Theodotus- Excerpta Ex Theodoto

Collection Index:

Library Main Page

Nag Hammadi Library

Gnostic Scriptures

GRS Mead Collection

Polemical Works

Christian Apocrypha

Corpus Hermeticum

Manichaean Writings

Mandaean Writings

Cathar Writings

Alchemical Writings

Modern Gnostic Texts

Return toGnosis Archive

Gnostic Scriptures and Fragments

Theodotus: Excerpta ex Theodoto

Archive | Library | Bookstore | Index | Web Lectures | Ecclesia Gnostica | Gnostic Society

Archive Notes

Theodotus is an important figure inValentianian Gnosticism, though very littleof his writings have survived. The Excerptaex Theodoto is a collection of notes madeby Clement of Alexandria dealing mainlywith (and quoting) the teachings of theTheodotus, but also covering otherValentinian and orthodox speculations.

This is the English text of the Greek-English version of the Excerpta ExTheodoto prepared by Robert PierceCasey, The Excerpta ex Theodoto ofClement of Alexandria (Studies andDocuments 1; London: Christophers,1934), 40-91. (The text was initialtranscribed for the internet by AndrewCriddle.)

Note: Another text was erroneouslylocated on this page and under this title formany years. That text - now provided at thebottom of this page - is a separate worksometimes attributed to Clement ofAlexandria, and more accurately known as‘Selections from the Prophetic Scriptures’or ‘Prophetic Eclogues’. It appears herefollowing the Excerpta ex Theodoto andunder separate title. We thank AndrewCriddle for pointing out this error andmaking the Excerpta ex Theodoto availablein electronic format. (Please note that mostinternet Gnostic document collections havecopied their material directly from this site;we regret having helped propagation thiserror.)

Gnostic Scriptures and Fragments: Theodotus- Excerpta Ex Theodoto http://gnosis.org/library/excr.htm

1 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

Excerpta ex Theodotus:

Extracts from the Works of Theodotus and theSo-Called Oriental Teachings at the Time ofValentinus

1 "Father," he says, "I deposit into thy hands my spirit."Wis dom, he says, put forth a receptacle of flesh for theLogos, the spiritual seed; clad in it the Saviourdescended. Wherefore, at the Passion, it is Wisdomwhich he deposits with the Father, in order that he mayreceive her from the Father and not be held back hereby those who have the power to deprive him. Thus, bythe word already spoken of, he deposits the wholespiritual seed, that is, the elect.

We admit that the elect seed is both a spark kindled bythe Logos and a pupil of the eye and a grain of mustardseed and leaven which unites in faith the genera whichappear to be divided.

2 But the followers of Valentinus maintain that whenthe animal body was fashioned a male seed wasimplanted by the Logos in the elect soul while it wasasleep and that this is an effluence of the angelic<seed>, in order that there may be no gap. And thisworked as leaven, uniting what seemed to have beendivided, soul and flesh, which had also been put forthsepa rately by Wisdom. And Adam's sleep was thesoul's forgetting, which restrained from dissolution, . . .just as the spiritual thing which the Saviour inserted intothe soul.. The seed was an effluence of the male andangelic <element>. Therefore the Saviour says, "Besaved, thou and thy souL"

3 Therefore when the Saviour came, he awakened thesoul and kindled the spark. For the words of the Lordare power. Therefore he said, "Let your light shinebefore men." And after the Resurrection, by breathingthe Spirit on the apostles, he was blowing off and removing dust like ashes, but kindling and giving life tothe spark.

4 By reason of great humility the Lord did not appear asan angel but as a man, and when he appeared in glory tothe apos tles on the Mount he did not do it for his ownsake when he showed himself, but for the sake of theChurch which is "the elect race," that it might learn hisadvancement after his de parture from the flesh. For onhigh, too, he was Light and that which was manifest inthe flesh and appeared here is not later than that abovenor was it curtailed, in that it was translated hither fromon high, changing from one place to another, so that this


2 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

was gain here and loss there. But he was theOmnipresent, and is with the Father, even when here,for he was the Father's Power. And besides, it wasnecessary that that word also which the Saviour spokeshould be fulfilled, "There are some of those standinghere who will not taste death until they see the Son ofMan in glory." Therefore, Peter and James and Johnsaw and fell asleep. .

5 How was it that they were not frightened when theysaw the vision of light but fell on the earth when theyheard the voice? Because the ears are more scepticalthan the eyes and an unex pected voice is moreterrifying. But John the Baptist, when he heard thevoice, was not afraid, as if he heard in the spirit, whichwas accustomed to such a voice. But it was just as anyordinary man on merely hearing would have beenfrightened; therefore the Saviour said to thern, "Tell noone what you saw." Yet they had not even with eyes ofthe flesh seen the light (for there is no bond of kinshipand relation between that light and the present flesh)but as the power and will of the Saviour en abled theflesh to have vision. Moreover, that which the soul sawit shared with the flesh that companied with it. . .. And"tell no one" was spoken lest any, when they knew whatthe Lord is, should refrain from laying hands on theLord and the plan of God be made incomplete anddeath refrain from the Lord as from a vain attempt onthe unapproachable. And, moreover, the voice on themountain came to the elect who already understood, sothat they were also amazed when testi mony was givento that which they believed; but the voice at the riverwas for those who were going to believe. Therefore,too, the voice was disregarded by them, held down asthey were to the discipline of the Scribes.

6 The verse, "In the beginning was the Logos and theLogos was with God and the Logos was God" theValentinians understand thus, for they say that the"beginning" is the "Only Begotten" and that he is alsocalled God, as also in the verses which immediatelyfollow it explains that he is God, for it says, "TheOnly-Begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father,he has declared him." Now they say that the Logos inthe be ginning, that is to say in the Only-Begotten, inthe Mind and the Truth, indicates the Christ, the Logosand the Life. Where fore he also appropriately callsGod him who is in God, the Mind. "That which cameinto being in him," the Logos, "was Life," theCompanion. Therefore the Lord also says, "I am theLife. "

7 Therefore, the Father, being unknown, wished to beknown to the Aeons, and through his own thought, as ifhe had known himself, he put forth the Only-Begotten,the spirit of Knowledge which is in Knowledge. So he


3 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

too who came forth from Know ledge, that is, from theFather's Thought, became Knowledge, that is, the Son,because "through' the Son the Father was known." Butthe Spirit of Love has been mingled with the Spirit ofKnowledge, as the Father with the Son, and Thoughtwith Truth, having proceeded from Truth as Knowledgefrom Thought. And he who remained " Only-BegottenSon in the bosom of the Father" explains Thought to theAeons through Knowledge, just as if he had also beenput forth from his bosom; but him who appeared here,the Apostle no longer calls " Only Begotten," but " asOnly-Begotten," "Glory as of an Only- Begotten." Thisis because being one and the same, Jesus is the"First-Born" in creation, but in the Pleroma is "Only-Begotten." But he is the same, being to each place suchas can be contained <in it>. And he who descended isnever divided from him who remained. For the Apostlesays, "For he who ascended is the same as he whodescended." And they call the Creator, the image of theOnly-Begotten. Therefore even the works of the imageare the same and therefore the Lord, having made thedead whom he raised an image of the spiritual resurrection, raised them not so that their flesh wasincorruptible but as if they were going to die again.

8 But we maintain that the essential Logos is God inGod, who is also said to be " in the bosom of theFather," continuous, undivided, one God.

" All things were made by him"; things both of thespirit, and of the mind, and of the senses, in accordancewith the activity proper to the essential Logos. "Thisone explained the bosom of the Father," the Saviour and[Isaiah said, "And I will pay back their deeds into theirbosom," that is, into their thought, which is in the soul,from which it is first activated] "Firs- Born of allcreation." But the essential Only-Begotten, in accordance with whose continuous power the Saviouracts, is the Light of the Church, which previously was indarkness and ignorance.

"And darkness comprehended him not": the apostatesand the rest of men did not know him and death did notdetain him.

9 Faith is not single but various. Indeed the Savioursays, "Let it be according to thy faith." Wherefore it issaid that some of those of the Calling will be deceivedat the coming of the Antichrist. But this would beimpossible for the elect. Therefore he says, "And if itwere possible, my elect"; again when he says, "Get yeout from my Father's house," he is speak ing to thosewho are called. Again he utters the call to the one whocame back from a journey and had consumed his goods,for whom he killed the fatted calf; and where the Kingcalled those who were on the highways to the wedding


4 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

feast. All, therefore, have been called equally, "for hesendeth rain upon the just and on the unjust and makeththe sun to shine upon alI," but' the elect are those whohave superior faith, for he says to them, " No man hathseen my Father except the Son," and " Ye are the lightof the world" and" Holy Father, sanctify them in thyname."

10 But not even the world of spirit and of intellect, northe arch angels and the First-Created, no, nor even hehimself is shapeless and formless and without figure,and incorporeal; but he also has his own shape and bodycorresponding to his preeminence over all spiritualbeings, as also those who were first created have bodiescorresponding to their preeminence over the beingssubordinate to them. For, in general, that which hascome into being is not unsubstantial, but they have formand body, though unlike the bodies in this world. Thosewhich are here are male and female and differ fromeach other, but there he who is the Only-Begotten andinherently intellectual has been provided with his ownform and with his own nature which is exceedingly pureand sovereign and directly enjoys the power of theFather; and the First-Created even though numericallydistinct and sus ceptible of separate distinction anddefinition, nevertheless, are shown by the similarity oftheir state to have unity, equality and similarity. Foramong the Seven there is neither inferiority norsuperiority and no advance is left for them, since theyhave received perfection from the beginning, at the timeof the first creation from God through the Son. And heis said to be "inap proachable Light" as"Only-Begotten," and "First-Born," "the things whicheye hath not seen, nor ear heard, and which have notentered into the heart of man," - and such a one shallnot be found either among the First-Created or amongmen, - but they "always behold the face of the Father"and the face of the Father is the Son, through whom theFather is known. Yet that which sees and is seen cannotbe formless or incorporeal. But they see not with an eyeof sense, but with the eye of mind, such as the Fatherprovided.

