In his 1927 essay 'On the Trail of Marcion'*, the always-interesting J. Rendel Harris sketched the influence of Marcionite arguments into the medieval period. One instance is the case of Elisha and the she-bears (2 Kings 2.23-24) :
"Go into the far East and into the fourth century, and examine the writings of the Persian sage Aphrahat. It will be remembered that one of the points made by Marcion in his book of Contradictions was the vivid contrast between the God of the Old Testament who sent two she-bears to devour forty-two naughty children who had insulted the prophet Elisha, and the God of the New Testament who sent His Son to say, 'Suffer the little children to come unto me'. It was, as we say, one of the most striking of the Antitheses or Contradictions which Marcion produced between the God of Vengeance and the God of Love...We should hardly expect an orthodox father to refer to it in the early days of the Church. His hearers would have whispered 'Marcion' to one another in the church wherein he was preaching.
"What then does Aphrahat mean by selecting those particular she-bears for a proof that created things, animal, vegetable and mineral, obey the Creator's will ? In his 14th Demonstration he makes the following statement : 'Also the carnivorous beasts obey his will : the she-bears tore the boys asunder, that brood of the wicked'.
"Aphrahat is quite satisfied with his comparison, and has no feeling that there is moral obliquity involved in the Old Testament account of this action of the she-bears, since they do the will of the Creator. Marcion would not contradict his statement; he would only denounce the Creator by contrast with the Redeemer. Was Aphrahat aware that he was on Marcionite ground ?"
On what evidence did Harris consider this Marcionite ? He knew his Harnack, and Harnack cited two texts :
1) Dialogue of Adamantius 1.16, the Marcionite Megethius says : "The prophet of the god of creation told bears to come out of a thicket and devour the children who met him, but the good Lord says, 'Let the children come to me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.' "
2) Tertullian, Against Marcion 4.23 : "But see, <you say>, Christ loves the little ones, and teaches that all who ever wish to be the greater, need to be as they; whereas the Creator sent bears against some boys, to avenge Elisha the prophet for mockery he had suffered from them. A fairly reckless antithesis [satis impudens antithesis], when it sets together such diverse things..."
So indeed we can be pretty confident that this is, at least, a topos of Marcionite apologetics, whether or not it featured in the Antitheses.
Its positive use by the 'orthodox' was, understandably, very rare. Tertullian himself did so once, Against Marcion 2.14 : "[God] afflicts even Israel, but because they are ungrateful : he sent bears against certain children, but they had been showing disrespect to a prophet." As is clear from 4.23, this seemingly throwaway line derives from his engagement with Marcionite apologetics. Otherwise, we have to go to the late C4, where Gregory Nazianzen makes a bilious attack on his (Christian) critics, Oration 33.8 : "Will you leave my head alone, and not jeer at it, as the children did to Elisha ? What followed I will not mention !"
However, there is one other pre-C4 'orthodox' deployment of this topos. It's Origen, Homily 4 on Ezekiel. The piece opens : "The word of the Lord that came to the prophet speaks about a sinful land, about how because of its offences it has been made to suffer various punishments : 'famine, evil beasts, the sword, and death.' " At 4.7.2 :
"Moreover, let us examine yet another activity of the divine anger, which sends forth 'evil beasts' into the sinful land. Even the Jews say....that depradations of this kind come down as a result of the indignation of God. And for the time being, to follow the letter and hold back from the deeper understanding, we do see the prophet pursuing this sense here. One who is 'spiritual', however, 'judging all things, and is judged by no one', confidently asserts that there are many <other kinds of> beasts that God sends against a sinful land, at any rate if our land sins : 'Our adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.'
"Also, that story which presents itself with a clear meaning to those who carefully attend to the scriptures, has a significance of the same kind - when two bears were sent to the little boys who were launching abuse at the prophet, saying 'Go up, baldhead ! Go up, baldhead !' For indeed, those bears served as symbols of the other beasts that are truly wild, that are truly savage, and that are sent against this sinful land. Far be it from us that such beasts be sent against us for the sake of God's vengeance; rather, let us say in our prayers, 'Do not hand over to beasts a soul that praises you.'
"I know that some righteous ones, standing firm in the faith, were handed over to wild beasts, were mutilated, and accomplished martyrdom, and yet did not cease to be blessed; for they had not been handed over to the spiritual and invisible beasts that mutilate the souls of sinners and clamp their teeth into the hearts of the impious."
Yes, the OT text has been 'spiritualised' and so neutralised. But its very appearance here is most curious. The invocation of Elisha and the bears is intrinsically unnecessary. Moreover, it is important to stress that at no point in this homily does Origen mention 'heretics', let alone enter into polemic with them. It is only reasonable to infer that, so profound was his engagement with Marcionite apologetics, Origen is a witness to Marcionite arguments without intending it.
■■■■■
* in : Festgabe für Adolf Deissmann zum 60. Geburtstag, online at archive.org
■ credit where credit is due : the text & translation of the Homilies on Ezekiel used by me
in this thread is the edition published by Roger Pearse, translation by Mischa Hooker
"Go into the far East and into the fourth century, and examine the writings of the Persian sage Aphrahat. It will be remembered that one of the points made by Marcion in his book of Contradictions was the vivid contrast between the God of the Old Testament who sent two she-bears to devour forty-two naughty children who had insulted the prophet Elisha, and the God of the New Testament who sent His Son to say, 'Suffer the little children to come unto me'. It was, as we say, one of the most striking of the Antitheses or Contradictions which Marcion produced between the God of Vengeance and the God of Love...We should hardly expect an orthodox father to refer to it in the early days of the Church. His hearers would have whispered 'Marcion' to one another in the church wherein he was preaching.
"What then does Aphrahat mean by selecting those particular she-bears for a proof that created things, animal, vegetable and mineral, obey the Creator's will ? In his 14th Demonstration he makes the following statement : 'Also the carnivorous beasts obey his will : the she-bears tore the boys asunder, that brood of the wicked'.
"Aphrahat is quite satisfied with his comparison, and has no feeling that there is moral obliquity involved in the Old Testament account of this action of the she-bears, since they do the will of the Creator. Marcion would not contradict his statement; he would only denounce the Creator by contrast with the Redeemer. Was Aphrahat aware that he was on Marcionite ground ?"
On what evidence did Harris consider this Marcionite ? He knew his Harnack, and Harnack cited two texts :
1) Dialogue of Adamantius 1.16, the Marcionite Megethius says : "The prophet of the god of creation told bears to come out of a thicket and devour the children who met him, but the good Lord says, 'Let the children come to me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.' "
2) Tertullian, Against Marcion 4.23 : "But see, <you say>, Christ loves the little ones, and teaches that all who ever wish to be the greater, need to be as they; whereas the Creator sent bears against some boys, to avenge Elisha the prophet for mockery he had suffered from them. A fairly reckless antithesis [satis impudens antithesis], when it sets together such diverse things..."
So indeed we can be pretty confident that this is, at least, a topos of Marcionite apologetics, whether or not it featured in the Antitheses.
Its positive use by the 'orthodox' was, understandably, very rare. Tertullian himself did so once, Against Marcion 2.14 : "[God] afflicts even Israel, but because they are ungrateful : he sent bears against certain children, but they had been showing disrespect to a prophet." As is clear from 4.23, this seemingly throwaway line derives from his engagement with Marcionite apologetics. Otherwise, we have to go to the late C4, where Gregory Nazianzen makes a bilious attack on his (Christian) critics, Oration 33.8 : "Will you leave my head alone, and not jeer at it, as the children did to Elisha ? What followed I will not mention !"
However, there is one other pre-C4 'orthodox' deployment of this topos. It's Origen, Homily 4 on Ezekiel. The piece opens : "The word of the Lord that came to the prophet speaks about a sinful land, about how because of its offences it has been made to suffer various punishments : 'famine, evil beasts, the sword, and death.' " At 4.7.2 :
"Moreover, let us examine yet another activity of the divine anger, which sends forth 'evil beasts' into the sinful land. Even the Jews say....that depradations of this kind come down as a result of the indignation of God. And for the time being, to follow the letter and hold back from the deeper understanding, we do see the prophet pursuing this sense here. One who is 'spiritual', however, 'judging all things, and is judged by no one', confidently asserts that there are many <other kinds of> beasts that God sends against a sinful land, at any rate if our land sins : 'Our adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.'
"Also, that story which presents itself with a clear meaning to those who carefully attend to the scriptures, has a significance of the same kind - when two bears were sent to the little boys who were launching abuse at the prophet, saying 'Go up, baldhead ! Go up, baldhead !' For indeed, those bears served as symbols of the other beasts that are truly wild, that are truly savage, and that are sent against this sinful land. Far be it from us that such beasts be sent against us for the sake of God's vengeance; rather, let us say in our prayers, 'Do not hand over to beasts a soul that praises you.'
"I know that some righteous ones, standing firm in the faith, were handed over to wild beasts, were mutilated, and accomplished martyrdom, and yet did not cease to be blessed; for they had not been handed over to the spiritual and invisible beasts that mutilate the souls of sinners and clamp their teeth into the hearts of the impious."
Yes, the OT text has been 'spiritualised' and so neutralised. But its very appearance here is most curious. The invocation of Elisha and the bears is intrinsically unnecessary. Moreover, it is important to stress that at no point in this homily does Origen mention 'heretics', let alone enter into polemic with them. It is only reasonable to infer that, so profound was his engagement with Marcionite apologetics, Origen is a witness to Marcionite arguments without intending it.
■■■■■
* in : Festgabe für Adolf Deissmann zum 60. Geburtstag, online at archive.org
■ credit where credit is due : the text & translation of the Homilies on Ezekiel used by me
in this thread is the edition published by Roger Pearse, translation by Mischa Hooker
Statistics: Posted by mbuckley3 — Sun May 19, 2024 8:31 pm