The Codex Argenteus a.k.a. The Silver Bible
Gothic Bible Fragment from “Parallel Pronouncing Bible”, John Williams & Co., N. Y., 1890
“Father our thou in heaven, blessed name, thy come kingdom, thine become, will thy as in heaven so on earth. Loaf our this daily, give us this day, and forgive us, that sinful are just as also we forgive those sinful to us. And not bring us into temptation, but lead us from this evil, for thine is kingdom and might and glory into eternity. Amen.”
A 19th Century Gothic Bible facsimile of the Lord’s Prayer found within the Minneapolis Scottish Rite Center is reminiscent of versus, signs, tokens & ideals observed in York Rite Masonry. Kudos to Dawson College for translating select passages into English a few decades ago, that is greatly appreciated and perhaps even more so for those of us who regularly recite the Lord’s Prayer when an Asylum or Conclave of Knights Templar is opened in due form. It is rare to happen upon art or written word that predates its 6th Century origins, which is also this clearly reflective of our fraternity’s Spirit... in more ways than you might notice at first glance... so, let us reflect upon apparent ‡ parallels.
The Codex Argenteus, Sweden’s most prized literary treasure, a New Testament manuscript written in silver and gold ink on vellum parchment, also known as the “Silver Bible”, includes an unvarnished 4th Century Greek wording of the Lord’s Prayer that celebrates, “thy kingdom come, thine become, as God will thy in heaven, so on earth”, three Centuries after Jesus crucifixion.
‡ Notice the Arches of the Saints Matthew, John, Luke and Mark (left to right).
‡ Notice history includes examples of Masonic Royal Arch Banners that contain four characters upon a shield, which are representations of these very same Masonic Evangelists. ‡What of the primary colors of Royal Arch Chapter and Commandery contrasted with the Lord’s Prayer facsimile... rich, royal ‡ Red is unquestionably a familiar motif among York Rite Masons.
‡ Notice traits of cryptography; Gothic was invented to inform but also to shield, protect and preserve intellectual light and people like Bishop Ulfilas who created it. ‡ Since King Solomon’s time Cryptic Councils are believed to have maintained cryptic artifacts, monetary and intellectual, for similar ends and by similar means, secretively. ‡ What of the primary color of Cryptic Council contrasted with the oldest surviving 6th Century Silver Bible parchment...
ancient, regal ‡ Purple is again a familiar motif among York Rite Masons... familiar to our historical teachings, surroundings, signs, jewels, and regalia.
‡ The Red matures to Purple over time. So do we as we progress as Masons.
‡ Notice each page that contains gold ink, which indicates words of God, is also marked with a lamp in the margin, a physical instrument that produces Light. I would not presume to remind you of that which you know so well regarding our fraternities affinity for light and the lamp that is illuminated when a Blue Lodge of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons is opened in due form. Several subtle and some overtly parallel relationships between the Silver Bible and York Rite Masonry is compelling. Bishop Ulfilas and his 6th Century counterparts may have been mindful, respectful, and reflective of King Solomon’s ways and traditions.
‡ Notably, the ornate binding furnished by Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie in the 1660’s contains a hint of art similar to a code construct that we are taught in Royal Arch degrees, a cipher key to mystic works and words of the craft.
The Silver Bible is a 6th Century manuscript containing Bishop Ulfilas' 4th Century translation of the Greek New Testament into the Gothic language. Of the original 336 pages, 188 (including a Speyer, Germany fragment discovered in 1970) have been preserved, containing the translation of the greater part of the four Gospels. A part of it is on permanent display at the Carolina Rediviva Library in Uppsala, Sweden. They were first discovered in the 16th century in the Monastery of Werden (Germany) after having been lost for a thousand years. They were taken to Prague (Rudolf II), captured by the Swedes (1648) brought to Stockholm, taken to Holland by Isaac Vossius and finally bought by Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, who donated the manuscript to the University of Uppsala in 1669. (To this day half of the Greek-Gothic pages remain lost, pages 1 - 147.)
These Goths were Arians, meaning that they followed the teachings of Arius about the person and nature of Jesus of Arifus. The "Silver Bible" was probably written for the Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great at his royal seat in Ravenna. It was made using most impressive techniques written with gold and silver ink on premier quality thin stained vellum with an ornate binding. After Theodoric's death in 526 the Silver Bible is not mentioned in inventories or book lists for a thousand years.
Parts were preserved at the former Benedictine abbey of Werden, (near Essen, Rhineland) among the richest monasteries of the Holy Roman Empire, whose abbots included imperial princes with seats in the imperial diets, where it was rediscovered in the 16th Century. Parts came to rest in the library of Emperor Rudolph II upon his imperial seat in Prague.
At the end of the Thirty Years' War, in 1648, it was taken as war booty to Stockholm, Sweden, to the library of Queen Christina of Sweden. After her conversion to Catholicism and her abdication, the book wound up in the Netherlands. In the 1660’s, it was returned to Uppsala University by count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, who also provided its lavishly decorated binding.
Gothic language fragments are preserved in the Codex Argenteus, the Codex Ambrosianus, and in some palimpsests and in other fragments, such as the Codex Carolinus in Wolfenbuttel. In exterminating Arianism, many texts in Gothic will have been expunged, and overwritten as palimpsests, or collected and burned. Apart from these texts from the New Testament, the only other Gothic document, and the only text known to us that was originally composed in the Gothic language, is the "Skeireins", a few pages of commentary on the ‡ Gospel of St. John.
There are very few references to the Gothic language in secondary sources after about 800 A.D., so perhaps it was rarely used by that date.
Ulfilas or Wulfila (perhaps meaning "little wolf") (c. 311 - 381), Bishop, missionary, and translator, was a Goth who spent time inside the Byzantine Empire at a time when Arianism was dominant. Ulfilas was ordained a Bishop by Eusebius of Nicomedia and returned to his people to work as a missionary. Ulfilas attracted many followers by preaching an Arian Christianity, which when they reached the western Mediterranean, set them apart from their overwhelmingly Catholic neighbors and subjects. Before its creation, Gothic existed as Runes in stone. It appears to be derived primarily from the Greek alphabet with some borrowings from Latin.
Area where the 4th Century [Greek-Gothic] “Silver Bible” Emerged
Cite: Uppsala University, Dawson College, Minnesota York Rite Masonry, Lars Munkhammar, Jeremy Norman
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