Chapter 12
"In the beginning, there was no word but growls and signs guided the instinct of hunter-gatherers on peaceful coexistence in the wilderness and moving apart their whereabouts as resentment occurred. Words came into the flesh as time progressed conversely proportional with time and space. Hunter-gatherers became men and women who settled and needs of leadership prevailed. Morality was born and human traditions were necessary to govern. In the later circa 3,700 BCE, handed down wellbeing were written in cuneiform tablets and later in codices.
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Ancient historical records also pointed out that those cuneiform tablets and codices were adapted by shepherd-scribes from the Doctrine of the Kingdoms of Ebla and Mari somewhere around 10,900 years BCE, where they were free to move around and does some trades with the inhabitants. Most likely the prevailing civilized society that period that had established system of crude governance. Adaptations through hearsay and evolving through generations, until the period that they had learned to established their system of writing and marking on tablets. Those desert nomads known to be the tribes of the Patriarch, established covenant that bound them together on unity wherever they maybe.
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A partial flash back on ancient history shall give us idea on how religion evolved from crude cults to civilize dogmas on your generations. The most prevailing oldest origin was "The Legend of Enuma Elish" where Marduk; one of the element of our Federation's member from Planet Urkey created the world and the creation of mankind. This legend crept to the different ancient cults in the Kingdom of Mari, which is presently located at Tell Hariri, along Euphrates River and about 120 kilometers southeast of Deir Ezzor, a province of Syria. Most likely, Abraham had absorbed the doctrine during his adolescence in the Kingdom of Haran and Ur, on what is now in the vicinities of Mosul, Iraq.
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Unlike the legend of Adam and Eve, the legend of Enuma Elish about creation had been recited to the temples of Ur and Haran for more than 4,000 years way back before Abraham. A great likelihood is in the essence of Genesis, with more civil in narration. Both legends justified incest relationship. Indeed both were legend that sometimes some of our crews told stories to the indigenous human that had improved their language knowledge.
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In the later circa 400 BCE, Greek Mythology also evolved into different cults such as Orphism, a dominant religious-cult with a great influenced from the gods of Mount Olympus. Those people belong to the older Planet Olyms near the center of Sol Galaxy, far side of your Milky Way. Those were tall and powerful people plowing the Intricate Universe for fun and adventure. Though the Olympians as we called them are not member of the Federation but our relation is civil. The blending of those mystery-cults were practiced by Roman soldiers in form of Roman Mithraism and where Christianity derived and evolved.
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In year 325 CE, Constantine the Great called the Council of Nicaea. He ordered the first fifty copies of codices to be undertaken by Bishop Eusebius from the works of a theologian named Origen before circa 231 CE, from the compilations of available records of the known Political Sanhedrin written by Josephus and convened by Romans in 57 BCE (Taken from the Greek word for council (synedrion), the term was apparently applied to various bodies but became especially the designation for the supreme Jewish legislative and judicial court) Indeed the main theme was an excerpt from the surviving records of the Great Political Sanhedrin as the old Roman Constitution for Palestine during the reigned of Hasmonean dynasty and it should be understand that some thoughts and events were reconciliation of Origen and the rational knowledge of Eusebius suitable for that respective period.
Sanhedrin Structure
Sanhedrin, also spelled sanhedrim, any of several official Jewish councils in Palestine under Roman rule, to which various political, religious, and judicial functions have been attributed. Taken from the Greek word for council (synedrion), the term was apparently applied to various bodies but became especially the designation for the supreme Jewish legislative and judicial court—the Great Sanhedrin, or simply the Sanhedrin, in Jerusalem. There were also local or provincial sanhedrins of lesser jurisdiction and authority. A council of elders, or senate, called the gerousia, which existed under Persian and Syrian rule 333–165 BCE, is considered by some scholars the forerunner of the Great Sanhedrin.
