The Very First Bible 144 AD

by Marcion of Sinope

After 2,000 years of political editing, additions, deletions, theological focus groups and sloppy translations, the modern bible has more in common with modern art than it does with the very first Christian bible as it was originally transcribed.

Now you can read the original gospel and scriptures in their pure unadulterated form as they were after being gathered by Marcion of Sinope in 144 A.D. But it's what's NOT in The Very First Bible that will surprise you - did you know it didn't contain the Old Testament or stories of its god?

The Marcionite Church, which at one point had millions of adherents and was larger than the Catholic Church, was founded on the The Very First Bible and the belief that the Old Testament was incompatible with the teachings of Christ.

This special first edition includes illustrations along with a Study and Reference Guide where you'll learn about the key people and events surrounding The Very First Bible and the Marcionite Church - and the suppression of both for 2,000 years. http://www.theveryfirstbible.org

Genres: Religion, Christian, Christianity

257 pages, Mass Market Paperback

About the author

Marcion of Sinope (c. 85 – c. 160) was an early Christian theologian, an evangelist, and an important figure in early Christianity. Marcion preached that the benevolent God of the Gospel who sent Jesus Christ into the world as the savior was the true Supreme Being, different from and opposed to the malevolent demiurge or creator god, identified with the Hebrew God of the Old Testament. He considered himself a follower of Paul the Apostle, whom he believed to have been the only true apostle of Jesus Christ, a doctrine called Marcionism. Marcion published the earliest extant fixed collection of New Testament books.

Early Church Fathers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian denounced Marcion as a heretic, and he was excommunicated by the church of Rome around 144. He published the first known canon of Christian sacred scriptures, which contained ten Pauline epistles (the Pastoral epistles were not included) and a shorter version of the Gospel of Luke (the Gospel of Marcion). This made him a catalyst in the process of the development of the New Testament canon by forcing the proto-orthodox Church to respond to his canon.

Reviews

[A.W. Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I am the editor of the book so I'm not going to rate it.

I just wanted to add the link where you can download it for free: http://www.theveryfirstbible.org/Eboo...

[Carla "Kar" Schmidt Holloway · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a scholarly book (stating for the sake of clarity). This is a book of scripture promoting a specific theology.

I would be very interested in seeing sources for the scripture section regarding what manuscripts were used and whose translation were used to produce this iteration of Marcionite scriptures. If all Marcion's writings and scriptures were destroyed, how did they know today what parts of the epistles were added and which were original? How did they know what parts of Luke's gospel were edited and what parts come from their Evangelion text?

The information at the end of the book also doesn't have scholarly sources. The most glaring incorrect statement is that the Council of Nicaea decided the canon of scripture in the Catholic Church. That council was about the relationship of Jesus to God and the nature of Jesus's divinity, not about the canon. This repetition of a common misconception calls into question all of the other historical claims made in the end sections of the book. The tone of the the end sections is vitriolic and is dedicated to attacking the Catholic Church's narrative without much detail and, again, without sources.

It's definitely a useful document in understanding the attitude and perspective of some *modern* Marcionites, but I wouldn't trust it as a source of information on ancient Marcionite sects. Scholars believe that Marcion had a dualist theology, in which the "evil" God of the Old Testament created the material world, while the "good" God of Jesus is the creator of our spirits. Instead, some modern Marcionites believe that the God of the Old Testament is a false god who simply doesn't exist. Marcion also had a docetic view of Jesus, while modern Marcionites reject this view.

[TJ Owens · Rating 1 out of 5]

A Book For Those Historically and Biblically Ignorant

The idea that this is the “Very First Bible” is blatantly absurd. The individual or individuals that compiled this and wrote the commentary are woefully ignorant of anything resembles christian history or understanding of the Bible. Don’t be fooled by their devotion to Marcion who was rightly condemned as a heretic. He was under the ill informed assumption that the God of the Old Testament was different from the God of the New Testament, because of this he picks and chooses what books he wants to teach from. You can’t read or understand the New Testament or Jesus without the background of the Old Testament, to do so is folly and requires one to completely throw out any form of critical thinking skills. Don’t be fooled by this farce; study history, study the early church, look at the multitude of references to the Old Testament in the New and you’ll quickly see how objectively ignorant the views of Marcion and his followers are.

