Against Heresies: Book III

AFTER THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD AND HIS ASCENSION INTO HEAVEN: the Apostle Peter wanted to complete the number of the twelve apostles by electing a replacement for Judas, as chosen by God. He addressed those present, saying, "Men and brothers, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit, through David, spoke about Judas, who became a guide to those who captured Jesus. For he was one of us: ... Let his home be desolate, and let no one live there; and let someone else take his position." This was to complete the apostles as David's words indicated. Then, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples so that they could all prophesy and speak in tongues, some mocked them as if they were drunk with new wine. Peter explained that they were not drunk, for it was only the third hour of the day, but that this event was what the prophet had spoken about: "In the last days, says God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people, and they shall prophesy." Therefore, the God who promised through the prophet to send His Spirit upon everyone is the same God who sent it, and Peter announced that God Himself fulfilled His promise.

PETER SAID: “Men of Israel, listen to my words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man confirmed by God among you through powers, wonders, and signs that God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves know: Him, delivered by the determined plan and foreknowledge of God, you have killed by the hands of wicked men, affixing [to the cross]: whom God raised up, freeing Him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by them.

For David speaks concerning Him, ‘I foresaw the Lord always before me; for He is at my right hand, so that I might not be shaken: therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover, my flesh will rest in hope: because You will not leave my soul in hell, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’” Then he goes on to speak confidently to them about the patriarch David, that he was dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with them to this day.

He said, “But since he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn an oath to him, that one of his descendants would sit on his throne; foreseeing this, he spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that He was not left in hell, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus,” he said, “God has raised up, of which we all are witnesses: who, being exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, has poured out this gift which you now see and hear.

For David has not ascended into the heavens, but he says himself, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.’ Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” And when the crowds asked, “What shall we do then?” Peter tells them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Thus, the apostles did not preach another God, or another Fullness; nor that the Christ who suffered and rose again was one, while He who ascended on high was another, and remained impassible; but that there was one and the same God, the Father, and Christ Jesus who rose from the dead; and they preached faith in Him, to those who did not believe in the Son of God, and exhorted them from the prophets, that the Christ whom God promised to send, He sent in Jesus, whom they crucified, and God raised up.

3. Again, when Peter, accompanied by John, looked upon the man who was lame from birth, sitting in front of the gate of the temple called Beautiful and seeking alms, he said to him, “I have no silver or gold; but what I have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” Immediately, his legs and feet gained strength; he walked and entered the temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God.

THEN: when a multitude gathered around them from all quarters because of this unexpected deed, Peter addressed them: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this; or why do you look at us so intently, as if by our own power we made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified His Son, whom you delivered for judgment and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he wanted to release Him.

But you were bitterly set against the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you; but you killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And by faith in His name, this man whom you see and know has been made strong; yes, the faith which is through Him, has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I know that through ignorance you did this wickedness.

But those things which God foretold through the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has fulfilled. Therefore repent and be converted, so that your sins may be blotted out, and that times of refreshing may come to you from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, who was prepared for you beforehand, whom heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things, which God has spoken by His holy prophets.

For Moses truly said to our ancestors, 'The Lord your God shall raise up for you a Prophet from among your brethren, like me; Him you shall hear in all things whatever He says to you. And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.' And all the prophets from Samuel onward, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold these days. You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our ancestors, saying to Abraham, 'And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' To you first, God, having raised up His Son, sent Him to bless you, that each of you may turn from your iniquities.” Peter, together with John, preached this clear message of glad tidings to them, stating that the promise God made to the ancestors had been fulfilled by Jesus; not proclaiming another god, but the Son of God, who also became man and suffered; thus leading Israel into knowledge, and through Jesus preaching the resurrection of the dead, and showing that whatever the prophets had proclaimed about the suffering of Christ, God has fulfilled.

FOR THIS REASON: too, when the chief priests gathered, Peter, full of boldness, said to them, "You rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we are being questioned today about the good deed done to the disabled man, by what means he has been made whole, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands here before you healed. This is the stone which you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Thus, the apostles did not change God but preached to the people that Christ was Jesus, the crucified one, whom the same God that had sent the prophets, being God Himself, raised up and offered salvation in Him to men.

