(NOTE: The electronic text obtained from The Electronic Bible Society was
not completely corrected. EWTN has corrected as much as possible without
benefit of the original text.)

Transliteration of Greek words: All phonetical except: w = omega; h serves
three puposes: 1. = Eta; 2. = rough breathing, when appearing intially
before a vowel; 3. = in the aspirated letters theta = th, phi = ph, chi =
ch. Accents are given immediately after their corresponding vowels: acute =
' , grave = `, circumflex = ^. The character ' doubles as an apostrophe,
when necessary.


IRENAEUS OF LYONS

AGAINST HERESIES

BOOK I

PREFACE.

   1. INASMUCH(1) as certain men have set the truth aside, and bring in
lying words and vain genealogies, which, as the apostle says,(2) "minister
questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith," and by means of
their craftily-constructed plausibilities draw away the minds of the
inexperienced and take them captive, [I have felt constrained, my dear
friend, to compose the following treatise in order to expose and counteract
their machinations.] These men falsify the oracles of God, and prove
themselves evil interpreters of the good word of revelation. They also
overthrow the faith of many, by drawing them away, under a pretence of
[superior] knowledge, from Him who rounded and adorned the universe; as if,
forsooth, they had something more excellent and sublime to reveal, than
that God who created the heaven and the earth, and all things that are
therein. By means of specious and plausible words, they cunningly allure
the simple-minded to inquire into their system; but they nevertheless
clumsily destroy them, while they initiate them into their blasphemous and
impious opinions respecting the Demiurge;(3) and these simple ones are
unable, even in such a matter, to distinguish falsehood from truth.

   2. Error, indeed, is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest,
being thus exposed, it should at once be detected. But it is craftily
decked out in an attractive dress, so as, by its outward form, to make it
appear to the inexperienced (ridiculous as the expression may seem) more
true than the truth itself. One(4) far superior to me has well said, in
reference to this point, "A clever imitation in glass casts contempt, as it
were, on that precious jewel the emerald (which is most highly esteemed by
some), unless it come under the eye of one able to test and expose the
counterfeit. Or, again, what inexperienced person can with ease detect the
presence of brass when it has been mixed up with silver?" Lest, therefore,
through my neglect, some should be carried off, even as sheep are by
wolves, while they perceive not the true character of these men,-because
they outwardly are covered with sheep's clothing (against whom the Lord has
enjoined(5) us to be on our guard), and because their language resembles
ours, while their sentiments are very different,--I have deemed it my duty
(after reading some of the Commentaries, as they call them, of the
disciples of Valentinus, and after making myself acquainted with their
tenets through personal intercourse with some of them) to unfold to thee,
my friend, these portentous and profound mysteries, which do not fall
within the range of every intellect, because all have not sufficiently
purged(6) their brains. I do this, in order that thou, obtaining an
acquaintance with these things, mayest in turn explain them to all those
with whom thou art connected, and exhort them to avoid such an abyss of
madness and of blasphemy against Christ. I intend, then, to the best of my
ability, with brevity and clearness to set forth the opinions of those who
are now promulgating heresy. I refer especially to the disciples of
Ptolemaeus, whose school may be described as a bud from that of Valentinus.
I shall also endeavour, according to my moderate ability, to furnish the
means of overthrowing them, by showing how absurd and inconsistent with the
truth are their statements. Not that I am practised either in composition
or eloquence; but my feeling of affection prompts me to make known to thee
and all thy companions those doctrines which have been kept in concealment
until now, but which are at last, through the goodness of God, brought to
light. "For there is nothing hidden which shall not be revealed, nor secret
that shall not be made known."(1)

   3. Thou wilt not expect from me, who am resident among the Keltae,(2)
and am accustomed for the most part to use a barbarous dialect, any display
of rhetoric, which I have never learned, or any excellence of composition,
which I have never practised, or any beauty and persuasiveness of style, to
which I make no pretensions. But thou wilt accept in a kindly spirit what I
in a like spirit write to thee simply, truthfully, and in my own homely
way; whilst thou thyself (as being more capable than I am) wilt expand
those ideas of which I send thee, as it were, only the seminal principles;
and in the comprehensiveness of thy understanding, wilt develop to their
full extent the points on which I briefly touch, so as to set with power
before thy companions those things which I have uttered in weakness. In
fine, as I (to gratify thy long-cherished desire for information regarding
the tenets of these persons) have spared no pains, not only to make these
doctrines known to thee, but also to furnish the means of showing their
falsity; so shalt thou, according to the grace given to thee by the Lord,
prove an earnest and efficient minister to others, that men may no longer
be drawn away by the plausible system of these heretics, which I now
proceed to describe.(3)

CHAP. I.--ABSURD IDEAS OF THE DISCIPLES OF VALENTINUS AS TO THE ORIGIN,
NAME, ORDER, AND CONJUGAL PRODUCTIONS OF THEIR FANCIED AEONS, WITH THE
PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE WHICH THEY ADAPT TO THEIR OPINIONS.

   1. THEY maintain, then, that in the invisible and ineffable heights
above there exists a certain perfect, pre-existent AEon,(4) whom they call
Proarche, Propator, and Bythus, and describe as being invisible and
incomprehensible. Eternal and unbegotten, he remained throughout
innumerable cycles of ages in profound serenity and quiescence. There
existed along with him Ennoea, whom they also call Charis and Sige.(5) At
last this Bythus determined to send forth from himself the beginning of all
things, and deposited this production (which he had resolved to bring
forth) in his contemporary Sige, even as seed is deposited in the womb. She
then, having received this seed, and becoming pregnant, gave birth to Nous,
who was both similar and equal to him who had produced him, and was alone
capable of comprehending his father's greatness. This Nous they call also
Monogenes, and Father, and the Beginning of all Things. Along with him was
also produced Aletheia; and these four constituted the first and first-
begotten Pythagorean Tetrad, which they also denominate the root of all
things. For there are first Bythus and Sige, and then Nous and Aletheia.
And Monogenes, perceiving for what purpose he had been produced, also
himself sent forth Logos and Zoe, being the father of all those who were to
come after him, and the beginning and fashioning of the entire Pleroma. By
the conjunction of Logos and Zoo were brought forth Anthropos and Ecclesia;
and thus was formed the first-begotten Ogdoad, the root and substance of
all things, called among them by four names, viz., Bythus, and Nous, and
Logos, and Anthropos. For each of these is masculo-feminine, as follows:
Propator was united by a conjunction with his Ennoea; then Monogenes, that
is Nous, with Aletheia; Logos with Zoe, and Anthropos with Ecclesia.

   2. These AEons having been produced for the glory of the Father, and
wishing, by their own efforts, to effect this object, sent forth emanations
by means of conjunction. Logos and Zoe, after producing Anthropos and
Ecclesia, sent forth other ten AEons, whose names are the following:
Bythius and Mixis, Ageratos and Henosis, Autophyes and Hedone, Acinetos and
Syncrasis, Monogenes and Macaria.(6) These are the ten AEons whom they
declare to have been produced by Logos and Zoe. They then add that
Anthropos himself, along with Ecclesia, produced twelve AEons, to whom they
give the following names: Paracletus and Pistis, Patricos and Elpis,
Metricos and Agape, Ainos and Synesis, Ecclesiasticus and Macariotes,
Theletos and Sophia.

   3. Such are the thirty AEons in the erroneous system of these men; and
they are described as being wrapped up, so to speak, in silence, and known
to none [except these professing teachers]. Moreover, they declare that
this invisible and spiritual Pleroma of theirs is tripartite, being divided
into an Ogdoad, a Decad, and a Duodecad. And for this reason they affirm it
was that the "Saviour"--for they do not please to call Him "Lord"--did no
work in public during the space of thirty years,(1) thus setting forth the
mystery of these AEons. They maintain also, that these thirty AEons are
most plainly indicated in the parable(2) of the labourers sent into the
vineyard. For some are sent about the first hour, others about the third
hour, others about the sixth hour, others about the ninth hour, and others
about the eleventh hour. Now, if we add up the numbers of the hours here
mentioned, the sum total will be thirty: for one, three, six, nine, and
eleven, when added together, form thirty. And by the hours, they hold that
the AEons were pointed out; while they maintain that these are great, and
wonderful, and hitherto unspeakable mysteries which it is their special
function to develop; and so they proceed when they find anything in the
multitude(3) of things contained in the Scriptures which they can adopt and
accommodate to their baseless speculations.

CHAP. II.--THE PROPATOR WAS KNOWN TO MONO-GENES ALONE. AMBITION,
DISTURBANCE, AND DANGER INTO WHICH SOPHIA FELL; HER SHAPELESS OFFSPRING:
SHE IS RESTORED BY HOROS. THE PRODUCTION OF CHRIST AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT,
IN ORDER TO THE COMPLETION OF THE AEONS. MANNER OF THE PRODUCTION OF JESUS.

   1. They proceed to tell us that the Propator of their scheme was known
only to Monogenes, who sprang from him; in other words, only to Nous, while
to all the others he was invisible and incomprehensible. And, according to
them, Nous alone took pleasure in contemplating the Father, and exulting in
considering his immeasurable greatness; while he also meditated how he
might communicate to the rest of the AEons the greatness of the Father,
revealing to them how vast and mighty he was, and how he was without
beginning,--beyond comprehension, and altogether incapable of being seen.
But, in accordance with the will of the Father, Sige restrained him,
because it was his design to lead them all to an acquaintance with the
aforesaid Propator, and to create within them a desire of investigating his
nature. In like manner, the rest of the AEons also, in a kind of quiet way,
had a wish to behold the Author of their being, and to contemplate that
First Cause which had no beginning.

   2. But there rushed forth in advance of the rest that AEon who was much
the latest of them, and was the youngest of the Duodecad which sprang from
Anthropos and Ecclesia, namely Sophia, and suffered passion apart from the
embrace of her consort Theletos. This passion, indeed, first arose among
those who were connected with Nous and Aletheia, but passed as by contagion
to this degenerate AEon, who acted under a pretence of love, but was in
reality influenced by temerity, because she had not, like Nous, enjoyed
communion with the perfect Father. This passion, they say, consisted in a
desire to search into the nature of the Father; for she wished, according
to them, to comprehend his greatness. When she could not attain her end,
inasmuch as she aimed at an impossibility, and thus became involved in an
extreme agony of mind, while both on account of the vast profundity as well
as the unsearchable nature of the Father, and on account of the love she
bore him, she was ever stretching herself forward, there was danger lest
she should at last have been absorbed by his sweetness, and resolved into
his absolute essence, unless she had met with that Power which supports all
things, and preserves them outside of the unspeakable greatness. This power
they term Horos; by whom, they say, she was restrained and supported; and
that then, having with difficulty been brought back to herself, she was
convinced that the Father is incomprehensible, and so laid aside her
original design, along with that passion which had arisen within her from
the overwhelming influence of her admiration.

   3. But others of them fabulously describe the passion and restoration
of Sophia as follows: They say that she, having engaged in an impossible
and impracticable attempt, brought forth an amorphous substance, such as
her female nature enabled her to produce.(4) When she looked upon it, her
first feeling was one of grief, on account of the imperfection of its
generation, and then of fear lest this should end(5) her own existence.
Next she lost, as it were, all command of herself, and was in the greatest
perplexity while endeavouring to discover the cause of all this, and in
what way she might conceal what had happened. Being greatly harassed by
these passions, she at last changed her mind, and endeavoured to return
anew to the Father. When, however, she in some measure made the attempt,
strength failed her, and she became a suppliant of the Father. The other
AEons, Nous in particular, presented their supplications along with her.
And hence they declare material substance(1) had its beginning from
ignorance and grief, and fear and bewilderment.

   4. The Father afterwards produces, in his own image, by means of
Monogenes, the above-mentioned Horos, without conjunction,(2) masculo-
feminine. For they maintain that sometimes the Father acts in conjunction
with Sige, but that at other times he shows himself independent both of
male and female. They term this Horos both Stauros and Lytrotes, and
Carpistes, and Horothetes, and Metagoges.(3) And by this Horos they declare
that Sophia was purified and established, while she was also restored to
her proper conjunction. For her enthymesis (or inborn idea) having been
taken away from her, along with its supervening passion, she herself
certainly remained within the Pleroma; but her enthymesis, with its
passion, was separated from her by Horos, fenced(4) off, and expelled from
that circle. This enthymesis was, no doubt, a spiritual substance,
possessing some of the natural tendencies of an AEon, but at the same time
shapeless and without form, because it had received nothing.(5) And on this
account they say that it was an imbecile and feminine production.(6)

   5. After this substance had been placed outside of the Pleroma of the
AEons, and its mother restored to her proper conjunction, they tell us that
Monogenes, acting in accordance with the prudent forethought of the Father,
gave origin to another conjugal pair, namely Christ and the Holy Spirit
(lest any of the AEons should fall into a calamity similar to that of
Sophia), for the purpose of fortifying and strengthening the Pleroma, and
who at the same time completed the number of the AEons. Christ then
instructed them as to the nature of their conjunction, and taught them that
those who possessed a comprehension of the Unbegotten were sufficient for
themselves.(7) He also announced among them what related to the knowledge
of the Father,--namely, that he cannot be understood or comprehended, nor
so much as seen or heard, except in so far as he is known by Monogenes
only. And the reason why the rest of the AEons possess perpetual existence
is found in that part of the Father's nature which is incomprehensible; but
the reason of their origin and formation was situated in that which may be
comprehended regarding him, that is, in the Son.(8) Christ, then, who had
just been produced, effected these things among them.

   6. But the Holy Spirit(9) taught them to give thanks on being all
rendered equal among themselves, and led them to a state of true repose.
Thus, then, they tell us that the AEons were constituted equal to each
other in form and sentiment, so that all became as Nous, and Logos, and
Anthropos, and Christus. The female AEons, too, became all as Aletheia, and
Zoe, and Spiritus, and Ecclesia. Everything, then, being thus established,
and brought into a state of perfect rest, they next tell us that these
beings sang praises with great joy to the Propator, who himself shared in
the abounding exaltation. Then, out of gratitude for the great benefit
which had been conferred on them, the whole Pleroma of the AEons, with one
design and desire, and with the concurrence of Christ and the Holy Spirit,
their Father also setting the seal of His approval on their conduct,
brought together whatever each one had in himself of the greatest beauty
and preciousness; and uniting all these contributions so as skilfully to
blend the whole, they produced, to the honour and glory of Bythus, a being
of most perfect beauty, the very star of the Pleroma, and the perfect fruit
[of it], namely Jesus. Him they also speak of under the name of Saviour,
and Christ, and patronymically, Logos, and Everything, because He was
formed from the contributions of all. And then we are told that, by way of
honour, angels of the same nature as Himself were simultaneously produced,
to act as His body-guard.

CHAP. III.--TEXTS OF HOLY SCRIPTURE USED BY THESE HERETICS TO SUPPORT THEIR
OPINIONS.

   1. Such, then, is the account they give of what took place within the
Pleroma; such the calamities that flowed from the passion which seized upon
the AEon who has been named, and who was within a little of perishing by
being absorbed in the universal substance, through her inquisitive
searching after the Father; such the consolidation(1) [of that AEon] from
her condition of agony by Horos, and Stauros, and Lytrotes, and Carpistes,
and Horothetes, and Metagoges.(2) Such also is the account of the
generation of the later AEons, namely of the first Christ and of the Holy
Spirit, both of whom were produced by the Father after the repentance(3)
[of Sophia], and of the second(4) Christ (whom they also style Saviour),
who owed his being to the joint contributions [of the AEons]. They tell us,
however, that this knowledge has not been openly divulged, because all are
not capable of receiving it, but has been mystically revealed by the
Saviour through means of parables to those qualified for understanding it.
This has been done as follows. The thirty AEons are indicated (as we have
already remarked) by the thirty years during which they say the Saviour
performed no public act, and by the parable of the labourers in the
vineyard. Paul also, they affirm, very clearly and frequently names these
AEons, and even goes so far as to preserve their order, when he says, "To
all the generations of the AEons of the AEon."(5) Nay, we ourselves, when
at the giving of thanks we pronounce the words, "To AEons of AEons" (for
ever and ever), do set forth these AEons. And, in fine, wherever the words
AEon or AEons occur, they at once refer them to these beings.

   2. The production, again, of the Duodecad of the AEons, is indicated by
the fact that the Lord was twelve(7) years of age when He disputed with the
teachers of the law, and by the election of the apostles, for of these
there were twelve.(8) The other eighteen AEons are made manifest in this
way: that the Lord, [according to them,] conversed with His disciples for
eighteen months(9) after His resurrection from the dead. They also affirm
that these eighteen AEons are strikingly indicated by the first two letters
of His name [Ihsous], namely Iota(10) and Eta. And, in like manner, they
assert that the ten AEons are pointed out by the letter Iota, which begins
His name; while, for the same reason, they tell us the Saviour said, "One
Iota, or one tittle, shall by no means pass away until all be
fulfilled."(11)

   3. They further maintain that the passion which took place in the case
of the twelfth AEon is pointed at by the apostasy of Judas, who was the
twelfth apostle, and also by the fact that Christ suffered in the twelfth
month. For their opinion is, that He continued to preach for one year only
after His baptism. The same thing is also most clearly indicated by the
case of the woman who suffered from an issue of blood. For after she had
been thus afflicted during twelve years, she was healed by the advent of
the Saviour, when she had touched the border of His garment; and on this
account the Saviour said, "Who touched me?"(12)--teaching his disciples the
mystery which had occurred among the AEons, and the healing of that AEon
who had been involved in suffering. For she who had been afflicted twelve
years represented that power whose essence, as they narrate, was stretching
itself forth, and flowing into immensity; and unless she had touched the
garment  of the Son,(13) that is, Aletheia of the first Tetrad, who is
denoted by the hem spoken of, she would have been dissolved into the
general essence(14) [of which she participated]. She stopped short,
however, and ceased any longer to suffer. For the power that went forth
from the Son (and this power they term Horos) healed her, and separated the
passion from her.

   4. They moreover affirm that the Saviour(15) is shown to be derived
from all the AEons, and to be in Himself everything by the following
passage: "Every male that openeth the womb."(16) For He, being everything,
opened the womb(17) of the enthymesis of the suffering AEon, when it had
been expelled from the Pleroma. This they also style the second Ogdoad, of
which we shall speak presently. And they state that it was clearly on this
account that Paul said, "And He Himself is all things;"(1) and again, "All
things are to Him, and of Him are all things;"(2) and further, "In Him
dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead;"(3) and yet again, "All things are
gathered together by God in Christ."(4) Thus do they interpret these and
any like passages to be found in Scripture.

   5. They show, further, that that Horos of theirs, whom they call by a
variety of names, has two faculties,--the one of supporting, and the other
of separating; and in so far as he supports and sustains, he is Stauros,
while in so far as he divides and separates, he is Horos. They then
represent the Saviour as having indicated this twofold faculty: first, the
sustaining power, when He said, "Whosoever doth not bear his cross
(Stauros), and follow after me, cannot be my disciple;"(5) and again,
"Taking up the cross follow me;"(6) but the separating power when He said,
"I came not to send peace, but a word."(7) They also maintain that John
indicated the same thing when he said, "The fan is in His hand, and He will
thoroughly purge the floor, and will gather the wheat into His garner; but
the chaff He will burn with fire unquenchable."(8) By this declaration He
set forth the faculty of Horos. For that fan they explain to be the cross
(Stauros), which consumes, no doubt, all material(9) objects, as fire does
chaff, but it purifies all them that are saved, as a fan does wheat.
Moreover, they affirm that the Apostle Paul himself made mention of this
cross in the following words: "The doctrine of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness, but to us who are saved it is the power of God."(10)
And again: "God forbid that I should glory in anything(11) save in the
cross of Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto the
world."

   6. Such, then, is the account which they all give of their Pleroma, and
of the formation(12) of the universe, striving, as they do, to adapt the
good words of revelation to their own wicked inventions. And it is not only
from the writings of the evangelists and the apostles that they endeavour
to derive proofs for their opinions by means of perverse interpretations
and deceitful expositions: they deal in the same way with the law and the
prophets, which contain many parables and allegories that can frequently be
drawn into various senses, according to the kind of exegesis to which they
are subjected. And others(13) of them, with great craftiness, adapted such
parts of Scripture to their own figments, lead away captive from the truth
those who do not retain a stedfast faith in one God, the Father Almighty,
and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

CHAP. IV.--ACCOUNT GIVEN BY THE HERETICS OF THE FORMATION OF ACHAMOTH;
ORIGIN OF THE VISIBLE WORLD FROM HER DISTURBANCES.

   1. The following are the transactions which they narrate as having
occurred outside of the Pleroma: The enthymesis of that Sophia who dwells
above, which they also term Achamoth,(14) being removed from the Pleroma,
together with her passion, they relate to have, as a matter of course,
become violently excited in those places of darkness and vacuity [to which
she had been banished]. For she was excluded from light(15) and the
Pleroma, and was without form or figure, like an untimely birth, because
she had received nothing(16) [from a male parent]. But the Christ dwelling
on high took pity upon her; and having extended himself through and beyond
Stauros,(17) he imparted a figure to her, but merely as respected
substance, and not so as to convey intelligence.(18) Having effected this,
he withdrew his influence, and returned, leaving Achamoth to herself, in
order that she, becoming sensible of her suffering as being severed from
the Pleroma, might be influenced by the desire of better things, while she
possessed in the meantime a kind of odour of immortality left in her by
Christ and the Holy Spirit. Wherefore also she is called by two names--
Sophia after her father (for Sophia is spoken of as being her father), and
Holy Spirit from that Spirit who is along with Christ. Having then obtained
a form, along with intelligence, and being immediately deserted by that
Logos who had been invisibly present with her--that is, by Christ--she
strained herself to discover that light which had forsaken her, but could
not effect her purpose, inasmuch as she was prevented by Horos. And as
Horos thus obstructed her further progress, he exclaimed, IAO,(1) whence,
they say, this name Iao derived its origin. And when she could not pass by
Horos on account of that passion in which she had been involved, and
because she alone had been left without, she then resigned herself to every
sort of that manifold and varied state of passion to which she was subject;
and thus she suffered grief on the one hand because she had not obtained
the object of her desire, and fear on the other hand, lest life itself
should fail her, as light had already done, while, in addition, she was in
the greatest perplexity. All these feelings were associated with ignorance.
And this ignorance of hers was not like that of her mother, the first
Sophia, an AEon, due to degeneracy by means of passion, but to an [innate]
opposition [of nature to knowledge].(2) Moreover, another kind of passion
fell upon her her (Achamoth), namely, that of desiring to return to him who
gave her life.

