Against Heresies: Book III

YOU HAVE INDEED ASKED ME: my dear friend, to reveal the Valentinian doctrines, which their followers believe are hidden; to show their variety and write a treatise refuting them. I have therefore undertaken to demonstrate, showing that they originate from Simon, the father of all heretics, to present both their doctrines and lineage, and to provide arguments against them all.

Thus, since proving these people wrong and exposing them is largely one task, I have sent to you certain books.

The first book includes the opinions of all these people and shows their customs and behavior. The second book dismantles and overthrows their corrupt teachings, exposing them as they truly are. In this third book, I will provide evidence from the Scriptures, so that I will leave nothing undone that you have asked for; in fact, you may receive from me even more than you expected, giving you the means to combat and defeat those who spread falsehoods in any manner.

For the love of God, being abundant and generous, grants to the petitioner more than he can ask. Remember then, the things I stated in the two previous books, and by connecting these with them, you will receive from me a very comprehensive refutation of all the heretics; and you will faithfully and vigorously resist them in defense of the only true and life-giving faith, which the Church has received from the apostles and passed on to her children. For the Lord of all gave His apostles the power of the Gospel, through whom we have also come to know the truth, that is, the doctrine of the Son of God; to whom the Lord declared: “He who hears you, hears Me; and he who despises you, despises Me, and Him who sent Me.”

WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT THE PLAN OF OUR SALVATION FROM NO OTHERS THAN THOSE THROUGH WHOM THE GOSPEL HAS COME DOWN TO US: They proclaimed it publicly at one time and later, by the will of God, handed it down to us in the Scriptures, which serve as the foundation and support of our faith. It is wrong to claim that they preached before they had “perfect knowledge,” as some boldly suggest, considering themselves as enhancers of the apostles. After our Lord rose from the dead, the apostles were given power from above when the Holy Spirit came upon them, filling them with all His gifts and perfect knowledge. They traveled to the ends of the earth, spreading the glad tidings of the good things sent from God to us, and proclaiming the peace of heaven to people, all of whom have the Gospel of God equally and individually. Matthew also wrote a Gospel in the Hebrew language while Peter and Paul were preaching in Rome and laying the foundations of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, wrote down what Peter had preached. Luke, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Later on, John, the disciple of the Lord, who had leaned upon His chest, published a Gospel during his time in Ephesus in Asia.

THESE HAVE ALL DECLARED TO US THAT THERE IS ONE GOD: Creator of heaven and earth, revealed by the law and the prophets; and one Christ, the Son of God. If anyone does not agree with these truths, they despise the companions of the Lord; indeed, they despise Christ Himself the Lord; yes, they despise the Father also, and stand self-condemned, resisting and opposing their own salvation, as is the case with all heretics.

WHEN THEY ARE PROVEN WRONG BY THE SCRIPTURES: they turn around and accuse the same Scriptures of being incorrect or lacking authority, claiming they are ambiguous and that the truth cannot be extracted from them by those who are ignorant of tradition. They argue that the truth was not delivered through written documents but by spoken word. Therefore, Paul declared, "But we speak wisdom among those who are perfect, but not the wisdom of this world." Each of them claims this wisdom to be their own invention, suggesting that the truth resides sometimes in Valentinus, sometimes in Marcion, then in Cerinthus, later in Basilides, or even in any other opponent, all of whom could say nothing concerning salvation. Each of these individuals, being entirely of a corrupt nature and distorting the system of truth, is not ashamed to promote themselves.

2. But, again, when we refer them to the tradition that originates from the apostles and is preserved through the succession of presbyters in the Churches, they object to tradition, claiming they are wiser not only than the presbyters but even than the apostles, because they have discovered the unadulterated truth. They argue that the apostles mixed the law with the words of the Saviour, and that not only the apostles but even the Lord Himself spoke at times from the Demiurge, at other times from the intermediate place, and yet again from the Pleroma. However, they claim to have knowledge of the hidden mystery, clearly, purely, and without error: this is, indeed, to blaspheme their Creator in a most impudent manner! It comes to this, therefore, that these people now agree with neither Scripture nor tradition.

SUCH ARE THE ADVERSARIES WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH: my dear friend, who, like slippery serpents, try to escape at every point. Therefore, they must be opposed at every point, in case, by cutting off their retreat, we might succeed in turning them back to the truth. For, while it is not easy for a soul influenced by error to repent, it is not entirely impossible to escape from error when the truth is presented alongside it.

IT IS WITHIN THE POWER OF ALL: therefore, in every Church, who wish to see the truth, to clearly contemplate the tradition of the apostles shown throughout the whole world; and we are able to identify those who were appointed as bishops in the Churches by the apostles, and to demonstrate the succession of these men to our own times, those who neither taught nor knew of anything like what these heretics rave about. For if the apostles had known hidden mysteries, which they were in the habit of imparting to "the perfect" separately and privately from the rest, they would have delivered them especially to those to whom they were also committing the Churches themselves. For they wanted these men to be very perfect and blameless in all things, whom they were leaving behind as their successors, handing over their own place of leadership to these men; these men, if they fulfilled their duties honestly, would be a great benefit to the Church, but if they should fall away, the direst calamity.

SINCE IT WOULD BE VERY TEDIOUS: in a volume like this, to list the successions of all the Churches, we confound those who, in any manner, whether by evil self-pleasing, vainglory, or blindness and perverse opinion, gather in unauthorized meetings. We do this by highlighting the tradition derived from the apostles, of the significant, ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul, and also by pointing out the faith preached to people, which has come down to our time through the successions of the bishops. It is necessary for every Church to agree with this Church because of its pre-eminent authority, as the apostolical tradition has been consistently preserved by faithful men everywhere.

THE BLESSED APOSTLES: having established and built up the Church, entrusted the role of the episcopate to Linus. Paul mentions Linus in the Epistles to Timothy. Anacletus succeeded him, and after him, Clement became the bishop, third in line from the apostles. This man, having seen and interacted with the blessed apostles, still had their preaching echoing in his ears and their traditions before his eyes. He was not alone in this, for many others remained who had received instructions from the apostles.

During Clement's time, a significant disagreement arose among the brethren in Corinth, and the Church in Rome sent a powerful letter to the Corinthians. This letter exhorted them to peace, renewed their faith, and declared the tradition recently received from the apostles, proclaiming the one omnipotent God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Creator of man, who caused the deluge, called Abraham, led the people out of Egypt, spoke to Moses, established the law, sent the prophets, and prepared fire for the devil and his angels.

From this document, anyone who wishes may learn that He, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, was preached by the Churches and may also understand the apostolic tradition of the Church. This Epistle predates those who now spread falsehoods and invent another god beyond the Creator and Maker of all things. Clement was succeeded by Evaristus, followed by Alexander; then, sixth from the apostles, Sixtus was appointed; after him, Telesphorus, who was gloriously martyred; followed by Hyginus, then Pius, and then Anicetus.

Soter succeeded Anicetus, and now, in the twelfth place from the apostles, Eleutherius holds the office of the episcopate. Through this order and succession, the ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles and the preaching of the truth have come down to us. This is ample proof that there is one and the same life-giving faith, preserved in the Church from the apostles until now, and handed down in truth.

POLYCARP WAS NOT ONLY TAUGHT BY THE APOSTLES AND SPOKE WITH MANY WHO HAD SEEN CHRIST: but he was also appointed by apostles in Asia to be the bishop of the Church in Smyrna. I saw him in my early youth, for he lived a very long time and, as an old man, nobly suffered martyrdom, leaving this life after consistently teaching what he had learned from the apostles and what the Church has passed down as the only truth.

All the Asian Churches testify to this, as do the successors of Polycarp to this day—a man of far greater significance and a more steadfast witness of truth than Valentinus, Marcion, and the other heretics. He was the one who, coming to Rome during the time of Anicetus, led many away from these heretics to the Church of God, declaring that he received this singular truth from the apostles—that which is transmitted by the Church. Some heard him recount that John, the disciple of the Lord, went to bathe at Ephesus, and upon seeing Cerinthus inside, rushed out without bathing, shouting, "Let us flee, lest the bath-house collapse, because Cerinthus, the enemy of truth, is inside." Polycarp himself also replied to Marcion, who once encountered him and asked, "Do you know me?" “I do know you, the firstborn of Satan.” This illustrates the disdain the apostles and their disciples held against even speaking with anyone who corrupted the truth; as Paul also says, “A heretic, after the first and second warning, reject; knowing that such a person is warped and sins, condemned by himself.” There is also a very powerful Epistle of Polycarp written to the Philippians, from which those who wish to and are concerned about their salvation can learn the nature of his faith and his preaching of the truth.

Also, the Church in Ephesus, founded by Paul and where John remained until the time of Trajan, is a true witness of the apostolic tradition.

SINCE WE HAVE SUCH EVIDENCE: it is not necessary to seek the truth elsewhere, as it is easily obtained from the Church. The apostles, like a wealthy person depositing money in a bank, entrusted the Church with everything relating to the truth. Therefore, anyone who wishes can access the water of life from her. She is the gateway to life; all others are thieves and robbers. For this reason, we must avoid them and diligently choose the Church's teachings, holding onto the tradition of the truth. In the event of a dispute over a significant question among us, should we not turn to the most ancient Churches with which the apostles frequently interacted and learn from them what is certain and clear about the matter at hand? What if the apostles had not left us their writings? In that case, wouldn’t it be necessary to follow the tradition they passed down to those to whom they entrusted the Churches?

MANY NATIONS OF THOSE BARBARIANS WHO BELIEVE IN CHRIST AGREE WITH THIS PATH: having salvation written in their hearts by the Spirit, without paper or ink. They carefully preserve the ancient tradition, believing in one God, the Creator of heaven, earth, and everything in it, through Christ Jesus, the Son of God. Because of His surpassing love for His creation, He humbled Himself to be born of the virgin, uniting man through Himself to God. After suffering under Pontius Pilate, rising again, and ascending in splendor, He will come in glory as the Savior of the saved and the Judge of the judged, sending those who distort the truth and despise His Father and His coming into eternal fire. Those who have believed this faith without written documents are barbarians regarding our language; however, concerning doctrine, behavior, and way of life, they are very wise due to their faith. They please God by conducting themselves with righteousness, chastity, and wisdom. If anyone were to preach the inventions of the heretics to them in their language, they would immediately stop their ears and flee as far as possible, not even enduring to listen to the blasphemous speech. Therefore, through the ancient tradition of the apostles, they do not allow their minds to accept anything from the strange language of these teachers, among whom neither Church nor doctrine has ever been established.

BEFORE VALENTINUS: the followers of Valentinus didn't exist; nor did the followers of Marcion exist before Marcion. In short, none of those malicious individuals I previously mentioned existed before the founders and creators of their corrupt teachings. Valentinus came to Rome during the time of Hyginus, thrived under Pius, and stayed until Anicetus. Cerdon, who came before Marcion, also arrived during Hyginus's time, the ninth bishop. He often entered the Church, openly confessed, stayed sometimes teaching secretly, and then confessed again publicly. Ultimately, after being condemned for false teaching, he was excommunicated from the fellowship of the brethren. Marcion followed him and thrived under Anicetus, who was the tenth bishop. The rest, known as Gnostics, originated from Menander, a disciple of Simon, as I have shown; each considered himself both the founder and chief priest of the doctrine he was initiated into. However, all these groups (the Marcosians) emerged into their apostasy much later, even during a transitional period of the Church.

SINCE THE TRADITION FROM THE APOSTLES EXISTS IN THE CHURCH AND REMAINS WITH US: let us return to the Scriptural evidence provided by those apostles who wrote the Gospel. They recorded the teachings about God, showing that our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth, with no lies in Him. As David also prophesied His birth from a virgin and resurrection from the dead, "Truth has sprung out of the earth." The apostles, being disciples of the truth, are free from falsehood; just as lies do not align with the truth, darkness cannot coexist with light.

The presence of one excludes the other.

Therefore, our Lord, being the truth, did not speak lies. He would never acknowledge as God anyone originating from a defect, especially not the God of all, the Supreme King, and His own Father, portraying an imperfect being as perfect, an earthly being as spiritual, or someone outside the Pleroma as being within it. Neither did His disciples mention any other God or call any other Lord, except the one who was truly the God and Lord of all, contradicting these vain sophists who claim that the apostles crafted their doctrine to match the understanding of their audience, giving answers based on the opinions of their questioners—telling fables for the blind based on blindness, for the dull based on dullness, and for those in error based on their error.

To those who believed the Demiurge alone was God, they preached him; but to those who could understand the unnameable Father, they revealed the unspeakable mystery through parables and riddles. In this way, the Lord and the apostles acted not to promote the truth, but according to hypocrisy, giving knowledge as individuals were able to understand it.

Such behavior does not belong to those who heal or give life; it is more like the actions of those who cause diseases and increase ignorance. The law is much more truthful, declaring everyone cursed who leads a blind person astray. The apostles, tasked with finding the lost and becoming sight for the blind and medicine for the weak, certainly did not speak to them based on their current beliefs but rather based on revealed truth. No person would act rightly if they advised blind men, about to fall over a cliff, to continue their dangerous path as if it were safe.

OR: what doctor seeking to heal would prescribe medicine based on the patient’s whims instead of what is needed? The Lord Himself declares that He came as the physician for the sick, saying, “Those who are whole need not a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” How, then, shall the sick be strengthened, or how shall sinners come to repentance? Is it by continuing in the same ways, or rather by undergoing a significant change and reversal of their former way of living, which brought them much sickness and many sins? But ignorance, the mother of these, is dispelled by knowledge.

Therefore, the Lord imparted knowledge to His disciples, using it to heal those who suffered and to deter sinners from sin. He did not speak to them based on their original ideas or answer in line with the opinions of His questioners but according to the doctrine leading to salvation, without hypocrisy or favoritism.

THIS IS ALSO MADE CLEAR FROM THE WORDS OF THE LORD: who truly revealed the Son of God to those of the circumcision— Him who had been foretold as Christ by the prophets; meaning, He presented Himself, who had restored liberty to people, and gave them the inheritance of incorruption. Again, the apostles taught the Gentiles to abandon useless idols made of wood and stone, which they imagined to be gods, and to worship the true God, who created and made all of humanity, and through His creation, nourished, increased, strengthened, and preserved them; and that they should look for His Son Jesus Christ, who redeemed us from apostasy with His own blood, so that we would also be a sanctified people—who shall also descend from heaven in His Father’s power, and pass judgment on all, and who shall freely give the good things of God to those who have kept His commandments. He, appearing in these last times as the chief cornerstone, has gathered into one and united those that were far away and those that were near; meaning the circumcision and the uncircumcision, expanding Japhet, and placing him in the dwelling of Shem.

THEREFORE: neither the Lord, nor the Holy Spirit, nor the apostles would have ever called someone who was not God, definitely and absolutely, as God, unless he was truly God; nor would they have called anyone in his own person Lord, except for God the Father who rules over all, and His Son, who has received dominion from His Father over all creation, as this passage says: “The said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” Here the Scripture presents to us the Father addressing the Son; He who gave Him the inheritance of the heathen, and subjected all His enemies to Him.

Since the Father is truly Lord, and the Son is truly Lord, the Holy Spirit appropriately designated them with the title of Lord. And again, referring to the destruction of the Sodomites, Scripture says, “Then the rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah fire and brimstone from the out of heaven.” For it points out here that the Son, who had also been speaking with Abraham, had received the power to judge the Sodomites for their wickedness. And this following text declares the same truth: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; the scepter of Your kingdom is a right scepter.

You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity: therefore God, Your God, has anointed You.” For the Spirit designates both by the name of God—both Him who is anointed as Son, and Him who does the anointing, that is, the Father. And again: “God stood in the congregation of the gods; He judges among the gods.” Here, He refers to the Father and the Son, and those who have received the adoption; these are the Church. For she is the synagogue of God, which God—that is, the Son Himself—has gathered to Himself.

Of whom He speaks again: “The God of gods, the Lord has spoken, and has called the earth.” Who is meant by God? He of whom He has said, “God shall come openly, our God, and shall not keep silent;” that is, the Son, who came manifested to men and said, “I have openly appeared to those who did not seek Me.” But of which gods does He speak? Of those to whom He says, “I have said, You are gods, and all sons of the Most High.” No doubt, to those who have received the grace of the adoption, by which we cry, Abba Father.

2. Therefore, as I have already stated, no one else is named as God or is called Lord except Him who is God and Lord of all, who also said to Moses, "And this is what you shall say to the children of Israel: He who is, has sent me to you;" and His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who makes those that believe in His name the sons of God. And again, when the Son speaks to Moses, He says, "I have come down to deliver this people." For it is He who descended and ascended for the salvation of men. Therefore, God has been declared through the Son, who is in the Father, and has the Father in Himself—He who is, the Father bearing witness to the Son, and the Son announcing the Father. As Isaiah also says, "I too am witness," he declares, "says the God, and the Son whom I have chosen, that you may know, and believe, and understand that I am."

When the Scripture refers to them as [gods] that are not real gods, it does not, as I have already mentioned, describe them as gods in every sense, but with a certain additional meaning that shows they are not gods at all.

FOR EXAMPLE: with David: "The gods of the heathen are idols of demons;" and, "You shall not follow other gods." By saying "the gods of the heathen"—while the heathen do not know the true God—and calling them "other gods," he denies their claim to be regarded as gods entirely.

But regarding their true nature, he speaks of them, "for they are," he says, "the idols of demons." And Isaiah: "Let all who blaspheme God and carve useless things be ashamed; even I am witness, says God.” He removes them from the category of gods, but uses the word alone for the purpose that we may understand whom he speaks of. Jeremiah also says the same: "The gods that have not made the heavens and earth, let them perish from the earth which is under the heaven." By noting their destruction, he shows them to be no gods at all.

