Marcion’s Return

Tim O’Connor – Center for the Preservation of Humanity – 1/26/2024

Marcion’s Return

Let’s review a few definitions. The first word we need to look at is a Greek word, katalyo (Strongs G2647):

καταλύω (katalyo)

I. to dissolve, disunite

A. (what has been joined together), to destroy, demolish

B. metaph. to overthrow i.e. render vain, deprive of success, bring to naught

i. to subvert, overthrow

a. of institutions, forms of government, laws, etc., to deprive of force, annul,

abrogate, discard

C. of travellers, to halt on a journey, to put up, lodge (the figurative expression originating in the circumstance that, to put up for the night, the straps and packs of the beasts of burden are unbound and taken off; or, more correctly from the fact that the traveller's garments, tied up when he is on the journey, are unloosed at it end)

The next word we need to define is another Greek word, pleroo (Strongs G4137):

πληρόω (pleroo)

I. to make full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full

A. to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally

i. I abound, I am liberally supplied

II. to render full, i.e. to complete

A. to fill to the top: so that nothing shall be wanting to full measure, fill to the brim

B. to consummate: a number

i. to make complete in every particular, to render perfect

ii. to carry through to the end, to accomplish, carry out, (some undertaking)

C. to carry into effect, bring to realisation, realise

i. of matters of duty: to perform, execute

ii. of sayings, promises, prophecies, to bring to pass, ratify, accomplish

iii. to fulfil, i.e. to cause God's will (as made known in the law) to be obeyed as it should be, and God's promises (given through the prophets) to receive fulfilment

These two words do not mean the same thing. They cannot be used to replace one another. Trying to do so would result in giving the opposite meaning the writer intended. This is vitally important. The Christian faith was built by either completely ignoring these words or by deciding to make them mean the same thing. They both appear in a Bible verse I only encountered after I read the Bible on my own.

When I have asked about the verse I have gotten either a denial of it’s existence or an exchanging of the meanings. The language of the verse could hardly be more clear and straight-forward. In the King James Version of the Bible the verse is in bright red letters meaning it is attributed to Yeshua Himself. In Greek it reads:

Μὴ νομίσητε ὅτι ἦλθον καταλῦσαι τὸν νόμον ἢ τοὺς προφήτας· οὐκ ἦλθον καταλῦσαι ἀλλὰ ληρῶσαι.

In the English version of the KJV it reads:

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Yeshua did not come to do away with or to dissolve or disunite the law per Matthew 5:17. He came to fulfill the law, which He certainly did. He completed the law and then shed His blood for our sins as a perfect sacrifice.

Yeshua’s perfection of the law is important. Sacrifices are commanded to be pure and unblemished (Leviticus 22:20) and G-d’s priests are to avoid being profaned or unclean when they entered the Holy of Holies (Leviticus 21). Those who attempted to enter the Holy of Holies who ignored these warnings died (Numbers 3:1-4). After Israel began to offer G-d blemished animals and defective produce G-d chastised the Israelites for doing so and rejected their offerings (Malachi 1). Yeshua, our salvation from sin, flipped over the tables of the vendors at the Temple selling sacrifices because these vendors were profaning the Sabbath at the very location where holiness was required (Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-48, John 2:13-16, and Jeremiah 7).

Yeshua was only able to sacrifice himself for our sins because he was perfect. The metric which measures His perfection is the same metric which all of us fall short of. It is the commonly referred to as the law. While the law found in the Torah is more accurately understood as the ‘teachings of G-d Himself,’ the teachings G-d gave to Moshe and the Children of Israel on Mount Sinai have been largely discarded by Christians. Modern Judaism is about obedience to the law but lacks salvation. Christians have dedicated themselves to having salvation without the ‘burden’ of obedience to the teachings of G-d. Islam has devoted itself to living a life without either law or salvation.

Now, Islam has rejected the Torah outright so we need not bother speaking further about the lies they tell about all sorts of things like Yeshua having lived as a Moslem, what a tithe is, and that passages don’t exist regarding non-Moslems being commanded to be slaughtered, taxed, and/or enslaved. Far from a religion of peace, it is a religion that leaves the believer culturally and spiritually degenerate, unsaved, and everyone else in pieces.

Christianity; however, claims belief in Yeshua, His Father, and the Ruach HaKodesh as their own. All of these are deeply Jewish – Yeshua lived His life on earth as a Jewish man. His Father, HaShem, is the G-d of Avraham, Yitz’chak, and Ya’akov (Abraham, Issac, and Jacob) the fathers of the nation of Israel. The Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) is mentioned over and over again in the Old Testament as evidenced in the existence of the prophetic books of the Bible as well as by others such as in Psalm 51:12-15 and Judges 6:25-35.

