Chapter 13
The deceitful arts and nefarious
practices of Marcus.
1. But there is another among these heretics,
Marcus by name, who boasts himself as having improved upon his master. He is a
perfect adept in magical impostures, and by this means drawing away a great
number of men, and not a few women, he has induced them to join themselves to
him, as to one who is possessed of the greatest knowledge and perfection, and
who has received the highest power from the invisible and ineffable regions
above. Thus it appears as if he really were the precursor of Antichrist. For,
joining the buffooneries of Anaxilaus to the craftiness of the magi, as they
are called, he is regarded by his senseless and cracked-brain followers as
working miracles by these means.
2. Pretending to consecrate cups mixed with wine,
and protracting to great length the word of invocation, he contrives to give
them a purple and reddish color, so that Charis, who is one of those that are
superior to all things, should be thought to drop her own blood into that cup
through means of his invocation, and that thus those who are present should be
led to rejoice to taste of that cup, in order that, by so doing, the Charis,
who is set forth by this magician, may also flow into them. Again, handing
mixed cups to the women, he bids them consecrate these in his presence. When
this has been done, he himself produces another cup of much larger size than
that which the deluded woman has consecrated, and pouring from the smaller one
consecrated by the woman into that which has been brought forward by himself,
he at the same time pronounces these words: "May that Charis who is before
all things, and who transcends all knowledge and speech, fill your inner man,
and multiply in you her own knowledge, by sowing the grain of mustard seed in
you as in good soil." Repeating certain other like words, and thus goading
on the wretched woman [to madness], he then appears a worker of wonders when
the large cup is seen to have been filled out of the small one, so as even to
overflow by what has been obtained from it. By accomplishing several other
similar things, he has completely deceived many, and drawn them away after him.
3. It appears probable enough that this man
possesses a demon as his familiar spirit, by means of whom he seems able to
prophesy, and also enables as many as he counts worthy to be partakers of his
Charis themselves to prophesy. He devotes himself especially to women, and
those such as are well-bred, and elegantly attired, and of great wealth, whom
he frequently seeks to draw after him, by addressing them in such seductive
words as these: "I am eager to make you a partaker of my Charis, since the
Father of all does continually behold your angel before His face. Now the place
of your angel is among us: it behooves us to become one. Receive first from me
and by me [the gift of] Charis. Adorn yourself as a bride who is expecting her
bridegroom, that you may be what I am, and I what you are. Establish the germ
of light in your nuptial chamber. Receive from me a spouse, and become
receptive of him, while you are received by him. Behold Charis has descended
upon you; open your mouth and prophesy." On the woman replying, "I
have never at any time prophesied, nor do I know how to prophesy;" then
engaging, for the second time, in certain invocations, so as to astound his
deluded victim, he says to her, "Open your mouth, speak whatsoever occurs
to you, and you shall prophesy." She then, vainly puffed up and elated by
these words, and greatly excited in soul by the expectation that it is herself
who is to prophesy, her heart beating violently [from emotion], reaches the
requisite pitch of audacity, and idly as well as impudently utters some
nonsense as it happens to occur to her, such as might be expected from one
heated by an empty spirit. (Referring to this, one superior to me has observed,
that the soul is both audacious and impudent when heated with empty air.)
Henceforth she reckons herself a prophetess, and expresses her thanks to Marcus
for having imparted to her of his own Charis. She then makes the effort to
reward him, not only by the gift of her possessions (in which way he has
collected a very large fortune), but also by yielding up to him her person,
desiring in every way to be united to him, that she may become altogether one
with him.
4. But already some of the most faithful women,
possessed of the fear of God, and not being deceived (whom, nevertheless, he
did his best to seduce like the rest by bidding them prophesy), abhorring and
execrating him, have withdrawn from such a vile company of revellers. This they
have done, as being well aware that the gift of prophecy is not conferred on
men by Marcus, the magician, but that only those to whom God sends His grace
from above possess the divinely-bestowed power of prophesying; and then they
speak where and when God pleases, and not when Marcus orders them to do so. For
that which commands is greater and of higher authority than that which is
commanded, inasmuch as the former rules, while the latter is in a state of
subjection. If, then, Marcus, or any one else, does command — as these are
accustomed continually at their feasts to play at drawing lots, and [in
accordance with the lot] to command one another to prophesy, giving forth as
oracles what is in harmony with their own desires — it will follow that he who
commands is greater and of higher authority than the prophetic spirit, though
he is but a man, which is impossible. But such spirits as are commanded by
these men, and speak when they desire it, are earthly and weak, audacious and
impudent, sent forth by Satan for the seduction and perdition of those who do
not hold fast that well-compacted faith which they received at first through
the Church.
5. Moreover, that this Marcus compounds philters
and love-potions, in order to insult the persons of some of these women, if not
of all, those of them who have returned to the Church of God— a thing which
frequently occurs — have acknowledged, confessing, too, that they have been
defiled by him, and that they were filled with a burning passion towards him. A
sad example of this occurred in the case of a certain Asiatic, one of our
deacons, who had received him (Marcus) into his house. His wife, a woman of
remarkable beauty, fell a victim both in mind and body to this magician, and, for
a long time, travelled about with him. At last, when, with no small difficulty,
the brethren had converted her, she spent her whole time in the exercise of
public confession, weeping over and lamenting the defilement which she had
received from this magician.
