¹ Walter Burkert, Homo Necans: The Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983) 2:"Blood and violence lurk fascinatingly at the very heart of religion.”

² One can speak of the “double bind” present in our society: just vindication trying to fight violence and pure love trying to overcome inequity, what Bailie, Gil (Violence Unveiled: Humanity at the Crossroads [New York: Crossroad, 1997] £19)Google Scholar calls our double allegiance to John Wayne and Mother Theresa.

³ On the violence, see Sorel, Georges, Réflexions sur la violence (Paris: Librairie de “Pages libres,” 1908; reprinted Paris: Slatkine France, 1981)Google Scholar ; Windisch, Hans, Der messianische Krieg und das Urchristentum (Tübingen: Mohr/Siebeck, 1909)Google Scholar ; Lorenz, Konrad, Das sogenannte Bose. Zur Naturgeschichte der Aggression (3d. ed.; Vienna: Borotha Schoeler, 1964)Google Scholar ; Benjamin, Walter, Zur Kritik der Gewalt und andere Aufsätze (Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1965)Google Scholar ; Wolfgang, Marvin E., ed., Patterns of Violence: The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 364 (Philadelphia: American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1966)Google Scholar ; Blanquart, Paul et al., A la recherche d'une théologie de la violence (Paris: Cerf, 1968)Google Scholar ; Storr, Anthony, Human Aggression (New York: Atheneum, 1968)Google Scholar ; Erikson, Erik, Gandhi's Truth on the Origins of Militant Violence (New York: Norton, 1969; reprinted New York: Norton, 1993)Google Scholar ; Arendt, Hannah, On Violence (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1970)Google Scholar ; Hengel, Martin, Gewalt und Gewaltlosigkeit. Zur “politischen Theologie” in neutestamentlicher Zeit (Calwer Hefte 118; Stuttgart: Calwer, 1971)Google Scholar ; Burkert, Homo Necans; Girard, René, La violence et le sacré (Paris: Grasset, 1972)Google Scholar ; Fromm, Erich, The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness (New York: Reinhardt and Winston, 1973)Google Scholar ; Serres, Michel, Rome, le livre des fondations (Paris: Grasset, 1983)Google Scholar ; Schrey, Heinz-Horst and Moser, Manfred, “Gewalt/Gewaltlosigkeit,” ThRE 13 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1984) 168–84Google Scholar ; Hamerton-Kelly, Robert G., ed., Violent Origins: Walter Burkert, Rene Girard and Jonathan Z. Smith on Ritual Killing and Cultural Formation (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1987)Google Scholar ; Hamerton-Kelly, Robert G., Sacred Violence: Paul's Hermeneutic of the Cross (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992)Google Scholar ; Petraglio, Renzo, Obiezione di coscienza. II Nuovo Testamento provoca chi lo legge (2d ed.; Etica Teologica Oggi 1; Bologna: Edizioni Dehoniane Bologna, 1992)Google Scholar ; Smith, Jonathan Z., ed., “Violence and Religion,” The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion (New York: HarperCollins, 1995) 1120–23Google Scholar ; Watkins, Calvert, How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995)Google Scholar ; Bailie, Violence Unveiled.

⁴ Is not bloody vindication the regular final solution, from the time of Homer (Iliad 6.57-60) and the Hebrew Bible (Ps 5:5-6)? See Klassen, William, Love of Enemies: The Way to Peace (Overtures to Biblical Theology 15; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984) 13Google Scholar ; Bovon, François, Das Evangelium nach Lukas, (2 vols.; EKKNT 3. 1–2; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag; Zurich: Benzinger, 1989-1996), 1. 312–14Google Scholar.

⁵ The nurse fears what her mistress Medea will do: “For late I saw her glare, as glares a bull, / On these, as ‘twere for mischief; nor her wrath, / I know, shall cease, until its lightning strike. / To foes may she work ill, and not to friends!” (Medea 92-95; [trans. Arthur S. Way; LCL; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980] 291). See Girard, La violence et le sacre, 23-30.

⁶ See the discussion later in this article, “Love of Enemies in the Gospel of Luke,” and Isidore Lévy, La légende de Pythagore. De Grèce en Palestine (Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études. Sciences historiques et philologiques 250; Paris: Champion, 1927) 221-223.

⁷ Josephus, Ap. 2.29 § 213: “So thorough a lesson has he [the legislator] given us in gentleness and humanity that he does not overlook even the brute beasts, authorizing their use only in accordance with the Law, and forbidding all other employment of them. Creatures which take refuge in our houses like suppliants we are forbidden to kill. He would not suffer us to take the parent birds with their young, and bade us even in an enemy's country to spare and not to kill the beasts employed in labour. Thus, in every particular, he had an eye to mercy, using the laws I have mentioned to enforce the lesson, and drawing up for transgressors other penal laws admitting of no excuse.” (trans. H. St. J. Thackeray; LCL; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1926) 379.

