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The Five Books Against Marcion

Tertullian

Book 1 · Chapter 11

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 XI.—The Evidence for God External to Him; But the External Creation Which Yields This Evidence is Really Not Extraneous, for All Things are God’s. Marcion’s God, Having Nothing to Show for Himself, No God at All. Marcion’s Scheme Absurdly Defective, Not Furnishing Evidence for His New God’s Existence, Which Should at Least Be Able to Compete with the Full Evidence of the Creator.

And justly so, they say.

‹ Book 1 · Chapter 10 Book 1 · Chapter 12 ›

For

who

is

there

that

is

less

well

known

by

his

own

(

inherent

)

qualities

than

by

strange

ones

?

No

one

.

Well

,

I

keep

to

this

statement

.

How

could

anything

be

strange

to

God

,

to

whom

,

if

He

were

personally

existent

,

nothing

would

be

strange

?

For

this

is

the

attribute

of

God

,

that

all

things

are

His

,

and

all

things

belong

to

Him

;

or

else

this

question

would

not

so

readily

be

heard

from

us

:

What

has

He

to

do

with

things

strange

to

Him

?

—

a

point

which

will

be

more

fully

noticed

in

its

proper

place

.

It

is

now

sufficient

to

observe

,

that

no

one

is

proved

to

exist

to

whom

nothing

is

proved

to

belong

.

For

as

the

Creator

is

shown

to

be

God

,

God

without

any

doubt

,

from

the

fact

that

all

things

are

His

,

and

nothing

is

strange

to

Him

;

so

the

rival

god

is

seen

to

be

no

god

,

from

the

circumstance

that

nothing

is

his

,

and

all

things

are

therefore

strange

to

him

.

Since

,

then

,

the

universe

belongs

to

the

Creator

,

I

see

no

room

for

any

other

god

.

All

things

are

full

of

their

Author

,

and

occupied

by

Him

.

If

in

created

beings

there

be

any

portion

of

space

anywhere

void

of

Deity

,

the

void

will

be

of

a

false

deity

clearly

.

By

falsehood

the

truth

is

made

clear

.

Why

cannot

the

vast

crowd

of

false

gods

somewhere

find

room

for

Marcion’s

god

?

This

,

therefore

,

I

insist

upon

,

from

the

character

of

the

Creator

,

that

God

must

have

been

known

from

the

works

of

some

world

peculiarly

His

own

,

both

in

its

human

constituents

,

and

the

rest

of

its

organic

life

;

when

even

the

error

of

the

world

has

presumed

to

call

gods

those

men

whom

it

sometimes

acknowledges

,

on

the

ground

that

in

every

such

case

something

is

seen

which

provides

for

the

uses

and

advantages

of

life

.

Accordingly

,

this

also

was

believed

from

the

character

of

God

to

be

a

divine

function

;

namely

,

to

teach

or

point

out

what

is

convenient

and

needful

in

human

concerns

.

So

completely

has

the

authority

which

has

given

influence

to

a

false

divinity

been

borrowed

from

that

source

,

whence

it

had

previously

flowed

forth

to

the

true

one

.

One

stray

vegetable

at

least

Marcion’s

god

ought

to

have

produced

as

his

own

;

so

might

he

be

preached

up

as

a

new

Triptolemus

.

Or

else

state

some

reason

which

shall

be

worthy

of

a

God

,

why

he

,

supposing

him

to

exist

,

created

nothing

;

because

he

must

,

on

supposition

of

his

existence

,

have

been

a

creator

,

on

that

very

principle

on

which

it

is

clear

to

us

that

our

God

is

no

otherwise

existent

,

than

as

having

been

the

Creator

of

this

universe

of

ours

.

For

,

once

for

all

,

the

rule

will

hold

good

,

that

they

cannot

both

acknowledge

the

Creator

to

be

God

,

and

also

prove

him

divine

whom

they

wish

to

be

equally

believed

in

as

God

,

except

they

adjust

him

to

the

standard

of

Him

whom

they

and

all

men

hold

to

be

God

;

which

is

this

,

that

whereas

no

one

doubts

the

Creator

to

be

God

on

the

express

ground

of

His

having

made

the

universe

,

so

,

on

the

selfsame

ground

,

no

one

ought

to

believe

that

he

also

is

God

who

has

made

nothing

—

except

,

indeed

,

some

good

reason

be

forthcoming

.

And

this

must

needs

be

limited

to

one

of

two

:

he

was

either

unwilling

to

create

,

or

else

unable

.

There

is

no

third

reason

.

Now

,

that

he

was

unable

,

is

a

reason

unworthy

of

God

.

Whether

to

have

been

unwilling

to

be

a

worthy

one

,

I

want

to

inquire

.

Tell

me

,

Marcion

,

did

your

god

wish

himself

to

be

recognised

at

any

time

or

not

?

With

what

other

purpose

did

he

come

down

from

heaven

,

and

preach

,

and

having

suffered

rise

again

from

the

dead

,

if

it

were

not

that

he

might

be

acknowledged

?

And

,

doubtless

,

since

he

was

acknowledged

,

he

willed

it

.

For

no

circumstance

could

have

happened

to

him

,

if

he

had

been

unwilling

.

What

indeed

tended

so

greatly

to

the

knowledge

of

himself

,

as

his

appearing

in

the

humiliation

of

the

flesh

,

—

a

degradation

all

the

lower

indeed

if

the

flesh

were

only

illusory

?

For

it

was

all

the

more

shameful

if

he

,

who

brought

on

himself

the

Creator’s

curse

by

hanging

on

a

tree

,

only

pretended

the

assumption

of

a

bodily

substance

.

A

far

nobler

foundation

might

he

have

laid

for

the

knowledge

of

himself

in

some

evidences

of

a

creation

of

his

own

,

especially

when

he

had

to

become

known

in

opposition

to

Him

in

whose

territory

he

had

remained

unknown

by

any

works

from

the

beginning

.

For

how

happens

it

that

the

Creator

,

although

unaware

,

as

the

Marcionites

aver

,

of

any

god

being

above

Himself

,

and

who

used

to

declare

even

with

an

oath

that

He

existed

alone

,

should

have

guarded

by

such

mighty

works

the

knowledge

of

Himself

,

about

which

,

on

the

assumption

of

His

being

alone

without

a

rival

,

He

might

have

spared

Himself

all

care

;

while

the

Superior

God

,

knowing

all

the

while

how

well

furnished

in

power

His

inferior

rival

was

,

should

have

made

no

provision

at

all

towards

getting

Himself

acknowledged

?

Whereas

He

ought

to

have

produced

works

more

illustrious

and

exalted

still

,

in

order

that

He

might

,

after

the

Creator’s

standard

,

both

be

acknowledged

as

God

from

His

works

,

and

even

by

nobler

deeds

show

Himself

to

be

more

potent

and

more

gracious

than

the

Creator

.

Notes

1
Extraneous.
2
Extraneum.
3
Alius.
4
Plane falsæ vacabit.
5
Forma.
6
Proprii sui mundi, et hominis et sæculi.
7
[Kaye, p. 206.]
8
Cicerculam.
9
[—“uncique puer monstrator aratri,” Virg. Georg. i. 19, and see Heyne’s note.]
10
Præscriptio.
11
Tertium cessat.
12
Falsæ. An allusion to the Docetism of Marcion.
13
Apud quem.