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The Five Books Against Marcion

Tertullian

Book 5 · Chapter 21

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 XXI.—The Epistle to Philemon. This Epistle Not Mutilated. Marcion’s Inconsistency in Accepting This, and Rejecting Three Other Epistles Addressed to Individuals. Conclusions. Tertullian Vindicates the Symmetry and Deliberate Purpose of His Work Against Marcion.

To this epistle alone did its brevity avail

‹ Book 5 · Chapter 20

to

protect

it

against

the

falsifying

hands

of

Marcion

.

I

wonder

,

however

,

when

he

received

(

into

his

Apostolicon

)

this

letter

which

was

written

but

to

one

man

,

that

he

rejected

the

two

epistles

to

Timothy

and

the

one

to

Titus

,

which

all

treat

of

ecclesiastical

discipline

.

His

aim

,

was

,

I

suppose

,

to

carry

out

his

interpolating

process

even

to

the

number

of

(

St

.

Paul’s

)

epistles

.

And

now

,

reader

,

I

beg

you

to

remember

that

we

have

here

adduced

proofs

out

of

the

apostle

,

in

support

of

the

subjects

which

we

previously

had

to

handle

,

and

that

we

have

now

brought

to

a

close

the

topics

which

we

deferred

to

this

(

portion

of

our

)

work

.

(

This

favour

I

request

of

you

,

)

that

you

may

not

think

that

any

repetition

here

has

been

superfluous

,

for

we

have

only

fulfilled

our

former

engagement

to

you

;

nor

look

with

suspicion

on

any

postponement

there

,

where

we

merely

set

forth

the

essential

points

(

of

the

argument

)

.

If

you

carefully

examine

the

entire

work

,

you

will

acquit

us

of

either

having

been

redundant

here

,

or

diffident

there

,

in

your

own

honest

judgment

.

Notes

1
Inspector: perhaps critic.
2
Retro: in the former portions of this treatise.
3
Expunxerimus.
4
Qua eruimus ipsa ista.
5
[Elucidation II.]