 CHAPTER 23 DOCTRONS AND PRACTICES OF SIMON MAGUS 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 before time used magical arts in that city, and led astray the people of Sumeria, 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. 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 right in the sight of God, for I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. He then, not putting faith in God of wit 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 great 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 honored with a statue on account of his magical power. 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 overall, 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 a tire, 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 annoyer leaping forth from him and comprehending the will of her Father, descended to a 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 annoyer 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 hellen on whose account the Trojan War was undertaken, for whose sake also Stesichorus 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. Three. 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 the 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 Judea, 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 placed 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 were his should be freed from the rule of them who made the world. For thus then, the mystic priests belonging to this sect both lead profligate lives and practice 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 paredre, familias, and oner or pompe, 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, received its beginning, as one may learn even from their own ascitations. Five, 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 anoya. 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. Chapter 24 Doctrines of Sataninus and Basilides One, arising among these men, Sataninus, who was of that Antioch, which is near Daphne, and Basilides laid hold of some favorable opportunities and promulgated different systems of doctrine, the one in Syria, the other at Alexandria. Sataninus, like Mananda, 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 thench would 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. 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. Two, 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, many of those too who belong to his school abstain from animal food and draw away multitudes by a rain 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 Satanine as represents as being himself an angel, the enemy of the creators of the world, but especially of the God of the Jews. 3. Basilidas again, that he may appear to have discovered something more sublime and plausible, gives an immense development to his doctrines. He sets forth that Nus was first born of the unborn father, that from him again was born Logos, from Logos, Fronesses, from Fronesses, Sophia, and Dynamus, and from Dynamus 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, created another heaven similar to the first, and in light manner, when others again had been formed by emanation from them, corresponding exactly to those above them. These two 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, 365 heavens, wherefore the year contains the same number of days in conformity with the number of the heavens. Four. 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 in as much 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 noose, 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. Before 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 noose, 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 anyone, 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 would arrive from those powers who were the makers of the world, but the law was especially 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, practice 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 365 imagined heavens. They also affirm that the barbarous name in which the Saviour ascended and descended is Kaulakaal. 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 Kaulakaal also was. And as the sun 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. 4. 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. Yeah, 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. They make out the local position of the 365 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 a braxist and on this account that word contains in itself the numbers amounting to 365. Chapter 25 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 God. 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 in as much as his soul was steadfast and pure he perfectly remembered those things which he had witnessed 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 the mall and remaining in all points free ascended again to him and to the powers 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 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 from 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 anyone shall have despised the things in this world more than he did he thus proves himself superior to him. 3. They practice also magical arts and incantations, filters 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 set forth by Satan 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 practice 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 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 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 practice them for they maintain that things are evil or good simply in virtue of human opinion they deem it necessary therefore that by means of transmigration from body to body soul should have experience of every kind of life as well as every kind of action 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 writing 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 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 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 as 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 a 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 practiced 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 unfulfilling and accomplishing what is requisite in every form of life which they assent so that at length they shall no longer be shut in the body and thus if ungodly unlawful and forbidden actions are committed among them I can no longer find ground for believing them to be such 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 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 Marchelina who came to Rome under the episcopate of Anacetus and holding these doctrines she led multitudes astray they style themselves nostics they also possess images some of them painted and