Marcion Against Gnosticism

Carlo Ginzburg’s The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller explores the trials of supposed heretic Domenico Scandella. Better known as Menocchio, The Cheese and the Worms details his extensive beliefs about mistruths in religion and is written as a micro history of the events of his trial. At a time when religion and God were thought of as pure fact, Menocchio doubted their supreme existence and this lead to his death by burning. When reviewing Ginzburg’s account of the trials, the sources of his many ideas come to light and these ideas show that the Catholic Church and its members were scared the most by Menocchio’s ideas about the origins of earth.

Gnosticism is nearly as old as Christianity and some would argue very similar to Christianity in beliefs. However, there are distinct differences to Gnosticism in beliefs, doctrines, and practices from, and practices of Christianity. Gnosticism had several key leaders during its early years, few of whom we will discuss at further length later in this paper. There were also several key leaders of the early Christian church who denounced Gnosticism for heresy and claimed that it was pseudo way to Christianity. Up until the 1900’s, very little was known about the precise beliefs of Gnosticism, then this changed with the discovery of the Nag Hammadi works which may have been written by Valentinus. Gnosticism is a more distinct religion than it

1. When the Gospel of Thomas was discovered in December of 1945 at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, many people questioned if this book belonged with the other four gospels. Thomas (Hebrew) or Didymus (Greek) also nicknamed as “Doubting Thomas,” described as a man who would not believe until he saw it with his own two eyes. He ceaselessly questioned and was misanthropic about Jesus while the other eleven disciples believed from the beginning. Thomas’s book was full of Jesus’s sayings whereas the other four books contains Jesus’s sayings as well, but in a story format that starts from the beginning of when Jesus was born to the day he resurrects from the dead. Thomas wrote down Jesus’s 114 sayings when he was his disciple. Elaine Pagels’s Beyond

The most rebutted aspect of the work done by the scholars was their idiosyncrasy to equate “unverifiable” with “unauthentic.” Most scholars who study the elements attribute to the life of Jesus stand on common ground when it comes to the realization that many of the sayings and deeds associated to Jesus in the Gospels lack sufficient evidence to establish authenticity. However, to many scholars insufficient evidence means an element cannot be verified, and therefore should not be deemed as historical. In contrast, the Jesus Seminar went beyond this scope and maintained that Jesus did not say or did not do things that cannot be authenticated by evidence. For example, it is widely accepted that there is very little evidence to support whether or not Jesus was born from his virgin mother, Mary. As a result, this element of his life has just been something that one would believe on the foundation of religious faith rather than historical science. However, the Jesus Seminar applied a post-Enlightenment historical scientific view to this element in order to determine authenticity. Under this assessment, they determined not only what is confirmable but what also is scientifically possible. Therefore, the scholars deemed the virgin birth as non-historical, concluding that Jesus had been conceived through normal sexual intercourse between a male and female because it fit the paradigm known today. This stance held by the Jesus Seminar “turn[s] a corner in the traditional understanding of the relationship that faith and philosophy bear to science and history” (Powell, 115). For this reason, I reject the integrity of their work. I believe faith and philosophy should be kept separate of science and history, unless the two aim to support one another. Rescinding concepts of faith simply because they do fall within current scientific boundaries is illegitimate. The major flaw of the Jesus Seminar is their

In this paper, I will discuss how three influential scholars in this order: Augustine, Aquinas, Galileo, delimit science or the bible and the ways their beliefs overlapped or didn’t.

Marilynne Robinson is a Pulitzer-winning novelist who has graced us with her essays found in The Death of Adam. Robinson gives the read the feeling of being much more educated than he or she really is. These essays provide readers with different ways of discussing history, religion and society. They, although difficult to comprehend at times, are flawlessly argued and, throughout, are grounded in universal human experience. When reading them, it is hard not to be persuaded, especially if reading them with an open mind.

Many believe that the writings of early Church Fathers were lectured to different sects. In fact, one may assume that there are Similarities and differences between Tertullian and Justin Martyr. Particularly, let’s compare Tertullian’s and Justin Martyr perspective of faith, reason, and philosophy! Justin Martyr is Known as the defender of the faith (Tony lane), (p.10) He looked for truth in Greek philosophy. Likewise, his apology is in defense of the Christian faith and belief of Christianity. Of the writings that subsist, his First Apology (c. 155 c.e.; English translation, 1861) contains a resilient appeal for justice lectured to Antoninus. In that work, he clarifies Christian morals to influence his reader of Christian faithfulness and honesty. However, also central to this writing is his claim that Hebrew prophecy and Greek philosophy, both informed by the divine Logos (the Word), pointed to the coming of Christ. Through such dispute, he facilitated to institute the early Christian theme which faith is greater than Greek philosophy and is the result of Judaic belief. In Justin’s awareness, merely those who were controlled by fears failed to recognize these facts. His Second Apology (c.

