A self-sufficient portrait of John the Baptist in Marcion's Gospel

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Giuseppe
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Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:37 am
Location: Italy

A self-sufficient portrait of John the Baptist in Marcion's Gospel

Post by Giuseppe »

John the Baptist is found in the Marcion's Gospel in the following points:


The first time:
(Luke 5:33) And they said unto him,
Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers,
and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees;
but thine eat and drink?

(Luke 5:27-31) And Jesus answering said unto them,
They that are whole need not a physician;
but they that are sick.

Where we learn that John is leader of some disciples and he has claims of healing.
The second time:
(Matthew 9:2) When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Luke 7:19 & Matthew 11:3)

(Luke 7:23-24) Christ said: Blessed is he, if he shall not be offended in me.
And since all the people ran into wilderness to see John and not Christ,
he said: What went ye out into the wilderness to gaze at? (Luke 7:27)
This is he, of whom it is written,
Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
which shall prepare thy way before thee.

For I say unto you,
Among those that are born of women
a greater prophet than John the Baptist,
there is none:
but he that is least in the kingdom of God
is greater than he. (Luke 7:28)

Where we learn that John works in the wilderness and he has even more followers than the Christ.
The third time:
(Luke 9:7-8) Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him:
and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some,
that John was risen from the dead;
8 And of some, that Elijah had appeared;
and by others, that a prophet, one of the original ones, was risen again.
And Christ asked Peter, saying, whom say you that I am?
Peter answering said, The Christ. (Mark 8:29)

Where we learn that John adored the Jewish god.
The fourth time:

(Luke 11:1-4)
11: 1 And it came to pass whilst he was in a certain place
praying to the Father,
when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him,
Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
2 And he said unto them,
When ye pray, say,
Father, let thy Holy Spirit come upon us, and purify us.

Thy kingdom come.
3 Give us day by day your celestial bread
4 And forgive us our sins;
for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.

where we learn that John taught his disciples to pray the Jewish god.
The fifth time:
The law and the prophets were until John:
since that time the kingdom of God
is announced as good tidings,

Where we learn that John was the last Jewish prophet.
The last time:
20: 1 And it came to pass, that on one of those days,
as he was teaching the people in the temple,
and announcing the glad tidings,
there came upon him the chief priests and the scribes with the elders,
2 And spake unto him, saying,
Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things?
or who is he that gave thee this authority?
3 And he answered and said unto them,
I will also ask you one word and tell me:
4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?
5 And they reasoned with themselves, saying,
If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not?
6 But if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us:
for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.
7 And they answered, that they knew not whence it was.
8 And Jesus said unto them,
Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

Where we learn that John practiced baptism in the name of YHWH.


Moral: how can one claim that the readers of the only Marcion's Gospel are without a self-sufficient portrait of John the Baptist (and that therefore Mark precedes Mcn) ? It is clearly a stupid claim.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
Giuseppe
Posts: 13732
Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:37 am
Location: Italy

Re: A self-sufficient portrait of John the Baptist in Marcion's Gospel

Post by Giuseppe »


BeDuhn, The First New Testament, 6. Vinzent, “Marcion the Jew”, argues that Marcion was Jewish, based on his hermeneutical approach to the Jewish scriptures, but, as Judit Lieu notes, this gives too much credit to Tertullian's polemical strategies, which seek to create an unholy alliance between Marcion and the Jews for rhetorical effect.

https://books.google.it/books?id=uQh2Dw ... nt&f=false
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
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