Against Heresies in Five Books [Book Five is contained in Volume 7b]

They successfully entice the simple-minded through the art of language toward a mode of inquiry, but miserably destroy them by constructing a blasphemous and impious opinion concerning the Creator, in that they have no power to distinguish the false from the true.

2. ^A Error does not display itself in its own likeness, lest, being unmasked, it should become exposed; but being artfully adorned with a persuasive covering, it makes a show of appearing even truer than the truth itself by means of an external display for the benefit of the more inexperienced—just as it has been said by one better than us concerning such people: That a glass [vessel], through artistic imitation, insults the precious stone which is the emerald, and which is highly valued by some, whenever there is no one present capable of testing it and proving, by artistic skill, that which has been cunningly ^B contrived. For when copper is mixed into silver, who will easily be able to test it thoroughly?

BILLI’S INTERPRETATION

^C ...certainly, and by an artifice of words applied for the purpose of persuasion, they entice those whose intellect is simple into a mode of inquiry, but otherwise they ignorantly and perversely bring destruction upon them; precisely on this account, because they induce them to hold a contumelious and impious opinion regarding that supreme Creator of all things, so that they are unable to distinguish the false from the true.

...it does not show itself separately, so that it might otherwise be clearly seen like a garment pulled away; but being cunningly adorned in a seductive cloak, it achieves this, that through external appearance it seems, even to the less expert, to be truer than truth itself: just as it has been said by a certain person more excellent than I concerning such men, that glass, crafted by the industry of art into the likeness of an emerald (otherwise a noble stone and of great value among some), brings disgrace upon it, since there is no one at hand who can examine it and, by artistic skill, detect that which has been craftily made. Moreover, when copper is mixed with silver... ^D

who can easily and without corruption test this? Therefore, lest some, through our fault, be snatched away like sheep by wolves, failing to recognize them ^A because of the outer covering of sheep’s skin—from which the Lord warned us to beware—speaking like us, but thinking differently, I considered it necessary, having read the commentaries of those who are, as they say, disciples of Valentinus, and having even met with some of them and apprehended their opinion, to make known to you, beloved, the monstrous and deep mysteries which not all can grasp, because not all have emptied out their brain. Thus, having learned them, you may make them clear to all those with you, and exhort them to guard themselves against the ^B abyss of madness and of the blasphemy against Christ. And, as far as lies within our power, we shall briefly and clearly set forth the opinion of those who now teach falsely, I mean those around Ptolemaeus, which is as it were a blossom of the school of Valentinus, and we shall provide starting points, according to our mediocrity, for refuting it, by demonstrating the things said by them to be strange and inconsistent with the truth, although we are neither accustomed to writing nor trained in the art of rhetoric.

^A But inasmuch as love urges us both to disclose to you and to all those who are with you those doctrines which up until now were hidden, but which now, by the grace of God, have come to light—for there is nothing covered which shall not be revealed, and hidden which shall not be known—you will not require from us, who dwell among the Celts and are for the most part occupied with a barbaric tongue, the art of eloquence, which we have not learned, nor the power of a writer, which we have not practiced, nor the embellishment of words, nor the persuasiveness, which we do not know. But you shall receive those things which have been written to you with love, simply, truly, and in an unpolished manner, and you shall also add to them yourself, according to the love you have, as one ^B more capable than we are. Taking them as it were as seeds and foundations from us, and in the breadth of your mind, you will cause those things which were said by us in few words to be fruitful in much measure, and you will powerfully present to those who are with you the things which were weakly related by us. And just as we have been ambitious, since you have long been seeking to learn their doctrine, not only to make it manifest to you, but also to provide provisions for demonstrating it to be false, so also you, with similar zeal, will minister to the rest, according to the grace given to you by the Lord, so that men may no longer be led astray by their specious arguments, ^C providing them with ready support or assistance.

CHAPTER FIRST.

^A 1. They say that there is in the invisible and ineffable heights a perfect Aeon, who pre-existed: him they call Proarche, Propator, and Bythus. He is invisible and incomprehensible. Being thus incomprehensible and invisible, sempiternal and unbegotten, he existed in silence and deep tranquility throughout infinite aeons of time. And they say that Ennoea co-existed with him, whom they also call Charis and Sige. And that at some point this Bythus, the Beginning of all things, purposed to emit from himself this beginning ^B and to project it, as a seed, into Sige (who co-existed with him), as if into a womb. Having received this seed and become pregnant, she brought forth Nous, who was like and equal to him who had emitted him, and alone capable of containing the greatness of the Father. They call this Nous Monogenes.

**BILLI'S INTERPRETATION.** What has been said to us, you will set forth more fully, and those things which we have narrated feebly, you will declare with strength to those with whom you are accustomed to associate. And just as we, at your persistent urging, have endeavored to understand what their opinion was—studying not only to make it clear for you, but to provide the resources to expose its falsehood—so you too, according to the grace which you have received from the Lord, shall promptly and with eager zeal serve others, so that men may no longer be led astray by their specious arguments, prepared for the purpose of persuasion. It is, however, of this kind:

^C **CHAPTER FIRST.** 1. They assert that there is a certain perfect Aeon existing in those heights, whom neither eyes can perceive nor words can name, whom they call Proarche, Propator, and Bythus. Him, moreover—since he was incomprehensible and invisible, as well as sempiternal and unbegotten—to have remained in infinite aeons of time in supreme quiet and tranquility. With him also existed Ennoea, whom they call Charis and Sige. This Bythus, furthermore, at some time, purposed in his mind to bring forth the beginning of all things, and that this production, which he had determined in his mind, he had deposited as a seed into Sige, who was one with him, not otherwise than into a womb. And she, having received this seed, and having been made pregnant, brought forth Nous, equal to his parent.

^A and equal in form; and they say that he alone was capable of the Father's greatness. Him they call Nous, and Monogenes, and Father, and the Beginning of all things. Together with him, they say, Truth was also brought forth; and this they call the first and originative Pythagorean Tetrad, which they also call the root of all things. For there is Bythus and Sige, then Nous and Truth. And this Monogenes, perceiving the purpose for which he had been brought forth, brought forth himself also Logos and Zoe, the father of all those who were to come after him, and the beginning and formation of the entire Pleroma ^B. From Logos and Zoe, they say, were brought forth by conjunction Anthropos and Ecclesia; and this is the originative Ogdoad, the root and substance of all things, which among them is called by four names: Bythus, and Nus, and Logos, and Anthropos. For each of them, they say, is male-female, as follows: First, that the Propatar was united by conjunction to his own Ennoia; then Monogenes, that is to say Nous, to Aletheia; and

BILLIUS' INTERPRETATION

^A and whom they call Grace and Silence; ^B and the Unigenitus, that is, Nous, with Aletheia, that is, Truth; and the Logos with Zoe; and Anthropos with Ecclesia.

2. But these Aeons, ^A wishing also to glorify the Father from their own [abundance], emitted offspring in conjugation: the Logos and Zoe, after Anthropos and Ecclesia had been emitted, [produced] another ten Aeons, whose names they say are these: Bythius and Mixis, Ageratus and Henosis, Autophyes and Hedone, Acinetus and Syncrasis, Monogenes and Macaria. These are the ten Aeons which they assert were emitted from Logos and Zoe. And Anthropos himself, together with Ecclesia, emitted twelve Aeons, to whom these names are given: Paracletus and Pistis, Patricos and Elpis, Metricos and Agape, Ainus and Synesis, Ecclesiasticus and Macariotes, Theletus and Sophia.

3. These are the thirty Aeons of their error, ^B who are silent and unknown. According to them, this invisible and spiritual Pleroma is divided into three parts: into an ogdoad, a decade, and a duodecade. And for this reason, they say that the Savior—for they do not even wish to call Him Lord—did nothing in public for thirty years, thereby demonstrating the mystery of these Aeons. And [they also use] the parable of the laborers who were...

BILLII INTERPRETATION

...female, in this manner: For they say that the first Propatore joined in the bond of marriage with his Ennoea, whom they also call Charis and Sige; then Monogenes, that is, Nous, with Truth; the Word with Life; and finally, Man with the Church.

2. Wishing to glorify the Father from their own ^C abundance, they produced conjugal offspring: namely, the Word and Life, after they had produced Man and the Church, brought forth ten other Aeons into being, whose names they say are these: Bythius and Mixis, Ageratus and Henosis, Autophyes and Hedone, Acinetus and Syncrasis, Monogenes and Macaria. These are the ten Aeons which they claim arose from the Word and Life. And man himself, together with the Church, produced ten Aeons, to whom these names are assigned by them: Paracletos and Pistis, Patricos and Elpis, Metricus and Agape, Ainus and Phronesis, Ecclesiasticus and Macariotes, Theletus and Sophia.

3. These are the thirty Aeons of these erring men, who they claim are shrouded in silence and unknown to anyone: this invisible and spiritual Pleroma of theirs, divided in three, into the Ogdoad, the Decade, and the Duodecade.

^A They say that in the parable of the laborers sent into the vineyard, these thirty Aeons are most clearly set forth. For some are sent about the first hour, others about the third, others about the sixth, others about the ninth, and others about the eleventh. If, therefore, the aforementioned hours are added together, they make up the number thirty. For one, and three, and six, and nine, and eleven, make thirty. They wish it to be understood that the Aeons are signified by the hours; and that these are the great, wonderful, and ineffable mysteries which they themselves bring forth, and if any of the things said in the Scriptures in a general sense can be adapted and likened to their fabrication.

CHAPTER II

The Father is known only to the Only-Begotten. The emulation, perturbation, peril, and formless birth of Sophia. She is restored by Horos. Who is Horos? Christ and the Holy Spirit are sent for the consummation of the Aeons. Jesus is produced from the assemblage of the Aeons.

^B They say that the Propator is known to the Only-Begotten who was born from him, that is, to Nous; but that he is invisible and incomprehensible to all others. And Nous alone, according to them, delighted in beholding the Father, and rejoiced as he contemplated his immeasurable magnitude, and considered communicating this magnitude to the other Aeons: how great and how vast he was, and how…

[Billii Interpretatio]

...he was. And for this reason they claim that the Savior (for they do not even please to call him Lord) did nothing openly for thirty years, and in the light of men, in order, forsooth, that he might demonstrate the mystery of these Aeons. Furthermore, they contend that in that parable regarding the laborers sent to the vineyard, these Aeons are indicated most openly. For some are sent about the first hour, some about the third, some about the sixth, some about the ninth, some about the eleventh. Moreover, all these hours, when gathered into one, fill out the number thirty. For one, and three, and six, and nine, and eleven make thirty. They wish for the Aeons to be signified by the hours; and that these are those huge and wondrous mysteries, not to be uttered to the common folk, which they themselves offer; and if there is anything anywhere in the sacred letters which can be adapted and compared to their invention.

CHAPTER II

^C And regarding their Propator, they say that he could be neither seen nor comprehended by any others than the Only-Begotten only. Therefore, according to their opinion, Nous alone, contemplating the Father, lived in great pleasure, and contemplating his immense magnitude, rejoiced, and pondered on explaining the amplitude of the Father to the other Aeons also, namely how great and how huge he was, ^D and how…

^A he was without beginning, and incapable, and incomprehensible to be seen. But Sige held him back by the will of the Father, because she wished to bring them all to the understanding and desire of searching for their aforementioned Propatōr (Forefather). And the rest of the Aeons likewise quietly longed to see the producer of their seed, and to contemplate that root which is without beginning.

2. But the last and youngest of the ^B duodecade, who had been brought forth by Anthrōpos (Man) and Ecclesia (Church), that is, Sophia, leaped forth; and she suffered a passion without the intercourse of her spouse, Thelētus. This passion had indeed begun among those concerning Nous (Mind) and Aletheia (Truth), but it flowed down to this one, having been turned aside—under the pretext of love, but in reality [impelled] by rashness, because she did not commune with the perfect Father, as Nous did. The passion, moreover, was a searching after the Father; for she wished, as they say, to apprehend his magnitude. Then, not being able to do so, because she was attempting an impossible task, and having become involved in very great agony ^C due to both the magnitude of the abyss and the unsearchableness of the Father, and her longing towards him, she was continually extending herself further forward, until she would have been swallowed up by his sweetness and dissolved into the whole essence, had she not happened upon that power which supports and guards all things outside of the ineffable magnitude.

BILLI'S INTERPRETATION

2. That last Aeon, and the youngest in birth, from the duodecade which had sprung from Anthrōpos and Ecclesia—that is, Sophia—leaped far forward, and contracted a passion without the intercourse of her spouse Thelētus. This, although it had taken its beginning in those who were around Nous and Truth, at length fell upon this depraved Aeon, under the pretext of love, but in reality impelled by rashness, because she had not in the least communed with the perfect Father, as Nous had. This passion, however, was nothing other than the investigation of the Father. For she desired, as they say, to possess [the knowledge of] his magnitude. Since she could not attain this, therefore... ^D [index: entries preserved]

^A she was checked and supported by that power: and having with difficulty turned back into herself, and being convinced that the Father is incomprehensible, she laid aside her former desire, together with the passion which had supervened from that wonder of astonishment. 3. Some of them also fabricate a story ^B about this passion and the conversion of Sophia: that having undertaken an impossible and incomprehensible matter, she brought forth an unformed substance, such as it was in her nature, as a female, to bring forth; and that having contemplated it, she was first grieved because of the imperfection of the generation; then she feared lest even it should not possess existence perfectly; then she was in an ecstasy, and at a loss, seeking the cause, and in what manner ^C she might conceal the event. Being thus established, and supported, and finding it difficult to turn back to herself, and having been persuaded that the Father is incomprehensible, she laid aside her former purpose, along with the passion which had arisen from that stupendous miracle.

3. Some of them, however, thus in a certain way fabricate the passion and conversion of Sophia: that having undertaken an impossible and incomprehensible task, she brought forth an unformed essence, such as it was in her nature, as a female, to bring forth; and having perceived this, she was first grieved because of the imperfection of the birth; then she feared lest it should not even possess existence perfectly; then she was in an ecstasy, and at a loss, and seeking the cause and in what manner she had undertaken an impossible thing. And while she was lingering in extreme anxiety, both because of the magnitude of the depth and the unsearchable nature of the Father, and also because of her singular benevolence toward him, she was always extending herself toward things beyond, by means of his sweetness, until at last she was absorbed and would have been reduced to his entire essence, had she not encountered that power and faculty which supports all things and guards them outside the ineffable magnitude. This power they call Horos, by whom they say she was restrained and supported; and that at length, returning to herself and persuading herself that the Father is incomprehensible, she cast off her former thought, together with that passion which had arisen from that stupendous miracle. ^D

^A And having come to be among the passions, she sought to take a turn, and attempted to return to the Father, and up to a certain point she dared, but then she became weak and became a suppliant of the Father. And the other Eons joined with her in supplication, and especially the Nous. From this they say that the substance of matter took its first beginning from ignorance, and from grief, and from fear, and from astonishment.

4. But the Father puts forth the aforementioned Horos on these [matters] through the Only-Begotten in his own image, unyoked and unwomanized. ^B For the Father [is] sometimes with the conjunction of Sige, but at other times also above male and female.

BILLI’S INTERPRETATION

For regarding her as having undertaken an impossible and incomprehensible thing, she brought forth a formless essence, such a nature as a female could. When she had perceived this, she was first affected with grief on account of the inchoate fetus, and then she feared, lest it should not even fully and perfectly have being; and afterward she went as if out of her power, and remained in great perplexity, seeking the cause of this thing, and in what manner she might conceal that which had happened. But being long exercised in these affections, she at length took on a better mind, and attempted to ascend to the Father. But when she had made the attempt for some time, she grew faint, and became a suppliant to the Father; and the other Æons also besought him with her, and especially Nun. And hence at last they narrate that the substance of matter drew its origin, namely from ignorance, and from grief, and from fear, and from astonishment.

4. But the Father [puts forth] this Horos, of whom we have spoken above, through the Only-Begotten, afterwards in his own image, ^C unyoked and unwomanized. ^D In the image of male-female. Following whom, Billius: in his image destitute of a spouse, and male-female. But it fights against right reason that that should be attributed to an image which merely belongs to persons. For who could bear that an image be called destitute of a spouse, and male-female? I would rather, therefore, with the English editor, blame the diligence of the interpreters than the sincerity of the Greek text. Hence, therefore, unyoked, unwomanized. But unwomanized is hardly understood; I would translate it with Grabius, "male-female," or "woman-male"; for that is not the meaning of this word. The common lexicons themselves teach that it does not mean "effeminate" or "womanish." But what it is for Horos to be neither "womanish" nor "effeminate," Theodoret will teach: "He puts forth the Limit," he says, "without a female spouse," that is, in no way united with a female by the bond of marriage. There was an exception, for "each of the Aons is yoked to a female," for each of the other Eons is conjoined with a female; or, as Irenæus speaks, "he was," that is, each of them by twos, male with female, were conjoined by the bond of marriage. And so, for Horos in Irenæus to be unyoked and unwomanized is nothing else than that same one in Theodoret to be "not with a female spouse," bound by no bond of marriage with a female, as are the other Aons: so that the word unwomanized is just a slightly more distinct explanation of the prior "unyoked," and here sounds as "not bound to a woman." And this perfectly responds to the following words of Irenæus. He had said that Horos was made in the very image of the Father, with no bond of marriage with a female. Which he immediately explains: "Because," he says, "the Valentinians sometimes conjoin the Father with the spouse Sige, but at other times they extol him above the condition of the male and above the female." And in this he made Horos like unto himself, because he is free from the laws of marriage by which the other Aons are held, just as the Father himself is sometimes shown to be free from them.

They call this Horos by the names Stauros (the Cross), Lytrotes (the Redeemer), Carpistes (the Reaper), Horothetes (the Determiner), and Metagogeus (the Conductor). ^A Through this Horos, they say, Sophia was cleansed and strengthened, and restored to her consort. For when the Enthymesis had been separated from her, along with the passion that had supervened, she herself remained within the Pleroma, but her Enthymesis, with the passion, was separated by Horos and excluded. ^{B C D}

rained the assault, and watched over her preservation and safety. ...*crucifixam*. Tertullian and the ancient interpreter read *staurō* (cross), and translated it as "crucified,” but, being outside of Him, it was a spiritual substance, a kind of natural impulse of an Aeon, yet formless and without shape, because it had apprehended nothing. And for this reason they declare its fruit to be weak and feminine.

5. But after this had been separated outside of the Pleroma of the Aeons, and its mother had been restored to her own conjunction, they say that Monogenes again put forth another conjunction, by the providence of the Father, ^A so that none of the Aeons might suffer in like manner to her,—namely, Christ and the Holy Spirit, by whom they say the Aeons were perfected. For they say that Christ taught them the nature of conjunction, and that those who know the comprehension of the Unbegotten are sufficient and fit, ^B and declared also the knowledge of the Father in them, since He is incapable of being contained, and incomprehensible, and it is not possible to see or hear Him, except through the Monogenes alone.

^C And the cause of their eternal perseverance for the rest is the first comprehensible ^D of the Father, while the cause of his birth and formation is His comprehensible [nature], to which He is indeed equal. And these things the Christ, who was just now brought forth, fashioned in them.

6. The Holy Spirit, indeed, taught all of them to give thanks, and introduced true rest. Thus they say that the Æons were made equal in form and opinion, all being made Noas, and all Logoi, and all Anthroposes, and all Christs: and in like manner all the females, Alethias, and Zoas, and Spirits, and Ecclesias. And having been confirmed [464 A] in this, and having rested completely, they say that with great joy they hymn the Pro-Father, participating in great exultation. And on account of this benefit, they might be of one will and resolve. For they say that Christ instructed them in the nature of union, and that those to whom the comprehension of the Unbegotten was known were sufficient unto themselves: He also preached among them the knowledge of the Father, namely that He could not be perceived, nor understood, nor finally seen or heard, except through the benefit of the Monogenes. And the cause, indeed, why they all are perpetual and eternal, consists in that which of the Father cannot be comprehended; but the cause of their origin and formation is situated in that which of Him can be comprehended, that is, in the Son. And these things that recently issued Christ fashioned in them.

...introduced. And in this manner, they report that the Æons were constituted equal in form, as well as in will and opinion; being, to be sure, all Noas, all Sermones, all Homines, and all Christs; and likewise all females, all Veritates, all Vitae, all Spiritus, and all Ecclesiae. And having been confirmed by this, ^B ...the sense flows spontaneously, mindful of the aforementioned. A little earlier Irenæus had said that the Æon who rashly scrutinized the incomprehensible nature of the Pro-Father had almost perished. He adds, lest that happen to any other of the Æons which happened to that imprudent one, that Christ was produced from the Father, who might teach them that the Father is accessible only to the mind of the Unigenitus, and entirely incomprehensible to the rest. Then (which seems to be a corollary of this) that the condition of the Unigenitus is far better than that of the other Æons; and that among the other Æons, the chief cause of eternal perseverance—by which they ward off from themselves the dissolution which almost befell the incautious Æon—is that the Father is incomprehensible, if indeed, being persuaded that the Father is incomprehensible, they do not attempt to scrutinize Him rashly; but that the cause of the eternal perseverance of His offspring, and His form, namely the Monogenes, is that His comprehension of Him to whom He is indeed equal; namely, that He comprehends the Father, to whom He is equal. Thus, by the addition of only one word, ^C if I am not mistaken, we easily solve the difficult knot, and appositely, both with the series of the discourse and the hypothesis of the Valentinians.

(2) The Holy Spirit, etc. The Greek text adds *en*, "one," which the interpreter omitted. Neither Tertullian nor Theodoret read it. Grabe suspects it was added so that the reason might be implied why the Holy Spirit made all the Æons equal, and brought unity to the Pleroma, because, forsooth, He himself also was one; or so that it might be insinuated that there are two Christs, one superior and another inferior, of whom presently; but that the Holy Spirit is one. ^D (3) It is known. This word Billius wishes to expunge. It is indeed useless enough; yet it can be preserved. And then it must be translated: "Neither can He be seen, nor heard, except as much as He is known by the benefit of the Monogenes, or through the Monogenes." (4) The first comprehensible, etc. We have discussed these in note 1 above. Moreover, they do not merely read *akatalēpton*, but also write—not from any codex, but, I suppose, led by the authority of the ancient interpreter.

^A partaking of the joy. And because of this beneficence, by one counsel and judgment, the whole Pleroma of the Aeons—with the approval of Christ and the Spirit, and with their Father likewise setting his seal upon it—brought together what each of the Aeons had within itself that was most beautiful and most flourishing; and by collecting these, and fitting them together appropriately, and harmoniously uniting them, they brought forth as "problems" ^B for the honor and glory of Bythus, a most perfect beauty and a star of the Pleroma, a perfect fruit: Jesus, who is also called Savior, and Christ, and—patronymically—Logos, and [in] All, because he is from all; and along with him they brought forth attendants ^C as their own, angels of the same lineage, for their honor.

CHAPTER III.

By what places of Sacred Scripture would the heretics attempt to support their figments?

1. This, then, is the negotiation as they call it—that which took place within the Pleroma, and concerning the suffering Aeon, and the one that shortly perished, as though in great matter, ^D a calamity resulting from the search for the Father—and that concerning Horos, and the Stauros, and the Redeemer, and Carpistes, and Horothetes, and [Met...*]

[alt-version omitted]

*[*The text of the Latin version (Billius's Interpretation) follows here:*]

...and having brought the whole to the utmost calm, they say that they lauded the Pro-Father with great joy, the Father himself also experiencing great pleasure; and by reason of this kindness, the whole company of Aeons, by common counsel and intent, with Christ and the Holy Spirit also consenting, and their Father also casting his vote, brought into the midst whatever was most beautiful and excellent that each possessed within himself; and by joining these fittingly and coupling them harmoniously, they produced for the honor and glory of Bythus a certain most perfect beauty, a star of the Pleroma, and a perfect fruit, which is Jesus, who is also called Savior, and Christ, and by his father's name, Sermon (Logos), and finally All, because he was born of all; and for their honor, attendants—angels, whose lineage was the same as his—were brought forth together.

CHAPTER III.

*(Note: The page ends here, mid-sentence, at the beginning of the list of AEons in the Latin text.)*

heir Cross, and those of the Redeemer, and Carpistes, and Horothetes, and Metagogeus, and the ^A *hexaonia compago* (coagmentation of the six); and the birth of the first Christ, with the Holy Spirit, which is the later generation of the Æons from the repentance of their Father, and the birth of the second Christ, whom they also call Savior; it is a composition put together from contributions. ^B They say that these things were not openly stated, because not all can grasp the knowledge of them; but were shown mystically by the Savior through parables to those who are able to understand. Thus, they say, the thirty Æons are signified by the thirty years, as we said before, during which they claim the Savior did nothing in public, and by the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. And they say that Paul identifies these Æons most clearly, and moreover maintains their order, speaking thus: “Unto all generations of the age of the age.” ^C And we too, finally, in our thanksgivings, saying the Æons of the Æons—

^A signifying those Æons; and wherever “age” or “ages” are named, they wish for the reference to be made to them.

