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The Five Books Against Marcion

Tertullian

Book 1 · Chapter 19

About this work

A sustained refutation of Marcion’s theology and edited Scriptures, defending the unity of the Creator and Christ’s Father and reading the Gospel and Pauline letters against Marcionite claims.

Author: Tertullian
Date: Early 3rd century
Origin: Carthage, North Africa
Genre: Heresiology

Chapter XIX.—Jesus Christ, the Revealer of the Creator, Could Not Be the Same as Marcion’s God, Who Was Only Made Known by the Heretic Some CXV. Years After Christ, and That, Too, on a Principle Utterly Unsuited to the Teaching of Jesus Christ, I.e., the Opposition Between the Law and the Gospels.

Well, but our god, say the

‹ Book 1 · Chapter 18 Book 1 · Chapter 20 ›

Marcionites

,

although

he

did

not

manifest

himself

from

the

beginning

and

by

means

of

the

creation

,

has

yet

revealed

himself

in

Christ

Jesus

.

A

book

will

be

devoted

to

Christ

,

treating

of

His

entire

state

;

for

it

is

desirable

that

these

subject

-

matters

should

be

distinguished

one

from

another

,

in

order

that

they

may

receive

a

fuller

and

more

methodical

treatment

.

Meanwhile

it

will

be

sufficient

if

,

at

this

stage

of

the

question

,

I

show

—

and

that

but

briefly

—

that

Christ

Jesus

is

the

revealer

of

none

other

god

but

the

Creator

.

In

the

fifteenth

year

of

Tiberius

,

Christ

Jesus

vouchsafed

to

come

down

from

heaven

,

as

the

spirit

of

saving

health

.

I

cared

not

to

inquire

,

indeed

,

in

what

particular

year

of

the

elder

Antoninus

.

He

who

had

so

gracious

a

purpose

did

rather

,

like

a

pestilential

sirocco

,

exhale

this

health

or

salvation

,

which

Marcion

teaches

from

his

Pontus

.

Of

this

teacher

there

is

no

doubt

that

he

is

a

heretic

of

the

Antonine

period

,

impious

under

the

pious

.

Now

,

from

Tiberius

to

Antoninus

Pius

,

there

are

about

115

years

and

6

-

1

/

2

months

.

Just

such

an

interval

do

they

place

between

Christ

and

Marcion

.

Inasmuch

,

then

,

as

Marcion

,

as

we

have

shown

,

first

introduced

this

god

to

notice

in

the

time

of

Antoninus

,

the

matter

becomes

at

once

clear

,

if

you

are

a

shrewd

observer

.

The

dates

already

decide

the

case

,

that

he

who

came

to

light

for

the

first

time

in

the

reign

of

Antoninus

,

did

not

appear

in

that

of

Tiberius

;

in

other

words

,

that

the

God

of

the

Antonine

period

was

not

the

God

of

the

Tiberian

;

and

consequently

,

that

he

whom

Marcion

has

plainly

preached

for

the

first

time

,

was

not

revealed

by

Christ

(

who

announced

His

revelation

as

early

as

the

reign

of

Tiberius

)

.

Now

,

to

prove

clearly

what

remains

of

the

argument

,

I

shall

draw

materials

from

my

very

adversaries

.

Marcion’s

special

and

principal

work

is

the

separation

of

the

law

and

the

gospel

;

and

his

disciples

will

not

deny

that

in

this

point

they

have

their

very

best

pretext

for

initiating

and

confirming

themselves

in

his

heresy

.

These

are

Marcion’s

Antitheses

,

or

contradictory

propositions

,

which

aim

at

committing

the

gospel

to

a

variance

with

the

law

,

in

order

that

from

the

diversity

of

the

two

documents

which

contain

them

,

they

may

contend

for

a

diversity

of

gods

also

.

Since

,

therefore

,

it

is

this

very

opposition

between

the

law

and

the

gospel

which

has

suggested

that

the

God

of

the

gospel

is

different

from

the

God

of

the

law

,

it

is

clear

that

,

before

the

said

separation

,

that

god

could

not

have

been

known

who

became

known

from

the

argument

of

the

separation

itself

.

He

therefore

could

not

have

been

revealed

by

Christ

,

who

came

before

the

separation

,

but

must

have

been

devised

by

Marcion

,

the

author

of

the

breach

of

peace

between

the

gospel

and

the

law

.

Now

this

peace

,

which

had

remained

unhurt

and

unshaken

from

Christ’s

appearance

to

the

time

of

Marcion’s

audacious

doctrine

,

was

no

doubt

maintained

by

that

way

of

thinking

,

which

firmly

held

that

the

God

of

both

law

and

gospel

was

none

other

than

the

Creator

,

against

whom

after

so

long

a

time

a

separation

has

been

introduced

by

the

heretic

of

Pontus

.

Notes

1
The third of these books against Marcion.
2
Circumlatorem.
3
The author says this, not as his own, but as Marcion’s opinion; as is clear from his own words in his fourth book against Marcion, c. 7, (Pamelius).
4
Spiritus salutaris.
5
Aura canicularis.
6
Primum processit.
7
Utriusque instrumenti.
8
Innotuit.