Although eminent sources the Hellenistic-Jewish historian Josephus, the New Testament, and the Talmud have mentioned the Sanhedrin, their accounts are fragmentary, apparently contradictory, and often obscure. Hence, its exact nature, composition, and function remain a subject of scholarly investigation and controversy. In the writings of Josephus and the Gospels, for example, the Sanhedrin is presented as a political and judicial council headed by the high priest (in his role as civil ruler); in the Talmud it is described as primarily a religious legislative body headed by sages, though with certain political and judicial functions. Some scholars have accepted the first view as authentic, others the second, while a third school holds that there were two Sanhedrins, one a purely political council, the other a religious court and legislature. Moreover, some scholars attest that the Sanhedrin was a single body, combining political, religious, and judicial functions in a community where these aspects were inseparable.
In the Hebrew Bible Moses and the Israelites were commanded by God to establish courts of judges who were given full authority over the people of Israel, who were commanded by God through Moses to obey the judgments made by the courts and every Torah-abiding law they established. Judges in ancient Israel were the religious leaders and teachers of the nation of Israel. The Mishnah (Sanhedrin 1:6) arrives at the number twenty-three based on an exegetical derivation: it must be possible for a "community" to vote for both conviction and exoneration. The minimum size of a "community" is 10 men, thus 10 vs 10. One more is required to achieve a majority (11 vs. 10), but a simple majority cannot convict, and so an additional judge is required (12 vs. 10). Finally, a court should not have an even number of judges to prevent deadlocks; thus 23 (12 vs. 10 and 1). This court dealt with only religious matters. In regard to the Sanhedrin of 70 Elders to help Moses, years before in Egypt these men had been Hebrew officials under Egyptian taskmasters; they were beaten by the Egyptians when they refused to beat fellow Jews in order to finish building projects. As a reward they became the Sanhedrin of 70 Elders.
Early Sanhedrin
The Hasmonean court in Judea, presided over by Alexander Jannaeus, until 76 BCE, followed by his wife, Queen Salome Alexandra, was called Synhedrion or Sanhedrin. The exact nature of this early Sanhedrin is not clear. It may have been a body of sages or priests, or a political, legislative and judicial institution. The first historical record of the body was during the administration of Aulus Gabinius, who, according to Josephus, organized five synedra in 57 BCE as Roman administration was not concerned with religious affairs unless sedition was suspected. Only after the destruction of the Second Temple was the Sanhedrin made up only of sages.
Herodian and early Roman rule
The first historic mention of a Synhedrion occurs in the Psalms of Solomon, a Jewish religious book written in Greek.
The Mishnah tractate Sanhedrin states that the Sanhedrin was to be recruited from the following sources: Priests (Kohanim), Levites (Levi'im), and ordinary Jews who were members of those families having a pure lineage such that their daughters were allowed to marry priests.
In the Second Temple period, the Great Sanhedrin met in the Hall of Hewn Stones in the Temple in Jerusalem. The court convened every day except festivals and the Sabbath day (Shabbat).
Main article: Sanhedrin trial of Jesus
A Synhedrion is mentioned 22 times in the Greek New Testament, including in the Gospels in relation to the trial of Jesus, and in the Acts of the Apostles, which mentions a "Great Synhedrion" in chapter 5 where rabbi Gamaliel appeared, and also in chapter 7 in relation to the stoning death of Saint Stephen.
After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Sanhedrin was re-established in Yavneh with reduced authority. The seat of the Patriarchate moved to Usha under the presidency of Gamaliel II in 80 CE. In 116 it moved back to Yavneh, and then again back to Usha.
Galilee in late antiquity.
Rabbinic texts indicate that following the Bar Kokhba revolt, southern Galilee became the seat of rabbinic learning in the Land of Israel. This region was the location of the court of the Patriarch which was situated first at Usha, then at Bet Shearim, later at Sepphoris and finally at Tiberias.
The Great Sanhedrin moved in 140 to Shefaram under the presidency of Shimon ben Gamliel II, and to Beit She'arim (Roman-era Jewish village) and Sepphoris in 163, under the presidency of Judah I. Finally, it moved to Tiberias in 193, under the presidency of Gamaliel III (193–230), son of Judah the Prince, where it became more of a consistory, but still retained, under the presidency of Judah II (230–270), the power of excommunication.
