Thursday, June 19, 2008

Friday, March 21, 2008

The Santiago Enigma - the early days

This collection is still in its infancy! - update August 2011 
  
Postby PILGRIMSPLAZA on August 20th, 2011, 8:26 am 

TerryB wrote: Was he Priscillian?

Just found a few exciting texts:

In
http://www.champagnat.org/en/210601001.htm - search: Priscilien:
e) The shrine of Br François
It was in 1924 when his body was brought to the chapel.
f) The relics of St Priscilien
In front of the tomb of Fr François we have the remains of St Priscilien, a martyr of the fourth century. This is due to the reopening and discovering of the Catacombs in Rome in the XIXth century. Monsignor Épalle, who had been one of the first pupils of Fr Champagnat, brought them from Rome and gave them to the house of L’Hermitage.


In
http://mitchtestone.blogspot.com/2008_1 ... chive.html - search: Priscilien:
The forest around the legendary castle of Muntsalvaesche was called Briciljan. Near Montsegur is a small forest called the Priscilien Wood. [ 42°52′20″N 1°50′03″E ]

Is this Priscillian, Priscilien or Briciljan ‘our’ Priscillian of Ávila, Trier, Mondoñedo and/or SdC?

Truth is a pathless land - Jiddu Krishnamurti . More on the
history of Saint James
http://king-early-days.blogspot.com

User avatar PILGRIMSPLAZA - 160 or more postsPosts: 202
Joined: February 7th, 2008, 10:44 am - Location: the Netherlands The Hague

 ***

update July 2010
In a christian (book) shop in The Hague:
Is there a book on the essence of The Santiago Enigma? - No!
Will such a book ever be written? - No!
Isn't that very strange? - Yes!
Why are you so sure about this? - I was asked this question twice before and I discussed it with a few bishops in America.

***

Pilgrimage is of all people, faiths, sferes and ages - for hunters, gatherers and smorgasbordians:
Er is geen weg naar de vrede; vrede is de weg - Simon Vinkenoog
Truth is a pathless land - Jiddu Krishnamurti
On August 3, 1929, the opening day of the annual Star Camp at Ommen, Holland, Krishnamurti dissolved his Order of the Star in the East (founded 1911).
***
Bryn Mawr College * (Bryn Mawr Classical Review) sends me their many book reviews. Recently an interesting source for further understanding of the last tabu (as defined above) arrived: http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/recent.html?utm_source=bmcr-l&utm_campaign=cd5b50a9ff-2009_09_628_27_2009&utm_medium=email - 2009.12.31:

Tessa Rajak, Translation and Survival: The Greek Bible of the Ancient Jewish Diaspora. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Pp. xvi, 380. ISBN 9780199558674 - Reviewed by Reinhart Ceulemans, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

"The aim of this book, the origins of which lie in six Grinfield lectures on the Septuagint delivered by the author at the University of Oxford in 1995-1996, is to combine two fields of study that are very related but which tend to be treated rather separately: that of Hellenistic diaspora Judaism, on the one hand, and that of the Jewish Greek Bible, commonly referred to as the Septuagint, on the other. The author herself, an authority in the field of diaspora Judaism, has hitherto not written extensively on matters pertaining to the Septuagint. Blaming the traditional separation of the two topics on the Christian takeover of the Septuagint, Rajak insists on the need to interpret the Greek Bible in light of what is known of the historical group that created it. In doing so, she focuses on cultural adaption in Hellenistic Judaism and on how the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible was a means of cultural survival for its creators. - Rajak's attempt to reunite the Greek Bible with its primary users and generators (cf. 5) is successful. She has written a very interesting book, containing opinions and conclusions that challenge standard views and catch the reader's attention. Future scholarship will surely benefit from the insights that emerge from reading the Septuagint with an awareness of the broader history of Hellenistic Judaism. A wide range of topics is tackled over the course of eight chapters, preceded by an introduction that provides both an overview of the book's structure and some general thoughts on a few of the Septuagint's main characteristics (text, canon, etc.). This introductory discussion may orient the reader who is less experienced in the field of Septuagint studies." […]
"In the last two chapters, Rajak changes the perspective and investigates what reactions, if any, these Greek holy writings of Hellenistic Jewry prompted in contemporary other religious groups, namely pagan Greeks and early Christians. In Chapter 8 she sets herself the goal to verify, on the basis of the written evidence itself, the accepted view that pagan Greeks and Romans ignored Jewish Scripture. Listing the (rather limited) evidence from Egyptian and Roman writers and magical texts, she concludes that 'the Septuagint did not emerge from or into the confines of an enclosed ghetto. A basis of curiosity and awe may be inferred in Greek circles sufficient [...] to generate the dynamic of [...] the public reception of the Jewish Bible in the early stages of Judaism' (277). The ninth and final chapter questions the abandonment theory, according to which the Hellenistic Jewish community dropped the Septuagint when it started to be used by Christians. She dismisses previous acceptance of that theory, since it is based upon early Christian, hence suspicious, ideological roots and upon the unwarranted presumption that investigations into Jewish reception history in the first centuries of the Christian era should turn to rabbinic writings. Then again (although Rajak seems to avoid stating it in so many words), the actual evidence informing us about this non-rabbinic, Greek Jewish reception is virtually non-existent and needs to be deduced from Christian authors such as Origen. Reinterpreting some of these early Christian passages, Rajak concludes that contemporary Hellenistic Jews knew a diversity of Greek versions and that variety was more prominent than standardization. These Greek Jewish versions, of which those of Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion were but a few amongst many, were created in order to reduce textual corruption, to bring the existing versions in closer alignment to the Hebrew, and to serve promotional goals. In other words, Rajak argues, the abandonment theory has to be sacrificed for the benefit of a recognition of Jewish 'creative production of different types of Bible translation' in the early Christian era (313)." […]
PPS: At the same time the explaining few phrases in italics (below on this weblog) were confirmed by an expert as being cristal clear and to the point.
Merry Christmas! ***
Quote of the year by my neighbour Erik Jan de Jong:
"The origin may be vague, but the veneration is real"
* "At Bryn Mawr Miss King became a tradition and a cult; now she is a legend."