others fall 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 they crown these images and set them up along with the images of the philosophers of the world that is to say with images of Pythagoras and Aristotle and the rest they have also other modes of honouring these images after the same manner of the Gentiles end of book 1 chapters 23 through 25 chapter 26 doctrines of Serythus the Ebianites and Nicolaotonus 1 Serythus again a man who was educated 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 impassable in as much as he was a spiritual being 2 those who are called Ebianites agree that the world was made by God but their opinions with respect to the Lord are similar to those of Serentus and Carpacratus 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 endeavor to expound them in a somewhat singular manner they practice circumcision persevere in the obedience of those customs which are enjoined by God and are so Judaic in their style of life that they even adore Jerusalem as if it were the house of God 3 the Nicolaotines are the followers of that Nicholas who was one of the seven first ordained to the Dioconate by the apostles they lead lives of unrestrained indulgence the character of these men is very plainly pointed out by John when they are represented as teaching that it is a manner of indifference to practice adultery and to eat things sacrificed to idols wherefore the word has also spoken of them thus but this thou hast that thou hadest the deeds of the Nicolaotines which I also hate Chapter 27 doctrines of Serdo and Marcion 1 Serdo was one who took his system from the followers of Simon and came to live at Rome in the time of Hygenus 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 and benevolent 2 Marcion of Pontus succeeded him and developed his doctrine in so doing he advanced the most daring blasphemy against him who was proclaimed as God by the law and the prophets declaring him to be the author of evils to take delight in war to be in firm of purpose and even to be contrary to himself but Jesus being proclaimed from that father who was above the God that made the world and coming into Judea 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 Judea 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 the 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 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 which was in Marcion declared that Abel and Enoch and Noah and those other righteous men 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 for but since this man is the only one who has dared openly to mutilate the scriptures and unblushingly above all others to invade against God I propose specially to refute him convicting him out of his own writings and with the help of God I shall overthrow him out of those discourses of the Lord and the apostles which are of authority with him 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 Megas of Samaria although they do not confess the name of their master in order all the more to seduce others yet they do teach their own 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 chapter 28 doctrines of Tatian the Encritites and others one 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 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 spring from Saturninus and Marcion those who are called Encritites or 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 to 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 justins 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 to others he composed his own peculiar type of doctrine he invented a system of certain invisible ions like the followers of Valentinus while like Marcion and Saturninus he declared that marriage was nothing else than corruption and fornication in his denial of Adam's salvation was an opinion do entirely to himself two 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 impractical attempt to mention all those who in one way or another have fallen away from the truth chapter 29 doctrines of various other Gnostic sects and especially of the Barbelliotes or Barborians one 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 a synopsis to describe the principal opinions held by them some of them then set forth a certain Ion who never grows old and exists in a virgin spirit him they style Barbellos 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 Barbellos then this Ennoia went forward stood before his face and demanded from him prognosis or prescience but when prognosis had come forth these two asked for atharsia or incorruption which also came forth and after that Zoe Ionios or eternal life Barbellos glorifying in these and contemplating their greatness and in conception 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 maintained that this was Christ who again according to them requested that Naus should be given him as an assistant and Naus came forth accordingly besides these the father sent forth logos the conjunctions of Ennoia and logos and of atharsia and Christ will thus be formed while Zoe Ionios was united to Thelema and Naus to prognosis these then magnified the great light and Barbellos 2 they also affirm that Autogenes was afterwards sent forth from Ennoia and logos to be a representation of the great light and that he was greatly honored 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 atharsia four luminaries were sent forth to surround Autogenes and again from Thelema and Zoe Ionios four other emissions took place to wait upon these four luminaries and these they name Charis or Grace Thelesis or Will Sinises or understanding and Fronesis or Prudence of these Charis is connected with the great and first luminary him they represent as Sotère or Saviour and style Autogenes Thelesis again is united to the second luminary whom they also name Raguel Sinises to the third whom they call David and Fronesis to the fourth whom they name Beth Three All these then being thus settled Autogenes moreover produces a perfect and true man whom they also call Adamus in as much 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 Ion hence also they declare were manifested the mother the father and the son while from Anthropos and Gnosis that tree was produced which they also style Gnosis itself Four 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 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 utter most and looked down into the lower regions in the expectation of their finding a consort and still not meeting with one he leaked 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 with the influence of simplicity and kindness he produced a work in which were to be found ignorance and audacity this work of his they declared to be Protarchontus 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 