BOOK SUMMARY: KNOW THE HERETICS - CHAPTER 3 - MARCION

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Marcion (85 AD - 160 AD) was the son of a Christian bishop in Rome. He was a wealthy ship owner and donated some wealth to the church. By 144 AD he had been excommunicated. Prior to this Marcio was involved with a Gnostic teacher named Cerdo. Gnostics taught a spirit/flesh dualism. They viewed the spiritual realm as good and the physical world as bad. It was this aspect of Gnosticism that fascinated Marcion. He imposed this heresy on Scripture and began to teach that the God of the Old Testament was wrathful and vengeful while Jesus Christ in the New Testament was sent by the real supreme God to show us love and peace. Church historian, Henry Chadwick, calls Marcion the most radical and formidable heretic of the church.  He continued to be condemned by later Christians nearly 100 years after his death. A meeting took place between Polycarp (a disciple of the Apostle John) and Marcion. Marcion asked Polycarp if he remembered him. Polycarp answered, "I do know you, the firstborn of Satan." After he was excommunicated, Marcion traveled around to start churches that agreed with him. His influence spread to the Mediterranean and lasted for several centuries until Christian emperor Justinian I made Marcionism illegal. 

HERETICAL TEACHING

Marcio wrote a book called Antithesis. He believed the Old Testament showed a God who doesn't know everything as opposed to Jesus in the New Testament who knew everything. Today, many people wrestle with Scripture and come to a similar conclusion: that there is one God in the OT (Yahweh) and another in the NT (Jesus). Marcion's taught that Jesus Christ was sent by an unknown Father to save us from Yahweh's evil wrath. In his book, Marcio clearly pits the OT against the NT.

• Genesis 3:9 versus Luke 5:22
• 2 Kings 1:9-10 versus Luke 9:54-55
• Isaiah 45:7 versus 1 John 4:16
• Exodus 20:5 versus 1 Corinthians 13:4

Marcion's negative view of Yahweh led him to become anti-Jewish. He believed the church was misguided in their belief that they were True Israel. Thus, he wanted to rid Christianity of all traces of Judaism. Tertullian, a Christian apologist in the 2nd and 3rd century, said that Marcion's main work is the separation of the law and the gospel--in other words, Marcion wanted the completely separate OT and NT. This led Marcion to pick and choose what books of the Bible he wanted to keep as canon (Holy Scripture). Marcion onl allowed for literalistic readings of Scripture. He cut out the entire OT, believing that the OT was only law and that Christ ushered in a new gracious era. Marcion even took out all references to Jesus' Jewishness from the NT books. His Bible was composed of 10 of Paul's letters and a mutilated version of Luke's gospel. He loved Paul and believed Paul was an enemy of the OT Law. The unknown Father of the NT was kind, forgiving, and gracious, unlike the God of the OT.

Marcion's teaching led to a destruction of the humanity of Christ. His dualistic view led him to believe that the material realm was bad. Thus, Marcion was skeptical that a divine redeemer could be born of a woman. If Christ's humanity is denied, then this means that salvation is only for the soul. 

ORTHODOX RESPONSE

Marcion's heresy led the early church to write a lot against him and his teachings. Tertullian wrote Against Marcion (composed of 5 books) and fought against this heresy from 207 AD - 208 AD. Tertullian knew that if Christ's humanity is denied then there's no reason to have faith in Christ. A phantom or a ghost could not truly suffer in the flesh and pay the penalty for our sin. Even the apostle John dealt with the early seeds of Gnosticism and Docetism. See 1 John 4:2-3. 

Tertullian questioned Marcion's authority because he was not connected to the early church and apostolic tradition. Tertullian rightly rejected dualism and argued for the goodness of the material creation (Genesis 1). Tertullian mocked Marcion who ridiculed God's insects but was himself incapable of duplicating their skills. Tertullian pointed out the hypocrisy of Marcion's followers who relied heavily on astrology. 

Opposed to Marcion, Tertullian argued that God is both good and just (Micah 6:8). He taught that justice is seen as an agent of goodness rather than as the enemy of goodness. Tertullian showed how this was relevant for the gospel. If there was no punishment from God for our evil, then how could God deliver us from sin and death? In other words, if God is truly loving and gracious in salvation, then that requires that there be a justice and wrath to be rescued from.

