Übersetzung
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Histoire ecclésiastique
CHAPITRE XIII : CE QUE L'ON RACONTE DU ROI D'ÉDESSE
Quant à l'histoire de Thaddée, voici en quoi elle consiste. Quand la divinité de notre Seigneur et Sauveur, Jésus-Christ, grâce à sa puissance et à ses miracles, fut proclamée à tous les hommes, ils vinrent à lui en foule de partout, même des pays les plus éloignés de Judée amenés par l'espoir de guérir de leurs infirmités et de toutes leurs souffrances. [2] Ainsi le roi Abgar, qui gouvernait avec la plus grande distinction les peuples d'au delà de l'Euphrate, était consumé par un mal terrible et incurable au moins selon les moyens humains. Dès qu'il connut la célébrité du nom de Jésus et son pouvoir attesté d'une voix unanime par tous ceux qui en avaient été les témoins, il devint son suppliant et lui 99 fit porter une lettre dans l'espoir d'obtenir la délivrance de son mal. [3] Le Sauveur ne se rendit pas alors à son appel; cependant il daigna lui écrire une lettre autographe, lui promettant qu'il lui enverrait un de ses disciples pour lui apporter la guérison et le salut, à lui, ainsi qu'à tous ses sujets. [4] Cette promesse ne fut pas longtemps à se réaliser pour Abgar. Après la résurrection de Jésus d'entre les morts et son ascension au ciel, l'apôtre Thomas, un des douze, mû par une inspiration toute divine, dirigea vers Édesse Thaddée, qui était du nombre des soixante-dix disciples, pour y être le héraut et l'évangéliste de la doctrine du Christ : ce fut par lui, que toutes les promesses de notre Sauveur, reçurent leur accomplissement. [5] On a de ces faits la preuve écrite, elle a été gardée dans les archives d'Édesse, alors ville royale. Les documents publics de ce pays qui renferment les choses anciennes et ce qui s'est passé sous Abgar, nous ont conservé depuis ce roi jusqu'à aujourd'hui ces événements : mais rien ne vaut comme de voir ces lettres elles-mêmes tirées des archives et traduites littéralement du syriaque en ces termes (voy. l'Appendice) :
COPIE DE LA LETTRE ÉCRITE PAR LE SOUVERAIN ABGAR ET ENVOYÉE A JÉSUS A JÉRUSALEM PAR LE COUREUR ANANIAS
[6] « Abgar, fils d'Oukamas, souverain, à Jésus, Sauveur bienfaisant, qui a apparu au pays de Jérusalem, salut.
« J'ai entendu parler de toi et de tes guérisons, et j'ai appris que tu les opères sans remèdes ni herbages. Car on raconte que tu fais voir les aveugles et marcher s boiteux, que tu purifies les lépreux, que tu chasses es esprits impurs et les démons, que tu délivres ceux qui sont tourmentés par de longues maladies, que tu ressuscites les morts. [7] Après avoir entendu tout cela de toi, je suis convaincu que de deux choses l'une : ou bien tu es Dieu et, descendu du ciel, tu fais ces merveilles ; ou bien tu es le Fils de Dieu, accomplissant ces choses. [8] Voilà donc pourquoi je t'écris aujourd'hui pour te prier de te donner la peine de venir chez moi et de me guérir du mal que j'ai. On m'a dit d'ailleurs que Juifs murmurent contre toi et qu'ils veulent te faire du mal : ma ville est toute petite, mais fort belle; le nous suffira à tous les deux. »
[Telle est la supplique rédigée par Abgar, alors éclairé par un faible rayon de la clarté divine. Il mérita ainsi de recevoir de Jésus une réponse qui lui fut adressée par le même coureur. Elle est courte, mais d'un grand poids : en voici le texte (voy. l'Appendice)].
