Having torn asunder the labyrinth of the heresies, not by force, but having dissolved it solely by the power of the refutation of truth, we now proceed to the demonstration of truth. For then will the artful sophistries of error be made manifest, when the definition of truth is displayed — a truth that has not derived its first principles from the wisdom of the Greeks, nor been taught the vain doctrines of the Egyptians, which are religiously observed among them with an air of credibility as though they were unspeakable [mysteries], nor been made wise by the incoherent, over-curious inquiry of the Chaldeans, nor been struck with amazement by the irrational madness of the Babylonians wrought through the working of demons; but rather [truth] exists in the manner proper to it — a true definition, unguarded and unadorned, which alone will refute error.
Concerning this [truth], even though we have already made demonstrations very many times, and have sufficiently and ungrudgingly displayed the rule of truth to those who desired it, nevertheless even now we have judged it not unreasonable, after [treating] all the things held by the Greeks and by the heretics, to bring forward this demonstration, as it were a crowning finial upon the books, through this tenth book.
Having, then, comprehensively summarized in four books all the doctrines of the wise men among the Greeks, and [the doctrines] of the heresiarchs in five, we shall now set forth the doctrine concerning truth in [this] one [book], recapitulating what has been held by all. For the dogmatists among the Greeks, having divided philosophy into three parts, philosophized accordingly — some calling it natural [philosophy], others ethical, and others dialectical.
And those who dealt with natural [philosophy] set it forth thus: some [held that] all things [come] from one [principle], others from several; and of those [who held it comes] from one, some [held it comes] from a qualityless [principle], others from a qualified one; and of those [who held it comes] from a qualified [principle], some [held it comes] from fire, others from water, and others from earth.
And of those [who held it comes] from several, some [held it comes] from a numerable [quantity], others from an infinite [quantity]; and of those [who held it comes] from a numerable [quantity], some [held it comes] from two, others from four, others from five, others from six; and of those [who held it comes] from an infinite [quantity], some [held the elements to be] similar to the things generated, others dissimilar; and in addition to these, some [held them] impassible, others passible.
The Stoics constructed the origin of the universe from a single, qualityless body. For according to them the first principle of the universe is qualityless matter, wholly mutable; and as it changes, there come into being fire, air, water, [and] earth. But those around Hippasus, Anaximander, and Thales of Miletus hold that all things came into being from a single, qualified [principle]: of these, Hippasus of Metapontum and Heraclitus of Ephesus declared the origin to be from fire, Anaximander from air, Thales from water, and Xenophanes from earth. 'For from earth,' he says, 'are all things, and into earth all things come to their end.'
That the universe is composed of several, numerable [elements] — namely two, earth and water — the poet Homer says, at one time saying: 'Oceanus, origin of the gods, and mother Tethys,' at another time: 'But may you all become water and earth.'
Xenophanes of Colophon seems to agree with him; for he says: 'For all things [are] of earth...'; and Euripides [holds all things come] from earth and aether, as one can recognize from his saying: 'I sing of aether and earth, the begetter of all things.' But Empedocles [held they come] from four [elements], speaking thus:
'First hear the four roots of all things: shining Zeus [air], and life-bearing Hera [earth], and Aïdoneus [Hades, fire], and Nestis [water], who with her tears moistens the mortal spring.' But Ocellus the Lucanian and Aristotle [held they come] from five [elements]:
For they added, besides the four elements, a fifth, circularly-moving body, from which they say the heavenly bodies are made. And from six [elements] those around Empedocles supposed the origin [of things] to be. For in the passage where he says: 'First hear the four roots of all things,' he makes the origin from four; but when he adds:
'and baneful Strife, apart from these, balanced in every direction, and Love among them, equal in length and breadth' — he then hands down six first principles of the universe: four material [ones] — earth, fire, air, [and water] — and two active [ones], Love and Strife. But those around Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, Democritus, Epicurus, and a great many others, of whom we have already made partial mention, held the doctrine that the origin of all things is from infinite [elements].
