The Valentinians, who are no doubt a very large body of heretics — comprising as they do so many apostates from the truth, who have a propensity for fables, and no discipline to deter them (therefrom) care for nothing so much as to obscure' what they preach, if in- deed they (can be said to) preach who ob- scure their doctrme. The officiousness with which they guard their doctrine is an officious- ness which betrays their guilt.- Their dis- grace is proclaimed in the very earnestness with which they maintain their religious sys- tem. Now, in the case of those Eleusinian mysteries, which are the very heresy of Athe- nian superstition, it is their secrecy that is their disgrace. Accordingly, they previously beset all access to their body with tormenting conditions; 3 and they require a long initia- tion before they enrol (their members),'* even instruction during five years for their perfect disciples, s in order that they may mould* their opinions by this suspension of full knowl- edge, and apparently raise the dignity of their mysteries in proportion to the craving * Occultant. [This tract may be assigned to any date not ear- }ier than a. d. 207. Of this Valentinus, see cap. iv. infra, and de Prtescript. capp. 29, 30, supra.'\ 2 We are far from certain whether we have caught the sense of the original, which we add, that the reader may judge for himself, and at the same time observe the terseness of our author: " Cus- todiae officium conscientia oflficium est, confusio pra;dicatur, dura religio asseveratur."
3 Et aditum prius cruciant.
* Antequam consignant.
3 Epoptas: see Suidas, s.v. 'ETroTrTot.
* yEdificent.
for them which they have previously created. Then follows the duty of silence. Carefully is that guarded, which is so long in finding. All the divinity, however, lies in their secret recesses:' there are revealed at last all the aspirations of the fully initiated,® the entire mystery of the sealed tongue, the symbol of virility. But this allegorical representation, ' under the pretext of nature's reverend name, obscures a real sacrilege by help of an arbi- trary symbol,'" and by empty images obvi- ates " the reproach of falsehood! " In like manner, the heretics who are now the object of our remarks, '3 the Valentinians, have formed Eleusinian dissipations '■* of their own, consecrated by a profound silence, having nothing of the heavenly in them but their mystery. '5 By the help of the sacred names and titles and arguments of true religion, they have fabricated the vainest and foulest fig- ment for men's pliant liking,'* out of the af- fluent suggestions of Holy Scripture, since from its many springs many errors may well emanate. If you propose to them inquiries sincere and honest, they answer you with stern '' look and contracted brow, and say, " The subject is profound." If you try them with subtle questions, with the ambiguities of their double tongue, they affirm a community of faith (with yourself). If you intimate to 7 Adytis.
SEpoptarum.
9 Dispositio.
'° Patrocinio coactae figurx. " Excusat.
'2 " Quid enim aliud est simulachrum nisi falsum? " (Rigalt.) '3 Quos nunc destinamus. >•♦ Lenocinia. •5 Taciturnitate.
'6 Facili caritati. Oehler, after Fr. Junius, gives, however, this phrase a subjective turn thus: " by affecting a charity which is easy to them, costing nothing." "7 Concreto.
AGAINST THE VALENTINIANS.
[chap. III.
them that you understand iheir opinions, they insist on knowing nothing themselves. If you come to a close engagement with them, they destroy your own fond hope of a victory over them by a self-immolation.' Not even to their own disciples do they commit a secret before they have made sure of them. They have the knack of persuading men before in- structing them; although truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by first persuad- ing.
CHAP. II, — THESE HERETICS BRAND THE CHRIS- TIANS AS SIMPLE PERSONS. THE CHARGE AC- CEPTED, AND SIMPLICITY EULOGIZED OUT OF THE SCRIPTURES.
