Marcion and Dog-Breeding

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Secret Alias
Posts: 18362
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2015 8:47 am

Marcion and Dog-Breeding

Post by Secret Alias »

I had a fascinating discussion (irony) with one of my Facebook friends (I don't know how I have so many Facebook friends when I don't have many actual friends who aren't dads and moms on my son's soccer team). This lady posted the following:

The pug is living proof that God has a sense of humor. ...

Of course I had to remind her that pugs are not found in nature and that their are entirely 'man-made' (I guess today that would be 'human-made'). She insisted that God was behind their cuteness and 'clowny nature.' But I had to insist than in fact the only dogs found in nature are those who attack in packs, mauling and rending their prey with their teeth.

It made me think that one of the reasons why the observation that 'the god of this world' is connected with vicious cruelty is lost on this generation is that most of them have no contact whatsoever with the 'wild kingdom.' Even if they go to a safari it is a tightly controlled man-made 'natural space.' The idea that God makes things vicious and gory made sense when people actually saw wildlife. But that's all gone. All we know is the city god.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
Secret Alias
Posts: 18362
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2015 8:47 am

Re: Marcion and Dog-Breeding

Post by Secret Alias »

It also reminds me of something which has blended in my read from reading the Memar Marqe's treatment of the Song of Moses and Philo's treatment of אִם-יִהְיֶה אֱלֹהִים עִמָּדִי in Genesis 28. Namely that the second power 'polishes' (mrq) the original creation and makes it better or more refined. It is also found in Ephrem's play on words in Aramaic - 'He [the evil one] greatly polished Marcion (lmrqywn mrq) so that he might make him tarnished' In Philo's understanding Yahweh (kurios) was the god of Jacob when Jacob was a 'bad man.' But the revelation on the ladder of a higher power made him change gods - from Yahweh to Elohim or from kurios to theos. In each case the idea of a 'god above god' is present and contextualized by the act of making something more 'humane.'

Some examples in Aramaic:

מרק to be cleansed JLAtg, Syr. TgO Lev6:21 : וְאִם בְמָנָא דִנחָשָא תִתבַשַל וְיִתמְרֵיק וְיִשתְטֵיף בְמַיָא ‏ if it is to be cooked in a bronze vessel in must be scoured and flushed with water. P Lv6:21 : ܢܬܡܪܩ ܘܢܬܬܫܝܓ ܒܡ̈ܝܐ‏ . JS_Elijah 2:291 : ܘܟܲܕ ܐܸܬܡܲܪܩܲܬ ܢܲܦܫܸܗ ܒܨܲܘܡܵܐ ܕܲܡܠܸܐ ܐ̄ܪ̈ܵܙܸܐ‏ when his soul was cleansed by the mystery-full fast.

It also has the sense of to redeem or pay off a debt - . XHev/Se 50.19 : אחריא וערבה למרקא ולקימ[א זבנ]ה ‏ the one responsible and pledges to clear claim and implement its sale. BT BM 15a(32) : אנא איקו ٠٠٠ ואימר{{ו}}<י>ק זביני אילן ‏ I undertake to clear this sale of legal claims.

at Qumran - בהון ימרק ע֗נ֗נ֗[ין ‏ he purges clouds with them.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
Secret Alias
Posts: 18362
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2015 8:47 am

Re: Marcion and Dog-Breeding

Post by Secret Alias »

The lady responded by saying 'I am God-made.' I was like that's nonsense. You were shaped by generations of human beings. But then the point hit me. If a Christian undergoes baptism according to the Marcionite conception and becomes modeled after the First Man/second God then he is a living representation no longer of Adam but the Man who was the template for Adam. In effect then the Christian is the second God. What he does is the effect of the presence of the second God/First Man in the world. His making things kinder is Him making things kind. Humans make kinder dogs because they are living images of the Kind god.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
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