was 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 or audacity produced cacchia or wickedness zealos or emulation thonos 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 such are the falsehoods which these people invent end of book 1 chapters 26 through 29 chapter 30 of ironias against heresies book 1 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org ironias against heresies book 1 translated by Alexander Roberts and William H. Rambo chapter 30 doctrines of the Ophites and Sethians 1 others again portentiously declare that there exists in the power of Bithos 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 anoya 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 these water darkness, the abyss chaos above which they declare the spirit was born 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 the son thus both had intercourse with the woman whom they also call the mother of the living when however 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 never tending to what was higher was immediately caught up with his mother to form an incorruptible ion 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 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 masculine feminine this being in its simplicity descended into the waters while they were yet in a state of immobility imparted motion to them also wantingly 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 beguert it all around 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 affect this however on account of the weight of the body lying over and around it but feeling very ill at ease it endeavored 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 born 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 for 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 five 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 Ildabeoth he again descended from him is named Iol he from this one is called Sabeoth the fourth is named Adonius the fifth Elius the sixth Oreius and the seventh and last of all Astonphius 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 Ildabeoth holds his mother in contempt in as much as he produced sons and grandsons without the permission of anyone, yay 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 Ildabeoth and drove him to despair in these circumstances he cast his eyes upon the subjacent dregs of matter and his desire upon it to which they declare his son owes his origin this son is Naus himself twisted into the form of a serpent 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 still greater crookedness to this serpent-like and contorted Naus of theirs when he was with their father in heaven and paradise 6 on this account Ildabeoth 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 Ildabeoth for the father of all the first Anthropos 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 affirmed that Ildabeoth exclaimed come let us make a man after our image 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 breadth and length but as he could merely writhe along the ground they carried him to their father Sophia so laboring in this matter that she might empty him that is Ildabeoth of the light with which he had been sprinkled so that he might no longer though still powerful be able to lift himself against the powers above they declare then that by breathing to man the spirit of life he was secretly emptied of his power that hence man became a possessor of nowce or intelligence and and thymices or 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 forsaking those who had created him seven but Ildabeoth feeling envious at this was pleased to form the design and again emptying man by means of woman and proceeded a woman from his own and thymices whom that pronicus, mentioned above 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 Ildabeoth 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 when pronicus perceived that the powers were thus baffled by their own creature she greatly rejoiced and again cried out that since the father was incorruptible that is Ildabeoth who formerly called himself the father was a liar and that while Anthropos and the first woman being the spirit existed previously this one being Eve sinned by committing adultery 8 Ildabeoth however through that oblivion in which he was involved and not pain 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 a probrium 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 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 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 nine Adam and Eve previously had light and clear and as it were spiritual bodies which as they were at their creation but when they came to this world they changed into bodies more opaque and gross and sluggish their soul also was feeble and languid in as much as they had received from their creator a merely mundane inspiration this continued until prunikas moved with compassion towards them restored to them the sweet savor of the sprinkling 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 recognized that they bore death about with them they thereupon became patient knowing that only for a time they would be enveloped in the body and 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 him into folly and audacity so that by slaying his brother Abel might envy and death after these they affirmed that by the forethought of prunikas Seth was begotten and then Norea 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 holy Hebdomad since the mother was always secretly opposed to them and carefully preserved what was peculiarly her son that is the besprinkling of light they maintained moreover that the Hebdomad is the seven stars which they call planets and they affirm that the serpent cast down has two names Mikael and Samael 10 Ialdabeoth again being incensed with men because they did not worship or honor 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 Ialdabeoth 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 and the people he chose seven days 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 by the prophets 11 moreover they distribute the prophets in the following manner when Joshua the son of Nun and Amos and Habakkuk belonged to Ialdabeoth Samuel and Nathan and Jonah and Micah to Iol Elijah, Joel and Zachariah to Sabeoth Isaiah, Ezekiel Jeremiah and Daniel to Adonai Tobias and Haggai to Iloi Micaiah and Nahum to Aureus Ezdras and Zephaniah to Astonphios 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 and concerning that Christ who is above thus admonishing and reminding them of the incorruptible light the first Anthropos and of the descent of Christ the other powers being terrified by these things and marveling at the novelty of those things which