For this reason we are branded ' by them as simple, and as being merely so, without being wise also; as if indeed wisdom were compelled to be wanting in simplicity, where- as the Lord unites them both: " Be ye there- fore wise as serpents, and simple as doves. "^ Now if we, on our parts, be accounted foolish because we are simple, does it then follow that they are not simple because they are wise? Most perverse, however, are they who are not -simple, even as they are most foolish who are not wise. And yet, (if I must choose) I should prefer taking * the latter condition for the lesser fault; since it is perhaps better to have a wisdom which falls short in quantity, than that which is bad in quality = — better to be in error than to mislead. Besides, the face of the Lord * is patiently waited for by those who " seek Him in simplicity of heart," as says the very Wisdom — not o^ Valentinus, but — of Solomon.' Then, again, infants have borne ^ by their blood a testimony to Christ. (Would you say) that it was children who shouted " Crucify Him"?' They were neither children nor infants; in other words, they were not simple. The apostle, too, bids us to "become children again" towards God,'° " to be as children in malice " by our simplicity, yet as being also "wise in our practical faculties."" At the same time, with respect to the order of development in Wisdom, I have admitted" that it flows from simplicity. In brief, " the dove " has usually • Sua caede. 2 Notamur.
♦ In the original the phrase is p\M passively: " malim earn par- tem meliori sumi vitio.
5 How terse is the original! minus sapere quam pejus.
* Facies Dei. 7Wisd. of Sol. i. I. 8Litaverunt: "consecrated."
9Tertullian's words are rather suggestive of sense than of syn- tax: " Pueros vocem qui crucem clamant? " '° Secundum Deum: " according to God's will." " I Cor. xiv. 2o, where 'i'ertuUian renders the rait <t>p«Ti {A. V. " understanding ") by " sensibus." " Dedi.
served to figure Christ; "the serpent," to tempt Him. The one even from the first has been the harbinger of divine peace; the other from the beginning has been the despoiler of the divine image. Accordingly, simplicity alone '^ will be more easily able to know and to declare God, whereas wisdom alone will rather do Him violence,"* and betray Him.
CHAP. III. THE FOLLY OF THIS HERESY. IT DISSECTS AND MUTILATES THE DEITY. CON- TRASTED WITH THE SIMPLE WISDOM OF TRUE RELIGION. TO EXPOSE THE ABSURDITIES OF THE VALENTINIAN SYSTEM IS TO DESTROY IT.
Let, then, the serpent hide himself as much as he is able, and let him wrest '^ all his wis- dom in the labyrinths of his obscurities; let him dwell deep down in the ground; let him worm himself into secret holes; let him unroll his length through his sinuous joints;'® let him tortuously crawl, though not all at once,'' beast as he is that skulks the light. Of our dove, however, how simple is the very home! — always in high and open places, and facing the light! As the symbol of the Holy Spirit, it loves the (radiant) East, that figure of Christ.'* Nothing causes truth a blush, ex- cept only being hidden, because no man will be ashamed to give ear thereto. No man will be ashamed to recognise Him as God whom nature has already commended to him, whom he already perceives in all His works,'' — Him indeed who is simply, for this reason, imperfectly known; because man has not thought of Him as only one, because he has named Him in a plurality (of gods), and adored Him in o\y\tx forms. Yet,^ to induce oneself to turn from this multitude of deities to another crowd, ^' to remove from a familiar authority to an unknown one, to wrench one- self from what is manifest to what is hidden, is to offend faith on the very threshold. Now, even suppose that you are initiated into the entire fable, will it not occur to you that you have heard something very like it from your fond nurse - when you were a baby, amongst •3 i.e., without wisdom.
'4Concutere.
■5 Torqueat.
'6 Per anfractus.
'7 Nee semel totus.
'8 By this remark it would seem that Tertullian read sundry pas- sages in his Latin Bible similarly to the subsequent Vulgate ver- sion. For instance, in Zech. vi. 12, the prophet's words ITS?? n?51I r^XTli" (" Behold the Man, whose name is the Br.\nc"H "), are rendered in the Vulgate, " Ecce Vir Oriens nomen ejus." Similarly in Zech. iii. 8, " Servum meum adducam Orientem." (Compare Luke 1. 78, where the 'AcaroAjj «f u^ovt (" the day-spring from on high ") is in the same version " Oriens ex alto.")
'9 Or, perhaps, " whom it (nature) feels in all its works."
