Mara Bar-Serapion
Home > Other Christian Text Sources > Mara Bar-Serapion Mara Bar-Serapion At a Glance Letter Genre: (2/5) ** Reliability of Dating: (2/5) ** Length of Text: Greek Original Language: Ancient Translations: Modern Translations: English Estimated Range of Dating: 73-200 A.D. Chronological List of Early Christian Writings Discuss this text on the Early Writings forum. Text Roberts-Donaldson English Translation Resources Preface to Mara Bar-Serapion Mara bar Serapion: A product of the fourth century? Offsite Links Mara bar Serapion on the wise king of the Jews Josh McDowell's "Evidence" for Jesus: Is It Reliable? by Jeffery Jay Lowder The "Testimony" of Mara Bar-Serapion Secular References to Jesus: Mara bar-Serapion Recommended Books for the Study of Early Christian Writings Information on Mara Bar-Serapion Mara Bar-Serapion wrote anytime between 73 CE and the third century CE.
In a passage in which Mara may be dependent upon Christian informants, Mara Bar-Serapion makes these casual remarks: What advantage did the Athenians gain from putting Socrates to death? Famine and plague came upon them as a judgment 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; the Jews, ruined and driven from their land, live in complete dispersion. But Socrates did not die for good; he lived on in the teaching of Plato.
Pythagoras did not die for good; he lived on in the statue of Hera. Nor did the wise King die for good; He lived on in the teaching which He had given Some Contemporary Texts Gospel of Peter (70-160 A.D.) Secret Mark (70-160 A.D.) Fayyum Fragment (70-200 A.D.) Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (70-200 A.D.) Mara Bar-Serapion (73-200 A.D.) 2 Thessalonians (80-100 A.D.) Ephesians (80-100 A.D.) Gospel of Matthew (80-100 A.D.) 1 Peter (80-110 A.D.) Go to the Chronological List of all Early Christian Writings Please buy the CD to support the site, view it without ads, and get bonus stuff! Early Christian Writings is copyright © Peter Kirby <E-Mail&gt. Follow @mrpeterkirby MLA Style Kirby, Peter.
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