Marcion of Sinope - Legacy

Legacy

In 144, Marcion became one of the first declared heresiarchs for his deviations from the theological viewpoints of the main body of bishops. The suppression of the Marcionist form of Christianity is thus viewed as a catalyst for the development of the New Testament canon, the establishment of a centralised church law, and the structuring of the Church, which remained a relatively unchallenged mainstay in Christendom until the Protestant Reformation.

The church that Marcion founded had expanded throughout the known world within his lifetime, and was a serious rival to the orthodox Christian church. Its adherents were strong enough in their convictions that the Marcionite church retained its expansive power for more than a century. It survived Christian controversy, and imperial disapproval, for several centuries more.

Marcion was the first Christian leader to propose and delineate a Biblical canon (a list of officially sanctioned religious works). In so doing, he established a particular way of viewing religious texts that persists in Christian thought today. After Marcion, Christians began to divide texts into those that aligned well with the "measuring stick" (Greek kanōn literally means "measuring stick") of accepted theological thought, and those that should be rejected. This essential bifurcation played a major role in finalising the structure and contents of the collection of works now called the New Testament.