I
find one
important context for
our talmudic passage in
the Apocryphal Acts of the
Apostles, a group of texts
that frequently
has been read
as popular.
Within
the wide range of Christian literature,
it was possible to cut across the barriers of class and genre
in a way not open to classical writers ...
The apocryphal literature did that too!
Even after the acceptance of the canon, and therefore, their exclusion from it,
the popularity and influence of the apocryphal narratives was so enormous and so widespread
at all levels that they must rank high among the contributors to the early Christian world-view?
Christian textuality blurs the boundaries between elite
and popular literatures
...
In one of these texts,
nearly contemporaneous with the earliest version of Rabbi Eli'ezer's trickster escape from martyrdom
[assuming that if the Tosefta was redacted in the mid-third century, its materials can safely be considered somewhat earlier and thus are roughly
contemporaneous with the late second-century Apocryphal Acts.
], we find an ideological issue being raised that is very similar to the one implicitly invoked by that story: the value of martyrdom {and especially the martyrdom of a teacher}, as opposed to his continued life and instruction.
[Zie ook FLIP 1:20-26 ~
't Is m'n stellige hope & verwachting
dat ik me nergens voor zal hoeven te schamen,
maar dat Yehosjoea haNatsri haMasjiach bij alles wat mij overkomt
in alle openheid geeerd zal worden, of ik nu in leven blijf of moet sterven.
Want voor mij is leven Yesjoea & sterven winst. Als ik blijf leven, dan kan ik vruchtbaar werk doen,
maar toch weet ik niet wat ik moet kiezen. Ik word naar twee kanten getrokken:
enerzijds verlang ik ernaar te sterven en bij Yesjoe te zijn, want dat is 't allerbest;
anderzijds is 't omwille van jullie beter dat ik blijf leven. Omdat ik hiervan overtuigd ben, weet ik
dat ik inderdaad voor jullie behouden zal blijven, zodat je geloof groter & vreugdevoller wordt.
Wanneer ik bij je terugkeer, heb je des te meer reden om je op Yehosjoea de Masjiach
te laten voorstaan.]
I am referring to the "Quo Vadis?" sequence from the Apocryphal Acts of Peter.
Here is that text: several Roman officials have become exasperated by the apostle's convoncing their wives to stop sleeping with them:
So
there was
the greatest disquiet
in Rome; and Albinus
put his case to Agrippa, and said to him,"
Either you must get me satisfaction from Peter, who caused my wife's separation,
or I shall do so myself"; and Agrippa said that he had been treated in the same way by him,
by the separation of his concubines.
And Albinus said to him,
"
Why then do you delay, Agrippa?
Let us find him and execute him as a troublemaker, so that we may recover our wives,
and in order to give satisfaction to those who cannot execute him,
who have themselves been deprived
of their wives by him."
But while they made these plans Xanthippe discovered her husband's conspiracy with Agrippa
and sent and told Peter, so that he might withdraw from Rome.
And the rest of the brethern together with Marcellus entreated him to withdraw,
but Peter said to them,
"
Shall we act like deserters, brethren?"
Bur they said to him,
"
No, it is so that you can go on serving the Lord."
So he assented to the brethren and withdrew by himself, saying,
"
Let none of you retire with me,
but I shall retire by myself
in disguise."
Thus
Peter begins
his retreat from Rome in disguise.
One of the options for resistance on the part of dominated peoples is disguised identity.
Such tricksterism is a time-honored practice of colonized and
otherwise subjugated
people.
DAT
gaat dus
nog wel wat
worden met al die
nieuwe Chinese bijbels die nu
wel gedrukt [en gelezen?] mogen worden
[met 't oog op de Olympische Spelen] in Peking/Beidjing?
Ik ben allang blij als ik bij 'dode poet' en dergelijke enge figuren {6} op de negerlijst sta!
Misschien is het ook tijd voor 'n tijdelijke moskeeenstop in Europa,
zolang er in moslimlanden geen kerken mogen worden gebouwd
of christelijke bijeenkomsten
mogen worden
gehouden?
WAT
is nu
eigenlijk 't verschil
tussen toen & daar
en hier &
NU?


