stephan huller's observations: Irenaeus's Lost Adversus Marcionem as the Source or Background of Epiphanius's Report on Marcion's Gospel (Panarion 42.11)

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 the scriptures	“ὡς δὲ ἠκρωτηρίασται μήτε ἀρχὴν ἔχον μήτε μέσα μήτε τέλος” (Epiphanius, Panarion 42.11 [= 2.108])	“As it has been mutilated, having neither beginning nor middle nor end.”
secundum Lucam autem evangelium… decurtantes	mutilating the Gospel according to Luke	“ὁ μὲν γὰρ χαρακτὴρ τοῦ κατὰ Λουκᾶν σημαίνει τὸ εὐαγγέλιον… ταῦτα πάντα περικόψας” (Panarion 42.11)	“The recension of the Gospel according to Luke… cutting away all these things.”
hæc sola legitima esse dicant quae ipsi minoraverint	treating altered text as authoritative	“ἀρχὴν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ἔταξε ταύτην ‘ἐν τῷ πεντεκαιδεκάτῳ ἔτει Τιβερίου Καίσαρος’” (Panarion 42.11)	“He established this as the beginning of the Gospel: ‘In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar.’”
Marcion alters and rearranges scripture	rearrangement and additions to text	“τὰ μὲν… παρακόπτει, τὰ δὲ προστίθησιν ἄνω κάτω… οὐκ ὀρθῶς βαδίζων” (Panarion 42.11)	“Some things he cuts away, others he adds here and there… not proceeding correctly.”
Nos autem… ex his quae adhuc apud eos custodiuntur arguemus eos	refuting using texts preserved by opponents	“ἐκ τοῦ παρ' αὐτῷ εὐαγγελίου τὰ πρὸς ἀντίρρησιν… παρεθέμεθα” (Panarion 42.11)	“From the Gospel in his possession we have set forth the materials for refutation.”

EPIPHANIUS (PRIMARY TEXT — Greek quotation + translation)	IRENAEUS PARALLEL (Direct quotation only)	Shared Anti-Marcionite Argument
Ὅτῳ φίλον ἐστὶ τὰς τοῦ ἀπατηλοῦ Μαρκίωνος νόθους ἐπινοίας ἀκριβοῦν…	“Marcion, mutilating that according to Luke, is proved to be a blasphemer… from those passages which he still retains.” (files.romanroadsstatic.com)	Both frame Marcion as falsifier of inherited tradition; polemic built on internal critique of retained texts.
“Whoever wishes to examine the spurious inventions of the deceitful Marcion…” (Panarion 42.11)	“He mutilates the Scriptures, acknowledging some and curtailing others.” (Against Heresies)	Methodological stance: refutation from Marcion’s own corpus.
ἐκ γὰρ τοῦ παρ' αὐτῷ εὐαγγελίου τὰ πρὸς ἀντίρρησιν…	“We shall refute them from those things which they still preserve.”	Internal refutation strategy; shared Irenaean program of arguing from the opponent’s canon.
“From the gospel he possesses we have extracted the material for refutation…” (Panarion 42.11)	“From those passages which he still retains…”	Same polemical methodology: using retained Gospel text as evidence.
ὁ μὲν γὰρ χαρακτὴρ τοῦ κατὰ Λουκᾶν σημαίνει τὸ εὐαγγέλιον…	“Marcion uses only a mutilated Gospel of Luke.”	Identification of Marcionite gospel explicitly as Luke.
“The character is that of the Gospel according to Luke…” (Panarion 42.11)	“He mutilated the Gospel according to Luke…”	Canonical identification argument.
ὡς δὲ ἠκρωτηρίασται μήτε ἀρχὴν ἔχον μήτε μέσα μήτε τέλος…	“Curtailing the Gospel… removing passages.”	Accusation of textual mutilation and disorder.
“It has been mutilated — lacking beginning, middle, and end…” (Panarion 42.11)	“He mutilates the Scriptures…”	Structural charge: disorder vs apostolic continuity.
ἐν τῷ πεντεκαιδεκάτῳ ἔτει Τιβερίου Καίσαρος…	“Beginning from where it suited his doctrine…”	Marcion rearranges narrative sequence; loss of apostolic τάξις.
“He begins at ‘In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar’…” (Panarion 42.11)	“Removing passages that speak of Christ’s birth.”	Removal of infancy narrative as doctrinal manipulation.
καὶ οὐ καθ' εἱρμὸν πάλιν ἐπιμένει…	“Not preserving the true order of the Gospel.”	Narrative disorder as theological distortion.
“He does not continue in proper sequence…” (Panarion 42.11)	“He alters and rearranges.”	Shared claim: Marcion disrupts apostolic sequence.
Multiple cited Gospel fragments (e.g., Ἀπελθὼν δεῖξον σεαυτὸν τῷ ἱερεῖ…)	Irenaeus appeals to retained Gospel sayings against Marcion	Proof-text strategy: surviving verses undermine Marcion’s theology.

This passage reflects many of the same conceptual elements expressed in the cited formulation, particularly the portrayal of heresy as arising from a deliberate departure from apostolic tradition grounded in intellectual presumption and textual manipulation. The author describes Marcion as reshaping the Gospel of Luke by removing its beginnings, middle, and end, rearranging material “out of order,” and introducing alterations that distort the inherited narrative sequence, which mirrors the accusation that heretics believe themselves wiser than the apostles and therefore authorized to improve upon their proclamation. The comparison of the mutilated gospel to a garment eaten by moths reinforces the polemical claim that deviation from the apostolic rule of faith produces fragmentation and disorder, implicitly contrasting orthodox continuity with heretical innovation. By cataloguing specific textual changes and emphasizing that the authentic apostolic tradition already contains the authoritative structure and meaning of the Gospel, the passage frames Marcionite teaching as a self-confident reinterpretation that rejects the original unity between Christ, the prophets, and the Jewish scriptural framework, thereby echoing the broader early Christian narrative that heretics, convinced of superior insight, depart from the God proclaimed by the apostles while presenting themselves as more refined interpreters of the Gospel.