Bad Advertisement?
Are you a Christian?
Online Store:Visit Our Store
| Narrative of Events Happening in Persia on the Birth of Christ.
PREVIOUS SECTION - NEXT SECTION - HELP 
II.—Narrative of Events Happening in Persia on the Birth of
Christ.1057
| 1057 Edited
from two Munich codices by J. Chr. von Aretin, in his Beiträge zur Geschichte und Literatur, anno 1804,
p. ii. p. 49. [I place this apocryphal fragment here as a mere
appendix to the Genealogical Argument. An absurd appendix,
indeed.] |
————————————
The best introduction to
this production will be the following preface, as given in
Migne:—Many men of learning thus far have been of opinion that
the narrative by Africanus of events happening in Persia on
Christ’s birth,1058
| 1058
Which is extant in two mss. in the
Electoral Library of Munich, and in one belonging to the Imperial
Library of Vienna. |
is a fragment of that famous work which Sextus Julius Africanus, a
Christian author of the third century after Christ, composed on the
history of the world in the chronological order of events up to the
reign of Macrinus, and presented in five books to Alexander, son of
Mammæa, with the view of obtaining the restoration of his native
town Emmaus. With the same expectation which I see incited
Lambecius and his compendiator Nesselius, I, too, set myself with the
greatest eagerness to go over the codices of our Electoral
Library.…But, as the common proverb goes, I found coals instead
of treasure. This narrative, so far from its being to be ascribed
to a writer well reputed by the common voice of antiquity, does not contain anything
worthy of the genius of the chronographer Africanus. Wherefore,
since by the unanimous testimony of the ancients he was a man of
consummate learning and sharpest judgment, while the author of the
Cesti, which also puts forward the name of Africanus, has been
long marked by critics with the character either of anile credulity, or
of a marvellous propensity to superstitious fancies, I can readily fall
in with the opinion of those who think that he is a different person
from the chronographer, and would ascribe this wretched production also
to him. But, dear reader, on perusing these pages, if your
indignation is not stirred against the man’s rashness, you will
at least join with me in laughing at his prodigious follies, and will
learn, at the same time, that the testimonies of men most distinguished
for learning are not to be rated so highly as to supersede personal
examination when opportunity permits.
Events in Persia: On the
Incarnation of Our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Christ first of all became known from
Persia. For nothing escapes the learned jurists of that country,
who investigate all things with the utmost care. The
facts,1059
| 1059
The mss. read γάρ, for. | therefore, which
are inscribed upon the golden plates,1060
| 1060 The term
in the original (ἀλκλαρίαις)
is one altogether foreign to Greek, and seems to be of Arabic
origin. The sense, however, is evident from the use of synonymous
terms in the context. | and laid up in the royal temples, I shall
record; for it is from the temples there, and the priests connected
with them, that the name of Christ has been heard of. Now there
is a temple there to Juno, surpassing even the royal palace, which
temple Cyrus, that prince instructed in all piety, built, and in which
he dedicated in honour of the gods golden and silver statues, and
adorned them with precious stones,—that I may not waste words in
a profuse description of that ornamentation. Now about that time
(as the records on the plates testify), the king having entered the
temple, with the view of getting an interpretation of certain dreams,
was addressed by the priest Prupupius thus: I congratulate thee,
master: Juno has conceived. And the king, smiling, said to
him, Has she who is dead conceived? And he said, Yes, she who was
dead has come to life again, and begets life. And the king said,
What is this? explain it to me. And he replied, In truth, master,
the time for these things is at hand. For during the whole night
the images, both of gods and goddesses, continued beating the ground,
saying to each other, Come, let us congratulate Juno. And they
say to me, Prophet, come forward; congratulate Juno, for she has been
embraced. And I said, How can she be embraced who no longer
exists? To which they reply, She has come to life again, and is
no longer called Juno,1061
| 1061 There is
a play upon the words, perhaps, in the original. The Greek term
for Juno (῞Ηρα) may be derived from ἔρα,
terra, so that the antithesis intended is, “She is
no longer called Earthly, but Heavenly.” |
but Urania. For the mighty Sol has embraced her. Then the
goddesses say to the gods, making the matter plainer,
Pege1062
is she who is
embraced; for did not Juno espouse an artificer? And the gods
say, That she is rightly called Pege, we admit. Her name,
moreover, is Myria; for she bears in her womb, as in the deep, a
vessel of a myriad talents’ burden. And as to this title
Pege, let it be understood thus: This stream of water sends forth
the perennial stream of spirit,—a stream containing but a single
fish,1063
| 1063 The
initial letters of the Greek ᾽Ιησοῦς
Χριστὸς Θεοῦ
Υἱὸς Σωτήρ,
i.e., “Jesus Christ the Son of God the Savior,” when joined
together, make the word ἱχθύς, i.e., fish; and the fathers
used the word, therefore, as a mystic symbol of Christ, who could live
in the depth of our mortality as in the abyss of the sea. [Vol.
ii. p. 297.] | taken with the
hook of Divinity, and sustaining the whole world with its flesh as
though it were in the sea. You have well said, She has an
artificer [in espousal]; but by that espousal she does not bear an
artificer on an equality with herself. For this artificer who is
born, the son of the chief artificer, framed by his excellent skill the
roof of the third heavens, and established by his word this lower
world, with its threefold sphere1064
of habitation.
