The
Testamentum was assembled and transcribed by Marcion of Sinope around 128 C.E. It was the first codified Christian Biblical canon, almost 300 years before the compilation of the standard Biblical canon used by most mainline Christian denominations today.
The
Testamentum, which is Latin for "
Testament," was not divided into '
Old' and '
New' testaments like the modern Bible and was dramatically shorter.
The Marcionite Christians determined that the Hebrew Bible, and the deity portrayed within it, are diametrically opposed to the teachings and salvation of Jesus Christ. The proof is self-evident in the form of the scriptures themselves, and that's why it wasn't included in the original Christian Bible.
The
Testamentum was divided into the
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (or the
Evangelicon), as revealed to Paul the Apostle, and the ten Epistles of Paul (or
Apostolicon). This is the foundational Christian canon to which virtually every denomination can trace its roots.
The
Apostolicon consisted of the following epistles: Galatians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Romans, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, Laodiceans (
Ephesians), Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon.
In addition, the
Testamentum includes the
Psalmicon, a collection of forty psalms and the oldest Christian hymnbook; the
Antilegomenon, a collection of the four disputed Epistles of Paul: Alexandrians (
Hebrews), 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus; and finally, the
Homileticon, which consists of Marcion of Sinope's Homily to Diognetus, the earliest example of Christian apologetic literature.
Marcion's canon rejected the entire 46-book '
Old' Testament, along with all other epistles and gospels of what would become the 27-book '
New' Testament canon, which had yet to be compiled during his life.