11 When, therefore, the Lord said, "Despise not one ofthese little ones. Verily, I say .unto you, their angels doalways be hold the face of the Father," ["as is thepattern, such will be the elect,] when they havereceived the perfect advance." But "blessed are thepure in heart for they shall see God." And how couldthere be a face of a shapeless being? Indeed the Apostleknows heavenly, beautiful and intellectual bodies. Howcould different names be given to them, if they were notdetermined by their shapes, form, and body? "There isone glory of the heavenly, another of the earthly,another of angels, another of archangels, because incomparison with bodies here, like the stars, they are


5 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

incorporeal and formless, as in comparison with theSon, they are dimensional and sensible bodies; so also isthe Son, if compared with the Father, and each one ofthe spiritual beings has its own power and its ownsphere of action just as those who were first createdboth came into being together, and received completion,their common and undivided service.

12 Therefore the First-Created behold both the Son andeach other and the inferior orders of being, as also thearchangels behold the First-Created. But the Son is thebeginning of the vision of the Father, being called the"face" of the Father. And the angels, who areintellectual fire and intellectual spirits, have purifiednatures, but the greatest advance from intellectual fire,completely purified, is intellectual light, "into whichthings the angels desire to look," as Peter says. Now 'theSon is still purer than this: "light unapproachable" and"a power of God" and, according to the Apostle, "wewere re deemed by precious and blameless and spotlessblood." And his "garments gleamed as the light, and hisface as the sun," which it is not easy even to look at.

13 He is "heavenly bread" and "spiritual food"furnishing life by food and knowledge, "the light ofmen," that is, of the Church. Therefore those who atethe heavenly bread died, but he who eats the true breadof the Spirit shall not die. The Son is the living breadwhich was given by the Father to those who wish to eat."And my flesh is the bread which I will give," he says,that is, to him whose flesh is nourished by the Eucharist;or better still, the flesh is his body, "which is theChurch," "heavenly bread," a blessed Assembly. Andperhaps just as the elect are essentially derived from thesame substance, and as they will also attain the sameend. . .

14 The demons are said to be incorporeal, not becausethey have no bodies (for they have even shape and are,therefore, capable of feeling punishment), but they aresaid to be incor poreal because, in comparison with thespiritual bodies which are saved, they are a shade. Andthe angels are bodies; at any rate they are seen. Whyeven the soul is a body, for the Apostle says, "It is sowna body of soul, it is raised a body of spirit." And howcan the souls which are being punished be sensible of it,if they are not bodies? Certainly he says, "Fear himwho, after death, is able to cast soul and body into hell."Now that which is visible is not purged by fire, but isdissolved into dust. But, from the story of Lazarus andDives, the soul is directly shown by its possession ofbodily limbs to be a body.

15 " And as we have borne the image of the earthly, weshall bear also the image of the heavenly," that is of thespiritual, as we advance towards perfection. Again he


6 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

says" image" in the sense of spiritual bodies. And again,"For now we see in a mirror, confusedly, but then faceto face"; for immediately we begin to have knowledge. .. there is not even "face" - form and shape and body.Now shape is perceived by shape, and face by face andrecognition is made effectual by shapes and substances.'.16 Now the Dove also appeared as a body when it madeits des cent upon the flesh of the Logos - the Dove,which some call the Holy Spirit, but the followers ofBasilides call the Servant, while the followers ofValentinus call it the Spirit of the Father's thought. '

17 According to the Valentinians, Jesus and the Churchand Wisdom are a powerful and complete mixture ofbodies. To be sure, human commingling in marriageproduces the birth of one child from two commingledseeds and. the body, dissolved into earth, mingles withthe earth, and water mingles with wine. And the greaterand more excellent bodies are capable of being easilymixed, for example, wind mingles with wind. But to meit seems that this happens by conjunction and not byadmixture. Therefore, does not the divine power,immanent in the soul, sanctify it in the final stage ofadvance? For" God is spirit" and "inspires where hewill." For the immanence of the divine power does notaffect substance, but power and force; and spirit isconjoined with spirit, as spirit is conjoined with soul.

18 When the Saviour descended, he was seen by theangels and so they proclaimed him. But he was alsoseen by Abraham and the other righteous men who arein Paradise on his right hand. For he says, "He rejoicedto see my day," that is the advent in the flesh.Wherefore, the risen Lord preached the good tidings tothe righteous who are in Paradise, and moved them andtranslated them and they shall all "live under hisshadow." For the advent here is a shadow of theSaviour's glory which is with the Father, and a shadowof light is not darkness but illumination. ' '

19 "And the Logos became flesh" not only by becomingman at his Advent <on earth>, but also" at thebeginning" the essen tial Logos became a son bycircumscription and not in essence. And again hebecame flesh when he acted through the prophets. Andthe Saviour is called an offspring of the essential Logos;therefore, "in the beginning was the Logos and theLogos was with God" and "that which came intoexistence in him was life" and life is the Lord. Andwhen Paul says, "Put on the new man created accordingto God" it is as if he said, Believe on him who was"created" by God, "according to God," that is, theLogos in God. And "created according to God" canrefer to the end of advance which man will reach, as


7 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

does. . . he re jected the end for which he was created.And in other passages he speaks still more plainly anddistinctly: "Who is an image of the invisible God"; thenhe goes on, "First-Born of all creation." For he calls theLogos of the essential Logos "an image of the invisibleGod," but "First-Born of all creation." Having beenbegotten without passion he became the creator andprogenitor of all creation and substance, for by him theFather made all things. Wherefore it is also said that he"received the form of a servant," which refers not onlyto his flesh at the advent, but also to his substance,which he derived from its underlying reality, forsubstance is a slave, inasmuch as it is passive andsubordinate to the active and dominating, cause.

20 For we thus understand "I begot thee before themorning star" with reference to the first-created Logosof God and simil arly "thy name is before sun" andmoon and before all creation.

21 The Valentinians say that the finest emanation ofWisdom is spoken of in "He created them in the imageof God, male and female created he them." Now themales from this emanation are the "election," but thefemales are the "calling" and they call the male beingsangelic, and the females themselves, the superior seed.So also, in the case of Adam, the male remained in himbut all the female seed was taken from him and becameEve, from whom the females are derived, as the malesare from him. Therefore the males are drawn togetherwith the Logos, but the females, becotning men, areunited to the angels and pass into the Pleroma.Therefore the woman is said to be changed into a man,and the church hereon earth into angels.

22 And when the Apostle said, "Else what shall they dowho are baptised for the dead?" . . . For, he says, theangels of whom we are portions were baptised for us.But we are dead, who are deadened by this existence,but the males are alive who did not participate in thisexistence.

"If the dead rise not why, then, are we baptised?"Therefore we are raised up "equal to angels," andrestored to unity with the males, member for member.'Now they say "those who are baptised for us, thedead," are the angels who are baptised for us, in orderthat when we, too, have the Name, we may not behindered and kept back by the Limit and the Cross fromenter ing the Pleroma. Wherefore, at the laying on ofhands they say at the end, "for the angelic redemption"that is, for the one which the angels also have, in orderthat the person who has received the redemption may,be baptised in the same Name in which his angel hadbeen baptised before him. Now the angels were baptisedin the beginning, in the redemption of the Name which


8 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

descended upon Jesus in the dove and redeemed him.And redemption was necessary even for Jesus, in orderthat, approaching through Wisdom, he might not bedetained by the Notion of the Deficiency in which hewas inserted, as Theodotus says.

23 The followers of Valentinus say that Jesus is theParaclete, because he has come full of the Aeons,having come forth from the whole. For Christ leftbehind Sophia, who had put him forth, and going intothe Pleroma, asked for help for Sophia, who was leftoutside; and Jesus was put forth by the good will of theAeons as a Paraclete for the Aeon which had passed. Inthe type of the Paraclete, Paul became the Apostle ofthe Resur rection. Immediately after the Lord's Passionhe also was sent to preach. Therefore he preached theSaviour from both points of view: as begotten andpassible for the sake of those on the left, because, beingable to know him, they are afraid of him in this position,and in spiritual wise from the Holy Spirit and a virgin, asthe angels on the right know him. For each one knowsthe Lord after his own fashion, and not all in the sameway. "The Angels of the little ones" that is, of the electwho will be in the same inheritance and perfection,"behold the face of the Father. " And perhaps the Faceis now the Son, and now as much of that comprehensionof the Father as they perceive who have been instructedby the Son. But the rest of the Father is unknown.

24 The Valentinians say that the Spirit which each oneof' the prophets had ,adapted to service was poured outupon all those of the Church. Therefore too the signs ofthe Spirit, healings and prophecies, are fulfilled throughthe Church. But they do not know that the Paraclete,who now works continuously in the Church, is of thesame substance and power as he who workedcontinuously according to the Old Testament.

25 The followers of Valentinus defined the Angel as aLogos having a message from Him who is. And, usingthe same ter minology, they call the Aeons Logoi.

He says the Apostles were substituted for the twelvesigns of the Zodiac, for, as birth is directed by them, sois rebirth by the Apostles.

26 The visible part of Jesus was Wisdom and theChurch of the superior seeds and he put it on throughthe flesh, as Theodotus says; but the invisible part is theName, which is the Only- Begotten Son. Thus when hesays "I am the door," he means that you, who are of thesuperior seed, shall come up to the boundary where Iam. And when he enters in, the seed also enters withhim into the Pleroma, brought together and brought inthrough the door.