6. Some of his disciples, too, addicting
themselves to the same practices, have deceived many silly women, and defiled
them. They proclaim themselves as being "perfect," so that no one can
be compared to them with respect to the immensity of their knowledge, nor even
were you to mention Paul or Peter, or any other of the apostles. They assert
that they themselves know more than all others, and that they alone have
imbibed the greatness of the knowledge of that power which is unspeakable. They
also maintain that they have attained to a height above all power, and that
therefore they are free in every respect to act as they please, having no one
to fear in anything. For they affirm, that because of the "Redemption"
it has come to pass that they can neither be apprehended, nor even seen by the
judge. But even if he should happen to lay hold upon them, then they might
simply repeat these words, while standing in his presence along with the
"Redemption:" "O you, who sits beside God, and the mystical,
eternal Sige, you through whom the angels (mightiness), who continually behold
the face of the Father, having you as their guide and introducer, do derive
their forms from above, which she in the greatness of her daring inspiring with
mind on account of the goodness of the Propator, produced us as their images,
having her mind then intent upon the things above, as in a dream — behold, the
judge is at hand, and the crier orders me to make my defense. But do you, as
being acquainted with the affairs of both, present the cause of both of us to
the judge, inasmuch as it is in reality but one cause." Now, as soon as
the Mother hears these words, she puts the Homeric helmet of Pluto upon them,
so that they may invisibly escape the judge. And then she immediately catches
them up, conducts them into the bridal chamber, and hands them over to their
consorts.
7. Such are the words and deeds by which, in our
own district of the Rhone, they have deluded many women, who have their consciences
seared as with a hot iron. 2 Timothy 3:6 Some of them, indeed, make a public
confession of their sins; but others of them are ashamed to do this, and in a
tacit kind of way, despairing of [attaining to] the life of God, have, some of
them, apostatized altogether; while others hesitate between the two courses,
and incur that which is implied in the proverb, "neither without nor
within;" possessing this as the fruit from the seed of the children of
knowledge.
Chapter 14
The various hypotheses of Marcus
and others. Theories respecting letters and syllables.
1. This Marcus then, declaring that he alone was
the matrix and receptacle of the Sige of Colorbasus, inasmuch as he was
only-begotten, has brought to the birth in some such way as follows that which
was committed to him of the defective Enthymesis. He declares that the
infinitely exalted Tetrad descended upon him from the invisible and
indescribable places in the form of a woman (for the world could not have borne
it coming in its male form), and expounded to him alone its own nature, and the
origin of all things, which it had never before revealed to any one either of
gods or men. This was done in the following terms: When first the unoriginated,
inconceivable Father, who is without material substance, and is neither male
nor female, willed to bring forth that which is ineffable to Him, and to endow
with form that which is invisible, He opened His mouth, and sent forth the Word
similar to Himself, who, standing near, showed Him what He Himself was,
inasmuch as He had been manifested in the form of that which was invisible.
Moreover, the pronunciation of His name took place as follows:— He spoke the
first word of it, which was the beginning [of all the rest], and that utterance
consisted of four letters. He added the second, and this also consisted of four
letters. Next He uttered the third, and this again embraced ten letters.
Finally, He pronounced the fourth, which was composed of twelve letters. Thus
took place the enunciation of the whole name, consisting of thirty letters, and
four distinct utterances. Each of these elements has its own peculiar letters,
and character, and pronunciation, and forms, and images, and there is not one
of them that perceives the shape of that [utterance] of which it is an element.
Neither does any one know itself, nor is it acquainted with the pronunciation
of its neighbour, but each one imagines that by its own utterance it does in
fact name the whole. For while every one of them is a part of the whole, it
imagines its own sound to be the whole name, and does not leave off sounding
until, by its own utterance, it has reached the last letter of each of the
elements. This teacher declares that the restitution of all things will take
place, when all these, mixing into one letter, shall utter one and the same
sound. He imagines that the emblem of this utterance is found in Amen, which we
pronounce in concert. 1 Corinthians 14:16. The diverse sounds (he adds) are
those which give form to that Æon who is without material substance and
unbegotten, and these, again, are the forms which the Lord has called angels,
who continually behold the face of the Father. Matthew 18:10
2. Those names of the elements which may be told,
and are common, he has called Æons, and words, and roots, and seeds, and
fulnesses, and fruits. He asserts that each of these, and all that is peculiar
to every one of them, is to be understood as contained in the name Ecclesia. Of
these elements, the last letter of the last one uttered its voice, and this
sound going forth generated its own elements after the image of the [other]
elements, by which he affirms, that both the things here below were arranged
into the order they occupy, and those that preceded them were called into
existence. He also maintains that the letter itself, the sound of which
followed that sound below, was received up again by the syllable to which it
belonged, in order to the completion of the whole, but that the sound remained
below as if cast outside. But the element itself from which the letter with its
special pronunciation descended to that below, he affirms to consist of thirty
letters, while each of these letters, again, contains other letters in itself,
by means of which the name of the letter is expressed. And thus, again, others
are named by other letters, and others still by others, so that the multitude
of letters swells out into infinitude. You may more clearly understand what I
mean by the following example:— The word Delta contains five letters, viz., D,
E, L, T, A: these letters again, are written by other letters, and others still
by others. If, then, the entire composition of the word Delta [when thus
analyzed] runs out into infinitude, letters continually generating other
letters, and following one another in constant succession, how much vaster than
that [one] word is the [entire] ocean of letters! And if even one letter be
thus infinite, just consider the immensity of the letters in the entire name;
out of which the Sige of Marcus has taught us the Propator is composed. For which
reason the Father, knowing the incomprehensibleness of His own nature, assigned
to the elements which He also terms Æons, [the power] of each one uttering its
own enunciation, because no one of them was capable by itself of uttering the
whole.