   2. This collection [of passions] they declare was the substance of the
matter from which this world was formed. For from [her desire of] returning
[to him who gave her life], every soul belonging to this world, and that of
the Demiurge(3) himself, derived its origin. All other things owed their
beginning to her terror and sorrow. For from her tears all that is of a
liquid nature was formed; from her smile all that is lucent; and from her
grief and perplexity all the corporeal elements of the world. For at one
time, as they affirm, she would weep and lament on account of being left
alone in the midst of darkness and vacuity; while, at another time,
reflecting on the light which had forsaken her, she would be filled with
joy, and laugh; then, again, she would be struck with terror; or, at other
times, would sink into consternation and bewilderment.

   3. Now what follows from all this? No light tragedy comes out of it, as
the fancy of every man among them pompously explains, one in one way, and
another in another, from what kind of passion and from what element being
derived its origin. They have good reason, as seems to me, why they should
not feel inclined to teach these things to all in public, but only to such
as are able to pay a high price for an acquaintance with such profound
mysteries. For these doctrines are not at all similar to those of which our
Lord said, "Freely ye have received, freely give."(4) They are, on the
contrary, abstruse, and portentous, and profound mysteries, to be got at
only with great labour by such as are in love with falsehood. For who would
not expend lull that he possessed, if only he might learn in return, that
from the tears of the enthymesis of the AEon involved in passion, seas, and
fountains, and rivers, and every liquid substance derived its origin; that
light burst forth from her smile; and that from her perplexity and
consternation the corporeal elements of the world had their formation?

   4. I feel somewhat inclined myself to contribute a few hints towards
the development of their system. For when I perceive that waters are in
part fresh, such as fountains, rivers, showers, and so on, and in part
salt; such as those in the sea, I reflect with myself that all such waters
cannot be derived from her tears, inasmuch as these are of a saline quality
only. It is clear, therefore, that the waters which are salt are alone
those which are derived from her tears. But it is probable that she, in her
intense agony and perplexity, was covered with perspiration. And hence,
following out their notion, we may conceive that fountains and rivers, and
all the fresh water in the world, are due to this source. For it is
difficult, since we know that all tears are of the same quality, to believe
that waters both salt and fresh proceeded from them. The more plausible
supposition is, that some are from her tears, and some from her
perspiration. And since there are also in the world certain waters which
are hot and acrid in their nature, thou must be left to guess their origin,
how and whence. Such are some of the results of their hypothesis.

   5. They go on to state that, when the mother Achamoth had passed
through all sorts of passion, and had with difficulty escaped from them,
she turned herself to supplicate the light which had forsaken her, that is,
Christ. He, however, having returned to the Pleroma, and being probably
unwilling again to descend from it, sent forth to her the Paraclete, that
is, the Saviour.(5) This being was endowed with all power by the Father,
who placed everything under his authority, the AEons(6) doing so likewise,
so that "by him were all things, visible and invisible, created, thrones,
divinities, dominions."(7) He then was sent to her along with his
contemporary angels. And they related that Achamoth, filled with reverence,
at first veiled herself through modesty, but that by and by, when she had
looked upon him with all his endowments, and had acquired strength from his
appearance, she ran forward to meet him. He then imparted to her form as
respected intelligence, and brought healing to her passions, separating
them from her, but not so as to drive them out of thought altogether. For
it was not possible that they should be annihilated as in the former
case,(1) because they had already taken root and acquired strength [so as
to possess an indestructible existence]. All that he could do was to
separate them and set them apart, and then commingle and condense them, so
as to transmute them from incorporeal passion into unorganized matter.(2)
He then by this process conferred upon them a fitness and a nature to
become concretions and corporeal structures, in order that two substances
should be formed,--the one evil, resulting from the passions, and the other
subject indeed to suffering, but originating from her conversion. And on
this account (i.e., on account of this hypostatizing of ideal matter) they
say that the Saviour virtually(3) created the world. But when Achamoth was
freed from her passion, she gazed with rapture on the dazzling vision of
the angels that were with him; and in her ecstasy, conceiving by them, they
tell us that she brought forth new beings, partly after her oven image, and
partly a spiritual progeny after the image of the Saviour's attendants.

CHAP. V.--FORMATION OF THE DEMIURGE; DESCRIPTION OF HIM. HE IS THE CREATOR
OF EVERYTHING OUTSIDE OF THE PLEROMA.

   1. These three kinds of existence, then, having, according to them,
been now formed,--one from the passion, which was matter; a second from the
conversion, which was animal; and the third, that which she (Achamoth)
herself brought forth, which was spiritual,--she next addressed herself to
the task of giving these form. But she could not succeed in doing this as
respected the spiritual existence, because it was of the same nature with
herself. She therefore applied herself to give form to the animal substance
which had proceeded from her own conversion, and to bring forth to light
the instructions of the Saviour.(4) And they say she first formed out of
animal substance him who is Father and King of all things, both of these
which are of the same nature with himself, that is, animal substances,
which they also call right-handed, and those which sprang from the passion,
and from matter, which they call left-handed. For they affirm that he
formed all the things which came into existence after him, being secretly
impelled thereto by his mother. From this circumstance they style him
Metropator,(5) Apator, Demiurge, and Father, saying that he is Father of
the substances on the right hand, that is, of the animal, but Demiurge of
those on the left, that is, of the material, while he is at the same time
the king of all. For they say that this Enthymesis, desirous of making all
things to the honour of the AEons, formed images of them, or rather that
the Saviour(6) did so through her instrumentality. And she, in the image(7)
of the invisible Father, kept herself concealed from the Demiurge. But he
was in the image of the only-begotten Son, and the angels and archangels
created by him were in the image of the rest of the AEons.

   2. They affirm, therefore, that he was constituted the Father and God
of everything outside of the Pleroma, being the creator of all animal and
material substances. For he it was that discriminated these two kinds of
existence hitherto confused, and made corporeal from incorporeal
substances, fashioned things heavenly and earthly, and became the Framer
(Demiurge) of things material and animal, of those on the right and those
on the left, of the light and of the heavy, and of those tending upwards as
well as of those tending downwards. He created also seven heavens, above
which they say that he, the Demiurge, exists. And on this account they term
him Hebdomas, and his mother Achamoth Ogdoads, preserving the number of the
first-begotten and primary Ogdoad as the Pleroma. They affirm, moreover,
that these seven heavens are intelligent, and speak of them as being
angels, while they refer to the Demiurge himself as being an  angel bearing
a likeness to God; and in the same strain, they declare that Paradise,
situated above the third heaven, is a fourth angel possessed of power, from
whom Adam derived certain qualities while he conversed with him.

   3. They go on to say that the Demiurge imagined that he created all
these things of himself, while he in reality made them in conjunction with
the productive power of Achamoth. He formed the heavens, yet was ignorant
of the heavens; he fashioned man, yet knew not man; he brought to light the
earth, yet had no acquaintance with the earth; and, in like manner. they
declare that he was ignorant of the forms of all that he made, and knew not
even of the existence of his own mother, but imagined that he himself was
all things. They further affirm that his mother originated this opinion in
his mind, because she desired to bring him forth possessed of such a
character that he should be the head and source of his own essence, and the
absolute ruler over every kind of operation [that was afterwards
attempted]. This mother they also call Ogdoad, Sophia; Terra, Jerusalem,
Holy Spirit, and, with a masculine reference, Lord.(1) Her place of
habitation is an intermediate one, above the Demiurge indeed, but below and
outside of the Pleroma, even to the end.(2)

   4. As, then, they represent all material substance to be formed from
three passions, viz., fear, grief, and perplexity, the account they give is
as follows: Animal substances originated from fear and from conversion; the
Demiurge they also describe as owing his origin to conversion; but the
existence of all the other animal substances they ascribe to fear, such as
the souls of irrational animals, and of wild beasts, and men. And on this
account, he (the Demiurge), being incapable  of recognising any spiritual
essences, imagined himself to be God alone, and declared through the
prophets, "I am God, and besides me there is none else."(3) They further
teach that the spirits of wickedness derived their origin from grief. Hence
the devil, whom they also call Cosmocrator (the ruler of the world), and
the demons, and the angels, and every wicked spiritual being that exists,
found the source Of their existence. They represent the Demiurge as being
the son of that mother of theirs (Achamoth), and Cosmocrator as the
creature of the Demiurge. Cosmocrator has knowledge of what is above
himself, because he is a spirit of wickedness; but the Demiurge is ignorant
of such things, inasmuch as he is merely animal. Their mother dwells in
that place which is above the heavens, that is, in the intermediate abode;
the Demiurge in the heavenly place, that is, in the hebdomad; but the
Cosmocrator in this our world. The corporeal elements of the world, again,
sprang, as we before remarked, from bewilderment and perplexity, as from a
more ignoble source. Thus the earth arose from her state of stupor; water
from the agitation caused by her fear; air from the consolidation of her
grief; while fire, producing death and corruption, was inherent in all
these elements, even as they teach that ignorance also lay concealed in
these three passions.

   5. Having thus formed the world, he (the Demiurge) also created the
earthy [part of] man, not taking him from this dry earth, but from an
invisible substance consisting of fusible and fluid matter, and then
afterwards, as they define the process, breathed into him the animal part
of his nature. It was this latter which was created after his image and
likeness. The material part, indeed, was very near to. God, so far as the
image went, but not of the same substance with him. The animal, on the
Other hand, was so in respect to likeness; and hence his substance was
called the spirit of life, because it took its rise from a spiritual
outflowing. After all this, he was, they say, enveloped all round with a
covering of skin; and by this they mean the outward sensitive flesh.

   6. But they further affirm that the Demiurge himself was ignorant of
that offspring of his mother Achamoth, which she brought forth as a
consequence of her contemplation of those angels who waited on the Saviour,
and which was, like herself, of a spiritual nature. She took advantage of
this ignorance to deposit it (her production) in him without his knowledge,
in order that, being by his instrumentality infused into that animal soul
proceeding from himself, and being thus carried as in a womb in this
material body, while it gradually increased in strength, might in course of
time become fitted for the reception of perfect rationality.(4) Thus it
came to pass, then, according to them, that, without any knowledge on the
part of the Demiurge, the man formed by his inspiration was at the same
time, through an unspeakable providence, rendered a spiritual man by the
simultaneous inspiration received from Sophia. For, as he was ignorant of
his mother, so neither did he recognise her offspring. This [offspring]
they also declare to be the Ecclesia, an emblem of the Ecclesia which is
above. This, then, is the kind of man whom they conceive of: he has his
animal soul from the Demiurge, his body from the earth, his fleshy part
from matter, and his spiritual man from the mother Achamoth.

CHAP. VI.--THE THREEFOLD KIND OF MAN FEIGNED BY THESE HERETICS: GOOD WORKS
NEEDLESS FOR THEM, THOUGH NECESSARY TO OTHERS: THEIR ABANDONED MORALS.

   1. There being thus three kinds of substances, they declare of all that
is material (which they also describe as being "on the left hand") that it
must of necessity perish, inasmuch as it is incapable of receiving any
afflatus of incorruption. As to every animal existence (which they also
denominate "on the right hand"), they hold that, inasmuch as it is a mean
between the spiritual and the material, it passes to the side to which
inclination draws it. Spiritual substance, again, they describe as having
been sent forth for this end, that, being here united with that which is
animal, it might assume shape, the two elements being simultaneously
subjected to the same discipline. And this they declare to be "the salt"(1)
and "the light of the world." For the animal substance had need of training
by means of the outward senses; and on this account they affirm that the
world was created, as well as that the Saviour came to the animal substance
(which was possessed of free-will), that He might secure for it salvation.
For they affirm that He received the first-fruits of those whom He was to
save [as follows], from Achamoth that which was spiritual, while He was
invested by the Demiurge with the animal Christ, but was begirt(2) by a
[special] dispensation with a body endowed with an animal nature, yet
constructed with unspeakable skill, so that it might be visible and
tangible, and capable of enduring suffering. At the same time, they deny
that He assumed anything material [into His nature], since indeed matter is
incapable of salvation. They further hold that the consummation of all
things will take place when all that is spiritual has been formed and
perfected by Gnosis (knowledge); and by this they mean spiritual men who
have attained to the perfect knowledge of God, and been initiated into
these mysteries by Achamoth. And they represent themselves to be these
persons.

   2. Animal men, again, are instructed in animal things; such men,
namely, as are established by their works, and by a mere faith, while they
have not perfect knowledge. We of the Church, they say, are these
persons.(3) Wherefore also they maintain that good works are necessary to
us, for that otherwise it is impossible we should be saved. But as to
themselves, they hold that they shall be entirely and undoubtedly saved,
not by means of conduct, but because they are spiritual by nature.(4) For,
just as it is impossible that material substance should partake of
salvation (since, indeed, they maintain that it is incapable of receiving
it), so again it is impossible that spiritual substance (by which they mean
themselves) should ever come under the power of corruption, whatever the
sort of actions in which they indulged. For even as gold, when submersed in
filth, loses not on that account its beauty, but retains its own native
qualities, the filth having no power to injure the gold, so they affirm
that they cannot in any measure suffer hurt, or lose their spiritual
substance, whatever the material actions in which they may be involved.

   3. Wherefore also it comes to pass, that the "most perfect" among them
addict themselves without fear to all those kinds of forbidden deeds of
which the Scriptures assure us that "they who do such things shall not
inherit the kingdom of God."(5) For instance, they make no scruple about
eating meats offered in sacrifice to idols, imagining that they can in this
way contract no defilement. Then, again, at every heathen festival
celebrated in honour of the idols, these men are the first to assemble; and
to such a pitch do they go, that some of them do not even keep away from
that bloody spectacle hateful both to God and men, in which gladiators
either fight with wild beasts, or singly encounter one another. Others of
them yield themselves up to the lusts of the flesh with the utmost
greediness, maintaining that carnal things should be allowed to the carnal
nature, while spiritual things are provided for the spiritual. Some of
them, moreover, are in the habit of defiling those women to whom they have
taught the above doctrine, as has frequently been confessed by those women
who have been led astray by certain of them, on their returning to the
Church of God, and acknowledging this along with the rest of their errors.
Others of them, too, openly and without a blush, having become passionately
attached to certain women, seduce them away from their husbands, and
contract marriages of their own with them. Others of them, again, who
pretend at first. to live in all modesty with them as with sisters, have in
course of time been revealed in their true colours, when the sister has
been found with child by her [pretended] brother.

   4. And committing many other abominations and impieties, they run us
down (who from the fear of God guard against sinning even in thought or
word) as utterly contemptible and ignorant persons, while they highly exalt
themselves, and claim to be perfect, and the elect seed. For they declare
that we simply receive grace for use, wherefore also it will again be taken
away from us; but that they themselves have grace as their own special
possession, which has descended from above by means of an unspeakable and
indescribable conjunction; and on this account more will be given them.(6)
They maintain, therefore, that in every way it is always necessary for them
to practise the mystery of conjunction. And that they may persuade the
thoughtless to believe this, they are in the habit of using these very
words, "Whosoever being in this world does not so love a woman as to obtain
possession of her, is not of the truth, nor shall attain to the truth. But
whosoever being of(1) this world has intercourse with woman, shall not
attain to the truth, because he has so acted under the power of
concupiscence." On this account, they tell us that it is necessary for us
whom they call animal men, and describe as being of the world, to practise
continence and good works, that by this means we may attain at length to
the intermediate habitation, but that to them who are called "the spiritual
and perfect" such a course of conduct is not at all necessary. For it is
not conduct of any kind which leads into the Pleroma, but the seed sent
forth thence in a feeble, immature state, and here brought to perfection.

CHAP. VII.--THE MOTHER ACHAMOTH, WHEN ALL HER SEED ARE PERFECTED, SHALL
PASS INTO THE PLEROMA, ACCOMPANIED BY THOSE MEN WHO ARE SPIRITUAL; THE
DEMIURGE, WITH ANIMAL MEN, SHALL PASS INTO THE INTERMEDIATE HABITATION; BUT
ALL MATERIAL MEN SHALL GO INTO CORRUPTION. THEIR BLASPHEMOUS OPINIONS
AGAINST THE TRUE INCARNATION OF CHRIST BY THE VIRGIN MARY. THEIR VIEWS AS
TO THE PROPHECIES. STUPID IGNORANCE OF THE DEMIURGE.

   1. When all the seed shall have come to perfection, they state that
then their mother Achamoth shall pass from the intermediate place, and
enter in within the Pleroma, and shall receive as her spouse the Saviour,
who sprang from all the AEons, that thus a conjunction may be formed
between the Saviour and Sophia, that is, Achamoth. These, then, are the
bridegroom and bride, while the nuptial chamber is the full extent of the
Pleroma. The spiritual seed, again, being divested of their animal
souls,(2) and becoming intelligent spirits, shall in an irresistible and
invisible manner enter in within the Pleroma, and be bestowed as brides on
those angels who wait upon the Saviour. The Demiurge himself will pass into
the place of his mother Sophia;(3) that is, the intermediate habitation. In
this intermediate place, also, shall the souls of the righteous repose; but
nothing of an animal nature shall find admittance to the Pleroma. When
these things have taken place as described, then shall that fire which lies
hidden in the world blaze forth and bum; and while destroying all matter,
shall also be extinguished along with it, and have no further existence.
They affirm that the Demiurge was acquainted with none of these things
before the advent of the Saviour.

   2. There are also some who maintain that he also produced Christ as his
own proper son, but of an animal nature, and that mention was(4) made of
him by the prophets. This Christ passed through Mary(5) just as water flows
through a tube; and there descended upon him in the form of a dove it the
time of his baptism, that Saviour who belonged to the Pleroma, and was
formed by the combined efforts of all its inhabit ants. In him there
existed also that spiritual  seed which proceeded from Achamoth. They
hold, accordingly, that our Lord, while preserving the type of the first-
begotten and primary tetrad, was compounded of these four substances,--of
that which is spiritual, in so far as He was from Achamoth; of that which
is animal, as being from the Demiurge by a special dispensation, inasmuch
as He was formed [corporeally] with unspeakable skill; and of the Saviour,
as respects that dove which descended upon Him. He also continued free from
all suffering, since indeed it was not possible that He should suffer who
was at once incomprehensible and invisible. And for this reason the Spirit
of Christ, who had been placed within Him, was taken away when He was
brought before Pilate. They maintain, further, that not even the seed which
He had received from the mother [Achamoth] was subject to suffering; for
it, too, was impassible, as being spiritual, and invisible even to the
Demiurge himself. It follows, then, according to them, that the animal
Christ, and that which had been formed mysteriously by a special
dispensation, underwent suffering, that the mother might exhibit through
him a type of the Christ above, namely, of him who extended himself through
Stauros,(6) and imparted to Achamoth shape, so far as substance was
concerned. For they declare that all these transactions were counterparts
of what took place above.

   3. They maintain, moreover, that those souls which possess the seed of
Achamoth are superior to the rest, and are more dearly loved by the
Demiurge than others, while he knows not the true cause thereof, but
imagines that they are what they are through his favour towards them.
Wherefore, also, they say he distributed them to prophets, priests, and
kings; and they declare that many things were spoken(7) by this seed
through the prophets, inasmuch as it was endowed with a transcendently
lofty nature. The mother also, they say, spake much about things above, and
that both through him and through the souls which were formed by him. Then,
again, they divide the prophecies [into different classes], maintaining
that one portion was uttered by the mother, a second by her seed, and a
third by the Demiurge. In like manner, they hold that Jesus uttered some
things under the influence of the Saviour, others under that of the mother,
and others still under that of the Demiurge, as we shall show further on in
our work.

   4. The Demiurge, while ignorant of those things which were higher than
himself, was indeed excited by the announcements made [through the
prophets], but treated them with contempt, attributing them sometimes to
one cause and sometimes to another; either to the prophetic spirit (which
itself possesses the power of self-excitement), or to [mere unassisted]
man, or that it was simply a crafty device of the lower [and baser order of
men].(1) He remained thus ignorant until the appearing of the Lord. But
they relate that when the Saviour came, the Demiurge learned all things
from Him, and gladly with all, his power joined himself to Him. They
maintain that he is the centurion mentioned in the Gospel, who addressed
the Saviour in these words: "For I also am one having soldiers and servants
under my authority; and whatsoever I command they do."(2) They further hold
that he will continue administering the affairs of the world as long as
that is fitting and needful, and specially that he may exercise a care over
the Church; while at the same time he is influenced by the knowledge of the
reward prepared for him, namely, that he may attain to the habitation of
his mother.

   5. They conceive, then, of three kinds of men, spiritual, material, and
animal, represented by Cain, Abel, and Seth. These three natures are no
longer found in one person,(3) but constitute various kinds [of men]. The
material goes, as a matter of course, into corruption. The animal, if it
make choice of the better part, finds repose in the intermediate place; but
if the worse, it too shall pass into destruction. But they assert that the
spiritual principles which have been sown by Achamoth, being disciplined
and nourished here  from that time until now in righteous souls (because
when given forth by her they were yet but weak), at last attaining to
perfection, shall be given as brides to the angels of the Saviour, while
their animal souls of necessity rest for ever with the Demiurge in the
intermediate place. And again subdividing the animal souls themselves, they
say that some are by nature good, and others by nature evil. The good are
those who become capable of receiving the [spiritual] seed; the evil by
nature are those who are never able to receive that seed.

