Are you sure that the passage in Refut. 7.30 is referring specifically to "Marcion's reputation as the abbreviator of a gospel"?This is a brilliant spot, and it's disappointing that hardly anyone (so far) has bothered to read this post.I can't believe that no one has suggested this before.
However, even if correct, this reading is not necessarily evidence of knowledge of two versions of the gospel of Mark, which I assume to be your point. Let's look at the context, 'Hippolytus', Refut.7.30 :
"When therefore Marcion or any of his dogs shall bay against the Demiurge, bringing forward arguments from the comparison of good and evil, they should be told that neither the apostle Paul nor short-measure Mark reported these things ( for none of them is written in the gospel according to Mark )."
The writer seems to be making a rather laboured joke on the theme of abbreviation, playing both upon Μαρκιων as a diminutive of Μαρκος, and on Marcion's reputation as the abbreviator of a gospel. The sense is that Marcionite doctrines are an importation of Empedocles' system, which has no textual basis in the Marcionite canon, the Apostolos and the Evangelion. The gospel of Mark is juxtaposed to point up the joke.
And, if so, why would you say so?
Statistics: Posted by Peter Kirby — Sat Mar 09, 2024 3:54 pm