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is the whole thing a myth and a mockery? For from where, you there or those before you, have you received the body? And the soul from where? And your inmost man from where? And if from above, from the spiritual one above, 2.48 as you say, dramatizing and beguiling with the promise of hope those deceived by you, so that, lifted up for some purpose, they may be dragged down, bewitched by your dramaturgy, tell me, what is the fellowship of the spiritual one above with the material? And what is that of the material with the psychical? And how did the Demiurge create things that were not his own? And how did the spiritual one above provide his spiritual power to the Demiurge who did not work well? And from where did the Demiurge, mixing his own psychical part with the material, wish rather to bind down his own power in matter? But if he wants to mix in his own power, then matter is not alien. And if it is alien, who gave him authority over matter? And first tell me, O deceiver, whether hating the soul he bound it to matter, or being ignorant of what was to come? But I know that you will say neither of these things. For we do not call the body matter, may it not be, nor the creations of God; but Scripture knows a certain matter after this vile one, set forth for the constructions of each art and work, another kind, I mean the filthy thought that grows from the mind and the muddy reasonings of sin. For there grow, as from mud, both a stench and an unclean emanation, both pestilential and muddy *, as the blessed David, being persecuted and slandered as by wicked men, said, "I am stuck in the matter of the deep," and what follows. 5. But since it seems to you, Heracleon, that this is called matter, the bodies of men and this whole world here, for what purpose did the Demiurge mix his own soul with matter? If he was ignorant of the evil, he who does not know what he wants to create cannot create. For neither do we do anything in each art, working at what we do not understand. For we both think beforehand about what we want to accomplish and we know before we make it what we have chosen to accomplish. And yet we, being weak and much lacking the power of God, through the understanding graciously given by him to men, know and understand. But to you, O Heracleon, 2.49 understanding from God has resulted in harm, because you do not practice it according to God, but according to wicked pursuit. And again I will ask, from where is the mixture of the spiritual with the psychical and the material, which indeed is called by you the inner man joined to the second and third outer man, I mean, to the soul and body? And if it is from the will of the power above, of the Father of all things, I mean of what according to you is the Deep, then the creation here around us is not, as I said, without fellowship with those above, being mixed together through the good pleasure of the Father above and the spark sent down from him from above, which is, according to you, the spiritual and inmost man. But if you say that the Demiurge, who is in defect and deficiency, or the Mother whom you call Achamoth, has received power from above, that is, the spiritual, the Demiurge is no longer in deficiency and ignorance, nor is she who according to you is called Mother. For how could someone be in ignorance of that which he desires? For if he desires the better at all, he knows the beautiful and the good; and he who knows the good and does not hate it but desires it, is not alien to the good. 6. And so that I may not wear myself out by occupying myself with the contrivances of the impostor, I will be content with these things. For all his nonsense has fallen, from the Lord of all being clearly confessed by all to be good and foreknowing and able to do all things, and that by him every existing created nature has come to be well. For it is not possible for anything to be without God, except only sin which has no beginning