were announced by the prophets Prunikus brought it about by means of Ialdabeoth who knew not what he did that emissions of two men took place the one from the Baron 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 with his sister to the besprinkling of light when he recognized her 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 Ialdabeoth 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 exalted in the mutual refreshment they felt in each other's society this scene they describe relating to bridegroom and bride but Jesus in as much 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 labored to destroy him and when he was being led away for this purpose they say that Christ himself with Sophia departed from him into the state of an incorruptible ion while Jesus was crucified Christ however was not forgetful of his Jesus and 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 he had risen they did not recognize 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 and blood do not attain to the kingdom of God 14 they strove to establish the descent and descent 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 ion 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 18 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 Ildabeoth that they may receive to himself the souls of those who have known them 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 ion 15 such are the opinions which prevail among these persons by whom like the Lernae and Hydra a many-headed beast has been generated from the school of Valentinas 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 in the form of a serpent reveals our hidden generatrix end of book 1 chapter 30 chapter 31 of Irenaeus against heresies book 1 this is a Librivox recording all Librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit Librivox.org recording by David Cole Irenaeus against heresies book 1 translated by Alexander Roberts and William H. Rombo chapter 31 doctrines of the Canites 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 doing the truth as no others did accomplish 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 Hysteria moreover they call this Hysteria 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 of the action they declare that they do it in the name of the angel saying thou angel I use thy work o thy power I accomplish my 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 Valentinas they 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 drawn away by their wicked although plausible persuasions imagining it 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 for wherefore I have labored to bring forth and make clearly manifest the utterly ill conditioned carcass of this miserable little fox for there will not now be need of many words to overcome 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 it to sorts and can cast doubts 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 labor 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 but I shall furnish means for overthrowing them by meeting all their opinions in the order in which they have been described they may not only expose the wild beast to view but may inflict wounds upon it from every side end of book one chapter 31 recording by David Cole from Massachusetts preface through chapter 2 of Irenaeus Against Heresies book 2 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Irenaeus Against Heresies book 2 translated by Alexander Roberts and William H. Rambeau preface in the first book which immediately precedes this exposing knowledge falsely so called I showed thee my very dear friend that the whole system devised in many and opposite ways by those who are of the school of Valentinus was false and baseless I also set forth the tenets of their predecessors proving that they not only differ among themselves but had long previously swerved from the truth itself I further explained with all diligence the doctrine as well as practice of Marcus the magician since he too belongs to these persons and I carefully noticed the passages which say garble from the scriptures with the view of adapting them to their own fictions moreover I minutely narrated the manner in which by means of numbers and by the 24 letters of the alphabet they boldly endeavour to establish what they regard as truth I have also related how they think and teach that creation at large was formed after the image of their invisible pleroma and what they hold respecting the Demiurge declaring at the same time the doctrine of Simon Marcus of Samaria their progenitor with all those who succeeded him I mentioned too the multitude of those Gnostics who are sprung from him and noticed the points of difference between them their several doctrines and the order of their succession while I said forth all those heresies which have been originated by them I showed moreover that all these heretics taking their rise from Simeon have introduced empires their religious doctrines into this life and I explained the nature of their redemption and their method of initiating those who are rendered perfect along with their invocations and their mysteries I proved also that there is one God the Creator and that he is not the fruit of any defect nor is there anything either above him or after him in the present book I will establish those points which fit in with my design so far as time permits and overthrow by means of length and treatment under distinct heights their whole system for which reason since it is an exposure and subversion of their opinions I have so entitled the composition of this work for it is fitting by a plain revelation and overthrow of their conjunctions to put an end to these hidden alliances and to both of themself and thus to obtain a demonstration that he never existed at any previous time nor now has any existence Chapter 1 There is but one God the impossibility of its being otherwise It is proper then that I should begin with the first and most important heed that is God the Creator and the earth and all things that are therein Whom these men blasphemously style the fruit of a defect and to demonstrate that there is nothing either above him nor after him nor that influenced by anyone but of his own free will he created all things since he is the only God the only Lord the only Creator the only Father alone containing all things into existence for how can there be any other fullness or principle or power or God above him since it is matter of necessities that God the Pleroma fullness of all these should contain all things in his immensity and should be contained by no one but if there is anything beyond him he is not then the Pleroma of all nor does he contain all for that which they declare to be beyond him will be wanting to the