the gospel of basilides

7/30/2019 The Gospel of Basilides

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The Gospel of Basilides

What little we know about the Gospel of Basilides we know from the letters and writings of Hippolytus, Clement ofAlexandria, Origen and Hegemonius.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02326a.htm

From Hipploytus' "The Refutation of All Heresies", Book 7:

CHAP. II.--THE SYSTEM OF BASILIDES DERIVED FROM ARISTOTLE.Since, therefore, in the six books preceding this, we have explained previous(heretical opinions), it now seems proper not to be silent respecting the

(doctrines) of Basilides, which are the tenets of Aristotle the Stagyrite, not (those)of Christ. But even though on a former occasion the opinions propounded byAristotle have been elucidated, we shall not even now scruple to set them downbeforehand in a sort of synopsis, for the purpose of enabling my readers, bymeans of a nearer comparison of the two systems, to perceive with facility thatthe doctrines advanced by Basilides are (in reality) the clever quibbles ofAristotle.

CHAP. VII.--ARISTOTLE'S COSMOGONY; HIS "PSYCHOLOGY;" HIS"ENTELECHEIA;" HIS THEOLOGY; HIS ETHICS; BASILIDES FOLLOWSARISTOTLE.

But concerning Substance, the statements now made will suffice. But not only isSubstance denominated genus, species, (and) individual, but also matter, andform, and privation. There is, however, (as regards the substance,) in these nodifference, even though the division be allowed to stand. Now, inasmuch asSubstance is of this description, the arrangement of the world has taken placeaccording to some such plan as the following. The world is divided, according toAristotle, into very numerous and diversified parts. Now the portion of the worldwhich extends from the earth to the moon is devoid of foresight, guideless, and isunder the sway of that nature alone which belongs to itself. But another (part ofthe world which lies) beyond the moon, and extends to the surface of heaven, isarranged in the midst of all order and foresight and governance. Now, the

(celestial) superficies constitutes a certain fifth substance, and is remote from allthose natural elements out of which the cosmical system derives consistence.

And this is a certain fifth Substance, according to Aristotle,--as it were, a certainsuper-mundane essence. And (this essence) has become (a logical necessity) inhis system, in order to accord with the (Peripatetic) division of the world. And (thetopic of this fifth nature) constitutes a distinct investigation in philosophy. Forthere is extant a certain disquisition, styled A Lecture on Physical (Phenomena),
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in which he has elaborately treated concerning the operations which areconducted by nature and not providence, (in the quarter of space extending) fromthe earth as far as the moon. And there is also extant by him a certain otherpeculiar treatise on the principles of things (in the region) beyond the moon, andit bears the following inscription: Metaphysics. And another peculiar dissertation

has been (written) by him, entitled Concerning a Fifth Substance, and in this workAristotle unfolds his theological opinions.

There exists some such division of the universe as we have now attempted todelineate in outline, and (corresponding with it is the division) of the Aristotelianphilosophy. His work, however, (styled) Concerning the Soul, is obscure. For inthe entire three books (where he treats of this subject) it is not possible to sayclearly what is Aristotle's opinion concerning the soul. For, as regards thedefinition which he furnishes of soul, it is easy (enough) to declare this; but whatit is that is signified by the definition is difficult to discover. For soul, he says, isan entelecheia of a natural organic body; (but to explain) what this is at all, would

require a very great number of arguments and a lengthened investigation. Asregards, however, the Deity, the Originator of all those glorious objects increation, (the nature of) this (First Cause)--even to one conducting hisspeculations by a more prolonged inquiry than that concerning (the soul)--is moredifficult to know than the soul itself. The definition, however, which Aris totlefurnishes of the Deity is, I admit, not difficult to ascertain, but it is impossible tocomprehend the meaning of it. For, he says, (the Deity) is a "conception ofconception;" but this is altogether a non-existent (entity).

The world, however, is incorruptible (and) eternal, according to Aristotle.

For it has in itself nothing faulty, inasmuch as it is directed by Providence andNature. And Aristotle has laid down doctrines not only concerning Nature and acosmical system, and Providence, and God, but he has written (more than this);for there is extant by him likewise a certain treatise on ethical subjects, and thesehe inscribes Books of Ethics. But throughout these he aims at rendering thehabits of his hearers excellent from being worthless. When, therefore, Basilideshas been discovered, not in spirit alone, but also in the actual expressions andnames, transferring the tenets of Aristotle into our evangelical and savingdoctrine, what remains, but that, by restoring what he has appropriated fromothers, we should prove to the disciples of this (heretic) that Christ will in no wiseprofit them, inasmuch as they are heathenish?

CHAP. VIII.--BASILIDES AND ISIDORUS ALLEGE APOSTOLIC SANCTIONFOR THEIR SYSTEMS; THEY REALLY FOLLOW ARISTOTLE.Basilides, therefore, and Isidorus, the true son and disciple of Basilides, say thatMatthias communicated to them secret discourses, which, I being speciallyinstructed, he heard from the Saviour. Let us, then, see how clearly Basilides,simultaneously with Isidorus, and the entire band of these (heretics), not onlyabsolutely belies Matthias, but even the Saviour Himself.


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(Time) was, says (Basilides), when there was nothing. Not even, however, didthat nothing constitute anything of existent things; but, to express myselfundisguisedly and candidly, and without any quibbling, it is altogether nothing.But when, he says, I employ the expression "was,"I do not say that it was; but (I

speak in this way) in order to signify the meaning of what I wish to elucidate. Iaffirm then, he says, that it was "altogether nothing." For, he says, that is notabsolutely ineffable which is named,--although undoubtedly we call thisineffable,--but that which is "non-ineffable." For that which is "non-ineffable" is notdenominated ineffable, but is, he says, above every name that is named. For, hesays, by no means for the world are these names sufficient, but so manifold areits divisions that there is a deficiency (of names). And I do not take it upon myselfto discover, he says, proper denominations for all things. Undoubtedly, however,one ought mentally, not by means of names, to conceive, after an ineffablemanner, the peculiarities (of things) denominated. For an equivocal terminology,(when employed by teachers,) has created for their pupils confusion and a

source of error concerning objects. (The Basilidians), in the first instance, layinghold on this borrowed and furtively derived tenet from the Peripatetic (sage), playupon the folly of those who herd together with them. For Aristotle, born manygenerations before Basilides, first lays down a system in The Categoriesconcerning homonymous words. And these heretics bring this (system) to light asif it were peculiarly their own, and as if it were some novel (doctrine), and somesecret disclosure from the discourses of Matthias.

CHAP. IX.--BASILIDES ADOPTS THE ARISTOTELIAN DOCTRINE OF"NONENTITY."Since, therefore, "nothing" existed,-- (I mean) not matter, nor substance, norwhat is insubstantial, nor is absolute, nor composite, (nor conceivable, norinconceivable, (nor what is sensible,) nor devoid of senses, nor man, nor angel,nor a god, nor, in short, any of those objects that have names, or areapprehended by sense, or that are cognised by intellect, but (are) thus(cognised), even with greater minuteness, still, when all things are absolutelyremoved,-- (since, I say, "nothing" existed,) God, "non-existent,"--whom Aristotlestyles "conception of conception," but these (Basilidians) "non-existent,"-inconceivably, insensibly, indeterminately, involuntarily, impassively, (and)unactuated by desire, willed to create a world. Now I employ, he says, theexpression "willed" for the purpose of signifying (that he did so) involuntarily, andinconceivably, and insensibly.

And by the expression "world" I do not mean that which was subsequentlyformed according to breadth and division, and which stood apart; nay, (far fromthis,) for (I mean) the germ of a world. The germ, however, of the world had allthings in itself. Just as the grain of mustard comprises all things simultaneously,holding them (collected) together within the very smallest (compass), viz. roots,stem, branches, leaves, and innumerable gains which are produced from theplant, seeds again of other plants, and frequently of others (still), that are


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produced (from them). In this way,"non-existent" God made the world out ofnonentities, casting and depositing some one Seed that contained in itself aconglomeration of the germs of the world. But in order that I may render moreclear what it is those (heretics) affirm, (I shall mention the following illustration oftheirs.) As an egg of some variegated and particoloured bird,--for instance the

peacock, or some other (bird) still more manifold and particoloured,--being one inreality, contains in itself numerous forms of manifold, and particoloured, andmuch compounded substances; so, he says, the nonexistent seed of the world,which has been deposited by the non-existent God, constitutes at the same timethe germ of a multitude of forms and a multitude of substances.