⁸ See Burkert, Homo Necans; Girard, La violence et le sacre; Hammerton-Kelly, ed., Vio-lent Origins; Smith, “Violence and Religion,” 1120-23; Bailie, Violence Unveiled. See also Burkert, “Homo religiosus acts and attains self awareness as homo necans” (Homo Necans, 3). Typical are the following sentences of Girard: “C'est la communaute entiere que le sacrifice protege de sa propre violence…” (La violence et le sacre, 22), “…le sacrifice est une violence sans risque de vengeance,…” (Ibid., 29), or “C'est la violence qui constitue le coeur veritable et l'ame secrete du sacre.” (Ibid., 52).

⁹ See Bovon, Francois, Bouvier, Bertrand and Amsler, Frederic, Ada Philippi. Textus (Corpus Christianorum; Series Apocryphorum 11; Turnhout: Brepols, 1999)Google Scholar ; and Amsler, Frederic, Ada Philippi. Commentarius (Corpus Christianorum; Series Apocryphorum 12; Turnhout: Brepols, 1999).Google Scholar French translation in Actes de I'apotre Philippe (intro. and notes Frederic Amsler; trans. Francois Bovon, Bertrand Bouvier and Frederic Amsler; Apocryphes 8; Turnhout: Brepols, 1996)Google Scholar ; and idem, “Actes de Philippe,” in Bovon, Francois and Geoltrain, Pierre, eds., Ecrits apocryphes Chretiens (La Pleiade 442; Paris: Gallimard, 1997) 1. 1178–1320Google Scholar.

¹⁰ See Matthews, Christopher R., “Articulate Animals: A Multivalent Motif in the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles,” in Bovon, Francois, Brock, Ann Graham, and Matthews, Christopher R., eds., The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (HDS Studies; Harvard University: Center for the Study of World Religions, Religions of the World; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999) 205–232.Google Scholar

¹¹ Remember the classical story of Androcles (or Androclus) and the lion and its adaptation in the Acts of Paul: the lion with the needle in its paw is healed by the wise man. Later the lion remembers its benefactor and does not kill him in the arena. On the story of Androcles, see Aulus Gellius, Nodes Atticae 5.14; MacDonald, Dennis R., The Legend and the Apostle: The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1983) 21–23.Google Scholar (I thank Christopher R. Matthews for the previous reference.) On the conversion and baptism of the lion in the Act. Paul 9. 7-26 (for § 7-14 and part of § 22 and 23 following the Coptic Papyrus Bodmer 41, pp. 1-8, and for § 15-26 following the Greek Papyrus of Hamburg, pp. 1–5), see Willy Rordorf, with the collaboration of Pierre Cherix and Rodolphe Kasser, “Actes de Paul" in Écrits apocryphes Chrétiens, 1.1151- 60; Christopher R. Matthews, “Articulate Animals,” 206–11. As known from the paintings in the Roman catacombs, the memory of Daniel among the lions was well preserved among the early Christians. Remember also the speaking animals of the biblical Balaam story (Num 22:21-35) and of the apocryphal Act. Thorn. 70. 1-5.

¹² On the animal in antiquity see Das Tier in der Antike. 400 Werke ägyptischer, griechischer, etruskischer und römischer Kunst aus privatem und öffentlichem Besitz (Zürich: Archäologisches Institut der Universität Zürich, 1974)Google Scholar ; Borgeaud, Philippe, Christe, Yves, and Urio, Ivanka, eds., L'animal, I'homme, le dieu dans le Proche-Orient ancien. Actes du colloque de Cartigny 1991 (Centre d'etude du Proche-Orient ancien, Universite de Geneve; Les Cahiers du CEPOA 2; Leuven: Peeters, 1985)Google Scholar.

¹³ On the human level, see the reaction of Isaac the Syrian: “An elder once asked, ‘What is a compassionate heart?’ He replied: ‘It is a heart on fire for the whole of creation, for humanity, for the birds, for the animals, for demons and for all that exists… This is why he constantly offers up prayer full of tears, even for the irrational animals and for the enemies of truth, even for those who harm him, so that they may be protected and find mercy.’” ( Allchin, A. M., ed., The Heart of Compassion: Daily Readings with St. Isaac of Syria, [trans. Brock, Sebastian; London: Darton, Longman, and Todd, 1989] 29Google Scholar ). I thank my colleague Kimberley Patton for this reference.

¹⁴ This phrase is the translation of the manuscript from Mount Athos, Xenophontos 32, as published in Bovon, Bouvier, and Amsler, Ada Philippi. Textus, 305.

