Against Heresies: Book III

LUKE: the follower and disciple of the apostles, referring to Zacharias and Elisabeth, from whom John was born according to promise, says: "And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." Again, speaking of Zacharias: "And it happened, while he served as priest before God according to his division, following the custom of the priest's office, his duty was to burn incense;" and he came to offer sacrifice, "entering into the temple of the Lord." The angel Gabriel, who stands prominently before the Lord, plainly and firmly acknowledged, in his own person, God and Lord, who had chosen Jerusalem and established the priestly office.

For he knew no other above Him; since if he had known of any more perfect God and Lord besides Him, he surely would not have confessed Him, whom he knew to be the result of imperfection, as absolutely and entirely God and Lord. Speaking of John, he also says: "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. He shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." For whom, then, did he prepare the people, and in whose sight was he made great? Truly the One who said that John was "more than a prophet," and that "among those born of women, none is greater than John the Baptist," who also prepared the people for the Lord's coming, urging his fellow servants and preaching repentance to them, so they might receive forgiveness from the Lord when He appeared, having turned back to Him from whom they had been separated because of sins and transgressions.

As David also says, "The alienated are sinners from birth: they go astray as soon as they are born." Because of this, he turned them to their Lord, preparing, in the spirit and power of Elias, a perfect people for the Lord.

2. Again, speaking of the angel, he says: "At that time, the angel Gabriel was sent from God, who said to the virgin, 'Do not fear, Mary, for you have found favor with God.'" And he says about the Lord: "He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom, there shall be no end." Who else can reign endlessly over the house of Jacob forever, except Jesus Christ our Lord, the Son of the Most High God, who promised through the law and the prophets that He would make His salvation visible to all flesh; that He would become the Son of man so that humankind might also become the sons of God? Mary, rejoicing over this, exclaimed, prophesying on behalf of the Church, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, Abraham and his descendants forever."

THROUGH THESE PASSAGES: the Gospel shows that it was God who spoke to the fathers; that it was He who, through Moses, established the legal system, through the giving of the law. We know that He spoke to the fathers. This same God, in His great goodness, poured His compassion upon us. Through this compassion, "the Dayspring from on high has looked upon us and appeared to those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death, and has guided our feet into the way of peace."

As Zacharias, recovering from a state of muteness due to unbelief, was filled with a new spirit, he blessed God in a new way. All things had entered a new phase, the Word arranging the coming in the flesh in a new way, to bring back to God the human nature that had departed from Him. Therefore, people were taught to worship God in a new manner, but not a different god, because truly there is but "one God, who justifies the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith." Zacharias, prophesying, exclaimed, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets who have been since the world began: salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham, that He would grant us, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, that we might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days." He then says to John: "And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Highest, for you shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people for the forgiveness of their sins."

This is the knowledge of salvation they lacked, that of the Son of God, which John made known, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is the one of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who was before me, because He was prior to me; and from His fullness we have all received.'" This, then, was the knowledge of salvation; it did not involve another God, or a different Father, or Bythus, or the Pleroma of thirty Æons, or the Mother of the lower Ogdoad, but the knowledge of salvation was the knowledge of the Son of God, who is both called and truly is salvation, Savior, and saving. Salvation, indeed, as follows: "I have waited for Your salvation, O Lord." And then again, Savior: "Behold my God, my Savior, I will put my trust in Him." But as bringing salvation, thus: "God has made known His salvation in the sight of the nations." For He is indeed the Savior, as being the Son and Word of God; but saving, as Spirit; for he says: "The Spirit of our countenance, Christ the Lord." But salvation, as being flesh, for "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." This knowledge of salvation, therefore, John imparted to those repenting and believing in the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

3. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds, proclaiming joy to them: “For a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, is born today in the house of David.” Then a multitude of the heavenly host appeared, praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will." The so-called Gnostics claim that these angels came from the Ogdoad, revealing the descent of the superior Christ.

BUT THEY ARE MISTAKEN WHEN CLAIMING THAT THE CHRIST AND SAVIOR FROM ABOVE WAS NOT BORN AND THAT AFTER THE BAPTISM OF THE EARTHLY JESUS: the Christ of the Pleroma descended upon him like a dove.

According to these people, the angels of the Ogdoad lied when they said, “For a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, is born today in the city of David.” By their account, neither Christ nor the Savior was born at that time; it was Jesus of the world’s creator, the Demiurge, upon whom, after his baptism at the age of thirty, the Savior from above descended.

But why did the angels say, “in the city of David,” if they were not announcing the fulfillment of God’s promise to David that from his lineage there would be an eternal King? For the creator of the universe promised David, as David himself declares: “My help is from God, who made heaven and earth;” and again: “In His hand are the ends of the earth, and the mountains' heights are His.

The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down before Him, and weep in the presence of the Lord who made us; for He is the Lord our God.” The Holy Spirit clearly declares through David that some will despise Him who created us and who alone is God.

Therefore, he uttered those words to say: Do not be mistaken; besides or above Him, there is no other God to whom you should reach out your hands, making us pious and thankful toward Him who made, established, and still nourishes us.

What, then, will happen to those who have caused such blasphemy against their Creator? This same truth is what the angels proclaimed. When they exclaim, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,” they glorify Him who is the Creator of the highest, the super-celestial things, and the Founder of everything on earth: who has sent to His creation, mankind, the blessing of His salvation from heaven.

Therefore, it adds, “The shepherds returned, glorifying God for all they had heard and seen, as it was told to them.” For the Israelite shepherds did not glorify another god, but the one announced by the law and the prophets, the Maker of all things, whom also the angels glorified.

But if the angels from the Ogdoad glorified any other than the God whom the shepherds worshiped, then those angels brought error, not truth.

AND FURTHERMORE: Luke speaks regarding the Lord: "When the days of purification were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord, that every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord; and they should offer a sacrifice, as it is stated in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons." In this, he clearly refers to Him as Lord, who established the legal practices. But "Simeon," he also says, "blessed God and said, Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before all people; a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel." And "Anna," the prophetess, he says, similarly glorified God when she saw Christ and spoke of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Through all these, one God is revealed, showing to humanity the new dispensation of liberty, the covenant, through the new arrival of His Son.

5.

THEREFORE: Mark, the interpreter and follower of Peter, begins his Gospel narrative in this way: "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; as it is written in the prophets, 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make the paths straight before our God.'" The Gospel clearly begins by quoting the words of the holy prophets, pointing out Him whom they confessed as God and Lord; Him, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who had promised to send His messenger before Him—John, crying in the wilderness, in "the spirit and power of Elias," "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths before our God." The prophets did not announce different gods, but one and the same God, under various aspects and many titles.

The Father is diverse and rich in attributes, as I have already shown in the book before this one, and I will demonstrate this truth from the prophets themselves as this work progresses. Towards the end of his Gospel, Mark also says: "So then, after the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and sits on the right hand of God," confirming what the prophet had spoken: "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.'" Thus, God and the Father are truly one and the same; the one announced by the prophets and handed down by the true Gospel; whom we Christians worship and love wholeheartedly as the Maker of heaven and earth and all things within.