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to Eve, and of life and of light; that Eve delivered Adam from bestiality, and then later was stripped of the light; that Saklas first had intercourse with her and had a beast-shaped child from her. Then they say he had intercourse with her again. But perhaps someone might reasonably blame me for enduring to write these things. For this reason, leaving aside the other myths and nonsense, I will state briefly the main points of this impious heresy. These men call the sun and the moon gods, sometimes calling it Christ, and they provide as sufficient proof of this the fact that the sun was eclipsed at the time of the cross; and sometimes saying they are ships that transport the souls of the dead from Matter to the Light. For thus, he says, it is partially freed from the evil mixture. And they say the moon becomes crescent-shaped and halved by being emptied; and that it receives the light-like souls from Matter and deposits them into the Light; and thus little by little the Light is freed from the evil mixture. And when the whole nature of Light is separated from Matter, they say then God will hand it over to fire and make it one lump; and with it also the souls that have not believed in Manes. He sometimes calls the devil Matter, and sometimes the ruler of Matter. He says marriage is the legislation of the devil. They slander the philanthropy shown to the poor, saying it is the service of Matter. They say the Lord took on neither a soul nor a body, but appeared as a man, having nothing human; and that the cross, the passion, and the death occurred in appearance only. They cast out the resurrection of bodies as a myth. For they have considered no part of Matter worthy of salvation. They speak of the transmigrations of souls, and that some are sent down into the bodies of birds, some into those of cattle, and wild beasts, and reptiles. They consider all things to have souls, both fire, and water, and air, and plants, and seeds. For this reason, those among them who are called perfect neither break bread nor cut vegetables, but are manifestly arrogant toward those who do these things, as if they were murderers; yet they eat what is cut and what is broken. They also make extraordinary use of sorceries, performing their own abominable mysteries; for this reason their teaching is hard to wash out, and it is very difficult to change one who has partaken of the loathsome orgies from the working of the soul-destroying demons, as the incantations of those performing them bind their souls. This Manes had three disciples at the beginning, Addas, and Thomas, and Hermas. And he sent 83.381 Addas as a preacher to the Syrians, and Thomas to the Indians. And when these returned, saying they had endured all kinds of terrible things, with no one enduring to accept Manes as a teacher, the all-wicked one dared to call himself Christ, and to name himself the Holy Spirit, and said he was sent according to the Savior's promise. For the Lord promised to send another Paraclete. This one, having made twelve disciples according to the Lord's pattern, arrived in Mesopotamia, fleeing from the king of the Persians. For having boasted that he would heal the king's son who had fallen into some affliction, he encompassed him with greater evils. And when from there also he was driven out as a manifest adversary of God, and he reached Persia, he was arrested by the king, endured the Persian punishment, and having been stripped of his skin was given to the dogs. Such was the end of Manes, these are the main points of the impious heresy. For if someone wished to go through all the nonsense of their myths, he would need very many books. Such doctrines did the all-wicked demon sound in the minds of unholy men, such captains and commanders did he use, arraying them against the truth. But the web

