Search found 984 matches

by robert j
Wed Sep 09, 2015 9:51 am
Forum: Christian Texts and History
Topic: Paul or Marcion First?
Replies: 17
Views: 7076

Paul or Marcion First?

In another thread --- The debate is over which came first - the Marcionite or the Pauline. When that debate is settled then one can begin to debate who wrote what..... That debate is old and tired --- and prominent modern-day proponents of Radical Criticism have gained little, if any, ground. The de...
by robert j
Sun Sep 06, 2015 2:39 pm
Forum: Christian Texts and History
Topic: Slaves and office holders in the early church.
Replies: 20
Views: 10498

Re: Slaves and office holders in the early church.

'soter' and 'soteria' are derived from Ptolemy Soter 1 who initiated the Egytpian cult of Serapis that was spreading through the eastern Roman Empire up until the 3rd century, especially in the regions the Pauline letters were written to about. I think there's a reasonable chance that the Pauline l...
by robert j
Sun Sep 06, 2015 10:14 am
Forum: Christian Texts and History
Topic: The ascension in the epistle of Barnabas.
Replies: 25
Views: 13508

Where’s Barney?

As was common in Christian works, some unknown author wrote an epistle in the name of an early figure. And in Acts --- the mostly fictional version of the early Christian movement --- Barnabas is a prominent companion of Paul. But where did this Barnabas come from? Well, the letters of Paul of cours...
by robert j
Sun Sep 06, 2015 9:24 am
Forum: Christian Texts and History
Topic: Slaves and office holders in the early church.
Replies: 20
Views: 10498

Re: Slaves and office holders in the early church.

Of Paul’s seven letters generally considered authentic, episkopos is found, as I indicated, only once --- in Philippians 1:1. The same thing is true of another word of interest, i.e., 'savior' (Philippians 3:20).) Yes, as the noun, soter , for “savior”, just the once. And the author of gMark didn’t...
by robert j
Fri Sep 04, 2015 4:06 pm
Forum: Christian Texts and History
Topic: Slaves and office holders in the early church.
Replies: 20
Views: 10498

Re: Slaves and office holders in the early church.

The earliest Christian writing in which such terms are found is Paul’s letter to the Philippians, “From Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Jesus Christ in Philippi, with the overseers (ἐπισκόποις) and deacons (διακόνοις)” (Philippians 1:1) But both terms were in ...
by robert j
Thu Sep 03, 2015 3:20 pm
Forum: Christian Texts and History
Topic: Slaves and office holders in the early church.
Replies: 20
Views: 10498

Re: Slaves and office holders in the early church.

Does anybody any good resources on the status of office holders in the early church and who and how many were slaves? I was thinking more along the lines of deacon, presbyter, and bishop as opposed to apostles and prophets. The earliest Christian writing in which such terms are found is Paul’s lett...
by robert j
Mon Aug 31, 2015 1:56 pm
Forum: Christian Texts and History
Topic: Is it from Papias' writings?
Replies: 6
Views: 5062

Re: Is it from Papias' writings?

The following does not state directly it is from Papias (as drawn from Irenaeus AH, Book V, Chapter XXXVI, 1-2). ... The presbyters, the disciples of the apostles, say that this is the gradation and arrangement of those who are saved, and that they advance through steps of this nature; and that, mo...
by robert j
Mon Aug 31, 2015 1:17 pm
Forum: Christian Texts and History
Topic: Is it from Papias' writings?
Replies: 6
Views: 5062

Re: Is it from Papias' writings?

Indeed I love this myth that somehow this or that pre-Nicene figure wrote something and then it was 'hermetically sealed' from the second he wrote it - when everything that has come down us suggests the exact opposite . The irony of Tertullian writing a treatise against Marcion the alleged great 'c...
by robert j
Fri Aug 28, 2015 4:59 pm
Forum: Christian Texts and History
Topic: The Super Apostles of Corinth
Replies: 4
Views: 4375

Re: The Super Apostles of Corinth

Did Paul actually acknowledge that the super-apostles were servants of Christ in 2 Corinthians 11:23? Or for that matter anywhere in the letter? The default position that the super-apostles were Jewish Christians may not be justified based on Paul’s own words. By way of background, most readers reco...
by robert j
Thu Aug 27, 2015 4:50 pm
Forum: Christian Texts and History
Topic: Does Luke edit Mark with more primitive data?
Replies: 39
Views: 31556

Re: Does Luke edit Mark with more primitive data?

Bernard Muller wrote: ... Paul would claim that the heavenly Jesus, through revelation, described to him the last Supper ...
Paul’s claims to speak for a heavenly Lord (1 Cor. 9:14, 11:23, and 14:37) were Paul-speak for --- ‘I made it up’ or ‘I teased it from the scriptures’.