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The Five Books Against Marcion

Tertullian

Book 3 · Chapter 3

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 III.—Miracles Alone, Without Prophecy, an Insufficient Evidence of Christ’s Mission.

A procedure of this kind, you say,

‹ Book 3 · Chapter 2 Book 3 · Chapter 4 ›

was

not

necessary

,

because

He

was

forthwith

to

prove

Himself

the

Son

and

the

Sent

One

,

and

the

Christ

of

God

in

very

deed

,

by

means

of

the

evidence

of

His

wonderful

works

.

On

my

side

,

however

,

I

have

to

deny

that

evidence

simply

of

this

sort

was

sufficient

as

a

testimony

to

Him

.

He

Himself

afterwards

deprived

it

of

its

authority

,

because

when

He

declared

that

many

would

come

and

“

show

great

signs

and

wonders

,

”

so

as

to

turn

aside

the

very

elect

,

and

yet

for

all

that

were

not

to

be

received

,

He

showed

how

rash

was

belief

in

signs

and

wonders

,

which

were

so

very

easy

of

accomplishment

by

even

false

christs

.

Else

how

happens

it

,

if

He

meant

Himself

to

be

approved

and

understood

,

and

received

on

a

certain

evidence

—

I

mean

that

of

miracles

—

that

He

forbade

the

recognition

of

those

others

who

had

the

very

same

sort

of

proof

to

show

,

and

whose

coming

was

to

be

quite

as

sudden

and

unannounced

by

any

authority

?

If

,

because

He

came

before

them

,

and

was

beforehand

with

them

in

displaying

the

signs

of

His

mighty

deeds

,

He

therefore

seized

the

first

right

to

men’s

faith

,

—

just

as

the

firstcomers

do

the

first

place

in

the

baths

,

—

and

so

forestalled

all

who

came

after

Him

in

that

right

,

take

care

that

He

,

too

,

be

not

caught

in

the

condition

of

the

later

comers

,

if

He

be

found

to

be

behindhand

with

the

Creator

,

who

had

already

been

made

known

,

and

had

already

worked

miracles

like

Him

,

and

like

Him

had

forewarned

men

not

to

believe

in

others

,

even

such

as

should

come

after

Him

.

If

,

therefore

,

to

have

been

the

first

to

come

and

utter

this

warning

,

is

to

bar

and

limit

faith

,

He

will

Himself

have

to

be

condemned

,

because

He

was

later

in

being

acknowledged

;

and

authority

to

prescribe

such

a

rule

about

later

comers

will

belong

to

the

Creator

alone

,

who

could

have

been

posterior

to

none

.

And

now

,

when

I

am

about

to

prove

that

the

Creator

sometimes

displayed

by

His

servants

of

old

,

and

in

other

cases

reserved

for

His

Christ

to

display

,

the

self

-

same

miracles

which

you

claim

as

solely

due

to

faith

in

your

Christ

,

I

may

fairly

even

from

this

maintain

that

there

was

so

much

the

greater

reason

wherefore

Christ

should

not

be

believed

in

simply

on

account

of

His

miracles

,

inasmuch

as

these

would

have

shown

Him

to

belong

to

none

other

(

God

)

than

the

Creator

,

because

answering

to

the

mighty

deeds

of

the

Creator

,

both

as

performed

by

His

servants

and

reserved

for

His

Christ

;

although

,

even

if

some

other

proofs

should

be

found

in

your

Christ

—

new

ones

,

to

wit

—

we

should

more

readily

believe

that

they

,

too

,

belong

to

the

same

God

as

do

the

old

ones

,

rather

than

to

him

who

has

no

other

than

new

proofs

,

such

as

are

wanting

in

the

evidences

of

that

antiquity

which

wins

the

assent

of

faith

,

so

that

even

on

this

ground

he

ought

to

have

come

announced

as

much

by

prophecies

of

his

own

building

up

faith

in

him

,

as

by

miracles

,

especially

in

opposition

to

the

Creator’s

Christ

who

was

to

come

fortified

by

signs

and

prophets

of

His

own

,

in

order

that

he

might

shine

forth

as

the

rival

of

Christ

by

help

of

evidence

of

different

kinds

.

But

how

was

his

Christ

to

be

foretold

by

a

god

who

was

himself

never

predicted

?

This

,

therefore

,

is

the

unavoidable

inference

,

that

neither

your

god

nor

your

Christ

is

an

object

of

faith

,

because

God

ought

not

to

have

been

unknown

,

and

Christ

ought

to

have

been

made

known

through

God

.

Notes

1
Ordo.
2
Virtutum, “miracles.”
3
Exauctoravit.
4
Matt. xxiv. 24. [See Kaye, p. 125.]
5
Auctore.
6
Proinde.
7
Cludet, quasi claudet.
8
Repromissis in.
9
Tantummodo nova.
10
Egentia experimentis fidei victricis vetustatis.
11
i.e., through God’s announcement by prophecy.