Marcion than in his bible, and was willing to accept the traditional polemical charge that. The sect which he founded spread widely, and was for a time a serious menace to the church. God, i thank thee, that i am not as other men are, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even as this publican. The gospel of the lord, please see the marcion section this document contains five of the original total twentyone chapters. Gospel of marcion encyclopedia of the bible bible gateway. Marcion believed that jesus was the savior sent by god, and paul the apostle was his chief apostle, but he rejected the hebrew bible and the god. Adolf harnack was a german theologian, scholar and historian. Marcion believed that the god of the old testament was an evil creator god that jesus came to destroy. 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. The written account of the life of jesus christ, preserved in its original greek by marcion, son of philologus, bishop of sinope. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. But it is an event worthy of note for the work to appear in english, where the complexities and.
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. How would you present the antithesis of marcion to someone in your life. Marcion produced the first christian canon, or list of the books of the bible that he considered authoritative. Marcion s christology, as seen in statements preserved in irenaeus, tertullian and. Theology and christology in marcion s gospel redaction peter head summary this article seeks to establish the extent to which marcion s christology influenced the formation of his gospel canon, the euaggelion. The text of marcions gospel biblical and early christian. However, tertullian and epiphanius lived several generations after marcion, and they assumed the new testament they read already existed in marcion s era. New testament, marcion, elesha yisrael, house of yisrael, spiritual teachings, inspirational.
Marcion, the canon, the law, and the historical jesus a survey of marcion s life and legacy. 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. Strongly antijewish, he distinguished the merely just god of the ot from the loving god and. The premise of marcionism is that many of the teachings of christ are incompatible with the actions of the god of the old testament.
While marcion preached that the god who had sent jesus christ was an. He considered the creator god the inferior of the two. Sign in here to access free tools such as favourites and alerts, or to access personal subscriptions. 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.
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. Marcion also rejected the real incarnation of christ, claiming that he was a manifestation of the father. Textual considerations marcion did not provide a title for his evangelion his gospel of the. Pontius pilatus being the governor of judaea, jesus came down to capernaum, a city in galilee, and was. The reception of the canon by the modern church is inhibited, it seems to me, by functional marcionism. Marcion thus believed that the creator god of the old testament was a demiurge, a lower god who must be distinguished from the higher god of the new testament, the alien god unknown prior to his revelation in jesus christ.
Theology and christology in marcions gospel redaction, tyndale bulletin 44. About the middle of the second century 140155 he traveled to rome, where he joined the syrian gnostic cerdo. Jul 16, 2015 on the bad side were the old testament and the god the older book revealed. Marcion s teaching was condemned as heresy in the year 144. Marcion was the first, and for karcion long time the only gentile christian who took his stand on paul. 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. English reconstruction and translation of marcions. Marcion of pontus succeeded him, and developed his doctrine. 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. As a side note, it would be exciting to see someone replicate his format in an english translation. 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. Should we as christians throw out the old testament.
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. Marcions gospel, compared verse by verse with luke. Or is marcions view as alien as a martian living on planet earth. The marcionite bible was not divided into old and new testaments like the modern bible, and was dramatically shorter. 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. Library of congress cataloginginpublication data jonas, hans the gnostic religion. As regards the prophets, it was the outer sacrificial worship, and the deliverance was the idea of jehovahs righteousness. The study environment of ancient languages coptic, greek, latin marcion is a software forming a study environment of ancient languages esp.
Marcions gospel, compared verse by verse with luke tricky. Part of a library of materials dealing with gnosis and gnosticism, both ancient and modern. Marcions gospel, compared verse by verse with luke previous page. The gospel of the alien god 9781556357039 by adolf harnack, john e. 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. For that, he is regarded as the greatest of heretics, or the wisest of the early christian writers, who almost single handedly put the apostle paul on the map.