9 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

27 The priest on entering within the second veilremoved the plate at the altar of incense, and enteredhimself in silence with the Name engraved upon hisheart, indicating the laying aside of the body which hasbecome pure like the golden plate and bright throughpurification. . . the putting away as it were of the soul'sbody on which was stamped the lustre of piety, bywhich he was recognized by the Principalities andPowers as, having put on the Name. Now he discardsthis body, the plate which had become light, within thesecond veil, that is, in the rational sphere the secondcomplete veil of the universe, at the altar of incense,that is, with the angels who are the ministers of prayerscarried aloft. Now the soul, stripped by the power ofhim who has knowledge, as if it had become a body ofthe power, passes into the spiritual realm and becomesnow truly rational and high priestly, so that it might nowbe animated, so to speak, directly by the Logos, just asthe archangels became the high-priests of the angels,and the First-Created the high- priests of the archangels.But where is there a right judgment of Scripture anddoctrine for that soul which has become pure, andwhere is it granted to see God "face to face"? Thus,having transcended the angelic teaching and the Nametaught in Scripture, it comes to the knowledge andcomprehension of the facts. It is no longer a bride buthas become a Logos and rests with the bridegroomtogether with the First-Called and First- Created, whoare friends by love, sons by instruction and obedi ence,and brothers by community of origin. So that itbelonged to the dispensation to wear the plate and tocontinue the pur suit of knowledge, but the work ofpower was that man becomes the bearer of God, beingcontrolled directly by the Lord and becoming, as itwere, his body.

28 The followers of Basilides refer "God visiting thedisobedient unto the third and fourth generation" toreincarnations, but the followers of Valentinus maintainthat the three places mean those on the left, while the"fourth generation" is their own seed, and "showingmercy unto thousands," refers to those on the right.

29 They say that Silence, who is the mother of all whowere put forth by Depth, with regard to what she hadnothing to say kept silence about the inexpressible andwith regard to what she did not understand she called itincomprehensible.

30 Then forgetting the glory of God,. they impiously sayhe suffered. For inasmuch as the Father shared insuffering, though he is, says Theodotus, rigid andunyielding in nature, by showing himself yielding, inorder that Silence might under stand this, it wassuffering. For sympathy is the suffering of one for thesake of another's suffering. Moreover when the Passion


10 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

took place, the whole shared in the same suffering forthe recovery of the sufferer.

31 Moreover, if he also who came down was the "goodwill" of the whole, "for in him was the whole Pleromabodily," and the Passion was his, it is clear that the seedin him shared also in the Passion, and that through themthe "whole" and the "all" are found to be suffering.Moreover through the persuasion of the twelfth Aeonthe whole was instructed, as they say, and shared in hisPassion.. For then they knew that they are what theyare by the grace of the Father, a nameless name, formand know ledge. But the Aeon which wished to graspthat which is beyond knowledge fell into ignorance andformlessness. Whence it ef fected an abstraction ofknowledge which is a shadow of the Name, that is theSon, the form of the Aeons. Thus the dis tribution of theName among the Aeons is the loss of the Name.

32 Therefore though there is unity in the Pleroma, eachof the Aeons has its own complement, the syzygia..Therefore, what ever come out of a syzygia arecomplete in themselves (pleromas) and whatever comeout of one are images. So Theodotus called the Christwho oame out of the thought of Wisdom, an "image ofthe Pleroma." Now he abandoned his mother andasoending into the Pleroma was mixed as if with thewhole and thus also with the Paraclete.

33 Indeed Christ became an adopted son as he became"elect" among the completed beings and "First-Born" ofthings there. ,

Now this doctrine is a misunderstanding of ours whichholds that the Saviour is the first-born from the"underlying reality" and he is,as it were, our root andhead, and the Church is his fruits..They say that when Christ fled that which was foreignto him and was drawn into the Pleroma, after he hadbeen be gotten from his mother's thought, the Motheragain produced the ruler of the dispensation as a type ofhim who had deserted her, according to her desire forhim, in that he was better, for he was a type of theFather of the universe. Therefore, he was made less, asif he was created from the passion of desire. In deed inview of his harshness, she was disgusted, as they say.

34 But also the powers on the left hand, which were thefirst to be put forth by her from those on the right,received no form by the advent of the Light, but thoseon the left hand remained behind to be formed bySpace. So after the entry of the Mother with. the Sonand the seeds into the Pleroma, then Space will receivethe power of the Mother and the position that theMother now has.


11 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

35 "Jesus our light" "having emptied himself," as theApostle says, that is, according to Theodotus; havingpassed beyond the Boundary, since he was an angel ofthe Pleroma, led out the angels of the superior seed withhim. And he himself had the redemption inasmuch as hehad proceeded from the Pleroma, but he led the angelsfor the correction of the seed. For, inas much as theyare bound for the sake of the parts, and plead and, beingrestrained for our sakes in their zeal to enter, they begremission for us, that we may enter with them. For,since they may almost be said to need us in order toenter, for without us they are not permitted (thereforenot even the Mother has en tered with them without us,they say), they are obviously bound for our sake.

36 Now they say that our Angels were put forth inunity, and are one, in that they came out from One.Now since we existed in separation, Jesus was baptisedthat the undivided should be divided until he shouldunite us with them in the Pleroma that we "the many"having become "one," might all be mingled in in the 0newhich was divided for our sakes. '

37 According' to the Valentinians, of those whoproceeded from Adam, the righteous, making their waythrough created things, were held hi Space, but theothers are held among those who are on the left, in theplace created for darkness, and feel the fire.

38 A river goes from under the throne of Space andflows into the void of the creation, which is Gehenna,and it is never filled, though the fire flows from thebeginning of creation. And Space itself is fiery.Therefore, he says, it has a veil in order that the thingsmay not be destroyed by the sight of it. And only thearchangel enters it, and to typify this the high priestevery year enters the holy of holies. From thence Jesuswas called and sat down with Space, that the spiritsmight remain and not rise before him, and that he mightsubdue Space and provide the seed with a passage intothe Pleroma.

39 The Mother who brought forth Christ complete, andwas abandoned by him, in future no longer broughtforth anything complete, but supplied what was possibleby herself, so that even of Space. . .. Therefore havingproduced the angelic ele ments of the "called" she keepsthem by herself, for the angelic elements of the electhad been put forth still earlier by the Male.

40 Now those on the right were put forth by the Motherbefore the demand for the Light but the seeds of theChurch after the demand for the Light, when the angelicelements of the seed had been put forth by the Male.


12 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

41 The superior seeds, he says, came forth neither aspassions, the seeds of which would have perished whenthey perished, nor as a creation, but as offspring; sinceotherwise, when creation was being put together, theseeds would have been put together with it. Therefore,also it has an affinity with the Light, that is Jesus, whomthe Christ, who besought the Aeons, first put forth.

And in him the seeds were refined, as far as possible, asthey went with him into the Pleroma. Therefore theChurch is properly said to have been chosen before thefoundation of the world. Indeed, they say, we werereckoned together and manifested in the beginning.Therefore the Saviour says, "Let your light shine,"referring to the light which appeared and gave form, ofwhich the Apostle says "which lighteth every man thatcometh into .the world," that is, every man of thesuperior seed. For when man was enlightened, then hecame into the world, that is, he ordered himself and putoff the passions which were darkening him and weremingled with him. And the Creator who had held Adambeforehand in his Notion, put him forth at the end ofcreation.

42 The Cross is a sign of the Limit in the Pleroma, for itdivides the unfaithful from the faithful as that dividesthe world from the Pleroma. Therefore Jesus by thatsign carries the Seed on his shoulders and leads theminto the Pleroma. For Jesus is called the shoulders of theseed and Christ is the head. Wherefore it is said, "Hewho takes not up his cross and follows me is not mybrother." . Therefore he took the body of Jesus, which isof the same substance as the Church.

43 So they say that those on the right knew the namesof Jesus and Christ even before the Advent, but they didnot know the power of the sign. And when the Spiritgave all power, and the Pleroma united in praise, he issent forth, "as the angel of the counsel" and becomesthe head of the whole after the Father. " For all thingswere created by him, things visible and invisible,thrones, dominions, kingdoms, divinities, services." "SoGod also exalted him and gave him a name which isabove every name that every knee should bow andevery tongue confess that Jesus Christ, the Saviour, isthe Lord of Glory." "He who as cended also descended.That he ascended, what does it imply but that hedescended? He it is who descended into the lower partsof the earth and ascended above the heavens."

44 When Wisdom. beheld him she recognized that hewas similar to the Light who had deserted her, and sheran to him and re joiced and worshipped and, beholdingthe male angels who were sent out with him, she wasabashed and put on a veil. Through this mystery Paulcommands the women "to wear power on their heads on


13 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

account of the angels."

45 Straightway, therefore, the Saviour bestowed on hera form that was according to knowledge and a healingof passions, ex hibiting the contents of the Pleroma andstages of emanation down to her own, from theunbegotten Father. And, having taken away thepassions of her who had suffered, he made herimpassible, and, having separated the passions, he keptthem and they were not distinguished as from thosewithin, but he brought into being both them and theelements of the second rank. Thus through theappearance of the Saviour, Wisdom came into beingand the elements without were created. "For all thingswere made by him and without him was not anythingmade."

46 First, therefore, he drew these things from immaterialpassion and chance and transformed them into matterstill in corporeal, then in a similar manner intocompound substance and bodies. For it was not possiblefor passion to be brought into being by a single processand he endowed the bodies with properties suitable totheir nature.

