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a sister made pregnant by her brother. And committing many other abominable and impious acts, they run us down as simpletons who know nothing, while we, for the fear of God, guard ourselves from sinning even in thought or word; but they exalt themselves, calling themselves perfect, and seeds of election. For they say that we receive grace for use, for which reason it will also be taken away from us; but they themselves possess grace as their own property which has descended with them from above from the ineffable and unnamable syzygy; and for this reason more will be added to them. Therefore, they must by all means always meditate upon the mystery of the syzygy. And they persuade the foolish of this, saying in these very words: Whoever, being in the world, has not loved a woman, so that she is possessed by him, is not of the truth, and will not pass into the truth; but he who is from the world, not l. and being possessed by a woman, will not pass into the truth, because he was not possessed by a woman in l. that is in desire. For this reason, then, they call us good psychics, and say that we are of the world, and that continence and good works are necessary for us, that through them we may come to the place of the middle; but for them, who are called spiritual and perfect, in no way; for it is not conduct that leads into the Pleroma, but the seed sent forth from thence as a babe, and perfected here. And when all the seed is perfected, they say that Achamoth their mother will pass from the place of the middle, and enter within the Pleroma, and receive her bridegroom, the Savior, who was made from all, so that a syzygy of the Savior and Sophia Achamoth may be formed. And that this is the bridegroom and the bride, and the bridal chamber is the whole Pleroma. And the spiritual, having put off their souls and become intellectual spirits, entering unconstrainedly and invisibly within the Pleroma, will be given as brides to the angels around the Savior. And the Demiurge himself will also pass into the place of his mother Sophia, that is, in the middle; and the souls of the just will also rest in the place of the middle. For nothing psychic enters within the Pleroma. 1.1.13 And when these things have so occurred, they teach that the fire which lurks in the world will blaze up and be kindled, and having consumed all matter, will be consumed with it, and will pass into non-existence. And they declare that the Demiurge knew none of these things before the advent of the Savior. And there are those who say that he also projected Christ as his own son, but a psychic one; and that he spoke about this one through the Prophets. And that this one is he who passed through Mary, as water passes through a pipe, and that upon him at baptism descended that Savior from the Pleroma, from all, in the form of a dove; and there was in him also the same l. spiritual seed from Achamoth. Therefore they affirm that our Lord was composed of these four, preserving the type of the original and first Tetrad: from the spiritual, which was from Achamoth, and from the psychic, which was from the Demiurge, and from the economy, which was fashioned by ineffable art, and from the Savior, which was the dove that descended into him. And this l. that he remained impassible; (for it was not possible for him to suffer, being unconstrained and invisible;) and for this reason, when he was being brought before Pilate, the spirit of Christ which had been deposited in him was taken up. But they say that not even the seed from the mother suffered. For it too was impassible, the l. being spiritual, and invisible even to the Demiurge himself. What suffered, then, according to them, was the psychic Christ, and the one fashioned mysteriously from the economy, so that the mother might show through him the type of the Christ above, that one who was extended upon the Cross, and who formed Achamoth with a formation according to substance; for they say that all these things are types of those. But they say that the souls which have possessed the seed of Achamoth have become better than the rest; wherefore also they have been loved more than the others by the

