Hillel II and his Joseph : Christians?
The Conversion of Hillel II and the Apostle Joseph in light of Lofland and Sonovd
Lofland and Sonovd (LS) analyze conversion "motifs" into six categories: Intellectual, Mystical, Experimental, Affectional, Revivalist and Coercive. Each motif is viewed in five dimensions being the degree of social pressure involved, temporal duration, the level of affective arousal, affective content and the belief participation sequence. We will use this model to discuss Epiphanius’s description of the conversion of Hillel II and his assistant Joseph.
Epiphanius starts by relating the tradition that the Gospel of John and the Acts were translated into Hebrew and stored in secret in the city of Tiberias the seat of the Jewish patriarch. One person who related this tradition to Epiphanius was one called Joseph the Apostle who lived in the time of Constantine the Elder. The Apostle Joseph was "given the rank of count by that emperor and received the authority to build a Church to Christ in Tiberias, in Diocaeserea, in Capernaum". Joseph relates to Epiphanius the story of his and Hillel II’s (Hillel) conversion.
When Hillel was dying he asked for the one who was then bishop of the neighbouring city of Tiberias and obtained from him the holy bath as he was leaving this life. He pretended that it was a medical matter. He sent for him through the aforesaid Joseph as being a physician, caused everyone to go outside, and besought the bishop, "Grant me the seal in Christ". So he summoned the servants and directed them to prepare water, as though on account of the sickness he was going to use the water to offer some assisstance to the patriarch, who was gravely ill. They did as they were directed they did not realise what was happening. The patriarch alledged the need for privacy and was granted baptism and the holy mysteries. Epiphanius (p96)
We see then that in the case of Hillel the sequence of his conversion meant he believed prior to participating in the first act of a believer, that of baptism (although he had clearly read parts of the New Testament, it is not emphasised). In looking at our conversion motifs only the Intellectual or Mystical motifs have this sequence. We do not have many details regarding his conversion, but it is clear that Coercive, Revivalist and Experimental can be ruled out not only on this criteria but on various others as well. No information is given regarding Hillel’s relationship with the bishop but perhaps the fact that he called this bishop and could feign medical reasons points to some prior relationship with the bishop. But in light of the fact that Hillel’s assistants had no idea what was going on, and the sequence of conversion, we may rule out an Affectional motif conversion. This leaves only Intellectual and Mystical motifs. There is no evidence in the narrative to indicate any vision or spiritual experience of any kind, so the class of motif suitable for Hillel would appear to be Intellectual and not Mystical. And indeed it appears to fit the circumstances well.
Hillel had time to read the translated scriptures of John’s Gospel and Acts which the Apostle Joseph mentions to Epiphanius. He would read them privately due to the high degree of what might be called negative social pressure through his position. It is clear that the social pressure on the patriarch of the Jewish community to convert would be minimal. However the fact that he initiated the baptismal process himself indicates there was indeed some level of affective arousal, and inner illumination this could explain how one so protected by Jewish social forces and by those opposed to the message of the gospel could conclude that he desired baptism.
Hillel did not just receive baptism but also “the holy mysteries” which would in all probability refer to the mysteries of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. He then participated over the next few days in teaching sessions or Christian fellowship with the bishop. He gave an offering, which is the traditional procedure in the Orthodox Church just before receiving the Eucharist, and shared a New Testament scripture with the bishop “ … it is written that through the priests of God things are bound and loosed on earth, and (that) these things will be loosed and bound in heaven”, as Christians are wont to do. He finally confirmed to those near him at his death, that the treatment by the medicine of the bishop meant all was well (reminding us of the well known hymn “It is well with my soul”).
Thus from the little data we have Hillel would seem to fit perfectly into the Intellectual conversion motif, and the model seems to explain this conversion quite well.
