Refutation of All Heresies 6 part 3/4

so, when it was time for the veil to be lifted and these mysteries to be seen, Jesus was born through Mary the virgin, according to what is said: 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you' — the Spirit is Sophia — 'and the power of the Most High will overshadow you' — the Most High is the Demiurge — 'therefore also that which is born of you shall be called holy.'

For he was not born from the Most High alone, as those fashioned after Adam were created from the Most High alone — that is, from Sophia and the Demiurge; but Jesus, the new man, was born from the Holy Spirit and the Most High — that is, from Sophia and the Demiurge — so that the Demiurge might fashion and construct the formation of his body, while the Spirit might provide his substance, the holy substance, and he might become a heavenly Word, begotten from the Ogdoad through Mary.

Concerning this there is great dispute among them, and it has become the occasion of schisms and disagreement. From this their teaching has come to be divided, and one is called, among them, the Eastern teaching, the other the Italian.

Those from Italy — among whom are Heracleon and Ptolemy — say that the body of Jesus was psychic, and that for this reason, at the baptism, the Spirit descended upon him as a dove — that is, the Logos of the Mother above, Sophia — and united with the psychic body, and raised him from the dead. This is, he says, what is meant by: 'He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies' — that is, your psychic bodies. For the dust came under a curse:

'For you are dust,' it says, 'and to dust you shall return.' But those from the East — among whom are Axionicus and Bardesanes — say that the body of the Savior was spiritual; for the Holy Spirit came upon Mary — that is, Sophia — as did the power of the Most High, the demiurgic art, so that what was given by the Spirit might be fashioned within Mary.

Let those men, then, investigate these matters among themselves, and anyone else to whom it is agreeable to investigate them. But he adds: as the errors concerning the aeons within had been corrected, so too had it been corrected concerning the Ogdoad, that is, the Sophia outside, and it had also been corrected concerning the Hebdomad —

for the Demiurge was taught by Sophia that he himself is not the only God, as he had supposed, and that besides him there is no other, but he came to know, having been taught by Sophia, the one who is greater; for he was catechized by her and initiated and taught the great mystery of the Father and of the aeons, and he told it to no one. This is, as he says, what he means when he says to Moses: 'I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, but my name I did not declare to them' — that is, I did not tell them the mystery, nor did I explain who God is, but I kept for myself in secret the mystery which I heard from Sophia.

Since the things above had been corrected, following the same sequence it was necessary that the things here below should also obtain correction. For this reason Jesus the Savior was born through Mary, so that he might correct the things here below, just as the Christ, having been further put forth by Mind and Truth, corrected the passions of the Sophia outside — that is, of the miscarriage; and again, the Savior born through Mary came to correct the passions of the soul.

So there are, according to them, as it were three Christs: the one further put forth by Mind and Truth together with the Holy Spirit; and the common Fruit of the Pleroma, equal consort of the Sophia outside, who is herself also called Holy Spirit, though inferior to the first; and third, the one born through Mary, for the correction of the creation that pertains to us.

I think it has now been sufficiently shown, through numerous passages, that the doctrine of Valentinus is Pythagorean. And it seems fitting, having set forth by way of refutation what they hold, to bring this to a close. Plato, then, when setting forth mysteries concerning the universe to Dionysius, speaks in some such manner as this: 'I must speak to you in riddles, so that…'

'…if the tablet should come to grief either at sea or on land, whoever reads it may not understand. For thus it stands: around the king of all are all things, and for his sake are all things, and he is the cause of all good things; second, around the second things; and third, around the third things.'

'And concerning the king and the things of which I have spoken, such is the case. After this, the soul seeks to learn what sort of things these are, looking to those things akin to itself, of none of which it has adequate knowledge. This, O son of Dionysius and Doris, is the question which is the cause of all evils — or rather, the anxious care about it arising in the soul, which, unless one is rid of it, will never truly attain to the truth. And the wonderful thing about it has come to be…'

'…for there are men who have heard these things — and many capable of learning them, capable also, having tested them thoroughly in every way, of judging — old men now, who say that what then seemed credible now seems incredible, and what then seemed incredible now seems the opposite. Considering these things, then, take heed, lest you ever come to regret these matters having fallen out unworthily.'

'For this reason I have written nothing concerning these matters, nor is there, nor will there ever be, any treatise of Plato's on them; what is now said is Socrates's, grown fair and young.' Having come upon these words, Valentinus supposed the king of all, of whom Plato spoke, to be as follows: Father, that is, Bythos, together with Sige — the source of all the aeons.