Tertullian also set out to prove that Christ was Creator, rather than opposing the Creator of the OT. Christ promoted Yahweh's laws, gave reality to Yahweh's promises, expressed His attributes, precisely because Christ is Yahweh (John 5:39).

A Greek pastor and theologian before Tertullian, Irenaeus, also spoke against Marcion.  He said that Marcio mutilated the Gospel of Luke and only left a fragment of Luke--having removed all references to Jesus saying that the God of the OT was his Father. He said that Marcio had thus elevated himself above apostolic teaching. Marcion's mutilated New Testament (the first NT "compilation) forced the church to recognize the true canon of Scripture. Marcion's canon was theological--compiled to reflect his teachings. The church's canon was historical--received from the apostles along with the OT that Jesus used. So Marcion's "bible" forced the church to defend the Bible they already had. The church didn't invent the Bible as some people teach. 

• 1st-2nd Century - All NT books were used but no fixed list existed
• 2nd-3rd Century - Core books were widely but other NT books (Hebrews, James, Revelation) were disputed in other regions
• 367 - Athanasius' Festal Letter contained a liste of the 27 NT books we have today
• 382 - The Council of Rome gave an official decision on the 27 NT books
• 393 - The Council of Hippo formally declared the 27 NT books
• 397 & 419 - The Councils of Carthage reaffirmed the same 27 NT books

CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE

In The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins says that the God of the OT is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction. This is a Marcionistic view of God. But by keeping the OT as Scripture: 

1. The church is forced to reconcile both the wrath and love of God. Marcion tried to eliminate the God of wrath. But love that never faces the demands of justice is not Christian love. Gospel love addresses both the good wrath of God and the good love of God (Romans 3:25-26). 
2. The church underscored the history of the Christian faith. God has always been involved in world history. He didn't suddenly appear on the scene when Christ came.

If Christ was not truly human, then he did not truly suffer for every aspect of us. If he was not truly human, then he could not identify with us sinners and could not save us by his bodily death and bodily resurrection. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.    Why is it an oversimplification to say that the OT is about justice and wrath while the NT is about grace with no justice?

2.    Where do we see grace and mercy in the OT?

3.    Where do we see justice and wrath in the NT?

4.    What is lost if the church disregards the OT?

5.    How is the gospel destroyed if dualism is true and God did not assume human flesh?

6.    Consider Romans 11:11-24. Like Marcion, did Paul want to ride the church and Bible of everything related to Israel? How should we think about people who are ethnically Jewish?

BOOK SUMMARY: KNOW THE HERETICS - CHAPTER 2 - THE GNOSTICS

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND – The origin of Gnosticism is hard to pin down and several theories exists of where they came from. Gnostics believe that there is secret knowledge to be had that is hidden to most people. They used Christian terminology with different meanings. They hold to a dualism where the physical realm is evil and the spiritual realm is good.  The letter of 1 John seems to dealing with some early forms of Gnosticism (1 John 1:1-4). In the mid 100’s, Irenaeus wrote Against Heresies and refutes several sects of gnostics. His writings gave us most of what know about gnostics until 40 new documents from the late 300’s were found near Nag Hammadi in Egypt. These documents confirm what Irenaeus wrote about. 

 

HERETICAL TEACHING – Here are several categories that describe Gnosticism:

• DEFINITION

1. Gnosis: Secret knowledge, rather than faith in Christ, is the way to salvation. To Gnostics, self-knowledge is knowledge of God and they strove to know the true nature of self and of God.
2. Theology: God is one, transcendent and supreme. But He is utterly silent. Jesus revealed this god. But here are other intermediate gods called Aeons and Archons.
3. Cosmology: The universe, created by an ignorant power, is a prison in which human souls are held captive.
4. Anthropology: By means of gnosis (knowledge), humans can be released from this cosmic prison and return to the transcendent divine world.
5. Experimental: Gnosticism involved alienation and revolt against the physical world.
6. Myth: Gnosticism contained an elaborate mythical system. Each Gnostic teacher created their own new elements and myths.
7. Parasitical: It borrowed from other religions and its members attached themselves to other congregations, even Christian churches.