CHAP. VIII.--HOW THE VALENTINIANS PERVERT THE SCRIPTURES TO SUPPORT THEIR
OWN PIOUS OPINIONS.

   1. Such, then, is their system, which neither the prophets announced,
nor the Lord taught, nor the apostles delivered, but of which they boast
that beyond all others they have a perfect knowledge. They gather their
views from other sources than the Scriptures;(4) and, to use a common
proverb, they strive to weave ropes of sand, while they endeavour to adapt
with an air of probability to their own peculiar assertions the parables of
the Lord, the sayings of the prophets, and the words of the apostles, in
order that their scheme may not seem altogether without support. In doing
so, however, they disregard the order and the connection of the Scriptures,
and so far as in them lies, dismember and destroy the truth. By
transferring passages, and dressing them up anew, and making one thing out
of another, they succeed in deluding many through their wicked art in
adapting the oracles of the Lord to their opinions. Their manner of acting
is just as if one, when a beautiful image of a king has been constructed by
some skilful artist out of precious jewels, should then take this likeness
of the man all to pieces, should rearrange the gems, and so fit them
together as to make them into the form of a dog or of a fox, and even that
but poorly executed; and should then maintain and declare that this was the
beautiful image of the king which the skilful artist constructed, pointing
to the jewels which had been admirably fitted together by the first artist
to form the image of the king, but have been with bad effect transferred by
the latter one to the shape of a dog, and by thus exhibiting the jewels,
should deceive the ignorant who had no conception what a king's form was
like, and persuade them that that miserable likeness of the fox was, in
fact, the beautiful image of the king. In like manner do these persons
patch together old wives' fables, and then endeavour, by violently drawing
away from their proper connection, words, expressions, and parables
whenever found, to adapt the oracles of God to their baseless fictions. We
have already stated how far they proceed in this way with respect to the
interior of the Pleroma.

   2. Then, again, as to those things outside of their Pleroma, the
following are some specimens of what they attempt to accommodate out of the
Scriptures to their opinions. They affirm that the Lord came in the last
times of the world to endure suffering, for this end, that He might
indicate the passion which occurred to the last of the AEons, and might by
His own end announce the cessation of that disturbance which had risen
among the AEons. They maintain, further, that that girl of twelve years
old, the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue,(1) to whom the Lord
approached and raised her from the dead, was a type of Achamoth, to whom
their Christ, by extending himself, imparted shape, and whom he led anew to
the perception of that light which had forsaken her. And that the Saviour
appeared to her when she lay outside of the Pleroma as a kind of abortion,
they affirm Paul to have declared in his Epistle to the Corinthians [in
these words], "And last of all, He appeared to me also, as to one born out
of due time."(2) Again, the coming of the Saviour with His attendants to
Achamoth is declared in like manner by him in the same Epistle, when he
says, "A woman ought to have a veil upon her head, because of the
angels."(3) Now, that Achamoth, when the Saviour came to her, drew a veil
over herself through modesty, Moses rendered manifest when he put a veil
upon his face. Then, also, they say that the passions which she endured
were indicated by the Lord upon the cross. Thus, when He said, "My God, my
God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"(4) He simply showed that Sophia was
deserted by the light, and was restrained by Horos from making any advance
forward. Her anguish, again, was indicated when He said, "My soul is
exceeding sorrowful, even unto death;"(5) her fear by the words, "Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me;"(6) and her perplexity, too,
when He said, "And what I shall say, I know not."(7)

   3. And they teach that He pointed out the three kinds of men as
follows: the material, when He said to him that asked Him, "Shall I follow
Thee?"(8) "The Son of man hath not where to lay His head;"--the animal,
when He said to him that declared, "I will follow Thee, but suffer me first
to bid them farewell that are in my house," "No man, putting his hand to
the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven"(9) (for
this man they declare to be of the intermediate class, even as they do that
other who, though he professed to have wrought a large amount of
righteousness, yet refused to follow Him, and was so overcome by [the love
of] riches, as never to reach perfection)--this one it pleases them to
place in the animal class;--the spiritual, again, when He said, "Let the
dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God,"(10) and
when He said to Zaccheus the publican, "Make haste, and come down, for to-
day I must abide in thine house"(11)--for these they declared to have
belonged to the spiritual class. Also the parable of the leaven which the
woman is described as having hid in three measures of meal, they declare to
make manifest the three classes. For, according to their teaching, the
woman represented Sophia; the three measures of meal, the three kinds of
men--spiritual, animal, and material; while the leaven denoted the Saviour
Himself. Paul, too, very plainly set forth the material, animal, and
spiritual, saying in one place, "As is the earthy, such are they also that
are earthy;"(12) and in another place, "But the animal man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit;"(13) and again: "He that is spiritual judgeth all
things."(14) And this, "The animal man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit," they affirm to have been spoken concerning the Demiurge, who, as
being animal, knew neither his mother who was spiritual, nor her seed, nor
the AEons in the Pleroma. And that the Saviour received first-fruits of
those whom He was to save, Paul declared when he said, "And if the first-
fruits be holy, the lump is also holy,"(15) teaching that the expression
"first-fruits" denoted that which is spiritual, but that "the lump" meant
us, that is, the animal Church, the lump of which they say He assumed, and
blended it with Himself, inasmuch as He is "the leaven."

   4. Moreover, that Achamoth wandered beyond the Pleroma, and received
form from Christ, and was sought after by the Saviour, they declare that He
indicated when He said, that He had come after that sheep which was gone
astray.(16) For they explain the wandering sheep to mean their mother, by
whom they represent the Church as having been sown. The wandering itself
denotes her stay outside of the Pleroma in a state of varied passion, from
which they maintain that matter derived its origin. The woman, again, who
sweeps the house and finds the piece of money, they declare to denote the
Sophia above, who, having lost her enthymesis, afterwards recovered it, on
all things being purified by the advent of the Saviour. Wherefore this
substance also, according to them, was reinstated in Pleroma. They say,
too, that Simeon, "who took Christ into his arms, and gave thanks to God,
and said, Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to
Thy word,"(1) was a type of the Demiurge, who, on the arrival of the
Saviour, learned his own change of place, and gave thanks to Bythus. They
also assert that by Anna, who is spoken of in the gospel(2) as a
prophetess, and who, after living seven years with her husband, passed all
the rest of her life in widowhood until she saw the Saviour, and recognised
Him, and spoke of Him to all, was most plainly indicated Achamoth, who,
having for a little while looked upon the Saviour with His associates, and
dwelling all the rest of the time in the intermediate place, waited for Him
till He should come again, and restore her to her proper consort. Her name,
too, was indicated by the Saviour, when He said, "Yet wisdom is justified
by her children."(3) This, too, was done by Paul in these words," But we
speak wisdom among them that are perfect."(4) They declare also that Paul
has referred to the conjunctions within the Pleroma, showing them forth by
means of one; for, when writing of the conjugal union in this life, he
expressed himself thus: "This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning
Christ and the Church."(5)

   5. Further, they teach that John, the disciple of the Lord, indicated
the first Ogdoad, expressing themselves in these words: John, the disciple
of the Lord, wishing to set forth the origin of all things, so as to
explain how the Father produced the whole, lays down a certain principle,--
that, namely, which was first-begotten by God, which Being he has termed
both the only-begotten Son and God, in whom the Father, after a seminal
manner, brought forth all things. By him the Word was produced, and in him
the whole substance of the AEons, to which the Word himself afterwards
imparted form. Since, therefore, he treats of the first origin of things,
he rightly proceeds in his teaching from the beginning, that is, from God
and the Word. And he expresses himself thus: "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the same was in the
beginning with God."(6) Having first of all distinguished these three--God,
the Beginning, and the Word--he again unites them, that he may exhibit the
production of each of them, that is, of the Son and of the Word, and may at
the same time show their union with one another, and with the Father. For
"the beginning" is in the Father, and of the Father, while "the Word" is in
the beginning, and of the beginning. Very properly, then, did he say, "In
the beginning was the Word," for He was in the Son; "and the Word was with
God," for He was the beginning; "and the Word was God," of course, for that
which is begotten of God is God. "The same was in the beginning with God"--
this clause discloses the order of production. "All things were made by
Him, and without Him was nothing made;"(7) for the Word was the author of
form and beginning to all the AEons that came into existence after Him. But
"what was made in Him," says John, "is life."(8) Here again he indicated
conjunction; for all things, he said, were made by Him, but in Him was
life. This, then, which is in Him, is more closely connected with Him than
those things which were simply made by Him, for it exists along with Him,
and is developed by Him. When, again, he adds, "And the life was the light
of men," while thus mentioning Anthropos, he indicated also Ecclesia by
that one expression, in order that, by using only one name, he might
disclose their fellowship with one another, in virtue of their conjunction.
For Anthropos and Ecclesia spring from Logos and Zoe. Moreover, he styled
life (Zoe) the light of men, because they are enlightened by her, that is,
formed and made manifest. This also Paul declares in these words: "For
whatsoever doth make manifest is light."(9) Since, therefore, Zoe
manifested and begat both Anthropos and Ecclesia, she is termed their
light. Thus, then, did John by these words reveal both other things and the
second Tetrad, Logos and Zoe, Anthropos and Ecclesia. And still further, he
also indicated the first Tetrad. For, in discoursing of the Saviour and
declaring that all things beyond the Pleroma received form from Him, he
says that He is the fruit of the entire Pleroma. For he styles Him a "light
which shineth in darkness, and which was not comprehended"(10)  by it,
inasmuch as, when He imparted form to all those things which had their
origin from passion, He was not known by it.(11) He also styles Him Son,
and Aletheia, and Zoe, and the "Word made flesh, whose glory," he says, "we
beheld; and His glory was as that of the Only-begotten (given to Him by the
Father), full of grace and truth."(12) (But what John really does say is
this: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld His
glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth."(1)) Thus, then, does he [according to them] distinctly set forth
the first Tetrad, when he speaks of the Father, and Charis, and Monogenes,
and Aletheia. In this way, too, does John tell of the first Ogdoad, and
that which is the mother of all the AEons. For he mentions the Father, and
Charis, and Monogenes, and Aletheia, and Logos, and Zoe, and Anthropos, and
Ecclesia. Such are the views of Ptolemaeus.(2)

CHAP. IX.--REFUTATION OF THE IMPIOUS INTERPRETATIONS OF THESE HERETICS.

   1. You see, my friend, the method which these men employ to deceive
themselves, while they abuse the Scriptures by endeavouring to support
their own system out of them. For this reason, I have brought forward their
modes of expressing themselves, that thus thou mightest understand the
deceitfulness of their procedure, and the wickedness of their error. For,
in the first place, if it had been John's intention to set forth that
Ogdoad above, he would surely have preserved the order of its production,
and would doubtless have placed the primary Tetrad first as being,
according to them, most venerable and would then have annexed the second,
that, by the sequence of the names, the order of the Ogdoad might be
exhibited, and not after so long an interval, as if forgetful for the
moment and then again calling the matter to mind, he, last of all, made
mention of the primary Tetrad. In the next place, if he had meant to
indicate their conjunctions, he certainly would not have omitted the name
of Ecclesia; while, with respect to the other conjunctions, he either would
have been satisfied with the mention of the male [AEons] (since the others
[like Ecclesia] might be understood), so as to preserve a uniformity
throughout; or if he enumerated the conjunctions of the rest, he would also
have announced the spouse of Anthropos, and would not have left us to find
out her name by divination.

   2. The fallacy, then, of this exposition is manifest. For when John,
proclaiming one God, the Almighty, and one Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten,
by whom all things were made, declares that this was the Son of God, this
the Only-begotten, this the Former of all things, this the true Light who
enlighteneth every man this the Creator of the world, this He that came to
His own, this He that became flesh and dwelt among us,--these men, by a
plausible kind of exposition, perverting these statements, maintain that
there was another Monogenes, according to production, whom they also style
Arche. They also maintain that there was another Saviour, and another
Logos, the son of Monogenes, and another Christ produced for the re-
establishment of the Pleroma. Thus it is that, wresting from the truth
every one of the expressions which have been cited, and taking a bad
advantage of the names, they have transferred them to their own system; so
that, according to them, in all these terms John makes no mention of the
Lord Jesus Christ. For if he has named the Father, and Charis, and
Monogenes, and Aletheia, and Logos, and Zoe, and Anthropos, and Ecclesia,
according to their hypothesis, he has, by thus speaking, referred to the
primary Ogdoad, in which there was as yet no Jesus, and no Christ, the
teacher of John. But that the apostle did not speak concerning their
conjunctions, but concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, whom he also
acknowledges as the Word of God, he himself has made evident. For, summing
up his statements respecting the Word previously mentioned by him, he
further declares, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." But,
according to their hypothesis, the Word did not become flesh at all,
inasmuch as He never went outside of the Pleroma, but that Saviour [became
flesh] who was formed by a special dispensation [out of all the AEons], and
was of later date than the Word.

   3. Learn then, ye foolish men, that Jesus who suffered for us, and who
dwelt among us, is Himself the Word of God. For if any other of the AEons
had become flesh for our salvation, it would have been probable that the
apostle spoke of another. But if the Word of the Father who descended is
the same also that ascended, He, namely, the Only-begotten Son of the only
God, who, according to the good pleasure of the Father, became flesh for
the sake of men, the apostle certainly does not speak regarding any other,
or concerning any Ogdoad, but respecting our Lord Jesus Christ. For,
according to them, the Word did not originally become flesh. For they
maintain that the Saviour assumed an animal body, formed in accordance with
a special dispensation by an unspeakable providence, so as to become
visible and palpable. But flesh is that which was of old formed for Adam by
God out of the dust, and it is this that John has declared the Word of God
became. Thus is their primary and first-begotten Ogdoad brought to nought.
For, since Logos, and Monogenes, and Zoe, and Phos, and Sorer, and
Christus, and the Son of God, and He who became incarnate for us, have been
proved to be one and the same, the Ogdoad which they have built up at once
falls to pieces. And when this is destroyed, their whole system sinks into
ruin,--a system which they falsely dream into existence, and thus inflict
injury on the Scriptures, while they build up their own hypothesis.

   4. Then, again, collecting a set of expressions and names scattered
here and there [in Scripture], they twist them, as we have already said,
from a natural to a non-natural sense. In so doing, they act like those who
bring forward any kind of hypothesis they fancy, and then endeavour to
support(1) them out of the poems of Homer, so that the ignorant imagine
that Homer actually composed the verses bearing upon that hypothesis, which
has, in fact, been but newly constructed; and many others are led so far by
the regularly-formed sequence of the verses, as to doubt whether Homer may
not have composed them. Of this kind(2) is the following passage, where
one, describing Hercules as having been sent by Eurystheus to the dog in
the infernal regions, does so by means of these Homeric verses,--for there
can be no objection to our citing these by way of illustration, since the
same sort of attempt appears in both:--

   "Thus saying, there sent forth from his house deeply groaning."-- Od.,
x. 76.
   "The hero Hercules conversant with mighty deeds."--Od., xxi. 26.
   Eurystheus, the son of Sthenelus, descended from Perseus."--Il., xix.
123.
   "That he might bring from Erebus the dog of gloomy Pluto."--Il., viii.
368.
   "And he advanced like a mountain-bred lion confident of strength."--
Od., vi. 130.
   "Rapidly through the city, while all his friends followed."--Il., xxiv.
327.
   "Both maidens, and youths, and much-enduring old men."--Od., xi. 38.
   "Mourning for him bitterly as one going forward to death."--Il., xxiv.
328.
   "But Mercury and the blue-eyed Minerva conducted him."--Od., xi. 626.
   "For she knew the mind of her brother, how it laboured with grief."--
Il., ii. 409.

Now, what simple-minded man, I ask, would not be led away by such verses as
these to think that Homer actually framed them so with reference to the
subject indicated? But he who is acquainted with the Homeric writings will
recognise the verses indeed, but not the subject to which they are applied,
as knowing that some of them were spoken of Ulysses, others of Hercules
himself, others still of Priam, and others again of Menelaus and Agamemnon.
But if he takes them and restores each of them to its proper position, he
at once destroys the narrative in  question. In like manner he also who
retains unchangeable(3) in his heart the rule of the truth which he
received by means of baptism, will doubtless recognise the names, the
expressions, and the parables taken from the Scriptures, but will by no
means acknowledge the blasphemous use which these men make of them. For,
though he will acknowledge the gems, he will certainly not receive the fox
instead of the likeness of the king. But when he has restored every one of
the expressions quoted to its proper position, and has fitted it to the
body of the truth, he will lay bare, and prove to be without any
foundation, the figment of these heretics.

   5. But since what may prove a finishing-stroke(4) to this exhibition is
wanting, so that any one, on following out their farce to the end, may then
at once append an argument which shall overthrow it, we have judged it well
to point out, first of all, in what respects the very fathers of this fable
differ among themselves, as if they were inspired by different spirits of
error. For this very fact forms an a priori proof that the truth proclaimed
by the Church is immoveable,(5) and that the theories of these men are but
a tissue of falsehoods.

CHAP. X.--UNITY OF THE FAITH OF THE CHURCH THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE WORLD.

   1. The Church, though dispersed through our the whole world, even to
the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples
this faith: [She believes] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of
heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one
Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and
in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the
dispensations(6) of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and
the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into
heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His [future]
manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father "to gather all things
in one,"(7) and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in
order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Saviour, and King,
according to the will of the invisible Father, "every knee should bow, of
things in heaven,, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and
that every tongue should confess"(8) to Him, and that He should execute
just judgment towards all; that He may send "spiritual wickednesses,"(9)
and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, together with the
ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men, into
everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality
on the righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and
have persevered in His love, some from the beginning [of their Christian
course], and others from [the date of] their repentance, and may surround
them with everlasting glory.

   2. As I have already observed, the Church, having received this
preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world,
yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it. She also
believes these points [of doctrine] just as if she had but one soul, and
one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and hands
them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth. For,
although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the
tradition is one and the same. For the Churches which have been planted in
Germany do not believe or hand down anything different, nor do those in
Spain, nor those in Gaul, nor those in the East, nor those in Egypt, nor
those in Libya,  nor those which have been established in the central
regions(1) of the world. But as the sun, that creature of God, is one and
the same throughout the whole world, so also the preaching of the truth
shineth everywhere, and enlightens all men that are willing to come to a
knowledge of the truth. Nor will any one of the rulers in the Churches,
however highly gifted he may be in point of eloquence, teach doctrines
different from these (for no one is greater than the Master); nor, on the
other hand, will he who is deficient in power of expression inflict injury
on the tradition. For the faith being ever one and the same, neither does
one who is able at great length to discourse regarding it, make any
addition to it, nor does one, who can say but little diminish it.

   3. It does not follow because men are endowed with greater and less
degrees of intelligence, that they should therefore change the subject-
matter [of the faith] itself, and should conceive of some other God besides
Him who is the Framer, Maker, and Preserver of this universe, (as if He
were not sufficient(2) for them), or of another Christ, or another Only-
begotten. But the fact referred to simply implies this, that one may [more
accurately than another] bring out the meaning of those things which have
been spoken in parables, and accommodate them to the general scheme of the
faith; and explain [with special clearness] the operation and dispensation
of God connected with human salvation; and show that God manifested
longsuffering in regard to the apostasy of the angels who transgressed, as
also with respect to the disobedience of men; and set forth why it is that
one and the same God has made some things temporal and some eternal, some
heavenly and others earthly; and understand for what reason God, though
invisible, manifested Himself to the prophets not under one form, but
differently to different individuals; and show why it was that more
covenants than one were given to mankind; and teach what was the special
character of each of these covenants; and search out for what reason
"God(3) hath concluded every man(4) in unbelief, that He may have mercy
upon all;" and gratefully(5) describe on what account the Word of God
became flesh and suffered; and relate why the advent of the Son of God took
place in these last times, that is, in the end, rather than in the
beginning [of the world]; and unfold what is contained in the Scriptures
concerning the end [itself], and things to come; and not be silent as to
how it is that God has made the Gentiles, whose salvation was despaired of,
fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers with the saints; and
discourse how it is that "this mortal body shall put on immortality, and
this corruptible shall put on incorruption;"(6) and proclaim in what sense
[God] says, "'That is a people who was not a people; and she is beloved who
was not beloved;"(7) and in what sense He says that "more are the children
of her that was desolate, than of her who possessed a husband."(8) For in
reference to these points, and others of a like nature, the apostle
exclaims: "Oh! the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God; how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"(9)
But [the superior skill spoken of] is not found in this, that any one
should, beyond the Creator and Framer [of the world], conceive of the
Enthymesis of an erring AEon, their mother and his, and should thus proceed
to such a pitch of blasphemy; nor does it consist in this, that he should
again falsely imagine, as being above this [fancied being], a Pleroma at
one time supposed to contain thirty, and at another time an innumerable
tribe of AEons, as these teachers who are destitute of truly divine wisdom
maintain; while the Catholic Church possesses one and the same faith
throughout the whole world, as we have already said.

CHAP. XI.--THE OPINIONS OF VALENTINUS, WITH THOSE OF HIS DISCIPLES AND
OTHERS.

