The Five Books Against Marcion
Classic translation
3rd c. · Polemics & Heresiology · English translation, 1890
Source edition: The Ante-Nicene Fathers (ed. Roberts & Donaldson, 1885)
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Contents
- Introductory Notes
- Book 1
- 1. Preface. Reason for a New Work. Pontus Lends Its Rough Character to the…
- 2. Marcion, Aided by Cerdon, Teaches a Duality of Gods; How He Constructed This…
- 3. The Unity of God. He is the Supreme Being, and There Cannot Be a Second…
- 4. Defence of the Divine Unity Against Objection. No Analogy Between Human…
- 5. The Dual Principle Falls to the Ground; Plurality of Gods, of Whatever…
- 6. Marcion Untrue to His Theory. He Pretends that His Gods are Equal, But He…
- 7. Other Beings Besides God are in Scripture Called God. This Objection…
- 8. Specific Points. The Novelty of Marcion’s God Fatal to His Pretensions. God…
- 9. Marcion’s Gnostic Pretensions Vain, for the True God is Neither Unknown Nor…
- 10. The Creator Was Known as the True God from the First by His Creation…
- 11. The Evidence for God External to Him; But the External Creation Which…
- 12. Impossibility of Acknowledging God Without This External Evidence Of His…
- 13. The Marcionites Depreciate the Creation, Which, However, is a Worthy…
- 14. All Portions of Creation Attest the Excellence of the Creator, Whom Marcion…
- 15. The Lateness of the Revelation of Marcion’s God. The Question of the Place…
- 16. Marcion Assumes the Existence of Two Gods from the Antithesis Between…
- 17. Not Enough, as the Marcionites Pretend, that the Supreme God Should Rescue…
- 18. Notwithstanding Their Conceits, the God of the Marcionites Fails in the…
- 19. Jesus Christ, the Revealer of the Creator, Could Not Be the Same as…
- 20. Marcion, Justifying His Antithesis Between the Law and the Gospel by the…
- 21. St. Paul Preached No New God, When He Announced the Repeal of Some of God’s…
- 22. God’s Attribute of Goodness Considered as Natural; The God of Marcion Found…
- 23. God’s Attribute of Goodness Considered as Rational. Marcion’s God Defective…
- 24. The Goodness of Marcion’s God Only Imperfectly Manifested; It Saves But…
- 25. God is Not a Being of Simple Goodness; Other Attributes Belong to Him…
- 26. In the Attribute of Justice, Marcion’s God is Hopelessly Weak and…
- 27. Dangerous Effects to Religion and Morality of the Doctrine of So Weak a God
- 28. This Perverse Doctrine Deprives Baptism of All Its Grace. If Marcion Be…
- 29. Marcion Forbids Marriage. Tertullian Eloquently Defends It as Holy, and…
- Book 2
- 1. The Methods of Marcion’s Argument Incorrect and Absurd. The Proper Course of…
- 2. The True Doctrine of God the Creator. The Heretics Pretended to a Knowledge…
- 3. God Known by His Works. His Goodness Shown in His Creative Energy; But…
- 4. The Next Stage Occurs in the Creation of Man by the Eternal Word. Spiritual…
- 5. Marcion’s Cavils Considered. His Objection Refuted, I.e., Man’s Fall Showed…
- 6. This Liberty Vindicated in Respect of Its Original Creation; Suitable Also…
- 7. If God Had Anyhow Checked Man’s Liberty, Marcion Would Have Been Ready with…
- 8. Man, Endued with Liberty, Superior to the Angels, Overcomes Even the Angel…
- 9. Another Cavil Answered, I.e., the Fall Imputable to God, Because Man’s Soul…
- 10. Another Cavil Met, I.e., the Devil Who Instigated Man to Sin Himself the…
- 11. If, After Man’s Sin, God Exercised His Attribute of Justice and Judgment…
- 12. The Attributes of Goodness and Justice Should Not Be Separated. They are…
- 13. Further Description of the Divine Justice; Since the Fall of Man It Has…
- 14. Evil of Two Kinds, Penal and Criminal. It is Not of the Latter Sort that…
- 15. The Severity of God Compatible with Reason and Justice. When Inflicted, Not…
- 16. To the Severity of God There Belong Accessory Qualities, Compatible with…
- 17. Trace God’s Government in History and in His Precepts, and You Will Find It…