47 Now the Saviour became the first universal creator."But Wisdom," the second, "built a house for herselfand hewed out seven pillars" and first of all she putforth a god, the image of the Father, and through himshe made heaven and earth, that is "heavenly things,and the earthly" - the things on the right hand and onthe left. This, as an image of the Father, then became afather and put forth first the psychic Christ, an image ofthe Son, then the archangels as images of the Aeons,then the angels of the archangels from the psychic andluminous sub stance to which the prophetic word refers,"And the Spirit of God was superimposed upon thewaters," declaring that in the combination of the twosubstances, made for him, the simple was superimposedbut the heavy and material substance is borne under, thethick and coarse. But it is even suggested that this wasincorporeal in the beginning when it is called "invisible."Yet it was never invisible to any man that ever lived norto God, for he made it. But he has somehow declared itsabsence of form, shape and design.

48 Now the Creator divided the refined element fromthe coarse, since he perceived the nature of each, andmade light, that is, he revealed and brought it to lightand form, for he made the light of sun and heaven muchlater. And of the material elements he made one out ofgrief, which gives substance to the "spiritual things ofevil with whom is our contest" (and therefore theApostle says, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,by whom ye were sealed"), and another he made fromfear, the wild beasts, and another from terror and need,


14 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

the elements of the world. And in the three elementsfire drifts about and is disseminated and lurks, and iskindled by them and dies with them, for it has' noappointed place of its own like the other ele ments fromwhich the compound substances are fashioned.

49 And since he did not know her who acted throughhim and thought he created by his own power, for hewas naturally fond of work, therefore the Apostle said:"He was subject unto the vanity of the world, notwillingly, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hopethat it also will be set free," when the seeds of God shallbe assembled. And a special proof of his unwilling nessis his blessing the Sabbath and the warm welcome hegave to rest from labour.

50 "Taking dust from the earth": not of the land but aportion of matter but of varied constitution and colour,he fashioned a soul, earthly and material, irrational andconsubstantial with that of the beasts. This is the man"according to the image." But the man who is"according to the likeness" of the Creator himself, is hewhom he has breathed into and inseminated into theformer, placing in him by angels somethingconsubstantial with himself. Inasmuch as he is invisibleand immaterial, he called his substance" the breath oflife," but that which was given form became a "livingsoul," and he himself confesses that it is so in theprophetic writings.

51 Therefore man is in man, "psychic" in "earthly," notconsist ing as part to part but united as whole to wholeby God's un speakable power. Therefore he was createdin Paradise in the fourth heaven. For there earthly fleshdoes not ascend but it was to the divine soul as materialflesh. This is the meaning of "This is now bone of mybones," - he hints at the divine soul which is hidden inthe flesh, firm and hard to suffer and very potent, - and"flesh of my flesh" - the material soul which is the bodyof the divine soul. Concerning these two also, theSaviour says, "That is to be feared which can destroythis soul and this body, the psychic one, in hell."

52 This body the Saviour called an "adversary" andPaul said a " law warring against the law of my mind"and the Saviour advises us "to bind it" and to "seize itspossessions" as those of "a strong man" who waswarring against the heavenly soul, and he also advisesus to be "reconciled with him on the way lest we fallinto prison" and punishment, and similarly to "be kindto it" and not to nourish 'and strengthen it by the powerof sin but to put it to death here and now, and manifestit as extinct in the domain of wick edness in order thatat its dissolution it may secretly be sep arated andbreathed away, but not gain any existence of its own,and so have power by itself in its passage through the


15 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

fire.

53 This is called a "tare" which grows up with the soul,the good seed, and is also a seed of the devil, since it isconsubstantial with him, and a "snake" and a "biter ofthe heel" and a "robber" attacking the head of a king.And Adam without his knowledge had the spiritual seedsown in his soul by Wisdom. He says, "Establishedthrough angels by the hand of a mediator. And themediator is not of one but God is one." Therefore theseeds put forth into" becoming" by Wisdom areministered to so far as they can come to being by themale angels. For just as the Demiurge, moved byWisdom without his knowledge, thinks that he is a freeagent, so also do men. So Wisdom first put forth aspiritual seed which was in Adam that it might be "thebone," the reasonable and heavenly soul which is notempty but full of . spiritual marrow.

54 From Adam three natures were begotten. The firstwas the irrational, Which was Cain's, the second therational and just, which was Abel's, the third thespiritual, which was Seth's. Now that which is earthly is"according to the image," that which is psychicalaccording to the " likeness " of God, and that which isspiritual is according to the real nature; and with reference to these three, without the other children of Adam,it .was said, "This is the book of the generation of men."And because Seth was spiritual he neither tends flocksnor tills the soil but produces a child, as spiritual thingsdo. And him, who "hoped to call upon the name of theLord" who looked upward and whose "citizenship is inheaven" - him the world does not contain.

55 On Adam, over the three immaterial elements, afourth, "the earthly," is put on as "the leatherngarments." Therefore Adam neither sows from the spiritnor, therefore, from that which was breathed into him,for both are divine and both are put forth through. himbut not by him. But his material nature is active towardseed and generation, as though mixed with seed andunable to stand apart from the same harmony in life.

56 Therefore our father Adam is "the first man of theearth, earthy" and if he had sown from psychic andspiritual as well as from material substance, all wouldhave become equal and righteous and the Teachingwould have been in all. Therefore many are material,but not many are psychic, and few are spiritual. Nowthe spiritual is saved by nature, but the psychic hasfree-will, and has the capacity for both faith andincorruptibility, as well as for unbelief and corruptionaccording to its own choice; but the material perishes bynature. When, therefore, the psychic "are engrafted onthe olive tree" into faith and incorruptibility and share"the fatness of the olive tree" and when "the Gentiles


16 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

come in," then "thus shall all Israel." But Israel is an allegory, the spiritual man who will see God, the unlawfulson of the faithful Abraham, he who was born of freewoman, not he who was according to the flesh the sonof the Egyptian bond woman.

57 Therefore from the three species a formation of thespiritual element happens to one and a change of thepsychic from slavery to freedom happens to the other.

58 Then after the Kingdom of Death, which had made agreat and fair promise, but had none the less become aministry of death, Jesus Christ the great Champion,when every principal ity and divinity had refused,received unto himself by an act of power the Church,that is, the elect and the called, one (the spiritual) fromthe Mother, the other (the psychic) by the Dispensation; and he saved and bore aloft what he hadreceived and through them what was consubstantial. For"if the first fruits be holy, the lump will be also; if theroot be holy, then will also the shoots." .

59 First, then, he put on a seed from the Mother, notbeing separated but containing it by power, and it isgiven form little by little through knowledge. And whenhe came into Space Jesus found Christ, whom it wasforetold that he would put on, whom the Prophets andthe Law announced as an image of the Saviour. Buteven this psychic Christ whom he put on, was invisible,and it was necessary for him when he came into theworld to be seen here, to be held, to be a citizen, and tohold on to a sensible body. A body, therefore, was spunfor him out of invisible psychic substance, and arrivedin the world of sense with power from a divinepreparation.

60 Therefore, ":Holy Spirit shall come upon thee" refersto the formation of the Lord's body, "and a Power of theMost High. shall overshadow thee" indicates theformation of God with which he imprinted. the body inthe Virgin.

61 That he was other than .what he received is clearfrom what he professes, "I am the Life, I am the Truth, Iand the Father are one." But the spiritual nature, whichhe received, and the psychic he thus indicates, "And thechild grew and advanced greatly." For the spiritualnature needs wisdom but the psychic needs size. But bythe flowing out from his side he indicates that thesubstances having become free from passion have beensaved by the flowings out of the passions from thosewho shared in them. And when he says "The Son ofMan must be rejected and insulted and crucified," heseems to be speaking of someone else, that is, of himwho has passion. And he says, "On the third of the daysI will go before you into Galilee." For he goes before all


17 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

and indicated that he will raise up the soul which isbeing invisibly saved and will restore it to the placewhere he is now leading the way. And he died at the.departure of the Spirit which had descended upon himin the Jordan, not that it became separate but waswithdrawn in order that death might also operate onhim, since how did the body die when life was presentin him? For in that way death would have prevailedover the Saviour himself, which is absurd. But deathwas out-generalled by guile. For when the body diedand death seized it, the Saviour sent forth the ray ofpower which had come upon him and destroyed deathand raised up the mortal body which had put offpassion. In this way, therefore, the psychic elements areraised and are saved, but the spiritual natures whichbelieve receive a salvation superior to theirs, havingreceived their souls as "wedding garments."

62 Now the psychic Christ sits on the right hand of theCreator, as David says, " Sit thou on my right hand "and so on. And he sits there until the end "that they maysee him whom they pierced." But they pierced theappearance, which is the flesh of the psychic one, "for,"it says, "a bone of him shall not be broken," just as inthe case of Adam the prophecy used bone as an allegoryfor the soul. For the actual soul of Christ de positeditself in the Father's hands, while the body was suffering. But the spiritual nature referred to as "bone" is notyet deposited but he keeps it.

63 Now the repose of the spiritual elements on theLord's Day, that is, in the Ogdoad, which is called theLord's Day, is with the Mother, who keeps their souls,the (wedding) garments, until the end; but the otherfaithful souls are with the Creator, but at the end theyalso go up in the Ogdoad Then comes the marriagefeast, common to all who are saved, until all are equaland know each other.

64 Henceforth the spiritual elements having put off theirsouls, together with the Mother who leads thebridegroom, also lead bridegrooms, their angels, andpass into the bride chamber within the Limit and attainto the vision of the Father, - having become intellectualAeons, - in the intel lectual and eternal marriages of theSyzyge.

65 And the "master" of the feast, who is the "best man."of the marriage, "and friend of the bridegroom, standingbefore the bride chamber and hear ing the voipe of thebridegroom, rejoices greatly." This is "the fulness of hisjoy" and his repose.

66 The Saviour taught the Apostles at first figurativelyand mys tically, later in parables and riddles, and thirdlyclearly and openly when they were alone. .


