Kookaburra Jack
14 Apr 2009, 04:13 AM
G'Day First Post here,
On other internet fora I appear under a different handle.
The messenger and the message should not be conflated.
I welcome all responses and wish all well.
If life is like the waves then my advice is:
"Keep paddling into them". :)
"May Socrates critical questioning be no longer
seen as a menace to the state of "christendom".
SIG = Special Interest Group sought.
I seek to prepare a thesis in the field of ancient history that the New Testament Apocrypha were authored as a reaction to Nicaea c.325 CE. I am seeking the possibility of collaborative discussions in this matter. I am prepared to discuss the evidence for and against the above proposition or hypothesis in a logical and systematic manner, with reference to the source material whenever available.
The "other books" of the new testament literature have always been interpretted as being authored by "christians" because of the pervasive references to the new testament canon right throughout the non canonical books body of literature. The NT apocrypha mimic the canon.
I will start with an overview of summary comments concerning the following question:
What are the new testament apocrypha
insipid and puerile amplifications" [Ernest Renan]
"excluded by their later and radical light" [John Dominic Crossan]
"severely conditoned responses to Jesus ... usually these authors deny his humanity" [Robert M. Grant]
"they exclude themselves" [M.R. James]
"The practice of Christian forgery has a long and distinguished history" [Bart Ehrman]
"The Leucian Acts are Hellenistic romances, which were written to appeal to the masses" [Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard]
"The key point ... [NT Apocrypha] have all been long ago considered and rejected by the Church.
"The names of apostles ... were used by obscure writers to palm off their productions; partly to embellish and add to ... partly to invent ... partly to support false doctrines; decidedly pernicious, ... nevertheless contain much that is interesting and curious ... they were given a place which they did not deserve." [Tischendorf]
"Gnostic texts use parody and satire quite frequently ... making fun of traditional biblical beliefs"[April Deconick]
"heretics ... who were chiefly Gnostics ... imitated the books of the New Testament" [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
"enterprising spirits ... pretended Gospels full of romantic fables and fantastic and striking details, their fabrications were eagerly read and largely accepted as true by common folk who were devoid of any critical faculty and who were predisposed to believe what so luxuriously fed their pious curiosity." "the heretical apocryphists, composed spurious Gospels in order to trace backward their beliefs and peculiarities to Christ Himself." [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
"the fabrication of spurious Acts of the Apostles was, in general, to give Apostolic support to heretical systems, especially those of the many sects which are comprised under the term Gnosticism. The Gnostic Acts of Peter, Andrew, John, Thomas, and perhaps Matthew, abound in extravagant and highly coloured marvels, and were interspersed by long pretended discourses of the Apostles which served as vehicles for the Gnostic predications. The originally Gnostic apocryphal Acts were gathered into collections which bore the name of the periodoi (Circuits) or praxeis (Acts) of the Apostles, and to which was attached the name of a Leucius Charinus, who may have formed the compilation." [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
SOURCE data (http://www.mountainman.com.au/essenes/Apocrypha_NT_Summaries.htm)
On other internet fora I appear under a different handle.
The messenger and the message should not be conflated.
I welcome all responses and wish all well.
If life is like the waves then my advice is:
"Keep paddling into them". :)
"May Socrates critical questioning be no longer
seen as a menace to the state of "christendom".
SIG = Special Interest Group sought.
I seek to prepare a thesis in the field of ancient history that the New Testament Apocrypha were authored as a reaction to Nicaea c.325 CE. I am seeking the possibility of collaborative discussions in this matter. I am prepared to discuss the evidence for and against the above proposition or hypothesis in a logical and systematic manner, with reference to the source material whenever available.
The "other books" of the new testament literature have always been interpretted as being authored by "christians" because of the pervasive references to the new testament canon right throughout the non canonical books body of literature. The NT apocrypha mimic the canon.
I will start with an overview of summary comments concerning the following question:
What are the new testament apocrypha
insipid and puerile amplifications" [Ernest Renan]
"excluded by their later and radical light" [John Dominic Crossan]
"severely conditoned responses to Jesus ... usually these authors deny his humanity" [Robert M. Grant]
"they exclude themselves" [M.R. James]
"The practice of Christian forgery has a long and distinguished history" [Bart Ehrman]
"The Leucian Acts are Hellenistic romances, which were written to appeal to the masses" [Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard]
"The key point ... [NT Apocrypha] have all been long ago considered and rejected by the Church.
"The names of apostles ... were used by obscure writers to palm off their productions; partly to embellish and add to ... partly to invent ... partly to support false doctrines; decidedly pernicious, ... nevertheless contain much that is interesting and curious ... they were given a place which they did not deserve." [Tischendorf]
"Gnostic texts use parody and satire quite frequently ... making fun of traditional biblical beliefs"[April Deconick]
"heretics ... who were chiefly Gnostics ... imitated the books of the New Testament" [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
"enterprising spirits ... pretended Gospels full of romantic fables and fantastic and striking details, their fabrications were eagerly read and largely accepted as true by common folk who were devoid of any critical faculty and who were predisposed to believe what so luxuriously fed their pious curiosity." "the heretical apocryphists, composed spurious Gospels in order to trace backward their beliefs and peculiarities to Christ Himself." [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
"the fabrication of spurious Acts of the Apostles was, in general, to give Apostolic support to heretical systems, especially those of the many sects which are comprised under the term Gnosticism. The Gnostic Acts of Peter, Andrew, John, Thomas, and perhaps Matthew, abound in extravagant and highly coloured marvels, and were interspersed by long pretended discourses of the Apostles which served as vehicles for the Gnostic predications. The originally Gnostic apocryphal Acts were gathered into collections which bore the name of the periodoi (Circuits) or praxeis (Acts) of the Apostles, and to which was attached the name of a Leucius Charinus, who may have formed the compilation." [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
SOURCE data (http://www.mountainman.com.au/essenes/Apocrypha_NT_Summaries.htm)