But Anaxagoras [held the elements to be] similar to the things generated, while those around Democritus and Epicurus [held them to be] dissimilar and impassible — that is, [held them to be] atoms; and those around Heraclides of Pontus and Asclepiades [held them to be] dissimilar but passible, like the unjointed masses; while those around Plato [held the origin to be] from three [principles]: they say these are God, matter, and the paradigm.
And he divides matter into four first principles: fire, water, earth, air; and [he holds] that God is the demiurge of this [matter], and that the paradigm is mind.
Being convinced, then, that amid all this agreement [of disagreement] the doctrine of natural philosophy is found to be without resolution, we ourselves shall speak without hesitation concerning the patterns of truth, as it in fact is and as we have come to believe — but first setting forth in summary also the doctrines of the heresiarchs, so that, by thus presenting the doctrines of all in an easily recognizable way, we may also display the truth as manifest and easily recognizable.
But since this seems best, let us begin first with the ministers of the serpent. The Naassenes call the first principle of the universe 'Man,' the same also [being called] 'Son of Man'; and they divide him into three parts. For, they say, there is in him a part that is intellectual, a part that is psychic, and a part that is choic [earthly].
And they call him Adamas, and hold that the knowledge of him is the beginning of the ability to know God. And [they say] that all these — the intellectual, the psychic, and the choic [elements] — passed into Jesus, and that through him the three substances spoke together, [each] to its own three races [of men].
These assert that there are three races of the universe — angelic, psychic, choic — and three churches — angelic, psychic, choic; and their names are: elect, called, captive. These are the chief points according to them, as can be summarized in brief. This they say James, the brother of the Lord, handed down to Mariamne — falsely accusing both of them.
The Peratae — Ademes of Carystus and Euphrates — say that there is a certain single world, so calling it, divided into three parts. And of this threefold division, according to them, one part is, as it were, a single first principle, like a great spring, capable of being divided in principle into infinite sections.
The first and most immediate division, according to them, is the Triad, and it is called the 'perfect good,' the 'paternal magnitude.' The second part of the Triad is, as it were, an infinite multitude of powers. The third is the 'particular' [world]. And the first is unbegotten — which is the good; the second is the self-begotten good — the begotten. Whence they expressly speak of three gods, three logoi, [and three] men.
For to each part of the world, the division being distinctly marked, they assign both gods and logoi and men and the rest. And [they say that] from above, from the state of unbegottenness and from the world's first division, when the world had at length come to its consummation, there descended, in the times of Herod, a certain man of threefold nature, and three bodies, and threefold power, called Christ, having in himself, from the three parts of the world, all the mixtures [of the world] and its [powers]; and this they take to be the meaning of what is said:
'In whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead.' And [they say] that from the two worlds — the unbegotten and the self-begotten — there were brought down into this world in which we are, seeds of powers of every kind. And [they say] that Christ descended from above, from the state of unbegottenness, so that through his descent all the things divided into three parts might be saved.
For, he says, those things which have been brought down from above will ascend again through him; while the others are, as it were, a great spring capable of being divided in principle into infinite [parts]. The first division they call the Triad, and name it 'perfect good,' 'paternal magnitude.' The second is the multitude of infinite powers. The third they call 'particular.' And they say the first is unbegotten, and they name three gods, three logoi, three minds, three men. And [they say] that from above, from the state of unbegottenness and the world's first division, at the very consummation of the world, in the times of Herod, there descended a certain man of threefold nature, three-bodied, and threefold power, called Christ; and that he passed through the unbegotten world, and, having plotted against the things that had been brought down, it is dismissed idly, and, having been punished, is sent away. And he says there are two parts that are saved — the superior ones, which have been freed from corruption — while the third perishes, which he calls the 'particular' world. These, too, are the doctrines of the Peratae.
It seems to the Sethians that there are three defined first principles of the universe. And each of the first principles is by nature capable of coming to manifestation, just as, in the human soul, any art whatsoever that is taught [becomes manifest] — as, for instance, if a child were placed with a flute-player, [it is naturally capable] of becoming able to play the flute, or with a geometer, of doing geometry, or likewise with any [other] art.
