Mara bar Serapion on Jesus
The letter refers to the unjust treatment of "three wise men": the murder of Socrates, the burning of Pythagoras, and the execution of "the wise king" of the Jews.[1][2] The author explains that in all three cases the wrongdoing resulted in the future punishment of those responsible by God and that when the wise are oppressed, not only does their wisdom triumph in the end, but God punishes their oppressors.[5]
The letter has been claimed to include no Christian themes
Scholars such as
The passage and its context
The beginning of the letter makes it clear that it is written to the author's son: "Mara, son of Serapion, to my son Serapion, greetings."[4] The key passage is as follows:
What else can we say, when the wise are forcibly dragged off by tyrants, their wisdom is captured by insults, and their minds are oppressed and without defense? What advantage did the Athenians gain from murdering Socrates? Famine and plague came upon them as a punishment for their crime. What advantage did the men of Samos gain from burning Pythagoras? In a moment their land was covered with sand. What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise king? It was just after that their kingdom was abolished. God justly avenged these three wise men: the Athenians died of hunger; the Samians were overwhelmed by the sea and the Jews, desolate and driven from their own kingdom, live in complete dispersion. But Socrates is not dead, because of Plato; neither is Pythagoras, because of the statue of Juno; nor is the wise king, because of the "new law" he laid down.[5]
In this passage the author explains that when the wise are oppressed, not only does their wisdom triumph in the end, but God also punishes their oppressors.[5]
The context of the letter is that the Romans had destroyed Mara's city in a war, taking him prisoner along with others. The letter was written from prison to encourage the author's son to pursue wisdom. It takes the form of a set of rhetorical questions which ask about the benefits of persecuting wise men.[4][5]
Mara hints that the occupation of his land will in the end bring shame and disgrace on the Romans. His letter advises the pursuit of wisdom to face the difficulties of life.[5]
Historical analysis
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The letter has been claimed to include no Christian themes and a number of leading scholars such as
The non-Christian origin of the letter is supported by the observation that "king of the Jews" was not a Christian title during the time period the letter was written.[4][5] The statement in the letter that the wise king lives on because of the "new law" he laid down is also seen as an indication of its non-Christian origin, for it ignores the Christian belief that Jesus continues to live through his resurrection.[4][5] Another viewpoint is that he could be referring to the resurrection recorded in Jesus's teachings which say he lived on, thus establishing his "new law" (possibly paralleling the "New Covenant").[citation needed]
This means that it is impossible to infer if Mara believed the resurrection happened or not, and leaves it up to speculation whether he was a Christian or a non-Christian who agreed with Christians as regarding Jesus as a "wise king" according to the Gospels. Given that the gospel portraits of Jesus' crucifixion place much of the blame for the execution of Jesus on the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate (with the Jewish mob merely acting as agitators), some Gospels do agree with the Jews being to blame.[4] And referring to "king of the Jews" rather than the Savior or Son of God indicates that the impressions of Bar-Serapion were not formed by Christian sources, although Jewish Christians did call him the king of the Jews.[4]
Theologian
Evans, however, argues that unlike the references to Socrates and Pythagoras, bar Serapion does not explicitly mention Jesus by name, thereby rendering the actual identity of the "wise king" in the letter less than certain.[8]
The letter was written after the AD 72 annexation of
See also
- Josephus on Jesus
- Suetonius on Christians
- Tacitus on Christ
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8054-4365-3page 110
- ^ ISBN 90-429-0759-2pages 29-30
- ^ ISBN 0-8028-4368-9pages 53-56
- ^ ISBN 90-04-11142-5pages 455-457
- ^ ISBN 0-8028-4368-9pages 53-55
- ^ ISBN 0521302005page 709
- ^ ISBN 0674778863page 507
- ^ ISBN 978-0-391-04118-9page 41
- ^ Wright, W. (1872). Catalogue of the Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum Acquired since the Year 1838, Volume III. Longmans & Company (printed by order of the Trustees of the British Museum). pp. xiii, 1159. "The manuscripts arrived at the British Museum on the first of March 1843, and this portion of the collection is now numbered Add. 14,425--14,739." BL Add. 14,658 is included among these manuscripts.
- ^ Perry, Samuel Gideon F. (1867). An ancient Syriac document, purporting to be the record of the second Synod of Ephesus. Oxford: Printers to the University (privately printed). pp. v–vi.
- ISBN 9780415187879.
- ISBN 0674016831page 293
Further reading
- Cureton, William (1855). Spicilegium Syriacum: containing remains of Bardesan, Meliton, Ambrose and Mara Bar Serapion. Rivingstons. p. 70.
spicilegium Cureton.
- Merz, Annette; Tieleman, Teun L., eds. (2012). The Letter of Mara bar Sarapion in Context: Proceedings of the Symposium Held at Utrecht University, 10–12 December 2009. Brill.
- Ramelli, Ilaria (2010). "The Letter of Mara Bar Serapion in Context, Utrecht University, 10–12 December 2009". Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies. 13 (1): 81–85.