Friday, April 27, 2012

Marcion of Sinope


Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.  Jude 1:3, ESV

Marcion of Sinope

Marcion of Sinope is a key figure in the early church.  Today, we have a good idea of what Marcion taught because of the writings of Tertullian.  Marcion’s canon consisted of 11 books.  He had problems with scripture, and decided to discard the parts that troubled him.  Marcion rejected the Old Testament, claiming that this God was a different God from that in the New Testament.  Marcion also believed that Paul was the only true apostle.  Yet, even to Marcion, Paul was too Jewish, so he edited Paul’s epistles.  Marcion’s legacy is to be declared as an heretic. 

E.H. Broadbent in The Pilgrim Churchsays, "Any error may be founded on parts of Scripture; the truth alone is based on the whole. Marcion’s errors were the inevitable result of his accepting only what pleased him and rejecting the rest".  Today, we can still hear the voice of Marcion crying out in disbelief, “God did not truly say that!”  It is the same doubt that we see in the Garden of Eden when the serpent whispered to Eve, “Did God actually say that?”(Genesis 3:1) 

Santa Cruz is a university town, so we have many speakers wanting to present us with their ideas.  We should never assume that because Jesus’ name is in the title of an event, that the speaker is presenting to you a biblical Jesus.  There are many groups today that hold similar views as Marcion.  I believe, teach and confess that Holy Scripture is God’s Word, unbroken and delivered to you for your life and your salvation.