Pleroma or in other words to that God who is above all things but that which is wanting and falls in any way short is not the Pleroma of all things in such a case he would have both beginning middle and end with respect to those who are beyond him and if he has an end in regard to those things which are below he has also a beginning with respect to those things which are above in like manner there is an absolute necessity that he should experience the very same thing at all other points and should be held in bounded and enclosed by those existences that are outside of him for that being who is the end downwards necessarily circumscribes and surrounds him who finds his end in it and thus according to them the father of all that is he whom they call prone or proarchy with their Pleroma and the good God of Marcion is established and enclosed in some other and is surrounded from without by another mighty being who must of necessity be greater in a match as that which contains is greater than that which is contained but then that which is greater is also stronger and in a greater degree Lord and that which is greater and stronger and in a greater degree Lord must be God now since there exists according to them also something else which they declare to be outside of the Pleroma into which they further hold their descended that higher power who went astray it is in every way necessary that the Pleroma either contains that which is beyond yet is contained for otherwise it will not be beyond the Pleroma for if there is anything beyond the Pleroma there will be a Pleroma within this very Pleroma which they declare to be outside of the Pleroma and the Pleroma will be contained by that which is beyond and with the Pleroma is understood also the first God or again they must be an infinite distance separated from each other the Pleroma I mean and that which is beyond it but if they maintain this there will be then a third kind of existence which separates by immensity the Pleroma and that which is beyond it this third kind of existence will therefore bound and contain both the others and will be greater both than the Pleroma and than that which is beyond it in as much as it contains both in its bosom in this way talk might go on forever concerning those things which are contained and those which contain for if this third existence has its beginning above and its end beneath there is an absolute necessity that it be also bounded on the sides either beginning or seizing at certain other points where new existences begin these again and others which are above or below will have their beginnings and certain other points and so on at infinitum so that their thoughts would never rest in one God but in consequence of seeking after more than exists would wander away to that which has no existence and depart from the true God these remarks are in like manner applicable against the followers of Marciun for his two Gods will also be contained and circumscribed by an immense interval which separates them from one another but then there is a necessity to suppose a multitude of Gods separated by an immense distance from each other on every side beginning with one another and ending in one another thus by that very process of reasoning on which they depend for teaching that there is a certain pleuroma or God above the creator of heaven and earth anyone who chooses to employ it may maintain that there is another pleuroma above the pleuroma above that again another and above both biases another ocean of deity while in like manner the same successions hold with respect to the sides and thus their doctrine flowing out into immensity there will always be a necessity to conceive of other pleuroma and other bathy so as never at any time to stop but always to continue seeking for others besides those already mentioned moreover it will be uncertain whether these which we conceive of are below or are in fact themselves the things which are above and in like manner it will be helpful respecting those things which are said by them to be above whether they are really above or below and thus our opinions will have no fixed conclusion or certainty what will of necessity wander forth after worlds without limits and gods that cannot be numbered these things then being so each deity will be contended with his own possessions and will not be moved by any curiosity respecting the affairs of others otherwise he would be unjust and rapacious and would cease to be what god is each creation too will glorify its own maker and will be contended with him not knowing any other otherwise it would be most justly be deemed at apostate by all the others and would receive a richly deserved punishment for it must be either there is one being who contains all things and formed in his own territory all those things which have been created according to his own will or again that there are numerous unlimited creators and gods who begin from each other and end in each other on every side and it will then be necessary to allow that all the rest are contained from without by someone who is greater and they are each of them shut up within their own territory and remain in it no one of them all therefore is god for there will be much wanting to every one of them possessing as he will do only a very small part when compared with all the rest the name of the omnipotent will thus be brought to an end and such an opinion will of necessity fall to impiety Chapter 2 The world was not formed by angels or by any other being contrary to the will of the most high god what was made by the father through the ward those moreover who say that the world was formed by angels or by any other maker of it contrary to the will of him who is the supreme father heir first of all in this very point that they maintain that angels formed and so mighty a creation contrary to the will of the most high god this would imply that angels were more powerful than god or if not so that he was either careless or inferior or paid no regard to those things which took place among his own possessions whether they turned out ill or well so that he might drive away and prevent the one while he praised and rejoiced over the other but if one would not describe such conduct even to a man of any ability how much less to god next let them tell us whether these things have been formed within the limits which are contained by him and in his proper territory or in regions belonging to others and lying beyond him but if they say that these things were done beyond him then all the absurdities already mentioned will face them and the supreme god will be enclosed by that which is beyond him in which also it will be necessary that he should find his end if on the other hand these things were done within