They were confused by this act of healing (since the man healed by this miracle was over forty years old), by the apostles' teachings, and by the interpretation of the prophets when the chief priests released Peter and John. They returned to their fellow apostles and disciples of the Lord, meaning the Church, and shared what had happened and their brave actions in the name of Jesus. The whole Church, upon hearing this, raised their voice to God together, saying, "Lord, You are God, who made heaven, earth, and the sea, and everything in them; who through the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of our father David, Your servant, said, 'Why did the nations rage and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.' Truly, in this city, against Your holy Son Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and counsel predetermined to happen."

THESE ARE THE VOICES OF THE CHURCH: from which every Church originated; these are the voices of the central community of the new covenant; these are the voices of the apostles; these are the voices of the Lord's disciples, the truly complete, who, after the Lord's ascension, were perfected by the Spirit and called on the God who made heaven, earth, and the sea—who was proclaimed by the prophets—and Jesus Christ His Son, whom God anointed and who knew no other God. For at that time and place, there were no subverters like Valentinus or Marcion and their followers. Therefore, God, the Maker of all things, heard them. It is said, "The place where they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking the word of God boldly" to everyone willing to believe.

"And with great power," it is added, "the apostles gave testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus," saying, "The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you seized and killed by hanging Him on a wooden beam: Him God raised by His right hand to be a Prince and Savior, to offer repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy Ghost, whom God has given to those who believe in Him." "And daily," it says, "in the temple and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and preaching Christ Jesus," the Son of God. For this was the knowledge of salvation, making those who recognize His Son's coming perfect towards God.

BUT AS SOME OF THESE MEN BOLDLY CLAIM THAT THE APOSTLES: when preaching to the Jews, could not introduce another god besides the one their audience believed in, we explain to them that if the apostles tailored their message to match the beliefs already instilled in their listeners, then no one would have learned the truth from them, nor, much earlier, from the Lord; since they claim He spoke in the same manner.

Therefore, these men themselves do not know the truth; their views on God were shaped by the teachings they were ready to accept.

In this way of speaking, no one could hold the rule of truth; all learners would think that every teacher communicated based on individual beliefs and abilities. The Lord’s coming would seem unnecessary and pointless if He came just to tolerate and maintain each person's long-held ideas about God.

Furthermore, it was much more challenging that He, whom the Jews saw as a man and crucified, should be proclaimed as Christ, the Son of God, their eternal King. Since this was the case, they clearly did not speak in line with their old beliefs.

For those who confronted them about being the killers of the Lord would be even more willing to speak about the Father who is above the Demiurge, rather than supporting individual beliefs about God. The sin was lesser, if they hadn’t crucified the superior Saviour, whom they were supposed to ascend to, since He was beyond suffering. As they did not cater to the Gentiles' beliefs but boldly declared their gods to be demons' idols, they would have done the same with the Jews if they knew of a greater or more perfect Father, instead of supporting false beliefs about God.

Additionally, while correcting the Gentiles' errors and steering them away from false gods, they did not replace one error with another; by removing false deities, they revealed the one true God and Father.

FROM THE WORDS OF PETER: spoken in Caesarea to Cornelius the centurion and the Gentiles with him, to whom the word of God was first preached, we can understand what the apostles preached, the nature of their message, and their understanding of God. Cornelius was described as a "devout man, one who feared God with all his house, giving much to charity and praying to God always." Around the ninth hour of the day, he saw an angel of God, who told him, "Your alms have come up as a memorial before God. Therefore, send for Simon, who is called Peter."

When Peter saw the vision, where a voice from heaven said to him, "What God has cleansed, do not call common," it served to teach him that the same God who, through the law, distinguished between clean and unclean, had purified the Gentiles through the blood of His Son—He whom Cornelius also worshipped. Peter, upon arriving, said, "I truly understand that God shows no favoritism: but in every nation, the one who fears Him and works righteousness is acceptable to Him." He clearly indicated that the God whom Cornelius had previously feared and heard of through the law and the prophets, and for whom he gave alms, is indeed God. However, Cornelius lacked knowledge of the Son, so Peter added, "You know the message that was spread throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism John preached—Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power; who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him. We are witnesses of everything He did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem; whom they killed, hanging Him on a beam of wood. God raised Him on the third day and showed Him openly; not to all the people, but to us, witnesses chosen by God, who ate and drank with Him after His resurrection. He commanded us to preach to the people and testify that He is the one ordained by God to be the judge of the living and the dead. To Him, all the prophets bear witness, that through His name, everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."