CHAP. X.--ORIGIN OF THE WORLD; BASILIDES' ACCOUNT OF THE"SONSHIP."All things, therefore whatsoever it is possible to declare, and whatever, being notas yet discovered, one must omit, were likely to receive adaptation to the worldwhich was about to be generated from the Seed. And this (Seed), at the requisite

seasons, increases in bulk in a peculiar manner, according to accession, asthrough the instrumentality of a Deity so great, and of this description. (But thisDeity) the creature can neither express nor grasp by perception. (Now, all thesethings) were inherent, treasured in the Seed, as we afterwards observe in a new-born child the growth of teeth, and paternal substance, and intellect, andeverything which, though previously having no existence, accrues unto a man,growing little by little, from a youthful period of life. But since it would be absurdto say that any projection of a non-existent God became anything non-existent(for Basilides altogether sirens and dreads the Substances of things generated inthe way of projection for, (he asks,) of what sort of projection is there a necessity,or of what sort of matter must we assume the previous existence, in order thatGod should construct a world, as the spider his web; or a mortal man, for thepurpose of working it, takes a (piece of) brass or of wood, or some other of theparts of matter?),-- (projection, I say, being out of the question,) certainly, says(Basilides), God spoke the word, and it was carried into effect. And this, as thesemen assert, is that which has been stated by Moses:

"Let there be light, and there was light." Whence he says, came the light?

From nothing. For it has not been written, he says, whence, but this only, (that itcame) from the voice of him who speaks the word. And he who speaks the word,he says, was non-existent; nor was that existent which was being produced. Theseed of the cosmical system was generated, he says, from nonentities; (and Imean by the seed,) the word which was spoken, "Let there be light." And this, hesays, is that which has been stated in the Gospels:

"He was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Hederives his originating principles from that Seed, and obtains from the samesource his illuminating power. This is that seed which has in itself the entireconglomeration of germs. And Aristotle affirms this to be genius, and it is


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distributed by him into infinite species; just as from animal, which is non-existent,we sever ox, horse, (and) man. When, therefore, the cosmical Seed becomes thebasis (for a subsequent development), those (heretics) assert, (to quoteBasilides' own words:) "Whatsoever I affirm," he says, "to have been made afterthese, ask no question as to whence. For (the Seed) had all seeds treasured and

reposing in itself, just as non-existent entities, and which were designed to beproduced by a non-existent Deity."

Let us see, therefore, what they say is first, or what second, or what third, (in thedevelopment of) what is generated from the cosmical Seed. There existed, hesays, in the Seed itself, a Sonship, threefold, in every respect of the sameSubstance with the non-existent God, (and) begotten from nonentities, Of thisSonship (thus) involving a threefold division, one part was refined, (anothergross,) and another requiring purification. The refined portion, therefore, in thefirst place, simultaneously with the earliest deposition of the Seed by the non-existent one, immediately burst forth and went upwards and hurried above from

below, employing a sort of velocity described in poetry,- " . . . As wing orthought," - and attained, he says, unto him that is nonexistent. For every naturedesires that (nonexistent one), on account of a superabundance of beauty andbloom. Each (nature desires this), however, after a different mode. The moregross portion, however, (of the Sonship) continuing still in the Seed, (and) beinga certain imitative (principle), was not able to hurry upwards. For (this portion)was much more deficient in the refinement that the Sonship possessed, whichthrough itself hurried upwards, (and so the more gross portion) was left behind.Therefore the more gross Sonship equipped it self with some such wing as Plato,the Preceptor of Aristotle, fastens on the soul in (his) Phoedrus. And Basilidesstyles such, not a wing, but Holy Spirit; and Sonship invested in this (Spirit)confers benefits, and receives them in turn. He confers benefits, because, as awing of a bird, when removed from the bird, would not of itself soar high up andaloft; nor, again, would a bird, when disengaged from its pinion, at any time soarhigh up and aloft; (so, in like manner,) the Sonship involved some such relation inreference to the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit in reference to the Sonship. For theSonship, carried upwards by the Spirit as by a wing, bears aloft (in turn) itspinion, that is, the Spirit. And it approaches the refined Sonship, and the non-existent God, even Him who fabricated the world out of nonentities. He was not,(however,) able to have this (spirit) with (the Sonship) itself; for it was not of thesame substance (with God), nor has it (any) nature (in common) with theSonship. But as pure and dry air is contrary to (their) nature, and destructive tofishes; so, in contrariety to the nature of the Holy Spirit, was that placesimultaneously of non-existent Deity and Sonship,-- (a place) more ineffable thanineffable (entities), and higher up than all names.

Sonship, therefore, left this (spirit) near that Blessed Place, which cannot beconceived or represented by any expression. (He left the spirit) not altogetherdeserted or separated from the Sonship; nay, (far from it,) for it is just as when amost fragrant ointment is put into a vessel, that, even though (the vessel) be


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emptied (of it) with ever so much care, nevertheless some odour of the ointmentstill remains, and is left behind, even after (the ointment) is separated from thevessel; and the vessel retains an odour of ointment, though (it contain) not theointment (itself). So the Holy Spirit has continued without any share in theSonship, and separated (from it), and has in itself, similarly with ointment, its own

power, a savour of Sonship.

And this is what has been declared: "As the ointment upon the head whichdescended to the beard of Aaron." This is the savour from the Holy Spirit bornedown from above, as far as formlessness, and the interval (of space) in thevicinity of our world. And from this the Son began to ascend, sustained as itwere, says (Basilides), upon eagles' wings, and upon the back. For, he says, all(entities) hasten upwards from below, from things inferior to those that aresuperior. For not one of those things that are among things superior, is so silly asto descend beneath. The third Sonship, however, that which requires purification,has continued, he says, in the vast conglomeration of all germs conferring

benefits and receiving them. But in what manner it is that (the third Sonship)receives benefits and confers them, we shall afterwards declare when we cometo the proper place for discussing this question.

CHAP. XI.--THE "GREAT ARCHON" OF BASILIDES.When, therefore, a first and second ascension of the Sonship took place, and theHoly Spirit itself also remained after the mode mentioned, the firmament wasplaced between the super-mundane (spaces) and the world. For existing thingswere distributed by Basilides into two continuous and primary divisions, and are,according to him, denominated partly in a certain (respect) world, and partly in acertain (respect) super-mundane (spaces). But the spirit, a line of demarcationbetween the world and super-mundane (spaces), is that which is both holy, andhas abiding in itself the savour of Sonship. While, therefore, the firmament whichis above the heaven is coining into existence, there burst forth, and was begottenfrom the cosmical Seed, and the conglomeration of all germs, the Great Archon(and) Head of the world, (who constitutes) a certain (species of) beauty, andmagnitude, and indissoluble power. For, says he, he is more ineffable thanineffable entities, and more potent than potent ones, and more wise than wiseones, and superior to all the beautiful ones whatever you could mention. This(Archon), when begotten, raised Himself up and soared aloft, and was carried upentire as far as the firmament. And there He paused, supposing the firmament tobe the termination of His ascension and elevation, and considering that thereexisted nothing at all beyond these. And than all the subjacent (entities)whatsoever there were among them which remained mundane, He became morewise, more powerful, more comely, more lustrous, (in fact,) pre-eminent forbeauty above any entities yon could mention with the exception of the Sonshipalone, which is still left in the (conglomeration of) all germs. For he was notaware that there is (a Sonship) wiser and more powerful, and better than Himself.


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Therefore imagining Himself to be Lord, and Governor, and a wise MasterBuilder, He turns Himself to (the work of) the creation of every object in thecosmical system. And first, he deemed it proper not to be alone, but made untoHimself, and generated from adjacent (entities), a Son far superior to Him self,and wiser. For all these things had the non-existent Deity previously determined

upon, when He cast down the (conglomeration of) all germs. Beholding,therefore, the Son, He was seized with astonishment, and loved (Him), and wasstruck with amazement. For some beauty of this description appeared to theGreat Archon to belong to the Son, and the Archon caused Him to sit on his right(hand). This is, according to these (heretics), what is denominated the Ogdoad,where the Great Archon has his throne. The entire celestial creation, then, that is,the AEther, He Himself, the Great Wise Demiurge formed. The Son, however,begotten of this (Archon), operates in Him, and offered Him suggestions, beingendued with far greater wisdom than the Demiurge Himself.

CHAP. XII.--BASILIDES ADOPTS THE "ENTELECHEIA" OF ARISTOTLE.

This, then, constitutes the entelecheia of the natural organic body, according toAristotle, (viz.,) a soul operating in the body, without which the body is able toaccomplish nothing; (I mean nothing) that is greater, and more illustrious, andmore powerful, and more wise than the body. The account, therefore, whichAristotle has previously rendered concerning the soul and the body, Basilideselucidates as applied to the Great Archon and his Son. For the Archon hasgenerated, according to Basilides, a son; and the soul as an operation andcompletion, Aristotle asserts to be an entelecheia of a natural organic hotly. As,therefore, the entelecheia controls the body, so the Son, according to Basilides,controls the God that is more ineffable than ineffable (entities). All things,therefore, have been provided for, and managed by the majesty of the GreatArchon; (I mean) whatever objects exist in the aethereal region of space as far asthe moon, for from that quarter onwards air is separated from aether. When allobjects in the aethereal regions, then, were arranged, again from (theconglomeration of) all germs another Archon ascended, greater, of course, thanall subjacent (entities) with the exception, however, of the Sonship that had beenleft behind, but far inferior to the First Archon. And this (second Archon) is calledby them Rhetus. And this Topos is styled Hebdomad, and this (Archon) is themanager and fabricator of all subjacent (entities). And He has likewise made untoHimself out (of the conglomeration of) all germs, a son who is more prudent andwise than Himself, similarly to what has been stated to have taken place in thecase of the First Archon. That which exists in this quarter (of the universe)constitutes, he says, the actual conglomeration and collection of all seeds; andthe things which are generated are produced according to nature, as has beendeclared already by Him who calculates on things future, when they ought (tobe), and what sort they ought (to be), and how they ought (to be). And of theseno one is Chief, or Guardian, or Creator. For sufficient (cause of existence) forthem is that calculation which the Non-Existent One formed when He exercisedthe function of creation.


