Monday, January 15, 2007

Who are these Christians

Chapters 5 and 6 introduce the reader to the Christians. Granted that there is probably more than a small element of propaganda involved, Chapter 5 is still very striking, not the least in the way it presents the ideal Christian life:

"Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed.They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh.They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven."

Chapter 6 introduces an analogy of the Christian relationship with the world along the lines of the soul's relationship with the flesh. Again this left me curious, as the author seems to be espousing a dualism very close to Gnosticism.

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