¹⁵ This excerpt is the translation of the manuscript of Mount Athos, Xenophontos 32, as published in Bovon, Bouvier, and Amsler, Ada Philippi. Textus 305. See n. 7, Josephus, Ap. 2.29 § 213; and notice also the interest of Philo Hypothetica (Apologia pro ludaeis) 7.6–9 for the Golden Rule and respect for animals. Both Josephus and Philo seem to be influenced by the Pythagorian tradition; see Isidore Lévy, La légende de Pythagore, 223; Isidore Lévy, Recherches esseniennes et pythagoriciennes (Centre de recherches d'histoire et de philologie de la IV^e Section de l'École Pratiques des Hautes Études, III, Hautes Etudes du monde grécoromain, 1; Genève: Droz, Paris: Minard, 1965) 54-56.

¹⁶ Amsler proposes to understand the leopard and the kid in the Acts of Philip as animals devoted to the goddess Cybele. But he does not deny the interpretation along the lines of Isaiah's prophecy, arguing that the text can be read at several levels; see Amsler, H. Frederic, “Les Actes de Philippe: Apercu d'une competition religieuse en Phrygie,” in Kaestli, Jean-Daniel and Marguerat, Daniel, eds., Le mystere apocryphe. Introduction a une litterature méconnue (Essais Bibliques 26; Genève: Labor et Fides, 1995) 125–40Google Scholar ; Amsler, H. Frédéric, “The Apostle Philip, the Viper, the Leopard and the Kid. The Masked Actors of a Religious Conflict in Hierapolis of Phrygia (Acts of Philip V1II-XV and Martyrdom)” SBL 1996 Seminar Papers (Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1996) 432–37Google Scholar.

¹⁷ On the animal in the Jewish life, culture, and religion, see Judah, Elijah, Animal Life in Jewish Tradition: Attitudes and Relationships (New York: Ktav, 1984)Google Scholar.

¹⁸ Linzey, Andrew, Animal Theology (London: SCM, 1994).Google Scholar

¹⁹ One is reminded of the famous Physiologus; see Der Physiologus (trans. Seel, Otto; Lebendige Antike; Zürich: Artemis, 1960)Google Scholar.

²⁰ If we can count Irenaeus among the western Church Fathers, the following three Christian authors of the western part of the Roman Empire are favorable to the literal under-standing of Isa 11:6-8: Irenaeus of Lyon, Adversus haereses 5.33.4 (see Eusebius of Caesarea, Historia ecclesiastical. 39.1 and 11-13); Demonstratiopraedicationis apostolicae 61; Tertullian, Adversus Hermogenem 11.3; Lactantius, Divinae institutiones 7.24.

²¹ In the finale of the book, the animals have to stay in the building of the church until their death (Acts of Philip Martyrdom 40 [146]). Because of an ancient miracle, a cock and a hen are preserved alive in the church of Santo Domingo de la Cazada in Spain; see Molas, C.-M., “Dominique de la Calzada,” Dictionnaire d'histoire et de geographie ecclesiastiques 14 (Paris: Letouze et Ane, 1960) 609–10Google Scholar.

²² Shepherd of Hennas 22-24 (Vis. 4); see Peterson, Erik, “Die Begegnung mit dem Ungeheuer,” Vigiliae Christianae 8 (1954) 52–71Google Scholar ; reprinted in idem, Frtthkirche, Judentum und Gnosis. Studien und Untersuchungen (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1982) 285-309.

²³ The same tension is visible in the story of Jesus' temptation, particularly in a Markan pecularity, the presence of the wild beasts, Mark 1:13.

²⁴ This quotation is the translation of the manuscript from Mount Athos, Xenoplwntos 32, as published in Bovon, Bouvier, and Amsler, Ada Philippi. Textus, 285. One should not forget Jesus’ saying in Luke: “See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; nothing will hurt you” (Luke 10:19); see , Bovon, Das Evangelium nach Lukas, 2. 49, 56–58Google Scholar ; and in the not original ending of the second Gospel, Mark 16:17-18.

²⁵ See Haag, Herbert, Teufelsglaube (Tübingen: Katzmann, 1974)Google Scholar ; Thomas M. Provatakis, (Thessaloniki-Oraiokastron: Ergostasion graphikon technon A. Rekou, 1980); Teyssedre, Bernard, Naissance du Diable. De Babylone aux grottes de la mer Morte (Paris: Albin Michel, 1985)Google Scholar ; idem, Le Diable et l'Enfer au temps de Jesus (Paris: Albin Michel, 1985) ; Greenfield, Richard P., Traditions of Belief in Late Byzantine Demonology (Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1988)Google Scholar ; Pagels, Elaine, The Origin of Satan (New York: Random House, 1995)Google Scholar ; Link, Luther, The Devil: Archfiend in Art from the Sixth to the Sixteenth Century (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996)Google Scholar ; McGinn, Bernard, Antichrist: Two Thousand Years of the Human Fascination with Evil (New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996).Google Scholar (1 thank my colleague Nick Constas for the information concerning Richard P. Greenfield and Thomas M. Provatakis.)

²⁶ See also Act. Phil. 9.1-5 (102-6) for another victory over a dragon; see also the expression ή ένέργεια γού άγγρίου θηρίου, “the power of the wild beast” that Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis 4.9.74.4, uses by quoting freely from the already mentioned passage of the Shep-herd of Hernias 23.5 (Vis. 4.2.5)

²⁷ Within the ascetic tradition, Athanasius of Alexandria (The Life of Antony 15, PG 26.865) and John Moschos (The Spiritual Meadow [Pratum Spirituale][intro., translation, and notes John Wortley; Cistercian Studies Series 139; Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1992] 5, 13,39-40,45-46, 102, 130-31) show how interested the first monks–in this case in Egypt and Palestine–were in the animal world. We read several stories telling how dangerous crocodiles could become innocuous by Antony's prayer and sign of the cross, how the aggression of a lion could be defeated by the prayer of a holy man, and how the threat of a snake could be dispelled by the piety of another father. For these monks, the wild beasts live under the rule of the jungle, like the human sinners, until they are reached by God's grace, transmitted by the mediation of the apostle or of the holy man. In the Life of Antony 9-10 the demons take the shape of wild beasts and they are tamed by the virtue of the saint in the presence of Christ; see PG 26.855-62; Vita de Antonio (Latin critical text and comments Bartelink, G. J. M.; trans. Citati, Pietro and Lilla, Salvatore; Vite dei Santi 1; s.I.: Fondazione Lorenzo Valla / Mondadori, 1974) 26–31 and 38-41Google Scholar.

²⁸ Act. Phil. Mart. 31 according to the manuscript from Mount Athos, Xenophontos 32, as published in Bovon, Bouvier, and Amsler, Ada Philippi. Textus, 395 and 397; see Act. Phil-Mart. 25-33 (131-139); see Bouvier, Bovon, and Amsler, “Actes de Philippe," in Merits apocryphes chretiens, 1.1308-13.

²⁹ See Bultmann, Rudolf, The Gospel of John: A Commentary (trans. Beasley-Murray, G. R.; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1971) 38.Google Scholar

³⁰ The enemy may represent not only external hostile forces, but also interior destructive reaction; see Hyams, Hanna, “Shame: The Enemy Within,” Transactional Analysis Journal 24 (1994) 255–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar I would like to thank Edna Pressler for her advice on modern psychological literature.

³¹ See also Matt 5:43-48; Rom 12:4; 1 Pet 2:11-17; Did. 1.3-5; Schottroff, Luise, “Gewaltverzicht und Feindesliebe in der urchristlichen Jesustradition, Mt 5:38-48; Lk 6:27-36,” in Jesus Christus in Historie und Theologie. Festschrift Hans Conzelmann (Tübingen: Mohr/Siebeck 1975) 197–221Google Scholar ; Theissen, Gerd, Studien zur Soziologie des Urchristentums (Tübingen: Mohr/Siebeck 1979) 160–97Google Scholar ; Klassen, Love of Enemies; , Schrey, “Gewalt/Gewaltlosigkeit,” 168–70Google Scholar ; , Bovon, Das Evangelium nach Lukas, 1. 306–28Google Scholar.

³² See Acts 5:31 and 11:18.

³³ On David, see Amsler, Samuel, David, roi et Messie; la tradition davidique dans l'Ancien Testament (Cahiers théologiques 45; Neuchâtel: Delachaux et Niestlé, 1963)Google Scholar ; Pomykala, Kenneth E., The Davidic Dynasty Tradition in Early Judaism: Its History and Significance for Messianism (SBLEJ 7; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995)Google Scholar . On Achilles, see Roussel, Monique, Biographie legendaire d'Achille (Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1991)Google Scholar.

³⁴ See Mottu, Henry, Les “confessions” de Jeremie, une protestation contre la souffrance (Le monde de la Bible; Genève: Labor et Fides, 1985)Google Scholar ; Betz, Hans Dieter, Der Apostel Paulus und die sokratisehe Tradition (BHTh 45: Tübingen: Mohr/Siebeck, 1972).Google Scholar, Bailie, Violence Unveiled, 17–20Google Scholar , discovers a similar tension in the contemporaneous world; see n. 2 of this article.

³⁵ See Dungan, David L., “Jesus and Violence,” in Sanders, E. P., ed., Jesus, the Gospels and the Church: Essays in Honor of William R. Farmer (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1987) 135–62, particularly 141-44.Google Scholar

³⁶ See Stendahl, Krister, “Hate, Non-retaliation, and Love: 1 QS X, 17-20 and Rom. 12:19-21,” HTR 55 (1962) 343–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

³⁷ See , Klassen, Love of Enemies, 12–26Google Scholar ; , Bovon, Das Evangelium nach Lukas, 1. 314Google Scholar.

³⁸ , Seneca, De otio 1.4Google Scholar ; De beneficiis 4.26.1; De ira 2.31-34; see , Schottroff, “Gewaltverzicht und Feindesliebe in der urchristlichen Jesustradition,” 197–221Google Scholar.

³⁹ There was a third case. To the slave there is also a philosophical piece of advice: you may suffer from unjust masters, but—and what is so difficult for us to read today—you should not try to defend your cause: it is better for you to develop a spirit of resignation and an attitude of stoic self-control.

⁴⁰ See Riley, Gregory J., “Words and Deeds: Jesus as Teacher and Jesus as Pattern of Life,” HTR 90 (1997) 427–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁴¹ According to Dungan, Luke is influenced by the Pythagorean tradition (“Jesus and Violence,” 153-60).

⁴² See Lévy, La légende de Phytagore; idem, Recherches esséniennes et pythagoriciennes; see also Redfield, James, “The Politics of Immortality,” in Borgeaud, Philippe, ed., Orphisme et Orphee. En I'honneur de Jean Rudhardt (Recherches et rencontres; Publications de la Facultés des lettres de Genève 3; Geneva: Droz, 1991) 103–7,Google Scholar particularly 108-11; Vinogradov, Juri G., “Zur sachlichen und geschichtlichen Deutung der Orphiker-Plattchen von Olbia,” in Orphisme et Orphée, 77–86Google Scholar ; and the classic, Baur, Ferdinand-Christian, Apollonius von Thyana und Christus oder das Verhältnis des Pythagorismus zum Christentum (Tübingen: L. F. Fues, 1832; reprinted with a slightly different title Hildesheim: Olms, 1966)Google Scholar.

⁴³ Zarathustra is one of the first to have criticized bloody sacrifices: he casts a malediction on those who, by killing the victim, destroy the life of the animal (see Yasna 32.8,12,14; it is not clear if Zarathustra was condemning all bloody sacrifice); see Bleek, Arthur Henry, Avesta: The Religious Books of the Parsees; From Professor Spiegel's German Translation of the Original Manuscripts (3 vols. in 1; Hertford: Stephen Austin for Muncherjee Hormusjee Cama, 1864) 90–91Google Scholar ; Duchesne-Guillemin, Jacques, Zoroastre. Étude critique avec une traduction commentée des Gâthâ (Les dieux et les hommes 2; Paris: Maisonneuve, 1948) 251–57;Google Scholar and Helmut Humbach and Pallan Ichaporia, The Heritage ofZarathushtra: A New Translation of His Gathas (Heidelberg: Winter, 1994) 40-43; Walter Burkert, Homo Necans, 7.

⁴⁴ According to Diogenes Laertius, a book was attributed to Pythagoras, called The Scopiades, which advised not harming anybody. See Diogenes Laertius, De clarorum philosophorum vitis, 8.8. On the difficulty of Diogenes' text concerning the beginning of Pythagoras' book, see the critical apparatus of A. Delatte, La vie de Pythagore de Diogene Laërce. Édition critique avec introduction et commentaire (Académie royale de Belgique, Classe des Lettres et des Sciences morales et politiques, deuxième série, 17; Bruxelles: Lamertin, 1922) 109. Unfortunately Delatte does not deal with this textual problem in his commentary, 165-66. The title, The Scopiades, is not well attested in the textual tradition; see the apparatus of the critical edition by H. S. Long, Diogenis Laerlii Vitae Philosophorum (2 vols.; Oxford: Clarendon, 1964) 2. 396.

⁴⁵ See Musonius translated by Cora E. Lutz, Musonius Rufus “The Roman Socrates,” Yale Classical Studies 10 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1947) 33-145; W. Klassen, Love of Enemies, 22-23.

⁴⁶ See n. 50.

⁴⁷ Act. John 81; ET in Wilhelm Schneemelcher, ed., New Testament Apocrypha (trans. Knut Schäferdiek; rev ed. ; 2 vols.; Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1991-92) 2. 199.

⁴⁸ Dungan, “Jesus and Violence,” 135-37, insists too much on the risk of inequity in the application of nonretaliation.

⁴⁹ For me, modern equivalents are the “I-Thou” relationship, “healing through meeting” (both are Martin Buber's expressions), or non-possessive love (Carl Rodgers); see Friedman, Maurice, “Reflections on the Buber-Rogers Dialogue,” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 34 Special Issue on Dialogue (1994) 46–65CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁵⁰ See the Talmud, Babylonian, Berakhot 7aGoogle Scholar , “Said Tobiah, R. Zutra bar said Rab, ‘May it be my will that my mercy overcome my anger, and that my mercy prevail over my attributes, so that 1 may treat my children in accord with the trait of mercy and in their regard go beyond the strict mesure of the law.’” (The Talmud of Babylonia: An Academic Commentary, I, Bavli Tractate Berakhot [trans, by Neusner, Jacob, South Florida Academic Commentary Series 24; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996] 33–34Google Scholar ). I thank Kimberley Patton for this reference.

⁵¹ In the first centuries CE the command to love one's enemies was a decisive part of the Christian identity; Justin Martyr, for example, considers this command as a new teaching (I Apol. 15.9–10). In the next chapter, Justin likes to say that the Christians are violent people transformed into mild ones ( I Apol. 16.1-11). Later he declares that the Gospel breaks the chains of violent relationships (I Apol. 37.8). See also Barn. 3.3: “But to us he says: ‘Behold, this is the fast which I have chosen, says the Lord. Loose every bond of injustice, untie the knots of forcibly extracted agreements.’” The Apostolic Fathers: A New Translation and Commentary, vol. 3: Barnabas and the Didache (trans. Kraft, Robert A.; New York: Nelson, 1965) 86Google Scholar.

⁵² On the child in antiquity, see Légasse, Simon, Jésus et l'enfant. “Enfants”, “petits” et “simples” dans la tradition synoptique (Études Bibliques; Paris: Gabalda, 1969) 276–87Google Scholar ; Weber, Hans Ruedi, Jesus and the Children: Biblical Resources for Study and Preachingxs (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1979) 65–76Google Scholar ; Boswell, John, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renais sance (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998) 1–266Google Scholar ; Bradley, Keith R., Discovering the Roman Family: Studies in Roman Social History (New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991)Google Scholar ; deMause, Lloyd, “The Evolution of Childhood,” in deMause, Lloyd, ed., The History of Childhood (New York: Psychohistory Press, 1974; reprinted Northvale, NJ: Aronson, 1995) 1–73Google Scholar ; Lyman, Richard B. Jr, “Barbarism and Religion: Late Roman and Early Medieval Childhood,” in The History of Childhood, deMause, Lloyd, ed., 75–100Google Scholar ; Manson, Michel, “The Emergence of the Small Child at Rome (Third Century B.C.–First Century),” History of Education 12 (1983) 149–59CrossRefGoogle Scholar ; Neraudau, Jean-Pierre, Eire enfant a Rome (Paris: Belles Lettres, 1984)Google Scholar ; Rawson, Beryl, ed., The Family in Ancient Rome: New Perspectives (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1986)Google Scholar ; Wiedemann, Thomas, Adults and Children in the Roman Empire (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989)Google Scholar ; Rawson, Beryl, ed., Marriage, Divorce, and Children in Ancient Rome (Canberra: Humanities Research Center; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996)Google Scholar.

⁵³ The following New Testament passages use the term νήΠιος: Matt 11:25, the exact parallel to Luke 10:21; Matt 21:16; Rom 2:20; 1 Cor 3:1; 13:11; Gal 4:1,3: Eph4:14; 1 Th2:7 (variant reading); Heb 5:13; the verb νηΠιάζω, “to be a babe,” “to be like a child” occurs once in 1 Cor 14:20.

⁵⁴ The concepts of baptism as a new birth and the newly baptized as newborn children appear in many texts: 1 Clement 9.4; Shepherd of Hennas 93.1-4 (Sim. 9.16.1-4); Justin, l Apol. 61.3-5, 10; , Irenaeus, Adversus haereses 1.21.1; 3.17.1; 5.15.3Google Scholar ; , Irenaeus, Demonstratio praedicationis apostolicae 3.7Google Scholar ; , Tertullian, Bapt. 1Google Scholar ; Mopsuestia, Theodorof, Catechetical Homily 14Google Scholar ; Milan, Ambrose of, De sacramentis 3.1–3Google Scholar ; Harnack, Adolf von, Die Terminologie der Wiedergeburt … (TU 42.3; Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1918) 97–143Google Scholar ; Camelot, P. Th., Spiritualite du bapteme (Lex Orandi 30; Paris: Cerf, 1960)Google Scholar.

⁵⁵ The “place of life” is another expression for the eternal life.

⁵⁶ 1 interpret this “he” to refer to the “man old in days.”

⁵⁷ This text is the translation of Lambdin, Thomas O. in The Nag Hammadi Library (3d ed.; Robinson, James M., ed.; New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1990) 126Google Scholar ; see also Kee, Howard C., “‘Becoming a Child’ in the Gospel of Thomas,” JBL 82 (1963) 307–14Google Scholar ; Fieger, Michael, Das Thomasevangelium. Einleitung, Kommentar und Systematik (Neutestamentliche Abhandlungen, N.F. 22; Münster: Aschendorff, 1991) 30–32. 96-98Google Scholar ; Conick, April D. De, Seek to See Him: Ascent and Vision Mysticism in the Gospel of Thomas (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 33; Leiden: Brill, 1996) 145–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁵⁸ Translation of Lambdin in The Nag Hammadi Library, 121.

⁵⁹ This situation resembles the situation in Eden before the fall.

⁶⁰ See the witness of Christian epitaphs gathered by Légasse, Jésus et l'enfant, 272-73.

⁶¹ Augustine is an exception by not accepting this view. See Augustine, Confessiones 1.7.11 (CCSL 27. 6); Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos 44.1 and 46.2 (CCSL 38. 494 and 530); see Légasse, Jésus et l'enfant, 272.

⁶² Two interesting analyses of family life appear in , deMause, “The Evolution of Childhood,” 6–39Google Scholar , and , Bradley, Discovering the Roman Family, 177–204Google Scholar.

⁶³ See , Bradley, Discovering the Roman Family, 13–36Google Scholar , particularly 28-29.

⁶⁴ See the preface of Book 6 of Quintilian's lnstitutio oratorio, in which he mentions the death of his two sons and his wife; see also the condolences of Marcus Aurelius at the occasion of Fronton's grandson's death, and Fronton's answer to the Emperor, his pupil, On the Loss of His Grandson (De nepote amisso I and II), in The Correspondence of Marcus Cornelius Fronto (ed. and trans. Haines, C. R.; LCL; 2 vols.; New York: Putnam, 1919-1920) 2. 220–33.Google Scholar One finds a different attitude by , Cicero, Tusculanae disputationes 1.39 § 93.Google Scholar I owe these references to Bradley, Keith R., Discovering the Roman Family, 28–29Google Scholar.

⁶⁵ See Ex 13:8; m. Pesah. 10.4–5. See also the comments of Baneth, von Eduard in Mischnajot: Die sechs Ordnungen der Mischna. Hebräischer Text mil Punktuation, deutscher Übersetzung und Erklarung (3d ed.; 6 vols.; Basel: Victor Goldschmidt, 1968) 2. 241–53Google Scholar ; see also Gaster, Theodor Herz, Passover: Its History and Traditions (New York: Henry Schuman, 1949) 58–62Google Scholar ; Wolpe, David J., Teaching Your Children about God: A Modern Jewish Approach (New York: Holt, 1993)Google Scholar ; Pearl, Chaim, “Children,” The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997) 156Google Scholar.

⁶⁶ Légasse, Jésus et l'enfant, 278: “Des l'époque d'Euripide on avait accordé à la candeur de l'enfant un pouvoir spécial sur les dieux.” “From the time of Euripides, a special power over the Gods had been given to the ingenuousness of children.” As witness for this thesis the French scholar quotes , Euripides, Iphi. Taur., 1270–83.Google Scholar

⁶⁷ See the Shepherd of Hennas 106.1 (Sim. 9.29.1); 101.1-4 (Sim. 9.24.1-4); Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.5-6.

⁶⁸ See Bovon, François, “De Jésus de Nazareth au Christ Pantocrator,” Cahier Biblique 25 of Foi et Vie 75 (1986) 87–96.Google Scholar

⁶⁹ See Bovon, François, Luke the Theologian: Thirty-Three Years of Research (1950-1983) (Princeton Theological Monograph Series 12; Allison Park, PA: Pickwick Publications, 1987) 181–83.Google Scholar

⁷⁰ It is possible also to look at the title π♀ωτóτoκoß, “firstborn,” used in Luke 2:7, Rom 8:29, Col 1:15, 18; Heb 1:6; and Rev 1:5, from the same perspective. Similar to other scholars, a recent exegete does not mention the possibility of the child character of Christ as the firstborn (Hugolinus Langkammer, “Πρωτóτoκoß”, 2 prototokos erstgeboren, Erstgeborener,” Exegetisches Wörterbueh zum Neuen Testament, Balz, Horst and Schneider, Gerhard eds., [3 vols.; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1980-1983] 3. 458–62).Google Scholar

⁷¹ See Peterson, Erik, “Einige Bemerkungen zum Hamburger Papyrus-Fragment der Acta Pauli,” VC 3 (1949) 142–62Google Scholar , reprinted in idem, Frühkirche, Judentum und Gnosis, 183-208, particularly pp. 191-97 and n. 88 pp. 206-7 of the collection of essays; Junod, Éric and Kaestli, Jean-Daniel, Acta Iohannis (2 vols.; Corpus Christianorum, Series Apocryphorum 1–2, Turnhout: Brepols, 1983) 2. 479–80Google Scholar ; Orbe, Antonio, Cristología gnóstica: Introductión a la soteriología de los siglos II y III (2 vols.; Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos 384-385; Madrid: La Editorial Catolica, 1976)Google Scholar does not pay much attention to the appearances of the resurrected Jesus Christ in the form of a child.

