Vera u vaskrsenje iz mrtvih i stvaranje ex nihilo u 2Mak 7

Abstract

The narrative of the martyrdom of a mother and seven brothers has had an enormous impact on the history of both Church and Synagogue. The cult of the Maccabean martyrs began to develop very early, so that in the fourth century at the latest, they were celebrated among the Christians. The story about them is to be found in the seventh chapter of the Second Book of Maccabees. Its canonical status has become the subject of debate in the last few centuries, both among the Orthodox and other Christians. The Synagogue rejected this book in its entirety, although it contains the oldest recorded testimony about the celebration of Hanukkah, one of the most important Jewish holidays today. However, the story of the mother and brothers remained preserved in Talmud in a certain form. Apart from the story of martyrdom, the seventh chapter hides one of the oldest, and certainly one of the most vivid descriptions of the early faith in the resurrection from the dead. In addition, the seventh chapter reveals the oldest explicitly expressed faith in God, who is the absolute Creator and who creates the world out of nothing. This idea will later become one of the central motives of Christian and Jewish cosmology.