Mara bar Serapion
- ANCIENT SOURCES: see Mara bar Serapion (sources)
- SCHOLARLY AND FICTIONAL WORKS: see Category:Mara bar Serapion (subject)
Mara bar Serapion was a Stoic philosopher from Syria.
Overview
Although Mara does not mention Jesus by name, most critical scholars agree that the "wise king" in Mara's passage is to be identified with Jesus.
Mara bar Sarapion on Jesus
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.