Against Heresies: Book II
Chapter 8: Created Objects are not a Reflection of the Divine Fullness
If they claim again that these things below are a shadow of those above, as some confidently argue, making them images, then they must admit that those things above have bodies. For bodies above do cast shadows, but spiritual substances do not, since they cannot darken others in any way. Even if we grant them this point (though it is really impossible), that there is a shadow belonging to spiritual and luminous essences, into which they say their Mother descended; yet, since those things above are eternal and their shadow lasts forever, it follows that these things below are also not temporary but endure along with those that cast their shadow over them. On the other hand, if these things below are temporary, it necessarily means that those above, which these are the shadow of, also pass away; while, if they endure, their shadow endures as well.
If, however, they claim that the shadow mentioned is not created by the shade of those above, but simply because the things below are far separated from those above, they will accuse the light of their Father of being weak and insufficient, as if it cannot reach these things, failing to fill what is empty and to dispel the shadow, even when nothing is preventing it. According to them, the light of their Father will turn into darkness, be buried in obscurity, and end in places defined by emptiness, since it cannot penetrate and fill everything. Let them then no longer claim that their Bythus is the fullness of all things if indeed he has neither filled nor illuminated what is empty and shadowed. Alternatively, let them stop talking of emptiness and shadow if, in truth, the light of their Father fills everything.
Beyond the primary Father, who is the God over all, there can be no Pleroma into which they claim the Enthymesis of that Æon who experienced passion descended (so that the Pleroma itself, or the primary God, would not be limited and enclosed by what is beyond, and would, in fact, be contained by it). Nor can emptiness or shadow exist, since the Father exists beforehand, ensuring that His light cannot fail and end in a void. It is also irrational and impious to imagine a place where He who is the Propator, Proarche, and Father of all, and of this Pleroma, comes to an end.
Furthermore, it is not permissible, for the reasons already given, to claim that some other being created such a vast universe within the Father, whether with or without His consent. For it is equally impious and foolish to say that such a great creation was made by angels, or by some particular being unaware of the true God in His own domain. Nor is it possible for earthly and material things to have been formed within their Pleroma, since it is wholly spiritual.
Moreover, it is not even possible for things belonging to a diverse creation and formed with opposing qualities to have been created after the image of the things above, since these Æons are said to be few and similarly formed and homogeneous. Their talk about the shadow of kenoma—that is, a vacuum—has turned out to be false in every way. Their idea, then, however viewed, has been proven baseless, and their teachings are untenable. Empty, too, are those who listen to them, truly descending into the abyss of destruction.