tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50325921401367894332024-03-12T21:39:47.614-06:00The Desert Fathers<b>A Web-Based Bibliography on the emergence of early Christian cosmology</b><br><br>
"In the fourth century a.d. the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Arabia and Persia were peopled by a race of men....
They sought a way to God that was uncharted and freely chosen, not inherited from others who had mapped it out beforehand. They sought a God whom they alone could find, not one who was 'given' in a set stereotyped form by somebody else."
...Thomas Merton, <i>The Wisdom of the Desert</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger194125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-54819271381982512872020-08-10T19:43:00.063-06:002022-01-03T10:12:47.925-07:00Contents: Two Paths to the Divine in the 4th Century<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><fieldset><b><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: times;">Read the story of a 20th Century librarian<br /> who meets some real Desert Fathers at:</span><br /><a href="https://bookofjohnthelibrarian.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Book of John the Librarian</a></span></span></b><br /><br />for comments, feedback and criticisms please contact the author at <a href="mailto:alexandrinelibrarian@gmail.com
">alexandrinelibrarian@gmail.com</a></fieldset></div>
<fieldset><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>First:</b></span> 4th and 5th Centuries Egypt: Men and Women Go into the Desert to Seek the Divine through Extreme Asceticism and Meditation</i></span></span><br />
<fieldset><h3>"In the fourth century a.d. the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Arabia and Persia were peopled by a race of men.... They sought a way to God that was uncharted and freely chosen, not inherited from others who had mapped it out beforehand. They sought a God whom they alone could find, not one who was 'given' in a set stereotyped form by somebody else." ...Thomas Merton, <i>The Wisdom of the Desert</i></h3></fieldset></fieldset><fieldset><h3><ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-k2O6DcpsWCR1cAszbT69CPafuCNKvFtT4iJzEG5nIuP34edOtATCK19xjfZHfamdP-8fpPEkq2GN8vL-rEtS8ZPdPMwesrKT4iecj3TlEmQDPLoc2GQtwxJZ_a2Tk77JYUttrVrwls/s1600/4merton.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-k2O6DcpsWCR1cAszbT69CPafuCNKvFtT4iJzEG5nIuP34edOtATCK19xjfZHfamdP-8fpPEkq2GN8vL-rEtS8ZPdPMwesrKT4iecj3TlEmQDPLoc2GQtwxJZ_a2Tk77JYUttrVrwls/s200/4merton.jpg" width="117" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFiHv4f7XlPYUqGA05TXGsOPDdmEfi2f63Rt5hgt56Pv1E9uESrNBpXCq0gSzfT3E9fIF3izOf5D459sgN5KDalBlfoWeMufkm3rFRj3BtHPv0uC0dtR9kpdh6qP8m0GAUfbwJNf0mipU/s1600/Cropped+Lives+of+DF.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFiHv4f7XlPYUqGA05TXGsOPDdmEfi2f63Rt5hgt56Pv1E9uESrNBpXCq0gSzfT3E9fIF3izOf5D459sgN5KDalBlfoWeMufkm3rFRj3BtHPv0uC0dtR9kpdh6qP8m0GAUfbwJNf0mipU/s200/Cropped+Lives+of+DF.jpg" width="126" /></a>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2017/09/welcome-and-introduction-to-desert.html" target="_blank">Welcome and Introduction</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Early Christianity: The First Five Centuries of the Common Era: Contents</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-basic-features-of-theology-in.html">Christian Theology in the Fourth Century</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/why-men-and-women-fled-to-desert_24.html" target="_blank">Why Men and Women Fled to the Desert in 4th Century Egypt</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/desert-fathersintroduction.html" target="_blank">The Desert Fathers...Introduction</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/12/desert-mothers.html">Desert Mothers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/monasticism-overview.html" target="_blank">Monasticism Overview</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/05/coptics-egyptian-christians.html" target="_blank">The Coptics: Egyptian Christians</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.coptic.net/articles/ParadiseOfDesertFathers.txt" target="_blank">The Paradise of the Desert Fathers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/development-of-monastic-communities.html" target="_blank">Development of Monastic Communities in Egypt in the 4th Century</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/locations-of-monastic-settlements-near.html" target="_blank">Locations of Monastic Settlements near Alexandria</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/kellia-cells.html" target="_blank">Kellia (The Cells)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/area-known-as-scetis-scetes.html" target="_blank">The Area Known as Scetis</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/cell-of-hermit_24.html" target="_blank">The Cell of the Hermit</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/compelling-story-of-contemporary-desert_24.html" target="_blank">A Story of a 20th Century Desert Father</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/notable-desert-fathers-and-mothers.html" target="_blank">Notable Desert Fathers and Mothers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-trinitarianchristology-controversies.html">The Trinitarian/Christology Controversies</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/04/teachings-and-practices-of-desert.html" target="_blank">Teachings and Practices of the Desert Fathers</a></li>
<ul><li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/04/teachings-and-practices-of-desert.html#hermit" target="_blank">The Hermit Way of Life</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/04/teachings-and-practices-of-desert.html#primacy" target="_blank">Primacy of Love For All Living Things</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/04/teachings-and-practices-of-desert.html#ascetisim" target="_blank">Asceticism</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/06/struggling-with-logismoi.html">Struggling with logismoi (tempting thoughts)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/04/teachings-and-practices-of-desert.html#hesychasm" target="_blank">Hesychasm and Nepsis</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/04/teachings-and-practices-of-desert.html#contemplative" target="_blank">Contemplative Prayer</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/04/teachings-and-practices-of-desert.html#recitation" target="_blank">Recitation of scripture</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/04/teachings-and-practices-of-desert.html#withdrawal" target="_blank">Withdrawal from society</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/04/teachings-and-practices-of-desert.html#panentheism" target="_blank">Panentheism</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/05/controversy-in-paradise-on-nature-of_21.html">Controversy and Banishment in Paradise: Promulgating on the Nature of God and the Afterlife.</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2012/05/visions-and-special-awareness.html">Visions and Special Awareness</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/04/teachings-and-practices-of-desert.html#mental">The Hermit Life and Mental Health</a></li>
</ul><li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/03/commentary-on-the-nag-hammadi-scrolls.html" target="_blank">The Lost Gospels of the Desert Fathers: Commentary on The Nag Hammadi Scrolls aka The Gnostic Gospels</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/10/desert-fathers-as-first-christian.html">The Desert Fathers as the First Christian Buddhists</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/key-players-in-early-christian.html" target="_blank">Key Players in Early Christian Monasticism</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/eating-habits-of-desert-fathers_24.html" target="_blank">Eating Habits of the Desert Fathers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/early-works-about-desert-fathers_24.html" target="_blank">Web-based Early Works about the Desert Fathers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2012/12/contemporary-works-about-desert-fathers.html">Web-based Contemporary Works about the Desert Fathers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/02/mysticism-and-desert-fathers.html" target="_blank">Mysticism and the Desert Fathers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/hermitsby-charles-kingsley_24.html" target="_blank">The Hermits...by Charles Kingsley</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/exploration-of-interior-space-parable.html" target="_blank">Exploration of Interior Space: The Parable of the Desert</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/jesus-and-plato-and-india-tibet.html" target="_blank">Jesus and Plato and the India-Tibet connection</a></li>
</ul></h3></fieldset><fieldset><span style="font-size: large;"><i style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Second:</b></span> 4th and 5th Centuries Egypt: In Alexandria, Many Seek the Divine through Philosophy, Mysticism, and Alexandrine Teaching</i></span><br />
<fieldset><h3>"Many centuries before our time, in the learned circles of a wonderful city, men were greatly interested in the stars, in the elements, in the cosmic process, in time and space, in the relations of the spiritual to the material, in the possibilities of the ages yet to be and in the perennial riddle of the future of the human soul."... R. Tollinton, <i>Alexandrine Teaching</i>.</h3></fieldset></fieldset><fieldset><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie9aFQRG4Ck_8Tz-hlIii-B5GGCPisDa2xZFSSkDjB1rbsEfW7R9Xl39XzBrRJYDjHhCP17w6Rs_GvUUKUk7TKeivZqTTC2NmJBcrTm-mLiSDSZu-lRF54Vzsn7c40n9ft4KpN2pKoMf4/s1600/CroppedChristian+Platonists.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie9aFQRG4Ck_8Tz-hlIii-B5GGCPisDa2xZFSSkDjB1rbsEfW7R9Xl39XzBrRJYDjHhCP17w6Rs_GvUUKUk7TKeivZqTTC2NmJBcrTm-mLiSDSZu-lRF54Vzsn7c40n9ft4KpN2pKoMf4/s200/CroppedChristian+Platonists.jpg" width="126" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYvrhTyl2jdcajvnMMfWXI1I2rVr7Z8-qQORBa8JTmcPmyq6C4ZY9i8Fs0lhPsYB9rCevScvNF4Lr1RilwS-nM_tncOuupieJqloCoZgtld_Q07ijURZij99yTl_v6xlZOAY1JFQySK_I/s1600/clementofA+cropped+2.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYvrhTyl2jdcajvnMMfWXI1I2rVr7Z8-qQORBa8JTmcPmyq6C4ZY9i8Fs0lhPsYB9rCevScvNF4Lr1RilwS-nM_tncOuupieJqloCoZgtld_Q07ijURZij99yTl_v6xlZOAY1JFQySK_I/s200/clementofA+cropped+2.JPG" width="125" /></a><br />
<h3><ul><li><a href="http://alexandrineteaching.blogspot.com/">Beyond the Desert: Academic Content in Alexandrine Teaching (2nd to 5th Centuries CE)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/educating-early-monksthe-catechetical.html">Beyond the Desert: Educating Early Monks...The Catechetical School of Alexandria</a></li>
<li><a href="http://alexandrineteaching.blogspot.com/2010/11/educating-early-monksnotes-on.html">Beyond the Desert: Educating Early Monks...Notes on Alexandrine Teaching</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/01/educating-early-monksthe-alexandrine.html" target="_blank">Beyond the Desert: Educating Early Monks...The Alexandrine Schools and the Beginnings of Christian Philosophy</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2012/07/ancient-libraries-contents.html">Beyond the Desert: Ancient Libraries of the Mediterranean: Where They Were And What Happened To Them</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2012/07/beyond-desert-hypatia-of-alexandria.html">Beyond the Desert: The Last Librarian: Hypatia of Alexandria (355? - 415)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/01/key-players-in-alexandrian-cosmology.html" target="_blank">Beyond the Desert: Key Players in Alexandrine Cosmology</a></li>
<li><a href="http://alexandrineteaching.blogspot.com/2010/12/alexandrian-school.html" target="_blank">Beyond the Desert: <i>The Alexandrian Schools</i>...(<i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i>, 11th ed.)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/world/med/me-imo2.htm" target="_blank">Beyond the Desert: <i>The Alexandrian Tradition</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2012/07/school-of-antioch-versus-school-of.html">Beyond the Desert: The School of Antioch Versus The School of Alexandria: Source of Christology Issues </a></li>
</ul></h3></fieldset><fieldset><span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Neoplatonism and the Desert Fathers in Late Roman Antiquity</b></span></i></span></span><br />
<fieldset><h3><b><i>Just before the dark ages, in the learned circles located in Alexandria, Egypt, early Christianity competed with other <a href="http://alexandrineteaching.blogspot.com/2010/11/educating-early-monksnotes-on.html">philosophies and religions</a> to explain the nature of God, the afterlife, <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_bjrrHelhw_wkcxJJu9CzziyrFlZTImuhenrAod3tnbgX1_TwPoj7hnHOSzUm_8Vn3GQ_6HNqZuTs1jCjyUjkds8kRQ1DZ3d7Ct1-oGmUDdhBMGTdzMSAr9Ql9gcENjf4nbSJsIkeKk/s1600/CroppedChristian+Platonists.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_bjrrHelhw_wkcxJJu9CzziyrFlZTImuhenrAod3tnbgX1_TwPoj7hnHOSzUm_8Vn3GQ_6HNqZuTs1jCjyUjkds8kRQ1DZ3d7Ct1-oGmUDdhBMGTdzMSAr9Ql9gcENjf4nbSJsIkeKk/s200/CroppedChristian+Platonists.jpg" width="127" /></a></div>and the fate of the human soul. During the 2nd to 4th centuries, the two Alexandrian schools, <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/educating-early-monksthe-catechetical.html"><i>The Catechetical School of Alexandria</i></a> (a Christian theological school)and the <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/01/educating-early-monksthe-alexandrine.html"><i>Alexandrine Schools</i></a>, (a secular prototype university) flourished side by side as early church fathers, Clement and Origen blended Platonic philosophy into an early version of Christian philosophy. <br />
<br />
The Platonic view of man as a soul imprisoned within a body or viewing the body as a sarcophagus eventually became known as Neoplatonic philosophy or Neoplatonism. Eventually the Christian view of man favored the Hebrew concept of man as an antimated body, an idea taken from the mythical Genesis story of creation. This shift in the view of man from an imprisoned soul to an animated man would eventually prove significant. <br />
<br />