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CHAP. XIII.--FURTHER EXPLANATION OF THE "SONSHIP."When, therefore, according to these (heretics), the entire world and super-mundane entities were finished, and (when) nothing exists labouring underdeficiency, there still remains in the (conglomeration of) all germs the thirdSonship, which had been left behind in the Seed to confer benefits and receive

them. And it must needs be that the Sonship which had been left behind oughtlikewise to be revealed and reinstated above. And His place should be above theConterminous Spirit, near the refined and imitative Sonship and the Non-ExistentOne. But this would be in accordance with what has been written, he says: "Andthe creation itself groaneth together, and travaileth in pain together, waiting forthe manifestation of the sons of God." Now, we who are spiritual are sons, hesays, who have been left here to arrange, and mould, and rectify, and completethe souls which, according to nature, are so constituted as to continue in thisquarter of the universe. "Sin, then, reigned from Adam unto Moses," as it hasbeen written. For the Great Archon exercised dominion and possesses an empirewith limits extending as far as the firmament. And He imagines Himself alone to

be God, and that there exists nothing above Him, for (the reason that) all thingshave been guarded by unrevealed Siope. This, he says, is the mystery which hasnot been made known to former generations; but in those days the Great Archon,the Ogdoad, was King and Lord, as it seemed, of the universe. But (in reality) theHebdomad was king and lord of this quarter of the universe, and the Ogdoad isArrhetus, whereas the Hebdomad is Rhetus. This, he says, is the Archon of theHebdomad, who has spoken to Moses, and says: "I am the God of Abraham, andIsaac, and Jacob, and I have not manifested unto them the name of God" (for sothey wish that it had been written)--that is, the God, Arrhetus, Archon of theOgdoad. All the prophets, therefore, who were before the Saviour uttered theirpredictions, he says, from this source (of inspiration). Since, therefore, it wasrequisite, he says, that we should be revealed as the children of God, inexpectation of whose manifestation, he says, the creation habitually groans andtravails in pain, the Gospel came into the world, and passed through everyPrincipality, and Power, and Dominion, and every Name that is named. And (theGospel) came in reality, though nothing descended from above; nor did theblessed Sonship retire from that Inconceivable, and Blessed, (and) Non-ExistentGod. Nay, (far from it;) for as Indian naphtha, when lighted merely from aconsiderably long distance, nevertheless attracts fire (towards it), so from below,from the formlessness of the conglomeration (of all germs), the powers passupwards as far as the Sonship. For, according to the illustration of the Indiannaphtha, the Son of the Great Archon of the Ogdoad, as if he were some (sort of)naphtha, apprehends and seizes conceptions from the Blessed Sonship, whoseplace of habitation is situated after that of the Conterminous (Spirit). For thepower of the Sonship which is in the midst of the Holy Spirit, (that is,) in, themidst of the (Conterminous) Spirit, shares the flowing and rushing thoughts of theSonship with the Son of the Great Archon.


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CHAP. XIV.--WHENCE CAME THE GOSPEL; THE NUMBER OF HEAVENSACCORDING TO BASILIDES; EXPLANATION OF CHRIST'S MIRACULOUSCONCEPTION.The Gospel then came, says (Basilides), first from the Sonship through the Son,that was seated beside the Archon, to the Archon, and the Archon learned that

He was not God of the universe, but was begotten. But (ascertaining that) He hasabove Himself the deposited treasure of that Ineffable and Unnameable (and)Non-existent One, and of the Sonship, He was both converted and filled withterror, when He was brought to understand in what ignorance He was (involved).This, he says, is what has been declared: "The fear of the Lord is the beginningof wisdom." For, being orally instructed by Christ, who was seated near, hebegan to acquire wisdom, (inasmuch as he thereby) learns who is the Non-Existent One, what the Sonship, what the Holy Spirit, what the apparatus of theuniverse, and what is likely to be the consummation of things. This is the wisdomspoken in a mystery, concerning which, says (Basilides), Scripture uses thefollowing expressions: "Not in words taught of human wisdom, but in (those)

taught of the Spirit." The Archon, then, being orally instructed, and taught, andbeing (thereby) filled with fear, proceeded to make confession concerning the sinwhich He had committed in magnifying Himself. This, he says, is what isdeclared: "I have recognised my sin, and I know my transgression, (and) aboutthis I shall confess for ever." When, then, the Great Archon had been orallyinstructed, and every creature of the Ogdoad had been orally instructed andtaught, and (after) the mystery became known to the celestial (powers), it wasalso necessary that afterwards the Gospel should come to the Hebdomad, inorder likewise that the Archon of the Hebdomad might be similarly instructed andindoctrinated into the Gospel. The Son of the Great Archon (therefore) kindled inthe Son of the Archon of the Hebdomad the light which Himself possessed andhad kindled from above from the Sonship. And the Son of the Archon of theHebdomad had radiance imparted to Him, and He proclaimed the Gospel to theArchon of the Hebdomad. And in like manner, according to the previous account,He Himself was both terrified and induced to make confession. When, therefore,all (beings) in the Hebdomad had been likewise enlightened, and had the Gospelannounced to them (for in these regions of the universe there exist, according tothese heretics, creatures infinite (in number), viz., Principalities and Powers andRulers, in regard of which there is extant among the (Basilidians) a very prolixand verbose treatise, where they allege that there are three hundred and sixty-five heavens, and that the great Archon of these is Abrasax, from the fact that hisname comprises the computed number 365, so that, of course, the calculation ofthe title includes all (existing) things, and that for these reasons the year consistsof so many days);--but when, he says, these (two events, viz., the illumination ofthe Hebdomad and the manifestation of the Gospel) had thus taken place, it wasnecessary, likewise, that afterwards the Formlessness existent in our quarter ofcreation should have radiance imparted to it, and that the mystery should berevealed to the Sonship, which had been left behind in Formlessness, just like anabortion.


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Now this (mystery) was not made known to previous generations, as he says, ithas been written, "By revelation was made known unto me the mystery;" and, "Ihave heard inex pressible words which it is not possible for man to declare." Thelight, (therefore,) which came down from the Ogdoad above to the Son of theHebdomad, descended from the Hebdomad upon Jesus the son of Mary, and he

had radiance imparted to him by being illuminated with the light that shone uponhim. This, he says, is that which has been declared: "The Holy Spirit will comeupon thee," (meaning) that which proceeded from the Sonship through theconterminous spirit upon the Ogdoad and Hebdomad, as far as Mary; "and thepower of the Highest will overshadow thee," (meaning) the power of theanointing, (which streamed) from the (celestial) height above (through) theDemiurge, as far as the creation, which is (as far as) the Son. And as far as that(Son) he says the world consisted thus. And as far as this, the entire Sonship,which is left behind for benefiting the souls in Formlessness, and for being therecipient in turn of benefits,-- (this Sonship, I say,) when it is transformed,followed Jesus, and hastened upwards, and came forth purified.

And it becomes most refined, so that it could, as the first (Sonship), hastenupwards through its own instrumentality. For it possesses all the power that,according to nature, is firmly connected with the light which from above shonedown (upon earth).

