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07-18-2010, 08:56 PM soukrat Joined on 11-20-2005 germany Posts 15,431 Zenobia: Die Herrscherin von Palmyra Zenobia: Die Herrscherin von Palmyra Kategorie: Pressemitteilungen Artikel veröffentlicht von: Ernst Probst google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad); Als eine der großen Herrscherinnen des Altertums gilt die Fürstin Zenobia (um 213–274), die nach dem Tod ihres Mannes von 267 bis 272 über das Reich von Palmyra regierte. Sie erweiterte ihr Herrschaftsgebiet beträchtlich, pflegte Kontakt mit Philosophen und regierte kurze Zeit sogar als Kaiserin. Ihrem glorreichen Aufstieg folgte ein bitterer Absturz, als sie sich vom Römischen Reich löste. Zenobia (arabisch: Zinab, syrisch: Bathzabbai) kam um 213 als Tochter des Iulius Aurelius Zenobius zur Welt. Ihr Vater nahm 232 als Befehlshaber des römischen Kaisers Severus Alexander (208–235) am Perserfeldzug teil. Wenig glaubwürdig ist die von Zenobia postulierte dynastische Verbindung mit der ägyptischen Königin Kleopatra VII. die Große (69–30 v. Chr.) Die aus einer romanisierten Familie stammende Araberin Zenobia wurde die zweite Frau von Septimus Odaenathus, des Stadtfürsten von Palmyra. Sein Reich lag in der syrischen Wüste und gehörte offiziell zum römischen Imperium. Palmyras Bevölkerung ernährte sich vor allem vom Handel, den man bis nach Indien und Rom betrieb. 260 geriet der römische Kaiser Valerian (um 190–260) bei Edessa – heute Urfa in der Osttürkei – in die Gefangenschaft der Perser und starb wenig später. Odaenathus übernahm 261 mit römischer Duldung und 262 im offiziellen Auftrag von Valerians Sohn, Kaiser Gallienus (218–268), als „Aufrichter des ganzen Ostens" („corrector totius Orientis") den Schutz des Ostens. Ab 260 dehnte Odaenathus seine Herrschaft über Syrien, Mesopotamien und Kilikien aus. 262 und 266 führte er zwei Feldzüge gegen den persischen König Schapur (vor 220–272). Der Fürst von Palmyra fiel 267 in Emesa, dem heutigen syrischen Homs, einem Attentat zum Opfer. Danach übernahm seine Witwe Aurelia – wohl mit Duldung des römischen Kaisers Gallienus – für ihren ältesten Sohn, Vaballathus Athenodorus, von 267 bis 272 die Regentschaft. Um 267 wechselte Aurealia ihren Namen und hieß nun Septimia. 268 wurde Gallienus bei der Belagerung von Mediolanum (Mailand) ermordet und Claudius Gothicus sein Nachfolger. Zenobia nutzte die krisenhafte Lage des römischen Reiches, die durch den gleichzeitigen Angriff der Goten auf die untere Donau und der Alemannen auf den Rhein entstanden war, für sich aus: Sie stieß um 269 in Kleinasien bis kurz vor Ankara vor, eroberte 270 Ägypten, nannte sich „Königin der Könige" und erhob damit ideologisch Anspruch auf den römischen Osten. 270 starb der römische Kaiser Claudius Gothicus an der Pest. Sein Nachfolger wurde der Feldherr Aurelian (214–275). Zenobia ließ bis 271 Münzen mit dem Bild ihres Sohnes Vaballathus und des römischen Kaisers prägen. Vermutlich schloss sie aus der fehlenden Reaktion Aurelians, der vorläufig noch mit den Alemannen beschäftigt war, dass dieser ihre Politik akzeptierte. Erst als Aurelian Ende 271 Kleinasien zurückeroberte und sich Syrien näherte, bezeichnete sich Zenobia als Augusta (Kaiserin) – vermutlich nicht vor Anfang 272 – und trat damit in schroffen Gegensatz zu Rom, weil dieser Titel den Anspruch auf die Herrschaft im ganzen römischen Reich beinhaltete. Sie hoffte auf Unterstützung durch die Perser, die allerdings ausblieb. Als Zenobias Berater fungierte der neuplatonische Philosoph und Grammatiker Longinus (um 213–273). Er leitete von 250 bis 267 die Akademie in Athen und erzog ab 267 die Söhne Zenobias. Es war Longinus, der die Fürstin drängte, für das Reich von Palmyra die Autonomie durchzusetzen. Zenobia unterstützte den altkirchlichen Theologen Paulus von Samosata, der seit etwa 260 Bischof von Antiochia war. Er betonte die Einheit Gottes so stark, dass er Christus nur als einen zu gottgleicher Würde erhobenen Menschen betrachtete. 268 wurde Paulus von Samosata kirchlich verurteilt, konnte sich aber noch einige Jahre halten, da er bei Zenobia ein hohes staatliches Amt bekleidete. 