Anti-Judaism in Early Christianity: Volume 2: Separation and Polemic

5. Justin Martyr's Argument with Judaism

54 Separation and Polemic and would not at any rate have subjected him to that cursed form, crucifixion (Marc. 3.18; 5.3); and he agreed that many of the prophecies used by other Christians as christological proof­texts (Isa. 7:14, for example) were inapplicable or had already been fulfilled in past events (Marc. 3.13). For Marcion there were two Messiahsand two kingdoms (Marc. 4.16). The Jewish Messiah had yet to come and when he did he would bring an earthly kingdom which would incorporate Jews and proselytes: "[Y]our Christ promises the Jews their former estate, after the restitution of their country, and, when life has run its course, refreshment with those beneath the earth, in Abraham's bosom" (Marc. 3.24). There is thus a curious tension in Marcion's view of Judaism. On the one hand it is often implicitlydenigrated and always, by definition, seen to be inferior. On the other hand, Marcion apparently allied himself in many crucial respects with the Jewish view of Christian claims (cf. Trypho in Justin's Dialogue] and held out for them a future described in their own terms—even though for Marcion it could not compete with the eternal kingdom brought byJesus. To concede to the Jews their messianic hope and the reinheritance of their land was to reverse the current (and subsequent) Christian view that the loss of their land, following the disastrous rebellions against Rome, was a divine punishment for their obdurate rejection ofJesus as Messiah and their complicity in his death. What led Marcion to his position? To ask the question isto raise in a particular way the more general problem of the roots of Marcion's thought which we discussed above. But the factors considered there— literal­mindedness, asceticism, Paulinism, gnosticism—important and influential as they are, provide no complete explanation of his view of Judaism. Are there, then, additional factors to be considered? Blackman, basing himself on one of Tertullian's opening salvoes—that Marcion, like many heretics, was unduly obsessed by the problem of evil—thinks that much of Marcion's thought, including his view of the Old Testament and its god, sprang from a profound disquiet over the problem of theodicy.19 While he prefers Tertullian's monotheistic solution, he thinks that Marcion may well have had a more profound perception of the problem. If this were so, however, it is not clear why Marcion retained the god of the Old Testament at all, even after his demotion, nor why he characterized him as righteous rather than evil. Nor does it shed any immediate light on Marcion's ambivalent attitude towards Judaism. Goppelt suggests that Marcion was intent on rejecting the god of the Old Testament rather than the Jews, and thus does not insult the Jews as a people. As a hellenist he takesa cool,somewhat distantview of 19 Blackmail, Mtnrion, 71­7.1. Marcion and the Jews 55 Judaism while at the same time being influenced by certain kinds of Jewish exegetical tradition.20 This is more a statement of the problem than an explanation of it and it probably underestimates the degree to which contemporary Jewish­Christian relations affected Marcion's thought. Rengstorf takes a slightly different tack when he argues that Marcion's rejection of the Old Testament and Judaism has nothing to do with anti­Semitism because the Jews with whom he disputes are not the Jews of his time but those of the Old Testament and New Testa­ ment, insofar as they are people of the Demiurge and belong to him. Quite apart from the logic of this statement, which is not altogether clear and overlooks the obvious denigration of Judaism in Marcion's teaching, there is no evidence that Marcion made such a clear distinc­ tion between ancient and contemporary Judaism. Rengstorf goes on to suggest another two, admittedly speculative, reasons why Marcion was fairly favourably disposed towards the Jews.21 On the one hand, by rejectingjesus who wasnot their Messiah,the Jews unwittingly opened up the way for the universal salvation brought by Jesus—against the will of the Demiurge and despite themselves. On the other hand, Marcion's dispute was not with the Jews as such but rather with (as he saw them)judaizing Catholic Christians. These observations are perti­ nent but they do not explain why Marcion allied himself with the Jews on some matters, unless we are to suppose that it was a mere tactical move to procure any...