Chapter 19
Absurdities of the heretics as
to their own origin: their opinions respecting the Demiurge shown to be equally
untenable and ridiculous.
1. But what sort of talk also is this concerning
their seed — that it was conceived by the mother according to the configuration
of those angels who wait upon the Saviour — shapeless, without form, and
imperfect; and that it was deposited in the Demiurge without his knowledge, in
order that through his instrumentality it might attain to perfection and form
in that soul which he had, [so to speak,] filled with seed? This is to affirm,
in the first place, that those angels who wait upon their Saviour are
imperfect, and without figure or form; if indeed that which was conceived
according to their appearance was generated any such kind of being [as has been
described].
2. Then, in the next place, as to their saying
that the Creator was ignorant of that deposit of seed which took place into
him, and again, of that impartation of seed which was made by him to man, their
words are futile and vain, and are in no way susceptible of proof. For how
could he have been ignorant of it, if that seed had possessed any substance and
peculiar properties? If, on the other hand, it was without substance and
without quality, and so was really nothing, then, as a matter of course, he was
ignorant of it. For those things which have a certain motion of their own, and
quality, either of heat, or swiftness, or sweetness, or which differ from
others in brilliance, do not escape the notice even of men, since they mingle
in the sphere of human action: far less can they [be hidden from] God, the
Maker of this universe. With reason, however, [is it said, that] their seed was
not known to Him, since it is without any quality of general utility, and
without the substance requisite for any action, and is, in fact, a pure
nonentity. It really seems to me, that, with a view to such opinions, the Lord
expressed Himself thus: "For every idle word that men speak, they shall
give account on the day of judgment." For all teachers of a like character
to these, who fill men's ears with idle talk, shall, when they stand at the
throne of judgment, render an account for those things which they have vainly
imagined and falsely uttered against the Lord, proceeding, as they have done,
to such a height of audacity as to declare of themselves that, on account of
the substance of their seed, they are acquainted with the spiritual Pleroma,
because that man who dwells within reveals to them the true Father; for the
animal nature required to be disciplined by means of the senses. But [they hold
that] the Demiurge, while receiving into himself the whole of this seed,
through its being deposited in him by the Mother, still remained utterly
ignorant of all things, and had no understanding of anything connected with the
Pleroma.
3. And that they are the truly
"spiritual," inasmuch as a certain particle of the Father of the
universe has been deposited in their souls, since, according to their
assertions, they have souls formed of the same substance as the Demiurge himself,
yet that he, although he received from the Mother, once for all, the whole [of
the divine] seed, and possessed it in himself, still remained of an animal
nature, and had not the slightest understanding of those things which are
above, which things they boast that they themselves understand, while they are
still on earth — does not this crown all possible absurdity? For to imagine
that the very same seed conveyed knowledge and perfection to the souls of these
men, while it only gave rise to ignorance in the God who made them, is an
opinion that can be held only by those utterly frantic, and totally destitute
of common sense.
4. Further, it is also a most absurd and
groundless thing for them to say that the seed was, by being thus deposited,
reduced to form and increased, and so was prepared for all the reception of
perfect rationality. For there will be in it an admixture of matter — that
substance which they hold to have been derived from ignorance and defect; [and
this will prove itself] more apt and useful than was the light of their Father,
if indeed, when born, according to the contemplation of that [light], it was
without form or figure, but derived from this [matter], form, and appearance,
and increase, and perfection. For if that light which proceeds from the Pleroma
was the cause to a spiritual being that it possessed neither form, nor
appearance, nor its own special magnitude, while its descent to this world
added all these things to it, and brought it to perfection, then a sojourn here
(which they also term darkness) would seem much more efficacious and useful
than was the light of their Father. But how can it be regarded as other than
ridiculous, to affirm that their mother ran the risk of being almost
extinguished in matter, and was almost on the point of being destroyed by it,
had she not then with difficulty stretched herself outwards, and leaped, [as it
were,] out of herself, receiving assistance from the Father; but that her seed
increased in this same matter, and received a form, and was made fit for the
reception of perfect rationality; and this, too, while "bubbling up"
among substances dissimilar and unfamiliar to itself, according to their own
declaration that the earthly is opposed to the spiritual, and the spiritual to
the earthly? How, then, could "a little particle," as they say,
increase, and receive shape, and reach perfection, in the midst of substances
contrary to and unfamiliar to itself?
5. But further, and in addition to what has been
said, the question occurs, Did their mother, when she beheld the angels, bring
forth the seed all at once, or only one by one [in succession]? If she brought
forth the whole simultaneously and at once, that which was thus produced cannot
now be of an infantile character: its descent, therefore, into those men who
now exist must be superfluous. But if one by one, then she did not form her
conception according to the figure of those angels whom she beheld; for,
contemplating them all together, and once for all, so as to conceive by them,
she ought to have brought forth once for all the offspring of those from whose
forms she had once for all conceived.