By the 5th Century Christian view of man, based on the mythical Genesis story, became ossified by a largely political process that began with the first <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecumenical_council">ecumenical council</a>, chaired by Roman Emperor Constantine in 325 CE. Subsequently the emergence of a new definition for the concept of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heresy">heresy</a>, for the first time in recorded history (The word "heresy" means a "choice" or an "opinion," but it came to mean an "incorrect" theological belief.), eventually led to the two schools becoming mortal enemies.<br />
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Many of the early desert fathers were monks educated at the Alexandrine University and the related Catechetical School, both located in Alexandria, Egypt. Many of these monks were exposed to the teachings of Plato that tended to fuse the writings of Plato and Christianity into Neoplatonism. Two of the early Church Fathers <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2013/08/clement-of-alexandria-150-215.html"><b>Clement (150 - 215)</b></a> and <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2013/08/origen-185254.html"><b>Origen (185 – 254)</b></a>, as heads of the Cathechetical School in Alexandria, were instrumental in the education of these monks. The teachings and writings from both these early Church fathers were influenced by Neoplatonism. Origen's writing were declared heretical by the Church in the 6th century.</i></b></h3></fieldset></fieldset><fieldset><h3><ul><li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/01/educating-early-monksthe-alexandrine.html"><b>Educating Early Monks...The Alexandrine Schools and the Beginnings of Christian Philosophy</b></a></li>
</ul></h3></fieldset></div></div><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-31768097104579638242017-09-02T18:44:00.010-06:002021-02-03T19:29:21.028-07:00Welcome and Introduction to The Desert Fathers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset><i>In the fourth century A.D. the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Arabia and Persia were peopled by a race of men who have left behind them a strange reputation. They were the first Christian hermits, who abandoned the cities of the pagan world to live in solitude.... <br />
<br />
What the Fathers sought most of all was their own true self, in Christ. And in order to do this, they had to reject completely the false, formal self, fabricated under social compulsion in "the world."<br />
<br />
They sought a way to God that was uncharted and freely chosen, not inherited from others who had mapped it out beforehand. They sought a God whom they alone could find, not one who was "given" in a set, stereotyped form by somebody else. Not that they rejected any of the dogmatic formulas of the Christian faith: they accepted and clung to them in their simplest and most elementary shape. But they were slow (at least in the beginning, in the time of their primitive wisdom) to get involved in theological controversy. Their flight to the arid horizons of the desert meant also a refusal to be content with arguments, concepts and technical verbiage....<b>Thomas Merton...The Wisdom of the Desert</b></i> <br />
</fieldset><fieldset><b>Hello and Welcome...</b><br />
<br />
This blog serves as a companion to my blog: <b><a href="http://alexandrinelibrarian.blogspot.com/">Alexandrine Librarian</a></b> (2010) which has been revised and rewritten as the <b><a href="https://bookofjohnthelibrarian.blogspot.com/">Book of John the Librarian</a></b> in 2021. One purpose of this blog is to document my research of the rise of monasticism in the third and fourth centuries in the Egyptian desert around the ancient city of Alexandria, Egypt. Another purpose is to explore the nature of the compelling spirituality of these desert fathers who lived quite independently mainly in the desert of Egypt around the ancient city of Alexandria prior to the time of Church interference that began with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Chalcedon"><b>Council of Chalcedon in 451</b></a>. <br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://alexandrinelibrarian.blogspot.com/">Alexandrine Librarian</a></b> was a fictionalized story told by one of the librarians who worked at the great library, in Alexandria, Egypt, right before its demise in 415 AD. I began writing the story to get a sense of what it might have been like working in that great library during those years of political and religious turmoil in the empire. <br />
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Surprisingly, the fourth century AD started as a century of hope for human civilization as it was a period of time when there were many <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2012/07/ancient-libraries-contents.html"><b>great libraries throughout major metropolitan cities</b></a> and the early beginnings of a <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/01/educating-early-monksthe-alexandrine.html"><b>prototype modern day university</b></a> was established and thriving in Alexandria, Egypt.<br />
<br />
I began my research in 1995. As a university librarian, my initial interest was in learning about the Great Library located in Alexandria, Egypt - how it came to be and what happened to it. However it quickly became obvious that the fate of the Great Library was closely tied to the truculent nature of the local Christian Church and its bishop. The two could not be separated.<br />
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In 1995, little did I realized that my interest in this topic would be so compelling that eventually I would take early retirement from my position as a university library director, in 2005, in order to spend all my time researching and writing about early Christianity and its influence on ancient libraries. For me this interest became an obsession, a sort of spiritual journey into the origin and roots of early Christianity and, more importantly an exploration of my own feelings and beliefs about the nature of the unseen world and the nature of the Divine and Divine Realm.<br />
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Before 1995, the god I thought I knew was a god created by men, perhaps men of good intention, perhaps not. But certainly they viewed an anthropomorphic god with all the limitations of human weaknesses. These same men put human limitations on their god and fashioned that god for their own purposes. But the God of those men and women in the third and fourth century monastic movement was a very real God, a God who could be experienced first hand.<br />
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The 4th century AD, must have been one of the most spiritual centuries in human history with a two-pronged effort toward searching for the <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/alexandrine-teachingby-r-b-tollinton_24.html"><b>nature of God</b></a> and <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2011/01/nature-of-human-soul.html"><b>the destiny of the human soul</b></a>. One search was under way in an early university set up in Alexandria, Egypt, centered around that early repository of ancient wisdom, the great Alexandrian Library. Building on the early works of the great mystic Plato, that included ideas, such as karma and reincarnation, from texts on eastern religions, they attempted to understand the nature of the unseen world through rational thinking based on ancient wisdom from India and Tibet. Among these <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/thechristianplat00bigguoft"><b>Christian Neoplatonists</b></a> were early church fathers, including <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/clementofalexand02tolluoft"><b>Clement</b></a> and <a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/origen-of-alexandria/"><b>Origen</b></a>, who likely used the resources of that great library facility in their studies and teachings. <br />
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Clement has been quoted as saying: "Many streams flow into the one river of truth. The bee gets her honey from every kind of flower in which she can discover it." One could easily surmise from this that he was a heavy library user. As the great library was all inclusive in its collection building, it is likely that the library acquired the texts of eastern religions and that those texts were available to the early Church fathers. Karma, reincarnation and the belief that the human soul was eternal were a part of early <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/01/christian-neoplatonist-philosophy.html"><b>Christian Neoplatonist philosophy</b></a>. Neoplatonist philosophy including the writings of the early church fathers from the second and third centuries was later declared a heretical teaching by the church in the fourth century.<br />
<br />
The other search for the nature of the unseen world was in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Arabia and Persia, where men and women, in solitary, sought to experience the Divine. They followed the path of the great mystics from the east. Through extreme asceticism that involved physical deprivation and the consumption of hallucinogenic drugs they had powerful visions that enabled them seek a way to the divine "that was uncharted and freely chosen, not inherited from others who had mapped it out beforehand." (Visit <a href="http://ldysinger.stjohnsem.edu/@texts/0400_apophth/08_origins-combined.htm"><b>Monks and Nuns of the Egyptian Desert</b></a> for a brief archaeological and historical overview.)<br />
<br />
Two very different approaches toward solving the riddle of the future of the human soul. Both efforts, using different methods, converged at that point in human history, and focused on understanding the nature of the unseen world.<br />
<br />
At first in the second and third centuries, these two approaches easily coexisted side by side in Egypt. This peaceful coexistence continued until the early Christian church and an emerging church doctrine began to take shape in fourth century. In 380 AD, sixty-eight years after Constantine legalized the Christian religion, Roman Emperor Theodosius' decreed that Christianity was the only religion of the Empire. That act lead to the beginning of the end of the Alexandrian University and the rational approach to understanding the nature of the unseen world. After that time the early Christian church quickly consolidated its power and began aggressively eliminating of all contrary ideas about the nature of the unseen world. The world of classical scholarship and learning, supported by vast collections of recorded wisdom, which the early church branded as pagan and, therefore, heretical, was coming to an end. <br />
<br />
The decree of 380 gave the Christian Church authority to use Roman troops to destroy all non-Christian temples and non-Christian libraries throughout the Empire and murder anyone who stood in the way. According to some accounts the early Church moved quickly to enforce the decree, leaving those individuals who were not Christian with no alternative but convert, or else, to Christianity as their shrines and temples were destroyed. Many non-Christians lost their lives when they rebelled against the destruction of their sacred places. The early Christian Church proved as brutal in carrying out the new decree as the Romans were in persecuting early Christians.<br />
<br />
Theodosius's decree in 380 lead to the beginning of the end of classical scholarship and all teaching and research in the Empire. The Alexandrine University, located in Alexandria, Egypt was eventually closed with its faculty and librarians fleeing to higher education institutions and libraries in Persia (modern day Iran). Fortunately some classical texts in the libraries were saved from destruction by being transported to libraries in Persia. But in the main, library collections were burned and scholars and librarians who tried to defend their libraries were murdered by Christian fundamentalists (see <a href="http://christianthinktank.com/qburnbx.html"><b>here</b></a> and <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2012/07/question.html"><b>here</b></a> for an alternate view for destruction of classical literature). <br />
<br />
The brutal murder of <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2012/07/beyond-desert-hypatia-of-alexandria.html"><b>Hypatia of Alexandria in 415 AD</b></a>, one of the last philosopher librarians, by members of the Church underscored just how serious the fracture between the church and classical scholarship had become. <br />
<br />
The movie <a href="http://www.mrqe.com/movie_reviews/agora-m100070276"><b>Agora</b></a> released in 2009 dramatizes one version of the end of the Great Library, the death of librarian-philosopher Hypatia and the end of classical scholarship. The movie was produced in Spain, but never made it to popular distribution in the US because of it's strong anti-Christian content. According to Robert Ebert in his review of this movie, "This is a movie about ideas, a drama based on the ancient war between science and superstition." <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/movies/28agora.html"><b>Also the review in the New York Times authored by A.O. Scott</b></a> should be read before viewing the movie to identity the various historical figures close to Hypatia. <br />
<br />
According to Carl Sagan in his book Cosmos:<br />
<br />
"Hypatia stood at the epicenter of ... mighty social forces. Cyril, the Archbishop of Alexandria, despised her because of her close friendship with the Roman governor, and because she was a symbol of learning and science, which were largely identified by the early Church with paganism. In great personal danger, she continued to teach and publish, until, in the year 415, on her way to work she was set upon by a fanatical mob of Cyril’s parishioners. They dragged her from her chariot, tore off her clothes, and ... flayed her flesh from her bones. Her remains were burned, her works obliterated, her name forgotten. Cyril was made a saint."<br />
<br />
One would think that given the technology, science and individual spirituality that emerged at this time, that human civilization was about to make a great leap in improving the human condition for all. <br />
<br />
However, it did not. For the next thousand years the light of wisdom would go dark for many as a period of the Dark Ages descended upon humanity in Europe and Northern Africa.<br />
