Christian History Home > Issue 43 > How We Got Our Bible: A Gallery of Mavericks & Misfits
How We Got Our Bible: A Gallery of Mavericks & Misfits
The key players in the history of the Bible haven't necessarily been popular—or orthodox.
Stephen M. Miller is a free-lance writer, formerly editor of Illustrated Bible Life. He is a consulting editor of CHRISTIAN HISTORY. | posted 7/01/1994 12:00AM
Marcion
(c. 85–c. 160)
Catalyst for a New Testament
The reason Christians have 27 books in their New Testament, some scholars say, is partly because early church leaders didn’t like the 12 that Marcion had compiled. They didn’t care much for Marcion, either.
Famous bishop Polycarp called Marcion “the firstborn of Satan.” Justin Martyr said this wealthy shipbuilder “taught men to deny that God is the maker of all things.” Tertullian said he was “more savage than the beasts of that barbarous region” where he grew up, in what is now northern Turkey.
The lowest blow, which many scholars discount, came from Hippolytus. He said Marcion was excommunicated by his father for seducing a virgin. Then again, the sect Marcion later established would baptize only believers who vowed to remain celibate.
Marcion insisted on this because he said there were two Gods: the harsh. Creator God of the Old Testament and the loving God revealed in Jesus. Procreation, Marcion explained, was the idea of the Creator God, ... To view this item, you must be a member of ChristianHistory.net.
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