Marcionism
In one sentence
A second-century movement opposing the God of the Old Testament to the Father of Jesus and accepting a reduced Christian canon.
In simple terms
Marcion opposed the God of the Old Testament to the Father of Jesus Christ and accepted a sharply reduced set of Christian writings.
Biblical truth
Jesus and the apostles receive Israel’s Scriptures as God’s Word and present the gospel as fulfillment of God’s prior work rather than revelation of a different God.
Key Scriptures
Matt. 5:17–18 · Luke 24:25–27 · Rom. 3:21 · 2 Tim. 3:15–17
Example
The Old Testament is rejected as witness to an inferior god, while only an edited Luke and a selection of Pauline letters are accepted.
Who holds it
Marcion and his second-century communities; historical Marcionism disappeared, though the label is sometimes used analogically in modern debates.
Not to be confused with
Not to be confused with ordinary Old/New Covenant distinctions or dispensationalism: Marcionism posits a distinction between the deities themselves.
History
Marcion was active in second-century Rome; his canon and teaching were among the pressures that led the church to articulate the unity of Scripture and the apostolic canon more clearly.
Main point of debate
Modern scholarship debates the reconstruction of Marcion’s text and the exact extent of his influence on canon formation.