[Nelson Banuchi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Purportedly, this is Marcion's list of what he considered were the inspired texts of Scripture. Needless to say that Marcion was a heretic who taught that the violent God of the Hebrew Bible is not in any way associated with the compassionate God of the New Testament and, of course, that Jesus is not God.

Marcion excluded those portions of Scripture he believed were not inspired; therefore his "Bible" contained only one Gospel and ten letters of Paul the apostle. Each of all these writings are very much shortened with much removed when compared to the Protestant (as well as Catholic) compilation of what is believed ti be the inspired texts; and, of course, due to it's brevity, the verse numbering system will not coincide with a regular Bible.

It is a good and interesting read, which is why I gave it three stars, but, of course, it falls short of what the Bible teaches and assumes what it cannot really defend.

[David S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read every translation of the Bible I come across in hopes of gaining new insights. The difference in this Bible is basically what is not included in the later Bibles that were gathered during the Constantine Era Bible. I really enjoyed reading it.

[Judy Ford · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a bizarre little book. It’s published by a sect, which has been set up to revive (or rather to reinvent) the Marcionite Church. They contend that the Hebrew Bible has no place in Christian scriptures since the God of the Old Testament is the enemy of that of Jesus Christ. Thus, their Bible, which the claim pre-dates the Catholic and Protestant canons, comprises just a single Gospel and a subset of Paul’s letters. The book does not explain where they found the source documents for ancient text or who translated it. when I started reading it, I was struck by the archaic language, which sounded suspiciously like the King James Bible. When I reached 1 Corinthians 13, I realise that this was no coincidence! The whole chapter is word-for-word KJB. Basically, this is a massive con. Although the stated author is Marcion of Sinope, it is in fact just a cut-and-paste of those portions of the KJB that, reportedly, were those that were recognised as Holy Scripture by him and his followers.

Presumably the reason for choosing the KJB is to avoid falling foul of copyright laws which would have pertained had a more modern (and more accurate and scholarly) translation been used. There seems little point in publishing such a book rather than simply listing those books from the New Testament that this "Marcionite" church considers to be canonical, and allowing potential followers to read them in whatever translation suits them best.

I'm just glad that it cost me almost nothing to buy.

[Mark Bobak · Rating 1 out of 5]

Source of this book is questionable

I cannot read this book because of the questionable source.
Marcion never tells the reader what his source material is for this Bible. Of course he may have at some point but with all of his writings destroyed, we can never know what his sources were.
The caracter of the author of this book is very questionable also. He seems to be a jew hater not realizing that Jesus was a Jewish and ignoring Jesus's statement that he did not come to change even one letter of the law FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT. The author paint the entire old testament in a damming light from just a few verses.
Since all of the early church fathers thought Marcion was so out of line that they excommunicated him, I'm going to abide by there decision and NOT READ THIS BOOK. Plus, I'm not going to participate in reading a book written by someone so racially biased.

[Lee Topliss · Rating 5 out of 5]

The true Word of God from the true God.


This translation reads well.

The Marcionite Christian Church The Marcionite
Christian Church spanned the known world, grew larger than even the Catholic Church and for centuries its bedrock of the Very First Bible dominated Christian culture and tradition with millions of adherents. The Marcionites recognized the god of the Old Testament as being in direct contradiction to the teachings of Christ and this belief garnered them many rich and powerful enemies.

[renzie l lacey iii · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 1st reading

This version of the New Testament is pretty much in line with the current new testament w/o the chapter & book separation. Very enlightening, definitely God's word original. I've been comparing it to my current bible. It's a very interesting read.
Love it bout to read it again

[Chantelle Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative

This a reader friendly book, informative for anyone interested in seeking truth. But always do your own research as well. Good read!

[Anji Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very first bible

It's not about like or dislike. I just wanted to explore it. A complex read but all very familiar. Curious.

[Casan Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting something novel, but this was basically Luke’s Gospel with a lot redacted plus some of Saint Paul’s writings.

[Ian J. Spann · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book were very well informative

I like the book because it was very interesting and very informative, the structure of the book made it very easy to read and understand.

[AWAD A ISKANDER · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting case for the very first bible.

I was very intrigued by the existence of (The very first bible). The consistency of the teaching of this bible with the loving Jesus is very refreshing.