272 setzte man ihn als Bischof von Antiochia ab. Über sich selbst sagte Zenobia, sie habe ihr Reich nicht so sehr durch Gewalt als vielmehr durch den Ruf einer gerechten und staatsmännischen Lenkung vergrößert. Alle Menschen seien dadurch in eine solche Bewunderung versetzt worden, dass einzelne ihrer Feinde sich entschlossen hätten, lieber untertänig zu bleiben, als in ihr eigenes Land zurückzukehren. Von Zeitgenossen wurde Zenobia als schöne, kluge, gebildete und tatkräftige Frau geschildert, die fließend Latein, Griechisch, Syrisch und Ägyptisch sprach, die Werke von Homer und Platon las und eine Geschichte des Orients verfasste. Bei der Kleidung und beim Hofzeremoniell richtete sie sich nach persischen Vorbildern. Sie trug ein Diadem und einen Purpurmantel und trat mit Goldhelm und Panzer vor ihr Heer. 271 zog Aurelian gegen Zenobia in den Kampf. Trotz erbitterten Widerstandes verlor diese die Schlachten von Antiochia und Emesa. Im Frühjahr 272 eroberte Aurealian die Hauptstadt Palmyra. Auf der Flucht zu den Persern geriet Zenobia am Euphrat in die Gefangenschaft der Römer. Auch ihr Sohn Vaballathus, ihr Berater Longinus und ihr Heerführer Zabdas fielen den Römern in die Hände. Longinus wurde als Urheber eines polemischen Briefs an Aurelian hingerichtet. Die besiegte Zenobia dagegen fand Gnade und sollte mit anderen vornehmen Gefangenen aus Palmyra nach Rom gebracht werden. Über die Ereignisse von diesem Zeitpunkt an differieren die Geschichtsbücher. Einerseits heißt es, die stolze Zenobia habe bereits auf der Überfahrt nach Italien in den Wellen des Mittelmeeres den Tod gesucht. Andererseits ist nachzulesen, die besiegte Herrscherin sowie ihre beiden jüngeren Söhne Herennianus und Timolaos seien 274 beim Triumphzug Aurelians mit goldenen Ketten gefesselt durch die Straßen Roms geführt worden. Nach dieser Demütigung soll Zenobia zunächst auf einem Landgut bei Tibur und später noch lange im Kreis ihrer Angehörigen in Rom gelebt haben. Palmyra wurde 273 nach einem erneuten Aufstand zerstört. Von der Größe und Pracht dieser Oasenstadt in der syrischen Wüste zeugen noch heute ihre Reste. Neben Baalbek im Libanon gilt Palmyra als bedeutendste Ruinenstadt des hellenistischen Ostens. * Leseprobe aus dem Taschenbuch "Superfrauen 1 - Geschichte" von Ernst Probst Bestellungen des Taschenbuches "Superfrauen 1 - Geschichte" bei: http://bsam.4t.com/    Report

07-21-2010, 12:59 AM Jedidiah777 Joined on 02-22-2006 Posts 781 Re: Zenobia: Die Herrscherin von Palmyra Sehr interessant, thanks for sharing. Even more -- Paul of Samosata... but he cannot defend himself anymore... I don't believe, he had such a theological confused stand as it is stated in this article. History is often biased for one or another reason. Will share something about him and Sabellius at another time.    Report

07-26-2010, 12:00 AM Jedidiah777 Joined on 02-22-2006 Posts 781 Re: Paul of Samosata and more... as promised... Most quotes/excerpts here (without notes/references) are from the book "Ancient Champions of Oneness" written by William B. Chalfant -- a great book that I recommend to anybody, who is interested in church history. Quote/copy paste: Much of what is known as church history is interpolated to suit the belief of the denomination that dominated in those days and most often, the person writing it. Hence, many things documented in Catholicism and even in the canonical archives can be questioned, and should be. Unfortunately, like all lies, the truth is mixed with it, making it hard for someone without the "spirit of truth" and knowledge to identify truth from error. Paul of Samosata (c. AD 222-72), the monarchian leader at Antioch, was a fiery preacher from all accounts. It is possible that he was a former trinitarian converted to monarchianism. He either already was, or soon became, the bishop of Antioch and caused a great deal of consternation to the trinitarian pastors of the area. In the trumped-up charges leveled against Paul, we find ample indications that he was a Spirit-filled preacher: (1) He was accused of striking his thigh with his hand and stamping with his foot when he preached. (2) Those in his congregation frequently clapped their hands and shook or waved handkerchiefs as he preached. (3) Members of his congregation shouted and danced, or leaped about, as he preached! This type of fervent preaching and worship is commonly associated with Spirit-filled groups. If this type of preaching and worship was characteristic of the dynamic monarchians, then that is another reason to con­sider that they accorded full deity to Christ. We are fairly sure that they baptized their converts in the name of Jesus. But we cannot accept their views on the timing and  mechanics of the Incarnation, if they are correctly reported. Stagg, Hinson, and Gates place the "demise" of  tongues speaking (among the trinitarians in general) in the period AD 250-350. But we must point out that the Oneness groups were separated from the trinitarian groups before or during this period, so we believe that they continued to speak in tongues. The earliest examples showing the loss of tongues all come from trinitarian writers… No writings of Paul of Samosata are on hand today, therefore records from Eusebius, that has been documented a couple of decades later in De ecclesiastica theologia are most likely not complete and are distorted by Eusebius’ own view.  