Paul and the school of Tyrannus

Writing about Paul at Ephesus, Mary Baker Eddy writes: “During St. Paul's stay in that city — over two years — he labored in the synagogue, in the school of Tyrannus, and also in private houses.” (Message to The Mother Church for 1900, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 12:24–26 (to 1st .))

 

https://earlychurchhistory.org/beliefs-2/paul-in-ephesus-a-clash-of-cultures/ancient-ephesus-map/

Mrs. Eddy is referencing Acts 19:9: “But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.” 

Here is some information about Tyrannus from biblestudytools.com:

The presumption is that Tyrannus … was a Greek, and a public teacher of philosophy or rhetoric. (Smith’s Bible Dictionary)

And from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia entry:

TYRANNUS

ti-ran'-us (Turannos):

When the Jews of Ephesus opposed Paul's teaching in the synagogue, he withdrew, and, separating his followers, reasoned daily in the school of Tyrannus. "This continued for the space of two years" (Acts 19:9,10). D Syriac (Western text) adds after Tyrannus (Acts 19:9), "from the 5th hour unto the 10th." Schole [school] is the lecture-hall or teaching-room of a philosopher or orator, and such were to be found in every Greek city. Tyrannus may have been

(1) a Greek rhetorician or

(2) a Jewish rabbi.

(1) This is the common opinion, and many identify him with a certain Tyrannus, a sophist, mentioned by Suidas. Paul would thus appear to be one of the traveling rhetors [a teacher of rhetoric] of the time, who had hired such a hall to proclaim his own peculiar philosophy (Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, 246, 271 [published 1904]).

(2) Meyer thinks that as the apostle had not passed wholly to the Gentiles, and Jews still flocked to hear him, and also that as Tyrannus is not spoken of as a proselyte (sebomenos ton Theon), this schole is the beth Midrash [Wikipedia: A beth midrash is hall dedicated for Torah study, often translated as a "study hall." It is distinct from a synagogue (beth knesset)] of a Jewish rabbi. "Paul with his Christians withdrew from the public synagogue to the private synagogue of Tyrannus, where he and his doctrine were more secure from public annoyance" (Meyer, in the place cited.).

(3) Another view (Overbeck) is that the expression was the standing name of the place after the original owner.

S. F. Hunter

One is reminded of Julia Bartlett’s reminiscence in We Knew Mary Baker Eddy Expanded Edition Volume 1 (Christian Science Publishing Society) where she speaks of trying to set up a practice in Boston and searching for rooms in which to receive enquirers and patients. She says:

We had no difficulty in finding desirable rooms in a good locality and a readiness to receive us until it was learned we were Christian Scientists; then objections were made to taking us. Nothing was known of Christian Science, and it was looked upon with suspicion. When refused in one house, we would try another. We spent days in this way, hoping to find a place in Boston to do our work, but no one would receive us. (p. 51)

This is a thrilling read and it carries on with wonderful success being accomplished. The reader will be rewarded mightily when she/he comes to page 72 of the book: Christian Science proved in New Hampshire and Vermont in a spectacular fashion.

Joyce Voysey

Still the clamour

Recent readers of this blog will have noted a thread of thought involving music and listening, so we are delighted to expand on this topic by sharing a link to a blog post by Christian Science practitioner Annette Kreutziger-Herr. It's called "Like feeding a bird". 

So, with the kind permission of Annette, here is the link. Like feeding a bird - SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVES (kreutzigerherr.com)

Get ready to get invisible!

Julie Swannell

Mozart

 Thank you to Julie Swannell for her piece about chords. So beautiful!

And so, this morning I have come to page 11 of this Message for 1900. And, Behold it talks about music. “Mozart rests you. To me his composition is the triumph of art, for he measures himself against deeper grief.” Mrs. Eddy had a great regard for Mozart. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures she writes, “Mozart experienced more than he expressed. The rapture of his grandest symphonies was never heard. He was a musician beyond what the world knew.” (213:20)

I have a testimony about music, and particularly one piece of Mozart’s music, Don Giovanni’s La Ci Darem la Mano* duet.

Some weeks ago I had a vaccination for the current virus. The next day I had a few sensations which made me think that maybe I was having a reaction to it. I had just previously been listening to that La Ci Darem la Mano. The idea came to sit down at the computer and listen to different renditions provided by YouTube. I added some Offenbach Barcarolle.

