Marcionism heresy in the 2nd century

[Sam_777]

I was researching early Christian canons and I came across Marcionism heresy:

*“Marcion believed Jesus Christ was the savior sent by God and Paul of Tarsus was his chief apostle, but he rejected the Hebrew Bible and the God of Israel (YHWH Elohim). Marcionists believed that the wrathful Hebrew God was a separate and lower entity than the all-forgiving God of the New Testament. This belief was in some ways similar to Gnostic Christian theology; notably, both are dualistic.”

“in the Genesis account of YHVH walking through the Garden of Eden asking where Adam was, Marcion read this to mean that YHVH physically walked through the Garden without foreknowledge of Adam’s whereabouts. Marcion argued that this proved YHVH inhabited a physical body (unlike the Heavenly Father) and that YHVH was ignorant and without universal foreknowledge, attributes wholly incompatible with the Heavenly Father professed by Jesus.”*

Source1, Source2.

My thoughts on that heresy:

1. Why there are so many prophecies in the OT regarding Jesus since that “lower entity” doesn’t have a “foreknowledge” per Marcion claim in the second quote above!
2. Why would The Most High or Jesus care about that “lower entity” and propose the crucifixion as a solution!

Do you have any other arguments to refute Marcionism heresy?

 

[tonyrey]

Occam’s Razor!

 

[Sherry_G]

Please consult the Catholic Encyclopedia online for the most precise information regarding this hereticc who did repent and ask for forgiveness and readmittance to the church before his death. he was give conditional acceptance, but his own death prevented him from carrying out the conditions for readmittance - namely to bring back to the one true church all those he had led astray. Pretty sad story overall. there are lotsof writings by other early church fathers to support the historicity of the Catholic Encyclopeadea facts presented.

 

[Shike]

Do you have any other arguments to refute Marcionism heresy?

To fall into Marcionism is to reject Church teaching and the authority of the Church. I don’t know how one believes in the reliability of the Scriptures and at the same time rejects the reliability of the institution that preserved and assembled said Scriptures.

This argument works for a lot of them (including lutheranism). Just don’t present it in an overly smug way like I am doing here. Truth in love!

 

[tonyrey]

To fall into Marcionism is to reject Church teaching and the authority of the Church. I don’t know how one believes in the reliability of the Scriptures and at the same time rejects the reliability of the institution that preserved and assembled said Scriptures.

This argument works for a lot of them (including lutheranism). Just don’t present it in an overly smug way like I am doing here. Truth in love!

Perhaps “smug” is too harsh on you but a gentler approach to them would be:

“It is difficult to understand how one can believe in the reliability of the Scriptures and at the same time rejects the reliability of the institution that preserved and assembled them.”


One reason is that Protestants believe the Church subsequently became corrupt…

 

[DaveBj]

If you want to see Marcionism refuted in gory detail, read the writings of Tertullian on that subject; you can find them on line. It’s a long, long, lo-o-o-o-ong slog, but I don’t think he leaves out a single bullet that could have been used against that heresy.

 

[Sam_777]

Thanks everyone for the information, however, was Marcion view shared with any other priest throughout the history of Christianity? or he was the only single person to adapt that view?

 

[Sam_777]

From wikipedia I read the following:
“Its adherents were strong enough in their convictions that the Marcionite church retained its expansive power for more than a century. It survived Christian controversy, and imperial disapproval, for several centuries more”

It’s strange how his view survived for centuries despite the five books of Tertullian back in 208AD !!!

 

[JohnVIII]

Thanks everyone for the information, however, was Marcion view shared with any other priest throughout the history of Christianity? or he was the only single person to adapt that view?

Interesting to me that even though the Marcionite Church died out at the end of the 4th century that there is still a desire to refute the Churches teachings some 17 centuries later!

Yes, it is true that many other “priest”'s also held Marcionite-like views. Even many early Jewish Christians saw the Father of Jesus to be the supreme and good (only) God, but is not the god of creation which was both good and evil. Take a look at Cerinthus, who has been labelled a “Gnostic Ebionite” by some today because he was a Jewish Christian that held this Marcionite view of God. source. Cerinthus had a large following and was VERY early. He may have even been present at the council in Jerusalem (Acts 15). source.

Peace!

 

[DaveBj]

Read Tertullian’s work against Marcionism; you can find it for free on the web. It’s lo-o-o-ong, but he doesn’t leave a stone unturned.