Thus, then, the statues disputed with each other
concerning Juno and Pege, and [at length] with one voice they
said: When the day is finished, we all, gods and goddesses, shall
know the matter clearly. Now, therefore, master, tarry for the
rest of the day. For the matter shall certainly come to
pass. For that which emerges is no common affair.
And when the king abode there and watched the statues,
the harpers of their own accord began to strike their harps, and the
muses to sing; and whatsoever creatures were within, whether quadruped
or fowl, in silver and gold, uttered their several voices. And as
the king shuddered, and was filled with great fear, he was about to
retire. For he could not endure the spontaneous tumult. The
priest therefore said to him, Remain, O king, for the full revelation
is at hand which the God of gods has chosen to declare to us.
And when these things were said, the roof was opened,
and a bright star descended and stood above the pillar of Pege, and a
voice was heard to this effect: Sovereign Pege, the mighty Son
has sent me to make the announcement to you, and at the same time to do
you service in parturition, designing blameless nuptials with you, O
mother of the chief of all ranks of being, bride of the triune
Deity. And the child begotten by extraordinary generation is
called the Beginning and the End,—the beginning of
salvation, and the end of perdition.
And when this word was spoken, all the statues fell upon
their faces, that of Pege alone standing, on which also a royal diadem
was found placed, having on its upper side a star set in a carbuncle
and an emerald. And on its lower side the star rested.
And the king forthwith gave orders to bring in all the
interpreters of prodigies, and the sages who were under his
dominion. And when all the heralds sped with their proclamations,
all these assembled in the temple. And when they saw the star
above Pege, and the diadem with the star and the stone, and the statues
lying on the floor, they said: O king, a root (offspring) divine
and princely has risen, bearing the image of the King of heaven and
earth. For Pege-Myria is the daughter of the Bethlehemite
Pege. And the diadem is the mark of a king, and the star is a
celestial announcement of portents to fall on the earth. Out of
Judah has arisen a kingdom which shall subvert all the memorials of the
Jews. And the prostration of the gods upon the floor prefigured
the end of their honour. For he who comes, being of more ancient
dignity, shall displace all the recent. Now therefore, O king,
send to Jerusalem. For you will find the Christ of the Omnipotent
God borne in bodily form in the bodily arms of a woman. And the
star remained above the statue of Pege, called the Celestial, until the
wise men came forth, and then it went with them.
And then, in the depth of evening, Dionysus
appeared in the temple, unaccompanied by the Satyrs, and said to the
images: Pege is not one of us, but stands far above us, in that
she gives birth to a man whose conception is in divine
fashion.1065
| 1065
θείας
τύχης
σύλλημμα. | O priest
Prupupius! what dost thou tarrying here? An action, indicated in
writings of old,1066
has come upon
us, and we shall be convicted as false by a person of power and
energy.1067
Wherein we
have been deceivers, we have been deceivers; and wherein we have ruled,
we have ruled. No longer give we oracular responses. Gone
from us is our honour. Without glory and reward are we
become. There is One, and One only, who receives again at the
hands of all His proper honour. For the rest, be not
disturbed.1068
| 1068 The
text gives θροβαδεῖ, for
which Migne proposes θορύβηθι. | No longer
shall the Persians exact tribute of earth and sky. For He who
established these things is at hand, to bring practical
tribute1069
to Him who sent
Him, to renew the ancient image, and to put image with image, and bring
the dissimilar to similarity. Heaven rejoices with earth, and
earth itself exults at receiving matter of exultation from
heaven. Things which have not happened above, have happened on
earth beneath. He whom the order of the blessed has not seen, is
seen by the order of the miserable. Flame threatens those; dew
attends these. To Myria is given the blessed lot of bearing Pege
in Bethlehem, and of conceiving grace of grace. Judæa has
seen its bloom, and this country is fading. To Gentiles and
aliens, salvation is come; to the wretched, relief is ministered
abundantly. With right do women dance, and say, Lady Pege,
Spring-bearer, thou mother of the heavenly constellation. Thou
cloud that bringest us dew after heat, remember thy dependants, O
mistress.
