The Implications of Baptism As Being 'Adopted as a Son.'

Another short post while mother is away for a moment. I know most of us take for granted that the paradigm of the Christian baptism ritual became established when Jesus - i.e. the guy who was always 'God' - went to this mortal named John and had this man immerse him in water. Yet this story has always seemed idiotic.

The familiar objections are well known - viz. why does God who is perfect need to be purified of 'sins'?

Yet the most serious objection is under reported - the Marcionite gospel did not have a reference to John baptizing Jesus. We are told in no uncertain terms by Tertullian that John is introduced much later in the narrative.

Indeed there are a number of other curious features about the Marcionite baptism ritual:

(a) it is consistently identified as a 'baptism of the dead' or 'on behalf of the dead'

(b) it was accompanied by a castration ritual

Now I know the idea of cutting off your testicles after you come out of the water sounds strange (and strange) but Tertullian makes all of this very clear when he writes that Marcion "unites not in the nuptial bond, nor, when contracted, does he allow it; no one does he baptize but a caelebs or a eunuch; until death or divorce does he reserve baptism." [AM iv. 11]

The point of course is that under this very influential Christian system - attributed to a shadowy figure called 'Mark' nonetheless - it is almost impossible not to see it as an outgrowth of a baptism ritual associated with or identified as 'redemption' in a narrative exactly like LGM 1.

Just think about it. The Marcionites thought that Jesus was wholly angelic. He didn't have a material body. So he couldn't have received 'the water' nor would he have any reason to do so.

Yet if there was a figure named 'little Mark' in the gospel, his paradigmatic baptism would have adopted him into 'the Son' who appears at the end of the gospel.

Hmmmmm. That's very interesting and fills in an important gap in the Monarchian understanding of Jesus the Father - i.e. the identity as someone else as 'the Son' who becomes the paradigmatic model we follow in our initiation from mortality to immortality.

Did I mention that the original Episcopal throne in Alexandria seems to be built for an eight year old boy ...



If you are interested in reading how this observation fits within my greater understanding of the workings of Secret Mark WITHIN the contemporary Alexandrian Church please go here

If you want to read more about how Alexandrian Christianity was rooted in the Jewish traditions of Alexandria, Philo of Alexandria and more feel free to purchase my new book here