I think that the essential is to resolve the enigma "John the Baptist" starting from the mythicist premises (i.e.: celestial Jesus in Paul, Marcion's Evangelion as first gospel, absence of John the Baptist in the first gospel).davidmartin wrote: ↑Fri Oct 09, 2020 5:51 ami think you are missing a much bigger story but that is just my opinion of course!
I am galvanized by this discovery. Only ask yourself: why do you (=Marcion) take the disturb to mention a precise date ("15° year of Tiberius") when nobody apart Paul (in your assumed theology) was there "to witness" the magical fantastic mythical event?
Best answer: because in your original incipit Paul figured precisely there "to witness" the magical fantastic mythical event.
To remove this privilege from Paul's hands, the Judaizers replaced him (=Paul) with a his historical contemporary: the Samaritan Prophet called John the Baptist.
Now John the Baptist is the privileged witness, not more Paul.
The rest is history.