Yet Christians routinely reject the essence of what makes Jews Jewish – following the Torah. When the several verses following Matthew 5:17 are read, Christianity only faces more issues with this. The Christian versions of Heaven and Hell are seriously challenged. Christian thoughts on what it means to have salvation is put into question. Additionally, the concepts faith without works and training to speak in tongues are shattered in these verses (Matthew 5:17-20):

17 “Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah — not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P’rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

We touched on verse 17 already. It says that Yeshua did not replace the Torah. In verse 18 we learn that the Torah will neither change nor expire until everything that must happen happens. The end of everything that happens is something we think of in the West according to linear time with repeating cycles rippling through it while the matter of the physical realm moves through it. G-d, living outside of time and outside of the physical realm held together the physics He created, wants every one of us to experience his full radiance making the sun and the moon and the stars unneeded.

The everything that will happen is the heaven and earth passing away (Luke 21:33). The word used for heaven in the Greek (οὐρανός; ouranos; Strongs G3772) can mean the heaven outside of space and time; however it is also used to refer to the heavens we can see – the one with vast expanses of darkness punctured by the light of stars and the glow of planets in their solar systems and galaxies light-years away from our own galaxy and solar system and home. Yet, the Torah, the words of Yeshua, will not pass away.

In verse 19 Yeshua destroyed the Christian ideas of Heaven and Hell before the Catholic church ever dreamed it up. He is suggesting that all of us go to heaven but not necessarily the same neighborhoods in heaven. The least of us will be those of us disobeying and incorrectly teaching others. The greatest of us will be the keepers of the teachings of G-d and the teachers of that righteousness. He doesn’t say those who disobey the least of the rules will burn forever in Hell (sorry Calvin).

Imagine if all of humanity lived in one building with five floors. The fifth floor is reserved and inaccessible. The fourth is a conference room. The middle floor of this building has a heated pool with attendants who make sure cups don’t get empty and towels are readily available. On the second floor are those who wait on those on the third floor pouring drinks and bringing fresh towels. On the first floor are people who are getting educated and, in their free time, making sure the water runs, the wine is pressed, and the towels are clean.

I don’t think there will be towels and heated pools in heaven. I do think there will be cups but I doubt they ever get empty. Yeshua promises we will never be thirsty in heaven. But, where would you rather be – sitting around a heated pool or doing laundry for eternity? Either one is far better than any version of Hell, Christian or otherwise. What Yeshua is stating is that our obedience to G-d and teaching that obedience to others correctly is an imperative. Messing up the assignment given to us by G-d means an eternity of folding towels.

The message of verse 20 is about salvation. After reminding everyone that the Torah will not fade from importance, Yeshua then tells us that the law alone will no longer provide salvation. He knew that the Temple would fall and make offering animal sacrifices impossible (Matthew 24:1-2). Belief in Yeshua’s sacrifice – His persecution, His death, and His resurrection – and His return to this earth to put the entire thing right once more, now serves as the sacrifice needed for our salvation.

These verses mean follow the law but replace the animal sacrifices with the sacrifice of Yeshua. He preached obey the Father’s teachings so that things may go well us and we are able to avoid sin. Obedience to these teachings is what loving G-d is all about (Matthew 22:37-38). In the verse following it, Yeshua commands us to love each other as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39). The section wraps up with a recap of Matthew 5:17-20 in Matthew 22:40:

All of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two mitzvot.”

He even summed the entire Torah up for us. When we read this we should look under the hood to see what Yeshua was talking about here. He was talking about the same thing I’ve been writing about thus far – the Torah is still essential and our salvation is through Yeshua.

Long ago, when the Roman Catholic Church was being formed there was a man named Marcion. I have my issues with what the formation of the Roman Catholic Church entailed because of the separation it placed between the Torah and this new faith, but Marcion was on a level even the fathers of the Roman Catholic Church detested. Marcion wanted a complete decoupling of a very Jewish Yeshua from the religion being founded. A Marcion Bible included no part of the Old Testament, only a Book related to Luke and some of the Letters of Paul. He did this out of an absolute hatred for the ways of G-d with the desire to destroy those who followed the ways of G-d.