2. And the emission of the twelve Æons, they say, is signified ^B by the fact that the Lord, being twelve years old, discoursed with the doctors of the law, and by the election of the apostles—for there are twelve apostles. And the remaining eighteen Æons are made manifest by this, that they say He spent eighteen months with his disciples after his resurrection from the dead. But also by the first two letters of his name, the *iota* and the *eta*, the eighteen Æons are clearly signified. And they say that the ten Æons are likewise signified by the *iota* letter, which precedes his name. And for this reason, they say, the Savior spoke: *One iota, or one yota, shall not pass away until all things be fulfilled*.

3. Now, things concerning the twelfth Æon ^C are spoken of to represent the passion, or the falling away. And regarding the twelve apostles, they say that he who was the twelfth— ^D *[Note: Here the translation transitions to the beginning of the next page’s text, which describes the departure of Judas as the sign of the twelfth Æon]*

the who was the twelfth— ^A they say that the passion of the apostasy is signified through Judas, who was the twelfth of the apostles, as the betrayal occurred, and because He suffered in the twelfth month; for they wish Him to have preached for only one year after baptism. Furthermore, they say that this is most clearly signified in the case of the woman who suffered from an issue of blood; for she who had suffered for twelve years was healed by the arrival of the Saviour, upon touching the hem of His garment; and for this reason the Saviour said, "Who touched me?" ^A teaching the disciples the mystery that had occurred among the Æons, the healing of the suffering Æon. For she who suffered for twelve years represents that power which, as they say, would have dissolved into the void, had she not touched His garment—that is, the Truth of the first Tetrad, which is indicated by the hem—and been extended and flowed out into infinite substance.

^B Billius' Interpretation. ...the defection is implied: and hence also that Christ suffered in the twelfth month. For they wish Him to have performed the office of preaching for only one year after baptism. Moreover, they wish this to be most openly declared in that woman who labored with an issue of blood. For since she had been ill for twelve years, ^C just as they say the passion occurred regarding the twelfth Æon, they attempt to show that the Saviour's passion was brought about by the betrayal of Judas, who was the twelfth of the apostles, and in the twelfth month. For they wish Him to have preached for one year after baptism. But in the woman who suffered from an issue of blood, they say it is manifested; for the woman suffered for twelve years, etc. Which are the same words as in Book I, chapter 3. Thus, therefore, from the related words I would deem that the Greek should be restored: (not ^D that the passion which occurred... is signified, as in the Gallus and Feuardent editions of Irenæus, or worse still, as it stands in codex R and the Basilian edition of Epiphanius). But this passion, which they say occurred regarding (or around) the twelfth Æon, is signified in that the Saviour's passion is shown to be brought about by the betrayal of Judas, who was the twelfth of the apostles, and because He suffered in the twelfth month. In this way the corrupted passage is restored from a sound one and from one that is entirely the same; and unless you restore it thus, you will have labored in vain in the explanation of a corrupted period.

^A His substance; but it stood and rested from passion by the outgoing virtue of the Son. They wish this to be the Limit, which cured her, and separated the passion from her.

4. That the Savior, being from all things, is the All, they say is shown by the word: "Every male opening the womb." For He, being the All, opened the womb of the Enthymesis ^B of the suffering Aeon, which was also cast out beyond the Pleroma, which they indeed call the second Ogdoad, of which we shall speak a little later. And they say that this was stated by Paul: "And he is all things." And again: "All things are into him, and from him are all things." And again: "In him dwells all the fullness of the divinity."

BILLIUS' INTERPRETATION

4. But that the Savior, who is sprung from all, is the All, they assert is shown by these words of Scripture: "Every male opening the womb." For they say He, being the All, opened the womb of the Enthymesis of ^C the Son's garment, or at least [that I should read] the virtue of the Son instead of "the virtue of this." For these things can by no means be referred to the Savior, who was neither an Aeon of the first tetrad, nor had he any kinship with Truth, the Aeon of the same tetrad; but it must be understood concerning Monogenes, and his spouse Alethia, the Aeons of the first tetrad. And the sense is plain, if you remember the aforementioned things. Namely, when the suffering Aeon was already being extended, and its substance flowing into the immense, it would have been dissolved into all its substance, had it not touched the garment of the Son, or Monogenes—that is, had it not recognized the error, and touched, or apprehended, the Truth of the first tetrad (for so it must be translated, not "of Truth," as I said above), the spouse of Monogenes (mystically signified by the fringe of the garment, because Truth is the last in the first tetrad of the Pleroma), by whose light illuminated, it turned into itself and believed now that the Father is incomprehensible, as is said above. Then the Son, having pity on it, and acting as an intercessor for it before the Father, sent forth from himself a virtue, namely Horos, who cured the suffering one and separated the passion from it. And thus the wretched Aeon stood and rested from the passion, through the virtue that went forth from the Son.

^D (6) "And by Paul." He writes in Colossians 3:2, where the Apostle writes: "All things and in all, Christ." (7) "All things into him," etc. The words of the Apostle are slightly changed. For it is written in Rom. 11:36: "For from him, and through him, and into him are all things." (8) "Of the divinity." The word "corporally," which exists in our codices, and which all the Greeks and most of the Latins read, the Valentinians perhaps omit because it made less toward their purpose. For their intention was only to scrape together here from the Writer those places in which the words "all," "every," "all things" might occur. Perhaps it was missing in Irenaeus' codex, as it also seems to have been missing in the codices of Cyprian and Archelaus; for each of them, as Grab observes, here in the *Disputation with Manes*, § 25, and the former at the beginning of the book *On the Good of Patience*, cites the words of the Apostle, omitting the adverb "corporally."

^A and that, "to sum up all things in Christ through God," they interpret as meaning that these things have been gathered together, and whatever else is of such a kind.

5. Furthermore, concerning their "Horos" (which they also call by many names), they assert that he has two operations: the confirmatory and the separative. And in that he confirms and establishes, they say he is the "Cross"; but in that he divides and defines, he is "Horos." They say that in this way he has indicated the operations of the Cross; and first, the confirmatory one, in the saying: "Whoever does not carry his cross, and follow me, cannot be my disciple"; and, "Taking up your cross, follow me." The separative operation of his, they say, is in the saying: "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." And they say that John also signified this same thing, saying: "His winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and he will gather the wheat into his storehouse, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire"; and through this, that he has signified the operation of Horos. For they interpret that winnowing fan as being the Cross, ^B which, indeed, consumes all material things, just as fire consumes chaff; but it cleanses them who are saved, and separates them. And I believe that the ancient interpreter wrote in this way. But the conjunction "and" (*kai*), which has incorrectly crept into the Greek text, led him into error. Hence he thought that "having been separated" (*exoristheises*) was an absolute case, to be rendered by the Latin ablative, which they call "absolute"; although it is evident that it should not have been severed from "Thought" (*Enthymeseos*), lest the sentence, hanging loosely, be completely perverted. Expunge, therefore, the particle "and" from the Greek, and likewise the particle "and" (*et*) with the word "that" (*ea*) from the Latin. Then read: "separated outside the Pleroma, namely, of [the] Excogitation."

THE INTERPRETATION OF BILLIUS

^A ...of that affected [Enthymesis], and cast out of the Pleroma, which they also call the second Ogdoad; concerning which we shall speak a little later. And for this reason they say that it was also explicitly stated by Paul: "And he is all things." And again: "All things in him and out of him are all things." And again: "In him dwells all the fullness of the divinity." And likewise that: "To sum up all things in Christ through God." In this manner they interpret these things, and whatever others are of this kind.

5. Afterwards, regarding their Horos, which they also call by many names, they establish that he is endowed with a double faculty: the one supporting, the other dividing; and inasmuch as he establishes and confirms, they say he is the Cross; but by the reason that he divides and distinguishes, he is Horos. Moreover, they say the Savior indicated his faculties thus. And first, indeed, that by which he supports and confirms, in these words: "Whoever does not carry his cross and follow me, cannot be my disciple." And again: "Taking up your cross, follow me." Then, however, that by which he separates and delimits, when he used these words: "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." They say John also signified this same thing, when he said: "The winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will cleanse the threshing floor, and he will gather the wheat into his storehouse; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." For by these ^C words he declared the power and faculty of Horos. For they interpret this winnowing fan as the Cross, which indeed consumes all things that consist of matter.

^A And they say that the Apostle Paul himself was mindful of this Cross, thus: "For the word of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." And again: "But far be it from me to glory in anything, save in the Cross of Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

6. All of them say such things concerning their Pleroma and their figment, striving to adapt ^B the things well said to the things evilly devised by them. And they do not only attempt to make their proofs from evangelical and apostolic writings, distorting the interpretations and perverting the expositions, but also from the Law and the Prophets; since many parables and allegories are said to be capable of being drawn ^C into many meanings through various interpretations. And others, craftily and deceitfully applying them to their own figment, lead captive away from the truth those who do not keep steadfast the faith in one God the Father Almighty, and in one Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God. ^D

CHAPTER IV.

BILLIUS' INTERPRETATION

CHAPTER IV.

which they also call Achamoth, having been separated from the Pleroma along with her passion, they say was cast out ^A into places of shadow and void by necessity. For she was outside the light and the Pleroma, without form and without shape, as if an abortion, because she apprehended nothing. They say that the superior Christ pitied her, and by means of the Cross extended himself, and by his own power formed her in substance, but not in knowledge; and that, having accomplished this, he returned, withdrawing his own power, and left her: so that she, feeling the passion which was regarding her by the separation from the Pleroma, might desire better things, having some scent of immortality left in her by Christ and the Holy Spirit. On this account she is also called by two names, Sophia paternally (for her father is called Sophia) and Holy Spirit, from the Spirit that is with ^B Christ. And that, having been formed, and having become sensible, she was immediately emptied of the Word who was invisibly with her, that is to say, Christ, and set out in search of the light that had left her, and was unable [to attain it].*

INTERPRETATION OF BILLIUS

^A catching hold of it, because she was hindered by the Border. And here they say that the Border, hindering her from her impulse towards the front, said "Iao"—whence they claim the name Iao originated. Being unable to pass the Border because she was entangled with the passion, and being left alone outside, she fell into every part of that passion, which was multifarious and manifold; and she suffered: grief indeed, because she did not overtake it; fear, lest life should desert her just as the light had; and dismay over these things. In ignorance, moreover, were all things. And not, ^B as her mother, the first Sophia, and Aeon, had, did she have change in her passions, but contrariety. There happened to her, moreover, another affection: that of conversion toward Him who had given her life.

2. This collection and substance they say was matter, from which this world consists. For they say that every soul of the world and of the Demiurge received its birth from the conversion; but from the fear and the sadness, ^C the remainder took its beginning. For from the tears, ^D the liquid substances, from the laughter, the light, and from the sadness and perplexity, the corporeal elements of the world.

^A For sometimes she would weep and grieve, as they say, because she was left alone in the darkness and the void; sometimes, however, coming into the thought of the light that had abandoned her, she would relax and laugh; at other times again she would be afraid; at others she would be in perplexity and distracted.

3. ^B And indeed, there is much tragedy here already, and the imaginings of each of them, explaining it in different ways and with different arrogance, as to from what passion and from what element a substance received its generation. And these things also seem to me not without reason to be things they do not wish to teach everyone openly, but only to those who are able to pay great rewards for such mysteries. For these are no longer the same as those of which our Lord spoke: *Freely you have received, freely give;* but they are withdrawn, and monstrous, and deep mysteries obtained with great labor by those who are fond of lies. For who would not expend all that is his, in order to learn that from the tears of the Enthymesis of the affected Aeon, the seas, and fountains, and rivers, and all liquid substance received their generation, and from her laughter, the light, and from her astonishment and perplexity, the corporeal elements of the world?

4. I wish, however, to contribute something to their fruitfulness. ^C For since I see the sweet fruits of the world, and of the Demiurge, and finally that every other soul received its origin; but that the rest took their beginning from fear and sadness. For they say that from her own tears every liquid essence existed, from her laughter, the light, and lastly from her sadness and stupor, the corporeal elements of the world. For sometimes she wept and dwelt in sadness, as they say, for the reason that she had been left alone in the darkness and the void: sometimes, however, considering within herself that light which had deserted her, she was filled with joy and laughed. Sometimes again she would fear, and at other times she was in a confused and anxious state of mind, and was even affected by mental delusion.

5. And here now no slight tragedy and imagination arises, with each of them explaining in a different and yet another way from what affection and from what kind of element it has arisen, not without pride and arrogance. Which things also do not seem to me without reason to be things they do not want to hand over openly to everyone, but only to those who can pay an immense reward for such mysteries. For these no longer approach those things of which our Lord said: *Freely you have received, freely give;* but they are set apart, and are monstrous, and deep mysteries, which are not acquired by men studious in lying without great labor. For who would not spend all his resources to learn how from the tears of the Enthymesis, that calamitous Aeon, the seas and rivers and all the substance of waters received their origin; and from her laughter, the light; and from her stupor and anxiety, the corporeal elements of the world? ^D

^A And if they do not maintain that all things were cast forth from her tears, because a tear exists in its quality as salt, it is manifest, therefore, that these salt waters are those which come from the tears. But it is likely that she, having come to be in great agony and helplessness, also sweated. From this, then, according to their hypothesis, one must assume that springs and rivers, and whatever other fresh waters exist, did not have their origin from her tears. For it is unlikely that out of one quality of tears should come waters of different kinds; but this is more plausible, that some are from her tears, and others from her sweat. Since also ^B there are certain hot and acrid waters in the world, you ought to understand what she did and from what part of her body she emitted these. For such fruits are consistent with their hypothesis.

5. They say, then, that after she had traversed every kind of passion, and with difficulty looked up, she turned to the supplication of the light that had abandoned her—that is, of Christ—who, having ascended into the Pleroma, had himself, it is likely, been reluctant to descend a second time, yet had sent the Paraclete to her, that is, the Savior, having granted him all the power of the Father.

^A And granting all things under his authority, ^B and the Æons likewise, so that in him all things might be created, visible and invisible, Thrones, Divinities, Dominions. ^C And he is sent to her with his coeval angels. But they say that Achamoth, out of reverence for him, first put a veil upon herself; ^D and afterward, when she had seen him with all his fruitfulness, she ran to him, having received power from his manifestation. ^A And he formed her with a formation according to knowledge, and brought about a healing of her passions, separating them from her, and yet not neglecting them. For it was not possible for them to be utterly destroyed, as [were those] of the former one, because they were already habituated and capable of existing; but by placing them apart, he mixed and solidified them, and transformed them from an incorporeal passion into an incorporeal matter; and in this way he bestowed upon them an aptitude and nature, so that they might [pass] into compounds and bodies. ^B

BILLI INTERPRETATIO.

He was reluctant to descend again, [and so] sent the Paraclete to her, that is, the Savior, the Father granting him all power, and subjecting all things to his command, and likewise the Æons: so that in him all things might be created, as well those which fall under the sight as those which escape the gaze of the eyes—that is, Thrones, Deities, Dominions. Companions were also added to him, the angels who were his coevals. But Achamoth, as they themselves narrate, revering him, in the first place cast a veil over herself out of modesty; but afterward, when she had beheld him with all his endowments, having collected strength from his presence, she ran to him; and then he imprinted upon her the form of knowledge, and freed her from her perturbations. Yet he did not so separate and cast off these from her that he abandoned all care for them (for they could not be destroyed, as [in the case of] the affections of the earlier Sophia, because they had already taken root and gained strength); but rather he mingled those that were secret, and solidified them, and changed them from an incorporeal affection into a corporeal matter; and thereafter he imparted to them an aptitude and

r he mingled those that were secret, and solidified them, and changed them from an incorporeal affection into a corporeal matter; and thereafter he imparted to them an aptitude and ^A nature, so that they might come into concretions and bodies, and two essences might be produced: one evil, which had existed from the passions, and another subject to passions, which had risen from conversion; and this is the reason why they say the Savior fashioned them by his power. They teach that Achamoth, having become free from passion, and having seized the vision of the lights that were with him—that is, of the angels who were with him—by means of the joy that was in her, and having conceived from them, brought forth ^B fruits after the likeness, a spiritual offspring.

Billius's Interpretation

Nature brought forth [this], so that they might come into concretions and bodies, and two essences might be made: one evil, which had resulted from passions, and the other subject to passions, which had arisen from conversion. This same thing is the cause why they say that the Savior fashioned them by his power. But Achamoth, having been liberated from her affliction, through joy beheld the contemplation of those lights which were with him—that is, the angels whom he himself had as companions—and having been delighted by the sight of them, she...

brought forth offspring according to that image, a spiritual birth made in the likeness of the satellites of the Savior.

CHAPTER V.

1. There are, therefore, these three things already underlying [the process], according to them: the first from passion, which was matter; the second from conversion, which was psychical (animal); and the third, which she brought forth, namely the spiritual. Thus, she turned herself to their formation. But they say she was unable to give form to the spiritual, since it was of the same substance as she was; but she turned herself to the formation of the psychical substance, which had been produced from her conversion, and put forth the teachings which had come from the Savior; and they say that she first gave form to the Father and King of all, that is, of the psychical [beings]—whom they, indeed, call "the right"—and of those from passion and matter, whom they call "the left" ^A. For they assert that he gave form to all things that are after him, ^B moving secretly under the influence of his mother. Whence they also call him Metropator, and Apatore, and Demiurge, and Father; calling him Father of those on the right, that is, of the psychical; and [what is] on the left, that is, of the material. The Demiurge, ^C indeed, was shaped/formed—having been, as I might say, fermented by the very contemplation of the angelic lights—it is shameful to say it, but there is no other way to express it—in a certain way she brought forth [the offspring] within herself towards them; and by that spiritual conception, she immediately became pregnant... Finally, she gave birth.

^D

^A They call him Father, that is of the psychic [beings]; and of the left-handed ones—that is, of the hylic [beings]—they call him Demiurge, but king of all things. For they say that this Enthymesis, wishing to make all things in honor of the Aeons, made images of them, or rather, the Savior [made them] through her. And she herself, they say, remained in the image 1 of the invisible Father, being unknown to the Demiurge; but he [the Demiurge remained in the image] of the only-begotten Son, and the archangels and angels, who were produced by these 2, [remained in the image] of the remaining Aeons.

2 They say, therefore, that he became Father and God of those things which are outside the Pleroma 9, being the maker of all psychic and hylic things. For having separated the two substances [which were] confounded, and having made corporeal [things] from incorporeal [ones], he fashioned those things which are celestial and earthly, and became the maker of hylic and psychic, right-handed and left-handed [beings], of light and heavy, of those tending upward and of those ^B tending downward. For they say that he constructed seven heavens, above which they say the Demiurge is; and for this reason they call him the Hebdomad, but his mother, Achamoth, the Ogdoad, preserving the number of the original and primary Ogdoad of the Pleroma 4. And they say that the seven heavens are not intelligible 5, but intellectual [beings].

BILLI’S INTERPRETATION

^C ...having the same essence with him, that is, of the psychic [beings], which they also call right-handed, [distinguishing them] from those which were produced from passion and matter, which they call left-handed; that he fashioned [them]. For they assert that he formed all things which existed after him in such a way that, secretly and perceiving nothing of this sort, he was impelled by the Mother. Wherefore they also call him Metropator, and Apatore, and Demiurge, and Father; asserting him to be the Father of the right-handed ones, that is, the psychic [beings]; but the maker of the left-handed ones, that is, the hylic [beings], and king of all. For they claim that this Enthymesis, desiring to effect all things for the honor of the Aeons, made images of them, or rather the Savior by her operation. For from him she was preserved in the image of the invisible Father, in such a way that she was entirely hidden from the Demiurge; but he was preserved in the image of the Monogenis [only-begotten] Son, and the archangels and angels were produced from him in the image of the remaining Aeons.

...so they called him the maker of all things... ^D ...being the maker of all psychic, as well as hylic [beings]. For having distinguished those two essences [which were] before confounded, and having changed [them] from incorporeal into corporeal, he fashioned both celestial and terrestrial things... And indeed the term *noerous* [intellectual], which justly and deservedly pleases Billio, was clearly read by Tertullian: he says, in chapter 20, that they considered the heavens *noeros*, and sometimes make them to be angels. And the Valentinian hypothesis itself demands this reading both in Irenaeus and in Tertullian. For they wanted the heavens to be intellectual, not in the sense that they were understood by intelligence alone, but that they were gifted with sense and intelligence, inasmuch as they were angels, and were governed by angels. Hence they posited the paradise existing above the third heaven, [and] by virtue of this, a fourth archangel. They had received this fiction again from the Platonists, who felt that the heavens were gifted with an intellectual soul. Let Plotinus, Ennead II, book 9 be read, and those things which we said in our first Dissertation concerning the Valentinian heresy.

^A They say that these are angels, and that the Demiurge himself is an angel resembling God, just as they say that Paradise, existing above the third heaven, is a fourth angel in power, and that Adam, while he dwelt in it, received something from him.

3. They say that the Demiurge thought he had created all things by himself, but that he had actually created them while Achamoth was projecting. For he created heaven, not knowing heaven; and fashioned man, not knowing man; and brought forth earth, not knowing the earth; and they say that in all these things he was ignorant of the ideas of the things he was creating, and remained ignorant even of the mother herself; and that he alone thought he was everything. They say that his mother was the cause of this opinion in him, in that she wished to bring him forth as the head and beginning of her own substance, but master of the entire operation. This mother they also call Ogdoad, and Sophia, and Earth, and Jerusalem, and Holy Spirit, and, in the masculine, Lord. And they say that she possesses the place of the middle, ^B and that she existed as the architect of the psychic things, and of the right and the left, and of the light and the heavy, and of those things that tend upward and those that verge downward. For they say that seven heavens were built by him, above which they say he exists. On account of this they call him Hebdomad; but they call that mother, Achamoth, the Ogdoad, as she preserves the number of the primeval and sovereign Ogdoad which is in the Pleroma. Furthermore, they say that these seven heavens are spiritual, and they establish the angels themselves, and likewise they assert that the Demiurge himself is an angel resembling God, just as they also assert that Paradise, which is situated above the third heaven, is a fourth angel in power, and that Adam took something from him while he was dwelling within it.

3. And indeed that the Demiurge was involved in such an opinion, as to suppose that he had constructed all these things of himself; but that he had done so with Achamoth producing them. For he had founded heaven, though he was ignorant of heaven; and had fashioned man, though he did not know man; and had revealed the earth, though he did not know the earth; and in the same way they say that in all things he was ignorant of the forms of the things he was making, and even of the mother herself; and that through the error of this opinion he had imagined that he alone was all things. They declare that the mother herself was the cause of this opinion in him, because she had wished to bring him forth as the head and beginning of her own essence, but as master and arbiter of the whole business. This mother, moreover, they call Ogdoad, and Sophia, and Earth, and Jerusalem, and Holy Spirit, and Lord in the masculine. And that she dwells in the middle, and is indeed above the Demiurge, but below, or outside of, the Pleroma, until the consummation.

4. Since they say that physical substance consists of three passions, fear, grief, and perplexity, ^A they relate that it received its formation from these: they wish the Demiurge to have had his genesis from the conversion, and from fear all the rest of the psychical substance, such as the souls of irrational animals, of beasts, and of men. On this account, because he exists in a weaker state regarding the knowledge of what things are spiritual, he considered himself to be the only God, and to have said through the prophets: "I am God, and there is none besides me." ^B And they teach that the spiritual things of wickedness have come to be from grief; whence the devil, whom they also call the Cosmocrator, and the demons, and the angels, and the entire spiritual substance of wickedness have had their genesis. But they say the Demiurge is the psychical son of their mother, and the Cosmocrator is a creation of the Demiurge. And the Cosmocrator knows the things that are above him, because he is a spirit of wickedness; but the Demiurge is ignorant of them, seeing as he is a psychical being. And they say their mother dwells in the supercelestial place, that is to say, in the middle region; but the Demiurge ^C in the supercelestial place, that is to say, in the hebdomad.

BILLIUS’ INTERPRETATION.

^A And the Almighty in this world of ours. From the consternation and perplexity, as from a less noble source, they teach that those corporeal elements of the world were made, as we have said before: the earth according to the state of consternation, water according to the movement of fear, air according to the fixation of sorrow; and that fire is inherent in all of these, bringing death and corruption, just as ignorance also is hidden away in these three passions.

5. They define that he who formed the world made also the choicus (earth-born) man, taking him not from this dry earth, but from an invisible substance, and from that which is effusible and fluid matter; and that into this he breathed the psychical (soul). And they define this man as having been made according to the image and likeness: according to the image indeed, as being hylic (material) and close to him, yet not of the same substance as God; ^B according to the likeness, as being psychical; whence also they claim his substance is called the "spirit of life."

likeness, and the psychical; whence also the spirit of life is said to be its substance, as existing from a spiritual ^A defluxion. Afterward, they say, a skin garment was cast about him; and by this they mean the sensible flesh.