⁷² Evodius of , Uzala, De fide contra Manichaeos 38 (CSCE 25.2; Vienna: Tempsky, 1892) 968–69.Google Scholar Translation by Prieur, Jean-Marc in New Testament Apocrypha 2. 103.Google Scholar

⁷³ Translation by Hahn, Gregor in New Testament Apocrypha 2. 144.Google Scholar

⁷⁴ Translation by Knut Schäferdiek in New Testament Apocrypha 2. 179.

⁷⁵ Ibid., 2. 180.

⁷⁶ Ibid., 2. 196.

⁷⁷ I am following Gerard Poupon's conjecture (read cinctum instead of vinctum); see Poupon, Gérard, “Actes de l'apôtre Pierre et de Simon,” in Écrits apocryphes Chrétiens 1. 1080, n. F.Google Scholar

⁷⁸ Translation by Schneemelcher, Wilhelm in New Testament Apocrypha 2. 300Google Scholar ; translation slightly revised by the present author.

⁷⁹ Translation by Schneemelcher, Wilhelm in New Testament Apocrypha 2. 252.Google Scholar

⁸⁰ Translation by Drijvers, Han J.W. in New Testament Apocrypha 2. 350.Google Scholar

⁸¹ This is the translation of the manuscript from Athos, Mount, Xenophontos 32Google Scholar , as published in , Bovon, , Bouvier, and , Amsler, Acta Philippi. Textus, 195 and 197Google Scholar.

⁸² Matthews, Thomas F., The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993).Google Scholar

⁸³ See, for example, Passio Montani et Lucii, 7. 3 (Ausgewählte Märtyrerakten [4th ed.; SAQ, N.F. 3; Tubingen: Mohr/Siebeck, 1965] 75)Google Scholar ; Acta Dorotheae et Theophili, 11 (Acta Santorum; Antwerp: Meursius; 1658) 1.774; Amat, Jacqueline, Songes et visions. L'au-dela’ dans la littérature latine tardive (Paris: Études augutiniennes, 1985) 141, 257–60Google Scholar.

⁸⁴ Clement, Paed. 1.5.24. Translation by Wilson, William in The Writings of Clement of Alexandria (Ante-Nicene Christian Library 4; Edinburgh: Clark, 1867) 129–30.Google Scholar

⁸⁵ See the titles conferred to the Christians by Clement of Alexandria, The Rich Man's Salvation 31, in a passage analyzed with sagacity by Ann Graham Brock, “The Significance of φιλεω and φιλoß in the Tradition of Jesus Sayings and in the Early Christian Communities,” HTR 90 (1997) 395. Here is the translation of the passage by Clement: “Those He calls children and young children and babes and friends; also little ones here, in comparison with their future greatness above.” (The Exhortation to the Greeks, The Rich Man's Salvation, and the Fragment of an Address Entitled to the Newly Baptized [trans. Butterworth, G.W.; in LCL; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1953] 334Google Scholar ; translation slightly revised.

⁸⁶ Following this conception of Christ's example we can say: “Be a child as Jesus is!” Beautiful in your behavior, refusing any wish of retaliation, and gentle as he was, loving your enemies even in a time of persecution. In its criticism of the natural family bonds Gosp. Thorn. 105 suggests a new type of relationship, a new way of being children of God: “Jesus said: ‘He who knows the father and the mother will be called the son of a harlot’” (trans. , Lambdin, The Nag Hammadi Library, 137).Google Scholar

⁸⁷ It is probably not by chance that Jesus' birth in the Gospel of Matthew provokes such a violent reaction from the prince of this world, Herod, familiar of the Beast. But it is neither a coincidence that a text like the Ascension of Isaiah, a Christian story and vision, describes the destiny of Christ, called the “Beloved one,” as the descent of a child through the seven heavens in a secret manner, and then his ascension is recognized and applauded.

⁸⁸ Leo the Great, Sermo 18 (XXXVII), 3Google Scholar (PL 54. 258-59); also Leon le Grand, Sermons, I (intro. Jean Leclercq; trans, and notes Rene Dolle; SC 22 bis; Paris: Cerf, 1964) 280-81. “Christ loves childhood, which he first assumed in both his soul and body. Christ loves childhood, teacher of humility, rule of innocence, model of gentleness. Christ loves childhood, toward which he directs the conduct of the adults, toward which he brings back those who are older; and turns to his own example those he raises to the eternal kingdom.”