18 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

67 "When we were in the flesh" the Apostle says, as ifhe were already speaking without the body. Now hesays that he means by flesh that weakness which was anoffshoot of the Woman on high. And when the Savioursays to Salome that death will reign as long as womenbear, he does not speak in reproach of birth since it isnecessary for the salvation of the believers. For thisbirth must be until the previously reckoned seed be putforth. But he is alluding to the Woman on high whosepassions became creation when she put forth thosebeings that were without form. On her account theSaviour came down to drag us out from passion and toadopt us to himself.

68 For as long as we were children of the female only,as if of a base intercourse, incomplete and infants andsenseless and weak and without form, brought forth likeabortions, we were children of the woman, but when wehave received form from the Saviour, we have becomechildren of a husband and a bride chamber.

69 Fate is a union of. many opposing forces and theyare invisible and unseen, guiding the course of the starsand governing through them., For as each of themarrived, borne round by the movement of the world, itobtained power over those who were born at that verymoment, as though they were its own children.

70 Therefore through the fixed stars and the planets, theinvis ible powers holding sway over them direct andwatch over births. But the stars themselves do nothingbut display the ac tivity of the dominant powers, just asthe flight of the birds (for omens) indicates somethingbut effects nothing. '

71 Now the twelve signs of the Zodiac and the sevenstars which follow them rising now in conjunction, nowin opposition, . . . these, moved by the powers, show themovement of substance toward the, creation of livingbeings and the turn of circum stances. But both the starsand the powers are of different kinds: some arebeneficent, some maleficent, some right, some left, andthat which is born shares in both qualities. And each ofthem comes into being at its own time, the dominantsign fulfilling the course of nature, partly at thebeginning, partly at the end,72 From this situation and battle of the powers the Lordrescues us and supplies peace from the array of powersand angels, in which some are arrayed for us and others.against us. For some are like soldiers fighting on ourside as servants of God but others are like brigands. Forthe evil one girded himself, not taking the sword by theside of the king, but in madly plundering for himself.


19 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

73 Now because of the opponents who attack the soulthrough the body and outward things and pledge it toslavery; the ones on the right are not sufficient to followand rescue and guard us. For their providential power isnot perfect like the Good Shepherd's but each one is likea mercenary who sees the wolf coming and flees and isnot zealous to give up his life for his own sheep. Andbesides man, over whom the battle rages, since he is aweak animal, is easily led toward the worse andcaptured by those who hate him. Whence also he incursgreater evil.

74 Therefore the Lord came down bringing the peacewhich is from heaven to those on earth, as the Apostlesays, "Peace on the earth and glory in the heights."Therefore a strange and new star arose doing away withthe old astral decree, shining with a new unearthly light,which revolved on a new path of salvation, as the Lordhimself, men's guide, who came down to earth totransfer from Fate to his providence those who believedin Christ.

75 They say that the results prophecied show that Fateexists for the others and the consideration ofcalculations is a clear proof. For example, the Magi notonly saw the Lord's star but they recognized the truththat a king was born and whose king he was, namely ofthe pious. At that time only the Jews were noted forpiety; therefore the Saviour going down to the pious,came first to these who at that time were carrying famefor piety.

76 As, therefore, the birth of the Saviour released usfrom "be coming" and from Fate, so also his baptismrescued us from fire, and ,his Passion rescued, us frompassion in order that we might in all things follow him.For he who was baptised unto God advanced towardGod and has received "power to walk upon scorpionsand snakes," the evil powers. And he commands thedisciples "When ye go about, preach and them thatbelieve baptise in the name of the Father, and of theSon and of the Holy Spirit," in whom we are born again,becoming higher than all the other powers.

77 Therefore baptism is called death and an end of theold life when we take leave of the evil principalities, butit is also called life according to Christ, of which he issole Lord. But the power of the transformation of himwho is baptised does not concern the body but the soul,for he who comes up <out of the water> is unchanged.From the moment when he comes up from baptism he iscalled a servant of God even by the unclean spirits andthey now" tremble" at him whom shortly before theyobsessed.

78 Until baptism, they say, Fate is real, but after it the


20 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

astrolo gists are no longer right. But it is not only thewashing that is liberating, but the knowledge of/who wewere, and what we have become, where we were orwhere we were placed, whither we hasten, from whatwe are redeemed, what birth is and what rebirth. '

79 So long, then, they say, as the seed is yet unformed,it is the offspring of the female, but when it was formed,it was changed to a man and becomes a son of thebridegroom. It is no longer weak and subject to thecosmic forces, both visible and invisible, but havingbeen made masculine, it becomes a male fruit.

80 He whom the Mother generates is led into death andinto the world, but he whom Christ regenerates is transferred to life into the Ogdoad. And they: die to theworld but live to God, that death may be loosed bydeath and corruption by resurrection. For he who hasbeen sealed by Father, Son and Holy Spirit is beyondthe threats of every other power and by the threeNames has been released from the whole triad ofcorruption. "Having borne the image of the earthly, itthen bears the image of the heavenly."

81 The material element of fire lays hold of all materialthings, and the pure and immaterial element lays hold ofimmaterial things such as demons, angels of evil and tbedevil himself. Thus the heavenly fire is dual in itsnature, belonging partly to the mind, partly to thesenses. By analogy, therefore, baptism. is also dual in itsnature, the sensible part works through water whichextinguishes the sensible' fire, but the intellectualthrough Spirit, a defence against the intellectual fire.And the material Spirit when it is little becomes foodand kindling for the sensible fire, but when it hasincreased it has become an extinguisher, but the Spiritgiven us from above, since it is immaterial, rules notonly over the Elements, but over the Powers and theevil Principalities.

82 And the bread and the oil are sanctified by the powerof the Name, and they are not the same as theyappeared to be when they were received, but they havebeen transformed by power into spiritual power. Thus,the water, also, both in exorcism and baptism, not onlykeeps off evil, but gives sanctification as well

83 It is fitting to go to baptism with joy, but, sinceunclean spirits often go down into the water with someand these spirits following and gaining the seal togetherwith the candidate become impossible to cure for thefuture, fear is joined with joy, in order that only he whois pure may go down to the water.

84 Therefore let there be fastings, supplications,prayers, raising of hands, kneelings because a soul is


21 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

being saved from the world and from the "mouth oflions." Wherefore there is immediate temptation forthose. who long also for the things from which theyhave been separated, and even if one hasfore-knowledge to endure them, yet the outward man isshaken.

85 Even the Lord after baptism was troubled like as weare and was first with beasts in the desert. Then whenhe had prevailed over them and their ruler as if alreadya true king, he was already served by angels. For hewho ruled over. angels in the flesh was fittingly servedalready by angels. Therefore we must put on the Lord'sarmour and keep body and soul invulnerable - armourthat is "able to quench the darts of the devil," as theApostle says.

86 In the case of the coin that was brought to him, theLord did not say whose property is it, but, "whoseimage and super scription? Caesar's," that it might begiven to him whose it is. So likewise the faithful; he hasthe name of God through Christ as a superscription andthe Spirit as an image. And dumb animals show by aseal whose property each is, and .are claimed from theseal. Thus also the faithful soul receives the seal of truthand bears about the "marks of Christ." These are thechildren who are now resting in bed and "the wisevirgins," with whom the others, who are late, did notenter into" the goods which have been prepared, onwhich the angels desire to gaze. "

Archive Notes

These following excerpts have been widely andincorrectly labeled as "Excerpta ex Theodotus", andappear in Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. 8, edited by A.Roberts and J Donaldson, where it is given as anappendix to the works of Clement of Alexandria.

These collected says are attributed to Theodotus, but inthe introduction in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, it is noted:"It is the work of a Montanist, perhaps, who may havehad some relations with the Alexandrian school; but it ishard to say precisely who of three or four namedTheodotus (all heretics), may have made thecompilation..."

A translation and commentary on this text is also foundin, W. Foerster, Gnosis: A Selection of Gnostic Texts(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), pp. 222-33. This textwas previously and erroneous filed here in the Archive(and in many other places on the internet) under thetitle Excerpta ex Theodotus. Most internet document


22 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

collections have taken material directly from this site,and we regret having helped propagation this error.

Selections from the Prophetic Scriptures

(attributed to Theodotus, as collected by Clement ofAlexandria)

I. Those around Sedrach, Misak, and Abednago in thefurnace of fire say as they praise God, "Bless, yeheavens, the Lord; praise and exalt Him for ever;" then,"Bless, ye angels, the Lord;" then, "Bless the Lord, allye waters that are above heaven." So the Scripturesassign the heavens and the waters to the class of purepowers [3] as is shown in Genesis. Suitably, then,inasmuch as "power" is used with a variety of meaning,Daniel adds, "Let every power bless the Lord ;" then,further, "Bless the Lord, sun and moon;" and, "Bless theLord, ye stars of heaven. Bless the Lord, all ye thatworship Him; praise and confess the God of gods, forHis mercy is for ever." It is written in Daniel, on theoccasion of the three children praising in the furnace.

II. "Blessed art Thou, who lookest on the abysses asThou sittest on the cherubim," says Daniel, inagreement with Enoch, [4] who said, "And I saw allsorts of matter." For the abyss, which is in its essenceboundless, is bounded by the power of God. Thesematerial essences then, from which the separate generaand their species are produced, are called abysses; sinceyou would not call the water alone the abyss, althoughmatter is allegorically called water, the abyss.

III. "In the beginning God made the heaven and theearth," [5] both terrestrial and celestial things. And thatthis is true, the Lord said to Osee, "Go, take to thyself awife of fornication, and children of fornication: becausethe land committing fornication, shall commitfornication, departing from the Lord." [6] For it is notthe element of earth that he speaks of, but those thatdwell in the element, those who have an earthlydisposition.