6. The birth of their mother, Achamoth, whom they brought forth according to the contemplation of those who are about the Savior; and they say that he, existing as of the same substance as his mother, was spiritual, and that he himself was ignorant of the Demiurge; and that he was secretly deposited into him, the Demiurge not knowing it, so that through him, into the soul which was from him, ^B having also grown within these, he might be ready for the reception of the perfect. For, as they say, the spiritual man, being co-sown with the Demiurge’s insufflation and her seed—which they themselves also call the Church, an antitype of the Church above—laid hold upon the Demiurge. And even then they claim that the one in them is such, so as to have the soul from the Demiurge, and the body from the earth, and the fleshly part from matter. ^{C D}

CAPUT VI

A threefold man of the heretics. They said good works were useless to them, but necessary only for Catholics. They thought they could not be defiled by any wicked deeds. Their morals were depraved.

1. Since there are, therefore, three types, they say that the material one (which they also call the left-hand one) must perish by necessity, since it is incapable of receiving any breath of incorruptibility. But the animal one (which they also call the right-hand one), since it is the midpoint between the spiritual and the material, goes to where it leans. As for the spiritual, they say it was sent forth in order that it might be fashioned here by being joined to the animal one, and be educated together with it in this manner of life. And they claim this is the salt and the light of the world. ^A For the animal ones had need of sensible instructions. For this reason they say that the world was fashioned, and that the Savior came to this animal nature, because it is within its own power to be saved. For they claim that he took the first-fruits of those whom he was going to save: from Achamoth, the spiritual part; from the Demiurge, he was clothed with the psychic Christ; and from the dispensation, he was invested with a body having an animal substance, ^B constructed with ineffable art, so that it might even be invisible and untouchable and capable of suffering...

BILLIUS' INTERPRETATION

CAPUT VI

^A And that it was prepared by an ineffable art so that it might become both visible, and palpable, and subject to suffering. And they say that it took nothing at all from the material, for they claim that the material substance is not capable of salvation. And they maintain that the consummation will take place when all that is spiritual has been fashioned and perfected by knowledge, that is to say, those who are spiritual men, who possess perfect knowledge concerning God and Achamoth. They assume that these are they who have been initiated into the mysteries.

2. For those who are psychic, that is, animal men, they say are confirmed by works and by simple faith, and do not possess perfect knowledge. And they say that these are we, who are of the Church. Therefore, they answer that for us, indeed, a good manner of life is necessary, for otherwise it is impossible to be saved; but they dogmatize that they themselves will be saved in every way and altogether, not through works, but because they are by nature spiritual. For as they say ^B that the earthly is impossible for it to partake of salvation (for they say that it is not capable of it), so again they say that the spiritual (which they themselves wish to be) is impossible to be subject to corruption, in whatever way they may have acted.

BILL'S INTERPRETATION

2. Those who are animal men are imbued with teachings, and they are confirmed through works and simple faith, nor are they gifted with perfect cognition. Such, they say, are we who profess the faith of the Church. From which they also declare that this is necessary for us: that we apply good actions, for otherwise it could not be ^C otherwise.

^A For just as gold deposited in mud does not lose its beauty, but preserves its own nature, the mud being unable to do any harm to the gold: so do they say that they themselves, even if they are involved in whatever material actions, are in no way harmed, nor do they lose their spiritual substance.

3. Therefore, those among them who are "perfect" fearlessly perform all those things which are forbidden, concerning which the Scriptures also bear witness that those who perform them shall not inherit the kingdom of God. [Gal. V, 21.] For they eat of things sacrificed to idols ^B indiscriminately, imagining that they are not defiled by them; and they are the first to gather at every festive entertainment of the heathen, held in honor of idols, so that some of them do not even abstain from that spectacle which is hated by God and men—the slaughter-loving show of wild-beast fighters and gladiators. But others, serving the pleasures of the flesh insatiably, declare that carnal things are given to the carnal and spiritual things to the spiritual. And some of them secretly corrupt the women taught by them this doctrine, as women who have often been deceived by some of them, having afterwards returned ^C to the Church of God, confessed this along with the rest of their error; but others, acting even openly and not even blushing, have snatched away whatever women they desired from their own husbands and made them their own wives. Others again initially behave modestly, pretending to live as if with sisters, but as time goes by they are exposed, having been caught—as some of them have been—with women who are pregnant.

BILLI'S INTERPRETATION.

...the power to attain salvation. But they affirm that they will be safe, not by conduct, but because they are spiritual by nature. For just as they say that a physical person ^D can in no way partake of salvation, because he is not even capable of it: so again they say that a spiritual person (which they wish themselves to be) is in such a condition that he is in no way able to receive destruction and corruption, in whatever flagrant crimes and wickednesses he may be involved. For just as gold placed in mud does not lose its beauty in the same way, but preserves its nature unharmed, and no harm can be brought to it by the mud: in the same way they also, however much they may be involved in material actions, are not harmed by this, nor do they suffer any loss of their spiritual essence.

^A As time went on they were exposed, the sister having been made pregnant by her brother.

But they attack us—who, for fear of God, take care not to sin even in thought or speech—as though we were ignorant, unlearned people; ^B while they exalt themselves, calling themselves perfect and the seeds of election. For they say that we receive grace merely for use—and that, therefore, it will be taken away from us—but that they themselves possess grace as their own property, derived from above from the ineffable and unnameable syzygy; and that for this reason it will be added to them. They argue, therefore, that they must by all means always meditate upon the mystery of the syzygy. And they persuade the unintelligent of this, speaking in these very words: "Whosoever, being in the world, has not loved a woman so as to be mastered by her, is not of the truth, and will not enter into the truth. But he who, being of the world, has been mastered by a woman, will not enter into the truth, because he was mastered by a woman in concupiscence." Therefore, they affirm that Scriptural ^C words call us "psychic," because those who do these things will in no way inherit the kingdom of God, as they commit them without any fear.

For they eat, freely and without any discrimination, things that have been sacrificed to idols, nor do they think themselves defiled by them; and they are the first to swarm to all the festivals and amusements of the Gentiles, which are celebrated in honor and worship of idols, to such an extent that some of them even think that they ought not to abstain from a bloody and deadly spectacle, hateful to God and men, in which beasts are fought or gladiators fight one another. There are also some who, yielding to the pleasures of the flesh to the point of satiety, say that carnal things are to be rendered to the carnal and spiritual to the spiritual. Furthermore, some of them have secret sexual intercourse with the women whom they instruct in their doctrine, ^D just as the women themselves, when they have been circumvented by some of them and led into error, and later have returned to the Church of God, have confessed this together with their other errors; others openly and with shameless faces take whichever women they have fallen in love with, and tearing them away from their husbands, marry them. Others again, having first pretended to live with them honestly as with sisters, when time has passed and their fraud has been discovered, have had the sister made pregnant by her brother.

But they attack most of us—who fear God, and do not sin even in thought or in speech—as though we were unlearned and utterly ignorant; while they exalt themselves miraculously, calling themselves perfect and the seeds of election. For they say that we receive grace in use only, and that it will therefore be taken away from us; but that they themselves possess it as their own, having had it brought down from heaven from that ineffable and all-nameable conjunction, and that for this reason it will increase for them; and that therefore they themselves must by all means exercise the mystery of marriage. And this they persuade foolish men to do.

^A They call [those who are] psychic, and say they are of the world, and that continence and good works are necessary for us, that by them we might come into the place of the middle; but for them, who are called spiritual and perfect, they are in no way necessary. For action does not bring one into the Pleroma, but the seed, which is sent out from there small, but which is perfected here. ^B And they say that Achamoth, their mother, will pass out of the place of the middle, and will enter into the Pleroma, and will receive her bridegroom, the Savior, who became out of all things, so that there might be a union of the Savior and of Sophia, who is Achamoth; and that this is the bridegroom and the bride, and the Pleroma is the bridal chamber; but that those who are spiritual, having stripped off their souls and having become intellectual spirits, having entered incomprehensibly and invisibly into the Pleroma, will be given as brides to the angels who are around the Savior. And the Demiurge himself will pass into the place of his mother Sophia, that is, into the middle; and the souls of those who have practiced justice will rest in that same region. For they [the psychics] will not ^C possess anything...

CHAPTER VII

The whole seed of Achamoth, with the spiritual men, will pass into the Pleroma; the Demiurge, with the psychic [animal] men, into the place of the middle; but the earthly man will depart into corruption. Matter to be consumed by fire. Blasphemy concerning the true Incarnation of Christ from the blessed Virgin. Division of the prophecies, and of their origin. The supine ignorance of the Demiurge.

1. When, however, the whole seed is made perfect, then at last they say that Achamoth, their mother, will migrate from the place of the middle and enter into the Pleroma, and will receive her bridegroom, the Savior, who was produced from all, that the marriage of the Savior and Achamoth may exist. And that this is what is signified by the bridegroom and the bride, just as the Pleroma is signified by the bridal chamber. But the spiritual, having stripped off their souls and having become intellectual spirits, having entered in an incomprehensible and invisible manner into the Pleroma, will be assigned as brides to the angels who surround the Savior. Furthermore, that the Demiurge himself will likewise pass to the place of his mother Sophia, that is, to the place of the middle, and that in that same region the souls of those who have cultivated justice will exist in rest. For regarding the psychic...

^A beings, they teach that nothing psychic can enter the Pleroma. And when these things have come to pass, they teach that the fire which lies hidden in the world will shine forth and be kindled, and having consumed all matter, will be consumed together with it, and will pass into a state of non-existence. They assert that the Demiurge knew nothing of these things before the advent of the Savior.

2. There are also those who say that He did not put forth His own Son, but that He was psychic; and that the prophets spoke concerning this Son. They say that He is the one who passed through Mary, just as water flows through a conduit, and that upon Him, at the time of baptism, there descended that Savior who was from the Pleroma, from all things, in the form of a dove; and that there also existed in Him that spiritual seed of Achamoth. Therefore, they say that our Lord was compounded of these four things, preserving the type of the primordial and first quaternion: from the spiritual, which was from Achamoth; and from the psychic, which was from the Demiurge; and from the dispensation, which was constructed ^B by an ineffable art; and from the Savior, who was the dove that descended into Him. And they say that this latter remained impassible (for it was not possible for Him to suffer, being incomprehensible and invisible); and that for this reason, when He was brought before Pilate, [the Savior] ascended into Him, to rest therein.

^A For they say that not even that seed which was from the Mother did suffer. For that too is impassible, as it is spiritual, and invisible even to the Demiurge himself. But the animal Christ, according to them, did suffer, and he who had been constructed in a mysterious way according to the dispensation; [this was done] in order that his Mother might show through him a type of the Christ above, of Him who was extended upon the Cross, and who had formed the formation of Achamoth according to substance: for they say that all these things are types of those things.

3. Those [souls], moreover, which had the seed of Achamoth, they say were better than the rest: wherefore they were also more loved by the Demiurge, who did not know the cause, but thought that they were such of themselves. ^B For which reason, they say, he placed them into prophets, and priests, and kings. And they expound many things to have been said by this seed through the prophets, inasmuch as they were of a higher nature. They say that the Mother also spoke many things concerning the things above, and indeed [spoke] through this [seed], and [through] the souls which were made by it. And henceforth they divide the prophecies, wishing to teach that some things were said by the Mother, some by the seed, and some by the Demiurge himself. ^C But also regarding Jesus, [they teach] just as much; [they say] that some things were said by the Savior, some by the Mother, and some by the seed, and some by the Demiurge, and *as we shall show as our discourse proceeds. Himself, to be moved according to the things said...*

^D

^A but to have despised them, thinking at one time of one cause, and at another time of another—either the spirit that prophesies (which itself also has its own motion), or man, or the entanglement of the hands—and thus to have persisted in ignorance until the coming of the Lord. But they say that upon the coming of the Savior, he learned all things from Him, and gladly joined Him with all his power, and that he is the centurion in the Gospel saying to the Savior: For I also am a man under my own authority having soldiers and servants, and whatever I order, they do. And that he will complete ^B the economy according to the world until the required time, especially for the sake of the care of the Church, but also for the sake of the knowledge of the reward prepared for him, that he shall pass into the place of the mother.

5. They say that there are three types of men, ^C the spiritual, the earthly, and the psychic, just as there were born Cain, Abel, and Seth; and from these [they draw] the three natures, no longer…

Billius' Interpretation

^A And they state that the material goes into corruption; but the psychic, if it chooses the better things, will find rest in the place of the middle state, but if it chooses the worse, it too will pass to things like unto itself. But as for the spiritual, whatever Achamoth may sow, from that time until now, having been trained and reared here in just souls—because they were sent forth as infants—they teach that these, having later been judged worthy of perfection, will be given as brides to the angels of the Savior, while their souls of necessity rest forever in the middle state with the Demiurge. And they further subdivide these psychic souls themselves, saying that some are by nature good, and some are by nature evil. And these good ones are those that become receptive to the seed, while those that are by nature wicked can never receive that seed.

CHAPTER VIII.

1. Since, therefore, such is their argument, which neither the prophets proclaimed, nor the Lord taught, nor the apostles handed down—the which they ^B boast more abundantly to have known than any others, reading from things not written, and, as the saying goes, attempting to weave ropes from sand—that they might credibly apply... ^C

BILLIUS' INTERPRETATION.

And that the material tends toward destruction; but that the psychic, if indeed it embraces the pursuit of better things, will rest in the place of the middle state; but if it follows after worse things, it will also proceed to things like unto them. But the spiritual things, which were sown by Achamoth, they hold that—having been trained and educated here from that time until now in the souls of just men, because they were sent forth as yet small and tender—eventually, when they have fulfilled all the measures of perfection, they will be given as brides to the angels of the Savior, and their souls will enjoy eternal rest in the middle region together with the Demiurge. And further distinguishing these very souls, they say that some are by nature good, and some by nature evil. And that those indeed are good which have been made capable of the seed; but those which are by nature evil are so constituted that they never receive that seed at all.

CHAPTER VIII.

1. Since these things have been posited by them, in the way that neither the prophets ever proclaimed, nor Christ taught, nor the apostles handed down, they boast that they have received a knowledge of all things beyond the rest of mortals, readings of course from those things which have by no means been produced in the monuments of the sacred Scriptures... ^D

^A they attempt to adapt to these things which are said, whether the Lord’s parables, or prophetic utterances, or apostolic words, so that their own figment may not appear to be without a witness; transgressing the order and the sequence of the Scriptures, and, as far as lies in them, dissolving the members of the truth. They transfer and refashion, and by making one thing out of another, they deceive many, with the ill-composed wisdom of those who apply the Lord’s sayings ^B. Just as if someone, having taken a beautiful image of a king, crafted of precious gems by a wise artisan, were to dissolve the underlying form of the man, and were to transfer those gems, and change their order, and make the form of a dog or of a fox, and this one having been crafted badly, then were to characterize it, and say that this is that beautiful image of the king which the wise artisan crafted, pointing to the gems which were well put together by the first artisan into the image of the king ^C, but badly moved by the latter into the form of a dog, and through the phantasy of the gems were to lead astray those who are more simple, those who do not have a grasp of the royal form, and were to persuade them that this rotten image of a fox is that beautiful image of the king; in the same way do these men also, having stitched together old-wives' fables, then from these words, and expressions, and parables ^D that are dragged in from here and there, seek to adapt them.

And as for all that they accommodate to those within the Pleroma, we have already spoken. ^B

2. But the things which they attempt to insinuate as being from the Scriptures, regarding those who are outside the Pleroma, are of this kind: They say that the Lord came to his passion in the last times of the world, in order that he might show forth the passion which had occurred to the last Aeon, and through this very end, might signify the end of the operation concerning the Aeons. And they relate that the twelve year old maiden, the daughter of the archisynagogue, whom the Lord approached and raised from the dead, is a type of Achamoth, whom Christ, having extended himself, shaped and brought into the perception of the light which had abandoned her. And they say that Paul, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, spoke of the fact that the Savior appeared to her, while she was outside the Pleroma, in the state of an abortion, when he said: "And last of all, as to one born out of due time, he appeared also to me." And that he likewise manifested in the same Epistle his own coming, together with those of the Savior's peers, to Achamoth, when he said: "A woman ought to have a veil upon her head, because of the angels." And because, upon the coming of the Savior to her, Achamoth out of modesty assumed a veil, they say that Moses made this evident by placing a veil upon his own face. And they also say that her passions, which she suffered,

BILLIUS' INTERPRETATION.

But whatever things they claim to accommodate from the Scriptures, even regarding those who are remote from the Pleroma, are of this sort. They say that the Lord came to undergo torments in the final times of the world for this reason, that he might indicate that passion which had happened to the last Aeon, and through this very end, might declare what the outcome of that affair, which had befallen the Aeons, had been. And that maiden, the daughter of the archisynagogue, twelve years of age, whom the Lord upon arriving recalled from death to life, they say is a figure of Achamoth, whom their Christ, having extended himself, formed, and restored to her the sense of the light that had deserted her. And that Paul, in that Epistle which he wrote to the Corinthians, commemorated the fact that the Savior appeared to her, since she was like some sort of abortion, in these words: "And last of all, as to one born out of due time, he appeared also to me." Indeed, they also declare that the Savior, together with his equals, likewise manifested his own coming to Achamoth in the same epistle, making use of these words: "A woman ought to have a veil on her head because of the angels."

^A They say that the Lord signified the passions which she suffered when he was on the cross. And, in the first place, by saying, "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" ^B he showed that Sophia was abandoned by the Light and was prevented by Horos from pressing forward. Her sorrow he indicated by saying, "My soul is sorrowful even unto death," ^C her fear by saying, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me," and her perplexity likewise by having said, "And what I shall choose, I know not."

3. They teach that he also manifested the three kinds of men: the material, when he replied to the one who asked, "Shall I follow thee? The Son of man hath not where to lay his head"; the animal, when he said to the one who asked, "I will follow thee; but permit me first to bid farewell to them that are in my house," "No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven." ^D They say that he spoke this concerning those of the middle region.

BILLII INTERPRETATION. That she covered herself with a veil for shame upon the arrival of the Savior, they say Moses made clear when he covered his face with a veil. Moreover, they say that the passions which she underwent were signified by the Savior on the cross. And indeed, in these words, "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" he indicated nothing else than that Sophia had been deserted by the Light and prevented by Horos from progressing further; while her sadness he indicated when he said, "My soul is sorrowful even unto death"; her fear, when he used the words, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me"; and likewise her anxiety and perplexity of mind, when he said, "And what I shall choose, I know not."

They say that he too was of the intermediate class, just as they say that he who confessed that he had fulfilled many parts of righteousness, but afterward declined to follow, and was overcome by riches, so that he did not become perfect, was also of the psychic genus.

They indicate the spiritual class in the words: "Let the dead bury their dead, but do you go and announce the kingdom of God"; and when he said to Zacchaeus the publican: "Make haste and descend, for today I must remain in your house." For they proclaim that these were of the spiritual genus. And they say that the parable of the leaven, which the woman is said to have hidden in three measures of meal, signifies the three genera. For they teach that the woman is Sophia; that the three measures of meal ^A are the three genera of men: spiritual, psychic, and choic (material); and that the leaven is the Savior himself.

They also teach that Paul explicitly spoke of choic, psychic, and spiritual men; where he says, "As is the choic, such are also the choic"; and where he says, "But the psychic man does not receive the things of the Spirit"; and where he says, "The spiritual man judges all things." But they say that the expression, "The psychic man does not receive the things of the Spirit," is spoken of the Demiurge, who, being psychic, did not know either his mother, who was spiritual, or her seed, or the Aeons who are in the Pleroma. ^B

Now since the Savior was taking the first-fruits of those whom he was to save, they say that Paul spoke these words: "And if the dough is holy, then also the mass." By the first-fruits, they teach that that which is spiritual is signified; but by the mass, us, that is, the psychic genus, which he sanctified by these first-fruits. But they say that the Choic (or material) genus is entirely incapable of salvation, for it is not capable of participating in the breath of life.

^A 4. And concerning the fact that Achamoth wandered outside the Pleroma, and was formed by Christ, and was sought out by the Savior, they say that he signifies this by his saying that he himself had come to the sheep that had wandered. For they interpret the "wandering sheep" as being their mother, from whom they wish this Church that is here to have been sown. They interpret the "wandering" as her sojourn outside the Pleroma among the passions, from which they suppose matter to have been created. And they explain the woman who sweeps the house and finds the drachma as being the higher Sophia, who, having lost her Enthymesis, later, when all things had been purified through the advent of the Savior, ^B finds it; and therefore they say that she too is restored within the Pleroma. They say that Symeon, who took Christ into his arms and gave thanks to Him, and said, "Now you dismiss your servant, O Lord, according to your word in peace," is a type of the Demiurge, who, upon the arrival of the Savior, learned of his own transposition and gave thanks to Bythus. And through Anna, who in the Gospel is called a prophetess,

^A having lived seven years with a husband and remaining a widow for all the rest of the time, until she saw the Savior and recognized him, and spoke of him to all—they determine that Achamoth is most clearly signified. And she, having seen the Savior for a little while with his contemporaries, remaining during the whole of the rest of the time in the intermediate state, was awaiting him, as to when he should come again and restore her to her own consort. They say, moreover, that her name was revealed by the Savior in his saying: And wisdom is justified by her children; and by Paul, in this way: We speak wisdom among the perfect. They claim also that Paul, in pointing to one, spoke of the unions ^B that are within the Pleroma; for writing concerning that union which is according to this life, he said: This mystery is great; but I speak of Christ and the Church.

5. Furthermore, they teach that John, the disciple of the Lord, signified the first Ogdoad by these very words, speaking as follows: John, the disciple of the Lord, wishing to tell of the generation of all things, according to which the Father produced all things, posits a certain beginning—that which was first begotten by God, which he calls both Monogenes and Son, and God, in whom the Father ^C produced all things seminally. And they say that the Word was emitted from this, and in him the whole essence of the Aeons, which the Word himself later formed. Since then he speaks of the prime generation, he rightly makes his doctrine begin from the beginning—that is,

he performs the teaching of God and the Word. And he speaks thus: *In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, ^A and the Word was God.* He thus distinguishes the three: God, and the Beginning, and the Word; yet again he unites them, in order to show both the emanation of each of them, that is, of the Son and of the Word, and the union ^B which is at once toward one another and toward the Father. For in the Father, and from the Father, is the Beginning, and from the Beginning is the Word. Well, therefore, did he say: *In the beginning was the Word;* for it was in the Son. *And the Word was with God;* for so too was the Beginning. *And the Word was God,* consistently; for that which is begotten of God is God. This ^C *was in the beginning with God;* he indicated the order of the emanation. *All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made;* for to all the Aeons that came after him, the Word became the cause of their form and generation. But *that which was made in him,* he says, *is life;* and here he indicated a syzygy. For he said that all things were made by him, but the life *in him.* This then, which came into being in him, is more intimately related ^D to him than those things made through him; for it is ever with him, and through him it bears fruit. Since he adds, *And the life was the light of men.* By the term "man" he now signified the Church, so that by one name he might manifest the syzygy.

BULL'S INTERPRETATION

^A Having just spoken of Man, he implied the Church by the same name as Man, in order that by the one name he might signify the communion of the syzygy. For from the Word and the Life, Man is generated, and the Church. And he called the Life the light of men, because they have been illuminated by it, which is to be formed and manifested. Paul also says this: *For everything that is manifested is light.* Since, therefore, the Life has manifested and generated both Man and the Church, it is called their light. John has clearly indicated, therefore, through these words, both the other things and the second tetrad, Word and Life, Man and Church. ^B Nay, he indicated the first tetrad as well. For, describing the Savior and saying that all things outside the Pleroma were formed through him, he says that he is the fruit of the whole Pleroma; for he also says that he is the light shining in the darkness, and is not comprehended by it, because, in forming all things which were made through passion, he remained unknown by them. And he speaks of him as Son, and Truth, and Life, and the Word made flesh; whose glory we have seen, he says, and his glory was as that of the Only-begotten, which was given to him by the Father, full of grace and truth. He says also that he is ^C full of grace and truth, and he says that he is the Word, and the glory of the Only-begotten, and he refers "him" to the darkness.

BILLIUS’ INTERPRETATION

He also signified [these] equivocally, in order that by one word he might declare the commercial relationship of the conjunction. For from the Word and the Life, Man and the Church have originated. Furthermore, he called the life the light of men, because they are illuminated by it, that is to say, formed and made manifest. Which also Paul says in these words: *For everything that is manifested is light.* Since, therefore, the Life generated and manifested both Man and the Church, it is consequently called their light. Clearly, therefore, through these words John declared both other things and the second quaternitas, that is, Word and Life, Man and Church. Moreover, the first quaternitas ^D is also indicated by him. For he says regarding the Savior, and teaching that all things that are outside the Pleroma were formed by him, that he is the fruit of the whole Pleroma.

