Thesis--Tübingen, 1795. / Facsimile reprint of Tübingen ed., 1795. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Tübingen, 1795. / Facsimile reprint of Tübingen ed., 1795. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--St. Cross College, 1982. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-329).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--St. Cross College, 1982. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-329).

This thesis provides the initial and foundational steps for a new reconstruction of the text of Marcion’s Gospel. Though Harnack’s 1924 magisterial work on Marcion remains valuable and important, shortcomings in his reconstructed text of the Marcionite scriptures, as well as advances in critical methodology, text criticism, and patristic studies have led to the recognition that new reconstructions of Marcion’s scriptures are a scholarly desideratum. With the text of Marcion’s Apostolikon examined and reconstructed in a 1995 work by Ulrich Schmid, this thesis provides the most important elements for a new examination and reconstruction of Marcion’s Euangelion. Chapter 1 provides an extensive history of research, not only to provide the context and rationale for the present work, but also to provide the first in-depth scholarly survey of work on Marcion’s Gospel in 150 years. In addition, since several flaws in earlier studies arose out of a lack of an accurate understanding of the status quaestionis at various points in the history of research on Marcion’s Gospel, by considering and engaging with previous scholarship such errors can be avoided. Chapter 2 begins with a consideration of the sources for Marcion’s Gospel and provides a comprehensive listing of verses attested as present in, verses attested as absent from, and unattested verses of this Gospel. The chapter concludes with a methodological discussion, highlighting the particular importance of understanding the citation customs of the witnesses to Marcion’s text and noting the significant citation customs of Tertullian demonstrated by Schmid’s and my own research. Chapter 3 begins the analysis of the data found in Tertullian, the most extensive and important source for Marcion’s Gospel. This chapter examines all of the verses that Tertullian attests for Marcion’s Gospel that are also cited elsewhere in Tertullian’s corpus and focuses particularly on how these multiply-cited passages provide insight into Tertullian’s testimony to readings in Marcion’s text. Chapter 4 continues the analysis of Tertullian’s testimony by examining the remaining verses, i.e., those attested for Marcion’s Gospel but not multiply-cited in Tertullian’s corpus. Chapter 5 provides a reconstruction of the 328 verses in Marcion’s Gospel for which Tertullian is the only witness and offers not only readings for Marcion’s text, but also the relative certainty for those readings. Chapter 6 summarizes and concludes the thesis, along with brief mention of avenues for future research.

Texte remanié de : Dissertation : Philologie III : Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz : 2000. / Bibliograph. : p.[359]-369. Notes bibliogr. Index.

Zugl.: Edinburgh, Univ., Diss., 2009

Marcion is unanimously acknowledged to be one of the most important and most intriguing figures of the Early Church. In spite of this importance, there is no comprehensive up-to-date study on his life and thought. Thus, the desire to fill this gap within the academic world – which is inconvenient for both students and professors alike – has been my inspiration for writing this thesis. However, this work does not only aim at providing a complete study on Marcion for the twenty-first century, but also at ridding scholarship from several severe misconceptions regarding the arch-heretic. The main argument of my study is that previous scholarship has turned Marcion’s exegesis of Scripture upside down. He did not find the inspiration for his doctrine in the teachings of the Apostle Paul, it is the Old Testament and its portrait of an inconsistent, vengeful and cruel God which forms the centre of his doctrine. Marcion does not understand the Old Testament in the light of the New, he interprets the New Testament in the light of the Old. This insight casts a new light on Marcion’s place within the history of the Church, as the initiator of a fundamental crisis of the Old Testament in the second century. But not only did he have an enormous influence on Christian exegesis, he also stands at the beginning of the epochal fight between orthodoxy and heresy. As the first man to ever officially break with the Church, and whose biography would become a stereotype for future heresiologists, Marcion can rightfully claim the title of ‘arch-heretic’.

This thesis will attempt to gauge the accuracy of Tertullian's Adversus Marcionem, particularly in the area of theology. Sources other than Tertullian, mostly his fellow heresiologists, will be used to form a picture of Marcionite thought, against which I will compare Tertullian's representation in the Adversus Marcionem. From this comparison I hope to be able to shed some light on how accurate Tertullian is in his discussion of Marcionite theology. The thesis will focus mainly on books 1-3 of the Adversus Marcionem.

Thesis advisor: Brian P. Dunkle / The reception of the Mosaic Law was a source of perplexity for ancient Christians. The New Testament cites several of the laws set forth in the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (Mt 5:27, Lk 10:25-27, and 1 Cor 9:9-10). Yet the New Testament also suggests that the Mosaic legislation has been mitigated or abrogated (Acts 10, Rom 7:14, and Heb 10:1). Justin Martyr and Irenaeus of Lyon recount second century debates with Marcionites and Valentinians concerning the status of the Mosaic Law in ancient Christianity. This dissertation analyzes how similar debates played out in third and fourth-century interpretations of Psalm 118, an alphabetical acrostic whose 176 verses praise God’s laws (νόμος), commandments (ἐντολή), ordinances (δικαίωμα), testimonies (μαρτύριον), and judgments (κρίμα). Judith Lieu’s question – “Whose Marcion?” – provides a critical point of departure for this study, which focuses on how patristic authors conceptualized and attacked their own conceptions of “Marcion,” rather than on Marcion as an historical figure. Thus, Origen’s extant fragments from his commentary on Psalm 118, the earliest that survives, should be read within the context of his anti-Marcionite, Caesarean, exegetical homilies on the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Using hermeneutical methods that systematize his attacks on Marcion, Origen inaugurated the anti- Marcionite tradition of interpretating Psalm 118 by emphasizing the figurative interpretation of the Mosaic Law, God’s role in teaching it, and the possibility of spiritual progress through understanding and acting on it. Origen, drawing on Philo of Alexandria’s figurative interpretations of the Pentateuch, responds to the Marcionite challenge by describing the contemplation of the Mosaic Law as a foundation for Christian ethics. During the fourth century, two western bishops – Hilary of Poitiers and Ambrose of Milan – received and developed Origen’s anti-Marcionite interpretation of Psalm 118. This study argues that both Hilary and Ambrose retain the anti-Marcionite orientation of Origen’s commentary and respond to the emergent threat posed by the Manichaeans, who in turn received and developed the Marcionites’ antinomian challenge. Hilary builds on Origen’s exegesis of Psalm 118 by describing divine law as a remedy for infirmitas. Hilary’s Tractatus on Psalm 118 recapitulates the main themes of Origen’s interpretation while giving greater emphasis to themes of theological anthropology. Rather than contemplation, Hilary calls for “exercise” (μελέτη/exercitiō) in the law as a means of Christian formation. Unlike his predecessors, Ambrose explicitly attacks Marcion in his Expositio on Psalm 118, unveiling the anti-heretical bearings of the tradition inaugurated by Origen. Ambrose comments on Psalm 118 within the liturgical context of offering post-baptismal catechesis to neophytes. Ambrose builds on Origen’s exegesis of Psalm 118 by describing David – the author of the Psalter – as an exemplary exegete of the figurative sense of the Mosaic Law. For the benefit of the neophytes, Ambrose contrasts David’s understanding of the Mosaic Law with the misunderstandings of the Marcionites, Manichaeans, and Jews. This study shows that the anti-Marcionite tradition of commenting on Psalm 118 was ultimately overshadowed in the fifth century and afterwards by Augustine’s anti-Pelagian Enarratio in Psalmum 118. Yet the anti- Marcionite tradition – which teaches Christians to read and profit spiritually from the Mosaic Law – is worthy of recovery. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.