IV. And that the Son is the beginning [7] or head, Hoseateaches clearly: "And it shall be, that in the place inwhich it was said to them, Ye are not my people, theyshall be called the children of the living God: and thechildren of Judah and the children of Israel shall begathered to the same place, and they shall place overthem one head, [8] and they shall come up out of theland; for great is the day of Jezreel." [9] For whom one


23 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

believes, him He chooses. But one believes the Son,who is the head; wherefore also he said in addition:"But I will have mercy on the sons of Judah, and willsave them by the Lord their God." [10] Now theSaviour who saves is the Son of God. He is then thehead. [7]

V. The Spirit by Osee says, "I am your Instructor;" [11]"Blow ye [12] the trumpet upon the hills of the Lord;sound upon the high places." [13] And is not baptismitself, which is the sign of regeneration, an escape frommatter, by the teaching of the Saviour, a greatimpetuous stream, ever rushing on and bearing usalong? The Lord accordingly, leading us out of disorder,illumines us by bringing us into the light, which isshadow-less and is material no longer.

VI. This river and sea of matter two prophets [14] cutasunder and divided by the power of the Lord, thematter being bounded, through both divisions of thewater. Famous leaders both, by whom the signs werebelieved, they complied with the will of God, so that therighteous man may proceed from matter, havingjourneyed through it first. On the one of thesecommanders also was imposed the name of our Saviour.[15]

VII. Now, regeneration is by water and spirit, as was allcreation: "For the Spirit of God moved on the abyss."[1] And for this reason the Saviour was baptized, thoughnot Himself needing [2] to be so, in order that He mightconsecrate the whole water for those who were beingregenerated. Thus it is not the body only, but the soul,that we cleanse. It is accordingly a sign of thesanctifying of our invisible part, and of the straining offfrom the new and spiritual creation of the uncleanspirits that have got mixed up with the soul.

VIII. "The water above the heaven." Since baptism isperformed by water and the Spirit as a protectionagainst the twofold fire,--that which lays hold of what isvisible, and that which lays hold of what is invisible;and of necessity, there being an immaterial element ofwater and a material, is it a protection against thetwofold [3] fire. And the earthly water cleanses thebody; but the heavenly water, by reason of its beingimmaterial and invisible, is an emblem of the HolySpirit, who is the purifier of what is invisible, as thewater of the Spirit, as the other of the body.

IX. God, out of goodness, hath mingled fear withgoodness. For what is beneficial for each one, that Healso supplies, as a physician to a sick man, as a father tohis insubordinate child: "For he that spareth his rodhateth his son." [4] And the Lord and His apostleswalked in the midst of fear and labours. When, then, theaffliction is sent in the person of a righteous man, [5] it


24 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

is either from the Lord rebuking him for a sin committedbefore, or guarding him on account of the future, or notpreventing by the exercise of His power an assault fromwithout, [6]-- for some good end to him and to thosenear, for the sake of example.

X. Now those that dwell in a corrupt body, like thosewho sail in an old ship, do not lie on their back, but areever praying, stretching their hands to God.

XI. The ancients were exceedingly distressed, unlessthey had always some suffering in the body. For theywere afraid, that if they received not in this world thepunishment of the sins which, in numbers throughignorance, accompany those that are in the flesh, theywould in the other world suffer the penalty all at once.So that they preferred curative treatment here. What isto be dreaded is, then, not external disease, but sins, forwhich disease comes, and disease of the soul, not of thebody: "For all flesh is grass," [7] and corporeal andexternal good things are temporary; "but the thingswhich are unseen are eternal." [8]

XII. As to knowledge, some elements of it we alreadypossess; others, by what we do possess, we firmly hopeto attain. For neither have we attained all, nor do welack all. But we have received, as it were, an earnest ofthe eternal blessings, and of the ancestral riches. Theprovisions for the Lord's way are the Lord's beatitudes.For He said: "Seek," and anxiously seek, "the kingdomof God, and all these things shall be added to you: forthe Father knoweth what things ye have need of." [9]Thus He limits not only our occupations, but our cares.For He says: "Ye cannot, by taking thought, add aughtto your stature." [10] For God knows well what it isgood for us to have and what to want. He wishes,therefore, that we, emptying ourselves of worldly cares,should be filled with that which is directed towardsGod. "For we groan, desiring to be clothed upon withthat which is incorruptible, before putting offcorruption." For when faith is shed abroad, unbelief isnonplussed. Similarly also with knowledge andrighteousness. We must therefore not only empty thesoul, but fill it with God. For no longer is there evil in it,since that has been made to cease; nor yet is there good,since it has not yet received good. But what is neithergood nor evil is nothing. "For to the swept and emptyhouse return," [11] if none of the blessings of salvationhas been put in, the unclean spirit that dwelt therebefore, taking with him seven other unclean spirits.Wherefore, after emptying the soul of what is evil, wemust fill with the good God that which is His chosendwelling-place. For when the empty rooms are filled,then follows the seal, that the sanctuary may be guardedfor God.

XIII. "By two and three witnesses every word is


25 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

established." [12] By Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit,by whose witness and help the prescribedcommandments ought to be kept. [13]

XIV. Fasting, according to the signification of the word,is abstinence from food. Now food makes us neithermore righteous nor less. But mystically it shows that, aslife is maintained in individuals by sustenance, and wantof sustenance is the token of death; so also ought we tofast from worldly things, that we may die to the world,and after that, by partaking of divine sustenance, live toGod. Especially does fasting empty the soul of matter,and make it, along with the body, pure and light for thedivine words. Worldly food is, then, the former life andsins; but the divine food is faith, hope, love, patience,knowledge, peace, temperance. For "blessed are theythat hunger and thirst after" God's "righteousness ; forthey shall be filled." [1] The soul, but not the body, it iswhich is susceptible of this craving.

XV. The Saviour showed to the believing apostlesprayer to be stronger than faith in the case of ademoniac, whom they could not cleanse, when He said,Such things are accomplished by prayer. He who hasbelieved has obtained forgiveness of sins from the Lord;but he who has attained knowledge, inasmuch as he nolonger sins, obtains from himself the forgiveness of therest.

XVI. For as cures, and prophecies, and signs areperformed by the agency of men, God working in them,so also is Gnostic teaching. For God shows His powerthrough men. And the prophecy rightly says, "I willsend to them a man who will save them." [2]Accordingly He sends forth at one thee prophets, atanother apostles, to be saviours of men. Thus God doesgood by the agency of men. For it is not that God cando some things, and cannot do others: He is neverpowerless in anything. No more are some things donewith, and some things against His will; and some thingsby Him, and some things by another. But He evenbrought us into being by means of men, and trained usby means of men.

XVII. God made us, having previously no existence. Forif we had a previous existence, we must have knownwhere we were, and how and why we came hither. Butif we had no pre-existence, then God is the sole authorof our creation. As, then, He made us who had noexistence; so also, now that we are made, He saves usby His own grace, if we show ourselves worthy andsusceptible; if not, He [3] will let us pass to our properend. For He is Lord both of the living and the dead.

XVIII. But see the power of God, not only in the case ofmen, in bringing to existence out of non-existence, andmaking them when brought into being grow up


26 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

according to the progress of the thee of life, but also insaving those who believe, in a way suitable to eachindividual. And now He changes both hours, and times,and fruits, and elements. For this is the one God, whohas measured both the beginning and the end of eventssuitably to each one.

XIX. Advancing from faith and fear to knowledge, manknows how to say Lord, Lord; but not as His slave, hehas learned to say, Our Father. [4] Having set free thespirit of bondage, which produces fear, and advancedby love to adoption, he now reverences from love Himwhom he feared before. For he no longer abstains fromwhat he ought to abstain from out of fear, but out oflove clings to the commandments. "The Spirit itself," itis said, "beareth witness when we cry, Abba, [4]Father." [5]

XX. Now the Lord with His precious blood redeems us,freeing us from our old bitter masters, that is, our sins,on account of which the spiritual powers of wickednessruled over us. Accordingly He leads us into the libertyof the Father, -- sons that are co-heirs and friends."For," says the Lord, "they that do the will of my Fatherare my brethren and fellow-heirs." [6] "Call no man,therefore, father to yourselves on earth." [7] For it ismasters that are on earth. But in heaven is the Father, ofwhom is the whole family, both in heaven and on earth.[8] For love rules willing hearts, but fear the unwilling.One kind of fear is base; but the other, leading us as apedagogue to good, brings us to Christ, and is saving.

XXI. Now if one has a conception of God, it by nomeans corresponds with His worthiness. For what canthe worthiness of God be? But let him, as far as ispossible, conceive of a great and incomprehensible andmost beautiful light; inaccessible, comprehending allgood power, all comely virtue; caring for all,compassionate, passionless, good; knowing all things,foreknowing all things, pure, sweet, shining, stainless.

XXII. Since the movement of the soul is self-originated,the grace of God demands from it what the soulpossesses, willingness as its contribution to salvation.For the soul wishes to be its own good; which the Lord,however, gives it. For it is not devoid of sensation so asto be carried along like a body. Having is the result oftaking, and taking of willing and desiring; and keepinghold of what one has received, of the exercise of careand of ability. Wherefore God has endowed the soulwith free choice, that He may show it its duty, and thatit choosing, may receive and retain.

XXIII. As through the body the Lord spake and healed,so also formerly by the prophets, and now by theapostles and teachers. For the Church is the minister ofthe Lord's power. Thence He then assumed humanity,


27 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

[9] that by it He might minister to the Father's will. Andat all times, the God who loves humanity [1] investsHimself with man for the salvation of men, -- in formertithes with the prophets, and now with the Church. Forit is fitting that like should minister to like, in order to alike salvation.