CHAP. XV.--GOD'S DEALINGS WITH THE CREATURE; BASILIDES' NOTIONOF THE INNER MAN, THE GOSPEL; HIS INTERPRETATION OF THE LIFEAND SUFFERINGS OF OUR LORD.When, therefore, he says, the entire Sonship shall have come, and shall beabove the conterminous spirit, then the creature will become the object of mercy.For (the creature) groans until now, and is tormented, and waits for themanifestation of the sons of God, in order that all who are men of the Sonshipmay ascend from thence. When this takes place, God, he says, will bring uponthe whole world enormous ignorance, that all things may continue according tonature, and that nothing may inordinately desire anything of the things that arecontrary to nature. But (far from it); for all the souls of this quarter of creation, asmany as possess the nature of remaining immortal in this (region) only, continue(in it), aware of nothing superior or better (than their present state). And there willnot prevail any rumour or knowledge in regions below, concerning beings whosedwelling is placed above, lest subjacent souls should be wrung with torture fromlonging after impossibilities. (It would be) just as if a fish were to crave to feed onthe mountains along with sheep. (For) a wish of this description would, he says,be their destruction. All things, therefore, that abide in (this) quarter areincorruptible, but corruptible if they are disposed to wander and cross over fromthe things that are according to nature. In this way the Archon of the Hebdomadwill know nothing of superjacent entities. For enormous ignorance will lay hold onthis one likewise, in order that sorrow, and grief, and groaning may depart fromhim; for he will not desire aught of impossible things, nor will he be visited withanguish. In like manner, however, the same ignorance will lay hold also on the


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Great Archon of the Ogdoad, and similarly on all the creatures that are subjectunto him, in order that in no respect anything may desire aught of those thingsthat are contrary to nature, and may not (thus) be overwhelmed with sorrow. Andso there will be the restitution of all things which, in conformity with nature, havefrom the beginning a foundation in the seed of the universe, but will be restored

at (their own) proper periods. And that each thing, says (Basilides), has its ownparticular times, the Saviour is a sufficient (witness when He observes, "Minehour is not yet come." And the Magi (afford similar testimony) when they gazewistfully upon the (Saviour's) star. For (Jesus) Himself was, he says, mentallypreconceived at the time of the generation of the stars, and of the completereturn to their starting-point of the seasons in the vast conglomeration (of allgerms). This is, according to these (Basilidians), he who has been conceived asthe inner spiritual man in what is natural (now this is the Sonship which left therethe soul, not (that it might be) mortal, but that it might abide here according tonature, just as the first Sonship left above in its proper locality the Holy Spirit,(that is, the spirit) which is conterminous),-- (this, I say, is he who has been

conceived as the inner spiritual man, and) has then been arrayed in his ownpeculiar soul.

In order, however, that we may not omit any of the doctrines of this (Basilides), Ishall likewise explain whatever statements they put forward respecting a gospel.For gospel with them, as has been elucidated, is of super-mundane entities theknowledge which the Great Archon did not understand. As, then, it wasmanifested unto him that there are likewise the Holy Spirit--that is, theconterminous (spirit)--and the Sonship, and the Non-Existent God, the cause ofall these, he rejoiced at the communications made to him, and was filled withexultation.

According to them, this constitutes the gospel. Jesus, however, was born,according to these (heretics), as we have already declared. And when thegeneration which has been previously explained took place, all the events in ourLord's life occurred, according to them, in the same manner as they have beendescribed in the Gospels. And these things happened, he says, in order thatJesus might become the first-fruits of a distinction of the different orders (ofcreated objects) that had been confused together. For when the world had beendivided into an Ogdoad, which is the head of the entire world,--now the greatArchon is head of the entire world,--and into a Hebdomad,--which is the head ofthe Hebdomad, the Demiurge of subjacent entities,--and into this order ofcreatures (that prevails) amongst us, where exists Formlessness, it was requisitethat the various orders of created objects that had been confounded togethershould be distinguished by a separating process performed by Jesus. (Now thisseparation) that which was his corporeal part suffered, and this was (the part) ofFormlessness and reverted into Formlessness. And that was resuscitated whichwas his psychical part, and this was (part) of the Hebdomad, and reverted intothe Hebdomad. And he revived that (element in his nature) which was thepeculiar property of the elevated region where dwells the Great Archon, and (that


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element) remained beside the Great Archon. And he carried upwards as far as(that which is) above that which was (the peculiar property) of the conterminousspirit, and he remained in the conterminous spirit. And through him there waspurified the third Sonship, which had been left for conferring benefits, andreceiving them. And (through Jesus) it ascended towards the blessed Sonship,

and passed through all these. For the entire purpose of these was the blendingtogether of, as it were, the conglomeration of all germs, and the distinction of thevarious orders of created objects, and the restoration into their proper componentparts of things that had been blended together. Jesus, therefore, became thefirst-fruits of the distinction of the various orders of created objects, and hisPassion took place for not any other reason than the distinction which wasthereby brought about in the various orders of created objects that had beenconfounded together. For in this manner (Basilides) says that the entire Sonship,which had been left in Formlessness for the purpose of conferring benefits andreceiving them, was divided into its component elements, according to themanner in which also the distinction of natures had taken place in Jesus. These,

then, are the legends which likewise Basilides details after his sojourn in Egypt;and being instructed by the (sages of this country) in so great a system ofwisdom, (the heretic) produced fruits of this description.

From Clement of Alexandria's letters ("Stromata" or Miscellanies" 1.46.1-3; 3.1.1;4.81.2-4.83.2; 4.86.1; 4.153.3):

Book III, CHAPTER II. The Valentinians, who hold that the union of man and woman is derived fromthe divine emanation in heaven above, approve of marriage. The followers ofBasilides, on the other hand, say that when the apostles asked whether it wasnot better not to marry, the Lord replied: "Not all can receive this saying; thereare some eunuchs who are so from their birth, others are so of necessity." Andtheir explanation of this saying is roughly as follows: Some men, from their birth,have a natural sense of repulsion from a woman; and those who are naturally soconstituted do well not to marry. Those who are eunuchs of necessity are thosetheatrical ascetics who only control themselves because they have a passion forthe limelight. [And those who have suffered accidental castration have becomeeunuchs of necessity.] Those, then, who are eunuchs of necessity have nosound reason for their abstinence from marriage. But those who for the sake ofthe eternal kingdom have made themselves eunuchs derive this idea, they say,from a wish to avoid the distractions involved in marriage, because they areafraid of having to waste time in providing for the necessities of life.

CHAPTER XII -- BASILIDES' IDEA OF MARTYRDOM REFUTED.Basilides, in the twenty-third book of the Exegetics, respecting those that arepunished by martyrdom, expresses himself in the following language: "For I saythis, Whosoever fall under the afflictions mentioned, in consequence ofunconsciously transgressing in other matters, are brought to this good end by thekindness of Him who brings them, but accused on other grounds; so that they


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may not suffer as condemned for what are owned to be iniquities, nor reproachedas the adulterer or the murderer, but because they are Christians; which willconsole them, so that they do not appear to suffer. And if one who has not sinnedat all incur suffering -- a rare case -- yet even he will not suffer aught through themachinations of power, but will suffer as the child which seems not to have

sinned would suffer." Then further on he adds: "As, then, the child which has notsinned before, or committed actual sin in itself, but has that which committed sin,when subjected to suffering, gets good, reaping the advantage of manydifficulties; so also, although a perfect man may not have sinned in act, while heendures afflictions, he suffers similarly with the child. Having within him the sinfulprinciple, but not embracing the opportunity of committing sin, he does not sin; sothat he is not to be reckoned as not having sinned. For as he who wishes tocommit adultery is an adulterer, although he does not succeed in committingadultery; and he that wishes to commit murder is a murderer, although he isunable to kill; so also, if I see the man without sin, whom I specify, suffering,though he have done nothing bad, I should call him bad, on account of his

wishing to sin. For I will affirm anything rather than call Providence evil." Then, incontinuation, he says expressly concerning the Lord, as concerning man: "If then,passing from all these observations, you were to proceed to put me to shame bysaying, perchance impersonating certain parties, This man has then sinned; forthis man has suffered; -- if you permit, I will say, He has not sinned; but was likea child suffering. If you were to insist more urgently, I would say, That the manyou name is man, but that God is righteous: ' For no one is pure,' as one said, 'from pollution.' " But the hypothesis of Basilides says that the soul, having sinnedbefore in another life, endures punishment in this -- the elect soul with honour bymartyrdom, the other purged by appropriate punishment. How can this be true,when the confessing and suffering punishment or not depends on ourselves? Forin the case of the man who shall deny, Providence, as held by Basilides, is doneaway with. I will ask him, then, in the case of a confessor who has been arrested,whether he will confess and be punished in virtue of Providence or not? For inthe case of denying he will not be punished. But if, for the sake of escaping andevading the necessity of punishing such an one, he shall say that the destructionof those who shall deny is of Providence, he will be a martyr against his will. Andhow any more is it the case, that there is laid up in heaven the very gloriousrecompense to him who has witnessed, for his witnessing? If Providence did notpermit the sinner to get the length of sinning, it is unjust in both cases; both in notrescuing the man who is dragged to punishment for righteousness' sake, and inhaving rescued him who wished to do wrong, he having done it as far as volitionwas concerned, but [Providence] having prevented the deed, and unjustlyfavoured the sinner. And how impious, in deifying the devil, and in daring to callthe Lord a sinful man! For the devil tempting us, knowing what we are, but notknowing if we will hold out, but wishing to dislodge us from the faith, attemptsalso to bring us into subjection to himself. Which is all that is allowed to him,partly from the necessity of saving us, who have taken occasion from thecommandment, from ourselves; partly for the confusion of him who has temptedand failed; for the confirmation of the members of the Church, and the


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conscience of those who admire the constancy [displayed]. But if martyrdom beretribution by way of punishment, then also faith and doctrine, on account ofwhich martyrdom comes, are co-operators in punishment -- than which, whatother absurdity could be greater? But with reference to these dogmas, whetherthe soul is changed to another body, also of the devil, at the proper time mention

will be made. But at present, to what has been already said, let us add thefollowing: Where any more is faith in the retribution of sins committed beforemartyrdom takes place? And where is love to God, which is persecuted andendures for the truth? And where is the praise of him who has confessed, or thecensure of him who has denied? And for what use is right conduct, themortification of the lusts, and the hating of no creature? But if, as Basilideshimself says, we suppose one part of the declared will of God to be the loving ofall things because all things bear a relation to the Whole, and another "not to lustafter anything," and a third "not to hate anything," by the will of God these alsowill be punishments, which it were impious to think. For neither did the Lordsuffer by the will of the Father, nor are those who are persecuted by the will of