Irenaeus was born in Smyrna, Asia Minor around 120 AD (Olson, 68). He was tutored by the famous Polycarp, who learned from the Apostle John. During his life, Irenaeus spent much of his time writing to different leaders as well as writing to Christians, as a whole, dealing with the issue of Gnosticism. Adversus Haereses and Proof of the Apostolic Preaching are two works, by Irenaeus, that we have been able to receive complete transcript of (Poncelet, 2016). Irenaeus also has many works that we only have partial transcripts of. For example, On the Subject of Knowledge, On the Ogdoad, “a treatise on schism,” and letters to the Pope Victor, are a few of the partial transcripts of Irenaeus works (Poncelet, 2016). Irenaeus death was one that has a twist of mystery. One thing, known for sure, is he was killed during a Christian massacre in Lyons, during the year 202. What remains a mystery is the manner in which he died. According to Olson, “he was counted a martyr and saint by both Greek-speaking Christians of the East and Latin-speaking Christians of the Western half of the Roman Empire” (70). Irenaeus life was one of significance, especially when it came to his writings on Gnosticism and the theory of Redemption.

Discovered in the twentieth century, The Gospel of Thomas was founded by peasants that were digging for fertilizer close to the village of Nag Hammadi, Egypt. The peasants revealed a container containing thirteen leather-bound manuscripts that were buried in the fourteenth century. The container contained fifty-two tractates that represented “heretical” writings of Gnostic Christians. Dated back to 200 A.D., there was not much known about the Gospel of Thomas besides that there were only three small fragments from Oxyrynchus. The Gospel of Thomas is a collection of literary works that contains 114 ‘opaque sayings’ of Jesus that were collected and written down by St. Didymus Jude Thomas, but nobody knows if St. Didymus Jude Thomas wrote the

Nicolaitans who are referred to in Revelation 2:15 most likely is a Gnosticism sect in the first century.

Ryrie also conveys in his journal that the Ebionites were members of an early ascetic sect of Jewish Christians who denied the deity of Christ, regarding Him rather as the natural son of Joseph and Mary who was elected Son of God (not eternal) at His baptism. Though Jesus was a great prophet and the Christ was higher than archangels, He was not divine.18 Therefore, based on this information given by Ryrie on the subject of Docetism and Ebionites, its evident that the arguments that have been placed on the doctrine of inerrancy is to discredit the character and biblical precepts and concepts from the Word of God.

The purpose of the paper is to differentiate between Christ of faith and Jesus of history. New Testament biblical scholars from the 19th Century have been preoccupied by the notion of Christ of faith versus Jesus of History. Jesus of history can be described as the quest for historical Jesus, while the Christ of Faith is the Christ of Christian belief either through the Church or historically. Some traditions even went ahead to argue that the Jesus of History could never be found and therefore the Christ of faith is the only way forward for Christians. On the other hand, those who have been promoting the Jesus of History have often assumed that the historical Jesus is much superior as compared to the Christ of Faith. Despite the key differences between Christ of faith and the historical Jesus, both these aspect have an implication for Western Christianity.

The Gnostic Gospels written by Elaine Pagel discusses the origins of the Christian faith and the true reasons behind some of the Christian’s beliefs. Pagel claims that the theological disputes between the Orthodox Church and Gnostics in the early stages of Christianity were largely motivated by the political struggle for leadership of the religion. Orthodox Christians supported texts and interpretations to strengthen their goal which was to create an organization of believers. Gnostics, who was not necessarily seeking authority over Christianity, were eventually overshadowed by the supremacy of the Orthodox. Prior to the discovery of the artifact at Nag Hammadi in Egypt 1945 there were only had texts that support the Orthodox Christians belief, now historians were able to fully evaluate the two groups in a new prospective. Some of the writings found in this newly discovered artifact are believed to be the Gospel of Thomas and Mary Magdalene. Although Mary Magdalene does not have a book in the current bible, it is believed by many gnostic Christians that Jesus came to her in spirit after his death and passed on to her the secret knowledge of enlightenment. The new gospels that were discovered in Nag Hammadi doesn’t emphases on the birth or death of Jesus as the current biblical gospels do, but focuses more on Jesus’ life. Each chapter is devoted to a major theological problem that divides the Orthodox from the Gnostic. Pagel makes a compelling case that theological beliefs

There were a handful of teachers who taught Gnosticism. They had many beliefs and teachings where they were seeking to address their ideas and problems. Some of these teachers included: Simon the Magician, Basilides, Valentinus, and Marcion.

Perhaps the greatest achievement to come from early church history is the establishment of a universal New Testament Canon. While we may not put much thought into it today, which books should be included or excluded from the New Testament was once the center of much controversy. It took the church many years to settle upon the current collection of books as being the proper Canon, making it more of a process than an event. Ironically enough, the need for a universal Canon was only realized after many disputes over the version suggest by the Christian heretic Marcion. Marcion’s collection of books were revised by Athanasius and later endorsed by the church through councils. Once the New Testament Canon was established, all other suggested books became part of a collection known as the Apocrypha and their use dismissed by the church.