gnosis92

Marcion

The following are some of my thoughts on Marcion. Also, if you do have corrections of erratta would you be okay if I update Wiki's entry to reflect it? Most of what I know about Marcion prior to wikipedia (which I made the contribution and even started it as an entry) comes from my readings of Crossan, Pagels, Ehrman, and PBS documentaries such as From Jesus to Christ.


Marcionism is not identical to, but is related to, the various beliefs together called Gnosticism. In various sources, Marcion is often reckoned among the Gnostics, but as the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd ed.) puts it, "it is clear that he would have had little sympathy with their mythological speculations" (p. 1034). In 1911 Henry Wace stated: "A modern divine would turn away from the dreams of Valentinianism in silent contempt; but he could not refuse to discuss the question raised by Marcion, whether there is such opposition between different parts of what he regards as the word of God, that all cannot come from the same author." A primary difference between Marcionites and Gnostics was that the Gnostics based their theology on secret wisdom (as, for example, Valentinius found in the Letters of Paul) of which they claimed to be in possession, whereas Marcion based his theology on the contents of the Letters of Paul and the recorded sayings of Jesus — in other words, an argument from scripture, with Marcion defining what was and was not scripture. The Christology of the Marcionites was primarily Docetic, denying the human nature of Christ. Scholars of early Christianity disagree on whether to classify Marcion as a Gnostic: Adolf Von Harnack does not classify Marcion as a Gnostic, whereas G. R. S. Mead does.[9] Von Harnack argued that Marcion was not a Gnostic in the strict sense because Marcion rejected elaborate creation myths, and did not claim to have special revelation or secret knowledge. Mead claimed Marcionism makes certain points of contact with Gnosticism in its view that the creator of the material world is not the true deity, rejection of materialism and affirmation of a transcedent, purely good spiritual realm in opposition to the evil physical realm, the belief Jesus was sent by the "True" God to save humanity, the central role of Jesus in revealing the requirements of salvation, the belief Paul had a special place in the transmission of this "wisdom", and its docetism.

Recent scholarship

In Lost Christianities, Bart Ehrman contrasts the Marcionites with the Ebionites as polar ends of a spectrum with regard to the Old Testament. Ehrman classifies Gnostics as primarily affiliated with the proto-Orthodox Churches then in existences, as attested by Iraneus Against Heresies, Christians who identified themselves as "those in the know" who attended proto-orthodox religious institions are known today as "Gnostics", rather than splitting to form their own instition in competition to the proto-orthodox institions, which is what Marcion did, so Ehrman does not classify Marcion as a Gnostic as Marcion established his own church, rather than a Gnostic heresy within a proto-orthodox Church, but acknowledges many of Marcion's ideas are very close to what is known today as "Gnosticism", especially its rejection of the Jewish God, the Old Testament, and the material world, and his elevation of Paul as the primary apostle. In the PBS documentary, from Jesus to Christ, narrated by Elaine Pagels, Bart Ehrman, Karen King, and other secular New Testament scholars, Marcion's role in the formation of the New Testament canon is discussed as pivotal, and the first to explicitly state it.


Modern Marcionism

Historic Marcionism, and the church Marcion himself established, appeared to die out around the fifth century. However, Marcion's influence and criticism of the Old Testament are discussed to this very day. Marcionism is discussed in recent textbooks on early Christianity, such as Lost Christianities by Bart Ehrman. Marcion claimed to find problems in the Old Testament; problems which many modern thinkers cite today (see Criticism of the Bible and Old Testament#Christian view of the Law), especially its alleged approval of atrocities and genocide. Many atheists, agnostics, and secular humanists agree with Marcion's examples of Bible atrocities, and cite the same passages of the Old Testament to discredit Christianity and Judaism. [16] Some Christians agree with Marcion that the Old Testament's alleged approval of genocide and murder are inappropriate models to follow today. Others, such as Gleason Archer and Norman Geisler, have dedicated much of their time to the attempt to resolve these perceived difficulties, while others have argued that just punishments (divine or human), even capital punishments, are not genocide or murder because murder and genocide are unjustified by definition (see Christian Reconstructionism).

For some, the alleged problems of the Old Testament, and the appeal of Jesus are such that they identify themselves as modern day Marcionite, and follow his solution in keeping the New Testament as sacred scripture, and rejecting the Old Testament canon and practices. Carroll R. Bierbower is a pastor of a church he says is Marcionite in theology and practice.[17] The Cathar Church, the assembly of Good Christians, call themselves "a 'New Testament Church'" and do not use the Old Testament as part of their scripture. The Cathar movement, historically and in modern times, reject the Old Testament for the reasons Marcion enunciated. [18] It remains unclear whether the 11th century Cathar movement is in continuation of earlier Gnostic and Marcion streams, or represents an independent re-invention. John Lindell, a former Methodist and Unitarian Universalist pastor, advocates Christian deism, which does not include the Old Testament as part of its theology. [19] Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine are famous Christian deists. Thinkers as diverse as Voltaire, Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, Mohandas Gandhi, and Albert Einstein have expressed disapproval of Jehovah of the Old Testament, and admiration for Jesus. Simone Weil has been described as a modern day Marcionite, though obviously this would be following a reconstruction of Marcion's viewpoint, rather than a continuation of a historic legacy.

John Spong, an Anglican Bishop, writing in Sins of Scripture, have claimed that fundamentalist Christians have opposed Grace with the Law (see also Expounding of the Law#Antithesis of the Law), or believe the New Covenant has superseded the Old Covenant; that they primarily study and utilize the New Testament, and that these ideas are echoes of Marcion. Controversial passages of the Old Testament are rarely, if ever, discussed or sermonized in mainstream churches it is alleged.[20]

ynquirer

I’m no expert on either Marcion or Marcionism, but I find both the Wiki article and OP interesting enough, and to me useful. I especially praise your choice to announce you have published the article, so that everyone can read it and issue relevant criticism before someone else might eventually be mislead by possible errors. I don’t see any.

Just a question. The OP seems to contain material that might have been included in the article. Why didn’t you do so?

fredhsu

I think gnosis92 is proposing to add the new paragraphs to the wiki article. You may also want to take this chance to correct references as per citation.