The Conversion of Apostle Joseph
The rites for the conversion of Hillel had an impact on Joseph the Apostle. He was troubled by the rites which he had spied out secretly. And these troubling thoughts after an extended period of time culminate in Joseph’s conversion in a way distinct from that Hillel. After Hillel passed on Joseph opened a secret repository and found Matthew’s Gospel and Hebrew translations of the Gospels of John and Acts. This find added vexation to his troubled mind. He then began to read the gospels and later noticed the power of Christ’s seal over sorcery and to have visions of Jesus Christ. Jesus told him “I am Jesus whom your ancestors crucified; but believe in me” (Epih 99). He did not obey the dream and fell ill. His health situation became critical and it appears he then had a near death experience where Jesus appeared to him and told him that he would heal him if he believed him. Joseph promised he would and recovered, however went back to unbelief again on recovery. He fell ill again. This time Jesus did not appear to him but it appears a secret believer from among the elders of the Jewish community came and shared the gospel with him whispering “Believe Jesus who was crucified in the time of Pontius Pilate, who preexisted as Son of God, and later was born of Mary, who is God’s Messiah and rose from the dead and who will come to judge the living and the dead” (Epiph 99). No doubt this message secretly given by an elder of his people would have surprised him and perhaps released him from some of the negative social pressure against conversion. It is clear from these events that Joseph had ample opportunity to hear the gospel. However despite all these things he still hesitated and did not believe.
After this he received another vision and experience where Jesus appeared to him and healed him, saying “See I heal you: get up and believe” (Epiph 99). He recovered but still persisted in unbelief. Finally Jesus gave his last appearance where he chided Joseph for his unbelief and promised a sign “So that you may be fully convinced, if you wish any sign from God to be worked in my name, call upon me and I will do it.”(Epiph 99). Joseph decided to test this last vision, he was clearly partially convinced because Jesus promised the sign so that he would be fully convinced. He decided on exorcism. He had two obstacles working against him, doubt and shame. To try to deliver the man publicly would be embarrassing. He took a madman indoors, took water, did the sign of the cross on it and sprinkled the madman, saying “In the name of Jesus the Nazorean who was crucified, come out of him demon, and may he be healed” (Epiph 99). The man was delivered , as a result Joseph got a reputation, but he still did not convert or make a commitment. After this Joseph had a change of job and was granted the revenue of the apostleship. He moved to Cilicia and made friends with the local bishop. From this man he requested a copy of the gospels and began reading them secretly. Whilst he was reading them some of the Jews who were not pleased with his activities as apostle burst in on him and caught him reading the gospel. He was then duly punished. Clearly his reputation as one of the close assistants of Hillel and as a respected authority in the Jewish community was now compromised. This would have lessened the negative social pressure which would have worked against conversion. It was the bishop who took him in hand after he was beaten by the Jewish community. He was then later thrown into the river Cydnus by his Jewish brethren and left for dead. He was effectively buried by his Jewish brethren and thus all negative social pressure was gone, to them he was clearly no longer a part of them. The fact of this persecution would have given him an honored status in the Christian community as a martyr. He was then granted the holy bath, having been saved.
Clearly this was not a conversion of the same motif as Hillel. If we look at it in terms of our model we find that he had begun to participate in elements of the Christians faith before he was converted (not the least of which would be the suffering for the name of Christ). This participation also included discourse with the bishop and reading the holy scriptures. The temporal duration until conversion is apparently quite long and so we have two main motifs of LS which appear to fit his case, Experimental and Affectional. The Intellectual motif can, perhaps, also be considered but he had too much contact with the Christian community, through the bishop, to be converted under the Intellectual motif. Clearly the social pressure towards conversion was very low if we look at the whole conversion period, and the evidence does not point to very much affective arousal, although he did have contact with an unnamed bishop ahead of conversion. Despite the fact that there were mystical elements in his conversion experience with the repeated visions of Jesus, it was not these which appear to be the key factor in his conversion. Indeed the way he treated the last and perhaps most challenging of these visions, was to test it. This along with the continual consultation of the scriptures in secret suggests perhaps that he was testing the waters to see the truth of the faith. (I say this word truth deliberately knowing it may be controversial in the light of modern day research into conversion, but it is clear from the evidence that Joseph was testing something and that seems to be the truth as to whether Jesus was Messiah or not.) In all the experiences he went through there is no indication of much affective arousal, but curiosity as to the message of the gospel seems to have driven him until the end. Perhaps the final decision was taken out of his hands by the persecution he suffered at the hands of his brethren. He was effectively buried by the Jewish community before he was granted baptism by the Christian community. My evaluation then is that the best category for Josephs conversion among the conversion motifs of LS is that of the Experimental motif. And it appears to fit Joseph’s conversion as well as the Intellectual motif fitted Hillel’s.