Elijah, too, when all Israel was gathered at Mount Carmel, wishing to turn them from idolatry, says to them, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him." And again, at the offering, he addresses the idolatrous priests: "You will call upon the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord my God; and the one who answers by fire, He is God." By this, the prophet shows that these gods, which were thought to be so among those men, are no gods at all.

He directed them to the God he believed in, who was truly God; whom he invoked, exclaiming, "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, hear me today, and let all this people know that You are the God of Israel."

THEREFORE: I also call upon you, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob and Israel, who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who, through the abundance of Your mercy, has shown favor to us, that we should know You, who made heaven and earth, who rules over all, who is the only and true God, above whom there is no other God; grant, through our Lord Jesus Christ, the governing power of the Holy Spirit; give to every reader of this book the knowledge that You alone are God, to be strengthened in You, and to avoid every heretical, godless, and impious doctrine.

5. The Apostle Paul also says, “For even though you have served those which are no gods; you now know God, or rather, are known by God,” making a clear distinction between those that were not gods and Him who is God. Again, speaking of the Antichrist, he states, “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped.” Here, he points out those who are called gods by those who do not know God, meaning idols.

For the Father of all is called God and truly is; and the Antichrist will be elevated, not above Him, but above those which are referred to as gods, but are not. Paul himself affirms this is true: “We know that an idol is nothing, and that there is no other God but one. For even though there are those called gods, whether in heaven or on earth; yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist through Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we exist through Him.” He makes a distinction between those that are called gods, but are not, and the one God the Father, from whom all things come, and he firmly confesses, in his own words, one Lord Jesus Christ.

In the clause “whether in heaven or on earth,” he is not speaking of the creators of the world, as some teachers interpret; rather, he means, like Moses said, “You shall not make for yourself any image of God, of anything in heaven above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth.” He explains what is meant by the things in heaven: “Lest when,” he says, “looking towards heaven, and observing the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the decoration of heaven, you fall into error and worship them.” Moses himself, being a man of God, was indeed appointed as a god before Pharaoh; but he is not properly called Lord, nor referred to as God by the prophets, but is described by the Spirit as “Moses, the faithful minister and servant of God,” which he truly was.

AS FOR THEIR CLAIM THAT PAUL CLEARLY STATED IN THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS: “In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe,” and their belief that there is indeed one god of this world, but another who is beyond all rule, beginning, and power, we are not to blame if they, who claim to know mysteries beyond God, do not understand how to read Paul. For if anyone reads the passage in this way—according to Paul’s custom, as I demonstrate elsewhere, with many examples showing that he uses transposition of words—“In whom God,” then pauses briefly, and then reads the rest of the sentence in one clause, “has blinded the minds of those of this world who do not believe,” they will find the true meaning; that it is contained in the expression, “God has blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this world.” This is shown by the brief pause between clauses. For Paul does not say, “the God of this world,” as if acknowledging any other beyond Him; but he acknowledges God as truly God. And he says, “the unbelievers of this world,” because they will not inherit the coming age of incorruption. I will demonstrate from Paul himself how it is that God has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, later in this work, so that we do not distract our focus from the current topic.

FROM MANY OTHER EXAMPLES AS WELL: we can see that the apostle often uses a rearranged order in his sentences due to the speed of his speech and the urgency of the Spirit within him. One example is in the Epistle to the Galatians, where he says: “Why then the law of works? It was added until the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a Mediator.” The word order goes like this: “Why then the law of works? Ordained by angels in the hand of a Mediator, it was added until the seed should come to whom the promise was made,” with the question asked by a person and the Spirit responding.

Again, in Second Thessalonians, when speaking of Antichrist, he says, “And then the wicked will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus Christ will slay with the Spirit of His mouth, and will destroy with the presence of His coming; even him whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders.” Here, the word order is: “And then the wicked will be revealed, whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the Spirit of His mouth, and will destroy with the presence of His coming.” He does not mean that the coming of the Lord follows the working of Satan, but the coming of the wicked one, whom we also call Antichrist.

If one doesn't pay attention to the correct reading of the passage and doesn’t present the pauses properly, there will not only be inconsistencies, but also he may utter blasphemy, as if the arrival of the Lord could be according to the working of Satan.

Therefore, in such passages, the transposition must be presented by the reading, preserving the apostle’s intended meaning; thus, we do not read “the god of this world” in that passage, but “God,” whom we truly call God; and we understand it concerns the unbelieving and blinded of this world, who will not inherit the world of life to come.

THE FALSE ACCUSATION BY THESE MEN HAS BEEN DISMISSED: clearly showing that neither the prophets nor the apostles ever named another God or called anyone Lord except the true and only God. This is even more true with regard to the Lord Himself, who instructed us to "render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and to God the things that are God’s," naming Cæsar as Cæsar but acknowledging God as God. Similarly, the saying "You cannot serve two masters" is explained by Him: "You cannot serve God and mammon," recognizing God as God but mentioning mammon as something that exists. He does not call mammon Lord when He says, "You cannot serve two masters," but He teaches His disciples, who serve God, not to be subject to mammon, nor to be ruled by it. For He says, "He that commits sin is the slave of sin." Since He calls those who serve sin "the slaves of sin" but does not call sin itself God, He also calls those who serve mammon "the slaves of mammon," not calling mammon God. For mammon, in the Jewish language, also used by the Samaritans, means a covetous person who wants more than they should have. In Hebrew, with the addition of a syllable, it is called Mamuel and means insatiable. Therefore, by both meanings, we cannot serve God and mammon.

BUT ALSO: when He spoke of the devil as strong, it was not absolutely so, but in comparison to us, the Lord showed Himself in every way to truly be the strong man, saying that one can only "spoil the goods of a strong man, if he first binds the strong man himself, and then he will spoil his house." We were the vessels and the house of this [strong man] when we were in a state of rebellion; for he used us however he wished, and the unclean spirit lived within us.

For he was not strong against Him who bound him and spoiled his house, but against those who were his tools, since he caused them to stray from God: these the Lord snatched from his grasp. As Jeremiah declares, "The Lord has redeemed Jacob, and has snatched him from the hand of one stronger than he." If, then, He had not pointed out Him who binds and spoils his goods, but had only spoken of him as strong, the strong man would have been unconquered.

But He also mentioned Him who obtains and retains possession; for he holds who binds, but he is held who is bound. And He did this without any comparison, so that, being a rebellious slave, he might not be compared to the Lord: for not he alone, and none of creation's subjects, shall ever be compared to the Word of God, by whom all things were made, who is our Lord Jesus Christ.

FOR ALL THINGS: whether Angels, Archangels, Thrones, or Dominions, were established and created by Him who is God over all, through His Word, as John has shown. After speaking of the Word of God as being with the Father, he added, “All things were made by Him, and without Him nothing was made.” David also enumerates His praises and mentions all things by name, both the heavens and all their powers, saying: “For He commanded, and they were created; He spoke, and they were made.” So, whom did He command? The Word, clearly, “by whom,” he says, “the heavens were established, and all their power by the breath of His mouth.” David adds that God made all things freely and as He pleased: “But our God is in the heavens above, and on the earth; He has made all things as He pleased.” The things established are distinct from Him who established them, and what was made is distinct from Him who made it.

He is Himself uncreated, both without beginning and end, and lacking nothing. He is self-sufficient and grants existence to everything else, yet the things made by Him had a beginning. Whatever had a beginning, is subject to dissolution, and needs Him who made them must be understood in all respects differently from Him, even by those with only moderate discernment.

Thus, He who made all things can alone, together with His Word, rightfully be called God and Lord.

But the things made cannot have this term applied to them, nor should they rightly claim the title that belongs to the Creator.

THIS: therefore, having been clearly demonstrated here (and it shall even be more clearly shown), that neither the prophets, nor the apostles, nor the Lord Christ Himself, acknowledged any other Lord or God but the supreme God and Lord: the prophets and apostles confessed the Father and the Son, but named no other as God, and confessed no other as Lord. The Lord Himself taught His disciples that He, the Father, is the only God and Lord, who alone is God and ruler of all; it is necessary for us to follow, if we truly are their disciples, their testimonies to this effect.

For Matthew the apostle—knowing, as one and the same God, Him who promised Abraham that He would make his descendants like the stars of heaven, and Him who, through His Son Christ Jesus, has called us to know Him, from the worship of stones, so that those who were not a people became a people, and she who was not loved became beloved—states that John, when preparing the way for Christ, said to those who were boasting of their relationship [to Abraham] according to the flesh, but who had their minds filled with all kinds of evil, preaching repentance that would lead them away from their evil actions, said, "O generation of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit befitting repentance.

And do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father'; for I tell you, God is able to raise children for Abraham from these stones." He preached to them repentance from wickedness, but he did not proclaim to them another God, besides Him who made the promise to Abraham; he, the forerunner of Christ, of whom Matthew again says, and Luke also, "For this is he that was spoken of by the Lord through the prophet: 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; the crooked shall become straight, and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'" There is therefore one and the same God, the Father of our Lord, who also promised, through the prophets, that He would send His forerunner; and His salvation—that is, His Word—He made visible to all flesh, the Word Himself becoming incarnate, so that in all things their King might become evident.

For it is necessary that those who are judged see the judge, and know Him from whom they receive judgment; and it is also proper that those who press on to glory should know Him who bestows upon them the gift of glory.

2. Then again, Matthew, when speaking of the angel, says, "The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream." He himself explains which Lord: "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, 'Out of Egypt have I called my son.'" "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel; which means, God with us." David also speaks of Him who, from the virgin, is Emmanuel: "Do not turn away the face of Your anointed.

THE LORD HAS SWORN A TRUTH TO DAVID AND WILL NOT TURN FROM HIM: Of the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne." And again: "In Judea, God is known; His place has been made in peace, and His dwelling in Zion." Therefore, there is one and the same God, who was proclaimed by the prophets and announced by the Gospel; and His Son, who was from the lineage of David’s body, that is, from the virgin of David's house, and Emmanuel; whose star Balaam also prophesied about: "There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a leader shall rise in Israel." But Matthew says that the Magi, coming from the east, exclaimed, "For we have seen His star in the east, and have come to worship Him;" and that, having been led by the star to the house of Jacob to Emmanuel, they showed, by these gifts they offered, who it was that was worshipped: myrrh, because it was He who would die and be buried for the mortal human race; gold, because He was a King, "of whose kingdom there is no end;" and frankincense, because He was God, who also "was made known in Judea," and was "declared to those who did not seek Him."

3. Regarding His baptism, Matthew states, “The heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God, like a dove, descending upon Him: and behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” At that time, Christ did not come down upon Jesus, nor were Christ and Jesus two different beings: rather, the Word of God—the Savior of all, and the ruler of heaven and earth—is Jesus, as I have already explained.

HE TOOK ON FLESH: was anointed by the Spirit from the Father, and became Jesus Christ, as Isaiah also says, “A rod will come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower will rise from his root; and the Spirit of God will rest upon Him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of God will fill Him. He shall not judge by appearance, nor reprove by mere words; but He will dispense judgment to the humble, and reprove the arrogant of the earth.” Again, Isaiah, prophesying His anointing and the reason for it, says, “The Spirit of God is upon Me, because He has anointed Me: He has sent Me to preach the Gospel to the lowly, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives, and sight to the blind; to announce the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance; to comfort all who mourn.” Since the Word of God was man from the root of Jesse, and a son of Abraham, the Spirit of God rested upon Him, anointing Him to preach the Gospel to the lowly.

But as He was God, He did not judge by appearances, nor reprove with mere words. For “He needed no one to testify about man, for He Himself knew what was in man.” He called all who mourn, and by granting forgiveness to those captivated by their sins, He freed them from their chains, of whom Solomon says, “Everyone is held by the cords of his own sins.” Therefore, the Spirit of God descended upon Him, the Spirit promised by the prophets who said He would anoint Him, so that we, receiving from the abundance of His anointing, might be saved.

This, then, is the testimony of Matthew.

LUKE: the follower and disciple of the apostles, referring to Zacharias and Elisabeth, from whom John was born according to promise, says: "And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." Again, speaking of Zacharias: "And it happened, while he served as priest before God according to his division, following the custom of the priest's office, his duty was to burn incense;" and he came to offer sacrifice, "entering into the temple of the Lord." The angel Gabriel, who stands prominently before the Lord, plainly and firmly acknowledged, in his own person, God and Lord, who had chosen Jerusalem and established the priestly office.

For he knew no other above Him; since if he had known of any more perfect God and Lord besides Him, he surely would not have confessed Him, whom he knew to be the result of imperfection, as absolutely and entirely God and Lord. Speaking of John, he also says: "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. He shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." For whom, then, did he prepare the people, and in whose sight was he made great? Truly the One who said that John was "more than a prophet," and that "among those born of women, none is greater than John the Baptist," who also prepared the people for the Lord's coming, urging his fellow servants and preaching repentance to them, so they might receive forgiveness from the Lord when He appeared, having turned back to Him from whom they had been separated because of sins and transgressions.

As David also says, "The alienated are sinners from birth: they go astray as soon as they are born." Because of this, he turned them to their Lord, preparing, in the spirit and power of Elias, a perfect people for the Lord.

2. Again, speaking of the angel, he says: "At that time, the angel Gabriel was sent from God, who said to the virgin, 'Do not fear, Mary, for you have found favor with God.'" And he says about the Lord: "He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom, there shall be no end." Who else can reign endlessly over the house of Jacob forever, except Jesus Christ our Lord, the Son of the Most High God, who promised through the law and the prophets that He would make His salvation visible to all flesh; that He would become the Son of man so that humankind might also become the sons of God? Mary, rejoicing over this, exclaimed, prophesying on behalf of the Church, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, Abraham and his descendants forever."

THROUGH THESE PASSAGES: the Gospel shows that it was God who spoke to the fathers; that it was He who, through Moses, established the legal system, through the giving of the law. We know that He spoke to the fathers. This same God, in His great goodness, poured His compassion upon us. Through this compassion, "the Dayspring from on high has looked upon us and appeared to those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death, and has guided our feet into the way of peace."

As Zacharias, recovering from a state of muteness due to unbelief, was filled with a new spirit, he blessed God in a new way. All things had entered a new phase, the Word arranging the coming in the flesh in a new way, to bring back to God the human nature that had departed from Him. Therefore, people were taught to worship God in a new manner, but not a different god, because truly there is but "one God, who justifies the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith." Zacharias, prophesying, exclaimed, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets who have been since the world began: salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham, that He would grant us, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, that we might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days." He then says to John: "And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Highest, for you shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people for the forgiveness of their sins."

This is the knowledge of salvation they lacked, that of the Son of God, which John made known, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is the one of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who was before me, because He was prior to me; and from His fullness we have all received.'" This, then, was the knowledge of salvation; it did not involve another God, or a different Father, or Bythus, or the Pleroma of thirty Æons, or the Mother of the lower Ogdoad, but the knowledge of salvation was the knowledge of the Son of God, who is both called and truly is salvation, Savior, and saving. Salvation, indeed, as follows: "I have waited for Your salvation, O Lord." And then again, Savior: "Behold my God, my Savior, I will put my trust in Him." But as bringing salvation, thus: "God has made known His salvation in the sight of the nations." For He is indeed the Savior, as being the Son and Word of God; but saving, as Spirit; for he says: "The Spirit of our countenance, Christ the Lord." But salvation, as being flesh, for "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." This knowledge of salvation, therefore, John imparted to those repenting and believing in the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

3. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds, proclaiming joy to them: “For a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, is born today in the house of David.” Then a multitude of the heavenly host appeared, praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will." The so-called Gnostics claim that these angels came from the Ogdoad, revealing the descent of the superior Christ.

BUT THEY ARE MISTAKEN WHEN CLAIMING THAT THE CHRIST AND SAVIOR FROM ABOVE WAS NOT BORN AND THAT AFTER THE BAPTISM OF THE EARTHLY JESUS: the Christ of the Pleroma descended upon him like a dove.

According to these people, the angels of the Ogdoad lied when they said, “For a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, is born today in the city of David.” By their account, neither Christ nor the Savior was born at that time; it was Jesus of the world’s creator, the Demiurge, upon whom, after his baptism at the age of thirty, the Savior from above descended.

But why did the angels say, “in the city of David,” if they were not announcing the fulfillment of God’s promise to David that from his lineage there would be an eternal King? For the creator of the universe promised David, as David himself declares: “My help is from God, who made heaven and earth;” and again: “In His hand are the ends of the earth, and the mountains' heights are His.

The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down before Him, and weep in the presence of the Lord who made us; for He is the Lord our God.” The Holy Spirit clearly declares through David that some will despise Him who created us and who alone is God.

Therefore, he uttered those words to say: Do not be mistaken; besides or above Him, there is no other God to whom you should reach out your hands, making us pious and thankful toward Him who made, established, and still nourishes us.

What, then, will happen to those who have caused such blasphemy against their Creator? This same truth is what the angels proclaimed. When they exclaim, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,” they glorify Him who is the Creator of the highest, the super-celestial things, and the Founder of everything on earth: who has sent to His creation, mankind, the blessing of His salvation from heaven.

Therefore, it adds, “The shepherds returned, glorifying God for all they had heard and seen, as it was told to them.” For the Israelite shepherds did not glorify another god, but the one announced by the law and the prophets, the Maker of all things, whom also the angels glorified.

But if the angels from the Ogdoad glorified any other than the God whom the shepherds worshiped, then those angels brought error, not truth.