Marcion taught that the G-d of the Jews is not the Father of Yeshua. Because HaShem was “a God full of wrath and justice” an idea so unbearable for Marcion that he threw the entire Old Testament out making the portions of what would become the New Testament he carried around with him meaningless. Marcion created a new G-d distinct from the Jewish G-d who he acclaimed sent Yeshua to earth. A 2021 paper authored by Samuel Loncar explains:

“The God of the Old Testament, as the God of wrath, “justice,” and law, was the enemy of Jesus Christ, who comes to save humanity from the world and from the Jewish God who had made it. While there is debate as to Marcion’s consistency in characterizing the Old Testament God as both just and evil, it is clear that ultimately the God of this world comes in for final judgment, as does his people. For although Marcion’s thought tends towards a universalism, he interprets the descent into hell as saving all those prior to his coming except the Jewish leaders. Thus, in spite of the alien God being the God of love, “the Jews, as the chosen people of the creator of the world, are the enemies of Christ par excellence, and their patriarchs, prophets, and leaders cannot be redeemed.””

Marcion was excommunicated from the Church in Rome in 144 for teaching this. After his dismissal he wandered around the Gentile world and gained adherents to his alien G-d religion. Whether or not the people Marcion reached with his message knew they were being deceived or not is a question without an answer; however, I lean towards the side that they were unaware they were being deceived. Despite his excommunication and having been charged with heresy; however, the writings he preached from, devoid of context, meaning, and truth, ended up in the Bible’s we read today. Along with his writings went his notion to purge Judaism from even being accessed by new believers in Yeshua as well as the idea that the G-d of the Jews was far too rough around the edges to have been the Father of the Messiah.

While the early Church rejected Marcion’s idea of a completely non-Jewish G-d, the idea of placing distance between Judaism and Christianity is evident in the early Church. While the Old Testament was included in the earliest Christian Bibles, the reliance upon the Jewish people and the teachings of G-d were blatantly attacked. Justin Martyr, a contemporary of Marcion, didn’t reject the G-d of the Jews – he decided that the Jews were unworthy of their G-d, murderers of Yeshua, and gloated over the destruction of the Second Temple. The Christian anti-Semitism of Justyn Martyr and it’s very real and lethal consequences for the Jews triumphed over the Christian anti-Semitism of Marcion – one which would have largely been waged through intellectual debate.

Either way, divisions between Judaism and the new ideas of Christianity were sown. While Marcionism simmered in the background, many Church Fathers and leaders – from Martyr to the present day – have desired wider and wider rifts between Jewish and Christian belief systems. Christian sects today still expound that Jews are the murderers of Yeshua and routinely demonize the Jews just as completely and totally as Martyr did in the second century.

As a matter of fact it was not until 1,965 years after the death of Yeshua that the Roman Catholic Church acknowledged the fact that Jews as a whole did not have cause to have Yeshua put to death. For over 1,800 years Jews have been the targets of thoughts conjured by Justin Martyr. Such long lived hatreds do not die out overnight and, while the official position has been withdrawn, some cling to the belief that Jews should still collectively be punished for deicide. The need of Christianity to justify it’s claims of being set apart from Judaism still exist; however, even while claims of deicide have been retracted. Marcionism, lurking in the ancient shadows of Christian thought is being resurrected to fill this need.

Friedrich Schleiermacher laid the ground work to resurrect Marcionism in 1820 with the work The Christian Faith. Schleiermacher is credited as one of the integral fathers of what we now are all suffering with – liberal Protestantism. Building on arguments of other Enlightenment-age thinkers such as Rousseau and Kant, Schleiermacher applied their Romantic liberalism to theology. He demanded that Christian morality come from within and not from a Jewish text he regarded as “simply a superfluous authority.” One’s feelings, according to Schleiermacher, overruled the teachings of G-d, the history of the Old Testament, and the prophets. He demanded the Old Testament be done away with once and for all.

Far from being labeled a heretic, Schleiermacher found adherents to his position. Upon Schleiermacher’s death in 1834 another German, Albrecht Ritschl, academically molded this rabidly anti-Semitic sect of progressive believers. Ritschl studied at a Hegelian-influenced theological school called the Tübingen School under the tutelage of another huge advocate of Schleiermacher’s, Ferdinand Christian Baur. Horace Bushnell is credited for introducing these ideas in the United States. Walter Rauschenbusch used the ideas to create the Social Gospel movement. The Social Gospel movement did much more than corrupt the Bible and convince adherents that Marxist collectivization was imperative for salvation, it served as the impetus to several of FDR’s anti-American New Deal policies as well as a justification for the formation of labor unions.

