Marcion

A carving entitled, "Heretic Marcion"

Marcion of Sinope (died c.160 CE) was an antisemitic heresiarch in the 2nd century.

His main heresy involved a rejection of the Old Testament, as well as the four Gospels and the Book of the Revelation, in favour of another version of the New Testament which only included an edited version of the Gospel of Luke and the letters of Paul. This was all an attempt to change church teachings to prevent persecution by the Romans.

The Romans charged the Early Christians with the crime of atheism, as the Roman pagans did not believe monotheism to be possible. Marcion taught that the god of the Old Testament was a distinct god of creation, whereas the god of the New Testament was a distinct god of knowledge. Because Marcion's followers, known as Marcionites, affirmed two gods, the Romans did not charge them with atheism and so they escaped much persecution. Marcion was never martyred and died of natural causes around the year 160 CE.

His theology heavily influenced later Gnosticism.