In his analysis of Mausoleum M, art historian John Beckwith says “the luxuriant vine of Dionysus has become the True Vine of Christ.”30 Sure, but why? What does it all mean? In John’s Gospel, the purpose of the secret “symbols” and “language” postulated by the eminent A. D. Nock and systematically identified by the Biblical scholar Dennis MacDonald is to connect Jesus to an intoxicating, sacramental beverage far more ancient than Christianity itself. To the Greek mind—and any Greek-speaking Romans who may have camped here overnight in the City of the Dead to commune with their ancestors and
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