Far from disappearing, the Social Gospel movement is ever present in many denominations today. Underpinning these progressive social activism centers with 501(c)3 church statuses is Marcionism. Marcionism offers a challenge that is unable to be met because it seeks to throw out all of the texts regarding the basis of righteous action. Because human beings don’t exist without doing things like making sure we have shelter, having something to eat and drink, and having people to talk to, the void created by Marcionism would need to be filled. The Social Gospel and it’s ugly bastard children is what now serves as the ‘moral’ basis in these institutions.

Another real issue arises when the truth of the Social Gospel is traced back to it’s genesis in Hegelian thought. Hegelianism was repurposed by Karl Marx who stripped it of religion altogether and used the retooled version throughout his life to demand an uprising of the working class. The Social Gospel movement was really a reunion of Marxism and theology. The progressive social clubs masquerading as churches around the world have done nothing to deepen anyone’s faith in G-d, understanding of the responsibilities Yeshua directed us to follow, nor to suggest that we should follow the provisions found in the Bible. They have served to promote Marxism by filling in the void Schleiermacher’s Marcionism created. The teachings they are bound by are not the 10 Commandments, not the Noahide laws, and certainly not the teachings of G-d in the Torah. They have adopted the 10 planks of Communism, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and whatever emanates from their feeling about what right and wrong is as their guidance. They may call it the Holy Spirit but they don’t test the spirit and, even if they did, they have no way to pass or fail the spirit because they reject the answer key outright. The answer key for testing the spirits is the Torah.

The leaders of the progressive social cults of personality, I mean progressive churches, have yet to realize that all of the groundwork for their progressive ideas of theology already exist. They will, at some point in time, begin adopting Marcion’s Bible so they won’t have to ignore two-thirds of the Holy Bible to project the progressive bullshit that spews from their pulpits. I did use a swear word because there is no polite way to state the fact that supporting gender reassignment surgery (ELCA, ), blessing homosexuals (Vatican, ELCA, Episcopal Church, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian Church), holding sermons demanding abomination be accepted through Sparkle Creed sermons (ECLC), agitating for racial justice (one example of this is Medium’s 106 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice used as a resource by the Episcopal Church) and environmental ‘justice’ (literally every church, one example is Weslyan Church’s partnership with ecoterrorist Brian Webb’s Climate Stewards USA) is all against what G-d instructed us to do. The only way to get to these positions is to ignore and reject the Old Testament with the laws and the mean G-d of the Jews.

What is happening in the most of the churches today is apparent to most. Theology is changing to fit ‘progress’ in the culture. While that is an accurate description of the problem, it is not enough to point that out. The real cancer metastasizing in these churches is the resurgence of Marcionism. While Marcion wanted a Christianity devoid of Judaic thought immediately and was denied, a slower process of erosion is working to have the same effect. The Jewishness of Yeshua is being destroyed and the teachings of His Father are being erased one mitzvot at a time.

The G-d Marcion wanted to replace as the Father of Yeshua has been replaced with blend of Marxism, progressive radicalism, and contemporary positions embraced by increasingly reprobate societies. The mean and angry G-d who metes out judgments has been replaced by a wide variety of woke social justice warriors such as the assortment of authors who contribute to Progressing Spirit which features articles like How much should we teach our children about the Bible? and Why the Church Must Die – Part 1.

Another progressive quasi-religious commode calling itself The Network of Spiritual Progressives has a mission statement steeped in Orwellian double-speak. Looking deeper into their ‘theology’ their so-called peace plan is a global redistribution of wealth; racial justice requires repressing anything deemed ‘white,’ reparations, and a new model of accounting focused on metrics to measure diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); and a brand new set of “10 planks” with 58 subdivisions they call the New Bottom Line. They have worked with the death-cultists at the Seirra Club and are trying to have a Constitutional amendment affixed in the USA called the Environmental and Social Responsibility Amendment which is a demand for economic, educational, and social Marxism. According to their reason for existing – it has nothing to do with ‘spirituality’ – The Network of Spiritual Progressives writes:

“We exist to reassure people that as they take steps in the direction of moving toward a more loving and just world, and face critiques from others who tell them that their desire for a world of love and generosity is a utopian illusion that is totally ‘unrealistic,’ they will be able to find support from a group of spiritual progressives who realize that the goal is not to be ‘realistic’ and accommodate to ‘what is,’ but rather to transform ‘what is’ into what is actually desirable and needed (environmental sustainability, justice, non-violence, and love) in order for us and the Earth to survive in the 21st century.”