   1. Let us now look at the inconsistent opinions of those heretics (for
there are some two or three of them), how they do not agree in treating the
same points, but alike, in things and names, set forth opinions mutually
discordant. The first(1) of them, Valentinus, who adapted the principles of
the heresy called "Gnostic" to the peculiar character of his own school,
taught as follows: He maintained that there is a certain Dyad (twofold
being), who is inexpressible by any name, of whom one part should be called
Arrhetus (unspeakable), and the other Sige (silence). But of this Dyad a
second was produced, one part of whom he names Pater, and the other
Aletheia. From this Tetrad, again, arose Logos and Zoe, Anthropos and
Ecclesia. These constitute the primary Ogdoad. He next states that from
Logos and Zoe ten powers were produced, as we have before mentioned. But
from Anthropos and Ecclesia proceeded twelve, one of which separating from
the rest, and falling from its original condition, produced the rest(2) of
the universe. He also supposed two beings of the name of Horos, the one of
whom has his place between Bythus and the rest of the Pleroma, and divides
the created AEons from the uncreated Father, while the other separates
their mother from the Pleroma. Christ also was not produced from the AEons
within the Pleroma, but was brought forth by the mother who had been
excluded from it, in virtue of her remembrance of better things, but not
without a kind of shadow. He, indeed, as being masculine, having severed
the shadow from himself, returned to the Pleroma; but his mother being left
with the shadow, and deprived of her spiritual substance, brought forth
another son, namely, the Demiurge, whom he also styles the supreme ruler of
all those things which are subject to him. He also asserts that, along with
the Demiurge, there was produced a left-hand power, in which particular he
agrees with those falsely called Gnostics, of whom to we have yet to speak.
Sometimes, again, he maintains that Jesus was produced from him who was
separated from their mother, and united to the rest, that is, from
Theletus, sometimes as springing from him who returned into the Pleroma,
that is, from Christ; and at other times still as derived from Anthropos
and Ecclesia. And he declares that the Holy Spirit was produced by
Aletheia(5) for the inspection and fructification of the AEons, by entering
invisibly into them, and that, in this way, the AEons brought forth the
plants of truth.

   2. Secundus again affirms that the primary Ogdoad consists of a right
hand and a left hand Tetrad, and teaches that the one of these is called
light, and the other darkness. But he maintains that the power which
separated from the rest, and fell away, did not proceed directly from the
thirty AEons, but from their fruits.

   3. There is another,(4) who is a renowned teacher among them, and who,
struggling to reach something more sublime, and to attain to a kind of
higher knowledge, has explained the primary Tetrad as follows: There is [he
says] a certain Proarche who existed before all things, surpassing all
thought, speech, and nomenclature, whom I call Monotes (unity). Together
with this Monotes there exists a power, which again I term Henotes
(oneness). This Henotes and Monotes, being one, produced, yet not so as to
bring forth [apart from themselves, as an emanation] the beginning of all
things, an intelligent, unbegotten, and invisible being, which beginning
language terms "Monad." With this Monad there co-exists a power of the same
essence, which again I term Hen (One). These powers then--Monotes, and
Henotes, and Monas, and Hen--produced the remaining company of the AEons.

   4. Iu, Iu! Pheu, Pheu!--for well may we utter these tragic exclamations
at such a pitch of audacity in the coining of names as he has displayed
without a blush, in devising a nomenclature for his system of falsehood.
For when he declares: There is a certain Proarche before all things,
surpassing all thought, whom I call Monoten; and again, with this Monotes
there co-exists a power which I also call Henores,--it is most manifest
that he confesses the things which have been said to be his own invention,
and that he himself has given names to his scheme of things, which had
never been previously suggested by any other. It is manifest also, that he
himself is the one who has had sufficient audacity to coin these names; so
that, unless he had appeared in the world, the truth would still have been
destitute of a name. But, in that case, nothing hinders any other, in
dealing with the same subject, to affix names after such a fashion as the
following: There(5) is a certain Proarche, royal, surpassing all thought, a
power existing before every other substance, and extended into space in
every direction. But along with it there exists a power which I term a
Gourd; and along with this Gourd there exists a power which again I term
Utter-Emptiness. This Gourd and Emptiness, since they are one, produced
(and yet did not simply produce, so as to be apart from themselves) a
fruit, everywhere visible, eatable, and delicious, which fruit-language
calls a Cucumber. Along with this Cucumber exists a power of the same
essence, which again I call a Melon. These powers, the Gourd, Utter-
Emptiness, the Cucumber, and the Melon, brought forth the remaining
multitude of the delirious melons of Valentinus.(1) For if it is fitting
that that language which is used respecting the universe be transformed to
the primary Tetrad, and if any one may assign names at his pleasure, who
shall prevent us from adopting these names, as being much more credible
[than the others], as well as in general use, and understood by all?

   5. Others still, however, have called their primary and first-begotten
Ogdoad by the following names: first, Proarche; then Anennoetos; thirdly,
Arrhetos; and fourthly, Aoratos. Then, from the first, Proarche, there was
produced, in the first and fifth place, Arche; from Anennoetos, in the
second and sixth place, Acataleptos; from Arrhetos, in the third and
seventh place, Anonomastos; and from Aoratos, in the fourth and eighth
place, Agennetos. This is the Pleroma of the first Ogdoad. They maintain
that these powers were anterior to Bythus and Sige, that they may appear
more perfect than the perfect, and more knowing than the very Gnostics To.
these persons one may justly exclaim: "O ye trifling sophists!" since, even
respecting Bythus himself, there are among them many and discordant
opinions. For some/declare him to be without a consort, and neither male
nor female, and, in fact, nothing at all; while others affirm him to be
masculo-feminine, assigning to him the nature of a hermaphrodite; others,
again, allot Sige to him as a spouse, that thus may be formed the first
conjunction.

CHAP. XII.--THE DOCTRINES OF THE FOLLOWERS OF PTOLEMY AND COLORBASUS.

   1. But the followers of Ptolemy say(2) that he [Bythos] has two
consorts, which they also name Diatheses (affections), viz., Ennoae and
Thelesis. For, as they affirm, he first conceived the thought of producing
something, and then willed to that effect. Wherefore, again, these two
affections, or powers, Ennoea and Thelesis, having intercourse, as it were,
between themselves, the production of Monogenes and Aletheia took place
according to conjunction. These two came forth as types and images of the
two affections of the Father,--visible representations of those that were
invisible,--Nous (i.e., Monogenes) of Thelesis, and Aletheia of Ennoea, and
accordingly the image resulting from Thelesis was masculine,(3) while that
from Ennoea was feminine. Thus Thelesis (will) became, as it were, a
faculty of Ennoea (thought). For Ennoea continually yearned after
offspring; but she could not of herself bring forth that which she desired.
But when the power of Thelesis (the faculty of will) came upon her, then
she brought forth that on which she had brooded.

   2. These fancied beings(4) (like the Jove of Homer, who is
represented(5) as passing an anxious sleepless night in devising plans for
honouring Achilles and destroying numbers of the Greeks) will not appear to
you, my dear friend, to be possessed of greater knowledge than He who is
the God of the universe. He, as soon as He thinks, also performs what He
has willed; and as soon as He wills, also thinks that which He has willed;
then thinking when He wills, and then willing when He thinks, since He is
all thought, [all will, all mind, all light,](6) all eye, all ear, the one
entire fountain of all good things.

   3. Those of them, however, who are deemed more skilful than the persons
who have just been mentioned, say that the first Ogdoad was not produced
gradually, so that one AEon was sent forth by another, but that all(7) the
AEons were brought into existence at once by Propator and his Ennoea. He
(Colorbasus) affirms this as confidently as if he had assisted at their
birth.  Accordingly, he and his followers maintain that Anthropos and
Ecclesia were not produced,(8) as others hold, from Logos and Zoe; but, on
the contrary, Logos and Zoe from Anthropos and Ecclesia. But they express
this in another form, as follows: When the Propator conceived the thought
of producing something, he received the name of Father. But because what he
did produce was true, it was named Aletheia. Again, when he wished to
reveal himself, this was termed Anthropos. Finally, when he produced those
whom he had previously thought of, these were named Ecclesia. Anthropos, by
speaking, formed Logos: this is the first-born son. But Zoe followed upon
Logos; and thus the first Ogdoad was completed.

   4. They have much contention also among themselves respecting the
Saviour. For some maintain that he was formed out of all; wherefore also he
was called Eudocetos, because the whole Pleroma was well pleased through
him to glorify the Father. But others assert that he was produced from
those ten AEons alone who sprung from Logos and Zoe, and that on this
account he was called Logos and Zoe, thus preserving the ancestral
names.(1) Others, again, affirm that he had his being from those twelve
AEons who were the offspring of Anthropos and Ecclesia; and on this account
he acknowledges himself the Son of man, as being a descendant of Anthropos.
Others still, assert that he was produced by Christ and the Holy Spirit,
who were brought forth for the security of the Pleroma; and that on this
account he was called Christ, thus preserving the appellation of the
Father, by whom he was produced. And there are yet others among them who
declare that the Propator of the whole, Proarche, and Proanennoetos is
called Anthropos; and that this is the great and abstruse mystery, namely,
that the Power which is above all others, and contains all in his embrace,
is termed Anthropos; hence does the Saviour style himself the "Son of man."

CHAP. XIII.--THE DECEITFUL ARTS AND NEFARIOUS PRACTICES OF MARCUS.

   I. But(2) there is another among these heretics, Marcus by name, who
boasts himself as having improved upon his master. He is a perfect adept in
magical impostures, and by this means drawing away a great number of men,
and not a few women, he has induced them to join themselves to him, as to
one who is possessed of the greatest knowledge and perfection, and who has
received the highest power from the invisible and ineffable regions above.
Thus it appears as if he really were the precursor of Antichrist. For,
joining the buffooneries of Anaxilaus(3) to the craftiness of the magi, as
they are called, he is regarded by his senseless and cracked-brain
followers as working miracles by these means.

   2. Pretending(4) to consecrate cups mixed with wine, and protracting to
great length the word of invocation, he contrives to give them a purple and
reddish colour, so that Charis,(5) who is one of those that are superior to
all things, should be thought to drop her own blood into that cup through
means of his invocation, and that thus those who are present should be led
to rejoice to taste of that cup, in order that, by so doing, the Charis,
who is set forth by this magician, may also flow into them. Again, handing
mixed cups to the women, he bids them consecrate these in his presence.
When this has been done, he himself produces another cup of much larger
size than that which the deluded woman has consecrated,) and pouting from
the smaller one consecrated by the woman into that which has been brought
forward by himself, he at the same time pronounces these words: "May that
Chaffs who is before all things, and who transcends all knowledge and
speech, fill thine inner man, and multiply in thee her own knowledge, by
sowing the grain of mustard seed in thee as in good soil." Repeating
certain other like words, and thus goading on the wretched woman [to
madness], he then appears a worker of wonders when the large cup is seen to
have been filled out of the small one, so as even to overflow by what has
been obtained from it. By accomplishing several other similar things, he
has completely deceived many, and drawn them away after him.

   3. It appears probable enough that this man possesses a demon as his
familiar spirit, by means of whom he seems able to prophesy,(6) and also
enables as many as he counts worthy to be partakers of his Charis
themselves to prophesy. He devotes himself especially to women, and those
such as are well-bred, and elegantly attired, and of great wealth, whom he
frequently seeks to draw after him, by addressing them in such seductive
words as these: "I am eager to make thee a partaker of my Charis, since the
Father of all doth continually behold thy angel before His face. Now the
place of thy angel is among us:(7) it behoves us to become one. Receive
first from me and by me [the gift of] Chaffs. Adorn thyself as a bride who
is expecting her bridegroom, that thou mayest be what I am, and I what thou
art. Establish the germ of light in thy nuptial chamber. Receive from me a
spouse, and become receptive of him, while thou art received by him. Behold
Charis has descended upon thee; open thy mouth and prophesy." On the woman
replying," I have never at any time prophesied, nor do I know how to
prophesy;" then engaging, for the second time, in certain invocations, so
as to astound his deluded victim, he says to her," Open thy mouth, speak
whatsoever occurs to thee, and thou shalt prophesy." She then, vainly
puffed up and elated by these words, and greatly excited in soul by the
expectation that it is herself who is to prophesy, her heart beating
violently [from emotion], reaches the requisite pitch of audacity, and idly
as well as impudently utters some nonsense as it happens. to occur to her,
such as might be expected from one heated by an empty spirit. (Referring to
this, one superior to me has observed, that the soul is both audacious and
impudent when heated with empty air.) Henceforth she reckons herself a
prophetess, and expresses her thanks to Marcus for having imparted to her
of his own Chaffs. She then makes the effort to reward him, not only by the
gift of her possessions (in which way he has collected a very large
fortune), but also by yielding up to him her person, desiring in every way
to be united to him, that she may become altogether one with him.

   4. But already some of the most faithful women, possessed of the fear
of God, and not being deceived (whom, nevertheless, he did his best to
seduce like the rest by bidding them prophesy), abhorring and execrating
him, have withdrawn from such a vile company of revellers. This they have
done, as being well aware that the gift of prophecy is not conferred on men
by Marcus, the magician, but that only those to whom God sends His grace
from above possess the divinely-bestowed power of prophesying; and then
they speak where and when God pleases, and not when Marcus orders them to
do so. For that which commands is greater and of higher authority than that
which is commanded, inasmuch as the former rules, while the latter is in a
state of subjection. If, then, Marcus, or any one else, does command,--as
these are accustomed continually at their feasts to play at drawing lots,
and [in accordance with the lot] to command one another to prophesy, giving
forth as oracles what is in harmony with their own desires,--it will follow
that he who commands is greater and of higher authority than the prophetic
spirit, though he is but a man, which is impossible. But such spirits as
are commanded by these men, and speak when they desire it, are earthly and
weak, audacious and impudent, sent forth by Satan for the seduction and
perdition of those who do not hold fast that well-compacted faith which
they received at first through the Church.

   5. Moreover, that this Marcus compounds philters and love-potions, in
order to insult the persons of some of these women, if not of all, those of
them who have returned to the Church of God--a thing which frequently
occurs--have acknowledged, confessing, too, that they have been defiled by
him, and that they were filled with a burning passion towards him. A sad
example of this occurred in the case of a certain Asiatic, one of our
deacons, who had received him (Marcus) into his house. His wife, a woman of
remarkable beauty, fell a victim both in mind and body to this magician,
and, for a long time, travelled about with him. At last, when, with no
small difficulty, the brethren had converted her, she spent her whole time
in the exercise of public confession,(1) weeping over and lamenting the
defilement which she had received from this magician.

   6. Some of his disciples, too, addicting themselves(2) to the same
practices, have deceived many silly women, and defiled them. They proclaim
themselves as being "perfect," so that no one can be compared to them with
respect to the immensity of their knowledge, nor even were you to mention
Paul or Peter, or any other of the apostles. They assert that they
themselves know more than all others, and that they alone have imbibed the
greatness of the knowledge of that power which is unspeakable. They also
maintain that they have attained to a height above all power, and that
therefore they are free in every respect to act as they please, having no
one to fear in anything. For they affirm, that because of the
"Redemption"(3) it has come to pass that they can neither be apprehended,
nor even seen by the judge. But even if he should happen to lay hold upon
them, then they might simply repeat these words, while standing in his
presence along with the "Redemption:" "O thou, who sittest beside God,(4)
and the mystical, eternal Sige, thou through whom the angels (mightiness),
who continually behold the face of the Father, having thee as their guide
and introducer, do derive their forms(5) from above, which she in the
greatness of her daring inspiring with mind on account of the goodness of
the Propator, produced us as their images, having her  mind then intent
upon the things above, as in a dream,--behold, the judge is at hand, and
the crier orders me to make my defence. But do thou, as being acquainted
with the affairs of both, present the cause of both of us to the judge,
inasmuch as it is in reality but one cause."(6) Now, as soon as the Mother
hears these words, she puts the Homeric(7) helmet of Pluto upon them, so
that they may invisibly escape the judge. And then she immediately catches
them up, conducts them into the bridal chamber, and hands them over to
their consorts.

7. Such are the words and deeds by which, in our own district of the
Rhone, they have deluded many women, who have their consciences seared as
with a hot iron.(1) Some of them, indeed, make a public confession of their
sins; but others of them are ashamed to do this, and in a tacit kind of
way, despairing of [attaining to] the life of God, have, some of them,
apostatized altogether; while others hesitate between the two courses, and
incur that which is implied in the proverb, "neither without nor within;"
possessing this as the fruit from the seed of the children of knowledge.

CHAP. XIV.--THE VARIOUS HYPOTHESES OF MARCUS AND OTHERS. THEORIES
RESPECTING LETTERS AND SYLLABLES.

   1. This Marcus(2) then, declaring that he alone was the matrix and
receptacle of the Sige of Colorbasus, inasmuch as he was only-begotten, has
brought to the birth in some such way as follows that which was committed
to him of the defective Euthymesis. He declares that the infinitely exalted
Tetrad descended upon him from the invisible and indescribable places in
the form of a woman (for the world could not have borne it coming in its
male form), and expounded to him alone its own nature, and the origin of
all things, which it had never before revealed to any one either of gods or
men. This was done in the following terms: When first the unoriginated,
inconceivable Father, who is without material substance,(3) and is neither
male nor female, willed to bring forth that which is ineffable to Him, and
to endow with form that which is invisible, He opened His mouth, and sent
forth the Word similar to Himself, who, standing near, showed Him what He
Himself was, inasmuch as He had been manifested in the form of that which
was invisible. Moreover, the pronunciation of His name took place as
follows:--He spoke the first word of it, which was the beginning(4) [of all
the rest], and that utterance consisted of four letters. He added the
second, and this also consisted of four letters. Next He uttered the third,
and this again embraced ten letters. Finally, He pronounced the fourth,
which was composed of twelve letters. Thus took place the enunciation of
the whole name, consisting of thirty letters, and four distinct utterances.
Each of these elements has its own peculiar letters, and character, and
pronunciation, and forms, and images, and there is not one of them that
perceives the shape of that [utterance] of which it is an element. Neither
does any one know(5) itself, nor is it acquainted with the pronunciation of
its neighbour, but each  one imagines that by its own utterance it does in
fact name the whole. For while every one of them is a part of the whole, it
imagines its own sound to be the whole name, and does not leave off
sounding until, by its own utterance, it  has reached the last letter of
each of the elements. This teacher declares that the restitution of all
things will take place, when all these, mixing into one letter, shall utter
one and the same sound. He imagines that the emblem of this utterance is
found in Amen, which we pronounce in concert.(6) The diverse sounds (he
adds) are those which give form to that AEon who is without material
substance and unbegotten, and these, again, are the forms which the Lord
has called angels, who continually behold the face of the Father.(7)

   2. Those names of the elements which may be told, and are common, he
has called AEons, and words, and roots, and seeds, and fulnesses, and
fruits. He asserts that each of these, and all that is peculiar to every
one of them, is to be understood as contained in the name Ecclesia. Of
these elements, the last letter of the last one uttered its voice, and this
sound(8) going forth generated its own elements after the image of the
[other] elements, by which he affirms, that both the things here below were
arranged into the order they occupy, and those that preceded them were
called into existence. He also maintains that the letter itself, the sound
of which followed that sound below, was received up again by the syllable
to which it belonged, in order to the completion of the whole, but that the
sound remained below as if cast outside. But the element itself from which
the letter with its special pronunciation descended to that below, he
affirms to consist of thirty letters, while each of these letters, again,
contains other letters in itself, by means of which the name of the letter
is expressed. And thus, again, others are named by other letters, and
others still by others, so that the multitude of letters swells out into
infinitude. You may more clearly understand what I mean by the following
example:--The word Delta contains five letters, viz., D, E, L, T, A: these
letters again, are written by other letters,(1) and others still by others.
If, then, the entire composition of the word Delta [when thus analyzed]
runs out into infinitude, letters continually generating other letters, and
following one another in constant succession, how much raster than that
[one] word is the [entire] ocean of letters! And if even one letter be thus
infinite, just consider the immensity of the letters in the entire name;
out of which the Sige of Marcus has taught us the Propator is composed. For
which reason the Father, knowing the incomprehensibleness of His own
nature, assigned to the elements which He also terms AEons, [the power] of
each one uttering its own enunciation, because no one of them was capable
by itself of uttering the whole.

   3.Moreover, the Tetrad, explaining these things to him more fully,
said:--I wish to show thee Aletheia (Truth) herself; for I have brought her
down from the dwellings above, that thou mayest see her without a veil, and
understand her beauty--that thou mayest also hear her speaking, and admire
her wisdom. Behold, then, her head on high, Alpha and Omega; her neck, Beta
and Psi; her shoulders with her hands, Gamma and Chi; her breast, Delta and
Phi; her diaphragm, Epsilon and Upsilon; her back, Zeta and Tau; her belly,
Eta and Sigma; her thighs, Theta and Rho; her knees, Iota and Pi; her legs,
Kappa and Omicron; her ancles, Lambda and Xi; her feet, Mu and Nu. Such is
the body of Truth, according to this magician, such the figure of the
element, such the character of the letter. And he calls this element
Anthropos (Man), and says that is the fountain of all speech, and the
beginning of all sound, and the expression of all that is unspeakable, and
the mouth of the silent Sige. This indeed is the body of Truth. But do
thou, elevating the thoughts of thy mind on high, listen from the mouth of
Truth to the self-begotten Word, who is also the dispenser of the bounty of
the Father.

   4. When she (the Tetrad) had spoken these things, Aletheia looked at
him, opened her mouth, and uttered a word. That word was a name, and the
name was this one which we do know and speak of, viz., Christ Jesus. When
she had uttered this name, she at once relapsed into silence. And as Marcus
waited in the expectation that she would say something more, the Tetrad
again came forward and said, "Thou hast reckoned as contemptible that word
which thou hast heard from the mouth of Aletheia. This which thou knowest
and seemest to possess, is not an ancient name. For thou possessest the
sound of it merely, whilst thou art ignorant of its power. For Jesus
(Ihsou^s) is a name arithmetically(2) symbolical, consisting of six
letters, and is known by all those that belong to the called. But that
which is among the AEons of the Pleroma consists of many parts, and is of
another form and shape, and is known by those [angels] who are joined in
affinity with Him, and whose figures (mightinesses) are always present with
Him.

