Tertullian Against Marcion Book V "But," says he, "I speak after the manner of men: when we were children, we were placed in bondage under the elements of the world."[131] a figure (as the apostle wrote it); because after he had said, "I speak after the manner of men," he adds), "Though it be but a man's covenant, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto."[134]