Of these heretics, to pass over many, let me touch on a few. For I say nothing of the heretics of Judaism—I mean Dositheus the Samaritan, who was the first to dare to reject the prophets, as though they had not spoken in the Holy Spirit. I say nothing of the Sadducees, who, arising from the root of this error, dared to add to this heresy even the denial of the resurrection of the flesh. I pass over the Pharisees, who by attaching certain additions to the Law were separated from the Jews, whence too they were deemed worthy to receive the very name they bear; and with these also the Herodians, who said that Christ was Herod. I turn to those who chose to be heretics out of the Gospel. Of these the first of all is Simon Magus.
He, in the Acts of the Apostles, received from the apostle Peter a sentence both fitting and just. He dared to call himself the supreme power, that is, the supreme God; and he said that the world had been established by his angels, and that he had descended to a wandering daemon, who was Wisdom, in order to seek her; that among the Jews he had not suffered in the phantasm of God, but only seemed to suffer. After him arose Menander, his disciple, likewise a magician, saying the same things as Simon himself; whatever Simon had said of himself, that Menander said he was; denying that anyone could have salvation unless he had been baptized in his name.
After these followed also Saturninus, who likewise said that the unknowable Power, that is, God, remains in those highest and infinite regions and in the upper parts, but that far off and distant from this One the lower angels made the world; and because a certain splendour of light had shone down from above into the lower regions, the angels took care to fashion man after the likeness of that light. This man lay creeping upon the earth; whose light, that is, that higher power, was preserved as a spark on account of mercy, while the rest of the man perishes; and that Christ was not in the substance of a body but only in a phantasm seemed to suffer; and that there will be no resurrection of the flesh in any way.
Afterwards the heretic Basilides broke out. He says there is a supreme God by the name of Abraxas, from whom was created Mind, which in Greek he calls Nous; from this the Word; from that, Providence; from Providence, Power and Wisdom; from these again the Principalities and Powers and angels were made; then infinite emanations and projections of angels; that by these angels three hundred and sixty-five heavens were established, and the world in honour of Abraxas, whose name has this number reckoned within itself. Among the lowest angels, indeed, who also made this world, he places last of all the God of the Jews, that is, the God of the Law and the Prophets, whom he denies to be God but calls an angel.
To this one, he says, fell by lot the seed of Abraham, and therefore it was he who brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt into the land of Canaan; that this one was more turbulent than the other angels, and therefore frequently stirred up seditions and wars, and also shed human blood; but that Christ was sent not by this maker of the world, but by that Abraxas, and came in a phantasm, and was without the substance of flesh; that this one did not suffer among the Jews, but that in his stead Simon was crucified—whence one should not even believe in him who was crucified, lest anyone should confess that he had believed in Simon. He denies that martyrdoms should be undertaken. He grievously attacks the resurrection of the flesh, denying that salvation is promised to bodies. Another heretic, Nicolaus, emerged.
He was one of the seven deacons who were chosen in the Acts of the Apostles. He says that darkness was in concupiscence after light, and indeed a foul and obscene concupiscence; from this mingling there arose—it is shameful to tell—things foetid and unclean. There are also other obscenities. For he relates certain aeons born of baseness, and execrable embraces and minglings and obscene couplings, and certain things born of these still more shameful; and besides, daemons and gods and seven spirits, and other things equally sacrilegious and foul, which we blush to relate and now pass over. It is enough for us that the Apocalypse of the Lord condemned this whole heresy of the Nicolaitans with the most weighty authority of its sentence, saying:
'This you hold fast, that you hate the teaching of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate' (cf. Rev. 2:6). To these there have also been added those heretics who are called Ophites. For they so magnify the serpent that they even prefer it to Christ himself. 'For it was he,' they say, 'who gave us the origin of the knowledge of good and evil. Moses, perceiving his power and majesty,' they say, 'set up a bronze serpent, and whoever looked upon it obtained healing. Moreover, Christ himself,' they say, 'in his Gospel imitates the sacred power of that very serpent, saying: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up' (John 3:14). Him they bring in to bless their eucharist.
