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28. You see, beloved, the method by which they deceive themselves, doing violence to the Scriptures, while attempting to establish their own fiction out of them. 1.428 For this reason I have also set down their very words, that from them you may understand the craftiness of their method and the wickedness of their error. For in the first place, if it had been John's purpose to declare the Ogdoad above, he would have preserved the order of the projection, and the first Tetrad, being most venerable, as they say, he would have placed among the first names and thus would have subjoined the second, so that through the order of the names the order of the Ogdoad might be shown; and not after so great an interval, as if he had forgotten, then remembering, have made mention of the first Tetrad at the end. Then, wishing to signify the syzygies as well, he would not have left out the name of Ecclesia, but would have either been content with the masculine appellation for the other syzygies as well, since they could be similarly understood, so that he might have preserved unity throughout; or if he enumerated the spouses of the others, he would have also declared the spouse of Anthropos, and would not have left us to guess her name by divination. Clear therefore is the perversion of their exegesis. For while John proclaimed one God almighty and one only-begotten Christ Jesus, through whom he says all things were made, this one the Son of God *, this one the only-begotten, this one the maker of all, this one the true light that enlightens every man, this one the maker of the world, this one having come unto His own, this one having Himself become flesh and having tabernacled among us, -these men, perverting the exegesis according to what is plausible, will have it that Monogenes is one being according to projection, whom indeed they also call Arche, and that Soter is another, and another, Logos, son of Monogenes, and still another, Christ, projected for the restoration of the Pleroma. And taking each one of the things spoken from the truth and misusing the names, they have transferred them to their own hypothesis, so that according to them, in so many words, John makes no mention of the Lord Christ Jesus. For if he has spoken of Father 1.429 and Charis and Monogenes and Aletheia and Logos and Zoe and Anthropos and Ecclesia, according to their hypothesis he has spoken concerning the first Ogdoad, in which there is not yet Jesus, not yet Christ, the teacher of John. But that the apostle did not speak concerning their syzygies, but concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, whom he also knows as the Logos of God, he himself has made clear. For summing up concerning the Logos spoken of by him above in the beginning, he further explains, «and the Logos became flesh and dwelt among us». But according to their hypothesis, it was not the Logos who became flesh, who indeed never came outside the Pleroma, but Soter, who was made from all and was later than the Logos. 29. Learn therefore, you foolish ones, that Jesus who suffered for us, who dwelt among us, this one Himself is the Logos of God. For if some other of the Aeons had become flesh for our salvation, it would be reasonable that the apostle had spoken of another; but if the Logos of the Father who descended is Himself † and who ascended, the only-begotten Son of the only God, incarnate for men according to the good pleasure of the Father, John has not spoken concerning any other, nor concerning an Ogdoad, but concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. For not even the Logos, according to them, primarily became flesh. For they say that Soter put on a psychic body, fashioned from the economy by unspeakable providence so as to become visible and tangible. But flesh is the ancient formation which was made from the dust according to Adam by God, which John declared the Logos of God truly to have become. And their first and original Ogdoad is dissolved. For when one and the same is shown to be Logos and Monogenes and Zoe and Phos and Soter and Christ and Son of God, and

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28. Ὁρᾷς, ἀγαπητέ, τὴν μέθοδον, ᾗ χρώμενοι φρεναπατῶσιν ἑαυτούς, ἐπηρεάζοντες ταῖς γραφαῖς, τὸ πλάσμα αὐτῶν ἐξ αὐτῶν συνιστάνειν πειρώ1.428 μενοι. διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ αὐτὰς παρεθέμην αὐτῶν τὰς λέξεις, ἵνα ἐξ αὐτῶν κατανοήσῃς τὴν πανουργίαν τῆς μεθοδείας καὶ τὴν πονηρίαν τῆς πλάνης. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ εἰ προέκειτο Ἰωάννῃ τὴν ἄνω Ὀγδοάδα μηνῦσαι, τὴν τάξιν ἂν τετηρήκει τῆς προβολῆς καὶ τὴν πρώτην τετράδα σεβασμιωτάτην οὖσαν, καθὼς λέγουσιν, ἐν πρώτοις ἂν τεθείκει τοῖς ὀνόμασι καὶ οὕτως ἐπεζεύχει τὴν δευτέραν, ἵνα διὰ τῆς τάξεως τῶν ὀνομάτων ἡ τάξις δειχθῇ τῆς Ὀγδοάδος, καὶ οὐκ ἂν μετὰ τοσοῦτον διάστημα ὡς ἐκλελησμένος, ἔπειτα ἀναμνησθεὶς ἐπ' ἐσχάτῳ τῆς πρώτης ἐμέμνητο τετράδος. ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ τὰς συζυγίας σημᾶναι θέλων καὶ τὸ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας οὐκ ἂν παρέλιπεν ὄνομα, ἀλλ' ἢ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν λοιπῶν συζυγιῶν ἠρκέσθη τῇ τῶν ἀρρένων προσηγορίᾳ, ὁμοίως δυναμένων κἀκείνων συνυπακούεσθαι, ἵνα τὴν ἑνότητα διὰ πάντων ᾖ πεφυλακώς, ἢ εἰ τῶν λοιπῶν τὰς συζύγους κατέλεγε, καὶ τὴν τοῦ Ἀνθρώπου ἂν μεμηνύκει σύζυγον καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἀφῆκεν ἐκ μαντείας ἡμᾶς λαμβάνειν τοὔνομα αὐτῆς. Φανερὰ οὖν ἡ τῆς ἐξηγήσεως αὐτῶν παραποίησις. τοῦ γὰρ Ἰωάννου ἕνα θεὸν παντοκράτορα καὶ ἕνα μονογενῆ Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν κηρύσσοντος δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα γεγονέναι λέγει, τοῦτον υἱὸν θεοῦ *, τοῦτον μονογενῆ, τοῦτον πάντων ποιητήν, τοῦτον φῶς ἀληθινὸν φωτίζον πάντα ἄνθρωπον, τοῦτον κόσμου ποιητήν, τοῦτον εἰς τὰ ἴδια ἐληλυθότα, τοῦτον αὐτὸν σάρκα γεγονότα καὶ ἐσκηνωκότα ἐν ἡμῖν, -οὗτοι παρατρέποντες κατὰ τὸ πιθανὸν τὴν ἐξήγησιν ἄλλον μὲν τὸν Μονογενῆ θέλουσιν εἶναι κατὰ τὴν προβολὴν ὃν δὴ καὶ Ἀρχὴν καλοῦσιν, ἄλλον δὲ τὸν Σωτῆρα γεγονέναι θέλουσι καὶ ἄλλον τὸν Λόγον υἱὸν τοῦ Μονογενοῦς καὶ ἄλλον τὸν Χριστὸν εἰς ἐπανόρθωσιν τοῦ Πληρώματος προβεβλημένον. καὶ ἓν ἕκαστον τῶν εἰρημένων ἄραντες ἀπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ καταχρησάμενοι τοῖς ὀνόμασιν εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν ὑπόθεσιν μετήνεγκαν, ὥστε κατ' αὐτοὺς ἐν τοῖς τοσούτοις τὸν Ἰωάννην τοῦ κυρίου Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ μνείαν μὴ ποιεῖσθαι. εἰ γὰρ Πατέρα 1.429 εἴρηκε καὶ Χάριν καὶ Μονογενῆ καὶ Ἀλήθειαν καὶ Λόγον καὶ Ζωὴν καὶ Ἄνθρωπον καὶ Ἐκκλησίαν, κατὰ τὴν ἐκείνων ὑπόθεσιν περὶ τῆς πρώτης Ὀγδοάδος εἴρηκεν, ἐν ᾗ οὐδέπω Ἰησοῦς οὐδέπω Χριστός, ὁ τοῦ Ἰωάννουδιδάσκαλος. ὅτι δὲ οὐ περὶ τῶν συζυγιῶν αὐτῶν ὁ ἀπόστολος εἴρηκεν, ἀλλὰ περὶ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὃν καὶ Λόγον οἶδεν τοῦ θεοῦ, αὐτὸς πεποίηκε φανερόν. ἀνακεφαλαιούμενος γὰρ περὶ τοῦ εἰρημένου αὐτῷ ἄνω ἐν ἀρχῇ Λόγου ἐπεξηγεῖται «καὶ ὁ Λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν». κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἐκείνων ὑπόθεσιν οὐχ ὁ Λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο, ὅς γε οὐδὲ ἦλθέν ποτε ἐκτὸς Πληρώματος, ἀλλὰ ὁ ἐκ πάντων γεγονὼς καὶ μεταγενέστερος τοῦ Λόγου Σωτήρ. 29. Μάθετε οὖν, ἀνόητοι, ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ὁ παθὼν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, ὁ κατασκηνώσας ἐν ἡμῖν, οὗτος αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλος τις τῶν Αἰώνων ὑπὲρ τῆς ἡμῶν αὐτῶν σωτηρίας σὰρξ ἐγένετο, εἰκὸς ἦν περὶ ἄλλου εἰρηκέναι τὸν ἀπόστολον· εἰ δὲ ὁ Λόγος ὁ τοῦ Πατρὸς ὁ καταβὰς αὐτός ἐστιν † καὶ ὁ ἀναβάς, ὁ τοῦ μόνου θεοῦ μονογενὴς υἱός, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς εὐδοκίαν σαρκωθεὶς ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων, οὐ περὶ ἄλλου τινὸς οὐδὲ περὶ Ὀγδοάδος ὁ Ἰωάννης τὸν λόγον πεποίηται, ἀλλ' ἢ περὶ τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ Λόγος κατ' αὐτοὺς προηγουμένως σὰρξ γέγονεν. λέγουσι γὰρ τὸν Σωτῆρα ἐνδύσασθαι σῶμα ψυχικὸν ἐκ τῆς οἰκονομίας κατεσκευασμένον ἀρρήτῳ προνοίᾳ πρὸς τὸ ὁρατὸν γενέσθαι καὶ ψηλαφητόν. σὰρξ δέ ἐστιν ἡ ἀρχαία ἐκ τοῦ χοῦ κατὰ τὸν Ἀδὰμ ἡ γεγονυῖα πλάσις ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἣν ἀληθῶς γεγονέναι τὸν Λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐμήνυσεν ὁ Ἰωάννης. καὶ λέλυται αὐτῶν ἡ πρώτη καὶ ἀρχέγονος Ὀγδοάς. ἑνὸς γὰρ καὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ δεικνυμένου Λόγου καὶ Μονογενοῦς καὶ Ζωῆς καὶ Φωτὸς καὶ Σωτῆρος καὶ Χριστοῦ καὶ υἱοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