Michael Crouch
R2 - Revelation 6 - Simple Historical 71CE
updated
Tacitus "Annals" Book 15 Section 44
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Annals/15B*.html
44 1 So far, the precautions taken were suggested by human prudence: now means were sought for appeasing deity, and application was made to the Sibylline books; at the injunction of which public prayers were offered to Vulcan, Ceres, and Proserpine, while Juno was propitiated by the matrons, first in the Capitol, then at the nearest point of the sea-shore, where water was drawn for sprinkling the temple and image of the goddess. Ritual banquets and all-night vigils were celebrated by women in the married state. But neither human help, nor imperial munificence, nor all the modes of placating Heaven, could stifle scandal or dispel the belief that the fire had taken place by order. Therefore, to scotch the rumour, Nero substituted as culprits, and punished with the utmost refinements of cruelty, a class of men, loathed for their vices,27 whom the crowd styled Christians.28 Christus, the founder of the name, had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius, by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilatus,29 and the pernicious superstition was checked for a moment, only to break out once more, not merely in Judaea, the home of the disease, but in the capital itself, where all things horrible or shameful in the world collect and find a vogue. First, then, the confessed members of the sect were arrested; next, on their disclosures, vast p285numbers30 were convicted, not so much on the count of arson as for hatred of the human race.31 And derision accompanied their end: they were covered with wild beasts' skins and torn to death by dogs; or they were fastened on crosses, and, when daylight failed were burned to serve as lamps by night. Nero had offered his Gardens for the spectacle, and gave an exhibition in his Circus, mixing with the crowd in the habit of a charioteer, or mounted on his car. Hence, in spite of a guilt which had earned the most exemplary punishment, there arose a sentiment of pity, due to the impression that they were being sacrificed not for the welfare of the state but to the ferocity of a single man.
Tacitus on Vespasian "Histories" Book 4 Section 81
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Histories/4D*.html
During the months while Vespasian was waiting at Alexandria for the regular season of the summer winds and a settled sea,4 many marvels continued to mark the favour of heaven and a certain partiality of the gods toward him. One of the common people of Alexandria, well known for his loss of sight, threw himself before Vespasian's knees, praying him with groans to cure his blindness, being so directed by the god Serapis, whom this most superstitious of nations worships before all others; and he besought the emperor to deign to moisten his cheeks and eyes with his spittle. Another, whose hand was useless, prompted by the same god, begged Caesar to step and trample on it. Vespasian at first ridiculed these appeals and treated them with p161scorn; then, when the men persisted, he began at one moment to fear the discredit of failure, at another to be inspired with hopes of success by the appeals of the suppliants and the flattery of his courtiers: finally, he directed the physicians to give their opinion as to whether such blindness and infirmity could be overcome by human aid. Their reply treated the two cases differently: they said that in the first the power of sight had not been completely eaten away and it would return if the obstacles were removed; in the other, the joints had slipped and become displaced, but they could be restored if a healing pressure were applied to them. Such perhaps was the wish of the gods, and it might be that the emperor had been chosen for this divine service; in any case, if a cure were obtained, the glory would be Caesar's, but in the event of failure, ridicule would fall only on the poor suppliants. So Vespasian, believing that his good fortune was capable of anything and that nothing was any longer incredible, with a smiling countenance, and amid intense excitement on the part of the bystanders, did as he was asked to do. The hand was instantly restored to use, and the day again shone for the blind man. Both facts are told by eye-witnesses even now when falsehood brings no reward.
Pliny the Younger "Letter to Trajan"
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/pliny.html
Book 6 Chapter 5 Section 3
http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/war-6.htm
Wars of the Jews
Book 6 Chapter 5 Section 3
http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/war-6.htm
Excellent sites on some of these sources below...
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/index.html
http://gnosis.org/naghamm/nhl.html
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/
All of these sources contain multiple books and authors in English, Greek, and Latin.
Ignatius "Letter to the Ephesians"
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/ignatius-ephesians-roberts.html
If there are any questions or objections to this video please place your questions below. I will create another video simply to answer questions on the Ebionites/James/Pilate, or any other theological problem of the Ebionites or Johannine theologies.
