Tom Schmidt’s English translation of Hippolytus’ Commentary on Daniel is now available.
Hippolytus wrote this commentary, the oldest surviving Christian commentary on Scripture, between 202 and 211 AD. Schmidt translated it from the Greek text in GCS.
At one point Hippolytus interacts with a writer who claimed to know the date of the end of the world through calculations from Daniel, but Hippolytus does not think much of his calculations. Hippolytus also gives some information about the deaths of the apostles Peter and Paul, and claims that the birthday of Jesus is December 25th. If this indeed is the case, it shows that the tradition of December 25th was present in the early third century and not the result of 4th century Christians allegedly adopting the pagan feast, Natalis Sol Invicti, as the birthday of Christ.
Those interested in early Christian thought, Hippolytus, the Book of Daniel, or ancient Christian commentaries on Scripture may want a copy.
Hello. I am trying to find Tom Schmidt’s work mentioned above. chronicon is no longer valid and the physical book no longer is available at Amazon. I was able to find a rev. 1 PDF hung off a random website but it contains quite a few errors and lacks the appendices. Do you know where I might find a copy – preferably electronic? Thx. -Randy