Irenaeus's Lost Adversus Marcionem as the Source or Background of Epiphanius's Report on Marcion's Gospel (Panarion 42.9)

Irenaeus structural phrase or clause	English translation	Epiphanius Greek parallel (with exact citation: work, book, chapter, section)	English translation
Marcion… ad intercidendas conversi sunt scripturas	Marcion mutilates scriptures	“οὗτος γὰρ ἔχει εὐαγγέλιον μόνον τὸ κατὰ Λουκᾶν… περικεκομμένον… οὐ μόνον δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπέτεμεν… ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ τέλους καὶ τῶν μέσων πολλὰ περιέκοψε” (Epiphanius, Panarion 42.9 [= 2.105])	“He possesses only the Gospel according to Luke… cut down… not only removing the beginning… but also cutting away many parts from the middle and the end.”
secundum Lucam autem evangelium… decurtantes	mutilating the Gospel of Luke	“μόνῳ δὲ κέχρηται τούτῳ τῷ χαρακτῆρι, τῷ κατὰ Λουκᾶν εὐαγγελίῳ” (Panarion 42.9)	“He uses only this recension, the Gospel according to Luke.”
epistolas Pauli decurtantes	mutilating Pauline epistles	“ἔχει δὲ καὶ ἐπιστολὰς… οὐ πᾶσι δὲ τοῖς ἐν αὐταῖς γεγραμμένοις, ἀλλὰ τινὰ… περιτέμνων, τινὰ δὲ ἀλλοιώσας” (Panarion 42.9)	“He also has epistles… but not all that is written in them, cutting some parts and altering others.”
hæc sola legitima esse dicant quae ipsi minoraverint	accepting only altered texts as legitimate	“ταύταις δὲ ταῖς δυσὶ βίβλοις κέχρηται… ἄλλα δὲ συντάγματα ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ συνέταξε” (Panarion 42.9)	“He uses only these two books… and composed other writings of his own.”
Nos autem etiam ex his quae adhuc apud eos custodiuntur arguemus eos	refute them using texts they still preserve	“ἐξ οὗπερ χαρακτῆρος τοῦ παρ' αὐτῷ σῳζομένου… δεῖξαι… ἀκρότατα διελέγξαι… ἐξ αὐτῶν γὰρ… ἀνατραπήσεται” (Panarion 42.9)	“From the recension preserved by him… we shall expose and thoroughly refute him… for from these very texts he will be overthrown.”
ex his quae adhuc apud eos custodiuntur	using remnants still retained by heretics	“ἐκ γὰρ τῶν αὐτῶν ἔτι παρ' αὐτῷ λειψάνων τοῦ τε εὐαγγελίου καὶ τῶν ἐπιστολῶν εὑρισκομένων” (Panarion 42.9–10 [= 2.106])	“From the remaining portions of the Gospel and the epistles still found among him.”
alterum Deum adinvenientes (heretical doctrinal deviation revealed via retained texts)	inventing another God refuted through retained material	“δειχθήσεται ὁ Χριστὸς… μὴ ἀλλότριος εἶναι παλαιᾶς διαθήκης… καὶ οἱ προφῆται οὐκ ἀλλότριοι” (Panarion 42.9–10)	“Christ will be shown not to be alien to the Old Testament… and the prophets likewise not alien.”

Epiphanius	Irenaeus (Adversus Haereses — English quotation)
Ἐλεύσομαι δὲ εἰς τὰ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γεγραμμένα…	“Wherefore also Marcion and his followers mutilate the Scriptures… curtailing that according to Luke…” (Adv. Haer. III.14)
“I will proceed to what has been written by him — or rather tampered with.” (Panarion 42.9)	Shared polemic: Marcion corrupts existing texts rather than possessing independent revelation.
οὗτος γὰρ ἔχει εὐαγγέλιον μόνον τὸ κατὰ Λουκᾶν, περικεκομμένον…	“For, curtailing that according to Luke… they boast in having the Gospel.” (Adv. Haer. III.14)
“He has only the Gospel according to Luke, cut off at the beginning…” (Pan. 42.9)	Exact shared claim: Marcion uses mutilated Luke.
οὐ μόνον δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπέτεμεν… ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ τέλους καὶ τῶν μέσων πολλὰ περιέκοψε…	“They mutilate the Scriptures… removing passages and altering them.” (Adv. Haer. III context)
“He cut not only the beginning but also removed many words from the middle and end.”	Same accusation: selective excision as doctrinal method.
ἔχει δὲ καὶ ἐπιστολὰς… μόναις κέχρηται… τινὰ περιτέμνων, τινὰ δὲ ἀλλοιώσας…	“They use the apostle but corrupt his writings… adapting them to their doctrines.” (Adv. Haer. III.12 context)
“He also possesses ten epistles of the apostle, using only these — cutting some and altering others.”	Shared method: Pauline canon retained but edited.
ἐξ αὐτῶν… τῶν παρ' αὐτοῦ ὁμολογουμένων ἀνατραπήσεται.	“We confute them from the very Scriptures which they retain.” (Adv. Haer. III.12.12)
“From the very texts he himself accepts, he will be refuted.”	Identical polemical strategy: refutation from Marcion’s own canon.
δειχθήσεται… μὴ ἀλλότριος εἶναι παλαιᾶς διαθήκης…	“Christ is not alien from the Law and the Prophets but fulfils them.” (Adv. Haer. III.11–12 thematic)
“It will be shown that Christ is not alien to the Old Testament.”	Core anti-Marcionite argument: continuity of Christ with Creator.
καὶ ὅτι ἀνάστασιν σαρκὸς ὁ ἀπόστολος κηρύττει…	“The resurrection of the flesh is proclaimed by the apostles.” (Adv. Haer. V.2 etc.)
“The apostle proclaims the resurrection of the flesh.”	Shared anti-docetic argument.
καὶ δικαίους τοὺς προφήτας ὀνομάζει…	“The prophets belong to the same God and bear witness to Christ.” (Adv. Haer. III passim)
“He calls the prophets righteous…”	Continuity of prophets against Marcion’s rejection.

This passage strongly reflects the same polemical framework expressed in the cited formulation, presenting heresy as arising from those who abandon the true God and presume themselves wiser than the apostles. The author characterizes Marcion as mutilating and reshaping the received apostolic writings—cutting the beginning, middle, and end of Luke’s Gospel and altering Pauline letters—thereby implying that he substitutes his own judgment for apostolic authority. Such editorial activity is framed not as interpretation but as deliberate corruption, echoing the charge that heretics believe they have “found more than the apostles” and therefore construct an alternative theological system. The emphasis on refuting Marcion using the very texts he retains also mirrors the anti-heretical strategy of demonstrating continuity between Christ, the prophets, and the Old Testament against claims of a new or superior revelation. Moreover, the assertion that Christ is not alien to the Old Covenant, that the prophets belong to the same divine economy, and that bodily resurrection is genuinely apostolic teaching directly counters the idea that the apostles themselves were limited by Jewish assumptions while later teachers possessed deeper insight. In this way, the passage exemplifies the broader early Christian polemic that heresy consists in self-confident innovation, textual manipulation, and the invention of “another god” through rejection of inherited apostolic tradition.