Adversus Marcionem: Written Before the Canonical Gospels
The Question of Authority
In the synoptic gospels, there is a well-known episode where Jesus challenges the religious leaders about the origin of John the Baptist's baptism:
Matthew 21:23-27: Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
Mark 11:27-33: Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’...” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.) So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
Luke 20:1-8: He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.” Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
In Adversus Marcionem 4.38, Tertullian discusses a similar scenario:
He did know that the Pharisees would not answer him. Why then did he ask, to no purpose? Was it not that he might judge them out of their own mouth, or even out of their own heart? So take this episode to bear on the justification of the Creator, and on Christ's agreement with him, and ask yourself what the consequence would have been if the Pharisees had returned an answer to his question. Suppose they had answered that John's baptism was from men: they would at once have been stoned to death. Some anti-Marcionite Marcion would have stood up and said, 'See a god supremely good, a god the opposite of the Creator's doings! well aware that men were going to fall headlong, he himself put them on the edge of a precipice.' For this is how they treat of the Creator, in his law about the tree. But suppose John's baptism was from heaven. And why, Christ says, did ye not believe him? So then he whose wish it was that John should be believed, who was expected to blame them for not believing him, belonged to that God whose sacrament John was the minister of. At all events, when they refused to answer what they thought, and he replied in like terms, Neither do I tell you by what power I do these things, he returned evil for evil.
Healing Narratives and Fulfillment of Prophecy
Tertullian also addresses the healing miracles of Jesus, specifically referencing Isaiah's prophecy to assert Jesus' messianic role. This passage from Adversus Marcionem is echoed in the gospel narratives:
Matthew 8:14-17: When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him. When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
Tertullian preempts this narrative by linking Jesus’ healing acts to Isaiah:
In fine, he did himself before long touch others, and by laying his hands upon them—hands evidently meant to be felt—conveyed the benefits of healing, benefits no less true, no less free from pretence, than the hands by which they were conveyed. Consequently he is the Christ of Isaiah, a healer of sicknesses: He himself, he says, takes away our weaknesses and carries our sicknesses. For the Greeks are accustomed to write 'carry' as equivalent to 'take away'. That promise in general terms is enough for me at present. Whatever it was that Jesus healed, he is mine. We shall however come to specific instances of healing. Moreover even to deliver from demons is a healing of sickness.
The Authority of Jesus and His Connection to the Creator
Tertullian’s argument is that Jesus' authority and miracles affirm his connection to the Creator God, countering Marcion's claim of a different god. This theological grounding in Adversus Marcionem is crucial for understanding the formation of the canonical gospel narratives, where similar themes are reiterated.
And so the wicked spirits, as if following the precedent of the previous instance, bore witness to him as they went out, by crying aloud, Thou art the Son of God. Which God, let it even here be evident. 'But they were rebuked, and ordered to be silent.' Quite so: because Christ wished himself to be acknowledged as the Son of God by men, not by unclean spirits—that Christ at all events who had the right to expect this, because he had sent before him those preachers, worthier preachers beyond question, through whose agency recognition might be possible.
Conclusion
The detailed analysis of Adversus Marcionem reveals its foundational role in shaping the narratives and theological assertions later found in the canonical gospels. Tertullian's work, addressing Marcionite heresies and affirming the Creator's authority and Jesus' messianic role, appears to have provided a source of narrative and doctrinal content that the gospel writers adapted and expanded upon. This evidence strongly supports the idea that Adversus Marcionem was written before the canonical gospels were established, influencing their formation and content.
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