The "Jesus Story" could not have received widespread political circulation until the emperor became involved. As such it would have been a novelty to the pagan masses.LC:
"Do you seriously contemplate that there would be no raised Greek eyebrows as a result of this imperially supported Jesus Story Book novelty?"
"Jesus Story" was not a novelty in 325.
More eyebrows were raised a great deal higher when the Christian religion of the emperor was instituted into the law codes of the empire, and when Christian bishops were able to overturn the decisions of the magistrates. And if that was not enough the same emperor tore down the largest obelisk in Alexandria and destroyed a number of the most ancient and highly revered pagan temples in the east. All these actions would have raised pagan eyebrows.Eyebrows were raised before 325.
The controversy did not enter political history until the emperor became involved/LC:
"The stronger the orthodoxy the greater and more controversial becomes the heresy."
Controversy did not start in 325.
Added later:
Did Eusebius write his Ecclesiastical History before the Council of Nicaea?
Most scholars accept that Eusebius' "history" was revised multiple times. Some claim that the revisions were in order to accommodate whatever went down at the Nicene council.If Eusebius listed texts he disapproved of before the Council of Nicaea, then those texts he mentioned were also before Nicaea. If so, then LC's proposed composition window evaporates.
Additionally Eusebius' "history" is also found on the list of books deemed apocryphal in the Decretum Gelasianum. This indicates that not everyone in the church orthodoxy at that time was satisfied by what it contained.
The composition window does not evaporate at all. What I am exploring is a political controversy which was precipitated by an avalanche of "Other Jesus Story Books" authored as a direct reaction to the Emperor's "One True Jesus Story Book". The physical date of the NHL and all the other Coptic codices dated to the mid 4th century fits this scenario rather neatly,
Statistics: Posted by Leucius Charinus — Fri Jun 07, 2024 8:43 pm