AND FURTHERMORE: Luke speaks regarding the Lord: "When the days of purification were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord, that every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord; and they should offer a sacrifice, as it is stated in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons." In this, he clearly refers to Him as Lord, who established the legal practices. But "Simeon," he also says, "blessed God and said, Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before all people; a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel." And "Anna," the prophetess, he says, similarly glorified God when she saw Christ and spoke of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Through all these, one God is revealed, showing to humanity the new dispensation of liberty, the covenant, through the new arrival of His Son.

5.

THEREFORE: Mark, the interpreter and follower of Peter, begins his Gospel narrative in this way: "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; as it is written in the prophets, 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make the paths straight before our God.'" The Gospel clearly begins by quoting the words of the holy prophets, pointing out Him whom they confessed as God and Lord; Him, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who had promised to send His messenger before Him—John, crying in the wilderness, in "the spirit and power of Elias," "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths before our God." The prophets did not announce different gods, but one and the same God, under various aspects and many titles.

The Father is diverse and rich in attributes, as I have already shown in the book before this one, and I will demonstrate this truth from the prophets themselves as this work progresses. Towards the end of his Gospel, Mark also says: "So then, after the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and sits on the right hand of God," confirming what the prophet had spoken: "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.'" Thus, God and the Father are truly one and the same; the one announced by the prophets and handed down by the true Gospel; whom we Christians worship and love wholeheartedly as the Maker of heaven and earth and all things within.

JOHN: the disciple of the Lord, preaches this faith and seeks, by proclaiming the Gospel, to correct the error spread by Cerinthus and earlier by those known as Nicolaitans. These groups promoted a false "knowledge," claiming there is more than one God: one who created everything through His Word, and another as the Father of the Lord. They alleged that the Creator's Son was distinct from Christ, who remained impassible, descending upon Jesus, the Son of the Creator, and then returned to His Pleroma. They also claimed that Monogenes was the beginning, while Logos was the true son of Monogenes, and that this creation is not from the primary God but by a distant power separate from the divine and hidden realms.

John, desiring to end such doctrines and establish the truth in the Church that there is one Almighty God who created everything through His Word, both visible and invisible, shows that this Word also provided salvation to humanity. He begins in the Gospel with: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

When he says "all things were made by Him," he includes our creation, rejecting the notion that "all things" only refers to those within their Pleroma. If their Pleroma does contain this creation, then it is not outside, as I explained previously. But if they are outside the Pleroma, which seems improbable, then their Pleroma cannot be “all things,” and thus, this vast creation is not outside the Pleroma.

JOHN HIMSELF SETTLES THIS MATTER BEYOND ALL CONTROVERSY FOR US WHEN HE SAYS: "He was in this world, and the world was made by Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own things, and His own people did not receive Him." However, according to Marcion and those like him, the world was not made by Him, and He did not come to His own things but to those of another. According to some Gnostics, this world was made by angels and not by the Word of God. The followers of Valentinus claim the world was not made by Him but by the Demiurge, saying that Soter caused similar things to be made after a pattern of things above, but it was the Demiurge who completed the work of creation. They say that the Lord and Creator of the plan of creation, by whom they believe this world was made, was produced from the Mother. Yet the Gospel clearly states that by the Word, which was in the beginning with God, all things were made, and this Word "was made flesh and dwelt among us."

ACCORDING TO THESE MEN: neither the Word became flesh, nor Christ, nor the Saviour, who was produced from the joint contributions of all the Æons. They claim that the Word and Christ never came into this world; that the Saviour also never became incarnate or suffered, but that He descended like a dove upon the earthly Jesus; and that, as soon as He had declared the unknown Father, He ascended again into the Pleroma. Some, however, assert that this earthly Jesus did become incarnate and suffered, describing Him as having passed through Mary just as water through a tube, but others claim Him to be the Son of the Demiurge, upon whom the earthly Jesus descended; while others say that Jesus was born from Joseph and Mary, and that the Christ from above descended upon Him, being without flesh and unable to suffer.

But according to none of these heretics' opinions was the Word of God made flesh. If anyone carefully examines all their systems, he will find that they all portray the Word of God as not having become incarnate and unable to suffer, just like the Christ from above. Others consider Him to have appeared as a transfigured man, but they maintain He was neither born nor became incarnate; while others hold that He did not assume a human form at all, but that, as a dove, He descended upon the Jesus who was born from Mary.

Therefore, the Lord's disciple, identifying them all as false witnesses, says, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us."

AND SO WE DO NOT NEED TO ASK: From which God was the Word made flesh? He teaches us this beforehand, saying, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the Light. He was not the Light, but came to testify about the Light.” By which God, then, was John, the forerunner who testifies about the Light, sent into the world? Truly it was by Him, for whom Gabriel is the angel, who also announced the good news of his birth: that God who had promised through the prophets to send His messenger ahead of His Son, who would prepare His way, that is, to testify about the Light in the spirit and power of Elias.

But, again, from which God was Elias, the servant and prophet? From Him who made heaven and earth, as he himself acknowledges. John, therefore, having been sent by the creator of this world, how could he testify about that Light, which came from realms unspeakable and invisible? For all the heretics have decided that the Demiurge was unaware of that Power above him, whose witness and herald John is shown to be. This is why the Lord said he considered him “more than a prophet.” All the other prophets preached the coming of the paternal Light and wished to be worthy of seeing Him whom they preached; but John both announced the coming beforehand, like the others, and actually saw Him when He came.

He pointed Him out and convinced many to believe in Him, thus holding the role of both prophet and apostle himself. For this is to be more than a prophet, because there are “first apostles, secondarily prophets;” but all things come from one and the same God Himself.

THAT WINE: which God produced in a vineyard and was initially consumed, was good. None of those who drank it found any fault with it, and the Lord also drank it. But the wine that the Word made from water, instantly and just for the use of those invited to the wedding, was better. Although the Lord had the power to provide wine for the feast without needing any created substance and to feed the hungry, He did not choose to do so. Instead, by taking the loaves that the earth produced, giving thanks, and on another occasion turning water into wine, He satisfied those reclining at the table and gave drink to the wedding guests. This demonstrated that the God who made the earth and commanded it to bring forth fruit, who established the waters and brought forth the fountains, is the one who in these last times bestowed upon humanity, through His Son, the blessing of food and the favor of drink: the Incomprehensible acting through the comprehensible, and the Invisible through the visible, as there is none beyond Him, and He exists in the bosom of the Father.

For "no man," he says, "has seen God at any time," unless "the only-begotten Son of God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." For He, the Son who is in His bosom, declares to everyone the Father who is invisible. Therefore, they know Him to whom the Son reveals Him; and again, the Father, through the Son, gives knowledge of His Son to those who love Him. By whom also Nathanael, being taught, recognized Him, he to whom the Lord gave witness, that he was "an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile." The Israelite recognized his King, therefore he cried out to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel." By whom also Peter, having been taught, recognized Christ as the Son of the living God, when God said, "Behold My dearly beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon Him, and He shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He shall not break, and smoking flax He shall not quench, until He sends forth judgment into victory; and in His name the Gentiles shall trust."

SUCH: therefore, are the basic principles of the Gospel: that there is one God, the Creator of this universe; He is the one announced by the prophets, and through Moses established the law—principles which declare Him as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, denying any other God or Father besides Him. The Gospels are so soundly grounded that even the heretics themselves acknowledge them, and from these writings, each attempts to support their own unique doctrine. The Ebionites, who use only the Gospel of Matthew, are refuted by this very Gospel, as they make false assumptions about the Lord. Marcion, who distorts the Gospel of Luke, is shown to be a blasphemer of the one true God, even from the passages he retains. Those who separate Jesus from Christ, claiming that Christ was impassible while Jesus suffered, and prefer the Gospel of Mark, can have their errors corrected if they read it with a love of truth. Furthermore, those who follow Valentinus and extensively use the Gospel of John to support their theories will be proven completely wrong by this very Gospel, as I demonstrated in the first book. Since our opponents testify to us and use these writings, our proof from them is firm and true.

IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR THE GOSPELS TO BE MORE OR FEWER IN NUMBER THAN THEY ARE: Since there are four zones of the world we live in and four principal winds, while the Church is spread throughout the whole world, and the "pillar and ground" of the Church is the Gospel and the spirit of life; it's fitting that it should have four pillars, breathing out immortality on every side and renewing humans. From this fact, it's clear that the Word, the Creator of all, He who sits upon the cherubim and contains all things, He who was revealed to humanity, has given us the Gospel in four aspects, but connected by one Spirit.

As David says when pleading for His manifestation, “You that sit between the cherubim, shine forth.” For the cherubim were also four-faced, and their faces were images of the arrangement of the Son of God. As Scripture says, “The first living creature was like a lion,” symbolizing His powerful work, His leadership, and royal power; the second living creature was like a calf, signifying His sacrificial and priestly order; the third had, as it were, the face of a man—clearly describing His coming as a human; the fourth was like a flying eagle, pointing out the gift of the Spirit hovering with His wings over the Church.

Therefore, the Gospels align with these things, with Christ Jesus at their center. For the Gospel according to John relates His original, effective, and glorious birth from the Father, declaring, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Also, “all things were made by Him, and nothing was made without Him.” For this reason, this Gospel is full of confidence, for such is His nature.

But the Gospel according to Luke, focusing on His priestly role, begins with Zacharias the priest offering sacrifice to God.

For now, the fatted calf was prepared, about to be sacrificed for the return of the younger son. Matthew, again, relates His birth as a man, saying, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham;” and also, “The birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise.” This is the Gospel of His humanity; for this reason, a humble and gentle character is maintained throughout the whole Gospel. Mark, on the other hand, begins with a reference to the prophetic spirit coming down from above to humans, saying, “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet,”—pointing to the inspiring aspect of the Gospel; and because of this, he made a concise and brief narrative, for such is the prophetic nature.

The Word of God Himself used to communicate with the patriarchs before Moses, in line with His divinity and glory; but for those under the law, He established a priestly and liturgical service.

Later, being made human for us, He sent the gift of the heavenly Spirit over all the earth, protecting us with His wings. Such was the path followed by the Son of God, and so was the form of the living creatures; and just as was the form of the living creatures, so was the character of the Gospel.

The living creatures are fourfold, and the Gospel is fourfold, as is the path of the Lord. For this reason, four principal covenants were given to humanity: one, before the flood, under Adam; the second, after the flood, under Noah; the third, the giving of the law, under Moses; the fourth, that which renews humanity and sums up all things in itself through the Gospel, raising and carrying humans upon its wings into the heavenly kingdom.

GIVEN THESE POINTS: all who distort the shape of the Gospel are vain, ignorant, and also bold; those, I mean, who portray the aspects of the Gospel as being either more numerous or, alternatively, fewer than previously stated. The first group does so to appear as if they have discovered more than the truth; the latter group does this to dismiss the plans of God. Marcion, for instance, rejects the entire Gospel, indeed even cuts himself off from it, yet claims to share in the Gospel's blessings.

Others (the Montanists), in order to disregard the gift of the Spirit—which, by the grace of the Father, was given to humanity in later times—do not acknowledge the aspect of the evangelical dispensation shown in John's Gospel, where the Lord promised to send the Paraclete; but dismiss both the Gospel and the prophetic Spirit. Truly wretched individuals! They wish to be false prophets, but they reject the gift of prophecy from the Church, acting like the Encratites who, due to hypocrites, distance themselves from the community of believers.

We must also conclude that these men (the Montanists) cannot accept the Apostle Paul either. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul clearly talks about prophetic gifts and recognizes both men and women prophesying in the Church. Sinning in these matters against the Spirit of God, they commit the unforgivable sin.

Meanwhile, those from Valentinus are utterly reckless, boasting that they have more Gospels than exist while presenting their own writings. They're so audacious that they call their recent work "the Gospel of Truth," although it bears no resemblance to the Apostolic Gospels, making their Gospel full of blasphemy.

For if what they've published is the Gospel of Truth, yet completely differs from what the apostles handed down, it's clear, as the Scriptures themselves affirm, that what is handed down from the apostles should no longer be deemed the Gospel of Truth.

But these Gospels alone are true and reliable, allowing neither an increase nor decrease in their number, as I have proven through numerous arguments. Since God created everything in proportion and harmony, it was also fitting for the outward appearance of the Gospel to be well-organized and consistent.

Therefore, having examined the views of those who passed the Gospel down to us, from their very origins, let us also proceed to consider the remaining apostles and investigate their teachings regarding God; then, in due course, we shall listen to the words of the Lord.

AFTER THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD AND HIS ASCENSION INTO HEAVEN: the Apostle Peter wanted to complete the number of the twelve apostles by electing a replacement for Judas, as chosen by God. He addressed those present, saying, "Men and brothers, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit, through David, spoke about Judas, who became a guide to those who captured Jesus. For he was one of us: ... Let his home be desolate, and let no one live there; and let someone else take his position." This was to complete the apostles as David's words indicated. Then, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples so that they could all prophesy and speak in tongues, some mocked them as if they were drunk with new wine. Peter explained that they were not drunk, for it was only the third hour of the day, but that this event was what the prophet had spoken about: "In the last days, says God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people, and they shall prophesy." Therefore, the God who promised through the prophet to send His Spirit upon everyone is the same God who sent it, and Peter announced that God Himself fulfilled His promise.

PETER SAID: “Men of Israel, listen to my words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man confirmed by God among you through powers, wonders, and signs that God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves know: Him, delivered by the determined plan and foreknowledge of God, you have killed by the hands of wicked men, affixing [to the cross]: whom God raised up, freeing Him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by them.

For David speaks concerning Him, ‘I foresaw the Lord always before me; for He is at my right hand, so that I might not be shaken: therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover, my flesh will rest in hope: because You will not leave my soul in hell, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’” Then he goes on to speak confidently to them about the patriarch David, that he was dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with them to this day.

He said, “But since he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn an oath to him, that one of his descendants would sit on his throne; foreseeing this, he spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that He was not left in hell, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus,” he said, “God has raised up, of which we all are witnesses: who, being exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, has poured out this gift which you now see and hear.

For David has not ascended into the heavens, but he says himself, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.’ Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” And when the crowds asked, “What shall we do then?” Peter tells them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Thus, the apostles did not preach another God, or another Fullness; nor that the Christ who suffered and rose again was one, while He who ascended on high was another, and remained impassible; but that there was one and the same God, the Father, and Christ Jesus who rose from the dead; and they preached faith in Him, to those who did not believe in the Son of God, and exhorted them from the prophets, that the Christ whom God promised to send, He sent in Jesus, whom they crucified, and God raised up.

3. Again, when Peter, accompanied by John, looked upon the man who was lame from birth, sitting in front of the gate of the temple called Beautiful and seeking alms, he said to him, “I have no silver or gold; but what I have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” Immediately, his legs and feet gained strength; he walked and entered the temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God.

THEN: when a multitude gathered around them from all quarters because of this unexpected deed, Peter addressed them: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this; or why do you look at us so intently, as if by our own power we made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified His Son, whom you delivered for judgment and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he wanted to release Him.

But you were bitterly set against the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you; but you killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And by faith in His name, this man whom you see and know has been made strong; yes, the faith which is through Him, has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I know that through ignorance you did this wickedness.

But those things which God foretold through the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has fulfilled. Therefore repent and be converted, so that your sins may be blotted out, and that times of refreshing may come to you from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, who was prepared for you beforehand, whom heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things, which God has spoken by His holy prophets.

For Moses truly said to our ancestors, 'The Lord your God shall raise up for you a Prophet from among your brethren, like me; Him you shall hear in all things whatever He says to you. And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.' And all the prophets from Samuel onward, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold these days. You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our ancestors, saying to Abraham, 'And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' To you first, God, having raised up His Son, sent Him to bless you, that each of you may turn from your iniquities.” Peter, together with John, preached this clear message of glad tidings to them, stating that the promise God made to the ancestors had been fulfilled by Jesus; not proclaiming another god, but the Son of God, who also became man and suffered; thus leading Israel into knowledge, and through Jesus preaching the resurrection of the dead, and showing that whatever the prophets had proclaimed about the suffering of Christ, God has fulfilled.

FOR THIS REASON: too, when the chief priests gathered, Peter, full of boldness, said to them, "You rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we are being questioned today about the good deed done to the disabled man, by what means he has been made whole, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands here before you healed. This is the stone which you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Thus, the apostles did not change God but preached to the people that Christ was Jesus, the crucified one, whom the same God that had sent the prophets, being God Himself, raised up and offered salvation in Him to men.

They were confused by this act of healing (since the man healed by this miracle was over forty years old), by the apostles' teachings, and by the interpretation of the prophets when the chief priests released Peter and John. They returned to their fellow apostles and disciples of the Lord, meaning the Church, and shared what had happened and their brave actions in the name of Jesus. The whole Church, upon hearing this, raised their voice to God together, saying, "Lord, You are God, who made heaven, earth, and the sea, and everything in them; who through the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of our father David, Your servant, said, 'Why did the nations rage and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.' Truly, in this city, against Your holy Son Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and counsel predetermined to happen."

THESE ARE THE VOICES OF THE CHURCH: from which every Church originated; these are the voices of the central community of the new covenant; these are the voices of the apostles; these are the voices of the Lord's disciples, the truly complete, who, after the Lord's ascension, were perfected by the Spirit and called on the God who made heaven, earth, and the sea—who was proclaimed by the prophets—and Jesus Christ His Son, whom God anointed and who knew no other God. For at that time and place, there were no subverters like Valentinus or Marcion and their followers. Therefore, God, the Maker of all things, heard them. It is said, "The place where they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking the word of God boldly" to everyone willing to believe.

