mountainman

According to the WIKI article the Therapeutae were a Jewish sect which flourished in Alexandria and other parts of the Diaspora of Hellenistic Judaism in the final years of the Second Temple period. The primary source concerning the Therapeutae is the account De vita contemplativa ("The Contemplative Life") by the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE - 50 CE) who appears to have been personally acquainted with them.


The Therapeutae of Asclepius

The Therapeutae of Asclepius do not appear to be mentioned and I think should be. There are ample testimonies to the existence of such a group in the early centuries, and they were associated with the temple network of Asclepius, the healing god of the Roman Empire before the 4th century. The physician Galen, personal attendant to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius considered himself to be one of the "Therapeutae of Asclepius".


See also therapeutic

Duvduv

Mountainman, I have never understood what it was about the description of the Therapeutae that identified them as Jewish in any way other than the claim that they were Jewish.
Plus, as expected, there is no reference at all to any such contemplative sect in Jewish texts from antiquity.
And there is nothing that anyone claims as a remnant of their writings even if they existed on Philo's say-so.
Then again, I take Philo with a huge grain of salt in terms of accuracy and authenticity.

Chili

In any event, the contemplative life is an inward journey, which itself is a good direction but not as an organized event. So now we have yet another cult going wherein guts are digested instead of spilled, and Pete is entertained by that.

mountainman

Duvduv neither have I. The claim that there was a Jewish sect called the therapuetae revolves around the source called Philo which was preserved by the Christians and which has been by some admitted to have been "Christianized".


I agree with that finding after the research I have conducted. However that research has also uncovered a class of people who were quite conspicuous in the period of the first three centuries of the common era, and who were known as the therapeutae of Asclepius, as outlined in the OP.

These therapeutae are attested in a large variety of sources and are usually associated with the history of medicine.

sotto voce

Well, people can hijack Judaism, and try to make it look as though it unscrupulously contradicts itself. And why not? After all, even Jews are the most practised adepts at ascribing even the greatest atrocities to Christians, aren't they. I mean, if Christians can be evil, it gives everyone else quieter consciences.

Chili

Just arrogance Pete by 'born againers' who claim to have the 'greater gift.'

Just pricks, that's all they were. There is nothing new under the sun and you can read them by today, and so the urge to heal is real as a foreshadow of what can be good health on earth.

Duvduv

It still is not clear to me that one writer named "Philo" wrote all the works ascribed to him, considering that in Jewish exegesis and commentary the writer often has the same approach as that in Talmudic law while elsewhere he is quite different, and he never invokes anything at all about Torah teachers, longstanding traditions or methods, or even his own personal practices and experiences with teachers and education. It is as if the writer was somewhat familiar with these matters from a distance, but was not proficient enough to indicate his sources of information and knowledge, which makes me wonder either how many writers were involved or whether the author(s) were even Jewish.

stephan huller

I was just finishing teaching my dog how to drive I saw your thread. θεραπευτής* comes from a root that means "to attend" usually the gods

outhouse

Not much to talk about, other then a little known hellenistic community.


Do you have a question or thought you would like to explore?

Sheshbazzar

You ought to know by now, the tune is an old one. Bullneck & Co, in the name of Christ Jebus slaughtered 'em all and burned all of the evidence.
Leaving us not much to talk about.