Adolph Harnack, the German historian, even compared the teaching of Paul of Samosata (a reputed disciple of Artemon) with that of Hermas in The Shepherd. Paul's shadow fell across dynamic monarchianism for centuries. R. V Sellers, an English Christian leader and a devout trinitarian, was quite frank about the doctrine of the trinity, stating that many sincere Christians "are finding the church's traditional presentation of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, a source of real difficulty and perplexity." What is the origin of the trinity? Certainly, it was not taught in the Old Testament, although trinitarian theologians wrest Scripture to find it there. No Jewish writer of the New Testament ever espoused such a theory. None of the reputed disciples of the apostles (Clement, Ignatius, Hermas, or Polycarp) taught such a doctrine, despite attempts by trinitarian scholars to stretch meager triadic references into a full-blown trinitarian model. There is some evidence that the idea of a trinity sprang from the ancient Babylonian religion. Trinities abound in the ancient pagan religions. Numenius of Apamea (fl. AD 175), a pagan Syrian philosopher who had great influence upon the Alexandrian Catholics, boasted that he had gone back to "the fountainhead of Plato, Socrates, and Pythagoras, to the ancient tradition of the Brahmins, Magi, Egyptians,and Jews, and had restored to the schools the forgotten doctrine of Three Gods." Numenius probably was active before AD 175, which would be just about the time that the architects of the trinity were developing their model of the Godhead. Charles Bigg called Numenius a co-founder (along with the Catholic father Clement of Alexandria) of "Neo-Platonism." Moreover, Numenius was not only a well-read philosopher, but he reportedly knew the Gospels and the Epistles. Apamea, in Syria, where Numenius taught, was a center of Neo-Platonism. Bigg noted that the philosopher Amelius taught there also and quoted from the apostle John's Gospel in support of the philosophical doctrine of the Logos. We should not doubt that early architects of the trinity doctrine were familiar with philosophy concerning the Logos and were influenced by it. The idea of the Logos as a different divine person from God the Father was not taken from the Scriptures, but rather from philosophy and ancient pagan religions. According to Charles Bigg, "Numenius first personified the Arch-Idea (Logos) of Plato and spoke of it as God." Numenius wrote concerning his doctrine of three Gods that the first divine person was "Mind" (news), sun-pie and changeless, good and wise. Being changeless, "Mind" cannot create, and so a second God was derived from Him, called the "Creator" (Demiurge). This Son ("Creator") is no longer simple like "Mind" (the Father), but is twofold. A part of the Son ("Creator") is incorporated in the things he made and became the third God, the "World Spirit."This is the type of second-century philosophy that influenced the architects of the trinity doctrine. Obviously, Numenius was not the originator of this kind of thinking. Zeller concluded thatNumenius derived his doctrine of the “Son-creator”from the Gnostics, who were active in the second century. Most of the architects of the trinity doctrine were either favorable to the Montanists or, in the case of Tertullian, actually were Montanists. These early trinitarians (e.g., Tertullian and later Origen) admitted that in their day the Oneness believers were in the majority. Most Christians were not trinitarians. So a very unusual thing happened. A doctrine that the apostles had not taught, and that was embraced by only a minority of Christians in the second and third centuries following Jesus, eventually became the "orthodox" teaching of the Christian world in the Roman Empire. Those who held the original majority teaching of the oneness of God were then vilified and tar-brushed with such epithets as "heretic" and "anti-trinitarian." Adolph Harnack has well written: "The [Catholic] Church historians have attempted to bury or to distort the true history of Monarchians to as great extent as they passed over and obscured that of so-called Montanism.” Perhaps the greatest perpetrator of this cover-up was the Catholic historian Eusebius. Other Catholic historians or writers, such as Jerome, who had access to Bishop Victor's writings and declined to reveal them, are just as guilty. Harnack was being fair to use the words "bury" and "distort," for he was well aware of the number of monarchian writings (e.g., those of Sabellius, Paul of Samosata, and the early Roman bishops) that have been conveniently "lost" or "destroyed." We know from Catholic writers that they had these writings in their hands. We can be thankful that some distorted portions of the monarchian writings have been preserved by trinitarian writers such as Tertullian who