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Why the presence of the Son of God was in the last times, that is, the beginning appeared at the end, to announce; and concerning the end and the things to come, as many as are laid down in the scriptures, to unfold; and why God has made the despairing nations fellow-heirs and a fellow-body, and partakers with the saints, not to be silent; and how this mortal flesh will put on immortality, and the corruptible, incorruption, to proclaim; how he will say, Not my people, my people, and she who was not beloved, beloved, and how More are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband, to preach. For at these things and at those like them the Apostle exclaimed: O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! But not in erringly devising a Mother of these things and of himself, an Enthymesis of an Aeon above the Founder and Demiurge, and coming to such a point of blasphemy; nor suppl. in falsely inventing the Pleroma above this one again, at one time one, but now an innumerable tribe of Aeons, as these teachers, who are truly destitute of divine understanding, say; since the entire Church that exists holds one and the same faith throughout the whole world, as we have said before. LET US SEE now also the unstable l. unsyst. opinion of these men, being some two or three, how concerning the same things they do not say the same things, but declare things contrary in facts and in names; For the first, Valentinus, having adapted the principles from the so-called Gnostic heresy into the peculiar character of his school, promulgated this, defining that there is an unnamable Dyad, of which one part is called Unspeakable, and the other Silence. Then from this Dyad a second Dyad was projected, of which he names one part Father, and the other Truth. And from this Tetrad were brought forth Word and Life, Man and Church; and that this is the first Ogdoad. And from Word and Life he says ten powers were projected, as we have said before; and from Man and Church, twelve, of which one, having fallen away and suffered defect, produced the rest of the business. And he supposed two Limits, one between the Depth and the rest of the Pleroma, separating the generated Aeons from the ungenerated Father; and another, the one separating for him their mother from the Pleroma. And Christ was not projected from the Aeons in the Pleroma, but by the Mother, suppl. having come into being outside, according to the mind of the better ones, he was brought forth with a certain shadow. And this one, being male, having cut off the shadow from himself, ran back up into the Pleroma. But the Mother, having been left behind with the shadow, and emptied of her spiritual substance, brought forth another son; and that this one is the Demiurge, whom he also calls Pantocrator of the things below. And he taught that a best l. left-hand ruler was also co-projected with him, similarly to those who will be spoken of by us, the falsely-named Gnostics. And Jesus, he says, was at one time projected from that which was formed from their mother, ad. and poured forth together with the wholes, that is, of the Desired One; at another time from the one who ran back up into the Pleroma, that is, from Christ; and at another time from Man and the Church. And the Holy Spirit, he says, was projected by the Church l. Truth for the examination and fructification of the Aeons, entering into them invisibly; through which the Aeons bring forth the plants of truth. 1.5.2 Secundus says that the first Ogdoad is a right-hand Tetrad and a left-hand Tetrad, thus handing down that they are called, the one Light, and the other Darkness; and that the power that fell away and suffered defect was not from the thirty Aeons, (but) . . . . . . . . another . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . extending to what is higher and more Gnostic, the first tetrad . . . . . thus: There is a certain Pre-beginning before all things, pre-unthinkable, and unspeakable and unnamable, which I number Monotēs. With this Monotēs co-exists a power, which I myself also name Henotēs. This Henotēs, and the

