Vegetarianism and the Yoke of the Lord in the Didache, by James Bean

 

Vegetarianism and the Yoke of the Lord in the Didache, by James Bean

In an early Christian text called the Didache is a statement to new gentile converts to do the best they can, giving them time to adjust or transition to the ethical ideals of the Jesus Movement: "If thou art able to bear the whole yoke of the Lord, thou wilt be perfect. But if thou art not able, what thou art able, that do. But concerning meat, bear that which thou art able to do. But keep with care from things sacrificed to idols, for it is the worship of the infernal deities."

"The Yoke of the Lord" was a term for the ethical code of the Jesus movement according to the Didache, an early witness to vegetarianism at a time when some of the first gentiles became interested in following Christ. Vegetarianism was part of the Yoke of the Lord and here very opposed to even new converts from day one eating meat sacrificed to idols (“the worship of dead gods” as it’s rendered in another translation). Whoever composed that section of the Didache was part of a sect closer to the James the Just branch than Paul's version of Christianity. See Didache, chapter 6: https://othergospels.com/didache

IMAGE: Fragment of an early Christian scripture called the Didache: “The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles”

John the Baptist's Vegetarian Diet -- An Exploration of Early Christian Writings and Scholarly Texts - Spiritual Awakening Radio Encore Podcast

John the Baptist's Vegetarian Diet -- An Exploration of Early Christian Writings and Scholarly Texts - Spiritual Awakening Radio Encore Podcast 

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Due to a mistranslation of a particular Greek work in certain gospel manuscripts John the Baptist has gained the most unfortunate cave-man reputation of being a bug eater, an eater of locusts. It's supposed to be locust beans ("egkrides"), used to make a kind of Middle Eastern flat bread or cake from carob flour, not bugs ("akrides")! If we examine early Christian writings and learn of the Nasoraean movement the Prophet John was associated with, a wilderness sect operating near the Jordan River maybe somewhat related to the Essene branch of Judaism, we will discover references to the vegetarianism of John the Baptist and his disciples (Sabians, a "People of the Book"). Contemporary scholars have also recognized this and written about it. Today on this Spiritual Awakening Radio podcast we'll sort through the evidence, including a surprising number of fascinating passages from ancient sources, as well as learn about "Saint John's Bread" and the "Saint John's Tree" of the Middle East.

Since my original research on this topic, a couple more early Christian apocryphal writings have come to light, have been made available in English. These add to the surprisingly large collection of vegetarian references in early Christian writings regarding the diet of John the Baptist. New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. III, by Tony Burke was published and some John the Baptist books are included. In one of the earlier volumes there was a John the Baptist text made available for the first time in English that has a vegetarian passage regarding John's diet in the wilderness. Included in the third volume are, The Birth of Holy John the Forerunner, and, The Decapitation of John the Forerunner, both containing plant-based passages about John's diet consisting of "locusts from the tree" (in the Middle east called "the Saint John's Tree", and "Carob Tree") and "wild honey", also "an abundance of bread and wild honey dripping from a rock". Clearly there was an understanding in early Christianity that this was referring to locust beans (carob pods), not insects. Carob pods do look a bit like locusts hanging from tree branches, hence the name. Locust beans can be ground up and used to make a kind of Middle eastern carob flour flat bread. There's a "cakes dipped in honey" reference in the Gospel of the Ebionites. The wild "honey" was not from bees but sticky desert fruit of some kind. So, as you'll hear being documented during this podcast, there are all these plant-based references to John's diet coming from many different sources, and scholars have noticed and discussed these: 

"Probably the most interesting of the changes from the familiar New Testament accounts of Jesus comes in the Gospel of the Ebionites description of John the Baptist, who, evidently, like his successor Jesus, maintained a strictly vegetarian cuisine." (Professor Bart Ehrman, Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew) "His [John the Baptist's] food was wild honey that tasted like manna, like a cake cooked in olive oil." (The Other Gospels, Accounts of Jesus from Outside the New Testament, by Bart Ehrman)

John the Baptist was a prophet with large number of followers in Israel and Transjordan regions. After his passing, several of his successors headed what became various rival Nasoraean (Nazorean) sects, one of those being Jesus and the Jesus movement. "Again Jesus said to his disciples: Truly I say to you, among all those born of women none has arisen greater than John the Baptizer." (Matthew 11:11, George Howard's translation of Shem-Tov's Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, described as "the oldest extant Hebrew version of the Gospel of Matthew") 

Henry Ford: "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young." 

Albert Einstein: "Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death."

