Beduhn article in journal of early christian studies 223. He also accepted all of pauls writings but he would cut out any old testament quote or anything else that contradicted his theological views. Oct 28, 20 marcion holds a lasting legacy for christians as the inventor of the new testament. He understood how paul had reprimanded the church at galatia for much the same thing. To oppose the ordination of women bishops in the church of england is to deny the central role women played in the faiths founding. This footnote discusses all the various subtle variants that marcion made to what was otherwise very similar to luke.
Marcion of pontus, flourished 2nd century ce, christian heretic. 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. Understanding the formation of the new testament lakewood. The development of the canon of the new testament marcion. 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.
If a passwordprotected pdf file is edited, the passwords will be deleted. Marcion does not understand the old testament in the light of the. Valentinus, tracing his authority through theodas to paul, makes the same general use of new testament books, and tertullian tells us that he appeared to use the whole new testament as then known. His teaching made a radical distinction between the god of the. The sect which he founded spread widely, and was for a time a serious menace to the church. Pdf marcion, the bishop in the early church 85160 ad, who was acclaimed as heretic by orthodoxy, was wellknown as having the. Marcion did not deny the existence of the god of the old testament what he referred to as a demiurge. 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. Marcion, the canon, the law, and the historical jesus a survey of marcion s life and legacy. Marcion is often thought to have first established an explicit canon. 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. Reduce, reuse, reject the traditional view is that. The canon of scripture, bible manuscripts, and bible. Just as marcion s canon stimulated the more precise defining of the nt canon by the catholic church, not to supersede but to supplement the canon of the ot, so, more generally, marcion s teaching led the catholic church to define its faith more carefully, in terms.
He considered himself a follower of paul the apostle, who he believed to have been the only true apostle of. Gospel of marcion encyclopedia of the bible bible gateway. Marcions pre144 manuscript of paul what i shall call the premar cionite text of rome must have contained a number of marginal glosses, for one of them is signaled by tertullian, when discussing pauls interpreta tion gal. Canon knowledge base setting passwords for pdf files. In his attempt to determine a collection of authoritative books, marcions answer was. Marcion accepted only the gospel of luke to the exclusion of the other three gospels. Jan 06, 2014 in this bold undertaking, jason beduhn sets forth, for the first time, a complete english translation of the bible of marcion. Marcion, montanus, and gnosticism september 3, 2014 august 24, 2014 jacob j. 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. Marcion was the first to introduce a christian canon. In some ways, marcion is the first person we know of to establish a canon that is, to specify exactly which writings were in and which were out.
He rejected the old testament and regarded the god of the old testament as evil. Coptic, greek, latin and providing many tools and resources dictionaties, grammars, texts. The deities of the old and new testaments were, from marcions perspective, literally two different gods. The marcionite bible was not divided into old and new testaments like the modern bible, and was dramatically shorter. His life, works, beliefs, and impact paul foster, 2010. Jul 14, 2015 this post is part of an ongoing series examining marcion of sinope and his influence of the formation of the new testament canon. Jason david beduhn the myth of marcion as redactor.
Pdf chapter 1 marcion from the gospel according to heretics. A native of sinope in pontus, marcion came to rome c. Formed his own canon of scripture to support his doctrine. Peter holmes on marcion s canon alterations in a footnote on page 364 in his translation entitled tertullian, the five books of quintus sept. With a useful introduction to all relevant issues, a readable translation of this first new testament, and copious notes supporting each textual decision, beduhn has provided a work of scholarship that is sure to be both welcomed and controversial.
The reception of the canon by the modern church is inhibited, it. Peter holmes on marcions canon alterations in a footnote on page 364 in his translation entitled tertullian, the five books of quintus sept. Jan 02, 2020 for marcion, jesus was the son of the god of the new testament but not the son of the deity described in the hebrew scriptures. Marcion is perhaps one of the most important figures who shaped the. We come to what may be the hottest current debate among scholars concerning the formation of the christian canon. Indeed, campenhausen went so far as to call marcion the creator of the christian holy scripture. Use the force to ace this quiz on the words of the day from may 4 to may 10. His teaching made a radical distinction between the god of the old testament the creator and the father of jesus. Although his ideas were completely rejected by the apostolic fathers of the secondcentury church, the very need to reject them forced the. A shipowner by profession and a man of wealth, he was a member of the christian church in his home city. Higgins, the latin text in marcion and tertullian, vigchr 5 1951, 142, and t.
A new perspective on his life, theology, and impact. The marcionite bible the marcionite bible was assembled by marcion of sinope, sometime in the earlymid second century. The archheretic marcions theology the bart ehrman blog. 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. Hoffmanns marcion was the first work after harnack 1924 to call into question the patristic testimony concerning the archheretic. In this bold undertaking, jason beduhn sets forth, for the first time, a complete english translation of the bible of marcion. Therefore the churchs response to these heretical traditions began with the proper interpretation of the old testament. Furthermore, it is questionable whether marcions text can even be adequately reconstructed if the church fathers upon whom beduhn relies are as unreliable witnesses as he claims.
