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Marcion: Historical Friday

As we begin our discussion about some of the various heresies that began during the early Christian period, I think a good place to start is with someone we have already touched on before; Marcion (pronounced Mar-see-on).We talked briefly about this man and the ensuing heresy when we discussed the historical process of assembling the Bible, way back at the beginning of Historical Fridays. So let's take a closer look at Marcion and see what he taught, why it was wrong, and how his beliefs have found their way into our churches today.

Marcion vs the Bible

Marcion was a man who lived from about AD 85 to AD 160. Marcion had a problem with the Old Testament. As he read the Old Testament and the the documents that would officially become the New Testament, he had some trouble. Marcion looked at the "God of the Old Testament" and couldn't understand how this being was the same one described in the New Testament.

Marcion's solution to this perceived issue was to decide that the "God" described in the Old Testament wasn't the same being as the Father of Jesus Christ. The Father (aka God of the New Testament) was the true supreme being while this Old Testament deity was a lesser, evil being.

With this solution in hand Marcion proceeded to cut out the Old Testament entirely, deeming it to be incompatible with the Christian faith. Of course when he read what would become the New Testament, he found that many of the books spoke positively of the Old Covenant. So Marcion cut those out too. In the end all he had left was the book of Luke and Paul's letters.

Marcion's ideas soon gained a following. This prompted the response of other Christian leaders and theologians of the time. Seeing what Marcion had done they rebuked him and defended the Old Testament as Scripture. This also led to the belief that the Christian faith needed to officially recognize which books were in the Bible so that people like Marcion couldn't rise again.

Marcionism Today

When we hear about Marcion and his views our first reaction is probably "That guy is weird!" It is easy for us to condemn him as wrong. The sad thing is that his ideas are not completely gone. While they may not come up in such an extreme version, the heresy of Marcion still exists in churches today.

You may think this impossible, but I want you to really think about it. One of Marcion's biggest points was his disdain for the Old Testament. How many churches today completely ignore this part of the Bible? A lot of churches never open two thirds of Scripture, except possibly to tell Bible stories to little kids. 

Marcion also thought that the Old and New Testaments portrayed two very different deities. We may say this is crazy but we repeat it more than you'd think. How many times have you heard someone say that God in the Old Testament is all about wrath but in the New he is all about love? Or perhaps that in the Old God is about the Law and in the New he is about grace? We seem to say that God either changed his mind or has two distinct modes of personality.

Conclusion


When we ignore the Old Testament these ideas easily creep into our minds. God has revealed himself through the entirety of Scripture. The New Testament assumes that the reader knows the Old Testament backwards and forwards. They were meant to be read together!

When we aren't immersed in Scripture in its totality, it is very easy for distinctions between the testaments to emerge that aren't really there. When we aren't familiar with the language and purpose of the Old Testament it is easy to focus on how different everything is from the New, including God. In truth God has not changed. It is we who need to change.

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