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The Gospel according to Heretics
Discovering Orthodoxy through Early Christological Conflicts
Wilhite, David E.
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eBook - ePub
The Gospel according to Heretics
Discovering Orthodoxy through Early Christological Conflicts
Wilhite, David E.
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Since what Christian doctrine denies can be as important as what it affirms, it is important to understand teachings about Jesus that the early church rejected. Historians now acknowledge that proponents of alternative teachings were not so much malicious malcontents as they were misguided or even misunderstood. Here a recognized expert in early Christian theology teaches orthodox Christology by explaining the false starts (heresies), making the history of theology relevant for today's church. This engaging introduction to the christological heresies is suitable for beginning students. In addition, pastors and laypeople will find it useful for apologetic purposes.
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1
Marcion
Supersessionism
Marcion . . . a wolf from Pontus.
âJustin Martyr
Marcion . . . a mouse from Pontus.
âTertullian
We should not mistake the accusations of Marcionâs opponents for the substance of his opinions.
âJoseph R. Hoffman
Summary: Marcionites
Key Doctrine: Supersessionism
- Jesus = God 2.0
- The God of the Old Testament = bad, mean, judging; but the Jesus-God of the New Testament = good, nice, loving
Key Date
- 144: Marcion is condemned by Christians in Rome
In the middle of the second century, Marcion approached the highly revered bishop Polycarp, asking for approval and ârecognition.â In response, Polycarp retorted, âI ârecognizeâ you. Youâre the firstborn of Satan!â1
What did Marcion do or teach to deserve such a biting one-liner? From Polycarpâs perspective (and the perspective of the orthodox party that would emerge), Marcion blasphemed God, meaning he taught the following.
- Marcion denounced the God of the Old Testament; and so he
- rejected the Jewish Scriptures, and so he also
- claimed creation to be evil.
Such teachings, however, must not have been seen as blasphemy or heresy by all. For example, many Christiansâcalled âMarcionitesâ by their opponentsâfollowed Marcion. In fact, some in the early church bemoaned the spread of Marcionâs teachings over the whole earth.2 It is telling that an outsider would hardly be able to distinguish âcatholicâ churches from âMarcioniteâ churches.3 For that matter, long after Marcionism had been rejected by the catholic party, bishops worried that new converts would not be able to tell the difference between a Marcionite church and a âcatholicâ one.4 Our outline of Marcionâs âblasphemies,â of course, is the version told by the non-Marcionite Christians. We must, then, try to hear Marcionâs side of the story. Before we can do so, let us begin with what we know of Marcionâs life.
Just the âFacts,â Marcion, Just the âFactsâ
Marcion comes from the town of Sinope in the region of Pontus, which was located on the southern shore of the Black Sea (modern-day Turkey), but his impact on Christian history occurs when he arrives in Rome.5 Exactly when he was born and died cannot be known, but he arrived in Rome by 144.6 As for his background, we can list not so much facts as accusations, since all we know of him comes from his opponents. The âfactsâ are as follows.
a. He was wealthy. Or, this may be a way to discredit him (cf. Matt. 19:16â22; James 5:1).
b. His wealth came from being a shipowner. Or, this too could be a contrast with Jesusâs first disciples (cf. Mark 1:20).
c. He gave a very large gift to the church in Rome on his arrival there. Or, this could be portraying Marcion as one who bribes (cf. Exod. 23:8; Acts 8:20).7
d. His mentor was a renowned heretic named Cerdo. Or, Marcionâs ideas sound like Cerdoâs ideas, and this connection is the surest way to discredit him.8
e. His father was a bishop, who excommunicated him in Sinope for raping a virgin.9 Or, Marcionâs teachings violated the âvirgin Brideâ (i.e., the church)âlater Christians simply misunderstood.
f. Marcion repented of his teachings late in life, but died before making things right with the church. Or, no one knows what happened to him, and reports of Marcionâs own rejection of Marcionism would refute any who might be tempted by this heresy.
g. Marcion was a pescetarian.10 Or, . . . well, there is no âorâ this time. What motive could someone have for making this up? Perhaps, since Christians are âlittle fishâ (i.e., they have the fish symbol of ICHTHUS on their chariots),11 Marcion gobbles them up.12 No âorthodoxâ opponent, however, used this âfactâ against him.
Most scholars accept points (a)â(c) as facts, while (d) is debated, leaving (e) and (f), which are generally assumed to be slander. The last point, (g), is just mentioned here because it might one day win the reader a game of Church History Trivial Pursuit.
In Rome Marcion may have been accepted into the church, only later being declared a heretic when he presented his teachings to the leaders of the church. Why and how he presented these matters is unclear. Whether Marcion himself was even âexcommunicatedâ (or for that matter, whether anyone could function as a âpopeâ or âbishopâ of some sort in order to excommunicate him at this time) is itself debatable at best. Perhaps Marcion simply left Rome when his teachings were attacked by others. We cannot be sure. What we do find in the sources, however, is an immediate and outright rejection of his teachings as âheresy.â
The Heresy: A Portrait or Caricature?
When it comes to his teaching, we can proceed on firmer ground for the following reason. While his opponents attempt to show the absurdities in his thinking, they nevertheless portray Marcion as having his own consistent logic. Since Marcionâs teachings make sense on their own terms, we can understand both why he would have held such beliefs and why his opponents rejected them.
Because the anti-Marcionite writers used rhetorical flourish to discredit Marcion, we must take a critical stance toward their claims. For example, we will explore how Marcion allegedly cut and pasted the New Testament to fit his teachings. When Tertullianâthe most elaborate source on Marcionâfirst reports this in his work Against Marcion, he does so in highly embellished terms: after reporting how cold the climate of Pontus is, and how barbaric the people of Pontus are, he exclaims, âEven so, the most barbarous and melancholy thing about Pontus is that Marcion was born there . . . !â13 He then likens Marcion to the vermin said to infest the region, claiming Marcion is a âPontic mouseâ that âgnawsâ away at good things, namely the holy books. Clearly, Tertullian ridicules Marcion in order to discredit him. Of course, we need not fault Tertullian; this approach represents the norm for debate in the ancient world; we can probably assume that Marcion would have used similar rhetoric in response. We can ignore Tertullian as far as Marcionâs barbarity. Can we also dismiss Te...