During the presidency of Gamaliel IV (270–290), due to Roman persecution, it dropped the name Sanhedrin; and its authoritative decisions were subsequently issued under the name of Beth HaMidrash.
In the year 363, the emperor Julian 355–363 CE, an apostate from Christianity, ordered the Temple rebuilt. The project's failure has been ascribed to the Galilee earthquake of 363, and to the Jews' ambivalence about the project. Sabotage is a possibility, as is an accidental fire. Divine intervention was the common view among Christian historians of the time. As a reaction against Julian's pro-Jewish stance, the later emperor Theodosius I 379–395 CE forbade the Sanhedrin to assemble and declared ordination illegal. Capital punishment was prescribed for any Rabbi who received ordination, as well as complete destruction of the town where the ordination occurred.
However, since the Hebrew calendar was based on witnesses' testimony, which had become far too dangerous to collect, rabbi Hillel II recommended change to a mathematically based calendar that was adopted at a clandestine, and maybe final, meeting in 358 CE. This marked the last universal decision made by the Great Sanhedrin.
Gamaliel VI (400–425) was the Sanhedrin's last president. With his death in 425, Theodosius II outlawed the title of Nasi, the last remains of the ancient Sanhedrin. An imperial decree of 426 diverted the patriarchs' tax (post excessum patriarchorum) into the imperial treasury. The exact reason for the abrogation of the patriarchate is not clear, though Gamaliel VI, the last holder of the office who had been for a time elevated by the emperor to the rank of prefect, may have fallen out with the imperial authorities. Thereafter, Jews were gradually excluded from holding public office.
Powers
The Talmud tractate Sanhedrin identifies two classes of rabbinical courts called Sanhedrin, a Great Sanhedrin (בית דין הגדול) and a Lesser Sanhedrin. Each city could have its own lesser Sanhedrin of 23 judges, but there could be only one Great Sanhedrin of 71, which among other roles acted as the Supreme Court, taking appeals from cases decided by lesser courts. The uneven numbers of judges were predicated on eliminating the possibility of a tie, and the last to cast his vote was the head of the court.
The Sanhedrin as a body claimed powers that lesser Jewish courts did not have. As such, they were the only ones who could try the king, extend the boundaries of the Temple and Jerusalem, and were the ones to whom all questions of law were finally put. Before 191 BCE the High Priest acted as the ex-officio head of the Sanhedrin, but in 191 BCE, when the Sanhedrin lost confidence in the High Priest, the office of Nasi was created. After the time of Hillel the Elder (late 1st century BCE and early 1st century CE), the Nasi was almost invariably a descendant of Hillel. The second highest-ranking member of the Sanhedrin was called the Av Beit Din, or 'Head of the Court' (literally, Av Beit Din means 'father of the house of judgment'), who presided over the Sanhedrin when it sat as a criminal court.
During the Second Temple period, the Sanhedrin met in a building known as the Hall of Hewn Stones (Lishkat ha-Gazit), which has been placed by the Talmud and many scholars as built into the northern wall of the Temple Mount, half inside the sanctuary and half outside, with doors providing access variously to the Temple and to the outside. The name presumably arises to distinguish it from the buildings in the Temple complex used for ritual purposes, which could not be constructed of stones hewn by any iron implement.
In some cases, it was necessary only for a 23-member panel (functioning as a Lesser Sanhedrin) to convene. In general, the full panel of 71 judges was convened only on matters of national significance (e.g., a declaration of war) or when the 23-member panel failed to reach a conclusive verdict.
By the end of the Second Temple period, the Sanhedrin reached its pinnacle of importance, regulating all aspects of Jewish religious and political life within parameters laid down by Biblical and Rabbinic tradition.
Up to the middle of the fourth century, the Patriarchate retained the prerogative of determining the Hebrew calendar and guarded the intricacies of the needed calculations, in an effort to constrain interference by the Babylonian community. Christian persecution obliged Hillel II to fix the calendar in permanent form in 359 CE. This institution symbolized the passing of authority from the Patriarchate to the Babylonian Talmudic academies.
