Collected Works 30

Of these heretics, to pass over the greater number, I will touch upon a few. For I say nothing of the heretics of Judaism — Dositheus, I mean, the Samaritan, who first dared to reject the prophets as though they had not spoken in the Holy Spirit; I say nothing of the Sadducees, who, springing up from the root of this error, dared to add to this heresy even the denial of the resurrection of the flesh; I pass over the Pharisees, who, by building up certain additions to the Law, were separated from the Jews, whence indeed they were held worthy to receive the very name they bear; and with these too the Herodians, who said that Christ was Herod. I turn myself to those who chose to be heretics out of the Gospel.

Of these the first of all is Simon Magus, who in the Acts of the Apostles earned a fitting and just sentence from the apostle Peter. This man dared to call himself the highest Power — that is, the supreme God; and he taught that the world was framed by his own angels; that he had descended, wandering, to the demon, to ask what Wisdom might be; that among the Jews he had not suffered in the phantasm of God, but was as though he suffered. After him came Menander, his own disciple, likewise a magician, saying the same things as Simon: whatever Simon had claimed himself to be, Menander claimed to be that same thing, denying that anyone could have salvation unless he had been baptized in his name.

After these there followed also Saturninus, who likewise taught that the unbegotten Power — that is, God — abides in the highest and infinite regions and in the upper places; that angels, dwelling far distant from Him, made this lower world; and that, because a certain splendour of light had shone forth from above into the lower regions, the angels had taken pains to fashion man after the likeness of that light; that man lay creeping upon the earth; that, for mercy's sake, that light of his and that higher power was preserved as a spark, while the rest of man perishes; that Christ had not been in the substance of a body, and had only as it were suffered in a phantasm; and that the resurrection of the flesh will in no wise come to pass. Afterward the heretic Basilides broke forth.

This man says that there is a supreme God by the name of Abraxas, by whom Mind was created — which in Greek he calls nous; thence the Word; from that Word, Providence, Virtue, and Wisdom; from these in turn were made Principalities and Powers and Angels; then endless emissions and projections of angels; and by these angels three hundred and sixty-five heavens were established, and the world in honour of Abraxas, whose name contained within itself that reckoned number. Among the last of the angels, indeed — those who now made the world — he places last of all the God of the Jews, that is, the God of the Law and the Prophets, whom he denies to be God, but calls an angel: to him the seed of Abraham had fallen by lot, and therefore he had brought over the children of Israel from the land of Egypt into the land of Canaan;

that this one was more turbulent than the rest of the angels, and therefore frequently stirred up seditions and wars, and even shed human blood; that Christ, however, was sent not by this maker of the world, but by that Abraxas, and came in a phantasm, having no substance of flesh; that he did not suffer among the Jews, but that in his stead Simon was crucified — whence one must not even believe in him who was crucified, lest anyone confess that he has believed in Simon. He denies that martyrdoms are to be made. He grievously assails the resurrection of the flesh, denying that salvation was promised to bodies. Another heretic, Nicolaus, emerged. This man was one of the seven deacons who were chosen in the Acts of the Apostles.

This man says that darkness existed in a lust for the light, and that indeed a foul and obscene lust; and that from this commingling came things it is shameful to name, which are stinking and unclean. There are other obscene matters too. For he tells of certain Aeons born of turpitude, and of embraces and abominable, obscene commixtures joined together, and of certain things even fouler born of these; and moreover of demons and gods and seven spirits, and other things at once sacrilegious and foul, which we blush to relate and which we now pass over. It is enough for us that the Apocalypse of the Lord condemned this whole heresy of the Nicolaitans by the weightiest authority of its sentence, saying: 'Because thou holdest this, thou hast hated the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.'

To these were added also those heretics who are called Ophites. For they magnify the serpent to such a degree that they set him even above Christ himself. 'For it was he,' they say, 'who gave us the origin of the knowledge of good and evil.' Perceiving his power and majesty, they say, Moses set up the bronze serpent, and whoever looked upon it obtained health. Moreover, they claim, Christ himself in his own Gospel imitates the sacred power of that very serpent, saying: 'And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up.' They bring the serpent in to bless their eucharist. But the whole show and doctrine of this error flowed from this source.

