Mara bar Serapion

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Mara Bar Serapion

Mara bar Serapion (

Jesus of Nazareth
.

The letter indicates that Mara's homeland was

Tigris River).[3]

Mara's captivity took place after the AD 72 annexation of

Samosata by the Romans, but before the third century.[4] Most scholars date it to shortly after AD 73 during the first century.[5]

The letter to his son

See also: Mara bar Serapion on Jesus

Sasanians and various scholars have presented arguments for each date.[3] Robert Van Voorst (who himself thinks the letter was composed in the second century) states that most scholars date the letter to shortly after AD 73 during the first century.[5]

The letter is preserved in a 6th- or 7th-century manuscript (BL Add. 14658) held by the

monastery of St. Mary Deipara in the Nitrian Desert of Egypt and acquired by the Library in 1843.[6]

Mara's religion

A number of scholars such as

Jew, nor a Christian, the letter stating:[10][11]

Thou hast heard, moreover, concerning our companions, that, when they were leaving Samosata, they were distressed about it, and, as if complaining of the time in which their lot was cast, said thus: "We are now far removed from our home, and we cannot return again to our city, or behold our people, or offer to our gods the greeting of praise."

Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarbrough state that Mara could hardly have been a Christian".

monotheist.[5] Van Voorst adds two factors that indicate Mara was not a Christian, the first being his failure to mention the terms Jesus or Christ.[5] The second factor (also supported by Chilton and Evans) is that Mara's statement that Jesus lives on based on the wisdom of his teachings, in contrast to the Christian concept that Jesus continues to live through his resurrection, indicates that he was not a Christian.[5][13]

Chilton and Evans also state that the use of the term "wise king" to refer to Jesus (rather than a religious designation) indicates that Mara's perception of the events had been formed by non-Christian sources.[13] They state that the term "king of the Jews" has never been seen in the Christian literature of antiquity as a title for Jesus.[13]

Mara's philosophical stance

The letter draws on Greek learning.[14]

The last paragraph of Mara's letter states:

One of his friends asked Mara, son of Serapion, when in bonds at his side: “Nay, by thy life, Mara, tell me what cause of laughter thou hast seen, that thou laughest.” “I am laughing,” said Mara, “at Time: inasmuch as, although he has not borrowed any evil from me, he is paying me back.”

Ilaria Ramelli, who holds that Mara lived towards the end of the first century, states that his letter has strong stoic elements.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0805443653
    p. 110
  2. ^
    ISBN 9042907592
    pp. 29–30
  3. ^
    ISBN 0521460832
    p. 168
  4. ISBN 0674016831
    p. 293
  5. ^
    ISBN 0802843689
    pp. 53–56
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ISBN 0521302005
    p. 709
  8. ISBN 0674778863
    p. 507
  9. ISBN 0521873363
    Cambridge Univ Press pp. 51–52
  10. ISBN 0800631226
    p. 78
  11. ISBN 1563383470
    p. 38
  12. ISBN 080102157X
  13. ^
    ISBN 9004111425
    pp. 455–457
  14. ISBN 0892367156
    p. 286
  15. ISBN 1589834186
    pp. xx–xxii

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Mara Bar-Serapion (Armenian Wikiquote).
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