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| St. Paul Preached No New God, When He Announced the Repeal of Some of God's Ancient Ordinances. Never Any Hesitation About Belief in the Creator, as the God Whom Christ Revealed, Until Marcion's Heresy.
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Chapter XXI.—St.
Paul Preached No New God, When He Announced the Repeal of Some of
God’s Ancient Ordinances. Never Any Hesitation About Belief in
the Creator, as the God Whom Christ Revealed, Until Marcion’s
Heresy.
Now if it was with the view of preaching a new god
that he was eager to abrogate the law of the old God, how is it that he
prescribes no rule about2564
| 2564 Nihil præscribit
de. | the new god, but
solely about the old law, if it be not because faith in the
Creator2565
| 2565 i.e., “the old
God,” as he has just called Him. | was still to
continue, and His law alone was to come to an end?2566
—just as the Psalmist had declared:
“Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from
us. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The
kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord, and against His Anointed.”2567
And, indeed, if another god were preached by
Paul, there could be no doubt about the law, whether it were to be kept
or not, because of course it would not belong to the new lord, the
enemy2568
of the law. The very newness and difference
of the god would take away not only all question about the old and
alien law, but even all mention of it. But the whole question, as
it then stood, was this, that although the God of the law was the same
as was preached in Christ, yet there was a disparagement2569
of His law. Permanent still, therefore,
stood faith in the Creator and in His Christ; manner of life and
discipline alone fluctuated.2570
Some disputed about
eating idol sacrifices, others about the veiled dress of women, others
again about marriage and divorce, and some even about the hope of the
resurrection; but about God no one disputed. Now, if this question also
had entered into dispute, surely it would be found in the apostle, and
that too as a great and vital point. No doubt, after the time of the
apostles, the truth respecting the belief of God suffered corruption,
but it is equally certain that during the life of the apostles their
teaching on this great article did not suffer at all; so that no other
teaching will have the right of being received as apostolic than that
which is at the present day proclaimed in the churches of apostolic
foundation. You will, however, find no church of apostolic
origin2571
but such as reposes
its Christian faith in the Creator.2572
| 2572 In Creatore
christianizet. | But if the
churches shall prove to have been corrupt from the beginning, where
shall the pure ones be found? Will it be amongst the adversaries of the
Creator? Show us, then, one of your churches, tracing its descent from
an apostle, and you will have gained the day.2573
| 2573 Obduxeris. For
this sense of the word, see Apol. 1. sub init. “sed
obducimur,” etc. |
Forasmuch then as it is on all accounts evident that there was from
Christ down to Marcion’s time no other God in the rule of sacred
truth2574
than the Creator, the proof of our argument
is sufficiently established, in which we have shown that the god of our
heretic first became known by his separation of the gospel and the
law. Our previous position2575
is accordingly
made good, that no god is to be believed whom any man has devised out
of his own conceits; except indeed the man be a prophet,2576
| 2576 That is,
“inspired.” | and then his own conceits would not be
concerned in the matter. If Marcion, however, shall be able to lay
claim to this inspired character, it will be necessary for it to be
shown. There must be no doubt or paltering.2577
| 2577 Nihil retractare
oportebat. |
For all heresy is thrust out by this wedge of the truth, that Christ is
proved to be the revealer of no God else but the Creator.2578
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