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the reference. For they say that the Maker was falsely seen by the prophets, and that the scripture "no one shall see God and live" was spoken concerning the 2.33 invisible greatness and the one unknown to all. And that "no one shall see God" was spoken concerning the invisible Father and Maker of all is clear to all of us; but that it was not spoken about the Bythus additionally devised by them, but about the Demiurge, and that he himself is the invisible God, will be shown as the argument proceeds. And they say that Daniel signified this very thing when he asked the angel for the interpretations of the parables, as one who did not know; but also that the angel, concealing from him the great mystery of Bythus, said to him, "Go your way, Daniel, for these words are sealed up, until they that understand shall understand, and the white ones shall be made white"; and they boast that they themselves are the white and well-understanding ones. In addition to these things, they bring forward an unspeakable multitude of apocryphal and spurious writings, which they themselves have forged, to the astonishment of the foolish and of those who do not know the scriptures of truth. And for this purpose they also employ that fabrication, how the Lord, when he was a boy and learning his letters, when the teacher said to him, as is customary, "Say Alpha," he answered, "Alpha." And again, when the teacher commanded him to say Beta, the Lord answered, "You first tell me what Alpha is, and then I will tell you what Beta is." And this they explain as him alone knowing the unknown, which he manifested in the form of Alpha. And some of the things found in the Gospel they also adapt to this character, such as his answer to his mother when he was twelve years old, "Do you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" He was announcing to them, they say, a Father whom they did not know; and for this reason he sent the disciples to the twelve tribes, to preach the God unknown to them. And to the one who said to him, "Good Teacher," he acknowledged the truly good God by saying, "Why do you call me good? There is one who is good, the Father in the heavens"; and they say that "heavens" here means the Aeons. And by 2.34 not answering those who said to him, "By what power do you do this?" but by his counter-question confusing them, they explain that by not speaking he showed the unspeakable nature of the Father. But also in saying, "I have often desired to hear one of these words, and I had no one to speak it," they say that through the word "one" he signified the truly one God, whom they had not known. Further, when he looked upon Jerusalem, he wept over it and said, "If you had known, even you, on this day, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from you," by the word "hidden" he has declared the hiddenness of Bythus. And again, by saying, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and learn from me," he announced the Father of truth. For what they did not know, they say, this he promised to teach them. And as proof of what is highest, and as it were the crown of their hypothesis, they bring forward these words: "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and have revealed them to babes. Yes, my Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight. All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one has known the Father except the Son, nor the Son except the Father and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." For in these words, they say, he has shown plainly that the Father of truth, additionally invented by them, no one had ever known before his coming, and they wish to establish that, since the Maker and Creator was always known by all, the Lord said these things concerning the Father unknown to all, whom they proclaim. 19. But the tradition of the redemption among them has happened to be 2.35 invisible

