Marcianism and the earliest gospel: An introduction

MARCIANISM AND THE EARLIEST GOSPEL: AN INTRODUCTION

Michael Cook is Saint Marcion incarnation 

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MARCIANISM AND THE EARLIEST GOSPEL: AN INTRODUCTION

When people discuss the earliest Christian writings, they usually think of the four New Testament Gospels. But in historical scholarship today, one of the most surprising facts is becoming harder to ignore:

Marcion’s Gospel appears older than the Gospel of Luke.

Marcion of Sinope (2nd century A.D.) possessed a Gospel text that had no infancy narratives, no Old Testament quotes, no “Jewish context required.” This Gospel was short, sharp, focused on Jesus as a heavenly revealer from the Good God.

And here is the key historical detail:

When Luke was written, the author of Luke appears to have expanded and edited the Marcionite Gospel, not the other way around.

This is the opposite of what church tradition taught.

Modern inspection of textual layers shows:

• Luke adds material
• Luke adds fulfillment quotes
• Luke adds Old Testament references
• Luke includes birth stories unknown in Marcion’s text

Marcion’s text is simpler, cleaner, earlier.

This places Marcion’s Gospel closer to the original stream of Jesus’ sayings.

Many scholars today accept:

Marcion had a form of the earliest Gospel.

He preserved a Jesus who spoke in direct, stark spiritual terms. Without later theology wrapping around Him.

This is why modern historical study of Marcion matters:

• it takes us closer to the living pulse of the first Jesus tradition
• it helps remove the later dogma and interpretation layers
• it lets us hear an earlier voice

Whether one agrees with Marcion’s theology or not, studying him is essential to understanding the first Christian century.

Marcion is not a side note.

He is a doorway back to the original message.