Daily Bible Portion (Tuesday)
Daily Bible Portion – 3 of 7
"PASSOVER - UNLEAVENED BREAD"
(And the History of Easter)
(Weekly Reading>>Exodus 13:17-15:26, Numbers 28:19-25, 2 Samuel 22:1-51, John 19:38 to 20:23, Acts 1)
In his youthful zeal for ascetic holiness, Origen committed the act of self-emasculation (castration), which he repented for in his later years. Nevertheless, in 228 CE, he was ordained presbyter by two bishops friendly to his teachings. These men had blatant disregard to God's word that stated,
Many Church denominations still hold strongly to Marcion and Origen's doctrines today.
Eusebius
Eusebius became bishop of Caesarea in 314 CE. He was a student of Origen and inherited his perspective on religion and theology. At that time Constantine was Emperor of Rome and thought of himself as the image of the sun god, representative of the Almighty and acted as the interpreter of logos, the Word. Constantine followed and adopted Eusebius' work as it fit his ideals. Eusebius wrote The Ecclesiastical History, the acknowledged history of the church from the end of the Book of Acts to the time of the Council of Nicaea, a council in which Constantine asked him to convene in approximately 325 AD.
For Eusebius, there was no distinction between the church and the Empire or State. They appeared to merge into each other. The question remained, that if the kingdom of God was to be scripturally fulfilled through the repentance of Israel and the personal earthly reign of Jesus the Messiah from Jerusalem, then the Jews are inescapably part of that kingdom. In which case, God's faithfulness to the Jews had not expired after Christ's death and the kingdom was still in the future. On the other hand, if Constantine along with the emerging Holy Roman Empire and the State-exalted church were God's kingdom, then there was no need for the Jews and the kingdom had been fulfilled under Constantine's mandate. Thus the rejection and replacement of the Jews was the means of fulfilling Eusebius' doctrine for the kingdom of God. Instead of being natural citizens of the kingdom, Jews became the enemy regardless of whether they were devout to Judaism, walking with the Messiah or secular – all were the enemy.
Eusebius and the New Israel
Eusebius firmly believed that the church was the New Israel and had replaced the Jews. Upholding his mentor Origen's philosophy, Eusebius either rejected the Scriptures that promised the restoration of the Jewish people and all the twelve tribes of Israel or he ignored these Scriptures altogether. Either way, Eusebius was intentionally inaccurate. He had his own agenda. Eusebius was the product of the Alexandrian school of theology (that of Origen) "the first thoroughly dishonest historian of antiquity." The church that he wanted to help create was more important to him than his inerrancy against the Scriptures. Eusebius was credited with being the father of the allegorical method of interpretation and mandated that allegorical interpretation was the only way to truly understand the Scriptures. This perspective then became the real meaning of the text. For example when the text read "Israel" it meant "the church" and not the Jews, so long as the text was positive. If the scripture was not positive, then "Israel" meant "the Jews" and not "the church."
An edition of the Septuagint, the Greek 'old' testament seems to have been prepared by Origen. According to Jerome (Eusebius's son, who preferred the original Hebrew), it was revised and circulated by Eusebius and Pamphilus.
Pamphilus - The Presbyter and Promoter
Pamphilus' family came from Beirut. He studied at the famous Roman catechetical school in Alexandria, Egypt where he became devoted to the works of Origen. In Caesarea he was ordained as priest and was the friend and teacher of Eusebius.
Pamphilus was one of the most liberal and efficient copy/correctors of Christian manuscripts in his day and is credited as being the father of church history. The views of Origen had been declared heretical until Pamphilus helped establish a theological school and library dedicated to establishing Origen's views as the true orthodoxy throughout the entire church. Eusebius wholeheartedly gave himself to the task of publishing six volumes in defense of the views of Origen. Pamphilus transcribed with his own hand these and other books, among them the Greek Septuagint from the Hexapla of Origen. Origen's heresy inevitably triumphed in the fourth century at the Council of Nicaea through Eusebius, Constantine, and those who followed them. Pamphilus was later beheaded in 309 CE.
Constantine -The Sun God
In 312 CE, Constantine commander of the legions of Britain and Gaul, moved south toward Italy. Before the invasion he received a vision known as the Chi-Rho, which is a symbol of the spring and fall solar equinox lines around the center of the universe. This symbol had long been used in Greek mythology representing father son. Constantine saw himself as the sun god and had his men wear this Chi-Rho symbol on their shields going into battle. This helped sway the Christians who mistook this sign as a symbol of Christ and swayed them over to Constantine's side. Within eighteen years Constantine had acquired the Roman Empire and a new religion.
In order to control the people, Constantine adopted Eusebius' teachings as they complimented his own ideals. Constantine's major doctrine was in the duality of his authority as the Emperor of Rome and as the image of Almighty God. The Emperor acted as the interpreter of logos, the Word; therefore Constantine was the head of the emerging Holy Roman Empire and the state-exalted church. In his eyes if they had become God's kingdom, then there was no need for Jewish believers and they held no special significance for the kingdom of God. Thus the rejection and replacement of the Jews as the natural branches was the means of fulfilling Constantine's newly established church. Jews became the enemy. Consequently the Church proclaimed and enforced this new belief.
continues tomorrow...
