<i>Justin against Marcion: Defining the Christian Philosophy</i>. By <scp>Andrew Hayes</scp>

This book is the doctoral dissertation of Andrew Hayes, appearing in the Emerging Scholars series of Fortress Press. Supervised by Markus Vinzent, a leading voice in contemporary debates on Marcion of Sinope, it aims to deepen our understanding of Marcion’s impact on the struggle during the second century to define Christian identity. Hayes endeavours to reveal this impact on the apologetic writings of Marcion’s contemporary influential writer, Justin Martyr. He argues that Marcion was not ‘an occasional heretical nuisance character’. Rather, he ‘helps to shape much of Justin’s project as a whole’. Hayes embarks on his research with a long introduction, in which he goes through the maze of patristic and contemporary scholarly constructions to reach a working understanding of Marcion and the fundamental characteristics of his teachings. Based on this he proceeds to look into any affirmations made by Justin against these main characteristics, as a potential response to the Marcionite concept of Christian identity. Hayes observes that Justin’s introduction of ‘Christianity’ as a philosophy that appreciates its antiquity reflects the threat made by Marcion’s understanding that could lead the Romans to deem Christianity an unwelcome novelty. Justin appears to acknowledge the pluriformity of Christians’ answers, so that not all Christians should be blamed for the ideas of a certain negative confession—which would be Marcion’s, as Hayes concludes. Breaking the definition of Christianity down to its main theological elements, Justin’s treatment of these elements (the unity of God, the antiquity of Christian roots, divine providence, and the significance of prophecies for identifying Christ) consistently collides with Marcion’s characteristic views, even if Marcion was not mentioned explicitly.