The John Batchelor Show

Sunday 16 March 2014

Air Date: 
March 16, 2014

Images, above: Abgar V the Black or Abgarus V of Edessa was a historical Syriac ruler of the kingdom of Osroene, holding his capital at Edessa. He ruled in from 4 BC to 7 AD and from 13 AD to 50 AD. During the reign of Abgar IX (the 2nd or 3rd century AD), the first Christian ruler of Edessa, a legend was coined of correspondence exchanged between Abgar V and Jesus Christ. In his Historia Ecclesiastica Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, mentions that in little known archives of Edessa he read the letter of Abgar V written to Jesus Christ (Historia Ecclesiastica I, xiii). According to St. Eusebius, one of the 72 post-Apostle disciples, called Thaddeus of Edessa (there really was the first apostle from Syria whose name was Addai), was sent by Thomas the Apostle to Edessa. Thaddeus was to heal Abgar V and convert the Assyrians.
A Syriac document, entitled Doctrine of Addai, from the turn of the 4th and 5th centuries AD is connected with the history of correspondence exchanged between Abgar V and Jesus Christ. In this document you may read that Ananias, the emissary of Abgar sent to Jesus, returned to Osroene with the image of Christ. Since the 6th century, the mention of the Saviour's image was commonly present in the legend of correspondence exchanged between Abgar and Christ. Subsequent versions of the legend claimed that the image was a piece of cloth (or wiper) on which Jesus's face was miraculously imprinted. The image created in such a way was called "the icon of icons" or the image of the Saviour not made by hand or acheiropoietos or Mandylion. This holy object has been testified to be present in Edessa since 6th century AD.

The legend of King Abgar   [more]

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Hour One

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 1, Block A: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  (1 of 2)

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 1, Block B: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  (2 of 2)

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 1, Block C: Mastery by Robert Greene (1 of 2)

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 1, Block D: Mastery by Robert Greene (2 of 2)

Hour Two

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 2, Block A: Implosion: The End of Russia and What It Means for America by Ilan Berman (1 of 2)

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 2, Block B: Implosion: The End of Russia and What It Means for America by Ilan Berman (2 of 2)

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 2, Block C:  Float Planes and Flying Boats: The U.S. Coast Guard and Early Naval Aviation by Capt. Robert B. Workman Jr. USCG 9Ret.) (1 of 2)

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 2, Block D:  Float Planes and Flying Boats: The U.S. Coast Guard and Early Naval Aviation by Capt. Robert B. Workman Jr. USCG 9Ret.) (2 of 2)

Hour Three

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 3, Block A: Circle of Treason by Sandra Grimes and Jeanne Vertefeuille  (1 of 4)

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 3, Block B: Circle of Treason by Sandra Grimes and Jeanne Vertefeuille  (2 of 4)

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 3, Block C: Circle of Treason by Sandra Grimes and Jeanne Vertefeuille  (3 of 4)

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 3, Block D: Circle of Treason by Sandra Grimes and Jeanne Vertefeuille  (4 of 4)

Hour Four

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 4, Block A: Why We Should Call Ourselves Christians: The Religious Roots of Free Societies by Marcello Pera (1 of 2)

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 4, Block B: Why We Should Call Ourselves Christians: The Religious Roots of Free Societies by Marcello Pera (2 of 2)

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 4, Block C: Mastery by Robert Greene (1 of 2)

Sunday 16 March  2014 / Hour 4, Block D: Mastery by Robert Greene (2 of 2)

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