Galatians 3:1 "portrayed as crucified"

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hakeem
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Joined: Sat Jun 17, 2017 8:20 am

Re: Galatians 3:1 "portrayed as crucified"

Post by hakeem »

GakuseiDon wrote: I know what you stated, but I just don't see it supported in the quote you gave from Justin Martyr that "Simon, Menander and Marcion were called Christian even though they did not believe stories of Jesus." Maybe you mean they didn't believe the later orthodox view of Jesus?
Simon Magus and Menander were known as magicians, so I'd be interested if there is evidence that they considered themselves Christians without also knowing anything about a Jesus. According to my 'head canon', one of the reasons early Christianity grew was that it appealed to pagans who wanted to use magical items and incantations to ward off evil spirits, and early Christianity provided a source for that. But I suspect you mean "they didn't believe orthodox stories of Jesus" when you write "stories of Jesus"?
[/quote]

Now, you have forgotten what is found in Justin's First Apology.

Simon Magus, a magician, claimed he himself was God and those who followed him were called Christians.

Justin's First Apology
And almost all the Samaritans, and a few even of other nations, worship him, and acknowledge him as the first god...
The Samaritans who worshiped Simon Magus as the first God were called Christians since the time of Claudius based on Justin.

Menander also a magician who claimed those who believe in him would never die. His followers were called Christians.

[Justin's First Apology
He persuaded those who adhered to him that they should never die
Marcion preached another God greater than the Creator and also another son still his followers were called Christians.
andrewcriddle
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Joined: Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:36 am

Re: Galatians 3:1 "portrayed as crucified"

Post by andrewcriddle »

Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 1 says of Simon
This man, then, was glorified by many as if he were a god; and he taught that it was himself who appeared among the Jews as the Son, but descended in Samaria as the Father while he came to other nations in the character of the Holy Spirit. He represented himself, in a word, as being the loftiest of all powers, that is, the Being who is the Father over all, and he allowed himself to be called by whatsoever title men were pleased to address him....For this purpose, then, he had come that he might win her first, and free her from slavery, while he conferred salvation upon men, by making himself known to them. For since the angels ruled the world ill because each one of them coveted the principal power for himself, he had come to amend matters, and had descended, transfigured and assimilated to powers and principalities and angels, so that he might appear among men to be a man, while yet he was not a man; and that thus he was thought to have suffered in Judæa, when he had not suffered.
If true this implies that Simon saw Jesus as an earlier avatar of himself.

Andrew Criddle
hakeem
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Joined: Sat Jun 17, 2017 8:20 am

Re: Galatians 3:1 "portrayed as crucified"

Post by hakeem »

andrewcriddle wrote: Sun Jan 31, 2021 5:45 am Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 1 says of Simon
This man, then, was glorified by many as if he were a god; and he taught that it was himself who appeared among the Jews as the Son, but descended in Samaria as the Father while he came to other nations in the character of the Holy Spirit. He represented himself, in a word, as being the loftiest of all powers, that is, the Being who is the Father over all, and he allowed himself to be called by whatsoever title men were pleased to address him....For this purpose, then, he had come that he might win her first, and free her from slavery, while he conferred salvation upon men, by making himself known to them. For since the angels ruled the world ill because each one of them coveted the principal power for himself, he had come to amend matters, and had descended, transfigured and assimilated to powers and principalities and angels, so that he might appear among men to be a man, while yet he was not a man; and that thus he was thought to have suffered in Judæa, when he had not suffered.
If true this implies that Simon saw Jesus as an earlier avatar of himself.

Andrew Criddle
It is not true.
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