In spite of this importance, there is no comprehensive uptodate study on his life and thought. The reception of the canon by the modern church is inhibited, it seems to me, by functional marcionism. Since, however, the same god was declared in the gospel which had always. It seems that marcion added considerably more to pauls letters than what he removed. Paul, marcion and the foundations of christian theology. Here i sense, as the great jewish scholar abraham heschel said of the german historical critics in his own day, the spirit of marcion, hovering invisibly over many waters, has been brought to clear expression the prophets, 390. Is the ghost of marcion still at large in the church today. Marcionism was an early heresy led by marcion, who proposed the first canon of christian texts. When we study marcion, it should be obvious that the vast majority of new testament books were already recognized as part of the new testament canon.
The first in marcion s apostolicon was the epistle to the galatians. Hes the man who gets my vote for most profound influence on evangelicalism, from canon to theology to worship practices. Marcion is said to have gathered scriptures from jewish tradition, and juxtaposed these against the sayings and teachings of jesus in a work entitled the antithesis. Pdf israel in marcions theology and the challenge of. Marcion and getting unhitched from the old testament.
Are pauls letters given more authority then the rest of the scriptures. Nov 04, 2012 the chief source of arguments against including the jewish scriptures was a wealthy church leader he may even have been a bishop from asia minor now turkey named marcion. The archheretic marcions theology the bart ehrman blog. The gospel of marcion, called by its adherents the gospel of the lord, was a text used by the mid2ndcentury christian teacher marcion of sinope to the exclusion of the other gospels. The present study is devoted to a consideration of the theology of marcion of sinope c. If marcion, however, shall be able to lay claim to this inspired character, it will be necessary for it to be shown. The site includes the gnostic library, with the complete nag hammadi library and a large collection of other primary gnostic scriptures and documents. A secondcentury heretic who rejected all scripture except ten of pauls epistles and part of luke. Contrary to christs teachings, marcion marcion of sinope discounted the old testament and parts of the new testament to form his own brand of christianity. Marcion article about marcion by the free dictionary. The orthodox church practices countless things the contradict the writings of paul. Jason beduhn is professor of the comparative study of religions at northern arizona university, a guggenheim and national humanities center fellow, and author of the manichaean body 2000, winner of the american academy of religion best first book award, truth in translation 2003, augustines manichaean dilemma vol. Following graduation from harvard divinity school and the university of oxford, r. Marcion s theological errors and there were many came from one main root.
Obviously his own theology isnt necessarily going to match he believe the god of jesus was not yhwh, which would be antithetical to islam, but the gospel he supposedly had doesnt always even agree with his. Behind marcions practical influence of money and political connections lay a theology founded on extreme dualism. Marcion received only eleven books of the new testament, and these strangely curtailed and altered. Its also possible that protoorthodox authors added parts to or removed parts from gluke and the epistles in order to counter a marcionite docesic view.
The church fathers and two books theology articles biologos. Marcion believed that jesus had come to liberate mankind from the authority of the god of the old. Marcion also rejected the real incarnation of christ, claiming that he was a manifestation of the father. The churchs scripture and functional marcionism daniel l. Marcion taught that there were two gods, proclaiming that the stern, lawgiving, creator god of the old testament, and the good, merciful god of the new testament were different. It astounds me, given the overwhelming use of psalms as central to gathered worship in the first four centuries, the absolute importance given to psalmody for the first two centuries of the postreformation reformed churches, and the fact that the book of psalms is the only hymn book which can claim to be universal in its acceptance by the. Marcion was an early christian bishop who taught that the entire old testament should be rejected, and that paul was the only apostle that could be trusted. This gospel that marcion edited was the gospel of luke. Marcion s specific removal and denial of many new testament books from his own canon, including all of peter, james and john, proves they were already in use between 125144 ad and widely accepted. Marcion was excommunicated from the roman church c.