Bibliography:
Lofland, John and Skonovd, Norman. “Conversion Motif.” Journal For the Scientific Study of Religion, 1981, 20 (4) 373-385
Epiphanius, The Panarion of St Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, (trans: Amidon, Philip, S.J.) (New York: OUP 1990)
Lofland and Sonovd (LS) analyze conversion "motifs" into six categories: Intellectual, Mystical, Experimental, Affectional, Revivalist and Coercive. Each motif is viewed in five dimensions being the degree of social pressure involved, temporal duration, the level of affective arousal, affective content and the belief participation sequence. We will use this model to discuss Epiphanius’s description of the conversion of Hillel II and his assistant Joseph.
Epiphanius starts by relating the tradition that the Gospel of John and the Acts were translated into Hebrew and stored in secret in the city of Tiberias the seat of the Jewish patriarch. One person who related this tradition to Epiphanius was one called Joseph the Apostle who lived in the time of Constantine the Elder. The Apostle Joseph was "given the rank of count by that emperor and received the authority to build a Church to Christ in Tiberias, in Diocaeserea, in Capernaum". Joseph relates to Epiphanius the story of his and Hillel II’s (Hillel) conversion.
When Hillel was dying he asked for the one who was then bishop of the neighbouring city of Tiberias and obtained from him the holy bath as he was leaving this life. He pretended that it was a medical matter. He sent for him through the aforesaid Joseph as being a physician, caused everyone to go outside, and besought the bishop, "Grant me the seal in Christ". So he summoned the servants and directed them to prepare water, as though on account of the sickness he was going to use the water to offer some assisstance to the patriarch, who was gravely ill. They did as they were directed they did not realise what was happening. The patriarch alledged the need for privacy and was granted baptism and the holy mysteries. Epiphanius (p96)
We see then that in the case of Hillel the sequence of his conversion meant he believed prior to participating in the first act of a believer, that of baptism (although he had clearly read parts of the New Testament, it is not emphasised). In looking at our conversion motifs only the Intellectual or Mystical motifs have this sequence. We do not have many details regarding his conversion, but it is clear that Coercive, Revivalist and Experimental can be ruled out not only on this criteria but on various others as well. No information is given regarding Hillel’s relationship with the bishop but perhaps the fact that he called this bishop and could feign medical reasons points to some prior relationship with the bishop. But in light of the fact that Hillel’s assistants had no idea what was going on, and the sequence of conversion, we may rule out an Affectional motif conversion. This leaves only Intellectual and Mystical motifs. There is no evidence in the narrative to indicate any vision or spiritual experience of any kind, so the class of motif suitable for Hillel would appear to be Intellectual and not Mystical. And indeed it appears to fit the circumstances well.
Hillel had time to read the translated scriptures of John’s Gospel and Acts which the Apostle Joseph mentions to Epiphanius. He would read them privately due to the high degree of what might be called negative social pressure through his position. It is clear that the social pressure on the patriarch of the Jewish community to convert would be minimal. However the fact that he initiated the baptismal process himself indicates there was indeed some level of affective arousal, and inner illumination this could explain how one so protected by Jewish social forces and by those opposed to the message of the gospel could conclude that he desired baptism.
Hillel did not just receive baptism but also “the holy mysteries” which would in all probability refer to the mysteries of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. He then participated over the next few days in teaching sessions or Christian fellowship with the bishop. He gave an offering, which is the traditional procedure in the Orthodox Church just before receiving the Eucharist, and shared a New Testament scripture with the bishop “ … it is written that through the priests of God things are bound and loosed on earth, and (that) these things will be loosed and bound in heaven”, as Christians are wont to do. He finally confirmed to those near him at his death, that the treatment by the medicine of the bishop meant all was well (reminding us of the well known hymn “It is well with my soul”).
Thus from the little data we have Hillel would seem to fit perfectly into the Intellectual conversion motif, and the model seems to explain this conversion quite well.
The Conversion of Apostle Joseph
The rites for the conversion of Hillel had an impact on Joseph the Apostle. He was troubled by the rites which he had spied out secretly. And these troubling thoughts after an extended period of time culminate in Joseph’s conversion in a way distinct from that Hillel. After Hillel passed on Joseph opened a secret repository and found Matthew’s Gospel and Hebrew translations of the Gospels of John and Acts. This find added vexation to his troubled mind. He then began to read the gospels and later noticed the power of Christ’s seal over sorcery and to have visions of Jesus Christ. Jesus told him “I am Jesus whom your ancestors crucified; but believe in me” (Epih 99). He did not obey the dream and fell ill. His health situation became critical and it appears he then had a near death experience where Jesus appeared to him and told him that he would heal him if he believed him. Joseph promised he would and recovered, however went back to unbelief again on recovery. He fell ill again. This time Jesus did not appear to him but it appears a secret believer from among the elders of the Jewish community came and shared the gospel with him whispering “Believe Jesus who was crucified in the time of Pontius Pilate, who preexisted as Son of God, and later was born of Mary, who is God’s Messiah and rose from the dead and who will come to judge the living and the dead” (Epiph 99). No doubt this message secretly given by an elder of his people would have surprised him and perhaps released him from some of the negative social pressure against conversion. It is clear from these events that Joseph had ample opportunity to hear the gospel. However despite all these things he still hesitated and did not believe.
