Therapists (sect)

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The therapists ( ancient Greek Θεραπευταί Therapeutaí , plural to θεραπευτής therapeutḗs "the attendant, servant, caretaker, (God) admirer") were a group of Jewish hermits in Egypt from the beginning of the 1st century BC who turned to mysticism . Chr.

The source of what we know about the therapists is Philo of Alexandria , who lived in the first half of the 1st century AD. He describes the therapists in the text De Vita contemplativa ("On the contemplative life"; Greek title Περὶ βίου θεωρητικοῦ ἢ ἱκετῶν ἀρετῆς τὸ τέταρτον Perí bíou theōretikoó ḗ iketṓn t aretartḗson ). The title means something like, about the visionary life or the contemplative life.

The therapists, along with the Essenes, are considered to be the forerunners of Christian monasticism , but are also counted among the ancient Gnostics and Gnosis . Their religious ideas were considered heresy within Judaism .

Some historians have also hypothesized that the term Θεραπευταί for the pre-Christian monks and nuns in Egypt ( Ptolemies ) was possibly a deformation of the Sanskrit / Pali word " Theravāda ", a form of Buddhism that was completely different from the ideas of a Buddhist Asceticism was permeated.

Way of life and way of thinking

According to Philon, they can be found in many places around the world, including in non-Greek countries, but they are particularly numerous in the area around Alexandria. The therapists gave away all their belongings and withdrew from their families to the gardens outside the cities. Their settlements were mainly above the mareotic lake near Alexandria . The hermits lived ascetic and celibate individually in huts, provided only with the bare essentials of food and clothing. In their community men and women were allowed to have equal rights, the female members called themselves "Therapeutrids" ( Θεραπευτρίδες Therapeutrídes , singular Θεραπευτρίς Therapeutrís ).

The therapists tried to purify themselves by abstaining from wine and meat and thereby come closer to God:

“Your table remains clean of meat, instead you offer bread as food (...) Reason advises you to live in sobriety. Wine is a poison that creates madness, but delicious delicacies stimulate insatiable creatures to desire. "

- Philo of Alexandria

There was an autochthonous, aversive attitude towards sexuality , which resulted from the religious and spiritual group identity .

The location of (today's) "Lake Mariout" or "Mariotis Lake" southeast of Alexandria . Map from 1861

After Philon, the therapists sought solitude and residential areas outside the city walls in gardens or on remote properties. They are said to have preferred to settle in front of the gates of Alexandria, above the Mareotic Sea, where they also lived near an important Egyptian traffic junction.

Alexandria around 30 BC In Roman times; southeast of the "Mariotis Lake" ( mareotis lacus ). The city was based on a rectangular road network. The long Kanopische Strasse ran through the city in an east-west direction; all the important buildings were erected here. The most important transverse axis was a dam that connected the mainland with the Pharos peninsula .

They prayed twice a day each for the rising and setting of the sun . The morning prayer served as a request that 'heavenly light' might fill her spirit, while the evening prayer, the intercession, was for her soul to be free from the calming of the senses and their objects. The time between prayers was devoted to asceticism and spiritual exercises.

Philo described the posture of the therapists when they followed the lecture, while they hid their hands in their robes, the right hand between chest and chin, the left hand pulled back to the waist.

On the seventh day (compare " Sabbath " and " Uposatha ") they come together for a communal meeting, and then the requirements of the communion would also be relaxed. Furthermore, they had a different festival calendar compared to the believing Jews ( Jewish festivals ).

Women and men are also involved in the festivities together, even if they were sitting separately. Since the therapists were of Jewish origin, it can be assumed that the seven-day rhythm was preserved in its original form. According to Detering (2018), Thundy (1993), Lookwood (2010), Mansel (1875) and others. a. the community of therapists was determined by Indian or Buddhist attitudes and shaped the Jewish Torah exegesis.

Every seven times seven days, on the eve of their solemn festival (on the fiftieth day), women and men gathered for a holy meal, which in turn was preceded by prayer, chanting and reading of the scriptures in order to initiate the solemn festival. Since dancing and singing were part of the usual daily routine at night, the sensual perception was now much more in the foreground and pushed the contemplative element into the background. The meal on the eve of the fiftieth day also consisted only of bread and salt. Hyssop was added to the salt . During the meal, the therapists did not allow themselves to be served by slaves , rather novices from the order took over the table service.

Animal sacrifices were rejected by them. They despised greed and possessions. Plain white clothing was preferred. A connection to God is only attainable through the sanctification of the spirit, through self-control and study. In thinking they were close to the earlier Pythagoreans . The therapists rejected slavery.

Connection to Buddhism

Between the Roman Empire , the Greco-Roman Occident and India there had been close trade connections via the Silk Road , Frankincense Route and the sea route to Egypt ( Roman-Indian relations , Graeco Buddhism ). The Silk Road, for example, represented the most extensive network of roads and paths in the ancient world. The regions that lay along this trade route were characterized by a consistently high volume of trade and the increasing spread of Buddhism. Indian tombstones from the time of the Ptolemies have been found in Alexandria, Egypt . Under Ptolemy II Philadelphus , he was in contact with King Ashoka , Alexandria experienced a strong boom. For the Ptolemies there was a great interest in an exchange of goods with the Indian subcontinent. In the process, not only the land route but, to a greater extent, the sea route across the Red Sea to the mouth of the Indus and on to southern India developed significantly.

So wrote Clement of Alexandria in Chapter I, 15/6 of his Stromata that the followers of the Buddha (his ancient Greek Βούττα Boútta ) are known: "The Indians are the followers of the teachings of the Buddha, they superior sanctity because of his all as a Have honored God. "

According to Thundy (1993) the term θεραπευτής , according to his hypothesis , goes back to the Sanskrit word " Theravada " ( Sanskrit स्थविरवाद sthaviravāda "the teaching [ vāda ] of the ancients [ thera ]"). By language change the Indian word with is consonant "ʊ" and "ð" by Grimm's been converted into a Greek "π" and "τ". He sees evidence of this, among other things, in the fact that with Clemens von Alexandria , a Greek theologian and church writer , “ Buddha ” always appears in the spelling “Boutta” ( Βοττα ).

After Lockwood (2010/2018/2019) is a cause of sound shift the initiative of the Buddhist , Indian Emperor Asoka (who ruled about 268 - . 232 BC. ) Was the first religious missions or Buddhist monks to Asia Minor , the Seleucids - , Ptolemaic and Antigonid empires who were supposed to spread the word of the peaceful Buddhist message (see also edicts of the Aśoka and the third Buddhist council ). One hypothesis is that the θεραπευτής were Buddha monks ( bhikkhu ) who ran monasteries in Egypt a hundred years before the birth of Jesus under the name “Theraputti” (therapists) as missionaries to the Indian ruler Ashoka, who had converted to Buddhism. According to the inscriptions of the 13th Great Edict of Aśoka, Ptolemy II Philadelphus stood with the third Indian king of the Mauryas, Aśoka, around 250 BC. Chr. In contact. The latter sent "religious commissioners" ( dharmamahāmātra ) to the kingdom of Ptolemy ( Tulamaya ), (so to Ptolemy II Philadelphos (ruler from 285-247 BC) and Ptolemy III Euergetes I (ruler from 246–222 BC) . Chr.)).

In the Dipavamsa ( Pali दीपवंस dīpavaṁsa Island Chronicle), it contains the oldest version of a chronicle of the history of the Sinhalese . It goes back to the records of several anonymous authors from the Buddhist monastery ( Maha Viharaya ) in Anuradhapura . The Dipavamsa was thought to have been around since the 4th century BC. Written in BC. A later chronicle of the Mahavamsa (Pali महावंस mahāvaṁsa "great (Maha) chronicle (Vamsa)") is a version of a chronicle of the history of the Sinhala people based on the Dipavamsa. It was written by a monk of the Buddhist monastery (Maha Viharaya) named Mahanama in the reign of King Mahasena of Anuradhapura (274-301 BC) in Anuradhapura. Both the Dipavamsa and the Mahavamsa report on the conversion efforts of the Yavanas (Sanskrit यवन yavana "Greeks") under Aśoka.

Mansel (1875) originally argued that the therapists or contemplative monks of Egypt were supposed to have emerged from a union of Alexandrian Judaism with the rules and ways of life of adherents of Buddhist ideas. Even Peter von Bohlen (1830) pursued this thesis, where u. a. he referred to Jean Leclerc .

A circumstance that Marcus (1952), an expert on Hellenistic Judaism , also considered.