3. Moreover, the Tetrad, explaining these things
to him more fully, said:— I wish to show you Aletheia (Truth) herself; for I
have brought her down from the dwellings above, that you may see her without a
veil, and understand her beauty — that you may also hear her speaking, and
admire her wisdom. Behold, then, her head on high, Alpha and Omega; her neck,
Beta and Psi; her shoulders with her hands, Gamma and Chi; her breast, Delta
and Phi; her diaphragm, Epsilon and Upsilon; her back, Zeta and Tau; her belly,
Eta and Sigma; her thighs, Theta and Rho; her knees, Iota and Pi; her legs,
Kappa and Omicron; her ankles, Lambda and Xi; her feet, Mu and Nu. Such is the
body of Truth, according to this magician, such the figure of the element, such
the character of the letter. And he calls this element Anthropos (Man), and
says that is the fountain of all speech, and the beginning of all sound, and
the expression of all that is unspeakable, and the mouth of the silent Sige.
This indeed is the body of Truth. But do you, elevating the thoughts of your
mind on high, listen from the mouth of Truth to the self-begotten Word, who is
also the dispenser of the bounty of the Father.
4. When she (the Tetrad) had spoken these things,
Aletheia looked at him, opened her mouth, and uttered a word. That word was a
name, and the name was this one which we do know and speak of, viz., Christ
Jesus. When she had uttered this name, she at once relapsed into silence. And
as Marcus waited in the expectation that she would say something more, the
Tetrad again came forward and said:— You have reckoned as contemptible that
word which you have heard from the mouth of Aletheia. This which you know and seem
to possess, is not an ancient name. For you possess the sound of it merely,
while you are ignorant of its power. For Jesus (᾿Ιησοῦς) is a name
arithmetically symbolic, consisting of six letters, and is known by all those
that belong to the called. But that which is among the Æons of the Pleroma
consists of many parts, and is of another form and shape, and is known by those
[angels] who are joined in affinity with Him, and whose figures (mightinesses)
are always present with Him.
5. Know, then, that the four-and-twenty letters
which you possess are symbolic emanations of the three powers that contain the
entire number of the elements above. For you are to reckon thus — that the nine
mute letters are [the images] of Pater and Aletheia, because they are without
voice, that is, of such a nature as cannot be uttered or pronounced. But the
semi-vowels represent Logos and Zoe, because they are, as it were, midway
between the consonants and the vowels, partaking of the nature of both. The
vowels, again, are representative of Anthropos and Ecclesia, inasmuch as a
voice proceeding from Anthropos gave being to them all; for the sound of the
voice imparted to them form. Thus, then, Logos and Zoe possess eight [of these
letters]; Anthropos and Ecclesia seven; and Pater and Aletheia nine. But since
the number allotted to each was unequal, He who existed in the Father came
down, having been specially sent by Him from whom He was separated, for the
rectification of what had taken place, that the unity of the Pleromas, being
endowed with equality, might develop in all that one power which flows from
all. Thus that division which had only seven letters, received the power of
eight, and the three sets were rendered alike in point of number, all becoming
Ogdoads; which three, when brought together, constitute the number
four-and-twenty. The three elements, too (which he declares to exist in
conjunction with three powers, and thus form the six from which have flowed the
twenty-four letters), being quadrupled by the word of the ineffable Tetrad,
give rise to the same number with them; and these elements he maintains to
belong to Him who cannot be named. These, again, were endowed by the three
powers with a resemblance to Him who is invisible. And he says that those
letters which we call double are the images of the images of these elements;
and if these be added to the four-and-twenty letters, by the force of analogy
they form the number thirty.
6. He asserts that the fruit of this arrangement
and analogy has been manifested in the likeness of an image, namely, Him who,
after six days, ascended Matthew 17:7; Mark 9:2 into the mountain along with
three others, and then became one of six (the sixth), in which character He
descended and was contained in the Hebdomad, since He was the illustrious
Ogdoad, and contained in Himself the entire number of the elements, which the
descent of the dove (who is Alpha and Omega) made clearly manifest, when He
came to be baptized; for the number of the dove is eight hundred and one. And
for this reason did Moses declare that man was formed on the sixth day; and
then, again, according to arrangement, it was on the sixth day, which is the
preparation, that the last man appeared, for the regeneration of the first. Of
this arrangement, both the beginning and the end were formed at that sixth
hour, at which He was nailed to the tree. For that perfect being Nous, knowing
that the number six had the power both of formation and regeneration, declared
to the children of light, that regeneration which has been wrought out by Him
who appeared as the Episemon in regard to that number. Whence also he declares
it is that the double letters contain the Episemon number; for this Episemon,
when joined to the twenty-four elements, completed the name of thirty letters.