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Εὔᾳ, καὶ ζωῆς καὶ φωτός· τὴν δὲ Εὔαν τῆς θη ριωδίας τὸν Ἀδὰμ ἀπαλλάξαι, εἶθ' ὕστερον τοῦ φωτὸς γυμνωθῆναι· τὸν δὲ Σακλᾶν πρῶτον αὐτῇ μιγέντα, θηριόμορφον ἐξ αὐτῆς ἐσχηκέναι παιδίον. Εἶτα καὶ ταύτῃ πάλιν κεκοινωνηκέναι αὐτὸν λέγουσι. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἴσως κἀμοὶ ἐπιμέμψαιτ' ἄν τις εἰκότως, ταῦτα συγγράφειν ἀνεχομένῳ. Οὗ δὴ χάριν, τοὺς ἄλλους μύθους καὶ λήρους καταλιπὼν, συντόμως ἐρῶ τῆς δυσσεβοῦς αἱρέσεως τὰ κεφάλαια. Οὗτοι τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην θεοὺς ὀνομάζουσι, ποτὲ μὲν αὐτὸν ἀποκαλοῦντες Χριστὸν, καὶ τούτου τεκμήριον ἱκανὸν παρέχουσι, τὸ τὸν ἥλιον ἐκλείπειν· ἐν τῷ τοῦ σταυροῦ καιρῷ· ποτὲ δὲ πλοῖα λέγοντες εἶναι τὰς τῶν τελευτώντων ψυχὰς ἀπὸ τῆς Ὕλης μετάγοντα πρὸς τὸ Φῶς. Οὕτω γὰρ, φησὶ, κατὰ μέρος τῆς πο νηρᾶς ἀπαλλάττεται κράσεως. Καὶ τὴν σελήνην δὲ μηνοειδῆ καὶ διχότομον γίνεσθαί φασι, τῷ κενοῦ σθαι· καὶ τὰς φωτοειδεῖς ψυχὰς ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς Ὕλης λαμβάνειν, ἀποτίθεσθαι δὲ εἰς τὸ Φῶς· καὶ οὕτω κα τὰ βραχὺ τῆς πονηρᾶς τὸ Φῶς ἀπαλλάττεσθαι κρά σεως. Ὅταν δὲ πᾶσα τοῦ Φωτὸς ἡ φύσις τῆς Ὕλης ἀποκριθῇ, τότε φασὶ τὸν Θεὸν πυρὶ παραδώσειν αὐ τὴν, καὶ μίαν βῶλον ποιήσειν· σὺν αὐτῇ δὲ καὶ τὰς μὴ πεπιστευκυίας εἰς τὸν Μάνητα ψυχάς. Τὸν δὲ διάβολον ποτὲ μὲν Ὕλην καλεῖ, ποτὲ δὲ τῆς Ὕλης ἄρχοντα. Τὸν δὲ γάμον τοῦ διαβόλου νομοθεσίαν φησί. Τὴν δὲ εἰς τοὺς πένητας γινομένην διαβάλ λουσι φιλανθρωπίαν, τῆς Ὕλης εἶναι λέγοντες θερα πείαν. Τὸν δὲ Κύριον οὔτε ψυχὴν ἀνειληφέναι φασὶν, οὔτε σῶμα, ἀλλὰ φανῆναι ὡς ἄνθρωπον, καὶ οὐδὲν ἀνθρώπινον ἔχοντα· καὶ τὸν σταυρὸν δὲ, καὶ τὸ πά θος, καὶ τὸν θάνατον, φαντασίᾳ γενέσθαι. Τὴν δὲ τῶν σωμάτων ἀνάστασιν ὡς μῦθον ἐκβάλλουσιν. Οὐδὲν γὰρ τῆς Ὕλης μόριον ἄξιον ὑπειλήφασι σωτηρίας. Ψυχῶν δὲ μετενσωματώσεις λέγουσι γίνεσθαι, καὶ τὰς μὲν εἰς πτηνῶν, τὰς δὲ εἰς κτηνῶν, καὶ θη ρίων, καὶ ἑρπετῶν σώματα καταπέμπεσθαι. Πάντα δὲ νομίζουσιν ἔμψυχα, καὶ τὸ πῦρ, καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ τὸν ἀέρα, καὶ τὰ φυτὰ, καὶ τὰ σπέρματα. Οὗ δὴ χάριν οἱ καλούμενοι τέλειοι παρ' αὐτοῖς, οὔτε ἄρτον κλῶσιν, οὔτε λάχανον τέμνουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ταῦτα δρῶσιν, ὡς μιαιφόνοις προφανῶς ἐπαίρονται· ἐσθίουσι δὲ ὅμως τὰ τεμνόμενα καὶ τὰ κλώμενα. Κέχρηνται δὲ καὶ γοητείαις διαφερόντως, τὰ δυσαγῆ αὑτῶν ἐκτελοῦντες μυστήρια· ταύτῃτοι καὶ δυσέκνι πτος αὐτῶν ἡ διδασκαλία, καὶ τὸν τῶν μυσαρῶν ὀρ γίων μετειληχότα λίαν ἐστὶ δυσχερὲς μετατιθέναι τῆς τῶν ψυχοφθόρων ἐνεργείας δαιμόνων, ταῖς τῶν τε λούντων ἐπῳδαῖς τὰς ἐκείνων καταδεσμούντων ψυχάς. Οὗτος ὁ Μάνης τρεῖς ἔσχε τὴν ἀρχὴν φοιτητὰς, Ἀλδὰν, καὶ Θωμᾶν, καὶ Ἑρμᾶν. Καὶ τὸν μὲν 83.381 Ἀλδὰν Σύροις ἀπέστειλε κήρυκα, Ἰνδοῖς δὲ τὸν Θωμᾶν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐπανῆλθον οὗτοι, παντοδαπὰ λέγοντες ὑπομεμενηκέναι δεινὰ, μηδενὸς ἀνεχομένου τὸν Μάνητα διδάσκαλον δέξασθαι, ἐτόλμησεν ἑαυτὸν ὁ παμπόνηρος καὶ Χριστὸν προσαγορεῦσαι, καὶ Πνεῦμα ἅγιον ὀνομάσαι, καὶ ἐπεστάλθαι ἔφησε κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ὑπόσχεσιν. Ἐπηγγείλατο γὰρ ὁ Κύριος πέμψειν ἄλλον Παράκλητον. Οὗτος δυοκαί δεκα μαθητὰς κατὰ τὸν Κυριακὸν ποιησάμενος τύ πον, εἰς τὴν μέσην ἀφίκετο τῶν ποταμῶν, ἀποδιδρά σκων τὸν Περσῶν βασιλέα. Θεραπεύσειν γὰρ νεανιευ σάμενος πάθει τινὶ περιπεσόντα τὸν τοῦ βασιλέως υἱὸν, μείζοσι κακοῖς περιέβαλεν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ ἐν τεῦθεν ὡς προφανὴς ἀντίθεος ἐξηλάθη, καὶ τὴν Περ σίδα κατέλαβε, συλληφθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως, τὴν Περσικὴν ὑπέμεινε τιμωρίαν, καὶ τοῦ δέρματος γυ μνωθεὶς παρεδόθη κυσί. Τοιοῦτο τοῦ Μάνεντος τὸ τέ λος, ταῦτα τῆς δυσσεβοῦς αἱρέσεως τὰ κεφάλαια. Εἰ γὰρ ἅπαντά τις τῶν μύθων τὸν φλήναφον ἐθελήσοι διεξελθεῖν, παμπόλλων ἂν δεηθείη βιβλίων. Τοιαῦτα ταῖς τῶν ἀνοσίων ἀνθρώπων διανοίαις ὁ παμπόνηρος δαίμων ἐνήχησε δόγματα, τοιούτοις ἐχρήσατο λοχ αγοῖς καὶ ταξιάρχαις, κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας παραταττό μενος. Ἀλλ' ἱστὸν