"And with great power," it is added, "the apostles gave testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus," saying, "The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you seized and killed by hanging Him on a wooden beam: Him God raised by His right hand to be a Prince and Savior, to offer repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy Ghost, whom God has given to those who believe in Him." "And daily," it says, "in the temple and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and preaching Christ Jesus," the Son of God. For this was the knowledge of salvation, making those who recognize His Son's coming perfect towards God.

BUT AS SOME OF THESE MEN BOLDLY CLAIM THAT THE APOSTLES: when preaching to the Jews, could not introduce another god besides the one their audience believed in, we explain to them that if the apostles tailored their message to match the beliefs already instilled in their listeners, then no one would have learned the truth from them, nor, much earlier, from the Lord; since they claim He spoke in the same manner.

Therefore, these men themselves do not know the truth; their views on God were shaped by the teachings they were ready to accept.

In this way of speaking, no one could hold the rule of truth; all learners would think that every teacher communicated based on individual beliefs and abilities. The Lord’s coming would seem unnecessary and pointless if He came just to tolerate and maintain each person's long-held ideas about God.

Furthermore, it was much more challenging that He, whom the Jews saw as a man and crucified, should be proclaimed as Christ, the Son of God, their eternal King. Since this was the case, they clearly did not speak in line with their old beliefs.

For those who confronted them about being the killers of the Lord would be even more willing to speak about the Father who is above the Demiurge, rather than supporting individual beliefs about God. The sin was lesser, if they hadn’t crucified the superior Saviour, whom they were supposed to ascend to, since He was beyond suffering. As they did not cater to the Gentiles' beliefs but boldly declared their gods to be demons' idols, they would have done the same with the Jews if they knew of a greater or more perfect Father, instead of supporting false beliefs about God.

Additionally, while correcting the Gentiles' errors and steering them away from false gods, they did not replace one error with another; by removing false deities, they revealed the one true God and Father.

FROM THE WORDS OF PETER: spoken in Caesarea to Cornelius the centurion and the Gentiles with him, to whom the word of God was first preached, we can understand what the apostles preached, the nature of their message, and their understanding of God. Cornelius was described as a "devout man, one who feared God with all his house, giving much to charity and praying to God always." Around the ninth hour of the day, he saw an angel of God, who told him, "Your alms have come up as a memorial before God. Therefore, send for Simon, who is called Peter."

When Peter saw the vision, where a voice from heaven said to him, "What God has cleansed, do not call common," it served to teach him that the same God who, through the law, distinguished between clean and unclean, had purified the Gentiles through the blood of His Son—He whom Cornelius also worshipped. Peter, upon arriving, said, "I truly understand that God shows no favoritism: but in every nation, the one who fears Him and works righteousness is acceptable to Him." He clearly indicated that the God whom Cornelius had previously feared and heard of through the law and the prophets, and for whom he gave alms, is indeed God. However, Cornelius lacked knowledge of the Son, so Peter added, "You know the message that was spread throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism John preached—Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power; who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him. We are witnesses of everything He did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem; whom they killed, hanging Him on a beam of wood. God raised Him on the third day and showed Him openly; not to all the people, but to us, witnesses chosen by God, who ate and drank with Him after His resurrection. He commanded us to preach to the people and testify that He is the one ordained by God to be the judge of the living and the dead. To Him, all the prophets bear witness, that through His name, everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."

The apostles preached the Son of God, whom people were unaware of, and His coming to those already instructed about God. They did not introduce another god. If Peter had known such a thing, he would have preached to the Gentiles that the God of the Jews was one but the God of the Christians was another. And everyone, amazed by the vision of the angel, would have believed whatever he said. However, it is clear from Peter’s words that he retained the God already known to them. He also testified to them that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, the judge of the living and the dead, and he commanded them to be baptized in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Moreover, he testified that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, anointed with the Holy Spirit, called Jesus Christ, and that He is the same one born of Mary, as testified by Peter. Could it be possible that Peter did not have the complete knowledge that these men claim to have found later? According to them, Peter was imperfect, and so were the rest of the apostles; therefore, they would need to come back to life and become disciples of these men to become perfect. But this is absurd. These individuals are shown to follow their own misguided ideas, not the apostles'. This leads to various differing opinions among them, as each one embraced error as they were able to. However, the Church throughout the world, established firmly by the apostles, remains consistent in its understanding of God and His Son.

8. But again: To whom did Philip preach when he was with the eunuch of the queen of the Ethiopians, who was returning from Jerusalem and reading the prophet Esaias? Was it not about Him of whom the prophet spoke: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before the shearer, so He did not open His mouth?” “But who shall declare His origin? For His life shall be taken from the earth.” Philip declared that this was Jesus, and that the Scripture was fulfilled in Him; the believing eunuch also acknowledged this. Immediately, he requested to be baptized, saying, “I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God.” This man was also sent to the regions of Ethiopia to preach what he had believed himself: that there was one God preached by the prophets, and that the Son of this God had already appeared in human form and had been led like a sheep to the slaughter, along with all the other statements the prophets made regarding Him.

PAUL HIMSELF: after the Lord spoke to him from heaven and showed him that by persecuting His disciples he was persecuting his own Lord, and after Ananias was sent to him to recover his sight and baptize him, "preached," it is said, "Jesus in the synagogues at Damascus, with full freedom of speech, declaring that this is the Son of God, the Christ." This is the mystery Paul mentions was revealed to him: that He who suffered under Pontius Pilate is the Lord of all, King, God, and Judge, receiving power from the God of all because He became "obedient unto death, even death on the cross." Given that this is true, while preaching to the Athenians on the Areopagus—where no Jews were present, allowing him to preach God freely—he told them: "God, who made the world and all things in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by human hands.

Nor is He served by human hands as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and everything else. From one blood, He made all nations of men to live on the entire earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, so they might seek the Deity, possibly track Him down, or find Him, though He is not far from each of us. For in Him we live, move, and have our being, as some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' Since we are the offspring of God, we should not think that the Deity is like gold, silver, or stone, shaped by art or human imagination.

Therefore, God, overlooking the past times of ignorance, now commands everyone everywhere to turn to Him with repentance because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the man Jesus, having given proof of this by raising Him from the dead." Here, he not only presents God as the Creator of the world, without Jews present, but also that He created one race of people to live across the whole earth, as Moses stated: "When the Most High divided the nations and scattered the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the nations after the number of the angels of God;" yet those who believe in God are not under the rule of angels, but under the Lord's dominion. "For His people Jacob was made the Lord’s portion, Israel the rope of His inheritance." Additionally, at Lystra in Lycaonia, when Paul was with Barnabas and made a man walk who had been lame from birth in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the crowd wanted to honor them as gods because of this amazing deed, he told them: "We are humans like you, preaching to you God, so you may turn away from these useless idols to serve the living God, who made heaven, earth, the sea, and everything in them; who in past times allowed all nations to go their ways, yet did not leave Himself without witness, doing good, giving you rain from heaven, fruitful seasons, and filling your hearts with food and gladness." I will demonstrate that all his Epistles align with these declarations from the Epistles themselves at the appropriate time when explaining the apostle.

While I bring forth these Scriptural truths and present briefly and concisely things stated in various forms, do also pay attention with patience, and don't consider them tedious; remembering that proofs of the matters contained in the Scriptures can only be shown from the Scriptures themselves.

STEPHEN: who was chosen by the apostles as the first deacon and was the first to follow the path of martyrdom of the Lord by being killed for confessing Christ, spoke boldly among the people and taught them, saying: "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham and said to him, 'Leave your country and your kindred and come to the land I will show you.' He brought him to this land where you now live. He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground to call his own, yet He promised to give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him. God said that his descendants would live in a foreign land, be enslaved, and mistreated for four hundred years, but the nation they serve will be judged by Me, says the Lord. Afterward, they will come out and serve Me in this place. He gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and so Abraham became the father of Isaac." The rest of his words declare the same God who was with Joseph, the patriarchs, and spoke with Moses.

The entire range of the apostles' teachings proclaimed one and the same God, who called Abraham, made him the promise of inheritance, gave him the covenant of circumcision at the right time, and led his descendants out of Egypt, preserving them outwardly through circumcision—given as a sign so they wouldn't be like the Egyptians. This God is the Creator of all things, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of glory. Anyone interested can learn from the very words and actions of the apostles that this God is one, with none above Him.

EVEN IF THERE WERE ANOTHER GOD ABOVE HIM: considering the quantity of works done by each, the latter would be superior to the former, as actions reveal the better being, as I have mentioned before. These individuals have no works of their supposed father to show, thereby proving that the true God stands alone. If anyone "obsessing over questions" imagines that the apostles' declarations about God should be interpreted allegorically, they should consider my previous statements, where I presented one God as the Founder and Creator of everything, exposing and refuting their claims.

They will find my arguments consistent with the apostles' teachings, holding firm to the belief that there is one God, the Creator of all. Once an individual sheds such errors and the associated blasphemy against God, they will naturally come to recognize that both the Mosaic law and the grace of the new covenant, suitable for the times they were given, were provided by one and the same God for the benefit of humanity.

FOR ALL THOSE WITH A MISGUIDED MIND: who oppose the Mosaic law, judging it to be different and contrary to the Gospel's teachings, have not dedicated themselves to understanding the reasons for the differences between each covenant.

Therefore, having been abandoned by paternal love and influenced by Satan, they have been drawn to the teachings of Simon Magus, and strayed in their beliefs from God, imagining they have discovered more than the apostles by finding another god; they claim that the apostles preached the Gospel still somewhat under Jewish influences, but that they themselves are purer in doctrine and more intelligent than the apostles.

Thus, Marcion and his followers have resorted to altering the Scriptures, ignoring some books completely, and shortening the Gospel according to Luke and Paul's Epistles, claiming these are the only authentic texts, which they have edited.

However, in another work, God willing, I will refute them using those texts they still accept. The rest, inflated by the false notion of "knowledge," do recognize the Scriptures but distort their interpretations, as I showed in the first book. The followers of Marcion directly blaspheme the Creator, claiming him to be the source of evils, while suggesting a more tolerable theory about his origin, maintaining that there are two beings, gods by nature, differing from each other—one good, and the other evil.

Meanwhile, those from Valentinus, though using more respectful names and acknowledging the Creator as both Father, Lord, and God, render their theory more blasphemous by maintaining that He was not born from any of the Æons within the Pleroma, but from a defect expelled beyond the Pleroma. Ignorance of the Scriptures and the dispensation of God has brought all these beliefs upon them. In the course of this work, I will discuss the cause of the differences of the covenants on the one hand, and, on the other hand, their unity and harmony.

13. Both the apostles and their disciples taught just as the Church preaches, and in doing so, they were perfected, which is why they were called to what is perfect. Stephen, while teaching these truths on earth, saw the glory of God and Jesus at His right hand and exclaimed, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.” He spoke these words and was stoned, thus fulfilling the perfect doctrine. In every way, he followed the Leader of martyrdom, praying for those who were killing him with the words: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Those who reached perfection understood the same God, who was with humanity from the beginning to the end in various ways, as the prophet Hosea states: “I have filled up visions and used similitudes by the hands of the prophets.” Therefore, those who gave up their lives for Christ’s Gospel could not have spoken according to established opinion.

IF THEY HAD DONE SO: they would not have suffered.

However, because they preached contrary to those who did not accept the truth, they suffered. It is clear, therefore, that they did not abandon the truth but boldly preached to the Jews and Greeks. To the Jews, they proclaimed that the Jesus crucified by them was the Son of God, the Judge of the living and the dead, and that He received an eternal kingdom in Israel from His Father, as I have pointed out; but to the Greeks, they preached one God who made all things, and Jesus Christ His Son.

THIS IS MADE EVEN CLEARER BY THE LETTER FROM THE APOSTLES: which they sent not to the Jews or the Greeks but to those Gentiles who believed in Christ, affirming their faith. When certain men came down from Judea to Antioch—where the Lord’s disciples were first called Christians because of their faith in Christ—and tried to convince those who believed in the Lord to be circumcised and follow other aspects of the law, Paul and Barnabas traveled to Jerusalem to discuss the matter with the apostles, and the whole Church gathered together.

Peter addressed them: “Men, brothers, you know that from long ago God chose me so that the Gentiles would hear the Gospel from me and believe. And God, who knows the heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us; and made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. So why are you testing God by placing a burden on the disciples that neither our ancestors nor we could bear? We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will be saved just like they are.” After him, James spoke: “Men, brothers, Simon has explained how God planned to take from the Gentiles a people for His name.

The prophets' words agree with this, as it is written, ‘After this, I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. I will restore its ruins so that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord, including all the Gentiles who have been called by my name,’ says the Lord, who does these things. His work is known to God from eternity.

Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead, we should instruct them to abstain from the worthless practices of idols, from fornication, from blood, and from doing to others what they would not want done to themselves.” When these things were said, and all agreed, they wrote the following message: “The apostles and the elders, to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, greetings.

We have heard that some people from among us have disturbed you with their teachings, unsettling your souls by saying you must be circumcised and keep the law, though we gave them no such instructions. It seemed good to us, being in agreement, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent Judas and Silas to tell you our decision through their own words.

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond these essential requirements: to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from sexual immorality, and from doing to others what you would not want done to you. If you keep yourselves free from these, you will do well, walking in the Holy Spirit.” From these passages, it is clear that they did not teach about another Father but instead offered the new covenant of freedom to those who had recently believed in God by the Holy Spirit.

They clearly showed, through their debate about whether it was necessary to circumcise the disciples, that they did not consider another god.

IN THAT CASE: they wouldn't have maintained such an attitude toward the first covenant, as they were not even willing to eat with the Gentiles. Even Peter, although he had been sent to instruct them and had been compelled by a vision to do so, spoke with some hesitation, saying to them: "You know it is unlawful for a man who is a Jew to associate with or visit someone from another nation; but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.

Therefore, I came without objection," indicating by these words that he wouldn't have come to them unless he had been commanded. Similarly, he wouldn't have so readily given them baptism if he hadn't heard them prophesying when the Holy Ghost rested upon them. So, he exclaimed, "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" He persuaded those with him, pointing out that unless the Holy Ghost had rested upon them, there might have been someone who would have raised objections to their baptism.

The apostles with James allowed the Gentiles to act freely, yielding us to the Spirit of God.

However, they themselves, while knowing the same God, continued in the ancient observances. So, even Peter, fearing possible reproof from them, although he formerly ate with the Gentiles because of the vision and the Spirit who had rested upon them, withdrew and didn't eat with them when certain persons came from James. Paul said Barnabas did the same.

Thus, the apostles, whom the Lord made witnesses of every action and doctrine—for we frequently find Peter, James, and John present with Him—carefully acted according to the dispensation of the Mosaic law, showing that it was from one and the same God.

They certainly would not have done this, as I have already mentioned, if they had learned from the Lord that there existed another Father besides the one who established the dispensation of the law.

Regarding those (the Marcionites) who claim that Paul alone knew the truth and that the mystery was revealed to him by revelation, let Paul himself refute them. He says that the same God worked in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised and in himself for the Gentiles. Therefore, Peter was an apostle of the same God as Paul, and both preached about God and the Son of God; Peter to those of the circumcision and Paul among the Gentiles. For our Lord did not come to save only Paul, nor is God so limited that He would have only one apostle who understood the plan for His Son. Furthermore, when Paul says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news and preach the Gospel of peace,” he clearly shows that there were many who preached the truth. Additionally, in the Epistle to the Corinthians, after listing all who saw God after the resurrection, he continues, “But whether it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed,” recognizing the unity in the preaching of all those who witnessed God after the resurrection.

AND AGAIN: the Lord replied to Philip, who wanted to see the Father, “Have I been with you for such a long time, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? Whoever sees Me, also sees the Father; so why do you say, Show us the Father? For I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Therefore, the Lord testified to these men that in Himself they had both known and seen the Father (and the Father is truth). To claim, then, that these men did not know the truth is to be false witnesses and to be separated from the doctrine of Christ. For why did the Lord send the twelve apostles to the lost sheep of the house of Israel if these men did not know the truth? How did the seventy preach unless they had already known the truth of what was preached? Or how could Peter have been ignorant, when the Lord testified to him that flesh and blood had not revealed it to him, but the Father, who is in heaven? Just as “Paul was an apostle, not from men, nor by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father,” it was the same with the rest; the Son indeed leading them to the Father, but the Father revealing the Son to them.

PAUL AGREED TO THE REQUEST OF THOSE WHO CALLED HIM TO THE APOSTLES BECAUSE OF THE QUESTION THAT HAD COME UP: He went with Barnabas to Jerusalem, not without reason, but so that the freedom of the Gentiles might be confirmed by them. Paul himself mentions this in the Epistle to the Galatians: "Then, fourteen years later, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, also taking Titus. I went up by revelation and shared with them the Gospel I preached among the Gentiles." He also says, "For an hour we did not yield to subjection, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you." If anyone carefully examines the timing from the Acts of the Apostles concerning when it is written that he went up to Jerusalem for that question, they will find that the years Paul mentioned align with it. Thus, Paul's statement agrees with and is essentially identical to Luke's testimony regarding the apostles.

THIS PASSAGE DEMONSTRATES THAT LUKE WAS INSEPARABLE FROM PAUL AND WORKED WITH HIM ON SPREADING THE GOSPEL: not out of pride, but because it was true. Luke describes how, when Barnabas and John (called Mark) parted ways with Paul and sailed to Cyprus, "we came to Troas." When Paul dreamed of a man from Macedonia asking for help, Luke says, "we aimed to go to Macedonia at once, understanding that the Lord had called us to preach the Gospel to them.