30 titels op het Santiagoforum in chronologische en alfabetische volgorde van 8-2-8 tot 7-8-9.


Faces in the London Pórtico de la Gloria - All these faces are cut out of pictures of the plaster copy in the Victoria & Albert Museum at London of the Pórtico de la Gloria in Saint James's cathedral at Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Courtesy and © (permission given on 22-5-9) of Mr. Gareth Thomas who took these on the eve of his pilgrimage from England through France to Santiago.

The Santiago Enigma was posted on the Santiago Pilgrim Forum [search: PILGRIMSPLAZA] and six Yahoo pilgrim forum groups [search: pilgrimsplaza] :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ultreya/messages ; http://groups.yahoo.com/group/saintjames/messages ; http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Santiagobis/messages ; http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wayofsaintjames/message/332 ; http://es.groups.yahoo.com/group/camino-de-santiago/messages ; http://groups.yahoo.com/group/santiagodecompostela/messages?o=1 ; http://www.pilgrimage-to-santiago.com/board/search.php?search_id=egosearch

Anybody can watch something very special in the Pórtico de la Gloria in Santiago de Compostela and the discussion on the Santiago Pilgrim Forum is already 'hot'. Reading The Way of Saint James by Georgiana Goddard King (now reprinted) helps finding answers on some intriguing questions. Reading before walking helps best! A new review in English is posted now. A Dutch pilgrim just sent us the diagram of the Pórtico and it's posted here. You are kindly invited to write a review too!
Update Summer 2009
http://www.pilgrimage-to-santiago.com/board/miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794.html - Search user’s posts
The Santiago Enigma
1. Why Santiago or Fisterra?
2. Why Saint James or Priscillian?
3. Why millions of secular pilgrims?
4. What Enigma in the Pórtico de la Gloria?

5. How jewish Jacobus became catholic James
6. More reviews of The Way of Saint James coming
7. Here is #1: Ja’akov and Jacobus – is the name a sign?
The Messianic Legacy
Towards the end of Summer 2008 I found clear answers on my last open question: 'Who really constituted Jesus' following?', in part ONE chapter 6 The formation of Christianity in The Messianic Legacy (sequel to The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail) by Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln, 1986, ISBN 0-552-13182-2, price: from €1,53 up http://www.alibris.co.uk/booksearch?qwo . A few quotes:
[94] "6 THE FORMATION OF CHRISTIANITY
[95] Acts offers a more or less reliable historic account of Paul's dispute with the Nazarean Party, which would culminate in nothing less than an entirely new religion.
[96] By A.D. 38, Jesus was being openly proclaimed as the Messiah -- not the Son of God but simply the rightful and anointed king -- by Nazarean refugees, or perhaps established communities, as far away as Antioch. It was here, in the Syrian capital far to the north of Damascus, that the term 'Christian' was to be applied to them for the first time. Until then, they had simply been called Nazareans. And they continued to be called Nazareans elsewhere -- especially Jerusalem -- for many years. In A.D. 38, a centralised Nazarean authority was already well established in Jerusalem. By later Christian chroniclers, this administrative hierarchy was to become known as 'the Early Church'. Its most famous member, was, of course, Peter. Its official head, [97] however, conspicuously neglected by later tradition, was Jesus's brother Jacob, known subsequently as Saint James, or James the Just. By this time, the Magdalene, the Virgin and others of those closest to Jesus had disappeared, and there is no further mention of them in scriptural accounts. It is certainly reasonable to suppose that later assertions are accurate and that they sought refuge in exile. What is significant, however, is that it is not Peter, but Jesus's brother James who presides over the 'Church' in Jerusalem. Quite clearly, some principle of dynastic succession is at work. And it can hardly be coincidental that James is referred to as 'Zadok'.4