The king then, without delay, sent some of the Magi
under his dominion with gifts, the star showing them the way. And
when they returned, they narrated to the men of that time those same
things which were also written on the plates of gold, and which were to
the following effect:—
When we came to Jerusalem, the sign, together with
our arrival, roused all the people. How is this, say they, that
wise men of the Persians are here, and that along with them there is
this strange stellar phenomenon? And the chief of the Jews
interrogated us in this way: What is this that attends
you,1070
| 1070
τί τὸ
ἐπόμενον, perhaps
meant for, What business brings you? | and with what
purpose are you here? And we said: He whom ye call Messias
is born. And they were confounded, and dared not withstand
us. But they said to us, By the justice of Heaven, tell us what
ye know of this matter. And we made answer to them: Ye
labour under unbelief; and neither without an oath nor with an oath do
ye believe us, but ye follow your own heedless counsel. For the
Christ, the Son of the Most High, is born, and He is the subverter of
your law and synagogues. And therefore is it that, struck with
this most excellent response as with a dart,1071
| 1071
ὑπὲρ
μαντείας
ἀρίστης
ὥσπερ
κατατοξευόμενοι. | ye hear in bitterness this name which has
come upon you suddenly. And they then, taking counsel together,
urged us to accept their gifts, and tell to none that such an event had
taken place in that land of theirs, lest, as they say, a revolt rise
against us. But we replied: We have brought gifts in
His honour, with the view of proclaiming those mighty things which we
know to have happened in our country on occasion of His birth; and do
ye bid us take your bribes, and conceal the things which have been communicated to us
by the Divinity who is above the heavens, and neglect the commandments
of our proper King? And after urging many considerations on us,
they gave the matter up. And when the king of Judæa sent for
us and had some converse with us, and put to us certain questions as to
the statements we made to him, we acted in the same manner, until he
was thoroughly enraged at our replies. We left him accordingly,
without giving any greater heed to him than to any common person.
And we came to that place then to which we were
sent, and saw the mother and the child, the star indicating to us the
royal babe. And we said to the mother: What art thou named,
O renowned mother? And she says: Mary, masters. And
we said to her: Whence art thou sprung?1072
And she replies: From this
district of the Bethlehemites.1073
Then said we: Hast thou not
had a husband? And she answers: I was only betrothed with a
view to the marriage covenant, my thoughts being far removed from
this. For I had no mind to come to this. And while I was
giving very little concern to it, when a certain Sabbath dawned, and
straightway at the rising of the sun, an angel appeared to me bringing
me suddenly the glad tidings of a son. And in trouble I cried
out, Be it not so to me, Lord, for I have not a husband. And he
persuaded me to believe, that by the will of God I should have this
son.
Then said we to her: Mother, mother, all the gods
of the Persians have called thee blessed. Thy glory is great; for
thou art exalted above all women of renown, and thou art shown to be
more queenly than all queens.
The child, moreover, was seated on the ground,
being, as she said, in His second year, and having in part the likeness
of His mother. And she had long hands,1074
| 1074
μακρὰς
τὰς χεῖρας
according to Migne, instead of the reading of the manuscript,
μακρὶν
τὴν κῆραν
ἔχουσα. | and a body somewhat delicate; and her
colour was like that of ripe wheat;1075
and she was of a round face, and had her
hair bound up. And as we had along with us a servant skilled in
painting from the life, we brought with us to our country a likeness of
them both; and it was placed by our hand in the sacred1076
temple, with this
inscription on it: To Jove the Sun, the mighty God, the King of
Jesus, the power of Persia dedicated this.
And taking the child up, each of us in turn, and
bearing Him in our arms, we saluted Him and worshipped Him, and
presented to Him gold, and myrrh, and frankincense, addressing Him
thus: We gift Thee with Thine own, O Jesus, Ruler of
heaven. Ill would things unordered be ordered, wert Thou not at
hand. In no other way could things heavenly be brought into
conjunction with things earthly, but by Thy descent. Such service
cannot be discharged, if only the servant is sent us, as when the
Master Himself is present; neither can so much be achieved when the
king sends only his satraps to war, as when the king is there
himself. It became the wisdom of Thy system, that Thou shouldst
deal in this manner with men.1077
| 1077 The
manuscripts give ἀντάρτας,
for which Migne proposes ἀνθρώπους or
ἀντεργάτας. [Unworthy, wholly so, of our author. This curious
specimen of the romances of antiquity might better have found
its place with other Protevangelia in vol. viii., this
series.] |
And the child leaped and laughed at our caresses
and words. And when we had bidden the mother farewell,1078
and when she
had shown us honour, and we had testified to her the reverence which
became us, we came again to the place in which we lodged. And at
eventide there appeared to us one of a terrible and fearful
countenance, saying: Get ye out quickly, lest ye be taken in a
snare. And we in terror said: And who is he, O divine
leader, that plotteth against so august an embassage? And he
replied: Herod; but get you up straightway and depart in safety
and peace.
And we made speed to depart thence in all earnestness;
and we reported in Jerusalem all that we had seen. Behold, then,
the great things that we have told you regarding Christ; and we saw
Christ our Saviour, who was made known as both God and man. To
Him be the glory and the power unto the ages of the ages.
Amen. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
