The Curse of the Creator

This chapter examines the Marcionite interpretation of Galatians 3:13. In this verse, Christ “becomes” a curse on the cross. As the source text (Deut 21:23) shows, Christ was cursed specifically by the creator. The creator’s curse against Christ, despite its presumed salvific benefit, was an act of harm incompatible with the popular Platonic view that the divine cannot inflict evil. Cursing, however, is part of the character of the creator as shown by Yahweh’s curse of Cain, Canaan, and the Israelites. Patristic writers all concurred in trying to soften or deny the divine curse against Christ but ended up accentuating the problem. Marcionites viewed the creator’s curse against Christ as incriminating the creator’s character. Whatever good resulted from the curse was not planned by the creator and could not exculpate him. A being who cursed the sinless Christian savior was not only lacking goodness from a Marcionite perspective; he could only be evil.