REPONSE DE JÉSUS ENVOYÉE AU SOUVERAIN ABGAR PAR LE COUREUR ANANIAS
« [10] Tu es bienheureux, puisque lu as cru en moi sans m'avoir vu. Il est en effet écrit de moi que ceux 103 qui m'ont vu ne croiront pas en moi, afin que ceux qui ne m'ont pas vu, croient et vivent (voy. l'Appendice). Quant à ce que tu me mandes, d'aller chez loi : il me faut accomplir ici tout l'objet de ma mission et remonter ensuite vers celui qui m'a envoyé. Quand j'y serai, lu recevras de moi un de mes disciples qui te guérira de ton mal et le donnera la vie, à toi et à tous ceux qui sont avec toi. »
[11] A la suite de ces lettres est encore joint le récit suivant écrit en langue syriaque.
« Après l'ascension de Jésus, Judas, qu'on appelle aussi Thomas, députa au roi l'apôtre Thaddée (voy. l'Appendice), un des soixante-dix. Celui-ci partit et à son arrivée s'arrêta chez Tobie, fils de Tobie. Le bruit de sa présence se répandit et l'on fit savoir à Abgar : « Un apôtre de Jésus est venu ici selon qu'il le l'a écrit. »1 [12]Thaddée cependant s'était mis avec l'aide de la vertu divine à guérir toutes espèces de maladies et de langueurs, si bien que tous en étaient dans l'admiration. Lorsque le roi apprit les œuvres magnifiques et étonnantes qu'il opérait et les guérisons qu'il faisait, il comprit qu'il était bien celui dont Jésus avait parlé dans sa lettre : « Après mon ascension, je t'enverrai un de mes disciples qui te guérira de ton mal. [ 13] Il appela donc Tobie chez qui l'apôtre demeurait : « J'ai appris, lui dit-il, qu'un homme puissant est venu habiter dans ta maison: amène-le-moi. » Tobie retourna auprès de Thaddée et lui dit : « Le souverain Abgar m'a appelé et m'a dit de te conduire chez lui afin que lu le guérisses. » — 105 « J'irai, repartit Thaddée, puisque je suis envoyé avec « puissance pour lui. »2
« [14] Le lendemain, de grand matin, accompagné de Tobie, il se rendit auprès d'Abgar. Lorsqu'il entra, les principaux du royaume étaient debout autour du monarque : tout à coup, le roi aperçut à son arrivée un grand signe sur le visage de l'apôtre Thaddée, et à cette vue, il se prosterna devant lui. Tous les assistants restaient stupéfaits ; car ils n'avaient rien remarqué et la vision paraissait seulement pour Abgar. [15]Celui-ci demanda à Thaddée : « Es-tu en vérité le disciple de Jésus, le fils de Dieu qui m'a dit : « Je t'enverrai un de mes disciples qui te donnera la guérison et la vie ? » Thaddée lui répondit : « Tu as cru fermement à celui qui m'envoie, c'est pour cela que je suis député vers toi. Aussi, si tu crois en lui, selon que tu croiras, les désirs de ton cœur seront accomplis. » [16] Abgar reprit : « J'ai tellement cru en lui que j'aurais voulu prendre une armée et détruire les Juifs qui l'ont mis en croix, si je n'en avais été empêché par l'empire romain. » Thaddée répondit : « Notre Maître a accompli la volonté de son Père, puis il est retourné à lui. » [17] « J'ai, moi aussi, cru en lui et en son » Père, .» dit Abgar. Thaddée dit : « Voilà pourquoi j'étends la main sur toi en son nom. » Et aussitôt qu'il 107 l'eut fait, le roi fut sur-le-champ délivré de son mal et ses souffrances disparurent. [18] Il fut étonné ; ce qu'il avait entendu raconter de Jésus, il le voyait en fait dans sou disciple Thaddée : celui-ci lui avait rendu la santé sans remèdes, ni herbages. Il ne fut d'ailleurs pas seul à jouir de ce bienfait. Abdos, fils d'Abdos, avait la goutte : il vint lui aussi se jeter aux pieds de Thaddée, obtint ses prières et l'imposition de ses mains, et fut délivré. Thaddée guérit encore beaucoup de leurs concitoyens, accomplit de grands miracles et prêcha la parole de Dieu.
