For some strange reason, probably divine, over the past several weeks I have been asked this question numerous times. It’s time to answer it because over the past 30 years, people have challenged my own Messianic Jewish faith walk because I no longer adhere to certain Christian doctrines and viewpoints.
The disconnect is called heresy. Heresy is defined as “a controversial or unorthodox opinion or doctrine, as in politics, philosophy, or science.” A Biblical heresy contradicts Biblical foundations and truth. A heretic is one who promotes heresy.
Marcion of Sinope was a self-appointed Christian from the second century (around 144 CE). He was excommunicated by the early believers in Rome as a heretic. The early Roman church had many reasons for calling him a heretic especially when comparing his teachings to those of Sha’ul in Romans chapters 9-11 regarding the calling of Israel and arrogance over Israel.
Though there are many heresies that Marcion espoused, there are several that I will highlight because they are still embraced by Christianity and continue to divide the Body of Messiah. These divisions have created disunity of faith and ultimately arguing factions. Thousands of Christian denominations have evolved creating even more heresies. Polycarp, who became a martyr in Smyrna, called Marcion “the first born of Satan” and his reason for that statement become obvious immediately.
Marcion rejected the Hebrew Scriptures from Genesis through Malachi. This means that he rejected the Scriptures that Yeshua, the apostles, and Sha’ul used and taught from. This means that Marcion rejected the Torah and Prophets that Yeshua said were not abolished, but fulfilled through his correct rabbinical interpretation. According to the words of Yeshua in Matthew 5:17-20, Marcion will not even be the “least in the Kingdom,” but he will have no place in the Kingdom. His rejection of the Torah and the Prophets is the epitome of denying Yeshua who used the Torah and Prophets to explain his life, his death, and his resurrection to the two men walking on the road to Emmaus.
Marcion declared Christianity a new and distinct religion that was in complete opposition to Judaism. This declaration does not stand the test of the eye-witness gospels and the letters as nowhere does Yeshua or his disciples/apostles deny Judaism for a different religion system. None of them convert to a new religion. Each remained fully Jewish and continued to observe the Levitical holy days and live a Biblically-ordained Jewish lifestyle – Biblical Judaism. Yet, today there is an opposition to all Judaism infiltrating Christianity when in reality, many false teachings of Christianity have infiltrated Biblical Judaism.
Marcion believed Sha’ul was the only real teacher of truth negating all of the Jewish disciples’ writing; however, he even misunderstood what Sha’ul actually taught believing that Sha’ul rejected Biblical Judaism. According to the Jewish apostle Peter, Marcion’s twisting of the deep truths that Sha’ul taught will result in his own destruction. “Indeed, he {Sha’ul] speaks about these things in all his letters. They contain some things that are hard to understand, things which the uninstructed and unstable distort, to their own destruction, as they do the other [Hebrew] Scriptures” (2 Peter 3:16).
Though Sha’ul taught that no gentile had to convert to Judaism through flesh circumcision, he did not teach that suddenly there were two different religious systems with two different Gods. Sha’ul never converted to a new religion; he had an encounter with the risen Yeshua on the Road to Damascus who sent him on a divine mission to teach the nations to repent, leave behind their idolatry and pagan gods, and turn to the God of Israel. Sha’ul never denied his own Jewish heritage even when he was on trial in Rome, but defended his tribal lineage and Jewish traditions as part of his faith in Yeshua; proving the fulfillment of prophecy. Sha’ul didn’t teach the conflicts that Marcion inflicted on the early believers as the essence of truth, heretical views of God’s wrath vs. His grace, works of obedience vs. faith in Yeshua, sin and breaking the commands vs. righteousness, and even flesh vs. spirit.
Marcion regarded the God of the Hebrew Scriptures as a source of evil – a demiurge. He created the earth and then left it to its evil inclinations, gave the Mosaic Law to try and control human behavior, and saw yod-hey-vav-hey as a wrathful God; while a second God, who is full of love and mercy, was revealed in the man of ‘Jesus.’
Because Marcion believed that the teachings of Yeshua are incompatible with the God of the Old Testament, he was the first to separate the new testament from the old. His new testament had 11 books: his own version of Luke and 10 letters of Sha’ul. Because of his separation from the Hebrew Jewish context of the Old Testament, he was considered an antisemite.
For these reasons and many others, Marcion was deemed a heretic. Yet, today there remains the separation of the Old and New Testaments with a specific dividing page. Many still teach and believe that the new testament of commentary letters supersede the Torah and the Prophets, and therefore suffer the same heresy as Marcion believing the Hebrew Scriptures have become irrelevant and/or done away with. Still others believe that Sha’ul converted to Christianity and taught against Biblical Judaism. Christianity still espouses a conflict between the Torah and grace, works and faith, sin and righteousness, and even flesh and spirit. Sha’ul’s teachings will continue to remain twisted and abused until they are reattached to the Torah and the Prophets that he used as his foundational Scriptures.
There are those who still believe the idea that yod-hey-vav-hey is vengeful and ‘Jesus’ is compassionate. They want nothing to do with a Creator that gave His teachings and instructions to those who would become His people or a Jewish Messiah named Yeshua who taught them to His people. The heresies of Marcion bred antisemitism and the hatred of the very Words yod-hey-vav-hey gave to His chosen people, His nation of Israel. Today, the rejection of the Hebrew Scriptures have led to lawlessness and a false religious system embraced worldwide, but especially within Christiandom.
And, there’s the disconnect. A heretic named Marcion.
All of what I’ve written is easily accessed on the internet. Marcion’s heresies are not hidden, but can be found by those seeking the truth about the foundations of Christianity; and those who want the whole truth and desire to leave heresies behind. “And if the root is holy, so are the branches” (Romans 11:16). Conversely, if the root is unholy, then so are the branches.
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