The marcionite canon included a redacted edition of the gospel of. In ad 144, marcion promulgated a canon in rome that had two parts. There is debate over whether marcion truncated luke and paul or whether later orthodox scribes may have expanded them in some cases. In some ways, marcion is the first person we know of to establish a canonthat is, to specify exactly which writings were in and which were out. Marcion s canon consisted of the gospel, or the gospel of the lord, and ten epistles of paul not including the pastorals. Prahlow this post is part of an ongoing series outlining the formation of the new testament canon. Marcionism was a religious movement based on the teachings of the 2ndcentury heretic marcion of sinope. Jun 01, 2016 hoffmanns marcion was the first work after harnack 1924 to call into question the patristic testimony concerning the archheretic. Although his ideas were completely rejected by the apostolic fathers of the second. The canon of scripture, bible manuscripts, and bible translation.
Marcion, montanus, and gnosticism pursuing veritas. 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. The really crucial contribution to the canon development on marcions part, however, was that by opposing the old and the new testament he laid the foundation for a bipartite canon as we still use it today. My position received little support after publication. Marcions canon consisted of the euangelion, or the gospel of the lord, and the apostolikon, ten epistles of paul, not including the pastorals. Marcions teaching was condemned as heresy in the year 144. Marcion, the son of the bishop of sinope a seaport of pontus along the black sea who had become a wealthy shipowner, stood before the presbyters to expound his teachings in order to win others to his point of. 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. 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.
This was a defining struggle, when christianity could have decided to cut the hebrew scriptures away from its own canon, as islam later did. 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. His canon consisted of only eleven books, grouped into two sections. We now turn to the canon and literature formation school, which understands marcion not only to have been formed the notion of a christian canon, but also to have influenced the major redaction and writing of texts now found in the christian new testament. Part of a library of materials dealing with gnosis and gnosticism, both ancient and modern. The bible and interpretation a new portrait of marcion. Marcion, the canon, the law, and the historical jesus a survey of marcions life and legacy. Marcion and the marcionites 144 3rd century ce at the end of july, 144 ce, a hearing took place before the clergy of the christian congregations in rome. The centrality of the pauline epistles in marcions canon reflects the fact that marcion considered paul to be the.
The most noted of the gnostics was marcion, a native of pontus. Marcion preached that the god who sent jesus into the world was a different, higher deity than the creator god of judaism. Marcion s canon consisted of the euangelion, or the gospel of the lord, and the apostolikon, ten epistles of paul, not including the pastorals. Marcion holds a lasting legacy for christians as the inventor of the new testament. Marcionism, similar to gnosticism, depicted the god of the old testament as a tyrant or demiurge see also god as the devil. Marcions ideas have an enormous influence on the development of the church, especially as far as the old testament is concerned. 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. Reset the passwords in the save as pdf file dialog box. It is ironic that perhaps one of the most influential of figures in church history is also one of the most reviled heretics. 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, the son of the bishop of sinope a seaport of pontus along the black sea who had become a wealthy shipowner, stood before the presbyters to expound his teachings in order to win others to his point of view. Paul clearly does not reject the god of the old testament 3 other authors prior to marcion show an awareness of pauls letters.
Marcions scriptural canon, argues that marcion not only put together the very first christian canon of scriptures, he gave christianity very idea of doing so. The severed canon left by marcion and the gnostics eviscerated the centrality of christ and repudiated the notion that one god had accomplished one eternal plan to save one elect people. Just as marcions canon stimulated the more precise defining of the nt canon by the catholic church, not to supersede but to supplement the canon of the ot, so, more generally, marcions teaching led the catholic church to define its faith more carefully, in terms calculated to exclude a marcionite interpretation. 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. 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. Marcion s teaching was condemned as heresy in the year 144.
Marcion s gospel was apparently a truncated version of luke with extraneous content underpinning marcion s theology. 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. The reception of the canon by the modern church is inhibited, it seems to me, by functional marcionism. 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. The canon of marcion only comprised of pauls letters. Marcions choice of a highly selective canon and his mutilation of christian scriptures forced the church to specifically identify its own writings. Marcion s canon, possibly the first christian canon ever compiled, consisted of eleven books. Bettany hughes, an expert in ancient history, was quoted recently in londons daily telegraph as saying that christianity was originally a faith where the female of the species held sway. Specify the save settings in the save as pdf file dialog box, then click save.
Marcion, an avid disciple of paul, appeared on the seen determined to rescue the church from its judaic beliefs. Marcions pioneering role in establishing the earliest christian scriptural canon, and particularly the potential of his texts for the his. Beduhn offers an interesting perspective on marcions scriptural canon, but his translation of marcions reconstructed greek text is virtually unreadable. 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. The site includes the gnostic library, with the complete nag hammadi library and a large collection of other primary gnostic scriptures and documents.
Its reconstructed fragments now appear among the new testament apocrypha. Although marcion is focused on to study the gnosticism and the early christianity, it is a customizable universal library working with various file formats html, pdf, djvu and allowing to collect, organize and backup books and texts of any kind and search for words and phrases in a desired selection of texts. This post is part of an ongoing series examining marcion of sinope and his influence of the formation of the new testament canon. The churchs scripture and functional marcionism daniel l. Abstract marcionism originated in the teachings of marcion of sinope, who. Marcion of sinope was an important figure in early christianity. Marcion is a software forming a study environment of ancient languages esp. Marcion is often credited as being first to establish an explicit canon. Marcion, the canon, the law, and the historical jesus.
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