Justin Against Marcion: Defining the Christian Philosophpy

272 Pages·2017·0.59 MB·English

by  Andrew Hayes

The influence of an arch-heretic
In a period when Christianity was only beginning to form a definitive
identity, Marcion played a remarkable and generative role. Andrew Hayes H
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takes the measure of Marcion’s impact on second-century Christianity
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through a close examination of the topics and structure of Justin Martyr’s e
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writings, especially Dialogue with Trypho, demonstrating that Justin re-
peatedly described Christianity in a contra-Marcionite fashion. Arguing
that the early part of Dialogue is, in fact, a contra-Marcionite prelude to
all the major themes in the rest of the piece, Hayes claims that the chief
task Justin took for himself was to seize back from Marcion the terms of
Christian self-definition. Marcion is thus far more important for Justin’s
work than the sparse explicit mentions might suggest, and Hayes shows
that these texts are far from anomalous: they reveal Justin’s deeper agenda
Justin against Marcion
of presenting Marcion as a demonic instrument. Students of the second
century, of Marcion, and of Justin alike will find much to reevaluate in
these pages.
J Defining the Christian Philosophy
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Praise for Justin against Marcion
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“Justin Martyr is not only the first witness to ever mention Marcion t
i
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by name, he is also one of the few contemporary witnesses (if not the

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only) of Marcion’s activities. This factor alone justifies a more extensive
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investigation of Justin’s comments on the arch-heretic and his movement,
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an investigation hitherto missing from the scholarly world. However,
i
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Andrew Hayes provides more than that. He demonstrates that Justin’s
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preoccupation with Marcion exceeds the few direct references to him in t

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his work. It is, in fact, a contra-Marcionite agenda that dominates much
of Justin’s argument, particularly in his Dialogue with Trypho. Thus, with a
his study, Hayes manages to give the reader a better understanding of both r
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the heretic and the apologist.” i
o
Sebastian Moll | author of The Arch-Heretic Marcion n
Andrew Hayes completed his PhD at King’s College, London, directed by
Markus Vinzent.
Andrew Hayes
Early Christianity
e m e r g i n g s c h o l a r s
Justin against Marcion

Justin against
Marcion
Defining the Christian Philosophy
Andrew Hayes
Fortress Press
Minneapolis
JUSTIN AGAINST MARCION
Defining the Christian Philosophy
Copyright © 2017 Fortress Press. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations
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Contents
Preface vii
Abbreviations for Justin’s Works ix
Introduction xi
1. Who Are the “Christians”? 1
Persecution 11
Greco-Roman Perspectives 40
Teacher and Pupils 60
2. Reading between the Lines: The Conspicuousness 89
of Marcion in theDialogue
The Dialogue: Introduction and Commentary 92
Repetition of Themes in the Dialogue 141
Philosophies and “Christians” 155
Conclusion 161
3. Case by Case 163
Introduction 163
Politics 164
Who Are the Atheists? 177
Evidence of True Worship 189
Different Teacher, Different Confession 199
Conclusion 216
Bibliography 221
Ancient Literature Index 233
Author Index 235
Preface
This book arose out my doctoral work at King’s College, London, and
thereareaconsiderable numberofpeopleandgroupstowhomIowe
my thanks for their help and support in its production. Financially, I
owemuchthankstoanumberoftrustswhosupportedmyresearchin
theformofgrants:theLeverhulmeTrust,theHopeTrust,theWilliam
HoneymanGillespieTrust,theStMatthiasTrust,andtheKing’sCollege
London Theological Trust. Without the generous support of these
bodies this work would not have come to fruition. My gratitude must
also go to my colleagues at the Queens Foundation, Birmingham, for
theirsupportand,inparticular,thesupportofLibrarianMichaelGale
for his assistance over a number of years and his commitment to
sustaining an excellent theological library resource in the West
Midlands. I am grateful too for the support of staff at New College
Library,UniversityofEdinburgh,andthoseoftheInstituteofClassical
Studies, University of London, the Maugham Library, King’s College
London,andtheUniversityofBirmingham’smainlibrary.Iamgrateful
for my relationships with each of these institutions which have
assisted my research greatly.
Thanks are also due to friends and advisors in the Rev. Matthew
Tomlinson,theRev.Dr.SamEwell,EmmaWorthington,HelenStanton,
andJoanCapefortheirencouragementandassistanceatvariousstages
of this work. I am indebted also to those who have taught me as an
undergraduate and as a graduate and inspired my path to become a
theological educator. Such people represent a number of theological
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JUSTIN AGAINST MARCION
disciplines but each have contributed a great deal to me and deserve
special thanks: Paul Parvis, Sara Parvis, Paul Foster, Nicholas Adams,
John McDowell, David Fergusson, and Fergus Kerr, O.P. I also owe a
considerable debt of gratitude to Markus Vinzent for supervising the
doctoraldissertationonwhichthisworkisbasedandwhoencouraged,
praised,andcritiqueditinconstructiveways.Inregardtopublication
I am very grateful for the patience and hard work of Neil Elliott of
Fortress Press and all those at 1517 Media who have helped to make
this book a reality.
Finally,agreatdebtofthanksisduetoclosefriendswhohavehelped
and supported in many ways. The support of all these people and
institutions has been essential to bringing this book to fruition.
A word about the text that follows. Throughout these pages, I have
notcapitalizedthewordgod.Thisisinordertoavoidconfusionwhen
Marcion’s god and the god of the Jews are under discussion and to
avoid prejudicing the nature of their debate about who and what the
latter god is.
Andrew David Robin Hayes
The Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham
viii
Abbreviations for Justin’s Works
1 Apology The First Apology
2 Apology The Second Apology
Dialogue The Dialogue with Trypho the Jew
TheEnglishandGreekpresentedfortheApologiescomefromtheMinns
andParvisedition(2009)unlessotherwisestatedasmyown.TheGreek
for the Dialogue comes from the Bobichon (2003) edition and the
English from Slusser’s edition of the Falls translation (2003) unless
otherwise stated as my own.
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