Guest guest Posted September 20, 2008 Report Share Posted September 20, 2008 What Was the Marcionite Heresy? by Michael J. Vlach, Ph.D. Marcion (c. 140) was a second century heretic who made a distinction between the creator God of the Old Testament and the redeemer God of Jesus Christ. For Marcion, the creator God of the Jews inspired the Old Testament Scriptures, but he was an inferior God of judgment and justice. The good redeemer God, however, sent Jesus Christ. According to Marcion, the creator God deceived the apostles into becoming Judaizers by having them connect the Gospel with corrupt Jewish elements and Old Testament teachings. Because Marcion rejected all Jewish elements and Old Testament teachings, he posited a biblical canon that did not evidence any of these items. Thus, Marcion formulated a canon that only had ten of Paul's epistles and parts of the Gospel of Luke. Marcion's heretical canon eventually spurred Christians to formulate a true list or canon of the inspired books of the Old and New Testaments. Like the Gnostics, Marcion believed that matter was evil and that asceticism was the best way. The Marcionite church that he established rivaled the Catholic Church and existed for several centuries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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