1. INASMUCH as certain men have set the truth aside, and bring in lying words and vain genealogies, which, 1.00.01:001
as the apostle says, "minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith," and by 1.00.01:002
means of their craftily-constructed plausibilities draw away the minds of the inexperienced and take IrnL.AH.1.00.01:003
them captive, [I have felt constrained, my dear friend, to compose the following treatise in order to 1.00.01:004
expose and counteract their machinations.] These men falsify the oracles of God, and prove themselves 1.00.01:005
evil interpreters of the good word of revelation. They also overthrow the faith of many, by drawing 1.00.01:006
them away, under a pretence of [superior] knowledge, from Him who rounded and adorned the universe; 1.00.01:007
as if, forsooth, they had something more excellent and sublime to reveal, than that God who created 1.00.01:008
the heaven and the earth, and all things that are therein. By means of specious and plausible words, 1.00.01:009
they cunningly allure the simple-minded to inquire into their system; but they nevertheless clumsily 1.00.01:010
destroy them, while they initiate them into their blasphemous and impious opinions respecting the Demiurge; 1.00.01:011
and these simple ones are unable, even in such a matter, to distinguish falsehood from truth. 1.00.01:012
2. Error, indeed, is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed, 1.00.02:012
it should at once be detected. But it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress, 1.00.02:013
so as, by its outward form, to make it appear to the inexperienced (ridiculous as the 1.00.02:014
expression may seem) more true than the truth itself. One far superior to me has well said, 1.00.02:015
in reference to this point, "A clever imitation in glass casts contempt, as it were, 1.00.02:016
on that precious jewel the emerald (which is most highly esteemed by some), unless 1.00.02:017
it come under the eye of one able to test and expose the counterfeit. Or, again, what 1.00.02:018
inexperienced person can with ease detect the presence of brass when it has been mixed 1.00.02:019
up with silver?" Lest, therefore, through my neglect, some should be carried off, even IrnL.AH.1.00.02:020
as sheep are by wolves, while they perceive not the true character of these men,-because 1.00.02:021
they outwardly are covered with sheep's clothing (against whom the Lord has enjoined IrnL.AH.1.00.02:022
us to be on our guard), and because their language resembles ours, while their sentiments 1.00.02:023
are very different,--I have deemed it my duty (after reading some of the Commentaries, IrnL.AH.1.00.02:024
as they call them, of the disciples of Valentinus, and after making myself acquainted IrnL.AH.1.00.02:025
with their tenets through personal intercourse with some of them) to unfold to 1.00.02:026
thee, my friend, these portentous and profound mysteries, which do not fall within the 1.00.02:027
range of every intellect, because all have not sufficiently purged their brains. I 1.00.02:028
do this, in order that thou, obtaining an acquaintance with these things, mayest in turn IrnL.AH.1.00.02:029
explain them to all those with whom thou art connected, and exhort them to avoid such IrnL.AH.1.00.02:030
an abyss of madness and of blasphemy against Christ. I intend, then, to the best of 1.00.02:042
my ability, with brevity and clearness to set forth the opinions of those who are now 1.00.02:043
promulgating heresy. I refer especially to the disciples of Ptolemaeus, whose school may 1.00.02:044
be described as a bud from that of Valentinus. I shall also endeavour, according to 1.00.02:045
my moderate ability, to furnish the means of overthrowing them, by showing how absurd 1.00.02:046
and inconsistent with the truth are their statements. Not that I am practised either 1.00.02:047
in composition or eloquence; but my feeling of affection prompts me to make known to thee 1.00.02:048
and all thy companions those doctrines which have been kept in concealment until now, 1.00.02:049
but which are at last, through the goodness of God, brought to light. "For there is 1.00.02:050
nothing hidden which shall not be revealed, nor secret that shall not be made known." IrnL.AH.1.00.02:051
3. Thou wilt not expect from me, who am resident among the Keltae, and am accustomed 1.00.03:056
for the most part to use a barbarous dialect, any display of rhetoric, which I have 1.00.03:057
never learned, or any excellence of composition, which I have never practised, or any IrnL.AH.1.00.03:058
beauty and persuasiveness of style, to which I make no pretensions. But thou wilt 1.00.03:059
accept in a kindly spirit what I in a like spirit write to thee simply, truthfully, 1.00.03:060
and in my own homely way; whilst thou thyself (as being more capable than I am) wilt IrnL.AH.1.00.03:061
expand those ideas of which I send thee, as it were, only the seminal principles; and 1.00.03:062
in the comprehensiveness of thy understanding, wilt develop to their full extent the 1.00.03:063
points on which I briefly touch, so as to set with power before thy companions those 1.00.03:064
things which I have uttered in weakness. In fine, as I (to gratify thy long-cherished 1.00.03:067
desire for information regarding the tenets of these persons) have spared no pains, 1.00.03:068
not only to make these doctrines known to thee, but also to furnish the means of 1.00.03:069
showing their falsity; so shalt thou, according to the grace given to thee by the 1.00.03:070
Lord, prove an earnest and efficient minister to others, that men may no longer be drawn 1.00.03:071
away by the plausible system of these heretics, which I now proceed to describe. 1.00.03:073
1.01.00:001
1. THEY maintain, then, that in the invisible and ineffable heights above 1.01.01:001
1.-01.01:001
there exists a certain perfect, pre-existent AEon, whom they call Proarche, 1.01.01:002
Propator, and Bythus, and describe as being invisible and incomprehensible. 1.01.01:003
Eternal and unbegotten, he remained throughout innumerable cycles 1.01.01:005
of ages in profound serenity and quiescence. There existed along with 1.01.01:006
him Ennoea, whom they also call Charis and Sige. At last this Bythus determined 1.01.01:007
to send forth from himself the beginning of all things, and deposited 1.01.01:009
this production (which he had resolved to bring forth) in his contemporary 1.01.01:010
Sige, even as seed is deposited in the womb. She then, having received 1.01.01:011
this seed, and becoming pregnant, gave birth to Nous, who was both 1.01.01:012
similar and equal to him who had produced him, and was alone capable of 1.01.01:013
comprehending his father's greatness. This Nous they call also Monogenes, 1.01.01:015
and Father, and the Beginning of all Things. Along with him was also produced 1.01.01:016
Aletheia; and these four constituted the first and first-begotten 1.01.01:017
Pythagorean Tetrad, which they also denominate the root of all things. 1.01.01:018
For there are first Bythus and Sige, and then Nous and Aletheia. And Monogenes, 1.01.01:020
perceiving for what purpose he had been produced, also himself sent 1.01.01:021
forth Logos and Zoe, being the father of all those who were to come after 1.01.01:022
him, and the beginning and fashioning of the entire Pleroma. By the 1.01.01:023
conjunction of Logos and Zoo were brought forth Anthropos and Ecclesia; 1.01.01:025
and thus was formed the first-begotten Ogdoad, the root and substance of 1.01.01:026
all things, called among them by four names, viz., Bythus, and Nous, and 1.01.01:028
Logos, and Anthropos. For each of these is masculo-feminine, as follows: 1.01.01:029
Propator was united by a conjunction with his Ennoea; then Monogenes, that 1.01.01:030
is Nous, with Aletheia; Logos with Zoe, and Anthropos with Ecclesia. 1.01.01:031
2. These AEons having been produced for the glory of the Father, and wishing, by 1.01.02:034
their own efforts, to effect this object, sent forth emanations by means of conjunction. IrnL.AH.1.01.02:035
Logos and Zoe, after producing Anthropos and Ecclesia, sent forth other ten 1.01.02:036
AEons, whose names are the following: Bythius and Mixis, Ageratos and Henosis, 1.01.02:037
Autophyes and Hedone, Acinetos and Syncrasis, Monogenes and Macaria. These are the 1.01.02:038
ten AEons whom they declare to have been produced by Logos and Zoe. They then add 1.01.02:040
that Anthropos himself, along with Ecclesia, produced twelve AEons, to whom they 1.01.02:041
give the following names: Paracletus and Pistis, Patricos and Elpis, Metricos 1.01.02:042
and Agape, Ainos and Synesis, Ecclesiasticus and Macariotes, Theletos and Sophia. IrnL.AH.1.01.02:043
3. Such are the thirty AEons in the erroneous system of these men; and they are described as being 1.01.03:046
wrapped up, so to speak, in silence, and known to none [except these professing teachers]. Moreover, 1.01.03:047
they declare that this invisible and spiritual Pleroma of theirs is tripartite, being divided 1.01.03:048
into an Ogdoad, a Decad, and a Duodecad. And for this reason they affirm it was that the "Saviour"--for 1.01.03:049
they do not please to call Him "Lord"--did no work in public during the space of thirty 1.01.03:050
years, thus setting forth the mystery of these AEons. They maintain also, that these thirty AEons 1.01.03:052
are most plainly indicated in the parable of the labourers sent into the vineyard. For some are 1.01.03:053
sent about the first hour, others about the third hour, others about the sixth hour, others about 1.01.03:054
the ninth hour, and others about the eleventh hour. Now, if we add up the numbers of the hours here 1.01.03:055
mentioned, the sum total will be thirty: for one, three, six, nine, and eleven, when added together, 1.01.03:056
form thirty. And by the hours, they hold that the AEons were pointed out; while they maintain 1.01.03:057
that these are great, and wonderful, and hitherto unspeakable mysteries which it is their special 1.01.03:060
function to develop; and so they proceed when they find anything in the multitude of things 1.01.03:061
contained in the Scriptures which they can adopt and accommodate to their baseless speculations. 1.01.03:062
1. They proceed to tell us that the Propator of their scheme was known only to Monogenes, 1.02.01:001
who sprang from him; in other words, only to Nous, while to all the others 1.02.01:002
he was invisible and incomprehensible. And, according to them, Nous alone took pleasure 1.02.01:003
in contemplating the Father, and exulting in considering his immeasurable greatness; IrnL.AH.1.02.01:004
while he also meditated how he might communicate to the rest of the AEons 1.02.01:005
the greatness of the Father, revealing to them how vast and mighty he was, and how 1.02.01:006
he was without beginning,--beyond comprehension, and altogether incapable of being IrnL.AH.1.02.01:007
seen. But, in accordance with the will of the Father, Sige restrained him, because 1.02.01:008
it was his design to lead them all to an acquaintance with the aforesaid Propator, 1.02.01:009
and to create within them a desire of investigating his nature. In like manner, 1.02.01:010
the rest of the AEons also, in a kind of quiet way, had a wish to behold the 1.02.01:012
Author of their being, and to contemplate that First Cause which had no beginning. 1.02.01:013
2. But there rushed forth in advance of the rest that AEon who was much the latest of them, 1.02.02:016
and was the youngest of the Duodecad which sprang from Anthropos and Ecclesia, namely 1.02.02:017
Sophia, and suffered passion apart from the embrace of her consort Theletos. This passion, 1.02.02:018
indeed, first arose among those who were connected with Nous and Aletheia, but passed 1.02.02:019
as by contagion to this degenerate AEon, who acted under a pretence of love, but was in 1.02.02:020
reality influenced by temerity, because she had not, like Nous, enjoyed communion with the 1.02.02:021
perfect Father. This passion, they say, consisted in a desire to search into the nature IrnL.AH.1.02.02:024
of the Father; for she wished, according to them, to comprehend his greatness. When she 1.02.02:025
could not attain her end, inasmuch as she aimed at an impossibility, and thus became involved 1.02.02:026
in an extreme agony of mind, while both on account of the vast profundity as well 1.02.02:027
as the unsearchable nature of the Father, and on account of the love she bore him, she 1.02.02:028
was ever stretching herself forward, there was danger lest she should at last have been 1.02.02:029
absorbed by his sweetness, and resolved into his absolute essence, unless she had met with 1.02.02:030
that Power which supports all things, and preserves them outside of the unspeakable greatness. 1.02.02:031
This power they term Horos; by whom, they say, she was restrained and supported; 1.02.02:034
and that then, having with difficulty been brought back to herself, she was convinced that 1.02.02:035
the Father is incomprehensible, and so laid aside her original design, along with that 1.02.02:036
passion which had arisen within her from the overwhelming influence of her admiration. 1.02.02:037
3. But others of them fabulously describe the passion and restoration of Sophia as follows: 1.02.03:040
They say that she, having engaged in an impossible and impracticable attempt, brought 1.02.03:041
forth an amorphous substance, such as her female nature enabled her to produce. When 1.02.03:042
she looked upon it, her first feeling was one of grief, on account of the imperfection 1.02.03:043
of its generation, and then of fear lest this should end her own existence. Next she lost, 1.02.03:044
as it were, all command of herself, and was in the greatest perplexity while endeavouring 1.02.03:045
to discover the cause of all this, and in what way she might conceal what had happened. 1.02.03:046
Being greatly harassed by these passions, she at last changed her mind, and endeavoured 1.02.03:047
to return anew to the Father. When, however, she in some measure made the attempt, IrnL.AH.1.02.03:048
strength failed her, and she became a suppliant of the Father. The other AEons, Nous IrnL.AH.1.02.03:049
in particular, presented their supplications along with her. And hence they declare material 1.02.03:053
substance had its beginning from ignorance and grief, and fear and bewilderment. 1.02.03:054
4. The Father afterwards produces, in his own image, by means of Monogenes, the above-mentioned 1.02.04:056
Horos, without conjunction, masculo-feminine. For they maintain that sometimes the 1.02.04:057
Father acts in conjunction with Sige, but that at other times he shows himself independent 1.02.04:058
both of male and female. They term this Horos both Stauros and Lytrotes, and Carpistes, 1.02.04:060
and Horothetes, and Metagoges. And by this Horos they declare that Sophia was purified 1.02.04:061
and established, while she was also restored to her proper conjunction. For her enthymesis 1.02.04:061
(or inborn idea) having been taken away from her, along with its supervening passion, IrnL.AH.1.02.04:062
she herself certainly remained within the Pleroma; but her enthymesis, with its passion, 1.02.04:063
was separated from her by Horos, fenced off, and expelled from that circle. This 1.02.04:064
enthymesis was, no doubt, a spiritual substance, possessing some of the natural tendencies 1.02.04:065
of an AEon, but at the same time shapeless and without form, because it had received IrnL.AH.1.02.04:066
nothing. And on this account they say that it was an imbecile and feminine production. IrnL.AH.1.02.04:067
5. After this substance had been placed outside of the Pleroma of the AEons, and its mother restored to her proper 1.02.05:071
conjunction, they tell us that Monogenes, acting in accordance with the prudent forethought of the Father, 1.02.05:072
gave origin to another conjugal pair, namely Christ and the Holy Spirit (lest any of the AEons should fall into 1.02.05:073
a calamity similar to that of Sophia), for the purpose of fortifying and strengthening the Pleroma, and who at 1.02.05:074
the same time completed the number of the AEons. Christ then instructed them as to the nature of their conjunction, IrnL.AH.1.02.05:076
and taught them that those who possessed a comprehension of the Unbegotten were sufficient for themselves. 1.02.05:077
He also announced among them what related to the knowledge of the Father,--namely, that he cannot be understood 1.02.05:078
or comprehended, nor so much as seen or heard, except in so far as he is known by Monogenes only. And the reason 1.02.05:079
why the rest of the AEons possess perpetual existence is found in that part of the Father's nature which is 1.02.05:080
incomprehensible; but the reason of their origin and formation was situated in that which may be comprehended 1.02.05:081
regarding him, that is, in the Son. Christ, then, who had just been produced, effected these things among them. 1.02.05:084
6. But the Holy Spirit taught them to give thanks on being all rendered equal among themselves, 1.02.06:086
and led them to a state of true repose. Thus, then, they tell us that the AEons were constituted 1.02.06:087
equal to each other in form and sentiment, so that all became as Nous, and Logos, and 1.02.06:087
Anthropos, and Christus. The female AEons, too, became all as Aletheia, and Zoe, and Spiritus, 1.02.06:088
and Ecclesia. Everything, then, being thus established, and brought into a state of perfect 1.02.06:089
rest, they next tell us that these beings sang praises with great joy to the Propator, who 1.02.06:091
himself shared in the abounding exaltation. Then, out of gratitude for the great benefit which 1.02.06:092
had been conferred on them, the whole Pleroma of the AEons, with one design and desire, 1.02.06:094
and with the concurrence of Christ and the Holy Spirit, their Father also setting the seal of 1.02.06:095
His approval on their conduct, brought together whatever each one had in himself of the greatest 1.02.06:096
beauty and preciousness; and uniting all these contributions so as skilfully to blend the 1.02.06:097
whole, they produced, to the honour and glory of Bythus, a being of most perfect beauty, 1.02.06:098
the very star of the Pleroma, and the perfect fruit [of it], namely Jesus. Him they also speak 1.02.06:099
of under the name of Saviour, and Christ, and patronymically, Logos, and Everything, because 1.02.06:100
He was formed from the contributions of all. And then we are told that, by way of honour, 1.02.06:101
angels of the same nature as Himself were simultaneously produced, to act as His body-guard. 1.02.06:105
1. Such, then, is the account they give of what took place within the Pleroma; such the calamities 1.03.01:001
that flowed from the passion which seized upon the AEon who has been named, and who was within 1.03.01:002
a little of perishing by being absorbed in the universal substance, through her inquisitive searching 1.03.01:003
after the Father; such the consolidation [of that AEon] from her condition of agony by Horos, 1.03.01:004
and Stauros, and Lytrotes, and Carpistes, and Horothetes, and Metagoges. Such also is the account 1.03.01:005
of the generation of the later AEons, namely of the first Christ and of the Holy Spirit, both 1.03.01:006
of whom were produced by the Father after the repentance [of Sophia], and of the second Christ (whom 1.03.01:009
they also style Saviour), who owed his being to the joint contributions [of the AEons]. They 1.03.01:010
tell us, however, that this knowledge has not been openly divulged, because all are not capable 1.03.01:011
of receiving it, but has been mystically revealed by the Saviour through means of parables to those 1.03.01:012
qualified for understanding it. This has been done as follows. The thirty AEons are indicated 1.03.01:013
(as we have already remarked) by the thirty years during which they say the Saviour performed no 1.03.01:015
public act, and by the parable of the labourers in the vineyard. Paul also, they affirm, very clearly 1.03.01:016
and frequently names these AEons, and even goes so far as to preserve their order, when he 1.03.01:017
says, "To all the generations of the AEons of the AEon." Nay, we ourselves, when at the giving of 1.03.01:018
thanks we pronounce the words, "To AEons of AEons" (for ever and ever), do set forth these AEons. 1.03.01:019
And, in fine, wherever the words AEon or AEons occur, they at once refer them to these beings. 1.03.01:020
2. The production, again, of the Duodecad of the AEons, is indicated by the IrnL.AH.1.03.02:022
fact that the Lord was twelve years of age when He disputed with the 1.03.02:023
teachers of the law, and by the election of the apostles, for of these there 1.03.02:024
were twelve. The other eighteen AEons are made manifest in this way: 1.03.02:025
that the Lord, [according to them,] conversed with His disciples for eighteen IrnL.AH.1.03.02:026
months after His resurrection from the dead. They also affirm that 1.03.02:027
these eighteen AEons are strikingly indicated by the first two letters of 1.03.02:028
His name {Ihsous}, namely Iota and Eta. And, in like manner, they assert 1.03.02:030
that the ten AEons are pointed out by the letter Iota, which begins His 1.03.02:031
name; while, for the same reason, they tell us the Saviour said, "One 1.03.02:032
Iota, or one tittle, shall by no means pass away until all be fulfilled." 1.03.02:033
3. They further maintain that the passion which took place in the case of the twelfth AEon 1.03.03:034
is pointed at by the apostasy of Judas, who was the twelfth apostle, and also by the 1.03.03:035
fact that Christ suffered in the twelfth month. For their opinion is, that He continued 1.03.03:036
to preach for one year only after His baptism. The same thing is also most clearly indicated 1.03.03:037
by the case of the woman who suffered from an issue of blood. For after she had been IrnL.AH.1.03.03:038
thus afflicted during twelve years, she was healed by the advent of the Saviour, when IrnL.AH.1.03.03:039
she had touched the border of His garment; and on this account the Saviour said, "Who touched 1.03.03:040
me?" --teaching his disciples the mystery which had occurred among the AEons, and IrnL.AH.1.03.03:041
the healing of that AEon who had been involved in suffering. For she who had been afflicted 1.03.03:042
twelve years represented that power whose essence, as they narrate, was stretching 1.03.03:043
itself forth, and flowing into immensity; and unless she had touched the garment of the 1.03.03:044
Son, that is, Aletheia of the first Tetrad, who is denoted by the hem spoken of, she would 1.03.03:045
have been dissolved into the general essence [of which she participated]. She stopped 1.03.03:046
short, however, and ceased any longer to suffer. For the power that went forth from 1.03.03:050
the Son (and this power they term Horos) healed her, and separated the passion from her. 1.03.03:051
4. They moreover affirm that the Saviour is shown to be derived from all the AEons, 1.03.04:053
and to be in Himself everything by the following passage: "Every male that openeth 1.03.04:054
the womb." For He, being everything, opened the womb of the enthymesis of the suffering 1.03.04:055
AEon, when it had been expelled from the Pleroma. This they also style the second 1.03.04:056
Ogdoad, of which we shall speak presently. And they state that it was clearly on 1.03.04:058
this account that Paul said, "And He Himself is all things;" and again, "All things 1.03.04:060
are to Him, and of Him are all things;" and further, "In Him dwelleth all the fulness 1.03.04:061
of the Godhead;" and yet again, "All things are gathered together by God in Christ." 1.03.04:062
Thus do they interpret these and any like passages to be found in Scripture. IrnL.AH.1.03.04:063
5. They show, further, that that Horos of theirs, whom they call by a variety of 1.03.05:065
names, has two faculties,--the one of supporting, and the other of separating; 1.03.05:066
and in so far as he supports and sustains, he is Stauros, while in so far as he 1.03.05:067
divides and separates, he is Horos. They then represent the Saviour as having 1.03.05:068
indicated this twofold faculty: first, the sustaining power, when He said, "Whosoever 1.03.05:069
doth not bear his cross (Stauros), and follow after me, cannot be my disciple;" 1.03.05:070
and again, "Taking up the cross follow me;" but the separating power when 1.03.05:071
He said, "I came not to send peace, but a sword." They also maintain that John 1.03.05:072
indicated the same thing when he said, "The fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly 1.03.05:074
purge the floor, and will gather the wheat into His garner; but the chaff 1.03.05:075
He will burn with fire unquenchable." By this declaration He set forth the faculty 1.03.05:076
of Horos. For that fan they explain to be the cross (Stauros), which consumes, 1.03.05:077
no doubt, all material objects, as fire does chaff, but it purifies all them 1.03.05:078
that are saved, as a fan does wheat. Moreover, they affirm that the Apostle Paul 1.03.05:079
himself made mention of this cross in the following words: "The doctrine of 1.03.05:082
the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to us who are saved it is the 1.03.05:083
power of God." And again: "God forbid that I should glory in anything save in the 1.03.05:084
cross of Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto the world." 1.03.05:085
6. Such, then, is the account which they all give of their Pleroma, and of the formation IrnL.AH.1.03.06:088
of the universe, striving, as they do, to adapt the good words of revelation to their 1.03.06:089
own wicked inventions. And it is not only from the writings of the evangelists and 1.03.06:090
the apostles that they endeavour to derive proofs for their opinions by means of perverse 1.03.06:091
interpretations and deceitful expositions: they deal in the same way with the law 1.03.06:092
and the prophets, which contain many parables and allegories that can frequently be 1.03.06:093
drawn into various senses, according to the kind of exegesis to which they are subjected. 1.03.06:094
And others of them, with great craftiness, adapted such parts of Scripture to their 1.03.06:095
own figments, lead away captive from the truth those who do not retain a stedfast 1.03.06:096
faith in one God, the Father Almighty, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 1.03.06:097
1. The following are the transactions which they narrate as having occurred outside of IrnL.AH.1.04.01:001
the Pleroma: The enthymesis of that Sophia who dwells above, which they also term Achamoth, 1.04.01:002
being removed from the Pleroma, together with her passion, they relate to have, 1.04.01:003
as a matter of course, become violently excited in those places of darkness and 1.04.01:004
vacuity [to which she had been banished]. For she was excluded from light and the Pleroma, 1.04.01:005
and was without form or figure, like an untimely birth, because she had received 1.04.01:007
nothing [from a male parent]. But the Christ dwelling on high took pity upon her; and 1.04.01:008
having extended himself through and beyond Stauros, he imparted a figure to her, 1.04.01:009
but merely as respected substance, and not so as to convey intelligence. Having effected 1.04.01:010
this, he withdrew his influence, and returned, leaving Achamoth to herself, in order 1.04.01:011
that she, becoming sensible of her suffering as being severed from the Pleroma, might IrnL.AH.1.04.01:012
be influenced by the desire of better things, while she possessed in the meantime 1.04.01:013
a kind of odour of immortality left in her by Christ and the Holy Spirit. Wherefore 1.04.01:016
also she is called by two names--Sophia after her father (for Sophia is spoken of as 1.04.01:017
being her father), and Holy Spirit from that Spirit who is along with Christ. Having 1.04.01:018
then obtained a form, along with intelligence, and being immediately deserted by that IrnL.AH.1.04.01:019
Logos who had been invisibly present with her--that is, by Christ--she strained herself IrnL.AH.1.04.01:020
to discover that light which had forsaken her, but could not effect her purpose, 1.04.01:021
inasmuch as she was prevented by Horos. And as Horos thus obstructed her further progress, 1.04.01:022
he exclaimed, IAO, whence, they say, this name Iao derived its origin. And when 1.04.01:023
she could not pass by Horos on account of that passion in which she had been involved, 1.04.01:024
and because she alone had been left without, she then resigned herself to every 1.04.01:025
sort of that manifold and varied state of passion to which she was subject; and thus 1.04.01:026
she suffered grief on the one hand because she had not obtained the object of her desire, 1.04.01:027
and fear on the other hand, lest life itself should fail her, as light had already 1.04.01:028
done, while, in addition, she was in the greatest perplexity. All these feelings 1.04.01:029
were associated with ignorance. And this ignorance of hers was not like that of her 1.04.01:032
mother, the first Sophia, an AEon, due to degeneracy by means of passion, but to an 1.04.01:033
[innate] opposition [of nature to knowledge]. Moreover, another kind of passion fell 1.04.01:034
upon her her (Achamoth), namely, that of desiring to return to him who gave her life. 1.04.01:035
2. This collection [of passions] they declare was the substance of the matter from which 1.04.02:037
this world was formed. For from [her desire of] returning [to him who gave her life], 1.04.02:038
every soul belonging to this world, and that of the Demiurge himself, derived its 1.04.02:038
origin. All other things owed their beginning to her terror and sorrow. For from her 1.04.02:039
tears all that is of a liquid nature was formed; from her smile all that is lucent; and 1.04.02:040
from her grief and perplexity all the corporeal elements of the world. For at one time, 1.04.02:041
as they affirm, she would weep and lament on account of being left alone in the 1.04.02:042
midst of darkness and vacuity; while, at another time, reflecting on the light which had IrnL.AH.1.04.02:043
forsaken her, she would be filled with joy, and laugh; then, again, she would be struck IrnL.AH.1.04.02:044
with terror; or, at other times, would sink into consternation and bewilderment. 1.04.02:045
3. Now what follows from all this? No light tragedy comes out of it, as the fancy of 1.04.03:050
every man among them pompously explains, one in one way, and another in another, from 1.04.03:051
what kind of passion and from what element being derived its origin. They have good IrnL.AH.1.04.03:052
reason, as seems to me, why they should not feel inclined to teach these things to 1.04.03:053
all in public, but only to such as are able to pay a high price for an acquaintance 1.04.03:054
with such profound mysteries. For these doctrines are not at all similar to those of 1.04.03:055
which our Lord said, "Freely ye have received, freely give." They are, on the contrary, IrnL.AH.1.04.03:056
abstruse, and portentous, and profound mysteries, to be got at only with great 1.04.03:057
labour by such as are in love with falsehood. For who would not expend lull that he possessed, 1.04.03:058
if only he might learn in return, that from the tears of the enthymesis of 1.04.03:060
the AEon involved in passion, seas, and fountains, and rivers, and every liquid substance 1.04.03:061
derived its origin; that light burst forth from her smile; and that from her perplexity 1.04.03:062
and consternation the corporeal elements of the world had their formation? 1.04.03:063
4. I feel somewhat inclined myself to contribute a few hints towards the 1.04.04:066
development of their system. For when I perceive that waters are in part 1.04.04:067
fresh, such as fountains, rivers, showers, and so on, and in part salt; 1.04.04:068
such as those in the sea, I reflect with myself that all such waters cannot 1.04.04:069
be derived from her tears, inasmuch as these are of a saline quality 1.04.04:071
only. It is clear, therefore, that the waters which are salt are alone 1.04.04:072
those which are derived from her tears. But it is probable that she, in 1.04.04:073
her intense agony and perplexity, was covered with perspiration. And hence, 1.04.04:074
following out their notion, we may conceive that fountains and rivers, 1.04.04:075
and all the fresh water in the world, are due to this source. For 1.04.04:076
it is difficult, since we know that all tears are of the same quality, to 1.04.04:077
believe that waters both salt and fresh proceeded from them. The more 1.04.04:078
plausible supposition is, that some are from her tears, and some from her 1.04.04:079
perspiration. And since there are also in the world certain waters which 1.04.04:080
are hot and acrid in their nature, thou must be left to guess their origin, 1.04.04:081
how and whence. Such are some of the results of their hypothesis. 1.04.04:082
5. They go on to state that, when the mother Achamoth had passed through all sorts of passion, 1.04.05:084
and had with difficulty escaped from them, she turned herself to supplicate the light 1.04.05:085
which had forsaken her, that is, Christ. He, however, having returned to the Pleroma, and being 1.04.05:086
probably unwilling again to descend from it, sent forth to her the Paraclete, that is, 1.04.05:087
the Saviour. This being was endowed with all power by the Father, who placed everything under 1.04.05:088
his authority, the AEons doing so likewise, so that "by him were all things, visible and 1.04.05:089
invisible, created, thrones, divinities, dominions." He then was sent to her along with IrnL.AH.1.04.05:090
his contemporary angels. And they related that Achamoth, filled with reverence, at first veiled 1.04.05:093
herself through modesty, but that by and by, when she had looked upon him with all his 1.04.05:094
endowments, and had acquired strength from his appearance, she ran forward to meet him. 1.04.05:095
He then imparted to her form as respected intelligence, and brought healing to her passions, 1.04.05:096
separating them from her, but not so as to drive them out of thought altogether. For it was 1.04.05:098
not possible that they should be annihilated as in the former case, because they had already 1.04.05:099
taken root and acquired strength [so as to possess an indestructible existence]. All 1.04.05:100
that he could do was to separate them and set them apart, and then commingle and condense 1.04.05:101
them, so as to transmute them from incorporeal passion into unorganized matter. He then by 1.04.05:102
this process conferred upon them a fitness and a nature to become concretions and corporeal 1.04.05:103
structures, in order that two substances should be formed,--the one evil, resulting from IrnL.AH.1.04.05:104
the passions, and the other subject indeed to suffering, but originating from her conversion. 1.04.05:105
And on this account (i.e., on account of this hypostatizing of ideal matter) they say that 1.04.05:106
the Saviour virtually created the world. But when Achamoth was freed from her passion, 1.04.05:110
she gazed with rapture on the dazzling vision of the angels that were with him; and in her 1.04.05:111
ecstasy, conceiving by them, they tell us that she brought forth new beings, partly after 1.04.05:112
her oven image, and partly a spiritual progeny after the image of the Saviour's attendants. 1.04.05:113
1. These three kinds of existence, then, having, according to them, been now formed,--one 1.05.01:001
from the passion, which was matter; a second from the conversion, which was 1.05.01:002
animal; and the third, that which she (Achamoth) herself brought forth, which was 1.05.01:003
spiritual,--she next addressed herself to the task of giving these form. But she could 1.05.01:004
not succeed in doing this as respected the spiritual existence, because it was 1.05.01:005
of the same nature with herself. She therefore applied herself to give form to the 1.05.01:006
animal substance which had proceeded from her own conversion, and to bring forth 1.05.01:007
to light the instructions of the Saviour. And they say she first formed out of animal 1.05.01:008
substance him who is Father and King of all things, both of these which are of 1.05.01:009
the same nature with himself, that is, animal substances, which they also call right-handed, 1.05.01:010
and those which sprang from the passion, and from matter, which they call 1.05.01:011
left-handed. For they affirm that he formed all the things which came into existence 1.05.01:012
after him, being secretly impelled thereto by his mother. From this circumstance 1.05.01:014
they style him Metropator, Apator, Demiurge, and Father, saying that he is Father 1.05.01:015
of the substances on the right hand, that is, of the animal, but Demiurge of those 1.05.01:016
on the left, that is, of the material, while he is at the same time the king of 1.05.01:017
all. For they say that this Enthymesis, desirous of making all things to the honour 1.05.01:019
of the AEons, formed images of them, or rather that the Saviour did so through her 1.05.01:020
instrumentality. And she, in the image of the invisible Father, kept herself concealed 1.05.01:022
from the Demiurge. But he was in the image of the only-begotten Son, and the 1.05.01:023
angels and archangels created by him were in the image of the rest of the AEons. 1.05.01:024
2. They affirm, therefore, that he was constituted the Father and God of everything outside 1.05.02:026
of the Pleroma, being the creator of all animal and material substances. For he it was IrnL.AH.1.05.02:027
that discriminated these two kinds of existence hitherto confused, and made corporeal from 1.05.02:028
incorporeal substances, fashioned things heavenly and earthly, and became the Framer (Demiurge) 1.05.02:029
of things material and animal, of those on the right and those on the left, of the 1.05.02:030
light and of the heavy, and of those tending upwards as well as of those tending downwards. 1.05.02:031
He created also seven heavens, above which they say that he, the Demiurge, exists. IrnL.AH.1.05.02:033
And on this account they term him Hebdomas, and his mother Achamoth Ogdoads, preserving the 1.05.02:034
number of the first-begotten and primary Ogdoad as the Pleroma. They affirm, moreover, 1.05.02:035
that these seven heavens are intelligent, and speak of them as being angels, while they refer 1.05.02:037
to the Demiurge himself as being an angel bearing a likeness to God; and in the same 1.05.02:038
strain, they declare that Paradise, situated above the third heaven, is a fourth angel 1.05.02:039
possessed of power, from whom Adam derived certain qualities while he conversed with him. 1.05.02:040
3. They go on to say that the Demiurge imagined that he created all these things of himself, 1.05.03:044
while he in reality made them in conjunction with the productive power of Achamoth. 1.05.03:045
He formed the heavens, yet was ignorant of the heavens; he fashioned man, yet knew not 1.05.03:046
man; he brought to light the earth, yet had no acquaintance with the earth; and, in like IrnL.AH.1.05.03:047
manner. they declare that he was ignorant of the forms of all that he made, and knew not 1.05.03:048
even of the existence of his own mother, but imagined that he himself was all things. 1.05.03:051
They further affirm that his mother originated this opinion in his mind, because she desired 1.05.03:052
to bring him forth possessed of such a character that he should be the head and source 1.05.03:053
of his own essence, and the absolute ruler over every kind of operation [that was afterwards 1.05.03:054
attempted]. This mother they also call Ogdoad, Sophia; Terra, Jerusalem, Holy 1.05.03:055
Spirit, and, with a masculine reference, Lord. Her place of habitation is an intermediate IrnL.AH.1.05.03:056
one, above the Demiurge indeed, but below and outside of the Pleroma, even to the end. 1.05.03:057
4. As, then, they represent all material substance to be formed from three passions, 1.05.04:060
viz., fear, grief, and perplexity, the account they give is as follows: Animal 1.05.04:061
substances originated from fear and from conversion; the Demiurge they also 1.05.04:062
describe as owing his origin to conversion; but the existence of all the other animal 1.05.04:063
substances they ascribe to fear, such as the souls of irrational animals, 1.05.04:064
and of wild beasts, and men. And on this account, he (the Demiurge), being incapable IrnL.AH.1.05.04:066
of recognising any spiritual essences, imagined himself to be God alone, and 1.05.04:067
declared through the prophets, "I am God, and besides me there is none else." 1.05.04:068
They further teach that the spirits of wickedness derived their origin from grief. 1.05.04:069
Hence the devil, whom they also call Cosmocrator (the ruler of the world), and 1.05.04:070
the demons, and the angels, and every wicked spiritual being that exists, found 1.05.04:071
the source Of their existence. They represent the Demiurge as being the son of 1.05.04:072
that mother of theirs (Achamoth), and Cosmocrator as the creature of the Demiurge. 1.05.04:073
Cosmocrator has knowledge of what is above himself, because he is a spirit of 1.05.04:074
wickedness; but the Demiurge is ignorant of such things, inasmuch as he is merely 1.05.04:075
animal. Their mother dwells in that place which is above the heavens, that is, 1.05.04:077
in the intermediate abode; the Demiurge in the heavenly place, that is, in the 1.05.04:078
hebdomad; but the Cosmocrator in this our world. The corporeal elements of the 1.05.04:079
world, again, sprang, as we before remarked, from bewilderment and perplexity, as 1.05.04:080
from a more ignoble source. Thus the earth arose from her state of stupor; water 1.05.04:081
from the agitation caused by her fear; air from the consolidation of her grief; 1.05.04:082
while fire, producing death and corruption, was inherent in all these elements, 1.05.04:083
even as they teach that ignorance also lay concealed in these three passions. 1.05.04:084
5. Having thus formed the world, he (the Demiurge) also created the earthy [part of] man, 1.05.05:088
not taking him from this dry earth, but from an invisible substance consisting of fusible IrnL.AH.1.05.05:089
and fluid matter, and then afterwards, as they define the process, breathed into 1.05.05:090
him the animal part of his nature. It was this latter which was created after his image 1.05.05:092
and likeness. The material part, indeed, was very near to. God, so far as the image 1.05.05:093
went, but not of the same substance with him. The animal, on the Other hand, was so in 1.05.05:094
respect to likeness; and hence his substance was called the spirit of life, because it 1.05.05:095
took its rise from a spiritual outflowing. After all this, he was, they say, enveloped 1.05.05:097
all round with a covering of skin; and by this they mean the outward sensitive flesh. 1.05.05:098
6. But they further affirm that the Demiurge himself was ignorant of that offspring of his mother 1.05.06:100
Achamoth, which she brought forth as a consequence of her contemplation of those angels 1.05.06:101
who waited on the Saviour, and which was, like herself, of a spiritual nature. She took advantage 1.05.06:102
of this ignorance to deposit it (her production) in him without his knowledge, in order 1.05.06:103
that, being by his instrumentality infused into that animal soul proceeding from himself, 1.05.06:104
and being thus carried as in a womb in this material body, while it gradually increased in strength, 1.05.06:105
might in course of time become fitted for the reception of perfect rationality. Thus 1.05.06:106
it came to pass, then, according to them, that, without any knowledge on the part of the Demiurge, 1.05.06:108
the man formed by his inspiration was at the same time, through an unspeakable providence, 1.05.06:109
rendered a spiritual man by the simultaneous inspiration received from Sophia. For, as IrnL.AH.1.05.06:111
he was ignorant of his mother, so neither did he recognise her offspring. This [offspring] they 1.05.06:112
also declare to be the Ecclesia, an emblem of the Ecclesia which is above. This, then, is 1.05.06:114
the kind of man whom they conceive of: he has his animal soul from the Demiurge, his body from 1.05.06:115
the earth, his fleshy part from matter, and his spiritual man from the mother Achamoth.?0 1.05.06:116
1. There being thus three kinds of substances, they declare of all that is material (which they 1.06.01:001
also describe as being "on the left hand") that it must of necessity perish, inasmuch as it is 1.06.01:002
incapable of receiving any afflatus of incorruption. As to every animal existence (which they 1.06.01:003
also denominate "on the right hand"), they hold that, inasmuch as it is a mean between the spiritual IrnL.AH.1.06.01:004
and the material, it passes to the side to which inclination draws it. Spiritual substance, 1.06.01:005
again, they describe as having been sent forth for this end, that, being here united with IrnL.AH.1.06.01:006
that which is animal, it might assume shape, the two elements being simultaneously subjected to 1.06.01:008
the same discipline. And this they declare to be "the salt" and "the light of the world." For 1.06.01:009
the animal substance had need of training by means of the outward senses; and on this account 1.06.01:009
they affirm that the world was created, as well as that the Saviour came to the animal substance 1.06.01:010
(which was possessed of free-will), that He might secure for it salvation. For they affirm 1.06.01:012
that He received the first-fruits of those whom He was to save [as follows], from Achamoth that 1.06.01:013
which was spiritual, while He was invested by the Demiurge with the animal Christ, but was begirt 1.06.01:014
by a [special] dispensation with a body endowed with an animal nature, yet constructed with 1.06.01:015
unspeakable skill, so that it might be visible and tangible, and capable of enduring suffering. 1.06.01:016
At the same time, they deny that He assumed anything material [into His nature], since indeed 1.06.01:018
matter is incapable of salvation. They further hold that the consummation of all things will 1.06.01:019
take place when all that is spiritual has been formed and perfected by Gnosis (knowledge); and 1.06.01:019
by this they mean spiritual men who have attained to the perfect knowledge of God, and been 1.06.01:020
initiated into these mysteries by Achamoth. And they represent themselves to be these persons. 1.06.01:021
2. Animal men, again, are instructed in animal things; such men, namely, as are established 1.06.02:024
by their works, and by a mere faith, while they have not perfect knowledge. IrnL.AH.1.06.02:025
We of the Church, they say, are these persons. Wherefore also they maintain that 1.06.02:026
good works are necessary to us, for that otherwise it is impossible we should 1.06.02:028
be saved. But as to themselves, they hold that they shall be entirely and undoubtedly IrnL.AH.1.06.02:029
saved, not by means of conduct, but because they are spiritual by nature. For, 1.06.02:030
just as it is impossible that material substance should partake of salvation (since, 1.06.02:032
indeed, they maintain that it is incapable of receiving it), so again it is 1.06.02:033
impossible that spiritual substance (by which they mean themselves) should ever come 1.06.02:034
under the power of corruption, whatever the sort of actions in which they indulged. 1.06.02:035
For even as gold, when submersed in filth, loses not on that account its beauty, 1.06.02:037
but retains its own native qualities, the filth having no power to injure the 1.06.02:038
gold, so they affirm that they cannot in any measure suffer hurt, or lose their IrnL.AH.1.06.02:039
spiritual substance, whatever the material actions in which they may be involved. 1.06.02:040
3. Wherefore also it comes to pass, that the "most perfect" among them addict themselves without fear to 1.06.03:043
all those kinds of forbidden deeds of which the Scriptures assure us that "they who do such things shall 1.06.03:044
not inherit the kingdom of God." For instance, they make no scruple about eating meats offered in 1.06.03:045
sacrifice to idols, imagining that they can in this way contract no defilement. Then, again, at every 1.06.03:046
heathen festival celebrated in honour of the idols, these men are the first to assemble; and to such a 1.06.03:047
pitch do they go, that some of them do not even keep away from that bloody spectacle hateful both to God 1.06.03:048
and men, in which gladiators either fight with wild beasts, or singly encounter one another. Others 1.06.03:049
of them yield themselves up to the lusts of the flesh with the utmost greediness, maintaining that carnal 1.06.03:051
things should be allowed to the carnal nature, while spiritual things are provided for the spiritual. 1.06.03:052
Some of them, moreover, are in the habit of defiling those women to whom they have taught the above 1.06.03:054
doctrine, as has frequently been confessed by those women who have been led astray by certain of them, 1.06.03:055
on their returning to the Church of God, and acknowledging this along with the rest of their errors. Others 1.06.03:056
of them, too, openly and without a blush, having become passionately attached to certain women, seduce 1.06.03:058
them away from their husbands, and contract marriages of their own with them. Others of them, again, 1.06.03:059
who pretend at first. to live in all modesty with them as with sisters, have in course of time been 1.06.03:060
revealed in their true colours, when the sister has been found with child by her [pretended] brother. 1.06.03:061
4. And committing many other abominations and impieties, they run us down (who from the fear of 1.06.04:064
God guard against sinning even in thought or word) as utterly contemptible and ignorant persons, 1.06.04:065
while they highly exalt themselves, and claim to be perfect, and the elect seed. For they 1.06.04:066
declare that we simply receive grace for use, wherefore also it will again be taken away from 1.06.04:067
us; but that they themselves have grace as their own special possession, which has descended from 1.06.04:068
above by means of an unspeakable and indescribable conjunction; and on this account more will 1.06.04:069
be given them. They maintain, therefore, that in every way it is always necessary for them 1.06.04:070
to practise the mystery of conjunction. And that they may persuade the thoughtless to believe 1.06.04:072
this, they are in the habit of using these very words, "Whosoever being in this world does not 1.06.04:073
so love a woman as to obtain possession of her, is not of the truth, nor shall attain to the 1.06.04:074
truth. But whosoever being of this world has intercourse with woman, shall not attain to the truth, 1.06.04:075
because he has so acted under the power of concupiscence." On this account, they tell us 1.06.04:076
that it is necessary for us whom they call animal men, and describe as being of the world, to 1.06.04:079
practise continence and good works, that by this means we may attain at length to the intermediate 1.06.04:080
habitation, but that to them who are called "the spiritual and perfect" such a course of IrnL.AH.1.06.04:081
conduct is not at all necessary. For it is not conduct of any kind which leads into the Pleroma, 1.06.04:083
but the seed sent forth thence in a feeble, immature state, and here brought to perfection. 1.06.04:084
1. When all the seed shall have come to perfection, they state that then their 1.07.01:001
mother Achamoth shall pass from the intermediate place, and enter in within the 1.07.01:002
Pleroma, and shall receive as her spouse the Saviour, who sprang from all the 1.07.01:003
AEons, that thus a conjunction may be formed between the Saviour and Sophia, that 1.07.01:004
is, Achamoth. These, then, are the bridegroom and bride, while the nuptial chamber 1.07.01:006
is the full extent of the Pleroma. The spiritual seed, again, being divested 1.07.01:007
of their animal souls, and becoming intelligent spirits, shall in an irresistible 1.07.01:008
and invisible manner enter in within the Pleroma, and be bestowed as brides 1.07.01:009
on those angels who wait upon the Saviour. The Demiurge himself will pass 1.07.01:010
into the place of his mother Sophia; that is, the intermediate habitation. In 1.07.01:011
this intermediate place, also, shall the souls of the righteous repose; but nothing 1.07.01:012
of an animal nature shall find admittance to the Pleroma. When these things 1.07.01:013
have taken place as described, then shall that fire which lies hidden in the IrnL.AH.1.07.01:014
world blaze forth and bum; and while destroying all matter, shall also be extinguished IrnL.AH.1.07.01:015
along with it, and have no further existence. They affirm that the Demiurge 1.07.01:016
was acquainted with none of these things before the advent of the Saviour. IrnL.AH.1.07.01:017
2. There are also some who maintain that he also produced Christ as his own proper son, but 1.07.02:019
of an animal nature, and that mention was made of him by the prophets. This Christ passed through 1.07.02:020
Mary just as water flows through a tube; and there descended upon him in the form of 1.07.02:021
a dove it the time of his baptism, that Saviour who belonged to the Pleroma, and was formed 1.07.02:022
by the combined efforts of all its inhabit ants. In him there existed also that spiritual 1.07.02:023
seed which proceeded from Achamoth. They hold, accordingly, that our Lord, while preserving 1.07.02:024
the type of the first-begotten and primary tetrad, was compounded of these four substances,--of 1.07.02:026
that which is spiritual, in so far as He was from Achamoth; of that which is animal, as IrnL.AH.1.07.02:027
being from the Demiurge by a special dispensation, inasmuch as He was formed [corporeally] 1.07.02:028
with unspeakable skill; and of the Saviour, as respects that dove which descended upon Him. 1.07.02:029
He also continued free from all suffering, since indeed it was not possible that He should 1.07.02:030
suffer who was at once incomprehensible and invisible. And for this reason the Spirit of Christ, 1.07.02:032
who had been placed within Him, was taken away when He was brought before Pilate. They 1.07.02:033
maintain, further, that not even the seed which He had received from the mother [Achamoth] 1.07.02:034
was subject to suffering; for it, too, was impassible, as being spiritual, and invisible even 1.07.02:036
to the Demiurge himself. It follows, then, according to them, that the animal Christ, and IrnL.AH.1.07.02:037
that which had been formed mysteriously by a special dispensation, underwent suffering, that 1.07.02:039
the mother might exhibit through him a type of the Christ above, namely, of him who extended 1.07.02:040
himself through Stauros, and imparted to Achamoth shape, so far as substance was concerned. 1.07.02:041
For they declare that all these transactions were counterparts of what took place above. 1.07.02:042
3. They maintain, moreover, that those souls which possess the seed of Achamoth are superior 1.07.03:045
to the rest, and are more dearly loved by the Demiurge than others, while he knows not the true 1.07.03:046
cause thereof, but imagines that they are what they are through his favour towards them. 1.07.03:047
Wherefore, also, they say he distributed them to prophets, priests, and kings; and they declare 1.07.03:048
that many things were spoken by this seed through the prophets, inasmuch as it was endowed 1.07.03:050
with a transcendently lofty nature. The mother also, they say, spake much about things above, 1.07.03:051
and that both through him and through the souls which were formed by him. Then, again, they 1.07.03:052
divide the prophecies [into different classes], maintaining that one portion was uttered IrnL.AH.1.07.03:054
by the mother, a second by her seed, and a third by the Demiurge. In like manner, they hold 1.07.03:055
that Jesus uttered some things under the influence of the Saviour, others under that of the mother, 1.07.03:056
and others still under that of the Demiurge, as we shall show further on in our work. 1.07.03:057
4. The Demiurge, while ignorant of those things which were higher than himself, was indeed 1.07.04:060
excited by the announcements made [through the prophets], but treated them with contempt, 1.07.04:061
attributing them sometimes to one cause and sometimes to another; either to the prophetic 1.07.04:062
spirit (which itself possesses the power of self-excitement), or to [mere unassisted] man, 1.07.04:063
or that it was simply a crafty device of the lower [and baser order of men]. He remained IrnL.AH.1.07.04:064
thus ignorant until the appearing of the Lord. But they relate that when the Saviour came, 1.07.04:066
the Demiurge learned all things from Him, and gladly with all, his power joined himself to 1.07.04:067
Him. They maintain that he is the centurion mentioned in the Gospel, who addressed the Saviour 1.07.04:068
in these words: "For I also am one having soldiers and servants under my authority; 1.07.04:069
and whatsoever I command they do." They further hold that he will continue administering the 1.07.04:071
affairs of the world as long as that is fitting and needful, and specially that he may exercise 1.07.04:072
a care over the Church; while at the same time he is influenced by the knowledge of 1.07.04:073
the reward prepared for him, namely, that he may attain to the habitation of his mother. IrnL.AH.1.07.04:074
5. They conceive, then, of three kinds of men, spiritual, material, and animal, represented 1.07.05:076
by Cain, Abel, and Seth. These three natures are no longer found in one person, 1.07.05:077
but constitute various kinds [of men]. The material goes, as a matter of course, 1.07.05:078
into corruption. The animal, if it make choice of the better part, finds repose 1.07.05:079
in the intermediate place; but if the worse, it too shall pass into destruction. But 1.07.05:080
they assert that the spiritual principles which have been sown by Achamoth, being 1.07.05:081
disciplined and nourished here from that time until now in righteous souls (because 1.07.05:082
when given forth by her they were yet but weak), at last attaining to perfection, 1.07.05:083
shall be given as brides to the angels of the Saviour, while their animal souls 1.07.05:084
of necessity rest for ever with the Demiurge in the intermediate place. And again 1.07.05:085
subdividing the animal souls themselves, they say that some are by nature good, and IrnL.AH.1.07.05:088
others by nature evil. The good are those who become capable of receiving the [spiritual] 1.07.05:089
seed; the evil by nature are those who are never able to receive that seed. 1.07.05:090
1. Such, then, is their system, which neither the prophets announced, nor the Lord taught, nor the 1.08.01:001
apostles delivered, but of which they boast that beyond all others they have a perfect knowledge. 1.08.01:002
They gather their views from other sources than the Scriptures; and, to use a common proverb, they 1.08.01:003
strive to weave ropes of sand, while they endeavour to adapt with an air of probability to their 1.08.01:004
own peculiar assertions the parables of the Lord, the sayings of the prophets, and the words of 1.08.01:005
the apostles, in order that their scheme may not seem altogether without support. In doing so, 1.08.01:006
however, they disregard the order and the connection of the Scriptures, and so far as in them lies, 1.08.01:007
dismember and destroy the truth. By transferring passages, and dressing them up anew, and making 1.08.01:008
one thing out of another, they succeed in deluding many through their wicked art in adapting the 1.08.01:011
oracles of the Lord to their opinions. Their manner of acting is just as if one, when a beautiful 1.08.01:012
image of a king has been constructed by some skilful artist out of precious jewels, should then 1.08.01:014
take this likeness of the man all to pieces, should rearrange the gems, and so fit them together 1.08.01:015
as to make them into the form of a dog or of a fox, and even that but poorly executed; and should 1.08.01:016
then maintain and declare that this was the beautiful image of the king which the skilful artist 1.08.01:017
constructed, pointing to the jewels which had been admirably fitted together by the first artist 1.08.01:018
to form the image of the king, but have been with bad effect transferred by the latter one to the 1.08.01:019
shape of a dog, and by thus exhibiting the jewels, should deceive the ignorant who had no conception 1.08.01:020
what a king's form was like, and persuade them that that miserable likeness of the fox was, 1.08.01:021
in fact, the beautiful image of the king. In like manner do these persons patch together old wives' 1.08.01:022
fables, and then endeavour, by violently drawing away from their proper connection, words, expressions, 1.08.01:023
and parables whenever found, to adapt the oracles of God to their baseless fictions. We 1.08.01:024
have already stated how far they proceed in this way with respect to the interior of the Pleroma. 1.08.01:029
2. Then, again, as to those things outside of their Pleroma, the following are some 1.08.02:031
specimens of what they attempt to accommodate out of the Scriptures to their 1.08.02:032
opinions. They affirm that the Lord came in the last times of the world to endure 1.08.02:033
suffering, for this end, that He might indicate the passion which occurred to IrnL.AH.1.08.02:034
the last of the AEons, and might by His own end announce the cessation of that 1.08.02:035
disturbance which had risen among the AEons. They maintain, further, that that 1.08.02:037
girl of twelve years old, the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, to whom the 1.08.02:038
Lord approached and raised her from the dead, was a type of Achamoth, to whom 1.08.02:039
their Christ, by extending himself, imparted shape, and whom he led anew to the 1.08.02:040
perception of that light which had forsaken her. And that the Saviour appeared 1.08.02:042
to her when she lay outside of the Pleroma as a kind of abortion, they affirm IrnL.AH.1.08.02:043
Paul to have declared in his Epistle to the Corinthians [in these words], "And last 1.08.02:044
of all, He appeared to me also, as to one born out of due time." Again, the 1.08.02:045
coming of the Saviour with His attendants to Achamoth is declared in like manner 1.08.02:046
by him in the same Epistle, when he says, "A woman ought to have a veil upon her 1.08.02:047
head, because of the angels." Now, that Achamoth, when the Saviour came to her, 1.08.02:049
drew a veil over herself through modesty, Moses rendered manifest when he put 1.08.02:050
a veil upon his face. Then, also, they say that the passions which she endured 1.08.02:051
were indicated by the Lord upon the cross. Thus, when He said, "My God, my God, 1.08.02:052
why hast Thou forsaken Me?" He simply showed that Sophia was deserted by the light, 1.08.02:053
and was restrained by Horos from making any advance forward. Her anguish, 1.08.02:054
again, was indicated when He said, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death;" 1.08.02:055
her fear by the words, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from 1.08.02:056
Me;" and her perplexity, too, when He said, "And what I shall say, I know not." 1.08.02:057
3. And they teach that He pointed out the three kinds of men as follows: the material, 1.08.03:062
when He said to him that asked Him, "Shall I follow Thee?" "The Son of man hath 1.08.03:063
not where to lay His head;"--the animal, when He said to him that declared, "I 1.08.03:064
will follow Thee, but suffer me first to bid them farewell that are in my house," 1.08.03:065
"No man, putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom 1.08.03:066
of heaven" (for this man they declare to be of the intermediate class, even as they 1.08.03:067
do that other who, though he professed to have wrought a large amount of righteousness, 1.08.03:068
yet refused to follow Him, and was so overcome by [the love of] riches, 1.08.03:069
as never to reach perfection)--this one it pleases them to place in the animal class;--the 1.08.03:070
spiritual, again, when He said, "Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou 1.08.03:071
and preach the kingdom of God," and when He said to Zaccheus the publican, "Make IrnL.AH.1.08.03:072
haste, and come down, for to-day I must abide in thine house"--for these they 1.08.03:076
declared to have belonged to the spiritual class. Also the parable of the leaven which IrnL.AH.1.08.03:077
the woman is described as having hid in three measures of meal, they declare 1.08.03:078
to make manifest the three classes. For, according to their teaching, the woman represented 1.08.03:079
Sophia; the three measures of meal, the three kinds of men--spiritual, 1.08.03:080
animal, and material; while the leaven denoted the Saviour Himself. Paul, too, very 1.08.03:081
plainly set forth the material, animal, and spiritual, saying in one place, "As 1.08.03:082
is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy;" and in another place, "But the 1.08.03:083
animal man receiveth not the things of the Spirit;" and again: "He that is spiritual 1.08.03:084
judgeth all things." And this, "The animal man receiveth not the things of the 1.08.03:085
Spirit," they affirm to have been spoken concerning the Demiurge, who, as being 1.08.03:086
animal, knew neither his mother who was spiritual, nor her seed, nor the AEons in 1.08.03:087
the Pleroma. And that the Saviour received first-fruits of those whom He was to 1.08.03:089
save, Paul declared when he said, "And if the first-fruits be holy, the lump is also 1.08.03:090
holy," teaching that the expression "first-fruits" denoted that which is spiritual, 1.08.03:091
but that "the lump" meant us, that is, the animal Church, the lump of which 1.08.03:092
they say He assumed, and blended it with Himself, inasmuch as He is "the leaven." 1.08.03:093
4. Moreover, that Achamoth wandered beyond the Pleroma, and received form from 1.08.04:096
Christ, and was sought after by the Saviour, they declare that He indicated when 1.08.04:097
He said, that He had come after that sheep which was gone astray. For they explain 1.08.04:098
the wandering sheep to mean their mother, by whom they represent the Church 1.08.04:099
as having been sown. The wandering itself denotes her stay outside of the Pleroma 1.08.04:100
in a state of varied passion, from which they maintain that matter derived 1.08.04:101
its origin. The woman, again, who sweeps the house and finds the piece of money, 1.08.04:104
they declare to denote the Sophia above, who, having lost her enthymesis, afterwards IrnL.AH.1.08.04:105
recovered it, on all things being purified by the advent of the Saviour. 1.08.04:106
Wherefore this substance also, according to them, was reinstated in Pleroma. 1.08.04:107
They say, too, that Simeon, "who took Christ into his arms, and gave thanks to God, IrnL.AH.1.08.04:109
and said, Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to IrnL.AH.1.08.04:110
Thy word," was a type of the Demiurge, who, on the arrival of the Saviour, learned 1.08.04:111
his own change of place, and gave thanks to Bythus. They also assert that by 1.08.04:112
Anna, who is spoken of in the gospel as a prophetess, and who, after living seven 1.08.04:113
years with her husband, passed all the rest of her life in widowhood until 1.08.04:114
she saw the Saviour, and recognised Him, and spoke of Him to all, was most plainly 1.08.04:115
indicated Achamoth, who, having for a little while looked upon the Saviour 1.08.04:116
with His associates, and dwelling all the rest of the time in the intermediate 1.08.04:117
place, waited for Him till He should come again, and restore her to her proper consort. IrnL.AH.1.08.04:118
Her name, too, was indicated by the Saviour, when He said, "Yet wisdom 1.08.04:122
is justified by her children." This, too, was done by Paul in these words," But 1.08.04:123
we speak wisdom among them that are perfect." They declare also that Paul has 1.08.04:124
referred to the conjunctions within the Pleroma, showing them forth by means of 1.08.04:125
one; for, when writing of the conjugal union in this life, he expressed himself IrnL.AH.1.08.04:126
thus: "This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church." 1.08.04:127
5. Further, they teach that John, the disciple of the Lord, indicated the first 1.08.05:130
Ogdoad, expressing themselves in these words: John, the disciple of the 1.08.05:131
Lord, wishing to set forth the origin of all things, so as to explain how 1.08.05:132
the Father produced the whole, lays down a certain principle,--that, namely, 1.08.05:133
which was first-begotten by God, which Being he has termed both the only-begotten 1.08.05:134
Son and God, in whom the Father, after a seminal manner, brought forth 1.08.05:135
all things. By him the Word was produced, and in him the whole substance 1.08.05:136
of the AEons, to which the Word himself afterwards imparted form. Since, 1.08.05:137
therefore, he treats of the first origin of things, he rightly proceeds in 1.08.05:138
his teaching from the beginning, that is, from God and the Word. And he expresses 1.08.05:139
himself thus: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with 1.08.05:140
God, and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God." Having 1.08.05:142
first of all distinguished these three--God, the Beginning, and the Word--he 1.08.05:143
again unites them, that he may exhibit the production of each of them, that 1.08.05:144
is, of the Son and of the Word, and may at the same time show their union 1.08.05:145
with one another, and with the Father. For "the beginning" is in the Father, 1.08.05:146
and of the Father, while "the Word" is in the beginning, and of the beginning. 1.08.05:147
Very properly, then, did he say, "In the beginning was the Word," for 1.08.05:148
He was in the Son; "and the Word was with God," for He was the beginning; 1.08.05:149
"and the Word was God," of course, for that which is begotten of God is God. 1.08.05:150
"The same was in the beginning with God"--this clause discloses the order 1.08.05:152
of production. "All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made;" 1.08.05:153
for the Word was the author of form and beginning to all the AEons that 1.08.05:154
came into existence after Him. But "what was made in Him," says John, "is 1.08.05:155
life." Here again he indicated conjunction; for all things, he said, were 1.08.05:157
made by Him, but in Him was life. This, then, which is in Him, is more closely 1.08.05:158
connected with Him than those things which were simply made by Him, for 1.08.05:159
it exists along with Him, and is developed by Him. When, again, he adds, "And 1.08.05:160
the life was the light of men," while thus mentioning Anthropos, he indicated 1.08.05:161
also Ecclesia by that one expression, in order that, by using only one 1.08.05:162
name, he might disclose their fellowship with one another, in virtue of their 1.08.05:163
conjunction. For Anthropos and Ecclesia spring from Logos and Zoe. Moreover, 1.08.05:164
he styled life (Zoe) the light of men, because they are enlightened by 1.08.05:165
her, that is, formed and made manifest. This also Paul declares in these 1.08.05:167
words: "For whatsoever doth make manifest is light." Since, therefore, Zoe 1.08.05:168
manifested and begat both Anthropos and Ecclesia, she is termed their light. 1.08.05:168
Thus, then, did John by these words reveal both other things and the second 1.08.05:169
Tetrad, Logos and Zoe, Anthropos and Ecclesia. And still further, he also 1.08.05:171
indicated the first Tetrad. For, in discoursing of the Saviour and declaring 1.08.05:172
that all things beyond the Pleroma received form from Him, he says that 1.08.05:173
He is the fruit of the entire Pleroma. For he styles Him a "light which shineth 1.08.05:174
in darkness, and which was not comprehended" by it, inasmuch as, when 1.08.05:175
He imparted form to all those things which had their origin from passion, He 1.08.05:177
was not known by it. He also styles Him Son, and Aletheia, and Zoe, and the 1.08.05:178
"Word made flesh, whose glory," he says, "we beheld; and His glory was as 1.08.05:179
that of the Only-begotten (given to Him by the Father), full of grace and 1.08.05:180
truth." (But what John really does say is this: "And the Word was made flesh, 1.08.05:181
and dwelt among us; and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten 1.08.05:182
of the Father, full of grace and truth.") Thus, then, does he [according 1.08.05:183
to them] distinctly set forth the first Tetrad, when he speaks of the 1.08.05:184
Father, and Charis, and Monogenes, and Aletheia. In this way, too, does John 1.08.05:185
tell of the first Ogdoad, and that which is the mother of all the AEons. For 1.08.05:186
he mentions the Father, and Charis, and Monogenes, and Aletheia, and Logos, 1.08.05:187
and Zoe, and Anthropos, and Ecclesia. Such are the views of Ptolemaeus. 1.08.05:189
1. You see, my friend, the method which these men employ to deceive themselves, 1.09.01:001
while they abuse the Scriptures by endeavouring to support their own system 1.09.01:002
out of them. For this reason, I have brought forward their modes of expressing 1.09.01:003
themselves, that thus thou mightest understand the deceitfulness of their procedure, 1.09.01:003
and the wickedness of their error. For, in the first place, if it had 1.09.01:004
been John's intention to set forth that Ogdoad above, he would surely have preserved 1.09.01:006
the order of its production, and would doubtless have placed the primary 1.09.01:007
Tetrad first as being, according to them, most venerable and would then have 1.09.01:008
annexed the second, that, by the sequence of the names, the order of the 1.09.01:009
Ogdoad might be exhibited, and not after so long an interval, as if forgetful 1.09.01:010
for the moment and then again calling the matter to mind, he, last of all, made 1.09.01:011
mention of the primary Tetrad. In the next place, if he had meant to indicate 1.09.01:012
their conjunctions, he certainly would not have omitted the name of Ecclesia; 1.09.01:014
while, with respect to the other conjunctions, he either would have been satisfied 1.09.01:015
with the mention of the male [AEons] (since the others [like Ecclesia] 1.09.01:016
might be understood), so as to preserve a uniformity throughout; or if he enumerated 1.09.01:017
the conjunctions of the rest, he would also have announced the spouse 1.09.01:018
of Anthropos, and would not have left us to find out her name by divination. 1.09.01:019
2. The fallacy, then, of this exposition is manifest. For when John, proclaiming one 1.09.02:023
God, the Almighty, and one Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten, by whom all things were 1.09.02:024
made, declares that this was the Son of God, this the Only-begotten, this the Former 1.09.02:025
of all things, this the true Light who enlighteneth every man this the Creator 1.09.02:026
of the world, this He that came to His own, this He that became flesh and dwelt among 1.09.02:027
us,--these men, by a plausible kind of exposition, perverting these statements, 1.09.02:028
maintain that there was another Monogenes, according to production, whom they also 1.09.02:029
style Arche. They also maintain that there was another Saviour, and another Logos, 1.09.02:030
the son of Monogenes, and another Christ produced for the re-establishment of the 1.09.02:031
Pleroma. Thus it is that, wresting from the truth every one of the expressions which 1.09.02:032
have been cited, and taking a bad advantage of the names, they have transferred 1.09.02:036
them to their own system; so that, according to them, in all these terms John makes 1.09.02:037
no mention of the Lord Jesus Christ. For if he has named the Father, and Charis, 1.09.02:038
and Monogenes, and Aletheia, and Logos, and Zoe, and Anthropos, and Ecclesia, according 1.09.02:041
to their hypothesis, he has, by thus speaking, referred to the primary Ogdoad, 1.09.02:042
in which there was as yet no Jesus, and no Christ, the teacher of John. But that 1.09.02:043
the apostle did not speak concerning their conjunctions, but concerning our Lord Jesus 1.09.02:045
Christ, whom he also acknowledges as the Word of God, he himself has made evident. 1.09.02:046
For, summing up his statements respecting the Word previously mentioned by him, 1.09.02:048
he further declares, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." But, according 1.09.02:049
to their hypothesis, the Word did not become flesh at all, inasmuch as He never 1.09.02:050
went outside of the Pleroma, but that Saviour [became flesh] who was formed by 1.09.02:051
a special dispensation [out of all the AEons], and was of later date than the Word. 1.09.02:052
3. Learn then, ye foolish men, that Jesus who suffered for us, and who dwelt 1.09.03:054
among us, is Himself the Word of God. For if any other of the AEons had become 1.09.03:055
flesh for our salvation, it would have been probable that the apostle spoke 1.09.03:056
of another. But if the Word of the Father who descended is the same also that 1.09.03:057
ascended, He, namely, the Only-begotten Son of the only God, who, according 1.09.03:058
to the good pleasure of the Father, became flesh for the sake of men, the 1.09.03:059
apostle certainly does not speak regarding any other, or concerning any Ogdoad, 1.09.03:060
but respecting our Lord Jesus Christ. For, according to them, the Word did 1.09.03:061
not originally become flesh. For they maintain that the Saviour assumed an animal 1.09.03:062
body, formed in accordance with a special dispensation by an unspeakable 1.09.03:063
providence, so as to become visible and palpable. But flesh is that which 1.09.03:064
was of old formed for Adam by God out of the dust, and it is this that John has 1.09.03:066
declared the Word of God became. Thus is their primary and first-begotten 1.09.03:067
Ogdoad brought to nought. For, since Logos, and Monogenes, and Zoe, and Phos, 1.09.03:068
and Sorer, and Christus, and the Son of God, and He who became incarnate for 1.09.03:069
us, have been proved to be one and the same, the Ogdoad which they have built 1.09.03:070
up at once falls to pieces. And when this is destroyed, their whole system 1.09.03:071
sinks into ruin,--a system which they falsely dream into existence, and thus 1.09.03:072
inflict injury on the Scriptures, while they build up their own hypothesis. 1.09.03:073
4. Then, again, collecting a set of expressions and names scattered here and there [in Scripture], 1.09.04:076
they twist them, as we have already said, from a natural to a non-natural sense. 1.09.04:077
In so doing, they act like those who bring forward any kind of hypothesis they fancy, 1.09.04:078
and then endeavour to support them out of the poems of Homer, so that the ignorant imagine 1.09.04:079
that Homer actually composed the verses bearing upon that hypothesis, which has, in 1.09.04:080
fact, been but newly constructed; and many others are led so far by the regularly-formed 1.09.04:081
sequence of the verses, as to doubt whether Homer may not have composed them. Of this 1.09.04:082
kind is the following passage, where one, describing Hercules as having been sent by Eurystheus 1.09.04:085
to the dog in the infernal regions, does so by means of these Homeric verses,--for 1.09.04:086
there can be no objection to our citing these by way of illustration, since the same 1.09.04:087
sort of attempt appears in both:-- "Thus saying, there sent forth from his house deeply 1.09.04:088
groaning."-- Od., x. 76. "The hero Hercules conversant with mighty deeds."--Od., 1.09.04:089
xxi. 26. Eurystheus, the son of Sthenelus, descended from Perseus."--Il., xix. 123. 1.09.04:090
"That he might bring from Erebus the dog of gloomy Pluto."--Il., viii. 368. "And 1.09.04:091
he advanced like a mountain-bred lion confident of strength."--Od., vi. 130. "Rapidly 1.09.04:095
through the city, while all his friends followed."--Il., xxiv. 327. "Both maidens, and 1.09.04:096
youths, and much-enduring old men."--Od., xi. 38. "Mourning for him bitterly as one IrnL.AH.1.09.04:097
going forward to death."--Il., xxiv. 328. "But Mercury and the blue-eyed Minerva conducted 1.09.04:098
him."--Od., xi. 626. "For she knew the mind of her brother, how it laboured 1.09.04:099
with grief."--Il., ii. 409.Now, what simple-minded man, I ask, would not be led away by IrnL.AH.1.09.04:100
such verses as these to think that Homer actually framed them so with reference to the subject 1.09.04:101
indicated? But he who is acquainted with the Homeric writings will recognise the 1.09.04:102
verses indeed, but not the subject to which they are applied, as knowing that some of them 1.09.04:103
were spoken of Ulysses, others of Hercules himself, others still of Priam, and others 1.09.04:104
again of Menelaus and Agamemnon. But if he takes them and restores each of them to its 1.09.04:105
proper position, he at once destroys the narrative in question. In like manner he also 1.09.04:107
who retains unchangeable in his heart the rule of the truth which he received by means 1.09.04:108
of baptism, will doubtless recognise the names, the expressions, and the parables taken 1.09.04:109
from the Scriptures, but will by no means acknowledge the blasphemous use which these men 1.09.04:110
make of them. For, though he will acknowledge the gems, he will certainly not receive 1.09.04:111
the fox instead of the likeness of the king. But when he has restored every one of the 1.09.04:113
expressions quoted to its proper position, and has fitted it to the body of the truth, 1.09.04:114
he will lay bare, and prove to be without any foundation, the figment of these heretics. 1.09.04:115
5. But since what may prove a finishing-stroke to this exhibition is wanting, 1.09.05:118
so that any one, on following out their farce to the end, may then at once append 1.09.05:119
an argument which shall overthrow it, we have judged it well to point out, 1.09.05:120
first of all, in what respects the very fathers of this fable differ among 1.09.05:121
themselves, as if they were inspired by different spirits of error. For this 1.09.05:123
very fact forms an a priori proof that the truth proclaimed by the Church is immoveable, 1.09.05:124
and that the theories of these men are but a tissue of falsehoods. 1.09.05:125
1. The Church, though dispersed through our the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, 1.10.01:001
has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [She believes] in one God, 1.10.01:002
the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are 1.10.01:003
in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; 1.10.01:004
and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and 1.10.01:005
the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the 1.10.01:006
dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, 1.10.01:007
and His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father "to gather all things 1.10.01:008
in one," and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ 1.10.01:009
Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Saviour, and King, according to the will of the invisible 1.10.01:010
Father, "every knee should bow, of things in heaven,, and things in earth, and things 1.10.01:011
under the earth, and that every tongue should confess" to Him, and that He should execute 1.10.01:012
just judgment towards all; that He may send "spiritual wickednesses," and the angels who 1.10.01:013
transgressed and became apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, 1.10.01:014
and profane among men, into everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer 1.10.01:015
immortality on the righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and 1.10.01:016
have persevered in His love, some from the beginning [of their Christian course], and 1.10.01:017
others from [the date of] their repentance, and may surround them with everlasting glory. 1.10.01:018
2. As I have already observed, the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, 1.10.02:024
although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, 1.10.02:025
carefully preserves it. She also believes these points [of doctrine] just as if 1.10.02:026
she had but one soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches 1.10.02:027
them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth. 1.10.02:028
For, although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the IrnL.AH.1.10.02:032
tradition is one and the same. For the Churches which have been planted in Germany IrnL.AH.1.10.02:033
do not believe or hand down anything different, nor do those in Spain, nor those in 1.10.02:033
Gaul, nor those in the East, nor those in Egypt, nor those in Libya, nor those which 1.10.02:034
have been established in the central regions of the world. But as the sun, that creature IrnL.AH.1.10.02:035
of God, is one and the same throughout the whole world, so also the preaching 1.10.02:036
of the truth shineth everywhere, and enlightens all men that are willing to come to 1.10.02:037
a knowledge of the truth. Nor will any one of the rulers in the Churches, however 1.10.02:038
highly gifted he may be in point of eloquence, teach doctrines different from these 1.10.02:039
(for no one is greater than the Master); nor, on the other hand, will he who is deficient 1.10.02:042
in power of expression inflict injury on the tradition. For the faith being ever 1.10.02:043
one and the same, neither does one who is able at great length to discourse regarding 1.10.02:044
it, make any addition to it, nor does one, who can say but little diminish it. 1.10.02:045
3. It does not follow because men are endowed with greater and less degrees of intelligence, 1.10.03:049
that they should therefore change the subject-matter [of the faith] itself, and should conceive 1.10.03:050
of some other God besides Him who is the Framer, Maker, and Preserver of this universe, (as 1.10.03:051
if He were not sufficient for them), or of another Christ, or another Only-begotten. But the 1.10.03:052
fact referred to simply implies this, that one may [more accurately than another] bring out the 1.10.03:053
meaning of those things which have been spoken in parables, and accommodate them to the general 1.10.03:054
scheme of the faith; and explain [with special clearness] the operation and dispensation 1.10.03:055
of God connected with human salvation; and show that God manifested longsuffering in regard 1.10.03:056
to the apostasy of the angels who transgressed, as also with respect to the disobedience of men; 1.10.03:057
and set forth why it is that one and the same God has made some things temporal and some 1.10.03:058
eternal, some heavenly and others earthly; and understand for what reason God, though invisible, 1.10.03:059
manifested Himself to the prophets not under one form, but differently to different individuals; 1.10.03:060
and show why it was that more covenants than one were given to mankind; and teach what 1.10.03:061
was the special character of each of these covenants; and search out for what reason "God hath 1.10.03:062
concluded every man in unbelief, that He may have mercy upon all;" and gratefully describe 1.10.03:063
on what account the Word of God became flesh and suffered; and relate why the advent of the Son 1.10.03:064
of God took place in these last times, that is, in the end, rather than in the beginning [of 1.10.03:065
the world]; and unfold what is contained in the Scriptures concerning the end [itself], and 1.10.03:066
things to come; and not be silent as to how it is that God has made the Gentiles, whose salvation 1.10.03:067
was despaired of, fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers with the saints; and 1.10.03:068
discourse how it is that "this mortal body shall put on immortality, and this corruptible shall 1.10.03:069
put on incorruption;" and proclaim in what sense [God] says, "'That is a people who was not 1.10.03:070
a people; and she is beloved who was not beloved;" and in what sense He says that "more are 1.10.03:080
the children of her that was desolate, than of her who possessed a husband." For in reference 1.10.03:081
to these points, and others of a like nature, the apostle exclaims: "Oh! the depth of the riches 1.10.03:082
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God; how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways 1.10.03:083
past finding out!" But [the superior skill spoken of] is not found in this, that any one should, 1.10.03:084
beyond the Creator and Framer [of the world], conceive of the Enthymesis of an erring IrnL.AH.1.10.03:085
AEon, their mother and his, and should thus proceed to such a pitch of blasphemy; nor does it 1.10.03:086
consist in this, that he should again falsely imagine, as being above this [fancied being], a 1.10.03:087
Pleroma at one time supposed to contain thirty, and at another time an innumerable tribe of 1.10.03:088
AEons, as these teachers who are destitute of truly divine wisdom maintain; while the Catholic 1.10.03:089
Church possesses one and the same faith throughout the whole world, as we have already said. 1.10.03:092
1. Let us now look at the inconsistent opinions of those heretics (for there 1.11.01:001
are some two or three of them), how they do not agree in treating the 1.11.01:002
same points, but alike, in things and names, set forth opinions mutually 1.11.01:003
discordant. The first of them, Valentinus, who adapted the principles of 1.11.01:004
the heresy called "Gnostic" to the peculiar character of his own school, 1.11.01:005
taught as follows: He maintained that there is a certain Dyad (twofold being), 1.11.01:006
who is inexpressible by any name, of whom one part should be called 1.11.01:008
Arrhetus (unspeakable), and the other Sige (silence). But of this Dyad a 1.11.01:009
second was produced, one part of whom he names Pater, and the other Aletheia. 1.11.01:010
From this Tetrad, again, arose Logos and Zoe, Anthropos and Ecclesia. 1.11.01:012
These constitute the primary Ogdoad. He next states that from Logos and 1.11.01:013
Zoe ten powers were produced, as we have before mentioned. But from Anthropos 1.11.01:014
and Ecclesia proceeded twelve, one of which separating from the rest, 1.11.01:015
and falling from its original condition, produced the rest of the universe. 1.11.01:016
He also supposed two beings of the name of Horos, the one of whom has 1.11.01:017
his place between Bythus and the rest of the Pleroma, and divides the created 1.11.01:018
AEons from the uncreated Father, while the other separates their mother 1.11.01:019
from the Pleroma. Christ also was not produced from the AEons within 1.11.01:020
the Pleroma, but was brought forth by the mother who had been excluded from 1.11.01:021
it, in virtue of her remembrance of better things, but not without a kind 1.11.01:023
of shadow. He, indeed, as being masculine, having severed the shadow from 1.11.01:024
himself, returned to the Pleroma; but his mother being left with the 1.11.01:024
shadow, and deprived of her spiritual substance, brought forth another son, IrnL.AH.1.11.01:025
namely, the Demiurge, whom he also styles the supreme ruler of all those 1.11.01:026
things which are subject to him. He also asserts that, along with the Demiurge, 1.11.01:028
there was produced a left-hand power, in which particular he agrees 1.11.01:029
with those falsely called Gnostics, of whom to we have yet to speak. 1.11.01:030
Sometimes, again, he maintains that Jesus was produced from him who was separated 1.11.01:031
from their mother, and united to the rest, that is, from Theletus, 1.11.01:032
sometimes as springing from him who returned into the Pleroma, that is, 1.11.01:033
from Christ; and at other times still as derived from Anthropos and Ecclesia. 1.11.01:035
And he declares that the Holy Spirit was produced by Aletheia for the 1.11.01:036
inspection and fructification of the AEons, by entering invisibly into 1.11.01:037
them, and that, in this way, the AEons brought forth the plants of truth. 1.11.01:038
2. Secundus again affirms that the primary Ogdoad consists of a right hand and a 1.11.02:039
left hand Tetrad, and teaches that the one of these is called light, and the other 1.11.02:040
darkness. But he maintains that the power which separated from the rest, and fell 1.11.02:041
away, did not proceed directly from the thirty AEons, but from their fruits. 1.11.02:042
3. There is another, who is a renowned teacher among them, and who, struggling 1.11.03:044
to reach something more sublime, and to attain to a kind of higher knowledge, has 1.11.03:045
explained the primary Tetrad as follows: There is [he says] a certain Proarche 1.11.03:046
who existed before all things, surpassing all thought, speech, and nomenclature, 1.11.03:047
whom I call Monotes (unity). Together with this Monotes there exists a power, 1.11.03:049
which again I term Henotes (oneness). This Henotes and Monotes, being one, 1.11.03:050
produced, yet not so as to bring forth [apart from themselves, as an emanation] 1.11.03:051
the beginning of all things, an intelligent, unbegotten, and invisible being, 1.11.03:052
which beginning language terms "Monad." With this Monad there co-exists a power 1.11.03:053
of the same essence, which again I term Hen (One). These powers then--Monotes, 1.11.03:054
and Henotes, and Monas, and Hen--produced the remaining company of the AEons. 1.11.03:055
4. Iu, Iu! Pheu, Pheu!--for well may we utter these tragic exclamations at such a pitch 1.11.04:057
of audacity in the coining of names as he has displayed without a blush, in devising 1.11.04:058
a nomenclature for his system of falsehood. For when he declares: There is a certain 1.11.04:059
Proarche before all things, surpassing all thought, whom I call Monoten; and again, 1.11.04:060
with this Monotes there co-exists a power which I also call Henores,--it is most 1.11.04:061
manifest that he confesses the things which have been said to be his own invention, 1.11.04:062
and that he himself has given names to his scheme of things, which had never been 1.11.04:063
previously suggested by any other. It is manifest also, that he himself is the one 1.11.04:064
who has had sufficient audacity to coin these names; so that, unless he had appeared 1.11.04:065
in the world, the truth would still have been destitute of a name. But, in that case, 1.11.04:067
nothing hinders any other, in dealing with the same subject, to affix names after 1.11.04:068
such a fashion as the following: There is a certain Proarche, royal, surpassing all 1.11.04:069
thought, a power existing before every other substance, and extended into space in 1.11.04:071
every direction. But along with it there exists a power which I term a Gourd; and along 1.11.04:072
with this Gourd there exists a power which again I term Utter-Emptiness. This Gourd 1.11.04:073
and Emptiness, since they are one, produced (and yet did not simply produce, so 1.11.04:074
as to be apart from themselves) a fruit, everywhere visible, eatable, and delicious, 1.11.04:075
which fruit-language calls a Cucumber. Along with this Cucumber exists a power of 1.11.04:076
the same essence, which again I call a Melon. These powers, the Gourd, Utter-Emptiness, 1.11.04:078
the Cucumber, and the Melon, brought forth the remaining multitude of the delirious 1.11.04:079
melons of Valentinus. For if it is fitting that that language which is used respecting 1.11.04:080
the universe be transformed to the primary Tetrad, and if any one may assign 1.11.04:081
names at his pleasure, who shall prevent us from adopting these names, as being much 1.11.04:082
more credible [than the others], as well as in general use, and understood by all? 1.11.04:083
5. Others still, however, have called their primary and first-begotten Ogdoad IrnL.AH.1.11.05:085
by the following names: first, Proarche; then Anennoetos; thirdly, Arrhetos; 1.11.05:086
and fourthly, Aoratos. Then, from the first, Proarche, there was 1.11.05:087
produced, in the first and fifth place, Arche; from Anennoetos, in the second 1.11.05:088
and sixth place, Acataleptos; from Arrhetos, in the third and seventh 1.11.05:089
place, Anonomastos; and from Aoratos, in the fourth and eighth place, Agennetos. 1.11.05:090
This is the Pleroma of the first Ogdoad. They maintain that these 1.11.05:093
powers were anterior to Bythus and Sige, that they may appear more perfect 1.11.05:094
than the perfect, and more knowing than the very Gnostics To. these persons 1.11.05:095
one may justly exclaim: "O ye trifling sophists!" since, even respecting 1.11.05:097
Bythus himself, there are among them many and discordant opinions. 1.11.05:098
For some/declare him to be without a consort, and neither male nor female, IrnL.AH.1.11.05:099
and, in fact, nothing at all; while others affirm him to be masculo-feminine, 1.11.05:100
assigning to him the nature of a hermaphrodite; others, again, allot 1.11.05:101
Sige to him as a spouse, that thus may be formed the first conjunction. 1.11.05:103
1. But the followers of Ptolemy say that he [Bythos] has two consorts, which they 1.12.01:001
also name Diatheses (affections), viz., Ennoae and Thelesis. For, as they affirm, 1.12.01:002
he first conceived the thought of producing something, and then willed to that 1.12.01:003
effect. Wherefore, again, these two affections, or powers, Ennoea and Thelesis, having 1.12.01:005
intercourse, as it were, between themselves, the production of Monogenes and 1.12.01:006
Aletheia took place according to conjunction. These two came forth as types and 1.12.01:007
images of the two affections of the Father,--visible representations of those that 1.12.01:008
were invisible,--Nous (i.e., Monogenes) of Thelesis, and Aletheia of Ennoea, and 1.12.01:009
accordingly the image resulting from Thelesis was masculine, while that from Ennoea IrnL.AH.1.12.01:010
was feminine. Thus Thelesis (will) became, as it were, a faculty of Ennoea (thought). 1.12.01:011
For Ennoea continually yearned after offspring; but she could not of herself IrnL.AH.1.12.01:013
bring forth that which she desired. But when the power of Thelesis (the faculty 1.12.01:014
of will) came upon her, then she brought forth that on which she had brooded. 1.12.01:015
2. These fancied beings (like the Jove of Homer, who is represented as passing an anxious 1.12.02:017
sleepless night in devising plans for honouring Achilles and destroying numbers of 1.12.02:018
the Greeks) will not appear to you, my dear friend, to be possessed of greater knowledge 1.12.02:019
than He who is the God of the universe. He, as soon as He thinks, also performs what IrnL.AH.1.12.02:020
He has willed; and as soon as He wills, also thinks that which He has willed; then thinking 1.12.02:021
when He wills, and then willing when He thinks, since He is all thought, [all will, 1.12.02:022
all mind, all light,] all eye, all ear, the one entire fountain of all good things. 1.12.02:023
3. Those of them, however, who are deemed more skilful than the persons who have just been mentioned, 1.12.03:027
say that the first Ogdoad was not produced gradually, so that one AEon was sent forth by another, 1.12.03:028
but that all the AEons were brought into existence at once by Propator and his Ennoea. He (Colorbasus) 1.12.03:029
affirms this as confidently as if he had assisted at their birth. Accordingly, he and 1.12.03:030
his followers maintain that Anthropos and Ecclesia were not produced, as others hold, from Logos 1.12.03:031
and Zoe; but, on the contrary, Logos and Zoe from Anthropos and Ecclesia. But they express this in 1.12.03:032
another form, as follows: When the Propator conceived the thought of producing something, he received 1.12.03:033
the name of Father. But because what he did produce was true, it was named Aletheia. Again, 1.12.03:034
when he wished to reveal himself, this was termed Anthropos. Finally, when he produced those whom 1.12.03:035
he had previously thought of, these were named Ecclesia. Anthropos, by speaking, formed Logos: 1.12.03:036
this is the first-born son. But Zoe followed upon Logos; and thus the first Ogdoad was completed. 1.12.03:037
4. They have much contention also among themselves respecting the Saviour. For some maintain 1.12.04:042
that he was formed out of all; wherefore also he was called Eudocetos, because the 1.12.04:043
whole Pleroma was well pleased through him to glorify the Father. But others assert that 1.12.04:044
he was produced from those ten AEons alone who sprung from Logos and Zoe, and that on 1.12.04:045
this account he was called Logos and Zoe, thus preserving the ancestral names. Others, again, 1.12.04:046
affirm that he had his being from those twelve AEons who were the offspring of Anthropos 1.12.04:048
and Ecclesia; and on this account he acknowledges himself the Son of man, as being IrnL.AH.1.12.04:049
a descendant of Anthropos. Others still, assert that he was produced by Christ and the IrnL.AH.1.12.04:051
Holy Spirit, who were brought forth for the security of the Pleroma; and that on this 1.12.04:052
account he was called Christ, thus preserving the appellation of the Father, by whom he 1.12.04:053
was produced. And there are yet others among them who declare that the Propator of the 1.12.04:055
whole, Proarche, and Proanennoetos is called Anthropos; and that this is the great and abstruse 1.12.04:056
mystery, namely, that the Power which is above all others, and contains all in 1.12.04:057
his embrace, is termed Anthropos; hence does the Saviour style himself the "Son of man." 1.12.04:058
1. But there is another among these heretics, Marcus by name, who boasts himself as having 1.13.01:001
improved upon his master. He is a perfect adept in magical impostures, and by this 1.13.01:002
means drawing away a great number of men, and not a few women, he has induced them to join 1.13.01:003
themselves to him, as to one who is possessed of the greatest knowledge and perfection, 1.13.01:004
and who has received the highest power from the invisible and ineffable regions above. 1.13.01:005
Thus it appears as if he really were the precursor of Antichrist. For, joining the 1.13.01:006
buffooneries of Anaxilaus to the craftiness of the magi, as they are called, he is regarded 1.13.01:007
by his senseless and cracked-brain followers as working miracles by these means. 1.13.01:008
2. Pretending to consecrate cups mixed with wine, and protracting to great length the word 1.13.02:012
of invocation, he contrives to give them a purple and reddish colour, so that Charis, who 1.13.02:013
is one of those that are superior to all things, should be thought to drop her own blood into 1.13.02:014
that cup through means of his invocation, and that thus those who are present should be 1.13.02:015
led to rejoice to taste of that cup, in order that, by so doing, the Charis, who is set forth IrnL.AH.1.13.02:016
by this magician, may also flow into them. Again, handing mixed cups to the women, he 1.13.02:018
bids them consecrate these in his presence. When this has been done, he himself produces 1.13.02:019
another cup of much larger size than that which the deluded woman has consecrated,) and pouting 1.13.02:020
from the smaller one consecrated by the woman into that which has been brought forward 1.13.02:021
by himself, he at the same time pronounces these words: "May that Chaffs who is before all 1.13.02:022
things, and who transcends all knowledge and speech, fill thine inner man, and multiply 1.13.02:023
in thee her own knowledge, by sowing the grain of mustard seed in thee as in good soil." Repeating 1.13.02:024
certain other like words, and thus goading on the wretched woman [to madness], he 1.13.02:025
then appears a worker of wonders when the large cup is seen to have been filled out of the 1.13.02:026
small one, so as even to overflow by what has been obtained from it. By accomplishing several 1.13.02:027
other similar things, he has completely deceived many, and drawn them away after him. 1.13.02:031
3. It appears probable enough that this man possesses a demon as his familiar spirit, IrnL.AH.1.13.03:033
by means of whom he seems able to prophesy, and also enables as many as he counts 1.13.03:034
worthy to be partakers of his Charis themselves to prophesy. He devotes himself 1.13.03:035
especially to women, and those such as are well-bred, and elegantly attired, IrnL.AH.1.13.03:036
and of great wealth, whom he frequently seeks to draw after him, by addressing 1.13.03:037
them in such seductive words as these: "I am eager to make thee a partaker of my 1.13.03:038
Charis, since the Father of all doth continually behold thy angel before His face. 1.13.03:039
Now the place of thy angel is among us: it behoves us to become one. Receive first 1.13.03:041
from me and by me [the gift of] Chaffs. Adorn thyself as a bride who is expecting 1.13.03:042
her bridegroom, that thou mayest be what I am, and I what thou art. Establish 1.13.03:043
the germ of light in thy nuptial chamber. Receive from me a spouse, and become 1.13.03:044
receptive of him, while thou art received by him. Behold Charis has descended upon 1.13.03:045
thee; open thy mouth and prophesy." On the woman replying," I have never at any 1.13.03:046
time prophesied, nor do I know how to prophesy;" then engaging, for the second 1.13.03:047
time, in certain invocations, so as to astound his deluded victim, he says to her," 1.13.03:048
Open thy mouth, speak whatsoever occurs to thee, and thou shalt prophesy." She 1.13.03:049
then, vainly puffed up and elated by these words, and greatly excited in soul 1.13.03:051
by the expectation that it is herself who is to prophesy, her heart beating violently 1.13.03:052
[from emotion], reaches the requisite pitch of audacity, and idly as well as IrnL.AH.1.13.03:053
impudently utters some nonsense as it happens. to occur to her, such as might be 1.13.03:054
expected from one heated by an empty spirit. (Referring to this, one superior IrnL.AH.1.13.03:055
to me has observed, that the soul is both audacious and impudent when heated with 1.13.03:056
empty air.) Henceforth she reckons herself a prophetess, and expresses her thanks 1.13.03:058
to Marcus for having imparted to her of his own Chaffs. She then makes the effort 1.13.03:059
to reward him, not only by the gift of her possessions (in which way he has collected 1.13.03:060
a very large fortune), but also by yielding up to him her person, desiring 1.13.03:061
in every way to be united to him, that she may become altogether one with him. 1.13.03:062
4. But already some of the most faithful women, possessed of the fear of God, and not IrnL.AH.1.13.04:065
being deceived (whom, nevertheless, he did his best to seduce like the rest by bidding 1.13.04:066
them prophesy), abhorring and execrating him, have withdrawn from such a vile company 1.13.04:067
of revellers. This they have done, as being well aware that the gift of prophecy 1.13.04:068
is not conferred on men by Marcus, the magician, but that only those to whom God sends 1.13.04:069
His grace from above possess the divinely-bestowed power of prophesying; and then IrnL.AH.1.13.04:070
they speak where and when God pleases, and not when Marcus orders them to do so. For 1.13.04:071
that which commands is greater and of higher authority than that which is commanded, IrnL.AH.1.13.04:075
inasmuch as the former rules, while the latter is in a state of subjection. If, then, 1.13.04:076
Marcus, or any one else, does command,--as these are accustomed continually at their 1.13.04:077
feasts to play at drawing lots, and [in accordance with the lot] to command one another IrnL.AH.1.13.04:078
to prophesy, giving forth as oracles what is in harmony with their own desires,--it 1.13.04:079
will follow that he who commands is greater and of higher authority than the prophetic IrnL.AH.1.13.04:080
spirit, though he is but a man, which is impossible. But such spirits as are commanded 1.13.04:082
by these men, and speak when they desire it, are earthly and weak, audacious 1.13.04:083
and impudent, sent forth by Satan for the seduction and perdition of those who do not 1.13.04:084
hold fast that well-compacted faith which they received at first through the Church. 1.13.04:085
5. Moreover, that this Marcus compounds philters and love-potions, in order to 1.13.05:088
insult the persons of some of these women, if not of all, those of them who 1.13.05:089
have returned to the Church of God--a thing which frequently occurs--have acknowledged, 1.13.05:090
confessing, too, that they have been defiled by him, and that they 1.13.05:090
were filled with a burning passion towards him. A sad example of this occurred 1.13.05:091
in the case of a certain Asiatic, one of our deacons, who had received him 1.13.05:092
(Marcus) into his house. His wife, a woman of remarkable beauty, fell a victim 1.13.05:093
both in mind and body to this magician, and, for a long time, travelled about IrnL.AH.1.13.05:094
with him. At last, when, with no small difficulty, the brethren had converted 1.13.05:095
her, she spent her whole time in the exercise of public confession, weeping IrnL.AH.1.13.05:096
over and lamenting the defilement which she had received from this magician. 1.13.05:097
6. Some of his disciples, too, addicting themselves to the same practices, have deceived many silly 1.13.06:102
women, and defiled them. They proclaim themselves as being "perfect," so that no one can be compared 1.13.06:103
to them with respect to the immensity of their knowledge, nor even were you to mention Paul or Peter, 1.13.06:104
or any other of the apostles. They assert that they themselves know more than all others, and 1.13.06:105
that they alone have imbibed the greatness of the knowledge of that power which is unspeakable. They 1.13.06:106
also maintain that they have attained to a height above all power, and that therefore they are free 1.13.06:109
in every respect to act as they please, having no one to fear in anything. For they affirm, that 1.13.06:110
because of the "Redemption" it has come to pass that they can neither be apprehended, nor even seen 1.13.06:111
by the judge. But even if he should happen to lay hold upon them, then they might simply repeat 1.13.06:112
these words, while standing in his presence along with the "Redemption:" "O thou, who sittest beside 1.13.06:113
God, and the mystical, eternal Sige, thou through whom the angels (mightiness), who continually 1.13.06:114
behold the face of the Father, having thee as their guide and introducer, do derive their forms from 1.13.06:115
above, which she in the greatness of her daring inspiring with mind on account of the goodness of 1.13.06:116
the Propator, produced us as their images, having her mind then intent upon the things above, as 1.13.06:117
in a dream,--behold, the judge is at hand, and the crier orders me to make my defence. But do thou, 1.13.06:118
as being acquainted with the affairs of both, present the cause of both of us to the judge, inasmuch 1.13.06:119
as it is in reality but one cause." Now, as soon as the Mother hears these words, she puts the Homeric 1.13.06:123
helmet of Pluto upon them, so that they may invisibly escape the judge. And then she immediately 1.13.06:124
catches them up, conducts them into the bridal chamber, and hands them over to their consorts. 1.13.06:125
7. Such are the words and deeds by which, in our own district of the Rhone, they have IrnL.AH.1.13.07:127
deluded many women, who have their consciences seared as with a hot iron. Some of 1.13.07:128
them, indeed, make a public confession of their sins; but others of them are ashamed 1.13.07:129
to do this, and in a tacit kind of way, despairing of [attaining to] the life 1.13.07:130
of God, have, some of them, apostatized altogether; while others hesitate between the 1.13.07:131
two courses, and incur that which is implied in the proverb, "neither without nor 1.13.07:132
within;" possessing this as the fruit from the seed of the children of knowledge. 1.13.07:133
1. This Marcus then, declaring that he alone was the matrix and receptacle 1.14.01:001
of the Sige of Colorbasus, inasmuch as he was only-begotten, has brought to 1.14.01:002
the birth in some such way as follows that which was committed to him of 1.14.01:003
the defective Euthymesis. He declares that the infinitely exalted Tetrad descended 1.14.01:004
upon him from the invisible and indescribable places in the form of 1.14.01:005
a woman (for the world could not have borne it coming in its male form), 1.14.01:006
and expounded to him alone its own nature, and the origin of all things, which 1.14.01:007
it had never before revealed to any one either of gods or men. This was 1.14.01:008
done in the following terms: When first the unoriginated, inconceivable Father, 1.14.01:009
who is without material substance, and is neither male nor female, willed 1.14.01:010
to bring forth that which is ineffable to Him, and to endow with form 1.14.01:011
that which is invisible, He opened His mouth, and sent forth the Word similar 1.14.01:012
to Himself, who, standing near, showed Him what He Himself was, inasmuch 1.14.01:016
as He had been manifested in the form of that which was invisible. Moreover, 1.14.01:017
the pronunciation of His name took place as follows:--He spoke the first 1.14.01:018
word of it, which was the beginning [of all the rest], and that utterance 1.14.01:019
consisted of four letters. He added the second, and this also consisted of 1.14.01:020
four letters. Next He uttered the third, and this again embraced ten letters. 1.14.01:021
Finally, He pronounced the fourth, which was composed of twelve letters. 1.14.01:022
Thus took place the enunciation of the whole name, consisting of thirty 1.14.01:023
letters, and four distinct utterances. Each of these elements has its own 1.14.01:024
peculiar letters, and character, and pronunciation, and forms, and images, 1.14.01:025
and there is not one of them that perceives the shape of that [utterance] 1.14.01:026
of which it is an element. Neither does any one know itself, nor is it acquainted 1.14.01:028
with the pronunciation of its neighbour, but each one imagines that 1.14.01:029
by its own utterance it does in fact name the whole. For while every one 1.14.01:030
of them is a part of the whole, it imagines its own sound to be the whole name, 1.14.01:031
and does not leave off sounding until, by its own utterance, it has reached 1.14.01:032
the last letter of each of the elements. This teacher declares that 1.14.01:033
the restitution of all things will take place, when all these, mixing into 1.14.01:034
one letter, shall utter one and the same sound. He imagines that the emblem 1.14.01:035
of this utterance is found in Amen, which we pronounce in concert. The diverse 1.14.01:036
sounds (he adds) are those which give form to that AEon who is without 1.14.01:038
material substance and unbegotten, and these, again, are the forms which 1.14.01:039
the Lord has called angels, who continually behold the face of the Father. 1.14.01:040
2. Those names of the elements which may be told, and are common, he has called AEons, 1.14.02:042
and words, and roots, and seeds, and fulnesses, and fruits. He asserts that each of these, 1.14.02:043
and all that is peculiar to every one of them, is to be understood as contained 1.14.02:044
in the name Ecclesia. Of these elements, the last letter of the last one uttered its voice, 1.14.02:046
and this sound going forth generated its own elements after the image of the [other] 1.14.02:047
elements, by which he affirms, that both the things here below were arranged into 1.14.02:048
the order they occupy, and those that preceded them were called into existence. He also 1.14.02:050
maintains that the letter itself, the sound of which followed that sound below, was 1.14.02:051
received up again by the syllable to which it belonged, in order to the completion of 1.14.02:052
the whole, but that the sound remained below as if cast outside. But the element itself IrnL.AH.1.14.02:054
from which the letter with its special pronunciation descended to that below, he affirms IrnL.AH.1.14.02:055
to consist of thirty letters, while each of these letters, again, contains other 1.14.02:056
letters in itself, by means of which the name of the letter is expressed. And thus, again, 1.14.02:057
others are named by other letters, and others still by others, so that the multitude 1.14.02:058
of letters swells out into infinitude. You may more clearly understand what I mean 1.14.02:060
by the following example:--The word Delta contains five letters, viz., D, E, L, T, A: 1.14.02:061
these letters again, are written by other letters, and others still by others. If, then, 1.14.02:062
the entire composition of the word Delta [when thus analyzed] runs out into infinitude, IrnL.AH.1.14.02:063
letters continually generating other letters, and following one another in constant 1.14.02:064
succession, how much raster than that [one] word is the [entire] ocean of letters! 1.14.02:065
And if even one letter be thus infinite, just consider the immensity of the letters in 1.14.02:066
the entire name; out of which the Sige of Marcus has taught us the Propator is composed. 1.14.02:067
For which reason the Father, knowing the incomprehensibleness of His own nature, assigned 1.14.02:069
to the elements which He also terms AEons, [the power] of each one uttering its 1.14.02:070
own enunciation, because no one of them was capable by itself of uttering the whole. IrnL.AH.1.14.02:071
3.Moreover, the Tetrad, explaining these things to him more fully, said:--I 1.14.03:073
wish to show thee Aletheia (Truth) herself; for I have brought her down from IrnL.AH.1.14.03:074
the dwellings above, that thou mayest see her without a veil, and understand 1.14.03:075
her beauty--that thou mayest also hear her speaking, and admire her 1.14.03:076
wisdom. Behold, then, her head on high, Alpha and Omega; her neck, Beta and 1.14.03:078
Psi; her shoulders with her hands, Gamma and Chi; her breast, Delta and 1.14.03:079
Phi; her diaphragm, Epsilon and Upsilon; her back, Zeta and Tau; her belly, IrnL.AH.1.14.03:080
Eta and Sigma; her thighs, Theta and Rho; her knees, Iota and Pi; her legs, IrnL.AH.1.14.03:081
Kappa and Omicron; her ancles, Lambda and Xi; her feet, Mu and Nu. Such 1.14.03:082
is the body of Truth, according to this magician, such the figure of the element, 1.14.03:083
such the character of the letter. And he calls this element Anthropos 1.14.03:084
(Man), and says that is the fountain of all speech, and the beginning 1.14.03:085
of all sound, and the expression of all that is unspeakable, and the mouth 1.14.03:086
of the silent Sige. This indeed is the body of Truth. But do thou, elevating 1.14.03:087
the thoughts of thy mind on high, listen from the mouth of Truth to the 1.14.03:087
self-begotten Word, who is also the dispenser of the bounty of the Father. 1.14.03:088
4. When she (the Tetrad) had spoken these things, Aletheia looked at him, opened her IrnL.AH.1.14.04:090
mouth, and uttered a word. That word was a name, and the name was this one which we 1.14.04:091
do know and speak of, viz., Christ Jesus. When she had uttered this name, she at once 1.14.04:092
relapsed into silence. And as Marcus waited in the expectation that she would say something 1.14.04:094
more, the Tetrad again came forward and said, "Thou hast reckoned as contemptible IrnL.AH.1.14.04:095
that word which thou hast heard from the mouth of Aletheia. This which thou knowest 1.14.04:096
and seemest to possess, is not an ancient name. For thou possessest the sound of 1.14.04:097
it merely, whilst thou art ignorant of its power. For Jesus {hsous} is a name arithmetically 1.14.04:098
symbolical, consisting of six letters, and is known by all those that belong IrnL.AH.1.14.04:099
to the called. But that which is among the AEons of the Pleroma consists of many parts, 1.14.04:100
and is of another form and shape, and is known by those [angels] who are joined 1.14.04:101
in affinity with Him, and whose figures (mightinesses) are always present with Him. 1.14.04:102
5. Know, then, that the four-and-twenty letters which you possess are symbolical 1.14.05:106
emanations of the three powers that contain the entire number of the elements 1.14.05:107
above. For you are to reckon thus--that the nine mute letters are [the 1.14.05:108
images] of Pater and Aletheia, because they are without voice, that is, of 1.14.05:109
such a nature as cannot be uttered or pronounced. But the semi-vowels represent 1.14.05:110
Logos and Zoe, because they are, as it were, midway between the consonants 1.14.05:111
and the vowels, partaking of the nature of both. The vowels, again, are representative IrnL.AH.1.14.05:112
of Anthropos and Ecclesia, inasmuch as a voice proceeding from 1.14.05:113
Anthropos gave being to them all; for the sound of the voice imparted to them 1.14.05:115
form. Thus, then, Logos and Zoe possess eight [of these letters]; Anthropos IrnL.AH.1.14.05:116
and Ecclesia seven; and Pater and Aletheia nine. But since the number allotted 1.14.05:118
to each was unequal, He who existed in the Father came down, having been 1.14.05:119
specially sent by Him from whom He was separated, for the rectification of what 1.14.05:119
had taken place, that the unity of the Pleromas, being endowed with equality, 1.14.05:120
might develop in all that one power which flows from all. Thus that division IrnL.AH.1.14.05:121
which had only seven letters, received the power of eight, and the three 1.14.05:124
sets were rendered alike in point of number, all becoming Ogdoads; which 1.14.05:125
three, when brought together, constitute the number four-and-twenty. The three 1.14.05:126
elements, too (which he declares to exist in conjunction with three powers, 1.14.05:127
and thus form the six from which have flowed the twenty-four letters), being IrnL.AH.1.14.05:128
quadrupled by the word of the ineffable Tetrad, give rise to the same number IrnL.AH.1.14.05:129
with them; and these elements he maintains to belong to Him who cannot be 1.14.05:130
named. These, again, were endowed by the three powers with a resemblance to 1.14.05:132
Him who is invisible. And he says that those letters which we call double are 1.14.05:133
the images of the images of these elements; and if these be added to the four-and-twenty 1.14.05:134
letters, by the force of analogy they form the number thirty. 1.14.05:135
6. He asserts that the fruit of this arrangement and analogy has been manifested in the likeness 1.14.06:138
of an image, namely, Him who, after six days, ascended into the mountain along with IrnL.AH.1.14.06:139
three others, and then became one of six (the sixth), in which character He descended and 1.14.06:140
was contained in the Hebdomad, since He was the illustrious Ogdoad, and contained in Himself 1.14.06:141
the entire number of the elements, which the descent of the dove (who is Alpha and 1.14.06:142
Omega) made clearly manifest, when He came to be baptized; for the number of the dove is 1.14.06:143
eight hundred and one. And for this reason did Moses declare that man was formed on the sixth 1.14.06:145
day; and then, again, according to arrangement, it was on the sixth day, which is the 1.14.06:146
preparation, that the last man appeared, for the regeneration of the first, Of this arrangement, 1.14.06:147
both the beginning and the end were formed at that sixth hour, at which He was nailed IrnL.AH.1.14.06:148
to the tree. For that perfect being Nous, knowing that the number six had the power 1.14.06:150
both of formation and regeneration, declared to the children of light, that regeneration which 1.14.06:151
has been wrought out by Him who appeared as the Episemon in regard to that number. Whence 1.14.06:152
also he declares it is that the double letters contain the Episemon number; for this 1.14.06:154
Episemon, when joined to the twenty-four elements, completed the name of thirty letters. 1.14.06:155
7. He employed as his instrument, as the Sige of Marcus declares, the power of seven letters, 1.14.07:158
in order that the fruit of the independent will [of Achamoth] might be revealed. "Consider 1.14.07:159
this present Episemon," she says--"Him who was formed after the [original] Episemon, 1.14.07:160
as being, as it were, divided or cut into two parts, and remaining outside; who, by 1.14.07:161
His own power and wisdom, through means of that which had been produced by Himself, gave 1.14.07:162
life to this world, consisting of seven powers, after the likeness of the power of the 1.14.07:163
Hebdomad, and so formed it, that it is the soul of everything visible. And He indeed uses 1.14.07:164
this work Himself as if it had been formed by His own free will; but the rest, as being 1.14.07:167
images of what cannot be [fully] imitated, are subservient to the Enthymesis of the 1.14.07:168
mother. And the first heaven indeed pronounces Alpha, the next to this Epsilon, the third 1.14.07:170
Eta, the fourth, which is also in the midst of the seven, utters the sound of Iota, the 1.14.07:171
fifth Omicron, the sixth Upsilon, the seventh, which is also the fourth from the middle, IrnL.AH.1.14.07:172
utters the elegant Omega,"--as the Sige of Marcus, talking a deal of nonsense, but uttering 1.14.07:173
no word of truth, confidently asserts. "And these powers," she adds, "being all 1.14.07:174
simultaneously clasped in each other's embrace, do sound out the glory of Him by whom they 1.14.07:176
were produced; and the glory of that sound is transmitted upwards to the Propator." She 1.14.07:177
asserts, moreover, that "the sound of this uttering of praise, having been wafted to 1.14.07:179
the earth, has become the Framer and the Parent of those things which are on the earth." 1.14.07:180
8. He instances, in proof of this, the case of infants who have just been 1.14.08:182
born, the cry of whom, as soon as they have issued from the womb, is in 1.14.08:183
accordance with the sound of every one of these elements. As, then, he 1.14.08:184
says, the seven powers glorify the Word, so also does the complaining soul 1.14.08:185
of infants. For this reason, too, David said: "Out of the mouth of babes 1.14.08:186
and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise;" and again: "The heavens 1.14.08:187
declare the glory of God." Hence also it comes to pass, that when the soul 1.14.08:188
is involved in difficulties and distresses, for its own relief it calls 1.14.08:189
out, "Oh" {W}, in honour of the letter in question, so that its cognate 1.14.08:190
soul above may recognise [its distress], and send down to it relief. 1.14.08:191
9. Thus it is, that in regard to the whole name, which consists of thirty letters, 1.14.09:194
and Bythus, who receives his increase from the letters of this [name], and, moreover, 1.14.09:195
the body of Aletheia, which is composed of twelve members, each of which consists 1.14.09:196
of two letters, and the voice which she uttered without having spoken at all, IrnL.AH.1.14.09:197
and in regard to the analysis of that name which cannot be expressed in words, and 1.14.09:198
the soul of the world and of man, according as they possess that arrangement, which 1.14.09:199
is after the image [of things above], he has uttered his nonsensical opinions. It 1.14.09:202
remains that I relate how the Tetrad showed him from the names a power equal in 1.14.09:203
number; so that nothing, my friend, which I have received as spoken by him, may remain 1.14.09:204
unknown to thee; and thus thy request, often proposed to me, may be fulfilled. 1.14.09:205
1. The all-wise Sige then announced the production of the four-and-twenty 1.15.01:001
elements to him as follows:--Along with Monotes there coexisted Henotes, 1.15.01:002
from which sprang two productions, as we have remarked above, Monas and 1.15.01:003
Hen, which, added to the other two, make four, for twice two are Four. And 1.15.01:004
again, two and four, when added together, exhibit the number six. And 1.15.01:005
further, these six being quadrupled, give rise to the twenty-four forms. 1.15.01:006
And the names of the first Tetrad, which are understood to be most holy, 1.15.01:008
and not capable of being expressed in words, are known by the Son alone, 1.15.01:009
while the father also knows what they are. The other names which are to 1.15.01:010
be uttered with respect, and faith, and reverence, are, according to him, 1.15.01:011
Arrhetos and Sige, Pater and Aletheia. Now the entire number of this Tetrad IrnL.AH.1.15.01:012
amounts to four-and-twenty letters; for the name Arrhetos contains in 1.15.01:013
itself seven letters, Seige five, Pater five, and Aletheia seven. If all 1.15.01:014
these be added together--twice five, and twice seven--they complete the 1.15.01:015
number twenty-four. In like manner, also, the second Tetrad, Logos and Zoe, 1.15.01:018
Anthropos and Ecclesia, reveal the same number of elements. Moreover, 1.15.01:019
that name of the Saviour which may be pronounced, viz., Jesus {hsous}, 1.15.01:020
consists of six letters, but His unutterable name comprises for-and-twenty 1.15.01:021
letters. The name Christ the Son {uios} {Xristos} comprises twelve letters, 1.15.01:022
but that which is unpronounceable in Christ contains thirty letters. 1.15.01:023
And for this reason he declares that fie is Alpha and Omega, that he may 1.15.01:024
indicate the dove, inasmuch as that bird has this number [in its name]. 1.15.01:025
2. But Jesus, he affirms, has the following unspeakable origin. From the mother 1.15.02:026
of all things, that is, the first Tetrad; there came forth the second Tetrad, after 1.15.02:027
the manner of a daughter; and thus an Ogdoad was formed, from which, again, 1.15.02:028
a Decad proceeded: thus was produced a Decad and an Ogdoad. The Decad, then, being 1.15.02:029
joined with the Ogdoad, and multiplying it ten times, gave rise to the number 1.15.02:030
eighty; and, again, multiplying eighty ten times, produced the number eight hundred. 1.15.02:031
Thus, then, the whole number of the letters proceeding from the Ogdoad [multiplied] 1.15.02:032
into the Decad, is eight hundred and eighty-eight. This is the name 1.15.02:033
of Jesus; for this name, if you reckon up the numerical value of the letters, amounts 1.15.02:035
to eight hundred and eighty-eight. Thus, then, you have a clear statement 1.15.02:037
of their opinion as to the origin of the supercelestial Jesus. Wherefore, also, 1.15.02:038
the alphabet of the Greeks contains eight Monads, eight Decads, and eight Hecatads, IrnL.AH.1.15.02:039
which present the number eight hundred and eighty-eight, that is, Jesus, who 1.15.02:040
is formed of all numbers; and on this account He is called Alpha and Omega, indicating 1.15.02:041
His origin from all. And, again, they put the matter thus: If the first 1.15.02:042
Tetrad be added up according to the progression of number, the number ten appears. 1.15.02:043
For one, and two, and three, and four, when added together, form ten; and this, 1.15.02:044
as they will have it, is Jesus. Moreover, Chreistus, he says, being a word of 1.15.02:046
eight letters, indicates the first Ogdoad, and this, when multiplied by ten, gives 1.15.02:047
birth to Jesus (888). And Christ the Son, he says, is also spoken of, that 1.15.02:049
is, the Duodecad. For the name Son, {uios} contains four letters, and Christ (Chreistus) 1.15.02:050
eight, which, being combined, point out the greatness of the Duodecad. 1.15.02:051
But, he alleges, before the Episemon of this name appeared, that is Jesus the Son, 1.15.02:052
mankind were involved in great ignorance and error. But when this name of six 1.15.02:053
letters was manifested (the person bearing it clothing Himself in flesh, that He 1.15.02:054
might come under the apprehension of man's senses, and having in Himself these 1.15.02:055
six and twenty-four letters), then, becoming acquainted with Him, they ceased 1.15.02:056
from their ignorance, and passed from death unto life, this name serving as their 1.15.02:057
guide to the Father of truth. For the Father of all had resolved to put an end IrnL.AH.1.15.02:061
to ignorance, and to destroy death. But this abolishing of ignorance was just the 1.15.02:062
knowledge of Him. And therefore that man (Anthropos) was chosen according to 1.15.02:063
His will, having been formed after the image of the [corresponding] power above. 1.15.02:064
3. As to the AEons, they proceeded from the Tetrad, and in that Tetrad were Anthropos IrnL.AH.1.15.03:067
and Ecclesia, Logos and Zoe. The powers, then, he declares, who emanated from 1.15.03:068
these, generated that Jesus who appeared upon the earth. The angel Gabriel took 1.15.03:069
the place of Logos, the Holy Spirit that of Zoe, the Power of the Highest that IrnL.AH.1.15.03:070
of Anthropos, while the Virgin pointed out the place of Ecclesia. And thus, by 1.15.03:071
a special dispensation, there was generated by Him, through Mary, that man, whom, 1.15.03:072
as He passed through the womb, the Father of all chose to [obtain] the knowledge 1.15.03:073
of Himself by means of the Word. And on His coming to the water [of baptism], 1.15.03:073
there descended on Him, in the form of a dove, that Being who had formerly ascended IrnL.AH.1.15.03:074
on high, and completed the twelfth number, in whom there existed the seed of 1.15.03:077
those who were produced contemporaneously with Himself, and who descended and 1.15.03:078
ascended along with Him. Moreover, he maintains that power which descended was the 1.15.03:079
seed of the Father, which had in itself both the Father and the Son, as well IrnL.AH.1.15.03:081
as that power of Sige which is known by means of them, but cannot be expressed in 1.15.03:082
language, and also all the AEons. And this was that Spirit who spoke by the mouth 1.15.03:083
of Jesus, and who confessed that He was the son of Man as well as revealed the 1.15.03:084
Father, and who, having descended into Jesus, was made one with Him. And he says IrnL.AH.1.15.03:085
that the Saviour formed by special dispensation did indeed destroy death, but 1.15.03:087
that Christ made known the Father. He maintains, therefore, that Jesus is the name 1.15.03:088
of that man formed by a special dispensation, and that He was formed after the 1.15.03:089
likeness and form of that [heavenly] Anthropos, who was about to descend upon 1.15.03:090
Him. After He had received that AEon, He possessed Anthropos himself, and Loges 1.15.03:091
himself, and Pater, and Arrhetus, and Sige, and Aletheia, and Ecclesia, and Zoe. 1.15.03:092
4. Such ravings, we may now well say, go beyond Iu, Iu, Pheu, Pheu, and every kind IrnL.AH.1.15.04:095
of tragic exclamation or utterance of misery. For who would not detest one who is 1.15.04:096
the wretched centriver of such audacious falsehoods, when he perceives the truth 1.15.04:097
turned by Marcus into a mere image, and that punctured all over with the letters 1.15.04:098
of the alphabet? The Greeks confess that they first received sixteen letters from 1.15.04:099
Cadmus, and that but recently, as compared with the beginning, [the vast antiquity 1.15.04:100
of which is implied] in the common proverb: "Yesterday and before;" and afterwards, 1.15.04:101
in the course of time, they themselves invented at one period the aspirates, and 1.15.04:102
at another the double letters, while, last of all, they say Palamedes added the 1.15.04:103
long letters to the former. Was it so, then, that until these things took place among 1.15.04:105
the Greeks, truth had no existence? For, according to thee, Marcus, the body 1.15.04:106
of truth is posterior to Cadmus and those who preceded him--posterior also to those 1.15.04:107
who added the rest of the letters--posterior even to thyself! For thou alone hast 1.15.04:108
formed that which is called by thee the truth into an [outward, visible] image. IrnL.AH.1.15.04:109
5. But who will tolerate thy nonsensical Sige, who names Him that cannot be named, and expounds 1.15.05:113
the nature of Him that is unspeakable, and searches out Him that is unsearchable, and declares 1.15.05:114
that He whom thou maintainest to be destitute of body and form, opened His mouth and sent 1.15.05:115
forth the Word, as if He were included among organized beings; and that His Word, while like 1.15.05:116
to His Author, and bearing the image of the invisible, nevertheless consisted of thirty 1.15.05:117
elements and four syllables? It will follow, then, according to thy theory, that the Father of 1.15.05:118
all, in accordance with the likeness of the Word, consists of thirty elements and four syllables! 1.15.05:121
Or, again, who will tolerate thee in thy juggling with forms and numbers,--at one time 1.15.05:122
thirty, at another twenty-four, and at another, again, only six,--whilst thou shuttest up 1.15.05:123
[in these] the Word of God, the Founder, and Framer, and Maker of all things; and then, again, 1.15.05:124
cutting Him up piecemeal into four syllables and thirty elements; and bringing down the Lord 1.15.05:125
of all who founded the heavens to the number eight hundred and eighty-eight, so that He should 1.15.05:126
be similar to the alphabet; and subdividing the Father, who cannot be contained, but contains 1.15.05:127
all things, into a Tetrad, and an Ogdoad, and a Decad, and a Duodecad; and by such multiplications, 1.15.05:128
setting forth the unspeakable and inconceivable nature of the Father, as thou thyself 1.15.05:129
declarest it to be? And showing thyself a very Daedalus for evil invention, and the wicked 1.15.05:130
architect of the supreme power, thou dost construct a nature and substance for Him whom 1.15.05:135
thou callest incorporeal and immaterial, out of a multitude of letters, generated the one by 1.15.05:136
the other. And that power whom thou affirmest to be indivisible, thou dost nevertheless divide 1.15.05:137
into consonants, and vowels, and semi-vowels; and, falsely ascribing those letters which 1.15.05:138
are mute to the Father of all things, and to His Enncea (thought), thou hast driven on all 1.15.05:139
that place confidence in thee to the highest point of blasphemy, and to the grossest impiety. 1.15.05:140
6. With good reason, therefore, and very fittingly, in reference to 1.15.06:144
thy rash attempt, has that divine elders and preacher of the truth 1.15.06:145
burst forth in verse against thee as follows:-- "Marcus, thou 1.15.06:146
former of idols, inspector of portents, Skill'd in consulting the stars, 1.15.06:147
and deep in the black arts of magic, Ever by tricks such as 1.15.06:148
these confirming the doctrines of error, Furnishing signs unto 1.15.06:149
those involved by thee in deception, Wonders of power that is utterly 1.15.06:150
severed from God and apostate, Which Satan, thy true father, 1.15.06:151
enables thee still to accomplish, By means of Azazel, that fallen 1.15.06:152
and yet mighty angel,-- Thus making thee the precursor of his 1.15.06:153
own impious actions." Such are the words of the saintly elder. 1.15.06:155
And I shall endeavour to state the remainder of their mystical system, 1.15.06:155
which runs out to great length, in brief compass, and to bring 1.15.06:156
to the light what has for a long time been concealed. For in this 1.15.06:158
way such things will become easily susceptible of exposure by all. 1.15.06:159
1. Blending in one the production of their own AEons, and the straying and recovery 1.16.01:001
of the sheep [spoken of in the Gospel], these persons endeavour to set forth things 1.16.01:002
in a more mystical style, while they refer everything to numbers, maintaining 1.16.01:003
that the universe has been formed out of a Monad and a Dyad. And then, reckoning 1.16.01:004
from unity on to four, they thus generate the Decad. For when one, two, three, and 1.16.01:005
four are added together, they give rise to the number of the ten AEons. And, again, 1.16.01:008
the Dyad advancing from itself [by twos] up to six--two, and four, and six--brings 1.16.01:009
out the Duodecad. Once more, if we reckon in the same way up to ten, the number 1.16.01:010
thirty appears, m which are found eight, and ten, and twelve. They therefore IrnL.AH.1.16.01:011
term the Duodecad--because it contains the Episemon, and because the Episemon [so 1.16.01:012
to speak] waits upon it--the passion. And for this reason, because an error occurred 1.16.01:013
in connection with the twelfth number, the sheep frisked off, and went astray; 1.16.01:014
for they assert that a defection took place from the Duodecad. In the same way 1.16.01:015
they oracularly declare, that one power having departed also from the Duodecad, 1.16.01:017
has perished; and this was represented by the woman who lost the drachma, and, lighting 1.16.01:018
a lamp, again found it. Thus, therefore, the numbers that were left, viz., 1.16.01:020
nine, as respects the pieces of money, and eleven in regard to the sheep, when multiplied 1.16.01:021
together, give birth to the number ninety-nine, for nine times eleven are 1.16.01:022
ninety-nine. Wherefore also they maintain the word "Amen" contains this number. 1.16.01:023
2. I will not, however, weary thee by recounting their other interpretations, that 1.16.02:025
you may perceive the results everywhere. They maintain for instance, that the letter 1.16.02:026
Eta {h} along with the Episemon {s} constitutes an Ogdoad, inasmuch as it occupies IrnL.AH.1.16.02:027
the eighth place from the first letter. Then, again, without the Episemon, 1.16.02:028
reckoning the number of the letters, and adding them up till we come to Eta, they 1.16.02:029
bring out the Priacontad. For if one begins at Alpha and ends with Eta, omitting 1.16.02:031
the Episeman, and adds together the value of the letters in succession, he will find 1.16.02:032
their number altogether to amount to thirty. For up to Epsilon {e} fifteen are 1.16.02:033
formed; then adding seven to that number, the sum of twenty-two is reached. Next, 1.16.02:034
Eta being added to these, since its value is eight, the most wonderful Triacontad 1.16.02:035
is completed. And hence they give forth that the Ogdoad is the mother of the thirty 1.16.02:036
AEons. Since, therefore, the number thirty is composed of three powers [the Ogdoad, 1.16.02:037
Decad, and Duodecad], when multiplied by three, it produces ninety, for three 1.16.02:038
times thirty are ninety. Likewise this Triad, when multiplied by itself, gives 1.16.02:039
rise to nine. Thus the Ogdoad generates, by these means, ninety-nine. And since 1.16.02:040
the twelfth AEon, by her defection, left eleven in the heights above, they maintain 1.16.02:041
that therefore the position of the letters is a true coordinate of the method of IrnL.AH.1.16.02:042
their calculation (for Lambda is the eleventh in order among the letters, and represents IrnL.AH.1.16.02:043
the number thirty), and also forms a representation of the arrangement of 1.16.02:044
affairs above, since, on from Alpha, omitting Episemon, the number of the letters 1.16.02:045
up to Lambda, when added together according to the successive value of the letters, 1.16.02:046
and including Zambda itself, forms the sum of ninety-nine; but that this Lambda, 1.16.02:047
being the eleventh in order, descended to seek after one equal to itself, so 1.16.02:049
as to complete the number of twelve letters, and when it found such a one, the number IrnL.AH.1.16.02:050
was completed, is manifest from the very configuration of the letter; for Lambda 1.16.02:051
being engaged, as it were, in the quest of one similar to itself, and finding 1.16.02:053
such an one, and clasping it to itself, thus filled up the place of the twelfth, 1.16.02:054
the letter Mu (M) being composed of two Lambdas {L}. Wherefore also they, by means IrnL.AH.1.16.02:055
of their "knowledge," avoid the place of ninety-nine, that is, the defection--a 1.16.02:056
type of the left hand, --but endeavour to secure one more, which, when added to the 1.16.02:057
ninety and nine, has the effect of changing their reckoning to the right hand. 1.16.02:058
3. I well know, my dear friend, that when thou hast read through all this, thou wilt indulge 1.16.03:060
in a hearty laugh over this their inflated wise folly! But those men are really 1.16.03:061
worthy of being mourned over, who promulgate such a kind of religion, and who so frigidly 1.16.03:062
and perversely pull to pieces the greatness of the truly unspeakable power, and the 1.16.03:063
dispensations of God in themselves so striking, by means of Alpha and Beta, and through 1.16.03:064
the aid of numbers. But as many as separate from the Church, and give heed to such old 1.16.03:066
wives' fables as these, are truly self-condemned; and these men Paul commands us, "after 1.16.03:067
a first and second admonition, to avoid." And John, the disciple of the Lord, has 1.16.03:068
intensified their condemnation, when he desires us not even to address to them the salutation 1.16.03:069
of "good-speed;" for, says he, "He that bids them be of good-speed is a partaker 1.16.03:070
with their evil deeds;" and that with reason, "for there is no good-speed to the ungodly," 1.16.03:071
saith the Lord. Impious indeed, beyond all impiety, are these men, who assert that 1.16.03:072
the Maker of heaven and earth, the only God Almighty, besides whom there is no God, IrnL.AH.1.16.03:074
was produced by means of a defect, which itself sprang from another defect, so that, 1.16.03:075
according to them, He was the product of the third defect. Such an opinion we should detest 1.16.03:076
and execrate, while we ought everywhere to flee far apart from those that hold it; 1.16.03:077
and in proportion as they vehemently maintain and rejoice in their fictitious doctrines, IrnL.AH.1.16.03:078
so much the more should we be convinced that they are under the influence of the wicked 1.16.03:079
spirits of the Ogdoad,--just as those persons who fall into a fit of frenzy, the 1.16.03:080
more they laugh, and imagine themselves to be well, and do all things as if they were IrnL.AH.1.16.03:081
in good health [both of body and mind], yea, some things better than those who really IrnL.AH.1.16.03:082
are so, are only thus shown to be the more seriously diseased. In like manner do these 1.16.03:083
men, the more they seem to excel others in wisdom, and waste their strength by drawing 1.16.03:086
the bow too tightly, the greater fools do they show themselves. For when the unclean spirit 1.16.03:087
of folly has gone forth, and when afterwards he finds them not waiting upon God, 1.16.03:089
but occupied with mere worldly questions, then, "taking seven other spirits more wicked 1.16.03:090
than himself," and inflating the minds of these men with the notion of their being able IrnL.AH.1.16.03:091
to conceive of something beyond God, and having fitly prepared them for the reception IrnL.AH.1.16.03:092
of deceit, he implants within them the Ogdoad of the foolish spirits of wickedness. 1.16.03:093
1. I wish also to explain to thee their theory as to the way in which the 1.17.01:001
creation itself was formed through the mother by the Demiurge (as it were 1.17.01:002
without his knowledge), after the image of things invisible. They maintain, 1.17.01:003
then, that first of all the four elements, fire, water, earth, and 1.17.01:004
air, were produced after the image of the primary Tetrad above, and that 1.17.01:005
then, we add their operations, viz., heat, cold, dryness, and humidity, an 1.17.01:006
exact likeness of the Ogdoad is presented. They next reckon up ten powers 1.17.01:007
in the following manner:--There are seven globular bodies, which they 1.17.01:008
also call heavens; then that globular body which contains these, which also IrnL.AH.1.17.01:009
they name the eighth heaven; and, in addition to these, the sun and moon. 1.17.01:010
These, being ten in number, they declare to be types of the invisible 1.17.01:012
Decad, which proceeded from Logos and Zoe. As to the Duodecad, it is indicated 1.17.01:013
by the zodiacal circle, as it is called; for they affirm that the 1.17.01:014
twelve signs do most manifestly shadow forth the Duodecad, the daughter 1.17.01:015
of Anthropos and Ecclesia. And since the highest heaven, beating upon the 1.17.01:016
very sphere [of the seventh heaven], has been linked with the most rapid 1.17.01:018
precession of the whole system, as a check, and balancing that system with 1.17.01:019
its own gravity, so that it completes the cycle from sign to sign in thirty 1.17.01:020
years,--they say that this is an image of Horus, encircling their 1.17.01:021
thirty-named mother. And then, again, as the moon travels through her allotted 1.17.01:022
space of heaven in thirty days, they hold, that by these days she expresses IrnL.AH.1.17.01:024
the number of the thirty AEons. The sun also, who runs through his 1.17.01:025
orbit in twelve months, and then returns to the same point in the circle, 1.17.01:026
makes the Duodecad manifest by these twelve months; and the days, as 1.17.01:027
being measured by twelve hours, are a type of the invisible Duodecad. Moreover, 1.17.01:029
they declare that the hour, which is the twelfth part of the day, 1.17.01:030
is composed of thirty parts, in order to set forth the image of the Triacontad. 1.17.01:030
Also the circumference of the zodiacal circle itself contains three 1.17.01:031
hundred and sixty degrees (for each of its signs comprises thirty); and 1.17.01:033
thus also they affirm, that by means of this circle an image is preserved 1.17.01:034
of that connection which exists between the twelve and the thirty. Still 1.17.01:035
further, asserting that the earth is divided into twelve zones, and that 1.17.01:036
in each zone it receives power from the heavens, according to the perpendicular 1.17.01:037
[position of the sun above it], bringing forth productions corresponding 1.17.01:038
to that power which sends down its influence upon it, they maintain 1.17.01:039
that this is a most evident type of the Duodecad and its offspring. 1.17.01:040
2. In addition to these things, they declare that the Demiurge, desiring 1.17.02:043
to imitate the infinitude, and eternity, and immensity, and freedom from 1.17.02:044
all measurement by time of the Ogdoad above, but, as he was the fruit 1.17.02:045
of defect, being unable to express its permanence and eternity, had 1.17.02:046
recourse to the expedient of spreading out its eternity into times, and 1.17.02:047
seasons, and vast numbers of years, imagining, that by the multitude of 1.17.02:048
such times he might imitate its immensity. They declare further, that 1.17.02:050
the truth having escaped him, he followed that which was false, and that, 1.17.02:051
for this reason, when the times are fulfilled, his work shah perish. 1.17.02:052
1. And while they affirm such things as these concerning the creation, 1.18.01:001
every one of them generates something new, day by day, according 1.18.01:002
to his ability; for no one is deemed "perfect," who does not develop 1.18.01:003
among them some mighty fictions. It is thus necessary, first, to indicate 1.18.01:004
what things they metamorphose [to their own use] out of the prophetical 1.18.01:005
writings, and next, to refute them. Moses, then, they declare, 1.18.01:006
by his mode of beginning the account of the creation, has at the 1.18.01:007
commencement pointed out the mother of all things when he says, "In 1.18.01:008
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth;" for, as they maintain, 1.18.01:010
by naming these four,--God, beginning, heaven, and earth,--he 1.18.01:011
set forth their Tetrad. Indicating also its invisible and hidden 1.18.01:012
nature, he said, "Now the earth was invisible and unformed." They will 1.18.01:013
have it, moreover, that he spoke of the second Tetrad, the offspring 1.18.01:014
of the first, in this way--by naming an abyss and darkness, in which 1.18.01:015
were also water, and the Spirit moving upon the water. Then, proceeding 1.18.01:016
to mention the Decad, he names light, day, night, the firmament, 1.18.01:017
the evening, the morning, dry land, sea, plants, and, in the tenth 1.18.01:018
place, trees. Thus, by means of these ten names, he indicated the 1.18.01:019
ten AEons. The power of the Duodecad, again, was shadowed forth by 1.18.01:022
him thus:--He names the sun, moon, stars, seasons, years, whales, fishes, 1.18.01:023
reptiles, birds, quadrupeds, wild beasts, and after all these, 1.18.01:024
in the twelfth place, man. Thus they teach that the Triacontad was 1.18.01:026
spoken of through Moses by the Spirit. Moreover, man also, being formed 1.18.01:027
after the image of the power above, had in himself that ability which 1.18.01:028
flows from the one source. This ability was seated in the region 1.18.01:030
of the brain, from which four faculties proceed, after the image of 1.18.01:031
the Tetrad above, and these are called: the first, sight, the second, 1.18.01:032
hearing, the third, smell, and the fourth, taste. And they say that 1.18.01:034
the Ogdoad is indicated by man in this way: that he possesses two 1.18.01:035
ears, the like number of eyes, also two nostrils, and a twofold taste, 1.18.01:036
namely, of bitter and sweet. Moreover, they teach that the whole 1.18.01:037
man contains the entire image of the Triacontad as follows: In his 1.18.01:038
hands, by means of his fingers, he bears the Decad; and in his whole 1.18.01:039
body the Duodecad, inasmuch as his body is divided into twelve members; 1.18.01:041
for they portion that out, as the body of Truth is divided by them--a 1.18.01:042
point of which we have already spoken. But the Ogdoad, as being 1.18.01:043
unspeakable and invisible, is understood as hidden in the viscera. 1.18.01:044
2. Again, they assert that the sun, the great light-giver, was formed on the fourth 1.18.02:045
day, with a reference to the number of the Tetrad. So also, according to 1.18.02:046
them, the courts of the tabernacle constructed by Moses, being composed of fine 1.18.02:047
linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, pointed to the same image. Moreover, 1.18.02:048
they maintain that the long robe of the priest failing over his feet, as being 1.18.02:049
adorned with four rows of precious stones, indicates the Tetrad; and if there 1.18.02:050
are any other things in the Scriptures which can possibly be dragged into the 1.18.02:052
number four, they declare that these had their being with a view to the Tetrad. 1.18.02:053
The Ogdoad, again, was shown as follows:--They affirm that man was formed 1.18.02:054
on the eighth day, for sometimes they will have him to have been made on the sixth 1.18.02:055
day, and sometimes on the eighth, unless, perchance, they mean that his earthly 1.18.02:056
part was formed on the sixth day, but his fleshly part on the eighth, for 1.18.02:057
these two things are distinguished by them. Some of them also hold that one 1.18.02:060
man was formed after the image and likeness of God, masculo-feminine, and that 1.18.02:061
this was the spiritual man; and that another man was formed out of the earth. 1.18.02:062
3. Further, they declare that the arrangement made with respect to the ark 1.18.03:064
in the Deluge, by means of which eight persons were saved, most clearly indicates 1.18.03:065
the Ogdoad which brings salvation. David also shows forth the same, 1.18.03:066
as holding the eighth place in point of age among his brethren. Moreover, that 1.18.03:067
circumcision which took place on the eighth day, represented the circumcision 1.18.03:068
of the Ogdoad above. In a word, whatever they find in the Scriptures 1.18.03:069
capable of being referred to the number eight, they declare to fulfil the mystery 1.18.03:069
of the Ogdoad. With respect, again, to the Decad, they maintain that 1.18.03:070
it is indicated by those ten nations which God promised to Abraham for a possession. IrnL.AH.1.18.03:072
The arrangement also made by Sarah when, after ten years, she gave 1.18.03:073
her handmaid Hagar to him, that by her he might have a son, showed the same 1.18.03:074
thing. Moreover, the servant of Abraham who was sent to Rebekah, and presented 1.18.03:075
her at the well with ten bracelets of gold, and her brethren who detained 1.18.03:076
her for ten days;, Jeroboam also, who received the ten sceptresa (tribes), 1.18.03:077
and the ten courts of the tabernacle, and the columns of ten cubits [high], 1.18.03:078
and the ten sons of Jacob who were at first sent into Egypt to buy com, 1.18.03:079
and the ten apostles to whom the Lord appeared after His resurrection,--Thomas 1.18.03:080
being absent,--represented, according to them, the invisible Decad. 1.18.03:081
4. As to the Duodecad, in connection with which the mystery of the passion of the defect 1.18.04:086
occurred, from which passion they maintain that all things visible were framed, they 1.18.04:087
assert that is to be found strikingly and manifestly everywhere [in Scripture]. For they IrnL.AH.1.18.04:088
declare that the twelve sons of Jacob, from whom also sprung twelve tribes,--the breastplate 1.18.04:089
of the high priest, which bore twelve precious stones and twelve little bells, --the 1.18.04:090
twelve stones which were placed by Moses at the foot of the mountain, --the same number 1.18.04:091
which was placed by Joshua in the river, and again, on the other side, the bearers 1.18.04:092
of the ark of the covenant, --those stones which were set up by Elijah when the heifer 1.18.04:096
was offered as a burnt-offering; the number, too, of the apostles; and, in fine, every 1.18.04:097
event which embraces in it the number twelve,--set forth their Duodecad. And then the IrnL.AH.1.18.04:098
union of all these, which is called the Triacontad, they strenuously endeavour to demonstrate 1.18.04:099
by the ark of Noah, the height of which was thirty cubits; by the case of Samuel, 1.18.04:100
who assigned Saul the chief place among thirty guests; by David, when for thirty days IrnL.AH.1.18.04:101
he concealed himself in the field; by those who entered along with him into the cave; 1.18.04:102
also by the fact that the length (height) of the holy tabernacle was thirty cubits; and 1.18.04:103
if they meet with any other like numbers, they still apply these to their Triacontad. 1.18.04:104
1. I judge it necessary to add to these details also what, by garbling passages 1.19.01:001
of Scripture, they try to persuade us concerning their Propator, who was unknown 1.19.01:002
to all before the coming of Christ. Their object in this is to show that 1.19.01:003
our Lord announced another Father than the Maker of this universe, whom, as we 1.19.01:004
said before, they impiously declare to have been the fruit of a defect. For instance, 1.19.01:005
when the prophet Isaiah says, "But Israel hath not known Me, and My people 1.19.01:007
have not understood Me," they pervert his words to mean ignorance of the 1.19.01:008
invisible Bythus. And that which is spoken by Hosea, "There is no truth in them, 1.19.01:010
nor the knowledge of God," they strive to give the same reference. And, "There 1.19.01:011
is none that understandeth, or that seeketh after God: they have all gone 1.19.01:012
out of the way, they are together become unprofitable," they maintain to be said 1.19.01:013
concerning ignorance of Bythus. Also that which is spoken by Moses, "No man 1.19.01:014
shall see God and live," has, as they would persuade us, the same reference. 1.19.01:015
2. For they falsely hold, that the Creator was seen by the prophets. But this IrnL.AH.1.19.02:016
passage, "No man shall see God and live," they would interpret as spoken 1.19.02:017
of His greatness unseen and unknown by all; and indeed that these words, "No 1.19.02:018
man shall see God," are spoken concerning the invisible Father, the Maker 1.19.02:019
of the universe, is evident to us all; but that they are not used concerning 1.19.02:020
that Bythus whom they conjure into existence, but concerning the Creator 1.19.02:021
(and He is the invisible God), shall be shown as we proceed. They maintain 1.19.02:022
that Daniel also set forth the same thing when he begged of the angels explanations 1.19.02:024
of the parables, as being himself ignorant of them. But the angel, 1.19.02:025
hiding from him the great mystery of Bythus, said unto him, "Go thy way quickly, 1.19.02:026
Daniel, for these sayings are closed up until those who have understanding 1.19.02:027
do understand them, and those who are white be made white." Moreover, 1.19.02:028
they vaunt themselves as being the white and the men of good understanding. 1.19.02:029
1. Besides the above [misrepresentations], they adduce an unspeakable number 1.20.01:001
of apocryphal and spurious writings, which they themselves have forged, 1.20.01:002
to bewilder the minds of foolish men, and of such as are ignorant of 1.20.01:003
the Scriptures of truth. Among other things, they bring forward that false 1.20.01:004
and wicked story which relates that our Lord, when He was a boy learning 1.20.01:005
His letters, on the teacher saying to Him, as is usual, "Pronounce Alpha," 1.20.01:006
replied [as He was bid], "Alpha." But when, again, the teacher bade 1.20.01:008
Him say, "Beta," the Lord replied, "Do thou first tell me what Alpha 1.20.01:009
is, and then I will tell thee what Beta is." This they expound as meaning 1.20.01:010
that He alone knew the Unknown, which He revealed under its type Alpha. 1.20.01:011
2. Some passages, also, which occur in the Gospels, receive from them a colouring 1.20.02:013
of the same kind, such as the answer which He gave His mother when 1.20.02:014
He was twelve years of age: "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?" IrnL.AH.1.20.02:015
Thus, they say, He announced to them the Father of whom they were 1.20.02:016
ignorant. On this account, also, He sent forth the disciples to the twelve 1.20.02:017
tribes, that they might proclaim to them the unknown God. And to the person 1.20.02:018
who said to Him, "Good Master," He confessed that God who is truly good, 1.20.02:020
saying, "Why callest thou Me good: there is One who is good, the Father 1.20.02:021
in the heavens;" and they assert that in this passage the AEons receive the 1.20.02:022
name of heavens. Moreover, by His not replying to those who said to Him, 1.20.02:022
"By what power doest Thou this?" but by a question on His own side, put them 1.20.02:023
to utter confusion; by His thus not replying, according to their interpretation, 1.20.02:024
He showed the unutterable nature of the Father. Moreover, when He 1.20.02:025
said, "I have often desired to hear one of these words, and I had no one 1.20.02:027
who could utter it," they maintain, that by this expression "one" He set forth 1.20.02:028
the one true God whom they knew not. Further, when, as He drew nigh to 1.20.02:029
Jerusalem, He wept over it and said, "If thou hadst known, even thou, in this 1.20.02:031
thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace, but they are hidden from 1.20.02:032
thee," by this word "hidden" He showed the abstruse nature of Bythus. And 1.20.02:033
again, when He said, "Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, 1.20.02:035
and I will give you rest, and learn of Me," He announced the Father of truth. 1.20.02:036
For what they knew not, these men say that He promised to teach them. 1.20.02:037
3. But they adduce the following passage as the highest testimony, and, as it were, 1.20.03:039
the very crown of their system:--"I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because 1.20.03:040
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them 1.20.03:041
to babes. Even so, my Father; for so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things have been 1.20.03:042
delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knoweth the Father but the Son, or the Son IrnL.AH.1.20.03:043
but the Father, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him." In these words they affirm 1.20.03:044
that He clearly showed that the Father of truth, conjured into existence by them, was 1.20.03:046
known to no one before His advent. And they desire to construe the passage as if 1.20.03:047
teaching that the Maker and Framer [of the world] was always known by all, while the 1.20.03:048
Lord spoke these words concerning the Father unknown to all, whom they now proclaim. 1.20.03:049
1. It happens that their tradition respecting redemption is invisible 1.21.01:001
and incomprehensible, as being the mother of things which are incomprehensible 1.21.01:002
and invisible; and on this account, since it is fluctuating, 1.21.01:003
it is impossible simply and all at once to make known its nature, 1.21.01:004
for every one of them hands it down just as his own inclination prompts. 1.21.01:005
Thus there are as many schemes of "redemption" as there are teachers 1.21.01:006
of these mystical opinions. And when we come to refute them, 1.21.01:007
we shall show in its fitting-place, that this class of men have been 1.21.01:008
instigated by Satan to a denial of that baptism which is regeneration 1.21.01:009
to God, and thus to a renunciation of the whole [Christian] faith. 1.21.01:010
2. They maintain that those who have attained to perfect knowledge must of IrnL.AH.1.21.02:012
necessity be regenerated into that power which is above all. For it is 1.21.02:013
otherwise impossible to find admittance within the Pleroma, since this [regeneration] 1.21.02:014
it is which leads them down into the depths of Bythus. For the 1.21.02:015
baptism instituted by the visible Jesus was for the remission of sins, 1.21.02:017
but the redemption brought in by that Christ who descended upon Him, was 1.21.02:018
for perfection; and they allege that the former is animal, but the latter 1.21.02:019
spiritual. And the baptism of John was proclaimed with a view to repentance, 1.21.02:021
but the redemption by Jesus was brought in for the sake of perfection. 1.21.02:022
And to this He refers when He says, "And I have another baptism to be baptized 1.21.02:023
with, and I hasten eagerly towards it." Moreover, they affirm that 1.21.02:024
the Lord added this redemption to the sons of Zebedee, when their mother 1.21.02:025
asked that they might sit, the one on His right hand, and the other on His 1.21.02:026
left, in His kingdom, saying, "Can ye be baptized with the baptism which 1.21.02:027
I shall be baptized with?" Paul, too, they declare, has often set forth, 1.21.02:029
in express terms, the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; and this was 1.21.02:030
the same which is handed down by them in so varied and discordant forms. 1.21.02:031
3. For some of them prepare a nuptial couch, and perform a sort of mystic rite 1.21.03:033
(pronouncing certain expressions) with those who are being initiated, and affirm 1.21.03:034
that it is a spiritual marriage which is celebrated by them, after the likeness 1.21.03:035
of the conjunctions above. Others, again, lead them to a place where water IrnL.AH.1.21.03:036
is, and baptize them, with the utterance of these words, "Into the name of 1.21.03:037
the unknown Father of the universe--into truth, the mother of all things--into 1.21.03:038
Him who descended on Jesus--into union, and redemption, and communion with the 1.21.03:039
powers." Others still repeat certain Hebrew words, in order the more thoroughly 1.21.03:041
to bewilder those who are being initiated, as follows: "Basema, Chamosse, Baoenaora, 1.21.03:042
Mistadia, Ruada, Kousta, Babaphor, Kalachthei." The interpretation of 1.21.03:043
these terms runs thus: "I invoke that which is above every power of the Father, 1.21.03:044
which is called light, and good Spirit, and life, because Thou hast reigned 1.21.03:045
in the body." Others, again, set forth the redemption thus: The name which is 1.21.03:047
hidden from every deity, and dominion, and truth which Jesus of Nazareth was 1.21.03:048
clothed with in the lives of the light of Christ--of Christ, who lives by the 1.21.03:049
Holy Ghost, for the angelic redemption. The name of restitution stands thus: IrnL.AH.1.21.03:050
Messia, Uphareg, Namempsoeman, Chaldoeaur, Mosomedoea, Acphranoe, Psaua, Jesus 1.21.03:051
Nazaria. The interpretation of these words is as follows: "I do not divide the 1.21.03:054
Spirit of Christ, neither the heart nor the supercelestial power which is merciful; 1.21.03:055
may I enjoy Thy name, O Saviour of truth!" Such are words of the initiators; 1.21.03:056
but he who is initiated, replies, "I am established, and I am redeemed; 1.21.03:057
I redeem my soul from this age (world), and from all things connected with it IrnL.AH.1.21.03:058
in the name of Iao, who redeemed his own soul into redemption in Christ who liveth." IrnL.AH.1.21.03:059
Then the bystanders add these words, "Peace be to all on whom this name IrnL.AH.1.21.03:061
rests." After this they anoint the initiated person with balsam; for they assert 1.21.03:063
that this unguent is a type of that sweet odour which is above all things. 1.21.03:064
4. But there are some of them who assert that it is superfluous to bring persons 1.21.04:066
to the water, but mixing oil and water together, they place this mixture on the heads 1.21.04:067
of those who are to be initiated, with the use of some such expressions as we 1.21.04:068
have already mentioned. And this they maintain to be the redemption. They, too, 1.21.04:069
are accustomed to anoint with balsam. Others, however, reject all these practices, 1.21.04:071
and maintain that the mystery of the unspeakable and invisible power ought not to 1.21.04:071
be performed by visible and corruptible creatures, nor should that of those [beings] 1.21.04:072
who are inconceivable, and incorporeal, and beyond the reach of sense, [be IrnL.AH.1.21.04:073
performed] by such as are the objects of sense, and possessed of a body. These hold IrnL.AH.1.21.04:074
that the knowledge of the unspeakable Greatness is itself perfect redemption. For 1.21.04:076
since both defect and passion flowed from ignorance, the whole substance of what 1.21.04:077
was thus formed is destroyed by knowledge; and therefore knowledge is the redemption 1.21.04:078
of the inner man. This, however, is not of a corporeal nature, for the body 1.21.04:079
is corruptible; nor is it animal, since the animal soul is the fruit of a defect, 1.21.04:080
and is, as it were, the abode of the spirit. The redemption must therefore be of 1.21.04:081
a spiritual nature; for they affirm that the inner and spiritual man is redeemed 1.21.04:082
by means of knowledge, and that they, having acquired the knowledge of all things, 1.21.04:084
stand thenceforth in need of nothing else. This, then, is the true redemption. IrnL.AH.1.21.04:085
5. Others still there are who continue to redeem persons even up to the moment of 1.21.05:087
death, by placing on their heads oil and water, or the pre-mentioned ointment with 1.21.05:088
water, using at the same time the above-named invocations, that the persons referred IrnL.AH.1.21.05:089
to may become incapable of being seized or seen by the principalities and powers, 1.21.05:090
and that their inner man may ascend on high in an invisible manner, as if 1.21.05:091
their body were left among created things in this world, while their soul is sent 1.21.05:092
forward to the Demiurge. And they instruct them, on their reaching the principalities 1.21.05:094
and powers, to make use of these words: "I am a son from the Father--the Father 1.21.05:095
who had a pre-existence, and a son in Him who is pre-existent. I have come to 1.21.05:096
behold all things, both those which belong to myself and others, although, strictly 1.21.05:097
speaking, they do not belong to others, but to Achamoth, who is female in nature, 1.21.05:098
and made these things for herself. For I derive being from Him who is pre-existent, 1.21.05:099
and I come again to my own place whence I went forth." And they affirm that, 1.21.05:101
by saying these things, he escapes from the powers. He then advances to the companions 1.21.05:102
of the Demiurge, and thus addresses them:--"I am a vessel more precious 1.21.05:103
than the female who formed you. If your mother is ignorant of her own descent, I know IrnL.AH.1.21.05:104
myself, and am aware whence I am, and I call upon the incorruptible Sophia, who 1.21.05:105
is in the Father, and is the mother of your mother, who has no father, nor any IrnL.AH.1.21.05:106
male consort; but a female springing from a female formed you, while ignorant of 1.21.05:107