For they say that from that supreme and primary Aeon many other, lower Aeons came into being; yet that over all these presides an Aeon whose name is Ialdabaoth. He, moreover, was conceived from another Aeon commingled with the lower Aeons; and afterward, when he had wished to strive up into the higher regions, being unable, because of the heaviness of the matter mingled with him, to reach the upper places, he stretched himself out entire in the middle where he was left, and thus made heaven. Ialdabaoth, however, descended lower and made for himself seven sons; and he shut off the higher regions by his own expansion, so that, since the angels could not know what was above, they might suppose him alone to be God.

Those Powers therefore and the lower angels made man; and because he had been fashioned by the weaker and middling Powers, he lay creeping like a worm. But that Aeon from whom Ialdabaoth had proceeded, moved by envy, cast a certain spark into the prostrate man, whereby, being aroused, he might understand through prudence and be able to comprehend the higher things. Thus again Ialdabaoth, turned to indignation, brought forth from himself a power and a likeness of a serpent; and this was the power in Paradise — that is, this was the serpent which Eve believed as though it were a son of God. 'She plucked,' they say, 'from the fruit of the tree, and thereby imparted to the human race the knowledge of good and evil.'

But Christ, they say, was not in the substance of flesh; and salvation of the flesh is by no means to be hoped for. Moreover there also broke forth yet another heresy, which is called that of the Cainites. For these too magnify Cain, as though conceived from a certain mighty Power which wrought in him. For Abel, they say, was conceived and begotten from a lower power, and therefore was found the lower. Those who assert this also defend Judas the traitor, recording that he was admirable and great, on account of the benefits which he is boasted to have conferred upon the human race. For some of them think that thanksgiving is to be rendered to Judas for this cause.

For, they say, Judas, perceiving that Christ wished to subvert the truth, betrayed him, lest the truth might be subverted. And others dispute otherwise against this, and say: Because the powers of this world were unwilling that Christ should suffer, lest salvation should be procured for the human race through his death, Judas, taking counsel for the salvation of the human race, betrayed Christ, so that the salvation which was being hindered by the powers that opposed lest Christ should suffer might not be able to be hindered at all, and therefore the salvation of the human race might not be delayed through the passion of Christ. But that heresy also came forth which is called that of the Sethites. The doctrine of this perversity is this:

That two men, Cain and Abel, were established by the angels; that on their account great contentions and discords arose among the angels; and that for this cause that Power which was above all Powers — whom they call the Mother — when they say that Abel had been slain, wished this Seth to be conceived and born in Abel's place, so that those angels who had created those two earlier men might be voided, while this seed rises and is born into the world. For they say that the commixtures of angels and men were wicked, for which cause that Power whom, as we have said, they proclaim the Mother, brought on the flood also for vengeance, so that both that seed of the commixture might be removed and this seed alone, which was pure, might be preserved whole and unimpaired.

But indeed those who had established the seed of that earlier line, they say, secretly and covertly and without the knowledge of that Mother-Power, put into the ark, along with those eight souls, also the seed of Ham, so that the seed of malice might not perish, but, preserved with the rest and restored to the earth after the flood, might grow up after the example of the others, and be poured out and fill and occupy the whole globe. But concerning Christ they hold that he was only Seth, and that in place of Seth Christ himself existed. Carpocrates, moreover, brought forth this sect: He says that there is one principal Power in the higher regions; that from it were brought forth angels and Powers, who, being far distant from the higher Powers, established this world in the lower regions;

that Christ was not born of the Virgin Mary, but was begotten as a mere man from the seed of Joseph, though better than the rest indeed in the cultivation of righteousness and integrity of life; that he suffered among the Jews, and that his soul alone was received in heaven, because it had been firmer and more robust than the rest — from which he concluded that, since the salvation of souls alone is retained, there are no resurrections of the body. After him the heretic Cerinthus broke forth, teaching similar things. For he too says that the world was established by those angels; he proposes that Christ was born of the seed of Joseph, contending that he was a mere man without divinity; asserting also that the very Law was given by angels, and presenting the God of the Jews not as Lord but as an angel.