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διὰ τί ἐπ' ἐσχάτων τῶν καιρῶν ἡ παρουσία τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ, τουτέστιν ἐν τῷ τέλει ἐφάνη ἡ ἀρχὴ, ἀπαγγέλλειν· καὶ περὶ τοῦ τέλους καὶ τῶν μελλόντων, ὅσα τε κεῖται ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς, ἀναπτύσσειν· καὶ τί ὅτι τὰ ἀπεγνωσμένα ἔθνη συγκληρονόμα καὶ σύσσωμα, καὶ συμμέτοχα τῶν ἁγίων πεποίηκεν ὁ Θεὸς, μὴ σιωπᾷν· καὶ πῶς τὸ θνητὸν τοῦτο σαρκίον ἐνδύσεται ἀθανασίαν, καὶ τὸ φθαρτὸν ἀφθαρσίαν, διαγγέλλειν· πῶς τε ἐρεῖ, Ὁ οὐ λαὸς, λαὸς, καὶ ἡ οὐκ ἠγαπημένη, ἠγαπημένη, καὶ πῶς Πλείονα τῆς ἐρήμου τὰ τέκνα μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς ἐχούσης τὸν ἄνδρα, κηρύσσειν. Ἐπὶ τούτων γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ὁμοίων αὐτοῖς ἐπεβόησεν ὁ Ἀπόστολος· Ὦ βάθος πλούτου καὶ σοφίας καὶ γνώσεως Θεοῦ· ὡς ἀνεξερεύνητα τὰ κρίματα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀνεξιχνίαστοι αἱ ὁδοὶ αὐτοῦ. Ἀλλὰ οὐκ ἐν τῷ ὑπὲρ τὸν κτιστὴν καὶ ∆ημιουργὸν Μητέρα τούτων καὶ αὐτοῦ Ἐνθύμησιν Αἰῶνος πεπλανημένου παρεπινοεῖν, καὶ εἰς τοσοῦτον ἥκειν βλασφημίας· οὐδὲ suppl. ἐν τῷ τὸ ὑπὲρ ταύτην πάλιν Πλήρωμα, τὸν μὲν ἕνα, νῦν δὲ ἀνήριθμον φῦλον Αἰώνων ἐπιψεύδεσθαι, καθὼς λέγουσιν οὗτοι οἱ ἀληθῶς ἔρημοι θείας συνέσεως διδάσκαλοι· τῆς οὔσης Ἐκκλησίας πάσης μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν πίστιν ἐχούσης εἰς πάντα τὸν κόσμον, καθὼς προέφαμεν. Ἴ∆ΩΜΕΝ νῦν καὶ τὴν τούτων ἄστατον l. ἀσύστ. γνώμην δύο που καὶ τριῶν ὄντων, πῶς περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς πράγμασι καὶ τοῖς ὀνόμασιν ἐναντία ἀποφαίνονται· Ὁ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτος, ἀπὸ τῆς λεγομένης γνωστικῆς αἱρέσεως τὰς ἀρχὰς εἰς ἴδιον χαρακτῆρα διδασκαλείου μεθαρμόσας Οὐαλεντῖνος, οὕτως ἐξηροφόρησεν, ὁρισάμενος εἶναι δυάδα ἀνονόμαστον, ἧς τὸ μέν τι καλεῖσθαι Ἄῤῥητον, τὸ δὲ Σιγήν. Ἔπειτα ἐκ ταύτης τῆς δυάδος δευτέραν δυάδα προβεβλῆσθαι, ἧς τὸ μέν τι Πατέρα ὀνομάζει, τὸ δὲ Ἀλήθειαν. Ἐκ δὲ τῆς τετράδος ταύτης καρποφορεῖσθαι Λόγον καὶ Ζωὴν, Ἄνθρωπον καὶ Ἐκκλησίαν· εἶναί τε ταύτην ὀγδοάδα πρώτην. Καὶ ἀπὸ μὲν τοῦ Λόγου καὶ τῆς Ζωῆς δέκα δυνάμεις λέγει προβεβλῆσθαι, καθὼς προειρήκαμεν· ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Ἀνθρώπου καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας δώδεκα, ὧν μίαν ἀποστᾶσαν καὶ ὑστερήσασαν, τὴν λοιπὴν πραγματείαν πεποιῆσθαι. Ὅρους τε δύο ὑπέθετο, ἕνα μὲν μεταξὺ τοῦ Βυθοῦ καὶ τοῦ λοιποῦ Πληρώματος, διορίζοντα τοὺς γεννητοὺς Αἰῶνας ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀγεννήτου Πατρός· ἕτερον δὲ τὸν ἀφορίζοντα αὐτῷ αὐτῶν τὴν μητέρα ἀπὸ τοῦ Πληρώματος. Καὶ τὸν Χριστὸν δὲ οὐκ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν τῷ Πληρώματι Αἰώνων προβεβλῆσθαι, ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ τῆς μητρὸς, ἔξω suppl. δὲ γενομένης, κατὰ τὴν γνώμην τῶν κρειττόνων ἀποκεκυῆσθαι μετὰ σκιᾶς τινος. Καὶ τοῦτον μὲν, ἅτε ἄῤῥενα ὑπάρχοντα, ἀποκόψαντα ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ τὴν σκιὰν, ἀναδραμεῖν εἰς τὸ Πλήρωμα. Τὴν δὲ μητέρα ὑπολειφθεῖσαν μετὰ τῆς σκιᾶς, κεκενωμένην τε τῆς πνευματικῆς ὑποστάσεως, ἕτερον υἱὸν προενέγκασθαι· καὶ τοῦτον εἶναι τὸν ∆ημιουργὸν, ὃν καὶ παντοκράτορα λέγει τῶν ὑποκειμένων. Συμπροβεβλῆσθαι δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ ἄριστον l. ἀριστερὸν ἄρχοντα ἐδογμάτισεν, ὁμοίως τοῖς ῥηθησομένοις ὑφ' ἡμῶν ψευδωνύμως Γνωστικοῖς. Καὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ποτὲ μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ συσταλέντος ἀπὸ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτῶν, συναναχυθέντος ad. τε τοῖς ὅλοις προβεβλῆσθαί φησι, τουτέστι τοῦ Θελητοῦ· ποτὲ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀναδραμόντος εἰς τὸ Πλήρωμα, τουτέστι τοῦ Χριστοῦ· ποτὲ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀνθρώπου καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας. Καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα δὲ τὸ ἅγιον ὑπὸ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας l. Ἀληθείας φησὶ προβεβλῆσθαι εἰς ἀνάκρισιν καὶ καρποφορίαν τῶν Αἰώνων, ἀοράτως εἰς αὐτοὺς εἰσιόν· δι' οὗ τοὺς Αἰῶνας καρποφορεῖν τὰ φυτὰ τῆς ἀληθείας. 1.5.2 Σεκοῦνδος λέγει εἶναι τὴν πρώτην ὀγδοάδα, τετράδα δεξιὰν καὶ τετράδα ἀριστερὰν, οὕτως παραδιδοὺς καλεῖσθαι, τὴν μὲν μίαν φῶς, τὴν δὲ ἄλλην σκότος· τὴν δὲ ἀποστᾶσάν τε καὶ ὑστερήσασαν δύναμιν μὴ εἶναι ἀπὸ τῶν τριάκοντα Αἰώνων, (ἀλλὰ) . . . . . . . . ἄλλος . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ἐπὶ τὸ ὑψηλότερον καὶ γνωστικώτερον ἐπεκτεινόμενος, τὴν πρώτην τετράδα . . . . . οὕτως· Ἔστι τις πρὸ πάντων προαρχὴ, προανεννόητος, ἄῤῥητός τε καὶ ἀνονόμαστος, ἣν ἐγὼ μονότητα ἀριθμῶ. Ταύτῃ τῇ μονότητι συνυπάρχει δύναμις, ἣν καὶ αὐτὴν ὀνομάζω ἑνότητα. Αὕτη ἡ ἑνότης, ἥ τε