Annotation
Annotation; ie.
the making of notes, and explanation.
Many writings over the past millennia have proved incomprehensible to
contemporary readers. Much of the reason for this lies in the changes in
beliefs (dogma?) superstitions and customs which were current at the time
of writing; much again has been distorted by reference matter which at the
time was common knowledge (at least amongst the literati) but which is now
obscure at best. There is therefore a valuable resource of annotation by
learned scholars who are not only familiar with their subject but who are
able to bridge the gap between the familiarity of the past and the
ignorance of the present, but this is only valid when the source is
completely unimpeachable. To put it bluntly; in many cases we simply do
not know if particular annotators were master of their arts or charlatans,
disinterested observers or rabid bigots, acknowledged experts in their
field or merely the ones with their hands on the controlling levers of
propaganda. Let us consider an important example.
Hesychius Of Jerusalem was renown as a theologian in the Byzantine era and
was involved in the paroxysms that gripped the church over the nature of
Christ. As the son of God, did that make him divine? As the son of Mary,
was he mortal? Was he, as some claimed, wholly mortal and wholly divine at
the same time, or was he only part of each? Did he stand as an inferior
figure to God himself or was he God's equal or even an indissoluble part
of Him? These questions may seem unimportant to us now but hundreds of
thousands of people died for professing a view that was, or was not, the
currently held opinion in Byzantium and the results of the schism with the
Church of Rome and the subsequent fall of Byzantium to the Muslim armies
caused ructions which are still being felt today and which may yet
precipitate cataclysmic events. These are not minor matters of only
theological significance.
Although most of Hesychius' work has been lost we know that he interpreted
the original Old Testament manuscripts for the books of Job, Leviticus,
Ezekiel and Isaiah. Various works which were thought to be attributable to
Athanasius of Alexandria are now believed to originate with him. His views
tended to favour the Monophysites (ie those who believed that Christ was
wholly divine) rather than the Nestorians' view that he was a mortal or
the Arian view that he was a created person (a 'creature') who was
therefore inferior to God in every way. These are philosophical arguments
which are largely ignored today but the causes of war, genocide and the
ultimate collapse of Christianity in the East for a millennium.
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