Against Heresies: Book II

LET US RETURN: however, to the remaining aspects of their system. For when they claim that, at the end of all things, their mother will re-enter the Pleroma and take the Savior as her consort; that they themselves, as being spiritual, when they have shed their animal souls and become intellectual spirits, will be the consorts of the spiritual angels; but that the Demiurge, whom they call animal, will take the place of the Mother; that the souls of the righteous will psychically rest in the intermediate place—when they claim that like will be gathered with like, spiritual things with spiritual, while material things remain with material, they actually contradict themselves.

They no longer maintain that souls enter the intermediate place because of their nature and similarity to these substances, but [that they do so] because of their actions [in the body], since they say that the righteous do indeed enter [that place], but the impious remain in the fire. For if it is because of their nature that all souls reach the place of enjoyment and all belong to the intermediate place simply because they are souls, as being of the same nature with it, then it follows that faith is entirely unnecessary, as would also be the descent of the Savior [to this world].

If, on the other hand, it is because of their righteousness [that they attain such a place of rest], then it is no longer because they are souls but because they are righteous.

But if souls would have perished unless they were righteous, then righteousness must have the power to save the bodies also [that these souls inhabited]; for why should it not save them, since they, too, participated in righteousness? For if nature and substance are the means of salvation, then all souls will be saved; but if righteousness and faith, why should these not save those bodies which, just like the souls, will enter into immortality? For righteousness would appear, in such matters, either powerless or unjust if it saves some substances through participating in it, but not others.

IT IS CLEAR THAT THOSE ACTS CONSIDERED RIGHTEOUS ARE PERFORMED IN BODIES: Therefore, either all souls must necessarily pass into the intermediate place, and there will never be a judgment; or bodies, too, which have shared in righteousness, will reach the place of enjoyment along with the souls that have similarly participated if righteousness is indeed powerful enough to bring there those beings that have shared in it. Then the teaching about the resurrection of bodies, which we believe, will prove true and certain; since, as we believe, God, when He raises our mortal bodies that preserved righteousness, will make them incorruptible and immortal. For God is above nature, and He has the willingness to show kindness because He is good; the power to do so because He is mighty; and the capability to fully accomplish His purpose because He is rich and perfect.

3. These men are entirely inconsistent when they claim that not all souls enter the intermediate place, but only those of the righteous do. They argue that the Mother produced three types of beings according to nature and substance: the first, emerging from confusion, fatigue, and fear, is material substance; the second, from impulsiveness, is animal substance; and the third, after seeing the angels who serve Christ, is spiritual substance. If the spiritual substance will inevitably enter the Pleroma due to its nature, while the material will stay below and be consumed by the fire within it, why shouldn't all animal substance go to the intermediate place, where they also send the Demiurge? What, then, will enter their Pleroma? They say souls remain in the intermediate place, while bodies, being material, will be consumed by the fire when reduced to matter. With the body destroyed and the soul in the intermediate place, no part of a person will be left to enter the Pleroma. The intellect of a person—mind, thought, and intention—is all part of the soul, and the emotions and actions of the soul have no existence apart from it. What part, then, will still be left to enter the Pleroma? As souls, they remain in the intermediate place; as body, they will be consumed with the rest of matter.