Dating Paul's Writings

[Jehanne]

People seem to see what they want to see.

http://gnosis.org/library/grs-mead/grsm_...uthors.htm



What all of the scholars mentioned fail to consider, including the author, is the possibility/probability that the synoptics were works-in-progress at the time in question.  Again, we have no evidence at all that there was any sort of xtian canon prior to Marcion, and xtian writers tell us as much,  and it makes a great deal of sense that people thought the idea of writing this shit down made sense even if they didn't agree with Marcion's take on it.  But these things take time.  They weren't done when Justin was writing but they were by the time Irenaeus attached the names to them.

I agree. There is no evidence for a Christian canon yet, but Justin Martyr's knowledge of these verses, or what would become verses, is still very important. And on top of that, the traditions surrounding Jesus that he knows is significant as well. The Bethlehem tradition especially surprised me.

Other things of note that I thought interesting is that Justin Martyr does not seem to have a complete understanding of the concept of the Trinity yet, ranking God first, Christ second, and the Spirit third. But this makes sense because this was pre Nicene Coucil.

Also, his writings are not as apostolic as I would have suspected, but rather very proto-Catholic. That surprised me.

What you had in the first few centuries was not one "Christianity", but many.  Eventually, a political "natural selection" evolved, as Constantine saw Christianity as a way to unify his Empire; ditto for Byzantium, onward into the Middle Ages and beyond, until this very day.  It was not until the French philosophes and Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson & Paine, Madison & Friends interactions with them that led to, "We the People..." that modern Western Civilization has been able to have Church & State go their separate ways.  With Darwin, Science has become the objective, religion the subjective.  But, the Battle continues....