The next several videos in this series will be dedicated to the secular mentions. After those mentions, we'll dive back into more theological changes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG3DBw6Gscg
Simple Revelation 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A84toQCWGvY
Revelation 6 (long version part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WZKhU9PEHw
Revelation 6 (long version part 2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL3eOYiRVmM
Apocalypse of Paul
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/ascp.html
Tertullian book V chapter 1
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/tertullian125.html
Wherefore, O shipmaster of Pontus, if you have never taken on board your small craft any contraband goods or smuggler's cargo, if you have never thrown overboard or tampered with a freight, you are still more careful and conscientious, I doubt not, in divine things; and so I should be glad if you would inform us under what bill of lading you admitted the Apostle Paul on board, who ticketed him, what owner forwarded him, who handed him to you, that so you may land him without any misgiving, lest he should turn out to belong to him, who can substantiate his claim to him by producing all his apostolic writings. He professes himself to be "an apostle"--to use his own, words--"not of men, nor by man, but by Jesus Christ." Of course, any one may make a profession concerning himself; but his profession is only rendered valid by the authority of a second person. One man signs, another countersigns; one man appends his seal, another registers in the public records. No one is at once a proposer and a seconder to himself. Besides, you have read, no doubt, that "many shall come, saying, I am Christ." Now if any one can pretend that he is Christ, how much more might a man profess to be an apostle of Christ! But still, for my own part, I appear in the character of a disciple and an inquirer; that so I may even thus both refute your belief, who have nothing to support it, and confound your shamelessness, who make claims without possessing the means of establishing them. Let there be a Christ, let there be an apostle, although of another god; but what matter? since they are only to draw their proofs out of the Testament of the Creator. Because even the book of Genesis so long ago promised me the Apostle Paul. For among the types and prophetic blessings which he pronounced over his sons, Jacob, when he turned his attention to Benjamin, exclaimed, "Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf; in the morning He shall devour the prey, and at night he shall impart nourishment." He foresaw that Paul would arise out of the tribe of Benjamin, a voracious wolf, devouring his prey in the morning: in order words, in the early period of his life he would devastate the Lord's sheep, as a persecutor of the churches; but in the evening he would give them nourishment, which means that in his declining years he would educate the fold of Christ, as the teacher of the Gentiles. Then, again, in Saul's conduct towards David, exhibited first in violent persecution of him, and then in remorse and reparation, on his receiving from him good for evil, we have nothing else than an anticipation of Paul in Saul--belonging, too, as they did, to the same tribe--and of Jesus in David, from whom He descended according to the Virgin's genealogy. Should you, however, disapprove of these types, the Acts of the Apostles," at all events, have handed down to me this career of Paul, which you must not refuse to accept.
Babylonian Talmud Ta'anit 4:6 -
http://cojs.org/cojswiki/Jerusalem_Talmud_Ta%E2%80%99anit_4:6_(68d-69a):_Rabbi_Akiva_and_Bar_Kokhba
It has been taught: R. Jose said: Had Moses not preceded him, Ezra would have been worthy of receiving the Torah for Israel. Of Moses it is written, And Moses went up unto God,51 and of Ezra it is written, He, Ezra, went up from Babylon.52 As the going up of the former refers to the [receiving of the] Law, so does the going up of the latter. Concerning Moses, it is stated: And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments;53 and concerning Ezra, it is stated: For Ezra had prepared his heart to expound the law of the Lord [his God] to do it and to teach Israel statutes and judgments.54
This video may or may not contain images under copyright. Use of these images in this video are for the purpose of education or criticism, and fall under "Fair Use" US Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107
tagging...
http://www.youtube.com/user/AncientAtheist
docs.google.com/open?id=0B5iOafwH4QnuVmpBM0xKWERTUlNIMjFXMzJ1SnlVdw
Synoptic Cross-reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWZJYEGVHvQ
More on Apocalyptic Mark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ_wBSticmM
http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book1.html
VIII. (30) And air and light he considered worthy of the pre-eminence. For the one he called the breath of God, because it is air, which is the most life-giving of things, and of life the causer is God; and the other he called light, because it is surpassingly beautiful: for that which is perceptible only by intellect is as far more brilliant and splendid than that which is seen, as I conceive, the sun is than darkness, or day than night, or the intellect than any other of the outward senses by which men judge (inasmuch as it is the guide of the entire soul), or the eyes than any other part of the body. (31) And the invisible divine reason, perceptible only by intellect, he calls the image of God. And the image of this image is that light, perceptible only by the intellect, which is the image of the divine reason, which has explained its generation. And it is a star above the heavens, the source of those stars which are perceptible by the external senses, and if any one were to call it universal light he would not be very wrong; since it is from that the sun and the moon, and all the other planets and fixed stars derive their due light, in proportion as each has power given to it; that unmingled and pure light being obscured when it begins to change, according to the change from that which is perceptible only by the intellect, to that which is perceptible by the external senses; for none of those things which are perceptible to the external senses is pure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP2InFa16D0
http://evolutionsofchristianity.blogspot.com
http://evolutionsofchristianity.blogspot.com
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/theophilus-book2.html
Chapter 15:
In like manner also the three days which were before the luminaries, are types of the Trinity, of God, and His Word, and His wisdom. And the fourth is the type of man, who needs light, that so there may be God, the Word, wisdom, man.
Matthew 11:19
19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! And wisdom is justified by her works.
Luke 7:34-35
34 The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold, a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! 35 And wisdom is justified of all her children.
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/papias.html
And the presbyter said this. Mark having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately whatsoever he remembered. It was not, however, in exact order that he related the sayings or deeds of Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor accompanied Him. But afterwards, as I said, he accompanied Peter, who accommodated his instructions to the necessities [of his hearers], but with no intention of giving a regular narrative of the Lord's sayings. Wherefore Mark made no mistake in thus writing some things as he remembered them. For of one thing he took especial care, not to omit anything he had heard, and not to put anything fictitious into the statements. [This is what is related by Papias regarding Mark; but with regard to Matthew he has made the following statements]: Matthew put together the oracles [of the Lord] in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as best he could. [The same person uses proofs from the First Epistle of John, and from the Epistle of Peter in like manner. And he also gives another story of a woman who was accused of many sins before the Lord, which is to be fount in the Gospel according to the Hebrews.]
