Apostles and Bishops

Continuing on the issue of vocabulary, and focusing on the structure of the Church we see the relationship between Apostle and Bishop is a fundamental one in the organization of the early Church. It is a position that evolved from with the growth of the Church. This is important in understanding who Marcion was, and how the character Paul relates to his position, and how it was reinterpreted by later Catholic editors.  

Below is the excerpt from an article I wrote about the relationship of Paul and Marcion, which I am dealing with the offices of Bishop and Minister (Deacon).

Apostle and Bishop and Minister

When considering the issue of Marcion’s parallel relationship with the literary Paul, you have to begin with the terms used. We learn not unsurprisingly in Dialogue Adamantius 1.9 that Marcion was a bishop, when Megethius states “Marcion is my bishop” (ἐπισκοπός μου / episcopus meus). Not only is this acknowledged by the Catholic champion Adamantius in his reply, but also that a succession of Bishops after Marcion,

Vocabulary - Part 1 Church Membership

In the course of parsing 1 Corinthians to separate the material most likely added by the Orthodox editor(s), I became very aware of the usage of certain words which seemed to only occur in the Orthodox additions. Beyond that I started to recognize the double meanings of certain words used by the "original" Heterodox author(s).

There are different categories of members of the assembly (ἐκκλησίᾳ which is usually called church in our NT translations, except that the physical building is usually referred to as a συναγωγὴ 'Synagogue'), a few of which the early church that the heterodox authors were not concerned with include:

πρεσβυτέρων
   - elders
ἄπιστος
   - non believers
ἰδιῶται
   - "idiot" or "initiate" refers to a new or potential members, somebody who does not know church customs
κυβερνήσεις
   - rectors (literally ship pilot) who administer the daily affairs of church property
ἀντιλήμψεις
   - helpers or partakers

None of these roles are part of the church spoken of by Marcion's Paul. They are products of a later time,

Marcionite 1 Corinthians Interliner

This is a slightly updated version of the 1 Corinthians Interliner I gave to Dr. Detering for his site. Since that one was released I found it impossible to keep any reference to church attendees who were ἄπιστος or ἰδιῶται. These simply were not accepted in Marcion's time. But when the redactor wrote a generation or so later (25 years minimum I think), the congregation was larger and more complex, requiring new rules.

Here is the Interliner  for 1 Corinthians

and here are my notes on the Catholic Additions to 1 Corinthians

Interliner Color Key:
   Green = words attested in Marcion (by Tertullian, Adamantius, Epiphanius, et al)
   Blue = words that are different in Marcion than we see in the UBS
   Red = LXX quotes (the english only is highlighted red)

In the footnotes Red denotes Latin, and Blue denotes Greek

The Marcionite Openings: Romans

Last year I challenged Herman Detering on his reconstruction of Marcion's Romans, specifically his leaving in tact verses 1:1 and 1:7. My belief is the original simply read:

_1:1 Παῦλος ἀπόστολος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ, [1]      _1:7 πᾶσιν τοῖς οὖσιν [ἐν Ῥώμῃ] τοῖς ἁγίοις, [2] 

     Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus                       to all   those saints ~ [in Rome]

     χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. [3]

     Grace to you and peace from God our father and Lord Jesus Christ

Matthew and the Antithesis

I have not been very good in updating this blog sight, but today I promise to be better.

One of the most puzzling features of Marcion's antithesis is its seeming use of Matthew. We can see this in Dialogue Adamantius as in these two cases where verses in Matthew's Sermon on the Mount appear to show up in the Antithesis arguments of Megathius, the Marcionite champion:

// The third antithesis found in Dialogue Adamantius 1.12 / 8.12d
Megethius: The Lord brought to view in the Law say, ‘You shall love him who loves you and you shall hate your enemy.” (Leviticus 19:18 LXX with τὸν ἀγαπῶντά σε for τὸν πλησίον σου, Matthew 5:43) But our Lord, because He is good, says “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44; see also Luke 6:27-28)

Ὁ ἐν τῷ νόμῷ κύριος λέγει·  

ἀγαπήσεὶς σεις τὸν ἀγαπῶντά σε, καὶ μισήσεις τὸν ἐχθρόν σου·
ὁ δὲ κύριος ἡμῶν, ἀγαθὸς ὤν, λέγει·  
ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν καὶ εὔχεσθε ὑπὲρ τῶν διωχόντων ὑμᾶς.

In lege deus dicit: Diliges diligentem te, et odio habebis inimicum tuum. Noster autem bonus dominis dicit: Diligite inimicos uestros, et orate pro eis qui persecuntur uos.

Marcionite 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Here is my analysis of the famous passage 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 to reveal the underlying Marcionite Original, and then a discussion of how I reached that opinion from the sources. This is a bit of  a teaser for the release of my complete reconstruction of 1 & 2 Corinthians in Marcionite form.

1 Corinthians 15:1-3 – ὃ καὶ παρέλαβον and – κατὰ τὰς γραφάς {A}
      15:4b-10 – κατὰ τὰς γραφάς … οὐκ ἐγὼ δὲ ἀλλὰ ἡ χάρις τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ σὺν ἐμοί

The traditions of 15:4(b)-10 were placed by the Catholic redactor to lessen Paul’s role, and to harmonize to Acts (Jesus appearing to Peter in 15:5, the elevation of James and the Apostles in 15:7, Saul/Paul persecuting the “Church of God” in verse 15:9, et al). The most that could remain forms a simple coherent statement

Conversation with Hermann Detering

Last year I opened a conversation with Dr. Detering by criticizing his reconstruction of Marcion's Romans for not being radical enough, especially verses 1:1-7. As I go into my concerns and my arguments for a more compact reading than simply removing Romans 1:2-6, I think this might be instruction for any passer by who happens upon my bog to get a feeling for what I am thinking.

If anyone wants I can post it with Dr. Detering's comments.