The tempting of Jesus by Satan
Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:26 pm
It would seem to me that Marcion or any of the Gnostics would have had nothing to do with Satan, that Satan or the devil wouldn't have been mentioned in Marcion's Gospel. Be Duhn has Satan appearing in two passages in the Evangelion.
Under the system of Marcion and Gnostics, the god of the Jews was the "lord of this world".
Under the system of those at Qumran, Belial/Satan was the "lord of this world".
Matthew and Luke also imply that Satan is the "lord of this world".
Luke 4:
Matthew 4:
These scenes are apparently absent from Evangelion.
But what about Mark? Mark simply has:
Mark 1:
Are the scenes in Matthew and Luke expansions upon Mark, or is Mark a shortened summary of what we find in Matthew and Luke?
It seems more and more to me that the temptation scene from Matthew and Luke is original. Both Matthew and Luke say that the devil took Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem and told him to throw himself down. Mark doesn't want this detour, so as a result, he truncates the scene.
But the scene is important for establishing the fact that the devil is the "lord of this world". This is never truly established in canonical Mark.
But, this scene wasn't in Marcion's Gospel either. Does this imply that there was another predecessor Gospel that came before Mark or Marcion, in which this scene was present, and that Matthew, Luke and canonical Mark are derived from that Gospel?
There has never been a reasonable explanation for the similarity between the temptations scenes in Matthew and Luke. The most reasonable seems to be the one championed by Goodacre, that Luke is derived from Matthew, but that has many other problems.
Under the system of Marcion and Gnostics, the god of the Jews was the "lord of this world".
Under the system of those at Qumran, Belial/Satan was the "lord of this world".
Matthew and Luke also imply that Satan is the "lord of this world".
Luke 4:
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Matthew 4:
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
These scenes are apparently absent from Evangelion.
But what about Mark? Mark simply has:
Mark 1:
12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
Are the scenes in Matthew and Luke expansions upon Mark, or is Mark a shortened summary of what we find in Matthew and Luke?
It seems more and more to me that the temptation scene from Matthew and Luke is original. Both Matthew and Luke say that the devil took Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem and told him to throw himself down. Mark doesn't want this detour, so as a result, he truncates the scene.
But the scene is important for establishing the fact that the devil is the "lord of this world". This is never truly established in canonical Mark.
But, this scene wasn't in Marcion's Gospel either. Does this imply that there was another predecessor Gospel that came before Mark or Marcion, in which this scene was present, and that Matthew, Luke and canonical Mark are derived from that Gospel?
There has never been a reasonable explanation for the similarity between the temptations scenes in Matthew and Luke. The most reasonable seems to be the one championed by Goodacre, that Luke is derived from Matthew, but that has many other problems.