Talk:Expounding of the Law

Question

I have a question:

Who coined the phrase "Antithesis of the Law" for this part of Matthew's Sermon on the Mount?

The phrase was originally used by Marcion, but in reference to how, he claimed, his Gospel of Marcion constrasted with the Old Testament.

Who applied the phrase to this part of Matthew's Sermon on the Mount?

I don't know. I'll look it up. Its commonly used by New Testament scholars apparantly. Clinkophonist 22:36, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Marcion never used the phrase "Antithesis of the Law," he used the title "Antithesis" for his treaty arguing that the OT Deity and NT Deity were two different beings, which he attempted to show by opposing the OT teachings about God to the NT teachings about Jesus (see Daniel Mahar's reconstruction of the Antithesis). Marcion's concern was mainly theological (in the strict sense of the term), not legal. Regarding the phrase "Antithesis of the Law" it has long been used by Christian scholars, "anti-" being taken from the Greek sense ("in place of"), or the old Latin ("surpassing"). The understanding being, "statements which supercede the Law," as in, going beyond the "letter" of the Law, to the "spirit" of the Law. --MonkeeSage 03:26, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

That sounds like Supersessionism. Antithesis by the way is well defined, no need to invent new definitions.

New definitions are stipulated for words all the time. You really shouldn't ask the question if you don't want the answer. Many Christian scholars use the term antithesis (ἀντί [G473] + τίθημι [G5087]) to refer to this section of the sermon for the reason I stated; I'm also aware of some who see Jesus as setting forth the Rabbinic glosses (midrashim) on the Law and then correcting them (in which case antithesis would have the standard, non-technical meaning). And talk about inventing new definitions — recognizing Marcion's own intention amounts to suppressing it?! Marcionites is linked in the same paragraph you want to put Marcion in, so I'm not a very good "suppressor" am I? So long as it is verifiable, I have no problem including anything in the article, however it is not verifiable that Marcion started the discussion on Jesus' view of the Mosaic Law. --MonkeeSage 06:00, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

Marcion

The reference to Marcion does not belong here. Just because one of the passages of the NT which Marcion altered in his program to systematically remove all reference to the OT from the NT because he thought that the OT Deity was incompatible with the NT Deity, happened to be located near the Antitheses and happened to mention "Law," does not mean that Macrion discussed the Antitheses or the Law in Matt. 5:22ff. He didn't. Therefore, I'm removing the stuff about Marcion again. --MonkeeSage 22:49, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

I'm inclined to agree. Marcion didn't use the gospel of Matthew at all, so it is unlikely that he would use passages from it unless they were also in his version of the Gospel of Luke. Clinkophonist 22:53, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

Henry Wace on Marcion[1]: "Indeed, he sometimes has even to alter the text, e.g. "I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil," into "I am not come to fulfil the law, but to destroy.""; From Epiphanius of Salamis' Panarion 42[2] "Luke 23:2 After "...perverting the nation" Marcion added "and destroying the law and the prophets""

Yes, Marcion thought that the religion and God of Jesus destroyed the religion and god of Moses. Aside from tossing out the entire Law with the rest of the OT, because he thought that an evil god revealed it (and not because of any discussion of the specifics of the Law) — what does Marcion have to do with the antitheses of Matt. 5? --MonkeeSage 06:00, 15 April 2006 (UTC)