<br />
Why?<br />
<br />
This blog and the companion blog <a href="http://alexandrineteaching.blogspot.com/"><b>Alexandrine Teaching</b></a> explores <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2012/07/question.html"><b><i>that question</i></b></a>. <br />
<br />
<center><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6RzaaP0M0qRUApgONLfwgQI4m3jYVhRoMM53cI0bck8u0mIcHNKQJg7cYUxBg0O1TmjC_fBTOt18O22T5W1QK6ezDiKVJbP78dYf5DYthcUCzJUv-dEwCYKgnERtbE0PBhQPzNb02tSM/s1600/Cartoon.bmp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6RzaaP0M0qRUApgONLfwgQI4m3jYVhRoMM53cI0bck8u0mIcHNKQJg7cYUxBg0O1TmjC_fBTOt18O22T5W1QK6ezDiKVJbP78dYf5DYthcUCzJUv-dEwCYKgnERtbE0PBhQPzNb02tSM/s320/Cartoon.bmp" width="340" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>click on image to enlarge</i></span></center><br />
Comments and observations are welcome. If you wish to contribute a chapter or so to this blog, feel free to contact me.<br />
<br />
The Librarian<br />
From the high mountains of southern Colorado<br />
USA<br />
October 2010<br />
send email to: <a href="mailto:alexandrinelibrarian@gmail.com">alexandrinelibrarian@gmail.com</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Some additional links:<br />
<ul><li><a href="https://www.memphistours.com/Egypt/WikiTravel/the-western-desert-and-oases/wiki/The-Monastery-of-Baramus">The Monastery of al-Baramus (Deir al-Baramus, Monastery of the Romans)</a> (Contains historical information about the Baramus Monastery. The monastery that is included in Alexandrine Librarian.)</li>
<li><a href="http://premontre.info/subpages/loci/imagines/imjackson/gal-deir%20el%20baramus.htm">Deir el-Baramus Coptic Monastery, Wadi Natron, Egypt</a></li>
</ul></fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-73174128546690668122014-06-02T13:19:00.003-06:002020-08-13T09:05:57.412-06:00The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross...by John M. Allegro <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset><b>1956.</b> Religious scholar <a href="http://johnallegro.org/"><b>John Marco Allegro</b></a> published The Dead Sea Scrolls and presented three talks on the BBC, introducing these ancient documents to the general public. Allegro had joined the translation team in Jerusalem in October 1953, around the time Huxley began experimenting with psilocybin. Allegro's work on the Scrolls was later to lead to an international scandal when he published <a href="http://psypressuk.com/2010/09/24/literary-review-the-sacred-mushroom-and-the-cross-by-john-m-allegro/"><i><b>The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross</b></i></a> in 1970, in which he claimed that the assumed Essene community at Qumran, where the Scrolls were discovered in July 1947, was a mushroom cult and Jesus was the name for their sacrament.<br />
<br />
source: <a href="http://www.metahistory.org/psychonautics/Psychonautics1.php"><b>Metahistory.org</b></a><br />
</fieldset><fieldset><ul><li><a href="http://psypressuk.com/2010/09/24/literary-review-the-sacred-mushroom-and-the-cross-by-john-m-allegro/"><b><i>Literary Review: ‘The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross’ by John M. Allegro</i></b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://johnallegro.org/"><b>JOHN MARCO ALLEGRO, SCROLLS SCHOLAR AND FREETHINKER: A brief biography</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://johnallegro.org/text/WassonvsAllegro.htm"><b><i>The Schism: Wasson vs. Allegro: Were Psychoactive Drugs Involved in the Foundation of Christianity? A Critical Analysis</i>...By J. R. Irvin</b></a><br />
<i>"Beginning in the 1950’s a serious theoretical disagreement regarding art interpretations emerged within the fields of theology and entheobotany. Entheobotany is the study of how certain cultures use plants and fungi for religious purposes. The centrally important question that underlines this disagreement concerns the study of the origins of religion, and more specifically Judeo-Christianity. Gaining insight into the core issues of this disagreement is of utmost importance to anyone with an interest in understanding the origins of religion.<br />
<br />
The question: Were psychoactive drugs involved in the foundation of Christianity?"</i></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM7CH_IgZDg"><b>Sacred Mushroom and the Cross (Part 1) (YouTube)</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfhe1TxXgVc"><b>Sacred Mushroom and the Cross (Part 2) (YouTube)</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es5yBwOrLS0"><b>John Marco Allegro's The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross - 40th anniversary edition (YouTube)</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8PDt2IKS4k"><b>John Allegro: Who Was Jesus? (Youtube)</b></a></li>
</ul></fieldset><fieldset>"Biblical scholar John Marco Allegro controversially proposed that the Roman Theology was derived from a sex and psychedelic mushroom cult in his 1970 book The <i>Sacred Mushroom and the Cross</i>,... although his theory has found little support by scholars outside the field of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnomycology"><b>ethnomycology</b></a>. The book was roundly discredited by academics and theologians, including Sir Godfrey Driver, Emeritus Professor of Semitic Philology at Oxford University, and Henry Chadwick, the Dean of Christ Church College, Oxford.... Christian author John C. King wrote a detailed rebuttal of Allegro's theory in the 1970 book A Christian View of the Mushroom Myth; he notes neither fly agarics nor their host trees are found in the middle east even though cedars and pines are found there, and highlights the tenuous nature of the links between biblical and Sumerian names coined by Allegro. He concludes that if the theory was true, the use of the mushroom must have been "the best kept secret in the world" as it was so well concealed for all this time....<br />
<br />
In Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy (formerly called Strange Fruit), Clark Heinrich interprets A. muscaria usage by Adam and Eve, Moses, Elijah and Elisha, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jonah, Jesus and his disciples, and John of Patmos... In the book Apples of Apollo the mushroom is identified in a wide range of mythological tales such as those involving Perseus, Prometheus, Heracles, Jason and the Argonauts, Jesus and the Holy Grail"...<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_muscaria"><b><i>Amanita muscaria</i> (Wikipedia)</b></a></fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/06/early-christianity-and-hallucinogens.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-33014568729188649262014-06-02T13:12:00.001-06:002014-06-02T13:12:07.831-06:00Christianity and Mushrooms<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_sWY6_S-WMCOr0L8IBvFMsq3xB-YhHkPCeQ0uqVZDbwtf-N5gpnCP9juVkbElgZKIiBFsFnG9KcmMKi9tXV6KPLdz8qHul8ui8xkWQixqVFaaHhi0G0KMlUlVSU_8xwQtZc2OFQbndnY/s1600/Legend+of+St+Eustace.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_sWY6_S-WMCOr0L8IBvFMsq3xB-YhHkPCeQ0uqVZDbwtf-N5gpnCP9juVkbElgZKIiBFsFnG9KcmMKi9tXV6KPLdz8qHul8ui8xkWQixqVFaaHhi0G0KMlUlVSU_8xwQtZc2OFQbndnY/s320/Legend+of+St+Eustace.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"<i>The large window of the Legend of St. Eustace in Chartres cathedral shows many ‘mushroom trees’ and unambiguous depictions of mushrooms throughout its panels. Hundreds of depictions of mushrooms appear in Christian art.</i>" <b>source: <a href="http://www.egodeath.com/EntheogenTheoryOfReligion.htm#_Toc132363342"><i>The Entheogen Theory of Religion</i>... by Michael Hoffman</a></b> </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></fieldset><fieldset><ul><a href="http://psypressuk.com/2011/03/04/literary-review-the-mushroom-in-christian-art-by-john-a-rush/">
<li><h3><i>Literary Review: ‘The Mushroom in Christian Art’ by John A. Rush</i></h3></li>
<i>"Originally published in 2011 ‘The Mushroom in Christian Art – The Identity of Jesus in the Development of Christianity’ by John A. Rush is a well needed addition to a burgeoning research area in psychedelic studies; namely the possible role hallucinogenic mushrooms took in the Christian religion. Rush has previously published works like ‘Spiritual Tattoo’ and ‘Failed God’ and although some of his other works have brushed against the mushroom-Christianity question, this is his first concentrated effort in the area."</i></a> <a href="http://www.clinicalanthropology.com/">
<li><h3><i>The Mushroom in Christian Art The Identity of Jesus in the Development of Christianity</i> by John A. Rush</h3></li>
<i>"Mushrooms occur in every piece of Christian art. They are found in the mosaics and wall paintings of the earliest Christian images, and later in manuscripts, stained glass, tapestries, and sculpture. They are obvious; I have verification from priests and icon artists. What they mean, however, is still guarded. In my opinion the mushroom is generic for numerous plants, fungi, and potions used by the various cults to commune with the Teacher of Righteousness at the time of our mythic hero Jesus."</i></a> <a href="http://www.egodeath.com/WassonEdenTree.htm">
<li><h3><i>Wasson and Allegro on the Tree of Knowledge as Amanita</i> by Michael Hoffman</h3></li>
<i>"This article summarizes the theory that visionary plants play an instrumental role within Christian origins and the Bible, and helps straighten out the citations, issues, and relationships among John Ramsbottom, Erwin Panofsky, R. Gordon Wasson, and John Allegro, to clear up many of the inaccurate assessments and characterizations regarding their views on these hypotheses. More precision has been needed about exactly which arguments or issues were mentioned by whom, and what the reasoning and argumentation was, specifically. The treatment of the views of Wasson and Allegro has been too undifferentiated and careless."</i></a> <a href="http://www.gnosticmedia.com/the-holy-mushroom-evidence-of-mushrooms-in-judeo-christianity/">
<li><h3><i>The Holy Mushroom Evidence of Mushrooms in Judeo-Christianity</i> by J.R. Irvin</h3></li>
<i>"A critical re-evaluation of the schism between John M. Allegro and R. Gordon Wasson over the theory on the entheogenic origins of Christianity presented in The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross"</i></a>
<li><h3><a href="http://users.misericordia.edu//davies/thomas/summaryone.htm">Summary of...<i>Jesus the Healer: Possession, Trance, and the Origins of Christianity</i>...by Stevan Davies</a></h3><i>"The Jesus figure is portrayed in the New Testament as a spirit-possessed altered-state shamanistic healer"</i>...<a href="http://www.egodeath.com/mobile1.htm"><b><i>The Entheogen Theory of Religion and Ego Death</i>...by Michael Hoffman</b></a></li></ul></fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/06/early-christianity-and-hallucinogens.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-24167176793501360022014-06-02T12:37:00.001-06:002015-06-23T07:11:54.158-06:00Early Christianity and hallucinogens <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset><i>"The essence and origin of religion is the use of visionary plants to routinely trigger the intense mystic altered state....<br />
<br />
The main origin and ongoing wellspring of religion is the use of visionary plants. These plants include Psilocybe mushrooms, Henbane, Cannabis, Opium, Peyote, Salvia divinorum, and Amanita mushrooms. "...<a href="http://www.egodeath.com/EntheogenTheoryOfReligion.htm#_Toc177337608"><b><i>The Entheogen Theory of Religion and Ego Death</i>...by Michael Hoffman</b></a></i></fieldset><fieldset><i>To be shaken out of the ruts of ordinary perception, to be shown for a few timeless hours the outer and inner world, not as they appear to an animal obsessed with survival or to a human being obsessed with words and notions, but as they are apprehended, directly and unconditionally, by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_at_Large"><b>Mind at Large</b></a> — this is an experience of inestimable value to everyone and especially to the intellectual.</i>...Aldous Huxley, <b><i>The Doors of Perception (1954)</i></b></fieldset><fieldset><ul><li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/06/christianity-and-mushrooms_2.html"><b>Christianity and Mushrooms </b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-sacred-mushroom-and-cross-by-john-m.html"><i><b><i>The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross</i></b>...by John M. Allegro</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://catbull.com/alamut/Bibliothek/7616docid6743.pdf"><b><i>Biblical Entheogens: a Speculative Hypothesis</i></b>...by Benny Shanon</a><br />
<i>"This paper is concerned with Judaism. Merkur (1985, 2001), a psychoanalyst and student of religion, proposed that the Manna the people of Israel received from heaven during their wondering through the Sinai desert was actually an entheogen. Here I would like to put forth a hypothesis, admittedly speculative, regarding other enteogenic uses in early Hebrew religion...."...also <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Shanon"><b>here</b></a></i></li>
<li><a href="http://digitaljournal.com/article/251250"><b>Benny Shanon Says Moses Was Tripping</b></a><br />
<i>"When Moses saw the burning bush and listened to God giving the Ten Commandments he was stoned according to Benny Shanon. The Israeli professor has been exploring this angle for decades...."</i><br />
[see also <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/26/religion"><b>I never said Moses was stoned when he saw God...by Benny Shanon</b></a>]</li>
<li><a href="http://www.imprint.co.uk/pdf/Roberts.pdf"><b><i>Entheogens Reflections on ‘Psychoactive Sacramentals'</i></b>...by Benny Shanon</a><br />
<i>"Last but not least is the story of the Tree of Knowledge. There is much to be said about this story but this is not the place for it. Here, let me confine myself to one simple, yet instructive, observation. Whatever the interpretation one gives to this story, one thing is clear--it was told in a context in which people (adult individuals, not children reading fairy tales) believed that knowledge could be obtained by the ingestion of plant material, and that this knowledge had a relationship to the Divine. As the Serpent told Adam and Eve: 'In the day ye eat [of the fruit of the tree] then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.' Indeed, the biblical text goes on noting that having eaten of the fruit 'the eyes of them both were opened' (Genesis, 3.7), and that God's appraisal was that 'the man is become as one of us, to learn good and evil' (Genesis, 3.22)."</i></li>