7. He employed as his instrument, as the Sige of
Marcus declares, the power of seven letters, in order that the fruit of the
independent will [of Achamoth] might be revealed. "Consider this present
Episemon," she says — "Him who was formed after the [original]
Episemon, as being, as it were, divided or cut into two parts, and remaining
outside; who, by His own power and wisdom, through means of that which had been
produced by Himself, gave life to this world, consisting of seven powers, after
the likeness of the power of the Hebdomad, and so formed it, that it is the
soul of everything visible. And He indeed uses this work Himself as if it had
been formed by His own free will; but the rest, as being images of what cannot
be [fully] imitated, are subservient to the Enthymesis of the mother. And the
first heaven indeed pronounces Alpha, the next to this Epsilon, the third Eta,
the fourth, which is also in the midst of the seven, utters the sound of Iota,
the fifth Omicron, the sixth Upsilon, the seventh, which is also the fourth
from the middle, utters the elegant Omega,"— as the Sige of Marcus,
talking a deal of nonsense, but uttering no word of truth, confidently asserts.
"And these powers," she adds, "being all simultaneously clasped
in each other's embrace, do sound out the glory of Him by whom they were
produced; and the glory of that sound is transmitted upwards to the
Propator." She asserts, moreover, that "the sound of this uttering of
praise, having been wafted to the earth, has become the Framer and the Parent
of those things which are on the earth."
8. He instances, in proof of this, the case of
infants who have just been born, the cry of whom, as soon as they have issued
from the womb, is in accordance with the sound of every one of these elements.
As, then, he says, the seven powers glorify the Word, so also does the
complaining soul of infants. For this reason, too, David said: "Out of the
mouth of babes and sucklings You have perfected praise;" and again:
"The heavens declare the glory of God." Hence also it comes to pass,
that when the soul is involved in difficulties and distresses, for its own
relief it calls out, "Oh" (Ω), in honour of the letter in question,
so that its cognate soul above may recognise [its distress], and send down to
it relief.
9. Thus it is, that in regard to the whole name,
which consists of thirty letters, and Bythus, who receives his increase from
the letters of this [name], and, moreover, the body of Aletheia, which is
composed of twelve members, each of which consists of two letters, and the
voice which she uttered without having spoken at all, and in regard to the
analysis of that name which cannot be expressed in words, and the soul of the
world and of man, according as they possess that arrangement, which is after
the image [of things above], he has uttered his nonsensical opinions. It
remains that I relate how the Tetrad showed him from the names a power equal in
number; so that nothing, my friend, which I have received as spoken by him, may
remain unknown to you; and thus your request, often proposed to me, may be
fulfilled.
Chapter 15
Sige relates to Marcus the
generation of the twenty-four elements and of Jesus. Exposure of these
absurdities.
1. The all-wise Sige then announced the production
of the four-and-twenty elements to him as follows:— Along with Monotes there
coexisted Henotes, from which sprang two productions, as we have remarked
above, Monas and Hen, which, added to the other two, make four, for twice two
are four. And again, two and four, when added together, exhibit the number six.
And further, these six being quadrupled, give rise to the twenty-four forms.
And the names of the first Tetrad, which are understood to be most holy, and
not capable of being expressed in words, are known by the Son alone, while the
father also knows what they are. The other names which are to be uttered with
respect, and faith, and reverence, are, according to him, Arrhetos and Sige,
Pater and Aletheia. Now the entire number of this Tetrad amounts to
four-and-twenty letters; for the name Arrhetos contains in itself seven
letters, Seige five, Pater five, and Aletheia seven. If all these be added
together — twice five, and twice seven — they complete the number twenty-four.
In like manner, also, the second Tetrad, Logos and Zoe, Anthropos and Ecclesia,
reveal the same number of elements. Moreover, that name of the Saviour which
may be pronounced, viz., Jesus [᾿Ιησοῦς], consists of six letters, but His
unutterable name comprises four-and-twenty letters. The name Christ the Son (υἱὸς
Χρειστός) comprises twelve letters, but that which is unpronounceable in Christ
contains thirty letters. And for this reason he declares that He is Alpha and
Omega, that he may indicate the dove, inasmuch as that bird has this number [in
its name].
