This post continues from The (Apellean) Gospel of Peregrinus and concludes the series.
TDOP = The Death of Peregrinus by Lucian. Harmon’s translation here.
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In posts two through six I showed why Peregrinus should be regarded as the author of the so-called Ignatian letters. In posts seven through eleven I argued that he was an Apellean Christian. In this post I will tie up some loose ends, adding some thoughts regarding the date of his letters, and taking a somewhat speculative last look at his community, the Apelleans. |
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Contents of this post
WHEN WERE THE ORIGINAL LETTERS WRITTEN?
- Terminus ante quem
- Terminus post quem
- ca 145 CE?
- Or late 130s?
MODIFYING THE LETTERS: WHEN? WHY? WHO?
- Between Irenaeus and Origen
- How did he come by the letters?
- The evidence pointing to Theophilus of Antioch
WHAT BECAME OF THE APELLEAN GOSPEL?
- Basis of the Gospel of John?
- Gnostic threads in the Gospel of John
- Opposing views of the world in the Fourth Gospel
- Why the Gospel’s hostility to the Jews and Judaism
- Why no Passover or Baptism in John’s Gospel
- The missing Ascension in the Fourth Gospel
- Identifying the Paraclete (the mysterious witness to Jesus) : The Holy Spirit or Paul?
- Identifying the Beloved Disciple: Paul?
- Paul not a persecutor
- Paul (“little one”) the boy disciple?
- Paul or John?
- Affairs at Ephesus and Smyrna
AND WHAT BECAME OF THE APELLEANS?
- Identifying the woman taken in adultery?
- Returning to the fold
CONCLUSION
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WHEN WERE THE ORIGINAL LETTERS WRITTEN?
Using the chronological indications that Lucian provides in his sketch of Peregrinus, the year of the would-be martyr’s arrest can only be very roughly pegged to have occurred sometime between 130 and 150 CE. Continue reading “Final of “Letters Supposedly Written by Ignatius”: Tackling New Questions”