Plato having said, 'second, around the second things,' Valentinus took the 'second things' to be all the aeons within the Horos; and 'third, around the third things,' he understood to be the whole realm outside the Horos and the Pleroma. And Valentinus has expressed this in very few words, in a psalm, beginning from below, not as Plato does from above, saying thus:

'I see all things hanging by the spirit of the ether, and I understand all things being borne along by the spirit: flesh hanging from soul, soul depending from air, air hanging from ether, and from the depth fruits being borne, and from a womb an infant being borne — thus understanding these things…'

'Flesh is matter,' according to them, which hangs from the soul of the Demiurge. 'Soul depends from air' — that is, the Demiurge depends from the spirit that is outside the Pleroma. 'Air hangs from ether' — that is, the Sophia outside depends on that within the Horos and the whole Pleroma. 'And from the depth fruits are borne' — this is the whole emission of the aeons that came to be from the Father.

The views held by Valentinus, then, have been sufficiently stated … those who have come forth from the school … to drink from it, each dogmatizing differently from another concerning what seemed right to them.

A certain Secundus, who arose at the same time as Ptolemy, says the following: that there is a right-hand Tetrad and a left-hand Tetrad, and light and darkness; and he says that the power which fell away and fell short was generated not from the thirty aeons, but from their fruits.

Another distinguished teacher of theirs says the following: there was a first principle, inconceivable, ineffable, and unnameable, which he calls Monotes; and coexisting with this there is a power which he names Henotes. This Henotes and Monotes put forth a principle over all things, intelligible, unbegotten, and invisible, which he calls Monad.

With this power there coexists a power of the same substance as it, which he likewise names 'the One.' These four powers put forth the remaining emissions of the aeons. But others of them, again, called the first, primal Ogdoad by these names: first Proarche, then Anennoetos, and the third Arrhetos, and the…

…fourth, Aoratos. And from the first, Proarche, there was put forth, in the first and fifth place, Arche; and from Anennoetos, in the second and sixth place, Akataleptos; and from Arrhetos, in the third and seventh place, Anonomastos; and from Aoratos … the fullness of the first Ogdoad. And these powers, they hold, pre-exist Bythos and Sige.

There are many and differing opinions concerning Bythos himself: some say he is without consort, neither male nor female; others say that Sige, being female, coexists with him, and that this is the first conjunction. But the followers of Ptolemy say that he has two consorts, which they also call 'dispositions,' Ennoia and Thelesis; for first, as they say, he conceived the thought of putting something forth, and then he willed it.

Wherefore, of these dispositions and powers, Ennoia and Thelesis, as it were commingled with one another, the emission of Monogenes and Truth came to be by conjunction; and these, they say, came forth as types and images of the two invisible dispositions of the Father, made visible: of Will, Mind; and of Ennoia, Truth. And for this reason, of the subsequently-arisen Will…

…is the male image, while, of the unbegotten Ennoia, Truth is the female image, since Will came to be, as it were, a power of Ennoia. For Ennoia was always conceiving the emission in thought, yet she herself was not able, by herself, to put it forth; but while she was only conceiving it, when the power of Will supervened, then that which she had been conceiving she put forth.

Another of their teachers, Mark, experienced in magic, deceived many, partly through sleight-of-hand tricks, partly also through demons. This man used to say that within himself there was the greatest power from the invisible and unnameable regions.

And indeed he would often take a cup, and, as if giving thanks and prolonging at length the words of invocation, make the mixture appear purple, and sometimes red, so that those being deceived thought that some grace was descending and imparting a blood-like power to the drink. Now the rogue, at that time, deceived many; but now, having been exposed, he shall cease.

For, secretly dropping into the mixture some drug capable of producing such a color, and prattling on at great length, he would wait until, having taken up the moisture and dissolved, it mixed in and tinged the drink. We have already set forth beforehand, in the book against the magicians, the drugs capable of producing this effect, showing how they deceive and make many disappear into delusion. Those to whom it is agreeable to look more closely into what has been said will come to know Mark's deception.

He would also mix a smaller cup and give it to a woman to give thanks over, while he himself stood by, holding another cup, empty, larger than that one; and when the deceived woman had given thanks, taking her cup he pours it into the larger one, and often pouring back and forth from the one into the other, he would add words such as these:

'May the Grace who is before all things, inconceivable and ineffable, fill your inner man, and multiply in you the knowledge of her, sowing the grain of mustard seed in the good earth.' And having said some such things, and having thrown both the deceived woman and those present into ecstasy, he was regarded as a wonder-worker, when the larger cup was filled from the smaller, so that it even overflowed from its abundance.