So, sailing from Troas, we set our ship's course towards Samothrace." Luke then details their journey to Philippi, how they delivered their first address there—"for, sitting down," he says, "we spoke to the women who had gathered"—and many believed, a great number of them. Again, he states, "we sailed from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread and came to Troas, where we stayed for seven days." Throughout his journey with Paul, Luke records everything diligently: the places, cities, number of days, their arrival in Jerusalem, what happened to Paul there, how he was sent to Rome in chains, the name of the centurion in charge, the signs of the ships, their shipwreck, the island they reached, the kindness they received, Paul healing the chief man of that island, their departure to Puteoli, and their arrival in Rome, including the duration of their stay.

As Luke witnessed all these events, he documented them carefully, confirming he was honest and not boasting. This also proves he was older than those teaching otherwise and not ignorant of the truth. Paul confirmed that Luke was not just a follower but also a co-worker with the apostles, especially himself, in the Epistles: “Demas has left me for Thessalonica; Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me.” This shows Luke was always close to Paul. Paul also mentions in the Epistle to the Colossians: “Luke, the beloved physician, greets you.” Therefore, if Luke, always preaching with Paul, called "the beloved" and entrusted to give us a Gospel, learned nothing different from Paul, as the words show, how can others, who were never with Paul, claim they have learned hidden and unspeakable mysteries?

2. Paul taught in a straightforward manner what he knew, not only to those who worked with him, but also to those who listened to him, as he himself demonstrates. When the bishops and presbyters came from Ephesus and the nearby cities and gathered in Miletus—because he was hurrying to Jerusalem to observe Pentecost—after testifying many things to them and declaring what would happen to him in Jerusalem, he added: “I know that you will see my face no more.

THEREFORE: I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all. For I have not avoided declaring to you the entire counsel of God. Be careful, then, both about yourselves and all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you bishops, to lead the Church of the Lord, which He has acquired for Himself through His own blood.” Referring to the false teachers who would arise, he said: “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come among you, not sparing the flock.

Even from among your own number, men will arise, speaking twisted things to draw followers after them.” “I have not avoided,” he says, “declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” In this way, the apostles simply and impartially shared with everyone what they had learned from the Lord. Similarly, Luke impartially conveys to us what he learned from them, as he himself affirmed, saying, “Just as they handed them down to us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word.”

3. Now if anyone dismisses Luke, as someone who did not know the truth, they clearly reject the Gospel of which they claim to be a follower. Through Luke, we have learned about many important parts of the Gospel; for example, the birth of John, the story of Zacharias, the angel's visit to Mary, Elisabeth's exclamation, the angels' visit to the shepherds, their words, the testimony of Anna and Simeon about Christ, and how He was left in Jerusalem at twelve years old; also John’s baptism, the age of the Lord when He was baptized, and that this happened in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar.

AS A TEACHER: He said this to the rich: “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation;” and “Woe to you who are full, for you will hunger; and you who laugh now, for you will weep;” and, “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you: for this is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.” We know all these things through Luke alone (and many actions of the Lord are mentioned by all [the Evangelists]): the great number of fish Peter's companions caught when, at the Lord’s command, they cast the nets; the woman who had suffered for eighteen years and was healed on the Sabbath; the man with dropsy whom the Lord healed on the Sabbath and how He defended His actions; how He taught His disciples not to seek the places of honor; how we should invite the poor and weak, who cannot repay us; the man who knocked at night to ask for bread and received it due to his persistence; how, when the Lord was dining with a Pharisee, a woman who was a sinner kissed His feet and anointed them with ointment, and what the Lord said to Simon about her regarding the two debtors; also the parable of the rich man who hoarded wealth and was told, “This night your soul will be demanded from you; then whose will those things be that you have prepared?” and similarly, the story of the rich man dressed in purple who lived in luxury, and the poor Lazarus; also the response He gave to His disciples when they said, “Increase our faith;” His conversation with Zaccheus the tax collector; the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple at the same time; the ten lepers whom He cleansed simultaneously; how He told the lame and blind to be gathered to the wedding from the streets and alleys; the parable of the judge who did not fear God, yet was moved by the widow’s persistence to do her justice; and about the fig tree in the vineyard which bore no fruit.

Many other details mentioned only by Luke are also used by Marcion and Valentinus. In addition to all these, [he records] what [Christ] said to His disciples on the road after the resurrection, and how they recognized Him in the breaking of bread.

IT FOLLOWS NATURALLY THAT THESE PEOPLE MUST EITHER ACCEPT THE REST OF HIS STORY OR REJECT THESE PARTS AS WELL: No sensible person can allow them to accept some of the things Luke recounted as true and disregard others, as if he didn't know the truth. If Marcion’s followers reject these, they will have no Gospel; by cutting out parts from Luke's account, as I have already mentioned, they claim to have the Gospel in what remains. The followers of Valentinus must abandon their utterly meaningless talk, for they have taken many opportunities from that Gospel to misinterpret what he has clearly stated. On the other hand, if they feel compelled to accept the remaining portions too, then by studying the complete Gospel and the teachings of the apostles, they will find it necessary to repent so they may be saved from the danger they face.

BUT AGAIN: we assert the same against those who do not recognize Paul as an apostle: they should either reject the other parts of the Gospel that we know only through Luke and not use them; or, if they do accept all these, they must also accept Luke's testimony about Paul, when he tells us that the Lord first spoke to him from heaven: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? I am Jesus Christ, whom you are persecuting;” and then to Ananias, speaking of him: “Go your way; for he is a chosen vessel to Me, to carry My name among the Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him from now on how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” Therefore, those who do not accept him as a teacher, who was chosen by God to boldly carry His name to the mentioned nations, despise the choice of God and separate themselves from the apostles. They cannot argue that Paul was not an apostle when he was chosen for this purpose; nor can they prove Luke false when he diligently proclaims the truth to us. Indeed, it might be that God presented many Gospel truths through Luke’s work, which everyone should find necessary to use, so that all people, following his later testimony about the acts and teachings of the apostles, and adhering to the pure rule of truth, may be saved. Therefore, his testimony is true, and the apostles' doctrine is clear and steadfast, without holding anything back; nor did they teach one set of doctrines in private and another in public.

THIS IS THE DECEPTION OF FALSE INDIVIDUALS: evil seducers, and hypocrites, similar to those who follow Valentinus. These people speak to the crowd about those who belong to the Church, whom they themselves call "common" and "ecclesiastic." By using these terms, they trap the more simple-minded and lure them in, mimicking our language so that these individuals listen to them more often. They then question us, asking why, when they hold beliefs similar to ours, we avoid their company without reason; and why, when they say the same things and hold the same beliefs, we call them heretics.

Once they have, through such questions, undermined anyone's faith and turned them into passive listeners, they privately reveal the unspeakable mystery of their Pleroma.

But those who think they can learn from the Scriptures used by heretics are completely deceived, as error is plausible and resembles truth but needs to be disguised, whereas truth is straightforward and thus entrusted to children. If any of their listeners demand explanations or raise objections, they claim that the person is incapable of receiving the truth and lacks the seed from their Mother.

They do not provide answers, instead declaring that such a person belongs to the intermediate regions, or merely to animal nature.

However, if someone surrenders to them like a compliant sheep, adopting their practices and "redemption," that person becomes so arrogant that they believe they are neither in heaven nor on earth but have already entered the Pleroma; having embraced their angel, they walk with an arrogant gait and a conceited expression, like a strutting rooster. Some among them assert that a person who comes from above should follow a good path, so they pretend to have a solemn demeanor with some arrogance.

However, the majority become mockers, as if already perfect, living without concern for appearances, even in contempt of good, calling themselves "the spiritual," and claiming they are familiar with the place of refreshing within their Pleroma.

Let's return to the same line of argument we have been following. When it is clearly shown that those who were the preachers of the truth and the apostles of liberty called no one else God, or named anyone Lord, except the only true God, the Father, and His Word, who holds the highest place in all things, it will be clearly proven that they (the apostles) recognized as the Lord God the one who created heaven and earth, who spoke with Moses, gave him the dispensation of the law, and who called the fathers; and they knew no other. Therefore, the opinion of the apostles, and of those (Mark and Luke) who learned from their words, regarding God, has been made clear.

SOME SAY THAT JESUS MERELY SERVED AS A VESSEL FOR CHRIST: upon whom Christ, as a dove, descended from above. They claim that after He declared the unnameable Father, He entered the Pleroma in a way that was incomprehensible and invisible, not understood by humans or even by the heavenly powers and virtues. They say Jesus was the Son, but Christ was the Father, and the Father of Christ was God. Others argue that He only appeared to suffer, as He was naturally incapable of suffering.

The Valentinians assert that the Jesus of the earthly realm was the same one who came through Mary, upon whom a Savior from a higher region descended, also called Pan, because He had all the names of those who produced Him. This Savior shared His power and name with the earthly Jesus so that death was abolished, and the Father was revealed by the Savior who descended from above. They claim He was Himself the vessel of Christ and the entire Pleroma, confessing one Christ Jesus in words, but being divided in actual beliefs.

As noted before, they say there was one Christ created by Monogenes for affirming the Pleroma, another Savior sent for glorifying the Father, and yet another, the earthly one, who they claim suffered and also carried within Himself Christ, the Savior who returned to the Pleroma. I find it necessary to consider the complete perspective of the apostles regarding our Lord Jesus Christ and show that they never held any such views about Him.

Furthermore, they declared through the Holy Spirit that those who teach such doctrines were agents of Satan, sent to undermine the faith of some and lead them away from life.

JOHN UNDERSTOOD THAT THE WORD OF GOD IS ONE AND THE SAME: and that He is the only begotten and became incarnate for our salvation, Jesus Christ our Lord. I have sufficiently demonstrated this from John's own words. Matthew also acknowledges the same Jesus Christ, showing His birth as a man from the Virgin, just as God promised David that He would bring forth from his lineage an eternal King, having previously made the same promise to Abraham. He states: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." Then, to dispel any doubts about Joseph, he says: "But the birth of Christ happened in this way.

When His mother was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child of the Holy Ghost." When Joseph considered divorcing Mary because she was pregnant, Matthew tells us about the angel of God appearing to him, saying: "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Ghost. She will give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

This took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which means God with us." This clearly signifies that the promise made to the forefathers was fulfilled, that the Son of God was born of a virgin, and that He Himself was the Christ the Savior whom the prophets had foretold. It counters the claims of those who say that Jesus was merely the one born of Mary and that Christ descended from above.

Matthew might have said, "Now the birth of Jesus was in this way;" but the Holy Ghost, anticipating and guarding against false interpretations, states through Matthew, "But the birth of Christ was in this way;" and asserts that He is Emmanuel, to prevent us from seeing Him as just a man. For, "not by the will of the flesh nor by the will of man, but by the will of God was the Word made flesh;" and so that we would not separate Jesus from Christ, but understand them to be one and the same.

PAUL: in his letter to the Romans, explains: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, chosen for the Gospel of God, which He promised through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born from the lineage of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power through the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ." And again, writing to the Romans about Israel, he states: "Whose are the fathers, and from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever." In his letter to the Galatians, he says: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption;" clearly indicating one God, who through the prophets promised the Son, and one Jesus Christ our Lord, who was of the lineage of David according to His birth from Mary; and that Jesus Christ was appointed the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, as the firstborn of all creation; the Son of God becoming the Son of man, so that through Him we may receive adoption—humanity supporting, receiving, and embracing the Son of God.

Therefore, Mark also says: "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; as it is written in the prophets." Knowing one and the same Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was foretold by the prophets, who was Emmanuel from the offspring of David, "the messenger of great counsel of the Father;" through whom God caused the dawn and the Just One to rise for the house of David, and raised up a horn of salvation for him, "and established a testimony in Jacob;" as David speaks on the reasons for His birth: "And He established a law in Israel, that another generation might know [Him,] the children to be born, and they rising up shall declare to their children, so that they might set their hope in God, and seek His commandments." And again, the angel said, bringing good news to Mary: "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord shall give Him the throne of His father David;" acknowledging that He who is the Son of the Most High is also the Son of David.

And David, knowing by the Spirit the plan of the arrival of this Person, by which He is supreme over all the living and the dead, confessed Him as Lord, sitting at the right hand of the Most High Father.

4.

But Simeon also—who had received a message from the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen Christ Jesus—took Him, the firstborn of the Virgin, into his arms, blessed God, and said, “Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word: because my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the sight of all people; a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel;” acknowledging that the child he held in his arms, Jesus, born of Mary, was indeed Christ Himself, the Son of God, the light for all, the glory of Israel, and the peace and rest for those who have passed away.

FOR HE WAS ALREADY FREEING PEOPLE BY REMOVING THEIR IGNORANCE: giving them His own knowledge, and spreading those who recognized Him, as Isaiah says: “Call His name, Speedy to the spoil, Quick to the plunder.” These are the works of Christ.

Therefore, He was indeed Christ, whom Simeon held and blessed the Most High; whom the shepherds saw and praised God for; whom John, while still in his mother’s womb and Christ in Mary’s, recognized as the Lord and greeted with joy; whom the Magi, upon seeing, worshipped, offered gifts to, as I have mentioned, and paid homage to the eternal King, departing by another route, avoiding the way of the Assyrians. “For before the child knows how to call for father or mother, He will take the riches of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria, against the king of the Assyrians;” revealing in a mysterious but definite way that the Lord fought with an unseen hand against Amalek.

For this reason, He unexpectedly took those children of the house of David, blessed to have been born at that time, so that He could send them ahead into His kingdom; He, being an infant Himself, arranged it such that human infants became martyrs, killed according to the Scriptures, for the sake of Christ, who was born in Bethlehem of Judah, in the city of David.

THEREFORE: the Lord also told His disciples after the resurrection, “O thoughtless ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Should not Christ have suffered these things and entered into His glory?” And He also said to them: “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me.” Then He opened their understanding so they could understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “This is what is written: Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name among all nations.” This is He who was born of Mary; for He says: “The Son of man must suffer many things, be rejected, crucified, and on the third day rise again.” The Gospel, therefore, recognized no other son of man but Him who was of Mary, who also suffered; and no Christ who left Jesus before the passion; but acknowledged Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as Him who was born, suffered, and rose again, as John, the disciple of the Lord, confirms, saying: “But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have eternal life in His name,”—foreseeing these blasphemous beliefs which try to divide the Lord, as much as they can, by saying He was made of two different substances.

For this reason, he also testified to us in his Epistle: “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, now many antichrists have appeared; by this we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but they left, that they might be made clear that they are not of us.

Know, therefore, that every lie is from outside, and is not of the truth. Who is a liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is Antichrist.”

BUT BECAUSE ALL THOSE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED: though they certainly confess one Jesus Christ with their tongue, contradict themselves by thinking one thing and saying another; for their ideas vary, as I have already shown, claiming that one Being was born and suffered, and that this was Jesus; but that another descended upon Him, and this was Christ, who also ascended again. They argue that the one who came from the Demiurge, or the one who was part of the dispensation, or the one who was from Joseph, was the Being who suffered; but upon this one descended the former from the invisible and ineffable places, whom they claim to be incomprehensible, invisible, and unable to suffer.

They stray from the truth because their doctrine deviates from Him who is truly God, being ignorant that His only-begotten Word, who is always present with humanity, united to and mingled with His own creation according to the Father’s will, became flesh and is Jesus Christ our Lord. He also suffered for us, rose again on our behalf, and will come again in the glory of His Father, to raise all flesh and to reveal salvation, applying the rule of just judgment to all made by Him.

Therefore, as I have indicated, there is one God the Father and one Christ Jesus, who came through the entire dispensation connected with Him, and gathered all things in Himself. In every aspect, He is also man, the formation of God, and thus He incorporated man into Himself: the invisible becoming visible, the incomprehensible becoming comprehensible, the impassible capable of suffering, and the Word becoming man, thereby summing up all things in Himself. So that, as in super-celestial, spiritual, and invisible matters, the Word of God is supreme, so also in visible and physical things He might hold supremacy.

By taking the pre-eminence and constituting Himself as the Head of the Church, He might draw all things to Himself at the proper time.

WITH HIM: nothing is incomplete or untimely, just as with the Father, nothing is out of place. All these things were foreknown by the Father; but the Son carries them out at the proper time in perfect order and sequence. This is why, when Mary urged Him to perform the miracle of the wine and wanted to partake of the cup of symbolic significance before its time, the Lord, restraining her premature eagerness, said, “Woman, what have I to do with you? My hour has not yet come”—waiting for that hour foreknown by the Father.

This is also why, when people often wanted to seize Him, it is said, “No one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come;” nor had the time of His suffering, which was foreknown by the Father; as the prophet Habakkuk also says, “By this, You shall be known when the years have drawn near; You shall be revealed when the time comes; because my soul is troubled by anger, You will remember Your mercy.” Paul also says: “But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son.” This shows that all things foreknown by the Father were accomplished by our Lord in their proper order, time, and season, foreknown and fitting, being indeed one and the same, but rich and great.

He fulfills the generous and comprehensive will of His Father, as He is Himself the Savior of those who are saved, and the Lord of those under authority, and the God of all things that have been made, the only-begotten of the Father, Christ who was announced, and the Word of God, who became incarnate when the fullness of time had come, at which the Son of God had to become the Son of man.

8.

THEREFORE: all are outside of the [Christian] faith who, under the pretense of knowledge, believe that Jesus was one, Christ another, and the Only-begotten yet another, from whom comes the Word, and that the Savior is another, which these followers of error claim to be a creation of those who became Æons in a state of corruption. Such individuals appear outwardly as sheep; they seem like us by their public speech, repeating the same words as we do, but inwardly they are wolves.

