Friday, June 12, 2009

On Aristobulos as the father of John Mark

I just discovered that it is not just the Coptic tradition that says these things:

The Catholic Book of Saints says the follow:
St. Aristobulus
Feastday: March 15

1st century
Martyred disciple of Christ, one of the seventy-two sent out into the world by the early Church. He is possibly mentioned by St. Paul and is identified with Zebedee, the father of Sts. James and John.

THE GREEK ORTHODOX TRADITION SAYS THAT:

Saint Aristibule holds a special place in the history of the 'Celtic' (read, Insular) Churches, ie the Church in Britain. The story goes that there was a merchant named Zebedee, who was cousin to Herod the Great and so also had a public Greek name which ran in that family: Aristobulus [EMPHASIS MINE!!!!!!!]. He was supposedly born in Cyprus, had spent time in Alexandria, and had two sons in the Galilee: James and John. Both of these became followers of Jesus Christ, amongst his Apostles.

Aristobulus himself became a believer as well, and was amongst the 70 (72) Apostles sent out by Christ. After the crucifixion, his familial connections and being a known follower of Christ led to his arrest by Herod, and him being sent in chains to Rome - where he was the first Christian in that city. He helped build that local church from the ground up, and was there before Ss. Peter & Paul came for their martyrdoms from Antioch, the See of Peter.

THERE IS ALSO A COIN:

One extremely interesting coin was known to have been issued by Aristobulus. On one side is shown the head of Aristobulus with the inscription OF KING ARISTOBULUS in Greek. On the other side is the head of a woman wearing a crown. surrounded by the inscription QUEEN SALOME.

Aristobulus and Salome, NO KNOWN DATE Bronze. ΒΑCΙΛΕΩC ΑΡΙCΤΟ- ΒΟΥΛΟΥ, rev. ΒΑΙCΙΛΙCCΗC CΑΛΩΜΗC, with portraits. (Imhoof, Por- trätköpfe, Pl. VI. 21 and 22).

HMMMMM. SO SALOME IS SAID TO BE THE MOTHER OF AGRIPPA AMONG THE COPTS AND ARISTOBULUS IS HIS FATHER AND MARK IS ALSO CALLED JOHN AND ARISTOBULUS IS ALSO ZEBEDEE ...


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