God; since either of two things is the case: either persecution in consequence ofthe will of God is a good thing, or those who decree and afflict are guiltless. Butnothing is without the will of the Lord of the universe. It remains to say that suchthings happen without the prevention of God; for this alone saves both theprovidence and the goodness of God. We must not therefore think that Heactively produces afflictions (far be it that we should think this!); but we must bepersuaded that He does not prevent those that cause them, but overrules forgood the crimes of His enemies: "I will therefore," He says, "destroy the wall, andit shall be for treading under foot." Providence being a disciplinary art; in the caseof others for each individual's sins, and in the case of the Lord and His apostlesfor ours. To this point says the divine apostle: "For this is the will of God, evenyour sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication: that each one of you shouldknow how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the lust ofconcupiscence, as the Gentiles who know not the Lord: that none of you shouldoverreach or take advantage of his brother in any matter; because the Lord is theavenger in respect of all such, as we also told you before, and testified. For Godhath not called us unto uncleanness, but to holiness. Wherefore he thatdespiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given His Holy Spirit toyou." Wherefore the Lord was not prohibited from this sanctification of ours. if,then, one of them were to say, in reply, that the martyr is punished for sinscommitted before this embodying, and that he will again reap the fruit of hisconduct in this life, for that such are the arrangements of the [divineadministration], we shall ask him if the retribution takes place by Providence. Forif it be not of the divine administration, the economy of expiations is gone, andtheir hypothesis falls to the ground; but if expiations are by Providence,punishments are by Providence too. But Providence, although it begins, so tospeak, to move with the Ruler, yet is implanted in substances along with theirorigin by the God of the universe. Such being the case, they must confess eitherthat punish-merit is not just, and those who condemn and persecute the martyrsdo right, or that persecutions even are wrought by the will of God. Labour and


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fear are not, then, as they say, incident to affairs as rust to iron, but come uponthe soul through its own will. And on these points there is much to say, which willbe reserved for future consideration, taking them up in due course.

CHAPTER XIII -- VALENTINIAN'S VAGARIES ABOUT THE ABOLITION OF

DEATH REFUTED.Valentinian, in a homily, writes in these words: "Ye are originally immortal, andchildren of eternal life, and ye would have death distributed to you, that ye mayspend and lavish it, and that death may die in you and by you; for when wedissolve the world, and are not yourselves dissolved, ye have dominion overcreation and all corruption." For he also, similarly with Basilides, supposes aclass saved by nature, and that this different race has come hither to us fromabove for the abolition of death, and that the origin of death is the work of theCreator of the world. Wherefore also he so expounds that Scripture, "No manshall see the face of God, and live," as if He were the cause of death. Respectingthis God, he makes those allusions when writing in these expressions: "As much

as the image is inferior to the living face, so much is the world inferior to the livingon. What is, then, the cause of the image? The majesty of the face, whichexhibits the figure to the painter, to be honoured by his name; for the form is notfound exactly to the life, but the name supplies what is wanting in the effigy. Theinvisibility of God co-operates also in order to the faith of that which has beenfashioned." For the Creator, called God and Father, he designated as "Painter,"and "Wisdom," whose image that which is formed is, to the glory of the invisibleOne; since the things which proceed from a pair are complements, and thosewhich proceed from one are images. But since what is seen is no part of Him, thesoul comes from what is intermediate, which is different; and this is theinspiration of the different spirit, and generally what is breathed into the soul,which is the image of the spirit. And in general, what is said of the Creator, whowas made according to the image, they say was foretold by a sensible image inthe book of Genesis respecting the origin of man; and the likeness they transferto themselves, teaching that the addition of the different spirit was made;unknown to the Creator. When, then, we treat of the unity of the God who isproclaimed in the law, the prophets, and the Gospel, we shall also discuss this;for the topic is supreme. But we must advance to that which is urgent. If for thepurpose of doing away with death the peculiar race has come, it is not Christ whohas abolished death, unless He also is said to be of the same essence withthem. And if He abolished it to this end, that it might not touch the peculiar race, itis not these, the rivals of the Creator, who breathe into the image of theirintermediate spirit the life from above -- in accordance with the principle of theirdogma -- that abolish death. But should they say that this takes place by Hismother, or should they say that they, along with Christ, war against death, letthem own their secret dogma that they have the hardihood to assail the divinepower of the Creator, by setting to rights His creation, as if they were superior,endeavouring to save the vital image which He was not able to rescue fromcorruption. Then the Lord would be superior to God the Creator; for the sonwould never contend with the father, especially among the gods. But the point


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that the Creator of all things, the omnipotent Lord, is the Father of the Son, wehave deferred till the discussion of these points, in which we have under taken todispute against the heresies, showing that He alone is the God proclaimed byHim.

But the apostle, writing to us with reference to the endurance of afflictions, says,"And this is of God, that it is given to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believeon Him, but also to suffer for His sake; having the same conflict which ye saw inme, and now hear to be in me. If there is therefore any consolation in Christ, ifany comfort of love, if any communion of spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfilye my joy, that ye may be of the same mind, having the same love, unanimous,thinking one thing. And if he is offered on the sacrifice and service of faith, joyingand rejoicing" with the Philippians, to whom the apostle speaks, calling them"fellow-partakers of joy," how does he say that they are of one soul, and having asoul? Likewise, also, writing respecting Timothy and himself, he says, "For I haveno one like-souled, who will nobly care for your state. For all seek their own, not

the-things which are Jesus Christ's."

Let not the above-mentioned people, then, call us, by way of reproach, "naturalmen" (yukikoi), nor the Phrygians either; for these now call those who do notapply themselves to the new prophecy "natural men" (yukikoi), with whom weshall discuss in our remarks on "Prophecy." The perfect man ought therefore topractise love, and thence to haste to the divine friendship, fulfilling thecommandments from love. And loving one's enemies does not mean lovingwickedness, or impiety, or adultery, or theft; but the thief, the impious, theadulterer, not as far as he sins, and in respect of the actions by which he stainsthe name of man, but as he is a man, and the work of God. Assuredly sin is anactivity, not an existence: and therefore it is not a work of God. Now sinners arecalled enemies of God -- enemies, that is, of the commands which they do notobey, as those who obey become friends, the one named so from theirfellowship, the others from their estrangement, which is the result of free choice;for there is neither enmity nor sin without the enemy and the sinner. And thecommand "to covet nothing," not as if the things to be desired did not belong tous, does not teach us not to entertain desire, as those suppose who teach thatthe Creator is different from the first God, not as if creation was loathsome andbad (for such opinions are impious). But we say that the things of the world arenot our own, not as if they were monstrous, not as if they did not belong to God,the Lord of the universe, but because we do not continue among them for ever;being, in respect of possession, not ours, and passing from one to another insuccession; but belonging to us, for whom they were made in respect of use, solong as it is necessary to continue with them. In accordance, therefore, withnatural appetite, things disallowed are to be used rightly, avoiding all excess andinordinate affection.

CHAPTER XXIV -- THE REASON AND END OF DIVINE PUNISHMENTS.


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Now that is in our power, of which equally with its opposite we are masters, -- as,say to philosophize or not, to believe or disbelieve. In consequence, then, of ourbeing equally masters of each of the opposites, what depends on us is foundpossible. Now the commandments may be done or not done by us, who, as isreasonable, are liable to praise and blame. And those, again, who are punished

on account of sins committed by them, are punished for them alone; for what isdone is past, and what is done can never be undone.

The sins committed before faith are accordingly forgiven by the Lord, not thatthey may be undone, but as if they had not been done. "But not all," saysBasilides, "but only sins involuntary and in ignorance, are forgiven;" as would bethe case were it a man, and not God, that conferred such a boon. To such anone Scripture says, "Thou thoughtest that I would be like thee."

But if we are punished for voluntary sins, we are punished not that the sins whichare done may be undone, but because they were done. But punishment does not

avail to him who has sinned, to undo his sin, but that he may sin no more, andthat no one else fall into the like. Therefore the good God corrects for these threecauses: First, that he who is corrected may become better than his former self;then that those who are capable of being saved by examples may be drivenback, being admonished; and thirdly, that he who is injured may not be readilydespised, and be apt to receive injury. And there are two methods of correction --the instructive and the punitive, which we have called the disciplinary. It ought tobe known, then, that those who fall into sin after baptism are those who aresubjected to discipline; for the deeds done before are remitted, and those doneafter are purged. It is in reference to the unbelieving that it is said, "that they arereckoned as the chaff which the wind drives from the face of the earth, and thedrop which falls from a vessel."

