Thursday, November 20, 2014

103. the gospel of Marcion had Mark 8:38

It is, however, a jealous God whom He here presents to me one who returns evil for evil. "For whosoever," says He, "shall be ashamed of me, of him will I also be ashamed." Now to none but my Christ can be assigned the occasion of such a shame as this. His whole course was so exposed to shame as to open a way for even the taunts of heretics, declaiming with all the bitterness in their power against the utter disgrace of His birth and bringing-up, and the unworthiness of His very flesh [Adv Marc 4.21]
In Adversus Marcionem IV.21 Tertullian must be quoting not Mark but Luke, since his argument is intended to confound Marcion with Marcion's own gospel. The theme is the shame Christ endured through accepting the conditions of ordinary human birth, life and death
Qui confusus, inquit, mei fuerit, et ego confundar eius. Quando nec con- fusionis materia conveniat nisi meo Christo, cuius ordo magis pudendus, ut etiam haereticorum conviciis pateat, omnem nati- vitatis et educationis foeditatem et ipsius etiam carnis indignitatem quanta amaritudine possunt perorantibus
There is no room here for a reference either to my words or to my people, and they do not appear. It is worth noting that at Mk 8.38 the extraordinary Old Latin MS. k actually reads:
Qui autem me confessus fuerit et meos in natione adultera et peccatrice et filios [sic] hominis confundetur ilium cum venerit in claritate patris sui cum angelis Sanctis.
A corrector has erased et meos ; and of course confessus is an error for confusus (arising under the influence of Matthew 10.32; Luke 12.8) [C K Barrett On Paul: Essays on His Life, Work, and Influence in the Early Church p. 127] 
Qui confusus, inquit, mei fuerit, et ego confundar eius. Quando nec con- fusionis materia conveniat nisi meo Christo, cuius ordo magis pudendus, ut etiam haereticorum conviciis pateat, omnem nati- vitatis et educationis foeditatem et ipsius etiam carnis indignitatem quanta amaritudine possunt perorantibus. 


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