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/papias.html
Q Source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_source
Jerusalem School Hypothesis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_school_hypothesis
Marcion Priority Hypothesis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Epikouros/Marcion_hypothesis
Got Questions? I'll do my best to try and answer them. ;-D
Philo "On Dreams"
http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book21.html
Summary of a Complex Theological understanding of Revelation 12. The original video still exists, and can be found below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ5eX47N4xk
This video may or may not contain images under copyright. Use of these images in this video are for the purpose of education or criticism, and fall under "Fair Use" US Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107
I require to know of Marcion the origin of his apostles even--I, who am to some degree a new disciple? the follower of no other master; who at the same time can believe nothing, except that nothing ought to be believed hastily (and that I may further say is hastily believed, which is believed without any examination of its beginning); in short, I who have the best reason possible for bringing this inquiry to a most careful solution, since a man is affirmed to me to be an apostle whom I do not find mentioned in the Gospel in the catalogue, of the apostles.
Wherefore, O shipmaster of Pontus, if you have never taken on board your small craft any contraband goods or smuggler's cargo, if you have never thrown overboard or tampered with a freight, you are still more careful and conscientious, I doubt not, in divine things; and so I should be glad if you would inform us under what bill of lading you admitted the Apostle Paul on board, who ticketed him, what owner forwarded him, who handed him to you, that so you may land him without any misgiving, lest he should turn out to belong to him, who can substantiate his claim to him by producing all his apostolic writings. He professes himself to be "an apostle"--to use his own, words--"not of men, nor by man, but by Jesus Christ." Of course, any one may make a profession concerning himself; but his profession is only rendered valid by the authority of a second person.
Should you, however, disapprove of these types, the Acts of the Apostles," at all events, have handed down to me this career of Paul, which you must not refuse to accept.
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%2012&version=NIV
Galatians 2:1-21
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+2&version=ASV
Keep those questions coming. My personal cutoff date is Plato. I'd prefer my cutoff to be Philo, but Plato is unavoidable. All theologies are affected by Gnosticism. So, Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, Roman, Jewish, and any other religion you can think of that is under Greek control after Alexander, are subject to the effects of Gnosticism.
Theophilus of Antioch Book 2 Chapter 15
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/theophilus-book2.html
Philo "On Dreams"
http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book21.html
Philo "On the Creation"
http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book1.html
Plato "Timaeus"
http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/timaeus.html
Justin Martyr "First Apology" LXI
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/justinmartyr-dialoguetrypho.html
Justin Martyr "Discourse to the Greeks" Ch V
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/justinmartyr-discourse.html
Irenaeus "Fragments" LIII and LIV
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/irenaeus-fragments.html
Apocryphon of John
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/apocjn-long.html
Gospel of John chapter 1:1-14
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1&version=NIV
Gnosticism Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism
Baruch 3:23-37
http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/baruch.html
I'm going to do more live videos, to answer any questions I possibly can. ;-D
Jewish Gnosticism:
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6723-gnosticism
Got Questions? I'll do my best to try and answer them. ;-D
I wanted to try and add clarity to why it is I'm going through Marcion's Priority and the Book of Revelation. Also, some questions are answered I hope. And on Revelation, once I'm done with the first part, this thing will take a very sharp turn.
Summary of the Simple Historical understanding of Revelation 8. Complexities will be addressed in later videos.
Detailed Revelation 8:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6SgYn4xjmQ
Letters to Tacitus (Pliny the Younger)
http://www.mummytombs.com/pompeii/primary.pliny.htm
This video may or may not contain images under copyright. Use of these images in this video are for the purpose of education or criticism, and fall under "Fair Use" US Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107
Gospel of Marcion (Luke Parallel numbering):
http://www.gnosis.org/library/marcionsection.htm
Irenaeus on Marcion:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.ix.ii.xxviii.html
This video may or may not contain images under copyright. Use of these images in this video are for the purpose of education or criticism, and fall under "Fair Use" US Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107
It is my intention with this series, to present every piece of evidence that is favor of Marcion's Synoptic Priority. In essence, the evidence that supports Marcion being earlier than Mark, Matthew, and Luke. John is generally not a part of this group, though John is assumed to be earlier, with redactions much later. So parts of John are prior to Marcion, parts are not.
Synoptic Spreadsheet:
docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApiOafwH4QnudHplSURIOFpjZ3lOa2FwM0htRGZ4VUE
This video may or may not contain images under copyright. Use of these images in this video are for the purpose of education or criticism, and fall under "Fair Use" US Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107
Gospel of Marcion (Luke Parallel numbering):
http://www.gnosis.org/library/marcionsection.htm
This video may or may not contain images under copyright. Use of these images in this video are for the purpose of education or criticism, and fall under "Fair Use" US Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107