Marcion and the Making of a Heretic God and Scripture in the Second Century

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.

1. Introduction; Part I. The Polemical Making of Marcion the Heretic: 2. The beginnings of the construction of a heretic: Justin Martyr; 3. Irenaeus and the shaping of a heretic; 4. Marcion through Tertullian's eyes; 5. The heresiological tradition; 6. Theology and exegesis against Marcion; 7. Marcion in Syriac dress; Part II. Marcion through his Scriptures: 8. Marcion as editor and interpreter I: Marcion's Gospel; 9. Marcion as editor and interpreter II: Marcion's Apostolikon; 10. Marcion's other writings; Part III. The Second-Century Shaping of Marcion: 11. Marcion in his second-century context; 12. Principles of Marcion's thought and their context I: God; 13. Principles of Marcion's thought II: the Gospel; 14. Principles of Marcion's thought III: life and practice; 15. Principles of Marcion's thought IV: the contradictions of the Gospel; 16. Afterword: Marcion and the making of a heretic.

Judith M. Lieu is Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. She has written numerous books, including I, II, and III John: A Commentary (2008), Christian Identity in the Jewish and Graeco-Roman World (2004), and Neither Jew nor Greek: Constructing Early Christianity (2002).