^ Alioquin.
-'• AUoquin a turba eorum et aliam frequentiam suadere: which perhaps is best rendered, " But from one rabble of gods to frame and teach men to believe in another set," etc.
■" A nutricula.
CHAP, v.]
AGAINST THE VALENTINIANS.
the lullabies she sang to you ' about the towers of Lamia, and the horns of the sun? = Let, however, any man approach the subject from a knowledge of the faith which he has otherwise learned, as soon as he finds so many names of -^ons, so many marriages, so many offsprings, so many exits, so many issues, fe- licities ««^infeIicitiesof a dispersed and muti- lated Deity, will that man hesitate at once to pronounce that these are " the fables and end- less genealogies " which the inspired apostle ^ by anticipation condemned, whilst these seeds of heresy were even then shooting forth? Deservedly, therefore, must they be regarded as wanting in simplicity, and as merely pru- dent, who produce such fables not without difficulty, and defend them only indirectly, who at the same time do not thoroughly instruct those whom they teach. This, of course, shows their astuteness, if their lessons are disgraceful; their unkindness, if they are honourable. As for us, however, who are the simple folk, we know all about it. In short, this is the very first weapon with which we are armed for our encounter; it unmasks* and brings to view^ the whole of their depraved system.* And in this we have the first au- gury of our victory; because even merely to point out that which is concealed with so great an outlay of artifice,' is to destroy it.
CHAP. IV. — THE HERESY TRACEABLE TO VALEN- TINUS, AN ABLE BUT RESTLESS MAN. MANY SCHISMATICAL LEADERS OF THE SCHOOL MEN- TIONED. ONLY ONE OF THEM SHOWS RESPECT TO THE MAN WHOSE NAME DESIGNATES THE ENTIRE SCHOOL.
We know, I say, most fully their actual origin, and we are quite aware why we call them Valentinians, although they affect to disavow their name. They have departed, it is true,® from their founder, yet is their origin by no means destroyed; and even if it chance to be changed, the very change bears testi- mony to the fact. Valentinus had expected to become a bishop, because he was an able man both in genius and eloquence. Being indignant, however, that another obtained the dignity by reason of a claim which confessorship' had given him, he broke with the church of the true faith. Just like those (restless) spirits which, when roused by ambition, are usually inflamed with the desire of revenge, he applied ' Inter somni difficultates.
2 These were child's stories at Carthage in Tertullian's days.
S Designatorem.
^Totius conscientiae illorum.
7 Tanto impendio.
*Enim.
9 Martyrii.
himself with all his might '° to exterminate the truth; and finding the clue" of a certain old opinion, he marked out a path for himself with the subtlety of a serpent. Ptolemseus afterwards entered on the same path, by dis- tinguishing the names and the numbers of the .^nons into personal substances, which, how- ever, he kept apart from God. Valentinus liad included these in the very essence of the Deity, as senses and affections of motion. Sundry bypaths were then struck off there- from, by Heraclean and Secundus and the magician Marcus. Theotimus worked hard about " the images of the law." Valentinus, however, was as yet nowhere, and still the Valentinians derive their name from Valenti- nus. Axionicus at Antioch is the only man who at the present time does honour " to the memory of Valentinus, by keeping his rules '^ to the full. But this heresy is permitted to fashion itself into as many various shapes as a courtezan, who usually changes and ad- justs her dress every day. And why not? When they review that spiritual seed of theirs in every man after this fashion, whenever they have hit upon any novelty, they forthwith call their presumption a revelation, their own per- verse ingenuity a spiritual gift; but (they deny all) unity, admitting only diversity.'* And thus we clearly see that, setting aside their customary dissimulation, most of them are in a divided state, being ready to say (and that sincerely) of certain points of their belief, "This is not so;" and, "I take this in a different sense; " and, " I do not admit that." By this variety, indeed, innovation is stamped on the very face of their rules; besides which, it wears all the colourable features of ignorant conceits. '5 CHAP. v. MANY EMINENT CHRISTIAN WRITERS HAVE CAREFULLY AND FULLY REFUTED THE HERESY. THESE THE AUTHOR MAKES HIS OWN GUIDES.