The substances of the [three] first principles, they say, are light and darkness; and between these is an unmixed spirit. And this spirit, positioned in the middle between the darkness, which is below, and the light, which is above, is not, they say, a spirit that can be conceived of as a gust of wind or some subtle breeze, but is, as it were, a certain fragrance of myrrh or of incense compounded from a mixture — a subtle power pervading [all things] with an inconceivable and indescribable motion of sweet fragrance surpassing description.
Since, then, the light is above and the darkness below, and between these is the spirit, and the light, like a ray of the sun, shines from above onto what lies beneath, while the fragrance of the spirit is carried, holding a middle position, and reaches down, just as the odor of incense is carried [upward] toward the fire — such being the power of the three things thus divided, the power of the spirit and of the light together is below, in the darkness that lies subjected [to it].
The darkness, they say, is a fearsome water, into which the light, together with the spirit, has been dragged down and transferred into such a nature. The darkness, then, being intelligent and knowing that, if the light were taken away from it, the darkness would remain desolate, invisible, lightless, powerless, inactive, and weak, forcibly draws to itself, by every kind of understanding and cunning, the radiance and spark of the light together with the fragrance of the spirit.
They introduce this image [in illustration], saying: just as the pupil of the eye appears dark on account of the water lying beneath it, but is illuminated by the spirit, so the darkness lays claim to the spirit; and it holds within itself all the powers, which desire to depart and rise up. And these are infinite times infinite. From these all things are formed and come into being, as they intermingle after the manner of seals [stamping wax].
For just as a seal, having come into contact with wax, makes an impression, while it itself remains just as it was, so too the powers, having come into contact [with matter], produce all the infinite kinds of living creatures. From the first coming-together of the three first principles there came into being, then, the form of a great seal — heaven and earth — having a shape similar to a womb having a navel in the middle. And thus also are shaped all the remaining impressions of all things, in the likeness of heaven and earth resembling a womb.
From the water, they say, there came into being a firstborn principle — a violent and impetuous wind, the cause of all generation, producing in the world a certain seething and motion arising from the movement of the waters.
This [wind], they say, produces a form similar to the trail of a serpent, winged; which the world, bearing [it], swelled with the impulse toward generation, like a womb. And from this they hold that the origin of all things is constituted.
And this spirit of the wind, they say, is a perfect god, which came into being from the waters, and the fragrance, and the radiance of the light, and is the offspring of the female — mind. The spark from above, mingled below together with the concreted bodies [of matter], hastens to escape, and, having escaped, seeks to journey [upward], but cannot find release on account of its being bound in the waters. Wherefore, they say, on account of its mixture with the waters it cried out, according to the Psalmist, as follows:
The whole concern, then, is that of the light above — how it might rescue the spark below from the father below, the wind, which stirs up seething and turmoil, and has made for itself a mind, [as] a son, though this [mind], they say, is not properly his own; and the perfect Logos of the light from above, having seen this [mind], transformed himself into the form of a serpent and entered into the womb, so that he might be able to take back that mind — the spark from the light.
And this is what is said: 'Who, existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be seized, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.' And this, the ill-fated and much-afflicted Sethians hold to be the servile form. These, then, are also the things this sect says.
The all-wise Simon speaks thus: that there is an infinite power, and that this is the root of all things. This infinite power, he says, is fire — not, according to him, simple, as most people, calling the four elements simple, have also supposed fire to be simple; but rather the nature of fire is twofold, and of this twofold [nature] he calls the one part hidden, the other manifest; and the hidden things are hidden within the manifest things of the fire, while the manifest things of the fire have come into being from the hidden.
And all the parts of the fire, both visible and invisible, are held, he says, to possess intelligence. The generated world, then, they say, came into being from the ungenerated fire. And it began to come into being in this way, he says: the generated [world], taking from the first principle of that fire the first six roots of the beginning of generation. For these roots, [he says], came into being in pairs from the fire, which he calls: Mind and Thought, Voice and Name, Reasoning and Reflection.
And [he says] that in these six roots together there exists the infinite power, potentially, not actually; this infinite [power] he says is the one who has stood, stands, and will stand. If it exists in the six powers, it will be, in substance, in power, in magnitude, in effect, one and the same with the unbegotten and infinite power, having nothing whatsoever less than that unbegotten, unchanging, and infinite power.
