Catholicization Came From Assyria; Marcionism Is Fake

[yakovzutolmai]

My explorations surrounding particularly the ignored Assyrian renaissance from 200 BC - 200 AD have come to a conclusion. Over the last 48 hours it's finally all percolated into a coherent picture, so I'll leave this for posterity.

The concept is that western Roman Christianity was always quintessentially Marcionite until eastern Jewish Christianity asserted itself in the West in the latter half of the second century. The catholicization process won out in the West, and church fathers and orthodoxizers needed to create an apostolic lineage for Rome through Peter. Thus, the Marcionite nature of western Christianity needed to be placed in a virtual container, a historical strawman, to allow for Rome to have always been catholic. The Roman Catholic history distorts the second century with this highly inaccurate portrayal of what is called Marcionism. In fact, Tatian's Diatessaron is the historically real "Evangelion of the Lord", but this obvious connection is lost due to the false history of Marcionism needed to paint Rome as forever catholic.

Here is why the Diatessaron is similar to Marcion's Evangelion:

• Instead of using the four gospels, a single authoritative gospel is used.
• Elements of the four gospels are changed, edited or redacted by the prerogatives of the author.
• Later in the catholicization process, there is a distinct emphasis on using "separate" gospels and not using the harmonized text. An exactly parallel trend that applies to the Diatessaron and Marcion's gospel.

A major historical difference between the two texts is that one is extant in the Roman world, the other in the Parthian world. This leaves room, among the paucity of evidence, for the common reaction to these two documents to have possibly been a common reaction to a single document, interpreted through two different historical vantage points.

However, the conventional view of Marcionism via Catholic history makes such a comparison a bit to outstanding to be believable. This is reconciled by considering a reasonable interpretation of history against Catholic bias. There is very little evidence of the Roman papacy as an institution in the first century, nor any particular connection to Peter. Western Christianity was philosophical and Pauline. Eastern Christianity was Jewish, and eschatological. What we call Marcionism, what we understand it to be, what Marcion's Gospel was has been highly distorted. Marcion's Gospel is not secretly exactly the Diatessaron. Rather, where the historical impact of the Diatessaron is inconvenient, it is called Marcion's Gospel.

Here is a reconstruction of second century catholicization:

1. The Kitos war ends messianic Jewish zealotry as Rome defeats two distinct Jewish uprisings, of two different natures, one in the West and one in the East.
2. The eastern Jews react to this defeat by introducing the Book of Elchasai, with direct lineage to the Nazorean, Transjordanian and Assyrian baptizer cults. It is primarily eschatological, but also follows the law and insists on righteous works.
3. The western Jewish tradition inherits the Philonism of Jewish aristocrats (Alexandrians, Cyrenian merchants, Sadducees, Herodians), which does not require adherence to law, and is heavily philosophical.
4. After 135AD, Bar Kokhba, western Roman Christians seek distance from Judaism. This leads to the writing, within a common temporal and geographical locus (Rome), of the four gospel (there may have been earlier source texts). Western, Roman Christianity becomes somewhat anti-Jewish.
5. Tatian, an eastern Christian, travels to Rome and encounters the gospel texts and is impressed by them. Whereas western Christianity uses philosophy for exegesis, eastern Christianity using prophecy, Tatian seeks to use history for Christian exegesis. Tatian appears to be a scholar and philosopher, but of a distinct Babylonian/Assyrian heritage enough to have critical opinions about the inadequacy of western philosophy. He writes the Diatessaron and brings it East.
6. The Diatessaron is responsible for two particular outcomes. First, it is associated with the intrusion of Roman Christianity (Gnostic/"Marcionite") into the East. Second, it is associated with historical exegesis.
7. Tatian's work inaugurates a process of catholicization, which seeks truth through textual and historical exegesis. Eastern Christianity remains heavily Jewish in spite of western Christianity's anti-Jewish ideas.
8. It is the influence of the proto-catholicizing, eastern Jewish Christians using historical exegesis, which blows into the West.
9. The influence of East upon West could have been a long and varied process, but takes root in Asia in particular. These formerly "Marcionite" Christians now possess Johannite literature, the Book of Revelations to John, etc.
10. As Roman Christianity was quintessentially Marcionite, this new catholicizing locus finds itself surrounded by Marcionites. Missionaries go to Egypt, to Carthage, to Rome and to Gaul. The literature associated with Irenaeus and Tertullian are a product of this eastern seed sprouting in the West.
11. As this catholicization process unfolds, under the influence of textual exegesis and a recommitment to Christianity's Jewish roots and eschatological character, West and East are reconciled. The "tension" between the Pauline and Jamesian elements of the New Testament, accommodated by the narrative in Acts, is a result of the catholicization process.
12. As Rome becomes fully catholic, whenever and however that finally occurs, the only remaining western, Roman Christians are "Marcionite" converts in the East. In the East, Jewish Christians either become catholic, or else they revert to the emerging rabbinical Judaism.
13. When Rome later needs to falsify its history to show it was always catholic, it creates the strawman of Marcionism to conveniently explain that sect's legacy in the West and the East. The catholicizers have insisted on the four gospels, separated, and pushed out the Diatessaron. It is not a favored text, some easterners still associate it with the old Gnostic western influence. Yet, it is also nominally proto-catholic, it cannot be associated with the heretical strawman Rome is attempting to construct. Thus, Marcion's Gospel is born. Marcion's Gospel and Marcionism become a phantom that explains inconvenient history in both East and West. Roman Catholicism, with its eastern, Jewish elements, explains away the fact that western, Roman Christianity was initially, totally and quintessential Marcionite or otherwise Gnostic.

