Against Heresies: Book III

JOHN: the disciple of the Lord, preaches this faith and seeks, by proclaiming the Gospel, to correct the error spread by Cerinthus and earlier by those known as Nicolaitans. These groups promoted a false "knowledge," claiming there is more than one God: one who created everything through His Word, and another as the Father of the Lord. They alleged that the Creator's Son was distinct from Christ, who remained impassible, descending upon Jesus, the Son of the Creator, and then returned to His Pleroma. They also claimed that Monogenes was the beginning, while Logos was the true son of Monogenes, and that this creation is not from the primary God but by a distant power separate from the divine and hidden realms.

John, desiring to end such doctrines and establish the truth in the Church that there is one Almighty God who created everything through His Word, both visible and invisible, shows that this Word also provided salvation to humanity. He begins in the Gospel with: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

When he says "all things were made by Him," he includes our creation, rejecting the notion that "all things" only refers to those within their Pleroma. If their Pleroma does contain this creation, then it is not outside, as I explained previously. But if they are outside the Pleroma, which seems improbable, then their Pleroma cannot be “all things,” and thus, this vast creation is not outside the Pleroma.

JOHN HIMSELF SETTLES THIS MATTER BEYOND ALL CONTROVERSY FOR US WHEN HE SAYS: "He was in this world, and the world was made by Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own things, and His own people did not receive Him." However, according to Marcion and those like him, the world was not made by Him, and He did not come to His own things but to those of another. According to some Gnostics, this world was made by angels and not by the Word of God. The followers of Valentinus claim the world was not made by Him but by the Demiurge, saying that Soter caused similar things to be made after a pattern of things above, but it was the Demiurge who completed the work of creation. They say that the Lord and Creator of the plan of creation, by whom they believe this world was made, was produced from the Mother. Yet the Gospel clearly states that by the Word, which was in the beginning with God, all things were made, and this Word "was made flesh and dwelt among us."

ACCORDING TO THESE MEN: neither the Word became flesh, nor Christ, nor the Saviour, who was produced from the joint contributions of all the Æons. They claim that the Word and Christ never came into this world; that the Saviour also never became incarnate or suffered, but that He descended like a dove upon the earthly Jesus; and that, as soon as He had declared the unknown Father, He ascended again into the Pleroma. Some, however, assert that this earthly Jesus did become incarnate and suffered, describing Him as having passed through Mary just as water through a tube, but others claim Him to be the Son of the Demiurge, upon whom the earthly Jesus descended; while others say that Jesus was born from Joseph and Mary, and that the Christ from above descended upon Him, being without flesh and unable to suffer.

But according to none of these heretics' opinions was the Word of God made flesh. If anyone carefully examines all their systems, he will find that they all portray the Word of God as not having become incarnate and unable to suffer, just like the Christ from above. Others consider Him to have appeared as a transfigured man, but they maintain He was neither born nor became incarnate; while others hold that He did not assume a human form at all, but that, as a dove, He descended upon the Jesus who was born from Mary.

Therefore, the Lord's disciple, identifying them all as false witnesses, says, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us."

AND SO WE DO NOT NEED TO ASK: From which God was the Word made flesh? He teaches us this beforehand, saying, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the Light. He was not the Light, but came to testify about the Light.” By which God, then, was John, the forerunner who testifies about the Light, sent into the world? Truly it was by Him, for whom Gabriel is the angel, who also announced the good news of his birth: that God who had promised through the prophets to send His messenger ahead of His Son, who would prepare His way, that is, to testify about the Light in the spirit and power of Elias.

But, again, from which God was Elias, the servant and prophet? From Him who made heaven and earth, as he himself acknowledges. John, therefore, having been sent by the creator of this world, how could he testify about that Light, which came from realms unspeakable and invisible? For all the heretics have decided that the Demiurge was unaware of that Power above him, whose witness and herald John is shown to be. This is why the Lord said he considered him “more than a prophet.” All the other prophets preached the coming of the paternal Light and wished to be worthy of seeing Him whom they preached; but John both announced the coming beforehand, like the others, and actually saw Him when He came.

He pointed Him out and convinced many to believe in Him, thus holding the role of both prophet and apostle himself. For this is to be more than a prophet, because there are “first apostles, secondarily prophets;” but all things come from one and the same God Himself.

THAT WINE: which God produced in a vineyard and was initially consumed, was good. None of those who drank it found any fault with it, and the Lord also drank it. But the wine that the Word made from water, instantly and just for the use of those invited to the wedding, was better. Although the Lord had the power to provide wine for the feast without needing any created substance and to feed the hungry, He did not choose to do so. Instead, by taking the loaves that the earth produced, giving thanks, and on another occasion turning water into wine, He satisfied those reclining at the table and gave drink to the wedding guests. This demonstrated that the God who made the earth and commanded it to bring forth fruit, who established the waters and brought forth the fountains, is the one who in these last times bestowed upon humanity, through His Son, the blessing of food and the favor of drink: the Incomprehensible acting through the comprehensible, and the Invisible through the visible, as there is none beyond Him, and He exists in the bosom of the Father.

For "no man," he says, "has seen God at any time," unless "the only-begotten Son of God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." For He, the Son who is in His bosom, declares to everyone the Father who is invisible. Therefore, they know Him to whom the Son reveals Him; and again, the Father, through the Son, gives knowledge of His Son to those who love Him. By whom also Nathanael, being taught, recognized Him, he to whom the Lord gave witness, that he was "an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile." The Israelite recognized his King, therefore he cried out to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God, You are the King of Israel." By whom also Peter, having been taught, recognized Christ as the Son of the living God, when God said, "Behold My dearly beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon Him, and He shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He shall not break, and smoking flax He shall not quench, until He sends forth judgment into victory; and in His name the Gentiles shall trust."

