Saturday, September 29, 2012

Greek Seers


From the current issue of a periodical here called Young People, we learned a most interesting thing: that the ancient Hebrews were not the only ones expecting the coming of Messiah. The ancient Greeks also believed He would come and expressed this belief in their philosophy and poetry.

Indeed, Sibylla said that Christ* would be born of a virgin bride; and Pythagoras, that He would have the form of a man. Plato said that this God-man would be hanged high, which implies He would be crucified. The words of Archytas, from the city of Tarant in Sicily, astonish us: “There is one God with three Hypostases: Father, Son and Spirit Holy.” Apollonius also spoke similarly. In ancient Greece they often asked the question, “When will He come?”, that is, the Christ. The reply Aeschylus gave was, “After 13 generations, He will come.” How did he know this? God was revealing all these things to them.

Theodoropoulos, Ioannis, “Poetry Today and in Other Times” in Young People Athens, July-August 2012, p. 22

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The Greek “Christos” translates the Hebrew “Moshiach’, or Messiah. They both mean “the Anointed One.”

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of the first stanza of the Dies Irae.