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 and hippolytus ad 170235. 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. A shipowner by profession and a man of wealth, he was a member of the christian church in his home city. 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 body. However, methinks a further step needs to be taken with marcions urluke that step is to face the possibility that marcions urluke is. 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 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. The development of the canon of the new testament marcion.
Marcion sponsored an open christianity that met in churches. 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. The issue of the relationship between luke and marcions gospel has been revived recently in several discussions of marcion and lukeacts. Marcion said the twelve taught a gospel of law where disobedience caused loss. Irenaeus writes that marcion learned many of his ideas in rome from cerdon1 another early christian leader condemned by irenaeus.
A native of sinope in pontus, marcion came to rome c. The marcionites only recognized one gospel as legitimate. These christological beliefs effect marcions redaction of the pauline epistles and his omission of material from lukes gospel. In addition the only gospel in marcions bible is two thirds of. The majority of scholars agree the gospel was an edited version of the gospel of luke. Gospel of marcion encyclopedia of the bible bible gateway. When discussing the text of marcion in the fifth book of adversus marcionem, tertullian writes. Pdf marcions gospel and the beginnings of early christianity. Pontius pilatus being the governor of judaea, jesus came down to capernaum, a city in galilee, and was. Marcions canon consisted of the euangelion, or the gospel of the lord, and the apostolikon, ten epistles of paul, not including the pastorals.
Coptic, greek, latin and providing many tools and resources dictionaties, grammars, texts. Marcions gospel, compared verse by verse with luke. 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. Marcion, the canon, the law, and the historical jesus. 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. There needed to be a distance between god and matter in marcions thinking, so the creator god of the old testament was not a true god or he was a lesser god. Marcions canon consisted of the gospel, or the gospel of the lord, and ten epistles of paul not including the pastorals. The reception of the canon by the modern church is inhibited, it. The text is divided into 6 sections, each referenced to parallel chapters in the gospel of luke. The written account of the life of jesus christ, preserved in its original greek by marcion, son of philologus, bishop of sinope. Here is a question that has been raised about one of my posts. 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.
Marcionism was a split in the church that almost divided christianity in two. There is debate over whether marcion truncated luke and paul or whether later orthodox scribes may have expanded them in some cases. The gnostic affinity or group identity was a secret bond that transcended the local christian congregations. Marcion of pontus, flourished 2nd century ce, christian heretic. Marcion is a software forming a study environment of ancient languages esp. 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.
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. Almighty god, is mangled2340 by marcions blasphemies. Marcion preached that the god who sent jesus into the world was a different, higher deity than the creator god of judaism. Marcion is often thought to have first established an explicit canon. Of the gospels that were current among the churches, the only one that. Marcion s gospel was apparently a truncated version of luke with extraneous content underpinning marcion s theology.
In the grave and slowmoving orient the gospel of mark gave rise to the. The gospel of the alien god 9781556357039 by adolf harnack, john e. Marcion of sinope lived during the time before christianity had become a state religion. He explained the corruption on the basis of galatians in which paul emphasizes that there is only one gospel and states that false brethren are attempting to turn believers from this gospel.
Marcions gospel was apparently a truncated version of luke with extraneous content underpinning marcions theology. The evidence of marcions gospel against an assumed marcionite redaction the historical study of early christianity continues to labor under the burden of assumptions carried over from traditional christian here siology. 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 the apostle was his. His teaching made a radical distinction between the god of the old testament the creator and the father of jesus. A new suggestion, by matthias klinghardt, seems, to me, to be working in the right direction. Bierma, marcion, the gospel of the alien god, durham, labyrinth, 1990, 23. Marcion of sinope a hypertext version of the gospel of the lord by james hamlyn hill 1891,based on the 1823 reconstruction by august hahn. Marcion s canon consisted of the euangelion, or the gospel of the lord, and the apostolikon, ten epistles of paul, not including the pastorals. The gospel of the lord was used by marcion, and apparently before him by. Marcion is or, rather, was a somewhat shadowy figure, with most of what we know about him coming from the hostile pen of tertullian. But the heretic marcion, after being condemned by him because he was teaching 2 the opposite to him john, was expelled by john.