[97] The Nazarean Party
Jesus himself, of course, had had no intention of creating a new religion. Neither had James and the Nazarean Party in Jerusalem. Like Jesus, they would have ben horrified by the very idea, regarding it as the most appalling blasphemy. Like Jesus, they were, after all, devout Jews, working and preaching wholly within the context of established Judaic tradition.
True, they were seeking certain renewed observances, certain reforms and certain political changes. They were also seeking to purge their religion of recently acquired alien elements and to restore it to what they deemed its orginal purity. But they would not have dreamed of creating a new system of belief which might become a rival of Judaism -- and, worse still, its persecutor.
Nevertheless, it is clear that the Nazarean Party in Jerusalem was considered subversive, both by the Romans and by the official Sadducee establishment, for it was quickly in trouble with the authorities. As we have already noted, Stephen was stoned to deatch within a short time of the Crucifixion, and Saul of
[98] Tarsus was pursuing Nazareans in Damascus. Around A.D. 44, Peter, then John, then all the others were arrested, flogged and ordered not to speak the name of Jesus. In the same year, the disciple known as James, brother of John, was arrested and beheaded -- a form of execution which only the Romans were allowed to perform. By the following year, guerilla activity on the part of the Zealots had intensified to such a degree that Rome was obliged to take vigorous countermeasures.
By A.D. 48-9 the Roman Governor of Judaea was seizing and crucifying both Zealots and Nazareans indiscriminately. Nevertheless, the disturbances increased. In A.D. 52, the Roman Legate of Syria -- the immediate superior of the Governor of Judea -- had to intervene personally to prevent a full-scale insurrection.
In fact, the insurrection was simply delayed, not prevented. By A.D. 54-5, militant activity had again assumed epidemic proportions. The Sadducee High Priest, appointed by the Romans, was assassinated by the Zealots, and a major terrorist campaign was launched against other Sadducees who had aligned themselves with Rome. During A.D. 57-8, another Messiah appeared, said to have come from the Jewish community in Egypt. Having gained a substantial following in Judaea, he undertook to occupy Jerusalem by force of arms and drive the Romans from the Holy Land. Not surprisingly, this enterprise was violently thwarted, but the disturbances continued. At last, around A.D. 62-5, James, head of the Nazarean Party in Jerusalem, was seized and executed.

[100] Paul as the First Heretic (…)
[101] Around A.D. 39 Paul returns to Jerusalem. Here, according to Acts, he is officially admitted to the Nazarean Party. According to Paul himself, however, in his letter to the Galatians, his reception into the [102] Nazarean Party was rather less than enthusiastic. He admits that they did not trust him and avoided him. But he is accorded some sort of grudging acceptance by 'James, the brother of the Lord', who dispatched him to Tarsus, to preach there. From Tarsus, Paul continues his missionary journey, which lasts some fourteen years and takes him across virtually the whole of he eastern Mediterranean world -- not only throughout the Holy Land, but to Asia Minor as well, and across the sea to Greece. One would expect such energy to earn him the approval of the Nazarean hierarchy in Jerusalem. On the contrary, however, he was earned nothing but their displeasure. James and the Nazarean hierarchy send their own missionaries in his wake, to undo his preaching and compromises him with his own converts -- for Paul, by now, is preaching something very different from what the Nazareans themselves, under Jesus's brother, have sanctioned. Harassed by James's emissaries, Paul at last returns to Jerusalem, where a full-scale dispute ensues. Eventually, after considerable friction, an uneasy agreement is concludes between James and Paul, but Paul, soon after, is arrested -- or placed in protective custody. Taking advantage of his status as a Roman citizen, Paul demands that his case be heard by the Emperor personally and is sent as a prisoner to Rome. He is believed to have died there some time between A.D. 64 and 67.

