Against Heresies: Book I

OTHERS: similarly, impressively claim that there is, in the power of Bythus, a certain primary light that is blessed, incorruptible, and infinite: this is the Father of all, and is called the first man. They also assert that his Ennœa, coming forth from him, produced a son, who is the son of man—the second man. Below them, again, is the Holy Spirit, and beneath this superior spirit, the elements were separated from each other, such as water, darkness, the abyss, and chaos, above which they claim the Spirit moved, referring to him as the first woman. Afterwards, they assert, the first man, with his son, delighted in the beauty of the Spirit—that is, of the woman—and illuminating her, begat with her an incorruptible light, the third male, whom they call Christ,—the son of the first and second man, and of the Holy Spirit, the first woman.

The father and son both had relations with the woman (whom they also call the mother of the living). However, when she could not bear or contain the greatness of the lights, they say that she was filled to fullness and became exuberant on the left side. Thus, their only son Christ, associated with the right side and always striving for what was higher, was immediately taken up with his mother to form an incorruptible Æon. This constitutes the true and holy Church, which has become the name, the gathering, and the union of the father of all, of the first man, of the son, of the second man, of Christ their son, and of the woman mentioned.

THEY TEACH THAT THE POWER THAT CAME FROM THE WOMAN BY EBULLITION: being sprinkled with light, fell downward from where its ancestors were, yet kept that sprinkling of light by its own will; and it they call Sinistra, Prunicus, and Sophia, as well as male-female. This being, in its simplicity, descended into the waters while they were still motionless, and imparted motion to them, acting upon them even to their deepest parts, and took on a body from them. They claim that everything rushed toward and clung to that sprinkling of light, surrounding it completely.

Without that, it might have been totally absorbed in and overwhelmed by material substance. Being tied to a body made of matter and heavily burdened by it, this power regretted its actions and tried to escape from the waters and ascend to its mother, but couldn't due to the weight of the body around it. Feeling uneasy, it attempted to hide that light from above, fearing it might be harmed by lower elements as it had been. When it received power from that sprinkling of light it had, it sprang back up and was carried aloft; once high, it spread out, covered a portion of space, and formed this visible heaven from its body, yet remained beneath the heaven it created, still having the form of a watery body.

But when it desired the light above and gained power from everything, it laid down this body and was freed from it. This body, which they say this power discarded, they call a female from a female.

THEY ALSO CLAIM THAT HER SON INHERITED A CERTAIN BREATH OF INCORRUPTION FROM HIS MOTHER: and through this, he works. Growing powerful, he himself, as they claim, sent forth a son from the waters without a mother, for they do not allow that he had a mother. His son, following the pattern of his father, sent forth another son. This third one also generated a fourth; the fourth also generated a son. They maintain that a son was generated by the fifth, and the sixth also generated a seventh. Thus, according to them, the Hebdomad was completed, with the mother occupying the eighth place. In their generations, as well as in dignities and powers, they each precede the other in turn.

THEY HAVE ALSO GIVEN NAMES TO THE VARIOUS FIGURES IN THEIR SYSTEM OF FALSEHOOD: such as the following: the first descendant of the mother is called Ialdabaoth; the one who descended from him is named Iao; from this one comes Sabaoth; the fourth is named Adoneus; the fifth, Eloeus; the sixth, Oreus; and the seventh and last is Astanphaeus. Moreover, they depict these heavens, potentates, powers, angels, and creators as sitting in their proper order in heaven, according to their lineage, and as invisibly ruling over both celestial and earthly things. The first of them, namely Ialdabaoth, holds his mother in contempt, as he produced sons and grandsons without anyone's permission, yes, even angels, archangels, powers, potentates, and dominions. After these things happened, his sons started to strive and quarrel with him over supreme power—behavior that deeply grieved Ialdabaoth and drove him to despair. In these circumstances, he looked upon the lower dregs of matter and fixed his desire upon it, to which they say his son owes his origin. This son is Nous himself, twisted into the form of a serpent; and from this came the spirit, the soul, and all earthly things: from this too were created all oblivion, wickedness, emulation, envy, and death. They declare that the father gave even greater crookedness to this serpent-like and contorted Nous of theirs when he was with their father in heaven and Paradise.