His theology was a tremendous departure from that of the christian churches in which he had grown up. Additionally, tertullian writes on the nature of the trinity, laying out the biblical view well before it was settled by councils. Theology and christology in marcions gospel redaction. Cross college, oxford, and wissenschaftlicher assistent in patristics and classical studies at the university of heidelberg. Although it is generally thought that marcion created this edited collection of books to suit his theology, and that he rejected the other gospels and epistles, it is possible that he simply did not know at least some of them. Indeed, the god of the ot was a demiurge, who had nothing in common with the god, the father of jesus christ. Marcion taught that jesus revealed a completely different god from the one who had created the world and had covenanted with israel. Westcott also defended marcion s claim to be the founder of the idea of a nt canon. Marcion of sinope his life, works, theology and impact. Marcion is considered to be the first person to have produced a collection of the books that are now part of the new testament, although as nathaniel lardner states.
Download theology or read online books in pdf, epub, tuebl, and mobi format. The proposed canon consisted of the gospel of luke and several of pauls epistles. In 394, epiphanius claimed that after beginnings as an ascetic, marcion seduced a virgin and was. The majority of scholars agree the gospel was an edited version of the gospel of luke. Once marcion had rewritten the christian scriptures, he could make his case. While none of marcions writings have survived to the present, we know of his teachings through several early christian writers including justin martyr ad 100165, irenaeus of lyons ad 200.
Jun 01, 2016 hoffmanns marcion was the first work after harnack 1924 to call into question the patristic testimony concerning the archheretic. Besides the antithesis, the testament of the marcionites was also composed of a gospel of christ which was marcion s version of luke. In response, christian thinkers argued for one god who was the first principle of. The reception of the canon by the modern church is inhibited, it. Marcion wrote the antitheses to show the differences between the god of the old testament and the true god.
There werent really any fallen angels in marcion s theology. Marcion of pontus succeeded him, and developed his doctrine. Testament and christians must guide, in the spiritual life, only after the books of. Although marcion is known only through reports and quotations from his orthodox opponents, especially tertullians adversus marcionem against marcion, the principal outlines of his teaching seem clear. Paul had no more devoted pupil than marcion, claims harnack in this impressive monograph. Marcion clearly proves that all the writings of paul were considered inspired and universally distributed. Marcion of pontus, flourished 2nd century ce, christian heretic. Marcion, one of the first christian heretics, read scripture only in a literal and plainmeaningofthetext way, and this led him to claim a sharp discontinuity between the god of the old testament and the god revealed in jesus christ. This can be seen in his most wellknown book, antithesis, in which he pitted the new testament against the old testament. Paul, as they are reckoned up by epiphanius, and the order in which they are placed is as follows. No, andy stanley isnt a marcionite tyndale philosophy. Marcion claimed that while the nt taught a gospel of love, the ot was to be rejected as teaching only law.
In his work, hoffmann challenged the conventional wisdom concerning the date, sources, and accuracy of reports on marcion through careful and critical examination of patristic evidence. Marcion was critical in the emergence of the catholic church. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. He claimed that the theology of the old testament was incompatible with the teaching of jesus regarding god and morality. In so doing, he advanced the most daring blasphemy against him who is proclaimed as god by the law and the prophets, declaring him to be the author of evils, to take delight in war, to be infirm of purpose, and even to be contrary to himself. The church fathers and two books theology biologos. Gard the scriptures are collected in what is known as the it canon, that is, a grouping of writings received as authoritative and normative for faith and life. A primary difference between marcionites and gnostics was that the gnostics based their theology on secret wisdom as, for example, valentinius who claimed to. God, claiming that christ, as paul preached, is the god of forgiving love and free. Marcion s church was rigorous, demanding, inspiring, wellorganized, and for about a century fairly successful.
