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The Five Books Against Marcion

Tertullian

Book 1 · Chapter 22

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 XXII.—God’s Attribute of Goodness Considered as Natural; The God of Marcion Found Wanting Herein. It Came Not to Man’s Rescue When First Wanted.

But how shall (this) Antichrist be

‹ Book 1 · Chapter 21 Book 1 · Chapter 23 ›

fully

overthrown

unless

we

relax

our

defence

by

mere

prescription

,

and

give

ourselves

scope

for

rebutting

all

his

other

attacks

?

Let

us

therefore

the

very

person

of

God

Himself

,

or

rather

His

shadow

or

phantom

,

as

we

have

it

in

Christ

,

and

let

Him

be

examined

by

that

condition

which

makes

Him

superior

to

the

Creator

.

And

undoubtedly

there

will

come

to

hand

unmistakeable

rules

for

examining

God’s

goodness

.

My

first

point

,

however

,

is

to

discover

and

apprehend

the

attribute

,

and

then

to

draw

it

out

into

rules

.

Now

,

when

I

survey

the

subject

in

its

aspects

of

time

,

I

nowhere

descry

it

from

the

beginning

of

material

existences

,

or

at

the

commencement

of

those

causes

,

with

which

it

ought

to

have

been

found

,

proceeding

thence

to

do

whatever

had

to

be

done

.

For

there

was

death

already

,

and

sin

the

sting

of

death

,

and

that

malignity

too

of

the

Creator

,

against

which

the

goodness

of

the

other

god

should

have

been

ready

to

bring

relief

;

falling

in

with

this

as

the

primary

rule

of

the

divine

goodness

(

if

it

were

to

prove

itself

a

natural

agency

)

,

at

once

coming

as

a

succour

when

the

cause

for

it

began

.

For

in

God

all

things

should

be

natural

and

inbred

,

just

like

His

own

condition

indeed

,

in

order

that

they

may

be

eternal

,

and

so

not

be

accounted

casual

and

extraneous

,

and

thereby

temporary

and

wanting

in

eternity

.

In

God

,

therefore

,

goodness

is

required

to

be

both

perpetual

and

unbroken

,

such

as

,

being

stored

up

and

kept

ready

in

the

treasures

of

His

natural

properties

,

might

precede

its

own

causes

and

material

developments

;

and

if

thus

preceding

,

might

underlie

every

first

material

cause

,

instead

of

looking

at

it

from

a

distance

,

and

standing

aloof

from

it

.

In

short

,

here

too

I

must

inquire

,

Why

his

goodness

did

not

operate

from

the

beginning

?

no

less

pointedly

than

when

we

inquired

concerning

himself

,

Why

he

was

not

revealed

from

the

very

first

?

Why

,

then

,

did

it

not

?

since

he

had

to

be

revealed

by

his

goodness

if

he

had

any

existence

.

That

God

should

at

all

fail

in

power

must

not

be

thought

,

much

less

that

He

should

not

discharge

all

His

natural

functions

;

for

if

these

were

restrained

from

running

their

course

,

they

would

cease

to

be

natural

.

Moreover

,

the

nature

of

God

Himself

knows

nothing

of

inactivity

.

Hence

(

His

goodness

)

is

reckoned

as

having

a

beginning

,

if

it

acts

.

It

will

thus

be

evident

that

He

had

no

unwillingness

to

exercise

His

goodness

at

any

time

on

account

of

His

nature

.

Indeed

,

it

is

impossible

that

He

should

be

unwilling

because

of

His

nature

,

since

that

so

directs

itself

that

it

would

no

longer

exist

if

it

ceased

to

act

.

In

Marcion’s

god

,

however

,

goodness

ceased

from

operation

at

some

time

or

other

.

A

goodness

,

therefore

,

which

could

thus

at

any

time

have

ceased

its

action

was

not

natural

,

because

with

natural

properties

such

cessation

is

incompatible

.

And

if

it

shall

not

prove

to

be

natural

,

it

must

no

longer

be

believed

to

be

eternal

nor

competent

to

Deity

;

because

it

cannot

be

eternal

so

long

as

,

failing

to

be

natural

,

it

neither

provides

from

the

past

nor

guarantees

for

the

future

any

means

of

perpetuating

itself

.

