Marcellus of Ancyra Fragment 5

Fragment number Klost. 48 --  Rettb. 42 --  Vinz. 5
Ancient source Eusebius, Against Marcellus 2.2;  GCS: Eusebius vol. 4 (3rd ed.), p. 35.
Modern edition M. Vinzent, Markell von Ankyra: Die Fragmente (Leiden, 1997).
Notes In this short fragment, Marcellus claims that only the Word (i.e., Christ’s divine nature) existed before the creation of the world.




Surely then, before he came down and was born of the virgin, he was only the Word. For before he assumed human flesh what else was there that “came down in the last days and was born of the virgin,” as Asterius himself wrote.  Nothing existed other than the Word.

Translated by Daniel Noonan under the supervision of Prof. Glen L. Thompson

Marcellus Fragments:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 36 47 106

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Last updated: 1/26/07 JRZ
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