But the whole staging and teaching of this error flowed from this source: for they say that from that supreme primary Aeon there came forth several other lower Aeons, yet that over all these there stands an Aeon whose name is Ialdabaoth. This one, however, was conceived from another Aeon mingled with the lower Aeons; and afterwards, when he wished to strive upward into the higher regions, being weighed down by the matter mingled with him, he could not reach the upper places; being left in the middle, he stretched himself out wholly and thus made heaven. Ialdabaoth, however, descended lower and made for himself seven sons; and he shut off the higher regions by extension, so that, since the angels could not know what the higher things were, they might think him alone to be God.
Those powers and lower angels, therefore, made man; and because he had been fashioned by weaker and middling powers, he lay creeping like a worm. But that Aeon from whom Ialdabaoth had proceeded, moved by envy, cast a certain spark into the prostrate man, by which, being aroused, he might through prudence have understanding and be able to perceive the higher things. So again Ialdabaoth, turned to indignation at this, brought forth from himself a power in the likeness of a serpent; and this was the power in paradise—that is, this was the serpent, in whom Eve believed as in a son of God.
'He plucked,' they say, 'of the fruit of the tree, and thereby imparted to the human race the knowledge of good and evil.' But Christ, they say, was not in the substance of flesh; and the salvation of the flesh is in no way to be hoped for. There also broke out yet another heresy, which is called that of the Cainites. For they too magnify Cain, as though conceived of a certain mighty power that wrought in him; for Abel, they say, was conceived of a lower power, and brought forth, and therefore found to be inferior. Those who assert this also defend Judas the traitor, recording that he was admirable and great on account of the benefits he is boasted to have conferred upon the human race. For some of them think that thanks ought to be rendered to Judas for this cause.
'For Judas,' they say, 'perceiving that Christ wished to subvert the truth, betrayed him, lest the truth might be subverted.' And others dispute against this and say: since the powers of this world were unwilling that Christ should suffer, lest salvation should be procured for the human race through his death, Judas, taking thought for the salvation of the human race, betrayed Christ, so that the salvation which was being hindered by the powers that opposed Christ's suffering could not be hindered at all, and therefore the salvation of the human race could not be retarded through the passion of Christ. But that heresy also arose which is called that of the Sethoites. The teaching of this perversity is this: that two men, Cain and Abel, were established by angels.
On account of these, great contentions and discords arose among the angels. For this cause that power which was above all powers, whom they call Mother, when Abel was said to have been slain, willed that this Seth should be conceived and born in Abel's place, in order that those angels who had founded those two former men might be brought to nothing, while this seed arises and is born into the world. For they say that the minglings of angels and men were unrighteous, for which cause that power, whom, as we have said, they call Mother, even brought on the flood for vengeance, so that both that seed of the mingling might be removed and this seed alone, which was pure, might be kept whole.
But, they say, those who had established the former seed secretly and covertly, and without that Mother-power's knowledge, put into the ark, together with those eight souls, also the seed of Ham; so that the seed of wickedness should not perish, but, preserved with the rest and after the flood restored to the earth, should grow up after the pattern of the others, and be poured forth, and fill and occupy the whole world. But concerning Christ they hold this opinion, that they say he was simply Seth, and that Christ was in the place of Seth himself. Carpocrates, moreover, brought in this sect: he says there is one principal power in the higher regions; from this were brought forth angels and powers, who, being far distant from the higher beings, founded this world in the lower parts;
that Christ was not born of the Virgin Mary, but was begotten merely as a man from the seed of Joseph, though indeed superior to others in the cultivation of righteousness and integrity of life; that he suffered among the Jews, and that his soul alone was received into heaven, because it was both more steadfast and stronger than the others; whence it is to be concluded that, the salvation of souls alone being retained, there are no resurrections of the body. After him the heretic Cerinthus broke out, teaching similar things. For he too says that the world was established by angels; he sets forth that Christ was born of the seed of Joseph, contending that he was merely a man without divinity; affirming also that the very Law was given by angels, and presenting the God of the Jews as not the Lord but an angel.
