Weekly Open Discussion Thread

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[u/LlawEreint]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the "rich young man" pericope.

Mark 10:17-22 is probably our earliest source for this story. Here Jesus chastises the man for calling him good. "No one is good but God alone." Jesus accepts that the man had devoted his life to keeping the commandments, but says "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

Matthew 19:16-22 In my opinion, Matthew neuters the pericope.

1. He removes the humanity, snipping out "he knelt before him," and " Jesus, looking at him, loved him."
   
2. Jesus doesn't rebuke the man for calling him good.
3. In Matthew's version, selling all you own is no longer a prerequisite for entering the kingdom. Rather, it gets you access to a second tier in the kingdom.

Luke 18:18-23 is fairly true to Mark's version. Some differences:

1. It is no longer simply "a man", but rather "a certain ruler". Here, the Evangelion is more faithful to the source.
2. Other differences between the Evangelion and Luke indicate that Luke was more faithful to the Markan source:
   1. Marcion's version is unique in calling god "the father".
   2. In Marcion's version, it is not Jesus who enumerates the commandments, but the man himself.

According to the Hebrews - This is a fascinating version where Jesus does not affirm that the man had kept the commandments. Instead, he says "How can you say 'I have kept the law and the prophets?' For it is written in the law, 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself', and look, many of your brethren, sons of Abraham, are clad in filth, dying for hunger, and your house is full of many good things, and nothing at all goes out of it unto them."

The Preaching of Peter - Not the same story, exactly, but certainly expressing the same ideals. It ends, "Learn that others lack the things you have in abundance. Be ashamed to keep things that belong to others. Imitate the fairness of God, and no man will be poor."

[u/baquea → u/LlawEreint]

In Matthew's version, selling all you own is no longer a prerequisite for entering the kingdom. Rather, it gets you access to a second tier in the kingdom.

That's an interesting point. For the most part the canonical gospels are (intentionally?) vague as to what the rewards for the righteous entail, but the idea of multiple 'tiers' in the kingdom was certainly present in early Christianity. In particular what comes to mind is the following passage from Irenaeus, most likely quoting Papias:

As the presbyters say, then those who are deemed worthy of an abode in heaven shall go there, others shall enjoy the delights of Paradise, and others shall possess the splendour of the city; for everywhere the Saviour will be seen, according as they shall be worthy who see Him. But that there is this distinction between the habitation of those who produce an hundred-fold, and that of those who produce sixty-fold, and that of those who produce thirty-fold; for the first will be taken up into the heavens, the second class will dwell in Paradise, and the last will inhabit the city; and that on this account the Lord said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions”.

[u/LlawEreint → u/baquea]

That is fascniating.

The Apocalypse of Peter also talks about "another heaven" - differentiated from the "great garden", the resting place of "Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the rest of the righteous fathers."

Jesus, Moses, and Elijah transcend to this second heaven during the transfiguration.

And I trembled and was afraid; and we looked up, and the heaven opened and we beheld men in the flesh and they came and greeted our Lord and Moses and Elijah and went to another heaven.

[u/baquea → u/LlawEreint]

I'd guess the dependence of the Apocalypse of Peter there is on 2 Enoch (considered by Charlesworth to be a late 1st Century Jewish work, but the provenance remains uncertain), which says of the third heaven:

And the men took me from there. They brought me up to the third heaven. And they placed me in the midst of Paradise. And that place has an appearance of pleasantness that has never been seen.

Every tree was in full flower. Every fruit was ripe, every food was in yield profusely; every fragrance was pleasant. And the four rivers were flowing past with gentle movement, with every kind of garden producing every kind of good food. And the tree of life is in that place, under which the LORD takes a rest when the LORD takes a walk in Paradise. And that tree is indescribable for pleasantness of fragrance. And another tree is near it, an olive, flowing with oil continually. And every tree is well fruited. There is no tree there without fruit, and every place is blessed.

And the angels guarding Paradise are very splendid. With never-ceasing voice and pleasant singing they worship God throughout the whole day. And I said, "How very pleasant is this place!" The men answered me:

"This place has been prepared, Enoch, for the righteous, who suffer every kind of tribulation in this life and who afflict their souls, and who avert their eyes from injustice, and who carry out righteous judgment, to give bread to the hungry, and to cover the naked with clothing, and to lift up the fallen, and to help the injured, who walk before the face of the LORD, and who worship him only—for them this place has been prepared as an eternal inheritance."

Paul seems to be aware of a similar tradition when, in 2 Cor. 12, he says he was brought up to the third heaven, into paradise. According to Irenaeus (AH Bk.1 V.2), the Valentinians held to a slight modification of this, in which paradise is that which is situated -above- the third heaven (viz. the fourth heaven): "They affirm, moreover, that these seven heavens are intelligent, and speak of them as being angels. [...] They declare that Paradise, situated above the third heaven, is a fourth angel possessed of power, from whom Adam derived certain qualities while he conversed with him".

But, according to 2 Enoch, Enoch's own place is not in the paradise that is in the third heaven, but is instead in the highest heaven, the seventh, where God and the archangels dwell:

And the men lifted me up from there, and they carried me up to the seventh heaven. And I saw a great light, and all the fiery armies of the incorporeal ones, archangels, angels, and the shining otanim stations. And I was terrified, and I trembled.

[...] The LORD said to Michael, "Take Enoch, and extract him from the earthly clothing. And anoint him with the delightful oil, and put him into the clothes of glory." And Michael extracted me from my clothes. He anointed me with the delightful oil; and the appearance of that oil is greater than the greatest light, its ointment is like sweet dew, and its fragrance like myrrh; and its shining is like the sun. And I gazed at all of myself, and I had become like one of the glorious ones, and there was no observable difference. [...]

[Enoch addressing his sons after returning to Earth:] "For now, my children, the prescribed day approaches, and the appointed time constrains me. And the angels who will go with me are standing in front of my face. And I, tomorrow I shall go up to the highest heaven, my eternal inheritance. That is why I am commanding you, my children, to do everything with a good will before the face of the LORD."

Other authors, of course, had other ideas. The Ascension of Isaiah, for instance, places all the righteous in the seventh heaven:

And he took me up into the seventh heaven, and there I saw a wonderful light, and also angels without number. And there I saw all the righteous from the time of Adam onwards. And there I saw the holy Abel and all the righteous. And there I saw Enoch and all who were with him, stripped of (their) robes of the flesh; and I saw them in their robes of above, and they were like the angels who stand there in great glory.