Gospel According to Seneca
The Gospel According to Seneca is a modern pseudepigrapha, a book written in a style similar to a bible, claiming to be of similar age, but written at a much later time. The gospel was allegedly re-constructed by Livio C. Stecchini and Jan Sammer.[1] The play purports to be a lost work by Seneca the Younger. The play is called Nazarenus, named likely after Nazareth. A manuscript has not been provided so it is unknown is this is a forgery or a real work. The gospel is a passion play on Jesus Christ.
Contents[edit]
The play is written in five acts.[2] The Gospel begins with Jesus' indictment. This reflects what happened in the canonical gospels where Jesus' gets arrested in the middle of the night. It depicts Jesus before Annas, then him before Caiaphas, the abuse Jesus receives, then Jesus before the Jewish Senate.[2] The Act concludes with the Jewish Senate giving Jesus an Indictment and him being sent to Pontius Pilate.[3]
The second act is the trial of Jesus under Pontius Pilate. The gospel then talks about the coronation, the mocking of Jesus being a king and concludes with the verdict of Jesus' trial.[2]
The third act is about the Crucifixion of Jesus and the death of Jesus. The play then talks about Mary Magdelene, the poisoning of Jesus and the last words of Jesus. The play concludes with the crucifixion eclipse.[2]
The fourth act is about the burial of Jesus. It talks about Joseph of Arimathea donating his tomb, the final wounds of Jesus and the official burial.[2]
The final and fifth act is about the resurrection of Jesus, Jesus meeting Mary Magdelene first, the empty tomb and the chorus of the play leaving.[2]
Authenticity[edit]
Raymond Brown has stated that the Gospel of John has some touches of a great drama in some of the selections.[4] It is possible that the Gospel of John was based off Nazarenus. However no evidence of this being true has appeared, and no play by the name of Nazarenus has ever been listed under Seneca. Brown only says this of John's Gospel but says nothing of the other canonical and non-canonical gospels.
The opening of the gospel states that all the canonical gospels where written in a generation that did not wish to write about the details of Jesus' life. However this is in-correct. Dating of the canonical gospels has let them to be written in at least the first century CE. Luke dated back 75 to 100 AD[5] about, Mark dated about 70 AD,[6] Matthew originated about first century AD,[7] and John was finished at 90-100 AD.[8]
In Seneca's De Ira, he mentions six men who came to royalty but died in the process.[9] The last man mentioned was a person who died on a cross. Since all the men go unnamed it is possible that Seneca expected all his readers to know who these men are. Since Seneca was alive during the time Jesus died and all the commotion it cause it is entirely possible that Seneca knew who Jesus was. Another side of the agrument is that Jesus didn't die to anger of people, Jesus died because his teachings were different and he predicted it.
A longer version of the argument is presented at http://www.tektonics.org/qt/seneca.html
References[edit]
- ↑ Nazarenus a contribution to the reconstruction of Seneca’s lost play Livio C. Stecchini & Jan Sammer. http://www.nazarenus.com/
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Nazarenus: Table of Contents = http://www.nazarenus.com/0-1-contents.htm
- ↑ Nazarenus: Act 1 - Before the Jewish Senate http://www.nazarenus.com/1-4-senate.htm [See Bottom]
- ↑ Raymond Brown, The Gospel According to John in The Anchor Bible, vol. 19b (New York, 1970), pp. 858f.
- ↑ Theissen, Gerd and Annette Merz. The historical Jesus: a comprehensive guide. Fortress Press. 1998. translated from German (1996 edition). p. 24-27.
- ↑ "Theissen 1998. p. 24-27. Theissen, Gerd and Annette Merz. The historical Jesus: a comprehensive guide. Fortress Press. 1998. translated from German (1996 edition)."
- ↑ Duling, pp.298, 302. Duling, Dennis C. "The Gospel of Matthew"., in Aune, David E. (ed.) (2010). The Blackwell companion to the New Testament. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4051-0825-6.
- ↑ Harris 1985 pp. 302–10. "John. Harris, Stephen L. (1985). Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield."
- ↑ Seneca, On Anger (De Ira), I.ii.2.
External links[edit]
- nazarenus.com The site where the play was first posted.
- http://www.tektonics.org/qt/seneca.html A review of the Gospel, that argues that it is false.
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