Mark doesn't count because Irenaeus was writing to a Roman audience and already identifies the Gospel of Mark as "their" gospel. But it doesn't strike everyone as strange that "the Gospel" is supposed to be of four gospels and each one of the gospels unknown or "othered" to the Roman community is associated with a particular heresy? So when the Romans would ask what's this "gospel of John" Irenaeus would say "oh this gospel of John comes from John, a trustworthy source, but the reason you heard bad things about it is because it's associated with the Valentinians" or "oh this gospel of Matthew comes from Matthew a reliable witness but the reason you heard bad things about it is because it was associated with the Ebionites." In the case of Luke, it's "never heard of the Gospel of Luke? Well the Marcionites have a corrupt version of it." In each case the "bad guys" contextualize the existence of these faux gospels.
Statistics: Posted by Secret Alias — Tue Apr 09, 2024 2:50 pm