6. Why was it, too, that, beholding the angels
along with the Saviour, she did indeed conceive their images, but not that of the
Saviour, who is far more beautiful than they? Did He not please her; and did
she not, on that account, conceive after His likeness? How was it, too, that
the Demiurge, whom they can call an animal being, having, as they maintain, his
own special magnitude and figure, was produced perfect as respects his
substance; while that which is spiritual, which also ought to be more effective
than that which is animal, was sent forth imperfect, and he required to descend
into a soul, that in it he might obtain form, and thus becoming perfect, might
be rendered fit for the reception of perfect reason? If, then, he obtains form
in mere earthly and animal men, he can no longer be said to be after the
likeness of angels whom they call lights, but [after the likeness] of those men
who are here below. For he will not possess in that case the likeness and
appearance of angels, but of those souls in whom also he receives shape; just
as water when poured into a vessel takes the form of that vessel, and if on any
occasion it happens to congeal in it, it will acquire the form of the vessel in
which it has thus been frozen, since souls themselves possess the figure of the
body [in which they dwell]; for they themselves have been adapted to the vessel
[in which they exist], as I have said before. If, then, that seed [referred to]
is here solidified and formed into a definite shape, it will possess the figure
of a man. and not the form of the angels. How is it possible, therefore, that
that seed should be after images of the angels, seeing it has obtained a form
after the likeness of men? Why, again, since it was of a spiritual nature, had
it any need of descending into flesh? For what is carnal stands in need of that
which is spiritual, if indeed it is to be saved, that in it it may be
sanctified and cleared from all impurity, and that what is mortal may be
swallowed up by immortality; but that which is spiritual has no need whatever
of those things which are here below. For it is not we who benefit it, but it
that improves us.
7. Still more manifestly is that talk of theirs
concerning their seed proved to be false, and that in a way which must be
evident to every one, by the fact that they declare those souls which have
received seed from the Mother to be superior to all others; wherefore also they
have been honoured by the Demiurge, and constituted princes, and kings, and
priests. For if this were true, the high priest Caiaphas, and Annas, and the
rest of the chief priests, and doctors of the law, and rulers of the people,
would have been the first to believe in the Lord, agreeing as they did with
respect to that relationship; and even before them should have been Herod the
king. But since neither he, nor the chief priests, nor the rulers, nor the
eminent of the people, turned to Him [in faith], but, on the contrary, those
who sat begging by the highway, the deaf, and the blind, while He was rejected
and despised by others, according to what Paul declares, "For you see your
calling, brethren, that there are not many wise men among you, not many noble,
not many mighty; but those things of the world which were despised has God
chosen." Such souls, therefore, were not superior to others on account of
the seed deposited in them, nor on this account were they honoured by the
Demiurge.
8. As to the point, then, that their system is
weak and untenable as well as utterly chimerical, enough has been said. For it
is not needful, to use a common proverb, that one should drink up the ocean who
wishes to learn that its water is salt. But, just as in the case of a statue
which is made of clay, but colored on the outside that it may be thought to be
of gold, while it really is of clay, any one who takes out of it a small
particle, and thus laying it open reveals the clay, will set free those who seek
the truth from a false opinion; in the same way have I (by exposing not a small
part only, but the several heads of their system which are of the greatest
importance) shown to as many as do not wish wittingly to be led astray, what is
wicked, deceitful, seductive, and pernicious, connected with the school of the
Valentinians, and all those other heretics who promulgate wicked opinions
respecting the Demiurge, that is, the Fashioner and Former of this universe,
and who is in fact the only true God — exhibiting, [as I have done,] how easily
their views are overthrown.
9. For who that has any intelligence, and
possesses only a small proportion of truth, can tolerate them, when they affirm
that there is another god above the Creator; and that there is another Monogenes
as well as another Word of God, whom also they describe as having been produced
in [a state of] degeneracy; and another Christ, whom they assert to have been
formed, along with the Holy Spirit, later than the rest of the Æons; and
another Saviour, who, they say, did not proceed from the Father of all, but was
a kind of joint production of those Æons who were formed in [a state of]
degeneracy, and that He was produced of necessity on account of this very
degeneracy? It is thus their opinion that, unless the Æons had been in a state
of ignorance and degeneracy, neither Christ, nor the Holy Spirit, nor Horos,
nor the Saviour, nor the angels, nor their Mother, nor her seed, nor the rest
of the fabric of the world, would have been produced at all; but the universe
would have been a desert, and destitute of the many good things which exist in
it. They are therefore not only chargeable with impiety against the Creator,
declaring Him the fruit of a defect, but also against Christ and the Holy
Spirit, affirming that they were produced on account of that defect; and, in
like manner, that the Saviour [was produced] subsequently to [the existence of]
that defect. And who will tolerate the remainder of their vain talk, which they
cunningly endeavour to accommodate to the parables, and have in this way
plunged both themselves, and those who give credit to them, in the profoundest
depths of impiety?
Chapter 20
Futility of the arguments
adduced to demonstrate the sufferings of the twelfth Æon, from the parables,
the treachery of Judas, and the passion of our Saviour.
1. That they improperly and illogically apply both
the parables and the actions of the Lord to their falsely-devised system, I
prove as follows: They endeavour, for instance, to demonstrate that passion
which, they say, happened in the case of the twelfth Æon, from this fact, that
the passion of the Saviour was brought about by the twelfth apostle, and
happened in the twelfth month. For they hold that He preached [only] for one
year after His baptism. They maintain also that the same thing was clearly set
forth in the case of her who suffered from the issue of blood. For the woman
suffered during twelve years, and through touching the hem of the Saviour's
garment she was made whole by that power which went forth from the Saviour, and
which, they affirm, had a previous existence. For that Power who suffered was
stretching herself outwards and flowing into immensity, so that she was in
danger of being dissolved into the general substance [of the Æons]; but then,
touching the primary Tetrad, which is typified by the hem of the garment, she
was arrested, and ceased from her passion.
