Imperial Fathers

The writers who quoted Marcion.

No copy of Marcion's scriptures survives. What we have, we have from the writers of the imperial church who attacked him between about 200 and 450, and quoted his text to do it. Every Attested verse in the True Testament rests on one of them.

The witnesses

Tertullian of Carthage

Against Marcion, c. 207-208 · Carthage, North Africa · Latin

TT verses

Wrote five books against Marcion. Book 4 walks through Marcion's Gospel in order and book 5 through his ten letters, quoting as he goes, which makes him the fullest witness we have.

About 63 years after Marcion published in Rome.

Against Marcion, book 1Evans's English(opens in a new tab)
Against Marcion, book 2Evans's English(opens in a new tab)
Against Marcion, book 3Evans's English(opens in a new tab)
Against Marcion, book 4 (the Gospel)Evans's English(opens in a new tab)
Against Marcion, book 5 (the letters)Evans's English(opens in a new tab)

Origen of Alexandria

3rd century · Alexandria and Caesarea · Greek

TT verses

Remarks on Marcion's text in several works, most usefully in his Commentary on Romans, which reports how Marcion's Romans ended.

About 96 years after Marcion published in Rome.

Commentary on RomansOnline text(opens in a new tab)
Commentary on MatthewOnline text(opens in a new tab)
Against CelsusOnline text(opens in a new tab)

Adamantius

c. 300 · Eastern Mediterranean · Greek

TT verses

The Dialogue on the True Faith stages a debate in which Marcionite speakers quote their own scriptures, so it preserves readings in their own words.

About 156 years after Marcion published in Rome.

Dialogue on the True FaithOnline text(opens in a new tab)

Ephrem the Syrian

4th century · Nisibis and Edessa, Syria · Syriac

TT verses

Wrote in Syriac against Marcion, Bardaisan and Mani, in prose refutations and in hymns.

About 216 years after Marcion published in Rome.

Against Marcion IOnline text(opens in a new tab)
Against Marcion IIOnline text(opens in a new tab)
Hymns Against HeresiesOnline text(opens in a new tab)

Epiphanius of Salamis

Panarion, c. 375 · Salamis, Cyprus · Greek

TT verses

In section 42 of his Panarion he lists passages from Marcion's Gospel and letters as numbered scholia, each followed by his rebuttal.

About 231 years after Marcion published in Rome.

Panarion 42, with the scholiaOnline text(opens in a new tab)

Eznik of Kolb

5th century · Armenia · Armenian

TT verses

An Armenian bishop whose De Deo, or Against the Sects, closes with a book against the Marcionites.

About 296 years after Marcion published in Rome.

De Deo (Against the Sects)Online text(opens in a new tab)

Also on file, not yet tied to verses: Irenaeus of Lyons (Against Heresies, c. 180); Hippolytus of Rome (Refutation of All Heresies, early 3rd century); Pseudo-Tertullian (Against All Heresies, 3rd century); Philastrius of Brescia (Book of Heresies, late 4th century).

Read the main witness

Tertullian, Against Marcion

Every section in Latin with our English beside it, chapter by chapter, and the True Testament verses each chapter supports.

Book 4, chapter by chapter

The number is how many True Testament verses cite that chapter

Book 4, chapter 7

Evans's English for book 4

How we work with the sources

The True Testament is only as good as its witnesses, so the witnesses are on the site to be checked.

Tertullian in Latin, with our English. All five books of Against Marcion are on file section by section in Latin, each section with our own English rendering beside it. When a verse in the reader cites Tertullian, that exact section opens beside it.

Ernest Evans. We check our reading of Tertullian against Evans's English translation (Oxford, 1972), section by section. His translation is under copyright, so we link to it rather than reprint it.

One passage behind every Attested verse. Each Attested verse names the passage that holds it, such as Against Marcion 4.7.1 or Panarion 42, scholion 6, so any reader can go to the source and see the line.

The other witnesses. The passages from Epiphanius, Adamantius, Eznik and Origen are kept in public-domain translations, each tied to the verse it bears on.