Against Heresies: Book I

THESE THREE KINDS OF EXISTENCE: then, having, according to them, been now formed—one from the passion, which was matter; a second from the conversion, which was animal; and the third, that which she (Achamoth) herself brought forth, which was spiritual—she next addressed herself to the task of giving these form.

But she could not succeed in doing this with the spiritual existence because it was of the same nature as herself. She therefore applied herself to give form to the animal substance that had proceeded from her own conversion and to bring forth to light the instructions of the Saviour.

They say she first formed out of the animal substance him who is Father and King of all things: both those of the same nature as himself, that is, animal substances, which they also call right-handed, and those which sprang from the passion and from matter, which they call left-handed. For they affirm that he formed all the things that came into existence after him, being secretly driven to do this by his mother. From this circumstance, they call him Metropator, Apator, Demiurge, and Father, saying that he is Father of the substances on the right hand, that is, of the animal, but Demiurge of those on the left, that is, of the material, while he is at the same time the king of all.

They say that this Enthymesis, desirous of making all things to the honor of the Æons, formed images of them, or rather that the Saviour did so through her work. And she, in the image of the invisible Father, kept herself concealed from the Demiurge.

But he was in the image of the only-begotten Son, and the angels and archangels created by him were in the image of the rest of the Æons.

THEY ASSERT: therefore, that he was made the Father and God of everything outside of the Pleroma, being the creator of all living and material substances. For he is the one who separated these two types of existence that were previously mixed and made physical from non-physical substances, forming things both heavenly and earthly. He became the Designer (Demiurge) of things material and living, of those on the right and those on the left, of the light and of the heavy, and of those moving upwards as well as those moving downwards. He also created seven heavens, above which they claim that he, the Demiurge, exists. Because of this, they call him Hebdomas, and his mother Achamoth Ogdoads, maintaining the number of the first and primary Ogdoad as the Pleroma. They also assert that these seven heavens are intelligent, referring to them as angels, while they describe the Demiurge himself as an angel resembling God. Similarly, they state that Paradise, located above the third heaven, is a fourth angel with power, from whom Adam received certain qualities while he interacted with him.

THEY SAY THAT THE DEMIURGE THOUGHT HE CREATED ALL THESE THINGS BY HIMSELF: but he actually made them with the productive power of Achamoth. He formed the heavens without understanding them; he shaped man without knowing man; he revealed the earth without being acquainted with it; similarly, they claim he was unaware of the forms of everything he made, and didn't even know of his own mother’s existence, thinking he was everything. They also claim his mother instilled this belief in him because she wanted him to have a character that made him the source of his own being and the absolute ruler over every kind of action that was later attempted. They call this mother Ogdoad, Sophia, Terra, Jerusalem, Holy Spirit, and, in a masculine sense, Lord. Her dwelling place is between realms, above the Demiurge but below and outside the Pleroma, even to the end.

AS THEY EXPLAIN: all material substance is formed from three emotions: fear, grief, and perplexity. They say that animal substances come from fear and transformation; the Demiurge also originates from transformation; but all other animal substances, like the souls of irrational animals, wild beasts, and humans, come from fear. Because of this, the Demiurge, unable to recognize any spiritual essences, thought he was God alone and declared through the prophets, “I am God, and besides me there is none else.” They also teach that spirits of wickedness originate from grief. This is why the devil, also called Cosmocrator (the ruler of the world), along with demons, angels, and every wicked spiritual being, came into existence. They describe the Demiurge as the son of their mother (Achamoth) and Cosmocrator as a creation of the Demiurge. Cosmocrator knows about what is above himself because he is a spirit of wickedness, but the Demiurge is unaware of these things because he is simply animal. Their mother resides in a place above the heavens, in the intermediate realm; the Demiurge in the heavenly region, or hebdomad; while Cosmocrator is in our world. The world's physical elements, as mentioned earlier, arose from bewilderment and perplexity, a less noble origin. Thus, earth came from a state of stupor; water from the agitation of fear; air from the consolidation of grief; and fire, which causes death and corruption, is present in all these elements, just as ignorance is hidden within these three emotions.

HAVING CREATED THE WORLD: the Demiurge also created the earthly part of man, using not this dry earth, but an invisible substance made of fusible and fluid matter. Then, as they describe the process, he breathed into him the animal part of his nature. This latter part was created in his image and likeness. The material part was indeed very close to God in terms of image, but not of the same substance. The animal part, however, was similar in likeness, and thus its substance was called the spirit of life because it originated from a spiritual outflowing. After all this, they say he was covered all around with a layer of skin, meaning the outer sensitive flesh.

THEY FURTHER ASSERT THAT THE DEMIURGE HIMSELF DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THE OFFSPRING OF HIS MOTHER ACHAMOTH: She brought forth this offspring as a result of her contemplation of the angels who served the Saviour, and it was, like her, spiritual in nature. She used this ignorance to place her creation within him without his knowledge. This way, as it was infused into the animal soul originating from him and developed within this physical body, it would gradually increase in strength and eventually become capable of receiving perfect rationality. Thus, according to them, without the Demiurge's knowledge, the man created by his inspiration was simultaneously made a spiritual man through the unexplained providence and inspiration from Sophia. Just as he was unaware of his mother, he did not recognize her offspring. They also describe this offspring as the Ecclesia, symbolizing the Ecclesia above. This is the type of man they envision: he receives his animal soul from the Demiurge, his body from the earth, his fleshly part from matter, and his spiritual essence from the mother Achamoth.