"...but this man has done nothing wrong" (Luke 23:41)

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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"...but this man has done nothing wrong" (Luke 23:41)

Post by Giuseppe »

Inteesting what the mythicist Chris Albert Wells says about the two thieves crucified with Jesus:

Among the very general assertions, Jesus is referred to as ‘this man.’ I will pull on this particular thread as it recalls Peter’s discourse in Acts 2:22-24: “You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God… this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified…” At this stage we have a Jew mockingly addressing Jesus as Messiah, and one that shows some compassion for the man. Refusing the messiah (First criminal) while accepting the man (Second criminal) rings with a second century obsession: affirming the human nature of Messiah Jesus

(my bold)

Obviously: against Marcion and docetists.

The logical conclusion:

The preliminary conclusion drawn from the criminal’s comments is that Jesus is Messiah and man. The claim was not trivial but crucial to mid-second century writers in the line of Polycarp of Smyrna defending the Judean traditions against Hellenic controversies. This implies that the two bandits did not belong to the original version and served a much later context.

Add to this the function of the titulus crucis: the only difference between two men crucified and a Jesus crucified is that the latter is also the messiah, in addition to be a man.

Hardly the suspicion can be neutralized, that these details are all anti-marcionite.
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