Translating the Septuagint: Six Essays on Religion and History

By John T. Haupt

The ancient past holds many secrets waiting to be revealed. Follow John T Haupt around the ancient world as he discovers nuance to the staid cliches of history. How was Monotheism spread through Eurasia and Europe? How in the 19th Century did Russia differ from the Western world. Was Jonah Zoroaster? Who commissioned the sacred Temples in Jerusalem? What actually happened in Jerusalem during the “Greek Dark Age”? Who were the gods of the Pantheon, and from whence did they evolve? How was the Septuagint translated?
These questions are confronted in this romp around the worlds of antiquity. Hone your knowledge and understanding of the roots of modern man in this fascinating study of where we’ve been, and how the past offers clues to the politics of today. Enjoy history with nuance in this brief but bold study of newfound truth in the old, old tradition of finding ourselves today in the study of ourselves of yesterday.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664140271

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Copyright © 2020 by John T. Haupt.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Rev. date: 11/05/2020

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History is a mystery where clues unfold truths

— John T Haupt

CONTENTS

Introduction

-I-   The History Of Translating The Septuagint

-II-   Ancient Divisions Between Russia And The West

-III-   Jonah, Zoroaster, And Persian Monotheism In The Ancient World

-IV-   On The Origins Of The Gods Of Mount Olympus

-V-   Jerusalem And The Greek Dark Ages

-VI-   The Wizard of Oz and the Spanish Inquisition: Pondering Propriety in the Priesthood

INTRODUCTION

This essay represents the first of six that I hope to publish. Every one of the six essays began as a voice recording. They represent transcriptions with editorial corrections, deletions, additions, and embellishments. Several of these recordings I have posted on a Facebook page entitled Sermons to the Choir, and, after the total collapse of a smartphone for lack of storage, most of these recordings have been otherwise preserved, which I could render available should there be any interest.

My central theme is the discussion of how secular history and the Bible agree, and of how historical nuances are to be found from study and research. I contend that too often these histories, secular and divine, are only discussed independently, without reference to each other, and that this ought not be so. Regarding the secular and divine, the two histories relate to the same events and are, as I say, incomplete unless they are studied in tandem. I contend, in fact, that no self-respecting historian of antiquity can divorce God, gods, and theology from any legitimate study of history.

Assuming at least a kernel of truth to such an assertion, this booklet represents my small effort to rectify this malfeasance by too many contemporary chroniclers of the ancient past.

—jth 09/30/2020—

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-I-

THE HISTORY OF TRANSLATING

THE SEPTUAGINT

HISTORY OF GOD’S HOLY TEMPLES, LEADING UP TO THE PUNIC WARS

I will admit that there are times when I audaciously, perhaps impiously, refer to the two temples of God as the Temple of Hiram, and the Temple of Darius, these Kings being the two non-Hebrew co-builders of the two temples in Jerusalem. In a previous recording I identified Zoroastrianism and, call it Jonah-ism, as presenting the notion of Monotheism to the Mesopotamian world centuries before the fall of the First Temple, suggesting that a temple to a One God was not new to the Mediterranean world under Persian, even Babylonian rule, as evidenced, for example by the conversion stories in the Book of Daniel. But this a subject of another essay.

I call the first temple the Temple of Hiram to make the point that the builders of the first temple were not exclusively Jewish, though it was designed with reference to the specifications of Moses. If I recall some Bible reading of mine, Moses was very specific in laying out the design for the Holy Temple, which was executed by Solomon, but with the important assistance