PARAQLITA in the Pre-Peshitta Writings of Hippolytus

Hippolytus -- ( c. 170--236 AD ) A disciple of Irenaeus, Bishop of Portus, and living in Lyons at some point. A saint and martyr of the church, being thrown into a canal and drowned for the Faith, a year or two after the commencement of the reign of Maximim the Thracian, that is, somewhere about AD 235-39. Introductory Notes, p. 6

Note to Readers: Let us diligently observe how these Early Christian apologists wrote and spoke of the Paraclete as always being the HOLY SPIRIT or Advocate or Intercessor ...  but never "Redeemer+".

It would have behooved the translator / editor of the Netzarim's "Golden, Historic, and Best" Aramaic-English New Testament  to check the Early Church Apologists if he were confused and / or  chose not to rely upon the work of the standard and approved Peshitta translators, Drs. Etheridge, Murdock and Lamsa, for correction or understanding. 
The Early Christian Apologists work to correct ALL heretical teachings and thus, one can be saved from ignominious statements ... both receiving them and making them ...  if one lays to heart the work of these Early Christian Martyrs and Confessors from the Unified Christian Church of the first 3 centuries. It is a shame not to do so.

HIPPOLYTUS, ANF Vol 5, Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus: Dogmatical and Historical, Discourse on the Holy Theophany, p. 237, Sections 8,9, and 10

8. But give me now your best attention, I pray you, for I wish to go back to the fountain of life, and to view the fountain that gushes with healing.

The Father of Immortality sent the Immortal SON+ and WORD+ into the world, WHO+ came to man in order to wash him with water and the Spirit; and HE+, begetting us again to incorruption of soul and body, breathed into us the breath (spirit) of life, and endued us with an incorruptible panoply [ a display of all appropriate appurtenances... SrJH].

If, therefore, man has become immortal, he will also be God.[ i.e,  "Divine" in the sense of being regenerated back into the family of God , as Adam was in the beginning.  Ed.Footnote #6: 2 Peter 1:4... "that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature." ...SrJH ] And if he is made God by water and the Holy Spirit after the regeneration of the laver he is found to be also joint-heir with Christ after the resurrection from the dead.

Wherefore I preach to this effect:

Come, all ye kindreds of the nations, to the immortality of the baptism.

I bring good tidings of life to you who tarry in the darkness of ignorance. Come into liberty from slavery, into a kingdom from tyranny, into incorruption from corruption. And how, saith one, shall we come?

How?

By water and the Holy Spirit.

This is the water in conjunction with the Spirit, by which paradise is watered, by which the earth is enriched, by which plants grow, by which animals multiply, and (to sum up the whole in a single word) by which man is begotten again and endued with life, in which also Christ was baptized, and in which the Spirit descended in the form of a dove.

9. This is the Spirit that at the beginning “moved upon the face of the waters;” by whom the world moves; by whom creation consists, and all things have life;

who also wrought mightily in the prophets, and descended in flight upon Christ. This is the Spirit that was given to the apostles in the form of fiery tongues.

This is the Spirit that David sought when he said,

“Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me."

Of this Spirit Gabriel also spoke to the Virgin, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.”

By this Spirit Peter spake that blessed word,

 “THOU+ art the CHRIST,

the SON+ of the LIVING GOD.”

By this Spirit the rock of the Church was stablished.

This is the Spirit, the Comforter,

that is sent because of THEE+,

that HE may show THEE+

to be the SON+ of GOD.

10. Come then, be begotten again, O man, into the adoption of God. And how? says one.

If thou practicest adultery no more,

and committest not murder,

and servest not idols;

if thou art not overmastered by pleasure;

if thou dost not suffer the feeling of pride to rule thee;

if thou cleanest off the filthiness of impurity,

and puttest off the burden of sin;

if thou castest off the armor of the devil, and puttest on the breastplate of faith, even as Isaiah saith,

“Wash you, and seek judgment,

relieve the oppressed,

judge the fatherless,

and plead for the widow.

And come and let us reason together,

saith the Lord.

Though your sins be as scarlet,

I shall make them white as snow;

and though they be like crimson,

I shall make them white as wool.

And if ye be willing, and hear my voice,

ye shall eat the good of the land.”

Do you see, beloved, how the prophet spake beforetime of the purifying power of baptism?

For he who comes down in faith to the laver of regeneration, and renounces the devil, and joins himself to Christ;

who denies the enemy, and makes the confession that Christ is God;

who puts off the bondage, and puts on the adoption,

— he comes up from the baptism brilliant as the sun, flashing forth the beams of righteousness, and, which is indeed the chief thing, he returns a son [ teknon = child., ed. note in footnote, SrJH ] of God and joint-heir with Christ.

To Him+ be the glory and the power,

together with His+ most holy,

and good, and quickening Spirit,

now and ever,

and to all the ages of the ages.

Amen.

 REFERENCES

NOTE: Material is from the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volumes 1-10,  American Edition ( a reprint of Christian Literature Publishing Co. 1886), 2nd printing 1995, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA. ISBN 1-56563-087-4 

Some supplemental information and dates are from: David W. Bercot, editor, A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, Peabody, MA, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1998. ISBN 978-1-56563-870-9 [ Scroll Publishing www.scrollpublishing.com ]

Digital Copy from: The Master Christian Library Version 8 CD-ROM 2000 Ages Softward, Rio, WI  www.ageslibrary.com

NOTE: This Digital Copy of the ANF does NOT contain any Introductory Notes from the translators and editors, no footnotes, and no elucidations and comments at the end of the books, although these helpful items are contained in the hard copy listed above.

~  ~  ~

NOTE: Comments [in green] are from the Order of The GOOD SHEPHERD+; extra words [in black] are in the text from the editors. Color added to pronouns, etc., for clarity.

Paraqlita in the PRE-Peshitta Writers: CYPRIAN...... circa 200-258 AD

CYPRIAN: A martyr. Bishop of Carthage, North Africa, from 248 to 258, and Christian writer of a vast amount of correspondence dealing with the Church life in the middle of the 3rd century. During the Decian persectution, Cyprian continued his ministry underground but was later captured and beheaded during the Valerian persecution. David W. Bercot, A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, pg. 186. Scroll Publishing.

ADVOCATE for PARACLETE (Paraqlita, the Greek loanword in the Aramaic Peshitta text)......  [ not "Redeemer+"] 

used by Cyprian in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol 5 p. 332, Epistles of Cyprian, Epistle 51,  section 18

18. Moreover, we do not prejudge when the Lord is to be the judge; save that if HE+ shall find the repentance of the sinners full and sound, HE+ will then ratify what shall have been here determined by us.

If, however, any one should delude us with the pretense of repentance, God, who is not mocked, and who looks into man’s heart, will judge of those things which we have imperfectly looked into, and the Lord will amend the sentence of His+ servants;

while yet, dearest brother, we ought to remember that it is written,

“A brother that helpeth a brother shall be exalted;” and that the apostle also has said, “Let all of you severally have regard to yourselves, lest ye also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law** of Christ;”

[ **  "This is My+ Commandment that ye love one another as I+ have loved you." John 15:12,  The Law of CHRIST versus the Torah. / Sr. JH]

also that, rebuking the haughty, and breaking down their arrogance, he says in his epistle, “Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall;” and in another place he says, “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth; yea, he shall stand, for God is able to make him stand.”

John also proves that Jesus Christ the Lord is our Advocate and Intercessor for our sins, saying,

“My little children,

these things write I unto you,

that ye sin not.

And if any man sin,

we have an Advocate with the Father,

Jesus Christ the Supporter:

and HE+ is the propitiation

for our sins.”

And Paul also, the apostle, in his epistle, has written, “If, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us; much more, being now justified by His+ Blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him+.”

Note to Readers: We see how these Early Christian apologists wrote and spoke of the Paraclete as always being the HOLY SPIRIT or Advocate or Intercessor ...  but never "Redeemer+".

It would have behooved the translator / editor of the Netzarim's "Golden, Historic, and Best" Aramaic-English New Testament  to check the Early Church Apologists if he were confused and / or  chose not to rely upon the work of the standard and approved Peshitta translators, Drs. Etheridge, Murdock and Lamsa, for correction or understanding. 

The Early Christian Apologists work to correct ALL heretical teachings and thus, one can be saved from ignominious statements ... both receiving them and making them ...  if one lays to heart the work of these Early Christian Martyrs and Confessors from the Unified Christian Church of the first 3 centuries.