CHAPTER XXV -- TRUE PERFECTION CONSISTS IN THE KNOWLEDGE ANDLOVE OF GOD."Happy he who possesses the culture of knowledge, and is not moved to theinjury of the citizens or to wrong actions, but contemplates the undecaying orderof immortal nature, how and in what way and manner it subsists. To such thepractice of base deeds attaches not," Rightly, then, Plato says, "that the manwho devotes himself to the contemplation of ideas will live as a god among men;now the mind is the place of ideas, and God is mind." He says that be whocontemplates the unseen God lives as a god among men. And in the Sophist,Socrates calls the stranger of Elea, who was a dialectician, "god:" "Such are thegods who, like stranger guests, frequent cities. For when the soul, rising abovethe sphere of generation, is by itself apart, and dwells amidst ideas," like theCoryphaeus in Theaetetus, now become as an angel, it will be with Christ, beingrapt in contemplation, ever keeping in view the will of God; in reality "Alone wise,while these flit like shadows."


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"For the dead bury their dead." Whence Jeremiah says: "I will fill it with the earth-born dead whom mine anger has smitten." God, then, being not a subject fordemonstration, cannot be the object of science. But the Son is wisdom, andknowledge, and truth, and all else that has affinity thereto. He is also susceptibleof demonstration and of description. And all the powers of the Spirit, becoming

collectively one thing, terminate in the same point -- that is, in the Son. But He isincapable of being declared, in respect of the idea of each one of His powers.And the Son is neither simply one thing as one thing, nor many things as parts,but one thing as all things; whence also He is all things. For He is the circle of allpowers rolled and united into one unity. Wherefore the Word is called the Alphaand the Omega, of whom alone the end becomes beginning, and ends again atthe original beginning without any break. Wherefore also to believe in Him, andby Him, is to become a unit, being indissolubly united in Him; and to disbelieve isto be separated, disjoined, divided.

"Wherefore thus saith the Lord, Every alien son is uncircumcised in heart, and

uncircumcised in flesh" (that is, unclean in body and soul): "there shall not enterone of the strangers into the midst of the house of Israel, but the Lerites." Hecalls those that would not believe, but would disbelieve, strangers. Only thosewho live purely being true priests of God. Wherefore, of all the circumcised tribes,those anointed to be high priests, and kings, and prophets, were reckoned moreholy. Whence He commands them not to touch dead bodies, or approach thedead; not that the body was polluted, but that sin and disobedience wereincarnate, and embodied, and dead, and therefore abominable.

It was only, then, when a father and mother, a son and daughter died, that thepriest was allowed to enter, because these were related only by flesh and seed,to whom the priest was indebted for the immediate cause of his entrance into life.And they purify themselves seven days, the period in which Creation wasconsummated. For on the seventh day the rest is celebrated; and on the eighthhe brings a propitiation, as is written in Ezekiel, according to which propitiationthe promise is to be received. And the perfect propitiation, I take it, is thatpropitious faith in the Gospel which is by the law and the prophets, and the puritywhich shows itself in universal obedience, with the abandonment of the things ofthe world; in order to that grateful surrender of the tabernacle, which results fromthe enjoyment of the soul. Whether, then, the time be that which through theseven periods enumerated returns to the chiefest rest, or the seven heavens,which some reckon one above the other; or whether also the fixed sphere whichborders on the intellectual world be called the eighth, the expression denotes thatthe Gnostic ought to rise out of the sphere of creation and of sin. After theseseven days, sacrifices are offered for sins. For there is still fear of change, and ittouches the seventh circle. The righteous Job says: "Naked came I out of mymother's womb, and naked shall I return there;" not naked of possessions, forthat were a trivial and common thing; but, as a just man, he departs naked of eviland sin, and of the unsightly shape which follows those who have led bad lives.


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For this was what was said, "Unless ye be converted, and become as children,"pure in flesh, holy in soul by abstinence from evil deeds; showing that He wouldhave us to be such as also He generated us from our mother -- the water. For theintent of one generation succeeding another is to immortalize by progress. "Butthe lamp of the wicked shall be put out." That purity in body and soul which the

Gnostic partakes of, the all-wise Moses indicated, by employing repetition indescribing the incorruptibility of body and of soul in the person of Rebecca, thus:"Now the virgin was fair, and man had not known her." And Rebecca, interpreted,means "glory of God;" and the glory of God is immortality. This is in realityrighteousness, not to desire other things, but to be entirely the consecratedtemple of the Lord. Righteousness is peace of life and a well-conditioned state, towhich the Lord dismissed her when He said, "Depart into peace." For Salem is,by interpretation, peace; of which our Saviour is enrolled King, as Moses says,Melchizedek king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who gave bread andwine, furnishing consecrated food for a type of the Eucharist. And Melchizedek isinterpreted "righteous king;" and the name is a synonym for righteousness and

peace. Basilides however, supposes that Righteousness and her daughterPeace dwell stationed in the eighth sphere.

But we must pass from physics to ethics, which are clearer; for the discourseconcerning these will follow after the treatise in hand. The Saviour Himself, then,plainly initiates us into the mysteries, according to the words of the tragedy: -"Seeing those who see, he also gives the orgies."

And if you ask, "These orgies, what is their nature?"

You will hear again: "It is forbidden to mortals uninitiated in the Bacchic rites toknow."

And if any one will inquire curiously what they are, let him hear: "It is not lawfulfor thee to hear, but they are worth knowing; The rites of the God detest him whopractises impiety."

Now God, who is without beginning, is the perfect beginning of the universe, andthe producer of the beginning. As, then, He is being, He is the first principle of thedepartment of action, as He is good, of morals; as He is mind, on the other hand,He is the first principle of reasoning and of judgment. Whence also He alone isTeacher, who is the only Son of the Most High Father, the Instructor of men.

CHAPTER XXVI -- HOW THE PERFECT MAN TREATS THE BODY AND THETHINGS OF THE WORLD.Those, then, who run down created existence and vilify the body are wrong; notconsidering that the frame of man was formed erect for the contemplation ofheaven, and that the organization of the senses tends to knowledge; and that themembers and parts are arranged for good, not for pleasure. Whence this abodebecomes receptive of the soul which is most precious to God; and is dignified


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with the Holy Spirit through the sanctification of soul and body, perfected with theperfection of the Saviour. And the succession of the three virtues is found in theGnostic, who morally, physically, and logically occupies himself with God. Forwisdom is the knowledge of things divine and human; and righteousness is theconcord of the parts of the soul; and holiness is the service of God. But if one

were to say that he disparaged the flesh, and generation on account of it, byquoting Isaiah, who says, "All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flowerof grass: the grass is withered, and the flower has fallen; but the word of the Lordendureth for ever; " let him hear the Spirit interpreting the matter in question byJeremiah, "And I scattered them like dry sticks, that are made to fly by the windinto the desert. This is the lot and portion of your disobedience, saith the Lord. Asthou hast forgotten Me, and hast trusted in lies, so will I discover thy hinder partsto thy face; and thy disgrace shall be seen, thy adultery, and thy neighing," andso on. For "the flower of grass," and "walking after the flesh," and "being carnal,"according to the apostle, are those who are in their sins. The soul of man isconfessedly the better part of man, and the body the inferior. But neither is the

soul good by nature, nor, on the other hand, is the body bad by nature. Nor isthat which is not good straightway bad. For there are things which occupy amiddle place, and among them are things to be preferred, and things to be re

jected. The constitution of man, then, which has its place among things of sense,was necessarily composed of things diverse, but not opposite -- body and soul.

Always therefore the good actions, as better, attach to the better and ruling spirit;and voluptuous and sinful actions are attributed to the worse, the sinful one.Now the soul of the wise man and Gnostic, as sojourning in the body, conductsitself towards it gravely and respectfully, not with inordinate affections, as aboutto leave the tabernacle if the time of departure summon. "I am a stranger in theearth, and a sojourner with you," it is said. And hence Basilides says, that heapprehends that the election are strangers to the world, being supramundane bynature. But this is not the case. For all things are of one God. And no one is astranger to the world by nature, their essence being one, and God one. But theelect man dwells as a sojourner, knowing all things to be possessed anddisposed of; and he makes use of the things which the Pythagoreans make outto be the threefold good things. The body, too, as one sent on a distantpilgrimage, uses inns and dwellings by the way, having care of the things of theworld, of the places where he halts; but leaving his dwelling-place and propertywithout excessive emotion; readily following him that leads him away from life; byno means and on no occasion turning back; giving thanks for his sojourn, andblessing [God] for his departure, embracing the mansion that is in heaven "Forwe know, that, if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have abuilding of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For wethat are in this tabernacle do groan, desiring to be clothed upon with our housewhich is from heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

For we by sight," as the apostle says; walk by faith, not "and we are willing ratherto be absent from the body, and present with God." The rather is in comparison.