BECAUSE OF THIS: Ialdabaoth, feeling proud, boasted over everything below him, claiming, "I am father and God, and there is no one above me." But his mother, hearing him speak this way, shouted at him, "Do not lie, Ialdabaoth: for the father of all, the first Anthropos (man), is above you, and so is Anthropos, the son of Anthropos." As everyone was disturbed by this new voice and unexpected announcement, and they were questioning where the noise came from, Ialdabaoth, wanting to lead them away and attract them to himself, exclaimed, "Come, let us make man in our image." The six powers, hearing this, and their mother providing them the idea of a man (so that through him she might strip them of their original power), together formed a man of great size, both in width and height. But since he could only wriggle along the ground, they brought him to their father; Sophia worked hard on this task to drain Ialdabaoth of the light that he had been given, so that he might no longer be able to rise against the powers above, even though he remained powerful. They claim that by breathing the spirit of life into man, he was secretly drained of his power; thus man became a holder of nous (intelligence) and enthymesis (thought), which they say are the faculties that participate in salvation. They further assert that he immediately gave thanks to the first Anthropos (man), abandoning those who had created him.

7. But Ialdabaoth, feeling envious about this, was pleased to form a plan to empty man again through woman, and created a woman from his own desire. Prunicus [mentioned above] took hold of her and imperceptibly drained her of power. But others, upon seeing and admiring her beauty, named her Eve and fell in love with her, fathering sons by her, whom they also claim to be angels. Their mother (Sophia) cleverly devised a plan to deceive Eve and Adam, through the serpent, to break Ialdabaoth's command. Eve listened to this as if it came from a son of God, and believed it easily. She also persuaded Adam to eat from the tree about which God had said they should not eat. They then claim that by eating, they gained the knowledge of the power above all and left those who created them. When Prunicus saw that the powers were thwarted by their own creation, she rejoiced greatly and exclaimed again that since the father was incorruptible, he (Ialdabaoth), who previously called himself the father, was a liar; and that, while Anthropos and the first woman (the Spirit) existed before, this one (Eve) sinned by committing adultery.

IALDABAOTH: however, due to his forgetfulness and not paying any attention to these matters, cast Adam and Eve out of Paradise because they had disobeyed his command. He wanted to have sons with Eve, but could not fulfill this desire because his mother opposed him at every turn and secretly removed the light from Adam and Eve that they had been given so that the spirit from the supreme power would not share in the curse and shame caused by their disobedience. They also teach that, now deprived of the divine substance, they were cursed by him and cast down from heaven to this world. The serpent, who was acting against the father, was also cast into this lower world. Here, he brought the angels under his control and had six sons, making himself the seventh, imitating the Hebdomad around the father. They further claim that these are the seven earthly demons who continually oppose and resist humanity, because it was due to humanity that their father was cast into this lower world.

ADAM AND EVE INITIALLY HAD BRIGHT: clear, and somewhat spiritual bodies, like they did at their creation; but when they entered this world, these transformed into bodies that were more opaque, gross, and sluggish. Their soul was also weak and languid since they had received only a worldly inspiration from their creator. This lasted until Prunicus, moved with compassion for them, restored to them the sweet fragrance of the sprinkling of light, through which they remembered themselves and realized they were naked, as well as that the body was a material substance, and thus recognized that they carried death with them.

They then became patient, knowing that they would only be in the body temporarily. They also discovered food with Sophia's guidance; and when they were satisfied, they had intimate knowledge of each other, and begat Cain, whom the serpent, cast down along with his sons, immediately seized and destroyed by filling him with worldly forgetfulness and inciting him to folly and audacity. By murdering his brother Abel, he was the first to reveal envy and death. Following these events, they claim that, through Prunicus's foresight, Seth was born, and then Norea, from whom they say all other humans are descended.

They were led to all manner of wickedness by the lower Hebdomad, and to apostasy, idolatry, and a general disregard for everything by the higher holy Hebdomad, as the mother was always secretly opposed to them and carefully protected what was uniquely hers, which is the sprinkling of light. They also assert that the holy Hebdomad is the seven stars known as planets; and they claim that the serpent cast down has two names, Michael and Samael.

IALDABAOTH: once more, angered with humans because they did not worship or honor him as father and God, sent a flood to destroy them all at once. But Sophia opposed him in this matter too, and Noah and his family were saved in the ark with the help of the sprinkling of that light which came from her, and through it, the world was again populated with people. Ialdabaoth himself chose a certain man named Abraham from among these, and made a covenant with him, stating that if his descendants continued to serve him, he would give them the earth as an inheritance. Later, through Moses, he led Abraham’s descendants out of Egypt, gave them the law, and made them the Jews. Among those people, he chose seven days, which they also call the holy Hebdomad. Each of these days receives its own herald to glorify and proclaim God, so that when the others hear these praises, they also may serve those who are announced as gods by the prophets.