<li><a href="http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v10n3/10318sha.html"><b><i>Ayahuasca and Creativity</i></b>...by Benny Shanon</a><br />
<i>"Phenomenologically, the effects of ayahuasca are multifarious -- they include hallucinatory effects in all perceptual modalities, psychological insights, intellectual ideations, spiritual uplifting and mystical experiences. As discussed at length in the book mentioned above, many facets of these may be attributed to enhanced creativity."</i></li>
<li><b>Benny Shanon</b></li>
<ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Shanon"><b>Benny Shanon <i>(Wikipedia)</i></b></a><br />
"Benny Shanon...is a professor of psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and holds the Mandel Chair in cognitive psychology and education. Born in Tel Aviv, Shanon studied philosophy and linguistics at Tel Aviv University and received his doctorate in experimental psychology from Stanford University. He is best known for the <a href="https://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?ID=7616"><b>Biblical entheogen hypothesis</b></a>, the idea that the use of hallucinogenic drugs influenced religion."</li>
<li><a href="http://www.wasiwaska.org/organization/benny-shanon"><b>Dr. Benny Shanon (Bio)</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://biopark.org/peru/aya-cognitive.html"><b>A Cognitive-Psychological Study of Ayahuasca...<i>by Benny Shanon</i></b></a></li>
<li><a href=""><b></b></a></li>
</ul><li><a href="http://distelrath.tripod.com/fabbro.htm"><b><i>DID EARLY CHRISTIANS USE HALLUCINOGENIC MUSHROOMS? ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE.</i>...Franco Fabbro</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://atheism.about.com/od/bookreviews/fr/ReligionPaul.htm"><b><i>The Religion of Paul the Apostle</i>...by John Ashton</b></a><br />
<i>"Traditionally, Paul is treated and viewed as if he were a theologian — which is to say, it is his thoughts on religion and God which are the focus of attention. His writings are systematized and categorized and treated as though they were part of an organized theology. But Ashton tackles his subject from a different perspective, arguing that it is Paul’s mystical experiences, and his reactions to them, which should receive greater attention. "</i>...<a href="http://atheism.about.com/od/bookreviews/fr/ReligionPaul.htm"><b>Book Review: The Religion of Paul the Apostle, by John Ashton</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-entheogen-theory-of-religion-and.html"><b><i>The Entheogen Theory of Religion and Ego Death</i>...by Michael Hoffman </b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.wholereason.com/2011/11/hallucinogens-as-angels-of-light.html"><b><i>Hallucinogens as Angels of Light</i></b></a><br />
An interesting contemporary experience with links to others. Read to the end for an interesting post-experience comment.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.santodaime.org/archives/alex1.htm"><b><i>Might the Gods be Alkaloids</i></b>...by Alex Polari de Alverga</a><br />
<i>" In reference to Wasson’s work, Levi Strauss interprets the myth of the tree of knowledge and the biblical story of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit as a metaphor of man’s contact with the primordial entheogen. In other words, this act marked man’s shift from an indifferent state of nebulous clairvoyance to a state of lucid self-awareness, the consequence of which was man’s expulsion from Eden."</i></li>
<li><a href="http://www.atlanteanconspiracy.com/2008/09/jesus-christ-magic-mushroom-part-1.html"><b><i>Jesus Christ the Magic Mushroom (part 1)</i></b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.atlanteanconspiracy.com/2008/09/jesus-christ-magic-mushroom-part-2.html"><b><i>Jesus Christ the Magic Mushroom (part 2)</i></b></a></li>
<li><a href=""><b><i></i></b></a></li>
</ul></fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-89697342882494324072014-06-02T12:26:00.001-06:002014-06-02T12:33:31.491-06:00The Entheogen Theory of Religion and Ego Death...by Michael Hoffman<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset><i>"The main origin and ongoing wellspring of religion is the use of visionary plants. These plants include Psilocybe mushrooms, Henbane, Cannabis, Opium, Peyote, Salvia divinorum, and Amanita mushrooms.<br />
<br />
Visionary plants have been commonly used around the world throughout the history of religion and culture (Hofmann, Schultes, & Ratsch 1992), including in the various forms of Western Esotericism (Heinrich 1994). Greek and Christian mythic-religious systems often refer to visionary plants (Ruck, Staples, & Heinrich 2001). Leading mystics throughout the history of various religions have used visionary-plant sessions on-demand, with mystic-state experiencing that was largely rationality-oriented (Merkur 2001).<br />
<br />
Meditation, shamanic drumming, and liturgical ritual were developed as activities to do in the plant-induced dissociative state, not as methods of inducing the dissociative state in the first place. "...</i><a href="http://www.egodeath.com/EntheogenTheoryOfReligion.htm#_Toc177337608"><b><i>The Entheogen Theory of Religion</i>...by Michael Hoffman</b></a></fieldset><fieldset><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzATHFX2JDREo4auTIG77TWsbcmyD5rAhTsxKUEUHyzoAFzC81nnQLpgd97n0VYRJcietlA6F8mpI-pJs79tlb42IVDxlhcq7N9z4Q34rbL7IZubJ1t2s66EuDQrIkU70c0g6s4gZ9dI/s1600/ChartresEustaceMushroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzATHFX2JDREo4auTIG77TWsbcmyD5rAhTsxKUEUHyzoAFzC81nnQLpgd97n0VYRJcietlA6F8mpI-pJs79tlb42IVDxlhcq7N9z4Q34rbL7IZubJ1t2s66EuDQrIkU70c0g6s4gZ9dI/s200/ChartresEustaceMushroom.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc122922829;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc132363342;">The large window of the Legend of St.<br />
Eustace in Chartres cathedral shows many ‘mushroom trees’ and unambiguous<br />
depictions of mushrooms throughout its panels. Hundreds of depictions of<br />
mushrooms appear in Christian art...From <a href=""><b><i>The Entheogen Theory of Religion</i>...by Michael Hoffman</b></a></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></fieldset><fieldset><ul><li><a href="http://www.egodeath.com/"><b><i>The Entheogen Theory of Religion and Ego Death</i>...by Michael Hoffman</b></a></li>
<li><a href=""><b></b></a></li>
<li><a href=""><b></b></a></li></ul></fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/06/christianity-and-mushrooms.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset><br />
</div><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-8977869023781945842014-06-02T12:21:00.003-06:002014-06-02T13:58:14.497-06:00Christianity and Mushrooms<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset><ul><li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/06/early-christianity-and-hallucinogens.html"><b>Early Christianity and hallucinogens </b></a></li>
<li><a href=""><b></b></a></li>
<li><a href=""><b></b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-entheogen-theory-of-religion-and.html"><b><i>The Entheogen Theory of Religion and Ego Death</i>...by Michael Hoffman </b></a></li>
</ul></fieldset></div><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-65714516699397189772014-04-29T19:04:00.001-06:002014-04-30T20:31:50.815-06:00Christianity in the 2nd century<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset><center><strong>This page is under construction<br />
</strong></center></fieldset><fieldset><i><b>Helpful Definitions:</b></i><ul><li><i><b>Acts:</b> The activities of the disciples after Jesus's death.</i></li>
<li><i><b>Epistles:</b> Letters written by Christian leaders to other Christians.</i></li>
<li><i><b>Apocalypse:</b> A revelation concerning the end of the world in a cataclysmic act of God.</li>
<li><b>Apocryphon:</b> Greek term for a genre of Jewish and Early Christian writings that were meant to impart "secret teachings" or gnosis (knowledge) that could not be publicly taught.</i></li>
</ul></fieldset><fieldset><b>Christianity in the 2nd Century</b><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook11.asp#Early%20Church:%202nd-3rd%20Centuries"><b>Early Church: 2nd-3rd Centuries (Internet Ancient History Sourcebook)</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.churchhistory101.com/century2.php"><b>CH101 - The Second Century</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2010/08/29/what-was-a-church-service-like-in-the-second-century/"><b>What Was a Church Service Like in the Second Century</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/diversity.html"><b>The Diversity of Early Christianity</b></a><br />
From the beginning, early Christians struggled to define for themselves the identity of Jesus and the meaning of his message.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.theologywebsite.com/history/gentile2cent.shtml"><b>Gentile Christianity of the Second Century </b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/christianity-the-second-and-third-century-a-d"><b>Christianity in the Second and Third Century A.D.</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_2nd_century"><b>Christianity in the 2nd Century (Wikipedia)</b></a><br />
Christianity in the 2nd century was largely the time of the Apostolic Fathers who were the students of the apostles of Jesus, though there is some overlap as John the Apostle may have survived into the 2nd century and Clement of Rome is said to have died at the end of the 1st century. While the Christian church was centered in Jerusalem in the 1st century, it became decentralized in the 2nd century....</li>
<li><a href=""><b>Key Players in the 2nd Century Christianity (Wikipedia)</b></a></li>
<ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_2nd_century#Apologetists"><b>Apologetists</b></a><br />
In the face of criticism from Greek philosophers and facing persecution, Apologetists wrote to justify and defend Christian doctrine.</li>
<ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Martyr"><b>Justin Martyr (c. 100 – 165 AD)</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatian"><b>Tatian the Assyrian (c. 120–180 AD)</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenagoras_of_Athens"><b>Athenagoras of Athens ca. (133 – 190)</b></a></li>
</ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_Fathers"><b>Apostolic Fathers</b></a><br />
The Apostolic Fathers are a small number of Early Christian authors who lived and wrote in the second half of the 1st century and the first half of the 2nd century.... They are acknowledged as leaders in the early church, although their writings were not included in the New Testament.</li>
<ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_of_Rome"><b>Clement of Rome</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_of_Antioch"><b>Ignatius of Antioch</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycarp"><b>Polycarp of Smyrna</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didache"><b>author of the Didache</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd_of_Hermas"><b>author of the Shepherd of Hermas</b></a></li>
</ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_2nd_century#Greek_Fathers"><b>Greek Fathers</b></a><br />
Those who wrote in Greek are called the Greek Church Fathers. Famous Greek Fathers of 2nd century (other than the Apostolic Fathers) include: Irenaeus of Lyons and Clement of Alexandria.</li>
<ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irenaeus"><b>Irenaeus (early 2nd century–c.202)</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://alexandrineteaching.blogspot.com/2012/07/clement-of-alexandria-150-215.html"><b>Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215)</b></a></li>
</ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_2nd_century#Latin_Fathers"><b>Latin Fathers</b></a><br />
Church Fathers who wrote in Latin are called the Latin Church Fathers. Tertullian was the first Latin Father and only well known such father of the 2nd century.</li>
<ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertullian"><b>Tertullian (c.160–c.225 AD)</b></a></li>
</ul></ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_heresy#Early_Christian_heresies"><b>Early Christian heresies (Wikipedia)</b></a><br />
In the middle of the 2nd century, three unorthodox groups of Christians adhered to a range of doctrines that divided the Christian communities of Rome: the teacher Marcion; the pentecostal outpourings of ecstatic Christian prophets of a continuing revelation, in a movement that was called "Montanism" because it had been initiated by Montanus and his female disciples; and the gnostic teachings of Valentinus. Early attacks upon alleged heresies formed the matter of Tertullian's Prescription Against Heretics (in 44 chapters, written from Rome), and of Irenaeus' Against Heresies (ca 180, in five volumes), written in Lyon after his return from a visit to Rome. The letters of Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna to various churches warned against false teachers, and the Epistle of Barnabas accepted by many Christians as part of Scripture in the 2nd century, warned about mixing Judaism with Christianity, as did other writers, leading to decisions reached in the first ecumenical council, which was convoked by the Emperor Constantine at Nicaea in 325, in response to further disruptive polemical controversy within the Christian community, in that case Arianist disputes over the nature of the Trinity.</li>
<ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_heresy#Early_suppression_of_heresies"><b>Early suppression of heresies (Wikipedia)</b></a><br />
Before 313 AD, the "heretical" nature of some beliefs was a matter of much debate within the churches, and there was no true mechanism in place to resolve the various differences of beliefs. </li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_heresy#Christology"><b>Christology (Wikipedia)</b></a><br />
The earliest controversies were generally Christological in nature; that is, they were related to Jesus' (eternal) divinity or humanity. The orthodox teaching, as it developed, is that Christ was fully divine and at the same time fully human, and that the three persons of the Trinity are co-equal and co-eternal.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_heresy#Ecumenical_councils"><b>Ecumenical councils (Wikipedia)</b></a><br />