   5. Know, then, that the four-and-twenty letters which you possess are
symbolical emanations of the three powers that contain the entire number of
the elements above. For you are to reckon thus--that the nine mute(3)
letters are [the images] of Pater and Aletheia, because they are without
voice, that is, of such a nature as cannot be uttered or pronounced. But
the semi-vowels(4) represent Logos and Zoe, because they are, as it were,
midway between the consonants and the vowels, partaking(5) of the nature of
both. The vowels, again, are representative of Anthropos and Ecclesia,
inasmuch as a voice proceeding from Anthropos gave being to them all; for
the sound of the voice imparted to them form. Thus, then, Logos and Zoe
possess eight [of these letters]; Anthropos and Ecclesia seven; and Pater
and Aletheia nine. But since the number allotted to each was unequal, He
who existed in the Father came down, having been specially sent by Him from
whom He was separated, for the rectification of what had taken place, that
the unity of the Pleromas, being endowed with equality, might develop in
all that one power which flows from all. Thus that division which had only
seven letters, received the power of eight,(6) and the three sets were
rendered alike in point of number, all becoming Ogdoads; which three, when
brought together, constitute the number four-and-twenty. The three
elements, too (which he declares to exist in conjunction with three
powers,(7) and thus form the six from which have flowed the twenty-four
letters), being quadrupled by the word of the ineffable Tetrad, give rise
to the same number with them; and these elements he maintains to belong to
Him who cannot be named. These, again, were endowed by the three powers
with a resemblance to Him who is invisible. And he says that those letters
which we call double(8) are the images of the images of these elements; and
if these be added to the four-and-twenty letters, by the force of analogy
they form the number thirty.

   6. He asserts that the fruit of this arrangement and analogy has been
manifested in the likeness of an image, namely, Him who, after six days,
ascended(1) into the mountain along with three others, and then became one
of six (the sixth),(2) in which character He descended and was contained in
the Hebdomad, since He was the illustrious Ogdoad,(3) and contained in
Himself the entire number of the elements, which the descent of the dove
(who is Alpha and Omega) made clearly manifest, when He came to be
baptized; for the number of the dove is eight hundred and one.(4) And for
this reason did Moses declare that man was formed on the sixth day; and
then, again, according to arrangement, it was on the sixth day, which is
the preparation, that the last man appeared, for the regeneration of the
first, Of this arrangement, both the beginning and the end were formed at
that sixth hour, at which He was nailed to the tree. For that perfect being
Nous, knowing that the number six had the power both of formation and
regeneration, declared to the children of light, that regeneration which
has been wrought out by Him who appeared as the Episemon in regard to that
number. Whence also he declares it is that the double letters(5) contain
the Episemon number; for this Episemon, when joined to the twenty-four
elements, completed the name of thirty letters.

   7. He employed as his instrument, as the Sige of Marcus declares, the
power of seven letters,(6) in order that the fruit of the independent will
[of Achamoth] might be revealed. "Consider this present Episemon," she
says--"Him who was formed after the [original] Episemon, as being, as it
were, divided or cut into two parts, and remaining outside; who, by His own
power and wisdom, through means of that which had been produced by Himself,
gave life to this world, consisting of seven powers,(7) after the likeness
of the power of the Hebdomad, and so formed it, that it is the soul of
everything visible. And He indeed uses this work Himself as if it had been
formed by His own free will; but the rest, as being images of what cannot
be [fully] imitated, are subservient to the Enthymesis of the mother. And
the first heaven indeed pronounces Alpha, the next to this Epsilon, the
third Eta, the fourth, which is also in the midst of the seven, utters the
sound of Iota, the fifth Omicron, the sixth Upsilon, the seventh, which is
also the fourth from the middle, utters the elegant Omega,"--as the Sige of
Marcus, talking a deal of nonsense, but uttering no word of truth,
confidently asserts. "And these powers," she adds, "being all
simultaneously clasped in each other's embrace, do sound out the glory of
Him by whom they were produced; and the glory of that sound is transmitted
upwards to the Propator." She asserts, moreover, that "the sound of this
uttering of praise, having been wafted to the earth, has become the Framer
and the Parent of those things which are on the earth."

   8. He instances, in proof of this, the case of infants who have just
been born, the cry of whom, as soon as they have issued from the womb, is
in accordance with the sound of every one of these elements. As, then, he
says, the seven powers glorify the Word, so also does the complaining soul
of infants.(8) For this reason, too, David said: "Out of the mouth of babes
and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise;"(9) and again: "The heavens
declare the glory of God."(10) Hence also it comes to pass, that when the
soul is involved in difficulties and distresses, for its own relief it
calls out, "Oh" (Omega), in honour of the letter in question,(11) so that
its cognate soul above may recognise [its distress], and send down to it
relief.

   9. Thus it is, that in regard to the whole name,(12) which consists of
thirty letters, and Bythus, who receives his increase from the letters of
this [name], and, moreover, the body of Aletheia, which is composed of
twelve members, each of which consists of two letters, and the voice which
she uttered without having spoken at all, and in regard to the analysis of
that name which cannot be expressed in words, and the soul of the world and
of man, according as they possess that arrangement, which is after the
image [of things above], he has uttered his nonsensical opinions. It
remains that I relate how the Tetrad showed him from the names a power
equal in number; so that nothing, my friend, which I have received as
spoken by him, may remain unknown to thee; and thus thy request, often
proposed to me, may be fulfilled.

CHAP. XV.--SIGE RELATES TO  MARCUS THE GENERATION OF THE TWENTY-FOUR
ELEMENTS AND OF JESUS. EXPOSURE OF THESE ABSURDITIES.

   1. The all-wise Sige then announced the production of the four-and-
twenty elements to him as follows:--Along with Monotes there coexisted
Henotes, from which sprang two productions, as we have remarked above,
Monas and Hen, which, added to the other two, make four, for twice two are
Four. And again, two and four, when added together, exhibit the number six.
And further, these six being quadrupled, give rise to the twenty-four
forms. And the names of the first Tetrad, which are understood to be most
holy, and not capable of being expressed in words, are known by the Son
alone, while the father also knows what they are. The other names which are
to be uttered with respect, and faith, and reverence, are, according to
him, Arrhetos and Sige, Pater and Aletheia. Now the entire number of this
Tetrad amounts to four-and-twenty letters; for the name Arrhetos contains
in itself seven letters, Seige(1) five, Pater five, and Aletheia seven. If
all these be added together--twice five, and twice seven--they complete the
number twenty-four. In like manner, also, the second Tetrad, Logos and Zoe,
Anthropos and Ecclesia, reveal the same number of elements. Moreover, that
name of the Saviour which may be pronounced, viz., Jesus [Iesou^s],
consists of six letters, but His unutterable name comprises four-and-twenty
letters. The name Christ the Son(2) (huio`s Chreisto's) comprises twelve
letter, but that which is unpronounceable in Christ contains thirty
letters. And for this reason he declares that he is Alpha and Omega, that
he may indicate the dove, inasmuch as that bird has this number [in its
name].

   2. But Jesus, he affirms, has the following unspeakable origin. From
the mother of all things, that is, the first Tetrad; there came forth the
second Tetrad, after the manner of a daughter; and thus an Ogdoad was
formed, from which, again, a Decad proceeded: thus was produced a Decad and
an Ogdoad. The Decad, then, being joined with the Ogdoad, and multiplying
it ten times, gave rise to the number eighty; and, again, multiplying
eighty ten times, produced the number eight hundred. Thus, then, the whole
number of the letters proceeding from the Ogdoad [multiplied] into the
Decad,  is eight hundred and eighty-eight.(3) This is the name of Jesus;
for this name, if you reckon up the numerical value of the letters, amounts
to eight hundred and eighty-eight. Thus, then, you have a clear statement
of their opinion as to the origin of the supercelestial Jesus. Wherefore,
also, the alphabet of the Greeks contains eight Monads, eight Decads, and
eight Hecatads(4), which present the number eight hundred and eighty-eight,
that is, Jesus, who is formed of all numbers; and on this account He is
called Alpha and Omega, indicating His origin from all. And, again, they
put the matter thus: If the first Tetrad be added up according to the
progression of number, the number ten appears. For one, and two, and three,
and four, when added together, form ten; and this, as they will have it, is
Jesus. Moreover, Chreistus, he says, being a word of eight letters,
indicates the first Ogdoad, and this, when multiplied by ten, gives birth
to Jesus (888). And Christ the Son, he says, is also spoken of, that is,
the Duodecad. For the name Son, (huio`s) contains four letters, and Christ
(Chreistus) eight, which, being combined, point out the greatness of the
Duodecad. But, he alleges, before the Episemon of this name appeared, that
is Jesus the Son, mankind were involved in great ignorance and error. But
when this name of six letters was manifested (the person bearing it
clothing Himself in flesh, that He might come under the apprehension of
man's senses, and having in Himself these six and twenty-four letters),
then, becoming acquainted with Him, they ceased from their ignorance, and
passed from death unto life, this name serving as their guide to the Father
of truth.(5) For the Father of all had resolved to put an end to ignorance,
and to destroy death. But this abolishing of ignorance was just the
knowledge of Him. And therefore that man (Anthropos) was chosen according
to His will, having been formed after the image of the [corresponding]
power above.

   3. As to the AEons, they proceeded from the Tetrad, and in that Tetrad
were Anthropos and Ecclesia, Logos and Zoe. The powers, then, he declares,
who emanated from these, generated that Jesus who appeared upon the earth.
The angel Gabriel took the place of Logos, the Holy Spirit that of Zoe, the
Power of the Highest that of Anthropos, while the Virgin pointed out the
place of Ecclesia. And thus, by a special dispensation, there was generated
by Him, through Mary, that man, whom, as He passed through the womb, the
Father of all chose to [obtain] the knowledge of Himself by means of the
Word. And on His coming to the water [of baptism], there descended on Him,
in the form of a dove, that Being who had formerly ascended on high, and
completed the twelfth number, in whom there existed the seed of those who
were produced contemporaneously with Himself, and who descended and
ascended along with Him. Moreover, he maintains that power which descended
was the seed of the Father, which had in itself both the Father and the
Son, as well as that power of Sige which is known by means of them, but
cannot be expressed in language, and also all the AEons. And this was that
Spirit who spoke by the mouth of Jesus, and who confessed that He was the
son of Man as well as revealed the Father, and who, having descended into
Jesus, was made one with Him. And he says that the Saviour formed by
special dispensation did indeed destroy death, but that Christ made known
the Father.(1) He maintains, therefore, that Jesus is the name of that man
formed by a special dispensation, and that He was formed after the likeness
and form of that [heavenly] Anthropos, who was about to descend upon Him.
After He had received that AEon, He possessed Anthropos himself, and Loges
himself, and Pater, and Arrhetus, and Sige, and Aletheia, and Ecclesia, and
Zoe.

   4.  Such ravings, we may now well say, go beyond Iu, Iu, Pheu, Pheu,
and every kind of tragic exclamation or utterance of misery.(2) For who
would not detest one who is the wretched centriver of such audacious
falsehoods, when he perceives the truth turned by Marcus into a mere image,
and that punctured all over with the letters of the alphabet? The Greeks
confess that they first received sixteen letters from Cadmus, and that but
recently, as compared with the beginning, [the vast antiquity of which is
implied] in the common proverb: "Yesterday and before;"(3) and afterwards,
in the course of time, they themselves invented at one period the
aspirates, and at another the double letters, while, last of all, they say
Palamedes added the long letters to the former. Was it so, then, that until
these things took place among the Greeks, truth had no existence? For,
according to thee, Marcus, the body of truth is posterior to Cadmus and
those who preceded him--posterior also to those who added the rest of the
letters--posterior even to thyself! For thou alone hast formed that which
is called by thee the truth into an [outward, visible] image.

   5. But who will tolerate thy nonsensical Sige, who names Him that
cannot be named, and expounds the nature of Him that is unspeakable, and
searches out Him that is unsearchable, and declares that He whom thou
maintainest to be destitute of body and form, opened His mouth and sent
forth the Word, as if He were included among organized beings; and that His
Word, while like to His Author, and bearing the image of the invisible,
nevertheless consisted of thirty elements and four syllables? It will
follow, then, according to thy theory, that the Father of all, in
accordance with the likeness of the Word, consists of thirty elements and
four syllables! Or, again, who will tolerate thee in thy juggling with
forms and numbers,--at one time thirty, at another twenty-four, and at
another, again, only six,--whilst thou shuttest up [in these] the Word of
God, the Founder, and Framer, and Maker of all things; and then, again,
cutting Him up piecemeal into four syllables and thirty elements; and
bringing down the Lord of all who founded the heavens to the number eight
hundred and eighty-eight, so that He should be similar to the alphabet; and
subdividing the Father, who cannot be contained, but contains all things,
into a Tetrad, and an Ogdoad, and a Decad, and a Duodecad; and by such
multiplications, setting forth the unspeakable and inconceivable nature of
the Father, as thou thyself declarest it to be? And showing thyself a very
Daedalus for evil invention, and the wicked architect of the supreme power,
thou dost construct a nature and substance for Him whom thou callest
incorporeal and immaterial, out of a multitude of letters, generated the
one by the other. And that power whom thou affirmest to be indivisible,
thou dost nevertheless divide into consonants, and vowels, and semi-vowels;
and, falsely ascribing those letters which are mute to the Father of all
things, and to His Enncea (thought), thou hast driven on all that place
confidence in thee to the highest point of blasphemy, and to the grossest
impiety.(4)

   6. With good reason, therefore, and very fittingly, in reference to thy
rash attempt, has that divine elders and preacher of the truth burst forth
in verse against thee as follows:--

  "Marcus, thou former of idols, inspector of portents,
Skill'd in consulting the stars, and deep in the black arts of magic,
Ever by tricks such as these confirming the doctrines of error,
Furnishing signs unto those involved by thee in deception,
Wonders of power that is utterly severed from God and apostate,
Which Satan, thy true father, enables thee still to accomplish,
By means of Azazel, that fallen and yet mighty angel,--
Thus making thee the precursor of his own impious actions."

  Such are the words of the saintly elder. And I shall endeavour to state
the remainder of their mystical system, which runs out to great length, in
brief compass, and to bring to the light what has for a long time been
concealed. For in this way such things will become easily susceptible of
exposure by all.

CHAP. XVI.--ABSURD INTERPRETATIONS OF THE MARCOSIANS.

   1. Blending in one the production of their own AEons, and the straying
and recovery of the sheep [spoken of in the Gospel(1)], these persons
endeavour to set forth things in a more mystical style, while they refer
everything to numbers, maintaining that the universe has been formed out of
a Monad and a Dyad. And then, reckoning from unity on to four, they thus
generate the Decad. For when one, two, three, and four are added together,
they give rise to the number of the ten AEons. And, again, the Dyad
advancing from itself [by twos] up to six--two, and four, and six--brings
out the Duodecad. Once more, if we reckon in the same way up to ten, the
number thirty appears, m which are found eight, and ten, and twelve. They
therefore term the Duodecad--because it contains the Episemon,(2) and
because the Episemon [so to speak] waits upon it--the passion. And for this
reason, because an error occurred in connection with the twelfth number,(3)
the sheep frisked off, and went astray; for they assert that a defection
took place from the Duodecad. In the same way they oracularly declare, that
one power having departed also from the Duodecad, has perished; and this
was represented by the woman who lost the drachma,(4) and, lighting a lamp,
again found it. Thus, therefore, the numbers that were left, viz., nine, as
respects the pieces of money, and eleven in regard to the sheep,(5) when
multiplied together, give birth to the number ninety-nine, for nine times
eleven are ninety-nine. Wherefore also they maintain the word "Amen"
contains this number.

   2. I will not, however, weary thee by recounting their other
interpretations, that you may perceive the results everywhere. They
maintain for instance, that the letter Eta (h) along with the Episemon (s)
constitutes an Ogdoad, inasmuch as it occupies the eighth place from the
first letter. Then, again, without the Episemon, reckoning the number of
the letters, and adding them up till we come to Eta, they bring out the
Priacontad. For if one begins at Alpha and ends with Eta, omitting the
Episeman, and adds together the value of the letters in succession, he will
find their number altogether to amount to thirty. For up to Epsilon (e)
fifteen are formed; then adding seven to that number, the sum of twenty-two
is reached. Next, Eta being added to these, since its value is eight, the
most wonderful Triacontad is completed. And hence they give forth that the
Ogdoad is the mother of the thirty AEons. Since, therefore, the number
thirty is composed of three powers [the Ogdoad, Decad, and Duodecad], when
multiplied by three, it produces ninety, for three times thirty are ninety.
Likewise this Triad, when multiplied by itself, gives rise to nine. Thus
the Ogdoad generates, by these means, ninety-nine. And since the twelfth
AEon, by her defection, left eleven in the heights above, they maintain
that therefore the position of the letters is a true coordinate of the
method of their calculation(6) (for Lambda is the eleventh in order among
the letters, and represents the number thirty), and also forms a
representation of the arrangement of affairs above, since, on from Alpha,
omitting Episemon, the number of the letters up to Lambda, when added
together according to the successive value of the letters, and including
Zambda itself, forms the sum of ninety-nine; but that this Lambda, being
the eleventh in order, descended to seek after one equal to itself, so as
to complete the number of twelve letters, and when it found such a one, the
number was completed, is manifest from the very configuration of the
letter; for Lambda being engaged, as it were, in the quest of one similar
to itself, and finding such an one, and clasping it to itself, thus filled
up the place of the twelfth, the letter Mu (M) being composed of two
Lambdas (LL). Wherefore also they, by means of their "knowledge," avoid the
place of ninety-nine, that is, the defection--a type of the left hand,(7)--
but endeavour to secure one more, which, when added to the ninety and nine,
has the effect of changing their reckoning to the right hand.

   3. I well know, my dear friend, that when thou hast read through all
this, thou wilt indulge in a hearty laugh over this their inflated wise
folly! But those men are really worthy of being mourned over, who
promulgate such a kind of religion, and who so frigidly and perversely pull
to pieces the greatness of the truly unspeakable power, and the
dispensations of God in themselves so striking, by means of Alpha and Beta,
and through the aid of numbers. But as many as separate from the Church,
and give heed to such old wives' fables as these, are truly self-condemned;
and these men Paul commands us, "after a first and second admonition, to
avoid."(8) And John, the disciple of the Lord, has intensified their
condemnation, when he desires us not even to address to them the salutation
of "good-speed;" for, says he, "He that bids them be of good-speed is a
partaker with their evil deeds;"(1) and that with reason, "for there is no
good-speed to the ungodly,"(2) saith the Lord. Impious indeed, beyond all
impiety, are these men, who assert that the Maker of heaven and earth, the
only God Almighty, besides whom there is no God, was produced by means of a
defect, which itself sprang from another defect, so that, according to
them, He was the product of the third defect.(3) Such an opinion we should
detest and execrate, while we ought everywhere to flee far apart from those
that hold it; and in proportion as they vehemently maintain and rejoice in
their fictitious doctrines, so much the more should we be convinced that
they are under the influence of the wicked spirits of the Ogdoad,--just as
those persons who fall into a fit of frenzy, the more they laugh, and
imagine themselves to be well, and do all things as if they were in good
health [both of body and mind], yea, some things better than those who
really are so, are only thus shown to be the more seriously diseased. In
like manner do these men, the more they seem to excel others in wisdom, and
waste their strength by drawing the bow too tightly,(4) the greater fools
do they show themselves. For when the unclean spirit of folly has gone
forth, and when afterwards he finds them not waiting upon God, but occupied
with mere worldly questions, then, "taking seven other spirits more wicked
than himself,"(5) and inflating the minds of these men with the notion of
their being able to conceive of something beyond God, and having fitly
prepared them for the reception of deceit, he implants within them the
Ogdoad of the foolish spirits of wickedness.

CHAP. XVII.--THE THEORY OF THE MARCOSIANS, THAT CREATED THINGS WERE MADE
AFTER THE IMAGE OF THINGS INVISIBLE.

   1. I wish also to explain to thee their theory as to the way in which
the creation itself was formed through the mother by the Demiurge (as it
were without his knowledge), after the image of things invisible. They
maintain, then, that first of all the four elements, fire, water, earth,
and air, were produced after the image of the primary Tetrad above, and
that then, we add their operations, viz., heat, cold, dryness, and
humidity, an exact likeness of the Ogdoad is presented. They next reckon up
ten powers in the following manner:--There are seven globular bodies, which
they also call heavens; then that globular body which contains these, which
also they name the eighth heaven; and, in addition to these, the sun and
moon. These, being ten in number, they declare to be types of the invisible
Decad, which proceeded from Logos and Zoe. As to the Duodecad, it is
indicated by the zodiacal circle, as it is called; for they affirm that the
twelve signs do most manifestly shadow forth the Duodecad, the daughter of
Anthropos and Ecclesia. And since the highest heaven, beating upon the very
sphere [of the seventh heaven], has been linked with the most rapid
precession of the whole system, as a check, and balancing that system with
its own gravity, so that it completes the cycle from sign to sign in thirty
years,--they say that this is an image of Horus, encircling their thirty-
named mother.(6) And then, again, as the moon travels through her allotted
space of heaven in thirty days, they hold, that by these days she expresses
the number of the thirty AEons. The sun also, who runs through his orbit in
twelve months, and then returns to the same point in the circle, makes the
Duodecad manifest by these twelve months; and the days, as being measured
by twelve hours, are a type of the invisible Duodecad. Moreover, they
declare that the hour, which is the twelfth part of the day, is composed(7)
of thirty parts, in order to set forth the image of the Triacontad. Also
the circumference of the zodiacal circle itself contains three hundred and
sixty degrees (for each of its signs comprises thirty); and thus also they
affirm, that by means of this circle an image is preserved of that
connection which exists between the twelve and the thirty. Still further,
asserting that the earth is divided into twelve zones, and that in each
zone it receives power from the heavens, according to the perpendicular
[position of the sun above it], bringing forth productions corresponding to
that power which sends down its influence upon it, they maintain that this
is a most evident type of the Duodecad and its offspring.

