Corpus-Paul

["John Brand" <jbrand AT gvsd.mb.ca>]

Date sent:              Tue, 18 Jan 2005 15:08:49 -0500
From:                   Jim West <jwest AT highland.net>
Subject:                Re: [Corpus-Paul] Did Paul break the Law?

>
>
> Tim Gallant wrote:
>
> 4. What would Christos mean to a Gentile? Frankly, I doubt it would have
> meant much apart from explanation. Soter would have meant more, and that
> puts us in the "political" realm. But Paul could scarcely have got very
> far in his message without identifying this soter who rivalled Caesar as
> in fact a Jew, and his political significance as rooted in Israelite
> history. If that is anywhere close to the mark, we are already getting
> into "Messiah territory."

John Brand responds:
Here are a couple of resources that might shed some light on what the
Gentiles anticipated in terms of Christos:

"… In the far East the Persian Mazda worshippers looked for the birth
of a Saviour from a virgin mother. In the sacred books of Zoroaster
we read: "We worship the guardian spirit of the holy maid Esetât-
Jedhri, who is called the all-conquering, for she will bring him
forth who will destroy the malice of the demons and of men." [Dr. L.
H. Mills, "Zoroaster and the Bible," in Nineteenth Century, Jan.
1894, p. 51]. It was this firm belief which brought the Magi, many
long centuries after the above was written, from the land of
Zoroaster to worship Him whom they had heard of, as born of a virgin
to be the King of the Jews." [Frederick Thomas Elworthy, "The Evil
Eye" (Julian Press, 1986), 194]

"We know that Zarathushtra proclaimed a series or group of saviors or
'bringers of benefit' who would 'heal the world' and 'make existence
brilliant' (Hom Yasht 30:9), and that he believed himself to head
this group" [Peter Clark, "Zoroastrianism, An Introduction to an
Ancient Faith," (Sussex Academic Press, 1998), 154]

One might also consult the well respected R.C. Zaehner "The Dawn and
Twilight of Zoroastrianism" (London: Phoenix Press, 2002).

Pythagoras was initiated into many of the ancient mystery religions,
including those of Zoroastrianism. Pythagorean theology forms the
basis for the thought of Plato (Timaeus) and is very similar to what
we see in Isaiah (a creator whose spirit emmanates throughout the
world that he has created: Panentheism). In short, there is much that
can be gained by looking at what the hearers of Paul would have
thought and how Paul may have used this dissemination of Isaiah's
theology into the Greek world (perhaps through the influence of
exiles such as Daniel and Esther) as a starting point for his own
preaching.

Regards,

John Brand

B.A. (Providence College, 1980)
M.Min. (Providence Seminary, 1990)