But if it remains only potentially in the six powers and is not brought to actual likeness, it vanishes, he says, and perishes, just as the skill of grammar or geometry [vanishes] in the soul of a man who has not gained a craftsman to instruct him. And he says that he himself is the one who has stood, stands, and will stand, being the power that is above all things. These, then, are also the things Simon [teaches].
Valentinus and those of his school say that the first principle of the universe is the Father, but they present opposing views [concerning him]. For some of them [hold that] he is alone and capable of generating [by himself], while others [hold that] he is unable to generate without a female [consort], and add to him a consort, Silence, naming him [the Father] Bythos.
Some [say] that from him and the consort came into being six emanations: Mind and Truth, Word and Life, Man and Church — and that this is the Ogdoad. And that the emanations produced within the Horos [Limit] are, in turn, called those 'within the Pleroma'; those outside the Pleroma are the second [rank]; and those outside the Horos are the third, whose birth constitutes the Deficiency.
He says that [the world] came into being from the aeon that was projected within the Deficiency, and that this [aeon] is the demiurge — not wishing him to be the first God, but rather speaking ill of him and of the things made by him. And [he says] that Christ descended from within the Pleroma for the salvation of the spirit that had gone astray, which dwells in our inner man; and this [inner man], they say, is saved for the sake of this indwelling [spirit].
He holds that the flesh is not saved, calling it the 'tunic of skin' and the 'perishing man.' I have set forth these things in summary, though there is among them much material and various differing opinions. Such, then, are also the views held by the school of Valentinus.
Basilides, he too, says that there is a non-existent God, who made a non-existent world out of non-existent things, casting down a certain non-existent seed, having within itself, like a mustard seed, the trunk, the leaves, the branches, [and] the fruit — or, like a peacock's egg, having within itself the manifold multitude of colors; and this, they say, is the seed of the world, from which all things came into being.
For it holds within itself all things, as it were, non-existent, things which had been predetermined by the non-existent God to come into being. There was, then, they say, in the seed itself, a threefold sonship, in all respects consubstantial with the non-existent God, begotten from non-existent things. This sonship, being divided into three parts, one part was of fine substance, another of coarse substance, and another in need of purification.
The fine-substance part, then, immediately, as soon as the seed had its first casting-down by the non-existent [God], darted through and ascended upward, and came to be with the non-existent [God]; for every nature reaches toward him on account of [his] surpassing beauty, though each in its own way.
But the coarser [sonship], still remaining in the seed, being a kind of imitator, was not able to rush up — for it was far inferior to the finer [sonship] — but winged itself with the Holy Spirit; for by putting this on, the sonship benefits and is benefited.
But the third sonship needs purification; this one has remained in the heap of the universal seed-mixture (panspermia), itself both benefiting and being benefited. There is, [he says], something called 'cosmos,' and there are the 'supracosmic' [realities]; for by this the [things that are] are divided into the first two divisions. And he calls the boundary between these the 'border-lying Holy Spirit,' possessing the fragrance of sonship.
From the panspermia, the heap of the cosmic seed, the great Archon burst forth and was born, the head of the cosmos, of ineffable beauty and greatness. He, having exalted himself as far as the firmament, supposed that there was no other above himself, and became brighter and more powerful than all the things below him, except for the sonship left behind, which he did not know to be wiser than himself.
This one, then, having turned to the demiurgy of the cosmos, first begets for himself a son better than himself, and seated him at his right hand; and this, they say, is the Ogdoad. He, then, accomplishes the whole heavenly creation.
And another Archon arose from the panspermia, greater than all the things beneath him except for the sonship left within, but far less than the former one; whom they call the Hebdomad. He is the maker and demiurge and administrator of all things under him; and this one too made for himself a son more prudent and wiser [than himself].
And they say that all these things exist according to the forethought of that Non-Existent One, and that there are worlds and intervals without number. And [they say] that Jesus, the one from Mary, received the power of the gospel, which came down and illumined both the son of the Ogdoad and [the son] of the Hebdomad, in order also to sift out and purify the sonship that had been left behind, unto the benefiting of souls and their being benefited.
