Adversus Marcionem V.5 Programmatic Refutation of Marcion’s Antitheses through His (Alleged) Redacted Luke

Irenaeus (AH III, 12.12) structural phrase or clause	English translation	Tertullian Latin parallel (with exact citation: work, book, chapter, section)	English translation
Apostolos quidem… annuntiasse Evangelium	apostles as authoritative proclaimers of the gospel	“intellego illum defendisse officio suo praedicationem creatoris: Quam maturi pedes evangelizantium bona, evangelizantium pacem” (Adversus Marcionem V.5.1)	“I understand that he defended, by his office, the preaching of the creator: ‘How beautiful the feet of those proclaiming good things, proclaiming peace.’”
putaverunt semetipsos plus invenisse quam Apostoli…	opponents claiming superior interpretation beyond apostolic teaching	“Ceterum si novus deus praedicaretur, quid deliquerant Iudaei… aut Graeci…” (Adversus Marcionem V.5.8)	“But if a new god were preached, what fault had the Jews… or the Greeks…?”
Unde et Marcion… scripturas… decurtantes	Marcionite alteration or reduction of scriptural witness	“Petra autem fuit Christus: etiam Marcion servat” (Adversus Marcionem V.5.9)	“The rock was Christ: even Marcion preserves this.”
Nos autem etiam ex his quae adhuc apud eos custodiuntur arguemus eos	refutation from texts preserved by opponents	“etiam Marcion servat” (Adversus Marcionem V.5.9)	“even Marcion preserves [this].”
abstiterunt… ab eo qui est Deus… alterum Deum adinvenientes	claim of another god opposed to creator	“Deus autem Marcionis… ignotus… non potuit offendi… quae ergo gratia… quae pax…” (Adversus Marcionem V.5.4)	“The god of Marcion… being unknown… could not be offended… what grace then… what peace…?”

