spin

Just noticed, Sergius Paulus the so-called "proconsul" of Cyprus (13:7) was never a consul. Cyprus was obviously a senatorial province, so how could the senate have ever appointed a non-consul as a proconsul? While the fundies are fabricating proconsuls, what do they have to say about this one?


spin

aa5874

Well, if it was the author's intention to write Acts of the Apostles to make it seem that it was written BEFORE the Fall of the Temple then it would be expected that the author would not mention that he was AWARE the Temple had ALREADY been destroyed.

The benefactor of the "history" (fiction) in Acts of the Apostles is the 4th century Roman Church

And only if Paul REALLY lived was ACTUALLY executed could the author of Acts have mentioned the execution of "Paul".

Now, the primary benefactor of the "history" ( really fiction) in Acts of the Apostles is the 4th century Roman Church.

Who needed to show that the bishops of the Church of Rome was linked to Peter?

But, Peter was a fictitious character.

mountainman

And Peter was frightened,
for how did he know
that his name was Peter?


-- The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles (NHC 6.1)

The books of the Gnostic Acts of the Apostles, perhaps authored by an unknown Leucius Charinus, provide a great deal of textual narratives over and above those found in the NT canonical books (eg: the apostolic martyrdoms, Travels and Exploits, daring deeds, etc). These Gnostic books are also fiction (wild and romantic, with ascetic discourses), based on the fiction of the canon and its cast of characters.

Peter was popularised in Rome by the thug, militarist, Bishop, Pope and Pontifex Maximus Damasius soon after Julian's death.
Damasius successfully renovated and ran the Vatican and Catacomb tourist trade in bones and relics. Jerome was his "pupil".
The advertisement "PETER WAS HERE" has made certain parties rich for some time.

Toto

How do you know he was never a consul? We don't seem to know much about him.

The Christians claim

spin

We know who the consuls were for the entirety of the Roman empire. Check List of Roman consuls for example.


spin

Without a more precise reference to the Soli inscription I can't really say much about it.

Steven Carr

http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pd...vanelderen.pdf has more on the inscriptions

Solo

There was an inscription found at Silo near Paphos in 1870's with Paulus name on it and a title of "proconsul". There may have been two officials with the same name "Sergius Paulus" and title of "proconsul" in Cyprus or Acts were written much later date than supposed.

Best,
Jiri

spin

I've looked for more information about the inscription that is claimed links Sergius Paulus to Cyprus.

From this old book it would seem that the inscription no longer exists, that it was used as a threshold to someone's store in 1880 and was being worn away then.

Here's a copy of the text:



and a translation:

'Apollonius to his father … son of … and to his mother Artemidora daughter of … consecrated the enclosure and this monument according to your own (i. e. his parents') commands … having filled the offices of clerk of the market, prefect, town-clerk, high priest, and having been in charge of the record-office. Erected on the 25th of the month Demarchexusius in the year. 13. He also revised the senate by means of assessors in the time of the proconsul Paulus.'

Our writer comments on the text:

The last two lines and a half after the date are proved, both by their matter and by the use of a different form of xi, to be later additions, inscribed afterwards to complete the list of Apollonius' offices.

We should also note that there was a large lacuna on the right of the text, so that "proconsul", ανθυπατος, is actually only ..]πατος (here ..]πατου). I saw one source give the date of the inscription as the 13th year [of Claudius], but beyond the thirteenth year it is merely tendentious conjecture.

In an appendix the writer discounts the possibility that the particular Paulus was Paullus Fabius Maximus (consul 11 BCE), though he is arguing against three other scholars of the time who supported Paullus Fabius Maximus.

The inscription doesn't help us in any direction. I think the fact that this Sergius Paullus was never a consul should end the matter, but we aren't dealing with evidence here, but willingness to believe.


spin

PhilosopherJay

Hi Spin,

Good catch.

According to wikipedia - Paulus is a Roman family name meaning "small" or "humble" in Latin.
Again, according to wikipedia: Sergius was a name of a Roman Patrician Gens originally from Alba Longa.

(from behindthenames.com) possibly meaning "servant" in Latin but most likely of unknown Etruscan origin.

This information that both Sergius and Paulus were the names of ancient patrician families that continued throughout ancient Roman history, plus the archeological findings of several inscriptions with the name Paulus on them, allow us to say that it is definitely probable that Acts, because it used the named Sergius Paulus (meannig roughly "humble servant"), was written between 500 B.C.E. and 400 C.E. Unfortunately, the commonness of the names do not allow us to pinpoint the date any more accurately.

Warmly,

Philosopher Jay

andrewcriddle

Are you sure about this in the imperial period ? livius.org says Other internet sites make similar claims though I haven't found a good primary source.

Andrew Criddle