Before 191 BCE the High Priest acted as the ex-officio head of the Sanhedrin, but in 191 BCE, when the Sanhedrin lost confidence in the High Priest, the office of Nasi was created. The Sanhedrin was headed by the chief scholars of the great Talmudic Academies in the Land of Israel, and with the decline of the Sanhedrin, their spiritual and legal authority was generally accepted, the institution itself being supported by voluntary contributions by Jews throughout the ancient world. Being a member of the house of Hillel and thus a descendant of King David, the Patriarch, known in Hebrew as the Nasi (prince), enjoyed almost royal authority. Their functions were political rather than religious, though their influence was not limited to the secular realm. The Patriarchate attained its zenith under Judah ha-Nasi who compiled the Mishnah, a compendium of views from Judean thought leaders of Judaism other than the Torah
The Two Individual Whom the Pillar of Bible was Founded; Flavius Josephus and Origen Adamantius
Flavius Josephus:
The surviving manuscripts of the book of Antiquities of the Jews, written by the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus around 93–94 CE, contain two references to Jesus of Nazareth and one reference to John the Baptist.
The first and most extensive reference to Jesus in the Antiquities, found in Book 18, states that Jesus was the Messiah and a wise teacher who was crucified by Pontius Pilate. It is commonly called the Testimonium Flavianum. Almost all modern scholars reject the authenticity of this passage in its present form, while most scholars nevertheless hold that it contains an authentic nucleus referencing the life and execution of Jesus by Pilate, which was then subject to Christian interpolation or alteration. However, the exact nature and extent of the Christian addition remains unclear.
Modern scholarship has largely acknowledged the authenticity of the second reference to Jesus in the Antiquities, found in Book 20, Chapter 9, which mentions "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James." This reference is considered to be more authentic than the Testimonium.
Almost all modern scholars consider the reference in Book 18, Chapter 5 of the Antiquities to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist also to be authentic and not a Christian interpolation. A number of differences exist between the statements by Josephus regarding the death of John the Baptist and the New Testament accounts. Scholars generally view these variations as indications that the Josephus passages are not interpolations, since a Christian interpolator would likely have made them correspond to the New Testament accounts, not differ from them. Scholars have provided explanations for their inclusion in Josephus' later works.
Josephus wrote all of his surviving works after his stayed in Rome circa 71 CE under the patronage of the Flavian Emperor Vespasian. As it is common with ancient texts, however, there are no known manuscripts of Josephus works that can be dated before the 11th century, and the oldest which do survive were copied by Christian monks. Jews are not known to have preserved the writings of Josephus perhaps because he was considered a traitor, and/or because his works circulated in Greek, the use of which declined among Jews shortly after Josephus era.
There are about 120 extant Greek manuscripts of Josephus, of which 33 predate the 14th century, with two thirds from the Komnenos period. The earliest surviving Greek manuscript that contains the Testimonium is the 11th century Ambrosianus 370, preserved in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, which includes almost all of the second half of the Antiquities. There are about 170 extant Latin translations of Josephus, some of which go back to the sixth century. According to some historians these have proven very useful in reconstructing the Josephus texts through comparisons with the Greek manuscripts, confirming proper names and filling in gaps. One of the reasons the works of Josephus were copied and maintained by Christians was that his writings provided a good deal of information about a number of figures mentioned in the New Testament, and the background to events such as the death of James during a gap in Roman governing authority.
About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Christ. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.
The earliest secure reference to this passage is found in the writings of the fourth-century Christian apologist and historian Eusebius, who used Josephus' works extensively as a source for his own Historia Ecclesiastica. Writing no later than 324, Eusebius quotes the passage in the same form as that preserved in extant manuscripts. It has therefore been suggested by a minority of scholars that part or all of the passage may have been Eusebius' own invention, in order to provide an outside Jewish authority for the life of Christ. Some argue that the wording in the Testimonium differs from Josephus' usual writing style and that as a Jew, he would not have used a word like Christos, at Josephus' time being the Greek term for Messiah
Of the three passages found in Josephus' Antiquities, this passage, if authentic, would offer the most direct support for the crucifixion of Jesus. It is broadly agreed that while the Testimonium Flavianum cannot be authentic in its entirety, it originally consisted of an authentic nucleus with a reference to the execution of Jesus by Pilate which was then subject to interpolation.