The apostles preached the Son of God, whom people were unaware of, and His coming to those already instructed about God. They did not introduce another god. If Peter had known such a thing, he would have preached to the Gentiles that the God of the Jews was one but the God of the Christians was another. And everyone, amazed by the vision of the angel, would have believed whatever he said. However, it is clear from Peter’s words that he retained the God already known to them. He also testified to them that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, the judge of the living and the dead, and he commanded them to be baptized in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Moreover, he testified that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, anointed with the Holy Spirit, called Jesus Christ, and that He is the same one born of Mary, as testified by Peter. Could it be possible that Peter did not have the complete knowledge that these men claim to have found later? According to them, Peter was imperfect, and so were the rest of the apostles; therefore, they would need to come back to life and become disciples of these men to become perfect. But this is absurd. These individuals are shown to follow their own misguided ideas, not the apostles'. This leads to various differing opinions among them, as each one embraced error as they were able to. However, the Church throughout the world, established firmly by the apostles, remains consistent in its understanding of God and His Son.

8. But again: To whom did Philip preach when he was with the eunuch of the queen of the Ethiopians, who was returning from Jerusalem and reading the prophet Esaias? Was it not about Him of whom the prophet spoke: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before the shearer, so He did not open His mouth?” “But who shall declare His origin? For His life shall be taken from the earth.” Philip declared that this was Jesus, and that the Scripture was fulfilled in Him; the believing eunuch also acknowledged this. Immediately, he requested to be baptized, saying, “I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God.” This man was also sent to the regions of Ethiopia to preach what he had believed himself: that there was one God preached by the prophets, and that the Son of this God had already appeared in human form and had been led like a sheep to the slaughter, along with all the other statements the prophets made regarding Him.

PAUL HIMSELF: after the Lord spoke to him from heaven and showed him that by persecuting His disciples he was persecuting his own Lord, and after Ananias was sent to him to recover his sight and baptize him, "preached," it is said, "Jesus in the synagogues at Damascus, with full freedom of speech, declaring that this is the Son of God, the Christ." This is the mystery Paul mentions was revealed to him: that He who suffered under Pontius Pilate is the Lord of all, King, God, and Judge, receiving power from the God of all because He became "obedient unto death, even death on the cross." Given that this is true, while preaching to the Athenians on the Areopagus—where no Jews were present, allowing him to preach God freely—he told them: "God, who made the world and all things in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by human hands.

Nor is He served by human hands as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and everything else. From one blood, He made all nations of men to live on the entire earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, so they might seek the Deity, possibly track Him down, or find Him, though He is not far from each of us. For in Him we live, move, and have our being, as some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' Since we are the offspring of God, we should not think that the Deity is like gold, silver, or stone, shaped by art or human imagination.

Therefore, God, overlooking the past times of ignorance, now commands everyone everywhere to turn to Him with repentance because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the man Jesus, having given proof of this by raising Him from the dead." Here, he not only presents God as the Creator of the world, without Jews present, but also that He created one race of people to live across the whole earth, as Moses stated: "When the Most High divided the nations and scattered the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the nations after the number of the angels of God;" yet those who believe in God are not under the rule of angels, but under the Lord's dominion. "For His people Jacob was made the Lord’s portion, Israel the rope of His inheritance." Additionally, at Lystra in Lycaonia, when Paul was with Barnabas and made a man walk who had been lame from birth in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the crowd wanted to honor them as gods because of this amazing deed, he told them: "We are humans like you, preaching to you God, so you may turn away from these useless idols to serve the living God, who made heaven, earth, the sea, and everything in them; who in past times allowed all nations to go their ways, yet did not leave Himself without witness, doing good, giving you rain from heaven, fruitful seasons, and filling your hearts with food and gladness." I will demonstrate that all his Epistles align with these declarations from the Epistles themselves at the appropriate time when explaining the apostle.