"PASSOVER - UNLEAVENED BREAD"
(And the History of Easter)
(Weekly Reading>>Exodus 13:17-15:26, Numbers 28:19-25, 2 Samuel 22:1-51, John 19:38 to 20:23, Acts 1)
In his youthful zeal for ascetic holiness, Origen committed the act of self-emasculation (castration), which he repented for in his later years. Nevertheless, in 228 CE, he was ordained presbyter by two bishops friendly to his teachings. These men had blatant disregard to God's word that stated,
"no eunuch could serve before Him" (Leviticus 21:20).
Many Church denominations still hold strongly to Marcion and Origen's doctrines today.
Eusebius
Eusebius became bishop of Caesarea in 314 CE. He was a student of Origen and inherited his perspective on religion and theology. At that time Constantine was Emperor of Rome and thought of himself as the image of the sun god, representative of the Almighty and acted as the interpreter of logos, the Word. Constantine followed and adopted Eusebius' work as it fit his ideals. Eusebius wrote The Ecclesiastical History, the acknowledged history of the church from the end of the Book of Acts to the time of the Council of Nicaea, a council in which Constantine asked him to convene in approximately 325 AD.
For Eusebius, there was no distinction between the church and the Empire or State. They appeared to merge into each other. The question remained, that if the kingdom of God was to be scripturally fulfilled through the repentance of Israel and the personal earthly reign of Jesus the Messiah from Jerusalem, then the Jews are inescapably part of that kingdom. In which case, God's faithfulness to the Jews had not expired after Christ's death and the kingdom was still in the future. On the other hand, if Constantine along with the emerging Holy Roman Empire and the State-exalted church were God's kingdom, then there was no need for the Jews and the kingdom had been fulfilled under Constantine's mandate. Thus the rejection and replacement of the Jews was the means of fulfilling Eusebius' doctrine for the kingdom of God. Instead of being natural citizens of the kingdom, Jews became the enemy regardless of whether they were devout to Judaism, walking with the Messiah or secular – all were the enemy.
Eusebius and the New Israel
Eusebius firmly believed that the church was the New Israel and had replaced the Jews. Upholding his mentor Origen's philosophy, Eusebius either rejected the Scriptures that promised the restoration of the Jewish people and all the twelve tribes of Israel or he ignored these Scriptures altogether. Either way, Eusebius was intentionally inaccurate. He had his own agenda. Eusebius was the product of the Alexandrian school of theology (that of Origen) "the first thoroughly dishonest historian of antiquity." The church that he wanted to help create was more important to him than his inerrancy against the Scriptures. Eusebius was credited with being the father of the allegorical method of interpretation and mandated that allegorical interpretation was the only way to truly understand the Scriptures. This perspective then became the real meaning of the text. For example when the text read "Israel" it meant "the church" and not the Jews, so long as the text was positive. If the scripture was not positive, then "Israel" meant "the Jews" and not "the church."
An edition of the Septuagint, the Greek 'old' testament seems to have been prepared by Origen. According to Jerome (Eusebius's son, who preferred the original Hebrew), it was revised and circulated by Eusebius and Pamphilus.
Pamphilus - The Presbyter and Promoter
Pamphilus' family came from Beirut. He studied at the famous Roman catechetical school in Alexandria, Egypt where he became devoted to the works of Origen. In Caesarea he was ordained as priest and was the friend and teacher of Eusebius.
Pamphilus was one of the most liberal and efficient copy/correctors of Christian manuscripts in his day and is credited as being the father of church history. The views of Origen had been declared heretical until Pamphilus helped establish a theological school and library dedicated to establishing Origen's views as the true orthodoxy throughout the entire church. Eusebius wholeheartedly gave himself to the task of publishing six volumes in defense of the views of Origen. Pamphilus transcribed with his own hand these and other books, among them the Greek Septuagint from the Hexapla of Origen. Origen's heresy inevitably triumphed in the fourth century at the Council of Nicaea through Eusebius, Constantine, and those who followed them. Pamphilus was later beheaded in 309 CE.
Constantine -The Sun God
In 312 CE, Constantine commander of the legions of Britain and Gaul, moved south toward Italy. Before the invasion he received a vision known as the Chi-Rho, which is a symbol of the spring and fall solar equinox lines around the center of the universe. This symbol had long been used in Greek mythology representing father son. Constantine saw himself as the sun god and had his men wear this Chi-Rho symbol on their shields going into battle. This helped sway the Christians who mistook this sign as a symbol of Christ and swayed them over to Constantine's side. Within eighteen years Constantine had acquired the Roman Empire and a new religion.
In order to control the people, Constantine adopted Eusebius' teachings as they complimented his own ideals. Constantine's major doctrine was in the duality of his authority as the Emperor of Rome and as the image of Almighty God. The Emperor acted as the interpreter of logos, the Word; therefore Constantine was the head of the emerging Holy Roman Empire and the state-exalted church. In his eyes if they had become God's kingdom, then there was no need for Jewish believers and they held no special significance for the kingdom of God. Thus the rejection and replacement of the Jews as the natural branches was the means of fulfilling Constantine's newly established church. Jews became the enemy. Consequently the Church proclaimed and enforced this new belief.
continues tomorrow...