Several ecumenical councils were convened. These were mostly concerned with Christological disputes.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_heresies#Gnosticism"><b>Gnosticism (Wikipedia)</b></a><br />
Gnosticism refers to a diverse, syncretistic religious movement consisting of various belief systems generally united in the teaching that humans are divine souls trapped in a material world created by an imperfect god, the demiurge, who is frequently identified with the Abrahamic God. Gnosticism is a rejection (sometimes from an ascetic perspective) and vilification of the human body and of the material world or cosmos. Gnosticism teaches duality in Material (Matter) versus Spiritual or Body (evil) versus Soul (good). Gnosticism teaches that the natural or material world will and should be destroyed (total annihilation) by the true spiritual God in order to free mankind from the reign of the false God or Demiurge.</li>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.churchhistory101.com/century2-p5.php"><b>Gnosticism</b></a><br />
In the early second century a strange movement began to emerge, more strongly concentrated in Egypt, but with pockets of activity throughout the Roman world. Gnosticism was a curious synthesis of Jewish apocalypticism, Platonism, strains of pagan religions, and early Christianity. There are some indications of an early form of first century gnosticism in the NT, but nothing like what developed in the second century. Some scholars want to date various NT documents into the second century based on the apparent references to gnosticism. </li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnostic_Gospels"><b>Gnostic Gospels (Wikipedia)</b></a><br />
The Gnostic Gospels are a collection of about fifty-two ancient texts based upon the teachings of several spiritual leaders, written from the 2nd to the 4th century AD. </li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_heresies#Gnosticism"><b>[annotated] List of Gnostic Heresies</b></a></li>
</ul></ul></ul></fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-32356598627925042392014-04-29T11:03:00.004-06:002014-04-30T03:00:19.349-06:00Christianity in the 1st Century<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset><center><strong>This page is under construction<br />
</strong></center></fieldset><fieldset><i><b>Helpful Definitions:</b></i><ul><li><i><b>Acts:</b> The activities of the disciples after Jesus's death.</i></li>
<li><i><b>Epistles:</b> Letters written by Christian leaders to other Christians.</i></li>
<li><i><b>Apocalypse:</b> A revelation concerning the end of the world in a cataclysmic act of God.</li>
<li><b>Apocryphon:</b> Greek term for a genre of Jewish and Early Christian writings that were meant to impart "secret teachings" or gnosis (knowledge) that could not be publicly taught.</i></li>
</ul></fieldset><fieldset><b>Christrianity in the 1st Century</b><ul><li><a href="http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook11.asp#Christian%20Origins"><b>Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Christian Origins</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook11.asp#Early%20Church:%20First%20Century"><b>Early Church: First Century (Internet Ancient History Sourcebook)</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century"><b>Christianity in the 1st Century (Wikipedia)</b></a><br />
The earliest followers of Jesus composed an apocalyptic Jewish sect, which historians refer to as Jewish Christianity.</li>
<ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_Age"><b>Apostolic Age</b></a><br />
The apostolic period between the years 30 and 100 produced writings attributed to the direct followers of Jesus Christ. The period is traditionally associated with the apostles, hence the tags "apostolic times" and "apostolic writings". The New Testament books were connected by the early church to the apostles. Modern liberal scholarship has cast doubt on the authorship of some New Testament books, however most accept that the New Testament books were written during this period.</li>
<ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century#Acts_of_the_Apostles"><b>Acts of the Apostles</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century#Worship_of_Jesus"><b>Worship of Jesus</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century#Persecutions"><b>Persecutions</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century#Jerusalem_in_Christianity"><b>Jerusalem in Christianity</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century#Peter_and_the_Twelve"><b>Peter and the Twelve</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century#Worship_Liturgy"><b>Worship Liturgy</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century#Jewish_continuity"><b>Jewish continuity</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century#Jewish_Christians"><b>Jewish Christians</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century#Split_with_Judaism"><b>Split with Judaism</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century#Spread_of_Christianity"><b>Spread of Christianity</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century#Apostolic_Fathers"><b>Apostolic Fathers</b></a></li>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/christian-history.html#fathers"><b>Writings of the Apostolic Fathers</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century#Clement_of_Rome"><b>Clement of Rome</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century#Didache"><b>Didache</b></a></li>
</ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_1st_century#Timeline"><b>1st century Timeline</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patristics"><b>Patristics</b></a></li>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/christian-history.html#patristic"><b>Patristic Texts</b></a></li>
</ul><li><a href=""><b></b></a></li>
<li><a href=""><b></b></a></li>
</ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ante-Nicene_Period"><b>Ante-Nicene Period</b></a><br />
The Ante-Nicene Period (literally meaning "before Nicaea") of the history of early Christianity refers to the period following the Apostolic Age of the 1st century down to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. This portion of Christian history is important, having a significant impact on the unity of doctrine across all Christendom and the spreading of Christianity to a greater area of the world. Those seen as prominent figures of this era, referred to as the Ante-Nicene Fathers or Proto-orthodox Christians, generally agreed on most doctrine while the teachings of those early Christian writers which the general majority considered to be heretical, were rejected.</li>
<ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ante-Nicene_Period#Scholarship"><b>Scholarship</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ante-Nicene_Period#Developments"><b>Developments</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ante-Nicene_Period#Beliefs"><b>Beliefs</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ante-Nicene_Period#Papacy"><b>Papacy</b></a></li>
</ul></ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Commission"><b>Great Commission (Wikipedia)</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Jerusalem"><b>1st Century...Council of Jerusalem 50 AD? (Wikipedia)</b></a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synoptic_Gospels"><b>1st Century...The Synoptic Gospels (Wikipedia)</b></a></li>
</ul></fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-20630565894416211722014-04-28T19:20:00.006-06:002014-04-28T19:22:14.063-06:005th Century...Nestorius<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset>Nestorius (c. 386–c. 451) was Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to 22 June 431. Drawing on his studies at the School of Antioch he devised a doctrine that later bore his name, Nestorianism, which emphasized the disunity of the human and divine natures of Christ. His teachings, which included a rejection of the long-used title of Theotokos ("Mother of God") for the Virgin Mary, brought him into conflict with other prominent churchmen of the time, most notably Cyril of Alexandria, who accused him of heresy. Nestorius sought to defend himself at the First Council of Ephesus in 431, but instead he found himself formally condemned for heresy and removed from his see. Thereafter he retired to a monastery, where he asserted his orthodoxy for the rest of his life. Despite his acquiescence, many of his supporters split with the rest of the church in the Nestorian Schism, and over the next decades a number of them relocated to Persia. Thereafter Nestorianism became the official position of the Church of the East.<br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"><strong>source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestorius">Wikipedia</a></strong></span><br />
</fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-88035890683472672142014-04-28T19:13:00.006-06:002014-04-28T19:17:15.769-06:005th Century...Christology Issues - Nestorianism Heresy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset>Nestorianism is a Christological doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428–431. The doctrine, which was informed by Nestorius's studies under Theodore of Mopsuestia at the School of Antioch, emphasizes the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus. Nestorius' teachings brought him into conflict with some other prominent church leaders, most notably Cyril of Alexandria, who criticized especially his rejection of the title Theotokos ('Mother of God") for the Virgin Mary. Nestorius and his teachings were eventually condemned as heretical at the First Council of Ephesus in 431 and the Council of Chalcedon in 451, leading to the Nestorian Schism in which churches supporting Nestorius broke with the rest of the Christian Church. Afterward many of Nestorius' supporters relocated to Sassanid Persia, where they affiliated with the local Christian community, known as the Church of the East. Over the next decades the Church of the East became increasingly Nestorian in doctrine, leading it to be known alternately as the Nestorian Church.<br />
<br />
Nestorianism is a form of dyophysitism, and can be seen as the antithesis to monophysitism, which emerged in reaction to Nestorianism. Where Nestorianism holds that Christ had two loosely-united natures, divine and human, monophysitism holds that he had but a single nature, his human nature being absorbed into his divinity. A brief definition of Nestorian Christology can be given as: "Jesus Christ, who is not identical with the Son but personally united with the Son, who lives in him, is one hypostasis and one nature: human." Both Nestorianism and monophysitism were condemned as heretical at the Council of Chalcedon. Monophysitism survived and developed into the Miaphysitism of the modern Oriental Orthodox churches.<br />
<br />
Following the exodus to Persia, scholars expanded on the teachings of Nestorius and his mentors, particularly after the relocation of the School of Edessa to the Persian city of Nisibis in 489 (where it became known as the School of Nisibis). Nestorianism never again became prominent in the Roman Empire or later Europe, though the spread of the Church of the East in and after the 7th century spread it widely across Asia. However, not all churches affiliated with the Church of the East appear to have followed Nestorian Christology; indeed, the modern Assyrian Church of the East, which reveres Nestorius, does not follow all historically Nestorian doctrine.<br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"><b>source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestorianism">Wikipedia</a></b></span></fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-44709587313847153002014-04-28T19:03:00.001-06:002014-04-28T19:04:44.933-06:005th Century...Council of Chalcedon (4th Ecumenical Council - 451)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset>The Council of Chalcedon was a church council held in 451 from 8 October to 1 November 451 at Chalcedon (a city of Bithynia in Asia Minor), on the Asian side of the Bosporus.<br />
<br />
The Council of Chalcedon was convened by Flavian's successor, Anatolius, at Pope Leo I's urging, to set aside the 449 Second Council of Ephesus, better known as the "Robber Council". The Council of Chalcedon repudiated the idea that Jesus had only one nature, and stated that Christ has two natures in one person. The Chalcedonian Creed describes the "full humanity and full divinity" of Jesus, the second person of the Holy Trinity. The council also issued 27 disciplinary canons governing church administration and authority. In the famous 28th canon passed by the council, the bishops sought to raise the See of Constantinople (New Rome) in stature, claiming that Constantinople enjoyed honor and authority similar to that of the See of (older) Rome. Pope Leo's legate opposed the canon but in 453, Leo confirmed all the canons, except the 28th.<br />
<br />
The Council is considered by the Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, the Old Catholics, and various other Western Christian groups to have been the Fourth Ecumenical Council . As such, it is recognized as infallible in its dogmatic definitions by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches (then one church). Most Protestants also consider the concept of the Trinity as defined by these councils to be orthodox doctrine to which they adhere. However, the Council resulted in a major schism, with those who refused to accept its teaching, now known as Oriental Orthodoxy, being accused of monophysitism. The Oriental Orthodox churches reject the "monophysite" label and instead describe themselves as miaphysite. This council is the last council that is recognised by the Anglican Communion.<br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"><strong>source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Chalcedon">Wikipedia</a></strong></span><br />
</fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-34330161475661502902014-04-28T18:54:00.001-06:002014-04-28T18:57:30.786-06:005th Century...The Second Council of Ephesus (3nd Ecumenical Council - 449)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset>The Second Council of Ephesus was a church synod in 449 AD. It was convoked by Emperor Theodosius II as an Ecumenical council but because of the controversial proceedings it was not accepted as Ecumenical, labelled a Robber Synod and later repudiated at the Council of Chalcedon.<br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"><strong>source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Council_of_Ephesus">Wikipedia</a></strong></span></fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-2570212223014484582014-04-28T18:46:00.002-06:002014-04-28T18:48:17.977-06:004th Century...Trinity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset>The Christian doctrine of the Trinity teaches the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead. The doctrine, one of the most important in the Christian faith, states that God is the Triune God, existing as three persons, or in the Greek hypostases, but as one being. Saying that God exists as three persons but is one God means that God the Son and God the Holy Spirit exactly duplicate the nature or being of God the Father in every way. Whatever attributes or power God the Father has, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have as well. "Thus, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are also eternal, omnipresent, omnipotent, infinitely wise, infinitely holy, infinitely loving, omniscient."<br />
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The New Testament does not have an explicit doctrine of the Trinity. However, Southern Baptist theologian Frank Stagg emphasizes that the New Testament does repeatedly speak of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to "compel a trinitarian understanding of God."<br />
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The doctrine developed from the biblical language used in New Testament passages such as the baptismal formula in Matthew 28:19 and took substantially its present form by the end of the 4th century as a result of controversies in which some theologians, when speaking of God, used terms such as "person", "nature", "essence", "substance", terms that had never been used by the Apostolic Fathers, in a way that the Church authorities considered to be erroneous.<br />
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Trinitarianism contrasts with Nontrinitarian positions which include Binitarianism (one deity/two persons), Unitarianism (one deity/one person), the Oneness belief held by certain Pentecostal groups, Modalism, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' view of the Godhead as three separate beings who are one in purpose rather than essence.<br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"><strong>source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity">Wikipedia</a></strong></span><br />
</fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-48465407745414308612014-04-28T18:38:00.003-06:002014-04-28T18:40:38.189-06:004th Century...Pelagianism Heresy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset>Pelagianism is a theological theory named after Pelagius (AD 354 – AD 420/440), although he denied, at least at some point in his life, many of the doctrines associated with his name. It is the belief that original sin did not taint Human nature and that mortal will is still capable of choosing good or evil without special Divine aid. Thus, Adam's sin was "to set a bad example" for his progeny, but his actions did not have the other consequences imputed to Original Sin. Pelagianism views the role of Jesus as "setting a good example" for the rest of humanity (thus counteracting Adam's bad example) as well as providing an atonement for our sins. In short, humanity has full control, and thus full responsibility, for obeying the Gospel in addition to full responsibility for every sin (the latter insisted upon by both proponents and opponents of Pelagianism). According to Pelagian doctrine, because men are sinners by choice, they are therefore criminals who need the atonement of Jesus Christ. Sinners are not victims, they are criminals who need pardon.<br />
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Pelagianism stands in contrast to two other prominent theological theories: Semipelagianism and Total Depravity.<br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"><strong>source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelagianism">Wikipedia></a></strong></span><br />
</fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-42052702569278020542014-04-28T18:33:00.001-06:002014-04-28T18:34:54.129-06:004th Century...The Nicene Creed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset>The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in A.D. 325. The Nicene Creed has been normative to the Anglican, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic Eucharistic rite as well as Eastern and Oriental Orthodox liturgies. The Creed is recited in the Roman Rite Mass directly after the homily on all Sundays and Solemnities (Tridentine Feasts of the First Class), and in the Byzantine Rite Liturgy following the Litany of Supplication on all occasions.<br />
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It is given high importance in the Anglican Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Assyrian Church of the East, Oriental Orthodox churches, the Roman Catholic Church including the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Old Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church and most Protestant denominations.<br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"><strong>source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed">Wikipedia</a></strong></span><br />
</fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-66881828323244766072014-04-28T18:26:00.002-06:002014-04-28T18:27:59.696-06:004th Century...First Council of Constantinople (2nd Ecumenical Council - 381)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset>The First Council of Constantinople is recognised as the Second Ecumenical Council by the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox, the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, the Old Catholics, and a number of other Western Christian groups. This being the first Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople, it was called by Theodosius I in 381 which confirmed the Nicene Creed and dealt with other matters such as Arian controversy. The council took place in the church of Hagia Irene from May to July 381.<br />
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The Council of Nicaea did not end the Arian controversy which it had been called to clarify. By 327, Emperor Constantine I had begun to regret the decisions that had been made at the Nicene Council. He granted amnesty to the Arian leaders and exiled Athanasius because of Eusebius of Nicomedia. Even during numerous exiles, Athanasius continued to be a vigorous defender of Nicene Christianity against Arianism. Athanasius then famously said "Athanasius against the world". The Cappadocian Fathers also took up the torch; their Trinitarian discourse was influential in the council at Constantinople.<br />
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Up until about 360, theological debates mainly dealt with the Divinity of Jesus, the 2nd person of the Trinity. However, because the Council of Nicaea had not clarified the divinity of the Holy Spirit, the 3rd person of the Trinity, it became a topic of debate. The Macedonians denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. This was also known as Pneumatomachianism.<br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"><strong>source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Constantinople">Wikipedia</a></strong></span><br />
</fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-19861710276440711802014-04-28T18:15:00.000-06:002014-04-28T18:24:53.824-06:004th Century...The Edict of Thessalonica<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset>The Edict of Thessalonica, also known as Cunctos populos, was delivered on 27 February 380 by Theodosius I, Gratian, and Valentinian II in order that all their subjects should profess the faith of the bishops of Rome and Alexandria. This made Nicene Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire. The edict was issued shortly after Theodosius had suffered a severe illness in Thessalonica and was baptized by Acholius, the bishop of that city.<br />
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The emperor Constantine I converted to Christianity in 312. By 325 Arianism, a type of christology which denied the trinity, had created enough problems in the early church that Constantine (who had little patience for the finer points of theology) called the Council of Nicaea in an attempt to establish an empire-wide orthodoxy and end the controversy. The council produced the Nicene creed, which rejected Arianism and upheld the trinity.<br />
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However, the divisions within the church did not end with Nicaea. Constantine, while urging tolerance, began to think that he had come down on the wrong side, and that the trinitarians—with their fervent persecution of Arians—were actually perpetuating strife within the Church. Constantine was not baptized until he was near death (c.327), and then he chose an Arian bishop, Eusebius of Nicomedia, to perform the baptism.<br />
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Constantine's son and successor in the east, Constantius II was sympathetic to the Arians, and even exiled Nicene bishops. Constantius' successor Julian the Apostate was a pagan and encouraged the various christian sects in their disagreements by declaring toleration for all of them. Julian's successor in turn, Jovian, while christian, only reigned for 8 months and never entered Constantinople. He was then succeeded in the east by Valens who was an Arian.<br />
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By 379, when Valens was succeeded by Theodosius, Arianism was widespread in the eastern part of the empire, while the west had remained staunchly orthodox (i.e. Nicene). Theodosius, who had been born in Hispania was himself orthodox and very devout. In August, his counterpart in the west Gratian took steps toward legal persecution of heretics in the west. This was followed shortly by the jointly issued Edict of Thessalonica.<br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"><b>source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Thessalonica">Wikipedia</a></b></span></fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-78530510863383200942014-04-28T13:38:00.002-06:002014-04-28T13:39:26.220-06:004th Century...Edict of Milan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset>Constantine is perhaps best known for being the first Christian Roman emperor; his reign was certainly a turning point for the Church. In February 313, Constantine met with Licinius in Milan where they developed the Edict of Milan. The edict stated that Christians should be allowed to follow the faith of their choosing. This removed penalties for professing Christianity (under which many had been martyred in previous persecutions of Christians) and returned confiscated Church property. The edict did not only protect Christians from religious persecution, but all religions, allowing anyone to worship whichever deity they choose. A similar edict had been issued in 311 by Galerius, then senior emperor of the Tetrarchy; Galerius' edict granted Christians the right to practice their religion but did not restore any property to them. The Edict of Milan included several clauses which state that all confiscated churches will be returned as well as other provisions for previously persecuted Christians.<br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"><strong>source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_I">Wikipedia</a></strong></span><br />
</fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-68588808942065413462014-04-28T13:31:00.000-06:002014-04-28T13:34:24.242-06:004th Century...Donatists Heresy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset>The Donatists (named for the Berber Christian Donatus Magnus) were followers of a belief considered a schism by the broader churches of the Catholic tradition, and most particularly within the context of the religious milieu of the provinces of Roman North Africa in Late Antiquity. They lived in the Roman province of Africa and flourished in the fourth and fifth centuries.<br />
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Like the Novatianist schism of the previous century, the Donatists were rigorists, holding that the church must be a church of saints, not sinners, and that sacraments, such as baptism, administered by traditors (Christians who surrendered the Scriptures to the authorities who outlawed possession of them) were invalid. Probably in 311, a new bishop of Carthage was consecrated by someone who had allegedly been a traditor; his opponents consecrated a short-lived rival, who was succeeded by Donatus, after whom the schism was named. In 313, a commission appointed by Pope Miltiades found against the Donatists, but they continued to exist, viewing themselves, and not what was known as the Catholic Church, as the true Church, the only one with valid sacraments. Because of their association with the Circumcellions, they brought upon themselves repression by the imperial authorities, but they drew upon African regional sentiment, while the Catholic party had the support of Rome. They were still a force at the time of Saint Augustine of Hippo at the end of the fourth century, and disappeared only after the Arab conquest of the 7th-8th century.<br />
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The primary disagreement between Donatists and the rest of the early Christian Church was over the treatment of those who renounced their faith during the persecution under the Roman emperor Diocletian (303–305), a disagreement that had implications both for the Church's understanding of the Sacrament of Penance and of the other sacraments in general.<br />
source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donatism">Wikipedia</a><br />
</fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-42831654707433912042014-04-28T13:25:00.003-06:002014-04-28T13:28:33.913-06:004th Century...Council of Tyre (335)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset>The First Synod of Tyre or the Council of Tyre (335 CE) was a gathering of bishops called together by Emperor Constantine I for the primary purpose of evaluating charges brought against Athanasius, the Patriarch of Alexandria.<br />
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Athanasius was involved in the early Christian christological and trinitarian debates, and supported the position of the Council of Nicaea in opposition to that of Arius and his followers.<br />
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In 328, Athanasius was elected as bishop or patriarch of Alexandria. Alexandria happened to be the city in which Arius was a priest. The situation was further complicated, as Athanasius had not yet reached the age of 30 - the minimum age for bishops in the church.<br />
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After Athanasius succeeded to the see of Alexandria, they had accused him of, among other things: immoral conduct, illegally taxing the Egyptian people, supporting rebels to the Imperial throne, and even murdering a bishop and keeping his severed hand for use in magical rites. More to the point, Constantine had decided that he wanted Athanasius to re-admit Arius to the church -- which he would not do. In 334 Athanasius was summoned before a synod in Caesarea, which he did not attend.<br />
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While a group of bishops were en route to Jerusalem to dedicate a new church (the precursor to the Holy Sepulcher), Constantine requested that they gather in the city of Tyre to consider the case against Athanasius. The Emperor also sent a letter to Athanasius, making clear that if he did not attend voluntarily, he would be brought to the Synod forcibly.<br />
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Eusebius of Caesarea presided over the assembly, and about 310 members attended. Athanasius appeared this time with forty-eight Egyptian bishops. The Synod condemned Athanasius, but he fled to Constantinople and confronted the Emperor personally.<br />
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At a hearing in the presence of the Emperor, Athanasius was cleared of all charges except one: threatening to cut off the grain supply to Constantinople from Egypt. This one charge was enough for the Emperor to exile Athanasius to Trier.<br />
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Athanasius did not return from exile until the death of Constantine in 337.<br />
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The Arianism of the Synod of Tyre was ultimately overturned by the Council of Constantinople.<br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"><strong>source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Synod_of_Tyre">Wikipedia</a></strong></span><br />
</fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-59534166436278339542014-04-28T13:18:00.002-06:002014-04-28T19:31:05.115-06:004th Century...Council of Sirmium (357, 358, 359)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset>The Council of Sirmium generally refers to the third of the four ecumenical councils held in Sirmium between 357 AD and 359 AD. Specifically one was held in 357, one in 358 and one in 359. The third council marked a temporary compromise between Arianism and the Western bishops of the Christian church. At least two of the other councils also dealt primarily with the Arian controversy. All of these councils were held under the rule of Constantius II, who was sympathetic to the Arians.<br />
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Arianism was first put forward early in the fourth century by the Alexandrian presbyter Arius. It held that God was uniquely self-existent and immutable: consequently, Christ could not be God. The opponents of Arianism led by Athanasius of Alexandria claimed that the doctrine reduced Jesus to a demigod thus restoring polytheism as Jesus would still be worshipped. Further, it appeared to undermine the concept of redemption as only one who was truly God could reconcile man and God.<br />
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The First Council of Nicaea in 325 appeared to have settled the issue with Arius and his theology condemned and the Nicene Creed issued stating the Son was "of one substance with the father" (homoousion to Patri). However, Arians made a sustained effort to return to the church and to restore their beliefs after 325 with a prolonged theological dispute ensuing.<br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"><strong>source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Sirmium">Wikipedia</a></strong></span><br />
</fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-59839598989665234492014-04-27T11:06:00.001-06:002014-04-27T20:12:10.412-06:004th Century...First Attempt at Resolving the Arian Heresy at the Council of Nicaea - 325<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset><i>It was not until the end of the seventh century that orthodoxy was to finally absorb Arianism. Yet Arianism has been reborn in the modern era in the form of extreme Unitarianism, and the Jehovah's Witnesses regard Arius as a forerunner of C. T. Russell.</i></fieldset><fieldset>Nothing in Christianity is more contentious than attempting to define the nature of the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/trinity_1.shtml"><b>Christian Trinity</b></a> and exactly how Jesus relates to God without Christianity itself being labeled a polytheistic than a monotheistic religion. Even today some who call themselves Christians are uncomfortable considering Jesus equal to God and early Christians were no different. Arius, a priest, was one of those early Christians who had difficulty considering Jesus as divine.<br />
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Arius was a thoroughgoing Greek rationalist. He inherited the almost universally held <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_Christian_theology#Christology"><b>Logos Christology of the East</b></a> (i.e., believing in the dual nature of Christ, 100% God, 100% Human as opposed to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_Christian_theology#Trinity"><b>Orthodox view of Christ as both three and one at the same time</b></a>). He labored in Alexandria, the center for <a href="http://alexandrineteaching.blogspot.com/2011/01/origen-185254.html"><b>Origenist teachings</b></a> on the <a href="http://westernthm.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/origens-subordinationism.pdf"><b>subordination</b></a> of the Son to the Father. He blended this heritage into a rationalist Christology that lost the balance Origen had maintained in his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subordinationism"><b>subordinationist theology</b></a> by his insistence on the eternal generation of the Son.<br />
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The guard against the error of <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/3rd-centuryarius.html"><b>Arius</b></a> and the <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/arianism.html"><b>Arianism</b></a> erected by the symbol and anathemas adopted by the Council of Nicaea serve as an outline of Arius's fundamental position.<br />
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Nicaea's "in one Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, begotten of the Father, only-begotten, that is from the substance of the Father" was to offset Arius's central assertion that God was immutable, unique, unknowable, only one. Therefore Arians felt no substance of God could in any way be communicated or shared with any other being. The council's "true God from true God, begotten not made" set aside Arius's contention that, since God was immutable and unknowable, Christ had to be a created being, made out of nothing by God, first in the created order certainly, but of it. This limited the concept of the preexistence of Christ even while adapting the dominant <a href="http://www.chogha.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/page225.html"><b>Logos Christology</b></a> to Arianism. The Logos, first born, created of God, was incarnate in the Christ but, asserted Arius, "there was when he was not."<br />
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Nicaea's "of one substance with the Father" made the Greek term <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homoousios"><b>homoousios</b></a> the catchword of the orthodox. Arianism developed two parties, one of which felt Christ was of a substance like the Father <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/homoiousian.html"><b>(homoiousios)</b></a>. A more extreme wing insisted that as a created being Christ was unlike the Father in substance <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/terminology-used-in-attempts-at.html"><b>(anomoios)</b></a>. Arius himself would have belonged to the first or more moderate party.<br />
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The council's anathemas were extended to all those who claimed "there was once when he was not"; "before his generation he was not"; "he was made out of nothing"; "the Son of God is of another subsistence or substance"; and "the Son of God [is] created or alterable or mutable." The last anathema attacked another Arian teaching. Arius and subsequent Arians had taught that Christ grew, changed, matured in his understanding of the divine plan according to the Scriptures, and therefore could not be part of the unchanging God. He was not God the Son; rather, He was simply given the title Son of God as an honor.<br />
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An observer in that day might well have thought Arianism was going to triumph in the church. Beginning with Constantius the court was often Arian. Five times <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius_of_Alexandria"><b>Athanasius of Alexandria</b></a> was driven into exile, interrupting his long episcopate. A series of synods repudiated the Nicene symbol in various ways, Antioch in 341, Arles in 353; and in 355 Liberius of Rome and Ossius of Cordoba were exiled and a year later Hilary of Poitier was sent to Phrygia. In 360 in Constantinople all earlier creeds were disavowed and the term substance <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ousia#Early_Christianity"><b>(ousia)</b></a> was outlawed. The Son was simply declared to be "like the Father who begot him."<br />
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The orthodox counterattack on Arianism pointed out that the Arian theology reduced Christ to a demigod and in effect reintroduced polytheism into Christianity, since Christ was worshiped among Arians as among the orthodox. But in the long run the most telling argument against Arianism was Athanasius's constant soteriological battle cry that only God, very God, truly God Incarnate could reconcile and redeem fallen man to holy God. It was the thorough work of the <a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2010/11/cappadocian-fathers.html"><b>Cappadocian Fathers, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus</b></a>, which brought the final resolution that proved theologically acceptable to the church. They divided the concept of substance (ousia) from the concept of person <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypostasis_%28philosophy%29"><b>(hypostasis)</b></a> and thus allowed the orthodox defenders of the original Nicene formula and the later moderate or semi-Arian party to unite in an understanding of God as one substance and three persons. Christ therefore was of one substance with the Father (homoousion) but a distinct person. With this understanding the Council of Constantinople in 381 was able to reaffirm the Nicene Creed. The able Emperor Theodosius I threw himself on the side of orthodoxy and Arianism began to wane in the empire.<br />
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The long struggle with Arianism was not over yet, however, for Ulfilas, famous missionary to the Germanic tribes, had accepted the Homoean statement of Constantinople of 360. Ulfilas taught the similarity of the Son to the Father and the total subordination of the Holy Spirit. He taught the Visigoths north of the Danube, and they in turn carried this semi-Arianism back into Italy. The Vandals were taught by Visigoth priests and in 409 carried the same semi-Arianism across the Pyrenees into Spain. It was not until the end of the seventh century that orthodoxy was to finally absorb Arianism. Yet Arianism has been reborn in the modern era in the form of extreme Unitarianism, and the Jehovah's Witnesses regard Arius as a forerunner of C. T. Russell.<br />
source: <a href="http://mb-soft.com/believe/txo/arianism.htm">BELIEVE Religious Information Source</a></fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-20359819028848924372014-04-27T10:55:00.000-06:002014-04-27T11:02:08.797-06:004th Century...Council of Nicaea (1st Ecumenical Council)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITSmevX_tqviIdjjySg9aoab3vXHKeRZUpUC2X76TS3JDhyphenhyphenZPDjuILi8rd1m5XGw_kFhprzvTMSWGP-UfY9TNOPqq3tl1DDQhBsnlSh621tbuHXLw7gZJT_CSIIThjsWd39RSH2Glo-o/s1600/Cartoon2--bitmap50.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITSmevX_tqviIdjjySg9aoab3vXHKeRZUpUC2X76TS3JDhyphenhyphenZPDjuILi8rd1m5XGw_kFhprzvTMSWGP-UfY9TNOPqq3tl1DDQhBsnlSh621tbuHXLw7gZJT_CSIIThjsWd39RSH2Glo-o/s320/Cartoon2--bitmap50.gif" width="320" /></a></div><center><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>click on image to enlarge</i></span></b></center></fieldset><fieldset>The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day İznik in Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in A.D. 325. The Council was the first effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom.<br />
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Its main accomplishments were settlement of the Christological issue of the relationship of Jesus to God the Father; the construction of the first part of the Nicene Creed; settling the calculation of the date of Easter; and promulgation of early canon law.<br />
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<b>Overview</b><br />
