On the Syrian Gods

PREFACE

...honors and the granting of crowns had been understood through the use of secular writings, who would grasp that passage of St. Paul in the Second Epistle to Timothy, chapter 2, verse 5, as well as others elsewhere, where he elegantly transfers the rituals of athletic competition to the Christian struggle? Who would perceive the meaning of those words in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 4, verse 9: “God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as it were men appointed to death, for we have become a spectacle” original Greek: "ὁ Θεὸς ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀποστόλους ἐσχάτους ἀπέδειξεν ὡς ἐπιθανατίους, ὅτι θέατρον ἐγενήθημεν", unless he investigated the customs used in the public shows? Specifically, when gladiators or beast-fighters were killed or defeated, others were supplied to take their place, whom the Latins called substitutes or replacements subdititios / supposititios: Terms for reserve fighters in the Roman arena who were brought in to replace those already fallen., while the Greeks called them successors original: "ἐφέδρους" (ephedrous) — literally "those who sit by," referring to reserve athletes or combatants. or reserve sitters. The Apostle, however, here names them the last original: "ἐσχάτους" (eschatous), looking back to a practice that is clearly taught nowhere except in the records of the Gentiles.

From where would you learn what much speaking original: "Πολυλογία" (Polylogia) — translated in many Bibles as "babbling" or "vain repetitions." was in St. Matthew, chapter 6, verse 7, if not from the ritual of invocation and from the multiplicity of names original: "ἐκ τῆς πολυωνυμίας" (polyonymias) — the practice of addressing a deity by every possible name and title to ensure the prayer was heard. used in pagan worship, which we also point out in our introductory notes? Who would sufficiently understand our Lord speaking in that same place about anointing the head, unless the use of ointment in banquets was evident from sources other than the sacred texts? What if perhaps no...