Their doctrine is deadly, conjuring up multiple gods and simulating many Fathers, yet diminishing and dividing the Son of God in various ways. These are the ones against whom the Lord has warned us; and His disciple, in the previously mentioned Epistle, instructs us to avoid them, stating: "For many deceivers have entered into the world, who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Be careful, so that you do not lose what you have worked for." And he further says in the Epistle: "Many false prophets have gone out into the world.

By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that separates Jesus Christ is not of God, but is of antichrist." These words agree with what was stated in the Gospel, that "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Therefore, he again declares in his Epistle, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God;" acknowledging that Jesus Christ is one and the same, to whom the gates of heaven were opened because He took on flesh: who will also come in the same flesh in which He suffered, revealing the glory of the Father.

IN AGREEMENT WITH THESE STATEMENTS: Paul, speaking to the Romans, declares: "Much more those who receive an abundance of grace and righteousness for [eternal] life will reign through one, Christ Jesus." It follows from this that he knew nothing of that Christ who fled from Jesus, nor of the Savior above, whom they claim to be incapable of suffering. For if one truly suffered and the other remained incapable of suffering, and if one was born while the other descended upon him who was born and then left him again, it is not one but two who are shown.

However, the apostle did know Him as one, both who was born and who suffered, namely Christ Jesus, as he again says in the same Epistle: "Do you not know that many of us who were baptized in Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? So that, like Christ rose from the dead, we should also walk in newness of life." Again, showing that Christ did suffer and was Himself the Son of God, who died for us and redeemed us with His blood at the appointed time, he says: "For how is it that Christ, when we were yet without strength, died at the right time for the ungodly? But God shows His love towards us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more, then, now being justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." He declares in the clearest manner that the same Being who was captured, suffered, and shed His blood for us was both Christ and the Son of God, who also rose again and was taken up into heaven, as he himself [Paul] says, "But at the same time, it is Christ that died, indeed rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God." And again, "Knowing that Christ, rising from the dead, dies no more," for, as he himself foresees, through the Spirit, the divisions of false teachers regarding the Lord's person, and desires to remove from them any opportunity for argument, he says what has already been stated, and also declares: "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies." He does not say this only to those who wish to hear: Do not be mistaken, he says to all: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is one and the same, who by suffering reconciled us to God and rose from the dead; who is at the right hand of the Father and perfect in all things; "who, when He was struck, did not retaliate; who, when He suffered, did not threaten;" and when He underwent tyranny, He prayed to His Father that He would forgive those who had crucified Him.

For He did indeed bring salvation, as He is Himself the Word of God, Himself the Only-begotten of the Father, Christ Jesus our Lord.

THE APOSTLES CERTAINLY HAD THE POWER TO DECLARE THAT CHRIST DESCENDED UPON JESUS: or that the so-called superior Savior came down upon the dispensational one, or that He who is from the invisible places descended upon him from the Demiurge; but they neither knew nor stated anything like that. If they had known it, they would certainly have stated it. What they did record was that the Spirit of God, like a dove, descended upon Him. This is the Spirit spoken of by Isaiah: "And the Spirit of God shall rest upon Him," as I have already mentioned.

And again: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me." This is the Spirit of whom the Lord declares, "For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you." And again, giving the disciples the power of regeneration into God, He told them, "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." For God promised that in the last times, He would pour out the Spirit upon His servants and handmaids so that they might prophesy.

Therefore, the Spirit did descend upon the Son of God, who was made the Son of man, becoming accustomed through fellowship with Him to dwell among the human race, to rest with human beings, and to dwell within the works of God, carrying out the will of the Father in them and renewing them from their old ways into the newness of Christ.

DAVID REQUESTED THIS SPIRIT FOR HUMANITY: saying, "And strengthen me with Your all-governing Spirit;" and as Luke records, this Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost upon the disciples after the Lord’s ascension, having the power to admit all nations to the path of life and the opening of the new covenant.

Consequently, in unison and in all languages, they praised God, the Spirit uniting distant tribes and offering the Father the first-fruits of all nations.

Therefore, the Lord also promised to send the Comforter, who would join us to God.

Just as a compacted lump of dough cannot be formed from dry wheat without some liquid, nor can a loaf have unity, we too, being many, could not be united in Christ Jesus without the water from heaven. And just as dry earth does not produce unless it receives moisture, in the same way, we too, originally being a dry tree, could never have produced fruit for life without the voluntary rain from above. For our bodies have received unity through the washing that leads to incorruption; but our souls, through the Spirit.

Therefore, both are necessary, as both contribute to the life of God. Our Lord showed compassion to the erring Samaritan woman—who did not stay with one husband but engaged in immorality through multiple marriages—by indicating and promising her living water, so she would thirst no more, nor engage in labor to obtain refreshing water, having within herself water springing up to eternal life. The Lord, receiving this as a gift from His Father, also grants it to those who are partakers of Himself, sending the Holy Spirit across all the earth.

GIDEON: the Israelite chosen by God to save the people of Israel from foreign powers, foresaw this gift and changed his request. He prophesied that there would be dryness upon the fleece of wool (representing the people), which initially had dew. This indicated that they would no longer have the Holy Spirit from God, as Isaiah says, “I will also command the clouds, that they rain no rain upon it.” However, the dew, representing the Spirit of God, which descended upon the Lord, would spread throughout the world: "the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety, the spirit of the fear of God." This Spirit was given to the Church, as the Comforter was sent from heaven across the globe, and from heaven, the Lord tells us, the devil was cast down like lightning. Therefore, we need the dew of God to protect us from being consumed by fire or becoming unfruitful, and so that where we have an accuser, we also have an Advocate. The Lord entrusted the Holy Spirit with His own man, who had fallen among thieves, whom He compassionately tended to, binding up his wounds and giving him two royal denaria. Thus, by receiving through the Spirit the image and inscription of the Father and the Son, we might make the entrusted denarium fruitful and render its increase to the Lord.

THE SPIRIT: therefore, coming down according to the predestined plan, and the Son of God, the Only-begotten, who is also the Word of the Father, arriving in the fullness of time, having become incarnate as a man for the sake of humanity, and fulfilling all the conditions of human nature, our Lord Jesus Christ being one and the same, as He Himself the Lord testifies, as the apostles confess, and as the prophets announce—all the doctrines of those who have invented supposed Ogdoads and Tetrads, and imagined divisions of the Lord’s person, have been proven false.

These individuals actually set the Spirit aside altogether; they believe that Christ was one and Jesus another, and they teach that there was not one Christ, but many. And even if they speak of them as united, they still separate them: for they claim that one indeed underwent sufferings but that the other remained unaffected; that one truly ascended to the Pleroma, but the other stayed in an intermediate place; that one truly feasts and revels in invisible and supreme places, but that the other is seated with the Demiurge, emptying him of power.

It will, therefore, be necessary for you, and all others who pay attention to this writing and care about their own salvation, not to readily agree when they hear the speeches of these individuals: for, speaking things resembling the doctrine of the faithful, as I have already mentioned, not only do they hold opinions which are different, but absolutely contrary, and in all points full of blasphemies, by which they destroy those people who, because of the resemblance of the words, absorb a poison that disagrees with their nature, just as if someone, giving lime mixed with water for milk, should mislead by the similarity of the color; as someone superior to me has said, concerning all who in any way corrupt the things of God and adulterate the truth, “Lime is wickedly mixed with the milk of God.”

IT HAS BEEN CLEARLY SHOWN THAT THE WORD: who existed in the beginning with God and through whom all things were made, who was also always present with humanity, was in these last days, according to the time appointed by the Father, united to His own creation, because He became a man capable of suffering. This refutes the objection of those who say, “If our Lord was born at that time, Christ had no prior existence.” For I have demonstrated that the Son of God did not begin to exist then, as He was with the Father from the beginning; but when He became incarnate and was made man, He began anew the long lineage of human beings and, in a brief and comprehensive way, provided us with salvation, so that what we had lost in Adam—namely, being in the image and likeness of God—we might recover in Christ Jesus.

FOR SINCE IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE FOR THE MAN WHO HAD ONCE BEEN CONQUERED AND DESTROYED THROUGH DISOBEDIENCE TO REFORM HIMSELF AND ACHIEVE THE VICTORY: and since it was also impossible for someone under the power of sin to attain salvation, the Son accomplished both of these tasks. He is the Word of God who descended from the Father, became incarnate, humbled Himself even to the point of death, and completed the plan of our salvation. Paul encourages us to believe without hesitation and says, “Who shall ascend into heaven? That is, to bring down Christ; or who shall descend into the deep? That is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.” Then he continues, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” He explains why the Son of God did these things, saying, “For this reason Christ lived, died, and rose again, so that He might rule over both the living and the dead.” Again, writing to the Corinthians, he states, “But we preach Christ Jesus crucified,” and adds, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?”

WHO: then, has shared with us concerning food? Is it the one they conceive as the Christ above, who extended himself through Horos and gave form to their mother; or is it He who is from the Virgin, Emmanuel, who ate butter and honey, of whom the prophet declared, "He is also a man, and who shall know him?" Paul also preached about Him: "For I delivered to you first of all that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures." It is clear, then, that Paul knew no other Christ besides Him alone, who both suffered, was buried, and rose again, who was also born, and whom he speaks of as man.

For after stating, "But if Christ is preached, that He rose from the dead," he continues, explaining the reason of His incarnation, "For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead." Everywhere, when referring to the passion of our Lord, His human nature, and His subjection to death, he uses the name of Christ, as in the passage: "Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died." And again: "But now, in Christ, you who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood of Christ." And again: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree." And again: "And through your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died;" indicating that the impassible Christ did not descend upon Jesus, but that He Himself, because He was Jesus Christ, suffered for us; He, who lay in the tomb and rose again, who descended and ascended—the Son of God having been made the Son of man, as the very name itself declares.

For in the name of Christ is implied, He that anoints, He that is anointed, and the anointing itself with which He is anointed. It is the Father who anoints, but the Son who is anointed by the Spirit, who is the anointing, as the Word declares by Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me,"—pointing out both the anointing Father, the anointed Son, and the anointing, which is the Spirit.

THE LORD HIMSELF ALSO MAKES IT CLEAR WHO IT WAS THAT SUFFERED: When He asked the disciples, "Who do people say that I, the Son of man, am?" and after Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," He praised him by saying that "flesh and blood had not revealed it to him, but the Father who is in heaven." He made it clear that He, the Son of man, is Christ, the Son of the living God. "From that time on," it is said, "He began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the priests, be rejected, be crucified, and rise again on the third day." He, who was recognized by Peter as Christ and pronounced blessed because the Father had revealed the Son of the living God to him, said that He Himself must suffer many things and be crucified. He then rebuked Peter, who thought of Him as the Christ in the way most people did, rejecting the idea of His suffering. He said to the disciples, "If anyone wants to follow Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses it for My sake will save it." Christ spoke these things openly, as He Himself is the Savior of those who would be delivered over to death for confessing Him and would lose their lives.

IF: however, He was not supposed to suffer but should escape from Jesus, why did He urge His disciples to take up the cross and follow Him—when these people claim He did not take up the cross but abandoned the path of suffering? He did not say this regarding the acknowledgment of the cross above, as some among them dare to interpret, but in reference to the suffering He would undergo Himself and that His disciples would face. He implies this when He says, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." He suggested His disciples must suffer for His sake when He said to the Jews, "Behold, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify." And to the disciples, He often said, "You will stand before governors and kings for My sake; and they will scourge some of you, and kill you, and persecute you from city to city." He knew those who would suffer persecution, and those who would be scourged and killed because of Him. He spoke of no other cross than the suffering He would undergo first, and His disciples afterward. He gave them this exhortation: "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell," encouraging them to hold fast to the beliefs they had declared in reference to Him. He promised to acknowledge before His Father those who confess His name before men but declared He would deny those who deny Him and would be ashamed of those ashamed to confess Him.

Despite this, some have become so bold that they even pour contempt on the martyrs and criticize those who are killed for confessing the Lord, enduring everything the Lord predicted, striving to follow in His footsteps and becoming martyrs of the suffering One; we also enroll these with the martyrs themselves. When their blood is sought and they attain glory, all who have discredited their martyrdom will be confounded by Christ. From the fact that He cried on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing," Christ’s long-suffering, patience, compassion, and goodness are shown, as He both suffered and excused those who mistreated Him. For the Word of God, who told us, "Love your enemies, and pray for those who hate you," did this on the cross; loving humanity so much that He prayed for those killing Him. If anyone assumes there are two [Christs] and judges them, it will be found that the one who suffered, being compassionate amidst His wounds and wrongs, is truly the better, more patient, and good one than the one who fled and experienced neither harm nor insult.

THIS ALSO ADDRESSES THOSE WHO CLAIM THAT HE SUFFERED ONLY IN APPEARANCE: If He did not truly suffer, then there is no credit to Him, since there was no suffering at all; and when we actually begin to suffer, He will seem to have misled us, urging us to endure suffering and to turn the other cheek, if He did not really suffer the same Himself before us. As He misled them by appearing to be what He was not, He also misleads us by urging us to endure what He did not endure Himself. In that case, we would surpass the Master, because we suffer and endure what our Master never experienced. But as our Lord is truly Master, so the Son of God is genuinely good and patient, with the Word of God the Father having become the Son of man. For He fought and conquered; for He was man contending for the fathers, and through obedience entirely undoing disobedience. He bound the strong man, freed the weak, and granted His creation salvation by destroying sin. For He is a most holy and merciful Lord, and loves the human race.

THEREFORE: as I have already mentioned, He made humanity, in its nature, unite with and become one with God. For if a human had not overcome the enemy of humanity, the enemy would not have been truly defeated. And again, if it had not been God who freely gave salvation, we could never have securely possessed it. And if humanity had not been joined to God, it could not have become a partaker of incorruptibility. It was necessary for the Mediator between God and people, through His bond to both, to bring both to friendship and harmony, presenting humanity to God while revealing God to humanity.

How could we partake in the adoption as children unless we had received from Him, through the Son, that fellowship related to Himself, unless His Word, having become flesh, had entered into communion with us? Therefore, He experienced every stage of life, restoring communion with God to all. Those who claim He only appeared human without being truly born in the flesh or truly becoming human are still under the old condemnation, supporting sin; because, according to them, death has not been conquered, which "reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the way of Adam's transgression." But when the law came, given by Moses, testifying that sin is a sinner, it truly took away death's kingdom, showing it was not a king, but a thief; and it revealed it as a murderer.

It laid, however, a heavy burden upon humanity, which had sin within, showing that it was subject to death. Since the law was spiritual, it simply highlighted sin but did not destroy it. Sin had no dominion over the spirit, but over humanity. It was necessary for Him who was to destroy sin and redeem humanity from the power of death to become the same as humanity, being human; who had been drawn into bondage by sin, but was held by death, so that sin would be destroyed by humanity, and humanity would exit death.

For as by the disobedience of one man who was initially formed from virgin earth, many were made sinners and lost life; similarly, it was necessary that by the obedience of one man, who was originally born from a virgin, many should be justified and receive salvation.

Thus, the Word of God became human, as Moses also says: "God, true are His works." But if He had not become flesh and only appeared as if He were flesh, His work was not true.

But what He appeared to be, that He also was: God recapitulated in Himself the ancient creation of humanity, that He might destroy sin, strip death of its power, and bring life to humanity; and therefore His works are true.

BUT AGAIN: those who claim that He was merely a man, born of Joseph, remain in the bondage of the old disobedience and are in a state of death, not yet joined to the Word of God the Father, nor receiving freedom through the Son, as He Himself declares: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Being ignorant of Him who is Emmanuel from the Virgin, they are deprived of His gift, which is eternal life; and not receiving the incorruptible Word, they remain in mortal flesh and are debtors to death, not obtaining the antidote of life.

To them, the Word says, referring to His own gift of grace: “I said, You are all sons of the Highest, and gods; but you will die like men.” He undoubtedly speaks these words to those who have not received the gift of adoption and who despise the incarnation of the pure generation of the Word of God, defraud human nature of its elevation to God, and show themselves ungrateful to the Word of God, who became flesh for them.

For it was for this purpose that the Word of God became man, and He who was the Son of God became the Son of man, so that man, being joined to the Word and receiving adoption, might become the son of God. For by no other means could we have attained incorruptibility and immortality, unless we had been united to incorruptibility and immortality.

But how could we be joined to incorruptibility and immortality, unless incorruptibility and immortality first became what we are, so that the corruptible might be absorbed by incorruptibility, and the mortal by immortality, that we might receive the adoption of sons?

FOR THIS REASON: it is said, “Who will declare His generation?” since “He is a man, and who will recognize Him?” But the one to whom the Father in heaven has revealed Him knows Him and understands that He who “was not born by the will of the flesh or by the will of man” is the Son of man, this is Christ, the Son of the living God. I have shown from the Scriptures that none of the sons of Adam is, in every aspect and absolutely, called God or named Lord.

But that He is, in His own right, beyond all men who ever lived, God, and Lord, and King Eternal, and the Incarnate Word, proclaimed by all the prophets, the apostles, and by the Spirit Himself, can be seen by all who have attained even a small portion of the truth. The Scriptures would not have testified these things of Him if He had been merely a man like others.

But that He had, beyond all others, in Himself that eminent birth from the Most High Father, and also experienced that eminent generation from the Virgin, the divine Scriptures testify of Him in both respects: also, that He was a man without beauty, subject to suffering; that He sat upon the foal of a donkey; that He received vinegar and gall to drink; that He was despised among the people and humbled Himself even to death; and that He is the holy Lord, the Wonderful, the Counselor, the Beautiful in appearance, and the Mighty God, coming on the clouds as the Judge of all men— the Scriptures prophesied all these things of Him.

JUST AS HE BECAME MAN TO UNDERGO TEMPTATION: so too was He the Word that He might be glorified; the Word stayed inactive to allow Him to be tempted, dishonored, crucified, and suffer death. The human nature was absorbed by the divine when it conquered, endured without yielding, performed acts of kindness, rose again, and was received into heaven.

Thus, the Son of God, our Lord, the Word of the Father, became the Son of man since He was born as a human from Mary, who was descended from humanity.

This is why the Lord Himself gave us a sign, in the depths below and the heights above, which man did not ask for, because he never expected that a virgin could conceive, or that one remaining a virgin could give birth to a son, and that what was born would be “God with us.” He descended to earthly matters, seeking the lost sheep, His own creation, and ascended to the heights above, offering human nature to His Father. He became the first-fruits of the resurrection of man, so that as the Head rose from the dead, so too would the remaining part of the body—every person found in life—arise when the time of the condemnation from disobedience is fulfilled.

They will be joined and strengthened through connections by the growth of God, each member having its rightful place in the body. For there are many mansions in the Father’s house just as there are many members in the body.

God was therefore long-suffering when humanity became wayward, as He foresaw the victory that would be granted through the Word. When strength was made perfect in weakness, it demonstrated God's kindness and transcendent power. Just as He allowed Jonah to be swallowed by the whale—not to perish completely, but to be cast out again and become more devoted to God, glorifying Him for the unexpected deliverance, and leading the Ninevites to lasting repentance—they turned to the Lord and were delivered from death, struck with awe by the miracle in Jonah's case, as Scripture says, “And they turned each from his evil way and the unrighteousness in their hands, saying, Who knows if God will repent and turn away His anger from us, and we shall not perish?” In the same way, from the start, God allowed humanity to be swallowed by the great whale, who was the author of transgression, not to perish but to set up and ready the plan of salvation, fulfilled by the Word, through the sign of Jonah, for those who shared Jonah's belief in the Lord and who confessed, saying, “I am a servant of the Lord, and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” This was so humanity, receiving unexpected salvation from God, might rise from the dead and glorify God, repeating what Jonah prophetically said: “I cried by reason of my affliction to the Lord my God, and He heard me out of the belly of hell;” and that he might continue glorifying God, giving thanks without ceasing for the salvation received from Him, “that no flesh should glory in the Lord’s presence;” so that humanity would never adopt an opposite view regarding God, thinking that incorruptibility is naturally theirs, and, by not holding the truth, would boast vainly as if naturally like God.

FOR SATAN MADE MAN MORE UNGRATEFUL TOWARDS HIS CREATOR: obscured the love God had towards man, and blinded his mind to not perceive what is worthy of God, comparing himself and judging himself equal to God.

THE PATIENCE OF GOD HAD THIS PURPOSE: that humans, passing through various experiences and gaining moral understanding, might eventually achieve the resurrection from the dead, learning through experience the source of their salvation. In doing so, they should always live in gratitude to the Lord, having received from Him the gift of incorruptibility, so that they might love Him more, for "he to whom more is forgiven, loves more." This also helps them recognize their own mortality and weakness, while understanding that God is immortal and powerful enough to grant immortality to the mortal and eternity to the temporal.

Through these realizations, they become knowledgeable of God's attributes as they pertain to themselves, and with this instruction, they can think of God in light of His divine greatness. The glory of man is God, and His works are God's glory; man is the vessel for all His wisdom and power. Just as a physician is known through his patients, God is revealed through humans.

Therefore, Paul states, "For God hath concluded all in unbelief, that He may have mercy upon all," referring to humans who had been disobedient to God and cast away from immortality, but then received mercy, gaining adoption by God through His Son.

Those who humbly recognize the true glory of creation and the Creator, who is the Almighty God granting existence to all, and who remain in His love and gratitude, will receive greater glory and promotion. They look forward to becoming like Him who died for them, for He "was made in the likeness of sinful flesh" to condemn sin and remove it from flesh. He calls humans to His likeness, making them imitators of God and giving them His Father's law, so they may see God and have the power to receive the Father.

Being the Word of God who lived in man and became the Son of man, He accustomed humanity to receive God, and God to dwell in humans, according to the Father's good will.

ON THIS ACCOUNT: therefore, the Lord Himself, who is Emmanuel from the Virgin, is the sign of our salvation, since it was the Lord Himself who saved them, because they could not be saved on their own; and, therefore, when Paul explains human weakness, he says: “For I know that nothing good dwells in my flesh,” showing that the “good thing” of our salvation is not from us, but from God. And again: “Wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?” Then he introduces the Deliverer, saying, “The grace of Jesus Christ our Lord.” Isaiah declares this as well, when he says: “Be strengthened, hands that hang down, and feeble knees; be encouraged, faint-hearted; be comforted, fear not: behold, our God has given judgment with retribution, and will recompense: He will come Himself, and will save us.” Here we see, that we must be saved not by ourselves, but by the help of God.

4. Once more, it was not meant to be a mere man who would save us, nor someone without flesh—for the angels are without flesh—the same prophet announced, saying: “Neither an elder nor angel, but the Lord Himself will save them because He loves them, and will spare them: He will Himself set them free.” And that He should become truly human and visible when He should be the Word bringing salvation, Isaiah again says: “Behold, city of Zion: your eyes shall see our salvation.” And to show that it was not a mere man who died for us, Isaiah says: “And the holy Lord remembered His dead Israel, who had slept in the land of burial; and He came down to preach His salvation to them, so that He might save them.” And Amos (Micah) the prophet declares the same: “He will turn again and will have compassion upon us: He will destroy our iniquities and will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.” And again, specifying the place of His coming, he says: “The Lord has spoken from Zion, and He has uttered His voice from Jerusalem.” And that it is from the region south of the inheritance of Judah that the Son of God shall come, who is God, and who was from Bethlehem, where the Lord was born and will send out His praise throughout all the earth, thus says the prophet Habakkuk: “God shall come from the south, and the Holy One from Mount Ephraim.

HIS POWER COVERED THE HEAVENS OVER: and the earth is full of His praise. Before His face shall go forth the Word, and His feet shall advance in the plains.” Thus he clearly indicates that He is God and that His coming was to take place in Bethlehem, and from Mount Ephraim, which is towards the south of the inheritance, and that He is man. For he says, “His feet shall advance in the plains,” and this is a characteristic proper to man.

GOD BECAME HUMAN: and the Lord Himself saved us, giving us the sign of the Virgin. However, not as some claim among those now trying to interpret Scripture, saying, "Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bring forth a son," as translated by Theodotion the Ephesian and Aquila of Pontus, both Jewish converts. The Ebionites, following this view, claim that He was fathered by Joseph, thereby undermining as much as they can the remarkable plan of God and disregarding the testimony of the prophets that came from God. This prophecy was indeed made before the people were taken to Babylon, before the Medes and Persians came to power. It was translated into Greek by the Jews themselves long before our Lord's coming, so that no one could suspect the Jews of interpreting these words to please us. If they had known of our future existence and that we would rely on these scriptural proofs, they would never have hesitated to destroy their own Scriptures, which declare that all other nations share in eternal life and show that those who boast of being the house of Jacob and the people of Israel are excluded from the grace of God.

BEFORE THE ROMANS POSSESSED THEIR KINGDOM: while the Macedonians still controlled Asia, Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, wanted to adorn the library he had founded in Alexandria with a collection of all meritorious writings. He requested the people of Jerusalem to have their Scriptures translated into Greek. At that time, they were still under Macedonian rule and sent seventy of their elders, who were well-versed in the Scriptures and both languages, to fulfill Ptolemy's request. Ptolemy wanted to test them individually, fearing they might conceal the truth by consulting together, so he separated them and asked each one to write the same translation. He did this for all the books. When they gathered before Ptolemy and compared their interpretations, God was glorified, and the Scriptures were acknowledged as truly divine. All of them read out the common translation in the same words and names, so even the Gentiles present perceived that God inspired the translation. It was not surprising that God did this, as He had, during the captivity under Nebuchadnezzar, inspired Esdras the priest to recast the Scriptures corrupted during the captivity and re-establish Mosaic legislation with the people when the Jews returned to their land after seventy years in the time of Artaxerxes, king of the Persians.

SINCE THE SCRIPTURES HAVE BEEN INTERPRETED WITH SUCH FAITHFULNESS: by the grace of God, and because of this, God has prepared and renewed our faith in His Son and preserved for us the pure Scriptures in Egypt—where the house of Jacob thrived, escaping the famine in Canaan, and where our Lord was preserved when He fled from Herod's persecution—and because this interpretation of these Scriptures was made before our Lord's descent to earth, and before the Christians appeared (for our Lord was born around the forty-first year of Augustus's reign, but Ptolemy lived much earlier, during whose time the Scriptures were interpreted)—truly, these people are shown to be brazen and audacious, who now wish to create different translations, when we refute them using these Scriptures and lead them to believe in the coming of the Son of God. But our faith is steadfast, sincere, and the only true one, having clear proof from these Scriptures, which were interpreted as I have described, and the preaching of the Church is unaltered. For the apostles, being older than all these heretics, agree with this mentioned translation; and the translation aligns with the tradition of the apostles. For Peter, John, Matthew, Paul, and the rest, along with their followers, proclaimed all prophetic announcements just as the interpretation of the elders contains them.

THE SAME SPIRIT OF GOD: who spoke through the prophets about what the coming of the Lord would be like, provided a true interpretation of these prophecies through the elders. The Spirit Himself, through the apostles, announced that the time for adoption was complete, the kingdom of heaven was near, and He resided within those who believed in Him, born as Emmanuel of the Virgin. They confirm this, stating that before Joseph united with Mary, she remained a virgin and was "found with child by the Holy Spirit." The angel Gabriel told her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, the holy one to be born of you will be called the Son of God." The angel told Joseph in a dream, "This happened to fulfill what Isaiah the prophet spoke: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son." The elders interpreted Isaiah's words: "And the Lord said to Ahaz, Ask for yourself a sign from your Lord God from the depths below or the heights above.

Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not test the Lord. Then he said, It is not a small thing for you to tire men; how does the Lord tire them? Therefore, the Lord will give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son; and you will call His name Emmanuel. He will eat butter and honey. Before He knows to reject evil, He will choose good; before He knows good or evil, He will not choose evil, so He may select what is good." The Holy Spirit has carefully highlighted His birth from a virgin and His essence, indicating He is God, as the name Emmanuel shows.

Yet, He is also shown as a man, when it says, "He will eat butter and honey" and calls Him a child, "before He knows good and evil," for these describe a human infant.

However, refusing evil to choose good is characteristic of God, illustrating that by eating butter and honey, we should not see Him as just a man, nor should we see the name Emmanuel and suspect He is God without flesh.

AND WHEN HE SAYS: "Hear, O house of David," He acts as one indicating that He whom God promised David to raise up from the fruit of his belly as an eternal King is the same who was born of the Virgin, herself from David's lineage. For this reason, He promised that the King would be "of the fruit of his belly," which is the suitable term for a virgin conceiving, and not "of the fruit of his loins," nor "of the fruit of his reins," which is suitable for a man generating and a woman conceiving by a man.

In this promise, therefore, the Scripture excluded any male influence; yet it does not mention that He who was born was not from the will of man.

But it has established "the fruit of the belly," to declare the birth of Him who would be born from the Virgin, as Elisabeth testified when filled with the Holy Ghost, saying to Mary, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your belly;" the Holy Ghost pointing out to those willing to listen that the promise which God made, of raising up a King from the fruit of David's belly, was fulfilled in the birth from the Virgin, that is, from Mary.

Let those, therefore, who alter the passage of Isaiah to "Behold, a young woman shall conceive," and who claim Him to be Joseph's son, also alter the form of the promise given to David, when God promised to raise up from the fruit of his belly, the horn of Christ the King.

But they did not understand, otherwise, they would have presumed to alter even this passage too.

WHAT ISAIAH SAID: “From the height above, or from the depth beneath,” was meant to show that “He who descended is the same one who ascended.” By saying, “The Lord Himself will give you a sign,” he revealed an unexpected event regarding His birth, which could only have been accomplished by God, the Lord of all, giving a sign in the house of David. For what significant thing or sign would there be if a young woman became pregnant by a man and brought forth a child—a common occurrence for all women who have children? But since an unexpected salvation was to be provided for humanity through the help of God, the unexpected birth from a virgin was also accomplished; God provided this sign, not human work.

FOR THIS REASON: Daniel, anticipating His coming, stated that a stone, cut out without hands, entered this world. "Without hands" means that His entry into this world was not through human effort, like those accustomed to stone-cutting; specifically, Joseph had no part in it, but Mary alone worked with the pre-arranged plan. This stone from the earth comes into being through both the power and wisdom of God. Therefore, Isaiah also says: "Thus says the Lord, Behold, I lay in the foundations of Zion a stone, precious, chosen, the chief, the cornerstone, to be held in honor." Thus, we understand that His coming in human form was not by the will of a man, but by the will of God.

MOSES ALSO PROVIDED A SYMBOL WHEN HE CAST HIS ROD UPON THE EARTH SO THAT IT: by becoming flesh, might reveal and consume all the opposition of the Egyptians, which was rising against the pre-arranged plan of God. This was so that the Egyptians might testify that it is the finger of God which brings salvation for the people, and not the son of Joseph. For if He were the son of Joseph, how could He be greater than Solomon, or greater than Jonah, or greater than David, when He was born from the same lineage and was a descendant of these men? And how was it that He also called Peter blessed, because Peter acknowledged Him to be the Son of the living God?

9. Furthermore, if He had truly been the son of Joseph, He could not, according to Jeremiah, be either king or heir. This is because Joseph is shown to be the son of Joachim and Jechoniah, as Matthew also details in his genealogy. But Jechoniah, along with all his descendants, was disinherited from the kingdom; as Jeremiah declares, "As I live, says the Lord, if Jechoniah the son of Joachim king of Judah were a signet on my right hand, I would tear him off and hand him over to those seeking your life." Moreover, Jechoniah is described as a dishonored, useless vessel, cast into a land he did not know. Earth, listen to the word of the Lord: Write this man as disinherited; none of his descendants will prosper sitting on the throne of David or be a ruler in Judah." And again, God speaks of Joachim, his father: "Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Joachim his father, king of Judah: None of his descendants will sit on the throne of David; his dead body will be exposed to the heat of the day and the frost of night. I will watch over him, his sons, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, bringing upon them and the land of Judah all the disasters I have decreed against them." Therefore, those who claim He was born of Joseph and place their hope in Him cause themselves to be disinherited from the kingdom, falling under the curse and condemnation directed against Jechoniah and his descendants. For these things were spoken concerning Jechoniah because the Holy Spirit foresaw the teachings of false teachers; so they may understand that He was not to be born from Joseph's lineage but that, according to God's promise, from David's lineage the eternal King is raised, who unites all things in Himself and gathers into Himself the original creation of humanity.

For just as sin entered through one man's disobedience, and death came through sin, so also through the obedience of one man, righteousness was introduced, bringing life to those who were once dead. Just as the original man, Adam, had his existence from untilled and virgin soil ("for God had not yet sent rain, and man had not tilled the ground"), and was formed by the hand of God, that is, by the Word of God, since "all things were made by Him," and the Lord took dust from the earth to form man; similarly, He who is the Word, recapitulating Adam in Himself, fittingly received birth, allowing Him to gather up Adam into Himself, from Mary, who was still a virgin.

IF: then, the first Adam had a human father and was born of human seed, it would be reasonable to say that the second Adam was begotten of Joseph.

But since the former was taken from the dust and God was his Maker, it was necessary that the latter also, embodying a recapitulation in Himself, should be formed as a man by God, maintaining an analogy with the former concerning His origin. Why, then, did God not take dust again, but instead chose Mary for the formation? It was so that no new formation would be brought into being, nor any other that would need to be saved, but that the very same formation would be summed up in Christ as had existed in Adam, preserving the analogy.

THOSE: therefore, who claim that He took nothing from the Virgin are greatly mistaken, since, by denying the inheritance of the flesh, they also reject the analogy between Him and Adam. For if the one who came from the earth had formation and substance from both the hand and craftsmanship of God, but the other did not from the hand and craftsmanship of God, then He who was made in the image and likeness of the former did not maintain the analogy of man, and He must appear as an inconsistent piece of work, lacking a way to show His wisdom.

But this is to say that He appeared to be a man when He was not, and was made man while taking nothing from man. For if He did not receive the substance of flesh from a human being, He was neither made man nor the Son of man; and if He was not made what we were, He did nothing significant in what He suffered and endured.

But everyone agrees that we are composed of a body taken from the earth and a soul receiving spirit from God.

Therefore, this is what the Word of God became, recapitulating in Himself His own creation; and for this reason, He calls Himself the Son of man and blesses “the meek, because they shall inherit the earth.” The Apostle Paul, moreover, in the Epistle to the Galatians, states plainly, “God sent His Son, made of a woman.” And again, in that to the Romans, he says, “Concerning His Son, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was predestinated as the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

FURTHERMORE: unnecessary in that case is His descent into Mary; for why did He enter her if He were to take nothing from her? Additionally, if He had taken nothing from Mary, He would never have used those kinds of food that come from the earth, which nourish the body taken from the earth; nor would He have hungered while fasting those forty days, like Moses and Elias, unless His body was in need of its proper nourishment; nor would John, His disciple, have said, when writing about Him, “But Jesus, being tired from the journey, was sitting [to rest];” nor would David have predicted of Him beforehand, “They have added to the grief of my wounds;” nor would He have wept over Lazarus, or sweated great drops of blood; nor have said, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful;” nor, when His side was pierced, would blood and water have come out. For all these are signs of the flesh that was taken from the earth, which He had summed up in Himself, bringing salvation to His own creation.