 REFERENCES

NOTE: Material is from the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volumes 1-10,  American Edition ( a reprint of Christian Literature Publishing Co. 1886), 2nd printing 1995, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA. ISBN 1-56563-087-4 

Some supplemental information and dates are from: David W. Bercot, editor, A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, Peabody, MA, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1998. ISBN 978-1-56563-870-9  [ Scroll Publishing www.scrollpublishing.com ]

Digital Copy from: The Master Christian Library Version 8 CD-ROM 2000 Ages Softward, Rio, WI  www.ageslibrary.com

NOTE: This Digital Copy of the ANF does NOT contain any Introductory Notes from the translators and editors, no footnotes, and no elucidations and comments at the end of the books, although these helpful items are contained in the hard copy listed above.

~  ~  ~

NOTE: Comments [ in green ] are from the Order of the GOOD SHEPHERD+; extra words in black are in the text from the editors. Color added to pronouns, etc., for clarity.

Paraqlita in the PRE-Peshitta WRITINGS by the Early Christian Apologists of the 2nd and 3rd Centuries

ORIGEN, c. 185-254, teacher in Alexandria, widely traveled, most prolific writer of the Pre-Nicene Church, ordained a presbyter (elder) by bishops of Caesarea in Palestine. Tortured during Decian persecution and died later from those injuries, as a Confessor in the church. (See David Bercot, A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, Scroll Publishing. )

ALL of these Ante-Nicene Christian writers and apologists were men of reknown, learned men, well-traveled, lived during the first 3 centuries of Christianity, and many spoke several languages.  In other words, they were not spurious characters. They led the church in various parts of the world and had the backing of the Church proper. And, the CHURCH PROPER was UNIFIED in those centuries.

Many were martyrs for CHRIST as they led the flock and many others died of wounds received as they were tortured for CHRIST, as did today's writer, Origen.

Their accounts and records need to be taken seriously and the modern Christian Church proper would do well to adjust their practices and theology in accordance to the Writings of these Apologists. Some were taught by the Apostles and some , later, by men who were taught by those God-fearing Brothers.

In the case of PARAQLITA , such quandries about translation could have been quickly put to right by consulting the Early Church Writings to see how the historic Christian Church translated John 14:16 and 26, John 15:26, and John 16:7, plus I John 2:1 because.... it's all in there!

The astute reader will realize, of course, that these Christian apologies were written MUCH EARLIER than the Peshitta. [We will look at the Peshitta time frames in a later blog.]

ANTE-NICENE FATHERS,  VOL 4  ORIGEN, DE PRINCIPIIS,  BOOK 2, CHAPTER 7 , SECTION 4, p. 286, (hard copy; Page 551, Master Christian Library CD, version 8 )

But the Paraclete, who is called the HOLY SPIRIT, is so called from His work of consolation, paraclesis being termed in Latin consolatio. For if any one has deserved to participate in the HOLY SPIRIT by the knowledge of His ineffable mysteries, he undoubtedly obtains comfort and joy of heart.

For since he comes by the teaching of the SPIRIT to the knowledge of the reasons of all things which happen — how or why they occur — his soul can in no respect be troubled, or admit any feeling of sorrow; nor is he alarmed by anything, since, clinging to the Word+ of God and His Wisdom+, he through the HOLY SPIRIT calls JESUS    LORD.

And since we have made mention of the Paraclete, and have explained as we were able what sentiments ought to be entertained regarding Him; and since our SAVIOR+ also is called the Paraclete in the Epistle of John, when he says, “If any of us sin, we have a Paraclete with THE FATHER,  JESUS CHRIST The RIGHTEOUS+, and HE+ is the propitiation for our sins;” let us consider whether this term Paraclete should happen to have one meaning when applied to the SAVIOR, and another when applied to the HOLY SPIRIT.

Now Paraclete, when spoken of the SAVIOR, seems to mean intercessor.

For in Greek, Paraclete has both significations — that of intercessor and comforter.

On account, then, of the phrase which follows, when he says, “And HE+ is the propitiation for our sins,” the name Paraclete seems to be understood in the case of our SAVIOR as meaning intercessor; for HE+ is said to intercede with THE FATHER because of our sins.

In the case of the HOLY SPIRIT, the Paraclete must be understood in the sense of comforter, inasmuch as He bestows consolation upon the souls to whom He openly reveals the apprehension of spiritual knowledge.

~  ~  ~

REFERENCES

NOTE: Material is from the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volumes 1-10,  American Edition ( a reprint of Christian Literature Publishing Co. 1886), 2nd printing 1995, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA. ISBN 1-56563-087-4

Some supplemental information and dates are from: David W. Bercot, editor, A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, Peabody, MA, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1998. ISBN 978-1-56563-870-9  [ See Scroll Publishing at http://www.scrollpublishing.com/ ]

Digital Copy from: The Master Christian Library Version 8 CD-ROM 2000 Ages Software, Rio, WI  www.ageslibrary.com

NOTE: This Digital Copy of the ANF does NOT contain any Introductory Notes from the translators and editors, no footnotes, and no elucidations and comments at the end of the books, although these helpful items are contained in the hard copy listed above.

~  ~  ~

NOTE: Comments in green are from the Order of the GOOD SHEPHERD+; extra words in black are in the text from the editors. Color added to pronouns, etc., for clarity.

Paraqlita Again: Comments from CLEMENT and TERTULLIAN

Pre-Nicene Writers circa 200 AD describe the PARAQLITA found in John's Gospels and First Epistle as HOLY SPIRIT... contradistinct from The REDEEMER+, Y'SHUA+ HA MASCHIYACH.

The erroneous translation sponsored and supported by the Netzarim - Hebrew Roots camp --- called by some as the "golden, historic, and best" Aramaic-English translation --- is indeed a notable historic debacle... perhaps being the worst possible translation available. The befuddled labeling of "Paraqlita" as the "REDEEMER+" is just one of many confusions in that translation.

Here is how Christian Apologists wrote about Paraclete, around the year 200 A.D.... and keep in mind, the Christian world was unified until after the Council of Nicea (c. 325 AD)... including the Aramaic-speaking (and writing) Brethren, such as Ephraem the Syrian. ( See blog entitled: Paraqlita... Paraclete... Paraqleeta , 12-26-2011).

CLEMENT of ALEXANDRIA (c. 150-200 )

ANF VOL 2 pg 571 FRAGMENTS, “First Epistle of Peter” translated by Cassiodorus

 

Clement of Alexandria was the head of the catechetical school at Alexandria. His most famous pupil was Origen. Clement was considered a "most learn-ed" one in the book of the Hebrews and Greeks. [ David Bercot, A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, pg. 168: see References at end of blog.]

The old things which were done by the prophets and escape the observation of most, are now revealed to you by the evangelists.

“For to you,” he [ the Apostle Peter ] says, “they are manifested by the Holy Spirit, who was sent;” [ 1 Peter 1:12 ] that is the Paraclete, of whom the Lord said, “If I+ go not away, He will not come.”  [John 16:7]

“Unto whom,” it is said, “the angels desire to look;” not the apostate angels, as most suspect, but, what is a divine truth, angels who desire to obtain the advantage of that perfection.

“By precious blood,” he says, “as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

Here he touches on the ancient Levitical and sacerdotal celebrations;

but means a soul pure through righteousness which is offered to God.

“Verily foreknown before the foundation of the world.” Inasmuch as He was foreknown before every creature, because He was Christ.

Chapter III Comments on the First Epistle of John Pg 575

Chapter 2:1. “And if any man sin,” he says, “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ.” For so the Lord is an advocate with the Father for us. So also is there, an advocate, whom, after His+ assumption, HE+ vouchsafed to send.

Pg 576

Verse 22. “A liar” and “an antichrist, who denieth that Jesus is the

Christ.” For Jesus, Savior and Redeemer+, is also Christ the King.

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And now, PARACLETE ( PARAQLITA) from Tertullian, c. 210:

TERTULLIAN ANF vol 3 , Part 2, chapter 8 and 9 , pg. 603-604,

“Against Praxeas”

Septimius Tertullian (c. 160-240) , presbyter in the Church at Carthage, North Africa, wrote numerous  apologies, works against hereitcs, and exhortations to other Christians. ( pg. 639, Bercot's Dictionary. See References. ) 

The Word, therefore, is both always in the Father, as He says, “I am in the Father;” and is always with God, according to what is written, “And the Word was with God;” and never separate from the Father, or other than the Father, since “I and the Father are one.”

This will be the prolation [i.e., extension, never disconnected from the source, /  SrJH], taught by the truth, the guardian of the Unity, wherein we declare that the Son is a prolation from the Father, without being separated from Him.

For God sent forth the Word, as the Paraclete also declares, just as the root puts forth the tree, and the fountain the river, and the sun the ray. For these are probolai>, or emanations, of the substances from which they proceed.

I should not hesitate, indeed, to call the tree the son or offspring of the root, and the river of the fountain, and the ray of the sun; because every original source is a parent, and everything which issues from the origin is an offspring.

Much more is (this true of) the Word of God, who has actually received as His own peculiar designation the name of Son. But still the tree is not severed from the root, nor the river from the fountain, nor the ray from the sun; nor, indeed, is the Word separated from God.

Following, therefore, the form of these analogies, I confess that I call God and His Word — the Father and His Son — two. For the root and the tree are distinctly two things, but correlatively joined; the fountain and the river are also two forms, but indivisible; so likewise the sun and the ray are two forms, but coherent ones.

Everything which proceeds from something else must needs be second to that from which it proceeds, without being on that account separated: Where, however, there is a second, there must be two; and where there is a third, there must be three.

Now the Spirit indeed is third from God and the Son; just as the fruit of the tree is third from the root, or as the stream out of the river is third from the fountain, or as the apex of the ray is third from the sun.

Nothing, however, is alien from that original source whence it derives its own properties.

In like manner the Trinity, flowing down from the Father through intertwined and connected steps, does not at all disturb the Monarchy, whilst it at the same time guards the state of the Economy.

CHAPTER 9

THE CATHOLIC [ i.e. universal, not Roman / SrJH ] RULE OF FAITH EXPOUNDED IN SOME OF ITS POINTS. ESPECIALLY IN THE UNCONFUSED DISTINCTION OF THE SEVERAL PERSONS OF THE BLESSED TRINITY

Bear always in mind that this is the rule of faith which I profess; by it I testify that the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit are inseparable from each other, and so will you know in what sense this is said.

Now, observe, my assertion is that the Father is one, and the Son one, and the Spirit one, and that They are distinct from Each Other.

This statement is taken in a wrong sense by every uneducated as well as every perversely disposed person, as if it predicated a diversity, in such a sense as to imply a separation among the Father, and the SON+, and the Spirit.

I am, moreover, obliged to say this, when (extolling the Monarchy at the expense of the Economy) they contend for the identity of the Father and Son and Spirit, that it is not by way of diversity that the Son differs from the Father, but by distribution: it is not by division that HE+ is different, but by distinction; because THE FATHER is not the same as the SON+, since they differ one from the other in the mode of their being.

For the Father is the entire substance, but the Son is a derivation and portion of the whole, as He Himself acknowledges: “My Father is greater than I.” In the Psalm His inferiority is described as being “a little lower than the angels.”

Thus the Father is distinct from the Son, being greater than the Son, inasmuch as He who begets is one, and He who is begotten is another; He, too, who sends is one, and He who is sent is another; and He, again, who makes is one, and He through whom the thing is made is another.

Happily the Lord Himself+ employs this expression of the person of the Paraclete, so as to signify not a division or severance, but a disposition (of mutual relations in the Godhead);

for HE+ says, “I+ will pray the Father, and HE shall send you another Comforter.... even the Spirit of truth,”  [John 14:16, 17] thus making the Paraclete distinct from Himself+, even as we say that the SON+ is also distinct from THE FATHER; so that He showed a third degree in the Paraclete, as we believe the second degree is in the SON+, by reason of the order observed in the Economy.

Besides, does not the very fact that they have the distinct names of Father and Son amount to a declaration that they are distinct in personality?

For, of course, all things will be what their names represent them to be; and what they are and ever will be, that will they be called; and the distinction indicated by the names does not at all admit of any confusion, because there is none in the things which they designate.

“Yes is yes, and no is no; for what is more than these, cometh of evil.”

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>>> REFERENCES for Quotes from the Ante-Nicene Fathers (ANF)

NOTE: Material is from the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volumes 1-10,  American Edition ( a reprint of Christian Literature Publishing Co. 1886), 2nd printing 1995, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA. ISBN 1-56563-087-4

Some supplemental information and dates are from: David W. Bercot, editor, A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, Peabody, MA, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1998. ISBN 978-1-56563-870-9

Digital Copy from: The Master Christian Library Version 8 CD-ROM 2000 Ages Softward, Rio, WI  www.ageslibrary.com

NOTE: This Digital Copy of the ANF does NOT contain any Introductory Notes from the translators and editors, no footnotes, and no elucidations and comments at the end of the books, although these helpful items are contained in the hard copy listed above.

~  ~  ~

NOTE: Comments in green are from the Order of the GOOD SHEPHERD+; extra words in black are in the text from the editors. Color added to pronouns, etc., for clarity.