were attempting to refute the monarchian teachers. The Oneness people of the early centuries were no more monolithic than Oneness groups (or, for that matter, trinitarian groups) are today. From what we can discern through comparisons of doctrine, obscured as it is by trinitarian detractors, it seems that the modalistic monar-chians (e.g., Noetus, Praxeas, and Sabellius) of the period c. AD 150-250 were very similar to many Oneness people today in their belief on the Godhead and the Incarnation. There are also indications that some of the dynamic monarchians (e.g., Theodotus, Artemon, Paul of Samosata), in roughly the same time period, held Oneness beliefs, although the dynamic monarchians have been falsely accused of denying the deity of Christ and denying the virgin birth. Their views on the time and manner of the Incarnation do not seem to be accurate, however. The dynamic monarchians were Oneness people, then, in the sense that they did indeed, contrary to the erroneous charges made against them, uphold the deity of Christ, baptism in the name of Jesus, and belief in the virgin birth. We should clear them of the charge of "adop-tionism" (the belief that Jesus was a human being without a miraculous birth who was simply later "adopted" by God the Father to be the "Son of God" and then somehow raised to the status of "deity" through His own virtue). However, their views on specifics of the Incarnation are not acceptable to Oneness believers today, since they do not comport with the Scriptures.    Report

08-22-2010, 12:29 AM Jedidiah777 Joined on 02-22-2006 Posts 781 Re: Sabellius ...as promised... now Sabellius!!! (a lot to read, but very interesting) Excerpts are taken from the book "Ancient Champions of Oneness" written by William B. Chalfant copy/paste/share "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord" (Mark 12:29). Sabellius was born c. ad 180, probably in the ancient Libyan city of Ptolemais. Ptolemais was one of five Greek cities or colonies called the Pentapolis, located along the coastal area of North Africa between Tripoli and the western desert of Egypt. Ptolemais (modern Tolmeta) was part of an area that formed the terminal stations of the caravans coming from Alexandria in Egypt. It was highly settled by Greeks and Jews. Although Sabellius seems to have been well-educated, the term "Libyan" applied to him by ancient trinitarian writers has a contemptuous connotation of "country folk" or "lower class." It is possible that he was of Jewish or Greek extraction and may well have been a Roman by birth, since the Romans had conquered this area and lived there also. The Libyans, the native inhabitants of the area, were a proud and fierce nomadic people. However, they had been assimilated to a degree by the conquering peoples - Carthaginians (Phoenician colonists), Greeks, and Romans… …We do not really know, then, the ancestry of Sabellius. Most likely he spoke both Greek and Latin. When Sabellius was possibly a teenager, Septimius Severus, a fellow African from Leptis Magna, a seaport west of the Pentapolis area, became emperor of Rome in ad 193. This event marked the rise of Romans of African descent. It is perhaps not coincidental that Victor, bishop of Rome, ad 189-98, was also of African descent. The African emperors Severus, Caracalla, and Alexander Severus in the period of ad 193-235 served while Sabellius was in Rome. Too much cannot be made of this, and we are not suggesting any personal connection with these pagan men, but certainly the times were conducive for North African leaders such as Victor and Sabellius… …Sabellius possibly arrived in Rome as early as ad 197 or 198 (at about the age of seventeen or eighteen), when his fellow countryman, Victor, was still the bishop of Rome. He came to attend the district-endorsed Bible college. R. B. Tollinton believed that Praxeas, who had come to Rome c. ad 190 from Asia Minor and who was an ally of Victor, was a teacher of Sabellius… …Apparently, when the split between trinitarians and Oneness believers occurred, the "moderates" in the Roman district looked with some disfavor on both factions. Hippolytus said that at this tune Bishop Callistus "ex-communicated" Sabellius as "one who does not hold right opinions." But this does not mean that Callistus was now a trinitarian and therefore excommunicated Sabellius for holding modalistic view. According to Hippolytus, Sabellius set up his own Bible college after he was forced out of the district. He apparently also kept the pastorate of an Oneness congregation… …After casting Sabellius out of the district (or at least causing him to withdraw from district fellowship), Callistus apparently tried to heal the divisions that existed concerning the disputes over the Godhead. He himself did not espouse trinitarianism, but