Papias

[John2]

MrMacSon wrote:

I think there are a lot of inter-testamentary philosophies and texts that did not reflect Christianity but contributed to it ie. the scope and number of such texts are much greater than has been considered previously.

Well, as I said, as far as 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra are concerned, if they weren't written by Jewish Christians, I can see how post-70 CE Christians like the ones who spoke with Papias could think that they pertained to Jesus. And I think the reason why they resemble Jewish Christianity (if they weren't written by Jewish Christians) is because the authors came from a similar Fourth Philosophic milieu.

[Ben C. Smith]

MrMacSon wrote:

I think there are a lot of inter-testamentary philosophies and texts that did not reflect Christianity but contributed to it ie. the scope and number of such texts are much greater than has been considered previously.

Well, as I said, as far as 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra are concerned, if they weren't written by Jewish Christians, I can see how post-70 CE Christians like the ones who spoke with Papias could think that they pertained to Jesus. And I think the reason why they resemble Jewish Christianity (if they weren't written by Jewish Christians) is because the authors came from a similar Fourth Philosophic milieu.

Jerome (taking a cue from Eusebius) accused Papias of promulgating a "Jewish second advent" in the form of the millennial period. We can see in the Talmud how ingrained the idea of a messianic period preceding "the age to come" became in Judaism. It seems doubtful to me that Jewish exegetes got the notion from Christians; rather, Christians like Papias imported the Jewish idea into their own faith, as happened so frequently in so many other areas of belief.