This trick, too, we have similarly set forth in the aforementioned book, showing very many drugs capable of producing an increase in volume when mixed in this way with liquid substances, especially with mixed wine; one of which drugs, having secretly smeared beforehand on the inside of the empty cup — showing it as having nothing in it — he would then pour in from close by, and pour on more; and as the drug dissolved through the mixing with the liquid, being of a foaming nature, an increase of the mixture would occur, and it would keep growing to the extent that, as more was poured on, it kept being stirred up — such being the nature of the drug.

But if anyone should set this aside when it is full, it will not be long before it turns back again to its natural measure, the power of the drug being quenched by the persistence of the liquid. Therefore he urged those present with eagerness to drink; and they, shuddering as at something divine and prepared by a god, drank at once, both trembling and hastening.

Such things, and others besides, the deceiver undertook to do; wherefore he was glorified by those who were deceived, and at one time he himself was thought to prophesy, at another he made others do so — sometimes working these things through demons, sometimes also by sleight of hand, as we said before. Having thus ruined many, and having made many such persons his disciples, he advanced them, having taught them to be ready for sinning, yet free from danger, because they belong to the perfect power and partake of the inconceivable authority.

To these, after baptism, another rite is announced, which they call "redemption"; and by this they wickedly mislead those who remain attached to them in hope of the redemption, as though those who have once been baptized could obtain forgiveness again.

And by such villainy they seem to hold their hearers together; and whenever they judge them to have been tested and able to guard the trust committed to them, then they lead them on to this rite — nor content with this alone, they also promise something further, so as to hold them fast by hope, that they may remain inseparable from them.

For they utter something in an ineffable formula, laying a hand upon the one who has received the redemption, which they claim cannot easily be spoken unless one be exceedingly approved — or else, when he is dying, the bishop comes to his ear and speaks it.

And this too is a piece of villainy, aimed at making the disciples always cling to the bishop, longing to learn what that thing might be which is spoken at the last, through which the one who learns it will belong to the perfect. These things I have passed over in silence, lest anyone should suppose I malign them out of ill will; for that is not our purpose, but rather to show from what occasions, once seized, they constructed their opinions.

For indeed the blessed presbyter Irenaeus also, applying himself more boldly to the refutation, set forth such washings and redemptions, speaking in more general terms of what they do; and some of them, on encountering this, have denied that they had received things so — being ever accustomed to deny. Wherefore it has become our concern to inquire more precisely and to find out in detail what they hand down both in the first bath, which they call by that name, and in the second, which they call redemption.

But not even their unspeakable rite has escaped us. Let this much, then, be conceded to Valentinus and his school. But Marcus, imitating his teacher, himself also fabricates a vision, thinking that thereby he will be glorified in the same way. For Valentinus indeed claims that he himself saw a newborn infant child, and, inquiring of it, asks who it might be; and it answered, saying that it was itself the Word. Then, adding a certain tragic myth, he wishes on this basis to establish the heresy he has undertaken.

Daring to do things similar to this, Marcus says that the Tetrad came to him in the form of a woman, since, he says, the world was not able to bear her masculine form; and that she revealed to him who she was, and related to him alone the origin of all things — which she had never before disclosed to anyone, neither god nor man — speaking thus:

"When first the Father — inconceivable and without substance, neither male nor female — willed that his unspeakable become speakable and his invisible take shape, he opened his mouth and sent forth a Word like himself, who, standing beside him, showed him what he was, himself having appeared as the visible form of the invisible."

"And the utterance of the name came about thus: he spoke the first word of his name, which was the beginning, and its syllable was of four elements; then he uttered the second, and this too was of four elements; then he spoke the third, which was of ten elements; and he spoke the fourth, and this too was of twelve elements."

"So the utterance of the whole name came to consist of thirty elements and four syllables; and each of the elements has its own letters and its own character and its own utterance, and shapes and images; and none of them sees the form of that element of which it is itself an element, nor indeed does each know the utterance of the one beside it, but only what it itself utters — so that, uttering its own part, it supposes itself to be naming the whole."

