stephan huller

We don't know when Justin's text was edited. Celsus provides better certainty for when the story was widely known. Justin's surviving text is not the original

aa5874

You DON'T know Justin's text was edited.

Chili

No because there were only power wealth and beauty to be converted into faith hope an charity as represented by the 3 lesser gods that make up the number 4 to show what the TOK was all about since its conception by the women in the TOL (Gen.3:6).

Chili

The Star of Beth-le-hem is about illumination in the TOK by the celestial ligth from the TOL and the Magi entered the stable to 'drop off the gifts' in Matthew while Joseph was not home and that so created illumination without realization and that is what validated the saved-siner paradox. Notice how in Luke the shepherds never entered but looked in to see and understood what the 'fire' was all about

spamandham

Tradition says there were three, and surely that aspect of tradition predates Matthew's story.

The 3 kings are the belt of Orion, who follow Sirius. This is one of a few easily identified instances of astrotheology in the gospels.

andrewcriddle

This is a really interesting dissertation. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

Andrew Criddle

aa5874

It is not really "astrotheology", the author SIMPLY used an out-of-context passage out of Hebrew Scripture as usual.

Nu 24:17 - And there is no source that show that the three kings predate gMatthew.

Justin Martyr did not write about three kings.

It is more likely that the "three kings" is late. Maybe over a 1000 years late.

Chili

. . . and they came from East of Eden from where Joseph went West to reach the end of his world in the final day wherein darkness prevailed and so the light of Bethlehem could be seen instead of the illusion that he was chasing along the light of common day. It so was as if 'the sun stopped', for him, to say that he was beyond reason in the TOK and so beyond theology and should be present in the stable to encounter the everlasting day that began on the so called night that Christ was born unto him.

No Magi priests here and no Persian wisdom but simply the reception of the dazzling celestial light into the conscious mind . . . which is the same light that knocked Paul off of his high horse and that Golding saw as a little round hole at the bottom which nevertheless was the top, which then is the pivotal point in his novel.

Joseph's absense prompted the 'great slaugther' simply because the inward journey did not happen and hence no Cana event took place in Matthew and here you may add some precaution parables from the Gospels wherein the house must be vacant and totally vacant (no room at the Inn) lest many more 'pigs' will find a home in what has become known as protestant theology that so will never end.

Chili

Now do you see the 'infancy' in the 'glimmer of light' received that is represented by the glimmer of hope in the third candle of the Advent wreath that replaced the flood parable where the dove was to return with new life already before Noah arrived? (the white candle here is to be recognized as our very own baptism candle for this to take hold).

So then now you can also see why there was no infancy in John who also enters heaven. The infancy stage is only presented to show the critical early stage that is to be confirmed by Epiphany after the new has taken hold and this is foreshadowed to children with the feast of St. Nicholas that it may serve them as the preloaded answer to the question with regard to the meaning of life that they may encounter that as a given.

bleubird

I kind of enjoy your cryptic post.But,could you give some links?As a recovering Catholic I would like some readings.