My own path, however, lies along the orig- inal tenets '* of their chief teachers, not with the self-appointed leaders of their promiscu- ous ''' followers. Nor shall we hear it said of us from any quarter, that we have of our own mind fashioned our own materials, since these have been already produced, both in respect of the opinions and their refutations, in care- fully written volumes, by so many eminently '" Conversus.
" Semitam.
■2 Consolatur.
13 Regularum: the particulars of his system. [Here comes in the word, borrowed from heresy, which shaped Monasticism ia after times and created the regular orders.]
U Nee unitatem, sed diversitatem: scil. appellant.
'5 Colores ignorantiarum.
'6 Archetypis.
'7 Passivorum.
AGAINST THE VALENTINIANS.
[chap, VII.
holy and excellent men, not only those who have lived before us, but those also who were contemporary with the heresiarchs themselves: for instance Justin, philosopher and martyr;' Miltiades, the sophist "^ of the churches; Irenseus, that very exact inquirer into all doctrines; 3 our own Proculus, the model ■* of chaste old age and Christian eloquence. All these it would be my desire closely to follow in every work of faith, even as in this particu- lar one. Now if there are no heresies at all, but what those who refute them are supposed to have fabricated, then the apostle who pre- dicted them 5 must have been guilty of false- hood. If, however, there are heresies, they can be no other than those which are the sub- ject of discussion. No writer can be supposed to have so much time on his hands ^ as to fabricate materials which are already in his possession.
CHAP. VI. ALTHOUGH WRITING IN LATIN HE PROPOSES TO RETAIN THE GREEK NAMES OF THE VALENTINIAN EMANATIONS OF DEITY. NOT TO DISCUSS THE HERESY BUT ONLY TO EXPOSE IT. THIS WITH THE RAILLERY WHICH ITS ABSURDITY MERITS.
In order then, that no one may be blinded by so many outlandish ' names, collected to- gether, and adjusted at pleasure, * and of doubtful import, I mean in this little work, wherein we merely undertake to propound this (heretical) mystery, to explain in what manner we are to use them. Now the render- ing of some of these names from the Greek to as to produce an equally obvious sense of the word, is by no means an easy process: in the case of some others, the genders are not suitable; while others, again, are more familiarly known in their Greek form. For the most part, therefore, we shall use the Greek names; their meanings will be seen on the margins of the pages. Nor will the Greek be unaccompanied with the Latin equivalctits; only these will be marked in lines above, for the purpose of explain- ing« the personal names, rendered neces- sary by the ambiguities of such of them as admit some different meaning. But although I must postpone all discussion, and be content at present with the mere exposition (of the heresy), still, wherever any scandalous feature ' [See Vol. I. pp. 171, 182, this series].
2 In a good sense, from the elegance of his style.
3 [.See Vol. I. p. 326, of this series. Tertullian appropriates the work of Irena;us, (B. i.) against the Gnostics without further ceremony: translation excepted.]
^Dignitas. [Of this Proculus see Kaye, p. 55.]
*Otiosus.
7 Tarn peregrinis.
^Compactis.
9 Ut signiim hoc sit.
shall seem to require a castigation, it must be attacked '° by all means, if only with a passing thrust." Let the reader regard it as the skir- mish before the battle. It will be my drift to show how to wound "- rather than to inflict deep gashes. If in any instance mirth be ex- cited, this will be quite as much as the subject deserves. There are many things which de- serve refutation in such a way as to have no gravity expended on them. Vain and silly topics are met with especial fitness by laugh- ter. Even the truth may indulge in ridicule, because it is jubilant; it may play with its enemies, because it is fearless. '^ Only we must take care that its laughter be not un- seemly, and so itself be laughed at; but wherever its mirth is decent, there it is a duty to indulge it. And so at last I enter on my task.