Some of these arguments relied on the language used in the Testimonium. For instance, Jesus is called "a wise man" but Josephus described others like Solomon, Daniel, and John the Baptist in the same fashion, which would not have been a common Christian label for Christ at the time. He referred to Jesus merely as "a worker of amazing deeds" and nothing more, again disagreeing with how Christians viewed Christ. Referring to Jesus as "a teacher of people who accept the truth with pleasure", where "pleasure" connotes hedonistic value, is not in line with how Christians saw the point of Jesus' teachings. Claiming that Jesus won over "both Jews and Greeks" is a misunderstanding that a Christian scribe would not likely have made, knowing that Jesus mainly ministered to Jews. Also, the phrase "Those who had first loved him did not cease doing so" is Josephan in style, and calling Christians a "tribe" would not have made sense to a Christian writer.
The Testimonium has been the subject of a great deal of research and debate among scholars, being one of the most discussed passages among all antiquities. Another example of the textual arguments against the Testimonium is that it uses the Greek term poietes to mean "doer" as part of the phrase "doer of wonderful works" but elsewhere in his works, Josephus only uses the term poietes to mean "poet," whereas this use of "poietes" seems consistent with the Greek of Eusebius.
Origen's references to Josephus
Origen explicitly mentions the name of Josephus 11 times, never mentioning the Testimonium, both in Greek and Latin. Furthermore, Origen's statement in his Commentary on Matthew; Book X, Chapter 17 that Josephus "did not accept Jesus as Christ", is usually seen as a confirmation of the generally accepted fact that Josephus did not believe Jesus to be the Messiah. This forms a key external argument against the total authenticity of the Testimonium in that Josephus, as a Jew, would not have claimed Jesus as the Messiah, and the reference to "he was the Christ" in the Testimonium must be a Christian interpolation.
A different set of external arguments against the authenticity of the Testimonium (either partial or total) are "arguments from silence", e.g. that although twelve Christian authors refer to Josephus before Eusebius in 324 CE, none mentions the Testimonium. Even after Eusebius' 324 CE reference, it is not until Jerome's De Viris Illustribus circa 392 CE that the passage from Josephus is referenced again, even though the Testimonium's reference to Jesus would seem appropriate.
While "tribe is an odd way to describe Christians," it does not necessarily have negative connotations. The existence of an authentic grain of verisity in "the style and vocabulary are Josephan" and specific parts (e.g. the use of "wise man") are not what one would expect from a Christian forger. The Testimonium indicates that Josephus had heard of Jesus and the basic elements surrounding his death, and that he saw Jesus as primarily a miracle worker. Calling Christians a "tribe" would have been very out of character for a Christian scribe, while Josephus has used it to refer both to Jewish and Christian groups.
Origen's Complaint about Josephus Referencing Jesus
Origen had actually complained that Josephus had mentioned Jesus, while not recognizing Jesus as the messiah, and this provided an early independent support of the partial Testimonium in a more neutral form. That Origen had most likely seen a version of the Testimonium that included no interpolations. A general claim that a Testimonium seen by Origen must have had a neutral tone, and included no derogatory references towards Christians, and hence required no reaction from Origen. He claims that the neutral tone of the Testimonium was then modified between the time of Origen and Eusebius. The fact that Origen complains that Josephus had not recognized Jesus as the Messiah points to the fact that Origen had read the original version of the Testimonium, since such a clear statement could not have simply arisen from the "James, brother of Jesus" passage.
Arabic Testimonium more authentic version
A comparison of the Greek manuscripts with the Arabic quotation provides an indication of the original Josephan text. Thereby the general belief is that the Arabic version reflects the state of Josephus' original text before it was subject to Christian interpolation.