Luke shows that the genealogy tracing our Lord's lineage back to Adam includes seventy-two generations. This connects the end with the beginning, suggesting that Jesus encompasses in Himself all nations spread from Adam onward, along with all languages and generations of humanity, including Adam himself. Thus, Paul referred to Adam as "the figure of Him that was to come," because the Word, the Creator of all things, had pre-arranged the future salvation of the human race through the Son of God. God destined that the first man would have a natural, physical nature so that he might be redeemed by the spiritual One. Since there existed a pre-existing saving Being, it was necessary for those who could be saved to come into existence, ensuring the purpose of the Savior.

IN LINE WITH THIS PLAN: Mary the Virgin is found obedient, saying, "Behold the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word." But Eve was disobedient; for she did not obey even when she was a virgin. And just as she, having a husband, Adam, but being nevertheless still a virgin (for in Paradise "they were both naked, and were not ashamed," since they, having been created a short time before, had no understanding of having children: for it was necessary that they should first reach adulthood, and then multiply from that time onward), became disobedient, she was the cause of death for both herself and the entire human race.

Likewise did Mary, having a man engaged to her, and being nevertheless a virgin, by being obedient, become the cause of salvation for both herself and the whole human race. Because of this, the law calls a woman engaged to a man, the wife of him who had engaged her, even though she was still a virgin; this reveals the connection back from Mary to Eve because what is joined together could not be separated other than by reversing the process by which these bonds were formed, so that the former ties be undone by the latter, allowing the latter to set the former free again.

And it has actually happened that the first agreement is undone by the second tie, but the second tie takes the place of the first which has been undone. For this reason, the Lord declared that the first shall truly be last, and the last first. The prophet also indicates the same, saying, "instead of fathers, children have been born to you." For the Lord, having been born "the First-born of the dead," and receiving into His care the ancient fathers, has regenerated them into the life of God, He having become the beginning of those that live, just as Adam became the beginning of those who die.

Therefore, Luke starts the genealogy with the Lord and traces it back to Adam, showing that it was He who regenerated them into the Gospel of life, not they Him.

Thus, the knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary free through faith.

THEREFORE: it was necessary for the Lord, coming to save the lost sheep and summarizing such a comprehensive plan, and seeking after His own creation, to save the very man, Adam, who had been made in His image and likeness, filling the times of his condemnation incurred through disobedience—times "which the Father had placed in His own power." This was also necessary since the entire plan of salvation for humanity happened according to the good pleasure of the Father, so that God would not be defeated nor His wisdom diminished in the eyes of His creatures.

For if man, who had been created by God to live, after losing life through the serpent’s deception, could not return to life and was forever abandoned to death, God would have been defeated, and the wickedness of the serpent would have prevailed over God's will.

But because God is invincible and patient, He showed patience with man's correction and the testing of all, as I have already mentioned. Through the second man, He bound the strong man, plundered his belongings, and abolished death, bringing life to the man who had been in a state of death.

For just as the first Adam became a vessel under Satan’s control, held in bondage by sin imposed on him unjustly and with the false promise of immortality that brought death to him. By promising they would be like gods, which was impossible, Satan worked death in them.

Therefore, the one who led man captive was justly captured by God in turn, but man, who had been led captive, was freed from the bonds of condemnation.

2. This is Adam, if the truth is to be told, the first man created, of whom the Scripture says that the Lord spoke, “Let Us make man in Our own image and likeness;” and we are all from him. Since we all come from him, we have inherited his title. As man is saved, it is right that the one who was created as the original man should also be saved. It is too unreasonable to claim that he, having been deeply harmed by the enemy and the first to suffer captivity, was not rescued by Him who conquered the enemy, while his children were—those who were born in the same captivity. The enemy wouldn’t truly seem defeated if the old spoils remained with him. For example, if a hostile force had overcome certain enemies, bound them, led them away captive, and held them in servitude for a long time, so that they had children among them, and someone, feeling compassion for those made slaves, overcame this same hostile force, it wouldn’t be fair for them to liberate the children of those captives and leave the parents, who suffered the original capture, still under the enemy's control. This is especially true since the retaliation aimed to avenge the fathers’ cause—the children gaining freedom through this, but not leaving the fathers, who endured the original capture, in bondage. For God is neither powerless nor unjust, as He has provided help to man and restored him to His own liberty.

IT WAS FOR THIS REASON: too, that immediately after Adam had sinned, as the Scripture relates, God did not directly curse Adam, but instead cursed the ground in relation to his works, as an ancient person observed: “God transferred the curse to the earth so it would not remain on man.” But as punishment for his sin, man received the burden of tilling the earth, eating bread by the sweat of his brow, and returning to the dust from which he was made.

Similarly, the woman received toil, labor, groans, the pains of childbirth, and a state of subjection, meaning she would serve her husband, so that they would neither be completely destroyed by God's curse nor remain without reprimand and thus despise God. The full curse fell on the serpent who deceived them. It is said, “God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock, and above all the beasts of the field.” The Lord also says the same thing in the Gospel to those found on the left hand: “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, which my Father has prepared for the devil and his angels,” indicating that eternal fire was not originally prepared for humans, but for the one who deceived humankind and caused them to sin—for him who is the chief of the rebellion, and for the angels who became rebels with him.

Indeed, this fire will also be justly experienced by those who, like him, continue in works of wickedness without repentance and without turning back.

CAIN ACTED SIMILARLY WHEN: after being advised by God to keep quiet because he had not fairly divided what his brother was entitled to, he, driven by envy and malice, thought he could dominate him. Not only did he refuse to comply, but he also added sin to sin, revealing his mindset through his actions. What he planned, he carried out: he oppressed and killed his brother; God allowing the just to be subjected to the unjust to demonstrate the righteousness of the just through their suffering and the injustice of the wicked through their actions. Even after this, he was not softened, nor did he stop after committing the evil act; when asked where his brother was, he said, “I know not; am I my brother’s keeper?” thus extending and worsening his wickedness with his answer. For if it is wicked to kill a brother, it is much worse to respond so insolently and irreverently to the all-knowing God as if capable of opposing Him. Because of this, he carried a curse with him, as he offered his sin without reverence for God, not being humbled by his act of fratricide.

THE SITUATION OF ADAM: however, was entirely different and had no comparison to this. Having been deceived by another under the guise of immortality, he is immediately filled with fear and hides himself; not as though he could escape from God, but because in his confusion over having broken God's command, he feels unworthy to appear before and speak with God. The "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;" the awareness of sin leads to repentance, and God grants His compassion on those who repent.

Adam demonstrated his repentance by his actions, using a girdle to cover himself with fig leaves, even though there were many other leaves that would have irritated his body less. He chose clothing in line with his disobedience, being awed by the fear of God, and resisting the erring, lustful urges of his flesh (since he had lost his natural disposition and child-like mind, and had come to know evil things), he fastened a restraint of self-control on himself and his wife, fearing God and waiting for His coming, and suggesting, as it were, the following: By disobedience, he says, I have lost that robe of sanctity which I received from the Spirit, and I now acknowledge that I deserve a covering like this, which provides no comfort but instead irritates the body.

He likely would have retained this clothing forever, thus humbling himself, if God, who is merciful, had not clothed them with tunics of skins instead of fig leaves. For this reason, too, He questioned them so that the blame could fall on the woman; and again, He questioned her so she might pass the blame to the serpent. She explained what happened: "The serpent," she says, "deceived me, and I ate." However, He did not question the serpent, because He knew it was the main instigator in the wrongdoing; but He first pronounced the curse on the serpent so that it might come upon man with a lessened rebuke.

For God despised the one who led man astray, but little by little, He showed compassion to the one who was deceived.

THEREFORE: He drove him out of Paradise and moved him far from the tree of life, not because He envied him the tree of life, as some dare to claim, but because He pitied him and did not want him to remain a sinner forever, nor for the sin surrounding him to be immortal, and evil never-ending and unchangeable. Instead, He set a limit to his state of sin by introducing death, thereby causing sin to end by the dissolution of the flesh, which would occur in the earth, so that man, ultimately ceasing to live in sin and dying to it, might begin to live to God.

FOR THIS PURPOSE: He created enmity between the serpent and the woman and her offspring, with both maintaining it: He, whose heel would be bitten, also had the power to crush the enemy’s head; but the other, biting, killing, and impeding humanity’s progress, until the appointed offspring came to crush his head,—was born of Mary, about whom the prophet speaks: “You shall tread upon the asp and the basilisk; you shall trample down the lion and the dragon;”—indicating that sin, which was set against humanity and made it subject to death, would be deprived of its power, along with death, which rules over people; and that the lion, meaning the antichrist, who rises against humanity in the last days, would be defeated by Him; and that He would bind “the dragon, that old serpent” and put him under human control, who had been conquered so that all his might would be defeated.

Now Adam had been defeated, all life taken from him: therefore, when the enemy was defeated in turn, Adam received new life; and the final enemy, death, is destroyed, which first took control of humanity.

Therefore, when humanity is liberated, “what is written shall come to pass, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting?” This could not be justly said, if the man, over whom death first gained control, were not set free. For his salvation is death's destruction.

Therefore, when the Lord brings life to humanity, that is, Adam, death is simultaneously destroyed.

All who deny Adam's salvation speak falsely, excluding themselves from eternal life because they do not believe that the lost sheep has been found. If it has not been found, then the entire human race remains in a state of ruin. Therefore, the person who first proposed this idea, or rather, this ignorance and blindness—Tatian—is false. As I have already noted, he entangled himself with all the heretics. He invented this doctrine himself to introduce something new and speak vanity, thus attracting followers without faith, pretending to be a teacher. He tries from time to time to use phrases often used by Paul: “In Adam we all die,” yet he is ignorant that “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Since this has been clearly demonstrated, let all his followers be ashamed, and let them argue about Adam, as if they would gain something significant if he isn't saved; when in fact, they gain nothing more than the serpent gained when persuading man to sin, that is, making him a transgressor, and claiming man as the first-fruits of his own rebellion. But the serpent did not understand God's power. In the same way, those who deny Adam's salvation gain nothing, except that they make themselves heretics and apostates from the truth, and reveal themselves as supporters of the serpent and death.

ALL THESE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN EXPOSED FOR INTRODUCING IMPIOUS DOCTRINES ABOUT OUR MAKER AND CREATOR: who also formed this world, and above whom there is no other God. Those who spread falsehoods about the nature of our Lord and the plan He completed for the sake of His creation, humanity, have been defeated by their own arguments.

On the other hand, it has been shown that the preaching of the Church remains consistent everywhere, stays steady, and is supported by the prophets, apostles, and all the disciples, as I have demonstrated, through the beginning, the middle, and the end, and through the entire plan of God.

This well-founded system aims for humanity's salvation, namely, our faith, which we have received from the Church and preserve. This faith is continually renewed by the Spirit of God, like a precious treasure in an excellent vessel, causing the vessel itself to also renew. This gift of God has been entrusted to the Church, just as breath was given to the first man, so that all who receive it may be given life. The means of communion with Christ, which is the Holy Spirit, the guarantee of incorruption, the means of confirming our faith, and the ladder to God, have been distributed throughout it. "For in the Church," it is said, "God has placed apostles, prophets, teachers," and all the other ways through which the Spirit works.

Those who do not join with the Church miss out on these and deprive themselves of life through their misguided views and disgraceful behavior. Where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church, along with every kind of grace; and the Spirit is truth.

Therefore, those who do not partake in Him are neither nurtured into life from the mother's breasts nor do they enjoy the purest fountain flowing from the body of Christ.

Instead, they dig for themselves broken cisterns out of earthly ditches and drink tainted water from the mud, fleeing from the faith of the Church to avoid being corrected, and rejecting the Spirit to avoid being instructed.

SEPARATED FROM THE TRUTH IN THIS WAY: they justifiably linger in all kinds of error, being tossed around by it, thinking differently about the same things at different times, and never reaching a solid understanding, as they are more eager to be wordsmiths than followers of the truth. They are not built upon the one rock, but upon the sand, which contains many stones.

Therefore, they imagine many gods and always have the excuse of searching for truth (because they are blind), but they never succeed in finding it.

They blaspheme the Creator, the one who is truly God, who also gives the power to find the truth, imagining that they have discovered another god beyond God, or another Pleroma, or another way.

As a result, the light that comes from God does not shine on them, because they have dishonored and despised God, considering Him insignificant, since, due to His love and infinite kindness, He has made Himself accessible to human understanding (knowledge not of His greatness or essence—for no one has measured or grasped that—but in this sense: that we should know that He who made, formed, and breathed life into them, and sustains us through creation, establishing all things by His Word and uniting them by His Wisdom—this is the only true God).

Yet they fantasize about a non-existent being above Him, hoping to be seen as having discovered the great God, who, they claim, no one can recognize as interacting with humanity or directing worldly matters: essentially, they envision the god of Epicurus, who does nothing for himself or others, exercising no providence at all.

GOD DOES: however, exercise providence over all things, and therefore He also gives counsel. When giving counsel, He is present with those who focus on moral discipline. It follows, then, that those watched over and governed should be familiar with their ruler. These beings are not irrational or vain, but have understanding derived from the providence of God. For this reason, certain Gentiles who were less drawn to sensual allurements and indulgence, and were not overly influenced by superstition regarding idols, were moved—though only slightly—by His providence. They were nevertheless convinced that they should call the Maker of this universe the Father, who exercises providence over all things and arranges the affairs of our world.

2. Again, as people attempt to separate the rebuking and judicial authority from the Father, considering it unworthy of God and believing they have discovered a God who is both without anger and only good, they claim that one God judges while another saves, inadvertently removing the wisdom and justice from both deities. For if the one who judges is not also good, to grant favor to the deserving and to direct reproofs at those who need them, he will appear neither just nor wise. On the other hand, the good God, if he is only good and does not test those upon whom he bestows his goodness, will fall outside the realms of justice and goodness; his goodness will seem incomplete if it does not save all, as it should if it is not paired with judgment.

MARCION: by dividing God into two, claiming one to be good and the other judicial, essentially denies deity to both. The one who is judicial, if not good, cannot be God, because a being lacking goodness is no God at all. Similarly, the one who is good, if lacking judicial power, loses his divine nature in the same way as the former. How can they call the Father of all wise if they do not attribute to Him a judicial ability? If He is wise, He is also one who tests others; but the power of judgment belongs to the one who tests, and justice follows the judicial ability to reach a fair conclusion. Justice leads to judgment, and when judgment is executed with justice, it connects to wisdom. Therefore, the Father surpasses all human and angelic wisdom in wisdom because He is Lord, Judge, the Just One, and Ruler over all. He is good, merciful, and patient, and saves whom He ought to save. His goodness does not abandon Him in the exercise of justice, nor is His wisdom reduced; He saves those He should save and judges those worthy of judgment. He does not show Himself unmercifully just; for His goodness undoubtedly comes first and takes precedence.

THE GOD: therefore, who kindly causes His sun to rise on everyone and sends rain on both the just and the unjust, will judge those who, while benefiting from His equally distributed kindness, have lived lives unworthy of the honor of His generosity. These are the ones who have spent their days in indulgence and luxury, opposing His benevolence, and have even blasphemed Him who has granted them such great benefits.

PLATO IS SHOWN TO BE MORE RELIGIOUS THAN THESE MEN: as he acknowledged that the same God was both just and good, with power over all things, executing judgment Himself. He expressed himself by saying, “And God indeed, as He is also the ancient Word, possessing the beginning, the end, and the middle of all existing things, does everything rightly, moving around them according to their nature; but retributive justice always follows Him against those who stray from the divine law.” Furthermore, he highlights that the Maker and Framer of the universe is good. “And to the good,” he says, “no envy ever arises regarding anything,” thus establishing the goodness of God as the beginning and the cause of the creation of the world, and not ignorance, nor a mistaken Æon, nor the result of a defect, nor the Mother weeping and lamenting, nor another God or Father.

THEIR MOTHER MAY WELL LAMENT THEM: as they are capable of conceiving and inventing such ideas, for they have rightly spoken this falsehood against themselves: that their Mother is beyond the Pleroma, meaning beyond the knowledge of God, and that their whole multitude became a shapeless and crude abortion. They grasp nothing of the truth; they fall into emptiness and darkness. Their wisdom (Sophia) was empty, and wrapped in darkness; and Horos did not allow her to enter the Pleroma. The Spirit (Achamoth) did not welcome them into the place of refreshment. Their father, by creating ignorance, caused the sufferings of death in them. We do not misrepresent their beliefs on these matters; they themselves affirm, teach, and take pride in them. They imagine an exalted mystery about their Mother, whom they claim was born without a father, meaning without God—a female from a female, that is, corruption from error.

WE SINCERELY PRAY THAT THESE MEN DO NOT REMAIN IN THE PIT THEY HAVE DUG FOR THEMSELVES BUT SEPARATE FROM SUCH A MOTHER: depart from Bythus, distance themselves from the void, and let go of the shadow. We hope they turn to the Church of God, are properly reborn, and that Christ forms within them so they may know the Creator and Maker of this universe, the only true God and Lord of all. We pray for these things because we love them more than they seem to love themselves. Our love, being true, is beneficial to them if they are willing to accept it. It can be compared to a harsh remedy that removes the proud and decaying flesh of a wound, for it ends their pride and arrogance. Therefore, we will not tire of striving with all our might to reach out to them. In addition to what has already been stated, I have postponed to the next book the presentation of the Lord's words; if, by convincing some among them through Christ's own teachings, I can succeed in persuading them to abandon such error and stop blaspheming their Creator, who is God alone and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.