ChandraRama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serapis

Followers of Serapis were called Christians as demonstrated in a letter from Emperor Hadrian to Servianus, 134. (Quoted by Giles, ii p86)

Egypt, which you commended to me, my dearest Servianus, I have found to be wholly fickle and inconsistent, and continually wafted about by every breath of fame. The worshipers of Serapis (here) are called Christians, and those who are devoted to the god Serapis (I find), call themselves Bishops of Christ.

Roger Pearse

This has been discussed several times before in this forum. A fuller and more accurate quotation would make clear that Hadrian is not saying that people who worship Serapis are known as 'Christians', but that people in Alexandria are very insincere and call themselves anything, even members of groups known to be mutually hostile -- 'Jews' who are astrologers, 'Christians' who are found worshipping Serapis, etc. The excerpt is from Phlegon.

The misquotation above is derived from the real text which is in the Augustan History, the 4 usurpers Firmus etc, chapter 8. The Latin is also available there.

From Hadrian Augustus to Servianus22 the consul, greeting. The land of Egypt, the praises of which you have been recounting to me, my dear Servianus, I have found to be wholly light-minded, unstable, and blown about by every breath of rumour. 2There those who worship Serapis are, in fact, Christians, and those who call themselves bishops of Christ are, in fact, devotees of Serapis. 3There is no chief of the Jewish synagogue, no Samaritan, no Christian presbyter, who is not an astrologer, a soothsayer, or an anointer. 4Even the Patriarch himself, when he comes to Egypt, is forced by some to worship Serapis, p401by others to worship Christ. 5They are a folk most seditious, most deceitful, most given to injury; but their city is prosperous, rich, and fruitful, and in it no one is idle. 6Some are blowers of glass, others makers of paper, all are at least weavers of linen23 or seem to belong to one craft or another; the lame have their occupations, the eunuchs have theirs, the blind have theirs, and not even those whose hands are crippled are idle. 7Their only god is money, and this the Christians, the Jews, and, in fact, all nations adore.

All of which highlights the value of Wikipedia on topics of controversy.

All the best,

Roger Pearse

yummyfur

You think someone at wikipedia could have given a better citation. I mean that cite doesn't even have a book title as Giles is a 19th century translator not a title!

The source for the above is from the "Historia Augusta" a collection of 30 biographies of emperors, written by an assortment authors, and of highly variable quality, much could be fiction. the qoute above removes an important last portion of a sentence, that totally changes it's meaning.


"But, lest any Egyptian be angry with me, thinking that what I have set forth in writing is solely my own, I will cite one of Hadrian's letters, taken from the works of his freedman Phlegon, which fully reveals the character of the Egyptians.

From Hadrian Augustus to Servianus the consul, greeting. The land of Egypt, the praises of which you have been recounting to me, my dear Servianus, I have found to be wholly light-minded, unstable, and blown about by every breath of rumor. There those who worship Serapis are, in fact, Christians, and those who call themselves bishops of Christ are, in fact, devotees of Serapis. There is no chief of the Jewish synagogue, no Samaritan, no Christian presbyter, who is not an astrologer, a soothsayer, or an anointer. Even the Patriarch himself, when he comes to Egypt, is forced by some to worship Serapis, by others to worship Christ. They are a folk most seditious, most deceitful, most given to injury; but their city is prosperous, rich, and fruitful, and in it no one is idle. Some are blowers of glass, others makers of paper, all are at least weavers of linen or seem to belong to one craft or another; the lame have their occupations, the eunuchs have theirs, the blind have theirs, and not even those whose hands are crippled are idle. Their only god is money, and this the Christians, the Jews, and, in fact, all nations adore. And would that this city had a better character, for indeed it is worthy by reason of its richness and by reason of its size to hold the chief place in the whole of Egypt. I granted it every favor, I restored to it all its ancient rights and bestowed on it new ones besides, so that the people gave thanks to me while I was present among them. Then, no sooner had I departed thence than they said many things against my son Verus, and what they said about Antinous I believe you have learned. I can only wish for them that they may live on their own chickens, which they breed in a fashion I am ashamed to describe [i.e. by incubating the eggs in dung-heaps]. I am sending you over some cups, changing color and variegated, presented to me by the priest of a temple and now dedicated particularly to you and my sister. I should like you to use them at banquets on feast-days. Take good care, however, that our dear Africanus does not use them too freely."

