Hippolytus of Rome, The Refutation of All Heresies

Logos himself also, and Zoe, then saw that Nous and Aletheia had celebrated the Father of the universe by a perfect number; and Logos himself likewise with Zoe wished to magnify their own father and mother, Nous and Aletheia. Since, however, Nous and Aletheia were begotten, and did not possess paternal (and) perfect uncreatedness, Logos and Zoe do not glorify Nous their father with a perfect number, but far from it, with an imperfect one.657 This follows the text as emended by Bernays. For Logos and Zoe offer twelve Æons unto Nous and Aletheia. For, according to Valentinus, these—namely, Nous and Aletheia, Logos and Zoe, Anthropos and Ecclesia—have been the primary roots of the Æons. But there are ten Æons proceeding from Nous and Aletheia, and twelve from Logos and Zoe—twenty and eight in all.658 The number properly should be thirty, as there were two tetrads: (1) Bythus, Sige, Nous, and Aletheia; (2) Logos, Zoe, Ecclesia, and Anthropos. Some, as we learn from Hippolytus, made up the number to thirty, by the addition of Christ and the Holy Ghost,—a fact which Bunsen thinks conclusively proves that the alleged generation of Æons was a subsequent addition to Valentinus’ system. And to these (ten) they give these following denominations:659 There is some confusion in Hippolytus’ text, which is, however, removeable by a reference to Irenæus (i. 1). Bythus and Mixis, Ageratus and Henosis, Autophyes and Hedone, Acinetus and Syncrasis, Monogenes and Macaria.660 We subjoin the meanings of these names:— Ten Æons from Nous and Aletheia, (or) Logos and Zoe, viz.:— 1. Bythus = Profundity. 2. Mixis = Mixture. 3. Ageratos = Ever-young. 4. Henosis = Unification. 5. Autophyes = Self-grown. 6. Hedone = Voluptuousness. 7. Acinetus = Motionless. 8. Syncrasis = Composition. 9. Monogenes = Only-begotten. 10. Macaria = Blessedness. These are ten Æons whom some say (have been projected) by Nous and Aletheia, but some by Logos and Zoe. Others, however, affirm that the twelve (Æons have been projected) by Anthropos and Ecclesia, while others by Logos and Zoe. And upon these they bestow these following names:661 The following are the meanings of these names:— Twelve Æons from Anthropos and Ecclesia, (or) Logos and Zoe:— 1. Paracletus = Comforter. 2. Pistis = Faith. 3. Patricus = Paternal. 4. Elpis = Hope. 5. Metricus = Temperate. 6. Agape = Love. 7. Æinous = Ever-thinking. 8. Synesis = Intelligence. 9. Ecclesiasticus = Ecclesiastical. 10. Makariotes = Felicity. 11. Theletus = Volition. 12. Sophia = Wisdom. Paracletus and Pistis, Patricus and Elpis, Metricus and Agape, Æinous and Synesis, Ecclesiasticus and Macariotes, Theletus and Sophia. But of the twelve, the twelfth and youngest of all the twenty-eight Æons, being a female, and called Sophia, observed the multitude and power of the begetting Æons, and hurried back into the depth of the Father. And she perceived that all the rest of the Æons, as being begotten, generate by conjugal intercourse. The Father, on the other hand, alone, without copulation, has produced (an offspring). She wished to emulate the Father,662 [Rev. ii. 24. It belongs to the “depths of Satan” to create mythologies that caricature the Divine mysteries. Cf. 2 Cor. ii. 11.] and to produce (offspring) of herself without a marital partner, that she might achieve a work in no wise inferior663 This Sophia was, so to speak, the bridge which spanned the abyss between God and Reality. Under an aspect of this kind Solomon (Prov. viii.) views Wisdom; and Valentinus introduces it into his system, according to the old Judaistic interpretation of Sophia, as the instrument for God’s creative energy. But Sophia thought to pass beyond her function as the connecting link between limited and illimitable existence, by an attempt to evolve the infinite from herself. She fails, and an abortive image of the true Wisdom is procreated, while Sophia herself sinks into this nether world. to (that of) the Father. (Sophia, however,) was ignorant that the Unbegotten One, being an originating principle of the universe, as well as root and depth and abyss, alone possesses the power of self-generation. But Sophia, being begotten, and born after many more (Æons), is not able to acquire possession of the power inherent in the Unbegotten One. For in the Unbegotten One, he says, all things exist simultaneously, but in the begotten (Æons) the female is projective of substance, and the male is formative of the substance which is projected by the female. Sophia, therefore, prepared to project that only which she was capable (of projecting), viz., a formless and undigested substance.664 Miller’s text has, “a well-formed and properly-digested substance.” This reading is, however, obviously wrong, as is proved by a reference to what Epiphanius states (Hær., xxxi.) concerning Valentinus. And this, he says, is what Moses asserts: “The earth was invisible, and unfashioned.” This (substance) is, he says, the good (and) the heavenly Jerusalem, into which God has promised to conduct the children of Israel, saying, “I will bring you into a land flowing with milk and honey.”