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 had bought into platos idea that matter is bad, and so, the god of the old testament, the god who created the world, was not a god that he could stomach. The project gutenberg ebook of lost and hostile gospels by. 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 marcions 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. Marcon edited the writings to remove any reference to judaism with the desire to break away from the influence of judaism, replacing the gd of moses. 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. Marcion is often credited as being first to establish an explicit canon. Apparently, he was a native of pontus in modern times, the area by the black sea, who flourished in the middle of the second century, dying circa 160. Harnacks study of marcion provides a critical view into the most formative period of early christianity. Part of a library of materials dealing with gnosis and gnosticism, both ancient and modern.
The question begins with a quotation from what i said, in contrast to something else i. Irenaeus indicates that marcion succeeded cerdon while anicetus was pope 157 to 168. Marcions greatest contribution to the development of the second century church was the marcionite canon. Lukes gospel, selected by marcion as his authority, and mutilated by him. For centuries marcion has been maligned as a heretic, since the church fathers like tertullian accused him of taking the razor to the bible and cutting out several of the pauline epistles. He also accuses marcion of removing large quantities of text from the gospel of luke and the epistles of paul, thus. In the fifteenth year of the reign of tiberius caesar, 2. Marcionism was a religious movement based on the teachings of the 2ndcentury heretic marcion of sinope. However, methinks a further step needs to be taken with marcion s urluke that step is to face the possibility that marcion s urluke is the first of the synoptic gospels.
The sect which he founded spread widely, and was for a time a serious menace to the church. Behold, the days come, says the lord, that i will make. Indeed he wrote down the gospel, while john was dictating carefully. Marcion wrote the first canon of the new testament in ad 140. I will highlight the inadequacies of the available manuscripts. Marcions teaching was condemned as heresy in the year 144. The bettering consisted in combining marcions gospel with the law and the.
The marcionite bible it was divided into two parts, the gospel or evangelion and the epistles of paul or apostolicon. The gospels of marcion, mark, and matthew remained as witness to a false alarm. Im with marcion, and so was about half of christianity in the late second century. The gospel of the lord the entirety of the gospel of the lord by marcion is presented below, as reconstructed from extant sources. The churchs scripture and functional marcionism daniel l. The antimarcionite prologues the lost books of the bible. Marcion, combining language soon used of the latter with conventional oppositions. Strongly antijewish, he distinguished the merely just god of the ot from the loving god and. Interestingly, the jesus of marcion was not human but docetic. Ase 3212015 5587 markus vinzent marcions gospel and the beginnings of. Jesus complete independence of any human or earthly antecedents, in marcions belief, is illustrated by the way in which his gospel opens. Marcion taught only paul had the correct gospel of jesus, i. Marcion s canon consisted of the gospel, or the gospel of the lord, and ten epistles of paul not including the pastorals.
However, tertullian and epiphanius lived several generations after marcion, and they assumed. Although marcion is focused on to study the gnosticism and early christianity, it is an universal library working with various file formats and allowing to collect, organize. Jason david beduhn the myth of marcion as redactor. 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.
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. Marcion of sinope marcionism christianity disproved. Marcion was born toward the end of the first century in sinope, a city in pontus, on the southern coast of the black sea. Its reconstructed fragments now appear among the new testament apocrypha. The gospel of the lord o wonder beyond wonders, rapture, power, and amazement is it, that one can say nothing at all about the gospel nor even conceive of it, nor even compare it to anything. He believed that of all the apostles only paul had. Very similar to the gnostic beliefs as in the gospel of judas. For example, in place of thy kingdom come in the lord s prayer luke 11. In section four i will discuss the manuscript evidence on which knowledge of the traditional new testament rests.