2. Then, again, as to their assertion that the
passion of the twelfth Æon was proved through the conduct of Judas, how is it
possible that Judas can be compared [with this Æon] as being an emblem of her —
he who was expelled from the number of the twelve, and never restored to his
place? For that Æon, whose type they declare Judas to be, after being separated
from her Enthymesis, was restored or recalled [to her former position]; but
Judas was deprived [of his office], and cast out, while Matthias was ordained
in his place, according to what is written, "And his bishopric let another
take." They ought therefore to maintain that the twelfth Æon was cast out
of the Pleroma, and that another was produced, or sent forth to fill her place;
if, that is to say, she is pointed at in Judas. Moreover, they tell us that it
was the Æon herself who suffered, but Judas was the betrayer, [and not the sufferer.]
Even they themselves acknowledge that it was the suffering Christ, and not
Judas, who came to [the endurance of] passion. How, then, could Judas, the
betrayer of Him who had to suffer for our salvation, be the type and image of
that Æon who suffered?
3. But, in truth, the passion of Christ was
neither similar to the passion of the Æon, nor did it take place in similar
circumstances. For the Æon underwent a passion of dissolution and destruction,
so that she who suffered was in danger also of being destroyed. But the Lord,
our Christ, underwent a valid, and not a merely accidental passion; not only
was He Himself not in danger of being destroyed, but He also established fallen
man by His own strength, and recalled him to incorruption. The Æon, again, underwent
passion while she was seeking after the Father, and was not able to find Him;
but the Lord suffered that He might bring those who have wandered from the
Father, back to knowledge and to His fellowship. The search into the greatness
of the Father became to her a passion leading to destruction; but the Lord,
having suffered, and bestowing the knowledge of the Father, conferred on us
salvation. Her passion, as they declare, gave origin to a female offspring,
weak, infirm, unformed, and ineffective; but His passion gave rise to strength
and power. For the Lord, through means of suffering, "ascending into the
lofty place, led captivity captive, gave gifts to men," and conferred on
those that believe in Him the power "to tread upon serpents and scorpions,
and on all the power of the enemy," that is, of the leader of apostasy.
Our Lord also by His passion destroyed death, and dispersed error, and put an
end to corruption, and destroyed ignorance, while He manifested life and
revealed truth, and bestowed the gift of incorruption. But their Æon, when she
had suffered, established ignorance, and brought forth a substance without
shape, out of which all material works have been produced — death, corruption,
error, and such like.
4. Judas, then, the twelfth in order of the
disciples, was not a type of the suffering Æon, nor, again, was the passion of
the Lord; for these two things have been shown to be in every respect mutually
dissimilar and inharmonious. This is the case not only as respects the points
which I have already mentioned, but with regard to the very number. For that
Judas the traitor is the twelfth in order, is agreed upon by all, there being
twelve apostles mentioned by name in the Gospel. But this Æon is not the twelfth,
but the thirtieth; for, according to the views under consideration, there were
not twelve Æons only produced by the will of the Father, nor was she sent forth
the twelfth in order: they reckon her, [on the contrary,] as having been
produced in the thirtieth place. How, then, can Judas, the twelfth in order, be
the type and image of that Æon who occupies the thirtieth place?
5. But if they say that Judas in perishing was the
image of her Enthymesis, neither in this way will the image bear any analogy to
that truth which [by hypothesis] corresponds to it. For the Enthymesis having
been separated from the Æon, and itself afterwards receiving a shape from
Christ, then being made a partaker of intelligence by the Saviour, and having
formed all things which are outside of the Pleroma, after the image of those
which are within the Pleroma, is said at last to have been received by them
into the Pleroma, and, according to [the principle of] conjunction, to have
been united to that Saviour who was formed out of all. But Judas having been
once for all cast away, never returns into the number of the disciples;
otherwise a different person would not have been chosen to fill his place.
Besides, the Lord also declared regarding him, "Woe to the man by whom the
Son of man shall be betrayed;" Matthew 26:24 and, "It were better for
him if he had never been born;" Mark 14:21 and he was called the "son
of perdition" John 17:12 by Him. If, however, they say that Judas was a
type of the Enthymesis, not as separated from the Æon, but of the passion
entwined with her, neither in this way can the number twelve be regarded as a
[fitting] type of the number three. For in the one case Judas was cast away,
and Matthias was ordained instead of him; but in the other case the Æon is said
to have been in danger of dissolution and destruction, and [there are also] her
Enthymesis and passion: for they markedly distinguish Enthymesis from the
passion; and they represent the Æon as being restored, and Enthymesis as
acquiring form, but the passion, when separated from these, as becoming matter.
Since, therefore, there are thus these three, the Æon, her Enthymesis, and her
passion, Judas and Matthias, being only two, cannot be the types of them.
Chapter 21
The twelve apostles were not a
type of the Æons.