her own mother, and imagining that she alone existed; but I call upon her mother." 1.21.05:108
And they declare, that when the companions of the Demiurge hear these words, they 1.21.05:110
are greatly agitated, and upbraid their origin and the race of their mother. But 1.21.05:111
he goes into his own place, having thrown [off] his chain, that is, his animal 1.21.05:112
nature. These, then, are the particulars which have reached us respecting "redemption." 1.21.05:114
But since they differ so widely among themselves both as respects doctrine IrnL.AH.1.21.05:115
and tradition, and since those of them who are recognised as being most modern make 1.21.05:116
it their effort daily to invent some new opinion, and to bring out what no one 1.21.05:117
ever before thought of, it is a difficult matter to describe all their opinions. 1.21.05:118
1. The rule of truth which we hold, is, that there is one God Almighty, who made all 1.22.01:001
things by His Word, and fashioned and formed, out of that which had no existence, 1.22.01:002
all things which exist. Thus saith the Scripture, to that effect "By the Word of the 1.22.01:003
Lord were the heavens established, and all the might of them, by the spirit of His 1.22.01:004
mouth." And again, "All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made." 1.22.01:005
There is no exception or deduction stated; but the Father made all things by Him, whether 1.22.01:006
visible or invisible, objects of sense or of intelligence, temporal, on account 1.22.01:007
of a certain character given them, or eternal; and these eternal things He did not 1.22.01:008
make by angels, or by any powers separated from His Ennoea. For God needs none of 1.22.01:009
all these things, but is He who, by His Word and Spirit, makes, and disposes, and 1.22.01:010
governs all things, and commands all things into existence,--He who formed the world 1.22.01:011
(for the world is of all),--He who fashioned man,--He [who] is the God of Abraham, 1.22.01:012
and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, above whom there is no other God, nor initial 1.22.01:013
principle, nor power, nor pleroma,--He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1.22.01:014
as we shall prove. Holding, therefore, this rule, we shall easily show, notwithstanding 1.22.01:015
the great variety and multitude of their opinions, that these men have deviated 1.22.01:016
from the truth; for almost all the different sects of heretics admit that there 1.22.01:022
is one God; but then, by their pernicious doctrines, they change [this truth into error], 1.22.01:023
even as the Gentiles do through idolatry,--thus proving themselves ungrateful 1.22.01:024
to Him that created them. Moreover, they despise the workmanship of God, speaking against 1.22.01:026
their own salvation, becoming their own bitterest accusers, and being false IrnL.AH.1.22.01:027
witnesses [against themselves]. Yet, reluctant as they may be, these men shall one day 1.22.01:028
rise again in the flesh, to confess the power of Him who raises them from the dead; 1.22.01:029
but they shall not be numbered among the righteous on account of their unbelief. 1.22.01:030
2. Since, therefore, it is a complex and multiform task to detect and 1.22.02:032
convict all the heretics, and since our design is to reply to them all 1.22.02:033
according to their special characters, we have judged it necessary, 1.22.02:034
first of all, to give an account of their source and root, in order 1.22.02:035
that, by getting a knowledge of their most exalted Bythus, thou mayest 1.22.02:036
understand the nature of the tree which has produced such fruits. 1.22.02:038
1. Simon the Samaritan was that magician of whom Luke, the disciple and follower of IrnL.AH.1.23.01:001
the apostles, says, "But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who beforetime used 1.23.01:002
magical arts in that city, and led astray the people of Samaria, declaring that he 1.23.01:003
himself was some great one, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, 1.23.01:004
saying, This is the power of God, which is called great. And to him they had regard, 1.23.01:005
because that of long time he had driven them mad by his sorceries." This Simon, 1.23.01:007
then--who feigned faith, supposing that the apostles themselves performed their cures IrnL.AH.1.23.01:008
by the art of magic, and not by the power of God; and with respect to their filling 1.23.01:008
with the Holy Ghost, through the imposition of hands, those that believed in God 1.23.01:009
through Him who was preached by them, namely, Christ Jesus--suspecting that even this 1.23.01:010
was done through a kind of greater knowledge of magic, and offering money to the 1.23.01:011
apostles, thought he, too, might receive this power of bestowing the Holy Spirit on 1.23.01:012
whomsoever he would,--was addressed in these words by Peter: "Thy money perish with 1.23.01:013
thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God can be purchased with money: thou 1.23.01:014
hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not fight in the sight 1.23.01:018
of God; for I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of 1.23.01:019
iniquity." He, then, not putting faith in God a whit the more, set himself eagerly 1.23.01:019
to contend against the apostles, in order that he himself might seem to be a wonderful IrnL.AH.1.23.01:021
being, and applied himself with still greater zeal to the study of the whole magic 1.23.01:022
art, that he might the better bewilder and overpower multitudes of men. Such was his 1.23.01:023
procedure in the reign of Claudius Caesar, by whom also he is said to have been honoured 1.23.01:024
with a statue, on account of his magical power. This man, then, was glorified 1.23.01:025
by many as if he were a god; and he taught that it was himself who appeared among 1.23.01:027
the Jews as the Son, but descended in Samaria as the Father while he came to other IrnL.AH.1.23.01:028
nations in the character of the Holy Spirit. He represented himself, in a word, as being IrnL.AH.1.23.01:029
the loftiest of all powers, that is, the Being who is the Father over all, and 1.23.01:030
he allowed himself to be called by whatsoever title men were pleased to address him. IrnL.AH.1.23.01:031
2. Now this Simon of Samaria, from whom all sorts of heresies derive 1.23.02:034
their origin, formed his sect out of the following materials:--Having 1.23.02:035
redeemed from slavery at Tyre, a city of Phoenicia, a certain woman 1.23.02:036
named Helena, he was in the habit of carrying her about with him, declaring IrnL.AH.1.23.02:037
that this woman was the first conception of his mind, the mother 1.23.02:038
of all, by whom, in the beginning, he conceived in his mind [the thought] 1.23.02:039
of forming angels and archangels. For this Ennoea leaping forth 1.23.02:040
from him, and comprehending the will of her father, descended to the 1.23.02:041
lower regions [of space], and generated angels and powers, by whom 1.23.02:042
also he declared this word was formed. But after she had produced them, 1.23.02:043
she was detained by them through motives of jealousy, because they 1.23.02:044
were unwilling to be looked upon as the progeny of any other being. 1.23.02:046
As to himself, they had no knowledge of him whatever; but his Ennoea 1.23.02:047
was detained by those powers and angels who had been produced by her. 1.23.02:048
She suffered all kinds of contumely from them, so that she could not 1.23.02:049
return upwards to her father, but was even shut up in a human body, 1.23.02:050
and for ages passed in succession from one female body to another, as 1.23.02:052
from vessel to vessel. She was, for example, in that Helen on whose account 1.23.02:053
the Trojan war was undertaken; for whose sake also Stesichorus 1.23.02:054
was struck blind, because he had cursed her in his verses, but afterwards, 1.23.02:055
repenting and writing what are called palinodes, in which he sang 1.23.02:056
her praise, he was restored to sight. Thus she, passing from body 1.23.02:057
to body, and suffering insults in every one of them, at last became 1.23.02:058
a common prostitute; and she it was that was meant by the lost sheep. 1.23.02:059
3. For this purpose, then, he had come that he might win her first, and free her 1.23.03:061
from slavery, while he conferred salvation upon men, by making himself known 1.23.03:062
to them. For since the angels ruled the world ill because each one of them coveted 1.23.03:063
the principal power for himself, he had come to amend matters, and had descended, 1.23.03:064
transfigured and assimilated to powers and principalities and angels, 1.23.03:065
so that he might appear among men to be a man, while yet he was not a man; and 1.23.03:066
that thus he was thought to have suffered in Judaea, when he had not suffered. 1.23.03:067
Moreover, the prophets uttered their predictions under the inspiration of those 1.23.03:070
angels who formed the world; for which reason those who place their trust 1.23.03:071
in him and Helena no longer regarded them, but, as being free, live as they please; 1.23.03:072
for men are saved through his grace, and not on account of their own righteous 1.23.03:073
actions. For such deeds are not righteous in the nature of things, but by 1.23.03:075
mere accident, just as those angels who made the world, have thought fit to constitute IrnL.AH.1.23.03:076
them, seeking, by means of such precepts, to bring men into bondage. 1.23.03:077
On this account, he pledged himself that the world should be dissolved, and that 1.23.03:079
those who are his should be freed from the rule of them who made the world. IrnL.AH.1.23.03:080
4. Thus, then, the mystic priests belonging to this sect both lead profligate lives and 1.23.04:081
practise magical arts, each one to the extent of his ability. They use exorcisms and incantations. 1.23.04:082
Love-potions, too, and charms, as well as those beings who are called "Paredri" 1.23.04:083
(familiars) and "Oniropompi" (dream-senders), and whatever other curious arts can 1.23.04:084
be had recourse to, are eagerly pressed into their service. They also have an image of Simon 1.23.04:085
fashioned after the likeness of Jupiter, and another of Helena in the shape of Minerva; IrnL.AH.1.23.04:086
and these they worship. In fine, they have a name derived from Simon, the author 1.23.04:087
of these most impious doctrines, being called Simonians; and from them "knowledge, falsely 1.23.04:088
so called," received its beginning, as one may learn even from their own assertions. 1.23.04:089
5. The successor of this man was Menander, also a Samaritan by birth, 1.23.05:093
and he, too, was a perfect adept in the practice of magic. He 1.23.05:094
affirms that the primary Power continues unknown to all, but that 1.23.05:094
he himself is the person who has been sent forth from the presence 1.23.05:095
of the invisible beings as a saviour, for the deliverance of men. 1.23.05:097
The world was made by angels, whom, like Simon, he maintains to 1.23.05:098
have been produced by Ennoea. He gives, too, as he affirms, by means 1.23.05:099
of that magic which he teaches, knowledge to this effect, that 1.23.05:100
one may overcome those very angels that made the world; for his 1.23.05:101
disciples obtain the resurrection by being baptized into him, and 1.23.05:102
can die no more, but remain in the possession of immortal youth. 1.23.05:104
1. Arising among these men, Saturninus (who was of that Antioch which is near Daphne) 1.24.01:001
and Basilides laid hold of some favourable opportunities, and promulgated different 1.24.01:002
systems of doctrine--the one in Syria, the other at Alexandria. Saturninus, 1.24.01:003
like Menander, set forth one father unknown to all, who made angels, archangels, 1.24.01:004
powers, and potentates. The world, again, and all things therein, were made by 1.24.01:005
a certain company of seven angels. Man, too, was the workmanship of angels, a shining 1.24.01:007
image bursting forth below from the presence of the supreme power; and when 1.24.01:008
they could not, he says, keep hold of this, because it immediately darted upwards 1.24.01:009
again, they exhorted each other, saying, "Let us make man after our image and 1.24.01:010
likeness." He was accordingly formed, yet was unable to stand erect, through the 1.24.01:011
inability of the angels to convey to him that power, but wriggled [on the ground] 1.24.01:013
like a worm. Then the power above taking pity upon him, since he was made after 1.24.01:014
his likeness, sent forth a spark of life, which gave man an erect posture, compacted 1.24.01:015
his joints, and made him live. He declares, therefore, that this spark of life, IrnL.AH.1.24.01:016
after the death of a man, returns to those things which are of the same nature 1.24.01:018
with itself, and the rest of the body is decomposed into its original elements. 1.24.01:019
2. He has also laid it down as a truth, that the SAviour was without birth, 1.24.02:021
without body, and without figure, but was, by supposition, a visible 1.24.02:022
man; and he maintained that the God of the Jews was one of the angels; 1.24.02:023
and, on this account, because all the powers wished to annihilate his 1.24.02:024
father, Christ came to destroy the God of the Jews, but to save such as 1.24.02:025
believe in him; that is, those who possess the spark of his life. This 1.24.02:026
heretic was the first to affirm that two kinds of men were formed by the 1.24.02:027
angels,--the one wicked, and the other good. And since the demons assist 1.24.02:028
the most wicked, the Saviour came for the destruction of evil men and 1.24.02:030
of the demons, but for the salvation of the good. They declare also, 1.24.02:031
that marriage and generation are from Satan. Many of those, too, who belong IrnL.AH.1.24.02:032
to his school, abstain from animal food, and draw away multitudes by 1.24.02:033
a reigned temperance of this kind. They hold, moreover, that some of the 1.24.02:034
prophecies were uttered by those angels who made the world, and some 1.24.02:036
by Satan; whom Saturninus represents as being himself an angel, the enemy 1.24.02:037
of the creators of the world, but especially of the God of the Jews. 1.24.02:038
3. Basilides again, that he may appear to have discovered something more sublime and plausible, 1.24.03:040
gives an immense development to his doctrines. He sets forth that Nous was first born of the unborn 1.24.03:041
father, that from him, again, was born Logos, from Logos Phronesis, from Phronesis Sophia 1.24.03:042
and Dynamis, and from Dynamis and Sophia the powers, and principalities, and angels, whom he also 1.24.03:043
calls the first; and that by them the first heaven was made. Then other powers, being formed 1.24.03:044
by emanation from these, crated another heaven similar to the first; and in like manner, when 1.24.03:047
others, again, had been formed by emanation from them, corresponding exactly to those above them, 1.24.03:048
these, too, framed another third heaven; and then from this third, in downward order, there 1.24.03:049
was a fourth succession of descendants; and so on, after the same fashion, they declare that more 1.24.03:050
and more principalities and angels were formed, and three hundred and sixty-five heavens. Wherefore 1.24.03:051
the year contains the same number of days in conformity with the number of the heavens. 1.24.03:053
4. Those angels who occupy the lowest heaven, that, namely, which is visible to 1.24.04:055
us, formed all the things which are in the world, and made allotments among themselves 1.24.04:056
of the earth and of those nations which are upon it. The chief of them 1.24.04:057
is he who is thought to be the God of the Jews; and inasmuch as he desired to 1.24.04:058
render the other nations subject to his own people, that is, the Jews, all the 1.24.04:060
other princes resisted and opposed him. Wherefore all other nations were at IrnL.AH.1.24.04:061
enmity with his nation. But the father without birth and without name, perceiving 1.24.04:062
that they would be destroyed, sent his own first-begotten Nous (he it is who IrnL.AH.1.24.04:063
is called Christ) to bestow deliverance on them that believe in him, from the IrnL.AH.1.24.04:064
power of those who made the world. He appeared, then, on earth as a man, to the 1.24.04:065
nations of these powers, and wrought miracles. Wherefore he did not himself 1.24.04:067
suffer death, but Simon, a certain man of Cyrene, being compelled, bore the cross 1.24.04:068
in his stead; so that this latter being transfigured by him, that he might be 1.24.04:069
thought to be Jesus, was crucified, through ignorance and error, while Jesus 1.24.04:070
himself received the form of Simon, and, standing by, laughed at them. For since 1.24.04:071
he was an incorporeal power, and the Nous (mind) of the unborn father, he transfigured IrnL.AH.1.24.04:072
himself as he pleased, and thus ascended to him who had sent him, deriding 1.24.04:074
them, inasmuch as he could not be laid hold of, and was invisible to all. 1.24.04:075
Those, then, who know these things have been freed from the principalities IrnL.AH.1.24.04:076
who formed the world; so that it is not incumbent on us to confess him who was 1.24.04:078
crucified, but him who came in the form of a man, and was thought to be crucified, 1.24.04:079
and was called Jesus, and was sent by the father, that by this dispensation IrnL.AH.1.24.04:080
he might destroy the works of the makers of the world. If any one, therefore, IrnL.AH.1.24.04:081
he declares, confesses the crucified, that man is still a slave, and under the 1.24.04:083
power of those who formed our bodies; but he who denies him has been freed from 1.24.04:084
these beings, and is acquainted with the dispensation of the unborn father. 1.24.04:085
5. Salvation belongs to the soul alone, for the body is by nature subject to 1.24.05:088
corruption. He declares, too, that the prophecies were derived from those powers 1.24.05:089
who were the makers of the world, but the law was specially given by their 1.24.05:089
chief, who led the people out of the land of Egypt. He attaches no importance 1.24.05:090
to [the question regarding] meats offered in sacrifice to idols, thinks 1.24.05:092
them of no consequence, and makes use of them without any hesitation; he 1.24.05:093
holds also the use of other things, and the practice of every kind of lust, 1.24.05:094
a matter of perfect indifference. These men, moreover, practise magic; and 1.24.05:095
use images, incantations, invocations, and every other kind of curious art. 1.24.05:096
Coining also certain names as if they were those of the angels, they proclaim 1.24.05:097
some of these as belonging to the first, and others to the second heaven; 1.24.05:098
and then they strive to set forth the names, principles, angels, and powers 1.24.05:099
of the three hundred and sixty-five imagined heavens. They also affirm that 1.24.05:101
the barbarous name in which the Saviour ascended and descended, is Caulacau. 1.24.05:102
6. He, then, who has learned [these things], and known all the angels and 1.24.06:104
their causes, is rendered invisible and incomprehensible to the angels and IrnL.AH.1.24.06:105
all the powers, even as Caulacau also was. And as the son was unknown 1.24.06:106
to all, so must they also be known by no one; but while they know all, and 1.24.06:107
pass through all, they themselves remain invisible and unknown to all; 1.24.06:108
for, "Do thou," they say, "know all, but let nobody know thee." For this 1.24.06:109
reason, persons of such a persuasion are also ready to recant [their opinions], 1.24.06:111
yea, rather, it is impossible that they should suffer on account 1.24.06:112
of a mere name, since they are like to all. The multitude, however, cannot 1.24.06:113
understand these matters, but only one out of a thousand, or two out of 1.24.06:114
ten thousand. They declare that they are no longer Jews, and that they 1.24.06:116
are not yet Christians; and that it is not at all fitting to speak openly 1.24.06:117
of their mysteries, but right to keep them secret by preserving silence. 1.24.06:118
7. They make out the local position of the three hundred and 1.24.07:119
sixty-five heavens in the same way as do mathematicians. For, 1.24.07:120
accepting the theorems of these latter, they have transferred 1.24.07:121
them to their own type of doctrine. They hold that their chief 1.24.07:122
is Abraxas; and, on this account, that word contains in 1.24.07:123
itself the numbers amounting to three hundred and sixty-five. 1.24.07:123
1. Carpocrates, again, and his followers maintain that the world and the things which are therein 1.25.01:001
were created by angels greatly inferior to the unbegotten Father. They also hold that Jesus 1.25.01:002
was the son of Joseph, and was just like other men, with the exception that he differed from them 1.25.01:003
in this respect, that inasmuch as his soul was stedfast and pure, he perfectly remembered those 1.25.01:004
things which he had witnessed within the sphere of the unbegotten God. On this account, a power 1.25.01:005
descended upon him from the Father, that by means of it he might escape from the creators of 1.25.01:006
the world; and they say that it, after passing through them all, and remaining in all points 1.25.01:007
free, ascended again to him, and to the powers, which in the same way embraced like things to itself. 1.25.01:008
They further declare, that the soul of Jesus, although educated in the practices of the IrnL.AH.1.25.01:011
Jews, regarded these with contempt, and that for this reason he was endowed with faculties, by 1.25.01:012
means of which he destroyed those passions which dwelt in men as a punishment [for their sins]. 1.25.01:013
2. The soul, therefore, which is like that of Christ can despise those rulers 1.25.02:016
who were the creators of the world, and, in like manner, receives power 1.25.02:017
for accomplishing the same results. This idea has raised them to such 1.25.02:018
a pitch of pride, that some of them declare themselves similar to Jesus; 1.25.02:019
while others, still more mighty, maintain that they are superior to his 1.25.02:020
disciples, such as Peter and Paul, and the rest of the apostles, whom they IrnL.AH.1.25.02:021
consider to be in no respect inferior to Jesus. For their souls, descending 1.25.02:024
from the same sphere as his, and therefore despising in like manner 1.25.02:025
the creators of the world, are deemed worthy of the same power, and again 1.25.02:026
depart to the same place. But if any one shall have despised the things 1.25.02:027
in this world more than he did, he thus proves himself superior to him. 1.25.02:028
3. They practise also magical arts and incantations; philters, also, and love-potions; 1.25.03:030
and have recourse to familiar spirits, dream-sending demons, and other 1.25.03:031
abominations, declaring that they possess power to rule over, even now, the IrnL.AH.1.25.03:032
princes and formers of this world; and not only them, but also all things that 1.25.03:033
are in it. These men, even as the Gentiles, have been sent forth by Satan to IrnL.AH.1.25.03:035
bring dishonour upon the Church, so that, in one way or another, men hearing the 1.25.03:036
things which they speak, and imagining that we all are such as they, may turn 1.25.03:037
away their ears from the preaching of the truth; or, again, seeing the things 1.25.03:038
they practise, may speak evil of us all, who have in fact no fellowship with IrnL.AH.1.25.03:039
them, either in doctrine or in morals, or in our daily conduct. But they lead 1.25.03:040
a licentious life, and, to conceal their impious doctrines, they abuse the name 1.25.03:043
[of Christ], as a means of hiding their wickedness; so that "their condemnation 1.25.03:044
is just," when they receive from God a recompense suited to their works. 1.25.03:045
4. So unbridled is their madness, that they declare they have in their power all things which 1.25.04:047
are irreligious and impious, and are at liberty to practise them; for they maintain that things 1.25.04:048
are evil or good, simply in virtue of human opinion. They deem it necessary, therefore, that 1.25.04:049
by means of transmigration from body to body, souls should have experience of every kind of life 1.25.04:050
as well as every kind of action (unless, indeed, by a single incarnation, one may be able to 1.25.04:051
prevent any need for others, by once for all, and with equal completeness, doing all those things 1.25.04:052
which we dare not either speak or hear of, nay, which we must not even conceive in our thoughts, 1.25.04:053
nor think credible, if any such thing is mooted among those persons who are our fellow-citizens), 1.25.04:054
in order that, as their writings express it, their souls, having made trial of every 1.25.04:055
kind of life, may, at their departure, not be wanting in any particular. It is necessary to insist 1.25.04:056
upon this, lest, on account of some one thing being still wanting to their deliverance, 1.25.04:057
they should be compelled once more to become incarnate. They affirm that for this reason Jesus 1.25.04:062
spoke the following parable:--"Whilst thou art with thine adversary in the way, give all diligence, 1.25.04:063
that thou mayest be delivered from him, lest he give thee up to the judge, and the judge 1.25.04:064
surrender thee to the officer, and he cast thee into prison. Verily, I say unto thee, thou shalt 1.25.04:065
not go out thence until thou pay the very last farthing." They also declare the "adversary" 1.25.04:066
is one of those angels who are in the world, whom they call the Devil, maintaining that he was 1.25.04:067
formed for this purpose, that he might lead those souls which have perished from the world to 1.25.04:068
the Supreme Ruler. They describe him also as being chief among the makers of the world, and maintain 1.25.04:069
that he delivers such souls [as have been mentioned] to another angel, who ministers to 1.25.04:070
him, that he may shut them up in other bodies; for they declare that the body is "the prison." 1.25.04:071
Again, they interpret these expressions, "Thou shalt not go out thence until thou pay the very 1.25.04:073
last farthing," as meaning that no one can escape from the power of those angels who made the 1.25.04:074
world, but that he must pass from body to body, until he has experience of every kind of action 1.25.04:075
which can be practised in this world, and when nothing is longer wanting to him, then his 1.25.04:076
liberated soul should soar upwards to that God who is above the angels, the makers of the world. 1.25.04:077
In this way also all souls are saved, whether their own which, guarding against all delay, participate 1.25.04:078
in all sorts of actions during one incarnation, or those, again, who, by passing from 1.25.04:079
body to body, are set free, on fulfilling and accomplishing what is requisite in every form 1.25.04:080
of life into which they are sent, so that at length they shall no longer be [shut in the body. 1.25.04:081
5. And thus, if ungodly, unlawful, and forbidden actions are committed among them, 1.25.05:086
I can no longer find ground for believing them to be such. And in their writings we 1.25.05:087
read as follows, the interpretation which they give [of their views], declaring that 1.25.05:088
Jesus spoke in a mystery to His disciples and apostles privately, and that they 1.25.05:089
requested and obtained permission to hand down the things thus taught them, to others 1.25.05:090
who should be worthy and believing. We are saved, indeed, by means of faith and 1.25.05:092
love; but all other things, while in their nature indifferent, are reckoned by the 1.25.05:093
opinion of men--some good and some evil, there being nothing really evil by nature. 1.25.05:094
6. Others of them employ outward marks, branding their disciples 1.25.06:096
inside the lobe of the right ear. From among these also arose 1.25.06:097
Marcellina, who came to Rome under [the episcopate of] Anicetus, 1.25.06:098
and, holding these doctrines, she led multitudes astray. They 1.25.06:099
style themselves Gnostics. They also possess images, some of them 1.25.06:100
painted, and others formed from different kinds of material; while 1.25.06:100
they maintain that a likeness of Christ was made by Pilate 1.25.06:101
at that time when Jesus lived among them. They crown these images, 1.25.06:102
and set them up along with the images of the philosophers of 1.25.06:104
the world that is to say, with the images of Pythagoras, and Plato, 1.25.06:105
and Aristotle, and the rest. They have also other modes of 1.25.06:106
honouring these images, after the same manner of the Gentiles. 1.25.06:107
1. Cerinthus, again, a man who was educated in the wisdom of the Egyptians, taught 1.26.01:001
that the world was not made by the primary God, but by a certain Power 1.26.01:002
far separated from him, and at a distance from that Principality who is supreme 1.26.01:003
over the universe, and ignorant of him who is above all. He represented Jesus 1.26.01:005
as having not been born of a virgin, but as being the son of Joseph and Mary 1.26.01:006
according to the ordinary course of human generation, while he nevertheless 1.26.01:007
was more righteous, prudent, and wise than other men. Moreover, after his baptism, 1.26.01:009
Christ descended upon him in the form of a dove from the Supreme Ruler, 1.26.01:010
and that then he proclaimed the unknown Father, and performed miracles. But 1.26.01:011
at last Christ departed from Jesus, and that then Jesus suffered and rose again, 1.26.01:012
while Christ remained impassible, inasmuch as he was a spiritual being. 1.26.01:013
2. Those who are called Ebionites agree that the world was made by God; but 1.26.02:016
their opinions with respect to the Lord are similar to those of Cerinthus 1.26.02:017
and Carpocrates. They use the Gospel according to Matthew only, and repudiate 1.26.02:018
the Apostle Paul, maintaining that he was an apostate from the law. As 1.26.02:019
to the prophetical writings, they endeavour to expound them in a somewhat singular 1.26.02:020
manner: they practise circumcision, persevere in the observance of 1.26.02:021
those customs which are enjoined by the law, and are so Judaic in their style 1.26.02:022
of life, that they even adore Jerusalem as if it were the house of God. 1.26.02:023
3. The Nicolaitanes are the followers of that Nicolas who was one of the seven 1.26.03:026
first ordained to the diaconate by the apostles. They lead lives of unrestrained 1.26.03:027
indulgence. The character of these men is very plainly pointed out 1.26.03:028
in the Apocalypse of John, [when they are represented] as teaching that it 1.26.03:028
is a matter of indifference to practise adultery, and to eat things sacrificed 1.26.03:029
to idols. Wherefore the Word has also spoken of them thus: "But this thou 1.26.03:031
hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate." 1.26.03:032
1. Cerdo was one who took his system from the followers of Simon, and 1.27.01:001
came to live at Rome in the time of Hyginus, who held the ninth place 1.27.01:002
in the episcopal succession from the apostles downwards. He taught 1.27.01:003
that the God proclaimed by the law and the prophets was not the Father 1.27.01:004
of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the former was known, but the latter 1.27.01:006
unknown; while the one also was righteous, but the other benevolent. 1.27.01:007
2. Marcion of Pontus succeeded him, and developed his doctrine. In so doing, he advanced 1.27.02:009
the most daring blasphemy against Him who is proclaimed as God by the law 1.27.02:010
and the prophets, declaring Him to be the author of evils, to take delight in war, 1.27.02:011
to be infirm of purpose, and even to be contrary to Himself. But Jesus being derived 1.27.02:012
from that father who is above the God that made the world, and coming into Judaea 1.27.02:013
in the times of Pontius Pilate the governor, who was the procurator of Tiberius 1.27.02:014
Caesar, was manifested in the form of a man to those who were in Judaea, abolishing IrnL.AH.1.27.02:015
the prophets and the law, and all the works of that God who made the world, IrnL.AH.1.27.02:016
whom also he calls Cosmocrator. Besides this, he mutilates the Gospel which is 1.27.02:017
according to Luke, removing all that is written respecting the generation of the 1.27.02:019
Lord, and setting aside a great deal of the teaching of the Lord, in which the Lord 1.27.02:020
is recorded as most dearly confessing that the Maker of this universe is His Father. 1.27.02:021
He likewise persuaded his disciples that he himself was more worthy of credit 1.27.02:022
than are those apostles who have handed down the Gospel to us, furnishing them 1.27.02:023
not with the Gospel, but merely a fragment of it. In like manner, too, he dismembered 1.27.02:024
the Epistles of Paul, removing all that is said by the apostle respecting that IrnL.AH.1.27.02:028
God who made the world, to the effect that He is the Father of our Lord Jesus 1.27.02:029
Christ, and also those passages from the prophetical writings which the apostle quotes, 1.27.02:030
in order to teach us that they announced beforehand the coming of the Lord. 1.27.02:031
3. Salvation will be the attainment only of those souls which had learned his doctrine; IrnL.AH.1.27.03:034
while the body, as having been taken from the earth, is incapable of sharing IrnL.AH.1.27.03:035
in salvation. In addition to his blasphemy against God Himself, he advanced this 1.27.03:036
also, truly speaking as with the mouth of the devil, and saying all things in direct 1.27.03:037
opposition to the truth,--that Cain, and those like him, and the Sodomites, 1.27.03:038
and the Egyptians, and others like them, and, in fine, all the nations who walked 1.27.03:039
in all sorts of abomination, were saved by the Lord, on His descending into Hades, 1.27.03:040
and on their running unto Him, and that they welcomed Him into their kingdom. 1.27.03:041
But the serpent which was in Marcion declared that Abel, and Enoch, and Noah, and 1.27.03:042
those other righteous men who sprang from the patriarch Abraham, with all the prophets, 1.27.03:043
and those who were pleasing to God, did not partake in salvation. For since 1.27.03:044
these men, he says, knew that their God was constantly tempting them, so now they 1.27.03:048
suspected that He was tempting them, and did not run to Jesus, or believe His 1.27.03:049
announcement: and for this reason he declared that their souls remained in Hades. 1.27.03:050
4. But since this man is the only one who has dared openly to mutilate the Scriptures, IrnL.AH.1.27.04:053
and unblushingly above all others to inveigh against God, I purpose specially 1.27.04:054
to refute him, convicting him out of his own writings; and, with the help of God, 1.27.04:055
I shall overthrow him out of those discourses of the Lord and the apostles, which 1.27.04:056
are of authority with him, and of which he makes use. At present, however, I have 1.27.04:057
simply been led to mention him, that thou mightest know that all those who in 1.27.04:059
any way corrupt the truth, and injuriously affect the preaching of the Church, are 1.27.04:060
the disciples and successors of Simon Magus of Samaria. Although they do not confess 1.27.04:061
the name of their master, in order all the more to seduce others, yet they 1.27.04:062
do teach his doctrines. They set forth, indeed, the name of Christ Jesus as a sort 1.27.04:063
of lure, but in various ways they introduce the impieties of Simon; and thus they 1.27.04:064
destroy multitudes, wickedly disseminating their own doctrines by the use of a 1.27.04:065
good name, and, through means of its sweetness and beauty, extending to their hearers 1.27.04:066
the bitter and malignant poison of the serpent, the great author of apostasy? 1.27.04:067
1. Many offshoots of numerous heresies have already been formed from those heretics we 1.28.01:001
have described. This arises from the fact that numbers of them--indeed, we may say all--desire 1.28.01:002
themselves to be teachers, and to break off from the particular heresy in which 1.28.01:003
they have been involved. Forming one set of doctrines out of a totally different system IrnL.AH.1.28.01:004
of opinions, and then again others from others, they insist upon teaching something 1.28.01:005
new, declaring themselves the inventors of any sort of opinion which they may have been 1.28.01:008
able to call into existence. To give an example: Springing from Saturninus and Marcion, 1.28.01:009
those who are called Encratites (self-controlled) preached against marriage, thus setting 1.28.01:010
aside the original creation of God, and indirectly blaming Him who made the male 1.28.01:011
and female for the propagation of the human race. Some of those reckoned among them have 1.28.01:012
also introduced abstinence from animal food, thus proving themselves ungrateful to God, 1.28.01:014
who formed all things. They deny, too, the salvation of him who was first created. 1.28.01:015
It is but lately, however, that this opinion has been invented among them. A certain man 1.28.01:016
named Tatian first introduced the blasphemy. He was a hearer of Justin's, and as long IrnL.AH.1.28.01:017
as he continued with him he expressed no such views; but after his martyrdom he separated 1.28.01:018
from the Church, and, excited and puffed up by the thought of being a teacher, as 1.28.01:019
if he were superior to others, he composed his own peculiar type of doctrine. He invented 1.28.01:020
a system of certain invisible AEons, like the followers of Valentinus; while, like Marcion 1.28.01:021
and Saturninus, he declared that marriage was nothing else than corruption and 1.28.01:022
fornication. But his denial of Adam's salvation was an opinion due entirely to himself. IrnL.AH.1.28.01:023
2. Others, again, following upon Basilides and Carpocrates, have introduced 1.28.02:027
promiscuous intercourse and a plurality of wives, and are indifferent about 1.28.02:028
eating meats sacrificed to idols, maintaining that God does not greatly regard 1.28.02:029
such matters. But why continue? For it is an impracticable attempt to mention 1.28.02:031
all those who, in one way or another, have fallen away from the truth. 1.28.02:032
1. Besides those, however, among these heretics who are Simonians, and of 1.29.01:001
whom we have already spoken, a multitude of Gnostics have sprung up, and 1.29.01:002
have been manifested like mushrooms growing out of the ground. I now proceed 1.29.01:003
to describe the principal opinions held by them. Some of them, then, 1.29.01:005
set forth a certain AEon who never grows old, and exists in a virgin 1.29.01:006
spirit: him they style Barbelos. They declare that somewhere or other there 1.29.01:007
exists a certain father who cannot be named, and that he was desirous 1.29.01:008
to reveal himself to this Barbelos. Then this Ennoea went forward, stood 1.29.01:009
before his face, and demanded from him Prognosis (prescience). But when 1.29.01:010
Prognosis had, [as was requested,] come forth, these two asked for Aphtharsia 1.29.01:010
(incorruption), which also came forth, and after that Zoe Aionios 1.29.01:011
(eternal life). Barbelos, glorying in these, and contemplating their greatness, 1.29.01:012
and in conception s [thus formed], rejoicing in this greatness, 1.29.01:013
generated light similar to it. They declare that this was the beginning both 1.29.01:014
of light and of the generation of all things; and that the Father, beholding 1.29.01:015
this light, anointed it with his own benignity, that it might be 1.29.01:016
rendered perfect. Moreover, they maintain that this was Christ, who again, 1.29.01:018
according to them, requested that Nous should be given him as an assistant; 1.29.01:019
and Nous came forth accordingly. Besides these, the Father sent forth 1.29.01:019
Logos. The conjunctions of Ennoea and Logos, and of Aphtharsia and 1.29.01:020
Christ, will thus be formed; while Zoe Aionios was united to Thelema, and 1.29.01:021
Nous to Prognosis. These, then, magnified the great light and Barbelos. 1.29.01:023
2. They also affirm that Autogenes was afterwards sent forth from Ennoea 1.29.02:025
and Logos, to be a representation of the great light, and that he was greatly 1.29.02:026
honoured, all things being rendered subject unto him. Along with him 1.29.02:027
was sent forth Aletheia, and a conjunction was formed between Autogenes 1.29.02:028
and Aletheia. But they declare that from the Light, which is Christ, and 1.29.02:029
from Aphtharsia, four luminaries were sent forth to surround Autogenes; and 1.29.02:030
again from Thelema and Zoe Aionios four other emissions took place, to 1.29.02:031
wait upon these four luminaries; and these they name Charis (grace), Thelesis 1.29.02:032
(will), Synesis (understanding), and Phronesis (prudence) Of these, 1.29.02:033
Chaffs is connected with the great and first luminary: him they represent 1.29.02:034
as Sorer (Saviour), and style Armogenes. Thelesis, again, is united to 1.29.02:035
the second luminary, whom they also name Raguel; Synesis to the third, whom 1.29.02:036
they call David; and Phronesis to the fourth, whom they name Eleleth. 1.29.02:037
3. All these, then, being thus settled, Auto-genes moreover produces a perfect 1.29.03:040
and true man, whom they also call Adamas, inasmuch as neither has he 1.29.03:041
himself ever been conquered, nor have those from whom he sprang; he also 1.29.03:042
was, along with the first light, severed from Armogenes. Moreover, perfect 1.29.03:043
knowledge was sent forth by Autogenes along with man, and was united to 1.29.03:044
him; hence he attained to the knowledge of him that is above all. Invincible IrnL.AH.1.29.03:045
power was also conferred on him by the virgin spirit; and all things 1.29.03:046
then rested in him, to sing praises to the great AEon. Hence also they declare 1.29.03:048
were manifested the mother, the father, the son; while from Anthropos 1.29.03:049
and Gnosis that Tree was produced which they also style Gnosis itself. 1.29.03:050
4. Next they maintain, that from the first angel, who stands by the side of Monogenes, IrnL.AH.1.29.04:052
the Holy Spirit has been sent forth, whom they also term Sophia and Prunicus. 1.29.04:053
He then, perceiving that all the others had consorts, while he himself was destitute 1.29.04:054
of one, searched after a being to whom he might be united; and not finding one, 1.29.04:055
he exerted and extended himself to the uttermost and looked down into the lower regions, 1.29.04:056
in the expectation of there finding a consort; and still not meeting with one, 1.29.04:057
he leaped forth [from his place] in a state of great impatience, [which had come 1.29.04:058
upon him] because he had made his attempt without the good-will of his father. Afterwards, 1.29.04:060
under the influence of simplicity and kindness, he produced a work in which 1.29.04:061
were to be found ignorance and audacity. This work of his they declare to be Protarchontes, 1.29.04:062
the former of this [lower] creation. But they relate that a mighty power 1.29.04:063
carried him away from his mother, and that he settled far awayfrom her in the lower 1.29.04:064
regions, and formed the firmament of heaven, in which also they affirm that he 1.29.04:066
dwells. And in his ignorance he formed those powers which are inferior to himself--angels, 1.29.04:067
and firmaments, and all things earthly. They affirm that he, being united 1.29.04:068
to Authadia (audacity), produced Kakia (wickedness), Zelos (emulation), Phthonos (envy), 1.29.04:069
Erinnys (fury), and Epithymia (lust). When these were generated, the mother Sophia 1.29.04:070
deeply grieved, fled away, departed into the upper regions, and became the last 1.29.04:071
of the Ogdoad, reckoning it downwards. On her thus departing, he imagined he was 1.29.04:072
the only being in existence; and on this account declared, "I am a jealous God, 1.29.04:073
and besides me there is no one." Such are the falsehoods which these people invent. IrnL.AH.1.29.04:074
1. Others, again, portentously declare that there exists, in the power of 1.30.01:001
Bythus, a certain primary light, blessed, incorruptible, and infinite: 1.30.01:002
this is the Father of all, and is styled the first man. They also maintain 1.30.01:003
that his Ennoea, going forth from him, produced a son, and that this 1.30.01:004
is the son of man--the second man. Below these, again, is the Holy Spirit, 1.30.01:005
and under this superior spirit the elements were separated from each 1.30.01:006
other, viz., water, darkness, the abyss, chaos, above which they declare 1.30.01:007
the Spirit was borne, calling him the first woman. Afterwards, they 1.30.01:008
maintain, the first man, with his son, delighting over the beauty of the 1.30.01:010
Spirit--that is, of the woman--and shedding light upon her, begat by her 1.30.01:011
an incorruptible light, the third male, whom they call Christ,--the son 1.30.01:012
of the first and second man, and of the Holy Spirit, the first woman. 1.30.01:013
2. The father and son thus both had intercourse with the woman (whom they also 1.30.02:016
call the mother of the living). When, however, she could not bear nor receive into 1.30.02:017
herself the greatness of the lights, they declare that she was filled to repletion, 1.30.02:018
and became ebullient on the left side; and that thus their only son Christ, 1.30.02:020
as belonging to the right side, and ever tending to what was higher, was 1.30.02:021
immediately caught up with his mother to form an incorruptible AEon. This constitutes IrnL.AH.1.30.02:023
the true and holy Church, which has become the appellation, the meeting 1.30.02:024
together, and the union of the father of all, of the first man, of the son, of 1.30.02:025
the second man, of Christ their son, and of the woman who has been mentioned. 1.30.02:026
3. They teach, however, that the power which proceeded from the woman by ebullition, IrnL.AH.1.30.03:027
being besprinkled with light, fell downward from the place occupied by its progenitors, IrnL.AH.1.30.03:028
yet possessing by its own will that besprinkling of light; and it they call Sinistra, 1.30.03:029
Prunicus, and Sophia, as well as masculo-feminine. This being, in its simplicity, 1.30.03:030
descended into the waters while they were yet in a state of immobility, and IrnL.AH.1.30.03:031
imparted motion to them also, wantonly acting upon them even to their lowest depths, IrnL.AH.1.30.03:032
and assumed from them a body. For they affirm that all things rushed towards and clung 1.30.03:034
to that sprinkling of light, and begin it all round. Unless it had possessed that, 1.30.03:035
it would perhaps have been totally absorbed in, and overwhelmed by, material substance. 1.30.03:036
Being therefore bound down by a body which was composed of matter, and greatly 1.30.03:037
burdened by it, this power regretted the course it had followed, and made an attempt 1.30.03:038
to escape from the waters and ascend to its mother: it could not effect this, IrnL.AH.1.30.03:039
however, on account of the weight of the body lying over and around it. But feeling 1.30.03:041
very ill at ease, it endeavoured at least to conceal that light which came from above, 1.30.03:042
fearing lest it too might be injured by the inferior elements, as had happened IrnL.AH.1.30.03:043
to itself. And when it had received power from that besprinkling of light which it 1.30.03:044
possessed, it sprang back again, and was borne aloft; and being on high, it extended IrnL.AH.1.30.03:045
itself, covered [a portion of space], and formed this visible heaven out of its body; 1.30.03:046
yet remained under the heaven which it made, as still possessing the form of a 1.30.03:047
watery body. But when it had conceived a desire for the light above, and had received IrnL.AH.1.30.03:050
power by all things, it laid down this body, and was freed from it. This body which 1.30.03:051
they speak of that power as having thrown off, they call a female from a female. 1.30.03:052
4. They declare, moreover, that her son had also himself a certain breath of IrnL.AH.1.30.04:054
incorruption left him by his mother, and that through means of it he works; and 1.30.04:055
becoming powerful, he himself, as they affirm, also sent forth from the waters 1.30.04:056
a son without a mother; for they do not allow him either to have known a 1.30.04:057
mother. His son, again, after the example of his father, sent forth another son. 1.30.04:058
This third one, too, generated a fourth; the fourth also generated a son: 1.30.04:060
they maintain that again a son was generated by the fifth; and the sixth, too, IrnL.AH.1.30.04:061
generated a seventh. Thus was the Hebdomad, according to them, completed, the 1.30.04:062
mother possessing the eighth place; and as in the case of their generations, IrnL.AH.1.30.04:063
so also in regard to dignities and powers, they precede each other in turn. 1.30.04:064
5. They have also given names to [the several persons] in their system of falsehood, such 1.30.05:066
as the following: he who was the first descendant of the mother is called Ialdabaoth; he,again, 1.30.05:067
descended from him, is named Iao; he, from this one, is called Sabaoth; the fourth 1.30.05:068
is named Adoneus; the fifth, Eloeus; the sixth, Oreus; and the seventh and last of all, IrnL.AH.1.30.05:069
Astanphaeus. Moreover, they represent these heavens, potentates, powers, angels, and creators, 1.30.05:071
as sitting in their proper order in heaven, according to their generation, and as 1.30.05:072
invisibly ruling over things celestial and terrestrial. The first of them, namely Ialdabaoth, 1.30.05:073
holds his mother in contempt, inasmuch as he produced sons and grandsons without the 1.30.05:074
permission of any one, yea, even angels, archangels, powers, potentates, and dominions. 1.30.05:075
After these things had been done, his sons turned to strive and quarrel with him about the 1.30.05:078
supreme power,--conduct which deeply grieved Ialdabaoth, and drove him to despair. In 1.30.05:079
these circumstances, he cast his eyes upon the subjacent dregs of matter, and fixed his desire 1.30.05:080
upon it, to which they declare his son owes his origin. This son is Nous himself, 1.30.05:082
twisted into the form of a serpent; and hence were derived the spirit, the soul, and all 1.30.05:083
mundane things: from this too were generated all oblivion, wickedness, emulation, envy, and 1.30.05:084
death. They declare that the father imparted still greater crookedness to this serpent-like 1.30.05:086
and contorted Nous of theirs, when he was with their father in heaven and Paradise. 1.30.05:087
6. On this account, Ialdabaoth, becoming uplifted in spirit, boasted himself over all those things 1.30.06:090
that were below him, and exclaimed, "I am father, and God, and above me there is no one." 1.30.06:091
But his mother, hearing him speak thus, cried out against him, "Do not lie, Ialdabaoth: for 1.30.06:092
the father of all, the first Anthropos (man), is above thee; and so is Anthropos the son of 1.30.06:093
Anthropos." Then, as all were disturbed by this new voice, and by the unexpected proclamation, 1.30.06:095
and as they were inquiring whence the noise proceeded, in order to lead them away and attract 1.30.06:096
them to himself, they affirm that Ialdabaoth exclaimed, "Come, let us make man after our 1.30.06:097
image." The six powers, on hearing this, and their mother furnishing them with the idea of a 1.30.06:099
man (in order that by means of him she might empty them of their original power), jointly formed 1.30.06:100
a man of immense size, both in regard to breadth and length. But as he could merely writhe 1.30.06:101
along the ground, they carried him to their father; Sophia so labouring in this matter, that 1.30.06:103
she might empty him (Ialdabaoth) of the light with which he had been sprinkled, so that he 1.30.06:104
might no longer, though still powerful, be able to lift up himself against the powers above. 1.30.06:105
They declare, then, that by breathing into man the spirit of life, he was secretly emptied of 1.30.06:106
his power; that hence man became a possessor of nous (intelligence) and enthymesis (thought); 1.30.06:107
and they affirm that these are the faculties which partake in salvation. He [they further assert] 1.30.06:108
at once gave thanks to the first Anthropos (man), forsaking those who had created him. IrnL.AH.1.30.06:109
7. But Ialdabaoth, feeling envious at this, was pleased to form the design of again 1.30.07:112
emptying man by means of woman, and produced a woman from his own enthymesis, whom 1.30.07:113
that Prunicus [above mentioned] laying hold of, imperceptibly emptied her of power. 1.30.07:114
But the others coming and admiring her beauty, named her Eve, and falling in love with 1.30.07:115
her, begat sons by her, whom they also declare to be the angels. But their mother 1.30.07:116
(Sophia) cunningly devised a scheme to seduce Eve and Adam, by means of the serpent, 1.30.07:118
to transgress the command of Ialdabaoth. Eve listened to this as if it had proceeded 1.30.07:119
from a son of God, and yielded an easy belief. She also persuaded Adam to eat of 1.30.07:120
the tree regarding which God had said that they should not eat of it. They then declare IrnL.AH.1.30.07:121
that, on their thus eating, they attained to the knowledge of that power which 1.30.07:122
is above all, and departed from those who had created them. When Prunicus perceived 1.30.07:123
that the powers were thus baffled by their own creature, she greatly rejoiced, and 1.30.07:125
again cried out, that since the father was incorruptible, he (Ialdabaoth) who formerly 1.30.07:126
called himself the father was a liar; and that, while Anthropos and the first 1.30.07:127
woman (the Spirit) existed previously, this one (Eve) sinned by committing adultery. 1.30.07:128
8. Ialdabaoth, however, through that oblivion in which he was involved, and 1.30.08:130
not paying any regard to these things, cast Adam and Eve out of Paradise, because 1.30.08:131
they had transgressed his commandment. For he had a desire to beget sons 1.30.08:132
by Eve, but did not accomplish his wish, because his mother opposed him in 1.30.08:133
every point, and secretly emptied Adam and Eve of the light with which they IrnL.AH.1.30.08:134
had been sprinkled, in order that that spirit which proceeded from the supreme 1.30.08:135
power might participate neither in the curse nor opprobrium [caused by transgression]. IrnL.AH.1.30.08:136
They also teach that, thus being emptied of the divine substance, 1.30.08:138
they were cursed by him, and cast down from heaven to this world. But the 1.30.08:139
serpent also, who was acting against the father, was cast down by him into this 1.30.08:140
lower world; he reduced, however, under his power the angels here, and begat 1.30.08:141
six sons, he himself forming the seventh person, after the example of that 1.30.08:142
Hebdomad which surrounds the father. They further declare that these are the 1.30.08:143
seven mundane demons, who always oppose and resist the humanrace, because 1.30.08:144
it was on their account that their father was cast down to this lower world. 1.30.08:145
9. Adam and Eve previously had light, and clear, and as it were spiritual bodies, such IrnL.AH.1.30.09:148
as they were at their creation; but when they came to this world, these changed 1.30.09:149
into bodies more opaque, and gross, and sluggish. Their soul also was feeble and languid, 1.30.09:150
inasmuch as they had received from their creator a merely mundane inspiration. 1.30.09:151
This continued until Prunicus, moved with compassion towards them, restored to 1.30.09:152
them the sweet savour of the besprinkling of light, by means of which they came to 1.30.09:153
a remembrance of themselves, and knew that they were naked, as well as that the 1.30.09:155
body was a material substance, and thus recognised that they bore death about with 1.30.09:156
them. They thereupon became patient, knowing that only for a time they would be enveloped 1.30.09:157
in the body. They also found out food, through the guidance of Sophia; and when 1.30.09:158
they were satisfied, they had carnal knowledge of each other, and begat Cain, whom 1.30.09:159
the serpent, that had been cast down along with his sons, immediately laid hold 1.30.09:162
of and destroyed by filling him with mundane oblivion, and urging into folly and 1.30.09:163
audacity, so that, by slaying his brother Abel, he was the first to bring to light 1.30.09:164
envy and death. After these, they affirm that, by the forethought of Prunicus, Seth 1.30.09:166
was begotten, and then Norea, from whom they represent all the rest of mankind as 1.30.09:167
being descended. They were urged on to all kinds of wickedness by the inferior Hebdomad, 1.30.09:168
and to apostasy, idolatry, and a general contempt for everything by the superior 1.30.09:169
holy Hebdomad, since the mother was always secretly opposed to them, and carefully IrnL.AH.1.30.09:170
preserved what was peculiarly her own, that is, the besprinkling of light. They 1.30.09:171
maintain, moreover, that the holy Hebdomad is the seven stars which they call planets; 1.30.09:173
and they affirm that the serpent cast down has two names, Michael and Samael. 1.30.09:174
10. Ialdabaoth, again, being incensed with men, because they did not worship or 1.30.10:177
honour him as father and God, sent forth a deluge upon them, that he might at 1.30.10:178
once destroy them all. But Sophia opposed him in this point also, and Noah and 1.30.10:179
his family were saved in the ark by means of the besprinkling of that light 1.30.10:180
which proceeded from her, and through it the world was again filled with mankind. 1.30.10:181
Ialdabaoth himself chose a certain man named Abraham from among these, and 1.30.10:182
made a covenant with him, to the effect that, if his seed continued to serve IrnL.AH.1.30.10:183
him, he would give to them the earth for an inheritance. Afterwards, by means 1.30.10:184
of Moses, he brought forth Abraham's descendants from Egypt, and gave them the 1.30.10:186
law, and made them the Jews. Among that people he chose seven days, which 1.30.10:187
they also call the holy Hebdomad. Each of these receives his own herald for the 1.30.10:188
purpose of glorifying and proclaiming God; so that, when the rest hear these 1.30.10:189
praises, they too may serve those who are announced as gods try the prophets. 1.30.10:190
11. Moreover, they distribute the prophets in the following manner: Moses, 1.30.11:193
and Joshua the son of Nun, and Amos, and Habakkuk, belonged to Ialdabaoth; 1.30.11:194
Samuel, and Nathan, and Jonah, and Micah, to Iao; Elijah, Joel, and Zechariah 1.30.11:195
to Sabaoth; Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Daniel, to Adohai; Tobias 1.30.11:196
and Haggai to Eloi; Michaiah and Nahum to Oreus; Esdras and Zephaniah to 1.30.11:197
Astanphaeus. Each one of these, then, glorifies his own father and God, and 1.30.11:198
they maintain that Sophia, herself has also spoken many things through them 1.30.11:200
regarding the first Anthropos (man), and concerning that Christ who is 1.30.11:201
above, thus admonishing and reminding men of the incorruptible light, the 1.30.11:202
first Anthropos, and of the descent of Christ. The [other] powers being 1.30.11:203
terrified by these things, and marveiling at the novelty of those things which IrnL.AH.1.30.11:204
were announced by the prophets, Prunicus brought it about by means of 1.30.11:205
Ialdabaoth (who knew not what he did), that emissions of two men took place, 1.30.11:206
the one from the barren Elizabeth, and the other from the Virgin Mary. 1.30.11:207
12. And since she herself had no rest either in heaven or on earth, she invoked 1.30.12:212
her mother to assist her in her distress. Upon this, her mother, the first woman, 1.30.12:213
was moved with compassion towards her daughter, on her repentance, and begged 1.30.12:214
from the first man that Christ should be sent to her assistance, who, being 1.30.12:215
sent forth, descended to his sister, and to the besprinkling of light. When 1.30.12:216
he recognised her (that is, the Sophia below), her brother descended to her, IrnL.AH.1.30.12:218
and announced his advent through means of John, and prepared the baptism of repentance, 1.30.12:219
and adopted Jesus beforehand, in order that on Christ descending he 1.30.12:220
might find a pure vessel, and that by the son of that Ialdabaoth the woman might 1.30.12:221
be announced by Christ. They further declare that he descended through the IrnL.AH.1.30.12:223
seven heavens, having assumed the likeness of their sons, and gradually emptied 1.30.12:224
them of their power. For they maintain that the whole besprinkling of light 1.30.12:225
rushed to him, and that Christ, descending to this world, first clothed his sister 1.30.12:227
Sophia [with it], and that then both exulted in the mutual refreshment they 1.30.12:228
felt in each other's society: this scene they describe as relating to bridegroom 1.30.12:229
and bride. But Jesus, inasmuch as he was begotten of the Virgin through 1.30.12:230
the agency of God, was wiser, purer, and more righteous than all other men: Christ 1.30.12:231
united to Sophia descended into him, and thus Jesus Christ was produced. IrnL.AH.1.30.12:232
13. They affirm that many of his disciples were not aware of the descent 1.30.13:235
of Christ into him; but that, when Christ did descend on Jesus, he 1.30.13:236
then began to work miracles, and heal, and announce the unknown Father, 1.30.13:237
and openly to confess himself the son of the first man. The powers and 1.30.13:238
the father of Jesus were angry at these proceedings, and laboured to 1.30.13:239
destroy him; and when he was being led away for this purpose, they say 1.30.13:240
that Christ himself, along with Sophia, departed from him into the 1.30.13:241
state of an incorruptible AEon, while Jesus was crucified. Christ, however, 1.30.13:243
was not forgetful of his Jesus, but sent down a certain energy into 1.30.13:244
him from above, which raised him up again in the body, which they 1.30.13:245
call both animal and spiritual; for he sent the mundane parts back again 1.30.13:246
into the world. When his disciples saw that he had risen, they did 1.30.13:247
not recognise him--no, not even Jesus himself, by whom he rose again from IrnL.AH.1.30.13:248
the dead. And they assert that this very great error prevailed among 1.30.13:249
his disciples, that they imagined he had risen in a mundane body, not 1.30.13:250
knowing that "flesh and blood do not attain to the kingdom of God." 1.30.13:251
14. They strove to establish the descent and ascent of Christ, by the fact that neither 1.30.14:254
before his baptism, nor after his resurrection from the dead, do his disciples state 1.30.14:255
that he did any mighty works, not being aware that Jesus was united to Christ, and 1.30.14:256
the incorruptible AEon to the Hebdomad; and they declare his mundane body to be of the 1.30.14:257
same nature as that of animals. But after his resurrection he tarried [on earth] eighteen IrnL.AH.1.30.14:259
months; and knowledge descending into him from above, he taught what was clear. 1.30.14:260
He instructed a few of his disciples, whom he knew to be capable of understanding so IrnL.AH.1.30.14:261
great mysteries, in these things, and was then received up into heaven, Christ sitting 1.30.14:262
down at the right hand of his father Ialdabaoth, that he may receive to himself the 1.30.14:263
souls of those who have known them, after they have laid aside their mundane flesh, 1.30.14:264
thus enriching himself without the knowledge or perception of his father; so that, in 1.30.14:265
proportion as Jesus enriches himself with holy souls, to such an extent does his father 1.30.14:266
suffer loss and is diminished, being emptied of his own power by these souls. For 1.30.14:270
he will not now possess holy souls to send them down again into the world, except those 1.30.14:271
only which are of his substance, that is, those into which he has breathed. But the 1.30.14:272
consummation [of all things] will take place, when the whole besprinkling of the spirit IrnL.AH.1.30.14:274
of light is gathered together, and is carried off to form an incorruptible AEon. IrnL.AH.1.30.14:275
15. Such are the opinions which prevail among these persons, by whom, like 1.30.15:277
the Lernaean hydra, a many-headed beast has been generated from the school 1.30.15:278
of Valentinus. For some of them assert that Sophia herself became the serpent; 1.30.15:279
on which account she was hostile to the creator of Adam, and implanted 1.30.15:280
knowledge in men, for which reason the serpent was called wiser than all 1.30.15:281
others. Moreover, by the position of our intestines, through which the food 1.30.15:283
is conveyed, and by the fact that they possess such a figure, our internal 1.30.15:284
configuration in the form of a serpent reveals our hidden generatrix. 1.30.15:285
1. Others again declare that Cain derived his being from the Power above, and acknowledge 1.31.01:001
that Esau, Korah, the Sodomites, and all such persons, are related to themselves. On this 1.31.01:002
account, they add, they have been assailed by the Creator, yet no one of them has suffered 1.31.01:003
injury. For Sophia was in the habit of carrying off that which belonged to her from them IrnL.AH.1.31.01:004
to herself. They declare that Judas the traitor was thoroughly acquainted with these things, 1.31.01:006
and that he alone, knowing the truth as no others did, accomplished the mystery of 1.31.01:007
the betrayal; by him all things, both earthly and heavenly, were thus thrown into confusion. 1.31.01:008
They produce a fictitious history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas. 1.31.01:009
2. I have also made a collection of their writings in which they advocate the 1.31.02:012
abolition of the doings of Hystera. Moreover, they call this Hystera the 1.31.02:013
creator of heaven and earth. They also hold, like Carpocrates, that men cannot 1.31.02:014
be saved until they have gone through all kinds of experience. An angel, 1.31.02:015
they maintain, attends them in every one of their sinful and abominable actions, 1.31.02:016
and urges them to venture on audacity and incur pollution. Whatever 1.31.02:017
may be the nature of the action, they declare that they do it in the name 1.31.02:018
of the angel, saying, "O thou angel, I use thy work; O thou power, I accomplish 1.31.02:019
thy operation !" And they maintain that this is "perfect knowledge," without 1.31.02:021
shrinking to rush into such actions as it is not lawful even to name. 1.31.02:022
3. It was necessary clearly to prove, that, as their very opinions and regulations exhibit 1.31.03:024
them,those who are of the school of Valentinus derive their origin from such 1.31.03:025
mothers, fathers, and ancestors, and also to bring forward their doctrines, with the 1.31.03:026
hope that perchance some of them, exercising repentance and returning to the only Creator, 1.31.03:027
and God the Former of the universe, may obtain salvation, and that others may 1.31.03:028
not henceforth be drown away by their wicked, although plausible, persuasions, imagining 1.31.03:029
that they will obtain from them the knowledge of some greater and more sublime 1.31.03:030
mysteries. But let them rather, learning to good effect from us the wicked tenets of 1.31.03:031
these men, look with contempt upon their doctrines, while at the same time they pity 1.31.03:032
those who, still cleaving to these miserable and baseless fables, have reached such IrnL.AH.1.31.03:033
a pitch of arrogance as to reckon themselves superior to all others on account of such IrnL.AH.1.31.03:034
knowledge, or, as it should rather be called, ignorance. They have now been fully 1.31.03:038
exposed; and simply to exhibit their sentiments, is to obtain a victory over them. 1.31.03:039
4. Wherefore I have laboured to bring forward, and make clearly manifest, the utterly 1.31.04:040
ill-conditioned carcase of this miserable little fox. For there will not now be need 1.31.04:041
of many words to overturn their system of doctrine, when it has been made manifest 1.31.04:042
to all. It is as when, on a beast hiding itself in a wood, and by rushing forth from 1.31.04:043
it is in the habit of destroying multitudes, one who beats round the wood and thoroughly 1.31.04:044
explores it, so as to compel the animal to break cover, does not strive to capture 1.31.04:045
it, seeing that it is truly a ferocious beast; but those present can then watch IrnL.AH.1.31.04:046
and avoid its assaults, and can cast darts at it from all sides, and wound it, and 1.31.04:047
finally slay that destructive brute. So, in our case, since we have brought their 1.31.04:048
hidden mysteries, which they keep in silence among themselves, to the light, it will 1.31.04:049
not now be necessary to use many words in destroying their system of opinions. For it IrnL.AH.1.31.04:050
is now in thy power, and in the power of all thy associates, to familiarize yourselves 1.31.04:051
with what has been said, to overthrow their wicked and undigested doctrines, and 1.31.04:052
to set forth doctrines agreeable to the truth. Since then the case is so, I shall, 1.31.04:053
according to promise, and as my ability serves, labour to overthrow them, by refuting 1.31.04:057
them all in the following book. Even to give an account of them is a tedious affair, 1.31.04:058
as thou seest. But I shall furnish means for overthrowing them, by meeting all their 1.31.04:059
opinions in the order in which they have been described, that I may not only expose 1.31.04:060
the wild beast to view, but may inflict wounds upon it from every side.PREFACE. 1.31.04:061
1. IN the first book, which immediately precedes this, exposing "knowledge falsely so called," I showed 2.00.01:001
thee, my very dear friend, that the whole system devised, in many and opposite ways, by those 2.00.01:002
who are of the school of Valentinus, was false and baseless. I also set forth the tenets of their 2.00.01:003
predecessors, proving that they not only differed among themselves, but had long previously swerved 2.00.01:004
from the truth itself. I further explained, with all diligence, the doctrine as well as practice 2.00.01:005
of Marcus the magician, since he, too, belongs to these persons; and I carefully noticed the passages 2.00.01:006
which they garble from the Scriptures, with the view of adapting them to their own fictions. Moreover, 2.00.01:007
I minutely narrated the manner in which, by means of numbers, and by the twenty-four letters 2.00.01:008
of the alphabet, they boldly endeavour to establish [what they regard as] truth. I have also related 2.00.01:009
how they think and teach that creation at large was formed after the image of their invisible 2.00.01:010
Pleroma, and what they hold respecting the Demiurge, declaring at the same time the doctrine of Simon 2.00.01:011
Magus of Samaria, their progenitor, and of all those who succeeded him. I mentioned, too, the 2.00.01:012
multitude of those Gnostics who are sprung from him, and noticed the points of difference between them, 2.00.01:013
their several doctrines, and the order of their succession, while I set forth all those heresies 2.00.01:014
which have been originated by them. I showed, moreover, that all these heretics, taking their rise 2.00.01:015
from Simon, have introduced impious and irreligious doctrines into this life; and I explained 2.00.01:016
the nature of their "redemption," and their method of initiating those who are rendered "perfect," 2.00.01:017
along with their invocations and their mysteries. I proved also that there is one God, the Creator, 2.00.01:018
and that He is not the fruit of any defect, nor is there anything either above Him, or after Him. 2.00.01:019
2. In the present book, I shall establish those points which fit in with my design, 2.00.02:029
so far as time permits, and overthrow, by means of lengthened treatment under distinct IrnL.AH.2.00.02:030
heads, their whole system; for which reason, since it is an exposure and subversion 2.00.02:031
of their opinions, I have so entitled the composition of this work. For 2.00.02:032
it is fitting, by a plain revelation and overthrow of their conjunctions, to put 2.00.02:033
an end to these hidden alliances, and to Bythus himself, and thus to obtain a demonstration 2.00.02:034
that he never existed at any previous time, nor now has any existence. 2.00.02:037
1. IT is proper, then, that I should begin with the first and most important head, that is, IrnL.AH.2.01.01:001
2.-01.01:001
God the Creator, who made the heaven and the earth, and all things that are therein (whom 2.01.01:002
these men blasphemously style the fruit of a defect), and to demonstrate that there is nothing 2.01.01:003
either above Him or after Him; nor that, influenced by any one, but of His own free will, IrnL.AH.2.01.01:004
He created all things, since He is the only God, the only Lord, the only Creator, the 2.01.01:005
only Father, alone containing all things, and Himself commanding all things into existence. 2.01.01:006
2. For how can there be any other Fulness, or Principle, or Power, or God, above Him, IrnL.AH.2.01.02:010
since it is matter of necessity that God, the Pleroma (Fulness) of all these, 2.01.02:011
should contain all things in His immensity, and should be contained by no one? But 2.01.02:012
if there is anything beyond Him, He is not then the Pleroma of all, nor does He 2.01.02:014
contain all. For that which they declare to be beyond Him will be wanting to the 2.01.02:015
Pleroma, or, [in other words,] to that God who is above all things. But that which 2.01.02:016
is wanting, and falls in any way short, is not the Pleroma of all things. In such 2.01.02:017
a case, He would have both beginning, middle, and end, with respect to those who 2.01.02:019
are beyond Him. And if He has an end in regard to those things which are below, 2.01.02:020
He has also a beginning with respect to those things which are above. In like manner, IrnL.AH.2.01.02:021
there is an absolute necessity that He should experience the very same thing 2.01.02:022
at all other points, and should be held in, bounded, and enclosed by those existences IrnL.AH.2.01.02:023
that are outside of Him. For that being who is the end downwards, necessarily 2.01.02:024
circumscribes and surrounds him who finds his end in it. And thus, according to them, IrnL.AH.2.01.02:025
the Father of all (that is, He whom they call Proon and Proarche), with their 2.01.02:026
Pleroma, and the good God of Marcion, is established and enclosed in some other, 2.01.02:027
and is surrounded from without by another mighty Being, who must of necessity be 2.01.02:028
greater, inasmuch as that which contains is greater than that which is contained. 2.01.02:029
But then that which is greater is also stronger, and in a greater degree Lord; and 2.01.02:030
that which is greater, and stronger, and in a greater degree Lord--must be God. 2.01.02:031
3. Now, since there exists, according to them, also something else which they declare IrnL.AH.2.01.03:035
to be outside of the Pleroma, into which they further hold there descended that higher 2.01.03:036
power who went astray, it is in every way necessary that the Pleroma either contains 2.01.03:037
that which is beyond, yet is contained (for otherwise, it will not be beyond the Pleroma; IrnL.AH.2.01.03:038
for if there is anything beyond the Pleroma, there will be a Pleroma within this very 2.01.03:039
Pleroma which they declare to be outside of the Pleroma, and the Pleroma will be contained 2.01.03:040
by that which is beyond: and with the Pleroma is understood also the first God); 2.01.03:041
or, again, they must be an infinite distance separated from each other--the Pleroma 2.01.03:042
[I mean], and that which is beyond it. But if they maintain this, there will then be 2.01.03:045
a third kind of existence, which separates by immensity the Pleroma and that which is IrnL.AH.2.01.03:046
beyond it. This third kind of existence will therefore bound and contain both the others, IrnL.AH.2.01.03:047
and will be greater both than the Pleroma, and than that which is beyond it, inasmuch IrnL.AH.2.01.03:048
as it contains both in its bosom. In this way, talk might go on for ever concerning 2.01.03:050
those things which are contained, and those which contain. For if this third existence IrnL.AH.2.01.03:051
has its beginning above, and its end beneath, there is an absolute necessity that 2.01.03:051
it be also bounded on the sides, either beginning or ceasing at certain other points, 2.01.03:052
[where new existences begin.] These, again, and others which are above and below, will 2.01.03:053
have their beginnings at certain other points, and so on ad infinitum; so that their 2.01.03:054
thoughts would never rest in one God, but, in consequence of seeking after more than exists, 2.01.03:055
would wander away to that which has no existence, and depart from the true God. 2.01.03:056
4. These remarks are, in like manner, applicable against the followers of Marcion. For his 2.01.04:060
two gods will also be contained and circumscribed by an immense interval which separates them 2.01.04:061
from one another. But then there is a necessity to suppose a multitude of gods separated 2.01.04:062
by an immense distance from each other on every side, beginning with one another, and ending 2.01.04:063
in one another. Thus, by that very process of reasoning on which they depend for teaching 2.01.04:064
that there is a certain Pleroma or God above the Creator of heaven and earth, any one IrnL.AH.2.01.04:065
who chooses to employ it may maintain that there is another Pleroma above the Pleroma, above 2.01.04:066
that again another, and above Bythus another ocean of Deity, while in like manner the same 2.01.04:067
successions hold with respect to the sides; and thus, their doctrine flowing out into immensity, 2.01.04:068
there will always be a necessity to conceive of other Pleroma, and other Bythi, 2.01.04:069
so as never at any time to stop, but always to continue seeking for others besides those already 2.01.04:070
mentioned. Moreover, it will be uncertain whether these which we conceive of are below, 2.01.04:071
or are, in fact, themselves the things which are above; and, in like manner, will be doubtful] 2.01.04:075
respecting those things which are said by them to be above, whether they are really 2.01.04:076
above or below; and thus our opinions will have no fixed conclusion or certainty, but will 2.01.04:077
of necessity wander forth after worlds without limits, and gods that cannot be numbered. 2.01.04:078
5. These things, then, being so, each deity will be contented with his own possessions, 2.01.05:081
and will not be moved with any curiosity respecting the affairs of others; otherwise he IrnL.AH.2.01.05:082
would be unjust, and rapacious, and would cease to be what God is. Each creation, too, 2.01.05:083
will glorify its own maker, and will be contented with him, not knowing any other; otherwise 2.01.05:084
it would most justly be deemed an apostate by all the others, and would receive a 2.01.05:085
richly-deserved punishment. For it must be either that there is one Being who contains IrnL.AH.2.01.05:086
all things, and formed in His own territory all those things which have been created, 2.01.05:087
according to His own will; or, again, that there are numerous unlimited creators and gods, 2.01.05:088
who begin from each other, and end in each other on every side; and it will then be 2.01.05:089
necessary to allow that all the rest are contained from without by some one who is greater, 2.01.05:090
and that they are each of them shut up within their own territory, and remain in it. 2.01.05:091
No one of them all, therefore, is God. For there will be [much] wanting to every one 2.01.05:092
of them, possessing [as he will do] only a very small part when compared with all the rest. 2.01.05:095
The name of the Omnipotent will thus be brought to an end, and such an opinion will 2.01.05:096
of necessity fall to impiety. Creation: By the Father through the Word, not by angels. 2.01.05:097
1. Those, moreover, who say that the world was formed by angels, or by any other maker of 2.02.01:001
it, contrary to the will of Him who is the Supreme Father, err first of all in this very 2.02.01:002
point, that they maintain that angels formed such and so mighty a creation, contrary to the 2.02.01:003
will of the Most High God. This would imply that angels were more powerful than God; or 2.02.01:004
if not so, that He was either careless, or inferior, or paid no regard to those things 2.02.01:005
which took place among His own possessions, whether they turned out ill or well, so that He 2.02.01:006
might drive away and prevent the one, while He praised and rejoiced over the other. But 2.02.01:007
if one would not ascribe such conduct even to a man of any ability, how much less to God 2.02.01:008
2. Next let them tell us whether these things have been formed within the limits which are contained 2.02.02:013
by Him, and in His proper territory, or in regions belonging to others, and lying beyond IrnL.AH.2.02.02:014
Him? But if they say [that these things were done] beyond Him, then all the absurdities already 2.02.02:015
mentioned will face them, and the Supreme God will be enclosed by that which is beyond Him, 2.02.02:016
in which also it will be necessary that He should find His end. If, on the other hand, [these 2.02.02:017
things were done] within His own proper territory, it will be very idle to say that the world 2.02.02:019
was thus formed within His proper territory against His will by angels who are themselves 2.02.02:020
under His power, or by any other being, as if either He Himself did not behold all things which 2.02.02:021
take place among His own possessions, or was not aware of the things to be done by angels. 2.02.02:022
3. If, however, [the things referred to were done] not against His will, but with His concurrence 2.02.03:024
and knowledge, as some [of these men] think, the angels, or the Former of the world [whoever 2.02.03:025
that may have been], will no longer be the causes of that formation, but the will of God. For 2.02.03:026
if He is the Former of the world, He too made the angels, or at least was the cause of their 2.02.03:027
creation; and He will be regarded as having made the world who prepared the causes of its formation. 2.02.03:028
Although they maintain that the angels were made by a long succession downwards, or that 2.02.03:029
the Former of the world [sprang] from the Supreme Father, as Basilides asserts; nevertheless 2.02.03:030
that which is the cause of those things which have been made will still be traced to Him who 2.02.03:031
was the Author of such a succession. [The case stands] just as regards success in war,[The case 2.02.03:032
stands] just as regards success in war, which is ascribed to the king who prepared those things 2.02.03:033
which are the cause of victory; and, in like manner, the creation of any state, or of any work, 2.02.03:034
is referred to him who prepared materials for the accomplishment of those results which were 2.02.03:035
afterwards brought about.Wherefore, we do not say that it was the axe which cut the wood, 2.02.03:039
or the saw which divided it; but one would very properly say that the man cut and divided it who 2.02.03:040
formed the axe and the saw for this purpose, and [who also formed] at a much earlier date all 2.02.03:041
the tools by which the axe and the saw themselves were formed.With justice, therefore, according 2.02.03:042
to an analogous process of reasoning, the Father of all will be declared the Former of this 2.02.03:043
world, and not the angels, nor any other [so-called] former of the world, other than He who was 2.02.03:044
its Author, and had formerly been the cause of the preparation for a creation of this kind. 2.02.03:045
4. This manner of speech may perhaps be plausible or persuasive to those who know not God, and who 2.02.04:048
liken Him to needy human beings, and to those who cannot immediately and without assistance form 2.02.04:049
anything, but require many instrumentalities to produce what they intend. But it will not be regarded 2.02.04:050
as at all probable by those who know that God stands in need of nothing, and that He created 2.02.04:051
and made all things by His Word, while He neither required angels to assist Him in the production 2.02.04:052
of those things which are made, nor of any power greatly inferior to Himself, and ignorant of 2.02.04:053
the Father, nor of any defect or ignorance, in order that he who should know Him might become man. 2.02.04:054
But He Himself in Himself, after a fashion which we can neither describe nor conceive, predestinating 2.02.04:055
all things, formed them as He pleased, bestowing harmony on all things, and assigning them 2.02.04:056
their own place, and the beginning of their creation. In this way He conferred on spiritual things 2.02.04:057
a spiritual and invisible nature, on super-celestial things a celestial, on angels an angelical, 2.02.04:058
on animals an animal, on beings that swim a nature suited to the water, and on those that live 2.02.04:059
on the land one fitted for the land--on all, in short, a nature suitable to the character of 2.02.04:060
the life assigned them--while He formed all things that were made by His Word that never wearies. 2.02.04:061
5. For this is a peculiarity of the pre-eminence of God, not to stand in need of other 2.02.05:068
instruments for the creation of those things which are summoned into existence. His 2.02.05:069
own Word is both suitable and sufficient for the formation of all things, even as 2.02.05:070
John, the disciple of the Lord, declares regarding Him: "All things were made by Him, IrnL.AH.2.02.05:071
and without Him was nothing made." Now, among the "all things" our world must be 2.02.05:073
embraced. It too, therefore, was made by His Word, as Scripture tells us in the book 2.02.05:074
of Genesis that He made all things connected with our world by His Word. David also IrnL.AH.2.02.05:075
expresses the same truth [when he says] "For He spake, and they were made; He commanded, 2.02.05:077
and they were created." Whom, therefore, shall we believe as to the creation of 2.02.05:078
the world--these heretics who have been mentioned that prate so foolishly and inconsistently 2.02.05:079
on the subject, or the disciples of the Lord, and Moses, who was both a faithful 2.02.05:080
servant of God and a prophet? He at first narrated the formation of the world IrnL.AH.2.02.05:081
in these words: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," and all other IrnL.AH.2.02.05:082
things in succession; but neither gods nor angels [had any share in the work]... 2.02.05:083
6. Now, that this God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul the apostle 2.02.06:086
also has declared, [saying,] "There is one God, the Father, who is above all, and 2.02.06:087
through all things, and in us all." I have indeed proved already that there 2.02.06:088
is only one God; but I shall further demonstrate this from the apostles themselves, 2.02.06:089
and from the discourses of the Lord. For what sort of conduct would it be, 2.02.06:090
were we to forsake the utterances of the prophets, of the Lord, and of the apostles, 2.02.06:091
that we might give heed to these persons, who speak not a word of sense? IrnL.AH.2.02.06:092
1. The Bythus, therefore, whom they conceive of with his Pleroma, and the God 2.03.01:001
of Marcion, are inconsistent. If indeed, as they affirm, he has something 2.03.01:002
subjacent and beyond himself, which they style vacuity and shadow, this vacuum 2.03.01:002
is then proved to be greater than their Pleroma. But it is inconsistent even 2.03.01:003
to make this statement, that while he contains all things within himself, 2.03.01:005
the creation was formed by some other. For it is absolutely necessary that 2.03.01:006
they acknowledge a certain void and chaotic kind of existence (below the spiritual 2.03.01:007
Pleroma) in which this universe was formed, and that the Propator purposely 2.03.01:008
left this chaos as it was, either knowing beforehand what things were 2.03.01:009
to happen in it, or being ignorant of them. If he was really ignorant, then 2.03.01:010
God will not be prescient of all things. But they will not even [in that 2.03.01:012
case] be able to assign a reason on what account He thus left this place void 2.03.01:013
during so long a period of time. If, again, He is prescient, and contemplated 2.03.01:014
mentally that creation which was about to have a being in that place, then 2.03.01:015
He Himself created it who also formed it beforehand [ideally] in Himself. 2.03.01:016
2. Let them cease, therefore, to affirm that the world was made by any other; IrnL.AH.2.03.02:019
for as soon as God formed a conception in His mind, that was also done which 2.03.02:020
He had thus mentally conceived. For it was not possible that one Being should 2.03.02:021
mentally form the conception, and another actually produce the things which 2.03.02:022
had been conceived by Him in His mind. But God, according to these heretics, 2.03.02:023
mentally conceived either an eternal world or a temporal one, both of which suppositions 2.03.02:024
cannot be true. Yet if He had mentally conceived of it as eternal, 2.03.02:026
spiritual, and visible, it would also have been formed such. But if it was 2.03.02:027
formed such as it really is, then He made it such who had mentally conceived 2.03.02:027
of it as such; or He willed it to exist in the ideality of the Father, according 2.03.02:028
to the conception of His mind, such as it now is, compound, mutable, and 2.03.02:029
transient. Since, then, it is just such as the Father had [ideally] formed in 2.03.02:031
counsel with Himself, it must be worthy of the Father. But to affirm that what IrnL.AH.2.03.02:032
was mentally conceived and pre-created by the Father of all, just as it has 2.03.02:033
been actually formed, is the fruit of defect, and the production of ignorance, IrnL.AH.2.03.02:034
is to be guilty of great blasphemy. For, according to them, the Father of 2.03.02:035
all will thus be [regarded as] generating in His breast, according to His own IrnL.AH.2.03.02:037
mental conception, the emanations of defect and the fruits of ignorance, since 2.03.02:038
the things which He had conceived in His mind have actually been produced. 2.03.02:039
1. The cause, then, of such a dispensation on the part of God, is to be inquired after; but 2.04.01:001
the formation of the world is not to be ascribed to any other. And all things are to be 2.04.01:002
spoken of as having been so prepared by God beforehand, that they should be made as they have 2.04.01:003
been made; but shadow and vacuity are not to be conjured into existence. But whence, let 2.04.01:004
me ask, came this vacuity [of which they speak]? If it was indeed produced by Him who, according 2.04.01:005
to them, is the Father and Author of oil things, then it is both equal in honour 2.04.01:006
and related to the rest of the AEons, perchance even more ancient than they are. Moreover, 2.04.01:007
if it proceeded from the same source [as they did], it must be similar in nature to Him who 2.04.01:008
produced it, as well as to those along with whom it was produced. There will therefore be 2.04.01:009
an absolute necessity, both that the Bythus of whom they speak, along with Sige, be similar 2.04.01:010
in nature to a vacuum, that is, that He really is a vacuum; and that the rest of the AEons, 2.04.01:011
since they are the brothers of vacuity, should also be devoid of substance. If, on the 2.04.01:012
other hand, it has not been thus produced, it must have sprang from and been generated 2.04.01:013
by itself, and in that case it will be equal in point of age to that Bythus who is, according 2.04.01:014
to them, the Father of oil; and thus vacuity will be of the same nature and of the same IrnL.AH.2.04.01:015
honour with Him who is, according to them, the universal Father. For it must of necessity 2.04.01:018
have been either produced by some one, or generated by itself, and sprung from itself. But 2.04.01:019
if, in truth, vacuity was produced, then its producer Valentinus is also a vacuum, as are 2.04.01:019
likewise his followers. If, again, it was not produced, but was generated by itself, then IrnL.AH.2.04.01:020
that which is really a vacuum is similar to, and the brother of, and of the same honour IrnL.AH.2.04.01:021
with, that Father who has been proclaimed by Valentinus; while it is more ancient, and dating 2.04.01:022
its existence from a period greatly anterior, and more exalted in honour than the remaining 2.04.01:023
AEons of Ptolemy himself, and Heracleon, and all the rest who hold the same opinions. 2.04.01:024
2. But if, driven to despair in regard to these points, they confess that the Father of all contains 2.04.02:027
all things, and that there is nothing whatever outside of the Heroma (for it is an absolute 2.04.02:028
necessity that, [if there be anything outside of it,] it should be bounded and circumscribed 2.04.02:029
by something greater than itself), and that they speak of what is without and what within 2.04.02:030
in reference to knowledge and ignorance, and not with respect to local distance; but that, in 2.04.02:031
the Pleroma, or in those things which are contained by the Father, the whole creation which we 2.04.02:032
know to have been formed, having been made by the Demiurge, or by the angels, is contained 2.04.02:033
by the unspeakable greatness, as the centre is in a circle, or as a spot is in a garment,--then, 2.04.02:034
in the first place, what sort of a being must thatBythus be, who allows a stain to have place 2.04.02:035
in His own bosom, and permits another one to create or produce within His territory, contrary 2.04.02:039
to His own will? Such a mode of acting would truly entail [the charge of] degeneracy upon the 2.04.02:040
entire Pleroma, since it might from the first have cut off that defect, and those emanations 2.04.02:041
which derived their origin from it, and not have agreed to permit the formation of creation 2.04.02:042
either in ignorance, or passion, or in defect. For he who can afterwards rectify a defect, and 2.04.02:043
does, as it were, wash away a stain, could at a much earlier date have taken care that no such 2.04.02:044
stain should, even at first, be found among his possessions. Or if at the first he allowed 2.04.02:046
that the things which were made [should be as they are], since they could not, in fact, be formed 2.04.02:047
otherwise, then it follows that they must always continue in the same condition. For how 2.04.02:048
is it possible, that those things which cannot at the first obtain rectification, should subsequently 2.04.02:050
receive it? Or how can men say that they are called to perfection, when those very beings 2.04.02:051
who are the causes from which men derive their origin--either the Demiurge himself, or the 2.04.02:052
angels --are declared to exist in defect? And if, as is maintained, [the Supreme Being,] inasmuch 2.04.02:053
as He is benignant, did at last take pity upon men, and bestow on them perfection, He ought 2.04.02:054
at first to have pitied those who were the creators of man, and to have conferred on them 2.04.02:055
perfection. In this way, men too would verily have shared in His compassion, being formed. perfect 2.04.02:056
by those that were perfect. For if He pitied the work of these beings, He ought long before 2.04.02:058
to have pitied themselves, and not to have allowed them to fall into such awful blindness. 2.04.02:059
3. Their talk also about shadow and vacuity, in which they maintain that the creation 2.04.03:061
with which we are concerned was formed, will be brought to nothing, if the things 2.04.03:062
referred to were created within the territory which is contained by the Father. 2.04.03:063
For if they hold that the light of their Father is such that it fills all things 2.04.03:064
which are inside of Him, and illuminates them all, how can any vacuum or shadow 2.04.03:065
possibly exist within that territory which is contained by the Pleroma, and by the 2.04.03:066
light of the Father? For, in that case, it behoves them to point out some place within 2.04.03:068
the Propator, or within the Pleroma, which is not illuminated, nor kept possession 2.04.03:069
of by any one, and in which either the angels or the Demiurge formed whatever 2.04.03:070
they pleased. Nor will it be a small amount of space in which such and so great 2.04.03:071
a creation can be conceived of as having been formed. There will therefore be an 2.04.03:073
absolute necessity that, within the Pleroma, or within the Father of whom they speak, IrnL.AH.2.04.03:074
they should conceive of some place, void, formless, and full of darkness, in IrnL.AH.2.04.03:075
which those things were formed which have been formed. By such a supposition, however, 2.04.03:076
the light of their Father would incur a reproach, as if He could not illuminate 2.04.03:077
and fill those things which are within Himself. Thus, then, when they maintain 2.04.03:078
that these things were the fruit of defect and the work of error, they do moreover 2.04.03:079
introduce defect and error within the Pleroma, and into the bosom of the Father. 2.04.03:080
1. The remarks, therefore, which I made a little while ago are suitable in answer to those who 2.05.01:001
assert that this world was formed outside of the Pleroma, or under a "good God; "and such 2.05.01:002
persons, with the Father they speak of, will be quite cut off from that which is outside the 2.05.01:003
Pleroma, in which, at the same time, it is necessary that they should finally rest. In answer 2.05.01:004
to those, again, who maintain that this world was formed by certain other beings within IrnL.AH.2.05.01:005
that territory which is contained by the Father, all those points which have now been noticed 2.05.01:006
will present themselves [as exhibiting their] absurdities and incoherencies; and they will 2.05.01:007
be compelled either to acknowledge all those things which are within the Father, lucid, full, 2.05.01:008
and energetic, or to accuse the light of the Father as if He could not illuminate all things; 2.05.01:009
or, as a portion of their Pleroma [is so described], the whole of it must be confessed 2.05.01:010
to be void, chaotic, and full of darkness. And they accuse all other created things as if IrnL.AH.2.05.01:013
these were merely temporal, or [at the best], if eternal, yet material. But these (the AEons) 2.05.01:014
ought to be regarded as beyond the reach of such accusations, since they are within the Pleroma, 2.05.01:015
or the charges in question will equally fall against the entire Pleroma; and thus the 2.05.01:018
Christ of whom they speak is discovered to be the author of ignorance. For, according to their 2.05.01:018
statements, when He had given a form so far as substance was concerned to the Mother they 2.05.01:019
conceive of, He cast her outside of the Pleroma; that is, He cut her off from knowledge. IrnL.AH.2.05.01:021
He, therefore, who separated her from knowledge, did in reality produce ignorance in her. How 2.05.01:022
then could the very same person bestow the gift of knowledge on the rest of the AEons, those 2.05.01:023
who were anterior to Him [in production], and yet be the author of ignorance to His Mother? 2.05.01:024
For He placed her beyond the pale of knowledge, when He cast her outside of the Pleroma. 2.05.01:025
2. Moreover, if they explain being within and without the Pleroma as implying knowledge 2.05.02:027
and ignorance respectively, as certain of them do (since he who has knowledge is within 2.05.02:028
that which knows), then they must of necessity grant that the Saviour Himself (whom 2.05.02:029
they designate All Things) was in a state of ignorance. For they maintain that, on 2.05.02:030
His coming forth outside of the Pleroma, He imparted form to their Mother [Achamoth]. IrnL.AH.2.05.02:032
If, then, they assert that whatever is outside [the Pleroma] is ignorant of all things, 2.05.02:033
and if the Saviour went forth to impart form to their Mother, then He was situated 2.05.02:034
beyond the pale of the knowledge of all things; that is, He was in ignorance. How then IrnL.AH.2.05.02:035
could He communicate knowledge to her, when He Himself was beyond the pale of knowledge? 2.05.02:037
For we, too, they declare to be outside the Pleroma, inasmuch as we are outside 2.05.02:038
of the knowledge which they possess. And once more: If the Saviour really went forth beyond 2.05.02:038
the Pleroma to seek after the sheep which was lost, but the Pleroma is [co-extensive 2.05.02:040
with] knowledge, then He placed Himself beyond the pale of knowledge, that is, in 2.05.02:041
ignorance. For it is necessary either that they grant that what is outside the Pleroma 2.05.02:042
is so in a local sense, in which case all the remarks formerly made will rise up against IrnL.AH.2.05.02:043
them; or if they speak of that which is within in regard to knowledge, and of that 2.05.02:044
which is without in respect to ignorance, then their Saviour, and Christ long before 2.05.02:045
Him, must have been formed in ignorance, inasmuch as they went forth beyond the Pleroma, 2.05.02:046
that is, beyond the pale of knowledge, in order to impart form to their Mother. 2.05.02:047
3. These arguments may, in like manner, be adapted to meet the case of all those who, in 2.05.03:050
any way, maintain that the world was formed either by angels or by any other one than IrnL.AH.2.05.03:051
the true God. For the charges which they bring against the Demiurge, and those things which 2.05.03:053
were made material and temporal, will in truth fall back on the Father; if indeed 2.05.03:054
the very things which were formed in the bosom of the Pleroma began by and by in fact to 2.05.03:055
be dissolved, in accordance with the permission and good-will of the Father. The [immediate] 2.05.03:056
Creator, then, is not the [real] Author of this work, thinking, as He did, that 2.05.03:057
He formed it very good, but He who allows and approves of the productions of defect, and 2.05.03:058
the works of error having a place among his own possessions, and that temporal things 2.05.03:059
should be mixed up with eternal, corruptible with incorruptible, and those which partake 2.05.03:060
of error with those which belong to truth. If, however, these things were formed without IrnL.AH.2.05.03:062
the permission or approbation of the Father of all, then that Being must be more powerful, 2.05.03:063
stronger, and more kingly, who made these things within a territory which properly 2.05.03:064
belongs to Him (the Father), and did so without His permission. If again, as some say, IrnL.AH.2.05.03:066
their Father permitted these things without approving of them, then He gave the permission 2.05.03:067
on account of some necessity, being either able to prevent [such procedure], or not 2.05.03:069
able. But if indeed He could not [hinder it], then He is weak and powerless; while, if 2.05.03:070
He could, He is a seducer, a hypocrite, and a slave of necessity, inasmuch as He does 2.05.03:071
not consent [to such a course], and yet allows it as if He did consent. And allowing error 2.05.03:072
to arise at the first, and to go on increasing, He endeavours in later times to destroy 2.05.03:073
it, when already many have miserably perished on account of the [original] defect. 2.05.03:074
4. It is not seemly, however, to say of Him who is God over all, since He is free 2.05.04:076
and independent, that He was a slave to necessity, or that anything takes place 2.05.04:077
with His permission, yet against His desire; otherwise they will make necessity 2.05.04:078
greater and more kingly than God, since that which has the most power is superior 2.05.04:079
to all [others]. And He ought at the very beginning to have cut off the causes IrnL.AH.2.05.04:081
of [the fancied] necessity, and not to have allowed Himself to be shut up to IrnL.AH.2.05.04:082
yielding to that necessity, by permitting anything besides that which became Him. 2.05.04:083
For it would have been much better, more consistent, and more God-like, to cut 2.05.04:084
off at the beginning the principle of this kind of necessity, than afterwards, as 2.05.04:085
if moved by repentance, to endeavour to extirpate the results of necessity when 2.05.04:086
they had reached such a development. And if the Father of all be a slave to necessity, IrnL.AH.2.05.04:088
and must yield to fate, while He unwillingly tolerates the things which 2.05.04:089
are done, but is at the same time powerless to do anything in opposition to necessity IrnL.AH.2.05.04:090
and fate (like the Homeric Jupiter, who says of necessity, "I have willingly 2.05.04:091
given thee, yet with unwilling mind"), then, according to this reasoning, the 2.05.04:093
Bythus of whom they speak will be found to be the slave of necessity and fate. 2.05.04:094
1. How, again, could either the angels, or the Creator of the world, have been 2.06.01:001
ignorant of the Supreme God, seeing they were His property, and His creatures, 2.06.01:002
and were contained by Him? He might indeed have been invisible to them on account IrnL.AH.2.06.01:003
of His superiority, but He could by no means have been unknown to them on 2.06.01:004
account of His providence. For though it is true, as they declare, that they 2.06.01:005
were very far separated from Him through their inferiority [of nature], yet, 2.06.01:006
as His dominion extended over all of them, it behoved them to know their Ruler, 2.06.01:007
and to be aware of this in particular, that He who created them is Lord of all. 2.06.01:008
For since His invisible essence is mighty, it confers on all a profound mental 2.06.01:010
intuition and perception of His most powerful, yea, omnipotent greatness. 2.06.01:011
Wherefore, although "no one knows the Father, except the Son, nor the Son except 2.06.01:013
the Father, and those to whom the Son will reveal Him," yet all [beings] do 2.06.01:014
know this one fact at least, because reason, implanted in their minds, moves 2.06.01:015
them, and reveals to them [the truth] that there is one God, the Lord of all. 2.06.01:016
2. And on this account all things have been [by general consent] placed under the sway of 2.06.02:018
Him who is styled the Most High, and the Almighty. By calling upon Him, even before the 2.06.02:019
coming of our Lord, men were saved both from most wicked spirits, and from all kinds of 2.06.02:020
demons, and from every sort of apostate power. This was the case, not as if earthly spirits 2.06.02:021
or demons had seen Him, but because they knew of the existence of Him who is God over 2.06.02:022
all, at whose invocation they trembled, as there does tremble every creature, and principality, 2.06.02:023
and power, and every being endowed with energy under His government. By way of 2.06.02:024
parallel, shall not those who live under the empire of the Romans, although they have IrnL.AH.2.06.02:026
never seen the emperor, but are far separated from him both by land and sea, know very well, 2.06.02:027
as they experience his rule, who it is that possesses the principal power in the state? IrnL.AH.2.06.02:028
How then could it be, that those angels who were superior to us [in nature], or even 2.06.02:029
He whom they call the Creator of the world, did not know the Almighty, when even dumb animals 2.06.02:030
tremble and yield at the invocation of His name? And as, although they have not seen IrnL.AH.2.06.02:034
Him, yet all things are subject to the name of our Lord, so must they also be to His 2.06.02:035
who made and established all things by His word, since it was no other than He who formed 2.06.02:036
the world. And for this reason do the Jews even now put demons to flight by means of this 2.06.02:037
very adjuration, inasmuch as all beings fear the invocation of Him who created them. 2.06.02:038
3. If, then, they shrink from affirming that the angels are more irrational than the dumb animals, 2.06.03:040
they will find that it behoved these, although they had not seen Him who is God over all, 2.06.03:041
to know His power and sovereignty. For it will appear truly ridiculous, if they maintain that 2.06.03:042
they themselves indeed, who dwell upon the earth, know Him who is God over all whom they have 2.06.03:043
never seen, but will not allow Him who, according to their opinion, formed them and the whole 2.06.03:044
world, although He dwells in the heights and above the heavens, to know those things with 2.06.03:045
which they themselves, though they dwell below, are acquainted. [This is the case], unless perchance 2.06.03:046
they maintain that Bythus lives in Tartarus below the earth, and that on this account 2.06.03:049
they have attained to a knowledge of Him before those angels who have their abode on high. Thus 2.06.03:050
do they rush into such an abyss of madness as to pronounce the Creator of the world void 2.06.03:051
of understanding. They are truly deserving of pity, since with such utter folly they affirm that 2.06.03:052
He (the Creator of the world) neither knew His Mother, nor her seed, nor the Pleroma of the 2.06.03:053
AEons, nor the Propator, nor what the things were which He made; but that these are images 2.06.03:054
of those things which are within the Pleroma, the Saviour having secretly laboured that they should 2.06.03:055
be so formed ['by the unconscious Demiurge], in honour of those things which are above. 2.06.03:059
1. While the Demiurge was thus ignorant of all things, they tell us that the Saviour conferred 2.07.01:001
honour upon the Pleroma by the creation [which he summoned into existence] through IrnL.AH.2.07.01:002
means of his Mother, inasmuch as he produced similitudes and images of those things 2.07.01:003
which are above. But I have already shown that it was impossible that anything should IrnL.AH.2.07.01:004
exist beyond the Pleroma (in which external region they tell us that images were made IrnL.AH.2.07.01:005
of those things which are within the Pleroma), or that this world was formed by any 2.07.01:006
other one than the Supreme God. But if it is a pleasant thing to overthrow them on every 2.07.01:008
side, and to prove them vendors of falsehood; let us say, in opposition to them, that 2.07.01:009
if these things were made by the Saviour to the honour of those which are above, after IrnL.AH.2.07.01:010
their likeness, then it behoved them always to endure, that those things which have 2.07.01:011
been honoured should perpetually continue in honour. But if they do in fact pass away, IrnL.AH.2.07.01:013
what is the use of this very brief period of honour,--an honour which at one time had 2.07.01:014
no existence, and which shall again come to nothing? In that case I shall prove that 2.07.01:015
the Saviour is rather an aspirant after vainglory, than one who honours those things 2.07.01:016
which are above, For what honour can those things which are temporal confer on such as 2.07.01:017
are eternal and endure for ever? or those which pass away on such as remain? or those 2.07.01:018
which are corruptible on such as are incorruptible?--since, even among men who are themselves 2.07.01:020
mortal, there is no value attached to that honour which speedily passes away, 2.07.01:021
but to that which endures as long as it possibly can. But those things which, as soon IrnL.AH.2.07.01:022
as they are made, come to an end, may justly be said rather to have been formed for the 2.07.01:023
contempt of such as are thought to be honoured by them; and that that which is eternal IrnL.AH.2.07.01:024
is contumeliously treated when its image is corrupted and dissolved. But what if their IrnL.AH.2.07.01:025
Mother had not wept, and laughed, and been involved in despair? The Saviour would 2.07.01:027
not then have possessed any means of honouring the Fulness, inasmuch as her last state 2.07.01:028
of confusion did not have substance of its own by which it might honour the Propator. IrnL.AH.2.07.01:029
2. Alas for the honour of vainglory which at once passes away, and no longer appears! IrnL.AH.2.07.02:031
There will be some AEon, in whose case such honour will not be thought at all to have IrnL.AH.2.07.02:032
had an existence, and then the things which are above will be unhonoured; or it 2.07.02:033
will be necessary to produce once more another Mother weeping, and in despair, in order 2.07.02:034
to the honour of the Pleroma. What a dissimilar, and at the same time blasphemous 2.07.02:036
image! Do you tell me that an image of the Only-begotten was produced by the former IrnL.AH.2.07.02:037
of the world, whom again ye wish to be considered the Nous (mind) of the Father of 2.07.02:038
all, and [yet maintain] that this image was ignorant of itself, ignorant of creation,--ignorant, 2.07.02:039
too, of the Mother,--ignorant of everything that exists, and of those things 2.07.02:040
which were made by it; and are you not ashamed while, in opposition to yourselves, 2.07.02:041
you ascribe ignorance even to the Only-begotten Himself? For if these things [below] IrnL.AH.2.07.02:045
were made by the Saviour after the similitude of those which are above, while 2.07.02:046
He (the Demiurge) who was made after such similitude was in so great ignorance, it necessarily 2.07.02:047
follows that around Him, and in accordance with Him, after whose likeness 2.07.02:048
be that is thus ignorant was formed, ignorance of the kind in question spiritually 2.07.02:050
exists. For it is not possible, since both were produced spiritually, and neither fashioned 2.07.02:051
nor composed, that in some the likeness was preserved, while in others the likeness 2.07.02:052
of the image was spoiled, that image which was here produced that it might be 2.07.02:053
according to the image of that production which is above. But if it is not similar, 2.07.02:055
the charge will then attach to the Saviour, who produced a dissimilar image,--of being, IrnL.AH.2.07.02:056
so to speak, an incompetent workman. For it is out of their power to affirm that 2.07.02:057
the Saviour had not the faculty of production, since they style Him All Things. If, 2.07.02:058
then, the image is dissimilar, he is a poor workman, and the blame lies, according 2.07.02:059
to their hypothesis, with the Saviour. If, on the other hand, it is similar, then the 2.07.02:060
same ignorance will be found to exist in the Nous (mind) of their Propator, that 2.07.02:060
is, in the Only-begotten. The Nous of the Father, in that case, was ignorant of Himself; IrnL.AH.2.07.02:061
ignorant, too, of the Father; ignorant, moreover, of those very things which were 2.07.02:062
formed by Him. But if He has knowledge, it necessarily follows also that he who was 2.07.02:065
formed after his likeness by the Saviour should know the things which are like; and 2.07.02:066
thus, according to their own principles, their monstrous blasphemy is overthrown. 2.07.02:067
3. Apart from this, however, how can those things which belong to creation, various, 2.07.03:069
manifold, and innumerable as they are, be the images of those thirty AEons which 2.07.03:070
are within the Pleroma, whose names, as these men fix them, I have set forth in the 2.07.03:071
book which precedes this? And not only will they be unable to adapt the [vast] variety IrnL.AH.2.07.03:072
of creation at large to the [comparative] smallness of their Pleroma, but they 2.07.03:074
cannot do this even with respect to any one part of it, whether [that possessed by] 2.07.03:075
celestial or terrestrial beings, or those that live in the waters. For they themselves 2.07.03:076
testify that their Pleroma consists of thirty AEons; but any one will undertake 2.07.03:077
to show that, in a single department of those [created beings] which have been mentioned, 2.07.03:078
they reckon that there are not thirty, but many thousands of species. How 2.07.03:079
then can those things, which constitute such a multiform creation, which are opposed IrnL.AH.2.07.03:081
in nature to each other, and disagree among themselves, and destroy the one the other, 2.07.03:082
be the images and likenesses of the thirty AEons of the Pleroma, if indeed, as 2.07.03:083
they declare, these being possessed of one nature, are of equal and similar properties, IrnL.AH.2.07.03:084
and exhibit no differences [among themselves]? For it was incumbent, if these 2.07.03:086
things are images of those AEons,--inasmuch as they declare that some men are wicked 2.07.03:087
by nature, and some, on the other hand, naturally good,--to point out such differences 2.07.03:088
also among their AEons, and to maintain that some of them were produced naturally 2.07.03:089
good, while some were naturally evil, so that the supposition of the likeness 2.07.03:090
of those things might harmonize with the AEons. Moreover, since there are in the world IrnL.AH.2.07.03:093
some creatures that are gentle, and others that are fierce, some that are innocuous, 2.07.03:094
while others are hurtful and destroy the rest; some have their abode on the 2.07.03:095
earth, others in the water, others in the air, and others in the heaven; in like manner, 2.07.03:096
they are bound to show that the AEons possess such properties, if indeed the one 2.07.03:097
are the images of the others. And besides; "the eternal fire which the Father has 2.07.03:099
prepared for the devil and his angels," -- they ought to show of which of those AEons IrnL.AH.2.07.03:100
that are above it is the image; for it, too, is reckoned part of the creation. 2.07.03:101
4. If, however, they say that these things are the images of the Enthymesis of that AEon 2.07.04:104
who fell into passion, then, first of all, they will act impiously against their Mother, 2.07.04:105
by declaring her to be the first cause of evil and corruptible images. And then, again, 2.07.04:106
how can those things which are manifold, and dissimilar, and contrary in their nature, 2.07.04:107
be the images of one and the same Being? And if they say that the angels of the Pleroma 2.07.04:110
are numerous, and that those things which are many are the images of these--not in 2.07.04:111
this way either will the account they give be satisfactory. For, in the first place, they 2.07.04:112
are then bound to point out differences among the angels of the Pleroma, which are mutually 2.07.04:113
opposed to each other, even as the images existing below are of a contrary nature 2.07.04:114
among themselves. And then, again, since there are many, yea, innumerable angels who 2.07.04:115
surround the Creator, as all the prophets acknowledge,--[saying, for instance,] "Ten thousand 2.07.04:116
times ten thousand stood beside Him, and many thousands of thousands ministered 2.07.04:117
unto Him," --then, according to them, the angels of the Pleroma will have as images the 2.07.04:118
angels of the Creator, and the entire creation remains in the image of the Pleroma, but IrnL.AH.2.07.04:119
so that the thirty AEons no longer correspond to the manifold variety of the creation. 2.07.04:120
5. Still further, if these things [below] were made after the similitude of those [above], 2.07.05:123
after the likeness of which again will those then be made? For if the Creator of the 2.07.05:124
world did not form these things directly from His own conception, but, like an architect IrnL.AH.2.07.05:125
of no ability, or a boy receiving his first lesson, copied them from archetypes furnished IrnL.AH.2.07.05:126
by others, then whence did their Bythus obtain the forms of that creation which He at 2.07.05:127
first produced? It clearly follows that He must have received the model from some other 2.07.05:129
one who is above Him, and that one, in turn, from another. And none the less [for these IrnL.AH.2.07.05:130
suppositions], the talk about images, as about gods, will extend to infinity, if we do 2.07.05:131
not at once fix our mind on one Artificer, and on one God, who of Himself formed those IrnL.AH.2.07.05:132
things which have been created. Or is it really the case that, in regard to mere men, one 2.07.05:133
will allow that they have of themselves invented what is useful for the purposes of life, IrnL.AH.2.07.05:135
but will not grant to that God who formed the world, that of Himself He created the 2.07.05:136
forms of those things which have been made, and imparted to it its orderly arrangement? 2.07.05:137
6. But, again, how can these things [below] be images of those [above], since they are really 2.07.06:140
contrary to them, and can in no respect have sympathy with them? For those things which 2.07.06:141
are contrary to each other may indeed be destructive of those to which they are contrary, 2.07.06:141
but can by no means be their images--as, for instance, water and fire; or, again, light 2.07.06:142
and darkness, and other such things, can never be the images of one another. In like manner, 2.07.06:143
neither can those things which are corruptible and earthly, and of a compound nature, and 2.07.06:145
transitory, be the images of those which, according to these men, are spiritual; unless IrnL.AH.2.07.06:146
these very things themselves be allowed to be compound, limited in space, and of a definite 2.07.06:147
shape, and thus no longer spiritual, and diffused, and spreading into vast extent, and 2.07.06:148
incomprehensible. For they must of necessity be possessed of a definite figure, and confined 2.07.06:151
within certain limits, that they may be true images; and then it is decided that they 2.07.06:152
are not spiritual. If, however, these men maintain that they are spiritual, and diffused, 2.07.06:153
and incomprehensible, how can those things which are possessed of figure, and confined within 2.07.06:154
certain limits, be the images of such as are destitute of figure and incomprehensible? IrnL.AH.2.07.06:155
7. If, again, they affirm that neither according to configuration nor formation, but 2.07.07:157
according to number and the order of production, those things [above] are the images 2.07.07:158
[of these below], then, in the first place, these things [below] ought not to be spoken 2.07.07:159
of as images and likenesses of those AEons that are above. For how can the things 2.07.07:160
which have neither the fashion nor shape of those [above] be their images? And, in 2.07.07:161
the next place, they would adapt both the numbers and productions of the AEons above, 2.07.07:163
so as to render them identical with and similar to thoseth at belong to the creation 2.07.07:164
[below]. But now, since they refer to only thirty AEons, and declare that the vast 2.07.07:166
multitude of things which are embraced within the creation [below] are images of 2.07.07:167
those that are but thirty, we may justly condemn them as utterly destitute of sense. 2.07.07:168
1. If, again, they declare that these things [below] are a shadow of those [above], as some 2.08.01:001
of them are bold enough to maintain, so that in this respect they are images, then it 2.08.01:002
will be necessary for them to allow that those things which are above are possessed of bodies. 2.08.01:003
For those bodies which are above do cast a shadow, but spiritual substances do not, IrnL.AH.2.08.01:004
since they can in no degree darken others. If, however, we also grant them this point (though 2.08.01:005
it is, in fact, an impossibility), that there is a shadow belonging to those essences 2.08.01:006
which are spiritual and lucent, into which they declare their Mother descended; yet, 2.08.01:007
since those things [which are above] are eternal, and that shadow which is cast by them 2.08.01:008
endures for ever, [it follows that] these things [below] are also not transitory, but endure IrnL.AH.2.08.01:009
along with those which cast their shadow over them. If, on the other hand, these things IrnL.AH.2.08.01:010
[below] are transitory, it is a necessary consequence that those [above] also, of which IrnL.AH.2.08.01:012
these are the shadow, pass away; while; if they endure, their shadow likewise endures. 2.08.01:013
2. If, however, they maintain that the shadow spoken of does not exist as being produced by the shade 2.08.02:016
of [those above], but simply in this respect, that [the things below] are far separated from 2.08.02:017
those [above], they will then charge the light of their Father with weakness and insufficiency, 2.08.02:018
as if it cannot extend so far as these things, but fails to fill that which is empty, and to dispel 2.08.02:019
the shadow, and that when no one is offering any hindrance. For, according to them, the light 2.08.02:020
of their Father will be changed into darkness and buried in obscurity, and will come to an end in 2.08.02:021
those places which are characterized by emptiness, since it cannot penetrate and fill all things. 2.08.02:022
Let them then no longer declare that their Bythus is the fulness of all things, if indeed he has 2.08.02:025
neither filled nor illuminated that which is vacuum and shadow; or, on the other hand, let them 2.08.02:026
cease talking of vacuum and shadow, if the light of their Father does in truth fill all things. 2.08.02:027
3. Beyond the primary Father, then--that is, the God who is over all--there can neither 2.08.03:030
be any Pleroma into which they declare the Enthymesis of that AEon who suffered 2.08.03:031
passion, descended (so that the Pleroma itself, or the primary God, should not 2.08.03:032
be limited and circumscribed by that which is beyond, and should, in fact, be contained 2.08.03:033
by it); nor can vacuum or shadow have any existence, since the Father exists 2.08.03:034
beforehand, so that His light cannot fail, and find end in a vacuum. It is, moreover, 2.08.03:035
irrational and impious to conceive of a place in which He who is, according IrnL.AH.2.08.03:036
to them, Propator, and Proarche, and Father of all, and of this Pleroma, ceases and 2.08.03:037
has an end. Nor, again, is it allowable, for the reasons already stated, to allege 2.08.03:040
that some other being formed so vast a creation in the bosom of the Father, either 2.08.03:041
with or without His consent. For it is equally impious and infatuated to affirm IrnL.AH.2.08.03:042
that so great a creation was formed by angels, or by some particular production 2.08.03:043
ignorant of the true God in that territory which is His own. Nor is it possible 2.08.03:044
that those things which are earthly and material could have been formed within their 2.08.03:046
Pleroma, since that is wholly spiritual. And further, it is not even possible 2.08.03:047
that those things which belong to a multiform creation, and have been formed with 2.08.03:048
mutually opposite qualities [could have been created] after the image of the things 2.08.03:049
above, since these (i.e., the AEons) are said to be few, and of a like formation, 2.08.03:050
and homogeneous. Their talk, too, about the shadow of kenoma--that is, of a vacuum--has 2.08.03:051
in all points turned out false. Their figment, then, [in what way soever 2.08.03:052
viewed,] has been proved groundless, and their doctrines untenable. Empty, too, are 2.08.03:053
those who listen to them, and are verily descending into the abyss of perdition. 2.08.03:054
1. That God is the Creator of the world is accepted even by those very persons 2.09.01:001
who in many ways speak against Him, and yet acknowledge Him, styling 2.09.01:002
Him the Creator, and an angel, not to mention that all the Scriptures call 2.09.01:003
out [to the same effect], and the Lord teaches us of this Father who is 2.09.01:004
in heaven, and no other, as I shall show in the sequel of this work. For the 2.09.01:005
present, however, that proof which is derived from those who allege doctrines 2.09.01:007
opposite to ours, is of itself sufficient,--all men, in fact, consenting 2.09.01:008
to this truth: the ancients on their part preserving with special care, 2.09.01:009
from the tradition of the first-formed man, this persuasion, while they 2.09.01:010
celebrate the praises of one God, the Maker of heaven and earth; others, 2.09.01:011
again, after them, being reminded of this fact by the prophets of God, while 2.09.01:012
the very heathen learned it from creation itself. For even creation reveals 2.09.01:014
Him who formed it, and the very work made suggests Him who made it, 2.09.01:015
and the world manifests Him who ordered it. The Universal Church, moreover, 2.09.01:017
through the whole world, has received this tradition from the apostles. 2.09.01:018
2. This God, then, being acknowledged, as I have said, and receiving testimony from all to 2.09.02:019
the fact of His existence, that Father whom they conjure into existence is beyond doubt untenable, 2.09.02:020
and has no witnesses [to his existence]. Simon Magus was the first who said that 2.09.02:021
he himself was God over all, and that the world was formed by his angels. Then those who 2.09.02:022
succeeded him, as I have shown in the first book, by their several opinions, still further 2.09.02:023
depraved [his teaching] through their impious and irreligious doctrines against the Creator. 2.09.02:024
These [heretics now referred to], being the disciples of those mentioned, render such as 2.09.02:025
assent to them worse than the heathen. For the former "serve the creature rather than the 2.09.02:028
Creator," and "those which are not gods," notwithstanding that they ascribe the first place 2.09.02:029
in Deity to that God who was the Maker of this universe. But the latter maintain that 2.09.02:030
He, [i.e., the Creator of this world,] is the fruit of a defect, and describe Him as being 2.09.02:031
of an animal nature, and as not knowing that Power which is above Him, while He also exclaims, 2.09.02:032
"I am God, and besides Me there is no other God." Affirming that He lies, they are themselves 2.09.02:033
liars, attributing all sorts of wickedness to Him; and conceiving of one who is 2.09.02:034
not above this Being as really having an existence, they are thus convicted by their own views 2.09.02:035
of blasphemy against that God who really exists, while they conjure into existence a god 2.09.02:036
who has no existence, to their own condemnation. And thus those who declare themselves 2.09.02:040
"perfect," and as being possessed of the knowledge of all things, are found to be worse than 2.09.02:041
the heathen, and to entertain more blasphemous opinions even against their own Creator. 2.09.02:043
1. It is therefore in the highest degree irrational, that we should take no account of Him IrnL.AH.2.10.01:001
who is truly God, and who receives testimony from all, while we inquire whether there is above 2.10.01:002
Him that [other being] who really has no existence, and has never been proclaimed by any 2.10.01:003
one. For that nothing has been clearly spoken regarding Him, they themselves furnish testimony; 2.10.01:004
for since they, with wretched success, transfer to that being who has been conceived 2.10.01:005
of by them, those parables [of Scripture] which, whatever the form in which they have been 2.10.01:006
spoken, are sought after [for this purpose], it is manifest that they now generate another 2.10.01:007
[god], who was never previously sought after. For by the fact that they thus endeavour 2.10.01:009
to explain ambiguous passages of Scripture (ambiguous, however, not as if referring to another 2.10.01:010
god, but as regards the dispensations of [the true] God), they have constructed another 2.10.01:011
god, weaving, as I said before, ropes of sand, and affixing a more important to a less important 2.10.01:012
question. For no question can be solved by means of another which itself awaits solution; 2.10.01:015
nor, in the opinion of those possessed of sense, can an ambiguity be explained by means 2.10.01:016
of another ambiguity, or enigmas by means of another greater enigma, but things of such 2.10.01:017
character receive their solution from those which are manifest, and consistent and clear. 2.10.01:018
2. But These [Heretics], While Striving To Explain Passages Of Scripture And Parables, Bring Forward Another 2.10.02:021
More Important, And Indeed Impious Question, To This Effect, "Whether There Be Really Another God Above That IrnL.AH.2.10.02:022
God Who Was The Creator Of The World?" They Are Not In The Way Of Solving The Questions [Which They Propose]; 2.10.02:023
For How Could They Find Means Of Doing So? But They Append An Important Question To One Of Less Consequence, IrnL.AH.2.10.02:024
And Thus Insert [In Their Speculations] A Difficulty Incapable Of Solution. For In Order That They May Know 2.10.02:026
"Knowledge" Itself (Yet Not Learning This Fact, That The Lord, When Thirty Years Old, Came To The Baptism 2.10.02:027
Of Truth), They Do Impiously Despise That God Who Was The Creator, And Who Sent Him For The Salvation Of Men. 2.10.02:028
And That They May Be Deemed Capable Of Informing Us Whence Is The Substance Of Matter, While They Believe 2.10.02:029
Not That God, According To His Pleasure, In The Exercise Of His Own Will And Power, Formed All Things (So That 2.10.02:030
Those Things Which Now Are Should Have An Existence) Out Of What Did Not Previously Exist, They Have Collected 2.10.02:031
[A Multitute Of] Vain Discourses. They Thus Truly Reveal Their Infidelity; They Do Not Believe In That 2.10.02:032
Which Really Exists, And They Have Fallen Away Into [The Belief Of] That Which Has, In Fact, No Existence. 2.10.02:033
3. For, when they tell us that all moist substance proceeded from the tears of Achamoth, 2.10.03:038
all lucid substance from her smile, all solid substance from her sadness, all mobile 2.10.03:039
substance from her terror, and that thus they have sublime knowledge on account of which 2.10.03:040
they are superior to others,--how can these things fail to be regarded as worthy of 2.10.03:041
contempt, and truly ridiculous? They do not believe that God (being powerful, and rich IrnL.AH.2.10.03:042
in all resources) created matter itself, inasmuch as they know not how much a spiritual IrnL.AH.2.10.03:043
and divine essence can accomplish. But they do believe that their Mother, whom they IrnL.AH.2.10.03:044
style a female from a female, produced from her passions aforesaid the so vast material 2.10.03:045
substance of creation. They inquire, too, whence the substance of creation was supplied 2.10.03:046
to the Creator; but they do not inquire whence [were supplied] to their Mother (whom 2.10.03:047
they call the Enthymesis and impulse of the AEon that went astray) so great an amount 2.10.03:048
of tears, or perspiration, or sadness, or that which produced the remainder of matter. 2.10.03:049
4. For, to attribute the substance of created things to the power and will of Him who 2.10.04:053
is God of all, is worthy both of credit and acceptance. It is also agreeable [to reason], IrnL.AH.2.10.04:054
and there may be well said regarding such a belief, that "the things which are 2.10.04:055
impossible with men are possible with God." While men, indeed, cannot make anything 2.10.04:056
out of nothing, but only out of matter already existing, yet God is in this point 2.10.04:057
proeminently superior to men, that He Himself called into being the substance of His 2.10.04:058
creation, when previously it had no existence. But the assertion that matter was produced 2.10.04:061
from the Enthymesis of an AEon going astray, and that the AEon [referred to] was 2.10.04:062
far separated from her Enthymesis, and that, again, her passion and feeling, apart 2.10.04:063
from herself, became matter--is incredible, infatuated, impossible, and untenable. 2.10.04:064
1. They Do Not Believe That He, Who Is God Above All, Formed By His Word, In His Own Territory, 2.11.01:001
As He Himself Pleased, The Various And Diversified [Works Of Creation Which 2.11.01:002
Exist], Inasmuch As He Is The Former Of All Things, Like A Wise Architect, And A Most Powerful 2.11.01:003
Monarch. But They Believe That Angels, Or Some Power Separate From God, And Who 2.11.01:004
Was Ignorant Of Him, Formed This Universe. By This Course, Therefore, Not Yielding Credit 2.11.01:005
To The Truth, But Wallowing In Falsehood, They Have Lost The Bread Of True Life, 2.11.01:006
And Have Fallen Into Vacuity And An Abyss Of Shadow. They Are Like The Dog Of Aesop, Which 2.11.01:007
Dropped The Bread, And Made An Attempt At Seizing Its Shadow, Thus Losing The [Real] 2.11.01:008
Food. It is easy to prove from the very words of the Lord, that He acknowledges one 2.11.01:011
Father and Creator of the world, and Fashioner of man, who was proclaimed by the law IrnL.AH.2.11.01:012
and the prophets, while He knows no other, and that this One is really God over all; and 2.11.01:013
that He teaches that that adoption of sons pertaining to the Father, which is eternal 2.11.01:014
life, takes place through Himself, conferring it [as He does] on all the righteous. 2.11.01:015
2. But since these men delight in attacking us, and in their true character of cavillers assail 2.11.02:018
us with points which really tell not at all against us, bringing forward in opposition to us a 2.11.02:019
multitude of parables and [captious] questions, I Have Thought It Well, On The Other Side, First 2.11.02:020
Of All To Put To Them The Following Inquiries Concerning Their Own Doctrines, To Exhibit Their 2.11.02:021
Improbability, And To Put An End To Their Audacity. After This Has Been Done, [I Intend] To 2.11.02:022
Bring Forward The Discourses Of The Lord, So That They May Not Only Be Rendered Destitute Of 2.11.02:023
The means of Attacking us, but that, since they will be unable reasonably to reply to those questions 2.11.02:024
Which are put, they may see that their plan of argument is destroyed; So That, Either Returning 2.11.02:025
To the truth, and humbling themselves, and ceasing from their multifarious phantasies, 2.11.02:026
They may propitiate god for those. Blasphemies they have uttered against him, and obtain salvation; 2.11.02:027
Or that, if they still persevere in that system of vainglory which has taken possession of 2.11.02:028
Their minds, they may at least find it necessary to change their kind of argument against us. 2.11.02:033
1. We may remark, in the first place, regarding their Triacontad, that the whole of 2.12.01:001
it marvellously falls to ruin on both sides, that is, both as respects defect and 2.12.01:002
excess. They say that to indicate it the Lord came to be baptized at the age of 2.12.01:003
thirty years. But this assertion really amounts to a manifest subversion of their 2.12.01:005
entire argument. As to defect, this happens as follows: first of all, because they 2.12.01:007
reckon the Propator among the other AEons. For the Father of all ought not to be counted 2.12.01:007
with other productions; He who was not produced with that which was produced; 2.12.01:009
He who was unbegotten with that which was born; He whom no one comprehends with IrnL.AH.2.12.01:010
that which is comprehended by Him, and who is on this account [Himself] incomprehensible; 2.12.01:011
and He who is without figure with that which has a definite shape. For inasmuch 2.12.01:012
as He is superior to the rest, He ought not to be numbered with them, and that 2.12.01:014
so that He who is impassible and not in error should be reckoned with an AEon 2.12.01:015
subject to passion, and actually in error. For I have shown in the book which immediately 2.12.01:016
precedes this, that, beginning with Bythus, they reckon up the Tricontad to 2.12.01:017
Sophia, whom they describe as the erring AEon; and I have also there set forth the 2.12.01:018
names of their [AEons]; but if He be not reckoned, there are no longer, on their 2.12.01:019
own showing, thirty productions of AEons, but these then become only twenty-nine. 2.12.01:020
2. Next, with respect to the first production Ennoea, whom they also term Sige, from whom again 2.12.02:023
they describe Nous and Aletheia as having been sent forth, they err in both particulars. For 2.12.02:024
it is impossible that the thought (Ennoea) of any one, or his silence (Sige), should be understood 2.12.02:026
apart from himself; and that, being sent forth beyond him, it should possess a special IrnL.AH.2.12.02:027
figure of its own. But if they assert that the (Ennoea) was not sent forth beyond Him, but continued 2.12.02:028
one with the Propator, why then do they reckon her with the other AEons--with those who 2.12.02:029
were not one [with the Father], and are on this account ignorant of His greatness? If, however, 2.12.02:030
she was so united (let us take this also into consideration), there is then an absolute 2.12.02:032
necessity, that from this united and inseparable conjunction, which constitutes but one being, 2.12.02:033
there should proceed an unseparated and united production, so that it should not be dissimilar 2.12.02:034
to Him who sent it forth. But if this be so, then just as Bythus and Sige, so also Nous and 2.12.02:036
Aletheia will form one and the same being, ever cleaving mutually together. And inasmuch as 2.12.02:037
the one cannot be conceived of without the other, just as water cannot [be conceived of] without 2.12.02:038
[the thought of] moisture, or fire without [the thought of] heat, or a stone without [the 2.12.02:039
thought] of hardness (for these things are mutually bound together, and the one cannot be separated 2.12.02:040
from the other, but always co-exists with it), so it behoves Bythus to be united in the 2.12.02:041
same way with Ennoea, and Nous with Aletheia. Logos and Zoe again, as being sent forth by those 2.12.02:042
that are thus united, ought themselves to be united, and to constitute only one being. But, 2.12.02:044
according to such a process of reasoning, Homo and Ecclesia too, and indeed all the remaining 2.12.02:046
conjunctions of the AEons produced, ought to be united, and always to coexist, the one with 2.12.02:047
the other. For there is a necessity in their opinion, that a female AEon should exist side by 2.12.02:048
side with a male one, inasmuch as she is, so to speak, [the forthputting of] his affection. 2.12.02:049
3. These things being so, and such opinions being proclaimed by them, they again 2.12.03:051
venture, without a blush, to teach that the younger AEon of the Duodecad, whom 2.12.03:052
they also style Sophia, did, apart from union with her consort, whom they call 2.12.03:053
Theletus, endure passion, and separately, without any assistance from him, 2.12.03:054
gave birth to a production which they name "a female from a female." They thus 2.12.03:055
rush into such utter frenzy, as to form two most clearly opposite opinions respecting 2.12.03:056
the same point. For if Bythus is ever one with Sige, Nous with Aletheia, 2.12.03:058
Logos with Zoe, and so on, as respects the rest, how could Sophia, without union 2.12.03:059
with her consort, either suffer or generate anything? And if, again, she did 2.12.03:060
really. suffer passion apart from him, it necessarily follows that the other 2.12.03:062
conjunctions also admit of disjunction and separation among themselves,--a thing 2.12.03:063
which I have already shown to be impossible. It is also impossible, therefore, 2.12.03:064
that Sophia suffered passion apart from Theletus; and thus, again, their whole 2.12.03:065
system of argument is overthrown. For they have yet again derived the whole 2.12.03:066
of remaining [material substance], like the composition of a tragedy, from that 2.12.03:067
passion which they affirm she experienced apart from union with her consort. 2.12.03:068
4. If, however, they impudently maintain, in order to preserve from ruin their vain imaginations, 2.12.04:070
that the rest of the conjunctions also were disjoined and separated from one another 2.12.04:071
on account of this latest conjunction, then [I reply that], in the first place, they rest upon 2.12.04:072
a thing which is impossible. For how can they separate the Propator from his Ennoea, or Nous 2.12.04:073
from Aletheia, or Logos from Zoe, and so on with the rest? And how can they themselves 2.12.04:074
maintain that they tend again to unity, and are, in fact, all at one, if indeed these very conjunctions, 2.12.04:076
which are within the Pleroma, do not preserve unity, but are separate from one 2.12.04:077
another; and that to such a degree, that they both endure passion and perform the work of generation 2.12.04:078
without union one with another, just as hens do apart from intercourse with cocks. 2.12.04:079
5. Then, again, their first and first-begotten Ogdoad will be overthrown as follows: 2.12.05:082
They must admit that Bythus and Sige, Nous and Aletheia, Logos and Zoe, 2.12.05:083
Anthropos and Ecclesia, do individually dwell in the same Pleroma. But it is 2.12.05:084
impossible that Sige (silence) can exist in the presence of Logos (speech), or 2.12.05:085
again, that Logos can manifest himself in the presence of Sige. For these are 2.12.05:086
mutually destructive of each other, even as light and darkness can by no possibility 2.12.05:087
exist in the same place: for if light prevails, there cannot be darkness; 2.12.05:088
and if darkness, there cannot be light, since, where light appears, darkness 2.12.05:089
is put to flight. In like manner, where Sige is, there cannot be Logos; and 2.12.05:091
where Logos is, there certainly cannot be Sige. But if they say that Logos simply 2.12.05:092
exists within (unexpressed), Sige also will exist within, and will not the 2.12.05:093
less be destroyed by the Logos within. But that he really is not merely conceived 2.12.05:094
of in the mind, the very order of the production of their (AEons) shows. 2.12.05:095
6. Let them not then declare that the first and principal Ogdoad consists of Logos 2.12.06:096
and Sige, but let them [as a matter of necessity] exclude either Sige or Logos; 2.12.06:097
and then their first and principal Ogdoad is at an end. For if they describe the 2.12.06:099
conjunctions [of the AEons] as united, then their whole argument fails to pieces. 2.12.06:100
Since, if they were united, how could Sophia have generated a defect without union 2.12.06:101
with her consort? If, on the other hand, they maintain that, as in production, 2.12.06:102
each of the AEons possesses his own peculiar substance, then how can Sige and Logos 2.12.06:103
manifest themselves in the same place? So far, then, with respect to defect. 2.12.06:105
7. But again, their Triacontad is overthrown as to excess by the following considerations. 2.12.07:107
They represent Horos (whom they call by a variety of names which 2.12.07:108
I have mentioned in the preceding book) as having been produced by Monogenes 2.12.07:108
just like the other AEons. Some of them maintain that this Horos was produced 2.12.07:109
by Monogenes, while others affirm that he was sent forth by the Propator 2.12.07:110
himself in His own image. They affirm further, that a production was formed 2.12.07:111
by Monogenes--Christ and the Holy Spirit; and they do not reckon these 2.12.07:113
in the number of the Pleroma, nor the Saviour either, whom they also declare 2.12.07:114
to be Totum (all things). Now, it is evident even to a blind man, that not 2.12.07:115
merely thirty productions, as they maintain, were sent forth, but four more 2.12.07:117
along with these thirty. For they reckon the Propator himself in the Pleroma, IrnL.AH.2.12.07:118
and those too, who in succession were produced by one another. Why is it, 2.12.07:119
then, that those [other beings] are not reckoned as existing with these in 2.12.07:120
the same Pleroma, since they were produced in the same manner? For what just 2.12.07:121
reason can they assign for not reckoning along with the other AEons, either 2.12.07:122
Christ, whom they describe as having, according to the Father's will, been 2.12.07:123
produced by Monogenes, or the Holy Spirit, or Horos, whom they also call Soter 2.12.07:124
(Saviour), and not even the Saviour Himself, who came to impart assistance IrnL.AH.2.12.07:125
and form to their Mother? Whether is this as if these latter were weaker 2.12.07:126
than the former, and therefore unworthy of the name of AEons, or of being numbered 2.12.07:129
among them, or as if they were superior and more excellent? But how 2.12.07:130
could they be weaker, since they were produced for the establishment and rectification IrnL.AH.2.12.07:131
of the others? And then, again, they cannot possibly be superior 2.12.07:132
to the first and principal Tetrad, by which they were also produced; for it, 2.12.07:133
too, is reckoned in the number above mentioned. These latter beings, then, 2.12.07:134
ought also to have been numbered in the Pleroma of theor that should be deprived 2.12.07:136
of the honour of those AEons which bear this appellation (the Tetrad). 2.12.07:137
8. Since, therefore, their Triacontad is thus brought to nought, as I have shown, both with respect 2.12.08:139
to defect and excess (for in dealing with such a number, either excess or defect [to any extent] 2.12.08:140
will render the number untenable, and how much more so great variations?), it follows that what 2.12.08:141
they maintain respecting their Ogdoad and Duodecad is a mere fable which cannot stand. Their 2.12.08:142
whole system, moreover, falls to the ground, when their very foundation is destroyed and dissolved 2.12.08:143
into Bythus, that is, into what has no existence. Let them, then, henceforth seek to set forth 2.12.08:144
some other reasons why the Lord came to be baptized at the age of thirty years, and [explain in 2.12.08:147
some other way] the Duodecad of the apostles; and [the fact stated regarding] her who suffered 2.12.08:148
from an issue of blood; and all the other points respecting which they so madly labour in vain. 2.12.08:149
1. I now proceed to show, as follows, that the first order of production, as conceived 2.13.01:001
of by them, must be rejected. For they maintain that Nous and Aletheia were IrnL.AH.2.13.01:002
produced from Bythus and his Ennoea, which is proved to be a contradiction. For 2.13.01:002
Nous is that which is itself chief, and highest, and, as it were, the principle 2.13.01:003
and source of all understanding. Ennoea, again, which arises from him, is any 2.13.01:004
sort of emotion concerning any subject. It cannot be, therefore, that Nous was produced 2.13.01:005
by Bythus and Ennoea; it would be more like the truth for them to maintain 2.13.01:006
that Ennoea was produced as the daughter of the Propator and this Nous. For Ennoea 2.13.01:007
not the daughter of Nous, as they assert, but Nous becomes the father of Ennoea. 2.13.01:008
For how can Nous have been produced by the Propator, when he holds the chief 2.13.01:009
and primary place of that hidden and invisible affection which is within Him? 2.13.01:010
By this affection sense is produced, and Ennoea, and Enthymesis, and other things 2.13.01:011
which are simply synonyms for Nous himself. As I have said already, they are merely IrnL.AH.2.13.01:013
certain definite exercises in thought of that very power concerning some particular 2.13.01:014
subject. We understand the [several] terms according to their length and 2.13.01:015
breadth of meaning, not according to any [fundamental] change [of signification]; 2.13.01:016
and the [various exercises of thought] are limited by [the same sphere of] knowledge, 2.13.01:017
and are expressed together by [the same] term, the [very same] sense remaining 2.13.01:018
within, and creating, and administering, and freely governing even by its 2.13.01:019
own power, and as it pleases, the things which have been previously mentioned. 2.13.01:020
2. For the first exercise of that [power] respecting anything, is styled Ennoea; but when IrnL.AH.2.13.02:024
it continues, and gathers strength, and takes possession of the whole soul, it is called IrnL.AH.2.13.02:025
Enthymesis. This Enthymesis, again, when it exercises itself a long time on the same point, 2.13.02:026
and has, as it were, been proved, is named Sensation. And this Sensation, when it is IrnL.AH.2.13.02:027
much developed, becomes Counsel. The increase, again, and greatly developed exercise of 2.13.02:028
this Counsel becomes the Examination of thought (Judgment); and this remaining in the mind 2.13.02:029
is most properly termed Logos (reason), from which the spoken Logos (word) proceeds. But 2.13.02:030
all the [exercises of thought] which have been mentioned are [fundamentally] one and the 2.13.02:033
same, receiving their origin from Nous, and obtaining [different] appellation according IrnL.AH.2.13.02:034
to their increase. Just as the human body, which is at one time young, then in the prime 2.13.02:035
of life, and then old, has received [different] appellations according to its increase and IrnL.AH.2.13.02:036
continuance, but not according to any change of substance, or on account of any [real] loss 2.13.02:037
of body, so is it with those [mental exercises]. For, when one [mentally] contemplates IrnL.AH.2.13.02:038
anything, he also thinks of it; and when he thinks of it, he has also knowledge regarding 2.13.02:039
it; and when he knows it, he also considers it; and when he considers it, he also mentally 2.13.02:040
handles it; and when he mentally handles it, he also speaks of it. But, as I have already 2.13.02:041
said, it is Nous who governs all these [mental processes], while He is himself invisible, 2.13.02:044
and utters speech of himself by means of those processes which have been mentioned, 2.13.02:045
as it were by rays [proceeding from Him], but He himself is not sent forth by any other. IrnL.AH.2.13.02:046
3. These things may properly be said to hold good in men, since they are compound 2.13.03:049
by nature, and consist of a body and a soul. But those who affirm that Ennoea was 2.13.03:050
sent forth from God, and Nous from Ennoea, and then, in succession, Logos from these, 2.13.03:051
are, in the first place, to be blamed as having improperly used these productions; 2.13.03:052
and, in the next place, as describing the affections, and passions, and mental 2.13.03:053
tendencies of men, while they [thus prove themselves] ignorant of God. By their 2.13.03:054
manner of speaking, they ascribe those things which apply to men to the Father of 2.13.03:055
all, whom they also declare to be unknown to all; and they deny that He himself made IrnL.AH.2.13.03:056
the world, to guard against attributing want of power to Him; while, at the same 2.13.03:057
time, they endow Him with human affections and passions. But if they had known 2.13.03:060
the Scriptures, and been taught by the truth, they would have known, beyond doubt, 2.13.03:061
that God is not as men are; and that His thoughts are not like the thoughts of men. 2.13.03:062
For the Father of all is at a vast distance from those affections and passions 2.13.03:064
which operate among men. He is a simple, uncompounded Being, without diverse members, 2.13.03:065
and altogether like, and equal to himself, since He is wholly understanding, and 2.13.03:066
wholly spirit, and wholly thought, and wholly intelligence, and wholly reason, 2.13.03:067
and wholly hearing, and wholly seeing, and wholly light, and the whole source of all 2.13.03:068
that is good--even as the religious and pious are wont to speak concerning God. 2.13.03:069
4. He is, however, above [all] these properties, and therefore indescribable. For He may well 2.13.04:073
and properly be called an Understanding which comprehends all things, but He is not [on 2.13.04:074
that account] like the understanding of men; and He may most properly be termed Light, but 2.13.04:075
He is nothing like that light with which we are acquainted. And so, in all other particulars, 2.13.04:076
the Father of all is in no degree similar to human weakness. He is spoken of in these IrnL.AH.2.13.04:077
terms according to the love [we bear Him]; but in point of greatness, our thoughts regarding 2.13.04:078
Him transcend these expressions. If then, even in the case of human beings, understanding 2.13.04:079
itself does not arise from emission, nor is that intelligence which produces other 2.13.04:081
things separated from the living man, while its motions and affections come into manifestation, 2.13.04:082
much more will the mind of God, who is all understanding, never by any means be separated 2.13.04:083
from Himself; nor can anything [in His case] be produced as if by a different Being. 2.13.04:084
5. For if He produced intelligence, then He who did thus produce intelligence must be understood, in accordance 2.13.05:087
with their views, as a compound and corporeal Being; so that God, who sent forth [the intelligence 2.13.05:088
referred to], is separate from it, and the intelligence which was sent forth separate [from Him]. 2.13.05:089
But if they affirm that intelligence was sent forth from intelligence, they then cut asunder the intelligence 2.13.05:090
of God, and divide it into parts. And whither has it gone? Whence was it sent forth? For whatever 2.13.05:091
is sent forth from any place, passes of necessity into some other. But what existence was there 2.13.05:092
more ancient than the intelligence of God, into which they maintain it was sent forth? And what a vast 2.13.05:093
region that must have been which was capable of receiving and containing the intelligence of God! If, 2.13.05:095
however, they affirm [that this emission took place] just as a ray proceeds from the sun, then, as 2.13.05:096
the subjacent air which receives the ray must have had an existence prior to it, so [by such reasoning] 2.13.05:097
they will indicate that there was something in existence, into which the intelligence of God was sent 2.13.05:098
forth, capable of containing it, and more ancient than itself. Following upon this, we must hold that, 2.13.05:100
as we see the sun, which is less than all things, sending forth rays from himself to a great distance, 2.13.05:101
so likewise we say that the Propator sent forth a ray beyond, and to a great distance from, Himself. 2.13.05:102
But what can be conceived of beyond, or at a distance from, God, into which He sent forth this ray? 2.13.05:103
6. If, again, they affirm that that [intelligence] was not sent forth beyond the Father, but within 2.13.06:106
the Father Himself, then, in the first place, it becomes superfluous to say that it was sent 2.13.06:107
forth at all. For how could it have been sent forth if it continued within the Father? For an emission 2.13.06:108
is the manifestation of that which is emitted, beyond him who emits it. In the next place, 2.13.06:109
this [intelligence] being sent forth, both that Logos who springs from Him will still be within 2.13.06:111
the Father, as will also be the future emissions proceeding from Logos. These, then, cannot in 2.13.06:112
such a case be ignorant of the Father, since they are within Him; nor, being all equally surrounded 2.13.06:113
by the Father, can any one know Him less [than another] according to the descending order of 2.13.06:114
their emission. And all of them must also in an equal measure continue impassible, since they exist 2.13.06:115
in the bosom of their Father, and none of them can ever sink into a state of degeneracy or degradation. 2.13.06:116
For with the Father there is no degeneracy, unless perchance as in a great circle a smaller 2.13.06:117
is contained, and within this one again a smaller; or unless they affirm of the Father, that, 2.13.06:119
after the manner of a sphere or a square, He contains within Himself on all sides the likeness 2.13.06:120
of a sphere, or the production of the rest of the AEons in the form of a square, each one of these 2.13.06:121
being surrounded by that one who is above him in greatness, and surrounding in turn that one 2.13.06:122
who is after him in smallness; and that on this account, the smallest and the last of all, having 2.13.06:123
its place in the centre, and thus being far separated from the Father, was really ignorant of 2.13.06:124
the Propator. But if they maintain any such hypothesis, they must shut up their Bythus with. in a 2.13.06:128
definite form and space, while He both surrounds others, and is surrounded by them; for they must 2.13.06:129
of necessity acknowledge that there is something outside of Him which surrounds Him. And none 2.13.06:130
the less will the talk concerning those that contain, and those that are contained, flow on into 2.13.06:131
infinitude; and all [the AEons] will most clearly appear to be bodies enclosed [by one another]. 2.13.06:132
7. Further, they must also confess either that He is mere vacuity, or that the 2.13.07:135
entire universe is within Him; and in that case all will in like degree partake IrnL.AH.2.13.07:136
of the Father. Just as, if one forms circles in water, or round or square 2.13.07:137
figures, all these will equally partake of water; just as those, again, 2.13.07:138
which are framed in the air, must necessarily partake of air, and those which IrnL.AH.2.13.07:139
[are formed] in light, of light; so must those also who are within Him all 2.13.07:140
equally partake of the Father, ignorance having no place among them. Where, 2.13.07:141
then, is this partaking of the Father who fills [all things]? If, indeed, He 2.13.07:143
has filled [all things], there will be no ignorance among them. On this ground, 2.13.07:144
then, their work of [supposed] degeneracy is brought to nothing, and the 2.13.07:145
production of matter with the formation of the rest of the world; which things IrnL.AH.2.13.07:146
they maintain to have derived their substance from passion and ignorance. 2.13.07:148
If, on the other hand, they acknowledge that He is vacuity, then they fall 2.13.07:149
into the greatest blasphemy; they deny His spiritual nature. For how can He be 2.13.07:150
a spiritual being, who cannot fill even those things which are within Him? 2.13.07:151
8. Now, these remarks which have been made concerning the emission of intelligence are in like 2.13.08:153
manner applicable in opposition to those who belong to the school of Basilides, as well as 2.13.08:154
in opposition to the rest of the Gnostics, from whom these also (the Valentinians) have adopted 2.13.08:155
the ideas about emissions, and were refuted in the first book. But I have now plainly shown 2.13.08:157
that the first production of Nous, that is, of the intelligence they speak of, is an untenable 2.13.08:158
and impossible opinion. And let us see how the matter stands with respect to the rest [of 2.13.08:159
the AEons]. For they maintain that Logos and Zoe were sent forth by him (i.e., Nous) as fashioners 2.13.08:160
of this Pleroma; while they conceive of an emission of Logos, that is, the Word after 2.13.08:161
the analogy of human feelings, and rashly form conjectures respecting God, as if they had discovered 2.13.08:162
something wonderful in their assertion that Logos was produced by Nous. All indeed have 2.13.08:163
a clear perception that this may be logically affirmed with respect to men. But in Him who 2.13.08:165
is God over all, since He is all Nous, and all Logos, as I have said before, and has in Himself 2.13.08:166
nothing more ancient or late than another, and nothing at variance with another, but continues 2.13.08:167
altogether equal, and similar, and homogeneous, there is no longer ground for conceiving 2.13.08:168
of such production in the order which has been mentioned. Just as he does not err who declares 2.13.08:169
that God is all vision, and all hearing (for in what manner He sees, in that also He hears; 2.13.08:171
and in what manner He hears, in that also He sees), so also he who affirms that He is all 2.13.08:172
intelligence, and all word, and that, in whatever respect He is intelligence, in that also 2.13.08:173
He is word, and that this Nous is His Logos, will still indeed have only an inadequate conception IrnL.AH.2.13.08:174
of the Father of all, but will entertain far more becoming [thoughts regarding Him] than 2.13.08:175
do those who transfer the generation of the word to which men gave utterance to the eternal 2.13.08:176
Word of God, assigning a beginning and course of production [to Him], even as they do to their 2.13.08:177
own word. And in what respect will the Word of God--yea, rather God Himself, since He is the 2.13.08:181
Word--differ from the word of men, if He follows the same order and process of generation? 2.13.08:182
9. They have fallen into error, too, respecting Zoe, by maintaining that she was produced 2.13.09:185
in the sixth place, when it behoved her to take precedence of all [the rest], since God IrnL.AH.2.13.09:186
is life, and incorruption, and truth. And these and such like attributes have not been 2.13.09:187
produced according to a gradual scale of descent, but they are names of those perfections 2.13.09:188
which always exist in God, so far as it is possible and proper for men to hear and 2.13.09:189
to speak of God. For with the name of God the following words will harmonize: intelligence, 2.13.09:190
word, life, incorruption, truth, wisdom, goodness, and such like. And neither can any 2.13.09:192
one maintain that intelligence is more ancient than life, for intelligence itself is life; 2.13.09:193
nor that life is later than intelligence, so that He who is the intellect of all, 2.13.09:194
that is God, should at one time have been destitute of life. But if they affirm that life 2.13.09:195
was indeed [previously] in the Father, but was produced in the sixth place in order that IrnL.AH.2.13.09:196
the Word might live, surely it ought long before, [according to such reasoning,] to 2.13.09:198
have been sent forth, in the fourth place, that Nous might have life; and still further, 2.13.09:199
even before Him, [it should have been] with Bythus, that their Bythus might live. For to IrnL.AH.2.13.09:200
reckon Sige, indeed, along with their Propator, and to assign her to Him as His consort, 2.13.09:201
while they do not join Zoe to the number,--is not this to surpass all other madness? 2.13.09:202
10. Again, as to the second production which proceeds from these [AEons who have been mentioned],--that, 2.13.10:206
namely, of Homo and Ecclesia,--their very fathers, falsely styled Gnostics, 2.13.10:207
strive among themselves, each one seeking to make good his own opinions, and thus convicting 2.13.10:208
themselves of being wicked thieves. They maintain that it is more suitable to 2.13.10:209
[the theory of] production--as being, in fact, truth-like--that the Word was produced by 2.13.10:210
man, and not man by the Word; and that man existed prior to the Word, and that this is IrnL.AH.2.13.10:211
really He who is God over all. And thus it is, as I have previously remarked, that heaping 2.13.10:214
together with a kind of plausibility all human feelings, and mental exercises, and formation 2.13.10:215
of intentions, and utterances of words, they have lied with no plausibility at IrnL.AH.2.13.10:216
all against God. For while they ascribe the things which happen to men, and whatsoever they 2.13.10:218
recognise themselves as experiencing, to the divine reason, they seem to those who are 2.13.10:219
ignorant of God to make statements suitable enough. And by these human passions, drawing 2.13.10:220
away their intelligence, while they describe the origin and production of the Word of 2.13.10:221
God in the fifth place, they assert that thus they teach wonderful mysteries, unspeakable 2.13.10:222
and sublime, known to no one but themselves. It was, [they affirm,] concerning these 2.13.10:223
that the Lord said, "Seek, and ye shall find," that is, that they should inquire how Nous 2.13.10:224
and Aletheia proceeded from Bythus and Sage; whether Logos and Zoe again derive their 2.13.10:225
origin from these and then, whether Anthropos and Ecclesia proceed from Logos and Zoe. 2.13.10:228
1. Much more like the truth, and more pleasing, is the account which Antiphanes, one of the ancient 2.14.01:001
comic poets, gives in his Theogony as to the origin of all things. For he speaks Chaos as being 2.14.01:002
produced from Night and Silence; relates that then Love sprang from Chaos and Night; from 2.14.01:003
this again, Light; and that from this, in his opinion, were derived all the rest of the first generation 2.14.01:004
of the gods. After these he next introduces a second generation of gods, and the creation 2.14.01:005
of the world; then he narrates the formation of mankind by the second order of the gods. These 2.14.01:006
men (the heretics), adopting this fable as their own, have ranged their opinions round it, 2.14.01:008
as if by a sort of natural process, changing only the names of the things referred to, and setting 2.14.01:009
forth the very same beginning of the generation of all things, and their production. In place 2.14.01:010
of Night and Silence they substitute Bythus and Sige; instead of Chaos, they put Nous; and for 2.14.01:011
Love (by whom, says the comic poet, all other things were set in order) they have brought forward 2.14.01:012
the Word; while for the primary and greatest gods they have formed the AEons; and in place 2.14.01:013
of the secondary gods, they tell us of that creation by their mother which is outside of the Pleroma, 2.14.01:014
calling it the second Ogdoad. They proclaim to us, like the writer referred to, that from IrnL.AH.2.14.01:015
this (Ogdoad) came the creation of the world and the formation of man, maintaining that they alone 2.14.01:016
are acquainted with these ineffable and unknown mysteries. Those things which are everywhere 2.14.01:017
acted in the theatres by comedians with the clearest voices they transfer to their own system, 2.14.01:018
teaching them undoubtedly through means of the same arguments, and merely changing the names. 2.14.01:019
2. And not only are they convicted of bringing forward, as if their own [original ideas], those 2.14.02:025
things which are to be found among the comic poets, but they also bring together the things 2.14.02:026
which have been said by all those who were ignorant of God, and who are termed philosophers; and 2.14.02:027
sewing together, as it were, a motley garment out of a heap of miserable rags, they have, by 2.14.02:028
their subtle manner of expression, furnished themselves with a cloak which is really not their 2.14.02:029
own. They do, it is true, introduce a new kind of doctrine, inasmuch as by a new sort of art 2.14.02:030
it has been substituted [for the old]. Yet it is in reality both old and useless, since these 2.14.02:031
very opinions have been sewed together out of ancient dogmas redolent of ignorance and irreligion. 2.14.02:032
For instance, Thales of Miletus affirmed that water was the generative and initial principle 2.14.02:035
of all things. Now it is just the same thing whether we say water or Bythus. The poet Homer, 2.14.02:036
again, held the opinion that Oceanus, along with mother Tethys, was the origin of the gods: this 2.14.02:037
idea these men have transferred to Bythus and Sige. Anaximander laid it down that infinitude 2.14.02:038
is the first principle of all things, having seminally in itself the generation of them all, 2.14.02:040
and from this he declares the immense worlds [which exist] were formed: this, too, they have dressed 2.14.02:041
up anew, and referred to Bythus and their AEons. Anaxagoras, again, who has also been surnamed 2.14.02:042
"Atheist," gave it as his opinion that animals were formed from seeds falling down from 2.14.02:044
heaven upon earth. This thought, too, these men have transferred to "the seed" of their Mother, 2.14.02:045
which they maintain to be themselves; thus acknowledging at once, in the judgment of such as 2.14.02:046
are possessed of sense, that they themselves are the offspring of the irreligious Anaxagoras. 2.14.02:047
3. Again, adopting the [ideas of] shade and vacuity from Democritus and Epicurus, they have 2.14.03:051
fitted these to their own views, following upon those [teachers] who had already talked a great 2.14.03:052
deal about a vacuum and atoms, the one of which they called that which is, and the other 2.14.03:053
that which is not. In like manner, these men call those things which are within the Pleroma real 2.14.03:054
existences, just as those philosophers did the atoms; while they maintain that those which 2.14.03:055
