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being taken up, so he will come in the same manner as you saw him being taken up.” 88. From all that has been said, the intelligent can turn their minds to all the words of truth and to those from the falsehood of the aforementioned so-called Manichaeus, so that, even if I have not mentioned some testimony, from the two or three testimonies we have stated, all his teachings may be exposed as false. But we, having trodden a long, rough road and dangerous places, with difficulty from this two-headed serpent and destructive beast, the cenchritis, adorned with many likenesses for the deception of those who see it, but having hidden underneath the stinging and venomous source that springs from all things * for since he is a Greek among Greeks, worshipping the sun and moon and the stars and demons, * the man, beloved, happens to be, and his heresy explains the teachings of the Greeks, * he knows the things of the magi and wallows in them, he praises astrologers, busying himself with their teachings, he boasts only in the name of Christ 3.132 in word, just as the cenchritis itself hides its venom, but deceives through its variegated appearance, being amidst many materials and assimilating itself with existing things; but in the power of God, with the wood of truth and the blood of Christ and the body from Mary, who was truly born, and with the resurrection of the dead and the confession of the one unity, having crushed the head of the dragon upon the waters, having turned this many-headed heresy backwards and crushed its head, let us remain thankful to God, and let us hasten to proceed to the next heresies, calling upon God as a helper for our weakness, so that, having completely accomplished in God what was promised, we may give thanks to God. - - - Against the Hieracites, 47, but in sequence, 67. 1. After this wicked and venomous heresy beyond all others and the serpentine, barbaric, beastly-venomous teaching of Manes, there arose a certain 3.133 man named Hieracas, from whom the Hieracites are named. This man was in Leontopolis in Egypt, having had no small preparatory education, and having been trained in the pursuits of all Greek literature, and having accurately mastered medical sophistry and the other studies of the Egyptians and Greeks; and perhaps the man also dabbled in astronomy and magic. For he was most experienced in many subjects and in exegesis, as his own writings show *, and he knew the language of the Egyptians very well—for the man was an Egyptian—but he was also no little accomplished in that of the Greeks, sharp in every way. He was supposedly a Christian, but he did not remain in the way of life of Christ; for he went astray and, having slipped, ran aground. For this man, having memorized the Old and New Testament so as to recite it clearly and having expounded on them, dogmatized from himself, from his own empty talk, what seemed good to him and what entered his mind. For this man also wishes that the flesh not be raised at all, but the soul all alone. And he claims the resurrection is spiritual. And whatever he could find from the divine scriptures, he selected for his own mind, and thus he heaped up for himself, having contrived for himself some strange, vile fictions for the establishment of his heresy. And the man was astonishing in his ascetic practice and able to persuade souls; immediately many of the ascetics of the Egyptians were led away with him. For I think that concerning the resurrection of the dead, when he denied the resurrection of the flesh, he took his pretexts from Origen or spewed this forth from his own mind. This man does not accept marriage, claiming this belongs to the Old Testament. For he accepts Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses and Aaron and all the saints, Isaiah and Jeremiah, alike, and considers them prophets, and says it was permitted in the Old Testament 3.134 to be joined in marriage, but from the coming of Christ, it is no longer necessary to accept marriage, nor to be able