After this he received another vision and experience where Jesus appeared to him and healed him, saying “See I heal you: get up and believe” (Epiph 99). He recovered but still persisted in unbelief. Finally Jesus gave his last appearance where he chided Joseph for his unbelief and promised a sign “So that you may be fully convinced, if you wish any sign from God to be worked in my name, call upon me and I will do it.”(Epiph 99). Joseph decided to test this last vision, he was clearly partially convinced because Jesus promised the sign so that he would be fully convinced. He decided on exorcism. He had two obstacles working against him, doubt and shame. To try to deliver the man publicly would be embarrassing. He took a madman indoors, took water, did the sign of the cross on it and sprinkled the madman, saying “In the name of Jesus the Nazorean who was crucified, come out of him demon, and may he be healed” (Epiph 99). The man was delivered , as a result Joseph got a reputation, but he still did not convert or make a commitment. After this Joseph had a change of job and was granted the revenue of the apostleship. He moved to Cilicia and made friends with the local bishop. From this man he requested a copy of the gospels and began reading them secretly. Whilst he was reading them some of the Jews who were not pleased with his activities as apostle burst in on him and caught him reading the gospel. He was then duly punished. Clearly his reputation as one of the close assistants of Hillel and as a respected authority in the Jewish community was now compromised. This would have lessened the negative social pressure which would have worked against conversion. It was the bishop who took him in hand after he was beaten by the Jewish community. He was then later thrown into the river Cydnus by his Jewish brethren and left for dead. He was effectively buried by his Jewish brethren and thus all negative social pressure was gone, to them he was clearly no longer a part of them. The fact of this persecution would have given him an honored status in the Christian community as a martyr. He was then granted the holy bath, having been saved.
Clearly this was not a conversion of the same motif as Hillel. If we look at it in terms of our model we find that he had begun to participate in elements of the Christians faith before he was converted (not the least of which would be the suffering for the name of Christ). This participation also included discourse with the bishop and reading the holy scriptures. The temporal duration until conversion is apparently quite long and so we have two main motifs of LS which appear to fit his case, Experimental and Affectional. The Intellectual motif can, perhaps, also be considered but he had too much contact with the Christian community, through the bishop, to be converted under the Intellectual motif. Clearly the social pressure towards conversion was very low if we look at the whole conversion period, and the evidence does not point to very much affective arousal, although he did have contact with an unnamed bishop ahead of conversion. Despite the fact that there were mystical elements in his conversion experience with the repeated visions of Jesus, it was not these which appear to be the key factor in his conversion. Indeed the way he treated the last and perhaps most challenging of these visions, was to test it. This along with the continual consultation of the scriptures in secret suggests perhaps that he was testing the waters to see the truth of the faith. (I say this word truth deliberately knowing it may be controversial in the light of modern day research into conversion, but it is clear from the evidence that Joseph was testing something and that seems to be the truth as to whether Jesus was Messiah or not.) In all the experiences he went through there is no indication of much affective arousal, but curiosity as to the message of the gospel seems to have driven him until the end. Perhaps the final decision was taken out of his hands by the persecution he suffered at the hands of his brethren. He was effectively buried by the Jewish community before he was granted baptism by the Christian community. My evaluation then is that the best category for Josephs conversion among the conversion motifs of LS is that of the Experimental motif. And it appears to fit Joseph’s conversion as well as the Intellectual motif fitted Hillel’s.
Bibliography:
Lofland, John and Skonovd, Norman. “Conversion Motif.” Journal For the Scientific Study of Religion, 1981, 20 (4) 373-385
Epiphanius, The Panarion of St Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, (trans: Amidon, Philip, S.J.) (New York: OUP 1990)
posted by Evangelist Edi Nachman Bsc. PGCE at
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