The fuller history of Christian origins in reply.

[yakovzutolmai]

A fuller history of Christian origins, for completeness.

1. Proto-second temple Judaism, with LXX, includes "Sadducees" and "Boethusians" per Talmud. These are the Hasmoneans and the House of Onias, whose exile in Egypt does not end following the Maccabean revolt.
2. Into the Hasmonean reign, Idumean and even Assyrian-in-Transjordan peoples are forcibly converted to Judaism
3. Into the Hasmonean reign, an invasion of Ptolemy IV into Judea is supported by the House of Onias, leading to a schism among the Jews. Onias builds a temple in Egypt. Jewish mercenaries from Ethiopia to Babylon have an unclear relationship to either temple, though Jerusalem is favored thanks to the Tanakh - "High tech religion". Onias takes the Greek name Boethus for his family, due to a patron of the same name and "Beit Honniyoh" transliterating to "Boethus"
4. In the collapse of the Seleucid Empire, Philip wins the war, but his claim is questioned in Antioch and Damascus. He apparently has the support of the Assyrian Arabs and the Parthian Empire. Presumption: Philip is descended from a Seleucid hostage, and probably the old Assyrian throne reestablished by Abdissares of Adiabene. Later Syriacs record these politics in a reconstruction of the rulers of Edessa. Philip's reign ends ignominiously in the Valley of Lebanon, under the name Ptolemy Menneus, having failed to ever recapture Damascus.
5. Philip's son marries a Jewish princess, and goes on to become the Parthian usurper Tiridates II who famously captures hostages and sends them to Augustus. In the end, Rome recognizes his dominion over Assyria. He pays taxes to Rome through Herod, and Rome holds Herod and "Ma'nu III Saflul" responsible for the Roman border region South of Armenia, a very lucrative station.
6. Prior to this, Herod's poverty from overspending on public construction causes him to marry the daughter of Simon Boethus. The House of Onias is restored to the High Priesthood in Jerusalem now that the Hasmoneans have been killed off.
7. Per Armenian history, the prince of Adiabene - recorded as Abgar - is sent to Antioch to help Herod with Rome's commission to rebuild it. Consistent with the joint responsibility Rome has given to these two beneficiaries of the border trade. Josephus records that a Babylonian Jew with a royal Parthian horse guard comes into the area of Syria, and so Herod asks him to settle in Transjordan to protect the Damascus-Judea trade from robbers.
8. Rome disbands the Jewish mercenary police force which had served the Ptolemies for hundreds of years in Egypt, replacing them with legionaries. The timing coincides with Zamaris's entry into Transjordan. The area Zamaris oversees is called "Batanea". Possible "Beit Honniyoh" = "Bethaniyah" (Bethany beyond the Jordan). Implying the Oniad loyalist mercenaries have resettled into the Transjordan, among the Judeo-Assyrian population there.
9. By the time of Herod's death, Boethus has lost favor. Judas of Gamala revolts against a census. Zamaris had received tax-free privileges from Herod, so the tax matter makes him a likely candidate for this Judas, as does the geographic locus of Eastern Galilee. If so, one presumes the Boethusian household in "Bethany beyond the Jordan" now shares a political and geographic locus with the Babylonian Jews.
10. Zamaris could be the son of the Hasmonean princess whom his father had married, whether a practicing Jew or not (the importance of which in antiquity is unknown). If Zamaris is Monobazus of Adiabene, then Helena could be a Boethusian, as their pairing would have blossomed in Batanea. In their union, the Hasmonean and Boethusian lineages are joined. As a Babylonian Jews, Zamaris represents "Joseph" along with the Israelite diaspora and lost blessing of lost tribes. The text "Joseph and Asenath", Jewish with Christian elements, demonstrates the theological and political concepts such a union might invoke or imply, in the context of blossoming Christian ideas.
11. The children of Monobazus and Helena, Izates and Monobazus II, convert to Judaism. First, non-circumcision conversion is advocated by "Ananias" but later "Eleazar" (Boethus?) convinces them to circumcise. This provokes unhappiness among Assyrian subjects.
