schilling.klaus

The context that Bolland is developing certainly is not the same
as the one in which St. Augustine made the statement.

As most classical quotations at the beginning of a chapter,
St. Augustine's statement serves at best as a captatio benevolentiae.

Bolland's gist of this quote is justthat christianity did not suddenly
appear from naught at a certain point of time.

The quote is embedded in the course of developing the parallels between
Christianity and in particular Orphic mysteries, using also famous
classic scholars like Solomon Reinach and Diels. Bolland was very
consequent in his observations, in a rigor that lacks in the works
of most mainline scholars.

As shown by Bolland throughout his works, the Christian story is the
result of the confluence of Orphic and Mithraic mysteries, Hermetic
philosophy, and Hellenised Judaism in Alexandria after the destruction
of Jerusalem and the Temple.

Klaus Schilling

yalla

http://www.iidb.org/vbb/showthread.p...us#post2762846

In the thread linked above I posted this:
"Some time ago I noticed that Melito of Sardis appeared to claim that Christianity was current at the time of Augustus.
"Apology to Emperor marcus Aurelius Antoninus" 61..."for this philosophy current with us...during the distinguished reign of thy ancestor Augustus."


jakejonesiv posted this:

"According to Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., l. Chapter XXVI, 7, Melito wrote:
7 Again he adds the following: "For our philosophy formerly flourished among the Barbarians; but having sprung up among the nations under thy rule, during the great reign of thy ancestor Augustus, it became to thine empire especially a blessing of auspicious omen. For from that time the power of the Romans has grown in greatness and splendor. To this power thou hast succeeded, as the desired possessor, and such shalt thou continue with thy son, if thou guardest the philosophy which grew up with the empire and which came into existence with Augustus; that philosophy which thy ancestors also honored along with the other religions.

8 And a most convincing proof that our doctrine flourished for the good of an empire happily begun, is this-that there has no evil happened since Augustus' reign, but that, on the contrary, all things have been splendid and glorious, in accordance with the prayers of all.

9 Nero and Domitian, alone, persuaded by certain calumniators, have wished to slander our doctrine, and from them it has come to pass that the falsehood has been handed down, in consequence of an unreasonable practice which prevails of bringing slanderous accusations against the Christians."

Note the bold bit.
Melito is dating the rise in christianity to a period decades before the gospels dating.

Clivedurdle

For the avoidance of doubt.

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

Chili

If the -ity in Christianity depticts a condition of being that is real it must be native to mankind and the most basic and greatest of all human rights to return to that state of mind.

Religion now becomes the method to arrive there wherefore comparative mythology is possible, knowing that the end is universal and the means to this end are the various ways to arrive at this end (vehicles they are sometimes called), which is not the same as saying that the end is the same in content.

Augustine was justifying the archetypal nature of the event which is something that requires a genesis to be done. This would be how a true relgion can be recognized wherein the believer can come full circle with his own origin and I believe that this is where Catholicsm will never be out-done by another. So where are all your Shakespeares?