And they say that these [the elect] themselves are sons, who exist in the cosmos for this reason: that by teaching they may purify souls and, together with the sonship, ascend to the Father above, [to the place] where the first sonship went. And they say that the cosmos will continue to exist until this [end], until all souls, together with the sonship, shall have ascended. And these are the things which Basilides, in his monstrous fable-mongering, is not ashamed [to teach].
And Justin, he too daring things similar to these, speaks thus: that there are three unbegotten first principles of the universe, two male, one female. Of the male ones, one principle is called 'Good,' called by this [name] alone, the foreknower of all things; the other is the father of all begotten things, without foreknowledge, unknown and invisible, and is called, he says, Elohim.
And the female [principle] is without foreknowledge, prone to anger, two-bodied, just as we have narrated in detail in the treatises concerning him [Justin]: that the parts of her above, as far as the groin, are a virgin, but from the groin downward she is a viper. Such a one is called Edem and Israel. He says that these are the first principles of the universe, from which all things came into being.
And [he says] that Elohim, without foreknowledge, came into desire for the half-virgin, and having mingled with her, begot twelve angels. Their names [are] ... ; and the paternal ones join with the father, while the maternal ones join with the mother. These are the [angels] concerning whom ... Moses, speaking allegorically, [wrote] the things written in the Law.
And [they say] that all things were made by Elohim and Edem: the animals, together with the rest, [were made] from the bestial part, but man from the parts above the groin. And Edem deposited in him the soul, which was her power, but Elohim [deposited] the spirit.
And [they say] that this one [Elohim] went up to the Good [principle] and abandoned Edem; whereat she, being enraged, contrived every plot against the spirit of Elohim, which he had deposited in man. And for this reason [they say] that the Father sent Baruch, giving orders to the prophets, that the spirit of Elohim might be rescued; but that all [the prophets] were dragged down by Edem.
But he [Justin] also says that Heracles too became a prophet, and that he was overcome by Omphale, that is, by Babel, whom they call Aphrodite. And [he says] that later, in the days of Herod, Jesus, son of Mary and Joseph, came into being, to whom he says Baruch spoke.
And [he says] that Edem plotted against this one [Jesus] too, but was not able to deceive him, and for this reason caused him to be crucified; and he says that his spirit ascended to the Good [principle]. And [he says] that of all those who are thus persuaded by these foolish and feeble arguments, the spirit will be saved, while the body and the soul are left behind to Edem, whom Justin the fool also calls Earth.
The Docetists say things such as these: that the First God is like the seed of a fig tree, and from this there came forth three aeons, like the trunk, the leaves, and the fruit; and that these put forth thirty [aeons], ten from each; and that they are all united by tens, differing from one another only in being first ... [text corrupt] ... and that infinitely many infinite aeons were put forth, and that all of them are male-female.
And [they say] that these, having taken counsel together and come together, begot, from the middle aeon, a Savior of all, out of the virgin Mary, in body altogether like the first [body] in the fig-seed, but in this respect inferior, in that it was begotten; for the seed, from which the fig tree [comes], is unbegotten.
Now, the great light of the aeons was whole, admitting no ordering, having in itself the forms of all living creatures; this, having come upon the chaos lying below, provided the cause for the things that had come to be and that exist, and having descended from above it stamped down into the chaos the [impressions] of the eternal ideas — for [this was] the third aeon, the one who tripled himself.
Seeing all his own characters being dragged down into the darkness below, and not being ignorant of the terrible power of the darkness and the guilelessness of the light, he made heaven, and having fixed it in the middle, separated [it] between the darkness and the light.
Of all the forms of the third aeon, then ... [text corrupt] ... and he says that its impression is held fast by the darkness — being fire, yet again living, it came to be by the light — from which they say the great Archon came into being, concerning whom Moses speaks, saying that this one is a fiery god and demiurge, who also continually changes the forms of all things into body ... [corrupt] ... these souls.
For this reason they say that the Savior came, showing the way by which the souls held fast [in darkness] would escape; and that Jesus put on that only-begotten power; wherefore he could not be seen by anyone, on account of the ever-changing magnitude of [his] glory. And they say that everything happened to him just as it is written in the Gospels.