In the 3rd century, Origen of Alexandria claimed in two works that Josephus had mentioned James, the brother of Jesus. In Origen's commentary on Matthew, he wrote:
And to so great a reputation among the people for righteousness did this James rise, that Flavius Josephus, who wrote the "Antiquities of the Jews" in twenty books, when wishing to exhibit the cause why the people suffered so great misfortunes that even the temple was razed to the ground, said, that these things happened to them in accordance with the wrath of God in consequence of the things which they had dared to do against James the brother of Jesus who is called Christ. And the wonderful thing is, that, though he did not accept Jesus as Christ, he yet gave testimony that the righteousness of James was so great; and he says that the people thought that they had suffered these things because of James.
In Origen's apologetic work Contra Celsum, he made a similar remark:
Now this writer [Josephus], although not believing in Jesus as the Christ, in seeking after the cause of the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple, whereas he ought to have said that the conspiracy against Jesus was the cause of these calamities befalling the people, since they put to death Christ, who was a prophet, says nevertheless—being, although against his will, not far from the truth—that these disasters happened to the Jews as a punishment for the death of James the Just, who was a brother of Jesus (called Christ),—the Jews having put him to death, although he was a man most distinguished for his justice.
Contra Celsum
Many commentators have concluded that Origen is making reference to the "James, the brother of Jesus" passage found in Antiquities, Book 20 here, but there are some problems with this view. Origen is attributing statements to Josephus that he never wrote in any of his extant works such as the claim that the killing of James caused the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, suggesting that he is at least partially confused.
Eusebius of Caesarea
In Book II, Chapter 23.20 of his Church History, Eusebius mentions Josephus' reference to the death of James. Eusebius attributes the following quote to Josephus: "These things happened to the Jews to avenge James the Just, who was a brother of Jesus, that is called the Christ. For the Jews slew him, although he was a most just man." However, this statement does not appear in the extant manuscripts of Josephus
The interpolation of Testimonium and to established belief to be pure and unpolluted work of Josephus created ambiguity that could not be resolved.
Origen Adamantius
Origen was born of pagan parents, according to the Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyry, but of Christian parents, according to the ecclesiastical historian Eusebius of Caesarea, whose account is probably more accurate. Eusebius stated that Origen's father, Leonides, was martyred in the persecution of 202, so that Origen had to provide for his mother and six younger brothers. At first he lived in the house of a wealthy lady. He then earned money by teaching grammar and lived a life of strenuous asceticism. Eusebius added that he was a pupil of Clement of Alexandria, whom he succeeded as head of the Catechetical school under the authority of the bishop Demetrius. Eusebius also alleged that Origen, as a young man, castrated himself so as to work freely in instructing female catechumens; but this was not the only story told by the malicious about his extraordinary chastity, and thus it may merely have been hostile gossip. Eusebius' account of Origen's life, moreover, bears the embellishments of legends of saints and needs to be treated with this in mind.
According to Porphyry, Origen attended lectures given by Ammonius Saccas, the founder of Neoplatonism. A letter of Origen mentions his "teacher of philosophy," at whose lectures he met Heraclas, who was to become his junior colleague, then his rival, and who was to end as bishop of Alexandria refusing to hold communion with him. Origen invited Heraclas to assist him with the elementary teaching at the Catechetical school, leaving himself free for advanced teaching and study. During this period in circa 212, Origen learned Hebrew and began to compile his Hexapla.
A wealthy Christian named Ambrose, whom Origen converted from the teachings of the heretical Valentinus and to whom he dedicated many of his works, provided him with shorthand writers. A stream of treatises and commentaries began to pour from Origen's pen. At Alexandria he wrote Miscellanies (Stromateis), On the Resurrection (Peri anastaseos), and On First Principles (De principiis). He also began his immense commentary on St. John, written to refute the commentary of the Gnostic follower of Valentinus, Heracleon. His studies were interrupted by visits to Rome (where he met the theologian Hippolytus), Arabia, Antioch, and Palestine.
