medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
what follows below is yet another indication --as if another were needed-- of
what an asset this list possesses in having John Dillon as a member.
a thorough and learnéd response to a reasonably difficult inquiry from
another list member.
John was kind enough to go out of his way to find me at last week's Zoo
(which, i noted, has really become a Zoo) and introduce himself.
thanks, John.
c
------ Original Message ------
Received: Fri, 21 May 2010 01:24:07 AM EDT
From: John Dillon <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] saints of the day 20. May
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> On Thursday, May 20, 2010, at 7:43 pm, Jim Bugslag wrote apropos Lucifer of
Cagliari (d. ca. 371):
>
> > Please allow me to introduce a bit of a problem here. Is it just me, or
is this a particularly weird name for a saint of wealth and taste?
> > Isn't the devil called Lucifer in the Bible itself? How would a Christian
of that time end up with a name like that? It's sort of like an American
family naming their child Osama, or something, isn't it?
> > Cheers,
> > Jim
>
> 1. I'm not aware of any passage in the Bible where the Devil is actually
called Lucifer (or the equivalent in Hebrew or in Greek). In the apostrophe
at Isaiah 14:12:
> http://bible.cc/isaiah/14-12.htm
> http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/poly/isa014.htm
> the prophet's addressee (_Lucifer_ in the Vulgate and in many
English-language translations) is apparently a Babylonian king. Though
Christian exegesis that's at least as old as Tertullian and Origen commonly
interprets this as a reference to Satan, the text itself would not seem to
advance such an identification.
>
> 2. _Lucifer_ (literally 'light-bringer') is a common Latin term for the
morning star or daystar (Venus as observed matutinally). In the Vulgate, for
example, it's used not only at Isaiah 14:12 but also (lower-case) at 2 Peter
1:19:
> http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/poly/pe2001.htm
> where the referent is surely not Satan.
>
> 3. Lucifer of Cagliari's parents, if they knew their Bible, would thus have
had no reason to suppose that this synonym for the morning star (if that's
what the Old Latin text used in their community actually read where the later
St. Jerome uses _Lucifer_/_lucifer_) would automatically imply Satan.
>
> 4. If, as seems reasonable to suppose, Lucifer of Cagliari's parents lived
in a community where Lucifer (or some non-Latin equivalent, e.g. Greek
Φωσφόρος [Phosphoros]) already existed in the onomastic repertoire,
the Biblical uses might have had little or no influence on how they named
their son the future bishop (or, if L.'s parents were not Christian, on L.'s
later choice to retain this name). Greek Φωσφόρος and Latin
_Phosphorus_ occur as divine names in e.g. Syria and Dacia (we are uninformed
as to L.'s ancestry) and a human Lucifer the son of P[h]osporus is attested in
a Latin inscription from the city of Rome (_CIL_, VI. 8724).
>
> Best,
> John Dillon
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