IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME

I read something interesting today that kind of upsets Robert's take on Jesus being a one-off and the Catholic Church being the "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church".

This old Greek saying came to mind*:

“The excess of a virtue is a vice.”

  – Greek Proverb

Mind you, this old Greek saying might be more applicable:

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.”

        – Plato

This is what I read:

THE ANCIENT GREEK JESUS CHRIST : APOLLONIUS OF TYNA

Which is about a doppelgänger for Jesus who is said to have lived around the same time, did the same things, was put on trial and disappeared in mysterious circumstances - maybe ascended into heaven.

The Jesus followers had better artists than Apollonius's acolytes.

To save readers from trawling through the article which doesn't have any references to Robert and very few pictures, here's a summary for you:

• Greek philosopher Apollonius of Tyana from the Roman province of Cappadocia, who lived in the first century CE, is often linked with Jesus Christ. His amazing story that parallels Jesus has raised controversy among historians and theologians for centuries. He was Jesus Christ’s contemporary and lived circa 3 BC to around 97 CE. Many people at the time believed he was a divine figure who could save humanity.  They both are said to have ascended to Heaven. There are stories of both performing miracles. They were both spiritual teachers.

• Before he was born, his mother had a visitor from heaven who told her that her son would not be a mere mortal but in fact would be divine. His birth was accompanied by unusual divine signs in heaven. As an adult, he left his home to engage on an itinerant preaching ministry. He gathered a number of followers around him who became convinced that he was no ordinary human, but that he was the Son of God.

• He performed miracles  like healing the sick, casting out demons, and raising the dead. At the end of his life, he aroused opposition among the ruling authorities of Rome and was put on trial. But they could not kill his soul. He is said to have ascended to heaven and continues to live there.

• To prove that he lived on after dying, he appeared again to at least one of his doubting followers, who became convinced that in fact, he remains with us even now. Later, some of his followers wrote books about him, and we can still read about him today.

• Apollonius defied the bloodiest tyrants who ever sat on the Roman throne—Nero and his successor, Domitian. Apollonius fearlessly traveled from one end of the Roman Empire to the other, inciting revolutions against the despots, and establishing egalitarian communities among his followers, who bore the name of Essenes, early Christians.

• Jesus-like miracles performed by the Greek philosopher. Among the miracles that were attributed to him by Philostratus, was saving the city of Ephesus from a plague. It is also claimed that he brought the daughter of a Roman Senator back to life. In one case, he stopped a follower from marrying a woman who turned out to be a “lamia,” a type of disguised demon, and, in doing so, saved his life.

Spooky eh?

* I'm lying. I had to do a Google search to find it.