Refutation of All Heresies 6.34.4
Authorship disputed: The work names no author. Book 1 was long printed among Origen's works as the Philosophumena; after books 4–10 were found in a manuscript from Mount Athos (published 1851), it was assigned to Hippolytus, the usual view today, though some scholars ascribe it to another Roman writer of the same circle. Books 2 and 3 are lost, and book 4 lacks its beginning.
Summary: Sophia and her bridegroom emitted heavenly “words”; the Demiurge, called Abraham, emitted souls and made bodies for them from matter.
Greek text · Duncker–Schneidewin, 282
λόγους, οἵτινες εἰσὶν ἄγγελοι ἐπουράνιοι, πολιτευόμενοι ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ τῇ ἄνω, τῇ ἐν οὐρανοῖς· αὕτη γάρ ἐστιν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἡ ἔξω σοφία, καὶ ὁ νυμφίος αὐτῆς ὁ κοινὸς τοῦ πληρώματος καρπός. Προέβαλε καὶ ὁ δημιουργὸς ψυχάς· αὕτη γὰρ οὐσία ψυχῶν· οὗτός ἐστι κατʼ αὐτοὺς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ ταῦτα τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ τὰ τέκνα. Ἐκ τῆς ὑλικῆς οὐσίας οὖν καὶ διαβολικῆς ἐποίησεν ὁ δημιουργὸς ταῖς ψυχαῖς τὰ σώματα.
English · Claude translation
words, which are heavenly angels, having their citizenship in the Jerusalem above, the one in heaven; for this Jerusalem is the Sophia outside, and her bridegroom is the common fruit of the Pleroma. The Demiurge also emitted souls; for this is the substance of souls; this, according to them, is Abraham, and these are the children of Abraham. From the material and devilish substance, then, the Demiurge made the bodies for the souls.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The “words” (λόγοι) are seeds of the spiritual order sown in the world.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (misread letter in the digital text): αὐτοὺς ῾Λβραὰμ → αὐτοὺς Ἀβραὰμ; τοῦ ῾Λβραὰμ → τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ.
Cite this passage
Hippolytus, Haer. 6.34.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/6/34/4/).
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Plain text
Hippolytus, Haer. 6.34.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/6/34/4/).
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