are without the Pleroma have no true existence, even as those did respecting the vacuum. 2.14.03:056
They have thus banished themselves in this world (since they are here outside of the Pleroma) 2.14.03:059
into a place which has no existence. Again, when they maintain that these things [below] are 2.14.03:060
images of those which have a true existence [above], they again most manifestly rehearse the 2.14.03:060
doctrine of Democritus and Plato. For Democritus was the first who maintained that numerous 2.14.03:061
and diverse figures were stamped, as it were, with the forms [of things above], and descended 2.14.03:062
from universal space into this world. But Plato, for his part, speaks of matter, and exemplar, 2.14.03:063
and God. These men, following those distinctions, have styled what he calls ideas, and 2.14.03:066
exemplar, the images of those things which are above; while, through a mere change of name, 2.14.03:067
they boast themselves as being discoverers and contrivers of this kind of imaginary fiction. 2.14.03:068
4. This opinion, too, that they hold the Creator formed the world out of previously existing 2.14.04:071
matter, both Anaxagoras, Empedocles, and Plato expressed before them; as, forsooth, IrnL.AH.2.14.04:072
we learn they also do under the inspiration of their Mother. Then again, as to the 2.14.04:073
opinion that everything of necessity passes away to those things out of which they maintain 2.14.04:074
it was also formed, and that God is the slave of this necessity, so that He cannot 2.14.04:075
impart immortality to what is mortal, or bestow incorruption on what is corruptible, 2.14.04:076
but every one passes into a substance similar in nature to itself, both those who 2.14.04:077
are named Stoics from the portico {stoa}, and indeed all that are ignorant of God, poets 2.14.04:078
and historians alike, make the same affirmation. Those [heretics] who hold the same 2.14.04:079
[system of] infidelity have ascribed, no doubt, their own proper region to spiritual 2.14.04:082
beings,--that, namely, which is within the Pleroma, but to animal beings the intermediate 2.14.04:083
space, while to corporeal they assign that which is material. And they assert that 2.14.04:084
God Himself can do no otherwise, but that every one of the [different kinds of substance] 2.14.04:085
mentioned passesaway to those things which are of the same nature. [with itself]. 2.14.04:086
5. Moreover, as to their saying that the Saviour was formed out of all the AEons, by every 2.14.05:088
one of them depositing, so to speak, in Him his own special flower, they bring forward IrnL.AH.2.14.05:089
nothing new that may not be found in the Pandora of Hesiod. For what he says respecting 2.14.05:090
her, these men insinuate concerning the Saviour, bringing Him before us as Pandoros (All-gifted), 2.14.05:091
as if each of the AEons had bestowed on Him what He possessed in the greatest 2.14.05:092
perfection. Again, their opinion as to the indifference of [eating of] meats and other 2.14.05:094
actions, and as to their thinking that, from the nobility of their nature, they can in 2.14.05:095
no degree at all contract pollution, whatever they eat or perform, they have derived it 2.14.05:096
from the Cynics, since they do in fact belong to the same society as do these [philosophers]. 2.14.05:097
They also strive to transfer to [the treatment of matters of] faith that hairsplitting 2.14.05:099
and subtle mode of handling questions which is, in fact, a copying of Aristotle. 2.14.05:100
6. Again, as to the desire they exhibit to refer this whole universe to numbers, they have 2.14.06:101
learned it from the Pythagoreans. For these were the first who set forth numbers as the initial 2.14.06:102
principle of all things, and [described] that initial principle of theirs as being both 2.14.06:102
equal and unequal, out of which [two properties] they conceived that both things sensible 2.14.06:103
and immaterial derived their origin. And [they held] that one set of first principles gave IrnL.AH.2.14.06:105
rise to the matter [of things], and another to their form. They affirm that from these first IrnL.AH.2.14.06:106
principles all things have been made, just as a statue is of its metal and its special 2.14.06:107
form. Now, the heretics have adapted this to the things which are outside of the Pleroma. 2.14.06:109
The [Pythagoreans] maintained that the principle of intellect is proportionate to the energy 2.14.06:110
wherewith mind, as a recipient of the comprehensible, pursues its inquiries, until, worn IrnL.AH.2.14.06:111
out, it is resolved at length in the Indivisible and One. They further affirm that Hen--that IrnL.AH.2.14.06:112
is, One--is the first principle of all things, and the substance of all that has been formed. 2.14.06:113
From this again proceeded the Dyad, the Tetrad, the Pentad, and the manifold generation 2.14.06:114
of the others. These things the heretics repeat, word for word, with a reference to their 2.14.06:115
Pleroma and Bythus. From the same source, too, they strive to bring into vogue those conjunctions 2.14.06:116
which proceed from unity. Marcus boasts of such views as if they were his own, and 2.14.06:117
as if he were seen to have discovered something more novel than others, while he simply 2.14.06:118
sets forth the Tetrad of Pythagoras as the originating principle and mother of all things. IrnL.AH.2.14.06:119
7. But I will merely say, in opposition to these men--Did all those who have been 2.14.07:123
mentioned, with whom you have been proved to coincide in expression, know, 2.14.07:124
or not know, the truth? If they knew it, then the descent of the Saviour into this 2.14.07:126
world was superfluous. For why [in that case] did He descend? Was it that 2.14.07:127
He might bring that truth which was [already] known to the knowledge of those who 2.14.07:128
knew it? If, on the other hand, these men did not know it, then how is it that, 2.14.07:130
while you express yourselves in the same terms as do those who knew not the 2.14.07:131
truth, ye boast that yourselves alone possess that knowledge which is above all 2.14.07:132
things, although they who are ignorant of God [likewise] possess it? Thus, 2.14.07:134
then, by a complete perversion of language, they style ignorance of the truth knowledge: 2.14.07:135
and Paul well says [of them, that [they make use of] "novelties of words 2.14.07:136
of false knowledge." For that knowledge of theirs is truly found to be false. 2.14.07:137
If, however, taking an impudent course with respect to these points, they 2.14.07:138
declare that men indeed did not know the truth, but that their Mother, the seed 2.14.07:139
of the Father, proclaimed the mysteries of truth through such men, even as also 2.14.07:140
through the prophets, while the Demiurge was ignorant [of the proceeding], then 2.14.07:141
I answer, in the first place, that the things which were predicted were not 2.14.07:142
of such a nature as to be intelligible to no one; for the men themselves knew 2.14.07:143
what they were saying, as did also their disciples, and those again succeeded 2.14.07:144
these. And, in the next place, if either the Mother or her seed knew and proclaimed 2.14.07:145
those things which were of the truth (and the Father is truth), then on their 2.14.07:148
theory the Saviour spoke falsely when He said, "No one knoweth the Father 2.14.07:149
but the Son," unless indeed they maintain that their seed or Mother is No-one. 2.14.07:150
8. Thus far, then, by means of [ascribing to their AEons] human feelings, and by the fact that they 2.14.08:152
largely coincide in their language with many of those who are ignorant of God, they have been seen 2.14.08:153
plausibly drawing a certain number away [from the truth]. They lead them on by the use of those 2.14.08:154
[expressions] with which they have been familiar, to that sort of discourse which treats of all 2.14.08:155
things, setting forth the production of the Word of God, and of Zoe, and of Nous, and bringing into 2.14.08:156
the world, as it were, the [successive] emanations of the Deity. The views, again, which they 2.14.08:157
propound, without either plausibility or parade, are simply lies from beginning to end. Just as those 2.14.08:160
who, in order to lure and capture any kind of animals, place their accustomed food before them, 2.14.08:161
gradually drawing them on by means of the familiar aliment, until at length they seize it, but, 2.14.08:162
when they have taken them captive, they subject them to the bitterest of bendage, and drag them along 2.14.08:163
with violence whithersoever they please; so also do these men gradually and gently persuading [others], 2.14.08:164
by means of their plausible speeches, to accept of the emission which has been mentioned, 2.14.08:165
then bring forward things which are not consistent, and forms of the remaining emissions which are 2.14.08:166
not such as might have been expected. They declare, for instance, that [ten] AEons were sent forth 2.14.08:167
by Logos and Zoe, while from Anthropos and Ecclesia there proceeded twelve, although they have 2.14.08:168
neither proof, nor testimony, nor probability, nor anything whatever of such a nature [to support 2.14.08:169
these assertions]; and with equal folly and audacity do they wish it to be believed that from Logos 2.14.08:170
and Zoe, being AEons, were sent forth Bythus and Mixis, Ageratos and Henosis, Autophyes and Hedone, 2.14.08:171
Acinetos and Syncrasis, Monogenes and Macaria. Moreover, [as they affirm,] there were sent forth, 2.14.08:172
in a similar way, from Anthropos and Ecclesia, being AEons, Paracletas and Pistis, Patricos and 2.14.08:173
Elpis, Metricos and Agape, Ainos and Synesis, Ecclesiasticus and Macariotes, Theletos and Sophia. 2.14.08:174
9. The passions and error of this Sophia, and how she ran the risk of perishing through her investigation 2.14.09:181
[of the nature] of the Father, as they relate, and what took place outside of the 2.14.09:182
Pleroma, and from what sort of a defect they teach that the Maker of the world was produced, 2.14.09:183
I have set forth in the preceding book, describing in it, with all diligence, the opinions of 2.14.09:184
these heretics. [I have also detailed their views] respecting Christ, whom they describe as 2.14.09:185
having been produced subsequently to all these, and also regarding Soter, who, [according to them,] 2.14.09:186
derived his being from those AEons who were formed within the Pleroma. But I have of necessity 2.14.09:189
mentioned their names at present, that from these the absurdity of their falsehood may IrnL.AH.2.14.09:190
be made manifest, and also the confused nature of the nomenclature they have devised. For they 2.14.09:192
themselves detract from [the dignity of] their AEons by a multitude of names of this sort. 2.14.09:193
They give out names plausible and credible to the heathen, [as being similar] to those who are 2.14.09:194
called their twelve gods, and even these they will have to be images of their twelve AEons. 2.14.09:195
But the images [so called] can produce names [of their own] much more seemly, and more powerful 2.14.09:196
through their etymology to indicate divinity [than are those of their fancied prototypes]. IrnL.AH.2.14.09:198
1. But let us return to the fore-mentioned question as to the production [of the AEons]. And, 2.15.01:001
in the first place, let them tell us the reason of the production of the AEons being of 2.15.01:002
such a kind that they do not come in contact with any of those things which belong to creation. 2.15.01:003
For they maintain that those things [above] were not made on account of creation, 2.15.01:004
but creation on account of them; and that the former are not images of the latter, but the IrnL.AH.2.15.01:005
latter of the former. As, therefore, they render a reason for the images, by saying that 2.15.01:006
the month has thirty days on account of the thirty AEons, and the day twelve hours, and the 2.15.01:007
year twelve months, on account of the twelve AEons which are within the Pleroma, with other 2.15.01:008
such nonsense of the same kind, let them now tell us also the reason for that production 2.15.01:009
of the AEons, why it was of such a nature, for what reason the first and first-begotten 2.15.01:010
Ogdoad was sent forth, and not a Pentad, or a Triad, or a Septenad, or any one of those which 2.15.01:011
are defined by a different number? Moreover, how did it come to pass, that from Logos IrnL.AH.2.15.01:012
and Zoe were sent forth ten AEons, and neither more nor less; while again from Anthropos and 2.15.01:013
Ecclesia proceeded twelve, although these might have been either more or less numerous? 2.15.01:014
2. And then, again, with reference to the entire Pleroma, what reason is there that it should 2.15.02:014
be divided into these three--an Ogdoad, a Decad, and a Duodecad--and not into some other 2.15.02:015
number different from these? Moreover, with respect to the division itself, why has it 2.15.02:016
been made into three parts, and not into four, or five, or six, or into some other number IrnL.AH.2.15.02:017
among those which have no connection with such numbers as belong to creation? For they describe 2.15.02:018
those [AEons above] as being more ancient than these [created things below], and it 2.15.02:025
behoves them to possess their principle [of being] in themselves, one which existed before 2.15.02:026
creation, and not after the pattern of creation, all exactly agreeing as to the point. 2.15.02:027
3. The account which we give of creation is one harmonious with that regular order [of things prevailing 2.15.03:029
in the world], for this scheme of ours is adapted to the things which have [actually] been made; 2.15.03:030
but it is a matter of necessity that they, being unable to assign any reason belonging to the things 2.15.03:031
themselves, with regard to those beings that existed before [creation], and were perfected by themselves, 2.15.03:032
should fall into the greatest perplexity. For, as to the points on which they interrogate 2.15.03:034
us as knowing nothing of creation, they themselves, when questioned in turn respecting the Pleroma, 2.15.03:035
either make mention of mere human feelings, or have recourse to that sort of speech which bears only 2.15.03:036
upon that harmony observable in creation, improperly giving us replies concerning things which are 2.15.03:037
secondary, and not concerning those which, as they maintain, are primary. For we do not question them 2.15.03:039
concerning that harmony which belongs to creation, nor concerning human feelings; but because they 2.15.03:040
must acknowledge, as to their octiform, deciform, and duodeciform Pleroma (the image of which they 2.15.03:041
declare creation to be), that their Father formed it of that figure vainly and thoughtlessly, and must 2.15.03:042
ascribe to Him deformity, if He made anything without a reason. Or, again, if they declare that 2.15.03:043
the Pleroma was so produced in accordance with the foresight of the Father, for the sake of creation, 2.15.03:046
as if He had thus symmetrically arranged its very essence, then it follows that the Pleroma can no 2.15.03:047
longer be regarded as having been formed on its own account, but for the sake of that [creation] which 2.15.03:048
was to be its image as possessing its likeness (just as the clay model is not moulded for its own 2.15.03:049
sake, but for the sake of the statue in brass, or gold, or silver about to be formed), then creation 2.15.03:050
will have greater honour than the Pleroma, if, for its sake, those things [above] were produced. 2.15.03:051
1. But if they will not yield assent to any one of these conclusions, since in that case IrnL.AH.2.16.01:001
they would be proved by us as incapable of rendering any reason for such a production 2.16.01:002
of their Pleroma, they will of necessity be shut up to this--that they confess that, above IrnL.AH.2.16.01:003
the Pleroma, there was some other system more spiritual and more powerful, after the IrnL.AH.2.16.01:004
image of which their Pleroma was formed. For if the Demiurge did not of himself construct 2.16.01:005
that figure of creation which exists, but made it after the form of those things which 2.16.01:007
are above, then from whom did their Bythus--who, to be sure, brought it about that the 2.16.01:008
Pleroma should be possessed of a configuration of this kind--receive the figure of those 2.16.01:009
things which existed before Himself? For it must needs be, either that the intention 2.16.01:010
[of creating] dwelt in that god who made the world, so that of his own power, and from 2.16.01:012
himself, he obtained the model of its formation; or, if any departure is made from this 2.16.01:013
being, then there will arise a necessity for constantly asking whence there came to that 2.16.01:014
one who is above him the configuration of those things which have been made; what, too, 2.16.01:015
was the number of the productions; and what the substance of the model itself? If, however, 2.16.01:016
it was in the power of Bythus to impart of himself such a configuration to the IrnL.AH.2.16.01:018
Pleroma, then why may it not have been in the power of the Demiurge to form of himself such 2.16.01:019
a world as exists? And then, again, if creation be an image of those things [above], 2.16.01:020
why should we not affirm that those are, in turn, images of others above them, and those 2.16.01:021
above these again, of others, and thus go on supposing innumerable images of images? 2.16.01:022
2. This difficulty presented itself to Basilides after he had utterly missed the truth, and was 2.16.02:025
conceiving that, by an infinite succession of those beings that were formed from one another, 2.16.02:026
he might escape such perplexity. When he had proclaimed that three hundred and sixty-five heavens 2.16.02:027
were formed through succession and similitude by one another, and that a manifest proof [of the 2.16.02:028
existence] of these was found in the number of the days of the year, as I stated before; and 2.16.02:029
that above these there was a power which they also style Unnameable, and its dispensation--he did 2.16.02:030
not even in this way escape such perplexity. For, when asked whence came the image of its configuration 2.16.02:033
to that heaven which is above all, and from which he wishes the rest to be regarded 2.16.02:034
as having been formed by means of succession, he will say, from that dispensation which belongs 2.16.02:035
to the Unnameable. He must then say, either that the Unspeakable formed it of himself, or he 2.16.02:036
will find it necessary to acknowledge that there is some other power above this being, from whom 2.16.02:037
his unnameable One derived such vast numbers of configurations as do, according to him, exist. 2.16.02:038
3. How much safer and more accurate a course is it, then, to confess at once that which is 2.16.03:041
true: that this God, the Creator, who formed the world, is the only God, and that there is IrnL.AH.2.16.03:042
no other God besides Him--He Himself receiving from Himself the model and figure of those 2.16.03:043
things which have been made--than that, after wearying ourselves with such an impious and 2.16.03:044
circuitous description, we should be compelled, at some point or another, to fix the mind 2.16.03:045
on some One, and to confess that from Him proceeded the configuration of things created. 2.16.03:046
4. As to the accusation brought against us by the followers of Valentinus, when they declare that we 2.16.04:049
continue in that Hebdomad which is below, as if we could not lift our minds on high, nor understand 2.16.04:050
those things which are above, because we do not accept their monstrous assertions: this very charge 2.16.04:051
do the followers of Basilides bring in turn against them, inasmuch as they (the Valentinians) keep 2.16.04:052
circling about those things which are below, [going] as far as the first and second Ogdoad, and 2.16.04:053
because they unskilfully imagine that, immediately after the thirty AEons, they have discovered Him 2.16.04:054
who is above all things Father, not following out in thought their investigations to that Pleroma 2.16.04:055
which is above the three hundred and sixty-five heavens, which is above forty-five Ogdoads. And any 2.16.04:056
one, again, might bring against them the same charge, by imagining four thousand three hundred and 2.16.04:060
eighty heavens, or AEons, since the days of the year contain that number of hours. If, again, some 2.16.04:061
one adds also the nights, thus doubling the hours which have been mentioned, imagining that [in this 2.16.04:062
way] he has discovered a great multitude of Ogdoads, and a kind of innumerable company of AEons, 2.16.04:063
and thus, in opposition to Him who is above all things Father, conceiving himself more perfect than 2.16.04:064
all [others], he will bring the same charge against all, inasmuch as they are not capable of rising 2.16.04:065
to the conception of such a multitude of heavens or AEons as he has announced, but are either so 2.16.04:066
deficient as to remain among those things which are below, or continue in the intermediate space. 2.16.04:067
1. That system, then, which has respect to their Pleroma, and especially that part of it which 2.17.01:001
refers to the primary Ogdoad being thus burdened with so great contradictions and perplexities, 2.17.01:002
let me now go on to examine the remainder of their scheme. [In doing so] on account of their 2.17.01:003
madness, I shall be making inquiry respecting things which have no real existence; yet it 2.17.01:004
is necessary to do this, since the treatment of this subject has been entrusted to me, and since 2.17.01:005
I desire all men to come to the knowledge of the truth, as well as because thou thyself hast 2.17.01:006
asked to receive from me full and complete means for overturning [the views of] these men. 2.17.01:007
2. I ask, then, in what manner were the rest of the AEons produced? Was 2.17.02:011
it so as to be united with Him who produced them, even as the solar rays 2.17.02:012
are with the sun; or was it actually and separately, so that each of 2.17.02:013
them possessed an independent existence and his own special form, just 2.17.02:014
as has a man from another man, and one herd of cattle from another? 2.17.02:015
Or was it after the manner of germination, as branches from a tree? And 2.17.02:017
were they of the same substance with those who produced them, or did they 2.17.02:018
derive their substance from some other [kind of] substance? Also, were 2.17.02:019
they produced at the same time, so as to be contemporaries; or after 2.17.02:020
a certain order, so that some of them were older, and others younger? 2.17.02:021
And, again, are they uncompounded and uniform, and altogether equal and 2.17.02:022
similar among themselves, as spirit and light are produced; or are 2.17.02:023
they compounded and different, unlike [to each other] in their members? 2.17.02:024
3. If each of them was produced, after the manner of men, actually and according to its IrnL.AH.2.17.03:026
own generation, then either those thus generated by the Father will be of the same 2.17.03:027
substance with Him, and similar to their Author; or if they appear dissimilar, then 2.17.03:028
it must of necessity be acknowledged that they are [formed of some different substance. 2.17.03:029
Now, if the beings generated by the Father be similar to their Author, then those 2.17.03:031
who have been produced must remain for ever impossible, even as is He who produced them; 2.17.03:032
but if, on the other hand, they are of a different substance, which is capable of 2.17.03:033
passion, then whence came this dissimilar substance to find a place within the incorruptible 2.17.03:034
Pleroma? Further, too, according to this principle, each one of them must be 2.17.03:036
understood as being completely separated from every other, even as men are not mixed 2.17.03:037
with nor united the one to the other, but each having a distinct shape of his own, and 2.17.03:038
a definite sphere of action, while each one of them, too, is formed of a particular 2.17.03:039
size,--qualities characteristic of a body, and not of a spirit. Let them therefore 2.17.03:040
no longer speak of the Pleroma as being spiritual, or of themselves as "spiritual," if 2.17.03:042
indeed their AEons sit feasting with the Father, just as if they were men, and He Himself 2.17.03:043
is of such a configuration as those reveal Him to be who were produced by Him. 2.17.03:044
4. If, again, the AEons were derived from Logos, Logos from Nous, and Nous from Bythus, 2.17.04:047
just as lights are kindled from a light--as, for example, torches are from a torch--then 2.17.04:048
they may no doubt differ in generation and size from one another; but since they are 2.17.04:049
of the same substance with the Author of their production, they must either all remain 2.17.04:050
for ever impassible, or their Father Himself must participate in passion. For the 2.17.04:051
torch which has been kindled subsequently cannot be possessed of a different kind of light 2.17.04:053
from that which preceded it. Wherefore also their lights, when blended in one, return 2.17.04:054
to the original identity, since that one light is then formed which has existed even 2.17.04:055
from the beginning. But we cannot speak, with respect to light itself, of some part 2.17.04:056
being more recent in its origin, and another being more ancient (for the whole is but 2.17.04:058
one light); nor can we so speak even in regard to those torches which have received the 2.17.04:059
light (for these are all contemporary as respects their material substance, for the 2.17.04:060
substance of torches is one and the same), but simply as to [the time of] its being kindled, 2.17.04:061
since one was lighted a little while ago, and another has just now been kindled. 2.17.04:062
5. The defect, therefore, of that passion which has regard to ignorance, will IrnL.AH.2.17.05:065
either attach alike to their whole Pleroma, since [all its members] are of the IrnL.AH.2.17.05:066
same substance; and the Propator will share in this defect of ignorance--that 2.17.05:067
is, will be ignorant of Himself; or, on the other hand, all those lights which 2.17.05:068
are within the Pleroma will alike remain for ever impassible. Whence, then, 2.17.05:070
comes the passion of the youngest AEon, if the light of the Father is that from 2.17.05:071
which all other lights have been formed, and which is by nature impassible? IrnL.AH.2.17.05:073
And how can one AEon be spoken of as either younger or older among themselves, 2.17.05:074
since there is but one light in the entire Pleroma? And if any one calls them IrnL.AH.2.17.05:075
stars, they will all nevertheless appear to participate in the same nature. 2.17.05:076
For if "one star differs from another star in glory," but not in qualities, 2.17.05:076
nor substance, nor in the fact of being passible or impassible; so all these, IrnL.AH.2.17.05:077
since they are alike derived from the light of the Father, must either be naturally 2.17.05:078
impossible and immutable, or they must all, in common with the light of 2.17.05:079
the Father, be passible, and are capable of the varying phases of corruption. 2.17.05:080
6. The same conclusion will follow, although they affirm that the production IrnL.AH.2.17.06:084
of AEons sprang from Logos, as branches from a tree, since Logos has his generation IrnL.AH.2.17.06:085
from their Father. For all [the AEons] are formed of the same substance 2.17.06:086
with the Father, differing from one another only in size, and not in nature, 2.17.06:087
and filling up the greatness of the Father, even as the fingers complete 2.17.06:088
the hand. If therefore He exists in passion and ignorance, so must also those 2.17.06:091
AEons who have been generated by Him. But if it is impious to ascribe ignorance 2.17.06:092
and passion to the Father of all, how can they describe an AEon produced 2.17.06:092
by Him as being passible; and while they ascribe the same impiety to the very 2.17.06:093
wisdom (Sophia) of God, how can they still call themselves religious men? IrnL.AH.2.17.06:094
7. If, again, they declare that their AEons were sent forth just as rays are from the sun, IrnL.AH.2.17.07:097
then, since all are of the same substance and sprung from the same source, all must 2.17.07:098
either be capable of passion along with Him who produced them, or all will remain impassible 2.17.07:099
for ever. For they can no longer maintain that, of beings so produced, some are 2.17.07:101
impassible and others passible. If, then, they declare all impassible, they do themselves 2.17.07:102
destroy their own argument. For how could the youngest AEon have suffered passion IrnL.AH.2.17.07:103
if all were impassible? If, on the other hand, they declare that all partook of this passion, 2.17.07:104
as indeed some of them venture to maintain, then, inasmuch as it originated with 2.17.07:105
Logos, but flowed onwards to Sophia, they will thus be convicted of tracing back the 2.17.07:106
passion to Logos, who is the Nous of this Propator, and so acknowledging the Nous of the 2.17.07:107
Propator and the Father Himself to have experienced passion. For the Father of all is IrnL.AH.2.17.07:108
not to be regarded as a kind of compound Being, who can be separated from his Nous (mind), 2.17.07:111
as I have already shown; but Nous is the Father, and the Father Nous. It necessarily 2.17.07:112
follows, therefore, both that he who springs from Him as Logos, or rather that Nous 2.17.07:113
himself, since he is Logos, must be perfect and impassible, and that those productions 2.17.07:114
which proceed from him, seeing that they are of the same substance with himself, should 2.17.07:115
be perfect and impassible, and should ever remain similar to him who produced them. 2.17.07:116
8. It cannot therefore longer be held, as these men teach, that Logos, as occupying the third place 2.17.08:119
in generation, was ignorant of the Father. Such a thing might indeed perhaps be deemed probable 2.17.08:120
in the case of the generation of human beings, inasmuch as these frequently know nothing of their 2.17.08:121
parents; but it is altogether impossible in the case of the Logos of the Father. For if, existing 2.17.08:122
in the Father, he knows Him in whom he exists--that is, is not ignorant of himself--then those 2.17.08:124
productions which issue from him being his powers (faculties), and always present with him, will not 2.17.08:125
be ignorant of him who emitted them, any more than rays [may be supposed to be] of the sun. It 2.17.08:126
is impossible, therefore, that the Sophia (wisdom) of God, she who is within the Pleroma, inasmuch 2.17.08:128
as she has been produced in such a manner, should have fallen under the influence of passion, and 2.17.08:129
conceived such ignorance. But it is possible that that Sophia (wisdom) who pertains to [the scheme] 2.17.08:131
of Valentinus, inasmuch as she is a production of the devil, should fall into every kind of 2.17.08:132
passion, and exhibit the profoundest ignorance. For when they themselves bear testimony concerning 2.17.08:134
their mother, to the effect that she was the offspring of an erring AEon, we need no longer search 2.17.08:135
for a reason why the sons of such a mother should be ever swimming in the depths of ignorance. 2.17.08:136
9. I am not aware that, besides these productions [which have been mentioned], they are able to 2.17.09:139
speak of any other; indeed, they have not been known to me (although I have had very frequent 2.17.09:140
discussions with them concerning forms of this kind) as ever setting forth any other peculiar 2.17.09:141
kind of being as produced [in the manner under consideration]. This only they maintain, that 2.17.09:142
each one of these was so produced as to know merely that one who produced him, while he was 2.17.09:143
ignorant of the one who immediately preceded. But they do not in this matter go forward [in their 2.17.09:144
account] with any kind of demonstration as to the manner in which these were produced, or 2.17.09:147
how such a thing could take place among spiritual beings. For, in whatsoever way they may choose 2.17.09:148
to go forward, they will feel themselves bound (while, as regards the truth, they depart entirely 2.17.09:149
from right reason) to proceed so far as to maintain that their Word, who springs from 2.17.09:150
the Nous of the Propator,--to maintain, I say, that he was produced in a state of degeneracy. 2.17.09:151
For [they hold] that perfect Nous, previously begotten by the perfect Bythus, was not capable 2.17.09:153
of rendering that production which issued from him perfect, but [could only bring it forth] utterly 2.17.09:154
blind to the knowledge and greatness of the Father. They also maintain that the Saviour 2.17.09:155
exhibited an emblem of this mystery in the case of that man who was blind from his birth, since 2.17.09:156
the AEon was in this manner produced by Monogenes blind, that is, in ignorance, thus falsely 2.17.09:157
ascribing ignorance and blindness to the Word of God, who, according to their own theory, holds 2.17.09:158
the second [place of] production from the Propator. Admirable sophists, and explorers of 2.17.09:161
the sublimities of the unknown Father, and rehearsers of those super-celestial mysteries "which 2.17.09:162
the angels desire to look into!" --that they may learn that from the Nous of that Father who 2.17.09:163
is above all, the Word was produced blind, that is, ignorant of the Father who produced him! 2.17.09:164
10. But, ye miserable sophists, how could the Nous of the Father, or rather the very 2.17.10:164
Father Himself, since He is Nous and perfect in all things, have produced his own 2.17.10:165
Logos as an imperfect and blind AEon, when He was able also to produce along with 2.17.10:166
him the knowledge of the Father? As ye affirm that Christ was generated after the rest, IrnL.AH.2.17.10:167
and yet declare that he was produced perfect, much more then should Logos, who 2.17.10:168
is anterior to him in age, be produced by the same Nous, unquestionably perfect, and IrnL.AH.2.17.10:173
not blind; nor could he, again, have produced AEons still blinder than himself, until 2.17.10:174
at last your Sophia, always utterly blinded, gave birth to so vast a body of evils. 2.17.10:175
And your Father is the cause of all this mischief; for ye declare the magnitude 2.17.10:176
and power of your Father to be the causes of ignorance, assimilating Him to Bythus, 2.17.10:178
and assigning this as a name to Him who is the unnameable Father. But if ignorance 2.17.10:179
is an evil, and ye declare all evils to have derived their strength from it, while 2.17.10:180
ye maintain that the greatness and power of the Father is the cause of this ignorance, IrnL.AH.2.17.10:181
ye do thus set Him forth as the author of [all] evils. For ye state as the cause 2.17.10:182
of evil this fact, that [no one] could contemplate His greatness. But if it was 2.17.10:183
really impossible for the Father to make Himself known from the beginning to those 2.17.10:184
[beings] that were formed by Him, He must in that case be held free from blame, inasmuch 2.17.10:186
as He could not remove the ignorance of those who came after Him. But if, at 2.17.10:187
a subsequent period, when He so willed it, He could take away that ignorance which 2.17.10:188
had increased with the successive productions as they followed each other, and thus IrnL.AH.2.17.10:189
become deeply seated in the AEons, much more, had He so willed it might He formerly 2.17.10:190
have prevented that ignorance, which as yet was not, from coming into existence. 2.17.10:191
11. Since therefore, as soon as He so pleased, He did become known not only to the AEons, 2.17.11:194
but also to these men who lived in these latter times; but, as He did not so please 2.17.11:195
to be known from the beginning, He remained unknown--the cause of ignorance is, 2.17.11:196
according to you, the will of the Father. For if He foreknew that these things would 2.17.11:198
in future happen in such a manner, why then did He not guard against the ignorance of IrnL.AH.2.17.11:199
these beings before it had obtained a place among them, rather than afterwards, as 2.17.11:200
if under the influence of repentance, deal with it through the production of Christ? 2.17.11:201
For the knowledge which through Christ He conveyed to all, He might long before have IrnL.AH.2.17.11:202
imparted through Logos, who was also the first-begotten of Monogenes. Or if, knowing IrnL.AH.2.17.11:203
them beforehand, He willed that these things should happen [as they have done], then IrnL.AH.2.17.11:204
the works of ignorance must endure for ever, and never pass away. For the things which 2.17.11:205
have been made in accordance with the will of your Propator must continue along with IrnL.AH.2.17.11:206
the will of Him who willed them; or if they pass away, the will of Him also who decreed IrnL.AH.2.17.11:209
that they should have a being will pass away along with them. And why did the 2.17.11:210
AEons find rest and attain perfect knowledge through learning [at last] that the Father 2.17.11:210
is altogether incomprehensible? They might surely have possessed this knowledge before 2.17.11:211
they became involved in passion; for the greatness of the Father did not suffer 2.17.11:212
diminution from the beginning, so that these might know that He was altogether incomprehensible. 2.17.11:213
For if, on account of His infinite greatness, He remained unknown, He ought IrnL.AH.2.17.11:215
also on account of His infinite love to have preserved those impassible who were 2.17.11:216
produced by Him, since nothing hindered, and expediency rather required, that they 2.17.11:217
should have known from the beginning that the Father was altogether incomprehensible. 2.17.11:218
1. How can it be regarded as otherwise than absurd, that they also affirm this Sophia 2.18.01:001
(wisdom) to have been involved in ignorance, and degeneracy, and passion? For these 2.18.01:002
things are alien and contrary to wisdom, nor can they ever be qualities belonging 2.18.01:003
to it. For wherever there is a want of foresight, and an ignorance of the course 2.18.01:004
of utility, there wisdom does not exist. Let them therefore no longer call this suffering 2.18.01:006
AEon, Sophia, but let them give up either her name or her sufferings. And let 2.18.01:007
them, moreover, not call their entire Pleroma spiritual, if this AEon had a place 2.18.01:008
within it when she was involved in such a tumult of passion. For even a vigorous 2.18.01:009
soul, not to say a spiritual substance, would not pass through any such experience. 2.18.01:010
2. And, again, how could her Enthymesis, going forth [from her] along with 2.18.02:012
the passion, have become a separate existence? For Enthymesis (thought) is 2.18.02:013
understood in connection with some person, and can never have an isolated 2.18.02:013
existence by itself. For a bad Enthymesis is destroyed and absorbed by a good 2.18.02:014
one, even as a state of disease is by health. What, then, was the sort 2.18.02:015
of Enthymesis which preceded that of passion? [It was this]: to investigate IrnL.AH.2.18.02:017
the [nature of] the Father, and to consider His greatness. But what did she 2.18.02:018
afterwards become persuaded of, and so was restored to health? [This, viz.], 2.18.02:019
that the Father is incomprehensible, and that He is past finding out. 2.18.02:020
It was not, then, a proper feeling that she wished to know the Father, and 2.18.02:021
on this account she became passible; but when she became persuaded that He 2.18.02:022
is unsearchable, she was restored to health. And even Nous himself, who was 2.18.02:023
inquiring into the [nature of] the Father, ceased, according to them, to 2.18.02:024
continue his researches, on learning that the Father is incomprehensible. 2.18.02:025
3. How then could the Enthymesis separately conceive passions, which 2.18.03:027
themselves also were her affections? For affection is necessarily connected 2.18.03:028
with an individual: it cannot come into being or exist apart by 2.18.03:029
itself. This opinion [of theirs], however, is not only untenable, but 2.18.03:030
also opposed to that which was spoken by our Lord: "Seek, and ye shall 2.18.03:030
find." For the Lord renders His disciples perfect by their seeking 2.18.03:031
after and finding the Father; but that Christ of theirs, who is above, 2.18.03:033
has rendered them perfect, by the fact that He has commanded the 2.18.03:034
AEons not to seek after the Father, persuading them that, though they 2.18.03:035
should labour hard, they would not find Him. And they declare that they 2.18.03:036
themselves are perfect, by the fact that they maintain they have found 2.18.03:038
their Bythus; while the AEons [have been made perfect] through means 2.18.03:039
of this, that He is unsearchable who was inquired after by them. 2.18.03:040
4. Since, therefore, the Enthymesis herself could not exist separately, apart from the AEon, 2.18.04:042
[it is obvious that] they bring forward still greater falsehood concerning her passion, 2.18.04:043
when they further proceed to divide and separate it from her, while they declare that it 2.18.04:044
was the substance of matter. As if God were not light, and as if no Word existed who could 2.18.04:045
convict them, and overthrow their wickedness. For it is certainly true, that whatsoever IrnL.AH.2.18.04:048
the AEon thought, that she also suffered; and what she suffered, that she also thought. And 2.18.04:049
her Enthymesis was, according to them, nothing else than the passion of one thinking how 2.18.04:050
she might comprehend the incomprehensible. And thus Enthymesis (thought) was the passion; 2.18.04:051
for she was thinking of things impossible. How then could affection and passion be separated 2.18.04:052
and set apart from the Enthymesis, so as to become the substance of so vast a material 2.18.04:053
creation, when Enthymesis herself was the passion, and the passion Enthymesis? Neither, 2.18.04:054
therefore, can Enthymesis apart from the AEon, nor the affections apart from Enthymesis, separately 2.18.04:056
possess substance; and thus once more their system breaks down and is destroyed. IrnL.AH.2.18.04:057
5. But how did it come to pass that the AEonwas both dissolved [into her component parts], and 2.18.05:059
became subject to passion? She was undoubtedly of the same substance as the Pleroma; but the 2.18.05:060
entire Pleroma was of the Father. Now, any substance, when brought in contact with what is 2.18.05:062
of a similar nature, will not be dissolved into nothing, nor will be in danger of perishing, IrnL.AH.2.18.05:063
but will rather continue and increase, such as fire in fire, spirit in spirit, and water in 2.18.05:064
water; but those which are of a contrary nature to each other do, [when they meet,] suffer and 2.18.05:065
are changed and destroyed. And, in like manner, if there had been a production of light, 2.18.05:067
it would not suffer passion, or recur any danger in light like itself, but would rather glow IrnL.AH.2.18.05:068
with the greater brightness, and increase, as the day does from [the increasing brilliance of] 2.18.05:069
the sun; for they maintain that Bythus [himself] was the image of their father (Sophia). Whatever 2.18.05:070
animals are alien [in habits] and strange to each other, or are mutually opposed in 2.18.05:071
nature, fall into danger [on meeting together], and are destroyed; whereas, on the other hand, 2.18.05:072
those who are accustomed to each other, and of a harmonious disposition, suffer no peril from 2.18.05:073
being together in the same place, but rather secure both safety and life by such a fact. IrnL.AH.2.18.05:075
If, therefore, this AEon was produced by the Pleroma of the same substance as the whole of it, 2.18.05:076
she could never have undergone change, since she was consorting with beings similar to and 2.18.05:077
familiar with herself, a spiritual essence among those that were spiritual. For fear, terror, 2.18.05:078
passion, dissolution, and such like, may perhaps occur through the struggle of contraries 2.18.05:079
among such beings as we are, who are possessed of bodies; but among spiritual beings, and those 2.18.05:080
that have the light diffused among them, no such calamities can possibly happen. But these 2.18.05:081
men appear to me to have endowed their AEon with the [same sort of] passion as belongs to that 2.18.05:083
character in the comic poet Menunder, who was himself deeply in love, but an object of hatred 2.18.05:084
[to his beloved]. For those who have invented such opinions have rather had an idea and 2.18.05:085
mental conception of some unhappy lover among men, than of a spiritual and divine substance. 2.18.05:086
6. Moreover, to meditate how to search into [the nature of] the perfect Father, and to have 2.18.06:089
a desire to exist within Him, and to have a comprehension of His [greatness], could not 2.18.06:090
entail the stain of ignorance or passion, and that upon a spiritual AEon; but would rather 2.18.06:091
[give rise to] perfection, and impassibility, and truth. For they do not say that even 2.18.06:092
they, though they be but men, by meditating on Him who was before them,--and while now, 2.18.06:093
as it were, comprehending the perfect, and being placed within the knowledge of Him,--are 2.18.06:094
thus involved in a passion of perplexity, but rather attain to the knowledge and apprehension 2.18.06:095
of truth. For they affirm that the Saviour said, "Seek, and ye shall find," to His disciples 2.18.06:096
with this view, that they should seek after Him who, by means of imagination, has 2.18.06:098
been conceived of by them as being above the Maker of all--the ineffable Bythus; and they 2.18.06:099
desire themselves to be regarded as "the perfect;" because they have sought and found the 2.18.06:100
perfect One, while they are still on earth. Yet they declare that that AEon who was within 2.18.06:101
the Pleroma, a wholly spiritual being, by seeking after the Propator, and endeavouring IrnL.AH.2.18.06:102
to find a place within His greatness, and desiring to have a comprehension of the truth IrnL.AH.2.18.06:103
of the Father, fell down into [the endurance of] passion, and such a passion that, unless 2.18.06:104
she had met with that Power who upholds all things, she would have been dissolved into the 2.18.06:105
general substance [of the AEons], and thus come to an end of her [personal] existence. 2.18.06:106
7. Absurd is such presumption, and truly an opinion of men totally destitute of 2.18.07:111
the truth. For, that this AEon is superior to themselves, and of greater antiquity, 2.18.07:112
they themselves acknowledge, according to their own system, when they affirm 2.18.07:112
that they are the fruit of the Enthymesis of that AEon who suffered passion, so that 2.18.07:113
this AEon is the father of their mother, that is, their own grandfather. And 2.18.07:114
to them, the later grandchildren, the search after the Father brings, as they maintain, 2.18.07:115
truth, and perfection, and establishment, and deliverance from unstable 2.18.07:117
matter, and reconciliation to the Father; but on their grandfather this same search 2.18.07:118
entailed ignorance, and passion, and terror, and perplexity, from which [disturbances] IrnL.AH.2.18.07:119
they also declare that the substance of matter was formed. To say, therefore, 2.18.07:120
that the search after and investigation of the perfect Father, and the desire 2.18.07:121
for communion and union with Him, were things quite beneficial to them, but IrnL.AH.2.18.07:123
to an AEon, from whom also they derive their origin, these things were the cause 2.18.07:124
of dissolution and destruction, how can such assertions be otherwise viewed than 2.18.07:125
as totally inconsistent, foolish, and irrational? Those, too, who listen to these 2.18.07:126
teachers, truly blind themselves, while they possess blind guides, justly [are 2.18.07:129
left to] fall along with them into the gulf of ignorance which lies below them. IrnL.AH.2.18.07:130
1. But what sort of talk also is this concerning their seed--that it was conceived by 2.19.01:001
the mother according to the configuration of those angels who wait upon the Saviour,--shapeless, 2.19.01:002
without form, and imperfect; and that it was deposited in the Demiurge 2.19.01:003
without his knowledge, in order that through his instrumentality it might attain to 2.19.01:004
perfection and form in that soul which he had, [so to speak,] filled with seed? This 2.19.01:005
is to affirm, in the first place, that those angels who wait upon their Saviour are 2.19.01:007
imperfect, and with out figure or form; if indeed that which was conceived according 2.19.01:008
to their appearance was generated any such kind of being [as has been described]. 2.19.01:009
2. Then, in the next place, as to their saying that the Creator was ignorant of that deposit 2.19.02:011
of seed which took place into him, and again, of that impartation of seed which was made by him 2.19.02:012
to man, their words are futile and vain, and are in no way susceptible of proof. For how could 2.19.02:013
he have been ignorant of it, if that seed had possessed any substance and peculiar properties? 2.19.02:015
If, on the other hand, it was without substance and without quality, and so was really 2.19.02:016
nothing, then, as a matter of course, he was ignorant of it. For those things which have a 2.19.02:017
certain motion of their own, and quality, either of heat, or swiftness, or sweetness, or which 2.19.02:018
differ from others in brilliance, do not escape the notice even of men, since they mingle in 2.19.02:018
the sphere of human action: far less can they [be hidden from] God, the Maker of this universe. 2.19.02:019
With reason, however, [is it said, that] their seed was not known to Him, since it is without 2.19.02:020
any quality of general utility, and without the substance requisite for any action, and 2.19.02:021
is, in fact, a pure nonentity. It really seems to me, that, with a view to such opinions, the 2.19.02:022
Lord expressed Himself thus: "For every idle word that men speak, they shall give account on 2.19.02:023
the day of judgment." For all teachers of a like character to these, who fill men's ears with 2.19.02:026
idle talk, shall, when they stand at the throne of judgment, render an account for those things 2.19.02:027
which they have vainly imagined and falsely uttered against the Lord, proceeding, as they 2.19.02:028
have done, to such a height of audacity as to declare of themselves that, on account of the 2.19.02:029
substance of their seed, they are acquainted with the spiritual Pleroma, because that man who 2.19.02:030
dwells within reveals to them the true Father; for the animal nature required to be disciplined 2.19.02:031
by means of the senses. But [they hold that] the Demiurge, while receiving into himself 2.19.02:032
the whole of this seed, through its being deposited in him by the Mother, still remained utterly 2.19.02:033
ignorant of all things, and had no understanding of anything connected with the Pleroma. 2.19.02:034
3. And that they are the truly "spiritual," inasmuch as a certain particle of the Father of the universe IrnL.AH.2.19.03:040
has been deposited in their souls, since, according to their assertions, they have souls formed 2.19.03:041
of the same substance as the Demiurge himself, yet that he, although he received from the Mother, 2.19.03:042
once for all, the whole [of the divine] seed, and possessed it in himself, still remained of 2.19.03:043
an animal nature, and had not the slightest understanding of those things which are above, which 2.19.03:044
things they boast that they themselves understand, while they are still on earth;--does not this 2.19.03:045
crown all possible absurdity? For to imagine that the very same seed conveyed knowledge and perfection 2.19.03:048
to the souls of these men, while it only gave rise to ignorance in the God who made them, is 2.19.03:049
an opinion that can be held only by those utterly frantic, and totally destitute of common sense. 2.19.03:050
4. Further, it is also a most absurd and groundless thing for them to say that the seed was, 2.19.04:053
by being thus deposited, reduced to form and increased, and so was prepared for all the reception 2.19.04:054
of perfect rationality. For there will be in it an admixture of matter--that substance 2.19.04:055
which they hold to have been derived from ignorance and defect; [and this will prove itself] 2.19.04:056
more apt and useful than was the light of their Father, if indeed, when born, according IrnL.AH.2.19.04:057
to the contemplation of that [light], it was without form or figure, but derived from this 2.19.04:058
[matter], form, and appearance, and increase, and perfection. For if that light which proceeds 2.19.04:061
from the Pleroma was the cause to a spiritual being that it possessed neither form, nor IrnL.AH.2.19.04:062
appearance, nor its own special magnitude, while its descent to this world added all these 2.19.04:063
things to it, and brought it to perfection, then a sojourn here (which they also term darkness) 2.19.04:064
would seem much more efficacious and useful than was the light of their Father. But how 2.19.04:065
can it be regarded as other than ridiculous, to affirm that their mother ran the risk of 2.19.04:067
being almost extinguished in matter, and was almost on the point of being destroyed by it, 2.19.04:068
had she not then with difficulty stretched herself outwards, and leaped, [as it were,] out of 2.19.04:069
herself, receiving assistance from the Father; but that her seed increased in this same matter, 2.19.04:070
and received a form, and was made fit for the reception of perfect rationality; and 2.19.04:071
this, too, while "bubbling up" among substances dissimilar and unfamiliar to itself, according 2.19.04:072
to their own declaration that the earthly is opposed to the spiritual, and the spiritual 2.19.04:073
to the earthly? How, then, could "a little particle," as they say, increase, and receive shape, 2.19.04:076
and reach perfection, in the midst of substances contrary to and unfamiliar to itself? 2.19.04:077
5. But further, and in addition to what hasbeen said, the question occurs, Did their mother, when she 2.19.05:080
beheld the angels, bring forth the seed all at once, or only one by one [in succession]? If she brought 2.19.05:081
forth the whole simultaneously and at once, that which was thus produced cannot now be of an infantile 2.19.05:082
character: its descent, therefore, into those men who now exist must be superfluous. But if one 2.19.05:083
by one, then she did not form her conception according to the figure of those angels whom she beheld; 2.19.05:085
for, contemplating them all together, and once for all, so as to conceive by them, she ought to have 2.19.05:086
brought forth once for all the offspring of those from whose forms she had once for all conceived. 2.19.05:087
6. Why was it, too, that, beholding the angels along with the Saviour, she did indeed 2.19.06:089
conceive their images, but not that of the Saviour, who is far more beautiful than 2.19.06:090
they? Did He not please her; and did she not, on that account, conceive after His 2.19.06:092
likeness? How was it, too, that the Demiurge, whom they can call an animal being, having, 2.19.06:094
as they maintain, his own special magnitude and figure, was produced perfect 2.19.06:095
as respects his substance; while that which is spiritual, which also ought to be more 2.19.06:096
effective than that which is animal, was sent forth imperfect, and he required to 2.19.06:097
descend into a soul, that in it he might obtain form, and thus becoming perfect, 2.19.06:098
might be rendered fit for the reception of perfect reason? If, then, he obtains form 2.19.06:099
in mere earthly and animal men, he can no longer be said to be after the likeness 2.19.06:101
of angels whom they call lights, but [after the likeness] of those men who are here 2.19.06:102
below. For he will not possess in that case the likeness and appearance of angels, 2.19.06:103
but of those souls in whom also he receives shape; just as water when poured into a 2.19.06:105
vessel takes the form of that vessel, and if on any occasion it happens to congeal 2.19.06:106
in it, it will acquire the form of the vessel in which it has thus been frozen, since 2.19.06:107
souls themselves possess the figure of the body [in which they dwell]; for they 2.19.06:108
themselves have been adapted to the vessel [in which they exist], as I have said before. 2.19.06:109
If, then, that seed [referred to] is here solidified and formed into a definite 2.19.06:111
shape, it will possess the figure of a man. and not the form of the angels. How is 2.19.06:112
it possible, therefore, that that seed should be after images of the angels, seeing 2.19.06:113
it has obtained a form after the likeness of men? Why, again, since it was of a spiritual IrnL.AH.2.19.06:114
nature, had it any need of descending into flesh? For what is carnal stands IrnL.AH.2.19.06:115
in need of that which is spiritual, if indeed it is to be saved, that in it it may 2.19.06:116
be sanctified and cleared from all impurity, and that what is mortal may be swallowed IrnL.AH.2.19.06:117
up by immortality; but that which is spiritual has no need whatever of those things 2.19.06:118
which are here below. For it is not we who benefit it, but it that improves us. 2.19.06:119
7. Still more manifestly is that talk of theirs concerning their seed proved to be false, 2.19.07:121
and that in a way which must be evident to every one, by the fact that they declare 2.19.07:122
those souls which have received seed from the Mother to be superior to all others; 2.19.07:123
wherefore also they have been honoured by the Demiurge, and constituted princes, and 2.19.07:124
kings, and priests. For if this were true, the high priest Caiaphas, and Annas, and 2.19.07:126
the rest of the chief priests, arid doctors of the law, and rulers of the people, would 2.19.07:127
have been the first to believe in the Lord, agreeing as they did with respect to that 2.19.07:128
relationship; and even before them should have been Herod the king. But since neither IrnL.AH.2.19.07:130
he, nor the chief priests, nor the rulers, nor the eminent of the people, turned IrnL.AH.2.19.07:131
to Him [in faith], but, on the contrary, those who sat begging by the highway, the deaf, IrnL.AH.2.19.07:132
and the blind, while He was rejected and despised by others, according to what Paul 2.19.07:133
declares, "For ye see your calling, brethen, that there are not many wise men among IrnL.AH.2.19.07:134
you, not many noble, not many mighty; but those things of the world which were despised 2.19.07:135
hath God chosen." Such souls, therefore, were not superior to others on account of 2.19.07:138
the seed deposited in them, nor on this account were they honoured by the Demiurge. IrnL.AH.2.19.07:139
8. As to the point, then, that their system is weak and untenable as well as utterly 2.19.08:141
chimerical, enough has been said. For it is not needful, to use a common 2.19.08:142
proverb, that one should drink up the ocean who wishes to learn that its water 2.19.08:143
is salt. But, just as in the case of a statue which is made of clay, but coloured 2.19.08:144
on the outside that it may be thought to be of gold, while it really is 2.19.08:145
of clay, any one who takes out of it a small particle, and thus laying it open IrnL.AH.2.19.08:146
reveals the clay, will set free those who seek the truth from a false opinion; 2.19.08:147
in the same way have I (by exposing not a small part only, but the several 2.19.08:148
heads of their system which are of the greatest importance) shown to as many 2.19.08:149
as do not wish wittingly to be led astray, what is wicked, deceitful, seductive, 2.19.08:150
and pernicious, connected with the school of the Valentinians, and all those IrnL.AH.2.19.08:151
other heretics who promulgate wicked opinions respecting the Demiurge, that 2.19.08:152
is, the Fashioner and Former of this universe, and who is in fact the only true 2.19.08:153
God--exhibiting, [as I have done,] how easily their views are overthrown. 2.19.08:154
9. For who that has any intelligence, and possesses only a small proportion of truth, can tolerate 2.19.09:159
them, when they affirm that there is another god above the Creator; and that there is another 2.19.09:160
Monogenes as well as another Word of God, whom also they describe as having been produced in 2.19.09:161
[a state of] degeneracy; and another Christ, whom they assert to have been formed, along with 2.19.09:162
the Holy Spirit, later than the rest of the AEons; and another Saviour, who, they say, did not 2.19.09:163
proceed from the Father of all, but was a kind of joint production of those AEons who were formed 2.19.09:164
in [a state of] degeneracy, and that He was produced of necessity on account of this very degeneracy? 2.19.09:165
It is thus their opinion that, unless the AEons had been in a state of ignorance and 2.19.09:166
degeneracy, neither Christ, nor the Holy Spirit, nor Horos, nor the Saviour, nor the angels, 2.19.09:167
nor their Mother, nor her seed, nor the rest of the fabric of the world, would have been produced 2.19.09:168
at all; but the universe would have been a desert, and destitute of the many good things which 2.19.09:169
exist in it. They are therefore not only chargeable with impiety against the Creator, declaring 2.19.09:174
Him the fruit of a defect, but also against Christ and the Holy Spirit, affirming that they IrnL.AH.2.19.09:175
were produced on account of that defect; and, in like manner, that the Saviour [was produced] 2.19.09:176
subsequently to [the existence of] that defect. And who will tolerate the remainder of their vain 2.19.09:179
talk, which they cunningly endeavour to accommodate to the parables, and have in this way plunged 2.19.09:180
both themselves, and those who give credit to them, in the profoundest depths of impiety? 2.19.09:181
1. That they improperly and illogically apply both the parables and the actions of the Lord 2.20.01:001
to their falsely-devised system, I prove as follows: They endeavour, for instance, to demonstrate 2.20.01:002
that passion which, they say, happened in the case of the twelfth AEon, from this fact, IrnL.AH.2.20.01:003
that the passion of the Saviour was brought about by the twelfth apostle, and happened 2.20.01:004
in the twelfth month. For they hold that He preached [only] for one year after His baptism. 2.20.01:005
They maintain also that the same thing was clearly set forth in the case of her who suffered 2.20.01:007
from the issue of blood. For the woman suffered during twelve years, and through touching 2.20.01:008
the hem of the Saviour's garment she was made whole by that power which went forth from the 2.20.01:009
Saviour, and which, they affirm, had a previous existence. For that Power who suffered was 2.20.01:010
stretching herself outwards and flowing into immensity, so that she was in danger of being 2.20.01:012
dissolved into the general substance [of the AEons]; but then, touching the primary Tetrad, 2.20.01:013
which is typified by the hem of the garment, she was arrested, and ceased from her passion. 2.20.01:014
2. Then, again, as to their assertion that the passion of the twelfth AEon was proved 2.20.02:017
through the conduct of Judas, how is it possible that Judas can be compared [with 2.20.02:018
this AEon] as being an emblem of her--he who was expelled from the number of the twelve, 2.20.02:019
and never restored to his place? For that AEon, whose type they declare Judas 2.20.02:020
to be, after being separated from her Enthymesis, was restored or recalled [to her 2.20.02:021
former position]; but Judas was deprived [of his office], and cast out, while Matthias 2.20.02:022
was ordained in his place, according to what is written, "And his bishopric let 2.20.02:023
another take." They ought therefore to maintain that the twelfth AEon was cast out 2.20.02:025
of the Pleroma, and that another was produced, or sent forth to fill her place; if, 2.20.02:026
that is to say, she is pointed at in Judas. Moreover, they tell us that it was the 2.20.02:028
AEon herself who suffered, but Judas was the betrayer, [and not the sufferer.] Even 2.20.02:029
they themselves acknowledge that it was the suffering Christ, and not Judas, who 2.20.02:030
came to [the endurance of] passion. How, then, could Judas, the betrayer of Him who 2.20.02:031
had to suffer for our salvation, be the type and image of that AEon who suffered? 2.20.02:032
3. But, in truth, the passion of Christ was neither similar to the passion 2.20.03:034
of the AEon, nor did it take place in similar circumstances. For the AEon 2.20.03:035
underwent a passion of dissolution and destruction, so that she who suffered 2.20.03:035
was in danger also of being destroyed. But the Lord, our Christ, underwent 2.20.03:036
a valid, and not a merely accidental passion; not only was He Himself 2.20.03:037
not in danger of being destroyed, but He also established fallen man 2.20.03:038
by His own strength, and recalled him to incorruption. The AEon, again, underwent 2.20.03:039
passion while she was seeking after the Father, and was notable to 2.20.03:041
find Him; but the Lord suffered that He might bring those who have wandered 2.20.03:042
from the Father, back to knowledge and to His fellowship. The search 2.20.03:043
into the greatness of the Father became to her a passion leading to destruction; 2.20.03:045
but the Lord, having suffered, and bestowing the knowledge of the 2.20.03:046
Father, conferred on us salvation. Her passion, as they declare, gave origin 2.20.03:048
to a female offspring, weak, infirm, unformed, and ineffective; but His 2.20.03:049
passion gave rise to strength and power. For the Lord, through means of 2.20.03:050
suffering, "ascending into the lofty place, led captivity captive, gave 2.20.03:051
gifts to men," and conferred on those that believe in Him the power "to tread 2.20.03:052
upon serpents and scorpions, and on all the power of the enemy," that 2.20.03:053
is, of the leader of apostasy. Our Lord also by His passion destroyed 2.20.03:055
death, and dispersed error, and put an end to corruption, and destroyed ignorance, 2.20.03:056
while He manifested life and revealed truth, and bestowed the gift 2.20.03:057
of incorruption. But their AEon, when she had suffered, established ignorance, 2.20.03:058
and brought forth a substance without shape, out of which all material 2.20.03:059
works have been produced--death, corruption, error, and such like. 2.20.03:060
4. Judas, then, the twelfth in order of the disciples, was not a type of the suffering AEon, 2.20.04:064
nor, again, was the passion of the Lord; for these two things have been shown to be in IrnL.AH.2.20.04:065
every respect mutually dissimilar and inharmonious. This is the case not only as respects 2.20.04:066
the points which I have already mentioned, but with regard to the very number. For that Judas 2.20.04:068
the traitor is the twelfth in order, is agreed upon by all, there being twelve apostles 2.20.04:069
mentioned by name in the Gospel. But this AEon is not the twelfth, but the thirtieth; 2.20.04:070
for, according to the views under consideration, there were not twelve AEons only produced 2.20.04:071
by the will of the Father, nor was she sent forth the twelfth in order: they reckon her, 2.20.04:072
[on the contrary,] as having been produced in the thirtieth place. How, then, can Judas, IrnL.AH.2.20.04:074
the twelfth in order, be the type and image of that AEon who occupies the thirtieth place? 2.20.04:075
5. But if they say that Judas in perishing was the image of her Enthymesis, neither in this 2.20.05:077
way will the image bear any analogy to that truth which [by hypothesis] corresponds 2.20.05:078
to it. For the Enthymesis having been separated fromt he AEon, and itself afterwards receiving 2.20.05:079
a shape from Christ, then being made a partaker of intelligence by the Saviour, 2.20.05:080
and having formed all things which are outside of the Pleroma, after the image of those IrnL.AH.2.20.05:081
which are within the Pleroma, is said at last to have been received by them into the Pleroma, 2.20.05:082
and, according to [the principle of] conjunction, to have been united to that Saviour 2.20.05:083
who was formed out of all. But Judas having been once for all cast away, never returns IrnL.AH.2.20.05:085
into the number of the disciples; otherwise a different person would not have been 2.20.05:086
chosen to fill his place. Besides, the Lord also declared regarding him, "Woe to the man 2.20.05:088
by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed;" and, "It were better for him if he had never 2.20.05:089
been born;" and he was called the "son of perdition" by Him. If, however, they say that IrnL.AH.2.20.05:091
Judas was a type of the Enthymesis, not as separated from the AEon, but of the passion 2.20.05:092
entwined with her, neither in this way can the number twelve be regarded as a [fitting] 2.20.05:093
type of the number three. For in the one case Judas was cast away, and Matthias was IrnL.AH.2.20.05:094
ordained instead of him; but in the other case the AEon is said to have been in danger IrnL.AH.2.20.05:095
of dissolution and destruction, and [there are also] her Enthymesis and passion: for they 2.20.05:096
markedly distinguish Enthymesis from the passion; and they represent the AEon as being 2.20.05:097
restored, and Enthymesis as acquiring form, but the passion, when separated from these, 2.20.05:098
as becoming matter. Since, therefore, there are thus these three, the AEon, her Enthymesis, 2.20.05:100
and her passion, Judas and Matthias, being only two, cannot be the types of them. 2.20.05:101
1. If, again, they maintain that the twelve apostles were a type only of that group of twelve 2.21.01:001
AEons which Anthropos in conjunction with Ecclesia produced, then let them produce ten other 2.21.01:002
apostles as a type of those ten remaining AEons, who, as they declare, were produced by Logos 2.21.01:003
and Zoe. For it is unreasonable to suppose that the junior, and for that reason inferior 2.21.01:005
AEons, were set forth by the Saviour through the election of the apostles, while their seniors, 2.21.01:006
and on this account their superiors, were not thus foreshown; since the Saviour (if, that IrnL.AH.2.21.01:007
is to say, He chose the apostles with this view, that by means of them He might show forth 2.21.01:008
the AEons who are in the Pleroma) might have chosen other ten apostles also, and likewise other 2.21.01:009
eight before these, that thus He might set forth the original and primary Ogdoad. He could 2.21.01:010
not, in regard to the second [Duo] Decad, show forth [any emblem of it] through the number 2.21.01:011
of the apostles being [already] constituted a type. For [He made choice of no such other 2.21.01:014
number of disciples; but] after the twelve apostles, our Lord is found to have sent seventy others 2.21.01:015
before Him. Now seventy cannot possibly be the type either of an Ogdoad, a Decad, or a 2.21.01:016
Triacontad. What is the reason, then, that the inferior AEons are, as I have said, represented 2.21.01:017
by means of the apostles; but the superior, from whom, too, the former derived their being, 2.21.01:018
are not prefigured at all? But if the twelve apostles were chosen with this object, that 2.21.01:020
the number of the twelve AEons might be indicated by means of them, then the seventy also ought 2.21.01:021
to have been chosen to be the type of seventy AEons; and in that case, they must affirm 2.21.01:022
that the AEons are no longer thirty, but eighty-two in number. For He who made choice of the 2.21.01:024
apostles, that they might be a type of those AEons existing in the Pleroma, would never have 2.21.01:025
constituted them types of some and not of others; but by means of the apostles He would have 2.21.01:026
tried to preserve an image and to exhibit a type of those AEons that exist in the Pleroma. 2.21.01:027
2. Moreover we must not keep silence respecting Paul, but demand from them after the type 2.21.02:030
of what AEon that apostle has been handed down to us, unless perchance [they affirm that 2.21.02:031
he is a representative] of the Saviour compounded of them [all], who derived his being IrnL.AH.2.21.02:032
from the collected gifts of the whole, and whom they term All Things, as having been formed 2.21.02:033
out of them all. Respecting this being the poet Hesiod has strikingly expressed himself, 2.21.02:034
styling him Pandora--that is, "The gift of all"--for this reason, that the best gift 2.21.02:035
in the possession of all was centred in him. In describing these gifts the following account 2.21.02:037
is given: Hermes (so he is called in the Greek language), A{imulious} {te} {logous} 2.21.02:038
{kai} {epiklopon} {hqos} {autaus} K{atqeto} (or to express this in the English language), 2.21.02:039
"implanted words of fraud and deceit in their minds, and thievish habits," for the purpose 2.21.02:040
of leading foolish men astray, that such should believe their falsehoods. For their 2.21.02:041
Mother--that is, Leto--secretly stirred them up (whence also she is called Leto, according 2.21.02:043
to the meaning of the Greek word, because she secretly stirred up men), without the 2.21.02:044
knowledge of the Demiurge, to give forth profound and unspeakable mysteries to itching ears. 2.21.02:045
And not only did their Mother bring it about that this mystery should be declared by 2.21.02:046
Hesiod; but very skilfully also by means of the lyric poet Pindar, when he describes to IrnL.AH.2.21.02:048
the Demiurge the case of Pelops, whose flesh was cut in pieces by the Father, and then collected 2.21.02:049
and brought together, and compacted anew by all the gods, did she in this way indicate 2.21.02:050
Pandora and these men having their consciences seared by her, declaring, as they 2.21.02:051
maintain, the very same things, are [proved] of the same family and spirit as the others. 2.21.02:052
1. I have shown that the number thirty fails them in every respect; too few AEons, as they 2.22.01:001
represent them, being at one time found within the Pleroma, and then again too many [to 2.22.01:002
correspond with that number]. There are not, therefore, thirty AEons, nor did the Saviour 2.22.01:003
come to be baptized when He was thirty years old, for this reason, that He might show IrnL.AH.2.22.01:004
forth the thirty silent AEons of their system, otherwise they must first of all separate 2.22.01:005
and eject [the Saviour] Himself from the Pleroma of all. Moreover, they affirm that 2.22.01:006
He suffered in the twelfth month, so that He continued to preach for one year after His 2.22.01:009
baptism; and they endeavour to establish this point out of the prophet (for it is written, IrnL.AH.2.22.01:010
"To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of retribution"), being truly 2.22.01:011
blind, inasmuch as they affirm they have found out the mysteries of Bythus, yet not understanding 2.22.01:012
that which is called by Isaiah the acceptable year of the Lord, nor the day 2.22.01:013
of retribution. For the prophet neither speaks concerning a day which includes the space 2.22.01:015
of twelve hours, nor of a year the length of which is twelve months. For even they themselves 2.22.01:016
acknowledge that the prophets have very often expressed themselves in parables and IrnL.AH.2.22.01:017
allegories, and [are] not [to be understood] according to the mere sound of the words. 2.22.01:018
2. That, then, was called the day of retribution on which the Lord will render to every 2.22.02:021
one according to his works--that is, the judgment. The acceptable year of the Lord, 2.22.02:022
again, is this present time, in which those who believe Him are called by Him, 2.22.02:023
and become acceptable to God--that is, the whole time from His advent onwards to the IrnL.AH.2.22.02:024
consummation [of all things], during which He acquires to Himself as fruits [of 2.22.02:025
the scheme of mercy] those who are saved. For, according to the phraseology of the prophet, 2.22.02:027
the day of retribution follows the [acceptable] year; and the prophet will 2.22.02:028
be proved guilty of falsehood if the Lord preached only for a year, and if he speaks 2.22.02:030
of it. For where is the day of retribution? For the year has passed, and the day 2.22.02:031
of retribution has not yet come; but He still "makes His sun to rise upon the good and IrnL.AH.2.22.02:032
upon the evil, and sends rain upon the just and unjust." And the righteous suffer 2.22.02:033
persecution, are afflicted, and are slain, while sinners are possessed of abundance, 2.22.02:034
and "drink with the sound of the harp and psaltery, but do not regard the works 2.22.02:035
of the Lord." But, according to the language [used by the prophet], they ought to be 2.22.02:037
combined, and the day of retribution to follow the [acceptable] year. For the words 2.22.02:038
are, "to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of retribution." 2.22.02:038
This present time, therefore, in which men are called and saved by the Lord, is properly 2.22.02:040
understood to be denoted by "the acceptable year of the Lord;" and there follows 2.22.02:041
on this "the day of retribution," that is, the judgment. And the time thus referred 2.22.02:043
to is not called "a year" only, but is also named "a day" both by the prophet and 2.22.02:044
by Paul, of whom the apostle, calling to mind the Scripture, says in the Epistle 2.22.02:045
addressed to the Romans, "As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day 2.22.02:046
long, we are counted as sheep for the slaughter." But here the expression "all the 2.22.02:048
day long" is put for all this time during which we suffer persecution, and are killed 2.22.02:049
as sheep. As then this day does not signify one which consists of twelve hours, but 2.22.02:050
the whole time during which believers in Christ suffer and are put to death for 2.22.02:051
His sake, so also the year there mentioned does not denote one which consists of twelve 2.22.02:052
months, but the whole time of faith during which men hear and believe the preaching 2.22.02:053
of the Gospel, and those become acceptable to God who unite themselves to Him. 2.22.02:054
3. But it is greatly to be wondered at, how it has come to pass that, while affirming 2.22.03:057
that they have found out the mysteries of God, they have not examined the Gospels 2.22.03:058
to ascertain how often after His baptism the Lord went up, at the time of the passover, IrnL.AH.2.22.03:059
to Jerusalem, in accordance with what was the practice of the Jews from every 2.22.03:060
land, and every year, that they should assemble at this period in Jerusalem, 2.22.03:061
and there celebrate the feast of the passover. First of all, after He had made the 2.22.03:063
water wine at Cana of Galilee, He went up to the festival day of the passover, on 2.22.03:064
which occasion it is written, "For many believed in Him, when they saw the signs which 2.22.03:065
He did," as John the disciple of the Lord records. Then, again, withdrawing Himself 2.22.03:068
[from Judaea], He is found in Samaria; on which occasion, too, He convened with 2.22.03:069
the Samaritan woman, and while at a distance, cured the son of the centurion by 2.22.03:070
a word, saying, "Go thy way, thy son liveth." Afterwards He went up, the second time, IrnL.AH.2.22.03:071
to observe the festival day of the passover in Jerusalem; on which occasion He 2.22.03:072
cured the paralytic man, who had lain beside the pool thirty-eight years, bidding 2.22.03:073
him rise, take up his couch, and depart. Again, withdrawing from thence to the other 2.22.03:074
side of the sea of Tiberias, He there seeing a great crowd had followed Him, fed 2.22.03:075
all that multitude with five loaves of bread, and twelve baskets of fragments remained IrnL.AH.2.22.03:076
over and above. Then, when He had raised Lazarus from the dead, and plots were 2.22.03:079
formed against Him by the Pharisees, He withdrew to a city called Ephraim; and from 2.22.03:080
that place, as it is written "He came to Bethany six days before the passover," 2.22.03:081
and going up from Bethany to Jerusalem, He there ate the passover, and suffered on 2.22.03:082
the day following. Now, that these three occasions of the passover are not included 2.22.03:084
within one year, every person whatever must acknowledge. And that the special month IrnL.AH.2.22.03:085
in which the passover was celebrated, and in which also the Lord suffered, was 2.22.03:085
not the twelfth, but the first, those men who boast that they know all things, if 2.22.03:086
they know not this, may learn it from Moses. Their explanation, therefore, both of 2.22.03:087
the year and of the twelfth month has been proved false, and they ought to reject 2.22.03:089
either their explanation or the Gospel; otherwise [this unanswerable question forces 2.22.03:090
itself upon them], How is it possible that the Lord preached for one year only? 2.22.03:091
4. Being thirty years old when He came to be baptized, and then possessing the full age of 2.22.04:093
a Master, He came to Jerusalem, so that He might be properly acknowledged by all as a 2.22.04:094
Master. For He did not seem one thing while He was another, as those affirm who describe 2.22.04:095
Him as being man only in appearance; but what He was, that He also appeared to be. Being 2.22.04:096
a Master, therefore, He also possessed the age of a Master, not despising or evading any 2.22.04:098
condition of humanity, nor setting aside in Himself that law which He had appointed for IrnL.AH.2.22.04:099
the human race, but sanctifying every age, by that period corresponding to it which belonged 2.22.04:100
to Himself. For He came to save all through means of Himself--all, I say, who through IrnL.AH.2.22.04:103
Him are born again to God--infants, and children, and boys, and youths, and old men. He 2.22.04:104
therefore passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, thus sanctifying infants; 2.22.04:105
a child for children, thus sanctifying those who are of this age, being at the same 2.22.04:106
time made to them an example of piety, righteousness, and submission; a youth for youths, 2.22.04:107
becoming an example to youths, and thus sanctifying them for the Lord. So likewise He 2.22.04:108
was an old man for old men, that He might be a perfect Master for all, not merely as respects 2.22.04:109
the setting forth of the truth, but also as regards age, sanctifying at the same time 2.22.04:110
the aged also, and becoming an example to them likewise. Then, at last, He came on to 2.22.04:111
death itself, that He might be "the first-born from the dead, that in all things He might 2.22.04:112
have the pre-eminence," the Prince of life, existing before all, and going before all. 2.22.04:113
5. They, however, that they may establish their false opinion regarding that which is written, 2.22.05:118
"to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord," maintain that He preached for one year only, 2.22.05:119
and then suffered in the twelfth month. [In speaking thus], they are forgetful to their 2.22.05:120
own disadvantage, destroying His whole work, and robbing Him of that age which is both more 2.22.05:121
necessary and more honourable than any other; that more advanced age, I mean, during which 2.22.05:122
also as a teacher He excelled all others. For how could He have had disciples, if He did not 2.22.05:125
teach? And how could He have taught, unless He had reached the age of a Master? For when He 2.22.05:126
came to be baptized, He had not yet completed His thirtieth year, but was beginning to be 2.22.05:127
about thirty years of age (for thus Luke, who has mentioned His years, has expressed it: "Now 2.22.05:128
Jesus was, as it were, beginning to be thirty years old," when He came to receive baptism); 2.22.05:129
and, [according to these men,] He preached only one year reckoning from His baptism. On 2.22.05:130
completing His thirtieth year He suffered, being in fact still a young man, and who had by no 2.22.05:131
means attained to advanced age. Now, that the first stage of early life embraces thirty years, 2.22.05:134
and that this extends onwards to the fortieth year, every one will admit; but from the 2.22.05:135
fortieth and fiftieth year a man begins to decline towards old age, which our Lord possessed 2.22.05:136
while He still fulfilled the office of a Teacher, even as the Gospel and all the elders 2.22.05:137
testify; those who were conversant in Asia with John, the disciple of the Lord, [affirming] 2.22.05:138
that John conveyed to them that information. And he remained among them up to the times of 2.22.05:139
Trajan. Some of them, moreover, saw not only John, but the other apostles also, and heard the 2.22.05:143
very same account from them, and bear testimony as to the [validity of] the statement. Whom 2.22.05:144
then should we rather believe? Whether such men as these, or Ptolemaeus, who never saw the 2.22.05:145
apostles, and who never even in his dreams attained to the slightest trace of an apostle? 2.22.05:146
6. But, besides this, those very Jews who then disputed with the Lord Jesus Christ 2.22.06:149
have most clearly indicated the same thing. For when the Lord said to them, "Your 2.22.06:150
father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it, and was glad," they answered IrnL.AH.2.22.06:151
Him, "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham?" Now, such language 2.22.06:152
is fittingly applied to one who has already passed the age of forty, without 2.22.06:153
having as yet reached his fiftieth year, yet is not far from this latter period. 2.22.06:154
But to one who is only thirty years old it would unquestionably be said, "Thou art 2.22.06:155
not yet forty years old." For those who wished to convict Him of falsehood would 2.22.06:157
certainly not extend the number of His years far beyond the age which they saw He 2.22.06:159
had attained; but they mentioned a period near His real age, whether they had truly 2.22.06:160
ascertained this out of the entry in the public register, or simply made a conjecture 2.22.06:161
from what they observed that He was above forty years old, and that He certainly 2.22.06:162
was not one of only thirty years of age. For it is altogether unreasonable to 2.22.06:163
suppose that they were mistaken by twenty years, when they wished to prove Him younger 2.22.06:165
than the times of Abraham. For what they saw, that they also expressed; and 2.22.06:166
He whom they beheld was not a mere phantasm, but an actual being of flesh and blood. 2.22.06:167
He did not then wont much of being fifty years old; and, in accordance with that 2.22.06:168
fact, they said to Him, "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham?" 2.22.06:169
He did not therefore preach only for one year, nor did He suffer in the twelfth 2.22.06:170
month of the year. For the period included between the thirtieth and the fiftieth 2.22.06:170
year can never be regarded as one year, unless indeed, among their AEons, there 2.22.06:172
be so long years assigned to those who sit in their ranks with Bythus in the Pleroma; 2.22.06:173
of which beings Homer the poet, too, has spoken, doubtless being inspired by 2.22.06:174
the Mother of their [system of] error:--O{i} {de} {qeoi} {par} Z{hni} {kaqhmenoi} 2.22.06:175
{hgorownto} X{rusew} {en} {dapedw}:which we may thus render into English: --"The gods 2.22.06:176
sat round, while Jove presided o'er, And converse held upon the golden floor." 2.22.06:177
1. Moreover, their ignorance comes out in a clear light with respect to the case of 2.23.01:001
that woman who, suffering from an issue of blood, touched the hem of the Lord's garment, 2.23.01:002
and so was made whole; for they maintain that through her was shown forth that 2.23.01:003
twelfth power who suffered passion, and flowed out towards immensity, that is, the 2.23.01:004
twelfth AEon. [This ignorance of theirs appears] first, because, as I have shown, 2.23.01:005
according to their own system, that was not the twelfth AEon. But even granting them 2.23.01:007
this point [in the meantime], there being twelve AEons, eleven of these are said to 2.23.01:008
have continued impassible, while the twelfth suffered passion; but the woman, on 2.23.01:009
the other hand, being healed in the twelfth year, it is manifest that she had continued 2.23.01:010
to suffer during eleven years, and was healed in the twelfth. If indeed they were 2.23.01:013
to say that eleven AEons were involved in passion, but the twelfth one was healed, 2.23.01:014
it would then be a plausible thing to say that the woman was a type of these. But 2.23.01:016
since she suffered during eleven years, and [all that time] obtained no cure, but 2.23.01:017
was healed in the twelfth year, in what way can she be a type of the twelfth of the 2.23.01:018
AEons, eleven of whom, [according to hypothesis,] did not suffer at all, but the twelfth IrnL.AH.2.23.01:019
alone participated in suffering? For a type and emblem is, no doubt, sometimes 2.23.01:021
diverse from the truth [signified] as to matter and substance; but it ought, as 2.23.01:022
to the general form and features, to maintain a likeness [to what is typified], and 2.23.01:023
in this way to shadow forth by means of things present those which are yet to come. 2.23.01:024
2. And not only in the case of this woman have the years of her infirmity (which they 2.23.02:026
affirm to fit in with their figment) been mentioned, but, lo! another woman was also 2.23.02:027
healed, after suffering in like manner for eighteen years; concerning whom the Lord 2.23.02:028
said, "And ought not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound during eighteen 2.23.02:029
years, to be set free on the Sabbath-day?" If, then, the former was a type of the twelfth IrnL.AH.2.23.02:031
Aeon that suffered, the latter should also be a type of the eighteenth Aeon in IrnL.AH.2.23.02:032
suffering. But they cannot maintain this; otherwise their primary and original Ogdoad 2.23.02:033
will be included in the number of Aeons who suffered together. Moreover, there was 2.23.02:034
also a certain other person healed by the Lord, after he had suffered for eight-and-thirty IrnL.AH.2.23.02:035
years: they ought therefore to affirm that the Aeon who occupies the thirty-eighth 2.23.02:036
place suffered. For if they assert that the things which were done by the Lord 2.23.02:037
were types of what took place in the Pleroma, the type ought to be preserved throughout. 2.23.02:038
But they can neither adapt to their fictitious system the case of her who was cured 2.23.02:039
after eighteen years, nor of him who was cured after thirty-eight years. Now, it 2.23.02:040
is in every way absurd and inconsistent to declare that the Saviour preserved the type IrnL.AH.2.23.02:042
in certain cases, while He did not do so in others. The type of the woman, therefore, 2.23.02:043
[with the issue of blood] is shown to have no analogy to their system of Aeons. 2.23.02:044
1. This very thing, too, still further demonstrates their opinion false, and their fictitious IrnL.AH.2.24.01:001
system untenable, that they endeavour to bring forward proofs of it, sometimes through IrnL.AH.2.24.01:002
means of numbers and the syllables of names, sometimes also through the letter of syllables, 2.24.01:003
and yet again through those numbers which are, according to the practice followed 2.24.01:004
by the Greeks, contained in [different] letters;--[this, I say,] demonstrates in the clearest 2.24.01:005
manner their overthrow or confusion, as well as the untenable and perverse character 2.24.01:006
of their [professed] knowledge. For, transferring the name Jesus, which belongs to another 2.24.01:009
language, to the numeration of the Greeks, they sometimes call it "Episemon," as having 2.24.01:010
six letters, and at other times "the Plenitude of the Ogdoads," as containing the number 2.24.01:011
eight hundred and eighty-eight. But His [corresponding] Greek name, which is "Soter," IrnL.AH.2.24.01:013
that is, Saviour, because it does not fit in with their system, either with respect to numerical 2.24.01:014
value or as regards its letters, they pass over in silence. Yet surely, if they 2.24.01:016
regard the names of the Lord, as, in accordance with the preconceived purpose of the Father, 2.24.01:017
by means of their numerical value and letters, indicating number in the Pleroma, Soter, IrnL.AH.2.24.01:018
as being a Greek name, ought by means of its letters and the numbers [expressed by these], 2.24.01:019
in virtue of its being Greek, to show forth the mystery of the Pleroma. But the case 2.24.01:021
is not so, because it is a word of five letters, and its numerical value is one thousand IrnL.AH.2.24.01:022
four hundred and eight. But these things do not in any way correspond with their Pleroma; 2.24.01:022
the account, therefore, which they give of transactions in the Pleroma cannot be true. 2.24.01:023
2. Moreover, Jesus, which is a word belonging to the proper tongue of the Hebrews, 2.24.02:025
contains, as the learned among them declare, two letters and a half, 2.24.02:026
and signifies that Lord who contains heaven and earth; for Jesus in the ancient 2.24.02:027
Hebrew language means "heaven," while again "earth" is expressed by the 2.24.02:028
words sura usser. The word, therefore, which contains heaven and earth is 2.24.02:030
just Jesus. Their explanation, then, of the Episemon is false, and their numerical 2.24.02:031
calculation is also manifestly overthrown. For, in their own language, 2.24.02:032
Soter is a Greek word of five letters; but, on the other hand, in the Hebrew 2.24.02:033
tongue, Jesus contains only two letters and a half. The total which they 2.24.02:034
reckon up, viz., eight hundred and eighty-eight, therefore falls to the 2.24.02:035
ground. And throughout, the Hebrew letters do not correspond in number with IrnL.AH.2.24.02:036
the Greek, although these especially, as being the more ancient and unchanging, 2.24.02:037
ought to uphold the reckoning connected with the names. For these ancient, 2.24.02:038
original, and generally called sacred letters of the Hebrews are ten in 2.24.02:039
number (but they are written by means of fifteen), the last letter being 2.24.02:040
joined to the first. And thus they write some of these letters according to 2.24.02:041
their natural sequence, just as we do, but others in a reverse direction, from IrnL.AH.2.24.02:042
the right hand towards the left, thus tracing the letters backwards. The 2.24.02:043
name Christ, too, ought to be capable of being reckoned up in harmony with 2.24.02:044
the Aeons of their Pleroma, inasmuch as, according to their statements, He IrnL.AH.2.24.02:046
was produced for the establishment and rectification of their Pleroma. The 2.24.02:047
Father, too, in the same way, ought, both by means of letters and numerical IrnL.AH.2.24.02:048
value, to contain the number of those Aeons who were produced by Him; Bythus, 2.24.02:050
in like manner, and not less Monogenes; but pre-eminently the name which 2.24.02:051
is above all others, by which God is called, and which in the Hebrew tongue IrnL.AH.2.24.02:052
is expressed by Baruch, [a word] which also contains two and a half letters. IrnL.AH.2.24.02:053
From this fact, therefore, that the more important names, both in the Hebrew IrnL.AH.2.24.02:054
and Greek languages, do not conform to their system, either as respects 2.24.02:056
the number of letters or the reckoning brought out of them, the forced character 2.24.02:057
of their calculations respecting the rest becomes clearly manifest. 2.24.02:058
3. For, choosing out of the law whatever things agree with the number adopted in 2.24.03:061
their system, they thus violently strive to obtain proofs of its validity. But if 2.24.03:062
it was really the purpose of their Mother, or the Saviour, to set forth, by means 2.24.03:063
of the Demiurge, types of those things which are in the Pleroma, they should have 2.24.03:064
taken care that the types were found in things more exactly correspondent and 2.24.03:065
more holy; and, above all, in the case of the Ark of the Covenant, on account of 2.24.03:066
which the whole tabernacle of witness was formed. Now it was constructed thus: its 2.24.03:068
length was two cubits and a half, its breadth one cubit and a half, its height 2.24.03:069
one cubit and a half; but such a number of cubits in no respect corresponds with 2.24.03:070
their system, yet by it the type ought to have been, beyond everything else, clearly 2.24.03:071
set forth. The mercy-seat also does in like manner not at all harmonize with IrnL.AH.2.24.03:073
their expositions. Moreover, the table of shew-bread was two cubits in length, while 2.24.03:074
its height was a cubit and a half. These stood before the holy of holies, and IrnL.AH.2.24.03:075
yet in them not a single number is of such an amount as contains an indication 2.24.03:076
of the Tetrad, or the Ogdoad, or of the rest of their Pleroma. What of the candlestick, 2.24.03:077
too, which had seven branches and seven lamps? while, if these had been made 2.24.03:080
according to the type, it ought to have had eight branches and a like number of 2.24.03:081
lamps, after the type of the primary Ogdoad, which shines pre-eminently among the 2.24.03:082
Aeons, and illuminates the whole Pleroma. They have carefully enumerated the curtains 2.24.03:083
as being ten, declaring these a type of the ten Aeons; but they have forgotten 2.24.03:085
to count the coverings of skin, which were eleven in number. Nor, again, have 2.24.03:086
they measured the size of these very curtains, each curtain being eight-and-twenty 2.24.03:087
cubits in length. And they set forth the length of the pillars as being ten 2.24.03:088
cubits, with a reference to the Decad of Aeons. "But the breadth of each pillar 2.24.03:090
was a cubit and a half;" and this they do not explain, any more than they do the 2.24.03:091
entire number of the pillars or of their bars, because that does not suit the argument. 2.24.03:092
But what of the anointing oil, which sanctified the whole tabernacle? Perhaps 2.24.03:093
it escaped the notice of the Saviour, or, while their Mother was sleeping, the IrnL.AH.2.24.03:095
Demiurge of himself gave instructions as to its weight; and on this account it 2.24.03:096
is out of harmony with their Pleroma, consisting, as it did, of five hundred shekels 2.24.03:097
of myrrh, five hundred of cassia, two hundred and fifty of cinnamon, two hundred 2.24.03:098
and fifty of calamus, and oil in addition, so that it was composed of five ingredients. 2.24.03:099
The incense also, in like manner, [was compounded] of stacte, onycha, 2.24.03:101
galbanum, mint, and frankincense, all which do in no respect, either as to their 2.24.03:102
mixture or weight, harmonize with their argument. It is therefore unreasonable and 2.24.03:103
altogether absurd [to maintain] that the types were not preserved in the sublime 2.24.03:105
and more imposing enactments of the law; but in other points, when any number 2.24.03:106
coincides with their assertions, to affirm that it was a type of the things in the 2.24.03:107
Pleroma; while [the truth is, that] every number occurs with the utmost variety 2.24.03:108
in the Scriptures, so that, should any one desire it, he might form not only an 2.24.03:109
Ogdoad, and a Decad, and a Duodecad, but any sort of number from the Scriptures, 2.24.03:110
and then maintain that this was a type of the system of error devised by himself. 2.24.03:111
4. But that this point is true, that that number which is called five, which 2.24.04:115
agrees in no respect with their argument, and does not harmonize with 2.24.04:116
their system, nor is suitable for a typical manifestation of the things 2.24.04:117
in the Pleroma, [yet has a wide prevalence,] will be proved as follows from 2.24.04:118
the Scriptures. Soter is a name of five letters; Pater, too, contains five 2.24.04:120
letters; Agape (love), too, consists of five letters; and our Lord, after 2.24.04:121
blessing the five loaves, fed with them five thousand men. Five virgins 2.24.04:122
were called wise by the Lord; and, in like manner, five were styled foolish. 2.24.04:123
Again, five men are said to have been with the Lord when He obtained 2.24.04:124
testimony from the Father,--namely, Peter, and James, and John, and Moses, 2.24.04:125
and Elias. The Lord also, as the fifth person, entered into the apartment 2.24.04:126
of the dead maiden, and raised her up again; for, says [the Scripture], 2.24.04:127
"He suffered no man to go in, save Peter and James, and the father and 2.24.04:128
mother of the maiden." The rich man in hell declared that he had five 2.24.04:129
brothers, to whom he desired that one rising from the dead should go. The 2.24.04:130
pool from which the Lord commanded the paralytic man to go into his house, 2.24.04:131
had five porches. The very form of the cross, too, has five extremities, 2.24.04:132
two in length, two in breadth, and one in the middle, on which [last] 2.24.04:133
the person rests who is fixed by the nails. Each of our hands has five fingers; 2.24.04:135
we have also five senses; our internal organs may also be reckoned 2.24.04:136
as five, viz., the heart, the liver, the lungs, the spleen, and the kidneys. 2.24.04:137
Moreover, even the whole person may be divided into this number [of 2.24.04:138
parts],--the head, the breast, the belly, the thighs, and the feet. The human 2.24.04:139
race passes through five ages first infancy, then boyhood, then youth, 2.24.04:140
then maturity, and then old age. Moses delivered the law to the people 2.24.04:141
in five books. Each table which he received from God contained five commandments. IrnL.AH.2.24.04:143
The veil covering the holy of holies had five pillars. The altar 2.24.04:144
of burnt-offering also was five cubits in breadth. Five priests were chosen 2.24.04:145
in the wilderness,--namely, Aaron, Nadab, Abiud, Eleazar, Ithamar. The 2.24.04:146
ephod and the breastplate, and other sacerdotal vestments, were formed out 2.24.04:148
of five materials; for they combined in themselves gold, and blue, and 2.24.04:149
purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. And there were five kings of the Amorites, 2.24.04:150
whom Joshua the son of Nun shut up in a cave, and directed the people 2.24.04:151
to trample upon their heads. Any one, in fact, might collect many thousand IrnL.AH.2.24.04:152
other things of the same kind, both with respect to this number and 2.24.04:153
any other he chose to fix upon, either from the Scriptures, or from the 2.24.04:154
works of nature lying under his observation. But although such is the case, IrnL.AH.2.24.04:155
we do not therefore affirm that there are five Aeons above the Demiurge; 2.24.04:156
nor do we consecrate the Peptad, as if it were some divine thing; nor 2.24.04:157
do we strive to establish things that are untenable, nor ravings [such as 2.24.04:158
they indulge in], by means of that vain kind of labour; nor do we perversely IrnL.AH.2.24.04:159
force a creation well adapted by God [for the ends intended to be served], 2.24.04:160
to change itself into types of things which have no real existence; 2.24.04:161
nor do we seek to bring forward impious and abominable doctrines, the detection 2.24.04:162
and overthrow of which are easy to all possessed of intelligence. 2.24.04:163
5. For who can concede to them that the year has three hundred and sixty-five days only, 2.24.05:168
in order that there may be twelve months of thirty days each, after the type of the 2.24.05:169
twelve Aeons, when the type is in fact altogether out of harmony [with the antitype]? 2.24.05:170
For, in the one case, each of the Aeons is a thirtieth part of the entire Pleroma, 2.24.05:171
while in the other they declare that a month is the twelfth part of a year. If, indeed, 2.24.05:173
the year were divided into thirty parts, and the month into twelve, then a fitting type 2.24.05:174
might be regarded as having been found for their fictitious system. But, on the contrary, 2.24.05:175
as the case really stands, their Pleroma is divided into thirty parts, and a 2.24.05:176
portion of it into twelve; while again the whole year is divided into twelve parts, and 2.24.05:177
a certain portion of it into thirty. The Saviour therefore acted unwisely in constituting 2.24.05:178
the month a type of the entire Pleroma, but the year a type only of that Duodecad 2.24.05:179
which exists in the Pleroma; for it was more fitting to divide the year into thirty 2.24.05:180
parts, even as the whole Pleroma is divided, but the month into twelve, just as the Aeons 2.24.05:181
are in their Pleroma. Moreover, they divide the entire Pleroma into three portions,--namely, 2.24.05:184
into an Ogdoad, a Decad, and a Duodecad. But our year is divided into four 2.24.05:185
parts,--namely, spring, summer, autumn, and winter. And again, not even do the months, 2.24.05:186
which they maintain to be a type of the Triacontad, consist precisely of thirty days, 2.24.05:187
but some have more and some less, inasmuch as five days remain to them as an overplus. 2.24.05:188
The day, too, does not always consist precisely of twelve hours, but rises from nine 2.24.05:189
to fifteen, and then falls again from fifteen to nine. It cannot therefore be held 2.24.05:190
that months of thirty days each were so formed for the sake of [typifying] the Aeons; 2.24.05:191
for, in that case, they would have consisted precisely of thirty days: nor, again, the 2.24.05:192
days of these months, that by means of twelve hours they might symbolize the twelve IrnL.AH.2.24.05:193
Aeons; for, in that case, they would always have consisted precisely of twelve hours. IrnL.AH.2.24.05:194
6. But further, as to their calling material substances "on the left hand," and maintaining that those 2.24.06:198
things which are thus on the left hand of necessity fall into corruption, while they also affirm 2.24.06:199
that the Saviour came to the lost sheep, in order to transfer it to the right hand, that is, to 2.24.06:200
the ninety and nine sheep which were in safety, and perished not, but continued within the fold, 2.24.06:201
yet were of the left hand, it follows that they must acknowledge that the enjoyment of rest did not 2.24.06:202
imply salvation. And that which has not in like manner the same number, they will be compelled 2.24.06:205
to acknowledge as belonging to the left hand, that is, to corruption. This Greek word Agape (love), 2.24.06:206
then, according to the letters of the Greeks, by means of which reckoning is carried on among them, 2.24.06:207
having a numerical value of ninety-three, is in like manner assigned to the place of rest on the 2.24.06:208
left hand. Aletheia (truth), too, having in like manner, according to the principle indicated above, 2.24.06:209
a numerical value of sixty-four, exists among material substances. And thus, in fine, they will 2.24.06:210
be compelled to acknowledge that all those sacred names which do not reach a numerical value of 2.24.06:211
one hundred, but only contain the numbers summed by the left hand, are corruptible and material. 2.24.06:212
1. If any one, however, say in reply to these things, What then? Is it a meaningless and accidental thing, 2.25.01:001
that the positions of names, and the election of the apostles, and the working of the Lord, and 2.25.01:002
the arrangement of created things, are what they are?--we answer them: Certainly not; but with great 2.25.01:003
wisdom and diligence, all things have clearly been made by God, fitted and prepared [for their special 2.25.01:004
purposes]; and His word formed both things ancient and those belonging to the latest times; and men 2.25.01:005
ought not to connect those things with the number thirty, but to harmonize them with what actually 2.25.01:006
exists, or with right reason. Nor should they seek to prosecute inquiries respecting God by means of 2.25.01:008
numbers, syllables, and letters. For this is an uncertain mode of proceeding, on account of their varied 2.25.01:009
and diverse systems, and because every sort of hypothesis may at the present day be, in like manner, 2.25.01:010
devised by any one; so that they can derive arguments against the truth from these very theories, 2.25.01:011
inasmuch as they may be turned in many different directions. But, on the contrary, they ought to adapt 2.25.01:012
the numbers themselves, and those things which have been formed, to the true theory lying before 2.25.01:013
them. For system does not spring out of numbers, but numbers from a system; nor does God derive His 2.25.01:017
being from things made, but things made from God. For all things originate from one and the same God. 2.25.01:018
2. But since created things are various and numerous, they are indeed well fitted 2.25.02:020
and adapted to the whole creation; yet, when viewed individually, are mutually opposite 2.25.02:021
and inharmonious, just as the sound of the lyre, which consists of many and 2.25.02:022
opposite notes, gives rise to one unbroken melody, through means of the interval 2.25.02:023
which separates each one from the others. The lover of truth therefore ought not 2.25.02:024
to be deceived by the interval between each note, nor should he imagine that one 2.25.02:026
was due to one artist and author, and another to another, nor that one person fitted 2.25.02:027
the treble, another the bass, and yet another the tenor strings; but he should IrnL.AH.2.25.02:028
hold that one and the same person [formed the whole], so as to prove the judgment, 2.25.02:029
goodness, and skill exhibited in the whole work and [specimen of] wisdom. Those, 2.25.02:030
too, who listen to the melody, ought to praise and extol the artist, to admire IrnL.AH.2.25.02:033
the tension of some notes, to attend to the softness of others, to catch the sound 2.25.02:034
of others between both these extremes, and to consider the special character of 2.25.02:035
others, so as to inquire at what each one aims, and what is the cause of their variety, 2.25.02:036
never failing to apply our rule, neither giving up the [one] artist, nor casting 2.25.02:037
off faith in the one God who formed all things, nor blaspheming our Creator. IrnL.AH.2.25.02:038
3. If, however, any one do not discover the cause of all those things which become objects of 2.25.03:042
investigation, let him reflect that man is infinitely inferior to God; that he has received IrnL.AH.2.25.03:043
grace only in part, and is not yet equal or similar to his Maker; and, moreover, that he cannot 2.25.03:044
have experience or form a conception of all things like God; but in the same proportion IrnL.AH.2.25.03:045
as he who was formed but to-day, and received the beginning of his creation, is inferior to 2.25.03:046
Him who is uncreated, and who is always the same, in that proportion is he, as respects knowledge 2.25.03:047
and the faculity of investigating the causes of all things, inferior to Him who made 2.25.03:048
him. For thou, O man, art not an uncreated being, nor didst thou always co-exist with God, 2.25.03:051
as did His own Word; but now, through His pre-eminent goodness, receiving the beginning of thy 2.25.03:052
creation, thou dost gradually learn from the Word the dispensations of God who made thee. 2.25.03:053
4. Preserve therefore the proper order of thy knowledge, and do not, as being ignorant 2.25.04:056
of things really good, seek to rise above God Himself, for He cannot be surpassed; nor IrnL.AH.2.25.04:057
do thou seek after any one above the Creator, for thou wilt not discover such, For thy Former 2.25.04:058
cannot be contained within limits; nor, although thou shouldst measure all this [universe], 2.25.04:060
and pass through all His creation, and consider it in all its depth, and height, 2.25.04:061
and length, wouldst thou be able to conceive of any other above the Father Himself. 2.25.04:062
For thou wilt not be able to think Him fully out, but, indulging in trains of reflection 2.25.04:063
opposed to thy nature, thou wilt prove thyself foolish; and if thou persevere in such 2.25.04:064
a course, thou wilt fall into utter madness, whilst thou deemest thyself loftier and 2.25.04:065
greater than thy Creator, and imaginest that thou canst penetrate beyond His dominions. 2.25.04:067
1. It is therefore better and more profitable to belong to the simple and unlettered class, IrnL.AH.2.26.01:001
and by means of love to attain to nearness to God, than, by imagining ourselves learned and 2.26.01:002
skilful, to be found [among those who are] blasphemous against their own God, inasmuch as 2.26.01:003
they conjure up another God as the Father. And for this reason Paul exclaimed, "Knowledge 2.26.01:005
puffeth up, but love edifieth:" not that he meant to inveigh against a true knowledge of IrnL.AH.2.26.01:006
God, for in that case he would have accused himself; but, because he knew that some, puffed 2.26.01:007
up by the pretence of knowledge, fall away from the love of God, and imagine that they themselves 2.26.01:008
are perfect, for this reason that they set forth an imperfect Creator, with the view 2.26.01:009
of putting an end to the pride which they feel on account of knowledge of this kind, he IrnL.AH.2.26.01:010
says, "Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth." Now there can be no greater conceit than 2.26.01:013
this, that any one should imagine he is better and more perfect than He who made and fashioned 2.26.01:014
him, and imparted to him the breath of life, and commanded this very thing into existence. 2.26.01:015
It is therefore better, as I have said, that one should have no knowledge whatever 2.26.01:016
of any one reason why a single thing in creation has been made, but should believe in God, 2.26.01:017
and continue in His love, than that, puffed up through knowledge of this kind, he should fall 2.26.01:018
away from that love which is the life of man; and that he should search after no other 2.26.01:019
knowledge except [the knowledge of] Jesus Christ the Son of God, who was crucified for us, 2.26.01:020
than that by subtle questions and hair-splitting expressions he should fall into impiety. IrnL.AH.2.26.01:021
2. For how would it be, if any one, gradually elated by attempts of the kind referred to, should, 2.26.02:025
because the Lord said that "even the hairs of your head are all numbered," set about 2.26.02:026
inquiring into the number of hairs on each one's head, and endeavour to search out the reason 2.26.02:027
on account of which one man has so many, and another so many, since all have not an equal 2.26.02:028
number, but many thousands upon thousands are to be found with still varying numbers, on 2.26.02:029
this account that some have larger and others smaller heads, some have bushy heads of hair, 2.26.02:030
others thin, and others scarcely any hair at all,--and then those who imagine that they have 2.26.02:031
discovered the number of the hairs, should endeavour to apply that for the commendation of 2.26.02:032
their own sect which they have conceived? Or again, if any one should, because of this expression 2.26.02:033
which occurs in the Gospel, "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and not one 2.26.02:037
of them falls to the ground without the will of your Father," take occasion to reckon up the 2.26.02:038
number of sparrows caught daily, whether over all the world or in some particular district, 2.26.02:039
and to make inquiry as to the reason of so many having been captured yesterday, so many 2.26.02:040
the day before, and so many again on this day, and should then join on the number of sparrows 2.26.02:041
to his [particular] hypothesis, would he not in that case mislead himself altogether, and 2.26.02:042
drive into absolute insanity those that agreed with him, since men are always eager in such 2.26.02:043
matters to be thought to have discovered something more extraordinary than their masters? 2.26.02:044
3. But if any one should ask us whether every number of all the things which have been made, 2.26.03:049
and which are made, is known to God, and whether every one of these [numbers] has, according 2.26.03:050
to His providence, received that special amount which it contains; and on our agreeing that 2.26.03:051
such is the case, and acknowledging that not one of the things which have been, or are, or 2.26.03:052
shall be made, escapes the knowledge of God, but that through His providence every one of 2.26.03:053
them has obtained its nature, and rank, and number, and special quantity, and that nothing 2.26.03:054
whatever either has been or is produced in vain or accidentally, but with exceeding suitability 2.26.03:055
[to the purpose intended], and in the exercise of transcendent knowledge, and that it was 2.26.03:056
an admirable and truly divine intellect which could both distinguish and bring forth the proper 2.26.03:057
causes of such a system: if, [I say,] any one, on obtaining our adherence and consent IrnL.AH.2.26.03:058
to this, should proceed to reckon up the sand and pebbles of the earth, yea also the waves 2.26.03:059
of the sea and the stars of heaven, and should endeavour to think out the causes of the number 2.26.03:060
which he imagines himself to have discovered, would not his labour be in vain, and would 2.26.03:061
not such a man be justly declared mad, and destitute of reason, by all possessed of common 2.26.03:062
sense? And the more he occupied himself beyond others in questions of this kind, and the more 2.26.03:067
he imagines himself to find out beyond others, styling them unskilful, ignorant, and animal 2.26.03:068
beings, because they do not enter into his so useless labour, the more is he [in reality] IrnL.AH.2.26.03:069
insane, foolish, struck as it were with a thunderbolt, since indeed he does in no one point 2.26.03:070
own himself inferior to God; but, by the knowledge which he imagines himself to have discovered, 2.26.03:071
he changes God Himself, and exalts his own opinion above the greatness of the Creator. 2.26.03:072
1. A sound mind, and one which does not expose its possessor to danger, and is devoted to 2.27.01:001
piety and the love of truth, will eagerly meditate upon those things which God has placed 2.27.01:002
within the power of mankind, and has subjected to our knowledge, and will make advancement 2.27.01:003
in [acquaintance with] them, rendering the knowledge of them easy to him by means of daily 2.27.01:004
study. These things are such as fall [plainly] under our observation, and are clearly and 2.27.01:006
unambiguously in express terms set forth in the Sacred Scriptures. And therefore the parables 2.27.01:007
ought not to be adapted to ambiguous expressions. For, if this be not done, both he 2.27.01:008
who explains them will do so without danger, and the parables will receive a like interpretation 2.27.01:009
from all, and the body of truth remains entire, with a harmonious adaptation of its 2.27.01:010
members, and without any collision [of its several parts]. But to apply expressions which 2.27.01:011
are not clear or evident to interpretations of the parables, such as every one discovers 2.27.01:013
for himself as inclination leads him, [is absurd.] For in this way no one will possess 2.27.01:014
the rule of truth; but in accordance with the number of persons who explain the parables will 2.27.01:015
be found the various systems of truth, in mutual opposition to each other, and setting 2.27.01:016
forth antagonistic doctrines, like the questions current among the Gentile philosophers. 2.27.01:017
2. According to this course of procedure, therefore, man would always be inquiring but 2.27.02:020
never finding, because he has rejected the very method of discovery. And when the Bridegroom 2.27.02:021
comes, he who has his lamp untrimmed, and not burning with the brightness of a 2.27.02:022
steady light, is classed among those who obscure the interpretations of the parables, 2.27.02:023
forsaking Him who by His plain announcements freely imparts gifts to all who come to Him, 2.27.02:024
and is excluded from His marriage-chamber. Since, therefore, the entire Scriptures, 2.27.02:025
the prophets, and the Gospels, can be clearly, unambiguously, and harmoniously understood 2.27.02:029
by all, although all do not believe them; and since they proclaim that one only God, 2.27.02:030
to the exclusion of all others, formed all things by His word, whether visible or invisible, 2.27.02:031
heavenly or earthly, in the water or under the earth, as I have shown from the 2.27.02:032
very words of Scripture; and since the very system of creation to which we belong testifies, 2.27.02:033
by what falls under our notice, that one Being made and governs it,--those persons 2.27.02:034
will seem truly foolish who blind their eyes to such a clear demonstration, and 2.27.02:035
will not behold the light of the announcement [made to them]; but they put fetters upon 2.27.02:036
themselves, and every one of them imagines, by means of their obscure interpretations 2.27.02:037
of the parables, that he has found out a God of his own. For that there is nothing whatever 2.27.02:038
openly, expressly, and without controversy said in any part of Scripture respecting 2.27.02:043
the Father conceived of by those who hold a contrary opinion, they themselves testify, 2.27.02:044
when they maintain that the Saviour privately taught these same things not to all, 2.27.02:045
but to certain only of His disciples who could comprehend them, and who understood what 2.27.02:046
was intended by Him through means of arguments, enigmas, and parables. They come, 2.27.02:047
[in fine,] to this, that they maintain there is one Being who is proclaimed as God, and 2.27.02:050
another as Father, He who is set forth as such through means of parables and enigmas. 2.27.02:051
3. But since parables admit of many interpretations, what lover of truth will 2.27.03:053
not acknowledge, that for them to assert God is to be searched out from 2.27.03:054
these, while they desert what is certain, indubitable, and true, is the part 2.27.03:055
of men who eagerly throw themselves into danger, and act as if destitute of 2.27.03:056
reason? And is not such a course of conduct not to build one's house upon 2.27.03:057
a rock which is firm, strong, and placed in an open position, but upon the 2.27.03:058
shifting sand? Hence the overthrow of such a building is a matter of ease. 2.27.03:060
1. Having therefore the truth itself as our rule and the testimony concerning God set 2.28.01:001
clearly before us, we ought not, by running after numerous and diverse answers to questions, 2.28.01:002
to cast away the firm and true knowledge of God. But it is much more suitable 2.28.01:003
that we, directing our inquiries after this fashion, should exercise ourselves in the 2.28.01:004
investigation of the mystery and administration of the living God, and should increase 2.28.01:005
in the love of Him who has done, and still does, so great things for us; but never 2.28.01:006
should fall from the belief by which it is most clearly proclaimed that this Being alone 2.28.01:007
is truly God and Father, who both formed this world, fashioned man, and bestowed the 2.28.01:008
faculty of increase on His own creation, and called him upwards from lesser things 2.28.01:009
to those greater ones which are in His own presence, just as He brings an infant which 2.28.01:010
has been conceived in the womb into the light of the sun, and lays up wheat in the 2.28.01:011
barn after He has given it full strength on the stalk. But it is one and the same Creator IrnL.AH.2.28.01:012
who both fashioned the womb and created the sun;and one and the same Lord who both 2.28.01:013
reared the stalk of corn, increased and multiplied the wheat, and prepared the barn. 2.28.01:014
2. If, however, we cannot discover explanations of all those things in Scripture which 2.28.02:021
are made the subject of investigation, yet let us not on that account seek after 2.28.02:022
any other God besides Him who really exists. For this is the very greatest impiety. 2.28.02:023
We should leave things of that nature to God who created us, being most properly 2.28.02:024
assured that the Scriptures are indeed perfect, since they were spoken by the Word 2.28.02:025
of God and His Spirit; but we, inasmuch as we are inferior to, and later in existence 2.28.02:026
than, the Word of God and His Spirit, are on that very account destitute of the 2.28.02:027
knowledge of His mysteries. And there is no cause for wonder if this is the case with 2.28.02:029
us as respects things spiritual and heavenly, and such as require to be made known 2.28.02:030
to us by revelation, since many even of those things which lie at our very feet 2.28.02:031
(I mean such as belong to this world, which we handle, and see, and are in close contact 2.28.02:032
with) transcend out knowledge, so that even these we must leave to God. For it 2.28.02:033
is fitting that He should excel all [in knowledge]. For how stands the case, for 2.28.02:036
instance, if we endeavour to explain the cause of the rising of the Nile? We may say 2.28.02:037
a great deal, plausible or otherwise, on the subject; but what is true, sure, and 2.28.02:038
incontrovertible regarding it, belongs only to God. Then, again, the dwelling-place 2.28.02:040
of birds--of those, I mean, which come to us in spring, but fly away again on the 2.28.02:041
approach of autumn--though it is a matter connected with this world, escapes our knowledge. 2.28.02:042
What explanation, again, can we give of the flow and ebb of the ocean, although 2.28.02:043
every one admits there must be a certain cause [for these phenomena]? Or what 2.28.02:044
can we say as to the nature of those things which lie beyond it? What, moreover, 2.28.02:045
can we say as to the formation of rain, lightning, thunder, gatherings of clouds, vapours, 2.28.02:046
the bursting forth of winds, and such like things; of tell as to the storehouses 2.28.02:047
of snow, hail, and other like things? [What do we know respecting] the conditions 2.28.02:048
requisite for the preparation of clouds, or what is the real nature of the vapours 2.28.02:049
in the sky? What as to the reason why the moon waxes and wanes, or what as to 2.28.02:050
the cause of the difference of nature among various waters, metals, stones, and such 2.28.02:051
like things? On all these points we may indeed say a great deal while we search into 2.28.02:054
their causes, but God alone who made them can declare the truth regarding them. 2.28.02:055
3. If, therefore, even with respect to creation, there are some things [the knowledge of] 2.28.03:057
Which belongs only to God, and others which come with in the range of our own knowledge, 2.28.03:058
what ground is there for complaint, if, in regard to those things which we investigate 2.28.03:059
in the Scriptures (which are throughout spiritual), we are able by the grace of God to 2.28.03:060
explain some of them, while we must leave others in the hands of God, and that not only 2.28.03:061
in the present world, but also in that which is to come, so that God should for ever teach, 2.28.03:062
and man should for ever learn the things taught him by God? As the apostle has said 2.28.03:065
on this point, that, when other things have been done away, then these three, "faith, 2.28.03:066
hope, and charity, shall endure." For faith, which has respect to our Master, endures unchangeably, 2.28.03:067
assuring us that there is but one true God, and that we should truly love Him 2.28.03:068
for ever, seeing that He alone is our Father; while we hope ever to be receiving more 2.28.03:069
and more from God, and to learn from Him, because He is good, and possesses boundless riches, 2.28.03:070
a kingdom without end, and instruction that can never be exhausted. If, therefore, 2.28.03:071
according to the rule which I have stated, we leave some questions in the hands of God, 2.28.03:073
we shall both preserve our faith uninjured, and shall continue without danger; and all 2.28.03:074
Scripture, which has been given to us by God, shall be found by us perfectly consistent; 2.28.03:075
and the parables shall harmonize with those passages which are perfectly plain; and those 2.28.03:076
statements the meaning of which is clear, shall serve to explain the parables; and 2.28.03:077
through the many diversified utterances [of Scripture] there shall be heard one harmonious 2.28.03:078
melody in us, praising in hymns that God who created all things. If, for instance, any 2.28.03:082
one asks, "What was God doing before He made the world?" we reply that the answer to 2.28.03:083
such a question lies with God Himself. For that this world was formed perfect by God, receiving 2.28.03:084
a beginning in time, the Scriptures teach us; but no Scripture reveals to us what 2.28.03:085
God was employed about before this event. The answer therefore to that question remains 2.28.03:086
with God, and it is not proper for us to aim at bringing forward foolish, rash, and blasphemous 2.28.03:088
suppositions [in reply to it]; so, as by one's imagining that he has discovered 2.28.03:089
the origin of matter, he should in reality set aside God Himself who made all things. 2.28.03:090
4. For consider, all ye who invent such opinions, since the Father Himself is alone called 2.28.04:092
God, who has a real existence, but whom ye style the Demiurge; since, moreover, 2.28.04:093
the Scriptures acknowledge Him alone as God; and yet again, since the Lord confesses 2.28.04:094
Him alone as His own Father, and knows no other, as I shall show from His very words,-- 2.28.04:095
when ye style this very Being the fruit of defect, and the offspring of ignorance, 2.28.04:096
and describe Him as being ignorant of those things which are above Him, with the various 2.28.04:097
other allegations which you make regarding Him,--consider the terrible blasphemy 2.28.04:098
[ye are thus guilty of] against Him who truly is God. Ye seem to affirm gravely and 2.28.04:101
honestly enough that ye believe in God; but then, as ye are utterly unable to reveal any 2.28.04:102
other God, ye declare this very Being in whom ye profess to believe, the fruit of 2.28.04:103
defect and the offspring of ignorance. Now this blindness and foolish talking flow to 2.28.04:105
you from the fact that ye reserve nothing for God, but ye wish to proclaim the nativity 2.28.04:106
and production both of God Himself, of His Ennoea, of His Logos, and Life, and Christ; 2.28.04:107
and ye form the idea of these from no other than a mere human experience; not understanding, 2.28.04:108
as I said before, that it is possible, in the case of man, who is a compound IrnL.AH.2.28.04:110
being, to speak in this way of the mind of man and the thought of man; and to say 2.28.04:111
that thought (ennoea) springs from mind (sensus), intention (enthymesis) again from 2.28.04:112
thought, and word (logos) from intention (but which logos? for there is among the Greeks 2.28.04:113
one logos which is the principle that thinks, and another which is the instrument 2.28.04:114
by means of which thought is expressed); and [to say] that a man sometimes is at rest IrnL.AH.2.28.04:115
and silent, while at other times he speaks and is active. But since God is all mind, 2.28.04:116
all reason, all active spirit, all light, and always exists one and the same, as it 2.28.04:117
is both beneficial for us to think of God, and as we learn regarding Him from the Scriptures, 2.28.04:118
such feelings and divisions [of operation] cannot fittingly be ascribed to 2.28.04:119
Him. For our tongue, as being carnal, is not sufficient to minister to the rapidity of 2.28.04:124
the human mind, inasmuch as that is of a spiritual nature, for which reason our word 2.28.04:125
is restrained within us, and is not at once expressed as it has been conceived by the IrnL.AH.2.28.04:126
mind, but is uttered by successive efforts, just as the tongue is able to serve it. 2.28.04:127
5. But God being all Mind, and all Logos, both speaks exactly what He thinks, and 2.28.05:129
thinks exactly what He speaks. For His thought is Logos, and Logos is Mind, and 2.28.05:130
Mind comprehending all things is the Father Himself. He, therefore, who speaks 2.28.05:131
of the mind of God, and ascribes to it a special origin of its own, declares Him 2.28.05:133
a compound Being, as if God were one thing, and the original Mind another. So, 2.28.05:134
again, with respect to Logos, when one attributes to him the third place of production 2.28.05:135
from the Father; on which supposition he is ignorant of His greatness; 2.28.05:136
and thus Logos has been far separated from God. As for the prophet, he declares 2.28.05:137
respecting Him, "Who shall describe His generation?" But ye pretend to set forth 2.28.05:139
His generation from the Father, and ye transfer the production of the word of IrnL.AH.2.28.05:140
men which takes place by means of a tongue to the Word of God, and thus are righteously 2.28.05:141
exposed by your own selves as knowing neither things human nor divine. 2.28.05:142
6. But, beyond reason inflated [with your own wisdom], ye presumptuously maintain that 2.28.06:145
ye are acquainted with the unspeakable mysteries of God; while even the Lord, 2.28.06:146
the very Son of God, allowed that the Father alone knows the very day and hour of judgment, 2.28.06:147
when He plainly declares, "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, neither 2.28.06:148
the Son, but the Father only." If, then, the Son was not ashamed to ascribe 2.28.06:150
the knowledge of that day to the Father only, but declared what was true regarding 2.28.06:151
the matter, neither let us be ashamed to reserve for God those greater questions which IrnL.AH.2.28.06:152
may occur to us. For no man is superior to his master. If any one, therefore, IrnL.AH.2.28.06:154
says to us, "How then was the Son produced by the Father?" we reply to him, that no IrnL.AH.2.28.06:155
man understands that production, or generation, or calling, or revelation, or by 2.28.06:156
whatever name one may describe His generation, which is in fact altogether indescribable. 2.28.06:157
Neither Valentinus, nor Marcion, nor Saturninus, nor Basilides, nor angels, 2.28.06:158
nor archangels, nor principalities, nor powers [possess this knowledge], but the 2.28.06:159
Father only who begat, and the Son who was begotten. Since therefore His generation IrnL.AH.2.28.06:163
is unspeakable, those who strive to set forth generations and productions cannot be 2.28.06:164
in their right mind, inasmuch as they undertake to describe things which are indescribable. 2.28.06:165
For that a word is uttered at the bidding of thought and mind, all men 2.28.06:166
indeed well understand. Those, therefore, who have excogitated [the theory of] emissions 2.28.06:167
have not discovered anything great, or revealed any abstruse mystery, when they 2.28.06:168
have simply transferred what all understand to the only-begotten Word of God; and 2.28.06:169
while they style Him unspeakable and unnameable, they nevertheless set forth the 2.28.06:170
production and formation of His first generation, as if they themselves had assisted 2.28.06:171
at His birth, thus assimilating Him to the word of mankind formed by emissions. 2.28.06:172
7. But we shall not be wrong if we affirm the same thing also concerning the substance of 2.28.07:175
matter, that God produced it. For we have learned from the Scriptures that God holds the 2.28.07:176
supremacy over all things. But whence or in what way He produced it, neither has Scripture 2.28.07:177
anywhere declared; nor does it become us to conjecture, so as, in accordance with our own 2.28.07:178
opinions, to form endless conjectures concerning God, but we should leave such knowledge 2.28.07:179
in the hands of God Himself. In like manner, also, we must leave the cause why, while 2.28.07:180
all things were made by God, certain of His creatures sinned and revolted from a state of 2.28.07:183
submission to God, and others, indeed the great majority, persevered, and do still persevere, 2.28.07:184
in [willing] subjection to Him who formed them, and also of what nature those are who IrnL.AH.2.28.07:185
sinned, and of what nature those who persevere,--[we must, I say, leave the cause of these 2.28.07:186
things] to God and His Word, to whom alone He said, "Sit at my right hand, until I make 2.28.07:187
Thine enemies Thy footstool." But as for us, we still dwell upon the earth, and have not 2.28.07:188
yet sat down upon His throne. For although the Spirit of the Saviour that is in Him "searcheth 2.28.07:191
all things, even the deep things of God," yet as to us "there are diversities of gifts, 2.28.07:192
differences of administrations, and diversities of operations;" and we, while upon the IrnL.AH.2.28.07:193
earth, as Paul also declares, "know in part, and prophesy in part." Since, therefore, 2.28.07:194
we know but in part, we ought to leave all sorts of [difficult] questions in the hands of 2.28.07:195
Him who in some measure, [and that only,] bestows grace on us. That eternal fire, [for instance,] 2.28.07:198
is prepared for sinners, both the Lord has plainly declared, and the rest of the 2.28.07:199
Scriptures demonstrate. And that God fore-knew that this would happen, the Scriptures do 2.28.07:201
in like manner demonstrate, since He prepared eternal fire from the beginning for those who 2.28.07:202
were [afterwards] to transgress [His commandments]; but the cause itself of the nature IrnL.AH.2.28.07:203
of such transgressors neither has any Scripture informed us, nor has an apostle told us, 2.28.07:204
nor has the Lord taught us. It becomes us, therefore, to leave the knowledge of this matter 2.28.07:205
to God, even as the Lord does of the day and hour [of judgment], and not to rush to such 2.28.07:206
an extreme of danger, that we will leave nothing in the hands of God, even though we have 2.28.07:208
received only a measure of grace [from Him in this world]. But when we investigate points 2.28.07:209
which are above us, and with respect to which we cannot reach satisfaction, [it is absurd] 2.28.07:210
that we should display such an extreme of presumption as to lay open God, and things 2.28.07:211
which are not yet discovered, as if already we had found out, by the vain talk about emissions, 2.28.07:212
God Himself, the Creator of all things, and to assert that He derived His substance 2.28.07:213
from apostasy and ignorance, so as to frame an impious hypothesis in opposition to God. 2.28.07:214
8. Moreover, they possess no proof of their system, which has but recently been 2.28.08:214
invented by them, sometimes resting upon certain numbers, sometimes on syllables, IrnL.AH.2.28.08:215
and sometimes, again, on names; and there are occasions, too, when, by 2.28.08:216
means of those letters which are contained in letters, by parables not properly 2.28.08:217
interpreted, or by certain [baseless] conjectures, they strive to establish 2.28.08:218
that fabulous account which they have devised. For if any one should inquire 2.28.08:219
the reason why the Father, who has fellowship with the Son in all things, has 2.28.08:220
been declared by the Lord alone to know the hour and the day [of judgment], he 2.28.08:227
will find at present no more suitable, or becoming, or safe reason than this 2.28.08:228
(since, indeed, the Lord is the only true Master), that we may learn through IrnL.AH.2.28.08:229
Him that the Father is above all things. For "the Father," says He, "is greater 2.28.08:230
than I." The Father, therefore, has been declared by our Lord to excel with 2.28.08:231
respect to knowledge; for this reason, that we, too, as long as we are connected 2.28.08:234
with the scheme of things in this world, should leave perfect knowledge, 2.28.08:235
and such questions [as have been mentioned], to God, and should not by any chance, IrnL.AH.2.28.08:236
while we seek to investigate the sublime nature of the Father, fall into 2.28.08:237
the danger of starting the question whether there is another God above God. IrnL.AH.2.28.08:238
9. But if any lover of strife contradict what I have said, and also what the apostle affirms, 2.28.09:241
that "we know in part, and prophesy in part," and imagine that he has acquired not a partial, 2.28.09:242
but a universal, knowledge of all that exists,--being such an one as Valentinus, or 2.28.09:243
Ptolemaeus, or Basilides, or any other of those who maintain that they have searched out 2.28.09:244
the deep things of God,--let him not (arraying himself in vainglory) boast that he has acquired 2.28.09:245
greater knowledge than others with respect to those things which are invisible, or cannot 2.28.09:246
be placed under our observation; but let him, by making diligent inquiry, and obtaining IrnL.AH.2.28.09:247
information from the Father, tell us the reasons (which we know not) of those things which 2.28.09:248
are in this world,--as, for instance, the number of hairs on his own head, and the sparrows 2.28.09:249
which are captured day by day, and such other points with which we are not previously IrnL.AH.2.28.09:250
acquainted,--so that we may credit him also with respect to more important points. But if 2.28.09:251
those who are perfect do not yet understand the very things in their hands, and at their IrnL.AH.2.28.09:256
feet, and before their eyes, and on the earth, and especially the rule followed with respect 2.28.09:257
to the hairs of their head, how can we believe them regarding things spiritual, and super-celestial, 2.28.09:258
and those which, with a vain confidence, they assert to be above God? So much, 2.28.09:259
then, I have said concerning numbers, and names, and syllables, and questions respecting 2.28.09:261
such things as are above our comprehension, and concerning their improper expositions of the 2.28.09:262
parables: [I add no more on these points,] since thou thyself mayest enlarge upon them. 2.28.09:263
1. Let us return, however, to the remaining points of their system. For when they declare that, 2.29.01:001
at the consummation of all things, their mother shall re-enter the Pleroma, and receive IrnL.AH.2.29.01:002
the Saviour as her consort; that they themselves, as being spiritual, when they have got rid 2.29.01:003
of their animal souls, and become intellectual spirits, will be the consorts of the spiritual 2.29.01:004
angels; but that the Demiurge, since they call him animal, will pass into the place of the 2.29.01:005
Mother; that the souls of the righteous shall psychically repose in the intermediate place;--when 2.29.01:006
they declare that like will be gathered to like, spiritual things to spiritual, while 2.29.01:007
material things continue among those that are material, they do in fact contradict themselves, 2.29.01:008
inasmuch as they no longer maintain that souls pass, on account of their nature, into 2.29.01:009
the intermediate place to those substances which are similar to themselves, but [that they 2.29.01:010
do so] on account of the deeds done [in the body], since they affirm that those of the righteous 2.29.01:011
do pass [into that abode], but those of the impious continue in the fire. For if it is 2.29.01:015
on account of their nature that all souls attain to the place of enjoyment, and all belong IrnL.AH.2.29.01:016
to the intermediate place simply because they are souls, as being thus of the same nature with 2.29.01:017
it, then it follows that faith is altogether superfluous, as was also the descent of the 2.29.01:018
Saviour [to this world]. If, on the other hand, it is on account of their righteousness [that IrnL.AH.2.29.01:019
they attain to such a place of rest], then it is no longer because they are souls but because 2.29.01:021
they are righteous. But if souls would have perished unless they had been righteous, then 2.29.01:022
righteousness must have power to save the bodies also [which these souls inhabited]; for 2.29.01:023
why should it not save them, since they, too, participated in righteousness? For if nature 2.29.01:024
and substance are the means of salvation, then all souls shall be saved; but if righteousness 2.29.01:025
and faith, why should these not save those bodies which, equally with the souls, will enter 2.29.01:026
into immortality? For righteousness will appear, in matters of this kind, either impotent IrnL.AH.2.29.01:028
or unjust, if indeed it saves some substances through participating in it, but not others. IrnL.AH.2.29.01:029
2. For it is manifest that those acts which are deemed righteous are performed in bodies. 2.29.02:031
Either, therefore, all souls will of necessity pass into the intermediate place, and there IrnL.AH.2.29.02:032
will never be a judgment; or bodies, too, which have participated in righteousness, will IrnL.AH.2.29.02:032
attain to the place of enjoyment, along with the souls which have in like manner participated, 2.29.02:033
if indeed righteousness is powerful enough to bring thither those substances which 2.29.02:034
have participated in it. And then the doctrine concerning the resurrection of bodies 2.29.02:035
which we believe, will emerge true and certain [from their system]; since, [as we hold,] IrnL.AH.2.29.02:036
God, when He resuscitates our mortal bodies which preserved righteousness, will render them 2.29.02:039
incorruptible and immortal. For God is superior to nature, and has in Himself the disposition 2.29.02:040
[to show kindness], because He is good; and the ability to do so, because He is mighty; 2.29.02:041
and the faculty of fully carrying out His purpose, because He is rich and perfect. 2.29.02:042
3. But these men are in all points inconsistent with themselves, when they decide that IrnL.AH.2.29.03:045
all souls do not enter into the intermediate place, but those of the righteous only. 2.29.03:046
For they maintain that, according to nature and substance, three sorts [of being] 2.29.03:047
were produced by the Mother: the first, which proceeded from perplexity, and weariness, 2.29.03:048
and fear--that is material substance; the second from impetuosity--that is animal 2.29.03:049
substance; but that which she brought forth after the vision of those angels who wait 2.29.03:050
upon Christ, is spiritual substance. If, then, that substance which she brought forth 2.29.03:053
will by all means enter into the Pleroma because it is spiritual, while that which 2.29.03:054
is material will remain below because it is material, and shall be totally consumed 2.29.03:055
by the fire which bums within it, why should not the whole animal substance go into 2.29.03:056
the intermediate place, into which also they send the Demiurge? But what is it which 2.29.03:059
shall enter within their Pleroma? For they maintain that souls shall continue in the 2.29.03:060
intermediate place, while bodies, because they possess material substance, when they 2.29.03:061
have been resolved into matter, shall be consumed by that fire which exists in it; 2.29.03:062
but their body being thus destroyed, and their soul remaining in the intermediate place, IrnL.AH.2.29.03:063
no part of man will any longer be left to enter in within the Pleroma. For the intellect 2.29.03:065
of man--his mind, thought, mental intention, and such like--is nothing else 2.29.03:066
than his soul; but theemotions and operations of the soul itself have no substance apart 2.29.03:067
from the soul. What part of them, then, will still remain to enter into the Pleroma? 2.29.03:069
For they themselves, in as far as they are souls, remain in the intermediate place; 2.29.03:070
while, in as far as they are body, they will be consumed with the rest of matter. 2.29.03:071
1. Such being the state of the case, these infatuated men declare that they rise above IrnL.AH.2.30.01:001
the Creator (Demiurge); and, inasmuch as they proclaim themselves superior to 2.30.01:002
that God who made and adorned the heavens, and the earth, and all things that are 2.30.01:002
in them, and maintain that they themselves are spiritual, while they are in fact 2.30.01:003
shamefully carnal on account of their so great impiety,--affirming that He, who has 2.30.01:004
made His angels spirits, and is clothed with light as with a garment, and holds 2.30.01:005
the circle of the earth, as it were, in His hand, in whose sight its inhabitants IrnL.AH.2.30.01:006
are counted as grasshoppers, and who is the Creator and Lord of all spiritual substance, 2.30.01:007
is of an animal nature,--they do beyond doubt and verily betray their own madness; 2.30.01:008
and, as if truly struck with thunder, even more than those giants who are 2.30.01:009
spoken of in [heathen] fables, they lift up their opinions against God, inflated 2.30.01:010
by a vain presumption and unstable glory,--men for whose purgation all the hellebore 2.30.01:011
on earth would not suffice, so that they should get rid of their intense folly. 2.30.01:012
2. The superior person is to be proved by his deeds. In what way, then, can they show themselves 2.30.02:018
superior to the Creator (that I too, through the necessity of the argument in 2.30.02:019
hand, may come down to the level of their impiety, instituting a comparison between God 2.30.02:020
and foolish men, and, by descending to their argument, may often refute them by their IrnL.AH.2.30.02:021
own doctrines; but in thus acting may God be merciful to me, for I venture on these 2.30.02:022
statements, not with the view of comparing Him to them, but of convicting and overthrowing 2.30.02:023
their insane opinions)--they, for whom many foolish persons entertain so great an 2.30.02:024
admiration, as if, forsooth, they could learn from them something more precious than the 2.30.02:025
truth itself! That expression of Scripture, "Seek, and ye shall find," they interpret 2.30.02:028
as spoken with this view, that they should discover themselves to be above the Creator, 2.30.02:029
styling themselves greater and better than God, and calling themselves spiritual, but 2.30.02:030
the Creator animal; and [affirming] that for this reason they rise upwards above God, 2.30.02:031
for that they enter in within the Pleroma, while He remains in the intermediate place. 2.30.02:032
Let them, then, prove themselves by their deeds superior to the Creator; for the superior 2.30.02:035
person ought to be proved not by what is said, but by what has a real existence. 2.30.02:036
3. What work, then, will they point to as having been accomplished through themselves 2.30.03:039
by the Saviour, or by their Mother, either greater, or more glorious, or more adorned 2.30.03:040
with wisdom, than those which have been produced by Him who was the disposer 2.30.03:041
of all around us? What heavens have they established? what earth have they founded? 2.30.03:042
what stars have they called into existence? or what lights of heaven have they 2.30.03:044
caused to shine? within what circles, moreover, have they confined them? or, what 2.30.03:045
rains, or frosts, or snows, each suited to the season, and to every special climate, 2.30.03:046
have they brought upon the earth? And again, in opposition to these, what heat or 2.30.03:047
dryness have they set over against them? or, what rivers have they made to flow? 2.30.03:049
what fountains have they brought forth? with what flowers and trees have they adorned IrnL.AH.2.30.03:050
this sublunary world? or, what multitude of animals have they formed, some rational, 2.30.03:051
and others irrational, but all adorned with beauty? And who can enumerate one 2.30.03:052
by one all the remaining objects which have been constituted by the power of God, 2.30.03:054
and are governed by His wisdom? or who can search out the greatness of that God 2.30.03:055
who made them? And what can be told of those existences which are above heaven, and 2.30.03:056
which do not pass away, such as Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominions, and Powers 2.30.03:058
innumerable? Against what one of these works, then, do they set themselves in opposition? 2.30.03:059
What have they similar to show, as having been made through themselves, or 2.30.03:060
by themselves, since even they too are the Workmanship and creatures of this [Creator]? 2.30.03:062
For whether the Saviour or their Mother (to use their own expressions, proving 2.30.03:063
them false by means of the very terms they themselves employ) used this Being, 2.30.03:064
as they maintain, to make an image of those things which are within the Pleroma, 2.30.03:065
and of all those beings which she saw waiting upon the Saviour, she used him (the Demiurge) 2.30.03:066
as being [in a sense] superior to herself, and better fitted to accomplish 2.30.03:067
her purpose through his instrumentality; for she would by no means form the images 2.30.03:068
of such important beings through means of an inferior, but by a superior, agent. 2.30.03:069
4. For, [be it observed,] they themselves, according to their own declarations, were then 2.30.04:073
existing, as a spiritual conception, in consequence of the contemplation of those beings 2.30.04:074
who were arranged as satellites around Pandora. And they indeed continued useless, the 2.30.04:075
Mother accomplishing nothing through their instrumentality, --an idle conception, owing 2.30.04:075
their being to the Saviour, and fit for nothing, for not a thing appears to have been 2.30.04:076
done by them. But the God who, according to them, was produced, while, as they argue, inferior 2.30.04:077
to themselves (for they maintain that he is of an animal nature), was nevertheless 2.30.04:078
the active agent in all things, efficient, and fit for the work to be done, so that by 2.30.04:079
him the images of all things were made; and not only were these things which are seen formed 2.30.04:080
by him, but also all things invisible, Angels, Archangels, Dominations, Powers, and 2.30.04:081
Virtues,--[by him, I say,] as being the superior, and capable of ministering to her desire. 2.30.04:082
But it seems that the Mother made nothing whatever through their instrumentality, 2.30.04:083
as indeed they themselves acknowledge; so that one may justly reckon them as having been 2.30.04:086
an abortion produced by the painful travail of their Mother. For no accoucheurs performed 2.30.04:087
their office upon her, and therefore they were cast forth as an abortion, useful for 2.30.04:088
nothing, and formed to accomplish no work of the Mother. And yet they describe themselves 2.30.04:089
as being superior to Him by whom so vast and admirable works have been accomplished and 2.30.04:092
arranged, although by their own reasoning they are found to be so wretchedly inferior! 2.30.04:093
5. It is as if there were two iron tools, or instruments, the one of which was continually in the 2.30.05:095
workman's hands and in constant use, and by the use of which he made whatever he pleased, and displayed 2.30.05:096
his art and skill, but the other of which remained idle and useless, never being called into 2.30.05:097
operation, the workman never appearing to make anything by it, and making no use of it in any of 2.30.05:098
his labours; and then one should maintain that this useless, and idle, and unemployed tool was superior 2.30.05:099
in nature and value to that which the artisan employed in his work, and by means of which 2.30.05:100
he acquired his reputation. Such a man, if any such were found, would justly be regarded as imbecile, 2.30.05:101
and not in his right mind. And so should those be judged of who speak of themselves as being 2.30.05:102
spiritual and superior, and of the Creator as possessed of an animal nature, and maintain that for 2.30.05:105
this reason they will ascend on high, and penetrate within the Pleroma to their own husbands (for, 2.30.05:106
according to their own statements, they are themselves feminine), but that God [the Creator] is 2.30.05:107
of an inferior nature, and therefore remains in the intermediate place, while all the time they 2.30.05:108
bring forward no proofs of these assertions: for the better man is shown by his works, and all works 2.30.05:109
have been accomplished by the Creator; but they, having nothing worthy of reason to point to as 2.30.05:110
having been produced by themselves, are labouring under the greatest and most incurable madness. 2.30.05:111
6. If, however, they labour to maintain that, while all material things, such as the heaven, 2.30.06:116
and the whole world which exists below it, were indeed formed by the Demiurge, yet all things 2.30.06:117
of a more spiritual nature than these,--those, namely, which are above the heavens, 2.30.06:118
such as Principalities, Powers, Angels, Archangels, Dominations, Virtues,--were produced by 2.30.06:119
a spiritual process of birth (which they declare themselves to be), then, in the first place, 2.30.06:120
we prove from the authoritative Scriptures that all the things which have been mentioned, 2.30.06:121
visible and invisible, have been made by one God. For these men are not more to be depended 2.30.06:122
on than the Scriptures; nor ought we to give up the declarations of the Lord, Moses, 2.30.06:125
and the rest of the prophets, who have proclaimed the truth, and give credit to them, who 2.30.06:126
do indeed utter nothing of a sensible nature, but rave about untenable opinions. And, in the 2.30.06:127
next place, if those things which are above the heavens were really made through their IrnL.AH.2.30.06:129
instrumentality, then let them inform us what is the nature of things invisible, recount the 2.30.06:130
number of the Angels, and the ranks of the Archangels, reveal the mysteries of the Thrones, 2.30.06:131
and teach us the differences between the Dominations, Principalities, Powers, and Virtues. 2.30.06:132
But they can say nothing respecting them; therefore these beings were not made by them. 2.30.06:135
If, on the other hand, these were made by the Creator, as was really the case, and are of 2.30.06:136
a spiritual and holy character, then it follows that He who produced spiritual beings is IrnL.AH.2.30.06:137
not Himself of an animal nature, and thus their fearful system of blasphemy is overthrown. 2.30.06:138
7. For that there are spiritual creatures in the heavens, all the Scriptures loudly proclaim; 2.30.07:140
and Paul expressly testifies that there are spiritual things when he declares IrnL.AH.2.30.07:141
that he was caught up into the third heaven, and again, that he was carried away to paradise, 2.30.07:142
and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. But what 2.30.07:143
did that profit him, either his entrance into paradise or his assumption into the third 2.30.07:145
heaven, since all these things are still but under the power of the Demiurge, if, 2.30.07:146
as some venture to maintain, he had already begun to be a spectator and a hearer of those 2.30.07:147
mysteries which are affirmed to be above the Demiurge? For if it is true that he was 2.30.07:148
becoming acquainted with that order of things which is above the Demiurge, he would IrnL.AH.2.30.07:150
by no means have remained in the regions of the Demiurge, and that so as not even thoroughly 2.30.07:151
to explore even these (for, according totheir manner of speaking, there still lay 2.30.07:152
before him four heavens, if he were to approach the Demiurge, and thus behold the whole 2.30.07:153
seven lying beneath him); but he might have been admitted, perhaps, into the intermediate 2.30.07:154
place, that is, into the presence of the Mother, that he might receive instruction 2.30.07:155
from her as to the things within the Pleroma. For that inner man which was in him, 2.30.07:158
and spoke in him, as they say, though invisible, could have attained not only to the 2.30.07:159
third heaven, but even as far as the presence of their Mother. For if they maintain 2.30.07:160
that they themselves, that is, their [inner] man, at once ascends above the Demiurge, IrnL.AH.2.30.07:161
and departs to the Mother, much more must this have occurred to the [inner] man of the IrnL.AH.2.30.07:162
apostle; for the Demiurge would not have hindered him, being, as they assert, himself IrnL.AH.2.30.07:163
already subject to the Saviour. But if he had tried to hinder him, the effort would have 2.30.07:166
gone for nothing. For it is not possible that he should prove stronger than the providence 2.30.07:167
of the Father, and that when the tuner man is said to be invisible even to the IrnL.AH.2.30.07:168
Demiurge. But since he (Paul) has described that assumption of himself up to the third IrnL.AH.2.30.07:169
heaven as something great and pre-eminent, it cannot be that these men ascend above 2.30.07:170
the seventh heaven, for they are certainly not superior to the apostle. If they do maintain 2.30.07:171
that they are more excellent than he, let them prove themselves so by their works, 2.30.07:173
for they have never pretended to anything like [what he describes as occurring to himself]. 2.30.07:174
And for this reason he added, "Whether in the body, or whether out of the body, 2.30.07:174
God knoweth," that the body might neither be thought to be a partaker in that vision, 2.30.07:175
as if it could have participated in those things which it had seen and heard; nor, 2.30.07:176
again, that any one should say that he was not carried higher on account of the weight IrnL.AH.2.30.07:177
of the body; but it is therefore thus far permitted even without the body to behold spiritual 2.30.07:178
mysteries which are the operations of God, who made the heavens and the earth, 2.30.07:179
and formed man, and placed him in paradise, so that those should be spectators of them 2.30.07:180
who, like the apostle, have reached a high degree of perfection in the love of God. 2.30.07:181
8. This Being, therefore, also made spiritual things, of which, as far as to the 2.30.08:185
third heaven, the apostle was made a spectator, and heard unspeakable words which IrnL.AH.2.30.08:186
it is not possible for a man to utter, inasmuch as they are spiritual; and He 2.30.08:187
Himself bestows, [gifts] on the worthy as inclination prompts Him, for paradise 2.30.08:188
is His; and He is truly the Spirit of God, and not an animal Demiurge, otherwise 2.30.08:189
He should never have created spiritual things. But if He really is of an animal 2.30.08:190
nature, then let them inform us by whom spiritual things were made. They have 2.30.08:191
no proof which they can give friar this was done by means of the travail of their 2.30.08:193
Mother, which they declare themselves to be. For, not to speak of spiritual things, 2.30.08:194
these men cannot create even a fly, or a gnat, or any other small and insignificant 2.30.08:194
animal, without observing that law by which from the beginning animals 2.30.08:195
have been and are naturally produced by God--through the deposition of seed in 2.30.08:196
those that are of the same species. Nor was anything formed by the Mother alone; 2.30.08:197
[for] they say that this Demiurge was produced by her, and that he was the Lord 2.30.08:200
(the author) of all creation. And they maintain that he who is the Creator and IrnL.AH.2.30.08:201
Lord of all that has been made is of an animal nature, while they assert that they 2.30.08:202
themselves are spiritual,--they who are neither the authors nor lords of any 2.30.08:203
one work, not only of those things which are extraneous to them, but not even of 2.30.08:204
their own bodies! Moreover, these men, who call themselves spiritual, and superior 2.30.08:207
to the Creator, do often suffer much bodily pain, sorely against their will. 2.30.08:208
9. Justly, therefore, do we convict them of having departed far and wide from the truth. IrnL.AH.2.30.09:210
For if the Saviour formed the things which have been made, by means of him (the 2.30.09:211
Demiurge), he is proved in that case not to be inferior but superior to them, since 2.30.09:212
he is found to have been the former even of themselves; for they, too, have a place 2.30.09:213
among created things. How, then, can it be argued that these men indeed are spiritual, IrnL.AH.2.30.09:214
but that he by whom they were created is of an animal nature? Or, again, if (which 2.30.09:215
is indeed the only true supposition, as I have shown by numerous arguments of the 2.30.09:216
very clearest nature) He (the Creator) made all things freely, and by His own power, 2.30.09:217
and arranged and finished them, and His will is the substance of all things, then He 2.30.09:218
is discovered to be the one only God who created all things, who alone is Omnipotent, IrnL.AH.2.30.09:219
and who is the only Father rounding and forming all things, visible and invisible, 2.30.09:220
such as may be perceived by our senses and such as cannot, heavenly and earthly, 2.30.09:221
"by the word of His power;" and He has fitted and arranged all things by His wisdom, 2.30.09:222
while He contains all things, but He Himself can be contained by no one: He is the 2.30.09:226
Former, He the Builder, He the Discoverer, He the Creator, He the Lord of all; and there IrnL.AH.2.30.09:227
is no one besides Him, or above Him, neither has He any mother, as they falsely 2.30.09:228
ascribe to Him; nor is there a second God, as Marcion has imagined; nor is there a 2.30.09:229
Pleroma of thirty Aeons, which has been shown a vain supposition; nor is there any such 2.30.09:230
being as Bythus or Proarche; nor are there a series of heavens; nor is there a virginal 2.30.09:231
light, nor an unnameable Aeon, nor, in fact, any one of those things which are 2.30.09:234
madly dreamt of by these, and by all the heretics. But there is one only God, the 2.30.09:235
Creator--He who is above every Principality, and Power, and Dominion, and Virtue: He IrnL.AH.2.30.09:236
is Father, He is God, He the Founder, He the Maker, He the Creator, who made those 2.30.09:237
things by Himself, that is, through His Word and His Wisdom--heaven and earth, and 2.30.09:238
the seas, and all things that are in them: He is just; He is good; He it is who formed 2.30.09:239
man, who planted paradise, who made the world, who gave rise to the flood, who saved 2.30.09:240
Noah; He is the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God 2.30.09:241
of the living: He it is whom the law proclaims, whom the prophets preach, whom Christ IrnL.AH.2.30.09:242
reveals, whom the apostles make known s to us, and in whom the Church believes. 2.30.09:247
He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: through His Word, who is His Son, through 2.30.09:248
Him He is revealed and manifested to all to whom He is revealed; for those [only] 2.30.09:250
know Him to whom the Son has revealed Him. But the Son, eternally co-existing with the 2.30.09:251
Father, from of old, yea, from the beginning, always reveals the Father to Angels, 2.30.09:252
Archangels, Powers, Virtues, and all to whom He wills that God should be revealed. 2.30.09:253
1. Those, then, who are of the school of Valentinus being overthrown, the whole multitude 2.31.01:001
of heretics are, in fact, also subverted. For all the arguments I have advanced against IrnL.AH.2.31.01:002
their Pleroma, and with respect to those things which are beyond it, showing how 2.31.01:002
the Father of all is shut up and circumscribed by that which is beyond Him (if, indeed, IrnL.AH.2.31.01:003
there be anything beyond Him), and how there is an absolute necessity [on their 2.31.01:004
theory] to conceive of many Fathers, and many Pleromas, and many creations of worlds, 2.31.01:005
beginning with one set and ending with another, as existing on every side; and that all IrnL.AH.2.31.01:006
[the beings referred to] continue in their own domains, and do not curiously intermeddle 2.31.01:007
with others, since, indeed, no common interest nor any fellowship exists between 2.31.01:008
them; and that there is no other God of all, but that that name belongs only to the 2.31.01:009
Almighty;--[all these arguments, I say,] will in like manner apply against those who 2.31.01:010
are of the school of Marcion, and Simon, and Meander, or whatever others there may be 2.31.01:011
who, like them, cut off that creation with which we are connected from the Father. The IrnL.AH.2.31.01:012
arguments, again, which I have employed against those who maintain that the Father IrnL.AH.2.31.01:017
of all no doubt contains all things, but that the creation to which we belong was not 2.31.01:018
formed by Him, but by a certain other power, or by angels having no knowledge of the IrnL.AH.2.31.01:019
Propator, who is surrounded as a centre by the immense extent of the universe, just as IrnL.AH.2.31.01:020
a stain is by the [surrounding] cloak; when I showed that it is not a probable supposition 2.31.01:021
that any other being than the Father of all formed that creation to which we belong,--these 2.31.01:022
same arguments will apply against the followers of Saturninus, Basilides, 2.31.01:023
Carpocrates, and the rest of the Gnostics, who express similar opinions. Those statements, 2.31.01:024
again, which have been made with respect to the emanations, and the Aeons, and 2.31.01:029
the [supposed state of] degeneracy, and the inconstant character of their Mother, equally 2.31.01:030
overthrow Basilides, and all who are falsely styled Gnostics, who do, in fact, 2.31.01:031
just repeat the same views under different names, but do, to a greater extent than the 2.31.01:032
former, transfer those things which lie outside of the truth to the system of their 2.31.01:033
own doctrine. And the remarks I have made respecting numbers will also apply against 2.31.01:035
all those who misappropriate things belonging to the truth for the support of a system 2.31.01:036
of this kind. And all that has been said respecting the Creator (Demiurge) to show that IrnL.AH.2.31.01:037
he alone is God and Father of all, and whatever remarks may yet be made in the following 2.31.01:038
books, I apply against the heretics at large. The more moderate and reasonable 2.31.01:039
among them thou wilt convert and convince, so as to lead them no longer to blaspheme 2.31.01:040
their Creator, and Maker, and Sustainer, and Lord, nor to ascribe His origin to defect 2.31.01:041
and ignorance; but the fierce, and terrible, and irrational [among them] thou wilt 2.31.01:042
drive far from thee, that you may no longer have to endure their idle loquaciousness. 2.31.01:043
2. Moreover, those also will be thus confuted who belong to Simon and Carpocrates, and 2.31.02:047
if there be any others who are said to perform miracles--who do not perform what they 2.31.02:048
do either through the power of God, or in connection with the truth, nor for the well-being 2.31.02:049
of men, but for the sake of destroying and misleading mankind, by means of magical 2.31.02:050
deceptions, and with universal deceit, thus entailing greater harm than good on those IrnL.AH.2.31.02:051
who believe them, with respect to the point on which they lead them astray. For they 2.31.02:053
can neither confer sight on the blind, nor hearing on the deaf, nor chase away all sorts IrnL.AH.2.31.02:054
of demons--[none, indeed,] except those that are sent into others by themselves, if 2.31.02:055
they can even do so much as this. Nor can they cure the weak, or the lame, or the paralytic, 2.31.02:056
or those who are distressed in any other part of the body, as has often been done 2.31.02:057
in regard to bodily infinity. Nor can they furnish effective remedies for those external 2.31.02:058
accidents which may occur. And so far are they from being able to raise the dead, as 2.31.02:061
the Lord raised them, and the apostles did by means of prayer, and as has been frequently 2.31.02:062
done in the brotherhood on account of some necessity--the entire Church in that particular 2.31.02:063
locality entreating [the boon] with much fasting and prayer, the spirit of the 2.31.02:064
dead man has returned, and he has been bestowed in answer to the prayers of the saints--that 2.31.02:065
they do not even believe this can be possibly be done, [and hold] that the resurrection IrnL.AH.2.31.02:066
from the dead is simply an acquaintance with that truth which they proclaim. IrnL.AH.2.31.02:067