2. But Jesus, he affirms, has the following
unspeakable origin. From the mother of all things, that is, the first Tetrad,
there came forth the second Tetrad, after the manner of a daughter; and thus an
Ogdoad was formed, from which, again, a Decad proceeded: thus was produced a
Decad and an Ogdoad. The Decad, then, being joined with the Ogdoad, and
multiplying it ten times, gave rise to the number eighty; and, again,
multiplying eighty ten times, produced the number eight hundred. Thus, then,
the whole number of the letters proceeding from the Ogdoad [multiplied] into
the Decad, is eight hundred and eighty-eight. This is the name of Jesus; for
this name, if you reckon up the numerical value of the letters, amounts to
eight hundred and eighty-eight. Thus, then, you have a clear statement of their
opinion as to the origin of the supercelestial Jesus. Wherefore, also, the
alphabet of the Greeks contains eight Monads, eight Decads, and eight Hecatads
, which present the number eight hundred and eighty-eight, that is, Jesus, who
is formed of all numbers; and on this account He is called Alpha and Omega,
indicating His origin from all. And, again, they put the matter thus: If the
first Tetrad be added up according to the progression of number, the number ten
appears. For one, and two, and three, and four, when added together, form ten;
and this, as they will have it, is Jesus. Moreover, Chreistus, he says, being a
word of eight letters, indicates the first Ogdoad, and this, when multiplied by
ten, gives birth to Jesus (888). And Christ the Son, he says, is also spoken
of, that is, the Duodecad. For the name Son, (υἰός) contains four letters, and
Christ (Chreistus) eight, which, being combined, point out the greatness of the
Duodecad. But, he alleges, before the Episemon of this name appeared, that is
Jesus the Son, mankind were involved in great ignorance and error. But when
this name of six letters was manifested (the person bearing it clothing Himself
in flesh, that He might come under the apprehension of man's senses, and having
in Himself these six and twenty-four letters), then, becoming acquainted with
Him, they ceased from their ignorance, and passed from death unto life, this
name serving as their guide to the Father of truth. For the Father of all had
resolved to put an end to ignorance, and to destroy death. But this abolishing
of ignorance was just the knowledge of Him. And therefore that man (Anthropos)
was chosen according to His will, having been formed after the image of the [corresponding]
power above.
3. As to the Æons, they proceeded from the Tetrad,
and in that Tetrad were Anthropos and Ecclesia, Logos and Zoe. The powers,
then, he declares, who emanated from these, generated that Jesus who appeared
upon the earth. The angel Gabriel took the place of Logos, the Holy Spirit that
of Zoe, the Power of the Highest that of Anthropos, while the Virgin pointed
out the place of Ecclesia. And thus, by a special dispensation, there was
generated by Him, through Mary, that man, whom, as He passed through the womb,
the Father of all chose to [obtain] the knowledge of Himself by means of the
Word. And on His coming to the water [of baptism], there descended on Him, in
the form of a dove, that Being who had formerly ascended on high, and completed
the twelfth number, in whom there existed the seed of those who were produced
contemporaneously with Himself, and who descended and ascended along with Him.
Moreover, he maintains that power which descended was the seed of the Father,
which had in itself both the Father and the Son, as well as that power of Sige
which is known by means of them, but cannot be expressed in language, and also
all the Æons. And this was that Spirit who spoke by the mouth of Jesus, and who
confessed that He was the son of Man as well as revealed the Father, and who,
having descended into Jesus, was made one with Him. And he says that the
Saviour formed by special dispensation did indeed destroy death, but that
Christ made known the Father. He maintains, therefore, that Jesus is the name
of that man formed by a special dispensation, and that He was formed after the
likeness and form of that [heavenly] Anthropos, who was about to descend upon
Him. After He had received that Æon, He possessed Anthropos himself, and Logos
himself, and Pater, and Arrhetus, and Sige, and Aletheia, and Ecclesia, and
Zoe.
4. Such ravings, we may now well say, go beyond
Iu, Iu, Pheu, Pheu, and every kind of tragic exclamation or utterance of
misery. For who would not detest one who is the wretched contriver of such
audacious falsehoods, when he perceives the truth turned by Marcus into a mere
image, and that punctured all over with the letters of the alphabet? The Greeks
confess that they first received sixteen letters from Cadmus, and that but recently,
as compared with the beginning, [the vast antiquity of which is implied] in the
common proverb: "Yesterday and before;" and afterwards, in the course
of time, they themselves invented at one period the aspirates, and at another
the double letters, while, last of all, they say Palamedes added the long
letters to the former. Was it so, then, that until these things took place
among the Greeks, truth had no existence? For, according to you, Marcus, the
body of truth is posterior to Cadmus and those who preceded him — posterior
also to those who added the rest of the letters — posterior even to yourself!
For you alone have formed that which is called by you the truth into an
[outward, visible] image.
5. But who will tolerate your nonsensical Sige,
who names Him that cannot be named, and expounds the nature of Him that is
unspeakable, and searches out Him that is unsearchable, and declares that He
whom you maintain to be destitute of body and form, opened His mouth and sent
forth the Word, as if He were included among organized beings; and that His
Word, while like to His Author, and bearing the image of the invisible,
nevertheless consisted of thirty elements and four syllables? It will follow,
then, according to your theory, that the Father of all, in accordance with the
likeness of the Word, consists of thirty elements and four syllables! Or,
again, who will tolerate you in your juggling with forms and numbers — at one
time thirty, at another twenty-four, and at another, again, only six — while
you shut up [in these] the Word of God, the Founder, and Framer, and Maker of
all things; and then, again, cutting Him up piecemeal into four syllables and
thirty elements; and bringing down the Lord of all who founded the heavens to
the number eight hundred and eighty-eight, so that He should be similar to the
alphabet; and subdividing the Father, who cannot be contained, but contains all
things, into a Tetrad, and an Ogdoad, and a Decad, and a Duodecad; and by such
multiplications, setting forth the unspeakable and inconceivable nature of the
Father, as you yourself declare it to be? And showing yourself a very Dædalus
for evil invention, and the wicked architect of the supreme power, you
construct a nature and substance for Him whom you call incorporeal and immaterial,
out of a multitude of letters, generated the one by the other. And that power
whom you affirm to be indivisible, you nevertheless divide into consonants, and
vowels, and semi-vowels; and, falsely ascribing those letters which are mute to
the Father of all things, and to His Ennœa (thought), you have driven on all
that place confidence in you to the highest point of blasphemy, and to the
grossest impiety.
