Evidence that the Pontus was full of marcionites

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Giuseppe
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Evidence that the Pontus was full of marcionites

Post by Giuseppe »

Why is the First Epistle of Peter addressed to people found in so remote places?

It is sufficient to see what is the first of these places.

Not concidentially, the Pontus.


Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:

It was necessary to prove that the Pontus was converted very soon to Judaizing Christianity, not to Marcionite Chrestianity.

And not by Paul, but by Peter.
lclapshaw
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Re: Evidence that the Pontus was full of marcionites

Post by lclapshaw »

Q: What do you call the Pontus full of Marcionites?

A: An excellent start!

One of Tertullian's favorite jokes.
Giuseppe
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Re: Evidence that the Pontus was full of marcionites

Post by Giuseppe »

I note that 1 Peter talks about
'Mark my dear son'

It was a way to welcome the Gospel of Mark among Catholics.

Curiously, the welcome is done in a catholic and anti-marcionite epistle.
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MrMacSon
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Re: Evidence that the Pontus was full of marcionites

Post by MrMacSon »

Giuseppe wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:22 am
Why is the First Epistle of Peter addressed to people found in so remote places?

It is sufficient to see what is the first of these places.

Not concidentially, the Pontus.


Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:

It was necessary to prove that the Pontus was converted very soon to Judaizing Christianity, not to Marcionite Chrestianity.

And not by Paul, but by Peter.

Who really knows when 1 Peter was written relative to the Pauline epistles, the synoptic gospels and John, or the other so-called Catholic epistles?

Who really knows in what actual order, relative to each other, any of them were written?

It’s interesting Pontus and Bythnia are split by the names of the other regions. They’re usually co-joined. As they’re adjecant to each other and were probably administered together. They’re all adjacent to each other, of course, in the middle, northern and eastern Anatolian peninsula in what today is Türkiye/Turkey.

eta:
FWIW, Irenaeus wrote of "the church of Ephesus [in Asia], founded by Paul, with John continuing with them until the times of Trajan."
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Peter Kirby
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Re: Evidence that the Pontus was full of marcionites

Post by Peter Kirby »

Giuseppe wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:22 am remote places
Pliny the Younger, of course, was the governor of Bithynia and Pontus (a conjoined Roman province), attesting to Xians here (ca. 112 CE) and to accusations being made against them.

W. Leaf described Sinope of Pontus as "the queen of all the Greek colonies which surrounded the Black Sea." D. M. Robinson wrote, "The best harbor on the southern shore of the Black Sea would become the terminal land point of the great caravans... That harbor was Sinope."

Robinson also wrote, "the inscriptions upon altars and upon other stones, together with legends and figures on coins, afford a considerable bulk of testimony. By collating this we find at Sinope cults of seven gods out of the Great Twelve: Zeus, Apollo, Athens, Hermes, Ares, Poseidon, and Demeter; of five of the later importations: Dionysus, Asclepius, the Dioscuri, Serapis, and Isis...." And also, the "most prominent Sinopean deity was Serapis," whereby "Helios and Serapis were practically identified."

Livia Capponi wrote:

Abundant evidence indicates that Hadrian [ca. 117-138 CE] played a major role in the restoration work on buildings destroyed in the Diaspora Revolt [ca. 115-117 CE]. For this reason he was hailed as saviour and benefactor both in Egypt and in Cyrenaica. An inscription on Mons Claudianus shows that the emperor celebrated his victory over the Diaspora Jews by erecting a temple to Zeus-Helios-Serapis ‘on behalf of safety and eternal victory’. There is also a debate over whether or not Hadrian restored the Alexandrian Serapeum, possibly damaged in the war. In any case, Hadrian portrayed himself as the saviour and defender of Serapis. Coins of Hadrian show the emperor clasping hands with Serapis, sitting in the Serapeion, and even assimilated with Horos and Serapis himself, while the empress Sabinais represented as Serapis’ wife Isis. A portrait of Serapis in the animal form of a bull was also found in Hadrian’s villa at Tibur, an important centre for Hadrian’s symbolic system of images.

Dionysus, of course, god of another cult present in Sinope, came to be known as a god of wine and pleasure. And it is against this backdrop that 1 Peter places its admonitions:

For the time that has passed is sufficient for doing what the Gentiles like to do: living in debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and wanton idolatry. They are surprised that you do not plunge into the same swamp of profligacy, and they vilify you.


If ye be reproached for the name of X, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Xian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

The text is evidently written to strengthen Xians* against the temptations (especially those associated with cultic worship - drinking, orgies, and idolatry) and accusations (for the name of X) from non-Xians. This is a response to those who encouraged the Xians to participate in the expected cultic practice in their area (which, of course, to be clear, did not invariably consist of drunken orgies but which certainly always qualified as idolatry, for Jews and for Xians). And so when Xians impiously refused to participate, accusations were formed against them, as this impiety was seen as dangerous to the community.

* I use this term, not for disrespect of Christians, but for respect of the textual ambiguity.
Secret Alias
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Re: Evidence that the Pontus was full of marcionites

Post by Secret Alias »

The most intriguing thing here is Pliny's relation to Marcellus the Roman senator featured in the Acts of Peter which I think were Marcionite.
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Peter Kirby
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Re: Evidence that the Pontus was full of marcionites

Post by Peter Kirby »

MrMacSon wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 11:22 am It’s interesting Pontus and Bythnia are split by the names of the other regions. They’re usually co-joined.
It's possible that the author knew enough of geography and trade to be suggesting a combined sea + river/land route, with the mountains and distance west of Sinope being unfavorable to land travel:

A. From Rome[?] (Babylon) to Sinope (Pontus) by sea
B. From Sinope (Pontus) over land to Galatia (e.g. Ancyra)
C. From Galatia over land to Cappadocia (e.g. Sebastea, Nikopolis, Kotyora)
D. By sea again to Asia (e.g. Ephesus, Smyrna, Sardis)
E. And finally by sea once more to Bithynia (e.g. Nicomedia)

Image

The only part of the sequence that is slightly awkward is putting Asia before Bithynia, unless Bithynia was intended to represent the final destination.
Secret Alias
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Re: Evidence that the Pontus was full of marcionites

Post by Secret Alias »

The family was involved with early Christianity

https://www.cairn-int.info/article-E_HS ... ny-the.htm
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billd89
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Re: The Pontus

Post by billd89 »

Giuseppe wrote: Sat May 27, 2023 8:22 am remote places [...] the Pontus
Perspective, off? Pontus was beside Byzantium.

Nicæa: Nicæa was 140 km from what became the capital of the Empire. It was not more than 2 days' travel-time away.
Nicomedia: Even closer was Nicomedia, fmr capital that was ~70 km from Nicæa and Byzantium.
Herakleia: Xenophon says in the Anabasis that a trireme galley would, in the space of a very long day (~16 hrs?), sail from Byzantion to Herakleia (~100 km sail). "One Day"!

Even today, Alaska is 'remote' from where most Americans live. In 8 AD, Ovid was banished to a remote place (Tomis =Constanța, Romania) = 3050 km, at least 80-100 days travel from Rome, at a minimum.

Pontus wasn't "remote": Pontus was very very close to what became, or can arguably be called, the epicenter of Christianity.

Image
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