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The Simonians were a Gnostic sect of the 2nd century which regarded Simon Magus as its founder and traced its doctrines, known as Simonianism , back to him. The sect flourished in Syria, in various districts of Asia Minor and at Rome . In the 3rd century remnants of it still existed, which survived until the 4th century.

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139-614: Justin Martyr wrote in his Apology (152 AD) that the sect of the Simonians appeared to have been formidable, as he speaks four times of their founder, Simon. The Simonians are mentioned by Hegesippus ; their doctrines are quoted and opposed in connection with Simon Magus by Irenaeus , by the Philosophumena , and later by Epiphanius of Salamis . Origen also mentions that some of the sect were called Heleniani. According to John D. Turner ,

278-562: A Mass and an Office composed for his feast day , which he set at 14 April, one day after the date of his death as indicated in the Martyrology of Florus; but since this date quite often falls within the main Paschal celebrations, the feast was moved in 1968 to 1 June, the date on which he has been celebrated in the Byzantine Rite since at least the 9th century. Justin is remembered in

417-475: A Platonist thinker who had recently settled in his city. Some time afterwards, he chanced upon an old man, possibly a Syrian Christian, in the vicinity of the seashore, who engaged him in a dialogue about God and spoke of the testimony of the prophets as being more reliable than the reasoning of philosophers. There existed, long before this time, certain men more ancient than all those who are esteemed philosophers, both righteous and beloved by God, who spoke by

556-669: A Simonian book called the Preaching of Paul which advocated this baptism. Outside of these patristic sources, the Simonians are briefly mentioned in the Testimony of Truth (58,1-60,3) from the Nag Hammadi Library , wherein the Gnostic author seems to include them among a long list of "heretics": They do [not] agree with each other. For the Si[mo]nians get married and produce children, but

695-500: A Tree of Death. Horon also spreads around a poisonous fog, Adam is sent from the mountain to restore life on earth, Horon takes the shape of a large serpent and bites him, which leads to Adam and his wife losing their immortality. However, John Day argues that these stories are not explicitly attested in the Ugaritic texts but are reconstructed on the basis of speculative and dubious suppositions. The word "paradise" entered English from

834-559: A belief system that would afford theological and metaphysical inspiration to their young pupil. He says he tried first the school of a Stoic philosopher, who was unable to explain God's being to him. He then attended a Peripatetic philosopher but was put off because the philosopher was too eager for his fee. Then he went to hear a Pythagorean philosopher who demanded that he first learn music, astronomy, and geometry, which he did not wish to do. Subsequently, he adopted Platonism after encountering

973-536: A collection of sayings for exposition purposes has been disputed by scholar Arthur Bellinzoni . The question of whether the harmonized gospel materials found in Justin's writings came from a preexisting gospel harmony or were assembled as part of an integral process of creating scriptural prooftexts is an ongoing subject of scholarly investigation. The following excerpt from 1 Apol . 33:1,4–5 (partial parallel in Dial . 84) on

1112-516: A garden that he planted "eastward in Eden": And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The man was free to eat from any tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil , which was taboo . Last of all, God made a woman ( Eve ) from

1251-560: A letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's orchard ( pardes ), that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city". In these examples, pardes clearly means 'orchard' or 'park', but in the Jewish apocalyptic literature and in the Talmud paradise gains its associations with the Garden of Eden and its heavenly prototype,

1390-557: A meaning also present in the New Testament . Italian historian Mario Liverani argues that the Garden of Eden was modeled on Persian royal gardens, while John Day argues that linguistic and other evidence indicates that the yahwistic Eden story was composed before the Persian period. US archaeologist Lawrence Stager posits that the biblical Eden narrative drew from aspects of Solomon's palace and temple compound and Jerusalem . In

1529-559: A millennium, and generally in the Christian eschatology . Opposition to Judaism was common among church leaders in his day; however, Justin Martyr was hostile towards Jewry and regarded Jews as an accursed people. His anti-Judaic polemics have been cited as an origin of Christian antisemitism. However his views elaborated in the Dialogue with Trypho were tame compared to those of John Chrysostom and others. Justin, like others, thought that

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1668-586: A mountain sanctuary in the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges . Some religious groups have believed the location of the garden to be local to them, outside of the Middle East. Some early leaders of Mormonism held that it was located in Jackson County, Missouri . The 20th-century Panacea Society believed it was located at the site of their home town of Bedford , England, while preacher Elvy E. Callaway believed it

1807-498: A noble family in possession of his remains sent them in 1873 to a priest in Baltimore for safekeeping. They were displayed in St. Mary's Church for a period of time before they were again locked away for safekeeping. The remains were rediscovered and given a proper burial at St. Mary's, with Vatican approval, in 1989. It is now asserted that the bones were of St. Justin of the third century who

1946-550: A philosopher and a martyr and the earliest antagonist of heretics . Hippolytus and Methodius of Olympus also mention or quote him. Eusebius of Caesarea deals with him at some length, and names the following works: Eusebius implies that other works were in circulation; from St Irenaeus he knows of the apology "Against Marcion," and from Justin's "Apology" of a "Refutation of all Heresies". St Epiphanius and St Jerome mention Justin. Rufinus borrows from his Latin original of Hadrian 's letter. After Rufinus, Justin

2085-406: A pledge of eternal life," but man was only able to dwell there for a short time because he soon fell from grace. In the poem, the Garden of Eden is both human and divine: while it is located on earth at the top of Mt. Purgatory, it also serves as the gateway to the heavens . Much of Milton's Paradise Lost occurs in the Garden of Eden. The first act of Arthur Miller's 1972 play Creation of

2224-448: A rib of the man to be a companion for the man. In Genesis 3, the man and the woman were seduced by the serpent into eating the forbidden fruit , and they were expelled from the garden to prevent them from eating of the tree of life, and thus living forever. Cherubim were placed east of the garden, "and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way of the tree of life". Genesis 2:10–14 lists four rivers in association with

2363-694: A thorough Hellene, while Semisch and Otto defend him from this charge. In opposition to the school of Ferdinand Christian Baur , who considered him a Jewish Christian, Albrecht Ritschl has argued that it was precisely because he was a Gentile Christian that he did not fully understand the Old Testament foundation of Paul's teaching, and explained in this way the modified character of his Paulinism and his legal mode of thought. Engelhardt has attempted to extend this line of treatment to Justin's entire theology, and to show that his conceptions of God, of free will and righteousness, of redemption, grace, and merit prove

2502-587: A walled enclosure was not preserved in most Iranian usage, and generally came to refer to a plantation or other cultivated area, not necessarily walled. For example, the Old Iranian word survives as pardis in New Persian, as well as its derivative pālīz (or jālīz ), which denotes a vegetable patch. The word entered the Hebrew language with the meaning of pardes ( פַּרְדֵּס ), 'orchard', appearing thrice in

