Freethought & Rationalism Archive

mountainman · 03-05-2008, 06:12 PM

The following is taken from Palladius, The Lausiac History (1918), CHAPTER XLIV. -- INNOCENT, [5]:

Innocent is described as a previous employee of Constantius, the son of Constantine, who flees the imperial courts and seeks refuge in the wilderness and deserts of the eastern Roman empire, to become an ascetic. Such an act was disturbingly commonplace, and happened on large scales since the year 324 CE, at which time, the "Prophet" Pachomius thought it expedient, via a vision with an angel, to create monasteries in the wilderness, along long way away from the civilisation of Constantine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PALLADIUS

An old woman having lost a sheep came to him (Innocent) in tears. And having followed her he said: "Show me the place where you lost it." She led him to the neighbourhood of the tomb of Lazarus. He stood and prayed. But the young men who had stolen it anticipated him by killing it. So while he prayed, no one confessing and the meat lying hidden in the vineyard, a crow came from somewhere and hovered over the place, took a morsel and flew off again. And the blessed one having marked the place found the slain animal, and so the young men who had killed it fell at his feet and confessed and paid, when asked, the proper price of the sheep.

What does this mean?

Best wishes,

Pete Brown

Toto · 03-05-2008, 06:40 PM

In the first place, it is stretching things to call it a parable.

The Catholic Encyclopedia says of Palladius

Quote:

Palladius

Born in Galatia, 368; died probably before 431. The identity of the author of the "Historia Lausiaca", ... long disputed, has been vindicated of late years (Preuschen, Butler, op. cit.) and is now generally accepted. A disciple of Evagrius of Pontus and an admirer of Origen, he became, when twenty years of age, a monk on the Mount of Olives under a certain priest, Innocent. After three years he went to Egypt to study the life of the famous Egyptian monks

...

His chief work is the "Historica Lausiaca", a history of the monks of Egypt and Palestine in the form of anecdotes and short biographies.

So this is a little anecdote about his supervising monk, Innocent. It shows Innocent as an authority and go-to man for village conflicts, with a little supernatural aid. The moral is don't even try to hide your sins from god or the head monk, because a little birdie will out you.

I think that there is a lot less to this than meets the eye.

mountainman · 03-06-2008, 04:13 PM

In this instance, on second thoughts, you may be spot on.

Reading this Lausiac History makes one exasperated. It is stacked full of references to the ascetic adepts of Egypt, and there is little doubt that the author is alluding to their authority in a great range of concepts.

The only defence I can see to salvage the claim that this may be more than just a story of retrieving the price of a dead sheep is the mention of the tomb of Lazarus. Assuming by this, the author meant the Lazarus who was one of the three people who were resurrected from the planet Earth before the resurrection of your man Jesus H, where was this tomb of Lazarus supposed to be? Was it in Egypt? And if it was not, and the author is referring to said "Canonical Tomb of Lazarus", then why does the author make mention of this in an otherwise simple story?

Best wishes,

Pete Brown

03-06-2008, 04:13 PM	#3
mountainman Contributor Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Falls Creek, Oz. Posts: 11,192	why the reference to the tomb of the resurrected Lazarus? In this instance, on second thoughts, you may be spot on. Reading this Lausiac History makes one exasperated. It is stacked full of references to the ascetic adepts of Egypt, and there is little doubt that the author is alluding to their authority in a great range of concepts. The only defence I can see to salvage the claim that this may be more than just a story of retrieving the price of a dead sheep is the mention of the tomb of Lazarus. Assuming by this, the author meant the Lazarus who was one of the three people who were resurrected from the planet Earth before the resurrection of your man Jesus H, where was this tomb of Lazarus supposed to be? Was it in Egypt? And if it was not, and the author is referring to said "Canonical Tomb of Lazarus", then why does the author make mention of this in an otherwise simple story? Best wishes, Pete Brown

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