Thursday, November 20, 2014

168. Matthew 7:9, 13:31, 33, 47

Adamantius (immediately after a citation from the Marcionite gospel by the Marcionite representative) I will give you the Saviour's own words, as (110) recorded in the Gospel: "Would any of you, if his son should ask for bread, give him a stone? f [If he should desire a fish, would you give him a serpent?]133 If he should want an egg, would you give him a scorpion? If he should want an egg, would you give him a scorpion? If you then though are evil know to given good gifts to you children ..." [Matt. 7:9 - 11; Lk 11:12 - 13] Since Christ acknowledges the bread, the egg, and the fish, which are products of the Creator God, to be good gifts most certainly He desires their Maker; through them to be thought as good also for a tree is known by its fruit. When again the Saviour says "The Kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed" or "leaven" or "a drag net" [Matt 13:31, 33, 47] or to some such things which are products of the Creator God and which the Lord says, the Kingdom of God resembles, let Marcus and his friends ponder what sort of conception they have of the Kingdom of God, if they stigmatize these things as evil! If the grain of mustard seed and the other products are evil (as they claim a product of the evil god is) it is obvious that the Kingdom of Heaven which resembles them must be likewise. Then why do we desire it, if it is evil? But if the Kingdom of Heaven is good, the grain of mustard seed and all the other products that the good Kingdom of God resembles must be Good too. (Marcus does not deny the sayings in what follows) [Pretty p. 107]


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