摩諾伊莫斯（Monoïmus）──那位阿拉伯人──的門派宣稱，萬有的本原是「首人」（First Man）與「人子」（Son of Man）；並說，如摩西所言那受造之物，並非由首人所造，而是由人子所造──並非由其全體，而是由其一部分所造。
Those of the school of Monoïmus the Arab say that the first principle of the universe is the First Man and the Son of Man, and that the things that came into being, as Moses says, were made not by the First Man, but by the Son of Man — not by the whole of him, but by a part of him.
And [they say] that the Son of Man is the iota, which is the decad (ten), the sovereign number, in which is the substance of the universal number, through which every number is constituted, and the origin of the universe: fire, air, water, earth. And this, being one iota, is also a single stroke — perfect from the perfect, a stroke flowing down from above, having all things that the Man himself has, as many as the Man of the Son of Man has.
He [Moses] says, then, that the cosmos came to be in six days, that is, by six powers, from which the cosmos came into being out of the single stroke [of the iota]. For the cubes and the octahedra and the pyramids and all the figures resembling these, out of which fire, air, water, and earth are constituted, came to be from the numbers contained in that single stroke of the iota, which is the Son of Man.
Whenever, then, he says, Moses speaks of the rod that was turned [into a serpent] in Egypt, he is enumerating the plagues, allegorically [representing] the world of the iota; nor did he give shape to more than the ten plagues.
But if, he says, you wish to know the All, seek within yourself who it is that says, 'my soul,' 'my flesh,' 'my mind' — appropriating each of these as belonging to himself, as though he were other than them; understand this one as perfect from the perfect, [one who], though owning none of the things so called as his own, is himself all things. Such, then, are the opinions held also by Monoïmus.
Tatian, similarly to Valentinus and the others, says that there are certain invisible aeons, from which the cosmos and the things that exist were fashioned by someone below. He practices a rather Cynic-like life, and differs scarcely at all from Marcion in his slanders and his legislation concerning marriage.
本都的馬吉安（Marcion of Pontus）及其師克爾多（Cerdo），兩人皆確定萬有共有三個本原：善者、義者、質料。但他們的部分門徒又加上第四個，宣稱有：善者、義者、惡者、質料。
Marcion of Pontus, and Cerdo his teacher, themselves too define that there are three first principles of the universe: the Good, the Just, and Matter. But some of their disciples add a fourth, saying: the Good, the Just, the Evil, and Matter.
All of them [say] that the Good made absolutely nothing, while the Just — some call him the Evil, others call him merely the Just — they say made all things out of the underlying matter; for they say that he made them not well, but without reason.
For it is necessary that the things made be like the one who made them. Wherefore they also make use of the evangelical parables in this manner, saying: 'A good tree cannot bear evil fruit,' and so on — asserting that this was said with reference to the things wrongly held to be his [the Just's] doing. And [they say] that Christ is the son of the Good, and was sent by him for the salvation of souls, whom he [Marcion] calls the inner man, saying that he appeared as a man without being a man, and as being in the flesh without being in the flesh, having appeared in semblance only, having undergone neither birth nor suffering, but only in seeming.
And he does not hold that the flesh rises again, and, saying that marriage is corruption, he leads his disciples to a rather Cynic-like life, supposing that in these things he grieves the demiurge, if one abstains from the things made or ordained by him.
But Apelles, his disciple, being displeased with the things stated by his teacher, as we said before, propounded, with a different account, that there are four gods, one of whom he calls the Good, whose son he does not [hold] Christ to be at all; another the demiurge of the universe, whom he does not wish to be [called] god; another the fiery one who appeared; and another the evil one — these [latter three] he calls angels; and adding Christ, he makes a fifth.
He gives attention to a book which he calls the Manifestations, [written by] a certain Philoumene, whom he regards as a prophetess. He says that Christ did not take on flesh from the virgin, but from the substance of the world lying close at hand. This man composed treatises against the Law and the Prophets, attempting to overthrow them as having spoken falsehoods and as not having known God; and he says that flesh perishes, just as Marcion does.