Gospel of Marcion: Attempt to Cleanse the Gospels

The Gospel of Marcion, otherwise known as the Gospel of the Lord, was written in the attempt
for Christianity to have one, encompassing gospel opposed to the existing four. Marcion was born in and
wrote his gospel during the second century. Within his texts, Marcion attempted to use his beliefs of
Christianity and illustrate them through his texts. With his gospel based primarily off the Gospel of Luke,
Marcions gospel was very controversial from its publication. Through writing his gospel, Marcion strives
to rid Christianity of the Old Testament while also creating one widely accepted version of the gospel.
Marcion was a teacher in the second century. Once he finished writing the Gospel of Marcion,
he first began teaching it in his very own classrooms (BiblicalTraining). Once his teachings began to
spread, the leaders of the Christian church began to notice him. They proclaimed Marcions writings
heresy almost immediately. This was believed to be a direct correlation to the movement of the leaders
of the Christian Church determining the biblical canon (Attridge).
The Gospel of Marcion is considered to be one of the many gnostic gospels. Meaning that that
Christian church did not place it in the biblical canon, otherwise known as the list of accepted, believed,
and followed books of the Bible. Within the texts, Marcion very blatantly uses large portions of the
Gospel of Luke along with the Book of Acts to makeup his own gospels texts. Marcion believed Luke and
Acts to be the most pure books at the time to use as a basis for the Gospel of the Lord. Marcion was not
the only man at the time writing his own theologies and passing them as true pieces of the Bible. Other,
now classified as gnostic, gospels were being written during the same time period as the Gospel of
Marcion. Others that were writing at the same time as Marcion were Thomas and Valentine. Marcion
was considered one of the biggest threats by the Christian church due to his economic status, rich
fisherman, and the fact he had a very likeable and outgoing personality (Valentinus).

The Gospel of the Lord was very popular among those that were in attendance during one of
Marcions teaching sessions. He was a very infectious individual. That forced the church to act quickly
once his teachings began to spread. Marcions works were finished around the year 130. He taught his
theology of the gospels for a stretch of fourteen years before being interrupted. After Marcion moved to
Rome in 140, the church ruled his works as heresy and banned him from the church in 144 (The Gospel
of Marcion).
Within Marcions texts, differences between the churchs theologies and Marcions personal
theologies become very clear after being read. Marcion had one strong and very distinctly different
belief about how Christianity should be believed by followers of the church at the time. This very
influential factor in his teachings and writings, was the fact that Marcion was very anti-Semitic
(BiblicalTraining). His anti-Semitism was a major influential point in his writings and teachings. It led to
his belief that the Old Testament should no longer be followed by Christians. He believed, and it is
shown throughout the Gospel of Marcion, that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New
Testament were two different beings. He believed that the God of the Old Testament was creator of the
universe and, the distinct fact differing him from the New Testament God, the God of the Jews. Marcion
believed that the New Testament God was the Father of Jesus. The Gospel of Marcion also goes on to
state beliefs that the New Testament God, the God of the Christians, was much more forgiving and a
more loving God than the one of the Old Testament (Attridge).
The Gospel of Marcion was strong movement from a wealthy and influential man, Marcion, in
attempts to, in accordance with his theologies, reinvent the Christian church and separate it from
Judaism. He believed the church had been misled by Jewish principles and the Gospel of Marcion was an
attempt to purify the Christian Church.

Sources
Attridge, Harold W. "Emergence of the Four Gospel Canon." The Story Of The Storytellers. PBS, Apr.
1998. Web. 9 Dec. 2014.
"Gospel of Marcion." Gospel of Marcion. BiblicalTraining, n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2014.
"The Gospel of Marcion." The Gospel of Marcion. The Gnostic Society Library, n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2014.
Valentinus. Ante-Nicene Christianity ed. Vol. II. N.p.: n.p., 325. Print. History of the Christian Church.