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The Five Books Against Marcion

Tertullian

Book 2 · Chapter 5

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 V.—Marcion’s Cavils Considered. His Objection Refuted, I.e., Man’s Fall Showed Failure in God. The Perfection of Man’s Being Lay in His Liberty, Which God Purposely Bestowed on Him. The Fall Imputable to Man’s Own Choice.

Now then, ye dogs, whom the

‹ Book 2 · Chapter 4 Book 2 · Chapter 6 ›

apostle

puts

outside

,

and

who

yelp

at

the

God

of

truth

,

let

us

come

to

your

various

questions

.

These

are

the

bones

of

contention

,

which

you

are

perpetually

gnawing

!

If

God

is

good

,

and

prescient

of

the

future

,

and

able

to

avert

evil

,

why

did

He

permit

man

,

the

very

image

and

likeness

of

Himself

,

and

,

by

the

origin

of

his

soul

,

His

own

substance

too

,

to

be

deceived

by

the

devil

,

and

fall

from

obedience

of

the

law

into

death

?

For

if

He

had

been

good

,

and

so

unwilling

that

such

a

catastrophe

should

happen

,

and

prescient

,

so

as

not

to

be

ignorant

of

what

was

to

come

to

pass

,

and

powerful

enough

to

hinder

its

occurrence

,

that

issue

would

never

have

come

about

,

which

should

be

impossible

under

these

three

conditions

of

the

divine

greatness

.

Since

,

however

,

it

has

occurred

,

the

contrary

proposition

is

most

certainly

true

,

that

God

must

be

deemed

neither

good

,

nor

prescient

,

nor

powerful

.

For

as

no

such

issue

could

have

happened

had

God

been

such

as

He

is

reputed

—

good

,

and

prescient

,

and

mighty

—

so

has

this

issue

actually

happened

,

because

He

is

not

such

a

God

.

In

reply

,

we

must

first

vindicate

those

attributes

in

the

Creator

which

are

called

in

question

—

namely

,

His

goodness

and

foreknowledge

,

and

power

.

But

I

shall

not

linger

long

over

this

point

for

Christ’s

own

definition

comes

to

our

aid

at

once

.

From

works

must

proofs

be

obtained

.

The

Creator’s

works

testify

at

once

to

His

goodness

,

since

they

are

good

,

as

we

have

shown

,

and

to

His

power

,

since

they

are

mighty

,

and

spring

indeed

out

of

nothing

.

And

even

if

they

were

made

out

of

some

(

matter

,

as

some

will

have

it

,

they

are

even

thus

out

of

nothing

,

because

they

were

not

what

they

are

.

In

short

,

both

they

are

great

because

they

are

good

;

and

God

is

likewise

mighty

,

because

all

things

are

His

own

,

whence

He

is

almighty

.

But

what

shall

I

say

of

His

prescience

,

which

has

for

its

witnesses

as

many

prophets

as

it

inspired

?

After

all

,

what

title

to

prescience

do

we

look

for

in

the

Author

of

the

universe

,

since

it

was

by

this

very

attribute

that

He

foreknew

all

things

when

He

appointed

them

their

places

,

and

appointed

them

their

places

when

He

foreknew

them

?

There

is

sin

itself

.

If

He

had

not

foreknown

this

,

He

would

not

have

proclaimed

a

caution

against

it

under

the

penalty

of

death

.

Now

if

there

were

in

God

such

attributes

as

must

have

rendered

it

both

impossible

and

improper

for

any

evil

to

have

happened

to

man

,

and

yet

evil

did

occur

,

let

us

consider

man’s

condition

also

—

whether

it

were

not

,

in

fact

,

rather

the

cause

why

that

came

to

pass

which

could

not

have

happened

through

God

.

I

find

,

then

,

that

man

was

by

God

constituted

free

,

master

of

his

own

will

and

power

;

indicating

the

presence

of

God’s

image

and

likeness

in

him

by

nothing

so

well

as

by

this

constitution

of

his

nature

.

For

it

was

not

by

his

face

,

and

by

the

lineaments

of

his

body

,

though

they

were

so

varied

in

his

human

nature

,

that

he

expressed

his

likeness

to

the

form

of

God

;

but

he

showed

his

stamp

in

that

essence

which

he

derived

from

God

Himself

(

that

is

,

the

spiritual

,

which

answered

to

the

form

of

God

)

,

and

in

the

freedom

and

power

of

his

will

.

This

his

state

was

confirmed

even

by

the

very

law

which

God

then

imposed

upon

him

.

For

a

law

would

not

be

imposed

upon

one

who

had

it

not

in

his

power

to

render

that

obedience

which

is

due

to

law

;

nor

again

,

would

the

penalty

of

death

be

threatened

against

sin

,

if

a

contempt

of

the

law

were

impossible

to

man

in

the

liberty

of

his

will

.

So

in

the

Creator’s

subsequent

laws

also

you

will

find

,

when

He

sets

before

man

good

and

evil

,

life

and

death

,

that

the

entire

course

of

discipline

is

arranged

in

precepts

by

God’s

calling

men

from

sin

,

and

threatening

and

exhorting

them

;

and

this

on

no

other

ground

than

that

man

is

free

,

with

a

will

either

for

obedience

or

resistance

.

Notes

1
Rev. xxii. 15.
2
Articulo.
3
John x. 25.
4
He refers to Hermogenes; see Adv. Hermog. chap. xxxii.
5
Vel…vel.
6
Quanquam.
7
As the Marcionites alleged.
8
Signatus est.
9
Animæ.
10
Nec alias nisi.