Re: Mythicists met by 'Ignatius'
Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 1:19 am
Here is that paragraph from DCH:MrMacSon wrote:See the bottom passage here - http://www.earlywritings.com/forum/view ... 547#p70547 or here http://www.earlywritings.com/forum/view ... 810#p40810
It's an argument, but I'm not sure it's a very good one. Certainly the feature of "virginity of Mary" and giving an account of "martyrdom" are both compatible with the third century. The challenge is showing that they are incompatible or unlikely in the second century. That is much more difficult to do. I find nothing in the shorter Greek epistles of Ignatius -- least of all, these two things -- that are incompatible with a composition in the middle of the second century. It seems that Moss/Price/DCH have taken an interesting theme (the growth of interest in martyrdom accounts in the 3rd and 4th century, coinciding with increased seriousness of persecution) and used that as their main criterion for making a pronouncement on these "letters of Ignatius." However, that is not the only relevant consideration, nor is it a conclusive one.The Idolization of the Virginity of Mary, and the details that are otherwise found in accounts of martyrdoms that seem to date to the 3rd century (this is off the top of my thinly haired head), I'd date them to at least the age of Africanus (the one cited by Eusebius, not the one who wrote the work that commented on his brilliant, if he must say so, reconstruction of Homer), unless you are willing to posit a date of composition for the Protoevangelium of James in the 2nd century (I'm not). Candida Moss puts such romanticized martyrdom accounts to the 4th century or even later.