| Tertullian — Adversus Marcionem IV.1.8 (Latin) | Irenaeus — Adversus Haereses IV.17.5–18.1 (English translation of Greek original) | |
|---|---|---|
| Prophetic introduction | Igitur si alias leges aliosque sermones et novas testamentorum dispositiones a creatore dixit futuras… | “He taught the new oblation of the new covenant; which the Church receiving from the apostles offers to God throughout all the world…” |
| Malachi quotation | dicente Malachia, Non est voluntas mea in vobis, inquit dominus, et sacrificia vestra non excipiam de manibus vestris, quoniam a solis ortu usque ad occasum glorificatum est in nationibus nomen meum, et in omni loco sacrificium nomini meo offertur, et sacrificium mundum… | “I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord… from the rising of the sun unto the going down [of the same], My name is glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to My name, and a pure sacrifice…” |
| Immediate interpretation | scilicet simplex oratio de conscientia pura (“namely pure prayer from a pure conscience”) | “…the Church offers… a pure sacrifice… Now John… declares that the ‘incense’ is ‘the prayers of the saints.’” |
| Argument drawn | Creator predicted new sacrificial practice among nations replacing earlier offerings | Creator foretold universal Christian offering replacing earlier sacrificial system |
| Polemic context | Anti-Marcionite: innovation originates from Creator | Anti-dualist continuity: same Creator predicted Christian worship |
| Structural role | Appears inside opening prophetic catena establishing renewal from Creator | Appears within structured prophetic chain proving unity of covenants |
The parallel use of Malachi 1:10–11 in Irenaeus (Adv. Haer. IV.17.5–18.1) and Tertullian (Adv. Marc. IV.1.8) argues strongly for literary dependence because the resemblance extends beyond the mere citation of a popular prooftext to the reproduction of a distinctive exegetical move. In both authors the Malachi passage is introduced within an argument about the Creator’s foretelling of a transformed sacrificial system; the text is then cited almost verbatim (“Non est voluntas mea in vobis… a solis ortu usque ad occasum… sacrificium mundum”) and immediately interpreted as referring not to Jewish cult but to a new, universal form of Christian worship — specifically spiritualized sacrifice understood as prayer or ecclesial oblation. The sequence of thought is essentially identical: prophetic rejection of former sacrifices → prediction of a pure sacrifice among the nations → reinterpretation as the Church’s offering, thereby proving continuity between Creator and Christian practice against dualist or Marcionite claims. Because Malachi 1:10–11 was not universally handled in this precise argumentative configuration, the convergence of wording, placement, and theological function strongly suggests that Tertullian is reproducing an already formulated anti-Marcionite exegetical unit rather than independently constructing the same interpretation. Given that Irenaeus explicitly refers elsewhere to a planned refutation of Marcion and that his surviving works already preserve this exact deployment of Malachi, the most economical explanation is that Tertullian’s Adversus Marcionem preserves and reworks material derived from Irenaeus’s lost treatise of the same name.