3. Since, therefore, there exist among them error and misleading influences, and magical illusions 2.31.03:070
are impiously wrought in the sight of men; but in the Church, sympathy, and compassion, 2.31.03:071
and stedfastness, and truth, for the aid and encouragement of mankind, are not only displayed 2.31.03:072
without fee or reward, but we ourselves lay out for the benefit of others our own means; and inasmuch 2.31.03:073
as those who are cured very frequently do not possess the things which they require, they 2.31.03:074
receive them from us;--[since such is the case,] these men are in this way undoubtedly proved 2.31.03:075
to be utter aliens from the divine nature, the beneficence of God, and all spiritual excellence. 2.31.03:076
But they are altogether full of deceit of every kind, apostate inspiration, demoniacal 2.31.03:077
working, and the phantasms of idolatry, and are in reality the predecessors of that dragon who, 2.31.03:078
by means of a deception of the same kind, will with his tail cause a third part of the stars 2.31.03:079
to fall from their place, and will cast them down to the earth. It behoves us to flee from IrnL.AH.2.31.03:080
them as we would from him; and the greater the display with which they are said to perform [their 2.31.03:081
marvels], the more carefully should we watch them, as having been endowed with a greater spirit 2.31.03:082
of wickedness. If any one will consider the prophecy referred to, and the daily practices 2.31.03:088
of these men, he will find that their manner of acting is one and the same with the demons. 2.31.03:089
1. Moreover, this impious opinion of theirs with respect to actions--namely, that it is incumbent 2.32.01:001
on them to have experience of all kinds of deeds, even the most abominable--is refuted by the 2.32.01:002
teaching of the Lord, with whom not only is the adulterer rejected, but also the man who desires 2.32.01:003
to commit adultery; and not only is the actual murderer held guilty of having killed another 2.32.01:004
to his own damnation, but the man also who is angry with his brother without a cause: who commanded 2.32.01:005
[His disciples] not only not to hate men, but also to love their enemies; and enjoined 2.32.01:006
them not only not to swear falsely, but not even to swear at all; and not only not to speak evil 2.32.01:007
of their neighbours, but not even to style any one "Raca" and "fool;" [declaring] that otherwise 2.32.01:008
they were in danger of hell-fire; and not only not to strike, but even, when themselves 2.32.01:009
struck, to present the other cheek [to those that maltreated them]; and not only not to refuse 2.32.01:010
to give up the property of others, but even if their own were taken away, not to demand it back 2.32.01:011
again from those that took it; and not only not to injure their neighbours, nor to do them any 2.32.01:012
evil, but also, when themselves wickedly dealt with, to be long-suffering, and to show kindness 2.32.01:013
towards those [that injured them], and to pray for them, that by means of repentance they might 2.32.01:014
be saved--so that we should in no respect imitate the arrogance, lust, and pride of others. 2.32.01:015
Since, therefore, He whom these men boast of as their Master, and of whom they affirm that He 2.32.01:021
had a soul greatly better and more highly toned than others, did indeed, with much earnestness, 2.32.01:022
command certain things to be done as being good and excellent, and certain things to be abstained 2.32.01:023
from not only in their actual perpetration, but even in the thoughts which lead to their 2.32.01:024
performance, as being wicked, pernicious, and abominable,--how then can they escape being put 2.32.01:025
to confusion, when they affirm that such a Master was more highly toned [in spirit] and better 2.32.01:026
than others, and yet manifestly give instruction of a kind utterly opposed to His teaching? And, 2.32.01:027
again, if there were really no such thing as good and evil, but certain things were deemed righteous, 2.32.01:031
and certain others unrighteous, in human opinion only, He never would have expressed 2.32.01:032
Himself thus in His teaching: "The righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their 2.32.01:033
Father;" but He shall send the unrighteous, and those who do not the works of righteousness, 2.32.01:034
"into everlasting fire, where their worm shall not die, and the fire shall not be quenched." 2.32.01:035
2. When they further maintain that it is cumbent on them to have experience of every kind of work 2.32.02:038
and conduct, so that, if it be possible, accomplishing all during one manifestation in this life, 2.32.02:039
they may [at once] pass over to the state of perfection, they are, by no chance, found striving 2.32.02:040
to do those things which wait upon virtue, and are laborious, glorious, and skilful, which 2.32.02:041
also are approved universally as being good. For if it be necessary to go through every work and 2.32.02:042
every kind of operation, they ought, in the first place, to learn all the arts: all of them, [I IrnL.AH.2.32.02:044
say,] whether referring to theory or practice, whether they be acquired by self-denial, or are 2.32.02:045
mastered through means of labour, exercise, and perseverance; as, for example, every kind of music, 2.32.02:046
arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and all such as are occupied with intellectual pursuits: then, 2.32.02:047
again, the whole study of medicine, and the knowledge of plants, so as to become acquainted 2.32.02:048
with those which are prepared for the health of man; the art of painting and sculpture, brass and 2.32.02:049
marble work, and the kindred arts: moreover, [they have to study] every kind of country labour, 2.32.02:050
the veterinary art, pastoral occupations, the various kinds of skilled labour, which are said 2.32.02:051
to pervade the whole circle of [human] exertion; those, again, connected with a maritime life, 2.32.02:052
gymnastic exercises, hunting, military and kingly pursuits, and as many others as may exist, of 2.32.02:053
which, with the utmost labour, they could not learn the tenth, or even the thousandth part, in 2.32.02:054
the whole course of their lives. The fact indeed is, that they endeavour to learn none of these, 2.32.02:055
although they maintain that it is incumbent on them to have experience of every kind of work; but, 2.32.02:062
turning aside to voluptuousness, and lust, and abominable actions, they stand self-condemned 2.32.02:063
when they are tried by their own doctrine. For, since they are destitute of all those [virtues] 2.32.02:064
which have been mentioned, they will [of necessity] pass into the destruction of fire. These men, 2.32.02:065
while they boast of Jesus as being their Master, do in fact emulate the philosophy of Epicurus 2.32.02:068
and the indifference of the Cynics, [calling Jesus their Master,] who not only turned His disciples 2.32.02:069
away from evil deeds, but even from [wicked] words and thoughts, as I have already shown. 2.32.02:070
3. Again, while they assert that they possess souls from the same sphere as Jesus, and that they 2.32.03:073
are like to Him, sometimes even maintaining that they are superior; while [they affirm that 2.32.03:074
they were] produced, like Him, for the performance of works tending to the benefit and establishment 2.32.03:075
of mankind, they are found doing nothing of the same or a like kind [with His actions], IrnL.AH.2.32.03:076
nor what can in any respect be brought into comparison with them. And if they have in truth 2.32.03:078
accomplished anything [remarkable] by means of magic, they strive [in this way] deceitfully 2.32.03:079
to lead foolish people astray, since they confer no real benefit or blessing on those over whom 2.32.03:080
they declare that they exert] supernatural] power; but, bringing forward mere boys [as the 2.32.03:081
subjects on whom they practise], and deceiving their sight, while they exhibit phantasms that 2.32.03:082
instantly cease, and do not endure even a moment of time, they are proved to be like, not Jesus 2.32.03:083
our Lord, but Simon the magician. It is certain, too, from the fact that the Lord rose from IrnL.AH.2.32.03:086
the dead on the third day, and manifested Himself to His disciples, and was in their sight received 2.32.03:087
up into heaven, that, inasmuch as these men die, and do not rise again, nor manifest 2.32.03:088
themselves to any, they are proved as possessing souls in no respect similar to that of Jesus. 2.32.03:089
4. If, however, they maintain that the Lord, too, performed such works simply in appearance, 2.32.04:092
we shall refer them to the prophetical writings, and prove from these both that 2.32.04:093
all things were thus predicted regarding Him, and did take place undoubtedly, and that IrnL.AH.2.32.04:094
He is the only Son of God. Wherefore, also, those who are in truth His disciples, receiving 2.32.04:096
grace from Him, do in His name perform [miracles], so as to promote the welfare 2.32.04:097
of other men, according to the gift which each one has received from Him. For some do 2.32.04:098
certainly and truly drive out devils, so that those who have thus been cleansed from evil 2.32.04:099
spirits frequently both believe [in Christ], and join themselves to the Church. Others 2.32.04:100
have foreknowledge of things to come: they see visions, and utter prophetic expressions. 2.32.04:101
Others still, heal the sick by laying their hands upon them, and they are made whole. IrnL.AH.2.32.04:102
Yea, moreover, as I have said, the dead even have been raised up, and remained among 2.32.04:103
us for many years. And what shall I more say? It is not possible to name the number 2.32.04:104
of the gifts which the Church, [scattered] throughout the whole world, has received 2.32.04:107
from God, in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and which 2.32.04:108
she exerts day by day for the benefit of the Gentiles, neither practising deception 2.32.04:109
upon any, nor taking any reward from them on account of such miraculous interpositions]. 2.32.04:110
For as she has received freely from God, freely also does she minister [to others]. 2.32.04:111
5. Nor does she perform anything by means of angelic invocations, or by incantations, IrnL.AH.2.32.05:114
or by any other wicked curious art; but, directing her prayers to the Lord, who made all IrnL.AH.2.32.05:115
things, in a pure, sincere, and straightforward spirit, and calling upon the name of 2.32.05:116
our Lord Jesus Christ, she has been accustomed to work miracles for the advantage of IrnL.AH.2.32.05:117
mankind, and not to lead them into error. If, therefore, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ 2.32.05:119
even now confers benefits [upon men], and cures thoroughly and effectively all who 2.32.05:120
anywhere believe on Him, but not that of Simon, or Menander, or Carpocrates, or of any IrnL.AH.2.32.05:121
other man whatever, it is manifest that. when He was made man, He held fellowship with 2.32.05:122
His own creation, and did all things truly through the power of God, according to the 2.32.05:123
will of the Father of all, as the prophets had foretold. But what these things were, 2.32.05:126
shall be described in dealing with the proofs to be found in the prophetical writings. 2.32.05:127
1. We may subvert their doctrine as to transmigration from body to body by this fact, that souls remember 2.33.01:001
nothing whatever of the events which took place in their previous states of existence. For if 2.33.01:002
they were sent forth with this object, that they should have experience of every kind of action, they 2.33.01:003
must of necessity retain a remembrance of those things which have been previously accomplished, that 2.33.01:004
they might fill up those in which they were still deficient, and not by always hovering, without 2.33.01:005
intermission, round the same pursuits, spend their labour wretchedly in vain (for the mere union of 2.33.01:008
a body [with a soul] could not altogether extinguish the memory and contemplation of those things which 2.33.01:009
had formerly been experienced), and especially as they came [into the world] for this very purpose. IrnL.AH.2.33.01:011
For as, when the body is asleep and at rest, whatever things the soul sees by herself, and does in 2.33.01:012
a vision, recollecting many of these, she also communicates them to the body; and as it happens that, 2.33.01:013
when one awakes, perhaps after a long time, he relates what he saw in a dream, so also would he 2.33.01:014
undoubtedly remember those things which he did before he came into this particular body. For if that 2.33.01:015
which is seen only for a very brief space of time, or has been conceived of simply in a phantasm, and 2.33.01:017
by the soul alone, through means of a dream, is remembered after she has mingled again with the body, 2.33.01:018
and been dispersed through all the members, much more would she remember those things in connection 2.33.01:019
with which she stayed during so long a time, even throughout the whole period of a bypast life. 2.33.01:020
2. With reference to these objections, Plato, that ancient Athenian, who also was the first 2.33.02:024
to introduce this opinion, when he could not set them aside, invented the [notion of] a cup 2.33.02:025
of oblivion, imagining that in this way he would escape this son of difficulty. He attempted 2.33.02:026
no kind of proof [of his supposition], but simply replied dogmatically [to the objection 2.33.02:027
in question], that when souls enter into this life, they are caused to drink of oblivion 2.33.02:028
by that demon who watches their entrance [into the world], before they effect an entrance 2.33.02:029
into the bodies [assigned them]. It escaped him, that [by speaking thus] he fell into another 2.33.02:031
greater perplexity. For if the cup of oblivion, after it has been drunk, can obliterate 2.33.02:032
the memory of all the deeds that have been done, how, O Plato, dost thou obtain the knowledge 2.33.02:033
of this fact (since thy soul is now in the body), that, before it entered into the 2.33.02:034
body, it was made to drink by the demon a drug which caused oblivion? For if thou hast a remembrance 2.33.02:035
of the demon, and the cup, and the entrance [into life], thou oughtest also to be 2.33.02:037
acquainted with other things; but if, on the other hand, thou art ignorant of them, then 2.33.02:038
there is no truth in the story of the demon, nor in the cup of oblivion prepared with art. 2.33.02:039
3. In opposition, again, to those who affirm that the body itself is the drug of oblivion, 2.33.03:041
this observation may be made: How, then, does it come to pass, that whatsoever 2.33.03:042
the soul sees by her own instrumentality, both in dreams and by reflection or earnest 2.33.03:043
mental exertion, while the body is passive, she remembers, and reports to her neighbours? 2.33.03:044
But, again, if the body itself were [the cause of] oblivion, then the soul, as 2.33.03:046
existing in the body, could not remember even those things which were perceived long IrnL.AH.2.33.03:047
ago either by means of the eyes or the ears; but, as soon as the eye was turned from 2.33.03:048
the things looked at, the memory of them also would undoubtedly be destroyed. For the 2.33.03:049
soul, as existing in the very [cause of] oblivion, could have no knowledge of anything IrnL.AH.2.33.03:050
else than that only which it saw at the present moment. How, too, could it become 2.33.03:051
acquainted with divine things, and retain a remembrance of them while existing in the IrnL.AH.2.33.03:052
body, since, as they maintain, the body itself is [the cause of] oblivion? But the 2.33.03:053
prophets also, when they were upon the earth, remembered likewise, on their returning IrnL.AH.2.33.03:055
to their ordinary state of mind, whatever things they spiritually saw or heard in visions IrnL.AH.2.33.03:056
of heavenly objects, and related them to others. The body, therefore, does not 2.33.03:057
cause the soul to forget those things which have been spiritually witnessed; but the 2.33.03:058
soul teaches the body, and shares with it the spiritual vision which it has enjoyed. 2.33.03:059
4. For the body is not possessed of greater power than the soul, since indeed the former is inspired, 2.33.04:061
and vivified, and increased, and held together by the latter; but the soul possesses and 2.33.04:062
rules over the body. It is doubtless retarded in its velocity, just in the exact proportion IrnL.AH.2.33.04:063
in which the body shares in its motion; but it never loses the knowledge which properly belongs 2.33.04:064
to it. For the body may be compared to an instrument; but the soul is possessed of the reason 2.33.04:065
of an artist. As, therefore, the artist finds the idea of a work to spring up rapidly in his mind, 2.33.04:066
but can only carry it out slowly by means of an instrument, owing to the want of perfect IrnL.AH.2.33.04:067
pliability in the matter acted upon, and thus the rapidity of his mental operation, being blended 2.33.04:068
with the slow action of the instrument, gives rise to a moderate kind of movement [towards 2.33.04:069
the end contemplated]; so also the soul, by being mixed up with the body belonging to it, is 2.33.04:070
in a certain measure impeded, its rapidity being blended with the body's slowness. Yet it does 2.33.04:071
not lose altogether its own peculiar powers; but while, as it were, sharing life with the body, 2.33.04:072
it does not itself cease to live. Thus, too, while communicating other things to the body, it 2.33.04:076
neither loses the knowledge of them, nor the memory of those things which have been witnessed. 2.33.04:077
5. If, therefore, the soul remembers nothing of what took place in a former state of 2.33.05:079
existence, but has a perception of those things which are here, it follows that she 2.33.05:080
never existed in other bodies, nor did things of which she has no knowledge, nor 2.33.05:081
[once] knew things which she cannot [now mentally] contemplate. But, as each one of IrnL.AH.2.33.05:082
us receives his body through the skilful working of God, so does he also possess his IrnL.AH.2.33.05:083
soul. For God is not so poor or destitute in resources, that He cannot confer its 2.33.05:084
own proper soul on each individual body, even as He gives it also its special character. 2.33.05:085
And therefore, when the number [fixed upon] is completed, [that number] which 2.33.05:087
He had predetermined in His own counsel, all those who have been enrolled for life 2.33.05:088
[eternal] shah rise again, having their own bodies, and having also their own souls, 2.33.05:089
and their own spirits, in which they had pleased God. Those, on the other hand, who 2.33.05:090
are worthy of punishment, shall go away into it, they too having their own souls 2.33.05:091
and their own bodies, in which they stood apart from the grace of God. Both classes 2.33.05:093
shall then cease from any longer begetting and being begotten, from marrying and being 2.33.05:094
given in marriage; so that the number of mankind, corresponding to the fore-ordination IrnL.AH.2.33.05:095
of God, being completed, may fully realize the scheme formed by the Father. 2.33.05:097
1. The Lord has taught with very great fulness, that souls not only continue to exist, not by passing 2.34.01:001
from body to body, but that they preserve the same form [in their separate state] as the body had 2.34.01:002
to which they were adapted, and that they remember the deeds which they did in this state of existence, 2.34.01:003
and from which they have now ceased,--in that narrative which is recorded respecting the rich 2.34.01:004
man and that Lazarus who found repose in the bosom of Abraham. In this account He states that Dives 2.34.01:005
knew Lazarus after death, and Abraham in like manner, and that each one of these persons continued 2.34.01:006
in his own proper position, and that [Dives] requested Lazarus to be sent to relieve him--[Lazarus], 2.34.01:007
on whom he did not [formerly] bestow even the crumbs [which fell] from his table. [He tells 2.34.01:008
us] also of the answer given by Abraham, who was acquainted not only with what respected himself, but 2.34.01:009
Dives also, and who enjoined those who did not wish to come into that place of torment to believe 2.34.01:010
Moses and the prophets, and to receive the preaching of Him who was to rise again from the dead. 2.34.01:011
By these things, then, it is plainly declared that souls continue to exist that they do not pass from 2.34.01:016
body to body, that they possess the form of a man, so that they may be recognised, and retain the 2.34.01:017
memory of things in this world; moreover, that the gift of prophecy was possessed by Abraham, and 2.34.01:018
that each class of souls] receives a habitation such as it has deserved, even before the judgment. 2.34.01:019
2. But if any persons at this point maintain that those souls, which only began a little while ago 2.34.02:023
to exist, cannot endure for any length of time; but that they must, on the one hand, either be unborn, 2.34.02:024
in order that they may be immortal, or if they have had a beginning in the way of generation, 2.34.02:025
that they should die with the body itself--let them learn that God alone, who is Lord of all, is without 2.34.02:026
beginning and without end, being truly and for ever the same, and always remaining the same 2.34.02:027
unchangeable Being. But all things which proceed from Him, whatsoever have been made, and are made, 2.34.02:030
do indeed receive their own beginning of generation, and on this account are inferior to Him who 2.34.02:031
formed them, inasmuch as they are not unbegotten. Nevertheless they endure, and extend their existence 2.34.02:032
into a long series of ages in accordance with the will of God their Creator; so that He grants 2.34.02:033
them that they should be thus formed at the beginning, and that they should so exist afterwards. 2.34.02:034
3. For as the heaven which is above us, the firmament, the sun, the moon, the rest of 2.34.03:037
the stars, and all their grandeur, although they had no previous existence, were called IrnL.AH.2.34.03:038
into being, and continue throughout a long course of time according to the will of God, IrnL.AH.2.34.03:039
so also any one who thinks thus respecting souls and spirits, and, in fact, respecting IrnL.AH.2.34.03:040
all created things, will not by any means go far astray, inasmuch as all things that 2.34.03:041
have been made had a beginning when they were formed, but endure as long as God wills 2.34.03:042
that they should have an existence and continuance. The prophetic Spirit bears testimony 2.34.03:046
to these opinions, when He declares, "For He spake, and they were made; He commanded, 2.34.03:047
and they were created: He hath established them for ever, yea, forever and ever." 2.34.03:048
And again, He thus speaks respecting the salvation of man: "He asked life of Thee, 2.34.03:049
and Thou gavest him length of days for ever and ever;" indicating that it is the Father IrnL.AH.2.34.03:050
of all who imparts continuance for ever and ever on those who are saved. For life does IrnL.AH.2.34.03:051
not arise from us, nor from our own nature; but it is bestowed according to the grace 2.34.03:052
of God. And therefore he who shall preserve the life bestowed upon him, and give thanks 2.34.03:053
to Him who imparted it, shall receive also length of days for ever and ever. But 2.34.03:054
he who shall reject it, and prove himself ungrateful to his Maker, inasmuch as he has IrnL.AH.2.34.03:055
been created, and has not recognised Him who bestowed [the gift upon him], deprives himself 2.34.03:056
of [the privilege of] continuance for ever and ever. And, for this reason, the 2.34.03:057
Lord declared to those who showed themselves ungrateful towards Him: "If ye have not been 2.34.03:059
faithful in that which is little, who will give you that which is great?" indicating 2.34.03:060
that those who, in this brief temporal life, have shown themselves ungrateful to Him 2.34.03:061
who bestowed it, shall justly not receive from Him length of days for ever and ever. 2.34.03:062
4. But as the animal body is certainly not itself the soul, yet has fellowship IrnL.AH.2.34.04:066
with the soul as long as God pleases; so the soul herself is not life, 2.34.04:067
but partakes in that life bestowed upon her by God. Wherefore also the 2.34.04:068
prophetic word declares of the first-formed man, "He became a living soul," 2.34.04:069
teaching us that by the participation of life the soul became alive; 2.34.04:070
so that the soul, and the life which it possesses, must be understood as 2.34.04:071
being separate existences. When God therefore bestows life and perpetual IrnL.AH.2.34.04:072
duration, it comes to pass that even souls which did not previously exist 2.34.04:074
should henceforth endure [for ever], since God has both willed that they 2.34.04:075
should exist, and should continue in existence. For the will of God 2.34.04:076
ought to govern and rule in all things, while all other things give way to 2.34.04:077
Him, are in subjection, and devoted to His service. Thus far, then, let 2.34.04:078
me speak concerning the creation and the continued duration of the soul. 2.34.04:080
1. Moreover, in addition to what has been said, Basilides himself will, according to his own principles, 2.35.01:001
find it necessary to maintain not only that there are three hundred and sixty-five heavens 2.35.01:002
made in succession by one another, but that an immense and innumerable multitude of heavens have 2.35.01:003
always been in the process of being made, and are being made, and will continue to be made, so 2.35.01:004
that the formation of heavens of this kind can never cease. For if from the efflux of the first 2.35.01:005
heaven the second was made after its likeness, and the third after the likeness of the second, 2.35.01:007
and so on with all the remaining subsequent ones, then it follows, as a matter of necessity, that 2.35.01:008
from the efflux of our heaven, which he indeed terms the last, another be formed like to it, and 2.35.01:009
from that again a third; and thus there can never cease, either the process of efflux from those 2.35.01:010
heavens which have been already made, or the manufacture of [new] heavens, but the operation must 2.35.01:011
go on ad infinitum, and give rise to a number of heavens which will be altogether indefinite. 2.35.01:012
2. The remainder of those who are falsely termed Gnostics, and who maintain that 2.35.02:016
the prophets uttered their prophecies under the inspiration of different gods, 2.35.02:017
will be easily overthrown by this fact, that all the prophets proclaimed one 2.35.02:018
God and Lord, and that the very Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things IrnL.AH.2.35.02:019
which are therein; while they moreover announced the advent of His Son, as 2.35.02:020
I shall demonstrate from the Scriptures themselves, in the books which follow. 2.35.02:021
3. If, however, any object that, in the Hebrew language, diverse expressions IrnL.AH.2.35.03:024
[to represent God] occur in the Scriptures, such as Sabaoth, Eloe, Adonai, and 2.35.03:025
all other such terms, striving to prove from these that there are different 2.35.03:026
powers and gods, let them learn that all expressions of this kind are but 2.35.03:027
announcements and appellations of one and the same Being. For the term Eloe 2.35.03:029
in the Jewish language denotes God, while Eloeim and Eloeuth in the Hebrew language 2.35.03:030
signify "that which contains all." As to the appellation Adonai, sometimes 2.35.03:031
it denotes what is nameable and admirable; but at other times, when the 2.35.03:033
letter Daleth in it is doubled, and the word receives an initial guttural 2.35.03:034
sound--thus Addonai--[it signifies], "One who bounds and separates the land 2.35.03:035
from the water," so that the water should not subsequently submerge the land. 2.35.03:036
In like manner also, Sabaoth, when it [is spelled by a Greek Omega in the last 2.35.03:037
syllable [Sabaoth], denotes "a voluntary agent;" but when it is spelled 2.35.03:038
with a Greek Omicron--as, for instance, Sabaoth--it expresses "the first heaven." 2.35.03:039
In the same way, too, the word Jaoth, when the last syllable is made long 2.35.03:040
and aspirated, denotes "a predetermined measure;" but when it is written 2.35.03:041
shortly by the Greek letter Omicron, namely Jaoth, it signifies "one who puts 2.35.03:042
evils to flight." All the other expressions likewise bring out the title of 2.35.03:044
one and the same Being; as, for example (in English), The Lord of Powers, The 2.35.03:045
Father of all, God Almighty, The Most High, The Creator, The Maker, and such 2.35.03:046
like. These are not the names and titles of a succession of different beings, IrnL.AH.2.35.03:047
but of one and the same, by means of which the one God and Father is revealed, 2.35.03:048
He who contains all things, and grants to all the boon of existence. 2.35.03:049
4. Now, that the preaching of the apostles, the authoritative teaching of the Lord, the announcements 2.35.04:052
of the prophets, the dictated utterances of the apostles, and the ministration of the law--all of 2.35.04:053
which praise one and the same Being, the God and Father of all, and not many diverse beings, nor 2.35.04:054
one deriving his substance from different gods or powers, but [declare] that all things [were formed] 2.35.04:055
by one and the same Father (who nevertheless adapts this works] to the natures and tendencies of 2.35.04:056
the materials dealt with), things visible and invisible, and, in short, all things that have been 2.35.04:057
made [were created] neither by angels, nor by any other power, but by God alone, the Father--are all 2.35.04:058
in harmony with our statements, has, I think, been sufficiently proved, while by these weighty arguments 2.35.04:059
it has been shown that there is but one God, the Maker of all things. But that I may not be 2.35.04:060
thought to avoid that series of proofs which may be derived from the Scriptures of the Lord (since, 2.35.04:064
indeed, these Scriptures do much more evidently and clearly proclaim this very point), I shall, 2.35.04:065
for the benefit of those at least who do not bring a depraved mind to bear upon them, devote a special 2.35.04:066
book to the Scriptures referred to, which shall fairly follow them out [and explain them], and 2.35.04:067
I shall plainly set forth from these divine Scriptures proofs to [satisfy] all the lovers of truth. 2.35.04:068
PREFACE. THOU hast indeed enjoined upon me, my very dear friend, that I should IrnL.AH.3.00.01:001
bring to light the Valentinian doctrines, concealed, as their votaries imagine; 3.00.01:002
that I should exhibit their diversity, and compose a treatise in refutation 3.00.01:003
of them. therefore have undertaken--showing that they spring from Simon, the father 3.00.01:005
of all heretics--to exhibit both their doctrines and successions, and to set 3.00.01:006
forth arguments against them all. Wherefore, since the conviction of these men 3.00.01:007
and their exposure is in many points but one work, I have sent unto thee [certain] 3.00.01:008
books, of which the first comprises the opinions of all these men, and exhibits 3.00.01:009
their customs, and the character of their behaviour. In the second, again, 3.00.01:010
their perverse teachings are cast down and overthrown, and, such as they really 3.00.01:011
are, laid bare and open to view. But in this, the third book I shall adduce 3.00.01:013
proofs from the Scriptures, so that I may come behind in nothing of what thou hast 3.00.01:014
enjoined; yea, that over and above what thou didst reckon upon, thou mayest 3.00.01:015
receive from me the means of combating and vanquishing those who, in whatever manner, 3.00.01:016
are propagating falsehood. For the love of God, being rich and ungrudging, 3.00.01:017
confers upon the suppliant more than he can ask from it. Call to mind then, IrnL.AH.3.00.01:020
the things which I have stated in the two preceding books, and, taking these in 3.00.01:021
connection with them, thou shalt have from me a very copious refutation of all 3.00.01:022
the heretics; and faithfully and strenuously shalt thou resist them in defence IrnL.AH.3.00.01:023
of the only true and life-giving faith, which the Church has received from the 3.00.01:024
apostles and imparted to her sons. For the Lord of all gave to His apostles the 3.00.01:026
power of the Gospel, through whom also we have known the truth, that is, the doctrine IrnL.AH.3.00.01:027
of the Son of God; to whom also did the Lord declare: "He that heareth you, 3.00.01:028
heareth Me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me, and Him that sent Me." 3.00.01:030
1. WE have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from 3.01.01:001
3.-01.01:001
those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at 3.01.01:002
one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, 3.01.01:003
handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our 3.01.01:004
faith. For it is unlawful to assert that they preached before they 3.01.01:007
possessed "perfect knowledge," as some do even venture to say, boasting 3.01.01:008
themselves as improvers of the apostles. For, after our Lord rose from 3.01.01:009
the dead, [the apostles] were invested with power from on high when the 3.01.01:010
Holy Spirit came down [upon them], were filled from all [His gifts], 3.01.01:011
and had perfect knowledge: they departed to the ends of the earth, preaching 3.01.01:012
the glad tidings of the good things [sent] from God to us, and proclaiming 3.01.01:013
the peace of heaven to men, who indeed do all equally and individually 3.01.01:014
possess the Gospel of God. Matthew also issued a written Gospel 3.01.01:017
among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching 3.01.01:018
at Rome, and laying the foundations of the Church. After their departure, 3.01.01:020
Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down 3.01.01:021
to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion 3.01.01:023
of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards, 3.01.01:024
John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, 3.01.01:024
did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia. 3.01.01:025
2. These have all declared to us that there is one God, Creator of heaven 3.01.02:028
and earth, announced by the law and the prophets; and one Christ the 3.01.02:029
Son of God. If any one do not agree to these truths, he despises the 3.01.02:030
companions of the Lord; nay more, he despises Christ Himself the Lord; 3.01.02:031
yea, he despises the Father also, and stands self-condemned, resisting 3.01.02:032
and opposing his own salvation, as is the case with all heretics. 3.01.02:034
1. When, however, they are confuted from the Scriptures, they turn round 3.02.01:001
and accuse these same Scriptures, as if they were not correct, nor of 3.02.01:002
authority, and [assert] that they are ambiguous, and that the truth cannot 3.02.01:003
be extracted from them by those who are ignorant of tradition. For 3.02.01:004
[they allege] that the truth was not delivered by means of written documents, IrnL.AH.3.02.01:005
but viva voce: wherefore also Paul declared, "But we speak wisdom 3.02.01:006
among those that are perfect, but not the wisdom of this world." And 3.02.01:007
this wisdom each one of them alleges to be the fiction of his own inventing, IrnL.AH.3.02.01:008
forsooth; so that, according to their idea, the truth properly 3.02.01:009
resides at one time in Valentinus, at another in Marcion, at another 3.02.01:010
in Cerinthus, then afterwards in Basilides, or has even been indifferently 3.02.01:011
in any other opponent, who could speak nothing pertaining to salvation. 3.02.01:012
For every one of these men, being altogether of a perverse disposition, 3.02.01:014
depraving the system of truth, is not ashamed to preach himself. 3.02.01:015
2. But, again, when we refer them to that tradition which originates from the apostles, [and] 3.02.02:017
which is preserved by means of the succession of presbyters in the Churches, they object 3.02.02:018
to tradition, saying that they themselves are wiser not merely than the presbyters, but IrnL.AH.3.02.02:019
even than the apostles, because they have discovered the unadulterated truth. For [they maintain] 3.02.02:020
that the apostles intermingled the things of the law with the words of the Saviour; 3.02.02:021
and that not the apostles alone, but even the Lord Himself, spoke as at one time from IrnL.AH.3.02.02:022
the Demiurge, at another from the intermediate place, and yet again from the Pleroma, but 3.02.02:023
that they themselves, indubitably, unsulliedly, and purely, have knowledge of the hidden mystery: 3.02.02:024
this is, indeed, to blaspheme their Creator after a most impudent manner! It comes 3.02.02:025
to this, therefore, that these men do now consent neither to Scripture nor to tradition. 3.02.02:028
3. Such are the adversaries with whom we have to deal, my very dear friend, endeavouring 3.02.03:031
like slippery serpents to escape at all points. Wherefore they must be 3.02.03:032
opposed at all points, if perchance, by cutting off their retreat, we may succeed 3.02.03:033
in turning them back to the truth. For, though it is not an easy thing for a 3.02.03:034
soul under the influence of error to repent, yet, on the other hand, it is not altogether 3.02.03:035
impossible to escape from error when the truth is brought alongside it. 3.02.03:036
1. It is within the power of all, therefore, in every Church, who may wish to see the truth, to 3.03.01:001
contemplate clearly the tradition of the apostles manifested throughout the whole world; and 3.03.01:002
we are in a position to reckon up those who were by the apostles instituted bishops in the Churches, 3.03.01:003
and [to demonstrate] the succession of these men to our own times; those who neither taught 3.03.01:004
nor knew of anything like what these [heretics] rave about. For if the apostles had known hidden 3.03.01:005
mysteries, which they were in the habit of imparting to "the perfect" apart and privily from 3.03.01:006
the rest, they would have delivered them especially to those to whom they were also committing 3.03.01:007
the Churches themselves. For they were desirous that these men should be very perfect and 3.03.01:008
blameless in all things, whom also they were leaving behind as their successors, delivering up 3.03.01:010
their own place of government to these men; which men, if they discharged their functions honestly, 3.03.01:011
would be a great boon [to the Church], but if they should fall away, the direst calamity. IrnL.AH.3.03.01:012
2. Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions 3.03.02:015
of all the Churches, we do put to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether IrnL.AH.3.03.02:016
by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion, assemble in 3.03.02:017
unauthorized meetings; [we do this, I say,] by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, 3.03.02:018
of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized 3.03.02:019
at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also [by pointing out] the 3.03.02:020
faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops. 3.03.02:021
For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account 3.03.02:022
of its pre- eminent authority, that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the apostolical 3.03.02:023
tradition has been preserved continuously by those [faithful men] who exist everywhere. 3.03.02:024
3. The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed 3.03.03:030
into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate. Of this Linus, 3.03.03:031
Paul makes mention in the Epistles to Timothy. To him succeeded Anacletus; 3.03.03:032
and after him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement was allotted 3.03.03:033
the bishopric. This man, as he had seen the blessed apostles, and had 3.03.03:034
been conversant with them, might be said to have the preaching of the apostles 3.03.03:035
still echoing [in his ears], and their traditions before his eyes. 3.03.03:036
Nor was he alone [in this], for there were many still remaining who had received 3.03.03:037
instructions from the apostles. In the time of this Clement, no small 3.03.03:039
dissension having occurred among the brethren at Corinth, the Church 3.03.03:040
in Rome despatched a most powerful letter to the Corinthians, exhorting them 3.03.03:041
to peace, renewing their faith, and declaring the tradition which it had 3.03.03:042
lately received from the apostles, proclaiming the one God, omnipotent, 3.03.03:043
the Maker of heaven and earth, the Creator of man, who brought on the deluge, 3.03.03:044
and called Abraham, who led the people from the land of Egypt, spake 3.03.03:045
with Moses, set forth the law, sent the prophets, and who has prepared fire 3.03.03:046
for the devil and his angels. From this document, whosoever chooses to 3.03.03:049
do so, may learn that He, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, was preached IrnL.AH.3.03.03:050
by the Churches, and may also understand the apostolical tradition of 3.03.03:051
the Church, since this Epistle is of older date than these men who are now 3.03.03:052
propagating falsehood, and who conjure into existence another god beyond 3.03.03:055
the Creator and the Maker of all existing things. To this Clement there 3.03.03:056
succeeded Evaristus. Alexander followed Evaristus; then, sixth from the apostles, 3.03.03:057
Sixtus was appointed; after him, Telephorus, who was gloriously martyred; IrnL.AH.3.03.03:058
then Hyginus; after him, Pius; then after him, Anicetus. Sorer having 3.03.03:060
succeeded Anicetus, Eleutherius does now, in the twelfth place from 3.03.03:061
the apostles, hold the inheritance of the episcopate. In this order, and by 3.03.03:061
this succession, the ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles, and the 3.03.03:062
preaching of the truth, have come down to us. And this is most abundant 3.03.03:064
proof that there is one and the same vivifying faith, which has been preserved 3.03.03:065
in the Church from the apostles until now, and handed down in truth. 3.03.03:066
4. But Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed with many 3.03.04:067
who had seen Christ, but was also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop 3.03.04:068
of the Church in Smyrna, whom I also saw in my early youth, for he tarried [on 3.03.04:069
earth] a very long time, and, when a very old man, gloriously and most nobly 3.03.04:070
suffering martyrdom, departed this life, having always taught the things which 3.03.04:071
he had learned from the apostles, and which the Church has handed down, and 3.03.04:072
which alone are true. To these things all the Asiatic Churches testify, as do IrnL.AH.3.03.04:075
also those men who have succeeded Polycarp down to the present time,--a man 3.03.04:076
who was of much greater weight, and a more stedfast witness of truth, than Valentinus, IrnL.AH.3.03.04:077
and Marcion, and the rest of the heretics. He it was who, coming to 3.03.04:078
Rome in the time of Anicetus caused many to turn away from the aforesaid heretics 3.03.04:079
to the Church of God, proclaiming that he had received this one and sole 3.03.04:080
truth from the apostles,--that, namely, which is handed down by the Church. There 3.03.04:081
are also those who heard from him that John, the disciple of the Lord, going IrnL.AH.3.03.04:083
to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house 3.03.04:084
without bathing, exclaiming, "Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall 3.03.04:085
down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within." And Polycarp 3.03.04:088
himself replied to Marcion, who met him on one occasion, and said, "Dost thou 3.03.04:089
know me?" "I do know thee, the first-born of Satan." Such was the horror which 3.03.04:090
the apostles and their disciples had against holding even verbal communication 3.03.04:091
with any corrupters of the truth; as Paul also says, "A man that is an heretic, 3.03.04:092
after the first and second admonition, reject; knowing that he that is such 3.03.04:093
is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself." There is also a very 3.03.04:096
powerful Epistle of Polycarp written to the Philippians, from which those 3.03.04:097
who choose to do so, and are anxious about their salvation, can learn the character 3.03.04:098
of his faith, and the preaching of the truth. Then, again, the Church in 3.03.04:099
Ephesus, founded by Paul, and having John remaining among them permanently 3.03.04:100
until the times of Trajan, is a true witness of the tradition of the apostles. 3.03.04:101
1. Since therefore we have such proofs, it is not necessary to seek the truth among 3.04.01:001
others which it is easy to obtain from the Church; since the apostles, like 3.04.01:002
a rich man [depositing his money] in a bank, lodged in her hands most copiously 3.04.01:003
all things pertaining to the truth: so that every man, whosoever will, can draw 3.04.01:004
from her the water of life. For she is the entrance to life; all others are 3.04.01:006
thieves and robbers. On this account are we bound to avoid them, but to make choice IrnL.AH.3.04.01:007
of the thing pertaining to the Church with the utmost diligence, and to lay 3.04.01:008
hold of the tradition of the truth. For how stands the case? Suppose there arise 3.04.01:010
a dispute relative to some important question among us, should we not have 3.04.01:011
recourse to the most ancient Churches with which the apostles held constant intercourse, 3.04.01:012
and learn from them what is certain and clear in regard to the present 3.04.01:013
question? For how should it be if the apostles themselves had not left us writings? 3.04.01:014
Would it not be necessary, [in that case,] to follow the course of the 3.04.01:015
tradition which they handed down to those to whom they did commit the Churches? 3.04.01:016
2. To which course many nations of those barbarians who believe in Christ IrnL.AH.3.04.02:018
do assent, having salvation written in their hearts by the Spirit, 3.04.02:019
without paper or ink, and, carefully preserving the ancient tradition, 3.04.02:020
believing in one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and all 3.04.02:021
things therein, by means of Christ Jesus, the Son of God; who, because 3.04.02:022
of His surpassing love towards His creation, condescended1 to be 3.04.02:023
born of the virgin, He Himself uniting man through Himself to God, and 3.04.02:024
having suffered under Pontius Pilate, and rising again, and having 3.04.02:025
been received up in splendour, shall come in glory, the Saviour of those 3.04.02:026
who are saved, and the Judge of those who are judged, and sending 3.04.02:027
into eternal fire those who transform the truth, and despise His Father 3.04.02:031
and His advent. Those who, in the absence of written documents, 3.04.02:032
have believed this faith, are barbarians, so far as regards our language; 3.04.02:033
but as regards doctrine, manner, and tenor of life, they are, 3.04.02:034
because of faith, very wise indeed; and they do please God, ordering 3.04.02:036
their conversation in all righteousness, chastity, and wisdom. If any 3.04.02:037
one were to preach to these men the inventions of the heretics, speaking 3.04.02:038
to them in their own language, they would at once stop their ears, 3.04.02:040
and flee as far off as possible, not enduring even to listen to 3.04.02:041
the blasphemous address. Thus, by means of that ancient tradition of 3.04.02:044
the apostles, they do not suffer their mind to conceive anything of 3.04.02:045
the [doctrines suggested by the] portentous language of these teachers, 3.04.02:046
among whom neither Church nor doctrine has ever been established. 3.04.02:047
3. For, prior to Valentinus, those who follow Valentinus had no existence; nor did those 3.04.03:049
from Marcion exist before Marcion; nor, in short, had any of those malignant-minded 3.04.03:050
people, whom I have above enumerated, any being previous to the initiators and inventors 3.04.03:051
of their perversity. For Valentinus came to Rome in the time of Hyginus, flourished 3.04.03:052
under Pius, and remained until Anicetus. Cerdon, too, Marcion's predecessor, himself IrnL.AH.3.04.03:053
arrived in the time of Hyginus, who was the ninth bishop. Coming frequently into the 3.04.03:054
Church, and making public confession, he thus remained, one time teaching in secret, and 3.04.03:055
then again making public confession; but at last, having been denounced for corrupt 3.04.03:057
teaching, he was excommunicated from the assembly of the brethren. Marcion, then, succeeding 3.04.03:058
him, flourished under Anicetus, who held the tenth place of the episcopate. But 3.04.03:059
the rest, who are called Gnostics, take rise from Menander, Simon's disciple, as I 3.04.03:060
have shown; and each one of them appeared to be both the father and the high priest of 3.04.03:061
that doctrine into which he has been initiated. But all these (the Marcosians) broke 3.04.03:063
out into their apostasy much later, even during the intermediate period of the Church. 3.04.03:064
1. Since, therefore, the tradition from the apostles does thus exist in the 3.05.01:001
Church, and is permanent among us, let us revert to the Scriptural proof furnished 3.05.01:002
by those apostles who did also write the Gospel, in which they recorded 3.05.01:003
the doctrine regarding God, pointing out that our Lord Jesus Christ is the 3.05.01:004
truth, and that no lie is in Him. As also David says, prophesying His birth 3.05.01:005
from a virgin, and the resurrection from the dead, "Truth has sprung out 3.05.01:007
of the earth." The apostles, likewise, being disciples of the truth, are above 3.05.01:008
all falsehood; for a lie has no fellowship with the truth, just as darkness 3.05.01:010
has none with light, but the presence of the one shuts out that of the other. 3.05.01:011
Our Lord, therefore, being the truth, did not speak lies; and whom He knew 3.05.01:012
to have taken origin from a deceit, He never would have acknowledged as 3.05.01:014
God, even the God of all, the Supreme King, too, and His own Father, an imperfect 3.05.01:015
being as a perfect one, an animal one as a spiritual, Him who was without 3.05.01:016
the Pleroma as Him who was within it. Neither did His disciples make mention 3.05.01:017
of any other God, or term any other Lord, except Him, who was truly the 3.05.01:019
God and Lord of all, as these most vain sophists affirm that the apostles 3.05.01:020
did with hypocrisy frame their doctrine according to the capacity of their hearers, 3.05.01:021
and gave answers after the opinions of their questioners,--fabling blind 3.05.01:022
things for the blind, according to their blindness; for the dull according 3.05.01:023
to their dulness; for those in error according to their error. And to those 3.05.01:024
who imagined that the Demiurge alone was God, they preached him; but to 3.05.01:025
those who are capable of comprehending the unnameable Father, they did declare 3.05.01:026
the unspeakable mystery through parables and enigmas: so that the Lord and 3.05.01:027
the apostles exercised the office of teacher not to further the cause of 3.05.01:028
truth, but even in hypocrisy, and as each individual was able to receive it! 3.05.01:029
2. Such [a line of conduct] belongs not to those who heal, or who give life: 3.05.02:034
it is rather that of those bringing on diseases, and increasing ignorance; and 3.05.02:035
much more true than these men shall the law be found, which pronounces every 3.05.02:036
one accursed who sends the blind man astray in the way. For the apostles, IrnL.AH.3.05.02:037
who were commissioned to find out the wanderers, and to be for sight to those 3.05.02:038
who saw not, and medicine to the weak, certainly did not address them in accordance IrnL.AH.3.05.02:039
with their opinion at the time, but according to revealed truth. For 3.05.02:042
no persons of any kind would act properly, if they should advise blind men, IrnL.AH.3.05.02:043
just about to fall over a precipice, to continue their most dangerous path, 3.05.02:044
as if it were the right one, and as if they might go on in safety. Or what medical 3.05.02:045
man, anxious to heal a sick person, would prescribe in accordance with 3.05.02:046
the patient's whims, and not according to the requisite medicine? But that 3.05.02:048
the Lord came as the physician of the sick, He does Himself declare saying, "They 3.05.02:049
that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick; I came not 3.05.02:050
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." How then shall the sick be 3.05.02:051
strengthened, or how shall sinners come to repentance? Is it by persevering IrnL.AH.3.05.02:052
in the very same courses? or, on the contrary, is it by undergoing a great change 3.05.02:053
and reversal of their former mode of living, by which they have brought 3.05.02:054
upon themselves no slight amount of sickness, and many sins? But ignorance, 3.05.02:055
the mother of all these, is driven out by knowledge. Wherefore the Lord used IrnL.AH.3.05.02:057
to impart knowledge to His disciples, by which also it was His practice to 3.05.02:058
heal those who were suffering, and to keep back sinners from sin. He therefore 3.05.02:059
did not address them in accordance with their pristine notions, nor did He 3.05.02:061
reply to them in harmony with the opinion of His questioners, but according IrnL.AH.3.05.02:062
to the doctrine leading to salvation, without hypocrisy or respect of person. 3.05.02:063
3. This is also made clear from the words of the Lord, who did truly reveal the Son 3.05.03:065
of God to those of the circumcision--Him who had been foretold as Christ by the prophets; 3.05.03:066
that is, He set Himself forth, who had restored liberty to men, and bestowed IrnL.AH.3.05.03:067
on them the inheritance to incorruption And again, the apostles taught the Gentiles 3.05.03:068
that they should leave vain stocks and stones, which they imagined to be gods, and 3.05.03:069
worship the true God, who had created and made all the human family, and, by means IrnL.AH.3.05.03:070
of His creation, did nourish, increase, strengthen, and preserve them in being; 3.05.03:071
and that they might look for His Son Jesus Christ, who redeemed us from apostasy with 3.05.03:072
His own blood, so that we should also be a sanctified people, -- who shall also descend 3.05.03:073
from heaven in His Father's power, and pass judgment upon all, and who shall 3.05.03:074
freely give the good things of God to those who shall have kept His commandments. 3.05.03:075
He, appearing in these last times, the chief cornerstone, has gathered into one, and 3.05.03:080
united those that were far off and those that were near; that is, the circumcision 3.05.03:081
and the uncircumcision, enlarging Japhet, and placing him in the dwelling of Shem. 3.05.03:082
1. Therefore neither would the Lord, nor the Holy Spirit, nor the apostles, 3.06.01:001
have ever named as God, definitely and absolutely, him who was not 3.06.01:002
God, unless he were truly God; nor would they have named any one in his 3.06.01:003
own person Lord, except God the Father ruling over all, and His Son who 3.06.01:004
has received dominion from His Father over all creation, as this passage 3.06.01:005
has it: "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until 3.06.01:006
I make Thine enemies Thy footstool." Here the [Scripture] represents 3.06.01:009
to us the Father addressing the Son; He who gave Him the inheritance 3.06.01:010
of the heathen, and subjected to Him all His enemies. Since, therefore, 3.06.01:011
the Father is truly Lord, and the Son truly Lord, the Holy Spirit has 3.06.01:012
fitly designated them by the title of Lord. And again, referring to the 3.06.01:014
destruction of the Sodomites, the Scripture says, "Then the LORD rained 3.06.01:015
upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah fire and brimstone from the LORD out of 3.06.01:016
heaven." For it here points out that the Son, who had also been talking 3.06.01:017
with Abraham, had received power to judge the Sodomites for their wickedness. 3.06.01:019
And this [text following] does declare the same truth: "Thy throne, 3.06.01:020
O God; is for ever and ever; the sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right 3.06.01:020
sceptre. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity: therefore 3.06.01:021
God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee." For the Spirit designates both [of 3.06.01:022
them] by the name, of God -- both Him who is anointed as Son, and Him who 3.06.01:023
does anoint, that is, the Father. And again: "God stood in the congregation 3.06.01:024
of the gods, He judges among the gods." He [here] refers to the 3.06.01:025
Father and the Son, and those who have received the adoption; but these 3.06.01:026
are the Church. For she is the synagogue of God, which God--that is, 3.06.01:027
the Son Himself--has gathered by Himself. Of whom He again speaks: "The 3.06.01:028
God of gods, the Lord hath spoken, and hath called the earth." Who is 3.06.01:029
meant by God? He of whom He has said, "God shall come openly, our God, 3.06.01:030
and shall not keep silence; " that is, the Son, who came manifested to 3.06.01:031
men who said, "I have openly appeared to those who seek Me not." But 3.06.01:032
of what gods [does he speak]? [Of those] to whom He says, "I have said, 3.06.01:033
Ye are gods, and all sons of the Most High." To those, no doubt, who have 3.06.01:034
received the grace of the "adoption, by which we cry, Abba Father." 3.06.01:035
2. Wherefore, as I have already stated, no other is named as 3.06.02:037
God, or is called Lord, except Him who is God and Lord of all, 3.06.02:038
who also said to Moses, "I AM THAT I AM. And thus shalt thou 3.06.02:039
say to the children of Israel: He who is, hath sent me unto 3.06.02:040
you;" and His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who makes those that 3.06.02:042
believe in His name the sons of God. And again, when the Son 3.06.02:044
speaks to Moses, He says, "I am come down to deliver this people." 3.06.02:045
For it is He who descended and ascended for the salvation 3.06.02:046
of men. Therefore God has been declared through the Son, who 3.06.02:047
is in the Father, and has the Father in Himself -- He who 3.06.02:048
is, the Father bearing witness to the Son, and the Son announcing 3.06.02:049
the Father. -- As also Esaias says, "I too am witness," he 3.06.02:050
declares, "saith the LORD God, and the Son whom I have chosen, 3.06.02:051
that ye may know, and believe, and understand that I am." 3.06.02:052
3. When, however, the Scripture terms them [gods] which are no gods, it does 3.06.03:055
not, as I have already remarked, declare them as gods in every sense, but with 3.06.03:056
a certain addition and signification, by which they are shown to be no gods 3.06.03:057
at all. As with David: "The gods of the heathen are idols of demons;" and, 3.06.03:058
"Ye shall not follow other gods" For in that he says "the gods of the heathen"-- 3.06.03:060
but the heathen are ignorant of the true God -- and calls them "other gods," 3.06.03:061
he bars their claim [to be looked upon] as gods at all. But as to what 3.06.03:061
they are in their own person, he speaks concerning them; "for they are," he 3.06.03:062
says, "the idols of demons." And Esaias: "Let them be confounded, all who blaspheme 3.06.03:063
God, and carve useless things; even I am witness, saith God." He removes 3.06.03:064
them from [the category of] gods, but he makes use of the word alone, for 3.06.03:065
this [purpose], that we may know of whom he speaks. Jeremiah also says the same: 3.06.03:066
"The gods that have not made the heavens and earth, let them perish from IrnL.AH.3.06.03:067
the earth which is under the heaven." For, from the fact of his having subjoined 3.06.03:068
their destruction, he shows them to be no gods at all. Elias, too, when 3.06.03:069
all Israel was assembled at Mount Carmel, wishing to turn them from idolatry, 3.06.03:070
says to them, "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, 3.06.03:071
follow Him." And again, at the burnt-offering, he thus addresses the idolatrous 3.06.03:072
priests: "Ye shall call upon the name of your gods, and I will call on the 3.06.03:073
name of the LORD my God; and the Lord that will hearken by fire, He is God." 3.06.03:074
Now, from the fact of the prophet having said these words, he proves that 3.06.03:075
these gods which were reputed so among those men, are no gods at all. He directed 3.06.03:076
them to that God upon whom he believed, and who was truly God; whom invoking, 3.06.03:077
he exclaimed, "LORD God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, hear 3.06.03:078
me to-day, and let all this people know that Thou art the God of Israel." 3.06.03:079
4. Wherefore I do also call upon thee, LORD God of Abraham, and God of Isaac, 3.06.04:082
and God of Jacob and Israel, who art the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the 3.06.04:083
God who, through the abundance of Thy mercy, hast had a favour towards us, that 3.06.04:084
we should know Thee, who hast made heaven and earth, who rulest over all, 3.06.04:085
who art the only and the true God, above whom there is none other God; grant, 3.06.04:086
by our Lord Jesus Christ, the governing power of the Holy Spirit; give to every 3.06.04:087
reader of this book to know Thee, that Thou art God alone, to be strengthened 3.06.04:088
in Thee, and to avoid every heretical, and godless, and impious doctrine. 3.06.04:089
5. And the Apostle Paul also, saying, "For though ye have served them which are 3.06.05:093
no gods; ye now know God, or rather, are known of God," has made a separation between 3.06.05:094
those that were not [gods] and Him who is God. And again, speaking of Antichrist, 3.06.05:095
he says, "who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called 3.06.05:096
God, or that is worshipped." He points out here those who are called gods, by such 3.06.05:097
as know not God, that is, idols. For the Father of all is called God, and is 3.06.05:098
so; and Antichrist shall be lifted up, not above Him, but above those which are 3.06.05:099
indeed called gods, but are not. And Paul himself says that this is true: "We 3.06.05:100
know that an idol is nothing, and that there is none other God but one. For though 3.06.05:102
there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth; yet to us there 3.06.05:103
is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we through Him; and one 3.06.05:104
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him." For he has made a 3.06.05:105
distinction, and separated those which are indeed called gods, but which are none, 3.06.05:106
from the one God the Father, from whom are all things, and, he has confessed 3.06.05:107
in the most decided manner in his own person, one Lord Jesus Christ. But in this 3.06.05:108
[clause], "whether in heaven or in earth," he does not speak of the formers 3.06.05:109
of the world, as these [teachers] expound it; but his meaning is similar to that 3.06.05:110
of Moses, when it is said, "Thou shalt not make to thyself any image for God, 3.06.05:111
of whatsoever things are in heaven above, whatsoever in the earth beneath, and 3.06.05:112
whatsoever in the waters under the earth." And he does thus explain what are meant 3.06.05:113
by the things in heaven: "Lest when," he says, "looking towards heaven, and 3.06.05:116
observing the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and all the ornament of heaven, 3.06.05:117
falling into error, thou shouldest adore and serve them." And Moses himself, 3.06.05:118
being a man of God, was indeed given as a god before Pharaoh; but he is not properly IrnL.AH.3.06.05:119
termed Lord, nor is called God by the prophets, but is spoken of by the 3.06.05:120
Spirit as "Moses, the faithful minister and servant of God," which also he was. 3.06.05:121
1. As to their affirming that Paul said plainly in the Second [Epistle] to the Corinthians, IrnL.AH.3.07.01:001
"In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not," 3.07.01:002
and maintaining that there is indeed one god of this world, but another who is beyond 3.07.01:003
all principality, and beginning, and power, we are not to blame if they, who give 3.07.01:004
out that they do themselves know mysteries beyond God, know not how to read Paul. For 3.07.01:005
if any one read the passage thus--according to Paul's custom, as I show elsewhere, and 3.07.01:008
by many examples, that he uses transposition of words --"In whom God," then pointing 3.07.01:009
it off, and making a slight interval, and at the same time read also the rest [of 3.07.01:010
the sentence] in one [clause], "hath blinded the minds of them of this world that believe 3.07.01:011
not," he shall find out the true [sense]; that it is contained in the expression, 3.07.01:012
"God hath blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this world." And this is shown by 3.07.01:014
means of the little interval [between the clause]. For Paul does not say, "the God of 3.07.01:015
this world," as if recognising any other beyond Him; but he confessed God as indeed IrnL.AH.3.07.01:016
God. And he says, "the unbelievers of this world," because they shall not inherit the 3.07.01:017
future age of incorruption. I shall show from Paul himself, how it is that God has blinded 3.07.01:019
the minds of them that believe not, in the course of this work, that we may not 3.07.01:020
just at present distract our mind from the matter in hand, [by wandering] at large. 3.07.01:021
2. From many other instances also, we may discover that the apostle frequently uses IrnL.AH.3.07.02:023
a transposed order in his sentences, due to the rapidity of his discourses, and the impetus 3.07.02:024
of the Spirit which is in him. An example occurs in the [Epistle] to the Galatians, 3.07.02:025
where he expresses himself as follows: "Wherefore then the law of works? It was 3.07.02:026
added, until the seed should come to whom the promise was made; [and it was] ordained 3.07.02:027
by angels in the hand of a Mediator." For the order of the words runs thus: "Wherefore IrnL.AH.3.07.02:028
then the law of works? Ordained by angels in the hand of a Mediator, it was added 3.07.02:029
until the seed should come to whom the promise was made," -- man thus asking the 3.07.02:030
question, and the Spirit making answer. And again, in the Second to the Thessalonians, 3.07.02:031
speaking of Antichrist, he says, "And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the 3.07.02:033
Lord Jesus Christ shall slay with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy him 3.07.02:034
with the presence of his coming; [even him] whose coming is after the working of Satan, 3.07.02:035
with all power, and signs, and lying wonders." Now in these [sentences] the order 3.07.02:036
of the words is this: "And then shall be revealed that wicked, whose coming is after 3.07.02:038
the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, whom the Lord 3.07.02:039
Jesus shall slay with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the presence of 3.07.02:040
His coming." For he does not mean that the coming of the Lord is after the working 3.07.02:041
of Satan; but the coming of the wicked one, whom we also call Antichrist. If, then, 3.07.02:043
one does not attend to the [proper] reading [of the passage], and if he do not exhibit 3.07.02:044
the intervals of breathing as they occur, there shall be not only incongruities, 3.07.02:045
but also, when reading, he will utter blasphemy, as if the advent of the Lord could take IrnL.AH.3.07.02:046
place according to the working of Satan. So therefore, in such passages, the hyperbaton 3.07.02:047
must be exhibited by the reading, and the apostle's meaning following on, preserved; 3.07.02:049
and thus we do not read in that passage, "the god of this world," but, "God," 3.07.02:050
whom we do truly call God; and we hear [it declared of] the unbelieving and the blinded 3.07.02:051
of this world, that they shall not inherit the world of life which is to come. 3.07.02:052
1. This calumny, then, of these men, having been quashed, it is clearly 3.08.01:001
proved that neither the prophets nor the apostles did ever name another 3.08.01:002
God, or call [him] Lord, except the true and only God. Much more [would 3.08.01:003
this be the case with regard to] the Lord Himself, who did also direct us 3.08.01:005
to "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things 3.08.01:006
that are God's;" naming indeed Caesar as Caesar, but confessing God 3.08.01:007
as God. In like manner also, that [text] which says, "Ye cannot serve two 3.08.01:008
masters," He does Himself interpret, saying, "Ye cannot serve God and 3.08.01:009
mammon;" acknowledging God indeed as God, but mentioning mammon, a thing 3.08.01:010
having also an existence. He does not call mammon Lord when He says, "Ye 3.08.01:012
cannot serve two masters;" but He teaches His disciples who serve God, 3.08.01:013
not to be subject to mammon, nor to be ruled by it. For He says, "He that 3.08.01:014
committeth sin is the slave of sin." Inasmuch, then, as He terms those 3.08.01:015
"the slaves of sin" who serve sin, but does not certainly call sin itself 3.08.01:016
God, thus also He terms those who serve mammon "the slaves of mammon," 3.08.01:017
not calling mammon God. For mammon is, according to the Jewish language, 3.08.01:019
which the Samaritans do also use, a covetous man, and one who wishes 3.08.01:020
to have more than he ought to have. But according to the Hebrew, it is 3.08.01:021
by the addition of a syllable (adjunctive) called Mamuel, and signifies 3.08.01:022
gulosum, that is, one whose gullet is insatiable. Therefore, according to 3.08.01:024
both these things which are indicated, we cannot serve God and mammon. 3.08.01:025
2. But also, when He spoke of the devil as strong, not absolutely so, but 3.08.02:026
as in comparison with us, the Lord showed Himself under every aspect and truly 3.08.02:027
to be the strong man, saying that one can in no other way "spoil the goods 3.08.02:028
of a strong man, if he do not first bind the strong man himself, and then 3.08.02:029
he will spoil his house." Now we were the vessels and the house of this 3.08.02:030
[strong man] when we were in a state of apostasy; for he put us to whatever 3.08.02:031
use he pleased, and the unclean spirit dwelt within us. For he was not 3.08.02:033
strong, as opposed to Him who bound him, and spoiled his house; but as against 3.08.02:034
those persons who were his tools, inasmuch as he caused their thought 3.08.02:035
to wander away from God: these did the Lord snatch from his grasp. As also 3.08.02:037
Jeremiah declares, "The LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and has snatched him from 3.08.02:038
the hand of him that was stronger than he." If, then, he had not pointed 3.08.02:039
out Him who binds and spoils his goods, but had merely spoken of him as being 3.08.02:040
strong, the strong man should have been unconquered.But he also subjoined 3.08.02:041
Him who obtains and retains possession; for he holds who binds, but he 3.08.02:042
is held who is bound. And this he did without any comparison, so that, apostate 3.08.02:043
slave as he was, he might not be compared to the Lord: for not he alone, 3.08.02:044
but not one of created and subject things, shall ever be compared to the 3.08.02:045
Word of God, by whom all things were made, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. 3.08.02:046
3. For that all things, whether Angels, or Archangels, or Thrones, or Dominions, 3.08.03:049
were both established and created by Him who is God over all, through His 3.08.03:050
Word, John has thus pointed out. For when he had spoken of the Word of God 3.08.03:051
as having been in the Father, he added, "All things were made by Him, and without 3.08.03:052
Him was not anything made." David also, when he had enumerated [His] praises, 3.08.03:053
subjoins by name all things whatsoever I have mentioned, both the heavens 3.08.03:054
and all the powers therein: "For He commanded, and they were created; 3.08.03:055
He spake, and they were made." Whom, therefore, did He command? The Word, no 3.08.03:056
doubt, "by whom," he says, "the heavens were established, and all their power 3.08.03:058
by the breath of His mouth." But that He did Himself make all things freely, 3.08.03:059
and as He pleased, again David says, "But our God is in the heavens above, 3.08.03:060
and in the earth; He hath made all things whatsoever He pleased." But the things 3.08.03:061
established are distinct from Him who has established them, and what have 3.08.03:063
been made from Him who has made them. For He is Himself uncreated, both without 3.08.03:064
beginning and end, and lacking nothing. He is Himself sufficient for 3.08.03:065
Himself; and still further, He grants to all others this very thing, existence; 3.08.03:066
but the things which have been made by Him have received a beginning. But 3.08.03:067
whatever things had a beginning, and are liable to dissolution, and are subject 3.08.03:068
to and stand in need of Him who made them, must necessarily in all respects 3.08.03:069
have a different term [applied to them], even by those who have but a moderate 3.08.03:071
capacity for discerning such things; so that He indeed who made all things 3.08.03:072
can alone, together with His Word, properly be termed God and Lord: but 3.08.03:073
the things which have been made cannot have this term applied to them, neither 3.08.03:074
should they justly assume that appellation which belongs to the Creator. 3.08.03:075
1. This, therefore, having been clearly demonstrated here (and it shall yet 3.09.01:001
be so still more clearly), that neither the prophets, nor the apostles, nor 3.09.01:002
the Lord Christ in His own person, did acknowledge any other Lord or God, 3.09.01:003
but the God and Lord supreme: the prophets and the apostles confessing the 3.09.01:004
Father and the Son; but naming no other as God, and confessing no other as 3.09.01:005
Lord: and the Lord Himself handing down to His disciples, that He, the Father, 3.09.01:006
is the only God and Lord, who alone is God and ruler of all; -- it is incumbent 3.09.01:007
on us to follow, if we are their disciples indeed, their testimonies 3.09.01:008
to this effect. For Matthew the apostle -- knowing, as one and the same God, 3.09.01:012
Him who had given promise to Abraham, that He would make his seed as the 3.09.01:013
stars of heaven, and Him who, by His Son Christ Jesus, has called us to the 3.09.01:014
knowledge of Himself, from the worship of stones, so that those who were 3.09.01:015
not a people were made a people, and she beloved who was not beloved --declares 3.09.01:016
that John, when preparing the way for Christ, said to those who were boasting 3.09.01:017
of their relationship [to Abraham] according to the flesh, but who had 3.09.01:018
their mind tinged and stuffed with all manner of evil, preaching that repentance 3.09.01:019
which should call them back from their evil doings, said, "O generation 3.09.01:022
of vipers, who hath shown you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth 3.09.01:023
therefore fruit meet for repentance. And think not to say within yourselves, 3.09.01:024
We have Abraham [to our] father: for I say unto you, that God is able 3.09.01:025
of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." He preached to them, therefore, 3.09.01:026
the repentance from wickedness, but he did not declare to them another 3.09.01:027
God, besides Him who made the promise to Abraham; he, the forerunner of 3.09.01:028
Christ, of whom Matthew again says, and Luke likewise, "For this is he that 3.09.01:030
was spoken of from the Lord by the prophet, The voice of one crying in the 3.09.01:031
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our 3.09.01:032
God. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill brought low; 3.09.01:033
and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough into smooth ways; and 3.09.01:034
all flesh shall see the salvation of God." There is therefore one and the 3.09.01:035
same God, the Father of our Lord, who also promised, through the prophets, 3.09.01:036
that He would send His forerunner; and His salvation -- that is, His Word 3.09.01:037
-- He caused to be made visible to all flesh, [the Word] Himself being made 3.09.01:038
incarnate, that in all things their King might become manifest. For it is 3.09.01:039
necessary that those [beings] which are judged do see the judge, and know Him 3.09.01:041
from whom they receive judgment; and it is also proper, that those which 3.09.01:042
follow on to glory should know Him who bestows upon them the gift of glory. 3.09.01:043
2. Then again Matthew, when speaking of the angel, says, "The angel 3.09.02:045
of the Lord appeared to Joseph in sleep." Of what Lord he does himself 3.09.02:046
interpret: "That it may be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord 3.09.02:046
by the prophet, Out of Egypt have I called my son." "Behold, a 3.09.02:047
virgin shall conceive, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall 3.09.02:049
call his name Emmanuel; which is, being interpreted, God with us." 3.09.02:050
David likewise speaks of Him who, from the virgin, is Emmanuel: "Turn 3.09.02:051
not away the face of Thine anointed. The LORD hath sworn a truth 3.09.02:052
to David, and will not turn from him. Of the fruit of thy body will 3.09.02:052
I set upon thy seat." And again: "In Judea is God known; His place 3.09.02:053
has been made in peace, and His dwelling in Zion." Therefore there 3.09.02:054
is one and the same God, who was proclaimed by the prophets and 3.09.02:055
announced by the Gospel; and His Son, who was of the fruit of David's 3.09.02:056
body, that is, of the virgin of [the house of] David, and Emmanuel; 3.09.02:057
whose star also Balaam thus prophesied: "There shall come a star 3.09.02:058
out of Jacob, and a leader shall rise in Israel." But Matthew says 3.09.02:060
that the Magi, coming from the east, exclaimed "For we have seen 3.09.02:061
His star in the east, and are come to worship Him;" and that, having 3.09.02:062
been led by the star into the house of Jacob to Emmanuel, they showed, 3.09.02:063
by these gifts which they offered, who it was that was worshipped; 3.09.02:064
myrrh, because it was He who should die and be buried for the 3.09.02:065
mortal human met; gold, because He was a King, "of whose kingdom 3.09.02:066
is no end;" and frankincense, because He was God, who also "was made 3.09.02:067
known in Judea," and was "declared to those who sought Him not." 3.09.02:068
3. And then, [speaking of His] baptism, Matthew says, "The heavens were opened, 3.09.03:071
and He saw the Spirit of God, as a dove, coming upon Him: and lo a voice from 3.09.03:072
heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." For Christ 3.09.03:073
did not at that time descend upon Jesus, neither was Christ one and Jesus 3.09.03:074
another: but the Word of God--who is the Saviour of all, and the ruler of 3.09.03:074
heaven and earth, who is Jesus, as I have already pointed out, who did also take 3.09.03:075
upon Him flesh, and was anointed by the Spirit from the Father--was made Jesus 3.09.03:076
Christ, as Esaias also says, "There shall come forth a rod from the root 3.09.03:077
of Jesse, and a flower shall rise from his root; and the Spirit of God shall 3.09.03:080
rest upon Him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel 3.09.03:081
and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of God, 3.09.03:082
shall fill Him. He shall not judge according to glory, nor reprove after 3.09.03:083
the manner of speech; but He shall dispense judgment to the humble man, and reprove 3.09.03:084
the haughty ones of the earth." And again Esaias, pointing out beforehand 3.09.03:085
His unction, and the reason why he was anointed, does himself say, "The Spirit 3.09.03:086
of God is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me: He hath sent Me to preach 3.09.03:087
the Gospel to the lowly, to heal the broken up in heart, to proclaim liberty 3.09.03:088
to the captives, and sight to the blind; to announce the acceptable year of 3.09.03:089
the Lord, and the day of vengeance; to comfort all that mourn." For inasmuch 3.09.03:090
as the Word of God was man from the root of Jesse, and son of Abraham, in this 3.09.03:092
respect did the Spirit of God rest upon Him, and anoint Him to preach the Gospel 3.09.03:093
to the lowly. But inasmuch as He was God, He did not judge according to 3.09.03:094
glory, nor reprove after the manner of speech. For "He needed not that any 3.09.03:095
should testify to Him of man, for He Himself knew what was in man." For He called 3.09.03:096
all men that mourn; and granting forgiveness to those who had been led into 3.09.03:099
captivity by their sins, He loosed them from their chains, of whom Solomon 3.09.03:100
says, "Every one shall be holden with the cords of his own sins." Therefore 3.09.03:101
did the Spirit of God descend upon Him, [the Spirit] of Him who had promised 3.09.03:104
by the prophets that He would anoint Him, so that we, receiving from the abundance 3.09.03:105
of His unction, might be saved. Such, then, [is the witness] of Matthew. 3.09.03:106
1. Luke also, the follower and disciple of the apostles, referring to Zacharias IrnL.AH.3.10.01:001
and Elisabeth, from whom, according to promise, John was born, says: "And they 3.10.01:002
were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances 3.10.01:003
of the Lord blameless." And again, speaking of Zacharias: "And it came to pass, 3.10.01:004
that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, 3.10.01:005
according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense; 3.10.01:006
" and he came to sacrifice, "entering into the temple of the Lord." Whose 3.10.01:007
angel Gabriel, also, who stands prominently in the presence of the Lord, simply, 3.10.01:008
absolutely, and decidedly confessed in his own person as God and Lord, Him who 3.10.01:009
had chosen Jerusalem, and had instituted the sacerdotal office. For he knew 3.10.01:010
of none other above Him; since, if he had been in possession of the knowledge 3.10.01:013
of any other more perfect God and Lord besides Him, he surely would never--as I 3.10.01:014
have already shown--have confessed Him, whom he knew to be the fruit of a defect, 3.10.01:015
as absolutely and altogether God and Lord. And then, speaking of John, he 3.10.01:016
thus says: "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and many of the children 3.10.01:019
of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before Him 3.10.01:020
in the spirit and power of Elias, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." 3.10.01:021
For whom, then, did he prepare the people, and in the sight of what Lord was IrnL.AH.3.10.01:022
he made great? Truly of Him who said that John had something even "more than 3.10.01:023
a prophet," and that "among those born of women none is greater than John the 3.10.01:024
Baptist;" who did also make the people ready for the Lord's advent, warning his 3.10.01:025
fellow-servants, and preaching to them repentance, that they might receive remission IrnL.AH.3.10.01:026
from the Lord when He should be present, having been convened to Him, 3.10.01:027
from whom they had been alienated because of sins and transgressions. As also David 3.10.01:028
says, "The alienated are sinners from the womb: they go astray as soon as IrnL.AH.3.10.01:029
they are born." And it was on account of this that he, turning them to their Lord, 3.10.01:033
prepared, in the spirit and power of Elias, a perfect people for the Lord. 3.10.01:034
2. And again, speaking in reference to the angel, he says: "But at that time the angel IrnL.AH.3.10.02:036
Gabriel was sent from God, who did also say to the virgin, Fear not, Mary; for 3.10.02:037
thou hast found favour with God." And he says concerning the Lord: "He shall be great, 3.10.02:038
and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him 3.10.02:039
the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; 3.10.02:040
and of His kingdom there shall be no end." For who else is there who can reign 3.10.02:041
uninterruptedly over the house of Jacob for ever, except Jesus Christ our Lord, the 3.10.02:042
Son of the Most High God, who promised by the law and the prophets that He would 3.10.02:043
make His salvation visible to all flesh; so that He would become the Son of man for 3.10.02:044
this purpose, that man also might become the son of God? And Mary, exulting because 3.10.02:045
of this, cried out, prophesying on behalf of the Church, "My soul doth magnify the 3.10.02:048
Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For He hath taken up His child 3.10.02:049
Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spake to our fathers, Abraham, and his 3.10.02:050
seed for ever." By these and such like [passages] the Gospel points out that it 3.10.02:051
was God who spake to the fathers; that it was He who, by Moses, instituted the legal 3.10.02:053
dispensation, by which giving of the law we know that He spake to the fathers. This 3.10.02:054
same God, after His great goodness, poured His compassion upon us, through which IrnL.AH.3.10.02:055
compassion "the Day-spring from on high hath looked upon us, and appeared to those IrnL.AH.3.10.02:056
who sat in darkness and the shadow of death, and has guided our feet into the way 3.10.02:059
of peace;" as Zacharias also, recovering from the state of dumbness which he had suffered 3.10.02:060
on account of unbelief, having been filled with a new spirit, did bless God 3.10.02:061
in a new manner. For all things had entered upon a new phase, the Word arranging 3.10.02:062
after a new manner the advent in the flesh, that He might win back to God that human 3.10.02:064
nature (hominem) which had departed from God; and therefore men were taught to worship 3.10.02:065
God after a new fashion, but not another god, because in truth there is but "one 3.10.02:066
God, who justifieth the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith." 3.10.02:067
But Zacharias prophesying, exclaimed, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for 3.10.02:068
He hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation 3.10.02:069
for us in the house of His servant David; as He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, 3.10.02:070
which have been since the world begun; salvation from our enemies, and from 3.10.02:071
the hand of all that hate us; to perform the mercy [promised] to our fathers, and to 3.10.02:072
remember His holy covenant, the oath which He sware to our father Abraham, that He 3.10.02:073
would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might 3.10.02:074
serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all our days." 3.10.02:075
3. Then he says to John: "And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: 3.10.03:081
for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge 3.10.03:082
of salvation to His people, for the remission of their sins." For this is the knowledge 3.10.03:083
of salvation which was wanting to them, that of the Son of God, which John made known, 3.10.03:084
saying, "Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. This is He of 3.10.03:085
whom I said, After me cometh a man who was made before me; because He was prior to me: 3.10.03:087
and of His fulness have all we received." This, therefore, was the knowledge of salvation; 3.10.03:088
but [it did not consist in] another God, nor another Father, nor Bythus, nor the 3.10.03:089
Pleroma of thirty Aeons, nor the Mother of the (lower) Ogdoad: but the knowledge of 3.10.03:090
salvation was the knowledge of the Son of God, who is both called and actually is, salvation, 3.10.03:091
and Saviour, and salutary. Salvation, indeed, as follows: "I have waited for Thy 3.10.03:092
salvation, O Lord." And then again, Saviour: "Behold my God, my Saviour, I will put 3.10.03:093
my trust in Him." But as bringing salvation, thus: "God hath made known His salvation 3.10.03:094
(salutare) in the sight of the heathen." For He is indeed Saviour, as being the Son and 3.10.03:097
Word of God; but salutary, since [He is] Spirit; for he says: "The Spirit of our countenance, 3.10.03:098
Christ the Lord." But salvation, as being flesh: for "the Word was made flesh, 3.10.03:099
and dwelt among us." This knowledge of salvation, therefore, John did impart to those 3.10.03:101
repenting, and believing in the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. 3.10.03:102
4. And the angel of the Lord, he says, appeared to the shepherds, proclaiming 3.10.04:105
joy to them: "For there is born in the house of David, a Saviour, which is 3.10.04:106
Christ the Lord. Then [appeared] a multitude of the heavenly host, praising 3.10.04:108
God, and saying, Glory in the highest to God, and on earth peace, to men of IrnL.AH.3.10.04:109
good will." The falsely-called Gnostics say that these angels came from the Ogdoad, IrnL.AH.3.10.04:110
and made manifest the descent of the superior Christ. But they are again 3.10.04:111
in error, when saying that the Christ and Saviour from above was not born, 3.10.04:112
but that also, after the baptism of the dispensational Jesus, he, [the Christ 3.10.04:113
of the Pleroma,] descended upon him as a dove. Therefore, according to these 3.10.04:114
men, the angels of the Ogdoad lied, when they said, "For unto you is born IrnL.AH.3.10.04:115
this day a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David." For neither 3.10.04:116
was Christ nor the Saviour born at that time, by their account; but it 3.10.04:118
was he, the dispensational Jesus, who is of the framer of the world, the [Demiurge], 3.10.04:119
and upon whom, after his baptism, that is, after [the lapse of] thirty 3.10.04:120
years, they maintain the Saviour from above descended. But why did [the angels] 3.10.04:123
add, "in the city of David," if they did not proclaim the glad tidings 3.10.04:124
of the fulfilment of God's promise made to David, that from the fruit of his 3.10.04:125
body there should be an eternal King? For the Framer [Demiurge] of the entire 3.10.04:126
universe made promise to David, as David himself declares: "My help is from 3.10.04:127
God, who made heaven and earth;" and again: "In His hand are the ends of 3.10.04:128
the earth, and the heights of the mountains are His. For the sea is His, and IrnL.AH.3.10.04:129
He did Himself make it; and His hands founded the dry land. Come ye, let us 3.10.04:131
worship and fall down before Him, and weep in the presence of the Lord who IrnL.AH.3.10.04:132
made us; for He is the Lord our God." The Holy Spirit evidently thus declares 3.10.04:133
by David to those hearing him, that there shall be those who despise Him who 3.10.04:134
formed us, and who is God alone. Wherefore he also uttered the foregoing words, 3.10.04:136
meaning to say: See that ye do not err; besides or above Him there is 3.10.04:137
no other God, to whom ye should rather stretch out [your hands], thus rendering 3.10.04:138
us pious and grateful towards Him who made, established, and [still] nourishes 3.10.04:139
us. What, then, shall happen to those who have been the authors of so 3.10.04:141
much blasphemy against their Creator ? This identical truth was also what the 3.10.04:142
angels [proclaimed]. For when they exclaim, "Glory to God in the highest, and 3.10.04:143
in earth peace," they have glorified with these. words Him who is the Creator 3.10.04:144
of the highest, that is, of super-celestial things, and the Founder of everything 3.10.04:145
on earth: who has sent to His own handiwork, that is, to men, the 3.10.04:146
blessing of His salvation from heaven. Wherefore he adds: "The shepherds returned, IrnL.AH.3.10.04:148
glorifying God for all which they had heard and seen, as it was told 3.10.04:149
unto them." For the Israelitish shepherds did not glorify another god, but Him 3.10.04:151
who had been announced by the law and the prophets, the Maker of all things, 3.10.04:152
whom also the angels glorified. But if the angels who were from the Ogdoad 3.10.04:154
were accustomed to glorify any other, different from Him whom the shepherds 3.10.04:155
[adored], these angels from the Ogdoad brought to them error and not truth. 3.10.04:156
5. And still further does Luke say in reference to the Lord: "When the days of 3.10.05:157
purification were accomplished, they brought Him up to Jerusalem, to present 3.10.05:158
Him before the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord, That every male 3.10.05:159
opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord; and that they should offer 3.10.05:160
a sacrifice, as it is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle-doves, or 3.10.05:161
two young pigeons:" in his own person most clearly calling Him Lord, who appointed IrnL.AH.3.10.05:162
the legal dispensation. But "Simeon," he also says, "blessed God, and said, 3.10.05:164
Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace; for mine eyes have seen 3.10.05:165
Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light 3.10.05:166
for the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel." And 3.10.05:167
"Anna" also, "the prophetess," he says, in like manner glorified God when she 3.10.05:169
saw Christ, "and spake of Him to all them who were looking for the redemption 3.10.05:170
of Jerusalem." Now by all these one God is shown forth, revealing to men the 3.10.05:172
new dispensation of liberty, the covenant, through the new advent of His Son. 3.10.05:173
6. Wherefore also Mark, the interpreter and follower of Peter, does thus commence 3.10.06:175
his Gospel narrative: "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of 3.10.06:176
God; as it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, 3.10.06:177
which shall prepare Thy way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare 3.10.06:178
ye the way of the Lord, make the paths straight before our God." Plainly does 3.10.06:179
the commencement of the Gospel quote the words of the holy prophets, and point out IrnL.AH.3.10.06:180
Him at once, whom they confessed as God and Lord; Him, the Father of our Lord Jesus 3.10.06:181
Christ, who had also made promise to Him, that He would send His messenger 3.10.06:182
before His face, who was John, crying in the wilderness, in "the spirit and power 3.10.06:183
of Elias," "Prepare ye the way of me Lord, make straight paths before our God." 3.10.06:184
For the prophets did not announce one and another God, but one and the same; under IrnL.AH.3.10.06:187
rations aspects, however, and many titles. For varied and rich in attribute is IrnL.AH.3.10.06:188
the Father, as I have already shown in the book preceding this; and I shall show 3.10.06:189
[the same truth] from the prophets themselves in the further course of this work. 3.10.06:190
Also, towards the conclusion of his Gospel, Mark says: "So then, after the Lord 3.10.06:193
Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sitteth on the right 3.10.06:194
hand of God; " confirming what had been spoken by the prophet: "The LORD said 3.10.06:195
to my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, until I make Thy foes Thy footstool." Thus 3.10.06:196
God and the Father are truly one and the same; He who was announced by the prophets, 3.10.06:198
and handed down by the true Gospel; whom we Christians worship and love with 3.10.06:199
the whole heart, as the Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things therein. IrnL.AH.3.10.06:200
1. John, the disciple of the Lord, preaches this faith, and seeks, by the proclamation 3.11.01:001
of the Gospel, to remove that error which by Cerinthus had been 3.11.01:002
disseminated among men, and a long time previously by those termed Nicolaitans, 3.11.01:003
who are an offset of that "knowledge" falsely so called, that he might 3.11.01:004
confound them2, and persuade them that there is but one God, who made all 3.11.01:005
things by His Word; and not, as they allege, that the Creator was one, but 3.11.01:006
the Father of the Lord another; and that the Son of the Creator was, forsooth, 3.11.01:007
one, but the Christ from above another, who also continued impossible, 3.11.01:008
descending upon Jesus, the Son of the Creator, and flew back again into His 3.11.01:009
Pleroma; and that Monogenes was the beginning, but Logos was the true son 3.11.01:010
of Monogenes; and that this creation to which we belong was not made by 3.11.01:011
the primary God, but by some power lying far below Him, and shut off from communion 3.11.01:012
with the things invisible and ineffable. The disciple of the Lord 3.11.01:013
therefore desiring to put an end to all such doctrines, and to establish the 3.11.01:014
rule of truth in the Church, that there is one Almighty God, who made all 3.11.01:015
things by His Word, both visible and invisible; showing at the same time, 3.11.01:016
that by the Word, through whom God made the creation, He also bestowed salvation 3.11.01:017
on the men included in the creation; thus commenced His teaching in 3.11.01:023
the Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and 3.11.01:024
the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made 3.11.01:025
by Him, and without Him was nothing made. What was made was life in Him, 3.11.01:027
and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and 3.11.01:028
the darkness comprehended it not." "All things," he says, "were made by Him;" 3.11.01:029
therefore in "all things" this creation of ours is [included], for we 3.11.01:030
cannot concede to these men that [the words] "all things" are spoken in reference 3.11.01:030
to those within their Pleroma. For if their Pleroma do indeed contain 3.11.01:031
these, this creation, as being such, is not outside, as I have demonstrated 3.11.01:033
in the preceding book; but if they are outside the Pleroma, which indeed 3.11.01:034
appeared impossible, it follows, in that case, that their Pleroma cannot 3.11.01:035
be "all things:" therefore this vast creation is not outside [the Pleroma]. 3.11.01:036
2. John, however, does himself put this matter beyond all controversy 3.11.02:039
on our part, when he says, "He was in this world, and 3.11.02:040
the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came 3.11.02:041
unto His own [things], and His own [people] received Him not." 3.11.02:042
But according to Marcion, and those like him, neither was the 3.11.02:043
world made by Him; nor did He come to His own things, but to 3.11.02:045
those of another. And, according to certain of the Gnostics, this 3.11.02:046
world was made by angels, and not by the Word of God. But 3.11.02:047
according to the followers of Valentinus, the world was not made 3.11.02:048
by Him, but by the Demiurge. For he (Soter) caused such similitudes 3.11.02:048
to be made, after the pattern of things above, as they 3.11.02:049
allege; but the Demiurge accomplished the work of creation. 3.11.02:050
For they say that he, the Lord and Creator of the plan of creation, 3.11.02:052
by whom they hold that this world was made, was produced 3.11.02:053
from the Mother; while the Gospel affirms plainly, that by the 3.11.02:054
Word, which was in the beginning with God, all things were made, 3.11.02:055
which Word, he says, "was made flesh, and dwelt among us." 3.11.02:057
3. But, according to these men, neither was the Word made flesh, nor Christ, 3.11.03:058
nor the Saviour (Soter), who was produced from [the joint contributions of] all 3.11.03:059
[the Aeons]. For they will have it, that the Word and Christ never came into 3.11.03:060
this world; that the Saviour, too, never became incarnate, nor suffered, but 3.11.03:061
that He descended like a dove upon the dispensational Jesus; and that, as soon 3.11.03:062
as He had declared the unknown Father, He did again ascend into the Pleroma. 3.11.03:063
Some, however, make the assertion, that this dispensational Jesus did become 3.11.03:065
incarnate, and suffered, whom they represent as having passed through Mary 3.11.03:066
just as water through a tube; but others allege him to be the Son of the Demiurge, 3.11.03:067
upon whom the dispensational Jesus descended; while others, again, say 3.11.03:068
that Jesus was born from Joseph and Mary, and that the Christ from above descended 3.11.03:069
upon him, being without flesh, and impassible. But according to the opinion 3.11.03:072
of no one of the heretics was the Word of God made flesh. For if any one 3.11.03:074
carefully examines the systems of them all, he will find that the Word of God 3.11.03:075
is brought in by all of them as not having become incarnate (sine carne) and 3.11.03:076
impassible, as is also the Christ from above. Others consider Him to have been 3.11.03:077
manifested as a transfigured man; but they maintain Him to have been neither 3.11.03:078
born nor to have become incarnate; whilst others [hold] that He did not assume 3.11.03:079
a human form at all, but that, as a dove, He did descend upon that Jesus 3.11.03:080
who was born from Mary. Therefore the Lord's disciple, pointing them all out 3.11.03:082
as false witnesses, says, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." 3.11.03:083
4. And that we may not have to ask, Of what God was the Word made flesh ? 3.11.04:085
he does himself previously teach us, saying, "There was a man sent from 3.11.04:086
God, whose name was John. The same came as a witness, that he might bear 3.11.04:087
witness of that Light. He was not that Light, but [came] that he might 3.11.04:088
testify of the Light." By what God, then, was John, the forerunner, who testifies 3.11.04:089
of the Light, sent [into the world]? Truly it was by Him, of whom 3.11.04:090
Gabriel is the angel, who also announced the glad tidings of his birth: 3.11.04:091
[that God] who also had promised by the prophets that He would send His 3.11.04:092
messenger before the face of His Son, who should prepare His way, that 3.11.04:093
is, that he should bear witness of that Light in the spirit and power of 3.11.04:095
Elias. But, again, of what God was Elias the servant and the prophet? Of 3.11.04:096
Him who made heaven and earth, as he does himself confess. John, therefore, 3.11.04:097
having been sent by the founder and maker of this world, how could he 3.11.04:098
testify of that Light, which came down from things unspeakable and invisible? 3.11.04:099
For all the heretics have decided that the Demiurge was ignorant 3.11.04:101
of that Power above him, whose witness and herald John is found to be. Wherefore 3.11.04:102
the Lord said that He deemed him "more than a prophet." For all 3.11.04:103
the other prophets preached the advent of the paternal Light, and desired 3.11.04:104
to be worthy of seeing Him whom they preached; but John did both announce 3.11.04:105
[the advent] beforehand, in a like manner as did the others, and actually 3.11.04:106
saw Him when He came, and pointed Him out, and persuaded many to believe 3.11.04:107
on Him, so that he did himself hold the place of both prophet and apostle. 3.11.04:108
For this is to be more than a prophet, because, "first apostles, 3.11.04:110
secondarily prophets; " but all things from one and the same God Himself. 3.11.04:111
5. That wine, which was produced by God in a vineyard, and which was first consumed, 3.11.05:113
was good. None of those who drank of it found fault with it; and the Lord partook 3.11.05:114
of it also. But that wine was better which the Word made from water, on the moment, 3.11.05:115
and simply for the use of those who had been called to the marriage. For although 3.11.05:116
the Lord had the power to supply wine to those feasting, independently of any created IrnL.AH.3.11.05:117
substance, and to fill with food those who were hungry, He did not adopt this course; 3.11.05:119
but, taking the loaves which the earth had produced, and giving thanks, and IrnL.AH.3.11.05:120
on the other occasion making water wine, He satisfied those who were reclining [at 3.11.05:121
table], and gave drink to those who had been invited to the marriage; showing that 3.11.05:122
the God who made the earth, and commanded it to bring forth fruit, who established 3.11.05:123
the waters, and brought forth the fountains, was He who in these last times bestowed 3.11.05:124
upon mankind, by His Son, the blessing of food and the favour of drink: the Incomprehensible 3.11.05:125
[acting thus] by means of the comprehensible, and the Invisible by the 3.11.05:126
visible; since there is none beyond Him, but He exists in the bosom of the Father. 3.11.05:127
6. For "no man," he says, "hath seen God at any time," unless "the only-begotten 3.11.06:132
Son of God, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared 3.11.06:133
[Him]." For He, the Son who is in His bosom, declares to all the Father 3.11.06:134
who is invisible. Wherefore they know Him to whom the Son reveals Him; 3.11.06:135
and again, the Father, by means of the Son, gives knowledge of His Son 3.11.06:135
to those who love Him. By whom also Nathanael, being taught, recognised 3.11.06:136
[Him], he to whom also the Lord bare witness, that he was "an Israelite 3.11.06:138
indeed, in whom was no guile." The Israelite recognised his King, therefore 3.11.06:139
did he cry out to Him, "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the 3.11.06:140
King of Israel." By whom also Peter, having been taught, recognised Christ 3.11.06:141
as the Son of the living God, when [God] said, "Behold My dearly beloved IrnL.AH.3.11.06:142
Son, in whom I am well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon Him, and 3.11.06:143
He shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; 3.11.06:144
neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall 3.11.06:145
He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, until He send forth 3.11.06:146
judgment into contention ; and in His name shall the Gentiles trust." 3.11.06:147
7. Such, then, are the first principles3 of the Gospel: that there is one 3.11.07:150
God, the Maker of this universe; He who was also announced by the prophets, 3.11.07:151
and who by Moses set forth the dispensation of the law,--[principles] which 3.11.07:152
proclaim the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and ignore any other God 3.11.07:153
or Father except Him. So firm is the ground upon which these Gospels rest, 3.11.07:155
that the very heretics themselves bear witness to them, and, starting from 3.11.07:156
these [documents], each one of them endeavours to establish his own peculiar 3.11.07:157
doctrine. For the Ebionites, who use Matthew's Gospel only, are confuted 3.11.07:158
out of this very same, making false suppositions with regard to the 3.11.07:159
Lord. But Marcion, mutilating that according to Luke, is proved to be a blasphemer 3.11.07:161
of the only existing God, from those [passages] which he still retains. 3.11.07:162
Those, again, who separate Jesus from Christ, alleging that Christ 3.11.07:164
remained impassible, but that it was Jesus who suffered, preferring the 3.11.07:165
Gospel by Mark, if they read it with a love of truth, may have their errors 3.11.07:166
rectified. Those, moreover, who follow Valentinus, making copious use of 3.11.07:168
that according to John, to illustrate their conjunctions, shall be proved 3.11.07:169
to be totally in error by means of this very Gospel, as I have shown in 3.11.07:170
the first book. Since, then, our opponents do bear testimony to us, and make 3.11.07:172
use of these [documents], our proof derived from them is firm and true. 3.11.07:173
8. It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number 3.11.08:175
than they are. For, since there are four zones of the world in which 3.11.08:176
we live, and four principal winds, while the Church is scattered throughout 3.11.08:176
all the world, and the "pillar and ground" of the Church is the 3.11.08:177
Gospel and the spirit of life; it is fitting that she should have four 3.11.08:178
pillars, breathing out immortality on every side, and vivifying men 3.11.08:179
afresh. From which fact, it is evident that the Word, the Artificer of 3.11.08:180
all, He that sitteth upon the cherubim, and contains all things, He who 3.11.08:182
was manifested to men, has given us the Gospel under four aspects, but 3.11.08:183
bound together by one Spirit. As also David says, when entreating His 3.11.08:184
manifestation, "Thou that sittest between the cherubim, shine forth." 3.11.08:186
For the cherubim, too, were four-faced, and their faces were images of 3.11.08:187
the dispensation of the Son of God. For, [as the Scripture] says, "The 3.11.08:188
first living creature was like a lion," symbolizing His effectual working, 3.11.08:189
His leadership, and royal power; the second [living creature] was like 3.11.08:190
a calf, signifying [His] sacrificial and sacerdotal order; but "the 3.11.08:191
third had, as it were, the face as of a man,"--an evident description 3.11.08:192
of His advent as a human being; "the fourth was like a flying eagle," 3.11.08:193
pointing out the gift of the Spirit hovering with His wings over the Church. 3.11.08:194
And therefore the Gospels are in accord with these things, among 3.11.08:197
which Christ Jesus is seated. For that according to John relates His original, 3.11.08:198
effectual, and glorious generation from the Father, thus declaring, 3.11.08:199
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 3.11.08:200
Word was God." Also, "all things were made by Him, and without Him was 3.11.08:201
nothing made." For this reason, too, is that Gospel full of all confidence, 3.11.08:203
for such is His person. But that according to Luke, taking up [His] 3.11.08:204
priestly character, commenced with Zacharias the priest offering sacrifice 3.11.08:204
to God. For now was made ready the fatted calf, about to be immolated 3.11.08:205
for the finding again of the younger son. Matthew, again, relates 3.11.08:207
His generation as a man, saying, "The book of the generation of Jesus 3.11.08:208
Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham;" and also, "The birth 3.11.08:208
of Jesus Christ was on this wise." This, then, is the Gospel of His humanity; 3.11.08:209
for which reason it is, too, that [the character of] a humble and 3.11.08:210
meek man is kept up through the whole Gospel. Mark, on the other hand, 3.11.08:212
commences with [a reference to] the prophetical spirit coming down from 3.11.08:213
on high to men, saying, "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 3.11.08:214
as it is written in Esaias the prophet,"--pointing to the winged aspect 3.11.08:215
of the Gospel; and on this account he made a compendious and cursory 3.11.08:216
narrative, for such is the prophetical character. And the Word of God 3.11.08:217
Himself used to converse with the ante-Mosaic patriarchs, in accordance 3.11.08:218
with His divinity and glory; but for those under the law he instituted 3.11.08:220
a sacerdotal and liturgical service. Afterwards, being made man for us, 3.11.08:221
He sent the gift of the celestial Spirit over all the earth, protecting 3.11.08:222
us with His wings. Such, then, as was the course followed by the Son 3.11.08:223
of God, so was also the form of the living creatures; and such as was 3.11.08:226
the form of the living creatures, so was also the character of the Gospel. 3.11.08:227
For the living creatures are quadriform, and the Gospel is quadriform, 3.11.08:228
as is also the course followed by the Lord. For this reason were 3.11.08:229
four principal ({kaqolikai}) covenants given to the human race: one, prior 3.11.08:230
to the deluge, under Adam; the second, that after the deluge, under 3.11.08:231
Noah; the third, the giving of the law, under Moses; the fourth, that 3.11.08:232
which renovates man, and sums up all things in itself by means of the 3.11.08:233
Gospel, raising and bearing men uponheavenly kingdom.its wings into the 3.11.08:234
9. These things being so, all who destroy the form of the Gospel are vain, unlearned, 3.11.09:237
and also audacious; those, [I mean,] who represent the aspects of the Gospel as being 3.11.09:238
either more in number than as aforesaid, or, on the other hand, fewer. The former class IrnL.AH.3.11.09:239
[do so], that they may seem to have discovered more than is of the truth; the latter, 3.11.09:240
that they may set the dispensations of God aside. For Marcion, rejecting the entire Gospel, 3.11.09:242
yea rather, cutting himself off from the Gospel, boasts that he has part in the 3.11.09:243
[blessings of] the Gospel. Others, again (the Montanists), that they may set at nought IrnL.AH.3.11.09:245
the gift of the Spirit, which in the latter times has been, by the good pleasure of 3.11.09:246
the Father, poured out upon the human race, do not admit that aspect [of the evangelical 3.11.09:247
dispensation] presented by John's Gospel, in which the Lord promised that He would 3.11.09:248
send the Paraclete; but set aside at once both the Gospel and the prophetic Spirit. Wretched 3.11.09:251
men indeed! who wish to be pseudo-prophets, forsooth, but who set aside the gift 3.11.09:252
of prophecy from the Church; acting like those (the Encratitae) who, on account of such 3.11.09:253
as come in hypocrisy, hold themselves aloof from the communion of the brethren. We IrnL.AH.3.11.09:255
must conclude, moreover, that these men (the Montanists) can not admit the Apostle Paul 3.11.09:256
either. For, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, he speaks expressly of prophetical 3.11.09:257
gifts, and recognises men and women prophesying in the Church. Sinning, therefore, in 3.11.09:259
all these particulars, against the Spirit of God, they fall into the irremissible sin. 3.11.09:260
But those who are from Valentinus, being, on the other hand, altogether reckless, while IrnL.AH.3.11.09:260
they put forth their own compositions, boast that they possess more Gospels than there 3.11.09:261
really are. Indeed, they have arrived at such a pitch of audacity, as to entitle their 3.11.09:262
comparatively recent writing "the Gospel of Truth," though it agrees in nothing with 3.11.09:263
the Gospels of the Apostles, so that they have really no Gospel which is not full of 3.11.09:264
blasphemy. For if what they have published is the Gospel of truth, and yet is totally 3.11.09:267
unlike those which have been handed down to us from the apostles, any who please may 3.11.09:268
learn, as is shown from the Scriptures themselves, that that which has been handed down 3.11.09:269
from the apostles can no longer be reckoned the Gospel of truth. But that these Gospels 3.11.09:270
alone are true and reliable, and admit neither an increase nor diminution of the 3.11.09:272
aforesaid number, I have proved by so many and such [arguments]. For, since God made all 3.11.09:273
things in due proportion and adaptation, it was fit also that the outward aspect of 3.11.09:275
the Gospel should be well arranged and harmonized. The opinion of those men, therefore, 3.11.09:276
who handed the Gospel down to us, having been investigated, from their very fountainheads, 3.11.09:278
let us proceed also to the remaining apostles, and inquire into their doctrine 3.11.09:279
with regard to God; then, in due course we shall listen to the very words of the Lord. 3.11.09:280
1. The Apostle Peter, therefore, after the resurrection of the Lord, and His assumption 3.12.01:001
into the heavens, being desirous of filling up the number of the twelve apostles, 3.12.01:002
and in electing into the place of Judas any substitute who should be chosen by 3.12.01:003
God, thus addressed those who were present: "Men [and] brethren, this Scripture must IrnL.AH.3.12.01:004
needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of David, spake before IrnL.AH.3.12.01:005
concerning Judas, which was made guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered 3.12.01:006
with us: ... Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein; and, 3.12.01:007
His bishopric let another take;" --thus leading to the completion of the apostles, 3.12.01:008
according to the words spoken by David. Again, when the Holy Ghost had descended upon 3.12.01:012
the disciples, that they all might prophesy and speak with tongues, and some mocked IrnL.AH.3.12.01:013
them, as if drunken with new wine, Peter said that they were not drunken, for IrnL.AH.3.12.01:014
it was the third hour of the day; but that this was what had been spoken by the prophet: IrnL.AH.3.12.01:015
"It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit 3.12.01:016
upon all flesh, and they shall prophesy." The God, therefore, who did promise by 3.12.01:019
the prophet, that He would send His Spirit upon the whole human race, was He who did IrnL.AH.3.12.01:020
send; and God Himself is announced by Peter as having fulfilled His own promise. 3.12.01:021
2. For Peter said, "Ye men of Israel, hear my words; Jesus of Nazareth, 3.12.02:022
a man approved by God among you by powers, and wonders, and signs, which 3.12.02:023
God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, 3.12.02:024
being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, by 3.12.02:025
the hands of wicked men ye have slain, affixing [to the cross]: whom 3.12.02:026
God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death; because it was not 3.12.02:027
possible that he should be holden of them. For David speaketh concerning IrnL.AH.3.12.02:030
Him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face; for He is on my right 3.12.02:031
hand, lest I should be moved: therefore did my heart rejoice, and my 3.12.02:032
tongue was glad; moreover also, my flesh shall rest in hope: because Thou IrnL.AH.3.12.02:033
wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou give Thy Holy One 3.12.02:034
to see corruption." Then he proceeds to speak confidently to them concerning 3.12.02:035
the patriarch David, that he was dead and buried, and that his 3.12.02:036
sepulchre is with them to this day. He said, "But since he was a prophet, 3.12.02:038
and knew that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of 3.12.02:039
his body one should sit in his throne; foreseeing this, he spake of the 3.12.02:040
resurrection of Christ, that He was not left in hell, neither did His 3.12.02:041
flesh see corruption. This Jesus," he said, "hath God raised up, of 3.12.02:043
which we all are witnesses: who, being exalted by the right hand of God, 3.12.02:044
receiving from the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, hath shed forth 3.12.02:045
this gift which ye now see and hear. For David has not ascended into 3.12.02:046
the heavens; but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit Thou 3.12.02:047
on My fight hand, until I make Thy foes Thy footstool. Therefore let 3.12.02:048
all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made [that same 3.12.02:049
Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." And when the multitudes 3.12.02:050
exclaimed, "What shall we do then?" Peter says to them, "Repent, 3.12.02:052
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus for the remission 3.12.02:053
of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Thus the 3.12.02:054
apostles did not preach another God, or another Fulness; nor, that the 3.12.02:055
Christ who suffered and rose again was one, while he who flew off on 3.12.02:056
high was another, and remained impossible; but that there was one and the 3.12.02:057
same God the Father, and Christ Jesus who rose from the dead; and they 3.12.02:058
preached faith in Him, to those who did not believe on the Son of God, 3.12.02:061
and exhorted them out of the prophets, that the Christ whom God promised 3.12.02:062
to send, He sent in Jesus, whom they crucified and God raised up. 3.12.02:063
3. Again, when Peter, accompanied by John, had looked upon the man lame from 3.12.03:066
his birth, before that gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, sitting 3.12.03:067
and seeking alms, he said to him, "Silver and gold I have none; but such 3.12.03:068
as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up 3.12.03:069
and walk. And immediately his legs and his feet received strength; and he 3.12.03:071
walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and 3.12.03:072
praising God." Then, when a multitude had gathered around them from all quarters 3.12.03:074
because of this unexpected deed, Peter addressed them: "Ye men of Israel, 3.12.03:075
why marvel ye at this; or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though 3.12.03:076
by our own power we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, the God 3.12.03:077
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified His 3.12.03:078
Son, whom ye delivered up for judgment, and denied in the presence of Pilate, 3.12.03:079
when he wished to let Him go. But ye were bitterly set against the Holy 3.12.03:080
One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; but 3.12.03:081
ye killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof 3.12.03:082
we are witnesses. And in the faith of His name, him, whom ye see and know, 3.12.03:083
hath His name made strong; yea, the faith which is by Him, hath given him IrnL.AH.3.12.03:084
this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I wot 3.12.03:086
that through ignorance ye did this wickedness. ... But those things which 3.12.03:087
God before had showed by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ 3.12.03:088
should suffer, He hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, 3.12.03:089
that your sins may be blotted out, and that the times of refreshing may 3.12.03:090
come to you from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, 3.12.03:091
prepared for you beforehand, whom the heaven must indeed receive until the 3.12.03:092
times of the arrangement of all things, of which God hath spoken by His holy 3.12.03:094
prophets. For Moses truly said unto our fathers, Your Lord God Shall raise 3.12.03:095
up to you a Prophet from your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear 3.12.03:096
in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, 3.12.03:098
that every soul, whosoever will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed 3.12.03:099
from among the people. And all [the prophets] from Samuel, and henceforth, 3.12.03:100
as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the 3.12.03:101
children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, 3.12.03:101
saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the 3.12.03:102
earth be blessed. Unto you first, God, having raised up His Son, sent Him 3.12.03:104
blessing you, that each may turn himself from his iniquities." Peter, together 3.12.03:105
with John, preached to them this plain message of glad tidings, that 3.12.03:106
the promise which God made to the fathers had been fulfilled by Jesus; not 3.12.03:107
certainly proclaiming another god, but the Son of God, who also was made 3.12.03:108
man, and suffered; thus leading Israel into knowledge, and through Jesus preaching 3.12.03:109
the resurrection of the dead, and showing, that whatever the prophets 3.12.03:110
had proclaimed as to the suffering of Christ, these had God fulfilled. 3.12.03:111
4. For this reason, too, when the chief priests were assembled, Peter, full of IrnL.AH.3.12.04:115
boldness, said to them, "Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, if we 3.12.04:116
this day be examined by you of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what 3.12.04:117
means he has been made whole; be it known to you all, and to all the people 3.12.04:118
of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, 3.12.04:119
whom God raised from the dead, even by Him cloth this man stand here before you 3.12.04:120
whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is 3.12.04:122
become the head-stone of the corner. [Neither is there salvation in any other: 3.12.04:123
for] there is none other name under heaven, which is given to men, whereby we 3.12.04:124
must be saved:" Thus the apostles did not change God, but preached to the people 3.12.04:125
that Christ was Jesus the crucified One, whom the same God that had sent IrnL.AH.3.12.04:126
the prophets, being God Himself, raised up, and gave in Him salvation to men. 3.12.04:127
5. They were confounded, therefore, both by this instance of healing ("for the 3.12.05:130
man was above forty years old on whom this miracle of healing took place"), and 3.12.05:131
by the doctrine of the apostles, and by the exposition of the prophets, when 3.12.05:132
the chief priests had sent away Peter and John. [These latter] returned to the 3.12.05:133
rest of their fellow-apostles and disciples of the Lord, that is, to the Church, 3.12.05:134
and related what had occurred, and how courageously they had acted in the name 3.12.05:135
of Jesus. The whole Church, it is then said, "when they had heard that, lifted 3.12.05:136
up the voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, Thou art God, which hast 3.12.05:137
made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is; who, through 3.12.05:138
the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of our father David, Thy servant, hast said, Why 3.12.05:139
did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth 3.12.05:143
stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against 3.12.05:144
His Christ. For of a truth, in this city, against Thy holy Son Jesus, whom Thou 3.12.05:145
hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people 3.12.05:146
of Israel, were gathered together, to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel 3.12.05:147
determined before to be done." These [are the] voices of the Church from which 3.12.05:149
every Church had its origin; these are the voices of the metropolis of the 3.12.05:150
citizens of the new covenant; these are the voices of the apostles; these are 3.12.05:151
voices of the disciples of the Lord, the truly perfect, who, after the assumption 3.12.05:152
of the Lord, were perfected by the Spirit, and called upon the God who made 3.12.05:153
heaven, and earth, and the sea,--who was announced by the prophets,--and Jesus 3.12.05:154
Christ His Son, whom God anointed, and who knew no other [God]. For at that time 3.12.05:156
and place there was neither Valentinus, nor Marcion, nor the rest of these 3.12.05:157
subverters [of the truth], and their adherents. Wherefore God, the Maker of all 3.12.05:158
things, heard them. For it is said, "The place was shaken where they were assembled IrnL.AH.3.12.05:159
together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the 3.12.05:160
word of God with boldness" to every one that was willing to believe. "And with 3.12.05:163
great power," it is added, "gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of 3.12.05:164
the Lord Jesus," saying to them, "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom 3.12.05:165
ye seized and slew, hanging [Him] upon a beam of wood: Him hath God raised up 3.12.05:167
by His right hand to be a Prince and Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and 3.12.05:168
forgiveness of sins. And we are in this witnesses of these words; as also is IrnL.AH.3.12.05:169
the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that believe in Him." "And daily," 3.12.05:170
it is said, "in the temple, and from house to house, they ceased not to teach 3.12.05:171
and preach Christ Jesus," the Son of God. For this was the knowledge of salvation, 3.12.05:172
which renders those who acknowledge His Son's advent perfect towards God. 3.12.05:173
6. But as some of these men impudently assert that the apostles, when preaching among 3.12.06:175
the Jews, could not declare to them another god besides Him in whom they (their hearers) 3.12.06:176
believed, we say to them, that if the apostles used to speak to people in accordance 3.12.06:177
with the opinion instilled into them of old, no one learned the truth from 3.12.06:178
them, nor, at a much earlier date, from the Lord; for they say that He did Himself 3.12.06:179
speak after the same fashion. Wherefore neither do these men themselves know the truth; 3.12.06:182
but since such was their opinion regarding God, they had just received doctrine 3.12.06:183
as they were able to hear it. According to this manner of speaking, therefore, the 3.12.06:184
rule of truth can be with nobody; but all learners will ascribe this practice to all 3.12.06:185
[teachers], that just as every person thought, and as far as his capability extended, 3.12.06:186
so was also the language addressed to him. But the advent of the Lord will appear 3.12.06:188
superfluous and useless, if He did indeed come intending to tolerate and to preserve 3.12.06:189
each man's idea regarding God rooted in him from of old. Besides this, also, it 3.12.06:191
was a much heavier task, that He whom the Jews had seen as a man, and had fastened 3.12.06:192
to the cross, should be preached as Christ the Son of God, their eternal King. Since 3.12.06:194
this, however, was so, they certainly did not speak to them in accordance with their 3.12.06:195
old belief. For they, who told them to their face that they were the slayers of IrnL.AH.3.12.06:196
the Lord, would themselves also much more boldly preach that Father who is above the 3.12.06:197
Demiurge, and not what each individual bid himself believe [respecting God]; and the IrnL.AH.3.12.06:198
sin was much less, if indeed they had not fastened to the cross the superior Saviour 3.12.06:199
(to whom it behoved them to ascend), since He was impassible. For, as they did 3.12.06:202
not speak to the Gentiles in compliance with their notions, but told them with boldness IrnL.AH.3.12.06:203
that their gods were no gods, but the idols of demons; so would they in like manner 3.12.06:204
have preached to the Jews, if they had known another greater or more perfect Father, 3.12.06:205
not nourishing nor strengthening the untrue opinion of these men regarding God. 3.12.06:206
Moreover, while destroying the error of the Gentiles, and bearing them away from 3.12.06:208
their gods, they did not certainly induce another error upon them; but, removing those IrnL.AH.3.12.06:209
which were no gods, they pointed out Him who alone was God and the true Father. 3.12.06:210
7. From the words of Peter, therefore, which he addressed in Caesarea to Cornelius 3.12.07:212
the centurion, and those Gentiles with him, to whom the word of God 3.12.07:213
was first preached, we can understand what the apostles used to preach, 3.12.07:214
the nature of their preaching, and their idea with regard to God. For this 3.12.07:215
Cornelius was, it is said, "a devout man, and one who feared God with all 3.12.07:217
his house, giving much alms to the people, and praying to God always. He 3.12.07:218
saw therefore, about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in 3.12.07:219
to him, and saying, Thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. Wherefore 3.12.07:220
send to Simon, who is called Peter." But when Peter saw the vision, 3.12.07:222
in which the voice from heaven said to him, "What God hath cleansed, that IrnL.AH.3.12.07:223
call not thou common," this happened [to teach him] that the God who had, 3.12.07:224
through the law, distinguished between clean and unclean, was He who had purified 3.12.07:225
the Gentiles through the blood of His Son--He whom also Cornelius 3.12.07:226
worshipped; to whom Peter, coming in, said, "Of a truth I perceive that God 3.12.07:228
is no respecter of persons: but in every nation, he that feareth Him, and 3.12.07:229
worketh righteousness, is acceptable to Him." He thus clearly indicates, 3.12.07:230
that He whom Cornelius had previously feared as God, of whom he had heard 3.12.07:231
through the law and the prophets, for whose sake also he used to give alms, 3.12.07:232
is, in truth, God. the knowledge of the Son was, however, wanting to him; 3.12.07:235
therefore did [Peter] add, "The word, ye know, which was published throughout 3.12.07:235
all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached, 3.12.07:237
Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Ghost, and with 3.12.07:238
power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of 3.12.07:239
the devil; for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all those things 3.12.07:240
which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem; whom they slew, 3.12.07:241
hanging Him on a beam of wood: Him God raised up the third day, and showed 3.12.07:242
Him openly; not to all the people, but unto us, witnesses chosen before 3.12.07:244
of God, who did eat and drink with Him after the resurrection from the dead. IrnL.AH.3.12.07:245
And He commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it 3.12.07:246
is He which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. To Him 3.12.07:247
give all the prophets witness, that, through His name, every one that believeth 3.12.07:248
in Him does receive remission of sins." The apostles, therefore, did 3.12.07:249
preach the Son of God, of whom men were ignorant; and His advent, to those 3.12.07:250
who had been already instructed as to God; but they did not bring in another 3.12.07:251
god. For if Peter had known any such thing, he would have preached freely IrnL.AH.3.12.07:252
to the Gentiles, that the God of the Jews was indeed one, but the God 3.12.07:254
of the Christians another; and all of them, doubtless, being awe-struck because 3.12.07:255
of the vision of the angel, would have believed whatever he told them. 3.12.07:256
But it is evident from Peter's words that he did indeed still retain the 3.12.07:258
God who was already known to them; but he also bare witness to them that 3.12.07:259
Jesus Christ was the Son of God, the Judge of quick and dead, into whom 3.12.07:260
he did also command them to be baptized for the remission of sins; and not 3.12.07:261
this alone, but he witnessed that Jesus was Himself the Son of God, who also, 3.12.07:262
having been anointed with the Holy Spirit, is called Jesus Christ. And 3.12.07:265
He is the same being that was born of Mary, as the testimony of Peter implies. 3.12.07:266
Can it really be, that Peter was not at that time as yet in possession 3.12.07:267
of the perfect knowledge which these men discovered afterwards? According 3.12.07:268
to them, therefore, Peter was imperfect, and the rest of the apostles 3.12.07:269
were imperfect; and so it would be fitting that they, coming to life again, 3.12.07:270
should become disciples of these men, in order that they too might be made IrnL.AH.3.12.07:271
perfect. But this is truly ridiculous. These men, in fact, are proved to 3.12.07:272
be not disciples of the apostles, but of their own wicked notions. To this 3.12.07:273
cause also are due the various opinions which exist among them, inasmuch 3.12.07:273
as each one adopted error just as he was capable [of embracing it]. But the 3.12.07:274
Church throughout all the world, having its origin finn from the apostles, 3.12.07:276
perseveres in one and the same opinion with regard to God and His Son. 3.12.07:277
8. But again: Whom did Philip preach to the eunuch of the queen of the Ethiopians, returning 3.12.08:279
from Jerusalem, and reading Esaias the prophet, when he and this man were alone together? 3.12.08:280
Was it not He of whom the prophet spoke: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a 3.12.08:281
lamb dumb before the shearer, so He opened not the month?" "But who shall declare His nativity? 3.12.08:282
for His life shall be taken away from the earth." [Philip declared] that this was Jesus, IrnL.AH.3.12.08:284
and that the Scripture was fulfilled in Him; as did also the believing eunuch himself: and, 3.12.08:285
immediately requesting to be baptized, he said, "I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of 3.12.08:286
God." This man was also sent into the regions of Ethiopia, to preach what he had himself 3.12.08:288
believed, that there was one God preached by the prophets, but that the Son of this [God] had 3.12.08:289
already made [His] appearance in human nature (secundum hominem), and had been led as a 3.12.08:290
sheep to the slaughter; and all the other statements which the prophets made regarding Him. 3.12.08:291
9. Paul himself also--after that the Lord spoke to him out of heaven, and 3.12.09:294
showed him that, in persecuting His disciples, he persecuted his own Lord, 3.12.09:295
and sent Ananias to him that he might recover his sight, and be baptized-"preached," IrnL.AH.3.12.09:296
it is said, "Jesus in the synagogues at Damascus, with all freedom 3.12.09:297
of speech, that this is the Son of God, the Christ." This is the mystery 3.12.09:298
which he says was made known to him by revelation, that He who suffered 3.12.09:300
under Pontius Pilate, the same is Lord of all, and King, and God, and Judge, 3.12.09:301
receiving power from Him who is the God of all, because He became "obedient 3.12.09:302
unto death, even the death of the cross." And inasmuch as this is true, 3.12.09:303
when [preaching to the Athenians on the Areopagus--where, no Jews being IrnL.AH.3.12.09:306
present, he had it in his power to preach God with freedom of speech--he 3.12.09:307
said to them: "God, who made the world, and all things therein, He, being 3.12.09:308
Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither IrnL.AH.3.12.09:309
is He touched by men's hands, as though He needed anything, seeing He giveth 3.12.09:310
to all life, and breath, and all things; who hath made from one blood 3.12.09:311
the whole race of men to dwell upon the face of the whole earth, predetermining 3.12.09:312
the times according to the boundary of their habitation, to seek the 3.12.09:313
Deity, if by any means they might be able to track Him out, or find Him, 3.12.09:314
although He be not far from each of us. For in Him we live, and move, and 3.12.09:318
have our being, as certain men of your own have said, For we are also His 3.12.09:319
offspring. Inasmuch, then, as we are the offspring of God, we ought not 3.12.09:320
to think that the Deity is like unto gold or silver, or stone graven by art 3.12.09:321
or man's device. Therefore God, winking at the times of ignorance, does 3.12.09:322
now command all men everywhere to turn to Him with repentance; because He 3.12.09:323
hath appointed a day, on which the world shall be judged in righteousness 3.12.09:324
by the man Jesus; whereof He hath given assurance by raising, Him from the 3.12.09:325
dead." Now in this passage he does not only declare to them God as the Creator 3.12.09:326
of the world, no Jews being present, but that He did also make one race 3.12.09:327
of men to dwell upon all the earth; as also Moses declared: "When the 3.12.09:328
Most High divided the nations, as He scattered the sons of Adam, He set the 3.12.09:329
bounds of the nations after the number of the angels of God;" but that people 3.12.09:330
which believes in God is not now under the power of angels, but under 3.12.09:331
the Lord's [rule]. "For His people Jacob was made the portion of the Lord, 3.12.09:332
Israel the cord of His inheritance." And again, at Lystra of Lycia (Lycaonia), 3.12.09:333
when Paul was with Barnabas, and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ 3.12.09:338
had made a man to walk who had been lame from his birth, and when the 3.12.09:339
crowd wished to honour them as gods because of the astonishing deed, he said 3.12.09:340
to them: "We are men like unto you, preaching to you God, that ye may be IrnL.AH.3.12.09:341
turned away from these vain idols to [serve] the living God, who made heaven, 3.12.09:342
and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein; who in times 3.12.09:343
past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways, although He left not 3.12.09:344
Himself without witness, performing acts of goodness, giving you rain from IrnL.AH.3.12.09:345
heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness." 3.12.09:346
But that all his Epistles are consonant to these declarations, I shall, 3.12.09:350
when expounding the apostle, show from the Epistles themselves, in the right 3.12.09:351
place. But while I bring out by these proofs the truths of Scripture, 3.12.09:352
and set forth briefly and compendiously things which are stated in various 3.12.09:353
ways, do thou also attend to them with patience, and not deem them prolix; IrnL.AH.3.12.09:354
taking this into account, that proofs [of the things which are] contained 3.12.09:355
in the Scriptures cannot be shown except from the Scriptures themselves. 3.12.09:356
10. And still further, Stephen, who was chosen the first deacon by the apostles, 3.12.10:359
and who, of all men, was the first to follow the footsteps of the 3.12.10:360
martyrdom of the Lord, being the first that was slain for confessing Christ, 3.12.10:361
speaking boldly among the people, and teaching them, says: "The God of 3.12.10:362
glory appeared to our father Abraham, ... and said to him, Get thee out of 3.12.10:363
thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall 3.12.10:364
show thee; ... and He removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. 3.12.10:366
And He gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot 3.12.10:367
on; yet He promised that He would give it to him for a possession, and to 3.12.10:368
his seed after him. ... And God spake on this wise, That his seed should 3.12.10:369
sojourn in a strange land, and should be brought into bondage, and should 3.12.10:370
be evil-entreated four hundred years; and the nation whom they shall serve 3.12.10:371
will I judge, says the Lord. And after that shall they come forth, and 3.12.10:372
serve me in this place. And He gave him the covenant of circumcision: and 3.12.10:373
so [Abraham] begat Isaac." And the rest of his words announce the same God, 3.12.10:374
who was with Joseph and with the patriarchs, and who spake with Moses. 3.12.10:375
11. And that the whole range of the doctrine of the apostles proclaimed one and the same 3.12.11:378
God, who removed Abraham, who made to him the promise of inheritance, who in due IrnL.AH.3.12.11:379
season gave to him the covenant of circumcision, who called his descendants out of Egypt, 3.12.11:380
preserved outwardly by circumcision--for he gave it as a sign, that they might 3.12.11:381
not be like the Egyptians--that He was the Maker of all things, that He was the Father 3.12.11:382
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He was the God of glory,--they who wish may learn from IrnL.AH.3.12.11:383
the very words and acts of the apostles, and may contemplate the fact that this God 3.12.11:384
is one, above whom is no other. But even if there were another god above Him, we should 3.12.11:388
say, upon [instituting] a comparison of the quantity [of the work done by each], 3.12.11:389
that the latter is superior to the former. For by deeds the better man appears, as 3.12.11:390
I have already remarked; and, inasmuch as these men have no works of their father to IrnL.AH.3.12.11:391
adduce, the latter is shown to be God alone. But if any one, "doting about questions," IrnL.AH.3.12.11:393
do imagine that what the apostles have declared about God should be allegorized, let IrnL.AH.3.12.11:394
him consider my previous statements, in which I set forth one God as the Founder and IrnL.AH.3.12.11:395
Maker of all things, and destroyed and laid bare their allegations; and he shah find 3.12.11:396
them agreeable to the doctrine of the apostles, and so to maintain what they used 3.12.11:397
to teach, and were persuaded of, that there is one God, the Maker of all things. And 3.12.11:398
when he shall have divested his mind of such error, and of that blasphemy against God 3.12.11:400
which it implies, he will of himself find reason to acknowledge that both the Mosaic 3.12.11:401
law and the grace of the new covenant, as both fitted for the times [at which they 3.12.11:402
were given], were bestowed by one and the same God for the benefit of the human race. 3.12.11:403
12. For all those who are of a perverse mind, having been set against the Mosaic 3.12.12:407
legislation, judging it to be dissimilar and contrary to the doctrine of the 3.12.12:408
Gospel, have not applied themselves to investigate the causes of the difference 3.12.12:409
of each covenant. Since, therefore, they have been deserted by the paternal 3.12.12:410
love, and puffed up by Satan, being brought over to the doctrine of Simon Magus, 3.12.12:411
they have apostatized in their opinions from Him who is God, and imagined that 3.12.12:412
they have themselves discovered more than the apostles, by finding out another 3.12.12:413
god; and [maintained] that the apostles preached the Gospel still somewhat 3.12.12:414
under the influence of Jewish opinions, but that they themselves are purer [in 3.12.12:415
doctrine], and more intelligent, than the apostles. Wherefore also Marcion and 3.12.12:418
his followers have betaken themselves to mutilating the Scriptures, not acknowledging 3.12.12:419
some books at all; and, curtailing the Gospel according to Luke and 3.12.12:420
the Epistles of Paul, they assert that these are alone authentic, which they have 3.12.12:421
themselves thus shortened. In another work, however, I shall, God granting 3.12.12:422
[me strength], refute them out of these which they still retain. But all the 3.12.12:423
rest, inflated with the false name of "knowledge," do certainly recognise the 3.12.12:425
Scriptures; but they pervert the interpretations, as I have shown in the first 3.12.12:426
book. And, indeed, the followers of Marcion do directly blaspheme the Creator, 3.12.12:427
alleging him to be the creator of evils, [but] holding a more tolerable theory 3.12.12:428
as to his origin, [and] maintaining that there are two beings, gods by nature, 3.12.12:429
differing from each other,--the one being good, but the other evil. Those from 3.12.12:430
Valentinus, however, while they employ names of a more honourable kind, and 3.12.12:431
set forth that He who is Creator is both Father, and Lord, and God, do [nevertheless] 3.12.12:432
render their theory or sect more plasphemous, by maintaining that He was 3.12.12:433
not produced from any one of those Aeons within the Pleroma, but from that IrnL.AH.3.12.12:434
defect which had been expelled beyond the Pleroma. Ignorance of the Scriptures 3.12.12:435
and of the dispensation of God has brought all these things upon them. And in 3.12.12:438
the course of this work I shall touch upon the cause of the difference of the 3.12.12:439
covenants on the one hand, and, on the other hand, of their unity and harmony. 3.12.12:440
13. But that both the apostles and their disciples thus taught as the Church preaches, IrnL.AH.3.12.13:443
and thus teaching were perfected, wherefore also they were called away to that which IrnL.AH.3.12.13:444
is perfect--Stephen, teaching these truths, when he was yet on earth, saw the glory 3.12.13:445
of God, and Jesus on His right hand, and exclaimed, "Behold, I see the heavens 3.12.13:446
opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." These words he said, IrnL.AH.3.12.13:447
and was stoned; and thus did he fulfil the perfect doctrine, copying in every respect 3.12.13:449
the Leader of martyrdom, and praying for those who were slaying him, in these words: IrnL.AH.3.12.13:450
"Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." Thus were they perfected who knew one 3.12.13:451
and the same God, who from beginning to end was present with mankind in the various 3.12.13:453
dispensations; as the prophet Hosea declares: "I have filled up visions, and used 3.12.13:454
similitudes by the hands of the prophets." Those, therefore, who delivered up their 3.12.13:455
souls to death for Christ's Gospel--how could they have spoken to men in accordance IrnL.AH.3.12.13:457
with old-established opinion? If this had been the course adopted by them, they should 3.12.13:458
not have suffered; but inasmuch as they did preach things contrary to those persons 3.12.13:460
who did not assent to the truth, for that reason they suffered. It is evident, 3.12.13:461
therefore, that they did not relinquish the truth, but with all boldness preached to 3.12.13:462
the Jews and Greeks. To the Jews, indeed, [they proclaimed] that the Jesus who was IrnL.AH.3.12.13:463
crucified by them was the Son of God, the Judge of quick and dead, and that He has 3.12.13:464
received from His Father an eternal kingdom in Israel, as I have pointed out; but 3.12.13:465
to the Greeks they preached one God, who made all things, and Jesus Christ His Son. 3.12.13:466
14. This is shown in a still clearer light from the letter of the apostles, which 3.12.14:470
they forwarded neither to the Jews nor to the Greeks, but to those who from IrnL.AH.3.12.14:471
the Gentiles believed in Christ, confirming their faith. For when certain men 3.12.14:472
had come down from Judea to Antioch--where also, first of all, the Lord's disciples 3.12.14:473
were called Christians, because of their faith in Christ--and sought to 3.12.14:474
persuade those who had believed on the Lord to be circumcised, and to perform 3.12.14:475
other things after the observance of the law; and when Paul and Barnabas had 3.12.14:476
gone up to Jerusalem to the apostles on account of this question, and the whole 3.12.14:477
Church had convened together, Peter thus addressed them: "Men, brethren, ye 3.12.14:478
know how that from the days of old God made choice among you, that the Gentiles 3.12.14:479
by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe. And God, the Searcher IrnL.AH.3.12.14:480
of the heart, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as to 3.12.14:481
us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 3.12.14:482
Now therefore why tempt ye God, to impose a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, 3.12.14:486
which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that, 3.12.14:487
through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are to be saved, even as they." 3.12.14:489
After him James spoke as follows: "Men, brethren, Simon hath declared how God 3.12.14:490
did purpose to take from among the Gentiles a people for His name. And thus 3.12.14:490
do the words of the prophets agree, as it is written, After this I will return, 3.12.14:491
and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will 3.12.14:493
build the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: that the residue of men may 3.12.14:494
seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, among whom my name has been invoked, 3.12.14:495
saith the Lord, doing these things. Known from eternity is His work to God. 3.12.14:496
Wherefore I for my part give judgment, that we trouble not them who from among 3.12.14:498
the Gentiles are turned to God: but that it be enjoined them, that they do abstain 3.12.14:499
from the vanities of idols, and from fornication, and from blood; and whatsoever 3.12.14:500
they wish not to be done to themselves, let them not do to others." And 3.12.14:501
when these things had been said, and all had given their consent, they wrote 3.12.14:503
to them after this manner: "The apostles, and the presbyters, [and] the brethren, 3.12.14:504
unto those brethren from among the Gentiles who are in Antioch, and Syria, 3.12.14:505
and Cilicia, greeting: Forasmuch as we have heard that certain persons going 3.12.14:506
out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must 3.12.14:507
be circumcised, and keep the law; to whom we gave no such commandment: it 3.12.14:508
seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto 3.12.14:509
you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul; men who have delivered up their soul for 3.12.14:510
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, IrnL.AH.3.12.14:513
that they may declare our opinion by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy 3.12.14:514
Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 3.12.14:514
that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from fornication; 3.12.14:515
and whatsoever ye do not wish to be done to you, do not ye to others: 3.12.14:516
from which preserving yourselves, ye shall do well, walking in the Holy Spirit." 3.12.14:517
From all these passages, then, it is evident that they did not teach the 3.12.14:519
existence of another Father, but gave the new covenant of liberty to those who 3.12.14:520
had lately believed in God by the Holy Spirit. But they clearly indicated, from 3.12.14:521
the nature of the point debated by them, as to whether or not it were still 3.12.14:523
necessary to circumcise the disciples, that they had no idea of another god. IrnL.AH.3.12.14:524
15. Neither [in that case] would they have had such a tenor with regard to the first 3.12.15:527
covenant, as not even to have been willing to eat with the Gentiles. For even Peter, 3.12.15:528
although he had been sent to instruct them, and had been constrained by a vision 3.12.15:529
to that effect, spake nevertheless with not a little hesitation, saying to them: 3.12.15:530
"Ye know how it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company with, 3.12.15:531
or to come unto, one of another nation; but God hath shown me that I should not 3.12.15:532
call any man common or unclean. Therefore came I without gainsaying;" indicating by 3.12.15:533
these words, that he would not have come to them unless he had been commanded. Neither, 3.12.15:534
for a like reason, would he have given them baptism so readily, had he not heard 3.12.15:537
them prophesying when the Holy Ghost rested upon them. And therefore did he exclaim, 3.12.15:538
"Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received 3.12.15:539
the Holy Ghost as well as we?" He persuaded, at the same time, those that were 3.12.15:540
with him, and pointed out that, unless the Holy Ghost had rested upon them, there 3.12.15:541
might have been some one who would have raised objections to their baptism. And the 3.12.15:542
apostles who were with James allowed the Gentiles to act freely, yielding us up 3.12.15:545
to the Spirit of God. But they themselves, while knowing the same God, continued in 3.12.15:546
the ancient observances; so that even Peter, fearing also lest he might incur their 3.12.15:547
reproof, although formerly eating with the Gentiles, because of the vision, and 3.12.15:548
of the Spirit who had rested upon them, yet, when certain persons came from James, 3.12.15:549
withdrew himself, and did not eat with them. And Paul said that Barnabas likewise 3.12.15:550
did the same thing. Thus did the apostles, whom the Lord made witnesses of every action 3.12.15:554
and of every doctrine--for upon all occasions do we find Peter, and James, and 3.12.15:555
John present with Him--scrupulously act according to the dispensation of the Mosaic 3.12.15:556
law, showing that it was from one and the same God; which they certainly never 3.12.15:557
would have done, as I have already said, if they had learned from the Lord [that there 3.12.15:559
existed] another Father besides Him who appointed the dispensation of the law. 3.12.15:560
1. With regard to those (the Marcionites) who allege that Paul alone knew the truth, and IrnL.AH.3.13.01:001
that to him the mystery was manifested by revelation, let Paul himself convict them, when 3.13.01:002
he says, that one and the same God wrought in Peter for the apostolate of the circumcision, 3.13.01:003
and in himself for the Gentiles. Peter, therefore, was an apostle of that very 3.13.01:005
God whose was also Paul; and Him whom Peter preached as God among those of the circumcision, 3.13.01:006
and likewise the Son of God, did Paul [declare] also among the Gentiles. For our 3.13.01:008
Lord never came to save Paul alone, nor is God so limited in means, that He should have 3.13.01:009
but one apostle who knew the dispensation of His Son. And again, when Paul says, "How 3.13.01:011
beautiful are the feet of those bringing glad tidings of good things, and preaching the 3.13.01:012
Gospel of peace," he shows clearly that it was not merely one, but there were many who 3.13.01:013
used to preach the truth. And again, in the Epistle to the Corinthians, when he had recounted 3.13.01:014
all those who had seen God after the resurrection, he says in continuation, "But 3.13.01:015
whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed, " acknowledging as one and 3.13.01:016
the same, the preaching of all those who saw God after the resurrection from the dead. IrnL.AH.3.13.01:017
2. And again, the Lord replied to Philip, who wished to behold the Father, 3.13.02:021
"Have I been so long a time with you, and yet thou hast not known Me, 3.13.02:022
Philip? He that sees Me, sees also the Father; and how sayest thou then, 3.13.02:023
Show us the Father? For I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; and henceforth 3.13.02:024
ye know Him, and have seen Him." To these men, therefore, did the 3.13.02:025
Lord bear witness, that in Himself they had both known and seen the Father IrnL.AH.3.13.02:026
(and the Father is truth). To allege, then, that these men did not 3.13.02:027
know the truth, is to act the part of false witnesses, and of those who 3.13.02:028
have been alienated from the doctrine of Christ. For why did the Lord send 3.13.02:030
the twelve apostles to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, if these 3.13.02:031
men did not know the truth? How also did the seventy preach, unless they 3.13.02:032
had themselves previously known the truth of what was preached? Or how 3.13.02:033
could Peter have been in ignorance, to whom the Lord gave testimony, that IrnL.AH.3.13.02:034
flesh and blood had not revealed to him, but the Father, who is in heaven? 3.13.02:035
Just, then, as" Paul [was] an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but 3.13.02:037
by Jesus Christ, and God the Father," [so with the rest;] the Son indeed 3.13.02:038
leading them to the Father, but the Father revealing to them the Son. 3.13.02:039
3. But that Paul acceded to [the request of] those who summoned him to the apostles, IrnL.AH.3.13.03:041
on account of the question [which had been raised], and went up to them, 3.13.03:042
with Barnabas, to Jerusalem, not without reason, but that the liberty of the 3.13.03:043
Gentiles might be confirmed by them, he does himself say, in the Epistle to the 3.13.03:044
Galatians: "Then, fourteen years after, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, 3.13.03:045
taking also Titus. But I went up by revelation, and communicated to them 3.13.03:047
that Gospel which I preached among the Gentiles." And again he says, "For an 3.13.03:048
hour we did give place to subjection, that the truth of the gospel might continue 3.13.03:049
with you." If, then, any one shall, from the Acts of the Apostles, carefully 3.13.03:050
scrutinize the time concerning which it is written that he went up to Jerusalem 3.13.03:051
on account of the forementioned question, he will find those years mentioned 3.13.03:052
by Paul coinciding with it. Thus the statement of Paul harmonizes with, and IrnL.AH.3.13.03:054
is, as it were, identical with, the testimony of Luke regarding the apostles. 3.13.03:055
1. But that this Luke was inseparable from Paul, and his fellow-labourer in 3.14.01:001
the Gospel, he himself clearly evinces, not as a matter of boasting, but 3.14.01:002
as bound to do so by the truth itself. For he says that when Barnabas, and 3.14.01:003
John who was called Mark, had parted company from Paul, and sailed to Cyprus, 3.14.01:004
"we came to Troas;" and when Paul had beheld in a dream a man of Macedonia, 3.14.01:005
saying, "Come into Macedonia, Paul, and help us," "immediately," he 3.14.01:006
says, "we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, understanding that the Lord had 3.14.01:007
called us to preach the Gospel unto them. Therefore, sailing from Troas, 3.14.01:008
we directed our ship's course towards Samothracia." And then he carefully IrnL.AH.3.14.01:011
indicates all the rest of their journey as far as Philippi, and how they delivered 3.14.01:012
their first address: "for, sitting down," he says, "we spake unto 3.14.01:013
the women who had assembled;" and certain believed, even a great many. And 3.14.01:014
again does he say, "But we sailed from Philippi after the days of unleavened 3.14.01:016
bread, and came to Troas, where we abode seven days." And all the remaining 3.14.01:017
[details] of his course with Paul he recounts, indicating with all diligence 3.14.01:019
both places, and cities, and number of days, until they went up to 3.14.01:020
Jerusalem; and what befell Paul there, how he was sent to Rome in bonds; the 3.14.01:021
name of the centurion who took him in charge; and the signs of the ships, 3.14.01:022
and how they made shipwreck; and the island upon which they escaped, and 3.14.01:023
how they received kindness there, Paul healing the chief man of that island; IrnL.AH.3.14.01:024
and how they sailed from thence to Puteoli, and from that arrived at Rome; 3.14.01:025
and for what period they sojourned at Rome. As Luke was present at all 3.14.01:026
these occurrences, he carefully noted them down in writing, so that he cannot 3.14.01:030
be convicted of falsehood or boastfulness, because all these [particulars] 3.14.01:031
proved both that he was senior to all those who now teach otherwise, 3.14.01:032
and that he was not ignorant of the truth. That he was not merely a follower, IrnL.AH.3.14.01:034
but also a fellow-labourer of the apostles, but especially of Paul, Paul 3.14.01:035
has himself declared also in the Epistles, saying: "Demas hath forsaken me, 3.14.01:036
... and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 3.14.01:037
Only Luke is with me." From this he shows that he was always attached 3.14.01:039
to and inseparable from him. And again he says, in the Epistle to the Colossians: 3.14.01:040
"Luke, the beloved physician, greets you." But surely if Luke, 3.14.01:041
who always preached in company with Paul, and is called by him "the beloved," 3.14.01:042
and with him performed the work of an evangelist, and was entrusted to 3.14.01:043
hand down to us a Gospel, learned nothing different from him (Paul), as has IrnL.AH.3.14.01:044
been pointed out from his words, how can these men, who were never attached 3.14.01:045
to Paul, boast that they have learned hidden and unspeakable mysteries? 3.14.01:046
2. But that Paul taught with simplicity what he knew, not only to those who were 3.14.02:049
[employed] with him, but to those that heard him, he does himself make manifest. 3.14.02:050
For when the bishops and presbyters who came from Ephesus and the other IrnL.AH.3.14.02:051
cities adjoining had assembled in Miletus, since he was himself hastening 3.14.02:052
to Jerusalem to observe Pentecost, after testifying many things to them, and 3.14.02:053
declaring what must happen to him at Jerusalem, he added: "I know that ye shall 3.14.02:054
see my face no more. Therefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure IrnL.AH.3.14.02:057
from the blood of all. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the 3.14.02:058
counsel of God. Take heed, therefore, both to yourselves, and to all the flock 3.14.02:059
over which the Holy Ghost has placed you as bishops, to rule the Church 3.14.02:060
of the Lord, which He has acquired for Himself through His own blood." Then, 3.14.02:062
referring to the evil teachers who should arise, he said: "I know that after 3.14.02:063
my departure shall grievous wolves come to you, not sparing the flock. Also IrnL.AH.3.14.02:065
of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples IrnL.AH.3.14.02:066
after them." "I have not shunned," he says, "to declare unto you all 3.14.02:066
the counsel of God." Thus did the apostles simply, and without respect of persons, 3.14.02:067
deliver to all what they had themselves learned from the Lord. Thus also 3.14.02:068
does Luke, without respect of persons, deliver to us what he had learned from 3.14.02:069
them, as he has himself testified, saying, "Even as they delivered them unto 3.14.02:070
us, who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word." 3.14.02:071
3. Now if any man set Luke aside, as one who did not know the truth, he will, [by so acting,] 3.14.03:074
manifestly reject that Gospel of which he claims to be a disciple. For through 3.14.03:075
him we have become acquainted with very many and important parts of the Gospel; for instance, 3.14.03:076
the generation of John, the history of Zacharias, the coming of the angel to Mary, 3.14.03:077
the exclamation of Elisabeth, the descent of the angels to the shepherds, the words spoken 3.14.03:078
by them, the testimony of Anna and of Simeon with regard to Christ, and that twelve 3.14.03:079
years of age He was left behind at Jerusalem; also the baptism of John, the number of IrnL.AH.3.14.03:080
the Lord's years when He was baptized, and that this occurred in the fifteenth year of 3.14.03:081
Tiberius Caesar. And in His office of teacher this is what He has said to the rich: "Woe 3.14.03:082
unto you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation;" and "Woe unto you that IrnL.AH.3.14.03:083
are full, for ye shall hunger; and ye who laugh now, for ye shall weep;" and, "Woe unto IrnL.AH.3.14.03:084
you when all men shall speak well of you: for so did your fathers to the false prophets." 3.14.03:085
All things of the following kind we have known through Luke alone (and numerous 3.14.03:086
actions of the Lord we have learned through him, which also all [the Evangelists] notice): 3.14.03:091
the multitude of fishes which Peter's companions enclosed, when at the Lord's command 3.14.03:092
they cast the nets; the woman who had suffered for eighteen years, and was healed on IrnL.AH.3.14.03:093
the Sabbath-day; the man who had the dropsy, whom the Lord made whole on the Sabbath, and 3.14.03:094
how He did defend Himself for having performed an act of healing on that day; how He IrnL.AH.3.14.03:095
taught His disciples not to aspire to the uppermost rooms; how we should invite the poor 3.14.03:096
and feeble, who cannot recompense us; the man who knocked during the night to obtain 3.14.03:097
loaves, and did obtain them, because of the urgency of his importunity; how, when [our IrnL.AH.3.14.03:098
Lord] was sitting at meat with a Pharisee, a woman that was a sinner kissed His feet, and 3.14.03:099
anointed them with ointment, with what the Lord said to Simon on her behalf concerning 3.14.03:100
the two debtors; also about the parable of that rich man who stored up the goods which IrnL.AH.3.14.03:101
had accrued to him, to whom it was also said, "In this night they shall demand thy soul 3.14.03:102
from thee; whose then shall those things be which thou hast prepared?" and similar to IrnL.AH.3.14.03:103
this, that of the rich man, who was clothed in purple and who fared sumptuously, and 3.14.03:104
the indigent Lazarus; also the answer which He gave to His disciples when they said, "Increase 3.14.03:105
our faith;" also His conversation with Zaccheus the publican; also about the Pharisee IrnL.AH.3.14.03:106
and the publican, who were praying in the temple at the same time; also the ten lepers, IrnL.AH.3.14.03:107
whom He cleansed in the way simultaneously; also how He ordered the lame and the IrnL.AH.3.14.03:108
blind to be gathered to the wedding from the lanes and streets; also the parable of the IrnL.AH.3.14.03:109
judge who feared not God, whom the widow's importunity led to avenge her cause; and about 3.14.03:110
the fig-tree in the vineyard which produced no fruit. There are also many other particulars 3.14.03:111
to be found mentioned by Luke alone, which are made use of by both Marcion and 3.14.03:112
Valentinus. And besides all these, [he records] what [Christ] said to His disciples in 3.14.03:113
the way, after the resurrection, and how they recognised Him in the breaking of bread. IrnL.AH.3.14.03:114
4. It follows then, as of course, that these men must either receive the rest of 3.14.04:126
his narrative, or else reject these parts also. For no persons of common sense 3.14.04:127
can permit them to receive some things recounted by Luke as being true, and to set 3.14.04:128
others aside, as if he had not known the truth. And if indeed Marcion's followers 3.14.04:129
reject these, they will then possess no Gospel; for, curtailing that according 3.14.04:131
to Luke, as I havesaid already, they boast in having the Gospel [in what remains]. 3.14.04:132
But the followers of Valentinus must give up their utterly vain talk; for 3.14.04:133
they have taken from that [Gospel] many occasions for their own speculations, 3.14.04:134
to put an evil interpretation upon what he has well said. If, on the other hand, 3.14.04:135
they feel compelled to receive the remaining portions also, then, by studying 3.14.04:138
the perfect Gospel, and the doctrine of the apostles, they will find it necessary 3.14.04:139
to repent, that they may be saved from the danger [to which they are exposed]. 3.14.04:140
1. But again, we allege the same against those who do not recognise Paul as 3.15.01:001
an apostle: that they should either reject the other words of the Gospel which 3.15.01:002
we have come to know through Luke alone, and not make use of them; or else, 3.15.01:003
if they do receive all these, they must necessarily admit also that testimony IrnL.AH.3.15.01:004
concerning Paul, when he (Luke) tells us that the Lord spoke at first 3.15.01:005
to him from heaven: "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? I am Jesus Christ, 3.15.01:006
whom thou persecutest; " and then to Ananias, saying regarding him: "Go thy 3.15.01:008
way; for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name among the Gentiles, 3.15.01:009
and kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him, from this time, 3.15.01:010
how great things he must suffer for My name's sake." Those, therefore, who 3.15.01:012
do not accept of him [as a teacher], who was chosen by God for this purpose, 3.15.01:013
that he might boldly bear His name, as being sent to the forementioned 3.15.01:014
nations, do despise the election of God, and separate themselves from the company 3.15.01:015
of the apostles. For neither can they contend that Paul was no apostle, 3.15.01:017
when he was chosen for this purpose; nor can they prove Luke guilty of falsehood, 3.15.01:018
when he proclaims the truth to us with all diligence. It may be, indeed, 3.15.01:019
that it was with this view that God set forth very many Gospel truths, 3.15.01:021
through Luke's instrumentality, which all should esteem it necessary to use, 3.15.01:022
in order that all persons, following his subsequent testimony, which treats 3.15.01:023
upon the acts and the doctrine of the apostles, and holding the unadulterated 3.15.01:024
rule of truth, may be saved. His testimony, therefore, is true, and the 3.15.01:026
doctrine of the apostles is open and stedfast, holding nothing in reserve; 3.15.01:027
nor did they teach one set of doctrines in private, and another in public. 3.15.01:028
2. For this is the subterfuge of false persons, evil seducers, and hypocrites, as 3.15.02:030
they act who are from Valentinus. These men discourse to the multitude about those 3.15.02:031
who belong to the Church, whom they do themselves term "vulgar," and "ecclesiastic." 3.15.02:032
By these words they entrap the more simple, and entice them, imitating our phraseology, 3.15.02:033
that these [dupes] may listen to them the oftener; and then these are asked IrnL.AH.3.15.02:034
regarding us, how it is, that when they hold doctrines similar to ours, we, without 3.15.02:035
cause, keep ourselves aloof from their company; and [how it is, that] when 3.15.02:036