11. Moreover, they categorize the prophets in this way: Moses, Joshua the son of Nun, Amos, and Habakkuk belong to Ialdabaoth; Samuel, Nathan, Jonah, and Micah, to Iao; Elijah, Joel, and Zechariah to Sabaoth; Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Daniel to Adonai; Tobias and Haggai to Eloi; Michaiah and Nahum to Oreus; Esdras and Zephaniah to Astanphæus. Each of these prophets praises his own father and God, and they claim that Sophia has also spoken many things through them about the first Anthropos (man) and about the Christ who is above, thus advising and reminding people of the incorruptible light, the first Anthropos, and the coming of Christ. The other powers were frightened by these things and marveled at the newness of what the prophets announced. Prunicus arranged through Ialdabaoth (who did not understand what he did) that two men were born, one from the barren Elizabeth and the other from the Virgin Mary.

SINCE SHE FOUND NO REST IN HEAVEN OR ON EARTH: she called upon her mother for help in her distress. Her mother, the first woman, felt compassion for her daughter upon her repentance and asked the first man to send Christ to help her. Christ was sent and descended to his sister, bringing light. When he recognized her (Sophia below), her brother came down to her, announced his arrival through John, prepared the baptism of repentance, and preordained Jesus to be a pure vessel for Christ’s descent, so that Christ could announce the woman through the son of Ialdabaoth. They claim he descended through the seven heavens, taking on the likeness of their sons and gradually emptying them of their power. They say that the full light came to him and that Christ, descending to this world, first clothed his sister Sophia with it, and together they rejoiced in each other's presence like a bridegroom and bride. Jesus, being born of the Virgin through God, was wiser, purer, and more righteous than all others: Christ united with Sophia descended into him, and thus Jesus Christ was formed.

They claim that many of his disciples were unaware of Christ's descent into Jesus. They believe that when Christ descended upon Jesus, he started performing miracles, healing, and proclaiming the unknown Father, openly declaring himself as the son of the first man. The powers and the father of Jesus were angered by these actions and sought to destroy him. As he was being led away for this purpose, they say Christ, along with Sophia, left him and entered an incorruptible Æon, while Jesus was crucified. However, Christ did not forget about Jesus. He sent down a certain energy from above that raised him in the body, which they describe as both animal and spiritual, as the mundane parts were sent back to the world. When his disciples saw that he had risen, they did not recognize him—not even Jesus, through whom he rose from the dead. They claim there was a significant misunderstanding among his disciples, who believed he had risen in a mundane body, not realizing that "flesh and blood do not attain the kingdom of God."

THEY SOUGHT TO PROVE THE DESCENT AND ASCENT OF CHRIST BY POINTING OUT THAT NEITHER BEFORE HIS BAPTISM NOR AFTER HIS RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD DID HIS DISCIPLES MENTION HIM PERFORMING MIGHTY WORKS: They were unaware that Jesus was joined to Christ, and the incorruptible Æon to the Hebdomad, and they claimed his earthly body was of the same nature as that of animals. However, after his resurrection, he stayed on earth for eighteen months; and knowledge from above came into him, allowing him to teach clearly. He shared these great mysteries with a few of his disciples, those he knew could understand, and then he was taken up into heaven, with Christ sitting at the right hand of his father Ialdabaoth. Christ does this to receive the souls of those who have known them, after they have shed their earthly flesh, thereby enriching himself without his father's knowledge; in this way, as Jesus enriches himself with holy souls, his father suffers a loss and is diminished, emptied of his own power by these souls. For he will no longer have holy souls to send back into the world, except for those which belong to him, those into which he has breathed. The consummation of all things will occur when the entire sprinkling of the spirit of light is gathered and carried off to form an incorruptible Æon.

THESE ARE THE OPINIONS HELD BY THESE INDIVIDUALS: from whom, like the Lernæan hydra, a many-headed creature has arisen from the school of Valentinus. Some of them claim that Sophia herself became the serpent, and for this reason, she opposed the creator of Adam and implanted knowledge in humans. This is why the serpent was called wiser than all others. Furthermore, they argue that the shape of our intestines, through which food passes, and their particular form, reveals our internal structure in the shape of a serpent, uncovering our hidden origin.