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And comparison obtains in the case of things that fall under resemblance; as themore valiant man is more valiant among the valiant, and most valiant amongcowards. Whence he adds, "Wherefore we strive, whether present or absent, tobe accepted with Him," that is, God, whose work and creation are all things, boththe world and things supramundane. I admire Epicharmus, who clearly says:

"Endowed with pious mind, you will not, in dying, Suffer aught evil. The spirit willdwell in heaven above;" and the minstrel who sings: "The souls of the wicked flitabout below the skies on earth, In murderous pains beneath inevitable yokes ofevils; But those of the pious dwell in the heavens, Hymning in songs the Great,the Blessed One."

The soul is not then sent down from heaven to what is worse. For God works allthings up to what is better. But the soul which has chosen the best life -- the lifethat is from God and righteousness -- exchanges earth for heaven. With reasontherefore, Job, who had attained to knowledge, said, "Now I know that thou canstdo all things; and nothing is impossible to Thee. For who tells me of what I know

not, great and wonderful things with which I was unacquainted? And I felt myselfvile, considering myself to be earth and ashes." For he who, being in a state ofignorance, is sinful, "is earth and ashes; "while he who is in a state of knowledge,being assimilated as far as possible to God, is already spiritual, and so elect. Andthat Scripture calls the senseless and disobedient "earth," will be made clear byJeremiah the prophet, saying, in reference to Joachim and his brethren "Earth,earth, hear the word of the Lord; Write this man, as man excommunicated." Andanother prophet says again, "Hear, O heaven; and give ear, O earth," callingunderstanding "ear," and the soul of the Gnostic, that of the man who has appliedhimself to the contemplation of heaven and divine things, and in this way hasbecome an Israelite, "heaven." For again he calls him who has made ignoranceand hardness of heart his choice, "earth."And the expression" give ear" hederives from the "organs of hearing, the ears," attributing carnal things to thosewho cleave to the things of sense. Such are they of whom Micah the prophetsays, "Hear the word of the Lord, ye peoples who dwell with pangs." AndAbraham said, "By no means. The Lord is He who judgeth the earth; " "since hethat believeth not, is," according to the utterance of the Saviour, "condemnedalready." And there is written in the Kings the judgment and sentence of the Lord,which stands thus: "The Lord hears the righteous, but the wicked He saveth not,because they do not desire to know God." For the Almighty will not accomplishwhat is absurd. What do the heresies say to this utterance, seeing Scriptureproclaims the Almighty God to be good, and not the author of evil and wrong, ifindeed ignorance arises from one not knowing? But God does nothing absurd."For this God," it is said, "is our God, and there is none to save besides Him.""For there is no unrighteous ness with God," according to the apostle. And clearlyyet the prophet teaches the will of God, and the gnostic proficiency, in thesewords: "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord God require of thee, but to fear theLord thy God, and walk in all His ways, and love Him, and serve Him alone?" Heasks of thee, who hast the power of choosing salvation. What is it, then, that thePythagoreans mean when they bid us "pray with the voice"? As seems to me, not


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that they thought the Divinity could not hear those who speak silently, butbecause they wished prayers tO be right, which no one would be ashamed tomake in the knowledge of many. We shall, however, treat of prayer in due courseby and by. But we ought to have works that cry aloud, as becoming "those whowalk in the day." "Let thy works shine," and behold a man and his works before

his face. "For behold God and His works." For the gnostic must, as far as ispossible, imitate God. And the poets call the elect in their pages godlike andgods, and equal to the gods, and equal in sagacity to Zeus, and having counselslike the gods, and resembling the gods, -- nibbling, as seems to me, at theexpression, "in the image and likeness."

Euripides accordingly says, "Golden wings are round my back, and I am shodwith the winged sandals of the Sirens; and I shall go aloft into the wide ether, tohold convene with Zeus."

But I shall pray the Spirit of Christ to wing me to my Jerusalem. For the Stoics

say that heaven is properly a city, but places here on earth are not cities; for theyare called so, but are not. For a city is an important thing, and the people adecorous body, and a multitude of men regulated by law as the church by theword -- a city on earth impregnable -- free from tyranny; a product of the divinewill on earth as in heaven. Images of this city the poets create with their pen. Forthe Hyperboreans, and the Arimaspian cities, and the Elysian plains, arecommonwealths of just men. And we know Plato's city placed as a pattern inheaven.

Book V, CHAPTER I -- ON FAITHOf the Gnostic so much has been cursorily, as it were, written. We proceed nowto the sequel, and must again contemplate faith; for there are some that draw thedistinction, that faith has reference to the Son, and knowledge to the Spirit. But ithas escaped their notice that, in order to believe truly in the Son, we must believethat He is the Son, and that He came, and how, and for what, and respecting Hispassion; and we must know who is the Son of God. Now neither is knowledgewithout faith, nor faith without knowledge. Nor is the Father without the Son; forthe Son is with the Father. And the Son is the true teacher respecting the Father;and that we may believe in the Son, we must know the Father, with whom also isthe Son. Again, in order that we may know the Father, we must believe in theSon, that it is the Son of God who teaches; for from faith to knowledge by theSon is the Father. And the knowledge of the Son and Father, which is accordingto the gnostic rule -- that which in reality is gnostic -- is the attainment andcomprehension of the truth by the truth.

We, then, are those who are believers in what is not believed, and who areGnostics as to what is unknown; that is, Gnostics as to what is unknown anddisbelieved by all, but believed and known by a few; and Gnostics, not describingactions by speech, but Gnostics in the exercise of contemplation.


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Happy is he who speaks in! the ears of the hearing. Now faith is the ear of thesoul. And such the Lord intimates faith to be, when He says, "He that hath ears tohear, let him hear;" so that by believing he may comprehend what He says, asHe says it. Homer, too, the oldest of the poets, using the word "hear" instead of"perceive" -- the specific for the generic term -- writes: "Him most they heard."

For, in fine, the agreement and harmony of the faith of both contribute to one end-- salvation. We have in the apostle an unerring witness: "For I desire to see you,that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, in order that ye may bestrengthened; that is, that I may be comforted in you, by the mutual faith of youand me." And further on again he adds, "The righteousness of God is revealedfrom faith to faith." The apostle, then, manifestly announces a twofold faith, orrather one which admits of growth and perfection; for the common faith liesbeneath as a foundation. To those, therefore, who desire to be healed, and aremoved by faith, He added, "Thy faith hath saved thee." But that which isexcellently built upon is consummated in the believer, and is again perfected bythe faith which results from instruction and the word, in order to the performance

of the commandments. Such were the apostles, in whose case it is said that"faith removed mountains and transplanted trees." Whence, perceiving thegreatness of its power, they asked "that faith might be added to them;" a faithwhich salutarily bites the soil "like a grain of mustard," and grows magnificently init, to such a degree that the reasons of things sublime rest on it. For if one bynature knows God, as Basilides thinks, who calls intelligence of a superior orderat once faith and kingship, and a creation worthy of the essence of the Creator;and explains that near Him exists not power, but essence and nature andsubstance; and says that faith is not the rational assent of the soul exercisingfree-will, but an undefined beauty, belonging immediately to the creature; -- theprecepts both of the Old and of the New Testament are, then, superfluous, if oneis saved by nature, as Valentinus would have it, and is a believer and an electman by nature, as Basilides thinks; and nature would have been able, one timeor other, to have shone forth, apart from the Saviour's appearance. But were theyto say that the visit of the Saviour was necessary, then the properties of natureare gone from them, the elect being saved by instruction, and purification, andthe doing of good works. Abraham, accordingly, who through hearing believedthe voice, which promised under the oak in Mamre," I will give this land to thee,and to thy seed," was either elect or not. But if he was not, how did hestraightway believe, as it were naturally? And if he was elect, their hypothesis isdone away with, inasmuch as even previous to the coming of the Lord anelection was found, and that saved: "For it was reckoned to him forrighteousness." For if any one, following Marcion, should dare to say that theCreator (Dhmiourgon) saved the man that believed on him, even before theadvent of the Lord, (the' election being saved with their own proper salvation); thepower of the good Being will be eclipsed; inasmuch as late only, and subsequentto the Creator spoken of by them in words of be good men, it made the attemptto save, and by instruction, and in imitation of him. But if, being such, the goodBeing save, according to them; neither is it his own that he saves, nor is it withthe consent of him who formed the creation that he essays salvation, but by force


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or fraud. And how can he any more be good, acting thus, and being posterior?But if the locality is different, and the dwelling-place of the Omnipotent is remotefrom the dwelling-place of the good God; yet the will of him who saves, havingbeen the first to begin, is not inferior to that of the good God. From what hasbeen previously proved, those who believe not are proved senseless: "For their

paths are perverted, and they know not peace," saith the prophet. "But foolishand unlearned questions" the divine Paul exhorted to "avoid, because theygender strifes." And Aeschylus exclaims: "In what profits not, labour not in vain."

For that investigation, which accords with faith, which builds, on the foundation offaith, the august knowledge of the truth, we know to be the best. Now we knowthat neither things which are clear are made subjects of investigation, such as if itis day, while it is day; nor things unknown, and never destined to become clear,as whether the stars are even or odd in number; nor things convertible; andthose are so which can be said equally by those who take the opposite side, as ifwhat is in the womb is a living creature or not. A fourth mode is, when, from

either side of those, there is advanced an unanswerable and irrefragableargument. If, then, the ground of inquiry, according to all of these modes, isremoved, faith is established. For we advance to them the unanswerableconsideration, that it is God who speaks and comes to our help in writing,respecting each one of the points regarding which I investigate. Who, then, is soimpious as to disbelieve God, and to demand proofs from God as from men?

