Corpus-Paul

[Craig de Vos <csdevos AT trinity.unimelb.edu.au>]

 At 10:23 AM -0500 on 13/8/99, Jeffrey Gibson wrote:
> Thanks for this reference. I will look it up today. In the meantime, can you -- or
> anyone -- tell me about the cults basic beliefs? Were they eschatological in any way?
> Did they demand a certain type of faithfulness from the cult's adherents? What did the cult promise to its adherents as the benefits of being a cult member?

Jeffrey,
In all truth, we really don't know anything about this cult. It's unfortunate that a number of scholars, relying on the work of R. E. Witt ("The Kabeiroi in Macedonia" in Ancient Macedonia II [Institute for Balkan Studies, 1977]), have too readily identified it with the Kabeiroi from Samothrace (an inappropriate association given that the Thessalonian cult centred on a single god, not twin gods as on Samothrace). And consequently, they grossly overstate what is known about the Thessalonian cult by extrapolating from the cult of the Kabeiroi from Samothrace. Jewett, in his book, The Thessalonian Correspondence, is a classic example of this.

The god's image was quite prominent of Thessalonian coins from the mid-first century CE, which may suggest that it had the support of the local elite (i.e., it wasn't some sort of popular cult). There is one inscription (admittedly from the 3rd century CE) that refers to Kabirus as PATRIOS QEOS. 

As to the actual beliefs and practices of the cult, nothing is known. 

Personally, I would read Donfried's article very cautiously. Like Jewett, he relies heavily on the uncritical work of Witt and overstates what is actually know. Rather, you might look at:
> Papazoglou, F. "Macedonia under the Romans". In Macedonia: 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization. Edited by M. B. Sakellariou. Ektodike Athenon, 1983.
>
> Koester, H. "From Paul's Eschatology to the Apocalyptic Schemata of 2 Thessalonians". In The Thessalonian Correspondence. Edited by R. F. Collins. BETL 87. Peeters, 1990.

I also discuss the evidence for the cult in my recently published Church and Community Conflicts (Scholars Press, 1999) pp140-2.

Craig 



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Dr. Craig S. de Vos			       
Bromby Lecturer in New Testament	        
Trinity College Theological School	        
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Parkville VIC 3052			        
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