Gnostic leader; d. c. 160; wealthy son of the leading pastor of Sinope in the region of Pontus, near the Black Sea; reinterpreted the life of Jesus and attracted a large mid-second-century following. Mar-cion believed that the Old Testament deity who created the world was not the Father of Jesus Christ but an evil god; the physical world, as such, was also evil.

Marcion produced for his followers (the Marcionites) an edition of the Scriptures edited to fit his theology. The resulting ‘‘Bible’’ included only Luke’s gospel and Paul’s letters—nothing more, with all references to the Old Testament expunged. Although the church in Rome excluded Marcion from their fellowship, his teachings continued to spread before fading in the fourth and fifth centuries. See also canon; Gnosticism.