Going back to the decree of Constantine the Great to bind his people and to preserve his empire as tasked to Bishop Eusebious, several works of Josephus and Origen stood as the pillar of the proposed Constitution of the Empire.
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Copies were distributed as far as Great Britain. During the reign of Henry VIII, he ordered the English translation and was printed by Tyndale and Miles Covedale. The monarch then ordered the book to be set up on churches and be read. When James I was enthroned, he authorized the revision and clarification for Bishop Bible those appeared in 1568. During the renaissance age, Queen Victoria came into the throne and the general belief of World creation was 08th day of October 4004 BC, but later was disputed for it was a Sunday. Some scholars that era suggested an adjustment and proposed to be 27 years earlier. Those calculated guesses are irreconcilable on our time.
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Reckoning the contents of the Old Testament, after the great exodus Moses revived that covenant into stone tablets as "Jehovah's Law". Again there was ambiguity on the word Jehovah as adapted in our time. In codices, some appeared to be "J" and some "E" as Elohim and interpreted by Greeks as JHVH. It must be understand that JHVH also appeared in Mithraism religious-cult as one of the gods. Hebrews transcribed it later to Yahweh and further erroneously translated by Elizabethan English into Jehovah. So Jehovah Law was established by the Renaissance Age which means Covenant to the Hebrews and later called Bible
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Several Councils of Ambiguity
Arius (250 - 336 CE) proposed that Jesus and God were very separate and different entities: Jesus was closer to God than any other human being, but he was born a man, had no prior existence and was not a god. On the other hand, God has been in existence forever. Arius felt that any attempt to recognize the deity of Christ would blur the lines between Christianity and the Pagan religions. If Christianity recognized two separate gods, the Father and Jesus, it would become a polytheistic religion.
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Athanasius (296 - 373 CE) argued that Jesus must be divine, because otherwise, he could not be the Savior. The atonement would not have been possible.
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Both Arius and Athanasius had large, evenly matched followings among the bishops. Emotions ran high. The council, under intense pressure from Emperor Constantine, resolved its deadlock by a close vote in favor of Athanasius. The dissenting bishops were offered two options: to sign the settlement at Nicea or be exiled. The bishops produced the Nicene Creed, which declared that Jesus Christ was "of one substance with the Father." This did not immediately settle the question of the divinity of Christ; many bishops and churches refused to believe in the council's decision for decades.
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"The bishops granted to the bishop of Alexandria [in Egypt] papal authority over the eastern half of the empire, and to the bishop of Rome they granted papal authority over the western portion of the empire."
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330 CE: Emperor Constantine decided to build a "New Rome" on the site of the Greek city of Byzantium (now at Istanbul, Turkey). It was called Constantinople. It became the center of the largely Christian empire. 5 By this time, the church had evolved from a small, scattering of congregations to a geographically widespread church under the authority of many bishops.
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341 CE: Many now believe that Christianity became the dominant religion of the Empire through the evangelical efforts of the early church during the fourth century CE. The evidence seems to show that this is not true; "The Greek-Roman world was not...converted to a new religion, but compelled to embrace it." The Church authority had became concentrated in the five bishops or patriarchs located in Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem and Rome. Although they were officially given equal status, the Bishop of Rome was considered by many to be the first among equals.
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381 CE: At the Council of Constantinople, the earlier council's decision on the deity of Jesus was confirmed and Arianism was formally declared a heresy. They also voted that Holy Spirit was the third Person of the Trinity. Almost all of the churches abandoned Arianism after this council.
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Near the end of the century, the Roman Emperor "Theodosius decreed that the doctrine of the Trinity was to be the official state religion and that all his subjects should adhere to it." Siricius who reigned from 384 to 399 CE, became the first bishop of Rome to be called Pope (father)
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431 CE: The Council of Ephasus was called to debate the precise nature of Jesus. Again, there were two main competing belief systems.
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From the city of Alexandria, scholars developed the Alexandrian School of Thought which:
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Promoted the allegorical interpretation of the Bible – that it contained hidden meanings.
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Emphasized the divinity of Jesus.
