Freethought & Rationalism Archive

GarColga · 02-24-2003, 07:23 PM

I am trying to find the source for this quote from the Emperor Hadrian. I have found it a few times on the net, but the text is slightly different each time, as is the recipient of the letter. This is one version:

"So you praise Egypt, my very dear Servianus! I know the land from top to bottom . . . In it the worshippers of Serapis are Christians, and those who call themselves Bishops of Christ pay their vows to Serapis . . . Whenever the patriarch himself comes to Egypt he is made to worship Serapis by some and Christ by others."

Can someone point me to the source for this quote?

Toto · 02-24-2003, 10:55 PM

The letter appears to be quoted from the works of Flavius Vopiscus, who was quoting Phlegon, a freedman of Hadrian. The letter was supposedly written by Hadrian to Servianus, who was a relative and also a government official.

You seem to have taken the quote from here. Is this not reliable?

http://dwij.org/forum/amarna/8_serap...ristianity.htm

This site has:

Quote:

Hadrian, incidentally, had an odd idea of who the Christians were�or was it not odd, but instead throws some light on Christian origins? He wrote according to Phlegon, a freedman of Hadrian, quoted in a later source, that in Egypt:

The Christians and the worshippers of Serapis are the same. Those devoted to Serapis call themselves the bishops of Christ.

A colossal bust of the God Serapis is or was kept in the Vatican. Serapis was a universal God created out of Osiris and Apis, as a consort for Isis, allegedly by Ptolemy, though one wonders whether the Persians had founded the universalism on which Ptolemy built. The qualities of Pluto, Aesclepius and Jupiter were added in and at the time of Hadrian, Serapis worship was widely popular across the empire.

ORTHODOXY AND HERESY IN EARLIEST CHRISTIANITY by Walter Bauer: Bauer thinks the letter is spurious:

Quote:

Also of quite uncertain value is the letter of the Emperor Hadrian to the Consul Servianus quoted by Flavius Vopiscus, Vita Saturini 8, though a historian of the stature of H. Gelzer regards it as authentic, and Harnack is also willing to give it consideration.[9] According to the context (7.6), this letter comes from the writings of Phlegon[10] the [[ET 47]] freedman of Hadrian. In the letter, the emperor remarks that he is well acquainted with the Egyptians as frivolous and avid for novelties: "Here those who worship Serapis are [at the same time] Christians, and those who call themselves bishops of Christ are also devotees of Serapis. Here there is no synagogue leader of the Jews, no [52] Samaritan, no Christian presbyter who is not also an astrologer, a haruspex, and an aliptes" (8.2 ff.).[11] That the document is spurious seems to me readily demonstrable; nevertheless, that one could falsify in such fashion is not without significance.

A similar quote is here: Epistle of Barnabas by Lightfoot

GarColga · 02-25-2003, 04:20 PM

Thanks very much, Toto!

02-24-2003, 07:23 PM	#1
GarColga Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Boise, Idaho, USA Posts: 57	Christians worshipping Serapis I am trying to find the source for this quote from the Emperor Hadrian. I have found it a few times on the net, but the text is slightly different each time, as is the recipient of the letter. This is one version: "So you praise Egypt, my very dear Servianus! I know the land from top to bottom . . . In it the worshippers of Serapis are Christians, and those who call themselves Bishops of Christ pay their vows to Serapis . . . Whenever the patriarch himself comes to Egypt he is made to worship Serapis by some and Christ by others." Can someone point me to the source for this quote?

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02-25-2003, 04:20 PM	#3
GarColga Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Boise, Idaho, USA Posts: 57	Thanks very much, Toto!

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