Notes
[455] Eisenman, R.H., Maccabees, Zadokites, Christians and Qumran (Leiden, 1983) [469] - 4 Eisenman, Maccabeus …, p.5, referring to Eusibius, History 2:23. Note that in Arabic James is Saddiq Ja'aqob (Eisler, Messiah Jesus, p.499)."
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Links
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/paganism.html
http://es.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/jacobeo2010/msearch?query=Priscilian&charset=utf-8 http://es.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/jacobeo2010/msearch?query=Jacobus&submit=Buscar&charset=utf-8 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/watch
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02s18a3q584&continuous=1
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02s18a6q584&continuous=1
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02s18a7q584&continuous=1
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02s18a8q584&continuous=1
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02s18b0q592&continuous=1
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Bible quotes
Acts 11 - 25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Handelingen 11 - 25 Barnabas vertrok naar Tarsus om Saulus op te zoeken. Toen hij hem had gevonden, ging hij met hem naar Antiochië. 26 Daar waren zij samen een heel jaar bij de volgelingen van Jezus te gast en gaven vele mensen onderwijs. In Antiochië werden de volgelingen van Jezus Christus voor het eerst 'christenen' genoemd.

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Summarized in a few paragraphes it all boils down to this:

"St. James was never converted to Christianity or Catholicism because it did not yet exist during his lifetime. James was and remained a faithful Jew for all his life, just like all apostles. He saw in Jesus the fulfillment of the prophecies about the coming of the Messiah in the Old Testament. Probably he felt even more a religious Jew than before he met Jesus. That most Jews did not share his opinion made no difference to that.

During his lifetime there were no Christians as we know them or a Christian church. Even Jesus did not mean to create a new religion. He preached in the synagogues and only after he was not accepted there he started to work outside the synagogues.

A Christian church as we know it arose only when Jews and followers from other nations and cultures formed communities and a hierarchical organization you can speak of a Christian church. But that was only after St. James and many other apostles had already died or were executed. Of course the apostles really were the founders of the Christian church. But they saw themselves not as Christians, but as Jews who had accepted the Messiah.

So they saw themselves not as converts, but as Jewish believers to whom Jesus had given a new dimension to the religion they and their ancestor always adhered."


http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board/miscellaneous-topics/topic11158.html#p73821
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This online book may offer some more clues: Aliens and Sojourners: Self as Other in Early Christianity - by Benjamin H. Dunning
"Early Christians spoke about themselves as resident aliens, strangers, and sojourners, asserting that otherness is a fundamental part of being Christian. But why did they do so and to what ends? How did Christians' claim to foreign status situate them with respect to each other and to larger Roman world as the new movement grew and struggled to make sense of its own boundaries?"
http://books.google.com/books?id=9I1hEypKJ14C&hl=nl&source=gbs_navlinks_s
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Georgiana's Gems
http://www.pilgrimage-to-santiago.com/board/pilgrim-books/topic4442.html for a complete compilation of what Ms King writes in all her three Volumes on bees and many other items.

The Way of Saint James

Flip Book & TXT versions:

Go to the Flip Book for easy reading or the TXT version for quick browsing:
To the full index http://pilgrimsplaza-king-index.blogspot.com/ ;
To my English homepage http://king-early-days.blogspot.com/
;
To my Dutch homepage http://www.pelgrimspaden.nl/ ;
To my e-mail address > Comments 1

Diagram Pórtico de la Gloria and plaster copy in London - http://www.rinconesdesantiago.tk/ ; http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1265_frost/?p=37 ; http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1265_frost/?m=200707 ; htttp://www.telefonica.net/web2/rinconesdesantiago/Paginas/Portico%20de%20la%20gloria.htm http://www.pilgrimage-to-santiago.com/board/miscellaneous-about-santiago/topic3794.html#p20649 24 Figura barbuda acostada sobre el pecho y dos leones, ¿Noé?
27 Profeta Daniel, sonriente
31 Apóstol Santiago el Menor, con doble túnica
50 Cinco figuritas que son: Adán desnudo al lado del Salvador; Abraham con el índice levantado, y los patriarcas Isaac, Jacob y Judá todos con coronas
51 Cinco figuritas que son: Eva desnuda, Moisés, Aarón, David y Salomón
103 Estatua con túnica ceñida. Es la hermosa reina Esther

Ps: For our Dutch readers: http://santiago.nl/links.php and http://www.santiago.nl/nieuws_20080414_santiago_de_cenigma.php