Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

To: Uncle Chip
The Greeks called the area of Babylon "Mesopotamia", but the Jews called the area of Mesopotamia "Babylon". And if you notice on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, there are Jews there in Jerusalem from Mesopotamia. "Babylon" had been an empire not just a city. It was Mesopotamia as well --- the land between the rivers and there were a lot of people there.

"Mesopotamia" is a place. "Babylon" is a city. There was a "Babylonian Empire," but that had ceased to exist long before. The Epistle says "in Babylon," not in "Babylonia," or "Mesopotamia," or "in the Babylonian empire".

And by the way, the Iraqi Church might not have a tradition of having been founded by the apostle Peter

They have no tradition of Peter having been there at all.

On the other hand, we definitely know that mid-first century Jewish apocalyptic literature referred to Rome as "Babylon," and we know that the Roman Christians have a very ancient tradition of Peter having been there, attested to by Irenaeus, Eusebius, and others, and also attested to by the archaeological evidence found under St. Peter's basilica.

Similarly, we know from tradition that Peter was in Antioch before he was in Rome.

352 posted on 12/17/2006 8:10:05 PM PST by Campion ("I am so tired of you, liberal church in America" -- Mother Angelica, 1993)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 351 | View Replies ]


To: Campion
we definitely know that mid-first century Jewish apocalyptic literature referred to Rome as "Babylon,"

Are you still citing those apocryphal sources as authoritative.

So then are you saying that the "Babylonian Talmud" was really written in Rome? That it is really a code word for the "Roman Talmud"?

The mystics may not have known where Babylon was, or that it was the place of their diaspora, but the Jews of Peter's day sure did. He was writing to the Jews of Asia Minor, and as such used the name of the place with which they were familiar: Babylon or Babylonia, they knew what he meant and where he was.

354 posted on 12/18/2006 4:01:02 AM PST by Uncle Chip (TRUTH : Ignore it. Deride it. Allegorize it. Interpret it. But you can't ESCAPE it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 352 | View Replies ]

To: Campion
They have no tradition of Peter having been there at all.

Do they have Peter's first epistle in their Bibles.? Do they have verse 5:13 of that epistle in their Bibles? If they do, then they have that "tradition", but must have just forgotten about it when the Roman magisterium came to town.

355 posted on 12/18/2006 4:09:45 AM PST by Uncle Chip (TRUTH : Ignore it. Deride it. Allegorize it. Interpret it. But you can't ESCAPE it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 352 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson