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they speak concerning their Pleroma and the creation of all things, forcing the things that were well said to fit the things evilly devised by them. And not only from the Gospels and the apostolic writings do they attempt to make their proofs, twisting the interpretations and making light of the explanations, but also from the Law and the Prophets, since many parables and allegories have been spoken and are able to be drawn to many meanings † the ambiguity through explanation, * more cleverly and craftily applying them to their own fabrication, they take captive from the truth those who do not preserve a firm faith in one God, the Father Almighty, and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 16. The things said by them to be outside the Pleroma are as follows: The Enthymesis of the upper Sophia, whom they also call Achamoth, having been separated from the upper Pleroma along with her passion, they say was of necessity cast out into places of shadow and emptiness; for she came to be outside of Light and Pleroma, formless and shapeless, like an abortion, because she had comprehended nothing. But that the upper Christ, having pitied her, and having extended himself through the Cross with his own power, gave her a form, that is, only according to substance but not according to knowledge; and having done this, he ran back up, withdrawing his power, and left her, so that, becoming aware of her passion on account of her separation from the Pleroma, she might long for the superior 1.410 things, having a certain scent of incorruptibility left in her by Christ and the Holy Spirit. For which reason she is called by both names, both Sophia, as a patronymic—for her father is called Sophia—and Holy Spirit, from the spirit that was with Christ. But she, having been formed and made intelligent, but immediately emptied of the Logos who was invisibly with her—that is, Christ—rushed to seek the light that had left her, and was not able to apprehend it because she was prevented by Horos. And that then Horos, preventing her forward impulse, said "Iao"; whence they assert the name Iao came to be. And since she was not able to pass through Horos, because she was entangled in her passion, and was left alone outside, she fell into every part of passion, which was of many parts and many kinds, and she suffered grief, because she did not apprehend, and fear, lest life might fail her just as the light did, and in addition to these, perplexity. And all this was in ignorance; and not like her mother, the first Sophia, an Aeon, who had variation in her passions, but opposition. And another disposition also came upon her, that of turning towards the one who had given her life. This constitution and substance, they say, became matter, from which this world has been formed. for from her turning back, every soul of the world and of the Demiurge received its origin, but from her fear and grief the other things took their beginning. For from her tears came all liquid substance, and from her laughter, the luminous, and from her grief and consternation, the corporeal elements of the world. For at one time she would weep and grieve, as they say, because she had been left alone in the darkness and the void, but at another, coming to the thought of the light which had left her, she would grow cheerful and laugh, then again she would be afraid, and at other times she would be perplexed and astonished. 17. And what then? Much tragedy and fantasy was then here, 1.411 with each one of them gravely recounting in one way or another, from what kind of passion from what element substance took its origin; which they also seem to me with good reason not to wish to teach all openly, but only those who are able to pay great fees for such great mysteries. For these are no longer like those things about which our Lord