For he called him the light shining in darkness, and not comprehended by it: since, without their knowing, he fashioned all things that were made out of the passion. In addition to this, he calls him Son, and Truth, and Life, and the Word made flesh: "Whose glory," he says, "we beheld, and it was the glory of the Only-begotten, which had been granted to him by the Father, full of grace and truth." Clearly, then, and accurately he also shows the first quaternion, when he spoke of the Father, and Charis, and the Only-begotten, and Truth. And in this manner John has spoken concerning the first and mother of all Aeons Ogdoad. For he spoke of the Father and Charis, the Only-begotten and Truth, the Word and Life, Man and the Church. And in this manner Ptolemaeus.

CAPUT IX.

^A 1. You see, beloved, the method by which those who use it deceive themselves, slandering the Scriptures, and striving to make their own fiction consist of them. For this reason, I have also set forth their own expressions, that from them you might understand the craftiness of the method and the wickedness of the error. For if, in the first place, it had been John’s intention to make known that Ogdoad which is above, he would have observed the order of the emission, and he would have placed the first quaternion—since it is more venerable, as they say, and highly to be revered—among the first names, and thus would have attached the second, so that through the order of the names the order of the Ogdoad might be shown. And he would not have, after such an interval, as if having forgotten and then remembering, mentioned the first quaternion at the very end. ^B Furthermore, if he had wished to signify the pairs, he would not have omitted the name of the Church; but either for the remaining pairs [he would have included it], or—

BILLIUS' INTERPRETATION

^A For he was satisfied with the naming of the males, since they too could be understood in the same way, in order to preserve unity throughout; whereas if he were enumerating the syzygies ^B of the remaining [ones], he would also have revealed the syzygy of Man, and would not have left it to us to obtain his name by divination.

2. The falsification of their exposition is therefore manifest. For since John proclaims one God Almighty and one Only-Begotten Christ Jesus, through whom he says all things were made, this Son of God, this Only-Begotten, this Creator of all things, this true light illuminating every man, this Maker of the world, this one who came into his own, this same one who became flesh and dwelt among us—they, distorting the exposition according to plausibility, wish for one to be the Only-Begotten according to emission, whom they also call the Beginning; and they wish for another to be the Savior, and another to be the Word, the son of the Only-Begotten, and another to be Christ, who was emitted for the restoration of the Pleroma. And taking each one of the things mentioned away from the truth, and abusing the names, they have transferred them to their own hypothesis, so that, according to them, John has made no mention of the Lord Jesus Christ in so many words. For if he has spoken of the Father, and Grace, and the Only-Begotten, and Truth, and the Word, and Life, and Man, and the Church, according to that hypothesis of theirs, he has spoken [of them].

BILLI'S INTERPRETATION

2. The plan of their exposition is therefore clearly false. For since John proclaims one God Almighty and one Only-Begotten Jesus Christ, through whom all things were made, [proclaims] this Son of God, this Only-Begotten, this effector of all things, this true light illuminating every man, this creator of the world, this one who came to his own and was made flesh and dwelt among us; they, distorting the exposition by the seduction of fancy language, wish for one [being] to be the Only-Begotten according to production, whom they also call the Beginning, and another to be the Savior, and another the Word, the child of the Only-Begotten, and finally another the Christ, brought forth into light for the restoration of the Pleroma; and removing each one of the things that were said from the truth, and abusing the names, they have transferred them to their own preconceived plan; so much so that, in their opinion, John has made no mention of the Lord Jesus Christ in so many words. For if he has spoken of the Father, and Grace, and the Only-Begotten, and Truth, and the Word, and Life, and Man, and the Church, ^C

according to their argumentation, regarding the first ogdoad, in which there is not yet Jesus nor yet Christ, the teacher of John. But that the Apostle did not speak regarding their syzygies, but regarding our Lord Jesus Christ, whom he also knows to be the Word of God, he himself has made manifest. For as he summarizes what was said by him above in the beginning concerning the Word, he explains further: *And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.* But according to their hypothesis, it was not the Word that was made flesh—who indeed never came outside the Pleroma—but the Savior (who proceeds from all [the Aeons], being later than the Word). But it is this very one who is the Word of God. For if any other of the Aeons had been made flesh for our salvation, it would have been likely that the Apostle was speaking of someone else. But if the Word of the Father, he who descended, is the very same who also ascended—the only-begotten Son of the one God, having become flesh according to the pleasure of the Father for the sake of men—then he has not fashioned his discourse regarding anyone else, nor regarding an ogdoad, but rather regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. For not even the Word, according to them, was primarily made flesh. They say instead that the Savior put on a ^B psychic body, fashioned by ineffable providence from the dispensation, so that it might be seen by eyes and handled by hands. But flesh is that ancient formation of Adam from the clay by God, which John says the Word of God truly became.

3. Learn then, O senseless ones, that Jesus, who suffered for us, who dwelt among us, is the very same who is the Word of God. For if any other one of the Aeons had been made flesh for our salvation, one would have to conclude that the Apostle spoke of someone else. But if the Word of the Father, who descended, is the same one who also ascended—the only-begotten Son of the one God, incarnate for the sake of men according to the pleasure of the Father—then he did not construct his discourse regarding anyone else, nor regarding an ogdoad, but regarding the Lord Christ Jesus. For not even the Word, according to them, was primarily made flesh. They say that the Savior put on a psychic body, formed by ineffable providence out of the dispensation, so that it could be perceived by the eyes and handled by the hands. But the flesh is that ancient formation of Adam from the clay, [which the Word of God truly became].

as John manifested. And thus their first and primogenital Ogdoad is dissolved. For since one and the same is shown to be the Logos, and the Only-Begotten, and Life, and Light, and the Savior, and Christ, and the Son of God, and this same one became incarnate for our sake, the structure of their Ogdoad is dissolved. And this being dissolved, their whole argument falls to the ground, which, dreaming under a false name, they use to mistreat the Scriptures ^B, fashioning it for their own argumentation.

4. Then, collecting words and names scattered about, they transfer them, as we have said before, from that which is according to nature to that which is against nature: doing things similar to those who propose whatever controversies they like to one another, and then attempt to meditate upon them using Homeric verses; so that the more simple-minded might think that ^C Homer had composed the verses for that recently improvised theme, and many are carried away by the composite sequence of the verses, lest perchance Homer might have composed them in this very way. Just as the one who, writing about Hercules being sent by Eurystheus to the dog in Hades by means of Homeric verses, is described thus (for nothing prevents us from mentioning these for the sake of an example, since the attempt is similar and the same for both): Having said this, he sent out from the threshold weeping ^D Hercules the invincible, not ignorant of great deeds, Eurystheus, son of Sthenelus, grandson of Perseus, To bring from Erebus the dog of black Hades to the light.

BILLI'S INTERPRETATION

4. Then they translate some words and names, which are scattered in different places, into one, with a genuine sense, though they translate them into an adulterated one, acting entirely like those who propose whatever arguments they like for themselves, and then they strive to weave them together with Homeric verses; so that all the most unskilled people think that Homer had composed such verses for that recently elaborated argument, and many, through a rite-compacted series of verses, are led to such a point that they doubt whether Homer had composed these things in this way. In which genre is that which a certain person, describing by Homeric verses Hercules being sent by Eurystheus to the dog of the Infernal regions, sang in this manner. For nothing prevents us, for the sake of an example, from mentioning these, since the attempt of both is similar and the same.

^A

He goes, like a lion nurtured in the mountains, keen, Through the midst of the city: known to all, all went along, Both old men and boys, and maidens not yet wed, Wailing much, as if he were to go to death itself. Mercury conducts him, and sea-eyed Pallas: For she knew in her heart her brother, how much sorrow was agitating him.

Who among the simple-minded would not be carried away by such verses as these, and think that Homer had composed them for this argument? But he who knows the Homeric work will indeed recognize the verses, but will not recognize the argument, knowing that one part of them is said concerning Ulysses, another concerning Hercules himself, another concerning Priam, and another concerning Menelaus and Agamemnon. But if he should take them up and restore each one to its own book, he will remove the argument presently at hand. ^B In the same way, he who holds within himself the immovable rule of truth, which he received through baptism, will indeed recognize the names, the expressions, and the parables taken from the Scriptures; but he will not recognize the blasphemous argument.

A METRICAL INTERPRETATION

He speaks thus, and drawing sighs from his deep heart, He bade the noble Alcides, son of Sthenelus, Straightway descend to the houses of the Stygian tyrant, To bring up from there the dog to the upper shores. Therefore he, undaunted, in the manner of a raving lion, Goes forth. Youths and unwed maidens follow him, And aged elders, sad and moistened with tears, Follow him, as if he were going to certain destruction. But Cyllenius and Minerva led him: For they knew the distresses and hard labors of their brother.

Who, I ask, among those who are of a simple and less crafty mind, would not be carried away by these verses, to the point of being of the opinion that Homer had thus played with verses in an argument of this kind? Yet he who is skilled in the argument of Homeric poetry will indeed recognize the verses, but will not recognize the material, being one who has found and explored that something of them was said concerning Ulysses, something concerning Hercules himself, something concerning Priam, something concerning Menelaus and Agamemnon. Whence it happens that if he should move them out of the way, and restore each thing to its own book, he will remove the present material from the middle. In the same way, he who retains in himself the norm of truth, which he received through baptism, firm and constant, will indeed recognize the words, expressions, and parables taken from the Scriptures: but he will not recognize the wicked and impious argument. For even if... ^{C D}

^A he recognizes the gems, he will not accept the fox in place of the royal image. But by restoring each of the things said to its own order, and adapting them to the body of the truth, he will strip [their argument] naked and show their fabrication to be unsubstantial.

5. Since, however, this scene lacks a redemption, ^B so that one might complete their mime and bring in the refuting argument, we thought it well to show first in what respects the fathers of this fable themselves disagree with one another, as though they were from different spirits of error. For from this, indeed, it is possible to perceive accurately, and even before the demonstration, the truth which is preached by the Church, and that which is by them... ^{C D}

falsely fabricated.

Chapter X

^A 1. The Church, though spread throughout the whole world even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples the faith in one God, the Father Almighty, who made the heaven, and the earth, and the seas, and all that is in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who preached through the prophets the dispensations, and the advents, and the birth from a Virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the bodily ascension into the heavens of the beloved Christ Jesus our Lord, and his coming from heaven in the glory of the Father, to "recapitulate ^B all things," and to raise up all flesh of all mankind, in order that to Christ Jesus our Lord, and God, and Saviour, and King, according to the good pleasure of the invisible Father, "every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth," and that every tongue should confess to him, and that he should execute righteous judgment upon all: that he may send spiritual wickedness, and the angels who transgressed and became apostate, and the impious, and unjust, and wicked, and profane among men, into the eternal fire.

Billius' Interpretation

Chapter X

and the unjust, and the lawless, and the blasphemous among men; but to the just and holy, and to those who have kept his commandments, and have persevered in his love, some from the beginning ^A and others from the time of their repentance, he grants life and bestows incorruptibility, and prepares for them eternal glory.

2. ^B This preaching, and this faith which it has received, as we have said, the Church, although it is dispersed throughout the whole world, diligently guards, as if it inhabited one house; and it believes these things in like manner, as if it had one soul and one and the same heart, and consistently preaches them, and teaches, and delivers them, as if it possessed one mouth. For although the languages of the world are different, the power of the tradition is one and the same. And neither do the Churches which have been planted in Germany ^C otherwise believe nor deliver,

^A nor those among the Celts, nor those in the East, nor those in Egypt, nor those in Libya, nor those which are established in the middle regions of the world. But as the sun, that creature of God, is one and the same in the whole world, so also the preaching of the truth shines everywhere, and illuminates all men who wish to come to a knowledge of the truth. And neither will the one who is very powerful in speech among those who are set over the Churches say anything different from what these things are (for no one is above his master), nor will the one who is weak in speech diminish the tradition. For whereas the faith is one and the same, neither he who is able to say much about it adds to it, nor does he who is able to say little diminish it.

3. The fact that some know more or less regarding understanding does not come about from changing the hypothesis itself, and imagining another God beyond the Creator, and Maker, and Provider of this whole world, ^{B C D}

but rather consists in examining diligently all that has been said in parables and adapting it to the hypothesis of faith; and in setting forth the dealing and dispensation of God which was brought about for humanity; and in explaining that God showed forbearance both regarding the apostasy of the angels who turned away from Him, and regarding the disobedience of men; and in announcing why God, who is one and the same, made some things temporal and others eternal, some things heavenly and others earthly; and in understanding why God, being invisible, appeared to the prophets not in one form, but differently to different ones; and in signaling why there have been many covenants given to humanity, and teaching what the character of each of the covenants is; and in searching out why God concluded all in disobedience, that He might have mercy upon all; and in giving thanks because the Word of God was made flesh and suffered; and ^A in explaining why the arrival of the Son of God occurred at the final times—that is to say, in the end.

Interpretation by Billius

Not that there is sufficient protection for us in this, that they imagine some other God, or another Christ, or another Only-Begotten: but the matter rests exactly in this, that a person should treat all those things which were spoken in parables somewhat more accurately, and adapt them to the argument of faith, and in that same process also set forth the plan ^B and dispensation of God made for the salvation of the human race, and explain how He bore with the long-suffering of His mind both the defection of the angels who departed from Him and the disobedience of men: and recount what the cause is why one and the same God created some things as passing and others as eternal, some things heavenly and others earthly: and understand for what reason God, though invisible, yet presented Himself to be seen by the prophets not in one form, but differently to different ones: and indicate why it came to pass that several covenants happened to the human race, and teach what the character of each covenant is: and investigate what also was the cause for which God concluded all in unbelief, that He might have mercy on all: and also for what cause the Word of God was made flesh, and underwent ^C torments, and embrace this with a grateful prayer: and furthermore commemorate why the arrival of the Son of God occurred at the final times, that is, in the end rather than in the beginning: and explain whatever is set down in Scripture concerning the end itself and future things: then also, do not be silent regarding why God made the Gentiles, whose salvation had been despaired of, co-heirs and fellow-bodies and participants of the saints: and explain by what manner this mortal body is to be clothed with immortality, and this corruptible body with incorruptibility: finally, proclaim who is the people that was made, who was no people, and the beloved, who was not beloved; and who are the more numerous children of the ^D desolate, than of her who had a husband. For in these and other things of this kind the Apostle exclaimed: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge!

^A And why in the most recent times the advent of the Son of God, that is, in the end, appeared, and not in the beginning, to announce; and regarding the end, and the things to come, as many as are set down in the Scriptures, to unfold; and why God made the desperate nations heirs together, and of the same body, and partakers of the saints, not to be silent; and how this mortal flesh [1 Cor. xv, 54] shall put on immortality, and the corruptible incorruptibility, to announce: and how He shall say, "a people," [who was] "not a people," and "beloved," [who was] "not beloved" [Hos. ii, 23; Rom. ix, 25], and "the children of her who was desolate," [should be] "more than of her who has a husband" [Isa. liv, 1; Gal. iv, 27], to proclaim. For it was concerning these things, and those similar to them, that the Apostle exclaimed: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! But not in that which is above the Creator and Artificer, in the mother of these and of Him, to devise the Enthymesis of the erring Aeon, and to arrive at such blasphemy; nor in that which is again above this, the Pleroma, to falsely claim at one time one, and at another an ^B innumerable multitude of Aeons, as these people say who are truly destitute of the divine Word! How unsearchable are His judgments and past finding out His ways! In this, I say, the industry of learned men is placed, not in that anyone should, beyond the Creator and Maker, further invent the Enthymesis of an erring Aeon, which might be the parent of Him, and burst forth into such blasphemy: or again in that which is more sublime than this, the Pleroma, to contrive at one time thirty Aeons, at another an innumerable swarm of Aeons: just as those masters, truly destitute of divine wisdom, say: while in the meantime the true and universal Church holds one and the same faith throughout the whole world, as we have said before.

CAPUT XI.

What Valentinus’s opinion is, and in what respects his disciples, Secundus, Epiphanes, and certain others, differ from him in their doctrines.

^ALet us now see the inconstant opinion of these men, when there are two or three of them, how they do not say the same things about the same subjects, but respond with things contrary in both words and themes. For the first of them, Valentinus, who took the ancient doctrines and transferred them to the individual character of his own school, ^B defined it thus from what is called the Gnostic heresy: that there is a certain ineffable duality, one part of which is called the Ineffable, and the other Silence. And then...

from this duality a second duality is emitted, one part of which he calls the Father, and the other the Truth. And from this quaternion he says that the Word and Life, Man and the Church, bring forth fruit; and that this is the first ogdoad. And from the Word and Life he says that ten ^B powers are emitted, as we have said before. And from Man and the Church twelve, of which one—having departed and lagged behind—performed the remaining work. He posited two boundaries (Horoi): one between Bythos and the rest of the Pleroma, distinguishing the begotten Aeons from the unbegotten Father; and another, which separates their mother from the Pleroma. And he says that Christ was not emitted from the Aeons who are in the Pleroma, but was brought forth by the mother when she was outside, according to the memory of better things, with a certain shadow. And since he was male, he cut away the shadow from himself and ascended to the Pleroma; but the mother, being left behind with the shadow, and being emptied of spiritual substance, brought forth another son. And this is the Demiurge, whom he also calls the Almighty of those things which are subject to him. He was produced along with him as his left hand.

Billius' Interpretation

^A having been gathered together with all things, [is produced] from him who has ascended into the Pleroma, that is, the Christ; at other times from the Anthropos and the Ecclesia. And he says that the Holy Spirit was produced by the Ecclesia ^A for the examination and fruit-bearing of the Aeons, invisibly entering into them; through whom he says the Aeons bring forth the fruits of truth.

2. Secundus ^B says that there is a primary Ogdoad, a right-hand quaternion and a left-hand quaternion, and he hands it down to be called thus: the one being light, and the other darkness; and he says that the power which departed and fell short was not from the thirty Aeons, but from their fruits. ^B

3. Another some one, who also is a noted teacher ^D...

BILLIUS'S INTERPRETATION

...contracted itself, and when it had collapsed with the universal things, that is, he says it arose from the Theletos: at other times, on the contrary, from him who had withdrawn himself to the Pleroma, that is, from Christ: occasionally again from the Anthropos and the Ecclesia. Finally, that the Holy Spirit was produced by the Ecclesia for the examination and fecundity of the Aeons, so that entering into them in an invisible manner, it might cause them to bring forth the plants of truth.

2. Secundus, moreover, distinguishes the Ogdoad, that one quaternion is on the right, the other on the left: he hands down that the one is called light, the other darkness. And that power which departed, and removed itself from the others, he says is not of the number of the thirty Aeons, but [is] after the thirty Aeons. 3. ...

extending himself to a more sublime ^A and more Gnostic level, the first tetrad. Thus: "There is a certain Proarche before all things, unthinkable, ineffable, and without a name, which I name Monotes in number." With this Monotes there coexists a power, which I also name Henotes. This Henotes, and likewise the Monotes, being one, brought forth—without themselves undergoing change—and intellectual, unbegotten, and invisible Principle of all things, which the Sermo calls Monas. With this Monas there coexists a power consubstantial with it, which I also name "the One." These powers, Monotes and Henotes, Monas and "the One," brought forth the remaining emissions of the Aeons.

4. ^B Io! Io! and Pheu! Pheu! It is indeed truly tragic to say this regarding such a fabrication of names, and such boldness, that, having cast off all shame, he has set names to his own lie. For in saying, "There is a certain Proarche before all things, unthinkable, which I call Monas"; and again: "With this Monas..."

BILLIUS’ INTERPRETATION

... There is a certain Proarche before all things, surpassing all thought, speech, and nomenclature, which I call Solitas [Solitude]. Together with this Solitas, another power exists, which I also name Unitas [Unity]. This Unitas and Solitas, when they were one, brought forth—without issuing forth—the beginning of all things, intellectual, unbegotten, and invisible: which beginning is called Monas. Together with this Monas, there exists a power of the same essence as it, which I also name "the One." These powers, then—that is to say, Solitas and Unitas, Monas and "the One"—produced the remaining host of Aeons.

4. Io! Heu! Heu! It is indeed fitting to append a tragic exclamation, on account of such boldness in inventing names: just as he, having put aside all shame, assigned names to his own fabrication. For in the passage where he says: "There is a certain Proarche before all things, surpassing all thought, which I call Solitas"; and again: "With this Solitas another power exists, which I also name Unitas"; he has most manifestly confessed that the things he said are fabricated, since he has imposed upon his figment names of such a kind as had never before been imposed by anyone else. It is also clear that it is he who, moved by temerity, these ^C things ... ^D

has dared to fashion these names ^A; and had he not been present in life, the truth would have had no name. Nothing, therefore, hinders another person, upon the same hypothesis, from defining names in this way: To the Monad there coexists a power, which I myself call Unity, and with this unity exists a power which I call Proarche—a kingly, proanennoetos, proanhypostatos power—which spreads itself out. With this power there is a power which I call a gourd; and with this gourd there is a power which I also call perinane. These, the gourd and the perinane, being one, brought forth—though they had not brought forth—a fruit, visible in all things, edible, and sweet, which fruit the discourse calls a cucumber. With this cucumber there is a power of the same authority as it, which I also call a melon. These powers—the gourd, and the perinane, and the cucumber, and the melon—brought forth the remaining multitude of Valentinus’s delirious melons. For if it is necessary for his discourse, which is made about the universe, to be transfigured into the primary quaternation, and for one to impose names just as anyone wishes, who prevents [one from using] these names, which are certainly much more credible, in use, and known to all?

5. But others, in turn, have called their primary and ^B original ogdoad by these names: first Proarche, then Anennoeton, the third Arrheton, and the fourth Aoraton. And from the first, Proarche, there has been projected in the first and fifth places Archen; from the Anennoeton in the second and sixth places, Acatalepton; from the Arrheton in the third and seventh places, Anonomaston; and from the Aoraton in the fourth and eighth places, Agennetum.

BILLII INTERPRETATION

^C Then, following this, the same blessed bishop Irenaeus, as we have said, facetiously subjoins certain other ridiculous names, composed by himself in jest, as being consonant with their vanities; such as kinds of melons, or gourds, or colocynths, whose appellations he attributes to certain things—which those who are skilled in literature will perceive from what they have previously read. ^D

^A and from the Invisible, the Unbegotten. The Pleroma of the first Ogdoad. These they wish to be powers pre-existing Bythos and Sige, in order that they may appear more perfect than the perfect, and more Gnostic than the Gnostics; to whom one might justly exclaim: O prating sophists! For indeed there are many and diverse opinions among them concerning Bythos himself. For some say he is without a consort, neither male nor female, nor indeed existing as anything at all; others, however, say he is androgynous, attributing to him the nature of a hermaphrodite, so that the first conjugation may come into being. Others, again, add Sige to him as a consort, so that the first conjugation may exist.

CHAPTER XII

The doctrine of the disciples of Ptolemy and of the Colorbaseans.

^B 1. But those who are around Ptolemy, being more experienced than their own teacher..... he devised and bestowed two consorts upon God—the God who is called Bythos among them—which they also call dispositions, Ennoia and Thelesis. For he first conceived in his mind something emanated—

^C [The interpretation of Billius:] the complement of the first Ogdoad. And they wish these powers to have been even more ancient than Bythos and Sige, so that they may appear more perfect than the perfect and more learned than the Gnostics. To whom any person might rightly use these words: O prating sophists! For indeed, there are many and diverse opinions among them concerning Bythos himself. For some say he is without a consort, neither male nor female, nor indeed existing as anything at all. Others, however, assert that he is male and female at once, attributing to him, specifically, the nature of a hermaphrodite. Others, again, add Sige to him as a consort, so that the first conjugation may come into being.

CHAPTER XII

^A he called Thought and Will. For, he says, he first conceived of bringing forth, then he willed. And so, from these two affections, or even powers, Thought and Will, as they were blended together, the emission of the Only-Begotten and of Truth occurred by way of a syzygy. These were types and images of the two affections of the Father that came forth, the visible manifestations of the invisible: Truth of the Will, and Mind of the Thought; and through this Will, the male became an image of the unbegotten Thought, and the female an image of the Will; for the will became a power of the Thought. For the Thought indeed conceived of the emission, but was not able on its own to bring forth what it conceived. But when the power of the Will supervened, then it brought forth what it had conceived. 2. . . . who, as soon as he had conceived, and had accomplished that which he willed, and at the same time as he willed, ^B he says,

"Other gods and men, the horse-crested ones, slept all night; but Zeus held no sweet sleep, but he was pondering in his mind how he might honor Achilles, and destroy many at the ships of the Achaeans."

