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Marcion: On the Restitution of Christianity: An Essay on the Development of Radical Paulinist Theology in the Second Century
Hoffmann's Marcion was the first work after Harnack (1924) to call into question the patristic testimony concerning the "arch-heretic." In his work, Hoffmann challenged the conventional wisdom concerning the date, sources, and accuracy of reports on Marcion through careful and critical examination of patristic evidence. In Hoffmann's view, Marcion was the creator of the two-part canon. Theologically, his attempts to elevate Paul above the gospels ensured the enduring role of Paul in the history of the early church. Contrary to early views that Marcion was a gnostic, Hoffmann argued that Marcion was a man from an "earlier time" who demonstrates in his theology the living controversies of the early whether the Old Testament should be accepted or rejected; whether the God of the Old Testament and the God of the gospel are the same deity; and finally, whether the revelation of God represented in the teaching and person of Jesus Christ is definitive for the church.
- GenresNonfiction
384 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1984
About the author
R. Joseph Hoffmann
14 books48 followersFollowing graduation from Harvard Divinity School (M.Div. Th.M.) and the University of Oxford (D.Phil.), R. Joseph Hoffmann was tutor in Greek at Keble College and Senior Scholar at St Cross College, Oxford, and Wissenschaftlicher Assistent in Patristics and Classical Studies at the University of Heidelberg. He received the degree Dr. habil. from Heidelberg in 1983.
He began his teaching career at the University of Michigan as Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Studies where he developed the undergraduate and graduate program in Christian origins.
From 1991 to 1999, he was Senior Lecturer in New Testament and Church History at Westminster College, Oxford and a member of the sub-faculty of Oriental Studies in Christian origins.
Hoffmann has also taught at Cal State Sacramento, the American University of Beirut and Wells College, where he was Campbell Professor of Religion and Human Values until 2006 and Distinguished Scholar at Goddard College in 2009.
He has held visiting positions at universities in Africa (Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Botswana), the Middle East, the Pacific (Australia and Papua New Guinea) and South Asia, most recently as Visiting Professor of History at LUMS in Lahore, Pakistan.
He is now Professor of the Liberal Arts at the University of Central Asia.
Beyond academe, he is well known for his advocacy of the humanist tradition. He was Chair of the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion until 2010, a senior vice president of the Center for Inquiry until 2008 and a founding faculty member (1986) of the Humanist Institute. In his recent work, Hoffmann has turned increasingly to the work of ”humanist restoration”–a project designed to reconsider the richness of the humanist legacy in the arts and sciences apart from recent attempts to emphasize the purely rationalistic and naturalistic varieties of humanism that emerged in the late twentieth century.
Hoffmann has focused on the controversial aspects of Christian origins, with special reference to early heresies, gnosticism, and the pagan philosophical critiques of the Christian movement. His most recent books include an edited volume entitled Just War and Jihad: Violence in Judaism, Christianity and Islam (2006) and Sources of the Jesus Tradition (2010.)
His study of the concept of the right to life in early Christianity, Faith and Foeticide, will be published in 2014, along with another in his series of translations of the classical philosophical critiques of the Christian movement: Christianity: The Minor Critics.
He began his teaching career at the University of Michigan as Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Studies where he developed the undergraduate and graduate program in Christian origins.
From 1991 to 1999, he was Senior Lecturer in New Testament and Church History at Westminster College, Oxford and a member of the sub-faculty of Oriental Studies in Christian origins.
Hoffmann has also taught at Cal State Sacramento, the American University of Beirut and Wells College, where he was Campbell Professor of Religion and Human Values until 2006 and Distinguished Scholar at Goddard College in 2009.
He has held visiting positions at universities in Africa (Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Botswana), the Middle East, the Pacific (Australia and Papua New Guinea) and South Asia, most recently as Visiting Professor of History at LUMS in Lahore, Pakistan.
He is now Professor of the Liberal Arts at the University of Central Asia.
Beyond academe, he is well known for his advocacy of the humanist tradition. He was Chair of the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion until 2010, a senior vice president of the Center for Inquiry until 2008 and a founding faculty member (1986) of the Humanist Institute. In his recent work, Hoffmann has turned increasingly to the work of ”humanist restoration”–a project designed to reconsider the richness of the humanist legacy in the arts and sciences apart from recent attempts to emphasize the purely rationalistic and naturalistic varieties of humanism that emerged in the late twentieth century.
Hoffmann has focused on the controversial aspects of Christian origins, with special reference to early heresies, gnosticism, and the pagan philosophical critiques of the Christian movement. His most recent books include an edited volume entitled Just War and Jihad: Violence in Judaism, Christianity and Islam (2006) and Sources of the Jesus Tradition (2010.)
His study of the concept of the right to life in early Christianity, Faith and Foeticide, will be published in 2014, along with another in his series of translations of the classical philosophical critiques of the Christian movement: Christianity: The Minor Critics.
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February 5, 2008
An extremely difficult, scholarly book examining the theology of Marcion, the second century heretic excommunicated by the Catholic Church. For those of you who have never heard of Marcion, he believed in two Gods: the God of the Old Testament and the "foreign God" who sent his son Jesus, a phantom who calls men to salvation. The most fascinating aspect of Hoffman's book is the discussion of Paul who was originally regarded as "the hostile man" by the orthodox Catholic church and later rehabilitated in the Book of Acts by Luke. This is a book you'll probably have to read quite a number of times in order to digest all the incredible ideas presented here.
Displaying 1 of 1 review