[How the Heresies Differ from Each Other, and from the Truth.]

X. Now all these had one and the same design of atheism, to blaspheme Almighty God, to spread their doctrine that He is an unknown being, and not the Father of Christ, nor the Creator of the world; but one who cannot be spoken of, ineffable, not to be named, and begotten by Himself; that we are not to make use of the law and the prophets; that there is no providence and no resurrection to be believed; that there is no judgment nor retribution; that the soul is not immortal; that we must only indulge our pleasures, and turn to any sort of worship without distinction. Some of them say that there are many gods, some that there are three gods without beginning, some that there are two unbegotten gods, some that there are innumerable Æons. Further, some of them teach that men are not to marry, and must abstain from flesh and wine, affirming that marriage, and the begetting of children, and the eating of certain foods, are abominable; that so, as sober persons, they may make their wicked opinions to be received as worthy of belief. And some of them absolutely prohibit the eating of flesh, as being the flesh not of brute animals, but of creatures that have a rational soul, as though those that ventured to slay them would be charged with the crime of murder. But others of them affirm that we must only abstain from swine’s flesh, but may eat such as are clean by the law; and that we ought to be circumcised, according to the law, and to believe in Jesus as in an holy man and a prophet. But others teach that men ought to be impudent in uncleanness, and to abuse the flesh, and to go through all unholy practices, as if this were the only way for the soul to avoid the rulers of this world. Now all these are the instruments of the devil, and the children of wrath.

[Sec. III.—The Heresies Attacked by the Apostles.]

[10] Τούτοις δὲ πᾶσιν ἐπίσης σκοπὸς ἦν εἷς καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ἀθεότητος, τὸν μὲν παντοκράτορα Θεὸν βλασφημεῖν, ἄγνωστον δοξάζειν καὶ μὴ εἶναι Πατέρα τοῦ Χριστοῦ μηδὲ τοῦ κόσμου δημιουργόν, ἀλλ' ἄλεκτον, ἄρρητον, ἀκατονόμαστον, αὐτογένεθλον: Νόμῳ καὶ Προφήταις μὴ χρᾶσθαι, πρόνοιαν μὴ εἶναι, ἀνάστασιν μὴ πιστεύειν, κρίσιν μὴ εἶναι καὶ ἀνταπόδοσιν, ψυχὴν ἀθάνατον μὴ ὑπάρχειν, ἡδονῇ χαίρειν μόνῃ καὶ πρὸς πᾶσαν θρησκείαν ἀδιαφόρως ἐκκλίνειν. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ πλείους θεοὺς εἶναι λέγουσιν, οἱ δὲ τρεῖς ἀνάρχους, οἱ δὲ δύο ἀγεννήτους, οἱ δὲ αἰῶνας ἀπείρους: καὶ οἱ μὲν αὐτῶν ἀγαμίαν διδάσκουσιν καὶ κρεῶν ἀποχὴν καὶ οἴνου, βδελυκτὰ λέγοντες εἶναι καὶ γάμον καὶ παίδων γένεσιν καὶ βρωμάτων μετάληψιν, ἵν' ὡς σεμνοί τινες τὴν πονηρὰν αὐτῶν γνώμην ὡς ἀξιόπιστον παραδεχθῆναι ποιήσωσιν: τινὲς δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν νομοθετοῦσι κρεῶν ἀπέχεσθαι οὐχ ὡς ἀλόγων ζῴων, ἀλλ' ὡς λογικὴν ἐχόντων ψυχὴν καὶ φόνου δίκην εἰσπράσσεσθαι μελλόντων τῶν ταῦτα κατατολμώντων σφάζειν. Ἕτεροι δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἔλεγον μόνου δεῖν χοιρείου ἀπέχεσθαι, τὰ δὲ κατὰ νόμον καθαρὰ ἐσθίειν καὶ περιτέμνεσθαι νομίμως, πιστεύειν δὲ εἰς Ἰησοῦν ὡς εἰς ὅσιον ἄνδρα καὶ προφήτην: ἄλλοι δὲ ἀναίδην ἐκπορνεύειν καὶ παραχρᾶσθαι τῇ σαρκὶ ἐδίδασκον καὶ διὰ πάσης ἀνοσιουργίας ἰέναι, ὡς οὕτως καὶ μόνως ἐκφεύξεσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν τοὺς κοσμικοὺς ἄρχοντας. Οὗτοι δὲ πάντες τοῦ διαβόλου τυγχάνουσιν ὄργανα καὶ υἱοὶ ὀργῆς.