stephan huller

I see γενέτης is used in the oracles attributed to Hermes and Apollo by Tüb. Theos. §31:

Εἷς θεὸς οὐράνιος γενέτης, γαῖαν διατάσσων

Or again:

Ἀθανάτου µέγαν υἱὸν ἀοίδιµον ἐκ φρενὸς αὐδῶ, ᾧ θρόνον ὕψιστος γενέτης παρέδωκε λαβέσθαι οὔπω γεννηθέντι. (Oracula Sibyllina, section 6, line 1)

John 9:1:

Και παραγων ειδεν ανθρωπον τυφλον εκ γενετης.

But this could hardly account for the use in the inscription. Indeed, unless I am missing something, there is nothing specifically 'Valentinian' or even Christian about the use of γενετης

stephan huller

There is this variant in gospel of the Basilideans:

This a very different reading from our standard reading:

My guess now is that the specific title of 'γενέτης' in this early inscription might have something to do with an early castration ritual. Otherwise I can see absolutely no connection with anything in early Christianity that is known to us. There were a lot of early Christian eunuchs that are known to us. It is a distinct possibility.

It might be also useful to look at the parallel in the symbolism associated with the Creator establishing 'blind followers' and the use of ἐκ γενετῆς in association with the blind man of John's Gospel as well as of Justin = ὁ ἐκ γενετῆς πηπὸς. The good god of the Christians may well have established eunuchs in the way the 'God of the Jews' established blind believers.

stephan huller

Here's what follows immediately after what we just read in Stromata 3. I think it is actually quite significant:

And their explanation of this saying is roughly as follows: Some men, from their generation, have a natural sense of repulsion from a woman; and those who are naturally so constituted do well not to marry. Those who are eunuchs of necessity are those theatrical ascetics who only control themselves because they have a passion for the limelight. [And those who have suffered accidental castration have become eunuchs of necessity.] Those, then, who are eunuchs of necessity have no sound reason for their abstinence from marriage. But those who for the sake of the eternal kingdom have made themselves eunuchs derive this idea, they say, from a wish to avoid the distractions involved in marriage, because they are afraid of having to waste time in providing for the necessities of life.

Φυσικήν τινες ἔχουσι πρὸς γυναῖκα ἀποστροφὴν ἐκ γενετῆς, οἵτινες τῇ φυσικῇ ταύτῃ συγκράσει χρώμενοι καλῶς ποιοῦσι μὴ γαμοῦντες. Οὗτοι», φασίν, «εἰσὶν οἱ ἐκ γενετῆς εὐνοῦχοι· οἱ δὲ ἐξ ἀνάγκης, ἐκεῖνοι οἱ θεατρικοὶ ἀσκηταί, οἵτινες διὰ τὴν ἀνθολκὴν τῆς εὐδοξίας κρατοῦσιν ἑαυτῶν, οἱ δὲ ἐκτετμημένοι κατὰ συμφορὰν εὐνοῦχοι γεγόνασι κατὰ ἀνάγκην. Οἱ τοίνυν κατὰ ἀνάγκην οὐ κατὰ λόγον εὐνοῦχοι γίνονται. Οἱ δὲ ἕνεκα τῆς αἰωνίου βασιλείας εὐνουχίσαντες ἑαυτοὺς διὰ τὰ ἐκ τοῦ γάμου», φασί, «συμβαίνοντα τὸν ἐπιλογισμὸν τοῦτον λαμβάνουσι, τὴν περὶ τὸν πορισμὸν τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ἀσχολίαν δεδιότες

I think what is being described in the inscription is a contemporary reference to the practice of 'manufacturing' people with new flesh and a new nature through the Christian mysteries. I can't see why God would be called 'the Generator.' It strengthens my own belief that the name 'Paulos' is rooted in Deuteronomy 32:4 - i.e. that he was God's handiwork.

stephan huller

Another interesting point that I overlooked. The word γενέτης (genétēs) can mean both the begetter (father) and the begotten (son). This would fit well with the idea that the initiates in this religion became patterned after the Father ultimately becoming 'fathers' themselves.

DCHindley

Stephan,

I'm anxiously awaiting the other shoe to drop, and you tell us how this all relates to Marcion.

DCH

stephan huller

My lips are sealed

Horatio Parker

Thanks.

So why were we waiting for it, again?

Toto

I think the OP was a little tongue in cheek. The significance of this is not to show that there were Valentinians in Rome in the second century, but to emphasize that the earliest inscriptions considered to be Christian are Valentian, not proto-orthodox.

There are all sorts of excuses for the lack of Christian remains from the first and second centuries - but if the heretics could leave inscriptions, why not the orthodox?

Of course, if this inscription is not really Valentinian, it's back to square one.

Horatio Parker

Oh. Now I get it.

I'm not rarefied enough to appreciate BCH humor. Or as Mark Twain said of Abel he's a little longer on the road but he gets there just the same.

mountainman

Have you actually read the title of the article referenced? The title says: "World's Earliest Christian Engraving Shows Surprising Pagan Elements"

I take it you presume pagans did not marry, or have sons and fathers of the bridal chamber, or anything like that?


In which epoch? Things change over time. In the post Nicaean epoch the culture of Christianity I will follow Momigliano and describe the culture as "transcendental". After the brutal reality of Constantine Christian Crusade and war against the Eastern Empire, the rest of the 4th century is strongly marked by a Christian culture described as being intolerant and persecutory.




Ephrem was a contemporary of Eusebius and Arius and Constantine and according to WIKI was 19 years old when the Council of Nicaea was convened.



Who's Qamsu? Our Ephrem appears to have had a violent reaction to this Qamsu.

Pagan Elements?

This new scientific evidence of the Jesus Myth may make people stop and think about the pagans, and where they fit into the overall picture of the orthodox Christian heresiological history that we have received from the 4th century. The more than 90% of pagans conjectured to be the dominant group suddenly disappear after Nicaea. We know that the Pythagoreans, Platonists, Stoics and other groups were reclassified as Christian heretics by Epiphanius in the later 4th century. The canon following heresiologists must have divided and conquered the 90% pagans by means of a mass of Christian heresies. An English translation of the "Panarion" ONLINE would make this argument alot stronger.