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Marcion of Sinope (ca. 110-160) was a Christian theologian who was excommunicated [1] by the early Christian church at Rome as a heretic. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective Excommunication is a religious Censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief especially a religion that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief His teachings were influential during the 2nd century and a few centuries after, rivaling that of the Church of Rome. The 2nd century is the period from 101 to 200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. As he offered an alternative theology to the Canonical, Proto-orthodox, Trinitarian and Christological views of the Roman Church, the early Church Fathers denounced him sharply; their views dominate Christianity today. Canonical is an Adjective derived from canon. Canon comes from the Greek word kanon, "rule" (perhaps originally from Proto-orthodox Christianity is a term created by New Testament scholar Bart D Christology (from Christ and Greek grc -λογία -logia) is a field of study within Christian theology which is concerned with The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, or Fathers of the Church are the early and influential theologians and writers in the Christian Church

Marcion is sometimes referred to as one of the gnostics, but from what assessment of his lost writings can be gleaned from his mainstream opponents, his teachings were quite different in nature. Gnosticism (γνώσις gnōsis, Knowledge) refers to a diverse Syncretistic Religious movement consisting of various Belief systems His canon included ten of the Pauline Epistles and one gospel[2] called the Gospel of Marcion, a rejection of the whole Hebrew Bible and of the rest of the books later incorporated into the canonical New Testament . The Biblical canon is the set of books Christians regard as divinely inspired and thus constituting the Christian Bible. The Pauline epistles, Epistles of Paul, or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen New Testament books which have the name Paul (Παῦλος as the first The Gospel of Marcion or the Gospel of the Lord was a text used by the mid-second century Christian teacher Marcion to the exclusion of the other gospels The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written in Biblical Hebrew (and the related Biblical Aramaic He propounded a Christianity free from Jewish doctrines with Paul as the reliable source of authentic doctrine. Judaizers, see also WiktionaryJudaization, generally describes those who inculcate to Christians the adherence to Torah Laws, which is normally considered Paul the apostle (שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi, meaning " Saul of Tarsus " Σαούλ Saul and Σαῦλος Saulos and Paul was, according to Marcion, the only apostle who had rightly understood the new message of salvation as delivered by Christ. The Twelve Apostles (Greek apostolos, "someone sent out" e In Theology, salvation can mean three related things being saved from or Liberation from something such as Suffering or the punishment of [3]

Contents

Life

Biographical information about Marcion stems mostly from writings of his detractors. Hippolytus says he was the son of the bishop of Sinope (modern Sinop, Turkey), in Pontus province. For places named after the saint see Saint-Hippolyte Saint Hippolytus of Rome (c Sinop ( Greek: Σινώπη /Sinope is a city with a population of 47000 on İnce Burun ( İnceburun, Cape Ince) by its Geography The Black Sea region loosely called Pontus by various scholars has a steep rocky coast with rivers that cascade through the gorges of the coastal ranges Rhodon and Tertullian described him as a ship owner. Rhodon is a Village and commune in the Loir-et-Cher département of northern-central France. Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, Anglicised as Tertullian, (ca [4] They further state that he was excommunicated by his father for seducing a virgin. Excommunication is a religious Censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community However, Bart D. Ehrman's Lost Christianities suggest that his seduction of a virgin was a metaphor for his corruption of the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church being the virgin. Bart D Ehrman is an American New Testament scholar and textual critic of Early Christianity.

Marcion had travelled to Rome about 142–143. [5] In the next few years, Marcion worked out his theological system and attracted a large following. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Marcion was a consecrated bishop and was probably an assistant or suffragan of his father at Sinope. Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service usually religious A suffragan bishop is a Bishop subordinate to a Metropolitan bishop or Diocesan bishop. Sinop ( Greek: Σινώπη /Sinope is a city with a population of 47000 on İnce Burun ( İnceburun, Cape Ince) by its [6] When conflicts with the bishops of Rome arose, Marcion began to organize his followers into a separate community. He was excommunicated by the Church of Rome around 144 and had a large donation of 200,000 sesterces returned. Excommunication is a religious Censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community The sestertius, or sesterce, was an ancient Roman Coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small Silver, and rare coin issued

After his excommunication, he returned to Asia Minor where he continued to spread his message. He created a strong ecclesiastical organization resembling the Church of Rome, and put himself as bishop.

Teachings

Main article: Marcionism

Marcionism is the dualist belief system that originates in the teachings of Marcion around the year 144. Marcionism is the dualist Belief system that originates in the teachings of Marcion of Sinope at Rome around the year 144. Dualism denotes a state of two parts The word's origin is the Latin duo, "two". [7] Marcion affirmed Jesus Christ as the saviour sent by God and Paul as his chief apostle. Marcion declared that Christianity was distinct from and in opposition to Judaism. Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut He rejected the entire Hebrew Bible, and declared that the God of the Hebrew Bible was a lesser demiurge, who had created the earth, and whose law, the Mosaic covenant, represented bare natural justice i. The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written in Biblical Hebrew (and the related Biblical Aramaic Demiurge (the Latinized form of Greek demiourgos, δημιουργός, literally "public or skilled worker" from demos In Christian theology, the Mosaic Covenant or Sinaitic Covenant refers to the relationship between Yahweh and the Jews and B'nei e. eye for an eye.