Now

as

a

fact

it

existed

not

from

the

beginning

,

and

,

doubtless

,

will

not

endure

to

the

end

.

For

it

is

possible

for

it

to

fail

in

existence

some

future

time

or

other

,

as

it

has

failed

in

some

past

period

.

Forasmuch

,

then

,

as

the

goodness

of

Marcion’s

god

failed

in

the

beginning

(

for

he

did

not

from

the

first

deliver

man

)

,

this

failure

must

have

been

the

effect

of

will

rather

than

of

infirmity

.

Now

a

wilful

suppression

of

goodness

will

be

found

to

have

a

malignant

end

in

view

.

For

what

malignity

is

so

great

as

to

be

unwilling

to

do

good

when

one

can

,

or

to

thwart

what

is

useful

,

or

to

permit

injury

?

The

whole

description

,

therefore

,

of

Marcion’s

Creator

will

have

to

be

transferred

to

his

new

god

,

who

helped

on

the

ruthless

proceedings

of

the

former

by

the

retardation

of

his

own

goodness

.

For

whosoever

has

it

in

his

power

to

prevent

the

happening

of

a

thing

,

is

accounted

responsible

for

it

if

it

should

occur

.

Man

is

condemned

to

death

for

tasting

the

fruit

of

one

poor

tree

,

and

thence

proceed

sins

with

their

penalties

;

and

now

all

are

perishing

who

yet

never

saw

a

single

sod

of

Paradise

.

And

all

this

your

better

god

either

is

ignorant

of

,

or

else

brooks

.

Is

it

that

he

might

on

this

account

be

deemed

the

better

,

and

the

Creator

be

regarded

as

all

that

the

worse

?

Even

if

this

were

his

purpose

he

would

be

malicious

enough

,

for

both

wishing

to

aggravate

his

rival’s

obloquy

by

permitting

His

(

evil

)

works

to

be

done

,

and

by

keeping

the

world

harrassed

by

the

wrong

.

What

would

you

think

of

a

physician

who

should

encourage

a

disease

by

withholding

the

remedy

,

and

prolong

the

danger

by

delaying

his

prescription

,

in

order

that

his

cure

might

be

more

costly

and

more

renowned

?

Such

must

be

the

sentence

to

be

pronounced

against

Marcion’s

god

:

tolerant

of

evil

,

encouraging

wrong

,

wheedling

about

his

grace

,

prevaricating

in

his

goodness

,

which

he

did

not

exhibit

simply

on

its

own

account

,

but

which

he

must

mean

to

exhibit

purely

,

if

he

is

good

by

nature

and

not

by

acquisition

,

if

he

is

supremely

good

in

attribute

and

not

by

discipline

,

if

he

is

God

from

eternity

and

not

from

Tiberius

,

nay

(

to

speak

more

truly

)

,

from

Cerdon

only

and

Marcion

.

As

the

case

now

stands

,

however

,

such

a

god

as

we

are

considering

would

have

been

more

fit

for

Tiberius

,

that

the

goodness

of

the

Divine

Being

might

be

inaugurated

in

the

world

under

his

imperial

sway

!

Notes

1
In his book, De Præscrip. Hæret., [cap. xv.] Tertullian had enjoined that heretics ought not to be argued with, but to be met with the authoritative rule of the faith. He here proposes to forego that course.
2
Marcion’s Docetic doctrine of Christ as having only appeared in human shape, without an actual incarnation, is indignantly confuted by Tertullian in his De Carne Christi, c.v.
3
That is, the principle in question—the bonitas Dei.
4
Exinde agens.
5
Obvenientia.
6
Jugis.
7
Susciperet.
8
Despiceret.
9
Destitueret.
10
That is, Marcion’s god’s.
11
Censetur.
12
Quandoque.
13
Aliquando.
14
Cruciare.
15
Rescribetur.
16
Sævitias.
17
Arbusculæ.
18
Si ut?
19
Accessione.
20
Ingenio.
21
Nunc. [Comp. chapter xv. supra, p. 282.]