“I know who you are” as the mark of the Gnostics

Discussion about the New Testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, Christian origins, historical Jesus or otherwise, etc.
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Giuseppe
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“I know who you are” as the mark of the Gnostics

Post by Giuseppe »

Assuming that Mark was one of the first judaizers to combat the Gnostics who hated the Demiurge, then the his Jesus does a crusade against the Gnostics, by preaching the 'kingdom of god'', viz. the Kingdom of the Demiurge.

Under this light, the only knowledge of Jesus by the demons can be explained as the implicit reference to the only people who pride themselves to know really Jesus: the Gnostics.

Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

The Messianic Secret is break only by the “demons” - Gnostics, in Mark, since only they knew what Mark was really doing, by the his judaizing Gospel: to give a new image to YHWH, by showing Jesus as the Christ of the Demiurge came to persuade the people of the essential goodness of the creator.

But then the voice of the demons is the voice of the Gnostics: “I know who you are” refers both to their knowledge of Jesus as meant by Mark (in this sense: the Messiah of the Creator) but also to their prideful knowledge of Jesus as the Son of a supreme Father (the Serpent of Genesis).

This is the reason why Jesus is accused to be in secret alliance with the “demons”, since the “demons” (the Gnostics) called Jesus the Serpent of Genesis, seen as a positive figure. But the Serpent was a negative figure for the Jews and the Judaizers.

By making silent the demons, Jesus is really destroying the gnostic heresy, even before the Great Church had the material means to do so!
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
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MrMacSon
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Re: “I know who you are” as the mark of the Gnostics

Post by MrMacSon »

Giuseppe wrote: Sat Feb 02, 2019 11:42 pm Assuming that Mark was one of the first judaizers to combat the Gnostics who hated the Demiurge ...
[edited] Was Mark judaizing? or could Mark have just been a [post-Gnostic] Christian countering or seeking to counter another Gostic [sect] ?

Giuseppe wrote: Sat Feb 02, 2019 11:42 pm By making silent the demons, Jesus is really destroying the gnostic heresy, even before the Great Church had the material means to do so!
or Mark is merely portraying Jesus as countering a Gnostic sect (and Matthew and Luke doing most of the judaizing sets up later Church figures and Fathers to either be the main Gnostic destroyers of the ones that put the final nail in the Gnostic coffin(?))
Last edited by MrMacSon on Sun Feb 03, 2019 1:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Giuseppe
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Re: “I know who you are” as the mark of the Gnostics

Post by Giuseppe »

MrMacSon wrote: Sun Feb 03, 2019 4:02 am
Giuseppe wrote: Sat Feb 02, 2019 11:42 pm Assuming that Mark was one of the first judaizers to combat the Gnostics who hated the Demiurge ...
Was he judaizing? or could Mark have just been a Gnostic Christian countering or seeking to counter another Gostic [sect] ?
We all agree that Matthew is a judaizer. In my view, the difference between Mark and Matthew is more little than the difference between their Gospels and the Gnostics I am talking about (= haters of the demiurge).

or Mark is merely portraying Jesus as countering another Gnostic sect, and Matthew and Luke doing most of the judaizing sets up later Church figures and Fathers to either be the main Gnostic destroyers of the ones that put the final nail in the Gnostic coffin(?)
still I don't see how Mark could be defined Gnostic (=hater of YHWH) when it is clear as the day that
he adored YHWH as the supreme god. Mark is a pauline but not a gnostic.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
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MrMacSon
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Re: “I know who you are” as the mark of the Gnostics

Post by MrMacSon »

Giuseppe wrote: Sun Feb 03, 2019 6:24 am ... In my view, the difference between Mark and Matthew is little [more] than the difference between their Gospels and the Gnostics I am talking about (= haters of the demiurge) ...

... still I don't see how Mark could be defined Gnostic (=hater of YHWH) when it is clear as the day that he adored YHWH as the supreme god. Mark is a pauline but not a gnostic.
I don't disagree. I have edited my post to refer to Mark as a 'post-Gnostic' Christian, and edited the later reference to him 'portraying Jesus as countering another Gnostic sect', now raising the proposition of Mark portraying Jesus as countering a Gnostic sect.
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