• BELIEFS

1. Gnostics has a structure of beings in their mythology. Supreme transcendent being  à  Divine Mother à Aeons or lesser gods à Archons.  Yahweh is considered to be an evil Archon. Gnostic writing On the Origin of the World names Yaldaboath as the god of Israel and is said to be petty and crude. He fears the enlightenment of mankind because they are prophesied to overtake him. Thus, Yaldaboath keeps humans fearful and ignorant. Satan is presented as the hero in this account by pointing them to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Jesus them comes to dispel the errors of Judaism. Since matter is evil, Jesus did not assume a fleshly body but only appeared to take on flesh in order to show how weak the material realm was.
2. Some gnostic writings give accounts of Jesus’ supposed words where he says that someone else wore the crown of thorns.
3. Others versions of Gnosticism show Jesus as the one who awakens us to our identity as gods. In order to gain access this knowledge in the Father’s book, you had to die. In an act of love, Jesus die to release the power that was in this book. Look at the following poem that shows knowledge as the way to salvation versus Jesus being our Mediator and substitute sacrifice. Notice how Christian language is borrowed to promote heretical teaching.

                Jesus appeared

                Put on that book

                Was nailed to a tree

                And published the Father’s edict on the cross

                Oh, what a great teaching!

• ETHICS

1. Some writing encouraged good works and care for one another. Their dualism led to worldly indulgence. If the spirit realm was good and the material realm was bad then it didn’t matter what you did in the flesh since the spiritual realm was still good. Thus, they abused food and sex while abstaining from having children. It was all about indulgence in pleasure.
2. The Encratites swung the other direction on the pendulum and practiced asceticism. Determined to kill evil matter, they starved their bodies and beat them into subjection. They wanted to be free from their bodies so their divine spirits could be free. Thus, abstinence was promoted as a way to heaven. You find possible evidence of gnostic influence in the early church because Paul wrote against some of these things. Paul’s letters address people questioning the resurrection of the dead because the body was meaningless (1 Corinthians 15), the worship of angels, and ascetic practices (Colossians 2:18-19).

 

ORTHODOX RESPONSE – The Gnostics use of Christian language made it easy for them to incorporate themselves in Christian congregations. Being a gnostic meant you were lumped in with the elite and intelligent people of that time. Paul battled Gnosticism with Christology and pointing them to Christ’s saving work. Christians after Paul defended against Gnosticism in two ways:

1. A defensive and offensive plan were established. Defensively, they identified and excluded gnostic books while identifying the true canon of Scripture.  Offensively, Irenaeus called the Gnostics to repent of pride which was at the heart of their special knowledge and elitism. Irenaeus showed how the Old Testament spoke of Christ to come to save people. Irenaeus showed how Christ superseded the Old Testament without being opposed to it—i.e., Christ was the true temple, Greater High Priest, etc. Irenaeus also showed that Christ was resurrected in the flesh. God’s aim, through Christ’s resurrection, was not to discard our bodies but to transform them.
2. Some Christians tried to reclaim the word “Gnostic” for Christianity. Clement of Alexandria (3^rd century) wrote about Christian Gnostics. This tactic failed and fell into disuse by the late 4^th century.

 

CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE – The Da Vinci Code, a novel by Dan Brown, appeals to information in the gnostic writings as fact. In the book, some of the characters argue that the early church suppressed all Gnostics writings that promoted Jesus as a divine being. But the reality of history is that the early Gnostics denied Jesus’ humanity, not His divinity. Against Gnostic heresy, the early church contended that Jesus did indeed take on flesh. Gnosticism has also contributed to New Age Spirituality promoted in books like The Secret. “The Power” which is promoted in the secret is a silent entity that lives within you that allows you to become the best version of yourself.  In “The Secret” Jesus is painted as a teacher who understand the Law of Attraction and shows us how to manifest reality through thought. This is not the historical and biblical Jesus who calls people to repent of sin and to come to Him for salvation. Paul tells us people have been deceived so that they cannot truly know Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4-6). This is where true knowledge or gnosis lies: in Christ’s glory displayed in the gospel.

 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.    What do we make of the idea of a silent god? How does this compare to the God of the Bible (Matthew 4:4)?

2.    How does the resurrection inform our views of our bodies (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)?

3.    How does “listening prayer” embody an aspect of Gnosticism?

4.    Should we expect God to give us secret knowledge apart from Scripture (Deuteronomy 29:29)?

5.    How does Christian knowledge relate to Christian practice? Is it possible to have true knowledge of God without having that knowledge shape our behavior (Titus 2)?