it is probable that he allowed the doctrine to exist in the Roman district. Unfortunately, with the demise of Callistus, a new bishop, Urban (ad 222-30), was elected who was a trinitarian. A staggering doctrinal change had occurred in the church at Rome. The Roman popes today can claim to trace their chair back to the apostle Peter, but they cannot trace their trinitarian doctrine back any further than Bishop Urban. Callistus was the last modalist or Oneness Roman bishop. What happened to Sabellius? He remained in Rome up to c. ad 235.28 We are sure that there were numerous Oneness adherents in Rome… …Sabellius must have been a dynamic preacher. Schleiermacher stated that "many bishops in the neighboring countries of [Cyrenaica] and Egypt received his opinions." Fairweather acknowledged that "Sabellianism . . . found favor with the bishops of Egypt." The writings of Sabellius were extant up through at least the fifth century. Hilary of Poitiers (ad 315-67), a French Catholic bishop, apparently quoted directly from the writings of Sabellius: Nothing except the nature of God produces the miracles which have been performed. From God alone comes the forgiveness of sins, the cure of diseases, the walking of paralytics, the sight of the blind, the dead coming to Me. No other Nature, except that which is conscious of what it is, would say, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). Why do you force me into another substance? Why do you endeavor to make me another God? The one God has per­formed the deeds which are characteristic of God. In other words, Sabellius held the Father and the Son to be the same divine individual (God manifested in the flesh). He considered the trinitarian Logos teaching to require "another substance" and "another God." He held Jesus to be God the Father incarnate. A trinitarian contemporary of Sabellius, Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. ad 213-75), had access to the writings of Sabellius and wrote the following in c. ad 250, when Sabellius was still alive: But some treat the Holy Trinity in an awful manner, when they confidently assert that there are not three Persons. . . . Wherefore we clear ourselves of Sabellius, who says the Father and the Son are the same. For he holds that the Father is He who speaks and that the Son is the Word that abides in the Father, and becomes manifest at the time of creation, and thereafter reverts to God on the fulfilling of all things. He accused Sabellius of identifying the Son with the Father. Sabellius clearly believed that God the Father was in Christ. He did not consider the Word to be a different divine person from God the Father but must have thought of the Word of the Father much like the operative word of a man (that is, not a separate person). We see this understanding of God's Word in such scriptural passages as Genesis 1:3 and Psalm 33:6, 9. The phrase "thereafter reverts to God on the fulfilling of all things" probably refers to an interpretation of I Corinthians 15:24-28… …After Sabellius returned to North Africa he founded a Bible school, and his "doctrines became influential in Cyrenaica." This return to North Africa occurred c. ad 235, and so Sabellius worked in this area and in the East (possibly even as far as Syria) for about twenty-three years. It is very likely that Sabellius also preached in Egypt. Adolph Harnack said that he preached and taught in the East (Egypt, Syria, etc.) in ad 230-40. It is not too farfetched to speculate, then, that he may have influenced Paul of Samosata, a leading preacher in Antioch... ...Sabellius died c. ad 257-61, but his followers continued his work in North Africa and elsewhere. Ammonius, pastor of the church at Berenice (modern Benghazi, a port on the Mediterranean), was a follower of Sabellius. So was Euphranor, a pastor in the Libyan Pentapolis area of Cyrene, as well as Telephorus and Euporus. Of those Christian ministers who rose to defend the oneness of God in the second and third centuries, we can scarcely think of a greater champion than Sabellius. His name has been smeared by trinitarians down through the centuries and even to this day as an "arch-heretic," but as we have shown, he was connected with the message of the apostles, which was handed down to the faithful in Asia Minor and in Rome.    Report

08-22-2010, 12:46 AM Jedidiah777 Joined on 02-22-2006 Posts 781 Re: Sabellius want to correct... Quote: What happened to Sabellius? He remained in Rome up to c. ad 235.28 We are sure that there were numerous Oneness adherents in Rome… Should read: What happened to Sabellius? He remained in Rome up to c. ad 235. We are sure that there were numerous Oneness adherents in Rome… Sorry, overlooked/pasted a little footnote...    Report

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