[19] Après cela, Abgar dit : « Toi, Thaddée, tu opères ces prodiges par la force divine et nous l'admirons ; mais je t'en conjure, apprends-nous comment Jésus est venu sur la terre, quelle était sa puissance et par quel pouvoir il a fait ce que j'ai entendu raconter. » [20] Et Thaddée dit (voy. l'Appendice, : Maintenant je garderai le silence ; mais puisque j'ai été envoyé pour annoncer la parole, assemble demain tous tes concitoyens et je la leur prêcherai; je sèmerai eu eux la parole de vie, je leur dirai comment s'est produite la venue de Jésus, quelle fut sa mission et pourquoi il fut envoyé par le Père : je raconterai sa puissance et ses œuvres, les mystères qu'il a enseignés dans le monde et j'indiquerai par quel pouvoir il a accompli cela; je montrerai la nouveauté de sa prédication, son humilité et sa modestie ; j'exposerai comment il s'est abaissé et a déposé et rapetissé sa divinité et a été mis en croix, 109 comment il est descendu aux enfers, après en avoir brisé la barrière qui ne s'était ouverte de l'éternité ; comment il a ressuscité les morts; comment enfin, il est descendu seul et remonté à son Père suivi d'un cortège nombreux. »3 [21] Abgar ordonna d'assembler de grand matin les habitants de sa ville pour entendre la prédication de Thaddée. Il lui fit ensuite offrir des pièces et des lingots d'or : l'homme de Dieu les refusa : « Si nous laissons nos biens, dit-il, comment pourrions-nous accepter celui des autres ». Ceci se passait en l'an trois cent quarante [28-29 ap. J.-C.]. »
Voilà ce que je n'ai pas cru inutile et hors de propos de citer ici textuellement, traduit du syriaque.4
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Θαδδαῖον. Le vrai nom est Addaï, l'apôtre d'Édesse, personnage historique qui a vécu au ιιe siècle. La légende a été inventée pour donner à l'église d'Édesse une origine apostolique; voy. J. TIXERONT, Les origines d l'Église d'Édesse et la légende d'Abgar (Paris, 1888). On ne 499 fit d'Addaï qu'un disciple. Mais les Grecs, en déguisant le nom syrien sous le nom de Thaddée, plus connu, ont donné l'occasion d'identifier Addaï avec un apôtre. La confusion est déjà faite dans Origène. Voy. R. A. LIPSIUS, Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten u. Apostellegenden, t. I (Brunswick, 1883}, p. 20 suiv. ↩
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δυνάμει : maxime propter ipsum lat. ; il faut plutôt entendre comme nous avons traduit, sauf à supposer la chute de ἐν. ↩
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Tout ce discours offre des redites et, surtout à la fin, des variantes considérables ; par ex. : ἀνηήγειρεν M syr., mortuos suscitare lat., ἀνήγαγεν T; passage remanié dans BDER : ἀνέστη καὶ συνήγειρε νεκροὺς τοὺς ἀπ' ἀιώνων κεκοιμημένους, — καὶ κατέβη... ὄχλου mss., syr., lat. ; καταβὰς γὰρ μόνος συνήγειρεν πόλλους, εἴυ' οὕτως ἀνέβη Α. — A la fin, additions diverses dans BDER. ↩
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La date est donnée d'après l'ère des Séleucides, dont le point de départ est la bataille de Gaza (312 av. J.-C), ou plutôt la mort d'Alexandre IV fils d'Alexandre le Grand (311 av. J.-C.). Cette ère s'appelle aussi ère des Grecs ou ère d'Alexandre. ↩
Übersetzung
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The Church History of Eusebius
Chapter XIII.--Narrative concerning the Prince of the Edessenes.
1. The divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ being noised abroad among all men on account of his wonder-working power, he attracted countless numbers from foreign countries lying far away from Judea, who had the hope of being cured of their diseases and of all kinds of sufferings.
2. For instance the King Abgarus, 1 who ruled with great glory the nations beyond the Euphrates, being afflicted with a terrible disease which it was beyond the power of human skill to cure, when he heard of the name of Jesus, and of his miracles, which were attested by all with one accord sent a message to him by a courier and begged him to heal his disease.
3. But he did not at that time comply with his request; yet he deemed him worthy of a personal letter in which he said that he would send one of his disciples to cure his disease, and at the same time promised salvation to himself and all his house.
4. Not long afterward his promise was fulfilled. For after his resurrection from the dead and his ascent into heaven, Thomas, 2 one of the twelve apostles, under divine impulse sent Thaddeus, who was also numbered among the seventy disciples of Christ, 3 to Edessa, 4 as a preacher and evangelist of the teaching of Christ.
5. And all that our Saviour had promised received through him its fulfillment. You have written evidence of these things taken from the archives of Edessa, 5 which was at that time a royal city. For in the public registers there, which contain accounts of ancient times and the acts of Abgarus, these things have been found preserved down to the present time. But there is no better way than to hear the epistles themselves which we have taken from the archives and have literally translated from the Syriac language 6 in the following manner.
Copy of an epistle written by Abgarus the ruler to Jesus, and sent to him at Jerusalem by Ananias 7 the swift courier.
6. "Abgarus, ruler of Edessa, to Jesus the excellent Saviour who has appeared in the country of Jerusalem, greeting. I have heard the reports of thee and of thy cures as performed by thee without medicines or herbs. For it is said that thou makest the blind to see and the lame to walk, that thou cleansest lepers and castest out impure spirits and demons, and that thou healest those afflicted with lingering disease, and raisest the dead.
7. And having heard all these things concerning thee, I have concluded that one of two things must be true: either thou art God, and having come down from heaven thou doest these things, or else thou, who doest these things, art the Son of God. 8
8. I have therefore written to thee to ask thee that thou wouldest take the trouble to come to me and heal the disease which I have. For I have heard that the Jews are murmuring against thee and are plotting to injure thee. But I have a very small yet noble city which is great enough for us both."
The answer of Jesus to the ruler Abgarus by the courier Ananias.
9. "Blessed art thou who hast believed in me without having seen me. 9 For it is written concerning me, that they who have seen me will not believe in me, and that they who have not seen me will believe and be saved. 10 But in regard to what thou hast written me, that I should come to thee, it is necessary for me to fulfill all things here for which I have been sent, and after I have fulfilled them thus to be taken up again to him that sent me. But after I have been taken up I will send to thee one of my disciples, that he may heal thy disease and give life to thee and thine."
10. To these epistles there was added the following account in the Syriac language. "After the ascension of Jesus, Judas, 11 who was also called Thomas, sent to him Thaddeus, an apostle, 12 one of the Seventy. When he was come he lodged with Tobias, 13 the son of Tobias. When the report of him got abroad, it was told Abgarus that an apostle of Jesus was come, as he had written him.
11. Thaddeus began then in the power of God to heal every disease and infirmity, insomuch that all wondered. And when Abgarus heard of the great and wonderful things which he did and of the cures which he performed, he began to suspect that he was the one of whom Jesus had written him, saying, After I have been taken up I will send to thee one of my disciples who will heal thee.'
12. Therefore, summoning Tobias, with whom Thaddeus lodged, he said, I have heard that a certain man of power has come and is lodging in thy house. Bring him to me. And Tobias coming to Thaddeus said to him, The ruler Abgarus summoned me and told me to bring thee to him that thou mightest heal him. And Thaddeus said, I will go, for I have been sent to him with power.
13. Tobias therefore arose early on the following day, and taking Thaddeus came to Abgarus. And when he came, the nobles were present and stood about Abgarus. And immediately upon his entrance a great vision appeared to Abgarus in the countenance of the apostle Thaddeus. When Abgarus saw it he prostrated himself before Thaddeus, while all those who stood about were astonished; for they did not see the vision, which appeared to Abgarus alone.
14. He then asked Thaddeus if he were in truth a disciple of Jesus the Son of God, who had said to him, I will send thee one of my disciples, who shall heal thee and give thee life.' And Thaddeus said, Because thou hast mightily believed in him that sent me, therefore have I been sent unto thee. And still further, if thou believest in him, the petitions of thy heart shall be granted thee as thou believest.
15. And Abgarus said to him, So much have I believed in him that I wished to take an army and destroy those Jews who crucified him, had I not been deterred from it by reason of the dominion of the Romans. And Thaddeus said, Our Lord has fulfilled the will of his Father, and having fulfilled it has been taken up to his Father. And Abgarus said to him, I too have believed in him and in his Father.
16. And Thaddeus said to him, Therefore I place my hand upon thee in his name. And when he had done it, immediately Abgarus was cured of the disease and of the suffering which he had.
17. And Abgarus marvelled, that as he had heard concerning Jesus, so he had received in very deed through his disciple Thaddeus, who healed him without medicines and herbs, and not only him, but also Abdus 14 the son of Abdus, who was afflicted with the gout; for he too came to him and fell at his feet, and having received a benediction by the imposition of his hands, he was healed. The same Thaddeus cured also many other inhabitants of the city, and did wonders and marvelous works, and preached the word of God.
18. And afterward Abgarus said, Thou, O Thaddeus, doest these things with the power of God, and we marvel. But, in addition to these things, I pray thee to inform me in regard to the coming of Jesus, how he was born; and in regard to his power, by what power he performed those deeds of which I have heard.
19. And Thaddeus said, Now indeed will I keep silence, since I have been sent to proclaim the word publicly. But tomorrow assemble for me all thy citizens, and I will preach in their presence and sow among them the word of God, concerning the coming of Jesus, how he was born; and concerning his mission, for what purpose he was sent by the Father; and concerning the power of his works, and the mysteries which he proclaimed in the world, and by what power he did these things; and concerning his new preaching, and his abasement and humiliation, and how he humbled himself, and died and debased his divinity and was crucified, and descended into Hades, 15 and burst the bars which from eternity had not been broken, 16 and raised the dead; for he descended alone, but rose with many, and thus ascended to his Father. 17
20. Abgarus therefore commanded the citizens to assemble early in the morning to hear the preaching of Thaddeus, and afterward he ordered gold and silver to be given him. But he refused to take it, saying, If we have forsaken that which was our own, how shall we take that which is another's? These things were done in the three hundred and fortieth year." 18
I have inserted them here in their proper place, translated from the Syriac 19 literally, and I hope to good purpose.
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Abgarus was the name of several kings of Edessa, who reigned at various periods from b.c. 99 to a.d. 217. The Abgar contemporary with Christ was called Abgar Ucomo, or "the Black." He was the fifteenth king, and reigned, according to Gutschmid, from a.d. 13 to a.d. 50. A great many ecclesiastical fictions have grown up around his name, the story, contained in its simplest form in the present chapter, being embellished with many marvelous additions. A starting-point for this tradition of the correspondence with Christ,--from which in turn grew all the later legends,--may be found in the fact that in the latter part of the second century there was a Christian Abgar, King of Edessa, at whose court Bardesanes, the Syrian Gnostic, enjoyed high favor, and it is certain that Christianity had found a foothold in this region at a much earlier period. Soon after the time of this Abgar the pretended correspondence was very likely forged, and foisted back upon the Abgar who was contemporary with Christ. Compare Cureton's Anc. Syriac Documents relative go the Earliest Establishment of Christianity in Edessa, London, 1864. ↩
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On the traditions in regard to Thomas, see Bk. III. chap 1. ↩
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See chap. 12, note 11. ↩
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Edessa, the capital of Abgar's dominions, was a city of Northern Mesopotamia, near the river Euphrates. History knows nothing of the city before the time of the Seleucidae, though tradition puts its origin back into distant antiquity, and some even identify it with Abraham's original home, Ur of the Chaldees. In the history of the Christian Church it played an important part as a centre of Syrian learning. Ephraem, the Syrian, founded a seminary there in the fourth century, which after his death fell into the hands of the Arians. ↩
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We have no reason to doubt that Eusebius, who is the first to mention these apocryphal epistles, really found them in the public archives at Edessa. Moses Chorenensis, the celebrated Armenian historian of the fifth century, who studied a long time in Edessa, is an independent witness to their existence in the Edessene archives. Eusebius has been accused of forging this correspondence himself; but this unworthy suspicion has been refuted by the discovery and publication of the original Syriac (The Doct. of Addai the Apostle, with an English Translation and Notes, by G. Phillips, London, 1876; compare also Contemp. Rev., May, 1877, p. 1137). The epistles were forged probably long before his day, and were supposed by him to be genuine. His critical insight, but not his honesty, was at fault. The apocryphal character of these letters is no longer a matter of dispute, though Cave and Grabe defended their genuineness (so that Eusebius is in good company), and even in the present century Rinck (Ueber die Echtheit des Briefwechsels des Königs Abgars mit Jesu, Zeitschrift für Hist. Theol., 1843, II. p. 326) has had the hardihood to enter the lists in their defense; but we know of no one else who values his critical reputation so little as to venture upon the task. ↩
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Eusebius does not say directly that he translated these documents himself, but this seems to be the natural conclusion to be drawn from his words. Emin is used only with analephtheison, and not with metabletheison. It is impossible, therefore, to decide with certainty; but the documents must have been in Syriac in the Edessene archives, and Eusebius' words imply that, if he did not translate them himself, he at least employed some one else to do it. At the end of this chapter he again uses an indefinite expression, where perhaps it might be expected that he would tell us directly if he had himself translated the documents. ↩
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In the greatly embellished narrative of Cedrenus (Hist. Compendium, p. 176; according to Wright, in his article on Abgar in the Dict. of Christian Biog.) this Ananias is represented as an artist who endeavored to take the portrait of Christ, but was dazzled by the splendor of his countenance; whereupon Christ, having washed his face, wiped it with a towel, which miraculously retained an image of his features. The picture thus secured was carried back to Edessa, and acted as a charm for the preservation of the city against its enemies. The marvelous fortunes of the miraculous picture are traced by Cedrenus through some centuries (see also Evagrius, H. E. IV. 27). ↩
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The expression "Son of God" could not be used by a heathen prince as it is used here. ↩
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Compare John xx. 29. ↩
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gegraptai, as used by Christ and his disciples, always referred to the Old Testament. The passage quoted here does not occur in the Old Testament; but compare Isa. vi. 9, Jer. v. 21, and Ezek. xii. 2; and also Matt. xiii. 14, Mark iv. 12, and especially Acts xxviii. 26-28 and Rom. xi. 7 sq. ↩
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Thomas is not commonly known by the name of Judas, and it is possible that Eusebius, or the translator of the document, made a mistake, and applied to Thomas a name which in the original was given to Thaddeus. But Thomas is called Judas Thomas in the Apocryphal Acts of Thomas, and in the Syriac Doctrina Apostolorum, published by Cureton. ↩
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The word "apostle" is by no means confined to the twelve apostles of Christ. The term was used very commonly in a much wider sense, and yet the combination, "the apostle, one of the Seventy," in this passage, does not seem natural, and we cannot avoid the conclusion that the original author of this account did not thus describe Thaddeus. The designation, "one of the Seventy," carries the mind back to Christ's own appointment of them, recorded by Luke, and the term "apostle," used in the same connection, would naturally denote one of the Twelve appointed by Christ,--that is, an apostle in the narrow sense. It might be suggested as possible that the original Syriac connected the word "apostle" with Thomas, reading, "Thomas the apostle sent Judas, who is also called Thaddeus, one of the Seventy," &c. Such a happy confusion is not beyond the power of an ancient translator, for most of whom little can be