Marcion and the Making of a Heretic

This study explores Marcion's ideas through his writings and the writings of early Christian polemicists who shaped the idea of heresy.

The first comprehensive monograph on the 'heretic' Marcion in nearly a century, this volume examines the major polemical accounts, including those from Justin, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Ephraem, to demonstrate how the idea of heresy developed. It discusses Marcion's thought expressed through his Gospel, Apostolikon, and Antitheses in relation to second-century intellectual debate.A comprehensive and authoritative account of the 'heretic' Marcion, this volume traces the development of the concept and language of heresy in the setting of an exploration of second-century Christian intellectual debate. Judith M. Lieu analyses accounts of Marcion by the major early Christian polemicists who shaped the idea of heresy, including Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Epiphanius of Salamis, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Ephraem Syrus. She examines Marcion's Gospel, Apostolikon, and Antitheses in detail and compares his principles with those of contemporary Christian and non-Christian thinkers, covering a wide range of controversial issues: the nature of God, the relation of the divine to creation, the person of Jesus, the interpretation of Scripture, the nature of salvation, and the appropriate lifestyle of adherents. In this innovative study, Marcion emerges as a distinctive, creative figure who addressed widespread concerns within second-century Christian diversity.