   2. In addition to these things, they declare that the Demiurge,
desiring to imitate the infinitude, and eternity, and immensity, and
freedom from all measurement by time of the Ogdoad above, but, as he was
the fruit of defect, being unable to express its permanence and eternity,
had recourse to the expedient of spreading out its eternity into times, and
seasons, and vast numbers of years, imagining, that by the multitude of
such times he might imitate its immensity. They declare further, that the
truth having escaped him, he followed that which was false, and that, for
this reason, when the times are fulfilled, his work shah perish.

CHAP. XVIII.--PASSAGES FROM MOSES, WHICH THE HERETICS PERVERT TO THE
SUPPORT OF THEIR HYPOTHESIS.

   1. And while they affirm such things as these concerning the creation,
every one of them generates something new, day by day, according to his
ability; for no one is deemed "perfect," who does not develop among them
some mighty fictions. It is thus necessary, first, to indicate what things
they metamorphose [to their own use] out of the prophetical writings, and
next, to refute them. Moses, then, they declare, by his mode of beginning
the account of the creation, has at the commencement pointed out the mother
of all things when he says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth;"(1) for, as they maintain, by naming these four,--God,
beginning, heaven, and earth,--he set forth their Tetrad. Indicating also
its invisible and hidden nature, he said, "Now the earth was invisible and
unformed."(2) They will have it, moreover, that he spoke of the second
Tetrad, the offspring of the first, in this way--by naming an abyss and
darkness, in which were also water, and the Spirit moving upon the water.
Then, proceeding to mention the Decad, he names light, day, night, the
firmament, the evening, the morning, dry land, sea, plants, and, in the
tenth place, trees. Thus, by means of these ten names, he indicated the ten
AEons. The power of the Duodecad, again, was shadowed forth by him thus:--
He names the sun, moon, stars, seasons, years, whales, fishes, reptiles,
birds, quadrupeds, wild beasts, and after all these, in the twelfth place,
man. Thus they teach that the Triacontad was spoken of through Moses by the
Spirit. Moreover, man also, being formed after the image of the power
above, had in himself that ability which flows from the one source. This
ability was seated in the region of the brain, from which four faculties
proceed, after the image of the Tetrad above, and these are called: the
first, sight, the second, hearing, the third, smell, and the fourth,(3)
taste. And they say that the Ogdoad is indicated by man in this way: that
he possesses two ears, the like number of eyes, also two nostrils, and a
twofold taste, namely, of bitter and sweet. Moreover, they teach that the
whole man contains the entire image of the Triacontad as follows: In his
hands, by means of his fingers, he bears the Decad; and in his whole body
the Duodecad, inasmuch as his body is divided into twelve members; for they
portion that out, as the body of Truth is divided by them--a point of which
we have already spoken.(4) But the Ogdoad, as being unspeakable and
invisible, is understood as hidden in the viscera.

   2. Again, they assert that the sun, the great light-giver, was formed
on the fourth day, with a reference to the number of the Tetrad. So also,
according to them, the courts(5) of the tabernacle constructed by Moses,
being composed of fine linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, pointed to
the same image. Moreover, they maintain that the long robe of the priest
failing over his feet, as being adorned with four rows of precious
stones,(6) indicates the Tetrad; and if there are any other things in the
Scriptures which can possibly be dragged into the number four, they declare
that these had their being with a view to the Tetrad. The Ogdoad, again,
was shown as follows:--They affirm that man was formed on the eighth day,
for sometimes they will have him to have been made on the sixth day, and
sometimes on the eighth, unless, perchance, they mean that his earthly part
was formed on the sixth day, but his fleshly part on the eighth, for these
two things are distinguished by them. Some of them also hold that one man
was formed after the image and likeness of God, masculo-feminine, and that
this was the spiritual man; and that another man was formed out of the
earth.

   3. Further, they declare that the arrangement made with respect to the
ark in the Deluge, by means of which eight persons were saved,(7) most
clearly indicates the Ogdoad which brings salvation. David also shows forth
the same, as holding the eighth place in point of age among his
brethren.(8) Moreover, that circumcision which took place on the eighth
day,(9) represented the circumcision of the Ogdoad above. In a word,
whatever they find in the Scriptures capable of being referred to the
number eight, they declare to fulfil the mystery of the Ogdoad. With
respect, again, to the Decad, they maintain that it is indicated by those
ten nations which God promised to Abraham for a possession.(10) The
arrangement also made by Sarah when, after ten years, she gave(11) her
handmaid Hagar to him, that by her he might have a son, showed the same
thing. Moreover, the servant of Abraham who was sent to Rebekah, and
presented her at the well with ten bracelets of gold, and her brethren who
detained her for ten days;, Jeroboam also, who received the ten sceptresa
(tribes), and the ten courts(3) of the tabernacle, and the columns of ten
cubits(4) [high], and the ten sons of Jacob who were at first sent into
Egypt to buy com,(5) and the ten apostles to whom the Lord appeared after
His resurrection,--Thomas(6) being absent,--represented, according to them,
the invisible Decad.

   4. As to the Duodecad, in connection with which the mystery of the
passion of the defect occurred, from which passion they maintain that all
things visible were framed, they assert that is to be found strikingly and
manifestly everywhere [in Scripture]. For they declare that the twelve sons
of Jacob,(7) from whom also sprung twelve tribes,--the breastplate of the
high priest, which bore twelve precious stones and twelve little bells,(8)-
-the twelve stones which were placed by Moses at the foot of the
mountain,(9)--the same number which was placed by Joshua in the river,(10)
and again, on the other side, the bearers of the ark of the covenant,(11)--
those stones which were set up by Elijah when the heifer was offered as a
burnt-offering;(12) the number, too, of the apostles; and, in fine, every
event which embraces in it the number twelve,--set forth their Duodecad.
And then the union of all these, which is called the Triacontad, they
strenuously endeavour to demonstrate by the ark of Noah, the height of
which was thirty cubits;(13) by the case of Samuel, who assigned Saul the
chief place among thirty guests;(14) by David, when for thirty days he
concealed himself in the field;(15) by those who entered along with him
into the cave; also by the fact that the length (height) of the holy
tabernacle was thirty cubits;(16) and if they meet with any other like
numbers, they still apply these to their Triacontad.

CHAP. XIX.--PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE BY WHICH THEY ATTEMPT TO PROVE THAT THE
SUPREME FATHER WAS UNKNOWN BEFORE THE COMING OF CHRIST.

   1. I judge it necessary to add to these details also what, by garbling
passages of Scripture, they try to persuade us concerning their Propator,
who was unknown to all before the coming of Christ. Their object in this is
to show that our Lord announced another Father than the Maker of this
universe, whom, as we said before, they impiously declare to have been the
fruit of a defect. For instance, when the prophet Isaiah says, "But Israel
hath not known Me, and My people have not understood Me,"(17) they pervert
his words to mean ignorance of the invisible Bythus. And that which is
spoken by Hosea, "There is no truth in them, nor the knowledge of God,"(18)
they strive to give the same reference. And, "There is none that
understandeth, or that seeketh after God: they have all gone out of the
way, they are together become unprofitable,"(19) they maintain to be said
concerning ignorance of Bythus. Also that which is spoken by Moses, "No man
shall see God and live,"(20) has, as they would persuade us, the same
reference.

   2. For they falsely hold, that the Creator was seen by the prophets.
But this passage, "No man shall see God and live," they would interpret as
spoken of His greatness unseen and unknown by all; and indeed that these
words, "No man shall see God," are spoken concerning the invisible Father,
the Maker of the universe, is evident to us all; but that they are not used
concerning that Bythus whom they conjure into existence, but concerning the
Creator (and He is the invisible God), shall be shown as we proceed. They
maintain that Daniel also set forth the same thing when he begged of the
angels explanations of the parables, as being himself ignorant of them. But
the angel, hiding from him the great mystery of Bythus, said unto him, "Go
thy way quickly, Daniel, for these sayings are closed up until those who
have understanding do understand them, and those who are white be made
white."(21) Moreover, they vaunt themselves as being the white and the men
of good understanding.

CHAP.XX.--THE APOCRYPHAL AND SPURIOUS SCRIPTURES OF THE MARCOSIANS, WITH
PASSAGES OF THE GOSPELS WHICH THEY PERVERT.

   1. Besides the above [misrepresentations], they adduce an unspeakable
number of apocryphal and spurious writings, which they themselves have
forged, to bewilder the minds of foolish men, and of such as are ignorant
of the Scriptures of truth. Among other things, they bring forward that
false and wicked story(22) which relates that our Lord, when He was a boy
learning His letters, on the teacher saying to Him, as is usual, "Pronounce
Alpha," replied [as He was bid], "Alpha." But when, again, the teacher bade
Him say, "Beta," the Lord replied, "Do thou first tell me what Alpha is,
and then I will tell thee what Beta is." This they expound as meaning that
He alone knew the Unknown, which He revealed under its type Alpha.

   2. Some passages, also, which occur in the Gospels, receive from them a
colouring of the same kind, such as the answer which He gave His mother
when He was twelve years of age: "Wist ye not that I must be about My
Father's business?"(1) Thus, they say, He announced to them the Father of
whom they were ignorant. On this account, also, He sent forth the disciples
to the twelve tribes, that they might proclaim to them the unknown God. And
to the person who  said to Him, "Good Master,"(2) He confessed  that God
who is truly good, saying, "Why callest  thou Me good: there is One who is
good, the Father in the heavens;"(3) and they assert that in this passage
the AEons receive the name of heavens. Moreover, by His not replying to
those who said to Him, "By what power doest Thou this?"(4) but by a
question on His own side, put them to utter confusion; by His thus not
replying, according to their interpretation, He showed the unutterable
nature of the Father. Moreover, when He said, "I have often desired to hear
one of these words, and I had no one who could utter it,"(5) they maintain,
that by this expression "one" He set forth the one true God whom they knew
not. Further, when, as He drew nigh to Jerusalem, He wept over it and said,
"If thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things that belong
unto thy peace, but they are hidden from thee,"(6) by this word "hidden" He
showed the abstruse nature of Bythus. And again, when He said, "Come unto
Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, and
learn of Me,"(7) He announced the Father of truth. For what they knew not,
these men say that He promised to teach them.

   3. But they adduce the following passage as the highest testimony,(8)
and, as it were, the very crown of their system:--"I thank Thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes. Even so, my Father; for so it
seemed good in Thy sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My
Father; and no one knoweth the Father but the Son, or the Son but the
Father, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him."(9) In these words they
affirm that He clearly showed that the Father of truth, conjured into
existence by them, was known to no one before His advent. And they desire
to construe the passage as if teaching that the Maker and Framer [of the
world] was always known by all, while the Lord spoke these words concerning
the Father unknown to all, whom they now proclaim.

CHAP. XXI.--THE VIEWS OF REDEMPTION ENTERTAINED BY THESE HERETICS.

   1. It happens that their tradition respecting redemption(10) is
invisible and incomprehensible, as being the mother of things which are
incomprehensible and invisible; and on this account, since it is
fluctuating, it is impossible simply and all at once to make known its
nature, for every one of them hands it down just as his own inclination
prompts. Thus there are as many schemes of "redemption" as there are
teachers of these mystical opinions. And when we come to refute them, we
shall show in its fitting-place, that this class of men have been
instigated by Satan to a denial of that baptism which is regeneration to
God, and thus to a renunciation of the whole [Christian] faith.

   2. They maintain that those who have attained to perfect knowledge must
of necessity be regenerated into that power which is above all. For it is
otherwise impossible to find admittance within the Pleroma, since this
[regeneration] it is which leads them down into the depths of Bythus. For
the baptism instituted by the visible Jesus was for the remission of sins,
but the redemption brought in by that Christ who descended upon Him, was
for perfection; and they allege that the former is animal, but the latter
spiritual. And the baptism of John was proclaimed with a view to
repentance, but the redemption by Jesus(11) was brought in for the sake of
perfection. And to this He refers when He says, "And I have another baptism
to be baptized with, and I hasten eagerly towards it."(12) Moreover, they
affirm that the Lord added this redemption to the sons of Zebedee, when
their mother asked that they might sit, the one on His right hand, and the
other on His left, in His kingdom, saying, "Can ye be baptized with the
baptism which I shall be baptized with?"(13) Paul, too, they declare, has
often set forth, in express terms, the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
and this was the same which is handed down by them in so varied and
discordant forms.

   3. For some of them prepare a nuptial couch, and perform a sort of
mystic rite (pronouncing certain expressions) with those who are being
initiated, and affirm that it is a spiritual marriage which is celebrated
by them, after the likeness of the conjunctions above. Others, again, lead
them to a place where water is, and baptize them, with the utterance of
these words, "Into the name of the unknown Father of the universe--into
truth, the mother of all things--into Him who descended on Jesus--into
union, and redemption, and communion with the powers." Others still repeat
certain Hebrew words, in order the more thoroughly to bewilder those who
are being initiated, as follows: "Basema, Chamosse, Baoenaora, Mistadia,
Ruada, Kousta, Babaphor, Kalachthei."(1) The interpretation of these terms
runs thus: "I invoke that which is above every power of the Father, which
is called light, and good Spirit, and life, because Thou hast reigned in
the body." Others, again, set forth the redemption thus: The name which is
hidden from every deity, and dominion, and truth which Jesus of Nazareth
was clothed with in the lives(2) of the light of Christ--of Christ, who
lives by the Holy Ghost, for the angelic redemption. The name of
restitution stands thus: Messia, Uphareg, Namempsoeman, Chaldoeaur,
Mosomedoea, Acphranoe, Psaua, Jesus Nazaria.(3) The interpretation of these
words is as follows: "I do not divide the Spirit of Christ, neither the
heart nor the supercelestial power which is merciful; may I enjoy Thy name,
O Saviour of truth!" Such are words of the initiators; but he who is
initiated, replies, "I am established, and I am redeemed; I redeem my soul
from this age (world), and from all things connected with it in the name of
Iao, who redeemed his own soul into redemption in Christ who liveth." Then
the bystanders add these words, "Peace be to all on whom this name rests."
After this they anoint the initiated person with balsam; for they assert
that this unguent is a type of that sweet odour which is above all things.

   4. But there are some of them who assert that it is superfluous to
bring persons to the water, but mixing oil and water together, they place
this mixture on the heads of those who are to be initiated, with the use of
some such expressions as we have already mentioned. And this they maintain
to be the redemption. They, too, are accustomed to anoint with balsam.
Others, however, reject all these practices, and maintain that the mystery
of the unspeakable and invisible power ought not to be performed by visible
and corruptible creatures, nor should that of those [beings] who are
inconceivable, and incorporeal, and beyond the reach of sense, [be
performed] by such as are the objects of sense, and possessed of a body.
These hold that the knowledge of the unspeakable Greatness is itself
perfect redemption. For since both defect and passion flowed from
ignorance, the whole substance of what was thus formed is destroyed by
knowledge; and therefore knowledge is the redemption of the inner man.
This, however, is not of a corporeal nature, for the body is corruptible;
nor is it animal, since the animal soul is the fruit of a defect, and is,
as it were, the abode of the spirit. The redemption must therefore be of a
spiritual nature; for they affirm that the inner and spiritual man is
redeemed by means of knowledge, and that they, having acquired the
knowledge of all things, stand thenceforth in need of nothing else. This,
then, is the true redemption.

   5. Others still there are who continue to redeem persons even up to the
moment of death, by placing on their heads oil and water, or the pre-
mentioned ointment with water, using at the same time the above-named
invocations, that the persons referred to may become incapable of being
seized or seen by the principalities and powers, and that their inner man
may ascend on high in an invisible manner, as if their body were left among
created things in this world, while their soul is sent forward to the
Demiurge. And they instruct them, on their reaching the principalities and
powers, to make use of these words: "I am a son from the Father--the Father
who had a pre-existence, and a son in Him who is pre-existent. I have come
to behold all things, both  those which belong to myself and others,
although, strictly speaking, they do not belong to others, but to Achamoth,
who is female in nature, and made these things for herself. For I derive
being from Him who is pre-existent, and I come again to my own place whence
I went forth." And they affirm that, by saying these things, he escapes
from the powers. He then advances to the companions of the Demiurge, and
thus addresses them:--"I am a vessel more precious than the female who
formed you. If your mother is ignorant of her own descent, I know myself,
and am aware whence I am, and I call upon the incorruptible Sophia, who is
in the Father, and is the mother of your mother, who has no father, nor any
male consort; but a female springing from a female formed you, while
ignorant of her own mother, and imagining that she alone existed; but I
call upon her mother." And they declare, that when the companions of the
Demiurge hear these words, they are greatly agitated, and upbraid their
origin and the race of their mother. But he goes into his own place, having
thrown [off] his chain, that is, his animal nature. These, then, are the
particulars which have reached us respecting "redemption."(1) But since
they differ so widely among themselves both as respects doctrine and
tradition, and since those of them who are recognised as being most modern
make it their effort daily to invent some new opinion, and to bring out
what no one ever before thought of, it is a difficult matter to describe
all their opinions.

CHAP. XXII.--DEVIATIONS OF HERETICS FROM THE TRUTH.

   1. The rule(2) of truth which we hold, is, that there is one God
Almighty, who made all things by His Word, and fashioned and formed, out of
that which had no existence, all things which exist. Thus saith the
Scripture, to that effect "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens
established, and all the might of them, by the spirit of His mouth."(3) And
again, "All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made."(4)
There is no exception or deduction stated; but the Father made all things
by Him, whether visible or invisible, objects of sense or of intelligence,
temporal, on account of a certain character given them, or eternal; and
these eternal(5) things He did not make by angels, or by any powers
separated from His Ennoea. For God needs none of all these things, but is
He who, by His Word and Spirit, makes, and disposes, and governs all
things, and commands all things into existence,--He who formed the world
(for the world is of all),--He who fashioned man,--He [who](6) is the God
of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, above whom there is
no other God, nor initial principle, nor power, nor pleroma,--He is the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we shall prove. Holding, therefore,
this rule, we shall easily show, notwithstanding the great variety and
multitude of their opinions, that these men have deviated from the truth;
for almost all the different sects of heretics admit that there is one God;
but then, by their pernicious doctrines, they change [this truth into
error], even as the Gentiles do through idolatry,--thus proving themselves
ungrateful to Him that created them. Moreover, they despise the workmanship
of God, speaking against their own salvation, becoming their own bitterest
accusers, and being false witnesses [against themselves]. Yet, reluctant as
they may be, these men shall one day rise again in the flesh, to confess
the power of Him who raises them from the dead; but they shall not be
numbered among the righteous on account of their unbelief.

   2. Since, therefore, it is a complex and multiform task to detect and
convict all the heretics, and since our design is to reply to them all
according to their special characters, we have judged it necessary, first
of all, to give an account of their source and root, in order that, by
getting a knowledge of their most exalted Bythus, thou mayest understand
the nature of the tree which has produced such fruits.

CHAP. XXIII.--DOCTRINES AND PRACTICES OF SIMON MAGUS AND MENANDER.

   1. Simon the Samaritan was that magician of whom Luke, the disciple and
follower of the apostles, says, "But there was a certain man, Simon by
name, who beforetime used magical arts in that city, and led astray the
people of Samaria, declaring that he himself was some great one, to whom
they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This is the
power of God, which is called great. And to him they had regard, because
that of long time he had driven them mad by his sorceries."(7) This Simon,
then--who feigned faith, supposing that the apostles themselves performed
their cures by the art of magic, and not by the power of God; and with
respect to their filling with the Holy Ghost, through the imposition of
hands, those that believed in God through Him who was preached by them,
namely, Christ Jesus--suspecting that even this was done through a kind of
greater knowledge of magic, and offering money to the apostles, thought he,
too, might receive this power of bestowing the Holy Spirit on whomsoever he
would,--was addressed in these words by Peter: "Thy money perish with thee,
because thou hast thought that the gift of God can be purchased with money:
thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not fight
in the sight of God; for I perceive that thou art in the gall of
bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity."(8) He, then, not putting faith in
God a whit the more, set himself eagerly to contend against the apostles,
in order that he himself might seem to be a wonderful being, and applied
himself with still greater zeal to the study of the whole magic art, that
he might the better bewilder and overpower multitudes of men. Such was his
procedure in the reign of Claudius Caesar, by whom also he is said to have
been honoured with a statue, on account of his magical power.(1) This man,
then, was glorified by many as if he were a god; and he taught that it was
himself who appeared among the Jews as the Son, but descended in Samaria as
the Father while he came to other nations in the character of the Holy
Spirit. He represented himself, in a word, as being the loftiest of all
powers, that is, the Being who is the Father over all, and he allowed
himself to be called by whatsoever title men were pleased to address him.

   2. Now this Simon of Samaria, from whom all sorts of heresies derive
their origin, formed his sect out of the following materials:--Having
redeemed from slavery at Tyre, a city of Phoenicia, a certain woman named
Helena, he was in the habit of carrying her about with him, declaring that
this woman was the first conception of his mind, the mother of all, by
whom, in the beginning, he conceived in his mind [the thought] of forming
angels and archangels. For this Ennoea leaping forth from him, and
comprehending the will of her father, descended to the lower regions [of
space], and generated angels and powers, by whom also he declared this word
was formed. But after she had produced them, she was detained by them
through motives of jealousy, because they were unwilling to be looked upon
as the progeny of any other being. As to himself, they had no knowledge of
him whatever; but his Ennoea was detained by those powers and angels who
had been produced by her. She suffered all kinds of contumely from them, so
that she could not return upwards to her father, but was even shut up in a
human body, and for ages passed in succession from one female body to
another, as from vessel to vessel. She was, for example, in that Helen on
whose account the Trojan war was undertaken; for whose sake also
Stesichorus(2) was struck blind, because he had cursed her in his verses,
but afterwards, repenting and writing what are called palinodes, in which
he sang her praise, he was restored to sight. Thus she, passing from body
to body, and suffering insults in every one of them, at last became a
common prostitute; and she it was that was meant by the lost sheep.(3)

   3. For this purpose, then, he had come that he might win her first, and
free her from slavery, while he conferred salvation upon men, by making
himself known to them. For since the angels ruled the world ill because
each one of them coveted the principal power for himself, he had come to
amend matters, and had descended, transfigured and assimilated to powers
and principalities and angels, so that he might appear among men to be a
man, while yet he was not a man; and that thus he was thought to have
suffered in Judaea, when he had not suffered. Moreover, the prophets
uttered their predictions under the inspiration of those angels who formed
the world; for which reason those who place their trust in him and Helena
no longer regarded them, but, as being free, live as they please; for men
are saved through his grace, and not on account of their own righteous
actions. For such deeds are not righteous in the nature of things, but by
mere accident, just as those angels who made the world, have thought fit to
constitute them, seeking, by means of such precepts, to bring men into
bondage. On this account, he pledged himself that the world should be
dissolved, and that those who are his should be freed from the rule of them
who made the world.

