Heretic!: A Novel Of Second-Century Christianity

Religious historians have insisted for centuries that there were “Many Christianities” at the beginning. Jesus of Nazareth’s adult ministry lasted for about three years. During that time he conveyed his ideas about spirituality and religion in the context of the corrupt “official” Judaism of Roman-occupied Israel. The Gospels attempt to convey his ideas and his life but they were written generations later and often suggest that Jesus spoke in ambiguous parables and allegories. Thus, different kinds of institutional Christianity bloomed after his Crucifixion.

One man, Marcion of Synope, the son of the first bishop of this region on the southern shores of the Black Sea studied the various ways that Christians interpreted the message. He had a unique opportunity to do so as he was part of one of the larger shipping businesses in the Eastern Roman Empire in the early Second Century. He became a learned and wealthy man, ultimately going to Rome with his money and his ideas.

Marcion published what is believed to be the first Christian Canon (Bible), and began to preach its mes- sage. In 144, he was condemned and declared a heretic by the Roman Christians who had different ideas.

But there is irony in all this: a generation later, while his ideas were being critiqued as too extreme by some Christian thought leaders, others were preaching the essence of his message.

A few of the characters in this novel are real historical figures, but much of the detailed story is fiction.