A Short History of Christianity: Second Edition, Revised, With AdditionsRobertson, J. M. (John Mackinnon)
History
A Short History of Christianity: Second Edition, Revised, With Additions
Robertson, J. M. (John Mackinnon)
Church history
In some respects, finally, the modern Church has confusedly
reverted to their view of a future state. While the "orthodox"
Christians of the second century believed that souls at death went
to the under-world, to be raised with the body for the approaching
millennium, or thousand-years reign of Christ, the Gnostics, scouting
the millennium as a grossly materialistic conception, held that at
death the soul ascended to heaven. That appears to be the prevailing
fancy among Protestants at the present day, though men have grown
cautious of formal dicta on the subject.
§ 4. Marcionism and Montanism
Apart from Gnosticism, the Church of the second century was affected by
certain heretical or sectarian movements which centred round single
teachers of an influential sort, in particular Marcion of Sinope
and Montanus, who became the founders of something like separate
churches. Montanus, like Manichæus, has mythical aspects; and it is
impossible to be sure of the historicity of either; [23] but Marcionism
sets up no such difficulty. Marcion, who was a disciple of the Gnostic
Cerdo, and like him flourished in the reign of Antoninus Pius, held by
some of the main Gnostic theories, but differed from the Gnostics in
general in that he founded solely on New Testament writings and did not
absolutely oppose Judaism. In his system the Supreme God, who is Good,
creates a Demiurge or world-maker, who is merely Just or legalist,
the God of the Jews; while Satan, the offspring of Matter, governs
the heathens. Only the Christians are ruled by the Good God, who is
first revealed to men solely by the Christ. It was in this way that
he applied the Gnostic principle of "oppositions" or "antitheses," in
a work bearing that title. His ethic appears to have been a sectarian
version of that of Bardesanes, who had defined the good as those who
did good even to the wicked; the just as those who did good only to
the good; and the wicked as those who did evil even to the good. It
does not seem to have occurred to Marcion that in classing all pagans
as outside of the pale of goodness he was stultifying his own avowed
principle of divine love and mercy; but in this respect at least he was
not heretical, for all who bore the Christian name agreed in limiting
salvation to Christists, and dooming all other men to hell-fire.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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