   4. Thus, then, the mystic priests belonging to this sect both lead
profligate lives and practise magical arts, each one to the extent of his
ability. They use exorcisms and incantations. Love-potions, too, and
charms, as well as those beings who are called "Paredri" (familiars) and
"Oniropompi" (dream-senders), and whatever other curious arts can be had
recourse to, are eagerly pressed into their service. They also have an
image of Simon fashioned after the likeness of Jupiter, and another of
Helena in the shape of Minerva; and these they worship. In fine, they have
a name derived from Simon, the author of these most impious doctrines,
being called Simonians; and from them "knowledge, falsely so called,"(4)
received its beginning, as one may learn even from their own assertions.

   5. The successor of this man was Menander, also a Samaritan by birth,
and he, too, was a perfect adept in the practice of magic. He affirms that
the primary Power continues unknown to all, but that he himself is the
person who has been sent forth from the presence of the invisible beings as
a saviour, for the deliverance of men. The world was made by angels, whom,
like Simon, he maintains to have been produced by Ennoea. He gives, too, as
he affirms, by means of that magic which he teaches, knowledge to this
effect, that one may overcome those very angels that made the world; for
his disciples obtain the resurrection by being baptized into him, and can
die no more, but remain in the possession of immortal youth.

CHAP. XXIV. -- DOCTRINES OF SATURNINUS AND BASILIDES.

   1. Arising among these men, Saturninus (who was of that Antioch which
is near Daphne) and Basilides laid hold of some favourable opportunities,
and promulgated different systems of doctrine--the one in Syria, the other
at Alexandria. Saturninus, like Menander, set forth one father unknown to
all, who made angels, archangels, powers, and potentates. The world, again,
and all things therein, were made by a certain company of seven angels.
Man, too, was the workmanship of angels, a shining image bursting forth
below from the presence of the supreme power; and when they could not, he
says, keep hold of this, because it immediately darted upwards again, they
exhorted each other, saying, "Let us make man after our image and
likeness."(1) He was accordingly formed, yet was unable to stand erect,
through the inability of the angels to convey to him that power, but
wriggled [on the ground] like a worm. Then the power above taking pity upon
him, since he was made after his likeness, sent forth a spark of life,
which gave man an erect posture, compacted his joints, and made him live.
He declares, therefore, that this spark of life, after the death of a man,
returns to those things which are of the same nature with itself, and the
rest of the body is decomposed into its original elements.

   2. He has also laid it down as a truth, that the SAviour was without
birth, without body, and without figure, but was, by supposition, a visible
man; and he maintained that the God of the Jews was one of the angels; and,
on this account, because all the powers wished to annihilate his father,
Christ came to destroy the God of the Jews, but to save such as believe in
him; that is, those who possess the spark of his life. This heretic was the
first to affirm that two kinds of men were formed by the angels,--the one
wicked, and the other good. And since the demons assist the most wicked,
the Saviour came for the destruction of evil men and of the demons, but for
the salvation of the good. They declare also, that marriage and generation
are from Satan.(2) Many of those, too, who belong to his school, abstain
from animal food, and draw away multitudes by a reigned temperance of this
kind. They hold, moreover, that some of the prophecies were uttered by
those angels who made the world, and some by Satan; whom Saturninus
represents as being himself an angel, the enemy of the creators of the
world, but especially of the God of the Jews.

   3. Basilides again, that he may appear to have discovered something
more sublime and plausible, gives an immense development to his doctrines.
He sets forth that Nous was first born of the unborn father, that from him,
again, was born Logos, from Logos Phronesis, from Phronesis Sophia and
Dynamis, and from Dynamis and Sophia the powers, and principalities, and
angels, whom he also calls the first; and that by them the first heaven was
made. Then other powers, being formed by emanation from these, crated
another heaven similar to the first; and in like manner, when others,
again, had been formed by emanation from them, corresponding exactly to
those above them, these, too, framed another third heaven; and then from
this third, in downward order, there was a fourth succession of
descendants; and so on, after the same fashion, they declare that more and
more principalities and angels were formed, and three hundred and sixty-
five heavens.(3) Wherefore the year contains the same number of days in
conformity with the number of the heavens.

   4. Those angels who occupy the lowest heaven, that, namely, which is
visible to us, formed all the things which are in the world, and made
allotments among themselves of the earth and of those nations which are
upon it. The chief of them is he who is thought to be the God of the Jews;
and inasmuch as he desired to render the other nations subject to his own
people, that is, the Jews, all the other princes resisted and opposed him.
Wherefore all other nations were at enmity with his nation. But the father
without birth and without name, perceiving that they would be destroyed,
sent his own first-begotten Nous (he it is who is called Christ) to bestow
deliverance on them that believe in him, from the power of those who made
the world. He appeared, then, on earth as a man, to the nations of these
powers, and wrought miracles. Wherefore he did not himself suffer death,
but Simon, a certain man of Cyrene, being compelled, bore the cross in his
stead; so that this latter being transfigured by him, that he might be
thought to be Jesus, was crucified, through ignorance and error, while
Jesus himself received the form of Simon, and, standing by, laughed at
them. For since he was an incorporeal power, and the Nous (mind) of the
unborn father, he transfigured himself as he pleased, and thus ascended to
him who had sent him, deriding them, inasmuch as he could not be laid hold
of, and was invisible to all. Those, then, who know these things have been
freed from the principalities who formed the world; so that it is not
incumbent on us to confess him who was crucified, but him who came in the
form of a man, and was thought to be crucified, and was called Jesus, and
was sent by the father, that by this dispensation he might destroy the
works of the makers of the world. If any one, therefore, he declares,
confesses the crucified, that man is still a slave, and under the power of
those who formed our bodies; but he who denies him has been freed from
these beings, and is acquainted with the dispensation of the unborn father.

5. Salvation belongs to the soul alone, for the body is by nature subject
to corruption. He declares, too, that the prophecies were derived from
those powers who were the makers of the world, but the law was specially
given by their chief, who led the people out of the land of Egypt. He
attaches no importance to [the question regarding] meats offered in
sacrifice to idols, thinks them of no consequence, and makes use of them
without any hesitation; he holds also the use of other things, and the
practice of every kind of lust, a matter of perfect indifference. These
men, moreover, practise magic; and use images, incantations, invocations,
and every other kind of curious art. Coining also certain names as if they
were those of the angels, they proclaim some of these as belonging to the
first, and others to the second heaven; and then they strive to set forth
the names, principles, angels, and powers of the three hundred and sixty-
five imagined heavens. They also affirm that the barbarous name in which
the Saviour ascended and descended, is Caulacau.(1)

   6. He, then, who has learned [these things], and known all the angels
and their causes, is rendered invisible and incomprehensible to the angels
and all the powers, even as Caulacau also was. And as the son was unknown
to all, so must they also be known by no one; but while they know all, and
pass through all, they themselves remain invisible and unknown to all; for,
"Do thou," they say, "know all, but let nobody know thee." For this reason,
persons of such a persuasion are also ready to recant [their opinions],
yea, rather, it is impossible that they should suffer on account of a mere
name, since they are like to all. The multitude, however, cannot understand
these matters, but only one out of a thousand, or two out of ten thousand.
They declare that they are no longer Jews, and that they are not yet
Christians; and that it is not at all fitting to speak openly of their
mysteries, but right to keep them secret by preserving silence.

   7. They make out the local position of the three hundred and sixty-five
heavens in the same way as do mathematicians. For, accepting the theorems
of these latter, they have transferred them to their own type of doctrine.
They hold that their chief is Abraxas;(2) and, on this account, that word
contains in itself the numbers amounting to three hundred and sixty-five.

CHAP. XXV.--DOCTRINES OF CARPOCRATES.

   1. Carpocrates, again, and his followers maintain that the world and
the things which are therein were created by angels greatly inferior to the
unbegotten Father. They also hold that Jesus was the son of Joseph, and was
just like other men, with the exception that he differed from them in this
respect, that inasmuch as his soul was stedfast and pure, he perfectly
remembered those things which he had witnessed(3) within the sphere of the
unbegotten God. On this account, a power descended upon him from the
Father, that by means of it he might escape from the creators of the world;
and they say that it, after passing through them all, and remaining in all
points free, ascended again to him, and to the powers,(4) which in the same
way embraced like things to itself. They further declare, that the soul of
Jesus, although educated in the practices of the Jews, regarded these with
contempt, and that for this reason he was endowed with faculties, by means
of which he destroyed those passions which dwelt in men as a punishment
[for their sins].

   2. The soul, therefore, which is like that of Christ can despise those
rulers who were the creators of the world, and, in like manner, receives
power for accomplishing the same results. This idea has raised them to such
a pitch of pride, that some of them declare themselves similar to Jesus;
while others, still more mighty, maintain that they are superior to his
disciples, such as Peter and Paul, and the rest of the apostles, whom they
consider to be in no respect inferior to Jesus. For their souls, descending
from the same sphere as his, and therefore despising in like manner the
creators of the world, are deemed worthy of the same power, and again
depart to the same place. But if any one shall have despised the things in
this world more than he did, he thus proves himself superior to him.

   3. They practise also magical arts and incantations; philters, also,
and love-potions; and have recourse to familiar spirits, dream-sending
demons, and other abominations, declaring that they possess power to rule
over, even now, the princes and formers of this world; and not only them,
but also all things that are in it. These men, even as the Gentiles, have
been sent forth by Satan(5) to bring dishonour upon the Church, so that, in
one way or another, men hearing the things which they speak, and imagining
that we all are such as they, may turn away their ears from the preaching
of the truth; or, again, seeing the things they practise, may speak evil of
us all, who have in fact no fellowship with them, either in doctrine or in
morals, or in our daily conduct. But they lead a licentious life,(1) and,
to conceal their impious doctrines, they abuse the name [of Christ], as a
means of hiding their wickedness; so that "their condemnation is just,"(2)
when they receive from God a recompense suited to their works.

   4. So unbridled is their madness, that they declare they have in their
power all things which are irreligious and impious, and are at liberty to
practise them; for they maintain that things are evil or good, simply in
virtue of human opinion.(3) They deem it necessary, therefore, that by
means of transmigration from body to body, souls should have experience of
every kind of life as well as every kind of action (unless, indeed, by a
single incarnation, one may be able to prevent any need for others, by once
for all, and with equal completeness, doing all those things which we dare
not either speak or hear of, nay, which we must not even conceive in our
thoughts, nor think credible, if any such thing is mooted among those
persons who are our fellow-citizens), in order that, as their writings
express it, their souls, having made trial of every kind of life, may, at
their departure, not be wanting in any particular. It is necessary(4) to
insist upon this, lest, on account of some one thing being still wanting to
their deliverance, they should be compelled once more to become incarnate.
They affirm that for this reason Jesus spoke the following parable:--
"Whilst thou art with thine adversary in the way, give all diligence, that
thou mayest be delivered from him, lest he give thee up to the judge, and
the judge surrender thee to the officer, and he cast thee into prison.
Verily, I say unto thee, thou shalt not go out thence until thou pay the
very last farthing."(5) They also declare the "adversary" is one of those
angels who are in the world, whom they call the Devil, maintaining that he
was formed for this purpose, that he might lead those souls which have
perished from the world to the Supreme Ruler. They describe him also as
being chief among the makers of the world, and maintain that he delivers
such souls [as have been mentioned] to another angel, who ministers to him,
that he may shut them up in other bodies; for they declare that the body is
"the prison." Again, they interpret these expressions, "Thou shalt not go
out thence until thou pay the very last farthing," as meaning that no one
can escape from the power of those angels who made the world, but that he
must pass from body to body, until he has experience of every kind of
action which can be practised in this world, and when nothing is longer
wanting to him, then his liberated soul should soar upwards to that God who
is above the angels, the makers of the world. In this way also all souls
are saved, whether their own which, guarding against all delay, participate
in all sorts of actions during one incarnation, or those, again, who, by
passing from body to body, are set free, on fulfilling and accomplishing
what is requisite in every form of life into which they are sent, so that
at length they shall no longer be [shut in the body.

   5. And thus, if ungodly, unlawful, and forbidden actions are committed
among them, I can no longer find ground for believing them to be such.(6)
And in their writings we read as follows, the interpretation which they
give [of their views], declaring that Jesus spoke in a mystery to His
disciples and apostles privately, and that they requested and obtained
permission to hand down the things thus taught them, to others who should
be worthy and believing. We are saved, indeed, by means of faith and love;
but all other things, while in their nature indifferent, are reckoned by
the opinion of men--some good and some evil, there being nothing really
evil by nature.

   6. Others of them employ outward marks, branding their disciples inside
the lobe of the right ear. From among these also arose Marcellina, who came
to Rome under [the episcopate of] Anicetus, and, holding these doctrines,
she led multitudes astray. They style themselves Gnostics. They also
possess images, some of them painted, and others formed from different
kinds of material; while they maintain that a likeness of Christ was made
by Pilate at that time when Jesus lived among them.(7) They crown these
images, and set them up along with the images of the philosophers of the
world that is to say, with the images of Pythagoras, and Plato, and
Aristotle, and the rest. They have also other modes of honouring these
images, after the same manner of the Gentiles.

CHAP. XXVI.--DOCTRINES OF CERINTHUS, THE EBIONITES, AND NICOLAITANES.

   1. Cerinthus, again, a man who was educated(8) in the wisdom of the
Egyptians, taught that the world was not made by the primary God, but by a
certain Power far separated from him, and at a distance from that
Principality who is supreme over the universe, and ignorant of him who is
above all. He represented Jesus as having not been born of a virgin, but as
being the son of Joseph and Mary according to the ordinary course of human
generation, while he nevertheless was more righteous, prudent, and wise
than other men. Moreover, after his baptism, Christ descended upon him in
the form of a dove from the Supreme Ruler, and that then he proclaimed the
unknown Father, and performed miracles. But at last Christ departed from
Jesus, and that then Jesus suffered and rose again, while Christ remained
impassible, inasmuch as he was a spiritual being.

   2. Those who are called Ebionites agree that the world was made by God;
but their opinions with respect to the Lord are similar to those of
Cerinthus and Carpocrates. They use the Gospel according to Matthew only,
and repudiate the Apostle Paul, maintaining that he was an apostate from
the law. As to the prophetical writings, they endeavour to expound them in
a somewhat singular manner: they practise circumcision, persevere in the
observance of those customs which are enjoined by the law, and are so
Judaic in their style of life, that they even adore Jerusalem as if it were
the house of God.

   3. The Nicolaitanes are the followers of that Nicolas who was one of
the seven first ordained to the diaconate by the apostles.(1) They lead
lives of unrestrained indulgence. The character of these men is very
plainly pointed out in the Apocalypse of John, [when they are represented]
as teaching that it is a matter of indifference to practise adultery, and
to eat things sacrificed to idols. Wherefore the Word has also spoken of
them thus: "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the
Nicolaitanes, which I also hate."(2)

CHAP. XXVII.--DOCTRINES OF CERDO AND MARCION.

    1. Cerdo was one who took his system from the followers of Simon, and
came to live at Rome in the time of Hyginus, who held the ninth place in
the episcopal succession from the apostles downwards. He taught that the
God proclaimed by the law and the prophets was not the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. For the former was known, but the latter unknown; while the
one also was righteous, but the other benevolent.

   2. Marcion of Pontus succeeded him, and developed his doctrine. In so
doing, he advanced the most daring blasphemy against Him who is proclaimed
as God by the law and the prophets, declaring Him to be the author of
evils, to take delight in war, to be infirm of purpose, and even to be
contrary to Himself. But Jesus being derived from that father who is above
the God that made the world, and coming into Judaea in the times of Pontius
Pilate the governor, who was the procurator of Tiberius Caesar, was
manifested in the form of a man to those who were in Judaea, abolishing the
prophets and the law, and all the works of that God who made the world,
whom also he calls Cosmocrator. Besides this, he mutilates the Gospel which
is according to Luke, removing all that is written respecting the
generation of the Lord, and setting aside a great deal of the teaching of
the Lord, in which the Lord is recorded as most dearly confessing that the
Maker of this universe is His Father. He likewise persuaded his disciples
that he himself was more worthy of credit than are those apostles who have
handed down the Gospel to us, furnishing them not with the Gospel, but
merely a fragment of it. In like manner, too, he dismembered the Epistles
of Paul, removing all that is said by the apostle respecting that God who
made the world, to the effect that He is the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and also those passages from the prophetical writings which the
apostle quotes, in order to teach us that they announced beforehand the
coming of the Lord.

   3. Salvation will be the attainment only of those souls which had
learned his doctrine; while the body, as having been taken from the earth,
is incapable of sharing in salvation. In addition to his blasphemy against
God Himself, he advanced this also, truly speaking as with the mouth of the
devil, and saying all things in direct opposition to the truth,--that Cain,
and those like him, and the Sodomites, and the Egyptians, and others like
them, and, in fine, all the nations who walked in all sorts of abomination,
were saved by the Lord, on His descending into Hades, and on their running
unto Him, and that they welcomed Him into their kingdom. But the serpent(3)
which was in Marcion declared that Abel, and Enoch, and Noah, and those
other righteous men who sprang(4) from the patriarch Abraham, with all the
prophets,  and those who were pleasing to God, did not partake in
salvation. For since these men, he says, knew that their God was constantly
tempting them, so now they suspected that He was tempting them, and did not
run to Jesus, or believe His announcement: and for this reason he declared
that their souls remained in Hades.

   4. But since this man is the only one who has dared openly to mutilate
the Scriptures, and unblushingly above all others to inveigh against God, I
purpose specially to refute him, convicting him out of his own writings;
and, with the help of God, I shall overthrow him out of those(1) discourses
of the Lord and the apostles, which are of authority with him, and of which
he makes use. At present, however, I have simply been led to mention him,
that thou mightest know that all those who in any way corrupt the truth,
and injuriously affect the preaching of the Church, are the disciples and
successors of Simon Magus of Samaria. Although they do not confess the name
of their master, in order all the more to seduce others, yet they do teach
his doctrines. They set forth, indeed, the name of Christ Jesus as a sort
of lure, but in various ways they introduce the impieties of Simon; and
thus they destroy multitudes, wickedly disseminating their own doctrines by
the use of a good name, and, through means of its sweetness and beauty,
extending to their hearers the bitter and malignant poison of the serpent,
the great author of apostasy?

CHAP. XXVIII.--DOCTRINES OF TATIAN, THE ENCRATITES, AND OTHERS.

   1. Many offshoots of numerous heresies have already been formed from
those heretics we have described. This arises from the fact that numbers of
them--indeed, we may say all--desire themselves to be teachers, and to
break off from the particular heresy in which they have been involved.
Forming one set of doctrines out of a totally different system of opinions,
and then again others from others, they insist upon teaching something new,
declaring themselves the inventors of any sort of opinion which they may
have been able to call into existence. To give an example: Springing from
Saturninus and Marcion, those who are called Encratites (self-controlled)
preached against marriage, thus setting aside the original creation of God,
and indirectly blaming Him who made the male and female for the propagation
of the human race. Some of those reckoned among them have also introduced
abstinence from animal food, thus proving themselves ungrateful to God, who
formed all things. They deny, too, the salvation of him who was first
created. It is but lately, however, that this opinion has been invented
among them. A certain man named Tatian first introduced the blasphemy. He
was a hearer of Justin's, and as long as he continued with him he expressed
no such views; but after his martyrdom he separated from the Church, and,
excited and puffed up by the thought of being a teacher, as if he were
superior to others, he composed his own peculiar type of doctrine. He
invented a system of certain invisible AEons, like the followers of
Valentinus; while, like Marcion and Saturninus, he declared that marriage
was nothing else than corruption and fornication.(3) But his denial of
Adam's salvation was an opinion due entirely to himself.

   2. Others, again, following upon Basilides and Carpocrates, have
introduced promiscuous intercourse and a plurality of wives, and are
indifferent about eating meats sacrificed to idols, maintaining that God
does not greatly regard such matters. But why continue? For it is an
impracticable attempt to mention all those who, in one way or another, have
fallen away from the truth.

CHAP. XXIX.--DOCTRINES OF VARIOUS OTHER GNOSTIC SECTS, AND ESPECIALLY OF
THE BARBELIOTES OR BORBORIANS.

   1. Besides those, however, among these heretics who are Simonians, and
of whom we have already spoken, a multitude of Gnostics have sprung up, and
have been manifested like mushrooms growing out of the ground. I now
proceed to describe the principal opinions held by them. Some of them,
then, set forth a certain AEon who never grows old, and exists in a virgin
spirit: him they style Barbelos.(4) They declare that somewhere or other
there exists a certain father who cannot be named, and that he was desirous
to reveal himself to this Barbelos. Then this Ennoea went forward, stood
before his face, and demanded from him Prognosis (prescience). But when
Prognosis had, [as was requested,] come forth, these two asked for
Aphtharsia (incorruption), which also came forth, and after that Zoe
Aionios (eternal life). Barbelos, glorying in these, and contemplating
their greatness, and in conception s [thus formed], rejoicing in this
greatness, generated light similar to it. They declare that this was the
beginning both of light and of the generation of all things; and that the
Father, beholding this light, anointed it with his own benignity, that it
might be rendered perfect. Moreover, they maintain that this was Christ,
who again, according to them, requested that Nous should be given him as an
assistant; and Nous came forth accordingly. Besides these, the Father sent
forth Logos. The conjunctions of Ennoea and Logos, and of Aphtharsia and
Christ, will thus be formed; while Zoe Aionios was united to Thelema, and
Nous to Prognosis. These, then, magnified the great light and Barbelos.