BILLI’S INTERPRETATION

to bring forth, and then the Will, as he himself says, followed. Wherefore, from these two affections, or even virtues—for he calls them virtues again—that is, from Cogitation and Will, as if coupled together, the origin of the Only-Begotten and of Truth came into being from a marriage: these, he says, are the visible types and images of the two invisible affections of the Father that have emerged, that is, the Truth of the Will, and the Mind of the Cogitation: and on this account, upon the arrival of the Will, there existed a male image of the unbegotten Cogitation, and a female image of the Will. And so, the will became the faculty of the Cogitation. For the Cogitation proposed that production to itself, but was unable on its own to produce what it cogitated. But when the faculty of the Will approached, then at last it brought into existence that which it cogitated. 2. . . . Who as soon as he cogitates, also accomplishes that which he willed: ^C they say, that is from the disciples of Ptolemy; but Epiphanius says that he speaks of Ptolemy himself in the singular. ^D

^A And he is understood as having willed that which he also cogitates, that he is cogitated on at the moment he wills, and then he wills when he is cogitated upon, being wholly thought, wholly will, wholly mind, wholly light, ^B wholly eye, wholly hearing, wholly the source of all good things.

3. But those who are thought to be more prudent among them ^C say that the first ogdoad was not produced gradually, one Aeon emitted by another, but that the emission of the Aeons by the Propatōr and his Ennoia was effected all at once and together, as he himself, acting as midwife, asserts. And no longer out of Logos and Zoe [do they say] that Anthrōpos and Ecclesia [are produced], but out of Anthrōpos and Ecclesia [do they say that Logos and Zoe are produced], and that they themselves were their midwives. ^D

When the Propator thought of emitting anything, this was called Father; but when those things which he emitted were true, this was called Alethia (Truth). When, therefore, he willed to show himself, this was called Anthrōpos (Man). And those whom he had predetermined when he emitted them, this was called Ecclesia (Church). And Anthrōpos [emitted] the Logos; this is the first-begotten son. The Logos is followed by Zoe; and thus the first ^A ogdoad was completed.

4. ^B There is, however, much fighting among them even regarding the Savior. For some say that he was produced out of all, and for this reason he is called Beneplacitum (the Well-pleased), because the entire Pleroma was well pleased to glorify the Father through him. Others, however, say that he was produced out of the ten Aeons alone, those which were emitted by the Logos and Zoe; and for this reason he is called Logos and Zoe, keeping the names of his parents. Others, again, prefer that he originated from those twelve Aeons which were made by Anthrōpos and Ecclesia; and for this reason he confesses himself to be the Son of Man, as if an offspring of Anthrōpos. Others say he was produced by Christ and the Holy Spirit, for the strengthening of the Pleroma; and for this reason he is called Christ.

BILLIUS' INTERPRETATION

...it, this received the name of Father. ^C But since that which he produced was true, this was called Truth. Furthermore, when he willed to show himself, this was called Man. Finally, after he had produced those whom he had before thought of, this was called Church. Man emitted the Word (Sermo): this is the first-begotten son. Life followed the Word; thus the first ogdoad was finished and made absolute.

4. Concerning the Savior there is also a not minor fight among them, as they say he was produced from all. And for this same reason they call him Eudocetum (Well-pleased), because clearly it pleased the entire Pleroma to illuminate the glory of the Father through him. There are those, moreover, who hand down that he was produced from the ten Aeons alone, whom Sermo and Vita brought forth into light; and for this reason, he is called Sermo and Vita, retaining the names of his ancestors. Others, again, prefer that he arose from those twelve Aeons which existed from Homo and Ecclesia; and hence it happens that he himself confesses himself to be the Son of man, ^D as if [...]

keeping the appellation of his Father, from whom he was sent forth. Others, however, are those who say that the Propatorem of all, and Proarchen, and Proanennoston, is called Homo: and this to be the great and hidden mystery, because that Power which is above all things, and contains all things, is called Homo: and for this reason the Savior calls himself the Son of man. ^A

CHAPTER XIII.

Of the deceits and wicked arts of Marcus.

Another also, one from among those who are with them, glorying that he is a reformer of the master (Marcus, however, is his name), most skilled in magical imposture, through which he seduced many men and not a few women, caused them to turn to himself, as if to one most learned and most perfect, ^B and who possessed the greatest power from invisible and ineffable places, acting as if he were truly a forerunner of the Antichrist.

BILLIUS’ INTERPRETATION.

...as if the grandson of Man. Others besides prefer that he is the offspring of Christ and the Holy Spirit, who were brought forth for the purpose of strengthening the Pleroma: and for this reason he is called Christ, preserving the name of that parent, indeed, from whom he was brought forth. Nor are there wanting those who assert that the Propatorem of all, and Proarchen, and Proanennoston, is called Homo: and that this is that great and abstruse sacrament, namely, that the power which overcomes all things, and holds all things in its embrace, is called Homo: and this is the reason why the Savior calls himself the Son of Homo. ^C

CHAPTER XIII.

Marcus, however, a certain man, having led astray not a few men and women of both kinds, brought them under his influence: for since he was an impostor, as we have spoken of before, he imagined that he was the reformer of those wretched ones, [and after] he had dared…

^D

to combine the tricks of Anaxilaus with the craftiness of those who are called magicians, by these means he made displays and practiced sorcery to the astonishment of those who saw him and believed him… Even they who observe these things through curiosity think that certain powers are being performed by his hands… For they themselves, having lost their minds, do not see—being unable to test—that the composition of the tricks performed by him is, so to speak, the result of magic.

2. For, feigning to give thanks over a cup mixed with wine, and extending the words of the invocation to a great length, he makes it appear purple and red ^B so that it is thought that that Grace which is above all things distills her own blood into that cup through his invocation: and those present are strongly overcome with the desire to partake of that draught, so that the Grace which is named by this magician might flow into them as well. Again, handing mixed cups to women, he bids them— [at this point, the Latin column continues:]

BILLIUS’ INTERPRETATION

2. Feigning that cups mixed with wine are being consecrated, and extending the words of the invocation to a great length, he makes it appear purple and red, so that it is believed that the Grace which is above all things distills her own blood into that cup through his invocation; and those who are present are eager to taste of that potion, so that that Grace which is proclaimed by this magician might also flow into them. Again, he hands mixed cups to women ^{C D} [marginal commentary omitted].

^A and bids them give thanks in his presence. And when this has been done, he produces another cup, much larger than that from which the deceived woman had given thanks, and pours from the smaller one—the one consecrated by the woman—into the one brought by himself, which is much larger, immediately saying: "May that Grace which is before all things, the inapprehensible and ineffable, fill your inner man and multiply in you the knowledge of it, sowing the grain of mustard seed into the good ground." And by saying such things, and having thrown the miserable woman into a frenzy, he appears a worker of wonders, the large cup having been filled from the small one, so that it even overflows from it. And by doing other things similar to these, he has deceived many and led them away after him.

3. It is to be understood that he also has a certain attendant demon, by whom he himself also appears to prophesy, and he makes as many as he deems worthy to become partakers of his Grace also to prophesy. For he busies himself most of all with women, and with those of them who are well-dressed, in purple robes, and very wealthy, whom he frequently attempts to abduct, and flattering them, he says: "I wish to grant you a share of my Grace, since the Father of all things continually sees your Angel before His face. The place of thy greatness ^B is in us."

BILLIUS' INTERPRETATION

By "the Sigé ^C" [Silence], which the heretics have named "Charis" [Grace], it is clear from the beginning of this chapter of this book that it is intended. He confirms this conjecture because shortly after, this grace is spoken of: "Grace, which is before all things, the inapprehensible and ineffable."

* * *

He says: "The Father of all things continually sees your Angel before His face." Thus, this heretic describes the angels a little lower down: "The Greatnesses ^D that always see the face of the Father." That this is understood of the angels, Grabius himself admits, and proves it from that epithet, "always seeing the face of the Father," which is explicitly attributed by Marcus to the angels from Matthew XVIII, 10, as may be read on page 64, and is also read in the words with which we are now dealing. The meaning, therefore, of "The place of thy greatness is in us" is: "The place of your angel is in us." For the clever deceiver was blathering, as Irenaeus relates a little later, that he and his own were images of the angels, that is, spiritual humans, whom the mother Achamoth had conceived from the contemplation of the angels of the Savior and had brought forth in their likeness.

^A “Take first from me, and through me, the Grace. Prepare yourself as a bride expecting her bridegroom, that you may be what I am, and I what you are. Establish in your bridal chamber the seed of light. Take from me the bridegroom, and receive him, and be received in him. Behold, Grace has descended upon you; open your mouth, and prophesy.”

When the woman responds, “I have never prophesied, and I do not know how to prophesy,” he performs certain invocations again, in order to cast the deceived woman into amazement and stupor, and says to her, “Open your mouth, speak whatever you wish, and you will prophesy.”

Then she, having been puffed up ^B and made foolish by the aforementioned words, her soul becoming heated by the expectation of her future prophesying, and her heart palpitating more than it ought, dares to speak delirious nonsense, and everything that comes to mind, emptily and boldly, inasmuch as she has been heated by the spirit (as one better than us has said regarding such prophets, that an audacious and shameless soul is one heated by an empty spirit), and from this point on she considers herself a prophetess. She gives thanks to Marcus, who has imparted his own Grace to her, and she desires to reward him ^C not only by the offering of her substance (whence he also gathered a great abundance of wealth), but even by her body.

BILL’S INTERPRETATION

He imparts, they prophesy: for he expends his zeal and effort especially upon women, and particularly those who are elegantly adorned and purple-clad, and possessed of great wealth; whom, desiring to attract to himself, he addresses in a fawning way: “It is my pleasure to impart my Grace to you, since the Father of all perpetually beholds your angel before his face. The place of your greatness, however, is situated within us. It is necessary that we be made one. Take first from me, and through me, the Grace. Adorn yourself, as a bride awaiting her bridegroom: that you may be what I am, and I in my turn what you are. Place the seed of light in your bridal chamber. Take the bridegroom from me, and be capable of him, and do that which you may be received in him. Behold, Grace descends into you: open your mouth, and prophesy.”

When the woman replies: “I have never been, nor do I know the art of prophesying,” he again, performing certain invocations in order to drag that deceived woman into admiration and stupor, addresses her with these words: “Open your mouth: speak whatever you please, and you will prophesy.”

By these words, therefore, she is foolishly puffed up and swollen, and on account of the hope and expectation of prophesying in which she is engaged, becoming heated in soul, with her heart pulsating more than is proper, she is carried along by audacity, and utters mere trifles, and whatever may have rashly occurred to her, emptily and impudently, inasmuch as she is heated by an empty spirit (just as a certain man among us, who is superior regarding such women, says: “An audacious and shameless thing is a soul heated by empty air”), and subsequently she considers herself a prophetess, and gives thanks to Marcus, who has made her a participant in his Grace, and does not only desire to reward him regarding her property,

^A but also regarding her body, that she might be united with him in one.

4. Now there were certain women among the faithful who held the fear of God, and were not seduced, whom he similarly endeavored to lead astray as he had the others, commanding them to prophesy. They, however, having blown upon him in detestation and cursed him, separated themselves from such a guild, knowing accurately that prophecy does not come upon men from Marcus the magician, but from those on whom God from above sends His grace. These have a God-given prophecy, and then they speak where and when God wills, ^B not when Marcus commands. For the one commanding is greater and more authoritative than the one commanded, since the former takes precedence and the latter is subordinate. If, therefore, Marcus or anyone else commands—as these people are accustomed to play at their priestly dinners and command one another to prophesy, and to prophesy for themselves according to their own desires—the one commanding would be greater and more authoritative than the prophetic Spirit, being a man; which is impossible. But such spirits as are commanded by them, and speak whenever they themselves wish, are unstable and ineffective, but bold and shameless, sent forth by Satan ^C for the deception and destruction of those.

who do not maintain the firm faith which they received from the beginning through the Church. ^A

5. That he also makes use of love-potions and stimulants, in order to insult their bodies, this same Marcus frequently does with certain women—though not with all—who, having often returned to the Church of God, have confessed and declared that they had been defiled in body by him, and that they had been inflamed with a very passionate love for him; insomuch that even a certain deacon of our people in Asia, having received him into his house, fell into this calamity. For his wife—a woman of singular beauty—was corrupted both in mind and body by this magician, and after having followed him for a long time, she was afterwards, with much labor on the part of the brethren, converted. She spent the entire remainder of her time in confession, mourning and lamenting over the corruption she had suffered at the hands of the magician. ^B

6. But certain of his disciples also, going about among the same people, have seduced many women and corrupted them, calling themselves "perfect," as if no one could be compared to the magnitude of their knowledge, not even if you were to name Paul or Peter, or any other of the apostles; but that they have known more than all, and have alone imbibed the magnitude of the knowledge of the ineffable Power. They declare themselves to be in the height above every power; therefore they act freely in all things, having no fear in any matter. For through [their] redemption, they become [—] ^C

BILLI'S INTERPRETATION

...are; but [being] bold and shameless, sent by Satan to lead them into fraud and destruction, who do not in the least guard that faith, which they first received from the Church, firm and vigorous.

5. That Marcus [is accustomed to use] certain love-philtres and stimulants (a practice from which he brings disgrace and insult upon their bodies), if not [to all], at least he is accustomed to employ [them] toward some, [who] often, when they returned to the Church of God, confessed that they had been contaminated in body by him, and had been inflamed with a wondrous love for him: insomuch that even an Asian, a certain deacon of ours, when he had received him into hospitality, fell into this calamity. For his own wife, a woman of singular beauty, was corrupted by this magician both in mind and body, and after she had followed him for a long time, she was afterwards, not without great labor, converted by the brethren, and for all the remaining time of her life she did not cease to confess her committed sin, mourning and following with tears the stain which had befallen her from the magician. ^D

^A to be held by the judge. And if he should lay hold of them, those who are present with him for the redemption shall say these things: "O assessor of God, and of the mystical Silence before the eon, ^B whom the Greatnesses always seeing the face of the Father, having thee as guide and introducer, draw upward their own forms, which that very bold one, having conceived in fantasy, because of the goodness of the Forefather, sent forth as our icons, then having the thought of those above as a dream: behold, the judge is near, and the herald commands me to make my defense. But do thou, as one knowing the accounts of us both, stand by the judge for the account of both of us, as being one." ^C But the Mother, having quickly... ^D

^A heard these things, placed the Homeric helmet of Hades upon them, so that they might invisibly escape the judge; and immediately snatching them away, she led them into the bridal chamber and delivered them to their own bridegrooms.

7. But saying and doing such things, and in ^B those regions also which are according to us in the Rhodanusia, they have seduced many women, who, having cauterized consciences, some indeed even make confession in public; but others, being ashamed of this, and quietly in some way having despaired of themselves regarding the life of God, some have departed altogether, and others waver, and have suffered that which is in the proverb, being neither outside nor inside, having this fruit of the seed of the children of Gnosis.

BILLII INTERPRETATION

...and having examined, have the account for both of us, that, being one, you may present it to the judge. But as soon as the Mother received these words, she puts upon them the Homeric helmet of Orcus, that she might snatch their appearance away from the judge, and immediately drags them up into the bridal chamber, and attributes them to their own bridegrooms.

7. By these words and actions they have also led many women in our Rhodanusian region into fraud: who, indeed, as having their conscience branded as with a certain cautery, some performed penance publicly; some, when they could not endure to do this for shame, and for they were tacitly in some measure despairing of the life of God, either altogether fell away from the faith: or certainly they propend to either side, and what is wont to be said by the proverb, they are neither outside, nor inside; and this they garner as the fruit from the seed of the children of knowledge.

CHAPTER XIV. MARCO'S HYPOTHESIS.

He imagines that the supreme Tetrad descended to him in the likeness of a woman, in order to reveal secrets hitherto unrevealed to any. Under an enigmatic farrago of letters, syllables, sounds, and characters, he hands down the Pleroma and the fabrications of the Valentinians. ^A For he asserts that Marcus, saying that he himself was the only one who had received the gift from Colorbasus, and calling himself the Only-Begotten, brought forth that which was placed into him from the defect, in this way. He says that this supreme Tetrad descended to him from those invisible and unnameable places in a feminine form (because, he says, the world could not bear its masculine [nature]), and that it revealed to him what it was, and the origin of all things, which it had never before disclosed to anyone, neither to gods nor to men; and that it told this to him alone, saying: "When first the Father, who is unthought and insubstantial, who is neither male nor female, willed that his ineffable [substance] be brought forth, and that ^B which was invisible—" ^{C D}

^A willed that his ineffable be made narrable, and that which was invisible be formed for himself; he opened his mouth, and brought forth a Word similar to himself; which, standing by, showed him what he himself was, having appeared as the form of the invisible one. The pronunciation of the name, however, came about as follows: He spoke the first word of his name, which was the beginning, and its syllable was of four elements. ^A He joined the second to it; and this, too, was of four elements; next he spoke the third, and this, too, was of ten elements. And the one after that he spoke, and this, too, was of twelve elements. There came to be, then, the pronunciation of the whole name, of thirty elements and four syllables. Each of the elements, however, is to have its own letters, and its own character, and its own pronunciation, and [its own] configurations and images: and that none of them is that which beholds the form of that one, ^B above which the element is. Neither does it know him—

BULL’S INTERPRETATION

in the following words: When first the one who is devoid of a Father, and who does not fall even into thought, and is endowed with no substance, and is neither male nor female—willed that that which in him is ineffable be begotten, and that which is invisible be formed—he opened his mouth and sent forth a discourse similar to himself; which, standing by, showed [him] what he himself was, appearing as the form of the invisible. ^A 9 10 11 12 13 14

nor even that of its neighbor, he knows to call all that which he utters, because he thinks that what he utters is the whole. For every one of them, being a part of the whole, considers its own sound to be the whole, and does not cease sounding until it arrive at the last letter of the last element, having uttered its own sound in a single tongue. Then he said that the restoration of all things will take place, when all things, having descended into one letter, shall resound in one and the same pronunciation; and he feigned that the image of this pronunciation is that "Amen" which we say together. He said that the sounds are those which form the insubstantial and unbegotten Aeon, and that these are the forms which the Lord called Angels, who without intermission see the face of the Father.

2. He called the common and ineffable names of the elements Aeons, and words, and roots, and seeds, and plenitudes, and fruits. He showed how the singular and proper name of each one of them existed, inasmuch as it had been a form of that which escaped the sense of sight. Moreover, the pronunciation of the name was as follows: he uttered the first term of the name itself, which was indeed a principle, and its syllable consisted of four elements. He added the second, which also itself contained four elements. Next he added the third, which also itself comprised ten elements. Finally, he spoke the fourth, which also itself was of twelve elements. And so the pronunciation of the whole name came to be of thirty letters and four syllables. But the individual elements have peculiar letters and notes and a peculiar pronunciation and figures and images, and there is nothing of them that perceives the form of that whose element it is. Nay, it does not even know the element itself, nor does any one of them know the pronunciation of its neighbor; but it considers that which it utters to be as if it were uttering the whole. For since each of these is a part of the universe, it thinks that its own sound is the whole sound, and it does not cease to tinkle until it arrives, tinkling singularly, at the final letter of the final element. Then the restoration of all things into their integrity comes to pass, when all things, falling into one letter, shall have given forth one and the same sound of pronunciation. And he feigned that the icon of this pronunciation is that "Amen" which we say together. He said that these sounds are those which inform that Aeon which is devoid of substance and is unbegotten. And he claimed that these, finally, are the forms (which the Lord called Angels) which perpetually see the Father’s face.

^A He says that they are contained and understood within the Church. He says that the last letter of the final element gave forth its own voice, the sound of which, going forth, generated peculiar elements according to the image of the elements; from which [he says] both the things here have been arranged, and that those things which were before them have been brought into being. And indeed, he says that the letter itself (the sound of which was following the sound below, and which had been taken up on high by its own syllable) was taken up for the completion of the whole; but that the sound remained below, as if cast outside. But he says that the element itself, from which the letter, along with its own pronunciation, descended below, is composed of thirty letters, and that each one of the thirty letters has other letters within itself, by which the name of the letter is [itself] named. And again, that the other [letters] are named by other letters, and those by others, so that the multitude of letters falls away into infinity. ^B And thus you might learn more clearly what is meant. The element delta has in itself five letters—the delta itself, and the epsilon, and the lambda, and the tau, and the alpha—and these letters are again written by other letters, and those others by yet others. If, therefore, the whole substance of the delta falls away into infinity, with others always generating letters from others and succeeding one another, how much greater must the sea of letters be in that [first] element? And if one letter is so infinite, behold the depth of the whole name, from which the Sige of Marcus dogmatized that the Propatur was constituted. Wherefore also he [the Father], ^C knowing that He is incomprehensible, gave to the elements, which he also calls Aeons, each one their own pronunciation, and Pleromata, and he named them fruits. ^D He says that the particulars and the properties of each one are contained and understood in the name of the Church. He says that the last letter of the final element gave forth its own voice, the sound of which, going forth according to the image of the elements, created peculiar elements, from which he relates that both these things here were described and adorned, and that those things which preceded these had come into being. And he says that the letter itself, whose sound followed the sound below, was taken up on high for the completion of the universe, but that the sound, as if cast forth, remained below. But he asserts that the element itself, from which the letter together with its pronunciation descended below, is of thirty letters, of which each one also contains other letters again, by which the name of the letter is expressed. And again, that one [letter] is named by another and yet another [by] other and yet other [letters], so that the letters increase to a certain infinite number. But you will understand what I say more clearly in this way. The element delta comprises five letters, namely delta, epsilon, lambda, tau, and alpha, and again these letters are written by other letters, and others by others likewise. If, therefore, the entire compounding of the element delta falls into infinity, with some things naturally generating others and succeeding one another, how much more vast will that sea of letters be in that element? And if one letter is so infinite, you would wish to observe what is the depth of the letters in the whole name, from which Marcus’ Sige taught that the Propatur is constituted. And for this reason also, because He understood that the Propatur could not be comprehended, He gave to the elements, which He also calls Aeons, to each one their own pronunciation.

^A Since it was

3. Since it was

4. When he had said these things, Truth,

BILLI'S INTERPRETATION

to these individual elements, to which he also assigns the name of Aeons, he gave them the power to produce their own pronunciation, since they were individually unable to pronounce the whole.

3. He said that he wanted to propose the Truth herself to you for inspection. For I have brought her down from the heavens, that you might behold her naked, and understand her beauty, and thus also hear her speaking, and admire her wisdom. See, therefore: her head above is A and Ω, neck B and Ψ, shoulders together with the hands Γ and X, chest Δ and Φ, diaphragm E and Y, back Z and T, belly H and Σ, thighs Θ and P, knees I and II, shins K and O, ankles Λ and Ξ, feet M and N. This, then, according to the magician's opinion, is the body of Truth, this is the figure of the element, this is the character of the letter. And this element he calls Man; and he says that this is the source of all speech, and the beginning of all voice, and the narration of all that is ineffable, and the mouth of the silent Silence. This, I say, is the body of Truth. But you, with your mind's intellect lifted on high, hear the word that is its own progenitor and the giver of the Father, out of the mouth of Truth.

4. When he had held this conversation with her, Truth, having looked upon him, opened her mouth and spoke the word; and he said that this word became a name, and this, I say, is the name which we know and speak, Christ Jesus. And when he had named her, he was silent. But when Marcus thought that he might have heard something more

^A of her to say, the Quaternity again coming into the midst, says: "How contemptible did you consider the Word which you heard from the mouth of Truth? This is not that which you know and think; it is an ancient name. For you have only the voice of it, but you are ignorant of its power. For Jesus is a distinguished name, consisting of six letters, and known by all who belong to the calling. But that which is among the Aeons of the Pleroma, since it exists in many forms, is of another shape and another type, known by those kindred beings whose magnitudes are always with him.

5. Know, therefore, that the twenty-four letters among you ^B are imaginal emanations of the three powers which contain the entire number of the elements above. For consider the nine mute letters to be of the Father and of Truth, because they are mute, that is, ineffable and unutterable; but the eight semivowels to be of the Word and of Life, because they exist, as it were, in the middle between the mutes and the vowels; and they receive the emanation from those above, and the upward movement from those below ^C; while the vowels, which are also seven, are of Man and the Church: since through Man the voice proceeding formed all things. For the sound of the voice bestowed upon them their form. Thus the Word and Life have the eight, Man and the Church the seven, and the Father and Truth the nine. And since the missing Word ^D that was within the Father descended, [by the addition of which] they were completed.

BILLIUS' INTERPRETATION

Christ Jesus: having uttered this, he immediately became silent. But when Marcus expected from her some longer discourse, the Quaternity again coming into the midst, used these words: ^A You have thought that speech which you received from the mouth of Truth to be vile and contemptible. But you do not think that you possess what you know: it is an ancient name. For you have only the voice of it; its power, however, you do not know. For Jesus is a distinguished name, consisting of six letters, known and perceived by all who have been called. But that [Name] which is among the Aeons of the Pleroma, since it consists of many parts, is of another form and figure, known and explored only by those who attain to it by relationship, and whose magnitudes ^B are always with him.

