|
Veteran Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: seattle, wa
Posts: 9,337
|
On John 'the Forerunner' (πρόδρομος)
John the Baptist is a puzzling figure. Every expert on the Marcionite gospel agrees there was no reference to a 'Jesus being baptized by John' in that tradition. The Jews have no knowledge outside of things written in Christian sources about this figure who supposedly baptized 'all of Judea.' I am not even sure the Mandaean figure of John is the same as the Christian 'forerunner.'
We are used to thinking of the term 'forerunner' (πρόδρομος) as meaning 'one who comes before someone else' of inferior value or significance. But this is a misrepresentation of the original term. In ancient military lingo it applied to brave horsemen who would charge in front of an army. It is often overlooked that the only appearance of this term in the New Testament applies to Jesus rather than John:
Quote:
|
where as a forerunner (πρόδρομος) Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. [Hebrews 6:20]
|
Here Jesus is the 'forerunner' of priests in the Church, not someone who witnesses on behalf of someone else. The point is that in itself πρόδρομος does not signify in anyway a figure of lesser significance or someone who witnesses the coming of someone better. It just meant something that was out in front, or something prominent as we see from the placement of statues of the noted sculptor Phidias in 'front rooms' which were the most excellent parts of the pagan temples:
Quote:
|
Of the numerous works executed by Phidias for the Athenians the most celebrated was the statue of Athené in the Parthenon, to which reference has already been made. This statue was of that kind of work which the Greeks called “chryselephantine”— that is, the statue was formed of plates of ivory laid upon a core of wood or stone for the flesh parts, while the drapery and other ornaments were of solid gold. The statue stood in the foremost and larger chamber of the temple (πρόδρομος). It represented the goddess standing, clothed with a tunic reaching to the ankles, with her spear in her left hand and an image of Victory four cubits high in her right: she was girded with the aegis, and had a helmet on her head, and her shield rested on the ground by her side. The height of the statue was twenty-six cubits, or nearly forty feet, including the base. The eyes were of a kind of marble, nearly resembling ivory, perhaps painted to imitate the iris and pupil; there is no sufficient authority for the statement, which is frequently made, that they were of precious stones. The weight of the gold upon the statue, which, as above stated, was removable at pleasure, is said by Thucydides to have been forty talents, or about $470,000 (ii. 13). Still more celebrated than his statue of Athené was the colossal ivory and gold statue of Zeus, which Phidias made for the great temple of this god, in the Altis or sacred grove at Olympia. (See Olympia.) This statue was regarded as the masterpiece not only of Phidias, but of the whole range of Grecian art, and was looked upon not so much as a statue, but rather as if it were the actual manifestation of the present deity. It was placed in the πρόδρομος, or front chamber, of the temple directly facing the entrance. It was only visible, however, on great festivals; at other times it was concealed by a magnificent curtain. The god was represented as seated on a throne of cedarwood, adorned with gold, ivory, ebony, stones, and colours, crowned with a wreath of olive, holding in his right hand an ivory and gold statue of Victory, and in his left hand supporting a sceptre, which was ornamented with all sorts of metals, and surmounted by an eagle. The throne was brilliant both with gold and stones and with ebony and ivory, and was ornamented with figures both painted and sculptured. The statue almost reached to the roof, which was about sixty feet in height. The idea which Phidias essayed to embody in this, his greatest work, was that of the supreme deity of the Hellenic nation no longer engaged in conflicts with the Titans and the Giants, but having laid aside his thunderbolt, and enthroned as a conqueror, in perfect majesty and repose, ruling with a nod the subject world. It is related that when Phidias was asked what model he meant to follow in making his statue, he replied that of Homer ( Il. i. 528-530).
|
http://www.bible-history.com/links.p...t_name=Phidias
|
03-24-2011, 03:41 PM