While I bring forth these Scriptural truths and present briefly and concisely things stated in various forms, do also pay attention with patience, and don't consider them tedious; remembering that proofs of the matters contained in the Scriptures can only be shown from the Scriptures themselves.

STEPHEN: who was chosen by the apostles as the first deacon and was the first to follow the path of martyrdom of the Lord by being killed for confessing Christ, spoke boldly among the people and taught them, saying: "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham and said to him, 'Leave your country and your kindred and come to the land I will show you.' He brought him to this land where you now live. He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground to call his own, yet He promised to give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him. God said that his descendants would live in a foreign land, be enslaved, and mistreated for four hundred years, but the nation they serve will be judged by Me, says the Lord. Afterward, they will come out and serve Me in this place. He gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and so Abraham became the father of Isaac." The rest of his words declare the same God who was with Joseph, the patriarchs, and spoke with Moses.

The entire range of the apostles' teachings proclaimed one and the same God, who called Abraham, made him the promise of inheritance, gave him the covenant of circumcision at the right time, and led his descendants out of Egypt, preserving them outwardly through circumcision—given as a sign so they wouldn't be like the Egyptians. This God is the Creator of all things, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of glory. Anyone interested can learn from the very words and actions of the apostles that this God is one, with none above Him.

EVEN IF THERE WERE ANOTHER GOD ABOVE HIM: considering the quantity of works done by each, the latter would be superior to the former, as actions reveal the better being, as I have mentioned before. These individuals have no works of their supposed father to show, thereby proving that the true God stands alone. If anyone "obsessing over questions" imagines that the apostles' declarations about God should be interpreted allegorically, they should consider my previous statements, where I presented one God as the Founder and Creator of everything, exposing and refuting their claims.

They will find my arguments consistent with the apostles' teachings, holding firm to the belief that there is one God, the Creator of all. Once an individual sheds such errors and the associated blasphemy against God, they will naturally come to recognize that both the Mosaic law and the grace of the new covenant, suitable for the times they were given, were provided by one and the same God for the benefit of humanity.

FOR ALL THOSE WITH A MISGUIDED MIND: who oppose the Mosaic law, judging it to be different and contrary to the Gospel's teachings, have not dedicated themselves to understanding the reasons for the differences between each covenant.

Therefore, having been abandoned by paternal love and influenced by Satan, they have been drawn to the teachings of Simon Magus, and strayed in their beliefs from God, imagining they have discovered more than the apostles by finding another god; they claim that the apostles preached the Gospel still somewhat under Jewish influences, but that they themselves are purer in doctrine and more intelligent than the apostles.

Thus, Marcion and his followers have resorted to altering the Scriptures, ignoring some books completely, and shortening the Gospel according to Luke and Paul's Epistles, claiming these are the only authentic texts, which they have edited.

However, in another work, God willing, I will refute them using those texts they still accept. The rest, inflated by the false notion of "knowledge," do recognize the Scriptures but distort their interpretations, as I showed in the first book. The followers of Marcion directly blaspheme the Creator, claiming him to be the source of evils, while suggesting a more tolerable theory about his origin, maintaining that there are two beings, gods by nature, differing from each other—one good, and the other evil.

Meanwhile, those from Valentinus, though using more respectful names and acknowledging the Creator as both Father, Lord, and God, render their theory more blasphemous by maintaining that He was not born from any of the Æons within the Pleroma, but from a defect expelled beyond the Pleroma. Ignorance of the Scriptures and the dispensation of God has brought all these beliefs upon them. In the course of this work, I will discuss the cause of the differences of the covenants on the one hand, and, on the other hand, their unity and harmony.

