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The Five Books Against Marcion

Tertullian

Book 4 · Chapter 33

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 XXXIII.—The Marcionite Interpretation of God and Mammon Refuted. The Prophets Justify Christ’s Admonition Against Covetousness and Pride. John Baptist the Link Between the Old and the New Dispensations of the Creator. So Said Christ—But So Also Had Isaiah Said Long Before. One Only God, the Creator, by His Own Will Changed the Dispensations. No New God Had a Hand in the Change.

What the two masters are who,

‹ Book 4 · Chapter 32 Book 4 · Chapter 34 ›

He

says

,

cannot

be

served

,

on

the

ground

that

while

one

is

pleased

the

other

must

needs

be

displeased

,

He

Himself

makes

clear

,

when

He

mentions

God

and

mammon

.

Then

,

if

you

have

no

interpreter

by

you

,

you

may

learn

again

from

Himself

what

He

would

have

understood

by

mammon

.

For

when

advising

us

to

provide

for

ourselves

the

help

of

friends

in

worldly

affairs

,

after

the

example

of

that

steward

who

,

when

removed

from

his

office

,

relieves

his

lord’s

debtors

by

lessening

their

debts

with

a

view

to

their

recompensing

him

with

their

help

,

He

said

,

“

And

I

say

unto

you

,

Make

to

yourselves

friends

of

the

mammon

of

unrighteousness

,

”

that

is

to

say

,

of

money

,

even

as

the

steward

had

done

.

Now

we

are

all

of

us

aware

that

money

is

the

instigator

of

unrighteousness

,

and

the

lord

of

the

whole

world

.

Therefore

,

when

he

saw

the

covetousness

of

the

Pharisees

doing

servile

worship

to

it

,

He

hurled

this

sentence

against

them

,

“

Ye

cannot

serve

God

and

mammon

.

”

Then

the

Pharisees

,

who

were

covetous

of

riches

,

derided

Him

,

when

they

understood

that

by

mammon

He

meant

money

.

Let

no

one

think

that

under

the

word

mammon

the

Creator

was

meant

,

and

that

Christ

called

them

off

from

the

service

of

the

Creator

.

What

folly

!

Rather

learn

therefrom

that

one

God

was

pointed

out

by

Christ

.

For

they

were

two

masters

whom

He

named

,

God

and

mammon

—

the

Creator

and

money

.

You

cannot

indeed

serve

God

—

Him

,

of

course

whom

they

seemed

to

serve

—

and

mammon

to

whom

they

preferred

to

devote

themselves

.

If

,

however

,

he

was

giving

himself

out

as

another

god

,

it

would

not

be

two

masters

,

but

three

,

that

he

had

pointed

out

.

For

the

Creator

was

a

master

,

and

much

more

of

a

master

,

to

be

sure

,

than

mammon

,

and

more

to

be

adored

,

as

being

more

truly

our

Master

.

Now

,

how

was

it

likely

that

He

who

had

called

mammon

a

master

,

and

had

associated

him

with

God

,

should

say

nothing

of

Him

who

was

really

the

Master

of

even

these

,

that

is

,

the

Creator

?

Or

else

,

by

this

silence

respecting

Him

did

He

concede

that

service

might

be

rendered

to

Him

,

since

it

was

to

Himself

alone

and

to

mammon

that

He

said

service

could

not

be

(

simultaneously

)

rendered

?

When

,

therefore

,

He

lays

down

the

position

that

God

is

one

,

since

He

would

have

been

sure

to

mention

the

Creator

if

He

were

Himself

a

rival

to

Him

,

He

did

(

virtually

)

name

the

Creator

,

when

He

refrained

from

insisting

”

that

He

was

Master

alone

,

without

a

rival

god

.

Accordingly

,

this

will

throw

light

upon

the

sense

in

which

it

was

said

,

“

If

ye

have

not

been

faithful

in

the

unrighteous

mammon

,

who

will

commit

to

your

trust

the

true

riches

?

”

“

In

the

unrighteous

mammon

,

”

that

is

to

say

,

in

unrighteous

riches

,

not

in

the

Creator

;

for

even

Marcion

allows

Him

to

be

righteous

:

“

And

if

ye

have

not

been

faithful

in

that

which

is

another

man’s

,

who

will

give

to

you

that

which

is

mine

?

”

For

whatever

is

unrighteous

ought

to

be

foreign

to

the

servants

of

God

.

But

in

what

way

was

the

Creator

foreign

to

the

Pharisees

,

seeing

that

He

was

the

proper

God

of

the

Jewish

nation

?

Forasmuch

then

as

the

words

,

“

Who

will

entrust

to

you

the

truer

riches

?

”

and

,

“

Who

will

give

you

that

which

is

mine

?

”

are

only

suitable

to

the

Creator

and

not

to

mammon

,

He

could

not

have

uttered

them

as

alien

to

the

Creator

,

and

in

the

interest

of

the

rival

god

.

He

could

only

seem

to

have

spoken

them

in

this

sense

,

if

,

when

remarking

their

unfaithfulness

to

the

Creator

and

not

to

mammon

,

He

had

drawn

some

distinctions

between

the

Creator

(

in

his

manner

of

mentioning

Him

)

and

the

rival

god

—

how

that

the

latter

would

not

commit

his

own

truth

to

those

who

were

unfaithful

to

the

Creator

.

How

then

can

he

possibly

seem

to

belong

to

another

god

,

if

He

be

not

set

forth

,

with

the

express

intention

of

being

separated

from

the

very

thing

which

is

in

question

.