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ἐγκύμονος τῆς ἀδελφῆς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ γενηθείσης. Καὶ ἄλλα δὲ πολλὰ μυσαρὰ καὶ ἄθεα πράσσοντες, ἡμῶν μὲν διὰ τὸν φόβον τοῦ Θεοῦ φυλασσομένων καὶ μέχρις ἐννοίας καὶ λόγου ἁμαρτεῖν, κατατρέχουσιν, ὡς ἰδιωτῶν, καὶ μηδὲν ἐπισταμένων· ἑαυτοὺς δὲ ὑπερυψοῦσι, τελείους ἀποκαλοῦντες, καὶ σπέρματα ἐκλογῆς. Ἡμᾶς μὲν γὰρ ἐν χρήσει τὴν χάριν λαμβάνειν λέγουσι· διὸ καὶ ἀφαιρεθήσεσθαι αὐτῆς αὐτήν· αὐτοὺς δὲ ἰδιόκτητον ἄνωθεν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀῤῥήτου καὶ ἀνονομάστου συζυγίας συγκατεληλυθυῖαν ἔχειν τὴν χάριν· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο προστεθήσεσθαι αὐτοῖς. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου δεῖν αὐτοὺς ἀεὶ τὸ τῆς συζυγίας μελετᾷν μυστήριον. Καὶ τοῦτο πείθουσι τοὺς ἀνοήτους, αὐταῖς λέξεσι λέγοντες οὕτως· ὃς ἂν ἐν κόσμῳ γενόμενος γυναῖκα οὐκ ἐφίλησεν, ὥστε αὐτὴν κρατηθῆναι, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐξ ἀληθείας, καὶ οὐ χωρήσει εἰς ἀλήθειαν· ὁ δὲ ἀπὸ κόσμου γενόμενος, μὴ l. καὶ κρατηθεὶς γυναικὶ, οὐ χωρήσει εἰς ἀλήθειαν, διὰ τὸ μὴ ἐν l. τὸ ἐν τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ κρατηθῆναι γυναικός. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὖν ἡμᾶς καλοὺς ψυχικοὺς ὀνομάζουσι, καὶ ἐκ κόσμου εἶναι λέγουσι, καὶ ἀναγκαίαν ἡμῖν τὴν ἐγκράτειαν καὶ ἀγαθὴν πρᾶξιν, ἵνα δι' αὐτῆς ἔλθωμεν εἰς τὸν τῆς μεσότητος τόπον· αὐτοῖς δὲ πνευματικοῖς τε καὶ τελείοις καλουμένοις μηδαμῶς· οὐ γὰρ πρᾶξις εἰς πλήρωμα εἰσάγει, ἀλλὰ τὸ σπέρμα τὸ ἐκεῖθεν νήπιον ἐκπεμπόμενον, ἐνθὰ δὲ τελειούμενον. Ὅταν δὲ πᾶν τὸ σπέρμα τελειωθῇ, τὴν μὲν Ἀχαμὼθ τὴν μητέρα αὐτῶν μεταβῆναι τοῦ τῆς μεσότητος τόπου λέγουσι, καὶ ἐντὸς πληρώματος εἰσελθεῖν, καὶ ἀπολαβεῖν τὸν νυμφίον αὐτῆς τὸν Σωτῆρα, τὸν ἐκ πάντων γεγονότα, ἵνα συζυγία γένηται τοῦ Σωτῆρος καὶ τῆς Σοφίας τῆς Ἀχαμώθ. Καὶ τοῦτο εἶναι νυμφίον καὶ νύμφην, νυμφῶνα δὲ τὸ πᾶν πλήρωμα. Τοὺς δὲ πνευματικοὺς ἀποδυσαμένους τὰς ψυχὰς καὶ πνεύματα νοερὰ γενομένους, ἀκρατήτως καὶ ἀοράτως ἐντὸς πληρώματος εἰσελθόντας νύμφας ἀποδοθήσεσθαι τοῖς περὶ τὸν Σωτῆρα ἀγγέλοις. Τὸν δὲ ∆ημιουργὸν μεταβῆναι καὶ αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν τῆς μητρὸς Σοφίας τόπον, τουτέστιν ἐν τῇ μεσότητι· τάς τε τῶν δικαίων ψυχὰς ἀναπαύσεσθαι καὶ αὐτὰς ἐν τῷ τῆς μεσότητος τόπῳ. Μηδὲν γὰρ ψυχικὸν ἐντὸς πληρώματος χωρεῖν. 1.1.13 Τούτων δὲ γενομένων οὕτως, τὸ ἐμφωλεῦον τῷ κόσμῳ πῦρ ἐκλάμψαν καὶ ἐξαφθὲν, καὶ κατεργασάμενον πᾶσαν ὕλην συναναλωθήσεσθαι αὐτῇ, καὶ εἰς τὸ μηκέτ' εἶναι χωρήσειν διδάσκουσι. Τὸν δὲ ∆ημιουργὸν μηδὲν τούτων ἐγνω κέναι ἀποφαίνονται πρὸ τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος παρουσίας. Εἰσὶ δὲ οἱ λέγοντες προβαλέσθαι αὐτὸν καὶ Χριστὸν υἱὸν ἴδιον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ψυχικόν· καὶ περὶ τούτου διὰ τῶν Προφητῶν λελαληκέναι. Εἶναι δὲ τοῦτον τὸν διὰ Μαρίας διοδεύσαντα, καθάπερ ὕδωρ διὰ σωλῆνος ὁδεύει, καὶ εἰς τοῦτον ἐπὶ τοῦ βαπτίσματος κατελθεῖν ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ Πληρώματος ἐκ πάντων Σωτῆρα, ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς· γεγονέναι δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ l. ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀχαμὼθ σπέρμα πνευματικόν. Τὸν οὖν Κύριον ἡμῶν ἐκ τεσσάρων τούτων σύνθετον γεγονέναι φάσκουσιν, ἀποσώζοντα τὸν τύπον τῆς ἀρχεγόνου καὶ πρώτης τετρακτύος· ἔκ τε τοῦ πνευματικοῦ, ὃ ἦν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀχαμὼθ, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ψυχικοῦ, ὃ ἦν ἀπὸ τοῦ ∆ημιουργοῦ, καὶ ἐκ τῆς οἰκονομίας, ὃ ἦν κατεσκευασμένον ἀῤῥήτῳ τέχνῃ, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ Σωτῆρος, ὃ ἦν κατελθοῦσα εἰς αὐτὸν περιστερά. Καὶ τοῦτο l. τοῦτον μὲν ἀπαθῆ διαμεμενηκέναι· (οὐ γὰρ ἐνεδέχετο παθεῖν αὐτὸν ἀκράτητον καὶ ἀόρατον ὑπάρχοντα·) καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ᾖρθαι, προσαγομένου αὐτοῦ τῷ Πιλάτῳ, τὸ εἰς αὐτὸν κατατεθὲν πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς μητρὸς σπέρμα πεπονθέναι λέγουσιν. Ἀπαθὲς γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ l. ἅτε πνευματικὸν, καὶ ἀόρατον καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ δημιουργῷ. Ἔπαθε δὲ λοιπὸν κατ' αὐτοὺς ὁ ψυχικὸς Χριστὸς, καὶ ὁ ἐκ τῆς οἰκονομίας κατεσκευασμένος μυστηριωδῶς, ἵν' ἐπιδείξῃ δι' αὐτοῦ ἡ μήτηρ τὸν τύπον τοῦ ἄνω Χριστοῦ, ἐκείνου τοῦ ἐπεκταθέντος τῷ Σταυρῷ, καὶ μορφώσαντος τὴν Ἀχαμὼθ μόρφωσιν τὴν κατ' οὐσίαν· πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα τύπους ἐκείνων εἶναι λέγουσι. Τὰς δὲ ἐσχηκυίας τὸ σπέρμα τῆς Ἀχαμὼθ ψυχὰς ἀμείνους λέγουσι γεγονέναι τῶν λοιπῶν· διὸ καὶ πλεῖον τῶν ἄλλων ἠγαπῆσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