13. Both the apostles and their disciples taught just as the Church preaches, and in doing so, they were perfected, which is why they were called to what is perfect. Stephen, while teaching these truths on earth, saw the glory of God and Jesus at His right hand and exclaimed, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.” He spoke these words and was stoned, thus fulfilling the perfect doctrine. In every way, he followed the Leader of martyrdom, praying for those who were killing him with the words: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Those who reached perfection understood the same God, who was with humanity from the beginning to the end in various ways, as the prophet Hosea states: “I have filled up visions and used similitudes by the hands of the prophets.” Therefore, those who gave up their lives for Christ’s Gospel could not have spoken according to established opinion.

IF THEY HAD DONE SO: they would not have suffered.

However, because they preached contrary to those who did not accept the truth, they suffered. It is clear, therefore, that they did not abandon the truth but boldly preached to the Jews and Greeks. To the Jews, they proclaimed that the Jesus crucified by them was the Son of God, the Judge of the living and the dead, and that He received an eternal kingdom in Israel from His Father, as I have pointed out; but to the Greeks, they preached one God who made all things, and Jesus Christ His Son.

THIS IS MADE EVEN CLEARER BY THE LETTER FROM THE APOSTLES: which they sent not to the Jews or the Greeks but to those Gentiles who believed in Christ, affirming their faith. When certain men came down from Judea to Antioch—where the Lord’s disciples were first called Christians because of their faith in Christ—and tried to convince those who believed in the Lord to be circumcised and follow other aspects of the law, Paul and Barnabas traveled to Jerusalem to discuss the matter with the apostles, and the whole Church gathered together.

Peter addressed them: “Men, brothers, you know that from long ago God chose me so that the Gentiles would hear the Gospel from me and believe. And God, who knows the heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us; and made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. So why are you testing God by placing a burden on the disciples that neither our ancestors nor we could bear? We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will be saved just like they are.” After him, James spoke: “Men, brothers, Simon has explained how God planned to take from the Gentiles a people for His name.

The prophets' words agree with this, as it is written, ‘After this, I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. I will restore its ruins so that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord, including all the Gentiles who have been called by my name,’ says the Lord, who does these things. His work is known to God from eternity.

Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead, we should instruct them to abstain from the worthless practices of idols, from fornication, from blood, and from doing to others what they would not want done to themselves.” When these things were said, and all agreed, they wrote the following message: “The apostles and the elders, to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, greetings.

We have heard that some people from among us have disturbed you with their teachings, unsettling your souls by saying you must be circumcised and keep the law, though we gave them no such instructions. It seemed good to us, being in agreement, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent Judas and Silas to tell you our decision through their own words.

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond these essential requirements: to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from sexual immorality, and from doing to others what you would not want done to you. If you keep yourselves free from these, you will do well, walking in the Holy Spirit.” From these passages, it is clear that they did not teach about another Father but instead offered the new covenant of freedom to those who had recently believed in God by the Holy Spirit.

They clearly showed, through their debate about whether it was necessary to circumcise the disciples, that they did not consider another god.

IN THAT CASE: they wouldn't have maintained such an attitude toward the first covenant, as they were not even willing to eat with the Gentiles. Even Peter, although he had been sent to instruct them and had been compelled by a vision to do so, spoke with some hesitation, saying to them: "You know it is unlawful for a man who is a Jew to associate with or visit someone from another nation; but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.

Therefore, I came without objection," indicating by these words that he wouldn't have come to them unless he had been commanded. Similarly, he wouldn't have so readily given them baptism if he hadn't heard them prophesying when the Holy Ghost rested upon them. So, he exclaimed, "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" He persuaded those with him, pointing out that unless the Holy Ghost had rested upon them, there might have been someone who would have raised objections to their baptism.

The apostles with James allowed the Gentiles to act freely, yielding us to the Spirit of God.

However, they themselves, while knowing the same God, continued in the ancient observances. So, even Peter, fearing possible reproof from them, although he formerly ate with the Gentiles because of the vision and the Spirit who had rested upon them, withdrew and didn't eat with them when certain persons came from James. Paul said Barnabas did the same.

Thus, the apostles, whom the Lord made witnesses of every action and doctrine—for we frequently find Peter, James, and John present with Him—carefully acted according to the dispensation of the Mosaic law, showing that it was from one and the same God.

They certainly would not have done this, as I have already mentioned, if they had learned from the Lord that there existed another Father besides the one who established the dispensation of the law.