Monday, June 19, 2006
How short is an opusculum/suntagmation?
I wonder if anyone can help me with a Gospel of Judas related question? Epiphanius calls the "Gospel of Judas" which he knows of a "suntagmation" (in the Lat. tr., opusculum). Does anyone know of any other works called something similar? Would it imply that it's shorter than the canonical Gospels, or might it just be a diminutive of contempt?
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Robert Gordon calls his monograph on the targum of the Minor Prophets an opusculum. I'm sure that helps...
ReplyDeleteIt looks like Adolf von Harnack cites Athanasius calling a work of Asterius a suntagmation. Sorry I don’t have time at the moment to find the primary reference, but in Harnack it is Volume 4, Chapter 1, footnote 53 of his History of Dogma.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chris. That's great.
ReplyDeleteYou'd have to check how the word is used with a CDROM search, but I don't think opusculum has any diminutive significance in late Latin; any old treatise is called this.
ReplyDeleteTertullian refers to his own works thus in "Adversus Marcionem", and especially in book 5 chapter 1 verse 1:
"Et ideo ex opusculi ordine ad hanc materiam devolutus ..." (http://www.tertullian.org/articles/evans_marc/evans_marc_11book5.htm) "As then I have now in the ordering
of my treatise reached this part of the subject..."
Note that the 'treatise' (opusculum) means books 1-4 of Adv. Marc., which are huge and the 5 books together comprise by volume around 20% of Tertullian's entire surviving work!
He does the same at the end of "De Virginibus Velandis"("cuius hoc opusculum est").
Later, the medieval catalogue of Cluny uses the term indifferently (see the text at http://www.tertullian.org/articles/delisle_cluny_catalogue.htm). So does the catalogue of Corbie.
All the best,
Roger Pearse
He should have said opuscule since opusculum is the plural form. It means a minor or petty work. For future questions, try http://www.onelook.com.
ReplyDeleteHello all,
If you truly want to understand the symbolism of the Gospel of Judas and related texts, then follow the links in my missive below and read my FREE EBook on the topic.
You may not initially agree with everything I reveal, but please be a little patient with my long-winded presentation of what I have waited a very long time to be able to say. I promise to amaze and enlighten.
Here is the key to understanding what the Vatican and Papacy truly fear...
Pay close attention, profundity knocks at the door, listen for the key. Be Aware! Scoffing causes blindness...
Here's a real hot potato! Eat it up, digest it, and then feed it's bones to the hungry...
Most have totally missed the point that the Hebrew and Gnostic texts and others are making. All the Gnostic texts are philosophical and symbolic treatises, not literal narratives. When you try to interpret any of these ancient texts (including the Bible) as literal, you will always come to the wrong conclusions. Judas is thereby a symbolic and allegorical characterization, as are the other actors in the Gnostic texts. The need then is to determine what these symbolic personifications actually refer to.
There's much more to the story of the Vatican's recent machinations than meets the eye. It's not the DaVinci Code or Gospel of Judas per se, but the fact that people have now been motivated to seek out the unequivocal truth about an age of deception, exactly when they expect me to appear. These recent controversies are spurring people to reevaluate the Vatican/Papacy and the religions that Rome spawned, at the worst possible time for them.
The DaVinci Code novel and movie are no more inaccurate as literal versions of history than the New Testament. The primary sub-plot involved purposeful symbology being used to encode hidden meanings, exactly like the Bible and related texts. In other words, none of these stories represent the literal truth. This is the common and pivotal fact of all such narratives about ancient Hebrew and Christian history. Debating whether the DaVinci Code, Gnostic texts, or the Bible are accurate history is a purposeful ploy designed to hide the truth by directing your inquiry away from the heart of the matter.
There is a foolproof way to verify the truth and expose centuries-old religious deceptions. It also proves why we can no longer let the Vatican tell us what to think about ancient history or much else. It is the common thread connecting why the ancient Hebrews, Yahad/Essene, Jews, Gnostics, Cathars, Templars, Dead Sea Scrolls, DaVinci Code, and others have been targets of Rome’s ire and evil machinations. The Vatican and its secret society cohorts don’t want you to understand that the ancient Hebrew symbology in all of these texts purposely encodes and exposes the truth about them. Furthermore, the structure of ancient wisdom symbology verifiably encodes the rules to decode messages built with it. This is what they most fear you will discover.
If the Bible represented the literal truth or even accurate history, there would be no need for faith in the assertions of deceptive and duplicitous clergy and their ilk. It is undeniable the New Testament is awash with ancient Hebrew symbolism and allegory. The same is evidenced in the Old Testament, Dead Sea Scrolls, Gnostic texts, biblical apocrypha, Quran, DaVinci Code, and other related sources. All ancient religious, mystical, and wisdom texts have been shrouded in mystery for millennia for one primary reason: The ability to understand their widely evidenced symbology was lost in antiquity. How do we finally solve these ages-old mysteries? To recast an often-used political adage: It’s [the] symbology, stupid!
Remember, "I come as a thief..." ?
Read verse twelve of the Gospel of Thomas to understand who I am...
It is beyond amazing that the Vatican still tries to insist the Gospels are the literal truth. Every miracle purported for Jesus has multiple direct symbolic parallels in the Old Testament, Apocalypse, Dead Sea Scrolls, and other symbolic narratives and traditions. Recasting the symbolism of earlier Hebrew texts as literal events in the New Testament is one of the central deceptions associated with Christianity. This is part of the secret knowledge held by the ancient Gnostics, Templars, Cathars, and others, which is presented with dramatic effect in the DaVinci Code. None of these narratives or stories were ever intended as the literal truth. This fact is the key to unraveling many ages-old mysteries and exposing the truth about the Vatican's long-term deceptions.
Moreover, the following Washington Post article (The Book of Bart) describes how many changes and embellishments were made to New Testament texts over the centuries, unequivocally demonstrating they are not original, infallible, or truthful. When you combine proof that the New Testament Gospels are not wholly literal with proof that these texts were heavily reworked in the early years of Christianity, you are left with only one possible conclusion. The Vatican has long lied to everyone about the central tenets and history of Christianity. This revelation also proves they are not the Creator’s representatives but Her long-time opponents. The recent hoopla over the Gospel of Judas and DaVinci Code demonstrates they are still desperately trying to deceive the world and obfuscate their true nature and activities.
It's no wonder the Vatican fears the truth more than anything else. As further proof of these assertions, seek to understand the symbolic significance of my name (Seven Star Hand) and you will have proof beyond disproof that Jews, Christians, and Muslims have long been duped by the great deceivers I warned humanity about over the millennia. What then is the purpose of "faith" but to keep good people from seeking to understand the truth?
Now comes justice, hot on its heels... (symbolism...)
Not only do I talk the talk, I walk the walk...
Here is Wisdom!!
Revelations from the Apocalypse
Peace...
It is only my aversion to censorship that causes me not to delete this ramble from the blog. However, a second message of similar quality would not be spared.
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