stephan huller

The Inscription of Pectorius in Classical Greek (In The Museum of Autun)

Divine offspring of the heavenly Fish, preserve a reverent heart when thou takest the drink of immortality that is given among mortals. Comfort thy soul, beloved, with the ineffable fountains, in the never-failing waters of Wisdom, giver of riches. Take the honey-sweet food of the Saviour of saints and eat it with hunger, holding the Fish in thy hands. Fill me with the Fish, I pray thee, Lord Saviour.

May my mother sleep well, I pray thee, Light of the dead.

Aschandius my father, dearly beloved of my heart, with my sweet mother and my brethren, remember thy Pectorius in the peace of the Fish.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...FIeisQPCjbGaDA (3rd century)

Sheshbazzar

Reads like a carp cult.

avi

><:notworthy:

avi

mountainman

It is a fair comment that perhaps, in the Inscription of Pectorius, it is just as likely that we are uncovering the historical roots of the "Nemo Cult", as it is to suspect that we are uncovering the historical roots of the "Christian Cult". But I am sure many readers would be wondering how this absurd state of affairs came about in an historical sense?

Books and authorities about the subject matter of this and other threads - namely, "Christian Archaeology" were very rare or non existent two centuries ago. But then a great deal of important, shall we say, research, was undertaken by a collection of very influential people, and a vast collection of material was published, in a relatively short period, which was to ignite the minds and the ambitions of "Christian Academic scientific-related scholarship" for centuries.


Many people are still being deluded by expensively published officialese academic pomp.


Who founded the "Science of early Christian archaeology?

This is what Graydon Snyder reports in Ante pacem: archaeological evidence of church
life before Constantine:


19th century Papal authority should be re-examined

In other words, readers should be able to see for themselves that the foundational work of establishing very large and impressively researched citations indexes and scholarly registers in respect of "Early Christian Inscriptions" was sponsored by Pope Pius IX. Since then a number of the earliest citations registered by de Rossi have been removed from the register on account of them being identified as forgeries.

We could work slowly backwards from the 19th century and review the history of the Roman Christian Church, but I would prefer to step over the intervening centuries of darkened humanity and move back to its origins ...

Who in antiquity started the Roman Church & Catacomb Tour Business in Rome?

Who's army was successful in battling with the armies of competing bishops in the streets of Rome for "The Business"?
Who was the first to undertake huge renovations of the Roman catacombs for "The Business"?
Who was the first to establish the tourist business "Peter was Here in Rome" for "The Business"?
Who was the first christian bishop to also assume the role of "Pontifex Maximus" for "The Business"?

Who was the tutor of the Latin Vulgate translator Jerome for "The Business"?

He flourished after Julian's death in the later 4th century.

He flourished well after Nicaea, but still under the "spiritual authority" of the 318 Nicaean "Fathers", those legendary and intrepid people who formed, (under the "spiritual authority of Constantine), "The State Business itself".

His name was Pope Damasius I.

stephan huller

This is the best you guys can do? It never once occurs to any of you that you might be buying into a stupid theory?

avi

icthus, Aristotle.

Question is, what role did fish play, in Greek culture and civilization?

? why did Aristotle place whales and dolphins in the same category as fish? dolphins, in particular, were essential to some fishing activities of the ancient Greeks.

Greek Gods associated with fish? Aren't there some, or one, or more?

Why was Jonas swallowed by a whale? (and not a dragon, for example)

is it really so unusual to find Greek mosaics with fish as a theme?

is there something about the text that points uniquely to a Christian orientation, and not some other philosophy? it is a fish fable. Greeks like fish. end of story.

avi

mountainman

Are you subservient to the authority of the Pope? Did you read the summary about Pope Pius IX and de Rossi? You have no comment. Fair enough.

If your interested in my opinion, plenty of times. I am reminded continually by responses here and elsewhere that it might be a very simple and stupid theory. Whether it is simple and stupid enough to be an accurate historical theory however, only time and the value of the assessment of evidence will tell.

stephan huller

What are you working on plans to build a time machine? That's one way to help establish the evidence that history didn't produce the first time around.

spamandham

Stephen, I'm not arguing that the evidence you have submitted is not Christian in origin, I think it probably is.

....but what does this tell us when the earliest physical evidence is all about magic fish food that we really see very little inkling of in the NT? I'm having a hard time squaring these fish obsessed Christian cults with the standard theory of the gospels as we know them being penned in the 1st, or even 2nd centuries. Something odd is at play, even if Pete's idea holds no water.

stephan huller

As I said elsewhere the fish symbolizes the Jubilee. That's why it is called the gospel. The fish symbol isn't in the gospel because it is the gospel.