Proof that Roman Church Established the Official Christianity of the Empire in the late second/early third century

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Some of the details:

Severus, after routing the Parthians in an easy campaign in 197-8, again declared Osrhoene a client state, and recognized Abgar's authority as 'king of kings'. He invited Abgar to visit Rome. The reception there of the king of Edessa was, declares a Roman historian, the most lavish accorded to a foreign potentate since Nero welcomed Tiridates of Armenia in a.d. 66. Abgar's journey must have taken place after 204 when the Emperor returned home.

So it would seem the dating of Abgar's visit coincides with the reign of Zephyrinus because Severus wasn't in Rome until 204.

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So the argument that this friendly relationship between Abgar and Severus excludes Palut from being ordained by Zephyrinus is ...? Bishop of Rome or Pope from 199 to his death in 217. Abgar comes to Rome offers his supplication. Mentions that Christianity is the dominant religion in his kingdom. The Roman Church offers to send one of its own to tend to the Catholic Christians in his realm. This ordained individual is later called Palut because the Roman Christians there were mostly refugees as we see in the opening narrative of Hegemonius. Why the difficulty? American missionaries in various parts of the world are protected by American foreign policy and are viewed as spies in places like China, Russia etc. They undoubtedly have a leader who 'consults' with the CIA from time to time or is debriefed about the situation in the country they oversee.

https://theintercept.com/2015/10/26/pen ... espionage/
https://www.clementscenter.org/events/i ... hew-sutton
John Birch- An American Baptist Missionary who was killed gathering intelligence during the Chinese Civil War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_(missionary)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com ... sionaries/
https://relevantmagazine.com/current/gods-spies/

So the American's started the employment of missionaries as religious spies? That's as old as Joshua's conquest of Canaan.

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Apparently Julius Africanus (a contemporary) identifies this Abgar as a Christian. This comes from George Syncellus:

Africanus says that Abgar, a devout man, namesake of the previously named Abgar, rules Edessa about these times. 3 This passage occurs shortly after a reference to the takeover of Persia by Artaxerxes (A.D. 226) only by an updating reference to the occupants of the bishoprics of Rome (Urbanus), Antioch (Philetos or Philippos, and Jerusalem (Narcissus). https://books.google.com/books?id=ONSPL ... kQ6AEIKjAA

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This Abgar was on friendly terms with Bardasanes.

Christian participation in Edessene court culture also played a part in the process of integration. In a revealing eyewitness account of the inner workings of Abgar's court, Africanus would later dwell at length on the impressive displays of expertise in archery by Edessene elites. One of them was Bar Daysan, a fellow Christian and confidant of the king. Although later generations of Christian writers remembered Bar Daysan mainly as a learned heretic, Africanus says nothing about this in his own account. What impressed him was his skill with the bow. In one performance, Bar Daysan, whom Africanus identifies here only as a “Parthian,” used arrows to recreate a likeness of a Syrian youth on a shield standing next to him. The object of another contest was to have two mismatched arrows—one tipped and the other one stripped—strike each other in mid-air. To onlookers, the collision conjured up the image of an armed soldier capturing a defenseless soldier in combat.26 Africanus identifies only one of the participants in this exercise in asymmetric warfare: Syrmos the “Scythian.” There was also a scientific experiment, designed to measure the distance an arrow would travel on a continuous day-long trajectory. When Abgar's son Manu conducted his own test, Africanus also participated, acting as the crown prince's Africanus also participated, acting as the crown prince's overseer and guide. https://books.google.com/books?id=a547D ... AHoECAEQAQ

This is indeed a strong argument in favor of the 'Zephyrinus ordaining Palut' argument. When you look at the nexus of Christians in the court of Edessa in the period, it is hard to argue with the idea that Roman or Western Christian ideas were making contact and even 'overseeing' the court of the vassal king.

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I think it worth noting that the 'Zephyrinus ordaining Serapion ordaining Palut' narrative is a hitherto unrecognized supporting argument for Walter Bauer's thesis about the 'Melkite' tradition being a late comer to Edessa. 'Palut' seems to come with the change of status of Edessa. Remember Edessa went so far as to becoming a Roman province in 212 - 214. Severus's son Caracalla was assassinated on the road from Edessa to Carrhae (now Harran) in 217. There seems to have been a two part occupation of Edessa by their Roman overlords.

Could this legend about Serapion being ordained by Zephyrinus have been timed to the visit of Abgar to Severus in Rome in the third century?

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Curious that there should be two prominent Christians in the Roman Church at this time with the names Hyacinthos and Zephyr(inus).

But Hyacinth chose Apollo over the others. The couple indulged themselves in hunting and climbing steep, rough mountains around Sparta. With Apollo, Hyacinth visited all of Apollo's sacred lands in the chariot drawn by swans. Apollo taught to his lover the use of bow, of music and the lyre, the art of prophecy and exercises in the gymnasium.[11]

Hyacinthus meeting Apollo (not seen here) in a biga drawn by swans, Etruscan oinochoe
One day, Apollo was teaching him the game of quoit.

Here is the god.....with unshorn locks; he lifts a radiant forehead above eyes that shine like rays of light, and with a sweet smile he encourages Hyakinthos, extending his right hand with the same purpose. The youth keeps his eyes steadfastly on the ground, and they are very thoughtful, for he rejoices at what he hears....[12]

They decided to have a friendly competition by taking turns to throw the discus. Apollo threw first, with such a strength that the discus slit the clouds in the sky. Hyacinth ran behind it to catch it and impress Apollo. But as the discus hit the ground, it bounced back, hitting Hyacinth's head and wounding him fatally.[13] Alternatively, Zephyrus is held responsible for the death of Hyacinth.[14][15][16][17] Jealous that Hyacinth preferred the radiant Apollo, Zephyrus blew Apollo's quoit boisterously off course to kill Hyacinth.

Let the far-shooter now tell me how Zephyrus did Hyacinthus in. Zephyrus got the better of him; in the words of the tragedian, ‘a puff of wind is the most pre-cious chariot for gods’. Worsted by a moment’s puff Apollo lost his beloved.

The Philosophumena has the original Greek term used to describe Hyacinthus, spadonti presbuterooi, which means eunuch priest.
Peter Lampe's From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries that gives a little more inductive reasoning that may help. He calls the eunuch Hyancinth, and says he was Marcia's tutor, while being a priest under victor.

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The Philosophumena was written around 220 CE. It mentions Hyacinthus interacting with Marcia c. 185 CE. I am curious whether this 'priest' was killed owing to his disloyalty to Zephyrinus.

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Some interpret the cross on the helmet of Abgar as signifying a Christian symbol:



https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=244455

The coin dates from the time of Commodus

More on the diadem - https://books.google.com/books?id=igEFA ... ar&f=false