"For each of them, being a part of the whole, names its own sound as though it were the whole, and does not cease sounding until, having spoken with a single tongue, it arrives at the last letter of the last element. And then, she said, the restoration of all things takes place, when all things, having descended into that one letter, sound one and the same utterance — of which utterance she supposed the 'Amen' which we say together to be the image. And the sounds, she said, are those that give form to the substanceless and unbegotten aeon, and these are the forms which the Lord called angels, who continually behold the face of the Father."

The common and speakable names of the elements she called "aeons" and "words" and "roots" and "seeds" and "pleromas" and "fruits"; but the individual names belonging to each one separately are to be understood as contained within the name of the Church.

Of these elements, the last letter of the last element sent forth its own sound, and this sound, going forth in the image of the elements, begot its own particular elements, from which she says both the things here below were arranged and the things prior to these came into being. Yet the letter itself, whose sound followed the sound downward, she says was taken up above by its own syllable for the completion of the whole, while the sound remained below, as it were cast outside.

The element itself, from which the letter together with its own pronunciation descended below, she says consists of thirty letters, and each one of these thirty letters has within itself other letters through which the name of that letter is named; and again these others are in turn named through yet other letters, and those others through yet others, so that the multitude falls away into infinity, the letters being written out one by one.

One might thus learn more clearly what is meant: the element "delta" has within itself five letters — delta and epsilon and lambda and tau and alpha — and these very letters are in turn written by means of other letters, and those others by means of yet others.

If, then, the whole substance of the delta falls away into infinity, other letters continually begetting other letters and succeeding one another, how much greater must be the ocean of letters belonging to that whole element? And if a single letter is thus infinite, behold the depth of letters belonging to the whole name — out of which the industriousness of Marcus, or rather his futile labor, wishes to construct the Forefather.

Wherefore also the Father, knowing his own incomprehensibility, gave to the elements — which she also calls aeons — that each one of them should cry out its own utterance, since no single one is able to utter the whole.

Having made these things clear to him, the Tetraktys is said to have spoken: "I wish also to show you Truth herself; for I have brought her down from the dwellings above, that you may see her naked and thoroughly learn her beauty, and also hear her speaking and marvel at her understanding."

"Behold, then," she says, "the head above — the first, alpha and omega; the neck — beta and psi; the shoulders together with the hands — gamma and chi; the breast — delta and phi; the diaphragm — epsilon and upsilon; the belly — zeta and tau; the private parts — eta and sigma; the thighs — theta and rho; the knees — iota and pi; the shins — kappa and omicron; the ankles — lambda and xi; the feet — mu and nu. This is the body of the Truth according to Marcus, this is the shape of the element, this is the character of the letter."

And she calls this element "Man"; and she says it is the source of every word and the beginning of every voice and the utterance of everything unspeakable and the mouth of the silent Silence. And this much is her own speech; but do you, raising up on high the thought of your mind, hear from the mouth of Truth the self-begotten and Forefather Word.

When she had said these things, (he says that) Truth looked at him and, opening her mouth, spoke a word; and the word became a name, and the name was this which we know and speak — "Christ Jesus" — and having named it, she immediately fell silent.

But while Marcus was expecting she would say something more, again the Tetraktys came forward into the midst and says: "Did you think this word, which you heard from the mouth of Truth, was some simple thing? This which you know and think you have long possessed — this is only the name; for you have only its sound, but you are ignorant of its power."

"For 'Jesus' is the notable name, having six letters, called upon by all who belong to the calling; but that which is among the five aeons of the pleroma, being manifold, is of another form and a different type, known by those kindred ones whose greatnesses are ever with him."

"Know that these twenty-four letters which are among you are emanations of the three powers, and images of those which comprehend the whole and the number of the elements above. Consider the nine mute letters to belong to the Father and Truth, because they are voiceless — that is, unspeakable and inexpressible."

"The semivowels, being eight, belong to the Word and Life, because they stand as it were midway between the mute letters and the vowels, and receive the emanation of those above them and the reference of those below them; while the vowels, being seven, belong to Man and Church, since it was through Man that the voice, coming forth, gave form to all things — for the sound of the voice bestowed form upon them."

"So then, the Word and Life have the eight, Man and Church have the seven, and the Father and Truth have the nine. But concerning the Word that fell short: that which had been seated in the Father descended, sent forth to him from whom it had been separated, for the correction of what had been done — that the unity of the pleromas, being in the Good, might bear one fruit in all, the single power arising out of all."

"And thus the one belonging to the seven received the power of the eight, and the three places became equal to one another in their numbers, being ogdoads; and these, coming three times upon themselves, produced the number twenty-four. The three elements, however — which he says belong to the three powers in conjunction, which are six — from which the twenty-four elements flowed, being quadrupled by the principle of the ineffable tetrad, make with them the same number; and these belong to the unnameable one."

"And these are borne by the six powers into the likeness of the Invisible One; and of these elements the six double letters are images of images — which, being reckoned together with the twenty-four elements, by the power that accords with proportion, make the number thirty."

The fruit of this account and of this dispensation, he says, appeared, in the likeness of an image, as that one who, after the six days, went up the mountain as a fourth and became a sixth — he who came down and was seized in the seventh, being a notable ogdoad and having in himself the whole number of the elements.

Whom, when he came to the baptism, the descent of the dove made manifest — which, being omega and alpha, is denoted by the number eight hundred and one; and for this reason Mnaseas says that man was made on the sixth day.

And likewise the dispensation of the passion took place on the sixth of the days, that is, the Preparation, on which the last man appeared for the regeneration of the first man. The beginning and end of this dispensation is the sixth hour, in which he was nailed to the wood.

For the perfect Mind, knowing that the number six holds the power of creation and regeneration, made manifest to the sons of light the regeneration that came upon him through the notable one which had appeared, coming to be through it. Hence also he says the double letters have the notable number; for the notable number, being mixed together with the twenty-four elements, completed the thirty-lettered name.

He has employed as servant the magnitude of the seven numbers, that the fruit of the self-willed counsel might be manifested. Understand, then, he says, that one who at present has been formed upon the notable, who is as it were divided off and remains outside — who, by his own power and understanding, through his own emission, in imitation of the sevenfold power of the supreme power, ensouled this world, and appointed a soul to be of all that is seen.

He himself, then, also employed this work, as having come about self-willed by him, and it serves him — these being imitations of the inimitable conceptions of the Mother. And the first heaven utters alpha, and the one after this, epsilon; the third, eta; and the fourth, the middle one of the seven, the power of iota; the fifth, omicron; the sixth, upsilon; and the seventh, and fourth from the middle, omega.

And all the powers, interwoven together into one, resound and glorify him by whom they were emitted. And the glory of this resounding was sent up to the Forefather. Yet the sound of this doxology, he says, being carried down to the earth, becomes the fashioner and begetter of things on earth; and the proof he brings is from newborn infants, whose soul, as soon as it comes forth from the womb, cries out likewise the sound of each one of these elements.

"Just as, then," he says, "the seven powers glorify the Word, so also does the soul weeping in infants." And for this reason, he says, David also declared: "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings you have perfected praise," and again, "The heavens declare the glory of God." And when the soul comes to be in pain, as she cries out nothing other than the omega, over which she is distressed — this is so that the Soul above, recognizing what is akin to her, may send help down to her.

So much, then, concerning these matters. But concerning the origin of the twenty-four elements he speaks thus: that Oneness coexists with Unity, from which come two projections, Monad and the One, which, being twice two, became four — for twice two is four. And again the two and the four, combined together, brought forth the number six; and this six, quadrupled, produced the twenty-four.

And these are the names of the first Tetrad, understood as holy of holies and unable to be spoken, but known only by the Son — these the Father alone knows what they are. Those named with silence and with faith among them are these: Unspeakable and Silence, Father and Truth.

And the total number of this tetrad is twenty-four elements. For the Unspeakable has seven elements, Silence five, and the Father five, and Truth seven. Likewise also the second tetrad — Word and Life, Man and Church — exhibited the same number of elements. And the speakable name of the Savior, that is, "Jesus," consists of six letters, but his unspeakable name, reckoned by the number of the individual letters — that is, of "Jesus" — is of twenty-four elements. And "Son Christ" has twelve, while the unspeakable name within "Christ" is of thirty letters, this too being reckoned according to the letters within it, taken individually; for "Christ" is of eight elements. For chi is three, rho is two, and epsilon-iota is two, iota is four, sigma is five, tau is three, omicron-upsilon is two, and sigma is three. Thus they say that the unspeakable name within Christ is of thirty elements. And for this reason, they say, he himself declares: "I am Alpha and Omega," showing forth the dove that bears this number, which is eight hundred and one.

Jesus, then, has this unspeakable origin: from the mother of all things, the first tetrad, the second tetrad proceeded in the manner of a daughter, and an ogdoad came about, from which the decad proceeded; thus came about iota, that is, eighteen.