His successor was Ebion, who did not agree with Cerinthus in every part, in that he says the world was made by God, not by angels. And because it is written: 'No disciple is above his master, nor servant above his lord' (cf. Matt. 10:24), he proposes that the Law is to be kept, namely so as to exclude the Gospel and vindicate Judaism. Valentinus, moreover, the heretic, introduced many fables, which I, cutting them short, will briefly dispatch. For he introduces a Pleroma and thirty Aeons; and he sets these out by syzygies, that is, certain conjugations. For he says that first of all are Bythos and Silence, that from these proceeded Mind and Truth, from which broke forth Word and Life, of whom again were created Man and Church.
But indeed from these also there proceeded twelve Aeons; and from Word and Life, ten other Aeons. This is the triad of decades (the thirty) of the Aeons, which is in the Pleroma, made of an ogdoad and a decade and a duodecade. But the thirtieth Aeon wished to see that Bythos, and dared, in order to see him, to ascend into the higher regions; and since he was not capable of beholding his greatness, he fell into deficiency and was almost dissolved, had not the one who was sent to establish him—he whom he calls Horos—confirmed him by the utterance of a word (Iao) pronounced. But that Aeon, made into deficiency, namely Achamoth, he says was in certain passions of desire and from those passions produced matters.
'For she was terrified,' he says, 'and afraid, and saddened, and out of these passions she conceived and brought forth.' From this she made heaven and earth and sea and all things, whatsoever are in them. For which cause all things, whatsoever were made by her, are weak and frail and perishable and mortal, since indeed she herself had been conceived and brought forth out of deficiency. Horos, however, established this world out of those matters which Achamoth had furnished, whether by being terrified, or by being afraid, or by being saddened, or by entreating.
'For out of terror,' he says, 'darkness was made; out of fear and ignorance, the spirit of wickedness and malignity; out of sadness and tears, the moist matter of the springs, of the rivers, and of the sea.' But Christ, he says, was sent from that Forefather who is Bythos; and that this Christ was not in the substance of our body, but, bringing down from heaven some kind of spiritual body, passed through the Virgin Mary as water through a pipe, taking or borrowing nothing thence. He denies the resurrection of this flesh, but affirms that of another. Ptolemaeus too approves certain things of the Law and disapproves others—that is, he disapproves them all, while he rejects only certain ones. He has also his own gospel besides these of ours.
After him there arose the heretics Ptolemaeus and Secundus, who agree with Valentinus in all things, differing in this alone: for whereas Valentinus had fashioned only thirty Aeons, these added several others—for first four, then four others they added. And whereas Valentinus says that the thirtieth Aeon went out of the Pleroma so as to fall into deficiency, these deny it: for they say that he who was in deficiency on account of the desire of seeing the Forefather was not one of that triad of decades. There arose moreover Heracleon, another heretic, who holds the same views as Valentinus, but by a certain novelty of expression wishes to seem to hold other views. For he introduces, first of all, that there was that which.
he pronounces, and then from that monad two, and then the rest of the Aeons. Then he brings in the whole of Valentinus. After this there were not lacking a certain Marcus and Colarbasus, composing a new heresy out of the Greek alphabet. For they deny that the truth can be found without these letters; rather, they say that the whole fullness and perfection of the truth is arranged in these letters. For this cause, they say, Christ said: 'I am Alpha and Omega' (Rev. 1:8). Finally, they say that a dove descended upon Jesus Christ—that is, that the dove came—which, since in the Greek name it is pronounced peristera, has within it the number 801.
These men run through omega, psi, chi, phi, upsilon, tau, all the way down to beta and alpha, and compute ogdoads and decades; so that to bring forward all their vanities would be foolish and idle—yet such as is now not only vain but even dangerous. They fashion another God besides the Creator. They deny that Christ was in the substance of flesh; they deny that there will be a resurrection of the flesh. To these is added a certain Cerdo. He introduces two first principles, that is, two gods, one good and the other cruel: the good being the higher, the cruel being this Creator of the world.
