Against Heresies: Book II
Chapter 35: Refuting Basilides and the Belief that Prophets Made Their Predictions Under the Influence of Various Gods
Moreover, Basilides himself, based on his own principles, will find it necessary to assert not only that there are 365 heavens created one after another, but that an immense and countless multitude of heavens have always been, are currently being, and will continue to be created, so that the formation of such heavens can never cease. For if the second heaven was made in the likeness of the first, and the third in the likeness of the second, and so on for all the subsequent ones, it inevitably follows that from our heaven, which he calls the last, another will be formed like it, and then a third from that one; thus, neither the process of creation from those heavens already made nor the making of new heavens can ever cease. This operation must continue indefinitely, leading to an infinite number of heavens.
The rest of those wrongly called Gnostics, who claim that the prophets spoke their prophecies under the inspiration of different gods, can be easily refuted by this fact: all the prophets proclaimed one God and Lord, the very Creator of heaven and earth and everything in them. They also foretold the coming of His Son, as I will show from the Scriptures in the following books.
If anyone objects that the Scriptures in the Hebrew language use different expressions for God, like Sabaoth, Eloë, and Adonai, as well as other such terms, and tries to argue that these indicate different powers and gods, let them understand that all these expressions are just names and titles for the same Being. Eloë in Hebrew means God, while Elōeim and Eleōuth signify "that which contains all." The term Adonai sometimes means something that is nameable and admirable, but when the letter Daleth is doubled and the word begins with a guttural sound, like Addonai, it means "One who bounds and separates the land from the water," so the water doesn't flood the land. Similarly, when Sabaoth is spelled with a Greek Omega as Sabaōth, it means "a voluntary agent," but with a Greek Omicron, like Sabaŏth, it means "the first heaven." Likewise, the word Jaōth with a long and aspirated last syllable means "a predetermined measure," but when written shortly with Omicron as Jaŏth, it means "one who puts evils to flight." All other expressions also refer to the same Being, such as The Lord of Powers, The Father of all, God Almighty, The Most High, The Creator, The Maker, and so on. These are not the names and titles of different beings, but of the same one, who is the one God and Father revealing Himself, who contains all things and grants everyone the gift of existence.
Now, the preaching of the apostles, the authoritative teaching of the Lord, the declarations of the prophets, the dictated speeches of the apostles, and the service of the law—all of which praise one and the same Being, the God and Father of all, and not many different beings, nor one deriving his essence from different gods or powers, but declare that all things were formed by one and the same Father (who nevertheless adapts His works to the natures and tendencies of the materials dealt with), things visible and invisible, and, in short, all things that have been made were created neither by angels, nor by any other power, but by God alone, the Father—are all in harmony with our statements, has, I believe, been sufficiently proven, while by these strong arguments it has been shown that there is only one God, the Maker of all things. But so I am not seen as avoiding that series of proofs which may be derived from the Scriptures of the Lord (since, indeed, these Scriptures do much more plainly and clearly proclaim this very point), I shall, for the benefit of those at least who do not approach them with a corrupt mind, dedicate a special book to the Scriptures referred to, which shall fairly follow them out and explain them, and I shall clearly present from these divine Scriptures proofs to satisfy all the lovers of truth.