SUCH: therefore, are the basic principles of the Gospel: that there is one God, the Creator of this universe; He is the one announced by the prophets, and through Moses established the law—principles which declare Him as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, denying any other God or Father besides Him. The Gospels are so soundly grounded that even the heretics themselves acknowledge them, and from these writings, each attempts to support their own unique doctrine. The Ebionites, who use only the Gospel of Matthew, are refuted by this very Gospel, as they make false assumptions about the Lord. Marcion, who distorts the Gospel of Luke, is shown to be a blasphemer of the one true God, even from the passages he retains. Those who separate Jesus from Christ, claiming that Christ was impassible while Jesus suffered, and prefer the Gospel of Mark, can have their errors corrected if they read it with a love of truth. Furthermore, those who follow Valentinus and extensively use the Gospel of John to support their theories will be proven completely wrong by this very Gospel, as I demonstrated in the first book. Since our opponents testify to us and use these writings, our proof from them is firm and true.

IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR THE GOSPELS TO BE MORE OR FEWER IN NUMBER THAN THEY ARE: Since there are four zones of the world we live in and four principal winds, while the Church is spread throughout the whole world, and the "pillar and ground" of the Church is the Gospel and the spirit of life; it's fitting that it should have four pillars, breathing out immortality on every side and renewing humans. From this fact, it's clear that the Word, the Creator of all, He who sits upon the cherubim and contains all things, He who was revealed to humanity, has given us the Gospel in four aspects, but connected by one Spirit.

As David says when pleading for His manifestation, “You that sit between the cherubim, shine forth.” For the cherubim were also four-faced, and their faces were images of the arrangement of the Son of God. As Scripture says, “The first living creature was like a lion,” symbolizing His powerful work, His leadership, and royal power; the second living creature was like a calf, signifying His sacrificial and priestly order; the third had, as it were, the face of a man—clearly describing His coming as a human; the fourth was like a flying eagle, pointing out the gift of the Spirit hovering with His wings over the Church.

Therefore, the Gospels align with these things, with Christ Jesus at their center. For the Gospel according to John relates His original, effective, and glorious birth from the Father, declaring, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Also, “all things were made by Him, and nothing was made without Him.” For this reason, this Gospel is full of confidence, for such is His nature.

But the Gospel according to Luke, focusing on His priestly role, begins with Zacharias the priest offering sacrifice to God.

For now, the fatted calf was prepared, about to be sacrificed for the return of the younger son. Matthew, again, relates His birth as a man, saying, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham;” and also, “The birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise.” This is the Gospel of His humanity; for this reason, a humble and gentle character is maintained throughout the whole Gospel. Mark, on the other hand, begins with a reference to the prophetic spirit coming down from above to humans, saying, “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet,”—pointing to the inspiring aspect of the Gospel; and because of this, he made a concise and brief narrative, for such is the prophetic nature.

The Word of God Himself used to communicate with the patriarchs before Moses, in line with His divinity and glory; but for those under the law, He established a priestly and liturgical service.

Later, being made human for us, He sent the gift of the heavenly Spirit over all the earth, protecting us with His wings. Such was the path followed by the Son of God, and so was the form of the living creatures; and just as was the form of the living creatures, so was the character of the Gospel.

The living creatures are fourfold, and the Gospel is fourfold, as is the path of the Lord. For this reason, four principal covenants were given to humanity: one, before the flood, under Adam; the second, after the flood, under Noah; the third, the giving of the law, under Moses; the fourth, that which renews humanity and sums up all things in itself through the Gospel, raising and carrying humans upon its wings into the heavenly kingdom.

GIVEN THESE POINTS: all who distort the shape of the Gospel are vain, ignorant, and also bold; those, I mean, who portray the aspects of the Gospel as being either more numerous or, alternatively, fewer than previously stated. The first group does so to appear as if they have discovered more than the truth; the latter group does this to dismiss the plans of God. Marcion, for instance, rejects the entire Gospel, indeed even cuts himself off from it, yet claims to share in the Gospel's blessings.

Others (the Montanists), in order to disregard the gift of the Spirit—which, by the grace of the Father, was given to humanity in later times—do not acknowledge the aspect of the evangelical dispensation shown in John's Gospel, where the Lord promised to send the Paraclete; but dismiss both the Gospel and the prophetic Spirit. Truly wretched individuals! They wish to be false prophets, but they reject the gift of prophecy from the Church, acting like the Encratites who, due to hypocrites, distance themselves from the community of believers.

We must also conclude that these men (the Montanists) cannot accept the Apostle Paul either. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul clearly talks about prophetic gifts and recognizes both men and women prophesying in the Church. Sinning in these matters against the Spirit of God, they commit the unforgivable sin.

Meanwhile, those from Valentinus are utterly reckless, boasting that they have more Gospels than exist while presenting their own writings. They're so audacious that they call their recent work "the Gospel of Truth," although it bears no resemblance to the Apostolic Gospels, making their Gospel full of blasphemy.

For if what they've published is the Gospel of Truth, yet completely differs from what the apostles handed down, it's clear, as the Scriptures themselves affirm, that what is handed down from the apostles should no longer be deemed the Gospel of Truth.

But these Gospels alone are true and reliable, allowing neither an increase nor decrease in their number, as I have proven through numerous arguments. Since God created everything in proportion and harmony, it was also fitting for the outward appearance of the Gospel to be well-organized and consistent.

Therefore, having examined the views of those who passed the Gospel down to us, from their very origins, let us also proceed to consider the remaining apostles and investigate their teachings regarding God; then, in due course, we shall listen to the words of the Lord.