A scholarly resource for the study of womens religious communities from 400 to 1600 ce. However, tertullian and epiphanius lived several generations after marcion, and they assumed. Marcionism was an early christian dualist belief system that originated in the teachings of marcion of sinope in rome around the year 144 marcion was the son of a bishop of sinope in pontus. Marcionism was an early christian dualist belief system that originated in the teachings of marcion of sinope in rome around the year 144. Marcion, the canon, the law, and the historical jesus. Rejects monotheism and the goodness of god s creation and denies the compatibility of the law and gospel. Marcion of pontus succeeded him, and developed his doctrine. He did not find the inspiration for his doctrine in the teachings of the apostle paul, it is the old testament and its portrait of an inconsistent, vengeful and cruel god which forms the centre of his theology. Jesus was the good alien god that tries to redeem mankind from the dominion of the god of the old testament. The marcionite bible was assembled by marcion of sinope, sometime in the earlymid second century.
Marcion believed that the god of the old testament was an evil creator god. 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. This he did by setting aside the spurious gospels, purging the real gospel the gospel of luke from supposed judaizing interpolations, and. English reconstruction and translation of marcions. 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. The sect which he founded spread widely, and was for a time a serious menace to the church. The following introduction to the life and work of marcion is taken from g.
The gospel of marcion, called by its adherents the gospel of the lord, was a text used by the mid2nd century christian teacher marcion of sinope to the exclusion of the other gospels. Marcion himself was the next raised up by the good god, to proclaim once more the true gospel. Publication date 1990 topics marcion, of sinope, 2nd cent. Pdf marcion and his critics for oxford handbook on early. Tertullian five books against marcion the ntslibrary. Part of a library of materials dealing with gnosis and gnosticism, both ancient and modern. The study environment of ancient languages coptic, greek, latin marcion is a software forming a study environment of ancient languages esp. Harnacks study of marcion provides a critical view into the most formative period of early christianity. Marcion believed that the true gospel of grace had been. Strongly antijewish, he distinguished the merely just god of the ot from the loving god and. His life, works, beliefs, and impact paul foster, 2010. In any event, this will at least provide the reader a general idea of what marcion s work antithesis may have been like. Ostensibly an attempt to recapture primitive christianity, this movement derives its name from marcion, a wealthy shipowner, son of a bishop, and probably a bishop himself, who arrived in rome around 140.
It was divided into two parts, the gospel or evangelion and the epistles of paul or apostolicon. Marcions gospel, compared verse by verse with luke previous page. Marcion article about marcion by the free dictionary. Marcions gospel, compared verse by verse with luke tricky. His main argument is that previous scholarship has turned marcion s exegesis of scripture upside down.
He is loving and embracing but lacks attributes such as justice and wrath. Marcion came under the influence of the gnostic teacher cedro who believed that the god of the old testament was different from the god and father of the lord jesus christ. This current version is further revised by daniel mahar to reflect the reconstruction done by theodor zahn geschichte des n. By dying on the cross, jesus had ransomed every persons soul to be saved from the world of matter, and it was only through faith in his resurrection that a person was saved. The text is based on the gospel of the lord by james hamlyn hill 1891, which made use of the 1823 reconstruction by august hahn. The gospel of the alien god, durham, nc unfortunately this. Marcion, an extract from the history of dogma part 1 part 2 the english translation of marcion and the gospel of the alien god is still under, however the german text which includes harnacks reconstruction of the marcionite bible has risen harnaci the public domain, and is avalible at archive. Migne, pl 26, 3a, lines 47 also cited in schmid, 240. Marcion, by dermot mcdonald, in the history of christianity, at 104105.
Marcion is perhaps one of the most important figures who shaped the beliefs, structures and collection of scriptural writings of the church in the second century and beyond. The question begins with a quotation from what i said, in contrast to something else i said, which seems to contradict it. Marcion of sinope edinburgh research explorer the university. Marcion, on the other hand, you must know, ascribes no author to his gospel, as if it could not be allowed him to affix a title to that from which it was no crime in his eyes to subvert the very. The archheretic marcions theology the bart ehrman blog. Sep 03, 2017 by adapting numerous userfriendly formatting techniques, roths reconstruction guides the reader easily through seven levels of confidence throughout the entire text of marcions gospel. 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. The written account of the life of jesus christ, preserved in its original greek by marcion, son of philologus, bishop of sinope. The text of marcions gospel biblical and early christian. While marcion preached that the god who had sent jesus christ was an entirely new, alien god, distinct from the vengeful god of israel who had created the world. He proclaimed that the god of the old testament could not be the god about whom jesus taught.
Gospel of marcion encyclopedia of the bible bible gateway. By 144 ad, at age 34, marcion had caused such a stir, that his teachings were the subject of an investigation and condemnation. Mead,fragments of a faith forgotten london and benares, 1900. 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. Marcion was critical in the emergence of the catholic church. A native of sinope in pontus, marcion came to rome c.