Irenaeus (parallel evidence)	Tertullian (Adv. Marc. V.5 primary text)
“Et super haec id quod est secundum Lucam evangelium circumcidens … et de doctrina sermonum Domini multa auferens …” *“Besides this, by mutilating the Gospel which is according to Luke … and removing many passages of the teaching of the Lord’s discourses …”* (Adv. Haer. I.27.2)	“…certus et alibi retractari eum posse, communem scilicet et eundem in epistulis omnibus… *“…sure that it can be discussed elsewhere—the title being common and the same in all the epistles…”* (Adv. Marc. V.5.1) “…defendisse officio suo praedicationem creatoris: Quam maturi pedes evangelizantium bona, evangelizantium pacem.” *“…he defended, as part of his office, the proclamation of the Creator: ‘How timely the feet of those evangelizing good things, evangelizing peace.’”* (Adv. Marc. V.5.1)
“Similiter autem et apostoli Pauli epistolas abscidit… et quaecunque ex propheticis memorans apostolus docuit, praenuntiantibus adventum Domini.” *“Likewise he has cut down the Epistles of the Apostle Paul… and all that the apostle taught by quotation from the prophetical writings which foretold the coming of the Lord.”* (Adv. Haer. I.27.2)	“Scriptum est enim, Perdam sapientiam sapientium et prudentiam prudentium irritam faciam.” *“For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will make the prudence of the prudent of no effect.’”* (Adv. Marc. V.5.5) “Si haec creatoris sunt… ergo et crux et per crucem Christus ad creatorem pertinebit…” *“If these are the Creator’s… then the cross too—and Christ through the cross—will belong to the Creator…”* (Adv. Marc. V.5.5)
“Marcion… blaspheming shamelessly him who is proclaimed as God by the law and the prophets; calling him a maker of evils and a lover of wars…” (Latin/Greek mixed in source) *“…shamelessly blaspheming the God proclaimed by the Law and the Prophets…”* (Adv. Haer. I.27.2)	“Deus autem Marcionis, et quia ignotus, non potuit offendi, et quia nescit irasci. Quae ergo gratia a non offenso? quae pax a non rebellato?” *“But Marcion’s god—since he is unknown—could not be offended; and since he does not know how to be angry. What grace, then, from one not offended? what peace from one against whom there has been no rebellion?”* (Adv. Marc. V.5.4)
“…in quibus manifestissime conditorem huius universitatis suum Patrem confitens Dominus conscriptus est…” *“…in which the Lord is recorded as most plainly confessing the framer of this universe to be His own Father…”* (Adv. Haer. I.27.2)	“Haec cum a deo patre nostro et domino Iesu annuntians… Primo quidem patrem dominum praescribo non alium agnoscendum quam et hominis et universitatis creatorem et institutorem…” *“When he announces these from ‘God our Father’ and the Lord Jesus… first, I lay down that no other Father is to be acknowledged than the Creator and founder of man and of the whole universe…”* (Adv. Marc. V.5.2–3)
“Similiter autem et apostoli Pauli epistolas abscidit… auferens quaecunque manifeste dicta sunt ab apostolo de eo Deo, qui mundum fecit, quoniam hic Pater Domini nostri Iesu Christi…” *“…he has cut down Paul’s epistles, removing whatever is plainly said by the apostle about the God who made the world, that He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…”* (Adv. Haer. I.27.2)	“Quodsi eius sunt et causae cuius adhibentur scripturae, ergo de creatore tractans apostolus…” *“If the causes belong to the one whose Scriptures are being brought in, then—when the apostle is treating of the Creator…”* (Adv. Marc. V.5.8) “Etiam quod scandalum Iudaeis praedicat Christum, prophetiam super illo consignat creatoris… Ecce posui in Sion lapidem offensionis et petram scandali.” *“And even when he proclaims Christ as ‘a stumbling-block’ to the Jews, he seals it with the Creator’s prophecy about him… ‘Behold, I place in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal.’”* (Adv. Marc. V.5.9)
“Iesum autem ab eo Patre, qui est super mundi fabricatorem Deum… in hominis forma manifestatum…” *“[He said] Jesus… was manifested in the form of a man…”* (Adv. Haer. I.27.2)	“Quid est autem stultum dei sapientius hominibus, nisi crux et mors Christi? Quid infirmum dei fortius homine, nisi nativitas et caro dei? Ceterum si nec natus ex virgine Christus nec carne constructus…” *“What ‘foolish thing’ of God is wiser than men, if not the cross and death of Christ? What ‘weak thing’ of God is stronger than man, if not the birth and flesh of God? But if Christ was neither born of a virgin nor formed with flesh…”* (Adv. Marc. V.5.9)

Clear signs of the same anti-heretical framework appear in this chapter, especially the idea that opponents claim to possess superior insight beyond the apostles and thereby introduce a second god. Although the wording of the earlier formulation is not repeated explicitly, Tertullian’s argument consistently targets the notion that Marcionite interpreters believe they have advanced beyond the apostolic proclamation. He repeatedly grounds Paul’s teaching in the Creator’s prophetic scriptures, insisting that themes such as grace, peace, the scandal of the cross, and the paradox of divine wisdom already belong to the Creator’s revelation (“Scriptum est enim, Perdam sapientiam sapientium…”), thereby denying that Paul announces a new deity. The polemic works by showing that any reading of Paul which separates Christ from the Creator presupposes a claim to deeper or more refined knowledge than that transmitted by the apostles themselves, precisely the charge implied in the earlier statement that heretics consider themselves “sinceriores et prudentiores Apostolis.” Tertullian reinforces this by arguing that prophetic texts about the stumbling stone, divine folly, and the overthrow of worldly wisdom prove continuity between apostolic preaching and earlier revelation; consequently, Marcionite interpretation appears as an artificial reinterpretation born of theological presumption. By framing doctrinal disputes as misunderstandings of scriptural continuity rather than genuine new revelation, the chapter reflects the broader anti-heretical logic that deviation from apostolic tradition results from inflated self-authorization and culminates in the invention of an “alterum Deum.”