Iskander

It is a joy to read your posts.

stephan huller

The concept of Yesh is at the heart of the most fundamental Jewish concept - the creation out of nothing

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayin_and_Yesh

stephan huller

No one speaks up for the tradition that Jesus was a divine hypostasis. I think it was original. Justin puzzles me. I am not convinced that Against Marcion was originally written against Marcion. I think Tertullian took a treatise FOR the idea that Jesus was the witnessed by the divine scriptures systematically reworked by Irenaeus and then Tertullian into an argument against Marcion (notice the text behind Book Three was reworked by Tertullian “against the Jews”; the same thing is present in Book Five)

I don't thinkthe historical Justin was that far removed from Marcion

stephan huller

Another important mystical source text:

This is fundamental to Alexandrian Christianity:

DiamondH

Yesh not.

stephan huller

Another important mystic idea from Philo explained:

Philo equates the Logos with topos. He must be identifying yesh as the Logos (= Jesus).

stephan huller

Philo clearly believes the Logos is here in one of words of Genesis 2:8. From Allegorical Interpretation 1

XIV. (43) "And God planted a paradise in Eden, in the east: and there he placed the man whom he had Formed:"{8}{#ge 2:8.} for he called that divine and heavenly wisdom by many names; and he made it manifest that it had many appellations; for he called it the beginning, and the image, and the sight of God. And now he exhibits the wisdom which is conversant about the things of the earth (as being an imitation of this archetypal wisdom), in the plantation of this Paradise.

stephan huller

From the Wikipedia page on Philo view of God (I'm just trying to nail down the ultimate proof that Philo knew yesh (“there”) = the Logos

Similarly God cannot exist or change in space. He has no "where" (πού, obtained by changing the accent in Gen. iii. 9: "Adam, where [ποῡ] art thou?"), is not in any place. He is Himself the place; the dwelling-place of God means the same as God Himself, as in the Mishnah = "God is" (comp. Freudenthal, "Hellenistische Studien," p.*73), corresponding to the tenet of Greek philosophy that the existence of all things is summed up in God.

stephan huller

The ultimate proof was sitting right in front of my eyes in what followed my last citation from Allegorical Interpretation 1:

For let not such impiety ever occupy our thoughts as for us to suppose that God cultivates the land and plants paradises, since if we were to do so, we should be presently raising the question of why he does so: for it could not be that he might provide himself with pleasant places of recreation and pastime, or with amusement. (44) Let not such fabulous nonsense ever enter our minds; for even the whole world would not be a worthy place or habitation for God, since he is a place to himself, and he himself is full of himself, and he himself is sufficient for himself, filling up and surrounding everything else which is deficient in any respect, or deserted, or empty; but he himself is surrounded by nothing else, as being himself one and the universe. (45) God therefore sows and implants terrestrial virtue in the human race, being an imitation and representation of the heavenly virtue. For, pitying our race, and seeing that it is exposed to abundant and innumerable evils, he firmly planted terrestrial virtue as an assistant against and warderoff of the diseases of the soul; being, as I have said before, an imitation of the heavenly and archetypal wisdom which he calls by various names. Now virtue is called a paradise metaphorically, and the appropriate place for the paradise is Eden; and this means luxury: and the most appropriate field for virtue is peace, and ease, and joy; in which real luxury especially consists. (46) Moreover, the plantation of this paradise is represented in the east; for right reason never sets, and is never extinguished, but it is its nature to be always rising. And as I imagine, the rising sun fills the darkness of the air with light, so also does virtue when it has arisen in the soul, irradiate its mist and dissipate the dense darkness. (47) "And there," says Moses, "he placed the man whom he had formed:" for God being good, and having formed our race for virtue, as his work which was most akin to himself, places the mind in virtue, evidently in order that it, like a good husband, may cultivate and attend to nothing else except virtue

Look at the way Philo cites the passage - “and there” = the Logos. In Hebrew this is sham. There have been books and articles written about Philo's identification of “place” (= “there”) as the logos. No one has ever made the connection with yesh. Too few Jews with any real knowledge of their tradition reading Philo

stephan huller

The difficulty of course is how do you connect yesh with sham. They both mean 'there' but still.