- http://earlywritings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7513
http://earlywritings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7513
http://earlywritings.com/forum/viewtopi ... 86#p115186
First, Ben's OP -
Ben C. Smith wrote: ↑Sun May 14, 2017 3:22 pm
We know that early Christians could describe the cross as a tree or as wood:
Galatians 3.13: 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree [ξύλου]."
1 Peter 2.24: 24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree [ξύλον], that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
Acts 5.30: 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a tree [ξύλου].
Acts 10.39: 39 And we are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. And they also put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree [ξύλου].
Acts 13.29: 29 And when they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree [ξύλου] and laid Him in a tomb.
Barnabas 8.5: 5 Then there is the placing the wool on the tree [ξύλον]. This means that the kingdom of Jesus is on the tree [ξύλου], and that they who set their hope on Him shall live for ever.
We also know that the shape of the cross is thought to be something like a tau:
Barnabas 9.8: 8 For the scripture saith; And Abraham circumcised of his household eighteen males and three hundred. What then was the knowledge given unto him? Understand ye that He saith the eighteen first, and then after an interval three hundred. In the eighteen 'I' stands for ten, 'H' for eight. Here thou hast JESUS (IHSOYS). And because the cross [σταυρὸς] in the 'T' was to have grace, He saith also three hundred. So He revealeth Jesus in the two letters, and in the remaining one the cross [σταυρόν].
This shape lends itself to the image of outstretched arms or hands:
Barnabas 12.1-4: 1 In like manner again He defineth concerning the cross in another prophet, who saith; And when shall these things be accomplished? saith the Lord. Whenever a tree shall be bended and stand upright, and whensoever blood shall drop from a tree. Again thou art taught concerning the cross, and Him that was to be crucified. 2 And He saith again in Moses, when war was waged against Israel by men of another nation, and that He might remind them when the war was waged against them that for their sins they were delivered unto death; the Spirit saith to the heart of Moses, that he should make a type of the cross and of Him that was to suffer, that unless, saith He, they shall set their hope on Him, war shall be waged against them for ever. Moses therefore pileth arms one upon another in the midst of the encounter, and standing on higher ground than any he stretched out his hands, and so Israel was again victorious. Then, whenever he lowered them, they were slain with the sword. 3 Wherefore was this? That they might learn that they cannot be saved, unless they should set their hope on Him. 4 And again in another prophet He saith; ''The whole day long have I stretched out My hands to a disobedient people that did gainsay My righteous way'' [Isaiah 65.2].
There are passages which specifically align the image of a tree with outstretched arms:
Sibylline Oracles 5.255-258: Then there shall come from the sky a certain / Exalted man whose hands he spread out upon the fruitful tree [ξύλου], / The noblest of the Hebrews who caused the sun to stand still / When he cries with fair speech and pure lips.
So let us imagine for a moment that the following poems are actual songs to be sung in worship:
Odes of Solomon 27.1-3: 1 I stretched out my hands and sanctified my Lord, 2 for the extension of my hands is His sign, 3 and my expansion is the upright tree.
Odes of Solomon 42.1-6: 1 I stretched out my hands and approached my Lord, 2 for the stretching of my hands is His sign. 2 My expansion is the outspread tree which was set up on the way of the Righteous One. 4 And I became of no account to those who did not take hold of me and I shall be with those who love me. 5 All my persecutors are dead; and they sought after me who hoped in me, because I was alive. 6 And I rose up and am with them; and I will speak by their mouths.
Could Odes such as these be what lies behind this verse in Galatians?
Galatians 3.1: You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified [προεγράφη ἐσταυρωμένος]?
Could it be that this "public portrayal" of Jesus Christ as crucified is actually a posture adopted during worship meetings? (Modern charismatic or Pentecostal Christians adopt all sorts of symbolic postures during their worship, and I have seen my fair share of outstretched hands during such meetings.) Could it be that Paul taught them songs and worship postures, which were the public display he refers to here?
Ben.
Ben also addressed this more recently in http://earlywritings.com/forum/viewtopi ... 74#p114274 -
Ben C. Smith wrote: ↑Sat Nov 07, 2020 8:37 am
I have long been wary of reading a crucifixion reference into the Odes. The description, on its face, seems to be comparing the orans position for prayer to a tree:
Odes of Solomon 27.1-3: 1 I stretched out my hands and sanctified my Lord, 2 for the extension of my hands is His sign, 3 and my expansion is the upright tree.
Odes of Solomon 42.1-6: 1 I stretched out my hands and approached my Lord, 2 for the stretching of my hands is His sign. 2 My expansion is the outspread tree which was set up on the way of the Righteous One. 4 And I became of no account to those who did not take hold of me and I shall be with those who love me. 5 All my persecutors are dead; and they sought after me who hoped in me, because I was alive. 6 And I rose up and am with them; and I will speak by their mouths.
Orans (Catacomb of Priscilla).png
There is a collocation of elements in these two Odes which merits attention:
These four elements appear in overtly Christian texts in various combinations:
- I stretched out my hands (A)....
- ...and sanctified my Lord (B)....
- ...for the extension of my hands is His sign (C)....
- ...and my expansion is the upright tree (D).