said in the way of praise. That this can have been the case in the present instance, however, is rendered extremely improbable by the fact that throughout this account Thaddeus is called an apostle, and we should therefore expect the designation upon the first mention of him. It seems to me much more probable that the words, "one of the Seventy," are an addition of Eusebius, who has already, in two places (§4, above, and chap. 12, §3), told us that Thaddeus was one of them. It is probable that the original Syriac preserved the correct tradition of Thaddeus as one of the Twelve; while Eusebius, with his false tradition of him as one of the Seventy, takes pains to characterize him as such, when he is first introduced, but allows the word "apostle," so common in its wider sense, to stand throughout. He does not intend to correct the Syriac original; he simply defines Thaddeus, as he understands him, more closely. ↩
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Tobias was very likely a Jew, or of Jewish extraction, the name being a familiar one among the Hebrews. This might have been the reason that Thaddeus (if he went to Edessa at all) made his home with him. ↩
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Moses Chorenensis reads instead (according to Rinck), "Potagrus, the son of Abdas." Rinck thinks it probable that Eusebius or the translator made a mistake, confusing the Syrian name Potagrus with the Greek word pod?gra, "a sort of gout," and then inserting a second Abdas. The word "Podagra" is Greek and could not have occurred in the Armenian original, and therefore Eusebius is to be corrected at this point by Moses Chorenensis (Rinck, ibid. p. 18). The Greek reads Abdon ton tou Abdou pod?gran ?chonta. ↩
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This is probably the earliest distinct and formal statement of the descent into Hades; but no special stress is laid upon it as a new doctrine, and it is stated so much as a matter of course as to show that it was commonly accepted at Edessa at the time of the writing of these records, that is certainly as early as the third century. Justin, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian, &c., all witness to the belief of the Church in this doctrine, though it did not form an article in any of the older creeds, and appeared in the East first in certain Arian confessions at about 360 a.d. In the West it appeared first in the Aquileian creed, from which it was transferred to the Apostles' creed in the fifth century or later. The doctrine is stated in a very fantastic shape in the Gospel of Nicodemus, part II. (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Am. ed. VIII. p. 435 sq.), which is based upon an apocryphal gospel of the second century, according to Tischendorf. In it the descent of Christ into Hades and his ascent with a great multitude are dwelt upon at length. Compare Pearson, On the Creed, p. 340 sq.; Schaff's Creeds of Christendom, I. p. 46; and especially, Plumptre's Spirits in Prison, p. 77 sq. ↩
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Compare the Gospel of Nicodemus, II. 5. ↩
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katabas gar monos sunegeiren pollous, eith' houtos anebe pros ton patera autou. Other mss. read katebe monos, anebe de meta pollou ochlou pros ton patera autou. Rufinus translates Qui descendit quidem solus, ascendit autem cum grandi multitudine ad patrem suum. Compare the words of Cyril of Jerusalem (Catech. IV. 11): katelthen eis ta katachthonia, hina kakeithen lutrosetai tous dikaious, "He descended into the depths, that he might ransom thence the just." ↩
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According to the Chronicle of Eusebius (ed. Schoene, II. p. 116) the Edessenes dated their era from the year of Abraham 1706 (b.c. 310), which corresponded with the second year of the one hundred and seventeenth Olympiad (or, according to the Armenian, to the third year of the same Olympiad), the time when Seleucus Nicanor began to rule in Syria. According to this reckoning the 340th year of the Edessenes would correspond with the year of Abraham 2046, the reign of Tiberius 16 (a.d. 30); that is, the second year of the two hundred and second Olympiad (or, according to the Armenian, the third year of the same). According to the Chronicle of Eusebius, Jesus was crucified in the nineteenth year of Tiberius (year of Abraham 2048 = a.d. 32), according to Jerome's version in the eighteenth year (year of Abraham 2047 = a.d. 31). Thus, as compared with these authorities, the 340th year of the Edessenes falls too early. But Tertullian, Lactantius, Augustine, and others put Christ's death in 783 U.C., that is in 30 a.d., and this corresponds with the Edessene reckoning as given by Eusebius. ↩
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See note 6. ↩