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μῦθός ἐστι καὶ χλεύη τὸ πᾶν; πόθεν γάρ, ὦ οὗτος σὺ ἢ οἱ πρὸ σοῦ, τὸ σῶμα εἰλήφατε; τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν πόθεν; τὸν δὲ ἐσώτατόν σου ἄνθρωπον πόθεν; καὶ εἰ μὲν ἄνωθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄνω πνευματικοῦ, 2.48 ὡς λέγεις δραματουργῶν καὶ ἐπαγγελίᾳ ἐλπίδος κεπφώσας τοὺς ὑπὸ σοῦ ἠπατημένους, ἵνα σκοπῷ τινι ἐπαρθέντες ὑποσυρῶσι τῇ σῇ γεγοητευμένοι δραματουργίᾳ, λέγε, τίς ἡ κοινωνία τοῦ ἄνω πνευματικοῦ πρὸς τὸ ὑλικόν; τίς δὲ ἡ τοῦ ὑλικοῦ πρὸς τὸ ψυχικόν; πῶς δὲ ὁ ∆ημιουργὸς τὰ μὴ ἑαυτοῦ ἐδημιούργει; πῶς δὲ ὁ ἄνω πνευματικὸς τὴν παρ' αὐτοῦ δύναμιν πνευματικὴν παρέσχεν τῷ μὴ καλῶς ἐργασαμένῳ ∆ημιουργῷ; πόθεν δὲ ὁ ∆ημιουργὸς ἀναμίξας τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ψυχικὸν μετὰ τοῦ ὑλικοῦ τῇ ὕλῃ μᾶλλον ἠθέλησεν ἐγκαταδῆσαι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν; εἰ δὲ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν βούλεται ἐγκαταμῖξαι, οὐκ ἄρα ἀλλοτρία ἡ ὕλη. εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔστιν ἀλλοτρία, τίς αὐτῷ τῆς ὕλης παρέσχε τὴν ἐξουσίαν; καὶ πρῶτον λέγε μοι, ὦ ἀπατεών, πότερον μισῶν τὴν ψυχὴν κατέδησεν αὐτὴν τῇ ὕλῃ ἢ ἀγνοῶν τὸ ἐσόμενον; ἀλλ' οἶδα ὅτι οὐδέτερον τούτων ἐρεῖς. ὕλην γὰρ οὐ λέγομεν τὸ σῶμα, μὴ γένοιτο, οὐδὲ τὰς τοῦ θεοῦ κτίσεις· ἀλλὰ ὕλην τινὰ οἶδεν ἡ γραφὴ μετὰ ταύτην τὴν φαύλην εἰς δὲ κατασκευὰς ἑκάστῃ τέχνῃ καὶ ἐργασίᾳ προκειμένην, ἄλλην τινά, λέγω δὲ τὴν ἐκ διανοίας φυομένην ῥυπαρὰν ἐνθύμησιν καὶ τοὺς βορβορώδεις λογισμοὺς τῆς ἁμαρτίας. φύονται γὰρ ὡς ἀπὸ πηλοῦ δυσοδμία τε καὶ ἀκάθαρτος ἀποφορὰ λοιμώδεις τε καὶ βορβορώδεις *, ὡς ὁ μακάριος ∆αυὶδ διωκόμενος καὶ διαβαλλόμενος ὡς ὑπὸ πονηρῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔλεγεν «ἐνεπάγην εἰς ὕλην βυθοῦ» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. 5. Ἐπειδὴ δέ σοι δοκεῖ, Ἡρακλέων, τοῦτο λέγεσθαι ὕλην, τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὰ σώματα καὶ τὸν ἐνθάδε κόσμον ἅπαντα, ἐπὶ ποίῳ σκοπῷ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ὁ ∆ημιουργὸς τῇ ὕλῃ ἐγκατέμιξεν; εἰ μὲν τὸ πονηρὸν ἀγνοῶν, οὐ δύναται δημιουργεῖν ὁ μὴ γινώσκων ὃ βούλεται δημιουργῆσαι. οὔτε γὰρ ἡμεῖς τι πράττομεν καθ' ἑκάστην τέχνην, ἐργαζόμενοι ὅπερ οὐ νοοῦμεν. καὶ προενθυμούμεθα γὰρ ὃ ἐπιτελεῖν βουλόμεθα καὶ οἴδαμεν πρὶν ποιῆσαι ὃ ἐπιτελέσαι προῃρήμεθα. καίτοι γε ἡμεῖς ἀσθενεῖς ὄντες καὶ πολλὰ ἀποδέοντες τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ δυνάμεως, διὰ δὲ τῆς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ κεχαρισμένης συνέσεως τοῖς ἀνθρώποις οἴδαμεν καὶ νοοῦμεν. συμβέβηκεν δέ σοι, ὦ Ἡρακλέων, 2.49 ἡ ἐκ θεοῦ σύνεσις εἰς βλάβην, ὅτι μὴ κατὰ θεὸν αὐτὴν πραγματεύῃ, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πονηρὰν ἐπιτήδευσιν. ἔτι δὲ πάλιν ἐρῶ, πόθεν ἡ τοῦ πνευματικοῦ μῖξις τῷ ψυχικῷ τε καὶ ὑλικῷ, ὃ δὴ λέγεται παρὰ σοὶ ἔσω ἄνθρωπος τῷ δευτέρῳ καὶ τρίτῳ ἔξω ἀνθρώπῳ συνημμένος, φημὶ δὴ ψυχῇ καὶ σώματι; καὶ εἰ μὲν ἐκ βουλήματος τῆς ἄνω δυνάμεως τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Πατρός, φημὶ δὲ τοῦ κατὰ σὲ Βυθοῦ, ἄρα γε οὐκ ἀκοινώνητος τοῖς ἄνω ὡς ἔφην ἡ ἐνταῦθα περὶ ἡμᾶς κτίσις συγκαταμιγνυμένη, διὰ τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς ἄνω εὐδοκίας καὶ τοῦ ἄνωθεν παρ' αὐτοῦ καταπεμφθέντος σπινθῆρος, ὅ ἐστιν ὁ πνευματικὸς κατὰ σὲ καὶ ἐσώτατος ἄνθρωπος. εἰ δὲ λέγεις τὸν ∆ημιουργὸν τὸν ἐν ἐλαττώματι καὶ ὑστερήματι ἢ τὴν Μητέρα ἣν λέγεις Ἀχαμὼθ εἰληφέναι ἄνωθεν δύναμιν τουτέστιν τὸ πνευματικόν, οὐκέτι ἐν ὑστερήματι καὶ ἀγνοίᾳ ἐστὶν ὁ ∆ημιουργὸς οὔτε ἡ κατὰ σὲ Μήτηρ καλουμένη. πῶς γὰρ ἄν τις ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ εἴη τούτου οὗ ἐπιθυμεῖ; εἰ γὰρ ὅλως τοῦ κρείττονος ὀρέγεται, οἶδεν τὸ καλὸν καὶ τὸ ἀγαθόν· καὶ ὁ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐπιστάμενος καὶ μὴ στυγῶν τοῦτο ἀλλὰ ὀρεγόμενος, οὐκ ἔστιν ἀλλότριος τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ. 6. Καὶ ἵνα μὴ κατατρίβωμαι περὶ τὰς μηχανὰς τοῦ ἀγύρτου ἀσχολούμενος, τούτοις ἀρκεσθήσομαι. πᾶσα γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἔπεσεν ἡ ληρῳδία ἀπὸ τοῦ τὸν πάντων δεσπότην πᾶσιν σαφῶς ὁμολογηθῆναι ἀγαθὸν ὄντα καὶ προγινώσκοντα καὶ δυνάμενον τὰ πάντα ποιεῖν, καὶ ὡς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ πᾶσα φύσις ἡ ὑπάρχουσα κτιστὴ καλῶς γεγένηται. οὔτε γὰρ δυνατὸν ἄνευ τοῦ θεοῦ τι εἶναι, ἀλλ' ἢ μόνον ἡ ἁμαρτία οὐκ ἔχουσα ἀρχὴν