Irenaeus's Lost Adversus Marcionem as the Source or Background of Epiphanius's Report on Marcion's Gospel (Panarion 42.10)

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	“ἀνερευνῶν τὴν… Μαρκίωνος… ψευδηγορίαν… αὐτὰς… τὰς… βίβλους… λαβών… τὸ παρ' αὐτῷ λεγόμενον εὐαγγέλιον καὶ τὸ ἀποστολικὸν… ἐξανθισάμενος” (Epiphanius, Panarion 42.10 [= 2.107])	“Investigating Marcion’s false teaching… taking in hand the books he possesses… the Gospel and the Apostolikon… extracting selections.”
secundum Lucam autem evangelium… decurtantes	mutilating the Gospel of Luke	“ὡς οὐκ εἶχεν τοῦ κατὰ Λουκᾶν εὐαγγελίου τὸ ἀντίγραφον… αἱ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν παρηλλαγμένως ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἐρρᾳδιουργήθησαν” (Panarion 42.10)	“As though he did not possess the original copy of the Gospel according to Luke… some passages were altered by him.”
epistolas Pauli decurtantes	mutilating Pauline epistles	“τὸ ἀποστολικὸν καλούμενον παρ' αὐτῷ… λέξεις φυλάττων… αἱ μὲν… παρηλλαγμένως… ἐρρᾳδιουργήθησαν” (Panarion 42.10)	“The so-called Apostolikon… preserving certain phrases… some were changed or corrupted.”
hæc sola legitima esse dicant quae ipsi minoraverint	claiming altered texts as authoritative	“τό τε παρ' αὐτῷ λεγόμενον εὐαγγέλιον καὶ τὸ ἀποστολικὸν… χαρακτῆρος τοῦ ἀποστολικοῦ καὶ τοῦ εὐαγγελικοῦ κηρύγματος” (Panarion 42.10)	“The Gospel and Apostolic collection as he calls them… the recension of the apostolic and gospel proclamation.”
Nos autem etiam ex his quae adhuc apud eos custodiuntur arguemus eos	refute them using texts they still preserve	“ἀπὸ τῶν… δύο βιβλίων τὰ ἐλέγξαι αὐτὸν δυνάμενα… ἐδάφιόν τι συντάξεως ἐποιησάμην” (Panarion 42.10)	“From the two books… selecting the passages able to refute him… I composed a structured treatise.”
ex his quae adhuc apud eos custodiuntur	using remnants preserved by heretics	“ἐν οἷς φαίνεται… τὰς παραμεινάσας… λέξεις φυλάττων” (Panarion 42.10)	“In which he is shown preserving remaining words.”
alterum Deum adinvenientes refuted through retained texts	doctrinal deviation exposed by retained material	“δι' ὧν δείκνυται ἡ παλαιὰ διαθήκη συμφωνοῦσα πρὸς τὴν νέαν… καὶ… τὸν θεὸν ἕνα ὄντα κύριον πάντων” (Panarion 42.10)	“Through which it is shown that the Old Testament agrees with the New… and that God is one, Lord of all.”
apostolic authority vs heretical innovation	apostolic continuity contrasted with heretical alteration	“ἄλλαι δὲ… λέξεις… ὑποφαίνουσαι Χριστὸν ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθέναι… καὶ… τὴν τῶν νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν” (Panarion 42.10)	“Other passages showing Christ came in the flesh… and confessing the resurrection of the dead.”

Irenaeus (Adversus Haereses — English quotation)	Epiphanius (PRIMARY TEXT — Greek quotation + translation)
“Marcion mutilates the Scriptures… curtailing the Gospel according to Luke and the Epistles of Paul.” (Adv. Haer. III.12.12)	ἔχει εὐαγγέλιον μόνον τὸ κατὰ Λουκᾶν… περικεκομμένον… (Panarion 42.10) “He possesses only the Gospel according to Luke… cut down/truncated…”
“They attempt to establish their doctrine from those Scriptures which they still retain.” (Adv. Haer. III.12.12)	αὐτὰς δὴ τὰς… βίβλους… λαβών… τό τε παρ' αὐτῷ λεγόμενον εὐαγγέλιον καὶ τὸ ἀποστολικὸν… ἐξανθισάμενος (Panarion 42.10) “Taking the very books he possesses — the so-called gospel and the apostolic writings — extracting from them…”
“We refute them from the very texts they acknowledge.” (Adv. Haer. III methodological statements)	ἀπὸ τῶν… βιβλίων τὰ ἐλέγξαι αὐτὸν δυνάμενα (Panarion 42.10) “From these books [I selected] the things capable of refuting him.”
“The old covenant agrees with the new… the same God is proclaimed.” (Adv. Haer. IV–V recurring argument)	δεικνύεται ἡ παλαιὰ διαθήκη συμφωνοῦσα πρὸς τὴν νέαν καὶ ἡ καινὴ πρὸς τὴν παλαιὰν (Panarion 42.10) “The Old Testament is shown to agree with the New and the New with the Old.”
“Christ truly came in the flesh.” (Adv. Haer. III.16; V.1 etc.)	λέξεις… ὑποφαίνουσαι Χριστὸν ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθέναι καὶ… τελείως ἐνηνθρωπηκέναι (Panarion 42.10) “Passages showing that Christ came in the flesh and was fully incarnate.”
“The resurrection of the flesh is proclaimed by the apostle.” (Adv. Haer. V.7; V.13)	ὁμολογοῦσαι τὴν τῶν νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν (Panarion 42.10) “Confessing the resurrection of the dead.”
“One God, Creator of heaven and earth.” (Adv. Haer. II.1; III.11; IV.20 etc.)	τὸν θεὸν ἕνα… παντοκράτορα… ποιητὴν οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς (Panarion 42.10) “One God, almighty, maker of heaven and earth.”

This passage exhibits clear traces of the same polemical pattern expressed in the cited formulation, portraying heresy as the result of intellectual arrogance combined with textual manipulation and theological innovation beyond the apostles. The author describes a deliberate investigation of Marcion’s teachings by examining the very books he possessed, emphasizing that Marcion altered or rearranged apostolic writings while leaving enough intact to expose his errors. Such a strategy presupposes that heretics believe themselves capable of improving upon or correcting apostolic tradition, effectively claiming superior insight, while the orthodox response insists that continuity between Old and New Testaments, the unity of God as creator, the incarnation in real flesh, and bodily resurrection are already plainly present within the apostolic texts themselves. The insistence that the retained passages of Luke and Paul demonstrate agreement between the covenants directly challenges the notion that earlier apostles remained bound to Jewish assumptions while later teachers possessed deeper knowledge. In this way the passage reinforces a familiar early Christian narrative in which deviation from the apostolic rule of faith arises from those who, convinced of their own greater wisdom, reshape inherited scripture and thereby construct an alternative theology at odds with the original proclamation.