True Testament

    Imperial Fathers

    The writers who quoted Marcion

    No copy of Marcion's scriptures survives. What we have, we have from the writers of the imperial church who attacked him between about 200 and 450, and quoted his text to do it. Every Attested verse in the True Testament rests on one of them.

    The witnesses

    Portrait of Tertullian of Carthage

    Tertullian of Carthage

    Against Marcion, c. 207-208 · Carthage, North Africa · Latin

    TT verses

    Wrote five books against Marcion. Book 4 walks through Marcion's Gospel in order and book 5 through his ten letters, quoting as he goes, which makes him the fullest witness we have.

    About 63 years after Marcion published in Rome.

    From our Library

    Portrait of Origen of Alexandria

    Origen of Alexandria

    3rd century · Alexandria and Caesarea · Greek

    TT verses

    Remarks on Marcion's text in several works, most usefully in his Commentary on Romans, which reports how Marcion's Romans ended.

    About 96 years after Marcion published in Rome.

    • Commentary on Romans
    • Commentary on Matthew
    • Against Celsus
    Portrait of Adamantius

    Adamantius

    c. 300 · Eastern Mediterranean · Greek

    TT verses

    The Dialogue on the True Faith stages a debate in which Marcionite speakers quote their own scriptures, so it preserves readings in their own words.

    About 156 years after Marcion published in Rome.

    • Dialogue on the True Faith
    Portrait of Ephrem the Syrian

    Ephrem the Syrian

    4th century · Nisibis and Edessa, Syria · Syriac

    TT verses

    Wrote in Syriac against Marcion, Bardaisan and Mani, in prose refutations and in hymns.

    About 216 years after Marcion published in Rome.

    • Against Marcion I
    • Against Marcion II
    • Hymns Against Heresies
    Portrait of Epiphanius of Salamis

    Epiphanius of Salamis

    Panarion, c. 375 · Salamis, Cyprus · Greek

    TT verses

    In section 42 of his Panarion he lists passages from Marcion's Gospel and letters as numbered scholia, each followed by his rebuttal.

    About 231 years after Marcion published in Rome.

    • Panarion 42, with the scholia

    From our Library

    • Against Epiphanius
      Our reply to Panarion 42, working through all 118 of his excerpts in our own translation
    Portrait of Eznik of Kolb

    Eznik of Kolb

    5th century · Armenia · Armenian

    TT verses

    An Armenian bishop whose De Deo, or Against the Sects, closes with a book against the Marcionites.

    About 296 years after Marcion published in Rome.

    • De Deo (Against the Sects)

    Also on file, not yet tied to verses

    • Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, c. 180Read
    • Hippolytus of Rome, Refutation of All Heresies, early 3rd centuryRead
    • Pseudo-Tertullian, Against All Heresies, 3rd centuryRead
    • Philastrius of Brescia, Book of Heresies, late 4th century

    Read the main witness

    Tertullian, Against Marcion

    Every section in Latin with our English beside it, chapter by chapter, and the True Testament verses each chapter supports.

    Book 3, chapter by chapter

    The number is how many True Testament verses cite that chapter

    Book 3, chapter 1

    How we work with the sources

    The True Testament is only as good as its witnesses, so the witnesses are on the site to be checked.

    Tertullian in Latin, with our English. All five books of Against Marcion are on file section by section in Latin, each section with our own English rendering beside it. When a verse in the reader cites Tertullian, that exact section opens beside it.

    Ernest Evans. We check our reading of Tertullian against Evans's English translation (Oxford, 1972), section by section. His translation is under copyright, so it is not reprinted here; the English on this page is our own.

    One passage behind every Attested verse. Each Attested verse names the passage that holds it, such as Against Marcion 4.7.1 or Panarion 42, scholion 6, so any reader can go to the source and see the line.

    The writers in English, on our site. Where an older English translation is free of copyright, we keep it here so nobody has to leave the site to read it: Holmes's Tertullian, Mitchell's Ephrem, and the Ante-Nicene Fathers for Irenaeus, Hippolytus and Pseudo-Tertullian. Epiphanius's excerpts from Marcion are translated in our book Against Epiphanius. The standard English of Adamantius and Eznik is still under copyright, so those texts will follow in our own translation.