mountainman

Dear spamandham,

I fully agree that it is not necessary to have to invent anything "out of nothing" during the first x hundred years, since there was ample wisdom literature floating around the empire, much of it already in the greek language.

One aspect that should be mentioned on this thread is the previous discussions related to Parallels between Jesus and Asclepius - The God of Medicine , a book by Gerald Hart. We do not need to make many assumptions about Asclepius since the table is literally awash with bone fide archaeological evidence during the period in question (ie: 000 CE to 500 CE).

Best wishes,


Pete

spamandham

Pete,

The book looks mildly interesting, but the author seems unqualified, so I probably won't read it.

However, the thread you linked, IMHO, does not make a very compelling link between Asclepius and Jesus. To me, it seems simpler to presume those were simply common themes of the time.

s&h

Student of Sophia

Can the OT and the NT be interpreted in pagan terms?

Can paganism be interpreted in terms of the OT and the NT?

Of these two paths...which has the least resistance?

mountainman

Dear S&H,

Thanks for the note. There a great number of remarkably well researched books appearing about the history of medicine recently (if not earlier and I have been unaware). I think that we will find that the theme of Asclepius as the healer of the entire Roman empire was strongly associated with the intertia of the ancient temple complexes to this tradition. It was the public hospital system of antiquity. Galen, in the era of Marcus Aurelius, was a theraputae of Asclepius. Citations in archaeology etc to Asclepius must exceed one thousand.

As for any evidence supporting the theme of the healer Jesus however, I have yet to lay my eyes on one single citation before the fourth century.

Thus we have a conundrum.
Best wishes,


Pete