XXIV. For we are of the earth. . . . Caesar is the prince,for the thee being, whose earthly image is the old man,to which he has returned. To him, then, we are to renderthe earthly things, which we bore in the image of theearthly, and the things of God to God. For each one ofthe passions is on us as a letter, and stamp, and sign.Now the Lord marks us with another stamp, and withother names and letters, faith instead of unbelief, and soforth. Thus we are translated from what is material towhat is spiritual, "having borne the image of theheavenly." [2]

XXV. John says: "I indeed baptize you with water, butthere cometh after me He that baptizeth with the Spiritand fire." [3] But He baptized no one with fire. Butsome, as Heraclius says, marked with fire the ears ofthose who were sealed; understanding so the apostolicsaying, "For His fan is in His hand, to purge His floor:and He will gather the wheat into the garner; but thechaff He will burn with fire un-quenchable." [4] Thereis joined, then, the expression "by fire" to that" by theSpirit;" since He separates the wheat from the chaff,that is, from the material husk, by the Spirit; and thechaff is separated, being fanned by the wind : [5] so alsothe Spirit possesses a power of separating materialforces. Since, then, some things are produced from whatis unproduced and indestructible, -that is, the germs oflife,--the wheat also is stored, and the material part, aslong as it is conjoined with the superior part, remains;when separated from it, it is destroyed; for it had itsexistence in another thing. This separating element,then, is the Spirit, and the destroying element is the fire:and material fire is to be understood. But since thatwhich is saved is like wheat, and that which grows inthe soul like chaff, and the one is incorporeal, and thatwhich is separated is material; to the incorporeal Heopposes spirit, which is rarefied and pure -almost moreso than mind; and to the material He opposes fire, not asbeing evil or bad, but as strong and capable of cleansingaway evil. For fire is conceived as a good force andpowerful, destructive of what is baser, and conservativeof what is better. Wherefore this fire is by the prophetscalled wise.

XXVI. Thus also, then, when God is called "aconsuming fire," it is because a name and sign, not ofwickedness, but of power, is to be selected. For as fire isthe most potent of the elements, and masters all things;so also God is all-powerful and almighty, who is able tohold, to create, to make, to nourish, to make grow, to


28 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

save, having power of body and soul. As, then, fire issuperior to the elements, so is the Almighty Ruler togods, and powers, and principalities. The power of fireis twofold: one power con-duces to the production andmaturing of fruits and of animals, of which the sun is theimage; and the other to consumption and destruction, asterrestrial fire. When, then, God is called a consumingfire, He is called a mighty and resist-less power, towhich nothing is impossible, but which is able todestroy. Respecting such a power, also, the Savioursays, "I came to send fire upon the earth," [6] indicatinga power to purify what is holy, but destructive, as theysay, of what is material; and, as we should say,disciplinary. Now fear pertains to fire, and diffusion tolight.

XXVII. Now the more ancient men [7] did not write, asthey neither wished to encroach on the thee devoted toattention bestowed on what they handed down, in theway of teaching, by the additional attention bestowedon writing, nor spent the thee for considering what wasto be said on writing. And, perhaps convinced that thefunction of composition and the department of teachingdid not belong to the same cast of mind, they gave wayto those who had a natural turn for it. For in the case ofa speaker, the stream of speech flows unchecked andimpetuous, and you may catch it up hastily. But thatwhich is always tested by readers, meeting with strict[8] examination, is thought worthy of the utmost pains,and is, so to speak, the written confirmation of oralinstruction, and of the voice so wafted along to posterityby written composition. For that which was committedin trust to the elders, speaking in writing, uses thewriter's help to hand itself down to those who are toread it. As, then, the magnet, repelling other matter,attracts iron alone by reason of affinity; so also books,though many read them, attract those alone who arecapable of comprehending them. For the word of truthis to some "foolishness," [9] and to others a "stumbling-block;" [9] but to a few "wisdom." [9] So also is thepower of God found to be. But far from the Gnostic beenvy. For it is for this reason also that he asks whether itbe worse to give to the unworthy, or not commit to theworthy; and runs the risk, from his abundant love ofcommunicating, not only to every one who is qualified,but sometimes also to one unworthy, who asksimportunately; not on account of his entreaty (for heloves not glory), but on account of the persistency ofthe petitioner who bends his mind towards faith withcopious entreaty.

XXVIII. There are those calling themselves Gnosticswho are envious of those in their own house more thanstrangers. And, as the sea is open to all, but one swims,another sails, and a third catches fish; and as the land iscommon, but one walks, another ploughs, anotherhunts, --somebody else searches the mines, and another


29 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

builds a house: so also, when the Scripture is read, oneis helped to faith, another to morality, and a third isfreed from superstition by the knowledge of things. Theathlete, who knows the Olympic stadium, strips fortraining, contends, and becomes victor, tripping up hisantagonists who contend against his scientific method,and fighting out the contest. For scientific knowledge[1] is necessary both for the training of the soul and forgravity of conduct; making the faithful more active andkeen observers of things. For as there is no believingwithout elementary instruction, so neither is therecomprehension without science. [1]

XXIX. For what is useful and necessary to salvation,such as the knowledge of the Father, and Son, and HolySpirit, and also of our own soul, are wholly requisite;and it is at once beneficial and necessary to attain to thescientific account of them. And to those who haveassumed the lead in doing good, lunch experience isadvantageous; so that none of the things which appearto be known necessarily and eruditely by others mayescape their notice. The exposition, too, of heterodoxteaching affords another exercise of the inquiring soul,and keeps the disciple froth being seduced from thetruth, by his having already had practice beforehand insounding all round on warlike instruments of music. [2]

XXX. The life of the Gnostic rule, (as they say thatCrete was barren of deadly animals,) is pure from everyevil deed, and thought, and word; not only hating noone, but beyond envy and hatred, and all evil-speakingand slander.

XXXI. In length of days, it is not on account of hishaving lived long that the man is to be regarded happy,to whose lot it has also fallen, through his having lived,to be worthy of living for ever. He has pained no one,except in instructing by the word the wounded in heart,as it were by a salutary honey, which is at once sweetand pungent. So that, above all, the Gnostic preservesthe decorous along with that which is in accordancewith reason. For passion being cut away and stript offfrom the whole soul, he henceforth consorts and liveswith what is noblest, which has now become pure, andemancipated to adoption.

XXXII. Pythagoras thought that he who gave thingstheir names, ought to be regarded not only the mostintelligent, but the oldest of the wise men. We must,then, search the Scriptures accurately, since they areadmitted to be expressed in parables, and from thenames hunt out the thoughts which the Holy Spirit,pro-pounding respecting things, teaches by imprintingHis mind, so to speak, on the expressions; that thenames used with various meanings, being made thesubject of accurate investigation, may be explained, andthat that which is hidden trader many integuments may,


30 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

being handled and learned, come to light and gleamforth. For so also lead turns white as you rub it; whitelead being produced from black. So also scientificknowledge (gnosis), shedding its light and brightness onthings, shows itself to be in truth the divine wisdom, thepure light, which illumines the men whose eyeball isclear, unto the sure vision and comprehension of truth.

XXXIII. Lighting, then, our torch [3] at the source ofthat light, by the passionate desire which has it for itsobject, and striving as much as possible to beassimilated to it, we become men [4] full of light, [5]Israelites indeed. For He called those friends andbrethren who by desire and pursuit aimed after likenessto the Divinity.

XXXIV. Pure places and meadows have receivedvoices and visions of holy phantasms. [6] But everyman who has been perfectly purified, shall be thoughtworthy of divine teaching and of power.

XXXV. Now I know that the mysteries of science(gnosis) are a laughing-stock to many, especially whennot patched up with sophistical figurative language. Andthe few are at first startled at them; as when light issuddenly brought into a convivial party in the dark.Subsequently, on getting used and accustomed, andtrained to reasoning, as if gladdened and exulting fordelight, they praise the Lord. . . . For as pleasure has forits essence release from pain; so also has knowledge theremoval of ignorance. For as those that are most asleepthink they are most awake, being under the power ofdream-visions very vivid and fixed; so those that aremost ignorant think that they know most. But blessedare they who rouse themselves from this sleep andderangement, and raise their eyes to the light and thetruth.

XXXVI. It is, therefore, equally requisite for him whowishes to have a pupil who is docile, and has blendedfaith with aspiration, to exercise himself and constantlyto study by himself, investigating the truth of hisspeculations; and when he thinks himself right, todescend to questions regarding things contiguous. Forthe young birds make attempts to fly in the nest,exercising their wings.

XXXVII. For Gnostic virtue everywhere makes mangood, and meek, and harmless, [1] and painless, andblessed, and ready to associate in the best way with allthat is divine, in the best way with men, at once acontemplative and active divine image, and turns himinto a lover of what is good by love. For what is good,[2] as there it is contemplated and comprehended bywisdom, is here by self-control and righteousnesscarried into effect through faith: practising in the fleshan angelic ministry; hallowing the soul in the body, as in


31 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

a place clear and stainless.

XXXVIII. Against Tatian, [3] who says that the words,"Let there be light," [4] are supplicatory. If, then, He issupplicating the supreme God, how does He say, "I amGod, and beside me there is none else?" [5] We havesaid that there are punishments for blasphemies, fornonsense. for outrageous expressions; which arepunished and chastised by reason.

XXXIX. And he said, too, that on account of their hairand finery, women are punished by the Power that is setover these matters; which also gave to Samson strengthin his hair; which punishes the women who allure tofornication through the adornment of their hair.

XL. As by the effluence of good, people are made good;in like manner are they made bad. Good is the judgmentof God, and the discrimination of the believing from theunbelieving, and the judgment beforehand, so as not tofall into greater judgment -- this judgment beingcorrection.

