Bears!

Posted September 7th, 2009 | Permalink

This is from the book of 2nd Kings, after the prophet Elijah had been taken up into the sky by the whirlwind caused by a chariot made of fire. His apprentice, Elisha, succeeded him and gained a double portion of Elijah's power. Elisha then proceeded to perform a series of miracles, this being one of them.

This was one of the passages listed by Marcion in his book Antithesis (Contradictions), in which he compared the harsh god of the Old Testament books to the loving god of Jesus, to show that they could not possibly be the same god, but must be two separate gods. He started a large sect of Christianity during the reign of Antoninus Pius (138 to 161 AD). His book Antithesis is no longer extant, but is known through Tertullian's five-volume work entitled "Against Marcion", written in 208 AD. See chapter 23 of book 4 to see Tertullian's response to Marcion's use of this passage from 2 Kings. See also book 4, chapter 11 of Eusebius's Church History, written in the fourth century AD, for more on Marcion.

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World English Bible | King James Version | New International Version