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Recognized that Jesus had both a human and divine nature,
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Within the city of Antioch, Nestorius and other scholars
developed the Antiochene School which:
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Rejected an allegorical interpretation of the Bible.
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Emphasized the humanity of Jesus.
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Saw the two natures of Jesus as being loosely connected
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The Council excommunicated Nestorian and declared his beliefs (Nestorianism) to be heresy. The Virgin Mary's status was elevated from the mother of Jesus to "theotokos", the mother of God.
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440 CE: Pope Leo I became the Bishop -- a post that he held for 21 years. He maintained that the pope was highest ranking of the Christian bishops.
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451 CE: Emperor Marcian called the Council of Chalcedon to resolve still another debate about Jesus. The traditional belief that Jesus had both a divine and human nature was being challenged by Monophysitism, an outgrowth of the Alexandrian school. Their followers believed that Christ had only a single divine nature. The council rejected that belief. In their Chalcedonian Definition, they affirmed that Christ had two natures, human and divine. These were without confusion, without change, without division, without separation." This formulation has survived as the traditional belief to the present day among almost all branches of Christendom. The East Syrian (Nestorian) church and the Oriental Orthodox Christian church disagreed with the council's decision, and split off from the rest of Christianity in the first major schism from Pauline Christianity.
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A minor, little known, statement of the Council was Canon #15: "No woman under 40 years of age is to be ordained a deacon, and then only after close scrutiny." 1 This is believed to be the last time in church history that the ordination of women was mentioned as a routine practice, until modern times.
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During the 5th century CE, various Germanic tribes invaded Rome and destroyed much of the Roman Empire. Meanwhile, the church centered in Rome successfully converted the invaders to Christianity. Authority within the church was coalescing around the Bishop of Rome in the west and the Patriarch of Constantinople in the east. Divisions between the two power centers in the Christian church gradually intensified.
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Gnostic Christianity's membership went into a steep decline nearing the sixth century and by 553 CE: Emperor Justinian called The Second Council of Constantinople. He invited equal numbers of bishops from each of the five patriarchal sees. The Bishop of Rome, Pope Vigilius saw that many more bishops from the east than from the west would be present. He refused to attend.
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The council concentrated on the writings of three Christian leaders: Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret and Ibas. All three were condemned by the council as heretics: "We observed that the pupils of Nestorius were trying to bring their heresy into the church of God by means of the heretical Theodore, bishop of Mopsuestia and his books as also by the writings of the heretical Theodoret and the disgraceful letter which is alleged to have been sent by Ibas to Mari the Persian. Our observations prompted us to correct what was happening. We assembled in this imperial city, summoned here by the will of God and the command of the most religious emperor.
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Gnostic Christianity ceased being a significant force by the 6th century. The only group to have continuously survived into modern times is the Mandaean sect of Iraq and Iran. This group currently numbers fewer than 15,000. Gnostic Christianity has been revitalized in the West and is now growing rapidly.
The eastern and western branches of Christianity continued their process of separation.
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The religious language in the west was Latin, while the eastern church used Greek. Bilingual theologians became increasingly rare.
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"While the intellectual thought of Eastern Christianity was driven by Greek teachers, Western Christianity came to be dominated by the teachings of Augustine of Hippo." (354 – 386 CE)
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"Although the two regions belonged to the same church, they became increasingly remote from each other." A formal split did not occur until 1054 CE when the Roman Catholic church and Eastern Orthodox churches formally separated. Although discussions are currently underway to bring the two churches into some form of unity, little progress is being made.
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Going back to the Council of Nicene, the birthday of Jesus was fixed on the 25th day of December in order to preserved the feast day of Sol Invictus and Mithra as favored to the deity of Constantine the Great. Prior to the fixing of Jesus birthday, every 25th day of December the feast of Sol Invictus, known to be the goddess of the Rising Sun, were celebrated with great jubilation. Small green branches of trees decorated with little lights were paraded. This most likely the origin of our Christmas trees. However if we shall based Jesus birth in accordance to the description of the Bible, it should be about mid-summer. What a great cult and religious compromise that cater the
likeness of Christianity and Mithraism.