Toto

The previous thread on graffitti didn't get much further.

One of the comments to the article in the OP notes this Christian connection:

mountainman

The earlier thread about Epimenides & Acts 17:28/Titus 1:12 is also very relevant.

What if the grafitti read:

"For in him we live, and move, and have our being,"

Would this indicate a christian hand in the first three centuries?
Or would this in isolation indicate someone who appeciated greek poetry about Zeus ?
The latter says Occam.

avi

Thank you Toto, both for the very interesting topic/thread itself, and for inclusion of "Russell Tasker's" comment, expanded a tad below:
Here is "Ben Witherington III's" original post, which led to "Mr. Tasker's" comment, above.
I have some questions about the Greek, here.
Obviously, Mr. Witherington has added "Kyrios" to the original graffito, right? In other words, he wishes to place Roger Bagnall’s “New Graffiti from Smyrna in the Context of Early Christianity”, (presented in 2008?) at the Boston conference of the Society for Biblical Literature, in a Christian context, so he ADDED "Kyrios" to his description of Bagnall's discovery, if I have interpreted this correctly.

This is similar to Mr. Tasker's capitalization of His, Him, He, or whatever, right?

I think one needs to focus on the GREEK, and forget the nonsensical English....

Here's my question:

How does relate to

?

In particular, focusing on "pneumatos" versus "pneuma" , are we certain, without any doubt, that both words refer ONLY to "spirit", not to breathing, or the mechanics of air exchange, i.e. DEATH as a result of non-breathing. In my simplistic view, "dedikos", if that is the proper romanization of δεδωκως, would simply indicate "given up", as in, having stopped breathing.

In other words, why can this graffito not simply refer to one who has died, rather than supposedly representing hommage to a supernatural being who purportedly not only died, but more importantly, from the perspective of the "Christian" myth, was resurrected, i.e. recommenced breathing, after death?

Finally, then, shouldn't a graffito, from Smyrna, or anywhere else, make reference to the "resurrection", if it is to be regarded, (today, and two thousand years ago) truly "Christian"? Can someone on this forum, skillful with Greek, please write a simple Greek phrase, in Roman letters, to indicate what a graffito from that era could/should look like, i.e. expressing in the simplest possible manner, the notion of resurrection? Have similar graffitti been found in other large cities of that era, or only in Smyrna? What about Palmyra, for example?

mountainman

Logicially some form of "Christian referential integrity" is mandated.

How about the Alexameno Graffito?

avi

Thank you very much Pete, for teaching me about this ancient graffito, which, however, I do not find particularly indicative of belief in the supposed resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

As the Wikipedia article points out, crucifixion was common, until Constantine, so a second century graffito, like this one, focusing on crucifixion per se, does not convey, at least to me, conviction by the perpetrator, of faith in the divinity of Jesus.