12. Ananias's proto-Pauline stance implies the House of Annas, which holds the High Priesthood under direct Roman rule of Judea (a consequence of Judas of Gamala's revolt), implies that this House is related to the Hellenized aristocracy of Judea. This forms a nexus with Cyrenian merchants, Alexandrian alabarchs, and so forth. Presumably, Annas is obliquely descended from one Hasmonean or another, as many Sadducees would be. This forms a nexus with Philo's own family, where he claims a similar set of relations. This forms a faction which clearly seeks maximum amicability with Rome and the gentile world.
13. Herod Antipas rules Western Galilee, builds Tiberias, stockpiles weapons, and sponsors the Pharisees. This creates a Pharisaical, nationalistic locus juxtaposed against the Ananian, Saducaical, pro-Roman locus.
14. Eclectic and ecstatic religious innovations occur in the Transjordan and Samaritan areas. Politically associated with Herod Philip, a possible Boethusian. The baptizer cult associated with John the Baptist invokes the Assyrian "Oannes" and the rite itself has deep ties to Babylonian practices which resonate in proto-Jewish traditions (for instance, Jonah and the Whale). The Assyrian ethnic background of the Transjordan Jews, along with the new Babylonian connection to Adiabene and Nisibis easily explain the emergence of such syncretism.
15. The Boethusian household, with Judeo-Egyptian theology, among Samaritan/Babylonian Israelites, emphasizes a Christology of some sort. In Samaria, Simonianism is the legacy of this. This overlaps with Enochian theology, the hidden power, the Heavenly High Priest, the second power in heaven, and the High Priest of Israel as a Pharaonic world pillar. This unique reassertion of old Israelite-Assyrian theology in a unique syncretic moment, creates a many decades great awakening in the region, and is the origin of the basic Christological anticipation. The particular veneration of Christ, of the Heavenly High Priest as some sort of divinity.
16. Antipas makes a move to conquer Judea. Philip dies, including other Herodians. Nabatea goes to war. Rome intervenes. Tiberius dies and political tides change.
17. Herod Agrippa begins to consolidate control over all Judea around 40 AD. Rome slights him, so he aligns with Izates and against Emesa. The Ananian high priest is replaced with a Boethusian, which inaugurates a clash over the office.
18. Assyria's grandees reject Izates's radical Judaism, leading to Sampsiceramus II of Arshamash at Emesa - the "Abia" of Assyrian Arabs - raising arms against Izates.
19. Izates defeates him in 42 AD. His control over Assyria is limited to a particular region of the Euphrates river valley, able to project power across the Mesopotamian Steppe. It is a major Jewish uprising in Babylon and represents a small Jewish kingdom centered on Nisibis. Josephus conceals the identity of Izates, calling him and his brother Anileus and Asineus.
20. Lazarus Boethus and Herod Agrippa are both attacked by Rome/Annas, where the latter dies and the fate of the former is unclear.
21. Izates marches on the River Jordan, calling for a new crossing into the Holy Land by Israel. One imagines a return of the Lost Tribes, with Izates as Second Joshua. Rome dispatches him, beheads him, before whatever army he had hoped for materializes. According to Josephus's account of Anileus, one also wonders if Izates's ambitions might have been checked by Parthian armies on the other side of the border. This is recorded as Josephus as the death of Theudas.
22. For two years following this, Tiberius Alexander of Philo's family persecutes "James and Simon" sons of "Judas of Galilee". This ends with Rome reassigning the prefect, coinciding with the famous famine of 48 where Helena of Adiabene, and Monobazus, fund famine relief. Helena lives in a lavish palace and is buried in a resplendent tomb. Perhaps the grandest and most famous in Jerusalem, a small indication of her prominence among Jews. In my opinion, following along with the context of "Joseph and Asenath", Helena is the historical Mary.