- 18. Some of God’s Laws Defended as Good, Which the Marcionites Impeached, Such…
- 19. The Minute Prescriptions of the Law Meant to Keep the People Dependent on…
- 20. The Marcionites Charged God with Having Instigated the Hebrews to Spoil the…
- 21. The Law of the Sabbath-Day Explained. The Eight Days’ Procession Around…
- 22. The Brazen Serpent and the Golden Cherubim Were Not Violations of the…
- 23. God’s Purposes in Election and Rejection of the Same Men, Such as King…
- 24. Instances of God’s Repentance, and Notably in the Case of the Ninevites…
- 25. God’s Dealings with Adam at the Fall, and with Cain After His Crime…
- 26. The Oath of God: Its Meaning. Moses, When Deprecating God’s Wrath Against…
- 27. Other Objections Considered. God’s Condescension in the Incarnation…
- 28. The Tables Turned Upon Marcion, by Contrasts, in Favour of the True God
- 29. Marcion’s Own Antitheses, If Only the Title and Object of the Work Be…
- Book 3
- 1. Introductory; A Brief Statement of the Preceding Argument in Connection with…
- 2. Why Christ’s Coming Should Be Previously Announced
- 3. Miracles Alone, Without Prophecy, an Insufficient Evidence of Christ’s…
- 4. Marcion’s Christ Not the Subject of Prophecy. The Absurd Consequences of…
- 5. Sundry Features of the Prophetic Style: Principles of Its Interpretation
- 6. Community in Certain Points of Marcionite and Jewish Error. Prophecies of…
- 7. Prophecy Sets Forth Two Different Conditions of Christ, One Lowly, the Other…
- 8. Absurdity of Marcion’s Docetic Opinions; Reality of Christ’s Incarnation
- 9. Refutation of Marcion’s Objections Derived from the Cases of the Angels, and…
- 10. The Truly Incarnate State More Worthy of God Than Marcion’s Fantastic Flesh
- Christ Was Truly Born; Marcion's Absurd Cavil in Defence of a Putative Nativity
- 12. Isaiah’s Prophecy of Emmanuel. Christ Entitled to that Name
- 13. Isaiah’s Prophecies Considered. The Virginity of Christ’s Mother a Sign…
- 14. Figurative Style of Certain Messianic Prophecies in the Psalms. Military…
- 15. The Title Christ Suitable as a Name of the Creator’s Son, But Unsuited to…
- 16. The Sacred Name Jesus Most Suited to the Christ of the Creator. Joshua a…
- 17. Prophecies in Isaiah and the Psalms Respecting Christ’s Humiliation
- 18. Types of the Death of Christ. Isaac; Joseph; Jacob Against Simeon and Levi…
- 19. Prophecies of the Death of Christ
- 20. The Subsequent Influence of Christ’s Death in the World Predicted. The Sure…
- 21. The Call of the Gentiles Under the Influence of the Gospel Foretold
- 22. The Success of the Apostles, and Their Sufferings in the Cause of the…
- 23. The Dispersion of the Jews, and Their Desolate Condition for Rejecting…
- Christ's Millennial and Heavenly Glory in Company With His Saints
- Book 4
- 1. Examination of the Antitheses of Marcion, Bringing Them to the Test of…
- 2. St. Luke’s Gospel, Selected by Marcion as His Authority, and Mutilated by…
- 3. Marcion Insinuated the Untrustworthiness of Certain Apostles Whom St. Paul…
- 4. Each Side Claims to Possess the True Gospel. Antiquity the Criterion of…
- 5. By the Rule of Antiquity, the Catholic Gospels are Found to Be True…
- 6. Marcion’s Object in Adulterating the Gospel. No Difference Between the…
- 7. Marcion Rejected the Preceding Portion of St. Luke’s Gospel. Therefore This…
- 8. Other Proofs from the Same Chapter, that Jesus, Who Preached at Nazareth…
- 9. Out of St. Luke’s Fifth Chapter are Found Proofs of Christ’s Belonging to…
- 10. Further Proofs of the Same Truth in the Same Chapter, from the Healing of…
- 11. The Call of Levi the Publican. Christ in Relation to the Baptist. Christ as…
- Christ's Authority Over the Sabbath. As Its Lord He Recalled It From Pharisaic…
- Christ's Connection With the Creator Shown. Many Quotations Out of the Old…
- Christ's Sermon on the Mount. In Manner and Contents It So Resembles the…
- 15. Sermon on the Mount Continued. Its Woes in Strict Agreement with the…
- 16. The Precept of Loving One’s Enemies. It is as Much Taught in the Creator’s…
