Psalm 82 Article

[Dan McClellan]

2 hours ago, InCognitus said:

And as you mention briefly in your Interpreter article, this reading of the text also shaped the early Christian notion of divinization or theopoiesis.  After reading your article I tried to hunt down all the references to the "ye are gods" phrase from Psalm 82 in the pre-Nicene early Christian writings, and I found several discussions on the text, all of which had to do with humans becoming "gods".   And many of them reference Psalm 82 while explaining that Christians are the sons of God, which similar to how Jesus used the text when he was saying he is the Son of God in John 10.

Like this one from Justin Martyr:

And of course Irenaeus has a lot to say on this topic, but here's one example:

There are several others from different authors.  All very interesting stuff. 

There's a paper on this by Carl Mosser called "The Earliest Patristic Interpretations of PSALM 82, Jewish Antecedents, and the Origin of Christian Deification."

[mfbukowski]

Not relevant to Psalm 82, but directly relevant to temple ordinances, I was reading  the "apocryphal" gospel of Nicodemus (circa 350?) starting in Chapter XIX and found some references that seemed to parallel Temple ordinances.  The story goes that between the crucifixion and the resurrection, when Christ was visiting the underworld, he took the Patriarchs "by the hand" and led them up to heaven.

It makes several references to taking them by the hand as if that is an important part of the story.

I have suddenly become swamped with work, and have not had time to do much else.

https://archive.org/stream/pdfy-5lijplxCkA4qdCgY/The+Gospel+Of+Nicodemus_djvu.txt

Quote

 

THEN Jesus stretched forth his hand, and said, Come to me, all ye my saints, who were created in my image, who were condemned by the tree of the forbidden fruit, and by the devil and death; 

2 Live now by the wood of my cross; the devil, the prince of this world, is overcome, and death is conquered, 

3 Then presently all the saints were joined together under the hand of the most high God; and the Lord Jesus laid hold on Adam's hand, and said to him, Peace be to thee, and all thy righteous posterity, which is mine. 

4 Then Adam, casting himself at the feet of Jesus, addressed himself to him with tears, in humble language, and a loud voice, saying, 

5 "I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou halt lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me." 

6 "O Lord thou hast brought up my soul from the grave; thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit." 

7 "Sing unto the Lord, all ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness, for his anger endureth but for a moment; in his favour is life." 

8 In like manner all the saints, prostrate at the feet of Jesus, said with one voice, Thou art come, O Redeemer of the world, and hast actually accomplished all things, which thou didst foretell by the law and thy holy prophets. 

9 Thou hast redeemed the living by thy cross, and art come down to us, that by the death of the cross thou mightest deliver us from hell, and by thy power from death. 

10 O Lord, as thou hast put the ensigns of thy glory in heaven, and hast set up the sign of thy redemption, even thy cross on earth; so, Lord, set the sign of the victory of thy cross in hell, that death may have dominion no longer. 

11 Then the Lord stretching forth his hand, made the sign of the cross upon Adam, and upon all his saints. 

12 And taking hold of Adam by his right hand, he ascended from hell, and all the saints of God followed him. 

 

Incidentally I have had the wonderful experience of serving in the temple as an ordinance worker with a former Catholic priest who was, of course well schooled in the liturgies of the Catholic church, and he convinced me that the "sign of the cross" was an alteration of various signs taught in our temple.   Without going into particulars, the purpose and the symbology of the sign of the cross might be enough evidence in itself - both rituals demonstrate and remind us of covenants we have made and which were sealed upon us by "the cross" - ie: the death, resurrection, and atonement of Christ, and both rituals indicate taking the cross upon ourselves in a literal way.

Edited April 3, 2020 by mfbukowski

[Dan McClellan]

9 minutes ago, mfbukowski said:

Not relevant to Psalm 82, but directly relevant to temple ordinances, I was reading  the "apocryphal" gospel of Nicodemus (circa 350?) starting in Chapter XIX and found some references that seemed to parallel Temple ordinances.  The story goes that between the crucifixion and the resurrection, when Christ was visiting the underworld, he took the Patriarchs "by the hand" and led them up to heaven.

It makes several references to taking them by the hand as if that is an important part of the story.

I have suddenly become swamped with work, and have not had time to do much else.

I will post a link here when I get a chance in a few minutes, and edit this post.

David Calabro's University of Chicago dissertation is "Ritual Gestures of Lifting, Extending, and Clasping the Hand(s) in Northwest Semitic Literature and Iconography."

[mfbukowski]

1 hour ago, Dan McClellan said:

David Calabro's University of Chicago dissertation is "Ritual Gestures of Lifting, Extending, and Clasping the Hand(s) in Northwest Semitic Literature and Iconography."

Fabulous, thanks.

[mfbukowski]

2 hours ago, Dan McClellan said:

David Calabro's University of Chicago dissertation is "Ritual Gestures of Lifting, Extending, and Clasping the Hand(s) in Northwest Semitic Literature and Iconography."

Thank again.  Following up on David and looking at other things he has done opens up quite a treasure trove!  I had not heard of him before this!  I just can't get enough of this stuff after being an ordinance worker for 15 years.  We have some fabulous conversations- ironic that the temple becomes a "synagogue"