his own proper territory it will be very idle to say that the world was thus formed within his proper territory against his will by angels who are themselves under his power or by any other being as if either he himself did not behold all things which take place among his own possessions or was not aware of the things to be done by angels if however the things referred to were done not against his will but with his concurrence and knowledge as some of these men think the angels or the former of the world whoever that may have been will no longer be the causes of that formation but the will of god for if he is the former of the world he too made the angels or at least was the cause of their creation and he will be regarded as having made the world who prepared the causes of its formation although they maintain that the angels were made by a long succession downwards or that the former of the world sprang from the supreme father as Basilides asserts nevertheless that the cause of those things which have been made will still be traced to him who was the author of such a succession the case stands just as regards success in war which is ascribed to the king who prepared those things which are the cause of victory and in like manner the creation of any state or of any work is referred to him who prepared materials for the accomplishment of those results that he thought about therefore we do not say that it was the ex which cut the wood or the saw which divided it but one would very properly say that the man cut and divided it who formed the ex and the saw for this purpose and who also formed at a much earlier date all the tools by which the ex and the saw themselves were formed was justice therefore according to an analogous process of reasoning the father of all will be declared the former of this world and not the angels nor any other so called former of the world other than he who was its author and had formerly been the cause of the preparation for a creation of this kind this manner of speech may perhaps be plausible or persuasive to those who know not God and who liken him to needy human beings and to those who cannot immediately and without assistance form anything but require many instrumentalities to produce what they intend but it will not be regarded as at all probable by those who know that God stands in need of nothing and that he created and made all things by his word while he neither required angels to assist him in the production of those things which are made nor of any power greatly inferior to himself and ignorant of the father nor of any defect or ignorance in order that he who should know him might become man but he himself in himself after a fashion which we can neither describe nor conceive predestinating all things formed them as he pleased bestowing harmony on all things and assigning them their own place and the beginning of their creation in this way he conferred spiritual things a spiritual and invisible nature on super celestial things a celestial on angels and angelical on animals and animal on beings that swim and nature suited to the water and in those that live on the land one fitted for the land on all in short a nature suitable to the character of the life assign them while he formed all things for this is the peculiarity of the preeminence of God not to stand in need of other instruments for the creation of those things which are summoned into existence his own word is both suitable and sufficient for the formation of all things even as John the disciple of the Lord declares regarding him all things were made by him and without him was nothing made now among all things our world must be embraced each too therefore was made by his word as scripture tells us in the book of Genesis that he made all things connected with our world by his word David also expresses the same truth when he says for his fake and they were made he commanded and they were created whom therefore shall we believe as to the creation of the world these heretics who have been mentioned that prayed so foolishly and inconsistently on the subject or the disciples of the Lord and Moses who was both a faithful servant of God and a prophet he at first narrated the formation of the world in these words in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and all other things in succession neither gods nor angels had any share in the work now that is God is the father of our Lord Jesus Christ Paul the apostle also has declared saying there is one God the father who is above all and through all things and in us all I have indeed proved already that there is only one God but I shall further demonstrate this from the apostles themselves and from the discourses of the Lord for what sort of conduct would it be where we to forsake the utterances of the prophets of the Lord and of the apostles that they might give heed to these persons who speak not a word of sense End of book 2 Preface through chapter 2 book 2 translated by Alexander Roberts and W. H. Rambo chapter 3 the bithous and pluroma of the Valentinians as well as the God of Marcion shown to be absurd the world was actually created by the same being who had conceived the idea of it and was not the God of Marcion the world was actually created by the same being the idea of it and was not the fruit of defect or ignorance 1 the bithous therefore whom they conceive of with his pluroma and the God of Marcion are inconsistent if indeed as they affirm he has something subjacent and beyond himself which they style vacuity and shadow this vacuum is then proved to be greater than their pluroma but it is inconsistent even to make this statement that while he contains all things within himself the creation was formed by some other for it is absolutely necessary that they acknowledge a certain void and chaotic kind of existence below the spiritual pluroma in which this universe was formed and that the propator purposely left this chaos as it was either knowing beforehand what things were to happen in it or being ignorant of them if he was really ignorant then God will not be prescient of all things but they will not even in that case be able to assign a reason on what account he thus left this place void during so long a period of time if again he is prescient and contemplated mentally that creation which was about to have a being in that place then he himself created it who also formed it beforehand ideally in himself 2 let them cease therefore to affirm that the world was made by any other for as soon as God formed a conception in his mind that was also done which he had thus mentally conceived for it is not possible that one being should mentally form the conception and another actually produced the things which had been conceived by him in his