1. If, again, they maintain that the twelve
apostles were a type only of that group of twelve Æons which Anthropos in
conjunction with Ecclesia produced, then let them produce ten other apostles as
a type of those ten remaining Æons, who, as they declare, were produced by
Logos and Zoe. For it is unreasonable to suppose that the junior, and for that
reason inferior Æons, were set forth by the Saviour through the election of the
apostles, while their seniors, and on this account their superiors, were not
thus foreshown; since the Saviour (if, that is to say, He chose the apostles
with this view, that by means of them He might show forth the Æons who are in
the Pleroma) might have chosen other ten apostles also, and likewise other
eight before these, that thus He might set forth the original and primary
Ogdoad. He could not, in regard to the second [Duo] Decad, show forth [any
emblem of it] through the number of the apostles being [already] constituted a
type. For [He made choice of no such other number of disciples; but] after the
twelve apostles, our Lord is found to have sent seventy others before Him. Luke
10:1 Now seventy cannot possibly be the type either of an Ogdoad, a Decad, or a
Triacontad. What is the reason, then, that the inferior Æons are, as I have
said, represented by means of the apostles; but the superior, from whom, too,
the former derived their being, are not prefigured at all? But if the twelve
apostles were chosen with this object, that the number of the twelve Æons might
be indicated by means of them, then the seventy also ought to have been chosen
to be the type of seventy Æons; and in that case, they must affirm that the
Æons are no longer thirty, but eighty-two in number. For He who made choice of
the apostles, that they might be a type of those Æons existing in the Pleroma,
would never have constituted them types of some and not of others; but by means
of the apostles He would have tried to preserve an image and to exhibit a type
of those Æons that exist in the Pleroma.
2. Moreover we must not keep silence respecting
Paul, but demand from them after the type of what Æon that apostle has been
handed down to us, unless perchance [they affirm that he is a representative]
of the Saviour compounded of them [all], who derived his being from the
collected gifts of the whole, and whom they term All Things, as having been
formed out of them all. Respecting this being the poet Hesiod has strikingly
expressed himself, styling him Pandora — that is, "The gift of all" —
for this reason, that the best gift in the possession of all was centred in
him. In describing these gifts the following account is given: Hermes (so he is
called in the Greek language), Αἱμυλίους τε λόγους καὶ ἐπίκλοπον ἦθος αὐτοὺς Κάτθετο
(or to express this in our own language), "implanted words of fraud and
deceit in their minds, and thievish habits," for the purpose of leading
foolish men astray, that such should believe their falsehoods. For their Mother
— that is, Leto — secretly stirred them up (whence also she is called Leto,
according to the meaning of the Greek word, because she secretly stirred up
men), without the knowledge of the Demiurge, to give forth profound and
unspeakable mysteries to itching ears. 2 Timothy 4:3 And not only did their
Mother bring it about that this mystery should be declared by Hesiod; but very
skilfully also by means of the lyric poet Pindar, when he describes to the
Demiurge the case of Pelops, whose flesh was cut in pieces by the Father, and
then collected and brought together, and compacted anew by all the gods, did
she in this way indicate Pandora and these men having their consciences seared
by her, declaring, as they maintain, the very same things, are [proved] of the
same family and spirit as the others.
Chapter 22
The thirty Æons are not typified
by the fact that Christ was baptized in His thirtieth year: He did not suffer
in the twelfth month after His baptism, but was more than fifty years old when
He died.
1. I have shown that the number thirty fails them
in every respect; too few Æons, as they represent them, being at one time found
within the Pleroma, and then again too many [to correspond with that number].
There are not, therefore, thirty Æons, nor did the Saviour come to be baptized
when He was thirty years old, for this reason, that He might show forth the
thirty silent Æons of their system, otherwise they must first of all separate
and eject [the Saviour] Himself from the Pleroma of all. Moreover, they affirm
that He suffered in the twelfth month, so that He continued to preach for one
year after His baptism; and they endeavour to establish this point out of the
prophet (for it is written, "To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
and the day of retribution" Isaiah 61:2), being truly blind, inasmuch as
they affirm they have found out the mysteries of Bythus, yet not understanding
that which is called by Isaiah the acceptable year of the Lord, nor the day of
retribution. For the prophet neither speaks concerning a day which includes the
space of twelve hours, nor of a year the length of which is twelve months. For
even they themselves acknowledge that the prophets have very often expressed
themselves in parables and allegories, and [are] not [to be understood]
according to the mere sound of the words.
2. That, then, was called the day of retribution
on which the Lord will render to every one according to his works — that is,
the judgment. The acceptable year of the Lord, again, is this present time, in
which those who believe Him are called by Him, and become acceptable to God —
that is, the whole time from His advent onwards to the consummation [of all
things], during which He acquires to Himself as fruits [of the scheme of mercy]
those who are saved. For, according to the phraseology of the prophet, the day
of retribution follows the [acceptable] year; and the prophet will be proved
guilty of falsehood if the Lord preached only for a year, and if he speaks of
it. For where is the day of retribution? For the year has passed, and the day
of retribution has not yet come; but He still "makes His sun to rise upon
the good and upon the evil, and sends rain upon the just and unjust."
Matthew 5:45 And the righteous suffer persecution, are afflicted, and are
slain, while sinners are possessed of abundance, and "drink with the sound
of the harp and psaltery, but do not regard the works of the Lord." Isaiah
5:12 But, according to the language [used by the prophet], they ought to be
combined, and the day of retribution to follow the [acceptable] year. For the
words are, "to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of
retribution." This present time, therefore, in which men are called and
saved by the Lord, is properly understood to be denoted by "the acceptable
year of the Lord;" and there follows on this "the day of retribution,"
that is, the judgment. And the time thus referred to is not called "a
year" only, but is also named "a day" both by the prophet and by
Paul, of whom the apostle, calling to mind the Scripture, says in the Epistle
addressed to the Romans, "As it is written, for your sake we are killed
all the day long, we are counted as sheep for the slaughter." Romans 8:36
But here the expression "all the day long" is put for all this time
during which we suffer persecution, and are killed as sheep. As then this day
does not signify one which consists of twelve hours, but the whole time during
which believers in Christ suffer and are put to death for His sake, so also the
year there mentioned does not denote one which consists of twelve months, but
the whole time of faith during which men hear and believe the preaching of the
Gospel, and those become acceptable to God who unite themselves to Him.