His successor was Ebion, not agreeing with Cerinthus in every part, in that he says the world was made by God, not by angels; and because it is written, 'No disciple above his master, nor servant above his lord,' he also puts forward the Law — namely, to exclude the Gospel and vindicate Judaism. Valentinus, moreover, the heretic, introduces many fables. These I will briefly dispatch, drawing them out in outline. For he introduces the Pleroma and thirty Aeons; and he sets these out by syzygies, that is, by certain conjugations. For he says that first of all are Bythos and Silence; from these proceeded Mind and Truth; from which broke forth Word and Life; from which again were created Man and Church.

But indeed from these too proceeded twelve Aeons; and from Word and Life ten other Aeons: this is the Triacontad of Aeons, which is made in the Pleroma out of the Ogdoad and the Decad and the Duodecad. But the thirtieth Aeon wished to see that Bythos, and to see him dared to ascend into the higher regions; and since he was not capable of seeing his greatness, he fell into deficiency and was almost dissolved, had not he who was sent to establish him — the one they call Horos — confirmed him by the utterance of the pronounced word 'Iao.' But this Aeon, fallen into deficiency, Valentinus calls Achamoth, and says she was in certain passions of desire, and from her passions brought forth matters.

'For she was terrified,' he says, 'and was afraid and grew sorrowful, and from these passions conceived and brought forth.' Hence she made heaven and earth and sea and all things that are in them; for which cause all things are weak and frail and perishable and mortal, whatsoever were made by her, since indeed she herself had been conceived and brought forth from deficiency. Yet he established this world out of those matters which Achamoth had furnished by being terrified or afraid or sorrowful or by sweating. For from terror, he says, darkness was made; from fear and ignorance, the spirits of wickedness and malignity; from sorrow and tears, the moist matter of the springs, rivers, and sea. But Christ was sent by that Forefather who is Bythos.

But this Christ, he says, was not in the substance of our body, but bearing down from heaven some spiritual body — I know not what — passed through the Virgin Mary as water through a pipe, receiving or borrowing nothing thence. He denies the resurrection of this flesh; but of the other, that is of the Law and the Prophets, he approves some things, disapproves others — that is, he disapproves all, while he rejects some. He has even his own Gospel besides these of ours. After him arose the heretics Ptolemaeus and Secundus, who agree with Valentinus in all things, and differ from him in this alone. For whereas Valentinus had feigned only thirty Aeons, these added several others; for first they aggregated four, then another four.

And what Valentinus says — that the thirtieth Aeon went forth from the Pleroma, so as to fall into deficiency — these deny. For they say that he who fell into deficiency through the desire of seeing the Forefather was not of that Triacontad. There arose besides another heretic, Heracleon, who holds views equal to those of Valentinus, but by a certain novelty of expression wishes to seem to hold other views. For he introduces first that which he pronounces to have existed, and then from that Monad two, and thereafter the remaining Aeons. Then he introduces the whole of Valentinus. Nor were there wanting after these a certain Marcus and Colarbasus, composing a new heresy out of the Greek alphabet.

For they deny that the truth can be found without these letters — nay rather, that the whole fullness and perfection of the truth is arranged in these letters. For this cause, they say, Christ said, 'I am Alpha and Omega.' Then that Jesus the Christ descended — that is, that the dove came into Jesus; which dove, since it is pronounced by the Greek name peristera, has according to number 801. These run through Omega, Psi, Chi, Phi, Upsilon, Tau, all the way to Alpha, Beta, and compute Ogdoads and Decads. Thus to set forth all their vanities would be both foolish and idle. Yet that which is now not only vain but even dangerous: they feign another God besides the Creator, they deny that Christ was in the substance of flesh, they deny that the resurrection of the flesh will come to be.

To these is added a certain Cerdon. He introduces two principles, that is, two gods — one good, and the other cruel; the good being the higher, the cruel being this maker of the world. He rejects the prophecies and the Law, renounces the Creator God, treats of Christ as having come as the Son of the higher God; denies that he was in the substance of flesh, pronounces that he existed in a phantasm only, and did not suffer at all but as though he suffered, nor was born of a virgin, but was not born at all. He approves the resurrection of the soul only, denies that of the body. He receives only the Gospel of Luke, and not even that in its entirety. Of the apostle Paul he takes neither all nor entire the epistles. He rejects the Acts of the Apostles and the Apocalypse as though false.

