Did Marcion
Write His Gospel?

Marcion of Sinope: Editor, Heretic, or Gospel Pioneer?

Marcion of Sinope was a second-century Christian theologian who launched one of the earliest and most widespread Christian movements: Marcionism. Marcion rejected many books that would eventually be canonized in the New Testament, most notably, he accepted only one Gospel rather than the four gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Marcion’s Gospel appears to have been a shorter version of Luke, lacking its birth stories and much of its narrative detail. His critics accused him of hacking up the Gospel of Luke to suit his theology, creating what Irenaeus called a “mutilation of the Scriptures.” But recent scholarship is starting to question that narrative.

Some scholars have suggested that Marcion should be considered the first Gospel author—that is, that he compiled and published his Gospel before the canonical Gospels were written, and that the Gospel of Luke may in fact be a revision of Marcion’s text. Dr. David Litwa is an expert on Marcion and will examine this claim.

Although there is a strong case to be made that Marcion’s Gospel predates canonical Luke, Dr. Litwa will argue that the idea that he wrote it himself is not supported by ancient evidence. This talk presents all the data that has been used to argue that Marcion saw himself as a Gospel author and publisher, and offers a point-by-point critique of how that data is interpreted.

Dr. Litwa will also dig into deeper questions: How did Marcion conceive of himself? Did he see himself as apostolic, in the spirit of Paul? As an authorized editor or emendator? As inspired by the Holy Spirit? What was his actual role and achievement in early church history? It will be argued that, while Marcion did not write his Gospel, he did publish the first edition of what we now call “the New Testament.”

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