- 17. Concerning Loans. Prohibition of Usury and the Usurious Spirit. The Law…
- 18. Concerning the Centurion’s Faith. The Raising of the Widow’s Son. John…
- 19. The Rich Women of Piety Who Followed Jesus Christ’s Teaching by Parables…
- 20. Comparison of Christ’s Power Over Winds and Waves with Moses’ Command of…
- Christ's Connection With the Creator Shown From Several Incidents in the Old…
- 22. The Same Conclusion Supported by the Transfiguration. Marcion Inconsistent…
- 23. Impossible that Marcion’s Christ Should Reprove the Faithless Generation…
- 24. On the Mission of the Seventy Disciples, and Christ’s Charge to Them…
- Christ Thanks the Father for Revealing to Babes What He Had Concealed From the…
- 26. From St. Luke’s Eleventh Chapter Other Evidence that Christ Comes from the…
- Christ's Reprehension of the Pharisees Seeking a Sign. His Censure of Their…
- 28. Examples from the Old Testament, Balaam, Moses, and Hezekiah, to Show How…
- 29. Parallels from the Prophets to Illustrate Christ’s Teaching in the Rest of…
- 30. Parables of the Mustard-Seed, and of the Leaven. Transition to the Solemn…
- Christ's Advice to Invite the Poor in Accordance With Isaiah. The Parable of…
- 32. A Sort of Sorites, as the Logicians Call It, to Show that the Parables of…
- 33. The Marcionite Interpretation of God and Mammon Refuted. The Prophets…
- 34. Moses, Allowing Divorce, and Christ Prohibiting It, Explained. John Baptist…
- 35. The Judicial Severity of Christ and the Tenderness of the Creator, Asserted…
- 36. The Parables of the Importunate Widow, and of the Pharisee and the…
- Christ and Zacchæus. The Salvation of the Body as Denied by Marcion. The…
- Christ's Refutations of the Pharisees. Rendering Dues to Cæsar and to God. Next…
- 39. Concerning Those Who Come in the Name of Christ. The Terrible Signs of His…
- 40. How the Steps in the Passion of the Saviour Were Predetermined in Prophecy…
- 41. The Woe Pronounced on the Traitor a Judicial Act, Which Disproves Christ to…
- 42. Other Incidents of the Passion Minutely Compared with Prophecy. Pilate and…
- 43. Conclusions. Jesus as the Christ of the Creator Proved from the Events of…
- Dr. Holmes' Note
- Elucidations
- Additional Note
- Book 5
- 1. Introductory. The Apostle Paul Himself Not the Preacher of a New God. Called…
- 2. On the Epistle to the Galatians. The Abolition of the Ordinances of the…
- 3. St. Paul Quite in Accordance with St. Peter and Other Apostles of the…
- 4. Another Instance of Marcion’s Tampering with St. Paul’s Text. The Fulness of…
- 5. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. The Pauline Salutation of Grace and…
- 6. The Divine Way of Wisdom, and Greatness, and Might. God’s Hiding of Himself…
- 7. St. Paul’s Phraseology Often Suggested by the Jewish Scriptures. Christ Our…
- 8. Man the Image of the Creator, and Christ the Head of the Man. Spiritual…
- 9. The Doctrine of the Resurrection. The Body Will Rise Again. Christ’s…
- 10. Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Body, Continued. How are the Dead…
- 11. The Second Epistle to the Corinthians. The Creator the Father of Mercies…
- 12. The Eternal Home in Heaven. Beautiful Exposition by Tertullian of the…
- 13. The Epistle to the Romans. St. Paul Cannot Help Using Phrases Which Bespeak…
- 14. The Divine Power Shown in Christ’s Incarnation. Meaning of St. Paul’s…
- 15. The First Epistle to the Thessalonians. The Shorter Epistles Pungent in…
- 16. The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians. An Absurd Erasure of Marcion; Its…
- 17. The Epistle to the Laodiceans. The Proper Designation is to the Ephesians…
- 18. Another Foolish Erasure of Marcion’s Exposed. Certain Figurative…
- 19. The Epistle to the Colossians. Time the Criterion of Truth and Heresy…
- 20. The Epistle to the Philippians. The Variances Amongst the Preachers of…
- 21. The Epistle to Philemon. This Epistle Not Mutilated. Marcion’s…
- Elucidations