5. Therefore, consider that the twenty-four letters which are among you, are as it were three powers, by which the whole number of the elements of those above is contained, sketching them out. For thus, suppose the nine mute letters to be of the Father and of Truth: because, forsooth, they are themselves mute, that is, of such a kind that they cannot be expressed by any words. But the eight semivowels are of the Word and of Life: because they are placed in the middle as it were between the vowels and the consonants, and as they flow down from ^C those above, so in turn, the things below are referred back to them. Moreover, the vowels, which are themselves also seven, are of Man and of the Church: since the voice, having proceeded through Man, informed all things. For the sound of the voice gave them their form. The Word and Life, therefore, have eight, Man and the Church seven, and the Father and Truth nine. But because the number was not sufficiently complete; he who remained in the Father descended, to that [number] namely, from which he was separated ^D

^A to the correction of the things that had been done, so that the unity of the Pleromas, having equality, might bring forth one fruit in all things, which is the power from all. And thus he who is of the number seven received the power of the eight; ^B and there came to be three places similar to the numbers, being ogdoads, which, coming together three times [in multiplication], showed the number of twenty-four. And indeed the three elements (he himself omits that they exist in the conjunction of the three powers, from which the twenty-four elements flowed out), being quadrupled by the ratio of the ineffable quaternion, make the same number as them, which he says belongs to the Innominable. And that they are carried by the three powers unto the likeness of the Invisible, of which elements the images of images are those things which among us are double letters, which, being added to the twenty-four elements, by the power which is according to analogy, make the number thirty.

6. Of this word and this economy he says that the fruit appeared in the likeness of an image, he who after six days ascended the mountain as the fourth, and became the sixth, he who was captured, ^C according to the power of analogy.

BILLIUS’ INTERPRETATION

6. He says that the fruit of this word and administration appeared in the likeness of an image, he who after six days ascended the mountain, and was made the sixth: who descended, and was detained in the hebdomad.

The meaning of these words, the learned man continues, is this: Since the Father and Truth contained nine letters, but Homo (Man) and Ecclesia only seven, and Sermo (Word) and Vita eight, it was done for the sake of correcting this inequality of the numbers, so that one letter, in which the Father abounded, might descend to Homo and Ecclesia: and thus to each of these conjugations its own octonary of letters was constituted. ^D

^A and descending in the week, being the [ἐπίσημον] (the sign-bearing) octad, and holding within itself the entire number of the elements, it manifested—when he had come to baptism—the descent of the dove, which is Ω and A. For its number is eight hundred and one. And because of this, Moses said that man was made on the sixth day; and that the economy on the sixth day, which is the Preparation, manifested the ultimate man unto the regeneration of the first man, of which economy the beginning and the end was the sixth hour, in which he was nailed to the tree. For the perfect mind, knowing the number of the six, and having the power of creation and regeneration, manifested to the sons of light the regeneration which came about through him who was manifested as the [ἐπίσημον] number in him. ^B Hence also he says that the double letters have the [ἐπίσημον] number. For the [ἐπίσημον] number, blended with the twenty-four elements, produced the thirty-letter name.

7. The deacon also uses the magnitude of the seven numbers, as the Silence of Marcus says, so that the fruit of the self-willed will might be manifest.

Billius’s Interpretation

7. Furthermore, the [ἐπίσημον] uses the magnitude of seven numbers, as the Silence of Marcus says, so that the fruit of his self-willed will might be made manifest.

^A And understand that the one who is formed ^B by the sign is he who is, as it were, divided or cut off, and who remained outside, who by his own power and wisdom, through that emission which is from him, animated this world—which is of seven powers, according to the imitation of the heptad of power—and placed soul to be that of the whole which is seen. And he himself also uses this work as though it were created by him of his own will; the others, however, serve, being imitations of the inestimable ones, [ministering] to the thought of the mother. And the first heaven sounds A, the one after it E, the third H, and the fourth, being the middle of the seven, utters the power of I, the fifth O, the sixth Y, and the seventh and fourth from the side the element ^B of A, according to what the Silence of Marcus—which, while prattling about many things, says nothing true—asserts. Which powers, he says, all together intertwined with one another, sound and glorify him by whom they were emitted. And the glory of the sound is sent up to the Propatir. He says, however, that the sound of this doxology being brought down to the earth became the maker and generator of those things which are on the earth.

8. He brings forward as proof [an argument] ^D from infants newly born, whose sound, as soon as they emerge from the womb, ^C is as the soul in infants crying, 8... [The remainder of this page consists of the Latin interpretation by Billius and notes on the text.]

the mouths of infants and sucklings You have perfected praise." And again: "The heavens (of the heavens) declare the glory of God." And for this reason, too, when the soul finds itself in pains and tribulations, it cries out for its own purification ^B the letter O, as a sign of praise, in order that the soul above, recognizing its kinsman, might send down aid to it.

9. And concerning the entire name, which consists of thirty letters, and concerning Bythus, who receives increase from these letters, and furthermore concerning the twelve-membered body of Truth, consisting of two letters, and its voice, which it spoke without having spoken, and concerning the resolution ^C of the name that was not spoken, and concerning the soul of the world and of man, according to the dispensation which they have according to the image, he spoke in such a delirious fashion. Next, we shall relate how the Tetrad showed to him a power equal in number to the names, in order that nothing of what has been spoken by him and has come down to us may escape you, beloved, just as you have often requested of us. ^D

BILLII INTERPRETATION

9. And regarding the whole name which consists of thirty letters, and of Bythus, who takes increase from these letters, and furthermore of the twelve-membered body of Truth, which consists of twelve members, and each member consists of two letters; to these [he adds] about the very voice which it uttered, when it did not utter it, and about the resolution of that name which was expressed by no words, and lastly about the soul of the world and of man, in what manner they have that dispensation which is according to the image, he raved in this way. It follows now that we relate in what manner the Quaternity showed him a power equal to the names, so that nothing of those things which we have accepted as handed down by them may escape you; as you have very often requested of us.]

CAPUT XV.

^A Thus then does Sige declare to him the generation of the twenty-four elements. To the Solitude there also coexists the Unity, from which two emissions, as has been said before, are produced: the Monad and the One. Being two, they became four, for twice two is four. And again, the two and the four, having been joined together, manifested the number of six. And these six being quadrupled, brought forth twenty-four forms. ^B And indeed, the names of the first quaternion, which are understood as the holy of holies, and cannot be spoken, are known only to the Son, and the Father knows what they are. But the august names, which are named with faith in his system, are these: Arrhetos (the Ineffable) and Sige (Silence), and Pater (the Father) and Aletheia (Truth). And the total number of the elements of this quaternion is twenty-four. For the name Arrhetos has within itself seven letters, and Sige five, and the Father five, and Aletheia seven; which, being added together upon the same, twice five and twice seven, completed the number of twenty-four. Likewise, also, the second quaternion, Logos and Zoe, Anthropos and Ecclesia, showed the same number of elements. And the expressible name of the Savior consists of six letters; but his ineffable name consists of twenty-four letters. ^C The Son and Christ consists of twelve letters.

BILLIUS' INTERPRETATION. CHAPTER XV.

In this manner, therefore, does she, most wise in all things, Sige, set forth to him the origin of the twenty-four elements. For the unity to exist together with the solitude, from which two, as we have said above, the productions came forth, the Monad, namely, and the One; which being joined together among themselves make four, for twice two are four. And again, the two and the four joined into one, declared the number six. The six, furthermore, being taken four times in itself, generated twenty-four forms. And the names of the first quaternion, which are understood to be the holy of holies, cannot be expressed in any words; they are known to the Son alone, and the Father knows what they are. ^D But those august and venerable names, which are used not without faith, are these with him: Arrhetos, Sige, Pater, Aletheia. The total number of this quaternion, moreover, is twenty-four letters. For the name...

^A *Yios* and *Christos*, as it is in Christ, is ineffable, extending to thirty letters. And for this reason he says he is Alpha and Omega, that he might signify the dove, since this bird has this number.

2. Jesus, he says, has this ineffable genesis. For from the mother of all, that is, the first quaternion in the place of a daughter, the second quaternion proceeded, and became an ogdoad, from which proceeded the decas: thus came the decas and the ogdoad. The decas, therefore, being joined to the ogdoad and making it tenfold, raised the number to eighty; and again making the eighty tenfold, it generated the number eight hundred; so that the whole number of the letters from the ogdoad proceeding into the decas [is] 888, which is Jesus. For the name Jesus, according to the calculation of the Greek letters, is 888. You have, therefore, manifest and supercelestial ^B genesis. For from the mother of all, the first quaternion, in the manner of a daughter, the second quaternion proceeded, and the ogdoad came to be, from which the decas proceeded. Thus the decas and the ogdoad came to be. For the decas, therefore, having joined the ogdoad and made it tenfold, advanced the number to eighty; and again, having made the eighty tenfold, it generated the number eight hundred; so that the whole number of the letters, having proceeded from the ogdoad into the decas, is 888, which is eighteen. For the name Jesus, according to the number in the letters, is eighty-eight. It has ^C

BILLI'S INTERPRETATION

and thus [they say] it indicates the supercelestial generation of the eight and the [number] of the ogdoad according to them. For this reason, also, the alphabet of the Greeks has eight units, and eight tens, and eight hundreds, ^B indicating the sum of eight hundred and eighty-eight (then), that is, the *eiê*, which is composed of all the numbers. And by means of the Alpha and Omega, it is named after him, signifying the generation from all. And again in this way: by the progression of the first tetrad, the number of the number being added into itself, the number of ten appeared. For one and two and three and four added together amount to ten, and this they wish to be ^C Jesus. But also Christ, he says, being of eight letters, signifies the first Ogdoad, which, combined with the ten, produced Jesus. It is said also, he says, that the Son [is] Christ, that is to say, the duodecad. For the name *huios* (Son) is of four letters, and *Christos* (Christ) of eight; which, when put together, have shown the magnitude of the duodecad. Before, ^D however, he says, this name’s distinction had appeared, that is, Jesus, in great ignorance of the children [they were].

BILLII INTERPRETATION.

...it produced the number; and again, the eighty-fold [it produced] into ten, making the eight-hundredth number. Thus, since the entire number of the letters has progressed from the octonary to the denary, eight and eighty emerge: which indeed is *Iêsous* (Jesus). For this name, if you count the number of the letters, makes eight and eighty. You have clearly how, in their opinion, the supercelestial birth of Jesus also came about. Whence also [they say] the alphabet of the Greeks contains eight units, eight decads, and just as many hundreds; which yield the number of eight hundred and eighty-eight, that is, Jesus, constant from all numbers, and for that reason [they say] he is called A and Ω, so that his birth from all might be signified. And again, in this way they explain it: by the first quaternation, according to the progression of number, composed in itself, the denary comes forth. For one, and two, and three, and four, gathered into one, make ten, which is *iota*: and this they wish to be Jesus. Furthermore...

with regard to the letters of the name, they say that it represents the Savior, that is, Jesus, ^A unto those who were, until His appearing, in much ignorance and error. But when the six-lettered name was manifested, which clothed itself in flesh, in order that it might descend to the perception of man, having in itself those six and twenty-four; then, having known Him, they ceased from ignorance, and ascended from death to life, the name having become for them a guide unto the Father of Truth. For it was the will of the Father of all to dissolve ignorance and destroy death. Now the dissolution of ignorance became the knowledge of Him. And for this reason, he who was fashioned according to the image of the power above [was] elected according to His will ^B.

3. For from the Quaternity, the Aeons proceeded. And there were in the Quaternity Anthropos and Ecclesia, Logos and Zoe. From these, then, the Powers, he says, having emanated, brought forth Him who appeared on earth, Jesus. And he says that Gabriel filled the place of the Logos, the Holy Spirit that of Zoe, the Power of the Most High that of Anthropos; and the Virgin manifested the place of the Ecclesia. And thus, that man who is according to the dispensation is fashioned through Mary, whom the Father of all chose, as he passed through the womb, through the Word, for the knowledge of Himself. But when He had come to the water, that which had run up on high ^C descended upon Him like a dove, and filled the twelfth nu-

INTERPRETATION OF BILLIUS

3. For the Aeons flowed forth from the Quaternity. For in the Quaternity were Anthropos and Ecclesia, Sermo and Vita. From these, therefore, he says, the emanating Powers produced Him who appeared on earth, Jesus. And indeed, that the angel Gabriel filled the place of the Sermo, the Holy Spirit [that] of Vita, the Power of the Most High [that] of Homines [Anthropos]; and finally, the Virgin indicated the place of the Ecclesia. Thus, indeed, among him, that man who exists by dispensation was brought forth into birth through Mary: whom the parent of all things chose, through the work of the Sermo, as he passed through the womb, for the knowledge of Himself. But when He had betaken Himself to the water, he says that there descended upon Him, in the likeness of a dove, he who had received himself back to the supernal [heights], and had fulfilled the twelfth number.

^A In this was the seed of those who were sown along with him, and who descended and ascended with him. This same Power that descended he says is the seed of the Father, having in itself both the Father and the Son, and the ineffable virtue of Silence that is known through them, and all the Aeons. And this he says is the Spirit who spoke through Jesus, ^B who confessed himself the Son of Man, and manifested the Father, having descended into Jesus, and been united to him; and the Savior, he says, destroyed death, but recognized the Father, namely Christ. He says, therefore, that Jesus is the name of him who is of the Dispensation, but that it was placed there for the assimilation and formation of that Man who was to descend upon him. He who had received him, he says, had in himself both the Man, and the Word, and the Father, and the Ineffable, and Silence, and Truth, and the Church, and Life.

4. These things are beyond "Alas!" and "Woe!" and beyond ^C every tragic exclamation and lamentation.

BILLIUS' INTERPRETATION

[He] had fulfilled [the number], in whom was the seed of those who were sown along with him, and at the same time had descended and ascended. This Power, furthermore, which descended, he says is the seed of the Father, having the Father and the Son in itself, and that virtue of Silence which is known through them and cannot be expressed by any faculty of speech, and all the Aeons. And [he says] that this is that Spirit who spoke through the mouth of Jesus, and confessed himself the son of man, and revealed the Father: and who descended into Jesus, and was coupled to him. And, he says, that he took away death, he who is from the Dispensation, the Savior; but he recognized the Father, namely Christ: wherefore he teaches that Jesus is the name of him who existed by the Dispensation; but that it was imposed for the sake of expressing the likeness and formation of that Man who was to descend into him. Moreover, when he had received him, he held both the Man himself, and the Word, and the Father, and the Ineffable, and Silence, and Truth, and the Church.

4. These things also surpass "Alas!" and "Woe!" and every tragic exclamation and lamentation of grief. Who, indeed, would not be moved to hatred against the artificer and compiler of so many lies, perceiving the truth from ^D the Savior himself, who had descended from above? But since it is evident from this very same passage that this was the opinion of certain Gnostics, that the son was indeed Jesus, but the Father was Christ, and that the Father of Christ was God, it seems more probable that this was also the opinion of Marcus, and therefore it should be read, "and he recognized the Father, Christ," not "Christ."

(7) Regarding "of him who is from the Dispensation, the man." This is spoken in distinction to the superior Anthropus [Man], who descended into Jesus through the grandson Christ.

(8) Regarding "He who had received him, he had," etc. For "the word," Billius the ancient interpreter wishes to delete the particle "he." I, however, think that a new period should be started from these words, "he had received him," etc. But because the ancient interpreter wrote "whom," and did not render the particle, he did so because he conflated two periods into one. Otherwise these things concern Jesus, who took the Anthropus into himself.

(10) Regarding "exclamation." I would prefer that Billius translated it as "lamentation."

(11) "Descending indeed into Jesus, he was united to him."

(12) "He recognized the Father, Christ." It is to be read: "He made known the Father, Christ." See note 6.

(13) "Jesus is therefore the name." The word "Jesus" is poorly placed; in all other copies the word "is" closes the preceding period: for from thence the sense is entirely perverted. Both belong to what follows. But also in this, the same word "Jesus" having been wrongly repeated after "therefore" through the oscitancy of the scribe, we have expunged it by the authority of the Greek text.

(14) "Who is to descend into him," [is what is meant] by "who begins to descend into him."

^A Who, then, would not hate the wicked compiler of such great falsehoods, when he sees the truth transformed into an idol by Marcus, and branded as it were with the letters of the alphabet? For just as the Greeks confess that they received the first sixteen letters from Cadmus, and that later, as time progressed, they themselves discovered, at one time the aspirated [letters], and at another the double ones, and finally, last of all, they say that Palamedes added the long ones; so, if we look to the beginning—the "yesterday and the day before," as the saying goes—not yet did these exist among the Greeks. Was there, therefore, no truth before these things came to be among the Greeks? For ^B if your body, Marcus, is later in time than Cadmus and those before him, and later than those who added the rest of the letters, and later even than yourself—for you alone have brought down into an idol that which you call truth—then who will endure your babbling?

[BILLI'S INTERPRETATION] [Regarding the phrase rendering: "Marcus, an idol made, and of the alphabet letters recently, and, as the saying goes, yesterday and the day before, as if marked with certain notes, when it already exists from the beginning?"] For the Greeks confess that they first received sixteen letters from Cadmus; and that later, in the progress of time, they discovered now the aspirates, now the double letters; and finally, they say that Palamedes added the long ones. What then? Before these letters existed among the Greeks, was there no truth? For according to your opinion, Marcus, the body of the truth itself is later than Cadmus and those who preceded the age of Cadmus; and likewise later than those who added the remaining letters, and indeed later than you yourself. For you alone have reduced that which you call truth into an idol.

[Continuing with the text]: ...names him, and explains him as superior to every discourse, and sets him forth as unsearchable; and [you say] that he, whom you assert to be devoid of body and form, opened his mouth and uttered the Word, as if it were some one thing composed of...

^A composite living creatures; and that his Word—being similar to the one who sent it forth, and having become the form of the invisible one—consists of thirty elements and four syllables? The Father of all things will therefore be, according to your likeness of the Word, composed of thirty elements and four syllables. Or again, who will endure you [as you go on] into shapes and numbers, now thirty, now twenty-four, now only six, enclosing the Creator and Maker and Architect of all things, the Word of God, and carving him up ^B into four syllables and thirty elements? And [who will endure you] bringing down the Lord of all, who established the heavens, into a numerical count—following the pattern of the alphabet—as though he himself had become like it; and [who will endure you] subdividing the Father who contains all things, yet is contained by none, into a quaternity, an ogdoad, a decad, and a duodecad, and through such multiplications as these, [professing] to expound what is, as you say, the ineffable and unthinkable [nature] of the Father? And you, who name him ^C incorporeal and insubstantial, construct his essence and his subsistence out of many letters, springing one from another—you yourself having become a false Daedalus and an evil craftsman of the most supreme power. And, [whereas] you say he is indivisible, you subdivide him into mute, vocal, and semi-vocal sounds; the mute ones belonging to the Father of all, and to the conception of the Son. ^D

Billius’ Interpretation.

^A vocal, and semi-vocal sounds, and falsely attributing that which is mute in them to the Parent of all things and to His own thought, you have cast all those who believe in you into the greatest blasphemy and most serious impiety.

6. Wherefore also with justice, and fittingly, for such temerity of yours, the divine elder and herald of truth ^B has inveighed against you in such verses, saying: *Marce, idolorum architecte, et portentorum observator,* *Astrologica et magicæ artis perite,* *Per quas falsis et cum errore conjunctis doctrinis robur concilias,* *His, qui a te seducuntur, facinora* *Apostatica virtutis pro miraculis ostendens,* *Quorum edendorum facultatem pater tuus Satanas tibi suppeditat,* *Per angelicam virtutem Azazelis,* *Ut qui te nefaria atque impiæ versuciæ præcursorem nactus sit.*

And these words indeed the pious elder turned against you. But we shall endeavor to conclude briefly the remainder of their mysteries, which are long, and to bring to light the things which for a long time have been hidden. For so they may easily be refuted by all. ^C

Chapter XVI. The absurd explanation of the parables of the lost sheep and the lost drachma, fabricated by the Marcosians. The author's admonition regarding their astonishing madness.

1. Generationem itaque Æonum suorum, ovisque aberrationem et inventionem in unum conjungentes, mystice audent annuntiare hi qui omnia ad numeros detorquent; ex unitate enim et dualitate dicentes omnia constare, et a monade usque ad quatuor numerantes ^D

[...]*s, thus they generate the decade. For one and two and three and four, when added together, have produced the number of the ten Aeons. Again, the duality, having proceeded from itself to the episemon, as for example two and four and six, has displayed the duodecad. And again, if we count from the duality in the same way up to ten ^A, the number thirty is displayed, in which are the ogdoad, and the decas, and the duodecas. Therefore, they call the duodecad a "passion" on account of the episemon, because it had an episemon following it. And for this reason, they say that a certain error occurred around the number twelve, because once the sheep had gone astray and become wanton, an apostasy from the duodecad had occurred. In the same way, they divine that one Power departed from the duodecad and perished; and that this is the woman who lost the drachma, and lit a lamp, and found it. Thus, therefore, and with the remaining numbers—the nine in the drachma and the eleven in the sheep—when joined together, they produce the number ninety-nine, since nine times eleven makes ninety-nine. Wherefore they also say that "Amen" holds this number. ^B

BILLI'S INTERPRETATION

^A Nor ^B shall I be reluctant to announce to you other explanations of them, so that you may perceive their fruit from every side. For they wish the letter H, when taken with the episemon, to be the Ogdoad, since it is placed in the eighth position from the first letter; and again, by counting the number of the letters themselves without the episemon and adding them up to H, they demonstrate the number thirty. For any person who begins at A and ends at H, taking the number of the letters, but subtracting the episemon and adding the increment of the letters, will find the number thirty. For up to the letter E, they amount to fifteen; then, if the number seven be added to them, it makes twenty-two; and when H, which is eight, is added to these, it fills up the most admirable number thirty. And from this they demonstrate that the Ogdoad is the mother of the thirty Aeons. Since, therefore, the number thirty is united from three powers, it becomes three times itself and makes ninety; for three times thirty is ninety. And this triad, when combined with itself, generated nine. Thus the Ogdoad among them begat the number nine. And since the twelfth Aeon, upon departing, left above the eleven, they say that the form of the letters is properly and appropriately placed in the shape of the *Logos* (for the letter λ is the eleventh of the letters, which is the number 30), and that it is placed after the image of the supernal dispensation; since from Alpha, without the episemon, the total number of the letters up to λ, when added together according to the increment of the letters, makes ninety-nine.

^A Since λ is the eleventh in order, it descended to the investigation of its similar, in order to fulfill the number twelve; and having found it, it was completed—as is manifest from the very configuration of the letter. For Λ, coming as it were to the investigation of its similar, and finding it, and seizing it into itself, fulfilled the place of the twelfth, the letter M consisting of two lambdas. Wherefore they must flee the place of ninety-nine through knowledge, that is to say the deficiency, the figure of the left hand; but they must pursue the one, because that which is added to the ninety-nine transferred them to the right hand.

3. You, however, in passing over these things, O beloved, know well that you will laugh much at such self-conceited foolishness of theirs. For they are worthy of lamentation, those who treat so callously and violently such divine religion, and the magnitude of the truth ^B of the inexpressible power, and such great dispensations of God—by means of Alpha and Beta and by numbers. But as many as depart from the Church and are persuaded by these old-wives' myths, are truly self-condemned, whom Paul commands us to avoid after the first and second admonition. John, however, the disciple of the Lord, extended their condemnation, not even wishing that "Hail" [Ave] be said to them by us. For he who says to them, he says, "Hail," communicates in their most wicked works. And rightly so; for there is no "hailing" for the impious, the Lord says. The impious, however, above every impiety— ^{C D}

impіety—^A those who say that the Maker of heaven and earth, the only God Almighty, above whom there is no other God, was produced from a deficiency, and that he himself was produced from another deficiency; so that, according to them, he is himself the projection of a third deficiency. ^B Such an opinion we ought truly to puff away and anathematize, and we ought to flee far, far away from them; and the more they insist and rejoice in these inventions of theirs, by so much the more we should know that they are being driven by the eight wicked spirits. For just as those who have fallen into a phrenetic condition, the more they laugh and think themselves strong, and as if they were healthy do everything—some things, indeed, even more than healthy people do—by so much the worse they are; so also these, the more they think they are over-wise and exhaust themselves—shooting beyond the mark—by so much the more they are not in their right mind. For the unclean spirit of ignorance having gone out, and then finding them vacant, not for God, but for worldly questionings, taking along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and having softened their judgment as if they were able to conceive of things above God, and having prepared them conveniently for a jolting, it has implanted in them the eight of folly of the wicked spirits.