I spent several hours of pure delight at the various productions. And all thought of some reaction to the vaccination took their leave. Classical music had soothed the soul, leaving no room for doubts or reactions.

Joyce Voysey

*Ed. One translation is: There, I'll give you my hand.

 

About chords and consciousness

“When a man is right, his thoughts are right, active, and they are fruitful; he loses self in love, and cannot hear himself, unless he loses the chord." (Message to The Mother Church for 1900, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 3:1–4 When)

I’ve always loved this little passage about not being able to hear oneself, unless one loses the chord. What then is the chord Mrs Eddy is referring to?

We might consider that the chord  indicates the harmonious relationship  of God, Soul, with His idea, perfect man. To typify that perfect relationship as a purely harmonious musical consonance seems very natural. 

So for man to possess, or be conscious of, that chord would require unity with Truth and Love; it would require that the individual be so unselfed that he is perfectly in tune with the Christ, his thought and purpose perfectly attuned to the divine. He forgets self. He can’t hear himself, because all he hears is God’s will. Christ Jesus is our Exemplar of this type of thought-model. He "could not hear himself" , because he was so totally immersed in Spirit.  

When, on the other hand, thoughts of self or personality dominate, there’s just one tone sounding: “Me” "Me” “Me”. No chord. 

The caution being given by Mary Baker Eddy, as I see it,  is to endeavour as best we can to avoid dwelling on thoughts of self, because all we are going to hear is our own echo chamber of dissonance hollowly banging around. We can become more unselfed  by keeping our thoughts “right, active and fruitful”. 

This quote from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy (p. 576: 31) seems to capture the spirit of the sentence under consideration :

"This human sense of Deity yields to the divine sense, even as the material sense of personality yields to the incorporeal sense of God and man as the infinite Principle and infinite idea, — as one Father with His universal family, held in the gospel of Love. The Lamb's wife presents the unity of male and female as no longer two wedded individuals, but as two individual natures in one; and this compounded spiritual individuality reflects God as Father-Mother, not as a corporeal being. In this divinely united spiritual consciousness, there is no impediment to eternal bliss, — to the perfectibility of God's creation."

Could this be the chord - this "divinely united spiritual consciousness”?

Marie Fox

In tune with Love

What does Mrs Eddy mean when she writes that one who is right "loses self in love, and cannot hear himself, unless he loses the chord"? (Message to The Mother Church for 1900, p. 3 para 1). Here are some thoughts for readers to consider.

A chord is a blending of musical tones of different pitch. Typically comprising three or more notes all sounded together, chords are the basis of harmony, such that one hears the combination of tones as a whole, rather than as individual notes. Chords have been said to add resonance and stability to a melody. 

When each note in the chord is perfectly tuned, the result is good and harmonious. If, however, a note is off pitch, it spoils the harmony and the chord is lost. It becomes discord. Further, the incorrectly pitched note draws attention to itself.

The right thinker is so in tune with Love and Love's universe of ideas, that the sense of a self separate from love is impossible. 

Hymn 313 reminds us that "True praise shall tune my voice".

Julie Swannell

PS. Is this an example of "the music of the spheres" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p. 255)?

So much good in this little message

 

There is so much GOOD in this little message for 1900! How about these from page 8?

* ". . . senstiveness is sometimes selfishness"

* ". . . mental idleness or apathy is always egotism and animality"

* "We lose a percentage due to our activity when doing the work that belongs to another."

* "When a man begins to quarrel with himself he stops quarrelling with others."

* "Learn to obey; but learn first what obedience is."

Mrs. Eddy elaborates on this last theme: "I sometimes advise students not to do certain things which I know it were best not to do, and they comply with my counsel; but, watching them, I discern that this obedience is contrary to their inclination. Then I sometimes withdraw that advice and say: “You may do it if you desire.” But I say this not because it is the best thing to do, but because the student is not willing — therefore, not ready — to obey."

(Message to The Mother Church for 1900, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 8:29)

And, isn’t this precious from page 9: 

 * "Sincerity is more successful than genius or talent."

 Joyce Voysey

Adore Jesus. Worship God.