Barnabas 12.1-4: 1 In a similar way he makes another declaration about the cross in another prophet, who says, “‘When will these things be fulfilled?’ says the Lord. ‘When a tree falls and rises up, and when blood flows from a tree [ὅταν ξύλον κλιθῇ καὶ ἀναστῇ, καὶ ὅταν ἐκ ξύλου αἷμα στάξῃ]’ (D) (= 4 Ezra 4.33; 5.5).” Again you have a message about the cross [περὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ] (D) and the one who was about to be crucified. 2 And he again tells Moses, when Israel was attacked by a foreign people, to remind those under assault that they were being handed over to death because of their sins. The Spirit speaks to the heart of Moses that he should make a type of the cross (C) and of the one who was about to suffer, that they might realize, he says, that if they refused to hope in him, they would be attacked forever. And so Moses stacked weapons one on the other in the midst of the battle, and standing high above all the people he stretched out his hands [ἐξέτεινεν τὰς χεῖρας] (A); and so Israel again gained the victory. But then, when he lowered his hands, they began to be killed (= Exodus 17.8-13). 3 Why was that? So that they may know that they cannot be saved unless they hope in him. 4 And again in another prophet he says, “All day long I have opened up my hands [διεπέτασα τὰς χεῖράς μου] to a disobedient people that opposes my upright path” (= Isaiah 65.2).
Sibylline Oracles 5.255-258: 255-258 Then there shall come from the sky a certain / Exalted man (B) whose hands he spread out (A) upon the fruitful tree [ξύλου] (D), / The noblest of the Hebrews who caused the sun to stand still / When he cries with fair speech and pure lips.
Hippolytus, On the Antichrist 61, lines 1-31: 1-31 .... the faith of Jesus Christ, who, having stretched forth His holy hands [ἐκτείνας τὰς ἁγίας χεῖρας] (A) upon the tree [ἐπὶ τῷ ξύλῳ] (D), unfolded two wings, the right and the left, and called to Him all who believed upon Him, and covered them as a hen her chickens. For by the mouth of Malachi also He speaks thus, “And unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings” (= Malachi 4.2).
Minucius Felix, Octavius 29: 29 Crosses, moreover, we neither worship nor wish for. You, indeed, who consecrate gods of wood, adore wooden crosses perhaps as parts of your gods. For your very standards, as well as your banners; and flags of your camp, what else are they but crosses glided and adorned? Your victorious trophies not only imitate the appearance of a simple cross, but also that of a man affixed to it. We assuredly see the sign of a cross, naturally, in the ship when it is carried along with swelling sails, when it glides forward with expanded oars; and when the military yoke is lifted up, it is the sign of a cross; and when a man adores God with a pure mind, with hands outstretched (A). Thus the sign (C) of the cross (D) either is sustained by a natural reason, or your own religion is formed with respect to it.
.
Now, Justin Martyr's First Apology 35 -
Christ after He was born was to escape the notice of other men until He grew to man's estate, which also came to pass, hear what was foretold regarding this. There are the following predictions: — ''Unto us a child is born, and unto us a young man is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulders'' [Isaiah 9:6]
And again the same prophet Isaiah, being inspired by the prophetic Spirit, said, ''I have spread out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walk in a way that is not good. They now ask of me judgment, and dare to draw near to God'' [Isaiah 58:2 and Isa. 65:2], And again in other words, through another prophet, He says, 'They pierced My hands and My feet' [Psalm 22:16], and ''for My vesture they cast lots'' [Ps. 22:18].
And indeed David, the king and prophet, who uttered these things, suffered none of them; but Jesus Christ stretched forth His hands, being crucified by the Jews speaking against Him, and denying that He was the Christ. And as the prophet spoke, they tormented Him, and set Him on the judgment-seat, and said, Judge us. And the expression, ''They pierced my hands and my feet'' [Ps. 22:16], was used in reference to the nails of the cross which were fixed in His hands and feet. And after He was crucified they cast lots upon His vesture, and they that crucified Him parted it among them. And that these things did happen, you can ascertain from the Acts of Pontius Pilate.
And we will cite the prophetic utterances of another prophet, Zephaniah, to the effect that He was foretold expressly as to sit upon the foal of an ass and to enter Jerusalem. The words are these: ''Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King comes unto you; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass'' [Zechariah 9:9].
The Acti Pilati is said to have been preserved as chapters 1 to 11 of the Gospel According to Nicomedus. See http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/actspilate.html.
J. Quasten writes (Patrology, v. 1, pp. 115-116):... Into this narrative have been incorporated the so-called Acts of Pilate, a supposed official report of the procurator concerning Jesus. Some Acts of Pilate, it seems, were known as early as the second century. Justin Martyr remarks in his first Apology (35) after he has mentioned the passion and crucifixion of Jesus: 'And that these things happened you can ascertain from the Acts of Pontius Pilate.'
Two translations are... It is possible that the material in the Gospel of Nicodemus was written to refute pagan Acts of Pilate created in 311, mentioned by Eusebius:
Having forged, to be sure, Memoirs of Pilate and Our Saviour, full of every kind of blasphemy against Christ, with the approval of their chief they sent them round to every part of his dominions, with edicts that they should be exhibited openly for everyone to see in every place, both town and country, and that the primary teachers should give them to the children, instead of lessons, for study and committal to memory. (H. E. 9.5.1)
- http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/t ... berts.html, and
- http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/t ... demus.html
- according to M.R. James -
The first part of the book, containing the story of the Passion and Resurrection, is not earlier than the fourth century. Its object in the main is to furnish irrefragable testimony to the resurrection. Attempts have been made to show that it is of early date-that it is, for instance, the writing which Justin Martyr meant when in his Apology he referred his heathen readers to the 'Acts' of Christ's trial preserved among the archives of Rome. The truth of that matter is that he simply assumed that such records must exist. False 'acts' of the trial were written in the Pagan interest under Maximin, and introduced into schools early in the fourth century. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/t ... demus.html
orThese be the things which after the cross and passion of the Lord Nicodemus recorded and delivered unto the high priest and the rest of the Jews: and the same Nicodemus set them forth in Hebrew (letters). -- M.R. JamesThe account that Nicodemus wrote in Hebrew, after the cross and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour God, and left to those that came after him, is as follows ... -- Roberts-Donaldson - according to M.R. James -
... continued ...