The Marcionite Church of Christ is happy to announce that we reconstructed the Marcionite Synaxarion, which includes seven epistles of Marcion of Sinope. These will now be included in all future copies of the Testamentum.
You can also read each of Marcion’s epistles on this website: the Epistle to the Ephesians, the Epistle to the Magnesians, the Epistle to the Trallians, the Epistle to the Romans, the Epistle to the Philadelphians, the Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, and the Epistle to Metrodorus.
Marutha of Martyropolis claimed that the Marcionite Christians had a book called the ‘Saka,’ which in Syriac means ‘Sum,’ ‘Summary,’ or the ‘End.’ The Greek name for this would be ‘Synaxarion,’ which is generally used for a book or collection of texts describing the lives of saints and martyrs.
Several scholars and theologians, including Hermann Detering, Joseph Turmel, Alfred Loisy, and Roger Parvus, have postulated that Ignatius of Antioch’s seven epistles were originally composed by a Marcionite.
Building on this theory, the Marcionite Church of Christ recognizes that these epistles were initially written by Marcion of Sinope himself, shortly before his martyrdom in Rome in 154 C.E. These epistles were then compiled into a single codex known as the ‘Saka’ in Syriac or ‘Synaxarion’ in Greek. They were eventually added to the Marcionite canon after Marcion’s death.
It is known that after Marcion of Sinope was excommunicated from the Roman Church, he returned to the East to lead his many church congregations in Anatolia and Syria. All of these epistles address churches in Marcion’s native Anatolia.
The writer of the epistles describes himself as the Bishop of Syria, based in Antioch. It is possible that Marcion established himself as the bishop of Antioch after failing to become the bishop of Rome. Antioch was an early Christian center, specifically a center of Pauline Christianity, the city where the Apostle Paul began his missionary work. Antioch is also the first city where followers of Jesus began to be known as ‘Christians’ and these epistles represent the first written use of the word ‘Christianity’.
Interestingly, in the lists of bishops of Antioch, there is a gap or vacancy between 151 C.E. and 154 C.E., the exact time that Marcion could have established himself as the bishop of that city.
Along with Rome, Antioch had a line of bishops whose apostolic succession could be traced back to Paul the Apostle.
Also of note, many scholars have viewed Syria as the heartland of Marcionite Christianity. This is evidenced by many patristic commentators talking about the number of Marcionite Christians in Syria and the archaeological discovery of a Marcionite church in Syria.
Another point connecting these epistles to Marcionite Christians is that the epistles make numerous references to and quotations of the Odes of Solomon, which were originally the Marcionite psalms as contained within the Psalmicon.
Irenaeus claims that Marcion encountered his rival Polycarp in Rome around 154 C.E. During this encounter, Polycarp exclaimed to Marcion, “I recognize thee as the firstborn of Satan.”
According to Irenaeus, Polycarp of Smyrna visited Rome to discuss the date of the celebration of Easter with Anicetus. This places Polycarp in Rome around 155 C.E.
The dating of this altercation makes sense if Marcion was returning to Rome from the East, to be martyred.
Scholars consider the writer of the epistles being transported to Rome as unusual, since those persecuted as Christians would be expected to be punished locally.
However, it would make sense for Marcion of Sinope to be sent to Rome for punishment since the scene of his supposed ‘crime’ was there. This ‘crime’ was the chaos and disunity in the Christian community there, which he was blamed for after being excommunicated from the Roman Church.
Marcion’s authorship also explains why in the Epistle to the Romans found in the Synaxarion there is no mention of a bishop of Rome. This is because there was no Marcionite bishop in the city.
The epistles primarily focused on ecclesiological concerns, which makes sense as Marcion was focused on the continuity and leadership of his church after his impending martyrdom.
The monarchical episcopate described in the epistles sounds similar to the succession of Marcionite bishops as described by Adamantius.
The existence of multiple recensions of these epistles is strong evidence that they were heavily interpolated at some point.
According to William Dool Killen, Callixtus interpolated, readdressed, and expanded these epistles in 220 C.E. to garner support for a monarchical episcopate.
Calixtus reattributed the epistles from Marcion to an obscure martyr and early Christian, Ignatius of Antioch.
In doing so, he changed the nickname that was usually applied to Marcion, ‘Nauclerus,’ which means ship captain, this referred both to his profession and the fact that he was partly traveling by sea to Rome, with ‘Theophorus’ meaning ‘God-bearing.’
Like Marcion of Sinope, Ignatius of Antioch was claimed to be both a disciple of the Apostle John and a follower of the Apostle Paul.
Reattributing the epistles to Ignatius also moved the date of the writing far earlier than most scholars think possible, 108 C.E.
The earliest source for this specific date is the 4th-century church historian Eusebius of Caesarea. Richard Pervo argues that Eusebius may have had an ideological interest in dating church leaders and texts as early as possible to assert a continuous succession between the original Apostles of Jesus and the leaders of the church in his day.
Scholar Paul Foster placed the composition of these epistles in the earlier part of Antoninus Pius’ reign, corresponding to the early 150s C.E.
Redating these epistles to 154 C.E., the year scholar R. Joseph Hoffmann claims Marcion likely died, makes far more sense, given that the writer seems to have quoted Ptolemy the Gnostic, who became active only in the 150s C.E. and was an opponent of Marcionite Christians.
Callixtus specifically readdressed one of the epistles, which was originally sent to a Marcionite bishop, to be sent instead to Marcion’s chief rival, Polycarp of Smyrna.
This epistle was addressed initially to the Marcionite bishop of Smyrna, Metrodorus, who ironically was martyred in 156 C.E. alongside Polycarp, the Catholic bishop of Smyrna.
These epistles quote extensively from the Apostle Paul, mimic his epistolary style of writing, and express strong anti-Judaism sentiments throughout.
The epistles contain the first known argument in favor of Christianity’s replacement of the Jewish Sabbath with the Christian Lord’s Day on Sunday. This tradition was supposedly advanced originally by Marcionite Christians.
The Marcionite Church of Christ does not consider the epistles of Marcion found in the Synaxarion to be scripture, but rather Marcionite patristic texts that expound useful theological, liturgical, ecclesiastical, and historical teachings.
The reconstruction of the epistles of Marcion as found within the Synaxarion, is based on the work of Roger Parvus (A New Look at the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch and Other Apellean Writings, 2008). The translations used for the Synaxarion are based on the work of J. B. Lightfoot (Apostolic Fathers, 1891).