yummyfur

On a second note, on reading this letter, isn't it contradicting facts about Hadrian? Not sure if these "facts" about Hadrian come solely from "Historia Augusta" or not, which could mean the letter is real but "Historia Augusta" is wrong on some of it's facts or if this information is outside of "Historia Augusta" the letter is fake.

The letter is written to Servianus, and addresses him as consul, the letter also mentions a son Verus.

Servianus is consul for year 134

Servianus is executed by Hadrian in 136

Hadrian adopts Lucius Ceionius Commodus as his son after the execution in 136 Ceionius dies two years later

Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius who Hadrian makes adopt Marcus Annius Verus( Marcus Aurelius) sometime in 138

Hadrian dies 138

How are the contents of the letter possible, if the above sequences are true? In 134 when Servianus is consul, Hadrian has no son(technically grandson) named Verus. By the time Hadrian has a grandson named Verus, Servianus is dead, so no one to write a letter to. The letter also seems implausible since it implies that Hadrian was in Egypt after he adopted Verus, which seems unlikely as he was not in good shape and not much time before his death.

triffidfood

So, devotees of Serapis called themselves "Bishops of Christ" and followers (presumbly) of 'Christ' chose to worship Serapis?

Since Christianity supposedly started in places such as Alexandria (this was one of it's original heartlands, I believe?), wouldn't you expect it's followers to have a much clearer sense of self identity and self-definition than this?

Doesn't the fact that this quote (if it's authentic) suggests a large degree of interchangability between the two beliefs simply reinforce the idea of Xianity as a syncretic religion, borrowing heavily from the beliefs and culture of its time, and therefore in many respects not being very clearly distinguishable from these (i.e. from these pre existing or contemporary beliefs)?

jeffevnz

Not to derail, but is this letter Eusebius-independent? It might serve as pre-Nicaean evidence of Xtianity for the doubting Thomases out there.

Roger Pearse

The letter is found in the Augustan History, a text which is very dubious. I gather that scholars today are pretty much agreed that it was composed, not by 6 authors as it professes, but by a single author some time in the 4th century. There is a mention of such a composition by Gregory Nazianzen, but I'm not up on the scholarship and don't know whether this is accepted as referring to it.

The man who invented the "Eusebius invented all Christian literature in all languages prior to 315 AD" did so out of malice only. Tertullian commented in his Apologeticum in support of Christianity that it was the vilest elements in society who were opposed to it, not the best.

All the best,

Roger Pearse

mountainman

"[the fourth century was]
the great age of literary forgery,
the extent of which has yet to be exposed"

...[and]...

"not until the mass of inventions
labelled 'Eusebius' shall be exposed,
can the pretended references to Christians
in Pagan writers of the first three centuries
be recognized for the forgeries they are."


--- Edwin Johnson, "Antiqua Mater: A Study of Christian Origins"

So Edwin Johnson is a malicious scholar?

And show me a christian apologist who refrains from calumny
and I'll show you a transcendental christian.



Pete Brown
www.mountainman.com.au

andrewcriddle

The letter occurs in the life of the usurper Saturninus, one of the numerous 'minor lives' in the Augustan Histories.

It is generally agreed that whereas the 'major lives' of the legitimate Emperors are a mixture of fact and fiction the 'minor lives' are mostly sheer fantasy.

It may be relevant that the author of the Augustan Histories seems to have had an agenda of slyly poking fun at Christianity.

Andrew Criddle