Jesus' Wife

[Confused Ape]

But early xtian writers like Justyn Martyr never seem to have heard of this "missionary to the gentiles" and Justyn was one of those gentiles. Justyn did hear of Marcion, though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Martyr

Eusebius implies that other works were in circulation; from St Irenaeus he knows of the apology "Against Marcion," and from Justin's "Apology"[23] of a "Refutation of all Heresies "

The Against Marcion is lost, as is the Refutation of all Heresies to which Justin himself refers in Apology, i. 26

I think it was more the case that Justin refused to acknowledge Paul. He was only concerned with writing about the 'true apostles' who were with Jesus. There was no way he could have written a book against the Marcion heresy without knowing anything of Paul.

While I was looking into all this I discovered that Justin's works against Marcion and All Heresies mysteriously disappeared round about the time that Tertullian wrote his own work against Marcion. Tertullian said that Marcion had tampered with the text of the letters so he was restoring the originals. Since then I''ve wondered what Justin said about Paul in those missing books.

My guess is that if there ever were any authentic letters they were rewritten twice. Marcion altered the text to suit his views and then Tertullian altered them again to suit his own.