Glimpses #56: Bible Preservation: The Canon
Format: 2-page bulletin insert
Our Price: $2.00 per pack (each pack contains 25 copies). Back issues are available only in packs of 25 copies.
Product Description: The Gnostic heretic Marcion, about 140 A.D., was the first to make a list of what books he thought were repositories of the truth. Marcion believed the God of the Old Testament was evil, so he rejected the entire Old Testament! He only accepted parts of the gospel of Luke and ten of Paul's epistles as true. Surprisingly this false teacher was performing a valuable service. By listing the books he thought were evil and wrong, the church leaders were forced to carefully consider and confirm what Christian writings were true and authoritative.
Irenaeus, a church father writing about 180 A.D., and only two generations from the apostle John, attacked Marcion's Gnostic heresies. Irenaeus affirmed the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, as true because in them were the many prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He also used quotations of many of the New Testament writings to show the error of Marcion's teachings about the person and salvation work of Jesus Christ. Throughout the second and third centuries the church fathers constantly quoted the early apostles and the gospels to explain Christian teaching to believers and to wage war against heretics. These Scriptures were a canon or rule to both measure truth and resist error; and the early church was in strong agreement as to which writings were sacred.
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Ship Weight: .36 lb each
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