they say the same things, and hold the same doctrine, we call them heretics? When 3.15.02:037
they have thus, by means of questions, overthrown the faith of any, and rendered 3.15.02:040
them uncontradicting hearers of their own, they describe to them in private the unspeakable 3.15.02:041
mystery of their Pleroma. But they are altogether deceived, who imagine 3.15.02:042
that they may learn from the Scriptural texts adduced by heretics, that [doctrine] 3.15.02:043
which their words plausibly teach. For error is plausible, and bears a resemblance 3.15.02:044
to the truth, but requires to be disguised; while truth is without disguise, and 3.15.02:045
therefore has been entrusted to children. And if any one of their auditors do indeed 3.15.02:046
demand explanations, or start objections to them, they affirm that he is one IrnL.AH.3.15.02:047
not capable of receiving the truth, and not having from above the seed [derived] 3.15.02:048
from their Mother; and thus really give him no reply, but simply declare that he 3.15.02:049
is of the intermediate regions, that is, belongs to animal natures. But if any one 3.15.02:050
do yield himself up to them like a little sheep, and follows out their practice, 3.15.02:052
and their "redemption," such an one is puffed up to such an extent, that he thinks 3.15.02:053
he is neither in heaven nor on earth, but that he has passed within the Pleroma; 3.15.02:054
and having already embraced his angel, he walks with a strutting gait and a supercilious 3.15.02:055
countenance, possessing all the pompous air of a cock. There are those among 3.15.02:056
them who assert that that man who comes from above ought to follow a good course 3.15.02:058
of conduct; wherefore they do also pretend a gravity [of demeanour] with a certain 3.15.02:059
superciliousness. The majority, however, having become scoffers also, as if already 3.15.02:060
perfect, and living without regard [to appearances], yea, in contempt [of that 3.15.02:062
which is good], call themselves "the spiritual," and allege that they have already 3.15.02:063
become acquainted with that place of refreshing which is within their Pleroma. 3.15.02:064
3. But let us revert to the same line of argument [hitherto pursued]. For when 3.15.03:066
it has been manifestly declared, that they who were the preachers of the truth 3.15.03:067
and the apostles of liberty termed no one else God, or named him Lord, except the 3.15.03:068
only true God the Father, and His Word, who has the pre-eminence in all things; 3.15.03:069
it shall then be clearly proved, that they (the apostles) confessed as the Lord 3.15.03:070
God Him who was the Creator of heaven and earth, who also spoke with Moses, 3.15.03:071
gave to him the dispensation of the law, and who called the fathers; and that they 3.15.03:072
knew no other. The opinion of the apostles, therefore, and of those (Marks 3.15.03:075
and Luke) who learned from their words, concerning God, has been made manifest. 3.15.03:076
1. But there are some who say that Jesus was merely a receptacle of Christ, upon whom the 3.16.01:001
Christ, as a dove, descended from above, and that when He had declared the unnameable Father 3.16.01:002
He entered into the Pleroma in an incomprehensible and invisible manner: for that He IrnL.AH.3.16.01:003
was not comprehended, not only by men, but not even by those powers and virtues which are 3.16.01:004
in heaven, and that Jesus was the Son, but that Christ was the Father, and the Father IrnL.AH.3.16.01:005
of Christ, God; while others say that He merely suffered in outward appearance, being naturally 3.16.01:006
impassible. The Valentinians, again, maintain that the dispensational Jesus was the IrnL.AH.3.16.01:007
same who passed through Mary, upon whom that Saviour from the more exalted [region] descended, 3.16.01:008
who was also termed Pan, because He possessed the names (vocabula) of all those who 3.16.01:009
had produced Him; but that [this latter] shared with Him, the dispensational one, His 3.16.01:010
power and His name; so that by His means death was abolished, but the Father was made known 3.16.01:011
by that Saviour who had descended from above, whom they do also allege to be Himself 3.16.01:012
the receptacle of Christ and of the entire Pleroma; confessing, indeed, in tongue one Christ 3.16.01:013
Jesus, but being divided in [actual] opinion: for, as I have already observed, it is 3.16.01:014
the practice of these men to say that there was one Christ, who was produced by Monogenes, 3.16.01:015
for the confirmation of the Pleroma; but that another, the Saviour, was sent [forth] 3.16.01:016
for the glorification of the Father; and yet another, the dispensational one, and whom they 3.16.01:017
represent as having suffered, who also bore [in himself] Christ, that Saviour who returned 3.16.01:018
into the Pleroma. I judge it necessary therefore to take into account the entire mind 3.16.01:019
of the apostles regarding our Lord Jesus Christ, and to show that not only did they never 3.16.01:020
hold any such opinions regarding Him; but, still further, that they announced through 3.16.01:021
the Holy Spirit, that those who should teach such doctrines were agents of Satan, sent 3.16.01:022
forth for the purpose of overturning the faith of some, and drawing them away from life. IrnL.AH.3.16.01:023
2. That John knew the one and the same Word of God, and that He was the only 3.16.02:034
begotten, and that He became incarnate for our salvation, Jesus Christ our 3.16.02:035
Lord, I have sufficiently proved from the word of John himself. And Matthew, 3.16.02:036
too, recognising one and the same Jesus Christ, exhibiting his generation 3.16.02:039
as a man from the Virgin, even as God did promise David that He would raise 3.16.02:040
up from the fruit of his body an eternal King, having made the same promise 3.16.02:041
to Abraham a long time previously, says: "The book of the generation of 3.16.02:042
Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" Then, that he might free 3.16.02:043
our mind from suspicion regarding Joseph, he says: "But the birth of Christ 3.16.02:045
was on this wise. When His mother was espoused to Joseph, before they came 3.16.02:046
together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost." Then, when Joseph 3.16.02:047
had it in contemplation to put Mary away, since she proved with child, [Matthew 3.16.02:048
tells us of] the angel of God standing by him, and saying: "Fear not to 3.16.02:049
take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the 3.16.02:050
Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus; 3.16.02:053
for He shall save His people from their sins. Now this was done, that 3.16.02:054
it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet: Behold. 3.16.02:055
a virgin shall conceive, and bring forth a son, and they shall call His name 3.16.02:056
Emmanuel, which is, God with us;" clearly signifying that both the promise 3.16.02:057
made to the fathers had been accomplished, that the Son of God was born of 3.16.02:058
a virgin, and that He Himself was Christ the Saviour whom the prophets had 3.16.02:059
foretold; not, as these men assert, that Jesus was He who was born of Mary, 3.16.02:061
but that Christ was He who descended from above. Matthew might certainly 3.16.02:062
have said, "Now the birth of Jesus was on this wise;" but the Holy Ghost, foreseeing 3.16.02:064
the corrupters [of the truth], and guarding by anticipation against 3.16.02:065
their deceit, says by Matthew, "But the birth of Christ was on this wise;" 3.16.02:066
and that He is Emmanuel, lest perchance we might consider Him as a mere man: 3.16.02:067
for "not by the will of the flesh nor by the will of man, but by the will 3.16.02:068
of God was the Word made flesh;" and that we should not imagine that Jesus 3.16.02:069
was one, and Christ another, but should know them to be one and the same. 3.16.02:070
3. Paul, when writing to the Romans, has explained this very point: "Paul, an apostle IrnL.AH.3.16.03:074
of Jesus Christ, predestinated unto the Gospel of God, which He had promised by 3.16.03:075
His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was made to Him of the IrnL.AH.3.16.03:076
seed of David according to the flesh, who was predestinated the Son of God with 3.16.03:077
power through the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead of our Lord 3.16.03:078
Jesus Christ." And again, writing to the Romans about Israel, he says: "Whose are 3.16.03:079
the fathers, and from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, 3.16.03:080
blessed for ever." And again, in his Epistle to the Galatians, he says: "But when 3.16.03:081
the fulness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under IrnL.AH.3.16.03:082
the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption; 3.16.03:083
" plainly indicating one God, who did by the prophets make promise of the Son, 3.16.03:084
and one Jesus Christ our Lord, who was of the seed of David according to His birth 3.16.03:085
from Mary; and that Jesus Christ was appointed the Son of God with power, according IrnL.AH.3.16.03:086
to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, as being the first 3.16.03:087
begotten in all the creation; the Son of God being made the Son Of man, that through 3.16.03:088
Him we may receive the adoption,--humanity sustaining, and receiving, and embracing IrnL.AH.3.16.03:089
the Son of God. Wherefore Mark also says: "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus 3.16.03:090
Christ, the Son of God; as it is written in the prophets." Knowing one and the 3.16.03:098
same Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was announced by the prophets, who from the fruit 3.16.03:099
of David's body was Emmanuel, "'the messenger of great counsel of the Father;" 3.16.03:100
through whom God caused the day-spring and the Just One to arise to the house of 3.16.03:101
David, and raised up for him an horn of salvation, "and established a testimony in 3.16.03:104
Jacob;" as David says when discoursing on the causes of His birth: "And He appointed 3.16.03:105
a law in Israel, that another generation might know [Him,] the children which should 3.16.03:106
he born from these, and they arising shall themselves declare to their children, 3.16.03:107
so that they might set their hope in God, and seek after His commandments." And 3.16.03:108
again, the angel said, when bringing good tidings to Mary: "He shall he great, and 3.16.03:109
shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord shall give unto Him the throne 3.16.03:110
of His father David;" acknowledging that He who is the Son of the Highest, the 3.16.03:111
same is Himself also the Son of David. And David, knowing by the Spirit the dispensation 3.16.03:114
of the advent of this Person, by which He is supreme over all the living and IrnL.AH.3.16.03:115
dead, confessed Him as Lord, sitting on the right hand of the Most High Father. 3.16.03:116
4. But Simeon also--he who had received an intimation from the Holy Ghost that he 3.16.04:119
should not see death, until first he had beheld Christ Jesus--taking Him, the first-begotten 3.16.04:120
of the Virgin, into his hands, blessed God, and said, "Lord, now lettest 3.16.04:121
Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: because mine eyes have 3.16.04:122
seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light 3.16.04:123
to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel;" confessing thus, that 3.16.04:124
the infant whom he was holding in his hands, Jesus, born of Mary, was Christ Himself, IrnL.AH.3.16.04:125
the Son of God, the light of all, the glory of Israel itself, and the peace 3.16.04:126
and refreshing of those who had fallen asleep. For He was already despoiling men, 3.16.04:130
by removing their ignorance, conferring upon them His own knowledge, and scattering IrnL.AH.3.16.04:131
abroad those who recognised Him, as Esaias says: "Call His name, Quickly spoil, 3.16.04:132
Rapidly divide." Now these are the works of Christ. He therefore was Himself Christ, 3.16.04:133
whom Simeon carrying [in his arms] blessed the Most High; on beholding whom the 3.16.04:135
shepherds glorified God; whom John, while yet in his mother's womb, and He (Christ) 3.16.04:135
in that of Mary, recognising as the Lord, saluted with leaping; whom the Magi, 3.16.04:136
when they had seen, adored, and offered their gifts [to Him], as I have already stated, 3.16.04:137
and prostrated themselves to the eternal King, departed by another way, not IrnL.AH.3.16.04:138
now returning by the way of the Assyrians. "For before the child shall have knowledge IrnL.AH.3.16.04:139
to cry, Father or mother, He shall receive the power of Damascus, and the spoils 3.16.04:140
of Samaria, against the king of the Assyrians;" declaring, in a mysterious manner 3.16.04:141
indeed, but emphatically, that the Lord did fight with a hidden hand against Amalek. 3.16.04:142
For this cause, too, He suddenly removed those children belonging to the house 3.16.04:143
of David, whose happy lot it was to have been born at that time, that He might 3.16.04:147
send them on before into His kingdom; He, since He was Himself an infant, so arranging 3.16.04:148
it that human infants should be martyrs, slain, according to the Scriptures, 3.16.04:149
for the sake of Christ, who was born in Bethlehem of Judah, in the city of David. 3.16.04:150
5. Therefore did the Lord also say to His disciples after the resurrection, 3.16.05:154
"O thoughtless ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have 3.16.05:155
spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into 3.16.05:156
His glory?" And again does He say to them: "These are the words which I 3.16.05:158
spoke unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled 3.16.05:159
which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, 3.16.05:160
concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they should 3.16.05:161
understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus 3.16.05:162
it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead, and that repentance 3.16.05:163
for the remission of sins be preached in His name among all nations." 3.16.05:164
Now this is He who was born of Mary; for He says: "The Son of man must 3.16.05:165
suffer many things, and be rejected, and crucified, and on the third day rise 3.16.05:166
again." The Gospel, therefore, knew no other son of man but Him who was 3.16.05:167
of Mary, who also suffered; and no Christ who flew away from Jesus before 3.16.05:168
the passion; but Him who was born it knew as Jesus Christ the Son of God, 3.16.05:172
and that this same suffered and rose again, as John, the disciple of the Lord, 3.16.05:173
verities, saying: "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus 3.16.05:174
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have eternal 3.16.05:175
life in His name," --foreseeing these blasphemous systems which divide the 3.16.05:176
Lord, as far as lies in their power, saying that He was formed of two different IrnL.AH.3.16.05:178
substances. For this reason also he has thus testified to us in his 3.16.05:179
Epistle: "Little children, it is the last time; and as ye have heard that 3.16.05:180
Antichrist doth come, now have many antichrists appeared; whereby we know 3.16.05:182
that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for 3.16.05:183
if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but [they departed], 3.16.05:184
that they might be made manifest that they are not of us. Know ye 3.16.05:185
therefore, that every lie is from without, and is not of the truth. Who is 3.16.05:186
a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is Antichrist." 3.16.05:187
6. But inasmuch as all those before mentioned, although they certainly do with their 3.16.06:189
tongue confess one Jesus Christ, make fools of themselves, thinking one thing and saying 3.16.06:190
another; for their hypotheses vary, as I have already shown, alleging, [as they 3.16.06:191
do,] that one Being suffered and was born, and that this was Jesus; but that there was 3.16.06:192
another who descended upon Him, and that this was Christ, who also ascended again; 3.16.06:193
and they argue, that he who proceeded from the Demiurge, or he who was dispensational, 3.16.06:194
or he who sprang from Joseph, was the Being subject to suffering; but upon the latter 3.16.06:195
there descended from the invisible and ineffable [places] the former, whom they 3.16.06:196
assert to be incomprehensible, invisible, and impassible: they thus wander from the 3.16.06:197
truth, because their doctrine departs from Him who is truly God, being ignorant that 3.16.06:198
His only-begotten Word, who is always present with the human race, united to and mingled 3.16.06:199
with His own creation, according to the Father's pleasure, and who became flesh, 3.16.06:200
is Himself Jesus Christ our Lord, who did also suffer for us, and rose again on our 3.16.06:201
behalf, and who will come again in the glory of His Father, to raise up all flesh, 3.16.06:202
and for the manifestation of salvation, and to apply the rule of just judgment to all 3.16.06:203
who were made by Him. There is therefore, as I have pointed out, one God the Father, 3.16.06:210
and one Christ Jesus, who came by means of the whole dispensational arrangements 3.16.06:211
[connected with Him], and gath-443ered together all things in Himself. But in every 3.16.06:212
respect, too, He is man, the formation of God; and thus He took up man into Himself, 3.16.06:213
the invisible becoming visible, the incomprehensible being made comprehensible, the 3.16.06:214
impassible becoming capable of suffering, and the Word being made man, thus summing 3.16.06:215
up all things in Himself: so that as in super-celestial, spiritual, and invisible things, 3.16.06:216
the Word of God is supreme, so also in things visible and corporeal He might possess 3.16.06:217
the supremacy, and, taking to Himself the pre-eminence, as well as constituting 3.16.06:218
Himself Head of the Church, He might draw all things to Himself at the proper time. 3.16.06:219
7. With Him is nothing incomplete or out of due season, just as with the Father 3.16.07:224
there is nothing incongruous. For all these things were foreknown by the Father; 3.16.07:225
but the Son works them out at the proper time in perfect order and sequence. This 3.16.07:226
was the reason why, when Mary was urging [Him] on to [perform] the wonderful 3.16.07:227
miracle of the wine, and was desirous before the time to partake of the cup of 3.16.07:228
emblematic significance, the Lord, checking her untimely haste, said, "Woman, 3.16.07:229
what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come"--waiting for that hour which 3.16.07:230
was foreknown by the Father. This is also the reason why, when men were often 3.16.07:231
desirous to take Him, it is said, "No man laid hands upon Him, for the hour 3.16.07:233
of His being taken was not yet come;" nor the time of His passion, which had 3.16.07:234
been foreknown by the Father; as also says the prophet Habakkuk, "By this Thou shalt 3.16.07:235
be known when the years have drawn nigh; Thou shalt be set forth when the time 3.16.07:236
comes; because my soul is disturbed by anger, Thou shalt remember Thy mercy." 3.16.07:237
Paul also says: "But when the fulness of time came, God sent forth His Son." 3.16.07:238
By which is made manifest, that all things which had been foreknown of the Father, 3.16.07:239
our Lord did accomplish in their order, season, and hour, foreknown and fitting, 3.16.07:240
being indeed one and the same, but rich and great. For He fulfils the bountiful 3.16.07:241
and comprehensive will of His Father, inasmuch as He is Himself the Saviour 3.16.07:246
of those who are saved, and the Lord of those who are under authority, and the 3.16.07:247
God of all those things which have been formed, the only-begotten of the Father, 3.16.07:248
Christ who was announced, and the Word of God, who became incarnate when the 3.16.07:249
fulness of time had come, at which the Son of God had to become the Son of man. 3.16.07:250
8. All, therefore, are outside of the [Christian] dispensation, who, under pretext 3.16.08:253
of knowledge, understand that Jesus was one, and Christ another, and the 3.16.08:254
Only-begotten another, from whom again is the Word, and that the Saviour is 3.16.08:255
another, whom these disciples of error allege to be a production of those 3.16.08:256
who were made Aeons in a state of degeneracy. Such men are to outward appearance 3.16.08:257
sheep; for they appear to be like us, by what they say in public, repeating 3.16.08:258
the same words as we do; but inwardly they are wolves. Their doctrine is 3.16.08:259
homicidal, conjuring up, as it does, a number of gods, and simulating many Fathers, 3.16.08:262
but lowering and dividing the Son of God in many ways. These are they 3.16.08:263
against whom the Lord has cautioned us beforehand; and His disciple, in his 3.16.08:265
Epistle already mentioned, commands us to avoid them, when he says: "For many 3.16.08:266
deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is 3.16.08:267
come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Take heed to them, that 3.16.08:268
ye lose not what ye have wrought." And again does he say in the Epistle: 3.16.08:269
"Many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit 3.16.08:270
of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is 3.16.08:271
of God; and every spirit which separates Jesus Christ is not of God, but is 3.16.08:272
of antichrist." These words agree with what was said in the Gospel, that "the 3.16.08:273
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." Wherefore he again exclaims in his 3.16.08:274
Epistle, "Every one that believeth that Jesus is the Christ, has been born 3.16.08:276
of God;" knowing Jesus Christ to be one and the same, to whom the gates of 3.16.08:277
heaven were opened, because of His taking upon Him flesh: who shall also come 3.16.08:278
in the same flesh in which He suffered, revealing the glory of the Father. 3.16.08:279
9. Concurring with these statements, Paul, speaking to the Romans, declares: 3.16.09:283
"Much more they who receive abundance of grace and righteousness 3.16.09:284
for [eternal] life, shall reign by one, Christ Jesus." It follows 3.16.09:285
from this, that he knew nothing of that Christ who flew away from 3.16.09:286
Jesus; nor did he of the Saviour above, whom they hold to be impassible. 3.16.09:287
For if, in truth, the one suffered, and the other remained incapable 3.16.09:288
of suffering, and the one was born, but the other descended 3.16.09:289
upon him who was born, and left him gain, it is not one, but two, that 3.16.09:290
are shown forth. But that the apostle did know Him as one, both 3.16.09:292
who was born and who suffered, namely Christ Jesus, he again says in 3.16.09:293
the same Epistle: "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized 3.16.09:294
in Christ Jesus were baptized in His death? that like as Christ rose 3.16.09:295
from the dead, so should we also walk in newness of life." But again, 3.16.09:296
showing that Christ did suffer, and was Himself the Son of God, 3.16.09:297
who died for us, and redeemed us with His blood at the time appointed 3.16.09:298
beforehand, he says: "For how is it, that Christ, when we were yet 3.16.09:299
without strength, in due time died for the ungodly? But God commendeth 3.16.09:300
His love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ 3.16.09:302
died for us. Much more, then, being now justified by His blood, we 3.16.09:303
shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, 3.16.09:304
we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son; much more, being 3.16.09:305
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." He declares in the plainest 3.16.09:306
manner, that the same Being who was laid hold of, and underwent 3.16.09:307
suffering, and shed His blood for us, was both Christ and the Son of 3.16.09:308
God, who did also rise again, and was taken up into heaven, as he 3.16.09:309
himself [Paul] says: "But at the same time, [it, is] Christ [that] died, 3.16.09:311
yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the fight hand 3.16.09:312
of God." And again, "Knowing that Christ, rising from the dead, dieth 3.16.09:313
no more:" for, as himself foreseeing, through the Spirit, the subdivisions 3.16.09:315
of evil teachers [with regard to the Lord's person], and being 3.16.09:316
desirous of cutting away from them all occasion of evil, he says 3.16.09:317
what has been already stated, [and also declares:] "But if the Spirit 3.16.09:318
of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that 3.16.09:319
raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies." 3.16.09:320
This he does not utter to those alone who wish to hear: Do not err, 3.16.09:320
[he says to all:] Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is one and the same, 3.16.09:321
who did by suffering reconcile us to God, and rose from the dead; 3.16.09:322
who is at the right hand of the Father, and perfect in all things; 3.16.09:323
"who, when He was buffeted, struck not in return; who, when He suffered, 3.16.09:324
threatened not;" and when He underwent tyranny, He prayed His 3.16.09:325
Father that He would forgive those who had crucified Him. For He did 3.16.09:328
Himself truly bring in salvation: since He is Himself the Word of 3.16.09:329
God, Himself the Only-begotten of the Father, Christ Jesus our Lord. 3.16.09:329
1. It certainly was in the power of the apostles to declare that Christ descended upon 3.17.01:001
Jesus, or that the so-called superior Saviour [came down] upon the dispensational one, 3.17.01:002
or he who is from the invisible places upon him from the Demiurge; but they neither 3.17.01:003
knew nor said anything of the kind: for, had they known it, they would have also certainly 3.17.01:004
stated it. But what really was the case, that did they record, [namely,] that 3.17.01:006
the Spirit of God as a dove descended upon Him; this Spirit, of whom it was declared IrnL.AH.3.17.01:007
by Isaiah, "And the Spirit of God shall rest upon Him," as I have already said. And 3.17.01:008
again: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me." That is the IrnL.AH.3.17.01:009
Spirit of whom the Lord declares, "For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your 3.17.01:010
Father which speaketh in you." And again, giving to the disciples the power of regeneration 3.17.01:011
into God, He said to them," Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name 3.17.01:012
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." For [God] promised, that in 3.17.01:013
the last times He would pour Him [the Spirit] upon [His] servants and handmaids, that IrnL.AH.3.17.01:016
they might prophesy; wherefore He did also descend upon the Son of God, made the Son 3.17.01:017
of man, becoming accustomed in fellowship with Him to dwell in the human race, to rest 3.17.01:018
with human beings, and to dwell in the workmanship of God, working the will of the 3.17.01:019
Father in them, and renewing them from their old habits into the newness of Christ. 3.17.01:020
2. This Spirit did David ask for the human race, saying, "And stablish me with 3.17.02:023
Thine all-governing Spirit;" who also, as Luke says, descended at the day 3.17.02:024
of Pentecost upon the disciples after the Lord's ascension, having power to 3.17.02:024
admit all nations to the entrance of life, and to the opening of the new covenant; 3.17.02:025
from whence also, with one accord in all languages, they uttered praise 3.17.02:026
to God, the Spirit bringing distant tribes to unity, and offering to the Father 3.17.02:027
the first-fruits of all nations. Wherefore also the Lord promised to send 3.17.02:028
the Comforter, who should join us to God. For as a compacted lump of dough 3.17.02:031
cannot be formed of dry wheat without fluid matter, nor can a loaf possess 3.17.02:032
unity, so, in like manner, neither could we, being many, be made one in Christ 3.17.02:033
Jesus without the water from heaven. And as dry earth does not bring forth 3.17.02:034
unless it receive moisture, in like manner we also, being originally a dry 3.17.02:035
tree, could never have brought forth fruit unto life without the voluntary rain 3.17.02:036
from above. For our bodies have received unity among themselves by means 3.17.02:037
of that layer which leads to incorruption; but our souls, by means of the Spirit. 3.17.02:039
Wherefore both are necessary, since both contribute towards the life of 3.17.02:040
God, our Lord compassionating that erring Samaritan woman--who did not remain 3.17.02:041
with one husband, but committed fornication by [contracting] many marriages--by 3.17.02:042
pointing out, and promising to her living water, so that she should thirst 3.17.02:043
no more, nor occupy herself in acquiring the refreshing water obtained 3.17.02:044
by labour, having in herself water springing up to eternal life. The Lord, receiving 3.17.02:045
this as a gift from His Father, does Himself also confer it upon those 3.17.02:046
who are partakers of Himself, sending the Holy Spirit upon all the earth. 3.17.02:047
3. Gideon, that Israelite whom God chose, that he might save the people of Israel from the 3.17.03:051
power of foreigners, foreseeing this gracious gift, changed his request, and prophesied that 3.17.03:052
there would be dryness upon the fleece of wool (a type of the people), on which alone at 3.17.03:053
first there had been dew; thus indicating that they should no longer have the Holy Spirit 3.17.03:054
from God, as saith Esaias, "I will also command the clouds, that they rain no rain upon it," 3.17.03:055
but that the dew, which is the Spirit of God, who descended upon the Lord, should be diffused 3.17.03:056
throughout all the earth, "the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel IrnL.AH.3.17.03:057
and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety, the spirit of the fear of God." This 3.17.03:058
Spirit, again, He did confer upon the Church, sending throughout all the world the Comforter 3.17.03:059
from heaven, from whence also the Lord tells us that the devil, like lightning, was cast IrnL.AH.3.17.03:060
down. Wherefore we have need of the dew of God, that we be not consumed by fire, nor be rendered 3.17.03:064
unfruitful, and that where we have an accuser there we may have also an Advocate, the 3.17.03:065
Lord commending to the Holy Spirit His own man, who had fallen among thieves, whom He Himself 3.17.03:066
compassionated, and bound up his wounds, giving two royal denaria; so that we, receiving 3.17.03:067
by the Spirit the image and superscription of the Father and the Son, might cause the IrnL.AH.3.17.03:068
denarium entrusted to us to be fruitful, counting out the increase [thereof] to the Lord. 3.17.03:069
4. The Spirit, therefore, descending under the predestined dispensation, and the Son of 3.17.04:074
God, the Only-begotten, who is also the Word of the Father, coming in the fulness of time, 3.17.04:075
having become incarnate in man for the sake of man, and fulfilling all the conditions 3.17.04:076
of human nature, our Lord Jesus Christ being one and the same, as He Himself the Lord 3.17.04:077
doth testify, as the apostles confess, and as the prophets announce,--all the doctrines 3.17.04:078
of these men who have invented putative Ogdoads and Tetrads, and imagined subdivisions 3.17.04:079
[of the Lord's person], have been proved falsehoods. These men do, in fact, set the 3.17.04:080
Spirit aside altogether; they understand that Christ was one and Jesus another; and 3.17.04:081
they teach that there was not one Christ, but many. And if they speak of them as united, 3.17.04:082
they do again separate them: for they show that one did indeed undergo sufferings, but IrnL.AH.3.17.04:083
that the other remained impassible; that the one truly did ascend to the Pleroma, but 3.17.04:084
the other remained in the intermediate place; that the one does truly feast and revel 3.17.04:085
in places invisible and above all name, but that the other is seated with the Demiurge, IrnL.AH.3.17.04:086
emptying him of power. It will therefore be incumbent upon thee, and all others who give 3.17.04:093
their attention to this writing, and are anxious about their own salvation, not readily 3.17.04:094
to express acquiescence when they hear abroad the speeches of these men: for, speaking 3.17.04:095
things resembling the [doctrine of the] faithful, as I have already observed, not 3.17.04:096
only do they hold opinions which are different, but absolutely contrary, and in all points 3.17.04:097
full of blasphemies, by which they destroy those persons who, by reason of the resemblance 3.17.04:098
of the words, imbibe a poison which disagrees with their constitution, just as 3.17.04:100
if one, giving lime mixed with water for milk, should mislead by the similitude of the 3.17.04:101
colour; as a man" superior to me has said, concerning all that in any way corrupt the 3.17.04:102
things of God and adulterate the truth, "Lime is wickedly mixed with the milk of God." 3.17.04:103
1. As it has been clearly demonstrated that the Word, who existed in the beginning with 3.18.01:001
God, by whom all things were made, who was also always present with mankind, was in these 3.18.01:002
last days, according to the time appointed by the Father, united to His own workmanship, 3.18.01:003
inasmuch as He became a man liable to suffering, [it follows] that every objection 3.18.01:004
is set aside of those who say, "If our Lord was born at that time, Christ had therefore 3.18.01:005
no previous existence." For I have shown that the Son of God did not then begin to 3.18.01:007
exist, being with the Father from the beginning; but when He became incarnate, and was 3.18.01:008
made man, He commenced afresh the long line of human beings, and furnished us, in a brief, 3.18.01:009
comprehensive manner, with salvation; so that what we had lost in Adam--namely, to 3.18.01:010
be according to the image and likeness of God--that we might recover in Christ Jesus. 3.18.01:011
2. For as it was not possible that the man who had once for all been conquered, 3.18.02:014
and who had been destroyed through disobedience, could reform himself, 3.18.02:015
and obtain the prize of victory; and as it was also impossible that 3.18.02:016
he could attain to salvation who had fallen under the power of sin,--the 3.18.02:017
Son effected both these things, being the Word of God, descending from 3.18.02:018
the Father, becoming incarnate, stooping low, even to death, and consummating 3.18.02:019
the arranged plan of our salvation, upon whom [Paul], exhorting us 3.18.02:022
unhesitatingly to believe, again says, "Who shall ascend into heaven? that 3.18.02:023
is, to bring down Christ; or who shall descend into the deep? that is, 3.18.02:024
to liberate Christ again from the dead." Then he continues, "If thou shall 3.18.02:025
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart 3.18.02:026
that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved." And he 3.18.02:028
renders the reason why the Son of God did these things, saying, "For to 3.18.02:029
this end Christ both lived, and died, and revived, that He might rule over 3.18.02:030
the living and the dead." And again, writing to the Corinthians, he 3.18.02:031
declares, "But we preach Christ Jesus crucified;" and adds, "The cup of blessing 3.18.02:032
which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?" 3.18.02:033
3. But who is it that has had fellowship with us in the matter of food? Whether 3.18.03:034
is it he who is conceived of by them as the Christ above, who extended himself through 3.18.03:035
Horos, and imparted a form to their mother; or is it He who is from the Virgin, 3.18.03:036
Emmanuel, who did eat butter and honey, of whom the prophet declared, "He 3.18.03:037
is also a man, and who shall know him?" He was likewise preached by Paul: "For I 3.18.03:038
delivered," he says, "unto you first of all, that Christ died for our sins, according 3.18.03:039
to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and rose again the third day, according 3.18.03:040
to the Scriptures." It is plain, then, that Paul knew no other Christ besides 3.18.03:045
Him alone, who both suffered, and was buried, and rose gain, who was also 3.18.03:046
born, and whom he speaks of as man. For after remarking, "But if Christ be preached, 3.18.03:047
that He rose from the dead," he continues, rendering the reason of His incarnation, 3.18.03:048
"For since by man came death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the 3.18.03:049
dead." And everywhere, when [referring to] the passion of our Lord, and to His 3.18.03:050
human nature, and His subjection to death, he employs the name of Christ, as in 3.18.03:052
that passage: "Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died." And again: "But 3.18.03:053
now, in Christ, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of 3.18.03:054
Christ." And again: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made 3.18.03:055
a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth upon a tree." 3.18.03:056
And again: "And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom 3.18.03:057
Christ died;" indicating that the impassible Christ did not descend upon Jesus, 3.18.03:058
but that He Himself, because He was Jesus Christ, suffered for us; He, who lay 3.18.03:059
in the tomb, and rose again, who descended and ascended,--the Son of God having been 3.18.03:060
made the Son of man, as the very name itself doth declare. For in the name of 3.18.03:061
Christ is implied, He that anoints, He that is anointed, and the unction itself 3.18.03:062
with which He is anointed. And it is the Father who anoints, but the Son who is 3.18.03:063
anointed by the Spirit, who is the unction, as the Word declares by Isaiah, "The 3.18.03:064
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me," --pointing out both 3.18.03:065
the anointing Father, the anointed Son, and the unction, which is the Spirit. 3.18.03:066
4. The Lord Himself, too, makes it evident who it was that suffered; for when He 3.18.04:073
asked the disciples, "Who do men say that I, the Son of man, am?" and when Peter 3.18.04:074
had replied, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God;" and when he 3.18.04:075
had been commended by Him [in these words], "That flesh and blood had not revealed 3.18.04:076
it to him, but the Father who is in heaven," He made it clear that He, the 3.18.04:077
Son of man, is Christ the Son of the living God. "For from that time forth," it 3.18.04:078
is said, "He began to show to His disciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, 3.18.04:080
and suffer many things of the priests, and be rejected, and crucified, and 3.18.04:081
rise again the third day." He who was acknowledged by Peter as Christ, who pronounced 3.18.04:082
him blessed because the Father had revealed the Son of the living God to 3.18.04:083
him, said that He must Himself suffer many things, and be crucified; and then 3.18.04:084
He rebuked Peter, who imagined that He was the Christ as the generality of men 3.18.04:086
supposed [that the Christ should be], and was averse to the idea of His suffering, 3.18.04:087
[and] said to the disciples, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny 3.18.04:088
himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life, 3.18.04:089
shall lose it; and whosoever will lose it for My sake shall save it." For these 3.18.04:090
things Christ spoke openly, He being Himself the Saviour of those who should 3.18.04:091
be delivered over to death for their confession of Him, and lose their lives. 3.18.04:092
5. If, however, He was Himself not to suffer, but should fly away from Jesus, why 3.18.05:094
did He exhort His disciples to take up the cross and follow Him,--that cross which 3.18.05:095
these men represent Him as not having taken up, but [speak of Him] as having relinquished 3.18.05:096
the dispensation of suffering? For that He did not say this with reference 3.18.05:098
to the acknowledging of the Stauros (cross) above, as some among them venture 3.18.05:099
to expound, but with respect to the suffering which He should Himself undergo, and 3.18.05:100
that His disciples should endure, He implies when He says, "For whosoever will save IrnL.AH.3.18.05:101
his life, shall lose it; and whosoever will lose, shall find it. And that His 3.18.05:103
disciples must suffer for His sake, He [implied when He] said to the Jews, "Behold, 3.18.05:104
I send you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill 3.18.05:105
and crucify." And to the disciples He was wont to say, "And ye shall stand before 3.18.05:106
governors and kings for My sake; and they shall scourge some of you, and slay you, 3.18.05:107
and persecute you from city to city." He knew, therefore, both those who should 3.18.05:109
suffer persecution, and He knew those who should have to be scourged and slain because 3.18.05:110
of Him; and He did not speak of any other cross, but of the suffering which 3.18.05:111
He should Himself undergo first, and His disciples afterwards. For this purpose did 3.18.05:112
He give them this exhortation: "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not 3.18.05:113
able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to send both soul and body 3.18.05:114
into hell;" [thus exhorting them] to hold fast those professions of faith which 3.18.05:115
they had made in reference to Him. For He promised to confess before His Father those 3.18.05:116
who should confess His name before men; but declared that He would deny those 3.18.05:117
who should deny Him, and would be ashamed of those who should be ashamed to confess 3.18.05:118
Him. And although these things are so, some of these men have proceeded to such 3.18.05:119
a degree of temerity, that they even pour contempt upon the martyrs, and vituperate 3.18.05:121
those who are slain on account of the confession of the Lord, and who suffer IrnL.AH.3.18.05:122
all things predicted by the Lord, and who in this respect strive to follow the footprints 3.18.05:123
of the Lord's passion, having become martyrs of the suffering One; these 3.18.05:124
we do also enrol with the martyrs themselves. For, when inquisition shall be made 3.18.05:127
for their blood, and they shall attain to glory, then all shall be confounded by Christ, 3.18.05:128
who have cast a slur upon their martyrdom. And from this fact, that He exclaimed 3.18.05:129
upon the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," the 3.18.05:131
long-suffering, patience, compassion, and goodness of Christ are exhibited, since 3.18.05:132
He both suffered, and did Himself exculpate those who had maltreated Him. For the 3.18.05:133
Word of God, who said to us, "Love your enemies, and pray for those that hate you," 3.18.05:134
Himself did this very thing upon the cross; loving the human race to such a degree, 3.18.05:135
that He even prayed for those putting Him to death. If, however, any one, 3.18.05:136
going upon the supposition that there are two[Christs], forms a judgment in regard 3.18.05:137
to them, that [Christ] shall be found much the better one, and more patient, and 3.18.05:139
the truly good one, who, in the midst of His own wounds and stripes, and the other 3.18.05:140
[cruelties] inflicted upon Him, was beneficent, and unmindful of the wrongs perpetrated IrnL.AH.3.18.05:141
upon Him, than he who flew away, and sustained neither injury nor insult. 3.18.05:142
6. This also does likewise meet [the case] of those who maintain that He suffered 3.18.06:145
only in appearance. For if He did not truly suffer, no thanks to Him, since there 3.18.06:146
was no suffering at all; and when we shall actually begin to suffer, He will 3.18.06:147
seem as leading us astray, exhorting us to endure buffering, and to turn the IrnL.AH.3.18.06:148
other cheek, if He did not Himself before us in reality suffer the same; and as 3.18.06:149
He misled them by seeming to them what He was not, so does He also mislead us, 3.18.06:150
by exhorting us to endure what He did not endure Himself. [In that case] we shall 3.18.06:151
be even above the Master, because we suffer and sustain what our Master never 3.18.06:152
bore or endured. But as our Lord is alone truly Master, so the Son of God is truly 3.18.06:155
good and patient, the Word of God the Father having been made the Son of man. 3.18.06:156
For He fought and conquered; for He was man contending for the fathers, and through 3.18.06:157
obedience doing away with disobedience completely: for He bound the strong 3.18.06:158
man, and set free the weak, and endowed His own handiwork with salvation, by destroying 3.18.06:159
sin. For He is a most holy and merciful Lord, and loves the human race. 3.18.06:161
7. Therefore, as i have already said, he caused man (human nature) to cleave 3.18.07:163
to and to become, one with God. For unless man had overcome the enemy 3.18.07:164
of man, the enemy would not have been legitimately vanquished. And again: 3.18.07:166
unless it had been God who had freely given salvation, we could never have 3.18.07:167
possessed it securely. And unless man had been joined to God, he could 3.18.07:168
never have become a partaker of incorruptibility. For it was incumbent 3.18.07:169
upon the mediator between God and men, by his relationship to both, to bring 3.18.07:170
both to friendship and concord, and present man to God, while he revealed 3.18.07:171
God to man. for, in what way could we be partaken of the adoption of 3.18.07:172
sons, unless we had received from him through the son that fellowship which 3.18.07:173
refers to himself, unless his Word, having been made flesh, had entered 3.18.07:174
into communion with us? Wherefore also he passed through every stage of IrnL.AH.3.18.07:176
life, restoring to all communion with God. Those, therefore, who assert 3.18.07:177
that he appeared putatively, and was neither born in the flesh nor truly 3.18.07:179
made man, are as yet under the old condemnation, holding out patronage to 3.18.07:180
sin; for, by their showing, death has not been vanquished, which "reigned 3.18.07:181
from adam to moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude IrnL.AH.3.18.07:182
of adam's transgression." but the law coming, which was given by moses, IrnL.AH.3.18.07:184
and testifying of sin that it is a sinner, did truly take away his (death's) 3.18.07:185
kingdom, showing that he was no king, but a robber; and it revealed 3.18.07:186
him as a murderer. It laid, however, a weighty burden upon man, who had 3.18.07:187
sin in himself, showing that he was liable to death. For as the law was 3.18.07:189
spiritual, it merely made sin to stand out in relief, but did not destroy 3.18.07:190
it. For sin had no dominion over the spirit, but over man. For it behoved 3.18.07:192
him who was to destroy sin, and redeem man under the power of death, that IrnL.AH.3.18.07:193
he should himself be made that very same thing which he was, that is, 3.18.07:194
man; who had been drawn by sin into bondage, but was held by death, so that 3.18.07:195
sin should be destroyed by man, and man should go forth from death. For 3.18.07:197
as by the disobedience of the one man who was originally moulded from virgin 3.18.07:198
soil, the many were made sinners, and forfeited life; so was it necessary 3.18.07:199
that, by the obedience of one man, who was originally born from a virgin, 3.18.07:200
many should be justified and receive salvation. Thus, then, was the 3.18.07:202
Word of God made man, as also moses says: "God, true are his works." but 3.18.07:203
if, not having been made flesh, he did appear as if flesh, his work was 3.18.07:204
not a true one. But what he did appear, that he also was: God recapitulated IrnL.AH.3.18.07:205
in himself the ancient formation of man, that he might kill sin, deprive 3.18.07:206
death of its power, and vivify man; and therefore his works are true. 3.18.07:207
1. But again, those who assert that He was simply a mere man, begotten by Joseph, 3.19.01:001
remaining in the bondage of the old disobedience, are in a state of death having 3.19.01:002
been not as yet joined to the Word of God the Father, nor receiving liberty 3.19.01:003
through the Son, as He does Himself declare: "If the Son shall make you free, 3.19.01:004
ye shall be free indeed." But, being ignorant of Him who from the Virgin is 3.19.01:005
Emmanuel, they are deprived of His gift, which is eternal life; and not receiving 3.19.01:006
the incorruptible Word, they remain in mortal flesh, and are debtors to death, IrnL.AH.3.19.01:007
not obtaining the antidote of life. To whom the Word says, mentioning His own 3.19.01:011
gift of grace: "I said, Ye are all the sons of the Highest, and gods; but ye 3.19.01:012
shall die like men." He speaks undoubtedly these words to those who have not received 3.19.01:013
the gift of adoption, but who despise the incarnation of the pure generation 3.19.01:014
of the Word of God, defraud human nature of promotion into God, and prove IrnL.AH.3.19.01:015
themselves ungrateful to the Word of God, who became flesh for them. For it was 3.19.01:016
for this end that the Word of God was made man, and He who was the Son of God 3.19.01:018
became the Son of man, that man, having been taken into the Word, and receiving 3.19.01:019
the adoption, might become the son of God. For by no other means could we have 3.19.01:020
attained to incorruptibility and immortality, unless we had been united to incorruptibility 3.19.01:021
and immortality. But how could we be joined to incorruptibility and 3.19.01:023
immortality, unless, first, incorruptibility and immortality had become that 3.19.01:024
which we also are, so that the corruptible might be swallowed up by incorruptibility, 3.19.01:025
and the mortal by immortality, that might receive the adoption of sons? 3.19.01:026
2. For this reason [it is ,said], "Who shall declare His generation?" since 3.19.02:029
"He is a man, and who shall recognise Him?" But he to whom the Father which 3.19.02:030
is in heaven has revealed Him, knows Him, so that he understands that 3.19.02:031
He who "was not born either by the will of the flesh, or by the will of man," 3.19.02:032
is the Son of man, this is Christ, the Son of the living God. For I have 3.19.02:033
shown from the Scriptures, that no one of the sons of Adam is as to everything, 3.19.02:034
and absolutely, called God, or named Lord. But that He is Himself 3.19.02:035
in His own right, beyond all men who ever lived, God, and Lord, and King 3.19.02:037
Eternal, and the Incarnate Word, proclaimed by all the prophets, the apostles, 3.19.02:038
and by the Spirit Himself, may be seen by all who have attained to even 3.19.02:039
a small portion of the truth. Now, the Scriptures would not have testified 3.19.02:040
these things of Him, if, like others, He had been a mere man. But that 3.19.02:042
He had, beyond all others, in Himself that pre-eminent birth which is from 3.19.02:043
the Most High Father, and also experienced that pre-eminent generation which 3.19.02:043
is from the Virgin, the divine Scriptures do in both respects testify 3.19.02:044
of Him: also, that He was a man without comeliness, and liable to suffering; IrnL.AH.3.19.02:045
that He sat upon the foal of an ass; that He received for drink, vinegar 3.19.02:046
and gall; that He was despised among the people, and humbled Himself even 3.19.02:047
to death and that He is the holy Lord, the Wonderful, the Counsellor, the 3.19.02:048
Beautiful in appearance, and the Mighty God, coming on the clouds as the 3.19.02:049
Judge of all men; --all these things did the Scriptures prophesy of Him. 3.19.02:050
3. For as He became man in order to undergo temptation, so also was He the Word that He might be 3.19.03:054
glorified; the Word remaining quiescent, that He might be capable of being tempted, dishonoured, 3.19.03:055
crucified, and of suffering death, but the human nature being swallowed up in it (the divine), 3.19.03:056
when it conquered, and endured [without yielding], and performed acts of kindness, and rose 3.19.03:057
again, and was received up [into heaven]. He therefore, the Son of God, our Lord, being the Word 3.19.03:058
of the Father, and the Son of man, since He had a generation as to His human nature from Mary--who 3.19.03:059
was descended from mankind, and who was herself a human being--was made the Son of man. 3.19.03:060
Wherefore also the Lord Himself gave us a sign, in the depth below, and in the height above, which 3.19.03:063
man did not ask for, because he never expected that a virgin could conceive, or that it was 3.19.03:064
possible that one remaining a virgin could bring forth a son, and that what was thus born should 3.19.03:065
be "God with us," and descend to those things which are of the earth beneath, seeking the sheep 3.19.03:066
which had perished, which was indeed His own peculiar handiwork, and ascend to the height 3.19.03:067
above, offering and commending to His Father that human nature (hominem) which had been found, 3.19.03:068
making in His own person the first-fruits of the resurrection of man; that, as the Head rose from 3.19.03:069
the dead, so also the remaining pan of the body--[namely, the body] of every man who is found 3.19.03:070
in life--when the time is fulfilled of that condemnation which existed by reason of disobedience, 3.19.03:071
may arise, blended together and strengthened through means of joints and bands by the increase 3.19.03:072
of God, each of the members having its own proper and fit position in the body. For there 3.19.03:073
are many mansions in the Father's house, inasmuch as there are also many members in the body. 3.19.03:079
1. Long-suffering therefore was God, when man became a defaulter, as foreseeing that victory 3.20.01:001
which should be granted to him through the Word. For, when strength was made perfect 3.20.01:002
in weakness, it showed the kindness and transcendent power of God. For as He patiently 3.20.01:003
suffered Jonah to be swallowed by the whale, not that he should be swallowed up and IrnL.AH.3.20.01:004
perish altogether, but that, having been cast out again, he might be the more subject to IrnL.AH.3.20.01:005
God, and might glorify Him the more who had conferred upon him such an unhoped-for deliverance, 3.20.01:006
and might bring the Ninevites to a lasting repentance, so that they should be 3.20.01:007
convened to the Lord, who would deliver them from death, having been struck with awe by 3.20.01:008
that portent which had been wrought in Jonah's case, as the Scripture says of them, "And 3.20.01:009
they returned each from his evil way, and the unrighteousness which was in their hands, 3.20.01:010
saying, Who knoweth if God will repent, and turn away His anger from us, and we shall IrnL.AH.3.20.01:011
not perish?" --so also, from the beginning, did God permit man to be swallowed up by IrnL.AH.3.20.01:012
the great whale, who was the author of transgression, not that he should perish altogether 3.20.01:013
when so engulphed; but, arranging and preparing the plan of salvation, which was accomplished 3.20.01:014
by the Word, through the sign of Jonah, for those who held the same opinion IrnL.AH.3.20.01:015
as Jonah regarding the Lord, and who confessed, and said, "I am a servant of the Lord, 3.20.01:016
and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry land." [This was 3.20.01:017
done] that man, receiving an unhoped-for salvation from God, might rise from the dead, IrnL.AH.3.20.01:018
and glorify God, and repeat that word which was uttered in prophecy by Jonah: "I cried IrnL.AH.3.20.01:019
by reason of mine affliction to the Lord my God, and He heard me out of the belly of hell;" 3.20.01:020
and that he might always continue glorifying God, and giving thanks without ceasing, IrnL.AH.3.20.01:021
for that salvation which he has derived from Him, "that no flesh should glory in the 3.20.01:022
Lord's presence;" and that man should never adopt an opposite opinion with regard to God, 3.20.01:023
supposing that the incorruptibility which belongs to him is his own naturally, and 3.20.01:024
by thus not holding the truth, should boast with empty superciliousness, as if he were IrnL.AH.3.20.01:025
naturally like to God. For he (Satan) thus rendered him (man) more ungrateful towards his 3.20.01:034
Creator, obscured the love which God had towards man, and blinded his mind not to perceive 3.20.01:035
what is worthy of God, comparing himself with, and judging himself equal to, God. 3.20.01:036
2. This, therefore, was the [object of the] long-suffering of God, that man, passing 3.20.02:039
through all things, and acquiring the knowledge of moral discipline, then attaining 3.20.02:040
to the resurrection from the dead, and learning by experience what is the 3.20.02:041
source of his deliverance, may always live in a state of gratitude to the Lord, having 3.20.02:042
obtained from Him the gift of incorruptibility, that he might love Him the 3.20.02:043
more; for "he to whom more is forgiven, loveth more:" and that he may know himself, 3.20.02:044
how mortal and weak he is; while he also understands respecting God, that He is 3.20.02:045
immortal and powerful to such a degree as to confer immortality upon what is mortal, 3.20.02:046
and eternity upon what is temporal; and may understand also the other attributes 3.20.02:047
of God displayed towards himself, by means of which being instructed he may 3.20.02:051
think of God in accordance with the divine greatness. For the glory of man [is] 3.20.02:052
God, but [His] works [are the glory] of God; and the receptacle of all His. wisdom 3.20.02:053
and power [is] man. Just as the physician is proved by his patients, so is God 3.20.02:054
also revealed through men. And therefore Paul declares, "For God hath concluded all 3.20.02:055
in unbelief, that He may have mercy upon all;" not saying this in reference to 3.20.02:056
spiritual Aeons, but to man, who had been disobedient to God, and being cast off 3.20.02:057
from immortality, then obtained mercy, receiving through the Son of God that adoption 3.20.02:058
which is [accomplished] by Himself. For he who holds, without pride and boasting, 3.20.02:060
the true glory (opinion) regarding created things and the Creator, who is 3.20.02:061
the Almighty God of all, and who has granted existence to all; [such an one,] continuing 3.20.02:062
in His love and subjection, and giving of thanks, shall also receive from 3.20.02:063
Him the greater glory of promotion, looking forward to the time when he shall become 3.20.02:064
like Him who died for him, for He, too, "was made in the likeness of sinful 3.20.02:067
flesh," to condemn sin, and to cast it, as now a condemned thing, away beyond the 3.20.02:068
flesh, but that He might call man forth into His own likeness, assigning him as 3.20.02:069
[His own] imitator to God, and imposing on him His Father's law, in order that he 3.20.02:070
may see God, and granting him power to receive the Father; [being] the Word of 3.20.02:071
God who dwelt in man, and became the Son of man, that He might accustom man to receive 3.20.02:072
God, and God to dwell in man, according to the good pleasure of the Father. 3.20.02:073
3. On this account, therefore, the Lord Himself, who is Emmanuel from the Virgin, is the 3.20.03:076
sign of our salvation, since it was the Lord Himself who saved them, because they could 3.20.03:077
not be saved by their own instrumentality; and, therefore, when Paul sets forth human IrnL.AH.3.20.03:078
infirmity, he says: "For I know that there dwelleth in my flesh no good thing," showing IrnL.AH.3.20.03:079
that the "good thing" of our salvation is not from us, but from God. And again: "Wretched 3.20.03:080
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Then he introduces IrnL.AH.3.20.03:081
the Deliverer, [saying,] "The grace of Jesus Christ our Lord." And Isaiah declares 3.20.03:082
this also, [when he says:] "Be ye strengthened, ye hands that hang down, and ye feeble 3.20.03:086
knees; be ye encouraged, ye feeble-minded; be comforted, fear not: behold, our God has 3.20.03:087
given judgment with retribution, and shall recompense: He will come Himself, and will IrnL.AH.3.20.03:088
save us." Here we see, that not by ourselves, but by the help of God, we must be saved. 3.20.03:089
4. Again, that it should not be a mere man who should save us, nor [one] 3.20.04:091
without flesh--for the angels are without flesh--[the same prophet] announced, 3.20.04:092
saying: "Neither an elder, nor angel, but the Lord Himself will save 3.20.04:093
them because He loves them, and will spare them He will Himself set 3.20.04:094
them free." And that He should Himself become very man, visible, when He IrnL.AH.3.20.04:095
should be the Word giving salvation, Isaiah again says: "Behold, city of 3.20.04:096
Zion: thine eyes shall see our salvation." And that it was not a mere man 3.20.04:097
who died for us, Isaiah says: "And the holy Lord remembered His dead Israel, 3.20.04:098
who had slept in the land of sepulture; and He came down to preach 3.20.04:099
His salvation to them, that He might save them." And Amos (Micah) the 3.20.04:100
prophet declares the same: "He will turn again, and will have compassion 3.20.04:101
upon us: He will destroy our iniquities, and will cast our sins into the 3.20.04:103
depths of the sea." And again, specifying the place of His advent, he says: 3.20.04:104
"The Lord hath spoken from Zion, and He has uttered His voice from 3.20.04:106
Jerusalem." And that it is from that region which is towards the south of 3.20.04:107
the inheritance of Judah that the Son of God shall come, who is God, and 3.20.04:108
who was from Bethlehem, where the Lord was born [and] will send out His 3.20.04:109
praise through all the earth, thus says the prophet Habakkuk: "God shall 3.20.04:110
come from the south, and the Holy One from Mount, Effrem. His power covered 3.20.04:111
the heavens over, and the earth is full of His praise. Before His 3.20.04:112
face shall go forth the Word, and His feet shall advance in the plains." 3.20.04:113
Thus he indicates in clear terms that He is God, and that His advent was 3.20.04:114
[to take place] in Bethlehem, and from Mount Effrem, which is towards the 3.20.04:115
south of the inheritance, and that [He is] man. For he says, "His feet 3.20.04:116
shall advance in the plains:" and this is an indication proper to man. 3.20.04:120
1. God, then, was made man, and the Lord did Himself save us, giving us the token 3.21.01:001
of the Virgin. But not as some allege, among those now presuming to expound 3.21.01:002
the Scripture, [thus:] "Behold, a young woman shall conceive, and bring forth 3.21.01:002
a son," as Theodotion the Ephesian has interpreted, and Aquila of Pontus, both 3.21.01:003
Jewish proselytes. The Ebionites, following these, assert that He was begotten 3.21.01:004
by Joseph; thus destroying, as far as in them lies, such a marvellous dispensation 3.21.01:005
of God, and setting aside the testimony of the prophets which proceeded from 3.21.01:006
God. For truly this prediction was uttered before the removal of the people 3.21.01:007
to Babylon; that is, anterior to the supremacy acquired by the Medes and Persians. 3.21.01:010
But it was interpreted into Greek by the Jews themselves, much before the IrnL.AH.3.21.01:011
period of our Lord's advent, that there might remain no suspicion that perchance 3.21.01:012
the Jews, complying with our humour, did put this interpretation upon these IrnL.AH.3.21.01:013
words. They indeed, had they been cognizant of our future existence, and that 3.21.01:014
we should use these proofs from the Scriptures, would themselves never have hesitated 3.21.01:016
to burn their own Scriptures, which do declare that all other nations partake IrnL.AH.3.21.01:017
of [eternal] life, and show that they who boast themselves as being the 3.21.01:018
house of Jacob and the people of Israel, am disinherited from the grace of God. 3.21.01:019
2. For before the Romans possessed their kingdom, while as yet the Macedonians 3.21.02:022
held Asia, Ptolemy the son of Lagus, being anxious to adorn the library which he 3.21.02:023
had founded in Alexandria, with a collection of the writings of all men, which 3.21.02:024
were [works] of merit, made request to the people of Jerusalem, that they should 3.21.02:025
have their Scriptures translated into the Greek language. And they--for at that 3.21.02:026
time they were still subject to the Macedonians--sent to Ptolemy seventy of IrnL.AH.3.21.02:028
their elders, who were thoroughly skilled in the Scriptures and in both the languages, 3.21.02:029
to carry out what he had desired. But he, wishing to test them individually, 3.21.02:030
and fearing lest they might perchance, by taking counsel together, conceal IrnL.AH.3.21.02:031
the truth in the Scriptures, by their interpretation, separated them from each IrnL.AH.3.21.02:032
other, and commanded them all to write the same translation. He did this with 3.21.02:033
respect to all the books. But when they came together in the same place before 3.21.02:034
Ptolemy, and each of them compared his own interpretation with that of every other, 3.21.02:036
God was indeed glorified, and the Scriptures were acknowledged as truly divine. 3.21.02:037
For all of them read out the common translation [which they had prepared] 3.21.02:038
in the very same words and the very same names, from beginning to end, so that 3.21.02:039
even the Gentiles present perceived that the Scriptures had been interpreted by 3.21.02:040
the inspiration of God. And there was nothing astonishing in God having done this,--He 3.21.02:043
who, when, during the captivity of the people under Nebuchadnezzar, the 3.21.02:044
Scriptures had been corrupted, and when, after seventy years, the Jews had returned 3.21.02:045
to their own land, then, in the times of Artaxerxes king of the Persians, 3.21.02:046
inspired Esdras the priest, of the tribe of Levi, to recast all the words of the 3.21.02:047
former prophets, and to re-establish with the people the Mosaic legislation. 3.21.02:048
3. Since, therefore, the Scriptures have been interpreted with such fidelity, and 3.21.03:051
by the grace of God, and since from these God has prepared and formed again 3.21.03:052
our faith towards His Son, and has preserved to us the unadulterated Scriptures 3.21.03:053
in Egypt, where the house of Jacob flourished, fleeing from the famine in Canaan; 3.21.03:054
where also our Lord was preserved when He fled from the persecution set on 3.21.03:055
foot by Herod; and [since] this interpretation of these Scriptures was made prior 3.21.03:056
to our Lord's descent [to earth], and came into being before the Christians 3.21.03:057
appeared--for our Lord was bern about the forty-first year of the reign of Augustus; 3.21.03:058
but Ptolemy was much earlier, under whom the Scriptures were interpreted;--[since 3.21.03:059
these things are so, I say,] truly these men are proved to be impudent 3.21.03:060
and presumptuous, who would now show a desire to make different translations, 3.21.03:061
when we refute them out of these Scriptures, and shut them up to a belief in IrnL.AH.3.21.03:062
the advent of the Son of God. But our faith is stedfast, unfeigned, and the only 3.21.03:068
true one, having clear proof from these Scriptures, which were interpreted in IrnL.AH.3.21.03:069
the way I have related; and the preaching of the Church is without interpolation. 3.21.03:070
For the apostles, since they are of more ancient date than all these [heretics], 3.21.03:072
agree with this aforesaid translation; and the translation harmonizes with 3.21.03:073
the tradition of the apostles. For Peter, and John, and Matthew, and Paul, and 3.21.03:074
the rest successively, as well as their followers, did set forth all prophetical IrnL.AH.3.21.03:075
[announce-merits], just as the interpretation of the elders contains them. 3.21.03:076
4. For the one and the same Spirit of God, who proclaimed by the prophets what 3.21.04:078
and of what sort the advent of the Lord should be, did by these elders give 3.21.04:079
a just interpretation of what had been truly prophesied; and He did Himself, IrnL.AH.3.21.04:080
by the apostles, announce that the fulness of the times of the adoption 3.21.04:081
had arrived, that the kingdom of heaven had drawn nigh, and that He was dwelling 3.21.04:082
within those that believe on Him who was born Emmanuel of the Virgin. 3.21.04:085
To this effect they testify, [saying,] that before Joseph had come together 3.21.04:086
with Mary, while she therefore remained in virginity, "she was found with child 3.21.04:087
of the Holy Ghost;" and that the angel Gabriel said unto her, "The Holy 3.21.04:088
Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; 3.21.04:089
therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called 3.21.04:090
the Son of God;" and that the angel said to Joseph in a dream, "Now this 3.21.04:091
was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, IrnL.AH.3.21.04:095
Behold, a virgin shall be with child." But the elders have thus interpreted 3.21.04:096
what Esaias said: "And the Lord, moreover, said unto Ahaz, Ask for thyself 3.21.04:097
a sign from the Lord thy God out of the depth below, or from the height above. 3.21.04:098
And Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord. And he said, 3.21.04:099
It is not a small thing for you to weary men; and how does the Lord weary 3.21.04:100
them? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin 3.21.04:101
shall conceive, and bear a son; and ye shall call His name Emmanuel. Butter 3.21.04:102
and honey shall He eat: before He knows or chooses out things that are evil, 3.21.04:103
He shall exchange them for what is good; for before the child knows good or IrnL.AH.3.21.04:104
evil, He shall not consent to evil, that He may choose that which is good." 3.21.04:107
Carefully, then, has the Holy Ghost pointed out, by what has been said, His IrnL.AH.3.21.04:108
birth from a virgin, and His essence, that He is God (for the name Emmanuel 3.21.04:109
indicates this). And He shows that He is a man, when He says, "Butter and IrnL.AH.3.21.04:110
honey shall He eat;" and in that He terms Him a child also, [in saying,] "before 3.21.04:111
He knows good and evil;" for these are all the tokens of a human infant. 3.21.04:112
But that He "will not consent to evil, that He may choose that which is good,"--this 3.21.04:114
is proper to God; that by the fact, that He shall eat butter and 3.21.04:115
honey, we should not understand that He is a mere man only, nor, on the other 3.21.04:116
hand, from the name Emmanuel, should suspect Him to be God without flesh. 3.21.04:117
5. And when He says, "Hear, O house of David," He performed the part of one indicaring 3.21.05:120
that He whom God promised David that He would raise up from the fruit of his belly (ventris) 3.21.05:121
an eternal King, is the same who was born of the Virgin, herself of the lineage 3.21.05:122
of David. For on this account also, He promised that the King should be "of the fruit 3.21.05:124
of his belly," which was the appropriate [term to use with respect] to a virgin conceiving, 3.21.05:125
and not "of the fruit of his loins," nor "of the fruit of his reins," which expression 3.21.05:126
is appropriate to a generating man, and a woman conceiving by a man. In this promise, 3.21.05:128
therefore, the Scripture excluded all virile influence; yet it certainly is not mentioned 3.21.05:129
that He who was born was not from the will of man. But it has fixed and established 3.21.05:131
"the fruit of the belly," that it might declare the generation of Him who should 3.21.05:132
be [born] from the Virgin, as Elisabeth testified when filled with the Holy Ghost, saying IrnL.AH.3.21.05:133
to Mary, "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy belly;" the 3.21.05:134
Holy Ghost pointing out to those willing to hear, that the promise which God had made, 3.21.05:135
of raising up a King from the fruit of [David's] belly, was fulfilled in the birth 3.21.05:136
from the Virgin, that is, from Mary. Let those, therefore, who alter the passage of 3.21.05:139
Isaiah thus, "Behold, a young woman shall conceive," and who will have Him to be Joseph's 3.21.05:140
son, also alter the form of the promise which was given to David, when God promised IrnL.AH.3.21.05:141
him to raise up, from the fruit of his belly, the horn of Christ the King. But they did 3.21.05:142
not understand, otherwise they would have presumed to alter even this passage also. IrnL.AH.3.21.05:144
6. But what Isaiah said, "From the height above, or from the depth beneath," 3.21.06:146
was meant to indicate, that "He who descended was the same also who 3.21.06:147
ascended." But in this that he said, "The Lord Himself shall give you a 3.21.06:148
sign," he declared an unlooked-for thing with regard to His generation, which 3.21.06:149
could have been accomplished in no other way than by God the Lord of 3.21.06:150
all, God Himself giving a sign in the house of David. For what great thing 3.21.06:151
or what sign should have been in this, that a young woman conceiving 3.21.06:153
by a man should bring forth,--a thing which happens to all women that produce 3.21.06:154
offspring? But since an unlooked-for salvation was to be provided 3.21.06:155
for men through the help of God, so also was the unlooked-for birth from 3.21.06:156
a virgin accomplished; God giving this sign, but man not working it out. 3.21.06:157
7. On this account also, Daniel, foreseeing His advent, said that a stone, 3.21.07:159
cut out without hands, came into this world. For this is what "without 3.21.07:160
hands" means, that His coming into this world was not by the operation 3.21.07:161
of human hands, that is, of those men who are accustomed to stone-cutting; IrnL.AH.3.21.07:162
that is, Joseph taking no part with regard to it, but Mary 3.21.07:163
alone co-operating with the pre-arranged plan. For this stone from the 3.21.07:164
earth derives existence from both the power and the wisdom of God. 3.21.07:166
Wherefore also Isaiah says: "Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I deposit in 3.21.07:167
the foundations of Zion a stone, precious, elect, the chief, the corner-one, 3.21.07:168
to be had in honour." So, then, we understand that His advent 3.21.07:169
in human nature was not by the will of a man, but by the will of God. 3.21.07:170
8. Wherefore also Moses giving a type, cast his rod upon the earth, in order IrnL.AH.3.21.08:172
that it, by becoming flesh, might expose and swallow up all the opposition 3.21.08:173
of the Egyptians, which was lifting itself up against the pre-arranged plan 3.21.08:174
of God; that the Egyptians themselves might testify that it is the finger of 3.21.08:175
God which works salvation for the people, and not the son of Joseph. For if IrnL.AH.3.21.08:177
He were the son of Joseph, how could He be greater than Solomon, of greater 3.21.08:178
than Jonah, or greater than David, when He was generated from the same seed, 3.21.08:179
and was a descendant of these men? And how was it that He also pronounced 3.21.08:181
Peter blessed, because he acknowledged Him to be the Son of the living God ? 3.21.08:182
9. But besides, if indeed He had been the son of Joseph, He could 3.21.09:184
not, according to Jeremiah, be either king or heir. For Joseph is 3.21.09:185
shown to be the son of Joachim and Jechoniah, as also Matthew sets 3.21.09:186
forth in his pedigree. But Jechoniah, and all his posterity, were 3.21.09:187
disinherited from the kingdom; Jeremiah thus declaring, "As I 3.21.09:188
live, saith the Lord, if Jechoniah the son of Joachim king of Judah 3.21.09:189
had been made the signet of my right hand, I would pluck him thence, 3.21.09:190
and deliver him into the hand of those seeking thy life." 3.21.09:191
And again: "Jechoniah is dishonoured as a useless vessel, for he 3.21.09:193
has been cast into a land which he knew not. Earth, hear the word 3.21.09:194
of the Lord: Write this man a disinherited person; for none of his 3.21.09:195
seed, sitting on the throne of David, shall prosper, or be a prince 3.21.09:196
in Judah." And again, God speaks of Joachim his father: "Therefore 3.21.09:198
thus saith the Lord concerning Joachim his father, king of 3.21.09:199
Judea, There shall be from him none sitting upon the throne of David: 3.21.09:200
and his dead body shall be cast out in the heat of day, and 3.21.09:201
in the frost of night. And I will look upon him, and upon his sons, 3.21.09:202
and will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 3.21.09:203
upon the land of Judah, all the evils that I have pronounced against 3.21.09:205
them." Those, therefore, who say that He was begotten of Joseph, 3.21.09:206
and that they have hope in Him, do cause themselves to be disinherited 3.21.09:207
from the kingdom, failing tinder the curse and rebuke 3.21.09:209
directed against Jechoniah and his seed. Because for this reason 3.21.09:210
have these things been spoken concerning Jechoniah, the [Holy] Spirit 3.21.09:211
foreknowing the doctrines of the evil teachers; that they may 3.21.09:212
learn that from his seed--that is, from Joseph--He was not to be 3.21.09:215
born but that, according to the promise of God, from David's belly 3.21.09:216
the King eternal is raised up, who sums up all things in Himself, 3.21.09:217
and has gathered into Himself the ancient formation [of man]. 3.21.09:218
10. For as by one man's disobedience sin entered, and death obtained [a place] through sin; so also 3.21.10:220
by the obedience of one man, righteousness having been introduced, shall cause life to fructify 3.21.10:221
in those persons who in times past were dead. And as the protoplast himself Adam, had his substance 3.21.10:222
from untilled and as yet virgin soil ("for God had not yet sent rain, and man had not tilled 3.21.10:223
the ground"), and was formed by the hand of God, that is, by the Word of God, for "all things 3.21.10:224
were made by Him," and the Lord took dust from the earth and formed man; so did He who is the Word, 3.21.10:225
recapitulating Adam in Himself, rightly receive a birth, enabling Him to gather up Adam [into 3.21.10:228
Himself], from Mary, who was as yet a virgin. If, then, the first Adam had a man for his father, 3.21.10:229
and was born of human seed, it were reasonable to say that the second Adam was begotten of Joseph. 3.21.10:231
But if the former was taken from the dust, and God was his Maker, it was incumbent that the 3.21.10:232
latter also, making a recapitulation in Himself, should be formed as man by God, to have an analogy 3.21.10:233
with the former as respects His origin. Why, then, did not God again take dust, but wrought 3.21.10:234
so that the formation should be made of Mary? It was that there might not be another formation 3.21.10:235
called into being, nor any other which should [require to] be saved, but that the very same formation 3.21.10:236
should be summed up [in Christ as had existed in Adam], the analogy having been preserved. 3.21.10:237
1. Those, therefore, who allege that He took nothing from the Virgin do 3.22.01:001
greatly err, [since,] in order that they may cast away the inheritance of 3.22.01:002
the flesh, they also reject the analogy [between Him and Adam]. For if 3.22.01:003
the one [who sprang] from the earth had indeed formation and substance 3.22.01:004
from both the hand and workmanship of God, but the other not from the hand 3.22.01:005
and workmanship of God, then He who was made after the image and likeness 3.22.01:006
of the former did not, in that case, preserve the analogy of man, 3.22.01:007
and He must seem an inconsistent piece of work, not having wherewith He 3.22.01:009
may show His wisdom. But this is to say, that He also appeared putatively 3.22.01:010
as man when He was not man, and that He was made man while taking nothing 3.22.01:011
from man. For if He did not receive the substance of flesh from a human 3.22.01:012
being, He neither was made man nor the Son of man; and if He was not 3.22.01:013
made what we were, He did no great thing in what He suffered and endured. 3.22.01:014
But every one will allow that we are [composed of] a body taken from 3.22.01:015
the earth, and a soul receiving spirit from God. This, therefore, the 3.22.01:016
Word of God was made, recapitulating in Himself His own handiwork; and on 3.22.01:017
this account does He confess Himself the Son of man, and blesses "the 3.22.01:018
meek, because they shall inherit the earth." The Apostle Paul, moreover, 3.22.01:019
in the Epistle to the Galatians, declares plainly, "God sent His Son, 3.22.01:020
made of a woman." And again, in that to the Romans, he says, "Concerning 3.22.01:021
His Son, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, who 3.22.01:022
was predestinated as the Son of God with power, according to the spirit 3.22.01:023
of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord." 3.22.01:024
2. Superfluous, too, in that case is His descent into Mary; for why did He come down into 3.22.02:028
her if He were to take nothing of her? Still further, if He had taken nothing of Mary, He 3.22.02:029
would never have availed Himself of those kinds of food which are derived from the earth, 3.22.02:030
by which that body which has been taken from the earth is nourished; nor would He have 3.22.02:031
hungered, fasting those forty days, like Moses and Elias, unless His body was craving after 3.22.02:032
its own proper nourishment; nor, again, would John His disciple have said, when writing 3.22.02:033
of Him, "But Jesus, being wearied with the journey, was sitting [to rest];" nor would David 3.22.02:034
have proclaimed of Him beforehand, "They have added to the grief of my wounds;" nor 3.22.02:035
would He have wept over Lazarus, nor have sweated great drops of blood; nor have declared, 3.22.02:036
"My soul is exceeding sorrowful;" nor, when His side was pierced, would there have come 3.22.02:037
forth blood and water. For all these are tokens of the flesh which had been derived from 3.22.02:041
the earth, which He had recapitulated in Himself, bearing salvation to His own handiwork. 3.22.02:042
3. Wherefore Luke points out that the pedigree which traces the generation of our 3.22.03:043
Lord back to Adam contains seventy-two generations, connecting the end with the beginning, 3.22.03:044
and implying that it is He who has summed up in Himself all nations dispersed 3.22.03:045
from Adam downwards, and all languages and generations of men, together with 3.22.03:046
Adam himself. Hence also was Adam himself termed by Paul "the figure of Him that was 3.22.03:047
to come," because the Word, the Maker of all things, had formed beforehand for Himself 3.22.03:049
the future dispensation of the human race, connected with the Son of God; God 3.22.03:050
having predestined that the first man should be of an animal nature, with this view, 3.22.03:051
that he might be saved by the spiritual One. For inasmuch as He had a pre-existence IrnL.AH.3.22.03:052
as a saving Being, it was necessary that what might be saved should also be 3.22.03:054
called into existence, in order that the Being who saves should not exist in vain. 3.22.03:055
4. In accordance with this design, Mary the Virgin is found obedient, saying, 3.22.04:056
"Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." 3.22.04:057
But Eve was disobedient; for she did not obey when as yet she was a virgin. 3.22.04:058
And even as she, having indeed a husband, Adam, but being nevertheless as yet 3.22.04:059
a virgin (for in Paradise "they were both naked, and were not ashamed," 3.22.04:060
inasmuch as they, having been created a short time previously, had no understanding IrnL.AH.3.22.04:061
of the procreation of children: for it was necessary that they should 3.22.04:062
first come to adult age, and then multiply from that time onward), having 3.22.04:063
become disobedient, was made the cause of death, both to herself and to 3.22.04:064
the entire human race; so also did Mary, having a man betrothed [to her], and 3.22.04:065
being nevertheless a virgin, by yielding obedience, become the cause of salvation, 3.22.04:068
both to herself and the whole human race. And on this account does 3.22.04:069
the law term a woman betrothed to a man, the wife of him who had betrothed 3.22.04:070
her, although she was as yet a virgin; thus indicating the back-reference 3.22.04:071
from Mary to Eve, because what is joined together could not otherwise be put 3.22.04:072
asunder than by inversion of the process by which these bonds of union had 3.22.04:073
arisen; so that the former ties be cancelled by the latter, that the latter 3.22.04:074
may set the former again at liberty. And it has, in fact, happened that 3.22.04:078
the first compact looses from the second tie, but that the second tie takes 3.22.04:079
the position of the first which has been cancelled. For this reason did 3.22.04:079
the Lord declare that the first should in truth be last, and the last first. 3.22.04:080
And the prophet, too, indicates the same, saying, "instead of fathers, children 3.22.04:081
have been born unto thee." For the Lord, having been born "the First-begotten 3.22.04:082
of the dead," and receiving into His bosom the ancient fathers, has 3.22.04:083
regenerated them into the life of God, He having been made Himself the beginning 3.22.04:085
of those that live, as Adam became the beginning of those who die. 3.22.04:086
Wherefore also Luke, commencing the genealogy with the Lord, carried it back 3.22.04:087
to Adam, indicating that it was He who regenerated them into the Gospel of IrnL.AH.3.22.04:088
life, and not they Him. And thus also it was that the knot of Eve's disobedience 3.22.04:089
was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound 3.22.04:089
fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith. 3.22.04:090
1. It was necessary, therefore, that the Lord, coming to the lost sheep, and making 3.23.01:001
recapitulation of so comprehensive a dispensation, and seeking after His own handiwork, 3.23.01:002
should save that very man who had been created after His image and likeness, that 3.23.01:003
is, Adam, filling up the times of His condemnation, which had been incurred through 3.23.01:004
disobedience,--[times] "which the Father had placed in His own power." [This was necessary,] 3.23.01:005
too, inasmuch as the whole economy of salvation regarding man came to pass 3.23.01:006
according to the good pleasure of the Father, in order that God might not be conquered, 3.23.01:007
nor His wisdom lessened, [in the estimation of His creatures.] For if man, who 3.23.01:010
had been created by God that he might live, after losing life, through being injured 3.23.01:011
by the serpent that had corrupted him, should not any more return to life, but should 3.23.01:012
be utterly [and for ever] abandoned to death, God would [in that case] have been 3.23.01:013
conquered, and the wickedness of the serpent would have prevailed over the will of God. 3.23.01:015
But inasmuch as God is invincible and long-suffering, He did indeed show Himself 3.23.01:016
to be long-suffering in the matter of the correction of man and the probation of all, 3.23.01:017
as I have already observed; and by means of the second man did He bind the strong 3.23.01:018
man, and spoiled his goods, and abolished death, vivifying that man who had been in IrnL.AH.3.23.01:021
a state of death. For at the first Adam became a vessel in his (Satan's) possession, 3.23.01:022
whom he did also hold under his power, that is, by bringing sin on him iniquitously, 3.23.01:023
and under colour of immortality entailing death upon him. For, while promising that 3.23.01:024
they should be as gods, which was in no way possible for him to be, he wrought death IrnL.AH.3.23.01:025
in them: wherefore he who had led man captive, was justly captured in his turn by 3.23.01:026
God; but man, who had been led captive, was loosed from the bonds of condemnation. IrnL.AH.3.23.01:027
2. But this is Adam, if the truth should be told, the first formed man, of whom 3.23.02:030
the Scripture says that the Lord spake, "Let Us make man after Our own image 3.23.02:031
and likeness;" and we are all from him: and as we are from him, therefore have 3.23.02:032
we all inherited his title. But inasmuch as man is saved, it is fitting that 3.23.02:033
he who was created the original man should be saved. For it is too absurd to 3.23.02:034
maintain, that he who was so deeply injured by the enemy, and was the first to 3.23.02:035
suffer captivity, was not rescued by Him who conquered the enemy, but that his 3.23.02:036
children were,--those whom he had begotten in the same captivity. Neither would 3.23.02:037
the enemy appear to be as yet conquered, if the old spoils remained with him. 3.23.02:038
To give an illustration: If a hostile force had overcome certain [enemies], 3.23.02:040
had bound them, and led them away captive, and held them for a long time in 3.23.02:041
servitude, so that they begat children among them; and somebody, compassionating 3.23.02:042
those who had been made slaves, should overcome this same hostile force; he 3.23.02:043
certainly would not act equitably, were he to liberate the children of those 3.23.02:044
who had been led captive, from the sway of those who had enslaved their fathers, 3.23.02:045
but should leave these latter, who had suffered the act of capture, subject 3.23.02:046
to their enemies,--those, too, on whose very account he had proceeded to this 3.23.02:047
retaliation,--the children succeeding to liberty through the avenging of their 3.23.02:048
fathers' cause, but not so that their fathers, who suffered the act of capture 3.23.02:049
itself, should be left [in bondage]. For God is neither devoid of power nor 3.23.02:053
of justice, who has afforded help to man, and restored him to His own liberty. 3.23.02:054
3. It was for this reason, too, that immediately after Adam had transgressed, as the Scripture 3.23.03:056
relates, He pronounced no curse against Adam personally, but against the ground, 3.23.03:057
in reference to his works, as a certain person among the ancients has observed: "God did 3.23.03:058
indeed transfer the curse to the earth, that it might not remain in man." But man received, 3.23.03:059
as the punishment of his transgression, the toilsome task of tilling the earth, 3.23.03:060
and to eat bread in the sweat of his face, and to return to the dust from whence he was IrnL.AH.3.23.03:061
taken. Similarly also did the woman [receive] toil, and labour, and groans, and the pangs 3.23.03:062
of parturition, and a state of subjection, that is, that she should serve her husband; 3.23.03:063
so that they should neither perish altogether when cursed by God, nor, by remaining 3.23.03:064
unreprimanded, should be led to despise God. But the curse in all its fulness fell upon IrnL.AH.3.23.03:067
the serpent, which had beguiled them. "And God," it is declared, "said to the serpent: IrnL.AH.3.23.03:069
Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above all the beasts 3.23.03:070
of the earth." And this same thing does the Lord also say in the Gospel, to those who IrnL.AH.3.23.03:071
are found upon the left hand: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into ever: lasting fire, which IrnL.AH.3.23.03:072
my Father hath prepared for the devil and his angels;" indicating that eternal fire was IrnL.AH.3.23.03:073
not originally prepared for man, but for him who beguiled man, and caused him to offend--for 3.23.03:074
him, I say, who is chief of the apostasy, and for those angels who became apostates 3.23.03:075
along with him; which [fire], indeed, they too shall justly feel, who, like him, persevere IrnL.AH.3.23.03:076
in works of wickedness, without repentance, and without retracing their steps. 3.23.03:077
4. [These act] as Cain [did, who], when he was counselled by God to keep quiet, 3.23.04:081
because he had not made an equitable division of that share to which his brother 3.23.04:082
was entitled, but with envy and malice thought that he could domineer over him, 3.23.04:083
not only did not acquiesce, but even added sin to sin, indicating his state 3.23.04:084
of mind by his action. For what he had planned, that did he also put in practice: 3.23.04:085
he tyrannized over and slew him; God subjecting the just to the unjust, that IrnL.AH.3.23.04:087
the former might be proved as the just one by the things which he suffered, and 3.23.04:088
the latter detected as the unjust by those which he perpetrated. And he was not 3.23.04:089
softened even by this, nor did he stop short with that evil deed; but being asked 3.23.04:091
where his brother was, he said, "I know not; am I my brother's keeper?" extending 3.23.04:092
and aggravating [his] wickedness by his answer. For if it is wicked to slay 3.23.04:093
a brother, much worse is it thus insolently and irreverently to reply to the 3.23.04:095
omniscient God as if he could battle Him. And for this he did himself bear a IrnL.AH.3.23.04:096
curse about with him, because he gratuitously brought an offering of sin, having 3.23.04:097
had no reverence for God, nor being put to confusion by the act of fratricide. IrnL.AH.3.23.04:098
5. The case of Adam, however, had no analogy with this, but was altogether different. IrnL.AH.3.23.05:100
For, having been beguiled by another under the pretext of immortality, 3.23.05:101
he is immediately seized with terror, and hides himself; not as if he were 3.23.05:102
able to escape from God; but, in a state of confusion at having transgressed His 3.23.05:103
command, he feels unworthy to appear before and to hold converse with God. 3.23.05:104
Now, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;" the sense of sin leads 3.23.05:105
to repentance, and God bestows His compassion upon those who are penitent. 3.23.05:106
For [Adam] showed his repentance by his conduct, through means of the girdle [which IrnL.AH.3.23.05:108
he used], covering himself with fig-leaves, while there were many other 3.23.05:109
leaves, which would have irritated his body in a less degree. He, however, adopted 3.23.05:110
a dress conformable to his disobedience, being awed by the fear of God; 3.23.05:111
and resisting the erring, the lustful propensity of his flesh (since he had lost 3.23.05:112
his natural disposition and child-like mind, and had come to the knowledge IrnL.AH.3.23.05:113
of evil things), he girded a bridle of continence upon himself and his wife, 3.23.05:114
fearing God, and waiting for His coming, and indicating, as it were, some such 3.23.05:115
thing [as follows]: Inasmuch as, he says, I have by disobedience lost that 3.23.05:116
robe of sanctity which I had from the Spirit, I do now also acknowledge that IrnL.AH.3.23.05:117
I am deserving of a covering of this nature, which affords no gratification, 3.23.05:122
but which gnaws have retained this clothing for ever, thus humbling himself, if 3.23.05:123
God, who is merciful, had not clothed them with tunics of skins instead of 3.23.05:124
fig-leaves. For this purpose, too, He interrogates them, that the blame might IrnL.AH.3.23.05:125
light upon the woman; and again, He interrogates her, that she might convey the 3.23.05:126
blame to the serpent. For she related what had occurred. "The serpent," says 3.23.05:127
she, "beguiled me, and I did eat." But He put no question to the serpent; for 3.23.05:129
He knew that he had been the prime mover in the guilty deed; but He pronounced 3.23.05:130
the curse upon him in the first instance, that it might fall upon man with 3.23.05:131
a mitigated rebuke. For God detested him who had led man astray, but by degrees, 3.23.05:132
and little by little, He showed compassion to him who had been beguiled. 3.23.05:133
6. Wherefore also He drove him out of Paradise, and removed him far from the tree of life, 3.23.06:135
not because He envied him the tree of life, as some venture to assert, but because He pitiedhim, 3.23.06:136
[and did not desire] that he should continue a sinner for ever, nor that the sin 3.23.06:137
which surrounded him should be immortal, and evil interminable and irremediable. But He set 3.23.06:138
a bound to his [state of] sin, by interposing death, and thus causing sin to cease, putting 3.23.06:140
an end to it by the dissolution of the flesh, which should take place in the earth, so 3.23.06:141
that man, ceasing at length to live to sin, and dying to it, might begin to live to God. 3.23.06:142
7. For this end did He put enmity between the serpent and the woman and 3.23.07:145
her seed, they keeping it up mutually: He, the sole of whose foot should 3.23.07:146
be bitten, having power also to tread upon the enemy's head; but the 3.23.07:147
other biting, killing, and impeding the steps of man, until the seed 3.23.07:148
did come appointed to tread down his head,--which was born of Mary, 3.23.07:149
of whom the prophet speaks: "Thou shalt tread upon the asp and the basilisk; 3.23.07:151
thou shalt trample down the lion and the dragon;" --indicating 3.23.07:152
that sin, which was set up and spread out against man, and which rendered 3.23.07:153
him subject to death, should be deprived of its power, along with death, 3.23.07:154
which rules [over men]; and that the lion, that is, antichrist, 3.23.07:155
rampant against mankind in the latter days, should be trampled down by 3.23.07:156
Him; and that He should bind "the dragon, that old serpent" and subject 3.23.07:157
him to the power of man, who had been conquered so that all his might 3.23.07:160
should be trodden down. Now Adam had been conquered, all life having 3.23.07:160
been taken away from him: wherefore, when the foe was conquered in his 3.23.07:161
turn, Adam received new life; and the last enemy, death, is destroyed, 3.23.07:163
which at the first had taken possession of man. Therefore, when man 3.23.07:164
has been liberated, "what is written shall come to pass, Death is swallowed 3.23.07:164
up in victory. O death sting?" This could not be said with justice, 3.23.07:165
if that man, over whom death did first obtain dominion, were not set 3.23.07:166
free. For his salvation is death's destruction. When therefore the 3.23.07:167
Lord vivifies man, that is, Adam, death is at the same time destroyed. 3.23.07:168
8. All therefore speak falsely who disallow his (Adam's) salvation, shutting themselves 3.23.08:170
out from life for ever, in that they do not believe that the sheep which 3.23.08:171
had perished has been found. For if it has not been found, the whole human race 3.23.08:172
is still held in a state of perdition. False, therefore, is that, man who first started 3.23.08:174
this idea, or rather, this ignorance and blindness--Tatian. As I have already 3.23.08:175
indicated, this man entangled himself with all the heretics. This dogma, however, 3.23.08:176
has been invented by himself, in order that, by introducing something new, 3.23.08:177
independently of the rest, and by speaking vanity. he might acquire for himself 3.23.08:178
hearers void of faith, affecting to be esteemed a teacher, and endeavouring from 3.23.08:179
time to time to employ sayings of this kind often [made use of] by Paul: "In Adam 3.23.08:180
we all die;" ignorant, however, that "where sin abounded, grace did much more 3.23.08:183
abound." Since this, then, has been clearly shown, let all his disciples be put to 3.23.08:184
shame, and let them wrangle about Adam, as if some great gain were to accrue to 3.23.08:185
them if he be not saved; when they profit nothing more [by that], even as the serpent 3.23.08:187
also did not profit when persuading man [to sin], except to this effect, 3.23.08:188
that he proved him a transgressor, obtaining man as the first-fruits of his own apostasy. 3.23.08:189
But he did not know God's power. Thus also do those who disallow Adam's IrnL.AH.3.23.08:190
salvation gain nothing, except this, that they render themselves heretics and apostates 3.23.08:191
from the truth, and show themselves patrons of the serpent and of death. 3.23.08:193
1. Thus, then, have all these men been exposed, who bring in impious doctrines regarding 3.24.01:001
our Maker and Framer, who also formed this world. and above whom there is no other God 3.24.01:002
and those have been overthrown by their own arguments who teach falsehoods regarding 3.24.01:003
the substance of our Lord, and the dispensation which He fulfilled for the sake of His 3.24.01:004
own creature man. But [it has, on the other hand, been shown], that the preaching of the 3.24.01:005
Church is everywhere consistent, and continues in an even course, and receives testimony 3.24.01:006
from the prophets, the apostles, and all the disciples--as I have proved--through [those IrnL.AH.3.24.01:007
in] the beginning, the middle, and the end, and through the entire dispensation of 3.24.01:008
God, and that well-grounded system which tends to man's salvation, namely, our faith; IrnL.AH.3.24.01:009
which, having been received from the Church, we do preserve, and which always, by the 3.24.01:010
Spirit of God, renewing its youth, as if it were some precious deposit in an excellent 3.24.01:011
vessel, causes the vessel itself containing it to renew its youth also. For this gift of 3.24.01:017
God has been entrusted to the Church, as breath was to the first created man, for this 3.24.01:018
purpose, that all the members receiving it may be vivified; and the [means of] communion 3.24.01:019
with Christ has been distributed throughout it, that is, the Holy Spirit, the earnest 3.24.01:020
of incorruption, the means of confirming our faith, and the ladder of ascent to God. 3.24.01:022
"For in the Church," it is said, "God hath set apostles, prophets, teachers," and all 3.24.01:023
the other means through which the Spirit works; of which all those are not partakers who 3.24.01:024
do not join themselves to the Church, but defraud themselves of life through their perverse 3.24.01:025
opinions and infamous behaviour. For where the Church is, there is the Spirit of 3.24.01:027
God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church, and every kind of grace; but 3.24.01:028
the Spirit is truth. Those, therefore, who do not partake of Him, are neither nourished 3.24.01:029
into life from the mother's breasts, nor do they enjoy that most limpid fountain which 3.24.01:030
issues from the body of Christ; but they dig for themselves broken cisterns out of earthly 3.24.01:031
trenches, and drink putrid water out of the mire, fleeing from the faith of the Church 3.24.01:032
lest they be convicted; and rejecting the Spirit, that they may not be instructed. 3.24.01:033
2. Alienated thus from the truth, they do deservedly wallow in all error, tossed 3.24.02:035
to and fro by it, thinking differently in regard to the same things at different 3.24.02:036
times, and never attaining to a well-grounded knowledge, being more anxious 3.24.02:037
to be sophists of words than disciples of the truth. For they have not 3.24.02:038
been founded upon the one rock, but upon the sand, which has in itself a multitude 3.24.02:039
of stones. Wherefore they also imagine many gods, and they always have 3.24.02:040
the excuse of searching [after truth] (for they are blind), but never succeed 3.24.02:042
in finding it. For they blaspheme the Creator, Him who is truly God, who 3.24.02:042
also furnishes power to find [the truth]; imagining that they have discovered IrnL.AH.3.24.02:043
another god beyond God, or another Pleroma, or another dispensation. Wherefore 3.24.02:044
also the light which is from God does not illumine them, because they have IrnL.AH.3.24.02:045
dishonoured and despised God, holding Him of small account, because, through 3.24.02:046
His love and infinite benignity, He has come within reach of human knowledge 3.24.02:048
(knowledge, however, not with regard to His greatness, + or with regard to His 3.24.02:049
essence--for that has no man measured or handled--but after this sort: that 3.24.02:050
we should know that He who made, and formed, and breathed in them the breath 3.24.02:051
of life, and nourishes us by means of the creation, establishing all things 3.24.02:052
by His Word, and binding them together by His Wisdom--this is He who is the 3.24.02:053
only true God); but they dream of a non-existent being above Him, that they 3.24.02:054
may be regarded as having found out the great God, whom nobody, [they hold,] 3.24.02:055
can recognise holding communication with the human race, or as directing mundane 3.24.02:056
matters: that is to say, they find out the god of Epicurus, who does nothing 3.24.02:057
either for himself or others; that is, he exercises no providence at all. 3.24.02:058
1. God does, however, exercise a providence over all things, and therefore He also gives counsel; 3.25.01:001
and when giving counsel, He is present with those who attend to moral discipline. It 3.25.01:002
follows then of course, that the things which are watched over and governed should be acquainted 3.25.01:003
with their ruler; which things are not irrational or vain, but they have understanding 3.25.01:004
derived from the providence of God. And, for this reason certain of the Gentiles, who were 3.25.01:005
less addicted to [sensual] allurements and voluptuousness, and were not led away to such 3.25.01:007
a degree of superstition with regard to idols, being moved, though but slightly, by His providence, 3.25.01:008
were nevertheless convinced that they should call the Maker of this universe the 3.25.01:009
Father, who exercises a providence over all things, and arranges the affairs of our world. 3.25.01:010
2. Again, that they might remove the rebuking and judicial power from the Father, reckoning 3.25.02:014
that as unworthy of God, and thinking that they had found out a God both without anger IrnL.AH.3.25.02:015
and [merely] good, they have alleged that one [God] judges, but that another saves, unconsciously 3.25.02:016
taking away the intelligence and justice of both deities. For if the judicial one 3.25.02:017
is not also good, to bestow favours upon the deserving, and to direct reproofs against those 3.25.02:019
requiring them, he will appear neither a just nor a wise judge. On the other hand, the 3.25.02:020
good God, if he is merely good, and not one who tests those upon whom he shall send his 3.25.02:021
goodness, will be out of the range of justice and goodness; and his goodness will seem imperfect, 3.25.02:022
as not saving all; [for it should do so,] if it be not accompanied with judgment. 3.25.02:023
3. Marcion, therefore, himself, by dividing God into two, maintaining one to be 3.25.03:026
good and the other judicial, does in fact, on both sides, put an end to deity. For 3.25.03:027
he that is the judicial one, if he be not good, is not God, because he from whom 3.25.03:028
goodness is absent is no God at all; and again, he who is good, if he has no 3.25.03:029
judicial power, suffers the same [loss] as the former, by being deprived of his 3.25.03:030
character of deity. And how can they call the Father of all wise, if they do not 3.25.03:032
assign to Him a judicial faculty? For if He is wise, He is also one who tests [others]; 3.25.03:033
but the judicial power belongs to him who tests, and justice follows the 3.25.03:033
judicial faculty, that it may reach a just conclusion; justice calls forth judgment, 3.25.03:034
and judgment, when it is executed with justice, will pass on to wisdom. Therefore 3.25.03:035
the Father will excel in wisdom all human and angelic wisdom, because He IrnL.AH.3.25.03:037
is Lord, and Judge, and the Just One, and Ruler over all. For He is good, and merciful, IrnL.AH.3.25.03:038
and patient, and saves whom He ought: nor does goodness desert Him in the 3.25.03:040
exercise of justice, nor is His wisdom lessened; for He saves those whom He should IrnL.AH.3.25.03:041
save, and judges those worthy of judgment. Neither does He show Himself unmercifully 3.25.03:042
just; for His goodness, no doubt, goes on before, and takes precedency. 3.25.03:043
4. The God, therefore, who does benevolently cause His sun to rise upon all, and sends 3.25.04:046
rain upon the just and unjust, shall judge those who, enjoying His equally distributed 3.25.04:047
kindness, have led lives not corresponding to the dignity of His bounty; but who 3.25.04:048
have spent their days in wantonness and luxury, in opposition to His benevolence, and 3.25.04:049
have, moreover, even blasphemed Him who has conferred so great benefits upon them. 3.25.04:050
5. Plato is proved to be more religious than these men, for he allowed that the 3.25.05:053
same God was both just and good, having power over all things, and Himself executing 3.25.05:054
judgment, expressing himself thus, "And God indeed, as He is also the ancient 3.25.05:055
Word, possessing the beginning, the end, and the mean of all existing things, 3.25.05:056
does everything rightly, moving round about them according to their nature; but 3.25.05:057
retributive justice always follows Him against those who depart from the divine 3.25.05:058
law." Then, again, he points out that the Maker and Framer of the universe is good. 3.25.05:060
"And to the good," he says, "no envy ever springs up with regard to anything;" 3.25.05:061
thus establishing the goodness of God, as the beginning and the cause of the 3.25.05:062
creation of the world, but not ignorance, nor an erring Aeon, nor the consequence 3.25.05:063
of a defect, nor the Mother weeping and lamenting, nor another God or Father. 3.25.05:064
6. Well may their Mother bewail them, as capable of conceiving and inventing such things 3.25.06:067
for they have worthily uttered this falsehood against themselves, that their Mother is beyond 3.25.06:068
the Pleroma, that is beyond the knowledge of God, and that their entire multitude became 3.25.06:069
a shapeless and crude abortion: for it apprehends nothing of the truth; it falls into 3.25.06:070
void and darkness: for their wisdom (Sophia) was void, and wrapped up in darkness; and Horos 3.25.06:071
did not permit her to enter the Pleroma: for the Spirit (Achamoth) did not receive them 3.25.06:072
into the place of refreshment. For their father, by begetting ignorance, wrought in them IrnL.AH.3.25.06:073
the sufferings of death. We do not misrepresent [their opinions on] these points; but 3.25.06:075
they do themselves confirm, they do themselves teach, they do glory in them, they imagine 3.25.06:077
a lofty [mystery] about their Mother, whom they represent as having been begotten without 3.25.06:078
a father, that is, without God, a female from a female, that is, corruption from error. 3.25.06:079
7. We do indeed pray that these men may not remain in the pit which they 3.25.07:081
themselves have dug, but separate themselves from a Mother of this nature, IrnL.AH.3.25.07:082
and depart from Bythus, and stand away from the void, and relinquish the 3.25.07:083
shadow; and that they, being converted to the Church of God, may be lawfully 3.25.07:084
begotten, and that Christ may be formed in them, and that they may know 3.25.07:085
the Framer and Maker of this universe, the only true God and Lord of 3.25.07:087
all. We pray for these things on their behalf, loving them better than they 3.25.07:088
seem to love themselves. For our love, inasmuch as it is true, is salutary 3.25.07:089
to them, if they will but receive it. It may be compared to a severe 3.25.07:090
remedy, extirpating the proud and sloughing flesh of a wound; for it puts 3.25.07:090
an end to their pride and haughtiness. Wherefore it shall not weary us, 3.25.07:091
to endeavour with all our might to stretch out the hand unto them. Over 3.25.07:093
and above what has been already stated, I have deferred to the following book, 3.25.07:095
to adduce the words of the Lord; if, by convincing some among them, 3.25.07:096
through means of the very instruction of Christ, I may succeed in persuading 3.25.07:097
them to abandon such error, and to cease from blaspheming their Creator, 3.25.07:098
who is both God alone, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 3.25.07:099
1. By transmitting to thee, my very dear friend, this fourth book of the work which is 4.00.01:001
[entitled] The Detection and Refuation of False Knowledge, I shall, as I have promised, 4.00.01:002
add weight, by means of the words of the Lord, to what I have already advanced; so that 4.00.01:003
thou also, as thou hast requested, mayest obtain from me the means of confuting all the 4.00.01:004
heretics everywhere, and not permit them, beaten back at all points, to launch out further 4.00.01:005
into the deep of error, nor to be drowned in the sea of ignorance; but that thou, 4.00.01:006
turning them into the haven of the truth, mayest cause them to attain their salvation. 4.00.01:007
2. The man, however, who would undertake their conversion, must possess an accurate 4.00.02:011
knowledge of their systems or schemes of doctrine. For it is impossible for any 4.00.02:012
one to heal the sick, if he has no knowledge of the disease of the patients. This 4.00.02:012
was the reason that my predecessors--much superior men to myself, too--were 4.00.02:013
unable, notwithstanding, to refute the Valentinians satisfactorily, because they 4.00.02:014
were ignorant of these men's system; which I have with all care delivered to thee 4.00.02:015
in the first book in which I have also shown that their doctrine is a recapitulation 4.00.02:016
of all the heretics. For which reason also, in the second, we have had, as 4.00.02:017
in a mirror, a sight of their entire discomfiture. For they who oppose these men 4.00.02:020
(the Valentinians) by the right method, do [thereby] oppose all who are of an evil 4.00.02:021
mind; and they who overthrow them, do in fact overthrow every kind of heresy. 4.00.02:022
3. For their system is blasphemous above all [others], since they represent 4.00.03:026
that the Maker and Framer, who is one God, as I have shown, was produced 4.00.03:027
from a defect or apostasy. They utter blasphemy, also, against our 4.00.03:028
Lord, by cutting off and dividing Jesus from Christ, and Christ from the 4.00.03:029
Saviour, and again the Saviour from the Word, and the Word from the 4.00.03:030
Only-begotten. And since they allege that the Creator originated from a 4.00.03:031
defect or apostasy, so have they also taught that Christ and the Holy Spirit IrnL.AH.4.00.03:032
were emitted on account of this defect, and that the Saviour was 4.00.03:033
a product of those Aeons who were produced from a defect; so that there 4.00.03:034
is nothing but blasphemy to be found among them. In the preceding book, 4.00.03:035
then, the ideas of the apostles as to all these points have been set forth, 4.00.03:037
[to the effect] that not only did they, "who from the beginning were 4.00.03:038
eye-witnesses and ministers of the word" of truth, hold no such opinions, 4.00.03:039
but that they did also preach to us to shun these doctrines, foreseeing 4.00.03:040
by the Spirit those weak-minded persons who should be led astray. 4.00.03:041
4. For as the serpent beguiled Eve, by promising her what he had not himself, so also IrnL.AH.4.00.04:044
do these men, by pretending [to possess] superior knowledge, and [to be acquainted 4.00.04:045
with] ineffable mysteries; and, by promising that admittance which they speak 4.00.04:046
of as taking place within the Pleroma, plunge those that believe them into death, 4.00.04:047
rendering them apostates from Him who made them. And at that time, indeed, the apostate 4.00.04:049
angel, having effected the disobedience of mankind by means of the serpent, 4.00.04:050
imagined that he escaped the notice of the Lord; wherefore God assigned him the form IrnL.AH.4.00.04:051
and name [of a serpent]. But now, since the last times are [come upon us], evil 4.00.04:053
is spread abroad among men, which not only renders them apostates, but by many machinations 4.00.04:054
does [the devil] raise up blasphemers against the Creator, namely, by 4.00.04:055
means of all the heretics already mentioned. For all these, although they issue forth 4.00.04:057
from diverse regions, and promulgate different [opinions], do nevertheless concur 4.00.04:058
in the same blasphemous design, wounding [men] unto death, by teaching blasphemy IrnL.AH.4.00.04:059
against God our Maker and Supporter, and derogating from the salvation of man. 4.00.04:060
Now man is a mixed organization of soul and flesh, who was formed after the likeness IrnL.AH.4.00.04:062
of God, and moulded by His hands, that is, by the Son and Holy Spirit, to whom 4.00.04:063
also He said, "Let Us make man." This, then, is the aim of him who envies our life, 4.00.04:064
to render men disbelievers in their own salvation, and blasphemous against God 4.00.04:065
the Creator. For whatsoever all the heretics may have advanced with the utmost solemnity, 4.00.04:066
they come to this at last, that they blaspheme the Creator, and disallow the IrnL.AH.4.00.04:068
salvation of God's workmanship, which the flesh truly is; on behalf of which I 4.00.04:069
have proved, in a variety of ways, that the Son of God accomplished the whole dispensation 4.00.04:070
[of mercy], and have shown that there is none other called God by the Scriptures 4.00.04:071
except the Father of all, and the Son, and those who possess the adoption. 4.00.04:072
1. Since, therefore, this is sure and stedfast, that no other God or Lord was announced IrnL.AH.4.01.01:001
4.-01.01:001
by the Spirit, except Him who, as God, rules over all, together with His Word, and those 4.01.01:002
who receive the Spirit of adoption, that is, those who believe in the one and true God, IrnL.AH.4.01.01:003
and in Jesus Christ the Son of God; and likewise that the apostles did Of themselves IrnL.AH.4.01.01:004
term no one else as God, or name [no other] as Lord; and, what is much more important, 4.01.01:005
[since it is true] that our Lord [acted likewise], who did also command us to confess no IrnL.AH.4.01.01:006
one as Father, except Him who is in the heavens, who is the one God and the one Father;--those 4.01.01:007
things are clearly shown to be false which these deceivers and most perverse sophists 4.01.01:008
advance, maintaining that the being whom they have themselves invented is by nature 4.01.01:009
both God and Father; but that the Demiurge is naturally neither God nor Father, but 4.01.01:010
is so termed merely by courtesy (verbo tenus), because of his ruling the creation, these 4.01.01:011
perverse mythologists state, setting their thoughts against God; and, putting aside 4.01.01:012
the doctrine of Christ, and of themselves divining falsehoods, they dispute against the IrnL.AH.4.01.01:013
entire dispensation of God. For they maintain that their Aeons, and gods, and fathers, IrnL.AH.4.01.01:019
and lords, are also still further termed heavens, together with their Mother, whom they 4.01.01:020
do also call "the Earth," and "Jerusalem," while they also style her many other names. 4.01.01:021
2. Now to whom is it not clear, that if the Lord had known many fathers and gods, 4.01.02:023
He would not have taught His disciples to know [only] one God, and to call Him 4.01.02:024
alone Father? But He did the rather distinguish those who by word merely (verbo 4.01.02:025
tenus) are termed gods, from Him who is truly God, that they should not err as 4.01.02:026
to His doctrine, nor understand one [in mistake] for another. And if He did indeed 4.01.02:027
teach us to call one Being Father and God, while He does from time to time IrnL.AH.4.01.02:029
Himself confess other fathers and gods in the same sense, then He will appear to 4.01.02:030
enjoin a different course upon His disciples from what He follows Himself. Such 4.01.02:031
conduct, however, does not bespeak the good teacher, but a misleading and invidious IrnL.AH.4.01.02:032
one. The apostles, too, according to these men's showing, are proved to be 4.01.02:033
transgressors of the commandment, since they confess the Creator as God, and Lord, 4.01.02:034
and Father, as I have shown--if He is not alone God and Father. Jesus, therefore, 4.01.02:035
will be to them the author and teacher of such transgression, inasmuch as 4.01.02:037
He commanded that one Being should be called Father, thus imposing upon them the IrnL.AH.4.01.02:038
necessity of confessing the Creator as their Father, as has been pointed out. 4.01.02:039
1. Moses, therefore, making a recapitulation4 of the whole law, which he had received IrnL.AH.4.02.01:001
from the Creator (Demiurge), thus speaks in Deuteronomy: "Give ear, O ye heavens, 4.02.01:002
and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth." Again, David saying 4.02.01:003
that his help came from the Lord, asserts: "My help is from the LORD, who made 4.02.01:004
heaven and earth." And Esaias confesses that words were uttered by God, who made IrnL.AH.4.02.01:005
heaven and earth, and governs them. He says: "Hear, O heavens; and give ear, O earth: 4.02.01:006
for the LORD hath spoken." And again: "Thus saith the LORD God, who made the 4.02.01:007
heaven, and stretched it out; who established the earth, and the things in it; and 4.02.01:008
who giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them who walk therein." 4.02.01:009
2. Again, our Lord Jesus Christ confesses this same Being as His Father, where 4.02.02:009
He says: "I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth." What 4.02.02:010
Father will those men have us to understand [by these words], those who 4.02.02:011
are most perverse sophists of Pandora? Whether shall it be Bythus, whom 4.02.02:012
they have fabled of themselves; or their Mother; or the Only-begotten? Or 4.02.02:013
shall it be he whom the Marcionites or the others have invented as god (whom 4.02.02:018
I indeed have amply demonstrated to be no god at all); or shall it be 4.02.02:019
(what is really the case) the Maker of heaven and earth, whom also the prophets 4.02.02:020
proclaimed,--whom Christ, too, confesses as His Father,--whom also 4.02.02:021
the law announces, saying: "Hear, O Israel; The Lord thy God is one God?" 4.02.02:022
3. But since the writings (litera) of Moses are the words of Christ, He does Himself 4.02.03:025
declare to the Jews, as John has recorded in the Gospel: "If ye had believed 4.02.03:026
Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe 4.02.03:027
not his writings, neither will ye believe My words." He thus indicates in the 4.02.03:028
cleareat manner that the writings of Moses are His words. If, then, [this be 4.02.03:029
the case with regard] to Moses, so also, beyond a doubt, the words of the other 4.02.03:031
prophets are His [words], as I have pointed out. And again, the Lord Himself 4.02.03:032
exhibits Abraham as having said to the rich man, with reference to all those 4.02.03:034
who were still alive: "If they do not obey Moses and the prophets, neither, 4.02.03:035
if any one were to rise from the dead and go to them, will they believe him." 4.02.03:036
4. Now, He has not merely related to us a story respecting a poor man and a rich one; IrnL.AH.4.02.04:037
but He has taught us, in the first place, that no one should lead a luxurious life, 4.02.04:038
nor, living in worldly pleasures and perpetual feastings, should be the slave 4.02.04:039
of his lusts, and forget God. "For there was," He says, "a rich man, who was clothed 4.02.04:040
in purple and fine linen, and delighted himself with splendid feasts." Of such 4.02.04:041
persons, too, the Spirit has spoken by Esaias: "They drink wine with [the accompaniment 4.02.04:043
of] harps, and tablets, and psalteries, and flutes; but they regard not the works 4.02.04:044
of God, neither do they consider the work of His hands." Lest, therefore, we should 4.02.04:045
incur the same punishment as these men, the Lord reveals [to us] their end; showing 4.02.04:046
at the same time, that if they obeyed Moses and the prophets, they would believe 4.02.04:047
in Him whom these had preached, the Son of God, who rose from the dead, and bestows 4.02.04:048
life upon us; and He shows that all are from one essence, that is, Abraham, IrnL.AH.4.02.04:049
and Moses, and the prophets, and also the Lord Himself, who rose from the dead, in 4.02.04:050
whom many believe who are of the circumcision, who do also hear Moses and the prophets 4.02.04:051
announcing the coming of the Son of God. But those who scoff [at the truth] assert 4.02.04:052
that these men were from another essence, and they do not know the first-begotten 4.02.04:053
from the dead; understanding Christ as a distinct being, who continued as if He 4.02.04:054
were impassible, and Jesus, who suffered, as being altogether separate [from Him]. 4.02.04:055
5. For they do not receive from the Father the knowledge of the Son; neither IrnL.AH.4.02.05:060
do they learn who the Father is from the Son, who teaches clearly and 4.02.05:061
without parables Him who truly is God. He says: "Swear not at all; neither 4.02.05:062
by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His 4.02.05:063
footstool; neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King." 4.02.05:064
For these words are evidently spoken with reference to the Creator, as 4.02.05:065
also Esaias says: "Heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool." And besides 4.02.05:066
this Being there is no other God; otherwise He would not be termed 4.02.05:068
by the Lord either" God" or" the great King;" for a Being who can be so 4.02.05:069
described admits neither of any other being compared with nor set above 4.02.05:070
Him. For he who has any superior over him, and is under the power of another, 4.02.05:071
this being never can be called either "God" or "the great King." 4.02.05:072
6. But neither will these men be able to maintain that such words were uttered 4.02.06:074
in an ironical manner, since it is proved to them by the words themselves 4.02.06:075
that they were in earnest. For He who uttered them was Truth, and did 4.02.06:076
truly vindicate His own house, by driving out of it the changers of money, 4.02.06:077
who were buying and selling, saying unto them: "It is written, My house 4.02.06:078
shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves." 4.02.06:079
And what reason had He for thus doing and saying, and vindicating His house, 4.02.06:081
if He did preach another God? But [He did so], that He might point out 4.02.06:082
the transgressors of His Father's law; for neither did He bring any accusation 4.02.06:082
against the house, nor did He blame the law, which He had come to 4.02.06:083
fulfil; but He reproved those who were putting His house to an improper use, IrnL.AH.4.02.06:084
and those who were transgressing the law. And therefore the scribes and 4.02.06:087
Pharisees, too, who from the times of the law had begun to despise God, 4.02.06:088
did not receive His Word, that is, they did not believe on Christ. Of these 4.02.06:089
Esaias says: "Thy princes are rebellious, companions of thieves, loving 4.02.06:090
gifts, following after rewards, not judging the fatherless, and negligent 4.02.06:091
of the cause of the widows." And Jeremiah, in like manner: "They," he says, 4.02.06:092
"who rule my people did not know me; they are senseless and imprudent children; 4.02.06:093
they are wise to do evil, but to do well they have no knowledge." 4.02.06:094
7. But as many as feared God, and were anxious about His law, these ran to Christ, 4.02.07:097
and were all saved. For He said to His disciples: "Go ye to the sheep 4.02.07:098
of the house of Israel, which have perished." And many more Samaritans, it 4.02.07:099
is said, when the Lord had tarried among. them, two days, "believed because of 4.02.07:100
His words, and said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying, 4.02.07:101
for we ourselves have heard [Him], and know that this man is truly the Saviour 4.02.07:102
of the world." And Paul likewise declares, "And so all Israel shall be 4.02.07:103
saved;" but he has also said, that the law was our pedagogue [to bring us] 4.02.07:105
to Christ Jesus. Let them not therefore ascribe to the law the unbelief of certain 4.02.07:106
[among them]. For the law never hindered them from believing in the Son 4.02.07:107
of God; nay, but it even exhorted them so to do, saying that men can be saved 4.02.07:108
in no other way from the old wound of the serpent than by believing in Him 4.02.07:109
who, in the likeness of sinful flesh, is lifted up from the earth upon the 4.02.07:110
tree of martyrdom, and draws all things to Himself, and vivifies the dead. 4.02.07:111
1. Again, as to their malignantly asserting that if heaven is indeed the throne of 4.03.01:001
God, and earth His footstool, and if it is declared that the heaven and earth shall 4.03.01:002
pass away, then when these pass away the God who sitteth above must also pass away, 4.03.01:003
and therefore He cannot be the God who is over all; in the first place, they are 4.03.01:004
ignorant what the expression means, that heaven is [His] throne and earth [His] 4.03.01:005
footstool. For they do not know what God is, but they imagine that He sits after 4.03.01:006
the fashion of a man, and is contained within bounds, but does not contain. And they 4.03.01:009
are also unacquainted with [the meaning of] the passing away of the heaven and earth; IrnL.AH.4.03.01:010
but Paul was not ignorant of it when he declared, "For the figure of this world 4.03.01:011
passeth away." In the next place, David explains their question, for he says that 4.03.01:012
when the fashion of this world passes away, not only shall God remain, but His 4.03.01:013
servants also, expressing himself thus in the 101st Psalm: "In the beginning, Thou; 4.03.01:014
O LORD, hast founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands. They 4.03.01:015
shall perish, but Thou shalt endure, and all shall wax old as a garment; and as a 4.03.01:016
vesture Thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, 4.03.01:017
and Thy years shall not fail. The children of Thy servants shall continue, and their 4.03.01:018
seed shall be established for ever;")pointing out plainly what things they are 4.03.01:019
that pass away, and who it is that doth endure for ever God, together with His servants. IrnL.AH.4.03.01:022
And in like manner Esaias says: "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look 4.03.01:023
upon the earth beneath; for the heaven has been set together as smoke, and the earth IrnL.AH.4.03.01:024
shall wax old like a garment, and they who dwell therein shall die in like manner. 4.03.01:025
But my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not pass away." 4.03.01:026
1. Further, also, concerning Jerusalem and the Lord, they venture to assert that, 4.04.01:001
if it had been "the city of the great King," it would not have been deserted. This 4.04.01:002
is just as if any one should say, that if straw were a creation of God, it would 4.04.01:003
never part company with the wheat; and that the vine twigs, if made by God, never 4.04.01:004
would be lopped away and deprived of the clusters. But as these [vine twigs] 4.04.01:005
have not been originally made for their own sake, but for that of the fruit growing 4.04.01:007
upon them, which being come to maturity and taken away, they are left behind, 4.04.01:008
and those which do not conduce to fructification are lopped off altogether; so also 4.04.01:009
[was it with] Jerusalem, which had in herself borne the yoke of bondage (under 4.04.01:010
which man was reduced, who in former times was not subject to God when death was IrnL.AH.4.04.01:011
reigning, and being subdued, became a fit subject for liberty), when the fruit of 4.04.01:012
liberty had come, and reached maturity, and been reaped and stored in the barn, 4.04.01:013
and when those which had the power to produce fruit had been carried away from her 4.04.01:014
[i.e., from Jerusalem], and scattered throughout all the world. Even as Esaias 4.04.01:017
saith, "The children of Jacob shall strike root, and Israel shall flourish, and 4.04.01:018
the whole world shall be filled with his fruit." The fruit, therefore, having been 4.04.01:019
sown throughout all the world, she (Jerusalem) was deservedly forsaken, and those 4.04.01:020
things which had formerly brought forth fruit abundantly were taken away; for 4.04.01:021
from these, according to the flesh, were Christ and the apostles enabled to bring 4.04.01:022
forth fruit. But now these are no longer useful for bringing forth fruit. For all 4.04.01:023
things which have a beginning in time must of course have an end in time also. 4.04.01:024
2. Since, then, the law originated with Moses, it terminated with John as a 4.04.02:026
necessary consequence. Christ had come to fulfil it: wherefore "the law and the 4.04.02:027
prophets were" with them "until John." And therefore Jerusalem, taking its 4.04.02:028
commencement from David, and fulfilling its own times, must have an end of 4.04.02:029
legislation when the new covenant was revealed. For God does all things by measure IrnL.AH.4.04.02:030
and in order; nothing is unmeasured with Him, because nothing is out 4.04.02:031
of order. Well spake he, who said that the unmeasurable Father was Himself subjected 4.04.02:032
to measure in the Son; for the Son is the measure of the Father, since 4.04.02:033
He also comprehends Him. But that the administration of them (the Jews) was 4.04.02:034
temporary, Esaias says: "And the daughter of Zion shall be left as a cottage 4.04.02:036
in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers." And when shall these 4.04.02:037
things be left behind? Is it not when the fruit shall be taken away, and 4.04.02:038
the leaves alone shall be left, which now have no power of producing fruit? IrnL.AH.4.04.02:039
3. But why do we speak of Jerusalem, since, indeed, the fashion of the whole world 4.04.03:042
must also pass away, when the time of its disappearance has come, in order 4.04.03:043
that the fruit indeed may be gathered into the garner, but the chaff, left behind, 4.04.03:044
may be consumed by fire? "For the day of the Lord cometh as a burning 4.04.03:046
furnace, and all sinners shall be stubble, they who do evil things, and the day 4.04.03:047
shall burn them up." Now, who this Lord is that brings such a day about, John 4.04.03:048
the Baptist points out, when he says of Christ, "He shall baptize you with the 4.04.03:049
Holy Ghost and with fire, having His fan in His hand to cleanse His floor; 4.04.03:050
and He will gather His fruit into the garner, but the chaff He will burn up with 4.04.03:051
unquenchable fire." For He who makes the chaff and He who makes the wheat 4.04.03:053
are not different persons, but one and the same, who judges them, that is, separates 4.04.03:054
them. But the wheat and the chaff, being inanimate and irrational, have 4.04.03:055
been made such by nature. But man, being endowed with reason, and in this respect 4.04.03:056
like to God, having been made free in his will, and with power over himself, IrnL.AH.4.04.03:057
is himself the cause to himself, that sometimes he becomes wheat, and sometimes 4.04.03:058
chaff. Wherefore also he shall be justly condemned, because, having been 4.04.03:060
created a rational being, he lost the true rationality, and living irrationally, 4.04.03:061
opposed the righteousness of God, giving himself over to every earthly spirit, 4.04.03:062
and serving all lusts; as says the prophet, "Man, being in honour, did not 4.04.03:063
understand: he was assimilated to senseless beasts, and made like to them." 4.04.03:064
1. God, therefore, is one and the same, who rolls up the heaven as a book, and 4.05.01:001
renews the face of the earth; who made the things of time. for man, so that 4.05.01:002
coming to maturity in them, he may produce the fruit of immortality; and 4.05.01:003
who, through His kindness, also bestows [upon him] eternal things, "that in 4.05.01:004
the ages to come He may show the exceeding riches of His grace;" who was announced 4.05.01:005
by the law and the prophets, whom Christ confessed as His Father. Now 4.05.01:006
He is the Creator, and He it is who is God over all, as Esaias says, "I am 4.05.01:008
witness, saith the LORD God, and my servant whom I have chosen, that ye may 4.05.01:009
know, and believe, and understand that I AM. Before me there was no other 4.05.01:010
God, neither shall be after me. I am God, and besides me there is no Saviour. 4.05.01:011
I have proclaimed, and I have saved." And again: "I myself am the first God, 4.05.01:012
and I am above things to come." For neither in an ambiguous, nor arrogant, 4.05.01:014
nor boastful manner, does He say these things; but since it was impossible, 4.05.01:015
without God, to come to a knowledge of God, He teaches men, through His Word, 4.05.01:016
to know God. To those, therefore, who are ignorant of these matters, and 4.05.01:017
on this account imagine that they have discovered another Father, justly 4.05.01:018
does one say, "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God." 4.05.01:019
2. For our Lord and Master, in the answer which He gave to the Sadducees, who 4.05.02:021
say that there is no resurrection, and who do therefore dishonour God, and 4.05.02:022
lower the credit of the law, did both indicate a resurrection, and reveal God, IrnL.AH.4.05.02:023
saying to them, "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of 4.05.02:024
God." "For, touching the resurrection of the dead," He says, "have ye not read 4.05.02:025
that which was spoken by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of 4.05.02:026
Isaac, and the God of Jacob? And He added, "He is not the God of the dead, 4.05.02:027
but of the living; for all live to Him." By these arguments He unquestionably 4.05.02:030
made it clear, that He who spake to Moses out of the bush, and declared Himself 4.05.02:031
to be the God of the fathers, He is the God of the living. For who is the 4.05.02:033
God of the living unless He who is God, and above whom there is no other 4.05.02:034
God? Whom also Daniel the prophet, when Cyrus king of the Persians said to him, 4.05.02:034
"Why dost thou not worship Bel?" did proclaim, saying, "Because I do not 4.05.02:035
worship idols made with hands, but the living God, who established the heaven 4.05.02:036
and the earth and has dominion over all flesh." Again did he say, "I will 4.05.02:037
adore the Lord my God, because He is the living God." He, then, who was adored 4.05.02:040
by the prophets as the living God, He is the God of the living; and His Word IrnL.AH.4.05.02:041
is He who also spake to Moses, who also put the Sadducees to silence, who 4.05.02:042
also bestowed the gift of resurrection, thus revealing [both] truths to those 4.05.02:043
who are blind, that is, the resurrection and God [in His true character]. 4.05.02:044
For if He be not the God of the dead, but of the living, yet was called the 4.05.02:045
God of the fathers who were sleeping, they do indubitably live to God, and 4.05.02:046
have not passed out of existence, since they are children of the resurrection. 4.05.02:047
But our Lord is Himself the resurrection, as He does Himself declare, "I 4.05.02:048
am the resurrection and the life." But the fathers are His children; for it 4.05.02:049
is said by the prophet: "Instead of thy fathers, thy children have been made 4.05.02:050
to thee." Christ Himself, therefore, together with the Father, is the God of 4.05.02:051
the living, who spoke to Moses, and who was also manifested to the fathers. 4.05.02:052
3. And teaching this very thing, He said to the Jews: "Your father Abraham rejoiced 4.05.03:053
that he should see my day; and he saw it, and was glad" What is intended? "Abraham 4.05.03:054
believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness." In the first 4.05.03:055
place, [he believed] that He was the maker of heaven and earth, the only God; and 4.05.03:056
in the next place, that He would make his seed as the stars of heaven. This is what 4.05.03:057
is meant by Paul, [when he says,] "as lights in the world." Righteously, therefore, 4.05.03:058
having left his earthly kindred, he followed the Word of God, walking as 4.05.03:060
a pilgrim with the Word, that he might [afterwards] have his abode with the Word. 4.05.03:061
4. Righteously also the apostles, being of the race of Abraham, left the 4.05.04:062
ship and their father, and followed the Word. Righteously also do we, possessing 4.05.04:063
the same faith as Abraham, and taking up the cross as Isaac did 4.05.04:064
the wood? follow Him. For in Abraham man had learned beforehand, and had 4.05.04:065
been accustomed to follow the Word of God. For Abraham, according to 4.05.04:067
his faith, followed the command of the Word of God, and with a ready mind 4.05.04:068
delivered up, as a sacrifice to God, his only-begotten and beloved son, 4.05.04:069
in order that God also might be pleased to offer up for all his seed His 4.05.04:070
own beloved and only-begotten Son, as a sacrifice for our redemption. 4.05.04:071
5. Since, therefore, Abraham was a prophet and saw in the Spirit the day of 4.05.05:074
the Lord's coming, and the dispensation of His suffering, through whom both 4.05.05:075
he himself and all who, following the example of his faith, trust in God, 4.05.05:076
should be saved, he rejoiced exceedingly. The Lord, therefore, was not unknown 4.05.05:078
to Abraham, whose day he desired to see; nor, again, was the Lord's 4.05.05:079
Father, for he had learned from the Word of the Lord, and believed Him; wherefore 4.05.05:080
it was accounted to him by the Lord for righteousness. For faith towards 4.05.05:082
God justifies a man; and therefore he said, "I will stretch forth my 4.05.05:083
hand to the most high God, who made the heaven and the earth." All these IrnL.AH.4.05.05:084
truths, however, do those holding perverse opinions endeavour to overthrow, IrnL.AH.4.05.05:085
because of one passage, which they certainly do not understand correctly. 4.05.05:087
1. For the Lord, revealing Himself to His disciples, that He Himself is the 4.06.01:001
Word, who imparts knowledge of the Father, and reproving the Jews, who imagined 4.06.01:002
that they, had [the knowledge of] God, while they nevertheless rejected His 4.06.01:003
Word, through whom God is made known, declared, "No man knoweth the Son, but 4.06.01:004
the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whom 4.06.01:005
the Son has willed to reveal [Him]." Thus hath Matthew set it down, and Luke 4.06.01:007
in like manner, and Mark the very same; for John omits this passage. They, IrnL.AH.4.06.01:008
however, who would be wiser than the apostles, write [the verse] in the following 4.06.01:009
manner: "No man knew the Father, but the Son; nor the Son, but the Father, 4.06.01:010
and he to whom the Son has willed to reveal [Him];" and they explain it as 4.06.01:011
if the true God were known to none prior to our Lord's advent; and that God who 4.06.01:012
was announced by the prophets, they allege not to be the Father of Christ. 4.06.01:013
2. But if Christ did then [only] begin to have existence when He came [into the 4.06.02:015
world] as man, and [if] the Father did remember [only] in the times of Tiberius 4.06.02:016
Caesar to provide for [the wants of] men, and His Word was shown to have not always IrnL.AH.4.06.02:017
coexisted with His creatures; [it may be remarked that] neither then was it 4.06.02:018
necessary that another God should be proclaimed, but [rather] that the reasons 4.06.02:019
for so great carelessness and neglect on His part should be made the subject of 4.06.02:021
investigation. For it is fitting that no such question should arise, and gather 4.06.02:022
such strength, that it would indeed both change God, and destroy our faith in 4.06.02:023
that Creator who supports us by means of His creation. For as we do direct our 4.06.02:025
faith towards the Son, so also should we possess a firm and immoveable love towards IrnL.AH.4.06.02:026
the Father. In his book against Marcion, Justin does well say: "I would not 4.06.02:027
have believed the Lord Himself, if He had announced any other than He who is our 4.06.02:028
framer, maker, and nourisher. But because the only-begotten Son came to us from 4.06.02:029
the one God, who both made this world and formed us, and contains and administers 4.06.02:030
all things, summing up His own handiwork in Himself, my faith towards Him 4.06.02:031
is steadfast, and my love to the Father immoveable, God bestowing both upon us." 4.06.02:032
3. For no one can know the Father, unless through the Word of God, that is, 4.06.03:036
unless by the Son revealing [Him]; neither can he have knowledge of the Son, 4.06.03:037
unless through the good pleasure of the Father. But the Son performs the good 4.06.03:038
pleasure of the Father; for the Father sends, and the Son is sent, and comes. 4.06.03:039
And His Word knows that His Father is, as far as regards us, invisible 4.06.03:040
and infinite; and since He cannot be declared [by any one else], He does Himself 4.06.03:041
declare Him to us; and, on the other hand, it is the Father alone who 4.06.03:042
knows His own Word. And both these truths has our Lord declared. Wherefore 4.06.03:043
the Son reveals the knowledge of the Father through His own manifestation. For 4.06.03:045
the manifestation of the Son is the knowledge of the Father; for all things 4.06.03:046
are manifested through the Word. In order, therefore, that we might know 4.06.03:047
that the Son who came is He who imparts to those believing on Him a knowledge 4.06.03:048
of the Father, He said to His disciples: "No man knoweth the Son but the Father, 4.06.03:049
nor the Father but the Son, and those to whomsoever the Son shall reveal 4.06.03:050
Him;" thus setting Himself forth and the Father as He [really] is, that 4.06.03:051
we may not receive any other Father, except Him who is revealed by the Son. 4.06.03:052
4. But this [Father] is the Maker of heaven and earth, as is shown from 4.06.04:055
His words; and not he, the false father, who has been invented by Marcion, IrnL.AH.4.06.04:056
or by Valentinus, or by Basilides, or by Carpocrates, or by Simon, 4.06.04:057
or by the rest of the "Gnostics," falsely so called. For none of these 4.06.04:058
was the Son of God; but Christ Jesus our Lord [was], against whom they 4.06.04:059
set their teaching in opposition, and have the daring to preach an 4.06.04:060
unknown God. But they ought to hear [this] against themselves: How is it 4.06.04:062
that He is unknown, who is known by them? for, whatever is known even 4.06.04:063
by a few, is not unknown. But the Lord did not say that both the Father 4.06.04:065
and the Son could not be known at all (in tatum), for in that case 4.06.04:066
His advent would have been superfluous. For why did He come hither? Was 4.06.04:067
it that He should say to us, "Never mind seeking after God; for He is 4.06.04:068
unknown, and ye shall not find Him;" as also the disciples of Valentinus 4.06.04:069
falsely declare that Christ said to their AEons? But this is indeed 4.06.04:071
vain. For the Lord taught us that no man is capable of knowing God, unless IrnL.AH.4.06.04:072
he be taught of God; that is, that God cannot be known without God: 4.06.04:073
but that this is the express will of the Father, that God should be 4.06.04:074
known. For they shall know Him to whomsoever the Son has revealed Him. 4.06.04:075
5. And for this purpose did the Father reveal the Son, that through His instrumentality 4.06.05:077
He might be manifested to all, and might receive those righteous ones who believe 4.06.05:078
in Him into incorruption and everlasting enjoyment (now, to believe in Him is 4.06.05:079
to do His will); but He shall righteously shut out into the darkness which they have 4.06.05:080
chosen for themselves, those who do not believe, and who do consequently avoid His IrnL.AH.4.06.05:081
light. The Father therefore has revealed Himself to all, by making His Word visible 4.06.05:083
to all; and, conversely, the Word has declared to all the Father and the Son, since 4.06.05:084
He has become visible to all. And therefore the righteous judgment of God [shall 4.06.05:086
fall] upon all who, like others, have seen, but have not, like others, believed. 4.06.05:087
6. For by means of the creation itself, the Word reveals God the Creator; and by means 4.06.06:088
of the world [does He declare] the Lord the Maker of the world; and by means of the 4.06.06:089
formation [of man] the Artificer who formed him; and by the Son that Father who begat 4.06.06:090
the Son: and these things do indeed address all men in the same manner, but all do 4.06.06:091
not in the same way believe them. But by the law and the prophets did the Word preach 4.06.06:093
both Himself and the Father alike [to all]; and all the people heard Him alike, but 4.06.06:094
all did not alike believe. And through the Word Himself who had been made visible 4.06.06:095
and palpable, was the Father shown forth, although all did not equally believe in Him; 4.06.06:096
but all saw the Father in the Son: for the Father is the invisible of the Son, but 4.06.06:097
the Son the visible of the Father. And for this reason all spake with Christ when He 4.06.06:098
was present [upon earth], and they named Him God. Yea, even the demons exclaimed, on 4.06.06:100
beholding the Son: "We know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God."' And the devil 4.06.06:102
looking at Him, and tempting Him, said: "If Thou art the Son of God;" --all thus indeed 4.06.06:103
seeing and speaking of the Son and the Father, but all not believing [in them]. 4.06.06:104
7. For it was fitting that the truth should receive testimony from all, and should become IrnL.AH.4.06.07:107
[a means of] judgment for the salvation indeed of those who believe, but for IrnL.AH.4.06.07:108
the condemnation of those who believe not; that all should be fairly judged, and that 4.06.07:109
the faith in the Father and Son should be approved by all, that is, that it should 4.06.07:110
be established by all [as the one means of salvation], receiving testimony from all, 4.06.07:111
both from those belonging to it, since they are its friends, and by those having 4.06.07:112
no connection with it, though they are its enemies. For that evidence is true, and 4.06.07:114
cannot be gainsaid, which elicits even from its adversaries striking a testimonies 4.06.07:115
in its behalf; they being convinced with respect to the matter in hand by their own 4.06.07:116
plain contemplation of it, and bearing testimony to it, as well as declaring it. But 4.06.07:117
after a while they break forth into enmity, and become accusers [of what they had 4.06.07:118
approved], and are desirous that their own testimony should not be [regarded as] true. IrnL.AH.4.06.07:120
He, therefore, who was known, was not a different being from Him who declared "No 4.06.07:121
man knoweth the Father," but one and the same, the Father making all things subject IrnL.AH.4.06.07:122
to Him; while He received testimony from all that He was very man, and that He was 4.06.07:123
very God, from the Father, from the Spirit, from angels, from the creation itself, 4.06.07:124
from men, from apostate spirits and demons, from the enemy, and last of all, from 4.06.07:127
death itself. But the Son, administering all things for the Father, works from the beginning 4.06.07:128
even to the end, and without Him no man can attain the knowledge of God. For 4.06.07:129
the Son is the knowledge of the Father; but the knowledge of the Son is in the Father, 4.06.07:130
and has been revealed through the Son; and this was the reason why the Lord declared: 4.06.07:130
"No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; nor the Father, save the Son, and 4.06.07:131
those to whomsoever the Son shall reveal [Him]." For "shall reveal" was said not with 4.06.07:133
reference to the future alone, as if then [only] the Word had begun to manifest the 4.06.07:134
Father when He was born of Mary, but it applies indifferently throughout all time. 4.06.07:135
For the Son, being present with His own handiwork from the beginning, reveals the 4.06.07:136
Father to all; to whom He wills, and when He wills, and as the Father wills. Wherefore, 4.06.07:137
then, in all things, and through all things, there is one God, the Father, and 4.06.07:138
one Word, and one Son, and one Spirit, and one salvation to all who believe in Him. 4.06.07:139
1. Therefore Abraham also, knowing the. Father through the Word, who made heaven 4.07.01:001
and earth, confessed Him to be God; and having learned, by an announcement [made 4.07.01:002
to him], that the Son of God would be a man among men, by whose advent his 4.07.01:003
seed should be as the stars of heaven, he desired to see that day, so that he 4.07.01:004
might himself also embrace Christ; and, seeing it through the spirit of prophecy, 4.07.01:005
he rejoiced. Wherefore Simeon also, one of his descendants, carried fully 4.07.01:007
out the rejoicing of the patriarch, and said: "Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant 4.07.01:008
depart in peace. For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared 4.07.01:009
before the face of all people: a light for the revelation of the Gentiles, 4.07.01:010
and the glory of the people Israel." And the angels, in like manner, announced 4.07.01:013
tidings of great joy to the shepherds who were keeping watch by night. Moreover, 4.07.01:014
Mary said, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced 4.07.01:014
in God my salvation;" --the rejoicing of Abraham descending upon those who sprang IrnL.AH.4.07.01:015
from him,--those, namely, who were watching, and who beheld Christ, and believed 4.07.01:016
in Him; while, on the other hand, there was a reciprocal rejoicing which 4.07.01:017
passed backwards from the children to Abraham, who did also desire to see the 4.07.01:018
day of Christ's coming. Rightly, then, did our Lord bear witness to him, saying, 4.07.01:021
"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad." 4.07.01:022
2. For not alone upon Abraham's account did He say these things, but 4.07.02:024
also that He might point out how all who have known God from the beginning, 4.07.02:025
and have foretold the advent of Christ, have received the revelation 4.07.02:026
from the Son Himself; who also in the last times was made visible 4.07.02:027
and passable, and spake with the human race, that He might from the 4.07.02:028
stones raise up children unto Abraham, and fulfil the promise which 4.07.02:029
God had given him, and that He might make his seed as the stars of heaven, 4.07.02:030
as John the Baptist says: "For God is able from these stones to 4.07.02:031
raise up children unto Abraham." Now, this Jesus did by drawing us 4.07.02:034
off from the religion of stones, and bringing us over from hard and fruitless 4.07.02:035
cogitations, and establishing in us a faith like to Abraham. 4.07.02:036
As Paul does also testify, saying that we are children of Abraham because IrnL.AH.4.07.02:037
of the similarity of our faith, and the promise of inheritance. 4.07.02:038
3. He is therefore one and the same God, who called Abraham and gave him 4.07.03:040
the promise. But He is the Creator, who does also through Christ prepare 4.07.03:041
lights in the world, [namely] those who believe from among the Gentiles. 4.07.03:041
And He says, "Ye are the light of the world;" that is, as the stars of 4.07.03:042
heaven. Him, therefore, I have rightly shown to be known by no man, unless 4.07.03:043
by the Son, and to whomsoever the Son shall reveal Him. But the Son 4.07.03:044
reveals the Father to all to whom He wills that He should be known; and 4.07.03:045
neither without the goodwill of the Father nor without the agency of the 4.07.03:046
Son, can any man know God. Wherefore did the Lord say to His disciples, 4.07.03:047
"I am the way, the truth, and the life and no man cometh unto the Father 4.07.03:049
but by Me. If ye had known Me, ye would have known My Father also: and 4.07.03:050
from henceforth ye have both known Him, and have seen Him." From these 4.07.03:051
words it is evident, that He is known by the Son, that is, by the Word. 4.07.03:053
4. Therefore have the Jews departed from God, in not receiving His Word, but imagining 4.07.04:055
that they could know the Father [apart] by Himself, without the Word, 4.07.04:056
that is, without the Son; they being ignorant of that God who spake in human 4.07.04:057
shape to Abraham, and again to Moses, saying, "I have surely seen the affliction 4.07.04:058
of My people in Egypt, and I have come down to deliver them." For the Son, 4.07.04:059
who is the Word of God, arranged these things beforehand from the beginning, 4.07.04:061
the Father being in no want of angels, in order that He might call the creation 4.07.04:062
into being, and form man, for whom also the creation was made; nor, again, 4.07.04:063
standing in need of any instrumentality for the framing of created things, or 4.07.04:064
for the ordering of those things which had reference to man; while, [at the same 4.07.04:065
time,] He has a vast and unspeakable number of servants. For His offspring 4.07.04:066
and His similitude do minister to Him in every respect; that is, the Son and the 4.07.04:067
Holy Spirit, the Word and Wisdom; whom all the angels serve, and to whom they 4.07.04:071
are subject. Vain, therefore, ark those who, because of that declaration, 4.07.04:072
"No man knoweth the Father, but the Son," do introduce another unknown Father. 4.07.04:073
1. Vain, too, is [the effort of] Marcion and his followers when they [seek to] exclude Abraham 4.08.01:001
from the inheritance, to whom the Spirit through many men, and now by Paul, bears witness, that 4.08.01:002
"he believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness." And the Lord [also bears 4.08.01:003
witness to him,] in the first place, indeed, by raising up children to him from the stones, and 4.08.01:004
making his seed as the stars of heaven, saying, "They shall come from the east and from the 4.08.01:005
west, from the north and from the south, and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob 4.08.01:006
in the kingdom of heaven;" and then again by saying to the Jews, "When ye shall see Abraham, 4.08.01:007
and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of heaven, but you yourselves cast 4.08.01:008
out." This, then, is a clear point, that those who disallow his salvation, and frame the idea 4.08.01:011
of another God besides Him who made the promise to Abraham, are outside the kingdom of God, and 4.08.01:012
are disinherited from [the gift of] incorruption, setting at naught and blaspheming God, who 4.08.01:013
introduces, through Jesus Christ, Abraham to the kingdom of heaven, and his seed, that is, 4.08.01:014
the Church, upon which also is conferred the adoption and the inheritance promised to Abraham. 4.08.01:015
2. For the Lord vindicated Abraham's posterity by loosing them from bondage and calling 4.08.02:019
them to salvation, as He did in the case of the woman whom He healed, saying 4.08.02:020
openly to those who had not faith like Abraham, "Ye hypocrites, doth not each one 4.08.02:021
of you on the Sabbath-days loose his ox or his ass, and lead him away to watering? 4.08.02:022
And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound these 4.08.02:024
eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath-days?" It is clear therefore, 4.08.02:025
that He loosed and vivified those who believe in Him as Abraham did, doing IrnL.AH.4.08.02:027
nothing contrary to the law when He healed upon the Sabbath-day. For the law did 4.08.02:028
not prohibit men from being healed upon the Sabbaths; [on the contrary,] it even 4.08.02:029
circumcised them upon that day, and gave command that the offices should be performed 4.08.02:030
by the priests for the people; yea, it did not disallow the healing even of 4.08.02:031
dumb animals. Both at Siloam and on frequent subsequent occasions, did He perform IrnL.AH.4.08.02:033
cures upon the Sabbath; and for this reason many used to resort to Him on the Sabbath-days. 4.08.02:034
For the law commanded them to abstain from every servile work, that is, 4.08.02:035
from all grasping after wealth which is procured by trading and by other worldly 4.08.02:036
business; but it exhorted them to attend to the exercises of the soul, which consist 4.08.02:037
in reflection, and to addresses of a beneficial kind for their neighbours' benefit. 4.08.02:039
And therefore the Lord reproved those who unjustly blamed Him for having healed 4.08.02:040
upon the Sabbath-days. For He did not make void, but fulfilled the law, by 4.08.02:041
performing the offices of the high priest, propitiating God for men, and cleansing 4.08.02:042
the lepers, healing the sick, and Himself suffering death, that exiled man might 4.08.02:043
go forth from condemnation, and might return without fear to his own inheritance. 4.08.02:044
3. And again, the law did not forbid those who were hungry on the Sabbath-days 4.08.03:047
to take food lying ready at hand: it did, however, forbid them to reap and to 4.08.03:048
gather into the barn. And therefore did the Lord say to those who were blaming 4.08.03:049
His disciples because they plucked and ate the ears of corn, rubbing them in their 4.08.03:050
hands, "Have ye not read this, what David did, when himself was an hungered; 4.08.03:051
how he went into the house of God, and ate the shew-bread, and gave to those 4.08.03:052
who were with him; which it is not lawful to eat, but for the priests alone?" 4.08.03:053
justifying His disciples by the words of the law, and pointing out that it was 4.08.03:054
lawful for the priests to act freely. For David had been appointed a priest by IrnL.AH.4.08.03:056
God, although Saul persecuted him. For all the righteous possess the sacerdotal 4.08.03:057
rank. And all the apostles of the Lord are priests, who do inherit here neither IrnL.AH.4.08.03:059
lands nor houses, but serve God and the altar continually. Of whom Moses 4.08.03:060
also says in Deuteronomy, when blessing Levi, "Who said unto his father and to 4.08.03:061
his mother, I have not known thee; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, and 4.08.03:062
he disinherited his own sons: he kept Thy commandments, and observed Thy covenant." 4.08.03:063
But who are they that have left father and mother, and have said adieu 4.08.03:065
to all their neighbours, on account of the word of God and His covenant, unless 4.08.03:066
the disciples of the Lord? Of whom again Moses says, "They shall have no inheritance, 4.08.03:068
for the Lord Himself is their inheritance." And again, "The priests the 4.08.03:069
Levites shall have no part in the whole tribe of Levi, nor substance with Israel; 4.08.03:070
their substance is the offerings (fructifications) of the Lord: these shall 4.08.03:071
they eat." Wherefore also Paul says, "I do not seek after a gift, but I seek 4.08.03:072
after fruit." To His disciples He said, who had a priesthood of the Lord, to 4.08.03:073
whom it was lawful when hungry to eat the ears of corn, "For the workman is worthy 4.08.03:074
of his meat." And the priests in the temple profaned the Sabbath, and were 4.08.03:075
blameless. Wherefore, then, were they blameless? Because when in the temple 4.08.03:077
they were not engaged in secular affairs, but in the service of the Lord, fulfilling 4.08.03:078
the law, but not going beyond it, as that man did, who of his own accord 4.08.03:079
carded dry wood into the camp of God, and was justly stoned to death. "For every 4.08.03:080
tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down, and cast into the 4.08.03:081
fire;" and "whosoever shall defile the temple of God, him shall God defile." 4.08.03:082
1. All things therefore are of one and the same substance, that is, from one IrnL.AH.4.09.01:001
and the same God; as also the Lord says to the disciples "Therefore every scribe, 4.09.01:002
which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a man that 4.09.01:003
is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and 4.09.01:004
old." He did not teach that he who brought forth the old was one, and he that 4.09.01:005
brought forth the new, another; but that they were one and the same. For the 4.09.01:006
Lord is the good man of the house, who rules the tire house of His Father; 4.09.01:007
and who delivers a law suited both for slaves and those who are as yet undisciplined; IrnL.AH.4.09.01:008
and gives fitting precepts to those that are free, and have been justified 4.09.01:009
by faith, as well as throws His own inheritance open to those that 4.09.01:010
are sons. And He called His disciples "scribes" and "teachers of the kingdom 4.09.01:011
of heaven;" of whom also He elsewhere says to the Jews: "Behold, I send unto 4.09.01:012
you wise men, and scribes, and teachers; and some of them ye shall kill, and 4.09.01:013
persecute from city to city." Now, without contradiction, He means by those 4.09.01:015
things which are brought forth from the treasure new and old, the two covenants; 4.09.01:016
the old, that giving of the law which took place formerly; and He points 4.09.01:017
out as the new, that manner of life required by the Gospel, of which David 4.09.01:018
says, "Sing unto the LORD a new song;" and Esaias, "Sing unto the LORD a new 4.09.01:019
hymn. His beginning (initium), His name is glorified from the height of the 4.09.01:020
earth: they declare His powers in the isles." And Jeremiah says: "Behold, I 4.09.01:021
will make a new covenant, not as I made with your fathers" in Mount Horeb. But 4.09.01:024
one and the same householder produced both covenants, the Word of God, our 4.09.01:025
Lord Jesus Christ, who spake with both Abraham and Moses, and who has restored 4.09.01:026
us anew to liberty, and has multiplied that grace which is from Himself. 4.09.01:027
2. He declares: "For in this place is One greater than the temple." But [the words] greater 4.09.02:029
and less are not applied to those things which have nothing in common between themselves, 4.09.02:029
and are of an opposite nature, and mutually repugnant; but are used in the case of 4.09.02:030
those of the same substance, and which possess properties in common, but merely differ in 4.09.02:031
number and size; such as water from water, and light from light, and grace from grace. IrnL.AH.4.09.02:032
Greater, therefore, is that legislation which has been given in order liberty than that 4.09.02:035
given in order to bondage; and therefore it has also been diffused, not throughout one 4.09.02:036
nation [only], but over the whole world. For one and the same Lord, who is greater than the 4.09.02:038
temple, greater than Solomon, and greater than Jonah, confers gifts upon men, that is, IrnL.AH.4.09.02:039
His own presence, and the resurrection from the dead; but He does not change God, nor 4.09.02:040
proclaim another Father, but that very same one, who always has more to measure out to those 4.09.02:041
of His household. And as their love towards God increases, He bestows more and greater 4.09.02:042
[gifts]; as also the Lord said to His disciples: "Ye shall see greater things than these." IrnL.AH.4.09.02:043
And Paul declares: "Not that I have already attained, or that I am justified, or already 4.09.02:046
have been made perfect. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that 4.09.02:047
which is perfect has come, the things which are in part shall be done away." As, therefore, 4.09.02:048
when that which is perfect is come, we shall not see another Father, but Him whom 4.09.02:050
we now desire to see (for "blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God"); neither 4.09.02:051
shall we look for another Christ and Son of God, but Him who [was born] of the Virgin 4.09.02:052
Mary, who also suffered, in whom too we trust, and whom we love; as Esaias says: "And 4.09.02:053
they shall say in that day, Behold our LORD God, in whom we have trusted, and we have rejoiced 4.09.02:054
in our salvation;" and Peter says in his Epistle: "Whom, not seeing, ye love; in 4.09.02:055
whom, though now ye see Him not, ye have believed, ye shall rejoice with joy unspeakable;" 4.09.02:056
neither do we receive another Holy Spirit, besides Him who is with us, and who cries, IrnL.AH.4.09.02:057
"Abba, Father;" and we shall make increase in the very same things [as now], and shall make 4.09.02:058
progress, so that no longer through a glass, or by means of enigmas, but face to face, IrnL.AH.4.09.02:059
we shall enjoy the gifts of God;--so also now, receiving more than the temple, and more 4.09.02:060
than Solomon, that is, the advent of the Son of God, we have not been taught another God 4.09.02:061
besides the Framer and the Maker of all, who has been pointed out to us from the beginning; 4.09.02:062
nor another Christ, the Son of God, besides Him who was foretold by the prophets. 4.09.02:063
3. For the new covenant having been known and preached by the prophets, He who was 4.09.03:071
to carry it out according to the good pleasure of the Father was also preached; 4.09.03:072
having been revealed to men as God pleased; that they might always make progress 4.09.03:073
through believing in Him, and by means of the [successive] covenants, should gradually 4.09.03:074
attain to perfect salvation. For there is one salvation and one God; but the 4.09.03:076
precepts which form the man are numerous, and the steps which lead man to God 4.09.03:077
are not a few. It is allowable for an earthly and temporal king, though he is [but] 4.09.03:079
a man, to grant to his subjects greater advantages at times: shall not this then 4.09.03:080
be lawful for God, since He is [ever] the same, and is always willing to confer 4.09.03:081
a greater [degree of] grace upon the human race, and to honour continually with 4.09.03:082
many gifts those who please Him? But if this be to make progress, [namely,] to find 4.09.03:084
out another Father besides Him who was preached from the beginning; and again, 4.09.03:085
besides him who is imagined to have been discovered in the second place, to find 4.09.03:086
out a third other,--then the progress of this man will consist in his also proceeding 4.09.03:087
from a third to a fourth; and from this, again, to another and another: and 4.09.03:088
thus he who thinks that he is always making progress of such a kind, will never 4.09.03:090
rest in one God. For, being driven away from Him who truly is [God], and being 4.09.03:091
turned backwards, he shall be for ever seeking, yet shall never find out God; but 4.09.03:092
shall continually swim in an abyss without limits, unless, being converted by repentance, 4.09.03:093
he return to the place from which he had been cast out, confessing one 4.09.03:094
God, the Father, the Creator, and believing [in Him] who was declared by the law 4.09.03:097
and the prophets, who was borne witness to by Christ, as He did Himself declare to 4.09.03:098
those who were accusing His disciples of not observing the tradition of the elders: 4.09.03:099
"Why do ye make void the law of God by reason of your tradition? For God said, 4.09.03:100
Honour thy father and mother; and, Whosoever curseth father or mother, let him 4.09.03:101
die the death." And again, He says to them a second time: "And ye have made void 4.09.03:101
the word of God by reason of your tradition;" Christ confessing in the plainest 4.09.03:102
manner Him to be Father and God, who said in the law, "Honour thy father and mother; IrnL.AH.4.09.03:103
that it may be well with thee." For the true God did confess the commandment 4.09.03:105
of the law as the word of God, and called no one else God besides His own Father. 4.09.03:106
1. Wherefore also john does appropriately relate that the Lord said to the jews: 4.10.01:001
"ye search the scriptures, in which ye think ye have eternal life; these are they 4.10.01:002
which testify of me. And ye are not willing to come unto me, that ye may have 4.10.01:003
life." how therefore did the scriptures testify of him, unless they were from one 4.10.01:004
and the same Father, instructing men beforehand as to the advent of his Son, and 4.10.01:005
foretelling the salvation brought in by him? "for if ye had believed Moses, ye 4.10.01:006
