[1076]. Hegemonius, Acta, c. XI., p. 18, Beeson.
[1077]. This is the tradition evidently known to the author of the Μέρος τευχῶν Σωτῆρος when he makes Jesus say “When I spoke with Enoch out of the Tree of Knowledge in the Paradise of Adam.” (See [Chap. X], p. [173] supra.)
[1078]. Al Bîrûnî, Chronology, p. 190.
[1079]. Hegemonius, Acta, c. IX., p. 14, Beeson. This idea of the macrocosm and microcosm according to which the body of man is a replica of the universe is found in nearly all later mysticism—also in the Cabala and in the later Zoroastrian treatises. In the Tun-huang treatise it forms the chief theme of the homiletic part of the work.
[1080]. Op. cit. c. VIII., pp. 12, 13, Beeson. The Latin version has vir “man” for aer “air” in its description of the Column of Glory. Probably a clerical error.
[1081]. Op. cit. c. X., pp. 15, 16, Beeson. The word used is κέλεφος; but the Latin texts all read “elephant.”
[1082]. Ἐρῶ ... πῶς μεταγγίζεται ἡ ψυχὴ εἰς πέντε σώματα, op. et cap. cit. p. 15, Beeson.
[1083]. The soul of the rich man is in the same chapter said to pass into the body of a beggar and thereafter εἰς κόλασιν αἰώνιον “to everlasting punishment.” Is it from this source that the Calvinists took their doctrine of eternal damnation? The reprobation of the rich as such and without regard to the use they might make of their wealth perhaps accounts for the levelling and republican politics of the mediaeval sectaries.
[1084]. The Bowl of water reminds one of the cup of soberness and reflection administered to just souls by the little Sabaoth the Good in the Μέρος τευχῶν Σωτῆρος. See [Chap. X], p. [187] supra. The garment was probably the “heavenly nature” with which the soul had to be clothed before it could ascend to the upper spheres of light (cf. the Pistis Sophia). That the crown was designed as a protection against the spirits of evil, there are many indications in the last-mentioned document.
[1085]. Kessler would here read “gods” for “goddess.”