   2. They also affirm that Autogenes was afterwards sent forth from
Ennoea and Logos, to be a representation of the great light, and that he
was greatly honoured, all things being rendered subject unto him. Along
with him was sent forth Aletheia, and a conjunction was formed between
Autogenes and Aletheia. But they declare that from the Light, which is
Christ, and from Aphtharsia, four luminaries were sent forth to surround
Autogenes; and again from Thelema and Zoe Aionios four other emissions took
place, to wait upon these four luminaries; and these they name Charis
(grace), Thelesis (will), Synesis (understanding), and Phronesis (prudence)
Of these, Chaffs is connected with the great and first luminary: him they
represent as Sorer (Saviour), and style Armogenes.(1) Thelesis, again, is
united to the second luminary, whom they also name Raguel; Synesis to the
third, whom they call David; and Phronesis to the fourth, whom they name
Eleleth.

   3. All these, then, being thus settled, Auto-genes moreover produces a
perfect and true man, whom they also call Adamas, inasmuch as neither has
he himself ever been conquered, nor have those from whom he sprang; he also
was, along with the first light, severed from Armogenes. Moreover, perfect
knowledge was sent forth by Autogenes along with man, and was united to
him; hence he attained to the knowledge of him that is above all.
Invincible power was also conferred on him by the virgin spirit; and all
things then rested in him, to sing praises to the great AEon. Hence also
they declare were manifested the mother, the father, the son; while from
Anthropos and Gnosis that Tree was produced which they also style Gnosis
itself.

   4. Next they maintain, that from the first angel, who stands by the
side of Monogenes, the Holy Spirit has been sent forth, whom they also term
Sophia and Prunicus.(2) He then, perceiving that all the others had
consorts, while he himself was destitute of one, searched after a being to
whom he might be united; and not finding one, he exerted and extended
himself to the uttermost and looked down into the lower regions, in the
expectation of there finding a consort; and still not meeting with one, he
leaped forth [from his place] in a state of great impatience, [which had
come upon him] because he had made his attempt without the good-will of his
father. Afterwards, under the influence of simplicity and kindness, he
produced a work in which were to be found ignorance and audacity. This work
of his they declare to be Protarchontes, the former of this [lower]
creation. But they relate that a mighty power carried him away from his
mother, and that he settled far away

from her in the lower regions, and formed the firmament of heaven, in which
also they affirm that he dwells. And in his ignorance he formed those
powers which are inferior to himself--angels, and firmaments, and all
things earthly. They affirm that he, being united to Authadia (audacity),
produced Kakia (wickedness), Zelos (emulation), Phthonos (envy), Erinnys
(fury), and Epithymia (lust). When these were generated, the mother Sophia
deeply grieved, fled away, departed into the upper regions, and became the
last of the Ogdoad, reckoning it downwards. On her thus departing, he
imagined he was the only being in existence; and on this account declared,
"I am a jealous God, and besides me there is no one."(3) Such are the
falsehoods which these people invent.

CHAP. XXX.--DOCTRINES OF THE OPHITES AND SETHIANS.

   1. Others, again, portentously declare that there exists, in the power
of Bythus, a certain primary light, blessed, incorruptible, and infinite:
this is the Father of all, and is styled the first man. They also maintain
that his Ennoea, going forth from him, produced a son, and that this is the
son of man--the second man. Below these, again, is the Holy Spirit, and
under this superior spirit the elements were separated from each other,
viz., water, darkness, the abyss, chaos, above which they declare the
Spirit was borne, calling him the first woman. Afterwards, they maintain,
the first man, with his son, delighting over the beauty of the Spirit--that
is, of the woman--and shedding light upon her, begat by her an
incorruptible light, the third male, whom they call Christ,--the son of the
first and second man, and of the Holy Spirit, the first woman.

   2. The father and son thus both had intercourse with the woman (whom
they also call the mother of the living). When, however,(4) she could not
bear nor receive into herself the greatness of the lights, they declare
that she was filled to repletion, and became ebullient on the left side;
and that thus their only son Christ, as belonging to the right side, and
ever tending to what was higher, was immediately caught up with his mother
to form an incorruptible AEon. This constitutes the true and holy Church,
which has become the appellation, the meeting together, and the union of
the father of all, of the first man, of the son, of the second man, of
Christ their son, and of the woman who has been mentioned.

   3. They teach, however, that the power which proceeded from the woman
by ebullition, being besprinkled with light, fell downward from the place
occupied by its progenitors, yet possessing by its own will that
besprinkling of light; and it they call Sinistra, Prunicus, and Sophia, as
well as masculo-feminine. This being, in its simplicity, descended into the
waters while they were yet in a state of immobility, and imparted motion to
them also, wantonly acting upon them even to their lowest depths, and
assumed from them a body. For they affirm that all things rushed towards
and clung to that sprinkling of light, and begin it all round. Unless it
had possessed that, it would perhaps have been totally absorbed in, and
overwhelmed by, material substance. Being therefore bound down by a body
which was composed of matter, and greatly burdened by it, this power
regretted the course it had followed, and made an attempt to escape from
the waters and ascend to its mother: it could not effect this, however, on
account of the weight of the body lying over and around it. But feeling
very ill at ease, it endeavoured at least to conceal that light which came
from above, fearing lest it too might be injured by the inferior elements,
as had happened to itself. And when it had received power from that
besprinkling of light which it possessed, it sprang back again, and was
borne aloft; and being on high, it extended itself, covered [a portion of
space], and formed this visible heaven out of its body; yet remained under
the heaven which it made, as still possessing the form of a watery body.
But when it had conceived a desire for the light above, and had received
power by all things, it laid down this body, and was freed from it. This
body which they speak of that power as having thrown off, they call a
female from a female.

   4. They declare, moreover, that her son had also himself a certain
breath of incorruption left him by his mother, and that through means of it
he works; and becoming powerful, he himself, as they affirm, also sent
forth from the waters a son without a mother; for they do not allow him
either to have known a mother. His son, again, after the example of his
father, sent forth another son. This third one, too, generated a fourth;
the fourth also generated a son: they maintain that again a son was
generated by the fifth; and the sixth, too, generated a seventh. Thus was
the Hebdomad, according to them, completed, the mother possessing the
eighth place; and as in the case of their generations, so also in regard to
dignities and powers, they precede each other in turn.

   5. They have also given names to [the several persons] in their system
of falsehood, such as the following: he who was the first descendant of the
mother is called Ialdabaoth;(1) he, again, descended from him, is named
Iao; he, from this one, is called Sabaoth; the fourth is named Adoneus; the
fifth, Eloeus; the sixth, Oreus; and the seventh and last of all,
Astanphaeus. Moreover, they represent these heavens, potentates, powers,
angels, and creators, as sitting in their proper order in heaven, according
to their generation, and as invisibly ruling over things celestial and
terrestrial. The first of them, namely Ialdabaoth, holds his mother in
contempt, inasmuch as he produced sons and grandsons without the permission
of any one, yea, even angels, archangels, powers, potentates, and
dominions. After these things had been done, his sons turned to strive and
quarrel with him about the supreme power,--conduct which deeply grieved
Ialdabaoth, and drove him to despair. In these circumstances, he cast his
eyes upon the subjacent dregs of matter, and fixed his desire upon it, to
which they declare his son owes his origin. This son is Nous himself,
twisted into the form of a serpent;(2) and hence were derived the spirit,
the soul, and all mundane things: from this too were generated all
oblivion, wickedness, emulation, envy, and death. They declare that the
father imparted(3) still greater crookedness to this serpent-like and
contorted Nous of theirs, when he was with their father in heaven and
Paradise.

   6. On this account, Ialdabaoth, becoming uplifted in spirit, boasted
himself over all those things that were below him, and exclaimed, "I am
father, and God, and above me there is no one." But his mother, hearing him
speak thus, cried out against him, "Do not lie, Ialdabaoth: for the father
of all, the first Anthropos (man), is above thee; and so is Anthropos the
son of Anthropos." Then, as all were disturbed by this new voice, and by
the unexpected proclamation, and as they were inquiring whence the noise
proceeded, in order to lead them away and attract them to himself, they
affirm that Ialdabaoth exclaimed, "Come, let us make man after our
image."(4) The six powers, on hearing this, and their mother furnishing
them with the idea of a man (in order that by means of him she might empty
them of their original power), jointly formed a man of immense size, both
in regard to breadth and length. But as he could merely writhe along the
ground, they carried him to their father; Sophia so labouring in this
matter, that she might empty him (Ialdabaoth) of the light with which he
had been sprinkled, so that he might no longer, though still powerful, be
able to lift up himself against the powers above. They declare, then, that
by breathing into man the spirit of life, he was secretly emptied of his
power; that hence man became a possessor of nous (intelligence) and
enthymesis (thought); and they affirm that these are the faculties which
partake in salvation. He [they further assert] at once gave thanks to the
first Anthropos (man), forsaking those who had created him.

   7. But Ialdabaoth, feeling envious at this, was pleased to form the
design of again emptying man by means of woman, and produced a woman from
his own enthymesis, whom that Prunicus [above mentioned] laying hold of,
imperceptibly emptied her of power. But the others coming and admiring her
beauty, named her Eve, and falling in love with her, begat sons by her,
whom they also declare to be the angels. But their mother (Sophia)
cunningly devised a scheme to seduce Eve and Adam, by means of the serpent,
to transgress the command of Ialdabaoth. Eve listened to this as if it had
proceeded from a son of God, and yielded an easy belief. She also persuaded
Adam to eat of the tree regarding which God had said that they should not
eat of it. They then declare that, on their thus eating, they attained to
the knowledge of that power which is above all, and departed from those who
had created them.(1) When Prunicus perceived that the powers were thus
baffled by their own creature, she greatly rejoiced, and again cried out,
that since the father was incorruptible, he (Ialdabaoth) who formerly
called himself the father was a liar; and that, while Anthropos and the
first woman (the Spirit) existed previously, this one (Eve) sinned by
committing adultery.

   8. Ialdabaoth, however, through that oblivion in which he was involved,
and not paying any regard to these things, cast Adam and Eve out of
Paradise, because they had transgressed his commandment. For he had a
desire to beget sons by Eve, but did not accomplish his wish, because his
mother opposed him in every point, and secretly emptied Adam and Eve of the
light with which they had been sprinkled, in order that that spirit which
proceeded from the supreme power might participate neither in the curse nor
opprobrium [caused by transgression]. They also teach that, thus being
emptied of the divine substance, they were cursed by him, and cast down
from heaven to this world.(2) But the serpent also, who was acting against
the father, was cast down by him into this lower world; he reduced,
however, under his power the angels here, and begat six sons, he himself
forming the seventh person, after the example of that Hebdomad which
surrounds the father. They further declare that these are the seven mundane
demons, who always oppose and resist the human race, because it was on
their account that their father was cast down to this lower world.

   9. Adam and Eve previously had light, and clear, and as it were
spiritual bodies, such as they were at their creation; but when they came
to this world, these changed into bodies more opaque, and gross, and
sluggish. Their soul also was feeble and languid, inasmuch as they had
received from their creator a merely mundane inspiration. This continued
until Prunicus, moved with compassion towards them, restored to them the
sweet savour of the besprinkling of  light, by means of which they came to
a remembrance of themselves, and knew that they were  naked, as well as
that the body was a material substance, and thus recognised that they bore
death about with them. They thereupon became patient, knowing that only for
a time they would be enveloped in the body. They also found out food,
through the guidance of Sophia; and when they were satisfied, they had
carnal knowledge of each other, and begat Cain, whom the serpent, that had
been cast down along with his sons, immediately laid hold of and destroyed
by filling him with mundane oblivion, and urging into folly and audacity,
so that, by slaying his brother Abel, he was the first to bring to light
envy and death. After these, they affirm that, by the forethought of
Prunicus, Seth was begotten, and then Norea,(3) from whom they represent
all the rest of mankind as being descended. They were urged on to all kinds
of wickedness by the inferior Hebdomad, and to apostasy, idolatry, and a
general contempt for everything by the superior holy Hebdomad,(4) since the
mother was always secretly opposed to them, and carefully preserved what
was peculiarly her own, that is, the besprinkling of light. They maintain,
moreover, that the holy Hebdomad is the seven stars which they call
planets; and they affirm that the serpent cast down has two names, Michael
and Samael.

   10. Ialdabaoth, again, being incensed with men, because they did not
worship or honour him as father and God, sent forth a deluge upon them,
that he might at once destroy them all. But Sophia opposed him in this
point also, and Noah and his family were saved in the ark by means of the
besprinkling of that light which proceeded from her, and through it the
world was again filled with mankind. Ialdabaoth himself chose a certain man
named Abraham from among these, and made a covenant with him, to the effect
that, if his seed continued to serve him, he would give to them the earth
for an inheritance. Afterwards, by means of Moses, he brought forth
Abraham's descendants from Egypt, and gave them the law, and made them the
Jews. Among that people he chose seven days,(1) which they also call the
holy Hebdomad. Each of these receives his own herald for the purpose of
glorifying and proclaiming God; so that, when the rest hear these praises,
they too may serve those who are announced as gods try the prophets.

   11. Moreover, they distribute the prophets in the following manner:
Moses, and Joshua the son of Nun, and Amos, and Habakkuk, belonged to
Ialdabaoth; Samuel, and Nathan, and Jonah, and Micah, to Iao; Elijah, Joel,
and Zechariah to Sabaoth; Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Daniel, to Adohai;
Tobias and Haggai to Eloi; Michaiah and Nahum to Oreus; Esdras and
Zephaniah to Astanphaeus. Each one of these, then, glorifies his own father
and God, and they maintain that Sophia, herself has also spoken many things
through them regarding the first Anthropos (man),(2) and concerning that
Christ who is above, thus admonishing and reminding men of the
incorruptible light, the first Anthropos, and of the descent of Christ. The
[other] powers being terrified by these things, and marveiling at the
novelty of those things which were announced by the prophets, Prunicus
brought it about by means of Ialdabaoth (who knew not what he did), that
emissions of two men took place, the one from the barren Elizabeth, and the
other from the Virgin Mary.

   12. And since she herself had no rest either in heaven or on earth, she
invoked her mother to assist her in her distress. Upon this, her mother,
the first woman, was moved with compassion towards her daughter, on her
repentance, and begged from the first man that Christ should be sent to her
assistance, who, being sent forth, descended to his sister, and to the
besprinkling of light. When he recognised her (that is, the Sophia below),
her brother descended to her, and announced his advent through means of
John, and prepared the baptism of repentance, and adopted Jesus beforehand,
in order that on Christ descending he might find a pure vessel, and that by
the son of that Ialdabaoth the woman might be announced by Christ. They
further declare that he descended through the seven heavens, having assumed
the likeness of their sons, and gradually emptied them of their power. For
they maintain that the whole besprinkling of light rushed to him, and that
Christ, descending to this world, first clothed his sister Sophia [with
it], and that then both exulted in the mutual refreshment they felt in each
other's society: this scene they describe as relating to bridegroom and
bride. But Jesus, inasmuch as he was begotten of the Virgin through the
agency of God, was wiser, purer, and more righteous than all other men:
Christ united to Sophia descended into him, and thus Jesus Christ was
produced.

   13. They affirm that many of his disciples were not aware of the
descent of Christ into him; but that, when Christ did descend on Jesus, he
then began to work miracles, and heal, and announce the unknown Father, and
openly to confess himself the son of the first man. The powers and the
father of Jesus were angry at these proceedings, and laboured to destroy
him; and when he was being led away for this purpose, they say that Christ
himself, along with Sophia, departed from him into the state of an
incorruptible AEon, while Jesus was crucified. Christ, however, was not
forgetful of his Jesus, but sent down a certain energy into him from above,
which raised him up again in the body, which they call both animal and
spiritual; for he sent the mundane parts back again into the world. When
his disciples saw that he had risen, they did not recognise him--no, not
even Jesus himself, by whom he rose again from the dead. And they assert
that this very great error prevailed among his disciples, that they
imagined he had risen in a mundane body, not knowing that "flesh(3) and
blood do not attain to the kingdom of God."

   14. They strove to establish the descent and ascent of Christ, by the
fact that neither before his baptism, nor after his resurrection from the
dead, do his disciples state that he did any mighty works, not being aware
that Jesus was united to Christ, and the incorruptible AEon to the
Hebdomad; and they declare his mundane body to be of the same nature as
that of animals. But after his resurrection he tarried [on earth] eighteen
months; and knowledge descending into him from above, he taught what was
clear. He instructed a few of his disciples, whom he knew to be capable of
understanding so great mysteries, in these things, and was then received up
into heaven, Christ sitting down at the right hand of his father
Ialdabaoth, that he may receive to himself the souls of those who have
known them,(4) after they have laid aside their mundane flesh, thus
enriching himself without the knowledge or perception of his father; so
that, in proportion as Jesus enriches himself with holy souls, to such an
extent does his father suffer loss and is diminished, being emptied of his
own power by these souls. For he will not now possess holy souls to send
them down again into the world, except those only which are of his
substance, that is, those into which he has breathed. But the consummation
[of all things] will take place, when the whole besprinkling of the spirit
of light is gathered together, and is carried off to form an incorruptible
AEon.

   15. Such are the opinions which prevail among these persons, by whom,
like the Lernaean hydra, a many-headed beast has been generated from the
school of Valentinus. For some of them assert that Sophia herself became
the serpent; on which account she was hostile to the creator of Adam, and
implanted knowledge in men, for which reason the serpent was called wiser
than all others. Moreover, by the position of our intestines, through which
the food is conveyed, and by the fact that they possess such a figure, our
internal configuration(1) in the form of a serpent reveals our hidden
generatrix.

CHAP. XXXI.--DOCTRINES OF THE CAINITES.

   1. Others again declare that Cain derived his being from the Power
above, and acknowledge that Esau, Korah, the Sodomites, and all such
persons, are related to themselves. On this account, they add, they have
been assailed by the Creator, yet no one of them has suffered injury. For
Sophia was in the habit of carrying off that which belonged to her from
them to herself. They declare that Judas the traitor was thoroughly
acquainted with these things, and that he alone, knowing the truth as no
others did, accomplished the mystery of the betrayal; by him all things,
both earthly and heavenly, were thus thrown into confusion. They produce a
fictitious history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas.

   2. I have also made a collection of their writings in which they
advocate the abolition of the doings of Hystera.(2) Moreover, they call
this Hystera the creator of heaven and earth. They also hold, like
Carpocrates, that men cannot be saved until they have gone through all
kinds of experience. An angel, they maintain, attends them in every one of
their sinful and abominable actions, and urges them to venture on audacity
and incur pollution. Whatever may be the nature(3) of the action, they
declare that they do it in the name of the angel, saying, "O thou angel, I
use thy work; O thou power, I accomplish thy operation !" And they maintain
that this is "perfect knowledge," without shrinking to rush into such
actions as it is not lawful even to name.

   3. It was necessary clearly to prove, that, as their very opinions and
regulations exhibit them, those who are of the school of Valentinus derive
their origin from such mothers, fathers, and ancestors, and also to bring
forward their doctrines, with the hope that perchance some of them,
exercising repentance and returning to the only Creator, and God the Former
of the universe, may obtain salvation, and that others may not henceforth
be drown away by their wicked, although plausible, persuasions, imagining
that they will obtain from them the knowledge of some greater and more
sublime mysteries. But let them rather, learning to good effect from us the
wicked tenets of these men, look with contempt upon their doctrines, while
at the same time they pity those who, still cleaving to these miserable and
baseless fables, have reached such a pitch of arrogance as to reckon
themselves superior to all others on account of such knowledge, or, as it
should rather be called, ignorance. They have now been fully exposed; and
simply to exhibit their sentiments, is to obtain a victory over them.

   4. Wherefore I have laboured to bring forward, and make clearly
manifest, the utterly ill-conditioned carcase of this miserable little
fox.(4) For there will not now be need of many words to overturn their
system of doctrine, when it has been made manifest to all. It is as when,
on a beast hiding itself in a wood, and by rushing forth from it is in the
habit of destroying multitudes, one who beats round the wood and thoroughly
explores it, so as to compel the animal to break cover, does not strive to
capture it, seeing that it is truly a ferocious beast; but those present
can then watch and avoid its assaults, and can cast darts at it from all
sides, and wound it, and finally slay that destructive brute. So, in our
case, since we have brought their hidden mysteries, which they keep in
silence among themselves, to the light, it will not now be necessary to use
many words in destroying their system of opinions. For it is now in thy
power, and in the power of all thy associates, to familiarize yourselves
with what has been said, to overthrow their wicked and undigested
doctrines, and to set forth doctrines agreeable to the truth. Since then
the case is so, I shall, according to promise, and as my ability serves,
labour to overthrow them, by refuting them all in the following book. Even
to give an account of them is a tedious affair, as thou seest.(5) But I
shall furnish means for overthrowing them, by meeting all their opinions in
the order in which they have been described, that I may not only expose the
wild beast to view, but may inflict wounds upon it from every side.


Taken from "The Early Church Fathers and Other Works" originally published
by Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. in English in Edinburgh, Scotland beginning in
1867. (ANF 1, Roberts and Donaldson.) The digital version is by The
Electronic Bible Society, P.O. Box 701356, Dallas, TX 75370, 214-407-WORD.

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