BILLIUS' INTERPRETATION

He enjoins that one should shun them by this warning and another. John, however, the disciple of the Lord, increased their condemnation, as he does not wish for even a greeting to be offered to them from us. For he who says to them, "Hail," he says, communicates in their evil works. And this is not at all without reason. For there is no salvation for the impious, the Lord says. For these are impious, nay, more villainous than all impiety, who say that the Creator of heaven and earth, the only God Almighty, beyond whom there is no other God, was produced from a deficiency, and from another deficiency that had arisen; so that, in their view and opinion, he derived his origin from a third deficiency. This opinion we certainly ought to puff away and execrate, and flee far from them; and the more assertively they speak, and the more intensely they delight in their own inventions, the more persuaded we must be that they are being more vehemently blown about by the spirits of evil. For just as those who have fallen into a frenzy, the more profusely they laugh and think themselves strong, and do everything like healthy men, and some things even beyond what healthy men do, the more gravely and dangerously they are sick; in the same way, these also, the more they seem to themselves to excel in some remarkable wisdom, and exhaust themselves while they draw the bow beyond measure, the more they wander from their senses. ^{C D} [alt-version omitted]

CHAPTER XVII.

BILLI'S INTERPRETATION.

CHAPTER XVII.

^A are contained, whom they also call the eighth heaven; finally, the sun and moon. These, which are ten in number, they contend are images of that invisible Decad which proceeded from the Word and Life. But they say that the Duodecad is indicated by that sphere which is called the Zodiac. For by the twelve signs, they say that that Duodecad, which was born of Man and the Church, is clearly shadowed forth. And since Saturn, holding a more sublime position in the conversion of the universe, the sum of which is speed, is joined in opposition to it, he presses upon that concavity [of the heavens] and compensates for the speed of the remaining orbs with his own ^B slowness: so that he himself completes his conversion from center to center every thirtieth year: for which reason they say he is an image of Horos, who contains their mother, endowed with thirty names. The moon, again, traversing her own heaven in thirty days, has expressed the number of the thirty Aeons through these days. And that the sun, also, traversing his orb in twelve months, and completing his own circular restitution, so to speak, openly demonstrates the Duodecad through the twelve months. Likewise, that the days, which are defined by the space of twelve hours, bear the figure of the illustrious Duodecad. Furthermore, that the hour, which is the twelfth part of the day, is adorned with thirty degrees to express the figure of the tricenary. And that the circumference of the zodiacal sphere itself is of three hundred and sixty degrees: for each sign has thirty degrees. And in the same way, through the circle, they argue that the image ^C of that conjunction which exists between the twelve and the thirty is preserved. Moreover, they also say that the earth is divided into twelve climates, and that in each single climate it receives from the heavens, as it were perpendicularly, a virtue, and brings forth offspring similar to that virtue which sends down the flowing power ^D from above,

on the image of the Duodecad

^A They maintain most clearly that this is a type of the duodecad and of its children.

2. Furthermore, they say that when the Demiurge wished to imitate the interminable, eternal, infinite, and timeless nature of the superior Ogdoad, and could not, because he was produced from a defect, represent its constancy and eternity, he deposited its eternity into the spaces of time, and [distinct] times, and the numbers of many years; ^B thinking that by a multitude of times he might imitate its infinity. Therefore they say that when truth had fled from him, falsehood followed; and that for this reason, when the times are completed, his work will receive its destruction.

CHAPTER XVIII

1. And regarding the creation, they say such things, and each one of them discovers something new every day, as best he can. For no one among them is "perfect" unless he has brought forth great lies. But as for the prophetic writings which they twist and adapt to their own scheme, it is necessary to point them out and then bring the refutation against them. For Moses, they say, beginning the work concerning the creation, immediately at the very start revealed the mother of all, saying: *In the beginning God made heaven and earth.* ^C By naming these four—God and beginning, heaven and earth—he delineated their quaternity, as they say. And he indicated that which is invisible and hidden in her by saying: *The earth was invisible and without form.* ^D The second quaternity, the offspring of the first quaternity, they thus...

[index: entries preserved]

wish him to have named: the abyss, and darkness, in which are the waters, and the spirit which was borne upon the waters. ^A After which, by making mention of the decad, they say that he meant the light, and day, and night, and the firmament, and evening, and that which is called morning, and the dry land, and the sea, and further also the herb, and in the tenth place, the tree: and thus, through these ten names, he manifested the ten Aeons.

And the virtue of the duodecad they hold to be figured by him in this way: for he mentions the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the seasons, and the years, and the whales, and the fishes, and the creeping things, and the birds, and the quadrupeds, and the wild beasts, and after all these, in the twelfth place, man. Thus they teach that the thirty were spoken of by the Spirit through Moses. ^B Furthermore, they teach that man was formed according to the image of the supernal virtue, bearing within himself that virtue which comes from one source. They say it is established in the place of the brain, from which flow four virtues according to the image of the supernal tetrad, which are called: first, vision; second, hearing; third, smell; and fourth, taste. And the ogdoad, they say, is signified through man in this way: as having two ears and as many eyes, and also two nostrils, and a double sense of taste, of bitter and sweet. ^C And they teach that the whole man holds the entire image of the thirty in this way: in his hands, by the fingers, he bears the decad; and in his whole body, since it is divided into twelve members, the duodecad. They divide it, just as the body of Truth has been divided by them, about which we have spoken before. Therefore, the ogdoad, being ineffable and invisible, is to be understood as concealed in the viscera. ^D

BILLIUS'S INTERPRETATION

and show [it] to be the same image among themselves. They also assert that the priest’s robe, adorned with four rows of precious stones, signifies the quaternity. And they define that if any such things ^A are found in the Scriptures that are able to be led back to the number of four, they are said to have come into being because of their tetrad.

Again, they show the ogdoad in this way: they say that man was formed on the eighth day; for sometimes they wish him to have been formed on the sixth, and sometimes on the eighth; unless, perhaps, they wish to say that the earthy [man] was formed on the sixth day, but the carnal [man] on the eighth, for these things are distinct among them. ^B Some, moreover, wish there to be another man—the one who was made according to the image and likeness of God—who is male-and-female, and that this is the spiritual man; while another was formed from the earth.

3. And they say that the arrangement of the ark in the flood, in which eight men were saved, most clearly signifies the saving ogdoad. They say that the same is signified by David, who was the eighth in birth among his brothers. Furthermore, they also say that circumcision, which takes place on the eighth day, ^C signifies the circumcision of the higher ogdoad. And simply, they say that all things found in the Scriptures that can be brought under the number eight fulfil the mystery of the ogdoad.

But Billius' interpretation of the division among them: of which we have spoken above, and which can neither be explained by words nor seen by the eyes, is to be understood as hidden in the inward parts.

2. They assert again that that great luminary, that is, the sun, came into being on the fourth day because of the number of the quaternity. ^D And in the same way, they show that the atria of that tabernacle constructed by Moses, having been worked out of byssus, and hyacinth, and purple, and scarlet, show the same image among them. And the priest's robe, adorned with four rows of stones of great price, in their opinion designates the quaternity. And if there are other things of this kind deposited in the Scriptures, which can be recalled to the quaternary number, they maintain that they were made for the sake of their own quaternity.

Again, they demonstrate the ogdoad thus: they say man was fashioned on the eighth day; for it pleases them that he was sometimes created on the sixth day, and sometimes again on the eighth; unless perhaps they are going to say that the earthy one was created on the sixth day, but the carnal one on the eighth; for these things are distinct among them. But some wish there to be another man, a hermaphrodite, who existed according to the image and likeness of God, whom they also say is spiritual; and another who was fashioned from the earth.

5. They also say that that dispensation of the ark in the flood, in which eight men were delivered from destruction, most clearly signifies the ogdoad.

They also say that the decade is signified by the ten nations which God promised to give to Abraham for a possession; and they say that the dispensation concerning Sarah, in which, after ten years, she gives her handmaid Hagar to him, in order that he might have children by her, signifies the same thing. And the servant of Abraham, sent to Rebecca, and giving her ten golden armlets at the well, and her brothers keeping her for ten days; furthermore, Jeroboam, who receives the ten scepters, and the ten curtains of the tabernacle, and the pillars of ten cubits, and the ten sons of Jacob sent for the first time into Egypt for the purchase of grain, and the ten apostles to whom the Lord appeared after the resurrection, Thomas being absent—they say that these things depicted the invisible decade according to them. ^B 4. But they say that the duodecad, concerning which they maintain the mystery of the passion to have been—from which passion they wish the visible things to have been fashioned—is signally and clearly situated everywhere; as, for example, the twelve sons of Jacob, from whom also are the twelve tribes, and the variegated breastplate having twelve stones, ^C and the twelve bells...

Billius’ Interpretation.

...the index, as they say, of the saving ogdoad. And they say that the same thing is signified by the fact that David was the eighth in birth among his brothers. And likewise, that by circumcision, which was applied on the eighth day, the circumcision of the supernal ogdoad is declared. In sum, they assert that whatever is found in the Scriptures that can be referred to the number eight satisfies the mystery of the ogdoad. In a similar manner, they say that the decade is signified by those nations which God promised to Abraham that He would give him for a possession: and likewise by the fact that Sarah, after ten years had passed, conceded her handmaid Hagar to him so that he might beget children by her, the same is shown. Indeed, that servant of Abraham also, sent to Rebecca, and offering her ten golden armlets as a gift at the well, and her brothers keeping her for ten days: Jeroboam likewise receiving ten scepters, and the ten curtains of the tabernacle, and the pillars of ten cubits in magnitude, and the ten sons of Jacob sent to Egypt for the first time to purchase grain, and the ten apostles to whom the Lord appeared while Thomas was absent—these, they say, expressed the invisible decade among them. ^D 4. Now as for the duodecad, about which the mystery of the fault of the passion occurred, from which passion they wish everything that falls under the gaze of the eyes to have been constructed, they say that it is insignificantly and clearly set and inscribed in any places of Scripture whatsoever. For they say that the twelve sons of Jacob, from whom twelve tribes also sprang, and that variegated breastplate, having twelve stones, and twelve bells, and the twelve stones placed under the mountain by Moses, and likewise those set by Joshua in the river, all signify...

they say, the twelve; and they claim that all things which preserve the number twelve characterize their duodecad. Furthermore, they wish the union of all these things, which is called the triacontas, to signify the thirty through the thirty cubits of the height of the ark of Noah, and through Samuel placing Saul first among the thirty invited guests, and through David, when he hid in the field for thirty days, and through those who entered the cave with him (Israel), and for this reason the length of the holy tabernacle was thirty cubits; and whatever other things they find equal in number to these, they labor to demonstrate their thirty by such proofs. ^A

CAPUT XIX..

1. I thought it necessary to add to these matters as much as relates to their Propatôr, who was unknown to all. ^B

INTERPRETATION OF BILLIUS

CAPUT XIX

before the advent of Christ, seeking to persuade by selecting from the Scriptures, in order that they might show our Lord to be announcing another Father, besides the Maker of this universe: whom, as we have said before, they impiously blaspheme, saying he is the fruit of a defect. Therefore, the prophet Isaiah saying: ^A *Israel did not know me, and the people did not understand me*, they distort to mean the ignorance of the invisible Bythos. And regarding what was said through Hosea: *There is no truth in them, nor knowledge of God*, they struggle to urge that it points to the same thing. And, *There is none that understandeth, or seeketh after God: all have turned aside, they have become useless together*, they attribute to the ignorance of Bythos. And they persuade [others] to refer to him that which was said through Moses: *No man shall see God, and live*.

2. They say that the Maker was seen by the prophets; but that which is written: *No man shall see God, and live*, they wish to be understood as spoken of the invisible and unknown magnitude to all. And that it is said of the invisible Father and Maker of all: *No man shall see God*, is manifest to us all; but that it is not spoken of this Bythos devised by them, ^B but of the Demiurge (and he himself is the invisible God), will be shown as the discourse proceeds. And they say that Daniel signifies this very same thing, in that he asks the angel for the solutions of the parables, as if he did not know them. But [they say] that the angel also, hiding from him the great mystery of Bythos, said to him: *Go thy way, Daniel: for these words are shut up, until the discerning shall discern and the white shall be whitened*; and they boast that they themselves are the white and the discerning ones.

BILLII INTERPRETATION

2. They falsely assert that the Maker was seen by the prophets. But that which is written: *No man shall see God, and live*, they wish to have been spoken of the invisible magnitude unknown to all. And that indeed this was said of the invisible Father and Creator of all things: *No man shall see God*, is clear to any of us; but that it was not of that Bythos they themselves fabricate, but of the Creator of all things (who himself is the invisible God), will be shown to us further on. They say that Daniel also signifies this same thing, when he seeks the solutions of the parables from the angel as if they were in no wise known and explored by him. And that the angel himself, hiding the great mystery of Bythos from him, used these words to him: *Go quickly, Daniel: for these words are shut up until those who understand shall understand, and the white shall be whitened*. They boast, moreover, that they themselves are those white men and those of perspicacious intellect.]

Chapter XX. On the apocryphal and fictitious scriptures of the Marcosians, and the places in the Gospel which they abused.

^A 1. To this they add an ineffable multitude of apocryphal and spurious writings, which they themselves have forged, bringing them forward to the astonishment of the senseless and those who do not understand the letters of truth. They assume for this purpose that fabrication also, as though the Lord, when He was a child and was learning letters, when His master said to Him, as is the custom, "Say Alpha," answered, "Alpha." And again, when the master ordered Him to say "Beta," the Lord answered, "Do you first tell me what Alpha is, and then I will tell you what Beta is." This they interpret as though He alone knew the unknown, which He manifested in the type of Alpha.

^B 2. Some also of those things which are set down in the Gospel they transfigure into this same character: as that answer which He gave to His mother when He was twelve years old, "Do you not know that I must be in those things which are of my Father?" They say that He was proclaiming to them that Father whom they did not know; and that for this cause He sent forth His disciples into the twelve tribes, preaching the unknown God to them. And to him who said to Him, "Good Master," they say that He confessed that the truly good God was the one who said, "Why do you call me good? There is one good, the Father in the heavens"; and they say that the "heavens" are now to be understood as the Aeons. And because He did not answer those...

who asked Him, "By what power dost Thou do these things?" ^A but on the contrary confounded them with His own question, they interpret this as showing the ineffability of the Father, in that He did not speak and did not reveal Him. And in the fact that He said: "Many times I have desired to hear one of these words, and I had not one to tell me," they say that by "one" He points to Him who is truly the one God, whom they did not know. Further, in that when He drew near to Jerusalem, He wept over it and said: "If you had known, even you, today the things that make for peace; but they are hidden from you," they say that by the word "hidden," He has manifested the secret of Bythus. And again, in His saying: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you; and learn from me," they claim He has announced the Father of Truth. For what they were ignorant of, they say, this He promised to teach them.

93 3. And they bring forward these things as the manifestation of those higher beings and as the conclusion of their rule: "I confess to Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones. Yes, my Father, for so it was well-pleasing in Thy sight. All things have been handed over to Me by the Father." ^B

BILLII INTERPRETATIO.

He had addressed the words: "Master good"; and to Him who was truly good, he ingenuously confessed with these words: "Why do you call me good? There is one good, the Father who is in the heavens"—they claim that "heavens" are called Aeons in this place. Furthermore, because He did not answer those who were questioning Him by what power He did these things, but struck them with a mutual question, they interpret this as showing, by the very fact that He refused to speak, the ineffability of the Father. And likewise in the fact that He said: "I have often desired to hear one of these words, and I had no one available to tell me," they claim that by the word "one," He declared Him who is truly one God, whom they themselves did not know. Moreover, in that when He had approached Jerusalem, He wept over it and said: "If you had known, even you, today the things that make for peace; but they are hidden from you," they claim that by the word "hidden," he made it clear that Bythus is hidden and abstruse. And again, in these words: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you; learn from me," etc.; in these words, I say, they claim He announced the Father of Truth. For what they were ignorant of, they say, this he promised he would teach them.

3. And in support of the truth of this interpretation, they bring forward this as if it were a peak: "I confess to Thee, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones. Yes, my Father, for so it was well-pleasing in Thy sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and the Son except the Father, and he to whom the Son will have revealed Him." For in these words they claim it is clearly demonstrated by Him...

^A that He is the Father of Truth, whom they themselves have invented, and that before His coming no one had ever known Him; and they wish to establish that the Maker and Creator was always known by all, and that these words were spoken by the Lord concerning that Father who is unknown to all, whom they themselves announce.

CHAPTER XXI

What and of what variety the redemption of the heretics is.

1. As for the tradition of their redemption, it so happens that it is invisible and incomprehensible, seeing that it is the mother of things that cannot be grasped or seen. And ^B for this reason, because it is unstable, it cannot be explained simply or in one account; for each one of them interprets it as he himself wishes. For as many as are the mystical guides of this opinion, there are just as many redemptions. And that this species [of ritual] has been suggested by Satan for the denial of baptism, of the regeneration into God, and for the destruction of the entire faith, we shall demonstrate by refuting them in the proper place.

2. They claim, however, that it is necessary for those who have received perfect knowledge, so that they may be regenerated into that Power which is above all things. For otherwise, they say, it is impossible to enter within the Pleroma; since this is what conducts them into the depth of the Bythus, according to them. For [they say that] the baptism of the apparent Jesus is for the remission of sins, but the redemption of the Christ who is in Him, [is for] ^C the perfection of those who have received perfect knowledge.

BILLIUS' INTERPRETATION

CHAPTER XXI

2. They claim, however, that it is necessary for those who have attained perfect knowledge to be regenerated into that power which is supreme over all things. For otherwise it cannot be, that anyone should have access to the Pleroma.

^A For they maintain that by the baptism of Jesus given to him who descended into him, the Spirit—that is, the remission of sins is brought about; but by the redemption, ^B which is Christ—who descended into him—perfection is acquired. And they maintain that the former is animal, while the latter is spiritual. And they say that the baptism was announced by John for repentance, but the redemption was brought by Jesus for the sake of attaining perfection. And this, they claim, is what he refers to when he says: "I have another baptism to be baptized with, and I hasten greatly towards it" [Luke XII, 50]. And they further say that when the sons of Zebedee, through their mother, asked that they might sit at his right hand and left in his kingdom, the Lord added this redemption, saying: "Can you be baptized with the baptism that I am to be baptized with?" [Mark X, 38]. And they say that Paul expressly and very often indicated this redemption which is in Christ Jesus, and that this is the very one which is handed down by them in diverse and inconsistent ways.

BILLII INTERPRETATION

For it is clear—inasmuch as it is such, that it draws them down into the innermost deep of the Abyss—that through the baptism of Jesus, sins are indeed remitted, but through the redemption of Christ, who descended into him, perfection is acquired. They maintain the former to be animal, the latter spiritual. And baptism, they say, was announced by John for repentance; but redemption was brought by Jesus for the cause of attaining perfection. And to this points his statement: "I have another baptism to be baptized with, and I hasten greatly towards it." Furthermore, they say that when the sons of Zebedee, through their mother, demanded that he set them with him in the kingdom, one on his right and another on his left, the Lord added this redemption, saying: "Can you be baptized with the baptism with which I am to be baptized?" They say that Paul also, in clear terms, very often indicated the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, and that this is the same as that which is handed down by them in varying and dissenting ways.

3. For some of them construct a bridal chamber, and perform a mystical rite for those they initiate with the enunciation of certain words; and they call what they do "spiritual marriage," in likeness of the heavenly unions. Others lead them to the water, and while baptizing them, use these words: "In the name of the unknown Father of all things, in Truth, the mother of all, in Him who descended into Jesus..."

Some of them adapt a bridal chamber and perform a kind of mystic initiation for those who are being perfected, with certain invocations, and assert that what is performed by them is a spiritual marriage according to the similitude of the ^A higher conjunctions. Others lead them to water, and baptizing them, say thus: "In the name of the unknown Father of all things, in the truth mother of all things, in the one who descended into Jesus, in union and redemption and communion of the powers." Others invoke certain Hebrew names, for the purpose of striking those who are being initiated with greater amazement, thus: Basyma, cacabasa, eanaa, irraumista, diarbada, caeota, bafobor, camethantki. The interpretation of these is as follows: ^B "In the name of the one who is above every power of the Father, I invoke the light, and the good Spirit, and life; for in the body ^C thou didst reign." Others again propose the redemption in this way: "The name... ^D

which is hidden from all deity and dominion and truth, which Jesus of Nazareth put on in the zones of light, Christ the Lord of the living through the Holy Spirit, for an angelic redemption. A name of restoration: Messia ufar in seenchaldia mosomeda, eaacha faronepseha, of Jesus of Nazareth." And the interpretation of these words is as follows: "I do not divide the spirit, the heart, and the supercelestial virtue, the merciful one: may I enjoy thy name, O Savior of truth." And these things are spoken by those who perform the initiation; but he who is initiated replies: "I have been confirmed and I have been redeemed, and I redeem my soul from this age ^B and from all that proceeds from it, in the name of Iao, who has redeemed his soul into redemption, in Christ who lives." Then those who stand by add: "Peace to all on whom this name rests." Afterward they anoint the initiated with opobalsam. For they say that this ointment is a type of that sweetness which is above all things.

4. But some of them say that it is superfluous to bring water, and mixing oil and water into one, with certain profane ^C expressions similar to those we have mentioned before, they pour it upon the head of those who are being initiated; and they wish this to be the redemption.

BILLI'S INTERPRETATION

4. There are also some among them who say that it is superfluous to bring water; but they mix oil and water together, with certain words like those which were commemorated by us before, not very different, and they cast it upon the head of those whom they initiate: and they intend this to be the redemption. And they also...

anoint themselves with opobalsam.

^A Others, however, rejecting all these things, say that it is not fitting that the mystery of the ineffable and invisible Power should be performed through visible and corruptible creatures, and things that are inconceivable and incorporeal through those that are sensible and bodily. They say that the perfect redemption is the very knowledge of the ineffable Greatness. For when those things which were produced by ignorance of the deficiency and by passion are dissolved through knowledge, the whole state born of ignorance is dissolved; so that knowledge becomes the redemption of the inner man. And they say that it is neither bodily—for the body is corruptible—nor animal, since the soul is also from deficiency, but that it is spiritual, for it is as it were the dwelling-place of the spirit. ^B It is necessary, therefore, for the redemption to be spiritual. For they say that the inner, spiritual man is redeemed by knowledge, and that the knowledge of all things is sufficient for them, and that this is the true redemption.

5. Others there are who redeem those who are at the point of death, and arrive at the same departure, by pouring oil and water, or the aforementioned ointment with water, upon their heads, along with the invocations already commemorated, so that they may become incomprehensible ^C and invisible to the principalities and powers, and that their inner man may ascend further in an invisible manner, just as their bodies are left among the created things; and they bid them, when they have come to the principalities and powers, to use these words: "I am a son from the Father, the Father..."

who pre-existed, and a son in Him who pre-existed. I have come to see all things, both mine and those which are alien; and yet they are not entirely alien, but they are of Achamoth, who is female, and she made these for herself. But I derive my lineage from Him who pre-existed, and I return again to my own, whence I have come." And they say that when he has said these things, he escapes the powers ^B and proceeds to those who are around the Demiurge, and says to them: "I am a vessel more precious than the female who made you. If your mother ignores her own root, I for my part know myself, and I understand whence I am, and I invoke the incorruptible Sophia, who is in the Father, and who is the mother of your mother, who has no father, nor even any male spouse: but a female, born of a female, made you, being ignorant of her own mother and imagining herself to be alone; but I invoke her mother." They say that when those who are around the Demiurge hear these things, they are greatly disturbed and condemn the root and descent of their mother. But he [the Gnostic] himself departs to his own, casting off his bond, that is, the soul. And concerning ^C their redemption these are the things which have come down to us. But since they differ from one another in both doctrine and tradition, and those who are recognized as the more recent among them are eager to invent something new every day, and

BILLIUS' INTERPRETATION

fruit, which no one ever devised; it is difficult to describe everyone's opinions. ^A To blame the genus. But for him to proceed to his own bond, and angel, this is the soul. And these are the things concerning redemption that have come down to us.

CHAPTER XXII.

What the rule of truth is, and wherein all heretics depart from it.

1. Since, however, we hold this rule of truth, that is, that there is one omnipotent God, who created all things by His Word, and ordered them, and made them out of that which did not exist, so that all things might exist, as the Scripture says: *By the word of the Lord were the heavens established, and by the spirit of his mouth all their power* (Ps. xxxii, 6); and again: *All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made* (Joan. I, 3): (from all things, however, nothing has been subtracted; but the Father made all things through Him, whether visible or invisible, or sensible, or intelligible, or temporal on account of some disposition, or eternal, and Æonian) not through angels, nor through any powers separated from His judgment; for God needs nothing of all things: but He makes, arranges, and governs all things through His Word and His Spirit, and provides existence to all things: He who made the world (for the world is out of all things), He who fashioned ^C man, He is the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, above whom there is no other God, nor Beginning, nor Power, nor Pleroma, he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we shall show: holding this rule, therefore, although they speak of things very varied and many, we easily argue that they have deviated from the truth. For almost all, as many heresies as there are, say indeed that God is one, but they change Him through a perverse opinion, being ungrateful to Him who made them, just as the nations do through idolatry. They contemn the handiwork of God, contradicting their own salvation, being themselves most bitter accusers of themselves, and existing as false witnesses. ^D They shall, however, rise in the flesh, though they may not wish it, so that they may recognize the power of Him who raises them from the dead: but with the just they shall not be numbered, on account of their incredulity.