The title Message for 1900 is of interest, because we in the 21^st Century have lived through the year 2000 which was proclaimed to be the first year of that century. Mrs. Eddy speaks of the year 1900 as being the last year of the 19^th century. I recall there being some discussion about it at the time – it was pointed out that numbering of a child’s life begin in full years at number one when the child has lived for one year. Maybe Australia influenced the world-wide decision because we had the Olympic Games scheduled for that year! It was a huge watershed. Who decided?

Ah! Australia gets a mention on the first page, along with the Philippine Islands and the Hawaiian Islands, as the first places named as having a hearing and following of students of Christian Science. Interestingly, these are all places in Oceania and the Pacific area. It finishes with eastern Peking, again on the Pacific coast of China. Does this place Australia and New Zealand in the East or the West? We seem to claim fellowship with “The West.”

There are strong words on page 2 about three types of thinkers/workers: “… the right thinker and worker, the idler, and the intermediate”. This reminds me of our recent Bible Lesson (9 Jan, 2022) with its emphasis on “the cup.” We need to claim our heritage through the work of laying claim to the “cup of blessing.” * 

 How about this phrase: “to awake the slumbering capability of man”? ** 

 Here is a thought that got my attention yesterday: Is it right to worship Jesus? Our text tells us that the right thinker and worker is not to be worshipped (’00 3:18). Merriam Webster defines worship as: reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; an act of expressing such reverence. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (by Mary Baker Eddy) we find, “While we adore Jesus....” *** Is that the line we must take? One thinks of nominated saints, and Jesus’ mother Mary.  

Again, Science and Health is very explicit: "Dost thou “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”?" **** So, what are we to worship? God. And how do we do that? I looked on JSH-Online.com -

True worship, therefore, must include such perfect devotion to God, good, in every particular, that nothing shall ever tempt us to turn aside even momentarily from the purpose to prove His allness. It means that one will so appreciate all the qualities of God that not only will one always love them sufficiently to express them, but he will also declare for them, cling to them, use them, until all false beliefs are forced to bow down before God,—until such beliefs relinquish all their claims to power or presence. Thereby we shall prove, as Jesus said, that "we know what we worship," for we shall thus truly "worship God." (Ella W. Hoag, June 16, 1923 Christian Science Sentinel.)

Joyce Voysey

Note: Readers may like to hear what Michelle Nanouche has to say about worship in her recent lecture FINDING YOUR IMMUNITY FROM DISEASE - https://talksthatchangelives.org/. 

* 1 Corinthians 10: 16

** And they who love a good work or good workers are themselves workers who appreciate a life, and labor to awake the slumbering capability of man. (Message to The Mother Church for 1900, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 3:11–14)

*** While we adore Jesus, and the heart overflows with gratitude for what he did for mortals, — reading alone his loving pathway up to the throne of glory, in speechless agony exploring the way for us, — yet Jesus spares us not one individual experience, if we follow his commands faithfully; and all have the cup of sorrowful effort to drink in proportion to their demonstration of his love, till all are redeemed through divine Love. (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 26:1)

**** Dost thou “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”? This command includes much, even the surrender of all merely material sensation, affection, and worship. (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 9:17–21 (to 1st .)

Lifted above little sins and omissions

In Mary Baker Eddy's Message for 1900 is an interesting phrase: "right convictions fast forming themselves into conduct" (p. 1:14). 

Conviction: 1. a firmly held belief or opinion; the quality of showing that one is firmly convinced of what one believes or says

Conduct: 1. the manner in which a person behaves, especially in a particular place or situation. 2. the manner in which an organization or activity is managed or directed. 

eg. consider Codes of Conduct - for company directors, professional bodies including sporting bodies, those dealing with children, politicians etc. etc. 

Question for us all: Where did the convictions of Bible characters such as Joseph, Elijah, Abraham, Peter, Daniel etc come from? How did their right convictions form themselves into conduct? 