6. With good reason, therefore, and very
fittingly, in reference to your rash attempt, has that divine elder and
preacher of the truth burst forth in verse against you as follows:—
"Marcus, you former of idols, inspector of portents,
Skill'd
in consulting the stars, and deep in the black arts of magic,
Ever by
tricks such as these confirming the doctrines of error,
Furnishing signs unto those involved by you in deception,
Wonders
of power that is utterly severed from God and apostate,
Which
Satan, your true father, enables you still to accomplish,
By means
of Azazel, that fallen and yet mighty angel —
Thus
making you the precursor of his own impious actions."
Such are the words of the saintly elder. And I
shall endeavour to state the remainder of their mystical system, which runs out
to great length, in brief compass, and to bring to the light what has for a
long time been concealed. For in this way such things will become easily
susceptible of exposure by all.
Chapter 16
Absurd interpretations of the
Marcosians.
1. Blending in one the production of their own
Æons, and the straying and recovery of the sheep [spoken of in the Gospel Luke
15:4], these persons endeavour to set forth things in a more mystical style,
while they refer everything to numbers, maintaining that the universe has been
formed out of a Monad and a Dyad. And then, reckoning from unity on to four,
they thus generate the Decad. For when one, two, three, and four are added
together, they give rise to the number of the ten Æons. And, again, the Dyad
advancing from itself [by twos] up to six — two, and four, and six — brings out
the Duodecad. Once more, if we reckon in the same way up to ten, the number
thirty appears, in which are found eight, and ten, and twelve. They therefore
term the Duodecad — because it contains the Episemon, and because the Episemon
[so to speak] waits upon it — the passion. And for this reason, because an
error occurred in connection with the twelfth number, the sheep frisked off,
and went astray; for they assert that a defection took place from the Duodecad.
In the same way they oracularly declare, that one power having departed also
from the Duodecad, has perished; and this was represented by the woman who lost
the drachma, Luke 15:8 and, lighting a lamp, again found it. Thus, therefore,
the numbers that were left, viz., nine, as respects the pieces of money, and
eleven in regard to the sheep, when multiplied together, give birth to the
number ninety-nine, for nine times eleven are ninety-nine. Wherefore also they
maintain the word "Amen" contains this number.
2. I will not, however, weary you by recounting
their other interpretations, that you may perceive the results everywhere. They
maintain for instance, that the letter Eta (η) along with the Episemon (ς)
constitutes an Ogdoad, inasmuch as it occupies the eighth place from the first
letter. Then, again, without the Episemon, reckoning the number of the letters,
and adding them up till we come to Eta, they bring out the Triacontad. For if
one begins at Alpha and ends with Eta, omitting the Episemon, and adds together
the value of the letters in succession, he will find their number altogether to
amount to thirty. For up to Epsilon (ε) fifteen are formed; then adding seven
to that number, the sum of twenty-two is reached. Next, Eta being added to these,
since its value is eight, the most wonderful Triacontad is completed. And hence
they give forth that the Ogdoad is the mother of the thirty Æons. Since,
therefore, the number thirty is composed of three powers [the Ogdoad, Decad,
and Duodecad], when multiplied by three, it produces ninety, for three times
thirty are ninety. Likewise this Triad, when multiplied by itself, gives rise
to nine. Thus the Ogdoad generates, by these means, ninety-nine. And since the
twelfth Æon, by her defection, left eleven in the heights above, they maintain
that therefore the position of the letters is a true coordinate of the method
of their calculation (for Lambda is the eleventh in order among the letters,
and represents the number thirty), and also forms a representation of the
arrangement of affairs above, since, on from Alpha, omitting Episemon, the
number of the letters up to Lambda, when added together according to the
successive value of the letters, and including Lambda itself, forms the sum of
ninety-nine; but that this Lambda, being the eleventh in order, descended to
seek after one equal to itself, so as to complete the number of twelve letters,
and when it found such a one, the number was completed, is manifest from the
very configuration of the letter; for Lambda being engaged, as it were, in the
quest of one similar to itself, and finding such an one, and clasping it to
itself, thus filled up the place of the twelfth, the letter Mu (Μ) being
composed of two Lambdas (ΛΛ). Wherefore also they, by means of their "knowledge,"
avoid the place of ninety-nine, that is, the defection — a type of the left
hand, — but endeavour to secure one more, which, when added to the ninety and
nine, has the effect of changing their reckoning to the right hand.
3. I well know, my dear friend, that when you have
read through all this, you will indulge in a hearty laugh over this their
inflated wise folly! But those men are really worthy of being mourned over, who
promulgate such a kind of religion, and who so frigidly and perversely pull to
pieces the greatness of the truly unspeakable power, and the dispensations of
God in themselves so striking, by means of Alpha and Beta, and through the aid
of numbers. But as many as separate from the Church, and give heed to such old
wives' fables as these, are truly self-condemned; and these men Paul commands
us, "after a first and second admonition, to avoid." Titus 3:10 And
John, the disciple of the Lord, has intensified their condemnation, when he
desires us not even to address to them the salutation of
"good-speed;" for, says he, "He that bids them be of good-speed
is a partaker with their evil deeds;" and that with reason, "for
there is no good-speed to the ungodly," Isaiah 48:22 says the Lord.
