Corpus-Paul

[Karl Donfried <kdonfrie AT sophia.smith.edu>]

Dear Craig,

My work on Cabirus and that of Bob Jewett are sharply different and should
not be confused.  If you read my article carefully it has learned much
from Hemberg.  It would be useful to know where you think I go beyond the
evidence?

Karl Donfried


On Sat, 14 Aug 1999, Craig de Vos wrote:

> At 10:23 AM -0500 on 13/8/99, Jeffrey Gibson wrote:
> 
> <excerpt>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?
> 
> </excerpt>
> 
> 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 <italic>Ancient Macedonia
> II</italic> [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,
> <italic>The Thessalonian Correspondence</italic>, 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:
> 
> <paraindent><param>right,left</param>Papazoglou, F. "Macedonia under
> the Romans". In <italic>Macedonia: 4000 Years of Greek History and
> Civilization</italic>. Edited by M. B. Sakellariou. Ektodike Athenon,
> 1983.
> 
> 
> Koester, H. "From Paul's Eschatology to the Apocalyptic Schemata of 2
> Thessalonians". In <italic>The Thessalonian Correspondence.
> </italic>Edited by R. F. Collins. BETL 87. Peeters, 1990.
> 
> </paraindent>
> 
> I also discuss the evidence for the cult in my recently published
> <italic>Church and Community Conflicts</italic> (Scholars Press, 1999)
> pp140-2.
> 
> 
> Craig 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ******************************************
> 
> Dr. Craig S. de Vos                          
> 
> Bromby Lecturer in New Testament              
> 
> Trinity College Theological School            
> 
> Royal Parade                          
> 
> Parkville VIC 3052                            
> 
> Australia                                     
> 
> (O) +61 3 9349-0129  (F) +61 3 9349-0460   
> 
> csdevos AT trinity.unimelb.edu.au
> 
> http://www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au/~csdevos/CdVhome.html
> 
> 
> ******************************************
> 
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