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ἀναλαμβανόμενον, οὕτως ἐλεύσεται ὃν τρόπον εἴδετε αὐτὸν ἀναλαμβανόμενον.» 88. Ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν εἰρημένων πάντων δύνανται οἱ νουνεχεῖς τὸν νοῦν ἐπιστῆσαι ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς τῆς ἀληθείας λόγοις καὶ τοῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ ψεύσματος τοῦ προειρημένου λεγομένου Μανιχαίου, ἵνα, εἰ καί που οὐκ ἐπεμνήσθην τινὸς μαρτυρίας, ἀπὸ τῶν δύο ἢ τριῶν μαρτυριῶν ὧν εἴπομεν τὰ πάντα αὐτοῦ φωραθῇ ψευδῆ. ἡμεῖς δὲ πολλὴν ἐπιβεβηκότες ὁδὸν τραχεῖαν καὶ κινδυνώδεις τόπους μόλις ταυτησὶ τῆς ἀμφισβαίνης καὶ θηρὸς ὀλετηρίου τῆς κεγχρίτιδος, ἀπὸ πολλῶν ὁμοιωμάτων πεποικιλμένης πρὸς ἀπάτην τῶν ὁρώντων, ἐχούσης δὲ κεκρυμμένην κάτω τὴν κεντρώδη καὶ ἰοβόλον πηγὴν τῆς ἐκ πάντων ὁρμωμένης * ἐπειδὴ γὰρ μετὰ Ἑλλήνων Ἕλλην ἐστίν, ἥλιον προσκυνῶν καὶ σελήνην καὶ τὰ ἄστρα καὶ δαίμονας, * ὁ ἀνήρ, ἀγαπητοί, τυγχάνει καὶ ἡ αὐτοῦ αἵρεσις τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὑφηγεῖται, * τὰ μάγων ἐπίσταται καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐγκυλινδεῖται, ἀστρονόμους ἐπαινεῖ, τὰ αὐτῶν περιεργαζόμενος, μόνον Χριστοῦ σεμνύνεται ὄνομα 3.132 λόγῳ, ὡς καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ κεγχρῖτις κρύπτει μὲν τὸν ἰόν, ἀπατᾷ δὲ διὰ τῆς ποικιλίας, ἐν μέσῳ ὑλῶν πολλῶν γενομένη καὶ ἀφομοιουμένη μετὰ τῶν ὄντων· ἐν δὲ τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ δυνάμει τῷ ξύλῳ τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ αἵματι Χριστοῦ καὶ σώματι τῷ ἀπὸ Μαρίας, τῷ ἀληθινῶς γεγεννημένῳ, καὶ τῇ τῶν νεκρῶν ἀναστάσει καὶ τῇ ὁμολογίᾳ τῆς μιᾶς ἑνότητος συντρίψαντες τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ δράκοντος ἐπὶ τοῖς ὕδασι, τὴν πολυκέφαλον ταύτην αἵρεσιν εἰς τοὐπίσω τε στρέψαντες καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν καταθλάσαντες, εὐχάριστοι μὲν θεῷ διατελέσωμεν, ἐπὶ δὲ τὰς ἑξῆς αἱρέσεις προελθεῖν σπεύσωμεν, θεὸν ἐπικαλούμενοι βοηθὸν τῆς ἡμῶν ἀσθενείας, ὅπως τὰ ἐπηγγελμένα ἐν θεῷ περαιώσαντες τελείως θεῷ εὐχαριστήσωμεν. - - - Κατὰ Ἱερακιτῶν ˉμˉζ, τῆς δὲ ἀκολουθίας ˉξˉζ. 1. Μετὰ τὴν μοχθηρὰν ταύτην καὶ ἰοβόλον ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν αἵρεσιν καὶ ἑρπετώδη τοῦ Μάνη βαρβαρικὴν θηριοβολίαν τῆς διδασκαλίας ἀνέστη τις 3.133 Ἱερακᾶς ὀνόματι, ἀφ' οὗπερ Ἱερακῖται. οὗτος ἐν τῇ Λεοντῷ τῇ κατ' Αἴγυπτον ὑπῆρχεν, ἐν προπαιδείᾳ οὐ μικρᾷ ὑπάρξας, Ἑλληνικῶν τε πάντων λόγων ἐπιτηδεύμασιν ἀσκηθείς, ἰατροσοφιστικῇ τε καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Ἑλλήνων μαθήμασιν ἀκριβῶς ἐπιστάς· τάχα δὲ καὶ ἀστρονομίας καὶ μαγείας ὁ ἀνὴρ παρήψατο. ἐμπειρότατος γὰρ ὑπῆρχε πολλῶν λόγων καὶ ἐν ἐξηγήσει, ὡς ὑποφαίνουσιν οἱ αὐτοῦ λόγοι *, πάνυ δὲ τὴν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἐπιστάμενος γλῶσσαν Αἰγύπτιος γὰρ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ τῶν Ἑλλήνων τετρανωμένος οὐ μικρῶς, ὀξὺς κατὰ πάντα τρόπον. ὑπῆρχε δῆθεν Χριστιανός, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐνέμεινε τῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ πολιτείᾳ· παρέπεσε γὰρ καὶ ὀλισθήσας ἐξώκειλεν. οὗτος μὲν γὰρ παλαιὰν καὶ καινὴν διαθήκην σαφῶς εἰπεῖν ἀποστηθίζων καὶ εἰς αὐτὰ ἐξηγησάμενος, ἐδογμάτισε παρ' ἑαυτῷ ἀπὸ κενοφωνίας ἑαυτοῦ, ὅπερ αὐτῷ ἔδοξε καὶ ὃ ὑπεισῆλθεν αὐτῷ. Βούλεται γὰρ καὶ οὗτος τὴν σάρκα μὴ ἀνίστασθαι τὸ παράπαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ψυχὴν μονωτάτην. πνευματικὴν δὲ τὴν ἀνάστασιν φάσκει. καὶ ὅσα ἔστιν εὑρεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν θείων γραφῶν εἰς ἑαυτοῦ νοῦν ἀναλεξάμενος, οὕτως ἑαυτῷ ἐπεσώρευσεν, ἀτόπως πλάσματα ἄττα φαῦλα ἑαυτῷ μηχανησάμενος πρὸς σύστασιν τῆς αὐτοῦ αἱρέσεως. ἦν δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἔκπληκτος τῇ αὐτοῦ ἀσκήσει καὶ δυνάμενος πεῖσαι ψυχάς· αὐτίκα πολλοὶ τῶν ἀσκητῶν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων αὐτῷ συναπήχθησαν. οἶμαι γὰρ ὅτι περὶ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν ὡς ἠρνήσατο τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς ἀνάστασιν, ἀπὸ Ὠριγένους τὰς προφάσεις εἰληφὼς ἢ ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ τῆς διανοίας τοῦτο ἐξεμέσας. οὐ παραδέχεται οὗτος γάμον, φάσκων εἶναι τοῦτο παλαιᾶς διαθήκης. τοὺς μὲν γὰρ περὶ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ καὶ Μωυσέα καὶἈαρὼν καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους, Ἠσαΐαν καὶ Ἰερεμίαν, ὁμοίως δέχεταικαὶ προφήτας ἡγεῖται, καὶ συγκεχωρῆσθαί φησιν ἐν τῇ παλαιᾷ διαθήκῃ 3.134 τῷ γάμῳ συνάπτεσθαι, ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς ἐνδημίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ μηκέτι δεῖν τὸν γάμον παραδέχεσθαι, μήτε δύνασθαι