The canon—not the text—of the Septuagint dates back only to the fourth century, to the area of, you guessed it, Alexandria.

The canon—not the text—of the Septuagint comes from sources like Codex Alexandrinus, Sinaiticus, and Vaticanus.

The canon—not the text—because the Septuagint text, Fr. Paul explains, was rendered by the original authors (or their followers), who, unlike Philo and Origen, were committed to teaching Scripture, not using it for their own gain.

We pretend that political violence is shocking or surprising. However, early Christian leaders, Fr. Paul continues, influenced by Platonic philosophy, behaved exactly like Herod and the Sadducees.

Like politicians.

They behaved like Netanyahu. But long before Netanyahu, there were others.

Men like Emperor Justinian did their genocidal work quickly, by hand. They did not take seven months and did not require advanced technology.

Influenced by Platonic thought, these same men loved the idea of a “divine spark” in each person.

And why not?

If you want to be a god, what better way than to embrace a vast intellectual, literary, religious, and cultural tradition that leads to the undue adulation of human beings and then use that library to undermine the biblical teaching and distort the Christian message?

Western values, anyone? Or perhaps an ice cream cone will suffice.

(Episode 324)