[30] Ἰδὼν οὗν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Λόγος καὶ ἡ Ζωὴ ὅτι ὁ Ν(οῦ)ς καὶ ἡ Ἀλήθεια δεδόξακαν τὸν Πατέρα τῶν ὅλων ἐν ἀριθμῷ τ(ελ)είῳ, δοξάσαι καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Λόγος μετὰ τῆς Ζωῆς ἠθέλησε τὸν ἑαυτοῦ πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα, τὸν Νοῦν καὶ τὴν Ἀλήθειαν. ἐπεὶ δὲ γεν[ν]ητὸς ἦν ὁ Νοῦς καὶ ἡ Ἀλήθεια, καὶ οὐκ εἶχε τὸ πατρικὸν τέλειον, τὴν ἀγεννησίαν, οὐκέτι [ἐν] τελείῳ ἀριθμῷ ὁ Λόγος καὶ ἡ Ζωὴ δοξάζουσι τὸν ἑαυτῶν πατέρα τὸν Νοῦν, ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐν ἀτελεῖ: δώδεκα γὰρ αἰῶνας προ[σ]φέρουσιν ὁ Λόγος καὶ ἡ Ζωὴ τῷ Νοῒ καὶ τῇ Ἀληθείᾳ. αὗται γοῦν πρῶται κατὰ Οὐαλεντῖνον ῥίζαι τῶν αἰώνων γεγόνασι: Νοῦς καὶ Ἀλήθεια, Λόγος καὶ Ζωή, Ἄνθρωπος καὶ Ἐκκλησία: δέκα δὲ οἱ τοῦ Νοὸς καὶ τῆς Ἀληθείας, δύο καὶ δέκα δὲ οἱ τοῦ Λόγου καὶ τῆς Ζωῆς, εἴκοσι καὶ ὀκτὼ οἱ πάντες. οἷς [δὲ τοὺς δέκα] καλοῦσιν, ὀνόματα ταῦτα: Βύθ[ι]ος καὶ Μίξις, Ἀγήρατος καὶ Ἕνωσις, Αὐτοφυὴς καὶ Ἡδονή, Ἀκίνητος καὶ Σύγκρασις, Μονογενὴς καὶ Μακαρία. οὗτοι οἱ δέκα αἰῶνες, οὓς τινὲς μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ Νοῦ καὶ τῆς Ἀληθείας [γεννηθῆναι] λέγουσι, τινὲς δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ Λόγου καὶ τῆς Ζωῆς. ἕτεροι δὲ τοὺς δώδεκα ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀνθρώπου καὶ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ἕτεροι δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ Λόγου καὶ τῆς Ζωῆς: οἷς ταῦτα τὰ ὀνόματα χαρίζονται: Παράκλητος καὶ Πίστις, Πατρικὸς καὶ Ἐλπίς, Μητρικὸς καὶ Ἀγάπη, Ἀείνους καὶ Σύνεσις, Ἐκκλησιαστικὸς καὶ Μακαριότης, Θελητὸς καὶ Σοφία. Ἐπεὶ δὲ τῶν δεκαδύο ὁ δωδέκατος κ(αὶ) νεώτατος πάντων τῶν εἰκοσιοκτὼ αἰώνων, θῆλυς ὢν καὶ καλούμενος (Σο)φία, κατενόησε, [φησί,] τὸ πλῆθος καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τῶν γεγεν[ν]ηκότων αἰώνων, καὶ ἀνέ(δ)ραμεν εἰς τὸ βάθος τὸ τοῦ Πατρός, καὶ ἐνόησεν ὅτι οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι πάντες α(ἰ)ῶνες γεννητοὶ ὑπάρχοντες κατὰ συζυγίαν γεννῶσιν, ὁ δὲ Πατὴρ μόνος ἄζυγος ἐγέννησεν, ἠθέλησε [δὴ] μιμήσασθαι τὸν Πατέρα καὶ γεννῆσαι καθ' ἑαυτὴν δίχα τοῦ συζύγου, ἵνα μηδὲν ᾖ ἔργον ὑποδεέστερον τοῦ Πατρὸς εἰργασμένη: ἀγνοοῦσα ὅτι ὁ μὲν [Πατήρ,] ἀγέννητος ὑπάρχων, [καὶ] ἀρχὴ τῶν ὅλων [ὢν] καὶ ῥίζα καὶ βάθος καὶ βυθός, δυνατῶς ἔχει γεννῆσαι μόνος, γεν[ν]ητὴ δὲ οὖσα ἡ Σοφία καὶ μετὰ πλείονας γενομένη, τὴν τοῦ ἀγεννήτου δύναμιν οὐ δύναται ἔχειν. ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῷ ἀγεν[ν]ήτῳ, φησίν, ἐστὶ πάντα ὁμοῦ, ἐν δὲ τοῖς γεν[ν]ητοῖς τὸ μὲν θῆλύ ἐστιν οὐσίας προβλητικόν, τὸ δὲ ἄρρεν μορφωτικὸν τῆς ὑπὸ τοῦ θήλεως προβαλομένης οὐσίας. προέβαλεν οὖν ἡ Σοφία τοῦτο μόνον ὅπερ ἠδύνατο, οὐσίαν ἄμορφον καὶ ἀκατασκε[ύα]στον. καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι, φησίν, ὃ λέγει Μωϋσῆς: «ἡ δὲ γῆ ἦν ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος». αὕτη [δ'] ἔστι, φησίν, «[ἡ γῆ] ἡ ἀγαθὴ» [ἢ] «ἡ ἐπουράνιος Ἱερουσαλήμ», εἰς ἣν ἐπηγγείλατο ὁ θεὸς εἰσαγαγεῖν τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραήλ, λέγων: «εἰσάξω ὑμᾶς εἰς γῆν ἀγαθή(ν), ῥέουσα[ν] μέλι καὶ γάλα».