2. Since, therefore, the refutation and conviction of all heretics is varied and manifold, and it is our purpose to contradict all of them according to their own character, we have thought it necessary to first relate their source and root, so that, knowing their most sublime Bythos, you may understand the tree from which such fruits have flowed down.

CHAPTER XXIII.

The opinion and customs of Simon Magus and Menander.

1. For Simon the Samaritan, the magician, of whom Luke the disciple and follower of the apostles speaks: *But a certain man named Simon, who before time in the city was exercising magical art (Act. viii, 9 seq.), and seducing the nation of the Samaritans, saying that he himself was some great one, whom they hearkened to from the least even to the greatest, saying: This is the power of God, which is called great.* They observed him, however, because for a long time he had dazed them with his magic. This Simon, therefore, who feigned faith, thinking that the apostles and they themselves performed cures through magic, and not by the power of God; and that by the laying on of hands they fulfilled those who believed in God through them, who are evangelized by them as Christ Jesus, through a greater magical knowledge, and supposing this to be done, and offering money to the apostles, so that he might receive this power himself, of giving the Holy Spirit to whomsoever he wished, heard from Peter: *Thy money be with thee into perdition, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money: thou hast no part, nor lot in this matter: for thy heart*...

is not right before God. For I see that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. ^A And when he did not believe God even more, and being covetous, he sought to contend against the apostles, so that he himself might appear to be glorious, and searching still further into all magic, he brought many men into astonishment; for he was under Claudius Caesar, by whom he is even said to have been honoured with a statue on account of his magic. He therefore was glorified by many as if he were God; and he taught that he himself was the one who appeared among the Jews as the Son, descended in Samaria as the Father, and came among the other nations as the Holy Spirit. He claimed to be the highest power, that is, the Father who is over all, and sustained being called whatever men might call him.

2. But Simon the Samaritan, from whom all heresies have derived their source, has the material of such a sect. He ^B had redeemed a certain Helena from the city of Tyre in Phoenicia, a prostitute, and led her about with him, saying that this was the first conception of his mind, the mother of all, by whom in the beginning he conceived in his mind to make the angels and archangels. For this Ennoia, leaping forth from him, knowing what her father wished, descended into the lower regions, and generated the angels and powers, by whom he said this world was made. But after she had generated them, she was detained by them out of envy, because they did not wish to be thought the progeny of any other. For he himself was entirely unknown to them; but his Ennoia was detained by those powers and angels which were emitted by her; and she suffered every indignity from them, so that she would not return upwards ^C to her father, insomuch that she was even included in a human body, and migrated through the ages as if from vessel to vessel into other feminine bodies. She had been, moreover, in that Helena, on account of whom the Trojan war was contracted: wherefore also Stesichorus, having cursed her in his poems, was deprived of his sight; but afterwards, having repented and written those poems which are called palinodes, in which he hymned her, he is said to have seen again. Migrating, however, from body to body, and from that time always enduring indignity, she in the last times even prostituted herself in a brothel: and this is the lost sheep.

3. Wherefore he also came, so that he might first assume her, and liberate her from chains, but grant salvation to men through his own recognition. For since the angels ^D were governing the world badly, because each of them was coveting the pre-eminence, he had come for the amendment of things, and had descended transformed, and assimilated to the Virtues, and Powers, and Angels: so that in men he might appear as a man, when he was not a man; and that he was thought to have suffered in Judea, when he had not suffered. He said that the prophets had uttered prophecies when inspired by the world-making angels: wherefore those who place their hope in him and in his Helena pay no further regard to them, and act as they wish, as free men: for according to his grace men are saved, but not according to just works. For there are no works that are just by nature, but only by accident; just as the angels who made the world established, leading men into servitude through such precepts. Wherefore he promised that the world should also be dissolved, and that those who are his should be liberated from the empire of those who made the world.

4. Therefore, the mystic priests of these people indeed live in luxury, but they perform magic, as each one of them is able. Exorcisms and incantations they employ; and philtres and magic they use.

They also have an image of Simon, formed in the likeness of Jupiter, and of Helena in the likeness of Minerva; and they worship them. ^A They also possess a name from the founder of that most impious doctrine, Simon; they are called Simonians, from whom the knowledge, falsely so called, took its beginnings, as it is possible to learn from their own assertions.

5. His successor was Menander, a Samaritan by birth, who also reached the height of magic. He affirms that the primary Power is unknown to all; but he represents himself as the one sent by the invisible ^B beings as a Savior for the salvation of men. The world, he says, was made by angels; and these, like Simon, he claims were sent forth by Ennoia. He also grants through her, as he teaches, magic science for this purpose: that one may overcome even those very angels who made the world. His disciples receive resurrection through that baptism which is in him, and it is impossible for them to die anymore, but they remain never-aging and immortal.

CHAPTER XXIV

1. From these men, Saturninus, who was from Antioch—a city ^C of Syria—and Basilides, receiving opportunities, displayed differing doctrines: the one in Syria, the other indeed in Alexandria. Saturninus truly, similarly to Menander, made known one Father, unknown to all, who made the Angels, Archangels, Virtues, and Powers. But the world and all that is in it was made by seven certain angels. He said that man is the work of these angels; when a shining image appeared down from the supreme Power, which they ^D could not hold—because it immediately sped back upward—they exhorted themselves, saying: "Let us make man according to the image and likeness." And when he had been made, and the creature could not stand upright on account of the weakness of the angels, but crawled like a worm, the Power overhead pitied him because he was made in His likeness, and sent forth a spark of life, which raised up the man, and gave him joints, and made him live. This spark of life, therefore, after death, runs back to those that are of the same kind, and the rest, from which they were made, are resolved.

2. Moreover, he declared the Savior to be unbegotten, and incorporeal, and without form, and that he was seen as a man only in appearance; and he said the God of the Jews was one of the angels. And for this reason...

he says, the Father of Christ desired to do away with the other angels, and also with the God of the Jews; and he sent Christ into the world for the salvation of those who believed in him, and for the destruction of the God of the Jews, and for the salvation of those who are persuaded. These are the people of this heresy who possess the spark from the Father above. For he claims that two men were fashioned from the beginning, one good and one evil; from these two are the races of men in the world, the good and the evil. And since demons helped the evil, the Savior came for the help of good men, and for the destruction of the evil and the demons. But he claims that marrying and begetting children exist from Satan, whence also most of them abstain from meat, so that by their supposedly feigned manner of life they might draw some into their own deception.

He said that some of the prophecies were spoken by the angels who fashioned the world, and others by Satan. And he also says that Satan himself is an angel, opposing the angels who fashioned the world, and especially the God of the Jews.

^B 3. Basilides, however, that he might appear to have discovered something more profound and plausible, extends the theory of his doctrine into the infinite, showing that from the unbegotten Father was born Mind, and from Mind was born the Word, and from the Word Prudence, and from Prudence Wisdom and Power, and from these, Angels and Archangels. ^C 4. But he says that those who hold the lowest heaven, the angels, as it also seems to us, constituted all things that are in the world, and assigned the parts of the earth and the nations that are upon it to themselves. And he says that their prince is he who is thought to be the God of the Jews. And since this one wished to subject to his own people, that is, to the Jews, the remaining nations, the rest of all the princes stood against him and opposed him. Wherefore also the other nations revolted from his people. But the unbegotten ^D Father, seeing the destruction of these, sent his own first-begotten Mind (which is Christ) to those who believe in him, for the salvation of men from the power of those who fashioned the world. He appeared on earth as a man, and performed wonders. For this reason, he did not suffer, but rather a certain Simon of Cyrene was compelled to carry the cross for him, and so this latter was crucified by error and mistake, having been transfigured by him that he might be thought to be Jesus, while Jesus himself took the form of Simon, and standing by, mocked them. For since he was an incorporeal power and the Mind of the unbegotten Father, he transformed himself at will, and thus ascended to Him who had sent him, mocking them, since he could not be held and was invisible to all. Those, therefore, who know these things have been freed from the princes who fashioned the world.

^A And it is not necessary to confess the one who was crucified, but the one who came in the form of a man, and was thought to be crucified, and was called Jesus, and was sent by the Father, so that through this dispensation he might dissolve the works of the fabricators of the world. If anyone, therefore, he says, confesses the crucified one, he is still a servant here, and under the power of those who made [our] bodies; but he who has denied [the crucified one] has been freed from them, and knows the dispensation of the Unbegotten Father.

5. But ^B they say that the soul alone is saved, [for] the body is by nature corruptible. They say also 102 that the prophecies were [given] by the Princes who were the fabricators of the world, but the law, properly speaking, [was given] by their Prince, who led the people out of the land of Egypt. And [they say] one should despise things sacrificed to idols, and think nothing of them, but use them without any apprehension; and they hold as indifferent the use of other works and of all lust. They use, moreover, both magic and images 13, and incantations, and invocations, and all other such curiosity 14: and they also fashion certain names as if they were those of Angels, announcing that some of these are in the first heaven, others in the second: and then they strive to set forth the names, and the beginnings, and the Angels, and the Virtues of the three hundred and sixty-five falsely-called 16 heavens. And they say that the name of the world, into which they say the Savior descended and ascended, is Caulacau 17.

^A And he who has learned this, and has known all the Angels, and the causes of them, the invisible and incomprehensible being made with the Angels and the Powers, just as Caulacau has been. And just as the Son is unknown to all, so also they themselves ought to be known by no one; but while they themselves know all, and pass through all, they themselves are invisible and unknown to all. For you, they say, know all, but let no one know you. Wherefore they are also ready for denial, those who are such, nay rather they cannot even suffer for the name, since they are like to all. Not many, however, can know these things, but one in a thousand, and two in ten thousand. And they say that the Jews are now no longer, but the Christians are not yet: and that one ought not ^B at all to utter their mysteries, but to contain them in silence.

7. But the three hundred and sixty-five heavens distribute their local positions similarly to the mathematicians. For, accepting their theorems, they have transferred them into the character of their doctrine: and that the prince of them is Abraxas ^A (8), and that on account of this he has the three hundred and sixty-five numbers (9) in himself.

103 CHAPTER XXV.

1. But Carpocrates, and those who are with him, say that the world and those things which are in it were made by Angels much inferior to the unbegotten Father. And they say that Jesus was born from Joseph, and although He was similar to other men, He differed from the others in that His soul, being firm and pure, remembered those things which were seen by Him in that circumlation, which had been with the unbegotten God ^B (13): and that on account of this there was sent to Him a power from Him, that He might be able to escape the makers of the world, and having passed through all (14), and having been liberated in all, He might ascend to Him: and those, who embrace things similar to Him, in like manner (15). But they say that the soul of Jesus...

^A in the Jewish custom having been nurtured, despised them, and on account of this received virtues, through which He was able to accomplish those passions which, for the sake of punishment, were present in men, and He was able to pass beyond the creators of the world: and not only that the soul of Jesus alone was able to do this, but also that any other soul whatsoever is able to despise the angelic creators of the world, if it also should receive powers, and do similar things. And they, having been driven into a great conceit, deem themselves more selectable ^B than Jesus himself; and others of them say they are not more selectable than Jesus, but than Peter, and Andrew, and Paul, and the rest of the Apostles, saying they themselves are more excellent; while others of them assert that they differ in nothing from Jesus; for the souls are from the same circulation, and having in like manner performed a despising of all things after the manner of Jesus, they were deemed worthy of the same power. And if any one again should be able to despise beyond Jesus, he will be more distinguished than He.

3. For they practice magical arts, and incantations, and philtres also, and love-charms (11), and familiar spirits, and dream-senders, and the rest of ^C their malignities, saying that they have power to domineer over the princes and makers of this world: and not only over them, but also over all things that have been made in it. Who themselves (12) also for the detraction of the divine name of the Church (13), just like the Gentiles, were sent ahead by Satan, so that according to one way and another, men hearing what is theirs, and thinking that all of us are such, might turn away their ears from the proclamation of truth: or also, seeing what is theirs, all might blaspheme us, communicating with them in nothing, neither in teaching, nor in morals, ^D nor in daily conversation. But they abuse the name of Christian to cover their own malice, to cloak a luxurious life and an impious sentiment (15), whose judgment is just, of those receiving from God a retribution worthy of their works.

4. And they are carried into such madness (16), that they say they have in their power, and practice, all things whatsoever are irreligious and impious (17). For they say that evil and good things are so only by human opinion (18). And that, according to transmigrations into bodies, it behooves one in every life (19), and in every...

activity, for souls to have been made 21, so that when they depart, they may have nothing less left to perform [autem] in it: lest perchance, because something is lacking to their freedom, they be compelled 22 to be sent again into a body. On account of this, they say that Jesus spoke this parable: When you are with your adversary in the way, make an effort to be delivered from him, lest perchance he deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and he cast you 23 into prison. Amen I say to you, you shall not go out 24 thence, until you pay the last farthing [*]. And they say the adversary 25 is one of the angels who are in the world, whom they call the devil, saying that he was made for this purpose, that he might lead those souls which have perished from the world 26 to the prince (and this one they say is the first of the world's fabricators); ^B and the other angel, who ministers to him, to deliver such souls, that they may be included in another body: for they say the body is a prison. And as to that which is said: "You shall not go out thence, until you pay the last farthing," they interpret it as if one does not go out from the power of those angels who fabricated the world; so being transcorporated 28 always, until in every single operation that is in the world, it is done; and when nothing is lacking to it, then its liberated soul is raised 29 to that God who is above the angels who are the fabricators of the world. Thus also, they say, all souls are saved, whether they, by anticipating in one advent, are mixed in all operations, or, migrating from body to body, or being sent into each kind of life, fulfilling and paying back their debts, are liberated, so that they may no longer do 30 anything in the body.

5 But if those things which are held by them to be irreligious, and unjust, and forbidden, indeed take place, I would by no means believe it 52. In the written accounts ^C and Theodoret, in the cited locations, it is stated that it is necessary, of course, that souls, while they live in the present life, be fulfilled with every kind of most foul action and even of horrible lusts, lest, if they have omitted anything, being bound by the debt of some action in this world, they have need to be transfused again into other bodies. The sense of these words, and surely according to the transmigrations, etc., is therefore: And that surely it behooves souls to be transfused into varied bodies for so long, until they have been made in every life and in every act, that is, until they have experienced every kind of living and acting; unless perchance one, by anticipating in one advent, that is, in one migration, or life, performs all things once and together, etc. δεσῖν πάντως πᾶσαν χρῆσιν τούτων ποιεῖσθαι, ἵνα μὴ ἐξελθοῦσαι καὶ ὑστερήσασαί τινος ἔργου, τούτου ἕνεκα καταστραφῶσιν εἰς σώματα πάλιν αἱ ψυχαί, εἰς τὸ πρᾶξαι αὖθις ἃ μὴ ἔπραξαν. Καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι, φασίν, ὅπερ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ εἶπε διὰ παραβολῆς, ὅτι "Ἴσθι ἐννοῶν τῷ ἀντιδίκῳ σου, ἐν ᾧ εἶ ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ μετ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ δὸς ἐργασίαν ἀπηλλάχθαι ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, μή πως ὁ ἀντίδικος παραδῷ σε τῷ κριτῇ, καὶ ὁ κριτὴς τῷ ὑπηρέτῃ, καὶ ὁ ὑπηρέτης βάλλῃ σε εἰς φυλακήν· ἀμὴν λέγω σοι, οὐ μὴ ἐξέλθῃς ἐκεῖθεν, ἕως ἂν ἀποδῷς τὸν ἔσχατον κοδράντην. ^D

^A in their writings it is recorded, and they themselves interpret it thus, saying that Jesus confided these things in mystery to his disciples and apostles, and that he spoke to those who were worthy and consenting, and that they handed them down to those who were ^B worthy and obedient. For they say that one is saved by faith and love; but that other things being indifferent, they are termed according to the opinion of men some good and some evil, since by nature nothing is evil.

6. Others again, even from among them, sign 55 their disciples, cauterizing them on the hidden parts of the lower ear. Whence also Marcellina 54, who came to Rome under Anicetus, being of this sect, led many astray. They even call themselves Gnostics: and they possess images 55, some of them painted, and others made of different materials, saying that the likeness of Christ was made by Pilate, at the time when Jesus was with men. And they crown these, and set them up with the images of the philosophers of the world, namely with the image of Pythagoras, and Plato, and Aristotle 36, and the others; and they make other observations regarding them, in the same way as the Gentiles.

CHAPTER XXVI.

On Cerinthus, the Ebionites, and the Nicolaitans.

4. But a certain Cerinthus in Asia taught that the world was not made by the first God, but by a Power 37 far separated and distant from that Principality which is above all things, and ignorant of the God who is above all. He supposed, moreover, that Jesus 38 was not born of a Virgin (for it seemed impossible to him); but that he was the son of Joseph and Mary, in the same manner as all other men, and that he was stronger in justice and prudence and wisdom than other men 39. And after his baptism, ^C Christ descended into him from that Principality which is above all things, in the figure of a dove; and then declared the unknown Father, and performed miracles: but in the end Christ flew back again from Jesus, and Jesus suffered and rose again; but Christ remained impassible, being spiritual.

2. [*] But those who are called Ebionites, agree indeed that the world was created by God: but as to those things which pertain to the Lord, they do not think 40 similarly to Cerinthus and Carpocrates. But on that point alone 41 ^D Christ descended upon him from above in the form of a dove, and then declared the unknown God, and... performed miracles.

That which is according to Matthew, they use the Gospel, but they reject the Apostle Paul, calling him a deserter from the law. They endeavor to interpret the prophetic writings more inquisitively; they practice circumcision, and persist in those customs which are according to the Law, and in a Jewish way of life, even to the point that they worship Jerusalem, as if it were the house of God.

3. The Nicolaitans, however, have as their master Nicolaus, one of the seven who were the first to be ordained to the diaconate by the apostles; and they live without restraint. But they are most fully manifested through John’s Apocalypse as to who they are, for they teach that there is no difference in committing adultery and eating things sacrificed to idols. Wherefore the word also said concerning them: "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate."

CAPUT XXVII. Of Cerdo and Marcion.

1. But Cerdo, taking his points of departure from those who were around Simon, and having come to Rome in the time of Hyginus, who held the ninth place of the succession from the apostles, taught that the God who had been proclaimed by the Law and the prophets was not the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the one is known, but the other is unknown; and the one is just, but the other ^B is good. Proceeding from him, Marcion of Pontus amplified the doctrine, blaspheming ^C unashamedly him who is the God proclaimed by the Law and the prophets; styling him the maker of evils, and one who craves wars, and is also inconstant in his judgment, and saying that he is contrary to himself. And he persuaded his disciples that Jesus, who had come from that Father who is above the God who is the fabricator of the world, during the time of Pontius Pilate the governor, who was the procurator under Tiberius Caesar, was manifested in the form of a man to those who were in Judea, abolishing the prophets and the Law and all the works of that God who made the world, whom he also calls the Cosmocrator. And in addition to these things, he circumcised the Gospel which is according to Luke, taking away all that is written concerning the generation of the Lord, and taking away many of the discourses of the Lord’s teaching, in which the Lord is most manifestly described as confessing the Creator of this universe as his own Father; and he persuaded his disciples that he himself was more truthful than those apostles who had handed down the Gospel, delivering to them not the Gospel, but a fragment of the Gospel. In similar fashion, he also cut away the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, taking away whatever things were manifestly spoken by the Apostle concerning that God who made the world, in that he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and...

[demonstrating] that he whose doctrine they had learned, concerning the body—to wit, that it was taken from the earth—could not participate in salvation. And he added to this blasphemy which is against God, also this, truly receiving the mouth of the devil, and speaking all things contrary to the truth: that Cain, and those who are similar to him, and the Sodomites, and the Egyptians, and those who are like them, and all the nations whatsoever that have walked in every mixture of wickedness, were saved by the Lord when He had descended into the underworld, and had run to Him, and had been taken up into His kingdom; but that Abel, and Enoch, and Noah, and the rest of the just, and those who are with Abraham the patriarch, with all the prophets and those who pleased God, did not participate in salvation—[a view] which the serpent who was in Marcion proclaimed. For he said, that because they knew that their God was always tempting them, and suspecting that He was tempting them at that time, they did not run to Jesus, nor did they believe His announcement: and for that reason, he said, their souls remained in the underworld.

4. But regarding this man, because he alone ^A manifestly dared to mutilate the Scriptures, and impudently to slander God above all, we shall refute him separately, convicting him from his own writings; and from those discourses which are observed among them, of the Lord and the Apostle, which he himself uses, we shall make his subversion, God granting. But now it is necessary that we make mention of him, so that you may know that all who in any way adulterate the truth and injure the proclamation of the Church are disciples and successors of Simon Magus the Samaritan. Although they do not confess the name of their master, for the sake of the seduction of others, nevertheless they teach his opinion: holding forth the name of Christ Jesus indeed as if it were an enticement, but in various ways introducing the impiety of Simon, they put many to death, badly dispersing their own opinion through a good name, and by the sweetness and attractiveness of the name, offering to them the bitter and malignant poison of the serpent, the prince of apostasy.

Chapter XXVIII

1. But there have been many offshoots of many heresies from these, because many of them—nay, all of them—wish to be teachers, and to depart from the heresy in which they were, and putting together one doctrine from one opinion and then another from another, they persist in teaching new things, declaring themselves to be inventors of whatever doctrine they have stitched together. To give an example: ^B from Saturninus and Marcion, those who are called the Continent proclaimed abstinence from marriage, frustrating the original creation of God, and silently accusing Him who made male and female for the generation of men; and they brought in abstinence from those things which are termed by them 'animate' [foods], being ungrateful to Him who made all things, God. They also contradict the salvation of him who was first formed: and this has now been invented by them, Tatian ^C being the first to introduce this blasphemy. Who, having been a hearer of Justin, so long as he was with him, reported nothing of such a kind; but after his martyrdom, departing from the Church, and being puffed up and inflated by a conceit of his teacher, as if he were better than the rest, he established a peculiar character of doctrine: ^D inventing certain invisible...

Aeons, similar to those who are of the school of Valentinus, or rather narrating a myth; they also treat marriage as corruption and fornication, just like Marcion and Saturninus, saying that the salvation of Adam did not come from the Savior himself, but that he devised a contradiction against it. ^A

2. Others again, taking occasion from Basilides and Carpocrates, have introduced promiscuous intercourse and many marriages, acting with negligence regarding those things offered to idols, to eat them, saying that God is not very concerned about these things. And what indeed is there to say? It is not possible to state the number of those who have fallen away from the truth in one way or another.

CHAPTER XXIX

Of the various sects of the Gnostics, and first of the Barbelites, or Borborians.

1. Beyond these, there arose, among the crowd of Gnostics, the Barbelo ^B sect, and they were manifested like fungi from the earth, whose principal opinions we have narrated. For some of them posit a certain indestructible Aeon, living in a virginal spirit, whom they call Barbelo. They say that Barbelo, who is the Ennoia, asked for foreknowledge from him; and upon this coming forth, and through her again asking, and by their asking these things, there came forth Incorruptibility, and then Eternal Life. Then, they say, Barbelo rejoiced and became pregnant and brought forth the Light; this, they say, through its excellence, was named Christ. This Christ, in turn, announced the Nous, and received him; and the Father added also the Word. Then Ennoia and the Word were joined, and Incorruptibility and Christ, and Eternal Life and the Will, and the Nous and Foreknowledge. They say that from the Ennoia and the Word was produced the Autogenes, and with him Truth, and there came to be *another* ^C dyad of Autogenes and Truth. And they say that this *Being* proceeded and stood in his sight, and asked for Foreknowledge. And when Foreknowledge had finished appearing, and as they requested again, there came forth Incorruptibility, and after that, Eternal Life; in these, they say, Barbelo gloried, and gazing upon the magnitude and conception, she took delight in the light that was generated, which was similar to Him. This, they say, was the beginning of the illumination and the generation of all things; and the Father, seeing this light, anointed it with his own benignity, so that it might become perfect. ^D They say this was Christ: who in turn requests, as they say, that the Nous be given to him as a helper; and the Nous proceeded forth. Beyond these, the Father sends forth the Word. And the unions are of Ennoia and the Word, and of Aphtharsia and Christ: and the Aeonic Zoe is joined to Thelema, and the Nous to Prognosis. And these were magnifying the great light and Barbelo.

2. After that, they say that the Autogenes was sent forth from Ennoia and the Word, for the representation of the great light; and they say he was greatly honored, and all things were made subject to him. And they say that Alethia was joined to him, and that it is a conjugation of Autogenes and Alethia. And from the light, which is Christ, and from Incorruptibility, they say that four luminaries were sent forth to surround the Autogenes; and from Thelema and the Aeonic Zoe, they say that four emissions took place for the ministry of the four luminaries, whom they name Charin, Thelesin, Synesin, and Phronesin. And they say that Charin is joined to the great and first luminary; and they desire this one to be the Soter, and they call him Harmogenes: