Heresy and Schism

Heresy and Schism

1. Marcianism

   • Introducion
     • Founded by Marcian from Sinope in Pontus
     • Our knowledge of Marcianism comes from church fathers or those that opposed it
     • Tertullain
       • "Marcianism filled the entire world."
     • It is thought that Marcianism continued into the 3rd Century
   • Background
     • Was a wealthy shipowner and his father was a bishop
       • It is thought that his father excommunicated him because of his views surrounding christianity
     • He was a respected member of the church for years and proved his faith by providing financial contributions to the church
     • In Rome he came under the influence of Cerdo
       • Cerdo was a pupil of Saturianus
     • He was excommunicated from the church a number of times
       • The final time he was excommunicated, his money was retuned
       • He reapplied for admission a number of times and the final time he applied he was told he had to return the people he led astray
         • He agreed but died before he could do so
   • Development
     • Soon after being excommunicated from the church he started up his own empire
     • He had many followers by the end of the second century
     • The Marcionites set up a rival church to the Christian Church
     • They started to decline into the fourth century
     • Marcian only wrote one piece of work called 'contradictions'.
       • Preserved in Tertullian's five volumes
         • Wrote a book called against marcianism
   • Judaism
     • Marcian wanted to stop Christianity from becoming a clone of Judaism
     • Marcian taught rejection of the Old Testament
       • A distinction between a supreme God and an inferior God and Justin Martyr's first apology
   • Rejections
     • He argued the Old Testament and New Testament cannot be reconciled with each other and outlined a variety of contradictions
     • The Cod of Conduct advocated by Moses was 'an eye for an eye' but this changed.
   • Distinction
     • Had a distinction between two gods. Inferior god and superior god.
     • Distinction was made by by Cerdo
     • The god of the old testament was not the father of Jesus Christ
     • This showed the first two principles, the good god whom Jesus first revealed and the demiurge who created this world
     • The god of law and the prophets were 'a worker of two evils, a lover of wars, inconsistent in judgement and self contradictory.'
   • Canon
     • Marcian's canon was made up of Luke's gospel and 10 Pauline letters
     • His canon accelerated in the process of fixing the church
     • It was in oppostion to Marcion's criticism that the church first became aware of it's church
     • According to Grant "Marcion forced more orthodox Christians to examine their own presuppositons and to state more clearly what they already believed
     • He could only trust Luke's gospel
     • Regarded Luke as a disciple of Paul and believed he was more faithful
     • He removed his 10 epistles because they disagreed with his own understanding of what Paul should have written
   • Threat
     • He rejected everything the demiurge made and resulted in strict asceticism.
     • Marriage and sex were created by the demiurge so they were forbidden
     • If you were married you could get blessed but had to abstain from sex
     • If everyone converted to Marcianism the population would die out
   • Tertullian
     • Excommunicated by his father many times
     • Tertullian wrote against him
     • Argued Christian faith was found in apistolically founded churches
     • Another rule of faith was heretical
     • 'What right have you to chop my wood?'
     • Protested Marcian used the knife and not the pen
     • He wrote five volumes of work entitled against Marcianism
     • Book one
       • Identifies Marcian's leading doctrine
       • separation between the law and the gospel
       • Criticised for not punishing sin
     • Book 2
       • A man's sin does not show badley on the creator
     • Book 3
       • Concerns OT prophsies concerning the coming of the Christ
       • The unity of 2 testaments and their one god
     • Book 4
       • shows many passages of Luke's gospel intepreted by Marcian
       • The Christ of the gospel is the same as Christ the creator and will not be separated
     • Book 5
       • Used Marcian's editied edition of Paul's letters to refute his teachings

2. Marcianism

   • Introduction
     • Knowledge comes from early church fathers and sources who opposed it
       • Kept by Eusebius
       • Appollonius and the anonymous
       • Epiphanus, clement of alexandria, hippolytus, firmillion , origin and jerome
     • It is difficult to describe it accuratley due to sparsity, hostility and lateness of the sources
   • Background
     • Lived in Phrygeria at the end of the 2nd Century
     • Declared the HS was giving new revelations to the church
     • Two heurebags Maximilla and Priscilla
       • Brought in the age of the paraclete
     • Believed they brought the most authority becaise they predicted the comming of Jesus and the Pepuza
       • Lost credibility when it didn't happen
     • Spread from Asia Minor to NA
   • Teaching 1
     • Resisting persecution and avoiding remarriage
     • The spirit proclaimed no innovation in doctrine, but only God gave directions about matters of church discipline which were comming to be the perogative of the bishop
     • Tertullian was attracted by it's strict discipline
       • May have converted
       • Developed stricter views on marriage, pbs, f&p and fasting
       • Pieces of his writings suggest montanist christians
     • They exsisted in NA until the middle of 5th century
   • Gaius
     • refuted montanism
     • Rejected John's gospel which Monatanists like
     • Praxius hated Montanism and drove out prophesy
     • Hipollytus claimed that pricilla and maximilla were more important than the apostles
     • Honorius issued laws against montanist movement and backed the books
   • teaching
     • Profetic Movement and prophers felt like agents
     • Eschatological and apocalyptic
     • No gender restricitions
       • All one in christ
     • No ordination service
     • persecution was proof of martyrdom
     • Believers lived an astheic way of life
   • Rejection
     • Church had difficulty rejecting it as it was orthodox in it's beliefs
     • Regarded it as a schizmatic movement
     • All main characteristics can be found in early apistolic movements
     • Early church sources recognised the gifts of the prophesy in NT
       • Didache, shepard of hermes, Justin Martyr, Irenius and St. Paul
     • Eusebius said they were abnormal, incomprehensible, prophecised contrary to the church
     • Montanists were criticised for their immorality despite high moral standards
     • Became rivial to CC
   • Persecution
     • Christians in AM executed Montanists
     • Persecuted became persecutors
     • Montanist Christians had to get rebaptised
     • Serpian said Montanism abominable
     • Council of constantinople refused to recognise them as Christians
   • Conclusion
     • Avoiding the Catholic laxity
     • Renewable movement within the church
     • Increased formalism, institutionalism, clericalism intellect and moral laxity of the church
     • Was seen as a threat to the developing church