2641-537: Is 'walled (enclosure)', from pairi- 'around' (cognate with the Greek περί and the English peri- , of identical meaning), and -diz , "to make, form (a wall), build" (cognate with the Greek τεῖχος , 'wall'). The word's etymology is ultimately derived from a Proto-Indo-European root , *dheigʷ , 'to stick and set up (a wall)', and *per , 'around'. By the 6th/5th century BCE, the Old Iranian word had been borrowed into

2780-636: Is a paradisaical abode of the immortals, where sickness and death were unknown. The garden of the Hesperides in Greek mythology was also somewhat similar to the Jewish concept of the Garden of Eden, and by the 16th century a larger intellectual association was made in the Cranach painting. By studying late-13th-century BCE clay tablets from Ugarit , Hebrew Bible scholars M.J.A. Korpel and J.C. de Moor reconstructed close Canaanite parallels, which they posit as being

2919-449: Is commonly assumed to have taken place at Ephesus though it may have occurred anywhere on the road from Syria Palestina to Rome. He then adopted the dress of a philosopher himself and traveled about teaching. During the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161), he arrived in Rome and started his own school. Tatian was one of his pupils. In the reign of Marcus Aurelius , after disputing with

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3058-571: Is created from the love of Elohim and Eden, but evil later is brought into the universe when Elohim learns of the existence of the Good above him and ascends trying to reach it. One of oldest depictions of Garden of Eden is made in Byzantine style in Ravenna , while the city was still under Byzantine control. A preserved blue mosaic is part of the mausoleum of Galla Placidia . Circular motifs represent flowers of

3197-510: Is dependent on Tatian; Von Harnack placed it between 180 and 240. After this medieval period in which no authentic works of Justin Martyr were in widespread circulation, a single codex containing the complete works of Justin Martyr was discovered and purchased by Guillaume Pellicier , c.  1540 in Venice. Pellicier sent it to the Bibliothèque nationale de France where it remains today under

3336-600: Is dependent upon Clement of Alexandria , and was assigned by Pierre Batiffol to the Novatian Bishop Sisinnius ( c.  400 ). The extant work under the title "On the Sovereignty of God" does not correspond with Eusebius' description of it, though Adolf von Harnack regarded it as still possibly Justin's, and at least of the 2nd century. The author of the smaller treatise To the Greeks cannot be Justin, because he

3475-405: Is divided into seven compartments. The compartments are not described, though it is implied that each compartment is greater than the previous one and is joined based on one's merit. The first compartment is for Jewish martyrs, the second for those who drowned, the third for "Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai and his disciples," the fourth for those whom the cloud of glory carried off, the fifth for penitents,

3614-584: Is exemplified by Adam and his spouse in the Quran (Q. 7:23 "Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will certainly be losers"), in contrast to Iblis (Satan) who blames God for leading him astray (Q. 15:37). Followers of the Latter Day Saint movement believe that after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden they resided in a place known as Adam-ondi-Ahman , located in present-day Daviess County, Missouri . It

3753-458: Is from this that the Thought in the oneness proceeded and became two. So he was one; for having her in himself, he was alone, not however first, although preëxisting, but being manifested from himself to himself, he became second. Nor was he called Father before (Thought) called him Father. As, therefore, producing himself by himself, he manifested to himself his own Thought, so also the Thought that

3892-667: Is it which goeth toward the east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates . Suggestions for the location of Eden include the head of the Persian Gulf , as argued by Juris Zarins , in southern Mesopotamia where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers run into the sea; and in the Armenian Highlands or Armenian National Plateau. British archaeologist David Rohl locates it in Iran , and in

4031-441: Is not lacking for it. Another fragment takes up the positive proof of the resurrection, adducing that of Christ and of those whom he recalled to life. In yet another fragment the resurrection is shown to be that of what has gone down, i.e., the body; the knowledge concerning it is the new doctrine, in contrast to that of the old philosophers. The doctrine follows from the command to keep the body in moral purity. The authenticity of

4170-433: Is practised by this most abominable heresy'. In general, they were said to regard nothing in itself as good or bad by nature: it was not good works that made men blessed, in the next world, but the grace bestowed by Simon and Helena on those who followed them. To this end, the Simonians were said to venerate Simon under the image of Zeus , and Helena under that of Athena . However, Hippolytus adds that "if any one, on seeing

4309-661: Is recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants that Adam blessed his posterity there and that he will return to that place at the time of the final judgment in fulfillment of a prophecy set forth in the Bible. Numerous early leaders of the Church, including Brigham Young , Heber C. Kimball , and George Q. Cannon , taught that the Garden of Eden itself was located in nearby Jackson County, but there are no surviving first-hand accounts of that doctrine being taught by Joseph Smith himself. LDS doctrine

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4448-533: Is the new law for all men. Justin's dialogue with Trypho is unique in that he provides information on tensions between Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus of the second century (Dial. 47:2–3) and in acknowledging the existence of a range, and a variety, of attitudes toward the beliefs and traditions of the Jewish believers in Jesus. The treatise On the Resurrection exists in extensive fragments that are preserved in

4587-547: Is too close to be anything but a conscious following of the Greek. The Against Marcion is lost, as is the Refutation of all Heresies to which Justin himself refers in Apology , i. 26; Hegesippus , besides perhaps Irenaeus and Tertullian, seems to have used it. Flacius discovered "blemishes" in Justin's theology, which he attributed to the influence of pagan philosophers; and in modern times Semler and S.G. Lange have made him out

4726-457: Is unclear as to the exact location of the Garden of Eden, but tradition among Latter-Day Saints places it somewhere in the vicinity of Adam-ondi-Ahman, or in Jackson County. The 2nd-century Gnostic teacher Justin held that there were three original divinities, a transcendental being called the Good, an intermediate male figure known as Elohim and Eden who is an Earth-mother . The world

4865-768: Is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church , the Eastern Orthodox Church , the Oriental Orthodox Churches , Lutheran Churches , and in Anglicanism . Justin Martyr was born c.  AD 90–100 , into a Greek family, at Flavia Neapolis (today Nablus ) near the ancient biblical city of Shechem , in Samaria . He knew little or no Hebrew and Aramaic , and had only a passing acquaintance with Judaism . His family may have been pagan, since he

5004-528: Is very much helped in his knowledge of the beginning and end of things, and of those matters which the philosopher ought to know, provided he has believed them... But pray that, above all things, the gates of light may be opened to you; for these things cannot be perceived or understood by all, but only by the man to whom God and His Christ have imparted wisdom. Moved by the aged man's argument, Justin renounced both his former religious faith and his philosophical background, choosing instead to re-dedicate his life to