But

when

the

Pharisees

“

justified

themselves

before

men

,

”

and

placed

their

hope

of

reward

in

man

,

He

censured

them

in

the

sense

in

which

the

prophet

Jeremiah

said

,

“

Cursed

is

the

man

that

trusteth

in

man

.

”

Since

the

prophet

went

on

to

say

,

“

But

the

Lord

knoweth

your

hearts

,

”

he

magnified

the

power

of

that

God

who

declared

Himself

to

be

as

a

lamp

,

“

searching

the

reins

and

the

heart

.

”

When

He

strikes

at

pride

in

the

words

:

“

That

which

is

highly

esteemed

among

men

is

abomination

in

the

sight

of

God

,

”

He

recalls

Isaiah

:

“

For

the

day

of

the

Lord

of

hosts

shall

be

upon

every

one

that

is

proud

and

lofty

,

and

upon

every

one

that

is

arrogant

and

lifted

up

,

and

they

shall

be

brought

low

.

”

I

can

now

make

out

why

Marcion’s

god

was

for

so

long

an

age

concealed

.

He

was

,

I

suppose

,

waiting

until

he

had

learnt

all

these

things

from

the

Creator

.

He

continued

his

pupillage

up

to

the

time

of

John

,

and

then

proceeded

forthwith

to

announce

the

kingdom

of

God

,

saying

:

“

The

law

and

the

prophets

were

until

John

;

since

that

time

the

kingdom

of

God

is

proclaimed

.

”

Just

as

if

we

also

did

not

recognise

in

John

a

certain

limit

placed

between

the

old

dispensation

and

the

new

,

at

which

Judaism

ceased

and

Christianity

began

—

without

,

however

,

supposing

that

it

was

by

the

power

of

another

god

that

there

came

about

a

cessation

of

the

law

and

the

prophets

and

the

commencement

of

that

gospel

in

which

is

the

kingdom

of

God

,

Christ

Himself

.

For

although

,

as

we

have

shown

,

the

Creator

foretold

that

the

old

state

of

things

would

pass

away

and

a

new

state

would

succeed

,

yet

,

inasmuch

as

John

is

shown

to

be

both

the

forerunner

and

the

preparer

of

the

ways

of

that

Lord

who

was

to

introduce

the

gospel

and

publish

the

kingdom

of

God

,

it

follows

from

the

very

fact

that

John

has

come

,

that

Christ

must

be

that

very

Being

who

was

to

follow

His

harbinger

John

.

So

that

,

if

the

old

course

has

ceased

and

the

new

has

begun

,

with

John

intervening

between

them

,

there

will

be

nothing

wonderful

in

it

,

because

it

happens

according

to

the

purpose

of

the

Creator

;

so

that

you

may

get

a

better

proof

for

the

kingdom

of

God

from

any

quarter

,

however

anomalous

,

than

from

the

conceit

that

the

law

and

the

prophets

ended

in

John

,

and

a

new

state

of

things

began

after

him

.

“

More

easily

,

therefore

,

may

heaven

and

earth

pass

away

—

as

also

the

law

and

the

prophets

—

than

that

one

tittle

of

the

Lord’s

words

should

fail

.

”

“

For

,

”

as

says

Isaiah

:

“

the

word

of

our

God

shall

stand

for

ever

.

”

Since

even

then

by

Isaiah

it

was

Christ

,

the

Word

and

Spirit

of

the

Creator

,

who

prophetically

described

John

as

“

the

voice

of

one

crying

in

the

wilderness

to

prepare

the

way

of

the

Lord

,

”

and

as

about

to

come

for

the

purpose

of

terminating

thenceforth

the

course

of

the

law

and

the

prophets

;

by

their

fulfilment

and

not

their

extinction

,

and

in

order

that

the

kingdom

of

God

might

be

announced

by

Christ

,

He

therefore

purposely

added

the

assurance

that

the

elements

would

more

easily

pass

away

than

His

words

fail

;

affirming

,

as

He

did

,

the

further

fact

,

that

what

He

had

said

concerning

John

had

not

fallen

to

the

ground

.

Notes

1
Luke xvi. 13.
2
Defendi.
3
Offendi.
4
What in the Punic language is called Mammon, says Rigaltius, the Latins call lucrum, “gain or lucre.” See Augustine, Serm. xxxv. de Verbo domini. I would add Jerome, On the VI. of Matthew where he says: “In the Syriac tongue, riches are called mammon.” And Augustine, in another passage, book ii., On the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, says: “Riches in Hebrew are said to be called mammon. This is evidently a Punic word, for in that language the synonyme for gain (lucrum) is mammon.” Compare the same author on Ps. ciii. (Oehler).
5
Ab actu.
6
Auctorem.
7
Famulatam.
8
Ammentavit.
9
Luke xvi. 13.
10
Magis destinabantur: middle voice.
11
Utique.
12
Nominaturus.
13
Alius.
14
Quem non posuit.
15
Luke xvi. 11.
16
Meum: Luke xvi. 12, where, however, the word is τὸ ὑμέτερον, that which is your own.”
17
Notando.
18
Ad hoc ut seperatur.
19
Luke xvi. 15.
20
Jer. xvii. 5.
21
Jer. xvii. 10, in sense but not in letter.
22
Jer. xx. 12.
23
Luke xvi. 15.
24
Isa. ii. 12 (Sept).
25
Luke xvi. 16.
26
Sedatio: literally, “a setting to rest,” ἠρέμησις.
27
Ut undeunde magis probetur…regnum Dei.
28
Luke xvi. 17 and xxi. 23.
29
Isa. xl. 8.
30
See above, note on chap. xxviii., towards the end, on this designation of Christ’s divine nature.
31
Isa. xl. 3.