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Marcion of Sinope

85CE-160CE

  • The first to publish a complete New Testament canon around 144CE.
  • It included:
    • Evangelion (Gospel of Marcion)
    • Apostolikon: Galatians, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Romans, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Laodiceans, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon.
  • Evangelion and the Apostolikon are thought to have been composed between the 130s-140s CE and according to Tertullian, published in 144 CE.
  • Marcion believed the Old Testament god was an evil and vengeful deity that he referred to as the Demiurge.
  • Marcion presented Jesus as a deity that was sent down from heaven by the Unknown God to save humanity.
  • There are claims that he was excommunicated by the early Christian church for his teachings around 144CE. There are no surviving records of this event. There isn't a clear consensus as to who was the Pope at the time: Pope Pius either started between 142-146CE to 157-161CE. His predecessor Pope Anicetus may have started between 153-157CE.
  • All or nearly all of Evangelion is found in other works and gospels. For example, the Codex Bezae contains phrasing that aligns with the reconstructions of Evangelion rather than the standardized Alexandrian text.
  • Irenaeus claimed Marcion mutilated Luke.
  • Tertullian claimed in Against Marcion that Marcion erased portions of the text.
  • It was more common to add text than to remove it:
    • Johann Jakob Griesbach (1745-1812): Griesbach established a critical canon stating that "scribes were much more prone to add than to omit. They hardly ever leave out anything on purpose, but they added much".
    • Bart Ehrman (The Scribes Who Changed Their Texts on Purpose): Ehrman highlights that intentional alterations (as opposed to accidental, which are more common) were often made to add clarifications, fill in "gaps" in the narrative, or harmonize parallel passages (like making Mark conform to Matthew).
    • Prof.David M. Carr uses the term "Revision by Extension" to describe the act of using empty space on a scroll.
    • Daniel B. Wallace wrote about scribal additions in "The Significance of the Scribal Corruptions to the New Testament Text."
  • Using Stylometry we can see that the reconstructions of Evangelion are present in the majority of Luke (chapters 4-22). While Luke (chapters 1-4, 23-24) aligns with Acts. This result would not be possible if Evangelion was written after Luke; if Evangelion was written after Luke, it would be an offshoot of Luke and Acts, instead of being the majority of Luke. This means the claims about Marcion taking Luke and truncating to fit his needs are false. Instead published works were taken and expanded upon.
  • Evangelion could be the quelle source "Q" document.
  • Marcion is from Sinope. Sinope is located on the northern coast of Bithynia. Pliny the Younger wrote about his first encounter with Christians while governor of Bithynia, this is the first, first-hand documented encounter of Christians (~111CE), he described them as superstition that could be put in check. This area is also the one that Paul was unable to enter according to Acts.
  • Additionally 1 Timothy 6:20 warns against "opposing arguments falsely called knowledge." The Greek words are antithesis and gnosis. Marcion was a gnostic and published a work called Antithesis.
  • Marcion portrayed Jesus as a celestial being that came down from heaven. As such, Evangelion and Apostolikon did not contain elements that tied Jesus to birth narrative or familial relationships. While some argue that because verses like Galatians 1:19-20 were not quoted by adversaries does not mean they weren't there. However, there's no satisfactory reason why they would be included in the original Evangelion if he was not born and did not have an earthly family.
  • The First New Testament: Marcion's Scriptural Canon (Jason BeDuhn)
    • Jesus never affirms the Christ title. In the verse where Peter makes that identification, Jesus rebukes him. Jesus also calls himself "the human being" and advises against following people who will call him Christ.
    • Evangelion places importance on listening to the teachings of Jesus, whereas Luke adds references to Jewish scriptures and listening to god.
    • Evangelion doesn't refer to Jesus as a punisher or have him using threatening language as found in Luke.
    • Evangelion never uses the term "devil" but Luke inserts it seven times. Evangelion uses the name Satan twice, while Luke uses it five times.
    • Marcionites as a group were ascetic (avoid physical/material pleasures and live without luxury) which aligns with the followers of John and the Pharisees, which is referenced and contrasted in Luke.
    • Marcionites rejected physical resurrection and believed the death of the body was "insignificant."
    • Marcionites did not believe in any kind of judgement from god or Jesus. Unlike the messages in Luke.
    • To quote BeDuhn on page 77: The “missing” material relative to Luke does not contain any concept contrary to Marcionism not found also in other passages retained in the Evangelion.
    • The absence of a birth narrative is not an indication of a redaction from Luke. This is evidenced by the fact that Mark and John also do not present birth stories.
  • Current canon compared to Evangelion and Apostolikon
    • Canonical Section
      Present in Canonical NT
      Status in Marcion's Reconstruction
      Luke 1:1-2:52
      Infancy narratives (Birth of John the Baptist, Annunciation, Virgin Birth, Boy Jesus in Temple).
      Absent entirely (Gospel opens at Luke 3:1 / 4:31).
      Luke 3:1-4:30 (portions)
      Baptism by John, physical Genealogy through Adam (Luke 3:23-38), Nazareth rejection.
      Absent (No baptism or genealogy).
      Luke 4:22
      "Is not this Joseph's son?"
      Absent.
      Luke 8:19
      Explicit narrator statement: "Now Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him..."
      Absent (Luke 8:20-21 retained as dialogue: "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.")
      Luke 9:27
      "Indeed, truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God."
      Absent.
      Romans 1:3-4
      "Born of the seed of David according to the flesh"
      Absent (Attested by Tertullian as missing).
      Romans 9-11
      Extensive discourse on Israel's covenant history.
      Substantially reduced / absent.
      Galatians 1:19
      Mention of "James, the Lord's brother"
      Absent.
      Galatians 4:4
      "...born of a woman, born under the law"
      Physical birth is absent.
      1 Corinthians 15:5-11
      Cephas, the twelve, the 500 brethren, James, and Paul's sequence.
      Absent.
  • Across both halves of Marcion's canon, every major text that explicitly connects Jesus to:
    1. A human mother/father (Mary, Joseph)
    2. Biological birth / human gestation ("womb", "born of a woman")
    3. Earthly patriarchal/Davidic genealogy ("seed of David according to the flesh")
    is either absent from the reconstruction or re-framed as an outside misunderstanding that Jesus corrects.