They definitely aren't Marcionite, because the earliest witness to the Pauline letter collection is the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Mark pre-dates Marcion's Gospel. Marc + Paul comes before Marcion + Paul. I suspect actually that the Gospel used by Marcion was written in response to the Gospel of John. Marcion's Gospel uses Mark and John, reacting to both and developing something new that mediates between them both. But certainly, Marcion's materials were not the first. But Marcion likely edited the Pauline letters and thus put a Marcionite stamp on them. And it may well be that the orthodox letters drive from Marcion's.
I don't think the stuff about Paul being a persecutor is interpolated. The writer is describing themselves as a zealot. I think that the writer was describing the "assembly of God" as foreign cult that was a threat to traditional Judaism, and as a zealot he sought to counter this foreign anti-Jewish cult. This would seem to lend support to the idea that the religion originated as anti-demiurgist. Paul seem to be describing his conversion from worshiping Yahweh-the-law-giver to worshiping the higher god, God-the-Father, who had sent his son to overthrow the rule of Yahweh the law giver.
I don't think the stuff about Paul being a persecutor is interpolated. The writer is describing themselves as a zealot. I think that the writer was describing the "assembly of God" as foreign cult that was a threat to traditional Judaism, and as a zealot he sought to counter this foreign anti-Jewish cult. This would seem to lend support to the idea that the religion originated as anti-demiurgist. Paul seem to be describing his conversion from worshiping Yahweh-the-law-giver to worshiping the higher god, God-the-Father, who had sent his son to overthrow the rule of Yahweh the law giver.
Statistics: Posted by rgprice — Wed Dec 18, 2024 2:30 am