Foundations of Faith

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FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH IN JESUS M. M. NINAN H is second-best known work is a proto-novel call “A True Story,” which was not true and has some fantastical elements like interplanetary warfare. It may be the first science fiction story ever. Lucian was not a Christian, nor was he known to be particularly religious. But he did live in the earliest centuries of the small and growing cult of Christ. His observations in “The Passing of Peregrinus” are among the earliest non-Christian impressions of the cult that exist, written within a century of Paul’s lifetime. . Reference To Jesus Christ The Christians. . . worship a man to this day - the distinguished personage who introduced this new cult, and was crucified on that account. . . . You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains their contempt for death and self devotion . . . their lawgiver [taught] they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws. All this they take on faith . . . - The Passing Peregrinus This reference reveals several key things: • Christians worshipped Jesus. • Jesus was crucified for what he taught. "He was second only to that one whom they still worship today, the man in Palestine who was crucified because he brought this new form of initiation into the world." • Jesus started Christianity • Jesus' disciples believed Jesus' teachings. • Early Christians taught that when one was converted he or she had eternal life. "Having convinced themselves that they are immortal and will live forever, the poor wretches despise death and most willingly give themselves to it. Moreover, that first lawgiver of theirs persuaded them that they are all brothers the moment they transgress and deny the Greek gods and begin worshiping that crucified sophist and living by his laws." “The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day,–the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account…and then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws.” • They lived by faith - they believed Jesus. • They were too naive that cunning people creep in and deceive them. 136
FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH IN JESUS M. M. NINAN They scorn all possessions without distinction and treat them as community property. They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time. see http://www.textexcavation.com/luciantestimonium.html Peregrinus Proteus (c. 95-165 AD) was a Cynic philosopher, from Parium in Mysia. The name ‘Peregrinus’ means ‘wanderer,’ and it is possible that it was not his given name, but rather a name he chose for himself when he began his self-imposed wandering style of life. Leaving home at a young age, he first lived with the Christians in Palestine, and becoming a Christian attained a position of authority among them, becoming their “prophet, cult-leader, and head of the synagogue, and everything, all by himself. He interpreted and explained some of their books and even composed many…” (The Death of Peregrinus 11) . During this period he was arrested by the Romans and jailed. Christian community showed their love to him by waiting on him as families, with men even sleeping with him in the cell and serving him. He was later released. However he was eventually expelled from that community for exploiting the believing community. Adopting the life of a Cynic philosopher he eventually settled in Greece. He is most remembered for committing suicide by giving his own funeral oration and publicly burning himself at the Olympic Games in 165. By 180 CE, a statue of Peregrinus had been erected in his home city of Parium; it was reputed to have oracular powers .The only detailed account of the life of Peregrinus was recorded by Lucian in his satire, The Death of Peregrinus (Latin: De Morte Peregrini). Although this account is hostile to Peregrinus, the bare facts of his life can be extracted. This story is an account of the life and death of a Cynic philosopher Proteus. After murdering his own father for living too long, he sets out and roams various foreign lands, and it is during his wanderings that he learns of Christianity. For a time in his early life he became a Christian, practicing it to the point of imprisonment under a very tolerant administration, and after returning to Cynicism became in his old age so enamoured of Indic ideas and precedents that he cremated himself at Olympia, just after the games of A.D. 165. 137
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Prof. Madathilparampil Mammen Ninan
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The Development Of Mariolatory Theo
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