23. The Boethusians now align with the Ananians, and no longer with the Babylonians. Here, their Christology is incorporated into the eclectic philosophical sect of the Philonic Sadducees. The Cyrenian Jews introduce elements of Asclepius. However, where Philo conceived of a Son of God, and salvation through philosophy and contemplation, Boethus introduces the concept of a direct revelation of Gnosis by a discrete heavenly figure. It is through Boethus - perhaps pseudonymically the teacher Menander - that Philonism becomes Pauline Judaism. The timing would be in the 50s.
24. In the 50s, in Transjordan, the post-Boethusian sect now venerates James, who may be Jacimus the son of Zamaris. Perhaps even a younger brother of Izates and Monobazus (who could easily be twins, given the context). Jacimus's son Philippus is prominent in Josephus's account of the Jewish war as captain of Herod Agrippa II's military guard. Agrippa II has taken up Herod Philip's old capital and old dominion. It is likely that Jacimus was more of a political and military leader of these people in Transjordan, and as such was simply venerated by the sectarians, rather than directly leading them as a religious authority. The mercenary cult of Babylonian Marduk (Melchizedek/Jupiter) seems to have lent elements to early Christianity - Paulina's night with a God, Pantera both as mockeries of the divine union between heavenly warrior and sacred mother which is prominent in Joseph and Asenath. Thus, theologically, Jacimus as military leader is the community's incarnation of Melchizedek/Christ, and pillar of their community. The Jamesian, zealot (Sicarii?) cult emerges during this decade.
25. The Jewish War occurs, and the Babylonian Jews are killed, whichever zealots are associated with the Jamesians are also killed. In my opinion, Simon bar Giora at least, and possibly also Manaen were both Jamesians. The loss of the temple is a huge blow to the Jewish community which must reconcile this loss.
26. The Jewish aristocracy, with Ananus ben Ananus (who killed James), the Alexandrians led by Tiberius Alexander who grants legions to Vespasian, and others may possibly have conspired to trigger the uprising to both purge the radical (Pharisaical nationalists, Jamesian zealots) elements from Judea, while also giving Vespasian a victory which could lead to the throne. This is is a substantial topic, so it will be left as that. The existence of a nominal plan (the provisional government turning Judea over to Vespasian) and its unintended failure is good evidence of a real, human conspiracy.
27. By the reign of Titus, the Flavian household is full of "early Christians" but due to the connection with Herodians, the term "Jewish" is more appropriate. Vesuvius's eruption is associated with the downfall of Titus, and Domitian eagerly purges this element. The implication being, had the natural disaster not occurred, Titus may have eventually modeled an imperial cult after Pauline, Philonic Judaism. A universal gentile religion which is philosophical, but venerates the Jewish God. A discrete revelation from Christ of Gnosis, to compete with parallel cults of a similar nature such as Mithraism.
28. The Flavian household is responsible for the proto-gospel textual tradition, which might be categorized by their association with the Acts of Pilate literature. I suspect Tiberius Alexander is the Pilate in question, as the Veronica icon comes to Rome in the Flavian era. This project is abortive, for the most part, however its literature represents the source material for the gospels and authentic Pauline epistles.
29. Developments in Parthian politics lead Osroes - who is Assyrian - to capture Babylon and Armenia. This may be the son of Izates, and he might not be particularly Jewish (again, in ancient times it's unclear how important litmus tests or orthodoxy are, particularly in the East). This could lead to eschatological fervor among Babylonian Jews, who rise up against the Roman legions as they come into Babylon. Here, I suspect, there is a discrete identification of Izates as the hidden Christ. The prophet rejected by his own people, whose death was necessary to fulfill prophecy. The particular motifs of Christianity - hanging from a tree, the cross - may derive from mythology. However, I suspect the person of Izates "Theudas" is acknowledged as a Second Joshua who may come again in glory. Most probably, it was Zamaris who was the Christ of this sect (his name means the same thing as Mohammed). With Helena his divine consort, their son is a Horus type figure, typical in Syrian theology. While the father is the Hidden Imam, within this pagan theology adopted by these eastern Jews, the son is the emanation, the agent sent to conquer on Earth as the father conquers in heaven.
30. In the West, a similar radicalism is extant leading to a great uprising and slaughter, but with a focus on Jerusalem. The end of this Kitos War in West and East ends the violent zealotry of the Jews within this messianic locus. The uprising was almost certainly fueled by the consequences of losing the temple. Such moments only need to fail once for the premise to be abandoned.
31. In spite of the damage caused by the zealots, the Lukuas of Cyrene who led them is almost certainly the personage invoked in the creation of the Apostle Luke. As if later Christians are seeking to borrow his authority. It lends a particular importance tot the Kitos War in forming later conceptions of Christianity, in contrast to what they might have been before. This is why I highlight Theudas as a post-facto locus of theological attention, as changing sectarian needs require history to be recontextualized.
32. The eastern Jewish Christians, post-Kitos, immediately produce and adopt the Book of Elchasai, which is intimately tied to the Essene schism, and the Nazorean spin off sect tied directly to the Babylonian Jews in Transjordan and Adiabene. Adiabene remains a center for baptizer sects for centuries. Islam seems to derive from these varies eclectic sects combining arms against Byzantine orthodoxy, then later requiring a consolidation of their beliefs.
33. The Book of Elchasai appears to be primarily eschatological. It describes the end times which one imagines the zealots or Kitos warriors had anticipated as imminent. Except now a series of signs and preconditions are revealed, which must be fulfilled before this second coming of Christ. In effect, the violent fervor of the movement is diminished, as the eschaton is pushed back behind a wall of extraordinary events. The incarnation of Second Joshua as Theudas is a sign to prepare, to become righteous, for a final war which you'll know it when you see it, which comes anywhere between tomorrow and a thousand years from now.
34. In the West, post-Kitos "Pauline" Jews begin emphasizing the Pauline literature, perhaps expanding it, to redeem the image of the religion in Rome. Cyprus is an important locus to examine this dynamic and the beginning of a Pauline identity distinct from Judaism.
35. Later in the West, the Pharisaical nationalists sponsor a Bar Kokhba as messiah. The Christians refuse to acknowledge him, and so a firm and final schism between Jews and Christians occurs. Particularly in the West. This leads the Roman Pauline Christians to develop and embellish their Mark-Paul-Pilatus literature instead of relying on Jewish texts to expound their beliefs. The less speculative and philosophical (Valentinian), more religious emphasis of this early Christian Gnosticism becomes what is later called Marcionism, but might be called early Pauline Christianity.
36. The rest is expounded in the post above. As a final conclusion, we would say that our concept of Christianity as pertaining to the incarnation of a historical messianic martyr whose coming represents a dispensation of knowledge, and who might come again, is a product of the reaction to the Kitos War, as dreams of rebuilding the temple fade. Theudas becomes the anchor for the historical features of this concept, and so elements of the events of the early 40s become the setting for the narrative. That is, the situation in Transjordan/Galilee, the House of Bethany, the politics of Galilee, and so forth. Nevertheless, most of the gospel narratives are mythological, scriptural or literary in nature. The are merely invoking the setting located around Theudas and Bethany, largely due to the Babylonian Jews having incorporated the family of Zamaris-Helena-Izates into the center of their religious attention. Which is perfectly sensible as that family drove the politics of first century Jewish Mesopotamia.

[yakovzutolmai]

By coincidence, though I don't have more to say, an academic paper landed in my email inbox and today's thoughts resonated with it:

Rabbi Eliezer and Jacob “the Min,” two texts which have already been extensively commented. By contrast, the following passage of the Tosefta has rarely been noted in connection with Jesus and the relation between Jews and Christians in the Tannaitic period. As a matter of fact, Jesus is not explicitly mentioned in this text:

Rabbi Meir used to say: — What is the meaning of the saying (Deut21:23): For he that is hanged is a curse of God?
[It is like the case of]two brothers, twins, resembling each other. One ruled (or was king) overthe whole world —
— and the other went for robbery. After a while, this one who went for robbery was caught and they crucified him on a cross —
—. And every passerby said: “It seems that the king is hanged on a cross—
—.” Therefore, it is said: For he that is hanged—
— is a curse of God.

From:
THE PARABLE OF THE TWINS IN THE TOSEFTA: AN UNDERLYING REFERENCE TO JESUS? Murcia, Thierry; Peeters

https://www.academia.edu/38003582/_The_ ... card=title

I just want to highlight my position here. I would identify these twins as Izates and Monobazus. As Anileus and Asineus, if that's true, there is no better historical candidate for this subject. It also perfectly connects to the concept of Jesus and Didymus. Izates is Anileus the robber king. Munbaz his brother who regained Adiabene after the Armenian war, is the Great King beyond the Euphrates of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

This is the vein of my thinking, as I know it seems like as if from some far outer orbit.

Jesus as "ben Pantera" is mentioned in this paper as well, and I referenced it in my complete historical summary above, so let me explain more clearly.

I am saying that among those Jews speculating about the Hidden Power/Heavenly High Priest, there were mercenary groups who were following basically the Marduk sect, but in the guise of Melchizedek probably holding this same office of the Heavenly High Priest.

In the Marduk sect, a priestess spends the night - "maiden in the tower" - with Marduk. The offspring of this process conquers nations which follow false demon gods, while Marduk conquers those spirits in the heavenly realm. This theology is explicitly referenced in attestations of the Book of Elchasai as well, where the demon gods are something like the fallen Watchers of Enoch, and Marduk is replaced by Metatron.

So, when rabbis are mocking Christianity, the priestess - Mary in the Christian context - becomes "Paulina" as we meet her in Josephus. Duped to have sex with an imposter exploiting her naivete. Falling prey to a false religion.

Meanwhile, "Pantera" becomes a mockery of the concept of Melchizedek. Marduk as a Mars-like figure, made mortal, again as an imposter. Julius Pantera is a Romanized version of the archetypal warrior.

We start with the divine martial Melchizedek/Elxai, the ascended Mary, and the messianic king who is their son - the Babylonian model Judaized - and it's transformed into a philandering legionary who dupes some naive woman in a profane and embarrassing incident, resulting in this disgraced king "hung from a tree".

There is in fact a continuity of ideas here.