Revelation of the Maji...

[wil]

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Thursday December 9, 2010

Categories: Books, Faith, What I'm Reading
I was invited to participate in Patheos' Book Club, where we read Brent Landau's Revelation of the Magi, a translation of an ancient Syriac document that recounts the legend of the magi who visit the baby Jesus. I finished the book with two thoughts. One, I was more interested in Landau's scholarship about the story than I was in reading the story itself. Landau's Introduction and Conclusion place the text in its historical, literary, and theological context, and I appreciated the thoroughness and accessibility of his explanations. Very few modern scholars have noticed this ancient tale until Landau took it upon himself to translate it from the Syriac. He does a good job explaining how it was influential for centuries before it fell out of use within the Christian community.
The story itself begins with the origin of the magi, tracing their lineage back to Adam. It describes the star of Bethlehem as visible only to those who have eyes to see. In some ways, it is akin to a modern day gloss on the Christmas story--taking a kernel of Luke or Matthew's account and imagining before and after and behind-the-scenes. I prefer the canonical Gospels as my source for the story of Jesus' birth, but the imaginative work of later followers of Jesus certainly can enhance our own theological reflections upon the meaning of this story. If Imogene from The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and Charlie Brown can help unfold the "true meaning" of Christmas, so can this tale.

According to Landau, one of the most distinctive features of The Revelation of the Magi is the fact that Jesus is never named Christ (except in a postscript involving St. Thomas, which Landau concludes was added centuries after the original text, perhaps to correct what was seen as dangerous theology). In Landau's interpretation, "According to the author of the Revelation of the Magi, the fundamental Christian message is not simply that Christ has been sent to save all humanity... The Revelation of the Magi goes much further than this, claiming that the revelation of Christ is actually the foundation of all humanity's religious beliefs and practices." Furthermore, Landau explains, "The Revelation of the Magi apparently believes that having an experience of Christ's presence is much more important than being a Christian."
The Revelation of the Magi may well be an early Christian text that supports the idea of universal salvation through Christ. If so, it resonates with some contemporary Christian theology. But this idea isn't as revolutionary as it may seem, and whenever we connect ancient texts to modern ideas we run the risk of accidentally imposing modern ideas upon those texts.
But let's assume that Landau is correct, and The Revelation of the Magi is a document that downplays the need to become a Christian in order to be saved. Most contemporary people would still find its theology offensive. It still asserts that salvation is necessary for all people, and salvation is possible only through Christ, even if the ones being saved don't put it in those terms. Perhaps this text comes closer to religious pluralism than canonical Scripture, but, like the proclamations from within the Gospels about Jesus, it is only through Christ that anyone can be saved. Christians believe this salvation is good news, even as it is news that offends modern sensibilities about tolerance and respect for other religions. In fact, I'm not sure whether it is more offensive to believe that everyone needs to become a Christian to be saved or to believe that people experience Christ's presence and gain salvation without knowing it.
According to Landau, The Revelation of the Magi demonstrates the fact that human beings have wondered about the universality of Christ's salvation since the days of his birth. Whether or not modern readers agree with his theological interpretation, Brent Landau has given us access to one more story that offers insight into the meaning of Christmas.
I was also given a chance to ask Dr. Landau a few questions about the text. My questions are as follows:
Dr. Landau mentions the contemporary theological implications of this ancient text, and he mentions the influence of the text on art and, to a lesser degree, the conquistadors. I'm wondering if there is any sense of why this legend fell out of use, if it "lived" for a thousand years, and I'm wondering what it's theological value was during those years of use.
Secondly, what does the role of silence-- in the naming of the magi and the emphasis on silent prayer-- tell us about the origins of this document and / or the theology within? I'm curious especially if there is any connection to the eastern orthodox tradition.




Read more: A New Old Story About the Magi - Thin Places

 

[wil]

just finished listening to the interview.... there is a lot in there it appears... One of the concepts is that all religions are Christian as the Christ is the mediator to G!d and that all prophets were actually in connection with the Christ... All prophets of all religions...

Interesting in combination with Muslim who say we all are Muslim and all have always been Muslim...

And the Bahai who say we are all the same religion...

And then of course there is the Ram who says that when Jesus was talking to 'the Father' he and all other prophets were actually talking to Ramtha...

the plot thickens.

 

[Thomas]

Hi Wil —

There's some research to suggest that the Magi were priests 'of the Oder of Melchisedec' which is an Abrahamic priesthood that predated the Levitical priesthood established under Moses (in effect the Melchisedec line lost out in Mosaic political wrangling). Gold, frankincense and myrrh are symbols of the Temple.