would also have believed me; for he wrote of me;" [saying this,] no doubt, because 4.10.01:007
the son of God is implanted everywhere throughout his writings: at one time, 4.10.01:008
indeed, speaking with abraham, when about to eat with him; at another time with 4.10.01:009
noah, giving to him the dimensions [of the ark]; at another; inquiring after adam; 4.10.01:010
at another, bringing down judgment upon the sodomites; and again, when he becomes 4.10.01:011
visible, and directs jacob on his journey, and speaks with moses from the bush. 4.10.01:012
and it would be endless to recount [the occasions] upon which the son of God 4.10.01:013
is shown forth by moses. Of the day of his passion, too, he was not ignorant; but 4.10.01:015
foretold him, after a figurative manner, by the name given to the passover; and 4.10.01:016
at that very festival, which had been proclaimed such a long time previously by 4.10.01:017
moses, did our Lord suffer, thus fulfilling the passover. And he did not describe 4.10.01:018
the day only, but the place also, and the time of day at which the sufferings 4.10.01:020
ceased, and the sign of the setting of the sun, saying: "thou mayest not sacrifice 4.10.01:021
the passover within any other of thy cities which the Lord God gives thee; but 4.10.01:022
in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose that his name be called on there, 4.10.01:023
thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, towards the setting of the sun." 4.10.01:024
2. And already he had also declared his advent, saying, "there shall not fail a chief 4.10.02:027
in judah, nor a leader from his loins, until he come for whom it is laid up, and 4.10.02:028
he is the hope of the nations; binding his foal to the vine, and his ass's colt to 4.10.02:029
the creeping ivy. He shall wash his stole in wine, and his upper garment in the blood 4.10.02:030
of the grape; his eyes shall be more joyous than wine, and his teeth whiter than 4.10.02:031
milk." for, let those who have the reputation of investigating everything, inquire 4.10.02:033
at what time a prince and leader failed out of judah, and who is the hope of the nations, IrnL.AH.4.10.02:034
who also is the vine, what was the ass's colt [referred to as] his, what the 4.10.02:035
clothing, and what the eyes, what the teeth, and what the wine, and thus let them 4.10.02:036
investigate every one of the points mentioned; and they shall find that there was 4.10.02:037
none other announced than our Lord, christ jesus. Wherefore moses, when chiding the IrnL.AH.4.10.02:040
ingratitude of the people, said, "ye infatuated people, and unwise, do ye thus requite 4.10.02:041
the Lord?" and again, he indicates that he who from the beginning founded and created 4.10.02:042
them, the Word, who also redeems and vivifies us in the last times, is shown 4.10.02:043
as hanging on the tree, and they will not believe on him. For he says, "and thy life 4.10.02:044
shall be hanging before thine eyes, and thou wilt not believe thy life." and again, 4.10.02:045
"has not this same one thy father owned thee, and made thee, and created thee?" 4.10.02:047
1. But that it was not only the prophets and many righteous men, who, foreseeing 4.11.01:001
through the Holy Spirit His advent, prayed that they might attain 4.11.01:002
to that period in which they should see their Lord face to face, and hear 4.11.01:003
His words, the Lord has made manifest, when He says to His disciples, 4.11.01:004
"Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which 4.11.01:005
ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and 4.11.01:007
have not heard them." In what way, then, did they desire both to hear 4.11.01:008
and to see, unless they had foreknowledge of His future advent? But how 4.11.01:009
could they have foreknown it, unless they had previously received foreknowledge 4.11.01:010
from Himself? And how do the Scriptures testify of Him, unless all 4.11.01:011
things had ever been revealed and shown to believers by one and the same 4.11.01:012
God through the Word; He at one time conferring with His creature, and 4.11.01:013
at another pro-pounding His law; at one time, again, reproving, at another 4.11.01:014
exhorting, and then setting free His servant, and adopting him as a son 4.11.01:015
(in filium); and, at the proper time, bestowing an incorruptible inheritance, 4.11.01:016
for the purpose of bringing man to perfection? For He formed him 4.11.01:018
for growth and increase, as the Scripture says: "Increase and multiply." 4.11.01:019
2. And in this respect God differs from man, that God indeed makes, but man 4.11.02:021
is made; and truly, He who makes is always the same; but that which is 4.11.02:022
made must receive both beginning, and middle, and addition, and increase. 4.11.02:022
And God does indeed create after a skilful manner, while, [as regards] man, 4.11.02:023
he is created skilfully. God also is truly perfect in all things, Himself 4.11.02:024
equal and similar to Himself, as He is all light, and all mind, and all 4.11.02:025
substance, and the fount of all good; but man receives advancement and increase 4.11.02:026
towards God. For as God is always the same, so also man, when found 4.11.02:027
in God, shall always go on towards God. For neither does God at any time 4.11.02:029
cease to confer benefits upon, or to enrich man; nor does man ever cease 4.11.02:030
from receiving the benefits, and being enriched by God. For the receptacle 4.11.02:031
of His goodness, and the instrument of His glorification, is the man who 4.11.02:032
is grateful to Him that made him; and again, the receptacle of His just 4.11.02:034
judgment is the ungrateful man, who both despises his Maker and is not subject 4.11.02:035
to His Word; who has promised that He will give very much to those always 4.11.02:036
bringing forth fruit, and more [and more] to those who have the Lord's 4.11.02:037
money. "Well done," He says, "good and faithful servant: because thou 4.11.02:038
hast been faithful in little, I will appoint thee over many things; enter 4.11.02:039
thou into the joy of thy Lord." The Lord Himself thus promises very much. 4.11.02:040
3. As, therefore, He has promised to give very much to those who do now bring forth fruit, according 4.11.03:043
to the gift of His grace, but not according to the changeableness of "knowledge;" for 4.11.03:044
the Lord remains the same, and the same Father is revealed; thus, therefore, has the one and 4.11.03:045
the same Lord granted, by means of His advent, a greater gift of grace to those of a later 4.11.03:046
period, than what He had granted to those under the Old Testament dispensation. For they indeed 4.11.03:047
used to hear, by means of [His] servants, that the King would come, and they rejoiced IrnL.AH.4.11.03:050
to a certain extent, inasmuch as they hoped for His coming; but those who have beheld Him actually 4.11.03:051
present, and have obtained liberty, and been made partakers of His gifts, do possess a 4.11.03:052
greater amount of grace, and a higher degree of exultation, rejoicing because of the King's 4.11.03:053
arrival: as also David says, "My soul shall rejoice in the LORD; it shall be glad in His salvation." 4.11.03:054
And for this cause, upon His entrance into Jerusalem, all those who were in the way 4.11.03:057
recognised David their king in His sorrow of soul, and spread their garments for Him, and ornamented 4.11.03:058
the way with green boughs, crying out with great joy and gladness, "Hosanna to the 4.11.03:059
Son of David; blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord: hosanna in the highest." But 4.11.03:060
to the envious wicked stewards, who circumvented those under them, and ruled over those that 4.11.03:061
had no great intelligence, and for this reason were unwilling that the king should come, IrnL.AH.4.11.03:062
and who said to Him, "Hearest thou what these say?" did the Lord reply, "Have ye never read, 4.11.03:063
Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast Thou perfected praise?" --thus pointing out that 4.11.03:064
what had been declared by David concerning the Son of God, was accomplished in His own person; 4.11.03:065
and indicating that they were indeed ignorant of the meaning of the Scripture and the 4.11.03:066
dispensation of God; but declaring that it was Himself who was announced by the prophets as 4.11.03:067
Christ, whose name is praised in all the earth, and who perfects praise to His Father from the 4.11.03:068
mouth of babes and sucklings; wherefore also His glory has been raised above the heavens. 4.11.03:069
4. If, therefore, the self-same person is present who was announced by the prophets, our Lord 4.11.04:076
Jesus Christ, and if His advent has brought in a fuller [measure of] grace and greater gifts 4.11.04:077
to those who have received Him, it is plain that the Father also is Himself the same who 4.11.04:078
was proclaimed by the prophets, and that the Son, on His coming, did not spread the knowledge 4.11.04:079
of another Father, but of the same who was preached from the beginning; from whom also He 4.11.04:080
has brought down liberty to those who, in a lawful manner, and with a willing mind, and with 4.11.04:081
all the heart, do Him service; whereas to scoffers, and to those not subject to God, but IrnL.AH.4.11.04:082
who follow outward purifications for the praise of men (which observances had been given as 4.11.04:083
a type of future things, -- the law typifying, as it were, certain things in a shadow, and delineating 4.11.04:084
eternal things by temporal, celestial by terrestrial), and to those who pretend that 4.11.04:085
they do themselves observe more than what has been prescribed, as if preferring their own 4.11.04:086
zeal to God Himself, while within they are full of hypocrisy, and covetousness, and all wickedness, 4.11.04:087
-- [to such] has He assigned everlasting perdition by cutting them off from life. 4.11.04:088
1. For the tradition of the elders themselves, which they pretended to observe 4.12.01:001
from the law, was contrary to the law given by Moses. Wherefore also Esaias declares: 4.12.01:002
"Thy dealers mix the wine with water," showing that the elders were in 4.12.01:003
the habit of mingling a watered tradition with the simple command of God; that 4.12.01:004
is, they set up a spurious law, and one contrary to the[true] law; as also 4.12.01:005
the Lord made plain, when He said to them, "Why do ye transgress the commandment IrnL.AH.4.12.01:006
of God, for the sake of your tradition?" For not only by actual transgression 4.12.01:007
did they set the law of God at nought, mingling the wine with water; but they IrnL.AH.4.12.01:009
also set up their own law in opposition to it, which is termed, even to the 4.12.01:010
present day, the pharisaical. In this [law] they suppress certain things, add IrnL.AH.4.12.01:011
others, and interpret others, again, as they think proper, which their teachers IrnL.AH.4.12.01:012
use, each one in particular; and desiring to uphold these traditions, they 4.12.01:013
were unwilling to be subject to the law of God, which prepares them for the coming 4.12.01:015
of Christ. But they did even blame the Lord for healing on the Sabbath-days, IrnL.AH.4.12.01:016
which, as I have already observed, the law did not prohibit. For they did 4.12.01:017
themselves, in one sense, perform acts of healing upon the Sabbath-day, when they 4.12.01:018
circumcised a man [on that day]; but they did not blame themselves for transgressing IrnL.AH.4.12.01:019
the command of God through tradition and the aforesaid pharisaical 4.12.01:020
law, and for not keeping the commandment of the law, which is the love of God. 4.12.01:021
2. But that this is the first and greatest commandment, and that the next [has respect to 4.12.02:025
love] towards our neighbour, the Lord has taught, when He says that the entire law and IrnL.AH.4.12.02:026
the prophets hang upon these two commandments. Moreover, He did not Himself bring down [from 4.12.02:027
heaven] any other commandment greater than this one, but renewed this very same one 4.12.02:028
to His disciples, when He enjoined them to love God with all their heart, and others as IrnL.AH.4.12.02:029
themselves. But if He had descended from another Father, He never would have made use of 4.12.02:031
the first and greatest commandment of the law; but He would undoubtedly have endeavoured 4.12.02:032
by all means to bring down a greater one than this from the perfect Father, so as not to IrnL.AH.4.12.02:033
make use of that which had been given by the God of the law. And Paul in like manner declares, 4.12.02:035
"Love is the fulfilling of the law:" and [he declares] that when all other things 4.12.02:036
have been destroyed, there shall remain "faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of all IrnL.AH.4.12.02:037
is love;" * and that apart from the love of God, neither knowledge avails anything, nor IrnL.AH.4.12.02:038
the understanding of mysteries, nor faith, nor prophecy, but that without love all are hollow 4.12.02:039
and vain; moreover, that love makes man perfect; and that he who loves God is perfect, 4.12.02:040
both in this world and in that which is to come. For we do never cease from loving God; 4.12.02:041
but in proportion as we continue to contemplate Him, so much the more do we love Him. 4.12.02:042
3. As in the law, therefore, and in the Gospel [likewise], the first and greatest commandment 4.12.03:046
is, to love the Lord God with the whole heart, and then there follows a commandment like to 4.12.03:047
it, to love one's neighbour as one's self; the author of the law and the Gospel is shown to 4.12.03:048
be one and the same. For the precepts of an absolutely perfect life, since they are the same 4.12.03:050
in each Testament, have pointed out [to us] the same God, who certainly has promulgated particular 4.12.03:051
laws adapted for each; but the more prominent and the greatest [commandments], without 4.12.03:052
which salvation cannot [be attained], He has exhorted [us to observe] the same in both. 4.12.03:053
4. The Lord, too, does not do away with this [God], when He shows that the law was not 4.12.04:055
derived from another God, expressing Himself as follows to those who were being instructed 4.12.04:056
by Him, to the multitude and to His disciples: "The scribes and Pharisees sit in 4.12.04:057
Moses' seat. All, therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but IrnL.AH.4.12.04:058
do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens, 4.12.04:059
and lay them upon men's shoulders; but they themselves will not so much as move them with 4.12.04:061
a finger." He therefore did not throw blame upon that law which was given by Moses, 4.12.04:062
when He exhorted it to be observed, Jerusalem being as yet in safety; but He did throw IrnL.AH.4.12.04:063
blame upon those persons, because they repeated indeed the words of the law, yet were 4.12.04:064
without love. And for this reason were they held as being unrighteous as respects God, 4.12.04:065
and as respects their neighbours. As also Isaiah says: "This people honoureth Me with 4.12.04:066
their lips, but their heart is far from Me: howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching 4.12.04:067
the doctrines and the commandments of men." He does not call the law given by Moses 4.12.04:068
commandments of men, but the traditions of the eiders themselves which they had invented, 4.12.04:069
and in upholding which they made the law of God of none effect, and were on this 4.12.04:070
account also not subject to His Word. For this is what Paul says concerning these 4.12.04:071
men: "For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their 4.12.04:074
own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. For 4.12.04:075
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." And how is IrnL.AH.4.12.04:077
Christ the end of the law, if He be not also the final Cause of it? For He who has brought 4.12.04:077
in the end has Himself also wrought the beginning; and it is He who does Himself 4.12.04:079
say to Moses, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and 4.12.04:080
I have come down to deliver them;" it being customary from the beginning with the Word 4.12.04:081
of God to ascend and descend for the purpose of saving those who were in affliction. 4.12.04:082
5. Now, that the law did beforehand teach mankind the necessity of following Christ, He 4.12.05:084
does Himself make manifest, when He replied as follows to him who asked Him what he should 4.12.05:085
do that he might inherit eternal life: "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." 4.12.05:086
But upon the other asking "Which?" again the Lord replies: "Do not commit adultery, 4.12.05:088
do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, hon-our father and mother, and 4.12.05:089
thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,"--setting as an ascending series (velut gradus) 4.12.05:090
before those who wished to follow Him, the precepts of the law, as the entrance into 4.12.05:091
life; and What He then said to one He said to all. But when the former said, "All these have 4.12.05:093
I done" (and most likely he had not kept them, for in that case the Lord would not have IrnL.AH.4.12.05:094
said to him, "Keep the commandments"), the Lord, exposing his covetousness, said to 4.12.05:095
him, "If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell all that thou hast, and distribute to the poor; and 4.12.05:096
come, follow me;" promising to those who would act thus, the portion belonging to the IrnL.AH.4.12.05:097
apostles (apostolorum partem). And He did not preach to His followers another God the Father, 4.12.05:098
besides Him who was proclaimed by the law from the beginning; nor another Son; nor IrnL.AH.4.12.05:099
the Mother, the enthymesis of the AEon, who existed in suffering and apostasy; nor the 4.12.05:100
Pleroma of the thirty AEons, which has been proved vain, and incapable of being believed 4.12.05:101
in; nor that fable invented by the other heretics. But He taught that they should obey the 4.12.05:102
commandments which God enjoined from the beginning, and do away with their former covetousness 4.12.05:103
by good works, and follow after Christ. But that possessions distributed to the 4.12.05:108
poor do annul former covetousness, Zaccheus made evident, when he said, "Behold, the half 4.12.05:109
of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one, I restore fourfold." 4.12.05:110
1. And that the Lord did not abrogate the natural [precepts] of the law, 4.13.01:001
by which man is justified, which also those who were justified by faith, 4.13.01:002
and who pleased God, did observe previous to the giving of the law, but 4.13.01:003
that He extended and fulfilled them, is shown from His words. "For," He 4.13.01:004
remarks, "it has been said to them of old time, Do not commit adultery. 4.13.01:006
But I say unto you, That every one who hath looked upon a woman to lust 4.13.01:007
after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." And 4.13.01:008
again: "It has been said, Thou shalt not kill. But I say unto you, Every 4.13.01:009
one who is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger 4.13.01:010
of the judgment." And, "It hath been said, Thou shalt not forswear thyself. 4.13.01:010
But I say unto you, Swear not at all; but let your conversation be, 4.13.01:011
Yea, yea, and Nay, nay." And other statements of a like nature. For all 4.13.01:012
these do not contain or imply an opposition to and an overturning of the 4.13.01:012
[precepts] of the past, as Marcion's followers do strenuously maintain; 4.13.01:013
but [they exhibit] a fulfilling and an extension of them, as He does Himself 4.13.01:014
declare: "Unless your righteousness shall exceed that of the scribes 4.13.01:015
and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." For what 4.13.01:016
meant the excess referred to? In the first place, [we must] believe not 4.13.01:018
only in the Father, but also in His Son now revealed; for He it is who 4.13.01:019
leads man into fellowship and unity with God. In the next place, [we must] 4.13.01:020
not only say, but we must do; for they said, but did not. And [we must] 4.13.01:021
not only abstain from evil deeds, but even from the desires after them. 4.13.01:022
Now He did not teach us these things as being opposed to the law, but 4.13.01:023
as fulfilling the law, and implanting in us the varied righteousness of 4.13.01:025
the law. That would have been contrary to the law, if He had commanded 4.13.01:026
His disciples to do anything which the law had prohibited. But this which 4.13.01:027
He did command--namely, not only to abstain from things forbidden by 4.13.01:028
the law, but even from longing after them--is not contrary to [the law], 4.13.01:028
as I have remarked, neither is it the utterance of one destroying the law, 4.13.01:029
but of one fulfilling, extending, and affording greater scope to it. 4.13.01:030
2. For the law, since it was laid down for those in bondage, used to instruct the soul by means 4.13.02:033
of those corporeal objects which were of an external nature, drawing it, as by a bond, to 4.13.02:034
obey its commandments, that man might learn to serve God. But the Word set free the soul, and 4.13.02:035
taught that through it the body should be willingly purified. Which having been accomplished, 4.13.02:036
it followed as of course, that the bonds of slavery should be removed, to which man had now 4.13.02:038
become accustomed, and that he should follow God without fetters: moreover, that the laws of 4.13.02:039
liberty should be extended, and subjection to the king increased, so that no one who is convened 4.13.02:040
should appear unworthy to Him who set him free, but that the piety and obedience due to 4.13.02:041
the Master of the household should be equally rendered both by servants and children; while the 4.13.02:042
children possess greater confidence [than the servants], inasmuch as the working of liberty 4.13.02:043
is greater and more glorious than that obedience which is rendered in [a state of] slavery. 4.13.02:044
3. And for this reason did the Lord, instead of that [commandment], "Thou shalt not commit 4.13.03:048
adultery," forbid even concupiscence; and instead of that which runs thus, "Thou shalt 4.13.03:049
not kill," He prohibited anger; and instead of the law enjoining the giving of tithes, 4.13.03:050
[He told us] to share all our possessions with the poor; and not to love our neighbours IrnL.AH.4.13.03:051
only, but even our enemies; and not merely to be liberal givers and bestowers, but even 4.13.03:052
that we should present a gratuitous gift to those who take away our goods. For "to him that 4.13.03:053
taketh away thy coat," He says, "give to him thy cloak also; and from him that taketh IrnL.AH.4.13.03:054
away thy goods, ask them not again; and as ye would that men should do unto you, do ye 4.13.03:055
unto them:" so that we may not grieve as those who are unwilling to be defrauded, but may 4.13.03:056
rejoice as those who have given willingly, and as rather conferring a favour upon our 4.13.03:057
neighbours than yielding to necessity. "And if any one," He says, "shall compel thee [to 4.13.03:060
go] a mile, go with him twain;" so that thou mayest not follow him as a slave, but may IrnL.AH.4.13.03:061
as a free man go before him, showing thyself in all things kindly disposed and useful to 4.13.03:062
thy neighbour, not regarding their evil intentions, but performing thy kind offices, assimilating 4.13.03:063
thyself to the Father, "who maketh His sun to rise upon the evil and the good, 4.13.03:064
and sendeth rain upon the just and unjust." Now all these [precepts], as I have already 4.13.03:067
observed, were not the injunctions] of one doing away with the law, but of one fulfilling, IrnL.AH.4.13.03:068
extending, and widening it among us; just as if one should say, that the more extensive 4.13.03:069
operation of liberty implies that a more complete subjection and affection towards our IrnL.AH.4.13.03:070
Liberator had been implanted within us. For He did not set us free for this purpose, 4.13.03:072
that we should depart from Him (no one, indeed, while placed out of reach of the Lord's benefits, 4.13.03:073
has power to procure for himself the means of salvation), but that the more we 4.13.03:074
receive His grace, the more we should love Him. Now the more we have loved Him, the more 4.13.03:075
glory shall we receive from Him, when we are continually in the presence of the Father. 4.13.03:076
4. Inasmuch, then, as all natural precepts are common to us and to them (the Jews), 4.13.04:079
they had in them indeed the beginning and origin; but in us they have received 4.13.04:080
growth and completion. For to yield assent to God, and to follow His Word, 4.13.04:081
and to love Him above all, and one's neighbour as one's self (now man is neighbour 4.13.04:082
to man), and to abstain from every evil deed, and all other things of 4.13.04:083
a like nature which are common to both [covenants], do reveal one and the same 4.13.04:084
God. But this is our Lord, the Word of God, who in the first instance certainly 4.13.04:087
drew slaves to God, but afterwards He set those free who were subject to Him, 4.13.04:088
as He does Himself declare to His disciples: "I will not now call you servants, 4.13.04:089
for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends, 4.13.04:090
for all things which I have heard from My Father I have made known." For 4.13.04:091
in that which He says, "I will not now call you servants," He indicates in 4.13.04:093
the most marked manner that it was Himself who did originally appoint for men 4.13.04:094
that bondage with respect to God through the law, and then afterwards conferred 4.13.04:095
upon them freedom. And in that He says, "For the servant knoweth not what his 4.13.04:097
lord doeth," He points out, by means of His own advent, the ignorance of a people 4.13.04:098
in a servile condition. But when He terms His disciples "the friends of 4.13.04:099
God," He plainly declares Himself to be the Word of God, whom Abraham also followed 4.13.04:100
voluntarily and under no compulsion (sine vinculis), because of the noble 4.13.04:101
nature of his faith, and so became "the friend of God." But the Word of God 4.13.04:104
did not accept of the friendship of Abraham, as though He stood in need of it, 4.13.04:105
for He was perfect from the beginning ("Before Abraham was," He says, "I am"), 4.13.04:106
but that He in His goodness might bestow eternal life upon Abraham himself, 4.13.04:107
inasmuch as the friendship of God imparts immortality to those who embrace it. 4.13.04:109
1. In the beginning, therefore, did God form Adam, not as if He stood in need 4.14.01:001
of man, but that He might have [some one] upon whom to confer His benefits. 4.14.01:002
For not alone antecedently to Adam, but also before all creation, the 4.14.01:003
Word glorified His Father, remaining in Him; and was Himself glorified by 4.14.01:004
the Father, as He did Himself declare, "Father, glorify Thou Me with the glory 4.14.01:005
which I had with Thee before the world was." Nor did He stand in need 4.14.01:008
of our service when He ordered us to follow Him; but He thus bestowed salvation 4.14.01:009
upon ourselves. For to follow the Saviour is to be a partaker of salvation, 4.14.01:010
and to follow light is to receive light. But those who are in light 4.14.01:011
do not themselves illumine the light, but are illumined and revealed by it: 4.14.01:011
they do certainly contribute nothing to it, but, receiving the benefit, they 4.14.01:012
are illumined by the light. Thus, also, service [rendered] to God does 4.14.01:013
indeed profit God nothing, nor has God need of human obedience; but He grants 4.14.01:014
to those who follow and serve Him life and in-corruption and eternal glory, 4.14.01:015
bestowing benefit upon those who serve [Him], because they do serve Him, 4.14.01:016
and on His followers, because they do follow Him; but does not receive 4.14.01:017
any benefit from them: for He is rich, perfect, and in need of nothing. But 4.14.01:018
for this reason does God demand service from men, in order that, since He 4.14.01:021
is good and merciful, He may benefit those who continue in His service. For, 4.14.01:022
as much as God is in want of nothing, so much does man stand in need of 4.14.01:024
fellowship with God. For this is the glory of man, to continue and remain 4.14.01:025
permanently in God's service. Wherefore also did the Lord say to His disciples, 4.14.01:026
"Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you;" indicating that they 4.14.01:027
did not glorify Him when they followed Him; but that, in following the Son 4.14.01:028
of God, they were glorified by Him. And again, "I will, that where I am, 4.14.01:030
there they also may be, that they may behold My glory;" not vainly boasting 4.14.01:031
because of this, but desiring that His disciples should share in His glory: 4.14.01:032
of whom Esaias also says, "I will bring thy seed from the east, and will 4.14.01:033
gather thee from the west; and I will say to the north, Give up; and to the 4.14.01:035
south, Keep not back: bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the 4.14.01:036
ends of the earth; all, as many as have been called in My name: for in My 4.14.01:037
glory I have prepared, and formed, and made him." Inasmuch as then, "wheresoever 4.14.01:038
the carcase is, there shall also the eagles be gathered together," we 4.14.01:039
do participate in the glory of the Lord, who has both formed us, and prepared 4.14.01:040
us for this, that, when we are with Him, we may partake of His glory. 4.14.01:041
2. Thus it was, too, that God formed man at the first, because of His munificence; 4.14.02:044
but chose the patriarchs for the sake of their salvation; and prepared a people 4.14.02:045
beforehand, teaching the headstrong to follow God; and raised up prophets upon 4.14.02:046
earth, accustoming man to bear His Spirit [within him], and to hold communion 4.14.02:047
with God: He Himself, indeed, having need of nothing, but granting communion with 4.14.02:048
Himself to those who stood in need of it, and sketching out, like an architect, 4.14.02:049
the plan of salvation to those that pleased Him. And He did Himself furnish guidance 4.14.02:050
to those who beheld Him not in Egypt, while to those who became unruly in 4.14.02:051
the desert He promulgated a law very suitable [to their condition]. Then, on the 4.14.02:052
people who entered into the good land He bestowed a noble inheritance; and He killed IrnL.AH.4.14.02:053
the fatted calf for those converted to the Father, and presented them with 4.14.02:054
the finest robe. Thus, in a variety of ways, He adjusted the human race to an agreement 4.14.02:059
with salvation. On this account also does John declare in the Apocalypse, 4.14.02:060
"And His voice as the sound of many waters." For the Spirit [of God] is truly 4.14.02:060
[like] many waters, since the Father is both rich and great. And the Word, passing 4.14.02:061
through all those [men], did liberally confer benefits upon His subjects, by 4.14.02:062
drawing up in writing a law adapted and applicable to every class [among them]. 4.14.02:063
3. Thus, too, He imposed upon the [Jewish] people the construction of the tabernacle, IrnL.AH.4.14.03:066
the building of the temple, the election of the Levites, sacrifices also, and oblations, 4.14.03:067
legal monitions, and all the other service of the law. He does Himself truly want 4.14.03:068
none of these things, for He is always full of all good, and had in Himself all the 4.14.03:069
odour of kindness, and every perfume of sweet-smelling savours, even before Moses IrnL.AH.4.14.03:070
existed. Moreover, He instructed the people, who were prone to turn to idols, instructing 4.14.03:071
them by repeated appeals to persevere and to serve God, calling them to the things 4.14.03:072
of primary importance by means of those which were secondary; that is, to things 4.14.03:073
that are real, by means of those that are typical; and by things temporal, to eternal; 4.14.03:074
and by the carnal to the spiritual; and by the earthly to the heavenly; as was also 4.14.03:075
said to Moses, "Thou shalt make all things after the pattern of those things which 4.14.03:076
thou sawest in the mount." For during forty days He was learning to keep [in his memory] 4.14.03:080
the words of God, and the celestial patterns, and the spiritual images, and the types 4.14.03:081
of things to come; as also Paul says: "For they drank of the rock which followed 4.14.03:082
them: and the rock was Christ." And again, having first mentioned what are contained IrnL.AH.4.14.03:084
in the law, he goes on to say: "Now all these things happened to them in a figure; 4.14.03:085
but they were written for our admonition, upon whom the end of the ages is come." For IrnL.AH.4.14.03:086
by means of types they learned to fear God, and to continue devoted to His service. 4.14.03:087
1. They (the Jews) had therefore a law, a course of discipline, and a prophecy of 4.15.01:001
future things. For God at the first, indeed, warning them by means of natural precepts, IrnL.AH.4.15.01:003
which from the beginning He had implanted in mankind, that is, by means of the 4.15.01:004
Decalogue (which, if any one does not observe, he has no salvation), did then demand IrnL.AH.4.15.01:005
nothing more of them. As Moses says in Deuteronomy, "These are all the words 4.15.01:006
which the Lord spake to the whole assembly of the sons of Israel on the mount, and 4.15.01:007
He added no more; and He wrote them on two tables of stone, and gave them to me." IrnL.AH.4.15.01:008
For this reason [He did so], that they who are willing to follow Him might keep 4.15.01:009
these commandments. But when they turned themselves to make a calf, and had gone back 4.15.01:011
in their minds to Egypt, desiring to be slaves instead of free-men, they were 4.15.01:012
placed for the future in a state of servitude suited to their wish,--[a slavery] which 4.15.01:013
did not indeed cut them off from God, but subjected them to the yoke of bondage; 4.15.01:014
as Ezekiel the prophet, when stating the reasons for the giving of such a law, 4.15.01:015
declares: "And their eyes were after the desire of their heart; and I gave them statutes IrnL.AH.4.15.01:016
that were not good, and judgments in which they shall not live." Luke also 4.15.01:017
has recorded that Stephen, who was the first elected into the diaconate by the apostles, 4.15.01:020
and who was the first slain for the testimony of Christ, spoke regarding 4.15.01:021
Moses as follows: "This man did indeed receive the commandments of the living God 4.15.01:022
to give to us, whom your fathers would not obey, but thrust [Him from them], and in 4.15.01:023
their hearts turned back again into Egypt, saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go 4.15.01:024
before us; for we do not know what has happened to [this] Moses, who led us from 4.15.01:025
the land of Egypt. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifices to the 4.15.01:027
idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their own hands. But God turned, and gave 4.15.01:028
them up to worship the hosts of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets: 4.15.01:029
O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to Me sacrifices and oblations for forty IrnL.AH.4.15.01:030
years in the wilderness? And ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star 4.15.01:031
of the god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them;" pointing out plainly, 4.15.01:032
that the law being such, was not given to them by another God, but that, adapted 4.15.01:033
to their condition of servitude, [it originated] from the very same [God as we worship]. 4.15.01:034
Wherefore also He says to Moses in Exodus: "I will send forth My angel before 4.15.01:037
thee; for I will not go up with thee, because thou art a stiff-necked people." 4.15.01:038
2. And not only so, but the Lord also showed that certain precepts were enacted for them 4.15.02:041
by Moses, on account of their hardness [of heart], and because of their unwillingness to 4.15.02:042
be obedient, when, on their saying to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a writing 4.15.02:043
of divorcement, and to send away a wife?" He said to them, "Because of the hardness IrnL.AH.4.15.02:044
of your hearts he permitted these things to you; but from the beginning it was not so;" IrnL.AH.4.15.02:045
thus exculpating Moses as a faithful servant, but acknowledging one God, who from the beginning 4.15.02:046
made male and female, and reproving them as hard-hearted and disobedient. And therefore 4.15.02:047
it was that they received from Moses this law of divorcement, adapted to their 4.15.02:048
hard nature. But why say I these things concerning the Old Testament? For in the New also 4.15.02:051
are the apostles found doing this very thing, on the ground which has been mentioned, IrnL.AH.4.15.02:052
Paul plainly declaring, But these things I say, not the Lord." And again: "But this I speak 4.15.02:053
by permission, not by commandment." And again: "Now, as concerning virgins, I have no 4.15.02:055
commandment from the Lord; yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of 4.15.02:056
the Lord to be faithful." But further, in another place he says: "That Satan tempt you 4.15.02:057
not for your incontinence." If, therefore, even in the New Testament, the apostles are found 4.15.02:059
granting certain precepts in consideration of human infirmity, because of the incontinence 4.15.02:060
of some, lest such persons, having grown obdurate, and despairing altogether of 4.15.02:061
their salvation, should become apostates from God,--it ought not to be wondered at, if IrnL.AH.4.15.02:062
also in the Old Testament the same God permitted similar indulgences for the benefit of 4.15.02:063
His people, drawing them on by means of the ordinances already mentioned, so that they might 4.15.02:064
obtain the gift of salvation through them, while they obeyed the Decalogue, and being IrnL.AH.4.15.02:065
restrained by Him, should not revert to idolatry, nor apostatize from God, but learn 4.15.02:066
to love Him with the whole heart. And if certain persons, because of the disobedient and 4.15.02:067
ruined Israelites, do assert that the giver (doctor) of the law was limited in power, 4.15.02:070
they will find in our dispensation, that "many are called, but few chosen;" and that there 4.15.02:071
are those who inwardly are wolves, yet wear sheep's clothing in the eyes of the world 4.15.02:072
(foris); and that God has always preserved freedom, and the power of self-government in 4.15.02:073
man, while at the same time He issued His own exhortations, in order that those who do 4.15.02:074
not obey Him should be righteously judged (condemned) because they have not obeyed Him; 4.15.02:075
and that those who have obeyed and believed on Him should be honoured with immortality. 4.15.02:076
1. Moreover, we learn from the Scripture itself, that God gave circumcision, not 4.16.01:001
as the completer of righteousness, but as a sign, that the race of Abraham 4.16.01:002
might continue recognisable. For it declares: "God said unto Abraham, Every male 4.16.01:003
among you shall be circumcised; and ye shall circumcise the flesh of your 4.16.01:004
foreskins, as a token of the covenant between Me and you." This same does Ezekiel IrnL.AH.4.16.01:005
the prophet say with regard to the Sabbaths: "Also I gave them My Sabbaths, 4.16.01:007
to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord, IrnL.AH.4.16.01:008
that sanctify them." And in Exodus, God says to Moses: "And ye shall observe 4.16.01:010
My Sabbaths; for it shall be a sign between Me and you for your generations." 4.16.01:011
These things, then, were given for a sign; but the signs were not unsymbolical, 4.16.01:012
that is, neither unmeaning nor to no purpose, inasmuch as they were given by 4.16.01:013
a wise Artist; but the circumcision after the flesh typified that after the 4.16.01:014
Spirit. For "we," says the apostle, "have been circumcised with the circumcision 4.16.01:015
made without hands." And the prophet declares, "Circumcise the hardness of 4.16.01:016
your heart." But the Sabbaths taught that we should continue day by day in God's 4.16.01:019
service. "For we have been counted," says the Apostle Paul, "all the day 4.16.01:020
long as sheep for the slaughter;" that is, consecrated [to God], and ministering 4.16.01:021
continually to our faith, and persevering in it, and abstaining from all avarice, 4.16.01:022
and not acquiring or possessing treasures upon earth. Moreover, the Sabbath 4.16.01:023
of God (requietio Dei), that is, the kingdom, was, as it were, indicated 4.16.01:024
by created things; in which [kingdom], the man who shall have persevered in 4.16.01:025
serving God (Deo assistere) shall, in a state of rest, partake of God's table. 4.16.01:026
2. And that man was not justified by these things, but that they were given 4.16.02:029
as a sign to the people, this fact shows,--that Abraham himself, without circumcision 4.16.02:030
and without observance of Sabbaths, "believed God, and it was imputed 4.16.02:031
unto him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God." Then, 4.16.02:032
again, Lot, without circumcision, was brought out from Sodom, receiving 4.16.02:033
salvation from God. So also did Noah, pleasing God, although he was uncircumcised, IrnL.AH.4.16.02:034
receive the dimensions [of the ark], of the world of the second race 4.16.02:034
[of men]. Enoch, too, pleasing God, without circumcision, discharged the office 4.16.02:035
of God's legate to the angels although he was a man, and was translated, 4.16.02:036
and is preserved until now as a witness of the just judgment of God, because 4.16.02:037
the angels when they had transgressed fell to the earth for judgment, 4.16.02:038
but the man who pleased [God] was translated for salvation. Moreover, all the 4.16.02:039
rest of the multitude of those righteous men who lived before Abraham, and 4.16.02:041
of those patriarchs who preceded Moses, were justified independently of the 4.16.02:042
things above mentioned, and without the law of Moses. As also Moses himself 4.16.02:043
says to the people in Deuteronomy: "The LORD thy God formed a covenant in 4.16.02:044
Horeb. The LORD formed not this covenant with your fathers, but for you." 4.16.02:045
3. Why, then, did the Lord not form the covenant for the fathers? Because "the law 4.16.03:049
was not established for righteous men." But the righteous fathers had the meaning 4.16.03:050
of the Decalogue written in their hearts and souls, that is, they loved the God 4.16.03:051
who made them, and did no injury to their neighbour. There was therefore no occasion IrnL.AH.4.16.03:052
that they should be cautioned by prohibitory mandates (correptoriis literis), 4.16.03:053
because they had the righteousness of the law in themselves. But when this righteousness 4.16.03:054
and love to God had passed into oblivion, and became extinct in Egypt, God 4.16.03:056
did necessarily, because of His great goodwill to men, reveal Himself by a voice, 4.16.03:057
and led the people with power out of Egypt, in order that man might again become 4.16.03:058
the disciple and follower of God; and He afflicted those who were disobedient, 4.16.03:059
that they should not contemn their Creator; and He fed them with manna, that they 4.16.03:060
might receive food for their souls (uti rationalem acciperent escam); as also Moses 4.16.03:061
says in Deuteronomy: "And fed thee with manna, which thy fathers did not know, 4.16.03:062
that thou mightest know that man cloth not live by bread alone; but by every word 4.16.03:063
of God proceeding out of His mouth doth man live." And it enjoined love to God, 4.16.03:064
and taught just dealing towards our neighhour, that we should neither be unjust nor 4.16.03:065
unworthy of God, who prepares man for His friendship through the medium of the 4.16.03:066
Decalogue, and likewise for agreement with his neigbbour,--matters which did certainly IrnL.AH.4.16.03:067
profit man himself; God, however, standing in no need of anything from man. 4.16.03:068
4. And therefore does the Scripture say, "These words the Lord spake 4.16.04:074
to all the assembly of the children of Israel in the mount, and He added 4.16.04:075
no more;" for, as I have already observed, He stood in need of 4.16.04:076
nothing from them. And again Moses says: "And now Israel, what cloth 4.16.04:077
the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk 4.16.04:078
in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD thy God with 4.16.04:079
all thy heart, and with all thy soul?" Now these things did indeed 4.16.04:081
make man glorious, by supplying what was wanting to him, namely, the 4.16.04:082
friendship of God; but they profited God nothing, for God did not 4.16.04:083
at all stand in need of man's love. For the glory of God was wanting 4.16.04:085
to man, which he could obtain in no other way than by serving God. 4.16.04:086
And therefore Moses says to them again: "Choose life, that thou mayest 4.16.04:087
live, and thy seed, to love the LORD thy God, to hear His voice, to 4.16.04:088
cleave unto Him; for this is thy life, and the length of thy days." 4.16.04:089
Preparing man for this life, the Lord Himself did speak in His own 4.16.04:091
person to all alike the words of the Decalogue; and therefore, in like 4.16.04:092
manner, do they remain permanently with us, receiving by means of 4.16.04:093
His advent in the flesh, extension and increase, but not abrogation. 4.16.04:094
5. The laws of bondage, however, were one by one promulgated to the people by Moses, 4.16.05:095
suited for their instruction or for their punishment, as Moses himself declared: 4.16.05:096
"And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments." 4.16.05:097
These things, therefore, which were given for bondage, and for a sign to them, He 4.16.05:099
cancelled by the new covenant of liberty. But He has increased and widened those 4.16.05:100
laws which are natural, and noble, and common to all, granting to men largely and 4.16.05:101
without grudging, by means of adoption, to know God the Father, and to love Him 4.16.05:102
with the whole heart, and to follow His word unswervingly, while they abstain not 4.16.05:103
only from evil deeds, but even from the desire after them. But He has also increased 4.16.05:104
the feeling of reverence; for sons should have more veneration than slaves, IrnL.AH.4.16.05:106
and greater love for their father. And therefore the Lord says, "As to every idle 4.16.05:107
word that men have spoken, they shall render an account for it in the day of judgment." 4.16.05:108
And, "he who has looked upon a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery 4.16.05:109
with her already in his heart;" and, "he that is angry with his brother without 4.16.05:110
a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment." [All this is declared,] that we 4.16.05:111
may know that we shall give account to God not of deeds only, as slaves, but even 4.16.05:112
of words and thoughts, as those who have truly received the power of liberty, 4.16.05:113
in which [condition] a man is more severely tested, whether he will reverence, and 4.16.05:114
fear, and love the Lord. And for this reason Peter says "that we have not liberty 4.16.05:118
as a cloak of maliciousness," but as the means of testing and evidencing faith. 4.16.05:119
1. Moreover, the prophets indicate in the fullest manner that God stood in no need 4.17.01:001
of their slavish obedience, but that it was upon their own account that He enjoined 4.17.01:002
certain observances in the law. And again, that God needed not their oblation, 4.17.01:003
but [merely demanded it], on account of man himself who offers it, the 4.17.01:004
Lord taught distinctly, as I have pointed out. For when He perceived them neglecting 4.17.01:007
righteousness, and abstaining from the love of God, and imagining that God 4.17.01:008
was to be propitiated by sacrifices and the other typical observances, Samuel 4.17.01:009
did even thus speak to them: "God does not desire whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices, 4.17.01:010
but He will have His voice to be hearkened to. Behold, a ready obedience 4.17.01:011
is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." David also says: 4.17.01:013
"Sacrifice and oblation Thou didst not desire, but mine ears hast Thou perfected; 4.17.01:014
burnt-offerings also for sin Thou hast not required." He thus teaches them 4.17.01:015
that God desires obedience, which renders them secure, rather than sacrifices 4.17.01:016
and holocausts, which avail them nothing towards righteousness; and [by this declaration] 4.17.01:018
he prophesies the new covenant at the same time. Still clearer, too, 4.17.01:019
does he speak of these things in the fiftieth Psalm: "For if Thou hadst desired 4.17.01:021
sacrifice, then would I have given it: Thou wilt not delight in burnt-offerings. 4.17.01:022
The .sacrifice of God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart the Lord 4.17.01:022
will not despise." Because, therefore, God stands in need of nothing, He declares 4.17.01:023
in the preceding Psalm: "I will take no calves out of thine house, nor he-goats 4.17.01:025
out of thy fold. For Mine are all the beasts of the earth, the herds and 4.17.01:026
the oxen on the mountains: I know all the fowls of heaven, and the various tribes 4.17.01:027
of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world 4.17.01:028
is Mine, and the fulness thereof. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the 4.17.01:030
blood of goats?" Then, lest it might be supposed that He refused these things 4.17.01:031
in His anger, He continues, giving him (man) counsel: "Offer unto God the sacrifice 4.17.01:032
of praise, and pay thy vows to the Most High; and call upon Me in the day of IrnL.AH.4.17.01:033
thy trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me;" rejecting, 4.17.01:034
indeed, those things by which sinners imagined they could propitiate God, and showing 4.17.01:035
that He does Himself stand in need of nothing; but He exhorts and advises 4.17.01:038
them to those. things by which man is justified and draws nigh to God. This same 4.17.01:039
declaration does Esaias make: "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices 4.17.01:039
unto Me? saith the Lord. I am full." And when He had repudiated holocausts, 4.17.01:039
and sacrifices, and oblations, as likewise the new moons, and the sabbaths, 4.17.01:040
and the festivals, and all the rest of the services accompanying these, He continues, IrnL.AH.4.17.01:041
exhorting them to what pertained to salvation: "Wash you, make you clean, IrnL.AH.4.17.01:042
take away wickedness from your hearts from before mine eyes: cease from your evil 4.17.01:043
ways, learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, 4.17.01:044
plead for the widow; and come, let us reason together, saith the LORD." 4.17.01:045
2. For it was not because He was angry, like a man, as many venture to say, that 4.17.02:048
He rejected their sacrifices; but out of compassion to their blindness, and 4.17.02:049
with the view of suggesting to them the true sacrifice, by offering which they IrnL.AH.4.17.02:050
shall appease God, that they may receive life from Him. As He elsewhere declares: 4.17.02:052
"The sacrifice to God is an afflicted heart: a sweet savour to God is 4.17.02:053
a heart glorifying Him who formed it." For if, when angry, He had repudiated 4.17.02:055
these sacrifices of theirs, as if they were persons unworthy to obtain His compassion, IrnL.AH.4.17.02:056
He would not certainly have urged these same things upon them as those 4.17.02:057
by which they might be saved. But inasmuch as God is merciful, He did not 4.17.02:058
cut them off from good counsel. For after He had said by Jeremiah, "To what 4.17.02:059
purpose bring ye Me incense from Saba, and cinnamon from a far country? Your 4.17.02:060
whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices are not acceptable to Me;" He proceeds: "Hear 4.17.02:061
the word of the Lord, all Judah. These things saith the LORD, the God of 4.17.02:063
Israel, Make straight your ways and your doings, and I will establish you in IrnL.AH.4.17.02:064
this place. Put not your trust in lying words, for they will not at all profit 4.17.02:064
you, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, it is [here]." IrnL.AH.4.17.02:065
3. And again, when He points out that it was not for this that He led them 4.17.03:068
out of Egypt, that they might offer sacrifice to Him, but that, forgetting 4.17.03:069
the idolatry of the Egyptians, they should be able to hear the voice of the 4.17.03:070
Lord, which was to them salvation and glory, He declares by this same Jeremiah: 4.17.03:071
"Thus saith the LORD; Collect together your burnt-offerings with your 4.17.03:072
sacrifices and eat flesh. For I spake not unto your fathers nor commanded 4.17.03:073
them in the day that I brought them out of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings IrnL.AH.4.17.03:074
or sacrifices: but this word I commanded them, saying, Hear My voice, and 4.17.03:075
I will be your God, and ye shall be My people; and walk in all My ways whatsoever 4.17.03:076
I have commanded you, that it may be well with you. But they obeyed 4.17.03:077
not, nor hearkened; but walked in the imaginations of their own evil heart, 4.17.03:079
and went backwards, and not forwards." And again, when He declares by 4.17.03:080
the same man, "But let him that glorieth, glory in this, to understand and 4.17.03:081
know that I am the LORD, who doth exercise loving-kindness, and righteousness, 4.17.03:082
and judgment in the earth;" He adds, "For in these things I delight, says 4.17.03:083
the LORD," but not in sacrifices, nor in holocausts, nor in oblations. 4.17.03:084
For the people did not receive these precepts as of primary importance (principaliter), IrnL.AH.4.17.03:085
but as secondary, and for the reason already alleged, as Isaiah 4.17.03:088
again says: "Thou hast not [brought to] Me the sheep of thy holocaust, nor 4.17.03:089
in thy sacrifices hast thou glorified Me: thou hast not served Me in sacrifices, 4.17.03:090
nor in [the matter of] frankincense hast thou done anything laboriously; 4.17.03:091
neither hast thou bought for Me incense with money, nor have I desired 4.17.03:092
the fat of thy sacrifices; but thou hast stood before Me in thy sins and 4.17.03:093
in thine iniquities." He says, therefore, "Upon this man will I look, even 4.17.03:095
upon him that is humble, and meek, and who trembles at My words." "For the 4.17.03:096
fat and the fat flesh shall not take away from thee thine unrighteousness." 4.17.03:097
"This is the fast which I have chosen, saith the LORD. Loose every band 4.17.03:098
of wickedness, dissolve the connections of violent agreements, give rest to IrnL.AH.4.17.03:099
those that are shaken, and cancel every unjust document. Deal thy bread to IrnL.AH.4.17.03:100
the hungry willingly, and lead into thy house the roofless stranger. If 4.17.03:101
thou hast seen the naked, cover him, and thou shalt not despise those of thine 4.17.03:102
own flesh and blood (domesticos seminis tui). Then shall thy morning light 4.17.03:103
break forth, and thy health shall spring forth more speedily; and righteousness 4.17.03:104
shall go before thee, and the glory of the LoRD shall surround thee: 4.17.03:105
and whilst thou an yet speaking, I will say, Behold, here I am." And Zechariah 4.17.03:106
also, among the twelve prophets, pointing out to the people the will 4.17.03:107
of God, says: "These things does the LORD Omnipotent declare: Execute true 4.17.03:108
judgment, and show mercy and compassion each one to his brother. And oppress 4.17.03:109
not the widow, and the orphan, and the proselyte, and the poor; and let 4.17.03:115
none imagine evil against your brother in his heart." And again, he says: 4.17.03:116
"These are the words which ye shall utter. Speak ye the truth every man to 4.17.03:117
his neighbour, and execute peaceful judgment in your gates, and let none 4.17.03:118
of you imagine evil in his heart against his brother, and ye shall not love 4.17.03:119
false swearing: for all these things I hate, saith the LORD Almighty." Moreover, 4.17.03:121
David also says in like manner: "What man is there who desireth life, 4.17.03:122
and would fain see good days? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that 4.17.03:122
they speak no guile. Shun evil, and do good: seek peace, and pursue it." 4.17.03:123
4. From all these it is evident that God did not seek sacrifices and holocausts 4.17.04:125
from them, but faith, and obedience, and righteousness, because of their 4.17.04:126
salvation. As God, when teaching them His will in Hosea the prophet, 4.17.04:127
said, "I desire mercy rather than sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more 4.17.04:128
than burnt-offerings." Besides, our Lord also exhorted them to the same 4.17.04:129
effect, when He said, "But if ye had known what [this] meaneth, I will have 4.17.04:130
mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless." Thus 4.17.04:131
does He bear witness to the prophets, that they preached the truth; but 4.17.04:132
accuses these men (His hearers) of being foolish through their own fault. 4.17.04:133
5. Again, giving directions to His disciples to offer to God the first-fruits 4.17.05:136
of His own, created things--not as if He stood in need of them, but that they 4.17.05:137
might be themselves neither unfruitful nor ungrateful--He took that created thing, 4.17.05:138
bread, and gave thanks, and said, "This is My body." And the cup likewise, 4.17.05:139
which is part of that creation to which we belong, He confessed to be His 4.17.05:140
blood, and taught the new oblation of the new covenant; which the Church receiving 4.17.05:141
from the apostles, offers to God throughout all the world, to Him who gives 4.17.05:142
us as the means of subsistence the first-fruits of His own gifts in the New 4.17.05:143
Testament, concerning which Malachi, among the twelve prophets, thus spoke 4.17.05:146
beforehand: "I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD Omnipotent, and I will 4.17.05:147
not accept sacrifice at your hands. For from the rising of the sun, unto the 4.17.05:148
going down [of the same], My name is glorified among the Gentiles, and in every 4.17.05:149
place incense is offered to My name, and a pure sacrifice; for great is My 4.17.05:150
name among the Gentiles, saith the LORD Omnipotent;" --indicating in the plainest 4.17.05:151
manner, by these words, that the former people [the Jews] shall indeed cease 4.17.05:152
to make offerings to God, but that in every place sacrifice shall be offered 4.17.05:153
to Him, and that a pure one; and His name is glorified among the Gentiles. 4.17.05:154
6. But what other name is there which is glorified among the Gentiles than that 4.17.06:156
of our Lord, by whom the Father is glorified, and man also? And because it is 4.17.06:157
[the name] of His own Son, who was made man by Him, He calls it His own. Just 4.17.06:159
as a king, if he himself paints a likeness of his son, is right in calling this 4.17.06:161
likeness his own, for both these reasons, because it is [the likeness] of his 4.17.06:162
son, and because it is his own production; so also does the Father confess 4.17.06:163
the name of Jesus Christ, which is throughout all the world glorified in the Church, 4.17.06:164
to be His own, both because it is that of His Son, and because He who thus 4.17.06:165
describes it gave Him for the salvation of men. Since, therefore, the name 4.17.06:167
of the Son belongs to the Father, and since in the omnipotent God the Church makes IrnL.AH.4.17.06:168
offerings through Jesus Christ, He says well on both these grounds, "And in 4.17.06:169
every place incense is offered to My name, and a pure sacrifice." Now John, 4.17.06:171
in the Apocalypse, declares that the "incense" is "the prayers of the saints." 4.17.06:172
1. The oblation of the Church, therefore, which the Lord gave instructions to be offered IrnL.AH.4.18.01:001
throughout all the world, is accounted with God a pure sacrifice, and is acceptable 4.18.01:002
to Him; not that He stands in need of a sacrifice from us, but that he who offers is himself 4.18.01:003
glorified in what he does offer, if his gift be accepted. For by the gift both honour 4.18.01:004
and affection are shown forth towards the King; and the Lord, wishing us to offer 4.18.01:005
it in all simplicity and innocence, did express Himself thus: "Therefore, when thou 4.18.01:006
offerest thy gift upon the altar, and shalt remember that thy brother hath ought against 4.18.01:007
thee, leave thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, 4.18.01:008
and then return and offer thy gift." We are bound, therefore, to offer to God the 4.18.01:009
first-fruits of His creation, as Moses also says, "Thou shalt not appear in the presence 4.18.01:012
of the Lord thy God empty;" so that man, being accounted as grateful, by those things IrnL.AH.4.18.01:013
in which he has shown his gratitude, may receive that honour which flows from Him. 4.18.01:014
2. And the class of oblations in general has not been set aside; for there were both oblations 4.18.02:017
there [among the Jews], and there are oblations here [among the Christians]. Sacrifices 4.18.02:018
there were among the people; sacrifices there are, too, in the Church: but the species 4.18.02:019
alone has been changed, inasmuch as the offering is now made, not by slaves, but by freemen. 4.18.02:020
For the Lord is [ever] one and the same; but the character of a servile oblation 4.18.02:021
is peculiar [to itself], as is also that of freemen, in order that, by the very oblations, 4.18.02:022
the indication of liberty may be set forth. For with Him there is nothing purposeless, 4.18.02:023
nor without signification, nor without design. And for this reason they (the Jews) had 4.18.02:025
indeed the tithes of their goods consecrated to Him, but those who have received liberty 4.18.02:026
set aside all their possessions for the Lord's purposes, bestowing joyfully and freely not 4.18.02:027
the less valuable portions of their property, since they have the hope of better things 4.18.02:028
[hereafter]; as that poor widow acted who cast all her living into the treasury of God. 4.18.02:029
3. For at the beginning God had respect to the gifts of Abel, because he offered 4.18.03:032
with single-mindedness and righteousness; but He had no respect unto the 4.18.03:033
offering of Cain, because his heart was divided with envy and malice, which IrnL.AH.4.18.03:034
he cherished against his brother, as God says when reproving his hidden [thoughts], 4.18.03:035
"Though thou offerest rightly, yet, if thou dost not divide rightly, 4.18.03:036
hast thou not sinned? Be at rest;" since God is not appeased by sacrifice. For 4.18.03:039
if any one shall endeavour to offer a sacrifice merely to outward appearance, 4.18.03:040
unexceptionably, in due order, and according to appointment, while in his 4.18.03:041
soul he does not assign to his neighbour that fellowship with him which is right 4.18.03:042
and proper, nor is under the fear of God;--he who thus cherishes secret 4.18.03:043
sin does not deceive God by that sacrifice which is offered correctly as to 4.18.03:044
outward appearance; nor will such an oblation profit him anything, but [only] IrnL.AH.4.18.03:045
the giving up of that evil which has been conceived within him, so that sin 4.18.03:048
may not the more, by means of the hypocritical action, render him the destroyer 4.18.03:049
of himself. Wherefore did the Lord also declare: "Woe unto you, scribes and 4.18.03:050
Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye are like whited sepulchres. For the sepulchre IrnL.AH.4.18.03:051
appears beautiful outside, but within it is full of dead men's bones, and 4.18.03:052
all uncleanness; even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within 4.18.03:054
ye are full of wickedness and hypocrisy." For while they were thought to 4.18.03:055
offer correctly so far as outward appearance went, they had in themselves jealousy 4.18.03:056
like to Cain; therefore they slew the Just One, slighting the counsel 4.18.03:057
of the Word, as did also Cain. For [God] said to him, "Be at rest;" but he did 4.18.03:057
not assent. Now what else is it to "be at rest" than to forego purposed violence? 4.18.03:058
And saying similar things to these men, He declares: "Thou blind Pharisee, 4.18.03:059
cleanse that which is within the cup, that the outside may be clean also." 4.18.03:060
And they did not listen to Him. For Jeremiah says, "Behold, neither thine 4.18.03:061
eyes nor thy heart are good; but [they are turned] to thy covetousness, and 4.18.03:061
to shed innocent blood, and for injustice, and for man-slaying, that thou mayest 4.18.03:062
do it." And again Isaiah saith, "Ye have taken counsel, but not of Me; 4.18.03:063
and made covenants, [but] not by My Spirit." In order, therefore, that their 4.18.03:065
inner wish and thought, being brought to light, may show that God is without IrnL.AH.4.18.03:066
blame, and worketh no evil--that God who reveals what is hidden [in the heart], 4.18.03:066
but who worketh not evil--when Cain was by no means at rest, He saith to 4.18.03:067
him: "To thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." Thus did He 4.18.03:068
in like manner speak to Pilate: "Thou shouldest have no power at all against 4.18.03:069
Me, unless it were given thee from above;" God always giving up the righteous 4.18.03:071
one [in this life to suffering], that he, having been tested by what he suffered 4.18.03:072
and endured, may [at last] be accepted; but that the evildoer, being 4.18.03:073
judged by the actions he has performed, may be rejected. Sacrifices, therefore, 4.18.03:074
do not sanctify a man, for God stands in no need of sacrifice; but it is 4.18.03:076
the conscience of the offerer that sanctifies the sacrifice when it is pure, 4.18.03:077
and thus moves God to accept [the offering] as from a friend. "But the sinner," 4.18.03:078
says He, "who kills a calf [in sacrifice] to Me, is as if he slew a dog." 4.18.03:080
4. Inasmuch, then, as the Church offers with single-mindedness, her gift is justly 4.18.04:082
reckoned a pure sacrifice with God. As Paul also says to the Philippians, 4.18.04:083
"I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things that were sent from you, 4.18.04:084
the odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, pleasing to God." For 4.18.04:085
it behoves us to make an oblation to God, and in all things to be found grateful 4.18.04:086
to God our Maker, in a pure mind, and in faith without hypocrisy, in well-grounded 4.18.04:087
hope, in fervent love, offering the first-fruits of His own created things. 4.18.04:088
And the Church alone offers this pure oblation to the Creator, offering to 4.18.04:089
Him, with giving of thanks, [the things taken] from His creation. But the Jews 4.18.04:091
do not offer thus: for their hands are full of blood; for they have not received 4.18.04:092
the Word, through whom it is offered to God. Nor, again, do any of the conventicles 4.18.04:093
(synagogoe) of the heretics [offer this]. For some, by maintaining 4.18.04:094
that the Father is different from the Creator, do, when they offer to Him what IrnL.AH.4.18.04:095
belongs to this creation of ours, set Him forth as being covetous of another's 4.18.04:096
property, and desirous of what is not His own. Those, again, who maintain that 4.18.04:097
the things around us originated from apostasy, ignorance, and passion, do, 4.18.04:098
while offering unto Him the fruits of ignorance, passion, and apostasy, sin against 4.18.04:099
their Father, rather subjecting Him to insult than giving Him thanks. But 4.18.04:100
how can they be consistent with themselves, [when they say] that the bread over 4.18.04:104
which thanks have been given is the body of their Lord, and the cup His blood, 4.18.04:105
if they do not call Himself the Son of the Creator of the world, that is, His 4.18.04:106
Word, through whom the wood fructifies, and the fountains gush forth, and the 4.18.04:107
earth gives "first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." 4.18.04:108
5. Then, again, how can they say that the flesh, which is nourished with 4.18.05:110
the body of the Lord and with His blood, goes to corruption, and does 4.18.05:111
not partake of life? Let them, therefore, either alter their opinion, or 4.18.05:112
cease from offering the things just mentioned. But our opinion is in accordance 4.18.05:114
with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn establishes our 4.18.05:115
opinion. For we offer to Him His own, announcing consistently the fellowship 4.18.05:115
and union of the flesh and Spirit. For as the bread, which is produced 4.18.05:116
from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer 4.18.05:117
common bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly 4.18.05:118
and heavenly; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are 4.18.05:119
no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity. 4.18.05:120
6. Now we make offering to Him, not as though He stood in need of it, but rendering 4.18.06:123
thanks for His gift, and thus sanctifying what has been created. For even 4.18.06:124
as God does not need our possessions, so do we need to offer something to God; 4.18.06:125
as Solomon says: "He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord." 4.18.06:126
For God, who stands in need of nothing, takes our good works to Himself for 4.18.06:128
this purpose, that He may grant us a recompense of His own good things, as our 4.18.06:129
Lord says: "Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you. 4.18.06:130
For I was an hungered, and ye gave Me to eat: I was thirsty, and ye gave 4.18.06:131
Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in: naked, and ye clothed Me; sick, 4.18.06:132
and ye visited Me; in prison, and ye came to Me." As, therefore, He does not 4.18.06:133
stand in need of these [services], yet does desire that we should render them 4.18.06:135
for our own benefit, lest we be unfruitful; so did the Word give to the people IrnL.AH.4.18.06:136
that very precept as to the making of oblations, although He stood in no need 4.18.06:137
of them, that they might learn to serve God: thus is it, therefore, also His 4.18.06:138
will that we, too, should offer a gift at the altar, frequently and without 4.18.06:139
intermission. The altar, then, is in heaven (for towards that place are our prayers 4.18.06:141
and oblations directed); the temple likewise [is there], as John says in 4.18.06:142
the Apocalypse, "And the temple of God was opened:" the tabernacle also: "For, 4.18.06:143
behold," He says, "the tabernacle of God, in which He will dwell with men." 4.18.06:144
1. Now the gifts, oblations, and all the sacrifices, did the people receive in 4.19.01:001
a figure, as was shown to Moses in the mount, from one and the same God, whose 4.19.01:002
name is now glorified in the Church among all nations. But it is congruous 4.19.01:003
that those earthly things, indeed, which are spread all around us, should be IrnL.AH.4.19.01:005
types of the celestial, being [both], however, created by the same God. For in 4.19.01:006
no other way could He assimilate an image of spiritual things [to suit our comprehension]. 4.19.01:007
But to allege that those things which are super-celestial and spiritual, 4.19.01:009
and, as far as we are concerned, invisible and ineffable, are in their 4.19.01:010
turn the types of celestial things and of another Pleroma, and [to say] that 4.19.01:011
God is the image of another Father, is to play the part both of wanderers from 4.19.01:012
the truth, and of absolutely foolish and stupid persons. For, as I have repeatedly 4.19.01:013
shown, such persons will find it necessary to be continually finding 4.19.01:014
out types of types, and images of images, and will never [be able to] fix their 4.19.01:015
minds on one and the true God. For their imaginations range beyond God, they 4.19.01:017
having in their hearts surpassed the Master Himself, being indeed in idea 4.19.01:018
elated and exalted above [Him], but in reality turning away from the true God. 4.19.01:019
2. To these persons one may with justice say (as Scripture itself suggests), To what 4.19.02:021
distance above God do ye lift up your imaginations, O ye rashly elated men? Ye 4.19.02:022
have heard "that the heavens are meted out in the palm of [His] hand:" tell me 4.19.02:023
the measure, and recount the endless multitude of cubits, explain to me the fulness, 4.19.02:024
the breadth, the length, the height, the beginning and end of the measurement,--things IrnL.AH.4.19.02:025
which the heart of man understands not, neither does it comprehend them. 4.19.02:026
For the heavenly treasuries are indeed great: God cannot be measured in the heart, 4.19.02:028
and incomprehensible is He in the mind; He who holds the earth in the hollow 4.19.02:029
of His hand. Who perceives the measure of His right hand? Who knoweth His finger? 4.19.02:031
Or who doth understand His hand,--that hand which measures immensity; that hand 4.19.02:033
which, by its own measure, spreads out the measure of the heavens, and which comprises 4.19.02:034
in its hollow the earth with the abysses; which contains in itself the breadth, 4.19.02:035
and length, and the deep below, and the height above of the whole creation; 4.19.02:036
which is seen, which is heard and understood, and which is invisible? And for this 4.19.02:037
reason God is "above all principality, and power, and dominion, and every name 4.19.02:039
that is named," of all things which have been created and established. He it is 4.19.02:040
who fills the heavens, and views the abysses, who is also present with every one 4.19.02:042
of us. For he says, "Am I a God at hand, and not a God afar off? If any man is hid 4.19.02:043
in secret places, shall I not see him?" For His hand lays hold of all things, 4.19.02:045
and that it is which illumines the heavens, and lightens also the things which are 4.19.02:046
under the heavens, and trieth the reins and the hearts, is also present in hidden 4.19.02:047
things, and in our secret [thoughts], and does openly nourish and preserve us. 4.19.02:048
3. But if man comprehends not the fulness and the greatness of His hand, how shall 4.19.03:051
any one be able to understand or know in his heart so great a God? Yet, as if they 4.19.03:052
had now measured and thoroughly investigated Him, and explored Him on every side? IrnL.AH.4.19.03:053
they feign that beyond Him there exists another Pleroma of AEons, and another Father; 4.19.03:054
certainly not looking up to celestial things, but truly descending into a profound 4.19.03:055
abyss (Bythus) of madness; maintaining that their Father extends only to the 4.19.03:056
border of those things which are beyond the Pleroma, but that, on the other hand, 4.19.03:057
the Demiurge does not reach so far as the Pleroma; and thus they represent neither 4.19.03:058
of them as being perfect and comprehending all things. For the former will be 4.19.03:059
defective in regard to the whole world formed outside of the Pleroma, and the latter 4.19.03:060
in respect of that [ideal] world which was formed within the Pleroma; and [therefore] 4.19.03:061
neither of these can be the God of all. But that no one can fully declare 4.19.03:065
the goodness of God from the things made by Him, is a point evident to all. And that 4.19.03:066
His greatness is not defective, but contains all things, and extends even to us, 4.19.03:067
and is with us, every one will confess who entertains worthy conceptions of God. 4.19.03:068
1. As regards His greatness, therefore, it is not possible to know God, for it 4.20.01:001
is impossible that the Father can be measured; but as regards His love (for this 4.20.01:002
it is which leads us to God by His Word), when we obey Him, we do always learn 4.20.01:003
that there is so great a God, and that it is He who by Himself has established, 4.20.01:004
and selected, and adorned, and contains all things; and among the all things, 4.20.01:005
both ourselves and this our world. We also then were made, along with those things 4.20.01:006
which are contained by Him. And this is He of whom the Scripture says, "And 4.20.01:008
God formed man, taking clay of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath 4.20.01:009
of life." It was not angels, therefore, who made us, nor who formed us, neither 4.20.01:010
had angels power to make an image of God, nor any one else, except the Word of 4.20.01:011
the Lord, nor any Power remotely distant from the Father of all things. For God 4.20.01:012
did not stand in need of these [beings], in order to the accomplishing of what 4.20.01:013
He had Himself determined with Himself beforehand should be done, as if He did 4.20.01:015
not possess His own hands. For with Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, 4.20.01:016
the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom, freely and spontaneously, He made 4.20.01:017
all things, to whom also He speaks, saying, "Let Us make man after Our image 4.20.01:018
and likeness;" He taking from Himself the substance of the creatures [formed], and 4.20.01:019
the pattern of things made, and the type of all the adornments in the world. 4.20.01:020
2. Truly, then, the Scripture declared, which says, "First of all believe that there is one 4.20.02:024
God, who has established all things, and completed them, and having caused that from what 4.20.02:025
had no being, all things should come into existence:" He who contains all things, and is 4.20.02:026
Himself contained by no one. Rightly also has Malachi said among the prophets: "Is it not 4.20.02:027
one God who hath established us? Have we not all one Father?" In accordance with this, too, 4.20.02:029
does the apostle say, "There is one God, the Father, who is above all, and in us all." IrnL.AH.4.20.02:030
Likewise does the Lord also say: "All things are delivered to Me by My Father;" manifestly 4.20.02:032
by Him who made all things; for He did not deliver to Him the things of another, but His IrnL.AH.4.20.02:033
own. But in all things [it is implied that] nothing has been kept back [from Him], and for IrnL.AH.4.20.02:034
this reason the same person is the Judge of the living and the dead; "having the key of David: 4.20.02:035
He shall Open, and no man shall shut: He shall shut, and no man shall open." For no IrnL.AH.4.20.02:036
one was able, either in heaven or in earth, or under the earth, to open the book of the Father, 4.20.02:037
or to behold Him, with the exception of the Lamb who was slain, and who redeemed us 4.20.02:038
with His own blood, receiving power over all things from the same God who made all things 4.20.02:039
by the Word, and adorned them by [His] Wisdom, when "the Word was made flesh;" that even 4.20.02:040
as the Word of God had the sovereignty in the heavens, so also might He have the sovereignty 4.20.02:041
in earth, inasmuch as [He was] a righteous man, "who did no sin, neither was there found 4.20.02:042
guile in His mouth;" and that He might have the pre-eminence over those things which are 4.20.02:043
under the earth, He Himself being made "the first-begotten of the dead;" and that all things, 4.20.02:044
as I have already said, might behold their King; and that the paternal light might meet 4.20.02:045
with and rest upon the flesh of our Lord, and come to us from His resplendent flesh, and 4.20.02:046
that thus man might attain to immortality, having been invested with the paternal light. 4.20.02:047
3. I have also largely demonstrated, that the Word, namely the Son, was always 4.20.03:053
with the Father; and that Wisdom also, which is the Spirit, was present 4.20.03:054
with Him, anterior to all creation, He declares by Solomon: "God by Wisdom founded 4.20.03:054
the earth, and by understanding hath He established the heaven. By His 4.20.03:055
knowledge the depths burst forth, and the clouds dropped down the dew." And 4.20.03:056
again: "The Lord created me the beginning of His ways in His work: He set 4.20.03:057
me up from everlasting, in the beginning, before He made the earth, before 4.20.03:059
He established the depths, and before the fountains of waters gushed forth; 4.20.03:060
before the mountains were made strong, and before all the hills, He brought 4.20.03:061
me forth." And again: "When He prepared the heaven, I was with Him, and when 4.20.03:062
He established the fountains of the deep; when He made the foundations of 4.20.03:064
the earth strong, I was with Him preparing [them]. I was He in whom He rejoiced, 4.20.03:065
and throughout all time I was daily glad before His face, when He rejoiced 4.20.03:066
at the completion of the world, and was delighted in the sons of men." 4.20.03:067
4. There is therefore one God, who by the Word and Wisdom created and arranged 4.20.04:070
all things; but this is the Creator (Demiurge) who has granted this world 4.20.04:071
to the human race, and who, as regards His greatness, is indeed unknown to all 4.20.04:072
who have been made by Him (for no man has searched out His height, either 4.20.04:073
among the ancients who have gone to their rest, or any of those who are now 4.20.04:074
alive); but as regards His love, He is always known through Him by whose means 4.20.04:075
He ordained all things. Now this is His Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, who in 4.20.04:077
the last times was made a man among men, that He might join the end to the 4.20.04:078
beginning, that is, man to God. Wherefore the prophets, receiving the prophetic 4.20.04:079
gift from the same Word, announced His advent according to the flesh, by 4.20.04:080
which the blending and communion of God and man took place according to the 4.20.04:081
good pleasure of the Father, the Word of God foretelling from the beginning 4.20.04:082
that God should be seen by men, and hold converse with them upon earth, should 4.20.04:083
confer with them, and should be present with His own creation, saving it, 4.20.04:084
and becoming capable of being perceived by it, and freeing us from the hands 4.20.04:085
of all that hate us, that is, from every spirit of wickedness; and causing us 4.20.04:086
to serve Him in holiness and righteousness all our days, in order that man, 4.20.04:087
having embraced the Spirit of God, might pass into the glory of the Father. 4.20.04:088
5. These things did the prophets set forth in a prophetical manner; but they 4.20.05:093
did not, as some allege, [proclaim] that He who was seen by the prophets 4.20.05:094
was a different [God], the Father of all being invisible. Yet this is 4.20.05:095
what those [heretics] declare, who are altogether ignorant of the nature 4.20.05:096
of prophecy. For prophecy is a prediction of things future, that is, a setting 4.20.05:097
forth beforehand of those things which shall be afterwards. The prophets, 4.20.05:098
then, indicated beforehand that God should be seen by men; as the 4.20.05:099
Lord also says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." 4.20.05:100
But in respect to His greatness, and His wonderful glory, "no man shall 4.20.05:102
see God and live," for the Father is incomprehensible; but in regard to 4.20.05:103
His love, and kindness, and as to His infinite power, even this He grants 4.20.05:104
to those who love Him, that is, to see God, which thing the prophets did 4.20.05:105
also predict. "For those things that are impossible with men, are possible 4.20.05:106
with God." For man does not see God by his own powers; but when He pleases 4.20.05:108
He is seen by men, by whom He wills, and when He wills, and as He wills. 4.20.05:109
For God is powerful in all things, having been seen at that time indeed, 4.20.05:110
prophetically through the Spirit, and seen, too, adoptively through 4.20.05:111
the Son; and He shall also be seen paternally in the kingdom of heaven, 4.20.05:112
the Spirit truly preparing man in the Son of God, and the Son leading him 4.20.05:113
to the Father, while the Father, too, confers [upon him] incorruption for 4.20.05:114
eternal life, which comes to every one from the fact of his seeing God. 4.20.05:117
For as those who see the light are within the light, and partake of its 4.20.05:118
brilliancy; even so, those who see God are in God, and receive of His splendour. 4.20.05:119
But [His] splendour vivifies them; those, therefore, who see God, 4.20.05:120
do receive life. And for this reason, He, [although] beyond comprehension, 4.20.05:122
and boundless and invisible, rendered Himself visible, and comprehensible, 4.20.05:123
and within the capacity of those who believe, that He might vivify 4.20.05:124
those who receive and behold Him through faith. For as His greatness is past 4.20.05:125
finding out, so also His goodness is beyond expression; by which having 4.20.05:126
been seen, He bestows life upon those who see Him. It is not possible 4.20.05:127
to live apart from life, and the means of life is found in fellowship with 4.20.05:128
God; but fellowship with God is to know God, and to enjoy His goodness. 4.20.05:129
6. Men therefore shall see God, that they may live, being made immortal by that 4.20.06:131
sight, and attaining even unto God; which, as I have already said, was declared 4.20.06:132
figuratively by the prophets, that God should be seen by men who bear His Spirit 4.20.06:133
[in them], and do always wait patiently for His coming. As also Moses says 4.20.06:134
in Deuteronomy, "We shall see in that day that God will talk to man, and he 4.20.06:135
shall live." For certain of these men used to see the prophetic Spirit and His 4.20.06:136
active influences poured forth for all kinds of gifts; others, again, [beheld] 4.20.06:137
the advent of the Lord, and that dispensation which obtained from the beginning, 4.20.06:138
by which He accomplished the will of the Father with regard to things both 4.20.06:139
celestial and terrestrial; and others [beheld] paternal glories adapted to the 4.20.06:140
times, and to those who saw and who heard them then, and to all who were subsequently 4.20.06:141
to hear them. Thus, therefore, was God revealed; for God the Father 4.20.06:142
is shown forth through all these [operations], the Spirit indeed working, and 4.20.06:145
the Son ministering, while the Father was approving, and man's salvation being 4.20.06:146
accomplished. As He also declares through Hosea the prophet: "I," He says, "have 4.20.06:147
multiplied visions, and have used similitudes by the ministry (in manibus) 4.20.06:149
of the prophets." But the apostle expounded this very passage, when he said, "Now 4.20.06:150
there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are differences 4.20.06:151
of ministrations, but the same Lord; and there are diversities of operations, 4.20.06:152
but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of 4.20.06:153
the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." But as He who worketh all 4.20.06:155
things in all is God, [as to the points] of what nature and how great He is, [God] 4.20.06:156
is invisible and indescribable to all things which have been made by Him, 4.20.06:157
but He is by no means unknown: for all things learn through His Word that there 4.20.06:158
is one God the Father, who contains all things, and who grants existence to 4.20.06:159
all, as is written in the Gospel: "No man hath seen God at any time, except the 4.20.06:160
only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father; He has declared [Him.]" 4.20.06:161
7. Therefore the Son of the Father declares [Him] from the beginning, inasmuch as He IrnL.AH.4.20.07:165
was with the Father from the beginning, who did also show to the human race prophetic 4.20.07:166
visions, and diversities of gifts, and His own ministrations, and the glory of the 4.20.07:167
Father, in regular order and connection, at the fitting time for the benefit [of mankind]. 4.20.07:168
For where there is a regular succession, there is also fixedness; and where IrnL.AH.4.20.07:169
fixedness, there suitability to the period; and where suitability, there also utility. 4.20.07:170
And for this reason did the Word become the dispenser of the paternal grace for the 4.20.07:172
benefit of men, for whom He made such great dispensations, revealing God indeed to 4.20.07:173
men, but presenting man to God, and preserving at the same time the invisibility of 4.20.07:174
the Father, lest man should at any time become a despiser of God, and that he should 4.20.07:175
always possess something towards which he might advance; but, on the other hand, 4.20.07:176
revealing God to men through many dispensations, lest man, failing away from God altogether, 4.20.07:177
should cease to exist. For the glory of God is a living man;5 and the life of 4.20.07:178
man consists in beholding God. For if the manifestation of God which is made by means 4.20.07:181
of the creation, affords life to all living in the earth, much more does that revelation 4.20.07:182
of the Father which comes through the Word, give life to those who see God. 4.20.07:183
8. Inasmuch, then, as the Spirit of God pointed out by the prophets things to come, forming 4.20.08:185
and adapting us beforehand for the purpose of our being made subject to God, but it was 4.20.08:186
still a future thing that man, through the good pleasure of the Holy Spirit, should see 4.20.08:187
[God], it necessarily behoved those through whose instrumentality future things were announced, 4.20.08:188
to see God, whom they intimated as to be seen by men; in order that God, and the 4.20.08:189
Son of God, and the Son, and the Father, should not only be prophetically announced, but 4.20.08:190
that He should also be seen by all His members who are sanctified and instructed in the things 4.20.08:191
of God, that man might be disciplined beforehand and previously exercised for a reception 4.20.08:192
into that glory which shall afterwards be revealed in those who love God. For the prophets 4.20.08:196
used not to prophesy in word alone, but in visions also, and in their mode of life, 4.20.08:197
and in the actions which they performed, according to the suggestions of the Spirit. After 4.20.08:199
this invisible manner, therefore, did they see God, as also Esaias says, "I have seen IrnL.AH.4.20.08:200
with mine eyes the King, the LORD Of hosts," pointing out that man should behold God with 4.20.08:201
his eyes, and hear His voice. In this manner, therefore, did they also see the Son of 4.20.08:202
God as a man conversant with men, while they prophesied what was to happen, saying that He 4.20.08:203
who was not come as yet was present proclaiming also the impassible as subject to suffering, 4.20.08:204
and declaring that He who was then in heaven had descended into the dust of death. 4.20.08:205
Moreover, [with regard to] the other arrangements concerning the summing up that He should 4.20.08:207
make, some of these they beheld through visions, others they proclaimed by word, while 4.20.08:208
others they indicated typically by means of [outward] action, seeing visibly those things 4.20.08:209
which were to be seen; heralding by word of mouth those which should be heard; and performing 4.20.08:210
by actual operation what should take place by action; but [at the same time] announcing 4.20.08:211
all prophetically. Wherefore also Moses declared that God was indeed a consuming fire 4.20.08:215
(igneum) to the people that transgressed the law, and threatened that God would bring upon 4.20.08:216
them a day of fire; but to those who had the fear of God he said, "The LORD God is merciful 4.20.08:217
and gracious, and long-suffering, and of great commiseration, and true, and keeps justice 4.20.08:218
and mercy for thousands, forgiving unrighteousness, and transgressions, and sins." 4.20.08:219
9. And the Word spake to Moses, appearing before him, "just as any 4.20.09:222
one might speak to his friend." But Moses desired to see Him openly 4.20.09:223
who was speaking with him, and was thus addressed: "Stand in the 4.20.09:224
deep place of the rock, and with My hand I will cover thee. But when 4.20.09:225
My splendour shall pass by, then thou shalt see My back pans, but 4.20.09:226
My face thou shalt not see: for no man sees My face, and shall live." 4.20.09:227
Two facts are thus signified: that it is impossible for man to 4.20.09:228
see God; and that, through the wisdom of God, man shall see Him in 4.20.09:229
the last times, in the depth of a rock, that is, in His coming as 4.20.09:230
a man. And for this reason did He [the Lord] confer with him face to 4.20.09:233
face on the top of a mountain, Elias being also present, as the 4.20.09:234
Gospel relates, He thus making good in the end the ancient promise. 4.20.09:235
10. The prophets, therefore, did not openly behold the actual face of God, but [they 4.20.10:237
saw] the dispensations and the mysteries through which man should afterwards see 4.20.10:238
God. As was also said to Elias: "Thou shalt go forth tomorrow, and stand in the 4.20.10:239
presence of the LORD; and, behold, a wind great and strong, which shall rend the 4.20.10:240
mountains, and break the rocks in pieces before the LORD. And the LORD [was] not in IrnL.AH.4.20.10:241
the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD [was] not in the earthquake; IrnL.AH.4.20.10:242
and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord [was] not in the fire; and after 4.20.10:243
the fire a scarcely audible voice" (vox aurae tenuis). For by such means was the 4.20.10:246
prophet--very indignant, because of the transgression of the people and the slaughter 4.20.10:247
of the prophets--both taught to act in a more gentle manner; and the Lord's 4.20.10:248
advent as a man was pointed out, that it should be subsequent to that law which was 4.20.10:249
given by Moses, mild and tranquil, in which He would neither break the bruised 4.20.10:250
reed, nor quench the smoking flax. The mild and peaceful repose of His kingdom was IrnL.AH.4.20.10:253
indicated likewise. For, after the wind which rends the mountains, and after the 4.20.10:254
earthquake, and after the fire, come the tranquil and peaceful times of His kingdom, 4.20.10:255
in which the spirit of God does, in the most gentle manner, vivify and increase 4.20.10:256
mankind. This, too, was made still clearer by Ezekiel, that the prophets saw the 4.20.10:258
dispensations of God in part, but not actually God Himself. For when this man had 4.20.10:259
seen the vision of God, and the cherubim, and their wheels, and when he had recounted 4.20.10:260
the mystery of the whole of that progression, and had beheld the likeness of 4.20.10:261
a throne above them, and upon the throne a likeness as of the figure of a man, and 4.20.10:262
the things which were upon his loins as the figure of amber, and what was below 4.20.10:263
like the sight of fire, and when he set forth all the rest of the vision of the thrones, 4.20.10:264
lest any one might happen to think that in those [visions] he had actually 4.20.10:265
seen God, he added: "This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of God." 4.20.10:266
11. If, then, neither Moses, nor Elias, nor Ezekiel, who had all many celestial visions, 4.20.11:270
did see God; but if what they did see were similitudes of the splendour of the Lord, 4.20.11:271
And prophecies of things to come; it is manifest that the Father is indeed invisible, 4.20.11:272
of whom also the Lord said, "No man hath seen God at any time." But His Word, as He Himself 4.20.11:273
willed it, and for the benefit of those who beheld, did show the Father's brightness, 4.20.11:274
and explained His purposes (as also the Lord said: "The only-begotten God, which 4.20.11:275
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared [Him];" and He does Himself also interpret 4.20.11:276
the Word of the Father as being rich and great); not in one figure, nor in one character, IrnL.AH.4.20.11:279
did He appear to those seeing Him, but according to the reasons and effects IrnL.AH.4.20.11:280
aimed at in His dispensations, as it is written in Daniel. For at one time He was seen 4.20.11:281
with those who were around Ananias, Azarias, Misael, as present with them in the furnace 4.20.11:282
of fire, in the burning, and preserving them from [the effects of] fire: "And the appearance 4.20.11:283
of the fourth," it is said, "was like to the Son of God." At another time [He 4.20.11:284
is represented as] "a stone cut out of the mountain without hands," and as smiting all IrnL.AH.4.20.11:285
temporal kingdoms, and as blowing them away (ventilans ea), and as Himself filling all 4.20.11:286
the earth. Then, too, is this same individual beheld as the Son of man coming in the 4.20.11:287
clouds of heaven, and drawing near to the Ancient of Days, and receiving from Him all IrnL.AH.4.20.11:288
power and glory, and a kingdom. "His dominion," it is said, "is an everlasting dominion, 4.20.11:289
and His kingdom shall not perish." John also, the Lord's disciple, when beholding 4.20.11:295
the sacerdotal and glorious advent of His kingdom, says in the Apocalypse: "I turned to 4.20.11:296
see the voice that spake with me. And, being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 4.20.11:297
and in the midst of the candlesticks One like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment 4.20.11:298
reaching to the feet, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle; and His head 4.20.11:299
and His hairs were white, as white as wool, and as snow; and His eyes were as a flame 4.20.11:300
of fire; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if He burned in a furnace. And His voice 4.20.11:301
[was] as the voice of waters; and He had in His right hand seven stars; and out of His IrnL.AH.4.20.11:302
mouth went a sharp two-edged sword; and His countenance was as the sun shining in his 4.20.11:303
strength." For in these words He sets forth something of the glory [which He has received] 4.20.11:304
from His Father, as [where He makes mention of] the head; something in reference 4.20.11:306
to the priestly office also, as in the case of the long garment reaching to the feet. 4.20.11:307
And this was the reason why Moses vested the high priest after this fashion. Something 4.20.11:308
also alludes to the end [of all things], as [where He speaks of] the fine brass burning 4.20.11:309
in the fire, which denotes the power of faith, and the continuing instant in prayer, 4.20.11:310
because of the consuming fire which is to come at the end of time. But when John could 4.20.11:313
not endure the sight (for he says, "I fell at his feet as dead;" that what was written 4.20.11:314
might come to pass: "No man sees God, and shall live"), and the Word reviving him, IrnL.AH.4.20.11:315
and reminding him that it was He upon whose bosom he had leaned at supper, when he put 4.20.11:316
the question as to who should betray Him, declared: "I am the first and the last, and 4.20.11:317
He who liveth, and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of 4.20.11:318
death and of hell." And after these things, seeing the same Lord in a second vision, 4.20.11:321
he says: "For I saw in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and 4.20.11:322
in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as it had been slain, having seven horns, 4.20.11:323
and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth." And IrnL.AH.4.20.11:324
again, he says, speaking of this very same Lamb: "And behold a white horse; and He that 4.20.11:326
sat upon him was called Faithful and True; and in righteousness doth He judge and make 4.20.11:327
war. And His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; having IrnL.AH.4.20.11:328
a name written, that no man knoweth but Himself: and He was girded around with a vesture 4.20.11:329
sprinkled with blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies of heaven 4.20.11:330
followed Him upon white horses, clothed in pure white linen. And out of His mouth 4.20.11:332
goeth a sharp sword, that with it He may smite the nations; and He shall rule (pascet) 4.20.11:333
them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath 4.20.11:334
of God Almighty. And He hath upon His vesture and upon His thigh a name written, KING 4.20.11:335
OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." Thus does the Word of God always preserve the outlines, 4.20.11:336
as it were, of things to come, and points out to men the various forms (species), as 4.20.11:338
it were, of the dispensations of the Father, teaching us the things pertaining to God. 4.20.11:339
12. However, it was not by means of visions alone which were seen, and words which were 4.20.12:342
proclaimed, but also in actual works, that He was beheld by the prophets, in order that IrnL.AH.4.20.12:343
through them He might prefigure and show forth future events beforehand. For this reason 4.20.12:344
did Hosea the prophet take "a wife of whoredoms," prophesying by means of the action, 4.20.12:345
"that in committing fornication the earth should fornicate from the LORD," that is, 4.20.12:346
the men who are upon the earth; and from men of this stamp it will be God's good pleasure 4.20.12:347
to take out a Church which shall be sanctified by fellowship with His Son, just as 4.20.12:348
that woman was sanctified by intercourse with the prophet. And for this reason, Paul 4.20.12:349
declares that the "unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband." Then again, 4.20.12:350
the prophet names his children, "Not having obtained mercy," and "Not a people," in 4.20.12:353
order that, as says the apostle, "what was not a people may become a people; and she who 4.20.12:354
did not obtain mercy may obtain mercy. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where 4.20.12:355
it was said, This is not a people, there shall they be called the children of the 4.20.12:356
living God." That which had been done typically through his actions by the prophet, the 4.20.12:357
apostle proves to have been done truly by Christ in the Church. Thus, too, did Moses IrnL.AH.4.20.12:358
also take to wife an Ethiopian woman, whom he thus made an Israelitish one, showing by 4.20.12:361
anticipation that the wild olive tree is grafted into the cultivated olive, and made to 4.20.12:362
partake of its fatness. For as He who was born Christ according to the flesh, had indeed 4.20.12:363
to be sought after by the people in order to be slain, but was to be set free in Egypt, 4.20.12:364
that is, among the Gentiles, to sanctify those who were there in a state of infancy, 4.20.12:365
from whom also He perfected His Church in that place (for Egypt was Gentile from the IrnL.AH.4.20.12:366
beginning, as was Ethiopia also); for this reason, by means of the marriage of Moses, IrnL.AH.4.20.12:367
was shown forth the marriage of the Word; and by means of the Ethiopian bride, the Church 4.20.12:368
taken from among the Gentiles was made manifest; and those who do detract from, accuse, 4.20.12:369
and deride it, shall not be pure. For they shall be full of leprosy, and expelled 4.20.12:370
from the camp of the righteous. Thus also did Rahab the harlot, while condemning herself, 4.20.12:371
inasmuch as she was a Gentile, guilty of all sins, nevertheless receive the three 4.20.12:375
spies, who were spying out all the land, and hid them at her home; [which three were] 4.20.12:376
doubtless [a type of] the Father and the Son, together with the Holy Spirit. And when 4.20.12:377
the entire city in which she lived fell to ruins at the sounding of the seven trumpets, 4.20.12:378
Rahab the harlot was preserved, when all was over [in ultimis], together with all her 4.20.12:379
house, through faith of the scarlet sign; as the Lord also declared to those who did not IrnL.AH.4.20.12:380
receive His advent,--the Pharisees, no doubt, nullify the sign of the scarlet thread, 4.20.12:381
which meant the passover, and the redemption and exodus of the people from Egypt,-- IrnL.AH.4.20.12:382
when He said, "The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of heaven before you." 4.20.12:383
1. But that our faith was also prefigured in Abraham, and that he was the patriarch of our 4.21.01:001
faith, and, as it were, the prophet of it, the apostle has very fully taught, when he 4.21.01:002
says in the Epistle to the Galatians: "He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, 4.21.01:003
and worketh miracles among you, [doeth he it] by the works of the law, or by the hearing 4.21.01:004
of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. 4.21.01:006
Know ye therefore, that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 4.21.01:007
But the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, announced 4.21.01:008
beforehand unto Abraham, that in him all nations should be blessed. So then they 4.21.01:009
which be of faith shall be blessed with faithful Abraham." For which [reasons the apostle] 4.21.01:011
declared that this man was not only the prophet of faith, but also the father of those 4.21.01:012
who from among the Gentiles believe in Jesus Christ, because his faith and ours are 4.21.01:013
one and the same: for he believed in things future, as if they were already accomplished, 4.21.01:014
because of the promise of God; and in like manner do we also, because of the promise 4.21.01:015
of God, behold through faith that inheritance [laid up for us] in the [future] kingdom. 4.21.01:016
2. The history of Isaac, too, is not without a symbolical character. For in the Epistle 4.21.02:019
to the Romans, the apostle declares: "Moreover, when Rebecca had conceived by 4.21.02:020
one, even by our father Isaac," she received answer from the Word, "that the purpose IrnL.AH.4.21.02:021
of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth, 4.21.02:022
it was said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people are 4.21.02:023
in thy body; and the one people shall overcome the other, and the eider shall serve 4.21.02:024
the younger." From which it is evident, that not only [were there] prophecies of 4.21.02:026
the patriarchs, but also that the children brought forth by Rebecca were a prediction 4.21.02:027
of the two nations; and that the one should be indeed the greater, but the other 4.21.02:028
the less; that the one also should be under bondage, but the other free; but [that 4.21.02:029
both should be] of one and the same father. Our God, one and the same, is also their 4.21.02:031
God, who knows hidden things, who knoweth all things before they can come to pass; IrnL.AH.4.21.02:032
and for this reason has He said, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." 4.21.02:033
3. If any one, again, will look into Jacob's actions, he shall find them not destitute 4.21.03:035
of meaning, but full of import with regard to the dispensations. Thus, in the first 4.21.03:036
place, at his birth, since he laid hold on his brother's heel, he was called Jacob, 4.21.03:036
that is, the supplanter--one who holds, but is not held; binding the feet, but not 4.21.03:037
being bound; striving and conquering; grasping in his hand his adversary's heel, 4.21.03:038
that is, victory. For to this end was the Lord born, the type of whose birth he set 4.21.03:039
forth beforehand, of whom also John says in the Apocalypse: "He went forth conquering, 4.21.03:040
that He should conquer." In the next place, [Jacob] received the rights of the first-born, IrnL.AH.4.21.03:041
when his brother looked on them with contempt; even as also the younger nation 4.21.03:044
received Him, Christ, the first-begotten, when the elder nation rejected Him, 4.21.03:045
saying, "We have no king but Caesar." But in Christ every blessing [is summed up], and 4.21.03:046
therefore the latter people has snatched away the blessings of the former from the 4.21.03:048
Father, just as Jacob took away the blessing of this Esau. For which cause his brother 4.21.03:049
suffered the plots and persecutions of a brother, just as the Church suffers this 4.21.03:050
self-same thing from the Jews. In a foreign country were the twelve tribes born, 4.21.03:052
the race of Israel, inasmuch as Christ was also, in a strange country, to generate 4.21.03:053
the twelve-pillared foundation of the Church. Various coloured sheep were allotted 4.21.03:054
to this Jacob as his wages; and the wages of Christ are human beings, who from various 4.21.03:055
and diverse nations come together into one cohort of faith, as the Father promised 4.21.03:056
Him, saying, "Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, the 4.21.03:057
uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession." And as from the multitude of his 4.21.03:058
sons the prophets of the Lord [afterwards] arose, there was every necessity that 4.21.03:059
Jacob should beget sons from the two sisters, even as Christ did from the two laws of IrnL.AH.4.21.03:062
one and the same Father; and in like manner also from the handmaids, indicating that IrnL.AH.4.21.03:063
Christ should raise up sons of God, both from freemen and from slaves after the flesh, IrnL.AH.4.21.03:064
bestowing upon all, in the same manner, the gift of the Spirit, who vivifies 4.21.03:065
us. But he (Jacob) did all things for the sake of the younger, she who had the handsome 4.21.03:066
eyes, Rachel, who prefigured the Church, for which Christ endured patiently; who 4.21.03:069
at that time, indeed, by means of His patriarchs and prophets, was prefiguring and 4.21.03:070
declaring beforehand future things, fulfilling His part by anticipation in the dispensations 4.21.03:071
of God, and accustoming His inheritance to obey God, and to pass through the 4.21.03:072
world as in a state of pilgrimage, to follow His word, and to indicate beforehand 4.21.03:073
things to come. For with God there is nothing without purpose or due signification. 4.21.03:074
1. Now in the last days, when the fulness of the time of liberty had arrived, the Word 4.22.01:001
Himself did by Himself "wash away the filth of the daughters of Zion," when He 4.22.01:002
washed the disciples' feet with His own hands. For this is the end of the human race 4.22.01:003
inheriting God; that as in the beginning, by means of our first [parents], we were 4.22.01:004
all brought into bondage, by being made subject to death; so at last, by means 4.22.01:005
of the New Man, all who from the beginning [were His] disciples, having been cleansed 4.22.01:006
and washed from things pertaining to death, should come to the life of God. For 4.22.01:007
He who washed the feet of the disciples sanctified the entire body, and rendered it 4.22.01:008
clean. For this reason, too, He administered food to them in a recumbent posture, 4.22.01:011
indicating that those who were lying in the earth were they to whom He came to impart 4.22.01:012
life. As Jeremiah declares, "The holy Lord remembered His dead Israel, who slept 4.22.01:013
in the land of sepulture; and He descended to them to make known to them His salvation, 4.22.01:014
that they might be saved." For this reason also were the eyes of the disciples 4.22.01:015
weighed down when Christ's passion was approaching; and when, in the first instance, 4.22.01:018
the Lord found them sleeping, He let it pass,--thus indicating the patience 4.22.01:019
of God in regard to the state of slumber in which men lay; but coming the second time, 4.22.01:020
He aroused them, and made them stand up, in token that His passion is the arousing 4.22.01:021
of His sleeping disciples, on whose account "He also descended into the lower 4.22.01:022
parts of the earth," to behold with His eyes the state of those who were resting from 4.22.01:023
their labours, in reference to whom He did also declare to the disciples: "Many 4.22.01:024
prophets and righteous men have desired to see and hear what ye do see and hear." 4.22.01:025
2. For it was not merely for those who believed on Him in the time of Tiberius 4.22.02:027
Caesar that Christ came, nor did the Father exercise His providence 4.22.02:028
for the men only who are now alive, but for all men altogether, who 4.22.02:029
from the beginning, according to their capacity, in their generation have 4.22.02:030
both feared and loved God, and practised justice and piety towards 4.22.02:031
their neighbours, and have earnestly desired to see Christ, and to hear 4.22.02:032
His voice. Wherefore He shall, at His second coming, first rouse from 4.22.02:035
their sleep all persons of this description, and shall raise them up, as 4.22.02:036
well as the rest who shall be judged, and give them a place in His kingdom. IrnL.AH.4.22.02:039
For it is truly "one God who" directed the patriarchs towards His 4.22.02:040
dispensations, and "has justified the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision 4.22.02:041
through faith." For as in the first we were prefigured, so, 4.22.02:042
on the other hand, are they represented in us, that is, in the Church, 4.22.02:043
and receive the recompense for those things which they accomplished. 4.22.02:044
1. For which reason the Lord declared to the disciples: "Behold, I say unto you, 4.23.01:001
Lift up your eyes, and look upon the districts (regiones), for they are 4.23.01:002
white [already] to harvest. For the harvest-man receiveth wages, and gathereth 4.23.01:003
fruit unto life eternal, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice 4.23.01:004
together. For in this is the saying true, that one soweth and another 4.23.01:005
reapeth. For I have sent you forward to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour; 4.23.01:006
other men have laboured, and ye have entered into their labours." Who, then, 4.23.01:007
are they that have laboured, and have helped forward the dispensations 4.23.01:008
of God? It is clear that they are the patriarchs and prophets, who even prefigured 4.23.01:009
our faith, and disseminated through the earth the advent of the Son of 4.23.01:010
God, who and what He should be: so that posterity, possessing the fear of God, 4.23.01:011
might easily accept the advent of Christ, having been instructed by the prophets. 4.23.01:012
And for this reason it was, that when Joseph became aware that Mary was 4.23.01:013
with child, and was minded to put her away privily, the angel said to him 4.23.01:016
in sleep: "Fear not to take to thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived 4.23.01:017
in her is of the Holy Ghost. For she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt 4.23.01:018
call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins." And exhorting 4.23.01:020
him [to this], he added: "Now all this has been done, that it might 4.23.01:021
be fulfilled which was spoken from the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a 4.23.01:022
virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and His name shall 4.23.01:023
be called Emmanuel;" thus influencing him by the words of the prophet, and warding 4.23.01:024
off blame from Mary, pointing out that it was she who was the virgin mentioned 4.23.01:025
by Isaiah beforehand, who should give birth to Emmanuel. Wherefore, 4.23.01:026
when Joseph was convinced beyond all doubt, he both did take Mary, and joyfully 4.23.01:028
yielded obedience in regard to all the rest of the education of Christ, undertaking 4.23.01:029
a journey into Egypt and back again, and then a removal to Nazareth. 4.23.01:030
[For this reason,] those who knew not the Scriptures nor the promise of God, IrnL.AH.4.23.01:032
nor the dispensation of Christ, at last called him the father of the child. 4.23.01:033
For this reason, too, did the Lord Himself read at Capernaum the prophecies IrnL.AH.4.23.01:035
of Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me; 4.23.01:036
to preach the Gospel to the poor hath He sent Me, to heal the broken-hearted, 4.23.01:037
to preach deliverance to the captives, and sight to the blind." At the same 4.23.01:038
time, showing that it was He Himself who had been foretold by Esaias the prophet, 4.23.01:039
He said to them: "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." 4.23.01:040
2. For this reason, also, Philip, when he had discovered the eunuch of the Ethiopians' queen 4.23.02:042
reading these words which had been written: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; IrnL.AH.4.23.02:043
and as a lamb is dumb before the shearer, so He opened not His mouth: in His humiliation 4.23.02:044
His judgment was taken away;" and all the rest which the prophet proceeded to relate in 4.23.02:045
regard to His passion and His coming in the flesh, and how He was dishonoured by those who 4.23.02:046
did not believe Him; easily persuaded him to believe on Him, that He was Christ Jesus, 4.23.02:047
who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and suffered whatsoever the prophet had predicted, 4.23.02:048
and that He was the Son of God, who gives eternal life to men. And immediately when [Philip] 4.23.02:049
had baptized him, he departed from him. For nothing else [but baptism] was wanting 4.23.02:053
to him who had been already instructed by the prophets: he was not ignorant of God the 4.23.02:054
Father, nor of the rules as to the [proper] manner of life, but was merely ignorant of the IrnL.AH.4.23.02:055
advent of the Son of God, which, when he had become acquainted with, in a short space 4.23.02:056
of time, he went on his way rejoicing, to be the herald in Ethiopia of Christ's advent. Therefore 4.23.02:057
Philip had no great labour to go through with regard to this man, because he was 4.23.02:059
already prepared in the fear of God by the prophets. For this reason, too, did the apostles, 4.23.02:060
collecting the sheep which had perished of the house of Israel, and discoursing to 4.23.02:061
them from the Scriptures, prove that this crucified Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the IrnL.AH.4.23.02:062
living God; and they persuaded a great multitude, who, however, [already] possessed the 4.23.02:063
fear of God. And there were, in one day, baptized three, and four, and five thousand men. 4.23.02:064
1. Wherefore also Paul, since he was the apostle of the Gentiles, says, "I laboured 4.24.01:001
more than they all." For the instruction of the former, [viz., the Jews,] 4.24.01:002
was an easy task, because they could allege proofs from the Scriptures, and 4.24.01:002
because they, who were in the habit of hearing Moses and the prophets, did 4.24.01:003
also readily receive the First-begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the life 4.24.01:004
of God,--Him who, by the spreading forth of hands, did destroy Amalek, and IrnL.AH.4.24.01:005
vivify man from the wound of the serpent, by means of faith which was [exercised] 4.24.01:006
towards Him. As I have pointed out in the preceding book, the apostle did, 4.24.01:009
in the first place, instruct the Gentiles to depart from the superstition of 4.24.01:010
idols, and to worship one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and the Framer 4.24.01:011
of the whole creation; and that His Son was His Word, by whom He founded IrnL.AH.4.24.01:012
all things; and that He, in the last times, was made a man among men; that He 4.24.01:013
reformed the human race, but destroyed and conquered the enemy of man, and gave 4.24.01:014
to His handiwork victory against the adversary. But although they who were IrnL.AH.4.24.01:015
of the circumcision still did not obey the words of God, for they were despisers, 4.24.01:018
yet they were previously instructed not to commit adultery, nor fornication, 4.24.01:019
nor theft, nor fraud; and that whatsoever things are done to our neighbours' 4.24.01:020
prejudice, were evil, and detested by God. Wherefore also they did readily 4.24.01:021
agree to abstain from these things, because they had been thus instructed. IrnL.AH.4.24.01:022
2. But they were bound to teach the Gentiles also this very thing, that works of 4.24.02:024
such a nature were wicked, prejudicial, and useless, and destructive to those who 4.24.02:025
engaged in them. Wherefore he who had received the apostolate to the Gentiles, 4.24.02:026
did labour more than those who preached the Son of God among them of the circumcision. 4.24.02:027
For they were assisted by the Scriptures, which the Lord confirmed and tiff-filled, 4.24.02:028
in coming such as He had been announced; but here, [in the case of the 4.24.02:029
Gentiles,] there was a certain foreign erudition, and a new doctrine [to be received, 4.24.02:030
namely], that the gods of the nations not only were no gods at all, but even IrnL.AH.4.24.02:031
the idols of demons; and that there is one God, who is "above all principality, 4.24.02:032
and dominion, and power, and every name which is named;" and that His Word, invisible 4.24.02:033
by nature, was made palpable and visible among men, and did descend "to IrnL.AH.4.24.02:034
death, even the death of the cross;" also, that they who believe in Him shall be 4.24.02:035
incorruptible and not subject to suffering, and shall receive the kingdom of heaven. 4.24.02:036
These things, too, were preached to the Gentiles by word, without [the aid 4.24.02:037
of] the Scriptures: wherefore, also, they who preached among the Gentiles underwent 4.24.02:040
greater labour. But, on the other hand, the faith of the Gentiles is proved to 4.24.02:041
be of a more noble description, since they followed the word of God without the 4.24.02:043
instruction [derived] from the [sacred] writings (sine instructione literarum). 4.24.02:044
1. For thus it had behoved the sons of Abraham [to be], whom God has raised up to 4.25.01:001
him from the stones, and caused to take a place beside him who was made the chief 4.25.01:002
and the forerunner of our faith (who did also receive the covenant of circumcision, 4.25.01:003
after that justification by faith which had pertained to him, when he was yet in 4.25.01:004
uncircumcision, so that in him both covenants might be prefigured, that he might 4.25.01:005
be the father of all who follow the Word of God, and who sustain a life of pilgrimage 4.25.01:006
in this world, that is, of those who from among the circumcision and of those 4.25.01:007
from among the uncircumcision are faithful, even as also "Christ is the chief corner-stone" 4.25.01:008
sustaining all things); and He gathered into the one faith of Abraham 4.25.01:009
those who, from either covenant, are eligible for God's building. But this faith which 4.25.01:012
is in uncircumcision, as connecting the end with the beginning, has been made 4.25.01:013
[both] the first and the last. For, as I have shown, it existed in Abraham antecedently 4.25.01:015
to circumcision, as it also did in the rest of the righteous who pleased God: IrnL.AH.4.25.01:016
and in these last times, it again sprang up among mankind through the coming of 4.25.01:017
the Lord. But circumcision and the law of works occupied the intervening period. 4.25.01:018
2. This fact is indeed set forth by many other [occurrences], but typically by [the 4.25.02:020
history of] Thamar, Judah's daughter-in-law. For when she had conceived twins, 4.25.02:021
one of them put forth his hand first; and as the midwife supposed that he was the 4.25.02:021
first-born, she bound a scarlet token on his hand. But after this had been done, 4.25.02:022
and he had drawn back his hand, his brother Phares came forth the first; then, 4.25.02:023
after him, Zara, upon whom was the scarlet line, [was born] the second: the Scripture 4.25.02:024
clearly pointing out that people which possessed the scarlet sign, that is, 4.25.02:025
faith in a state of circumcision, which was shown beforehand, indeed, in the patriarchs IrnL.AH.4.25.02:026
first; but after that withdrawn, that his brother might be born; and also, 4.25.02:027
in like manner, him who was the elder, as being born in the second place, [him] 4.25.02:028
who was distinguished by the scarlet token which was [fastened] on him, that is, 4.25.02:029
the passion of the Just One, which was prefigured from the beginning in Abel, 4.25.02:030
and described by the prophets, but perfected in the last times in the Son of God. 4.25.02:031
3. For it was requisite that certain facts should be announced beforehand by the 4.25.03:036
fathers in a paternal manner, and others prefigured by the prophets in a legal IrnL.AH.4.25.03:037
one, but others, described after the form of Christ, by those who have received 4.25.03:038
the adoption; while in one God are all things shown forth. For although Abraham 4.25.03:039
was one, he did in himself prefigure the two covenants, in which some indeed 4.25.03:040
have sown, while others have reaped; for it is said, "In this is the saying 4.25.03:041
true, that it is one 'people' who sows, but another who shall reap;" but it is 4.25.03:042
one God who bestows things suitable upon both--seed to the sower, but bread 4.25.03:043
for the reaper to eat. Just as it is one that planteth, and another who watereth, 4.25.03:044
but one God who giveth the increase. For the patriarchs and prophets sowed 4.25.03:045
the word [concerning] Christ, but the Church reaped, that is, received the fruit. 4.25.03:049
For this reason, too, do these very men (the prophets) also pray to have a 4.25.03:050
dwelling-place in it, as Jeremiah says, "Who will give me in the desert the last 4.25.03:051
dwelling-place?" in order that both the sower and the reaper may rejoice together 4.25.03:052
in the kingdom of Christ, who is present with all those who were from the 4.25.03:053
beginning approved by God, who granted them His Word to be present with them. 4.25.03:054
1. If any one, therefore, reads the Scriptures with attention, he will find 4.26.01:001
in them an account of Christ, and a foreshadowing of the new calling (vocationis). 4.26.01:002
For Christ is the treasure which was hid in the field, that is, in this 4.26.01:003
world (for "the field is the world"; but the treasure hid in the Scriptures 4.26.01:004
is Christ, since He was pointed out by means of types and parables. Hence IrnL.AH.4.26.01:005
His human nature could not be understood, prior to the consummation of those 4.26.01:006
things which had been predicted, that is, the advent of Christ. And therefore 4.26.01:007
it was said to Daniel the prophet: "Shut up the words, and seal the book 4.26.01:009
even to the time of consummation, until many learn, and knowledge be completed. 4.26.01:010
For at that time, when the dispersion shall be accomplished, they shall 4.26.01:011
know all these things." But Jeremiah also says, "In the last days they shall 4.26.01:012
understand these things." For every prophecy, before its fulfilment, is to 4.26.01:013
men [full of] enigmas and ambiguities. But when the time has arrived, and the 4.26.01:014
prediction has come to pass, then the prophecies have a clear and certain 4.26.01:015
exposition. And for this reason, indeed, when at this present time the law 4.26.01:016
is read to the Jews, it is like a fable; for they do not possess the explanation 4.26.01:018
of all things pertaining to the advent of the Son of God, which took place 4.26.01:019
in human nature; but when it is read by the Christians, it is a treasure, 4.26.01:020
hid indeed in a field, but brought to light by the cross of Christ, and explained, 4.26.01:022
both enriching the understanding of men, and showing forth the wisdom 4.26.01:023
of God and declaring His dispensations with regard to man, and forming the IrnL.AH.4.26.01:024
kingdom of Christ beforehand, and preaching by anticipation the inheritance IrnL.AH.4.26.01:025
of the holy Jerusalem, and proclaiming beforehand that the man who loves God 4.26.01:026
shall arrive at such excellency as even to see God, and hear His word, and 4.26.01:027
from the hearing of His discourse be glorified to such an extent, that others 4.26.01:028
cannot behold the glory of his countenance, as was said by Daniel: "Those IrnL.AH.4.26.01:029
who do understand, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and many 4.26.01:030
of the righteous as the stars for ever and ever.'' Thus, then, I have shown 4.26.01:031
it to be, if any one read the Scriptures. For thus it was that the Lord discoursed 4.26.01:035
with, the disciples after His resurrection from the dead, proving to 4.26.01:036
them from the Scriptures themselves "that Christ must suffer, and enter into 4.26.01:037
His glory, and that remission of sins should be preached in His name throughout 4.26.01:038
all the world." And the disciple will be perfected, and [rendered] like 4.26.01:039
the householder, "who bringeth forth from his treasure things new and old." 4.26.01:040
2. Wherefore it is incumbent to obey the presbyters who are in the Church,--those who, 4.26.02:043
as I have shown, possess the succession from the apostles; those who, together with 4.26.02:044
the succession of the episcopate, have received the certain gift of truth, according to 4.26.02:045
the good pleasure of the Father. But [it is also incumbent] to hold in suspicion others 4.26.02:046
who depart from the primitive succession, and assemble themselves together in any 4.26.02:047
place whatsoever, [looking upon them] either as heretics of perverse minds, or as schismaries 4.26.02:048
puffed up and self-pleasing, or again as hypocrites, acting thus for the sake 4.26.02:049
of lucre and vainglory. For all these have fallen from the truth. And the heretics, 4.26.02:053
indeed, who bring strange fire to the altar of God--namely, strange doctrines--shall 4.26.02:053
be burned up by the fire from heaven, as were Nadab and Abiud. But such as rise up in IrnL.AH.4.26.02:054
opposition to the truth, and exhort others against the Church of God, [shall] remain 4.26.02:055
among those in hell (apud inferos), being swallowed up by an earthquake, even as those 4.26.02:056
who were with Chore, Dathan, and Abiron. But those who cleave asunder, and separate IrnL.AH.4.26.02:057
the unity of the Church, [shall] receive from God the same punishment as Jeroboam did. 4.26.02:058
3. Those, however, who are believed to be presbyters by many, but serve their own lusts, 4.26.03:058
and, do not place the fear of God supreme in their hearts, but conduct themselves with contempt 4.26.03:059
towards others, and are puffed up with the pride of holding the chief seat, and 4.26.03:060
work evil deeds in secret, saying, "No man sees us," shall be convicted by the Word, who 4.26.03:061
does not judge after outward appearance (secundum gloriam), nor looks upon the countenance, 4.26.03:062
but the heart; and they shall hear those words, to be found in Daniel the prophet: "O 4.26.03:063
thou seed of Canaan, and not of Judah, beauty hath deceived thee, and lust perverted thy 4.26.03:069
heart. Thou that art waxen old in wicked days, now thy sins which thou hast committed aforetime 4.26.03:070
are come to light; for thou hast pronounced false judgments, and hast been accustomed 4.26.03:071
to condemn the innocent, and to let the guilty go free, albeit the Lord saith, The 4.26.03:072
innocent and the righteous shalt thou not slay." Of whom also did the Lord say: "But if IrnL.AH.4.26.03:073
the evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to IrnL.AH.4.26.03:074
smite the man-servants and maidens, and to eat and drink and be drunken; the lord of that 4.26.03:075
servant shall come in a day that he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not 4.26.03:076
aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers." IrnL.AH.4.26.03:077
4. From all such persons, therefore, it behooves us to keep aloof, but to 4.26.04:081
adhere to those who, as I have already observed, do hold the doctrine of 4.26.04:082
the apostles, and who, together with the order of priesthood (presbyterii 4.26.04:083
ordine), display sound speech and blameless conduct for the confirmation 4.26.04:084
and correction of others. In this way, Moses, to whom such a leadership was 4.26.04:086
entrusted, relying on a good conscience, cleared himself before God, saying, 4.26.04:087
"I have not in covetousness taken anything belonging to one of these 4.26.04:088
men, nor have I done evil to one of them." In this way, too, Samuel, who 4.26.04:089
judged the people so many years, and bore rule over Israel without any 4.26.04:090
pride, in the end cleared himself, saying, "I have walked before you from 4.26.04:091
my childhood even unto this day: answer me in the sight of God, and before IrnL.AH.4.26.04:093
His anointed (Christi ejus); whose ox or whose ass of yours have I taken, 4.26.04:094
or over whom have I tyrannized, or whom have I oppressed? or if I have 4.26.04:095
received from the hand of any a bribe or [so much as] a shoe, speak out against 4.26.04:096
me, and I will restore it to you." And when the people had said to 4.26.04:098
him, "Thou hast not tyrannized, neither hast thou oppressed us neither hast 4.26.04:099
thou taken ought of any man's hand," he called the Lord to witness, saying, 4.26.04:100
"The Lord is witness, and His Anointed is witness this day, that ye 4.26.04:101
have not found ought in my hand. And they said to him, He is witness." In 4.26.04:102
this strain also the Apostle Paul, inasmuch as he had a good conscience, 4.26.04:103
said to the Corinthians: "For we are not as many, who corrupt the Word of 4.26.04:104
God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in 4.26.04:105
Christ;" "We have injured no man, corrupted no man, circumventedno man." 4.26.04:106
5. Such presbyters does the Church nourish, of whom also the prophet says: 4.26.05:109
"I will give thy rulers in peace, and thy bishops in righteousness." 4.26.05:109
Of whom also did the Lord declare, "Who then shall be a faithful steward 4.26.05:110
(actor), good and wise, whom the Lord sets over His household, to 4.26.05:111
give them their meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, IrnL.AH.4.26.05:112
when He cometh, shall find so doing." Paul then, teaching us where 4.26.05:113
one may find such, says, "God hath placed in the Church, first, apostles; 4.26.05:114
secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers." Where, therefore, the gifts 4.26.05:115
of the Lord have been placed, there it behoves us to learn the truth, 4.26.05:116
[namely,] from those who possess that succession of the Church which is 4.26.05:118
from the apostles? and among whom exists that which is sound and blameless 4.26.05:119
in conduct, as well as that which is unadulterated and incorrupt 4.26.05:120
in speech. For these also preserve this faith of ours in one God who created 4.26.05:121
all things; and they increase that love [which we have] for the 4.26.05:122
Son of God, who accomplished such marvellous dispensations for our sake: 4.26.05:123
and they expound the Scriptures to us without danger, neither blaspheming 4.26.05:124
God, nor dishonouring the patriarchs, nor despising the prophets. 4.26.05:125
1. As I have heard from a certain presbyter, who had heard it from those who had 4.27.01:001
seen the apostles, and from those who had been their disciples, the punishment 4.27.01:002
[declared] in Scripture was sufficient for the ancients in regard to what they 4.27.01:003
did without the Spirit's guidance. For as God is no respecter of persons, He 4.27.01:004
inflicted a proper punishment on deeds displeasing to Him. As in the case of 4.27.01:005
David, when he suffered persecution from Saul for righteousness' sake, and fled 4.27.01:008
from King Saul, and would not avenge himself of his enemy, he both sung the advent IrnL.AH.4.27.01:009
of Christ, and instructed the nations in wisdom, and did everything after 4.27.01:010
the Spirit's guidance, and pleased God. But when his lust prompted him to take 4.27.01:011
Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, the Scripture said concerning him, "Now, the thing 4.27.01:013
(sermo) which David had done appeared wicked in the eyes of the LORD;" and 4.27.01:014
Nathan the prophet is sent to him, pointing out to him his crime, in order that IrnL.AH.4.27.01:015
he, passing sentence upon and condemning himself, might obtain mercy and forgiveness 4.27.01:016
from Christ: "And [Nathan] said to him, There were two men in one city; 4.27.01:017
the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and 4.27.01:018
herds; but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe-lamb, which he possessed, 4.27.01:019
and nourished up; and it had been with him and with his children together: 4.27.01:020
it did eat of his own bread, and drank of his cup, and was to him as a daughter. 4.27.01:021
And there came a guest unto the rich man; and he spared to take of the flock 4.27.01:022
of his own ewe-lambs, and from the herds of his own oxen, to entertain the 4.27.01:023
guest; but he took the ewe-lamb of the poor man, and set it before the man that 4.27.01:025
had come unto him. And David's anger was greatly kindied against the man; and 4.27.01:026
he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall IrnL.AH.4.27.01:027
surely die (filius mortis est): and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because 4.27.01:028
he hath done this thing, and because he had no pity for the poor man. And Nathan 4.27.01:029
said unto him, Thou art the man who hast done this." And then he proceeds 4.27.01:030
with the rest [of the narrative], upbraiding him, and recounting God's benefits IrnL.AH.4.27.01:032
towards him, and [showing him] how much his conduct had displeased the Lord. 4.27.01:033
For [he declared] that works of this nature were not pleasing to God, but that IrnL.AH.4.27.01:034
great wrath was suspended over his house. David, however, was struck with remorse 4.27.01:035
on heating this, and exclaimed, "I have sinned against the Lord;" and he sung 4.27.01:038
a penitential psalm, waiting for the coming of the Lord, who washes and makes 4.27.01:039
clean the man who had been fast bound with [the chain of] sin. In like manner 4.27.01:040
it was with regard to Solomon, while he continued to judge uprightly, and to IrnL.AH.4.27.01:042
declare the wisdom of God, and built the temple as the type of truth, and set IrnL.AH.4.27.01:043
forth the glories of God, and announced the peace about to come upon the nations, 4.27.01:044
and prefigured the kingdom of Christ, and spake three thousand parables about 4.27.01:045
the Lord's advent, and five thousand songs, singing praise to God, and expounded 4.27.01:046
the wisdom of God in creation, [discoursing] as to the nature of every tree, 4.27.01:047
every herb, and of all fowls, quadrupeds, and fishes; and he said, "Will 4.27.01:048
God whom the heavens cannot contain, really dwell with men upon the earth?" And 4.27.01:049
he pleased God, and was the admiration of all; and all kings of the earth sought 4.27.01:050
an interview with him (quaerebant faciem ejus) that they might hear the wisdom 4.27.01:051
which God had conferred upon him. The queen of the south, too, came to him 4.27.01:052
from the ends of the earth, to ascertain the wisdom that was in him: she whom 4.27.01:053
the Lord also referred to as one who should rise up in the judgment with the nations 4.27.01:054
of those men who do hear His words, and do not believe in Him, and should 4.27.01:055
condemn them, inasmuch as she submitted herself to the wisdom announced by the 4.27.01:056
servant of God, while these men despised that wisdom which proceeded directly 4.27.01:057
from the Son of God. For Solomon was a servant, but Christ is indeed the Son 4.27.01:063
of God, and the Lord of Solomon. While, therefore, he served God without blame, 4.27.01:064
and ministered to His dispensations, then was he glorified: but when he took 4.27.01:065
wives from all nations, and permitted them to set up idols in Israel, the Scripture 4.27.01:066
spake thus concerning him: "And King Solomon was a lover of women, and IrnL.AH.4.27.01:067
he took to himself foreign women; and it came to pass, when Solomon was old, his 4.27.01:070
heart was not perfect with the Lord his God. And the foreign women turned away 4.27.01:072
his heart after strange gods. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord: 4.27.01:073
he did not walk after the Lord, as did David his father. And the Lord was angry 4.27.01:074
with Solomon; for his heart was not perfect with the Lord, as was the heart 4.27.01:075
of David his father." The Scripture has thus sufficiently reproved him, as the 4.27.01:076
presbyter remarked, in order that no flesh may glory in the sight of the Lord. IrnL.AH.4.27.01:077
2. It was for this reason, too, that the Lord descended into the regions beneath the 4.27.02:079
earth, preaching His advent there also, and [declaring] the remission of sins received IrnL.AH.4.27.02:080
by those who believe in Him. Now all those believed in Him who had hope towards 4.27.02:081
Him, that is, those who proclaimed His advent, and submitted to His dispensations, 4.27.02:082
the righteous men, the prophets, and the patriarchs, to whom He remitted sins 4.27.02:083
in the same way as He did to us, which sins we should not lay to their charge, if 4.27.02:084
we would not despise the grace of God. For as these men did not impute unto us (the IrnL.AH.4.27.02:085
Gentiles) our transgressions, which we wrought before Christ was manifested among 4.27.02:087
us, so also it is not right that we should lay blame upon those who sinned before 4.27.02:088
Christ's coming. For "all men come short of the glory of God," and are not justified 4.27.02:089
of themselves, but by the advent of the Lord,--they who earnestly direct their eyes 4.27.02:091
towards His light. And it is for our instruction that their actions have been 4.27.02:092
committed to writing, that we might know, in the first place, that our God and theirs 4.27.02:095
is one, and that sins do not please Him although committed by men of renown; and 4.27.02:096
in the second place, that we should keep from wickedness. For if these men of old 4.27.02:097
time, who preceded us in the gifts [bestowed upon them], and for whom the Son of God IrnL.AH.4.27.02:098
had not yet suffered, when they committed any sin and served fleshly lusts, were 4.27.02:099
rendered objects of such disgrace, what shall the men of the present day suffer, 4.27.02:100
who have despised the Lord's coming, and become the slaves of their own lusts? And IrnL.AH.4.27.02:101
truly the death of the Lord became [the means of] healing and remission of sins to 4.27.02:104
the former, but Christ shall not die again in behalf of those who now commit sin, 4.27.02:105
for death shall no more have dominion over Him; but the Son shall come in the glory 4.27.02:106
of the Father, requiring from His stewards and dispensers the money which He had 4.27.02:107
entrusted to them, with usury; and from those to whom He had given most shall He demand 4.27.02:108
most. We ought not, therefore, as that presbyter remarks, to be puffed up, nor 4.27.02:110
be severe upon those of old time, but ought ourselves to fear, lest perchance, after 4.27.02:111
[we have come to] the knowledge of Christ, if we do things displeasing to God, 4.27.02:112
we obtain no further forgiveness of sins, but be shut out from His kingdom. And therefore 4.27.02:113
it was that Paul said, "For if [God] spared not the natural branches, [take 4.27.02:115
heed] lest He also spare not thee, who, when thou wert a wild olive tree, wert grafted 4.27.02:116
into the fatness of the olive tree, and wert made a partaker of its fatness." 4.27.02:117
3. Thou wilt notice, too, that the transgressions of the common people have been 4.27.03:119
described in like manner, not for the sake of those who did then transgress, but 4.27.03:120
as a means of instruction unto us, and that we should understand that it is 4.27.03:121
one and the same God against whom these men sinned, and against whom certain persons 4.27.03:122
do now transgress from among those who profess to have believed in Him. But 4.27.03:124
this also, [as the presbyter states,] has Paul declared most plainly in the Epistle 4.27.03:125
to the Corinthians, when he says, "Brethren, I would not that ye should be 4.27.03:126
ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and were all baptized 4.27.03:127
unto Moses in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink 4.27.03:128
the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed 4.27.03:129
them; and the rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased, 4.27.03:131
for they were overthrown in the wilderness. These things were for our example 4.27.03:132
(in figuram nostri), to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as 4.27.03:133
they also lusted; neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them, as it is written: 4.27.03:134
The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us 4.27.03:135
commit fornication, as some of them also did, and fell in one day three and twenty 4.27.03:136
thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were 4.27.03:137
destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and were 4.27.03:138
destroyed of the destroyer. But all these things happened to them in a figure, 4.27.03:142
and were written for our admonition, upon whom the end of the world (saeculorum) 4.27.03:143
is come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." 4.27.03:144
4. Since therefore, beyond all doubt and contradiction, the apostle shows that there 4.27.04:146
is one and the same God, who did both enter into judgment with these former things, 4.27.04:147
and who does inquire into those of the present time, and points out why these things 4.27.04:148
have been committed to writing; all these men are found to be unlearned and presumptuous, 4.27.04:149
nay, even destitute of common sense, who, because of the transgressions 4.27.04:150
of them of old time, and because of the disobedience of a vast number of them, do allege 4.27.04:151
that there was indeed one God of these men, and that He was the maker of the world, 4.27.04:152
and existed in a state of degeneracy; but that there was another Father declared 4.27.04:153
by Christ, and that this Being is He who has been conceived by the mind of each 4.27.04:154
of them; not understanding that as, in the former case, God showed Himself not well 4.27.04:155
pleased in many stances towards those who sinned, so also in the latter, "many are 4.27.04:159
called, but few are chosen." As then the unrighteous, the idolaters, and fornicators 4.27.04:160
perished, so also is it now: for both the Lord declares, that such persons are 4.27.04:161
sent into eternal fire; and the apostle says, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall 4.27.04:163
not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, 4.27.04:164
nor adulterers, not effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, 4.27.04:165
nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the 4.27.04:166
kingdom of God." And as it was not to those who are without that he said these things, 4.27.04:167
but to us. lest we should be cast forth from the kingdom of God, by doing any 4.27.04:168
such thing, he proceeds to say, "And such indeed were ye; but ye are washed, but ye IrnL.AH.4.27.04:172
are sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God." 4.27.04:173
And just as then, those who led vicious lives, and put other people astray, were 4.27.04:174
condemned and cast out, so also even now the offending eye is plucked out, and the IrnL.AH.4.27.04:175
foot and the hand, lest the rest of the body perish in like manner. And we have the 4.27.04:176
precept: "If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, IrnL.AH.4.27.04:177
or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such an one no not to 4.27.04:178
eat." And again does the apostle say, "Let no man deceive you with vain words; for 4.27.04:181
because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of mistrust. Be not ye IrnL.AH.4.27.04:181
therefore par-takers with them." And as then the condemnation of sinners extended 4.27.04:182
to others who approved of them, and joined in their society; so also is it the case 4.27.04:183
at present, that "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." And as the wrath of God 4.27.04:185
did then descend upon the unrighteous, here also does the apostle likewise say: "For IrnL.AH.4.27.04:186
the wrath of God shall be revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness 4.27.04:187
of those men who hold back the truth in unrighteousness." And as, in those IrnL.AH.4.27.04:188
times, vengeance came from God upon the Egyptians who were subjecting Israel to 4.27.04:189
unjust punishment, so is it now, the Lord truly declaring, "And shall not God avenge 4.27.04:190
His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him? I tell you, that He will avenge 4.27.04:192
them speedily." So says the apostle, in like manner, in the Epistle to the Thessalonians: 4.27.04:193
"Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that 4.27.04:194
trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, at the revealing of our Lord 4.27.04:195
Jesus Christ from heaven with His mighty angels, and in a flame of fire, to take 4.27.04:196
vengeance upon those who know not God, and upon those that obey not the Gospel of IrnL.AH.4.27.04:197
our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also be punished with everlasting destruction from 4.27.04:198
the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power; when He shall come to be 4.27.04:199
glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them who have believed in Him." 4.27.04:200
1. Inasmuch, then, as in both Testaments there is the same righteousness of God [displayed] when 4.28.01:001
God takes vengeance, in the one case indeed typically, temporarily, and more moderately; 4.28.01:002
but in the other, really, enduringly, and more rigidly: for the fire is eternal, and the wrath IrnL.AH.4.28.01:003
of God which shall be revealed from heaven from the face of our Lord (as David also says, 4.28.01:004
"But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from 4.28.01:005
the earth"), entails a heavier punishment on those who incur it,--the ciders pointed out that 4.28.01:006
those men are devoid of sense, who, [arguing] from what happened to those who formerly did 4.28.01:007
not obey God, do endeavour to bring in another Father, setting over against [these punishments] 4.28.01:008
what great things the Lord had done at His coming to save those who received Him, taking 4.28.01:009
compassion upon them; while they keep silence with regard to His judgment6; and all those things 4.28.01:010
which shall come upon such as have heard His words, but done them not, and that it were 4.28.01:011
better for them if they had not been born, and that it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and 4.28.01:012
Gomorrha in the judgment than for that city which did not receive the word of His disciples. 4.28.01:013
2. For as, in the New Testament, that faith of men [to be placed] in God has been increased, 4.28.02:019
receiving in addition [to what was already revealed] the Son of God, that man too 4.28.02:020
might be a partaker of God; so is also our walk in life required to be more circumspect, 4.28.02:021
when we are directed not merely to abstain from evil actions, but even from evil thoughts, 4.28.02:022
and from idle words, and empty talk, and scurrilous language: thus also the 4.28.02:023
punishment of those who do not believe the Word of God, and despise His advent, and are 4.28.02:024
turned away backwards, is increased; being not merely temporal, but rendered also eternal. 4.28.02:025
For to whomsoever the Lord shall say, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting 4.28.02:029
fire," these shall be damned for ever; and to whomsoever He shall say, "Come, ye blessed 4.28.02:030
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you for eternity," these do receive 4.28.02:031
the kingdom for ever, and make constant advance in it; since there is one and the same 4.28.02:032
God the Father, and His Word, who has been always present with the human race, by means 4.28.02:033
indeed of various dispensations, and has wrought out many things, and saved from the 4.28.02:034
beginning those who are saved, (for these are they who love God, and follow the Word 4.28.02:035
of God according to the class to which they belong,) and has judged those who are judged, 4.28.02:036
that is, those who forget God, and are blasphemous, and transgressors of His word. 4.28.02:037
3. For the selfsame heretics already mentioned by us have fallen away from IrnL.AH.4.28.03:042
themselves, by accusing the Lord, in whom they say that they believe. For those 4.28.03:043
points to which they call attention with regard to the God who then awarded IrnL.AH.4.28.03:044
temporal punishments to the unbelieving, and smote the Egyptians, while 4.28.03:045
He saved those that were obedient; these same [facts, I say,] shall nevertheless 4.28.03:046
repeat themselves in the Lord, who judges for eternity those whom He 4.28.03:047
doth judge, and lets go free for eternity those whom He does let go free: 4.28.03:048
and He shall [thus] be discovered, according to the language used by these 4.28.03:049
men, as having been the cause of their most heinous sin to those who laid hands 4.28.03:052
upon Him, and pierced Him. For if He had not so Come, it follows that these 4.28.03:053
men could not have become the slayers of their Lord; and if He had not 4.28.03:054
sent prophets to them, they certainly could not have killed them, nor the 4.28.03:055
apostles either. To those, therefore, who assail us, and say, If the Egyptians 4.28.03:056
had not been afflicted with plagues, and, when pursuing after Israel, been 4.28.03:057
choked in the sea, God could not have saved His people, this answer may 4.28.03:058
be given;--Unless, then, the Jews had become the slayers of the Lord (which 4.28.03:059
did, indeed, take eternal life away from them), and, by killing the apostles 4.28.03:060
and persecuting the Church, had fallen into an abyss of wrath, we could not IrnL.AH.4.28.03:062
have been saved. For as they were saved by means of the blindness of the 4.28.03:063
Egyptians, so are we, too, by that of the Jews; if, indeed, the death of the 4.28.03:064
Lord is the condemnation of those who fastened Him to the cross, and who 4.28.03:065
did not believe His advent, but the salvation of those who believe in Him. 4.28.03:067
For the apostle does also say in the Second [Epistle] to the Corinthians: "For 4.28.03:068
we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them which are saved, and in 4.28.03:069
them which perish: to the one indeed the savour of death unto death, but 4.28.03:071
to the other the savour of life unto life." To whom, then, is there the savour 4.28.03:072
of death unto death, unless to those who believe not neither are subject 4.28.03:073
to the Word of God? And who are they that did even then give themselves over 4.28.03:074
to death? Those men, doubtless, who do not believe, nor submit themselves 4.28.03:075
to God. And again, who are they that have been saved and received the inheritance? 4.28.03:076
Those, doubtless, who do believe God, and who have continued in His 4.28.03:077
love; as did Caleb [the son] of Jephunneh and Joshua [the son] of Nun, and IrnL.AH.4.28.03:078
innocent children, who have had no sense of evil. But who are they that are IrnL.AH.4.28.03:080
saved now, and receive life eternal? Is it not those who love God, and who IrnL.AH.4.28.03:081
believe His promises, and who "in malice have become as little children?" 4.28.03:082
1. "But," say they, "God hardened the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants." Those, 4.29.01:001
then, who allege such difficulties, do not read in the Gospel that passage 4.29.01:002
where the Lord replied to the disciples, when they asked Him, "Why speakest 4.29.01:003
Thou unto them in parables?"--"Because it is given unto you to know the mystery 4.29.01:004
of the kingdom of heaven; but to thorn I speak in parables, that seeing they IrnL.AH.4.29.01:005
may not see, and hearing they may not hear, understanding they may not understand; IrnL.AH.4.29.01:006
in order that the prophecy of Isaiah regarding them may be fulfil leading, 4.29.01:007
Make the heart of this people gross and make their ears dull, and blind their IrnL.AH.4.29.01:009
eyes. But blessed are your eyes, which see the things that ye see; and your IrnL.AH.4.29.01:010
ears, which hear what ye do hear. For one and the same God [that blesses others] 4.29.01:011
inflicts blindness upon those who do not believe, but who set Him at naught; 4.29.01:012
just as the sun, which is a creature of His, [acts with regard] to those who, 4.29.01:013
by reason of any weakness of the eyes cannot behold his light; but to those IrnL.AH.4.29.01:014
who believe in Him and follow Him, He grants a fuller and greater illumination 4.29.01:015
of mind. In accordance with this word, therefore, does the apostle say, in 4.29.01:017
the Second the] to the Corinthians: "In whom the this world hath blinded the minds 4.29.01:018
of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ 4.29.01:019
should shine [unto them]." And again, in that to the Romans: "And as they did 4.29.01:020
not think fit to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate 4.29.01:021
mind, to do those things that are not convenient." Speaking of antichrist, too, 4.29.01:022
he says clearly in the Second to the Thessalonians: "And for this cause God 4.29.01:023
shall send them the working of error, that they should believe a lie; that they IrnL.AH.4.29.01:024
all might be judged who believed not the truth, but consented to iniquity." 4.29.01:025
2. If, therefore, in the present time also, God, knowing the number of those who will not IrnL.AH.4.29.02:028
believe, since He foreknows all things, has given them over to unbelief, and turned 4.29.02:029
away His face from men of this stamp, leaving them in the darkness which they have themselves 4.29.02:030
chosen for themselves, what is there wonderful if He did also at that time give 4.29.02:031
over to their unbelief, Pharaoh, who never would have believed, along with those who IrnL.AH.4.29.02:032
were with him? As the Word spake to Moses from the bush: "And I am sure that the king of 4.29.02:033
Egypt will not let you go, unless by a mighty hand." And for the reason that the Lord 4.29.02:034
spake in parables, and brought blindness upon Israel, that seeing they might not see, IrnL.AH.4.29.02:036
since He knew the [spirit of] unbelief in them, for the same reason did He harden Pharaoh's 4.29.02:037
heart; in order that, while seeing that it was the finger of God which led forth 4.29.02:038
the people, he might not believe, but be precipitated into a sea of unbelief, resting 4.29.02:039
in the notion that the exit of these [Israelites] was accomplished by magical power, and 4.29.02:040
that it was not by the operation of God that the Red Sea afforded a passage to the people, 4.29.02:041
but that this occurred by merely natural causes (sed naturaliter sic se habere). 4.29.02:044
1. Those, again, who cavil and find fault because the people did, by God's command, IrnL.AH.4.30.01:001
upon the eve of their departure, take vessels of all kinds and raiment from the Egyptians," 4.30.01:002
and so went away, from which [spoils], too, the tabernacle was constructed in 4.30.01:003
the wilderness, prove themselves ignorant of the righteous dealings of God, and of 4.30.01:004
His dispensations; as also the presbyter remarked: For if God had not accorded this 4.30.01:006
in the typical exodus, no one could now be saved in our true exodus; that is, in the 4.30.01:007
faith in which we have been established, and by which we have been brought forth 4.30.01:008
from among the number of the Gentiles. For in some cases there follows us a small, and 4.30.01:010
in others a large amount of property, which we have acquired from the mammon of unrighteousness. 4.30.01:011
For from what source do we derive the houses in which we dwell, the 4.30.01:012
garments in which we are clothed, the vessels which we use, and everything else ministering 4.30.01:013
to our every-day life, unless it be from those things which, when we were Gentiles, 4.30.01:014
we acquired by avarice, or received them from our heathen parents, relations, 4.30.01:015
or friends who unrighteously obtained them?--not to mention that even now we acquire IrnL.AH.4.30.01:016
such things when we are in the faith. For who is there that sells, and does not 4.30.01:019
wish to make a profit from him who buys? Or who purchases anything, and does not wish 4.30.01:020
to obtain good value from the seller? Or who is there that carries on a trade, and 4.30.01:021
does not do so that he may obtain a livelihood thereby? And as to those believing 4.30.01:022
ones who are in the royal palace, do they not derive the utensils they employ from the IrnL.AH.4.30.01:023
property which belongs to Caesar; and to those who have not, does not each one of 4.30.01:024
these [Christians] give according to his ability? The Egyptians were debtors to the 4.30.01:026
[Jewish] people, not alone as to property, but as their very lives, because of the 4.30.01:027
kindness of the patriarch Joseph in former times; but in what way are the heathen debtors 4.30.01:028
to us, from whom we receive both gain and profit? Whatsoever they amass with 4.30.01:030
labour, these things do we make use of without labour, although we are in the faith. 4.30.01:031
2. Up to that time the people served the Egyptians in the most abject slavery, as saith the Scripture: 4.30.02:032
"And the Egyptians exercised their power rigorously upon the children of Israel; and they 4.30.02:033
made life bitter to them by severe labours, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service 4.30.02:034
in the field which they did, by all the works in which they oppressed them with rigour." And with 4.30.02:035
immense labour they built for them fenced cities, increasing the substance of these men throughout 4.30.02:036
a long course of years, and by means of every species of slavery; while these [masters] were 4.30.02:037
not only ungrateful towards them, but had in contemplation their utter annihilation. In what way, 4.30.02:038
then, did [the Israelites] act unjustly, if out of many things they took a few, they who might 4.30.02:041
have possessed much property had they not served them, and might have gone forth wealthy, while, 4.30.02:042
in fact, by receiving only a very insignificant recompense for their heavy servitude, they went 4.30.02:043
away poor? It is just as if any free man, being forcibly carried away by another, and serving 4.30.02:046
him for many years, and increasing his substance, should be thought, when he ultimately obtains 4.30.02:047
some support, to possess some small portion of his [master's] property, but should in reality depart, 4.30.02:048
having obtained only a little as the result of his own great labours, and out of vast possessions 4.30.02:049
which have been acquired, and this should be made by any one a subject of accusation against 4.30.02:050
him, as if he had not acted properly. He (the accuser) will rather appear as an unjust judge 4.30.02:051
against him who had been forcibly carried away into slavery. Of this kind, then, are these men 4.30.02:052
also, who charge the people with blame, because they appropriated a few things out of many, but 4.30.02:053
who bring no charge against those who did not render them the recompense due to their fathers' services; 4.30.02:054
nay, but even reducing them to the most irksome slavery, obtained the highest profit from 4.30.02:055
them. And [these objectors] allege that [the Israelites] acted dishonestly, because, for-sooth, 4.30.02:056
they took away for the recompense of their labours, as I have observed, unstamped gold and silver 4.30.02:057
in a few vessels; while they say that they themselves (for lot truth be spoken, although to 4.30.02:058
some it may seem ridiculous) do act honestly, when they carry away in their girdles from the labours 4.30.02:059
of others, coined gold, and silver, and brass, with Caesar's inscription and image upon it. 4.30.02:060
3. If, however, a comparison be instituted between us and them, [I would ask] which party shall 4.30.03:067
seem to have received [their worldly goods] in the fairer manner? Will it be the [Jewish] people, 4.30.03:068
[who took] from the Egyptians, who were at all points their debtors; or we, [who receive IrnL.AH.4.30.03:069
property] from the Romans and other nations, who are under no similar obligation to us? Yea, 4.30.03:071
moreover, through their instrumentality the world is at peace, and we walk on the highways without 4.30.03:072
fear, and sail where we will. Therefore, against men of this kind (namely, the heretics) IrnL.AH.4.30.03:073
the word of the Lord applies, which says: "Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine 4.30.03:074
eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote out of thy brother's eye." For if he 4.30.03:075
who lays these things to thy charge, and glories in his own wisdom, has been separated from 4.30.03:076
the company of the Gentiles, and possesses nothing [derived from] other people's goods, but 4.30.03:077
is literally naked, and barefoot, and dwells homeless among the mountains, as any of those animals 4.30.03:078
do which feed on grass, he will stand excused [in using such language], as being ignorant 4.30.03:079
of the necessities of our mode of life. But if he do partake of what, in the opinion of men, 4.30.03:080
is the property of others, and if [at the same time] he runs down their type, he proves himself 4.30.03:081
most unjust, turning this kind of accusation against himself. For he will be found carrying 4.30.03:082
about property not belonging to him, and coveting goods which are not his. And therefore has 4.30.03:083
the Lord said: "Judge not, that ye be not judged: for with what judgment ye shall judge, ye 4.30.03:086
shall be judged." [The meaning is] not certainly that we should not find fault with sinners, nor 4.30.03:087
that we should consent to those who act wickedly; but that we should not pronounce an unfair 4.30.03:088
judgment on the dispensations of God, inasmuch as He has Himself made provision that all things 4.30.03:089
shall turn out for good, in a way consistent with justice. For, because He knew that we would 4.30.03:092
make a good use of our substance which we should possess by receiving it from another, He 4.30.03:093
says, "He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, 4.30.03:094
let him do likewise." And, "For I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye 4.30.03:095
gave Me drink; I was naked and ye clothed Me." And, "When thou doest thine alms, let not thy left 4.30.03:096
hand know what thy right hand doeth." And we are proved to be righteous by whatsoever else 4.30.03:097
we do well, redeeming, as it were, our property from strange hands. But thus do I say, "from 4.30.03:098
strange hands," not as if the world were not God's possession, but that we have gifts of this 4.30.03:099
sort, and receive them from others, in the same way as these men had them from the Egyptians 4.30.03:100
who knew not God; and by means of these same do we erect in ourselves the tabernacle of God: 4.30.03:101
for God dwells in those who act uprightly, as the Lord says: "Make to yourselves friends of the 4.30.03:105
mammon of unrighteousness, that they, when ye shall be put to flight," may receive you into 4.30.03:106
eternal tabernacles." For whatsoever we acquired from unrighteousness when we were heathen, we 4.30.03:107
are proved righteous, when we have become believers, by applying it to the Lord's advantage. 4.30.03:108
4. As a matter of course, therefore, these things were done beforehand in a type, and from them was 4.30.04:111
the tabernacle of God constructed; those persons justly receiving them, as I have shown, while we 4.30.04:112
were pointed out beforehand in them,--[we] who should afterwards serve God by the things of others. 4.30.04:113
For the whole exodus of the people out of Egypt, which took place under divine guidance, was a type 4.30.04:115
and image of the exodus of the Church which should take place from among the Gentiles; and for this 4.30.04:116
cause He leads it out at last from this world into His own inheritance, which Moses the servant 4.30.04:117
of God did not [bestow], but which Jesus the Son of God shall give for an inheritance. And if any 4.30.04:118
one will devote a dose attention to those things which are stated by the prophets with regard to the 4.30.04:120
[time of the] end, and those which John the disciple of the Lord saw in the Apocalypse, he will find 4.30.04:121
that the nations [are to] receive the same plagues universally, as Egypt then did particularly. 4.30.04:122
1. When recounting certain matters of this kind respecting them of old time, the presbyter [before 4.31.01:001
mentioned] was in the habit of instructing us, and saying: "with respect to those misdeeds 4.31.01:002
for which the scriptures themselves blame the patriarchs and prophets, we ought not to 4.31.01:003
inveigh against them, nor become like ham, who ridiculed the shame of his father, and so fell 4.31.01:004
under a curse; but we should [rather] give thanks to god in their behalf, inasmuch as their 4.31.01:005
sins have been forgiven them through the advent of our lord; for he said that they gave thanks 4.31.01:006
[for us], and gloried in our salvation.' with respect to those actions, again, on which 4.31.01:009
the scriptures pass no censure, but which are simply set down [as having occurred], we ought 4.31.01:010
not to become the accusers [of those who committed them], for we are not more exact than 4.31.01:011
god, nor can we be superior to our master; but we should search for a type [in theme. For not 4.31.01:012
one of those things which have been set down in scripture without being condemned is without 4.31.01:015
significance." an example is found in the case of lot, who led forth his daughters from 4.31.01:016
sodom, and these then conceived by their own father; and who left behind him within the confines 4.31.01:017
[of the land] his wife, [who remains] a pillar of salt unto this day. For lot, not acting 4.31.01:018
under the impulse of his own will, nor at the prompting of carnal concupiscence, nor having 4.31.01:019
any knowledge or thought of anything of the kind, did [in fact] work out a type [of future 4.31.01:021
events]. As says the scripture: "and that night the eider went in and lay with her father; 4.31.01:022
and lot knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose." and the same thing took place in the 4.31.01:023
case of the younger: "and he knew not," it is said, "when she slept with him, nor when she 4.31.01:024
arose." since, therefore, lot knew not [what he did], nor was a slave to lust [in his actions], 4.31.01:025
the arrangement [designed by god] was carried out, by which the two daughters (that is, 4.31.01:026
the two churches), who gave birth to children begotten of one and the same father, were pointed 4.31.01:027
out, apart from [the influence of] the lust of the flesh. For there was no other person, 4.31.01:029
[as they supposed], who could impart to them quickening seed, and the means of their giving 4.31.01:030
birth to children, as it is written: "and the elder said unto the younger, and there is 4.31.01:031
not a man on the earth to enter in unto us after the manner of all the earth: come, let us make 4.31.01:033
our father drunk with wine, and let us lie with him, and raise up seed from our father." 4.31.01:034
2. Thus, after their simplicity and innocence, did these daughters [of lot] so speak, 4.31.02:036
imagining that all mankind had perished, even as the sodomites had done, and that the 4.31.02:037
anger of god had come down upon the whole earth. Wherefore also they are to be held excusable, 4.31.02:038
since they supposed that they only, along with their father, were left for the 4.31.02:039