Impious indeed, beyond all impiety, are these men, who assert that the Maker of
heaven and earth, the only God Almighty, besides whom there is no God, was
produced by means of a defect, which itself sprang from another defect, so
that, according to them, He was the product of the third defect. Such an opinion
we should detest and execrate, while we ought everywhere to flee far apart from
those that hold it; and in proportion as they vehemently maintain and rejoice
in their fictitious doctrines, so much the more should we be convinced that
they are under the influence of the wicked spirits of the Ogdoad — just as
those persons who fall into a fit of frenzy, the more they laugh, and imagine
themselves to be well, and do all things as if they were in good health [both
of body and mind], yea, some things better than those who really are so, are
only thus shown to be the more seriously diseased. In like manner do these men,
the more they seem to excel others in wisdom, and waste their strength by
drawing the bow too tightly, the greater fools do they show themselves. For
when the unclean spirit of folly has gone forth, and when afterwards he finds
them not waiting upon God, but occupied with mere worldly questions, then,
"taking seven other spirits more wicked than himself," Matthew 12:43
and inflating the minds of these men with the notion of their being able to
conceive of something beyond God, and having fitly prepared them for the
reception of deceit, he implants within them the Ogdoad of the foolish spirits
of wickedness.
Chapter 17
The theory of the Marcosians,
that created things were made after the image of things invisible.
1. I wish also to explain to you their theory as
to the way in which the creation itself was formed through the mother by the
Demiurge (as it were without his knowledge), after the image of things
invisible. They maintain, then, that first of all the four elements, fire,
water, earth, and air, were produced after the image of the primary Tetrad
above, and that then, we add their operations, viz., heat, cold, dryness, and
humidity, an exact likeness of the Ogdoad is presented. They next reckon up ten
powers in the following manner:— There are seven globular bodies, which they
also call heavens; then that globular body which contains these, which also
they name the eighth heaven; and, in addition to these, the sun and moon.
These, being ten in number, they declare to be types of the invisible Decad,
which proceeded from Logos and Zoe. As to the Duodecad, it is indicated by the
zodiacal circle, as it is called; for they affirm that the twelve signs do most
manifestly shadow forth the Duodecad, the daughter of Anthropos and Ecclesia.
And since the highest heaven, beating upon the very sphere [of the seventh
heaven], has been linked with the most rapid precession of the whole system, as
a check, and balancing that system with its own gravity, so that it completes
the cycle from sign to sign in thirty years — they say that this is an image of
Horus, encircling their thirty-named mother. And then, again, as the moon
travels through her allotted space of heaven in thirty days, they hold, that by
these days she expresses the number of the thirty Æons. The sun also, who runs
through his orbit in twelve months, and then returns to the same point in the
circle, makes the Duodecad manifest by these twelve months; and the days, as
being measured by twelve hours, are a type of the invisible Duodecad. Moreover,
they declare that the hour, which is the twelfth part of the day, is composed
of thirty parts, in order to set forth the image of the Triacontad. Also the
circumference of the zodiacal circle itself contains three hundred and sixty
degrees (for each of its signs comprises thirty); and thus also they affirm,
that by means of this circle an image is preserved of that connection which
exists between the twelve and the thirty. Still further, asserting that the
earth is divided into twelve zones, and that in each zone it receives power
from the heavens, according to the perpendicular [position of the sun above
it], bringing forth productions corresponding to that power which sends down
its influence upon it, they maintain that this is a most evident type of the
Duodecad and its offspring.
2. In addition to these things, they declare that
the Demiurge, desiring to imitate the infinitude, and eternity, and immensity,
and freedom from all measurement by time of the Ogdoad above, but, as he was
the fruit of defect, being unable to express its permanence and eternity, had
recourse to the expedient of spreading out its eternity into times, and
seasons, and vast numbers of years, imagining, that by the multitude of such
times he might imitate its immensity. They declare further, that the truth having
escaped him, he followed that which was false, and that, for this reason, when
the times are fulfilled, his work shall perish.
Chapter 18
Passages from Moses, which the
heretics pervert to the support of their hypothesis.
1. And while they affirm such things as these
concerning the creation, every one of them generates something new, day by day,
according to his ability; for no one is deemed "perfect," who does
not develop among them some mighty fictions. It is thus necessary, first, to
indicate what things they metamorphose [to their own use] out of the
prophetical writings, and next, to refute them. Moses, then, they declare, by
his mode of beginning the account of the creation, has at the commencement
pointed out the mother of all things when he says, "In the beginning God
created the heaven and the earth;" Genesis 1:1 for, as they maintain, by
naming these four —God, beginning, heaven, and earth — he set forth their
Tetrad. Indicating also its invisible and hidden nature, he said, "Now the
earth was invisible and unformed." Genesis 1:2 They will have it,
moreover, that he spoke of the second Tetrad, the offspring of the first, in
this way — by naming an abyss and darkness, in which were also water, and the
Spirit moving upon the water. Then, proceeding to mention the Decad, he names
light, day, night, the firmament, the evening, the morning, dry land, sea,
plants, and, in the tenth place, trees. Thus, by means of these ten names, he
indicated the ten Æons. The power of the Duodecad, again, was shadowed forth by
him thus:— He names the sun, moon, stars, seasons, years, whales, fishes,
reptiles, birds, quadrupeds, wild beasts, and after all these, in the twelfth
place, man. Thus they teach that the Triacontad was spoken of through Moses by
the Spirit. Moreover, man also, being formed after the image of the power
above, had in himself that ability which flows from the one source. This
ability was seated in the region of the brain, from which four faculties
proceed, after the image of the Tetrad above, and these are called: the first,
sight, the second, hearing, the third, smell, and the fourth, taste. And they
say that the Ogdoad is indicated by man in this way: that he possesses two
ears, the like number of eyes, also two nostrils, and a twofold taste, namely,
of bitter and sweet. Moreover, they teach that the whole man contains the
entire image of the Triacontad as follows: In his hands, by means of his
fingers, he bears the Decad; and in his whole body the Duodecad, inasmuch as
his body is divided into twelve members; for they portion that out, as the body
of Truth is divided by them — a point of which we have already spoken. But the
Ogdoad, as being unspeakable and invisible, is understood as hidden in the
viscera.
2. Again, they assert that the sun, the great
light-giver, was formed on the fourth day, with a reference to the number of
the Tetrad. So also, according to them, the courts of the tabernacle
constructed by Moses, being composed of fine linen, and blue, and purple, and
scarlet, pointed to the same image. Moreover, they maintain that the long robe
of the priest falling over his feet, as being adorned with four rows of
precious stones, Exodus 28:17 indicates the Tetrad; and if there are any other
things in the Scriptures which can possibly be dragged into the number four,
they declare that these had their being with a view to the Tetrad. The Ogdoad,
again, was shown as follows:— They affirm that man was formed on the eighth
day, for sometimes they will have him to have been made on the sixth day, and
sometimes on the eighth, unless, perchance, they mean that his earthly part was
formed on the sixth day, but his fleshly part on the eighth, for these two
things are distinguished by them. Some of them also hold that one man was
formed after the image and likeness of God, masculo-feminine, and that this was
the spiritual man; and that another man was formed out of the earth.
3. Further, they declare that the arrangement made
with respect to the ark in the Deluge, by means of which eight persons were
saved, Genesis 6:18; 1 Peter 3:20 most clearly indicates the Ogdoad which
brings salvation. David also shows forth the same, as holding the eighth place
in point of age among his brethren. 1 Samuel 16:10 Moreover, that circumcision
which took place on the eighth day, Genesis 17:12 represented the circumcision
of the Ogdoad above. In a word, whatever they find in the Scriptures capable of
being referred to the number eight, they declare to fulfil the mystery of the
Ogdoad. With respect, again, to the Decad, they maintain that it is indicated
by those ten nations which God promised to Abraham for a possession. Genesis
15:19 The arrangement also made by Sarah when, after ten years, she gave
Genesis 16:2 her handmaid Hagar to him, that by her he might have a son, showed
the same thing. Moreover, the servant of Abraham who was sent to Rebekah, and
presented her at the well with ten bracelets of gold, and her brethren who
detained her for ten days; Jeroboam also, who received the ten sceptres 1 Kings
11:31 (tribes), and the ten courts Exodus 26:1, Exodus 36:8 of the tabernacle,
and the columns of ten cubits Exodus 36:21 [high], and the ten sons of Jacob
who were at first sent into Egypt to buy grain, Genesis 42:3 and the ten apostles
to whom the Lord appeared after His resurrection —Thomas John 20:24 being
absent — represented, according to them, the invisible Decad.
4. As to the Duodecad, in connection with which
the mystery of the passion of the defect occurred, from which passion they
maintain that all things visible were framed, they assert that is to be found
strikingly and manifestly everywhere [in Scripture]. For they declare that the
twelve sons of Jacob, Genesis 35:22, Genesis 49:28 from whom also sprung twelve
tribes — the breastplate of the high priest, which bore twelve precious stones
and twelve little bells, — the twelve stones which were placed by Moses at the
foot of the mountain, Exodus 24:4 — the same number which was placed by Joshua
in the river, Joshua 4:3 and again, on the other side, the bearers of the Ark
of the Covenant, Joshua 3:12 — those stones which were set up by Elijah when
the heifer was offered as a burnt-offering; 1 Kings 18:31 the number, too, of
the apostles; and, in fine, every event which embraces in it the number twelve
— set forth their Duodecad. And then the union of all these, which is called
the Triacontad, they strenuously endeavour to demonstrate by the Ark of Noah,
the height of which was thirty cubits; Genesis 6:15 by the case of Samuel, who
assigned Saul the chief place among thirty guests; 1 Samuel 9:22 by David, when
for thirty days he concealed himself in the field; 1 Samuel 20:5 by those who
entered along with him into the cave; also by the fact that the length (height)
of the holy tabernacle was thirty cubits; and if they meet with any other like
numbers, they still apply these to their Triacontad.
