Freethought & Rationalism Archive

triffidfood · 04-22-2006, 07:13 PM

I was wondering about something I read on alt.religion (Google Groups), describing an exhibition about Antioch, Judaism & Xianity ~ the quote is from a Group posting here: http://groups.google.co.uk/group/alt...a+antioch+jews .. and the quote is as follows:

Quote:

A series of curse tablets from the 3rd and 4th centuries C.E. were balanced by an architectural boss carved with a Christogram -- the first two letters of Christ in Greek, X (Chi) and P (Rho) -- flanked by the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and omega, a reference to Revelation 21:6: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end . . . " Such a medallion placed on the wall of a home would identify the residence of a Christian. It would also indicate that the dwelling was under the protection of Jesus against the kind of evil invoked in the curse tablets.

Okay, it's no big deal that there were Xians in Antioch in the 3rd and 4th centuries, I'm not really concerned about that as such, it's more the significance of the two Greek letters I was wondering about.

Setting aside the context of the Alpha & Omega symbols for a moment, if you took the other two symbols in isolation ("X (Chi) and P (Rho)"), would they necessarily always have originally been intended to represent the Xian 'Christ'? Could they have been used, in other contexts, to represent "Chrestos" instead, or maybe even something else entirely? (Obviously, they could, anything's possible ... I mean is this likely, is there any evidence for other possibilities?)

I think I understand the differences between christos & chrestos in terms of the meanings of the words (Christos: messiah, supposedly translated from "anointed", actually meaning "ointment" ... Chrestos as in a given name usually meaning "good", "useful" or "helpful" (I think?)) .. but, I'm confused about how these two would have been actually used, in comparison to each other, in the first 3 or 4 centuries CE.

What's the actual evidence for the use of Chrestos, was it applied to deities, or simply to people (to freed slaves, etc)? How did the uses of the two words (christos & chrestos) actually compare, in so far as we have any sort of evidence?

Thanks for any input......

Toto · 04-23-2006, 12:34 AM

The Chi Rho symbol is usually dated to Constantine, who allegedly saw it in a dream and used it as a military symbol.

There is a recent thread on Chrestos and Christos, which were often confused. They would have been pronounced the same in Koine Greek after about the second century.

Phlox Pyros · 04-23-2006, 04:51 PM

The chi / rho symbol appears to predate Constantine, although he probably adopted it, which allowed the symbol to flourish. This symbol is found in what appear to be Christian tombs before the time of Constantine.

See the back of Jack Finegan's The Archeology of the New Testament for more information (or via: amazon.co.uk).

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04-23-2006, 12:34 AM	#2
Toto Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles area Posts: 40,549	The Chi Rho symbol is usually dated to Constantine, who allegedly saw it in a dream and used it as a military symbol. There is a recent thread on Chrestos and Christos, which were often confused. They would have been pronounced the same in Koine Greek after about the second century.

04-23-2006, 04:51 PM	#3
Phlox Pyros Banned Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: 7th Heaven Posts: 406	The chi / rho symbol appears to predate Constantine, although he probably adopted it, which allowed the symbol to flourish. This symbol is found in what appear to be Christian tombs before the time of Constantine. See the back of Jack Finegan's The Archeology of the New Testament for more information (or via: amazon.co.uk).

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