Heresy and Schism

Marcianism
1. Introducion
  1. Founded by Marcian from Sinope in Pontus
  2. Our knowledge of Marcianism comes from church fathers or those that opposed it
  3. Tertullain
    1. "Marcianism filled the entire world."
  4. It is thought that Marcianism continued into the 3rd Century
2. Background
  1. Was a wealthy shipowner and his father was a bishop
    1. It is thought that his father excommunicated him because of his views surrounding christianity
  2. He was a respected member of the church for years and proved his faith by providing financial contributions to the church
  3. In Rome he came under the influence of Cerdo
    1. Cerdo was a pupil of Saturianus
  4. He was excommunicated from the church a number of times
    1. The final time he was excommunicated, his money was retuned
    2. 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
      1. He agreed but died before he could do so
3. Development
  1. Soon after being excommunicated from the church he started up his own empire
  2. He had many followers by the end of the second century
  3. The Marcionites set up a rival church to the Christian Church
  4. They started to decline into the fourth century
  5. Marcian only wrote one piece of work called 'contradictions'.
    1. Preserved in Tertullian's five volumes
      1. Wrote a book called against marcianism
4. Judaism
  1. Marcian wanted to stop Christianity from becoming a clone of Judaism
  2. Marcian taught rejection of the Old Testament
    1. A distinction between a supreme God and an inferior God and Justin Martyr's first apology
5. Rejections
  1. He argued the Old Testament and New Testament cannot be reconciled with each other and outlined a variety of contradictions
  2. The Cod of Conduct advocated by Moses was 'an eye for an eye' but this changed.
6. Distinction
  1. Had a distinction between two gods. Inferior god and superior god.
  2. Distinction was made by by Cerdo
  3. The god of the old testament was not the father of Jesus Christ
  4. This showed the first two principles, the good god whom Jesus first revealed and the demiurge who created this world
  5. The god of law and the prophets were 'a worker of two evils, a lover of wars, inconsistent in judgement and self contradictory.'
7. Canon
  1. Marcian's canon was made up of Luke's gospel and 10 Pauline letters
  2. His canon accelerated in the process of fixing the church
  3. It was in oppostion to Marcion's criticism that the church first became aware of it's church
  4. According to Grant "Marcion forced more orthodox Christians to examine their own presuppositons and to state more clearly what they already believed
  5. He could only trust Luke's gospel
  6. Regarded Luke as a disciple of Paul and believed he was more faithful
  7. He removed his 10 epistles because they disagreed with his own understanding of what Paul should have written
8. Threat
  1. He rejected everything the demiurge made and resulted in strict asceticism.
  2. Marriage and sex were created by the demiurge so they were forbidden
  3. If you were married you could get blessed but had to abstain from sex
  4. If everyone converted to Marcianism the population would die out
9. Tertullian
  1. Excommunicated by his father many times
  2. Tertullian wrote against him
  3. Argued Christian faith was found in apistolically founded churches
  4. Another rule of faith was heretical
  5. 'What right have you to chop my wood?'
  6. Protested Marcian used the knife and not the pen
  7. He wrote five volumes of work entitled against Marcianism
  8. Book one
    1. Identifies Marcian's leading doctrine
    2. separation between the law and the gospel
    3. Criticised for not punishing sin
  9. Book 2
    1. A man's sin does not show badley on the creator
  10. Book 3
    1. Concerns OT prophsies concerning the coming of the Christ
    2. The unity of 2 testaments and their one god
  11. Book 4
    1. shows many passages of Luke's gospel intepreted by Marcian
    2. The Christ of the gospel is the same as Christ the creator and will not be separated
  12. Book 5
    1. Used Marcian's editied edition of Paul's letters to refute his teachings
Marcianism
1. Introduction
  1. Knowledge comes from early church fathers and sources who opposed it
    1. Kept by Eusebius
    2. Appollonius and the anonymous
    3. Epiphanus, clement of alexandria, hippolytus, firmillion , origin and jerome
  2. It is difficult to describe it accuratley due to sparsity, hostility and lateness of the sources
2. Background
  1. Lived in Phrygeria at the end of the 2nd Century
  2. Declared the HS was giving new revelations to the church
  3. Two heurebags Maximilla and Priscilla
    1. Brought in the age of the paraclete
  4. Believed they brought the most authority becaise they predicted the comming of Jesus and the Pepuza
    1. Lost credibility when it didn't happen
  5. Spread from Asia Minor to NA
3. Teaching 1
  1. Resisting persecution and avoiding remarriage
  2. 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
  3. Tertullian was attracted by it's strict discipline
    1. May have converted
    2. Developed stricter views on marriage, pbs, f&p and fasting
    3. Pieces of his writings suggest montanist christians
  4. They exsisted in NA until the middle of 5th century
4. Gaius
  1. refuted montanism
  2. Rejected John's gospel which Monatanists like
  3. Praxius hated Montanism and drove out prophesy
  4. Hipollytus claimed that pricilla and maximilla were more important than the apostles
  5. Honorius issued laws against montanist movement and backed the books
5. teaching
  1. Profetic Movement and prophers felt like agents
  2. Eschatological and apocalyptic
  3. No gender restricitions
    1. All one in christ
  4. No ordination service
  5. persecution was proof of martyrdom
  6. Believers lived an astheic way of life
6. Rejection
  1. Church had difficulty rejecting it as it was orthodox in it's beliefs
  2. Regarded it as a schizmatic movement
  3. All main characteristics can be found in early apistolic movements
  4. Early church sources recognised the gifts of the prophesy in NT
    1. Didache, shepard of hermes, Justin Martyr, Irenius and St. Paul
  5. Eusebius said they were abnormal, incomprehensible, prophecised contrary to the church
  6. Montanists were criticised for their immorality despite high moral standards
  7. Became rivial to CC
7. Persecution
  1. Christians in AM executed Montanists
  2. Persecuted became persecutors
  3. Montanist Christians had to get rebaptised
  4. Serpian said Montanism abominable
  5. Council of constantinople refused to recognise them as Christians
8. Conclusion
  1. Avoiding the Catholic laxity
  2. Renewable movement within the church
  3. Increased formalism, institutionalism, clericalism intellect and moral laxity of the church
  4. Was seen as a threat to the developing church

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