THEOLOGY THURSDAY | Did God Really Say? Pt. 1
A bite-sized lesson in doctrine: 1 Concept, 2 Definitions, 3 Passages...
Welcome back to Theology Thursday: a series where I seek to deliver a bite-sized lesson in orthodox, Biblical doctrine in 3 simple steps:
ONE concept explained
TWO concise definitions that must be kept distinct
THREE Scripture passages to meditate on
Concept: Marcionism
Marcionism was a heresy that arose in the second century from a Gnostic leader named Marcion (died: 160AD). He taught that the Old and New Testaments were opposed to one another; the Old Testament taught of a God who was vicious and unloving, and the New Testament a God of love and grace through Jesus Christ. In modern terms, Marcion thought it necessary to “unhitch” the Old Testament from Christianity. He created his own version of the Bible, which did away with the Old Testament and scrubbed the New Testament of any Jewish elements. This Marcionite movement swept through the early church, and those who believed this teaching became an alternate “church.” Marcion was condemned as a heretic in the early church because he sought to take away from the Word of God and perpetuate the deception of that ancient serpent: “Did God really say?”
Definitions/Distinctions:
Heresy: Any teaching that is not in alignment with God’s Word; more specifically, that which denies the basic tenets of historic, orthodox Christianity.
Gnostic/Gnosticism: An ancient heresy (still around today) that taught that man’s greatest problem is mere ignorance and that all physical matter/activity is bad and inherently evil.
Passages:
“The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, ‘Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?’”
Genesis 3:1
“The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.”
Psalm 119:160
“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he (Jesus) interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
Luke 24:27
NEXT WEEK: We’ll look at an ancient heresy that sought to add to God’s Word.