Compare that to Marconian thought:

“Redemption is the center of Marcion’s gospel, and ultimately redemption is the gracious manifestation of the alien God himself in Jesus Christ. Indeed, “the gospel is Jesus Christ.” We are redeemed from the law above all, and thus from this world and its God. Tertullian said, “The separation of the law and gospel is the characteristic and foundational work of Marcion.” Redemption is thus the self-manifestation of God in and as Christ, to which believers respond in faith, and by which they are saved from the law and promised deliverance from the world.”

Once one part of the Old Testament is ignored, discarded, or erased how simple is it to begin erasing the rest of it? It is clear to see that this slow-rolling Marcionism has eroded the ways of G-d and has manifested itself in multiple churches. It is gaining speed as it more thoroughly corrupts congregations and finds new hosts to pray on. Yet, from it’s beginnings, no matter how explained away, the Church has always had elements of Marcionism – most notably the determining the Sabbath is on Sunday and the doctrine of the Trinity. Some churches have found it fit to abandon the 10 Commandments (if your church suggests visiting Relevant for revelation or uses it to base sermons on – find a new church). The seeds have made Marcionism not only possible but guaranteed.

All of this is begging the question – what happens if there is no Judaism in Christianity? Put briefly, there would be absolutely no way to understand Yeshua HaMashiach. Taking Judaism out of Christianity would result in an entirely new G-d the Father needed to send Yeshua to earth. On top of that, Yeshua would fully become an idol of worship an idea which He never endorsed or even mentioned. Neo-Marcionism, with it’s aims to do precisely those things, offers a Christianity completely devoid of laws to live by and a complete return to the debauchery of ancient pagan cults.

Before the reader condemns this article out of hand because we don’t agree theologically, I will offer you three Bible passages sternly warning Jews and Christians alike about the dangers inherent in movements like Marcionism. The first is Psalm 81:12-13:

12 (11) “But my people did not listen to my voice; Isra’el would have none of me. 13 (12) So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to live by their own plans.

This was pointed at the Jews. G-d allowed them to use their free will to deny obeying His ways. Of course there were consequences. Those consequences are still relevant today. And the way to find favor in the eyes of G-d and avoid these consequences have not changed and are still relevant. Ephesians 5:1-6 speaks to this relevance:

1 So imitate God, as his dear children; 2 and live a life of love, just as also the Messiah loved us, indeed, on our behalf gave himself up as an offering, as a slaughtered sacrifice to God with a pleasing fragrance. 3 Among you there should not even be mentioned sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity, or greed; these are utterly inappropriate for God’s holy people. 4 Also out of place are obscenity and stupid talk or coarse language; instead, you should be giving thanks. 5 For of this you can be sure: every sexually immoral, impure or greedy person — that is, every idol-worshipper — has no share in the Kingdom of the Messiah and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty talk; for it is because of these things that God’s judgment is coming on those who disobey him. 7 So don’t become partners with them!

Finally, I will leave you in shalom and ask you to contemplate this scripture which ties into Matthew 5:17-20 and sums up what we should be focused on doing. It is the opposite of what Marcionism is offering to Christian congregations. Colossians 3:1-17 reads:

1 So if you were raised along with the Messiah, then seek the things above, where the Messiah is sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Focus your minds on the things above, not on things here on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. 4 When the Messiah, who is our life, appears, then you too will appear with him in glory!

5 Therefore, put to death the earthly parts of your nature — sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed (which is a form of idolatry); 6 for it is because of these things that God’s anger is coming on those who disobey him. 7 True enough, you used to practice these things in the life you once lived; 8 but now, put them all away — anger, exasperation, meanness, slander and obscene talk. 9 Never lie to one another; because you have stripped away the old self, with its ways, 10 and have put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in fuller and fuller knowledge, closer and closer to the image of its Creator. 11 The new self allows no room for discriminating between Gentile and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, foreigner, savage, slave, free man; on the contrary, in all, the Messiah is everything.

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with feelings of compassion and with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with one another; if anyone has a complaint against someone else, forgive him. Indeed, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive.

14 Above all these, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together perfectly; 15 and let the shalom which comes from the Messiah be your heart’s decision-maker, for this is why you were called to be part of a single Body.

And be thankful — 16 let the Word of the Messiah, in all its richness, live in you, as you teach and counsel each other in all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude to God in your hearts. 17 That is, everything you do or say, do in the name of the Lord Yeshua, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Progressivism has sown it’s disunity in our societies, governments, and communities – don’t let it into our churches. Don’t let it into your heart. Know the Word – the Torah. Walk in the footsteps of Yeshua who walked and taught the Torah. And look to our Messiah for the salvation we are promised that we may have an abode in His glorious Kingdom.

Bless G-d and G-d bless.