preservation of the human race; and for this reason it was that they deceived their 4.31.02:040
father. Moreover, by the words they used this fact was pointed out--that there is no other 4.31.02:042
one who can confer upon the elder and younger church the [power of] giving birth 4.31.02:043
to children, besides our father. Now the father of the human race is the word of god, 4.31.02:045
as moses points out when he says, "is not he thy father who hath obtained thee [by generation], 4.31.02:046
and formed thee, and created thee?"s at what time, then, did he pour out upon 4.31.02:048
the human race the life-giving seed--that is, the spirit of the remission of sins, through 4.31.02:049
means of whom we are quickened? Was it not then, when he was eating with men, and 4.31.02:051
drinking wine upon the earth? For it is said, "the son of man came eating and drinking; 4.31.02:052
and when he had lain down, he fell asleep, and took repose. As he does himself say 4.31.02:053
in david, "i slept, and took repose." and because he used thus to act while he dwelt 4.31.02:055
and lived among us, he says again, "and my sleep became sweet unto me." now this whole 4.31.02:056
matter was indicated through lot, that the seed of the father of all--that is, of the 4.31.02:057
spirit of god, by whom all things were made--was commingled and united with flesh--that 4.31.02:058
is, with his own workmanship; by which commixture and unity the two synagogues--that 4.31.02:059
is, the two churches--produced from their own father living sons to the living god. 4.31.02:060
3. And while these things were taking place, his wife remained in [the territory of] sodom, no longer 4.31.03:064
corruptible flesh, but a pillar of salt which endures for ever; and by those natural processes 4.31.03:065
which appertain to the human race, indicating that the church also, which is the salt of the earth, 4.31.03:066
has been left behind within the confines of the earth, and subject to human sufferings; and 4.31.03:067
while entire members are often taken away from it, the pillar of salt still endures, thus typifying 4.31.03:068
the foundation of the faith which maketh strong, and sends forward, children to their father. 4.31.03:069
1.. After this fashion also did a presbyter, a disciple of the apostles, reason with 4.32.01:001
respect to the two testaments, proving that both were truly from one and the same God. 4.32.01:002
For [he maintained] that there was no other God besides Him who made and fashioned 4.32.01:003
us, and that the discourse of those men has no foundation who affirm that this world 4.32.01:004
of ours was made either by angels, or by any other power whatsoever, or by another God. 4.32.01:005
For if a man be once moved away from the Creator of all things, and if he grant that 4.32.01:006
this creation to which we belong was formed by any other or through any other [than 4.32.01:008
the one God], he must of necessity fall into much inconsistency, and many contradictions 4.32.01:009
of this sort; to which he will [be able to] furnish no explanations which can 4.32.01:010
be regarded as either probable or true. And, for this reason, those who introduce other 4.32.01:011
doctrines conceal from us the opinion which they themselves hold respecting God, because 4.32.01:012
they are aware of the untenable, and absurd nature of their doctrine, and are 4.32.01:013
afraid lest, should they be vanquished, they should have some difficulty in making good 4.32.01:014
their escape. But if any one believes in [only] one God, who also made all things 4.32.01:017
by the Word, as Moses likewise says, "God said, Let there be light: and there was light;" 4.32.01:018
and as we read in the Gospel, "All things were made by Him; and without Him was 4.32.01:019
nothing made;" and the Apostle Paul [says] in like manner, "There is one Lord, one faith, 4.32.01:020
one baptism, one God and Father, who is above all, and through all, and in us all"--this 4.32.01:021
man will first of all "hold the head, from which the whole body is compacted 4.32.01:022
and bound together, and, through means of every joint according to the measure of the 4.32.01:023
ministration of each several part, maketh increase of the body to the edification 4.32.01:024
of itself in love." (Eph 4:15-16) And then shall every word also seem consistent to him, 4.32.01:025
if he for his part diligently read the Scriptures in company with those who are presbyters 4.32.01:026
in the Church, among whom is the apostolic doctrine, as I have pointed out. 4.32.01:027
2. For all the apostles taught that there were indeed two testaments among the 4.32.02:031
two peoples; but that it was one and the same God who appointed both for the advantage 4.32.02:032
of those men (for whose sakes the testaments were given) who were to believe 4.32.02:033
in God, I have proved in the third book from the very teaching of the apostles; 4.32.02:034
and that the first testament was not given without reason, or to no purpose, 4.32.02:035
or in an accidental sort of manner; but that it subdued those to whom it was IrnL.AH.4.32.02:036
given to the service of God, for their benefit (for God needs no service from IrnL.AH.4.32.02:037
men), and exhibited a type of heavenly things, inasmuch as man was not yet able 4.32.02:038
to see the things of God through means of immediate vision; and foreshadowed 4.32.02:039
the images of those things which [now actually] exist in the Church, in order that 4.32.02:040
our faith might be firmly established; and contained a prophecy of things to 4.32.02:041
come, in order that man might learn that God has foreknowledge of all things. 4.32.02:046
1. A spiritual disciple of this sort truly receiving the Spirit of God, who was from 4.33.01:001
the beginning, in all the dispensations of God, present with mankind, and announced things 4.33.01:002
future, revealed things present, and narrated things past--[such a man] does indeed 4.33.01:003
"judge all men, but is himself judged by no man." For he judges the Gentiles, "who 4.33.01:004
serve the creature more than the Creator," and with a reprobate mind spend all their 4.33.01:006
labour on vanity. And he also judges the Jews, who do not accept of the word of liberty, 4.33.01:007
nor are willing to go forth free, although they have a Deliverer present [with 4.33.01:009
them]; but they pretend, at a time unsuitable [for such conduct], to serve, [with observances] 4.33.01:010
beyond [those required by] the law, God who stands in need of nothing, and 4.33.01:011
do not recognise the advent of Christ, which He accomplished for the salvation of men, 4.33.01:012
nor are willing to understand that all the prophets announced His two advents: the 4.33.01:013
one, indeed, in which He became a man subject to stripes, and knowing what it is to 4.33.01:014
bear infirmity, and sat upon the foal of an ass, and was a stone rejected by the builders, 4.33.01:015
and was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and by the stretching forth of His hands 4.33.01:016
destroyed Amalek; while He gathered from the ends of the earth into His Father's 4.33.01:017
fold the children who were scattered abroad, and remembered His own dead ones who had 4.33.01:018
formerly fallen asleep, and came down to them that He might deliver them: but the second 4.33.01:019
in which He will come on the clouds, bringing on the day which burns as a furnace? 4.33.01:020
and smiting the earth with the word of His mouth? and slaying the impious with the 4.33.01:021
breath of His lips, and having a fan in His hands, and cleansing His floor, and gathering 4.33.01:022
the wheat indeed into His barn, but burning the chaff with unquenchable fire. 4.33.01:023
2. Moreover, he shall also examine the doctrine of Marcion, [inquiring] 4.33.02:031
how he holds that there are two gods, separated from each other by an 4.33.02:032
infinite distance. Or how can he be good who draws away men that do 4.33.02:033
not belong to him from him who made them, and calls them into his own 4.33.02:034
kingdom? And why is his goodness, which does not save all [thus], defective? 4.33.02:035
Also, why does he, indeed, seem to be good as respects men, but 4.33.02:036
most unjust with regard to him who made men, inasmuch as he deprives 4.33.02:037
him of his possessions? Moreover, how could the Lord, with any justice, 4.33.02:038
if He belonged to another father, have acknowledged the bread to be 4.33.02:039
His body, while He took it from that creation to which we belong, and 4.33.02:040
affirmed the mixed cup to be His blood? And why did He acknowledge Himself 4.33.02:042
to be the Son of man, if He had not gone through that birth which 4.33.02:043
belongs to a human being? How, too, could He forgive us those sins for 4.33.02:044
which we are answerable to our Maker and God? And how, again, supposing 4.33.02:045
that He was not flesh, but was a man merely in appearance, could He 4.33.02:046
have been crucified, and could blood and water have issued from His 4.33.02:047
pierced side? What body, moreover, was it that those who buried Him consigned 4.33.02:048
to the tomb? And what was that which rose again from the dead? 4.33.02:049
3. [This spiritual man] shall also judge all the followers of Valentinus, because they do indeed confess 4.33.03:051
with the tongue one God the Father, and that all things derive their existence from Him, but do at the same 4.33.03:052
time maintain that He who formed all things is the fruit of an apostasy or defect. [He shall judge them, 4.33.03:053
too, because] they do in like manner confess with the tongue one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, but 4.33.03:054
assign in their [system of] doctrine a production of his own to the Only-begotten, one of his own also 4.33.03:055
to the Word, another to Christ, and yet another to the Saviour; so that, according to them, all these beings 4.33.03:056
are indeed said [in Scripture to be], as it were, one; [while they maintain], notwithstanding, that 4.33.03:057
each one of them should be understood [to exist] separately [from the rest], and to have [had] his own special 4.33.03:058
origin, according to his peculiar conjunction. [It appears], then that their tongues alone, forsooth, 4.33.03:061
have conceded the unity [of God], while their [real] opinion and their understanding (by their habit 4.33.03:062
of investigating profundities) have fallen away from [this doctrine of] unity, and taken up the notion of 4.33.03:063
manifold deities,--[this, I say, must appear] when they shall be examined by Christ as to the points [of 4.33.03:064
doctrine] which they have invented. Him, too, they affirm to have been born at a later period than the 4.33.03:065
Pleroma of the Aeons, and that His production took place after [the occurrence of] a degeneracy or apostasy; 4.33.03:066
and they maintain that, on account of the passion which was experienced by Sophia, they themselves were 4.33.03:070
brought to the birth. But their own special prophet Homer, listening to whom they have invented such 4.33.03:071
doctrines, shall himself reprove them, when he expresses himself as follows:-- "Hateful to me that man 4.33.03:072
as Hades' gates, Who one thing thinks, while he another states."[This spiritual man] shall also 4.33.03:075
judge the vain speeches of the perverse Gnostics, by showing that they are the disciples of Simon Magus. 4.33.03:076
4. He will judge also the Ebionites; [for] how can they be saved unless 4.33.04:077
it was God who wrought out their salvation upon earth? Or how shall 4.33.04:077
man pass into God, unless God has [first] passed into man? And 4.33.04:078
how shall he (man) escape from the generation subject to death, if not 4.33.04:079
by means of a new generation, given in a wonderful and unexpected 4.33.04:080
manner (but as a sign of salvation) by God--[I mean] that regeneration 4.33.04:081
which flows from the virgin through faith? Or how shall they receive 4.33.04:082
adoption from God if they remain in this [kind of] generation, 4.33.04:084
which is naturally possessed by man in this world? And how could He 4.33.04:085
(Christ) have been greater than Solomon, or greater than Jonah, or 4.33.04:086
have been the Lord of David, who was of the same substance as they 4.33.04:087
were? How, too, could He have subdued him who was stronger than men, 4.33.04:088
who had not only overcome man, but also retained him under his power, 4.33.04:089
and conquered him who had conquered, while he set free mankind 4.33.04:090
who had been conquered, unless He had been greater than man who had 4.33.04:091
thus been vanquished? But who else is superior to, and more eminent 4.33.04:093
than, that man who was formed after the likeness of God, except the 4.33.04:094
Son of God, after whose image man was created? And for this reason 4.33.04:095
He did in these last days exhibit the similitude; [for] the Son of God 4.33.04:096
was made man, assuming the ancient production [of His hands] into 4.33.04:097
His own nature, as I have shown in the immediately preceding book. 4.33.04:098
5. He shall also judge those who describe Christ as [having become man] only in 4.33.05:101
[human] opinion. For how can they imagine that they do themselves carry on a real 4.33.05:102
discussion, when their Master was a mere imaginary being? Or how can they receive IrnL.AH.4.33.05:103
anything stedfast from Him, if He was a merely imagined being, and not a 4.33.05:103
verity? And how can these men really be partaken of salvation, if He in whom they 4.33.05:104
profess to believe, manifested Himself as a merely imaginary being? Everything, 4.33.05:105
therefore, connected with these men is unreal, and nothing [possessed of the 4.33.05:106
character of] truth; and, in these circumstances, it may be made a question IrnL.AH.4.33.05:107
whether (since, perchance, they themselves in like manner are not men, but mere 4.33.05:108
dumb animals) they do not present, in most cases, simply a shadow of humanity. 4.33.05:109
6. He shall also judge false prophets, who, without having received the gift of prophecy 4.33.06:112
from God, and not possessed of the fear of God, but either for the sake of vainglory, or IrnL.AH.4.33.06:113
with a view to some personal advantage, or acting in some other way under the influence 4.33.06:114
of a wicked spirit, pretend to utter prophecies, while all the time they lie against God. 4.33.06:115
7. He shall also judge those who give rise to schisms, who are destitute of the 4.33.07:118
love of God, and who look to their own special advantage rather than to the unity 4.33.07:119
of the Church; and who for trifling reasons, or any kind of reason which occurs 4.33.07:120
to them, cut in pieces and divide the great and glorious body of Christ, and IrnL.AH.4.33.07:121
so far as in them lies, [positively] destroy it,--men who prate of peace while 4.33.07:122
they give rise to war, and do in truth strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel. IrnL.AH.4.33.07:123
For no reformation of so great importance can be effected by them, as will compensate IrnL.AH.4.33.07:124
for the mischief arising from their schism. He shall also judge all those 4.33.07:127
who are beyond the pale of the truth, that is, who are outside the Church; 4.33.07:128
but he himself shall be judged by no one. For to him all things are consistent: 4.33.07:129
he has a full faith in one God Almighty, of whom are all things; and in the 4.33.07:129
Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord, by whom are all things, and in the dispensations 4.33.07:130
connected with Him, by means of which the Son of God became man; and a firm 4.33.07:131
belief in the Spirit of God, who furnishes us with a knowledge of the truth, 4.33.07:132
and has set forth the dispensations of the Father and the Son, in virtue of which 4.33.07:133
He dwells with every generation of men, according to the will of the Father. 4.33.07:134
8. True knowledge is [that which consists in] the doctrine of the apostles, and the ancient constitution 4.33.08:137
of the Church throughout all the world, and the distinctive manifestation of the body of Christ 4.33.08:138
according to the successions of the bishops, by which they have handed down that Church which exists 4.33.08:139
in every place, and has come even unto us, being guarded and preserved without any forging of Scriptures, 4.33.08:140
by a very complete system of doctrine, and neither receiving addition nor [suffering] curtailment 4.33.08:141
[in the truths which she believes]; and [it consists in] reading [the word of God] without falsification, 4.33.08:142
and a lawful and diligent exposition in harmony with the Scriptures, both without danger 4.33.08:143
and without blasphemy; and [above all, it consists in] the pre-eminent gift of love, which is more precious 4.33.08:144
than knowledge, more glorious than prophecy, and which excels all the other gifts [of God].7 4.33.08:145
9. Wherefore the Church does in every place, because of that love which she cherishes towards God, 4.33.09:149
send forward, throughout all time, a multitude of martyrs to the Father; while all others not 4.33.09:150
only have nothing of this kind to point to among themselves, but even maintain that such witness-bearing 4.33.09:151
is not at all necessary, for that their system of doctrines is the true witness [for 4.33.09:152
Christ], with the exception, perhaps, that one or two among them, during the whole time which 4.33.09:153
has elapsed since the Lord appeared on earth, have occasionally, along with our martyrs, borne 4.33.09:154
the reproach of the name (as if he too [the heretic] had obtained mercy), and have been led 4.33.09:155
forth with them [to death], being, as it were, a sort of retinue granted unto them. For the Church 4.33.09:156
alone sustains with purity the reproach of those who suffer persecution for righteousness' 4.33.09:159
sake, and endure all sorts of punishments, and are put to death because of the love which they 4.33.09:160
bear to God, and their confession of His Son; often weakened indeed, yet immediately increasing 4.33.09:161
her members, and becoming whole again, after the same manner as her type," Lot's wife, who became 4.33.09:162
a pillar of salt. Thus, too, [she passes through an experience] similar to that of the ancient 4.33.09:163
prophets, as the Lord declares, "For so persecuted they the prophets who were before you;", 4.33.09:164
inasmuch as she does indeed, in a new fashion, suffer persecution from those who do not receive 4.33.09:165
the word of God, while the self-same spirit rests upon her [as upon these ancient prophets]. 4.33.09:166
10. And indeed the prophets, along with other things which they predicted, also foretold 4.33.10:171
this, that all those on whom the Spirit of God should rest, and who would obey the word 4.33.10:172
of the Father, and serve Him according to their ability, should suffer persecution, and 4.33.10:173
be stoned and slain. For the prophets prefigured in themselves all these things, because 4.33.10:174
of their love to God, and on account of His word. For since they themselves were members 4.33.10:175
of Christ, each; one of them in his place as a member did, in accordance with this, set 4.33.10:178
forth the prophecy [assigned him]; all of them, although many, prefiguring only one, and 4.33.10:179
proclaiming the things which pertain to one. For just as the working of the whole body 4.33.10:180
is exhibited through means of our members, while the figure of a complete man is not displayed 4.33.10:182
by one member, but through means of all taken together, so also did all the prophets 4.33.10:183
prefigure the one [Christ]; while every one of them, in his special place as a member, 4.33.10:184
did, in accordance with this, fill up the [established] dispensation, and shadowed 4.33.10:185
forth beforehand that particular working of Christ which was connected with that member. 4.33.10:186
11. For some of them, beholding Him in glory, saw His glorious life (conversationem) at the 4.33.11:190
Father's right hand; others beheld Him coming on the clouds as the Son of man; and those who 4.33.11:191
declared regarding Him, "They shall look on Him whom they have pierced," indicated His [second] IrnL.AH.4.33.11:193
advent, concerning which He Himself says, "Thinkest thou that when the Son of man cometh, 4.33.11:194
He shall find faith on the earth?'' Paul also refers to this event when he says, "If, however, 4.33.11:195
it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, and IrnL.AH.4.33.11:196
to you that are troubled rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven, with 4.33.11:197
His mighty angels, and in a flame of fire." Others again, speaking of Him as a judge, and 4.33.11:198
[referring], as if it were a burning furnace, [to] the day of the Lord, who "gathers the wheat 4.33.11:202
into His barn, but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire,'' were accustomed to threaten 4.33.11:203
those who were unbelieving, concerning whom also the Lord Himself declares, "Depart from 4.33.11:204
me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which my Father has prepared for the devil and his 4.33.11:205
angels." And the apostle in like manner says [of them], "Who shall be punished with everlasting 4.33.11:206
death from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of His power, when He shall come to IrnL.AH.4.33.11:207
be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in those who believe in Him." There are also 4.33.11:208
some [of them] who declare, "Thou art fairer than the children of men;" and, "God, Thy God, 4.33.11:212
hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows;" and, "Gird Thy sword upon Thy 4.33.11:213
thigh, O Most Mighty, with Thy beauty and Thy fairness, and go forward and proceed prosperously; 4.33.11:214
and rule Thou because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness." And whatever other things 4.33.11:215
of a like nature are spoken regarding Him, these indicated that beauty and splendour which 4.33.11:216
exist in His kingdom, along with the transcendent and pre-eminent exaltation [belonging] 4.33.11:217
to all who are under His sway, that those who hear might desire to be found there, doing such 4.33.11:218
things as are pleasing to God. Again, there are those who say, "He is a man, and who shall 4.33.11:219
know him?" and, "I came unto the prophetess, and she bare a son, and His name is called Wonderful, 4.33.11:223
Counsellor, the Mighty God;" and those [of them] who proclaimed Him as Immanuel, [born] 4.33.11:224
of the Virgin, exhibited the union of the Word of God with His own workmanship, [declaring] 4.33.11:225
that the Word should become flesh, and the Son of God the Son of man (the pure One opening 4.33.11:226
purely that pure womb which regenerates men unto God, and which He Himself made pure); and 4.33.11:227
having become this which we also are, He [nevertheless] is the Mighty God, and possesses a 4.33.11:228
generation which cannot be declared. And there are also some of them who say, "The Lord hath 4.33.11:229
spoken in Zion, and uttered His voice from Jerusalem;" and, "In Judah is God known;" --these IrnL.AH.4.33.11:232
indicated His advent which took place in Judea. Those, again, who declare that "God comes 4.33.11:233
from the south, and from a mountain thick with foliage," announced His advent at Bethlehem, 4.33.11:235
as I have pointed out in the preceding book. From that place, also, He who rules, and who feeds 4.33.11:236
the people of His Father, has come. Those, again, who declare that at His coming "the lame 4.33.11:237
man shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall [speak] plainly, and the eyes 4.33.11:240
of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear," and that "the hands which 4.33.11:241
hang down, and the feeble knees, shall be strengthened," and that "the dead which are in the 4.33.11:242
grave shall arise," and that He Himself" shall take [upon Him] our weaknesses, and bear our 4.33.11:243
sorrows," --[all these] proclaimed those works of healing which were accomplished by Him. 4.33.11:244
12. Some of them, moreover--[when they predicted that] as a weak and inglorious man, and as 4.33.12:247
one who knew what it was to bear infirmity, and sitting upon the foal of an ass, He should 4.33.12:248
come to Jerusalem; and that He should give His back to stripes, and His cheeks to palms 4.33.12:249
[which struck Him]; and that He should be led as a sheep to the slaughter; and that He should 4.33.12:250
have vinegar and gall given Him to drink; and that He should be forsaken by His friends 4.33.12:251
and those nearest to Him; and that He should stretch forth His hands the whole day long; and 4.33.12:252
that He should be mocked and maligned by those who looked upon Him; and that His garments 4.33.12:253
should be parted, and lots cast upon His raiment; and that He should be brought down to 4.33.12:254
the dust of death? with all [the other] things of a like nature--prophesied His coming in IrnL.AH.4.33.12:255
the character of a man as He entered Jerusalem, in which by His passion and crucifixion He 4.33.12:256
endured all the things which have been mentioned. Others, again, when they said, "The holy 4.33.12:261
Lord remembered His own dead ones who slept in the dust, and came down to them to raise them 4.33.12:262
up, that He might save them," furnished us with the reason on account of which He suffered 4.33.12:263
all these things. Those, moreover, who said, "In that day, saith the Lord, the sun shall IrnL.AH.4.33.12:266
go down at noon, and there shall be darkness over the earth in the clear day; and I will IrnL.AH.4.33.12:267
turn your feast days into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation," plainly announced 4.33.12:268
that obscuration of the sun which at the time of His crucifixion took place from the sixth 4.33.12:269
hour onwards, and that after this event, those days which were their festivals according 4.33.12:270
to the law, and their songs, should be changed into grief and lamentation when they were 4.33.12:271
handed over to the Gentiles. Jeremiah, too, makes this point still clearer, when he thus speaks 4.33.12:274
concerning Jerusalem: "She that hath born [seven] languisheth; her soul hath become IrnL.AH.4.33.12:275
weary; her sun hath gone down while it was yet noon; she hath been confounded, and suffered 4.33.12:276
reproach: the remainder of them will I give to the sword in the sight of their enemies." 4.33.12:277
13. Those of them, again, who spoke of His having slumbered and taken sleep, and of His 4.33.13:280
having risen again because the Lord sustained Him, and who enjoined the principalities 4.33.13:281
of heaven to set open the everlasting doors, that the King of glory might go in, 4.33.13:282
proclaimed beforehand His resurrection from the dead through the Father's power, and IrnL.AH.4.33.13:283
His reception into heaven. And when they expressed themselves thus, "His going forth is 4.33.13:286
from the height of heaven, and His returning even to the highest heaven; and there 4.33.13:287
is no one who can hide himself from His heat," they announced that very truth of His 4.33.13:288
being taken up again to the place from which He came down, and that there is no one who 4.33.13:289
can escape His righteous judgment. And those who said, "The Lord hath reigned; let IrnL.AH.4.33.13:291
the people be enraged: [even] He who sitteth upon the cherubim; let the earth be moved," 4.33.13:292
were thus predicting partly that wrath from all nations which after His ascension 4.33.13:293
came upon those who believed in Him, with the movement of the whole earth against the 4.33.13:294
Church; and partly the fact that, when He comes from heaven with His mighty angels, IrnL.AH.4.33.13:295
the whole earth shall be shaken, as He Himself declares, "There shall be a great earthquake, 4.33.13:296
such as has not been from the beginning." And again, when one says, "Whosoever 4.33.13:300
is judged, let him stand opposite; and whosoever is justified, let him draw near to 4.33.13:301
the servant of God;" and, "Woe unto you, for ye shall wax old as doth a garment, and the 4.33.13:302
moth shall eat you up;" and, "All flesh shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall 4.33.13:303
be exalted in the highest," --it is thus indicated that, after His passion and ascension, IrnL.AH.4.33.13:304
God shall cast down under His feet all who were opposed to Him, and He shall be 4.33.13:305
exalted above all, and there shall be no one who can be justified or compared to Him. IrnL.AH.4.33.13:306
14. And those of them who declare that God would make a new covenant with men, not such as that 4.33.14:310
which He made with the fathers at Mount Horeb, and would give to men a new heart and a new spirit;" 4.33.14:311
and again, "And remember ye not the things of old: behold, I make new things which shall 4.33.14:312
now arise, and ye shall know it; and I will make a way in the desert, and riven in a dry land, 4.33.14:313
to give drink to my chosen people, my people whom I have acquired, that they may show forth my 4.33.14:314
praise," --plainly announced that liberty which distinguishes the new covenant, and the new wine 4.33.14:315
which is put into new bottles, [that is], the faith which is in Christ, by which He has proclaimed 4.33.14:316
the way of righteousness sprung up in the desert, and the streams of the Holy Spirit in IrnL.AH.4.33.14:317
a dry land, to give water to the elect people of God, whom He has acquired, that they might show 4.33.14:318
forth His praise, but not that they might blaspheme Him who made these things, that is, God. 4.33.14:319
15. And all those other points which I have shown the prophets to have uttered by means of so long 4.33.15:325
a series of Scriptures, he who is truly spiritual will interpret by pointing out, in regard to every 4.33.15:326
one of the things which have been spoken, to what special point in the dispensation of the Lord 4.33.15:327
is referred, and [by thus exhibiting] the entire system of the work of the Son of God, knowing 4.33.15:328
always the same God, and always acknowledging the same Word of God, although He has [but] now been 4.33.15:329
manifested to us; acknowledging also at all times the same Spirit of God, although He has been 4.33.15:330
poured out upon us after a new fashion in these last times, [knowing that He descends] even from the 4.33.15:331
creation of the world to its end upon the human race simply as such, from whom those who believe 4.33.15:332
God and follow His word receive that salvation which flows from Him. Those, on the other hand, 4.33.15:333
who depart from Him, and despise His precepts, and by their deeds bring dishonour on Him who made 4.33.15:334
them, and by their opinions blaspheme Him who nourishes them, heap up against themselves most righteous 4.33.15:335
judgment. He therefore (i.e., the spiritual man) sifts and tries them all, but he himself 4.33.15:340
is tried by no man: he neither blasphemes his Father, nor sets aside His dispensations, nor inveighs 4.33.15:341
against the fathers, nor dishonours the prophets, by maintaining that they were [sent] from another 4.33.15:342
God [than he worships], or again, that their prophecies were derived from different sources. 4.33.15:343
1. Now I shall simply say, in opposition to all the heretics, and principally against 4.34.01:001
the followers of Marcion, and against those who are like to these, in maintaining 4.34.01:002
that time prophets were from another God [than He who is announced in the 4.34.01:003
Gospel], read with earnest care that Gospel which has been conveyed to us by the 4.34.01:004
apostles, and read with earnest care the prophets, and you will find that the whole 4.34.01:005
conduct, and all the doctrine, and all the sufferings of our Lord, were predicted 4.34.01:006
through them. But if a thought of this kind should then suggest itself to you, IrnL.AH.4.34.01:008
to say, What then did the Lord bring to us by His advent?--know ye that He brought 4.34.01:009
all [possible] novelty, by bringing Himself who had been announced. For this 4.34.01:010
very thing was proclaimed beforehand, that a novelty should come to renew and quicken 4.34.01:011
mankind. For the advent of the King is previously announced by those servants 4.34.01:012
who are sent [before Him], in order to the preparation and equipment of those 4.34.01:013
men who are to entertain their Lord. But when the King has actually come, and those 4.34.01:014
who are His subjects have been filled with that joy which was proclaimed beforehand, IrnL.AH.4.34.01:016
and have attained to that liberty which He bestows, and share in the sight 4.34.01:017
of Him, and have listened to His words, and have enjoyed the gifts which He confers, IrnL.AH.4.34.01:018
the question will not then be asked by any that are possessed of sense what 4.34.01:019
new thing the King has brought beyond [that proclaimed by] those who announced 4.34.01:020
His coming. For He has brought Himself, and has bestowed on men those good things IrnL.AH.4.34.01:021
which were announced beforehand, which things the angels desired to look into. 4.34.01:022
2. But the servants would then have been proved false, and not sent by the Lord, 4.34.02:025
if Christ on His advent, by being found exactly such as He was previously announced, IrnL.AH.4.34.02:026
had not fulfilled their words. Wherefore He said, "Think not that I have come 4.34.02:027
to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy, but to fulfil. For 4.34.02:029
verily I say unto you, Until heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle IrnL.AH.4.34.02:030
shall not pass from the law and the prophets till all come to pass." For by His advent IrnL.AH.4.34.02:031
He Himself fulfilled all things, and does still fulfil in the Church the new 4.34.02:032
covenant foretold by the law, onwards to the consummation [of all things]. To 4.34.02:033
this effect also Paul, His apostle, says in the Epistle to the Romans, "But now, 4.34.02:035
without the law, has the righteousness of God been manifested, being witnessed 4.34.02:036
by the law and the prophets; for the just shall live by faith." But this fact, that 4.34.02:037
the just shall live by faith, had been previously announced by the prophets. IrnL.AH.4.34.02:038
3. But whence could the prophets have had power to predict the advent of the King, and 4.34.03:040
to preach beforehand that liberty which was bestowed by Him, and previously to announce 4.34.03:041
all things which were done by Christ, His words, His works, and His sufferings, 4.34.03:042
and to predict the new covenant, if they had received prophetical inspiration from another 4.34.03:043
God [than He who is revealed in the Gospel], they being ignorant, as ye allege, 4.34.03:044
of the ineffable Father, of His kingdom, and His dispensations, which the Son of God IrnL.AH.4.34.03:045
fulfilled when He came upon earth in these last times? Neither are ye in a position to 4.34.03:048
say that these things came to pass by a certain kind of chance, as if they were spoken 4.34.03:049
by the prophets in regard to some other person, while like events happened to the 4.34.03:051
Lord. For all the prophets prophesied these same things, but they never came to pass IrnL.AH.4.34.03:052
in the case of any one of the ancients. For if these things had happened to any man among 4.34.03:053
them of old time, those [prophets] who lived subsequently would certainly not have 4.34.03:054
prophesied that these events should come to pass in the last times. Moreover, there 4.34.03:055
is in fact none among the fathers, nor the prophets, nor the ancient kings, in whose 4.34.03:056
case any one of these things properly and specifically took place. For all indeed prophesied 4.34.03:058
as to the sufferings of Christ, but they themselves were far from enduring sufferings 4.34.03:059
similar to what was predicted. And the points connected with the passion of 4.34.03:060
the Lord, which were foretold, were realized in no other case. For neither did it happen IrnL.AH.4.34.03:061
at the death of any man among the ancients that the sun set at mid-day, nor was 4.34.03:062
the veil of the temple rent, nor did the earth quake, nor were the rocks rent, nor did 4.34.03:063
the dead rise up, nor was any one of these men [of old] raised up on the third day, 4.34.03:064
nor received into heaven, nor at his assumption were the heavens opened, nor did the IrnL.AH.4.34.03:065
nations believe in the name of any other; nor did any from among them, having been dead 4.34.03:066
and rising again, lay open the new covenant of liberty. Therefore the prophets spake 4.34.03:070
not of any one else but of the Lord, in whom all these aforesaid tokens concurred. 4.34.03:071
4. If any one, however, advocating the cause of the Jews, do maintain that this new 4.34.04:073
covenant consisted in the rearing of that temple which was built under Zerubbabel 4.34.04:074
after the emigration to Babylon, and in the departure of the people from thence after 4.34.04:075
the lapse of seventy years, let him know that the temple constructed of stones was 4.34.04:076
indeed then rebuilt (for as yet that law was observed which had been made upon tables 4.34.04:077
of stone), yet no new covenant was given, but they used the Mosaic law until 4.34.04:078
the coming of the Lord; but from the Lord's advent, the new covenant which brings back 4.34.04:079
peace, and the law which gives life, has gone forth over the whole earth, as the 4.34.04:082
prophets said: "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from 4.34.04:083
Jerusalem; and He shall rebuke many people; and they shall break down their swords 4.34.04:084
into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks, and they shall no longer 4.34.04:085
learn to fight." If therefore another law and word, going forth from Jerusalem, brought 4.34.04:086
in such a [reign of] peace among the Gentiles which received it (the word), 4.34.04:088
and convinced, through them, many a nation of its folly, then [only] it appears that 4.34.04:089
the prophets spake of some other person. But if the law of liberty, that is, the 4.34.04:090
word of God, preached by the apostles (who went forth from Jerusalem) throughout all 4.34.04:092
the earth, caused such a change in the state of things, that these [nations] did 4.34.04:093
form the swords and war-lances into ploughshares, and changed them into pruning-hooks 4.34.04:094
for reaping the corn, [that is], into instruments used for peaceful purposes, and 4.34.04:095
that they are now unaccustomed to fighting, but when smitten, offer also the other 4.34.04:096
cheek, then the prophets have not spoken these things of any other person, but of 4.34.04:097
Him who effected them. This person is our Lord, and in Him is that declaration borne 4.34.04:101
out; since it is He Himself who has made the plough, and introduced the pruning-hook, 4.34.04:102
that is, the first semination of man, which was the creation exhibited in Adam, 4.34.04:103
and the gathering in of the produce in the last times by the Word; and, for this 4.34.04:104
reason, since He joined the beginning to the end, and is the Lord of both, He has 4.34.04:105
finally displayed the plough, in that the wood has been joined on to the iron, and it 4.34.04:106
has thus cleansed His land because the Word having been firmly united to flesh, and 4.34.04:107
in its mechanism fixed with pins, has reclaimed the savage earth. In the beginning, 4.34.04:108
He figured forth the pruning-hook by means of Abel, pointing out that there should 4.34.04:109
be a gathering in of a righteous race of men. He says, "For behold how the just 4.34.04:110
man perishes, and no man considers it; and righteous men are taken away, and no man 4.34.04:111
layeth it to heart." These things were acted beforehand in Abel, were also previously 4.34.04:114
declared by the prophets, but were accomplished in the Lord's person; and the 4.34.04:115
same [is still true] with regard to us, the body following the example of the Head. 4.34.04:116
5. Such are the arguments proper [to be used] in opposition to those who maintain 4.34.05:118
that the prophets [were inspired] by a different God, and that our Lord [came] from 4.34.05:119
another Father, if perchance [these heretics] may at length desist from such 4.34.05:120
extreme folly. This is my earnest object in adducing these Scriptural proofs, that 4.34.05:121
confuting them, as far as in me lies, by these very passages, I may restrain them 4.34.05:122
from such great blasphemy, and from insanely fabricating a multitude of gods. 4.34.05:123
1. Then again, in opposition to the Valentinians, and the other Gnostics, falsely 4.35.01:001
so called, who maintain that some parts of Scripture were spoken at one time 4.35.01:002
from the Pleroma (a summitate) through means of the seed [derived] from that place, 4.35.01:003
but at another time from the intermediate abode through means of the audacious 4.35.01:004
mother Prunica, but that many are due to the Creator of the world, from whom IrnL.AH.4.35.01:005
also the prophets had their mission, we say that it is altogether irrational 4.35.01:006
to bring down the Father of the universe to such straits, as that He should not 4.35.01:007
be possessed of His own proper instruments, by which the things in the Pleroma 4.35.01:010
might be perfectly proclaimed. For of whom was He afraid, so that He should 4.35.01:011
not reveal His will after His own way and independently, freely, and without being 4.35.01:012
involved with that spirit which came into being in a state of degeneracy and 4.35.01:013
ignorance? Was it that He feared that very many would be saved, when more should 4.35.01:014
have listened to the unadulterated truth? Or, on the other hand, was He incapable 4.35.01:015
of preparing for Himself those who should announce the Saviour's advent? 4.35.01:016
2. But if, when the Saviour came to this earth, He sent His apostles into the world 4.35.02:017
to proclaim with accuracy His advent, and to teach the Father's will, having IrnL.AH.4.35.02:018
nothing in common with the doctrine of the Gentiles or of the Jews, much more, 4.35.02:019
while yet existing in the Pleroma, would He have appointed His own heralds to proclaim 4.35.02:020
His future advent into this world, and having nothing in common with those IrnL.AH.4.35.02:021
prophecies originating from the Demiurge. But if, when within the Pleroma, He availed IrnL.AH.4.35.02:022
Himself of those prophets who were under the law, and declared His own matters 4.35.02:024
through their instrumentality; much more would He, upon His arrival hither, 4.35.02:025
have made use of these same teachers, and have preached the Gospel to us by their IrnL.AH.4.35.02:026
means. Therefore let them not any longer assert that Peter and Paul and the IrnL.AH.4.35.02:027
other apostles proclaimed the truth, but that it was the scribes and Pharisees, 4.35.02:028
and the others, through whom the law was propounded. But if, at His advent, He sent 4.35.02:031
forth His own apostles in the spirit of truth, and not in that of error, He did 4.35.02:032
the very same also in the case of the prophets; for the Word of God was always 4.35.02:033
the self-same: and if the Spirit from the Pleroma was, according to these men's 4.35.02:035
system, the Spirit of light, the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of perfection, and 4.35.02:036
the Spirit of knowledge, while that from the Demiurge was the spirit of ignorance, 4.35.02:037
degeneracy, and error, and the offspring of obscurity; how can it be, that 4.35.02:038
in one and the same being there exists perfection and defect, knowledge and ignorance, 4.35.02:039
error and truth, light and darkness? But if it was impossible that such should 4.35.02:040
happen in the case of the prophets, for they preached the word of the Lord 4.35.02:042
from one God, and proclaimed the advent of His Son, much more would the Lord Himself 4.35.02:043
never have uttered words, on one occasion from above, but on another from degeneracy 4.35.02:044
below, thus becoming the teacher at once of knowledge and of ignorance; 4.35.02:045
nor would He have ever glorified as Father at one time the Founder of the world, 4.35.02:046
and at another Him who is above this one, as He does Himself declare: "No man 4.35.02:047
putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old one, nor do they put new wine into 4.35.02:048
old bottles." Let these men, therefore, either have nothing whatever to do with 4.35.02:049
the prophets, as with those that are ancients, and allege no longer that these men, 4.35.02:052
being sent beforehand by the Demiurge, spake certain things under that new influence IrnL.AH.4.35.02:053
which pertains to the Pleroma; or, on the other hand, let them be convinced 4.35.02:054
by our Lord, when He declares that new wine cannot be put into old bottles. IrnL.AH.4.35.02:055
3. But from what source could the offspring of their mother derive his knowledge of the IrnL.AH.4.35.03:058
mysteries within the Pleroma, and power to discourse regarding them? Suppose that the mother, 4.35.03:059
while beyond the Pleroma, did bring forth this very offspring; but what is beyond the 4.35.03:060
Pleroma they represent as being beyond the pale of knowledge, that is, ignorance. How, 4.35.03:061
then, could that seed, which was conceived in ignorance, possess the power of declaring 4.35.03:062
knowledge ? Or how did the mother herself, a shapeless and undefined being, one cast out 4.35.03:063
of doors as an abortion, obtain knowledge of the mysteries within the Pleroma, she who 4.35.03:064
was organized outside it and given a form there, and prohibited by Horos from entering within, 4.35.03:065
and who remains outside the Pleroma till the consummation [of all things], that is, 4.35.03:066
beyond the pale of knowledge? Then, again, when they say that the Lord's passion is a 4.35.03:070
type of the extension of the Christ above, which he effected through Horos, and so imparted 4.35.03:071
a form to their mother, they are refuted in the other particulars [of the Lord's passion], 4.35.03:072
for they have no semblance of a type to show with regard to them. For when did the 4.35.03:074
Christ above have vinegar and gall given him to drink? Or when was his raiment parted? Or 4.35.03:075
when was he pierced, and blood and water came forth? Or when did he sweat great drops of 4.35.03:076
blood? And [the same may be demanded] as to the other particulars which happened to the 4.35.03:077
Lord, of which the prophets have spoken. From whence, then, did the mother or her offspring 4.35.03:078
divine the things which had not yet taken place, but which should occur afterwards? 4.35.03:079
4. They affirm that certain things still, besides these, were spoken from the Pleroma, 4.35.04:081
but are confuted by those which are referred to in the Scriptures as beating on the 4.35.04:082
advent of Christ. But what these are [that are spoken from the Pleroma] they are not 4.35.04:083
agreed, but give different answers regarding them. For if any one, wishing to test them, IrnL.AH.4.35.04:084
do question one by one with regard to any passage those who are their leading men, 4.35.04:085
he shall find one of them referring the passage in question to the Propator--that is, 4.35.04:086
to Bythus; another attributing it to Arche--that is, to the Only-begotten; another 4.35.04:087
to the Father of all--that is, to the Word; while another, again, will say that it was 4.35.04:088
spoken of that one iron who was [formed from the joint contributions] of the Aeons in 4.35.04:089
the Pleroma; others [will regard the passage] as referring to Christ, while another 4.35.04:090
[will refer it] to the Saviour. One, again, more skilled than these, after a long protracted IrnL.AH.4.35.04:091
silence, declares that it was spoken of Horos; another that it signifies the 4.35.04:092
Sophia which is within the Pleroma; another that it announces the mother outside the 4.35.04:093
Pleroma; while another will mention the God who made the world (the Demiurge). Such are 4.35.04:098
the variations existing among them with regard to one [passage], holding discordant 4.35.04:099
opinions as to the same Scriptures; and when the same identical passage is read out, IrnL.AH.4.35.04:100
they all begin to purse up their eyebrows, and to shake their heads, and they say that IrnL.AH.4.35.04:101
they might indeed utter a discourse transcendently lofty, but that all cannot comprehend 4.35.04:102
the greatness of that thought which is implied in it; and that, therefore, among 4.35.04:103
the wise the chief thing is silence. For that Sige (silence) which is above must be 4.35.04:104
typified by that silence which they preserve. Thus do they, as many as they are, all 4.35.04:106
depart [from each other], holding so many opinions as to one thing, and bearing about IrnL.AH.4.35.04:107
their clever notions in secret within themselves. When, therefore, they shall have agreed 4.35.04:109
among themselves as to the things predicted in the Scriptures, then also shall they 4.35.04:110
be confuted by us. For, though holding wrong opinions, they do in the meanwhile, 4.35.04:111
however, convict themselves, since they are not of one mind with regard to the same 4.35.04:112
words. But as we follow for our teacher the one and only true God, and possess His words 4.35.04:113
as the rule of truth8, we do all speak alike with regard to the same things, knowing 4.35.04:114
but one God, the Creator of this universe, who sent the prophets, who led forth the 4.35.04:115
people from the land of Egypt, who in these last times manifested His own Son, that 4.35.04:116
He might put the unbelievers to confusion, and search out the fruit of righteousness. 4.35.04:117
1. Which [God] the Lord does not reject, nor does He say that the prophets 4.36.01:001
[spake] from another god than His Father; nor from any other essence, but from 4.36.01:002
one and the same Father; nor that any other being made the things in the 4.36.01:003
world, except His own Father, when He speaks as follows in His teaching: "There 4.36.01:004
was a certain householder, and he planted a vineyard, and hedged it round 4.36.01:005
about, and digged in it a winepress, and built a tower, and let it out 4.36.01:006
to husbandmen, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit 4.36.01:008
drew near, he sent his servants unto the husbandmen, that they might receive 4.36.01:009
the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants: they cut one to 4.36.01:010
pieces, stoned another, and killed another. Again he sent other servants more 4.36.01:011
than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent 4.36.01:012
unto them his only son, saying, Perchance they will reverence my son. But when 4.36.01:013
the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; 4.36.01:014
come, let us kill him, and we shall possess his inheritance. And they caught 4.36.01:015
him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When, therefore, 4.36.01:016
the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do unto these husbandmen? 4.36.01:017
They say unto him, He will miserably destroy these wicked men, and will let 4.36.01:018
out his vineyard to other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their 4.36.01:019
season." Again does the Lord say: "Have ye never read, The stone which 4.36.01:020
the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the comer: this is the IrnL.AH.4.36.01:021
Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore I say unto you, 4.36.01:022
that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing 4.36.01:023
forth the fruits thereof." By these words He clearly points out to His 4.36.01:024
disciples one and the same Householder--that is, one God the Father, who IrnL.AH.4.36.01:025
made all things by Himself; while [He shows] that there are various husbandmen, 4.36.01:027
some obstinate, and proud, and worthless, and slayers of the Lord, but 4.36.01:028
others who render Him, with all obedience, the fruits in their seasons; and 4.36.01:029
that it is the same Householder who sends at one time His servants, at another 4.36.01:030
His Son. From that Father, therefore, from whom the Son was sent to those IrnL.AH.4.36.01:031
husbandmen who slew Him, from Him also were the servants [sent]. But the 4.36.01:032
Son, as coming from the Father with supreme authority (principali auctoritate), 4.36.01:034
used to express Himself thus: "But I say unto you." The servants, again, 4.36.01:035
[who came] as from their Lord, spake after the manner of servants, [delivering 4.36.01:036
a message]; and they therefore used to say, "Thus saith the Lord." 4.36.01:037
2. Whom these men did therefore preach to the unbelievers as Lord, Him did Christ 4.36.02:040
teach to those who obey Him; and the God who had called those of the former 4.36.02:041
dispensation, is the same as He who has received those of the latter. In other 4.36.02:042
words, He who at first used that law which entails bondage, is also He who IrnL.AH.4.36.02:043
did in after times [call His people] by means of adoption. For God planted 4.36.02:045
the vineyard of the human race when at the first He formed Adam and chose the 4.36.02:046
fathers; then He let it out to husbandmen when He established the Mosaic dispensation: 4.36.02:047
He hedged it round about, that is, He gave particular instructions with 4.36.02:048
regard to their worship: He built a tower, [that is], He chose Jerusalem: 4.36.02:049
He digged a winepress, that is, He prepared a receptacle of the prophetic Spirit. 4.36.02:050
And thus did He send prophets prior to the transmigration to Babylon, and 4.36.02:051
after that event others again in greater number than the former, to seek the 4.36.02:052
fruits, saying thus to them (the Jews): "Thus saith the Lord, Cleanse your ways 4.36.02:053
and your doings, execute just judgment, and look each one with pity and compassion IrnL.AH.4.36.02:054
on his brother: oppress not the widow nor the orphan, the proselyte 4.36.02:055
nor the poor, and let none of you treasure up evil against his brother in your IrnL.AH.4.36.02:056
hearts, and love not false swearing. Wash you, make you clean, put away evil 4.36.02:057
from your hearts, learn to do well, seek judgment, protect the oppressed, judge 4.36.02:058
the fatherless (purillo), plead for the widow; and come, let us reason together, 4.36.02:059
saith the Lord." And again: "Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that 4.36.02:060
they speak no guile; depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue IrnL.AH.4.36.02:067
it." In preaching these things, the prophets sought the fruits of righteousness. 4.36.02:068
But last of all He sent to those unbelievers His own Son, our Lord Jesus 4.36.02:069
Christ, whom the wicked husbandmen cast out of the vineyard when they had 4.36.02:071
slain Him. Wherefore the Lord God did even give it up (no longer hedged around, 4.36.02:072
but thrown open throughout all the world) to other husbandmen, who render the 4.36.02:073
fruits in their seasons,--the beautiful elect tower being also raised everywhere. 4.36.02:074
For the illustrious Church is [now] everywhere, and everywhere is the 4.36.02:077
winepress digged: because those who do receive the Spirit are everywhere. For 4.36.02:078
inasmuch as the former have rejected the Son of God, and cast Him out of the 4.36.02:079
vineyard when they slew Him, God has justly rejected them, and given to the Gentiles IrnL.AH.4.36.02:080
outside the vineyard the fruits of its cultivation. This is in accordance 4.36.02:081
with what Jeremiah says, "The Lord hath rejected and cast off the nation which 4.36.02:082
does these things; for the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, 4.36.02:083
saith the Lord." And again in like manner does Jeremiah speak: "I set watchmen 4.36.02:084
over you; hearken to the sound of the trumpet; and they said, We will not hearken. 4.36.02:085
Therefore have the Gentiles heard, and they who feed the flocks in them." 4.36.02:085
It is therefore one and the same Father who planted the vineyard, who led 4.36.02:086
forth the people, who sent the prophets, who sent His own Son, and who gave the 4.36.02:087
vineyard to those other husbandmen that render the fruits in their season. 4.36.02:088
3. And therefore did the Lord say to His disciples, to make us become good workmen: IrnL.AH.4.36.03:091
"Take heed to yourselves, and watch continually upon every occasion, lest at 4.36.03:092
any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of 4.36.03:093
this life, and that day shall come upon you unawares; for as a snare shall it 4.36.03:094
come upon all dwelling upon the face of the earth." "Let your loins, therefore, 4.36.03:095
be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye like to men who wait for their lord, 4.36.03:097
when he shall return from the wedding." "For as it was in the days of Noe, 4.36.03:098
they did eat and drink, they bought and sold, they married and were given in marriage, IrnL.AH.4.36.03:099
and they knew not, until Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came and 4.36.03:100
destroyed them all; as also it was in the days of Lot, they did eat and drink, they 4.36.03:101
bought and sold, they planted and builded, until the time that Lot went out 4.36.03:102
of Sodom; it rained fire from heaven, and destroyed them all: so shall it also be 4.36.03:103
at the coming of the Son of man." "Watch ye therefore, for ye know not in what 4.36.03:104
day your Lord shall come." [In these passages] He declares one and the same Lord, 4.36.03:105
who in the times of Noah brought the deluge because of mews disobedience, and 4.36.03:106
who also in the days of Lot rained fire from heaven because of the multitude of sinners IrnL.AH.4.36.03:107
among the Sodomites, and who, on account of this same disobedience and similar 4.36.03:108
sins, will bring on the day of judgment at the end of time (in novissimo); 4.36.03:109
on which day He declares that it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah 4.36.03:110
than for that city and house which shall not receive the word of His apostles. "And 4.36.03:111
thou, Capernaum," He said, "is it that thou shalt be exalted to heaven? Thou 4.36.03:118
shalt go down to hell. For if the mighty works which have been done in thee had 4.36.03:118
been done in Sodom, it would have remained unto this day. Verily I say unto you, 4.36.03:119
that it shall be more tolerable for Sodom in the day of judgment than for you." 4.36.03:120
4. Since the Son of God is always one and the same, He gives to those who believe on Him a well 4.36.04:121
of water [springing up] to eternal life, but He causes the unfruitful fig-tree immediately to 4.36.04:122
dry up; and in the days of Noah He justly brought on the deluge for the purpose of extinguishing 4.36.04:123
that most infamous race of men then existent, who could not bring forth fruit to God, since 4.36.04:124
the angels that sinned had commingled with them, and [acted as He did] in order that He might 4.36.04:125
put a check upon the sins of these men, but [that at the same time] He might preserve the 4.36.04:126
archetype, the formation of Adam. And it was He who rained fire and brimstone from heaven, in 4.36.04:127
the days of Lot, upon Sodom and Gomorrah, "an example of the righteous judgment of God," that 4.36.04:128
all may know, "that every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and cast 4.36.04:129
into the fire." And it is He who uses [the words], that it will be more tolerable for Sodom in 4.36.04:130
the general judgment than for those who beheld His wonders, and did not believe on Him, nor 4.36.04:131
receive His doctrine? For as He gave by His advent a greater privilege to those who believed on 4.36.04:137
Him, and who do His will, so also did He point out that those who did not believe on Him should 4.36.04:138
have a more severe punishment in the judgment; thus extending equal justice to all, and being 4.36.04:139
to exact more from those to whom He gives the more; the more, however, not because He reveals 4.36.04:140
the knowledge of another Father, as I have shown so fully and so repeatedly, but because 4.36.04:141
He has, by means of His advent, poured upon the human race the greater gift of paternal grace. 4.36.04:142
5. If, however, what I have stated be insufficient to convince any one that the 4.36.05:146
prophets were sent from one and the same Father, from whom also our Lord was 4.36.05:147
sent, let such a one, opening the mouth of his heart, and calling upon the Master, 4.36.05:148
Christ Jesus the Lord, listen to Him when He says, "The kingdom of heaven 4.36.05:149
is like unto a king who made a marriage for his son, and he sent forth his servants 4.36.05:150
to call them who were bidden to the marriage." And when they would not 4.36.05:152
obey, He goes on to say, "Again he sent other servants, saying, Tell them that 4.36.05:153
are bidden, Come ye, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and all the fallings 4.36.05:154
are killed, and everything is ready; come unto the wedding. But they made light 4.36.05:156
of it, and went their way, some to their farm, and others to their merchandise; 4.36.05:157
but the remnant took his servants, and some they treated despitefully, while 4.36.05:158
others they slew. But when the king heard this, he was wroth, and sent his armies 4.36.05:160
and destroyed these murderers, and burned up their city, and said to his 4.36.05:161
servants, The wedding is indeed ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. 4.36.05:162
Go out therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, gather 4.36.05:163
in to the marriage. So the servants went out, and collected together as many IrnL.AH.4.36.05:165
as they found, bad and good, and the wedding was furnished with guests. But when 4.36.05:166
the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man not having on a wedding 4.36.05:167
garment; and he said unto him, Friend, how camest thou hither, not having 4.36.05:168
on a wedding garment? But he was speechless. Then said the king to his servants, 4.36.05:169
Take him away, hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness: there shall IrnL.AH.4.36.05:170
be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen." Now, 4.36.05:171
by these words of His, does the Lord clearly show all [these points, viz.,] 4.36.05:172
that there is one King and Lord, the Father of all, of whom He had previously 4.36.05:173
said, "Neither shalt thou swear by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great 4.36.05:175
King;" and that He had from the beginning prepared the marriage for His Son, 4.36.05:176
and used, with the utmost kindness, to call, by the instrumentality of His servants, 4.36.05:177
the men of the former dispensation to the wedding feast; and when they would 4.36.05:178
not obey, He still invited them by sending out other servants, yet that even IrnL.AH.4.36.05:179
then they did not obey Him, but even stoned and slew those who brought them 4.36.05:180
the message of invitation. He accordingly sent forth His armies and destroyed 4.36.05:181
them, and burned down their city; but He called together from all the highways, 4.36.05:182
that is, from all nations, [guests] to the marriage feast of His Son, as also 4.36.05:183
He says by Jeremiah: "I have sent also unto you my servants the prophets to 4.36.05:187
say, Return ye now, every man, from his very evil way, and amend your doings." 4.36.05:188
And again He says by the same prophet: "I have also sent unto you my servants 4.36.05:190
the prophets throughout the day and before the light; yet they did not obey 4.36.05:191
me, nor incline their ears unto me. And thou shall speak this word to them: ôThis 4.36.05:192
is a people that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord, nor receiveth correction; 4.36.05:193
faith has perished from their mouth." The Lord, therefore, who has called 4.36.05:194
us everywhere by the apostles, is He who called those of old by the prophets, 4.36.05:195
as appears by the words of the Lord; and although they preached to various nations, 4.36.05:196
the prophets were not from one God, and the apostles from another; but, 4.36.05:197
[proceeding] from one and the same, some of them announced the Lord, others preached 4.36.05:198
the Father, and others again foretold the advent of the Son of God, while 4.36.05:199
yet others declared Him as already present to those who then were afar off. IrnL.AH.4.36.05:200
6. Still further did He also make it manifest, that we ought, after our 4.36.06:205
calling, to be also adorned with works of righteousness, so that the Spirit 4.36.06:206
of God may rest upon us; for this is the wedding garment, of which 4.36.06:207
also the apostle speaks, "Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed 4.36.06:208
upon, that mortality might be swallowed up by immortality." But those 4.36.06:210
who have indeed been called to God's supper, yet have not received the 4.36.06:211
Holy Spirit, because of their wicked conduct "shall be," He declares, "cast 4.36.06:212
into outer darkness." He thus clearly shows that the very same King 4.36.06:213
who gathered from all quarters the faithful to the marriage of His Son, 4.36.06:214
and who grants them the incorruptible banquet, [also] orders that man to 4.36.06:215
be cast into outer darkness who has not on a wedding garment, that is, 4.36.06:217
one who despises it. For as in the former covenant, "with many of them 4.36.06:218
was He not well pleased;" so also is it the case here, that "many are called, 4.36.06:219
but few chosen." It is not, then, one God who judges, and another 4.36.06:220
Father who calls us together to salvation; nor one, forsooth, who confers 4.36.06:221
eternal light, but another who orders those who have not on the wedding 4.36.06:222
garment to be sent into outer darkness. But it is one and the same God, 4.36.06:223
the Father of our Lord, from whom also the prophets had their mission, 4.36.06:224
who does indeed, through His infinite kindness, call the unworthy; but 4.36.06:225
He examines those who are called, [to ascertain] if they have on the garment 4.36.06:229
fit and proper for the marriage of His Son, because nothing unbecoming 4.36.06:230
or evil pleases Him. This is in accordance with what the Lord said 4.36.06:231
to the man who had been healed: "Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, 4.36.06:232
lest a worse thing come unto thee." For he who is good, and righteous, 4.36.06:234
and pure, and spotless, will endure nothing evil, nor unjust, nor detestable 4.36.06:235
in His wedding chamber. This is the Father of our Lord, by whose 4.36.06:236
providence all things consist, and all are administered by His command; 4.36.06:237
and He confers His free gifts upon those who should [receive them]; 4.36.06:238
but the most righteous Retributor metes out [punishment] according to their 4.36.06:239
deserts, most deservedly, to the ungrateful and to those that are insensible IrnL.AH.4.36.06:240
of His kindness; and therefore does He say, "He sent His armies, 4.36.06:241
and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city." He says here, 4.36.06:243
"His armies," because all men are the property of God. For "the earth 4.36.06:244
is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all that dwell therein." 4.36.06:245
Wherefore also the Apostle Paul says in the Epistle to the Romans, 4.36.06:245
"For there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained 4.36.06:246
of God. Whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and IrnL.AH.4.36.06:247
they that resist shall receive unto themselves condemnation. For rulers 4.36.06:248
are not for a terror to a good work, but to an evil. Wilt thou then not 4.36.06:249
be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise 4.36.06:250
of the same; for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if 4.36.06:251
thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in 4.36.06:251
vain: for he is the minister of God, the avenger for wrath upon him that 4.36.06:252
doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but 4.36.06:253
also for conscience sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also; for they 4.36.06:254
are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing." Both 4.36.06:255
the Lord, then, and the apostles announce as the one only God the Father, IrnL.AH.4.36.06:255
Him who gave the law, who sent the prophets, who made all things; and 4.36.06:256
therefore does, He say, "He sent His armies," because every man, inasmuch 4.36.06:258
as he is a man, is His workmanship, although he may be ignorant of 4.36.06:259
his God. For He gives existence to all; He, "who maketh His sun to rise 4.36.06:261
upon the evil and the good, and sendeth rain upon the just and unjust." 4.36.06:262
7. And not alone by what has been stated, but also by the parable of the two sons, 4.36.07:264
the younger of whom consumed his substance by living luxuriously with harlots, 4.36.07:265
did the Lord teach one and the same Father, who did not even allow a kid to his 4.36.07:266
elder son; but for him who had been lost, [namely] his younger son, he ordered 4.36.07:267
the fatted calf to be killed, and he gave him the best robe. Also by the parable 4.36.07:268
of the workmen who were sent into the vineyard at different periods of the 4.36.07:272
day, one and the same God is declared as having called some in the beginning, when IrnL.AH.4.36.07:273
the world was first created; but others afterwards, and others during the intermediate 4.36.07:274
period, others after a long lapse of time, and others again in the end 4.36.07:275
of lime; so that there are many workmen in their generations, but only one householder IrnL.AH.4.36.07:276
who calls them together. For there is but one vineyard, since there is 4.36.07:277
also but one righteousness, and one dispensator, for there is one Spirit of God 4.36.07:279
who arranges all things; and in like manner is there one hire, for they all received 4.36.07:280
a penny each man, having [stamped upon it] the royal image and superscription, 4.36.07:281
the knowledge of the Son of God, which is immortality. And therefore He began 4.36.07:282
by giving the hire to those [who were engaged] last, because in the last times, 4.36.07:284
when 'the Lord was revealed He presented Himself to all [as their reward]. 4.36.07:285
8. Then, in the case of the publican, who excelled the Pharisee in prayer, [we find] that IrnL.AH.4.36.08:288
it was not because he worshipped another Father that he received testimony from the IrnL.AH.4.36.08:289
Lord that he was justified rather [than the other]; but because with great humility, apart IrnL.AH.4.36.08:290
from all boasting and pride, he made confession to the same God. The parable of the IrnL.AH.4.36.08:291
two sons also: those who are sent into the vineyard, of whom one indeed opposed his father, 4.36.08:294
but afterwards repented, when repentance profited him nothing; the other, however, 4.36.08:295
promised to go, at once assuring his father, but he did not go (for "every man is a liar;" IrnL.AH.4.36.08:296
"to will is present with him, but he finds not means to perform"),--[this parable, 4.36.08:297
I say], points out one and the same Father. Then, again, this truth was clearly shown 4.36.08:298
forth by the parable of the fig-tree, of which the Lord says, "Behold, now these three 4.36.08:301
years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, but I find none" (pointing onwards, by the 4.36.08:302
prophets, to His advent, by whom He came from time to time, seeking the fruit of righteousness 4.36.08:303
from them, which he did not find), and also by the circumstance that, for the IrnL.AH.4.36.08:304
reason already mentioned, the fig-tree should be hewn down. And, without using a parable, 4.36.08:305
the Lord said to Jerusalem, 'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, 4.36.08:308
and stonest those that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children IrnL.AH.4.36.08:309
together, as a hen gathereth her chickens trader her wings, and ye would not! Behold, IrnL.AH.4.36.08:310
your house shall be left unto you desolate." For that which had been said in the parable, 4.36.08:312
"Behold, for three years I come seeking fruit," and in clear terms, again, [where 4.36.08:313
He says]," How often would I have gathered thy children together," shall be [found] a 4.36.08:314
falsehood, if we do not understand His advent, which is [announced] by the prophets--if, 4.36.08:315
in fact, He came to them but once, and then for the first time. But since He who chose IrnL.AH.4.36.08:316
the patriarchs and those [who lived under the first covenant], is the same Word of God IrnL.AH.4.36.08:317
who did both visit them through the prophetic Spirit, and us also who have been called IrnL.AH.4.36.08:318
together from all quarters by His advent; in addition to what has been already said, 4.36.08:319
He truly declared, "Many shall come from the east and from the west, and shall recline 4.36.08:320
with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom 4.36.08:321
shall go into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." If, 4.36.08:322
then, those who do believe in Him through the preaching of His apostles throughout the 4.36.08:324
east and west shall recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven, 4.36.08:325
partaking with them of the [heavenly] banquet, one and the same God is set forth as He 4.36.08:326
who did indeed choose the patriarchs, visited also the people, and called the Gentiles. 4.36.08:327
1. This expression [of our Lord], "How often would I have gathered thy children 4.37.01:001
together, and thou wouldest not," set forth the ancient law of human liberty, because 4.37.01:002
God made man a free [agent] from the beginning, possessing his own power, even 4.37.01:003
as he does his own soul, to obey the behests (ad utendum sententia) of God voluntarily, 4.37.01:004
and not by compulsion of God. For there is no coercion with God, but 4.37.01:006
a good will [towards us] is present with Him continually. And therefore does He 4.37.01:007
give good counsel to all. And in man, as well as in angels, He has placed the power 4.37.01:008
of choice (for angels are rational beings), so that those who had yielded obedience 4.37.01:009
might justly possess what is good, given indeed by God, but preserved by 4.37.01:010
themselves. On the other hand, they who have not obeyed shall, with justice, be 4.37.01:011
not found in possession of the good, and shall receive condign punishment: for God 4.37.01:012
did kindly bestow on them what was good; but they themselves did not diligently 4.37.01:013
keep it, nor deem it something precious, but poured contempt upon His super-eminent IrnL.AH.4.37.01:017
goodness. Rejecting therefore the good, and as it were spuing it out, they 4.37.01:018
shall all deservedly incur the just judgment of God, which also the Apostle Paul 4.37.01:019
testifies in his Epistle to the Romans, where he says, "But dost thou despise 4.37.01:020
the riches of His goodness, and patience, and long-suffering, being ignorant that 4.37.01:021
the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But according to thy hardness 4.37.01:022
and impenitent heart, thou treasurest to thyself wrath against the day of wrath, 4.37.01:023
and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God." "But glory and honour," he 4.37.01:025
says, "to every one that doeth good." God therefore has given that which is good, 4.37.01:026
as the apostle tells us in this Epistle, and they who work it shall receive glory 4.37.01:027
and honour, because they have done that which is good when they had it in their 4.37.01:028
power not to do it; but those who do it not shall receive the just judgment 4.37.01:029
of God, because they did not work good when they had it in their power so to do. 4.37.01:030
2. But if some had been made by nature bad, and others good, these latter would not be deserving 4.37.02:032
of praise for being good, for such were they created; nor would the former be reprehensible, 4.37.02:033
for thus they were made [originally]. But since all men are of the same nature, 4.37.02:034
able both to hold fast and to do what is good; and, on the other hand, having also the 4.37.02:035
power to cast it from them and not to do it,--some do justly receive praise even among men 4.37.02:036
who are under the control of good laws (and much more from God), and obtain deserved testimony 4.37.02:037
of their choice of good in general, and of persevering therein; but the others are 4.37.02:038
blamed, and receive a just condemnation, because of their rejection of what is fair and IrnL.AH.4.37.02:039
good. And therefore the prophets used to exhort men to what was good, to act justly and 4.37.02:043
to work righteousness, as I have so largely demonstrated, because it is in our power so to 4.37.02:044
do, and because by excessive negligence we might become forgetful, and thus stand in need 4.37.02:045
of that good counsel which the good God has given us to know by means of the prophets. 4.37.02:046
3. For this reason the Lord also said, "Let your light so shine before 4.37.03:049
men, that they may see your good deeds, and glorify your Father who 4.37.03:050
is in heaven." And, "Take heed to yourselves, lest perchance your 4.37.03:051
hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and worldly 4.37.03:051
cares." And, "Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning, 4.37.03:052
and ye like unto men that wait for their Lord, when He returns from 4.37.03:053
the wedding, that when He cometh and knocketh, they may open to Him. 4.37.03:054
Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when He cometh, shall find 4.37.03:055
so doing." And again, "The servant who knows his Lord's will, and 4.37.03:057
does it not, shall be beaten with many stripes." And, "Why call ye me, 4.37.03:058
Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" And again, "But if 4.37.03:059
the servant say in his heart, The Lord delayeth, and begin to beat 4.37.03:059
his fellow-servants, and to eat, and drink, and to be drunken, his 4.37.03:060
Lord will come in a day on which he does not expect Him, and shall cut 4.37.03:061
him in sunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites." All 4.37.03:062
such passages demonstrate the independent will of man, and at the same 4.37.03:063
time the counsel which God conveys to him, by which He exhorts us 4.37.03:065
to submit ourselves to Him, and seeks to turn us away from [the sin 4.37.03:066
of] unbelief against Him, without, however, in any way coercing us. 4.37.03:067
4. No doubt, if any one is unwilling to follow the Gospel itself, it is in 4.37.04:069
his power [to reject it], but it is not expedient. For it is in man's power 4.37.04:070
to disobey God, and to forfeit what is good; but [such conduct] brings 4.37.04:070
no small amount of injury and mischief. And on this account Paul says, 4.37.04:071
"All things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient;" referring 4.37.04:073
both to the liberty of man, in which respect "all things are lawful," God 4.37.04:074
exercising no compulsion in regard to him; and [by the expression] "not 4.37.04:075
expedient" pointing out that we "should not use our liberty as a cloak of 4.37.04:076
maliciousness,. for this is not expedient. And again he says, "Speak ye 4.37.04:077
every man truth with his neighbour." And, "Let no corrupt communication 4.37.04:078
proceed out of your mouth, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor scurrility, 4.37.04:079
which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks." And, "For 4.37.04:081
ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk honestly 4.37.04:082
as children of the light, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering 4.37.04:083
and wantonness, not in anger and jealousy. And such were some of 4.37.04:084
you; but ye have been washed, but ye have been sanctified in the name of 4.37.04:085
our Lord." If then it were not in our power to do or not to do these things, 4.37.04:086
what reason had the apostle, and much more the Lord Himself, to give 4.37.04:087
us counsel to do some things, and to abstain from others? But because man 4.37.04:088
is possessed of free will from the beginning, and God is possessed of free 4.37.04:090
will, in whose likeness man was created, advice is always given to him 4.37.04:091
to keep fast the good, which thing is done by means of obedience to God. 4.37.04:092
5. And not merely in works, but also in faith, has God preserved the will of 4.37.05:094
man free and under his own control, saying, "According to thy faith 520be it 4.37.05:095
unto thee; " thus showing that there is a faith specially belonging to man, 4.37.05:096
since he has an opinion specially his own. And again, "All things are possible 4.37.05:098
to him that believeth;" and, "Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be 4.37.05:099
it done unto thee." Now all such expressions demonstrate that man is in his own 4.37.05:099
power with respect to faith. And for this reason, "he that believeth in 4.37.05:100
Him has eternal life while he who believeth not the Son hath not eternal life, IrnL.AH.4.37.05:101
but the wrath of God shall remain upon him." In the same manner therefore the 4.37.05:103
Lord, both showing His own goodness, and indicating that man is in his own IrnL.AH.4.37.05:104
free will and his own power, said to Jerusalem, "How often have I wished to 4.37.05:105
gather thy children together, as a hen [gathereth] her chickens under her wings, 4.37.05:106
and ye would not! Wherefore your house shall be left unto you desolate." 4.37.05:108
6. Those, again, who maintain the opposite to these ['conclusions], do themselves present the 4.37.06:108
Lord as destitute of power, as if, forsooth, He were unable to accomplish what He willed; or, 4.37.06:109
on the other hand, as being ignorant that they were by nature "material," as these men express 4.37.06:110
it, and such as cannot receive His immortality. "But He should not," say they, "have created 4.37.06:111
angels of such a nature that they were capable of transgression, nor men who immediately proved 4.37.06:114
ungrateful towards Him; for they were made rational beings, endowed with the power of examining 4.37.06:115
and judging, and were not [formed] as things irrational or of a [merely] animal nature, which 4.37.06:116
can do nothing of their own will, but are drawn by necessity and compulsion to what is good, 4.37.06:117
in which things there is one mind and one usage, working mechanically in one groove (inflexibiles 4.37.06:118
el sine judicio), who are incapable of being anything else except just what they had been 4.37.06:119
created." But upon this supposition, neither would what is good be grateful to them, nor communion 4.37.06:123
with God be precious, nor would the good be very much to be sought after, which would present 4.37.06:124
itself without their own proper endeavour, care, or study, but would be implanted of its IrnL.AH.4.37.06:125
own accord and without their concern. Thus it would come to pass, that their being good would 4.37.06:126
be of no consequence, because they were so by nature rather than by will, and are possessors 4.37.06:127
of good spontaneously, not by choice; and for this reason they would not understand this fact, 4.37.06:128
that good is a comely thing, nor would they take pleasure in it. For how can those who are ignorant 4.37.06:131
of good enjoy it? Or what credit is it to those who have not aimed at it? And what crown 4.37.06:132
is it to those who have not followed in pursuit of it, like those victorious in the contest? IrnL.AH.4.37.06:133
7. On this account, too, did the Lord assert that the kingdom of heaven was the portion IrnL.AH.4.37.07:135
of "the violent;" and He says, "The violent take it by force;" that is, those 4.37.07:136
who by strength and earnest striving are on the watch to snatch it away on the moment. 4.37.07:137
On this account also Paul the Apostle says to the Corinthians, "Know ye not, 4.37.07:138
that they who run in a racecourse, do all indeed run, but one receiveth the prize? 4.37.07:139
So run, that ye may obtain. Every one also who engages in the contest is temperate 4.37.07:140
in all things: now these men do it that they may obtain a corruptible crown, but 4.37.07:141
we an incorruptible. But I so run, not as uncertainty; I fight, not as one beating 4.37.07:142
the air; but I make my body livid, and bring it into subjection, lest by any means, 4.37.07:143
when preaching to others, I may myself be rendered a castaway." This able wrestler, IrnL.AH.4.37.07:144
therefore, exhorts us to the struggle for immortality, that we may be crowned, IrnL.AH.4.37.07:145
and may deem the crown precious, namely, that which is acquired by our struggle, 4.37.07:146
but which does not encircle us of its own accord (sed non ultro coalitam). And 4.37.07:147
the harder we strive, so much is it the more valuable; while so much the more valuable IrnL.AH.4.37.07:148
it is, so much the more should we esteem it. And indeed those things are not esteemed 4.37.07:149
so highly which come spontaneously, as those which are reached by much anxious 4.37.07:152
care. Since, then, this power has been conferred upon us, both the Lord has taught 4.37.07:153
and the apostle has enjoined us the more to love God, that we may reach this 4.37.07:154
[prize] for ourselves by striving after it. For otherwise, no doubt, this our good 4.37.07:155
would be [virtually] irrational, because not the result of trial. Moreover, the 4.37.07:156
faculty of seeing would not appear to be so desirable, unless we had known what a 4.37.07:157
loss it were to be devoid of sight; and health, too, is rendered all the more estimable 4.37.07:158
by an acquaintance with disease; light, also, by contrasting it with darkness; 4.37.07:159
and life with death. Just in the same way is the heavenly kingdom honourable to 4.37.07:160
those who have known the earthly one. But in proportion as it is more honourable, 4.37.07:162
so much the more do we prize it; and if we have prized it more, we shall be the more 4.37.07:163
glorious in the presence of God. The Lord has therefore endured all these things 4.37.07:164
on our behalf, in order that we, having been instructed by means of them all, may 4.37.07:166
be in all respects circumspect for the time to come, and that, having been rationally 4.37.07:167
taught to love God, we may continue in His perfect love: for God has displayed 4.37.07:168
long-suffering in the case of man's apostasy; while man has been instructed by 4.37.07:169
means of it, as also the prophet says, "Thine own apostasy shall heal thee;" God thus 4.37.07:170
determining all things beforehand for the bringing of man to perfection, for his 4.37.07:171
edification, and for the revelation of His dispensations, that goodness may both 4.37.07:172
be made apparent, and righteousness perfected, and that the Church may be fashioned 4.37.07:173
after the image of His Son, and that man may finally be brought to maturity at 4.37.07:174
some future time, becoming ripe through such privileges to see and comprehend God. IrnL.AH.4.37.07:177
1. If, however, any one say, "What then? Could not God have exhibited man as 4.38.01:001
perfect from beginning?" let him know that, inasmuch as God is indeed always 4.38.01:002
the same and unbegotten as respects Himself, all things are possible to 4.38.01:003
Him. But created things must be inferior to Him who created them, from the 4.38.01:004
very fact of their later origin; for it was not possible for things recently 4.38.01:005
created to have been uncreated. But inasmuch as they are not uncreated, 4.38.01:007
for this very reason do they come short of the perfect. Because, as these 4.38.01:008
things are of later date, so are they infantile; so are they unaccustomed 4.38.01:009
to, and unexercised in, perfect discipline. For as it certainly is in the 4.38.01:010
power of a mother to give strong food to her infant, [but she does not do so], IrnL.AH.4.38.01:013
as the child is not yet able to receive more substantial nourishment; 4.38.01:014
so also it was possible for God Himself to have made man perfect from the first, 4.38.01:015
but man could not receive this [perfection], being as yet an infant. 4.38.01:016
And for this cause our Lord in these last times, when He had summed up all 4.38.01:018
things into Himself, came to us, not as He might have come, but as we were IrnL.AH.4.38.01:019
capable of beholding Him. He might easily have come to us in His immortal 4.38.01:020
glory, but in that case we could never have endured the greatness of the glory; 4.38.01:021
and therefore it was that He, who was the perfect bread of the Father, 4.38.01:022
offered Himself to us as milk, [because we were] as infants. He did this 4.38.01:023
when He appeared as a man, that we, being nourished, as it were, from the 4.38.01:024
breast of His flesh, and having, by such a course of milk nourishment, become 4.38.01:025
accustomed to eat and drink the Word of God, may be able also to contain 4.38.01:026
in ourselves the Bread of immortality, which is the Spirit of the Father. 4.38.01:027
2. And on this account does Paul declare to the Corinthians, "I have fed you with milk, not 4.38.02:030
with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it." That is, ye have indeed learned the advent 4.38.02:031
of our Lord as a man; nevertheless, because of your infirmity, the Spirit of the Father 4.38.02:032
has not as yet rested upon you. "For when envying and strife," he says, "and dissensions 4.38.02:033
are among you, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" That is, that the Spirit of the Father was 4.38.02:035
not yet with them, on account of their imperfection and shortcomings of their walk in life. 4.38.02:036
As, therefore, the apostle had the power to give them strong meat--for those upon whom the 4.38.02:037
apostles laid hands received the Holy Spirit, who is the food of life [eternal]--but they 4.38.02:039
were not capable of receiving it, because they had the sentient faculties of the soul still 4.38.02:040
feeble and undisciplined in the practice of things pertaining to God; so, in like manner, IrnL.AH.4.38.02:041
God had power at the beginning to grant perfection to man; but as the latter was only recently 4.38.02:042
created, he could not possibly have received it, or even if he had received it, could he IrnL.AH.4.38.02:043
have contained it, or containing it, could he have retained it. It was for this reason that IrnL.AH.4.38.02:044
the Son of God, although He was perfect, passed through the state of infancy in common with 4.38.02:047
the rest of mankind, partaking of it thus not for His own benefit, but for that of the infantile 4.38.02:048
stage of man's existence, in order that man might be able to receive Him. There was 4.38.02:049
nothing, therefore, impossible to and deficient in God, [implied in the fact] that man was 4.38.02:051
not an uncreated being; but this merely applied to him who was lately created, [namely] man. 4.38.02:052
3. With God there are simultaneously exhibited power, wisdom, and goodness. His power 4.38.03:054
and goodness [appear] in this, that of His own will He called into being and fashioned IrnL.AH.4.38.03:055
things having no previous existence; His wisdom [is shown] in His having made created 4.38.03:056
things parts of one harmonious and consistent whole; and those things which, through IrnL.AH.4.38.03:057
His super-eminent kindness, receive growth and a long period of existence, do reflect IrnL.AH.4.38.03:058
the glory of the uncreated One, of that God who bestows what is good ungrudgingly. For 4.38.03:059
from the very fact of these things having been created, [it follows] that they are not 4.38.03:061
uncreated; but by their continuing in being throughout a long course of ages, they 4.38.03:062
shall receive a faculty of the Uncreated, through the gratuitous bestowal of eternal existence 4.38.03:063
upon them by God. And thus in all things God has the pre-eminence, who alone 4.38.03:065
is uncreated, the first of all things, and the primary cause of the existence of all, 4.38.03:066
while all other things remain under God's subjection. But being in subjection to God 4.38.03:067
is continuance in immortality, and immortality is the glory of the uncreated One. By this 4.38.03:068
arrangement, therefore, and these harmonies, and a sequence of this nature, man, a 4.38.03:069
created and organized being, is rendered after the image and likeness of the uncreated IrnL.AH.4.38.03:070
God, the Father planning everything well and giving His commands, the Son carrying IrnL.AH.4.38.03:071
these into execution and performing the work of creating, and the Spirit nourishing and IrnL.AH.4.38.03:072
increasing [what is made], but man making progress day by day, and ascending towards 4.38.03:073
the perfect, that is, approximating to the uncreated One. For the Uncreated is perfect, 4.38.03:074
that is, God. Now it was necessary that man should in the first instance be created; 4.38.03:075
and having been created, should receive growth; and having received growth, should be 4.38.03:078
strengthened; and having been strengthened, should abound; and having abounded, should 4.38.03:079
recover [from the disease of sin]; and having recovered, should be glorified; and 4.38.03:080
being glorified, should see his Lord. For God is He who is yet to be seen, and the beholding 4.38.03:081
of God is productive of immortality, but immortality renders one nigh unto God. 4.38.03:082
4. Irrational, therefore, in every respect, are they who await not the time of increase, 4.38.04:085
but ascribe to God the infirmity of their nature. Such persons know neither 4.38.04:086
God nor themselves, being insatiable and ungrateful, unwilling to be at the outset 4.38.04:087
what they have also been created--men subject to passions; but go beyond the law 4.38.04:088
of the human race, and before that they become men, they wish to be even now like 4.38.04:089
God their Creator, and they who are more destitute of reason than dumb animals [insist] 4.38.04:090
that there is no distinction between the uncreated God and man, a creature of 4.38.04:091
to-day. For these, [the dumb animals], bring no charge against God for not having 4.38.04:094
made them men; but each one, just as he has been created, gives thanks that he has IrnL.AH.4.38.04:095
been created. For we cast blame upon Him, because we have not been made gods from 4.38.04:096
the beginning, but at first merely men, then at length gods; although God has adopted 4.38.04:097
this course out of His pure benevolence, that no one may impute to Him invidiousness 4.38.04:098
or grudgingness. He declares, "I have said, Ye are gods; and ye are all sons 4.38.04:099
of the Highest." But since we could not sustain the power of divinity, He adds, 4.38.04:100
"But ye shall die like men," setting forth both truths--the kindness of His free 4.38.04:101
gift, and our weakness, and also that we were possessed of power over ourselves. 4.38.04:102
For after His great kindness He graciously conferred good [upon us], and made men 4.38.04:105
like to Himself, [that is] in their own power; while at the same time by His prescience 4.38.04:106
He knew the infirmity of human beings, and the consequences which would flow 4.38.04:107
from it; but through [His] love and [His] power, He shall overcome the substance 4.38.04:108
of created nature. For it was necessary, at first, that nature should be exhibited; 4.38.04:110
then, after that, that what was mortal should be conquered and swallowed up by immortality, 4.38.04:111
and the corruptible by incorruptibility, and that man should be made after 4.38.04:112
the image and likeness of God, having received the knowledge of good and evil. 4.38.04:114
1. Man has received the knowledge of good and evil. It is good to obey God, and to 4.39.01:001
believe in Him, and to keep His commandment, and this is the life of man; as not 4.39.01:002
to obey God is evil, and this is his death. Since God, therefore, gave [to man] 4.39.01:003
such mental power (magnanimitatem) man knew both the good of obedience and the evil 4.39.01:004
of disobedience, that the eye of the mind, receiving experience of both, may with 4.39.01:005
judgment make choice of the better things; and that he may never become indolent 4.39.01:006
or neglectful of God's command; and learning by experience that it is an evil 4.39.01:007
thing which deprives him of life, that is, disobedience to God, may never attempt 4.39.01:008
it at all, but that, knowing that what preserves his life, namely, obedience to God, 4.39.01:009
is good, he may diligently keep it with all earnestness. Wherefore he has also 4.39.01:010
had a twofold experience, possessing knowledge of both kinds, that with discipline 4.39.01:011
he may make choice of the better things. But how, if he had no knowledge of the 4.39.01:014
contrary, could he have had instruction in that which is good? For there is thus 4.39.01:015
a surer and an undoubted comprehension of matters submitted to us than the mere 4.39.01:016
surmise arising from an opinion regarding them. For just as the tongue receives experience 4.39.01:017
of sweet and bitter by means of tasting, and the eye discriminates between IrnL.AH.4.39.01:018
black and white by means of vision, and the ear recognises the distinctions of 4.39.01:020
sounds by hearing; so also does the mind, receiving through the experience of both 4.39.01:021
the knowledge of what is good, become more tenacious of its preservation, by acting 4.39.01:022
in obedience to God: in the first place, casting away, by means of repentance, 4.39.01:023
disobedience, as being something disagreeable and nauseous; and afterwards coming 4.39.01:024
to understand what it really is, that it is contrary to goodness and sweetness, 4.39.01:025
so that the mind may never even attempt to taste disobedience to God. But if any 4.39.01:026
one do shun the knowledge of both these kinds of things, and the twofold perception 4.39.01:030
of knowledge, he unawares divests himself of the character of a human being. 4.39.01:031
2. How, then, shall he be a God, who has not as yet been made a man? Or 4.39.02:033
how can he be perfect who was but lately created? How, again, can he be 4.39.02:034
immortal, who in his mortal nature did not obey his Maker? For it must 4.39.02:035
be that thou, at the outset, shouldest hold the rank of a man, and then 4.39.02:036
afterwards partake of the glory of God. For thou dost not make God, but 4.39.02:037
God thee. If, then, thou art God's workmanship, await the hand of thy Maker IrnL.AH.4.39.02:038
which creates everything in due time; in due time as far as thou art 4.39.02:039
concerned, whose creation is being carried out. Offer to Him thy heart 4.39.02:040
in a soft and tractable state, and preserve the form in which the Creator 4.39.02:041
has fashioned thee, having moisture in thyself, lest, by becoming hardened, IrnL.AH.4.39.02:042
thou lose the impressions of His fingers. But by preserving the 4.39.02:043
framework thou shalt ascend to that which is perfect, for the moist clay 4.39.02:044
which is in thee is hidden [there] by the workmanship of God. His hand 4.39.02:045
fashioned thy substance; He will cover thee over [too] within and without 4.39.02:046
with pure gold and silver, and He will adorn thee to such a degree, that 4.39.02:047
even "the King Himself shall have pleasure in thy beauty." But if thou, 4.39.02:048
being obstinately hardened, dost reject the operation of His skill, 4.39.02:049
and show thyself ungrateful towards Him, because thou weft created a [mere] 4.39.02:050
man, by becoming thus ungrateful to God, thou hast at once lost both 4.39.02:051
His workmanship and life. For creation is an attribute of the goodness 4.39.02:052
of God but to be created is that of human nature. If then, thou shalt deliver 4.39.02:053
up to Him what is thine that is, faith towards Him and subjection, 4.39.02:054
thou shalt receive His handiwork, and shall be a perfect work of God. 4.39.02:055
3. If, however, thou wilt not believe in Him, and wilt flee from His hands, the cause 4.39.03:056
of imperfection shall be in thee who didst not obey, but not in Him who called [thee]. 4.39.03:057
For He commissioned [messengers] to call people to the marriage, but they who did 4.39.03:059
not obey Him deprived themselves of the royal supper. The skill of God, therefore, is 4.39.03:060
not defective, for He has power of the stones to raise up children to Abraham; but the 4.39.03:061
man who does not obtain it is the cause to himself of his own imperfection. Nor, [in 4.39.03:062
like manner], does the light fail because of those who have blinded themselves; but 4.39.03:063
while it remains the same as ever, those who are [thus] blinded are involved in darkness 4.39.03:063
through. their own fault. The light does never enslave any one by necessity; nor, 4.39.03:064
again, does God exercise compulsion upon any one unwilling to accept the exercise IrnL.AH.4.39.03:066
of His skill. Those persons, therefore, who have apostatized from the light given by 4.39.03:067
the Father, and transgressed the law of liberty, have done so through their own fault, 4.39.03:068
since they have been created free agents, and possessed of power over themselves.9 IrnL.AH.4.39.03:069
4. But God, foreknowing all things, prepared fit habitations for both, kindly conferring 4.39.04:071
that light which they desire on those who seek after the light of incorruption, 4.39.04:072
and resort to it; but for the despisers and mockers who avoid and turn 4.39.04:073
themselves away from this light, and who do, as it were, blind themselves, He has 4.39.04:074
prepared darkness suitable to persons who oppose the light, and He has inflicted 4.39.04:075
an appropriate punishment upon those who try to avoid being subject to Him. 4.39.04:076
Submission to God is eternal rest, so that they who shun the light have a place 4.39.04:078
worthy of their flight; and those who fly from eternal rest, have a habitation 4.39.04:079
in accordance with their fleeing. Now, since all good things are with God, they 4.39.04:080
who by their own determination fly from God, do defraud themselves of all good 4.39.04:082
things; and having been [thus] defrauded of all good things with respect to God, 4.39.04:083
they shall consequently fall under the just judgment of God. For those persons 4.39.04:084
who shun rest shall justly incur punishment, and those who avoid the light shall 4.39.04:086
justly dwell in darkness. For as in the case of this temporal light, those who IrnL.AH.4.39.04:087
shun it do deliver themselves over to darkness, so that they do themselves become 4.39.04:088
the cause to themselves that they are destitute of light, and do inhabit darkness; 4.39.04:089
and, as I have already observed, the light is not the cause of such an [unhappy.] 4.39.04:090
condition of existence to them; so those who fly from the eternal light 4.39.04:091
of God, which contains in itself all good things, are themselves the cause to 4.39.04:092
themselves of their inhabiting eternal darkness, destitute of all good things, IrnL.AH.4.39.04:093
having become to themselves the cause of [their consignment to] an abode of that 4.39.04:096
1. It is therefore one and the same God the Father who has prepared good things 4.40.01:001
with Himself for those who desire His fellowship, and who remain in subjection 4.40.01:002
to Him; and who has the eternal fire for the ringleader of the apostasy, 4.40.01:003
the devil, and those who revolted with him, into which [fire] the Lord has 4.40.01:004
declared those men shall be sent who have been set apart by themselves on 4.40.01:005
His left hand. And this is what has been spoken by the prophet, "I am a jealous 4.40.01:007
God, making peace, and creating evil things;" thus making peace and friendship 4.40.01:008
with those who repent and turn to Him, and bringing [them to] unity, 4.40.01:009
but preparing for the impenitent, those who shun the light, eternal fire and 4.40.01:010
outer darkness, which are evils indeed to those persons who fall into them. IrnL.AH.4.40.01:011
2. If, however, it were truly one Father who confers rest, and another God who has 4.40.02:015
prepared the fire, their sons would have been equally different [one from the other]; 4.40.02:016
one, indeed, sending [men] into the Father's kingdom, but the other into eternal 4.40.02:017
fire. But inasmuch as one and the same Lord has pointed out that the whole human 4.40.02:018
race shall be divided at the judgment, "as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the 4.40.02:019
goats," and that to some He will say, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the 4.40.02:020
kingdom which has been prepared for you," but to others, "Depart from me, ye cursed, IrnL.AH.4.40.02:021
into everlasting fire, which My Father has prepared for the devil and his angels," 4.40.02:022
one and the same Father is manifestly declared [in this passage], "making peace 4.40.02:023
and creating evil things," preparing fit things for both; as also there is one 4.40.02:024
Judge sending both into a fit place, as the Lord sets forth in the parable of the tares 4.40.02:029
and the wheat, where He says, "As therefore the tares are gathered together, 4.40.02:030
and burned in the fire, so shall it be at the end of the world. The Son of man shall 4.40.02:031
send His angels, and they shall gather from His kingdom everything that offendeth, 4.40.02:032
and those who work iniquity, and shall send them into a furnace of fire: there IrnL.AH.4.40.02:033
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the just shine forth as the sun 4.40.02:034
in the kingdom of their Father." The Father, therefore, who has prepared the kingdom IrnL.AH.4.40.02:035
for the righteous, into which the Son has received those worthy of it, is He who 4.40.02:036
has also prepared the furnace of fire, into which these angels commissioned by the 4.40.02:037
Son of man shall send those persons who deserve it, according to God's command. 4.40.02:038
3. The Lord, indeed, sowed good seed in His own field; and He says, "The field 4.40.03:040
is the world." But while men slept, the enemy came, and "sowed tares in 4.40.03:041
the midst of the wheat, and went his way." Hence we learn that this was the 4.40.03:042
apostate angel and the enemy, because he was envious of God's workmanship, 4.40.03:043
and took in hand to render this [workmanship] an enmity with God. For this IrnL.AH.4.40.03:044
cause also God has banished from His presence him who did of his own accord 4.40.03:046
stealthily sow the tares, that is, him who brought about the transgression; 4.40.03:047
but He took compassion upon man, who, through want of care no doubt, but 4.40.03:048
still wickedly [on the part of another], became involved in disobedience; 4.40.03:049
and He turned the enmity by which [the devil] had designed to make [man] the 4.40.03:050
enemy of God, against the author of it, by removing His own anger from man, 4.40.03:051
turning it in another direction, and sending it instead upon the serpent. 4.40.03:054
As also the Scripture tells us that God said to the serpent, "And I will place 4.40.03:055
enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. 4.40.03:056
He shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel." And the Lord summed 4.40.03:058
up in Himself this enmity, when He was made man from a woman, and trod 4.40.03:059
upon his [the serpent's] head, as I have pointed out in the preceding book. 4.40.03:060
1. Inasmuch as the Lord has said that there are certain angels, [viz. those] 4.41.01:001
of the devil, for whom eternal fire is prepared; and as, again, He declares with 4.41.01:002
regard to the tares, "The tares are the children of the wicked one," it must 4.41.01:003
be affirmed that He has ascribed all who are of the apostasy to him who is 4.41.01:004
the ringleader of this transgression. But He made neither angels nor men so 4.41.01:005
by nature. For we do not find that the devil created anything whatsoever, since 4.41.01:006
indeed he is himself a creature of God, like the other angels. For God made 4.41.01:007
all things, as also David says with regard to all things of the kind: "For 4.41.01:009
He spake the word, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created." 4.41.01:010
2. Since, therefore, all things were made by God, and since the devil has become 4.41.02:012
the cause of apostasy to himself and others, justly does the Scripture always term 4.41.02:013
those who remain in a state of apostasy "sons of the devil" and "angels of the 4.41.02:014
wicked one" (maligni). For [the word] "son," as one before me has observed, has 4.41.02:015
a twofold meaning: one [is a son] in the order of nature, because he was born a 4.41.02:016
son; the other, in that he was made so, is reputed a son, although there be a difference IrnL.AH.4.41.02:017
between being born so and being made so. For the first is indeed born from IrnL.AH.4.41.02:018
the person referred to; but the second is made so by him, whether as respects 4.41.02:019
his creation or by the teaching of his doctrine. For when any person has been taught 4.41.02:020
from the mouth of another, he is termed the son of him who instructs him, and 4.41.02:024
the latter [is called] his father. According to nature, then -that is, according 4.41.02:025
to creation, so to speak--we are all sons of God, because we have all been created 4.41.02:026
by God. But with respect to obedience and doctrine we are not all the sons IrnL.AH.4.41.02:027
of God: those only are so who believe in Him and do His will. And those who do not 4.41.02:028
believe, and do not obey His will, are sons and angels of the devil, because they 4.41.02:029
do the works of the devil. And that such is the case He has declared in Isaiah: 4.41.02:031
"I have begotten and brought up children, but they have rebelled against Me." 4.41.02:032
And again, where He says that these children are aliens: "Strange children have 4.41.02:032
lied unto Me." According to nature, then, they are [His] children, because they 4.41.02:034
have been so created; but with regard to their works, they are not His children. 4.41.02:035
3. For as, among men, those sons who disobey their fathers, being disinherited, 4.41.03:037
are still their sons in the course of nature, but by law are disinherited, 4.41.03:038
for they do not become the heirs of their natural parents; so in the same 4.41.03:039
way is it with God,--those who do not obey Him being disinherited by Him, 4.41.03:040
have ceased to be His sons. Wherefore they cannot receive His inheritance: 4.41.03:042
as David says, "Sinners are alienated from the womb; their anger is after the 4.41.03:043
likeness of a serpent." And therefore did the Lord term those whom He knew 4.41.03:044
to be the offspring of men "a generation of vipers;" because after the manner 4.41.03:045
of these animals they go about in subtilty, and injure others. For He said, 4.41.03:046
"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." Speaking 4.41.03:047
of Herod, too, He says, "Go ye and tell that fox," aiming at his wicked cunning 4.41.03:049
and deceit. Wherefore the prophet David says, "Man, being placed in honour, 4.41.03:050
is made like unto cattle." And again Jeremiah says, "They are become like 4.41.03:051
horses, furious about females; each one neighed after his neighbour's wife." 4.41.03:052
And Isaiah, when preaching in Judea, and reasoning with Israel, termed 4.41.03:053
them "rulers of Sodom" and "people of Gomorrah;" intimating that they were 4.41.03:054
like the Sodomites in wickedness, and that the same description of sins was 4.41.03:055
rife among them, calling them by the same name, because of the similarity of 4.41.03:056
their conduct. And inasmuch as they were not by nature so created by God, 4.41.03:057
but had power also to act rightly, the same person said to them, giving them 4.41.03:058
good counsel, "Wash ye, make you clean; take away iniquity from your souls 4.41.03:060
before mine eyes; cease from your iniquities." Thus, no doubt, since they 4.41.03:061
had transgressed and sinned in the same manner, so did they receive the same 4.41.03:062
reproof as did the Sodomites. But when they should be converted and come to 4.41.03:063
repentance, and cease from evil, they should have power to become the sons 4.41.03:064
of God, and to receive the inheritance of immortality which is given by Him. IrnL.AH.4.41.03:065
For this reason, therefore, He has termed those "angels of the devil," and 4.41.03:066
"children of the wicked one," who give heed to the devil, and do his works. 4.41.03:069
But these are, at the same time, all created by the one and the same God. 4.41.03:070
When, however, they believe and are subject to God, and go on and keep His 4.41.03:071
doctrine, they are the sons of God; but when they have apostatized and fallen 4.41.03:072
into transgression, they are ascribed to their chief, the devil--to him 4.41.03:073
who first became the cause of apostasy to himself, and afterwards to others. IrnL.AH.4.41.03:074
4. Inasmuch as the words of the Lord are numerous, while they all proclaim one and the same 4.41.04:078
Father, the Creator of this world, it was incumbent also upon me, for their own sake, to IrnL.AH.4.41.04:079
refute by many [arguments] those who are involved in many errors, if by any means, when they 4.41.04:080
are confuted by many [proofs], they may be converted to the truth and saved. But it is necessary 4.41.04:081
to subjoin to this composition, in what follows, also the doctrine of Paul after the 4.41.04:083
words of the Lord, to examine the opinion of this man, and expound the apostle, and to explain 4.41.04:084
whatsoever [passages] have received other interpretations from the heretics, who have IrnL.AH.4.41.04:085
altogether misunderstood what Paul has spoken, and to point out the folly of their mad opinions; 4.41.04:086
and to demonstrate from that same Paul, from whose [writings] they press questions 4.41.04:087
upon us, that they are indeed utterers of falsehood, but that the apostle was a preacher IrnL.AH.4.41.04:088
of the truth, and that he taught all things agreeable to the preaching of the truth; [to the IrnL.AH.4.41.04:089
effect that] it was one God the Father who spake with Abraham, who gave the law, who sent 4.41.04:090
the prophets beforehand, who in the last times sent His Son, and conferred salvation upon 4.41.04:091
His own handiwork--that is, the substance of flesh. Arranging, then, in another book, the 4.41.04:092
rest of the words of the Lord, which He taught concerning the Father not by parables, but 4.41.04:097
by expressions taken in their obvious meaning (sed simpliciter ipsis dictionibus), and the 4.41.04:098
exposition of the Epistles of the blessed apostle, I shall, with God's aid, furnish thee with 4.41.04:099
the complete work of the exposure and refutation of knowledge, falsely so called; thus IrnL.AH.4.41.04:100
practising myself and thee in [these] five books for presenting opposition to all heretics. 4.41.04:101
In the four preceding books, my very dear friend, which I put forth to thee, all the heretics 5.00.01:001
have been exposed, and their doctrines brought to light, and these men refuted who have 5.00.01:002
devised irreligious opinions. [I have accomplished this by adducing] something from the doctrine 5.00.01:003
peculiar to each of these men, which they have left in their writings, as well as 5.00.01:004
by using arguments of a more general nature, and applicable to them all. Then I have pointed 5.00.01:005
out the truth, and shown the preaching of the Church, which the prophets proclaimed (as 5.00.01:006
I have already demonstrated), but which Christ brought to perfection, and the apostles have 5.00.01:007
handed down, from whom the Church, receiving [these truths], and throughout all the world 5.00.01:008
alone preserving them in their integrity (bene), has transmitted them to her sons. Then also--having 5.00.01:009
disposed of all questions which the heretics propose to us, and having explained 5.00.01:010
the doctrine of the apostles, and clearly set forth many of those things which were said IrnL.AH.5.00.01:011
and done by the Lord in parables--I shall endeavour, in this the fifth book of the entire 5.00.01:012
work which treats of the exposure and refutation of knowledge falsely so called, to exhibit 5.00.01:013
proofs from the rest of the Lord's doctrine and the apostolical epistles: [thus] complying 5.00.01:014
with thy demand, as thou didst request of me (since indeed I have been assigned a place 5.00.01:015
in the ministry of the word); and, labouring by every means in my power to furnish thee with 5.00.01:016
large assistance against the contradictions of the heretics, as also to reclaim the wanderers 5.00.01:017
and convert them to the Church of God, to confirm at the same time the minds of the 5.00.01:018
neophytes, that they may preserve stedfast the faith which they have received, guarded 5.00.01:019
by the Church in its integrity, in order that they be in no way perverted by those who endeavour 5.00.01:020
to teach them false doctrines, and lead them away from the truth. It will be incumbent 5.00.01:021
upon thee, however, and all who may happen to read this writing, to peruse with great attention 5.00.01:029
what I have already said, that thou mayest obtain a knowledge of the subjects against 5.00.01:030
which I am contending. For it is thus that thou wilt both controvert them in a legitimate 5.00.01:031
manner, and wilt be prepared to receive the proofs brought forward against them, casting 5.00.01:032
away their doctrines as filth by means of the celestial faith; but following the only true 5.00.01:033
and stedfast Teacher, the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who did, through His transcendent IrnL.AH.5.00.01:034
love, become what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself.10 5.00.01:035
1. FOR in no other way could we have learned the things of God, unless our Master, 5.01.01:001
5.-01.01:001
existing as the Word, had become man. For no other being had the power of revealing 5.01.01:002
to us the things of the Father, except His own proper Word. For what other person 5.01.01:003
"knew the mind of the Lord," or who else "has become His counsellor?" Again, 5.01.01:004
we could have learned in no other way than by seeing our Teacher, and hearing His 5.01.01:005
voice with our own ears, that, having become imitators of His works as well as doers 5.01.01:006
of His words, we may have communion with Him, receiving increase from the perfect 5.01.01:007
One, and from Him who is prior to all creation. We--who were but lately created 5.01.01:008
by the only best and good Being, by Him also who has the gift of immortality, having 5.01.01:009
been formed after His likeness (predestinated, according to the prescience of 5.01.01:010
the Father, that we, who had as yet no existence, might come into being), and made 5.01.01:011
the first-fruits of creation--have received, in the times known beforehand, [the 5.01.01:012
blessings of salvation] according to the ministration of the Word, who is perfect 5.01.01:013
in all things, as the mighty Word, and very man, who, redeeming us by His own 5.01.01:014
blood in a manner consonant to reason, gave Himself as a redemption for those who 5.01.01:015
had been led into captivity. And since the apostasy tyrannized over us unjustly, 5.01.01:016
and, though we were by nature the property of the omnipotent God, alienated us contrary 5.01.01:022
to nature, rendering us its own disciples, the Word of God, powerful in all 5.01.01:023
things, and not defective with regard to His own justice, did righteously turn against 5.01.01:024
that apostasy, and redeem from it His own property, not by violent means, as 5.01.01:025
the [apostasy] had obtained dominion over us at the beginning, when it insatiably 5.01.01:026
snatched away what was not its own, but by means of persuasion, as became a God 5.01.01:027
of counsel, who does not use violent means to obtain what He desires; so that neither 5.01.01:028
should justice be infringed upon, nor the ancient handiwork of God go to destruction. 5.01.01:029
Since the Lord thus has redeemed us through His own blood, giving His soul 5.01.01:033
for our souls, and His flesh for our flesh, and has also poured out the Spirit 5.01.01:034
of the Father for the union and communion of God and man, imparting indeed God to 5.01.01:035
men by means of the Spirit, and, on the other hand, attaching man to God by His own 5.01.01:036
incarnation, and bestowing upon us at His coming immortality durably and truly, 5.01.01:037
by means of communion with God,--all the doctrines of the heretics fall to ruin. 5.01.01:038
2. Vain indeed are those who allege that He appeared in mere seeming. For these things were 5.01.02:042
not done in appearance only, but in actual reality. But if He did appear as a man, when IrnL.AH.5.01.02:043
He was not a man, neither could the Holy Spirit have rested upon Him,--an occurrence which 5.01.02:044
did actually take place--as the Spirit is invisible; nor, [in that case], was there any 5.01.02:045
degree of truth in Him, for He was not that which He seemed to be. But I have already remarked 5.01.02:046
that Abraham and the other prophets beheld Him after a prophetical manner, foretelling IrnL.AH.5.01.02:048
in vision what should come to pass. If, then, such a being has now appeared in outward 5.01.02:049
semblance different from what he was in reality, there has been a certain prophetical vision 5.01.02:050
made to men; and another advent of His must be looked forward to, in which He shall be 5.01.02:051
such as He has now been seen in a prophetic manner. And I have proved already, that it 5.01.02:052
is the same thing to say that He appeared merely to outward seeming, and [to affirm] that 5.01.02:054
He received nothing from Mary. For He would not have been one truly possessing flesh and 5.01.02:055
blood, by which He redeemed us, unless He had summed up in Himself the ancient formation 5.01.02:056
of Adam. Vain therefore are the disciples of Valentinus who put forth this opinion, in order 5.01.02:058
that they my exclude the flesh from salvation, and cast aside what God has fashioned. 5.01.02:059
3. Vain also are the Ebionites, who do not receive by faith into their soul the union 5.01.03:061
of God and man, but who remain in the old leaven of [the natural] birth, and who do 5.01.03:062
not choose to understand that the Holy Ghost came upon Mary, and the power of the 5.01.03:063
Most High did overshadow her: wherefore also what was generated is a holy thing, and 5.01.03:064
the Son of the Most High God the Father of all, who effected the incarnation of this 5.01.03:065
being, and showed forth a new [kind of] generation; that as by the former generation 5.01.03:066
we inherited death, so by this new generation we might inherit life. Therefore do 5.01.03:067
these men reject the commixture of the heavenly wine, and wish it to be water of the 5.01.03:071
world only, not receiving God so as to have union with Him, but they remain in that 5.01.03:072
Adam who had been conquered and was expelled from Paradise: not considering that 5.01.03:073
as, at the beginning of our formation in Adam, that breath of life which proceeded from 5.01.03:074
God, having been united to what had been fashioned, animated the man, and manifested 5.01.03:075
him as a being endowed with reason; so also, in [the times of] the end, the Word 5.01.03:076
of the Father and the Spirit of God, having become united with the ancient substance 5.01.03:077
of Adam's formation, rendered man living and perfect, receptive of the perfect Father, 5.01.03:078
in order that as in the natural [Adam] we all were dead, so in the spiritual 5.01.03:079
we may all be made alive. For never at any time did Adam escape the hands of God, to 5.01.03:083
whom the Father speaking, said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness." 5.01.03:084
And for this reason in the last times (fine), not by the will of the flesh, nor by 5.01.03:085
the will of man, but by the good pleasure of the Father, His hands formed a living man, 5.01.03:086
in order that Adam might be created [again] after the image and likeness of God. 5.01.03:087
1. And vain likewise are those who say that God came to those things which did not belong to Him, 5.02.01:001
as if covetous of another's property; in order that He might deliver up that man who had been 5.02.01:002
created by another, to that God who had neither made nor formed anything, but who also was deprived 5.02.01:003
from the beginning of His own proper formation of men. The advent, therefore, of Him whom 5.02.01:004
these men represent as coming to the things of others, was not righteous; nor did He truly 5.02.01:005
redeem us by His own blood, if He did not really become man, restoring to His own handiwork what 5.02.01:006
was said [of it] in the beginning, that man was made after the image and likeness of God; not 5.02.01:007
snatching away by stratagem the property of another, but taking possession of His own in a righteous 5.02.01:008
and gracious manner. As far as concerned the apostasy, indeed, He redeems us righteously 5.02.01:009
from it by His own blood; but as regards us who have been redeemed, [He does this] graciously. 5.02.01:010
For we have given nothing to Him previously, nor does He desire anything from us, as if He stood 5.02.01:014
in need of it; but we do stand in need of fellowship with Him. And for this reason it was IrnL.AH.5.02.01:015
that He graciously poured Himself out, that He might gather us into the bosom of the Father.11 5.02.01:016
2. But vain in every respect are they who despise the entire dispensation of IrnL.AH.5.02.02:018
God, and disallow the salvation of the flesh, and treat with contempt its 5.02.02:019
regeneration, maintaining that it is not capable of incorruption. But if this 5.02.02:020
indeed do not attain salvation, then neither did the Lord redeem us with 5.02.02:021
His blood, nor is the cup of the Eucharist the communion of His blood, nor 5.02.02:022
the bread which we break the communion of His body. For blood can only come 5.02.02:023
from veins and flesh, and whatsoever else makes up the substance of man, 5.02.02:025
such as the Word of God was actually made.12 By His own blood he redeemed 5.02.02:026
us, as also His apostle declares, "In whom we have redemption through His 5.02.02:028
blood, even the remission of sins." And as we are His members, we are also 5.02.02:029
nourished by means of the creation (and He Himself grants the creation to us, 5.02.02:030
for He causes His sun to rise, and sends rain when He wills). He has acknowledged 5.02.02:031
the cup (which is a part of the creation) as His own blood, from 5.02.02:032
which He bedews our blood; and the bread (also a part of the creation) He has 5.02.02:033
established as His own body, from which He gives increase to our bodies. 5.02.02:034
3. When, therefore, the mingled cup and the manufactured bread receives the Word of God, 5.02.03:037
and the Eucharist of the blood and the body of Christ is made, from which things the 5.02.03:038
substance of our flesh is increased and supported, how can they affirm that the flesh 5.02.03:039
is incapable of receiving the gift of God, which is life eternal, which [flesh] is nourished 5.02.03:040
from the body and blood of the Lord, and is a member of Him?--even as the blessed 5.02.03:041
Paul declares in his Epistle to the Ephesians, that "we are members of His body, of 5.02.03:043
His flesh, and of His bones." He does not speak these words of some spiritual and invisible 5.02.03:044
man, for a spirit has not bones nor flesh; but [he refers to] that dispensation 5.02.03:045
[by which the Lord became] an actual man, consisting of flesh, and nerves, and bones,--that 5.02.03:046
[flesh] which is nourished by the cup which is His blood, and receives increase from 5.02.03:047
the bread which is His body. And just as a cutting from the vine planted in the ground 5.02.03:048
fructifies in its season, or as a corn of wheat falling into the earth and becoming 5.02.03:051
decomposed, rises with manifold increase by the Spirit of God, who contains all things, 5.02.03:052
and then, through the wisdom of God, serves for the use of men, and having received 5.02.03:053
the Word of God, becomes the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ; so also 5.02.03:054
our bodies, being nourished by it, and deposited in the earth, and suffering decomposition 5.02.03:055
there, shall rise at their appointed time, the Word of God granting them resurrection 5.02.03:056
to the glory of God, even the Father, who freely gives to this mortal immortality, 5.02.03:057
and to this corruptible incorruption, because the strength of God is made perfect in 5.02.03:058
weakness, in order that we may never become puffed up, as if we had life from ourselves, 5.02.03:059
and exalted against God, our minds becoming ungrateful; but learning by experience 5.02.03:060
that we possess eternal duration from the excelling power of this Being, not from our 5.02.03:061
own nature, we may neither undervalue that glory which surrounds God as He is, nor be ignorant 5.02.03:062
of our own nature, but that we may know what God can effect, and what benefits 5.02.03:063
man receives, and thus never wander from the true comprehension of things as they are, 5.02.03:064
that is, both with regard to God and with regard to man. And might it not be the case, 5.02.03:065
perhaps, as I have already observed, that for this purpose God permitted our resolution 5.02.03:072
into the common dust of mortality, that we, being instructed by every mode, may be 5.02.03:073
accurate in all things for the future, being ignorant neither of God nor of ourselves? 5.02.03:074
1. The Apostle Paul has, moreover, in the most lucid manner, pointed out that man has 5.03.01:001
been delivered over to his own infirmity, lest, being uplifted, he might fall away 5.03.01:002
from the truth. Thus he says in the second [Epistle] to the Corinthians: "And lest 5.03.01:003
I should be lifted up by the sublimity of the revelations, there was given unto me 5.03.01:004
a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. And upon this I besought 5.03.01:006
the Lord three times, that it might depart from me. But he said unto me, My grace is 5.03.01:007
sufficient for thee; for strength is made perfect in weakness. Gladly therefore shall 5.03.01:008
I rather glory in infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me." What, 5.03.01:009
therefore? (as some may exclaim:) did the Lord wish, in that case, that His apostles 5.03.01:010
should thus undergo buffering, and that he should endure such infirmity? Even so 5.03.01:011
it was; the word says it. For strength is made perfect in weakness, rendering him a 5.03.01:012
better man who by means of his infirmity becomes acquainted with the power of God. IrnL.AH.5.03.01:013
For how could a man have learned that he is himself an infirm being, and mortal by nature, 5.03.01:015
but that God is immortal and powerful, unless he had learned by experience what 5.03.01:016
is in both? For there is nothing evil in learning one's infirmities by endurance; 5.03.01:017
yea, rather, it has even the beneficial effect of preventing him from forming an undue 5.03.01:018
opinion of his own nature (non aberrare in natura sua). But the being lifted up 5.03.01:019
against God, and taking His glory to one's self, rendering man ungrateful, has brought 5.03.01:020
much evil upon him. [And thus, I say, man must learn both things by experience], 5.03.01:021
that he may not be destitute of truth and love either towards himself or his Creator. 5.03.01:022
But the experience of both confers upon him the true knowledge as to God and man, 5.03.01:025
and increases his love towards God. Now, where there exists an increase of love, 5.03.01:026
there a greater glory is wrought out by the power of God for those who love Him. 5.03.01:027
2. Those men, therefore, set aside the power of God, and do not consider what the 5.03.02:030
word declares, when they dwell upon the infirmity of the flesh, but do not take into 5.03.02:031
consideration the power of Him who raises it up from the dead. For if He does not 5.03.02:032
vivify what is mortal, and does not bring back the corruptible to incorruption, 5.03.02:033
He is not a God of power. But that He is powerful in all these respects, we ought 5.03.02:034
to perceive from our origin, inasmuch as God, taking dust from the earth, formed man. IrnL.AH.5.03.02:035
And surely it is much more difficult and incredible, from non-existent bones, 5.03.02:036
and nerves, and veins, and the rest of man's organization, to bring it about that all 5.03.02:037
this should be, and to make man an animated and rational creature, than to re-integrate IrnL.AH.5.03.02:038
again that which had been created and then afterwards decomposed into earth 5.03.02:039
(for the reasons already mentioned), having thus passed into those [elements] from 5.03.02:040
which man, who had no previous existence, was formed. For He who in the beginning IrnL.AH.5.03.02:041
caused him to have being who as yet was not, just when He pleased, shall much more IrnL.AH.5.03.02:042
reinstate again those who had a former existence, when it is His will [that they 5.03.02:043
should inherit] the life granted by Him. And that flesh shall also be found fit 5.03.02:044
for and capable of receiving the power of God, which at the beginning received the 5.03.02:048
skilful touches of God; so that one part became the eye for seeing; another, the 5.03.02:049
ear for hearing; another, the hand for feeling and working; another, the sinews stretched IrnL.AH.5.03.02:050
out everywhere, and holding the limbs together; another, arteries and veins, IrnL.AH.5.03.02:051
passages for the blood and the air; another, the various internal organs; another, 5.03.02:052
the blood, which is the bond of union between soul and body. But why go [on in 5.03.02:053
this strain]? Numbers would fail to express the multiplicity of parts in the human 5.03.02:054
frame, which was made in no other way than by the great wisdom of God. But those 5.03.02:055
things which partake of the skill and wisdom of God, do also partake of His power. 5.03.02:057
3. The flesh, therefore, is not destitute [of participation] in the constructive 5.03.03:059
wisdom and power of God. But if the power of Him who is the bestower of life 5.03.03:060
is made perfect in weakness--that is, in the flesh--let them inform us, when they 5.03.03:062
maintain the incapacity of flesh to receive the life granted by God, whether IrnL.AH.5.03.03:063
they do say these things as being living men at present, and partakers of life, 5.03.03:064
or acknowledge that, having no part in life whatever, they are at the present IrnL.AH.5.03.03:065
moment dead men. And if they really are dead men, how is it that they move about, 5.03.03:066
and speak, and perform those other functions which are not the actions of 5.03.03:067
the dead, but of the living? But if they are now alive, and if their whole body 5.03.03:068
partakes of life, how can they venture the assertion that the flesh is not qualifled 5.03.03:069
to be a partaker of life, when they do confess that they have life at the 5.03.03:070
present moment? It is just as if anybody were to take up a sponge full of water, 5.03.03:072
or a torch on fire, and to declare that the sponge could not possibly partake 5.03.03:073
of the water, or the torch of the fire. In this very manner do those men, 5.03.03:074
by alleging that they are alive and bear life about in their members, contradict 5.03.03:075
themselves afterwards, when they represent these members as not being capable 5.03.03:076
of [receiving] life. But if the present temporal life, which is of such an inferior 5.03.03:078
nature to eternal life, can nevertheless effect so much as to quicken our 5.03.03:079
mortal members, why should not eternal life, being much more powerful than this, 5.03.03:080
vivify the flesh, which has already held converse with, and been accustomed 5.03.03:081
to sustain, life? For that the flesh can really partake of life, is shown from 5.03.03:084
the fact of it; being alive; for it lives on, as long as it is God's purpose that 5.03.03:085
it should do so. It is manifest, too, that God has the power to confer life 5.03.03:086
upon it, inasmuch as He grants life to us who are in existence. And, therefore, 5.03.03:087
since the Lord has power to infuse life into what He has fashioned, and since 5.03.03:088
the flesh is capable of being quickened, what remains to prevent its participating 5.03.03:089
in incorruption, which is a blissful and never-ending life granted by God? 5.03.03:090
1. Those persons who feign the existence of another Father beyond the Creator, and 5.04.01:001
who term him the good God, do deceive themselves; for they introduce him as a feeble, 5.04.01:002
worthless, and negligent being, not to say malign and full of envy, inasmuch 5.04.01:003
as they affirm that our bodies are not quickened by him. For when they say of things 5.04.01:004
which it is manifest to all do remain immortal, such as the spirit and the soul, 5.04.01:005
and such other things, that they are quickened by the Father, but that another 5.04.01:006
thing [viz. the body] which is quickened in no different manner than by God granting 5.04.01:007
[life] to it, is abandoned by life,--[they must either confess] that this proves 5.04.01:008
their Father to be weak and powerless, or else envious and malignant. For since 5.04.01:009
the Creator does even here quicken our mortal bodies, and promises them resurrection IrnL.AH.5.04.01:011
by the prophets, as I have pointed out; who [in that case] is shown to be more 5.04.01:012
powerful, stronger, or truly good? Whether is it the Creator who vivifies the 5.04.01:013
whole man, or is it their Father, falsely so called? He feigns to be the quickener 5.04.01:014
of those things which are immortal by nature, to which things life is always present 5.04.01:015
by their very nature; but he does not benevolently quicken those things which 5.04.01:016
required his assistance, that they might live, but leaves them carelessly to fall 5.04.01:017
under the power of death. Whether is it the case, then, that their Father does 5.04.01:021
not bestow life upon them when he has the power of so doing, or is it that he does 5.04.01:022
not possess the power? If, on the one hand, it is because he cannot, he is, upon 5.04.01:023
that supposition, not a powerful being, nor is he more perfect than the Creator; 5.04.01:024
for the Creator grants, as we must perceive, what He is unable to afford. But if, 5.04.01:025
on the other hand, [it be that he does not grant this] when he has the power of 5.04.01:026
so doing, then he is proved to be not a good, but an envious and malignant Father. 5.04.01:027
2. If, again, they refer to any cause on account of which their Father does not 5.04.02:028
impart life to bodies, then that cause must necessarily appear superior to 5.04.02:029
the Father, since it restrains Him from the exercise of His benevolence; and IrnL.AH.5.04.02:030
His benevolence will thus be proved weak, on account of that cause which they 5.04.02:031
bring forward. Now every one must perceive that bodies are capable of receiving 5.04.02:032
life. For they live to the extent that God pleases that they should live; 5.04.02:033
and that being so, the [heretics] cannot maintain that [these bodies] are 5.04.02:034
utterly incapable of receiving life. If, therefore, on account of necessity 5.04.02:036
and any other cause, those [bodies] which are capable of participating in life 5.04.02:037
are not vivified, their Father shall be the slave of necessity and that 5.04.02:038
cause, and not therefore a free agent, having His will under His own control. 5.04.02:039
1. [In order to learn] that bodies did continue in existence for a lengthened period, as 5.05.01:001
long as it was God's good pleasure that they should flourish, let [these heretics] read 5.05.01:002
the Scriptures, and they will find that our predecessors advanced beyond seven hundred, 5.05.01:003
eight hundred, and nine hundred years of age; and that their bodies kept pace with the IrnL.AH.5.05.01:004
protracted length of their days, and participated in life as long as God willed that they IrnL.AH.5.05.01:005
should live. But why do I refer to these men? For Enoch, when he pleased God, was translated 5.05.01:008
in the same body in which he did please Him, thus pointing out by anticipation 5.05.01:009
the translation of the just. Elijah, too, was caught up [when he was yet] in the substance 5.05.01:010
of the [natural] form; thus exhibiting in prophecy the assumption of those who are spiritual, 5.05.01:012
and that nothing stood in the way of their body being translated and caught up. 5.05.01:013
For by means of the very same hands through which they were moulded at the beginning, 5.05.01:014
did they receive this translation and assumption. For in Adam the hands of God had become 5.05.01:015
accustomed to set in order, to rule, and to sustain His own workmanship, and to bring IrnL.AH.5.05.01:016
it and place it where they pleased. Where, then, was the first man placed? In paradise IrnL.AH.5.05.01:018
certainly, as the Scripture declares "And God planted a garden [paradisum] eastward in Eden, 5.05.01:019
and there He placed the man whom He had formed." And then afterwards when [man] proved 5.05.01:020
disobedient, he was cast out thence into this world. Wherefore also the elders who 5.05.01:021
were disciples of the apostles tell us that those who were translated were transferred to IrnL.AH.5.05.01:022
that place (for paradise has been prepared for righteous men, such as have the Spirit; IrnL.AH.5.05.01:023
in which place also Paul the apostle, when he was caught up, heard words which are unspeakable 5.05.01:024
as regards us in our present condition), and that there shall they who have been 5.05.01:025
translated remain until the consummation [of all things], as a prelude to immortality. 5.05.01:026
2. If, however, any one imagine it impossible that men should survive for such a length 5.05.02:030
of time, and that Elias was not caught up in the flesh, but that his flesh was consumed IrnL.AH.5.05.02:031
in the fiery chariot, let him consider that Jonah, when he had been cast into the 5.05.02:032
deep, and swallowed down into the whale's belly, was by the command of God again thrown 5.05.02:033
out safe upon the land. And then, again, when Ananias, Azarias, and Misael were cast IrnL.AH.5.05.02:035
into the furnace of fire sevenfold heated, they sustained no harm whatever, neither was IrnL.AH.5.05.02:036
the smell of fire perceived upon them. As, therefore, the hand of God was present 5.05.02:038
with them, working out marvellous things in their case--[things] impossible [to be accomplished] 5.05.02:039
by man's nature--what wonder was it, if also in the case of those who were 5.05.02:040
translated it performed something wonderful, working in obedience to the will of God, 5.05.02:041
even the Father? Now this is the Son of God, as the Scripture represents Nebuchadnezzar 5.05.02:042
the king as having said, "Did not we cast three men bound into the furnace? and, lo, 5.05.02:043
I do see four walking in the midst of the fire, and the fourth is like the Son of God." 5.05.02:046
Neither the nature of any created thing, therefore, nor the weakness of the flesh, 5.05.02:047
can prevail against the will of God. For God is not subject to created things, but created 5.05.02:048
things to God; and all things yield obedience to His will. Wherefore also the Lord 5.05.02:049
declares, "The things which are impossible with men, are possible with God." As, therefore, 5.05.02:050
it might seem to the men of the present day, who are ignorant of God's appointment, 5.05.02:051
to be a thing incredible and impossible that any man could live for such a number 5.05.02:051
of years, yet those who were before us did live [to such an age], and those who were 5.05.02:052
translated do live as an earnest of the future length of days; and [as it might also 5.05.02:053
appear impossible] that from the whale's belly and from the fiery furnace men issued 5.05.02:054
forth unhurt, yet they nevertheless did so, led forth as it were by the hand of God, for 5.05.02:055
the purpose of declaring His power: so also now, although some, not knowing the power 5.05.02:056
and promise of God, may oppose their own salvation, deeming it impossible for God, IrnL.AH.5.05.02:057
who raises up the dead; to have power to confer upon them eternal duration, yet the scepticism 5.05.02:058
of men of this stamp shall not render the faithfulness of God of none effect. IrnL.AH.5.05.02:059
1. Now God shall be glorified in His handiwork, fitting it so as to be conformable to, 5.06.01:001
and modelled after, His own Son. For by the hands of the Father, that is, by the Son 5.06.01:002
and the Holy Spirit, man, and not [merely] a part of man, was made in the likeness 5.06.01:002
of God. Now the soul and the spirit are certainly a part of the man, but certainly 5.06.01:003
not the man; for the perfect man consists in the commingling and the union of the soul IrnL.AH.5.06.01:005
receiving the spirit of the Father, and the admixture of that fleshly nature which 5.06.01:006
was moulded after the image of God. For this reason does the apostle declare, "We speak 5.06.01:007
wisdom among them that are perfect," terming those persons "perfect" who have received 5.06.01:009
the Spirit of God, and who through the Spirit of God do speak in all languages, 5.06.01:010
as he used Himself also to speak. In like manner we do also hear many brethren in 5.06.01:011
the Church, who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of IrnL.AH.5.06.01:012
languages, and bring to light for the general benefit the hidden things of men, and 5.06.01:013
declare the mysteries of God, whom also the apostle terms "spiritual," they being spiritual 5.06.01:014
because they partake of the Spirit, and not because their flesh has been stripped 5.06.01:015
off and taken away, and because they have become purely spiritual. For if any 5.06.01:016
one take away the substance of flesh, that is, of the handiwork [of God], and understand 5.06.01:020
that which is purely spiritual, such then would not be a spiritual man but would 5.06.01:021
be the spirit of a man, or the Spirit of God. But when the spirit here blended with 5.06.01:022
the soul is united to [God's] handiwork, the man is rendered spiritual and perfect because 5.06.01:024
of the outpouring of the Spirit, and this is he who was made in the image and 5.06.01:025
likeness of God. But if the Spirit be wanting to the soul, he who is such is indeed 5.06.01:026
of an animal nature, and being left carnal, shall be an imperfect being, possessing 5.06.01:027
indeed the image [of God] in his formation (in plasmate), but not receiving the similitude 5.06.01:028
through the Spirit; and thus is this being imperfect. Thus also, if any one take 5.06.01:029
away the image and set aside the handiwork, he cannot then understand this as being IrnL.AH.5.06.01:031
a man, but as either some part of a man, as I have already said, or as something else IrnL.AH.5.06.01:032
than a man. For that flesh which has been moulded is not a perfect man in itself, 5.06.01:033
but the body of a man, and part of a man. Neither is the soul itself, considered apart 5.06.01:035
by itself, the man; but it is the soul of a man, and part of a man. Neither is the 5.06.01:036
spirit a man, for it is called the spirit, and not a man; but the commingling and 5.06.01:037
union of all these constitutes the perfect man. And for this cause does the apostle, 5.06.01:038
explaining himself, make it clear that the saved man is a complete man as well as a 5.06.01:041
spiritual man; saying thus in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians, "Now the God of 5.06.01:042
peace sanctify you perfect (perfectos); and may your spirit, and soul, and body be 5.06.01:043
preserved whole without complaint to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ." Now what was 5.06.01:044
his object in praying that these three--that is, soul, body, and spirit-- might be 5.06.01:046
preserved to the coming of the Lord, unless he was aware of the [future] reintegration 5.06.01:047
and union of the three, and [that they should be heirs of] one and the same salvation? IrnL.AH.5.06.01:048
For this cause also he declares that those are "the perfect" who present unto 5.06.01:049
the Lord the three [component parts] without offence. Those, then, are the perfect who IrnL.AH.5.06.01:051
have had the Spirit of God remaining in them, and have preserved their souls and bodies 5.06.01:052
blameless, holding fast the faith of God, that is, that faith which is [directed] 5.06.01:053
towards God, and maintaining righteous dealings with respect to their neighbours. 5.06.01:054
2. Whence also he says, that this handiwork is "the temple of God," thus declaring: 5.06.02:057
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth 5.06.02:058
in you? If any man, therefore, will defile the temple of God, him will God 5.06.02:059
destroy: for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are." Here he manifestly 5.06.02:060
declares the body to be the temple in which the Spirit dwells. As also the 5.06.02:062
Lord speaks in reference to Himself, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I 5.06.02:063
will raise it up. He spake this, however," it is said, "of the temple of His body." 5.06.02:063
And not only does he (the apostle) acknowledge our bodies to be a temple, IrnL.AH.5.06.02:064
but even the temple of Christ, saying thus to the Corinthians, "Know ye not that 5.06.02:065
your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and 5.06.02:067
make them the members of an harlot?" He speaks these things, not in reference 5.06.02:068
to some other spiritual man; for a being of such a nature could have nothing IrnL.AH.5.06.02:069
to do with an harlot: but he declares "our body," that is, the flesh which continues 5.06.02:070
in sanctity and purity, to be "the members of Christ;" but that when it becomes 5.06.02:071
one with an harlot, it becomes the members of an harlot. And for this reason IrnL.AH.5.06.02:073
he said, "If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy." How then 5.06.02:074
is it not the utmost blasphemy to allege, that the temple of God, in which 5.06.02:075
the Spirit of the Father dwells, and the members of Christ, do not partake of salvation, IrnL.AH.5.06.02:076
but are reduced to perdition? Also, that our bodies are raised not from 5.06.02:078
their own substance, but by the power of God, he says to the Corinthians, "Now 5.06.02:079
the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 5.06.02:080
But God hath both raised up the Lord, and shall raise us up by His own power." 5.06.02:081
1. In the same manner, therefore, as Christ did rise in the substance of 5.07.01:001
flesh, and pointed out to His disciples the mark of the nails and the opening IrnL.AH.5.07.01:002
in His side (now these are the tokens of that flesh which rose from 5.07.01:003
the dead), so "shall He also," it is said, "raise us up by His own power." 5.07.01:004
And again to the Romans he says, "But if the Spirit of Him that raised 5.07.01:006
up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from 5.07.01:007
the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies." What, then, are mortal 5.07.01:008
bodies? Can they be souls? Nay, for souls are incorporeal when put in 5.07.01:009
comparison with mortal bodies; for God "breathed into the face of man the 5.07.01:010
breath of life, and man became a living soul." Now the breath of life 5.07.01:011
is an incorporeal thing. And certainly they cannot maintain that the very 5.07.01:012
breath of life is mortal. Therefore David says, "My soul also shall live 5.07.01:013
to Him," just as if its substance were immortal. Neither, on the other 5.07.01:014
hand, can they say that the spirit is the mortal body. What therefore 5.07.01:015
is there left to which we may apply the term "mortal body," unless it be 5.07.01:017
the thing that was moulded, that is, the flesh, of which it is also said 5.07.01:018
that God will vivify it? For this it is which dies and is decomposed, 5.07.01:019
but not the soul or the spirit. For to die is to lose vital power, and 5.07.01:020
to become henceforth breathless, inanimate, and devoid of motion, and to 5.07.01:021
melt away into those [component parts] from which also it derived the 5.07.01:022
commencement of [its] substance. But this event happens neither to the 5.07.01:023
soul, for it is the breath of life; nor to the spirit, for the spirit is 5.07.01:024
simple and not composite, so that it cannot be decomposed, and is itself 5.07.01:025
the life of those who receive it. We must therefore conclude that it is 5.07.01:026
in reference to the flesh that death is mentioned; which [flesh], after 5.07.01:028
the soul's departure, becomes breathless and inanimate, and is decomposed 5.07.01:029
gradually into the earth from which it was taken. This, then, is what 5.07.01:030
is mortal. And it is this of which he also says," He shall also quicken 5.07.01:031
your mortal bodies." And therefore in reference to it he says, in the 5.07.01:031
first [Epistle] to the Corinthians: "So also is the resurrection of the 5.07.01:033
dead: it is sown in corruption, it rises in incorruption." For he declares, 5.07.01:034
"That which thou sowest cannot be quickened, unless first it die." 5.07.01:035
2. But what is that which, like a grain of wheat, is sown in the earth 5.07.02:036
and decays, unless it be the bodies which are laid in the earth, 5.07.02:037
into which seeds are also cast? And for this reason he said, "It 5.07.02:039
is sown in dishonour, it rises in glory." For what is more ignoble 5.07.02:040
than dead flesh? Or, on the other hand, what is more glorious than 5.07.02:041
the same when it arises and partakes of incorruption? "It is sown 5.07.02:042
in weakness, it is raised in power:" in its own weakness certainly, 5.07.02:043
because since it is earth it goes to earth; but [it is quickened] 5.07.02:044
by the power of God, who raises it from the dead. "It is sown an 5.07.02:045
animal body, it rises a spiritual body." He has taught, beyond all 5.07.02:046
doubt, that such language was not used by him, either with reference 5.07.02:047
to the soul or to the spirit, but to bodies that have become corpses. 5.07.02:048
For these are animal bodies, that is, [bodies] which partake 5.07.02:049
of life, which when they have lost, they succumb to death; then, 5.07.02:050
rising through the Spirit's instrumentality, they become spiritual 5.07.02:053
bodies, so that by the Spirit they possess a perpetual life. "For 5.07.02:054
now," he says, "we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but then 5.07.02:054
face to face." And this it is which has been said also by Peter: "Whom 5.07.02:055
having not seen, ye love; in whom now also, not seeing, ye believe; 5.07.02:056
and believing, ye shall rejoice with joy unspeakable." For our 5.07.02:057
face shall see the face of the Lord? and shall rejoice with joy 5.07.02:058
unspeakable,--that is to say, when it shall behold its own Delight. 5.07.02:059
1. But we do now receive a certain portion of His Spirit, tending towards perfection, 5.08.01:001
and preparing us for incorruption, being little by little accustomed to receive and bear 5.08.01:002
God; which also the apostle terms "an earnest," that is, a part of the honour which 5.08.01:003
has been promised us by God, where he says in the Epistle to the Ephesians, "In which 5.08.01:004
ye also, having heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, believing in 5.08.01:005
which we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our IrnL.AH.5.08.01:006
inheritance." This earnest, therefore, thus dwelling in us, renders us spiritual even 5.08.01:009
now, and the mortal is swallowed up by immortality. "For ye," he declares, "are not in IrnL.AH.5.08.01:010
the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." This, however 5.08.01:011
does not take place by a casting away of the flesh, but by the impartation of the 5.08.01:012
Spirit. For those to whom he was writing were not without flesh, but they were those 5.08.01:013
who had received the Spirit of God, "by which we cry, Abba, Father." If therefore, at 5.08.01:014
the present time, having the earnest, we do cry, "Abba, Father," what shall it be when, IrnL.AH.5.08.01:015
on rising again, we behold Him face to face; when all the members shall burst out 5.08.01:016
into a continuous hymn of triumph, glorifying Him who raised them from the dead, and 5.08.01:017
gave the gift of eternal life? For if the earnest, gathering man into itself, does even 5.08.01:021
now cause him to cry, "Abba, Father," what shall the complete grace of the Spirit effect, 5.08.01:022
which shall be given to men by God? It will render us like unto Him, and accomplish 5.08.01:023
the will of the Father; for it shall make man after the image and likeness of God. 5.08.01:024
2. Those persons, then, who possess the earnest of the Spirit, and who are not 5.08.02:027
enslaved by the lusts of the flesh, but are subject to the Spirit, and who 5.08.02:028
in all things walk according to the light of reason, does the apostle properly IrnL.AH.5.08.02:029
term "spiritual," because the Spirit of God dwells in them. Now, spiritual 5.08.02:030
men shall not be incorporeal spirits; but our substance, that is, the union 5.08.02:031
of flesh and spirit, receiving the Spirit of God, makes up the spiritual man. 5.08.02:032
But those who do indeed reject the Spirit's counsel, and are the slaves of fleshly 5.08.02:035
lusts, and lead lives contrary to reason, and who, without restraint, 5.08.02:036
plunge headlong into their own desires, having no longing after the Divine Spirit, 5.08.02:037
do live after the manner of swine and of dogs; these men, [I say], does 5.08.02:038
the apostle very properly term "carnal," because they have no thought of anything 5.08.02:039
else except carnal things. For the same reason, too, do the prophets compare 5.08.02:042
them to irrational animals, on account of the irrationality of their conduct, 5.08.02:043
saying, "They have become as horses raging for the females; each one 5.08.02:044
of them neighing after his neighbour's wife." And again, "Man, when he was in 5.08.02:045
honour, was made like unto cattle." This denotes that, for his own fault, he 5.08.02:046
is likened to cattle, by rivalling their irrational life. And we also, as the 5.08.02:049
custom is, do designate men of this stamp as cattle and irrational beasts. 5.08.02:050
3. Now the law has figuratively predicted all these, delineating man by the [various] 5.08.03:052
animals: whatsoever of these, says [the Scripture], have a double hoof 5.08.03:053
and ruminate, it proclaims as clean; but whatsoever of them do not possess 5.08.03:054
one or other of these [properties], it sets aside b themselves as unclean. Who 5.08.03:055
then are the clean? Those who make their way by faith steadily towards the Father 5.08.03:056
and the Son; for this is denoted by the steadiness of those which divide 5.08.03:057
the hoof; and they meditate day and night upon the words of God, that they may 5.08.03:058
be adorned with good works: for this is the meaning of the ruminants. The 5.08.03:059
unclean, however, are those which do neither divide the hoof nor ruminate; that 5.08.03:061
is, those persons who have neither faith in God, nor do meditate on His words: 5.08.03:062
and such is the abomination of the Gentiles. But as to those animals which 5.08.03:063
do indeed chew the cud, but have not the double hoof, and are themselves unclean, 5.08.03:064
we have in them a figurative description of the Jews, who certainly have 5.08.03:065
the words of God in their mouth, but who do not fix their rooted stedfastness 5.08.03:066
in the Father and in the Son; wherefore they are an unstable generation. For IrnL.AH.5.08.03:067
those animals which have the hoof all in one piece easily slip; but those which 5.08.03:070
have it divided are more sure-footed, their cleft hoofs succeeding each other 5.08.03:071
as they advance, and the one hoof supporting the other. In like manner, 5.08.03:072
too, those are unclean which have the double hoof but do not ruminate: this is 5.08.03:074
plainly an indication of all heretics, and of those who do not meditate on the IrnL.AH.5.08.03:075
words of God, neither are adorned with works of righteousness; to whom also 5.08.03:076
the Lord says, "Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say 5.08.03:077
to you?" For men of this stamp do indeed say that they believe in the Father 5.08.03:078
and the Son, but they never meditate as they should upon the things of God, 5.08.03:079
neither are they adorned with works of righteousness; but, as I have already observed, IrnL.AH.5.08.03:080
they have adopted the lives of swine and of dogs, giving themselves 5.08.03:081
over to filthiness, to gluttony, and recklessness of all sorts. Justly, therefore, 5.08.03:082
did the apostle call all such "carnal" and "animal," --[all those, namely], 5.08.03:086
who through their own unbelief and luxury do not receive the Divine Spirit, 5.08.03:087
and in their various phases cast out from themselves the life-giving Word, 5.08.03:088
and walk stupidly after their own lusts: the prophets, too, spake of them as 5.08.03:089
beasts of burden and wild beasts; custom likewise has viewed them in the light 5.08.03:090
of cattle and irrational creatures; and the law has pronounced them unclean. 5.08.03:091
1. Among the other [truths] proclaimed by the apostle, there is also this one, "That flesh 5.09.01:001
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." This is [the passage] which is adduced 5.09.01:002
by all the heretics in support of their folly, with an attempt to annoy us, and to 5.09.01:003
point out that the handiwork of God is not saved. They do not take this fact into consideration, 5.09.01:004
that there are three things out of which, as I have shown, the complete man IrnL.AH.5.09.01:005
is composed--flesh, soul, and spirit. One of these does indeed preserve and fashion 5.09.01:006
[the man]--this is the spirit; while as to another it is united and formed--that is the 5.09.01:007
flesh; then [comes] that which is between these two--that is the soul, which sometimes IrnL.AH.5.09.01:008
indeed, when it follows the spirit, is raised up by it, but sometimes it sympathizes 5.09.01:009
with the flesh, and falls into carnal lusts. Those then, as many as they be, who have 5.09.01:013
not that which saves and forms [us] into life [eternal], shall be, and shall be called, 5.09.01:014
[mere] flesh and blood; for these are they who have not the Spirit of God in themselves. 5.09.01:016
Wherefore men of this stamp are spoken of by the Lord as "dead;" for, says He, 5.09.01:017
"Let the dead bury their dead," because they have not the Spirit which quickens man. IrnL.AH.5.09.01:018
2. On the other hand, as many as fear God and trust in His Son's advent, and who through 5.09.02:019
faith do establish the Spirit of God in their hearts,--such men as these shall IrnL.AH.5.09.02:020
be properly called both "pure," and "spiritual," and "those living to God," because 5.09.02:021
they possess the Spirit of the Father, who purifies man, and raises him up to the life 5.09.02:022
of God. For as the Lord has testified that "the flesh is weak," so [does He also 5.09.02:025
say] that "the spirit is willing." For this latter is capable of working out its own 5.09.02:026
suggestions. If, therefore, any one admix the ready inclination of the Spirit to be, 5.09.02:027
as it were, a stimulus to the infirmity of the flesh, it inevitably follows that what 5.09.02:028
is strong will prevail over the weak, so that the weakness of the flesh will be absorbed IrnL.AH.5.09.02:029
by the strength of the Spirit; and that the man in whom this takes place cannot 5.09.02:030
in that case be carnal, but Spiritual, because of the fellowship of the Spirit. 5.09.02:031
Thus it is, therefore, that the martyrs bear their witness, and despise death, not after 5.09.02:033
the infirmity of the flesh, but because of the readiness of the Spirit. For when 5.09.02:034
the infirmity of the flesh is absorbed, it exhibits the Spirit as powerful; and again, 5.09.02:035
when the Spirit absorbs the weakness [of the flesh], it possesses the flesh as 5.09.02:036
an inheritance in itself, and from both of these is formed a living man,--living, indeed, 5.09.02:037
because he partakes of the Spirit, but man, because of the substance of flesh. 5.09.02:038
3. The flesh, therefore, when destitute of the Spirit of God, is dead, not having 5.09.03:041
life, and cannot possess the kingdom of God: [it is as] irrational blood, like water 5.09.03:042
poured out upon the ground. And therefore he says, "As is the earthy, such are they 5.09.03:043
that are earthy." But where the Spirit of the Father is, there is a living man; 5.09.03:044
[there is] the rational blood preserved by God for the avenging [of those that shed 5.09.03:045
it]; [there is] the flesh possessed by the Spirit, forgetful indeed of what belongs 5.09.03:046
to it, and adopting the quality of the Spirit, being made conformable to the 5.09.03:048
Word of God. And on this account he (the apostle) declares, "As we have borne the 5.09.03:049
image of him who is of the earth, we shall also bear the image of Him who is from 5.09.03:050
heaven." What, therefore, is the earthly? That which was fashioned. And what is the 5.09.03:051
heavenly? The Spirit. As therefore he says, when we were destitute of the celestial 5.09.03:051
Spirit, we walked in former times in the oldness of the flesh, not obeying God; 5.09.03:052
so now let us, receiving the Spirit, walk in newness of life, obeying God. Inasmuch, 5.09.03:053
therefore, as without the Spirit of God we cannot be saved, the apostle exhorts 5.09.03:055
us through faith and chaste conversation to preserve the Spirit of God, lest, having 5.09.03:056
become non-participators of the Divine Spirit, we lose the kingdom of heaven; 5.09.03:057
and he exclaims, that flesh in itself, and blood, cannot possess the kingdom God. 5.09.03:058
4. If, however, we must speak strictly, [we would say that] the flesh does not IrnL.AH.5.09.04:061
inherit, but is inherited; as also the Lord declares, "Blessed are the meek, 5.09.04:062
for they shall possess the earth by inheritance;" as if in the [future] 5.09.04:063
kingdom, the earth, from whence exists the substance Of our flesh, is to be 5.09.04:065
possessed by inheritance. This is the reason for His wishing the temple (i.e., 5.09.04:066
the flesh) to be clean, that the Spirit of God may take delight therein, 5.09.04:067
as a bridegroom with a bride. As, therefore, the bride cannot [be said] to 5.09.04:068
wed, but to be wedded, when the bridegroom comes and takes her, so also the 5.09.04:069
flesh cannot by itself possess the kingdom of God by inheritance; but it can IrnL.AH.5.09.04:070
be taken for an inheritance into the kingdom of God. For a living person inherits 5.09.04:072
the goods of the deceased; and it is one thing to inherit, another 5.09.04:073
to be inherited. The former rules, and exercises power over, and orders the 5.09.04:074
things inherited at his will; but the latter things are in a state of subjection, 5.09.04:075
are under order, and are ruled over by him who has obtained the inheritance. IrnL.AH.5.09.04:076
What, therefore, is it that lives? The Spirit of God, doubtless. What, 5.09.04:078
again, are the possessions of the deceased? The various parts of the man, 5.09.04:079
surely, which rot in the earth. But these are inherited by the Spirit when 5.09.04:080
they are translated into the kingdom of heaven. For this cause, too, did Christ 5.09.04:081
die. that the Gospel covenant being manifested and known to the whole world, 5.09.04:082
might in the first place set free His slaves; and then afterwards, as 5.09.04:083
I have already shown, might constitute them heirs of His property, when the IrnL.AH.5.09.04:084
Spirit possesses them by inheritance. For he who lives inherits, but the flesh 5.09.04:085
is inherited. In order that we may not lose life by losing that Spirit which 5.09.04:086
possesses us, the apostle, exhorting us to the communion of the Spirit, 5.09.04:088
has said, according to reason, in those words already quoted, "That flesh and 5.09.04:089
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." Just as if he were to say, "Do 5.09.04:090
not err; for unless the Word of God dwell with, and the Spirit of the Father 5.09.04:091
be in you, and if ye shall live frivolously and carelessly as if ye were this 5.09.04:092
only, viz., mere flesh and blood, ye cannot inherit the kingdom of God." 5.09.04:093
1. This truth, therefore, [he declares], in order that we may not reject the engrafting 5.10.01:001
of the Spirit while pampering the flesh. "But thou, being a wild olive-tree," 5.10.01:002
he says, "hast been grafted into the good olive-tree, and been made a partaker of 5.10.01:003
the fatness of the olive-tree." As, therefore, when the wild olive has been engrafted, 5.10.01:004
if it remain in its former condition, viz., a wild olive, it is "cut off, and 5.10.01:005
cast into the fire;" but if it takes kindly to the graft, and is changed into the good 5.10.01:006
olive-tree, it becomes a fruit-bearing olive, planted, as it were, in a king's 5.10.01:007
park (paradiso): so likewise men, if they do truly progress by faith towards better 5.10.01:008
things, and receive the Spirit of God, and bring forth the fruit thereof, shall be 5.10.01:009
spiritual, as being planted in the paradise of God. But if they cast out the Spirit, 5.10.01:010
and remain in their former condition, desirous of being of the flesh rather than 5.10.01:011
of the Spirit, then it is very justly said with regard to men of this stamp, "That 5.10.01:012
flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God;" just as if any one were 5.10.01:013
to say that the wild olive is not received into the paradise of God. Admirably therefore IrnL.AH.5.10.01:017
does the apostle exhibit our nature, and God's universal appointment, in his IrnL.AH.5.10.01:018
discourse about flesh and blood and the wild olive. For as the good olive, if neglected IrnL.AH.5.10.01:020
for a certain time, if left to grow wild and to run to wood, does itself become 5.10.01:021
a wild olive; or again, if the wild olive be carefully tended and grafted, it 5.10.01:022
naturally reverts to its former fruit-bearing condition: so men also, when they become 5.10.01:023
careless, and bring forth for fruit the lusts of the flesh like woody produce, 5.10.01:024
are rendered, by their own fault, unfruitful in righteousness. For when men sleep, 5.10.01:025
the enemy sows the material of tares; and for this cause did the Lord command His 5.10.01:026
disciples to be on the watch. And again, those persons who are not bringing forth 5.10.01:027
the fruits of righteousness, and are, as it were, covered over and lost among brambles, IrnL.AH.5.10.01:028
if they use diligence, and receive the word of God as a graft, arrive at the 5.10.01:029
pristine nature of man--that which was created after the image and likeness of God. 5.10.01:030
2. But as the engrafted wild olive does not certainly lose the substance of 5.10.02:035
its wood, but changes the quality of its fruit, and receives another name, being 5.10.02:036
now not a wild olive, but a fruit-bearing olive, and is called so; so also, 5.10.02:037
when man is grafted in by faith and receives the Spirit of God, he certainly 5.10.02:038
does not lose the substance of flesh, but changes the quality of the fruit 5.10.02:039
[brought forth, i.e.,] of his works, and receives another name, showing 5.10.02:040
that he has become changed for the better, being now not [mere] flesh and blood, 5.10.02:041