Or, as robin lane fox writes, by rewriting scripture, he presented a powerful case. He considered the creator god the inferior of the two. Harnack had obviously not solved the problem of pauls apparent dual theology and restricts marcion s action to biblical theology, devoid of any speculative theology. Finally marcion added his own book, the antitheses or contradictions, in which he expounded his theology. Marcions theological errors and there were many came from one main root. Although marcions teaching strongly resembled the good godbad god dualism that would achieve its full flowering in manichaeism more than a century later, his theology was neither systematic nor deep. And, finally, the oxford dictionary of the christian church says. This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized. In writing against marcion and valintinus, tertullian set forth the biblical theology of god rather than the heretical view that somehow there was an ot god different from a nt god. Developing some eccentric theological views, he eventually taught that the god of the old testament was not the true god but rather that the true and higher god had been revealed only with jesus christ.
His teaching made a radical distinction between the god of the old testament the creator and the father of jesus. So marcion read passages like the above, which are filled throughout the old testament, and concluded that this god was pure evil, and could not be followed, hence marcion rejected this god and claimed that he was not the true god but a lesser god. Marcion, the canon, the law, and the historical jesus. Hoffmanns marcion was the first work after harnack 1924 to call into question the patristic testimony concerning the archheretic. Hoffmann presents an indepth discussion on marcionite theology and the various. A primary difference between marcionites and gnostics was that the gnostics based their theology on secret wisdom as, for example, valentinius who claimed to receive the secret wisdom from theudas who received it direct from paul of which they claimed to be in possession, whereas marcion based his theology on the contents of the letters of paul and the recorded sayings of jesus in other. Marcionism signs and symbols of cults, gangs and secret. There is another discussion at lxxv on pages 7071, claiming he is a wolf teaching another god with another son besides the creator. He rejected all the books of the old testament and retained only those of the new which were clearly authored by paul, purging any texts which conflicted with his personal beliefs.
All angels were fallen, which is reasonably consistent with gnostic teachings about the divine mother. Marcionism was an early christian dualist belief system that originated in the teachings of marcion of sinope at rome around the year 144. Marcion created a biblical canon of his own by seizing on pauls claim to have received the gospel not from man but directly from the lord gal. Hello, has anyone heard of marcion and the research around him possibly having the oldest gospel. Marcion does recognise the divine mother by the way but not mary who makes no appearance. He considered himself a follower of paul the apostle, who he believed to have been the only true apostle of.
May 23, 2018 marcion claimed that while the nt taught a gospel of love, the ot was to be rejected as teaching only law. Perhaps equally predictable were the inevitable claims that zahnd is promoting some form of marcionism. Marcion claims he learned of this contrast from the writings of the apostle paul, his hero, who did indeed differentiate between his gospel and the law. Marcions attempt to set aside the old testament foundation of christianity, to purify tradition, and to reform christendom on the basis of the pauline gospel. A prominent leader of early orthodox christianity was tertullian. Part of a library of materials dealing with gnosis and gnosticism, both ancient and modern. See also justin martyr, first apology 165 ad at xxv discussion of marcion at page 35 of the book below you can leaf forward to find page 35.
The patristic authors claim marcion removed the parts of his gospel and pauline letters that contradicted his worldview, and thats certainly possible. Tertullian claimed marcion was the first to separate the new testament from the old testament. Marcion was the son of a bishop of sinope in pontus. Twenty years later, the oxford nt scholar william sanday. Joseph hoffmann phd, oxford was tutor in greek at keble college and senior scholar at st. His second book was his canon of scripture, an edited collection of ten of pauls letters and a version of the gospel of luke. In this revised edition of luke, marcion does not begin the story of jesus in bethlehem but in the sanctuary in capernium.
Harnack misses marcion s doctrine by claiming everything speculative to be pauline. Marcion rejected the theology of the old testament entirely and regarded the god depicted there as an inferior being. Marcionism project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. This belief was in some ways similar to gnostic christian theology. Marcion is unanimously acknowledged to be one of the most important and most intriguing figures of the early church. Tertullian claims that he forbade marriage because procreation was the invention of the demiurge. Marcion saw too many discrepancies between the testaments. His chief motive in reducing the canon and renouncing the god of the old testament was to avoid any connection between christianity and judaism.