mind but God according to these heretics mentally conceived either an eternal world or a temporal one both of which suppositions cannot be true yet if he had mentally conceived of it as eternal spiritual and visible it would also have been formed such but if it was formed such as it really is then he made it such who had mentally conceived of it as such or he willed it to exist in the ideality of the father according to the conception of his mind such as it now is compound mutable and transient since then it is just such as the father had ideally formed in council with himself it must be worthy of the father but to affirm that what was mentally conceived and pre-created by the father of all just as it has been actually formed is the fruit of defect and the production of ignorance is to be guilty of great blasphemy for according to them the father of all will thus be regarded in his breast according to his own mental conception the emanations of defect and the fruits of ignorance since the things which he had conceived in his mind have actually been produced chapter four the absurdity of the supposed vacuum and defect of the heretics is demonstrated one the cause then of such a dispensation on the part of God is to be inquired after but the formation of the world is not to be ascribed to any other and all things are to be spoken of as having been so prepared by God beforehand that they should be made as they have been made but shadow and vacuity are not to be conjured into existence but once let me ask came this vacuity of which they speak if it was indeed produced by him who according to them is the father and author of all things both equal in honor and related to the rest of the eons perchance even more ancient than they are moreover if it proceeded from the same source as they did it must be similar in nature to him who produced it as well as to those along with whom it was produced there will therefore be an absolute necessity both that the bythoos of whom they speak along with Psi G be similar in nature to a vacuum that is that he really is a vacuum and that the rest of the eons since they are the brothers of vacuity should also be devoid of substance if on the other hand it has not been thus produced it must have sprained from and been generated by itself and in that case it will be equal in point of age to that bythoos who is according to them the father of all and thus vacuity will be of the same nature the same honor with him who is according to them the universal father for it must have necessity have been either produced by someone or generated by itself and sprung from itself but if in truth vacuity was produced then its producer valentinas is also a vacuum as are likewise his followers if again it was not produced but was generated by itself then that which is really a vacuum is similar to and the brother of and of the same honor with that father who has been proclaimed by valentinas while it is more ancient and dating its existence from a period greatly anterior and more exalted in honor than the remaining eons of Ptolemy himself and Heraklion and all the rest who hold the same opinions to but if driven to despair in regard to these points they confess that the father of all contains all things and that there is nothing whatever outside of the pluroma for it is an absolute necessity that if there be anything outside of it it should be bounded and circumscribed by something greater than itself and that they speak of what is without and what within in reference to knowledge and ignorance and that with respect to local distance but that in the pluroma or in those things which are contained by the father the whole creation which we know to have been formed having been made by the demiurge or by the angels is contained by the unspeakable greatness as the center is in a circle or as a spot is in a garment then in the first place what sort of a being must that bythous be who allows a stain to have place in his own bosom and permits another one to create or produce within his territory contrary to his own will such a mode of acting would truly entail the charge of degeneracy upon the entire pluroma since it might from the first have cut off that defect and those emanations which drive their origin from it and not have agreed to permit the formation of creation either in ignorance or passion or in defect for he who can afterwards rectify a defect and does as it were wash away a stain could at a much earlier date have taken care that no such stain should even at first be found among his possessions or if at the first he allowed that the things which were made should be as they are since they could not in fact be formed otherwise then it follows that they must always continue in the same condition for how is it possible that those things which cannot at the first obtain rectification should subsequently receive it or how can men say that they are called to perfection when those very beings who are the causes from which men derive their origin either the demiurge himself or the angels are declared to exist in defect and if as is maintained the supreme being in as much as he has been ignorant did at last take pity upon men and bestow on them perfection he ought at first to have pitied those who were the creators of man and to have conferred on them perfection in this way men too would barely have shared in his compassion being formed perfect by those who were perfect for if he pitied the work of these beings he ought long before to have pitied themselves and not to have allowed them to fall into such awful blindness three their talk also about shadow and vacuity in which they maintain that the creation with which we are concerned was formed will be brought to nothing if the things referred to were created within the territory which is contained by the father for if they hold that the light of their father is such that it fills all things which are inside of him and illuminates them all how can any vacuum or shadow possibly exist within that territory which is contained by the pluroma and by the light of the father for in that case it behoves them to point out some place within the propator or within the pluroma which is not illuminated nor kept possession of by anyone and in which either the angels or the demiurge formed whatever they pleased nor will it be a small amount of space in which such and so great a creation can be conceived of as having been formed there will therefore be an absolute within the pluroma or within the father of whom they speak they should conceive of some place void formless and full of darkness in which those things were formed which have been formed by such a supposition however the light of their father would incur a reproach as if he could not illuminate