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The First Council of Nicaea is commonly regarded to have been the first Ecumenical council of the Christian Church. Most significantly, it resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine, called the Creed of Nicaea. With the creation of the creed, a precedent was established for subsequent general (ecumenical) councils of Bishops (Synods) to create statements of belief and canons of doctrinal orthodoxy— the intent being to define unity of beliefs for the whole of Christendom.<br />
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The council did not create the doctrine of the deity of Christ as is sometimes claimed but it did settle to some degree the debate within the early Christian communities regarding the divinity of Christ. This idea of the divinity of Christ along with the idea of Christ as a messenger from the one God ("The Father") had long existed in various parts of the Roman empire. The divinity of Christ had also been widely endorsed by the Christian community in the otherwise pagan city of Rome. The council affirmed and defined what it believed to be the teachings of the Apostles regarding who Christ is: that Christ is the one true God in deity with the Father.<br />
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One purpose of the council was to resolve disagreements arising from within the Church of Alexandria over the nature of Jesus in relationship to God the Father; in particular, whether Jesus was the literal son of God or was he a figurative son, like the other "sons of God" in the Bible. St. Alexander of Alexandria and Athanasius claimed to take the first position; the popular presbyter Arius, from whom the term Arianism comes, is said to have taken the second. The council decided against the Arians overwhelmingly (of the estimated 250–318 attendees, all but two voted against Arius.)<br />
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Another result of the council was an agreement on when to celebrate the Easter, the most important feast of the ecclesiastical calendar. The council decided in favour of celebrating the resurrection on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox, independent of the Hebrew Calendar (see also Quartodecimanism and Easter controversy). It authorized the Bishop of Alexandria (presumably using the Alexandrian calendar) to announce annually the exact date to his fellow bishops.<br />
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Historically significant as the first effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom, the Council was the first occasion where the technical aspects of Christology were discussed. Through it a precedent was set for subsequent general councils to adopt creeds and canons. This council is generally considered the beginning of the period of the first seven Ecumenical Councils in the History of Christianity.</fieldset><fieldset><b>Character and purpose</b><br />
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The First Council of Nicaea was convened by Constantine I upon the recommendations of a synod led by Hosius of Cordoba in the Eastertide of 325. This synod had been charged with investigation of the trouble brought about by the Arian controversy in the Greek-speaking east. To most bishops, the teachings of Arius were heretical and dangerous to the salvation of souls. In the summer of 325, the bishops of all provinces were summoned to Nicaea (now known as İznik, in modern-day Turkey), a place easily accessible to the majority of delegates, particularly those of Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Greece, and Thrace.<br />
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This was the first general council in the history of the Church since the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem, the Apostolic council having established the conditions upon which Gentiles could join the Church. In the Council of Nicaea, "the Church had taken her first great step to define doctrine more precisely in response to a challenge from a heretical theology."</fieldset><fieldset><b>Agenda and procedure</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTPUNZybtan1spd2qPsPV2FgRa-XxWZ2sjHCxjZUn2sDAb5xiUeQktinSW_fDFs455qqLiudq02KvGNt0lLLNy3-3DdObtUFpV0ZakREtdORQwF2AgVjLFMlUmshmaQomZPmVXF2Ed3_c/s1600/270px-COUNCIL_OF_NICEA_Fresco_in_the_Sistine_Salon_Vatican_t.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="88" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTPUNZybtan1spd2qPsPV2FgRa-XxWZ2sjHCxjZUn2sDAb5xiUeQktinSW_fDFs455qqLiudq02KvGNt0lLLNy3-3DdObtUFpV0ZakREtdORQwF2AgVjLFMlUmshmaQomZPmVXF2Ed3_c/s200/270px-COUNCIL_OF_NICEA_Fresco_in_the_Sistine_Salon_Vatican_t.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Fresco depicting the First Council of Nicaea</b></i></span><br />
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The agenda of the synod included:<br />
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1. The Arian question regarding the relationship between God the Father and Jesus; i.e. are the Father and Son one in divine purpose only or also one in being<br />
2. The date of celebration of the Paschal/Easter observation<br />
3. The Meletian schism<br />
4. The validity of baptism by heretics<br />
5. The status of the lapsed in the persecution under Licinius<br />
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The council was formally opened May 20, in the central structure of the imperial palace at Nicaea, with preliminary discussions of the Arian question. In these discussions, some dominant figures were Arius, with several adherents. "Some 22 of the bishops at the council, led by Eusebius of Nicomedia, came as supporters of Arius. But when some of the more shocking passages from his writings were read, they were almost universally seen as blasphemous." Bishops Theognis of Nicaea and Maris of Chalcedon were among the initial supporters of Arius.<br />
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Eusebius of Caesarea called to mind the baptismal creed of his own diocese at Caesarea at Palestine, as a form of reconciliation. The majority of the bishops agreed. For some time, scholars thought that the original Nicene Creed was based on this statement of Eusebius. Today, most scholars think that the Creed is derived from the baptismal creed of Jerusalem, as Hans Lietzmann proposed.<br />
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The orthodox bishops won approval of every one of their proposals regarding the Creed. After being in session for an entire month, the council promulgated on June 19 the original Nicene Creed. This profession of faith was adopted by all the bishops "but two from Libya who had been closely associated with Arius from the beginning." No historical record of their dissent actually exists; the signatures of these bishops are simply absent from the Creed.<br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"><b>source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea">Wikipedia</a></b></span><br />
</fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5032592140136789433.post-55203876045547798632014-04-26T09:29:00.000-06:002014-04-26T09:33:04.106-06:003rd Century...Arius<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><fieldset>Arius (AD 250 or 256 – 336) was a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. His teachings about the nature of the Godhead, which emphasized the Father's Divinity over the Son, and his opposition to the Athanasian or Trinitarian Christology, made him a controversial figure in the First Council of Nicea, convened by Roman Emperor Constantine in 325 A.D. After Emperor Constantine legalized and formalized the Christianity of the time in the Roman Empire, the newly recognized Catholic Church sought to unify theology. Trinitarian partisans, including Athanasius, used Arius and Arianism as epithets to represent disagreement with co-equal Trinitarianism, a Christology representing the Father and Son (Jesus of Nazareth) as "of one essence" (consubstantial) and coeternal.<br />
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Although virtually all positive writings on Arius' theology have been suppressed or destroyed, negative writings describe Arius' theology as one in which there was a time before the Son of God, where only God the Father existed. Despite concerted opposition, 'Arian', or nontrinitarian Christian churches persisted throughout Europe and North Africa, in various Gothic and Germanic kingdoms, until suppressed by military conquest or voluntary royal conversion between the fifth and seventh centuries.<br />
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Although "Arianism" suggests that Arius was the originator of the teaching that bears his name, the debate over the Son’s precise relationship to the Father did not begin with him. This subject had been discussed for decades before his advent; Arius merely intensified the controversy and carried it to a Church-wide audience, where other "Arians" such as Eusebius of Nicomedia and Eusebius of Caesarea would prove much more influential in the long run. In fact, some later "Arians" disavowed that moniker, claiming not to have been familiar with the man or his specific teachings. However, because the conflict between Arius and his foes brought the issue to the theological forefront, the doctrine he proclaimed—though not originated by him—is generally labeled as "his".<br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"><strong>source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arius">Wikipedia</a></strong></span></fieldset><fieldset>The birth date for Arius, the North African priest who gave his name to one of Christianity's most troublesome schisms, is uncertain. He seems to have been born in Libya. He was in all probability a pupil of Lucien of Antioch. During the bishopric of Peter of Alexandria (300-311) Arius was made a deacon in that city and began the stormy pastoral career which is known to history. He was in rapid succession excommunicated for his association with the Melitians, restored by Achillas, Bishop of Alexandria (311-12), and given priestly orders and the church of Baucalis. Sometime between 318 and 323 Arius came into conflict with Bishop Alexander over the nature of Christ. In a confusing series of synods a truce was attempted between adherents of Alexander and followers of Arius; in March of 324 Alexander convened a provincial synod which acknowledged the truce but anathematized Arius. Arius responded with his publication of Thalia (which exists only as it is quoted in refutation by Athanasius) and by repudiating the truce. In February, 325, Arius was then condemned at a synod in Antioch. The Emperor Constantine was intervening by this time, and it was he who called the first ecumenical council, the Council of Nicaea. This council met on May 20, 325, and subsequently condemned Arius and his teaching. Present in the entourage of Alexander at this council was Athanasius. He took little part in the affairs of the Council of Nicaea, but when he became Bishop of Alexandria in 328, he was to become the unremitting foe of Arius and Arianism and the unflagging champion of the Nicene formula.<br />
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Following his condemnation Arius was banished to to Illyricum. There he continued to write, teach, and appeal to an ever broadening circle of political and ecclesiastical adherents of Arianism. Around 332 or 333 Constantine opened direct contact with Arius, and in 335 the two met at Nicomedia. There Arius presented a confession which Constantine considered sufficiently orthodox to allow for the reconsideration of Arius's case. Therefore, following the dedication of the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem the Synod of Jerusalem declared for the readmittance of Arius to communion even as he lay dying in Constantiople. Since Arian views were being advanced by many active bishops and members of the court, and Arius himself had ceased to play a vital role in the controversy, his death in 335 or 336 did nothing to diminish the furor in the church. Instead of resolving the issues, the Council of Nicaea had launched an empire-wide Christological debate by its condemnation of Arius.<br />
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An observer in that day might well have thought Arianism was going to triumph in the church. Beginning with Constantius the court was often Arian. Five times Athanasius of Alexandria was driven into exile, interrupting his long episcopate. A series of synods repudiated the Nicene symbol in various ways, Antioch in 341, Arles in 353; and in 355 Liberius of Rome and Ossius of Cordoba were exiled and a year later Hilary of Poitier was sent to Phrygia. In 360 in Constantinople all earlier creeds were disavowed and the term substance (ousia) was outlawed. The Son was simply declared to be "like the Father who begot him."<br />
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The orthodox counterattack on Arianism pointed out that the Arian theology reduced Christ to a demigod and in effect reintroduced polytheism into Christianity, since Christ was worshiped among Arians as among the orthodox. But in the long run the most telling argument against Arianism was Athanasius's constant soteriological battle cry that only God, very God, truly God Incarnate could reconcile and redeem fallen man to holy God. It was the thorough work of the Cappadocian Fathers, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus, which brought the final resolution that proved theologically acceptable to the church. They divided the concept of substance (ousia) from the concept of person (hypostasis) and thus allowed the orthodox defenders of the original Nicene formula and the later moderate or semi-Arian party to unite in an understanding of God as one substance and three persons. Christ therefore was of one substance with the Father (homoousion) but a distinct person. With this understanding the Council of Constantinople in 381 was able to reaffirm the Nicene Creed. The able Emperor Theodosius I threw himself on the side of orthodoxy and Arianism began to wane in the empire. <br />
<span style="font-size: 8pt; font-style: italic;"><strong>source: <a href="http://mb-soft.com/believe/txo/arianism.htm">BELIEVE Religious Information Source</a></strong></span></fieldset><fieldset><center><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://desertfathers.blogspot.com/2014/04/early-christianity-first-five-centuries.html">Back to Previous Level</a></span></b></center></fieldset></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com