10 Facts About Marcionism

Marcionism was an early Christian dualistic belief system that originated with the teachings of Marcion of Sinope in Rome around the year 144.

Marcionism considered himself a follower of Paul the Apostle, whom he believed to have been the only true apostle of Jesus Christ.

Marcionism was denounced by its opponents as heresy and written against by the early Church Fathers – notably by Tertullian in his five-book treatise Adversus Marcionem, in about 208.

Marcionism arrived in Rome c 140, soon after Bar Kokhba's revolt.

Premise of Marcionism is that many of the teachings of Christ are incompatible with the actions of the God of the Old Testament.

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Marcionism further regarded the arguments of Paul regarding law and gospel, wrath and grace, works and faith, flesh and spirit, sin and righteousness, death and life, as the essence of religious truth.

Marcionism ascribed these aspects and characteristics as two principles, the righteous and wrathful God of the Old Testament, who is at the same time identical with the creator of the world, and a second God of the Gospel who is only love and mercy.

Mead claimed Marcionism makes certain points of contact with Gnosticism in its view that the creator of the material world is not the true deity, rejection of materialism and affirmation of a transcendent, purely good spiritual realm in opposition to the evil physical realm, the belief Jesus was sent by the "True" God to save humanity, the central role of Jesus in revealing the requirements of salvation, the belief Paul had a special place in the transmission of this "wisdom", and its docetism.

Marcionism's undertaking thus resolved itself into a reformation of Christendom.

Arabic name for Marcionism, markiyuniyya, is attested to by several historical sources of the Islamic Golden Age which appear to reveal that a meager Marcionite community continued to exist in the Near East into the tenth century.