and fill those things which are within himself thus then when they maintain that these things were the fruit of defect and the work of error they do moreover introduce defect and error within the pluroma and into the bosom of the father chapter 5 this world was not formed by any other beings within the territory which is contained by the father 1 the remarks therefore which I made a little while ago are suitable in answer to those who assert that this world was formed outside of the pluroma or under a good God and such persons with the father they speak of will be quite cut off from that which is outside the pluroma in which at the same time it is necessary that they should finally rest in answer to those again who maintain that this world was formed by certain other beings within that territory which is contained by the father all those points which have now been noticed will present themselves as exhibiting their absurdities and they will be compelled either to acknowledge all those things which are within the father lucid full and energetic or to accuse the light of the father as if he could not illuminate all things or as a portion of their pluroma is so described the whole of it must be confessed to be void chaotic and full of darkness and they accuse all other created things as if these were merely temporal or at the best if eternal yet material but these the aeons ought to be regarded as beyond the reach of such accusations since they are within the pluroma or the charges in question will equally fall against the entire pluroma and thus the Christ of whom they speak is discovered to be the author of ignorance for according to their statements when he had given a form so far as substance was concerned to the father they conceive of he cast her outside of the pluroma that is he cut her off from knowledge he therefore who separated her from knowledge did in reality produce ignorance in her how then could the very same person bestow the gift of knowledge on the rest of the aeons those who were anterior to him in production and yet be the author of ignorance to his mother for he placed her beyond the knowledge when he cast her outside of the pluroma to moreover if they explain being within and without the pluroma as implying knowledge and ignorance respectively as certain of them do since he who has knowledge is within that which knows then they must have necessity grant that the savior himself whom they designate all things was in a state of ignorance for they maintain that on his coming forth outside of the pluroma he imparted form to their mother akamath if then they assert that whatever is outside the pluroma is ignorant of all things and if the savior went forth to impart form to their mother then he was situated beyond the pale of the knowledge of all things that is he was in ignorance how then could he communicate knowledge to her when he himself was beyond the pale of knowledge for we too they declare to be outside the pluroma in as much as we are outside of the knowledge which they possess and once more if the savior really went forth beyond the pluroma to seek after the sheep which was lost but the pluroma is co-extensive with knowledge then he placed himself beyond the pale of knowledge that is in ignorance for it is necessary either that they grant that what is outside the pluroma is so in a local sense in which case all the remarks formerly made will rise up against them or if they speak of that which is within in regard to knowledge and of that which is without in respect to ignorance then their savior and Christ long before him must have been formed in ignorance in as much as they went forth beyond the pluroma that is beyond the pale of knowledge in order to impart form to their mother three these arguments may in like manner be adapted to meet the case of all those who in any way maintain that the world was formed either by angels or by any other one than the true God for the charges which they bring against the demiurge and those things which were made material and temporal will in truth fall back on the father if indeed the very things which were formed in the bosom of the pluroma began by and by in fact to be dissolved in accordance with the permission and good will of the father the immediate creator then is not the real author of this work thinking as he did that he formed it very good but he who allows and approves of the productions of defect and the works of error having a place among his own possessions and that temporal things should be mixed up with eternal corruptible incorruptible and those which partake of error with those which belong to truth if however these things were formed without the permission or approbation of the father of all then that being must be more powerful stronger and more kingly who made these things within a territory which properly belongs to him the father and did so without his permission if again as some say their father permitted these things without approving of them then he gave the permission on account of some necessity being either able to prevent such procedure or not able but if indeed he could not hinder it then he is weak and powerless while if he could he is a seducer a hypocrite and a slave of necessity in as much as he does not consent to such a course and yet allows it as if he did consent and allowing error to arise at the first and to go on increasing he endeavors in later times to destroy it when already many have miserably perished on account of the original defect for it is not seemly however to say of him who was god overall since he is free and independent that he was a slave to necessity or that anything takes place with his permission yet against his desire otherwise they will make necessity greater and more kingly than god since that which has the most power is superior to all others and he odd at the very beginning to have cut off the causes of the fancied necessity and not to have allowed himself to be shut up to yielding to that necessity by permitting anything besides that which became him for it would have been much better more consistent and more godlike to cut off at the beginning the principle of this kind of necessity then afterwards as if moved by repentance to endeavor to extirpate the results of necessity when they had reached such a development and if the father of all be a slave to necessity and must yield to fate while he unwillingly tolerates the things which are done but is at the same time powerless to do anything in opposition to necessity and fate like the Homeric Jupiter who says of necessity given thee yet with unwilling mind then according to this reasoning the bythoos of whom they speak will be found to be the slave of necessity and fate End of book 2, chapters 3 through 5