CHAP. VII. — THE FIRST EIGHT EMANATIONS, OR ^ONS, CALLED THE OGDOAD, ARE THE FOUN- TAIN OF ALL THE OTHERS. THEIR NAMES AND DESCENT RECORDED.
Beginning with Ennius,''' the Roman poet, he simply spoke of "the spacious saloons'- of heaven," — either on account of their ele- vated site, or because in Homer he had read about Jupiter banqueting therein. As for 0U7- heretics, however, it is marvellous what storeys upon storeys'* and what heights upon heights, they have hung up, raised atid spread out as a dwelling for each several god of theirs. Even our Creator has had arranged for Him the saloons of Ennius in the fashion of private rooms,''' with chamber piled upon chamber, and assigned to each god by just as many staircases as there were heresies. The universe, in fact, has been turned into " rooms to let."'^ Such storeys of the heavens you would imagine to be detached tenements in some happy isle of the blessed, '» I know not where. There the god even of the Valentinians has his dwelling in the attics. They call him in- deed,as to his essence, A\uvTc7.Eioi[PerfecfyEmi)^ but in respect of his personality, Tlpoapxri {Be- fore the Beginning), 'H 'Apxn {The Beginning), and sometimes Bythos (Depth), ^ a name I" Or stormed perhaps; e.xpugnatio is the word, I'Delibatione transfunctoria.
1= Ostendam vulnera.
'3 Secura.
'4 Primus omnium.
'5 Coenacula: dining halls.
•^Supernitates supernitatum.
'7 ^Edicularum.
18 Meritorium.
'9 This is perhaps a fair rendering of " Insulam Feliculam credas tanta tabulata CGclorum, nescio ubi." "Insula" is some- times " a detached house." It is difficult to say what " Felicula"' is; it seems to be a diminutive of Feli.x. It occurs in Arrian's Epictetica as the name of a slave.
2o We follow Tertullian's mode of designation all through. He, for the most part, gives the (iree'; names in Roman let<urs, but not quite always.
CHAP. Vlll.]
AGAINST THE VALENTINIANS.
which is most unfit for one who dwells in the heights above! They describe him as un- begotten, immense, infinite, invisible, and eternal; as if, when they described him to be such as we know that he ought to be, they straightway prove him to be a being who may be said to have had such an existence even before all things else. I indeed insist upon' it that he is such a being; and there is nothing which I detect in beings of this sort more ob- vious, than that they who are said to have been before all things — things, too, not their own — are found to be behind all things. Let it, however, be granted that this Bythos of theirs existed in the infinite ages of the past in the greatest and profoundest repose, in the extreme rest of a placid and, if I may use the expression, stupid divinity, such as Epicurus has enjoined upon us. And yet, although they would have him be alone, they assign to him a second person in himself and with him- self, Ennoea {Thought), which they also call both Charis {Grace) and Sige {Silence). Other things, as it happened, conduced in this most agreeable repose to remind him of the need of by and by producing out of himself the beginning of all things. This he deposits in lieu of seed in the genital region, as it were, of the womb of his Sige. Instantaneous con- ception is the result: Sige becomes pregnant, and is delivered, of course in silence; and her offspring is Nus (Mind), very like his father and his equal in every respect. In short, he alone is capable of comprehending the measureless and incomprensible greatness of his father. Accordingly he is even called the Father himself, and the Beginning of all things, and, with great propriety, Monogenes {The Only-begotteti). And yet not with abso- lute propriety, since he is not born alone. For along with him a female also proceeded, whose name was Veritas'' {Truth). But how much more suitably might Monogenes be called Protogenes {First begotten), since he was begotten first! Thus Bythos and Sige, Nus and Veritas, are alleged to be the first four- fold team 3 of the Valentinian set (of gods)'* the parent stock and origin of them all. For immediately when^ Nus received the func- tion of a procreation of his own, he too pro- duces out of himself Sermo {the Word) and Vita {the Life). If this latter existed not previously, of course she existed not in By- thos. And a pretty absurdity would it be, if Life existed not in God! However, this off- ' Expostulo: " I postulate as a first principle." ^Tertullian is responsible for this Latin word amongst the Greek names. The strange mixture occurs often.