Publication date 1990 topics marcion, of sinope, 2nd cent. Marcion of sinope was an important figure in early christianity. Focusing on the pauline traditions of the gospel, marcion felt that all other conceptions of the gospel, and especially any association with the old testament religion, was opposed to, and a backsliding from, the truth. After being excommunicated from the church, he took his odd beliefs to asia minor.
The bible and interpretation marcion and the idea of heresy. Portrait of a heretic there is little doubt that the teachings of marcion and his followers represented a greater threat to orthodox christianity than any other heresy in the second century. What did marcion believe that made him a dangerous heretic. The archheretic marcions theology the bart ehrman blog. In any event, this will at least provide the reader a general idea of what marcion s work antithesis may have been like. By 144 ad, at age 34, marcion had caused such a stir, that his teachings were the subject of an investigation and condemnation. Begin reading god s word ad free with instant access to your new online study library. The gospel of marcion, called by its adherents the gospel of the lord, was a text used by the. He further argues that marcion reduced the number of the gospels, removed even portions of lukes gospel, and argued that paul alone knew the truth of the gospel.
The second element was harnacks fascination with marcion, which he would fully articulate only in 1920, with the work entitled marcion, gospel of the alien god. First world war seeking to free christianity from alien, semitic sensibilities and to. Harnacks study of marcion provides a critical view into the most formative period of early christianity. Marcion was critical in the emergence of the catholic church. In his third volume of against heresies, irenaeus wrote that marcion followed neither scriptures nor the traditions of the apostles. This book is printed on acid free paper that meets the uncoated paper ansiniso specifications for permanence as revised in 1992.
The entirety of the gospel of the lord by marcion is presented below. What verses, in particular, would you focus on when helping them see the conflicting nature of the god of the old testament, and the good god of jesus. Harnack began his teaching career at the university of leipzig in 1874, the same year he received his ph. Harnack presents marcion s historical significance. 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. The churchs scripture and functional marcionism daniel l. It does not appear that marcion added much if anything of his own. 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. Jesuss god was free from passion and wrath, wholly benevolent. Marcion article about marcion by the free dictionary. His life, works, beliefs, and impact paul foster, 2010. The site includes the gnostic library, with the complete nag hammadi library and a large collection of other primary gnostic scriptures and documents. This current version is further revised by daniel mahar to reflect the reconstruction done by theodor zahn geschichte des n. Marcion s gospel was not an independent work, but an expurgated vs of luke, adapted to marcion s own doctrinal theories.
Theology and christology in marcion s gospel redaction, tyndale bulletin 44. Marcion was the son of a bishop of sinope in pontus. Coptic, greek, latin and providing many tools and resources dictionaties, grammars, texts. A native of sinope in pontus, marcion came to rome c. Marcion s greatest contribution is the recognition that the god depicted in the old testament is not the one true god, nor the father spoken of by jesus. 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. In the fifteenth year of the reign of tiberius caesar, 2. Here is a question that has been raised about one of my posts. Sep 04, 2016 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. His main argument is that previous scholarship has turned marcion s exegesis of scripture upside down. However, tertullian and epiphanius lived several generations after marcion, and they assumed the new testament they read already existed in marcion. Tertullian five books against marcion the ntslibrary.
The marcionite bible the marcionite bible was assembled by marcion of sinope, sometime in the earlymid second century. A scholarly resource for the study of womens religious communities from 400 to 1600 ce. Marcion preached that the god who sent jesus into the world was a different, higher deity than the creator god of judaism. The question begins with a quotation from what i said, in contrast to something else i. 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. Its reconstructed fragments now appear among the new testament apocrypha. Jun 14, 2010 marcion was a heretic of the 2nd century ad. Unlike marcion s god, however, the god of civic religion is not known in. Namely, marcion seemed to be trying to solve the problem of why a supposedly benevolent creator god would willing create evil and allow it to exist. He proclaimed that the god of the old testament could not be the god about whom jesus taught. 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. From the little i have read of tertullians against marcion, it seems that marcion was tackling and ultimately being swayed by the ageold problem of evil.
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