but a spiritual man, and is called such. Then, again, as the wild olive, 5.10.02:044
if it be not grafted in, remains useless to its lord because of its woody quality, 5.10.02:045
and is cut down as a tree bearing no fruit, and cast into the fire; 5.10.02:046
so also man, if he does not receive through faith the engrafting of the Spirit, 5.10.02:047
remains in his old condition, and being [mere] flesh and blood, he cannot 5.10.02:048
inherit the kingdom of God. Rightly therefore does the apostle declare, "Flesh 5.10.02:051
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;" and, "Those who are in the 5.10.02:052
flesh cannot please God:" not repudiating [by these words] the substance of 5.10.02:053
flesh, but showing that into it the Spirit must be infused. And for this reason, 5.10.02:054
he says, "This mortal must put on immortality, and this corruptible must 5.10.02:055
put on incorruption." And again he declares, "But ye are not in the flesh, 5.10.02:056
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." He sets this 5.10.02:057
forth still more plainly, where he says, "The body indeed is dead, because 5.10.02:058
of sin; but the Spirit is life, because of righteousness. But if the Spirit 5.10.02:059
of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up 5.10.02:060
Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies, because of His Spirit 5.10.02:061
dwelling in you." And again he says, in the Epistle to the Romans, "For 5.10.02:062
if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die." [Now by these words] he does not 5.10.02:064
prohibit them from living their lives in the flesh, for he was himself in the 5.10.02:065
flesh when he wrote to them; but he cuts away the lusts of the flesh, those 5.10.02:066
which bring death upon a man. And for this reason he says in continuation, 5.10.02:067
"But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the works of the flesh, ye shall live. 5.10.02:069
For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God." 5.10.02:070
1. [The apostle], foreseeing the wicked speeches of unbelievers, has particularized 5.11.01:001
the works which he terms carnal; and he explains himself, lest any room for doubt 5.11.01:002
be left to those who do dishonestly pervert his meaning, thus saying in the Epistle 5.11.01:003
to the Galatians: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are adulteries, 5.11.01:004
fornications, uncleanness, luxuriousness, idolatries, witchcrafts, hatreds, contentions IrnL.AH.5.11.01:005
jealousies, wraths, emulations, animosities, irritable speeches, dissensions, 5.11.01:006
heresies, envyings, drunkenness, carousings, and such like; of which I warn you, 5.11.01:007
as also I have warned you, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom IrnL.AH.5.11.01:008
of God." Thus does he point out to his hearers in a more explicit manner what 5.11.01:009
it is [he means when he declares], "Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom 5.11.01:010
of God." For they who do these things, since they do indeed walk after the flesh, 5.11.01:011
have not the power of living unto God. And then, again, he proceeds to tell us the 5.11.01:015
spiritual actions which vivify a man, that is, the engrafting of the Spirit; thus 5.11.01:016
saying, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, 5.11.01:017
benignity, faith, meekness, continence, chastity: against these there is no law." 5.11.01:018
As, therefore, he who has gone forward to the better things, and has brought forth 5.11.01:020
the fruit of the Spirit, is saved altogether because of the communion of the Spirit; 5.11.01:021
so also he who has continued in the aforesaid works of the flesh, being truly IrnL.AH.5.11.01:022
reckoned as carnal, because he did not receive the Spirit of God, shall not have 5.11.01:023
power to inherit the kingdom of heaven. As, again, the same apostle testifies, saying 5.11.01:026
to the Corinthians, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom 5.11.01:027
of God? Do not err," he says: "neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, 5.11.01:028
nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, 5.11.01:029
nor revilers, nor rapacious persons, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And 5.11.01:030
these ye indeed have been; but ye have been washed, but ye have been sanctified, 5.11.01:032
but ye have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit 5.11.01:033
of our God." He shows in the clearest manner through what things it is that man goes IrnL.AH.5.11.01:034
to destruction, if he has continued to live after the flesh; and then, on the 5.11.01:035
other hand, [he points out] through what things he is saved. Now he says that the things 5.11.01:036
which save are the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of our God. IrnL.AH.5.11.01:037
2. Since, therefore, in that passage he recounts those works of the flesh 5.11.02:038
which are without the Spirit, which bring death [upon their doers], he 5.11.02:039
exclaimed at the end of his Epistle, in accordance with what he had already IrnL.AH.5.11.02:040
declared, "And as we have borne the image of him who is of the earth, 5.11.02:041
we shall also bear the image of Him who is from heaven. For this I say, 5.11.02:044
brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." Now 5.11.02:045
this which he says, "as we have borne the image of him who is of the earth," 5.11.02:045
is analogous to what has been declared, "And such indeed ye were; 5.11.02:046
but ye have been washed, but ye have been sanctified, but ye have been justified 5.11.02:047
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our 5.11.02:048
God." When, therefore, did we bear the image of him who is of the earth? 5.11.02:049
Doubtless it was when those actions spoken of as "works of the flesh" used 5.11.02:051
to be wrought in us. And then, again, when [do we bear] the image of 5.11.02:052
the heavenly? Doubtless when he says, "Ye have been washed," believing 5.11.02:052
in the name of the Lord, and receiving His Spirit. Now we have washed away, 5.11.02:053
not the substance of our body, nor the image of our [primary] formation, 5.11.02:055
but the former vain conversation. In these members, therefore, in which 5.11.02:056
we were going to destruction by working the works of corruption, in 5.11.02:057
these very members are we made alive by working the works of the Spirit. 5.11.02:058
1. For as the flesh is capable of corruption, so is it also of incorruption; 5.12.01:001
and as it is of death, so is it also of life. These two do mutually 5.12.01:002
give way to each other; and both cannot remain in the same place, 5.12.01:003
but one is driven out by the other, and the presence of the one destroys 5.12.01:004
that of the other. If, then, when death takes possession of a 5.12.01:005
man, it drives life away from him, and proves him to be dead, much more 5.12.01:006
does life, when it has obtained power over the man, drive out death, 5.12.01:007
and restore him as living unto God. For if death brings mortality, 5.12.01:008
why should not life, when it comes, vivify man? Just as Esaias the 5.12.01:010
prophet says, "Death devoured when it had prevailed." And again, "God 5.12.01:011
has wiped away every tear from every face." Thus that former life is 5.12.01:013
expelled, because it was not given by the Spirit, but by the breath. 5.12.01:014
2. For the breath of life, which also rendered man an animated being, is one thing, 5.12.02:014
and the vivifying Spirit another, which also caused him to become spiritual. 5.12.02:015
And for this reason Isaiah said, "Thus saith the LORD, who made heaven and established 5.12.02:017
it, who founded the earth and the things therein, and gave breath to the people 5.12.02:018
upon it, and Spirit to those walking upon it;" thus telling us that breath 5.12.02:019
is indeed given in common to all people upon earth, but that the Spirit is theirs 5.12.02:020
alone who tread down earthly desires. And therefore Isaiah himself, distinguishing 5.12.02:021
the things already mentioned, again exclaims, "For the Spirit shall go forth 5.12.02:023
from Me, and I have made every breath." Thus does he attribute the Spirit as peculiar IrnL.AH.5.12.02:024
to God which in the last times He pours forth upon the human race by the adoption 5.12.02:025
of sons; but [he shows] that breath was common throughout the creation, and 5.12.02:026
points it out as something created. Now what has been made is a different thing 5.12.02:027
from him who makes it. The breath, then, is temporal, but the Spirit eternal. 5.12.02:029
The breath, too, increases [in strength] for a short period, and continues for a 5.12.02:030
certain time; after that it takes its departure, leaving its former abode destitute 5.12.02:031
of breath. But when the Spirit pervades the man within and without, inasmuch 5.12.02:032
as it continues there, it never leaves him. "But that is not first which is spiritual," 5.12.02:033
says the apostle, speaking this as if with reference to us human beings; 5.12.02:036
"but that is first which is animal, afterwards that which is spiritual," in accordance 5.12.02:037
with reason. For there had been a necessity that, in the first place, a human 5.12.02:039
being should be fashioned, and that what was fashioned should receive the soul; 5.12.02:040
afterwards that it should thus receive the communion of the Spirit. Wherefore 5.12.02:041
also "the first Adam was made" by the Lord "a living soul, the second Adam a quickening 5.12.02:042
spirit." As, then, he who was made a living soul forfeited life when he 5.12.02:043
turned aside to what was evil, so, on the other hand, the same individual, when 5.12.02:044
he reverts to what is good, and receives the quickening Spirit, shall find life. 5.12.02:045
3. For it is not one thing which dies and another which is quickened, as 5.12.03:047
neither is it one thing which is lost and another which is found, but the 5.12.03:048
Lord came seeking for that same sheep which had been lost. What was it, then, 5.12.03:049
which was dead? Undoubtedly it was the substance of the flesh; the same, 5.12.03:050
too, which had lost the breath of life, and had become breathless and 5.12.03:051
dead. This same, therefore, was what the Lord came to quicken, that as in 5.12.03:052
Adam we do all die, as being of an animal nature, in Christ we may all live, IrnL.AH.5.12.03:053
as being spiritual, not laying aside God's handiwork, but the lusts 5.12.03:054
of the flesh, and receiving the Holy Spirit; as the apostle says in the Epistle 5.12.03:058
to the Colossians: "Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon 5.12.03:059
the earth." And what these are he himself explains: "Fornication, uncleanness, 5.12.03:060
inordinate affection, evil concupiscence; and covetousness, which is 5.12.03:061
idolatry." The laying aside of these is what the apostle preaches; and he 5.12.03:062
declares that those who do such things, as being merely flesh and blood, 5.12.03:063
cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. For their soul, tending towards what 5.12.03:064
is worse, and descending to earthly lusts, has become a partaker in the 5.12.03:065
same designation which belongs to these [lusts, viz., "earthly"], which, 5.12.03:066
when the apostle commands us to lay aside, he says in the same Epistle, 5.12.03:069
"Cast ye off the old man with his deeds." But when he said this, he does 5.12.03:070
not remove away the ancient formation [of man]; for in that case it would 5.12.03:071
be incumbent on us to rid ourselves of its company by committing suicide. IrnL.AH.5.12.03:072
4. But the apostle himself also, being one who had been formed in a womb, and 5.12.04:073
had issued thence, wrote to us, and confessed in his Epistle to the Philippians 5.12.04:074
that "to live in the flesh was the fruit of [his] work;" thus expressing himself. 5.12.04:075
Now the final result of the work of the Spirit is the salvation of the flesh. 5.12.04:077
For what other visible fruit is there of the invisible Spirit, than the rendering 5.12.04:078
of the flesh mature and capable of incorruption? If then [he says], "To 5.12.04:079
live in the flesh, this is the result of labour to me," he did not surely contemn 5.12.04:080
the substance of flesh in that passage where he said, "Put ye off the old 5.12.04:081
man with his works;" but he points out that we should lay aside our former 5.12.04:082
conversation, that which waxes old and becomes corrupt; and for this reason he 5.12.04:083
goes on to say, "And put ye on the new man, that which is renewed in knowledge, 5.12.04:084
after the image of Him who created him." In this, therefore, that he says, 5.12.04:085
"which is renewed in knowledge," he demonstrates that he, the selfsame man who 5.12.04:088
was in ignorance in times past, that is, in ignorance of God, is renewed by that 5.12.04:089
knowledge which has respect to Him. For the knowledge of God renews man. And 5.12.04:090
when he says, "after the image of the Creator," he sets forth the recapitulation 5.12.04:092
of the same man, who was at the beginning made after the likeness of God. IrnL.AH.5.12.04:093
5. And that he, the apostle, was the very same person who had been born from the womb, that is, 5.12.05:096
of the ancient substance of flesh, he does himself declare in the Epistle to the Galatians: 5.12.05:097
"But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace, 5.12.05:098
to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles," it was not, as I have already 5.12.05:099
observed, one person who had been born from the womb, and another who preached the Gospel 5.12.05:101
of the Son of God; but that same individual who formerly was ignorant, and used to persecute 5.12.05:102
the Church, when the revelation was made to him from heaven, and the Lord conferred with him, 5.12.05:103
as I have pointed out in the third book, preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God, 5.12.05:104
who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, his former ignorance being driven out by his subsequent 5.12.05:105
knowledge: just as the blind men whom the Lord healed did certainly lose their blindness, but 5.12.05:106
received the substance of their eyes perfect, and obtained the power of vision in the very 5.12.05:110
same eyes with which they formerly did not see; the darkness being merely driven away by the power 5.12.05:111
of vision, while the substance of the eyes was retained, in order that, by means of those 5.12.05:112
eyes through which they had not seen, exercising again the visual power, they might give thanks 5.12.05:113
to Him who had restored them again to sight. And thus, also, he whose withered hand was healed, 5.12.05:114
and all who were healed generally, did not change those parts of their bodies which had at 5.12.05:115
their birth come forth from the womb, but simply obtained these anew in a healthy condition. 5.12.05:116
6. For the Maker of all things, the Word of God, who did also from the beginning 5.12.06:121
form man, when He found His handiwork impaired by wickedness, performed 5.12.06:122
upon it all kinds of healing. At one time [He did so], as regards each 5.12.06:123
separate member, as it is found in His own handiwork; and at another time 5.12.06:124
He did once for all restore man sound and whole in all points, preparing him 5.12.06:125
perfect for Himself unto the resurrection. For what was His object in healing 5.12.06:127
[different] portions of the flesh, and restoring them to their original 5.12.06:128
condition, if those parts which had been healed by Him were not in a position 5.12.06:130
to obtain salvation? For if it was [merely] a temporary benefit which 5.12.06:131
He conferred, He granted nothing of importance to those who were the subjects 5.12.06:132
of His healing. Or how can they maintain that the flesh is incapable 5.12.06:133
of receiving the life which flows from Him, when it received healing from 5.12.06:133
Him? For life is brought about through healing, and incorruption through life. 5.12.06:135
He, therefore, who confers healing, the same does also confer life; and 5.12.06:136
He [who gives] life, also surrounds His own handiwork with incorruption. 5.12.06:137
1. Let our opponents--that is, they who speak against their own salvation--inform 5.13.01:001
us [as to this point]: The deceased daughter of the high priest; the widow's dead son, 5.13.01:002
who was being carted out [to burial] near the gate [of the city]; and Lazarus, IrnL.AH.5.13.01:003
who had lain four days in the tomb, --in what bodies did they rise again? In those 5.13.01:004
same, no doubt, in which they had also died. For if it were not in the very same, 5.13.01:006
then certainly those same individuals who had died did not rise again. For [the Scripture] 5.13.01:007
says, "The Lord took the hand of the dead man, and said to him, Young man, 5.13.01:008
I say unto thee, Arise. And the dead man sat up, and He commanded that something 5.13.01:009
should be given him to eat; and He delivered him to his mother." Again, He called 5.13.01:010
Lazarus "with a loud voice, saying, Lazarus, come forth; and he that was dead came IrnL.AH.5.13.01:011
forth bound with bandages, feet and hands." This was symbolical of that man who had 5.13.01:012
been bound in sins. And therefore the Lord said, "Loose him, and let him depart." 5.13.01:013
As, therefore, those who were healed were made whole in those members which had 5.13.01:014
in times past been afflicted; and the dead rose in the identical bodies, their limbs 5.13.01:016
and bodies receiving health, and that life which was granted by the Lord, who prefigures 5.13.01:017
eternal things by temporal, and shows that it is He who is Himself able to 5.13.01:018
extend both healing and life to His handiwork, that His words concerning its [future] 5.13.01:019
resurrection may also be believed; so also at the end, when the Lord utters 5.13.01:020
His voice "by the last trumpet," the dead shall be raised, as He Himself declares: 5.13.01:021
"The hour shall come, in which all the dead which are in the tombs shall hear the 5.13.01:022
voice of the Son of man, and shall come forth; those that have done good to the resurrection 5.13.01:023
of life, and those that have done evil to the resurrection of judgment." 5.13.01:024
2. Vain, therefore, and truly miserable, are those who do not choose to see what is so manifest 5.13.02:029
and clear, but shun the light of truth, blinding themselves like the tragic OEdipus. And as 5.13.02:030
those who are not practised in wrestling, when they contend with others, laying hold with a determined 5.13.02:031
grasp of some part of [their opponent's] body, really fall by means of that which they 5.13.02:032
grasp, yet when they fall, imagine that they are gaining the victory, because they have obstinately 5.13.02:033
kept their hold upon that part which they seized at the outset, and besides falling, become 5.13.02:034
subjects of ridicule; so is it with respect to that [favourite] expression of the heretics: 5.13.02:035
"Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;" while taking two expressions of Paul's, 5.13.02:036
without having perceived the apostle's meaning, or examined critically the force of the terms, 5.13.02:037
but keeping fast hold of the mere expressions by themselves, they die in consequence of their 5.13.02:038
influence ({periautas}), overturning as far as in them lies the entire dispensation of God. 5.13.02:039
3. For thus they will allege that this passage refers to the flesh strictly 5.13.03:044
so called, and not to fleshly works, as I have pointed out, so representing 5.13.03:045
the apostle as contradicting himself. For immediately following, in the 5.13.03:046
same Epistle, he says conclusively, speaking thus in reference to the flesh: 5.13.03:047
"For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must 5.13.03:048
put on immortality. So, when this mortal shall have put on immortality, then IrnL.AH.5.13.03:050
shall be brought to pass the saying which is written, Death is swallowed 5.13.03:051
up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O death, where is thy victory?" 5.13.03:052
Now these words shall be appropriately said at the time when this mortal 5.13.03:053
and corruptible flesh, which is subject to death, which also is pressed 5.13.03:054
down by a certain dominion of death, rising up into life, shall put on incorruption 5.13.03:055
and immortality. For then, indeed, shall death be truly vanquished, 5.13.03:056
when that flesh which is held down by it shall go forth from under its 5.13.03:057
dominion. And again, to the Philippians he says: "But our conversation 5.13.03:058
is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus, who 5.13.03:059
shall transfigure the body of our humiliation conformable to the body of 5.13.03:060
His glory, even as He is able (ita ut possit) according to the working of 5.13.03:061
His own power." What, then, is this "body of humiliation" which the Lord 5.13.03:063
shall transfigure, [so as to be] conformed to "the body of His glory?" Plainly 5.13.03:064
it is this body composed of flesh, which is indeed humbled when it falls 5.13.03:065
into the earth. Now its transformation [takes place thus], that while 5.13.03:066
it is mortal and corruptible, it becomes immortal and incorruptible, not 5.13.03:066
after its own proper substance, but after the mighty working of the Lord, 5.13.03:067
who is able to invest the mortal with immortality, and the corruptible with 5.13.03:068
incorruption. And therefore he says, "that mortality may be swallowed up 5.13.03:069
of life. He who has perfected us for this very thing is God, who also has 5.13.03:071
given unto us the earnest of the Spirit." He uses these words most manifestly 5.13.03:072
in reference to the flesh; for the soul is not mortal, neither is the 5.13.03:073
spirit. Now, what is mortal shall be swallowed up of life, when the flesh 5.13.03:075
is dead no longer, but remains living and incorruptible, hymning the praises IrnL.AH.5.13.03:076
of God, who has perfected us for this very thing. In order, therefore, 5.13.03:078
that we may be perfected for this, aptly does he say to the Corinthians, 5.13.03:079
"Glorify God in your body." Now God is He who gives rise to immortality. 5.13.03:080
4. That he uses these words with respect to the body of flesh, and to none 5.13.04:082
other, he declares to the Corinthians manifestly, indubitably, and free 5.13.04:083
from all ambiguity: "Always bearing about in our body the dying of Jesus, 5.13.04:084
that also the life of Jesus Christ might be manifested in our body. 5.13.04:085
For if we who live are delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, it is that the 5.13.04:086
life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh." And that the 5.13.04:087
Spirit lays hold on the flesh, he says in the same Epistle, "That ye 5.13.04:088
are the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, inscribed not with ink, but 5.13.04:089
with the Spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly 5.13.04:090
tables of the heart." If, therefore, in the present time, fleshly 5.13.04:092
hearts are made partakers of the Spirit, what is there astonishing if, in 5.13.04:093
the resurrection, they receive that life which is granted by the Spirit? 5.13.04:095
Of which resurrection the apostle speaks in the Epistle to the Philippians: 5.13.04:096
"Having been made conformable to His death, if by any means I might 5.13.04:097
attain to the resurrection which is from the dead." In what other mortal 5.13.04:098
flesh, therefore, can life be understood as being manifested, unless in 5.13.04:099
that substance which is also put to death on account of that confession 5.13.04:100
which is made of God?--as he has himself declared, "If, as a man, I have 5.13.04:101
fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me if the dead rise 5.13.04:103
not? For if the dead rise not, neither has Christ risen. Now, if Christ 5.13.04:104
has not risen, our preaching is vain, and your faith is vain. In that case, 5.13.04:105
too, we are found false witnesses for God, since we have testified that 5.13.04:106
He raised up Christ, whom [upon that supposition] He did not raise up. 5.13.04:107
For if the dead rise not, neither has Christ risen. But if Christ be 5.13.04:108
not risen, your faith is vain, since ye are yet in your sins. Therefore those 5.13.04:110
who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only 5.13.04:111
we have hope in Christ, we are more miserable than all men. But now Christ 5.13.04:112
has risen from the dead, the first-fruits of those that sleep; for as 5.13.04:113
by man [came] death, by man also [came] the resurrection of the dead." 5.13.04:114
5. In all these passages, therefore, as I have already said, these men must either 5.13.05:116
allege that the apostle expresses opinions contradicting himself, with respect 5.13.05:117
to that statement, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;" 5.13.05:118
or, on the other hand, they will be forced to make perverse and crooked interpretations IrnL.AH.5.13.05:119
of all the passages, so as to overturn and alter the sense of the 5.13.05:120
words. For what sensible thing can they say, if they endeavour to interpret 5.13.05:122
otherwise this which he writes: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, 5.13.05:123
and this mortal put on immortality;" and, "That the life of Jesus may be made 5.13.05:124
manifest in our mortal flesh;" and all the other passages in which the apostle 5.13.05:125
does manifestly and clearly declare the resurrection and incorruption of 5.13.05:126
the flesh? And thus shall they be compelled to put a false interpretation upon 5.13.05:128
passages such as these, they who do not choose to understand one correctly. 5.13.05:129
1. And inasmuch as the apostle has not pronounced against the very substance of flesh 5.14.01:001
and blood, that it cannot inherit the kingdom of God, the same apostle has everywhere 5.14.01:002
adopted the term "flesh and blood" with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ, partly 5.14.01:003
indeed to establish His human nature (for He did Himself speak of Himself as the 5.14.01:004
Son of man), and partly that He might confirm the salvation of our flesh. For if 5.14.01:005
the flesh were not in a position to be saved, the Word of God would in no wise have 5.14.01:006
become flesh. And if the blood of the righteous were not to be inquired after, the 5.14.01:007
Lord would certainly not have had blood [in His composition]. But inasmuch as blood 5.14.01:011
cries out (vocalis est) from the beginning [of the world], God said to Cain, when 5.14.01:012
he had slain his brother, "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to Me." And as 5.14.01:013
their blood will be inquired after, He said to those with Noah, "For your blood of 5.14.01:014
your souls will I require, [even] from the hand of all beasts;" and again, "Whosoever 5.14.01:015
will shed man's blood, it shall be shed for his blood." In like manner, too, did 5.14.01:016
the Lord say to those who should afterwards shed His blood, "All righteous blood 5.14.01:018
shall be required which is shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel 5.14.01:019
to the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and 5.14.01:020
the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." 5.14.01:021
He thus points out the recapitulation that should take place in his own person of 5.14.01:022
the effusion of blood from the beginning, of all the righteous men and of the prophets, 5.14.01:023
and that by means of Himself there should be a requisition of their blood. 5.14.01:024
Now this [blood] could not be required unless it also had the capability of being saved; 5.14.01:026
nor would the Lord have summed up these things in Himself, unless He had Himself 5.14.01:027
been made flesh and blood after the way of the original formation [of man], saving 5.14.01:028
in his own person at the end that which had in the beginning perished in Adam. 5.14.01:029
2. But if the Lord became incarnate for any other order of things, and took 5.14.02:032
flesh of any other substance, He has not then summed up human nature in His 5.14.02:033
own person, nor in that case can He be termed flesh. For flesh has been truly 5.14.02:034
made [to consist in] a transmission of that thing moulded originally from 5.14.02:036
the dust. But if it had been necessary for Him to draw the material [of 5.14.02:037
His body] from another substance, the Father would at the beginning have moulded 5.14.02:038
the material [of flesh] from a different substance [than from what He 5.14.02:039
actually did]. But now the case stands thus, that the Word has saved that 5.14.02:040
which really was [created, viz.,] humanity which had perished, effecting by 5.14.02:041
means of Himself that communion which should be held with it, and seeking 5.14.02:043
out its salvation. But the thing which had perished possessed flesh and blood. 5.14.02:044
For the Lord, taking dust from the earth, moulded man; and it was upon 5.14.02:045
his behalf that all the dispensation of the Lord's advent took place. He had 5.14.02:046
Himself, therefore, flesh and blood, recapitulating in Himself not a certain 5.14.02:047
other, but that original handiwork of the Father, seeking out that thing 5.14.02:048
which had perished. And for this cause the apostle, in the Epistle to the 5.14.02:049
Colossians, says, "And though ye were formerly alienated, and enemies to His 5.14.02:050
knowledge by evil works, yet now ye have been reconciled in the body of 5.14.02:051
His flesh, through His death, to present yourselves holy and chaste, and without 5.14.02:052
fault in His sight." He says, "Ye have been reconciled in the body of 5.14.02:054
His flesh," because the righteous flesh has reconciled that flesh which was 5.14.02:055
being kept under bondage in sin, and brought it into friendship with God. 5.14.02:056
3. If, then, any one allege that in this respect the flesh of the Lord was 5.14.03:057
different from ours, because it indeed did not commit sin, neither was deceit IrnL.AH.5.14.03:058
found in His soul, while we, on the other hand, are sinners, he says 5.14.03:059
what is the fact. But if he pretends that the Lord possessed another substance 5.14.03:060
of flesh, the sayings respecting reconciliation will not agree with 5.14.03:061
that man. For that thing is reconciled which had formerly been in enmity. 5.14.03:062
Now, if the Lord had taken flesh from another substance, He would not, by 5.14.03:063
so doing, have reconciled that one to God which had become inimical through 5.14.03:064
transgression. But now, by means of communion with Himself, the Lord 5.14.03:066
has reconciled man to God the Father, in reconciling us to Himself by the 5.14.03:067
body of His own flesh, and redeeming us by His own blood, as the apostle 5.14.03:068
says to the Ephesians, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the 5.14.03:069
remission of sins;" and again to the same he says, "Ye who formerly were far 5.14.03:071
off have been brought near in the blood of Christ;" and again, "Abolishing 5.14.03:072
in His flesh the enmities, [even] the law of commandments [contained] 5.14.03:073
in ordinances." And in every Epistle the apostle plainly testifies, that 5.14.03:074
through the flesh of our Lord, and through His blood, we have been saved. 5.14.03:075
4. If, therefore, flesh and blood are the things which procure for us life, it has not been IrnL.AH.5.14.04:078
declared of flesh and blood, in the literal meaning (proprie) of the terms, that they 5.14.04:079
cannot inherit the kingdom of God; but [these words apply] to those carnal deeds already 5.14.04:080
mentioned, which, perverting man to sin, deprive him of life. And for this reason he says, 5.14.04:081
in the Epistle to the Romans: "Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, to 5.14.04:082
be under its control: neither yield ye your members instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; 5.14.04:083
but yield yourselves to God, as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments 5.14.04:084
of righteousness unto God." In these same members, therefore, in which we used to 5.14.04:085
serve sin, and bring forth fruit unto death, does He wish us to [be obedient] unto righteousness, 5.14.04:087
that we may bring forth fruit unto life. Remember, therefore, my beloved friend, 5.14.04:088
that thou hast been redeemed by the flesh of our Lord, re-established by His blood; and 5.14.04:090
"holding the Head, from which the whole body of the Church, having been fitted together, 5.14.04:091
takes increase"--that is, acknowledging the advent in the flesh of the Son of God, and IrnL.AH.5.14.04:092
[His] divinity (deum), and looking forward with constancy to His human nature (hominem), 5.14.04:093
availing thyself also of these proofs drawn from Scripture--thou dost easily overthrow, IrnL.AH.5.14.04:094
as I have pointed out, all those notions of the heretics which were concocted afterwards. 5.14.04:095
1. Now, that He who at the beginning created man, did promise him a second 5.15.01:001
birth after his dissolution into earth, Esaias thus declares: "The 5.15.01:002
dead shall rise again, and they who are in the tombs shall arise, and 5.15.01:003
they who are in the earth shall rejoice. For the dew which is from Thee 5.15.01:004
is health to them." And again: "I will comfort you, and ye shall be comforted 5.15.01:006
in Jerusalem: and ye shall see, and your heart shall rejoice, 5.15.01:007
and your bones shall flourish as the grass; and the hand of the Lord shall 5.15.01:008
be known to those who worship Him." And Ezekiel speaks as follows: 5.15.01:010
"And the hand of the LORD came upon me, and the LORD led me forth in the 5.15.01:011
Spirit, and set me down in the midst of the plain, and this place was 5.15.01:012
full of bones. And He caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, 5.15.01:013
there were many upon the surface of the plain very dry. And He said 5.15.01:014
unto me, Son of man, can these bones live ? And I said, Lord, Thou 5.15.01:015
who hast made them dost know. And He said unto me, Prophesy upon these 5.15.01:016
bones, and thou shalt say to them, Ye dry bones, hear the word of the 5.15.01:017
LORD. Thus saith the LORD to these bones, Behold, I will cause the spirit 5.15.01:017
of life to come upon you, and I will lay sinews upon you, and bring 5.15.01:018
up flesh again upon you, and I will stretch skin upon you, and will put 5.15.01:019
my Spirit into you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the 5.15.01:020
LORD. And I prophesied as the Lord had commanded me. And it came to 5.15.01:022
pass, when I was prophesying, that, behold, an earthquake, and the bones 5.15.01:023
were drawn together, each one to its own articulation: and I beheld, 5.15.01:024
and, lo, the sinews and flesh were produced upon them, and the skins rose 5.15.01:025
upon them round about, but there was no breath in them. And He said 5.15.01:026
unto me, Prophesy to the breath, son of man, and say to the breath, These 5.15.01:027
things saith the LORD, Come from the four winds (spiritibus), and 5.15.01:028
breathe upon these dead, that they may live. So I prophesied as the Lord 5.15.01:029
had commanded me, and the breath entered into them; and they did live, 5.15.01:030
and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great gathering." And again 5.15.01:031
he says, "Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will set your graves open, and 5.15.01:032
cause you to come out of your graves, and bring you into the land of 5.15.01:032
Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall open your sepulchres, 5.15.01:033
that I may bring my people again out of the sepulchres: and 5.15.01:034
I will put my Spirit into you, and ye shall live; and I will place you 5.15.01:035
in your land, and ye shall know that I am the LORD. I have said, and I 5.15.01:037
will do, saith the LORD." As we at once perceive that the Creator (Demiurgo) 5.15.01:038
is in this passage represented as vivifying our dead bodies, and 5.15.01:039
promising resurrection to them, and resuscitation from their sepulchres 5.15.01:041
and tombs, conferring upon them immortality also (He says, "For as 5.15.01:042
the tree of life, so shall their days be"), He is shown to be the only 5.15.01:043
God who accomplishes these things, and as Himself the good Father, benevolently 5.15.01:044
conferring life upon those who have not life from themselves. 5.15.01:045
2. And for this reason did the Lord most plainly manifest Himself and the Father 5.15.02:048
to His disciples, lest, forsooth, they might seek after another God besides Him who 5.15.02:049
formed man, and who gave him the breath of life; and that men might not rise to 5.15.02:050
such a pitch of madness as to feign another Father above the Creator. And thus also 5.15.02:051
He healed by a word all the others who were in a weakly condition because of 5.15.02:053
sin; to whom also He said, "Behold, thou art made whole, sin no more, lest a worse 5.15.02:054
thing come upon thee:" pointing out by this, that, because of the sin of disobedience, IrnL.AH.5.15.02:055
infirmities have come upon men. To that man, however, who had been blind from 5.15.02:056
his birth, He gave sight, not by means of a word, but by an outward action; doing 5.15.02:059
this not without a purpose, or because it so happened, but that He might show 5.15.02:060
forth the hand of God, that which at the beginning had moulded man. And therefore, 5.15.02:061
when His disciples asked Him for what cause the man had been born blind, whether 5.15.02:063
for his own or his parents' fault, He replied, "Neither hath this man sinned, 5.15.02:064
nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." Now the 5.15.02:065
work of God is the fashioning of man. For, as the Scripture says, He made [man] 5.15.02:066
by a kind of process: "And the Lord took day from the earth, and formed man." Wherefore 5.15.02:067
also the Lord spat on the ground and made clay, and smeared it upon the eyes, 5.15.02:068
pointing out the original fashioning [of man], how it was effected, and manifesting 5.15.02:069
the hand of God to those who can understand by what [hand] man was formed 5.15.02:070
out of the dust. For that which the artificer, the Word, had omitted to form in the 5.15.02:071
womb, [viz., the blind man's eyes], He then supplied in public, that the works 5.15.02:074
of God might be manifested in him, in order that we might not be seeking out another 5.15.02:075
hand by which man was fashioned, nor another Father; knowing that this hand of 5.15.02:076
God which formed us at the beginning, and which does form us in the womb, has in 5.15.02:077
the last times sought us out who were lost, winning back His own, and taking up 5.15.02:078
the lost sheep upon His shoulders, and with joy restoring it to the fold of life. 5.15.02:079
3. Now, that the Word of God forms us in the womb, He says to Jeremiah, "Before I formed 5.15.03:083
thee in the womb, I knew thee; and before thou wentest forth from the belly, I sanctified 5.15.03:084
thee, and appointed thee a prophet among the nations." And Paul, too, says in like 5.15.03:085
manner, "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, that I might 5.15.03:086
declare Him among the nations." As, therefore, we are by the Word formed in the 5.15.03:087
womb, this very same Word formed the visual power in him who had been blind from his birth; 5.15.03:088
showing openly who it is that fashions us in secret, since the Word Himself had 5.15.03:089
been made manifest to men: and declaring the original formation of Adam, and the manner 5.15.03:090
in which he was created, and by what hand he was fashioned, indicating the whole from 5.15.03:091
a part. For the Lord who formed the visual powers is He who made the whole man, carrying 5.15.03:092
out the will of the Father. And inasmuch as man, with respect to that formation which, 5.15.03:093
was after Adam, having fallen into transgression, needed the layer of regeneration, 5.15.03:098
[the Lord] said to him [upon whom He had conferred sight], after He had smeared his 5.15.03:099
eyes with the clay, "Go to Siloam, and wash;" thus restoring to him both [his perfect] 5.15.03:100
confirmation, and that regeneration which takes place by means of the layer. And for 5.15.03:101
this reason when he was washed he came seeing, that he might both know Him who had 5.15.03:103
fashioned him, and that man might learn [to know] Him who has conferred upon him life. 5.15.03:104
4. All the followers of Valentinus, therefore, lose their case, when they 5.15.04:106
say that man was not fashioned out of this earth, but from a fluid and 5.15.04:107
diffused substance. For, from the earth out of which the Lord formed eyes 5.15.04:108
for that man, from the same earth it is evident that man was also fashioned 5.15.04:109
at the beginning. For it were incompatible that the eyes should indeed 5.15.04:110
be formed from one source and the rest of the body from another; as 5.15.04:111
neither would it be compatible that one [being] fashioned the body, and 5.15.04:112
another the eyes. But He, the very same who formed Adam at the beginning, 5.15.04:114
with whom also the Father spake, [saying], "Let Us make man after Our 5.15.04:115
image and likeness," revealing Himself in these last times to men, formed 5.15.04:116
visual organs (visionem) for him who had been blind [in that body which 5.15.04:117
he had derived] from Adam. Wherefore also the Scripture, pointing out 5.15.04:118
what should come to pass, says, that when Adam had hid himself because 5.15.04:119
of his disobedience, the Lord came to him at eventide, called him forth, 5.15.04:120
and said, "Where art thou?" That means that in the last times the very 5.15.04:122
same Word of God came to call man, reminding him of his doings, living in 5.15.04:123
which he had been hidden from the Lord. For just as at that time God spake 5.15.04:124
to Adam at eventide, searching him out; so in the last times, by means 5.15.04:125
of the same voice, searching out his posterity, He has visited them. 5.15.04:126
1. And since Adam was moulded from this earth to which we belong, the Scripture tells IrnL.AH.5.16.01:001
us that God said to him, "In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat thy bread, until thou 5.16.01:002
turnest again to the dust from whence thou weft taken." If then, after death, our bodies IrnL.AH.5.16.01:003
return to any other substance, it follows that from it also they have their substance. 5.16.01:005
But if it be into this very [earth], it is manifest that it was also from it that 5.16.01:006
man's frame was created; as also the Lord clearly showed, when from this very substance 5.16.01:007
He formed eyes for the man [to whom He gave sight]. And thus was the hand of God 5.16.01:008
plainly shown forth, by which Adam was fashioned, and we too have been formed; and since 5.16.01:010
there is one and the same Father, whose voice from the beginning even to the end 5.16.01:011
is present with His handiwork, and the substance from which we were formed is plainly IrnL.AH.5.16.01:012
declared through the Gospel, we should therefore not seek after another Father besides 5.16.01:013
Him, nor [look for] another substance from which we have been formed, besides what 5.16.01:014
was mentioned beforehand, and shown forth by the Lord; nor another hand of God besides 5.16.01:015
that which, from the beginning even to the end, forms us and prepares us for life, and 5.16.01:016
is present with His handiwork, and perfects it after the image and likeness of God. 5.16.01:017
2. And then, again, this Word was manifested when the Word of God was made 5.16.02:021
man, assimilating Himself to man, and man to Himself, so that by means of 5.16.02:022
his resemblance to the Son, man might become precious to the Father. For in 5.16.02:023
times long past, it was said that man was created after the image of God, 5.16.02:024
but it was not [actually] shown; for the Word was as yet invisible, after 5.16.02:025
whose image man was created, Wherefore also he did easily lose the similitude. 5.16.02:026
When, however, the Word of God became flesh, He confirmed both these: 5.16.02:027
for He both showed forth the image truly, since He became Himself what was 5.16.02:029
His image; and He re-established the similitude after a sure manner, by assimilating 5.16.02:030
man to the invisible Father through means of the visible Word. 5.16.02:031
3. And not by the aforesaid things alone has the Lord manifested Himself, but 5.16.03:035
[He has done this] also by means of His passion. For doing away with [the 5.16.03:036
effects of] that disobedience of man which had taken place at the beginning 5.16.03:037
by the occasion of a tree, "He became obedient unto death, even the death of 5.16.03:038
the cross;" rectifying that disobedience which had occurred by reason of a 5.16.03:039
tree, through that obedience which was [wrought out] upon the tree [of the cross]. 5.16.03:040
Now He would not have come to do away, by means of that same [image], 5.16.03:042
the disobedience which had been incurred towards our Maker if He proclaimed 5.16.03:043
another Father. But inasmuch as it was by these things that we disobeyed God, 5.16.03:044
and did not give credit to His word, so was it also by these same that He 5.16.03:045
brought in obedience and consent as respects His Word; by which things He clearly 5.16.03:046
shows forth God Himself, whom indeed we had offended in the first Adam, 5.16.03:047
when he did not perform His commandment. In the second Adam, however, we are 5.16.03:048
reconciled, being made obedient even unto death. For we were debtors to none 5.16.03:051
other but to Him whose commandment we had transgressed at the beginning. 5.16.03:052
1. Now this being is the Creator (Demiurgus), who is, in respect of His 5.17.01:001
love, the Father; but in respect of His power, He is Lord; and in 5.17.01:002
respect of His wisdom, our Maker and Fashioner; by transgressing whose 5.17.01:003
commandment we became His enemies. And therefore in the last times 5.17.01:005
the Lord has restored us into friendship through His incarnation, having 5.17.01:006
become "the Mediator between God and men;" propitiating indeed 5.17.01:007
for us the Father against whom we had sinned, and cancelling (consolatus) 5.17.01:008
our disobedience by His own obedience; conferring also upon us 5.17.01:009
the gift of communion with, and subjection to, our Maker. For this reason 5.17.01:012
also He has taught us to say in prayer, "And forgive us our debts;" 5.17.01:013
since indeed He is our Father, whose debtors we were, having transgressed 5.17.01:014
His commandments. But who is this Being? Is He some unknown 5.17.01:015
one, and a Father who gives no commandment to any one? Or is He the 5.17.01:016
God who is proclaimed in the Scriptures, to whom we were debtors, having 5.17.01:016
transgressed His commandment? Now the commandment was given to man 5.17.01:017
by the Word. For Adam, it is said, "heard the voice of the LORD God." 5.17.01:018
Rightly then does His Word say to man, "Thy sins are forgiven thee;" 5.17.01:019
He, the same against whom we had sinned in the beginning, grants 5.17.01:020
forgiveness of sins in the end. But if indeed we had disobeyed the 5.17.01:021
command of any other, while it was a different being who said, "Thy sins 5.17.01:023
are forgiven thee;" such an one is neither good, nor true, nor just. 5.17.01:024
For how can he be good, who does not give from what belongs to himself? 5.17.01:025
Or how can he be just, who snatches away the goods of another? 5.17.01:026
And in what way can sins be truly remitted, unless that He against 5.17.01:027
whom we have sinned has Himself granted remission "through the bowels 5.17.01:028
of mercy of our God," in which "He has visited us" through His Son? 5.17.01:029
2. And therefore, when He had healed the man sick of the palsy, [the evangelist] 5.17.02:032
says "The people upon seeing it glorified God, who gave such power unto men." What 5.17.02:033
God, then, did the bystanders glorify? Was it indeed that unknown Father invented 5.17.02:034
by the heretics? And how could they glorify him who was altogether unknown to 5.17.02:035
them? It is evident, therefore, that the Israelites glorified Him who has been 5.17.02:036
proclaimed as God by the law and the prophets, who is also the Father of our Lord; 5.17.02:037
and therefore He taught men, by the evidence of their senses through those signs 5.17.02:038
which He accomplished, to give glory to God. If, however, He HimSelf had come 5.17.02:039
from another Father, and men glorified a different Father when they beheld His 5.17.02:042
miracles, He [in that case] rendered them ungrateful to that Father who had sent 5.17.02:043
the gift of healing. But as the only-begotten13 Son had come for man's salvation 5.17.02:044
from Him who is God, He did both stir up the incredulous by the miracles which 5.17.02:045
He was in the habit of working, to give glory to the Father; and to the Pharisees, 5.17.02:046
who did not admit the advent of His Son, and who consequently did not believe 5.17.02:047
in the remission [of sins] which was conferred by Him, He said, "That ye may know 5.17.02:048
that the Son of man hath power to forgive sins." And when He had said this, He 5.17.02:049
commanded the paralytic man to take up the pallet upon which he was lying, and go 5.17.02:050
into his house. By this work of His He confounded the unbelievers, and showed that 5.17.02:051
He is Himself the voice of God, by which man received commandments, which he 5.17.02:052
broke, and became a sinner; for the paralysis followed as a consequence of sins. 5.17.02:053
3. Therefore, by remitting sins, He did indeed heal man, while He also manifested 5.17.03:058
Himself who He was. For if no one can forgive sins but God alone, while 5.17.03:059
the Lord remitted them and healed men, it is plain that He was Himself the 5.17.03:060
Word of God made the Son of man, receiving from the Father the power of remission 5.17.03:061
of sins; since He was man, and since He was God, in order that since 5.17.03:062
as man He suffered for us, so as God He might have compassion on us, and forgive 5.17.03:063
us our debts, in which we were made debtors to God our Creator. And therefore 5.17.03:064
David said beforehand, "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, 5.17.03:065
and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD has not 5.17.03:067
imputed sin;" pointing out thus that remission of sins which follows upon His 5.17.03:068
advent, by which "He has destroyed the handwriting" of our debt, and "fastened 5.17.03:069
it to the cross;" so that as by means of a tree we were made debtors to 5.17.03:070
God, [so also] by means of a tree we may obtain the remission of our debt. IrnL.AH.5.17.03:071
4. This fact has been strikingly set forth by many others, and especially through 5.17.04:075
means of Elisha the prophet. For when his fellow-prophets were hewing wood 5.17.04:076
for the construction of a tabernacle, and when the iron [head], shaken loose 5.17.04:077
from the axe, had fallen into the Jordan and could not be found by them, 5.17.04:078
upon Elisha's coming to the place, and learning what had happened, he threw 5.17.04:079
some wood into the water. Then, when he had done this, the iron part of the axe 5.17.04:080
floated up, and they took up from the surface of the water what they had 5.17.04:081
previously lost. By this action the prophet pointed out that the sure word of 5.17.04:082
God, which we had negligently lost by means of a tree, and were not in the way 5.17.04:083
of finding again, we should receive anew by the dispensation of a tree, [viz., 5.17.04:084
the cross of Christ]. For that the word of God is likened to an axe, John 5.17.04:087
the Baptist declares [when he says] in reference to it, "But now also is the 5.17.04:088
axe laid to the root of the trees." Jeremiah also says to the same purport: 5.17.04:089
"The word of God cleaveth the rock as an axe." This word, then, what was hidden 5.17.04:090
from us, did the dispensation of the tree make manifest, as I have already 5.17.04:091
remarked. For as we lost it by means of a tree, by means of a tree again 5.17.04:092
was it made manifest to all, showing the height, the length, the breadth, the 5.17.04:093
depth in itself; and, as a certain man among our predecessors observed, "Through 5.17.04:094
the extension of the hands of a divine person, gathering together the 5.17.04:095
two peoples to one God." For these were two hands, because there were two peoples 5.17.04:096
scattered to the ends of the earth; but there was one head in the middle, 5.17.04:097
as there is but one God, who is above all, and through all, and in us all. 5.17.04:098
1. And such or so important a dispensation He did not bring about by means of the 5.18.01:001
creations of others, but by His own; neither by those things which were created 5.18.01:002
out of ignorance and defect, but by those which had their substance from the wisdom 5.18.01:003
and power of His Father. For He was neither unrighteous, so that He should IrnL.AH.5.18.01:005
covet the property of another; nor needy, that He could not by His own means impart 5.18.01:006
life to His own, and make use of His own creation for the salvation of man. For 5.18.01:007
indeed the creation could not have sustained Him [on the cross], if He had sent 5.18.01:009
forth [simply by commission] what was the fruit of ignorance and defect. Now we 5.18.01:010
have repeatedly shown that the incarnate Word of God was suspended upon a tree, 5.18.01:012
and even the very heretics do acknowledge that He was crucified. How, then, could 5.18.01:013
the fruit of ignorance and defect sustain Him who contains the knowledge of all 5.18.01:014
things, and is true and perfect? Or how could that creation which was concealed 5.18.01:015
from the Father, and far removed from Him, have sustained His Word? And if this 5.18.01:016
world were made by the angels (it matters not whether we suppose their ignorance 5.18.01:017
or their cognizance of the Supreme God), when the Lord declared, "For I am in 5.18.01:018
the Father, and the Father in Me," how could this workmanship of the angels have 5.18.01:020
borne to be burdened at once with the Father and the Son? How, again, could that 5.18.01:021
creation which is beyond the Pleroma have contained Him who contains the entire 5.18.01:022
Pleroma? Inasmuch, then, as all these things are impossible and incapable of proof, 5.18.01:023
that preaching of the Church is alone true [which proclaims] that His own creation 5.18.01:024
bare Him, which subsists by the power, the skill, and the wisdom of God; 5.18.01:025
which is sustained, indeed, after an invisible manner by the Father, but, on the 5.18.01:026
contrary, after a visible manner it bore His Word: and this is the true [Word]. 5.18.01:029
2. For the Father bears the creation and His own Word simultaneously, 5.18.02:029
and the Word borne by the Father grants the Spirit to all as the Father 5.18.02:030
wills. To some He gives after the manner of creation what is made; but 5.18.02:031
to others [He gives] after the manner of adoption, that is, what is 5.18.02:032
from God, namely generation. And thus one God the Father is declared, 5.18.02:035
who is above all, and through all, and in all. The Father is indeed above 5.18.02:036
all, and He is the Head of Christ; but the Word is through all things, 5.18.02:036
and is Himself the Head of the Church; while the Spirit is in us 5.18.02:037
all, and He is the living water, which the Lord grants to those who rightly 5.18.02:038
believe in Him, and love Him, and who know that "there is one Father, 5.18.02:039
who is above all, and through all, and in us all." And to these 5.18.02:040
things does John also, the disciple of the Lord, bear witness, when he 5.18.02:043
speaks thus in the Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word 5.18.02:044
was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with 5.18.02:046
God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made." And 5.18.02:046
then he said of the Word Himself: "He was in the world, and the world 5.18.02:047
was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. To His own things He came, 5.18.02:048
and His own people received Him not. However, as many as did receive 5.18.02:049
Him, to these gave He power to become the sons of God, to those that 5.18.02:050
believe in His name." And again, showing the dispensation with regard 5.18.02:051
to His human nature, John said: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt 5.18.02:052
among us." And in continuation he says, "And we beheld His glory, 5.18.02:053
the glory as of the Only-begotten by the Father, full of grace and truth." 5.18.02:054
He thus plainly points out to those willing to hear, that is, to 5.18.02:055
those having ears, that there is one God, the Father over all, and one 5.18.02:056
Word of God, who is through all, by whom all things have been made; and 5.18.02:057
that this world belongs to Him, and was made by Him, according to the 5.18.02:058
Father's will, and not by angels; nor by apostasy, defect, and ignorance; 5.18.02:059
nor by any power of Prunicus, whom certain of them also call "the 5.18.02:060
Mother;" nor by any other maker of the world ignorant of the Father. 5.18.02:061
3. For the Creator of the world is truly the Word of God: and this is our Lord, 5.18.03:066
who in the last times was made man, existing in this world, and who in 5.18.03:067
an invisible manner contains all things created, and is inherent in the entire 5.18.03:068
creation, since the Word of God governs and arranges all things; and therefore 5.18.03:069
He came to His own in a visible manner, and was made flesh, and hung 5.18.03:070
upon the tree, that He might sum up all things in Himself. "And His own peculiar 5.18.03:071
people did not receive Him," as Moses declared this very thing among 5.18.03:074
the people: "And thy life shall be hanging before thine eyes, and thou wilt 5.18.03:075
not believe thy life." Those therefore who did not receive Him did not receive 5.18.03:076
life. "But to as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become 5.18.03:077
the sons of God." For it is He who has power from the Father over all things, 5.18.03:078
since He is the Word of God, and very man, communicating with invisible 5.18.03:079
beings after the manner of the intellect, and appointing a law observable 5.18.03:080
to the outward senses, that all things should continue each in its own order; 5.18.03:081
and He reigns manifestly over things visible and pertaining to men; and 5.18.03:082
brings in just judgment and worthy upon all; as David also, clearly pointing 5.18.03:083
to this, says, "Our God shall openly come, and will not keep silence." Then 5.18.03:084
he shows also the judgment which is brought in by Him, saying, "A fire shall 5.18.03:087
burn in His sight, and a strong tempest shall rage round about Him. He 5.18.03:088
shall call upon the heaven from above, and the earth, to judge His people." 5.18.03:090
1. That the Lord then was manifestly coming to His own things, and was sustaining them by means of that 5.19.01:001
creation which is supported by Himself, and was making a recapitulation of that disobedience which 5.19.01:002
had occurred in connection with a tree, through the obedience which was [exhibited by Himself when 5.19.01:003
He hung] upon a tree, [the effects] also of that deception being done away with, by which that virgin 5.19.01:004
Eve14, who was already espoused to a man, was unhappily misled,--was happily announced, through 5.19.01:005
means of the truth [spoken] by the angel to the Virgin Mary, who was [also espoused] to a man. For just 5.19.01:006
as the former was led astray by the word of an angel, so that she fled from God when she had transgressed 5.19.01:007
His word; so did the latter, by an angelic communication, receive the glad tidings that she 5.19.01:008
should sustain (portaret) God, being obedient to His word. And if the former did disobey God, yet the 5.19.01:009
latter was persuaded to be obedient to God, in order that the Virgin Mary might become the patroness 5.19.01:010
(advocata) of the virgin Eve. And thus, as the human race fell into bondage to death by means of 5.19.01:011
a virgin, so is it rescued by a virgin; virginal disobedience having been balanced in the opposite 5.19.01:012
scale by virginal obedience. For in the same way the sin of the first created man (protoplasti) receives 5.19.01:013
amendment by the correction of the First-begotten, and the coming of the serpent is conquered by 5.19.01:014
the harmlessness of the dove, those bonds being unloosed by which we had been fast bound to death. 5.19.01:015
2. The heretics being all unlearned and ignorant of God's arrangements, and not acquainted 5.19.02:015
with that dispensation by which He took upon Him human nature (inscii ejus quoe est secundum 5.19.02:016
hominem dispensationis), inasmuch as they blind themselves with regard to the truth, IrnL.AH.5.19.02:017
do in fact speak against their own salvation. Some of them introduce another Father besides 5.19.02:018
the Creator; some, again, say that the world and its substance was made by certain 5.19.02:019
angels; certain others [maintain] that it was widely separated by Horos from him whom they 5.19.02:020
represent as being the Father--that it sprang forth (floruisse) of itself, and from itself 5.19.02:021
was born. Then, again, others [of them assert] that it obtained substance in those things 5.19.02:022
which are contained by the Father, from defect and ignorance; others still, despise 5.19.02:032
the advent of the Lord manifest [to the senses], for they do not admit His incarnation; while 5.19.02:033
others, ignoring the arrangement [that He should be born] of a virgin, maintain that 5.19.02:033
He was begotten by Joseph. And still further, some affirm that neither their soul nor their 5.19.02:034
body can receive eternal life, but merely the inner man. Moreover, they will have it 5.19.02:035
that this [inner man] is that which is the understanding (sensum) in them, and which they 5.19.02:036
decree as being the only thing to ascend to "the perfect." Others [maintain], as I have IrnL.AH.5.19.02:037
said in the first book, that while the soul is saved, their body does not participate in 5.19.02:039
the salvation which comes from God; in which [book] I have also set forward the hypotheses 5.19.02:040
of all these men, and in the second have pointed out their weakness and inconsistency. 5.19.02:041
1. Now all these [heretics] are of much later date than the bishops to whom the 5.20.01:001
apostles committed the Churches; which fact I have in the third book taken 5.20.01:002
all pains to demonstrate. It follows, then, as a matter of course, that these 5.20.01:003
heretics aforementioned, since they are blind to the truth, and deviate from 5.20.01:004
the [right] way, will walk in various roads; and therefore the footsteps of their 5.20.01:005
doctrine are scattered here and there without agreement or connection. But 5.20.01:006
the path of those belonging to the Church circumscribes the whole world, as 5.20.01:008
possessing the sure tradition from the apostles, and gives unto us to see that 5.20.01:009
the faith of all is one and the same, since all receive one and the same God IrnL.AH.5.20.01:010
the Father, and believe in the same dispensation regarding the incarnation 5.20.01:011
of the Son of God, and are cognizant of the same gift of the Spirit, and are conversant IrnL.AH.5.20.01:012
with the same commandments, and preserve the same form of ecclesiastical 5.20.01:013
constitution, and expect the same advent of the Lord, and await the same 5.20.01:014
salvation of the complete man, that is, of the soul and body. And undoubtedly 5.20.01:015
the preaching of the Church is true and stedfast, in which one and the same 5.20.01:018
way of salvation is shown throughout the whole world. For to her is entrusted 5.20.01:019
the light of God; and therefore the "wisdom" of God, by means of which she saves 5.20.01:020
all men, "is declared in [its] going forth; it uttereth [its voice] faithfully 5.20.01:021
in the streets, is preached on the tops of the walls, and speaks continually IrnL.AH.5.20.01:022
in the gates of the city." For the Church preaches the truth everywhere, 5.20.01:024
and she is the seven-branched candlestick which bears the light of Christ15. 5.20.01:025
2. Those, therefore, who desert the preaching of the Church, call in question the knowledge 5.20.02:027
of the holy presbyters, not taking into consideration of how much greater consequence IrnL.AH.5.20.02:028
is a religious man, even in a private station, than a blasphemous and impudent 5.20.02:029
sophist. Now, such are all the heretics, and those who imagine that they have hit 5.20.02:030
upon something more beyond the truth, so that by following those things already mentioned, 5.20.02:031
proceeding on their way variously, in harmoniously, and foolishly, not keeping 5.20.02:032
always to the same opinions with regard to the same things, as blind men are led 5.20.02:033
by the blind, they shall deservedly fall into the ditch of ignorance lying in their path, 5.20.02:034
ever seeking and never finding out the truth. It behoves us, therefore, to avoid 5.20.02:037
their doctrines, and to take careful heed lest we suffer any injury from them; but 5.20.02:038
to flee to the Church, and be brought up in her bosom, and be nourished with the Lord's IrnL.AH.5.20.02:039
Scriptures. For the Church has been planted as a garden (paradisus) in this world; 5.20.02:040
therefore says the Spirit of God, "Thou mayest freely eat from every tree of the 5.20.02:041
garden," that is, Eat ye from every Scripture of the Lord; but ye shall not eat with 5.20.02:042
an uplifted mind, nor touch any heretical discord. For these men do profess that they 5.20.02:043
have themselves the knowledge of good and evil; and they set their own impious minds 5.20.02:045
above the God who made them. They therefore form opinions on what is beyond the limits 5.20.02:046
of the understanding. For this cause also the apostle says, "Be not wise beyond 5.20.02:048
what it is fitting to be wise, but be wise prudently," that we be not east forth by 5.20.02:049
eating of the "knowledge" of these men (that knowledge which knows more than it should 5.20.02:050
do) from the paradise of life. Into this paradise the Lord has introduced those who 5.20.02:051
obey His call, "summing up in Himself all things which are in heaven, and which are IrnL.AH.5.20.02:052
on earth;" but the things in heaven are spiritual, while those on earth constitute 5.20.02:053
the dispensation in human nature (secundum hominem est dispositio). These things, therefore, 5.20.02:054
He recapitulated in Himself: by uniting man to the Spirit, and causing the 5.20.02:056
Spirit to dwell in man, He is Himself made the head of the Spirit, and gives the Spirit 5.20.02:057
to be the head of man: for through Him (the Spirit) we see, and hear, and speak. 5.20.02:058
1. He has therefore, in His work of recapitulation, summed up all things, both 5.21.01:001
waging war against our enemy, and crushing him who had at the beginning led us 5.21.01:002
away captives in Adam, and trampled upon his head, as thou canst perceive in Genesis 5.21.01:003
that God said to the serpent, "And I will put enmity between thee and the 5.21.01:004
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; He shall be on the watch for (observabit) IrnL.AH.5.21.01:005
thy head, and thou on the watch for His heel." For from that time, He who 5.21.01:008
should be born of a woman, [namely] from the Virgin, after the likeness of Adam, 5.21.01:009
was preached as keeping watch for the head of the serpent. This is the seed 5.21.01:010
of which the apostle says in the Epistle to the Galatians, "that the law of works 5.21.01:011
was established until the seed should come to whom the promise was made." This 5.21.01:012
fact is exhibited in a still clearer light in the same Epistle, where he thus 5.21.01:013
speaks: "But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made 5.21.01:015
of a woman." For indeed the enemy would not have been fairly vanquished, unless 5.21.01:016
it had been a man [born] of a woman who conquered him. For it was by means of 5.21.01:017
a woman that he got the advantage over man at first, setting himself up as man's 5.21.01:018
opponent. And therefore does the Lord profess Himself to be the Son of man, 5.21.01:018
comprising in Himself that original man out of whom the woman was fashioned (ex 5.21.01:019
quo ea quae secundum mulierem est plasmatio facta est), in order that, as our 5.21.01:020
species went down to death through a vanquished man, so we may ascend to life 5.21.01:021
again through a victorious one; and as through a man death received the palm [of 5.21.01:022
victory] against us, so again by a man we may receive the palm against death. 5.21.01:023
2. Now the Lord would not have recapitulated in Himself that ancient and primary 5.21.02:028
enmity against the serpent, fulfilling the promise of the Creator (Demiurgi), 5.21.02:029
and performing His command, if He had come from another Father. But as He is 5.21.02:030
one and the same, who formed us at the beginning, and sent His Son at the end, 5.21.02:032
the Lord did perform His command, being made of a woman, by both destroying our 5.21.02:033
adversary, and perfecting man after the image and likeness of God. And for this 5.21.02:034
reason He did not draw the means of confounding him from any other source than 5.21.02:035
from the words of the law, and made use of the Father's commandment as a help 5.21.02:036
towards the destruction and confusion of the apostate angel. Fasting forty days, 5.21.02:037
like Moses and Elias, He afterwards hungered, first, in order that we may perceive 5.21.02:038
that He was a real and substantial man--for it belongs to a man to suffer 5.21.02:040
hunger when fasting; and secondly, that His opponent might have an opportunity 5.21.02:041
of attacking Him. For as at the beginning it was by means of food that [the 5.21.02:042
enemy] persuaded man, although not suffering hunger, to transgress God's commandments, 5.21.02:043
so in the end he did not succeed in persuading Him that was an hungered 5.21.02:044
to take that food which proceeded from God. For, when tempting Him, he said, 5.21.02:045
"If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." But the 5.21.02:046
Lord repulsed him by the commandment of the law, saying, "It is written, Man doth 5.21.02:047
not live by bread alone." As to those words '[of His enemy,] "If thou be the 5.21.02:048
Son of God," [the Lord] made no remark; but by thus acknowledging His human nature IrnL.AH.5.21.02:049
He baffled His adversary, and exhausted the force of his first attack by 5.21.02:051
means of His Father's word. The corruption of man, therefore, which occurred in 5.21.02:052
paradise by both [of our first parents] eating, was done away with by [the Lord's] 5.21.02:054
want of food in this world. But he, being thus vanquished by the law, endeavoured 5.21.02:055
again to make an assault by himself quoting a commandment of the law. 5.21.02:057
For, bringing Him to the highest pinnacle of the temple, he said to Him, "If thou 5.21.02:058
art the Son of God, cast thyself down. For it is written, That God shall give 5.21.02:058
His angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, 5.21.02:059
lest perchance thou dash thy foot against a stone;" thus concealing a falsehood 5.21.02:060
under the guise of Scripture, as is done by all the heretics. For that was 5.21.02:061
indeed written, [namely], "That He hath given His angels charge concerning Him;" 5.21.02:062
but "east thyself down from hence" no Scripture said in reference to Him: this 5.21.02:064
kind of persuasion the devil produced from himself. The Lord therefore confuted 5.21.02:065
him out of the law, when He said, "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt 5.21.02:067
the LORD thy God;" pointing out by the word contained in the law that which is 5.21.02:068
the duty of man, that he should not tempt God; and in regard to Himself, since 5.21.02:069
He appeared in human form, [declaring] that He would not tempt the LORD his 5.21.02:070
God. The pride of reason, therefore, which was in the serpent, was put to nought 5.21.02:071
by the humility found in the man [Christ], and now twice was the devil conquered 5.21.02:073
from Scripture, when he was detected as advising things contrary to God's 5.21.02:074
commandment, and was shown to be the enemy of God by [the expression of] his thoughts. 5.21.02:076
He then, having been thus signally defeated, and then, as it were, concentrating 5.21.02:077
his forces, drawing up in order all his available power for falsehood, 5.21.02:078
in the third place "showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory 5.21.02:079
of them," saying, as Luke relates, "All these will I give thee,--for they are delivered 5.21.02:080
to me; and to whom I will, I give them,--if thou wilt fall down and worship 5.21.02:081
me." The Lord then, exposing him in his true character, says, "Depart, Satan; 5.21.02:084
for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt 5.21.02:085
thou serve." He both revealed him by this name, and showed [at the same time] 5.21.02:086
who He Himself was. For the Hebrew word "Satan" signifies an apostate. And thus, 5.21.02:087
vanquishing him for the third time, He spurned him from Him finally as being IrnL.AH.5.21.02:089
conquered out of the law; and there was done away with that infringement of God's 5.21.02:090
commandment which had occurred in Adam, by means of the precept of the law, 5.21.02:091
which the Son of man observed, who did not transgress the commandment of God. 5.21.02:092
3. Who, then, is this Lord God to whom Christ bears witness, whom no man shall 5.21.03:094
tempt, whom all should worship, and serve Him alone? It is, beyond all manner of 5.21.03:095
doubt, that God who also gave the law. For these things had been predicted in 5.21.03:096
the law, and by the words (sententiam) of the law the Lord showed that the law does 5.21.03:097
indeed declare the Word of God from the Father; and the apostate angel of God 5.21.03:098
is destroyed by its voice, being exposed in his true colours, and vanquished 5.21.03:099
by the Son of man keeping the commandment of God. For as in the beginning he enticed 5.21.03:100
man to transgress his Maker's law, and thereby got him into his power; yet 5.21.03:102
his power consists in transgression and apostasy, and with these he bound man 5.21.03:103
[to himself]; so again, on the other hand, it was necessary that through man himself 5.21.03:104
he should, when conquered, be bound with the same chains with which he had 5.21.03:105
bound man, in order that man, being set free, might return to his Lord, leaving 5.21.03:106
to him (Satan) those bonds by which he himself had been fettered, that is, sin. 5.21.03:107
For when Satan is bound, man is set free; since "none can enter a strong man's 5.21.03:110
house and spoil his goods, unless he first bind the strong man himself." The Lord 5.21.03:111
therefore exposes him as speaking contrary to the word of that God who made 5.21.03:112
all things, and subdues him by means of the commandment. Now the law is the commandment 5.21.03:113
of God. The Man proves him to be a fugitive from and a transgressor of 5.21.03:114
the law, an apostate also from God. After [the Man had done this], the Word bound 5.21.03:115
him securely as a fugitive from Himself, and made spoil of his goods,--namely, 5.21.03:116
those men whom he held in bondage, and whom he unjustly used for his own purposes. 5.21.03:117
And justly indeed is he led captive, who had led men unjustly into bondage; IrnL.AH.5.21.03:120
while man, who had been led captive in times past, was rescued from the grasp 5.21.03:121
of his possessor, according to the tender mercy of God the Father, who had compassion 5.21.03:122
on His own handiwork, and gave to it salvation, restoring it by means 5.21.03:123
of the Word--that is, by Christ16--in order that men might learn by actual proof 5.21.03:124
that he receives incorruptibility not of himself, but by the free gift of God. 5.21.03:125
1. Thus then does the Lord plainly show that it was the true Lord and the one God 5.22.01:001
who had been set forth by the law; for Him whom the law proclaimed as God, the 5.22.01:002
same did Christ point out as the Father, whom also it behoves the disciples of 5.22.01:003
Christ alone to serve. By means of the statements of the law, He put our adversary 5.22.01:004
to utter confusion; and the law directs us to praise God the Creator (Demiurgum), 5.22.01:005
and to serve Him alone. Since this is the case, we must not seek for another 5.22.01:006
Father besides Him, or above Him, since there is one God who justifies the 5.22.01:007
circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith. For if there were 5.22.01:008
any other perfect Father above Him, He (Christ) would by no means have overthrown 5.22.01:009
Satan by means of His words and commandments. For one ignorance cannot be done 5.22.01:013
away with by means of another ignorance, any more than one defect by another defect. 5.22.01:014
If, therefore, the law is due to ignorance and defect, how could the statements 5.22.01:015
contained therein bring to nought the ignorance of the devil, and conquer 5.22.01:016
the strong man? For a strong man can be conquered neither by an inferior nor 5.22.01:017
by an equal, but by one possessed of greater power. But the Word of God is the superior 5.22.01:018
above all, He who is loudly proclaimed in the law: "Hear, O Israel, the 5.22.01:019
LORD thy God is one God;" and, "Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart;" 5.22.01:020
and, "Him shall thou adore, and Him alone shall thou serve." Then in the 5.22.01:021
Gospel, casting down the apostasy by means of these expressions, He did both overcome 5.22.01:022
the strong man by His Father's voice, and He acknowledges the commandment 5.22.01:023
of the law to express His own sentiments, when He says, "Thou shall not tempt 5.22.01:024
the LORD thy God." For He did not confound the adversary by the saying of any other, 5.22.01:026
but by that belonging to His own Father, and thus overcame the strong man. 5.22.01:027
2. He taught by His commandment that we who have been set free should, when 5.22.02:029
hungry, take that food which is given by God; and that, when placed in the 5.22.02:030
exalted position of every grace [that can be received], we should not, either 5.22.02:031
by trusting to works of righteousness, or when adorned with super-eminent 5.22.02:032
[gifts of] ministration, by any means be lifted up with pride, nor should 5.22.02:033
we tempt God, but should feel humility in all things, and have ready to hand IrnL.AH.5.22.02:034
[this saying], "Thou shall not tempt the LORD thy God." As also the apostle 5.22.02:035
taught, saying, "Minding not high things, but consenting to things of low 5.22.02:036
estate;" that we should neither be ensnared with riches, nor mundane glory, 5.22.02:037
nor present fancy, but should know that we must "worship the LORD thy God, 5.22.02:038
and serve Him alone," and give no heed to him who falsely promised things 5.22.02:042
not his own, when he said, "All these will I give thee, if, falling down, 5.22.02:043
thou wilt worship me." For he himself confesses that to adore him, and to do 5.22.02:044
his will, is to fall from the glory of God. And in what thing either pleasant 5.22.02:045
or good can that man who has fallen participate? Or what else can such 5.22.02:046
a person hope for or expect, except death? For death is next neighbour to 5.22.02:047
him who has fallen. Hence also it follows that he will not give what he has IrnL.AH.5.22.02:048
promised. For how can he make grants to him who has fallen? Moreover, since 5.22.02:049
God rules over men and him too, and without the will of our Father in heaven 5.22.02:050
not even a sparrow falls to the ground, it follows that his declaration, 5.22.02:051
"All these things are delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give 5.22.02:053
them," proceeds from him when puffed up with pride. For the creation is not 5.22.02:054
subjected to his power, since indeed he is himself but one among created things. 5.22.02:055
Nor shall he give away the rule over men to men; but both all other things, 5.22.02:056
and all human affairs, are arranged according to God the Father's disposal. IrnL.AH.5.22.02:058
Besides, the Lord declares that "the devil is a liar from the beginning, 5.22.02:059
and the truth is not in him." If then he be a liar and the truth be not 5.22.02:059
in him, he certainly did not speak truth, but a lie, when he said, "For all 5.22.02:060
these things are delivered to me, and to whomsoever I will I give them." 5.22.02:061
1. He had indeed been already accustomed to lie against God, for the purpose of leading 5.23.01:001
men astray. For at the beginning, when God had given to man a variety of things 5.23.01:002
for food, while He commanded him not to eat of one tree only, as the Scripture 5.23.01:003
tells us that God said to Adam: "From every tree which is in the garden thou shalt 5.23.01:004
eat food; but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, from this ye shall IrnL.AH.5.23.01:005
not eat: for in the day that ye shall eat of it, ye shall die by death;" he then, 5.23.01:006
lying against the Lord, tempted man, as the Scripture says that the serpent said 5.23.01:007
to the woman: "Has God indeed said this, Ye shall not eat from every tree of the 5.23.01:008
garden?" And when she had exposed the falsehood, and simply related the command, as 5.23.01:012
He had said, "From every tree of the garden we shall eat; but of the fruit of the 5.23.01:013
tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of 5.23.01:014
it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die:" when he had [thus] learned from the woman 5.23.01:015
the command of God, having brought his cunning into play, he finally deceived 5.23.01:016
her by a falsehood, saying, "Ye shall not die by death; for God knew that in the 5.23.01:019
day ye shall eat of it your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing 5.23.01:020
good and evil." In the first place, then, in the garden of God he disputed about 5.23.01:021
God, as if God was not there, for he was ignorant of the greatness of God; and then, 5.23.01:022
in the next place, after he had learned from the woman that God had said that 5.23.01:023
they should die if they tasted the aforesaid tree, opening his mouth, he uttered 5.23.01:024
the third falsehood," Ye shall not die by death." But that God was true, and the 5.23.01:026
serpent a liar, was proved by the result, death having passed upon them who had eaten. 5.23.01:027
For along with the fruit they did also fall under the power of death, because IrnL.AH.5.23.01:028
they did eat in disobedience; and disobedience to God entails death. Wherefore, 5.23.01:029
as they became forfeit to death, from that [moment] they were handed over to it. 5.23.01:030
2. Thus, then, in the day that they did eat, in the same did they die, and became death's 5.23.02:032
debtors, since it was one day of the creation. For it is said, "There was made 5.23.02:033
in the evening, and there was made in the morning, one day." Now in this same day that 5.23.02:034
they did eat, in that also did they die. But according to the cycle and progress 5.23.02:035
of the days, after which one is termed first, another second, and another third, if 5.23.02:036
anybody seeks diligently to learn upon what day out of the seven it was that Adam died, 5.23.02:037
he will find it by examining the dispensation of the Lord. For by summing up in 5.23.02:038
Himself the whole human race from the beginning to the end, He has also summed up its 5.23.02:041
death. From this it is clear that the Lord suffered death, in obedience to His Father, 5.23.02:042
upon that day on which Adam died while he disobeyed God. Now he died on the same IrnL.AH.5.23.02:043
day in which he did eat. For God said, "In that day on which ye shall eat of it, ye 5.23.02:044
shall die by death." The Lord, therefore, recapitulating in Himself this day, underwent IrnL.AH.5.23.02:045
His sufferings upon the day preceding the Sabbath, that is, the sixth day of the 5.23.02:046
creation, on which day man was created; thus granting him a second creation by means 5.23.02:047
of His passion, which is that [creation] out of death17. And there are some, again, 5.23.02:048
who relegate the death of Adam to the thousandth year; for since "a day of the Lord 5.23.02:049
is as a thousand years," he did not overstep the thousand years, but died within them, IrnL.AH.5.23.02:052
thus bearing out the sentence of his sin. Whether, therefore, with respect to disobedience, 5.23.02:053
which is death; whether [we consider] that, on account of that, they were 5.23.02:054
delivered over to death, and made debtors to it; whether with respect to [the fact that 5.23.02:056
on] one and the same day on which they ate they also died (for it is one day of 5.23.02:057
the creation); whether [we regard this point], that, with respect to this cycle of days, 5.23.02:058
they died on the day in which they did also eat, that is, the day] of the preparation, 5.23.02:059
which is termed "the pure supper," that is, the sixth day of the feast, which 5.23.02:060
the Lord also exhibited when He suffered on that day; or whether [we reflect] that 5.23.02:061
he (Adam) did not overstep the thousand years, but died within their limit,--it follows 5.23.02:062
that, in regard to all these significations, God is indeed true. For they died 5.23.02:063
who tasted of the tree; and the serpent is proved a liar and a murderer, as the Lord 5.23.02:064
said of him: "For he is a murderer from the beginning, and the truth is not in him." 5.23.02:065
1. As therefore the devil lied at the beginning, so did he also in the end, 5.24.01:001
when he said, "All these are delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will 5.24.01:002
I give them." For it is not he who has appointed the kingdoms of this world, 5.24.01:003
but God; for "the heart of the king is in the hand of God." And the 5.24.01:004
Word also says by Solomon, "By me kings do reign, and princes administer 5.24.01:005
justice. By me chiefs are raised up, and by me kings rule the earth." Paul 5.24.01:006
the apostle also says upon this same subject: "Be ye subject to all the 5.24.01:007
higher powers; for there is no power but of God: now those which are have 5.24.01:008
been ordained of God." And again, in reference to them he says, "For he 5.24.01:010
beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, the avenger 5.24.01:010
for wrath to him who does evil." Now, that he spake these words, not in 5.24.01:011
regard to angelical powers, nor of invisible rulers--as some venture to expound 5.24.01:013
the passage--but of those of actual human authorities, [he shows when] 5.24.01:014
he says, "For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, 5.24.01:015
doing service for this very thing." This also the Lord confirmed, 5.24.01:016
when He did not do what He was tempted to by the devil; but He gave directions 5.24.01:018
that tribute should be paid to the tax-gatherers for Himself and Peter; 5.24.01:019
because "they are the ministers of God, serving for this very thing." 5.24.01:020
2. For since man, by departing from God, reached such a pitch of fury as even 5.24.02:023
to look upon his brother as his enemy, and engaged without fear in every 5.24.02:024
kind of restless conduct, and murder, and avarice; God imposed upon mankind 5.24.02:025
the fear of man, as they did not acknowledge the fear of God, in order that, 5.24.02:026
being subjected to the authority of men, and kept under restraint by their 5.24.02:027
laws, they might attain to some degree of justice, and exercise mutual 5.24.02:028
forbearance through dread of the sword suspended full in their view, as the 5.24.02:029
apostle says: "For he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister 5.24.02:030
of God, the avenger for wrath upon him who does evil." And for this reason 5.24.02:032
too, magistrates themselves, having laws as a clothing of righteousness whenever 5.24.02:033
they act in a just and legitimate manner, shall not be called in question 5.24.02:034
for their conduct, nor be liable to punishment. But whatsoever they do 5.24.02:035
to the subversion of justice, iniquitously, and impiously, and illegally, 5.24.02:036
and tyrannically, in these things shall they also perish; for the just judgment 5.24.02:039
of God comes equally upon all, and in no case is defective. Earthly rule, 5.24.02:040
therefore, has been appointed by God for the benefit of nations, and not 5.24.02:041
by the devil, who is never at rest at all, nay, who does not love to see 5.24.02:042
even nations conducting themselves after a quiet manner, so that under the 5.24.02:043
fear of human rule, men may not eat each other up like fishes; but that, by 5.24.02:045
means of the establishment of laws, they may keep down an excess of wickedness 5.24.02:047
among the nations. And considered from this point of view, those who 5.24.02:048
exact tribute from us are "God's ministers, serving for this very purpose." 5.24.02:049
3. As, then, "the powers that be are ordained of God," it is clear that the devil lied when he 5.24.03:051
said, "These are delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will, I give them." For by the law of 5.24.03:052
the same Being as calls men into existence are kings also appointed, adapted for those men who 5.24.03:053
are at the time placed under their government. Some of these [rulers] are given for the correction 5.24.03:054
and the benefit of their subjects, and for the preservation of justice; but others, for 5.24.03:055
the purposes of fear and punishment and rebuke: others, as [the subjects] deserve it, are for 5.24.03:056
deception, disgrace, and pride; while the just judgment of God, as I have observed already, 5.24.03:057
passes equally upon all. The devil, however, as he is the apostate angel, can only go to this 5.24.03:059
length, as he did at the beginning, [namely] to deceive and lead astray the mind of man into 5.24.03:060
disobeying the commandments of God, and gradually to darken the hearts of those who would endeavour 5.24.03:061
to serve him, to the forgetting of the true God, but to the adoration of himself as God. 5.24.03:062
4. Just as if any one, being an apostate, and seizing in a hostile manner another man's 5.24.04:065
territory, should harass the inhabitants of it, in order that he might claim for himself 5.24.04:066
the glory of a king among those ignorant of his apostasy and robbery; so likewise 5.24.04:067
also the devil, being one among those angels who are placed over the spirit of the air, IrnL.AH.5.24.04:068
as the Apostle Paul has declared in his Epistle to the Ephesians, becoming envious 5.24.04:069
of man, was rendered an apostate from the divine law: for envy is a thing foreign to God. 5.24.04:070
And as his apostasy was exposed by man, and man became the [means of] searching out 5.24.04:073
his thoughts (et examinatio sententioe ejus, homo factus est), he has set himself to 5.24.04:074
this with greater and greater determination, in opposition to man, envying his life, 5.24.04:075
and wishing to involve him in his own apostate power. The Word of God, however, the Maker 5.24.04:076
of all things, conquering him by means of human nature, and showing him to be an apostate, 5.24.04:077
has, on the contrary, put him under the power of man. For He says, "Behold, I 5.24.04:078
confer upon you the power of treading upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power 5.24.04:079
of the enemy," in order that, as he obtained dominion over man by apostasy, so again IrnL.AH.5.24.04:080
his apostasy might be deprived of power by means of man turning back again to God. IrnL.AH.5.24.04:081
1. And not only by the particulars already mentioned, but also by means of the events IrnL.AH.5.25.01:001
which shall occur in the time of Antichrist is it shown that he, being an apostate and 5.25.01:002
a robber, is anxious to be adored as God; and that, although a mere slave, he wishes IrnL.AH.5.25.01:003
himself to be proclaimed as a king. For he (Antichrist) being endued with all the power IrnL.AH.5.25.01:005
of the devil, shall come, not as a righteous king, nor as a legitimate king, [i.e., 5.25.01:006
one] in subjection to God, but an impious, unjust, and lawless one; as an apostate, iniquitous 5.25.01:007
and murderous; as a robber, concentrating in himself [all] satanic apostasy, IrnL.AH.5.25.01:008
and setting aside idols to persuade [men] that he himself is God, raising up himself as IrnL.AH.5.25.01:009
the only idol, having in himself the multifarious errors of the other idols. This he 5.25.01:010
does, in order that they who do [now] worship the devil by means of many abominations, 5.25.01:011
may serve himself by this one idol, of whom the apostle thus speaks in the second Epistle 5.25.01:014
to the Thessalonians: "Unless there shall come a failing away first, and the man 5.25.01:015
of sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above 5.25.01:016
all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, 5.25.01:017
showing himself as if he were God." The apostle therefore clearly points out his apostasy, 5.25.01:019
and that he is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped--that 5.25.01:020
is, above every idol--for these are indeed so called by men, but are not [really] 5.25.01:021
gods; and that he will endeavour in a tyrannical manner to set himself forth as God. 5.25.01:022
2. Moreover, he (the apostle) has also pointed out this which I have shown in many 5.25.02:026
ways, that the temple in Jerusalem was made by the direction of the true God. For the IrnL.AH.5.25.02:027
apostle himself, speaking in his own person, distinctly called it the temple of 5.25.02:029
God. Now I have shown in the third book, that no one is termed God by the apostles 5.25.02:030
when speaking for themselves, except Him who truly is God, the Father of our Lord, 5.25.02:031
by whose directions the temple which is at Jerusalem was constructed for those purposes 5.25.02:032
which I have already mentioned; in which [temple] the enemy shall sit, endeavouring 5.25.02:033
to show himself as Christ, as the Lord also declares: "But when ye shall see 5.25.02:034
the abomination of desolation, which has been spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing 5.25.02:035
in the holy place (let him that readeth understand), then let those who are 5.25.02:036
in Judea flee into the mountains; and he who is upon the house-top, let him not come IrnL.AH.5.25.02:037
down to take anything out of his house: for there shall then be great hardship, 5.25.02:040
such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall be." 5.25.02:041
3. Daniel too, looking forward to the end of the last kingdom, i.e., the ten last kings, 5.25.03:043
amongst whom the kingdom of those men shall be partitioned, and upon whom the son of 5.25.03:044
perdition shall come, declares that ten horns shall spring from the beast, and that another 5.25.03:045
little horn shall arise in the midst of them, and that three of the former shall 5.25.03:046
be rooted up before his face. He says: "And, behold, eyes were in this horn as the eyes 5.25.03:048
of a man, and a mouth speaking great things, and his look was more stout than his fellows. 5.25.03:049
I was looking, and this horn made war against the saints, and prevailed against 5.25.03:050
them, until the Ancient of days came and gave judgment to the saints of the most high IrnL.AH.5.25.03:051
God, and the time came, and the saints obtained the kingdom." Then, further on, in the 5.25.03:052
interpretation of the vision, there was said to him: "The fourth beast shall be the fourth IrnL.AH.5.25.03:054
kingdom upon earth, which shall excel all other kingdoms, and devour the whole earth, IrnL.AH.5.25.03:055
and tread it down, and cut it in pieces. And its ten horns are ten kings which shall 5.25.03:056
arise; and after them shall arise another, who shall surpass in evil deeds all that 5.25.03:057
were before him, and shall overthrow three kings; and he shall speak words against the 5.25.03:058
most high God, and wear out the saints of the most high God, and shall purpose to change 5.25.03:059
times and laws; and [everything] shall be given into his hand until a time of times 5.25.03:060
and a half time," that is, for three years and six months, during which time, when he 5.25.03:061
comes, he shall reign over the earth. Of whom also the Apostle Paul again, speaking in 5.25.03:062
the second [Epistle] to the Thessalonians, and at the same time proclaiming the cause 5.25.03:065
of his advent, thus says: "And then shall the wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus 5.25.03:066
shall slay with the spirit of His mouth, and destroy by the presence of His coming; 5.25.03:067
whose coming [i.e., the wicked one's] is after the working of Satan, in all power, and 5.25.03:068
signs, and portents of lies, and with all deceivableness of wickedness for those who 5.25.03:069
perish; because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 5.25.03:070
And therefore God will send them the working of error, that they may believe a lie; that IrnL.AH.5.25.03:073
they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but gave consent to iniquity," 5.25.03:074
4. The Lord also spoke as follows to those who did not believe in Him: "I have come in my 5.25.04:076
Father's name, and ye have not received Me: when another shall come in his own name, him 5.25.04:077
ye will receive," calling Antichrist "the other," because he is alienated from the Lord. IrnL.AH.5.25.04:078
This is also the unjust judge, whom the Lord mentioned as one "who feared not God, neither 5.25.04:080
regarded man," to whom the widow fled in her forgetfulness of God,--that is, the 5.25.04:081
earthly Jerusalem,--to be avenged of her adversary. Which also he shall do in the time of 5.25.04:082
his kingdom: he shall remove his kingdom into that [city], and shall sit in the temple 5.25.04:083
of God, leading astray those who worship him, as if he were Christ. To this purpose Daniel 5.25.04:084
says again: "And he shall desolate the holy place; and sin has been given for a sacrifice, 5.25.04:087
and righteousness been cast away in the earth, and he has been active (fecit), and 5.25.04:088
gone on prosperously." And the angel Gabriel, when explaining his vision, states with IrnL.AH.5.25.04:089
regard to this person: "And towards the end of their kingdom a king of a most fierce countenance 5.25.04:089
shall arise, one understanding [dark] questions, and exceedingly powerful, full 5.25.04:090
of wonders; and he shall corrupt, direct, influence (faciet), and put strong men down, 5.25.04:091
the holy people likewise; and his yoke shall be directed as a wreath [round their neck]; IrnL.AH.5.25.04:092
deceit shall be in his hand, and he shall be lifted up in his heart: he shall also ruin 5.25.04:093
many by deceit, and lead many to perdition, bruising them in his hand like eggs." And then 5.25.04:094
he points out the time that his tyranny shall last, during which the saints shall be 5.25.04:097
put to flight, they who offer a pure sacrifice unto God: "And in the midst of the week," IrnL.AH.5.25.04:098
he says, "the sacrifice and the libation shall be taken away, and the abomination of desolation 5.25.04:099
[shall be brought] into the temple: even unto the consummation of the time shall 5.25.04:100
the desolation be complete." Now three years and six months constitute the half-week. IrnL.AH.5.25.04:101
5. From all these passages are revealed to us, not merely the particulars of IrnL.AH.5.25.05:105
the apostasy, and [the doings] of him who concentrates in himself every satanic 5.25.05:106
error, but also, that there is one and the same God the Father, who 5.25.05:107
was declared by the prophets, but made manifest by Christ. For if what Daniel 5.25.05:108
prophesied concerning the end has been confirmed by the Lord, when He said, 5.25.05:109
"When ye shall see the abomination of desolation, which has been spoken IrnL.AH.5.25.05:110
of by Daniel the prophet" (and the angel Gabriel gave the interpretation 5.25.05:111
of the visions to Daniel, and he is the archangel of the Creator (Demiurgi), 5.25.05:112
who also proclaimed to Mary the visible coining and the incarnation of Christ), 5.25.05:113
then one and the same God is most manifestly pointed out, who sent the 5.25.05:114
prophets, and made promise of the Son, and called us into His knowledge. 5.25.05:118
1. In a still clearer light has John, in the Apocalypse, indicated to the Lord's disciples IrnL.AH.5.26.01:001
what shall happen in the last times, and concerning the ten kings who shall IrnL.AH.5.26.01:002
then arise, among whom the empire which now rules [the earth] shall be partitioned. 5.26.01:003
He teaches us what the ten horns shall be which were seen by Daniel, telling us 5.26.01:004
that thus it had been said to him: "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, IrnL.AH.5.26.01:005
who have received no kingdom as yet, but shall receive power as if kings one 5.26.01:006
hour with the beast. These have one mind, and give their strength and power to the 5.26.01:009
beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because 5.26.01:010
He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings." It is manifest, therefore, that 5.26.01:011
of these [potentates], he who is to come shall slay three, and subject the remainder 5.26.01:012
to his power, and that he shall be himself the eighth among them. And they shall 5.26.01:013
lay Babylon waste, and burn her with fire, and shall give their kingdom to the beast, 5.26.01:014
and put the Church to flight. After that they shall be destroyed by the coming IrnL.AH.5.26.01:015
of our Lord. For that the kingdom must be divided, and thus come to ruin, the Lord 5.26.01:018
[declares when He] says: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, 5.26.01:019
and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." It must be, 5.26.01:020
therefore, that the kingdom, the city, and the house be divided into ten; and for 5.26.01:022
this reason He has already foreshadowed the partition and division [which shall 5.26.01:024
take place]. Daniel also says particularly, that the end of the fourth kingdom consists IrnL.AH.5.26.01:025
in the toes of the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar, upon which came the stone cut 5.26.01:026
out without hands; and as he does himself say: "The feet were indeed the one part 5.26.01:027
iron, the other part clay, until the stone was cut out without hands, and struck 5.26.01:028
the image upon the iron and clay feet, and dashed them into pieces, even to the end." IrnL.AH.5.26.01:030
Then afterwards, when interpreting this, he says: "And as thou sawest the feet 5.26.01:031
and the toes, partly indeed of clay, and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, 5.26.01:032
and there shall be in it a root of iron, as thou sawest iron mixed with baked 5.26.01:034
clay. And the toes were indeed the one part iron, but the other part clay." The ten 5.26.01:035
toes, therefore, are these ten kings, among whom the kingdom shall be partitioned, 5.26.01:036
of whom some indeed shall be strong and active, or energetic; others, again, shall 5.26.01:037
be sluggish and useless, and shall not agree; as also Daniel says: "Some part of 5.26.01:038
the kingdom shall be strong, and part shall be broken from it. As thou sawest the 5.26.01:041
iron mixed with the baked clay, there shall be minglings among the human race, but 5.26.01:042
no cohesion one with the other, just as iron cannot be welded on to pottery ware." 5.26.01:043
And since an end shall take place, he says: "And in the days of these kings shall 5.26.01:044
the God of heaven raise up a kingdom which shall never decay, and His kingdom shall 5.26.01:045
not be left to another people. It shall break in pieces and shatter all kingdoms, 5.26.01:047
and shall itself be exalted for ever. As thou sawest that the stone was cut without 5.26.01:048
hands from the mountain, and brake in pieces the baked clay, the iron, the brass, 5.26.01:049
the silver, and the gold, God has pointed out to the king what shall come to pass 5.26.01:050
after these things; and the dream is true, and the interpretation trustworthy." 5.26.01:051
2. If therefore the great God showed future things by Daniel, and confirmed them by 5.26.02:053
His Son; and if Christ is the stone which is cut out without hands, who shall destroy 5.26.02:054
temporal kingdoms, and introduce an eternal one, which is the resurrection of 5.26.02:055
the just; as he declares, "The God of heaven shall raise up a kingdom which shall 5.26.02:056
never be destroyed,"--let those thus confuted come to their senses, who reject the 5.26.02:057
Creator (Demiurgum), and do not agree that the prophets were sent beforehand from 5.26.02:058
the same Father from whom also the Lord came, but who assert that prophecies originated 5.26.02:059
from diverse powers. For those things which have been predicted by the Creator 5.26.02:062
alike through all the prophets has Christ fulfilled in the end, ministering 5.26.02:063
to His Father's will, and completing His dispensations with regard to the human race. 5.26.02:064
Let those persons, therefore, who blaspheme the Creator, either by openly expressed 5.26.02:065
words, such as the disciples of Marcion, or by a perversion of the sense [of IrnL.AH.5.26.02:066
Scripture], as those of Valentinus and all the Gnostics falsely so called, be recognised 5.26.02:067
as agents of Satan by all those who worship God; through whose agency Satan 5.26.02:068
now, and not before, has been seen to speak against God, even Him who has prepared 5.26.02:069
eternal fire for every kind of apostasy. For he did not venture to blaspheme his 5.26.02:074
Lord openly of himself; as also in the beginning he led man astray through the 5.26.02:075
instrumentality of the serpent, concealing himself as it were from God. Truly has 5.26.02:076
Justin remarked: That before the Lord's appearance Satan never dared to blaspheme 5.26.02:077
God, inasmuch as he did not yet know his own sentence, because it was contained in IrnL.AH.5.26.02:078
parables and allegories; but that after the Lord's appearance, when he had clearly 5.26.02:079
ascertained from the words of Christ and His apostles that eternal fire has been 5.26.02:080
prepared for him as he apostatized from God of his own free-will, and likewise for 5.26.02:081
all who unrepentant continue in the apostasy, he now blasphemes, by means of such IrnL.AH.5.26.02:082
men, the Lord who brings judgment [upon him] as being already condemned, and imputes 5.26.02:083
the guilt of his apostasy to his Maker, not to his own voluntary disposition. IrnL.AH.5.26.02:084
Just as it is with those who break the laws, when punishment overtakes them: they 5.26.02:085
throw the blame upon those who frame the laws, but not upon themselves. In like 5.26.02:090
manner do those men, filled with a satanic spirit, bring innumerable accusations against 5.26.02:091
our Creator, who has both given to us the spirit of life, and established a 5.26.02:092
law adapted for all; and they will not admit that the judgment of God is just. Wherefore IrnL.AH.5.26.02:094
also they set about imagining some other Father who neither cares about nor 5.26.02:095
exercises a providence over our affairs, nay, one who even approves of all sins. 5.26.02:096
1. If the Father, then, does not exercise judgment, [it follows] that judgment does not 5.27.01:001
belong to Him, or that He consents to all those actions which take place; and if He 5.27.01:002
does not judge, all persons will be equal, and accounted in the same condition. The advent 5.27.01:003
of Christ will therefore be without an object, yea, absurd, inasmuch as [in that 5.27.01:004
case] He exercises no judicial power. For "He came to divide a man against his father, 5.27.01:005
and the daughter against the mother, and the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law;" 5.27.01:006
and when two are in one bed, to take the one, and to leave the other; and of two 5.27.01:007
women grinding at the mill, to take one and leave the other: [also] at the time of the 5.27.01:008
end, to order the reapers to collect first the tares together, and bind them in bundles, 5.27.01:009
and burn them with unquenchable fire, but to gather up the wheat into the barn; and 5.27.01:010
to call the lambs into the kingdom prepared for them, but to send the goats into everlasting 5.27.01:011
fire, which has been prepared by His Father for the devil and his angels. And 5.27.01:012
why is this? Has the Word come for the ruin and for the resurrection of many? For the 5.27.01:016
ruin, certainly, of those who do not believe Him, to whom also He has threatened a greater 5.27.01:017
damnation in the judgment-day than that of Sodom and Gomorrah; but for the resurrection 5.27.01:018
of believers, and those who do the will of His Father in heaven. If then the 5.27.01:019
advent of the Son comes indeed alike to all, but is for the purpose of judging, and separating 5.27.01:021
the believing from the unbelieving, since, as those who believe do His will 5.27.01:022
agreeably to their own choice, and as, [also] agreeably to their own choice, the disobedient 5.27.01:023
do not consent to His doctrine; it is manifest that His Father has made all in 5.27.01:024
a like condition, each person having a choice of his own, and a free understanding; and 5.27.01:025
that He has regard to all things, and exercises a providence over all, "making His 5.27.01:026
sun to rise upon the evil and on the good, and sending rain upon the just and unjust." IrnL.AH.5.27.01:027
2. And to as many as continue in their love towards God, does He grant communion 5.27.02:032
with Him. But communion with God is life and light, and the enjoyment 5.27.02:033
of all the benefits which He has in store. But on as many as, according 5.27.02:033
to their own choice, depart from God. He inflicts that separation from 5.27.02:035
Himself which they have chosen of their own accord. But separation from 5.27.02:036
God is death, and separation from light is darkness; and separation from 5.27.02:037
God consists in the loss of all the benefits which He has in store. Those, 5.27.02:038
therefore, who cast away by apostasy these forementioned things, being 5.27.02:039
in fact destitute of all good, do experience every kind of punishment. 5.27.02:040
God, however, does not punish them immediately of Himself, but that punishment 5.27.02:041
falls upon them because they are destitute of all that is good. 5.27.02:042
Now, good things are eternal and without end with God, and therefore the 5.27.02:044
loss of these is also eternal and never-ending. It is in this matter just 5.27.02:045
as occurs in the case of a flood of light: those who have blinded themselves, 5.27.02:046
or have been blinded by others, are for ever deprived of the enjoyment 5.27.02:047
of light. It is not, [however], that the light has inflicted upon 5.27.02:048
them the penalty of blindness, but it is that the blindness itself has brought 5.27.02:051
calamity upon them: and therefore the Lord declared, "He that believeth 5.27.02:052
in Me is not condemned," that is, is not separated from God, for he 5.27.02:053
is united to God through faith. On the other hand, He says, "He that believeth 5.27.02:054
not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name 5.27.02:056
of the only-begotten Son of God;" that is, he separated himself from God 5.27.02:057
of his own accord. "For this is the condemnation, that light is come into 5.27.02:058
this world, and men have loved darkness rather than light. For every 5.27.02:059
one who doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his 5.27.02:059
deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, 5.27.02:060
that his deeds may be made manifest, that he has wrought them in God."18 5.27.02:061
1. Inasmuch, then, as in this world ({aiwni}) some persons betake themselves to 5.28.01:001
the light, and by faith unite themselves with God, but others shun the light, and 5.28.01:002
separate themselves from God, the Word of God comes preparing a fit habitation 5.28.01:003
for both. For those indeed who are in the light, that they may derive enjoyment from 5.28.01:004
it, and from the good things contained in it; but for those in darkness, that 5.28.01:005
they may partake in its calamities. And on this account He says, that those upon 5.28.01:007
the right hand are called into the kingdom of heaven, but that those on the left 5.28.01:008
He will send into eternal fire for they have deprived themselves of all good. 5.28.01:009
2. And for this reason the apostle says: "Because they received not the love 5.28.02:012
of God, that they might be saved, therefore God shall also send them the operation 5.28.02:013
of error, that they may believe a lie, that they all may be judged who 5.28.02:014
have not believed the truth, but consented to unrighteousness." For when he 5.28.02:015
(Antichrist) is come, and of his own accord concentrates in his own person the 5.28.02:016
apostasy, and accomplishes whatever he shall do according to his own will IrnL.AH.5.28.02:017
and choice, sitting also in the temple of God, so that his dupes may adore him 5.28.02:018
as the Christ; wherefore also shall he deservedly "be cast into the lake of 5.28.02:019
fire:" [this will happen according to divine appointment], God by His prescience 5.28.02:020
foreseeing all this, and at the proper time sending such a man, "that they 5.28.02:021
may believe a lie, that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, IrnL.AH.5.28.02:026
but consented to unrighteousness;" whose coming John has thus described 5.28.02:027
in the Apocalypse: "And the beast which I had seen was like unto a leopard, 5.28.02:028
and his feet as of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon 5.28.02:029
conferred his own power upon him, and his throne, and great might. And one IrnL.AH.5.28.02:031
of his heads was as it were slain unto death; and his deadly wound was healed, 5.28.02:032
and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon IrnL.AH.5.28.02:033
because he gave power to the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, 5.28.02:035
Who is like unto this beast, and who is able to make war with him? And there 5.28.02:036
was given unto him a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemy and power was 5.28.02:036
given to him during forty and two months. And he opened his mouth for blasphemy 5.28.02:037
against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, and those who dwell 5.28.02:039
in heaven. And power was given him over every tribe, and people, and tongue, 5.28.02:040
and nation. And all who dwell upon the earth worshipped him, [every one] 5.28.02:041
whose name was not written in the book of the Lamb slain from the foundation 5.28.02:043
of the world. If any one have ears, let him hear. If any one shall lead into 5.28.02:043
captivity, he shall go into captivity. If any shall slay with the sword, he 5.28.02:044
must be slain with the sword. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints." 5.28.02:045
After this he likewise describes his armour-bearer, whom he also terms a 5.28.02:046
false prophet: "He spake as a dragon, and exercised all the power of the first 5.28.02:047
beast in his sight, and caused the earth, and those that dwell therein, to 5.28.02:047
adore the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he shall perform IrnL.AH.5.28.02:049
great wonders, so that he can even cause fire to descend from heaven upon the 5.28.02:050
earth in the sight of men, and he shall lead the inhabitants of the earth astray." 5.28.02:051
Let no one imagine that he performs these wonders by divine power, but 5.28.02:052
by the working of magic. And we must not be surprised if, since the demons IrnL.AH.5.28.02:052
and apostate spirits are at his service, he through their means performs wonders, 5.28.02:053
by which he leads the inhabitants of the earth astray. John says further: 5.28.02:054
"And he shall order an image of the beast to be made, and he shall give breath 5.28.02:055
to the image, so that the image shall speak; and he shall cause those to 5.28.02:057
be slain who will not adore it." He says also: "And he will cause a mark [to 5.28.02:058
be put] in the forehead and in the fight hand, that no one may be able to buy IrnL.AH.5.28.02:059
or sell, unless he who has the mark of the name of the beast or the number 5.28.02:060
of his name; and the number is six hundred and sixty-six," that is, six times 5.28.02:061
a hundred, six times ten, and six units. [He gives this] as a summing up of IrnL.AH.5.28.02:062
the whole of that apostasy which has taken place during six thousand years. 5.28.02:063
3. For in as many days as this world was made, in so many 5.28.03:067
thousand years shall it be concluded. And for this reason 5.28.03:068
the Scripture says: "Thus the heaven and the earth were 5.28.03:068
finished, and all their adornment. And God brought to 5.28.03:069
a conclusion upon the sixth day the works that He had made; 5.28.03:070
and God rested upon the seventh day from all His works." 5.28.03:071
This is an account of the things formerly created, 5.28.03:072
as also it is a prophecy of what is to come. For the day 5.28.03:073
of the Lord is as a thousand years; and in six days created 5.28.03:074
things were completed: it is evident, therefore, that 5.28.03:075
they will come to an end at the sixth thousand year. 5.28.03:076
4. And therefore throughout all time, man, having been moulded at the beginning 5.28.04:078
by the hands of God, that is, of the Son and of the Spirit, is made after 5.28.04:079
the image and likeness of God: the chaff, indeed, which is the apostasy, being 5.28.04:080
cast away; but the wheat, that is, those who bring forth fruit to God in 5.28.04:081
faith, being gathered into the barn. And for this cause tribulation is necessary 5.28.04:083
for those who are saved, that having been after a manner broken up, and 5.28.04:084
rendered fine, and sprinkled over by the patience of the Word of God, and set 5.28.04:085
on fire [for purification], they may be fitted for the royal banquet. As a 5.28.04:086
certain man of ours said, when he was condemned to the wild beasts because of 5.28.04:087
his testimony with respect to God: "I am the wheat of Christ, and am ground 5.28.04:088
by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of God." 5.28.04:089
1. In the previous books I have set forth the causes for which God permitted these 5.29.01:001
things to be made, and have pointed out that all such have been created for the 5.29.01:002
benefit of that human nature which is saved, ripening for immortality that which 5.29.01:003
is [possessed] of its own free will and its own power, and preparing and rendering 5.29.01:004
it more adapted for eternal subjection to God. And therefore the creation is suited 5.29.01:005
to [the wants of] man; for man was not made for its sake, but creation for 5.29.01:007
the sake of man. Those nations however, who did not of themselves raise up their 5.29.01:008
eyes unto heaven, nor returned thanks to their Maker, nor wished to behold the light 5.29.01:009
of truth, but who were like blind mice concealed in the depths of ignorance, the 5.29.01:010
word justly reckons "as waste water from a sink, and as the turning-weight of 5.29.01:011
a balance--in fact, as nothing;" so far useful and serviceable to the just, as stubble 5.29.01:012
conduces towards the growth of the wheat, and its straw, by means of combustion, 5.29.01:013
serves for working gold. And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be IrnL.AH.5.29.01:014
suddenly caught up from this, it is said, "There shall be tribulation such as has 5.29.01:017
not been since the beginning, neither shall be." For this is the last contest of 5.29.01:018
the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption. 5.29.01:019
2. And there is therefore in this beast, when he comes, a recapitulation made of all 5.29.02:022
sorts of iniquity and of every deceit, in order that all apostate power, flowing into 5.29.02:023
and being shut up in him, may be sent into the furnace of fire. 19Fittingly, therefore, 5.29.02:024
shall his name possess the number six hundred and sixty-six, since he sums up in his 5.29.02:025
own person all the commixture of wickedness which took place previous to the deluge, 5.29.02:026
due to the apostasy of the angels. For Noah was six hundred years old when the deluge 5.29.02:027
came upon the earth, sweeping away the rebellious world, for the sake of that most 5.29.02:028
infamous generation which lived in the times of Noah. And [Antichrist] also sums up 5.29.02:029
every error of devised idols since the flood, together with the slaying of the prophets 5.29.02:030
and the cutting off of the just. For that image which was set up by Nebuchadnezzar 5.29.02:031
had indeed a height of sixty cubits, while the breadth was six cubits; on account of 5.29.02:032
which Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, when they did not worship it, were cast into a furnace 5.29.02:033
of fire, pointing out prophetically, by what happened to them, the wrath against 5.29.02:034
the righteous which shall arise towards the [time of the] end. For that image, taken 5.29.02:035
as a whole, was a prefiguring of this man's coming, decreeing that he should undoubtedly 5.29.02:036
himself alone be worshipped by all men. Thus, then, the six hundred years of Noah, 5.29.02:043
in whose time the deluge occurred because of the apostasy, and the number of the 5.29.02:044
cubits of the image for which these just men were sent into the fiery furnace, do indicate 5.29.02:045
the number of the name of that man in whom is concentrated the whole apostasy of 5.29.02:046
six thousand years, and unrighteousness, and wickedness, and false prophecy, and deception; 5.29.02:047
for which things' sake a cataclysm of fire shall also come [upon the earth]. 5.29.02:049
1. Such, then, being the state of the case, and this number being found in all the most approved 5.30.01:001
and ancient copies [of the Apocalypse], and those men who saw John face to face bearing their testimony 5.30.01:002
[to it]; while reason also leads us to conclude that the number of the name of the beast, [if 5.30.01:003
reckoned] according to the Greek mode of calculation by the [value of] the letters contained in 5.30.01:004
it, will amount to six hundred and sixty and six; that is, the number of tens shall be equal to 5.30.01:005
that of the hundreds, and the number of hundreds equal to that of the units (for that number which 5.30.01:006
[expresses] the digit six being adhered to throughout, indicates the recapitulations of that apostasy, 5.30.01:007
taken in its full extent, which occurred at the beginning, during the intermediate periods, 5.30.01:008
and which shall take place at the end),--I do not know how it is that some have erred following 5.30.01:009
the ordinary mode of speech, and have vitiated the middle number in the name, deducting the amount 5.30.01:010
of fifty from it, so that instead of six decads they will have it that there is but one. [I am IrnL.AH.5.30.01:015
inclined to think that this occurred through the fault of the copyists, as is wont to happen, since 5.30.01:016
numbers also are expressed by letters; so that the Greek letter which expresses the number sixty 5.30.01:017
was easily expanded into the letter Iota of the Greeks.] Others then received this reading without 5.30.01:019
examination; some in their simplicity, and upon their own responsibility, making use of this 5.30.01:020
number expressing one decad; while some, in their inexperience, have ventured to seek out a name 5.30.01:021
which should contain the erroneous and spurious number. Now, as regards those who have done this in 5.30.01:023
simplicity, and without evil intent, we are at liberty to assume that pardon will be granted them 5.30.01:024
by God. But as for those who, for the sake of vainglory, lay it down for certain that names containing 5.30.01:025
the spurious number are to be accepted, and affirm that this name, hit upon by themselves, 5.30.01:026
is that of him who is to come; such persons shall not come forth without loss, because they have 5.30.01:027
led into error both themselves and those who confided in them. Now, in the first place, it is loss 5.30.01:029
to wander from the truth, and to imagine that as being the case which is not; then again, as there 5.30.01:030
shall be no light punishment [inflicted] upon him who either adds or subtracts anything from 5.30.01:031
the Scripture, under that such a person must necessarily fall. Moreover, another danger, by no means 5.30.01:033
trifling, shall overtake those who falsely presume that they know the name of Antichrist. For 5.30.01:034
if these men assume one [number], when this [Antichrist] shall come having another, they will be 5.30.01:035
easily led away by him, as supposing him not to be the expected one, who must be guarded against. 5.30.01:036
2. These men, therefore, ought to learn [what really is the state of the case], and 5.30.02:039
go back to the true number of the name, that they be not reckoned among false prophets. 5.30.02:040
But, knowing the sure number declared by Scripture, that is, six hundred 5.30.02:041
sixty and six, let them await, in the first place, the division of the kingdom into 5.30.02:042
ten; then, in the next place, when these kings are reigning, and beginning to set 5.30.02:043
their affairs in order, and advance their kingdom, [let them learn] to acknowledge 5.30.02:044
that he who shall come claiming the kingdom for himself, and shall terrify those 5.30.02:045
men of whom we have been speaking, having a name containing the aforesaid number, 5.30.02:046
is truly the abomination of desolation. This, too, the apostle affirms: "When 5.30.02:049
they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction shall come upon them." 5.30.02:050
And Jeremiah does not merely point out his sudden coming, but he even indicates the IrnL.AH.5.30.02:051
tribe from which he shall come, where he says, "We shall hear the voice of his swift 5.30.02:052
horses from Dan; the whole earth shall be moved by the voice of the neighing 5.30.02:053
of his galloping horses: he shall also come and devour the earth, and the fulness 5.30.02:054
thereof, the city also, and they that dwell therein." This, too, is the reason that 5.30.02:056
this tribe is not reckoned in the Apocalypse along with those which are saved. 5.30.02:057
3. It is therefore more certain, and less hazardous, to await the fulfilment of the prophecy, 5.30.03:059
than to be making surmises, and casting about for any names that may present themselves, 5.30.03:060
inasmuch as many names can be found possessing the number mentioned; and the same question 5.30.03:061
will, after all, remain unsolved. For if there are many names found possessing this 5.30.03:062
number, it will be asked which among them shall the coming man bear. It is not through a 5.30.03:063
want of names containing the number of that name that I say this, but on account of the fear 5.30.03:065
of God, and zeal for the truth: for the name Evanthas ({ EUANQAS}) contains the required 5.30.03:066
number, but I make no allegation regarding it. Then also Lateinos ({LATEINOS}) has the 5.30.03:067
number six hundred and sixty-six; and it is a very probable [solution], this being the name 5.30.03:070
of the last kingdom [of the four seen by Daniel]. For the Latins are they who at present IrnL.AH.5.30.03:071
bear rule: I will not, however, make any boast over this [coincidence]. Teitan too, (TEITAN, 5.30.03:072
the first syllable being written with the two Greek vowels {e} and {i}), among all 5.30.03:074
the names which are found among us, is rather worthy of credit. For it has in itself the IrnL.AH.5.30.03:075
predicted number, and is composed of six letters, each syllable containing three letters; 5.30.03:076
and [the word itself] is ancient, and removed from ordinary use; for among our kings we IrnL.AH.5.30.03:077
find none bearing this name Titan, nor have any of the idols which are worshipped in public 5.30.03:078
among the Greeks and barbarians this appellation. Among many persons, too, this name is 5.30.03:079
accounted divine, so that even the sun is termed "Titan" by those who do now possess [the 5.30.03:080
rule]. This word, too, contains a certain outward appearance of vengeance, and of one inflicting 5.30.03:081
merited punishment because he (Antichrist) pretends that he vindicates the oppressed. 5.30.03:082
And besides this, it is an ancient name, one worthy of credit, of royal dignity, and 5.30.03:083
still further, a name belonging to a tyrant. Inasmuch, then, as this name "Titan" has so 5.30.03:088
much to recommend it, there is a strong degree of probability, that from among the many 5.30.03:089
[names suggested], we infer, that perchance he who is to come shall be called "Titan." We 5.30.03:090
will not, however, incur the risk of pronouncing positively as to the name of Antichrist; IrnL.AH.5.30.03:091
for if it were necessary that his name should be distinctly revealed in this present 5.30.03:092
time, it would have been announced by him who beheld the apocalyptic vision. For that was 5.30.03:093
seen no very long time since, but almost in our day, towards the end of Domitian's reign. 5.30.03:094
4. But he indicates the number of the name now, that when this man comes we 5.30.04:098
may avoid him, being aware who he is: the name, however, is suppressed, because 5.30.04:099
it is not worthy of being proclaimed by the Holy Spirit. For if it had 5.30.04:100
been declared by Him, he (Antichrist) might perhaps continue for a long 5.30.04:101
period. But now as "he was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the abyss, 5.30.04:102
and goes into perdition," as one who has no existence; so neither has his name 5.30.04:103
been declared, for the name of that which does not exist is not proclaimed. 5.30.04:104
But when this Antichrist shall have devastated all things in this world, 5.30.04:106
he will reign for three years and six months, and sit in the temple at 5.30.04:107
Jerusalem; and then the Lord will come from heaven in the clouds, in the glory 5.30.04:108
of the Father, sending this man and those who follow him into the lake 5.30.04:109
of fire; but bringing in for the righteous the times of the kingdom, that is, 5.30.04:110
the rest, the hallowed seventh day; and restoring to Abraham the promised 5.30.04:111
inheritance, in which kingdom the Lord declared, that "many coming from 5.30.04:112
the east and from the west should sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." 5.30.04:115
1. Since, again, some who are reckoned among the orthodox go beyond the pre-arranged 5.31.01:001
plan for the exaltation of the just, and are ignorant of the methods by which they 5.31.01:002
are disciplined beforehand for incorruption, they thus entertain heretical opinions.20 5.31.01:003
For the heretics, despising the handiwork of God, and not admitting the salvation 5.31.01:004
of their flesh, while they also treat the promise of God contemptuously, and pass 5.31.01:005
beyond God altogether in the sentiments they form, affirm that immediately upon their IrnL.AH.5.31.01:006
death they shall pass above the heavens and the Demiurge, and go to the Mother 5.31.01:007
(Achamoth) or to that Father whom they have feigned. Those persons, therefore, who disallow 5.31.01:008
a resurrection affecting the whole man (universam reprobant resurrectionem), 5.31.01:009
and as far as in them lies remove it from the midst [of the Christian scheme], how 5.31.01:010
can they be wondered at, if again they know nothing as to the plan of the resurrection? IrnL.AH.5.31.01:011
For they do not choose to understand, that if these things are as they say, the 5.31.01:012
Lord Himself, in whom they profess to believe, did not rise again upon the third 5.31.01:017
day; but immediately upon His expiring on the cross, undoubtedly departed on high, leaving 5.31.01:018
His body to the earth. But the case was, that for three days He dwelt in the 5.31.01:019
place where the dead were, as the prophet says concerning Him: "And the Lord remembered 5.31.01:020
His dead saints who slept formerly in the land of sepulture; and He descended 5.31.01:022
to them, to rescue and save them." And the Lord Himself says, "As Jonas remained three 5.31.01:023
days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be in the heart 5.31.01:024
of the earth." Then also the apostle says, "But when He ascended, what is it but 5.31.01:025
that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth?" This, too, David says when IrnL.AH.5.31.01:026
prophesying of Him, "And thou hast delivered my soul from the nethermost hell;" 5.31.01:027
and on His rising again the third day, He said to Mary, who was the first to see and 5.31.01:028
to worship Him, "Touch Me not, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to 5.31.01:029
the disciples, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and unto your Father." 5.31.01:030
2. If, then, the Lord observed the law of the dead, that He might become the first-begotten 5.31.02:032
from the dead, and tarried until the third day "in the lower parts of the 5.31.02:033
earth;" then afterwards rising in the flesh, so that He even showed the print of 5.31.02:034
the nails to His disciples, He thus ascended to the Father;--[if all these things 5.31.02:035
occurred, I say], how must these men not be put to confusion, who allege that "the 5.31.02:036
lower parts" refer to this world of ours, but that their tuner man, leaving the body 5.31.02:037
here, ascends into the super-celestial place? For as the Lord "went away in the 5.31.02:040
midst of the shadow of death," where the souls of the dead were, yet afterwards arose IrnL.AH.5.31.02:041
in the body, and after the resurrection was taken up [into heaven], it is manifest 5.31.02:042
that the souls of His disciples also, upon whose account the Lord underwent 5.31.02:043
these things, shall go away into the invisible place allotted to them by God, and there IrnL.AH.5.31.02:044
remain until the resurrection, awaiting that event; then receiving their bodies, 5.31.02:045
and rising in their entirety, that is bodily, just as the Lord arose, they shall 5.31.02:046
come thus into the presence of God. "For no disciple is above the Master, but every 5.31.02:050
one that is perfect shall be as his Master." As our Master, therefore, did not 5.31.02:051
at once depart, taking flight [to heaven], but awaited the time of His resurrection 5.31.02:052
prescribed by the Father, which had been also shown forth through Jonas, and rising 5.31.02:053
again after three days was taken up [to heaven]; so ought we also to await the 5.31.02:054
time of our resurrection prescribed by God and foretold by the prophets, and so, 5.31.02:055
rising, be taken up, as many as the Lord shall account worthy of this [privilege]. 5.31.02:056
1. Inasmuch, therefore, as the opinions of certain [orthodox persons] are derived from heretical 5.32.01:001
discourses, they are both ignorant of God's dispensations, and of the mystery of the 5.32.01:002
resurrection of the just, and of the [earthly] kingdom which is the commencement of incorruption, 5.32.01:003
by means of which kingdom those who shall be worthy are accustomed gradually to partake 5.32.01:004
of the divine nature (capere Deum); and it is necessary to tell them respecting those things, 5.32.01:005
that it behoves the righteous first to receive the promise of the inheritance which 5.32.01:006
God promised to the fathers, and to reign in it, when they rise again to behold God in this 5.32.01:007
creation which is renovated, and that the judgment should take place afterwards. For it is 5.32.01:010
just that in that very creation in which they toiled or were afflicted, being proved in every 5.32.01:011
way by suffering, they should receive the reward of their suffering; and that in the creation 5.32.01:012
in which they were slain because of their love to God, in that they should be revived 5.32.01:013
again; and that in the creation in which they endured servitude, in that they should reign. 5.32.01:016
For God is rich in all things, and all things are His. It is fitting, therefore, that the 5.32.01:017
creation itself, being restored to its primeval condition, should without restraint be under 5.32.01:018
the dominion of the righteous; and the apostle has made this plain in the Epistle to the IrnL.AH.5.32.01:019
Romans, when he thus speaks: "For the expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation 5.32.01:020
of the sons of God. For the creature has been subjected to vanity, not willingly, but 5.32.01:021
by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope; since the creature itself shall also 5.32.01:022
be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God." 5.32.01:023
2. Thus, then, the promise of God, which He gave to Abraham, remains stedfast. 5.32.02:025
For thus He said: "Lift up thine eyes, and look from this place 5.32.02:026
where now thou art, towards the north and south, and east and west. For 5.32.02:027
all the earth which thou seest, I will give to thee and to thy seed, 5.32.02:028
even for ever." And again He says, "Arise, and go through the length and 5.32.02:030
breadth of the land, since I will give it unto thee;" and [yet] he did 5.32.02:031
not receive an inheritance in it, not even a footstep, but was always 5.32.02:032
a stranger and a pilgrim therein. And upon the death of Sarah his wife, 5.32.02:033
when the Hittites were willing to bestow upon him a place where he might 5.32.02:034
bury her, he declined it as a gift, but bought the burying-place (giving 5.32.02:035
for it four hundred talents of silver) from Ephron the son of Zohar 5.32.02:036
the Hittite. Thus did he await patiently the promise of God, and was 5.32.02:037
unwilling to appear to receive from men, what God had promised to give 5.32.02:038
him, when He said again to him as follows: "I will give this land to 5.32.02:039
thy seed, from the river of Egypt even unto the great river Euphrates." 5.32.02:041
If, then, God promised him the inheritance of the land, yet he did not 5.32.02:042
receive it during all the time of his sojourn there, it must be, that 5.32.02:043
together with his seed, that is, those who fear God and believe in Him, 5.32.02:045
he shall receive it at the resurrection of the just. For his seed is the 5.32.02:046
Church, which receives the adoption to God through the Lord, as John 5.32.02:047
the Baptist said: "For God is able from the stones to raise up children 5.32.02:048
to Abraham." Thus also the apostle says in the Epistle to the Galatians: 5.32.02:049
"But ye, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise." 5.32.02:051
And again, in the same Epistle, he plainly declares that they who have 5.32.02:052
believed in Christ do receive Christ, the promise to Abraham thus saying, 5.32.02:053
"The promises were spoken to Abraham, and to his seed. Now He does not IrnL.AH.5.32.02:054
say, And of seeds, as if [He spake] of many, but as of one, And to thy 5.32.02:055
seed, which is Christ." And again, confirming his former words, he says, 5.32.02:056
"Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 5.32.02:057
Know ye therefore, that they which are of faith are the children 5.32.02:058
of Abraham. But the Scripture, fore-seeing that God would justify 5.32.02:059
the heathen through faith, declared to Abraham beforehand, That in thee 5.32.02:060
shall all nations be blessed. So then they which are of faith shall 5.32.02:062
be blessed with faithful Abraham." Thus, then, they who are of faith shall 5.32.02:063
be blessed with faithful Abraham, and these are the children of Abraham. 5.32.02:064
Now God made promise of the earth to Abraham and his seed; yet neither 5.32.02:064
Abraham nor his seed, that is, those who are justified by faith, 5.32.02:065
do now receive any inheritance in it; but they shall receive it at the 5.32.02:066
resurrection of the just. For God is true and faithful; and on this account 5.32.02:068
He said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." 5.32.02:069
1. For this reason, when about to undergo His sufferings, that He might declare to 5.33.01:001
Abraham and those with him the glad tidings of the inheritance being thrown open, [Christ], 5.33.01:002
after He had given thanks while holding the cup, and had drunk of it, and 5.33.01:003
given it to the disciples, said to them: "Drink ye all of it: this is My blood of the 5.33.01:004
new covenant, which shall be shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto 5.33.01:005
you, I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of this vine, until that day when 5.33.01:006
I will drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." Thus, then, He will Himself 5.33.01:007
renew the inheritance of the earth, and will re-organize the mystery of the glory of 5.33.01:009
[His] sons; as David says, "He who hath renewed the face of the earth." He promised IrnL.AH.5.33.01:010
to drink of the fruit of the vine with His disciples, thus indicating both these 5.33.01:011
points: the inheritance of the earth in which the new fruit of the vine is drunk, 5.33.01:012
and the resurrection of His disciples in the flesh. For the new flesh which rises again 5.33.01:013
is the same which also received the new cup. And He cannot by any means be understood 5.33.01:016
as drinking of the fruit of the vine when settled down with his [disciples] 5.33.01:017
above in a super-celestial place; nor, again, are they who drink it devoid of flesh, 5.33.01:018
for to drink of that which flows from the vine pertains to flesh, and not spirit. 5.33.01:019
2. And for this reason the Lord declared, "When thou makest a dinner or a supper, 5.33.02:022
do not call thy friends, nor thy neighbours, nor thy kinsfolk, lest they ask 5.33.02:023
thee in return, and so repay thee. But call the lame, the blind, and the poor, IrnL.AH.5.33.02:024
and thou shall be blessed, since they cannot recompense thee, but a recompense 5.33.02:025
shall be made thee at the resurrection of the just." And again He says, "Whosoever 5.33.02:026
shall have left lands, or houses, or parents, or brethren, or children 5.33.02:027
because of Me, he shall receive in this world an hundred-fold, and in that 5.33.02:028
to come he shall inherit eternal life." For what are the hundred-fold [rewards] 5.33.02:029
in this world, the entertainments given to the poor, and the suppers for which 5.33.02:030
a return is made? These are [to take place] in the times of the kingdom, that IrnL.AH.5.33.02:031
is, upon the seventh day, which has been sanctified, in which God rested from 5.33.02:032
all the works which He created, which is the true Sabbath of the righteous, 5.33.02:033
which they shall not be engaged in any earthly occupation; but shall have a table 5.33.02:034
at hand prepared for them by God, supplying them with all sorts of dishes. 5.33.02:035
3. The blessing of Isaac with which he blessed his younger son Jacob has the 5.33.03:039
same meaning, when he says, "Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of 5.33.03:040
a full field which the Lord has blessed." But "the field is the world." And therefore 5.33.03:041
he added, "God give to thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness 5.33.03:042
of the earth, plenty of corn and wine. And let the nations serve thee, and 5.33.03:043
kings bow down to thee; and be thou lord over thy brother, and thy father's sons 5.33.03:044
shall bow down to thee: cursed shall be he who shall curse thee, and blessed 5.33.03:045
shall be he who shall bless thee." If any one, then, does not accept these 5.33.03:046
things as referring to the appointed kingdom, he must fall into much contradiction 5.33.03:047
and contrariety, as is the case with the Jews, who are involved in absolute IrnL.AH.5.33.03:048
perplexity. For not only did not the nations in this life serve this 5.33.03:049
Jacob; but even after he had received the blessing, he himself going forth [from 5.33.03:051
his home], served his uncle Laban the Syrian for twenty years; and not only IrnL.AH.5.33.03:052
was he not made lord of his brother, but he did himself bow down before 5.33.03:053
his brother Esau, upon his return from Mesopotamia to his father, and offered 5.33.03:054
many gifts to him. Moreover, in what way did he inherit much corn and wine here, 5.33.03:055
he who emigrated to Egypt because of the famine which possessed the land 5.33.03:057
in which he was dwelling, and became Subject to Pharaoh, who was then ruling 5.33.03:058
over Egypt? The predicted blessing, therefore, belongs unquestionably to the 5.33.03:059
times of the kingdom, when the righteous shall bear rule upon their rising 5.33.03:061
from the dead; when also the creation, having been renovated and set free, shall 5.33.03:062
fructify with an abundance of all kinds of food, from the dew of heaven, 5.33.03:063
and from the fertility of the earth: as the elders who saw John, the disciple 5.33.03:064
of the Lord, related that they had heard from him21 how the Lord used to teach 5.33.03:066
in regard to these times, and say: The days will come, in which vines shall 5.33.03:067
grow, each having ten thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand 5.33.03:068
twigs, and in each true twig ten thousand shoots, and in each one of the shoots 5.33.03:069
ten thousand clusters, and on every one of the clusters ten thousand grapes, 5.33.03:070
and every grape when pressed will give five and twenty metretes of wine. 5.33.03:071
And when any one of the saints shall lay hold of a cluster, another shall cry 5.33.03:072
out, "I am a better cluster, take me; bless the Lord through me." In like 5.33.03:075
manner [the Lord declared] that a grain of wheat would produce ten thousand ears, 5.33.03:076
and that every ear should have ten thousand grains, and every grain would 5.33.03:078
yield ten pounds (quinque bilibres) of clear, pure, fine flour; and that all 5.33.03:079
other fruit-bearing trees, and seeds and grass, would produce in similar proportions 5.33.03:080
(secundum congruentiam iis consequentem); and that all animals feeding 5.33.03:081
[only] on the productions of the earth, should [in those days] become peaceful 5.33.03:082
and harmonious among each other, and be in perfect subjection to man. 5.33.03:083
4. And these things are bore witness to in writing by Papias, the hearer of John, 5.33.04:086
and a companion of Polycarp22, in his fourth book; for there were five books 5.33.04:087
compiled ({suntetagmena}) by him. And he says in addition, "Now these things are 5.33.04:088
credible to believers." And he says that, "when the traitor Judas did not give 5.33.04:089
credit to them, and put the question, 'How then can things about to bring forth 5.33.04:090
so abundantly be wrought by the Lord?' the Lord declared, 'They who shall come 5.33.04:091
to these [times] shall see." When prophesying of these times, therefore, Esaias 5.33.04:092
says: "The wolf also shall feed with the lamb, and the leopard shall take his rest 5.33.04:094
with the kid; the calf also, and the bull, and the lion shall eat together; and 5.33.04:095
a little boy shall lead them. The ox and the bear shall feed together, and their 5.33.04:096
young ones shall agree together; and the lion shall eat straw as well as the 5.33.04:097
ox. And the infant boy shall thrust his hand into the asp's den, into the nest IrnL.AH.5.33.04:098
also of the adder's brood; and they shall do no harm, nor have power to hurt anything 5.33.04:099
in my holy mountain." And again he says, in recapitulation, "Wolves and 5.33.04:100
lambs shall then browse together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and 5.33.04:101
the serpent earth as if it were bread; and they shall neither hurt nor annoy anything 5.33.04:102
in my holy mountain, saith the Lord." I am quite aware that some persons 5.33.04:103
endeavour to refer these words to the case of savage men, both of different nations 5.33.04:105
and various habits, who come to believe, and when they have believed, act in 5.33.04:106
harmony with the righteous. But although this is [true] now with regard to some 5.33.04:107
men coming from various nations to the harmony of the faith, nevertheless in the 5.33.04:108
resurrection of the just [the words shall also apply] to those animals mentioned. 5.33.04:109
For God is now in all things. And it is right that when the creation is restored, 5.33.04:110
all the animals should obey and be in subjection to man, and revert to the 5.33.04:111
food originally given by God (for they had been originally subjected in obedience 5.33.04:112
to Adam), that is, the productions of the earth. But some other occasion, and 5.33.04:113
not the present, is [to be sought] for showing that the lion shall [then] feed 5.33.04:116
on straw. And this indicates the large size and rich quality of the fruits. For 5.33.04:117
if that animal, the lion, feeds upon straw [at that period], of what a quality 5.33.04:118
must the wheat itself be whose straw shall serve as suitable food for lions?23 5.33.04:119
1. Then, too, Isaiah himself has plainly declared that there shall be joy of this nature 5.34.01:001
at the resurrection of the just, when he says: "The dead shall rise again; those, 5.34.01:002
too, who are in the tombs shall arise, and those who are in the earth shall rejoice. 5.34.01:003
For the dew from Thee is health to them." And this again Ezekiel also says: 5.34.01:004
"Behold, I will open your tombs, and will bring you forth out of your graves; when 5.34.01:005
I will draw my people from the sepulchres, and I will put breath in you, and ye shall 5.34.01:006
live; and I will place you on your own land, and ye shall know that I am the LORD." 5.34.01:007
And again the same speaks thus: "These things saith the LORD, I will gather Israel 5.34.01:008
from all nations whither they have been driven, and I shall be sanctified in 5.34.01:009
them in the sight of the sons of the nations: and they shall dwell in their own land, 5.34.01:010
which I gave to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell in it in peace; and they 5.34.01:011
shall build houses, and plant vineyards, and dwell in hope, when I shall cause judgment 5.34.01:012
to fall among all who have dishonoured them, among those who encircle them round 5.34.01:013
about; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God, and the God of their fathers." 5.34.01:014
Now I have shown a short time ago that the church is the seed of Abraham; 5.34.01:015
and for this reason, that we may know that He who in the New Testament "raises up 5.34.01:019
from the stones children unto Abraham," is He who will gather, according to the Old 5.34.01:020
Testament, those that shall be saved from all the nations, Jeremiah says: "Behold, 5.34.01:021
the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, who 5.34.01:022
led the children of Israel from the north, and from every region whither they had been 5.34.01:023
driven; He will restore them to their own land which He gave to their fathers." 5.34.01:024
2. That the whole creation shall, according to God's will, obtain a vast 5.34.02:028
increase, that it may bring forth and sustain fruits such [as we have mentioned], 5.34.02:029
Isaiah declares: "And there shall be upon every high mountain, 5.34.02:030
and upon every prominent hill, water running everywhere in that day, when 5.34.02:031
many shall perish, when walls shall fall. And the light of the moon shall 5.34.02:033
be as the light of the sun, seven times that of the day, when He shall 5.34.02:034
heal the anguish of His people, and do away with the pain of His stroke." 5.34.02:035
Now "the pain of the stroke" means that inflicted at the beginning upon 5.34.02:036
disobedient man in Adam, that is, death; which [stroke] the Lord will heal 5.34.02:037
when He raises us from the dead, and restores the inheritance of the 5.34.02:038
fathers, as Isaiah again says: "And thou shall be confident in the LORD, 5.34.02:039
and He will cause thee to pass over the whole earth, and feed thee with the 5.34.02:040
inheritance of Jacob thy father." This is what the Lord declared: "Happy 5.34.02:042
are those servants whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching. 5.34.02:043
Verily I say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down IrnL.AH.5.34.02:044
[to meat], and will come forth and serve them. And if He shall come 5.34.02:045
in the evening watch, and find them so, blessed are they, because He shall 5.34.02:046
make them sit down, and minister to them; or if this be in the second, 5.34.02:047
or it be in the third, blessed are they." Again John also says the very 5.34.02:048
same in the Apocalypse: "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first 5.34.02:049
resurrection." Then, too, Isaiah has declared the time when these events 5.34.02:050
shall occur; he says: "And I said, Lord, how long? Until the cities be wasted 5.34.02:051
without inhabitant, and the houses be without men, and the earth be 5.34.02:052
left a desert. And after these things the LORD shall remove us men far 5.34.02:053
away (longe nos faciet Deus homines), and those who shall remain shall multiply 5.34.02:054
upon the earth." Then Daniel also says this very thing: "And the 5.34.02:055
kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of those under the heaven, is given 5.34.02:056
to the saints of the Most High God, whose kingdom is everlasting, and 5.34.02:057
all dominions shall serve and obey Him." And lest the promise named should 5.34.02:058
be understood as referring to this time, it was declared to the prophet: 5.34.02:060
"And come thou, and stand in thy lot at the consummation of the days." 5.34.02:061
3. Now, that the promises were not announced to the prophets and the fathers 5.34.03:063
alone, but to the Churches united to these from the nations, whom also the 5.34.03:064
Spirit terms "the islands" (both because they are established in the midst 5.34.03:065
of turbulence, suffer the storm of blasphemies, exist as a harbour of 5.34.03:066
safety to those in peril, and are the refuge of those who love the height [of 5.34.03:067
heaven], and strive to avoid Bythus, that is, the depth of error), Jeremiah 5.34.03:068
thus declares: "Hear the word of the LORD, ye nations, and declare it 5.34.03:069
to the isles afar off; say ye, that the LORD will scatter Israel, He will 5.34.03:072
gather him, and keep him, as one feeding his flock of sheep. For the Lord 5.34.03:073
hath redeemed Jacob, and rescued him from the hand of one stronger than he. 5.34.03:074
And they shall come and rejoice m Mount Zion, and shall come to what is good, 5.34.03:075
and into a land of wheat, and wine, and fruits, of animals and of sheep; 5.34.03:076
and their soul shall be as a tree bearing fruit, and they shall hunger 5.34.03:077
no more. At that time also shall the virgins rejoice in the company of the 5.34.03:078
young men: the old men, too, shall be glad, and I will turn their sorrow 5.34.03:079
into joy; and I will make them exult, and will magnify them, and satiate the 5.34.03:081
souls of the priests the sons of Levi; and my people shall be satiated 5.34.03:082
with my goodness." Now, in the preceding book I have shown that all the disciples 5.34.03:083
of the Lord are Levites and priests, they who used in the temple to 5.34.03:084
profane the Sabbath, but are blameless. Promises of such a nature, therefore, 5.34.03:085
do indicate in the clearest manner the feasting of that creation in the 5.34.03:086
kingdom of the righteous, which God promises that He will Himself serve. 5.34.03:087
4. Then again, speaking of Jerusalem, and of Him reigning there, Isaiah declares, 5.34.04:089
"Thus saith the LORD, Happy is he who hath seed in Zion, and servants in Jerusalem. 5.34.04:090
Behold, a righteous king shall reign, and princes shall rule with judgment" 5.34.04:091
And with regard to the foundation on which it shall be rebuilt, he says: 5.34.04:092
"Behold, I will lay in order for thee a carbuncle stone, and sapphire for thy 5.34.04:093
foundations; and I will lay thy ramparts with jasper, and thy gates with crystal, 5.34.04:094
and thy wall with choice stones: and all thy children shall be taught of 5.34.04:095
God, and great shall be the peace of thy children; and in righteousness shalt 5.34.04:096
thou be built up." And yet again does he say the same thing: "Behold, I make 5.34.04:098
Jerusalem a rejoicing, and my people [a joy]; for the voice of weeping shall be 5.34.04:099
no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. Also there shall not be there 5.34.04:100
any immature [one], nor an old man who does not fulfil his time: for the youth 5.34.04:101
shall be of a hundred years; and the sinner shall die a hundred years old, yet 5.34.04:104
shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them themselves; 5.34.04:105
and shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them themselves, and shall drink 5.34.04:106
wine. And they shall not build, and others inhabit; neither shall they prepare 5.34.04:107
the vineyard, and others eat. For as the days of the tree of life shall 5.34.04:108
be the days of the people in thee; for the works of their hands shall endure." 5.34.04:109
1. If, however, any shall endeavour to allegorize [prophecies] of this kind, 5.35.01:001
they shall not be found consistent with themselves in all points, and shall 5.35.01:002
be confuted by the teaching of the very expressions [in question]. For example: 5.35.01:003
"When the cities" of the Gentiles "shall be desolate, so that they 5.35.01:004
be not inhabited, and the houses so that there shall be no men in them and 5.35.01:005
the land shall be left desolate." "For, behold," says Isaiah, "the day of 5.35.01:007
the LORD cometh past remedy, full of fury and wrath, to lay waste the city 5.35.01:008
of the earth, and to root sinners out of it." And again he says, "Let him be 5.35.01:009
taken away, that he behold not the glory of God." And when these things are 5.35.01:010
done, he says, "God will remove men far away, and those that are left shall 5.35.01:011
multiply in the earth." "And they shall build houses, and shall inhabit 5.35.01:012
them themselves: and plant vineyards, and eat of them themselves." For all 5.35.01:013
these and other words were unquestionably spoken in reference to the resurrection 5.35.01:014
of the just, which takes place after the coming of Antichrist, and 5.35.01:015
the destruction of all nations under his rule; in [the times of] which [resurrection] 5.35.01:016
the righteous shall reign in the earth, waxing stronger by the sight 5.35.01:017
of the Lord: and through Him they shall become accustomed to partake in 5.35.01:018
the glory of God the Father, and shall enjoy in the kingdom intercourse and 5.35.01:019
communion with the holy angels, and union with spiritual beings; and [with 5.35.01:021
respect to] those whom the Lord shall find in the flesh, awaiting Him from 5.35.01:022
heaven, and who have suffered tribulation, as well as escaped the hands 5.35.01:023
of the Wicked one. For it is in reference to them that the prophet says: "And 5.35.01:024
those that are left shall multiply upon the earth," And Jeremiah the prophet 5.35.01:025
has pointed out, that as many believers as God has prepared for this 5.35.01:028
purpose, to multiply those left upon earth, should both be under the rule of 5.35.01:029
the saints to minister to this Jerusalem, and that [His] kingdom shall be 5.35.01:030
in it, saying, "Look around Jerusalem towards the east, and behold the joy 5.35.01:031
which comes to thee from God Himself. Behold, thy sons shall come whom thou 5.35.01:032
hast sent forth: they shall come in a band from the east even unto the west, 5.35.01:034
by the word of that Holy One, rejoicing in that splendour which is from 5.35.01:035
thy God. O Jerusalem, put off thy robe of mourning and of affliction, and 5.35.01:036
put on that beauty of eternal splendour from thy God. Gird thyself with the 5.35.01:037
double garment of that righteousness proceeding from thy God; place the mitre 5.35.01:038
of eternal glory upon thine head. For God will show thy glory to the whole 5.35.01:039
earth under heaven. For thy name shall for ever be called by God Himself, 5.35.01:040
the peace of righteousness and glory to him that worships God. Arise, Jerusalem, 5.35.01:041
stand on high, and look towards the east, and behold thy sons from 5.35.01:042
the rising of the sun, even to the west, by the Word of that Holy One, rejoicing 5.35.01:043
in the very remembrance of God. For the footmen have gone forth from 5.35.01:044
thee, while they were drawn away by the enemy. God shall bring them in to 5.35.01:045
thee, being borne with glory as the throne of a kingdom. For God has decreed 5.35.01:047
that every high mountain shall be brought low, and the eternal hills, and 5.35.01:048
that the valleys be filled, so that the surface of the earth be rendered smooth, 5.35.01:049
that Israel, the glory of God, may walk in safety. The woods, too, shall 5.35.01:050
make shady places, and every sweet-smelling tree shall be for Israel itself 5.35.01:051
by the command of God. For God shall go before with joy in the light 5.35.01:051
of His splendour, with the pity and righteousness which proceeds from Him." 5.35.01:052
2. Now all these things being such as they are, cannot be understood in reference 5.35.02:053
to super-celestial matters; "for God," it is said, "will show to the 5.35.02:054
whole earth that is under heaven thy glory." But in the times of the kingdom, 5.35.02:055
the earth has been called again by Christ [to its pristine condition], and 5.35.02:056
Jerusalem rebuilt after the pattern of the Jerusalem above, of which the 5.35.02:059
prophet Isaiah says, "Behold, I have depicted thy walls upon my hands, and thou 5.35.02:060
art always in my sight," And the apostle, too, writing to the Galatians, 5.35.02:061
says in like manner, "But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is 5.35.02:062
the mother of us all." He does not say this with any thought of an erratic AEon, 5.35.02:063
or of any other power which departed from the Pleroma, or of Prunicus, 5.35.02:064
but of the Jerusalem which has been delineated on [God's] hands. And in the 5.35.02:068
Apocalypse John saw this new [Jerusalem] descending upon the new earth. For 5.35.02:069
after the times of the kingdom, he says, "I saw a great white throne, and 5.35.02:070
Him who sat upon it, from whose face the earth fled away, and the heavens; 5.35.02:072
and there was no more place for them." And he sets forth, too, the things connected 5.35.02:073
with the general resurrection and the judgment, mentioning "the dead, 5.35.02:074
great and small." "The sea," he says, "gave up the dead which it had in 5.35.02:075
it, and death and hell delivered up the dead that they contained; and the books 5.35.02:076
were opened. Moreover," he says, "the book of life was opened, and the 5.35.02:077
dead were judged out of those things that were written in the books, according 5.35.02:078
to their works; and death and hell were sent into the lake of fire, the 5.35.02:079
second death." Now this is what is called Gehenna, which the Lord styled eternal 5.35.02:080
fire. "And if any one," it is said, "was not found written in the book 5.35.02:081
of life, he was sent into the lake of fire." And after this, he says, "I saw 5.35.02:082
a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth have passed 5.35.02:083
away; also there was no more sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming 5.35.02:084
down from heaven, as a bride adorned for her husband." "And I heard," 5.35.02:085
it is said, "a great voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle 5.35.02:086
of God is with men, and He will dwell with them; and they shall be His people, 5.35.02:087
and God Himself shall be with them as their God. And He will wipe away every 5.35.02:088
tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither sorrow, nor 5.35.02:089
crying, neither shall there be any more pain, because the former things have 5.35.02:090
passed away." Isaiah also declares the very same: "For there shall be a new 5.35.02:091
heaven and a new earth; and there shall be no remembrance of the former, 5.35.02:093
neither shall the heart think about them, but they shall find in it joy and 5.35.02:094
exultation." Now this is what has been said by the apostle: "For the fashion 5.35.02:095
of this world passeth away." To the same purpose did the Lord also declare, 5.35.02:096
"Heaven and earth shall pass away." When these things, therefore, pass away 5.35.02:098
above the earth, John, the Lord's disciple, says that the new Jerusalem 5.35.02:099
above shall [then] descend, as a bride adorned for her husband; and that this 5.35.02:100
is the tabernacle of God, in which God will dwell with men. Of this Jerusalem 5.35.02:101
the former one is an image--that Jerusalem of the former earth in which 5.35.02:103
the righteous are disciplined beforehand for incorruption and prepared for 5.35.02:104
salvation. And of this tabernacle Moses received the pattern in the mount; 5.35.02:105
and nothing is capable of being allegorized, but all things are stedfast, and 5.35.02:108
true, land substantial, having been made by God for righteous men's enjoyment. 5.35.02:109
For as it is God truly who raises up man, so also does man truly rise 5.35.02:110
from the dead, and not allegorically, as I have shown repeatedly. And as he 5.35.02:111
rises actually, so also shall he be actually disciplined beforehand for incorruption, 5.35.02:112
and shall go forwards and flourish in the times of the kingdom, 5.35.02:113
in order that he may be capable of receiving the glory of the Father. Then, 5.35.02:114
when all things are made new, he shall truly dwell in the city of God. For 5.35.02:115
it is said, "He that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things 5.35.02:118
new. And the Lord says, Write all this; for these words are faithful and true. 5.35.02:119
And He said to me, They are done." And this is the truth of the matter. 5.35.02:120
1. For since there are real men, so must there also be a real establishment (plantationem), 5.36.01:001
that they vanish not away among non-existent things, but progress among 5.36.01:002
those which have an actual existence. For neither is the substance nor the essence 5.36.01:004
of the creation annihilated (for faithful and true is He who has established 5.36.01:005
it), but "the fashion of the world passeth away;" that is, those things among which 5.36.01:006
transgression has occurred, since man has grown old in them. And therefore this 5.36.01:008
[present] fashion has been formed temporary, God foreknowing all things; as I 5.36.01:009
have pointed out in the preceding book, and have also shown, as far as was possible, IrnL.AH.5.36.01:010
the cause of the creation of this world of temporal things. But when this [present] 5.36.01:012
fashion [of things] passes away, and man has been renewed, and flourishes IrnL.AH.5.36.01:013
in an incorruptible state, so as to preclude the possibility of becoming old, [then] 5.36.01:014
there shall be the new heaven and the new earth, in which the new man shall remain 5.36.01:016
[continually], always holding fresh converse with God. And since (or, that) 5.36.01:017
these things shall ever continue without end, Isaiah declares, "For as the new heavens 5.36.01:018
and the new earth which I do make, continue in my sight, saith the LORD, 5.36.01:019
so shall your seed and your name remain." And as the presbyters say, Then those who 5.36.01:021
are deemed worthy of an abode in heaven shall go there, others shall enjoy the 5.36.01:022
delights of paradise, and others shall possess the splendour of the city; for everywhere 5.36.01:023
the Saviour shall be seen according as they who see Him shall be worthy. 5.36.01:024
2. [They say, moreover], that there is this distinction between the habitation IrnL.AH.5.36.02:026
of those who produce an hundred-fold, and that of those who produce sixty-fold, 5.36.02:027
and that of those who produce thirty-fold: for the first will be 5.36.02:028
taken up into the heavens, the second will dwell in paradise, the last will 5.36.02:029
inhabit the city; and that was on this account the Lord declared, "In My 5.36.02:030
Father's house are many mansions." For all things belong to God, who supplies 5.36.02:032
all with a suitable dwelling-place; even as His Word says, that a share 5.36.02:033
is allotted to all by the Father, according as each person is or shall 5.36.02:034
be worthy. And this is the couch on which the guests shall recline, having 5.36.02:035
been invited to the wedding. The presbyters, the disciples of the apostles, 5.36.02:037
affirm that this is the gradation and arrangement of those who are saved, 5.36.02:038
and that they advance through steps of this nature; also that they ascend 5.36.02:039
through the Spirit to the Son, and through the Son to the Father, and that 5.36.02:040
in due time the Son will yield up His work to the Father, even as it is 5.36.02:041
said by the apostle, "For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under 5.36.02:044
His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." For in the times 5.36.02:045
of the kingdom, the righteous man who is upon the earth shall then forget 5.36.02:046
to die. "But when He saith, All things shall be subdued unto Him, it 5.36.02:046
is manifest that He is excepted who did put all things under Him. And when 5.36.02:047
all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject 5.36.02:048
unto Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all." 5.36.02:049
3. John, therefore, did distinctly foresee the first "resurrection of the just," and 5.36.03:051
the inheritance in the kingdom of the earth; and what the prophets have prophesied concerning 5.36.03:052
it harmonize [with his vision]. For the Lord also taught these things, when He 5.36.03:054
promised that He would have the mixed cup new with His disciples in the kingdom. The 5.36.03:055
apostle, too, has confessed that the creation shall be free from the bondage of corruption, 5.36.03:056
[so as to pass] into the liberty of the sons of God. And in all these things, 5.36.03:057
and by them all, the same God the Father is manifested, who fashioned man, and gave 5.36.03:059
promise of the inheritance of the earth to the fathers, who brought it (the creature) 5.36.03:060
forth [from bondage] at the resurrection of the just, and fulfils the promises for the 5.36.03:061
kingdom of His Son; subsequently bestowing in a paternal manner those things which 5.36.03:062
neither the eye has seen, nor the ear has heard, nor has [thought concerning them] arisen 5.36.03:063
within the heart of man,For there is the one Son, who accomplished His Father's 5.36.03:065
will; and one human race also in which the mysteries of God are wrought, "which the angels 5.36.03:066
desire to look into;" and they are not able to search out the wisdom of God, by 5.36.03:067
means of Which His handiwork, confirmed and incorporated with His Son, is brought to 5.36.03:068
perfection; that His offspring, the First-begotten Word, should descend to the creature 5.36.03:069
(facturam), that is, to what had been moulded (plasma), and that it should be contained 5.36.03:070
by Him; and, on the other hand, the creature should contain the Word, and ascend 5.36.03:071
to Him, passing beyond the angels, and be made after the image and likeness of God. 5.36.03:075