XLI. Scripture says that infants which are exposed aredelivered to a guardian angel, and that by him they aretrained and reared. "And they shall be," it says, "as thefaithtful in this world of a hundred years of age."Wherefore also Peter, in the Revelation, [6] says: "Anda flash of fire, leaping from those infants, and strikingthe eyes of the women." For the just shines: forth as aspark in a reed, and will judge the nations. [7]

XLII. "With the holy Thou wilt be holy." [8]"According to thy praise is thy name glorified;" Godbeing glorified through our knowledge, and through theinheritance. Thus also it is said, "The Lord liveth," and"The Lord hath risen." [9] XLIII. "A people whom Iknew not hath served me;" [10] --by covenant I knewthem not, alien sons, who desired what pertained toanother. XLIV. "Magnifying the salvations of His king."[11] All the faithful are called kings, brought to royaltythrough inheritance.

XLV. Long-suffering is sweetness above honey; notbecause it is long-suffering, but in consequence of thefruit of long-suffering. Since, then, the man ofself-control is devoid of passion, inasmuch as herestrains the passions, not without toil; but when habit isformed, he is no longer a man of self-control, the manhaving come trader the influence of one habit and of theHoly Spirit.

XLVI. The passions that are in the soul are calledspirits,--not spirits of power, since in that case the manunder the influence of passion would be a legion ofdemons; but they are so called in consequence of theimpulse they communicate. For the soul itself, through


32 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

modifications, taking on this and that other sort ofqualities of wickedness, is said to receive spirits.

XLVII. The Word does not bid us renounce property;[12] but to manage property without inordinateaffection; and on anything happening, not to be vexedor grieved; and not to desire to acquire. DivineProvidence bids keep away from possessionaccompanied with passion, and from all inordinateaffection, and from this turns back those still remaining[13] in the flesh.

XLVIII. For instance, Peter says in the Apocalypse,[14] that abortive infants shall share the better fate; [15]that these are committed to a guardian angel, so that, onreceiving knowledge, they may obtain the better abode,having had the same experiences which they wouldhave had had they been in the body. But the others shallobtain salvation merely, as being injured and pitied, andremain without punishment, receiving this reward.

XLIX. The milk of women, flowing from the breastsand thickening, says Peter in the Apocalypse, [16] willproduce minute beasts, that prey on flesh, and runningback into them will consume them: teaching thatpunishments arise for sins. He says that they areproduced from sins; as it was for their sins that thepeople were sold. And for their want of faith in Christ,as the apostle says, they were bitten by serpents.

L. An ancient said that the embryo is a living thing; forthat the soul entering into the womb after it has been bycleansing prepared for conception, and introduced byone of the angels who preside over generation, and whoknows the time for conception, moves the woman tointercourse; and that, on the seed being deposited, thespirit, which is in the seed, is, so to speak, appropriated,and is thus assumed into conjunction in the process offormation. He cited as a proof to all, how, when theangels give glad tidings to the barren, they introducesouls before conception. And in the Gospel "the babeleapt"(1) as a living thing. And the barren are barren forthis reason, that the soul, which unites for the deposit ofthe seed, is not introduced so as to secure conceptionand generation.

LI. "The heavens declare the glory of God."(2) Theheavens are taken in various meanings, both thosedefined by space and revolution, and those bycovenant,--the immediate operation of the first-createdangels. For the covenants caused a more especialappearance of angels,--that(3) in the case of Adam, thatin the case of Noah, that in the case of Abraham, that inthe case of Moses. For, moved by the Lord, the first-created angels exercised their influence on the angelsattached to the prophets, considering the covenants theglory of God. Furthermore, the things done on earth by


33 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

angels were done by the first-created angels to the gloryof God.

LII. It is the Lord that is principally denominated theHeavens, and then the First-created; and after these alsothe holy men before the Law, as the patriarchs, andMoses, and the prophets; then also the apostles. "Andthe firmament showeth His handiwork." He applies theterm "firmament"(4) to God, the passionless andimmoveable, as also elsewhere the same David says, "Iwill love Thee, O Lord, my strength(4) and myrefuge."(5) Accordingly, the firmament itself showsforth the work of His hands,--that is, shows andmanifests the work of His angels. For He shows forthand manifests those whom He hath made.

LIII. "Day unto day uttereth speech." As the heavenshave various meanings, so also has day. Now speech isthe Lord; and He is also frequently called day. "Andnight unto night showeth forth knowledge." The devilknew that the Lord was to come. But he did not believethat He was God; wherefore also he tempted Him, inorder to know if He were powerful. It is said, "he left(6)Him, and departed from Him for a season;" that is, hepostponed the discovery till the resurrection. For heknew that He who was to rise was the Lord. Likewisealso the demons; since also they suspected that Solomonwas the Lord, and they knew that he was not so, on hissinning. "Night to night." All the demons knew that Hewho rose after the passion was the Lord. And alreadyEnoch(7) had said, that the angels who transgressedtaught men astronomy and divination, and the rest ofthe arts.

LIV. "There are no speeches or words whose voices arenot heard," neither of days nor nights. "Their sound isgone forth unto all the earth." He has transferred thediscourse to the saints alone, whom he calls bothheavens and days.

LV. The stars, spiritual bodies, that havecommunications with the angels set over them, and aregoverned by them, are not the cause of the productionof things, but are signs of what is taking place, and willtake place, and have taken place in the case ofatmospheric changes, of fruitfulness and barrenness, ofpestilence and fevers, and in the case of men. The starsdo not in the least degree exert influences, but indicatewhat is, and will be, and has been.

LVI. "And in the sun hath He set His tabernacle." Thereis a transposition here. For it is of the second comingthat the discourse is. So, then, we must read what istransposed in its due sequence: "And he, as abridegroom issuing from his chamber, will rejoice as agiant to run his way. From heaven's end is his goingforth; and there is no one who shall hide himself from


34 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

his heat;" and then, "He hath set His tabernacle in thesun." Some say that He deposited the Lord's body in thesun, as Hermogenes. And "His tabernacle," some say, isHis body, others the Church of the faithful.

Our Pantaenus(8) used to say, that prophecy utters itsexpressions indefinitely for the most part, and uses thepresent for the future, and again the present for the past.Which is also seen here.(9) For "He hath set" is put bothfor the past and the future. For the future, because, onthe completion of this period, which is to run accordingto its present(10) constitution, the Lord will come torestore the righteous, the faithful, in whom He rests, asin a tent, to one and the same unity; for all are onebody, of the same race, and have chosen the same faithand righteousness. But sortie as head, some as eyes,some as ears, some as hands, some as breasts, some asfeet, shall be set, resplendent, in the sun. "Shine forth asthe sun,"(11) or in the sun; since an angel high incommand is in the sun. For he is appointed for rule overdays; as the moon is for ruling over night.(1) Nowangels are called days. Along with the angels in(2) thesun, it is said, they shall have assigned to them oneabode, to be for some time and in some respects thesun, as it were the head of the body which is one. And,besides, they also are the rulers of the days, as thatangel in the sun, for the greater purpose for which hebefore them(3) migrated to the same place. And againdestined to ascend progressively, they reach the firstabode, in accordance with the past "He hath set:" sothat the first-created angels shall no longer, according toprovidence, exercise a definite ministry, but may be inrepose, and devoted to the contemplation of God alone;while those next to them shall be promoted to the postwhich they have left; and so those beneath themsimilarly.

LVII. There are then, according to the apostle, those onthe summit,(4) the first-created. And they are thrones,although Powers, being the first-created, inasmuch asGod rests in them, as also in those who believe. Foreach one, according to his own stage of advancementpossesses the knowledge of God in a way special tohimself; and in this knowledge God reposes, those whopossess knowledge being made immortal by knowledge.And is not "He set His tabernacle in the sun" to beunderstood thus? God "set in the sun," that is, in theGod who is beside Him, as in the Gospel, Eli, Eli,(5)instead of my God, my God. And what is above all rule,and authority, and power, and every name that isnamed," are those from among men that are madeperfect as angels and archangels, so as to rise to thenature of the angels first-created. For those who arechanged from men to angels are instructed for athousand years by the angels after they are brought toperfection. Then those who have taught are translatedto archangelic authority; and those who have learned


35 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10

instruct those again who from men are changed toangels. Thus afterwards, in the prescribed periods, theyare brought to the proper angelic state of the body.

LVIII. "The law of God is perfect, converting souls."(6)The Saviour Himself is called Law and Word, as Peterin "the Preaching," and the prophet: "Out of Zion shallgo forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord fromJerusalem."(7)

LIX. "The testimony of the Lord is sure, makingchildren wise." The covenant of the Lord is true,making wise children; those free from evil, both theapostles, and then also us. Besides, the testimony of theLord, according to which He rose again after Hispassion, having been verified by fact, led the Church toconfirmation in faith.

LX. "The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring for ever."He says that those who have been turned from fear tofaith and righteousness endure for ever.

"The judgments of the Lord are true,"--sure, andincapable of being overturned; and giving rewardsaccording to what is right, bringing the righteous to theunity of the faith. For this is shown in the words,"justified for the same."(8) "Such desires(9) are abovegold and precious stone."

LXI. "For also Thy servant keeps them." Not that Davidalone is called servant; but the whole people saved iscalled the servant of God, in virtue of obedience to thecommand.

LXII. "Cleanse me from my secret faults;"--thoughtscontrary to right reason--defects. For He calls thisforeign to the righteous man.

LXIII. "If they have not dominion over me, then shall Ibe innocent." If those who persecute me as they did theLord, do not have dominion over me, I shall not beinnocent. For no one becomes a martyr unless he ispersecuted; nor appears righteous, unless, beingwronged, he takes no revenge; nor forbearing ...

Archive | Library | Bookstore | Index | Web Lectures | Ecclesia Gnostica | Gnostic Society


36 di 36 17/06/2013 10.10