The premise of Marcionism is that many of the teachings of Christ are incompatible with the actions of Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament. For information about Yahweh see God in Abrahamic religions, which provides useful links In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. Tertullian claimed Marcion was the first to separate the New Testament from the Old Testament[8]. Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, Anglicised as Tertullian, (ca Focusing on the Pauline traditions of the Gospel, Marcion felt that all other conceptions of the Gospel were opposed to the truth. Pauline Christianity is a term used to refer to a branch of Early Christianity associated with the beliefs and doctrines espoused by Paul the Apostle through This article is about the canonical books of the New Testament He regarded Paul's arguments of law and gospel, wrath and grace, works and faith, flesh and spirit, sin and righteousness and death and life as the essence of religious truth. The relationship between God's Law and the Gospel is a major topic in Lutheran and Reformed theology He ascribed these aspects and characteristics as two principles: the righteous and wrathful God of the Old Testament, the creator of the world, and a second God of the Gospel who is purely love and mercy and who was revealed by Jesus. [9]

His canon consisted of eleven books: his own version of the Gospel of Luke, and ten of Paul's epistles. All other epistles and gospels of the New Testament were rejected. [10]

Legacy

The church that Marcion founded had expanded throughout the known world within his lifetime, and was a serious rival to the Catholic church. Its adherents were strong enough in their convictions to have the church retain its expansive power for more than a century. It survived heathen persecution, Christian controversy, and imperial disapproval for several centuries more. [11]

The Roman Polycarp called him "the first born of Satan. Saint Polycarp of Smyrna (ca 69 – ca 155 was a second century Bishop of Smyrna. "[12] His numerous critics also included Ephraim of Syria, Dionysius of Corinth, Theophilus of Antioch, Philip of Gortyna, Hippolytus and Rhodo in Rome, Bardesanes at Edessa, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen. Ephrem the Syrian ( Syriac: ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ Mor Afrêm Sûryāyâ; Greek:; Latin Saint Dionysius Bishop of Corinth lived about the year 171 His Feast day is commemorated on April 8. There is also a Theophilus of Alexandria ( c AD 412 Theophilus, Patriarch of Antioch, succeeded Eros c For places named after the saint see Saint-Hippolyte Saint Hippolytus of Rome (c Rhodo was a Christian writer who flourished in the time of the Roman emperor Commodus (180-92 he was a native of the province of Asia Minor who came to Rome Bardaisan (ܒܪܕܝܨܢ Bardaiṣān; 154–222 also Latinized as Bardesanes) was a Syriac Gnostic, founder of the Bardaisanites Saint Clement of Alexandria (born Titus Flavius Clemens) (c150 - 211/216 was the first notable member of the Church of Alexandria, and one of its most Origen ( Greek: Ōrigénēs, or Origen Adamantius, ca 185–ca Nevertheless, "not even Tertullian can find any strictures to pass on the morals of Marcion or his adherents"[13]

Some ideas of Marcion's reappeared with Manichaean developments among the Bulgarian Bogomils of the 10th century and their Cathar heirs of southern France in the 13th century. Manichaeism (in Modern Persian fa-Arab آیین مانی Āyin e Māni; Chinese zh 摩尼教 was one of the major Gnostic Religions originating Bogomilism (Богомилство is the Gnostic dualistic Sect, the Synthesis of Armenian Paulicianism and the Bulgarian Slavonic

Notes

  1. ^ Tertullian, Adversus Marcionem, a near-contemprary polemic. Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, Anglicised as Tertullian, (ca
  2. ^ Eusebius, Church History]]; apparently it was the Gospel of Luke, with some excisions; see David Salter Williams, "Reconsidering Marcion's Gospel", Journal of Biblical Literature 108 (1989), p. The Gospel of Luke (Gk Κατά Λουκάν Ευαγγέλιον) is a synoptic Gospel, and is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels of the 477-96.
  3. ^ The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article on Marcion
  4. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia
  5. ^ Tertullian dates the beginning of Marcion's teachings 115 years after the Crucifixion, which he placed in AD 26–27 (Adversus Marcionem, xix). The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc Crucifixion (from Latin crucifixio, noun of process crucifixio, from perfect passive participle crucifixus, fixed to a cross from
  6. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia
  7. ^ 115 years and 6 months from the Crucifixion, according to Tertullian's reckoning in Adversus Marcionem, xv
  8. ^ Everett Ferguson, in McDonald and Sanders, editors, The Canon Debate, 2002, chapter 18, p. Crucifixion (from Latin crucifixio, noun of process crucifixio, from perfect passive participle crucifixus, fixed to a cross from Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, Anglicised as Tertullian, (ca 310, quoting Tertullian's De praescriptione haereticorum 30: "Since Marcion separated the New Testament from the Old, he is necessarily subsequent to that which he separated, inasmuch as it was only in his power to separate what was previously united. Having been united previous to its separation, the fact of its subsequent separation proves the subsequence also of the man who effected the separation. " Page 308, note 61 adds: "[Wolfram] Kinzig suggests that it was Marcion who usually called his Bible testamentum [Latin for testament]. "
  9. ^ Adolf von Harnack, History of Dogma, vol. Adolf von Harnack ( May 7, 1851 &ndash June 10, 1930) was a German theologian and prominent church historian 1, ch. 5, p. 269
  10. ^ Eusebius' Church History
  11. ^ Evans 1972 p. ix
  12. ^ And Polycarp himself replied to Marcion, who met him on one occasion, and said, “Dost thou know me?” “I do know thee, the first-born of Satan. ” (Irenaeus, Adv. Haer., III.3.4.)
  13. ^ Evans 1972 p. xiv

References

See also

The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc The Gospel of Marcion or the Gospel of the Lord was a text used by the mid-second century Christian teacher Marcion to the exclusion of the other gospels
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