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τὴν ἀναφοράν. τὸν μὲν γὰρ ποιητὴν ἐπιψευδόμενοι ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν ἑωρᾶσθαι λέγουσι, τὸ δὲ γεγραμμένον «οὐδεὶς ὄψεται τὸν θεὸν καὶ ζήσεται» περὶ τοῦ 2.33 ἀοράτου μεγέθους καὶ ἀγνώστου τοῖς πᾶσιν εἰρῆσθαι θέλουσι. καὶ ὅτι μὲν περὶ τοῦ ἀοράτου πατρὸς καὶ ποιητοῦ τῶν ὅλων εἴρηται τό «οὐδεὶς ὄψεται τὸν θεόν» πᾶσιν ἡμῖν φανερόν ἐστιν· ὅτι δὲ οὐ περὶ τοῦ ὑπὸ τούτων παρεπινοουμένου Βυθοῦ, ἀλλὰ περὶ τοῦ ∆ημιουργοῦ καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀόρατος θεός, δειχθήσεται τοῦ λόγου προϊόντος. καὶ τὸν ∆ανιὴλ δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο σημαίνειν ἐν τῷ ἐπερωτᾶν τὸν ἄγγελον τὰς ἐπιλύσεις τῶν παραβολῶν, ὡς μὴ εἰδότα· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ἄγγελον ἀποκρυπτόμενον ἀπ' αὐτοῦ τὸ μέγα μυστήριον τοῦ Βυθοῦ εἰπεῖν αὐτῷ «ἀπότρεχε ∆ανιήλ· οὗτοι γὰρ οἱ λόγοι ἐμπεφραγμένοι εἰσίν, ἕως οἱ συνιέντες συνιῶσι καὶ οἱ λευκοὶ λευκανθῶσι»· καὶ αὐτοὺς εἶναι τοὺς λευκοὺς καὶ εὖ συνιέντας αὐχοῦσιν. Πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἀμύθητον πλῆθος ἀποκρύφων καὶ νόθων γραφῶν, ἃς αὐτοὶ ἔπλασαν, παραφέρουσιν εἰς κατάπληξιν τῶν ἀνοήτων καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀληθείας μὴ ἐπισταμένων γράμματα. προσπαραλαμβάνουσι δὲ εἰς τοῦτο κἀκεῖνο τὸ ῥᾳδιούργημα, ὡς τοῦ κυρίου παιδὸς ὄντος καὶ μανθάνοντος τὰ γράμματα, τοῦ διδασκάλου αὐτῷ φήσαντος, καθὼς ἔθος ἐστίν· εἰπὲ ἄλφα, ἀποκρίνασθαι τὸ ἄλφα. πάλιν τε τὸ βῆτα τοῦ διδασκάλου κελεύοντος εἰπεῖν, ἀποκρίνασθαι τὸν κύριον· σύ μοι πρότερον εἰπὲ τί ἐστι τὸ ἄλφα, καὶ τότε σοι ἐρῶ τί ἐστι τὸ βῆτα. καὶ τοῦτο ἐξηγοῦνται, ὡς αὐτοῦ μόνου τὸ ἄγνωστον ἐπισταμένου, ὃ ἐφανέρωσεν ἐν τῷ τύπῳ τοῦ ἄλφα. Ἔνια δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ κειμένων εἰς τοῦτον τὸν χαρακτῆρα μεθαρμόζουσιν, ὡς τὴν πρὸς τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ δωδεκαετοῦς ὄντος ἀπόκρισιν «οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ἐν τοῖς τοῦ πατρός μου δεῖ με εἶναι;» ὃν οὐκ ᾔδεισαν, φασί, πατέρα κατήγγελλεν αὐτοῖς· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐκπέμψαι τοὺς μαθητὰς εἰς τὰς δώδεκα φυλάς, κηρύσσοντας τὸν ἄγνωστον αὐτοῖς θεόν. καὶ τῷ εἰπόντι αὐτῷ «διδάσκαλε ἀγαθέ» τὸν ἀληθῶς ἀγαθὸν θεὸν ὡμολογηκέναι εἰπόντα «τί με λέγεις ἀγαθόν; εἷς ἐστιν ἀγαθός, ὁ πατὴρ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς»· οὐρανοὺς δὲ νῦν τοὺς Αἰῶνας εἰρῆσθαι λέγουσι. καὶ διὰ 2.34 τοῦ μὴ ἀποκριθῆναι τοῖς εἰποῦσιν αὐτῷ «ἐν ποίᾳ δυνάμει τοῦτο ποιεῖς», ἀλλὰ τῇ ἀντεπερωτήσει ἀπορῆσαι αὐτοὺς τὸ ἄρρητον τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐν τῷ μὴ εἰπεῖν δεδειχέναι αὐτὸν ἐξηγοῦνται. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ εἰρηκέναι «πολλάκις ἐπεθύμησα ἀκοῦσαι ἕνα τῶν λόγων τούτων, καὶ οὐκ ἔσχον τὸν ἐροῦντα» ἐμφαίνοντός φασιν εἶναι διὰ τοῦ «ἕνα» τὸν ἀληθῶς ἕνα θεόν, ὃν οὐκ ἐγνώκεισαν. ἔτι ἐν τῷ προσσχόντα αὐτὸν τῇ Ἱερουσαλὴμ δακρῦσαι ἐπ' αὐτὴν καὶ εἰπεῖν «εἰ ἔγνως καὶ σὺ σήμερον τὰ πρὸς εἰρήνην; ἐκρύβη δὲ ἀπὸ σοῦ», διὰ τοῦ «ἐκρύβη» ῥήματος τὸ ἀπόκρυφον τοῦ Βυθοῦ δεδηλωκέναι. καὶ πάλιν εἰπόντα «δεῦτε πρός με πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι, καὶ μάθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ», τὸν τῆς ἀληθείας πατέρα κατηγγελκέναι. ὃ γὰρ οὐκ ᾔδεισαν, φασί, τοῦτο αὐτοῖς ὑπέσχετο διδάξειν. Ἀπόδειξιν δὲ τῶν ἀνωτάτω καὶ οἱονεὶ κορωνίδα τῆς ὑποθέσεως αὐτῶν φέρουσι ταῦτα «ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι, πάτερ, κύριε τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἀπέκρυψας αὐτὰ ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας αὐτὰ νηπίοις. οὐά, ὁ πατήρ μου, ὅτι ἔμπροσθέν σου εὐδοκία μοι ἐγένετο. πάντα μοι παρεδόθη ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός μου, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἔγνω τὸν πατέρα, εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱός, καὶ τὸν υἱόν, εἰ μὴ ὁ πατὴρ καὶ ᾧ ἂν ὁ υἱὸς ἀποκαλύψῃ». ἐν τούτοις γὰρ διαρρήδην φασὶ δεδειχέναι αὐτόν, ὡς τὸν ὑπ' αὐτῶν παρεξευρημένον πατέρα ἀληθείας πρὸ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ μηδὲ ἑνὸς πώποτε ἐγνωκότος, καὶ κατασκευάζειν θέλουσιν, ὡς τοῦ ποιητοῦ καὶ κτιστοῦ ἀεὶ ὑπὸ πάντων ἐγνωσμένου, καὶ ταῦτα τὸν κύριον εἰρηκέναι περὶ τοῦ ἀγνώστου τοῖς πᾶσι πατρός, ὃν αὐτοὶ καταγγέλλουσι. 19. Τὴν δὲ τῆς ἀπολυτρώσεως παρ' αὐτοῖς παράδοσιν συμβέβηκεν 2.35 ἀόρατον