After him emerged his disciple, a certain man named Marcion, a Pontic by race, the son of a bishop, cast out from the communion of the Church on account of the violation of a certain virgin. Taking his occasion from that which is said, 'Every good tree brings forth good fruits, but the bad tree bad fruits,' he attempted to approve the heresy of Cerdon, so as to say the same things which that earlier heretic had said before. After him there arose a certain man named Lucanus, a follower and disciple of Marcion, and he too, proceeding by the same road, teaches the same kinds of blasphemy which Marcion and Cerdon had taught. After these follows Apelles, a disciple of Marcion, who, after he had lapsed into his own flesh, was separated from Marcion.

He introduces one God in the infinite higher regions. This God, he says, made many powers and angels; and besides another Virtue, which he says is called Lord, but which he sets down as an angel. This world he will have to seem established in imitation of the higher world; to which world he mingled repentance, because that maker had not made it so perfectly as that higher world had been established. He rejects the Law and the Prophets. He says that Christ was neither in a phantasm, as Marcion held, nor in the substance of a true body, as the Gospel teaches, but that, because he descended from the higher regions, in the very descent he wove for himself a starry and airy flesh:

and that in the resurrection he restored, in the ascent, to each several element that which he had borrowed in his descent, and thus, when the several parts of his body had been dispersed, he restored to heaven the spirit only. This man denies the resurrection of the flesh. He uses only the Apostle also — but Marcion's, that is, not the whole. He says that there is salvation of souls alone. He has besides his own private but extraordinary readings, which he calls 'phaneroseis' (manifestations), of a certain girl named Philumene, whom he follows as though a prophetess. He has besides his own books, which he entitled 'Of Syllogisms,' in which he wishes to prove that whatsoever Moses wrote concerning God is not true, but false.

To all these heretics is added a certain Tatian, another heretic. This man was a disciple of Justin the Martyr; after his death he began to hold divergent views. For he is wholly of Valentinus' mind, adding this: that Adam cannot even attain salvation — as though, if the branches be saved, the root be not also saved. There came besides other heretics, who are called 'According to the Phrygians'; but of these there is not one doctrine. For there are some who are called 'According to Proclus,' and there are others who are pronounced 'According to Aeschines.' These have one common blasphemy, and another blasphemy not common but peculiar and their own:

the common one indeed being that by which they say that in the apostles there was the Holy Spirit indeed, but not the Paraclete; and by which they say that the Paraclete uttered more things in Montanus than Christ brought forth in the Gospel — and not only more, but even better and greater. But the private blasphemy which those 'According to Aeschines' have is this, by which they add also this: that they say Christ himself is both Son and Father. There is besides, in addition to all these, also Blastus, who covertly wishes to introduce Judaism. For he says that the Passover is not to be kept otherwise than according to the Law of Moses, on the fourteenth of the month. But who does not know that the grace of the Gospel is made void if one reduces Christ to the Law?

To these is added the heretic Theodotus the Byzantine, who, after he had been arrested for the name of Christ and denied it, did not cease to blaspheme against Christ. For he introduced a doctrine by which he would say that Christ is a mere man, but would deny that he is God — born indeed of the Holy Spirit from a virgin, but a solitary and bare man, with no authority above the rest save that of righteousness alone. After him another heretic Theodotus broke forth, who himself also introduced another sect, and says likewise that Christ is a mere man, conceived and born alike of the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary, but that this man is lower than Melchizedek, because it is said of Christ: 'Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.'

For that Melchizedek, they say, is a heavenly Power of a special grace, in that Christ acts on behalf of men, having been made their intercessor and advocate; while Melchizedek acts on behalf of the heavenly angels and Powers. For, they say, he is so far better than Christ that he is 'without father' (apator), 'without mother' (ametor), 'without genealogy' (agenealogetos), whose beginning nor end has been comprehended or can be comprehended. But after all these a certain Praxeas also introduced a heresy, which Victorinus took care to corroborate. This man says that God the Father Almighty is Jesus Christ, and contends that he was crucified and suffered and died; and moreover — with profane and sacrilegious rashness — he propounds that he himself sits at his own right hand.

[Edited by Oehler, 1851, transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2001. Verse numbers by E. Kroymann, 1942.]