Marcion also rejected the real incarnation of christ, claiming that he was a manifestation of the father. Marcion of sinope was an important figure in early christianity. New testament, marcion, elesha yisrael, house of yisrael, spiritual teachings, inspirational. In the fifteenth year of the reign of tiberius caesar, 2. However, tertullian and epiphanius lived several generations after marcion, and they assumed the new testament they read already existed in marcion s era. Beduhns northern arizona university work is another addition in the recent renewed interest in the second century figure marcion of pontus. There are many, many things about marcions system of belief that we would love to know that we simply do not. The marcionite bible the marcionite bible was assembled by marcion of sinope, sometime in the earlymid second century. T he outlines of harnacks landmark monograph on marcion are well known from summaries and discussions of it as well as through the german original. An essay on the development of radical paulinist theology in the second century chico. The entirety of the gospel of the lord by marcion is presented below.
Theology and christology in marcions gospel redaction, tyndale bulletin 44. The god of civic religion is a god who is as marcion described him. 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. Marcion dealt with the text of pauls letters in the same way as with the text of lukes gospel. His second book was his canon of scripture, an edited collection of ten of pauls letters and a version of the gospel of luke.
Jesus came from a different god, a previously unknown god, who was not the god of the old testament, but a higher spiritual being who intervened on behalf of people to save them from the wrath of the creator. But it is an event worthy of note for the work to appear in english, where. Critics of marcion like tertullian and epiphanius complained that marcion cut and edited scripture to fit his beliefs. Marcions gospel, compared verse by verse with luke.
The foreign god and the sudden christ 311 marcion produced an edited version of ten pauline epistles12 and the gospel of luke. Theology and christology in marcion s gospel redaction, tyndale bulletin 44. As a side note, it would be exciting to see someone replicate his format in an english translation. The reception of the canon by the modern church is inhibited, it seems to me, by functional marcionism. The site includes the gnostic library, with the complete nag hammadi library and a large collection. Textual considerations marcion did not provide a title for his evangelion his gospel of the lord, here referred to as mcg, nor did he claim authorship.
Marcion taught that the god of the old testament was the author of evil, oppressive, and a lesser and distinct entity from the god of the new testament who exhibited love and forgiveness. Roth has taken up the ambitious task of reconstructing the gospel portion of marcion s bible. 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. One should know that in the pauline corpus of marcion the words and through god the father have not been written, because he wanted to stress his point that christ has not been raised by god the father, but arose spon taneously through his own strength. 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.
What makes beduhns work standout is its interest in marcions role in the development the christian canon and a modern reconstruction of marcions version of the new testament, that is, the first. Marcionism is the theological doctrine known after the heretic marcion of sinope, a ship owner from pontus in asia minor1 who died around 160 a. Monastic matrix is an ongoing collaborative effort by an international group of scholars of medieval history, religion, history of art, archaeology, religion, and other disciplines, as well as librarians and experts in computer technology. Here is a question that has been raised about one of my posts. This is marcions corrupt compilation, containing a version and form of the gospel according to luke, and an incomplete one of the apostle paul not of all his epistles but simply of romans, ephesians, colossians, laodiceans, galatians, first and second corinthians, first and second thessalonians, philemon and philippians. The gospel of marcion, called by its adherents the gospel of the lord, was a text used by the. The churchs scripture and functional marcionism daniel l. Unlike marcion s god, however, the god of civic religion is not known in. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. 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. About the middle of the second century 140155 he traveled to rome, where he joined the syrian gnostic cerdo. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
The marcionite bible was not divided into old and new testaments like the modern bible, and was dramatically shorter. Marcion, who created the first new testament, consisting of a strippeddown version of the gospel of luke and 10 letters of paul, would have made christianity a religon of love rather than a mixture of judgment and grace. He considered the creator god the inferior of the two. With regard, then, to the pending9 question, of lukes gospel so far as its being the common property10 of ourselves and marcion enables it to be decisive of the truth,11 that portion of it which we alone receive12 is so much older than marcion, that marcion, himself once believed it, when in the first warmth of faith he contributed. Marcion was the son of a bishop of sinope in pontus. Coptic, greek, latin and providing many tools and resources dictionaties, grammars, texts. Take this quiz on the words of the day from april 612 to find out. The churchs scripture and functional marcionism ctsfw. The gospel of the lord, please see the marcion section this document contains five of the original total twentyone chapters.
Marcion preached that the god who sent jesus into the world was a different, higher deity than the creator god of judaism. Its reconstructed fragments now appear among the new testament apocrypha. He considered himself a follower of paul the apostle, who he believed to have been the only true apostle of. About the middle of the second century 140155 he traveled to rome, where he joined the syrian gnostic cerdo marcion believed that jesus was the savior sent by god, and paul. Pontius pilatus being the governor of judaea, jesus came down to capernaum, a city in galilee, and was. The bible and interpretation marcion and the idea of heresy. English reconstruction and translation of marcion s version of to the galatians by daniel jon mahar abbreviations are provided in the right margin to indicate the patristic sources for passages, a system borrowed from paullouis couchoud which he utilised for his translation of marcion s gospel the creation of christ, p. What did marcion believe that made him a dangerous heretic. On the other hand, marcion was forced to demonstrate the content of the original gospel of this supreme god, revealed as the father of jesus, in such a way that.