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περὶ τοῦ Πληρώματος αὐτῶν καὶ τοῦ πλάσματος πάντων λέγουσιν, ἐφαρμόζειν βιαζόμενοι τὰ καλῶς εἰρημένα τοῖς κακῶς ἐπινενοημένοις ὑπ' αὐτῶν. καὶ οὐ μόνον ἐκ τῶν εὐαγγελικῶν καὶ τῶν ἀποστολικῶν πειρῶνται τὰς ἀποδείξεις ποιεῖσθαι, παρατρέποντες τὰς ἑρμηνείας καὶ ῥᾳδιουργοῦντες τὰς ἐξηγήσεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ νόμου καὶ προφητῶν, ἅτε πολλῶν παραβολῶν καὶ ἀλληγοριῶν εἰρημένων καὶ εἰς πολλὰ ἕλκεσθαι δυναμένων † τὸ ἀμφίβολον διὰ τῆς ἐξηγήσεως, * δεινοτέρως τῷ πλάσματι αὐτῶν καὶ δολίως ἐφαρμόζοντες αἰχμαλωτίζουσιν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας τοὺς μὴ ἑδραίαν τὴν πίστιν εἰς ἕνα θεὸν πατέρα παντοκράτορα καὶ εἰς ἕνα κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ διαφυλάσσοντας. 16. Τὰ δὲ ἐκτὸς τοῦ Πληρώματος λεγόμενα ὑπ' αὐτῶν ἐστιν τοιαῦτα· τὴν Ἐνθύμησιν τῆς ἄνω Σοφίας, ἣν καὶ Ἀχαμὼθ καλοῦσιν, ἀφορισθεῖσαν τοῦ ἄνω Πληρώματος σὺν τῷ πάθει λέγουσιν ἐν σκιᾶς καὶ κενώματος τόποις ἐκβεβράσθαι κατὰ ἀνάγκην· ἔξω γὰρ φωτὸς ἐγένετο καὶ Πληρώματος, ἄμορφος καὶ ἀνείδεος ὥσπερ ἔκτρωμα, διὰ τὸ μηδὲν κατειληφέναι. οἰκτείραντα δὲ αὐτὴν τὸν ἄνω Χριστὸν καὶ διὰ τοῦ Σταυροῦ ἐπεκταθέντα τῇ ἰδίᾳ δυνάμει μορφῶσαι μόρφωσιν, τὴν κατ' οὐσίαν μόνον ἀλλ' οὐ τὴν κατὰ γνῶσιν· καὶ πράξαντα τοῦτο ἀναδραμεῖν, συστείλαντα αὐτοῦ τὴν δύναμιν, καὶ καταλιπεῖν αὐτήν, ὅπως αἰσθομένη τοῦ περὶ αὐτὴν πάθους διὰ τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν τοῦ Πληρώματος ὀρεχθῇ τῶν διαφερόν1.410 των, ἔχουσά τινα ὀδμὴν ἀφθαρσίας ἐγκαταλειφθεῖσαν αὐτῇ ὑπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος. διὸ καὶ αὐτὴν τοῖς ἀμφοτέροις ὀνόμασι καλεῖσθαι, Σοφίαν τε πατρωνυμικῶς ὁ γὰρ πατὴρ αὐτῆς Σοφία κλῄζεται καὶ Πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἀπὸ τοῦ περὶ τὸν Χριστὸν πνεύματος. μορφωθεῖσαν δὲ αὐτὴν καὶ ἔμφρονα γενηθεῖσαν, παραυτίκα δὲ κενωθεῖσαν τοῦ ἀοράτως αὐτῇ συνόντος Λόγου τουτέστιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἐπὶ ζήτησιν ὁρμῆσαι τοῦ καταλιπόντος αὐτὴν φωτὸς καὶ μὴ δυνηθῆναι καταλαβεῖν αὐτὸ διὰ τὸ κωλυθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ Ὅρου. καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὸν Ὅρον κωλύοντα αὐτὴν τῆς εἰς τοὔμπροσθεν ὁρμῆς εἰπεῖν «Ἰαώ»· ὅθεν τὸ Ἰαὼ ὄνομα γεγενῆσθαι φάσκουσι. μὴ δυνηθεῖσαν δὲ διοδεῦσαι τὸν Ὅρον διὰ τὸ συμπεπλέχθαι τῷ πάθει καὶ μόνην ἀπολειφθεῖσαν ἔξω, παντὶ μέρει τοῦ πάθους ὑποπεσεῖν, πολυμεροῦς καὶ πολυποικίλου ὑπάρχοντος, καὶ παθεῖν λύπην μέν, ὅτι οὐ κατέλαβεν, φόβον δέ, μὴ καθάπερ αὐτὴν τὸ φῶς οὕτω καὶ τὸ ζῆν ἐπιλίπῃ, ἀπορίαν τε ἐπὶ τούτοις. ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ δὲ τὰ πάντα· καὶ οὐ καθάπερ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτῆς, ἡ πρώτη Σοφία Αἰών, ἑτεροίωσιν ἐν τοῖς πάθεσιν εἶχεν, ἀλλὰ ἐναντιότητα. ἐπισυμβεβηκέναι δ' αὐτῇ καὶ ἑτέραν διάθεσιν, τὴν τῆς ἐπιστροφῆς ἐπὶ τὸν ζωοποιήσαντα. Ταύτην σύνταξιν καὶ οὐσίαν τῆς ὕλης γεγενῆσθαι λέγουσιν, ἐξ ἧς ὅδε ὁ κόσμος συνέστηκεν. ἐκ μὲν γὰρ τῆς ἐπιστροφῆς τὴν τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τοῦ ∆ημιουργοῦ πᾶσαν ψυχὴν τὴν γένεσιν εἰληφέναι, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ φόβου καὶ τῆς λύπης τὰ λοιπὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐσχηκέναι. ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν δακρύων αὐτῆς γεγονέναι πᾶσαν ἔνυγρον οὐσίαν, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ γέλωτος τὴν φωτεινήν, ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς λύπης καὶ ἐκπλήξεως τὰ σωματικὰ τοῦ κόσμου στοιχεῖα. ποτὲ μὲν γὰρ ἔκλαιε καὶ ἐλυπεῖτο, ὡς λέγουσι, διὰ τὸ καταλελεῖφθαι μόνην ἐν τῷ σκότει καὶ τῷ κενώματι, ποτὲ δὲ εἰς ἔννοιαν ἥκουσα τοῦ καταλιπόντος αὐτὴν φωτὸς διεχεῖτο καὶ ἐγέλα, ποτὲ δ' αὖ πάλιν ἐφοβεῖτο, ἄλλοτε δὲ διηπόρει καὶ ἐξίστατο. 17. Καὶ τί γάρ; τραγῳδία πολλὴ λοιπὸν ἦν ἐνθάδε καὶ φαντασία, 1.411 ἑνὸς ἑκάστου αὐτῶν ἄλλως καὶ ἄλλως σοβαρῶς ἐκδιηγουμένου, ἐκ ποταποῦ πάθους ἐκ ποίου στοιχείου ἡ οὐσία τὴν γένεσιν εἴληφεν· ἃ καὶ εἰκότως δοκοῦσί μοι μὴ ἅπαντας θέλειν ἐν φανερῷ διδάσκειν, ἀλλ' ἢ μόνους ἐκείνους τοὺς καὶ μεγάλους μισθοὺς ὑπὲρ τηλικούτων μυστηρίων τελεῖν δυναμένους. οὐκέτι γὰρ ταῦτα ὅμοια ἐκείνοις περὶ ὧν ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν