that it was impossible that they could be living in wickedness and pleasure. For what sensual or intemperate man, or who that counts it good to feast on human flesh, could welcome death that he might be deprived of his enjoyments, and would not rather continue always the present life […] and we have the unbegotten and ineffable God as witness both of our thoughts and deeds. For why did we not even publicly profess […] that the mysteries of Saturn are performed when we slay a man, and that when we drink our fill of blood, as it is said we do, we are doing what you do before that idol you honor, and on which you sprinkle the blood not only of irrational animals, but also of men, making a libation of the blood of the slain by the hand of the most illustrious and noble man among you?