All for the Love of Wisdom, Radio, and Podcasts,

James Bean

Spiritual Awakening Radio

https://www.SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com

 

Vegetarian Christianity: No Fishes With Their Loaves - Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcast

 

Vegetarian Christianity: No Fishes With Their Loaves - Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcast 

The earliest references to the story of Jesus Feeding the Five Thousand do not include any mentions of fish, only bread. The early church father Irenaeus, writing between 180 and 188 AD, does not say anything at all about the fish, only bread in connection with this Miraculous Feeding of the Multitude as if the gospels he was reading at the time didn't include anything about fishes with the loaves. The historian Eusebius, Arnobius, and several other early Christian writings also never include anything about "fishes" with the loaves, only the loaves, only the bread. It was originally an account about people being given bread. This has lead to some, including Keith Akers, author of the book, The Lost Religion of Jesus: Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity (also see his wonderful scholarly book, Disciples), to conclude that the making of this popular miracle story into a fish tale must have taken place sometime after Irenaeus and 188 AD. After that date must be when the final edit took place, when fish got added to the story about the Feeding of the Five Thousand, transforming it into the more familiar Sunday School version people are acquainted with. Today, we examine the case of the missing fish, as well as textual variations between different manuscripts of the New Testament, including the spectacular example of a vegetarian saying of Jesus present in the Old Syriac-Aramaic Evangelion Da-Mepharreshe manuscripts of the Gospel of Luke but not present in the Greek manuscripts. This is another installment in a series of podcasts documenting the vegetarianism of the original Jesus Movement, also known as the Ebionites, Nasoraeans, grandchildren of the Essenes, Hebrew Christians, The Apostles, the Disciples, Christianity-Before-Paul: the folks in the early church Paul was arguing with about diet, including James the Just of Jerusalem.

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In Divine Love (Bhakti), Light, and Sound, At the Feet of the Masters, Radhasoami,

James Bean

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A Satsang Without Walls

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Odes of Solomon, Lost Psalms of Early Christianity Discovered - Spiritual Awakening Radio Podcasts

 

Odes of Solomon, Lost Psalms of Early Christianity Discovered

“I extended my hands and hallowed my Lord,

For the expansion of my hands is His sign.

And my extension is the upright cross.

Hallelujah.” (Ode 27)

Out of all the apocryphal writings I've collected, I think the Odes of Solomon is the most beautiful, inspiring and inspired, the greatest scripture of the Jesus movement. It is the would-be book of New Testament psalms! The Book of the Odes has been described as the first known hymn-book of early Christianity. They have nothing to do with "Solomon" but somewhere-along-the-way got mislabeled and assigned to the genre of Old Testament Apocrypha as the Odes represent one of the earliest of Christian documents near the beginning of the Jesus movement within Judaism and so composed before a time when there were many Jewish or Christian writings associated with a "new" covenant, and long before the concept of a New Testament canon or collection of scriptures was conceived of. Thus, this collection of psalms was named in a way that's reminiscent of how some scriptures were assigned names during the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the pseudepigraphical literature. This indicates a very early date of composition.

For me the Odes, as well as another collection of mystic poems called, Metaphysical Meditations, by Paramahansa Yogananda, during my formative years as a spiritual seeker proved to be quite influential. They also gave me a preview of the type of literature I would eventually be introduced to: the Adi Granth (Sikh Scriptures) and various collections of bhakti mystic poetry of the Sants of India: Kabir, Dadu, Namdev, Paltu, Tulsi Sahib, Soamiji Maharaj, and many others.

I know a thousand Rumis the world needs to hear,

to be soothed by the Voice of the Soul

that speaks through them all.

Hafiz, Shams, Sarmad, Kabir, Mira Bai, Sahajo Bai,

Rabia, Tukaram, Hazrat Sultan Bahu, Baba Farid,

Nanak, Tulsi Sahib, Surdas, Dariya Sahib,

Dharam Das, Namdev, Ravidas, Paltu —

countless are the lovers of the Beloved.

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The Odes of Solomon consist of 41 psalms. The Odes are believed to have originated in either Antioch or Edessa in Syriac-Aramaic most likely during the First Century AD.

One scholar (James Charlesworth) said of the Odes, "Here are some of the most beautiful songs of peace and joy that the world possesses."

The New Testament scholar Bentley Layton says that the Odes were considered to be inspired scripture and were chanted by Christians who lived in Syria and all around Mesopotamia about 2,000 years ago.

J. Rendel Harris, the discoverer of one Syriac-Aramaic manuscript of the Odes, said the Odes were eventually included in the Sahidic Bible of Egypt.

These ecstatic hymns remind me of Rumi or Sufi love poetry in the tradition of "the lover and the Beloved." They also remind me of the Sikh scriptures (Adi Granth) and mystic poetry of the Sants. Many have adopted the practice of contemplating verses of the Odes and report being brought to a deeper level of devotion (bhakti); being caught up in a love-affair with God, the Ocean of Love. That's also been my experience.

ODE 12: Through the Word (Logos)... Worlds Converse!

"He filled me with words of truth

that I may speak the same.

Like the flow of waters truth flows from my mouth,

and my lips reveal its harvest,

and it gives me the gold of knowledge

for the mouth of the Lord is the true Word

and the Door of His Light.

And the Highest One gave the Word to His worlds,

which interpret His own beauty,

recite His praise,

confess His thought,

are heralds of His mind,

are instructors of His works.

For the swiftness of the Word is ineffable

and like His statement are Its swiftness and sharpness.

Its course knows no end,

It never fails, it stands.

Its descent and Its way are incomprehensible.

Like His work is Its end

for It is the Light and the dawn of thought,

and through It worlds converse...

The mouth of the Highest One spoke to them

and he was made clear by His Word.

The dwelling place of the Word is man

and Its truth is love."

In Divine Love, Light and Sound, Peace Be To You,

James Bean

Sant Mat Satsang Podcasts

Spiritual Awakening Radio

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The Secret Gospel of Mark After All? Solving the Secret Mark Dilemma, By James Bean

 

The Secret Gospel of Mark After All? Solving the Secret Mark Dilemma, By James Bean

Photograph of page two of "Clement's letter to Theodore". Not only Morton Smith but other scholars also saw this now lost, destroyed or hidden Mar Saba library manuscript. See background information about the Secret Gospel of Mark in the Wikipedia entry linked below.

How to reconcile verses of Secret Mark that seem to fit nicely into the regular Gospel of Mark and are rather intriguing, this despite the fact that the story of the now inaccessible Clement document seems rather suspect (according to most scholars)? I wonder if perhaps there could be some middle ground with Secret Mark. It sounds a bit both-sides-ish (a "Marcion" type position that goes half way, unsatisfying to Gnostics and Orthodox alike!), but perhaps there's some ancient origin of the verses of Secret Mark after all, even though Morton Smith placed (or found) them in a problematic document attributed to Clement of Alexandria. I wonder if Smith discovered the verses somewhere, maybe in a "heretical" book and saw them as legitimate, but for whatever reason decided they would never be taken seriously unless given a better venue, so he created a document attributed to an early church father to serve as a more effective means of sharing the verses? 

Another possibility is, that Smith was honest in his reporting about the Clement letter, and it was the work of a scribe copying manuscripts long ago that placed these verses of Secret Mark into a forged letter attributed to Clement. Why would some monk who lived many centuries ago do such a thing? The verses might have originated in a gospel deemed by his tradition to be from a heretical source. I will say this. I have seen Orthodox authors in the Philokalia, a collection of mystical writings, quote saints that fell out of favor, were eventually declared to be heretics. Certain Syriac Christian writers have resorted to this maneuver as well. Some mystics valued these kinds of not-so-orthodox passages and wished to quote them anyway, so they gave the sources new names, invented fake names or attributed the quotes to someone more palatable like "Saint Neilos" as a way to get away with quoting material that otherwise would have been off-limits!

For background on Secret Mark, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Gospel_of_Mark

Podcast: Lost Psalms of the New Testament Restored: The Book of the ODES

 

Podcast: Lost Psalms of the New Testament Restored: The Book of the ODES

Let's Explore the Would-Be Book of New Testament Psalms: THE ODES -- The Restoration of the Hymnbook of Early Christianity, Today on Spiritual Awakening Radio. The Odes got misnamed, misunderstood, misfiled, misplaced somewhere along the way becoming one of those Lost Books of the Bible. As far as I am concerned, The Book of the Odes, is the greatest extra-canonical or apocryphal scripture of all time. This mysterious collection of ancient psalms known as, The Book of the Odes, composed in Syriac- Aramaic, has been described as "some of the most beautiful songs of peace and joy that the world possesses." We are grateful for the restoration of the Hymnbook of Early Christianity, the would-be book of New Testament psalms!

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New Gnostic Article Published: "The Fall and Rise of the Gnostics"

New Gnostic Article Published: "The Fall and Rise of the Gnostics", on pages 20, 21, and 22 of Inner Tapestry Journal -- Read Online Here: http://issuu.com/heartglow/docs/inner_tapestry_winter_2015/21?e=12353255/10994166