Again, some questions demand the evidence of the senses, as if one were to askwhether the fire be warm, or the snow white; and some admonition and rebuke,as the question if you ought to honour your parents. And there are those thatdeserve punishment, as to ask proofs of the existence of Providence. Therebeing then a Providence, it were impious to think that the whole of prophecy andthe economy in reference to a Saviour did not take place in accordance withProvidence. And perchance one should not even attempt to demonstrate suchpoints, the divine Providence being evident from the sight of all its skilful andwise works which. are seen, some of which take place in order, and some appearin order. And He who communicated to us being and life, has communicated tous also reason, wishing us to live rationally and rightly. For the Word of theFather of the universe is not the uttered word (logou proForikou), but the wisdomand most manifest kindness of God, and His power too, which is almighty andtruly divine, and not incapable of being conceived by those who do not confess --the all-potent will. But since some are unbelieving, and some are disputations, alldo not attain to the perfection of the good. For neither is it possible to attain itwithout the exercise of free choice; nor does the whole depend on our ownpurpose; as, for example, what is defined to happen. "For by grace we aresaved:" not, indeed, without good works; but we must, by being formed for whatis good, acquire an inclination for it. And we must possess the healthy mindwhich is fixed on the pursuit of the good; in order to which we have the greatestneed of divine grace, and of right teaching, and of holy susceptibility, and of thedrawing of the Father to Him. For, bound in this earthly body, we apprehend the


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treating of the resurrection; while Plato says as follows, that the earth at certainperiods is purified by fire and water: "There have been many destructions of menin many ways; and there shall be very great ones by fire and water; and othersbriefer by innumerable causes." And after a little he adds: "And, in truth, there isa change of the objects which revolve about earth and heaven; and in the course

of long periods there is the destruction of the objects on earth by a greatconflagration." Then he subjoins respecting the deluge: "But when, again, thegods deluge the earth to purify it with water, those on the mountains herdsmenand shepherds, are saved; those in your cities are carried down by the rivers intothe sea." And we showed in the first Miscellany that the philosophers of theGreeks are called thieves, inasmuch as they have taken withoutacknowledgment their principal dogmas from Moses and the prophets. To whichalso we shall add, that the angels who had obtained the superior rank, havingsunk into pleasures, told to the women the secrets which had come to theirknowledge; while the rest of the angels concealed them, or rather, kept themagainst the coming of the Lord. Thence emanated the doctrine of providence,

and the revelation of high things; and prophecy having already been imparted tothe philosophers of the Greeks, the treatment of dogma arose among thephilosophers, sometimes true when they hit the mark, and sometimes erroneous,when they comprehended not the secret of the prophetic allegory. And this it isproposed briefly to indicate in running over the points requiring mention. Faith,then, we say, we are to show must not be inert and alone, but accompanied withinvestigation. For I do not say that we are not to inquire at all. For "Search, andthou shalt find," it is said.

"What is sought may be captured, But what is neglected escapes," according toSophocles.

The like also says Menander the comic poet: "All things sought,,, The wisest say,need anxious thought.

But we ought to direct the visual faculty of the soul aright to discovery, and toclear away obstacles; and to cast clean away contention, and envy, and strife,destined to perish miserably from among men.

For very beautifully does Timon of Phlius write: "And Strife, the Plague ofMortals, stalks vainly shrieking, The sister of Murderous Quarrel and Discord,Which rolls blindly over all things. But then It sets its head towards men, andcasts them on hope."

Then a little below he adds: "For who hath set these to fight in deadly strife?A rabble keeping pace with Echo; for, enraged at those silent, It raised an evildisease against men, and many perished;"

Of the speech which denies what is false, and of the dilemma, of that which isconcealed, of the Sorites, and of the Crocodilean, of that which is open, and of


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ambiguities and sophisms. To inquire, then, respecting God, if it tend not to strife,but to discovery, is salutary. For it is written in David, "The poor eat, and shall befilled; and they shall praise the Lord that seek Him. Your heart shall live for ever."For they who seek Him after the true search, praising the Lord, shall be filled withthe gift that comes from God, that is, knowledge. And their soul shall live; for the

soul is figuratively termed the heart, which ministers life: for by the Son is theFather known.

We ought not to surrender our ears to all who speak and write rashly. For cupsalso, which are taken hold of by many by the ears, are dirtied, and lose the ears;and besides, when they fall they are broken. In the same way also, those, whohave polluted the pure hearing of faith by many trifles, at last becoming deaf tothe truth, become useless and fall to the earth. It is not, then, without reason thatwe commanded boys to kiss their relations, holding them by the ears; indicatingthis, that the feeling of love is engendered by hearing. And "God," who is knownto those who love, "is love," as "God," who by instruction is communicated to the

faithful, "is faithful; " and we must be allied to Him by divine love: so that by likewe may see like, hearing the word of truth guilelessly and purely, as children whoobey us. And this was what he, whoever he was, indicated who wrote on theentrance to the temple at Epidaurus the inscription: "Pure he must be who goeswithin The incense-perfumed fane."

And purity is "to think holy thoughts." "Except ye become as these little children,ye shall not enter," it is said, "into the kingdom of heaven."

For there the temple of God is seen established on three foundations -- faith,hope, and love.

Book VII, CHAPTER XVII -- THE TRADITION OF THE CHURCH PRIOR TOTHAT OF THE HERESIES.Those, then, that adhere to impious words, and dictate them to others, inasmuchas they do not make a right but a perverse use of the divine words, neitherthemselves enter into the kingdom of heaven, nor permit those whom they havedeluded to attain the truth. But not having the key of entrance, but a false (and asthe common phrase expresses it), a counterfeit key (antikleis), by which they donot enter in as we enter in, through the tradition of the Lord, by drawing aside thecurtain; but bursting through the side-door, and digging clandestinely through thewall of the Church, and stepping over the truth, they constitute themselves theMystagogues of the soul of the impious.

For that the human assemblies which they held were posterior to the CatholicChurch requires not many words to show.

For the teaching of our Lord at His advent, beginning with Augustus and Tiberius,was completed in the middle of the times of Tiberius.


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And that of the apostles, embracing the ministry of Paul, ends with Nero. It waslater, in the times of Adrian the king, that those who invented the heresies arose;and they extended to the age of Antoninus the eider, as, for instance, Basilides,though he claims (as they boast) for his master, Glaucias, the interpreter of

Peter.

Likewise they allege that Valentinus was a hearer of Theudas. And he was thepupil of Paul. For Marcion, who arose in the same age with them, lived as an oldman with the younger [heretics]. And after him Simon heard for a little thepreaching of Peter.

Such being the case, it is evident, from the high antiquity and perfect truth of theChurch, that these later heresies, and those yet subsequent to them in time,were new inventions falsified [from the truth].

From what has been said, then, it is my opinion that the true Church, that whichis really ancient, is one, and that in it those who according to God's purpose arejust, are enrolled. For from the very reason that God is one, and the Lord one,that which is in the highest degree honourable is lauded in consequence of itssingleness, being an imitation of the one first principle. In the nature of the One,then, is associated in a joint heritage the one Church, which they strive to cutasunder into many sects.

Therefore in substance and idea, in origin, in pre-eminence, we say that theancient and Catholic Church is alone, collecting as it does into the unity of theone faith -- which results from the peculiar Testaments, or rather the oneTestament in different times by the will of the one God, through one Lord -- thosealready ordained, whom God predestinated, knowing before the foundation of theworld that they would be righteous.

But the pre-eminence of the Church, as the principle of union, is, in its oneness,in this surpassing all things else, and having nothing like or equal to itself. But ofthis afterwards.

Of the heresies, some receive their appellation from a [person's] name, as thatwhich is called after Valentinus, and that after Marcion, and that after Basilides,although they boast of adducing the opinion of Matthew [without truth]; for as theteaching, so also the tradition of the apostles was one. Some take theirdesignation from a place, as the Peratici; some from a nation, as the [heresy] ofthe Phrygians; some from an action, as that of the Encratites; and some frompeculiar dogmas, as that of the Docetae, and that of the Harmatites; and somefrom suppositions, and from individuals they have honoured, as those calledCainists, and the Ophians; and some from nefarious practices and enormities, asthose of the Simonians called Entychites.


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From Origen's "Homilies on Luke 1:1

I N THE PAST, many claimed to prophesy among the Jewish people. Some werefalse prophets; among these was Hananiah, son of Azzur. Others were trueprophets. The people, like "well-trained money-changers," had the gift of the

discernment of spirits. Through this gift they accepted some as prophets andrejected others. Now, in the New Testament also, "many have tried" to writegospels, but not all have found acceptance. You should kn

the gospel of basilides

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