Interestingly, the Letters to the Hebrews, and Paul, and Mark (who we think was influenced by Pauline theology) present Christ as the prototype of the priesthood of Melchisedec, which places him prior to and superior to the Levitical priesthood.

The star is generally reckoned to be a nova, observed c. 5AD (which would fit, when the calendar adjustments are made) and reported by Chinese and Korean astronomers — but it would have appeared at the right time, and in the right place.

Another possibility, the conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter and Rigel, is out on dates, but really sings out astrologically ...

And the myths that have accrued to the Magi are themselves quite far reaching ... including the magi as seeing themselves, or one saw a child, one saw a young man, one saw an old man ...

A strand that really interests me, is that according to an ancient source, the Melchisedec priesthood 'disappeared into the thickets of Arabia' (this from an Doctor of Ethics talking on the radio, I'm tracking it down) ... then Saul of Tarsus has a blinding realisation on the road to damascus, and disappears down to ... Arabia ... for a few years, before coming back preaching a gospel.

And who wrote 'The Letter to the Hebrews' ... was this anonymous author, a priest according to Melchisedec, addressing the rabbinical priesthood?

It thickens indeed ...

God bless,

Thomas

 

[wil]

Melchisidec is a mystery in hisself.... Jesus, Prince of Peace, Melchisidech, King of Peace, w/o any known beginning or end (birth or death), Jesus being a Priest in the order fo Melchisidec....tis all quite thick.

But the supernova and time.... the maji are generally associated with 3 yet the only 3 mentioned is the gifts...modern mythology places them in the manger, when it actually appears they showed up years later... following a star in the east, well that would have helped if they were coming from the Med....but certainly hard to follow a star behind you...

 

[Thomas]

An alternative reading of 'from the East' is 'from ancient times' ... which would signal the Magi as belonging to an ancient order.

 

[iBrian]

An alternative reading of 'from the East' is 'from ancient times' ... which would signal the Magi as belonging to an ancient order.

Another is that "from the East" refers to the large, strong, and fully functional Persian population of Jews.

Therefore you have the account as a potential validation of Jesus as Messiah from the eastern branch of Judaism.

Certainly not a group to be discounted - they would later develop a canon of their own, but the sack of Baghdad by Ghengis Khan effectively curtailed their legacy.

 

[Amergin]

An alternative reading of 'from the East' is 'from ancient times' ... which would signal the Magi as belonging to an ancient order.

Magi is derived from the Persian word for priest or pilgrim. The Avestan origin is perhaps adopted by Old Persian (maguš), and given to the Ancient Greek (magos). The Bible mentions three wise men, three kings, or priests. The Magi appear to have been an ancient order of Zoroastrian priests prior to 400 BCE. The Bible reports them coming from the East. East in the 400 BCE to 4 BCE was an Iranian speaking empire, Zoroastrian in religion. The Achaeamenid Empire gave way to the Alexandrian, the Seleucid Kingdom (including Persia, Armenia, and Mesopotamia), the Parthian, and the Sassanid Persian Empire. In 4 BCE, I think most Iranians were under Parthian (Iranian) rule and Zoroastrian. All was the "East."

Since the Ancient Greeks acquired the term Magos a couple centuries before the time of Jesus, they used it to describe priests, wise men, magicians, and sorcerers. During the Seleucid (Greco-Syrian) occupation of Palestine, the term might have stuck as Magos or Magi among the educated Greek speaking Jews. The area remained Greek speaking during the classical Roman era. Then it strengthened among the educated classes during the next 600 years of the Byzantine Empire.

I am not saying that the Biblical magi were Zoroastrian or Persians. They might have been Zoroastrian from the 400-year-old Zoroastrian order or sect. I think it is more likely that when the gospels were written, Greek-speaking men wrote them in the late first and early second centuries. It is understandable that they heard the story of three wise men or Kings (just a story of course) and used the Greek term for priest Magos or plural Magi.

The interesting counterpoint is that the Mithras Cult also had a story of three Zoroastrian Magi visiting the newborn Mithras. Mithraism was the dominant Eastern Cult in the Eastern Roman Empire and mythical stories could have been culturally shared with the new Eastern Mystery Cult of Jesus. Ideological or theological diffusion between Mithraism and Pauline Christianity before its evolution to Arian and later Athanasian Christianity.

Amergin