He rejects the prophecies and the Law, renounces the Creator God, treats that the Son of the higher God, Christ, came; he denies that this one was in the substance of flesh, declares that he was only in a phantasm, and that he did not suffer at all but only seemed to suffer, and that he was not born of a virgin, but indeed was not born at all. He approves a resurrection of the soul only, and denies that of the body. He receives only the Gospel of Luke—and not even the whole of it; of the apostle Paul he takes neither all the epistles nor them entire. The Acts of the Apostles and the Apocalypse he rejects as false. After him there emerged his disciple, a certain Marcion by name, a Pontic by race, the son of a bishop, cast out from the communion of the Church on account of the violation of a certain virgin. He, taking occasion from what was said:
'Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bad fruit' (cf. Matt. 7:17), he attempted to approve the heresy of Cerdo and to say the same things which that earlier heretic had said before. After him there arose a certain man named Lucanus, a follower and disciple of Marcion. And this man, going by the same path, teaches the same kinds of blasphemy which Marcion and Cerdo had taught. After these there follows Apelles, a disciple of Marcion, who, after he had lapsed into his own flesh, was separated from Marcion. He introduces one God in the infinite higher regions; that this one made many powers and angels; and therefore also another power, which he calls 'lord,' yet sets down as an angel.
By this one he would have the world established in imitation of the higher world; that with this world he mingled repentance, because it was not made as perfectly as that higher world had been established. He rejects the Law and the Prophets. He says that Christ was neither in a phantasm, as Marcion held, nor in the substance of a true body, as the Gospel teaches, but that, in that he descended from the higher regions, by that very descent he wove for himself a starry and airy flesh. This one, at the resurrection, gave back to each several element whatever he had borrowed in his descent, during his ascent; and thus, the various parts of his body being dispersed, he gave back to heaven only his spirit. This man denies the resurrection of the flesh;
he affirms the salvation of souls alone. He uses only the apostle—but that of Marcion, that is, not the whole. He has, moreover, his own private but extraordinary readings, which they call 'phaneroseis,' of a certain girl named Philumene, whom he follows as a kind of prophetess. He has, besides, his own books, which he entitled 'Of Syllogisms,' in which he wishes to prove that all things whatsoever Moses wrote concerning God are not true, but are false. To all these heretics there is added a certain Tatian, another heretic. He was a disciple of Justin Martyr; after him he began to hold divergent views.
For he is wholly of Valentinus' mind, adding this, that he denies that Adam can attain salvation—as though, if the branches are saved, the root were not also saved. There have been added other heretics, who are called 'according to the Phrygians,' but of these there is not one single doctrine. For there are some who are called 'according to Proclus,' and there are others who are pronounced 'according to Aeschines.' These have one common blasphemy, and another blasphemy not common but peculiar and their own: the common one, indeed, is that by which they say that in the apostles there was indeed the Holy Spirit, but not the Paraclete; and that by which they say that the Paraclete said more things in Montanus than Christ brought forth in the Gospel—and not only more, but even better and greater.
But the private blasphemy of those who are 'according to Aeschines' is this, in which they add even this, so as to say that Christ himself is both Son and Father. There is, moreover, besides all these, a certain Blastus also added, who secretly wishes to introduce Judaism. For he says that the Pasch is to be kept in no other way than according to the Law of Moses, on the fourteenth of the month. But who does not know that the grace of the Gospel is made void, if you reduce Christ to the Law? To these is added Theodotus, a heretic of Byzantium, who, after he had denied Christ when arrested for the Name, did not cease to blaspheme against Christ.
For he introduced a doctrine by which he would say that Christ was merely a man, but would deny that he was God—conceived, indeed, of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, yet a solitary and bare man, having nothing more than the rest except the sole authority of righteousness. Another Theodotus, a heretic, broke out after him, who likewise introduced another sect: he too says that Christ was merely a man, conceived alike and born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary, but that this one was inferior to Melchizedek, on the ground that it was said of Christ: 'You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek' (Ps. 110:4; Heb. 5:6).
For that Melchizedek, he says, is a heavenly power of pre-eminent grace; and what Christ does for men, being made their intercessor and advocate, Melchizedek does for the heavenly angels and powers. For he says this one is so much better than Christ that he is 'without father, without mother, without genealogy, whose beginning and end have not been comprehended nor can be comprehended' (cf. Heb. 7:3). But after all these, a certain Praxeas too introduced a heresy, which Victorinus took care to corroborate. He says that God the Father almighty is Jesus Christ; he contends that this one, crucified and having suffered, died; and moreover, with profane and sacrilegious rashness, he sets it forth that he himself sits at his own right hand of himself.