3. But it is greatly to be wondered at, how it has
come to pass that, while affirming that they have found out the mysteries of
God, they have not examined the Gospels to ascertain how often after His
baptism the Lord went up, at the time of the passover, to Jerusalem, in
accordance with what was the practice of the Jews from every land, and every
year, that they should assemble at this period in Jerusalem, and there
celebrate the feast of the passover. First of all, after He had made the water
wine at Cana of Galilee, He went up to the festival day of the passover, on
which occasion it is written, "For many believed in Him, when they saw the
signs which He did," John 2:23 as John the disciple of the Lord records.
Then, again, withdrawing Himself [from Judæa], He is found in Samaria; on which
occasion, too, He conversed with the Samaritan woman, and while at a distance,
cured the son of the centurion by a word, saying, "Go your way, your son
lives." John 4:50 Afterwards He went up, the second time, to observe the
festival day of the passover in Jerusalem; on which occasion He cured the
paralytic man, who had lain beside the pool thirty-eight years, bidding him
rise, take up his couch, and depart. Again, withdrawing from thence to the
other side of the sea of Tiberias, John 6:1, etc. He there seeing a great crowd
had followed Him, fed all that multitude with five loaves of bread, and twelve
baskets of fragments remained over and above. Then, when He had raised Lazarus
from the dead, and plots were formed against Him by the Pharisees, He withdrew
to a city called Ephraim; and from that place, as it is written "He came
to Bethany six days before the passover," John 11:54, John 12:1 and going
up from Bethany to Jerusalem, He there ate the passover, and suffered on the
day following. Now, that these three occasions of the passover are not included
within one year, every person whatever must acknowledge. And that the special
month in which the passover was celebrated, and in which also the Lord
suffered, was not the twelfth, but the first, those men who boast that they
know all things, if they know not this, may learn it from Moses. Their
explanation, therefore, both of the year and of the twelfth month has been
proved false, and they ought to reject either their explanation or the Gospel;
otherwise [this unanswerable question forces itself upon them], How is it
possible that the Lord preached for one year only?
4. Being thirty years old when He came to be
baptized, and then possessing the full age of a Master, He came to Jerusalem,
so that He might be properly acknowledged by all as a Master. For He did not
seem one thing while He was another, as those affirm who describe Him as being
man only in appearance; but what He was, that He also appeared to be. Being a
Master, therefore, He also possessed the age of a Master, not despising or
evading any condition of humanity, nor setting aside in Himself that law which
He had appointed for the human race, but sanctifying every age, by that period
corresponding to it which belonged to Himself. For He came to save all through
means of Himself — all, I say, who through Him are born again to God — infants,
and children, and boys, and youths, and old men. He therefore passed through
every age, becoming an infant for infants, thus sanctifying infants; a child
for children, thus sanctifying those who are of this age, being at the same
time made to them an example of piety, righteousness, and submission; a youth
for youths, becoming an example to youths, and thus sanctifying them for the
Lord. So likewise He was an old man for old men, that He might be a perfect
Master for all, not merely as respects the setting forth of the truth, but also
as regards age, sanctifying at the same time the aged also, and becoming an
example to them likewise. Then, at last, He came on to death itself, that He
might be "the first-born from the dead, that in all things He might have
the pre-eminence," Colossians 1:18 the Prince of life, Acts 3:15 existing
before all, and going before all.
5. They, however, that they may establish their
false opinion regarding that which is written, "to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord," maintain that He preached for one year only, and then
suffered in the twelfth month. [In speaking thus,] they are forgetful to their
own disadvantage, destroying His whole work, and robbing Him of that age which
is both more necessary and more honourable than any other; that more advanced
age, I mean, during which also as a teacher He excelled all others. For how
could He have had disciples, if He did not teach? And how could He have taught,
unless He had reached the age of a Master? For when He came to be baptized, He
had not yet completed His thirtieth year, but was beginning to be about thirty
years of age (for thus Luke, who has mentioned His years, has expressed it:
"Now Jesus was, as it were, beginning to be thirty years old," Luke
3:23 when He came to receive baptism); and, [according to these men,] He
preached only one year reckoning from His baptism. On completing His thirtieth
year He suffered, being in fact still a young man, and who had by no means
attained to advanced age. Now, that the first stage of early life embraces
thirty years, and that this extends onwards to the fortieth year, every one
will admit; but from the fortieth and fiftieth year a man begins to decline
towards old age, which our Lord possessed while He still fulfilled the office
of a Teacher, even as the Gospel and all the elders testify; those who were
conversant in Asia with John, the disciple of the Lord, [affirming] that John
conveyed to them that information. And he remained among them up to the times
of Trajan. Some of them, moreover, saw not only John, but the other apostles
also, and heard the very same account from them, and bear testimony as to the
[validity of] the statement. Whom then should we rather believe? Whether such
men as these, or Ptolemæus, who never saw the apostles, and who never even in
his dreams attained to the slightest trace of an apostle?
6. But, besides this, those very Jews who then
disputed with the Lord Jesus Christ have most clearly indicated the same thing.
For when the Lord said to them, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My
day; and he saw it, and was glad," they answered Him, "You are not
yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" John 8:56-57 Now, such
language is fittingly applied to one who has already passed the age of forty,
without having as yet reached his fiftieth year, yet is not far from this
latter period. But to one who is only thirty years old it would unquestionably
be said, "You are not yet forty years old." For those who wished to
convict Him of falsehood would certainly not extend the number of His years far
beyond the age which they saw He had attained; but they mentioned a period near
His real age, whether they had truly ascertained this out of the entry in the
public register, or simply made a conjecture from what they observed that He
was above forty years old, and that He certainly was not one of only thirty
years of age. For it is altogether unreasonable to suppose that they were
mistaken by twenty years, when they wished to prove Him younger than the times
of Abraham. For what they saw, that they also expressed; and He whom they
beheld was not a mere phantasm, but an actual being of flesh and blood. He did
not then want much of being fifty years old; and, in accordance with that fact,
they said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen
Abraham?" He did not therefore preach only for one year, nor did He suffer
in the twelfth month of the year. For the period included between the thirtieth
and the fiftieth year can never be regarded as one year, unless indeed, among
their Æons, there be so long years assigned to those who sit in their ranks
with Bythus in the Pleroma; of which beings Homer the poet, too, has spoken,
doubtless being inspired by the Mother of their [system of] error:—
Οἱ δὲ
θεοὶ πὰρ Ζηνὶ καθήμενοι ἠγορόωντο
Χρυσέῳ ἐν
δαπέδῳ:
which we may thus render:
"The gods sat round, while Jove presided o'er,
And
converse held upon the golden floor."
Chapter 23
The woman who suffered from an
issue of blood was no type of the suffering Æon.
1. Moreover, their ignorance comes out in a clear
light with respect to the case of that woman who, suffering from an issue of
blood, touched the hem of the Lord's garment, and so was made whole; for they
maintain that through her was shown forth that twelfth power who suffered
passion, and flowed out towards immensity, that is, the twelfth Æon. [This
ignorance of theirs appears] first, because, as I have shown, according to
their own system, that was not the twelfth Æon. But even granting them this
point [in the meantime], there being twelve Æons, eleven of these are said to
have continued impassible, while the twelfth suffered passion; but the woman,
on the other hand, being healed in the twelfth year, it is manifest that she
had continued to suffer during eleven years, and was healed in the twelfth. If
indeed they were to say that eleven Æons were involved in passion, but the
twelfth one was healed, it would then be a plausible thing to say that the
woman was a type of these. But since she suffered during eleven years, and [all
that time] obtained no cure, but was healed in the twelfth year, in what way
can she be a type of the twelfth of the Æons, eleven of whom, [according to
hypothesis,] did not suffer at all, but the twelfth alone participated in
suffering? For a type and emblem is, no doubt, sometimes diverse from the truth
[signified] as to matter and substance; but it ought, as to the general form
and features, to maintain a likeness [to what is typified], and in this way to
shadow forth by means of things present those which are yet to come.
2. And not only in the case of this woman have the
years of her infirmity (which they affirm to fit in with their figment) been
mentioned, but, lo! Another woman was also healed, after suffering in like
manner for eighteen years; concerning whom the Lord said, "And ought not
this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound during eighteen years, to be set
free on the Sabbath day?" Luke 13:16 If, then, the former was a type of
the twelfth Æon that suffered, the latter should also be a type of the
eighteenth Æon in suffering. But they cannot maintain this; otherwise their
primary and original Ogdoad will be included in the number of Æons who suffered
together. Moreover, there was also a certain other person John 5:5 healed by
the Lord, after he had suffered for eight-and-thirty years: they ought
therefore to affirm that the Æon who occupies the thirty-eighth place suffered.
For if they assert that the things which were done by the Lord were types of
what took place in the Pleroma, the type ought to be preserved throughout. But
they can neither adapt to their fictitious system the case of her who was cured
after eighteen years, nor of him who was cured after thirty-eight years. Now,
it is in every way absurd and inconsistent to declare that the Saviour
preserved the type in certain cases, while He did not do so in others. The type
of the woman, therefore, [with the issue of blood] is shown to have no analogy
to their system of Æons.
Chapter 24
Folly of the arguments derived
by the heretics from numbers, letters, and syllables.
1. This very thing, too, still further
demonstrates their opinion false, and their fictitious system untenable, that
they endeavour to bring forward proofs of it, sometimes through means of
numbers and the syllables of names, sometimes also through the letter of
syllables, and yet again through those numbers which are, according to the
practice followed by the Greeks, contained in [different] letters — [this, I
say,] demonstrates in the clearest manner their overthrow or confusion, as well
as the untenable and perverse character of their [professed] knowledge. For,
transferring the name Jesus, which belongs to another language, to the
numeration of the Greeks, they sometimes call it "Episemon," as
having six letters, and at other times "the Plenitude of the
Ogdoads," as containing the number eight hundred and eighty-eight. But His
[corresponding] Greek name, which is "Soter," that is, Saviour,
because it does not fit in with their system, either with respect to numerical
value or as regards its letters, they pass over in silence. Yet surely, if they
regard the names of the Lord, as, in accordance with the preconceived purpose
of the Father, by means of their numerical value and letters, indicating number
in the Pleroma, Soter, as being a Greek name, ought by means of its letters and
the numbers [expressed by these], in virtue of its being Greek, to show forth
the mystery of the Pleroma. But the case is not so, because it is a word of
five letters, and its numerical value is one thousand four hundred and eight.
But these things do not in any way correspond with their Pleroma; the account,
therefore, which they give of transactions in the Pleroma cannot be true.
2. Moreover, Jesus, which is a word belonging to
the proper tongue of the Hebrews, contains, as the learned among them declare,
two letters and a half, and signifies that Lord who contains heaven and earth;
for Jesus in the ancient Hebrew language means "heaven," while again
"earth" is expressed by the words sura usser. The word, therefore,
which contains heaven and earth is just Jesus. Their explanation, then, of the
Episemon is false, and their numerical calculation is also manifestly
overthrown. For, in their own language, Soter is a Greek word of five letters;
but, on the other hand, in the Hebrew tongue, Jesus contains only two letters
and a half. The total which they reckon up, viz., eight hundred and
eighty-eight, therefore falls to the ground. And throughout, the Hebrew letters
do not correspond in number with the Greek, although these especially, as being
the more ancient and unchanging, ought to uphold the reckoning connected with
the names. For these ancient, original, and generally called sacred letters of
the Hebrews are ten in number (but they are written by means of fifteen ), the
last letter being joined to the first. And thus they write some of these
letters according to their natural sequence, just as we do, but others in a
reverse direction, from the right hand towards the left, thus tracing the
letters backwards. The name Christ, too, ought to be capable of being reckoned
up in harmony with the Æons of their Pleroma, inasmuch as, according to their
statements, He was produced for the establishment and rectification of their
Pleroma. The Father, too, in the same way, ought, both by means of letters and
numerical value, to contain the number of those Æons who were produced by Him;
Bythus, in like manner, and not less Monogenes; but pre-eminently the name
which is above all others, by which God is called, and which in the Hebrew
tongue is expressed by Baruch, [a word] which also contains two and a half
letters. From this fact, therefore, that the more important names, both in the
Hebrew and Greek languages, do not conform to their system, either as respects
the number of letters or the reckoning brought out of them, the forced
character of their calculations respecting the rest becomes clearly manifest.
3. For, choosing out of the law whatever things
agree with the number adopted in their system, they thus violently strive to
obtain proofs of its validity. But if it was really the purpose of their
Mother, or the Saviour, to set forth, by means of the Demiurge, types of those
things which are in the Pleroma, they should have taken care that the types
were found in things more exactly correspondent and more holy; and, above all,
in the case of the Ark of the Covenant, on account of which the whole
tabernacle of witness was formed. Now it was constructed thus: its length
Exodus 25:10 was two cubits and a half, its breadth one cubit and a half, its
height one cubit and a half; but such a number of cubits in no respect
corresponds with their system, yet by it the type ought to have been, beyond
everything else, clearly set forth. The mercy-seat Exodus 25:17 also does in
like manner not at all harmonize with their expositions. Moreover, the table of
show-bread Exodus 25:23 was two cubits in length, while its height was a cubit
and a half. These stood before the holy of holies, and yet in them not a single
number is of such an amount as contains an indication of the Tetrad, or the
Ogdoad, or of the rest of their Pleroma. What of the candlestick, Exodus 25:31,
etc. too, which had seven branches and seven lamps? While, if these had been
made according to the type, it ought to have had eight branches and a like
number of lamps, after the type of the primary Ogdoad, which shines
pre-eminently among the Æons, and illuminates the whole Pleroma. They have
carefully enumerated the curtains Exodus 26:1 as being ten, declaring these a
type of the ten Æons; but they have forgotten to count the coverings of skin,
which were eleven Exodus 26:7 in number. Nor, again, have they measured the
size of these very curtains, each curtain Exodus 26:2 being eight-and-twenty
cubits in length. And they set forth the length of the pillars as being ten
cubits, with a reference to the Decad of Æons. "But the breadth of each
pillar was a cubit and a half;" Exodus 26:16 and this they do not explain,
any more than they do the entire number of the pillars or of their bars,
because that does not suit the argument. But what of the anointing oil, Exodus
26:26 which sanctified the whole tabernacle? Perhaps it escaped the notice of
the Saviour, or, while their Mother was sleeping, the Demiurge of himself gave
instructions as to its weight; and on this account it is out of harmony with
their Pleroma, consisting, Exodus 30:23, etc. as it did, of five hundred
shekels of myrrh, five hundred of cassia, two hundred and fifty of cinnamon,
two hundred and fifty of calamus, and oil in addition, so that it was composed
of five ingredients. The incense Exodus 30:34 also, in like manner, [was
compounded] of stacte, onycha, galbanum, mint, and frankincense, all which do
in no respect, either as to their mixture or weight, harmonize with their
argument. It is therefore unreasonable and altogether absurd [to maintain] that
the types were not preserved in the sublime and more imposing enactments of the
law; but in other points, when any number coincides with their assertions, to
affirm that it was a type of the things in the Pleroma; while [the truth is,
that] every number occurs with the utmost variety in the Scriptures, so that,
should any one desire it, he might form not only an Ogdoad, and a Decad, and a
Duodecad, but any sort of number from the Scriptures, and then maintain that
this was a type of the system of error devised by himself.
4. But that this point is true, that that number
which is called five, which agrees in no respect with their argument, and does
not harmonize with their system, nor is suitable for a typical manifestation of
the things in the Pleroma, [yet has a wide prevalence, ] will be proved as
follows from the Scriptures. Soter is a name of five letters; Pater, too,
contains five letters; Agape (love), too, consists of five letters; and our
Lord, after blessing the five loaves, fed with them five thousand men. Five
virgins Matthew 25:2, etc. were called wise by the Lord; and, in like manner,
five were styled foolish. Again, five men are said to have been with the Lord
when He obtained testimony Matthew 17:1 from the Father — namely, Peter, and
James, and John, and Moses, and Elias. The Lord also, as the fifth person, entered
into the apartment of the dead maiden, and raised her up again; for, says [the
Scripture], "He suffered no man to go in, save Peter and James, and the
father and mother of the maiden." Luke 8:51 The rich man in hell Luke
16:28 declared that he had five brothers, to whom he desired that one rising
from the dead should go. The pool from which the Lord commanded the paralytic
man to go into his house, had five porches. The very form of the cross, too,
has five extremities, two in length, two in breadth, and one in the middle, on
which [last] the person rests who is fixed by the nails. Each of our hands has
five fingers; we have also five senses; our internal organs may also be
reckoned as five, viz., the heart, the liver, the lungs, the spleen, and the kidneys.
Moreover, even the whole person may be divided into this number [of parts] —
the head, the breast, the belly, the thighs, and the feet. The human race
passes through five ages first infancy, then boyhood, then youth, then
maturity, and then old age. Moses delivered the law to the people in five
books. Each table which he received from God contained five commandments. The
veil covering Exodus 26:37 the holy of holies had five pillars. The altar of
burnt-offering also was five cubits in breadth. Five priests were chosen in the
wilderness — namely, Aaron, Exodus 28:1 Nadab, Abiud, Eleazar, Ithamar. The
ephod and the breastplate, and other sacerdotal vestments, were formed out of
five Exodus 28:5 materials; for they combined in themselves gold, and blue, and
purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. And there were five Joshua 10:17 kings of
the Amorites, whom Joshua the Son of Nun shut up in a cave, and directed the
people to trample upon their heads. Any one, in fact, might collect many
thousand other things of the same kind, both with respect to this number and
any other he chose to fix upon, either from the Scriptures, or from the works
of nature lying under his observation. But although such is the case, we do not
therefore affirm that there are five Æons above the Demiurge; nor do we
consecrate the Pentad, as if it were some divine thing; nor do we strive to
establish things that are untenable, nor ravings [such as they indulge in], by
means of that vain kind of labour; nor do we perversely force a creation well
adapted by God [for the ends intended to be served], to change itself into
types of things which have no real existence; nor do we seek to bring forward
impious and abominable doctrines, the detection and overthrow of which are easy
to all possessed of intelligence.
5. For who can concede to them that the year has
three hundred and sixty-five days only, in order that there may be twelve
months of thirty days each, after the type of the twelve Æons, when the type is
in fact altogether out of harmony [with the antitype]? For, in the one case,
each of the Æons is a thirtieth part of the entire Pleroma, while in the other
they declare that a month is the twelfth part of a year. If, indeed, the year
were divided into thirty parts, and the month into twelve, then a fitting type
might be regarded as having been found for their fictitious system. But, on the
contrary, as the case really stands, their Pleroma is divided into thirty
parts, and a portion of it into twelve; while again the whole year is divided
into twelve parts, and a certain portion of it into thirty. The Saviour
therefore acted unwisely in constituting the month a type of the entire
Pleroma, but the year a type only of that Duodecad which exists in the Pleroma;
for it was more fitting to divide the year into thirty parts, even as the whole
Pleroma is divided, but the month into twelve, just as the Æons are in their
Pleroma. Moreover, they divide the entire Pleroma into three portions — namely,
into an Ogdoad, a Decad, and a Duodecad. But our year is divided into four
parts, — namely, spring, summer, autumn, and winter. And again, not even do the
months, which they maintain to be a type of the Triacontad, consist precisely
of thirty days, but some have more and some less, inasmuch as five days remain
to them as an overplus. The day, too, does not always consist precisely of
twelve hours, but rises from nine to fifteen, and then falls again from fifteen
to nine. It cannot therefore be held that months of thirty days each were so
formed for the sake of [typifying] the Æons; for, in that case, they would have
consisted precisely of thirty days: nor, again, the days of these months, that
by means of twelve hours they might symbolize the twelve Æons; for, in that
case, they would always have consisted precisely of twelve hours.
6. But further, as to their calling material
substances "on the left hand," and maintaining that those things
which are thus on the left hand of necessity fall into corruption, while they
also affirm that the Saviour came to the lost sheep, in order to transfer it to
the right hand, that is, to the ninety and nine sheep which were in safety, and
perished not, but continued within the fold, yet were of the left hand, it
follows that they must acknowledge that the enjoyment of rest did not imply
salvation. And that which has not in like manner the same number, they will be
compelled to acknowledge as belonging to the left hand, that is, to corruption.
This Greek word Agape (love), then, according to the letters of the Greeks, by
means of which reckoning is carried on among them, having a numerical value of
ninety-three, is in like manner assigned to the place of rest on the left hand.
Aletheia (truth), too, having in like manner, according to the principle
indicated above, a numerical value of sixty-four, exists among material
substances. And thus, in fine, they will be compelled to acknowledge that all
those sacred names which do not reach a numerical value of one hundred, but
only contain the numbers summed by the left hand, are corruptible and material.
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