3 Quadriga.
4 Factionis.
5 Ibidem simul.
spring also produces fruit, having for its mis- sion the initiation of the universe and the formation of the entire Pleroma: it procreates Homo {Man) and Ecclesia {the Church). Thus you have an Ogdoad, a double Tetra, out of the conjunctions of males and females — the cells* (so to speak) of the primordial y^ons, the fraternal nuptials of the Valentin- ian gods, the simple originals' of heretical sanctity and majesty, a rabble® — shall I say of criminals' or of deities?'" — at any rate, the fountain of all ulterior fecundity.
CHAP. VIII. — THE NAMES AND DESCENT OF OTHER iEONS; FIRST HALF A SCORE, THEN TWO MORE, AND ULTIMATELY A DOZEN BESIDES. THESE THIRTY CONSTITUTE THE PLEROMA. BUT WHY BE so CAPRICIOUS AS TO STOP AT THIRTY?
For, behold, when the second Tetrad — Ser- mo and Vita, Homo and Ecclesia " — had borne fruit to the Father's glory, having an intense desire of themselves to present to the Father something similar of their own, they bring other issue into being''' — conjugal of course, as the others were '^ — by the union of the twofold nature. On the one hand, Sermo and Vita pour out at a birth a half-score of ^ons; on the other hand. Homo and Eccle- sia produce a couple more, so furnishing an equipoise to their parents, since this pair with the other ten make up just as many as they did themselves procreate. I now give the names of the half-score whom I have men- tioned: Bythios {Profound) and Mixis {Mix- ture), Ageratos {Never old) and Henosis {Union), Autophyes {Essential nature) and Hedone {Pleasure), Acinetos {Lmmoveable) and Syncrasis {Commixture^ Monogenes {Only-begotten) and Macaria {Happiness). On the other hand, these will make up the num- ber twelve (to which I have also referred): Paracletus {Comforter) and Pistis {Faith), Patricas {Paternal) and Elpis {Hope), Metricos {Maternal) and Agape {Love), Ainos {Praise) '♦ and Synesis {Intelligetice), Ecclesiasticus {Son of Ecclesia) and Macariotes {Blessedness), Theletus 's {Perfect) and Sophia ( Wisdom). I cannot help '* here quoting from a like example what may serve to show the import of 6 Cellas.
7 Census. ** Turbam.
9 Criminum.
"f Numinum.
"We everywhere give TertuUiau's own names, whether of Greek form or Latin. On their first occurrence we also give their English sense.
12 Ebulliunt.
isProinde conjugates.
'4 Of this name there are two forms — AIfos (Praise) and 'Kitvov<; {Eternal Mind).
15 Or TcAcTos (Teletus). Another form of this icon's name is ♦iAi)T05 (PhiUtus — Belo7ied). Oehler always reads Theletus.
j6 Cogor. f AGAINST THE VALENTINIANS.
[chap. X.
these names. In the schools of Carthage there was once a certain Latin rhetorician, an excessively cool fellow,' whose name was Phosphorus. He was personating a man of valour, and wound up' with saying, "I come to you, excellent citizens, from battle, with victory for myself, with happiness for you, full of honour, covered with glory, the favou- rite of fortune, the greatest of men, decked with triumph." And forthwith his scholars begin to shout for the school of Phosphorus, 0t['3 [ah!) Are you a believer in'* Fortunata, and Hedone, and Acinetus, and Theletus? Then shout out your <^ev for the school of Ptolemy. 5 This must be that mystery of the Pleroma, the fulness of the thirty-fold divini- ty. Let us see what special attributes* be- long to these numbers — four, and eight, and twelve. Meanwhile with the number thirty all fecundity ceases. The generating force and power and desire of the ^ons is spent.'' As if there were not still left some strong ren- net for curdling numbers.^ As if no other names were to be got out of the page's hall! « For why are there not sets of fifty and of a hundred procreated? Why, too, are there no comrades and boon companions '" named for them?