Although current historical research considers the presence of Buddhist groups in antiquity in the eastern Mediterranean to be very likely , the Greek city of "Alasandra" mentioned in the Mahāvaṃsa ("Great Chronicle") is not the same locality around the it was within the framework of the therapists (the Egyptian Alexandria), rather the majority opinion is that Alexandria on the Caucasus , which is about 150 km north of today's Kabul in Afghanistan , should be assumed here. Also the Alexandria Arachosia , today's Kandahar (Afghanistan) is suspected.

Connection to the Essenes

The group of the Essenes , it is believed , had settled in around 165 BC. Formed at a time that began with the end of the Maccabees' revolt from 168 to 164 BC. Went hand in hand. At that time the Maccabees, under the protagonists Mattatias and his son Judas Maccabeus , ended the rule of the Seleucid Empire , under their monarch Antiochus IV , over Judea and reintroduced traditional Jewish temple service . The Essenes tried to keep away from the influence of Hellenism (in questions of ritual purity ) , which was perceived as unfavorable, by spatial separation from their social environment . The idea of ​​a messianic imminence within the group was also significant. In addition to the Essenes and the Qumran group, the Nazora group should also be mentioned. They would have been close to the Essenes in their way of life and views. Since the term "Essener" does not appear in any Qumran text, it is assumed that the term is not a separate name. An internal Greek derivation of the term “Essener” from “Asidaioi” (Ασιδιαίοι or Asidean ), the Greek form of “Hasidim” (plural of Hebrew חָסִיד ḥāsîd , German 'pious' ). But even this is not a self-designation in the Qumran texts. In the statements of Pliny the Elder, according to which the Essenes are said to have lived on the west bank of the Dead Sea, it is assumed that the inhabitants of Qumran were a subgroup of the Essenes.

They were probably divided into two sub-forms. One group lived in strict celibacy and was organized as an almost purely male order. A possible place of their work was Khirbet Qumran . However, there are said to have been offshoots on the southwest hill in Jerusalem and in the Batanea Judea , i.e. beyond the Jordan. The other group of Essenes was not celibate and was not separated from the rest of the population. The first group consisted almost without exception of men who had decided to lead an ascetic, predominantly celibate and almost propertyless life. The ancient reports about the Essenes can be found in Flavius ​​Josephus , Pliny the Elder and Philo of Alexandria. It is important here that none of the ancient authors describe their stories about the Essenes from their own perspective.

In his study of the ancient Jewish religious parties, Gehring (2012) worked out the differences between the Essenes and the therapists with regard to their theology / philosophy, their social behavior, their influence and their rules / customs in a tabular overview. Although both groups are very similar, according to Gehring there are differences or corresponding statements are missing (according to the ancient authors) in one or the other community:

  • Theology / Philosophy: The Essenes (E) assume a strict predestination that everything is determined by fate. The therapists (T) make no statements on this. E assume an immortal soul, T here the immortal soul is indicated. E a judgment takes place in the hereafter, a new life after death, T the new life begins already by entering the community. E the soul floats towards heaven or has to suffer, T the soul would be in heaven through contemplation, only the body is on earth.
  • Social behavior, influence: No relevant differences between E and T.
  • Rules / customs: E no women, T men and women. E ritual baths, strict Sabbath law, T no requirements. T Ecstasy and special festival every fifty days with clapping, singing and dancing.

Judgment on the church fathers, gnostics

The group of therapists are mentioned in the patristic works, for example in Eusebius of Caesarea and Epiphanios of Salamis . The latter devoted a detailed section in his work to the Alexandrian religious order.

Hermann Detering also saw the Gnostic Basilides from Alexandria being influenced by Buddhist ideas (see Buddhism in Mediterranean antiquity ).

swell

literature

Web links

  • Ullrich R. Kleinhempel: Traces of buddhist presence in Alexandria; Philo and the "Therapeutae". Pp. 3-31 academia.edu

Individual evidence

  1. ^ René Gehring : The ancient Jewish religious parties. P. 372, footnote 1100.
  2. ^ René Gehring: The ancient Jewish religious parties. P. 385.
  3. ^ René Gehring: The ancient Jewish religious parties. P. 386.
  4. ^ René Gehring: The ancient Jewish religious parties. P. 392.
    Compare samādhi , which together with wisdom ( prajna ) and virtue ( sila ) forms the eightfold path in Buddhism .
  5. ↑ Hermann Detering: The Gnostic Interpretation of the Exodus and the Beginnings of the Joshua-Jesus Cult. Buddha, Joshua, Jesus and the way to the other bank. Independently published, Leipzig 2018, ISBN 978-1-980796-05-3 , p. 55.
  6. ↑ There is no seven-day rhythm in Buddhism, the Uposatha ( Sanskrit उपवसथ upavasatha ) is a day of inner contemplation, contemplation and renewal of Dhamma practice, it is celebrated every five to seven days. On the Uposatha days, literally fasting days, Buddhists gather to meditate with one another. Lectures by bhikkhu and bhikkhuni on the Dhamma have an important meaning. In its function it corresponds to the Jewish Sabbath.
  7. ^ René Gehring: The ancient Jewish religious parties. Essenes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots and therapists. (= Writings of Research. Volume 2: Historical Theology). Bogenhofen Castle Seminar, St. Peter / Hart 2012, ISBN 978-3-900160-86-9 , pp. 396–403; 419
  8. ↑ Hermann Detering: The Gnostic Interpretation of the Exodus and the Beginnings of the Joshua-Jesus Cult. Buddha, Joshua, Jesus and the way to the other bank. Independently published, Leipzig 2018, ISBN 978-1-980796-05-3 , p. 54; 62
  9. ↑ Zacharias P. Thundy : Buddha and Christ: Nativity Stories and Indian Traditions. Brill, Leiden 1993, ISBN 90-04-09741-4 , pp. 206-208.
  10. ^ Michael Lockwood, Buddhism's Relation to Christianity: A Miscellaneous Anthology with Occasional Comment by Michael Lookwood. TR Publications, Chennai (India) 2010, p. 14.
  11. ^ Henry Longueville Mansel , Joseph Barber Lightfoot : The Gnostic Heresies of the First and Second Centuries. J. Murray, London 1875, p. 31 f.
  12. ↑ Hermann Detering : The Gnostic Interpretation of the Exodus and the Beginnings of the Joshua-Jesus Cult. Buddha, Joshua, Jesus and the way to the other bank. Independently published, Leipzig 2018, ISBN 978-1-980796-05-3 , p. 42.
  13. ^ René Gehring: The ancient Jewish religious parties. P. 420.
  14. ^ René Gehring: The ancient Jewish religious parties. Pp. 440-445.
  15. ↑ Hermann Detering: The Gnostic Interpretation of the Exodus and the Beginnings of the Joshua-Jesus Cult. Buddha, Joshua, Jesus and the way to the other bank. Independently published, Leipzig 2018, ISBN 978-1-980796-05-3 , p. 43.
  16. ^ Hubert Frankemölle : Early Judaism and Early Christianity. Prehistory-course-effects (4th century BC to 4th century AD). Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-17-019528-X , pp. 69-76.
  17. ↑ Buddhism sees itself as a 'spiritual path of practice'. Buddhism from its origins was fairly open to whether or not its adepts worshiped 'gods'.
  18. ^ William Woodthorpe Tarn : The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambridge University Press, 2010, ISBN 978-1-108-00941-6 , p. 370.
  19. ↑ Heinz Gerster : Budjas Buddhists. Ways and Worlds of Early Buddhism. Elster, Zurich 2015, ISBN 978-3-906065-33-5 , pp. 26–28
  20. ↑ Clemens von Alexandria : Stromata I, 15/6 unifr.ch .
  21. ↑ Oliver Freiberger: On the comparison between Buddhist and Christian religious orders. ZfR 4, 1996, 83-104 puls.uni-potsdam.de
  22. ↑ Zacharias P. Thundy : Buddha and Christ: Nativity Stories and Indian Traditions. Brill, Leiden 1993, ISBN 90-04-09741-4 , pp. 206-208; 245 (books.google.de)
  23. ^ "Theravada" (teaching of the elders), also known as the southern tradition, traces its roots back to the community of elders (Sthavirada). They only accepted the Tripitaka (three baskets of discourses preserved in the form of the Pali canon ) as the legal basis. In Theravada the goal is to become an arhat (worthy one). An arhat is someone who has attained enlightenment ( bodhi ) and is no longer reborn through attaining nirvana . In early Buddhism no distinction is made between the Buddha's enlightenment and the enlightenment of his disciples.
  24. ↑ Hermann Detering : Buddha, Josua, Jesus and the way to the other bank. Independently published, ISBN 978-1-980796-05-3 , 2018, p. 49.
  25. ↑ Elmar R. Gruber , Holger Kersten : The Ur-Jesus: the Buddhist sources of Christianity. Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main 1996, p. 249 f.
  26. ^ Michael Lockwood , Buddhism's Relation to Christianity: A Miscellaneous Anthology with Occasional Comment by Michael Lookwood. TR Publications, Chennai (India) 2010, p. 14.
  27. ↑ Michael Lookwood: How Crypto-Buddhism Won the West. 2018 on academia.edu , here p. 152 f.
  28. ↑ Michael Lockwood (ed.): The Unkown Buddha of Christianity. The Crypto-Buddhism of the Essenes (Therapeutæ and Qumranites). Tambaram Research Associates Tambaram, Chennai 2019, ( [1] on academia.edu) here p. 65
  29. ↑ Michael Witzel : The old India. Volume 2304 of Beck'sche Reihe, CH Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-48004-7 , p. 83.
  30. ↑ Heinz Greter: Budjas Buddhisten - Ways and Worlds of early Buddhism: About the cult of a great sage. Elster Verlag, Zurich 2015, ISBN 978-3-906065-56-4 .
  31. ↑ see also Buddhist order rules
  32. ↑ Elmar R. Gruber, Holger Kersten: Der Ur-Jesus. The Buddhist Sources of Christianity. (Ullstein Sachbuch: 35590) Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main 1996, ISBN 3-548-35590-0 , p. 233.
  33. ^ Henry Longueville Mansel , Joseph Barber Lightfoot : The Gnostic Heresies of the First and Second Centuries. J. Murray, London 1875, p. 31 f.
  34. ↑ Peter von Bohlen : The ancient India, with special consideration for Egypt. Vol. 1, Brothers Bornträger, Königsberg 1830, p. 370 f. ( books.google.de on books.google.de)
  35. ↑ Ralph Marcus : The Sebomenoi in Josephus. Jewish Social Studies , Vol. 14, No. 3 (Jul., 1952), p. 247.
  36. ↑ Mahavamsa (chap. XXIX) [2]
  37. ↑ see also Buddhism in Afghanistan
  38. ↑ Ann Heirman , Stephan Peter Bumbacher : The Spread of Buddhism. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 8 Uralic & Central Asian Studies, Brill, Leiden 2007, ISBN 978-9-04742-006-4 , p. 139 ( [3] on books.google.de)
  39. ↑ Norbert Copray : The Messiah, the pious scene and the kingdom of God. Z. Critical Christian 4 (1995), p. 23.
  40. ↑ Bellum Judaicum 2,119-166; Antiquitates Judaicae 13, 171-173; 15.371 f .; 18, 11-25
  41. ↑ Naturalis historia 5.73
  42. ↑ Quod omnis probus liber sit 72–91
  43. ^ René Gehring: The ancient Jewish religious parties. Essenes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots and therapists. (= Writings of Research. Volume 2: Historical Theology). Bogenhofen Castle Seminar, St. Peter / Hart 2012, ISBN 978-3-900160-86-9 , pp. 439–451
  44. ↑ Hans P. Lichtenberger : Article: Essener / Therapists. Religion Past and Present (RGG) 4 2.1590–1592.
  45. ↑ Hermann Detering: The Gnostic Interpretation of the Exodus and the Beginnings of the Joshua-Jesus Cult. Buddha, Joshua, Jesus and the way to the other bank. Independently published, Leipzig 2018, ISBN 978-1-980796-05-3 , p. 44.
  46. ^ Hermann Detering : Traces of Indian Philosophy in Basilides. Part 1: Basilides References to Sāṃkhya ( [4] on radikalkritik.de); Part2: [5]
  47. ↑ Christoph Elsas : Tradition and Translation: On the problem of the intercultural translatability of religious phenomena. Festschrift for Carsten Colpe on his 65th birthday. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-1108-6469-4 , p. 505
  48. ↑ Georg Feuerstein : The Yoga Tradition. History, literature, philosophy & practice. Yoga Verlag, Wiggensbach 2009, ISBN 978-3-935001-06-9 , p. 275