The Incredible Belief of Marcionism!

 

*** Photo from Google 

Author’s Note

 

“On the other hand, Christos descended from the realm of Light and brought humanity the light of true knowledge in the simple principles of love. Marcion de Sinope (85 – 160 C.E.) was an important leader in early Christianity. Marcion, in his two brilliant books, explained how the God of the Jews was not the God of whom Jesus spoke. He provided many examples that show that the Jewish god is only a jealous tribal deity.”

 

Laurence Galian

 

Reflections

 

Marcionism was a controversial form of early Christianity originating from the teachings of Marcion of Sinope, who lived in Rome in the second century C.E. (115 years and 6 months from the Crucifixion according to Tertullian's reckoning in Adversus Marcionem, xv).

 

Marcion affirmed that Jesus Christ was the savior sent by God—though he insisted that the wrathful Hebrew God was a separate and lower entity than the all-forgiving God of the New Testament. Marcion declared that Christianity was opposition to, Judaism. He rejected the entire Hebrew Bible and declared that the God of the Hebrew Bible was a lesser demiurge, who had created the earth, but was the source of evil.¹

 

Demiurge is a term for a creator or divine artisan responsible for the creation of the physical universe. The word was first introduced in this sense by Plato in his Timaeus, and others, most notably in Neoplatonism and Gnosticism. Three separate meanings of the term may be distinguished. For Plato, the Demiurge was a benevolent creator of the laws, heaven, or the world. Plotinus identified the Demiurge as nous (divine reason), the first emanation of "the One". In Gnosticism, the material universe is seen as evil, and the Demiurge is the creator of this evil world, either out of ignorance or by evil design. Alternative Gnostic names for the Demiurge include Yaldabaoth, Yaoor Iao, Ialdabaoth and several other variants. The Gnostics often identified the Demiurge with the Hebrew God Yahweh. Christian opposition to this doctrine was one factor in the decision of the Church to include the Hebrew scriptures of the "Old Testament" in the Christian Bible.²

 

          According to the Marcionites, the true God was the God of love. He had sent Jesus to redeem people from the God of the Jews. Marcion based his views on evidence provided by the apostle Paul in his epistles. Marcion created his own Gospel using Luke as a starting point but removed the first two chapters containing the biblical narrative and passages that referred positively to Old Testament scripture. In Marcionite belief, Christ was not a Jewish Messiah, but a spiritual entity that was sent to reveal the truth about existence, thus allowing humanity to escape the earthly trap of the demiurge.

 

Marcionism was an important type of early Christianity prevalent throughout the Mediterranean in the second and third centuries CE. Marcion established several churches throughout the Roman empire, and his members represented a large percentage of practicing Christians around 200 CE. Marcionism was denounced by its opponents as heresy and lost out to Christian orthodoxy in the third and fourth centuries.

 

Silent Prayer

 

Creator God, thank you for complexity of Your creation!

 

Music

 

Mozart Concerto No 3 Mysin Elisei Piano Елисей Мысин Young pianist composer Enisey reincarnation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q32C1vdU6mQ

 

Barry

 

¹"Marcionism." New World Encyclopedia. 12 Sep 2008, 22:46 UTC. 12 Sep 2021, 15:34 <https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Marcionism&oldid=805736>.

 

²"Demiurge." New World Encyclopedia, . 6 Nov 2017, 22:57 UTC. 12 Sep 2021, 15:16 <https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Demiurge&oldid=1007616>.