Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

Thanks Ben - that makes sense.

DCHindley wrote:The PoP is believed to be related to the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies & Recognitions ...

This is a very different PoP from the text cited in the OP by Lev. This is from the following link ---
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/t ... etrou.html

Ben C. Smith wrote:

Lev wrote:Many thanks for your response DCH.

DCHindley wrote:The PoP, based on the fragments and allusions collected by James, does seem to have a very similar orientation to the Judaizing sect.

Are you referring to the NT Epistle of James here? If so, where do you find the allusions to the PoP?

I believe David is referring to the fragments of the Preaching of Peter collected by M. R. James: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/t ... peter.html.

The link Ben provided here contains the text of the Preaching of Peter cited in the OP by Lev. The document is known, almost exclusively, from citations provided by Clement of Alexandria in his lengthy Stromata.

The criticism of the Jews in the text about "the month and the moon: and if no moon be seen..." is related to the Jewish calendar and the practice of relying on physical observation of the new moon by witnesses, then sanctification of the observations by the Sanhedrin, to set the calendar and the dates for religious observances and festivals. This practice continued after the destruction of the temple (as Andrew has noted), from locations other than Jerusalem, until the 4th century.

Right. There are two different texts in view here. Confusingly, one of the most basic English translations of the Kerygmata Petrou (the text embedded in the pseudo-Clementines) is "Preaching of Peter" (the usual name for the text cited by Clement of Alexandria).

Lev,

What I meant was that they continued to observe the memorial of the pilgrimage, only now that the temple was gone there was no reason to make a pilgrimage anymore. They just stayed at home and observed a memorial. There was sometimes a lot of fanfare involved, especially the observance of the first crescent of the new moon.

DCH

Lev wrote:This is very interesting - I wasn't aware that Jews in antiquity continued to observe pilgrimage festivals after the temple was destroyed. What are the earliest sources or references to this practice?

I honestly do not know whether pilgrimages continued after the fall of Jerusalem in 70, but the Mishnah and the Talmud make adjustments for the celebration of feasts after the destruction of the temple.

In the Pesachim tractate, for example, the Mishnah says: "Where it is the custom to eat roast [meat] on the night of Passover, one may eat [it]; where it is the custom not to eat [it], one may not eat [it]." The Soncino edition has a footnote for "where it is the custom not to eat": "This means after the destruction of the Temple. While the Temple stood the Passover sacrifice was eaten roast (Ex. XII, 8). Consequently, when the Temple was no more it became the practice to refrain from eating roast meat on the night of Passover, so that it should not appear that a sacrifice was brought without the Temple, which is forbidden." The Gemara then comments on this portion of the Mishnah: ""Rab Judah said in Rab's name: A man is forbidden to say, ‘This meat shall be for Passover,’ because it looks as though he is sanctifying his animal and eating sacred flesh without [the Temple]. Said R. Papa: This applies only to meat, but not to wheat, because he means, It is to be guarded [from fermenting] for Passover. .... [Thereupon] they [the Sages] sent [a message] to him: If you were not Thaddeus, we would proclaim the ban against you, because you make Israel eat sacred flesh without [the Temple]. .... It is near to making Israel eat sacred flesh without [the Temple]." The point here is that eating the Passover sacrifice is illegal without the Temple; yet other parts of the feast continued to be celebrated.

Thank you Robert, DCH and Ben - you've been most helpful.

It appears that the pilgrimage festivals continued to be celebrated after the temple was destroyed and instead of undertaking a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, they would celebrate these festivals at their local synagogue. Therefore, this part of PoP does not help us secure a date either side of 70, as it could apply to both time periods.

Ben - thank you for the fascinating insight of the Pesachim tractate. Very interesting.