In 1946, a gentleman called Harry Boissevain, from the Netherlands, wrote a beautiful testimony for the Christian Science Sentinel July 20, 1946. He speaks of being "lifted above ... little sins and omissions":

"... physical healing must always be the result of spiritual awakening, of strengthening and purifying character. Mrs. Eddy speaks in her Message to The Mother Church for 1900 (p. 1) of "a membership of over sixteen thousand communicants in unity, with rapidly increasing numbers, rich spiritual attainments, and right convictions fast forming themselves into conduct." The latter part of the quotation awakened my thought. I was still in bondage to sensualism, and so my conduct was not always up to my convictions. With the help of the Concordances, I obtained a better understanding of the relation between convictions and conduct, which is obedience, and my life became purer, more honest, more firm on the side of right, more lifted above the little sins and omissions which are so often taken as a matter of course. I found myself increasingly able to make right decisions spontaneously in situations where before doubtful disputations would result in delay and fumbling. I was learning to listen more to God and to rely on what I heard."

I was reminded of Joyce's blog post "Aha!" (4th January 2022) when I got to this part of Harry's testimony:

"In expressing gratitude to our Leader for her important work and Christlike life, I realize that the same power which was manifest in her life and character, and which guided her in writing Science and Health, is present now." 

It is surely the power of the present-now healing Christ which enables the obedience that lifts us into better conduct.

Julie Swannell

Aha!

I get it!

How beautifully Mrs. Eddy puts it in the first paragraph of her Message to The Mother Church for 1900:

"If, indeed, we may be absent from the body and present with the ever-present Love filling all space, time, and immortality – then I am with thee, heart answering to heart, and mine to thine in the glow of divine reflection."

The idea that Mrs. Eddy can be with us: when we consider that we are all man, the one, full reflection of the infinite God, good, it is obvious.

"Man. The compound idea of infinite Spirit; the spiritual image and likeness of God; the full representation of Mind." (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy 591:5).

Joyce Voysey

Ed. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

(II Corinthians 5:8)

the wedding garment

Mary Baker Eddy's Message to The Mother Church in Boston, Massachusetts in June 1900 is now printed in her Prose Works. It is fifteen pages long. If we assume each page might be delivered in about two minutes, then its reading to the meeting might have lasted about half an hour.

The second last paragraph (p. 15) mentions both sackcloth and a wedding garment. An online dictionary explains that sackcloth is "a very coarse, rough fabric woven from flax or hemp." Eddy's Science and Health uses the term sackcloth in the sense perhaps of disappointment, despair or despondency, when she writes, in relation to Revelation 21: 9, that 

"... the seven angelic vials full of seven plagues, has full compensation in the law of Love. ... Think of this, dear reader, for it will lift the sackcloth from your eyes, and you will behold the soft-winged dove descending upon you. The very circumstance, which your suffering sense deems wrathful and afflictive, Love can make an angel entertained unawares.

(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 574:18–19 the, 25–30, my emphasis)

These indicate the importance of what we "wear" mentally -- what we put on, so to speak. An excerpt from Mary Baker Eddy: Christian Healer, by Yvonne Caché von Fettweis and Robert Townsend Warneck (Amplified Edition) is helpful. It’s on page 196:

 The wedding garment is a term Jesus used in a parable about those invited by a king to his son’s wedding to which “many are called, but few are chosen.”

 In her Message to The Mother Church for 1900, Mrs. Eddy wrote: “To-day you have come to Love’s feast, and you kneel at its altar. May you have on a wedding garment new and old, and the touch of the hem of this garment heal the sick and the sinner!” Mrs. Eddy was speaking out of her own experience. A number of years earlier she had told her students’ association:

. . . One of the best cures I ever performed was, apparently, under the most adverse circumstances. I had spent one year of incessant toil upon the [manuscript] of my book, Science and Health, and put it into the hands of a printer for publication, who, I found, had allowed it to be taken from his possession, and I was thus obliged to return, in the sackcloth of disappointment, without it. A student soon called desiring me to assist in a case that was dying. I put on the wedding garments at once and healed the case in twenty minutes.

I love that thought can be lifted from sackcloth to wedding joy. This is the consciousness which forgets self and puts on the finery of divine Love.

In Bible times, one would not head down to the local shopping centre to purchase an outfit suitable for a wedding. Preparation might include sourcing the raw material (fine linen perhaps), choosing the style and having it made to fit. Readers who have made a garment will be aware of the care required at all steps in the process. Our garment requires attention.

We are reminded that the bride is “clothed in light … wedded to the Lamb of Love” (see Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 561:10–13).

Let’s put on our light-filled, healing wedding garments today.

Julie Swannell

Image from: https://int.icej.org/news/headlines/yom-kippur-day-prepare-our-wedding-garments