Against Heresies: Book I

CARPOCRATES AND HIS FOLLOWERS CLAIM THAT THE WORLD AND EVERYTHING IN IT WERE CREATED BY ANGELS FAR INFERIOR TO THE UNBEGOTTEN FATHER: They also believe that Jesus was the son of Joseph and was like other men, except that his soul was steadfast and pure, allowing him to perfectly recall things he had seen within the realm of the unbegotten God. Because of this, a power descended on him from the Father, enabling him to escape from the creators of the world. They say that after passing through them all and remaining completely free, it ascended back to him and to the powers that embraced similar things. They also assert that the soul of Jesus, despite being taught in Jewish practices, viewed them with contempt. For this reason, he was given faculties that allowed him to destroy the passions residing in men as a punishment for their sins.

THE SOUL: therefore, which is like that of Christ can despise those rulers who were the creators of the world, and similarly receives power to achieve the same results. This idea has elevated them to such a level of pride that some of them claim to be like Jesus, while others, even more powerful, assert that they are superior to his disciples, such as Peter, Paul, and the rest of the apostles, whom they consider to be in no way inferior to Jesus. For their souls, descending from the same realm as his, and therefore despising similarly the creators of the world, are considered worthy of the same power, and then return to the same place. But if anyone has despised the things in this world more than he did, he thus proves himself superior to him.

They also practice magical arts and incantations; philters and love-potions; and consult familiar spirits, dream-sending demons, and other abominations, claiming they have the power to rule over the princes and creators of this world, even now; and not just them, but everything in it. These people, just like the Gentiles, have been sent by Satan to bring dishonor upon the Church, so that, in one way or another, people hearing what they say and imagining that we are all like them, may turn away from the preaching of the truth; or, again, seeing what they practice, may speak evil of us all, who actually have no connection with them, either in doctrine, morals, or daily conduct. But they live a licentious life, and to hide their impious doctrines, they misuse the name [of Christ] as a way to disguise their wickedness; so that "their condemnation is just" when they receive from God a recompense suited to their works.

THEIR MADNESS IS SO UNCHECKED THAT THEY CLAIM THEY HAVE THE POWER TO DO EVERYTHING THAT IS IRRELIGIOUS AND IMPIOUS: and they are free to practice these things, believing that good or evil exists only because of human opinion. They think it is necessary for souls to migrate from one body to another, experiencing every kind of life and action—unless one can achieve everything in a single life by doing all things we dare not speak or even think about, to the extent that if such things are mentioned among our fellow citizens, we should not consider them believable—in order for their souls, having tried every type of life, to be lacking nothing upon departure.

They emphasize this to avoid having to become incarnate again due to some shortcoming in their deliverance. They claim Jesus told this parable for this reason: “While you are with your adversary on the way, give every effort to be delivered from him, lest he hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, who will throw you into prison.

Truly, I say to you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.” They also say the “adversary” is one of the angels in the world, whom they call the Devil, asserting that he was created for the purpose of leading lost souls away from the world to the Supreme Ruler.

They describe him as the leader of the world's makers and claim he sends those souls to another angel under his command, to imprison them in other bodies, because they believe the body is “the prison.” They interpret “You will not get out until you have paid the last penny” to mean that no one can escape from the angels who created the world, but must pass from body to body until experiencing every possible action in this world, and when nothing is left, their liberated soul should ascend to that God who is above the angels, creators of the world.

In this way, all souls are saved, whether they are those that, avoiding delay, engage in all sorts of actions in one life, or those who, by moving from body to body, are freed by fulfilling what is necessary in each form of life they inhabit, until they are no longer confined to the body.

5. Therefore, if ungodly, unlawful, and forbidden actions are committed among them, I can no longer find any reason to believe them to be as they claim. In their writings, we read the interpretation they give of their views, stating that Jesus spoke in a mystery to His disciples and apostles privately, and that they asked for and received permission to pass down the things taught to them, to others who would be worthy and believing. We are indeed saved by faith and love; but all other things, while inherently neutral, are judged by the opinion of people—some as good and some as evil, with nothing being truly evil by nature.

6. Some of them use outward symbols, branding their followers inside the lobe of the right ear. Among these was Marcellina, who came to Rome during the time of Anicetus, and, by holding these beliefs, led many people astray. They call themselves Gnostics. They have images, some painted, others made from various materials, and they claim that a likeness of Christ was created by Pilate when Jesus lived among them. They adorn these images with crowns and display them alongside images of worldly philosophers like Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle, among others. They also have other ways of honoring these images, similar to the practices of the Gentiles.