5143-642: Is yet found as two, the male-female having the female in itself. Thus Mind is in Thought—things inseparable from one another—which although being one are yet found as two. The Simonians were variously accused of using magic and theurgy , incantations and love-potions; declaring idolatry a matter of indifference that was neither good nor bad, proclaiming all sex to be perfect love, and altogether leading very disorderly, immoral lives. Eusebius of Caesarea , in his 4th century Historia Ecclesiastica , writes that 'every vile corruption that could either be done or devised,

5282-522: The Akkadian language as pardesu , 'domain'. It subsequently came to indicate the expansive walled gardens of the First Persian Empire , and was later borrowed into a number of languages: into Greek as παράδεισος ( parádeisos ), 'park for animals', cf. Anabasis , the most famous work of Xenophon ; into Aramaic as pardaysa , 'royal park'; and into Hebrew (see below). The idea of

5421-580: The Book of Revelation directly, yet he clearly refers to it, naming John as its author ( Dial . 81.4 "Moreover also among us a man named John, one of the apostles of Christ, prophesied in a revelation made to him that those who have believed on our Christ will spend a thousand years in Jerusalem; and that hereafter the general and, in short, the eternal resurrection and judgment of all will likewise take place"). Scholar Brooke Foss Westcott notes that this reference to

5560-773: The Church of England with a Lesser Festival on 1 June. The church of St. John the Baptist in Sacrofano , a few miles north of Rome, claims to have his relics. The Church of the Jesuits in Valletta, Malta, founded by papal decree in 1592 also boasts relics of this second century Saint. A case is also made that the relics of St. Justin are buried in Annapolis, Maryland. During a period of unrest in Italy,

5699-506: The Dialogue of Jason and Papiscus , illustrate the use of gospel narratives and sayings of Jesus in a testimony source and how Justin has adopted these "memoirs of the apostles" for his own purposes. And then, when Jesus had come to the river Jordan where John was baptizing , and when Jesus came down into the water, a fire was even kindled in the Jordan, and when He was rising up from the water,

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5838-590: The First Apology and parallel passages in the Dialogue as a "kerygma source". A second source, which was used only in the Dialogue , may be identical to a lost dialogue attributed to Aristo of Pella on the divine nature of the Messiah , the Dialogue of Jason and Papiscus (c. 140). Justin brings in biblical quotes verbatim from these sources, and he often appears to be paraphrasing his sources very closely, even in his interpretive remarks. Justin occasionally uses

5977-708: The French paradis , inherited from the Latin paradisus, paradisum , from the Greek parádeisos ( παράδεισος ). The Greek, in turn, was derived from an Old Iranian form, itself from the Proto-Iranian *parādaiĵah- , 'walled enclosure', which was derived from the Old Persian 𐎱𐎼𐎭𐎹𐎭𐎠𐎶 (p-r-d-y-d-a-m, /paridaidam/ , whence from the Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌⸱𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬰𐬀 , pairi-daêza- . The literal meaning of this word

6116-512: The Gospel of John is uncertain. One possible reference to John is a saying that is quoted in the context of a description of Christian baptism ( 1 Apol . 61.4 – "Unless you are reborn, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven."). However, Koester contends that Justin obtained this saying from a baptismal liturgy rather than a written gospel. Justin's possible knowledge of John's gospel may be suggested by verbal similarities to John 3:4 directly after

6255-547: The Holy Spirit fluttered down upon Him in the form of a dove, as the apostles have written about this very Christ of ours. Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions , the Garden of Eden ( Biblical Hebrew : גַּן־עֵדֶן ‎ , romanized:  gan-ʿĒḏen ; Greek : Εδέμ ; Latin : Paradisus ) or Garden of God ( גַּן־יְהֹוֶה ‎ , gan- YHWH and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ‎ , gan- Elohim ), also called

6394-484: The Messiah . However, the law, while containing commandments intended to promote the true fear of God, had other prescriptions of a purely pedagogic nature, which necessarily ceased when Christ, their end, appeared; of such temporary and merely relative regulations were circumcision , animal sacrifices, the Sabbath , and the laws as to food. Through Christ, the abiding law of God has been fully proclaimed. In his character, as

6533-455: The Sacra parallela . The fragments begin with the assertion that the truth, and God the author of truth, need no witness, but that as a concession to the weakness of men it is necessary to give arguments to convince those who gainsay it. It is then shown, after a denial of unfounded deductions, that the resurrection of the body is neither impossible nor unworthy of God, and that the evidence of prophecy

6672-514: The Septuagint (3rd–1st centuries BCE), the Greek παράδεισος ( parádeisos ) was used to translate both the Hebrew פרדס ( pardes ) and גן ( gan ), meaning 'garden' (e.g. Genesis 2:8 , Ezekiel 28:13 ): it is from this usage that the use of paradise to refer to the Garden of Eden derives. In the New Testament paradise becomes the realm of the blessed (as opposed to the realm of

6811-612: The Synoptic Gospels should be understood as referring to a written biography such as the Memorabilia of Xenophon because they preserve the authentic teachings of Jesus. However, scholar Helmut Koester has pointed out the Latin title "Memorabilia" was not applied to Xenophon's work until the Middle Ages, and it is more likely apomnemoneumata was used to describe the oral transmission of

6950-509: The Tanakh : in the Song of Solomon ( 4:13 ), Ecclesiastes ( 2:5 ), and Nehemiah ( 2:8 ). The word pardes occurs three times in the Hebrew Bible, but always in contexts other than a connection with Eden: in the Song of Solomon 4:13 : "Thy plants are an orchard ( pardes ) of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard"; Ecclesiastes 2:5 : "I made me gardens and orchards ( pardes ), and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits"; and in Nehemiah 2:8 : "And

7089-464: The Terrestrial Paradise , is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2–3 and Ezekiel 28 and 31. The location of Eden is described in the Book of Genesis as the source of four tributaries. Various suggestions have been made for its location: at the head of the Persian Gulf , in southern Mesopotamia where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers run into the sea; in Armenia , and even in Jackson County, Missouri . Others theorize that Eden

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7228-452: The amnion , and is nourished through the navel and receives the essence of the breath through the dorsal duct, as I have said. The five books of Moses are made to represent the five senses: As the female side of the original being appears the "thought" or "conception" ( ennoia ), which is the mother of the Aeons . There is a mystical passage on the unity of all things, suggestive of the Emerald Tablet . Its language seems to throw light on

7367-494: The annunciation and virgin birth of Jesus shows how Justin used harmonized gospel verses from Matthew and Luke to provide a scriptural proof of the messiahship of Jesus based on fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 . And hear again how Isaiah in express words foretold that He should be born of a virgin; for he spoke thus: 'Behold, the virgin will conceive in the womb and bear a son, and they will say in his name, God with us' (Mt 1:23). ...the power of God, coming down upon

7506-409: The cynic philosopher Crescens , he was denounced by the latter to the authorities, according to Tatian (Address to the Greeks 19) and Eusebius (HE IV 16.7–8). Justin was tried, together with six friends (two of them slaves educated by him; Euelpistus and Hierax), by the urban prefect Junius Rusticus , and was beheaded . Though the precise year of his death is uncertain, it can reasonably be dated by

7645-405: The "lower Gan Eden" ( gan meaning garden). The second is envisioned as being celestial, the habitation of righteous, Jewish and non-Jewish, immortal souls, known as the "higher Gan Eden". The rabbis differentiate between Gan and Eden. Adam is said to have dwelt only in the Gan , whereas Eden is said never to be witnessed by any mortal eye. According to Jewish eschatology ,

7784-401: The "true religion" that predated Christianity, that the "seeds of Christianity" (manifestations of the Logos acting in history) actually predated Christ's incarnation . This notion allows him to claim many historical Greek philosophers (including Socrates and Plato ), in whose works he was well studied, as unknowing Christians . Justin was martyred , along with some of his students, and

7923-477: The ...ans abstain from their ... nature ... [to passion] ... the drops of ... smear themselves ... we ... [they agree] with each other ... him ... they say ... [ about 16 lines missing ] ... [there is] no judgment ... for these because of ... them ... the heretics ... schisms ... with males ... are men ... they will belong [to the world rulers of] darkness ... of the world ... they have ... the [archons ... power] ... [ 1 line missing ] ... judge [them] .... But

8062-422: The ...ians ... words ... [ about 11 lines missing ] ... speak ... [they will] become ... in [unquenchable] fire ... they are punished. Translator Birger A. Pearson notes that these passages probably deal with the practices of libertine Gnostic sects, but from the fragmentary state of the text, it is impossible to know to what groups are being referred. The staunchly ascetic author may have had no more issue with

8201-461: The 2nd century. As Hippolytus himself in more than one place points out, it is an earlier form of the Valentinian doctrine , but there are things reminiscent of Aristotelian and Stoic physics. The whole book is a mixture of Hellenism and Hebraism , in which the same method of allegory is applied to Homer and Hesiod as to Moses . Starting from the assertion of Moses that God is "a devouring fire" ( Deuteronomy 4:24), Simon combined therewith

8340-432: The Baptist . One offshoot was in turn headed by Dositheus , Simon Magus , and Menander . It was in this milieu that the idea emerged that the world was created by ignorant angels. Their baptismal ritual removed the consequences of sin, and led to a regeneration by which natural death, which was caused by these angels, was overcome. The Samaritan leaders were viewed as "the embodiment of God's power, spirit, or wisdom, and as

8479-414: The Divine Spirit, and foretold events which would take place, and which are now taking place. They are called prophets. These alone both saw and announced the truth to men, neither reverencing nor fearing any man, not influenced by a desire for glory, but speaking those things alone which they saw and which they heard, being filled with the Holy Spirit. Their writings are still extant, and he who has read them

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8618-573: The Eden narrative shows parallels with aspects of Solomon’s Temple and Jerusalem , attesting to its nature as a sacred place. Mentions of Eden are also made in the Bible elsewhere in Genesis, in Isaiah 51:3, Ezekiel 36:35, and Joel 2:3; Zechariah 14 and Ezekiel 47 use paradisical imagery without naming Eden. The name derives from the Akkadian edinnu , from a Sumerian word edin meaning ' plain ' or ' steppe ' , closely related to an Aramaic root word meaning ' fruitful, well-watered ' . Another interpretation associates

8757-422: The Garden of Eden was located in modern-day Xinjiang . Scholars have identified and proposed connections to similar concepts from ancient religions and mythologies, and have studied the post-scriptural evolution of the concept in religion and arts. A number of parallel concepts to the biblical Garden of Eden exist in various other religions and mythologies. Dilmun in the Sumerian story of Enki and Ninhursag

8896-412: The Gospel of Matthew directly as a source for Old Testament prophecies to supplement his testimony sources. However, the fulfillment quotations from these sources most often appear to be harmonizations of the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Koester suggests that Justin had composed an early harmony along the lines of his pupil Tatian 's Diatesseron . However, the existence of a harmony independent of

9035-454: The Great Thought, female, producing all things. Hence pairing with each other, they unite and manifest the Middle Distance, incomprehensible Air, without beginning or end. In this is the Father who sustains all things, and nourishes those things which have a beginning and end. This is He who has stood, stands and will stand, a male-female power like the preëxisting Boundless Power, which has neither beginning nor end, existing in oneness. For it

9174-507: The Greek philosophers had derived, if not borrowed, the most essential elements of truth found in their teaching from the Old Testament . But at the same time he adopted the Stoic doctrine of the "seminal word," and so philosophy was to him an operation of the Word—in fact, through his identification of the Word with Christ , it was brought into immediate connection with him. Thus he does not hesitate to declare that Socrates and Heraclitus were Christians ( Apol. , i. 46, ii. 10). His aim

9313-400: The Jews , the first-century Jewish historian Josephus identifies the Pishon as what "the Greeks called Ganges " and the Geon (Gehon) as the Nile . In Ezekiel 28:12–19, the prophet Ezekiel the "son of man" sets down God's word against the king of Tyre: the king was the "seal of perfection", adorned with precious stones from the day of his creation, placed by God in the garden of Eden on

9452-408: The Lebanon is an alternative placement in Phoenician myth (as in Ez 28,13, III.48) of the Garden of Eden", and there are connections between paradise, the Garden of Eden and the forests of Lebanon (possibly used symbolically) within prophetic writings. Edward Lipinski and Peter Kyle McCarter have suggested that the garden of the gods , the oldest Sumerian analog of the Garden of Eden, relates to

9591-471: The Philosopher , was an early Christian apologist and philosopher . Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue did survive. The First Apology , his most well-known text, passionately defends the morality of the Christian life, and provides various ethical and philosophical arguments to convince the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius to abandon the persecution of the Church. Further, he also indicates, as St. Augustine would later, regarding

9730-507: The Quran), four interpretations of the location of the garden prevailed among early Muslims: According to T. O. Shanavas however, contextual analysis of Quranic verses suggests the Garden of Eden could not have been in Paradise and must have been on earth. (For example, a sahih hadith reports Muhammad said: "Allah says: I have prepared for my righteous servants that which has neither been seen by eyes, nor heard by ears, nor ever conceived by any man." i.e. no man has ever seen Paradise. Since Adam

9869-428: The Simonians originated as a local Hebrew cult in the first century CE, which centered on a Samaritan holy man. This early cult was syncretistic, but not Gnostic. In the second century, under influence of Christianity, Simon was transformed into a Gnostic saviour. The influence of Greek philosophy resulted in a Gnostic " monistic theogony ." According to Aldo Magris, Samaritan baptist sects were an offshoot of John

10008-689: The Simonians than their marrying and having children. However, Epiphanius also accuses the Simonians of having "enjoined mysteries of obscenity and—to set it forth more seriously—of the sheddings of bodies, emissionum virorum, feminarum menstruorum , and that they should be gathered up for mysteries in a most filthy collection; that these were the mysteries of life, and of the most perfect gnosis ." Justin Martyr Justin , known posthumously as Justin Martyr ( Greek : Ἰουστῖνος ὁ Μάρτυς , romanized :  Ioustînos ho Mártys ; c.  AD 100  – c.  AD 165 ), also known as Justin

10147-506: The apostles" analogously to indicate the trustworthy recollections of the apostles found in the written record of the gospels. Justin expounded on the gospel texts as an accurate recording of the fulfillment of prophecy , which he combined with quotations of the prophets of Israel from the LXX to demonstrate a proof from prophecy of the Christian kerygma . The importance which Justin attaches to

10286-460: The apostles" and "gospels" are equivalent, and the use of the plural indicates Justin's awareness of more than one written gospel. ("The apostles in the memoirs which have come from them, which are also called gospels, have transmitted that the Lord had commanded..."). Justin may have preferred the designation "memoirs of the apostles" as a contrast to the "gospel" of his contemporary Marcion to emphasize

10425-737: The author of the single prophetic book of the New Testament illustrates the distinction Justin made between the role of prophecy and fulfillment quotations from the gospels, as Justin does not mention any of the individual canonical gospels by name. The apologetic character of Justin's habit of thought appears again in the Acts of his martyrdom, the genuineness of which is attested by internal evidence. According to scholar Oskar Skarsaune , Justin relies on two main sources for his proofs from prophecy that probably circulated as collections of scriptural testimonies within his Christian school. He refers to Justin's primary source for demonstrating scriptural proofs in

10564-583: The belief that Jesus first came in humility, in fulfillment of prophecy, and will return in glory as the Messiah to the Gentiles . There are close literary parallels between the Christology of Justin's source and the Apocalypse of Peter . The following excerpts from the Dialogue with Trypho of the baptism ( Dial . 88:3,8) and temptation ( Dial . 103:5–6) of Jesus, which are believed to have originated from

10703-496: The biblical account, the Quran mentions only one tree in Eden, the tree of immortality, from which God specifically forbade Adam and his spouse. Some exegesis added an account, about Satan , disguised as a serpent to enter the Garden, repeatedly told Adam to eat from the tree, and eventually both Adam and his spouse did so, resulting in disobeying God. These stories are also featured in the hadith collections, including al-Tabari . Quranic verses Q. 2:35–38, are believed to tell

10842-524: The body, and of which none but the spiritual knew, was the Kingdom of Heaven, and the grain of mustard-seed. But it rested with us to develop it, and it is this responsibility which is referred to in the words—"that we may not be condemned with the world" (1 Corinthians 11:32). For if the image of the Standing One were not actualized in us, it would not survive the death of the body. "The axe," he said, "is nigh to

10981-637: The catalog number Parisinus graecus 450. This codex was completed on 11 September 1364 somewhere in the Byzantine Empire . The name of the scribe is unknown, although Manuel Kantakouzenos has been suggested as patron. Internal textual evidence shows that multiple older manuscripts were used to create this one, which strongly suggests that it must have originated in a major population center like Mistra , since libraries holding Justin Martyr were already rare by 1364. Other partial medieval manuscripts have been shown to be copies of this one. The editio princeps

11120-400: The connections between the historical testimony of the gospels and the Old Testament prophecies which Marcion rejected. The origin of Justin's use of the name "memoirs of the apostles" as a synonym for the gospels is uncertain. Scholar David E. Aune has argued that the gospels were modeled after classical Greco-Roman biographies, and Justin's use of the term apomnemoneumata to mean all

11259-630: The cursed) among those who have already died, with literary Hellenistic influences. The same usage as in the Septuagint also appears in Arabic and in the Quran as firdaws فردوس . In the Talmud and the Jewish Kabbalah , the scholars agree that there are two types of spiritual places called "Garden in Eden". The first is rather terrestrial, of abundant fertility and luxuriant vegetation, known as

11398-467: The discussion about the new birth ("Now, that it is impossible for those who have once been born to enter their mother's womb is manifest to all"). Justin also uses language very similar to that of John 1:20 and 1:28. Furthermore, by employing the term "memoirs of the apostles" and distinguishing them from the writings of their "followers", Justin must have been of the belief that at least two gospels were written by actual apostles. Justin does not quote from

11537-548: The dualism of both pagan and Gnostic philosophy. Justin was confident that his teaching was that of the Church at large. He knows of a division among the orthodox only on the question of the millennium and on the attitude toward the milder Jewish Christianity, which he personally is willing to tolerate as long as its professors in their turn do not interfere with the liberty of the Gentile converts; his millenarianism seems to have no connection with Judaism , but he believes firmly in

11676-490: The dwelling place of Adam . The Quran refers frequently over various Surah about the first abode of Adam and his spouse (told to be Hawwa or Eve, Quran never named her), including surat Sad , which features 18 verses on the subject (38:71–88), surat al-Baqara , surat al-A'raf , and surat al-Hijr although sometimes without mentioning the location. The narrative mainly surrounds the resulting expulsion of Adam and his spouse after they were tempted by Iblis (Satan). Despite

11815-567: The full range of his attributes. If humans were not to live on earth, God could not express his love, forgiveness, and power to his creation. Further, if humans were not to experience suffering, they could neither long for paradise nor appreciate its delights. Khwaja Abdullah Ansari (1006–1088) describes Adam and his spouse's expulsion as ultimately caused by God. Nonetheless, despite the paradoxical notion that man has no choice but to comply to God's will, this does not mean that humans should not blame themselves for their "sin" of complying. This

11954-553: The garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden motifs most frequently portrayed in illuminated manuscripts and paintings are the "Sleep of Adam" ("Creation of Eve"), the "Temptation of Eve" by the Serpent, the " Fall of Man " where Adam takes the fruit, and the "Expulsion". The idyll of "Naming Day in Eden" was less often depicted. Michelangelo depicted a scene at the Garden of Eden on the Sistine Chapel ceiling . For many medieval writers,

12093-541: The garden of Eden: Pishon , Gihon , Tigris (Hiddekel in Hebrew), and the Euphrates (Perath in Hebrew). It also refers to the land of Cush —translated/interpreted as Ethiopia , but thought by some to equate to Cossaea , a Greek name for the land of the Kassites . These lands lie north of Elam , immediately to the east of ancient Babylon, which, unlike Ethiopia, does lie within the region being described. In Antiquities of

12232-403: The garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four heads. The name of the first is Pishon ; that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah , where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon ; the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is Tigris ; that

12371-402: The generated world sprang from this ungenerated being. Simon characterized the world as having six roots, having each its inner and its outer side, and arranged as follows: These six roots, Mind, Voice, Reason, Reflection, Name , and Thought , are also called six powers. Commingled with them all was the great power, the "Boundless Power." This was that which "has stood, stands, and will stand,"

12510-632: The great prophet foretold by Moses. Like Simon, Menander , who was a pupil and, after Simon's death, his most important successor, taught the creation of the world by angels who were sent by the Ennoia . He asserted that men received immortality and the resurrection by his baptism and practiced magical arts. The sect named after him, the Menandrians, continued to exist for a considerable length of time. Simonian influences continued through Menander's own followers who included Saturninus of Antioch and Basilides ,

12649-489: The harmonized gospel narratives of Matthew and Luke were part of a tradition already circulating within Justin's school that expounded on the life and work of Jesus as the Messiah and the apostolic mission. Justin then rearranged and expanded these testimonia to create his First Apology . The "kerygma source" of prooftexts (contained within 1 Apol . 31–53) is believed to have had a Two Parousias Christology, characterized by

12788-450: The higher Gan Eden is called the "Garden of Righteousness". It has been created since the beginning of the world, and will appear gloriously at the end of time. The righteous dwelling there will enjoy the sight of the heavenly chayot carrying the throne of God. Each of the righteous will walk with God, who will lead them in a dance. Its Jewish and non-Jewish inhabitants are "clothed with garments of light and eternal life, and eat of

12927-576: The higher Gan Eden. For some Christians, especially in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Eden is considered a reality outside of empirical history that affects the entire history of the universe as seen in the idea of an atemporal fall which separates humanity's current reduced form of time from the divine life enjoyed in Eden. This idea of an atemporal separation from Eden has been most recently defended by theologians David Bentley Hart , John Behr , and Sergei Bulgakov as well as having roots in

13066-479: The holy mountain as a guardian cherub. However, the king sinned through wickedness and violence, and so he was driven out of the garden and thrown to the earth, where now he is consumed by God's fire: "All those who knew you in the nations are appalled at you, you have come to a horrible end and will be no more." (Ezekiel 28:19). The location of Eden is described in Genesis 2:10–14: And a river went out of Eden to water

13205-524: The image of the Garden of Eden also creates a location for human love and sexuality , often associated with the classic and medieval trope of the locus amoenus . In the Divine Comedy , Dante Alighieri places the Garden at the top of Mt. Purgatory . Dante, the pilgrim, emerges into the Garden of Eden in Canto 28 of Purgatorio . Here he is told that God gave the Garden of Eden to man "in earnest, or as

13344-514: The images either of Simon or Helen, shall call them by those names, he is cast out, as showing ignorance of the mysteries." From this it is evident that the Simonians did not allow that they actually worshipped their founders. In the Clementine Recognitions Helena is called Luna , which may mean that the images were allegorical representations of the sun and moon . The writer of the pseudo-Cyprian De Rebaptismate says that on

13483-679: The influence of the cultivated Greek pagan world of the 2nd century, dominated by the Platonic and Stoic philosophy. But he admits that Justin is a Christian in his unquestioning adherence to the Church and its faith, his unqualified recognition of the Old Testament, and his faith in Christ as the Son of God the Creator, made manifest in the flesh, crucified, and risen, through which belief he succeeds in getting away from

13622-459: The latter identified by Ireneus with the further development of his predecessors ideas. Carpocrates practised in the tradition of Basildes, and his own follower, Marcellina , became one of the few female leaders of early Christianity in 2nd century Rome. In the Philosophumena of Hippolytus , Simon's doctrine is recorded according to his reputed work, The Great Declaration , as it existed in

13761-407: The life of Jesus and quotations of the sayings of Jesus as "memoirs of the apostles " ( Greek : ἀπομνημονεύματα τῶν ἀποστόλων , romanized :  apomnêmoneúmata tôn apostólôn ) and less frequently as gospels ( Greek : εὐαγγέλιον , romanized :  euangélion ) which, Justin says, were read every Sunday in the church at Rome ( 1 Apol . 67.3 – "and the memoirs of the apostles or

13900-458: The lower Gan Eden in order to reach the higher Gan Eden. The way to the garden is the Cave of Machpelah that Adam guards. The cave leads to the gate of the garden, guarded by a cherub with a flaming sword. If a soul is unworthy of entering, the sword annihilates it. Within the garden is a pillar of fire and smoke that extends to the higher Gan Eden, which the soul must climb in order to reach

14039-512: The more terrible universal tribunal of Our Lord and Saviour. And all the martyrs said: Do as you wish; for we are Christians, and we do not sacrifice to idols. The Prefect Rusticus read the sentence: Those who do not wish to sacrifice to the gods and to obey the emperor will be scourged and beheaded according to the laws. The holy martyrs glorifying God betook themselves to the customary place, where they were beheaded and consummated their martyrdom confessing their Saviour. In 1882, Pope Leo XIII had

14178-573: The name with a Hebrew word for ' pleasure '; thus the Vulgate reads paradisum voluptatis in Genesis 2:8, and the Douay–Rheims Bible , following, has the wording "And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure". The second part of the Genesis creation narrative , Genesis 2:4–3:24, opens with YHWH - Elohim (translated here "the L ORD God") creating the first man ( Adam ), whom he placed in

14317-567: The nature of God were meant to express his firm opinion on points of doctrine, or to speculate on these matters. Specific points Justin addressed include that the Logos is "numerically distinct from the Father" though "born of the very substance of the Father," and that "through the Word, God has made everything." Justin used the metaphor of fire to describe the Logos as spreading like a flame, rather than "dividing"

14456-456: The origin of the biblical creation myth from the first chapters of Genesis including the Garden of Eden and Adam narrative. Their reconstructed texts talk about the creator deity El , who lived in a vineyard or garden together with his wife Asherah on Mount Ararat . Another god, Horon , tries to depose El and when thrown down from the mountain, he transforms the Tree of Life from the garden into

14595-464: The philosophy of Heraclitus which made fire the first principle of all things. This first principle he denominated a "Boundless Power," and he declared it to dwell in the sons of men, beings born of flesh and blood. Simon distinguished between its hidden and its manifest qualities, maintaining that the former were the cause of the latter. Like the Stoics he conceived of it as an intelligent being, saying that

14734-528: The position of mainstream scholarship, contends that Justin regarded the fulfillment quotations of the gospels to be equal in authority. Justin uses material from the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) in the composition of the First Apology and the Dialogue , either directly, as in the case of Matthew, or indirectly through the use of a gospel harmony , which may have been composed by Justin or his school. However, his use, or even knowledge, of

14873-512: The prefectoral term of Rusticus (who governed from 162 and 168). The martyrdom of Justin preserves the court record of the trial. The Prefect Rusticus says: Approach and sacrifice, all of you, to the gods. Justin says: No one in his right mind gives up piety for impiety. The Prefect Rusticus says: If you do not obey, you will be tortured without mercy. Justin replies: That is our desire, to be tortured for Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and so to be saved, for that will give us salvation and firm confidence at

15012-494: The redeemer and revealer of 'true knowledge'." Dositheus , a Samaritan who died from starvation, is said to have originally been the "Standing One," or leader, of John the Baptist 's sect, but stepped aside in favor of Simon Magus. Origen , who was ordained priest in AD 231, speaks of Dositheus, and also mentions Simon Magus. As late as the beginning of the 7th century, Eulogius of Alexandria opposed Dositheans, who regarded Dositheus as

15151-428: The redeeming acts of the life of Christ rather than upon the demonstration of the reasonableness and moral value of Christianity, though the fragmentary character of the latter works make it difficult to determine exactly to what extent this is true and how far the teaching of Irenaeus on redemption is derived from him. The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia notes that scholars have differed on whether Justin's writings on

15290-419: The roots of the tree: Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire" ( cf. Matthew 3:10). There is a remarkable physiological interpretation of the Garden of Eden that evinces a certain amount of anatomical knowledge on the part of Simon or his followers. Here, Paradise is the womb , and the river going out of Eden is envisioned as the umbilical cord . The navel [ i.e.,

15429-418: The sayings of Jesus in early Christianity . Papias uses a similar term meaning "remembered" ( apomnemoneusen ) when describing how Mark accurately recorded the "recollections of Peter ", and Justin also uses it in reference to Peter in Dial. 106.3, followed by a quotation found only in the Gospel of Mark (Mk 3:16–17). Therefore, according to Koester, it is likely that Justin applied the name "memoirs of

15568-476: The service of the Divine. His newfound convictions were only bolstered by the ascetic lives of the early Christians and the heroic example of the martyrs , whose piety convinced him of the moral and spiritual superiority of Christian doctrine. As a result, he thenceforth decided that the only option for him was to travel throughout the land, spreading the knowledge of Christianity as the "true philosophy." His conversion

15707-465: The seventh power (root) corresponding to the seventh day after the six days of creation. This seventh power existed before the world, it is the Spirit of God that moved upon the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2). It existed potentially in every child of man, and might be developed in each to its own immensity. The small might become great, the point be enlarged to infinity. This indivisible point which existed in

15846-497: The sixth for youths who have never sinned; and the seventh for the poor who lived decently and studied the Torah. In chapter two, Legends of the Jews gives a brief description of the lower Gan Eden. The tree of knowledge is a hedge around the tree of life, which is so vast that "it would take a man five hundred years to traverse a distance equal to the diameter of the trunk". From beneath

15985-583: The story about Helen. To you, therefore, I say what I say, and write what I write. And the writing is this. Of the universal Aeons there are two shoots, without beginning or end, springing from one Root, which is the Power invisible, inapprehensible Silence. Of these shoots one is manifested from above, which is the Great Power, the Universal Mind ordering all things, male, and the other, (is manifested) from below,

16124-637: The story of Adam disobeying God's command and eating the Forbidden Fruit, and of God ordered him out of the Garden. One translation (the Clear Quran) that indicates that the Garden of Eden was in Heaven goes: Quranic verses describe Adam was being expelled from al-Jannah , "the garden", which is the commonly used word for paradise in Islam. However, according to Ibn Kathir (d. 1372) and Ar-Razi (d. 1209), (exegetes of

16263-520: The strength of the words of John, that "we were to be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire," the Simonians maintained that the orthodox baptism was a mere form, and that they had the real baptism, for, as soon as their neophytes went down into the water, a fire appeared on it. The writer does not dispute this claim, but questions whether it was bit of jugglery, a natural phenomenon, a piece of self-deception, or an effect of magic. The writer also mentions

16402-607: The substance of the Father. He also defended the Holy Spirit as a member of the Trinity, as well as the virginal birth of Jesus Christ. The Encyclopedia states that Justin places the genesis of the Logos as a voluntary act of the Father at the beginning of creation, noting that this is an "unfortunate" conflict with later Christian teachings. Justin Martyr, in his First Apology (c. 155) and Dialogue with Trypho (c. 160), sometimes refers to written sources consisting of narratives of

16541-399: The teacher of the new doctrine and promulgator of the new law, lies the essential nature of his redeeming work. The idea of an economy of grace, of a restoration of the union with God which had been destroyed by sin, is not foreign to him. It is noteworthy that in the "Dialogue" he no longer speaks of a "seed of the Word" in every man, and in his non-apologetic works the emphasis is laid upon

16680-571: The treatise is not so generally accepted as are Justin's other works. Even so, earlier than the Sacra parallela , it is referred to by Procopius of Gaza (c. 465–528). Methodius appeals to Justin in support of his interpretation of 1 Corinthians 15:50 in a way that makes it natural to assume the existence of a treatise on the subject, to say nothing of other traces of a connection in thought both here in Irenaeus (V., ii.-xiii. 5) and in Tertullian, where it

16819-479: The tree of life" (Enoch 58,3) near to God and his anointed ones. This Jewish rabbinical concept of a higher Gan Eden is opposed by the Hebrew terms gehinnom and sheol , figurative names for the place of spiritual purification for the wicked dead in Judaism, a place envisioned as being at the greatest possible distance from heaven . Some modern Orthodox Jews believe that history will complete itself and

16958-409: The trees flow all the world's waters in the form of four rivers: Tigris, Nile, Euphrates, and Ganges. After the fall of man, the world was no longer irrigated by this water. While in the garden, though, Adam and Eve were served meat dishes by angels and the animals of the world understood human language, respected mankind as God's image, and feared Adam and Eve. When one dies, one's soul must pass through

17097-476: The two veins by which the blood flows and is carried from the Edenic region through what are called the gates [ porta ] of the liver , which nourish the foetus. And the air-ducts, which we said were channels for breath, embracing the bladder on either side in the region of the pelvis , are united at the great duct which is called the dorsal aorta . . . . The whole (of the foetus) is wrapped up in an envelope, called

17236-434: The ultimate destination will be when all mankind returns to the Garden of Eden. In the 1909 book Legends of the Jews , Louis Ginzberg compiled Jewish legends found in rabbinic literature . Among the legends are ones about the two Gardens of Eden. Beyond Paradise is the higher Gan Eden, where God is enthroned and explains the Torah to its inhabitants. The higher Gan Eden contains three hundred and ten worlds and

17375-406: The umbilical cord], he says, is divided into four channels, for on either side of the navel two air-ducts [ i.e., the umbilical arteries ] are stretched to convey the breath, and two [umbilical] veins to convey blood. But when, he says, the navel going forth from the region of Eden is attached to the foetus in the epigastric regions, that which is commonly called by everyone the navel . . . and

17514-540: The vicinity of Tabriz , but this suggestion has not been adopted by mainstream academia. Others theorize that Eden was merely a region of "considerable size" in Mesopotamia , where its native inhabitants still exist in cities such as Telassar , based on verses such as Isaiah 37:12. Or that it encompassed the entire Fertile Crescent. According to Terje Stordalen, the Book of Ezekiel places Eden in Lebanon. "[I]t appears that

17653-545: The virgin , overshadowed her and made her while yet a virgin to conceive (cf. Lk 1:35), and the angel of God proclaimed to her and said, 'Behold, you will conceive in the womb from the Holy Spirit and bear a son (Mt 1:20/Lk 1:31) and he will be called Son of the Most High (Lk 1:32). And you shall call his name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins (Mt 1:21),' as those who have made memoirs of all things about our savior Jesus Christ taught... According to Skarsaune,

17792-527: The words of the prophets, which he regularly quotes with the formula "it is written", shows his estimate of the Old Testament Scriptures. However, the scriptural authority he attributes to the "memoirs of the apostles" is less certain. Koester articulates a majority view among scholars that Justin considered the "memoirs of the apostles" to be accurate historical records but not inspired writings, whereas scholar Charles E. Hill , though acknowledging

17931-543: The writings of several early church fathers, especially Origen and Maximus the Confessor . The term jannāt ʿadni ("Gardens of Eden" or "Gardens of Perpetual Residence") is used in the Quran for the destination of the righteous. There are several mentions of "the Garden" in the Quran, while the Garden of Eden, without the word ʿadn , is commonly the fourth layer of the Islamic heaven and not necessarily thought as

18070-456: The writings of the prophets are being read as long as it is allowable"). The designation "memoirs of the apostles" occurs twice in Justin's First Apology (66.3, 67.3–4) and thirteen times in the Dialogue , mostly in his interpretation of Psalm 22, whereas the term "gospel" is used only three times, once in 1 Apol. 66.3 and twice in the Dialogue . The single passage where Justin uses both terms ( 1 Apol. 66.3) makes it clear that "memoirs of

18209-425: Was a man, he could not have seen paradise, therefore he could not have lived there.) Islamic exegesis does not regard Adam and his spouse's expulsion from paradise as punishment for disobedience or a result from abused free will on their part. Instead, ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (1292–1350) writes, God's wisdom ( ḥikma ) destined humanity to leave the garden and settle on earth. This is because God wants to unfold

18348-609: Was known mainly from St Irenaeus and Eusebius or from spurious works. A considerable number of other works are given as Justin's by Arethas of Caesarea , Photius of Constantinople , and other writers, but this attribution is now generally admitted to be spurious. The Expositio rectae fidei was assigned by Johann Dräseke to Apollinaris of Laodicea , but it is probably a work of as late as the 6th century. The Cohortatio ad Graecos has been attributed to Apollinaris of Laodicea, Apollinaris of Hierapolis, as well as others. The Epistola ad Zenam et Serenum , an exhortation to Christian living,

18487-450: Was manifested did not make the Father, but contemplating him hid him—that is to say the Power—in herself, and is male-female, Power and Thought. Hence they pair with each other being one, for there is no difference between Power and Thought. From the things above is discovered Power, and from those below Thought. In the same manner also that which was manifested from them although being one

18626-582: Was martyred during the persecution of Maximus. The earliest mention of Justin is found in the Oratio ad Graecos by his student Tatian who, after calling him "the most admirable Justin", quotes a saying of his and says that the Cynic Crescens laid snares for him. Irenaeus speaks of Justin's martyrdom and of Tatian as his disciple. Irenaeus quotes Justin twice and shows his influence in other places. Tertullian , in his Adversus Valentinianos , calls Justin

18765-830: Was on the Apalachicola River in Florida, near the town of Bristol . Some suggested that the location is in Jerusalem . On his third voyage to the Americas in 1498, Christopher Columbus thought he may have reached the Earthly Paradise upon first seeing the South American mainland. In his book The Creation, the Garden of Eden and the Origin of the Chinese , Tse Tsan-tai argued that

18904-460: Was published by Robert Estienne in 1551. The Dialogue is a later work than the First Apology ; the date of composition of the latter, judging from the fact that it was addressed to Antoninus Pius and his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus , must fall between 147 and 161. In the Dialogue with Trypho , after an introductory section, Justin undertakes to show that Christianity

19043-536: Was the entire Fertile Crescent or a region of "considerable size" in Mesopotamia , where its native inhabitants still exist in cities such as Telassar . Like the Genesis flood narrative , the Genesis creation narrative and the account of the Tower of Babel , the story of Eden echoes the Mesopotamian myth of a king, as a primordial man, who is placed in a divine garden to guard the tree of life . Scholars note that

19182-451: Was to emphasize the absolute significance of Christ, so that all that ever existed of virtue and truth may be referred to him. The old philosophers and law-givers had only a part of the Logos , while the whole appears in Christ. While the gentile peoples, seduced by devils, had deserted the true God for idols, the Jews and Samaritans possessed the revelation given through the prophets and awaited

19321-558: Was uncircumcised, and defined himself as a Gentile . His grandfather, Bacchius, had a Greek name, while his father, Priscus, bore a Latin name, which has led to speculations that his ancestors may have settled in Neapolis soon after its establishment or that they were descended from a Roman "diplomatic" community that had been sent there. In the opening of the Dialogue , Justin describes his early education, stating that his initial studies left him unsatisfied due to their failure to provide

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