Marcion declared that christianity was distinct from, and in opposition to, judaism. Developing some eccentric theological views, he eventually taught that the god of the old testament was not the true god but rather that the true and higher god had been revealed only with jesus c. The consensus of scholars is the marcion started with a larger list of new testament books and from this list of universally known inspired books, started removing books from the list. He questioned whether paul was an apostle of jesus christ, saying a selfserving claim, as paul made of being an apostle of jesus, does not suffice. In the five books against marcion, tertullian, an early christian author from carthage in the roman province of africa, disperses an exhaustive repudiation of marcion s controversial beliefs. Cerdo was one who took his system from the followers of simon, and came to live at rome in the time of hyginus 8 to 142he taught that the god proclaimed by the law and the prophets was not the father of our lord jesus christ. Tertullian the five books against marcion, books iiii. About the middle of the second century 140155 he traveled to rome, where he joined the syrian gnostic cerdo. Marcion reduced the scriptures to the gospel of luke and pauls letters. Marcion, judaism, israel, the orthodox church, theology of substitution. While none of marcion s writings have survived to the present, we know of his teachings through several early christian writers including just. Suppose now the divine goodness begin at the second stage of its rational operation, that is to say, on the stranger, this second stage will not be consistent in rationality if it be impaired in any way else. She examines marcion s gospel, apostolikon, and antitheses in detail and compares his principles with those of contemporary christian and nonchristian thinkers, covering a wide range of controversial issues. As it appears that cerdon also based his system around these same books.
May 11, 2018 marcions church was rigorous, demanding, inspiring, wellorganized, and for about a century fairly successful. Marcions canon, possibly the first christian canon. Many readers may feel that some aspects of the study are very outdated, in particular harnack accepts too much from paul whereas more recent research would claim the opposite, that pauls letters have been extensively reworked on by marcion and his followers. Book iv is his refutation of the heretic marcion, which contains the later. Brian zahnds recently published sinners in the hands of a loving god has been met with reactions that are largely boring in their predictability spoiler alert. Apparently, marcion, a native of pontus in modern times, the area by the black sea, flourished in the middle of the second century, dying circa 160. Marcion preached that the god who sent jesus into the world was a different, higher deity than the creator god of judaism. Marcionism thus rejected the old testament god, claiming that. He distinguished between the old testament creator god, whom marcion considered evil, and the god of the new testament, who revealed himself in christ.
No, andy stanley isnt a marcionite the christian post. The stimulus for new thought came from the objections of the state, philosophers, jews, gnostics, and marcion, who in different ways denied the christian claim to faith in one god. Nothing can be claimed as rational without order, much less can reason itself dispense with order in any one. Marcions theology, though essentially gnostic, was simple and clear. For all heresy is thrust out by this wedge of the truth, that christ is proved to be the revealer of no god else but the creator. Jesus was the savior sent from the good god of the spiritual realm. Thus, the desire to fill this gap within the academic world which is inconvenient for both students and professors alike has been the inspiration for writing this thesis. Tertullian in against marcion rebutted marcion by attacking paul. In marcions gospel, jesus suddenly appears at around the age of 12 or when he astounds the teachers at the temple. Marcion isor, rather, wasa somewhat shadowy figure, with most of what we know about him coming from the hostile pen of tertullian. Irenaeus claimed marcion s teacher was a likeminded heretic named cerdo.
A comprehensive and authoritative account of the heretic marcion, this. Jan 17, 2016 paul, marcion and the foundations of christian theology january 17, 2016 daniel clark in my last blog post, i wrote about the historical jesus, and the powerful case that such a figure never existed. Marcion taught that the god of the old testament was not the true god but rather that the true and higher god had been revealed only with jesus christ. Marcionism was a religious movement based on the teachings of the 2ndcentury heretic marcion of sinope. Marcion of sinope was an important figure in early christianity. The archheretic marcions theology i am discussing the relationship between jesus and the law of the jews, and to get to that question i am dealing with how christians about a century after jesus life understood this relationship.