Paul and Marcion
Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2020 1:58 am
I'm just going to throw an idea out here.....
Some years ago, (goodness 10 years ago, on FRDB, I put up a thread on a new Marcion book by Sebastian Moll.
The Arch-Heretic Marcion by Sebastian Moll
https://frdbarchive.org/viewtopic.php? ... 970&hilit
Stephan Huller put up a counter thread on Sebastian Moll's book.
Why Sebastian Moll's Marcionite Scholarship is Dishonest
https://frdbarchive.org/viewtopic.php? ... 771&hilit
A disagreement arose over Sebastian Moll's view that Marcion's original teaching/belief resolved around an evil god.
The recent thread on the synoptic problem and how Marcion might fit into that problem, motivated me to re-read these two old threads. While doing so the idea of the evil god struck a cord.....yep, mind wondering...
Here is what I'm now thinking.
The writings attributed to Paul have taken Marcion's evil god and transformed that 'evil' god into a celestial crucifixion story. It is in the heavens, i.e. our intellectual capacity, that an 'evil' god has value. Paul's celestial crucifixion requires an 'evil' god.
Methinks Paul has done a transforming of Marcion's fundamental premise - or - Marcion's 'evil' god was always misunderstood by later christian writers. If Marcion was connecting his 'evil' god to the god of the OT - then in fact it was an honor not a dishonor. After all, if intellectual or philosophical progress is to be made then an 'evil' god is a prerequisite. Someone has to do the destroying of the old ideas. Destruction of old ideas is the prerogative of the creator of the new idea.
Later followers of Marcion have, re Sebastian Moll, turned Marcion's 'evil' god into a just god. Seems to me, on a philosophical level, Marcion was way ahead of his time with his 'evil' god....
The Arch-Heretic Marcion: Sebastian Moll
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arch-Heretic ... 00&sr=8-1
===============
I do place the writing of Marcion prior to the writing of Paul. I think Marcion was pre 70s and Paul post 70s. A reversal of the consensus order. Perhaps though it's not a chronological issue but a philosophical issue. Ah - it's archology of the mind that's needed......
Some years ago, (goodness 10 years ago, on FRDB, I put up a thread on a new Marcion book by Sebastian Moll.
The Arch-Heretic Marcion by Sebastian Moll
https://frdbarchive.org/viewtopic.php? ... 970&hilit
Stephan Huller put up a counter thread on Sebastian Moll's book.
Why Sebastian Moll's Marcionite Scholarship is Dishonest
https://frdbarchive.org/viewtopic.php? ... 771&hilit
A disagreement arose over Sebastian Moll's view that Marcion's original teaching/belief resolved around an evil god.
The recent thread on the synoptic problem and how Marcion might fit into that problem, motivated me to re-read these two old threads. While doing so the idea of the evil god struck a cord.....yep, mind wondering...
Here is what I'm now thinking.
The writings attributed to Paul have taken Marcion's evil god and transformed that 'evil' god into a celestial crucifixion story. It is in the heavens, i.e. our intellectual capacity, that an 'evil' god has value. Paul's celestial crucifixion requires an 'evil' god.
Methinks Paul has done a transforming of Marcion's fundamental premise - or - Marcion's 'evil' god was always misunderstood by later christian writers. If Marcion was connecting his 'evil' god to the god of the OT - then in fact it was an honor not a dishonor. After all, if intellectual or philosophical progress is to be made then an 'evil' god is a prerequisite. Someone has to do the destroying of the old ideas. Destruction of old ideas is the prerogative of the creator of the new idea.
Later followers of Marcion have, re Sebastian Moll, turned Marcion's 'evil' god into a just god. Seems to me, on a philosophical level, Marcion was way ahead of his time with his 'evil' god....
The Arch-Heretic Marcion: Sebastian Moll
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arch-Heretic ... 00&sr=8-1
===============
I do place the writing of Marcion prior to the writing of Paul. I think Marcion was pre 70s and Paul post 70s. A reversal of the consensus order. Perhaps though it's not a chronological issue but a philosophical issue. Ah - it's archology of the mind that's needed......